December 9, 2009

Christmas is just around the corner

Dear Students,
Time has really flown!You have already finished Prime 5 and Christmas is just around the corner. I would like to say that it was a real pleasure to have such a smart group of students like you. Each of you participated actively in class and you all contributed to the success of the course. It was a joy to watch you present your speeches, all of which were carefully planned. And I was also very happy to see all of you using new vocabulary in the oral test. I felt proud of you!!!
I certainly learned a lot from you guys, too. Please forgive me for the technical problems I had with the CD and the computer and for the moments I was unable to give a "perfect" answer to your questions. Challenging students like you make us teachers grow because you motivate us. Yes! Students motivate teachers too and you are great at it!!! Keep up the awesome work in Prime 6 and let's keep in touch through our blog. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
With love,
Marta

December 2, 2009

Fernanda's interview with Saramago

The weirdest interview that I have ever done was with José Saramago, who is a Portuguese writer. Saramago, who doesn't like paragraphs, commas or periods, has his own writing style. But his nice old appearance doesn't correspond to reality. Saramago,whose work gave him a Nobel prize years ago, is impatient and a little bit rude. He doesn´t like silly questions and at that time he answered them in a tough way. When the journalists that had just received his new book, the Cave, told him to say what the book was about, the writer yawned and said: Why don't you read it and you tell me? And for all the questions Saramago had agressive lines.It was hardly difficult to interview him because I like Saramago's books - blindness is my favorite book ever. At that time, I realized that some authors could stay at home without talking, only creating and writing. It's easier to keep our fantasies as we do when we read a romance. In conclusion, to meet an idol could be very frustrating!
By our journalist Fernanda

December 1, 2009

Helen Keller - Triumph over tragedy

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Confronting Adversity

Speaking of adversity, I faced some this morning when the CD did not work and I had to change my original lesson plan. The listening task was totally spoiled! Well, I have talked to the course supervisor and he has already contacted the publishers about this issue. Other teachers have been facing similar problems with Summit CDs. Please accept our apologies!

Then we started working on the reading about Helen Keller, an extraordinary woman who overcame severe disabilities and learned to communicate despite being blind and deaf.
If you want to learn about someone who really fought against adversity, you must learn more about Helen Keller. The internet is packed with information about her life, which was transformed by a teacher, Anne Sullivan - the miracle worker!