Fall 2008 - Ninth Edition

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Breaking the Barrier Quarterly

• keeping your inner adventurer alive and well - the world over. Read about how our summer travels were enriched by THE OASIS, in Spanish and French. Having all the words and phrases you need right in your pocket is guaranteed to lighten your load.
• kicking off the school year with sure-fire ways you can kick the classic habit of spending too much precious class time going over homework. We want to help you to have a banner year!
• celebrating our current political discourse with the timely plea - "Don't Blame Me!"

So please don't blame us if you overlook the announcement of our globetrotting contest, Send Us Your Best OASIS Photo, in the last paragraph!

We Didn't Leave Home Without THE OASIS - in Spanish and French

Immediately after introducing THE OASIS, our pocket travel guide to essential words and phrases, we each hit the open road. Once again, John returned to his beloved Spain, the country he fell in love with during a summer backpacking trip prior to his intended fall matriculation at law school. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, this trip dramatically altered the course of John's career plans - from lawyer to Spanish teacher. And even this 25-year veteran of the classroom found himself referring regularly to his OASIS....in Segovia, "I couldn't quite remember how to order my steak medium-rare!" Cindy field-tested her OASIS with the group of eighteen Groton School students she and her husband led on a service-learning trip to Peru's Sacred Valley. During their three weeks in the village of Ollantaytambo, organized in concert with the World Leadership School, everyone's Spanish improved leaps and bounds. In our next issue, we'll bring you a document generated during this trip, Breaking the Barrier - Ollantaytambo Style. It contains expressions useful for anyone doing a homestay. Stay tuned for these gems of intercultural communication. Both John and Cindy gave copies of the OASIS to fellow travelers, and much to our delight we received thanks - and an accompanying photo - from a compadre who had found it really useful. Hence, the idea for our "Where in the World?" contest was hatched. Discover the details in the final article. Spanish Oasis French Oasis World Leadership School

John Conner Presents STEP FOUR of The Ideal Lesson Plan As we kick-off the school year, it's tempting to make all sorts of New Year's resolutions - you know - those promises we all make to ourselves that we have every intention of breaking in the not-too-distant future. Even if you find yourself unable to keep your car clean, lose those extra ten pounds or take your own recyclable bag to the grocery store, you can learn how to deal efficiently with last night's homework!

It simply isn't fair to your students to assign homework, and then ignore it the next day. At the other end of the continuum, spending too much time going over homework is a trap that's easy to fall into, especially if you're poorly prepared for class. We've all been there. But this is a habit you can kick! STEP FOUR tells you exactly how it's done.

John Conner Tackles his Favorite Subject Each month I write a column for Think Spanish magazine. This terrific publication has timely, high-interest articles on the Hispanic world for students of Spanish.

In the spirit of the upcoming presidential election and the current financial crisis, I couldn't resist featuring the article, Don't Blame Me! When it comes to deflecting blame or expressing unintended outcomes, the Spanish language draws upon a most elegant construction. I think it's reasonable to expect that you'll get a lot of mileage out of these grammatical structures this season. If not, don't blame me!

Send Us Your OASIS Photo! We're proud to announce that our reach includes two new continents - Asia and Africa. New schools in Korea and Ghana mean that BTB is currently used by students in five continents! If you have friends or colleagues down under in Australia or from Antarctica, please point them in our direction. When we think about where we've traveled in the last twelve years - from one classroom in Massachusetts to schools in all fifty states plus fans around the world - we feel we've truly come of global age.

This photo of an OASIS enthusiast was sent to us from Barcelona. As we announce our "Where in the World is THE OASIS?" contest, we hope you'll gear up and get in the groove. If you find that THE OASIS has given you just what you need for on-the-ground language survival, send us a photo of yourself and your OASIS "on location."

In each upcoming issue of this newsletter, we'll announce a new winner and a new prize! The prize for the Winter 2008 issue? A check for 50 dollars or ten copies of THE OASIS - in Spanish or French!