Month: October 2008

Here’s Ella’s Voki, delivered by Charlie ‘el perro’ :o)

AC_Voki_Embed(200,267,”70b6c498e6113f8c0535f2a47890e367″,905743, 1, “”, 0);
Get a Voki now!

As we’re having issues with recording sound directly into Voki, Chris cleverly found that you could type in the text and select a Mexican accent. Here’s his Voki!

AC_Voki_Embed(200,267,”a62057cbad0103b42e7f72d9583a4633″,905710, 1, “”, 0);
Get a Voki now!

Here’s our first Voki!!

AC_Voki_Embed(200,267,”1bf0b68ee4df6ca51fe0815ca86f4008″,905705, 1, “”, 0);
Get a Voki now!

Sagradafamilia, originally uploaded by Theo K.

Bon dia des de Barcelona! Didn´t think I´d get to blog from Barcelona but as ´mi marido´is ´trabajando´and the hotel has a PC with free wifi, ´aquí estoy´.

I am having a lovely time and there´s still more than a day to go.

Yesterday we went to Montjüic and visited MNAC, Fundació Miró and el Poble Espanyol.

Today we´ve visited la Sagrada Familia (I expected scaffolding but there was far too much of it!) and then Parc Güell. And it´s only lunchtime.

Next on the agenda is Port Vell and Port Olimpic before el Barri Gòtic etc and some serious shopping tomorrow.

I´ve taken lots of pictures – typical tourist ;o) – but as ´el marido´is using his laptop and this PC doesn´t Bluetooth or have an SD card reader, I can´t downlaod them at the moment. However, I have ´borrowed´one by the lovely Theo K to illustrate my post!

Fins aviat!

PS I am trying really hard to speak Catalan – after all, that´s why I´ve been revising. However, every time I try I am either looked at blankly or answered in Spanish. So, either I´m trying it out on people who can´t speak Catalan, my Mallorquí accent is confusing them, or I really am rubbish at Catalan! Hoping it´s not the latter ;os

Soooo excited! Tomorrow I’m off to Spain with Mr S (and without the little Master Ss!)

Three nights in Barcelona – definitely not long enough but I’m grateful for any time spent in Spain. And Barcelona – wow! I’ve studied the history of the city at University, learned the language and read books (fact and fiction) about its streets. So can’t wait to be let loose to explore properly – last time I was on an organised trip and had a measly 2 hours to ourselves! Mr S will just have to follow me around and as long as he is allowed to partake of coffee, beer and tapas at regular intervals, he’ll be fine!

Hope to take lots of pictures of my own, but here are a few by other people to set the scene.

And a brilliant 3D movie of how the Sagrada Familia might / will look when it’s finally finished – in 2020!!

I received a missive from the school Bursar last week informing me that I had not spent my budget yet and warning me that if I didn’t get a move on, the remaining balance would be ‘re-allocated.’

Well, faced with the prospect of Art getting more paper and paint that is then locked up so we can’t touch it, or PE getting even more equipment to lose, I set about finding ways to spend, spend, spend.

I am not adverse to shopping and just love a good brochure so it was really a hardship! However, I did resent being forced to spend my money before I’d really been able to decide on the best items on which to spend it for the benefit of the kids. I did toy with the idea of purchasing a fire extinguisher for a certain Scottish Fizzics teacher who is at risk of combustion without one, but then got lost in the pages of the lovely glossy leaflets that I stash away for such occasions.

So, what did I buy?

• borders for displays
• posters for walls all around the school
• a subscription to Babelzone – a bargain at £49 with a wealth of sound files, games, listening activities and more matched to the QCA units.
• stickers
• Spanish syllables and blends pocket charts
• a bingo game
• and various other bits and bobs.

Added to some bilingual books, subscription to Atantôt and set of dictionaries I’d purchased earlier in the year, and the Sónica software that we bought with Tesco vouchers, that’s not bad – and Ive still got another £170 to spend!!

Next on the list –

• more dictionaries and a simple grammar book (working on learner independence this year!)
• some recordable postcards
• an easi-Speak microphone
• a talking photo album
• plasticine (for animating!)
• and I’m tempted by Talk balls (no comments!)

And when the Head gives me the £150 she’s promised owed for cover, I’m going to get Little Tails of the Unexpected too.

So, off to check out more glossy brochures (on and offline!) and make sure that the Bursar is familiar with the details of Linguascope, TTS, Little Linguist, Beelingua, Costcutters and Language Stickers.

Any suggestions as to what else I might buy??

Just been checking my e-mails and came across one from Helen Myers that I thought I might share with you!  

In response to a request for a song about pets in French, Helen posted - 
To the national anthem: (thanks to Rachel Hawkes for reminder of this .. I think it originates from a CILT Pathfinder / Steven Fawkes) ...

.flickr-photo { border: solid 2px #000000; }.flickr-yourcomment { }.flickr-frame { text-align: left; padding: 3px; }.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; }

Cerveza grande, originally uploaded by lisibo.

I’ve just made this motivational poster using Flickr Toys (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/) – and what could be more motivating than a cold pint of San Miguel. Especially those particular pints, waiting for me when I finally arrived at our favourite chiringuito on the Playa de la Carihuela after arriving a day after the rest of my (extended) family having been delayed by French air traffic controllers, and without my suitcase that had been sent to Palma de Mallorca. Never has a pint tasted SOOOOOO good ;o)

You can make photo mosaics, postcards, jigsaws and all sorts of other items on Flickr Toys – have a nose around and see what you can make to motivate or amuse yourself!

Following a request this afternoon at the meeting of the Birmingham Primary Language Coaches for a forum on which they could meet, discuss and share, a new NING has been born!

Birmingham Primary Languages, as the blurb suggests, is a place for those involved in – or soon to be involved in – teaching languages in Primary schools to discuss, share ideas and resources, offer and receive help and advice, and generally keep in contact with what’s going on across the city.

Over the next week or so, I’ll be explaining what’s what on the site but I’ve started off the forum with an easy question to get the ball rolling.

So, if you’re involved in Primary Languages in the Birmingham area, please join and start sharing and asking questions. If you want to make any suggestions, you can leave me a message on my page on the site (click my icon) or a private message by clicking the envelope below my name on my page. or you can always leave me a comment here.

Don’t forget, if you’re involved in Primary Languages anywhere in the country, Talkabout Primary MFL is a must-join-NING! ;o)