BBC learning English

Hello everyone! Today we have to visit a site very interesting, where we can do a lot kind of activities to learn English.

In this site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/ ) you can found selections like General & Business English, Grammar, Vocabulary & Pronunciation, Quizzes, and others kind of selections like “teachers” which are more specific, that can be more appropriate for people who wants to keep their English in shape.

What I did in this site was select the option “quizzes”, and then I chose play a crossword. The topic of the crossword was “Archaeology”, so it was no so difficult for me, because I like this subject. The game involves clicking the numbers to see a clue to the words, and right here you could see news published in the BBC website (visiting “Words in the News”). Also, you could get more clues by clicking “give me a hint”, that allowed see five letters in different spaces of the crossword.  

It seemed to me a very interesting activity, and, in general, I think that this site is a very good choice to practice English, because there are a lot of funny things to do. 

End of the year, and end of the world

Hello again! I’m back! J

Sometimes I look the sky and I say… why me? This year (precisely my last year at the University) I was planning a trip to Bolivia and Perú with my boyfriend and another four friends. But, with the “stopping” and protests at my University, my plans are at risk... classes just started last week, right now when I must to get a job to finance the travel expenses! I’m very complicated with this, because is very discouraging go to class on summer (with all the sun and the warm) and especially for the time that I had planned to job… I NEED A JOB! But, I also need to finish all my subjects on the best way. This is my existential paradox…. because if the world ends, I never will meet the Ruins of Machupichu, but, if I live many years I will say: “why I preferred to work, rather than studying? L

I hope to do both things, and with great success! 

Time to say goodbye, First Semester!!!

Hello! It's been a long time! I had been forgotten how to do this :P

This semester has been very troubled for me, because I needed to practice every week to learn English, but  with this recess period, I was very disconnected with the required rate. The truth is I’m very worried about the tomorrow's English test. Five months has passed since the last English class... it’s been a long, long time!

But, O.K.! in this post I must to write about my BLOGGING EXPERIENCE, so… here we go!

At first I thought it would be very easy, but when you're trying to explain an idea, in a language that is not yours…  You say: "Wow! is not so easy". Blogging is good for exercising grammar and construction of ideas, and, personally, this experience allowed me think about simple things, but in English. This is the part I most enjoyed, because I could accommodate my schedule to write my ideas in home, at the University, etc. (but during the day). In general I like to write in my blog, but, sometimes it takes me a long time.

One thing I never liked of this activity is that I never received corrections about my posts after posting; that is, I would have liked to receive at least one comment about my writing, like tips or little corrections, to see how well I was doing. In fact, I do not know if my post have improved or worsened since the first time (but I hope I have improved). Anyway, I think It’s part of learning to discover your own mistakes.

I would like to repeat this experience next semester, because I seemed very productive. Maybe we could keep talking about art and our likes ... so we could continue to knowing each other, don't you think so? 

    Hello everyone. The topic of this week is "travels". I don’t know if I am the best person to discuss this issue because I've never traveled very far from Santiago; but, at least, in the  places I've been away, I’ve had unique experiences.

In general, every summer I go on vacation with my family to the beach. We don’t have a house there, so we always go only for a few days. This year we went a little  further  than  usual (central coast), so it was more fun than the other times. We wanted to travel  further  north to see if it was true that the beaches are more beautiful and whether the water was warmer, so our destination was Guanaqueros town, because none of us had been there before. Although only mobilize on bus, we take care to visit other places, relatively close to the place where we stayed, for example Tongoy, Coquimbo and La Serena. Every day we got up very early to take advantage of every single hour of sunshine, so we did many things during the day, like traveling on the road, walking along the beach and visit many craft fairs.

In my opinion, one of the most fascinating things of traveling is to know the local gastronomy, because food reveals aspects of the culture and natural resources of the place. For example, if you go to the beach, you shouldn’t eat chicken or beef; unless livestock is widely developed there... you should take advantages to eat seafood and fresh fish.

As I already said, I've never traveled very far from my hometown, so I hope someday to travel to many exotic places like India, Philippines or Egypt. One of the countries that give me more curiosity is Senegal or Bora Bora. Senegal is an African country, with a tropical climate and varied nature, and Bora Bora is an Island of magnificent turquoise waters. I would love to visit these places to know their culture and especially their food, which is one of the things  that most attracted when I'm traveling.

 South Pacific Luxury Resorts in Bora Bora

The right to protest

     Hello everyone. This week has been very strange because it has not been classes at the University. Students have organized marches and protests to discuss new proposals to improve education, as we think that everyone should have the same opportunities to choose the University and the career that we really like.

Usually, every year there is a "stoppage" at my University, which works with days for reflection (making assemblies) and "agitational activities" (which involves people to make propaganda posters to use in the protest).

       I think protesting is more than a right: is a duty. Many social changes have been made ​​with the pressure of citizens through massive protests. Personally I have never attended these protests, but I consider them absolutely valid and effective as open a dialogue with the authorities. On the other hand, working together helps to spread tolerance among people. This allows people to learn to share their views and respect the opinions of the others. For example, the controversial project Hydroaysén producing several channels of discussion. We heard many environmentalists and many businesses. Through these opinions became public, ordinary people was able find out, and they were able form their own opinions.

The "bad side" that often disappoints me is the problem with the violence generated at the end of the protests. Many times, few people end up ruining these marches when they destroy public places, triggering a wave of violence between civilians and police. The repression is another factor that I dislike about the marches. Sometimes, just to impose order and power, the police hamper legitimate act of opinion and democratic demonstration.

     I admire the people who go out to the streets to fight for the rights of others. I would like to be more active, but I think democracy has become less interesting… I mean, we're always hearing rumors about corruption of politicians… maybe this situation has caused some of us feel disenchanted with politics.

The only bad thing in this whole discussion it is: in this country the money seems to be matter much more important than people's opinions L

     Anyway, it is the saying "who doesn't cry, doesn' t suck". LOL

Velazquez's Las Meninas

Hi everybody, today we must choose a work of art and talk about it. Personally, I don’t have a favorite piece of art, but I can tell you about an important masterpiece, that has survived many centuries in the memory of an entire country.

“Las Meninas" by Velazquez was painted in 1656, when he was 57 years old.  Velazquez was a very important artist of the Spanish Golden Age, and currently is considered one of the most important Baroque artists. "Las Meninas" is a Royal Family portrait of the king Philip IV; however is very special, because the family is not in session posing in a classroom to be portrayed: the kings are portrayed in the reflection of a mirror, and her daughter, the Infanta Margarita, is in the foreground, being attended by her servants and clowns.

 This work is part of the paintings of Velazquez's mature period. There is a play of lights and shadows that organize the construction of the space. This painting features at least two independent light sources. The most important focus is the light in front of the princess and her group, where she has the most outstanding of all. The second source of light is the strong backlight of the open door at the bottom front where it cuts the figure of José Nieto that creates a great sense of depth.

The chiaroscuro is one of the main characteristics of Barroque (sometimes called Tenebrism). This type of illumination can look theatrical, and the representation can look a lot more atmospheric. I like this type of illumination, because the objects and the figurates are stylized, sensual and realistic. “Las Meninas” marked a great milestone in Spanish art, and introduced some very interesting lighting effects… for example inspired Goya, who also painted at the Spanish court, and many other Baroque painters.

Brilliant artists: ÉDOUARD MANET

Hi class, today we have to write about our favorite artists! Personally, I have a lot of favorite artists; many of them belong to the nineteenth century. This period was very productive in terms of artistic production, because it started a period of transition between strictly academic and avant-garde, as from Impressionism.  One of the founders of this artistic revolution was Édouard Manet, a famous French painter, which -I think- was often misunderstood. His works were considered scandalous because he used unconventional techniques that "offended" to the Academy and the conventions of painting.  One of the most outrageous works he painted was “Olympia” (1863), where the problem is not that Olympia is naked, but how is painted this nude:  with flat color, that is, without chiaroscuro. On the other hand, the woman portrayed is not Olympia, but a prostitute who looks directly at the audience, as if to say "what?".

    Olympia, 1863. Óleo sobre lienzo. 130,5 x 190 cm. Museo de Orsay. París. Francia.

I think I like this artist because it is a transgressor, but without wanting to be. His paintings are beautiful but you can see something of melancholy through them. I think that relates to the history life of Manet, with their wishes and convictions rarely appreciated by his contemporaries. However, influenced the Impressionists and an entire generation of artists

The best invention of recent times

Hi everyone. The issue today is techonology. Technology has given us many ways to make life easier  and more fun. For example, today it is very easy and fast to communicate through  technological artifacts, because it is not necessary to send a carrier pigeon or write letters –for example-.

 The most important technological object in my life -right now- is my notebook. Without him I could write my college work, nor seek information about anything when I needed. A notebook is a portable computer; you can charge the battery and keep it off for acouple of hours while in the library, in the backyard or anywhere. I can also save a lot of music files or movies. In this way, when I'm bored looking for something new to see or hear.

I have my notebook two years ago, when my father gave me for Christmas. At that time I was very excited because he had waited long for him. Before of having my notebook I had to go to bed too late if needed to do a job. But nowI can study all night, but lying on my bed. The only bad thing about this is that you become very dependent on this device. No longer used only for study or listen to music but to view online ridiculous. In this regard,you must be very careful not to fall into this addiction, because then you start to be asloppy, lazy person.

Ciudad Pintura

Hi, this time I have to write about a career-related website that I enjoy visiting. 

My favorite Website is http://www.ciudadpintura.com . In this Web you can found a lot of paintings, organized in different ways.  

This site is a virtual gallery created by “Ayúdale a caminar” corporation, who work for labor integration of disabled people. When you are inside of the site, you see a Mona Lisa picture with a little text to explain that work. The background is navy blue, and above you can see six portraits of painters, constantly changing colors (Dürer, Van Gogh, El Bosco, among others).  To the left, there are many white links. The first says “general information”, when you can know about the corporation (who are they and where they are located).  Below, there is a link to go visiting the Main Gallery, and you can search pictures to these categories: Authors (authors suggested, general list of authors), Museums (Suggested Museums, general list of museums), Chronology and Styles (Prehistory to XVIII century, XIX century to the present) and Rail Art (with the description of the space dedicated to trains and a List of pieces)

I like this Web because you can download a lot of pictures that sometimes are difficult to get.  

Here you can see a picture that I found in this site …. and I love it!

Music to the roaD

I love listen to music because I love hear all the sounds involved. This time I'll talk about my favorite bands and what kind of music they do. Well, as I said last time, the name "Mezzanine" it's a reference to the band "Massive Attack"... this band have a very experimental style, because the electronic sounds mixed with the rock guitars. They are considered precursors of the trip-hop genre.

A Perfect Circle is also one of my favorite bands. They are a rock band, and they formed in 1999. I like all of their albums, especially “Mer de Noms” (french for "Sea of names"). The interesting of this album it's the name of  the songs with titles like "Judith" or "Thomas" or "Magdalena"... I don't know why, but is very curious. I think this album is balance, there are crazy songs and there are some very beautiful!

Now, a video of this great band! **(Is a cover to John Lennon)

enjoy!!!!  

First Apparition

Hello, my name is Katherine. Yesterday was the first work in English class about the Blog. Unfortunately I was sick and I could'n get up, but a friend told me about this activity. This is my first Blog and I did it for my english class... I hope enjoy it and write funny things! The name of my blogg it's a referance to my favorite band: Massive Attack, because they have a record named "Mezzanine". I'm studying theory and history of arts, and I like very much because you can learn very interesting things about many other cultures throughout history.

So... see you next time! Welcome to my Blog!!