Advantages and disadvantages of using blogs in the English classroom

When it comes to learn English (and more general, "languages") all the people involved has to think how to make it fun and also assure that you'll really learn and so on, be satisfied with the achievements. A very good example is made by the modern idea of using blogs. That is an idea that link the fact that young people and moreover, all the people, has to face up that using technology is one of the most important skills you need to develop and the requirements that all learning has. However someone could say that speaking is the real way of learning languages. So then, in facing with methods as blogs to learn languages, what’re we gaining and what are we losing?

Blogs might be considered has the new and modern way of exercising languages in general (we will focus on English this time). You write and express ideas, emotion, feelings, likes, dislikes, etc so you have to deal with grammar, meaning that you have to know how to but word in a sentence, the right order, the meaning and deal with vocabulary (and then the words you use constantly you keep them in you mind). For expressing your self you have to know the exactly words for others to understand that do you want to say.

But (we cannot have it all), on the process of writing, although it’s a very important one, you have the time for thinking what you want to say and to find the words (www.wordreference.com and others) for doing it. In comparison to speaking or listening, when you need a good pronunciation for being understood and for understand too (you have to know how to pronounce the words), or you don’t have time to looking up on the dictionary or thing if what you’re saying is or not correct and a quickly mind that could process the other’s speeches. When you speak you need to have all the structures and vocabulary in your mind. So, if you go on a tour to England, despite of having the most interesting posts or the better written one’s you won’t necessarily be prepared to talk or would have really learn English.

So, to summarize: using blogs for learning English is very useful and a very good way of learning grammar and vocabulary, however it has to be think has a complementary method not the only one. That way, the process of learning it better and has complete all the dimensions (speaking, writing, listening) that you need for really learn English.

About cinema: Rear Window

Two weeks ago, my father, my sisters and I saw the 'Rear Window' on the TV. This is an excellent film directed by Alfred Hitchcock on 1954 and written by John Michael Hayes. Started in by James Stewart and Grace Kelly, the film is about a man that had and accident and has to be like for three weeks with a cast on his leg, on a wheelchair. So, he has nothing to do but look at his neighbours. All seems to be very boring but suddenly he sees something very unusual. A man, one who lives with his seek wife almost on front of the window of our hero, goes out and come in during the daybreak. And in the next days he (the main character) doesn’t see the man’s wife anymore. What happened? Convincing also his girlfriend, they start looking for answers (he calls a friend who works as detective). And just looking at the man’s apartment and relating one fact with another, they realised that he killed is wife because he wanted to leave with his lover.
The film keep’s your attention all the time. You cannot stop seen it, because you feel like you need to know if the main character is just dreaming and imaging things because he is too bored or he (and all the characters that believe on him) is right. Also the images, the photography is incredible well done. The distribution of the element is very carefully, and it denotes a meticulous work. For me it is a piece of art that everybody should see. Actually, I would rate it as a must see movie.

Assignment 4. Everybody, let's blog!

Looking up for blogs to comment, I found Camilo Razeto’s. At first I thought it was like “empty”, that’s the sensation I had with the white background. Then reading all the texts I thought it has very attractive things: the content of the posts is very suitable, also very amusing, with interesting reflections. I agree with him about the piece of art he picked up. So, despite the design, which I don’t really like because I think it’s sort of boring maybe because the lack of colours on it or pictures/images/ etc (maybe the simplicity of it was the intention), anyway, despite it I enjoy very much reading most of the assignments (some of them weren’t that interesting mostly because the assignments it selves weren’t attractive). Although, except for the colour thing, it has a very good presentation, like “clean”.
About the links part, I would like to emphasize the great/enjoyable link it has and also the post about the favorite work of art, because about it he was very creative and didn’t refer to the classical art and he made a link between music and an image than can be called art (both music and pictures like that expression of art). I know he really like music so I think it’s great that he was capable to mix lots of interests on his work.

And the picture is something that he might enjoy as "music lover".

My favourite work of art

This is a wonderful work of art from Edouard Manet, named “Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe” and it’s in Paris at the Orsay museum. In English it means “the lunch on the grass”. I like it very very much. I don’t remember exactly when I first saw it, but when I started loving it, was when me and my classmates went to France for the studies trip for three weeks on February 2006.
I think it’s very beautiful and interesting, it’s unique. The look of the naked woman has an incredible effect on the person that is seen it. Just like if she could actually sees you, werever you move, she still looking. And the contrast between the dreassed men and the woman, also calls one atention.

Anyway, I think it’s gorgeus.

Monte Verde. Seaweed, Food, Medicine, and the Peopling of South America

In this article, the authors (Tom D.Dillehay, C. Ramírez,M. Pino,M. B. Collins,J. Rossen,J. D. Pino-Navarro) talk about finding that has been done in Monte Verde, a place located in the region of Los Lagos. The species of marine algae found, (in the Monte Verde II site) dated back 14,220 and 13,980 calendar years before the present, apparently were used by humans for medicine and food. This finding brings new evidence that supports the main idea of early coastal migration, so maybe the south America’s peopling could had been done by sea. On the other hand, in opposite to Clovis theory (early migration from Bering to the north of America), which still very popular, this sites show earlier occupation in the south coasts.

A web site I enjoy visiting

I really enjoy visiting a site called "la cuerda". I found it about seven years ago when I was looking for some lyrics of songs I use to like at that time (of groups such as Limp Bizkit, The Offspring, Green Day). I’m not quite sure but I think it was my good friend Amanda, from school who told me about it. Nowadays I don’t visit it as much as I use to, maybe five or six times in the year. Yesterday, for example, I visit it because I needed to show some chords of a song to my brother because he had homework to do about chords.
However I really enjoy this site, just knowing it exist since I think it’s very useful and practical, and mostly because if I like a song, I know that I can play it on my piano with the information that the site provide me.
Here is the link: http://lacuerda.net/

Language, culture and world's vision

Until yesterday all my efforts were concentrated to work on "language, culture and wolrd's vision", therefore I've been reading, studying and talking about it. This topic has raised lots of discussions and it’s investigated by many disciplines. And, so far the main question is, does our culture and language mold the way we think and conceive the world?
Searching for information I’ve found that in the 60’s some experts on linguistic come up with the idea that language molded the world’s vision of the people. They said that when we talk, we communicate things that belong to our “intimate world”; hence, what, how and when we speak could give very fundamental information about the way one person conceives the reality. Even more, they saw as possible that through language we could discover ideas that underlie the speaker’s culture. We cannot forget that through language we transmit/ express/ communicate our culture. That’s why, on the other hand, also the importance of studying language in its sociocultural context more than the formal structure of it, took place in the postulate of linguistic field. Quickly the topic become popular and lots of research started developing it. Nowadays, although there are different opinions (as always) the importance of this topic is recognized and studied through the world.
I’ve been reading lots of researches that demonstrated with practical examples how this works and it’s incredible for one side and sometimes it seems so obvious for the other. So, I would really like to do some investigation for example on kids of different cultures, or socioeconomic stratums so one could applies the knowledge and make some people understand that ones culture makes one to think the world on a particularly way that perfectly could differ from other, arguing with languages researches.
I find this very interesting because it has the key to understand that people’s culture and therefore people’s language makes them conceive differently the reality. Those things that one think that are normal or truth, other can find ridiculous and strange. So if we all could understand that, we could live better, not thinking that we are the best and we’ve the reason but knowing that our is one of the thousands ways to think the world. Therefore, there were lots of unjustifiable and senseless wars and all could live in harmony.

There're two web sites that have lots of information:

http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/field/
http://www.sil.org/linguistics/fieldwork.html

A great song

Well, I don’t really like this band that much, so I don’t know too much details of them. Now going on internet I found that they are from Los Angeles, they’re four (three men and a woman). I don’t remember exactly when the song was a the “new hit” but I’ll say around 2003. They still singing as a band, but almost two of them as single albums now. I don’t think they are different from the typical “pop band”(actually the others songs of them are shallow and senseless), but seems cool to me that songs with real content, that talk about the real problems we live nowadays in the world, could be listened by thousand of people (also called “the masses”) so they can stop for a while and think how we live, how we cope everyday with all the people and all the situations…

Where is the love?

What's wrong with the world mama?
People living like ain´t got no mamas
I think the whole worlds addicted to the drama
Only attracted to the things that bring you trauma
Overseas yeah we trying to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here living
In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And if you hating you're bound to get irate
Yeah madness is what you demonstrate
And that's exactly how anger works and operates
You gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love y'all

People killing people dying
Children hurting you hear them crying
Can you practice what you preach
Would you turn the other cheek?
Father Father Father help us
Send some guidance from above
Cause people got me got me questioning
Where is the love?

It just ain't the same all ways have changed
New days are strange is the world the insane?
If love and peace so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations dropping bombs
Chemical gases filling lungs of little ones
With ongoing suffering
As the youth die young
So ask yourself is the loving really strong?
So I can ask myself really what is going wrong
With this world that we living in
People keep on giving in
Making wrong decisions
Only visions of them living and
Not respecting each other
Deny thy brother
The wars' going on but the reasons' undercover
The truth is kept secret
Swept under the rug
If you never know truth
Then you never know love
Where's the love y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the truth y'all?(I don't know)
Where's the love y'all?

Chorus

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I'm getting older y'all people get colder
Most of us only care about money making
Selfishness got us following the wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting their young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what the see in the cinema
Whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness and equality
Instead of spreading love, we're spreading anomosity
Lack of understanding, leading us away from unity
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling under
That's the reason why sometimes I'm feeling down
It's no wonder why sometimes I'm feeling under
I gotta keep my faith alive, until love is found


This song is about the bad things that happen in the world nowadays and it wonders about love (where is it?!!), yet it’s no depressing but motivated to change (at least for me). I think the meaning of it is very explicit... It brings lots of issues like wars, terrorism, pollution, discrimination, egoism, the manipulation of information; things that are “in the air”, that one thinks when one sees the news at the TV or reads the newspaper, or just live. The “tv culture” that almost everybody loves (not just likes but adores), the famous people that appears and the commercials telling you how to think, how to dress, how to look like, etc. Also the manipulation that medias does with the information. And, more than anything, the hate that surround us. Obviously the songs refers mostly to United States for example when it mentioned the CIA or the KKK, it talks about their reality, but I think it worth for our country too. For example, another issue it takes is discrimination, a very stupid and ridiculous thing but happens a lot here.
To me is all that, with I agree actually, and it remembers me that you have to do things if you want something to change, more than saying how terrible the world is, you have to start changing very little details like the way you talk to the bus driver or getting more interested in what your sister has to say. I know that sometimes is very difficult to get out of the crap, because of the stress full system of life we are part of, too many eager to get more and more power, forgetting about other people, all the selfishness make us to forget that we could be nicer and supportive. But the day changes so much when someone says something nice to you or when you do something, even a little gesture, and that makes others really happy. Also this song has been very important for a few people that I care very much about, so it “charge” of their reflections and the things we’ve talk too.

"Recommended Web Sites in Anthropology"

http://www.studysphere.com/Site/Sphere_6766.html

This first site is very interesting because it has lots of articles (also in another languages) about most of the anthropological areas (linguistic, cultural, biological, even paleoanthropology and others). The articles has been written by very different people from different universities (and they represent them because the name of the university appears on the web) across the world, so one can have opinions from cultures and realities very diverse.


The interest thing about this other site is that it’s directly linked with an Australian museum (online) so ,apart from the articles and different archaeological collections you can visit it from your house. Also it defines what anthropology is, so one can have a little vision. Here is the link:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/anthropology.html


Hope you enjoy them.

Last weekend....

Last weekend... last weekend... It was kind of different from my tipical weekend. Why? Well, I went out on friday, wich is not actually weird (on the contrary, it always happend). So, on the saturday's morning I was with a friend at my dad's house, although he wasn't there. We took a great breakfast and we sat on the couch to see a movie ("wing´s of desire"... that´s good life, isn´t it?) and we were in the best of it when my mom called and told me that I had to be at my house early because we were going to go to a especial place that afternoon for a ritual. Hence, and considering that I had to buy some clothes because I had a serious "clothes lack", we stopped the movie, got dressed quickly, and went out as fast as we could with a destination: Patronato. There we bought some clothes, laught a lot and around three pm, she went to her house and I went to meet my mom and my sisters to go to the ritual. It was in Colina, so it was a long trip. It was really wonderful... nothing else to say.
Sunday was the tipical sunday when I´m at my mom´s house. We get up late, we get breakfast and my grandmother arrives. Then we do nothing for a while until my mom start cooking and that means that we have to go and cook or do whatever is necesary (cook, clean, etc). Then, around 3 pm, we have lunch. Then on the afetnoon we all see a movie (wich means take a nap) or me and my sisters study.
Then my mom takes my grandmother to the subway, and the day is over...
That was my last weekend. But this one I´ll be at my dad´s so it would be different. One weekend with my mom, one with my dad, that´s how it works. But always with my sisters and brother so there is a picture of us.

About the article

How the First Olympics Worked

1.- Why did you select this article?

I selected this article because it is related to history, and I enjoy really much learning about it. I think that the knowledge that it provides you it very important because to define who you are it's fundamental, basic, to know the history of your kind, to see that we came from a very long tradition (as humanity) and different "types" of cultural development, that has even influenced our DNA. That's why I chose an article related to history, and particulary to greeks even though it's related to Olympic games, it also reveal an important part of the social structure of greek's society. And also, learning how it has evolved seems very interesting to me.

2. Did you find enough information in the article? Did you find the info you were looking for?

Yes, in my opinion it's a very complete article and I found what I was looking for. It has information about all the history and the evolution up to 20th century, about the different kinds of games, about the condition that a person might have to participate, about its mythologyc meanings, etc. It even has images of the Parthenon!

3. What was the most interesting thing you learnt about it?

Lots of things are very interesting but mainly the fact that women weren't allowed to watch their husbands at the Olympics, so all the married woman couldn't watch the games, but single one's could. Otherwise, they'll be put on death. Also, I think it is very interesting that the Olympic games were to unify the fragmented world of greeks, "...and a little healthy competition was just the thing." So apart from the fact that it was dedicated to Zeus, it was usefull for the society too.

4. Make a list of 15 words from the article that you found difficult to understand. Find their meaning.

List of 15 words (in appearance order):


1.- Spandex-clad (it wasn't on the dictionary).


2.- Sequined: to cause to move or proceed fast or faster /to give life, vigor, or spirit to.


3.- Strived: 1 : to devote serious effort or energy : endeavor <strive to finish a project> 2 : to struggle in opposition : contend.

4.- Clout: 1dialect chiefly British : a piece of cloth or leather : rag2: a blow especially with the hand; also : a hard hit in baseball3: a white cloth on a stake or frame used as a target in archery 4: pull, influence.

5.- Pity:a: 1.- sympathetic sorrow for one suffering, distressed, or unhappy b: capacity to feel. pity. 2: something to be regretted pity you can't go.

6.- Holy: exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness. 2: divine holy — Psalms 99:9(Authorized Version)>. 3: devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deity holy temple. 4 a: having a divine quality.

7.- Showcasing: to exhibit especially in an attractive or favorable aspect

8.-Prowess: 1. distinguished bravery; especially : military valor and skill2: extraordinary ability.

9.- Twofold: 1 : having two parts or aspects 2 : being twice as great or as many

10.- Venue: 1 a: the place from which a jury is drawn and in which trial is held venue> b: the place or county in which take place the alleged events from which a legal action arises c: a statement showing that a case is brought to the proper court or authority2 a: locale 1; also : a place where events of a specific type are held venues> b: outlet.

11.- Treacherous: 1: characterized by or manifesting treachery : perfidious2 a: likely to betray trust : unreliable treacherous memory> b: providing insecure footing or support <treacherous quicksand> c: marked by hidden dangers, hazards, or perils

12.- Truce: 1 : a suspension of fighting especially of considerable duration by agreement of opposing forces : armistice, cease-fire 2 : a respite especially from a disagreeable or painful state or action.

13.-Span:a: 1: to measure by or as if by the hand with fingers and thumb extended b: measure2 a: to extend across spanned four decades> b: to form an arch over spanned the pond> c: to place or construct a span over3: to be capable of expressing any element of under given operations spans a vector space>

14.-Gear: a: clothing, garments b: movable property : goods.

15.-Depiction: to represent by or as if by a picture

Personal introduction and expectation

Well my name is Daniela Soto, I'm 19 years old but in may I'll be 20. Like a

tipical young woman, I enjoy going out with my friends, dancing, reading, seeing movies, having good talks and meeting new places and new people. I really like beeing in college because of my classmates and because I love studying what I like.

¿Why am I where? Because I study anthropology at the University of Chile (I'm in my second year) and this university developed the idea of compulsory English classes. So now, we have to create a blog. I really enjoy practicing English, I laugh a lot and I won't forget it, that was one of my main problems (I was afraid of "losing it") when I started college. So my expectation is to remember all I usted to know, to have fluency in talking (I usually get confused with the diferent forms of the verbs when I have to say things that have happened at diferent times) and, of course, to learn more English.