SHARE
 
An Electronic Magazine by Omar Villarreal and Marina Kirac (c)
 
 
Year 2                    Number 43                                     December 4rd  2000
 
 
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being SHARED.
________________________________________________________                                                                                   
 
Dear SHARERS, 
 
Great and hectic week. Like everyone else´s in our profession. It´s the end of the academic year again : make-up, "compensación", "coloquio", "libretas", examinations. In these days when we are confronted with the need to make
judgements about others, to evaluate others, to tell right from wrong and especiall  when "right" seems to be what we do or as we do it and what we know, and "wrong"· is always what the others do or as others do it and what they know, we found a message to SHARE with you. If you are the kind of person who believes "After all I am the teacher, I am the one who knows, I have to rescue them from evil", you will probably not be able to understand this message... and "that" is a real pity and shame.
Each time we pass judgement about others these days, every time we fill in a record with somebody´s mark, let us remember that :
 
"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err".
Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

___________________________________________________
 
In SHARE 43
 
1.- La mente del principiante.
2.- Teachers and Students Congress: After Necochea. 
3.- Popular Ideas about Language Learning.
4.- NLP in 2001 ? Planning Ahead.
5.- A Sense of Humour.
6.- Titularización en Provincia de Buenos Aires.
7.- Bernieh´s Corner.
8.- More on British and American English.  
9.- Utopia.  
10.-APIBA SIG´s for 2001. 
11- The Secrets of Writing.
12- Some People have all the Luck.
13.-What is a book?
14.-Human Commandments.   
15- Call for ESP  Articles.
16.-Fake Virus Warning : Beware of "Badtimes"  
17- Useful Internet Sites.
 
 
1.- LA MENTE DEL PRINCIPIANTE
 
Our dear and very active SHARER Christian Fernando Duarte Varela from Córdoba chrislio@arnet.com.ar has sent us this brilliant piece for reflection:
 
La mente del principiante es
una mente abierta,
una mente vacia,
una mente dispuesta,
y si escuchamos de verdad
con mente de principiante
es posible que empecemos a oir realmente.
Porque si escuchamos con una mente silenciosa,
lo mas libre posible del clamor de ideas preconcebidas,
se crea una posibilidad de que nos penetre la verdad
de las enseñanzas y de que el sentido de la vida
y la muerte
se haga cada vez mas asombrosamente claro.
 
Dicen que un viejo maestro Zen dijo que cuando aprendieramos algo ojala lo hicieramos con una mente de principiante, ya que ese tipo de mente siempre tiene algo que aprender no asi la mente del 'experto', que ya lo sabe todo o cree que lo sabe. 
Worth giving it a thought, don´t you think? Especially if you are or think you are  or wish to be within the sophisticated lot. May God give us all  the open mind of the beginner and the wisdom and experience of the good old listener.
 
(2) TEACHERS AND STUDENTS CONGRESS : AFTER NECOCHEA
 
The 7th Congress of Teachers and Students of English held in Necochea, Pcia de Buenos Aires on 12th, 13th and 14th of October 2000 is over. It was an astounding success with 414 participants ( roughly 70 per cent of which were students) and the some of the biggest names in the ELT scene of our country in the roster of presenters.
The Congress had the official auspices of the Dirección General de Escuelas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires and the Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado
Técnico de la Unversidad Tecnológica Nacional.  
An important feature of the 7th Congress was the schedulled meetings of members of the Honour Committee to discuss the organization of the future events in particular and the shape of the association or centre or committee that was going to be responsible for the future of the Congress in general.
The Honour Committe was made up of all the past presidents ( with the exception of the President of the Salta Congress and the Córdoba Congress, Julio César Gimenez who sent a letter of support and accepted a a position in the new Committee), members of the founding Committee (Mendoza  1993) and lecturers
who had historically been plenarists and workshop leaders at all or most of the
Congresses held so far, like Ms Susan Hillyard or Dr Fernando Armesto .  
 
As a result of the deliberations a name for the new structure was agreed upon:
Argentine Forum for Teachers and Students of English and an Organizing Committe ( Comisión  Promotora y Organizadora ) was chosen whose functions will be to draft the "Estatutos" and decide on a system for the election of the future Executive Committe.
It was also decided that in principle the Forum will not recruit members (as this is a function of the local Associations belonging to FAAPI) and that the function of the Executive Committee will be that of supporting and supervising the work of the Local Organizing Committee for each Congress.
 
The next three locations and organizers of the Congress will be:
2001.- Mendoza -
Grupo Crack Teatro- Profesores y  Estudiantes de Inglés  de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo.
2002.- City of Buenos Aires -
Profesores y Estudiantes de Inglés del INSPT de la UTN.
2003.- Bahía Blanca- 
Profesores y Estudiantes de Inglés del Instituto Superior del Profesorado "Juan XXIII" 
 
The Members of the "Comisión Promotora y Organizadora" are the following:  
 
President : Prof. Rubén Scattareggi
Founder of the Congress and former President 1993 & 1994 . Universidad Nacional de Cuyo
 
1st Vicepresident: Prof. Susan Hillyard 
Plenarist at all past Congresses. Instituto de Enseñanza Superior en Lenguas Vivas "Juan R. Fernandez"- Ciudad de Buenos Aires
 
2nd Vicepresident:   A student to be appointed.
 
Secretary : Lic. Efraín Davis. M.A.
Universidad Nacional de Quilmes
 
Undersecretary :   Lic. Susana Trabaldo M.A.
Universidad de La Matanza
 
2nd Undersecretary: A student to be appointed.
 
Treasurer: Prof. Marcela Ramos M.A.
Former President San Juan 1995. Presenter in all past Congresses
Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21- Córdoba.
 
Undertreasurer :  A student to be appointed.
 
Members:
1st: Prof. Eduardo Quintana.
Former President Santa Fé 1998.
 
2nd: A student to be appointed.
 
3rd: Dr. Fernando Armesto PhD.
Presenter in 4 past Congresses.
Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico de la Universidad Tecnológica Nacional.- Ciudad de Buenos Aires
 
4th: A student to be appointed
 
5th: Prof. Ana Mónica Altamirano M.A. 
Instituto Superior del Profesorado "Juan XXIII"- Bahía Blanca.
 
Reserve Members:
1st : A student to be appointed
2nd: A student to be appointed
 
Overseers (Revisores de Cuentas):
1st: Lic. Andrea Coviella.
Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Nro 41- Adrogué. 
 
2nd: Prof. Julio César Gimenez M.A.
Past President Córdoba 1996. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
 
3rd: A student to be appointed
 
A period of a month was agreed upon during which students could apply to become Members of the Comisión Promotora y Organizadora. That period was over last Saturday 18th November. The students who have submitted their applications are the following:
 
1.- Elisabet Guber.
Instituto Superior del Profesorado Juan XXIII - Bahía Blanca 
2.- Maria Candela Araneta. 
San Cayetano, Pcia de Buenos Aires.
3.- Mariángeles Attademo.
Instituto Juan N. Terrero - La Plata
4.- Patricia de Souza Martinez.
Instituto Superior del Profesorado "Joaquín V Gonzalez" - Ciudad de Buenos Aires.
5.- Valeria Cerrullo.
Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico de la Universidad Tecnológica Nacional
6.- Mauricio Castillo.
Instituto Superior del Profesorado Juan XXIII - Bahía Blanca
7.- Soledad Sazatornil.
Instituto Superior del Profesorado "San José" - Tandil
8.- Juan Pablo Ratuszniak.
Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado Técnico de la Universidad Tecnológica Nacional
9.- Gustavo Gimenez.
Instituto Superior de Formación Docente Nro 41 Pcia de Buenos Aires.
10.- Natalia Fabiola Muguiro.
Universidad Nacional de La Pampa
 
All these students have been invited to attend the next meeting of the Committee that will be convened by the new President, Prof. Scattareggi .On that occasion there will be a vote to choose which students will fill in the positions that have been reserved for the representatives of that sector. 
My function at the helm of the Congress has finished and as I said in my address to the plenary in the closing ceremony "I am happy to have contributed,in my own small way,to the institutionalization of the Congress" . From now on, all further requests for information, querries, and all questions related to the Forum or the coming Congress in Mendoza  should be submitted to The President of the Organizing Committe of the Forum :  Prof. Rubén Scattareggi crackteatro@hotmail.com
 
3.- POPULAR IDEAS ABOUT LANGUAGE LEARNING
 
Mercedes Rossetti, Chair ESP Interest Section of Argentina TESOL espisartesol@arnet.com.ar writes to us:

"In the attachment you will find one of the presentations at the PDS (Professional Development Sessions) that took place on Saturday, November 18 at Facultad de
Filosofía y Letras, UBA, Buenos Aires. These sessions are open to all members of ARTESOL and the English Language Teaching community and are aimed at enhancing the teaching of English as a Foreign Language.

Popular Ideas about Language Learning: Facts and Opinions

Some things to think something about.
 PDS ARTESOL
November 18th, 2000-11-20  Language Acquisition
Presenter: Sue Ann Hirshchmann - Contribution: Liliana Orsi
 
Lightbrown and Spada. 1993., "Popular Ideas About Language Learning: Facts And Opinions" How languages are learned, Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers, Oxford University Press, Chapter 6, pp107-110
 
Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in society, The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Harvard University Press,  p 86-89.
 
1.- Languages are learned mainly through imitation.
Language learners create their own system of rules through the development of hypotheses about how language works.
Some learners imitate a great deal, yet their language does not develop faster or better that that of children who rarely imitate.
 
2.-  Parents usually correct young children when they make grammatical errors
Parents tend to focus on meaning rather than form.  Errors which do not interfere with successful communication are rarely corrected.
 
3.-  People with high IQs are good language learners.
In classroom settings where the emphasis is on learning ABOUT the language (grammar rules vocabulary items.)  they tend to do well,just like in other academic subjects. In classrooms where language acquisition  thru interactive language is emphasized, research has shown that  learner with a wide variety of intellectual abilities can be successful language learners.
 
4.-  The most important factor in second language acquisition success
       is motivation.
It is important BUT; 
a.- there are differences in lang. learning APTITUDE
b.- Research suggests: a circular cause and effect relationship between  motivation and success in second language learning-  The more one succeeds, the greater one's motivation; the greater one's motivation, the more one succeeds.
c.-  Foster positive motivation
 
5.-  The earlier a second language is introduced in school programs the greater
       the likelihood of success in learning.  
It depends on the objectives of the social particular context.
Objective:  native-like or near native-like performance in ESL, then as early as possible. Children from minority language backgrounds, an early emphasis on the second language (the lang of the majority) may lead to academic and personal problems. Necessary to promote the first language.
Objective: basic communication : when the is a commitment to maintaining and developing the first language it may be better to begin later.
 
6.-  Most of the mistakes which second language learners make are due to
      interference  from their first language.
 The transfer of patterns from the native language is ONE cause, but more significant is overgeneralization of the target language rules. Learners from different lang backgrounds make the same errors when learning a particular second language .When errors are caused by an overextension of some partial similarity bet the L1 and L2 , the errors may be specially hard to overcome.
 
7.-  Teachers should present grammatical rules one at a time, and learners
       should practise examples of each one before going on to another. 
Language learning is not linear in its development. Learners may use a particular form accurately at one stage in their development and fail to produce that form correctly at another.
 
8.-  Teachers should teach simple language structures before complex ones.
No matter how the language is presented to learners, certain structures are acquired before others. Teachers like patterns intuitively increase the complexity of their lang as the learner's proficiency increases.
 
9.-  Learners' errors should be corrected as soon as they are made in order to
       prevent the formation of bad habits.  
Errors are a natural part of lang. Learning. True of L1 and L2.The errors reveal the patterns of learners developing interlanguage systems. (The learner's developing second language knowledge.  It may have characteristics of the learner's native lang, characteristics of the L2, and some characteristics which seem to be general and tend to occur in all or most interlanguage systems. Interlanguages are  systematic, but they are also dynamic, continually evolving as learners receive more input and revise their hypotheses about the second language.) Excessive error correction can have a strong negative effect on motivation.
 
10.-  Teachers should use materials that expose students only to language
        structures which they have already been taught.  
Consequences of  restricting classroom materials: loss of motivation when there is no challenge. Students will not learn to "deal with" authentic situations.
Will not be exposed to variety of forms and structures.
 
11.-  When learners are allowed to interact freely (for example, in group or
         pair activities), they learn each other's mistakes 
L2 learners do not produce any more errors in their speech when talking to learners at the same level of proficiency than when they talk to more advanced learners or natives. They can provide corrective feedback in group work interaction. 
 
12.-  Students learn what they are taught.
Natural sequences of development: Attempts to teach things that are too far away from the learner's current stage of development will be frustrating.  (ZPD: Zone of Proximal development?). Research shows that learners learn a lot of things that they are not taught, they use their internal learning mechanisms (LAD: a metaphore for the innate knowledge of the "universal principles common to all human languages.  The presence of this knowledge permits children to discover the structure of a given language  on the basis of a relatively small amount of input (to discover many of its complex rules and relationships).
 
4.- NLP IN 2001 ?  PLANNING AHEAD.
 
Our very dear friends and SHARERS, Jamie Duncan jamie@abaconet.com.ar and
Laura Szmuch (new e-mail: LauraSzmuch@aol.com ) are planning ahead to their
2001 courses. They write:
"We are currently organising our courses for next year and will keep you updated on these as everything falls into place.  For now, we have the following dates:

Practitioner Certificate in NLP for Education
A new group will start on Saturday April 7 on this 12-module course leading to an international certificate.  Those who would like more information can register for a free introductory talk to be given on Saturday 24 March in Capital Federal.  Written material on the course is available upon request.

Master Practitioner in NLP for Education
We are pleased to announce that we will be running a Master Practitioner course for those who have completed the Practitioner Certificate with us or at another institution.  The first module will be held at the end of April. 
Workshops
We are available for workshops or short courses in the provinces or at your workplace. We do have limited weekends available  so it is a question of first come, first served.  Contact us if you are interested.

Jamie and Laura publish a superb electronic magazine called "RT News" .To subscribe simply send a mail to mailto:rtnews@mail.abaconet.com.ar with your name and city stating 'subscribe' in the subject box.  We are sure you won´t regret it! You can also visit their web site www.resourcefulteaching.8k.com for articles and background to their courses.

5.- A SENSE OF HUMOUR
 
Our dear SHARER, Eileen Banks from beutiful Necochea wants tio SHARE this bit of hyumour with all of us:
 
Dear Omar,
I'm sure you will enjoy this! Sounds like SHARE material, doesn't it?
 
My first job was working in an orange juice factory, but I got canned couldn't concentrate.
Then I worked in the woods as a lumberjack, but I just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.
After that I tried to be a tailor, but I just wasn't suited for it. Mainly because it was a so-so job.
Next I tried working in a muffler factory but that was exhausting.
I wanted to be a barber, but I just couldn't cut it.
Then I tried to be a chef--figured it would add a little spice to my life but I just didn't have the thyme.
Finally, I attempted to be a deli worker, but any way I sliced it, I couldn't cut the mustard.
My best job was being a musician, but eventually I found I wasn't noteworthy.
I studied a long time to become a doctor, but I didn't have any patients.
Next was a job in a shoe factory; I tried but I just didn't fit in.
I became a professional fisherman, but discovered that I couldn't live on my net income.
Thought about becoming a witch, so I tried that for a spell.  
I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.
I got a job at a zoo feeding giraffes but I was fired because I wasn't up to it.
So then I got a job in a gymnasium (work-out-center), but they said I wasn't fit for the job.
Next, I found being an electrician interesting, but the work was shocking.
After many years of trying to find steady work I finally got a job as a historian until I realized there was no future in it.
My last job was working at Starbucks, but I had to quit because it was always the same old grind.
You got any ideas? I'm open for suggestions .........maybe you have something that works..........because I don't.
 
6.- TITULARIZACION EN PROVINCIA DE BUENOS AIRES

The letter that we reproduce below was circulated last week directly from the
provincial Ministry of Education (Dirección General de Escuelas y Cultura) to all
Heads and teachers in the province. It was signed by Lic José O. Bordón, Director General de Cultura y Educación and Mario Oporto, Subsecretario de Educación.
 
"Estimado/a Director/a y Equipo Docente:
Nos dirigimos a Uds. con referencia al proceso de titularización que hemos encarado en forma reciente. Por ello, queremos compartir algunas reflexiones que acompañan la medida por la cual se procederá a la cobertura del 85 % de los cargos vacantes.
Desde el inicio mismo de nuestra gestión comenzamos a acelerar la cobertura de los cargos de titulares. De ese modo, en los primeros meses del año 2000 se completo el 50% de las vacantes en los distintos niveles.
Hace pocos días dimos la indicación al Tribunal de Clasificación para que en los próximos meses complete la titularización conforme al Estatuto del Docente del 85% de las vacantes existentes.
Esto significa otorgar la titularidad a docentes con título. Nos mueve una firma convicción: la necesaria profesionalidad del docente y el reconocimiento de los esfuerzos de aquellos que durante años se dedicaron a formarse tanto en la Universidad como en nuestros Institutos de Formación Docente.
También aspiramos a que esta medida ayude a la concentración de horas en el mismo establecimiento, combatiendo en forma práctica la situación de los llamados "profesores taxis".
Asimismo, decidimos tener en cuenta especialmente el Tercer Ciclo y el Polimodal, ya que es allí donde se concentra el mayor número de dificultades. En este marco, para los casos excepcionales que merecen ser considerados, estamos trabajando junto a los legisladores por una ley que dé una respuesta adecuada y puntual a esta situación.
Creemos que estas determinaciones contribuirán a la mejora de la calidad del servicio educativo resolviendo simultáneamente la situación de inestabilidad laboral de muchos docentes.
Saludamos a todos agradeciendo los esfuerzos que realizan, aún en condiciones adversas, para que nuestros niños y jóvenes tengan  un futuro mejor."
 
7.- BERNIEH´S CORNER
 
Hey, Dear SHARERS!

Here is a piece of news on a recent change in the English spelling for the word "sulphur" (now "sulfur", like its American counterpart), and a lot of interesting items about how some spelling differences were born on this side (and up) of the Atlantic Ocean. It comes from an authoritative source, Michael Quinion (visit his  Web site: http://www.worldwidewords.org.)

Cheers!
Bernieh.
 
The Case for and Against the Spelling "Sulfur"
"Americans will perhaps class this spelling as another example of the olde-worlde quaintness of British life, since they have for the better part of two centuries been used to 'sulfur'. In this, they are now joined by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in Britain, who sent advice last week to head teachers that 14-year-olds taking school tests in science should adopt what was described as "internationally standardised" versions of this and other words, like 'fetus'.
A number of British newspaper commentators and teachers expressed opinions
on this change, with varying degrees of apoplexy, that were partly based on a jingoistic feeling that, well, we invented the damn language, why should we have to conform to the way other people want to spell it? The phrase "American cultural imperialism" was also used. The School Standards Minister, Estelle Morris, told the QCA to think again (they don't have to and they're not going to: they're an independent agency). The Conservative opposition education secretary, Theresa May, said the ruling was ridiculous and would only confuse teachers and pupils. All this despite the fact that the QCA had emphasised that "British English spelling should not be penalised".

Nobody is suggesting British people change these spellings for all purposes, only when using them in scientific contexts. The Royal Society of Chemistry rushed out a press release the next day to support the QCA, pointing out that standardisation is especially important for ease of communication (like looking things up in databases, for example, where variant versions of common terms are a bugbear). The Society added that standard chemical nomenclature already specifies the 'f' forms of words like 'sulfur' following agreement by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) in 1990.

The difference in spelling, and the current controversy resulting from it, must be laid at the feet of the late Noah Webster, a humourless and deeply religious schoolmaster cum failed lawyer who, after 15 years' work, published his _American Dictionary of the English Language_ in 1828. One cannot imagine an individual less well suited to the creation of a dictionary; he knew very little of other languages, his ideas about etymology were based more on religion and wishful thinking than historical fact (he thought all languages derived from ancient Chaldee), and he had this bee in his bonnet about simplifying the language by removing unnecessary letters from words.

His most influential book was not the _Dictionary_, but the earlier _American Spelling Book_, which went through about three hundred editions during his lifetime and after. This was very conventional by the standards of his day. It was only later that he began to advocate spelling reform, especially in a piece with the splendid title _An Essay on the Necessity, Advantages and Practicability of Reforming the Mode of Spelling, and of Rendering the Orthography of Words Correspondent to the Pronunciation_, published in 1789.

His aim was to remove all extraneous letters from words and he put forward
a whole range of suggestions to this end. His aim was also political: he wanted to make American orthography distinctive and through this to help weld the disparate 13 founding colonies into a nation. By 1806, though,when he published his first dictionary, he had backtracked on the more outlandish of his ideas, saying "it would be useless to attempt any change, even if practicable, in those anomalies which form whole classes of words, and in which, change would rather perplex than ease the learner" (still a strong argument against spelling reform).

Because of his spelling revisions in the 1828 dictionary, Americans now write 'color', 'jewelry', 'theater' and 'aluminum', as well as 'sulfur'.Had it not been for the conservatism of his readers and publisher - and a "dictionary war" with a rival - that forced him to modify his views,  Americans would also now have 'tuf' (for tough), 'groop' (for group) and 'tung' (for tongue) among many others.

The deciding factor in modern standardisation, of course, is the American
influence on the language world-wide, and especially on the vocabulary of the technical world. This has been considerable, and is the basis for the
recommendations of IUPAC and the QCA. The majority of English writers
world-wide already spell the word 'sulfur'; that it looks odd and suspicious to some British speakers is as much an indication of parochialism as patriotism.

Interestingly, the IUPAC also said that 'aluminium' should be so spelled - one for Britain, it might seem, except that what IUPAC was actually doing was bringing that spelling into line with the other 55 elements whose names end in '-ium'.

The Royal Society of Chemistry tried to make the point that "in 18th and 19th century Britain it was commonplace for sulfur to be spelt with either an 'f' or 'ph'". In this, they take their case too far, since the _Oxford English  Dictionary_ entry shows that the word has had 'ph' in the middle ever since spelling settled down about 1600. Except in the US after Noah Webster, of course, and now internationally. And that's official."

Bernieh's note: to access QCA or other similar British agencies related to
education, see: http://www.ngfl.gov.uk/ngfl/govern/gov_agency_list.html 
 
8.- MORE ON BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

In keeping with Bernieh´s topic for this week, we wanted to SHARE with you a letter sent to Anu Garg   anu@wordsmith.org of the list we have so often recommended A Word a Day   http://wordsmith.org/anu 
From: Dan Gerrett (dang@nse.co.uk)
Subject: English (British) pronunciation et al.

I am fascinated by the English language in general, much the same as yourself. Our household here in London currently has an American visitor staying - an interesting situation in itself - which has highlighted the differences in our pronunciation of certain words and indeed total misunderstanding at times.

One of the differences that I have noted between British and Americans is
that the British rarely have any problem knowing what an American is saying when using colloquial American terms (terms that are never used in Britain such as 'diaper' and 'sidewalk') but Americans seem completely flummoxed by our own words, for example 'rubbish' and 'peckish.'

On the one hand this could be construed as interesting - theories could be raised such as British people perhaps having a heightened sense of observance, quick-wittedness, or general intelligence - but they would be utterly unfounded.

There is only one reason why we (the British) understand these terms instantly, and this is because of the movies. American culture has so infiltrated the fibre of British life through films that we almost take American culture if not part of our own, then certainly an extension of it.

Okay, so there are notable 'British' films (inverted commas because funding for British films often originates in the US) that Americans may have seen - Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Full Monty, the James Bond films (although only 16% of Bond girls have been British) - but only a minute percentage of films seen by US audiences can be British in flavour - compared to the statistic that more than 90% of cinema-shown films seen by UK audiences are US written, produced, directed and starred.

I presume you're trying to provide a global English service, and therefore you are disseminating your information in as general a way as possible. I guess I would just hate to see the nuances of our own language gobbled up into the American way.
Anu´s reply :
What was that about two countries separated by a common language?
As someone who had to change his `SHED-yool' (to `SKE-jool') after coming to the US, I can understand your suggestion about noting variants. However, that may not be enough. I put terms in quotes while you use inverted commas, to take an example.

I recall reading a survey some time back that a majority of British    children now spell `color' instead of `colour'. On the other hand, there have been suggestions that in a few decades British English and American English will be mutually unintelligible. That sounds a bit far-fetched and it may not happen in decades, but remember at one time Europe and America were a single land mass. -Anu

9.- UTOPIA
 
Dear Omar and Marina,

I´m from Resistencia, Chaco and I´ve been a keen reader of your e-magazine
ever since I got it for the first time. I´m very grateful because I get so much material from you for my lessons!!!
That´s why I want to make a humble little tiny contribution to my colleages
around the globe. Here it is:

"Ella está en el horizonte.
Me acerco dos pasos, ella se aleja dos pasos.
Camino diez pasos y el horizonte se corre diez pasos más allá.
Por mucho que yo camine nunca la alcanzaré.
¿Para qué sirve la UTOPIA?
Para eso sirve,
para CAMINAR." -              
Eduardo Galeano
Lots of love...
Cecilia Barle

10.- APIBA SIG´S FOR 2001.
 
Our dear SHARER Analía Kandel, APIBA SIGs Liaison Officer,  apibasigs@hotmail.com has sent us advance information about the first SIG meetings of the year 2001 to start putting down in our diaries.
 
Business SIG
Co-ordinators: Virginia López Grisolía - Alicia Perera
Date: Tuesday, April 3, 2001 -- Time: 10.30 - 12.30
Venue: Av. L.N. Alem 424 - P.B., Buenos Aires
 
Kids SIG
Co-ordinators: Alicia López Martín - Cristina Thomson de Grondona White
Date: Friday, April 6, 2001 -- Time: 17 – 19 
Venue: Juncal 3251, Buenos Aires
 
Phonetics / Phonology SIG 
Co-ordinators: Roxana Basso - Isabel Santa
Date: Saturday, April 7, 2001 -- Time: 9 to 12
Venue: Carlos Pellegrini 1515, Room 17, Buenos Aires. 
 
Computers SIG
Co-ordinators: Nora Lizenberg - Pablo Toledo  
Date: Saturday, April 7, 2001 -- Time: 10 – 12.30 
Venue: Av. Cnel. Diaz 1745, Buenos Aires.
 
Cultural Studies SIG (formerly *History / Civilisation SIG*)
Co-ordinators: Cristina Bardeci - Paula Lopez Cano
Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 -- Time: 19 to 21
Venue: Carlos Pellegrini 1515, Room 17 ,Buenos Aires.
 
Grammar / Linguistics SIG
Co-ordinators: Patricia Jacobs - Fernanda Velazquez
Date: Friday, April 20, 2001 -- Time: 18.30 to 20.30
Venue: Carlos Pellegrini 1515, Room 23 , Buenos Aires
 
Literature SIG
Co-ordinators: María Valeria Artigue - Alfredo Jaeger
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2001 -- Time: 10.30 - 13
Venue: Av. Cnel. Diaz 1745, Buenos Aires
 
Methodology SIG
Co-ordinators: Silvia Luppi - Roxana Viñes
Date: Friday, April 27, 2001 -- Time: 18.30 - 21
Venue: Av. Gaona 1846, Buenos Aires
 
Language SIG 
Co-ordinators: Viviana Myslicki - Daniel Reznik
Date: Saturday, April 28, 2001 -- Time: 10 - 13
Venue: Viamonte 1475, Buenos Aires
 
The common Agenda for all first APIBA SIG meetings April 2001 includes among others :  SIGs Internal Rules,  Election of two SIG Co-ordinators and   Exploration of interest areas for 2001 sessions.
For further information on APIBA SIGs, visit www.geocities.com/apibasigs/ or contact Analía Kandel, APIBA SIGs Liaison Officer.
 
11.-  THE SECRETS OF WRITING
 
Our dear friend and fairy godmother, Elida Messina throws some light into the secrets of writing. She says: "This is the kind of message one can only share with those able to perceive irony - I guess all SHARERS will enjoy it."
Here are several very important but often forgotten rules of English:
 
 1. Avoid alliteration. Always.
 2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
 3. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They're old hat.)
 4. Employ the vernacular.
 5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
 6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
 7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
 8. Contractions aren't necessary.
 9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
10. One should never generalize.
11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said:
     "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."
12. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
13. Don't be redundant; don't use more words than necessary; it's highly   
      superfluous.
14. Profanity sucks.
15. Be more or less specific.
16. Understatement is always best.
17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to be avoided.
21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
23. Who needs rhetorical questions?
 
12.- SOME PEOPLE HAVE ALL THE LUCK 
 
Our dear SHARER Virginia Lombardi, Director of Studies of  Learning Centre Institute instlearning@sinectis.com.ar writes to us to make an important announcement:
Dear Omar,
I would appreciate it if you could let all the teachers who attended the OUP seminars between 2nd September and 14th November and filled in the form to participate in a raffle for a scholarship in Hastings, that the winner of the scholarship was Nancy Mabel Fernandez, A teacher from Capital Federal This scholarship is a  joint effort of Embassy CES, Oxford University Press and our Institute L. C. I. (Embassy CES local representative)
Thank you very much for all the support you are giving. It is a pleasure to relax in front of the computer every Sunday and read SHARE.
Thanks again, and best wishes to all the SHARERS.
 
Virginia Lombardi
Tel/ Fax: 54-114-602-6555

 
13.- WHAT IS A BOOK?
 
In this age of rapid technological change and electronic innovations, our dear SHARER , Norma Beatriz Rodriguez from Ranelagh makes a deliberate effort to take us back to basics ;
 

BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use, even a child can operate it.
Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere-even sitting in an armchair by the fire-yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD- ROM disc
Here's how it works:

BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. The pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence.

Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs. Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now, BOOKS with more information simply use more pages. Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to  the next sheet.
BOOK never crashes or requires rebooting, though, like other devices, it can become damaged if coffee is spilled on it and it becomes unusable if dropped too many times on a hard surface. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an "index" feature, which pin-points the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.
An optional "Bookmark" accessory allows you to open BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session-even if the BOOK has been closed. Bookmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single Bookmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOK markers can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK.
You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with optional programming tools, Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Styli (PENCILS). Portable, durable, and affordable, BOOK is being hailed as a precursor of a new entertainment wave. BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform and investors are reportedly flocking to invest. Look for a flood of new titles soon.

14.- HUMAN COMMANDMENTS 

Cut and Paste, Cut and Paste and Delete... We lost the name of the SHARER who sent us this contribution but we didn´t want you to miss on this. Please dear SHARER drop us a line during the week so that we can duly acknowledge you.
 
Dear Omar and Marina, a contribution for SHARE which is excellent, I hope you like this:
 
Human Commandments:
 
1-Speak to people: there is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2-Smile at people:  it takes 72 muscles to frown, only 14 to smile.
3- Call people by name:  the sweetest music to anyone's ears is the sound
    of his own name.
4-  Be friendly and helpful:  if you want to have a friend, be a friend.
5-  Be cordial:  speak and act as if everything you do is a genuine pleasure.
6-  Be genuinely interested in people: you can like almost everybody if you try.
7-  Be generous with praise:  cautious with criticism.
8-  Be considerate with the feelings of others:  there are usually three
      sides to a controversy, yours, the other fellow's and the right side.
9-  Be alert to give service:  what counts most in life is what we do for others.
10- Add to this:  a good sense of humour, a big dose of patience, a dash of
      humility and you will be rewarded many- fold.
 
15.- CALL FOR  ESP ARTICLES
 
Our dear friends and neighbours, Liliana and Patricia Orsi, past-chairs ESP IS ARtesol,espisartesol@arnet.com.ar, write to us :
"The ESP Interest Section of ARTESOL has a column in ARTESOL's  Newsletter.  It is soliciting articles on relevant ESP issues for publication in its upcoming issue. Submissions should be of ESP interest, in the fields of EAP, EPP/EOP, EST or ERP. Send all material by e- mail  to  espisartesol@arnet.com.ar
All articles should include the author's name, affiliation, and all mailing addresses.
Subject line should read: submission ESP IS Column
 
Kindest Regards,
Liliana Orsi - Patricia Orsi
Past-Chairs ESP IS ARtesol
Visit:  Http://members.xoom.com/espisartesol
 
By the way, did you know that the first ARTESOL Professional Development Session of 2001 will be held in Lomas de Zamora and will be about generating your own video tasks ? e-mail Patricia and Liliana for more details.
 
16.- FAKE VIRUS WARNING : BEWARE OF "BADTIMES"

Subject: FW: virus warning

If you receive an e-mail entitled 'Badtimes', delete it immediately. Do not open it. Apparently this one is pretty nasty. It will not only  erase everything on your hard drive, but it will also delete anything  on disks within 20 feet of your computer. It demagnetises the  stripes on  ALL of your credit cards. It programs your PIN access code, screws up  the tracking on your VCR and uses subspace field harmonics to scratch  any CDs you attempt to play. 
It will recalibrate your refrigerator's coolness settings so all your  ice-cream melts and your milk curdles. It will program your phone  AutoDial to call only 1900 sex line numbers. This virus will mix  antifreeze into your fish tank. It will drink all your beer. It will  leave dirty socks on the coffee table when you are expecting company.  It will replace your shampoo with engine oil and your engine oil with 
orange juice, all the while dating your current girl/boyfriend behind  your back and billing their hotel rendezvous to your Visa card.  It will cause you to run with scissors and throw things in a way that  is only fun until someone loses an eye. It will rewrite your backup  files, changing all your active verbs into passive tense and  incorporating undetectable misspellings which grossly change the 
interpretations of key sentences.  If 'Badtimes' is opened in Windows98/2000 or Windows Me, it will leave the  toilet seat  up and your hair dryer plugged in dangerously close to a full bath.  It will also molecularly rearrange your aftershave/perfume, causing it  to smell like dill pickles. 

17.- USEFUL INTERNET SITES

Here are some tips for all language teachers. We took them from NEP "Novedades Empresarias y Profesionales " , a highly commendable electronic magazine (especially for the owner of the big or small language institute who is more in contact with the world of business___ I was thinking of all my friends at SEA , the Schools of English Association)  You can subscribe to this fortnightly publication for free, mailto:empresa@psp-sa.com?subject=Suscribe_S
Here are the tips:

(a) Busque un Libro Digital GRATIS en: http://www.librosenred.com

(b) Búsqueda Avanzada en Internet: Mas de tres mil millones de páginas en Internet !!, los buscadores principales sólo indexan 800 millones o menos. Cómo buscar en esta maraña de información el dato requerido? 
Este "metabuscador conceptual" lo ayuda en la tarea. Usted ingresa su búsqueda -por contexto- y él buscará en los principales buscadores estableciendo la relevancia de los sitios en función de sus necesidades. Un verdadero bisturí láser para su búsqueda... http://www.completeplanet.com/

(c) Radios del Mundo: Cansado de escuchar siempre las mismas emisoras? 
Quizás quiera probar con alguna radio de Zimbabwe esta mañana ? ...o prefiere rock pesado norteamericano ?, locutores escoceses, quizás ? Más de 1300 radios de todo el mundo con acceso inmediato en: http://www.radiotower.com/

____________________________________________________

 
Time to say goodbye again. We wanted to leave this time with a sweet and tender
bedtime story submitted by a dear SHARER from Zárate, Province of Buenos
Aires. Nice story plus Nice idea. Thank you, Adriana and in your name thank you
to all the SHARERS that week after week fill our bags with good wishes, illusions
and dreams. It is only to all of them that we are really indebted.
 
Dear Omar and Marina,
 
I´m Adriana from Zárate and first of all I´m as happy as a king for two things.  The former is to have an electronic magazine like SHARE, really I enjoy myself very much reading and learning from it a lot.
The latter is to know that Marina is getting well from her operation. Go Ahead!
I would like to share this bedtime story taken from a book where you can find stories for every night. Let´s see this one belongs to 29 November and it is called Everyone Comes to Tea.
Here it goes: - It was a cold, damp, foggy day and the little grey rabbits were feeling glum. "Can we have some friends for tea?" asked one of them. "Of course!" said Mrs. Grey Rabbit, who loved having visitors. "I´ll get the food ready while you run off and invite new friends."
So the little grey rabbits went into the woods and invited everyone they met. When tea time arrived, the house was full of visitors. Mrs Grey Rabbit had nowhere near enough chairs, and her table was far, far too small- so all the little grey rabbits and their woodland guests sat up the stairs where there was plenty of room for everybody!
Omar and Marina, Could you imagine every SHARER together for tea, coffee or whatever!  Perhaps.......
Love
 
Adriana Losinno adianalosinno@s5coopenet.com.ar
 
Though it will be a bit difficult to house roughly 4,000 SHARERS for tea, why not? Cyber tea? Real tea? In a mad hatter´s world...anything is possible.
 
HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK!!

Omar and Marina

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