What's in a name...?

                 Are names important while planning a lesson?Do they increase the value of a role when students are asked to impersonate some character?
I was reading a book and one of the characters' name was Aurora (Rory) and it struck me how unusual that sounded in that context.I was just wondering if there is something in our brain that matches the names with certain features that people might or might not posses. And then I just initiated a little game:
Helen- Greek long dress, black long hair, very strong, active but innocent at the same time
Tina- some common, pragmatic,out-going person, no special features (that's why I had used this name so many times in my role-plays)
Tom- handsome, sociable, no-stress guy, intelligent, but no genius
Jack- square jaw, bony face, thin and tall, powerful, sometimes dangerous
Fiona- I loved this name the second I  heard it- It sounds to me like something delicate, big brown/blue eyes,   silky dress, long, floating when walking, usually hiding a secret
Hillary- big, powerful, grandma big-foot "style", sociable and extremely talkative, doing everything for the loved ones, always smiling
I know there are so many psychological,  sociological or even semantic analysis on the features or functions of names, not to speak about the religious implications of baptizing a child with a saint's name.
I don't posses enough knowledge on this matter, but I still think that choosing the right names for the characters our students need to "become" during the lessons can have a very good impact on their response to the task.
I actually noticed that when they were about to choose one situation they were selecting certain names and they were "rejecting" others because in their mind those names could have impinged upon their image among their colleagues.

So taking this detail into consideration while planning a role-play might be useful.I try to avoid their own names (sometimes for ESL teachers is easier because our students do not have English names) and I also try to follow my instinct into "guessing" what would be the name suitable for them. And it works- most of the time.
Then a good idea would be to try the exercise during the class: have them see some pictures (maybe imagine the police department where witnesses are asked to flip through a pile of photos or albums and find the "guilty one" ) then your students should "profile" those people by using a set of adjectives, then try and "guess" these people's daily routine, maybe flaws and qualities or "darkest secret", re-create their  life.
As a follow-up you can practice expressing opinion by having them analyze the Shakespearian famous quote 
"  What's in a name? that which we call a rose
    By any other name would smell as sweet;" 
referring to the meaning and the value of a name.Is the name a reflexion of one self or the essence is all the same even if changing the label/word/name given to that specific thing or person.
I fancy a lot this subject and I think the NAME is a very important coordinate of our lives, even though we don't stop and reflect on it, but we respond to this stimulus when meeting a person. I am sure the name of that person has an impact on our first impression and it influences our judgments when thinking or speaking about that man/woman. If that is true, then my question would be: Should we know more about this when choosing our own child's name? If the name influences others' opinions, do they also have an impact when attending an interview or closing a deal?
Everyone admits that good looks can help people get a good job, but does the name have such an effect?
Just imagine you are going to a blind date, but you find out three names of the future candidates:  John, Mark and Dick... Which one would you leave out?Which one would be your choice?
Would you meet Trixton, Kaydinn or Kawner? 

New year...every year

Happy New Year everyone!
It's funny to remember all the previous 1st of Januaries... all start with new hopes, new dreams and a strong will to change everything that I have been wanting to change for such a long time.We all dream of something better, something that can offer us the basic needs, love and comfort.
While enlisting all my 2012 to- do things I realized this is the end of the world... I found a site where some crazy people started counting backwards our days on Earth, I could actually see that I have 355 days, I don't know how many days and hours left. Incredible! In the last years I have witnessed the End so many times that I got tired. And why should we be so afraid? If the End comes we all die, and...? Nothing after.
If we are to discuss about the End of the World I guess this should be considered more of a subjective topic, because for me, losing my family, going to my dear ones funerals, losing their warmth and strength is much more dramatic than a generic empty notion that is The End of the World, and I guess I am not the only one.
So, instead of losing hope and cutting loose all the despair in the world, we should be happy and make a long to-do list. Even if 10% of that happens I would be happy, because it means I lived for something and something good happened in my life, each year is different, each year changes something in our souls and the reason they are important is because they belong to us. 1900 has never belonged to me, it hasn't altered my life in any ways because I was not then, but it was a crucial year for my great-grandmother : she was born that year...
We are the ones inhabiting 21st Century and each January is a new beginning. It might be a sad year, but as long as it can be a good one we should hope and dream, fight for the right to be happy and free.
So this is my wish for you all: May you live your life happily and May you find strength and faith to follow your dreams and never give up!
Happy 2012-   And a wonderful life to all the babies born on 1st of January!

Nostalgia...

Today, right in the middle of my class I had an awkward feeling of missing something...
I realized I grew old :))), I looked into their eyes and faces and for a bunch of seconds I felt numb, I saw all these years running in my mind and while they were struggling to use "participle clauses" , I was struggling to get a grip on reality and convince my body to react. I still remember the thickness of the board marker, the colour of their clothes mixing into a rainbow of moving lips. It was 4 years later, I was doing the thing I am best at, still I understood there is something missing inside, I just couldn't relate to them and that scared me.
I just guess there is a time when we feel the passing time through our veins, I just had a flash -back of my first lessons, of the people talking to me at that point, I could actually see myself those days, those exact moments...I can't even understand what was the trigger, but everything worked just like in Proust's novel, maybe the smell, maybe the voice, or maybe the grammar structure became the background and I was flying through these stages of my teaching.
Age is also important in teaching, if you feel what you do, if you live those instances, then your whole teaching stream changes in time. I was afraid I lost the freshness of thinking, the enjoyment of finding new means of enacting the lesson plan, I was just scared I might have lost my "teaching youth" and just like in real life the question popped-up in my mind: "What is next?"
I just wanted to run back, see my long-time-lost students and friends (whom I can't bring back, time flies), I realized how important they were for me, because they actually witnessed my growing-up process and that made feel an acute lust for the beginnings.
Now I am different in many ways, I am happy to have learned that much, to have discovered new people, new methods, new teaching experiences,new good friends.
I can't help myself from lingering for some time in this nostalgia mood, remembering places and chatting and gossiping and me 4 years ago.
I saw some empty chairs...that was the trigger, now I know. I have been teaching the same people for almost 3 years and all of a sudden I had to do my job without them and that confused me a bit. It is also funny that we can't share the same feelings with all of them and just like we can't forget the firsts in life , I realized I will always be attached to those people, those faces that have been enjoying, crying, smiling, screaming or telling jokes by my side for such a long time. I will surely miss them, that is why I just had to stop my tears and when I said" Good!Now ask your colleague" I realized I am now in a different dimension of my teaching, maybe different dimension of my life and I will have to make it work within this new settings, with new tools,sharing precious memories with my first and former students.
Thank you for being there and enjoy spelling your mind in English!

Christmas time!

I woke up this morning smelling Christmas air...Little cold wind, snowy rooftops, foggy roads, people armured in their thick winter coats running around like bees.Yesterday it was the National Day and I was happy, actually mixed emotions (enjoying my family and friends, shocked by the narrow-minded people surrounding us, confused and worried about our own future in this small and intricately multiways-to-choose-and-no-way-in-fact country)shook my balance.
So today I feel dizzy and "so charming :)" , I am in no mood for work, I am in the mood for walking around, getting my nose frozen and my hands deepened in my pockets, buying insignificant and sparkling little presents for the loved-ones, calling the friends I had no time for in ages, seeing people smiling, making them happy.
Last night I saw on TV the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Street and I took a deep breath then imagined I was there for a second...and that reminded me how much I would like to visit New York. Watching that actually made me mumble those famous lyrics :"the king of the hill", "top of the heap" and because I could not achieve any of these childish dreams I just set a new ringtone on my phone...
...so now I am off to work waitin for a call (just to hear my Christmas ringtone) and if that doesn't happen, well, at least I will be prepared for the first snowflakes, I will run outside and let those magic white feathers enlighten my day...