BLOG 10: A concert, exhibition, or talk you went to

BLOG 10:   A concert,  exhibition, or talk  you went to

Say:

Who performed or talked,

When it was,

Where it was,

Why you remember it.

Mention anything else you think is important.  Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Dear students,

 Today I’m posting a topic to help you develop your critical thinking, and, as usual, I will write about  it to share with you and to provide  a model text.

I remember  a talk or lecture I attended about six years ago.  The speaker or lecturer was an English teacher from Hungary, and he spoke about the frustration he experienced in England when he had to  speak English and express his emotions. The talk was at a Conference for teachers   at Diego Portales Center, which was the former name for Gabriela Mistral Cultural  Center.

 I remember this talk because I had never heard anybody sharing his/her feelings about the psychological aspect of learning a foreign language.  Most people think that learning a language requires just grammar and vocabulary, but the development of this new skill implies much more than that: it has cultural and psychological components.

 The first one has to do with traditions and customs that are developed depending on a number of factors such as the weather, the environment,  the main productive activities, or even the sports practiced  in the country where the language is spoken.  For example, a  number of idioms and phrases  originate from these activities.

The second important aspect is the psychological support that students need to learn a foreign language and to be motivated to do so.  That is why teachers must study general psychology, mainly to help students deal with frustration and  anxiety.