Learning English at the University

Now that I´ve almost finished my english course, it´s time to write about it. Passing four levels of a foreing language is required in university to get a degree, but I just did two because my english level was good. I had both courses on 2009, Pre-intermediate and intermediate, and they were quite easy for me. But I learned a lot! It was definetly my funniest english course I´ve ever taken, because at school was too easy and boring. Also now I´ve got new friends, and we had great times on classes. It was a long journey and one of my best memories of University.

When I started the course, I was angry. I had my rhtythmic gymnastics training at the same hour than english classes, and I was so sure that I didn´t need them. But as I said before, they are required to get a degree, so I had to take them anyways.
First term was the easiest one. I can´t say that I didn´t learned at all, because I practiced and remembered things that I haven´t seen in years, since school times.
But, during the intermediate course I learned different weird words that I´ve never listened before. It was more interactive than the first course, because we were less people taking it and the teacher was funnier. We did different activities like games, with music and analyzing songs, we even created an island.
People was really important too. The english group is so nice and fun. We had great times before classes, because we had like three hours free to waste. We played, went out for ice creams and talked a lot. I´ll miss a lot those free hours we had, they were so relaxing.
And bad things... the courses were so late!. Going back home at eight o´clock it not nice. On winter was definetly the worst, classes were cold, dark and sometimes really boring. Being responsible was the hardest part, because I had no motivation. I´m glad I overcomed it.


I have great memories of the course, specially of the second term. I´ll miss the amazing times we had. The worst situation can become fun with nice people there, and it happened here.
Next tuesday we have the final test and I´m really nervous about it. I hope me and my partners do it right.
And then, on thrustday we are all going to celebrate it´s over! We are going out to drink and eat, still don´t know where.
The only thing I can say now... Finally it´s over! I´m so glad. Now I´ll focus on my career and studying french, I love languages and I´ll be never tired of learning them.

Challenges

People may think journalism is getting easier everyday, with the new technology. But that’s not true. Our job it’s fun, dynamic, important, but difficult and we still have challenges to deal with.

Technology has become so important, that now is difficult to work in my area without some elements like microphones, computers, recorders and cameras. I do not have them all, so I have to borrow them sometimes. If I had all the technology that I need, everything would be easier for me.
But if a journalist wants to make a good work, he would do it anyways. Journalism it’s all about communication and investigation, so for good reportage, you just need a good research and finding a simple way to explain it. Paper and a pencil is enough, just how old school journalists used to do it.
It’s nice to have tools to make our work easier.

Social matters are getting more difficult everyday, because our work is underrated. People compare us with paparazzi and they can’t see how important journalism is. They think sometimes that journalism is for people who want to be on television. But they are not right; it is a serious job that deserves respect. Some people say we are the fourth power.
It is a big challenge to change the opinion that people have about us. Being a journalist is not easy as they believe.

Education in journalism is the most difficult part I think. There are a lot of private universities that have journalism as a career and they are not good, and there are a lot of weak journalists over there. So, there’s a real challenge for serious journalists to find a nice job and stand out. Our career is really competitive, so education must be competitive too.
I think bad schools of journalism have to close, because they exist just to make money. There is not a real commitment with students, in my opinion.
I think me and my classmates are in a good school. We don’t have to worry about it.

Seasons

This time I have to write about seasons. It`s easier to me to write about each one of them.

Summer:
My favourite season! . I really like warm light days, going to the pool, staying out until night without being cold. Also It`s time to celebrate, xmas, new year and my birthday are on summer. And of course, it`s vacation time!!!.
But sometimes, hot days could be really annoying if you don`t have a way to have fun. Being at home all day with 30º it`s awful. It`s so much better to go out to drink something or a day out in the pool.
When I was a child, my mother and father got a really really small pool for me and my sister. Every day in summer we had fun there.

Spring:
I don`t like it as summer, but it`s also fun. I love flowers and fluffs that come out the trees, even though everybody hate them. I don`t like weird weather, one day is raining and the next one is sunny.
The most terrible month is always on spring. It`s the one that I have to study a lot and get stressed, Octover or November. I also started my relationship with my boyfriend in september, so we celebrate and remember that day.

Fall:
I hate it. I have the worst memories. When I was like 13 years old, I helped my aunt with the cleaning of her field. So I had to sweep the leaves of the grass. It was a huge place and I used to get so tired.

Winter:
I also hate it. I hate rain, feeling frozen, wearing big coats and having a cold. But a hot coffee and nice company can save my day. I`ll always remember my last winter, because I went to the south and It was snowing. I used to spend my time playing videogames, eating empanadas and playing out with snow. I had so much fun!!!!

Poor ICEI

Oh my gosh. Our faculty needs help!
It`s quite difficult to study here sometimes because we have to deal with the absence of elemental things, like cameras, space and computers. We have to bring our computers of huge cameras, and that`s dangerous. They could break down on he bus or something like that.
Computers need improvement. Our PCs have to be fast, with basic programs like Word, audacity and photoshop and with internet access. But that`s now our case. When I have a class on the lab, I run to get a nice computer. I`m so lucky this computer is actually working xD
When we had to print pictures on the photo lab, we had to struggle again. The lab is so small. We had to be five people in there to work properly, but there are sixty students in the class. With 40 degrees of temperature. It was uncomfortable and people started to act stupidly. I`m so glad It`s over.
We need more cameras. All kind of cameras. In the future, we will work with cameras everyday and we have to get familiar with them. I don`t know any, just the little one that people have in home. For making our photography homework, we needed a big camera. But there were just two here. How can we work with two cameras if we are sixty people?
It`s so hard to deal with this situation because there`s a big problem with money distribution. I have no idea where the problem starts. I`m sorry, but I`m not really into improving this place or something, I just come here to study and that`s all. If I had the answers, I would be interested in politics and being part of the CECo.
If we had improvements, studying here would be easier. We could make a better work.

F/Fs

My realitionship with my family is great. We live just three women in my house, because my parents are divorced. So, I live with my mother and my little sister. We have two dogs and two mices, that are like part of the family too. We have so much fun together, we have really long conversations. Also we share almost everything.
They know almost everything about me. If I`m sad, my sister and my mother know it immediately, even when I`m trying to hide my feelings. I love them.
But I can`t forget my dad. He is awsome. He`s there everytime I need him. We don`t live together now, so I go to visit him to his office or we go out together on weekends. He`s always happy to see me and my sister.
They are very important for me because they taught me everything. My personality is a reflection of what I`ve learned from them. They are also one of my biggest suport, they are always there for me.

I don`t have a lot of friends. I got really closed to my classmates in college, I`m part of a little group of fun lovely people. We are always together in classes and out, we always go out to drink coffee and have nice conversations. They are Camii, Yoyi, Valentina and Nacho. They are so important, they listen and understand me. Without them I would be always bored and alone in university, too.
My best friend is Nacho, part of my group. We have a special kind of trust, because I can tell him everything I`m thinking. Talking to Nacho it`s like speaking to myself.
We are friends since just a couple of months. We are studying the same career, but we were not classmates and we never talked. Past term we started to be together in some subjects, and we realized that we have fun together. It was quite weird, because we got really close in just a few weeks. But thank god it happened!

Family and friends are both important. But being honest, I can`t keep friends for a long time xD. I think the real reason is that I`ve never had close important friends as I do now. So family have influenced my life more than friends.
I had a best friend before, five years ago, called Juan. We started to get really close, until we fell in love. Now he`s my boyfriend and we`ve been together for 4 years. He`s my biggest support and nobody else knows me better than he does

Talking about Music

I don´t have a favourite artist. I have periods of time when I become addicted to some bands or artists, but It has never been one in particular. Now, I´m obsessed with a german industrial band called Oomph!. I´ve been listening them since last year, in november. I like them because they have songs in english and german. Even though I can´t understand a single word in german, I think music it´s a language itself. The lead singer has a special expressive manly voice, that I like because It´s versatile and he sounds different in every song. They have very interesting videos, all of them tell stories based in a book or movie. For example, for the song "Labyrinth" they used images and characters from Alice in the wonderland.

My favourite song is "Night after night" from The Rasmus, a rock-pop band from Finland. I like it because I was listening it during a very special moment of my life that I will never forget. Also, It reminds me the concert, the first time that TR came to Chile. And I was there, on the first row. It was awsome to listen my favourite song, played in front of me.

Music is very important in my life. Actually, there are things that I can´t do without music, like studing, reading, drawing, and traveling in a bus (It´s quite boring listen people´s conversation) . When I need to think, I listen to music. It´s like my little own bubble. I prefer music than silence.

Also, music it´s important to me because it helps me to remember. There are moments or people that I recognize with a song or band. For example, I hate Coldplay because It reminds me a person that I don´t like (speaking really politely).

The best concert I have been is was last year, when Within Temptation played in Teatro Caupolican. They are a metal band from Nederland. I was there on the first row (again. I came to the theather at 8am in the morning, and spent my entire day there). with my boyfriend, listening to the most beautiful female voice ever. I screamed like insane and I stupidely cried. I knew all the lyrics, so I sang all the songs. The next morning my arms were full of bruises (people there were crazy and fanatic like I was), I felt tired as hell and I didn´t have voice. But whatever, It was freaking awsome.

I would like to go to a Linkin Park concert. I love them since I was eleven. Now I´m going to see Armin Van Buuren, my favourite dj ever next month, and Panic at the disco two days later. I´ll try to survive, I promise.

Red Lips.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/12/lipstick-red-alexander-mcqueen

Today I`m going to write about a fashion trend, that Cleopatra started many years ago, but It`s still used. Red lips. I love it. I used to wear a really really bright red lipstick everyday, like two years ago. But now I don`t, because I feel that I look so adult. I prefer to look childish in university, it makes me feel young haha.

This trend is popular because so many celebritys and fashion icons have used it. Elizabeth I, Marilyn Monroe, Coco Chanel, Audrey Hepburn. And even Robert Smith and Marilyn Manson.

The article I found is an opinion about it, written by Maggie O'Farrell. She can`t understand why all fashion designers used red lips on their runways. If there are many colours to pick, why using red?

Some anthropologists sayd that red lipstick is a display of fertility. But O`Farrell doesn`t think so. She agrees that red lips creates an effect of energy, women look less tired. Moreover, she thinks we can look glamorous easily, just with a coat of red on our lips.

She also writes that she though red is not for everybody. But she changed her opinion. Women have to find the right red lipstick for her skin colour, even if they are extremely pale or ginger.

I agree :D wearing makeup is really fun and It can make a person look soooo much better (just see some famous!). Red lips are really flattering.

(whatever) to do here

I`ve always lived in Santiago, so I`ve never noticed special places to go. So I`ll write about some places that I really like to visit.

The Buin Zoo. It`s located in Buin, 30 minutes away from Santiago Centro. It`s amazing. It started like a little farm, but now It`s really important. They have a nocturnal tour, because animals act different on night. Foreing people should go because they will have fun and learn at the same time. They should also go to the show of the seals; they follow instructions like playing with a ball or clapping.

The San Cristobal Hill. It`s interesting because people have options to go to the top. They can go walking, riding a bikecycle, driving or (in my opinion, the fun option) on the cablecar. On the top there`s a huge statue of Virgin Mary and a church, so It`s a common place to go for religous people. Also they will have an amazing view of Santiago! They can also buy craft there, go to the swimming pool and visit the zoo.

Pomaire. It`s a small village located near from Santiago, where you cand find craft made of greda, something like mud. Preety boring, isn`t it?. But the interesting part is on restaurants. They sell a huge empanada that weighs 1kg and different kind of typical chilean food, and all dishes are big. The most important part, It`s not expensive at all.

Fantasilandia. I know there are rollercoasters all over the world, but Fantasilandia is the biggest and most important park on Latin America. They have two huge rollercoasters, called Boomerang and Raptor, and another different games for kids and coward adults. The funnier day to go is Halloween, because they open the park at 11 o`clock in the morning and close at 12 on night. So, if you are brave enough, you`ll see Santiago at night on the top of the biggest rollercoasters.

And finally, foreign people must go to the centre. A quick visit to Paseo Ahumada, La Moneda and Torre Entel just to see the most common and representative places in our town, and take pictures to show. They should also go to the craft fair in Santa Lucia to buy souvenirs.

Dexter, my favourite murderer

I love TV series. They´re a big part of my life, I´m always watching a couple. I usually watch series about murderer, investigation and stuff like that, for example CSI, CSI:Miami, Criminal Minds and Lie To Me. But now I´ll write about one that caught me completely for different reasons.

It´s called Dexter, the main character´s name. It´s based in a book by Jeff Lindsay called Dexter: The Dark Passenger, that I´m currently reading.

Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), works in a crime lab in the Miami police department as a blood spatter analyst. He´s really nice, handsome and charming. But he is a serial killer who follows a moral code: he just kills other murderers. He has a sister called Deb, (Jennifer Carpenter) who works in the Miami police department too. He´s in love with Rita (Julie Benz), a devastated woman with two kids, who struggled with a divorse.

I like it because it shows a really strange reality. It´s creepy, but I´ve been always impressed in serial killer´s mind. I think they´re incredibly inteligent, but they didn´t choose the right path and I wonder why. Dexter explains everything: the way he feels when he hears a voice within telling him to kill, how he hides the dead bodies and, the most interesting part, how he´s having a double life; and amazing person at day, a monster at night.

I don´t really know (and I don´t care, being honest) this special effects and production part. But, with my inexperienced eyes, I can see that´s very credible. Now that I´m reading the book, I´m impressed with the interpretation of the characters, they are exactly how It´s written.

I´ve watched three seasons. The fourth one is currently on the american television, It started just last sunday, so I´m very excited.

Transanwhatever

Well, I didn’t use public transportation until I started my English course in Santiago (I live in San Bernardo, on the south of the city), in 2007. So I never had to travel in a bus before, just a couple of times.

Before Transantiago, the transportation system was a disaster. There was no control about it, bus drivers went like flying over the streets, and they had no respect with people, especially with students.

Now, people say that taking a bus is way too difficult. (I don’t really know, because I had never to struggle with it). They’re always crowded, most people don’t pay to go, and they are slow and uncomfortable. But anyways, I think Transantiago is better than the old system.

Before Transantiago was created, I went to Santiago in a special bus, like everybody in San Bernardo used to. It was a Pullman, a little bit expensive but really comfortable, fast and trustable. When the new system started, Pullman was gone, and I had to use public transportation for the first time. Awful.

My dad finished his work at the same time that my classes did. So we came back together from Santiago to our house everyday, in the most crowded bus in earth. That became the only alternative to people from San Bernardo.

Four months after that terrible experience, some clever people created a new Pullman. It had a longer path, so it was legal. I started to travel happy again. By the way, my father paid my transportation every single day. When we used transantiago, I had to pay by myself. Make your own conclusion.

I don’t know if it needs changes. People have to make it work. Be patient, on time, and pay for it. They should be kind and see that everybody needs a decent public transportation system. And I think Transantiago is a best one.

Title

I would like to visit a lot of countries.

But there`s one that I like, because I could have so much fun there. I would like to go to the United States. Also, I can speak english so language would not be a problem. Well, my english is not perfect but I think I`d be able to survive.

Actually, travel to the US has been one of my dreams since I was a child. I wanted to go to Disneyland. I still want to go, but now my likes have obviously changed.

What do I know about the US? Well, It`s located in North America, the president is Barack Obama and is the home of McDonalds, Disney, Coca-Cola and Apple. The official language is english xD and is one of the most powerful countries.

If I go to the US, I would go to a lot of concerts. All my favourite music bands are american or have played there once. So, I have more possibilities to see them live than being here in Chile.

Also, I have a strange love for rollercoasters. So, I would go and ride all of them. Here, I just have Fantasilandia, but I`ve been there so many times that I got bored.

I would have breakfast in Starbucks everyday because I love it!.

Something that I would definitely do is watch tv. My favourite TV series are all from the US, and I hate that I have to wait for months to watch a new season.

Living and studying there is not one of my priorities, because I would like to learn another language like german or russian, but I would do it anyways. It`s a great place for working as a journalist, there are good and interesting magazines where I would be happy to work in.

I would like to study there too, I think living in a big awsome campus as I`ve watched in movies would be crazy.

First Term?. not my best memory

Hi!!! I though that I was never going to use a blog again, but, here I am. I`m starting a new english course.

Being really honest, first term was a piece of crap*. I had problems with almost everything. But I had nice moments too!
First, I wasn`t happy with my career. It was really hard to come and stay in classes that I didn`t like, specially Chronicles and Interview class. I had to struggle a lot with it.
Then, I was involved in a big fight between friends. It was really hard, because I wasn`t supposed to be in the middle. It didn`t end well, and I think now I have an enemy, and that`s the weirdest thing ever `cause I had no guilt.
I had a little problem with my family, because they think I spend so many time with my boyfriend and I`m never in home. We talked about it and now it`s ok.

And now the good things. I went to the south, to a small village called Malalcahuello. I was so lucky because the second day I stayed there, it started to snow!!!!!. I went to a thermal pool, played cards until four o`clock in the morning and I had a lot of fun!.
I learned a lot on my rhythmic gymnastics classes. I started to use two new elements, the ribbon and plastic clubs. The only bad thing is that I got many bruises. But I`m happy, because I improved my technique and flexibility.
I had amazing moments with my family and my boyfriend. We didn`t have problems with money, so we went to the movies almost every weekend.

Well, first term wasn`t sooooooooo bad. But It could have been better.
*Sorry about that bad ugly word lol. But I couldn`t find a better way to describe it.

The Last One!!!!

Oh My Gosh I can`t believe this is the last task!! This term passed away so fast.

Actually, I enjoyed writing in my blog. It was a great opportunity to practice my written english. Orally, I speak and listen english everyday with my dearest friend Camila (usually we just talk stupid things, but it helps anyway) and I`m getting more familiar with this language listening to music and watching TV shows. But I never write. I used to do it on the rhythmic gymnastics forum, but I got bored. Now I don`t write because I`m too lazy.

Sometimes I just wanted to drop the course because I missed training =( But I`ll be back the next week :D. About blogging, at first I thought that writing in a blog during the class would be a waste of time, because I could do it in my house, in bed, working in my beautiful fast computer (as I`m doing now lol) instead of being bored in university until seven o`clock, working in the slowest computer on earth. Moreover, I didn`t like some of the topics. But that is a small detail :D

Of course blogging helped me to improve my english! I think that writing here was even more useful for me than classes. Sorry! But I had the same classes on the institute and school, so what I think (and what all the people tell me) is that I just need to practice.

I think that blogging in class is very useful because you have different resources to make our blogging experencie easier. You can use online translators and dictionaries and you can call the teacher if you have a doubt. Also, you can read what your classmates have written, know their opinion and point of view and learn about their strengths and mistakes.

Well well, here`s the end. Good bye :D And thanks for getting in my own private prison :P

Task 10: My Ideal Job.

Well well. In this task I have to write about my ideal job.Being really honest, I have not even though about it! I`m just living the present. But I need to write something anyway.

In my ideal Job I would be the boss, not a mean one. I would like to be the editor in large of one important fashion magazine like Vouge, Cosmo or Elle. I would love to work in New York, one of the four fashion capital of the world.

For this job, I need to speak english obviously. I would also have to learn to communicate in other languages because I would have to travel a lot. People that work in fashion magazines need to have artistic skills, be creative and be informed about new trends. They have to be able to struggle againts this bussiness because it`s difficult; it`s very competitive and sometimes, people can be mean with you and your work. And, of course, they would have a perfect image and style.

I think I would be good at this job because I`m creative, I like to travel, I can deal with stress and I`m good working under pressure.

It would be sooooooo difficult to find a job like this because It`s every "fashionista"`s ideal job. As I said before, fashion bussiness It`s very competitive and there are a lot of people trying to get a job like this.

Do Schools kill creativity?

I`m going to write about what Ken Robinson sayd: schools kill creativity.

He thinks that all kids have tremendous talent. Creativity is as important in education as literacy. But schools don`t stimulate creativity.

He says that kids are not afraid of make mistakes. And, without being prepared to be wrong, people will never show originality. By the time they get to be adult, most of them have lost that capacity. Adults are afraid of being wrong.

He thinks school creates that preocupation, because according to the education system, mistakes are the worst thing you can make.

Also he says that all education systems in the world have the same hierarchy: Maths first, human studies then, science, and the least important topic is art. But, What happen to people who are better in arts? They think they`re not good enough for school or college. But they`re wrong; they just have an amazing creativity.

He thinks kids are our hope. People will have to think an effective way to face future. Stimulating creativity is the only way to do it. When those creative kids become adults, they will be able to come up with original ideas to make a better life for mankind.

Subject.

This semester has been really difficult for me because I don`t like some of my curses. But, there is one that`s a little bit fun than the others. There`s no required to study to pass the curse, so I am very relaxed about that. I`m talking about Oral and Body Expression.
It`s taught by Pamela Melendez, she is an actress.
As i told before, I like this course because It`s relaxed and me and my classmates have to use our body skills to success. We have to use all our ability and learn to control ourselves. Sometimes we have to scream, dance, stretch and make some strange movements, so we have to be carefull with our posture and voice. It`s really fun and we don`t know what to expect week after week.
In this semester I have learned to control my body and my voice. Also, now I know what are my skills and mistakes and I learned how to improve them.

Future

I think in 5 years I`ll be working as a journalist. Being realistic, I think I`ll be looking for a job as a journalist lol. Also I think that I`ll be learning another language, like german or french.

I would like to be working in a magazine, hopefully in a famous one, and saving money to buy my own flat in the center of Santiago and my own car.

Professionally, I would like to start a succesfull career, writing news and articles for different media. And personally, I would like to keep a good relationship with my family.

If my boyfriend and I can save enough money to rent an apartment, I think that we`ll be living together in five years (maybe in a little less time). I would like to live in Santiago, close to some subway station. I would like to have a pet like a little dog. By the way, I will never forget my family, so I would always visit them.

I think I`ll be busy working, but I`ll try to have time for the people I love. I would like to party and travel a lot.

Journalism?

As you know, I`m in second year of journalism. I`m studyng this career because it`s easy for me, I`m good writing. I don`t have that special vocation that my classmates have. Actually, if I become a journalist, I would like to work with fashion or sports.

Journalists are very important, because they are responsable of showing our reality as a society. They may look for the easiest way to make people undertand what is happening now and what are the consequences of that. 

A good journalist must be good writing and talking. Also, they have to be passionate, because this job is complicated and competitive, especially here in Chile.

As I said before, my favourite subjects are fashion and sports. I think journalists who work in those areas have lots of advantages, for example, they have to travel a lot for the coverage of events. Also they met famous people and have lots of fun. And that`s what I want for my life because I would be never be stressed or unhappy. 

Gymastics! again xD

Well this is my favourite topic and I`ll write about it until you get obsessed like me :P
She is Anna Bessonova, an amazing rhythmic gymnast from Ukraine and, of course, one of my biggest inspirations.
This picture was taking in Patras, by Bernd Thierolf, a german photographer. It happened on the last day of the RSG World Championships in 2007. Bessonova gets the first place in the all around competition, and this is the moment when she recieved the medal. It`s a really famous photo in the gymnastics world, because she deserved to be a champion many years before. But there was always someone else stealing her gold medal; judges is not fair in this sport.
After she finished her hoop routine, performed beautifully, she got a huge but fair score. Audience reaction was amazing, everybody was happy. Of course, Bessonova and her coaches and teammates were crying, because they know that she was wating this gold medal for years.
When I saw that performance, I cried xD. I was so excited and happy for her, because she is my idol. Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fmmo9g1t4c

RG is always first.

Ok ok, I`ll be really honest. I don`t really like journalism. But there´s something that I absolutly love, and it makes me continue with this career. It`s my favourite sport, Rhythmic Gymnastics. I`m always reading news about tournaments and gymnasts. So, I would like to be a sport reporter.
And this is the link that I always visit to keep me informed. It`s a rhythmic gymnastics site created by Alexander Kochann, where news and articles are shared in a forum. This is the link http://www.rsg.net/forum. The best thing about it, is that you MUST share news in english!. So all RG lovers in the world are connected in one site.

I found this site in a YouTube video. I was starting to get familiar with gymnastics watching videos, and one of the comments recommended this link. It was like three years ago.

I visit it twice a week. But in specific weeks, like Olympic Games or important championships, I`m always connected to this website.
I like it because I can read news from lots of countries. So, I`ve read interviews from ukranian, Bulgarian or russian gymnasts, for example.
They also upload videos and pictures of tournaments, so it`s really fun to read news and then watch them.

If you like RG; I absolutly recommend this site. And keep an eye on it, because European championships will start soon.
See ya!