The universal language

English is the universal language. Knowing English allow you to speak with almost any person in the world, at least those who speak English (as their first language of course, or second one) this fact show us how important and useful English is on this days. This is why all schools and universities have it as an obligatory subject on their curricular structures. Giving this fact, I’ll talk about my experience learning this language that for me luckily came pretty naturally.
My first approaching with English was the TV, of course; because the cable TV at 90’s brought lots of new channels and with that, new languages to, so I start watch subtitled movies and TV shows in English. That’s how I get my first vocabulary. Then, at school, they start with English for the kids at 6th grade, so it was pretty basic at first, but when I was leaving school, I can say that I already can speak English pretty good, not so much for school knowledge but for personal skills.
When I get in to university all of us (students) have to give a diagnostic test, and according to our results, we will be at level 1, 2, 3 or 4 of English class. Well, the test was not hard, but I didn`t get to finish all questions cause I lose too much time with the first ones and have no time for the listening an reading parts, so that put me at level 3.
My experiences during level three and then four was ok; I get to write much better and faster, that’s the best of it. Also I learn more vocabulary and expressions. The bad part is that in both curses the students are really unequal on their English levels. I mean, there was some people for example, that have been all of their life on a English school and have a perfect English, or others who can speak perfect for an intermediate level, which is the one that the university provides us, but there was some people that never have contact with the English language before, or that have no skill for it, etc. The fact is that the course was very unequal and the teachers have to adjust to it. With this scenario, the classes, specially the one at the classrooms, turn out hard for everyone.
I think, that for respect to every one of us, students and teachers, it should exists a better way to evaluate students so the English that university imparts it can be actually useful for us: that people who start at level 1, when they came out at level 4 can speak or understand English on a intermediate level, and that people who can already speak, don’t have to take courses that just makes them repeat things that they already know. May be an interview is a better way to determine in which level are we when we came in at first year, even if is a slower process, it may turn out better for everyone.

Animals

Animals are a huge part of our ecosystem so I defiantly have lot of respect for them, but I don’t think I can declare myself as a animal lover comparing myself with true lovers! In fact I have to admit that when I was a little girl I don’t used to like animals so much, I was really afraid of them, even cats! That I now love them… but well, luckily I don’t have that stupid “animals-phobia “any more… ah! But bugs are still my weak point! I really really hate them, especially slugs ones.
Now on this days, I have a dog as a pet, his name is Gazu, and is sort of a Coker type of dog, his really unquiet and his mouth stinks but I love him as well, his now 6 years old so I’ve learn to accept him… his the second pet that I have in life, but the first one doesn’t count cause I was too young and I didn’t like him a lot (he was also a dog).
I have a friend who has the weariest per, he has an Axolotl, that in ancient Nahuatl dialect means “water dog”, and it is not a fish but an amphibian, a salamander actually. It is really weird; they have their gills on their heads!! But it’s also so cute, it has little hands that looks like human ones but in miniature. If I could be an animal, ill like to be an axolotl, like in Cortazar tale…
Talking about some bad things to, in my opinion, most of zoos suck! They’ve no properly space for the animals they have and all of them are in pitiful conditions… there are also some zoos that have more space and are not located in the center of the city, like metropolitan zoo, and there the animal are a little better, but any way, the whole concept of zoos is wrong I think; having animals locked up and away from their natural environments can’t be right! An exception is when they need to preserve some species that are about to extinct, and for that reason makes them born in captivity… another big problem: extinction, but that can be a long theme that it might be for other post!

Green is a nice colour

Environmentally practices are completely good and under no circumstances I’ll mock people who put that issue on the top of their life priorities, like tree huggers, even when it may not be one of mines.
In this matter, there are lots of ways to help the earth, starting from the minimal thing, like stop throwing thing at the street or separate the garbage at home to be able to recycle some things, use the organic trash for other purposes, and dump only what really can’t be re use, or ride a bike instead of using buses, and in the other hand, there are also biggest or most compromised things to do, like join an organization and participate in campaigns and all what that imply. But all of them, from the tinniest little action to the biggest compromise to environmentally friendly practices are for sure better than just sit and watch how the earth falls apart.
In my life in particular, I go for the little things so I try to incorporate every green measure that’s possible for me to do; like riding a bike every time I can, also separate garbage into tetra packs, cans, cartons and plastics, and also the organic wastes (that I use for doing compost for the plants) and also use energetic lights, tray to take really good care when using water and use rechargeable batteries.
A really good idea that I’ve just known are the ecological bricks. These are bricks made of used plastics and that we can make in our own houses. You just have to put all the plastic that gets in to a bottle, and where there are no more spaces between the plastics, then is done! And you take it to an ONG that receives them and transform them into ecologic construction material. What a great idea! Isn’t it? I’ll really like to do this, so I’ll start right now!
I believe that in our city we`re so far from been environmentally friendliest, I see people every day throwing thins to the streets! For example, they eat an ice-cream and the wrapper goes right to the ground! When I can, I always tell them “hey, you drop this” and then return them their garbage! It’s a good measure... people might stop and think about it for at least a second and maybe, just maybe, never do it again... there’s no harm in trying.

Art is everywhere!

Art is, in my opinion, is one of the most important things in the world, and not just because there are famous painters or musicians or any artists; it is that important because any (good) creation of a human been can be considered as art. I mean, even a draw of my own daughter can be a piece of art to me; every little creation is a piece of art for someone in the world.
And that is precisely how I enjoy art, by appreciating it from our own perspective and moments in our lives, for example if I’m happy I think I’ll enjoy more of happy pictures or songs, but if I’m sad, I’ll look for saddest things to see o hear, thing that define me in that exact moment.
But if we have to talk about typical works of arts, well, I don’t visit to museum very much or go to exhibitions of arts that often, but of the little I’ve been, I’ve enjoy them very much, its great see those kind of things personally and not trough a computer screen or a picture, even if they’re copies of an original paint, for example.
My skills in arts are cero if you compare me with people who can play an instrument or paint or draw, I really don’t have that kind of skills developed, but I do admire those who have it, it’s a great gift from life.
I think I’m pretty open about art, but personally, I enjoy much more a piece of art from van Gogh than a graffiti of colo-colo or some stupid thing like that… but I’ve to admit that lately I’ve seen lost of pretty drowns in the street, but not about football team, of course.
Any way, if I had to choose a favorite work of art that everybody knew I’ll choose Nuit etoilee from Van Gogh, I really enjoy that paint!

Cinema

I love going to cinema, it’s one of my favorite activities, I try to go at least once a month, but is not always possible, sometimes cause I don’t have time or there’re no good films to see, and lately also cause I’ve been downloading lots of films from the internet, it’s much easier and cheap.
However, one of the grates films ever I didn’t get to see it at the cinema because I was only 6 years old when it was made. It is Pulp Fiction.
This film is directed by Quentin Tarantino and is really a master piece, before I saw it I heard from it many time but never stopped and see it... so it was only in 2008 that I saw it for the first time (it’s from 1994).

I like this film for a lot o things; first it has a really good script, it actually wins the Oscars, second cause its very funny and the plot it’s great, all twisted and bizarre...I love that kind of films, just like "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas", and last, cause like every Tarantino's films it has a fabulous and accurate soundtrack. it has great actors too.

What makes it better than other movies, well I believe that is for the same reasons I’ve mention before that makes it a great quality movie, in my opinion... because all the sentences we say about tastes are just personal opinions.

Well, saying all this, I strongly recommend you too see it to!!

Santi asgo

Ooh well, Santiago is pretty clashing to me… I’ve always live here, born here, but even that, I couldn’t love it, ever. Of course that opinion has a reason: first, I think that it’s so big that you lose too much, people it to segregated in it, some people for example doesn’t know anything farther than plaza italia, or in the other side, some people has never gone to Lo Curro. That is one of the biggest reasons, or actually the biggest one. But I also don’t like my city because its obviously to pollutes, with noise, smog, trash, bad mood, and on and on, and all that things I believe that trespass our own bodies and affect us really hard.
But not everything is bad, there are some gorgeous places to go here as well, for example, Cajon del Maipo is really really beautiful, specially a place called “baños colina” that is pretty much getting to Argentina! There is all about nature, and the best of all is that it’s only like 100 km away, but still inside Santiago! It is a place 100% recommendable for tourist, I know losts of them that have been there and they love it! Also turist should go to the tipical places, like Cerro Santa Lucía and San Cristobal, the Mercado, down town, etc. cause they have an historical weight that it’s nice to feel it, imagine the past… what I also think it’s great is go to any hill, very high and the look down to the city, especially after rain, it’s so pretty, and also look up to the mountain from the city after rain, it is the only chance you get to actually see them!
Well, I don’t like Santiago but I can’t denial that it has it charm.

Music in my life

Music, for start, isn’t that important in my life, I mean comparing myself with my nearest friends, cause they are really into music; have millions of songs in their mp3s and know lots of artists! But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy music when I’m listening to it, because that is a delighting activity, especially when you are in crowded places with a lot of noise, it’s a way to escape for a little bit.
When someone ask me what kind of music do I like, it’s always hard for me to say an specific artist or group cause nothing comes to my head at the exact moment, but in general I can say I enjoy Latin American music, like Pedro Aznar or Bersuit, and also some united states artists, just like Eddie Vedder, that lately it has been my favorite one. Well and of course some classics of all times like Queen, Beatles and others in that style, beside listen in some occasions some nice classic music (Beethoven, Chopin, etc.) . In the opposite side, when I’ve to talk about those who I don’t like it’s much easier; I hate for example “romantic” music, like “sin bandera” and that kind of groups. Reggaeton in the other side, is something that I never listen to by personal choice, when riding my bike for example, but I do enjoy it when I’m in a party and everybody is dancing around… its fun listen to it once in a while.
I think that it’s why I almost all the time listen to my personal collection of music, cause obviously it has only songs that I like, contrasting with the radio stations, cause even if they’re good ones, in some point they put a bad song on. Beside, the music collection that we do personally it can be much bigger than what we can listen on the radio.
On the internet there’re thousands of music files to download, and I can confess that all the music I got its downloaded from the internet, I never buy CD’s, they are stupidly expensive!!
Talking about my music skills, well, I don’t really have any, maybe that’s why I admire so much people who can play any instrument or sing so beautiful songs. I think about the classics like Mozart or Bach and they have an extremely huge talent! They create works of art that remain in the history of the world.
Music it’s such a gorgeous creation that the world without it I’ll be much more sad and gray. Music is, at last, one of the most beautiful expressions of the human being.

Goooooooooooood bye!

Doing English III this semester is actually the first time I have a blog, ever!! Really, I’ve never been that into having pages on internet about myself or what I think, such as fotolog or blogs. Facebook is an exception, it’s my first and unique one.
Despite this facts, I’ve enjoy writing here all this weeks, first because it cool write in English sometimes, to practice, and second, cause its interesting write things that you think about something or lived sometime in your life, also shared experiences, or you opinion on any fact, etc. I’ve never tried before!
Well, as I just said, write in English helps a lot to practice this matter, and of course improve your written English and also your vocabulary; I’ve find out that I didn’t know so many words, and that’s only because of the lack of experience using this language.
Clearly, this is one of the main advantages of writing in a blog in English (improve vocabulary and written English) but it also has other advantages, like you can see what your classmates thought about some themes, or give them an opinion about that to, and the communication within the classmates and the teacher. And finally, I think it’s great that we have so many varieties of subjects to talk about and also hear some interesting things, such as the speech of Sir Ken Robinson.
Some disadvantages of blogging, well, I don’t find many, in my opinion it’s really a great course dynamic (my favorite among the two blocks). The only thing I didn’t like so much was the monotony of the activity, maybe we could’ve seen more pages like BBC one, or more talks, like Ken Robison’s.
But in general, I can say that blogging was great!

Checking out!

Today I’d visit Maria Olvido English blog, I really didn´t know who I was gonna chose so I did it randomly, and she was the winner! The blog it’s called olvi-english3, and I guess it’s from her name and the course…
At the blog are 12 different posts, so it seems that she hasn’t missed so many classes! A responsible girl. I really like her blog because she writes pretty well in English, and also talks it nice, as I i can heard in our presentations in class. My favorite post is the one about a place in Chile that she loves, and the one she picked its really beautiful, as much as the things she tell about it, like for example that cell phones are dead over there, or that you can see lots and lots of stars in the sky cause are no lights out there…
I can’t really criticized the blog much… there are only little mistakes in writing, so I guess that’s what you should paid more attention, and about the blog in general, I like it because is not overloaded with things and the colors it has are pretty calm and also when she put pictures in the posts makes them more cute and nice. Congrats for María Olvido! A really interesting blog in content, vocabulary and writing.

what are we educating for?

Sir Ken Robinson's its actually very interesting and dynamic to talk about something it’s wondering around pretty much all the time and since a few years in world population, and that I’ve think of it to, and however almost nothing have changed.
Education its extraordinary strict system and pretty similar around the globe, the problem that has become evident within the years is that not everybody fit inside it, not everybody like it, and certainly not everybody has the capacities or even the interest in what that program propose.
We educate our children for the future, but we don’t know what happen in five years from now, not even tomorrow. So I think that we should look at every one capacities more than create soldiers for continuo with what we (the impose education system actually) think it’s important.
Children has extraordinary capacities that shot down when they grow, such as creativity, which is really important, an wonderful, but in education its take as nothing compare to literacy or any other subject.
What I found more interesting about Sir Ken Robinson's speech It’s the importance of been prepared to be wrong some times, and like this to become whit something original. In education this days people it’s been educated out of their creative capacities, mistakes are the worst thing can happens.
Not everyone it’s meant to be university professors that it’s like the bigger goal you can achieve according to this system. It’s just another way of live; and isn’t just a form of transport our heads.
Education methods are very old, and that’s why they are focused on other necessities that in these days are not longer the most important ones, like workers for the industrialization process, or things like that… now a day they are also necessary but you can aspire to so many other things, and don’t put money in the first place always, for example, or simply decide not go to university. We think that is the best and sometimes the only way in life to succeed, but there are other ways to, it’s just that they are highly stigmatized and everybody makes it harder for you if you don’t choose that path.
I think succeed in life it measure by the capacity of catch your own dreams.

Learning process

In sociology I think the mains skills needed are, first; that you like theorize about reality a lot, that you like reading complicated things, that if you get to understand them it’s really interesting, and second, you need to want something in your life related with studding and understand people behavior and history, in any of the different areas that this discipline offers you.

About this thing I’ve named, all of them I believe are learned skills, cause this things come about whit your life story, I mean they depend on all the process that you’ve pass trough and what you get from it, that’s what make your abilities and likes, and makes you develop skills in those subjects. This things makes you want something specifically in life. May be why is inborn and it also affect is the capacity to understand everything you are seeing trough your study and working years, I think that’s is just about intelligence… of course that we can discuss about if intelligence is inborn or its determine by other things…

About university, well I think its provide me with what it can provide, and that is knowledge about some particular subjects, but that is all. Certainly could upgrade in some aspects, like bad teachers, facilities, curricular schedule, etc. but the main purpose its full fill it. You learn only what you wanna learn, and the future, beside the foundations on your education, is up to you.


I don’t really know how to be prepared to future, in any aspect of life, including my study area… I am learning things here that didn`t know before, so I’m certainly most prepared now… but I guess we can’t stop and think about it too much, cause we lose the present! And it is all we got.

Well, when I’ve to think in a technological piece now on these days it came up almost automatically: pen drives with mp3 player!

They are so useful!! First, because you can transport all the information you need and download it any where you need, and second, because you can have your music on it! It’s a whole world of difference travel at the bus every day with or with out it; when you are not using it, you start to listen other conversation or start having all this psycho thoughts!!! My friends and I were just talking about it this morning! And we pretty much think the same; it is a great creation!

My first pendrive was really limited in space, it only have like 256 mb to save things! So it only can store like 10 songs! But any way, it was a big change, not having to carry all these CDs on your bag any more, a release!

After that I got a mp4, and that one got 2 gb, so it was a loooot more space, I can hardly full fill it! But then I decide to come back to mp3 (2gb too), because I never carry the mp4 cable with me, so that limited me a lot, and the mp3s doesn’t need one!

I used since 2006 or so, but I’m not an addict to it really, I mean it’s great, but sometime pass months and I don’t used, mostly cause I don’t change the music and it bores me… but when I feel like used, I do it every day!

Well, that’s my object… I think we kind of agree in this one!

Deep Blue

I’ll talk about a very nice place I`ve been here in Chile, it’s in the south, specifically tenth tenth region: “De Los Lagos”. The lake I’m talking about its “Llanquihue” , that in Mapudungún means sunken place, and it’s a super beautiful landscape.
I’ve been there three times I think! One at 2005 and two at 2006, the first time was with some friends and my brother, the second one with my family and the last time in a tour with my classmates of school.
When I went with my friends it was the time I get to kwon more places and enjoy more of the trip, cause the second one, whit my parents was all more hurry and don’t get to know the most special places, like outdoor kind of places. And the third time, well… when people go out in a school year trip, don’t worry so much about taking touristic walks… so, it was also beautiful like the two pass times, but didn’t enjoy it so much in that sense.
When I was there, I use to go for a swim in the lake often, I like a lot swimming in lakes, cause there are no waves and you can see much more underwater too. I also go to walk around, to see the villages around the whole lake and, well, also taste the local food, like Frutillar’s kuchens, or the beer of those places…
If I could resume to one thing why this is one of my favorites places, I’ll said that it is cause when I swamped there, I get to see the most deep blue color I’ve ever see, and I could never forgot that, despite that the following times I went there, I couldn’t see it so clear again.

now it´s right!

I´ll talk about www.wikisociales.cl
It may sound a little lazy to name this site but it’s for a good reason! This site that for sure everybody knows here it’s actually really useful for us, students. It is a site that emulates Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, but it’s only about issues within our faculty: text, resumes, transcription of classes from other years, good works of students from here, etc. This is all material that it’s very useful at the time we needed it. It’s great that we have this platform where we can share this knowledge that it’s very difficult to get in other ways. This whole idea of shared info it’s such a great thing because talks about our solidarity whit our similar…every one of us it’s been in this position of needing info for some classes or test. The site has a section for each career and each subject in particular, it also have forums, news, and things like that, the important it that you can upload thing that you may considered useful to.
I´ve actually visited limited times, but it have been really useful all the time I’ve used it.
I liked it, like I’d said, because it’s a great idea to share our material to anyone who may need it!

Downloading everything!

A really good website to visit its www.torrentz.com
I must warn you first that it’s not an interactive or interesting site itself, but it´s very useful! The page it´s about downloads trough a torrent program a whole kind of things; from movies to books or discographies of bands. I pretty much download everything I need from it; it had all kinds of varieties in what qualities maters to. I visit it every time I need something; lately I’ve been using it for download Lost latest chapters and although some discographies, like Queen´s greatest hits. When I had internet whit full speed I download a lot of movies, but I make sure first that they’re on DVD quality! I especially like this site because it`s great that there is free circulation of information and cultural material, it so much easy when its available to every one! (Well… everyone who have internet! I´ve suffer being without internet since January, so I can tell! It´s really bad… today everything its passing through this media, and we are really used to it). This is what I can say about this page… it´s more like a conjunction of different links to download everything you can imagine! Check it out! But you must have a torrent downloading program first, which you can get for free on the web to!

Education

Education is a main topic here and everywhere, of course it must be considered as a right, giving the time we are living in, educations has become one of the most important tools to develop in life. Here in our country we have a very good example of how inappropriate some education system has become. For example it’s a whole world of difference between private and state schools, according to infrastructure, quality of teaching, relationships inside school, etc., and in the end that contributed to create not a good environment to learn for those kids. This should be taken as a main issue in our national agenda, and solve it from the very basic stuff, just like infrastructure is, and then go on to the next problems…go step by step, cause solving a little bit of everything doesn’t solve anything at all.
If I look at my own experience, I can’t complain much. I wasn’t at the very best school, but neither at the worst. I learn enough to be able to get a solid foundation.
Right now actually I’m not aware of any important project in matter of improving education, the only remarkable thing is that after the earthquake everything goes different, and a lot of student get into class only last Monday, and in modular schools (not permanent ones), as the one in the picture.
It’s a long way to Chilean education, even comparing it whit other countries of South America where education is mostly free.

Interactive english learning

I`ve just finished to visit the page of the BBC world about learning english on a different and less formal way, and I think it’s quite cool because it has games, quizzes, even cartoons in english and lots of other things.
For example, the cartoon on it are called The Flatmates, and terats about four flatmates that pass trough different situationin their lives. Hellen on one side had a classmate that is cheating in college and she doesn’t know if tell her teacher about it or not. Tim, another flatmate is applying for a job, and so on, the different episodes area about how they live their lives… Also in all this chapters the thing they are saying appears also written, so you can found out how to write them properly. I’ve also play Wordmaster, which tries your English by completing sentences whit the missing words, I’ve really like this game cause trains you on writing the word right, because many of those words I’ve all ready know them but didn’t know how to write them. And finally I've tried Beat the keeper which put you out kicking a ball to heat the right answer.
In general the page seems to me very interesting and I found great and funny the different ways that they offers you to learn a little bit more.

First erthquake in my life

At February 27th i was peacefully sleeping in my bed whit my one year old daughter that by the way has a cold that day, and I wake up like 10 second before the earthquake started… when it started I stay in bed for a while to see if it just pass like many other quakes, but it just got stronger so I stand up and grab my baby, but like we sleep at the second floor we couldn’t go outside or to the main door and we stay at the door of our room an just wait until it gets calm and I could go down stairs without the fear of falling doing it. When I get to the first floor I saw my mom that was coming to get me so I tell her to come down that we were ok… by that point we were all calm because nothing serious happens in our house or any of us, so we go back to bed, but everyone yn the first floor now, just in case. Like an our later my older brother came to our house, we were really scare cause hes apartment is on a 15 floor so it really shakes hard with the earthquake and we couldn't get in touch with him until that moment. It was a big relief. when he came we ask him if he knows anithing about other relatives, espeacially my grandma, cause she lives alone an she's old so we thought that may fall down or anything, and like the cell pohones were dead we ask my brother that goes to a public phone to call her and my other grandma also.. so he went and came back like in ten minuts and tell us that both of them were ok. After that we were much more calm so finally go back to sleep, and next morning fix everything that the earthquake mess up.
The other part is that my father was in colombia by that time so he got really despered to came back to chile but it was really hard for him because the state of the airport in Stgo. So he took like tree airplanes and a bus from arica to came here... and the sadest part is that we have some relatives in Chillán and they suffer damage in their house but fortunately they are ok beside that. That was pretty much the earthquake to me, i’m not afraid to it, but the consecuenses it have left to so many people is tremendous, and remind us that the earth is powerful and we shouldn’t abuse of her and trat her so wrong.

Expectations

i'm Camila Guzmán, I came from sociology and this its my firt class of english at the university.
During the semester i think we are gonna write, read and talk a lot more in english that what i'm used to, so i'll expect to improve my writing and also my speaking english. Talk in inglish during all class its a really good way to practice and also learn much more, besides the disposition of a good teacher its very important, it helps you much more than learn by your self, so if i know a little bit of english its ok, but it always can be improved.