Wednesday 1 March 2023

Please Hear What I am Not Saying

Don't be fooled by me.

Don't be fooled by the face I wear
for I wear a mask, a thousand masks,
masks that I'm afraid to take off,
and none of them is me.

Pretending is an art that's second nature with me,
but don't be fooled,
for God's sake don't be fooled.
I give you the impression that I'm secure,
that all is sunny and unruffled with me, within as well as without,
that confidence is my name and coolness my game,
that the water's calm and I'm in command
and that I need no one,
but don't believe me.
My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask,
ever-varying and ever-concealing.
Beneath lies no complacence.
Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.
But I hide this. I don't want anybody to know it.
I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.
That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,
a nonchalant sophisticated facade,
to help me pretend,
to shield me from the glance that knows.

But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only hope,
and I know it.
That is, if it's followed by acceptance,
if it's followed by love.
It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself,
from my own self-built prison walls,
from the barriers I so painstakingly erect.
It's the only thing that will assure me
of what I can't assure myself,
that I'm really worth something.
But I don't tell you this. I don't dare to, I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid your glance will not be followed by acceptance,
will not be followed by love.
I'm afraid you'll think less of me,
that you'll laugh, and your laugh would kill me.
I'm afraid that deep-down I'm nothing
and that you will see this and reject me.

So I play my game, my desperate pretending game,
with a facade of assurance without
and a trembling child within.
So begins the glittering but empty parade of masks,
and my life becomes a front.
I idly chatter to you in the suave tones of surface talk.
I tell you everything that's really nothing,
and nothing of what's everything,
of what's crying within me.
So when I'm going through my routine
do not be fooled by what I'm saying.
Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying,
what I'd like to be able to say,
what for survival I need to say,
but what I can't say.

I don't like hiding.
I don't like playing superficial phony games.
I want to stop playing them.
I want to be genuine and spontaneous and me
but you've got to help me.
You've got to hold out your hand
even when that's the last thing I seem to want.
Only you can wipe away from my eyes
the blank stare of the breathing dead.
Only you can call me into aliveness.
Each time you're kind, and gentle, and encouraging,
each time you try to understand because you really care,
my heart begins to grow wings--
very small wings,
very feeble wings,
but wings!

With your power to touch me into feeling
you can breathe life into me.
I want you to know that.
I want you to know how important you are to me,
how you can be a creator--an honest-to-God creator--
of the person that is me
if you choose to.
You alone can break down the wall behind which I tremble,
you alone can remove my mask,
you alone can release me from my shadow-world of panic,
from my lonely prison,
if you choose to.
Please choose to.

Do not pass me by.
It will not be easy for you.
A long conviction of worthlessness builds strong walls.
The nearer you approach to me the blinder I may strike back.
It's irrational, but despite what the books say about man
often I am irrational.
I fight against the very thing I cry out for.
But I am told that love is stronger than strong walls
and in this lies my hope.
Please try to beat down those walls
with firm hands but with gentle hands
for a child is very sensitive.

Who am I, you may wonder?
I am someone you know very well.
For I am every man you meet
and I am every woman you meet.

Charles C. Finn
September 1966

You can read a collection of stories about the poem's impact in Please Hear What I'm Not Saying: a Poem's Reach around the World

https://poetrybycharlescfinn.com/pages/please-hear-what-im-not-saying

Tuesday 26 January 2016

ROBERT BURNS

Reflection: It may be a challenge to arrange a classroom where the participants have different levels of English language acquisition. Would you pair them according to their first language, age or level of English knowledge?


ICEBRAKING : Introduction:  
My name is ..........
I am from............
I live in...............


Activity 1: Review the previous lesson - eg; ordinal numbers
The participants take an ordinal number from a hat.
Then they line up according to their places on the line.
They all say they numbers aloud.
Example: 2nd, 4th, 9th, 15th, 24th, 31st, etc...


Activity 2: Group the participants and play 'match the cards' - dates and events
Example: (Date) 25th December x (event) Christmas day
                            01st January     x              New Years Day


Practise: asking and answering questions:
Q1:When is Valentines' day?
A:It is on the 17th of February.
Q2When is Christmas' day?
A:It is on the 25th of December.


Activity 3: write on the board: 25th January
Display the pictures*:
*Robert Burns - Scottish Poet (25th January 1759 - 21st July 1796)
*Burns Supper - haggis, nippies (mashed turnip) and tatties (mashed potatoes) - stovies (mince beef, carrot, anion) - oat cake - whisky
Check the background knowledge of your participants. They might link Robert Burns with the most universally famous song Auld Lang Syne.

Activity 4:  Robert Burns video
Listening Comprehension:
Robert Burns was born more than 250 years ago in Alloway.
Verb: to be born.
Question: When were you born?
Answer: I was born 54 years ago. It was in 1962.
Verb: to grow up.
Question: Where did you grow up?
Answer: I grew up in Brazil
Suggestion: check the needs and the comprehension of new vocabulary. Eg; to influence,  to die, etc.


Activity 5: In their groups the participants will make sentences about Robert Burns and they will share them aloud as a whole group.




Tuesday 3 November 2015

KNOWING YOUR LOCAL SHOPS

This lesson aims to introduce the local shops to new arrivals in the town


Activity 1

What do we need?

Pictures of local shops eg; Butcher, Florist, Indian Restaurant, Bank, Police Station, Hairdresser, Renault Garage, After School Club, Supermarket, Petrol Station, Dentist, Bakery, Coffee Shop, Cafe, Greengrocer, Chemist, Pet Shop, Optician, News Agent and Post Office, Hotel, Bus Stop, Take Away, Fish & Chips, etc...

A map of the town centre with the main streets' names.

Instruction: ask the participants to look at the pictures of the shops and find where they are on the map and label them.

Activity 2

On the bus: use a sellotape to mark a rectangle on the floor (the bus) and arrange some sits in it. Invite the participants to take a sit and ask them their position on the bus. Use the prepositions; behind, in front of, next to, on the right,opposite, across from/to, on the left...

p1: Where is Ola?
p2: Ola is behind Peter.
p3: Ola is on my right.
p4: Where is Agnieska?
p5: Agnieska is next to Anna.
p6: Agnieska is opposite Peter.
p7: Agnieska is accros from/to....
p8: Where is  Kamila?
p9: Kamila is second on my left.
p10: Kamila is in front of me.


Activity 3

A participant will follow the instructions given by another participant to move from A to B (a scarf can be used to cover their eyes and make sure they are able to follow the instructions without seeing where they are going to. They will use the listening skills and follow the directions eg; forward, on the left, on the right, a little bit on the left, backward, forward, one step backward.


Activity 4

Dialogues.
Reading: The participants will be reading a dialogue in pairs about asking for directions.
Speaking: Use the dialogue as a model to ask directions to your partner of how to get to a local shop.
Writing: Write a dialogue based on the model.

The participants will practice the dialogues and will present it to the class.





Sunday 22 February 2015

SQA Scottish Qualification Acreditation ESOL

English for Speakers of Other Languages

The Scottish qualifications ESOL are for candidates whose first language is not English and they assess the four skills of Speaking, Writing, Listening and Reading.

The topics and tasks covered are relevant to learners and offer an introduction to various aspects of everyday work, study, community and social situations in the UK. 

There are stand-alone units available at Level 2, 3, 4, 5 and Higher. You can download the support material for learning in National 2, National 3 , National 4, National 5 and Higher. 

Saturday 3 March 2012

Phonemic Chart

I find this chart very practical. Just click on the sounds or on the top right hand corner of each symbol to hear the sample words including the sounds! This is the new British Council Phonemic chart.

Phonetics Focus - A Sound Choice

Phonology can be fun. This one is produced by British Council and can be useful for teachers and learners of all levels. This can be accessed by the website Phonetics Focus - A Sound Choice

It is useful for all learners!