A World Without Courses

Do you know George Siemens? It’s ok if you don’t, I didn’t until I somehow run into his World without courses presentation. You should check it out, it gets a bit slow after 10 minutes, but it’s definitively worth the time. As part of an informal system of education, I felt I had something to add.

I said it in the Spanish pronunciation course Syllabus: I’ll give you no credits, no diplomas. In fact, not a single means of recognition or accreditation is handed out at the end of the course. But, people visit this blog everyday, and they do wanna take classes, and they even do their homework and work hard to change the way they speak. Why? WHY?!

A thought has been haunting me for some time now, and even though I doubt it’s in my best interest to share it with any potential students, all of you must have thought about it sometime: learning to speak proper Spanish is a luxury, something which is pleasant to have, but is not really necessary. I know, last time I commented here I said something about my students taking their oral skills seriously usually because either their job or their social survival depends on it. A bit dramatic, but true: if you want to start a conversation that dark haired, green eyed a girl who has been drawing your attention since you entered the bar, it will be easier if she understands what the hell you’re saying. And if you want to ask your Spanish speaking boss for a raise, you can’t go mumbling in Spanglish.

But -God I love arguing with myself-, foreign accents are damn hot for picking up chicks. And you could probably tell your boss that you want to discuss something serious, and therefore you would feel more comfortable doing it in English (he will be the one mumbling then). See, there is no need to study Spanish pronunciation. Unless you want to, of course.

Last time I saw my shrink, we talked about el deseo. Weird thing, our desires. It seems that sometimes, when we wish something really badly, we can’t do it, we get afraid. Or we decide it’s not what we want, then we change our mind again. Think about relationships: when we have strong feelings towards somebody, that’s when we start having doubts. One day we wanna get married, and the next we wanna be alone. In Spain they´ve got a saying for it, porque te quiero te aporreo, it´s because I love you that I hit you.

The words I liked most from George Siemens´ presentation were these:

Learners who are motivated, learners who are engaged, will, in a space where there is an abundance of open access information, be able to find the need or the nature of the learning they require. Whether that’s through access to open courseware initiatives (...) or simply through searching online. Learning, that learners wish to engage in for their own personal value, they will find a means to satisfy.

Isn’t it beautiful?

If you’re thinking where is the "Spanish pronunciation" of this post, don’t you ask for your money back yet. For you engaged, motivated learners out there, I leave you with this excellent post on Spanish regional variations by Graham Stephen and Karin Sequén from English/Spanish Exchange.

¡Saludos!