Michael: Unity

Michael with Leigh, one of the students involved in the Unity Project
Last week I happened to come across a very striking unfinished painting leaning against one of the classroom walls at our college. Later I met Michael, a teacher in the English section, who told me all about it.

The mural is a painting of 13 students who were enrolled in a TAFE course called CGVE. As part of their course they decided to create a mural that became a collaborative project between the class and also the English section and the design section. The faces you see in the mural are the students' actual faces.

While Michael and I we were talking, the artistic director of the project, Julie (a design teacher from our college) and Kelly, another of the students involved in the project (and the angel in the painting), were working on the mural to get it ready to be hung in its final location outside the parking area. Yesterday I was lucky enough to also talk to Leigh, another student (the one Michael calls a graffiti artist and Julie corrects him by saying he is an artist).

Have a look at these worksheets, they will help you with the listening.

Listen to our conversations.

Download the MP3 file (10.9 MB, o:11:56)

music by mig

Andrew: Nut & Num

This week's episode was produced by my students. They interviewed Andrew, one of our teachers, who has spent nearly three years living in Thailand. Listen to the interview and tell us what you think about the very interesting topics raised in it (overseas adoption, Australian prisoners in overseas jails, etc).

Download the MP3 file (2.53 MB, o:11:03)

music by my brothers' group Tresena







They have prepared this article to introduce their podcast, Andrew's Story.

Listen to the interview. The questions haven't been all recorded. It's more like a conversation.
Andrew talks about adoption, Thai seasons, Australian drought, bushfires, global warming, what we can do about it, and finally Australian seasons.

Listen to it and write your thoughts in your blogs or here in comments.

Health Expo 2006

Last Tuesday, 24th October 2006, our four AMEP classes took part in the first Health Expo organised by the Student Asociation at St George TAFE. It was a first in Sydney. The Association considered it a pilot to be followed by other colleges in future.

The Student Association officers, Kylie and Kelly, invited a number of institutions and private people who work in health and health education. The aim is to get young people aware of health issues that have an impact in their life. There were doctors, dental care workers, information on drugs and alcohol issues, sexual assault, probiotics, gym, masseurs, tai chi demonstration, boxing, etc.

Our students' involvement was mainly in providing the food for the day. They cooked delicious healthy dishes from many different countries. The money raised ($525.oo!) went to CanTeen (Teenagers with Cancer) as Friday was CanTeen day in Sydney. But our students did a lot of work besides cooking and serving. They prepared posters related to diet (the Food Pyramid), conducted surveys related to food, exercise, alternative medicine and lifestyle, got together beautiful presents for the raffle and competition, packed the presents, wrote the quiz for the competition, helped set up and clean up.

It was a great success. The evaluation results show a majority of paticipants rating the event as excellent and wanting to have it every year. The student association is putting on a brunch for our four classes and the Association Board has decided to donate a very generous amount of money for us to go on our planned end-of-the-year excursion.

Well done every one!

Our class was kept very busy on the day recording interviews left right and centre. We will broadcast some of them here but most will be in Let's Talk, which is the students venue for their own radio programs. I will be keeping a listof links to of their Health Expo interviews here. Check the photos and read about the bliggest underwater dance ever here. Keep tuned!

This fragment of the radio program introduces Chem, one of the teachers and Kylie, one of the Student Association organisers. Check Chem's blog for more photos of the day, including the poster her students made.


Download the MP3 file (2.53 MB, o:02:46)
Music by my brothers' group Tresena

Olga: New Horizons

Today you can listen to Olga again. You have met her before. She interviewed Ana Maria, our flamenco teacher.

One of the many things that Olga has done in her different jobs in Sydney is the Guides for Skilled Migrants commissioned by the Parramatta Migrant Resource Centre. If you want to find a job in Australia, you should check these guides. See if your trade or profession is listed and read about how to have your qualifications recognised, how to get a licence to work or how to go about finding a job in your field.

Olga talks about a very famous Spanish writer, Garcia Lorca. Do you know anything about him? What did he write? When was he writing? How did he die? Who were some of his very famous friends? Do an internet search and write about him in your blog. To define your search you can write Garcia Lorca inside inverted commas: "Garcia Lorca" . Remember not to copy and paste! It's plagiarism. Write a summary in your own words and put links to good informative sites. Here is a one page extract from Nadal's study of Lorca's El Publico.

To help you with the listening, print this listening worksheet, Olga: listening.
Download this worksheet, Olga: Listening Quiz, answer the questions and do the writing in your blog.

Download the MP3 file (3.26 MB, o:15:25)
Music by my brothers' group Tresena

Hato de Foces

If you've been listening to the podcasts in this blog, nearly all of the background music comes from my brothers' (Jose Luis and Carlos Ochoa) group Tresena. The rest is expressly composed by my son, Mig, or is from my brothers' other group, Hato de Foces. I just came across a video of one of their songs, Estrella de Paz ( Star of Peace).

Tell me what you think in comments. My students and those of Marion's and Rose-Marie's can write a story inspired by the video. Who is the girl? Where does she live? What is she doing? What are her dreams?

Ah! Guess who my brothers are!

Angel Oros has composed a song, Quimera, played here by my two brothers

Ana Maria: Flamenco

Some people do yoga, some practise a sport or go to the gym, others ... dance!
In the middle of Sydney's Inner West we find a little Spanish corner, Ana Maria Campo's Spanish School of Dance. My friend Olga Yoldi talks to her about the school, her students and herself.

Listen to Ana Maria


Download the MP3 file (3.28 MB, o:03:35)

music by Coro de La Hermandad de Nuestra Sra del Rocio de Jaen

To help you with the listening, here are some questions:

1. How did she become involved in flamenco?
2. When did her mother migrate to Australia ?
3. How does Ana Maria describe flamenco?
4. Why do people do it?
5. What nationalities are the students?
6. What’s the history of flamenco?
7.Why has she settled in Australia?
8.What’s her identity?
9. What else does Ana Maria do?
10.What does versatile mean?
11. How does Ana describe herself?
12. How many children does Ana Maria have?
13.What did her husband do in order to be able to see her when they were courting?
14. Where is he from? Does it make a difference?

For more information on flamenco and its origins, visit Flamenco-Widipedia

• Search the net: Is there a traditional dance in your country of origin that is very popular? Write a short information text (report) about it. Here is an example of a report about the jota, a traditional dance form Aragon, Spain. You can also search for a video (youtube is a good site) which shows traditional dances from your area and post it on your blog.
  

The video below shows a jota from my hometown, Huesca, which is in the region of Aragon. I learned how to dance it when I was 4 years old. It's such a long time ago that I wouldn't know how to dance it now!


For a general overview of Aragonese dances, check this video, also from Agrupacion Santa Cecilia. All of the places shown are from the Pyrenees, the mountains in the north of my province, Huesca.

Lisbeth: 2 months, 10 countries

Lisbeth happened to be in our class when we got there for our afternoon lesson. We asked her if she would mind being interviewed for our class podcast and she kindly accepted, so we fired our questions on the spot.

Before you listen to the interview, have a look at this worksheets, they will help you follow the listening:
Lisbeth listening exercises
Lisbeth: quiz & writing
Lisbeth: itinerary
Download the MP3 file (1.87 MB, o:08:11)
Music by my brothers' group Tresena

Patricia: St George College Librarian

Last week we had a tour of the library. Greig Thomson, the library manager, gave a power point presentation on the library services and facilities. Then he gave as a tour of the library and showed us where the ESL books are, the graded readers, how to use the library catalogue and also took us to a computer room to show us a couple of ESL CDROM programs, Issues in English and Connect Speech.

Another librarian, Patricia Murdoch, was very kind and let me interview her for a podcast for those students who were absent. You can all listen to it, though, as it is a good listening excersice and it will help everyone with the library portfolio.

Before listening to it, do these library exercises. They will help you understand better. Then you can practise your English by writing the answers in your blog.

Download the MP3 file (1.80 MB, o:07:53)
Music by my brothers' group Tresena
For further information, got to the librarians' podcasts in their wiki.

Angela's radio program: Work

Angela talks to her classmates about work, their jobs before they came to Australia, their jobs now and in the future.

As usual, Hideki has a very particular take on the topic.


Listen to them and tell us what you think.


Download the MP3 file (2.82 MB, o:12:21)
Music by mig Traxmyths

Djimi's radio program:The first trip to Australia

Djimi interviewed her classmates about their first trip to Australia. How long did it take? Were they by themselves? Was it boring?

There is a twist at the end. Listen to her and Hideki debating why they are studying English. Hideki gives a very interesting answer.
Tell us what you think.

Download the MP3 file (1.77 MB, o:o7:46)

Music by my brother's group Tresena

Marcela's radio Program: Love & Marriage

Listen to Marcela's interview with her classmates about love, marriage and other related topics...

Sorry Yuki, we had to clip some (a lot) of your response. Lol* !... it was too much.


Download the MP3 file (1.66 MB, o:o7:15)

Music by mig Traxmyths


*Lol: laugh out loud


Click here for a photostory of the day
Salsa Lesson

Helen's radion program: Has changing cultures changed you?

Helen asked her classmates about the effects of having changed to a country with a differenct culture. Listen to their answers.

Download the MP3 file 2.20 MB, o:09:37)

Music by Mig

Harjit's radio program: Cultural differences

Listen to Harjit's radio program about culture in your countries and in Australia. It is very interesting and all of you had a lot to say.

Download the MP3 file 3.40 MB, o:14:52)

Music by my brothers' group, Tresena

Suzanne: music and other talents

You've heard Suzanne's talk about EFS. Today I'm talking to her about her other life outside TAFE teaching. Well, not about everything, only about one aspect of her very interesting life: music.
Download the MP3 file 2.24 MB, o:o9:49)

Music by my brothers' group, Tresena





Answer the following questions:
1. What’s her background? What’s her family’s ancestry?
2. When did her father’s family first come to Australia?
3. What about her mother’s?
4. Where did she feel at home and why?
5. What’s her parent’s connection with music?
6. What type of music were they involved with?
7. How old was she when she started learning a musical instrument?
8. What instrument was it? Who taught her how to play it?
9. What was her second instrument? What type of songs did she sing?
10. Has she still got her first instrument? What happened to it?
11. What did she do at 15? Where?
12. What did she do in the late sixties?
13. What was the name of her band? (It’s in one of the photos-the newspaper clipping)
14. Did they become famous?
15. What does the newspaper clipping say?
16. What was there always in the background?
17. When did she start playing the mandolin?
18. How long did it take her to play in the Classical Ensemble?
19. When did she perform in the Opera House? What was the show?
20. What did she do at university?
21. What does she call “soirées”?
22. Which photos are from this period? Describe one of them.
23. Does she still play? What takes up all her time?
24. What is her involvement with music now?
25. How did she start modelling and where?
26. How did she get involved in it?
27. Did she have any training? Did she find it difficult or embarrassing?
28. Why does she say the modelling photos look a bit dated?
29. Did you grow up in a musical family? Do you play any instruments? Do you like music? What does it mean to you? Tell us about it in your blog.

TAFE server down for a few days

Our server at TAFE is being serviced, so it will be down for a few days. This means that onely a few podcasts hosted in Our Media are active. They are Suzanne's EFS talk, Dianne: Monster Waves (not the podcast icon, but the Download the mp3 file link) and the last 2 from Emile's slide show: From the Gran Canyon to Mexico and From Guatemala to Uganda. Suzanne: music mania is also ready. Check it out!

I've been told everything will be back to normal shortly. My apologies. Meanwhile guess what this photo is. It's the same as this other one in Our class 2006. Answers in comments.

Emile: Around the world Slide Show

On Wednesday 167h May, Emile gave our class a fantastic power point presentation of his around the world trip. (His first podcast can be listened to here).We recorded all of the slide show, but as it would be too long in one podcast, I thought it was better to divide it into several episodes.

There is a worksheet to be done after listening to the podcasts.
As the podcasts* are quite lengthy, I've divided the recording into 2 podcasts.
First part: From The Gran Canyon to Mexico.Download the MP3 file 3.37 MB, o:14:46)


Music by my brothers'group Tresena


Second part: From Guatemala to Uganda
Download the MP3 file 2.24 MB, o:o9:49)

Music by my brothers'group Tresena

Read our reactions to Emile's slide show by visiting our blogs:
Djimi’s, Robert’s, Hideki’s, Harjit’s, Helen's, Gloria's

*This podcasts are meant for students who attended the slide show mailnly. They are a bit hard to follow if you can't see the pictures.

Suzanne: EFS Coordinator

Most of you are going to finish CESOL II at the end of this semester. You have already started thinking about your pathways. There are many possibilities and one of them is to continue studying either at TAFE or at university. I asked Suzanne, our EFS Coordinator to explain what EFS is, who can study it and how to go about it joining the course.

Listen to Suzanne talking about EFS.
Download the MP3 file 1.42 MB, o:o6:13)

Music by my brothers'group Tresena

Take notes of her mini lecture and write a summary in your blog.

Let's talk

Let's talk is Our Class 2006 companion. It's where you, students and friends from all over the world, can conduct conversations.

Last week we had an interesting discussion around the topic of flora and body language. We had a lot of fun comparing the differences in body language in our countries of origin. The discussion had been instigated by the questions sent by our Portuguese friends from Setubal. Have a listen here.

Chika's radio program: Transport

This is the first of a series of interviews conducted by the students in our class about different topics.

Chika, who is from Japan, decided to ask her classmates about transport in their countries of origin. They also compared it to transport in Sydney. Not surprisingly, the latter leaves a lot to be desired, especially when compared to the Japanese transport system.

Listen to Chika's radio program and write your own opinion in comments .

Download the MP3 file 2.11 MB, o:o9:14)

Music by my brothers' group, Tresena

Dianne: Monster Waves

On Sunday 9th April 2006 my friend Dianne called me to invite me to go with her to Bondi Beach to see the high tide, which today had unusually big waves.

She had read that they were going to be the biggest (up to 9 metres) in 30 years.

We were not the only ones there. There were many people walking along the cliffs from Bondi to Tamarama. The weather was quite pleasant, although a bit windy. There were people walking, playing beach volley, taking photos and a few adventurous swimmers in the Bondi Iceberg pool. They had to get out at the end as the waves were getting into the pool and their strength was tremendous. Read this article, from the Sydney Morning Herald, Monster Waves Ravage city's beaches.

Were there any incidents? Did anyone get into trouble? Which was the only city beach open? What happened to ferry the Spirit of Tasmania? Were there any city ferries cancelled?

Listen to our conversation. The first bit is a bit noisy because we did it on on the cliff overlooking the surf. You can hear the roar of the waves breaking against the rocks. If you find it too difficult to understand, read the script here, Monster Waves.

The next bit is much quieter. We were in the Sydney traffic trying to get home avoiding the cross city tunnel. We will talk about that another day.
To help you with the listening I have prepared a listening worksheet with some of the words used in the dialogue.
Once you listen write a summary of the conversation in your blogs.
Download the MP3 file 995 kB, o:o4:14)


Music by my brothers'group Tresena

Dianne is telling me about a very special open air exhibition that takes place once a year in this area of Sydney, Sculptures by the Sea. My students wrote about it last year. You can read about it in their blogs: Karen, Jessica, Saeideh.

Click on the photos below and you can read some of the signs in Tumarama beach. Can you recognise any of them from our work on Water Safety?

As you can see on the last photo, the life guards didn't have much to do. There was nobody in the water...