Thursday, November 29, 2007

The advantajes and disadvantajes of blogs in the english classroom

Nowadays technology is getting better and increasing our possibilities to use different elements that make easy our life and at the same time could be able to help us to learn. That´s the case of blogs, a virtual space in internet where people can write whatever they want.

Writing blogs is a way to improve the student´s skills in grammar, spelling and speed, because they need to think and write everything in english with sense, usually in a short period of time. By using blogs I could improve all this aspects and to write things that before were hard to express for me.

Also a good point is that you can check your classmates´s blogs an post them, and vice versa and, learning of them too. Many people can see your blog and post you , maybe helping you if you have a mistake. That´s what my teacher does.

It´s something written so you can see your first publication and the last one, and to analise how much you have improved your skills. As well as being fun, it´s also easy to use. I like to put some pictures linked with the topic or choose a video, promoting creativity and my own style.

Some limitations are that you can´t talk face to face with other people, it´s only written, because I think is good to interact with classmates and teachers. It´s not possible to focus in pronunciation and that´s an important point if i want to speak properly. Sometimes if your internet service is not good enough, as usually happen, it is not possible to publish your entries.

The blogs, introduced a couple of years ago are a new way to learn and have been a great improvement used in the learning process. I sincerely believe in its effectiveness. I could saw it on myself.

Art



I chose a photography called: Le baiser de l'Hôtel de ville or Kiss by the hotel de ville”of french photographer Robert Doisneau (1912-1994). It was taken in Paris in 1950.

This photo is simply amazing, it´s one of the most romantic photo I ever saw. I like old styles pictures, Paris, and love of course and this picture owns all that. Doisneau´s collection is very large and varied but with the same charming. He was able to capture the magic of the simple moments

The first time i saw it was in Paris, in a poster in the street. Then I started to search more about it and now is one of my favourites. You can see more in www.robertdoisneau.com , there we can find all his collections.

He has written: "The marvels of daily life are exciting, no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street."

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Scary Movie

I don´t really like scary movies, maybe because i´m not the kind of person who enjoy with them, actually i suffer a lot watching them. But i will choose a movie called "Stigmata", directed by Rupert Wainwright and performed by Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne.
I saw it many years ago and it´s about a young woman who begins to show signs of stigmata, the wounds of Christ. She isn´t very religious so a catholic priest goes to investigate this "miracle". She seems to be possessed by a old priest spirit who had the stigmata and starts to reveal through her some secrets about catholic church.
Is not a good movie if you hate the blood, because it has a LOT!


Tuesday, November 6, 2007

A website I enjoy visiting

I have a lot of favourites websites, but I think the best is www.emol.com , ( El Mercurio online). I found it via a link in other page. It´s a very complete chilean news website, moreover has many links with interesting magazines. I like to see it every morning and look at the main news of the day. Once I almost found a job browsing in this page, so it´s very usefull too. A couple of months ago the page was improving, now the design is very modern and the graphic very realistic.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Red Wine Diet

A new way to lose weight this summer is follow a new diet called "Red Wine Diet".
According to the autor, Roger Corder, red wine has tannins who help to our body to reduce heart diseases especially when combined with healthy eating.
He also says that just a few kinds of red wine are effective, some of them are Malbec, Madiran, Cabernet Sauvignon, because they are made with " smood, ripe or firm tannins"
Many famous people prefer this diet because is easier and more indulgent than other diets.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Fiestas Patrias

I had a really nice time last september, it was our "Fiestas Patrias" something like "The Independence day of Chile". This year was almost the whole week free, so most of the people went out of Santiago.
I spent the most of the time with my relatives in the city. We prepaired some chilean dishes like empanadas, anticuchos and asado. We also drank chicha. All was very tasty I think i ate a load of food, probably i put on weight.
It was a great time for share with all the people i care and enjoy this celebration.

Probably next year i`m going to practice more cueca because now i don´t know how to dance it and maybe visiting some fonda too.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

New Scrutiny as Immigrants die in custody

Immigration is a problem that is taking every day more importance in the United States. Around 60 people have died in administrative detention from 2002. More than 27000 people are kept in county jails, privately run prisons and federal facilities, while the government decide whether to deport them or not. Due to the pressure put by law-makers and government investigators, the senate has recently accepted an amendment to increase the bill for the Department of Homeland Security. The detention capacity would grow in a 73 percent, making better the conditions of people in custody. However there are still complaints about the health care and suicide prevention. In the meantime that the system of detention for immigrants is decided in the senate, the deaths keep growing, together with the secret and confusion around them.

Published: June 26, 2007
By: Nina Bernstein

http://nytimes.com/2007/06/26/us/26detain.html