Javier’s English Corner

Over 6 months have gone by since I last published a post on this blog, and it was about some kind of farewell because I was leaving for the Philippines in just a month. I am writing now to tell all of you who have been following this blog, this exciting adventure I started for my English students at EOI Luarca, that this new experience of mine in the Philippines is being extremely interesting and formative. My main job as Education Advisor at the Spanish Embassy involves coordinating and implementing a specific plan to support Spanish teaching in the Philippine education system, and it is proving most exciting to start a new Education Office from scratch and getting to know everybody who is concerned in this matter.

What I cannot deny is that sometimes I miss my classes, sharing very special moments with my great students in Luarca, the sheer simplicity of entering a classroom and enjoying teaching and interacting with highly motivated students for 90 minutes. Well, the best thing about this new experience is that I will learn lots of things I will be able to share with my students once again when I go back to Luarca in a few years.

For the time being, please know my last 4 years at EOI Luarca were the best I have ever had as an EFL teacher. Keep learning and practising your English as much as you can, and take care.

Javier.

Yes, that is the English translation for the famous sentence Julius Caesar is reported to have said on January 10, 49 BC as he led his army across the River Rubicon in northern Italy. Ok, OK, it may sound too grandiose just before your final tests you will be taking very soon, but I felt like writing that, what can I say.

Let me tell you it has been my pleasure and privilege to be your teacher this year. I had already had most of you in my class for two years and this adventure of sharing our passion for the English language together has been most exciting, or at least it’s been so for me. As you already know, I’ll be leaving Luarca’s school for a while to sail to rather distant seas. I’ve always been a somewhat wild spirit and it’s time to experience some new adventures, in the Philippines no less. Wish me luck in my new endeavours; I’ll always carry a bit of you all in my heart. OK, I may be getting a trifle sentimental, but that’s me.

By the way, if you fancy a full size version of our picture together, just write to my usual email address. As for this blog, I hope it stays here as a reminder of the things we learnt together. You can always browse our archive to remember all the things we shared.

Bon voyage…

I’ve very recently found out about this amazing website called http://academicearth.org/ , where you can access thousands of video lectures from arguably the world’s top scholars, or at least that’s what they say on their site. Be that as it may, I’m sure you’ll find lots of interesting materials to practise your listening skills while you’re learning something of use.

Just to give you an example, click on the picture below to go to Yale Professor Amy Hungerford’s first lecture on Nabokov’s Lolita. You can also download the lecture transcript.