BBC Listening comprehension exercises

Not long ago I brought a listening comprehension test to class...it was part of the larger TOEFL (Itp) procedure.The students listened to thirty short campus related conversations and tried to mark the correct answer on their answering sheet....the results were interesting: the student who had exposed himself to watching most of his DVD based films in English and not in the 'dubbed - in' German version had trained his ears in such a way that he scored the highest of the rest...great job Karsten!

And you wonder why the lobby of the English teachers in Germany ( if there is such a thing )is still not able to break the monopoly of these have-to-dub companies!?

Other countries like Holland and Sweden never dub their films - not even in their cinemas...I recently saw the film: MILK about the gay movement in San Francisco in pure Amrican English while chewing on popcorn in a Swedish movie theater....

So here are some more interesting and up-to-date listening exercises to improve our listening skills... they involve the ears and the eyes and the computer mouse.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/multimedia/london/unit1/listen1.shtml

How to write and structure a characterization

So far we have read two great short stories by Roald Dahl in class.The coming test requires us to get involved with the writing of a characterization...and we are practicing it by using the logical levels a la Robert Dilts as our structuring tool.That means the text will be structured as follows: introduction; the environment of the main character ( where and when );the behavior ( what );the capabilities ( how );the values,attitudes and beliefs of the character ( why );his or her sense of identity ( who );followed by the conclusion....

I hope this scheme will will help us to compose a well-rounded and well written text about i.e. The Landlay or The Man from the South or My best friend

And then this short sentence that anyone of my students could say to me - came back to me - it was used by Robert Dilts himself when he taught us ( in Hamburg ) about this elegant model: I can not do this here - do you see the beauty of the example? I - identity;- can not beliefs;- do capabilities;- this behavior;- here environment...thank you Robert.

From wellness to Oneness

This early morning while I was out jogging this idea came into my head:some years ago it was important to have a good health.Today you can hardly open a travel brochure that does not try to lure you into booking trips that offer the experience of Wellness - and there are always these seducing pictures that go with it...somebody does something gentle to another person - like dripping warm oil across someone's forehead etc.

So, I assume wellness means more than just being in good health...and as I jogged along it became clear that the next higher experience might just be about getting a felt-sense of ONENESS.

Maybe I should contact a patent lawyer....in a few years the deep experience of ONENESS with All Life ( most likely a virtual and software based undertaking ) may just be more sought after and life changing than any spa, cruise or visit to Disney World!! could ever achieve.... MONEY! BIG MONEY!??

yes we can...the real one.

While I was trying to find a good joke about folks who copy and use the works of others ( see entry below ) - I came across the real "yes we can" video at www.funnymalaysia.com - we surely do live in an interconnected world! I hope my students - and you - will read or sing along with these powerful words.






"It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
Yes we can.
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.
Yes we can.
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
Yes we can.
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.
Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.
Yes we can heal this nation.
Yes we can repair this world.
Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can."

Celebrities featured include: Jesse Dylan, Will.i.am, Common, Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger and Nick Cannon

Yes we can....jump on a bandwagon?

Some days ago these posters appeared on strategically placed billboards in my city...and I still wonder about their underlying message....what exactly is it that we are able to do so well as to justify the usage of the Obama campaign slogan?

I guess I need help - I am just not "getting it"! Are they merely talking about the integration of new-comers into our educational system.....??

A Man from The South and The Zippo Lighter

In class we just finished reading the brilliantly written short story ( full version )by Roald Dahl " A Man from the South"....and while searching around at Youtube.com I just found this modern adaptation of that wonderfully gruesome black-humor story...but somehow this video lacks the intensity of the written story....somehow this is just a bunch of kids who may have had a project to complete in their film making class....nothing wrong with that - it is just that - in me at least - there wasn't this: well done! resonance effect as it came through when I first read the story and even by rereading it I felt the same fulfillment - sorry "boys"...I rather go for the Cadillac!

And Now: Twitter.com - First we shape our tools - then they shape us!!

I am planning on either reading or writing about an article on how people find out via Twitter when the next Mexican-Korean yummi food-truck will be arriving in their Los Angeles neighborhood...I had no idea how these hungry folks would share that information other than by the conventional methods: email;cell phone; messaging; Now I just learned there is a new way ( should I say: new for me ): they communicate the truck's arrival via Twitter...watch the above video - it tells you how this can be done and gives some more details about additional features of this latest "join me with the rest of world" tool.

So here is my question: why is it still so very hard to deeply understand and know that we are,have been and always will be ALL connected by the invisible force called ONE LIFE - I mean some of us are almost addicted to the above technologies and yet most of us have no clue about the everlasting and ongoing connection that binds us together!! In other words: How much more technology do we need - before we finally get it???