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?

Something you did last weekend

Hi Geo Bloggers!
I had quite a busy weekend. On Friday night I went to a birthday party, On Saturday I went on a picnic, on Sunday I went to jam with a musician buddy, on Monday I mostly slept and on Tuesday I pottered about at home.  Maybe I'll tell you about Friday.
So. on Friday night I went to the birthday party of a friend called Jeronimo. I hadn't seen him for about 10 years when I went to stay with him in Paris. He arrived back in Chile about 2 years ago but we just haven't been able to find the time to see each other. The party was at his parent's house in La Reina, I went with my wife and we got there at about 8.30pm. It was quite a small gathering, maybe about 15 or 20 people in total - mostly adults but also a couple of teenagers and 2 children. We ate, drank, chatted and listened to music. The music was great because we listened to a mix I'd made for Jeronimo as a birthday present. The people there were really nice. I'd only met one of them before but even so it was a nice relaxed atmosphere. We left at about 2.30am but didn't get to bed until about 4pm because by the time we got home my wife was hungry (boy that woman can eat!!!).
Anyway, I have a great evening and it was a wonderful way to start the long weekend.

What about you guys and girls? What did you do last weekend? Here's a Bowie cover of a song about the weekend.

Write about something you did last weekend.
Say:
What you did,
Where you did it,
Who you did it with,
Whether or not you enjoyed it and why.

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

A Walk You Would Like To Do Again

Write about a walk you did that you would like to do again. 

My family is a family of keen walkers. When I was a child, my parents would often take us out for walks at the weekend. One of my favourite walks was up a Welsh hill called Moel Famau. Normally we would start from home in Mynydd Isa and walk about 5 kilometers through Mold to Loggerheads. Depending on the weather or how much time we had, we would then decide whether to do a walk up to the summit of the hill or to do a full trail. The walk up the hill is about 6km and the full trail is about 17km.

My favourite was doing the full trail because part of it was though a country park called Cat walk because it was a very narrow path that was quite high (especially for a young child!). Also, this part of the walk was through woods and along a river, the other part was pine forest and bare grassland at the top of the hill. I must have walked up that hill at least 50 times in my life. One of my aunties lived in a farmhouse at the foot of the hill and I often stayed with her in my summer holidays from school. She had a son who was a year older than me. However, when I was about 10 years old he had a car accident and lost one of his legs and so, unfortunately for him, his walking days were over. I think the last time I climbed Moel Famau was in the 1980’s but I’d love to do this walk again as it would bring back all my childhood memories. There’s a website with information about the country park here:

http://www.walkmag.co.uk/walks/wales-loggerheads-country-park-flintshiredenbighhire/

It even has a Facebook page!

Obviously, these didn’t exist when I was younger but at least you can get an idea of what it’s like.

Write about a walk you would like to do again.

Say:

Where it is,

When you did this walk before

Why you enjoyed it,

Why you would like to do it again.

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

A Book

Today I'd like you to talk about a book you can recommend.
Actually, I started reading at a very young age and reading has always been one of my hobbies. However, I think there are lots of books that I love that maybe aren't so easy to read or that many people wouldn't find interesting.
One of my favourite books in recent years is a book by a Japanese author called Haruki Murakami. The book is called Kafka on the Shore and I read it in 2005. I discovered it because a British author I like called David Mitchell reviewed it in a magazine and said it was great. Then, a few weeks late The New York Times printed the first chapter. I read it and then bought the book straight away. It's a little crazy (for example one of the characters talks to cats, and they talk back) but it's also extremely imaginative. It tells the story of a teenage boy who runs away from home. I've lent the book to lots of other people and they've always enjoyed it so I don't have any problem recommending it. Since then I've read 10 more books by Murakami and I've loved them all. I also really like the cover of Kafka on the Shore because it has a cat that looks just like my cat who sadly passed away in May at the age of 16.

Write about a book you recommend.

Say:

What it's called,

Who wrote it,

When you read it,

How you found out about it,

Why you like it.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Something You Would Like to Learn

Hi FAU Bloggers:

Today I'd like to talk to you about something I'd like to learn. Actually, there are a number of things I can think of. I'd love to learn Japanese (especially as I plan to visit Japan in February), I'd also like to learn about Ableton Live recording software because I love making music on my computer and this would allow me to make better recordings. However, I'm going to taljk to you about learning to play the saxophone. I've wanted to do this since I was young. I think my first inspiration was David Bowie and although he isn't recognised for his saxophone playing I remember reading about him learning to play at a young age. I took a clarinet lessons at school for about 6 months because the fingering technique is very similar and my school didn't have a saxophone. Unfortunately, I didn't have a place to practise and only learnt to play a few very simple tunes. Anyway, the clarinet wasn't as "cool" as the saxophone so I lost interest. I renewed my interest a few years ago and bought a secondhand instrument on ebay. For personal (family) reasons I haven't found time to take lessons yet but I hope to make it top of my to do list for 2017. I don't think it would be too difficult to learn given that I already have some notion of what to do. The most complicated thing would be finding the time. There are lots of saxophone players that I admire and here are two songs that I really love. I hope you enjoy them:)

Write about something you would like to learn.

Say:

Why you would like to learn this activity,

How difficult it would be to learn,

What special abilities you need to do it well,

Who you think does this activity well.

Mention anything else you this is im´portant. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Holiday You Remember

I think I've been very lucky went it comes to holidays and travelling. One amazing holiday I had was in Turkey in 2014. I went with my wife (of course) and we met up with a British friend (Miles) and his boyfriend Berkay who is Turkish. Miles lives in Istanbul but we met in Istanbul airport (my wife and I travelled from London) and flew to Cappadocia which is an amazing region in the centre of Turkey. We spent 4 days there and it was really wonderful. Our hotel was great. We had a great room with underfloor heating and a wonderful view. Capaddocia is well known for its beautiful landscapes and it has cave type houses built into the rocks that are hundreds of years old. We spent most of our time time walking and talking photographs. We also ate really well and it was quite cheap to eat and get around to see the interesting places. It was winter but we had sunny days with cold nights (below zero). I think we were lucky because we had a Turkish speaker with us. The Turkish love to barter (regatear) and Berkay got us all the best prices. If you have lots of money you can go up in a ballon to view the area from above. However, it cost about 100USD per person so we didn't do it.I would love to visit this region again. The landscape was a bit like parts of San Pedro de Atacama but the way humans have interacted with the landscape over the  centuries is very different. I think all geographers would enjoy visiting this place.
Write about a holiday you remember.

Say:
Where you went,
Who you went with,
How long you went for,
What you did,
What you enjoyed most about the holiday.

Mention anything else you think is interesting. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Website

Hi Bloggers,

Today I'd like to write about a website I like. I guess YOUTUBE is my favorite website nowadays. I think it's amazing because it's so versatile. I visit it everyday because I have a blog called Song of the Day Chile (www.songofthedaychile.blogspot.com) and I post a Youtube video of a song I like on the blog and on Facebook. I've been doing this every day for about 4 years and I now have over 1,700 songs posted.
That's not the only thing I use it for. I also use Youtube to find out how to do things. For example, last week I had to reset my phone to its factory settings and I found out how via a Youtube video. There is so much stuff on Youtube that I can spend hours just searching the site looking for fun things. I often look for British comedians or old TV shows from when I was a kid. I've published a few things myself. I've uploaded videos of songs I've recorded. Here's one of me in 1980.



Write about a website you like.
Say:
What it's called,
How often you visit it,
How you found out about it,
Why you like it.

Mention anything else you think is interesting. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.