THE POWER OF INSPIRING WOMEN

THE POWER OF INSPIRING WOMEN

Why don't you tell us about any inspiring woman/women you have met?
It may be your mother/sister/cousin/best friend/celebrity...
Write some lines about her and what inspires you about who that woman is.

Here you have some we have come across in Mercy Mathews' blog.

"When I'm not mothering my 3 sons (including a set of twins!) or fixing meals, I love reading up on other blogs. My other interests include writing poetry, pot painting, chess, cricket and my latest passion - foosball!"
Website: http://allwomenstalk.com

The 7 Most Inspiring Women Celebrities …

There are so many women in the public eye but only a few of them can be called truly inspiring women celebrities. Apart from the fact that they all have tremendous wealth and have enjoyed widespread success and popularity, they have all overcome the odds to get to where they are today. That is what makes these individuals the most inspiring women celebrities of our time.

1. Oprah Winfrey



Photo Credit: obamamtoto.blogspot.com

Oprah was born in rural Mississippi in a small low-income family where she had a troubled childhood of rape, abuse, child pregnancy and tragedy. Through sheer grit and determination she overcame all odds, fighting her way through school and college to end up with a career in communication. Her talk show, the Oprah Winfrey show is possibly the most popular in the world and it is all due to her honest personality, straightforward style and general likability.

2. J.K. Rowling




Photo Credit: pressgazette.co.uk

J K Rowling, the single mother author of the Harry Potter series of books, was rejected 12 times by different publishers before a small British publishing house finally accepted it. The book went on to become an international phenomenal with millions of followers of all age groups. With just the power of her pen, J K Rowling went from near poverty to becoming a billionaire many times over, a definite contender for one of the most inspiring women celebrities if ever there was one.

3. Angeline Jolie
4. Maria Shriver
(...)

Do visit http://allwomenstalk.com/the-7-most-inspiring-women-celebrities/
and find out about the rest of the list.

You can write about the list too.

ELLLO: English Listening Lesson Library Online

elllo.org

Do you know ELLLO? ELLLO means English Listening Lesson Library Online :

Learn English naturally.

You can practice English in the funniest way.

Listening Lessons (Views, Mixer, Games ...)Activities include multimedia, free MP3 files, vocab tasks, language notes, print page and more.
Views
Mixer
Games
Videos
Songs
News
Points

There are now over 600 audio clips on ELLLO. Below are just a small sample of what is on the site.
High BeginnerThese activities are good for students who are new to learning English.
High IntermediateThese listening activities are a little more difficult.
Low IntermediateThese listening activities are a little more difficult, but not much.
AdvancedIn these clips, the speakers talk faster and the topics are more difficult.

The mp3 files and text on elllo are Creative Commons. Students and teachers are free to download, copy and distribute these materials for educational purposes. They are not transferable for commercial purposes.

ELLLO! Listening Games:

http://www.elllo.org/months/weeks/games.htm

http://vox-nova.com/2007/06/

Teaching English as a ‘global’ language?

Posted by Kati Sule here:

http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/teaching-english-as-a-global-language?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+macmillandictionaryblog+%28Macmillan+Dictionary+Blog%29

Do you remember one of our very fisrt posts, back in February "Teaching a Foreing Language? Best Teach in the accent of the Listener" ??

Now the question is Should English be taught as a ‘global’ language.??

A new video by David Crystal , answers the question:

Now it is up to you: do you agree with Mr. Crystal?

Should English be taught as a ‘global’ language?

Share your opinions with us.

--David Crystal is a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster. Born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland in 1941, he spent his early years in Holyhead. He read English at University College London (1959-62), specialised in English language studies, did some research there at the Survey of English Usage under Randolph Quirk (1962-3), then joined academic life as a lecturer in linguistics, first at Bangor, then at Reading. He published the first of his 100 or so books in 1964, and became known chiefly for his research work in English language studies, in such fields as

intonation and stylistics, and in the application of linguistics to religious, educational and clinical contexts, notably in the development of a range of linguistic profiling techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

More: http://www.davidcrystal.com/

MAUREEN AND URSULA AND (...).Texting slang invading academic work

http://alician.glogster.com/obsessive-texting/

Texting slang invading academic work
College professors are anything but LOL at students' writing habits.
By Matt Krupnick
Contra Costa Times
College professors are anything but LOL at their students' recent writing habits.
Not only are instructors not laughing out loud — shortened to LOL in text messages and online chats — at the technology-oriented shorthand that has seeped into academic papers, many of them also sternly telling students to stop using the new language even in less formal writing.
The shorthand often consists of shortened variations of common words — "u" instead of you, or "ur" for your. Text speak may be appropriate for a quick note to a friend, but professors are increasingly stymied by how casually students are using the terms.
"Despite the fact that I happen to be perfectly capable of reading any incoherent drivel you may send to my (e-mail) inbox directly from your phone keypad, 'wut up ya I cnt make it 2 clss lol' is insanely unprofessional," reads the syllabus of Alejo Enriquez, a Cal State East Bay instructor.
"Therefore, I am imposing a higher standard of grammar, spelling, and use of the enter key upon you and kindly request that all e-mails sent to me resemble any other letter to your teacher, supervisor, grandparents or parole officer."
Faculty members increasingly have expressed irritation about reading acronyms and abbreviations they often do not understand, said Sally Murphy, a Cal State East Bay professor and director of the university's general-education program. One e-mail to a professor started with, "Yo, teach," she said.
"It has a real effect on the tone of professionalism," said Murphy, who also has seen younger instructors use the shorthand. "We tell them very specifically how this is going to affect them in life. It's kind of like wearing their jeans below their butt. They're going to lose all credibility."
The introduction of such casual language into term papers is a sea change from the days when nearly all students addressed their instructors as "professor" or "doctor." More faculty members ask students to call them by their first names, but many are drawing the line at texting shorthand or even emoticons — smiley faces made out of punctuation marks.
Tech-speak has been moving through the educational pipeline toward colleges for a few years. A 2008 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that two-thirds of middle- and high-school students had accidentally used instant-messaging-style words in their work, while a quarter admitted using emoticons in assignments.
The breakdown in language skills is an odd phenomenon given how much time children and young adults spend in front of the computer, said Marcia Linn, who teaches about technology in education at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education.
"Writing has actually increased as an activity," she said. "Standards are another issue. Maybe we haven't quite thought it through well enough in an academic setting."
Many students communicate constantly via text and instant messaging, so it can be difficult to leave the tech lingo behind in class, said Mohammed Shahid Beig, a senior and student-body president at Cal State East Bay.

Contribution: Dr. Jordano

(...) read more: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2011602956_slang14.html

Do you text? Do you think the article is appropriate? Our unit is about writing, what's your opinion about texting and writing?

MAUREEN AND URSULA AND OTHER INSPIRING WOMEN. Writing a script.

Pic: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2917920/Top-secret-Harry-Potter-movie-script-left-in-a-pub-by-boozy-film-crew.html
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email (NBC) - Here's an example of what not to do after a night out drinking at a pub. The British newspaper The Sun claims to have obtained a copy of the top-secret script for the next Harry Potter movie. A film crew allegedly left the script under a table at a pub in England after a night of drinking, where someone picked it up. The Sun said the script was marked "private and confidential" and contained some major changes from the original book by J.K.... http://celebrifi.com/gossip/British-newspaper-Top-secret-Harry-Potter-script-left-at-pub-2118632.html


It was given to The Sun by a reader who found it at a boozer in Kings Langley, Herts, often used by star Daniel Radcliffe, 20.
The script - marked "Private and Confidential" - was spotted under a table.
It reveals how film chiefs have made several dramatic changes from JK Rowling's book Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.
Studio Warner Bros last night thanked The Sun after we handed back the lost script.
And bosses launched an urgent investigation into how the inch-thick booklet was lost - as sources told how the film's crew went on a major drinking session.
The £250 million film, starring Daniel Radcliffe as the schoolboy wizard, is currently being completed at Leavesden Studios in Kings Langley, Herts.
On Thursday night a large group of film crew went to the nearby Waterside Tavern.
A source at the pub said: "They'd got behind schedule in filming but then caught up, so they went out for a celebratory drink which led to many more.

Surprise ... we've obscured script to keep spoilers secret
"There was a huge group. They were here all night, laughing and joking, chucking back beers.
"They usually come down for a session on a Friday, but because it was Easter they were in a day early.
"Daniel Radcliffe is the only member of the cast who has been known to come down and have a laugh with them, but he wasn't there that night."
The Sun reader who found the script said: "I couldn't believe my eyes. I know guys that work on the film drink in the pub, but it's very embarrassing that someone could just leave it there.
"I'm glad I've helped to stop any surprises being leaked."
The script shows how film bosses have split the final Potter story into two parts to keep fans in suspense. The first film - with Daniel's co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint back in their usual roles - is due for release in November. Part two will follow in July next year.
The Sun has seen how producers are making a number of dramatic changes from the book, but we are keeping the details secret and have blurred our picture of the script so as not to spoil fans' enjoyment.

Crew's boozer ... Waterside Tavern
A Warner Bros spokesman said: "We are grateful to The Sun for the safe return of this script." It is the THIRD time that Harry Potter secrets have almost been revealed prematurely.
In May 2003, copies of The Order Of The Phoenix book were found in a Suffolk field six weeks before the publication date. Then four years ago the script for that film was found at an alleged "dogging" site beside the A25 in Chipstead, Kent.
a.crick@the-sun.co.ukRead more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2917920/Top-secret-Harry-Potter-movie-script-left-in-a-pub-by-boozy-film-crew.html#ixzz0kVQxDIKh
Contribution Dr. Jordano


Now, is this serious? Are we going nuts? Are those writers sensible, responsible, good workers?
Isn't it that important? Can this happen to anybody?
Why, in your opinion, is this happening more and more often at work?