Blogland

Hi Guys & Gals:

Today I'f like you to write about your blog experience this semester.
Please answer these questions:

Did you enjoy writing on the blog this semester?
What post did you like writing most? Why?
What post was most boring? Why?
Do you think your English improved because of the blog? How?
Which classmate's blog did you enjoy reading?

2016: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Hi Blogheads:

Today I'd like you to write about 2016. In my case, the year started off really well with a new Bowie album (the amazing Blackstar) on January 8th but this was overshadowed by his untimely death 2 days later. I cried a bit and felt uterly dazed for a few days. I also crashed my car into a metal pole that supports ome of my neighbour's parking space. I've been a huge fan of Bowie since I was 10 or 11 years old and it was as if a piece of my soul had died:( The fact that several other big name personality have also died (Prince, Leonard Cohen, actor Peter Vaughan, Muhammad Ali, just to name a few), made 2016 a year of grieving.

Musically 2016 was extremely interesting. I went to see amazing artists like Snarky Puppy and Bebel Gilberto plus other like Richard Ashcroft and Foals that my wife wanted to see. Apart from Blackstar, my favourite albums were the new releases by De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. I didn't see many great movies from 2016. I enjoyed The Force Awakens. It's a little bit predictable in places but my 10-year old nephew enjoyed it a lot.

I actually watch more series that films this year. My favourites were Stranger Things - a retro Sci-fi/fantasy and The Get Down - a wonderful dramatisation of the birth of Hip Hop.

Personally, 2016 was a I spent my summer holidays in Costa Rica. I had to go for work so my wife came along and we spent 18 days exploring the National Parks and wandering around San Jose. It was a great experience. We saw some posionous frogs, sloths, racoons, monkeys and lots of beautiful exotic birds. In September I travelled to Coyhaique which was also amazing - the Catedral de Marmol being the highlight. This is one place I hope to see again.

Write about your year. How was 2016 for you.

Say:

What you liked,
What you disliked,
What you did,
What you saw on Tv or at the cinema,
What you listened to musically,
Where you travelled to.

Write at least 300 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A One-on-One Conversation

Hi Blogheads,
 Today I'm going to talk about someone I'd like to have a one-on-one conversation with. I guess David Bowie would be my first choice but maybe you're all bored with me taking with him. My second choice, and the person I'll write about now is Mervyn Peake, a Bristish author, illustrator and painter. I first heard of Peake when I was about 15 or 16. One of my sisters gave me one of his books to read. I started it but didn't finish it. I actually read it a couple of years later and found it amazing so I found and read all the other books he had written. I love Peake's imagination and dark humour. If I had the chance to talk to him, I'd like to ask him a number of questions like, where he got his ideas or what inspired him. I think he was a very observant person because his is able to create extremely descriptive writing and wonderful images. I’d also like to talk to him about the artist colony he started on the Island of Sark (a little island between England & France) and the contrast between like in London and a remote island. Finally, I’d like to ask him about his experience in the Second World War. Peake was a war artist and he had quite a traumatic experience, especially as one of the first people to enter Belsen (the Nazi concentration camp) after its capture. He wrote poetry about the horrific scenes he saw and it obviously affected him deeply. Peake died of Parkinson’s Disease in 1968.

Write about someone you would like to have a one-on-one conversation with.

Say:

Who it is,

What they do/did,

When you first heard about this person,

What you would like to ask them,

Why you find this person interesting.

Mention anything else you think is important.

Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

An Interesting Subject

Hi Blogheads, Obviously, I'm not studying this semester (apart from an archery CFG) so I'm going to write about a subject I found interesting on my Masters (MA). I did my MA in Applied Linguistics and the subject was Second Language Acquisition (SLA). I did my MA by distance learning and so I had a tutor rather than a teacher. Actually, my tutor wasn't that good, we had little interaction and he wasn't that helpful. I didn't have a set classtime and given that I was working full-time I had to plan my study time in my free time. Often I'd stay up all night reading and then go to work in the morning and sleep in the afternoon. I worked this way because I have discovered that I study best and am most productive between midnight and 4 a.m. I guess there are less distractions at that time. Anyway, SLA is a fairly new discipline and there is still a lot we don't know about how people learn a second language. Usually, many factors are different from when we learn our mother tongue and it was really interesting to learn about what really makes a difference when you try to teach young adults. The reason I like SLA so much is that it made me analyse the things I do everyday in th classroom. It's very different teaching a skill as compared to hard facts (like most of your main subjects). Subjects like languages and, for example, learning a musical instruments take time and practice and I now realise that anybody can learn to use a second language if they find the right way to learn. Actually, I think that is the main distinction about subjects like languages you have to learn how to learn and people learn in many different ways. This subject helped me in my professional life because I now feel confident that I can help people learn. I have the tools and knowledge to guide students through the learning process if they want to learn. It doesn't matter if they just want to be able to communicate a message or speak English like a native speaker. If they have the motivation I can guide them and that's a good thing. Also, even if people aren't motivated to learn they can still make progress by getting access to the target language at the right level to aid acquisition. I still have lots to learn but at least I know I am working in the right direction. Write about your most interesting subject this semester. Say: What subject it is, Who teaches it, What time you have the class, Why the subject is interesting, How it will be useful in your professional life. Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Hobby

Hi Blogheads,

Today I'd like you to write about a hobby you have or had. In my case, I'm going to talk about collecting vinyl. I don't actually practice this hobby nowadays but it's something I did passionately when I was younger. I started when I was about 10 years old. I was 8 when I bought my first vinyl. It was a 7" single by Marmalade called "Reflections of my life" and I bought it with my sister and her best friend Mary. We all paid a third. However, at that time I didn't even have a record player.

The first record I acquire when I had a record player was "Jeepster" by T-Rex.

By the time I was 23 I had over 300 singles and about 200 albums. I moved to London and have no way to take my collection so I gave most of them away to my brothers and sisters. The only records I keep were part of my David Bowie collection and a few other records I could bear to lose. I still have 55 Bowie albums and 85 Bowie singles at my sisters house). I lived in London for about 6 years in which time I amassed another Vinyl collection, not as big as the previous one but still quite big. In 1989 I moved to Spain so I sold all my possession including my vinyl collection. However, I took about 50 house records to Spain with because I wanted to get a job as a DJ. When I moved back to Britain in 1994 I left all my music in my ex-girlfriend's house and never got them back.
I stopped collecting vinyl for a few years. Last year a friend gave me a record player and I brought a few vinyls from the UK and bought a few here in Santiago.
I love this hobby but it's very expensive nowadays. It was a lot cheaper when I was younger. I'd like to start it up again but I just don't have the space.

Write about a hobby you have (or had).
Say:
What the hobby was,
What it involved,
When tou started this hobby,
Why you like it.

Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Famous Chilean

Hi Blogheads:

 

Today I’d like you to write about a famous Chilean that you admire. As I’m not a Chilean and going to write about a famous Brit that I admire. Under normal circumstances I’d write about David Bowie, however, as you all know I’m a Bowie fan and might expect I’d write about him, I’m going to choose somebody else. I think the Brit I most admire at the moment is David Mitchell. Mitchell is a relatively young British author. I read his first novel Ghostwritten when it first game out – my eldest sister sent it to me – and since then I’ve read all 7 of the books he’s authored.

I admire Mitchell for his skill and creativity as a writer. I think he’s the first British writer who has been consistent in his writing for some time. He takes lots of risks with his stories and style and is highly imaginative. For example, one of his most famous book "Cloud Atlas" is a story set in 6 different points throughout history. Mitchell writes the section of each historical period in the writing style of that period (the first part is written like Robinson Crusoe and the last which is set in the future is in the style of cyberpunk). 

I know that Mitchell started writing his first novel while he was in Japan working as an English teacher. This had an effect on his writing. His first novel starts in Japan (but then mores to Mongolia, London, Moscow and a few other places). His 2nd Novel is set in modern day Japan and his 5th novel in 17th Century Japan. Mitchell really showed his versatility in his 4th novel which is his most mainstream piece of writing about a young boy at school and the problems he has because he stutters.

Amazing stuff.

Write about a famous Chilean you admire.

Say:

Who it is,

Why you admire them,

What you know about their life and work,

What you would talk about if you met this person.

Mention anything else you think is interesting. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Victory City

Go to http://www.sciencealert.com/the-smog-in-india-is-so-bad-right-now-you-can-see-it-from-space

Read the article:

Then visit http://fishmech.info/www.victorycities.com/

Tour the website. READ the Residents Guide introduction and AT LEAST 2 other pages of the residents guide contents (from the list on the right-hand side of the resident's guide).

Write a summary 150 of what you discovered.

Say:
What sections you visited,
What you liked about the project and why,
What you disliked about the project and why,
Do you think architectural prjects like this will be popular in the future?