Light up your Christmas. The most illuminated night in Colombia.

Light up your Christmas. The most illuminated night in Colombia.

Sep 9, 2022 | Culture

The night of the candles, a Colombian tradition

Por: Camila Garcia Voelkl.

In many cultures, Christmas season is characterized by its lights. We light up the tree, we decorate the houses with colored lights and the cities illuminate their streets and main squares. In Colombia, there is a beautiful tradition where the Christmas lights take center stage and it is known as the night of the candles.

How was this tradition born?

Colombia is a country with very strong Catholic roots. The Catholic Church celebrates the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin on December 8, where it is remembered that the Virgin Mary was sinless (immaculate) from her conception. In 1854, colonial times, the tradition of celebrating the Virgin with candles to illuminate her path was consolidated in Colombia. “According to certain theologians, such as Álvaro Rodríguez Vásquez, the night of the candles means the illumination that God made in the Virgin and her acceptance of that divine process”1

Although this celebration is of religious origin, for Colombians it also has a big family and cultural connotation.

The brightest night.

The night of the candles begins on the night of December 7 and the early morning of December 8 when family and friends gather to light up their houses, streets and squares with lanterns, candles and colored gunpowder, in the midst of a festive atmosphere. In some cities like Medellín and Barranquilla, the lights are also placed on the riverbank.

Photo by: http://asomecosafro.com.co/

It is perhaps the brightest night of the year in Colombia and the beginning of a month of festivities. It is a tradition full of joy. Each candle is lit with an intention of gratitude for the good things of the current year and with the best wishes for the coming year. For others it is a way to remember loved ones who are no longer with them. For the vast majority, one more reason to share a moment of joy with the family.

Foto por: Cristian Mercado https://zonacero.com/

Join the tradition.

The night of the candles is a reason to share and spend time together. For the little ones, the lights fill the moment with magic and become unforgettable moments of the season. The tradition is not limited to the night. It starts with making handmade lanterns at home using colored paper and decorating them with Christmas motifs. The tradition is to use wax candles and gather around the candles, telling stories and sharing something to eat while watching the candles burn little by little. However, for safety reasons with small children, you can also use LED lights.

How to make a lantern at home:

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“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak”

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak”

Feb 4, 2022 | Bilinguism

Listening: The first skill to aquire when learning a new language

Por: Camila Garcia Voelkl.

The art of learning is always a cumulative process, whatever the content. We learn in various ways and use all our senses for them. The art of learning a language, whether for the first time or as an additional language, requires 5 main skills, listening, speaking, understanding the culture, writing, and learning to read.

Although we must work on the 5 synergistically, it is important to emphasize that the first aptitude: Listening, is one of the most important.

Sound is the basis for communication in all spoken languages. Whichever language you decide to pursue, you must learn how to listen so that you can understand what has been said. It is the same as when you learn your first language as a baby, we spend more than six months just listening and understanding, to later start babbling some words until we can create full sentences. This process takes us around two to three years and a lifetime of continuous learning and improvement.
Human brains evolved to acquire oral comprehension first and a second language is not any different. Even though we are capable of learning faster, the process is similar.

“Research shows that when we communicate, we spend around 40-50% of our time listening, 25-30% speaking, 11-16% reading and only 9% writing (although that last one might have changed in recent years due to the rise in social media).” (https://www.fluentu.com/blog/)

So, why should listening be the first skill to be taught?

Many learners are eager to start talking in their new language. Many even consider that if they are not able to talk a couple of sentences, then they do not know the language. This is not true. The first phase of learning is by listening and being capable of understanding. You can be engaged in conversations among native speakers even when your speaking skills are minimal, but if you cannot understand what they are saying, you will inevitably tune out and feel isolated.

Learning to listen to the target language improves language ability. The sound, rhythm, intonation, and stress of the language can only be perfectly adapted through listening. 

It is very important to note that listening is different from hearing. Listening involves an active and conscious process where the student is mentally present.

Dr. Michael Rost, Ph.D. in linguistics (1994) explains the importance of listening in a language classroom as follows:
 

  1. Listening is vital in the language classroom because it provides input for the learner. Without understanding input at the right level, any learning simply cannot begin.

     

  2. Spoken language provides a means of interaction for the learner. Because learners must interact to achieve understanding. Access to speakers of the language is essential. Moreover, learners’ failure to understand the language they hear is an impetus, not an obstacle, to interaction and learning.

     

  3. Authentic spoken language presents a challenge for the learner to understand language as native speakers actually use it.

     

  4. Listening exercises provide teachers with a means for drawing learners’ attention to new forms (vocabulary, grammar, new interaction patterns) in the language (p.141-142).

Teachers need to Commit to teaching Listening skills.

We may think that listening is a simple skill but when it comes to a second language it is not that easy. When our mind doesn’t understand what is said fast enough, it tends to get distracted. The student needs to practice and work on their language skills as much as possible and language teachers need to think of how we can incorporate listening into our teaching and provide opportunities both inside and outside the classroom for our students to be exposed to significant listening input. 

A great technique to help students learn to listen is to use Top-down strategies. These strategies focus on concepts and not specific words. The goal is for the learner to understand the overall meaning of what is being said and not only specific words. By using their knowledge of context and co-text, learners should either be able to guess the meaning of the unknown word or understand the general idea without getting distracted by it.

Some examples of how to use top-down strategies are:

  1. listening activities that include putting a series of pictures or sequence of events in order

  2. listening to conversations and identifying where they take place

  3. Listening to Bingo/Loteria games

  4. Dicto-drawing: Give spoken instructions on how to draw something and the student should follow your directions.

  5. Games to follow instructions or directions

Other easy ways to practice listening for foreign language acquisition are by listening to music in the target language, watching movies, or getting immersed in conversations with native speakers.

As one of my students reminded me and his classmates in one of my recent classes: We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.

    Enjoy the process not only the result!

    References:

    Rost, M. (1994). Introducing listening. London: Penguin books.
    https://www.ripublication.com/ijeisv1n1/ijeisv4n1_13.pdf

    The day of the dead

    The day of the dead

    Oct 30, 2021 | Culture, mexico

    The day of the dead in LatinAmerican countries
    Por: Camila Garcia Voelkl.
    The celebration of the Day of the Dead has become a popular holiday in many countries. The colorful images of catrinas and skeletons are becoming popular as a symbol of Latino culture.

    But before launching into the celebration, wearing catrina dresses and makeup, it is important that we understand what exactly this tradition and its beauty is about.

    A few years ago, my concept of death was dark, sad, and scary. Seeing a skull image was negative and loved ones who had already died were remembered with great sadness. When I learned about this tradition a few years ago (in my country Colombia is not celebrated and was not popular at the time), I was not sure that I would like to create altars or decorating my house with skulls to teach my kids the tradition, since my husband is from Mexico. I had to first understand fully what the tradition meant and see the reasons for the celebration, to later realize its beauty and how important it can be to see life from another angle.

    Despite being known as a celebration of the Dead, it really is a celebration of life. It is a time of joy, where families honor and lovingly remember people who have already passed away. Teach children that the cycle of life does not end in death, because if you remember your loved ones, they will always be with us.

    The celebration of the Day of the Dead has a long history in the Mexican Tradition and has been named Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by Unesco. It is celebrated every November 1, a period that also marks the culmination of the annual growing cycle of corn in Mexico, the predominant food crop in the country. Although marked throughout Latin America, the Day of the Dead is most strongly associated with Mexico, where the tradition began. The fusion of pre-Hispanic religious rites and Catholic holidays (the Day of the Dead is celebrated on All Saints’ Day and the Day of the Dead, minor holidays in the Catholic calendar) brings together two universes, one marked by indigenous belief systems, the other by traditions introduced by Europeans in the 16th century. The celebration as we know it (or as we normally see it in books or in the movie “coco”) is traditional in Mexico. However, other countries like Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru also have their own traditions.

    Mexican Celebration

    Mexicans have a tradition to celebrate the lives of those who have died, bringing them food, drinks and music that people enjoyed in life. Many of the celebrations take place directly in cemeteries, (pantheons), when the family goes and visits the grave of their loved ones and brings them what they liked the most. The pantheon goes from being a gloomy place to becoming a space for party and celebration.

    It is also a tradition to place altars in houses. Altars, or also known as offerings, is a place to display portraits, place favorite foods, and special possessions of loved ones. The altars are also decorated with candles and marigolds; candlelight and the scent of flowers (called cempasuchitl) are said to attract the souls of the deceased for a short time to partake of the pleasures they once enjoyed in life.

    The most familiar symbol of the Day of the Dead are calacas y calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which appear everywhere during the holiday: in candied sweets, parade masks, dolls, etc. Calacas and skulls are always portrayed as enjoying life, often wearing fancy clothes, flower headbands, and even funny poses.

    The bread of the dead is an important element of the offering and is much loved and enjoyed during this holiday.

    Imagen: Guatemala.com

    Imagen: Universal.com

    Celebrations in other Latino countries.

    Little is known to the world about the traditions of the Day of the Dead in other Latin American countries.

    Guatemala, for example, also has a tradition of visiting cemeteries accompanied by food and drinks enjoyed by the dead. In Santiago and Sumpángo Sacatepéquez the flight of giant kites is one of the most admired shows of this day. The fundamental objective of this ritual is religious and cultural, since the inhabitants consider it a communication link with the loved ones who are deceased, during the celebration the souls of the deceased visit the earth and the kites act as messengers, and that at each rope pull a message of peace and well-being is sent, until the spirit of the deceased is raised together with the kite. This tradition was declared a cultural heritage of Guatemala on October 30, 1998.

    In Ecuador they usually make bread rolls in the shape of humans, which they call guaguas. These muffins are a symbolism that represents those who have already passed away. The bread is usually accompanied with a drink of purple corn and fruits, known as colada morada.

    Bolivia shares a tradition very similar to that of Ecuador. They have the tradition of making loaves in the shape of little people, which they call tantawawas. As in Mexico, they also usually place altars or tables which they also call apxatas and which they decorate with flowers, candles, and food.

    What other traditions do you know about this day? How do you usually celebrate it in your family?

    Remember that talking about cultural traditions with your children is a great way to introduce them to other cultures and learn to respect them. Talking about the traditions of your own country is a great way to teach them to embrace their roots and feel part of them.

    Here I share this very nice video about the Day of the Dead in Mexico. Ideal for teaching tradition to the little ones.

    This is a cute and short video, made especially for children. There are no words, only music.

    The film won the gold medal at the 2013 Student Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

    Live and share your culture

    If you found this post useful, help me to continue sharing our traditions!

    Cooking Arepas with Choko

    Cooking Arepas with Choko

    Sep 20, 2021 | Choko, Culture

    Colombian and Venezuelan Arepas Recipe.

    Por: Camila Garcia Voelkl.

    “Arepas” are cornmeal round and flat cakes that originated hundreds of years ago in Colombia and Venezuela. It is a typical meal that is cooked on a rack, pan-fried or baked. They can be served as bread or use them for sandwiches with fillings such as cheese, beans, chicken, meat, veggies or many other options.

    At home, my kids love arepas at breakfast, snack or even dinner. They love how versatile they are and how they can be combined with their favorite toppings. As a Colombian, I love to see them eat their arepas with such taste and pride.

    My husband is Mexican, and he likes his arepa alongside some good beans, hot sauce, and avocado. My oldest daughter loves to top it with guacamole and my youngest loves it with hummus. I personally prefer it plain or stuffed with cheese!

    It does not matter with which you accompany it or fill it, the arepa goes well with everything.

    One of the things I like the most about this recipe is how easy it is to prepare, and it has allowed my daughters to join while cooking and share as a family, especially my youngest daughter, who is currently 6, loves to make the dough and form the arepitas using a tortillera (exactly, we do not have arepera, but we do have tortillera and they work the same).

    Here is the recipe and if you make it at home, I would love to see you in action or the result. You can share your experience on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #arepasamigobilingue

     

    Colombian and Venezuelan Arepas – Recipe

    Prep:           10 mins
    Cook:          10 mins
    Total:          20 mins
    Yield:          6 arepas

    INGREDIENTS

    2 cups of corn flour
    2 cups of water
    Pinch of salt
    Avocado or olive oil (Spray)

    *optional: 1 cup of mozzarella grated cheese. If added, the recipe is not dairy free anymore unless you use a plant based type of cheese.

    Mix water, corn meal, mozzarella cheese (optional), PINCH oF salt together in a large bowl. Knead until mixed well and the dough has a soft consistency.

    Form balls the size of a medium orange and shape them as a semi flat circle or place them between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and Flatten with a rolling pin to your desired thickness.

    Coat a griddle or frying panwith cooking oil spray and heat to medium-high. Add arepas and grill until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Serve immediately.

     Arepas have a mild flavor so they go well with almost everything. You can try using two flat Arepas or one opened in half and filled it with your choice of shredded chicken, meat, vegetables, chesses, beans, hummus and much more.

    Similar to arepas are the mexican “gorditas” and the salvadorian “pupusas”. They are also round flat corn cakes Gorditas are puffed up when fried in oil, forming an air pocket which is later filled. Pupusas are flatter and made with a corn flour stronger in flavor than the one used for arepas.


    AT HOME

    You can download, print and share the recipe with family and friends. Here is a PDF for you to keep. Available in English and Spanish!

    PDF Download

    PDF Download

    The natural approach for second language aquisition

    The natural approach for second language aquisition

    Jul 29, 2021 | Bilinguism, Education, English

    Becoming bilingual doesn’t have to be hard.

    By: Camila Garcia Voelkl.
    Written for Michuchutren, Spanish immersion center

    Let me start by asking you how did you learn your mother tongue? How many classes did you take to learn how to call your mom or how to ask for more food when you were a baby? None. 

    We, start learning our first language since we are in our mother’s womb by listening and trying to make sense of sounds. Once we are born, we create associations between images and sounds, making sense of words and their meanings. We learn through listening, watching, and daily experiences. Your mother tongue makes sense because you can use it to fulfill your needs (Asking for more food, demanding attention, playing) and because with it, we can express our feelings to the people around us.

    When our children are learning to talk, we do not worry about buying workbooks or following a specific method to teach them the grammar and rules of the language. Once they have enough knowledge of the language and the right age, they start reading, comprehending, and understanding the rules. This process takes years, right?

    Well then, why do we expect the acquisition of the second language to be different? Why do we think we need a precise curriculum, lots of workbooks, and tedious grammar lessons to teach our children a second language?

    Let me tell you about the theory of “The natural approach” developed by Professor Stephen Krashen and education theorist Tracy Terrell in the late 1970s.

    The Natural Way Approach

    Following the logic of what I was telling you before, the natural approach is based on learning a second language in the same way we learned our first. Our brains are capable of learning as many languages as we want to (the younger, the better) and, each person learns them at their own pace.

    If we compare five kids at the age of 2, will they all have the same vocabulary, language abilities, and same pronunciation? No, they are all different not only because of the degree of exposure to the language but because of their own learning capabilities. The same happens when learning a second or third language.

    The Natural way is developed to learn in the same way we learned when we were babies. The teacher speaks only the target language (Full immersion) and students may use either the first or second language while they acquire a better understanding of the target language. The class is devoted primarily to provide input for acquisition. So, what does this mean:

    The main goal is to comprehend/understand by listening and making associations with previous knowledge before the student starts trying to repeat and learn how to talk in the language.

    The class is developed by creating interest and making the topic relevant for the student. Why does a kid want to learn a second language if they do not feel it is actually useful for them? Or has nothing to do with what they like or not? Therefore, the natural way encourages the interest of the students through their personal interests.

    The intend is not related to grammatical rules. The main objective is not to learn the correct way of writing or saying something but to focus on the goal of being able to communicate. Let’s go back to the example of the toddler learning to talk. It is cute to hear a baby babbling and trying to figure out how to say something, isn’t it? Then, we need to see the process of the second language in the same way. It is totally fine to have a “babbling” phase where the student is trying to find the words to communicate something without paying attention if it is grammatically correct.

    Students do not have to talk in their second language until they feel they are ready, and there is not a specific time-lapse for that. There are children who in a couple of months will feel comfortable enough to start trying to “babble” and some may take years to get to that point.

    Juan Diego ' Virgen de Guadalupe

    “Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication – in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding”.

    (Stephen Krashen)

    Therefore, if you are thinking about learning a second language or teaching it to your children, think about it as a process, not a result. The learning journey takes a lifetime (same as with your main language in which you continue learning new words and concepts throughout your whole life). It is not a timed process and, there is no rush to be perfectly proficient. It should go naturally with your own learning process.

    Remember that the main purpose of learning another language is being able to communicate with others, so:

    Juan Diego ' Virgen de Guadalupe

     

    • Focus on communication and not on perfection.
    •  There is no need to go through extensive use of conscious grammatical rules since the beginning.
    • Go beyond the books and look for meaningful experiences.
    • Get immersed in the language from the beginning, do not look for translations.

    Enjoy the journey!

    If you find this post helpful, help us share it with other parents to raise awareness of cultural diversity. Join our mailing list and become and Amigo Bilingue.

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