Free

Dear all,
I hope you are well.
Today you will have the chance to write about any topic or person you like. Please remember to organize your text in a way that is easy to read. You can use some bullet points mentioning what areas you'll include if it is more than one.


Write a minimum of 180 words and write 3 comments on different blogs. Keep up the good work!!

  I have to confess I am happy with a given topic or a free one. Maybe I find it even easier if it is open because I just need to think of basically anything, give it a bit of thought to organize it, and start.

 I will start with why I think good health and Ayurveda go hand in hand. Even though I recognize the importance of scientific research and western medicine, I have mixed-feelings about the role pharmaceutical companies play in research results and health policies.

I am going to address a small part of this millenary medicine from India. Ayurveda comes from two Sanskrit words Ayus “life” and veda “knowledge” or “science”. What I like best of it is that it is mainly preventive. One of the many aspects I appreciate from this approach is the fact that it recognizes each human being as unique from a preventive and curative perspective. Therefore, it acknowledges that each person needs a different diet, routine, lifestyle and treatment in case of illness. There is a lot more to it but the word limit does not allow me to refer to it. I really like the importance it puts on the power of our thoughts, the food we eat and the role meditation plays in having and preserving good health.

Write a minimum of 180 words.
Include
The topic/person you've chosen
 Give a general definition/explanation of it.
Include anything else you find relevant.

London Webquest

Presentation

Dear  all,

I hope you are well. Today we will write a useful text I hope. I will narrate this text in the future although my presentation was given in the past.

In your presentation you can talk about a person or a theme related to your area of studies.  Remember this is not a reading task. You need to prepare it and have command of your text. If you stand in front to read, you will have a mark below 4 L

In my presentation I will talk about the linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian and political activist Abel Noam Chomsky.  

 I will divide my presentation into 3 parts

First, I will talk about his early life. Then I will refer to the area of linguistics and political involvement and lastly I will tell you why I chose to talk about him.

He was born on December 7 in 1928. Both his parents were Jewish and worked in the area of education.  He studied linguistics in the university of Philadelphia and his tutor was Harris Zellig, the founder of the American School of linguistics. Noam was not happy with the university but his tutor persuaded him to stay. 

I will continue here

Write about your presentation next week.
Include
What or who you will talk about
How you will organize it
Why
Include anything else you find relevant

Write a minimum of 200 words and 3 comments

Post June 5

I started watching it as a child from about 8 years old. I remember both my sisters loved it so I just sat with them and it was all good. It is about this blond girl with very big (not surprising now!) green eyes. I remember it was a very dramatic Japanese Anime. “Candy” was an orphan girl who was adopted and treated badly. Moreover she falls in love with this amazingly handsome character “Anthony” (I fell in love, too!) and he dies!! Yes, he dies!! I suffered so much.  Later she moves to London and meets “Terri” who is the opposite of Anthony (the latter is rebellious). The thing is this love is not meant to be and they keep splitting because he wants to become an actor.

I think it was on every evening for around half an hour.

I suppose I enjoyed it because it was full of adventures and things seemed pretty exciting, but mostly because I would sit there with my sisters and we would drink our milk and eat toast on those evenings while watching the show. I couldn’t wait for the next day to come. Just to watch it again! I know it is very "ñoño" to write about this but I couldn't think of anything apart from "erase una vez el hombre" which seemed a bit serious for children...

What about you?

Write about a TV programme you enjoyed watching when you were a child:
Say:
What it was called,
What it was about,
When it was on,
Why you enjoyed it.
Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 220 words. Leave a comment on 4 of  your classmates' blogs.

Blog marking 20%

ABOUT THE MARKING FOR THE BLOG ACTIVITIES.

WHEN YOU COME TO CLASS AND DO THE POST AND COMMENTS IN CLASS, YOU GET 2 POINTS.

WHEN YOU DON’T COME TO CLASS AND DO THE POST AND COMMENTS WITHIN 48 HOURS, YOU GET 1 POINT.

NO POST, NO POINTS.

THE FINAL MARK FOR THE BLOG CONSISTS OF TWO MARKS.

1 MARK FOR “COMING TO CLASS AND DO THE BLOG POST AND COMMENTS IN CLASS”

1 MARK FOR 3 PARTICULAR BLOG POSTS. THESE WILL BE SELECTED AND MARKED CONSIDERING LINGUISTIC ASPECTS.

mark 1 + mark 2 = final blog mark

Why you are here

Dear all:

Today I’d like to tell you a bit about myself. When I finished school I decided I did not know what to do. So I took a year off and worked to save money. Later I entered translation because I liked languages. I did English and German but right in the middle of it, there was a chance to travel to Germany and work there. So I did. When I got back to Chile I fell into teaching by chance. Later I got my English teaching degree.

I think teachers are a great contribution to society but only if they have a vocation. If not, they may be great researchers or academics, but not teachers. I feel a teacher needs to be alert and attentive to what is happening in the classroom in the whole sense of the word. They also need a lot of patience & knowledge in their area of study. A teacher needs constant training because the world changes, students change, and so does methodology.

I think one of my favourite subjects at Uni was phonetics. I loved the idea of studying & recognizing the English sounds and also to contrast them with the Spanish sounds. I also enjoyed pragmatics. The future of teachers looks more relevant all the time. I think we need to keep up with technology among other things because we will need to be more and more updated to connect with students. 

One professional I admire in my area of study is Rod Ellis. He is very well known in the area of second language acquisition. He has published a lot of books & I love the way he writes. He has got a very clear way to express his ideas and they make a lot of sense to me.

Now, write about yourself. Say:

-Why are you studying this career?

- How do professionals in your area contribute to society?

- What tools will a professional in your area need to have in the future?

- What is your favourite subject?

- Include this and more in your answer.

- 180 words minimum. One comment in this blog and one comment on a different blog 

A city or town

Dear all,

Nice to read you all again.

Today I thought we could write about something slightly different before we get back on the hard routine.

I have been very lucky and chosen to prioritise travelling over a lot of material things that people have to or choose to opt for. For this reason, I have visited  a number of places. Today, I would like to talk about a place about 5 hours from Santiago city. And this is Elqui valley.  I have had the chance to visit this place 3 times. One time with a friend and her boyfriend around 10 years ago,  one time with my mum, my husband and his sister in 2016 and the last time in 2018 with a couple of lovely relatives and my husband.

For this text I will refer to the very last time, I really enjoy every time I go there because I take the opportunity to eat a lot of papayas, drink nice pisco and watch the stars. In some countries like New Zealand or Japan, you can see amazing stars from any small city, in Chile, however, you need to travel south or north to do this. I personally enjoyed doing a star watching tour that was an hour and a half away from Vicuña.  All the people knew a lot about the stars, it was a very beautiful experience and I would love to do it again. I also tried different varieties of pisco, which was nice.

I love the mountain and the sky as you go down  Elqui Valley, I think it is quite unique and It is a wonderful place I strongly recommend.

Write about a place you have visited and enjoyed

Say:
When you went there
Who you went with
What you did there
Why you like this place

Write a minimum of 180 words and 3 comments on any of the blogs in this class.