Today, April 9th, is a day to END IT! For practice with simultaneous translation, today I showed this brief video about slavery in the world today. As the subtitles ran in English, I offered an interpretation in Spanish of the video's script.
I provided students with a few key terms that appear in the video, including:
la esclavitud
la mentira
las fábricas
la amenaza
el burdel
la justicia
la opresión
oprimido/a
contra su voluntad
luchar
la voz
a indiferencia
la libertad
I showed students the X on my hand sketched with a red marker, and my Facebook profile picture of my family's hands.
In Spanish 203 and 204, students have been preparing debates this week using the subjunctive form. I asked whether there is any debate to the subject of slavery. Following this video and translation exercise, students began presenting opposing points of view over various topics of human security and human rights: gun control, immigration, the DREAM act, gay marriage, abortion, lowering the drinking age, legalization of marijuana. I allowed students to propose topics and to choose the side of each debate that they wish to argue. They have been preparing during class and at home this week.
By doing debates in class, students are gaining confidence in embracing their own bilinguality. They are taking their speaking abilities to the brink in answering impromptu questions from the audience about controversial topics---and as they stretch their linguistic capacity, their language skills grow before our very eyes. It is an honor to see the students grow.
Here are some ideas for class discussion in a language classroom. After we watched the video, I offered some sentences using the subjunctive to talk about action steps we can take. I had a list of infinitives on the board:
informarse sobre el tema
compartir el video
divulgar la información
cambiar nuestros hábitos de consumo
participar en un boicot de las compañías que abusan de sus empleados
influir en el Congreso con peticiones y cartas sobre esta situación
orar por los víctimas del tráfico de personas
We formed sentences using the subjunctive and impersonal expressions that trigger its use, such as:
Es importante que
Es triste que
Es necesario que
Es preciso que
Es urgente que
No creo que
Espero que
I have learned the following statistics from reading many sites about slavery, exploitation and trafficking. Did you know that 27
million people around the world live in slavery, working in brothels,
or in hard labor, for someone else's benefit? The global cost of a
human being is $90. The average international cost of a sex act is $5.
Five bucks. Life is cheap in a world where slavery is permitted. If we
turn a blind eye to the plight of the enslaved, our complicity chips
away at our own humanity and we become lower than beasts. April 9, this
is a day to recognize the role of consumers (of chocolate, of coffee,
of pornography, of exploitative sex, of cell phones---all our first
world addictions) about the human cost and the price that someone else
is paying. END IT is a campaign to educate and empower people for
change. There is more slavery today than at any previous point in
history. Trafficking and slavery exist INSIDE the United States, very
likely around the corner from where you live. There is more criminal
money changing hands for human trafficking than for the drug trade now.
This is EVERYONE'S issue.
Since we are talking in class about food, we did a reading from the textbook (Identidades) that talks about the chocolate trade. Some in the class knew about fair trade clothing, and we discussed the boycotts against Hershey's and Nestlé. We mentioned the local fair trade store in our community, The Welcome Mat. We discussed how sometimes something healthy and good, like quinoa, can lead to environmental devastation, as is the case in present-day Bolivia. As students learn how consumer choices and personal decisions affect others, they become truly engaged global citizens. They take their language from an artificial, safe classroom environment and prepare to use their language skills for everyday tasks that involve logic, rhetoric, science, technology, social justice, love and mercy.
How do you engage students in thinking compassionately about their own responsibility for justice in the real world? Please share your comments below.
El Salto has just opened a new Mexican grocery store in Valparaiso.
It's on Lincolnway right next to Domino's pizza and Au Naturel Market.
They carry fresh produce, dry goods, pan dulce sweet breads, meat,
fresh tamales, and household goods and toiletries. They provide
excellent service. The selection of fruits and vegetables is a mix of domestic and imported produce, and all is fresh and ready to
eat without needing time to ripen.
In Hobart / New Chicago / Lake Station, La Rancherita bakery and El
Ranchero restaurant are my favorites. From Old Ridge Road, turn at the
rooster statue onto Michigan Street (it's at 3559 Michigan St). The
mural on the wall is pictured above and is a landmark. Their restaurant
is busy at lunch time---free chicken-tomato noodle soup comes as an
appetizer with the meal. The pan dulce Mexican sweet bread is 35 cents
to 75 cents a piece. My kids love the watermelon-shaped cookies, and I
like what my mom calls elephant ears (different from the fried dough at
the county fair) that in Spain was called palmeras. Next time I am
there I'll take a picture of those to share.
Tarimoro is a larger Mexican grocery in Lake Station located at 330
Central Avenue. The produce is fresh, ripe, ready to eat, and the
prices are great. They have a selection of piñatas for children's
birthday parties. They also sell gift items like the piggy bank
pictured below.
(Tienes que hacer “clic” en el enlace que dice “WATCH
VIDEO.”
La introducción
A) Debes pausar la película después del primer minuto
¿1. ¿Qué tiempo
hace?(Marca todas las respuestas que
son lógicas)
Hace calorHace fríoHace
solHace
frescoEstá nevando
Está despejadoEstá lloviendoEstá nublado
¿2. Dónde están las familias guatemaltecas?
33. ¿Qué están haciendo?
44. ¿Por
qué están allí?
B)Puedes continuar mirando la película.Las preguntas siguen en orden cronológico.
1.¿Quién es William Toj?
2.¿De dónde es William?
3.¿De dónde viene ahora?
4.¿Cuál es su trabajo?(¿De qué está trabajando?)
5.¿Dónde está la casa de William y su familia?
6.¿Cómo es la esposa de William?¿Y cómo está ella?
7.¿Cuántos años tenía William cuando vino a los
Estados Unidos?
8.¿Cuántos hijos tienen William y su esposa?
La redada
¿1. ¿Qué es una redada?
¿2. Cuándo fue la redada en Postville? (la fecha)
¿3. ¿Qué
es Agriprocessors?
4. ¿Cuántas
personas fueron detenidos durante la redada?
¿
¿5. ¿Cuál
fue el castigo para los hombres?¿Cuáles
fueron las consecuencias para las mujeres?
16. ¿Por
qué tienen que llevar las bandas electrónicas las mujeres guatemaltecas?
17. ¿Qué porcentaje
de la población del pueblo desapareció en la redada?
18. ¿Dónde
está el pueblo de Postville?
19.¿Cuánto
dinero pagaba Agriprocessors por hora a sus empleados?
Breve ensayo:
Elije una pregunta de las opciones que siguen para
escribir una comparación para el viernes.(Debes escribir tu respuesta a máquina, con acentos, doble espacio).Es importante incluir una frase de
introducción, unos ejemplos específicos de la película, y una conclusión.La breve comparación debe ser de 150 palabras
mínimo.
Escribe UNA de estas comparaciones:
1. ¿Cómo era Postville antes de la redada?¿Cómo es Postville ahora?
2. Compara la vida actual en el pueblo de Postville
ahora con la vida en los pueblos guatemaltecos de Rosario y San José Calderas?
3. ¿Cómo era la vida de William Toj y su familia
antes de su viaje a los EE. UU.?¿Cómo
es la vida de la familia Toj ahora?
Rev.
David Vásquez, a consultant on this film, is preaching on Sunday at the
Chapel of the Resurrection as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr.
celebration. The service is this Sunday at 10 AM. All are welcome.
