Practise what you preach...

Okay. I know that I'm always going on about the importance of setting goals and making sure that you have motivation. You guys also know that I try to show empathy as a teacher, too! So here's the plan: I am going to do the DELE this fall - the C1 level, which is probably a little lower than I should aim for, but probably realistic (since I learnt most of my Spanish by reading El Jueves and listening to Raimundo Amador.)

I'm going to do the exam some time before Christmas, probably November. Part of it is because I want to have a certification in Spanish (I need to know what, exactly, I AM able to do) and part of it is because I think teachers are better if they remember what it was like to be a student....so....here we go. Goals are important! Look at me - I've set myself two important goals this year: I'm going to run a 10K run and I'm going to pass the DELE. I should be capable of meeting at least ONE of those goals.

I wasn't kidding about the thing about Raimundo Amador, by the way.

The man who teaches the teachers

...not directly, mind you. A lot of us, however, are very thankful for David Crystal's lifelong dedication to language and making people understand why we use it the way we do. Today's online edition of The Guardian has an excellent profile of him:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/13/david-crystal-champion-english-language

Enjoy!