Tag Archives: kichwa

What It Means To Be Blessed With A Good Education

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Barb Knowles

This past Friday I attended the NYSABE conference. The New York State Association of Bilingual Educators conference. One of the themes was how speaking more than one language helps our brains to function differently and better. They were talking about … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged All County Music, bilingualism, Education, english, French, Humor, kichwa, language, multilingualism, music, neurotransmitters, Spanish, Star Wars, synapses, TEACHING | 45 Comments

Welcome To The Wonderful World of Words

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Barb Knowles

Let’s face it. Words are awesome. How words change over time is awesome. And idiomatic expressions? They are THE BEST. If you could buy idiomatic expressions at the store, they’d be on my Christmas list. Years ago, I was working … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged anglo-saxon, blogging, english, etymology, happy as a pig in shit, Humor, idiomatic expressions, kichwa, linguistics, Simon Winchester, Spanish, The Professor and the Madman, words, writing | 27 Comments

In A Non-Niche Niche

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Barb Knowles

When I started this blog, I intended it to be about teaching. Particularly about the crazy things that happen in a classroom that are wholly unexpected and that education courses never talk about. Which would make a pretty good college … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged blogging, culture, ecuador, Education, essays, kichwa, memoir, niche, opinion, Peru, Quechua, TEACHING, United Nations, writing | 47 Comments

Successful Quechuans: Benjamin Bratt

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Barb Knowles

Originally posted on The New York Quechua Initiative:
Benjamin’s father is European and his mother is Quechuan. In 1969, when Benjamin was a child living in San Francisco his mother took him to participate in the Native-American Occupation of…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Benjamin Bratt, celebrities, ecuador, kichwa, kichwa hatari, language, Peru, Quechua, The New York Quechua Initiative | 2 Comments

BICS is okay, but CALP? Forget it.

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Barb Knowles

Wait, what? I uttered this in our office the other day and everyone laughed. To help you understand why this could remotely be funny while not putting you to sleep instantly, here’s a quick, so-don’t-stop-reading, crash course on learning a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BICS and CALP, bilingual, culture, ecuador, ell, ENL, esl, high school, kichwa, language learning, languages, Spanish | 11 Comments

A Story of Prayer

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Barb Knowles

Religion is contentious and comforting at the same time. But what is at the core? A belief in a higher power and the role that this higher power has in our lives, in the lives of others, the role it … Continue reading →

Posted in religion | Tagged angels, Catholicism, confession, culture, Episcopalian, faith, God, kichwa, mother teresa, opinion, prayer, religion, rosary, serenity prayer, sobriety | 10 Comments

My Conflict With Religion

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Barb Knowles

Religion used to be a definitive part of my life. I was following the rules or I wasn’t. I was accepting God’s love or I wasn’t. I was respectful to people of all religions. My religion wasn’t worse or better … Continue reading →

Posted in religion | Tagged alaska, Catholicism, christianity, culture, ecuador, heaven, inuit, judaism, kichwa, lifestyle, religion, respect, Russian Orthodox, Seder, spirituality | 8 Comments

Awards and Thanks

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Barb Knowles

I have been fortunate enough to be recognized by various bloggers for various awards recently. I’m very good about thanking them, but very bad about responding to them. And mostly for a horrible reason….I’m lazy. I get halfway through all … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, Uncategorized | Tagged alcoholism, awards, bloggins, blogs, books, Humor, kichwa, movies, netflix, opinion, popular, religion, TEACHING, writing | 19 Comments

Elmendorf AFB + Pentagon+ Chappaqua,NY = Ecuadorian Kichwa

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Barb Knowles

A road less traveled. The only location I left out was my 4 years in Ohio for college. With the exception of Ohio, which wasn’t 100% my choice since my parents had to agree to foot the bill, I didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in education, humor, languages | Tagged Chappaqua, ecuador, Elmendorf AFB, Humor, kichwa, kichwa hatari, language, New York Times, ossining, Ossining UFSD, radio el tambo stero, TEACHING | 1 Comment

Alli Chishi Mashikuna

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Barb Knowles

Once upon a time there was a high school ESL teacher who couldn’t understand why so many of her students from Ecuador had such a hard time in their native speaker Spanish classes. Native Spanish speakers take Living Environment and … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ecuador, Education, esl, high school, kichwa, teachers | 1 Comment