Monday, June 22, 2009

Festivals, fútbol, and "fruitful" learning!

Hola todos,

Another festival --El Festival Orgullo Mexicano -- Mexican Pride Festival -- takes place this week Thursday (jueves) June 25 to Sunday (domingo) at Toyota Park (home of the Chicago Fire Soccer team). Thursday through Sunday: "Carnaval" each day; Friday/viernes: dance, 7 pm, & movie in the park, 8:30 pm; Saturday/sábado: Chicago Fire vs. Tigres UANL (Mexico), 7 pm; Sunday/domingo: Lucha Libre Mexicana, 4 pm. Toyota Park is located in Bridgeview, right down Harlem to 79th. For more information: chicago-fire.com

¡Viva el fútbol! If you are a soccer fan, the Inaugural Mayor's Cup will be played at Toyota Park on Sunday, July 5, 6pm. Sure to bring out lots of Chicago soccer fans -- it's Mexico (Rayados de Monterrrey) vs. Poland (Cracovia Krakow)! Check out chicago-fire.com for more details, including ticket info. I just went to my first game in Toyota Park on Saturday -- the Chicago Fire vs. San Luis. McBride scored the lone (and winning) Chicago goal on an assist from Cuahtémoc Blanco. A real treat! Great fun and lots of Spanish practice!

"Fruitful learning:" If you haven't tried Mango Languages avaliable through the Oak Park Public Library site (see my link section), you definitely should, especially if you are thinking of taking a trip to Spanish-speaking country any time in the future! It makes for fruitful learning! I am working on my Italian and Japanese and am at about Lesson 7. Each language has 100 lessons! So far, I am learning to introduce myself, order in restaurants, say good morning, evening, good-bye, and ask and answer basic questions. At the start of each lesson, there is review of the prior lesson.

Even if it might not be the most exciting or useful conversation for kids because it tends to focus on social situations that involve adults, like asking for the bill in restaurants, it's good because it introduces and reinforces basic vocabulary (some of which they already know) and offers a chance to see written Spanish as well as hear the oral. Maybe the youngsters will even be the ones introducing themselves or doing the restaurant ordering!

As I said in my last note, everyone in the family can work with a language of his/her choice at his/her own level. It's a great free resource -- we are so lucky that our library supports language learning. The way to help keep it available is to use it -- and encourage others to do so.

Hope you are having a verano fantástico! Don't forget to check out the other festivals happening around town this summer.

hasta pronto, Sra. D



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