Friday, October 22, 2010

The End... For Now

Thanks to all of you who wrote your comments and feedback about the course! I'll use your suggestions to try to improve future classes. If you have any more suggestions or ideas, you can also feel free to send me an email at any time.

I had a very nice time being your teacher this bimester, and I hope that the class was interesting and/or educational for you! Hopefully I'll see you all in class tomorrow morning, and in the future, as well!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Reminder About Your Last Blog Post

As a reminder, your final post to your blog should be reflective. I returned your goals relating to the course that you wrote on the first day of class, and I want you to write a paragraph or two commenting on those goals:

-Did you get everything out of the class that you hoped to get out of it? What activities or concepts did you enjoy, and what could have been done better? Try to be as specific as possible.

-Did you contribute everything that you had planned to? What did you do well in terms of your interactions with the group, and what could you have done better?

I'll be interested in hearing your responses!

Remember, I need you to post your answers to these questions (and any other blog posts) by Thursday evening, since I'll be checking them on Friday. Good luck, and I'll be interested in hearing your feedback!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Homework For This Week

Your assignments for this week (due by Oct. 16) are as follows:

Write 10 sentences comparing current news items with possibly different, unreal outcomes. Use conditional tenses (see p. 48 in your book for a review). You and your partner should have 10 sentences per pair; when you have your sentences, post them to your blog. (If you weren't in class, you'll have to do the 10 alone). Here are three examples we had in class:

"Yesterday Costa Rica lost a soccer game against Peru. If Costa Rica had better players, they might have won."

"Miners in Chile are trapped in a cave. If there were an earthquake, they miners could die there or never get out."

"Last night there was a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Costa Rica, but no one was hurt. If the earthquake had been stronger, people could have been injured."

Remember, you need 10 events that happened, as well as 10 possibly different outcomes. If you have any questions, please ask me.

Your second homework assignment is to finish any blog entries or homework from previous weeks. If you are behind on any posts or responding to any comments, now is your chance to get caught up.

Finally, don't forget to bring Halloween Candy for the younger kids next week. If you forget, they will not enjoy sweet, sweet candy but instead choke on bitter, bitter tears of sadness. Let's not let that happen.

Good luck, and see you next week!

Monday, October 4, 2010

Homework For This Week


Your homework (due October 9th) is to write an entry for a guidebook about a city in Costa Rica.

You can use the examples in your book (p.26) or the two I gave you in class as references. The two cities you can't write about are San Ramon and Palmares.

Your city/town description should include the following types of information:
-Location
-History
-Transportation to/from the area
-Common activities and special events
-Characteristics of the people who live there
-The town's "mood"
-Any additional information you feel is relevant

Good luck!

Friday, October 1, 2010

A Note


In general, the blogs are looking great! I read and made comments on your corrected profiles. Please look at those comments and respond, if indicated. There are a few people who are behind in general and if that includes you, please post the assignment as soon as possible, since your partners are depending on you!

Also, the post before this one talks about Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices. For many of you, this is your most common writing problem, but you may not even know it's a problem. I wrote the explanation and the exercises in my previous job, so take a look at them and if you have any questions or problems, please tell me.

That's about it for now. I'll hope to see you all tomorrow morning in class and on-time--it starts at 8:00 am, remember?--since we'll be starting with two songs. If you miss them, you'll be kicking yourself for the rest of the weekend, and no one wants that!

Take care, and see you tomorrow!

Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices

What is a Run-on Sentence and a Comma Splice?

If you join two or more complete sentences without using proper punctuation, then we call it a run-on sentence. Run-on sentences can be long or short, but just because a sentence is long, doesn’t mean that it’s a run-on sentence.
A comma splice is similar to a run-on sentence, but with one difference. In a comma splice, two complete sentences are joined by using a comma improperly.

Why are run-on sentences and comma splices a problem in English?

These types of sentences can often cause misunderstandings, and they generally look and even sound bad to a native speaker.

Why are run-on sentences and comma splices a problem for Spanish speakers?

In English, there are different rules for how to properly construct a sentence. Look at the Spanish sentence below, taken directly from La Nación:

“Asesino es él y asesinos sus más próximos camaradas, porque jefes de una banda narcoterrorista, saboteadora, secuestradora, torturadora y sin otra razón histórica de ser que prolongar su reinado de violencia intimidante, acción atrabiliaria que no va dirigida contra una sangrienta dictadura interna ni contra un agresivo imperialismo externo, sino en contra de un gobierno democráticamente electo y en contra de un indefenso pueblo que la repudia masivamente y desde dentro, como se demostró el año pasado en las calles de las ciudades de medio planeta y en las de Colombia como centro.”

If you translated this sentence directly into English, it would probably make English speakers cry! In schools in the U.S., children are taught the “K.I.S.S. rule” when writing. That means “Keep It Simple, Stupid!” Even though you can correctly form sentences that are very long, it’s not always a great idea. If your writing is unclear or cumbersome, clients will lose interest, and even possibly complain. Run-on sentences and comma splices are notoriously common in English writing by native Spanish speakers.

OK, so how about an example in English?

Look at the following sentence:

“Paul is a very talented chef he still loves to make simple pizzas.”

This is a run-on sentence because both “Paul loves to make pizza” and “he is a very talented chef” can stand on their own as complete sentences. When you have two independent thoughts like this, you cannot combine them into one sentence without separating them somehow.

Now, look at this very similar example:

“Paul is a very talented chef, he still loves to make simple pizzas.”

This is also incorrect, but in this case it’s technically a comma splice.

How can we identify run-on sentences and comma splices?

Look for sentences that have two subjects, or a subject and a pronoun; these types of sentences are often run-on sentences. Comma splices are often easier to spot than run-on sentences because--obviously--comma splices contain a comma...or many commas!

How can we fix run-on sentences and comma splices?

When you encounter a run-on sentence or a comma splice, you will generally need to separate the sentences into two or more parts.
The five techniques listed below can be used to fix both run-on sentences and comma splices. Depending on what you’re trying to express, you’ll have to see which way works best in each situation.
The easiest way to separate a run-on sentence or comma splice is often to just divide the run-on sentence into two sentences:

“Paul is a very talented chef. He still loves to make simple pizzas.”

Alternately, you can add a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, yet, nor, so):

“Paul is a very talented chef, but he still loves to make simple pizzas.”

Another possibility is to add a subordinating conjunction to the sentence (after, although, before, unless, as, because, even though, if, since, until, when, while, etc.):

“Although Paul is a very talented chef, he still loves to make simple pizzas.”

You can also fix the sentence with a semi-colon and a transitional word (however, moreover, on the other hand, nevertheless, instead, also, therefore, consequently, etc.):

“Paul is a very talented chef; however, he still loves to make simple pizzas.”

Finally, you can separate the two sentences with a semi-colon, but that's generally not the preferred method (why not simply separate it into two sentences?):

“Paul is a very talented chef; he still loves to make simple pizzas.”

Depending on the circumstances, one method may work better or seem more natural than another. You may have to change a run-on sentence a few times before it sounds good.

Practice Exercises
Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices


The following sentences all are run-on sentences or contain comma splices. Use one of the techniques mentioned today to correct the sentences.

1. Pablo went to Maxi Bodega, he needed to buy a microwave.

2. Americans shake hands when they meet the Japanese bow.

3. The girls watched TV the boys stayed in the kitchen.

4. I want to learn French Yeison wants to learn German.

5. People in Costa Rica say they like peace they don’t want an army.

6. I will make that change to your account, I just need your telephone number, can you hold on while I pull up some information?

7. Last year we went to Greece, it is a beautiful and exotic country.

8. I have many plans for this coming weekend, if it doesn’t rain we’ll go to La Fortuna, if it does rain we’ll stay at home and play games.

9. I told him that he was wrong, he got angry at me.

10. What’s happening to this neighborhood now you can’t even go outside without being afraid of getting shot!

11. We looked at his car it had a flat, this sort of thing always seems to happen to him.

12. Can you call Kate, her number’s there on the counter.

13. I’d like to present you to Professor Schneider she’s the visiting researcher from Munich.

14. The replacement part will be sent to you in five days, you can expect to receive it by then, if it’s not there call us.

15. Thank you for your interest in our company, it is clients like yourself who make this job rewarding.