About

Dear visitors,

What does this site have to offer?

As I rebuild the site I intend to share successful and also (why not) disappointing experiences related to key concepts: Teaching English as a foreign language, the Learning processes involved, and how Technology better supports these two complex processes.

Since this a personal website, I have also decided to include SOME personal notes, which are targeted to my family, friends and also YOU, the online visitor… in case you’d like to know how my background and current experiences keep shaping my teaching practice. These notes are posted under the assumption that our teaching is deeply rooted in our own experiences, values, assumptions and beliefs. Please do feel free to challenge these. Transformational learning (Mezirow) is something that informs my practice, so your comments and reflections will always be welcome, especially if you are in a process of re-examination as I am.

Where am I coming from?

It’s been almost 10 years now since I first started my website (2001) . Back in those days I was a graduate student at Teachers’ College, Columbia University. I naively started out the site, thinking it would simply be a temporary digital record of my work as a student. Forget about the .com issue! When I came back to Chile, my home country, my friends and colleagues were wondering … why I had “become” a .com (I felt embarrased… and I still do when I think of it) I had somehow come across as “arrogant” for “becoming” a .com

As time went by, the .com issue became less and less relevant.

In perspective, things have evolved so much and at such a fast pace within the Internet industry… that having a .com is simply meaningless. You most likely have a Facebook account or you use Myspace, Twitter, and other social networks. Trust me, you get more hits and DO more than I could through my now silly .com

What kind of strikes me though is that Google has “somehow” managed to collect more than 9,000 results under my name! That has been surprising, indeed. The implications of such a finding will be a matter of discussion further on through my site.

Where do I stand today?

Not an easy question to fully develop but a simple answer comes to my head: I am a teacher and an educational web developer.

I help others (and feel excited about this) to accomplish their academic-personal goals by boosting their competencies when it comes to communicating in English as a foreign language. Like many of you (granted you are a Teacher), I work more than 12 hours a day. Yes, I feel exhausted at the end of the day. But isn’t it rewarding to see your students’ smile after they’ve gotten to what / where they intended? More often times than not we don’t get to see that “shining smile”… after a looong period of time. I am lucky to see that smile because of the nature of my job. Lucky me. Happy them.

I’m proud of the work I currently do through Nova Language Consultants and Universidad Alberto Hurtado.

Why is this site in English? ¿Por qué este sitio esta escrito en Inglés?

To begin with, English is NOT my first language. Neither is it my second. I am a “competent” user of English as a foreign language. Yet in Santiago de Chile, where I reside, and under the understanding that most of our interactions do happen in Spanish or rather in “Chileno”… I happen to use English at least 70% of the time that I’m awake.

You might guess it’d be easier (or less pretentious?) to write this site in Español. It’s an issue I’ve often hesitated about. As a non-native English user (a.k.a “speaker” … why would I push myself to publish in English!?

I think I finally got an “outsider” answer last week at a speech by Penny Ur: English has become a “lingua franca” and at this point the number of non-native users of English surpasses that of native speakers of English. Therefore, in an attempt to reach out for a larger audience it comes as no surprise to write in English. Let alone the fact that this site’s main audience is Teachers of English as a Second / Foreign Language.

From a insider’s point of view, most of what I’ve read, shared, discussed and produced within my field has been in English over a long long period of time. Much of my thinking happens in “my” English: whatever that English is.

Thumbs up for International English! A shout out for all those who understand my stand.

Thank-you note

Well, thank you for stopping by. My site was severely damaged early this year (2009) by hackers but hopefully now that I’ve learned my lesson, there won’t be down-times and you and I will be able to share a lot more.

God bless you.

Mauricio Miraglia.