2008 Olympics: One World One Dream

This has been the week of the 2008 Olympics in our house, from the awesome opening ceremony last Friday through the continuing coverage on cable channel 4 (KXAN TV). The dedication and performance of these athletes is inspiring (so maybe I'll try harder to open a jar of jelly before I ask my husband to help). While I was looking on YouTube this morning for video of the opening ceremony, I found a slide show with the official song of the 2008 Olympics — You and Me. Here are the words to the song in Chinese and English:

我和你 Wǒ hé nǐ
You and me
Wǒ hé nǐ， xīn lián xīn， tong zhù dìqiúcūn, 我和你，心连心，同住地球村，
You and me, From one world, We are family.
Wéi mèngxiǎng， qiānlǐ xíng, xiānghuì zài Běijīng。 为梦想，千里行，相会在北京。
Travel dream, A thousand miles, Meeting in Beijing.
Láiba！Péngyǒu，shēnchū nǐ de shǒu， 来吧！朋友，伸出你的手，
Come together, Put your hands in mine,
Wǒ hé nǐ， xīn lián xīn，yǒngyuǎn yìjiārén. 我和你，心连心，永远一家人。
You and me, from one world, We are family.

(from http://bbs.english.sina.com/viewthread.php?tid=124)

If you change Beijing to Austin...

Visit the 2008 Olympics official Website to learn more about the athletes, events, and history of the Olympic Games.

The Last Waltz: June 27, 2008

As we celebrate a year of successes and memories, we are reminded that happy and sad are not always opposites.

BubbleShare: Share photos

A Celebration of Poetry & Song

Our final project for the 2007–2008 school year was a celebration of poetry and song. Students chose a poem or song to recite or sing, but they also had to do research on their piece and/or on the author or artist to present as an introduction. Click on a name below to see a student's presentation. I've also included OutTakes just for fun.

Albina Alejandra Angeles Anna Buja Clementina Fela Felix Hyon Inés José Martha Nena Sabina Suzan

Changes

The ACC Adult Ed Department has had to change the schedules and locations of many classes for the fall semester. I will be moving to Southwest Key to teach a beginning level class. The intermediate/advanced HBC class will continue with Jeong Christensen as teacher. The HBC class will also have a new time. Instead of 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, it will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 11:00 a.m. I believe in the positive value of change — it keeps us from getting stuck in one way of doing things. Change is good. Even so, I will miss all of you at HBC!

WorkSource Tour

On Tuesday, May 6, we met at WorkSource, 6505 Airport Blvd, at 9:00 a.m. for a tour of the facility. WorkSource can help people find better jobs — and much more. They have computer classes and information about job training programs all over the Austin area. Visit their Web site to learn more.

Biopoems, March 2008

A biopoem is an autobiographical formula poem for expanding students' use of adjectives and writing about feelings. Here is an example:

Who Is Gaby?By Gabriela Fuentes

Gabriela...
Friendly, tall, athetic, curious, smart
Wife of Aaron
Who loves family, music, and movies
Who is afraid of heights, snakes, and sharks
Who wants to see Europe, family happiness, and sons
Resident of North Austin
...Fuentes

Click here to see more biopoems from our class.

Vowel Hatch Sounds Online

If you misplaced your CD of Ted Klein reading his English vowel pronunciation exercises, you can now hear them online. He has teamed up with Jade Lindquist, who has added Ted's CD to her Web site for learning Spanish, edufone.com. You will hear Spanish at first and in the explanations, but don't give up if you are not a Spanish speaker. Keep listening, and you'll hear Ted's pronunciation exercises.