Blog Session 8 ::: Instructions

Dear Class,

The last post this time I nee your evaluations of your blog experience.
Please include the following:

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

Sample Post 7 ::: My favourite subject this semester

History of Chile

I can’t say History was my favourite subject when I was in university or now but because of my job in tourism, we've learnt a lot about the History of Chile. 
What I can say though is that teachers can make the difference no matter the subject they teach... 
History, in general, can be very interesting if you’re curious and wonder how civilizations or social processes started. Therefore, I think Universal History and Ancient History are quite fascinating especially when historical events are presented in a way I can connect with my own world.

I also think the more History we learn the more we understand and analyse what happens around the world, in different cultures and also, at so geographically different towns, cities and countries.

In terms of the History of Chile, I started studying it since elementary school and in secondary school we used to read “Chile y su Historia” by Sergio Villalobos. Valid or not, in this book I’ve seen images of the old Santiago and Chile and I remember them vividly. I’ve always enjoyed reading and now I’m trying to read more about the native people in Chile because there so much I didn’t learn at school.

I must say I really enjoy studying the History of Chile. As some people say, “... those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” and I think it’s essential to learn from what has happened, maybe this way human beings are going to kill each other a bit less. I’ve learnt by listening to and asking questions to my Grandmother as well as other elderly in my family and life and it is amazing how one single event can be seen and understood in very different ways. 

We can find examples everywhere; we can talk with people in Chile about what their opinion of the long dictatorship is, or of the problem with the Educational System in Chile is. Likewise, if we talk to people who survived the Second World War in London, maybe our understanding of that event could change, maybe partially or completely.

Blog Session 7 ::: Instructions

Dear Class,

The topic for today's post is the following:

"Your favourite subject this semester" (not a usual one but semester anyway)

Among others, please include:

a) Name

b) Describe what you do in classes

c) Mention the main contents you have seen

d) Explain why you like the subject

e) Make comments on at least 3 of your classmates' posts.

Don't forget to write 180 words minimum.


Good luck,


Belén 

Blog Session 6 ::: Sample Post ::: Free Post

"Without music, life would be a mistake" F. Nitezsche

I'm going to write about Brazilian music and how much I love the music coming from that country. There's a singer I like, who I first listened to because of the film "Fast & Furious 5", which is not the kind of films I like but as it has Brazil as a setting, I watched part of it and just by coincidence the part where this song appears.

This singer is called Obando D2 and the name of the song is "Dasafabo deixa eu dizer", which literally means "Relief let me tell you", or something like that... I know very little about this singer but I think he's been singing for a long time because he has more than one hundred songs. He's in hip-hop and he's one of many singers who rap about the situation in Brazil, about poverty and crime in the favelas. Just like Os Paralamas do Suceso and other bands have also sung to protest as well as the many documentaries about their reality.

I like this song because of the lyrics, where he talks about what is to live in a favela and how he'd like Brazil to be. I'm interested in Brazilian culture, specially because I practice capoeira and I hope I can continue practicing it. With the different teachers we had and friends from there, who now live in Chile, (plus one or two boyfriends, I've learn't a great deal about the way Brazilians are... and they are a lot. The current population estimate for 2018 es 210.87 million.

Here you have the first song I mentioned: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz2iz6MEtLM

I can't help including Antonio Carlos Jobim, the greatest bossa nova singer ever...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44sp4W3WiBk

Belén

Blog Session 6 ::: Instructions

Dear Class,

Today you are free to choose the topic of your post... Maybe something about our society, friends, interesting movies, music, you choose.

Just remember to write your post in 180 words and please don't forget to make at least three comments on your classmates' posts as well as on mine.

Good luck,

Belén

Blog Session 5 ::: Sample Post ::: A career-related website

Today I'm going to write about a very useful website I use when translating and also when I teach: www.linguee.es 

This is an online dictionary and translator tool and it's interesting how they are able to offer more than 100 million translations made by humans. Most of the times, online translators are not reliable because they offer translations made by machines but this website is different. Here you can find examples of how the word or phrase you're looking for has been translated in bilingual websites like the ones companies, international organizations and universities have.

I visit this website every single day, especially when I'm translating and also to check if the translation I want to use is the most suitable. In an English class, I like to use it show the difference between a bad online translator and really good one, because this totally the opposite to Google translator. I usually support all Google creations like Google Classroom, Google Earth and Google Drive but when it comes to translations, I prefer www.linguee.es

I really like this website because up to this point, I've always found what I'm looking for. Apart from that, as you can find many examples, you can decide what translation to use and you can see where that translation has been used. This website shows you the paragraph where the word or phrase appears so the context helps a lot.
If you want to try this website, the creators recommend to look for phrases instead of single words.

Blog Session 5 ::: Instructions

Dear Class,

How are you doing?

This week you have two choices, so please choose one and good luck with your writing.


Post 1 
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 plus one comment about my post.
>Word Count: 170 words minimum
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Post 2 
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 her/his work)
-Why you like her/him.
-Include his/her image

> 170 words minimum
>Add comments to at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs plus one comment about my post.


Best,

Belén