miércoles, 25 de febrero de 2009

La Tomatina

In one of my textbooks there is an article on la Tomatina. I used this video as a pre-reading activity, but the voice over is very fast, so I didn't want to frustrate my students with a cloze activity. Instead, I used the following steps and was pleased that they stayed engaged with the language.
1) I asked my students what they knew about la Tomatina and if they had seen videos before.
2) I explained that they would see a short video and hear a newscast, but that the newscast was fast, and not to worry. I told them to try to catch individual words if they could.

3) I showed the video and asked if they could distinguish anything. They heard a few words, but not many.
4) I handed out the transcript and played the video, telling them to follow along. I stopped the video several times and called on someone to read what was just said. They could do it pretty easily and it kept them engaged with the text. I asked a few simple questions about the information they had just heard. They could answer the questions by reading the lines in the script.
5) When they had heard it all following along, I told them I was going to start it at a random point and to try to match what they heard to the text. It was harder than following along, obviously, but they could find the place if I played it for 5 or 10 seconds. After I had paused the video and someone told the class where we were, I played the next line or so, so that everyone could find it and see that what they heard matched the text. This worked well as a simple pre-reading activity. They saw the images first, and had a basic idea of the topic before they read the article in the text.





40,000 personas, 120 toneladas de tomate y una hora para mezclarse – no se hace falta nada más para celebrar una fiesta que congrega cada año ciudadanos de todo el mundo. Y es que la Tomatina ha llegado hoy a las calles de Buñol en Valencia.

Como cada último miércoles de agosto, desde hace 63 años, la localidad valenciana ha dado el pistoletazo de salida a las once de la mañana para que las 40,000 personas allí congregadas comenzasen la batalla campal. Tenían una hora para lanzarse los seis camiones de la ya familiar hortaliza roja.

Pelucas, gafas de buzo, o cáscaras de sandía a modo de gorro, son los artículos más utilizados en la tradicional batalla veraniega. Una fiesta que quintuplica la población de Buñol y en la que cada lanzador tiene sus razones para querer vivirla.

Una pelea, 1945 que terminó a tomatazo limpio, es el origen de esta fiesta. Desde entonces, los jóvenes del pueblo consiguieron mantener la batalla de hortalizas pese a las reticencias del ayuntamiento hasta 2002, momento en que la Tomatina pasaba a ser fiesta de interés turístico nacional.

Durante una hora todo vale. Algunos participantes combaten entre ellos y otros se dedican a lanzar estos peculiares proyectiles a los balcones de las viviendas donde se resguardan una multitud de curiosos y cámeras de televisión que no han querido perderse la velada. Turistas de Italia, Japón, Rusia, o Inglaterra han podido experimentar en sus propias pieles como se vive la Tomatina en España, aunque algunos no sabían muy bien a qué venían.

Soy de Londrés y esto es increíble, pero esperaba calabacines y no tomates.

La Tomatina, que le ha costado 90 mil euros al ayuntamiento, consigue que el municipio de Buñol llega a cualquier rincón del mundo. Ahora le toca el turno a los servicios de limpieza.

viernes, 13 de febrero de 2009

Historia de éxito

Bismarck and Belsasar Lepe, sons of migrant workers, have started one of the most promising companies in Silicon Valley. This article tells the story of their parents' sacrifices, which made their success possible.

Crean hijos de inmigrantes mexicanos empresa en Valle del Silicón

Entrevista con Lin-Manuel Miranda

In my third semester class I have just started a chapter that focuses on Hispanics in the United States. I stress the diversity of Hispanic culture throughout the unit. This interview by the creator of In the Heights was a good introduction.

miércoles, 4 de febrero de 2009

Ejemplo de ironía

I found this example when I was looking for a concise definition of irony to include in an essay question. There are usually a few students who have a hard time understanding the irony in the short stories we read. I think this will help. Ejemplo de ironía