FINAL EXAM

Rooms where you should be on December 19^th  at 14:30 for the written part. The oral part is held in pairs and you will be asked to speak about a topic for 4-5 minutes. Please, bring ID card for both parts.

Group 1     Written part room 32  (Beatriz )  second module (oral in the same room)

Alarcon, Sofìa

Aravena, Sebastiàn

Bravo, Victoria 

Bustos, Marianella

Group 2   Written part room 43   (Juan)     oral in lab decanato 16:15

Cerda,  Nicole

Fernandez, Macarena

Gajardo, Bàrbara

Pastene, Cristina

Group 3  Written part room 33 (Ernesto /Belen's group) . oral in room 21 at 16:15

Toro, Tania

Vargas, Carolina

Vasquez, Katherine

Zapata, Isidora

Post 10: English Language Challenges

·    How did you like this subject at university? What about the use of       blogs?

·    What aspects of your English need to be improved and how do you       plan to do this?

·     Outside the English class, how much are you using English these days? What for?

- wordcount: 250
- make comments on 3 of your partners' post

Well, as the saying goes, whatever starts has to end. So here we are in our last blog, and similarly to what we did in our last blog, today we have to analyze our semester.

This has been a very special semester because we started so late. But I can say this has been a great experience because the students are really motivated and creative. I strongly believe that students motivate the teachers with their attitude and interest in learning. Therefore I feel extremely energized by this experience.

  The use of blogs has allowed me to know my students’ personal interests and that helps a lot in creating a friendly and relaxed learning atmosphere and to overcome the anxiety that learning a foreign language produces. Also writing is a way to have an internal monologue and let our imagination fly with its own wings. This fact liberates all your shyness and helps you think in English. Writing is undoubtedly a bridge between your brain and your soul.

  Believe it or not, I have been teaching English for many, many years. Maybe since I was born. But I still feel I have to learn a lot! Learning is a never-ending process, and so is teaching.  I practice English every day with all possible sources: music, films, news, etc. because every day I incorporate new word to my vocabulary and I learn new uses for old words.

What about you?  What is your brainstorming?

VIDEO 3        AN ACTIVITY YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR                               FREE TIME

Record a   2-minute   mobile phone video presentation about an activity you like to do in your free time.

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.

PET (Preliminary English Test) Practice

 

Session 1 

 

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

 

 

Session 2

 

Reading:

 

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading3.htm

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading4.html

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_reading_part5.htm

 

Listening:

 

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part3.htm

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/pet_listening_part4.htm

 

Vocabulary:

 

http://www.examenglish.com/vocabulary/B1_vocabulary_topics.htm

Post 9         2013: Good and Bad Points (so far..)

2013>> Have you had a good year??

Write about:
> Good things that have happened in your life
> Situations that did not go so well
> Your achievements in 2013
> Things you did not do / have not done yet / still have to do this year
> Important news / event you would like to highlight
> Any other comments

Wordcount: 250 + 3 comments

Whenever a year ends, people like to have a balance of  good and bad things that have happened in their lives. I do not usually do that, but I think it is a great idea. So here we are, trying to brainstorm and become more analytical. The creation of this blog has been a great achievement.

First of all I think it is a good idea to identify the most important areas of our lives: personal life, which may include family, friends, health and professional life, which includes what you learn, what you achieve, where you are and where you want to be.

Although our lives are seeing as a whole, we should prioritize our internal self first.

One of the highlights of the year was that in August, my two sons and their wives (my daughters-in-law) came to and we had a family reunion. And.. the most important point was that they came with my three grandchildren!  But, on the negative side, on some of these moments I had to work and leave them on their own.

 In this sense, I am not satisfied with my performance. I think I tried to do too much in 2013, and then I neglected important areas of my life. Therefore, I need to redefine my goals for 2014. Definitely, I will pay more attention to my yoga practice and my meetings with friends.

Obviously, your personal life cannot be separated from your professional life.

Professionally speaking, I think I have achieved my goals for this year. Now I read more and I am more familiar with technology. For this second semester one of the highlights of the year has been the creation of this blog. I have enjoyed reading all your posts.

Now what about you, what is your balance?

Blog 8 Tattoos

http://www.tattoo-models.net/50-tattoos-for-women/

·        

• What are the psychological motives behind tattoos?
•  What do you know about the history of tattoos?
• Do tattoos have an ornamental function? Why?
• Would you like to have tattoos?
• Are there any others comments  or reflections about the topic?

- wordcount: 250
- make comments on 3 of your partners' posts.

My dear students,

I think I have never been in such a predicament: to write about tattoos. But at the same time I enjoy challenges, so here I am writing about tattoos. And since I have done research, I include the websites for you to read and get information.

It is hard to write about the reasons behind tattoos, but in some cases I think it could be to express personal dissatisfaction, or to find a way to look different, or maybe to belong to a certain group.

The word tattoo came into English from the Polynesian  tatau, in  Tahitian, tatu.

 When I was a child, there was a general belief that tattoos were used by people who had been in prison, so they had a bad reputation. But when I traveled to Russia, I saw many people who had tattoos, and then I learned that Russians used tattoos as ornament.

Also, I read in Wikipedia that many prisoners in concentration camps were tattooed as a way of identifying them in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Anyway, I think that our bodies should be respected and kept as they were given to us by nature. I do not see tattoos as ornament because they will not last forever in our bodies, and when people get old, their skins lose their vitality.

I would not like to have tattoos in my body because I think they can be painful or dangerous in some cases.

What do you think? I will enjoy reading your blogs on this controversial topic.

http://tattoo.about.com/od/tatfaq/tp/Reasonspeoplegettattooed.htm

http://voices.yahoo.com/5-reasons-why-people-tattoos-325397.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tattoo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_modification

THANKSGIVING

For all that God in mercy sends:

For health and strength, for home and friends,

For comfort in the time of need,

For every kindly word and deed,

For happy thought and pleasant talk,

For guidance in our daily walk,

For all these things give thanks.

For beauty in this world of ours,

For verdant grass and lovely flowers,

For song of birds, for hum of bees,

For the refreshing summer breeze,

For hill and plain, for streams and wood,

For the great ocean mighty flood,

For all these things give thanks.

For all the sweet sleep that comes with night,

For the returning morning light,

For the bright sun that shines on high,

For stars that glitter in the sky,

For these and everything we see,

O Lord, our hearts we lift to thee,

And give thee hearty thanks.

                             Ellen Isabella Tupper

Post 7 HOW GREEN ARE YOU?

Post 7    HOW GREEN ARE YOU?

-

• Where do people learn about environmentally friendly practices?
• Have you incorporated recycling into your habits? Describe.
• Do you use a bike or your legs instead of a car?
•  Have you joined or supported any eco-organizations? Why / Why not?
• What else have you done /would you like to do?
• What have you done to reduce your carbon footprint? 
• What's missing in our society/Santiago regarding this issue?

Number of words: 240

Don't forget to make comments on at least 3 of your classmates posts.

Nowadays humanity is facing one of the biggest challenges: saving our planet. That is why we should start by the most important point: to educate our children. Obviously we should educate them with our examples and daily practices.

I have incorporated the three Rs to my daily life and I will never forget that I learned that in Canada.  Canadians have organized their lives around Recycling, Reducing and Reusing.

For example, they read the newspaper and immediately after reading they deposit it in the recycling bin for paper. I thought that they are acting intelligently. Therefore, in my daily life,  I recycle as much paper as I can and I also reduce the paper I use.  I wrote to my bank authorities asking them not to send me bills in paper. This practice has made my life easier, and I feel happier to be helping the planet.

In order to reduce my carbon footprint I use my bike as much as I can, or walk to nearby places and take public transport.

I haven’t become a member of any eco-organizations because I do not have much free time, but also I think we do not need to belong to an organization in order to help. Luckily, we have a lot of information around and we need to follow our intuition.

I think we should all visit this website and encourage other members of our society to change their lifestyles.

http://www.carbonfund.org/reduce

Now, how much are you doing to save our planet?   Think about it and let us know.

Post 6   Motivation to study psychology

http://addicted2success.com/motivation/43-of-the-most-popular-motivation-picture-quotes/

·        

•   What motivated you to study psychology
•   To what extent  you feel you have met your expectations
•  Theoretical psychology
•  Practical applications of psychology

Write at least 220 words.
Leave comments on 3 of your classmates blogs.

My dear students,

It is great to meet again to talk about such an interesting topic as your area of studies and your motivation to do so.

I am really motivated to discuss this fascinating issue with you because I have to confess that I love psychology, but at the same time I see the task as a great challenge because human beings are extremely complex, and psychology deals with one of the most controversial points of society: the individual .

Also we have to discuss an even more difficult area that is motivation. In this sense I like to refer to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which I agree with and I think it is a way to guide us to understand this mysterious area of the human mind. I found useful information in this website that I attach:

 

 

 

http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm

 

 

A more difficult and specialized area is theoretical psychology, in which I find myself at a great disadvantage with you, and the advantage is that you can demonstrate your expertise and the area where  you want to work. But I did my homework and I found this:

 

 

 

  Another successful ISTP conference was held in Santiago, Chile from May 3 to 7, 2013.

Did you know about it? Did you attend it?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_psychology

 

 

Finally, the area where I feel I belong:  the practical applications of psychology . I definitely think psychology is a very useful tool for teachers. Some interesting points for me are to know how students learn most effectively, how they improve, how they can be  motivated  to study English.

Here is another useful link:

http://psychology23.blogspot.com/2008/11/iv-practical-applications-of-psychology.html

POST 5 (WEEK 7) >> SUMMARY FROM A CAREER-RELATED ARTICLE FROM THE GUARDIAN (ONLINE NEWSPAPER)

  

Go to:   http://www.guardian.co.uk/

> Select a piece of news connected to your area of studies / future career.
> Write a summary of it.
> Provide the link to your piece of news.
> Leave a comment on 3 of their partners' posts.
> 220 words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3_tH506HxU  SUMMARY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVVqqq1Sbi0     MUSIC     SUMMARY

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/nov/14/career-in-languages-hiv-charity

The article is about  a Slovakian woman who has had to learn many languages  because of her background.  In addition to experience,  she reflects on  her ability to learn different languages and how this ability has helped her.

She explains how she learned German, and English and Portuguese and how she has succeeded  by using different strategies.

 The author describes how she learned English in Canada, where she had to emigrate after a revolution in her country.  She describes  how this was a process of complete immersion and  how she decided  to overcome embarrassment and push her through in order to break the language barrier.

After this experience the author describes her experience in Brazil learning Portuguese.  In this case she became fluent in a few months.

In her summary she states that attitude is extremely important to learn a new language.

Finally she narrates how the possibility to speak many languages has helped her to work  with refugees   at an east London charity, Doctors of the World. When she refers to this experience she says, “it was brilliant, because you could see instantly the difference it made and the rapport that was being built.”

One more rewarding experience is that she has helped people overcome the language barrier and encourage other people to do so.

Blog 4 Holiday activities

You should say:

• why holidays are important
• what your favorite activities and places are 
• where and why you will go next holidays 
• who you would like to travel with

Write at least 200  words and leave comments on 3 of your classmates blogs

Work and studies make us follow a daily routine that does not allow us to think and relax as much as we would like to.  Therefore, holidays are extremely  important moments that we have to share with our loved ones or significant others.  These  are special moments to reflect, express love,  and do whatever gives us pleasure and relaxation.

My favorite holiday activities are so varied that it is difficult to mention   all of them, but if I have to choose, I would say that the ones  I enjoy the most are   reading,  going to the movies and visiting natural places.

Although I read all the year round because I think it is part of my lifestyle, when I read on vacations, I do it differently because I read  for pleasure.  So I sit for hours with a selection of the  books that I have put aside all year round.  Then I sometimes read a book  per day and I have the opportunity to taste and digest  the book  without any rush or deadline.

The second activit that I do is  going to the movies.  I do it  on weekdays because it is cheaper, and I can select more movies than during the rest of the year. I also think that during the summer we have more choices.

Finally,  I like to visit natural places, such as the beaches in my native country. Obviously, I go there with all my family and I enjoy swimming and making sand castles.  In February I will go to Cuba and Miami because my children and grandchildren live there. I am sure that I will have a great time!

My   Pet

·         what it is and what it is like

·          things you do together

·         how  and when you got it

·         pets you have had

·         why people have pets

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts
- Word Count: 180 words

Today I have to join the majority and talk about a topic I am not very fond of: pets.

In fact I don’t like pets much because they take a lot of your time. I always said I would never have a pet, but once I had one. And here is the story.

 I went to a spring fair and a woman was selling puppies. I fell in love with one of them and bought her. Her name was Fama, and she was so cute and lovely.   Her breed was  dachshund,   which is a type of small dog with very short legs, a long body, and long ears.

We played together, and I think what she enjoyed the most was the time when I bathed her. One day she disappeared. I was sad, and spent the whole day looking for her. At night, when I had already cried and lost hope that I would ever see her again, she jumped out of my closet when I opened it. It is impossible to describe how happy we both were.

I do not regret having bought her, except for one thing. When she got old, she died, and I suffered a lot when I saw she was losing her ability to jump when she saw me. This is the sad part   because this is the only pet I have ever had, and I think I will never have another one because I know I will suffer again.

I do not know why people have pets, but when I but her I was in a lonely period of my life because my husband was doing volunteer work in Jamaica. I think that could explain why I had my little dog. I have read that people have pets to satisfy their need for company. Maybe there is a bit of truth in this idea.

POST 2  A COUNTRY I'D LIKE TO VISIT

- Which country would you like to go to? Why?
- What do you know about it?
- What would you like to do there?
- Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain.
- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts
- Word Count: 170 words

-comment on at least 3 of your classmates' blogs

A country I would really love  to visit is Australia. First, I have always been intrigued by the fact that it is called down and under. Also, I have heard a lot about the unique coral reefs  and animals that they have.
But most importantly, I would like to communicate with people who speak a different type of English.

My first reason to isit this country is that all  the information I have about them is through TV shows, and all of them lead me to the word exotic because of the unusual life that people live there, mostly in contact with nature. But, as the saying goes, seeing is believing.  So, if I ever have the possibility to go there, I would like to enjoy nature as much as possible and also to have the opportunity to share with the Autralian residents and listen to the way they speak English.

Obviously the only way to do this is studying or working there, so I would like to have a course on ways of protecting the natural environment. I have heard that courses at Australian universities are not so expensive. Therefore, I would like to have a part-time job to pay for this course. Unfortunately,  I know that foreigners do not have access to qualified jobs, but I can do something related to animal protection. In this way  I would enjoy a different typ of activity and enrich my personal experience there.

Now I am looking forward to reading about your dreams. Where would you like to go?