Blog Session 11 Instructions

Dear Class,

This is the last post, so please write about your experience using blogs in the English Class.

Write:

a) What you think about the experiene in general
b) How much you feel your writing skills have developed
c) What would you like to include in the future
d) What else you would like to write about

Wordcount: 200 words minimum plus 3 comments on your classmates' posts.

Best,


Belén

Blog Session 10 Instructions

Dear Class,

This time you have to remember everything that has happened to you this semester so far, so you can choose one experience to write about; the best or the worst experience in the Faculty.

Write about the following in 150 words minimum:
a) What happened (the situation)
b) How you felt
c) Who were involved
d) Any other important details

Good luck,


Belén

Blog Session 9 Sample Post

Learning and teaching languages

After reading about different methodologies not only to learn languages but to learn in general, I feel more motivated to continue teaching Spanish and English. There is nothing new in saying that we all learn in different ways but this is especially true when we learn languages. One more thing that is not new about humans is the fact that events in life, can define who we are and what we like or don’t like.

I can say that the idea of learning languages was first triggered by a Russian family living in Santiago. I was 7 or 8 years-old the first time I heard a language different from Spanish. At home, I had heard French and English before but it wasn’t fluent because my father and mother studied those languages at school. They couldn’t speak French or English; however they knew how to pronounce words, phrases and questions.

Speaking fluently in a language that is not your mother tongue is to be able to expand the limits sometimes we create for ourselves. Some people learn languages easily than others and some other people never learn a foreign language but; considering how many and how different we are, learning a foreign language could be a very good idea if we want to travel,  and if we want to meet people. Apart from meeting people, when we speak one or more foreign languages we can understand more cultures. So, the way people think, act, what they believe in and the language they speak can help us learn more about us and our limits.

Going back to Russian, I can’t say I feel frustrated because I don’t speak it fluently because I haven’t been studying it they way I need to. Even though I have nobody to practice Russian with, I really want to learn something else that’s not numbers 1 to 10, days of the week and personal pronouns; so one day I can talk with Russians or with people who speak it as a foreign language, like me.

Blog Session 9 Instructions

Dear Class,

Today and again, you can choose what to write about. You're free to choose a topic maybe something about this city, citizens, pollution, stencils, your family or hunger... you choose.

Please write 190 words minimum and don't forget to make three comments on your classmates' posts.

Good luck,


Belén

Blog Session 8 Sample Post

Cinema: moving pictures or the industry of making films

Today I’m going to write about cinema. I’m interested in this topic because watching films can help us understand a great deal about life and human relationships. Every time we watch a film, we learn about other worlds and lifestyles and at the same time, we travel about two hours to other realities. Cinema is important because as a teacher, I can use films, short films, documentaries, trailers or clips to present topics or issues so students can discuss or debate.

I will be talking about where cinema came from, secondly who invented it and finally, I’m going to mention the most important periods of the history of cinema around the world. Let’s begin with the origins of cinema; moving images have always been popular. In China, for example, 5,000 years ago, they used firelight to project images of puppets onto screens and this was called “shadow plays”.

Cinema became possible by the invention of two French brothers, Louis and Auguste Lumiere, in 1895. The Lumiere Cinematograph” allowed large audiences to watch “moving pictures”. They showed several short films and they were all documentaries. Let’s continue with the periods of the history of cinema. There are seven important periods; the history begins in the Far East, with shadow plays. The, The Lumiere brothers in 1895, The Silent Era (1912), The Talkies (1928), The Golden Age (1932), The TV Revolution (1950) after the Second World War and currently, the Modern Film Industry.

I’m going to conclude by quoting Auguste Lumiere, who said: “Cinema can be exploited for a certain time but apart from that, it has no commercial value at all”. I’d love to hear what Auguste Lumiere would say about making films in this century, after all the commercial value given to the Modern Film Industry.

Blog Session 8 Instructions

Dear Class,

Today you choose the topic again. Maybe you can write about the present, the future or the past, about a place, the country, friends, a theory, you choose.

Remember to leave at least 3 comments on your classmates' posts and this time you have to write 180 words minimum.

Best,

Belén

Blog Session 7 Instructions

Dear Class,


Today, you will write about a) an expert in your field or b) about career-related website. To do so, consider the following:


An expert in your field


a) Mention two contributions to your area of studies.
b) Explain his/her importance nowadays.
c) Say how you found out about him/her.
Also, provide a picture if possible.


A career-related website

a) Say how did you discover it.
b) Why you use it for.
c) Two reasons why you would recommend it.
Also, provide the link to your career-related website.



Write 170 words mminimum.

Leave a comment on 3 of your classmates' posts about the topic of Blog Session 7.



Good luck!



Belén