actually learning in school
In school, I’ve always been in classes with 30+ students…in college many of my classes had 300+ kids. The classes I took for the Spanish major were a little better at having smaller class sizes…until they turned many of our upper-division Spanish classes into lecture courses, aka turning our previous 30 student class into a 90 person class…virtually eliminating the conversational portion and replacing this with a lecture from the professor. (and how does this help us learn Spanish…?)
At this point, I became really good at memorizing answers for the multiple choice tests given to these massive language classes…but I’m pretty sure memorizing answers with completely unrelated mnemonic devices isn’t the proper path to language acquisition.
Oh, and at this point too, I’m pretty sure the native speakers were loving the Spanish major because they have been practicing speaking / hearing Spanish at home since day 1, so…for example…the “listening” portion of tests…well, this was a piece of cake for them because they’ve grown up hearing and speaking Spanish so it’s like second nature. However, for those of us who did not grow up with the language…well, let’s just say, by having such huge class sizes and not having the opportunity to converse and practice speaking…well, let’s just say, it was a challenge.
Oh, and let me also say…I hands down learned 100% more Spanish in the semester I spent studying abroad in Mexico, than in the 8 years of Spanish I took in high school and college. Perhaps this is because I had about an average of 5 students in all of my upper-division courses in Mexico and the structure of the program was very much an experiential one. Instead of being talked at, we conversed and did many hands on projects, took field trips, etc. I’ll also note that I earned 2x as many upper division credits during the time I was gone than I would have earned taking classes at UO (I earned ~28 credits abroad and 12 credits is considered a full-time student at UO). I feel safe to say that if I spent 1 year, maybe 2 in that type of environment, I would have Spanish down, backward and forward. But no, I spent 1 semester learning the way kids should be taught, and the other 7 1/2 years…well…still trying to figure out what I got from that.
Anyway, I am digressing…and quickly…the education system is something I could certainly go off on…so yes, let’s end it there for now.
The point I’m trying to make is this. I’ve been taking a Greek class since September. There are four students in my class. I have learned more Greek in the 4 1/2 months (no class in Dec!) than Spanish I learned in the first four years in high school. Perhaps rather than cramming 3 classes into one (like my Spanish classes), we could take one class, divide it by 3, and have kids go to school for 1/2 the time, but actually learn and benefit from the smaller class sizes.
Anyway, this is what we did last class. It’s probably all Greek to you (ha ha ha I’m so funny) BUT, the stuff in this picture is a little story about a classroom and a teacher. And the teacher is learning all the kids names. And one kid forgot his pencil and the teacher became angry with him. And the kid said: well, it’s not like I forgot EVERYTHING, just a pencil!
cultural anthropology: The United States of Mexico
To fulfill my final few credits, I was enrolled in an International Communications course. Exciting yes, because international communications is certainly an avenue of my career path I see myself exploring. However, the structure and focus of this course I knew did not align with my interests. So, I created my own class.
I’m really excited about this – I’m working under Professor Gabriela Martinez, who specializes in media culture, globalization, and the effects and impacts of the economic, social, cultural and political arena of Latin America.
So, the course I designed for myself relates to the communication and cultural anthropology of Mexico and the United States. I am studying the elements that have, and continue to impact the convergence of the cultures of Mexico and the United States in order to develop a more thorough and accurate foundation of knowledge through a variety of perspectives such as: historical, social/cultural, economic and political.
I started the course with a holistic investigation of globalization trends that have defined history and are shaping international relationships and communication. Once I have this foundation, I’ll focus my study on how globalization has and is directly affected Mexico, the United States and the communication dynamics between the two countries.
Pretty exciting, huh?? At least for me! (=
Anyway, I think the most exciting part of the course are the books I’ve selected to read! (anyone else know of my book obsession?)
Tribes by Seth Godin
The World Is Flat by John Friedman
The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens and the Nation by Leo R. Chavez
The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
“They Take Our Jobs!” and 20 Other Myths About Immigration by Aviva Chomsky
“Ex Mex” by Jorge Castañeda
I also have a list of movies I plan to watch at least a few of:
La Ley de Herodes
Amores Perros
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Nosotros los Pobres
Uds. los Ricos
Pepe el torro
Oh yes, and one of the other greatest things of this course is that it will be conducted and my work will be produced in both Spanish and English. Perfecto, no?? Creo que si!
school is killing my education
Schools killing creativity and relativity have always been a topic of interest and curiosity.
I have to say the University of Oregon has a multitude of outstanding programs, classes, professors, clubs, etc. However, the major component missing at the U of O – and in reality the majority of schools – is the element of relativity.
Many of the classes fail to properly prepare us for the post-education world. For example, when I complete my Spanish major next term, I will not have taken a single sole conversation class. Aside from the class I am taking this term; every other U of O Spanish class has been a lecture, mainly consisting of the professor lecturing, essay assignments and tests. I certainly feel confident in my written Spanish; however, my conversational Spanish is nowhere at the same level as the Spanish major lacks this element of language accusation.
Although the Spanish major is literature based, it is just as important to understand the culture, societies and countries that these works and authors originated from. I have a slight advantage as I had the opportunity to study in Mexico – at least when it comes to Mexican authors/works; however, I know I could have a more well-rounded understanding if the cultural/societal element was present as contextual information is just as, if not more important.
As for my advertising/journalism major – in terms of relevancy, this major is more on par as we have classes and programs that teach us post –college skills (our Curiosity for Strategists class and Allen Hall Advertising student run agency, for example). However, we could always benefit from more relevant classes – for example, an open-source class with no theme decided until the first day. All students would brainstorm ideas and the class would choose the ten topics that interested them most – from there, each week would be spent on one of these topics and that would be the class – relevant, collaborative and interesting.
The ad. program could also improve by leaps and bounds if there were required conversation classes. In the communications industry, presenting and selling ideas in addition to having skills to lead intelligent and strategic conversations is vital for success. The SOJC has prepared us to express ourselves in written form and specifically, the ad. major has taught us to think and generate ideas strategically; however, our conversation skills are nowhere near the same level.
el autopista y la vida…
Ya terminé el cuento “El Autopista del Sur” por Cortázar y…que inteligente! Es tan inteligente porque el autor escribirlo en una manera que podemos relatar en nuestras vidas y también en el mundo político y social.
En esta cuento, me encanta el simbolismo que representa el autopista, el movimiento del trafico, el concepto del tiempo (o el concepto falso del tiempo), la idea de construyendo una identidad nueva por otros y tomando cuidado de otras personas en lugar de tomando cuidad de nosotros y también, de disfrutando las cosas que tenemos mas de siempre buscando por cosas nuevos para llenarnos de felicidad – la calidad mas de la cantidad.
Cuando hemos diseccionado todos los símbolos, finalmente podemos ver el tema principal: no es sostenible para vivir la vida en un embotellamiento – necesitamos realizar que es en momentos de crisis (el embotellamiento) que somos vulnerable y es necesario permitirnos no controlarnos y los eventos de nuestras vidas todo el tiempo…