BAW 2011 Group Sharing and Finding Penpalling Project Partners

Feel free to add here

Victor (Yakutia, Russia)

Hello All,

I am writing this to all to read it because I`d like to find somebody who agrees to cooperate with me.

I have been managing the long-termed correspondence between the American secondary school students and mine for more than 16 years through a “snail mail” as they call it in the USA.

My senior Ss (grades of 9-11) were penpalling with Salt Lake City, Utah, Thonas Jefferson Junior High school Ss,

 and my so-called “juniors” (grades of 6-7-8) were exchanging letters with the 5-6 graders of Kendall Elementary school, Mount Baker, NY

I have witnessed how  profound was the input in English language skills overall and the motivation to learn English was strong enough. To arrange and manage the correspondence was messy, bothering, hard and time-consuming,  though. We exchanged letters twice a year only.

Unfortunately, my two dearest and faithful American colleagues have retired last year and we don`t have any penpal at the moment. It`s too sad, of course.

Here I have to highlight the following – the Target-speakers aren`t motivated to correspond a lot. Especially the American teenagers, whose life is too intense and they are almost fed-up with all  these high-tech and mass –media resourses and to write letters in a simple language to somebody to Siberia, you know,  it was always not too easy for my American colleagues to make their Ss to write.  But in our case, it`s another thing, yours are all EFL-Ss, and so, to write letters or E mails in English would be not so boring for them.

What do you think on it ?

Ayat (Egypt)

Dear Victor,

Penpalling is a very nice idea to improve writing. I started it once with a friend in Britain but he suddenly stopped it after some time !!!

I teach 5th grade students and they would be very enthusiastic to write to penpals in other countries, for sure it would encourage them to write in English and thus enhance their writing skills.

If you would like, I can share with you this project, corresponding via e-mail or wikis, blogs!!

Ayat (Egypt)

Natalia

Hi, everyone... I´m Natalia from Argentina. I´m quite absent because I´m working a lot preparing for the beginning of my classes, but I read evrything. I´d love PENPALLING! I´ve never done it but I want to try this very year. I teach students from 14 to adults so it´s a wide range, anyone interested, let´s contact!

Natalia

Hi Rosana, I think it´d be great to do it! We´re starting classes th 9th March, so we have time to prepare everything we want, as I said before I´ve never done it so I´ll need your help...

Where shall we start?

Natalia

Claudia

Hi friends,

I'm interested in having an e-mail exchange too. I've been working with thei kind of tasks for at least 10 years, using e-mail, snail mail ant the last time the class wiki.
Please check this site and give me feedback.
http://www.espnet.eu/image/image_material/default.htm
Some years ago we followed this project.
The last time was in 2009 and you can have a look at my wiki:
http://www.theenglishcorner.com.ar/
(click on 'International e-mail project' and you'll find all the letters).
Thanks,
Claudia

Rosana

Ayat and Victor
I agree with your ideas about penpalling and I am willing to collaborate as well with you in such a great project. However, my students are freshmen girls, first 
year all-women health college. So, if your students are close to their age, sex and interests, it will be great to collaborate. Please tell me what you think. 
Rosana

Hi Nati

I too have not done this before. We should start with something simple so that we can control everything well. You did not tell me about your students. There has to be some kind of common base for our students to start from. I mean same age, sex, interests, etc. ok?

Rosana

Natalia

I'd love to collaborate with you. Would you please read my previous email I wrote to Victor and Ayat. Waiting for your opinion.

Love,

Rosana

Patricia

Me too!!!  

I´m also interested in participating in this penpalling project with my students. How will it work?

Patricia Ceola

Marijana

Dear Bawers I have been reading about penpalling and visited the wiki page Larrisa posted, I am also very interesting in this project. I teach in high school so my students are 14-18 year of age.

I would like to contact some of the teachers who have studens of this age.

Claudio, very interesting wiki for international emailing, I see you teach primary school.

My email for fruther contact is silipa302@yahoo.com

This would be my first time and I am very interested in this, we have just been talking about that in my school and done of my collegues started penpalling but for German language!

Marijana, CRoatia

Teresa 

I have been folowing you thread very superficially due to lack of time, but this penpalling idea is great, as is the idea to create a separate wiki page.

My students and I carried out three 10-week long each email cultural exchanges and I have some files about them that I'd like to share with hoping that they may help you. The first one was a presentation at the TESOL 2001 Conference that, together with "Advice and Guidelines", should give you ideas on planning, what to bear in mind in carrying out a project, implementing it, etc.

Integrating Email Exchanges in EFL

http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/papers/integratingemailexchangesinefl.htm

Advice and Guidelines

http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/email/twoemailprojects.htm#Advice/Guidelines

Experience-based notes on email and email exchanges

http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/email/notesonexchanges.htm

How I carried out two email-based projects

http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/email/twoemailprojects.htm

Overcoming obstacles

http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/email/overcomingobstacles.htm

The magic of email (a ppt presentation)

http://www.digibridge.net/teresadeca/papers/pitt2000/magicofemail.ppt

ViP note: If you come across a URL of mine that is broken/doesn't open, check the URL itself. What you need to do. If the URL has http://64.71.48.37/teresadeca/ in it, plus something else, please replace  the part 64.71.48.37 with www.digibridge.net . It should work.

Enjoy penpalling!!!  :-)

Teresa (4Feb11)

Phil