Dear all:

Today I’d like to tell you a bit about myself. When I finished school I realized I did not know what to do. I loved languages but I also loved music. So I took a year off and worked to save money. Later I entered translation because I liked languages. I did English and German but right in the middle of it, there was a chance to travel to Germany and work there. So I did. When I got back to Chile I fell into teaching by chance.  Later I got my teaching degree.

I think teachers are a great contribution to society but only if they have a vocation. If not, they may be great researchers or academics, but not good educators. I feel a teacher needs to be alert and attentive to what is happening in the classroom in the whole sense of the word. They also need a lot of patience & knowledge in their area of study. A teacher, as any other professional needs constant training  (formal or informal) because the world changes, students change, and so does methodology.

I think one of my favorite subjects at Uni was phonetics. I loved the idea of studying & recognizing the English sounds and also to contrast them with the Spanish sounds. I also enjoyed semantics and pragmatics.

One professional I admire in my area of study is Rod Ellis. He is very well known in the area of second language acquisition.  He has published a lot of books & I love the way he writes. In his books he has covered areas of second language acquisition not only from the traditional angle but also in a more critical fashion. He has got a very clear way to express his ideas. I think this is good because not all teachers have the time to read and if it is too complex, they may get lost and stop reading. This, I think is because the lack of research most teachers (especially school teachers!) do

Say:

-Why are you studying this career?

- How do professionals in your area contribute to society?

- What tools will a professional in your area need to have in the future?

- What is your favourite subject?

- Include this and more in your answer.

- 195 words minimum. (3 comments to classmates)