Developing the ability to understand the spoken foreign language is a long, continuous process. It is a skill that must be taught
and that does not happen automatically. One of the teachers’ most important tasks is to provide a variety of purposeful listening
activities throughout the entire language course.
The students must be given a reason for listening to one another. If the teacher requires individuals to respond to each other,
the students will make an effort to listen more carefully for the information requested. In order to accomplish this, the teacher must
insist that everyone speak up.
It is also important that teachers not repeat their questions and comments. Those teachers who repeat each utterance a dozen
times find that their students stop listening altogether. Even more boring is the teacher who repeats each student’s response or question.
Obviously the teacher cannot react in silence to a student’s utterance, and repeating what has just been said is an easy but unfortunate
way to say something. The alternative is for the teacher to develop a large repertoire of responses to students’ utterances. Even the
not-too-fluent teacher can practice a list of possible rejoinders in the foreign language, such as: Great. Wonderful.
At the intermediate and advanced levels, the teacher must make the effort to find suitable taped material for listening
activities. It is not enough for students merely to listen to each other and the teacher. They must also have frequent opportunities to
listen to a variety of different speakers talking at a normal conversational speed.

If we are asked whether culture should be part of
language courses, the answer is an unquestionable “yes”.
The ideal situation is to develop language classes in
which basic cultural information is integrated systematically
and completely into the course content. However, until
integrated cultural materials become available, language
teachers will have to be responsible for incorporating as much
culture as possible into their classes while continuing to use
language-based texts.
Given the reality of the present situation, the basic
decision facing the teacher is how to combine culture with the
other material to be learned in the class. Learning the language
itself is a full-time task. How can room be made for more
material? The answer to this question is certainly not an easy
one, but it is hoped that the teacher will recognize the need for
developing a course in which culture is a basic component.
Techniques have been developed that can be inserted
unobtrusively into the class without disturbing the remainder
of the lesson plan. On those days when more time is required
for lengthy activities, the culture portion of the class can serve
as a change of pace to the more typical language routine.
How much time should be spent teaching culture? In
this author’s opinion, the answer to that question depends on
the teacher and the students in the class. The type of cultural
material presented and the manner in which it is organized will
also influence the amount of time spent.

TIt almost goes without saying that the native language
of every learner is an extremely significant factor in the
learning of a new language. Most of the time, we think of the
native language as exercising an interfering effect on the target
language, and indeed the most salient, observable effect does
appear to be one of interference. The majority of learners’
errors in producing the second language, especially in the
beginning levels, stem from the learner’s assumption that the
target language operates like the native language.
But what we observe may, like an iceberg, only be
part of the reality. The facilitating effects of the native
language are surely as powerful in the process, or more so,
even though they are less observable. When the native French
speaker who is learning English says, “I’ m here since
January”, there is one salient native language effect, a verb
tense error stemming from French. But who is to say that the
learner’s native French did not facilitate the production of that
sentence’s subject-verb-complement word order, the placement
of the locative (here), the one-to-one grammatical
correspondence of every word in the sentence, rules governing
prepositional phrases, and the cognate word (January)?
In dealing with the native language effect in the
classroom, interference will most often be the focus of your
feedback in the classroom. That’s perfectly sound pedagogy.
Learners’ errors stand out like the tips of icebergs giving us
salient signals of an underlying system at work.

By Elisabeth Rosenthal and James Kanter
International Herald Tribune, November 18, 2007

VALENCIA, Spain: The blunt and alarming final report of
the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPPC), released here by UN Secretary General
Ban Ki Moon, may well underplay the problem of climate
change, many experts and even the report’s authors admit.
The report describes the evidence for human-induced
climate change as “unequivocal.” The rise in greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere thus far will result in an average
rise in sea levels of up to 4.6 feet, or 1.4 meters, it
concluded.
“Slowing - and reversing - these threats is the defining
challenge of our age,” Ban said upon the report’s release
Saturday. Ban said he had just completed a whirlwind
tour of some climate change hot spots, which he called
as “frightening as a science-fiction movie.”
He described ice sheets breaking up in Antarctica, the
destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, and children
in Chile having to wear protective clothing because an
ozone hole was letting in so much ultraviolet radiation.
The panel’s fourth and final report summarized and
integrated the most significant findings of three sections
of the panel’s exhaustive climate-science review, to create
an official “pocket guide” to climate change for policy
makers who must now decide how the world will respond.
The first covered climate trends; the second, the world’s
ability to adapt to a warming planet; the third, strategies
for reducing carbon emissions.
“The sense of urgency when you put these pieces together
is new and striking,” said Martin Parry, a British climate
expert who was co-chairman of the delegation that wrote
the second report.
This report’s summary was the first to acknowledge that
the melting of the Greenland ice sheet could result in a
substantive sea level rise over centuries rather than
millennia. “Many of my colleagues would consider that
kind of melt a catastrophe” so rapid that mankind would
not be able to adapt, said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate
scientist at Princeton University who contributed to the
IPCC.
Delegations from hundreds of nations will be meeting in
Bali, Indonesia in two weeks to start hammering out a
global climate agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol,
the current climate change treaty.

“It’s extremely clear and is very explicit that the cost of
inaction will be huge compared to the cost of action,” said
Jeffrey Sachs, head of Columbia University’s Earth
Institute. “We can’t afford to wait for some perfect accord
to replace Kyoto, whose first phase expires in 2012, for
some grand agreement. We can’t afford to spend years
bickering about it. We need to start acting now.”
He said that delegates in Bali should take action
immediately by public financing for demonstration projects
on new technologies like “carbon capture,” a “promising
but not proved” system that pumps emissions underground
instead of releasing them into the sky. He said the energy
ministers should start a global fund to help poor countries
avoid deforestation, which causes emissions to increase
because growing plants absorb carbon in the atmosphere.
Although the scientific data is not new, this was the first
time it had been looked at together in its entirety, leading
the scientists to new emphasis and more sweeping
conclusions.
“And the new science is saying: ‘You thought it was bad?
No it’s worse.’ ”
The IPCC chairman, Rajendra Pachauri, an engineer and
economist from India, acknowledged the new trajectory.
“If there’s no action before 2012, that’s too late,” Pachauri
said. “What we do in the next two to three years will
determine our future.”

La expresión buscar un modo de vida más sim-
ple y respetuoso con el entorno es de difícil interpreta-
ción y cada persona lo puede llevar a la práctica de la 
manera que lo crea conveniente teniendo en cuenta su 
estilo de vida y valores, pero lo más importante desde 
mi punto de vista, es tomar conciencia de que la socie-
dad en la que vivimos carece de valores fundamenta-
les como el respeto, la solidaridad, la autosuficiencia, 
la sostenibilidad ambiental etc. 
 Por ello, en los siguientes puntos, he queri-
do condensar la 
esencia de un 
modo de vida que 
de algún modo 
concentra gran 
parte de lo que es 
para mí economía 
alternativa y que 
he ido recopilando de diferentes sitios de internet. Pe-
queños consejos que ayudarán a poner nuestro granito 
de arena por un mundo más justo y no nos suponen un 
cambio radical en nuestro modo de vida.
 - Pisa el freno y simplifícate, elimina posesiones y 
actividades que a la fin son innecesarias.
 - ¡No al consumismo!, haz tuya la idea de que no es 
más rico quien más tiene sino el que menos necesita.
 - El trabajo es importante ya que te provee de tu 
sustento y además te hace partícipe de la comunidad 
en la que vives, por eso, y porque además vas a estar 
la mayor parte de tu vida haciéndolo, trabaja en algo 
que te satisfaga y te enriquezca como persona inten-
tando que cree un impacto positivo en tu entorno.
 - Sé un chic@ buen@ respetando y buscando un 
equilibrio con tu entorno, poniendo en práctica accio-
nes como el reciclaje, ahorro de energía, inversiones 
solidarias y éticas, compartiendo etc.
 - Potencia y cultiva las relaciones sociales, pocas 
cosas producen tanta satisfacción como una buena tar-
de “de risas” con los tuyos. A la vez, mira a tu alrededor 
y reflexiona si con un poco de tu tiempo libre puedes 
contribuir a la felicidad de otros, como por ejemplo co-
laborando con una ONG.
 - ¡Cuídate!, lleva una alimentación sana y equilibra-
da (deben primar en tus decisiones los alimentos fres-
cos, de temporada que favorezcan la economía de tu 
entorno o la de los países pobres), y haz ejercicio físico 
regularmente.
 - Imagina que un día pasara uno de los cataclis-
mos mundiales que tanto les gusta a los americanos, 
la tormenta perfecta, un ataque de extraterrestres etc. 
¿Qué pasaría con nosotros si no pudiéramos comprar 
lo que necesitamos en los grandes hipermercados?, 
la solución pasa por ser más autosuficientes. Repara, 
intercambia con los tuyos, intenta proveerte de todo 
aquello que puedes hacer en casa (huerto casero por 
ejemplo) que aparte de aprender te van a proporcionar 
una gran satisfacción.
 - Tanto si vives en la ciudad y estás agotado de los 
atascos o vives en el campo y quieres disfrutar de la 
vida y la naturaleza, aparca el coche ya que es un gas-
to innecesario y contamina. Anda, coge la bicicleta o 
vete a trabajar con el metro. 
Blog realizado por Dani Cárcel Latorre - Licenciado en Economía 
Universidad de Valencia, España Universitetet i Bergen, Norge Miér-
coles 2 de septiembre de 2009. La imagem ilustrativa que hace parte 
del texto es de total responsabilidad del articulista.

By Guest Blogger on Jun 8, 2010 
 
Today’s business is all about being green. 
From Walmart to Apple, everyone is talking about how 
green their approach, packaging, or methods are. But 
green business is really in its infancy, and the future of 
being green will no doubt distill down to some very real 
and definable goals and practices.
In fact, businesses that today find themselves 
carrying the green banner will be put to the test to 
define their actions, and it must make sense to the 
soon to be green savvy public. So, what are some of 
these definable trends that will dictate the future of 
green business? Let’s take a look.
A Measure Impact
 First up, businesses will find it harder to do 
business under the “Green” herald unless they hold 
themselves accountable to their own carbon footprint. 
While today we can find a number of carbon footprint 
calculators, the net results tend to vary between sites. 
As time continues on, these results will merge together 
to a more cohesive reporting structure, and this is the 
measuring stick to which the company will report.
 A company’s net carbon footprint may be as 
important to its success as its bottom line, since no 
doubt one could drive the other. This is especially true if 
it is a public company that is directly coupled to selling 
to the public. 
Building Greener Buildings
 For a lot of businesses, a major part of their 
environmental impact can be found in the very building 
that their business takes place in. A green building is 
not only potentially cheaper to operate, it can pay big 
dividends in brand appearance and customer loyalty.
 In other words, you may find that it is cheaper 
to be green than not. Today utilities are being held 
accountable for energy standards, but incentives may 
make it the logical choice for all businesses. 
Green Branding With The Customer
 Soon businesses will find that it is simply 
not enough to talk to consumers about being green 
– instead they will need to educate them. Through 
promotions, handouts, special deals, and other means, 
businesses will find that an educated customer will 
better appreciate the new emphasis on being green.
 By relating to the customer on green issues, 
the door is open for further dialog on others. Even such 
things as giving out free branded reusable bags is a 
simple but effective way of using the green relationship 
to build the business and improve the customer 
relationship.
Open Green Practices
 The consumer of today is better informed 
than ever before, and this is a trend that will no doubt 
continue. In order for a business to be seen as green, 
it will no doubt need to have the chain more open to all 
parties. This can be seen today by the inclusion of local 
growers in big chain grocery stores, and the trend will 
no doubt continue.
 Not only grocery stores and produce markets 
will be affected by the need for open green practices. 
Restaurants will find it beneficial to proudly declare that 
a particular side item is being provided by a given local 
producer. The act of being green is really building a 
responsible community on a global scale, so it should 
come to no surprise that strengthening the local 
community ties works well with being green.
 With these trends, the future of a successful 
green business will be defined. The businesses 
soon must responsibly measure and report their 
environmental impact to a given standard. They must 
build the places of business to a green standard. They 
will need to reach out and connect to their customers 
on green matters, to the advantage of both. And 
finally, they will need to develop and refine openly 
green practices that tie together the sense of a green 
community.
 While these trends are more evolutionary than 
revolutionary in their arrival, you may be surprised 
at how fast they can become a standard accepted 
business process in 2010 and beyond. 

Questões de Elementos gramaticais