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 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 n°3 must be sent by November 15th.

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

Hi everyone!

We are already in the seventh post of this semester. This is the last topic we chose, and it's top five places to visit in Chile.
First I must say that I haven't traveled A LOT in my life, but I've been fortunate enough to visit some pretty beatiful places. Also I'd like to mention that more than the place, the company you enjoy while visiting there makes it a special occasion.

Having said that, here's my list:

Lota
Punta Arenas
Antofagasta
Caldera/Bahia Inglesa
Copiapó.

I'll tell you briefly about all of them:

Lota. I visited Lota about 4 years ago. I was invited by a friend of mine who is also a teacher of english and was born in there. She worked as a cultural guide in the ruins of the Coal mines so we took a tour around those amazing places and I loved the view of the sea.



Punta Arenas. I went there for work reasons. I was a monitor in an English Camp made by the ministry of education and had to prepare all the activities for a group of around 60 students. For a week we met wonderful southern people and they were super nice to us (the team and I). Even though I didn't have a big amount of time, it was an experience I treasure.

Antofagasta. My mother was born there and also, there are some members of my family living there. I've been there in different occasions and I've enjoyed it very much. The weather and the beaches are nice. Once again, the company makes a trip great, and I went to different places there with different groups of friends. La Portada is one place that's worth visiting there, a beautiful sight :)

These two last places are in the region of Atacama, where I lived for a year some years ago.
I got to live in Copiapó because I got a job as a ministry of education representative for the Atacama Region, and there I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful coastal city of Caldera. Not far from there, you can find one of the most beautiful beaches in our country. As you know I love cactus, and near that beach you can find many incredible chilean species.
Finally I'll say that Copiapó was a great place to live, and I met wonderful people there. Many people say that the city is ugly, but I believe it is a gorgeous valley.



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

"Animal I'd like to be"

Welcome all to the sixth post for this semester!
Now it's time to go with your second chosen topic, and this is one that particularly caught my attention when you were voting at the topic election. This topic is strongly related to our imaginations, and perceptions of what animals are.

Are humans animals? I believe so. If that was the case, I'd love to be a human hahaha, a fully developed one. I mean it from a very personal view, that today we've reached a point of extreme unnatural behaviors that are somehow assimilated as natural, since they're socially accepted and openly promoted. I could base this in the amount of mental problems we suffer as a species, but maybe that's just a crazy guy's opinion. I wish we could all live according to our inner instincts and paying attention, as animals do, to our environment and the natural processes of the earth.

Now, if I think of becoming a different animal, I think I'd like to be a Feline. I'm not sure if a tiger, a lion, or even a fat indoor cat.
 
Tigers and Lions are in our imagination because they're big felines and famously fierce but I imagine them just as really big cats. I have two pet cats and eventhough a lot it's said about these animals, I don't agree with those people who say cats don't care about their owners and that they only want attention or food from their masters. A good reason I have, to say this, is that cats can easily feed by themselves as they're fantastic hunters, and also they are extremely agile.
Being a big cat would be amazing, any animal that would cross me should really think twice to start a confrontation with me, and I could roam free in my natural habitat.

So that's it for now, now you tell me about the animal you would be!
Here's a gif that shows how I would be as an indoor cat hahaha


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.

Post five

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: 210 words
- Remember: NO TRANSLATOR! web dictionaries are allowed, and of course you can call me and I'll go to your seat.