Culture in the Teaching of Foreing Languages

A portfolio with all the work we have done during this semester

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Why did I decided to do the Portfolio as a blog?

As future techaer we have to be accounted with the ICT. Doing such a researching workshop like this in an ordinay way is too much easy. Children will be more and more familiar with the ICT as time goes by, and we have to follow them in order to make them interested in a theme we have to teach, by using ways and resources they like. Like for example, teaching the culture of the English Speaking Countries with the help of a blog. 

Also, the way I introduce pictures, videos and so on is much better (in my opinion) with this format than with other one. With this, is more visual, much easy to get to the links or videos, and much funny for the children.

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How does it works?

Well, it’s not so difficult as it could seem. If you want to go to a certain unit of the Portfolio, you just have to click below the header “Culture of the Teaching English as a Foreign Language” where it says “contents” and you will find a list with the links fore each unit.

Contents > List of Units 

If you just want to see the blog as it goes, just look all the pages and clik at the bottom of the page to the right side button. The units will be appearing from the most recently done until the first one done at the very beginning of the semester. 

Where it says “About me”, under the header of the blog again, I introcude myself and the subject. 

About me > Presentation of myself

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11. Final Workshop

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This is the last workshop me and my classmates made during the final lessons of the course. It's about the festivitis, food and education from Spain, UK and USA.

If you want to see it bigger and with a better quality, you just have to click the image, it will open again in another window of the Internet browser, if you click on it a second time, it will be bigger. 

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Unit 10: Southwest of America

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Southwest America

In this link you will find the prezi presentation that my classmates and me did for the workshop.

http://prezi.com/jhlbvykboqab/final-southwest-3d/

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Texas

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Geography

  Texas is the second most populous and the second-largest of the 50 states in the United States of America, and the largest state in the 48 contiguous United States. Geographically located in the South Central part of the country, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas to the south, and borders the U.S. states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km2), and a growing population of 26.1 million residents. 

Cities and towns

Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Forth Worth y El Paso. 

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Well-known people

George W. Bush 

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Lyndon B. Johnson 

Jamie Foxx

Jennifer Garner

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Eva Longoria

Matthew McConaughey

Patrick Swayze

Owen Wilson

Renée Zellweger

Janis Joplin

Beyoncé Knowles

Lance Armstrong

Sandra Cisneros

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Industry and Economy

Texas's large population, abundance of natural resources, thriving cities and leading centers of higher education have contributed to a large and diverse economy. Since oil was discovered, the state's economy has reflected the state of the petroleum industry.

Agriculture and mining -> Texas has the most farms and the highest acreage in the United States. Cattle are the state's most valuable agricultural product, and the state leads nationally in production of sheep and goat products. Texas leads the nation in production of cotton. The state grows significant amounts of cereal crops and produce. Texas has a large commercial fishing industry. With mineral resources, Texas leads in creating cement crushed stone, lime, salt, sand and grave.

The state is a leader in renewable energy commercialisation; it produces the most wind power in the nation. The Energy Information Administration states that the state's large agriculture and forestry industries could give Texas an enormous amount biomass for use in biofuels. The state also has the highest solar power potential for development in the nation. 

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History: Six Flags over Texas

The term "six flags over Texas" came from the several nations that had ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas. France held a short-lived colony in Texas. Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845 it joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state, Texas declared its secession from the United States in early 1861, joining the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. After the war and its restoration to the Union, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation.

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Typical Texan dance

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Cultural Facts

Wimberley-> Wimberley may be listed last on this list because the listing is done alphabetically, but it is far from the least favorite with the tourists in Texas.   Tourists love this beautiful town with its artists, crafts, tourist shopping and dining.  This town will remind you of a wonderful mountain village with all of its beautiful scenery on the Blanco River and Cypress Creek.

Bayou Place -> Located in the heart of Houston’s Downtown Theater District, this 130,000 square foot entertainment megaplex is comprised of theaters, bars, lounges, and restaurants. Start the evening off with dinner at the legendary Hard Rock Café or the authentic Italian trattoria, Mingalone. Enjoy box office hits or catch the latest indie flick at the Angelika Film Center followed by drinks and dancing at ROCBAR, Houston’s largest rock and roll nightclub. 

Chihenne Ranch -> Chihenne (pronounced chi-hay-nee) Ranch is located in the beautiful foothills of the Black Range near the Gila National Forest. Elevations on the ranch range from 6500 feet at the ranch house to over 8500 feet at the tops of the mountains. A working cattle and horse ranch of over 12 1/2 square miles, the ranch offers an opportunity for every-day visitors to experience life on a working cattle ranch. Visitors can enjoy horseback riding, Indian site visits, excellent hiking, gold and silver mine visits, cattle roundups, cattle branding, 4-wheel off road trips, unsurpassed panoramic scenery, visits to ghost towns and much more. The ranch also hosts camps for Boy Scouts and Youth groups.

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Man vs food in Austin, Texas

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Unit 9: The Republic of Ireland

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The Republic of Ireland

Ireland is a sovereign state in Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. It is a unitary parliamentary republic with an elected president serving as head of state. The head of government—called the Taoiseach—is nominated by the lower house of parliament. The capital is Dublin in the east of the island. The state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint George's Channel to the south east, and the Irish Sea to the east. Let’s focus now in the most important cities in the Republic of Ireland:

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Ireland's counties

Antrim 

Armagh 

Carlow 

Cavan 

Clare 

Cork 

Derry 

Donegal 

Down 

Dublin 

Fermanagh 

Galway 

Kerry 

Kildare 

Kilkenny 

Laois 

Leitrim 

Limerick 

Longford 

Louth 

Mayo 

Meath 

Monaghan 

Offaly 

Roscommon 

Sligo 

Tipperary 

Tyrone 

Waterford 

Westmeath 

Wexford 

Wicklow