Wednesday 7 April 2010

Too Much English

Canada's heritage minister James Morre expressed disappointment that too much English and not enough French was used in the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Mr Moore felt the CAN$20 million event should have been 'a better representation of our bicultural past and the reality today'. Canada is bilingual in English and French; the latter is also the first language of the International Olympic Committee. (EL GAZETTE, Issue NR 363, April 2010)
What do you think about this?

Tuesday 6 April 2010

Reflection on the last week

Dear All
Last week was a fruitful week to me. I learned two important things.
First, I learned how to make the best comment on the blog. The rubrics for the comment provided me an idea to make a post more critical and engaging. This has made me feel that our own day-to-day experiences/stories have a great impact on the emergence of a new theory or knowledge. Related this idea is the importance of a respectful language – the language that respects others’ ideas. I learned that, as a member of a group which is working for the same purpose, we should respect others’ opinion. However, we should not only say someone said this or that but also contribute to the discussion putting our own ideas which invite opinions from others.
Second, I learned how to create a blog at www.blogger.com. This is the simplest tool to post ideas. For this you should click the URL and create a blog. Then give a title to your blog and fill in the field for URL (I have put ‘pphyak’) which you will be sharing with other friends. After this you only need to follow the instruction to finish the process. You can also upload your photos and create or edit your profile. When I saw my own blog created I was excited.
At the same time, the readings in the last week made me contemplate about the possibility of using such technological advancements in language teaching. Being a teacher I am excited to use a blog for my students. But when I reflect on my own context in Nepal, there is no electricity in majority of places and most of the students do not have even an e-mail. A serious issue is that not only the students but also the teachers have such an assumption that the use of technology is a matter of a specialist’s skill. They think that using technology is not the job of the teachers but of the technicians. Such an assumption is a challenge in my context. What other colleagues think about this?
With regards
Prem Phyak
Nepal

Hello

Hello everyone
I have just created this blog where you can read my ideas and experiences on various topics.
Please share you ideas.
Cheers!!
Prem Phyak
Nepal