Is this Man a Terrorist?

The Dalai Lama's planned visit to South Africa to take part in a "peace conference" has been cancelled by the South African Authorities, who claim that his appearance at the event would shift the focus away from South Africa onto Tibet. Although the South African Authorities claim they have not been influenced by Chinese pressure, the Chinese Ambassador admits to protesting to the South African Government about the Dalai Lama's planned attendance at the international event. Read more here:

What do you think: Is this a sensible decision by the Government to keep the focus on South Africa? Is it the South African Government responding to economic presure? or Is it a simple compromise because the government know he is the West's favourite terrorist but do not want to offend Europe by seeming to agree with the Chinese?

Let us know your opinion.

Fathers' Day

Father's Day was rather unsuccessful for me, no cards, no presents, so I have decided to boost my popularity. As usual the incrediblly helpful videojug has come to the rescue with this masterpiece on how to be the best dad in the galaxy. Hopefully, with these tips I can now look forward to a more fruitful fathers' day next year.

If you are a father, how was your fathers' day?

Brits Abroad

MSN News are obsessed with a photo gallery formula where they lead with a short article followed by ten photographs depicting stories supporting their claims in the lead article. Have a look at this example and read some of the stories they have chosen to support their lead article.

Can you think of any other examples of Brits behaving badly abroad? Do you think the problem is exaggerated? Is there a problem? Is it fair to single out the British? Do Spanish toursits behave in the same way?

You can also watch this news report from ITN about increasing arrests of Britih toursits abroad.

Wacky Wicki: There's A New Game In Town

Welcome to the launch of a fantastic new teaching tool “The Wachy Wicki”. It could even replace “Kill the Cat” in my students’ affections. Based on an exercise popular with many of my students (at least that is what they tell me), Wacky Wicki takes the “Correction Slot” idea and puts it on line.

I will place a text under comments which contains ten errors. Readers will then copy and paste the text into Word, make a number of corrections (using underlining or highlighting (resaltar). and paste it back as a new comment. I will then indicate how many errors are left; you could have made more errors in your attempt to correct the text. The errors could be either punctuation, spelling, collocations, binominals, particles in phrasal verbs or verb patterns. It is best to study other attempts to identify where the mistakes are and what the correct form is.

Good luck. Enjoy.

Isabel Coixet

I recently saw "The Secret Life of Words" and was very impressed. To me Coixet is the new Wim Wenders. She has a new way of exploring relationships and helping us to see new things in the world around us. This might be why, at the end of the film, she pays homage to the Artist and Art Critic, John Berger, for helping her in her way of seeing, I also liked the soundtrack, in particular the song from Antony and the Johnsons.

Have you seen the film?

What do you think of Coixet?