Some Idioms!... and their Importance

Today I will share some idioms with you and I am hoping that you enjoy them, I will also show you their spanish Counterpart, however before we begin, let me talk to you why idioms are important:

Idioms generally belong to one culture and their meaning is very peculiar in that culture, they are used in both formal and informal conversations.

Stathi (2006) believes that idioms are expressions whose idiomaticy (formal property of expressions)  is semantic.

According to Mc Cathy and O´Dell (2008) Idioms are connected to animals, things, parts of the body, food, colors, smell, sports, etc.

Gumpel (1974) states that Idioms itseft do not mean anything, but in a sentence they have a hidden meaning.

Idioms are very Important in teaching because they are a perfect way to teach english to ESL students, as the learner can start to speak fluently using Idioms and is considered to be an integral part of vocabulary teaching (Nation; 2001)

Now, let´s get to the idioms!

"all ears" - It is used when someone is listening carefully to it´s interlocutor, in spanish its counterpart is its exact translation "todo oidos"

"off the hook" - It means to escape a situation of responsability and, in minor cases, dangerous situations, the spanish equivalent would be, for the latter meaning "fuera de peligro" Which could be translated as "off the danger" and acually makes sense with the idiom.

"piece of cake" - It is used when something is very easy and the spanish equivalent is "pan comido" which would literally mean "eaten bread" but as stated before, idioms do not really mean what they look like.

"pull someone leg" - It is used when teasing or joking, generally with a lie, it´s spanish counterpart involves hair instead of a leg and is "tomarle el pelo a alguien"

"sleep with the fishes" - It means to die and its spanish counterpart is "a dormir para siempre" Which could translate "to sleep forever".

Anyway, what do you think of each citation?

 which one do you think is more accurate with your concept of idiom?
Is there an idiom you use too often?

Interview with a Classmate

Today I will share with you the interview with Karol Jaramillo, one of our Classmates wich many of you already Know, so let´s get to it!

Q: Why did you choose this career?

A:  It is my Vocation

Q: What do you think of the Program so far?

A: Better to what I expected

Q: Is there a teacher that Inspired you to choose this career?

A: Well, one Social Sciences teacher named Diego Alberto Quiroz Zapata and one english teacher whose name I don´t Remember.

Q:How do you see in the future as a teacher?

A: I see myseft teaching in the way I want, not being forced to teach in the way others want, in a dynamic way, not a boring one.

Q: What Kind of students would you like to teach?

A: All of them

Overall I think this was a very nice activity, it allowed us to get out of our Circle and interact with other People.

Is there a teacher that inspired you to do this? Who?

What is what you like most about the Program?

Is there something you don´t like too much about the program? What?

The tongue of the Butterfly

Last class, we talked about a movie about teaching, I choosed the movie the title recalls.

It is about a student who thinks teachers are evil, however by spending time with one, he changes his opinion and starts to believe that teachers are very good people. The movie itseft was entertaining, and the ending was totally unexpected, and sad.

I believe it is a movie that not only expresses the beautiful thing about teaching, but also shows how teachers that pursed a "change" end up being pursued.

If you haven´t watched it, you should do it!

*Questions 1 and 3 are not repeated, look carefully at the bold words

Would you teach your students to fight for something, even if you could forfeit your life doing it?

What comes to your mind when you hear "Teacher"?

Would you teach your students to fight for something, even if they could forfeit their life doing it?

Interview with teacher Juan Diego

Today our work was to interview a teacher, a language teacher to be precise, so I interviewed teacher Juan Diego Martinez.

I started asking him why did he became a teacher, he answered "I became a teacher by chance", I replied "by chance?", he answered "yes, I wanted to be lawyer, but I ended up in the teaching program, there I found that teaching was an awesome career", his answer made me think that, I actually did not think on becoming a teacher, I just wanted to do something like translation, but now I think teaching is very promising. After that I asked him how has been his experience as a teacher, he said "Amazing", "You are never stuck in the same place, you always learn something, even if it is an activity you have done before"

I really enjoyed the interview because it was good to hear about how someone else reached the program, Its interesting to find similarities and differences in our points of view

What where your thoughts on the teacher answers?

 Are your reasons for being a teacher similar to the ones he mentioned? if the answer is yes, which ones?

Do you think your experience as a teacher will be similar to his?

*What made you want to be a teacher?