The Most Graceful/Disgraceful Name in the World

What do you think is the most graceful and disgraceful name in the world? Is it possible that one name may be graceful and disgraceful at the same time? Well, actually I don’t know. But, if you get to think it over, perhaps you may come to the same conclusion I did. That name must be Jesus Christ. What do you reckon? In some contexts, this name is certainly worshiped and highly respected; but in others, that same name is annoying and in some places, it’s even forbidden. You may have noticed that when talking about themes like freedom of speech, science, technology, neuro linguistic programming, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and themes related to critical thinking, sometimes people proudly evoke and convincingly express what they have learnt about these subjects, including the latest advancements yielded. Mentioning the name of Jesus Christ in these contexts might be regarded as freak. In fact, it would seem to be that this name did actually not have any significant meaning to these subjects. What is more, on certain occasions, it might be thought that this name does not go with the advancements of these subjects. Closely associated with religion, as this name historically has been seen, some thinkers would prefer to leave it as some sort of a social convention, or even some kind of social constriction. But the truth is that, at times, within certain contexts, the name Jesus Christ turns out to be disgraceful, annoying or perhaps disgusting.  Evidently, it does not say anything to the scientific method, for example. It does not explain why some people feel romantically or sexually attracted to others of their same gender, in another instance; it would rather dare to condemn this behaviour. Finally, it does not solve any social problem as hunger, poverty, stupidity, uncertainty, etc.

Conversely; however, there are other contexts in which this name is curiously welcome, appreciated and even worshiped. It is impossible for a common person to do this. No regular person is able to willingly see any meaningfulness in the name of Jesus Christ, except from those who, under the tests of life, have seen with no eyes (though having them), hear with no ears (though having them) and somehow been sensitive to scripture. In these contexts, matter does not exist. It is only the reflection of what is a greater category, spirituality. Here, we understand that what is seen was not made out of what was visible, but by the command of God; and He has pleased to design his Kingdom perfectly on His own opinion and will, so that, for It to be perfect there must be and coexist a silly dimension, which is the material world, and in which everything is uncertain, imprecise, corruptible, incomprehensible, poor, hungry, unnatural, stupid, full of mirages which constitute the simulacrum reality. So the name of Jesus Christ is graceful to this other context, the spiritual one. Historians date Him, but not His meaning or His resurrection, which is registered only in the scripture. No human reason is capable of achieving any, not even the slightest thought of God. That is why it is unbelievable for humans that He has died in order to let us live. This shall certainly not be understood in the material contexts, but in the spiritual one: faith!

Is the name of Jesus Christ annoying for you? Perhaps you will need to move up to the spiritual context. As for me, this is simply the ultimate name of God in the Bible, and I will respect it and honour it as such.

Until next time! And many thanks for reading! J

Yes, but how?

Given that our current Occidental society is thought to be the most uncertain, accelerated and stressed out ever, we often hear some useful tips on how to cope with this typical inconvenience. People talk about relaxation, meditation, yoga, trying new activities, undertaking new adventures and many other things as such.  However, I wonder if one or some of them have proved to be effective, or the solution to any of these current difficulties. It seems that they actually work for a certain time but, after some days, people go back to the same place. What is the real problem? There must then be something greater than all these recommendations that overcomes them and makes people locate them again on the same frustrating, uncomfortable and disgusting routine. So how does one get rid of being in a permanent hurry? How is it possible to avoid the acceleration, uncertainty and stress of the present world?

 I believe that our habits in life are essential. If we don’t deliberately form good habits, then, unconsciously, we’ll form bad ones. There’s a helpful web site I usually visit: http://www.48days.com/ here, you may find answers to many questions, within which are the ones above. I’m absolutely sure we can learn something useful from this web page. I hope it serves you well. :)

Happy New Year! | Macmillan

Happy New Year! | Macmillan

Do you feel cared for?

Some people worry about those who are ill, and try to relieve their pain by offering some medicine or any other kind of physical help. Now, what about the sick’s heart? It seems that as long as we concern about the medicines and the physical care for the sick, they will soon recover, but we sometimes don’t pay enough attention to the ill person’s spirit. On December 1^st the world celebrates the World AIDS Day in order for people to unite in fight against HIV. This is something good in order to prevent people from getting the virus; however, the band Kerigma has decided to support the carriers’ spirit by composing an encouraging song. Pavel and Nikolai Jarrín created this nice song, and it will be performed by the whole band (Jonathan and Gerson Flores, Lenin Jarrín, and some other friends) at the Carolina Park on December 1^st, 2011 in Quito, Ecuador. You may like to listen to this song so it will be uploaded soon. And remember, we are more than conquers in Christ.

RP Accent?

When talking about the English Language you might probably have many times heard people highlighting the beauty and elegancy of the British accent. However, you may have noticed that not all of the British people have the same accent. As it happens in any other country, Great Britain has a variety of accents, too. Now, the RP (Received Pronunciation) accent is the most standard one you can hear all over the world. Experts say (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIemPxHSb6Q) that it was promulgated among middle class society at public schools around the 19th century in the south-east of England, although it not necessarily reflects the place where the speaker comes from. Rather, it is associated to educated (and somehow powerful) people around the United Kingdom as it shows great similarity to the pronunciation of the royal people, not just in the UK but throughout the world. Most of the BBC news presenters use this accent and it is the accent that the majority of text books have for British English learners everywhere.

However, some experts say that the great majority of the British people actually do not have this accent at all. They think that it is only the 3% of the UK who use it more evidently than the rest. In fact, the so called Estuary English (a sort of work-class English) seems to be taking over. Some people ask, if RP is an accent that an English learner will hardly ever come across, why then should it be taught around the world? Well, they may have a point there. However, I’d like to say that the RP accent is the only one that can help an English learner be better understood wherever they go.

All the standard accents are better preferred throughout the world, as it is the Standard American Accent. Unfortunately, while it is so good for human beings to try to break their differences and let the lower class mingle with the upper class, it is prejudicial for the language to be spoilt by the flawed features encountered in careless dialects or accents. Nowadays, I might distinguish some elements regarding the British accent. Firstly, we need to separate pronunciation from intonation in an accent. The RP accent pronunciation is quite similar to the royal family’s pronunciation, but the royalty has its own intonation, which is different from the RP’s. Secondly, the BBC English intonation is very similar to the RP’s, but the BBC pronunciation is slightly (and sometimes quite) different from the RP’s and the royalty’s. Finally, while it is true that educated, young people (or the young, modern society) seem to be friendly with some lower class accents, and incorporate some of their features into their sort of modern RP (as it seems to be the case of the Estuary English symptoms), and even Princes William and Harry seem to have a more relaxed way of speaking than their ancestors; there are many English learners who prefer to keep the genuine RP accent as their helpful tool to be better understood when using English as their second language; and, that’s why the RP accent is likely to continue alive through the years.

Oops! I did it again ~

Many people make certain resolutions in order to avoid doing things they’ve come to think are bad or prejudicial to them. Most of these harmful things have become these people’s bad habits or vices. Some people have many times confided to me their secrets, and I’ve shared with them mine also. You can hear in these conversations things like husbands cheating on their wives and wives cheating on their husbands, which is known as adultery; boyfriends and girlfriends complaining to have been cheated on and chucked by their couples after having intimacy, which is known as fornication; some boys and girls saying they’ve used great amounts of drugs, stolen their parents’ money, used cheat sheets to pass an exam; office workers, young students and even some children who spend most of their time on porno web pages; and things like those. It seems that most of us have been involved in at least one of these things once in our lives. However, when the person wishes to give up one of these things that are coming over them, he or she simply doesn’t know how to do it, because, in the twinkling of an eye, they realise they’ve done it again.

Sometimes these vices become a painful torture for the person. Their vice dominates them, so it seems to be impossible to get rid of it. However, I think that the more you turn your eyes to a spiritual life the less you are overcome by your vices. In the Bible, Jesus says “if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you”... and this is like a magical formula I can testify to be true whenever you put it into practice. I’d like to make a comparison of the popular saying “like father, like son” but instead, I’ll say: like mind, like heart, like life. I mean, what’s in your mind determines how you feel, and this determines your life.

IMPULSE DRIVEN SOCIETY

We have many times heard people say something like “I had an impulse to do it!” or “I couldn’t control a sudden impulse...” or something like this. Sometimes, people even say something like: “He or She is an impulsive person” or “... acts impulsively”. So, how good is it to let our impulses make us react or do things? Well, the answer may actually be too obvious to many who are reading this now. A lot of times, it’s frequent to hear that people regret once they have acted under an impulse; though, every so often others may say that doing so was not that regrettable at all. This last group thinks that it was a pleasant experience in their lives to have followed a sudden impulse.

So, again, is it wise to act impulsively? When are people more prone to do it? What are the results/consequences of it? Is it not this impulsive behaviour to which we normally claim responsibility for misfortune, accidents, or even crime? And, how possible is it to (and when can we) control our impulses? We may have a variety of answers to these questions. However, I can see that some people end up cheating on their couples, having sexual intercourse with someone they have just met, beating and hitting others, disrespecting the authorities, causing damage to themselves, crashing, looking ridiculous, and doing crazy things; all this, under the effect of an impulse or an impulsive life. And, it seems to be that society has always had some “helpers” to make us act by certain kind of impulses, those being alcohol, drugs, and some others like several soup operas, many Hollywood films, and a lot of computer games and stuff from the Internet. Of course, a lot of justifications (or excuses) are normally presented in order to, perhaps, convince our minds that “it’s the ‘normal’ life” and we had no choice and so let our conscious at ease. On the other side of the spectrum, I can also see that there are times when acting on an impulse may save the life of a person, open the door of a great opportunity, give us the chance to stick up for a weak one, attract the attention of someone you are in love with, and do good deeds. Consequently, I see the need to keep a sound, wise and upright mind in order to be ready for a fair impulse control.

In the Bible, Ephesians 5:15 says: "Be very careful, then, how live-not as unwise but as wise" I think this may be the factor of our impulses. What do you reckon?

Learner’s First Language in the EFL Classroom

Many EFL teachers believe that the native language should be avoided at all costs in the classroom. However, many students complain that they don’t understand some explanations given by the teacher in English. They suggest that, at beginning levels, some explanations take place in their native language. If you are an EFL student you may feel identified with these complaining students. But you first need to begin by understanding what EFL stands for. It’s the abbreviation for English as a Foreign Language. Most textbooks to learn English correspond to this category. EFL means that English is being taught to students who mainly live in a non-English-speaking country.

Some research has been carried out into this issue, and you may want to visit some web sites about it (see some of them at the end of this article) Most of this research may closely coincide with my view that learner’s first language is actually an elemental technique and strategy in the classroom. However, I think this matter needs to be discussed recognising at least three different contexts, calling for different skills and considerations:

1.       The Full Immersion View: Which is, of course, more effective in English-speaking-countries, where learners have no shortage of spoken English around them; thus, it was meant to be an ESL method. (ESL=English as a Second Language. Considered as the process of teaching English within an English-speaking atmosphere/region/country. In the UK and New Zealand this is replaced by ESOL=English for Speakers of Other Languages)

So you may notice and tell that this method works best with children who live in an English-speaking area.

2.       University Students in Developing Countries: Within whom there is a variety of differences regarding social class and international interaction. However, most of them have no access to an English-speaking environment, which is impossible to create or provide by their teachers, however much they make an effort to do so.

You can easily notice that certain teachers have always had fantasies about them creating an English-speaking environment wherever the learner may be, and forcing students to use English wherever the teacher may “control” them. Well, these students need to gradually communicate among each other in English and then use it as a friendly, easy-to-use and useful tool for their professional life; so, a more realistic strategy is to wisely use their first language in the beginning stage, and then along the course of their learning process when necessary.

3.       No technique is wrong when appropriately used: This is true for every aspect of our lives. It is our job as teachers, but also as students, to consciously analyse which technique works best for certain aspects of the language to be taught/learnt/acquired. So, sometimes we may strategically make use of the traditional method (remember that this is a method. It's neither the devil nor evil at all), especially with older learners at the very low levels, and then gradually (or even alternatively) switch to task-based and more communicational methods. In the end, what really matters is how effective and useful the English Language is becoming for the student’s formative project, and how well he/she can achieve the competences expected (as the ones remarked in the CEF= Common European Framework)

http://www.nrdc.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=598

http://www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=188

http://www.esl-lounge.com/talking-points-first-language.shtml

When to teach/learn the list of Irregular Verbs?

Most EFL teachers agree that it’s useless to teach the list of irregular verbs to beginner students, since they don’t know the simple past tense yet, particularly the present perfect tense. However, I’ve just heard someone saying that the list of irregular verbs should be the vocabulary students need from the very beginning in order to understand what the teacher says. According to him, the first language must be forbidden, even for teachers who deal with beginners. What do you reckon?

Developing Pragmatic Fluency in English as a Foreign Language: Routines and Metapragmatic Awareness

"Universität Hamburg

This study explores whether pragmatic fluency can best be acquired in the classroom by provision of input and opportunity for communicative practice alone, or whether learners profit more when additional explicit instruction in the use of conversational routines is provided. It is hypothesized that such instruction raises learners' awareness of the functions and contextual distributions of routines, enabling them to become more pragmatically fluent.
Two versions of a communication course taught to advanced German learners of English for 14 weeks are examined, one version providing explicit metapragmatic information, the other withholding it. Samples of tape-recorded conversations at various stages of the courses are used to assess how students' pragmatic fluency developed and whether and how the development of fluency benefits from metapragmatic awareness."

From:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=2553300

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