Blog mark  (  20%)

Dear all,
Here is ONLY 50%  (sólo el 50%)  of your final mark.
The evaluation of the blog was posted in April on this blog.
 
                                                     Blog mark 1 50%    blog mark 2    blog mark 3     Final blog mark
                                                      formative a.

Javiera A                                         5,5
Josefa                                              5,5
Bárbara                                           6,8
Verónica                                          5,5
Javier                                               7
Constanza                                        7
Catalina                                           6,7
Luna                                                6,7
Bernardo                                         4,7
Deyanira L                                       7
Deyanira M                                     6,2
Paula N                                            7
Marina                                            6,2
Paulina                                           5,5
Jennifer                                           7
Ignacio E                                        7
Rocío                                              6,2
Eva                                                 5,2
Estefania                                         7
Paula D                                          6,2

video 3

Dear all,

There are many activities I like to do in my free time. Among them I can think of swimming, playing guitar, doing sports, watching movies and or  drawing Japanese characters lately.

There is one activity I really love but I hardly ever do. This is trekking. I probably do it twice or three times in a year (at least this year!)

This activity involves some mental and physical endurance depending on the distances, weather and terrain you cover. I guess you also need the right gear depending on the weather. I like to wear different layers so you can take them off as you get warmer. Drinking lots of water and eating something before you do it are important things

One of my favourite places to do this is Parque nacional La campana, in particular the walk between Portezuelo and Ocoa, but  I believe that around Santiago has a number of nice hills to climb, too.

I really enjoy this activity because I love nature. Observing plants, trees and vegetation makes me happy. Moreover, I really like insects, birds and animals in their natural habitat (Not at home! This applies for insects)

Practice for video 3

Say:
What the activity is,
How often you do it,
Where you do it,
What the activity involves,
Why you enjoy doing this activity.
Mention anything else you think is important.

Minimum 220 words and 3 comments

Hello
Here is some help to practice for the oral interaction test that will be held next week. Remember you need a partner for this activity. It is a good idea to decide on it now.

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 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...."

video 3

Video 3: 
AN ACTIVITY YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME
Record a for 2 minute mobile phone video presentation in ONE TAKE * about an activity you like to do in your free time. Remember this is NOT A READING ACTIVITY :)
Say:
What the activity is,
How often you do it,
Where you do it,
What the activity involves,
Why you enjoy doing this activity.
Mention anything else you think is important.

The deadline is Sunday 19 in the night. Please practice and ask for help if you need it 

I use a lot of apps on the phone and there are some that I really enjoy, for example pinterest or Instagram because I love to look at drawings. But I don’t really visit them often.  However, there is an app I use a lot more than the rest, and this is Duo lingo. I discovered this app through one of my sisters about 5 years ago. I remember we were both practicing German at the time and we found this was better for languages than others.

I like it because it shows you your mistakes and keeps repeating them until you get the answers right. I visit it every day and the nice thing is that duo lingo reminds you when you have a pending lesson.  I always do at least the minimum and at weekends or on free nights, I do more. For Japanese it has been really useful because you write in such a different way. I has really helped me memorise some of the characters. Considering you have around 102 only with two systems, I can use all the help I can get. I am not sure it is the best methodology to learn a language but it has certainly help me through it.

Write about the app you use the most or one you like very much.

Say

How you discovered it

Why you like it

How often  you use it

And if you would recommend it and why

Add anything else you find relevant.

Write a minimum of 220 words, a comment on this blog and 2 more comments

TASK ON PAPER

Hi Bloggers,

Today we're going to write on paper about Santiago. Each and every one of us views the city form a different perspective that depend on many things. For example, I was born in Temuco and later came to live here. I had the opportunity to live in England and in Germany for a short time.  Regardless of these things, your personal situation and frame of mind can also affect the way you view a city.I personally feel Santiago has great spots and parks (although very few) but can also be a very hostile place depending on the area or time of the day.
I would like Santiago to have more green areas. I think this can really change the way to relate to the city and life in general. I also feel this would help with the horrible pollution we have. In my opinion, we would need to pave the roads in the outskirts and get the factories out of the city so there is less pollution. I would plant many more trees. I also feel we need to improve the transport system so people don't use an hour up to three hours a day to get to work.

I love our mountain :)

Write about your vision of Santiago.

Say:

What you like about the city and why,

What you dislike about the city and why,

What changes would make the city a better place,

What tips would you give to a visitor to the city,

Write at least 240 words. Leave a message on my blog and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Green

Being green

Well, I think you can learn about being more environmentally friendly in many places. However, for me the best is to learn with others. I have learnt about recycling, composting with friends mostly. However, I used to be a lot more radical and concerned about the environment, until, in my view, I realized I could not save the world on my own. I was in Germany in 1998 and then, people separated rubbish, would not litter, etc. 1998!!!!! And here, it still doesn’t happen much! In Chile if there is no money, there is  no interest from our government….

I still take all bottles and jars to the bottle bank, take all milk cartons, paper, cardboard and tins to the recycling center all the time but that is more or less it. Another thing I do is I decided not to buy plastic anymore and use only glass if possible.  I use the car to come here sometimes because I am exhausted or in a rush. However, this is the only campus where I do this because I can park. Normally I go places  on the bus.  In the past I made my own detergent, shampoo, bar soap and used to come on my bike. I used to have my compost on the balcony. Now I don´t do any of those things.  What a disaster!

My carbon footprint must be high. Terrible thing!

I think our society needs to be educated so we can all be aware of the importance of recycling & reusing and all the benefits it could have.

Write about the environment answering the following questions:

What things do you do that are environmental friendly?

Do you think the Chilean government does enough to promote recycling?

What are the most common items that people recycle?

What things can average people do to protect the environment?

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

practice

Reading:

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading1.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/reading1.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading2.htm

Listening:

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part1.htm
http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part2.htm

Vocabulary:

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_vocab.htm

https://flo-joe.co.uk/preliminaryenglish/vocabulary/computers-internet-vocabulary.htm

https://flo-joe.co.uk/preliminaryenglish/vocabulary/education-collocations.htm

Optional topics

Today we have chosen to write about ONE of these three topics


Drugs
What is considered a drug?

What is your opinion about them?

Do you think it is a serious problem in Chile?

Add anything else you find relevant.



Music/ TV serious

Why you like it

How you discovered it

How often you watch it/listen?

Add anything else you find relevant.


Discrimination


What forms of discrimination do you know?

Which are worse?

Is racial discrimination a recent issue in Chile?


200 WORDS and 3 comments 


/

Blog evaluation (first published April 24th)

The blog mark  (20%  of your level mark) consists of two different marks:

Mark 1   = Continuous assessment. Every class you get:

2 points for writing your post and comments "in class"
1 point for post and comments until Friday 21:00
O points after 48 hours or no post

Mark 2

Evaluation of 3 texts over the semester

Instruction, grammar, language, structure

mark 1 + mark 2= final blog mark

Dear all,
Here is our second evaluation due on July 19th.

Please remember this is not a READING test.  All in one take

A JOB YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO IN THE FUTURE

Record a for 2 minute mobile phone video presentation* about a job you would like to do in the future.

Say:

What the job is,

Why you would like to do this job,,

What qualities or skills you would need to do this job,

What type of reward or job satisfaction you would get from doing this job.

Mention anything else you think is important.

Write a minimum of 200 words and wirte 2 comments to your classmates

Thank you

WOULD Conditional

I would like   Me gustaría
She would go  Ella iría
Would you work as a bar bar tender? trabajarías de dependiente del bar?
I wouldn't like a job   No me gustaría un trabajo
I would work in a place  Trabajaría en un lugar
The satisfaction for me would be  la satisfacción para mí sería

Free

These two choices are difficult because I love more or less all  food. Since I am rather hungry at the moment. I consider myself a food lover, I have always enjoyed eating very much. However, 16 years ago I decided not to eat meat anymore. At that time it was not about animal rights or health, it was only that one day  I didn't feel like it anymore. Today I feel that is one of the best decisions I have made.

The idea of food is complex since there are a number of options that are simply delicious. For example, I love nuts, all sorts, especially mixed together with raisins or cranberries. I also love olives, the bitter ones in particular. I think if I have to think of a homemade dish, I'd go for a vegetarian lasagna made with aubergine, zuchinni and tomato sauce. It's simply wonderful. 

On the sweet side my favorite is chocolate. However, I don't like fruit any less. My favorite are chirimoya, banana and mango. I also love watermelon.

I really liked it when the seasons were more marked and you had certain foods in one period of the year, like tomatoes or strawberries only in the summer and celery in the winter. Now we have everything year in year out. It is such a good reflection of a consumerist society. 

I think the connection with food is very important. I really believe we are what we eat (and what we drink!) I think food is strongly related with our emotions and we eat more or less depending on how we feel.

To conclude, I'd like to say that combining a rich diet or a healthy diet with a regular amount of sport is the best decision you can take. I wish I practiced sports 4 times a week but I only do it twice, sometimes less depending on how busy I am with work and reading.

How about you?

Today We have two choices.

Write about your favorite food or food in general.
What is your relationship with food?
Do you have a favourite dish? Is there a dish  you enjoy at home or in a particular shop?

Write a minimum of 215 words and 3comments

Music or...

Today I would like (me gustaría) to write and to know about your musical taste. Can you think of the first time you heard music in your life? I remember the radio was the first thing I heard each morning as a child, even before the birds. My dad would put the radio on in his bedroom, which was next to ours and inevitably, you would listen. I suppose that is what awakened my love for music in general.

I think music, just like other type of arts, can really move people. In my case, certain musical pieces and songs have made me cry, sometimes when I remember situations from the past, sometimes out of joy because it is so beautiful.  I think music as much as sounds in general are really important in my life. I love music and I love birds singing (I mean this kind of sound).

I always listen to music and I love live gigs. There are also a number of soundtracks (from movies)  I listen to all the time. For example Yann Tiersen’s “ Good bye Lenin” Sound track or “Cloud Atlas” which was written by a few authors (I strongly recommend both these films if you haven’t seen them, very different genres (historical tragicomedy, Science fiction). At the same time I love music from latin America, Africa and Europe. Different styles, more or less all sorts, however, I don’t know much about K or J pop and I am not a fan of reggaeton or really heavy metal rhythms but I will listen if there is nothing else on offer.

How about you?

Write about music or a different type of art you enjoy or is important in your life.

How you got into it

How often you listen or practice it

Why you like it

Anything else you find relevant.

Write a minimum of 220 words, a  comment on 2 classmates’s blogs and your teacher’s blog.

something you'd like to learn(You'd like to= you would like to= te gustaría)

something you'd like to learn(You'd like to=  you would like to= te gustaría)

There are lots of things I would love to learn to do. However, to be realistic, some of them would be too complicated. For example, I’d love to learn to play the flute but you need a lot of time and dedication to become a competent musician and I don’t think it would be a feasible instrument to learn at this stage of my life. One thing that I would like to learn better would be to play the guitar. I can play basic stuff and I know some chords but I'd like to be able to play any old song nicely and in rhythm.  I just wish I wanted it more so I devoted more time to it and improved. I feel and been told I am good. Japanese is another one on my list. I started classes last week and I feel there is hope. I study every other day for a while because I know it is the only way to succed.
 Finally, improving my pc skills and dancing salsa is also on my list but I think I am one of the stiffest people ever:(
Last but not least, I really think this life is a constant learning experience. In everything we do, interaction we have we have something to take with us. I love that.

Write about yourself.
Is there something in particular you would like to learn?
Is there something you started learning and stopped that you would like to pursue?
Tell us about your interest!
Write a minimum of 220 words plus 3 comments on blogs. It could be mine or any.
Thank you
Regards and see you soon

Film

One great film I've seen in the last few years is a British film called ”Fish Tank”. I actually saw it at home on DVD as I don't go to the cinema very often any more (I've been once this year). The film is an independent movie by director Andrea Arnold and my friend Terry suggested that I watch it. The film tells the story of a young girl from a broken home growing up in a poor part of London. The film is a drama and it stars unknown actors. The lead role is played by Katie Jarvis and it also stars Michael Fassbender who is the star of another movie I was going to write about (and best movie I've seen this year) "Shame" by British director Steve McQueen (A must see movie - Watch it!!!). I enjoyed Fish Tank because it is a very British movie and it relates to elements of British culture that many people don't know about. But it is also the

The young girl in the story is a bit of a loner and has a very troubled home life. Actually, I've just seen that the full film is available (subtitled) on Youtube:)

Write about a movie you enjoyed. ON THIS POST THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO INCLUDE

 What it's called,

where and when you saw it,

which actors star in it,

What genre it is,

Why you enjoyed it.

Mention anything else you find interesting. 
DO NOT write a summary of the movie. DO NOT copy and paste texts from IMDB or any other online site. It is your ideas I am after.

 Leave comments on your teacher's blog and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

 (220words)

If I had to think of one in particular, I guess it would be difficult to give an answer, however, and since I don’t want to be incoherent, I will. I remember one morning on the day of my birthday that my husband (boyfriend then) woke me up and gave me an envelope. At the time I thought “What a weird present, is it money?” Then I opened it and I realized it was a plane ticket. I remember I was a bit shocked; really, it was a plane ticket with hotel and everything to go to Buenos Aires the weekend after. I did no show much enthusiasm at the time since I had been waiting for something different, I suppose. However, I think this has been one of the best weekends ever. I had never been to Buenos Aires before and we had a wonderful time. We went to the typical sights; we also went to a tango club (and tried to dance!). I spent hours in libraries and got a few books for much better prices.

I suppose what I liked the most was the fact that people can be so nice there. Being a capital city, it is a completely different attitude towards others. Less hostile in gerneral, I think.  Also, in general the ordinary people in the streets seem so knowledgeable about their history, culture and that is really nice. It seems like culture is everywhere. I really enjoyed it. Now it is one of my good memories.

Write about a present you received.

Say:

What it was,

Who gave it to you,

Why you liked it,

Where it is now.

Anything else you find relevant.

Write a minimum of 200 words and 1 comment on your teacher's blog and 2 on any other blog in the class.

Blog evaluation

The blog mark  (20%  of your level mark) consists of two different marks:

Mark 1   50%  = Continuous assessment. Every class you get:

2 points for writing your post and comments "in class"
1 point for post and comments until Friday 21:00
O points after 48 hours or no post

Mark 2       50%

Evaluation of 2 texts (25%+25% )over the semester

Instruction, grammar, language, structure

Mark 1 + mark 2= final blog mark  20%

friend

Hi everyone:

Since today we are talking about personal things, I'd like to talk about a good friend of mine. I met Ivonne in around 2000 because she was a my sister's classmate at Uni and they were pretty close. Later, my sister left to live in the UK and didn't see Ivonne again until around 2005. I am not sure how we got in touch again but I am glad we did because I feel she is really nice company. I like talking to her about anything because most of the time she has wise words to tell me. Plus, she has a great sense of humor and is a very active woman.

I'd say we have  things in common. We like music and arts in general, and we share our sense of humor & we love animals. We don't eat them ! I really enjoy our evening meetings to have a drink and play music. Ivonne plays the guitar magnificently and can pick like few people I have met. But she is very humble about her guitar playing and that is nice too.

She is a lawyer, but one of the smart ones who will always tell you about the details of the legal actions you take. Furthermore,  most of the time she knows what is going on with the laws they will pass or if they already passed them and how they affect us. It is a pitty we only see each other 3 or 4 times a year.

Write about a good friend of yours:

Say:

Who it is,

How you met,

What things you have in common,

How often you see your friend.

Write at least 180 words. Leave a comment on  4 classmates' blogs .

A place you would like to visit :)

Today we have hopefully talked a little about places during the first block. There are places in Chile I would love to visit. One of them is Punta Arenas. I was born in Temuco and I strongly think the south of Chile is simply marvellous. However, I have only been down to Coihayque. This is why I would love to visit more or less all there is to see and experience further south.

Abroad (in a foreign country), I know I want to visit Japan. I had the opportunity to go there for 12 days and I honestly though it was an incredible place. This idea of having a pagoda or a temple right next to a modern building and the constant stimuli is amazing. I also feel the Japanese culture is quite interesting. Not necessarily happy, quite the opposite, but still really willing to make the foreign person feel comfortable. They say that this only lasts while you are a tourist. The issue of honor is also something I find quite fascinating in this culture. I think I would there for a couple of months to be able to see the four islands. In particular, Hokkaido in the very north, where there is a Japanese/Russian community, and Okinawa and its tropical climate.

Of course, if I went to Japan again, I’d (I would) like to do it with my travelling companion in my adult life, my husband. But I quite like the idea of travelling with one of my sisters, too.

I personally feel travelling and experiencing a different culture, even as a tourist, is a priceless experience. I believe it is more valuable than most material things. I know this is very subjective but it is how I feel J

Write about a place you would like to visit.

Say:

Why you would like to go there and why.

Who you would go with.

How long you would go there for and what you would do.

Include anything else you find relevant.

Write a minimum of 190 words.