28 in a row...

So I managed 28 days in a row of blogging.  Not quite the 31 that I was expecting, but there we go.  I have officially run out of ideas.  For now!

Copyright

A little word about copyright, if I may.

In 2004, I uploaded for the first time a languages resource website called MFL Sunderland (you may have heard of it).  It contained 99% of the language resources I have ever made.  Then, in April 2014, MFL Sunderland ceased to exist, and I moved its content to a new site, Light Bulb Languages.  It continues to contain 99% of the resources I have ever made, as well as a number of resources that have been donated by kind and generous users.

All the resources are available to users free of charge, but they are not copyright-free.  Every resource has a copyright statement giving the website name, the URL, the year it was made and the name or initials of the person who made it.

This afternoon I have, once more, found copies of my own resources available on TES Resources.  And the user offering them is not me.  In this instance, the resources are being offered for free, and so I have left blunt reviews on each of them detailing their provenance, and also giving links to the originals.  A few months ago, I received a message from a user to say that they had seen resources of mine being offered for sale on TES Resources.  Sure enough, many of my resources were there, with my copyright statements still on them in most cases, being sold on TES Resources, by one user.  I reported it to TES, the resources were taken down and the user has since deleted that account.

Neither of these cases is an isolated incident.  Neither is TES Resources the only guilty site, but it is the main one.  Neither is this problem confined to language teachers - I have been corresponding today with an English teacher who has had the same thing happen to them.

This is wrong.  Why should other teachers make a profit out of my work that I offer to them for free?  Why should other teachers get the praise and the nice comments, when it's my work?  It's wrong, and it's theft.

So this is my way of saying PLEASE respect other peoples' copyright.  Think about how it makes the original authors feel to find their hard work being plagiarised.

Thanks for reading.

For your reference, the Light Bulb Languages copyright statement is here.

Marie Marvingt

Marie Marvingt

It has been said that social media users sometimes feel inadequate when looking at the online exploits of the people that they follow.  I admit to feeling somewhat inadequate when I first read about Marie Marvingt (1875-1963).

She was an aviation pioneer, a high-achieving sportswoman, a writer, artist and member of the Légion d'Honneur.  She tried to enlist in the army in World War One, disguised as a man, but was discovered when she became ill.  She applied to take part in the 1908 Tour de France.  Her application was refused as she was a woman, but she rode the course regardless, behind the men, and finished the course when many of the men did not.

And yet, for all her achievements, little is known about her.  A search on Amazon.fr reveals only three books about her.

I have been preparing some resources about her, and thought this mind map might be of interest.  It will give you a taste of her amazing life.

You will find the resources here.

French Flowcharts

My post about Flowcharts on Sunday featured flowcharts in Spanish.  Since then, I've had a go at making flowcharts for French.  French turns out to be a bit more complex than Spanish!  Here are the charts for plurals and articles.  Please let me know if there are any bugs to report!

May's most popular posts

You might have noticed that I've been blogging a lot more this month than usual.  I have set myself the challenge of publishing a post a day for a month.  Previously I had published 244 in 8 years.  That's an average of about 30 a year!  I started the month on 8th May, and am seeing if I can get to 8th June.  Watch this space!

These were the most popular posts in May:

1.  Starting to write in a new language
2.  Sugarcane
3.  Kagan Rally Table
4.  Reading about France and French Culture
5.  Flowcharts

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