One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell

When I started writing blogs I didn't use to introduce the topics until one students told me he would have liked to know what my experience was regarding one topic. That's when I decided I should write posts myself, instead of just asking you to write things...

Sometimes it's difficult to find things to say, specially when students vote for topics such as football, sports, or videogames... things I hate!

Personally, I think having a blog is a really useful tool for learning English. First you are forced to write. Also, you can ask your teacher for help and advice, which is very useful for improving and learning. Additionally, you read what your classmates' write and leave comments, which is a way of interacting.

In my experience working with blogs, I have seen how students improve, provided they ask for help during the lab sessions, and provided they use the dictionary and not the translator (¬¬). Students don't usually understand the difference between using one or the other... pity! Because they are extremely different. Besides, any teacher can tell when a student has used a translator, because the texts look fake and Spanish like...

What do you think of this blogging experience? Think about it because that's what you will have to write about today.

In your entry you can mention:

- Did you enjoy it? Why? Why not?
- Do you think you improved your English? Why? How?
- Give your opinion of the advantages and disadvantages of blogging in the English class.

- Minimum 200 words
- Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

Cool Under Heat

Just the other day I was thinking about this... I've always claimed that I prefer autumn and winter over the other seasons. However, I think that's changed. Being now in winter I've come to realise I hate it. I hate feeling cold and how quickly my dogs get smelly... I also hate the fact that when it's cold I never feel like playing with them because I never want to go outside... I hate not being able to go for drinks with friends outside, at the terrace or something. 

Nevertheless, this does not mean I like the summer either. I hate the summer more than I hate the winter... I hate sweating so much, and I do sweat! I hate not being able to take naps without the fan on... I hate having to be slim (xD) so as not to look bad in my clothes (I'm shallow, I know). I hate eating salad. 

I think if I had to choose my favourite season I wouldn't even choose autumn or spring. Autumn, for me, is kind of the same as winter, to be honest. Not nice. Spring is crazy, it's cold and sunny and you cannot leave the house without a sweater anyway... I think the perfect season for me would be something like summer nights, but when they're normal, not extreme like the ones we have today. Being able to go out without a jacket and without feeling too hot you can't stop sweating and stuff. A season which is not windy, so my bangs stay in their position all day long (shallow!!!). Besides, if the world had only those seasons homeless people would not suffer sleeping on the streets (deep!!) and that would definitely be great. 

What about you? Do you have a favourite season? Tell us about it now. 

In your post you can mention: 

- What it is and why you like it 

- What is the good/bad thing about it 

- What do you usually do during that season

- Etc. 

 Write about 190 words. 

Leave comments on 3 of your classmates entries.

Pretty Green

Hi all. Today we have a new webquest for you. Remember webquests have individual marks, so you MUST do it!!!

Since the world is worse each day in terms of pollution and stuff, we thought it would be interesting to use that topic in today's webquest, so follow the instructions and apply what you learn today to your life, that way we will be able to make the world a better place (or place at all). 

Remember to check your e-mail to find the form you have to send me with your answers. The questions and instructions are in it. 

The Place I Love

This is my old bedroom

If I could choose one place in the world that I really like I would have to choose my bedroom. Seriously, I know it’s not really original and stuff, but whenever I feel uncomfortable somewhere I dream of coming home and resting in my bed, so I guess that means something, right?

My bedroom is very big and I have many things in it. I have a TV, my computer, my books, my CDs and music players, so it is a fun place to be. Also, I have a heater and a fan, so it’s suitable for any season. The only thing it does not have is a cooker. I think if I had a cooker it would be the perfect bedroom, although it would smell like food and it would be kind of disgusting in a way. But still, it would be an even better place to be, I think. I spend lots of time in my bedroom, I have everything I need in it and I can study there or do leisure activities when I want to.

What about you? Do you have a favourite place in the world? It could be a place in your house or a place you used to visit when you were little that is full of nice memories. It could also be a place you spend a lot of time now. Whichever place it is, tell us about it ;)

In your post you can include:

- the reason why you like this place

- what you can do or use to do there

- a descripction of the place

- the reason why it means something to you

- etc.

Write at least 180 words.

Leave comments on 3 of your classmates’ entries.

Time For Heroes

Today we have two topics for you to choose from. This means you have to CHOOSE ONE!

The topics are:
1) a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.
2) an expert on your field that you admire.

Below you'll find the instructions for the two topics, follow the ones that belong to the topic you choose (duh!)

Post 1 (Instructions).

Write about a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.

You should:

- provide a link

- describe the website (sections, features,etc)

- say how often you visit the site

- explain why you like the site.

* Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

* Word Count: 170

Post 2 (Instructions)

Who is a person/expert on your field that you admire?

Say:

-Who she/he is.(short biography)

-What she/he has done. (examples of their work)
-Why you like her/him.-Include his/her image

* Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

* Word Count: 170

Down in Albion

You'll never find me in this picture

When I was 16 all I wanted in my whole life was to learn English, go to England and work there doing the dishes at some bar or restaurant. Seriously, with my best friend from school we used to daydream about this (well, I'm not sure she daydreamed about the 'washing the dishes' part, because she's never liked doing dishes in the first place, but she certainly dreamt about being there with me).

We were so silly, really, because we had this strange idea that life there would be different and funnier than life here (as if there were no Sundays in England or something) and that we would meet Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, and Thom Yorke so easily just because we were Chilean, hence, exotic (yeah, right) and we would have their thousand babies and all.

Well, our original plan didn't really include the washing the dishes bit as part of our goal, really. What we wanted to achieve once there was higher education and stuff. We wanted to study film making and become film directors and make movies and meet Ewan McGregor and have his babies also (OK. We didn't really want to have their babies, but we wouldn't have minded...) I know we were kind of desperate back then, but that's one of the things that can happen when you study at a girls school xD

For us, England was a dream. We were young and shallow (the latter I still am, though), we didn't care about imperialism and things like that, we thought our lives would change if we spoke English, we wanted to go to England and visit all those places we'd heard about...

I think we were quite silly, really, but one is allowed to be silly when she's in her teens, I think... so I don't feel embarrassed about it at all.

Now, what you have to do today is tell us what country you'd like to visit. In your post, include the following:

- 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.

Remember to:
- Leave comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts
- Word Count: at least 160 words

Ask me if you have any queries!!

People Take Pictures of Each Other

I like this picture a lot. I think it really captures they myth that has been created around the person in it. 

That person is Ian Curtis, the singer of one of my favourite bands, Joy Division.

I don't know if you know who he is or if you have heard this band. They were an English band formed in 1976. They only released 2 records, the first one while Ian was still alive, the second one after he had already died. 

His life story is quite interesting. He got epilepsy and that is believed to be one of the reasons why he decided to commit suicide back in 1980 (since the medicine he had to take to keep his disease under control is supposed to have caused him depression) among other things, such as the fact he had a lover and no longer wanted to be with his wife, or something like that (the essence of those troubled times can be felt in one of their best songs: Love Will Tear Us Apart). 

When he died, the band continued to exist, but they changed their name to New Order, in case you know them. However, Joy Division's music is really different from New Order's. Joy Division are considered a Post-Punk band, while New Order played electronic, synthpop music.

Anyway, this photo was taken by Anton Corbijn, a Dutch photographer, music video and film director. He is famous for having worked with U2 and Depeche Mode, so maybe you have seen some of his work... or maybe you haven't xD

The story of the photo is simple, it was taken during one of Joy Division's rehearsals, when Ian was taking a break. That was back in the 70s.

Today, you'll have to choose one of your favourite photos and tell us about it.

In your post you can mention:

- Who took it
- What it shows
- When it was taken
- Why you like it
- Any other information you think is important.

Write a minimum of 150 words.
Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs

-----

If you want to know more about Joy Division and Ian Curtis in particular, you can watch Control, a movie directed by the same Anton Corbijn about Ian's life with the band. This is the trailer:

London Calling

Hi all! Today we have a special task or what is known as a WEBQUEST!! Yay!!!

A Webquest is a quest you must do on the web, hence the name. The idea is that you look for information using Internet ;)

For the task you have to imagine we are very rich at Universidad de Chile and are going to give you and your classmates a great end of year study trip to London, all expenses paid!

If you are going to London you will have to do things there, right? Remember the University is paying for the imaginary trip, so we have to invest all of their (our ¬¬) money in great activities that involve knowing the place, not getting drunk or other silly things you young people do [I don't do those things because I'm not young anymore :P :'( ]

Below you'll find a list of things you want to do while you are there. Follow the links and fill in the table I sent to your e-mail. Then, e-mail the list back to me ;).

For each location say:

1. What day you will visit.
2. How much you will have to pay to get in.
3. Which Tube station you will travel to (nearest to location), and the zone it is in.

What will you do on the other days? (2 full days / 4 half days / 1 full day 2 half days)

1. Search the web for other things to do in London.
2. What is the total cost?

Half Day Outings

London Eye
http://www.londoneye.com/

The British Museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/

The Tower of London
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/ (including Crown Jewels)

Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum
http://www.madametussauds.com/london/

The Natural History Museum
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/

The Tate Modern Art Gallery
http://www.tate.org.uk/



Full day

Kew Gardens
http://www.kew.org/

Camden Market
http://www.camden-market.org/

Some Girls are Bigger than Others

For me, the best TV show of all time has to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This TV show tells the story of a girl who suddenly becomes the slayer, a girl in charge of protecting the world from all the demons and vampires on it.

Buffy’s story is very sad, as she had to struggle with a responsibility she never wanted in the first place, having to do things she doesn’t really want to do and being considered as a trouble maker even by her mother, who doesn’t know the truth about Buffy’s behaviour, that is, the huge responsibility she has on her shoulders.

However, that’s not all there is about Buffy! The plot thickens when she falls in love with a vampire, the only vampire who has a soul (hence, he doesn’t kill people). His name is Angel (or Angelus when he becomes an evil vampire). Angel is one of the oldest vampires in the world, who was known for being really evil until he made the mistake of killing a gipsy princess. When that happened, the gipsies put a spell on him giving him his soul back, which made him feel really bad for all the evil things he had done in his past. Because of this, Angel spends his never-ending life looking for the slayers and helping them fight the evil in the world. That’s how he meets Buffy, and eventually falls in love with her. Now this bit is really terrible, as they love each other but there’s nothing they can do about their love, first, because she’s supposed to kill him, secondly because he’ll never die and Buffy will, and third because even when they love each other they cannot ‘consummate their love’ as that is the only thing that can take Angelus soul away, which would make him extremely evil again.

I really liked Buffy! Lots of things happened on this TV show, things that could make you think about life, what’s real, responsibilities, and other things. When I was in my teens, my sisters used to watch this TV show and I would laugh about them because I thought it was terrible, but when I started watching it that completely changed. I became addicted to it. For me, Buffy was a real inspiration, especially when I witnessed unfair things happening around me. For example, one day these people were making fun of a Japanese boy on the bus and I defended him feeling all Buffy. Another day this guy started telling me really gross sexual things on the street and I kicked his ass and hit him real hard feeling all Buffy. Buffy rocks! She was a girl and she fought against evil monsters, she killed vampires, demons and trolls. I really wanted to be like her (even if instead of trolls I had to fight horny men on the street, or racist people on the bus). Buffy is the best and I cried my eyes out when she died (SPOILER). I didn’t even want to eat my hamburger that night and I never lose appetite (especially when there are hamburgers for supper). In the end I ate it anyway (but I didn’t enjoy it, OK? Because I was really sad).

Is there a TV Show you really like? I really hope there is one because today you have to write about it. In your entry, you could include the following things:

- What’s the TV show about

- Why you like it

- How it is different from other TV shows you’ve watched

- How it made you feel

- What the characters were like

- Etc.

• Write at least 140 words
• Please, leave comments on 3 of your classmates' posts.
• Include a photo/video/something visual on your entry.

Techno D-Day

I love technology.

Seriously! When I was little I liked Barbies and then, when I probably should have started liking clothes, handbags and shoes, something happened and I started liking technology. I think it mostly has to do with the fact that I like music, films and the like, instead of looking pretty... or tidy... (I know it's silly, but I'm just trying to find a reason here, I'm no specialist, OK?)

As I was saying, I love technology. Whenever I bought something new my father told me to wear it when it's cold (as a way of saying I should have bought clothes instead). And I think he was right (unfortunately), because I haven't got any nice clothes to wear to work (I'm always waiting for my superiors to complain about the things I wear... though I think we should be allowed to wear trainers and our regular clothes to work instead of wearing customes which make us look even older - I know I'm almost 30, just so you know)...

Well, the last thing I bought was a hi-fi system last week. I had to do it, because the one I had bought with my PAE 12 years ago got ruined (don't tell the social worker at Filosofía I said this), but my favourite piece of technology has to be my iPod. It's so snob! But I always wanted to have one and now I have it and I can even play solitario on it. I hate solitario, but I love my iPod so I play it anyway because it's in it. And the iPod is so cool! It makes playlists with the songs I like most, which is like the coolest thing ever, because the mp3 player I used to have, said it did the same thing but in the end it played songs I didn't even know why I put in it in the first place...

This week you have to write about your favourite piece of technology. If you don't like technology you could tell us why (because you have to write something whether you want it or not).

You have to mention:

- What it is.

- When you got it.

- How you use it.

- How often you use it.

- Why you like it.

- What life would be like with out it.

>> 130 words minimum.

>> Include a picture.

>> Comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

Atrocity Exhibition

I have been to a few concerts that have been really important for me (and I meant REALLY), for example the two by Radiohead and the four by Morrissey I've been to. However, one of the shows I have enjoyed most in my whole freaking life was Jarvis Cocker’s. That show was amazing, mostly because the guy is amazing. He’s funny, he interacted with people in the funniest way (making references to Chilean slang when introducing his songs), and he is just the best performer I have ever seen live. Seriously, he’s the best performer ever. He beats grumpy Morrissey, Thom Yorke, amazingly-cool P.J. Harvey and the oh-so-stylish Brett Anderson singing Suede’s first and second album’s marvellous songs.

Just so you have an idea of how powerful his performance is, let me tell you about my friend Felipe.

When we had just entered university, my friends and I had a study session at my friend Veronica’s house. I don’t know why, but I took a Pulp video (yes, a video!) to that study session, so at one point after all the studying (yeah, right) we decided to watch the video. I think that’s when Felipe saw the light, because after that he wanted to be just like Jarvis, straight like Jarvis and all (though that didn’t go very well), he downloaded Pulp’s albums and listened to them all the time, probably imagining Jarvis twitching on stage whilst he listened. I’m sure he agrees Jarvis’s show was the best ever, even when he didn’t sing any of Pulp’s songs (I love his solo work so that wasn’t a problem) that is a show I wish I had videotaped or engraved in my brain or something (I think I have it in mp3 somewhere).

So, I'm writing all of this because today we have two options for the task, but you only have to write about ONE, just like I did.

You can write about a singer/band you like or a concert/exhibition you've been to.


If you write about a band / singer, you have to include:
- name
- what do you know about them?
- what type of music do they play?
- why do you like this artist/band?
- what's your favorite song? why?
- publish a picture or video
- 120 words minimum
- make 3 comments on your classmates posts.

If you write about a concert/exhibition, you have to include:

- what was it?
- when did you go?
- where was it?
- why did you like it?
- mention more details about it
- publish a related picture or video
- 120 words minimum
- make 3 comments on your classmates posts.

Let me know if you have any questions!!

Sing Your Life

This thing looks like the toilet seat...

I was born 30 years ago [ :( ] in Santiago. I have 2 more sisters and I'm the one in the middle, the closest to the family's black sheep, the crazy one xD. When I was really little I hated school and studying, but I did it anyway because my mother wanted me to have good marks and all. We moved a lot when I was little. I've lived in La Florida, Independencia, Maipu, Lo Prado and Santiago centro. As a consequence, I went to many different schools where I met lots of people whose friendships I didn't really kept (with the exception of my friend Veronica, whom I met in my last school, CCP). After school I entered university. I studied English Language and Literature at Universidad de Chile. It took me ages to finish because, as I already told you, I've never really liked studying, so I didn't really go to university that much. However, when I realised it was the best thing to do, or I'd have to work as a telephone operator forever, I started attending, I passed all my courses and I finally finished. Then, I was a normal, not-studying person for a year until I decided it was time to study again. This time I got my Education degree (it means I am a real teacher 1313). I studied Education in the same university, same campus (the best campus of all :P). It was a good choice, because there I met my boyfriend :) although he hasn't been the best of boyfriends lately ¬¬. After that I did a diploma at PUC (or 'puke' xD… kidding!!), and now I'm doing a Master in Linguistics at Juan Gomez Millas (U. de Chile, again… and forever!!! <3). I don't really have hobbies, because I work a lot and I study a lot, so I don't have much free time… I could say my hobby is eating and sleeping, but that's a really depressing thing to say, so forget I said it. I love music. Music is the reason why I learnt English in the first place. I don't have children, I don't really think I'd like to have any... I've just never felt that need. However, you never know what will happen in the future, so I wouldn't say I'll never have a baby, although chances are that will be the case, which is fine by me anyway. Finally, I think it's important that I mention I have 4 dogs. Why? Because I love them to bits!

Triple X picture

Now you're probably wondering 'why is she telling us all of this we don't really care about?' well, the answer is easy, because this week you have to write YOUR auto biographies!! So I wrote mine as a way of introducing the topic 1313. Clever, huh? :P

So let's get to work!! I'm really looking forward to reading about you :D

In your biography you have to include:

- Birth info

- Studies info (elementary/high school/university)

- Family Info

- Hobbies

- Others...

> Number of words: 120 (minimum)

> Make comments on three of your classmates posts

Panic

Hello dear students and welcome to our first blogging session. Today we'll get acquainted with how this thing (blogger) works, and you'll also have to write a little and comment on your classmates's blog entries :)

Just read on and don't forget to ask me whatever you want (related to blogging) ;)

Session 1 Create blog / Link classmates / Personalize blog / Write intro post min 70 words

A) Follow the instructions and create your blog

1. go to: http://www.blogger.com/

2. click: create your blog now

3. if you have a google account: sign in first if you don’t have a google account: create a google account (step 1)

4. (step 2) name your blog

5. (2) choose any template you like

6. start posting (dashboard)

Make sure you select English as your working language and activate the comments option (automatic by default)

B) Link your teacher’s blog and ALL your classmates’ blogs to yours. To do this you need to write your URL on the board.

C) Write a short introductory/welcome post. (70 words) Say who you are and what objectives you hope to achieve with your blog.

D) Leave comments on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

E) Personalize your blog (e.g. add a picture, survey, change colour fonts, etc).