English Virtual Community

Practicing English with a native speaker or another ESL student is a great way for international students to improve reading, writing, and speaking skills. There are many different sites that make it easy for students and other ESL learners to connect online. Here are a few sites to try: MyHappyPlanet - This online language learning community allows members to message native speakers from around the world. The site can also be used to learn about the English language and culture through videos and member-created lessons. italki - italki is a great place to find ESL partners. Members hail from more than 200 countries and are always eager to discuss and practice English reading, writing, speaking/listening, grammar, pronunciation, and more. MyLanguageExchange - More than one million people practice their language skills on MyLanguageExchange. The site employs the Cormier method of language exchange which groups native speakers of two languages so that they can spend half their tim

Vance Stevens visited La Plata, and gave a presentation on PLN. More than 20 teachers came to the School of Languages to listen to him.  Among them was Susana Canelo who came from Del Valle (400km far form the capital of the province of Buenos Aires). Here is a picture of us: If you could not attend this event, you can see the slides of the presentation below these lines: PLN View more presentations from Escuela de Lenguas UNLP . And here is a link to the recording in PodOmatic:  PLN: The paradigm shift in teacher and learner autonomy

Latitude 42 Study Findings: Where Else Will Kids Think to Put the Web in the World? from latddotcom on Vimeo .

Vance Stevens is visiting La Plata! He kindly accepted my invitation to give a presentation. He will speak about "PLN ( Personal Learning Network): The paradigm shift  in learner and teacher autonomy"  at the School of Languages. When? at 12.30 p.m.  next Wednesday -August 11th .  Free entrance but you should book your place in advance by phoning 0221 423 6672

Last Thursday 29th and Friday 30th, I attended the fifth congress for teachers of English organized by SHARE. It took place at Regente Palace Hotel in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Omar Villareal kindly invited me . Thank you, Omar! Important institutions sponsored SHARE convention such as the British Council, the Fulbright Commission, AACI among others. This annual event offered a varied programme of high academic standards. The SHARE team is leaded by the Villareal family: Omar, Marina, Martín and Sebastián. I was told that more than 30 people work hard to carry out this successful event and that teachers from all over the country come to get inspiring ideas and share knowledge. There were presentations from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and a very complete exhibition area where I met Gustavo González and Mady Casco.  Visit SHARE website to join its e-magazine: http://www.shareeducation.com.ar/index.htm