Descubri que Word obliga a poner americans, english y anglo-saxons en mayuscula. Fui clinico al eliminarles porque me parece el colmo que Colombiano o Chileno o Boliviano no sean forzados a ir en mayuscula. Ojala se gocen este texto, que lo hice con mucho carinho. Intente darle el toque en ingles. Espero no haber errado. De pronto un gringuete me llame y diga que no entendio un culo.
Ya mismo va para ser entregado. Primicia para el blog.
After a long absence from english classrooms, it’s easier for me to tell how things are not as natural as they seem. Well, I might sound negative, but lots of stuff passes unnoticed and they can really make a difference.
To make things clear, I’m not criticizing my teacher. In fact, I think he has given me the best english class in my entire life. He is not to be blamed for the things I’m about to say (it sounds really serious, but it might not be as much). I’m about to criticize the english books and their examples about how to be bilingual and, by the way, a human being.
Last Thursday, the teacher shared with us a C.D. record in order to explain nouns, adjectives and other topics thought already.
The male voice claimed that before getting married he was really wild, hanging out with friends at clubs, partying and doing fun stuff. When he got married and had a child, things got different. Apparently, while being wild, he didn’t care about his friend’s issues and became irresponsible. Feeling the need to stay at home, watch T.V. and take care of the family made him a better man.
What’s wrong about that? Isn’t it a great life example? Well, it might be. But for academic purposes, I guess it doesn’t work.
The main problem is that’s not how real life is.
It’s necessary to understand that when you hear that on a C.D. record while learning english, in your brain remains the image of american or british people being kind, good, married, blonde, hard working and homely. And that’s not what happens every day.
All around the world, people try hard to make themselves a living by doing all kinds of stuff. Interesting and heroic stuff. Not predictable, lame and easy-to-pronounce activities. Is it hard to admit that Frank, the guy next door, got murdered by a cop? Or Rachel, the youngest niece, got raped by her boyfriend? Or that Alfred, the handyman, works 18 hours by day to send money to Colombia? Things like that happen all the time and everywhere.
They tend to demonize those who don’t follow the “right path” as well. For me, it was outrageous to hear this record. People don’t get married, have kids and become responsible always. Actually, those who party and go wild on weekends are not entirely irresponsible and selfish. They have jobs and family as well. Having fun is no reason to feel guilt or to be rejected publicly; nor is “family guy” a synonym of a fine and relaxed life. Not when settling down is not as fulfilling as said by the male and mature voice. We all know that.
But the aspect that really made me mad was the lack of use of some words. In a horrifying attempt to reduce and minimize the tale of the C.D. record, the voice said wild. They didn’t mention the word sex, or wasted, or drunk, or drugs. Not even drink. People must assume that wild means a cocktail party on the mid 1920’s…
Those books give a wrong impression about anglo-saxons countries. They make them look like perfect places, knowing that their problems are as serious as ours.
What I’m trying to say is that thru ideal scenarios it’s complicated for people to learn and apply english for their lives. Learning from the daily issues would be like learning from a native, because you’ll never find a clean cut walking in New York, for an example. You have to be able to communicate the daily fact. That’s the reason to learn english…
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