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

Blog Session 6 Sample Post

Free Post 2

The human brain

I have always been interested in how the human body works. One of the reasons to be interested is that I practice sports, so why we sweat, stretch and how we can work out our muscles are intriguing facts about our bodies. Those, among other incredible facts like gestating as to have new generations. Sleeping, dancing, walking and reading are just some of the activities that have to do with the brain.

Biology and Education are closely related if we analyse the brain activity. As a teacher, when we study the way human beings learn, we study Psychology but unfortunately we didn’t study Neuroscience. Therefore, as this science has always caught my attention I wanted to learn more about it. A couple of years ago, because of the Masters programme I was studying, I had the chance to read lots of interesting papers about how the brain works when we read as well as how the way we stimulate the brain affects our learning process.

The human brain is a complex organ and as human beings we are supposed to be the only ones to know something about the way the brain works. With that skill, Pierre Paul Broca (1824-1880), a French pioneer doctor was able to draw a map of the brain and consequently, he discovered a small area in the left hemisphere, which controls the production of language. Thus, 100 billion neurons in our brains* are responsible for language, communication and many other aspects of our lives.

*http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/facts-about-your-brain/7038?image=2

Blog Session 6 Instructions

Dear Class,

This Tuesday is time for the second free post. You can choose what to blog about and visit this link for more details on how to organise your ideas. 
You can organise what you want to write with an outline, which is a list of the ideas you want to cover in each paragraph, section or chapter.
Please write 160 words minimum. 

http://www.fuelyourwriting.com/4-easy-rules-for-a-successful-outline/


Good luck,


Belén

Blog Session 5 Sample Post

A photograph

To choose one photograph I like it’s not possible because I love colours but I also enjoy black and white. There are so many choices; photographers round the world have always been “making” photos. I definitely prefer black and white and I miss going to the dark room and developing my own film and pictures.

One of the photos I will always remember was taken by Luis Poirot, a well-known Chilean photographer. In this photo you can see Chilean song-writer, actor, singer and activist Víctor Jara, killed in 1973 by Chilean military officers. That day Víctor and Luis were near Cerro Blanco, in Recoleta. They were trying to obtain a photo for Víctor’s new album cover. Here we can see part of the complete photograph. I found this darkish copy on the internet but it’s not the photo I have on my wall at home -or the postcard version of the photo I was given.

In the portrait I have, apart from Víctor Jara holding his guitar, and the old lady behind him, there’s a boy to the left, next to Víctor, and the boy is looking at the camera. You can also see the entire guitar Víctor is holding. One more difference between this picture and mine is that Víctor is not looking at the camera.

This photo was taken in 1969. According to Luis, the photographer, this photo wasn’t authorized by the Communist party, so Víctor’s new album cover for “Pongo en tus manos abiertas” was the one – you might have seen- with two open palms.

Last but not least, I really like this photo because Víctor Jara is in it and of the various photos where Víctor appears, this one is my favourite portrait of him. I admire and respect everything he was and did.

Blog Session 5 Instructions

Dear Class,

This time you have to choose a picture you like to write about it.

Say:
a) who took it
b) what it shows
c) when it was taken
d) why you like it
e) Upload it too

Add any other information you'd like to mention in 150 words minimum. Don't forget to make comments on at least three of your classmates blogs.

Good luck,


Belén

Blog Session 4 Sample Post

Documentaries

I really enjoy watching films as well as documentaries and documentaries unlike films are meant to document some aspects of reality. A couple of friends have created their own documentaries so I’ve seen what it takes to actually complete one. I like documentaries because I think we can learn a lot about so many different things in a more dynamic way. Also, I like documentaries because as a translator, I can work subtitling a film and that’s an interesting job to have.

There's a documentary I'll always remember: “Nanook of the North” (1922) even though it’s not my favourite one, it’s an interesting documentary considering the year it was filmed and also, it’s considered to be the first anthropological documentary film ever. There you can see the life of Inuit Eskimos, Nannok and his family.

What I really like about documentaries is that they’re non-fictional motion pictures so we should see real life and real experiences. I don’t have one single favourite documentary but here I left you the trailer of the latest I watched:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnOArGfIR0c

If interested in Chilean documentaries, please watch “La batalla de Chile” by Patricio Guzmán and you can also check this blog if you want more information:

http://documentaleschilenos.wordpress.com/

Blog Session 4 Instructions

Free Post 1

Dear Class,

How are you?

This is the first time you can choose the topic! In this link you'll find ideas to organise your ideas.

http://www.eslgold.com/writing/getting_ideas_organized.html

Please write 140 words minimum and don't forget to make three comments.

Best,

Belén

Blog Sample 3 Intructions

Dear Class,

How are you?

Today, the topic is technology. Think about the technological object you like the most and write about your favourite piece of technology.

Include:

a) What it is
b) When you got it
c) How you use it
d) How often you use it
e) Why you like it
f) What life would be like without it

Remember to make comments on three of your classmates posts and please write this in 130 words minimum.
The comments can't be "that's great" or "wow". Read the whole post and then make comments about how clear the information is or about your opinion respectfully, of course.

Good luck and have a great week,


Belén

My favourite piece of technology Sample Post

I must begin by saying I do have a love/hate relationship with technology in general. I value creativity and I think there are many important inventions but as I still write letters, I think we can still live without so much technology. Talking to my friend Chris who’s working in Yemen through Skype is fantastic, but at the same time I think it's not necessary to give technology an incredible amount of importance in your life.

In terms of technology, what I use the most are mp3 players. Last week I lost the one I got three years ago so I’m planning to get a new one as soon as I get paid.

I like mp3 players because of their size, you can carry them everywhere you go and some of them have very original designs as well. I use my mp3 every day mainly because I can listen to music and especially because it has a voice recorder! Also, it’s useful to keep my favourite family pictures, all the files I need for work and my studies, and videos of course.

I can imagine my life without an mp3 but now that I’m used to this piece of technology. I think I’d need something similar, specially to continue enjoying music!

Blog Session 2 Instructions

Dear Class,

This time please write about "Your expectations for a new semester"

Include:

a) The subjects you are doing
b) Extracurriculars you are taking
c) Other activities that you are part of at university
d) What you expect from this new academic period

Write about this in 110 words minimum and make comments on three of your classmates posts.

Best,

Belén

Sample Post 1

About me


My full name is María Belén Farías Gutiérrez but nobody calls me María Belén. I’m Belén, a single Chilean woman, I’m 33 years-old and I live in Santiago. I’m from Chile and I was born in the capital city, on a rainy day, on May 22nd 1979. We’re a five-member family, my parents plus my brother, sister and I; and I'm the youngest because my sister Male and brother Felipe both are older than me. I also have a younger step-brother, Mauricio, who’s 18 and a younger half-sister, Mariajosé, who’s 6. My parents got divorced in 2004 and in the same year I left home and went travelling to Europe for a couple of months so I could visit some of my friends there.

I studied in the same school for twelve years and I’m still in contact with most of my classmates. After that, when I was 17, I worked sporadically and studied English for a year because I didn’t know what to study as a career but I finally decided I wanted to be a translator. I graduated as a translator in 2001 and then studied Pedagogía en inglés so I became an English teacher in 2005 and also since the same year, I've been teaching Spanish to foreigners. Since 2010 I've also been working as a tour guide and with my boyfriend we have now our own tour business called Puelmapu.

I really like music and sports. I play capoeira, practice yoga and rock climbing but I can’t go climbing as often as I’d like to. I love dancing too and I don’t mind trying to learn new rhythms. I enjoy singing and I try to learn new songs in different languages. Also, I’ve tried to learn how to play some instruments but regularly I just play the tambourine.

Blog Session 1 Instructions

Dear Class,

Today, as your first post, please write about you. Include the following:

a) Birth info
b) Studies (Elementary, High School, University)
c) Family info
d) Hobbies
e) Others

Write this in 100 words minimum and don't forget to make comments on 3 of your classsmates' posts.

Best,

Belén

Welcome back to English!

Dear Class,

This is where you can always find the instructions to write in your blogs. Remember this is part of your learning process and you'll post every Wendesday.
It's very important you forget about google translator, please use online dicitonaries like www.wordreference.com or www.linguee.es

Best,

Belén