El coro de Simpson College canta canciones de Navidad en un centro comercial

Feliz Navidad a todos

Les brindamos un maravilloso video del coro de nuestra universidad cantando canciones de Navidad en un centro comercial. El coro se organizo' como una "Flash Mob".

¡Esperamos qué gocen del video!

La Sociedad en Transición

¡Miren nuestra Presentación!

El Futuro del Planeta

Hola,

cuidamos al medio ambiente. Esta es nuestro plan de conservacion en Simpson College.

El Futuro del Planeta

Hola,
por favor miren nuestra Presentacion

Jesse, Keith, Megan, Alex

El ciudadano global

Mira nuestra presentacion

El Groupo 2 en la Presentacion El Ciudando Global

Ver el powerpoint aquí.

Mi Yo Digital

Presentacion de los estudiantes y tecnologia.

Mi "Yo" Digital

Hola amigos,
Quieren saber como utilizamos la tecnologia? Sigan nuestro enlace.

http://youtu.be/ddbgvW9FKPM

Hola Amigos de aregentinos y colombianos!

Nosotros samos groupo de tres desde clase de espańol en las Estados Unidos. Hay cuatro miembros en nos groupo. Debajo son fotos y descripciónes de nosotros. Esperaramos que ustedes gustan aprendar mãs acerca de nosotros.

Me llamo Jesse Van De Krol. Yo muy alto y delgado y rubio y tengo veinte y unos ańos. Tambien yo activo y trababajador y responsible. Estudio todas los dias y hago mi tareas por mis clases a tiempo. Vivo en Lynnville, Iowa. Iowa es una estado in estados unidos. Hay cinco personas en mi familia. Mi padre llama es Merlin y madre llama es Da Naye. Yo tengo dos hermanos. Sus nombres son Taylor y Aaron. Taylor tiena 19 ańos y Aaron tiena 11 ańos. Esta semestre yo estudio el espańol y la biología de insectos y otros las ciencias. Mi pastiempos favoritos son jugar muchos deportes y mirrar fútbol americano con mi amigos y padre. Me gusta cocinar comida de distinto culturales y hacer ejercio. Yo pago mucho tiempo correr y levantar pesas. Porque yo tengo mucho tiempo libre mientras que en colegio yo puedo mucho tiempo hacer ejercio. Actualmente estoy entrenando para maratón que es veinteséis millas. Cuando soy más viejo yo gustaría el maestro o el cocinar.

Me llamo Megan Wulf. Tengo diecenueve. Tambien yo muy intrevertido pero muy comio. De donde en Norwalk con mi madre y padre. Yo estudio psicologia y sociologia. Yo quieren se un psicologo. Un dia ordinario, por la mańana fuí de escula, ejercicio, tomo el sol, y trabajo a la tarea. Mi favorito actividads es tomo el sol, ejercicio, y relajarse tiempo con mis amigos. Me encanta Shia Lebeouf, y Tech9 es me favorite música. Me gusta Facebook.

Me llamo Alex, y tengo 19 anos. Soy baja, atletico, pelirubio, y los ojos azules. Soy agredable, chiste, atrevado, y tengo mucho amigos y amigas. Soy de West Des Moines, y tengo los padres y un hermana mayor, y un hermano menor. Soy en la clase de contabilidad, el marketing, el espanol, y la historia. quiero la profession de abogado. En un dia ordenario, voy a mis clases en la manana, y voy practicar tenis en la noche. Mis actividades favoritos es tenis, jugar videojuegos, beber, y voy a la clase de espanol.

Me llamo Keith McCarthy y tengo veinteuno anos. Soy grande, rubio, atletico, y tengo ojos marrones. Soy generoso, activo, divertido, y impulsive. Soy de Spring Hill, Florida donde vivo con mis padres. Mi padres es mi madre y mi padrastro, no hablo con mi padre. Voy a Iowa para estudiar a el Simpson College y estudio communicacion y espanol. Tengo tres clases de communication y uno clase de espanol este semestre. En un dia ordenario levanto y hago levanto pesas. Luego voy al dormitorio a bañarme y vestirme. Generalmente, come después de levantar y estudio antes de mí 10:00 clase. En la tarde yo práctica football americano. Football Americano es un actividad de mis favorite pero me gusta relajarse con mis amigos, cocinar, y levantar pesas.

Los Estudiantes de Simpson College: "Nosotros, los Estadunidenses"

Hola Amigos,

 lean los comentarios que siguen para aprender acerca de la vida de nuestros estudiantes y llegar a conocerlos.

Marzia

A Lesson in Global Awareness and Debunking Stereotypes

Dear friends in Colombia and Argentina, we are very excited to have the opportunity to work with you on this intercultural exchange project. Through this blog, we will get to know each other,  improve our language skills (Spanish for us, English for you), but most of all, we hope to increase our level of intercultural competence and sensitivity, as well as debunk stereotypes about our cultures.

image source

We would like to begin by reflecting on both our own culture, and what what we know about other cultures, so here are a few questions that we would like you to answer. Please do so by commenting to this post:

1. In your opinion, is there such a thing as "US culture? How would you define it?
2. What do you know about US culture?
3. How do you know what you know about US culture?

Now that you have answered those questions, please watch this playlist from YouTube; it is a sequence of clips from TV programs that are or have recently been popular in the United States. This video will last about 10 minutes. After watching, please answer a few more questions (it might be helpful to refer to the our previus post : "A Definition of Culture").

1. Has your view of US culture changed or has is been confirmed now that you have watched the video?
2. What are some of the Products, Practices, and Prespectives of US culture that you see reflected in this video?
3. Do you think that popular TV programs such as the ones you have seen depict an accurate image of US culture? Why or Why not?

Thank you in advance for your comments and your thougts; we are looking forward to reading them soon.

Your friends from Simpson College

        

A Definition of "Culture" - Una Definición de "Cultura"

What is culture? In our courses, we strive to use language to define culture, as we see language as the gateway to culture. By learning a new language, we can begin to foster intercultural understanding.

As a framework, we will be using the following definitions (source):


Culture: The philosophical perspectives, the behavioral practices, and the products — both

tangible and intangible — of a society.

Products: the concrete cultural elements (e.g., literature, foods, tools, dwellings, and

clothing) and abstract cultural elements (e.g., system of laws, education system, and

religions) of a society (things created by members of a culture, both tangible and

intangible such as books, tools, foods, laws, music, games).

Practices: the patterns of behavior accepted within a society such as forms of address,

use of personal space, rituals, storytelling, sports, and entertainment.

Perspectives: the world view of a culture — the attitudes, values, and ideas that

characterize a particular society.

__________________________________________________________________________________

¿Qué es la cultura?
En nuestros cursos, consideramos a los idiomas como medios para descubrir nuevas culturas. Aprender un nuevo idioma nos da las herramientas necesarias para empezar a desarrollar un nuevo tipo de entendimiento inter-cultural. A lo largo del proyecto de intercambio, vamos a basar nuestras observaciones en las siguientes definiciones (fuente):

Cultura: Incluye las perspectivas filosóficas, las prácticas de comportamiento y los productos –tanto concretos como abstractos – de cierta sociedad.

Productos: Son los elementos culturales concretos (la literatura, las comidas, las herramientas, los hogares, la ropa, etc…) y abstractos (el sistema de leyes, el sistema educativo, las religiones,…) de cierta sociedad (las cosas creadas por los miembros de cierta cultura como libros, leyes, juegos, música,…).  

Prácticas: Son las formas de comportamiento que se consideran aceptables en cierta sociedad, como por ejemplo los niveles de formalidad (Tú / Vos/ Usted), el uso del espacio personal, los ritos y tradiciones, los deportes, las tradiciones, las formas de entretenimiento, etc…

Perspectivas: Es la manera en que cierta sociedad ve el mundo — las actitudes, los valores, y las ideas que caracterizan cierta sociedad.

What The World Sees In America: It's Not Something to Be Proud of.

Excerpt - Source: The Wall Street Journal

By Peggy Noonan

There are ..... reasons for a new skepticism about America's just role and responsibilities in the world in 2011. One has to do with the burly, muscular, traditional but at this point not fully thought-through American assumption that our culture not only is superior to most, but is certainly better in all ways than the cultures of those we seek to conquer. We have always felt pride in our nation's ways, and pride isn't all bad. But conceit is, and it's possible we've grown as conceited as we've become culturally careless.

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Ambassadress

We are modern, they are not. We allow women freedom, they do not. We have the rule of law, they do not. We are technologically sophisticated, they are the Flintstones. We have religious tolerance. All these are sources of legitimate satisfaction and pride, especially the last. Our religious pluralism is, still, amazing.
I lately think of Charleston, S.C., that beautiful old-fashioned, new-fashioned city. On a walk there in October I went by one of the oldest Catholic churches in the South, St. Mary's, built in 1789. Across the street, equally distinguished and welcoming, was Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, a Jewish congregation founded in 1749. They've been across from each other peacefully and happily for a long time. I walked down Meeting Street to see the Hibernian Society, founded in 1801. My people wanted their presence known. In a brochure I saw how the society dealt with Ireland's old Catholic-Protestant split. They picked a Protestant president one year, a Catholic the next, and so on. In Ireland they were killing each other. In America they were trading gavels. What a country! What a place. What a new world.
We have much to be proud of. And we know it. But take a look around us. Don't we have some reasons for pause, for self-questioning? Don't we have a lot of cultural repair that needs doing?

***

Imagine for a moment that you are a foreign visitor to America. You are a 40-year-old businessman from Afghanistan. You teach a class at Kabul University. You are relatively sophisticated. You're in pursuit of a business deal. It's your first time here. There is an America in your mind; it was formed in your childhood by old John Ford movies and involves cowboy hats and gangsters in fedoras. You know this no longer applies—you're not a fool—but you're not sure what does. You land at JFK, walking past a TSA installation where they're patting the genital areas of various travelers. Americans sure have a funny way of saying hello!
You get to town, settle into a modest room at the Hilton on Sixth Avenue. You're jet-lagged. You put on the TV, not only because you're tired but because some part of you knows TV is where America happens, where America is, and you want to see it. Headline news first. The world didn't blow up today. Then:
Click. A person named Snooki totters down a boardwalk. She lives with young people who grunt and dance. They seem loud, profane, without values, without modesty, without kindness or sympathy. They seem proud to see each other as sexual objects.
Click. "Real Housewives." Adult women are pulling each other's hair. They are glamorous in a hard way, a plastic way. They insult each other.
Click. Local news has a riot in a McDonalds. People kick and punch each other. Click. A cable news story on a child left alone for a week. Click. A 5-year-old brings a gun to school, injures three. Click. A show called "Skins"—is this child pornography? Click. A Viagra commercial. Click. A man tried to blow up a mall. Click. Another Viagra commercial. Click. This appears to be set in ancient Sparta. It appears to involve an orgy.

You, the Kabul businessman, expected some raunch and strangeness but not this—this Victoria Falls of dirty water! You are not a philosopher of media, but you know that when a culture descends to the lowest common denominator, it does not reach the broad base at the bottom, it lowers the broad base at the bottom. This "Jersey Shore" doesn't reach the Jersey Shore, it creates the Jersey Shore. It makes America the Jersey Shore.
You surf on, hoping for a cleansing wave of old gangster movies. Or cowboys. Anything old! But you don't find TMC. You look at a local paper. Headline: New York has a 41% abortion rate. Forty-four percent of births are to unmarried women and girls.
You think: Something's wrong in this place, something has become disordered.
The next morning you take Amtrak for your first meeting, in Washington. You pass through the utilitarian ugliness, the abjuration of all elegance that is Penn Station. On the trip south, past Philadelphia, you see the physical deterioration that echoes what you saw on the TV—broken neighborhoods, abandoned factories with shattered windows, graffiti-covered abutments. It looks like old films of the Depression!
By the time you reach Washington—at least Union Station is august and beautiful—you are amazed to find yourself thinking: "Good thing America is coming to save us. But it's funny she doesn't want to save herself!"

***

My small point: Remember during the riots of the 1960s when they said "the whole world is watching"? Well, now the whole world really is. Everyone is traveling everywhere. We're all on the move. Cultures can't keep their secrets.
The whole world is in the Hilton, channel-surfing. The whole world is on the train, in the airport, judging what it sees, and likely, in some serious ways, finding us wanting.
And, being human, they may be judging us with a small, extra edge of harshness for judging them and looking down on them.
We have work to do at home, on our culture and in our country. A beautiful Easter to St. Mary's Church of Charleston, and happy Passover to Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim.

The Culture of Argentina

Photo Source: http://www.cooltownstudios.com/

Here is message from Alicia:

"Hi Marzia,
These are some new presentations from my students.
They would love to hear comments from your students!!!!
Ali"

Let's follow the links and learn about:

Children and Leisure Time in Argentina

Eating habits in Argentina

Holidays in Argentina

Vacations in Argentina

Here is a Presentation from our friends in Argentina about vacations and travel in their culture.

Presentation

La Salud y el Bienestar en los EU

Hola amigos,

Aquí tenemos una presentación sobre la salud en los EEUU.  

Presentacion

¿Cómo es el sistema de salud en su país? ¿Tiene su país una población saludable? ¿Viven una vida sana?

Hasta pronto,

Sus amigos de Simpson College

La Niñez y el Tiempo Libre

Hola amigos,

Aquí tenemos una presentación sobre la niñez y el tiempo libre en los EU; simplemente sigan el enlace abajo. ¡Esperamos que disfruten!

¿Qué hacen Uds. En su tiempo libre? ¿Cuáles son sus actividades favoritas? ¿Qué tipo de música escuchan? ¿Practican Uds. deportes?

Hasta Pronto,

Sus amigos de SC

La ninez y el tiempo libre

Los Dias Festivos y las Celebraciones en los EU

!Hola Amigos! ¿Empezaron ya los cursos de inglés? Aquí estamos para terminar el semestre de primavera; esperamos recibir noticias de Uds. Pronto y que nos cuenten algo de su cultura.

En clase aprendimos acerca de los días festivos y celebraciones en el mundo hispano, y preparamos una presentación para contarles cuáles días celebramos aquí en los EU y cómo los celebramos. Sigan el enlace debajo de la foto para aprenderlo.

Esperamos noticias de Uds.

Saludos de sus amigos estadunidenses.

Presentacion

Las Vacaciones y Los Viajes en los Estados Unidos

Hola Amigos,

¿Quieren saber qué hacemos en los Estados Unidos cuando vamos de vacaciones? ¿Quieren saber adónde vamos? Sigan el enlace debajo de la foto para averiguarlo.  Luego, favor de hacernos preguntas o comentarios en inglés y también cuéntenos que hacen en su cultura cuando van de vacaciones.  ¡Esperamos que disfruten!

Hasta pronto.

Las Vacaciones

La Comida en los Estados Unidos

Hola todos,

Muchas personas piensan que aquí en los estados unidos solamente comemos comida rápida todos los días de la semana, ¡pero eso no es verdad!  Sigan el enlace debajo de la foto para averiguar lo que de veras nos gusta comer.  ¿Y Uds que comen generalmente en su país? ¿Cuáles son algunas comidas típicas? 

La Comida

Hola Amigos