not answering the question

This has been a touchy topic these days in class. Many students, more than expected, answered something that was not what was asked in the "trabajo práctico". It is very important to know why, so that this does not happen again. To teach effectively, teachers need, among other things, to receive feedback from students about their progress and difficulties. You can tell teachers things they could not know: how you experience learning, and sometimes the reason for your problems.
That is why today the question is addressed to those who "didn´t answer the question" on this occasion or on any other: why did you write about something other than what was asked?
Mind you: we are not trying to find out if someone is to blame for this, or if you happen to regret what you did or did not do about your studies in the past. All we need to devote our attention to is the fact that there is a difficulty that needs to be resolved, so we are looking for the best way to do that. Understanding the reasons for the problem is the first step.

our new blog

Hello everyone:
Instead of our usual topics, I am writing to let you know that we have a new blog. It will replace our webpage when it is difficult to access it, like these days. Its address is http://languageiii-infoblog.blogspot.com. There is already some information on it about the partial test. We will gradually complete it with more information. We hope it is useful!

time to vote

Have you seen these videos?





You can also click here and see what they call "versión fuerte", and some opinions about these ads.

Now that we have to vote next month, have you thought about what these ads say? It might even be the first time that some of you are going to vote. Are you interested in exercising this right? Do you have information about the different candidates, or are you planning to find some? Do you think it is important to vote responsibly? In all cases, why or why not?

mediocrity?

Let´s start to discuss the kind of topic that writers discuss in essays. Here are some quotes about mediocrity coming from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/mediocrity.html:

*All good is hard. All evil is easy. Dying, losing, cheating, and mediocrity is easy. Stay away from easy.

Scott Alexander

*In the republic of mediocrity, genius is dangerous.

Robert Green Ingersoll

*Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.

Fulton J. Sheen

*People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

Andrew Carnegie

*Malice is only another name for mediocrity.

Patrick Kavanagh

To understand the value of these ideas, it would probably be useful to find out about the authors. You can do so in the same website, where you will also find many other quotations about the same topic. My question is: what is mediocrity, in your opinion? Could you give your own definition, or examples of it? What do you think of mediocre people?

new section

I´d like you all to go and see our new section: Academic information. You will find in it links to our department and other relevant sites, together with information about seminars, courses, congresses and similar events that can be of use to trainee teachers and translators. Check it periodically to be informed about more ways of preparing for your future careers.

Welcome all!

Hello everyone! New students will be seeing this blog soon. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful. Here is a new topic, but of course you can send contributions to the older ones if you wish.

How much do you know about your own university? And about others? Go to http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Higher_Education/Colleges_and_Universities/By_Region/Countries/ and find out about universities worldwide. Choose one or more universities and compare it/them to ours. How do they compare? Would you like your university to be different in any way? What would your ideal university be like? Mind you, to be fair, do not just look at the academic side: also compare fees!

did you know about this?

Hello, everybody. First of all, I have to say thank you to those who left their comments for the previous topic. Good job!
Now I have something new to discuss, and to follow the instructions of the blog I must quote my sources: Kristal told me that a very popular topic with Americans is BUSHISMS! Any idea what they are? Does the name sound like any president you know?
Go and find out about them in these links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushism
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bushisms
How would you describe what makes Americans laugh about these comments? Is it right to laugh at your own president?
On the other hand, what do you think of a president who speaks like this? What qualities should a president have, in your opinion?
If you want to read more bushisms, here go other webpages:
http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blbushdumbquotes.htm
http://www.slate.com/id/76886/
You must have noticed that some quotes contain grammar mistakes. Perhaps correcting those mistakes could be a fun way to improve your language skills! You could even see some videos. Anyway, I hope you have a good laugh.
See you soon!