Around The Web On TEFL: January 9

“It’s not about the fact that his niece is kidnapped, but the fact that this guy stays focused, this guy would not let that interfere (because) he knew he had a mission, he knew what he had to do and he was doing it. And 99.9 percent of Iraqis are that way.”

Katie, what Bob is doing is vital - not only for the Iraqis, but for the U.S. and the world. And we do so need to hear more stories like this.

That last sentence in the above quote (99.9% of Iraqis are that way), is quite a stretch. If that were the case, we wouldn’t be having the problems we do. Sure, it isn’t only the Iraqis causing the roadblocks to rebuilding - extremists from Iran, Syria… - whose agenda depends on Iraq remaining in chaos.

What about the tribe culture? This is a huge, huge deterrent to democracy, if democracy is indeed the salvation here.

There is a lot more to Iraq. I certainly don’t have the answers, but from the few books I’ve read and the history of that country, I question whether the U.S. alone can heal the wounds and get Iraq back on its feet.

“Learning a foreign language with podcasts is on the rise.” Now this IS quite a resource! Thanks for the heads up on this. Should I go for French, Italian, Russian or Mandarin! What choices! I’ll start with one - but which one? Eeeeee!

Thanks for your comments, Mary.

I don’t feel at all qualified to generalize from about the Iraqi people as a whole because I don’t work with them on a day to day basis as Bob seems to. The one Iraqi student I worked with in Sarajevo - as well as the Bosnian student who grew up in Iraq - were both highly motivated and, if I do say so myself, wonderful people. I try to only speak based on my personal experience, and I suppose the situation in Iraq is just a little beyond the scope of the TEFL Logue!

The possibility for cultural exchange in both directions that EFL provides is truly amazing. I think we can both agree at least that Bob is in for quite an adventure!

Your point that the possibilities presented by podcasts are amazing is right on. Let me know how it goes if you decide to take up a foreign language via podcast!