Post 3 Themed post

As discuss in class, please choose one of the following topics to write on your blog.
Plans after University
Demonstrations Political analysis of social issues (2016)
Favourite food

Please include an introduction to it
Develop your ideas
Write a mini conclusion

Write a minimum of 180 words and 4 comments.


I will choose the second topic because I think politics is present in all our decisions and in every day life.
I believe the political class in Chile is going through a very deep crisis that is cross sectional if you like. Furthermore, the actions of right and left wing to try and put the blame on each other are, in my opinion, frankly pathetic.  I don't think people have much faith. This is the topic I will address.
In a capitalist system in which peole are motivated to think that material things will buy happiness, in which people are invited to care about very superficial things like cars, clothes, appearance, etc. there was a milestone that opened the eyes of many Chileans. The student movement in 2011 made people see that things were not alright, that problems were more than tomorrow's education. Topics like health, housing, pensions were now in the mind  of a lot of adults who hadn't really thought that much. Made them see we have governments that defend private interest over the populations'.
These people together with the young people are very tired. Politicians try to sell a picture of punishment for corruption, bad conduct when they don't really do anything. What they really do is to try to criminalize the social protest. And to look for mechanisms so we are more and more controlled all the time. Which reminds me of 1984 by George Orwell.
My conclusion is that the contempt people feel towards politicians and the political class in general, is growing every day. There is more and more frustration and anger. I feel it myself.  This is like a pressure cooker that at some point will explode.

LEVEL 4 >> Post N°2 The best Holidays/Concert ever (week 4)

They should mention:

Holidays:

- when it was
- where they went
- how long it was
- people they went with
- things / activities they did
- why it has been the best so far
- any other relevant info

Concert:

- when / where it was
- the artist they saw
- a bit of info about the artist
- describe the atmosphere during the event
- describe how they felt and why they enjoyed it
- any other memories about it



>>Word count: 170
>>Leave comments on 3 of your classmates posts + comments on your teacher's post.

Sample post: The best holidays ever

 

My very best vacation was last year. I traveled to Mexico with my girlfriend and toured much of the country. It was so amazing, that we decided to stay there for a month! We visited the Mayan pyramids in Yucatán where we learned about this fascinating civilization. We saw many paintings and sculptures, as well as architecture. After an exhausting week, we flew to Cancún for a lovely weekend under the sun. We did some surfing and kayaking, I visited some uninhabited islands while my girlfriend took long sunbaths and read a few novels. After that, we traveled to Mexico City and visited all the museums and the huge UNAM. We saw a lot of mural paintings by Rivera and visited Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul. It was incredible to see so much art and literature in one city. We saw so much culture and learned a lot about how Mexicans live daily. It was by far the most adventurous vacation I've ever had and we hope to return with more friends very soon.

2nd Term 2015 / LEVEL 4 >> POST 1 (Week 3) >> A COUNTRY I'D LIKE TO VISIT

Write about a country you'd like to visit

- Which country would you like to go to? Why?
- What do you know about it?
- What would you like to do there?
- Where would you like to stay?
- Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.
- Upload pictures
- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on your teacher's post
- Word Count: 160 words

SAMPLE

Hi everybody! Today I'm going to tell you about a country I've always wanted to visit, Peru.

It's a lovely country full of interesting things to see and know. I really like the culture there. There are lots of beautiful cities and places to visit. I hear the people are extremely friendly and generous, not like here. Many excellent writers and artists are from Peru, creators such as César Vallejo and José María Arguedas, intellectuals like Mariátegui and Cornejo Polar make me admire this country very much.

If I go there some day, the first thing I will do is to eat a lot of their delicious food; I think it is fantastic! Second, I will travel around the country to meet people and know places. I would like to visit famous cities like Cuzco and historic site such as Machu Picchu. There's a lot to know. I'd love to stay in real people's homes and get to know how they live. I prefer that to staying in some expensive hotel which is just like any other hotel in the world.

If I have the opportunity, I'd like to work there for a year, maybe teaching English or Spanish at a school or college. This would give me the chance to get to know more of their culture.

Well, I hope that some day I can go to Peru and make my dream true.

 

Video 1 December 14

This video should be (ideally) prepared in advanced or improvised.

You should speak in front of the camera (NOT READ)  for 2 minutes. The video is done in ONE TAKE

The video should be done in one take. If you have no camera, you can use a phone in class (you can borrow mine)

Video 1:

A SUBJECT YOU ENJOYED AT SCHOOL

Record a for 2 minute mobile phone video presentation* about a subject you enjoyed at

school

Say:

What the subject was,

Who taught it,

Why you enjoyed it,

What things you learnt in this subject.

Mention anything else you think is important.

English Online practice

 Hello,
Some practice and revision
open word reference.com

Go to
www.plataforma.uchile.cl


Level pre intermediate

Extra material (Last unit)

Choose a minimum of 2 activities per unit.

Keep a register of your performance.
Leave a comment here

Last blog post level III

Write about your experience using blogs in the English class.

Say:

> What you think about the experience in general
> How much you feel your writing skills have developed
> What you would like to include in the future
> What else you would like to write about


Wordcount: 200
Make comments on 3 of your classmates' posts.
Please post by Sunday 22nd

Sample

Hello friends! I came to talk about my blog experience. I really enjoyed writting here. I learnt and practiced my english. I don’t like English so much, but I’m trying.

I decided that learning English is one of my biggest challenges throughouy all this time in this class, since I've never really tried to learned. I've started writing songs in english in a notebook and try to read the lyrics to songs to improve my pronunciation. I don't have a perfect pronunciation now, but at least now I can try to pronounce something and don't want to start crying everytime I don't know how to say something.

Without any doubt the blog has helped me, I decided to do the posts by myself, without the help of an online translator. And actually I did it!, its not perfect but I don't have to correct every time a write.

That's why some entries might not be that understandable but I certainly did my best for the basic level I have. I think that listening, writing and repeating is the answer to eventually getting used to English and understandign what I read or hear.

It is very clear for me that I still have so much to learn! But at least now I have the will to overcome the shock that English causes me.

For future experiences with the other courses, some things I would like to say about this class is that I would prefer to write more about some themes I'm interested in. I understand that you put the same theme for everyone as to evaluate all students with the same difficulty but maybe if we could write more about things we care about that will motivate us more.

I hope I never stop learning!

Hello bloggers,
Here is some help to practice for the oral interaction test that will be held next Tuesday 24 . Remember you need a partner for this activity (In pairs)It is a good idea to decide on it now.

You will speak about a topic chosen at random for a minimum of 5 mins.

Giving your opinionGiving your opinion neutrally

"I think…."


"I feel that…."


"In my opinion…."


"As far as I'm concerned…."


"As I see it…."


"In my view…"

Giving a strong opinion

"I'm absolutely convinced that…."


"I'm sure that….."


"I strongly believe that…."


"I have no doubt that…"


ASKING for SOMEONE'S OPINION

"What do you think (about /of X)?"


"What's your view (on)?"


"How do you see the situation (of)?"

Agreeing and disagreeing
Agreeing

"I think you're right."
"I agree with you."


Strong agreement
"I couldn't agree with you more."
"You're absolutely right."
"I agree entirely."
"I totally agree."


Agreeing in part

"I agree with you up to a point, but..."
"That's quite true, but..."
"I agree with you in principle, but..."


Disagreeing

"I'm not sure I agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't agree."
"(I'm afraid) I disagree."
"(I'm afraid) I can't agree with you."
"(I'm afraid) I don't share your opinion."

Note that when you disagree with someone, you can often sound
more polite by using a phrase such as "I'm afraid..."

Disagreeing strongly

"I don't agree at all."
"I totally disagree."
"I couldn't agree with you less."

Keeping a conversation going
Making comments

"No!" - to show surprise
"I don't believe it!" - to show surprise
"Wow!" - to show admiration or surprise
"That's incredible / amazing / unbelievable" - to show great
interest in the subject of conversation
"How awful / terrible" - to show sympathy with someone else's bad
news

Asking  short questions

"Really?" - to show surprise
"And you?" - when someone asks you how you are
"Did you?" - can be used to encourage someone to tell their story.

For example, "I saw her last night" "Did you?" "Yes, she was with one of her friends, and she