ERASMUS Programme 30th Anniversary

30 Aniversario Erasmus+

De Erasmus a Erasmus+

Treinta años enriqueciendo vidas y abriendo mentes

Erasmus+ es el Programa integrado de la Unión Europea para la Educación, Formación, Juventud y Deporte.

El Programa original ERASMUS (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) comenzó en 1987 como un programa de intercambio que ofrecía a estudiantes universitarios la posibilidad de aprender y enriquecerse estudiando en el extranjero. A lo largo de los últimos 30 años ha ampliado su alcance y envergadura. Hoy Erasmus+ ofrece un mayor número de oportunidades tanto a personas como a organizaciones, como por ejemplo ir de voluntario o aprendiz a países extranjeros y cooperar en proyectos conjuntos. El Deporte también se ha convertido en una parte importante de Erasmus+ y, además, actualmente el Programa se extiende a países de fuera de Europa.

De hecho, desde el lanzamiento del programa Erasmus+ en 2014, dos millones de personas de todos los ámbitos se han beneficiado de las oportunidades que ofrece, tales como periodos de estudios, de prácticas o voluntariado, adquiriendo experiencia en el extranjero. Y durante estos últimos 30 años ya han participado un total de cinco millones de jóvenes.

Entre 2017 y 2020, Erasmus+ brindará oportunidades a más de dos millones de personas en toda Europa y resto del mundo.

Youth Strikes For Climate

ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE. 

THE EARTH IS DYING BECAUSE OF YOU.

The young activists who are planning to shake the world. Environmental activist Greta Thunberg, 16, attends a protest next to Sweden’s parliament in Stockholm, Sweden on March 8. (Photo: Reuters/Ilze Filks)

Here’s how to argue with a Brexiter – and win

Details of a tortured Brussels deal are not crucial when the fate of both Europe and the UK is at stake

By TIMOTHY GARTON ASH

The Guardian, Saturday 20th, February 2016

A new battle of Britain has begun. On its outcome will depend the fate of two unions: the United Kingdom and the European Union. If the English vote to leave the EU, the Scots will vote to leave the UK. There will then be no Britain. Meanwhile, the shock of Brexit to a continent already staggering under many crises could spell the beginning of the end of the European Union.

So if you care about Britain or Europe, and even more if you care about Britain and Europe, please join this good fight. The final negotiation in Brussels was bruising, and certainly not the kick-off anyone would want, but there is still everything to play for. Continental Europeans often assume that England is, in its heart of oak, incorrigibly hostile to Europe. This is not true. For decades now, the best pollsters have found that on the EU there is a large undecided middle which can go either way. That was the case in the run-up to the 1975 referendum, which saw a large swing from out to in, and it’s true today: 42% of those who tell ComRes they will vote in or out also say they could still change their minds.

I know, from many hostile online comments, that the Guardian has some fiercely Eurosceptic followers, but I’m now mainly addressing the majority of our readers, whether British or not, who want Britain to stay in the EU. It’s a peculiarity of this referendum that Commonwealth citizens may vote in it, whereas French, Italians and Germans who have lived here for many years, and are much more directly affected, may not. But whether or not you have a vote, you still have a voice. Raise it, please, in the pub, in the office or in the friend’s living room.

Here are just a few of the arguments you could make. First of all, the details of the deal are not the crucial issue. Months ago, when David Cameron revealed his renegotiation agenda, it was already clear that this was not going to be a fundamental redefinition of Britain’s relationship with the EU. Nor would we suddenly find ourselves in “a reformed Europe”. On this, Eurosceptics are right: Cameron’s demands were less than he pumped them up to be, and inevitably, given that 27 other European countries had to be satisfied, what he achieved is even more modest. But it would be madness to let a decision about the economic and political future of Britain for decades ahead hinge on the detail of an “emergency brake” on in-work benefits for migrants.

The negotiation of Brexit would be long and bloody. Nigel Lawson blithely suggests that it would be easy: we just repeal the 1972 European Communities Act and with one bound John Bull is free. Our continental partners would give us generous access to the single market through a free trade agreement “that they need far more than we do”. In your dreams. Read the careful analysis by the longtime legal chief of the EU, Jean-Claude Piris, to see what a nightmare of legal unravelling it would be. Talk to continental politicians. What we just saw in Brussels was the most that they are prepared to do to keep us in. They would do us no favours if we were leaving.

Many of our European partners privately envy us the position of being outside the Schengen area and the ill-designed eurozone, but in all the parts that we want to be in. The Brussels deal shows that our European partners have accepted that for the foreseeable future Britain wishes to stop at roughly its current stage of integration. If there is a “best of both worlds”, it is this – and not Brexit.

It is cold outside. The more you look at Norway or Switzerland, the less attractive their position appears, and a clear majority of business and union leaders don’t want to take this gamble. The EU has used the attraction of its single market of 500 million consumers to secure favourable free-trade deals with much of the world. It defies logic to think that Britain would get better deals on its own. Michael B Froman, the United States trade representative, said last year that no free trade agreement would exist with Britain if it left the EU, and the US would have no interest in negotiating one.

Being in the EU helps keep us safe from terrorism and international crime. Don’t listen to me, listen to the Conservative home secretary, Theresa May. This is why she has kept Britain in the most important European networks for police and judicial cooperation, and will argue for Britain to stay in the EU.

It’s also vital to national security. Our highest-ranking soldier, Field Marshal Lord Bramall – no starry-eyed Europhile – warns that if we left, “a broken and demoralised Europe just across the Channel” would imperil our security. If we stay, we can be one of the leaders of a European foreign policy that addresses the root causes of problems such as Middle East refugee flows. Vladimir Putin and Marine Le Pen want us to leave. Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and all our traditional friends, in Europe, North America and the Commonwealth, want us to stay. Need I say more?

Brexit would be disastrous for Ireland. The former Irish prime minister John Bruton says it would “undo much of the work of the peace process and create huge questions over borders and labour market access”. There are more than 380,000 Irish citizens living in Britain, who do have a vote in this referendum, and millions of Brits (including me) with Irish ancestry. If you care about Ireland, vote to remain.

The EU can be changed. While the reforms Cameron has secured are modest, there’s a swelling chorus of voices in countries like Germany saying not just “We must do this, reluctantly, to keep Britain in”, but “We really do need to reform the EU”. If Britain remains, the reform lobby is strong; if it leaves, much weaker.

Most of these arguments are from prudence, not visionary optimism – and none the worse for that. Eurosceptics will decry them as “scaremongering”. Well, I suppose you might call it scaremongering if someone asks you not to jump off the deck of an ocean liner, without a lifebelt, in a force nine storm. Actually, it’s common sense.
This is the link to the Spanish translation

Phubbing: Aislados dentro de una pantalla

Por RAMIRO VAREA

El País, 26 de abril de 2019

Adultos y menores son víctimas del phubbing, una adicción tecnológica que provoca aislamiento e incomunicación tanto en quien la padece como con las personas que la rodean. ¿Qué pueden hacer los expertos, el entorno familiar y el educativo para solucionarlo?

En casa de Jorge, se han establecido desde hace tiempo una serie de normas de obligado cumplimiento en torno al móvil. “Él mismo me reconoció que era incapaz de estudiar 20 minutos seguidos. Dejaba el libro o los apuntes y volvía al teléfono. Fingía que escuchaba a sus padres, pero en el fondo no les atendía”, recuerda el profesional que le atendió, y que prefiere mantener el anonimato. Una adicción que en gran parte tenía que ver con lo que pasaba en casa: padres ausentes y pendientes demasiadas horas al día de sus respectivos teléfonos. Este caso refleja lo que es el phubbing: cuando una persona ignora a otra y se abstrae del entorno que le rodea al estar más pendiente de su teléfono móvil que de sus acompañantes humanos.

Los expertos coinciden en que la mayoría de los menores que sufren esta adicción normalizan el acto de sumergirse en la pantalla por imitación. Un ejemplo típico, explica el profesor de Psicología de la Universidad Camilo José Cela (Madrid) Mateo Pérez Wiesner, es el de los padres en las comidas o en las cenas. “En vez de prestar atención a la conversación familiar, no quitan el ojo al móvil. Y los adolescentes sufren, aprenden e interiorizan esa conducta que después replican con sus grupos de iguales”, afirma. Además de la desatención, otro de las consecuencias de quienes padecen esta adicción es que la sensación de aislamiento se extiende a los otros interlocutores.

Adultos enganchados al teléfono

En demasiadas ocasiones el origen del phubbing radica, pues, en los propios adultos. Muchos progenitores no son conscientes de que los problemas de incomunicación y de aislamiento que reprochan a sus hijos parten precisamente de ellos, de su excesiva dependencia del móvil.

“Los padres deben servir de ejemplo. Si ven que los adultos hacen un uso incorrecto del móvil, los niños entenderán que socialmente es algo aceptado y lo normalizarán”, sostiene Vega González, directora del centro de salud mental Atención e Investigación de Socioadicciones, de Barcelona, donde el año pasado atendieron a medio centenar de afectados por distintos tipos de adicciones tecnológicas.

¿Y SI ES TU HIJO EL QUE TE LLAMA LA ATENCIÓN?

Normalmente, son los progenitores los que se dan cuenta de que sus hijos sufren cualquier tipo de adicción a los teléfonos móviles. Pero, ¿qué ocurre cuando son estos los que abren los ojos a sus progenitores sobre un problema así?

Un reciente estudio de Empantallados.com –plataforma para padres y madres en la que distintos expertos ofrecen consejos prácticos para acompañar a los hijos en el mundo digital– concluye que un tercio de los padres abusa de la tecnología. Por eso es imprescindible que los progenitores aprendan a utilizar el móvil. Porque son ellos quienes deben marcar cuándo y cómo se usa el teléfono, y en qué circunstancias está bien (o mal) usarlo. La responsabilidad debe empezar, pues, en los propios adultos, que son los que deben entender qué función cumple el teléfono en sus vidas. “Han de ser conscientes del tiempo que dedican cada día a consultar el smartphone. Es esencial no tener el teléfono a mano cuando estén en una situación de interacción social. Conviene apagarlo o dejarlo en casa, en el bolso, en el bolsillo...”, recomienda González.

Controlar la ansiedad

Mateo Pérez Wiesner insiste en que es clave identificar qué pensamientos llevan a la persona a estar preocupada continuamente por el smartphone. “A partir de ahí ya podremos trabajar para conseguir que interiorice y ejecute un cambio de pensamiento”, explica el psicólogo.

La implicación de los padres es vital. “Tienen que elaborar estrategias para conseguir un equilibrio entre el uso y no uso de las pantallas. Esta estabilidad favorecerá la calidad de vida del menor, su socialización y la interacción y comunicación familiar”, señala la psicóloga Vega González.

Entre las recetas que apunta: establecer normas sobre el uso del móvil, como respetar las horas de sueño, poner límites de tiempo o pedir permiso a los adultos; no utilizar jamás el teléfono en determinadas situaciones (en la mesa, en reuniones familiares…); ofrecer a los hijos alternativas de diversión alejadas de las nuevas tecnologías; transmitirles la importancia de hacer un uso responsable de la Red y potenciar siempre la comunicación familiar cara a cara.

El papel de la escuela

Al igual que la familia, la escuela desempeña un papel fundamental en la detección y solución de esta adicción. Los profesores comparten muchas horas diarias con los menores, los conocen, ven su rendimiento y cómo se comportan tanto en el aula como en el recreo.

“Los docentes lo detectan rápidamente, es algo que notan enseguida”, admite el psicólogo infanto-juvenil Abel Domínguez, con 17 años de experiencia en este ámbito.

Existen numerosos estudios que demuestran que cuantas más horas pasan los menores pendientes del móvil, peor es su rendimiento académico. Una reciente investigación de la Universidad Camilo José Cela y la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, realizada con 4.730 adolescentes, ha identificado que, a mayor tiempo dedicado al smartphone, peores son sus notas en asignaturas científicas (como matemáticas, naturales o ciencias sociales).

Por eso, desde el colegio es clave enseñar a los niños y adolescentes a usar el smartphone con responsabilidad. Se les debe hacer ver que tantas horas ante una pantalla conlleva una serie de peligros para su salud mental y física, que puede tener consecuencias también para su aprendizaje y su manera de relacionarse con los demás. “Es necesario tener una comunicación fluida en el centro educativo con los alumnos y sus padres”, señala Domínguez.

Este psicólogo aboga por impartir talleres desde las aulas, dirigidos a padres e hijos, sobre cómo usar los dispositivos móviles. “A los niños y a los jóvenes se les ha de enseñar que los riesgos existen, y a los padres se les deben ofrecer herramientas de control. La prevención es fundamental”, resume.

Center for Humane Technology, Cal.

Technology is hijacking our minds and society.

A world-class team of deeply concerned former tech insiders and CEOs intimately understands the culture, business incentives, design techniques, and organizational structures driving how technology hijacks our minds.

Since 2013, they have raised awareness of the problem within tech companies and for millions of people through broad media attention, convened top industry executives, and advised political leaders. Building on this start, they are advancing thoughtful solutions to change the system.

Why is this problem so urgent? Technology that tears apart our common reality and truth, constantly shreds our attention, or causes us to feel isolated makes it impossible to solve the world’s other pressing problems like climate change, poverty, and polarization. 

No one wants technology like that. Which means we’re all actually on the same team: Team Humanity, to realign technology with humanity’s best interests. Learn more at the Center for Humane Technology.

+Watch the TED Talk by Tristan Harris: "How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day."

New Zealand's Nude Produce Is Flying Off The Shelves

By LUCY JONES

 New Zealand Herald,March 15th 2019

Breaking news: people are more likely to buy fruit and vegetables that aren't wrapped in plastic. It has taken several years, and a pretty huge anti-plastic movement, for supermarkets to realise that fresh produce actually sells better when you can see, smell and touch it. Since New Zealand supermarket chain New World stopped wrapping fruit and veggies in plastic as part of its 'food in the nude' campaign, sales of some vegetables have increased by 300%.

"When we first set up the new shelving our customers were blown away," Bishopdale New World supermarket owner Nigel Bond told the New Zealand Herald. "It reminded me of when I was a kid going to the fruiterer with my dad, you could smell the fresh citrus and spring onions. By wrapping products in plastic we sanitise and deprive people of this experience; it (dispensing with plastic) was a huge driver for us."

"After we introduced the concept we noticed sales of spring onions, for example, had increased by 300%," he added. "There may have been other factors at play but we noticed similar increases in other vegetable varieties like silverbeet and radishes."

Bond says that the plastic ban has generated more positive feedback than any other change that has been made during his 30-year career in the supermarket industry. New World supermarkets have replaced plastic packaging with refrigerated shelving that has a built-in vegetable mister. This system keeps vegetables far fresher than polluting plastic packaging.

"Vegetables are 90% water and studies have shown that misted produce not only looks better, retains its colour and texture, but also has higher vitamin content," Bond explained. "We've also installed a reverse osmosis system that treats the water by removing 99% of all bacteria and chlorine, so we are confident the water we're misting with remains pure."

Most New Zealand supermarkets have stopped providing customers with single-use plastic bags. The government will also be introducing a mandatory phase out of single-use plastic bags for all retailers from July 1 this year.

New World owner Foodstuffs has committed to making packaging 100% reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025 under New Zealand's Plastic Packaging Declaration. It has already switched to recyclable food trays and is trailing a BYO container scheme for meat and seafood purchases. These initiatives have boosted vegetable sales and helped reduce plastic pollution, but Bond says the suppliers need to get on-board so that supermarkets can phase out plastic packaging completely. 

"We are like an intermediary, we sell what they give us," he said. "I think manufacturers have a much bigger part to play."

In Australia, our produce aisles are still full of single-use plastic. Hopefully the success of New Zealand's 'nude' food scheme will encourage the major Australian supermarkets to ditch unnecessary fruit and vegetable packaging too.

Boy Erased

Boy Erased, a recent Award-nominated, American drama film, tells the story of Jared (convincingly played by Lucas Hedges, who gives a stunning performance), the son of a fundamentalist Baptist pastor in a small American town, who is outed forcibly to his parents (Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe) at age 19. Jared is faced with an ultimatum: attend a church-supported gay "conversion therapy" program – or be permanently exiled and shunned by his family, friends, and faith. A must-see, heart-breaking story! 
Opening on April 5th.

TAKE ACTION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Please, take a few minutes and listen to Greta Thunberg's articulate 

and convincing talk against climate change.

Requiem for a Falling Man

Dutch artists Harm Weistra and Eddi Bal’s collaborative installation Requiem for a Falling Man pays tribute to the unidentified gay men who were thrown off buildings by ISIS. The central focus of this daunting installation is the animation Echo of Falling Man, that can be seen as an afterimage. By mirroring Richard Drew's iconic photo of a ‘falling man’, who jumped off the World Trade Centre during the 9/11 attacks in New York City, the work refers to the relationship between the Al-Qaeda attacks in New York and the terror Daesh spreads in the Middle East. The installation Requiem for a Falling Man, shown at ARCO 2019, is meant as a ceremonious farewell, not only for this unidentified Syrian victim but also for all the gay men who did not survive the terrorism of ISIS.

Cuando ‘Black Mirror’ mató a Julio Verne

Hace falta poder volver a saber hacia dónde queremos dirigirnos y para eso estaría 

bien contar con opciones que nos muestren un porvenir algo más esperanzador

Por CRISTINA MANZANO

Hubo una época en la que la ciencia ficción pintaba un porvenir prometedor. Los padres del género, Julio Verne y H. G. Wells, nos hicieron bajar a las entrañas de la Tierra y a las profundidades del mar; nos llevaron a la Luna y nos permitieron viajar en el tiempo o volvernos invisibles. Nos hablaban de un mundo de progreso en el que la ciencia, la tecnología y la innovación, unidas a su gran imaginación, perfilaban un futuro emocionante e ilusionante.

Luego llegaron las distopías totalitarias de George Orwell y Aldous Huxley, que retrataban una humanidad dominada por “el sistema”. Pero más que mirar al futuro, narraban las metáforas de los autoritarismos de aquel presente. Algo más tarde, Isaac Asimov construyó con su abrumadora sabiduría e imaginación la gran saga de lo que la tecnología en general, y la robótica en particular, podrían suponer, alertando de sus potenciales peligros pero también vislumbrando su enorme e inevitable contribución a la evolución del ser humano.

Hoy Black Mirror dibuja un futuro en el que la tecnología, que todo lo domina, no está al servicio del ser humano, sino al de sus peores instintos. Un futuro aterrador porque lo podemos ver a la vuelta de la esquina.

Son solo algunos ejemplos en un universo muy variado —predominantemente masculino, por cierto—, que muestran cómo la ciencia ficción nos ha permitido explorar lo que otras ramas del saber nos tenían preparado. Muestran también un estado de ánimo de la sociedad, una determinada predisposición ante el porvenir. Lo que hoy vemos es un determinismo tecnológico que nos arrastra irremisiblemente a una dependencia ante la que la voluntad humana poco puede hacer. Y ahí el gran gurú del futuro no es un autor de ficción, sino un pensador y ensayista, Yuval Noah Harari.

Como es lógico, este estado de ánimo se refleja también en la política. La izquierda, aupada en un espíritu de progreso, se consideraba tradicionalmente optimista, mientras que la derecha, de natural conservadora, bastante tenía con mantener el status quo. Ese paradigma ha cambiado (ya lo contó Daniel Innerarity en El futuro y sus enemigos) y en el aire se respira un aroma de impotencia. No solo eso, sino que atrapados en sus cuitas cotidianas, los partidos políticos, viejos y nuevos, no están afrontando los múltiples y complejos desafíos que el desarrollo tecnológico plantea —en realidad, ni esos ni ningún otro que no tenga que ver con su propia supervivencia—.

Ahora no importa tanto saber cuándo Black Mirror mató a Julio Verne. Ya está hecho. Lo que hace falta es poder volver a saber hacia dónde queremos dirigirnos y para eso estaría bien contar con opciones que nos muestren un porvenir algo más esperanzador. Porque, si no somos capaces de imaginar un futuro mejor, ¿cómo vamos a ir hacia él? (El País, 8.03.19)

Anthony Hernandez, photographer

The work of photographer Anthony Hernandez (born 1947) is at once highly personal and deeply resonant. His retrospective at the Mapfre Foundation in Madrid spans his more than 45-year career, revealing an unusually varied body of of photographs united by their arresting formal beauty and subtle engagement with contemporary social issues. The Mapfre galleries chart his continual reconceptualization of his approach, tracing his deft movement from black and white to color, 35 mm to large-format cameras, ans from the human figure to landscapes to abstracted detail.

Hernandez began making pictures on the streets of his native Los Angeles in the late 1960s. Essentially self-taught, he had taken dark room classes at East Los Angeles College, but was largely unaware of the history of the medium and its formal traditions. Rather than perpetuating Hollywood's idealized image of the city, he chose instead to photograph the LA inhabited by the working class, the poor and the homeless, developing a unique style of photography attuned to the desolate beauty and sprawling expanses of his hometown. From the start, he has found visual poetry in what could be dismissed as inner city blight and has seen aesthetic potential in the abandoned and discarded. While Hernandez has also photographed in other locations in the US and Europe, Los Angeles has remained his primary subject.

Despite the many shifts in his practice over the years, Hernandez still considers himself a street photographer. Endlessly curious, he relishes the process of discovery and sees his medium as a means of understanding the world around him. He remains true to his conviction that great photography is the result of more than just a keen eye. As Hernandez once noted, "Being aware is more important than the evidence of the awareness on a piece of paper. Being sensitive to what passes in front of you is more important than what passes into the camera." Erin O'Toole, Curator

Anthony Hernandez is organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with Fundación MAPFRE, Bárbara de Braganza 12, 28004 Madrid. 
From January 31 to May 12, 2019.

In the Closet of the Vatican

A startling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican

In the Closet of the Vatican, by French journalist Frédéric Martel, exposes the rot at the heart of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church today. This brilliant piece of investigative writing is based on four years' authoritative research, including extensive interviews with those in power. 

The celibacy of priests, the condemnation of the use of contraceptives, countless cases of sexual abuse, the resignation of Benedict XVI, misogyny among the clergy, the dramatic fall in Europe of the number of vocations to the priesthood, the plotting against Pope Francis – all these issues are clouded in mystery and secrecy.

In the Closet of the Vatican is a book that reveals these secrets and penetrates this enigma. It derives from a system founded on a clerical culture of secrecy which starts in junior seminaries and continues right up to the Vatican itself. It is based on the double lives of priests and on extreme homophobia. The resulting schizophrenia in the Church is hard to fathom. But the more a prelate is homophobic, the more likely it is that he is himself gay.

"Behind rigidity there is always something hidden, in many cases a double life." These are the words of Pope Francis himself and with them, the Pope has unlocked the Closet.

No one can claim to really understand the Catholic Church today until they have read this book. It reveals a truth that is extraordinary and disturbing.

In the Closet of the Vatican is due to be published by Bloomsbury on February 21, 2019 in the US, the UK and Canada. The title of the Italian and Spanish editions will be Sodoma. 

Knowing keeps us free.

Advertisement for The Washington Post

PROUD TO BE A LIBERAL

This historical political cartoon by Tom Wilson was published by The Washington Post in November 1980, in the aftermath of ultra-conservative Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the US presidential election. What happened afterwards is in the public domain.

A nadie le interesa la educación en España

José Antonio Marina, filósofo y educador

TV or not TV? The impact of subtitling on English skills

English is the language of the globalized world, and the lingua franca for the international communities in, among others, science, business, finance, advertising, tourism, and technology. Sixty-eight percent of citizens in the EU rate English as the most useful foreign language – far above the second position of French with 25% (European Commission, 2006). Not surprisingly, English is the most widely learned foreign language, and this trend is expected to continue growing fast in the coming decades (Graddol, 2006). Graddol (1997) estimates that about one billion people are currently learning English worldwide, with 200 million in China alone. More than 80% of the EU’s school students learn English. The duration of foreign language as a compulsory subject ranges between six and 13 years in the non-English-speaking EU (Eurydice, 2005).

The general message in this study is simple. Continuous exposure to English-language media contents help people learn English and, thus, the citizens of countries where foreign films and programs are shown in their original version in television will likely speak, on average, better English than those that live in countries where television is dubbed. This is relevant because previous studies have shown that better English language skills improve economic performance. 

Dubbing countries in our sample invest the same in education as the subtitling countries. Yet subtitling countries score 3.4 points higher in the TOEFL exams. We show that the television translation methods can explain part of the skills gap. We identify a subtitling effect equivalent to 16.9% of the overall TOEFL score. We also analyze the differential impact of subtitling by type of English skill (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). We find that the strongest effect is for listening (19.4%). 

Our results are robust to the inclusion of other determinants of language skill including language proximity, demographic indicators and proxies for the quality of the education system. Interestingly, the choice of translation technology at the time of sound cinema diffusion did (could) not take into account the benefits of improved English skills. In fact, subtitling may have appeared undesirable at first because it forced audiences to read, but it turned out to be beneficial ex-post in terms of English proficiency (and audiences got used to subtitling). This paper thus shows that how countries adopt foreign “cultural” products matters in the long term.

Excerpts from: A. Rupérez Micola, A. Aparicio Fenoll and A. Banal-Estañol et al., TV or not TV? The impact of subtitling on English skills, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.12.019
Get 

Watch TV series with subtitles

TV series in English recommended by teachers according to your level

Watching series in English improves your comprehension skills, but first you need to choose the right ones

P. CANTÓ / F. CABALLERO

Estar al día de todas las series de moda puede ocuparte muchas horas semanales pero, si las ves en versión original, al menos tienes una buena excusa: estás perfeccionando tu inglés. Según un estudio publicado el pasado diciembre en Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, los países de habla no inglesa en los que las series y programas de televisión se emiten en versión original subtitulada tienen mejor nivel de inglés que los países que los doblan. Sin embargo, debido al vocabulario, a la personalidad de los personajes, las tramas o los acentos, no todas las series pueden ayudarte del mismo modo. Hemos preguntado a cinco profesores de inglés —españoles y extranjeros— por cuáles son sus recomendaciones dependiendo de tu nivel.

Antes de empezar a devorar capítulos (queremos decir, aprender idiomas), tienes que tener en cuenta que la elección de las series no depende solo del nivel, sino de tus gustos personales. “Nosotros, como profesores, podemos dar muchas pistas de cómo aprovechar mejor el visionado de una serie [para aprender inglés], pero es algo muy personal”, cuenta a Verne Christina Anastasiadis, directora académica para alumnos adultos de International House Madrid. “Lo más importante es ver algo que te interese y te motive, porque así es como se presta atención. No basta con ponérsela y esperar aprender inglés por ósmosis”, bromea.

Para que tengas dónde elegir, hemos preparado esta infografía con diferentes opciones, según cuál sea tu nivel y tus gustos:

De las sitcoms a las series complejas

Si te fijas en la infografía, verás que uno de los géneros más recomendados para los niveles principiante e intermedio son las comedias de situación como Los Simpson o Friends. “Son series de capítulos cortos, por lo que es fácil mantenerse atento”, cuenta Anastasiadis. Además, “son bastante repetitivas, por lo que es más fácil seguir una trama cuando ya conocemos a sus personajes y sabemos cómo suelen reaccionar”. Por el mismo motivo, también pueden ser muy útiles los programas de televisión temáticos de subastas, reformas del hogar o concursos de cocina. Además de las que aparecen en la infografía, los profesores también nos han recomendado la edición británica de Masterchef, Love it or List it, The World's Most Extraordinary Homes o The Tudors.

Las sitcoms también son recomendables para niveles intermedios, pero pueden probarse formatos más largos y empezar a poner el oído en los acentos. Una de las más recomendadas por los profesores y profesoras consultadas es The Crown. “La pronunciación es difícil al principio, pero te acostumbras. Es el típico acento británico, muy correcto y clásico”, explica a Verne Charlie Carr, profesor del Instituto Internacional de Idiomas.

Para niveles avanzados, los profesores recomiendan series más complejas, en las que las tramas tienen más giros. También series con acentos complicados —varios han citado Peaky Blinders por su inglés de Birmingham— o con humor basado en el lenguaje y los juegos de palabras, como Flowers. “Es una comedia abstracta típicamente inglesa que exige un alto nivel de inglés para entender no solo el vocabulario, sino el humor inglés y la cultura británica”, cuenta Carr. Además de las que aparecen en la infografía, los profesores también nos han recomendado Call the Midwife, Peaky Blinders, Billions, Sense8 o Black Mirror.

(Verve, 17.01.2019)

Campus europeos

La Unión Europea refuerza los lazos entre universidades de países distintos con un plan para compartir alumnos, profesores, títulos y proyectos

Las universidades europeas han cambiado mucho desde que empezó hace veinte años el plan Bolonia. Son cada vez más los estudiantes que viajan al exterior para formarse, existen propuestas de títulos dobles y planes de colaboración —en másteres, en doctorados, en investigación— entre centros de países distintos. El programa Erasmus ha sido eficaz a la hora de fomentar y consolidar esa familiaridad entre jóvenes de ciudades distantes que tanto aporta al proyecto de una Europa común. El plan que ahora ha puesto en marcha la Unión, dotado con 30 millones de euros, para que en 2025 existan 20 campus transnacionales va en esa misma dirección. La idea de que hasta tres universidades de países distintos creen consorcios para compartir alumnos y planes científicos y de investigación representa un paso más para romper con esa percepción que tanto ha calado de que Europa está lejos de sus ciudadanos.

A finales de febrero termina el plazo para que las alianzas se presenten al programa piloto, y a partir de ahí se irán estableciendo los procedimientos para la convalidación de estudios y otras complicaciones burocráticas. Una de las rémoras principales de las universidades españolas es precisamente su falta de internacionalización, y por eso el Gobierno ha convertido este factor en una de las tres patas que están orientando la nueva ley universitaria en la que trabaja. Por eso mismo, este nuevo plan constituye un estímulo más para abrir una universidad en la que sólo el 1,8% de sus profesores es extranjero. La Autónoma de Madrid, Salamanca, Complutense, Granada y Pompeu Fabra participan ya en consorcios.

Sea como sea, la propuesta europea no debería servir en ningún caso de cortina de humo para que la universidad española se desentienda de los problemas que sigue arrastrando desde lejos. El viejo nepotismo ha adoptado nuevas formas en la selección del personal, la calidad y orginalidad en la investigación deja que desear, hay demasiadas diferencias entre unos centros y otros, está la vergonzosa sombra de los másteres regalados a políticos, y hace falta mejor financiación, mayor autonomía, y más competencia y autoridad en quienes la dirigen. (El País, 8.1.19)

130 Years of National Geographic_exhibition

Protecting the environments become the most important crossroad of our time. Our existence depends on the conservation of the planet. Therefore, the research projects whose purpose is to guarantee this survival are key to our very own future as a species.

130 years ago, there was an identical desire to learn about our environment in order to improve it. This brought together 33 scholars including natural scientists, geographers, cartographers, educators, lawyers, and fom the military, to create an entity which would contribute to extending the boundaries of knowledge of geography. Thus was born the National Geographic Society, founded on a cold day, 27 January 1888 in Washington D.C. by this heterogeneous group of wise men, among which were philanthropist Gardiner Greene Hubbard, the first President of the Society, and his son-in-law, British inventor, scientist, and speech therapist Alexander Graham Bell, who succeeded him as President. 
Since then, National Geographic has become the most important non-profit institution in the world, and an absolute reference when it comes to exploration and research.

Under the protection of the yellow frame of its iconic logo, in the last century and a half the National Geographic Society has supported the careers of scientists and researchers from all around the world. Figures such as the North Pole explorer Robert E. Peary, or the man who discovered the city of Machu Pichu, Hiram Bingham, as well as those who are closer to our contemporary period. This is the case of the primatologists Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey; the oceanographer and marine archaeologist who discovered the remains of the Titanic, Robert Ballard; film-maker James Cameron; Spanish marine biologist, Enric Sala; and the recent winner of the 2018 Princess of Asturias Award, also a marine biologist, Sylvia Earle.

"A Window to the World. 130 Years of National Geographic" shows not only the history of the Society and its legacy, but also the evolution of an institution that has been capable of adapting to the times, and to vary the definitions of its main missions according to the demands of the said missions. Although when it started out the goal of the 33 founders was to explore the geography of the world and search for places that were still unknown to man, the challenges have varied according to the times to accommodate other priorities. Geography has given way to exploration of other worlds: space, with articles and documentaries about NASA missions and unknown universes such as Mars, and the oceans, the latest current frontier, source of life from the beginning of our planet, and one of the main conservation missions in order to guarantee the survival of our species. In the words of Sylvia Earle, "No Blue, No Green," in reference to how much we depend on the sustainability of the seabed in order to recover the environmental balance. 

Through photographs, videos, and iconic objects, the exhibition delves into these issues, presented in five sections, through which we will learn more about the early days, but especially about the present and future of National Geographic, its missions and their meaning. Visitors will begin their journey in Terra incognita, where we celebrate the birth of the Society and the age of expeditions. In Origin, visitors will learn about the explorations that have contributed to discovering our development as a species. In De Profundis, we propose a look at this essential underwater world, with the presence of the Pristine Project, the mission set up by Enric Sala in 2008 to explore the last wild underwater enclaves. In The Future at Stake we look towards space, but also to the challenges that we have as a species to reverse the degradation of our natural environment, and finally, the Coexistence section shows us other challenges that National Geographic also currently addresses, such as gender and racial diversity in our global society, the most relevant issues of the present.

The exhibition A Window to the World. 130 Years of National Geographic is on at the Espacio Telefónica in Madrid (Fuencarral, 3) until February 24th, 2019.

Towards a New Society?

"WE CAN'T OFFER YOU A NEW SOCIETY, BUT WE CAN OFFER YOU A NEW SHOW"