International Women's Day

Unintended Beauty, her story…

Sharbat Gula (Pashto: شربت ګله, literally "Flower Sharbat") (pronounced [ˈʃaɾbat]) (born ca. 1972) is an Afghan woman who was the subject of a famous photograph by journalist Steve McCurry. Gula was living as a refugee in Pakistan, during the time of the Soviet occupation ofAfghanistan when she was photographed. The image brought her recognition when it was featured on the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic Magazine, at a time when she was approximately 12 years old. Gula was known throughout the world simply as "the Afghan Girl" until she was formally identified in early 2002.

An Afghan (Pashtun) by ethnicity, Gula was orphaned during the Soviet Union's bombing of Afghanistan and sent to the Nasir Bagh refugee camp inPakistan in 1984. Her village was attacked by Soviet helicopter gunships sometime in the early 1980s. The Soviet strike killed her parents—forcing her, her siblings and grandmother to hike over the mountains to the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in neighboring Pakistan. She married Rahmat Gul in the late 1980s and returned to Afghanistan in 1992. Gula had three daughters: Robina, Zahida, and Alia. A fourth daughter died in infancy. Gula has expressed the hope that her girls will receive the education she was never able to complete.

1984 photograph, “Afghan Girl”  

At the Nasir Bagh refugee camp in 1984, Gula's photograph was taken by National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry. Gula was one of the students in an informal school within the refugee camp; McCurry, rarely given the opportunity to photograph Afghan women, seized the opportunity and captured her image.

Although her name was not known, her picture, titled "Afghan Girl", appeared on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic. The image of her face, with a red scarf draped loosely over her head and with her piercing sea-green eyes staring directly into the camera, became a symbol both of the 1980s Afghan conflict and of the refugee situation worldwide. The image itself was named "the most recognized photograph" in the history of the magazine.

Search for the Afghan Girl The identity of the Afghan Girl remained unknown for over 17 years;Afghanistan remained largely closed to Western media until after the removal of the Taliban government in 2001. Although McCurry made several attempts during the 1990s to locate her, he was unsuccessful.In January 2002, a National Geographic team traveled to Afghanistan to locate the subject of the now-famous photograph. McCurry, upon learning that the Nasir Bagh refugee camp was soon to close, inquired of its remaining residents, one of whom knew Gula's brother and was able to send word to her hometown. However, there were a number of women who came forward and identified themselves erroneously as the famous Afghan Girl. In addition, after being shown the 1985 photo, a handful of young men falsely claimed Gula as their wife. The team finally located Gula, then around the age of 30, in a remote region of Afghanistan; she had returned to her native country from the refugee camp in 1992. Her identity was confirmed using biometric technology, which matched her iris patterns to those of the photograph with almost full certainty. She vividly recalled being photographed—she had been photographed on only three occasions: in 1984 and during the search for her when a National Geographic producer took the identifying pictures that led to the reunion with Steve McCurry. She had never seen her famous portrait before it was shown to her in January 2003. 

  More recent pictures of her were featured as part of a cover story on her life in the April 2002 issue of National Geographic and she was the subject of a television documentary, entitled Search for the Afghan Girl, which aired in March2002. In recognition of her, National Geographic set up the Afghan Girls Fund, a charitable organization with the goal of educating Afghan girls and young women. In 2008, the scope of the fund was broadened to include boys and the name was changed to Afghan Children's Fund.

The Sharbat Gula Justice Center

Educating and Empowering Women World WideMen and women are two wings of the same bird, unless they work in synchronicity the bird can not soar. 

Sharbat Gula Justice Center's mission is to promote human rights in societies that are undergoing transition from war and its associated social upheaval. They provide educational facilities, legal advocacy for victims of gender apartheid and vocational resources and training for women and girls. The core of their work is to assist women in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. While their geographic focus is on this triad, they promote equality between men and women worldwide, and work within the international framework and mandates adopted by the United Nations for developing nations. Their work is non-partisan and has broad based institutional support as the most effective means of transitioning developing nations from disorder to one governed by rule of law. 

Her Life Revealed
Sharbat Gula which means "flower nectar" in Afghanistan's main language (lingua franca), of Pashto, is the most iconic recognizable face in the world, yetVERY few who recognize her haunting green eyes, know where she is from or her struggle. Upon finding her after 17 years, she was asked what she most wanted in her life. What she asked for was not for herself but for her three daughters. Her wish has been the education of her three young daughters. To this end the Sharbat Gula Justice Center was created; to provide the means for the education of girls and women in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. While their geographic focus is based on this trinity, they assist women worldwide, building schools, providing vocational training and legal asylum for victims of gender based persecution. Their work revolves not around 'charity' but JUSTICE. It is only JUST that everyone, most importantly WOMEN have the same opportunities that exist for men, if not more so, for women are the first teachers of children and the creators of future generations. This work and programs on behalf of women have inspired other NGO's and policy makers to focus on women as the focal point of effective "nation building". Women's rights promotion and socio-economic development opportunities for women have been cited and documented by numerous United Nations studies to be the most effective remedy for societies in transition who wish to join the group of developed nations.

UPON REFLECTION ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY, MARCH 8^TH:

§  Victimization and Third World: being orphaned, a girl and a refugee.

§  Beauty Standards/Awareness: how do you think Sharbat Gula conceived her own beauty as opposed to the Western standards?

§  Reaching Goals/ Motherhood/ Main Wish: Education for her daughters.

§  Recognition/Achievements/ (Un)intentionally.

Reflect Upon the Following extracts: When they met again, McCurry told Sharbat her image had become famous as a symbol of the Afghan people. "I don't think she was particularly interested in her personal fame," McCurry said. "But she was pleased when we said she had come to be a symbol of the dignity and resilience of her people."The award-winning photographer said his original image of Sharbat had seized the imagination of so many people around the world because her face, particularly her eyes, expressed pain and resilience as well as strength and beauty. When Sharbat agreed to have her picture taken for the second time in her life, she came out from the secrecy of her veil to tell her story. She wanted the people around the world who knew her face to know that she survived the refugee camp in Pakistan.Sharbat said she fared relatively well under Taliban rule, which, she feels, provided a measure of stability after the chaos and terror of the Soviet war.
According to Matson and McCurry, Sharbat Gula has returned to anonymity; the latest publicity about her name and face is unlikely to draw attention to her inAfghanistan. "She will not give another media interview and she wishes not to be contacted," Matson said. 
"Clearly she has become a symbol that National Geographic has used to illustrate the circumstances of refugees like her, and many people have inquired about her," he said. "She stood for an entire group of refugees, not just Afghan refugees. She has helped us with our mission of educating people about other cultures and regions—and she's helping us again by drawing attention to the lives of Afghan women and girls in general." 

Grammar Tip #5: Reported Speech

REPORTED SPEECH consists in telling somebody else what you or a person said before.

When reporting speech, a few changes occur:

First....	Choose an appropriate reporting (= introductory) verb - depending on the type of discourse N.B.: The verb is usually conjugated in the simple past
Then	Change the tenses to their past form, unless what is said is still true
Don't forget to	Change personal pronouns, possessive adjectives or pronouns - depending on the speaker(s)
and to	Change time and place adverbs.
Remember to	Change the punctuation - depending on the type of discourse

---

REPORTING / INTRODUCTORY VERBS

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
TYPE OF DISCOURSE	INTRODUCTORY VERB	LINK WORD	WORD-ORDER
assertion	to add / to admit / to announce / to declare / to deny / to explain / to insist / to mention / to promise / to propose / to remind / to say / to suggest / to tell somene......	That / O	No Changes same word-order as direct speech
yes/no question= question starting with an auxiliary	to ask someone / oneself / to doubt / to wonder..		S + (Aux.) + Vb.
WH-question question starting with WH-	to ask / to inquire / to wonder..	WH-	S + (Aux.) + Vb.
answer	to answer / to reply / to explain	that / O	No Changes same word-order as direct speech
advice	to advise someone	To	+ Vb
order	to tell / to forbid / to order	(not) To	+ Vb

---

TENSES

Tense in "Direct speech"	Tense to use in reported speech
SIMPLE PRESENT	SIMPLE PAST
Cindy asked: "Do you like watching TV?" Giles said: "I don't mind watching TV, but there are things I like better	Cindy asked Giles if he liked watching tV Giles answered he didn't mind watching TV, but there were things he liked better.
PRESENT BE-ING	PAST BE-ING
Frank declared: " I am thinking about moving"	Frank declared he was thinking about moving
PAST BE-ING	PAST PERFECT BE-ING
He told them: "I wasn't expecting your visit"	He told them he hadn't been expecting their visit
PRESENT PERFECT	PAST PERFECT
She said: " I have just seen an old friend of mine"	She said she had just seen an old friend of hers.
PRESENT PERFECT BE-ING	PAST PERFECT BE-ING
He asked: "Paul, how long have you been studying English?"	He asked Paul how long he had been studying English
PAST PERFECT	PAST PERFECT
They said: "If we had arrived two minutes later, there would have been no cake left"	They said that if they had arrived two minutes later, there would have been no cake left.
PAST PERFECT BE-ING	PAST PERFECT BE-ING
He declared: " You had been telling me you wanted to see her"	He declared they had been telling him they wanted to see her.
FUTURE (WILL)	CONDITIONAL (WOULD)
I asked: " Where will you spend your holiday ?"	I asked where they would spend their holiday.
WILL + BE-ING	WOULD + BE-ING
Anna declared:" I will be announcing my engagement next month"	Anna declared she would be announcing her engagement the following month
WOULD	WOULD
Tony said: "I would like something to eat. I wouldn't mind a drink either."	Tony said he would like something to drink and wouldn't mind a drink either.

---

ADVERBS OF TIME AND PLACE, DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

Direct speech	Reported Speechrt
NOW	THEN
LAST (year, month, week...)	THE (year, month , week...) BEFORE THE PREVIOUS (year, month, week...)
YESTERDAY	THE DAY BEFORE THE PREVIOUS DAY
TOMORROW	THE NEXT DAY THE FOLLOWING DAY
NEXT (week, month, year...)	THE (week, month, year...) AFTER THE FOLLOWING (week, month, year...)
THIS	THAT
THAT	THAT
THESE	THOSE
THOSE	THOSE
HERE	THERE
THERE	THERE

---

PRACTICE
Chat with My Bot , then report the conversation you had with him.

• Reported Speech Exercise at Auto-English (autoenglish) 
  "Convert the phrases ... into reported speech."
• Indirect Questions Exercise at Auto-English (autoenglish) 
  "What's this?"
  "Do you know what this is?"

• Reported Speech for Questions at Auto-English (autoenglish) 
  "Are you happy, Carla?" asked Bob.
   Bob asked Carla if/whether she was/were happy.

• Reported Speech for Orders at Auto-English (autoenglish)
  "Don't turn on the light," she said to him.
   She told him not to turn on the light.

• Reporting Verbs Exercise at Auto-English (autoenglish)
  " Fill the gaps using the verbs in the box. Use each verb once only.
  advise hope promise suggest
  beg insist remind threaten
  deny invite refuse warn" 

• Different Ways to Say Something (bogglesworldesl.com)
  "There are a lot of ways that add extra information to refine how we report speech."
  ex : He yelled / She bragged / She whispered...
  
   

• He Said She Said (spwickstrom.com)
  214 Words to Use Instead of 'Said'

Source: www.michellehenry.fr

Grammar Tip #4: WORD FORMATION

The following list does not include the adjectives derived from participle forms of verbs e.g.(verb) interest (adjective) interesting /interested nor does the list include the adverbs derived by adding suffix "-ly" at the end of adjectives. eg.(adjective) deep (adverb) deeply.

Notice that this chart shows word formation starting with the letter "A". If you click on the following link, the chart will continue alphabetically WORD FORMATION CHARTS.

                                           -A-

VERBS	NOUN	ADJECTIVE	ADVERB
enable	ability	able unable	ably
	absence absentee	absent
	accident	accidental
accommodate	accommodation
acknowledge	acknowledgement
act	action activity activist actress actor	active inactive
activate	activation
add	addition additive	additional additive
	adequacy inadequacy	adequate inadequate
admire	admiration	admirable	admirably
	advantage disadvantage	advantageous disadvantageous
advertise	advertisement advertiser
admit	admission admittance
adopt	adoption
advise	advice advisability	advisable inadvisable	advisably inadvisably
	affection	affectionate unaffectionate
affect	effect	effective ineffective
agree disagree	agreement disagreement	agreeable disagreeable	agreeably disagreeably
	alcohol	alcoholic	alcoholically
allow	allowance
	ambition	ambitious
amuse	amusement
annoy	annoyance
excite	excitement
	anxiety	anxious
apologize	apology	apologetic	apologetically
appear disappear	appearance disappearance	apparent	apparently
applaud	applause applauder
apply	application applicant	applicable	applicably
appoint	appointment
appreciate	appreciation	appreciative
approve disapprove	approval disapproval
argue	argument argumentation	arguable argumentative	arguably
arrange	arrangement
arrive	arrival
assist	assistance
associate	association
assume	assumption
astonish	astonishment
attend	attendance
	attention	attentive
attract	attraction attractiveness unattractiveness	attractive unattractive
avoid	avoidance	avoidable unavoidable	avoidably unavoidably

Source: http://www.bedavaingilizce.com/advanced/index.php Good site.

These links below are great reading about Word Formation:
-BRIGHTHUB_Back Formation and Derivation. Also Conversion, Compounding, Clipping and Blending.
-Assets.cambridge.org Pdf. Article by Ingo Plag on Word Formation.
-WORD BUILDING LIST. Compiled by Tomasz Szczégola, Poland.

EXERCISES TO PRACTISE
Flo-Joe.co.ukflo-joe.co.uk
Englishexercises.org
International House, Bristol

Have a good one !
Inma.

Writing Project Deadline

Hi there !

It seems the writing project has come to an end...With not much participation, still, thanks to those who have contributed to it :)
After exams, we will analize the "plot" and make the corresponding corrections, to then publish it in this very same post.

Enjoy the weekend!

-i

The Writing Project

As I mentioned in class, we are starting our common writing project. So, here we go! Thanks so much for your collaboration :-)

TASK: Building up a story by adding a paragraph, sentence, even a word. You can contribute as many times as you want, as long as you follow others' threads. Make sure you keep the writing style, but of course feel free to let your imagination and inspiration grow. Our deadline to "close" the story will be March 1st. At the end of it we'll all decide the most suitable title for it. So, join the project and happy writing!

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” — George Orwell, 1984

Zero, 1st, 2nd and 3rd CONDITIONALS

The English Conditional

There are a number of structures in English that are called the conditionals which are used to talk about possible or imaginary situations. A "Condition" is a "situation or circumstance".

For example: If a certain condition is true, then a particular result happens.

There are four basic conditionals that we use in English.

• Zero Conditional
• First Conditional
• Second Conditional
• Third Conditional

There are some more conditionals formed by mixing some of these four. To learn more about these, see our glossary entry: English Conditionals.

Structure of Conditional Sentences

The structure of the conditionals is straightforward. There are two basic possibilities in terms of order in the sentence:

IF	Condition	Result
If	it rains,	we will get wet

or like this:

Result	IF	Condition
We will get wet	if	it rains.

Notice that we only use a comma in the first example.

Conditionals: Time and Probability Table

Probability	Conditional	Example	Time
Certain	zero conditional	If you heat water to 100 degrees celsius, it boils	any time
Likely	first conditional	If it rains, I will stay in.	future
Unlikely	second conditional	If I won the lottery, I would retire.	future
Impossible	second conditional	If I had the money, I would lend it to you	present
Impossible	third conditional	If I had seen him, I would have given him the message.	past

Read more at http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/english-conditionals-an-introduction.html#CA13WH3LRUlAxu5H.99

PASSIVE VOICE

Hi there,


Let's start brushing up your passive skills by listening to Mr. Passive Voice:


So...Who is he talking to?

a) his demanding wife      
b) his boss   
c) himself (he records all his duties and errands, once he's fulfilled them)

And...why on earth is he using Passive?

a) his ego was killed upon his wife's request
b) he has no personality
c) he doesn't give a damn about who did what

* Note: answers may vary, so any of them can be correct, even all... or none. The question is making you talk...

Now this video will display a similar explanation to the one I gave you on the board in class today:


And here comes the lesson:

THE PASSIVE VOICE IN ENGLISH

Passive vs Active voice:

The Active Voice	The Passive Voice
Most countries in Latin America speak Spanish.	Spanish is spoken in most countries in Latin America.

Use of Passive voice:

1.    Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: "A letter was written."
The focus, here, is on the fact that a letter was written. We actually don't know who wrote it.

2.    Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: "A vase was broken."
Focus, here, is on the fact that a vase was broken, but we don't blame anyone. Compare this to: "You broke the vase."

Form of Passive voice:

Subject + the appropriate form of to be + Past Participle

NOTE: The appropriate form of to be = To be is given in the tense of the active voice main verb.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

·         The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

·         The form of the verb is the appropriate form of to be (the tense of the active voice main verb) + the past participle.

·         The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent of the passive sentence (or it's dropped, since information becomes irrelevant).

Active	Nancy	makes	tea
	subject	verb	object
Passive	Tea	is made	(by Nancy)
	object becoming subject	verb	subject becoming agent or dropped

Examples of Passive voice:

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Nancy	makes	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	is made	by Nancy.
Present Progressive	Active:	Nancy	is making	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	is being made	by Nancy.
Simple Past	Active:	Nancy	made	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	was made	by Nancy.
Past Progressive	Active:	Nancy	was making	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	was being made	by Nancy.
Present Perfect	Active:	Nancy	has made	Tea.
	Passive:	Tea	has been made	by Nancy.
Past Perfect	Active:	Nancy	had made	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	had been made	by Nancy.
Future simple	Active:	Nancy	will make	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	will be made	by Nancy.
Future perfect	Active:	Nancy	will have made	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	will have been made	by Nancy.
Conditional	Active:	Nancy	would make	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	would be made	by Nancy.
Modals	Active:	Nancy	can make	tea.
	Passive:	Tea	can be made	by Nancy.

Double Object Passive:

Transforming an active sentence with two objects into passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to focus on.

Active/Passive	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active:	Nancy	offered	a flower	to me.
Passive:	A flower	was offered	to me	by Nancy.
Passive:	I	was offered	a flower	by Nancy.

Impersonal Passive:

Study these examples:

·         They say that the planet is in danger.

·         It is said that the planet is in danger.

This type of passive is called impersonal since we use the impersonal form "it is..." This is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know ...)

Examples:    

·         It is said that...

·         It is thought that...

·         It is believed that...

·         It is known that...                      

It is also common to start the passive form of these sentences with the subject of the that-clause:

Examples:

·         They say that the planet is in danger = The planet is said to be in danger.

·         They think that women live longer than men  = Women are thought to live  longer than men.

Source:  My English Pages.com

MORE ON PASSIVE, FROM BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv331.shtml Passive with modals, future and infinitive forms.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1643_gramchallenge14/ Present Perfect Passive. Audio+exercises.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv65.shtml Use of Passive Voice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv119.shtml Continuous forms of Passive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page7.shtml Pseudo-Passive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv214.shtml “see” and “hear” with Passive Voice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv191.shtml “hurt”, “harm”, “injure”, “wound”, “damage” as Passive verbs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv150.shtml “permit”, “allow” with Passive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv106.shtml Relative pronoun+ Passive voice vs. Participial clauses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page47.shtml Objective vs. Subjective tone in Passive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/askaboutenglish/2009/06/090908_aae_open.shtml Intransitive verbs cannot be used in Passive voice. Example.

EXERCISES FOR FURTHER PRACTICE:

http://www.nonstopenglish.com/allexercises/grammar/grammar-passive_voice.asp Miscellaneous: Blanks, Correct mistakes, Rephrasing…

http://www.e-grammar.org/passive-voice/

http://www.glohima.com/BACKUPACTIVITIES/GRAMMAR/B2/PASSIVE/ThePassive.htm from Upstream.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx Tips for writing. Explanations by The Grammar Girl with audio, listen and read along.

http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-grammar/passive_voice-worksheets/page/3/  101 Passive Voice worksheets. Exercises, recipes, texts and more stuff…

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/activepassive.html

And finally these last exercises on Newspaper Reports (answers included) to review Passive Voice plus some Vocab. about Crime and Punishment, so you're all set with unit 3A.

Uploaded by me on SLIDESHARE, though source:  http://www.teachitworld.com/

Newspapers reports passive

View more documents from Inma Alvarez.

Enjoy, ACTIVELY  :)

Cheers,
Inma.