Recuerdo sentirme muy emocionado cuando empezé IngleTotal hace varios años. Era algo nuevo y tenía muchas expectativas ya que la visíon que tenía era muy concreta. Era poder enseñar inglés gratis y brindar recursos relacionados al aprendizaje de inglés con un toque único y distinto. Si bien existen muchas páginas que enseñan inglés, nuestro estilo es diferente y los alumnos notaron esto. 

Las lecciones en InglesTotal son con lecciones escritas y con audio que le dieron mas notoriedad. Son muchos los emails y comentarios con preguntas de diversos temas y disfruto mucho poder ayudar y compartir mis conocimientos con todos los que lo requieran. Sin embargo desde el comienzo siempre me pedían clases particulares y en vivo con precios competitivos. No era conveniente la enseñanza en vivo en ese entonces porque estaba en busqueda de las herramientas indicadas para poder brindar clases de nivel. Muchas empresas dan clases por Skype pero dar clases de inglés es mucho mas que hablar a través de una cámara e interactuar por medio de audio.

Es por eso que estamos desarrollando un nuevo proyecto. Con el uso de una plataforma de enseñanza creada por WizIQ, estamos capacitados para  enseñar en línea y emprender el proyecto de una página que pueda brindar a los alumnos  las herramientas necesarias para un buen aprendizaje de inglés a través del Internet. Esta tecnología incluye el uso de una pizarra interactiva, una plataforma en donde el profesor y alumnado pueden compartir diversos archivos como audios y documentos, y video en vivo no solo del profesor sino de los estudiantes en cada aula virtual que les permitan interactuar libremente.

Esto por ningún motivo significa que vayamos a parar de dar clases gratuitas en InglesTotal.com. Seguiremos posteando clases escritas, artículos, y recursos entre otras cosas en nuestra página principal pero paralelamente, les daremos una opción de una enseñanza mas personalizada para los interesados.Las clases serán grupales y privadas. Las grupales  serán de seis alumnos como máximo siendo el mínimo de cuatro. Formaremos grupos en donde la plataforma de WizIQ les permitirá no solo interactuar con el profesor, sino con los demas alumnos inscritos en el aula. Lo mejor de todo es que si siguen un curso nuestro, todo el material que viene con el curso sera completamente gratis.

Los precios serán los mas bajos del mercado ya que hemos hecho una investigación de cursos personalizados en vivo y creemos que podemos brindarles una mejor alternativa económica sin descuidar la calidad de la enseñanza de inglés. Yo, Carlos (el director y profesor de InglesTotal ) estaré al mando de las clases. Si no estoy disponible contarán con profesores supervisados por mi mismo. Ustedes ya me conocen y sabe como enseño asi que espero poderles servir de la mejor manera si siguen nuestras clases.

Estén atentos para el lanzamiento de este proyecto. Me emociona mucho poder empezar a dar clases grupales y poder compartir mis conocimientos con ustedes. Mantenemos nuestro compromiso de seguir con nuestras clases gratis en InglesTotal y pronto les daremos esta nueva alternativa de aprender inglés en línea.

Carlos Antunez

I love writing and being on the Internet but never thought I would end up being a blogger. I remember that at University I met a friend from Nepal and he showed me his blog. I was fascinated by the amount of people that followed him and read his articles and posts. But what is a blog?

A blog is just a webpage that has certain characteristics. It allows people to interact with the writer or “blogger” through comments. These comments are great feedback that allows the blogger to connect with his audience. That is the main characteristic that normal people can see. Blogs are also very easy to use and code. In fact, many bloggers have no knowledge of coding and become great bloggers. Blogging is just a very simple way to communicate and share what you know and what you want to express to the world!

That day after talking with my friend from Nepal, I thought about a way to communicate with people.  Instantly, I thought about my passion: teaching English. But how? I had no clue where to start and it took my 2 years to finally start my first blog: estudiaingles.blogspot.com  It is a blog where I continue to write in that mainly is about LINKS and RESOURCES to study English online. Here I learned all about blogging and learned more and more about how to connect with my audience. I started planning for my own website. I wanted to actually teach English online and use AUDIO. This is known as PODCASTING. It is just like blogging but with audio. So after a while I finally started www.inglestotal.com .

InglesTotal has changed my life. It was an instant success and I was thrilled. More and more people started commenting and my audience grew. I started the BASIC COURSE  with audio and written classes and now we are in the PREINTERMEDIATE level. In addition, we started diverse sections such as, conversation and speaking, links and resources, articles, videos, vocabulary classes. I have met many people from all over the world and communicate with many students through Facebook, email and comments. They are very nice to me and keep me motivated to continue to share my knowledge.

I have many more plans for the future. I want to open a site to teach English with videos and a site to teach Spanish. My wife Marisu also will participate more and have a special section in InglesTotal so I have no plans of quitting. None of this would be possible without the support of all my readers, students and visitors. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

People do not understand why I do this. They see it as a hobby and wonder how I make money if I am just a blogger. Even some relatives are worried about my future! They think I am wasting my time. I try my best to explain them but many people relate working to getting up very early, spending all day at an office, and coming home late. In my case, I get up and write, record myself or edit videos. I enjoy it and that is what matters most. However, besides blogging I have another job at a company called Business Links. I go to different companies in Lima, Peru and give classes. But this is only a part time job nowadays.

So, what do I do? I am a blogger and an English teacher and I LOVE IT. Many people still look at me strangely when I tell them my occupation but it is a blessing. I enjoy teaching English only and I truly hope I can continue doing this till I am very old.

As I have mentioned before, I was born in Peru but at age four I went to the United States and learned English naturally. Then at age eleven we moved back to Peru where I had to adjust with the way of living in Lima, the capital. In school I was quite lazy but noticed that my favorite subject was English and that I was really good at it, especially grammar. I spoke very well and knew the language by heart so studying English at school was easy and fun for me. Despite this, the idea of being a teacher had never crossed my mind. Standing in front of people and speaking was just a terrifying image for me because I was quite shy.

I went through some life changing experiences and needed to start working. I was seventeen and my father had started an English Learning Center called Canver System. One day I dropped by the institute and my father called me into his office. He told me that he needed a teacher and that there was a student that had an English class that same day. “You want me to be that teacher?”, I asked. I thought he was joking but he got up and handed me the student and teacher books. “It will be easy. Just follow the instructions. You know English so you won’t have any problems”. I did my best to get out of that responsibility but deep inside I knew I needed the money.

I still remember that class. I was sweating and could not stop moving before getting in the classroom. I prayed and told my father several times to get me out of the situation. “You accepted Carlos. You are a man now and you have to keep your word”. Man, I was so nervous! I got in and tried to look like an experienced teacher. It was a terrible class but I managed to get through the hour and a half. However, I did not run from the challenge. My father hired me and I started learning to teach through experience. I followed step by step the teacher’s book and, although it was not easy, I think it worked out for the best. That year I matured a lot and took advantage of the great opportunity I have had growing up in the United States.

Now, sixteen years later and after studying methodology and attending University in the United States, I know it was the right decision. I have learned a lot and believe me, I am still learning. I am very humble and strongly believe that there is a lot of room for improvement. My students are very kind with me (most of the time) and they always motivate me by telling me that they like my classes. I feel it is a gift being a teacher and that there are some things which you are born with that makes you a teacher. When I enter a classroom it is just an awesome feeling. Of course there are times when I run out of patience but in the end I enjoy sharing some acquired knowledge to others.

First of all, mocking the prophet Muhammad is prohibited in Islam and is not a moral thing to do. However, not all people are Muslim in the world. How can people from the Middle East demand respect from people who profess other world views? This movie was made in the US where there is FREE SPEECH. Under the US Constitution one has the right to profess his or her ideas without any fear.

Was this movie a positive thing? No. No attack or mock of any religion is morally correct. However, there are many videos that mock Jesus or the pope. There are many videos in the Internet against many different religions. This is part of living in a free world.

This person who made this movie does not represent the government of the United States. Why then are people attacking US Embassies and killing American people? THIS CANNOT BE ALLOWED. We have to defend what is right . Unfortunately, in the Middle East people are showing with their actions a lot of hatred. This speaks very poorly about their own faith.

We have to stand with what is correct and defend our beliefs. Free Speech is something we treasure in the USA and in most countries in Latin America. We should not change this and we must stand against violence and intolerance.

I miss some things about my past life. I miss going out with my wife Marisu. We used to go to the movies a lot and go out to different places. We also watched TV together, talked more and each one had more time to do what we wanted to do.

But now life is different. The baby dictates what is to be done at home and he makes our schedule. I have to admit though that the mother is the one that sacrifices more. Sometimes the baby does not sleep and Marisu is the one who goes and looks after him and nurses him. She is a great mom and I am really proud of her although she spoils him a bit.

However, all of the change is worth it. We are completely in love with Piero. With his smiles he haunts us and we fall to his will. It is magical being a parent and I feel so blessed. Piero is demanding, very awake and energetic but that is good. He has a strong character and I am convinced he will be a leader when he grows up.

Piero is now 1 year and two months old but is tall for his age. Well, I am tall so I think he is going to be even taller than me when he grows up.  He is walking and of course falling a lot. He never gets tired but we do. Unfortunately, my parents are in Canada and my mother in law is struggling with cancer so we have little help from the grandparents. We are looking for a maid because it has been very difficult to do the housework, work on my blogs and business and take care of little Pierito. Even though my wife is not working looking after the baby is tough work.

Being a dad is FANTASTIC! I am so proud of Piero and you can see that in the picture. I wanted to share this experience with all of you because it has changed my life and I know that this has just started.

I also want to thank you for all your support via FACEBOOK and TWITTER. Thank you for following my online classes.

I remember when I first opened InglesTotal I was unsure about how well it would be received by the Internet users. However, my vision was very clear: to teach English in a different way focusing on communicative activities and on the use of the structures and not only relying on grammar. Also, I wanted to reach my students in a different way. Not with boring lectures and useless explanations of grammar with absolutely no communicative use. The best way was by recording audios and putting them on the web for free. These classes are very particular because they are very energetic, entertaining and quite funny.

I mainly teach English but every now and then I have some Spanish classes. Teaching Spanish has improved how I teach English. I have come to understand more many reasons why students make mistakes and also have seen how grammar can be a liability if we do not focus on the communicative side. I then started searching on the web for free Spanish lessons and noticed they there are hardly any and if there are one or two these are very poor.

So after some months of brainstorming and deciding on what project to take on. I made a decision to open SpanishTalks.com and to teach Spanish online absolutely for free following the same strategy used in InglesTotal.

I have just started so the website is with little content but I invite you to visit it and tell me what you think about this new project. Teaching is my passion and it is a great experience to share my knowledge to all you. Thank you for your support and let’s celebrate together the birth of this new webpage www.spanishtalks.com.

The worst thing was being away from her not being able to be with her through these hard times. Five years have past and fortunately she is in remission and considered almost cured. The “cancer monster” has been defeated I thought.

Last January my mother-in-law had to go to the doctor because of a cough she had had for quite a while. When she got some she told us that it might be cancer. We were very concerned but she decided to get a second opinion. The other doctor told her that she just needed some antibiotics and should not worry about it. Unfortunately, she did what the second doctor told her.

After three months she went back to the doctor because her cough continued and also had a fever. Doctors ran some exams and performed a biopsy and the doctor told us that she had lung cancer. The worst thing is that it is in stage four which is the worst stage because it has started to spread to the other lung.The good thing is that my mother-in-law is very calm. She wants to fight and her mayor strength comes from her two daughters and my son Piero. She wants to see her grandson grow up and will put all her will to fight this terrible disease.

Life goes on and we just have to deal with these obstacles. We try to remain tranquil despite all what is happening. I ask you to pray for Maritza so that everything will go well.

I really look forward to meeting him. I can’t wait to see his face, touch him and kiss him because he will be someone that with the help of God, my wife and I created. It is simply a miracle that we have witnessed for more than 8 months but that will change our lives forever.

But as I mentioned, at times I am terrified. Am I going to be a good father? What if the economic situation in Peru turns around now that Humala is the president? Does the money we have cover all the expenses of a baby? These and many more questions come to my mind at times. However, it is all because I want the best for Piero. The only thing I ask God is that he is a healthy and strong baby.

As we all know, babies are not cheap. Fortunately, my sister-in-law organized a great Baby Shower in which Piero was very blessed with gifts. More than 60 people went to the shower and we all had a great time. The host of the show was a clown and although I am quite shy, I had a good time and enjoyed it. We gathered many thing in the shower that will help us a lot!

Having a baby is also going to be very challenging. My wife and I live alone and we are not going to have much help. My parents live in Canada and my mother-in-law is really busy. For these reasons I am going to spend more time at home working and having private English classes.  As you know, I am the webmaster and teacher at www.inglestotal.com but I also work for a company that teaches executives English. I need to spend more time helping my wife at least for the first month so I am also going to start teaching classes through SKYPE .  We have little experience with babies so we are going to learn together which makes it very exciting but we get nervous to think if we will do it well or not. However, I feel this is the way it should be and we will enjoy knowing Piero and learning how to raise him.

We are quite expectant and full of dreams. We have been buying many things for Piero and his room is almost ready. We just need to buy some more clothes but basically we are all set. She is due on June 26th but I have the feeling that Peiro is going to be born earlier. Remember us in your prayers!!!

Vocabulary:

- Womb (noun): the organ in the body of a woman or other female mammal in which a baby develops before birth (VIENTRE)

- to look forward to (verb): to feel pleased and excited about something that is going to happen (esperar con ansias)

- Challenging (adjective) : difficult, in a way that tests your ability or determination (dificil/desafiante)

- to raise (verb) : to take care of a person, or an animal or plant, until they are completely grown (criar)

Today I would like top share my top 5 childhood cartoons. Most children think they are boring but I continue thinking they were the best

Fifth Place: Inspector Gadget

This cartoon is about a clumsy cyborg inspector who had many gadgets built into his body. I used to watch it every week day after school while I had lunch at my grandmother’s house. I did not have the opportunity to watch the episodes in English but really enjoyed the cartoon in Spanish. The song also was very catchy and I used to sing it a lot when I was a kid

What I loved about the inspector was that many times he was totally clueless about is missions.He didn’t understand anything. There is where his genius niece called  Penny used to come and help him. She was the real detective because Inspector Gadget was usually totally lost. He also had a really intelligent dog named Brain who came secretly with him and helped him solve the mystery.

Oh, and how could I not mention Inspector Gadget’s car. I loved it!!! The car was inspired in the French car Matra Murena and  turned from a family van into a cool sport detective car.

I used to always imagine having his gadgets and tricks especially his helicopter propeller which came out of his hat and made him fly.

Fourth Place: Steel Jeeg – El Vengador

This cartoon influenced me so much. I used to dream about being in the head of the robot so much that I played by myself imagining my body was the robot. I know I know, how sad huh? But remember, I am an only child. I don’t have brothers or sisters so I had to use my imagination a lot and Steel Jeeg was really inspiring.

I found on youtube a NEW VERSION called Steel Jeeg 2007 which I found very interesting. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/h8DsXPpEsTE

Third Place: Thundercats

Who can forget the phrase: Thunder, thunder, thundercats HO!!  The Thundercats is an american animated series that first appeared in 1985. It was based on a group of a combination of cats and human aliens. This cartoon was very entertaining and the best part of all was the power of Liono’s sword. Also, the enemy and evil Mumm-Ra was very scary looking. As a child he was really terrifying but was a great enemy. What I liked about the Thundercats were how they worked together and how they gathered after seeing the sign of the Thundercats which came from the sword when Liono was in trouble.

After writing this article I went to youtube and found out that there was a movie called “Thundercats ho!” If you want to watch it here is the link: http://youtu.be/wiX0OVDrZBw

Second Place: Looney Tunes

Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and all the other characters created a magical world in the animated cartoon series LOONEY TUNES. From 1942 until 1969, Looney Tunes was the most popular short cartoon in theaters and then entered the television era from 1955 to 1986, and returning from 1987 to 1996 (wikiPedia). Bugs Bunny was simply the best because of how cool he was to evade trouble and be funny at the same time. However, there were so many characters which made the cartoon so fun to watch and which have made our childhood happier.

First Place: The Transformers

The Transformers is my  favorite childhood cartoon. I am not talking about the latest movie characters which I don’t like at all. I am referring to the OLD TRANSFORMERS. The first season appeared in 1984 with great success. It was just what children, especially boys, dreamed of. I love cars and every kid enjoys playing with robots so combining them to create the AUTOBOTS was just so exciting and inspiring.  Optimus Prime became a true hero and we can’t forget his long time enemy Megatron. Many episodes and different variations came after the original series but the best ones were from the first seasons when The Transformers were on Earth.

What really impacted children was merchandising of The Transformers. I had toys, T-shirts, lamps, clothes, stickers, lunchboxes, magazines, comics and so on all with figures of The Transformers. This created more passion for the cartoon because we were immersed in this world.

So do you agree? What childhood cartoons were your favorite one?

Things changed when I traveled to the States. It was only my parents and me. It was tough and I felt very lonely dreaming of having a sibling which never came.  Being lonely became the worst feeling which accompanied me throughout the years.

That is why I always dreamed of being married and having children. I wanted to suppress the feeling of being lonely and my mind found peace imagining having a family of my own.However, pain came into my life to transform my dream into fear. I was scared of loving because that meant there was a huge risk of suffering. The more one loves the more one can suffer.

After getting married I avoided any discussion of having children. At first I hid by stating that I wanted to enjoy my time alone as a couple with my wife but years went by and realized that I did not want children because of my fear. I was honest and told my wife that I might not ever want children and it was hard for her. I even tried to convince her by telling her all the risks there were of suffering. Despite my arguments my wife did not give in to this idea and became very sad and I consoled her by telling her that  I might change my mind.

Fortunately, I began to change. We used to live with my in-laws and although they were very kind to us it did not help our relationship grow. As soon as we moved things changed in our lives. We talked more, shared many more things, and starting depending on each other. This caused an instant reaction. There was a void to be filled. I mean, as our relationship grew stronger, the feeling of building a family was born in my heart. The love Marisu and I had is so big  that I noticed that  my fears started to fade away. The idea of creating life with the woman I so truly love was so pure, magical that it overpowered the fear of suffering.

After knowing that my wife was pregnant life changed and we got excited. We started dreaming and for some reason we visualized a baby girl. We then noticed that most of our loved ones also had that same idea of having a girl but a few days we got the news that IT IS A BOY!!!

God is so great. Even though sometimes you don’t get what you think you want, God is wiser and knows you much better. There is no one in this world that loves us more than God and I am convinced that all His decisions are what are best for our lives. In his wisdom and love he chose a baby boy to come into our lives and I thank HIM so much. I trust God and know that my son will be the purest expression of the love I have with my wife. He is a gift and we have been awarded the privilege of raising him and guiding him.

Thank you God for giving me a son. Thank you so much for placing Marisu in my life and for giving me such great responsibility for looking after them. I can’t wait to meet my baby boy!!!