Capital Letter

Revista Capital Letter No. 2 Publicada en Octubre de 2002 Click en la revista para ampliar visualización: Open publication  - More 2 CONTENT: EDITORIAL STUDENTS' ISSUES By   Vicky Londoño & Diana Patricia Fagua ALEX: PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUTONOMY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING By Magda Rodríguez CULTURE: A HETEROGENEOUS SOCIETY CARTAGENA: NEVER SO FEW MADE SO MUCH By Lina Rodríguez, Leonardo Solórzano & Julián Jaimes THREE SHORT TALES: THE DAZZLING EYES   By Richard Vargas A NON-TOLD TALE   By Luisa Fernanda Suzunaga UNDER THE RAIN    By Yoana Cristina Pinzón SPORTS AT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY By Maria Elena Medina & Javier Augusto Rojas ODD COMPETITIONS By Maria Elena Medina & Javier Augusto Rojas BEING A TEACHER-RESEARCHER? By Adriana Norato & Sandra Milena Romero PROFILE: JOSÉ FELIPE PARDO (Q.E.P.D.) TEACHER'S CORNER (2) PICTURES: THE HORSEHEAD NEBULA TWO CITIES IN USA By John ...

John Jairo Viáfara Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 "You are going" they announced, and I was not sure I wanted to go, so far I have heard so many stones about the United States that I did not know what to believe. Most of all, I was especially concerned about the racial issue and the shootings and ...what about my nationality and origin? Mine was a unique experience and a great opportunity to learn and grow... I was immersed for a year in a high class, quite conservative suburb in the Midwest of United States.  The name of this town was Rocky River, located in Ohio, and next to it, was Lakewood, a middle class city, very close to downtown, which was racially, economically, and sexually diverse. Two places which were geographically close to each other but absolutely distant in what they were. These two cities can perfectly show two different experiences one can face in the United States. "Do not worry, you will be sent to a place where you are saf...

Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 In this case, we propose astronomical photos for you to see; we hope you enjoy them. In this issue we introduce you to one of the most identifiable nebulae in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion. It is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of form­ing. Light takes about 1500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. The image below was taken at Kitt Peak National Observatory. You can find more in­formation at the home page: "A Pic­ture Of The Day":  http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/

Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 You write next! (Brief writing practice) Each student has a sheet of paper, at the top of which he or she writes a sentence: it can be a simple statement of fact or opinion, or a question. This is then passed to a neighbor, who adds an answer, comment or further question, ands passes it on to someone else. After several contributions, students are invited to read out the results; these are often amusing! Don't say yes or no. (Oral questions, mainly yes/no, and short answers) One volunteer student stands in front of the class. The rest fire questions at him or her, with the aim of eliciting the answer "yes" or "no". The volunteer has to try to answer the questions without these words, mostly through the use of tag answers: / did, or She does not. If the volunteer says the words, he is out and another one is chosen. If after a minute or two he has not said the words, he is a winner. Taken from 2001-2002 Mont...

Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 Some of us, the ones who had the opportunity to be his students, could realize the absence of our teacher Felipe. One of the most remarkable aspects about him as a teacher was his compromise in terms of research and teaching. In other words, he was one of the excellent teacher-researchers the UN has had. He was always characterized by his delight on research that could not be apart from teaching. He believed that a teacher must be a researcher because thinking, reflect ing and producing knowledge in research make easier the interaction and help students to learn and to think seriously in research. In addition, he thought that if you are not teaching, research loses its sense; so the classroom was the place in which he could socialize his ideas, in which feedback came to his research not only because of the debates in the classroom but also because it was the moment in which he listened to himself and reflected on it. Some of his ...

Adriana Norato y Sandra Milena Romero Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 Does society need research to progress? Is research one of the goals of the Educational System? Does research depend only on the Educational System? or Does it belong to Educational institutions and their participants? Does a teacher need to be a researcher? All these questions deal with the field of Education and have been a very important aspect to be reflected upon and researched. However, those have become like political aspects in society. In this sense, what has been made is to create work groups in several areas that involve teaching and research. It is possible to say that what has been found about it is that the teacher is one of the most important participants in shaping a society. If society needs research, teachers must be research ers. But, can a teacher be a researcher at the same time? Yes. What this question implies is a very big effort from the educational institution that educa...

Maria Elena Medina y Javier Augusto Rojas Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 When we talk about sports, perhaps we think of a broad­caster presenting news on TV; or we may think in the Olympic games with their orthodox sports. Even we may think in our favourite soccer team. But, do people all over the world think the same? Do people enjoy and have entertainment in the same way everywhere? ;You might know the answer if you talk to a foreign person about "Tejo". Maybe he or she will wonder: How can these people enjoy hurling a piece of metal toward a box full of clay? In his or her eyes, it will definitely be a strange sport, although to our eyes it is not. Thus, many countries have their own kind of sports which depend on their culture, environment and even myths. Here we have two of those examples: Malaysia There is a Malaysian legend about a poet called Ch'u Yuan who fell into a river 2000 years ago. People loved him, so they sailed quickly to rescue h...

Maria Elena Medina y Javier Augusto Rojas Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 The recreation and Sport Division of the National University has the mission of offering services and activities to the students to improve their health, life quality and how to spend their free time better. As a student of the National University, you can choose among others activities: Chess, football, climbing, weight lifting, Tennis, table tennis, aerobics, basketball, fencing, skating, athletics, judo, Karate. There are two ways of joining a sports group: Sport class: It is a theoretical- practical subject. It provides the student with basic knowledge of the science of sports and physical activities as alternatives to improve their quality of life. Free course: For students who want to start or continue practising a sport in order to improve their fitness and reach a physical and mental balance. Where can you do exercise at the University? We have many places where you can practice you...

Yoana Cristina Pinzón Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 He had remained for six years in that city, that now he feels divided between good lucky and unfortunate inhabitants, but not happy. He got up with immense wishes to come to the places of his childhood, to his play ground, to his country house. He wouldn't find his mother because she had died the year before. However, he could see his father and some friends from the past. He left his house under a pertinacious rain, but he decided that nothing would stop his march. The night before he had dreamed of a spring place and he was convinced that the dream was a call Wt from his entrails to come back to his father and the places that he was missing. He started his car and he traveled under the rain which was increasing. Now he felt just under a blue sky, with white clouds that were forming funny figures; the smell from the sugar-cane plantation, the scent from poppies and willows reached his nose, carried softly ...

Luisa Fernanda Suzunaga Reyes Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 Today was the strangest day of my life; let me say just a strange day. As every Halloween I gave a party in my residence, which the most important people of the city was invited to; yes, it's true, they aren't kind people, but they are powerful and important, something much more worthy. All in the party was normal, drinks, cigarettes and smiles; it was surely the best party I've given. But something strange happened when it finished. After the last guest had gone - a man whose name I don't remember, but I do remember how much money his family has- a new person arrived, he was disguised with a black tunic and that's how it started.  Who are you? I am you, but I'm alive. What do you mean? Am I dead? Yes, your soul has gone, and now it's with me; you changed it for Money, future and sad vain happiness. No, when did I do it? The day you stopped being a child, the day you preferr...

Richard Vargas López Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 It happened on a misty night when my soul was utterly invaded by an extreme feeling of grief. Amnesia and photophobia accompanied my odd anxiety. "Asimple nervous disorder, which doubtless soon will pass," I thought. Some feeble people found in alcohol the nepenthes to defeat their strongest sorrow. But unlike them, it was not my demeanor to concede my troubles to be devoured by the bitterness of alcohol. My unfathomable anxiety, however, had overpowered me to such an extent that I was swallowed into an alcohol dream that night. At the Village Bar the clock killed time and I did not realize how poisoned I was until I saw unknown people around me, talking about my deepest secrets. The midnight moved away; the bar owners switched on the light and after a few seconds, its intense gloss brought pain to my eyes. The photophobia began wreaking havoc inside me. I had come out of the bar, when a car came towa...

Lina Rodríguez, Leonardo Solórzano y Julián Jaimes Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 Could you imagine how Cartagena would be if it were under the British control? This question may sound a bit odd to you but it is an unknown face of our history. During the 18th century, the British Navy was at war with Spain because of the Spanish possessions in the Carib­bean sea. The British possessions had become stronger due to conquests by the British fleet of the territories in Fort San Lorenzo and Porto Bello. The main characters of this historic episode were: the Spanish commander Blas de Lezo, who had a very illustri­ous career, had lost his leg, his eye and his arm in differ­ent battles; and the English admiral, Edward Vernon. The English fleet respected Bias de Lezo highly; but Vernon misjudged him. Vernon's next objective was Cartagena which was de­fended by Lezo. The city had just oyer 6,000 soldiers and a small fleet. The British forces had 15,000 sailors, 12,000...

Lina Rodríguez, Leonardo Solórzano y Julián Jaimes Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 Getting an answer to the question what is an American? can be difficult since Americans do not think of them­selves as a whole due to the fact that the United States is the most heterogeneous society of the world because of immigrants and their ideas. The French J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur raised this question as early as 1782 when he realized the mixture of blood and races in the country. Since its beginning, it had been settled, built and developed by generations of im­migrants searching for a better future and a fresh start. This mixture has not let Americans have a common pa­ternity. From then many people have tried to answer that query but it has not been suitably answered yet. The most common answer has been "the American is the product of the Melting pot", namely, the mixture of races caused by intermarriage, what has brought up to a com­bination of religions, c...

Magda Rodríguez Publicado en Capital Letter No. 2 Octubre de 2002 Developing autonomy in foreign language learning  Before beginning, why don't you reflect upon the following statements. Decide if you agree or disagree according to the scale given in the table. After you have read the article, go back to the 'test' to see if you have changed your mind. Statements 1 Completely agree Agree Disagree Completely disagree The teacher has all the information. It is the job of the teacher to transmit knowledge to students. The teacher is responsible for students' learning. It is the teacher's role to make sure students work. As an adult and professional, the teacher has the expertise to make the right judgments and decisions about students' learning. It is the teacher's responsibility to choose the learning material. ...