Hints to start the new semester

One of the things you can start doing form your first week into the new semester is make a point of visiting the college library and study centre.

Check this fun video on libraries.


You can also learn new study strategies from unexpected sources. Have a lookat this clip from the sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, which tells you how to avoid the problem of forgetting a memory stick by using Google Docs. Enjoy it!

Spain got in!

Can't help it! Spain got into the final at the World Cup for the first time ever!. I don't follow soccer, but I'm surrounded by all these guys who do, one of whom had the determination to watch the cup live in South Africa (see Spanish-flag-wrapped boy on the left).

Read all about it on the ABC article Spanish deserving of final berth.

Some say it is going to have a positive effect on the country, which is going a terrible economic crisis*. Read the BBC Mundo Spanish article by Lorena Arroyo.
*Back from Spain, where some of my relatives and friends have just received hefty cuts in their salaries as public servants.

English, the new disesase?

This would be very difficult to interpret. You can try translating it, though...

Hav a look at the macmillan dictionary blog where I found the video above. There are very interesting articles on English variations, like South African English (very topical!)

Police Interpreting

We have looked at an exammple of the type of dialogue we could encounter at a police station.

To get an idea of how a police interview is conducted and the language associated with it, you can visit this post about the Australian Police interview with Dr Mohammed Haneef. It has a link to the full transcript (be careful, it is a 17.10 MB file!)of the second interview . You can access smaller segments of the transcript within the post.

Practise interpreting the English into your Target Language.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees

"Refugeee Camp"

While we are working on the topic of migration, we have come across asylum seekers and refugees. Read this article from the local paper that prompted our interest.

Check this very clear definitions of the different types of asylum seekers, refuges and more.
Check the Australian Immigration Fact Sheet on Refugees

There are several organisations in Sydney that help asylum seekers and refugees and have a volunteer program:
Asylum Seekers Centre

• Jesuit Refugee Service
• Refugee Council of Australia
• STARTTS

This is the video we were talking about in class of a former Afghan refugee, Riz Wakil, who got a a personal surfing lesson with Tony Abbott thanks to the bidding of the lobby group Get up:

TAFE Event Management Flash Mob Dance

Those clever folk at TAFE NSW - Sydney Institute used social media to build a team of students to flash mob/dance at Central station last week, it could easily go viral.

Ultimo TAFE events management students last week held a flash mob event at Central Station.
The event was a great success, with over 100 dancers making their move to help raise money for Westmead Medical Research Foundation & 'The Move Movement".

Some of the people involved were Urban Dance Centre and choreographer Nikki Britton. The YouTube clip was filmed by Randwick TAFE screen and media students, produced and edited by Janusz Dareck.

Tweet, retweet, blog or anything else; they deserve our enthusiastic support for this brilliant effort!

Take the opportunity to listen to this podcast with some Event Management students from Loftus TAFE who helped organise last year's Green Light for Green Skills conference held by the TAFE NSW Managers Association.

Survey

Hi all,

The end of the course in very close! I would appreciate students in the two classes I'm in charge of to complete the survey below. It will helop us, teachers, improve our teaching delivery and thus improve the courses.

IS Diploma of I & T K2

Translation Skills (Spanish/Korean)