Showing you're here on Earth

Isn't it amazing how our lives are changing?  Who would have thought that next Tuesday, thousands, or maybe millions of people could be taking a selfie and posting it online.

Will you?

NASA want to make a global selfie.  They are asking people to take a photo of themself, holding a printable sign or to mark their spot with rocks, drawing on the sand, or whatever.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/GS_SIGN_English.jpg

Then, you upload the photo to facebook/flickr/instagram or twitter.

NASA will then create a global selfie portrait - a mosaic image and a video and share it in May.



It's a long way on from the first reported selfie:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/first-ever-selfie-amazing-pic-3218544

Selfie has only just made its way into the dictionary but, as this picture taken in 1839 shows, people have been doing them for a long time.

In fact, this has been hailed as the first ever selfie.

Amateur chemist and photography enthusiast Robert Cornelius, from Philadelphia, took the self-portrait in his family's silver-plating shop in the city.

There was no remote shutter release on the primitive camera - a Daguerreotype invented by Frenchman Louis Daguerre - so Robert had to scamper in front of the equipment after removing the cover on the lens.

He wrote on the back of the photo: "The first light picture ever taken. 1839."

Considering that he was making history, he doesn't look all that chuffed - maybe it was because he had to stand still for up to 15 minutes for the portrait. Or maybe it was because he had an inkling that some celebs would one day make the selfie such a self-indulgent yawnfest.

Robert's picture is kept in the Library of Congress  in Washington DC.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/first-ever-selfie-amazing-pic-3218544#ixzz2zJuZSkSg 

Free online level tests

I am amazed by the wealth of materials that Cambridge English are adding to their Youtube channel and their different websites.

Yesterday, I received an update email telling me about new resources that have been added to Youtube and the website. I immediately forwarded it to schools locally because I thought there were so many interesting bits and pieces in it.

Firstly, the online test for Young Learners.

This is a great addition to the suite of online tests that are available on the website.  It means that there are now four different tests available, for different age and interest groups.                                       

And then, the email shared a resource that I had already accessed myself last week when I was preparing for my seminar in San Sebastian:  

The great thing is that not only do we have the videos, but also the Examiners' comments on the candidates' performance.  This is so useful for us - it helps us get our level of assessment right and really clarifies what candidates need to do.

Many of you will be on holiday this week and/or next.  It's gloriously sunny here in Santander today and I hope you're having great weather too!  Enjoy!!

Write and improve

Hello again
Sorry not to have been writing much recently, but I have so much on workwise right now, that it's hard to find time to do everything I'd like to.  Still, keeps me young and active as my dad would say!

Tomorrow, I'm off to San Sebastian again (I was there last Friday too).  I'm giving a session on Writing and Speaking for Cambridge English:  First and Cambridge English: Advanced.

I try to avoid repeating anything that I've done in San Sebastian before (quite a challenging task seeing as I'm usually there 5 times every year!), so I was checking out what new stuff there is and came across a very attractive development on the Cambridge English Youtube Channel.

Write and improve

I  registered yesterday to see how it works.  You register and put in very few details

The tasks are designed for levels B1 and B2.  Students type in their answer to the question they choose (or they can write about any topic), save their answer and submit it and get feedback on their errors and sentences.

To find out more, there are two videos on the Cambridge English Youtube channel:

Try it out - pass on the link to your students and contribute to a research programme!