Wednesday, October 20, 2010

BUENOS AIRES FROM DAWN TO DUSK


Mix together a beautiful European-like city with attractive residents (call them porteños), gourmet cuisine, awesome shopping, a frenzied nightlife, and you get Buenos Aires, a cosmopolitan metropolis with both slick neighborhoods and downtrodden areas. It’s an elegant, seductive place with a ragged edge, laced with old-world languor and yet full of contemporary attitude. BA is different from any other city in the world. 

To start off the day
There are many typical old cafés you can visit for a good breakfast to start the day full of energies. Café Tortoni is the oldest coffee shop in the whole country. With a very rich history, it is visited at all times by intellectuals, politicians and artists. It is located at Avenida de Mayo 825. Once you are done with breakfast, you can make the most of the day and visit the Historical heart of Buenos Aires. Just walk a few blocks and you will find plaza de Mayo, the main square; Avenida de Mayo, the grand boulevard where you can see many famous buildings; the Obelisco, the Cathedral and The Pink House (La casa Rosada), where the president and executive government work.

Europe-like midday
Many people say that Puerto Madero has a very European style. Since you are very close to San Telmo area, you can have a break from walking and have a barbecue (parrillada) in front of the river. There is a wide range of options to try the best Argentinean food. Of course you can’t miss trying some of our incredible wines! Once you are satisfied, you can keep on walking all along the river. Needless to say, this is an unmissable thing to do on a sunny and warm day.

Sunset
After enjoying the colorful sunset on the river, drinking some beer and eating a yummy picada (a mix of different types of cheese, ham, salami, olives, etc) you can walk around San Telmo area. Look for antiques in a dusty San Telmo shop, or visit on Sunday for the barrio’s spectacularly popular fair. Learn to tango like a real Argentine, and then attend a super-passionate fútbol match between River and Boca. These unforgettable adventures (and many more) are just waiting for you to go out and experience them.

Going for a Pub-crawl
After dinner with family or friends you can experience what we call previa (getting together with friends for some drinks before going out). Argentineans are used to having dinner very late and this is one of the reasons why Buenos Aires is a late city.  There are infinite numbers of possibilities to enjoy a nigh out in BA. Nightlife is usually compared to Spanish nightlife, and sometimes said to be even better here (not a small detail). You can choose visiting different bars in San Telmo, where you will find lots of tourists given that there are lots of hostels and hotels nearby, or going to a big nightclub with hundreds of people and good music. You can find the best nightclubs in Palermo and Costanera.  

Everyone knows someone who has been here and raved about it. You’ve put it off long enough. Come to Buenos Aires and you’ll understand why so many people have fallen in love with this amazing city, and even decided to stay or come back. There’s a good chance you’ll be one of them.

My After Writing Reflections. 

Saturday, October 16, 2010

EDAPI


Abstract 

Are you a switcher?


 The aim of this poster is to encourage teachers of English to reflect on one specific aspect of their experience in the classroom, namely, code-switching, which refers to the use of the mother tongue when teaching a foreign language. In order to do so, we will provide figures obtained through a survey on the frequency with which, and the reasons why, teachers of English speak to their students in Spanish.

If you haven't attended our presentation, at least you can have a look at our survey.



Survey: Are you a code-switcher?
Please underline the appropriate answer/s regarding yourself as a teacher of English

1)  Your teaching context:
a)Kindergarten(*)
b)Primary school(*)
c)Secondary school(*)
d)Tertiary level(*)
e)University(*)
f)Language academy
g)In-company
h)Other (please specify)

(*) if your answer to question 1 is a, b, c, d, or e please answer question 2

2) The place where you work at is...
a) Private
b) State-run

3) Age group of your students:
a) Children
b) Teenagers
c) Adults

4) Level of your students:
a) A1
b) A2
c) B1
d) B2
e) C1
f) C2

5) Do you ever switch languages in your classroom?
a) YES
b) NO

6) Why? Or what for?
a) To tell off your students
b) To explain something they may not understand in English
c) To translate words
c) Because you want to talk about something serious (e.g. an incident)
d) To tell a personal anecdote
e) Other (please specify)

7) How do your students react when they hear you speak Spanish?
         a) They are surprised
b) They switch to Spanish as well
c) They pay more attention
d) They get distracted
e) They don’t mind
f) Other (please specify)


Self feedback on poster presentation


I really think that the three of us did a very good performance. Personally, I felt very confident, and enthusiastic about it. I enjoyed explaining the poster while having fun at the same time with my classmates. It was a very nice and juicy experience. As we have already discussed with you, for next time we will try to handle the timing in a different way so we all have the same opportunity to speak. We will improve on that!