Agenda

Since Julie has already provided an excellent write-up of the current flamenco exhibit at the Reina Sofía, I thought I'd provide a sampling of some exhibits I'm thinking of checking out:

Avant-nerdismo, when square becomes cool, until 14 February at Espacio García,

Generación 2008, contemporary art by young Spanish artists, until 23 March at La Casa Encendida,

No soy un monstruo, until Spring at Mad is Mad,

Picasso, from the Paris Picasso Museum, until 5 May at the Reina Sofía,

Modigliani until 18 May at the Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Fundación Caja Madrid,

and (maybe) some shows:

Efterklang, Peter Broderick, 20 Feb at Neu! Club

Love of Lesbian, Russian Red, La Bien Querida, Los Guapos, 29 Feb at Joy Eslava

La Casa Azul, 8 March at Joy Eslava

Feist, 8 June at Sala Heineken

or (even) some movies:

My Blueberry Nights, Wong Kar-Wai -- I read a synopsis in an in-flight magazine, and the description made me cringe. The movie features Norah Jones, but it has the WKW stamp, so...

It's A Free World, Ken Loach -- A recently unemployed woman organizes her own home business, employing immigrants. The trailer looked interesting.

Juno, Jason Reitman -- Yes, I'm most definitely buying into the hype. Ellen Page is a versatile actress (see: Hard Candy) and I'm missing some teenage American wit.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel -- Also the hype. Elle's Jean-Dominique Bauby tells his life story with only the help of one eye.

4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days, Cristian Mungiu -- Communism in decline and abortion still illegal.

If, however, you're in the market for a Spanish-language film, I highly recommend the most excellent XXY, by Lucía Puenzo. It deftly tackles the interrelationships of sex, sexuality, and gender identity without making any judgments, all the while demonstrating how such ideas are not so much fixed as learned.

That said, I'm also quite looking forward to the slew of films at this year's Berlinale, including The Other Boleyn Girl (featuring ravishing Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson as the sisters) and Be Kind, Rewind (the new Michel Gondry), both world premieres and screening out of competition. Just hope my eyes don't tire out.

Demise of the polyglot

Whenever someone asks which languages I speak fluently, I hesitate to respond. What is meant by fluency? What kind of communication(s) does it involve? Solely oral communication or literacy as well?

From the looks of me (or my surname), many people assume I speak Mandarin Chinese; this is my physical linguistic mark, as it were. Filipino (Tagalog), however, is my native tongue, and although I'm lacking vocabulary here and there, I'm still able to speak it flawlessly, sans accent. Indeed, when I see other Filipinos, especially here in Spain, I'm almost eager to show how I've retained the language after "all this time" in the U.S., and not having grown up within "the community." I'm eager precisely because of this lack, because language is the only thing that has bound/is binding me me to a country I can hardly remember, I'm almost imagining.

I'm even more eager to show how deftly I switch between Filipino and English, my other tongue, the other tongue, the language in which I've lived most of my life.

So, I explain this (in a nutshell) to the mother of a potential student. A colleague forwarded her my contact information and within a day or so, she'd emailed me, asking me about by educational and linguistic background. Yes, I explain that Filipino is my mother tongue but that I grew up in the U.S., insinuating that I speak English as though it is the only language I have ever known. I know it like the palm of my hand. As an aside, I also shared that I spoke French and Spanish.

The mother sends an apology. Because Tagalog--and not English--is my first mother tongue, she isn't be able to hire me.*

Pero, ¡¿qué dices?!

I was incredulous. Too much information, I guess.

In a somewhat calm reply to her rejection, I suggested that perhaps the experience of learning and juggling multiple languages might help her child, too.

No response yet.




*I've also heard tell of preference of British--instead of American--tutors.

cambio de fecha Jornadas de Formación

De: "FERRER ALVAREZ, SALVADOR"
Enviado el: miércoles, 30 de enero de 2008 13:57

Un saludo a todos,



Esperamos que todo vaya bien en los Colegios e Institutos. Os escribimos para recordaros que se acercan las fechas de las Jornadas de Formación para Auxiliares de Conversación a las que sabéis que tenéis que asistir. El primer grupo tendrá su Jornada de Formación el próximo 8 de febrero a las 10 horas en el CRIF “Las Acacias”. Para el segundo grupo, cuya formación estaba prevista para el día 15 de febrero, hemos tenido que cambiar la fecha; la Jornada de Formación de este grupo será el 22 de Febrero a las 10 horas en el CRIF “Las Acacias”.

Si tenéis algún problema con las fechas, por favor, avisadnos con suficiente antelación a la celebración de las Jornadas.



Un saludo cordial,

Subdirección Gral. Programas de Innovación
Consejería de Educación