Capítulo Cinco

My Spanish is beginning chapter five, and I am so excited because if the chapter outline is correct, it will teach me the difference between "ser" and "estar." Both are the verb "to be" but are used in quite different ways in Spanish. As far and I can figure out (which isn't much, but give me a couple weeks and a chapter test), "ser" is for descriptions and "estar" is for locations and temporary conditions or feelings.

Which, if you think about it, can really get at some big questions. It makes me think of a character I'm working with now, who became a local celebrity after winning a burrito-eating contest. Is his celebrity status a permanent, core part of his personality? If so, ser/es would be appropriate. Or is it a temporary condition, one that will go away once the public grows bored or he tires of it? If this is true, then estar/está is correct.

The funny thing is, this question gets at the core of the character's psyche. Perhaps studying this chapter will help me finish the short story.

Vote Early, Vote Often

I am so tired I could cry. Instead I will smile, and write this blog post.

Voting at my poll went extremely well, considering we had voters waiting when we arrived at 6AM to set up. Everyone got processed in a timely, courteous manner. If they came in the evening, they were treated to Presidential trivia.

Pizza deliverymen are awesome, and husbands who surprise you with frozen yogurt awesomer still.

We had about a dozen poll watchers, including a militant woman representing the Democratic party who wasn't going to smile (or be pleasant) for any reason. Not even my Presidential Trivia! She watched us set up, came back twice during voting hours and hoarded our street index, and then returned upon closing to observe us in such a way that could be called intimidation. Luckily, we are not a group who can be intimidated.

I missed a question on my Spanish quiz today. Everyone knows televisión is a feminine verb. Except for me, this afternoon.

But I made up for it with a good showing on my TESOL Speaking and Listening quiz. And then my partner and I brainstormed for a How to Teach Tone lesson plan that visually depicts the intonation of different types of questions, like concrete poems. Which as I can see it, is the only redeeming use for the poetry form.

I Am My Own Lab Monkey

Learning a foreign language while also learning how languages are learned is symbiotic in ways both prodigious and distracting. Distracting because instead of just swallowing what my Spanish book gives me, I want to analyze whether the method is best, and how I would tweak the activity. Just do the activity, Michelle.

"Destinos"

My Spanish class is watching a televonela "Destinos" ("Destinies" or "Destinations"), in piecemeal, every couple class periods.

This thing is fascinating.

It's a movie designed for people learning Spanish. The general story line is a family mystery that spans continents, time periods, and generations. There is a narrator who sometimes speaks in English but also Spanish, and the characters all speak (different dialects of) Spanish. The Spanish words are put on the screen next to their object--like all of don Fernando's hijos (children), which is done several times to comedic (although memory-storing) effect.

It's a little like those novels for SAT students, where the text is infused with big vocabulary, whether the words sound appropriate in the story or not.

In terms of story craft, "Destinos" flies completely in the face of the admonition that plot not be imposed on characters. And realistic dialogue? Not so much.

But don't get me wrong--I'm not criticizing the "Destinos" series. It's a great visual tool for learning or reinforcing vocabulary. And I'm ever a sucker for stories.

Library Card Perk

Starbucks card users, eat your heart out. Today, in celebration of National Library Card Sign-up Month, Chipotle offered a free burrito to anyone who could flash their San Diego public library card. I'm not a big fan of Chipotle, but I love my library card, and I am a fan of free food. I simply had to go. I know some people feel exclusive when flashing their AmEx, but as I stepped up to that Chipotle register, blue library card in hand, I felt like the bee's knees.

What I learned from this afternoon's spanish homework: it is difficult to complete the oral section after eating frozen grapes.

¿Cómo Se Dice, "Huh"?

¿Qué es esto dibujo? No se. It was in my online Spanish workbook. We students were supposed to type a question that the woman could be thinking. I came up with a choice one, but hadn't learned that word yet.

Muchas gracias, Marc y Veronia, por el jugar de béisbol. Viva le Dodgers!

I will never tire of men in suits at Starbucks who offer Louie the back of their hand while saying "Isn't he cute?"

If the new particle accelerator has your interest piqued, this book is a lighthearted take on the US's aborted Superconducting Super Collider. And includes some really cute geriatric love.

Soy una Estudiante

De mi clase de español hoy...

Hola! Me Llamo Michelle

Today was my first spanish class. I went in feeling excited but nervous (I don't care how old you are, the first day of school is always slightly unnerving), and came out as exuberant as a child with a lollipop. I am so excited!

I studied Spanish in high school, but whether I want to admit it or not, that was quite some time ago. There have been so many times that I wished I could speak Spanish, so I finally enrolled in a community college class.

There is something wrong, though, when the course materials cost two times more than the course itself--where you get a real-live person teaching you four hours a week for fifteen weeks. Hopefully this is attributed more to the fantastic deal that is the California community college system, than a fleecing from McGraw-Hill.

Half of these course "materials" are subscriptions to online workbooks. I am skeptical that I'll learn this language by typing it as well as I would if my assignments were hand-written, but I'll keep an open mind.