Hurdling

A long time ago...and far away...Well, when I was 14, I learned to become a hurdler. First what is a hurdler? A hurdler is a person who hurdles. This is a type of athlete because hurdling is a track and field sport (athletics). It is even in the Olympics.
I was always pretty fast, and, when I got to high school I wanted to join the track and field team. I passed the try-outs, but for a while I wasn't completely sure what I would specialize in. Our coach suggested I try hurdling.
He was right in suggesting in. I learned to do the technique. The most important thing is that you don't jump over the hurdle. You have to step over it. This is important because you are running, and jumping would ruin the rhythm. Besides, if you jump, you really slow down, and you could fall and have an accident.
I became a hurdler, and I did both types: high 100-meter hurdles, and low 300-meter hurdles. I became pretty good at it, and by my last year in high school when I was 18, I went to the State Championships where I won 3rd place in the state. I never went to the Olympics. Oh well....
Doing this sport taught me a lot about physical discipline, and discipline in general. Like with all sports, you have to be dedicated, and you have to practice. It gave me good habits for life, really. I don't know if I could hurdle now, though...I'm definitely out of practice!

Blog Post 9 Instructions

Hi,
This is blog post nine: Something that I've learned or found out

Tell us something that you've learned about or learned to do or found out about.

Make sure to tell us:
What is it?
Why is it interesting?
How has it changed you or contributed to your knowlege?

Tell us about something that is NOT directly related to your professional formation. It can be recent or a long time ago.

Minimum word count: 150

A subject I enjoy

Since I'm not a student, I can tell you about a subject that I enjoy teaching. I will also cheat a little. I'm not teaching it this semester; I always teach it in the spring.

The subject is British History, Culture and Literature. Well, I'm not British, but I think History is quite fascinating, and I like the topics of Literature and Culture. I'm not a Historian, but rather a Linguist-ESL teacher. However, I did study a lot of History at University, so I feel sufficiently qualified to teach it.

I teach this subject to students of English Pedagogy, and the idea is that they get a general idea of British History and Literature. To be honest, it is all about England: we just don't have time to delve into Scottish, Welsh (or Irish) History and Literature.

The main contents are an overview of the main historical events that have formed England and the English language: the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, the Vikings, the French/Norman Conquest, the development of the power of the parliamentary system, various important and colorful monarchs and other characters over the centuries, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the era of colonial expansion, the Age of Industrialisation, the Victorian Era, World War I, World War II, the loss of Empire, the rise of modern pop culture (the Beatles, etc...)...Well, that's a lot. Of course, we can't forget Shakespeare!

I give the students general ideas, and always make sure to have various students look up various significant historical events, literary works, or historical personages. Then the students have to presentations about what they've researched, thus informing their classmates. Honestly, there are a lot of great videos on Youtube we use, too.

So, I like this class because the subject is just really interesting. I want the students to get a good idea about the environment and events that have formed the English language--which they'll be teaching in the future.

Post 8 Instructions

Hi,

This week we're writing about a subject that you've enjoyed a lot this semester.

Include:

1. The name of this subject
2. Describe what you do in class
3. Mention the main contents you have seen
4. Explain why you like the subject

Enjoy! 180 is the word count minimum

Regards, Eric

Someone I admire in my field

Someone I admire in my field is the great linguist, Noam Chomsky. He wasn't an English teacher (ESL teacher) per se, but since I studied Linguistics, he's very relevant to me. Besides, he contributed a lot to the modern concepts we have about the language acquisition process.

He was born in 1928, the son of Jewish Russian immigrants in Philadelphia, USA. Perhaps, he became so interested in language as he was fluent in three languages as a child: English, Yiddish, and Hebrew--which he had to study a lot as part of his religious training as a child. It's worth noting here that today he's not a religious man. I mention it because this rigorous training may have formed his academic thinking processes.

In the 1950s he REVOLUTIONIZED Linguistics and our understanding of the language acquistion process. He developed the ideas of Universal Grammar that basically states that all human beings have a kind of language computer in their heads when they're born. This "computer" is programmed by the input received from the child's early environment. Universal Grammar has certain constraints and parameters that are universal. I won't go into any detail, but it explains why a child can learn any language to 100% proficiency, no matter where this child was born. This also explains why adults can learn any human language though, maybe, not as proficiently.

Today, many people take these ideas for granted. However, we he came out with this and worked on the data that proved his theory, it was still controversial. There were many other theories out there that explained things rather imperfectly. He changed all of this.

In addition to his great linguistic achievement, he is also a philosopher, logician, and "all.around" intellectual. He often comments on politics and society.

INSTRUCTIONS BLOG POST SEVEN

Hi,
I got kind of mixed up with the numbers of the posts. We are now on post 7!

For this post you have a choice of two.

You can write about a website related to your studies or future profession that you like. In other words, a career-related website.
Describe the website, provide the link to it, say how often you visit the site, explain why you like the site. Add any more information you think is relevant.

Or...

Who is a person in your field you admire?

Say who they are, what they've done, why you like them, include an image of this person.

The word count is 170 for this post (either topic).