Portafolio

El propósito de este blog es mostrar mi escritura en inglés, pero en esta ocasión haré una excepción para compartir algunas de las cosas más interesantes que he publicado en español en la prensa de México.


- Con el proyecto "70 años de ser Chivas" en El Informador trabajé con un grupo de diseñadores y videógrafos para crear un producto multimedia que combina texto, imágenes y videos. Puedo decir con orgullo que descubrimos algunos aspectos hasta entonces desconocidos de la historia del equipo más popular de México. Primera parte, segunda parte.

- Como resultado de esa investigación logramos descubrir la identidad de los autores de uno de los logotipos más conocidos del futbol mexicano. No fue una tarea fácil, pero contribuir a que ambos diseñadores reciban el reconocimiento que merecen es una gran satisfacción personal.

- Para hacer este video usé archivos fotográficos y periodísticos para determinar a qué partido correspondía cada fragmento del tráiler de la película de Chivas. No fue una tarea fácil, pero el resultado fue novedoso, único y de gran interés para el público.

- Esta nota acerca del Mundial femenil tuvo buena reacción del público. Fue una satisfacción personal, porque creo que logramos crear contenido interesante para la gente y que al mismo tiempo deja una enseñanza, en este caso acerca de la historia de Estados Unidos.

- Esta crónica surgió por casualidad, ya que no era yo quien debía cubrir ese evento. Fui enviado porque una compañera no pudo llegar a la presentación de ese libro, pero creó que el texto que resultó es bueno. Mi intención fue retratar una realidad que me es ajena sin ser irónico ni condescendiente.

- Durante este desfile que se llevó a cabo a mediodía todos los reporteros se reunieron en una zona de sombra. Yo me trepé a una jardinera y pude ver de cerca las reacciones de Enrique Alfaro, gobernador de Jalisco. El resultado fue esta crónica.

- Cubrir la literatura, una de mis más grandes pasiones, fue un placer, sobre todo al transmitir al público las enseñanzas de David Huerta y Margo Glantz en la Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara.

In praise of short poems

As with many other things, when it comes to poetry we tend to assume that larger is better. We equate the lenght of a work with the effort on the poet's part. After all, from the Eneid to The Wasteland, there is a venerable tradition of long poems that are also milestones of western culture.

However, as Japanese poets have demonstrated, brevity has its own kind of brilliance. A great brief poem can capture a truth as profound as any large work, and crafting such a poem requires a kind of talent that's different, but not inferior, to that required to engage in a poetic tour de force.

Besides, a short poem has an added advantage. Not a lot of people can recite the Odyssey from memory, but almost everyone knows a short poem by heart. Longer works may tell the tale of our civilization, but brief poems are about our most intimate selves.

Below you will find three of my favorite short poems. They can be read in under a minute and with minimal effort you can memorize them and carry them with you everywhere. I hope you enjoy them!

The Red Wheelbarrow (William Carlos Williams)

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

love is a place (ee cummings)

love is a place 
& through this place of love move 
(with brightness of peace) all places 

yes is a world 
& in this world of 
yes live 
(skillfully curled) 
all worlds

You Fit Into Me (Margaret Atwood)

you fit into me

like a hook into an eye

a fish hook

an open eye

How to learn a new language: 6 useful tips

Learning a new language is one of the most challenging and useful things you can do. Besides giving you an advantage at work, speaking more than one language makes you understand a different culture and expands your horizons. And as Mark Twain said about traveling, approaching a different culture is the best antidote against "prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness." These six tips will help you in this amazing adventure.

1.- Words, words, words. 
At the beginning focus on expanding your vocabulary. Right now don't worry too much about grammar, you'll have time for that later on. What matters when you start is learning as many words as possible. This will allow you to understand basic texts and expressions, providing a sense of advancement and reward that will keep you "hooked" on the learning process.

2.- Remember: it's a long process (and that's alright)
 I'm not trying to say you can't reach fluency within a reasonable period of time. What I'm trying to say is that you never really finish learning a new language. You can get to a point where you are able to master your second language with an ease comparable to your native language, but even in that case there will always nuances to understand and subtleties to learn. You're not only acquiring a valuable skill, you have now an entertaining, inexpensive hobby.

"The internet has changed many aspects of our lives, and that includes language learning."

3.- Take advantage of technology
The internet has changed many aspects of our lives, and that includes language learning. In fact, one may argue that this is a golden era for learners of all types. You can download apps to help you improve your vocabulary (Duolingo is a good example). You can read the news, watch TV and listen to the radio in the language you're trying to learn. You can live a portion of your life in another language if you put your mind to it. All these opportunities were unthinkable ten years ago. Take advantage of them and expand your horizons.

4.- Push the envelope of innovation 
Internet, radio and TV are logical, well-known options to learn a new language, but the pace of innovation is such that new learning opportunities arise every day. Native speakers of all languages are opening Youtube channels to teach a global audience (my favorite example is Francais avec Pierre, you can watch one of their videos below). Online communities like Reddit allow learners to ask specific questions and get guidance from native speakers and teachers. Most of these options are totally free. The only limit is your willingness to try them.

5.- Go old school
The internet offers great opportunities, but traditional methods are still useful to learn a new language. Write down new words or grammar rules on index cards and review them at least once a day. The Pimsleur courses, which can be bought online as audio files, were created with cassette tapes in mind, but they are still incredibly effective to help you gain the confidence necessary to use a new language in a social setting.

6.- Challenge yourself 
"Don't bite more than you can chew" is a valuable piece of advice. But not when you're trying to learn a new language. In this case you want to run before you can walk and fly before you can jump. Are you afraid to talk to a native speaker? Do it now. Are you planning to read a novel in the language you're learning? Go ahead! Climb those little Everests and you'll improve noticeably. And if the result is not perfect, who cares? You knew it was difficult from the beginning. Punching above your weight is the way to fluency.

Online video grows to the beat of samba in Brazil

"Samba" and "Tech" are two words you don't hear together very often, but that’s not the case in Brazil, where Samba Tech, a startup focused on video production, has become one of the most important companies in the online video market.

The enterprise was founded in 2004 by Gustavo Caetano, called by some "the Brazilian Mark Zuckerberg". Cell phones with a color display were a novelty and Caetano, then 19 years old, felt frustrated because he couldn't find games to play on the phone he had just bought.

Caetano emailed companies in France and England inviting them to enter the Brazilian market. Only one of them replied, explaining that a detailed business plan was necessary in order to take that step.

"There was a window of opportunity and it had to be seized before it closed." 

The rebuttal didn't deter Caetano. "I took a plane, went to London and brought with me a business plan that basically showed that Brazil was an unexplored market and that it was the right moment,'' says the entrepreneur. "There was a window of opportunity and it had to be seized before it closed."

That's how Samba Mobile, the first version of Samba Tech, was born. Then, in 2007 the success of Youtube inspired Caetano to explore the possibilities of online video and again his resourcefulness proved crucial.

While he was leafing through a magazine the entrepreneur came across the name of Silvia Saad, one of the owners of Grupo Bandeirantes, an important media group in Brazil. Armed with just that piece of information and guessing that she was a relative of Johnny Saad, president of Bandeirantes, Caetano was determined to get her attention.

"I tried all the possible combinations: silvia.saad, ssaad, silviasaad to send her emails and even asked her about Johnny,'' says Caetano.

The bold strategy paid off and through Saad Samba Tech got its first big contract. Now the company boasts five billion monthly visits to its video player coming from 26 countries and has established strategic partnerships with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Harvard Business School.

Besides working with television networks, Samba Tech offers other services, like video-classrooms, platforms to sell courses online as well as corporate education and communication.

Despite his success, the founder of Samba Tech refuses to move the company to the United States claiming that the creativity of his Brazilian employees is hard to find anywhere else. Caetano sums up his experience at Samba Tech with a phrase that sounds like a rallying cry for Latin American entrepreneurs.

"In our country there are great problems to overcome, but solving all those great problems can be the task of entrepreneurs in the areas of health, education and mobility, because where there are great problems there are also great opportunities."