Writing, Lesson Three

The second week, lessons three and four, started with a review of capitalization and punctuation.  This was a pretty easy lesson to put together; my students have been studying English for several years now and felt that this lesson was a bit boring and unneccessary--but, I have a schedule to stick to, and besides, even though they "already know this stuff", their writing shows that they could use a reminder every now and then.

In the part about capitalization, I reviewed basic rules quickly, and spent most of the time on capitalizing titles, which they had less experience with.  I used the titles of many classics as examples, which led to some discussion of words they didn't understand in the title: rye, wrath, solitude, bondage, tenant, half-blood.  Bonus points to anyone who can list the titles those words come from in the comment section!

I did break the tedium of the puntuation review a bit (at least for me); I used the classic grammar example of "Let's eat Grandpa!" as compared to "Let's eat, Grandpa!" which thankfully the students did find amusing and understood the point (you never know, cross-culturally, when sometimes a bit of humor just won't translate). I found a few other examples online; one was a magazine cover that said, "Rachael Ray finds inspiration in cooking her family and her dog."  Then, I put the first paragraph of The Lion, the Witch,and the Wardrobe up; I had rewritten it with bad capitalization and punctuation, and they had to rewrite it in their journals correctly.  It's one of my favorite books, with a good message; you never know, someone might get curious and read it.

The journal topic for the week was "What is your favorite book, and why?"  At least with a topic like that, not everyone will write about the same thing.  ***later edit: there was a wide variety, but the most popular by far with Jane Eyre, which apparently they just read recently for another class.***

Plastic Islands (ITC Week 16)

That island of plastic debris swirling in the mid-Pacific scares me.  Food waste, wood, paper—all that will disintegrate, but plastic…that stuff’s going to be around a while.  The number of plastic bottles I use myself is a bit overwhelming, and I’m just one person.  Unfortunately, the green tea I like only comes in 16.9 oz bottles; I wish they had jugs of it so that I could just refill a bottle instead of using so many. 

When I’m traveling, I try to keep one water bottle for as long as possible, refilling it when I get the chance. This was easy in Europe; there was always a museum or large store with water fountains right across the road.  In Rome, and many other places in Italy, there are public fountains on the sidewalk.  It’s been a lot more challenging in Asia, as tap water is often not potable. When I’m at home, I try to buy tea and juice in the two liter size and drink out of a glass, but on the road it seem inevitable to end up using three or four bottles a day.  I don’t remember hostels having water tanks available; I wish they would—I’d chip in bit to fill my bottle. 

At least it seems that recycling facilities are becoming more common, although nowhere near fast enough, in my opinion.  Any other travelers have any suggestions on how to use fewer water bottles, or how to environmentally friendly while traveling?