English Virtual Community

Last Monday was my last class in this teacher training course at Language Lab. It was quite different from the others because it was in pairs: one played the role of a leader teacher and the other was a helper. I gave the class with Jennifer. We were leader and helper in turns. It was interesting and difficult at the same time because we had to coordinate our roles. We chose a very simple dialogue: "Quiero un helado". Just five lines with very simple language. The class was in " La Plaza Mayor" of Ciudad Bonita - the place which Language Lab is building for the Spanish as Second Language Courses. It looks like a Spanish city. There is a market, restaurants,banks, shops, a church and even a graveyard! Dafne Gonzalez is helping architects in this project. You can have a look at the photos below. BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games . BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Ideas I was also exploring some other lands, I bought clothes, furniture and wings for...

Well, this is my fourth active week in Second Life. I had to present a dialogue in the "simulation" class. I used a box with notecards with all the necessary material for the students, the board with different texts and the typist for a game. Then, Dafne showed us a presentation she gave about the differences between online classes and classes in SL. Finally, we visited "Ciudad Bonita". The place where people will learn Spanish as a Second Language at Language Lab. "Ciudad Bonita" resembles a typical Spanish city. It is not finished but looks really beautiful. Dafne is doing a great job. Here is a slide show of the this week. Click on it because the text bubbles cannot be seen very well. BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Ideas

This third week has been vey interesting. We learnt to manage new tools such as a flat screen. I feel more confident with my movements and have been exploring new lands. I met Nergiz and had a lovely chat in her house. Then she showed the places around. After our chat, I stayed for a while exploring the place and touching the objects. Finally I found a book to read. I could not avoid changing my appearance. I went shopping and got some new appearances and clothes. Have you noticed I changed my look? Evelyn and I wanted to earn some money to buy some images for our flat screens, so we went to a disco. You can earn money dancing. Here you can see me in a disco.

This is my second week in the super intensive training course at Language Lab. I have been pretty busy working with the new tools and investigating the virtual world. There is always a "helper" ( an avatar who helps you) at the entrance of Language Lab to help you with the tools. DaQ ( a helper from USA) took me shopping for free! Yes, ladies. Can you imagine? This is paradise! You can buy clothes for free!!! So, I bought lots of clothes and shoes. Oh, and you can also buy different hairstyles. This is how I look now: I designed a lesson plan for beginner learners of Spanish as a Second Language. I was supposed to give a 10 minute class, and I was terribly nervous. Believe it or not, after having taught English for 15 years. Fortunatelly, I was not the only nervous one. My colleagues felt the same. For this first Second Life class, I chose the topic "Colores". I designed a detailed plan, some objects to be used in a game, and rehearsed what I was planning to do in ...

My dream has become true. I am living in Second Life. At present I am taking an intensive training course at Language Lab. I can walk, fly and move around more fluently. I have got some new clothes and objects. And what is more important I have friends: Evelyn (Venezuela) and Jennifer (Argentina). And very good teachers: Dafne (Venezuela)and Ana (Italy) .Here is a picture of me in class: And here you can see some photos taken by Dafne. BubbleShare: Share photos - Craft Kits And in this picture you can see Evelyn and me having a coffee in a break.