SHARE
 
An Ideas Page by Omar Villarreal and Marina Kirac (c)
 
Year 2          Number 8      February 3rd  2000
 
 
Dear SHARERS ,
 
Hi there again ! Back from the holidays ? Doesn´t it  seem like yesterday we were heading for those glorious summer holidays ... but all good things come to an end and we are very happy to back SHARING our messages with you again !
 
(1) CAN WE HELP YOU WITH YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS ?
 
Nicole , a friend of Marina´s sent her this message. We thought it was worth reading and bearing in mind when we wrote our list of priorities for this
year ( You will excuse the Spanish, won´t you ?
"Un  experto  asesor  de  empresas  en Gestión del Tiempo quiso sorprender
a los asistentes a su conferencia.
Sacó  de  debajo  del  escritorio un frasco grande de boca ancha. Lo colocó sobre la mesa, junto a una bandeja con piedras del tamaño de un  puño y preguntó: "¿Cuantas piedras piensan que caben en el frasco?
Después  de  que  los  asistentes  hicieran  sus conjeturas, empezó a meter piedras hasta que llenó el frasco. Luego preguntó:   "¿Está lleno?"
Todo el mundo lo miró y asintió. Entonces sacó de debajo de la mesa un cubo con  gravilla.  Metió  parte  de  la  gravilla  en  el  frasco y lo  agitó. Las piedrecillas penetraron  por  los espacios que debajan las 
piedras grandes.
El experto sonrió con ironía y repitió: "¿Está lleno?"
Esta vez los oyentes dudaron: "Tal vez no".
"¡Bien!". Y puso en la mesa un cubo con arena que comenzó a volcar en el
frasco. La arena se filtraba en los pequeños recovecos que dejaban las piedras y la grava.
"¿Está lleno?"  preguntó de nuevo.
"¡No!", exclamaron los asistentes.
"Bien", dijo, y tomó una jarra de agua de un litro que  comenzó a verter  en el frasco.
El frasco aún no rebosaba. "Bueno, ¿qué hemos demostrado?",preguntó.
Un  alumno  respondió: "Que  no  importa lo llena que esté tu agenda, si lo intentas, siempre puedes hacer que quepan más cosas.
"¡No!",concluyó el experto: "lo que esta lección nos enseña es que si no colocamos
las  piedras  grandes primero, nunca podremos colocarlas después.
¿Cuales son las grandes  piedras  en  tu  vida?.
Tus hijos, tus amigos, tu salud, la persona  a quien amás, tus sueños ?. 
Recordá , ponélas  primero... El resto  encontrará su lugar."

(2) MAIL FROM FROM LUCKY ANNIE !!!
 
We got this message from our dear friend from Punta Alta,Annie Altamirano.
Next time she´s around, don´t fail to "touch" her. Besides being an excellent Methods Lecturer, she´s a lucky totem ( She won two trips to England in our last FAAPI Congress ! Can you believe it ? Some people have all the luck !! ) :

Dear Omar and Marina,

Thanks a lot for SHARE, I love it and I've passed it on to colleagues
so that they subscribe. It's a ray of light in a hectic day.
What follows was sent to me by a dear colleague who happens to be
my youngest son's godmother, Elena Chaluleu, and I'd like to share it with
you and the list. May you all have a fantastic New Year even though it's not
a new millenium or century, (in spite of the press and tour operators).

Love to all of you,

Annie Altamirano

A WISH FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM

May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not
fall; and May your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol,
your white blood count and your mortgage interest not rise.
May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist,
your gastro-endocrinologist, your urologist, your proctologist, your
podiatrist, your psychiatrist, your plumber and the IRS.
May you find a way to travel from anywhere to anywhere in the rush hour
in less than an hour, and when you get there May you find a parking space.
May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them.
May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish
dinner, and May your check book and your budget balance, and May they
include generous amounts for charity.
May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your spouse, your child, your parent; but not to your secretary, your nurse, your masseuse, your hairdresser or your tennis instructor !

May we live as intended, in a world at peace and the awareness of the beauty in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's smile and every wonderful, astonishing, miraculous beat of our heart.

(3) PEP-UP MESSAGES

We are so proud of the many messages we keep receiving that we wanted to tell you. We know that as real friends you would be happy to hear about the nice things people write to us.  As a token, just a few of those words that keep us going :

"Your page is something I look forward to finding in my PC at home every evening, when I turn it on back from work ( tired !!) .It is a great joy to read your SHARES - Big hug" -(Elida Messina) 

"You will never know how thankful I am to have attended your lecture at Colegio La Salle,not only because I enjoy your talks but because it has given me the opportunity of forming part  of your e-mail list. With your e- mails I can smile and I can close my eyes and imagine myself dancing and singing in the classroom ( honestly I believe it must be more rewarding than teaching Grammar at the Profesorado).- So I just wanted to tell you and Marina: THANK YOU...." (Susana Bosso: marianozelicovich@ciudad.com.ar)

"Dear Omar, Thank you for SHARE ! Have a great time.  Happiest. "( Philip Prowse)

(4) FIRST CONGRESS ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

The Area de Idiomas Extranjeros de la Universidad Nacional del Litoral , together with Institutos Superiores del Profesorado "Alte G. Brown", "Estela G. de Cervera", "San Roque" and Asociaciones Santafecina de Profesores de Inglés , Argentina de Cultura Inglesa de Santa Fé y de Ex-alumnas del Instituto "Estela G. de Cervera" and Advice Prep School are organizing this FIRST REGIONAL CONGRESS to be held from May 25th through 27th , 2000 in the city of Santa Fé.

The event which has the sponsorship of the Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés de Paraná, Concepción del Uruguay, Concordia y San Nicolás will consist of Plenary and Semi-Plenary Lectures, Workshops and Oral and Poster Sessions, and the special participation of keynote speakers from the Universities of Canterbury,Durham and Southampton.

Abstracts for Presentations can be submitted up to February 25th . These will be evaluated by the Academic Committee made up of prestigious colleagues from several National Universities : Prof. Daniel Fernandez, Prof. M. Isabel Recamán, Prof. Raquel Lothringer de Rossi, Prof. Marta Benedetti and Prof, Cristina Mayol.

Further information can be obtained from e-mail congress@unl.edu.ar or from http://www.unl.edu.ar/congress . You can also phone or fax 0342-4571122 or 0342-4533392 or write to Boulevard Pellegrini 2750 (3000) Santa Fé.

The Topics of the Congress include Teacher Training, Research Training and Development, Degrees Upgrading, National and International graduate Programmes, Integrating Research and Pedagody, Educational Research and Classroom Research, Reflective practice, among a number of others.

All in all a highly promising event . We wish the Organizing Committee presided over by Prof. Elsa Grimaldi all the best and every success in this endeavour .

(5) ENGLISH IS A CRAZY LANGUAGE

Let´s face it: English is a crazt language. There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger, neither apple nor pine in pineapple...

English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, white sweetbreads, which aren´t sweet, are meat. Boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don´t fing, grocers don´t groce, and hammers don´t ham ? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn´t the plural of booth beeth ? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese ? Is cheese the plural of choose ?

If teachers taught, why don´t we say that preachers praught ? If a vegeterian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat ?

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital ?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship ? Have noses that run and feet that smell ? Park on driveways and drive on parkways ?

When a house burns up, it burns down. You will fill in a form by filling it out, and an alarm clock goes off by going on.

When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why, when I wind up my watch, do I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it ?

Thomas Payne, Department of Linguistics, University of Oregon

(6) CUP ONE-DAY ACADEMIC SEMINAR OF 2000

Cambridge University Press announces their Opening  One-Day Academic Seminar of 2000 on "EFL Teaching, Learning and Acquisition " to be held at Escuela Normal Superior en Lenguas Vivas "John Fitzgerald Kennedy"  Juncal 3251 Buenos Aires on Thursday 24th February from 9.0 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
There will be three talks by distinguised academics Mary Calvo de de La Vega on "Teaching children: their potentialities, our limitations",  Maria Cristina Grondona White on "Do they dislike reading?" and Silvia Ronchetti
on "Teenage learners: meeting the challenge".
CUP Educational Representatives Gabriel Mohr and Andy Paz will talk about    
CUP best-selling titles "Playway to English "  and " Cambridge English Worldwide"
Admission to the Seminar is free of charge . For additional information and enrolment you can contact :
Cambridge University Press
Paraguay 946, 4º A - 1057 Buenos Aires
Tel/Fax: (5411) 4322-5040 / 4328-7648
cup.argentina@sion.com

(7) WORKSHOPS FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH

Cultural Inglesa Domínico announces a series of Workshops for Teachers of English to be held on its premises during the month of February. They will be taught by Prof. Cristina Araujo and will comprise a number of topics of interest for the EFL practicioner : "Multimedia", "Lesson Planning", "Project Work", "Video Sessions" and "Choosing a Textbook".

Enrolment and further information  at Avda Mitre 4616 - Domínico. -4207-8128 - Cide@cscom.com.ar 

(8) LAST MINUTE NEWS FROM SALTA

Our colleagues from Salta have just informed us that the dates for the FIRST REGIONAL ADVANCED LANGUAGE CONFERENCE that SBS (Stratford Book Services) and ASPI, Asociación Salteña de Profesores de Inglés, are organizing jointly has been changed to 18th through 21st August  2000 in Salta," la linda". Jot this change down in your diary right away and contact the organizers for an early registration.
Further information can be obtained from  ASPI´s President, Ana Triboli, 0387- 4 39 4469 or ASPI´s Inés Amaduo  inesamad@ciudad.com.ar or Oriel Vilagarcía palermo@sbs.com.ar.
 
(9) SEE YOU IN SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, TOO !
 
Again this year I will teach my BI-ANNUAL INTENSIVE COURSE FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH in ASICANA,Asociación Santiagueña de Intercambio Cultural Argentino Norteamericano. The Course will last 2 full days in mid-May and will bear official recognition and auspices from the Ministry of Education of the Province of Santiago del Estero. More details forthcoming.  asicana@teletel.com.ar
 
 
HAPPY WEEK TO YOU ALL !!

Omar and Marina

 
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