CAE Pioneers sit Computer-based Exam

We are proud to announce that a group of nine candidates, all of them students at Asociación Rosarina de Cultura Inglesa, sat CB CAE last 10 December. Today, 13 days later, we celebrate that they all passed their exam with flying colours. Our congratulations to the pioneering team:

Burlán, Florentina

Cristiani, Juan Pablo

Diez, Fernando

Evangelista, Ignacio

Grasso, Francisco

Leguina, Damián

Nuñez, Alejandro

Peñalva, Juan Ignacio

Perpiñá, Juan

Many thanks to Mariana De Biasi, Cristina Insinga, Laura Gieco and Analía Dobboletta for encouraging their students to try this new experience.

Most of the candidates pointed out that the most user friendly test screens are Writing and Reading. These are followed by Listening and Use of English.

Advantages of Writing

- Ease and speed of typing

- Editing versatility

- On screen word count

Advantages of Reading

- Drag and drop feature for Part 2

- Text and questions in parallel for Part 4

- Dynamic navigation menu

Advantages of Listening

- Headphones aid concentration

- Ease and speed of typing

- Part 4 layout

Advantages of Use of English

-In Parts 1, 2 and 5, it is much more meaningful to read the answers embedded in the context.

A word to candidates-to-be:

- You should give it a try! It may sound awkward because we are not used to the CB test but it was clearer. Francisco Grasso.

- It´s a very good experience. If you have the chance, give it a try. Juan Pablo Cristiani.

- Very practical. Juan Ignacio Peñalva

- Really enjoyable experience. You get your results soon. Ignacio Evangelista.

- It is better than the paper based test in every aspect. Alejandro Nuñez

A word to teachers:

- It is quicker to do than the paper test. Juan Pelayo Perpiñá

- Keep on recommending CB tests to students. Florentina Burlán

- Get your students to do the CB exam. Fernando Diez

-The strategies for reading from computer screens and reading from paper are different. Highlighting is not necessary for e-reading. Damián Leguina

THE ARCI ADVANCED TEAM

Play Reading: Hills like White Elephants

At the end of one of the units in the coursebook, we did an activity the book brings to practise using future in the past forms within a past narrative.The activity was called “White Elephants”. It involved reading about some famous white elephants (things that are useless or no longer needed but which have cost a lot of money) and making sentences using future in the past. The following book unit introduced similes.

It was then that I remembered Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Hills like White Elephants”. As we had not done any extensive reading, I thought this was a wonderful opportunity to enjoy a work of literature.

I asked my students to read the short story and then we talked about it in class. We discussed the title, the setting, the themes and the symbols in it. Some of the students were amazed to discover the couple in the story was discussing “abortion” without making it explicit. We also noticed that the story is heavily dependent on dialogue and, thus can be easily adapted into a play.

At this point, I invited my students to stage the story. However, as learning lines by heart might have discouraged them, I suggested reading lines.

We talked about reader’s theatre and they agreed to adapt the story, perform it as a play and film it.

We distributed roles:

Characters (three)

The American: Fernando Diez

The waitress: Gala Casares Albarracín

Jig: Lucila Sanguedolce

Narrator: Regina Silvano

Sound operator (he mixed sounds of bars and trains): Juan Perpiñá

Props person (he brought glasses and bottles): Francisco Grasso

Camera operator (she filmed the performance): Ma. Belén Cristiani

Scenic designer (she made a powerpoint presentation of photos showing landscapes and important symbolic elements in the story -which was projected by means of a beamer at the back of the stage): Gala Casares Albarracín.

The performance was a success. The students were really proud of what they had been able to do. Some even joked about taking up acting!

The play was followed by an in-depth discussion in which interesting points were raised:

-how the dramatization had helped fully appreciate the story

-the number of questions the female character asks evinces her lack of confidence and her need for constant reassurance

-insight into the female character´s state of mind can be gained by looking at the landscape and other symbolic elements

-the time they spend drinking gives a clue to the nature of their relationship (they drink to fill in time)

-the characters talk, but fail to communicate with each other, which highlights the rift between the two.

Finally, we reflected on Henry Miller’s words:

 “The great work must inevitably be obscure, except to the very few, to those who like the author himself are initiated into the mysteries. Communication then is secondary: it is perpetuation which is important. For this only one good reader is necessary.”



Listen to these students´ voices:
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Teacher: Mariana De Biassi             Artículo en Español
Class: CAE 'B'      

                                       

Reading Marathon

Throughout the year, some students approached me asking how they could enhance their knowledge and improve their skills to be better equipped to face the demands of the course. Apart from mentioning attending Self Access and handing in homework, I insisted on the importance of reading - a habit which, frequently because of lack of time, we neglect.

On Sep 30th, Fundación Leer launched the 9^th National Reading Marathon. Students, teachers, relatives and volunteers gathered to enjoy reading at schools, libraries, clubs, etc. I thought it was a good opportunity to remind students of the importance of reading, so we celebrated this event in the library, devoting part of the class to reading for the sheer pleasure of it. After the initial surprise (students did not expect to have a class in the library!), they chose some short stories and sat down comfortably in the armchairs. When they finished reading, they made their recommendations on “literary emoticons”, and shared their comments about the stories with other students. 

As a follow-up activity, the students designed a poster combining images and their quotations on reading. We all participated enthusiastically and benefitted greatly from the activity.

Listen to CAE 'D' students' comments:

Teacher: Laura Gieco                     Artículo en Español
Class: CAE 'D' 

         Escuchar comentarios de alumnos

Tea Party

Our project was the result of many talks we had in class during the first half of the year. Basically, at the beginning, students were interested in cultural and historical issues associated with The British Isles. Consequently, I (as a teacher ) took a map to the classroom since they even wanted to learn about the Commonwealth and topics connected with this.

By July, ARCI 70^th Anniversary was also present in our talks and one of their concerns was associated with very name of the Institution. Why was it officially called ‘Cultura’ when people referred to it as ‘Cultural’? And so I told them about the Library and the concerts, plays, etc. that had taken place there. They agreed it was a real pity that all those events had been discontinued and were happy about the Film Festival held this year, for instance.

When we discussed our reader, ‘The Woman in White’, we devoted two complete 3 period  classes to the topic. I remember it was very cold (July in fact) and they were so involved that they did not even want to go out and take their break. There, they said how good a cup of tea and something sweet would feel. And there sprang the idea of celebrating ARCI’s  70 Anniversary with a Tea Party. Their research started and they collected lots of information on the topic. There were other alternatives in the air, such as competitions, etc. but the Tea Party finally won its place among us.

After our Director of Studies, Prof. Mónica Pérez was informed and she gave us institutional support. Then I introduced the idea of a raffle to make the event more attractive and because I felt both the Institution and our students (not only my group) deserved the chance of getting a present. It was a success and we got many prizes. 

 

We also agreed Escuela Cacique Taigoré would be the place we would help with donations. We collected many things for the school and the girls in charge of receiving donations were proud of the many objects we got.

Together with this simple account of the project I attach the file we forwarded via our Virtual Classroom to the other groups. The photographs of our Tea Party are part of the series of pictures our Coordinator, Prof. Analía Dobboletta shared with us.

READING ABOUT TEA

WRITING TASKS

All in all, it was a pleasure to work on this and all of us ( FCE Adults ‘A’ students and myself ) felt really happy and satisfied with the results.

Teacher: Gabriela Muller                       Artículo en Español

Class: FCE Adults ‘A’, 2011

Forever Young

With our FCE classes we dealt with the topic of “Stages in Life” in our coursebooks. We studied a really interesting article called ”My Generation”, which was about a group of elderly people in the UK who got together and formed a rock band named “The Zimmers”.

As a follow-up activity we watched their video on YouTube and then we talked about how brave, how enthusiastic, how unbelievably young these elderly people looked. In contrast, we also talked about those other people who are dumped in homes, marginalized and forgotten.

And thus the idea of the project was born. We thought we could visit a home near Cultural and spend a nice time with the inmates there. So we got together - FCE “G” and FCE “M”- several times, rehearsed a couple of songs and a puppet show and the students had good fun  during the rehearsals.

On August 24^th we happily made our way to “Excelencia”, a home on Laprida Street, and we spent an absolutely delightful afternoon there. The elderly people were fascinated to see so many young people around, talking, singing, dancing for them…They were moved to tears. They were so grateful to us for the visit!!

Yet, we believe our students -really sensitive kids by the way- were still much more touched. They were amazed at the lively chat, the easy manners, the sweet looks these people gave them in return for their songs and dances.

We conclude our students learnt that elderly people are not always unhappy and that sometimes feeling 'forever young' is possible, that there is always a will to go on…

It was an utterly rewarding learning experience for the elderly people in the home, for our students and for us, which made us all feel better people. Unforgettable…

Teachers: Laura Lupo and Patricia Zorio

Classes: FCE 'G' and FCE 'M'

                  Artículo en Español

Pequeños Gestos, Grandes Logros

Students from FCE 'A' ran a solidarity project to help the 'Pequeños Gestos, Grandes logros' Charitable Fund. 
 

Teacher: Lucía Guerrero                           Artículo en Español
Class: FCE 'A'

Welcome!

This blog is initially meant to be an open door for the whole community to browse through the work we do in our advanced classes, and also as a place where our advanced students can learn from fellow students and their teachers. 

'La Cultural' is always on the move!

We would like to share our projects, photos, news, thoughts, views  - and information that may be of use to our advanced level learners.

Feel free to move around and leave your comments. 

THE ARCI ADVANCED TEAM

Asociación Rosarina de Cultura Inglesa

Artículo en Español