LAD

LAD stands for Language Acquisition Device. This is an area, present at birth in the human brain, which makes the process of learning languages possible. This innate facility provides children with the capacity to learn up to three languages simultaneously. Of course, if you have tried or are trying to learn a second language as an adult, you are well aware of the fact that this area of your brain has long since shut down. This window of opportunity, to acquire second and third languages naturally, closes by the age of twelve or around puberty. In fact, it closes much sooner in schools where the second language is taught in the student’s first language. The message is very clear. In today’s multilingual world, we must expose our children to second and third languages as early as possible.

SLOW LEARNERS

I have long been of the opinion that there is no such thing as a stupid child. Children who consistently do poorly in school are, in my opinion, the victims of a bad education system. It’s not that the students can’t learn but rather that the teachers don’t know how to teach.

We all learn in different ways. All of us are born with eight different types of intelligence that we use to understand the world we live in. However, by the time we start school many of us develop some of these intelligences more than others. Consequently, it is the responsibility of the instructors to identify the more highly developed intelligences of their pupils and adapt their teaching methods accordingly.

While the majority of the class may be able to understand a simple verbal explanation, others may be lost if not provided with a visual representation of the concept.

On The Lake

It was very peaceful at the lake in the Casa de Campo the other day.

Spain's July 4th

Yesterday Spain celebrated its national holiday with a military parade down the main streets of the capital accompanied by an assortment of aircraft flying overhead. Since there are a number of vantage points in the Casa de Campo with unobstructed views of the city I decided to take the camera with me on my morning bike ride.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was that the angle of light was really bad. I knew the pictures wouldn't be very good but I stayed just in case. In the end I was able to get a couple of decent pictures. You can see all of them at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/myprofe.

Company Language Classes - The Truth

About this time last year, I enquired at a local language academy to see if they were looking for teachers. At the time, I was free in the middle of the day. Somewhat to my surprise, they set me up with a couple of midday classes in a company, that works for the government, to start that very same week. The pay was very low but I was free to conduct the class as I please.

As my relationship with the students developed, I discovered that I had been their first “real” teacher – someone with experience. Not only that but they had never even had the “luxury” of having the same teacher for an entire course. One of them confessed that it was the first time that he had arranged his appointments in such a way so as not to miss the class.

At the end of the course, we all thought that it would be interesting if we could continue together the following year but without having to go through the language academy. We agreed to keep in touch and they promised to bring the matter to the attention of Human Resources. We were quite optimistic that something could be worked out.

I called Human Resources last week and they confessed that their hands were tied. Since the language academy in question, having made the lowest offer for the umpteenth consecutive year, had won the contract for the classes, only their teachers would be allowed in the company.