Post 10

Dear all, 

As you know, this is the last post for this english course.

I have personally enjoyed getting to know you a little more from your posts, and also I've seen your development :)

Today's topic is:

English Language Challenges

As we finish this semester, you'll notice that from now on it will either become easier, or much more difficult to keep on learning english. I say this because academically, you won't be using english as much, and also because if you decide not to continue practising, you'll probably forget some of the things you've already learnt. Now, if you do want to speak english, as a professional tool, a personal goal, or even for specific purposes related to your personal life, you'll have a chance to do new things with english. Read magazines related to your workfield? or maybe join conversation clubs, you name it. Now, tell me about your thoughs!

Some questions that can guide your post are:

> 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: 260

- Make comments on 3 of your partners' posts.

Post 9

Hello everyone!

We're already ending this semester, today's post is a special one.
That's because you'll write about the changes that you'd do to your program. 




Alright, here it goes!
Write about some changes that could be made to your study program (career)
Among others, think about:

> The curriculum (the subjects you have to study)
> Workload and length of studies
> Faculty facilities (buildings and infrastructure)
> Use of technology
> Teaching methods



This time you have to write 250 words, and you should only comment in your classmates' posts.

VIDEO n°3 Announcement

Video number 3 must be sent by november 13th.

Post eight

SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Even though I know some of you like to live in the moment, and don't plan ahead your futures, today's post will make you think of your future plans for this summer's holiday. 

Would you vacation in chile or abroad?

Who would you like to visit?
What activities would you do?
Is there any place you would like to visit?
What types of food would you prefer?

Please don't tell me you'll stay in the whole summer

On my personal side, I can't really tell you what I'm doing this summer vacation, because I don't know where I'll live by then. I'm living in a house that doesn't belong to me, I have land to build myself a house but that's an expensive thing to do. I'll probably have to start building the house I'll live in for some years of my life, so that's pretty exciting.
As for vacations, I've discussed traveling to the south with a good friend of mine, so that's probably what I'll do. I've been in Punta Arenas before, but this would be different, because I'd have a great company to enjoy it :)

So, think about what you would love to do this summer holidays and write about it!!
Now it's your turn:

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on my post.
- Minimum Word Count: 240 words
- Remember: NO TRANSLATOR! web dictionaries are allowed, and of course you can call me and I'll go to your seat.

Post seven

Final chosen topic: Camping.

Dear all, today we're finishing the with the third of our chosen topics, and we'll have three more to go!! that means we're also very close to the end of this semester so cheer up!! it's almost going to be november!! you can do this!!

Now, this topic was voted for many of you, so I assume you have great camping stories. Here's my post:

I don't think I ever liked outdoor life as a child. I was stupid. hahaha I now love things related to nature, and being exposed to it, actually, to spend time around nature, is a marvelous thing I believe. Specially having no electricity around, and the posibility to observe the sky with little to none light pollution, is a privilege that not everyone gets to have these days.

One particular good camping story is the one I lived when I went to the north. We stayed along the coast of the regions of Antofagasta and Atacama, and one particular night, we parked the car near "Cañón Botija" and set the tents trying to use the car as a wind blocker (which was pretty strong at the moment when we were setting the tents and inflating our matresses).



After we were done setting everything, we were free to eat and smoke, which lead to an hour of relaxing, and then, the best part occured. We had talked during the day about stars and the sky, but now we had the whole sky for ourselves, no lights around, and only the sound of the waves crashing in the distance. My friend had an application installed in his phone which shows the map of the sky, with the different formation of stars and their names. It was amazing, when you're a kid you hear about some of the constellations and biggest stars' names, but this was different because not only I was able to understand their names, also their shapes, and more importantly, to use the stars as a means of guidance.
Even though the trip was specifically made to see cactus, this camping and the star gazing night was an excellent addition to the things I discovered that time :)

That's my post!
Now it's your turn:

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on my post.
- Minimum Word Count: 230 words
- Remember: NO TRANSLATOR! web dictionaries are allowed, and of course you can call me and I'll go to your seat.

Post six

Postgraduate studies.

Write about a postgraduate course that you would consider taking in the future.
Include:

- Reasons to do the course
- Subject(s) you would like to study
- Where you would like to study (Chile or abroad)
- How you would like to study (distance learning, blended system, part-time course, etc)
- Any other relevant ideas

Here's my sample post for this topic:

I have to start by saying that for me to study a new career or to deepen my knowledge in English teaching, a lot of changes would have to occur, as I'm not willing to get a ton of debt to specialize again. I studied my career with CAE and I really didn't know what it was when I was 18. So now, ten years later, I'd consider it twice before signing a contract with a bank that will profit from student loans.

Now, if the conditions were right, I'd probably study something related to Linguistics. Linguistics is the science that studies language, not only knowing how to speak, but also how languages are learnt and how different contexts can affect different languages. In other words, it could be said like this:

"Each human language is a complex set of abilities and knowledge that enables speakers of the language to communicate with each other, to express ideas, hypotheses, emotions, desires, and all the other things that need expressing. Linguistics is the study of these knowledge systems in all their aspects: how is such a knowledge system structured, how is it acquired, how is it used in the production and comprehension of messages, how does it change over time?"

Understanding these factors can really help a teacher become more able to teach a wide varierty of students and also, in my opinion, knowing about how languages work, can reveal some of the patterns that can be found in human behavior.

The aspects of Linguistics in which I'm more interested in are Sociolinguistics and Psycholinguistics.

Now it's your turn:

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on my post.
- Minimum Word Count: 220 words
- Remember: NO TRANSLATOR! web dictionaries are allowed, and of course you can call me and I'll go to your seat.

Second video turn in 16/10

Dear all, this post is to inform you about the upcoming video turn in!
Email me if you have any doubts.