Level 4 >> Post 10 (week 13): English Language Challenges

> What comments can you make about your experience learning English at university? What about the use of blogs?
> What aspects of your English need to be improved and how do you plan to do this?
> Outside the English class, how much are you using English these days? What for?

- Wordcount: 250
- Make comments on 3 of your partners' posts.


Sample:

My experience has been pretty good, I would say. We've had good teachers and we've been able to improve our conversation skills as well as our listening and reading comprehension. I've also learned lots of vocabulary and terminology related to my major and that makes me feel confident that I can continue studying and communicating in English in an academic and professional setting in the future. I think the program needs more flexibility with some activities, since some of them didn't seem relevant to my life at the time. For example, I like writing blogs but the topics were often not really interesting enough and I would have liked different kinds of interaction while using the computer. All in all, I think my writing skills have improved thanks to blogging.

Well, I need to improve several aspects of my English, specially regarding listening comprehension. It's difficult for me to follow a conversation in natural English so I've been watching a lot of movies without reading the subtitles. That's helped me a lot to improve my English. I also listen to a lot of anglo music on the radio and try to memorize and understand the lyrics. I've tried speaking to foreigners a few times, but I can't seem to find enough of them willing to engage in conversation. They're busy trying to learn Spanish. My reading is OK although I'd like to read rich, complex novels like Ulysses, by Joyce, so for that I'm reading whatever I can lay hands on and building my own personal glossary of difficult words.

I hope that by doing this plus my English classes at the university, I'll be able to communicate in English quite fluently by the end of next year.

Level 4 >> Post 9 (week 12) > 2015 - Some Reflections..

Have you had a good year, so far?

Write about:
> Good things that have happened
> Situations that haven't worked so well
> Your achievements
>  A subject/course that you have enjoyed this year
> Other things you want to mention


Wordcount: 250 + 3 comments + a comment on your teacher's post




Sample:

Well, I can say that this year was definitely better than the last one. I have more work now than before. That's been a relief I may say. I have been able to accomplish lots of things too, like, for example, getting some good grades on my final exams. I've really studied hard to get ahead in my classes. I've also done a great deal of volunteer work at a cultural center I belong to. We have applied for several grants for publishing poetry books and are waiting for the results to come out. We've tried to help people to appreciate literature and the arts in general. We have a projecto called "Art in your neighborhood" where visual artists lend some of their pictures to be exhibited in shops and homes of people in a small city area. You can go to Los Andes and see the works of art there! We first did it in Playa Ancha. That's a large hill in Valparaíso.

LEVEL 4 >> Post 8 >> week 11 --- SUMMER PLANS

You have to write about your plans or ideas for this summer.

Among other things, you should write about:

> Places you are going to / would like to visit
> People you are going to / would like to be with in summer
> Activities you are thinking of being part of
> If you are planning to work/study in summer

- Comments: Please leave a comment on your sample post + 3 of their classmates posts.
- Word Count for post 8: 240 words

Well, on my next vacation I'm going to Brazil. Yeah, it's going to be great! I'm going to visit all the beaches in Rio during the day and dance samba all night long. Just kidding. Of course, I'll also visit museums and art galleries. They have really good collections. I'd like to visit the Amazon jungle, but It's too far away and I don't have enough money.

I'm going there because I really love Brazilian culture. I've listened to Bossa Nova since I was a child. Both my parents lived in Sao Paulo when they were young and they brought a lot of CDs and books from their adoptive country, so I grew up listening to and speaking Portuguese as well as Spanish. And this will be my first trip there. I'm so excited.

I'm taking the plane on December 26th just after Christmas I'm going to spend New Year's Eve there with my girlfriend. I would have gone with my buddies, but she's paying for the tickets.  It's a Christmas present. Oh, I love my girlfriend so much!! We're going to visit some beaches, like Copacabana and Ipanema, take lots of pictures and probably eat in romantic places. We´ll also visit the Sugarloaf, of course. The only downside is that my girlfriend doesn't like to dance samba.

I don't think I'll end up working there, though I might take a Portuguese course for a few days if it's available. I also plan on visiting a few universities in order to get to know the academic courses they're offering next year. I'm really interested in following a Master's in Latin American Studies in the near future. Well, that's all for now. Wish me luck!

Post Nº7 Free themed blog: An influential artist in my field

Talk about an influential artist / theatrical designer / director related to your field.

You should include

• A short biography
• Examples of his/her work (upload some pictures)
• Major contributions or impact on the field
• Why you admire him/her

And choose one of the following points

• Influences on the theater in Chile
• How a play would change based on his/her principles

Word count: 230

Post three comments on your classmates' blog!

Sample

 

James Joyce was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He's considered an important member of the modernist avant-garde, an artistic movement which revolutionized art and literature around the world. He was born in Dublin, Ireland on February 2, 1882 and died in Zurich in 1941, where he's buried. He came from a big family with several problems. His father was a singer although he also was a heavy drinker, who spent all the family income on alcohol. That meant that the family never had enough money. From an early age, Joyce demonstrated a great intelligence and a gift for writing. His family sent him to Jesuit schools so he could get an education. He graduated from University College Dublin where he got a Bachelors of Arts related to modern languages.
A short time after he moved to Italy with his wife Nora and began writing and publishing his novels and short stories.

Joyce is best known for Ulysses (1922). Other well-known works are the short-story collection Dubliners (1914), and the novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) and Finnegans Wake (1939). His other writings include three books of poetry, a play, occasional journalism, and his published letters.

His exploration of language and new literary forms showed not only his genius as a writer but spawned a fresh approach for novelists, one that drew heavily on Joyce's love of the stream-of-consciousness technique and the examination of big events through small happenings in everyday lives.

I think he's one of the most exciting writers of his time and someone who still has a huge influence on writers and artists today. I really like his style. It's more difficult to read perhaps, but it goes much deeper into reality than many novels written today.

LEVEL 4 >> Post 6 (Week 8) >> HOW GREEN ARE YOU?

- Where do people learn about enviromentally friendly practices?
- Have you incorporated recycling into your habits? Describe
- Do you use a bike or your legs instead of a car?
- Have you joined or supported any eco-organisations? Why/Why not?
- What else have you done /would you like to do?
- What have you done to reduce your carbon footprint? 
- What's missing in our society/Santiago regarding this issue?








>> Number of words: 220

>> Don't forget to make comments on at least 3 of your classmates posts + your teacher's post.

Most people get information from TV campaigns and some ecofriendly programs. Kids get educated if they are lucky enough to study at a school preoccupied with these problems. Only a few people in Chile belong to ecofriendly institutions.

To be honest I haven’t incorporated recycling to my habits, it’s too difficult I think because at home you usually don’t have different garbage cans to classify your waste. Or even if you can classify this the garbage truck doesn’t do this! So it's pointless.

In transportation the best way to help the planet is to avoid using a car or if you can’t stop using this at least practice carpooling. In my experience I don’t have a licence so I don’t use cars, instead I walk almost everywhere I go. It's more comfortable and it allows me to enjoy the city, and help me to relax after a hard day at university. I prefer this over using the metro or even a bicycle (this is too dangerous here in Santiago, there is too much traffic).

I have never joined to an organization like this because this is not my major concern, so it's not that important for me (to be honest). But I would like to change this.
To reduce my footprint I have planted like 10 trees, I use energy-efficient lightbulbs, I try to reduce garbage. I think that's pretty much it!

In answer to what's missing in our society, I think having a Environmental Ministry as an institution is a step forward but does not solve the problem. Maybe the common citizen can change his behavior to an eco-friendly one, so now the challenge is to involve  all companies in this issue no  matter if they belong to the private or public sector. 

Post Nª5 My future job

- What kind of job would you like to have? How do you imagine it?

-  Is it primarily outdoors or indoors?

- Would you like to travel a lot in your job?

- Would you prefer working in an office?

- What major are you studying / are you thinking of taking?    Explain why

- Add any other related ideas.

SAMPLE:

I'd love to have a permanent job teaching English at a major university. I'd like to have some kind of creative position where I could design new materials for teachers to use in their classrooms. I'm comfortable working in an office, although I love to take my students on field trips around the city as a great learning opportunity. I´d like to travel to other countries and learn from different cultures as I help them learn English. I'm thinking of getting a Master's in English Language next year so I can be better prepared to teach English and do some important research in English Education or Literature,

Etc.

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts

Sample

- Word Count: 210 words

Post 4 Career Related Post

Talk about your faculty and your study experience

First talk about why you entered this major
What you like about your faculty/study program(3 things)
What you critizise about your faculty/study program(3 things)
What you would change to improve it

Upload a picture

Wordcount 200

Level 3 - Post 4 (week 6) THEMED POST N° 1 Experiences with food

First brainstorm a few possible topics and finally agree on one through some discussion and voting. 

As there are several themed posts this term (see blog syllabus), the best thing to do is to negotiate all of them at once. Ideally, at least one of the free posts should be career-related.

Try this ranking activity >> First work in pairs or small groups to come up with their top 3 topics. Then as a class, find the most popular topics for the posts.

Talk about the best and worst meal you've ever eaten

Say:

What it was

Why you liked it / What made it the best

What it was made of

Where you ate it / Who you were with

In contrast / In comparison / On the other hand

Say

What it was

Why you hated it / What made it the worst

What it was made of

Where you ate it / Who you were with

What happened after

When I was in the south of Chile last year I went to a traditional fair near Valdivia. There you could buy handicrafts and try out delicious regional dishes. I was traveling with my girlfriend and we decided to stop by for lunch. We tried Cancato de Sierra, a popular river fish filled with tomatoes and cheese and cooked on a grill. It was incredible! The fish has a special taste because of the species and the cheese.

In contrast, yesterday I was with some friends. We had gone to the International Book Fair to do some video interviews and were really tired and hungry. It was 5 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon so most of the restaurants were closed or were a bit too expensive for us. After walking a lot, we saw a small Peruvian diner on a side street. They didn't have any sandwiches and not a lot to eat, just chicken and rice, but since the price was low we decided to stay. Big mistake! The chicken was really small and undercooked. It didn't have any flavor at all. There were some drunk guys messing around and the music was playing really loud. To make matters worse, the beer was warm. I'm never going back there again.

Post N°2 The best Holidays/Concert ever

This time, you have to tell you about the best holidays or concert they've been to (choose only 1 theme):

They should mention:

Holidays:

- when it was
- where they went
- how long it was
- people they went with
- things / activities they did
- why it has been the best so far
- any other relevant info

My very best vacation was last year. I traveled to Mexico with my girlfriend and toured much of the country. It was so amazing and we stayed there for almost a month! We visited the Mayan pyramids in Yucatán and flew to Cancún for a lovely weekend under the sun. After that we traveled to Mexico City and visited all the museums and the huge UNAM. We saw a lot of mural paintings by Rivera and visited Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul. It was incredible. We saw so much culture and learned a lot about how Mexicans live daily. It was by far the most adventurous vacation I've ever had.

Concert:

- when / where it was
- the artist they saw
- a bit of info about the artist
- describe the atmosphere during the event
- describe how they felt and why they enjoyed it
- any other memories about it





>>Wordcount: 170
>>Leave comments on 3 of your classmates posts.

2nd Term 2015 / LEVEL 4 >> POST 1 (Week 3) >> A COUNTRY I'D LIKE TO VISIT

Write about a country you'd like to visit

- Which country would you like to go to? Why?
- What do you know about it?
- What would you like to do there?
- Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.
- Upload pictures
- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on your teacher's post
- Word Count: 160 words

Hi everybody! Today I'm going to tell you about a country I've always wanted to visit, Peru.

It's a lovely country full of interesting things to see and know. I really like the culture there. There are lots of beautiful cities and places to visit. I hear the people are extremely friendly and generous, not like here. Many excellent writers and artists are from Peru, creators such as César Vallejo and José María Arguedas, intellectuals like Mariátegui and Cornejo Polar make me admire this country very much.

If I go there some day, the first thing I will do is to eat a lot of their delicious food; I think it is fantastic! Second, I will travel around the country to meet people and know places. I would like to visit famous cities like Cuzco and historic site such as Machu Picchu. There's a lot to know.

If I have the opportunity, I'd like to work there for a year, maybe teaching English or Spanish at a school or college. This would give me the chance to get to know more of their culture.

Well, I hope that some day I can go to Peru and make my dream true.