Post 6

Postgraduate studies.

Write about a postgraduate course that you would consider taking in the future.
Include:

- Reasons to do the course
- Subject(s) you would like to study
- Where you would like to study (Chile or abroad)
- How you would like to study (distance learning, blended system, part-time course, etc)
- Any other relevant ideas

Here's my sample post for this topic:

I have to start by saying that for me to study a new career or to deepen my knowledge in English teaching, a lot of changes would have to occur, as I'm not willing to get a ton of debt to specialize again. I studied my career with CAE and I really didn't know what it was when I was 18. So now, over ten years later, I'd consider it twice before signing a contract with a bank that will profit from student loans.

Now, if the conditions were right, I'd probably study something related to Linguistics. Linguistics is the science that studies language, not only knowing how to speak, but also how languages are learnt and how different contexts affect different languages. In other words, it could be said like this:

"Each human language is a complex of knowledge and abilities enabling speakers of the language to communicate with each other, to express ideas, hypotheses, emotions, desires, and all the other things that need expressing. Linguistics is the study of these knowledge systems in all their aspects: how is such a knowledge system structured, how is it acquired, how is it used in the production and comprehension of messages, how does it change over time?"

Understanding these factors can really help a teacher become able to teach a wide varierty of students and also, in my opinion, knowing about how languages work, can reveal some patterns that can be found in human behavior.

The aspects of Linguistics in which I'm more interested in are Sociolinguistics and Psycholinguistics.

Now it's your turn:

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on my post.
- Minimum Word Count: 220 words
- Remember: NO TRANSLATOR! web dictionaries are allowed, and of course you can call me and I'll go to your seat.

Post 5

Photography.
Hi girls and boys!
This week's post is about a our second chosen topic: photography.
You can talk about your own ideas about photography, about the type pictures you like, famous photographers or anything related to photography as a concept.Here's my post!

                           

 In the picture, you can see George Harrison, and Bob Marley (and two other people I don't know)

I've liked these musicians for a long time now. Harrison, former guitar player and my favorite Beatle, is also the name of my first dog. And Marley, family name of one of the greatest artists/activists I know, is the name of my first cat :)


                                                

 Here's my version of it. These are my Harrison and Marley :)

This took place in Copiapó, where I adopted Marley. She was about 4 months old in the picture, Harrison had never lived with a cat before, but he's such a lovely dog that he never had problems with her. This picture is special because it reminds me good times. It was taken back in 2014 when I lived in the Atacama Region. The reason why I chose this picture is because these animals were my only family then, since I lived alone and knew nobody there. 

Another type of photography I enjoy taking is of street art. Wherever I go, I constantly pay attention to the grafitti and murals present in the streets. Some are amazing, here's a sample of pictures I've taken:

 

   



That's all for today, what will you write about? Photography is a great way to capture not only images, it also catches feelings, things that can't be said with words, or ideas.- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on my post.

- Minimum Word Count: 210 words

- Remember: NO TRANSLATOR! web dictionaries are allowed, and of course you can call me and I'll go to your seat.

Hello everyone!

The theme of today's post is: My future job.

As a 30 year old teacher, working at the university of Chile, it would be easy for me to say that I am working in my ideal job. But I don't want to be an employee all my life, so i'll be really honest with you guys, I'll tell you all about my dream future job.

Grower

I'll start my own company, actually my own nursery for cactus, and I'll auction some of them to earn money. My idea is to retire from being a teacher when I'm more or less 33. That means I have only 3 years to move forward with my plans.
I've been working for this project for a long time now, I actually started it without knowing it. First at a very small scale, I still lived with my parents and I was already studying to be an english teacher, that's when I first got interested in cacti, and there I started growing them from seeds and learning different cultivation techniques.

This season of spring - summer is when most of the cactus I grow start flowering, that opens officially the 'bee work season' for me. That's right! that's the time when I cross pollinate my plants to obtain hybrid seeds for propagation.

I feel happy thinking that I could live with a sense of independance by working with my own hands, and in a line of work that I love, so it feels like a passtime activity So I encourage you to follow whatever you feel your dreams are :).

That's me!

Now it's your turn!

These questions could help you develop your writing: 

- What kind of job would you like to have? How do you imagine it?

- Outdoors /indoors?

- Would you like to travel a lot in your job?

- What about the salary?

- Add any other related ideas.

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on my post.

- Minimum Word Count: 200 words

- Remember: NO TRANSLATOR! web dictionaries are allowed, and of course you can call me and I'll go to your seat.

Post 3 The simpsons

This post is a difficult one for me since I'm not a fan of the series, even though I've seen many episodes and I recognize its cultural influence in chilean pop culture.

This ironic series that portrays many aspects of life from a comedy point of view, is by far one of the most well known series in our country due to the fact that it was aired for long hours during some years, not long ago.
The character I enjoy the most is Lisa, who is one of the thinking characters of the show. She is, just as I am, a vegetarian and has a critical point of view of what happens around her.

A fun thing that I find about it, is how it's said it has predicted events that happened in real life with episodes aired long ago. 



What do you think about this show? Tell me in a 180 word post about your thoughts on this legendary television program!
Some questions that could inspire you:

Who's your favorite character?
What's your favorite episode?
What's your opinion about its cultural impact in Chile?

Leave one comment in my post and in three of your classmates'.
V

Post 2

The best Holidays/Concert ever 

Choose one of the topics below:

Holidays.

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

OR

Concert.

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

My choice for this post will be my best vacation, so here it goes!

What's a vacation? for me a break from routine, something that takes us away from our regular realities to find ourselves without the usual rush of a city life.

Now, as all of you know I'm kind of a weird cactus grower, so I'll tell you about my lastest trip, to the Atacama desert during last year's summer. 

It all began when I left my house in Curacaví to join my friend, and driver in our adventure, at his house in Olmué, fifth Region. That day we prepared everything to start early the next morning, we had a long way coming. We started the day early, at 7, and then we went out heading north to El Cobre, Antofagasta (2nd) Region. The idea was to go there and start coming back south, stopping in locations to find, photograph and try to discover seeds of Chilean native cacti. For that purpose we had the knowledge of my friend, who's been travelling to the dessert for at least 5 years now, and the help of this book (http://www.corma.cl/_file/material/cactaceas_chilenas_2013.pdf), which contains pictures and descriptions of several species :)



We were true adventurers, walking for hours to find plants, climbing hills and small mountain ranges. On a normal day, we would wake up at 9 approx. And then have breakfast to start the day exploring the camping site we had chosen the night before. After that we would find a new site, and track the land to find more species. It would all finish when the sun was coming down, as we needed to find a good camping spot, and use sunlight to set the tents. 


It may sound boring for some, but this was one of the best experiences I've had, I learned and enjoyed every moment of it :) Here you have some pictures of the trip!

>>Worcount: 170

>>Leave comments on 3 of your classmates posts + comments on my post. 

Post 1

Hey!!
Welcome to the first blogsession for this semester. 
Today's topic will be: "A country I'd like to visit".
To fulfill this task you must develop a 160 word post (as a minimum), and some of the things you can mention are:

- Which country would you like to go to? Why? - What do you know about it? - What would you like to do there? - Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain. - Upload at least 2 pictures - *IMPORTANT* Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on my post.



As a guide, here's my version of the post:

A country I'd like to visit is Thailand.


I'd love to visit this country located in Asia, neighbour to the countries of Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos. Eventhough I'm not an expert in weather, I'm aware of the hot temperatures they have in Thailand, and also I have friended many thai people on my facebook so I know they're great cactus cultivators. 

My main reason to visit this country would be to visit these people I've mentioned, they've been my friends for a long time now and we've exchanged experience, plants and seeds. The visit would probably become a tour through different cities along the country stopping by the houses of the friends available at the time, exchanging presents and stories about these wonderful plants.

 I think a video can tell you more than pictures in this particular case, so here it goes! I hope this video helps you to imagine what I'm talking about. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQVZTtrQx0k 

I hope you enjoy this activity, let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Victor.

Reflection time

Dear all,

In this class we'll have a brief reflection period, and I'd like you to write a short paragraph (80 words) about your thoughts on one of these topics:



- FAU as a social center. /(Its people, environment and social relevance)
- Chile and its natural resources.
- Studying in Santiago.

Please choose ONE and create a short text with your main ideas about the topic.
Post it in your blog, and then comment in three of your classmates' posts.
V.