SHARE

 

An Electronic Magazine by Omar Villarreal and Marina Kirac ©

 

Year 3                                   Number 78                   September 8th 2002

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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

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Dear SHARERS,

 

A big thank you to all our dear SHARERS that sent their “get well” messages to Omar last week (unbelievable but apart from our brothers and sisters from Latin America, we even got one message from Japan and another from Malaysia!)

Our gratitude to all the well-wishers from close by and from far afar : all of them VERY close to our hearts.

This is what binds us together. We are 4.237 SHARERS a big but close family.

Shall we let a dear SHARER Betina Miretti from Saint Paul's Goya, Corrientes to say it, exactly how we feel SHARE?

 

“Love doesn't sit there like a stone , it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time , made new . thank you for being our friends!!

 

Love

Omar and Marina

 

 

 

In SHARE 78

 

1.-      Livin´ la lengua loca.

2.-     Teaching at University level.

3.-     Mega-evento para Traductores y Profesores.

4.-     What you always wanted to know about Affixes.  

5.-     APIBA SIGS in September.

6.-     Pronunciation Software.

7.-     Moving Upward.

8.-     Understanding Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

9.-     New Website for Teachers of English : E- teaching on line.

10.-    When Children Learn.

11.-    FAAPI 2002 The Final Countdown.

12.-    New Book by an Argentinian Author.

 

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1.-      LIVIN´ LA LENGUA LOCA

 

Our dear SHARER Gustavo Hermida from Bariloche sent us this interesting article

about the current state of Spanglish

 

Livin´ la lengua loca

 

La explosión latina en los Estados Unidos y la popularización de los términos informáticos expanden el uso del spanglish, una mezcla de inglés y castellano. Entre polémicas acerca de su status -¿es un idioma, un dialecto o la deformación de una lengua?-, toma por asalto a la Web.

 

Texto © Lisandro Berenguer Grassi

 

Frase uno: “Te dejo porque me tengo que ir a la marketa a pickear unas grocerías”. Frase dos: “Alguien me maileó el virus, que me deleteó todas las filas del disco rígido”. Traducción uno: “Te dejo porque me tengo que ir al supermercado para hacer unas compras”. Traducción dos: “Alguien me envió un correo electrónico con un virus que me borró todos los archivos del disco rígido”.

 

El idioma de la traducción es claro: el viejo y querido español (o castellano), la lengua de Cervantes, Borges y García Márquez. Las frases, en cambio, son expresiones en espanglés (o spanglish), un lenguaje que se habla en New York, Nuevo México, Tejas, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico y también... Buenos Aires.

 

El titular de Clarín anunció un paso más en la oficialización del espanglés como un dialecto del español: “Preparan el primer diccionario de spanglish en los Estados Unidos” ( www.clarin.com.ar/diario/2001-02-20/s-03015.htm ). Ilan Stavens, un filólogo mexicano que trabaja en la Universidad de Massachussetts, está preparando un lexicón de más de seis mil palabras tomadas del uso diario del spanglish en las comunidades latinas de EE.UU., el principal foco de infección (para los que defenestran al espanglés) o de uso (para los que lo aceptan).

 

Claro que una vez que el tema tomó estado público, la polémica estalló. Que si es un idioma, que si no, que si es una aberración, que si va a reemplazar al español o si va a modificarlo de alguna manera. Pero lo que el grueso de la gente no sabe es que la discusión no es nueva. Hace años que defensores y detractores del spanglish chocan. Y adivinar dónde se pegan no es difícil...

 

Uno de los campos de batalla privilegiados es, por supuesto, la Web. La discusión online acerca del spanglish se remonta a unos cuantos años ya. Por ejemplo, rebuscando en los arcones de Internet encontramos algunos artículos interesantes, sobre todo con la perspectiva que dan los años transcurridos entre que fueron escritos y ahora. En La página del idioma español podemos encontrar dos textos: uno, de 1995,

( www.el-castellano.com/span2.html ) en el que se critica a los propulsores de no utilizar adaptaciones al español de los términos más comunes en Internet, como “enlace” por “link” o “correo electrónico” en lugar de “e-mail”. El lenguaje del artículo ya es virulento, como anticipando las discusiones entre defensores y detractores del spanglish que vendrían más adelante.

 

La segunda nota ( www.el-castellano.com/spnglis2.html ), sin embargo, es de mayor interés. Data de 1997, y divide a los propagadores del spanglish en dos tipos. Uno es el utilizado por los hispanoparlantes de EE.UU. (aquellos que dicen “vacunar la carpeta” por “vacuum the carpet”; es decir, aspirar la alfombra). En esta sublengua abundan las reconstrucciones y transposiciones fonéticas de palabras, además de la conjugación castellanizada de verbos ingleses. El segundo tipo de spanglish es utilizado por quienes se relacionan con la informática y la ciencia. Dentro de este grupo, aparecen términos directamente no traducibles o que, por pereza, nadie quiso traducir.

 

Este tipo de spanglish se utiliza en todo el mundo de habla hispana, con especial énfasis fuera de España, en donde hay una mayor flexibilidad a la hora de adaptar nuevos vocablos, y está tan difundido que a veces ni lo notamos. Es más, según esos parámetros, iSurf es una revista escrita en spanglish. Los términos “Cool Site”, “e-mail”, “mouse”, “download” y demás son sólo ejemplos de cuán incorporadas están estas construcciones gramaticales a nuestro lenguaje diario.

Seamos sinceros, esto suele ser por pereza más que por otra razón. Porque términos en español existen para casi todos los vocablos ingleses que se usan en computación. Así lo atestiguan dos utilísimas páginas: Basic Computer English Pitfalls

(http://maja.dit.upm.es/~aalva rez/pitfalls), creada por un usuario desinteresado, y Anglicismos, barbarismos y neologismos en el lenguaje informático (www.ati.es/gt/lengua-infor matica/externos/sampedr1.html ), mantenida por la Asociación de Técnicos de Informática de España. Estos sites detallan los errores más comunes de castellanización de términos ingleses o de interpretación literal de palabras que “suenan” españolas pero que en inglés tienen un significado distinto (por ejemplo, “librería”, del inglés “library”, que en verdad quiere decir “biblioteca”).

 

 

El spanglish de La Raza

 

Pero el “peligro” mayor del espanglés no viene por el lado informático sino del Gran País del Norte, EE.UU., donde los latinos (que se autodenominan “La Raza”) lo usan más y más. Ya en 1997 sonaban las campanas de alarma, como lo atestigua una nota de ese año en El Mundo (http://sudinero.elmundo.es/1997/03/31/cultura/31N0072.html), en la que se relatan los orígenes del híbrido, al principio estigmatizado como el pastiche de los inmigrantes que no podían hablar bien inglés.

 

Claro que todo cambia y debido al crecimiento de “La Raza” en EE.UU., los latinos están empezando a reconocerse y a presentar sus credenciales con orgullo, además de haberse transformado en un mercado interesante desde el punto de vista económico. Y no es para menos. El Censo 2000 mostró que en EE.UU. hay 40 millones de hispanos. Esto lo transforma en el tercer país en número de gente que habla español! (después de México y España y antes que la Argentina).

 

¿Suena raro, no? Pero esto queda demostrado en la “explosión latina” que viven en este momento América del Norte. Y en la aproximación diferente y no tan agresiva hacia el espanglés, como en la nota en la que Telépolis “presenta” a esta forma de hablar (www.telepolis.com/weekend/week34/articulo.htm ), en donde se reivindican algunas características del spanglish. Claro que no todos están contentos. Así lo hizo saber la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española en una carta abierta a la comunidad educativa y a las otras 21 academias de español del mundo (http://majordomo.eunet.es/listserv/apuntes/2000-11/1809.html ). En esta carta se defenestra al spanglish como una forma de “hablar mal inglés y peor español”.

 

Mientras los académicos se rompen los cuernos intentado definir si el espanglés es un idioma, un dialecto, una deformación o qué, habría que recordar que los lenguajes cambian y se desarrollan, evolucionan y fluctúan... o mueren. Y que el español, en definitiva, es una “deformación” de otro idioma más venerable, el latín (para más datos, ver el interesantísimo artículo de la Enciclopedia Britannica acerca de idiomas romances como el español, el francés y el italiano, en www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=118108 ).

 

En Internet, el spanglish goza de excelente salud, a pesar de lo que quieran algunos. Unos cuantos diccionarios online despejan las dudas que pueden surgir si se quiere practicar visitar (http://members.tripod.com/~nelson_g/spanglish.html ). Y en los EE.UU., el espanglés está rozagante, y tiene cada vez más popularidad entre el público latino (y anglosajón). Como muestra basta un botón: Spanglish Domains (www.spanglishdomains.com/ ) ofrece dominios que comienzan con “Mas” (MasBooks) y con “SeHabla” (SeHablaTravel). Así que, mientras la polémica spanglish/espanglés continúa, nosotros podemos decir: ¡Long live La Raza!

 

El negocio de ser latino

 

Las noticias no pueden ser más contundentes. “Los hispanos son mayoría en Florida”; “Un latino estuvo a punto de ser el alcalde de Los Angeles”; “Los latinos han sobrepasado a los afroamericanos como primera minoría”. Desde otro ángulo, el mundo del espectáculo está descubriendo al gigante latino: el Oscar a Benicio del Toro, el actor portorriqueño, el espacio que los diarios dedican a cada andanza de Jennifer López y Christina Aguilera y la “vida loca” de Ricky Martin son sólo la punta del iceberg.

 

Porque además de un incremento en su poder, los latinos son un nuevo mercado a conquistar. La revista American Demographics publicó un artículo sobre el tema (www.britannica.com/magazine?ebsco_id=89307 ), en donde se explora el nuevo poder adquisitivo de los latinos (los adolescentes gastan un promedio de 320 dólares al mes, más que el grueso de los “teens” estadounidenses) y la atracción que ejercen sobre el resto de la cultura de EE.UU., desde la música (con la increíble variedad de ritmos latinos que existen) hasta la ropa (créase o no, las guayaberas se están poniendo de onda).

 

Hablamos spanglish

 

En mayor o menor grado, la cultura spanglish está dejando su marca en el espacio latino de los Estados Unidos. Y esto se refleja en la calle y en Internet. Latina (www.latina.com/ ) y UrbanLatino (www.urbanlatino.com ) son dos revistas de papel que se consiguen en cualquier puesto de venta y que están escritas en spanglish. Ambas reivindican “la experiencia latina”. La primera es una típica revista para chicas, con la diferencia que sus notas están en inglés, español y espanglés. UrbanLatino tiene un perfil más sofisticado.

 

Ya acotado solamente a la Web, Pocho.com: Spanglish is my language (www.pocho.com)  es un site de humor en spanglish que se mofa sobre todo de la política yanqui (entre sus “10 señales de que hay un boom latino en EE.UU.”, remarcan que “el presidente Bush ahora puede equivocarse en sus discursos en inglés y en castellano”. Altamente recomendable. Y el espanglés tiene su propio portal, LoQueSea.com : Do Spanglish (www.us.loquesea.com ), la versión en este dialecto de la serie de portales que LoQueSea tiene para el mercado latino. Las secciones tienen pintorescos nombres espangleses como “The Barrio” (la comunidad virtual), o “La Clicka” (que quiere decir “banda” pero que aquí designa a la zona de juegos).

 

 

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2.-     TEACHING ENGLISH AT UNIVERSITY LEVEL

 

Primer  Congreso  Internacional "Teaching English at University  level:
Challenges and Perspectives":  Se celebrará en Cancún, México, del 26 al 29
de septiembre de 2002, organizado por la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de
Puebla.   Versará sobre teorías y metodologías en la enseñanza del  idioma.
For further information, e-mail:  igarrido@siu.buap.mx 
or visit the Website:  http://www.buap.mx/eventos/lenguas/index.html

 

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3.-     MEGA EVENTO PARA TRADUCTORES Y PROFESORES


Our dear SHARERS from English Speakers send us this very special invitation for all our SHARERS:

 

A todos los SHARERS,

 

Me dirijo a ustedes con el fin de informarle que el dia 14 de septiembre estamos organizando en el hotel InterContinental de Bs As, el Primer Mega Evento para traductores y profesores de Inglés.

Nos gustaría darles la posiblidad de que los miembros de Share ingresen al evento con un descuento del 10%

 

EnglishSpeakers.com.ar promociona sólo eventos de altísima calidad en hoteles 5 estrellas, con oradores de gran calibre. En este caso presentamos el primer MEGA EVENTO del año para profesores y traductores de inglés el día 14 de septiembre en el hotel INTER-CONTINENTAL, en Buenos Aires.

 

El precio de la entrada es de $50 y la única entidad autorizada para la venta de entradas es Librería Rodríguez (Sarmiento 835) en Buenos Aires. La gran mayoría de los asistentes al evento son directores de carreras de universidades o instituciones terciarias, profesores, traductores, intérpretes, o alumnos que cursan dichas carreras.

 

Toda la información del evento se encuentra en el sitio (englishspeakers.com.ar), desde los CVs de los oradores hasta el hotel, fecha, programa y temas a tratar. Habrá una exposición de libros en el foyer del hotel en todos los coffee-breaks. Todos los asistentes recibirán el material impreso de las proyecciones en pantalla grande de los 2 disertantes. Los oradores elegidos para el 2002 fueron el Dr. Ricardo Chiesa y Aldo Blanco M.A. quienes son excelentes profesionales en sus áreas y juntos podrán ofrecer el mejor de los eventos. Cada orador hará una exposición sobre los temas indicados en la página, que estará seguida de un intercambio con los asistentes para la formulación y contestación de preguntas y la evacuación de consultas.

 

Luego se trabajará con ejercicios que se proveerán a los asistentes, a modo de aplicación práctica de los contenidos expuestos en la disertación. Habrá un stand que ofrece pasantías rentadas en Estados Unidos para trabajar en el campo de la enseñanza o de la traducción. También estarán presentes los stands de librerías, asociaciones e institutos.

 

Si están interesados en nuestra propuesta, no dude en comunicarse con Omar a share@netizen.com.ar para que él nos envíe la confirmación de su pertenencia a SHARE y luego puedan inscribirse con un arancel reducido en un 10%.

Los esperamos en el evento.

 

Englishspeakers@com.ar

 

Programa del Mega Evento : Hotel Inter- Continental - Salón Moserrat – Moreno 809- Buenos Aires

 

Acreditación:

De 9.00 a 9.30

Primera Sesión:

De 9.40 a 11.00 – Dr Ricardo Chiesa

Estrategias para la traducción de términos políticos y jurídicos. Parte 1

Disertación en castellano

1º Coffee Break:

De 11.00 a 11.30 - Café y venta de libros

Segunda Sesión:

De 11.30 a 13.00 – Dr Ricardo Chiesa

Estrategias para la traducción de términos políticos y jurídicos. Parte 2

Disertación en castellano

ALMUERZO

De 13.00 a 14.30

Primera Sesión:

De 14.30 a 16.00 - Aldo Blanco M.A.

El Inglés Avanzado: qué enseñar y cómo. Parte 1

Disertación en inglés

2º Coffee Break:

De 16.00 a 16.30 - Café y venta de libros

Segunda Sesión:

De 16.30 a 17.30 - Aldo Blanco M.A.

El Inglés Avanzado: qué enseñar y cómo. Parte 2

Disertación en inglés

 

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4.-     WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT AFFIXES

 

Review: Quinion, Michael "Ologies and Isms: Word Beginnings and Endings", Oxford University Press; paperback, pp280; ISBN 0-19-280123-6

Reviewed by lexicographer Jonathon Green, editor of the "Cassell Dictionary of Slang", and author of "Chasing the Sun: Dictionary Makers and the Dictionaries They Made" and many other works.

Like the DNA that lies at the heart of the human body, language too has its building blocks, fundamental and indivisible, the literal foundations of the vocabulary. For the linguist these are the phonemes, from the Greek "phoneima", a sound, and defined by the OED as "a phonological unit of language that cannot be analyzed into smaller linear units" and by David Crystal as "the minimal unit in the sound system of a language". But if the phonemes are the foundations, the word, the linguistic "house" as it were, offers other, more obviously visible components. These are the prefixes and suffixes, the tops and tails of a given word: "hypo-","palaeo-", "onco-", "-saur", "-gynous", "-cyte". On any page, in any sentence, such portmanteau terms abound: acquaint oneself with the meaning of such appendages and one is on the way to full
definition.

There are very many such affixes and such etymological dictionaries as those of Skeat or Partridge always offered a cross-section. Now, in one dedicated volume, Michael Quinion (who, as after-dinner speakers put it, "needs no introduction") has collected what one might term the core list, each with an etymology and a range of
examples. The 1,250-strong lexicon comes in dictionary order, plus sidebars that focus on such especially popular terms as "cyber-", "-cide", "-phobia", and "-algia", plus a list of those determining multiples, among them "yotta-" (10 to the power of 24) and "zepto" (10 to the power of -21). In addition there are thematic lists -
unsurprisingly the worlds of Medicine and Surgery, plus the attendant Body, predominate here, closely followed by those of the Chemical Elements. Among other areas, Religion and Spirit, Sensations, Shapes and Time all provide their own examples.

As might be expected the bulk of such material is based in Greek or Latin. One might accuse such classicism of deliberate jargoneering and obfuscation, but the translations make it clear that such affixes actually produce useful and, had one the classics to know them, clear definitions of the pertinent terms. Indeed, the more
modern coinages, mainly suffixes such as "-bot", "-fest", "-ista", "-meister", and above all "-oholic" and "-gate" (neither of which latter pair are "true" suffixes) sound slightly specious.

It is traditional when reviewing dictionaries to parade one's supposedly superior wisdom: nits, in other words, must be picked. OK. I would have like to have seen "fashionista", surely the first of the non-political "-ista" uses; I missed the sci-fi plural "fen" (as in the community of fans) under "-en". I would have also liked
to see mention of that least classical and most demotic of suffixes, the Australian slang "-o", as in "garbo", "milko", "sango" and so many more. And ... and that's about it. Other, that is, than the title: both terms are suffixes, surely a suitably assonant prefix could have been found.
 
Despite their primary use as works of reference, dictionaries (even the mighty OED) should entertain as well as inform. "Ologies and Isms" performs absolutely as required. It will, as the blurb writers have it, delight anyone with an interest in words. As subscribers to World Wide Words, our communal hat should be tipped
to Michael Quinion. As also to the OUP: of late too often sidetracked into the second-rate, this is what the Press does best.

[Quinion, Michael "Ologies and Isms: Word Beginnings and Endings", Oxford University Press; paperback, pp280; ISBN 0-19-280123-6; publisher's price GBP8.99. Out in the UK on 29 August 2002; published in Canada next month, in Australia on 1 November, and in the US next Spring. For sample entries and online ordering
suggestions, see <http://www.worldwidewords.org/ologies.htm>.]

 

 

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5.-     APIBA SIGS IN SEPTEMBER

 

Our dear SHARER Analía Kandel, APIBA SIGs Liaison Officer, apibasigs@apiba.org.ar sends us this update of their Special Interest Groups. 

 

Phonology SIG

Coordinators: Roxana Basso - Maria Isabel Santa

Date: Saturday, September 14, 2002 -- Time: 9 - 11

Venue: Cultural Inglesa de Buenos Aires, Viamonte 1475, Buenos Aires

 

Language SIG

Coordinators: Maria Luisa Ghisalberti - Myriam Sosa Belenky

Date: Saturday, September 14, 2002 -- Time: 11.15 - 13.15

Venue: Cultural Inglesa de Buenos Aires, Viamonte 1475, Buenos Aires

 

Business SIG

Coordinators: Maria Laura Fox - Gabriela Pezzi de Lozada

Date: Tuesday, September 17, 2002 -- Time: 10.30 - 12.30

Asociacion de Ex-Alumnos de Lenguas Vivas, Paraguay 1935, Buenos Aires

Agenda: 1.  Maria Laura Speziali will focus on vocabulary from chapters 1 and 2 from “Managing in Turbulent Times” by Peter Drucker.

2. Discussion of  the contents of some web sites related to Knowledge Management. For details about these web sites please e-mail apibasigs@apiba.org.ar

 

Cultural Studies SIG

Coordinators: Paula Lopez Cano - Erika Navarro

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2002 -- Time: 9 - 10.30

Venue: SBS Palermo, Av. Coronel Diaz 1745, Buenos Aires

 

Literature SIG

Coordinators: María Valeria Artigue - Susana Groisman

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2002 -- Time: 11 - 13

Venue: SBS Palermo, Av. Coronel Diaz 1745, Buenos Aires

Agenda: "El Aleph" and "Borges y yo". by S. Groisman followed by workshop. Background reading: Magic Realism. In Lodge, David. 1992. The Art of Fiction. London: Penguin.

 

Professional Development SIG -Olavarria, Prov. of BA.

Co-ordinators: Melina Barbero - Karina Elbey - Silvana Riccio de Bottino

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2002 -- Time: 11 to 12.30

ISFD Nº 22 "A. Alsina", Ayacucho 2418 . Olavarría, Prov. of B.A.

Agenda: 1. Reflecting on our own professional development by Lidia Bravo.

2. Workshop on "Motivating our students" by M. Barbero, K. Elbey and S. Riccio.

 

NEW SIG!

SLT (Second Language Teaching) SIG - Lomas de Zamora, Prov. of BA.

Coordinators: Monica Gandolfo - Silvia Rettaroli

Date: Saturday, September 28, 2002 -- Time: 10 - 12

Venue: ISP "Presbitero A. Saenz", Calle Saenz 740, Lomas de Zamora, Prov. of B.A.

Agenda: Exploration of interest areas to be dealt with in 2002 sessions.

 

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6.-     PRONUNCIATION SOFTWARE

 

Our dear SHARER Silvina David from La Plata sends us this useful lists of sites where we can find software to help our students to systematically work on improving their pronunciation.

  

(1)      http://www.proteatextware.com.au/csbr.htm
There's only a British and an American version.

 

(2)     http://www.comdistec.com/

A demonstration session of “Hearsay” software to reduce foreign accent.

(3)     http://www.divace.com/language/solomedi.php?page=language
or
http://www.divace.com (start here if you don't get to the link above)

“Divace Solo” for listening, recording and comparing (but it is not free!)

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7.-     MOVING UPWARD

 

 

Our dear SHARER Bethina Viale sends us this beautiful message which as she says in her posting is …”worth reading”:

 

I got to poking through some of the old things I'd saved and came across a wonderful little article from an issue of "Guideposts Magazine." It's by Arthur Gordon and is titled "The Rewards of Caring."

He tells the story of how once, as a small boy, he was witness to a near-tragedy.  At the beach, a woman stepped off a sandbar into deep, swift water and panicked.  At least 20 adults in bathing suits watched, apparently paralyzed, until suddenly a young man ran up, plunged in fully clothed, and brought the woman out.
As Arthur Gordon described the episode later to his parents, his admiration for the young man was matched by the contempt he felt for those who failed to act.  She was drowning, and they didn't even seem to care.
His father looked at him thoughtfully and said, "The world often seems divided between those who care and those who don't care enough.  But don't judge too harshly.  It takes courage to care greatly."
It does take courage to care, to open your heart and react with sympathy or compassion or indignation or enthusiasm when it is easier, and sometimes safer, not to get involved.  But people who take the risk, who deliberately discard the armor of indifference, make a tremendous discovery -- the more things you care about, and the more intensely you care, the more alive you become.
Caring or not caring can spell the difference between success and failure in a job, in a marriage -- in every human relationship.  As Emerson said, "Nothing great was every achieved without enthusiasm."  And what is enthusiasm but passionate caring?
A famous jeweller once sold a magnificent ruby after one of his salespeople had failed to interest the customer.  Asked how he did it, the jeweller said, "My clerk is an excellent man, an expert on precious stones. There's just one difference between us -- he knows jewels, but I "love" them.  I care what happens to them, who wears them.  The customers sense this.  It makes them want to buy -- and they do."
In such cases, of course, caring ultimately brings tangible reward, but the great philosophers and religious leaders have always taught this paradox: The most rewarding form of caring is caring without hope of reward.
Fortunately for mankind, the world is full of people who go quietly through life performing, as Wordsworth put it, "little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love."
The volunteer worker at the hospital, the unpaid canvasser for the community chest, the neighbor who offers to take care of your children while you settle a new house -- such people have no ulterior motive and expect no recompense.  They act because they care, and their actions, multiplied my millions, supply the force that keeps the human race moving upward from barbarism along the path of growth.
There are people who say that if you care too much, you can get hurt. That's right -- you win some, and you lose some. But the alternative is a pretty bleak and uninteresting existence.

 

© Wendyl K. Leslie   

 

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8.-     UNDERSTANDING COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

 

Our dear SHARER Victoria Alperín  from Asunción, Paraguay sends us this material we can all  put to immediate use with our students.

 

 

 

When we speak of nouns as being countable or uncountable, we mean that some things can be counted while others cannot. Countable nouns name individual items that can add up; there can be one or more of them.  Other things cannot be counted; they

are considered collective rather than individual items.  In many cases this distinction is easy to understand.  We all recognize that we can count items like books, tables, eggs, or mountains.

We can easily imagine one or more of such items.  And most of us recognize that it is not possible to count other things like water, dust, air, or ice cream.  These things cannot easily be separated into individual items.  

But many nouns are uncountable for less obvious reasons.

Most concepts or abstract ideas like peace, happiness, wealth and knowledge are uncountable.  So are many activities such as swimming, eating, and debauchery, and some conditions such as confusion, frustration, satisfaction, and certainty. These nouns are considered uncountable because they are not easily identified as single things--the idea of happiness can consist of many different things and can be different for different people—or because they refer to general activities rather than specific instances; eating refers to the activity in general, not any particular example.  The names of most disciplines are also uncountable, for example, sociology, medicine, anthropology.

Nouns ending in -ism are also usually uncountable, for example, feminism, optimism, patriotism.

 

Some uncountable nouns like money, homework, work, and gossip are very confusing for learners of English because they seem to refer to particular items, yet they are treated as general.  When we speak of work, we are not thinking of a particular job or activity--we include the idea of what anyone might do in any job that would be considered doing work.  Jobs are countable items that are specific instances of the general idea of work. 

In the same way, homework is not the particular assignment or assignments a student does. It is the general idea of students doing assignments.  When a student says, "I have to do my homework," he or she may mean one assignment or several

assignments or parts of one or more assignments, so the student knows what particular activities are involved, but they are referred to as part of a generalized activity--my homework can be something different every day. 

Note: As you have perhaps noticed, individual activities like jobs and assignments--which are closely identified with uncountable nouns like work and homework--are countable.  That means that although you can't say "I have lots of homeworks to

do," you can say "I have lots of assignments."

 

Money is an interesting example of an uncountable noun because, of course, lots of people love to count their money. 

Also confusing for many students are the numerous English nouns that have both a countable and an uncountable sense. Depending on the context, these nouns sometimes refer to a particular thing and at other times to a general idea.  In some

cases this is not difficult.  For example,

Death (in general) is inevitable.

She missed work because there was a death in her family.

However, many nouns are thought of as general more by custom than for any clear reason.  Many food items fall into this category, e.g., chicken, cheese, and fruit.

Thus, we see a chicken on a farm, but we eat chicken; we say that the tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable, but we like fruit on our cereal. 

Note: individual servings of food items are usually countable, but not the food itself, e.g.,    

               pie                                     a piece of pie

               bread                        a slice of bread   

               gum                           a stick of gum

 

Other nouns that can be either countable or uncountable include substances that things can be made of, like paper or glass.  When you write an essay on paper, it becomes a paper.  Other nouns in this category are words like wood and cloth, which

refer to the material that may be made of many different varieties of tree or fabric.  Thus, the material of an elm, an oak or a pine is all wood and linen, silk and cotton are all made into cloth.

 

                  Some Common Uncountable Nouns

 

accuracy               darkness               fun                       inferiority

admiration            economics              furniture               information

advice                  efficieny               garbage                 integration

aggression             electricity             generosity             intelligence

air                        enjoyment              gravity                 irritability

assistance              entertainment        happiness              isolation

behavior                estimation             health                   junk

boredom                equipment              heat                      justice

bravery                evidence                help                      knowledge

chemistry              evolution               homework              laughter

clothing                 excitement            honesty                 leisure

comprehension       fame                     ignorance              literature

courage                 foolishness            immigration           luck

luggage                  peace                    recreation             stuff    

machinery              permission             relaxation             superiority

mail                      physics                  reliability              survival

math                     poetry                   research                tolerance

merchandise           pollution               sadness                 traffic

money                    poverty                 safety                   transportation

music                    pride                    scenery                 trouble

news                     productivity          shopping                violence

nonsense                progress                significance           water

oxygen                  propaganda            slang                     wealth

participation         psychology            snow                     weather

pay                       rain                      status                   wisdom

              

 

     Some Nouns that can be either Countable or Uncountable      

 

 

abuse                  drama                   jail                       reading            

adulthood            duck                     jealousy                religion

afternoon            education              language                revision

age                     environment           law                       rock

anger                  evening                  liberty                  science

appearance          exercise                life                       school

art                     fact                      love                      shock

beauty                faith                     lunch                     society

beer                   fear                      man                      sorrow

belief                 fiction                  marriage               space

breakfast           film                      meat                     speech

cheese                fish                       metal                    spirit

chicken               flavor                   milk                      stone

childhood            food                      morning                 strength

cloth                   freedom                murder                  surprise

college                 friendship             nature                   teaching

commitment           fruit                     paper                    temptation

competition           glass                     passion                  theater

concern                 government            people                   theory

crime                    hair                      personality            time

culture                  hatred                  philosophy             tradition

death                    history                  pleasure                trouble

desire                   home                     power                   truth

dinner                   hope                      prejudice              turkey

disappointment      ideology                pressure                understanding

discrimination        imagination            prison                   weakness

disease                  injustice                punishment            wine

divorce                  innocence              race                      writing

 

©1998 Hunter College Reading/Writing Center.

 

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9.-     NEW WEBSITE FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH : E-TEACHING ON LINE

 

Our dear friend and SHARER Patricia Salvador tells us more about her new Website:


Dear friends,

 

This is a "special" message for a very "special "group of friends : our fellow SHARERS. I want you to learn more about this project, now a reality, that Alice and I (together with  a highly professional team) carried out in spite of all difficulties.

Go through the "mag" and let us know your reaction.

 

Fondest regards

Patricia

 

Good News!  www.e-teachingonline.com.ar  is now available!

 

e-teachingonline is a service mag on line to assit English teachers with:

 

Activities for all level students (Kids,Teens, Adults, Business)

Printable material to take to the classroom (Take 5'), to reproduce (Arts and Crafts), etc.

Hints and tips for your classwork and updated articles on ELT .

Services such as dictionaries, classifieds, book reviews of coursebooks

and resource books for teachers, relevant links for the different levels, etc.

Info about training courses, international exams, scholarships, educational tourism and outings in English, educational material, etc.

News and interesting interviews to personalities and celebs...

 

Click.... www.e-teachingonline.com.ar   

and see all we have to offer to increase your potential. Go through all the sections and find what meets your needs

The first issue is a sampler : we're showing you almost all the material!

 

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10.-    WHEN CHILDREN LEARN.

 

Our dear SHARER Marcela Santafé y Soriano from Olivos writes to us:

 

Dear Omar,

I really enjoy SHARE tremendously! I started receiving it only at the end of last year when one of my classmates at the Licenciatura en Lengua Inglesa (Universidad de Belgrano) brought the information into the class and shared it with all of us.

the purpose of this letter is to let you know I really enjoy your work. I also wanted to send you something you might enjoy and want to share with others.

I hope you enjoy it.

 

Marcela Santafé  y  Soriano

 

WHEN CHILDREN LEARN

 

When children learn that happiness is not found in what a person has

 but in who that person is,

 

When they learn that giving and forgiving are more rewarding

than taking and avenging,

 

When they learn that suffering is not eased by self-pity

but overcome by inner resolve and spiritual strength,

 

When they learn that they can't control the world around them,

but they are the masters of their own souls,

 

When they learn that relationships will prosper

 if they value friendship over ego

compromise over pride,

and listening over advising,

 

When they learn not to hate a person whose difference they fear,

but to fear that kind of hate,

 

When they learn that there is pleasure in the power of lifting others up,

not in the pseudo-power of pushing them down,

 

When they learn that praise from others is flattering

but meaningless if it is not matched by self-respect,

 

When they learn that the value of life is best measured

not by the years accumulating possessions,

 

but by the moments spent giving of one's self- sharing wisdom,

inspiring hope,

wiping tears

and touching hearts,

 

When they learn that a person's beauty

is not seen with the eyes

but with the heart,

And that even though time and hardships may ravage one's outer shell,

they can enhance one's character and perspective,

 

When they learn to withhold judgment of people,

knowing everyone is blessed with good and bad qualities,

and that the emergence of either

often depends on the help given or on the hurt inflicted by others,

 

When they learn that very person has been given the gift of a unique self,

and the purpose of life is to share the very best of that gift with the world,

 

When children learn these ideals and

how to practise them in the art of good living,

they will no longer be children.

 

They will be blessings to those who know them,

and worthy models for all the world.

 

David L. Weatherford.

 

 

 

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11.-    FAAPI 2002 : THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

 

In a few more days the big event of the English teaching profession in our country will be opening in dear old Córdoba. There is still time to register. You can get the

enrolment form from http://www.faapi.com.ar/Congresos.htm.   

or from  the Newsboard Section of our Website : www.shareeducation.com.ar

Below you will find a tempting list of only some of the renowned specialists that will be taking part in the event:

 

Federación Argentina de Asociaciones de Profesores de Inglés

2002 FAAPI Conference - 19 - 21 September 2002 - Córdoba

 

The 2002 FAAPI Conference aims to provide a forum for comparing experiences and sharing ideas of interest in the fields of EFL methodology, curriculum development and technology applied to EFL instruction. Specifically, this year's conference will provide an opportunity to consider what has been achieved and what new directions are available on issues such as:

 

* EFL Methodology

* Schools curricula at the EGB and Polimodal levels

* Teacher Education curricula

* ESP curricula

* International examinations curricula

* Bilingual education curricula

* Literature and culture in the EFL curriculum

* The place of technology in the  EFL curriculum

 

For further information, please contact the Conference Office:Telefax 0351 - 427 0022  - faapi2002@hotmail.com

 

Ana María ARMENDÁRIZ (Ministerio de Educación, Buenos Aires) (Schools Curricula)

Daniel FERNÁNDEZ, M.A. (Universidad Nacional del Litoral) (Teacher Education Curricula)

Dr. Antonieta CELANI, Ph.D. (Pontifícia Universidade Católica, São Paulo) (Schools Curricula)

Dr. Christine HELOT, Ph.D. (Institut de Formation de Maîtres, Strasbourg) (Bilingual Education Curricula)

Dr. Christine HELOT, Ph.D. (Institut de Formation de Maîtres, Strasbourg) (Bilingual Education Curricula)

Jeremy HARMER, M.A. (Curriculum design)

John Mc RAE (University of Nottingham) (Literature and Culture in the Curriculum)

Adriana ALVAREZ (Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Gral. Roca) (Teacher Education Curricula)

Adriana BARRIONUEVO (Escuela Normal Superior en Lenguas Vivas "J.B.Alberdi", Tucumán) (Bilingual Education Curricula)

Adriana BOFFI (Universidad Nacional de la Plata, UCLES) (International Exams Curricula)

Alba LOYO, M.A. (Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto) (ESP Curricula)

Alejandra PORTELA (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Teacher Education Curricula)

Analía KANDEL, M.A. (ISP "Joaquín V. González", Buenos Aires) (Writing)

Ana María MORRA de DE LA PEÑA (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Moderator Writing)

Claudia FERRADAS MOI, M. A. (IES en Lenguas Vivas "J. R. Fernández"; Universidad Nacional de Quilmes) (Literature and Culture in the Curriculum)

Cristina THOMSON de GRONDONA WHITE (Escuela Superior en Lenguas Vivas "J.F. Kennedy", Buenos Aires) (Literature and Culture in the Curriculum)

Dr. Cristina BANFI, Ph. D. (ESSARP; APIBA) (Bilingual Education Curricula)

Dr. Cristina ELGUE de MARTINI, Ph. D. (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Moderator: Literature and Culture in the Curriculum)

Dr. Liliana ANGLADA, Ph.D. (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Writing)

Dr. Susana TUERO, Ph.D. (Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata) (Writing)

Efraín DAVIS, M:A. (Universidad Nacional de Quilmes) (Schools Curricula)

Elba VILLANUEVA de DEBAT (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Moderator: Bilingual Education Curricula)

Graciela AGNELLI (G-TELP) (International Exams Curricula)

Graciela PASCUAL (Universidad Nacional de La Pampa) (Writing)

Ingrid BLANK (Ministerio de Educación, Prov. de Córdoba; Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Schools Curricula)

Julio GIMÉNEZ, M.A. (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Moderator: ESP Curricula)

Laila NICOLA, M. A. (Formely Escuela Superior de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Saint Patrick's School, Córdoba) (Bilingual Education Curricula; Literature and Culture in the Curriculum)

Lic. Eleonora SALAS (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; IICANA) (International Exams Curricula)

Lic. María Rosa MARIANI (ISFD Nº 24, Bernal, Prov. Buenos Aires) (Moderator: Schools Curricula)

Lidia QUEVEDO (Universidad Nacional de Catamarca) (ESP Curricula)

Liliana FORTUNY (Universidad Nacional de Salta) (ESP Curricula)

Liliana MURILLO (Universidad Nacional de Jujuy) (Schools Curricula)

Mabel BENAVÍDEZ de ALBAR DÍAZ (Facultad de Filosofía, Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de San Juan) (Literature and Culture in the Curriculum)

Mabel GALLO (ICANA, Buenos Aires) (International Exams Curricula)

María Inés ASIS, M.A. (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Writing)

Mariel AMEZ (Instituto de Enseñanza Superior "Olga Cossettini", Rosario) (Teacher Education Curricula)

Melina PORTO (Universidad Nacional de La Plata) (Writing)

Mónica GANDOLFO (ISFD Nº 24, Bernal, Prov. Buenos Aires) (ESP Curricula)

Sandra FADDA (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Literature and Culture in the Curriculum)

Susana CABIDO (Academia Argüello, Córdoba) (Bilingual Education Curricula)

Susana LIRUSO, M.A. (Facultad de Lenguas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) (Moderator: International Exams Curricula)

Teresa DAVIS (Instituto de Enseñanza Superior "Juan Ramón Fernández", Buenos Aires) (Teacher Education Curricula; Bilingual Education Curricula)

 

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12.-    NEW BOOK BY AN ARGENTINIAN AUTHOR

 

 

Our dear friend Celina Cullen has published a new book for the practice of the basics of  English Grammar. Our heartfelt congratulations!

Celina was kind enough to send us a copy of her book which we donated to the library of the Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado de la Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (triunnvirato 3174- Buenos Aires) where it can be consulted. Let us read what Celina has got to say:

 

 

I'd like to share with you my experience as a teacher after 9 years of work with students who had to sit for their English exams and with those who find it hard to acquire the language. Learning English as a foreign language may be for some students an enjoyable task, but for others who find it hard to acquire the basic rules of the language, it may become a troublesome one. Thus, it is the teachers’ job to prepare different activities for these students to help them reach a successful learning goal. What I mean is that successful teachers are those who are able to make students understand, learn and internalise whatever they are learning. Though this definition may sound obvious, it is in fact a not very easy goal to achieve.

Here we come to the point of analysing our student, the one to whom all our activities are directed to. To put it in a simple way we can classify them into 3 wide categories. First, we have those clever and interested students who find the learning of the foreign language an enjoyable task. Second, we have the ones who understand but don’t like the language, this situation requires on the part of the teachers a "careful" and hard working task. In my opinion there is a third group often neglected. It is the one of those students who, whether they like the language or not, it becomes really hard for them to acquire the basic rules/ forms of it.

I want to concentrate on how we can help these students learn the language we are teaching. It is hard but in the end it is really rewarding ...

Teaching weak students requires important attitudes on the part of the teachers. First is involvement in the situation; that is , teachers should recognise among a group of students who are the ones who need more attention and be ready to help.Second, we need a set of easy activities to be done by these students. Let’s analyse their characteristics. The activities should be: 

 

- Straightforward and clear : what sts. should do must be stated in the simplest way to avoid confussion

- Drill-typed: these exercises serve this purpose as well. Though they lack communicative value they help in getting meaning and the forms of the new structures.

- Vocabulary restricted: this obviously facilitates understanding

- Graded in order of difficulty: the activities should go from the easiest to the most difficult, thus helping weak students grasping knowledge slowly and clearly.

 

All these types of activities are found in a PHOTOCOPIABLE book called "EXERCISES AND MORE..."  which is on sale in some bookshops. If you find it difficult to get or if you would like a free talk on English grammar followed by a presentation of the book in your area , please contact me at:  

 

Deán Funes 45  

2309 - Humberto 1° , Pcia. de Santa Fé

Tel: 03493-480597

e-mail: potycullen@interclass.com.ar

 

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Today we will say goodbye with a message that our dear friend and SHARER Celia Zubiri sent us . It is a reflection written by Mother Therese of Calcuta .Let us make this our small way to pay our respects and homage to that extraordinary and saintly woman on the 5th anniversary of her departure of the Home of our Father.

 

  Siempre ten presente que la piel se arruga, el pelo

  se vuelve blanco, los días se convierten en años...

  Pero lo importante no cambia; tu fuerza y tu

  convicción no tiene edad. Tu espíritu es el plumero

  de cualquier tela de araña.

  Detrás de cada línea de llegada, hay una de partida.

  Detrás de cada logro, hay otro desafío. Mientras

  estés vivo, siéntete vivo.

  Si extrañas lo que hacías, vuelve a hacerlo. No

  vivas de fotos amarillas...

  Sigue aunque todos esperen que abandones. No dejes

  que se oxide el hierro que hay en ti.

  Haz que en vez de lástima, te tengan respeto.

  Cuando por los años no puedas correr, trota. Cuando

  no puedas trotar, camina. Cuando no puedas caminar,

  usa el bastón. ¡¡¡ Pero nunca te detengas !!!

   

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK !

 

Omar and Marina.

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SHARE is distributed free of charge. All announcements in this electronic magazine are also absolutely free of charge. We do not endorse any of the services announced or the views expressed by the contributors.  For more information about the characteristics and readership of SHARE visit: http://groups.yahoo.com/sharemagazine

VISIT OUR WEBSITE : http://www.shareeducation.com.ar There you can read all past  issues of SHARE in the section SHARE ARCHIVES.