Sample Post

Free post: Life without water

Nowadays, one serious problem in this planet has to do with water. Depending on where we are this problem can be related with aspects such as the lack of water (the access to it) or the quality of it. Ancient civilizations needed water just like we do but the problem with this natural resource is that some people think water is always going to be available for us, even if we don’t use it wisely or even if we don’t care about its sustainable management. Considering the lack of water we can find places in Africa where people walk a long way to get just a few litres. And in terms of the quality, there are places where fresh and clean water is not as common as it is in a capital city. Indeed, apart from having difficulties to get drinking water some people also get sick and die because the water they drink is contaminated. More details: http://blueplanetnetwork.org/water/

Similarly, in this long and thin country the quality of drinking water is not the best. Even though we are far from Africa, we can still see this problem in Valle Grande (Región Metropolitana) or in Alto Hospicio where water is contaminated with arsenic. The contamination of drinking water is a problem in more than eight cities in Chile, where regulations have failed to offer people the access to clean and fresh water.

The importance of using water wisely refers to the urgency of finding ideas to make people aware of this problematic situation. This is a vital element for our bodies to function and on an average human being, water makes up 70% -75% of the body weight so why regulations for companies not to contaminate water are not popular? Or why governments are not implementing as many conservation water programmes as we need here and around the world? Read more: http://www.gracelinks.org/437/water-saving-tips-in-the-bathroom

To conclude, life without water is not possible so what are we going to do when we feel thirsty but we’re not going to be able to drink a glass of water? Or when, with no rain and the obvious consequences with crops, we can’t grow vegetables? Water is the most important nutrient for our bodies and because it helps digest our food and to transport waste in our body we really need to take some actions to change, or even better, to solve the problem with the access and quality of water.

Blog Session 6 Instructions

Dear Class,

This is the second time you are free to choose what to blog about. So, choose a topic and write 150 words minimum. Also, make comments on at least three of your classmates' blogs.
Remember to think about ideas to cover or questions to answer in each paragraph. That is, if you want to write about "Animal experimentation", you can answer this in three paragraphs:

a) what does this concept involve?
b) what are the disadvantages of animal testing? and 
c) what is the situation in Chile?


Good luck!


Belén

A portrait made by a raper

I enjoyed the "real-life" context of this song and  it's also a great portrait of Quilicura. Not sure about the value of technical aspects but I think it's a good idea to watch this clip.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbRatX5LT6k


Belén

Blog Session 5 Instructions

Dear Class,

Today the topic is: My favourite piece of technology

Write:
a) What it is
b) When you got it
c) How you use it
d) How often you use it
e) Why you like it
f) What life would be like without it

Remember to write 150 words minimum, include a picture and make comments on at least three of your classmates' blogs.

Good luck!

Sample Post

My favourite piece of technology?

I must begin by saying I do have a love/hate relationship with technology. Talking to my friend Chris who’s working in Yemen through Skype is fantastic, but at the same time I think it's not necessary to give technology an incredible amount of importance in your life.

In terms of technology and the kind of tools I use in my everyday life, what I use the most are mp3 players.

I like mp3 players because of their size and the space they provide so you can keep lots and lots of files. Also, you can carry them everywhere you go and some of them have very original designs as well. I use my mp3 mainly because I can listen to music and I remembered my grandmother loved the one I gave her so she could listen to music when she was in bed. Apart from that, mp3s are useful for me to keep my favourite family pictures, all the files I need for work and my studies, and videos of course. I got the one I have now two years ago and I bought it after I lost the one I had before.

I can imagine my life without an mp3 and my life wasn't terrible without one in the past but now that I’m used to this piece of technology, I think I’d need something similar, specially to continue listening to music.

Something to remember

Some confusing verbs     …at least for me

1.        Lie (irregular) /lai/, lay /lei/ and lain /lein/ In Spanish: recostarse, extenderse

Lie: a) To be in a position in which your body is flat on the floor, on a bed, etc. b) To be or to stay in a horizontal position. He was lying in the sun for too long.

2.       Lie (regular) /lai/, lied and lied  In Spanish: mentir

Lie: a) To tell a lie, b) To deliberately tell someone something that is not true. I could tell from her face that she was lying.

3.       Lay (irregular) /lei/, laid and laid /leid/ In Spanish: poner, extender, poner un huevo

Lay: a) To put someone or something down carefully into a flat position. Lay your books on the table, please. Laying my coat carefully on the bed, I crept towards the door. b) If a bird, insect, etc. lays eggs, it produces them from its body.  The flies lay their eggs on decaying meat.

Usage note about lay

You lay something somewhere, but you lie somewhere. He laid his things on the bed but he lay on the bed. In spoken British English you will also sometimes hear things like: I want to lay down (instead of I want to lie down) but some people consider this to be incorrect.

Sample Post

Free post: Air pollution in Santiago

Air pollution in Santiago is one of the many problems this city has and few people want to talk about it. Year after year air pollution, especially, gets worse and according to Raúl O’Ryan and Luis Larraguibel, who wrote “Contaminación del aire en Santiago: ¿qué es, qué se ha hecho, qué falta?” (http://www.dii.uchile.cl/~Revista/ArticulosVol4-N1/ORyan-R%20y%20Larraguibel-L.pdf) the contaminated air we breathe in the capital city is one of the worst in the world. Therefore, people who bike and run might observe associated health impacts because they practice these activities outdoor.

The present and past governments are not doing enough so we can say they are honestly worried about air pollution and trying to reduce the levels. Politicians have a lot to deal with (and I really hope they do contribute somehow to change the Educational System in this country) but I don’t understand why air pollution does not motivate them to discuss and create more and new regulations. 

In Latin America, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most polluted city is Lima but that doesn’t mean we don’t need more control on the growing number of cars in Santiago, for example. While further south, in Santiago and because of the levels of contamination, children and the elderly suffer the various typical winter illnesses like the respiratory syncitial virus. Winter after winter this situation has been out there and babies seem to have adapted to some kind of different and more contaminated air bronchitis after bronchitis. 

Air pollution is “contamination of the indoor or the outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere. Household combustion devices, motor vehicles, industrial facilities and forest fires are common sources of air pollution. Pollutants of major public health concern include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Outdoor and indoor air pollution cause respiratory and other diseases, which can be fatal”, says the WHO.

Blog Session 4 Instructions

Dear Class,

This is the first time you can blog about anything you want... Maybe something about the city you are from, the city you live in, the ideal city or about life quality standards.
Good luck choosing the topic and this time please write 140 words minimum, plus the three comments.

Remember  we can use paragraphs to orgainse our ideas and to develop an idea in a paragraph, we can use topic sentences at the beginning. You can also try to answer questions like what? how? and why? to develop your text.


Good luck,

Belén

Sample Post

Today I'm going to write about a very useful link I use when translating: www.linguee.es 

This is an online dictionary and translator tool and it's interesting how they are able to offer more than 100 million translations made by humans. Most of the times, online translators are not reliable because they offer translations made by machines but this website is different. Here you can find examples of how the word or phrase you're looking for has been translated in bilingual websites like the ones companies, international organizations and universities have.

I visit this website every single day, especially when I'm translating and also to check if the translation I want to use is the most suitable.

I really like this website because up to this point, I've always found what I'm looking for. Apart from that, as you can find many examples, you can decide what translation to use and see where that translation has been used. This website shows you the paragraph where the word or phrase appears so the context helps a lot.
If you want to try this website, the creators recommend to look for phrases instead of single words.

Blog Session 3 Instructions

Dear Class,

Today, you get to choose one more time. Please choose one of these topics:

A career-related website that you enjoy visiting
a) Provide the link
b) Describe the website (sections, features, etc.)
c) Say how often you visit the site
d) Explain why you like the site


A person/expert on your field that you admire
a) Who she/he is (short biography)
b) What she/he has done (examples of their work)
c) Why you like her/him
d) Include his/her image


Remember to write 130 words minimum and add comments on at least 3 of your classmates' blogs.

Belén

Sample Post

A singer I like

I first listened to this singer because of the film “Fast & Furious 5”, which is not the kind of film I like but as Brazil is the setting,- and I’m interested in Brazilian culture- I decided to give it a try plus I had nothing else to watch that day.

This singer is called Obando D2 and in this song he sings with a girl called Claudia but I haven't found out who she is. The name of the song is “Desafabo deixa eu dizer”, which can be translated as “Relief let me tell you”. I know very little about this singer but I think he's been singing for a long time because he has more than one hundred songs. He’s in hip-hop and he’s just one of many singers who rap about the situation in Brazil and about all the poverty and crime in the favelas. After listening to some of his songs I can say this is my favourite song because of the lyrics, as you could read in the video, he talks about what is to live in a favela and how he’d like Brazil to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q47n56bb3Fw

I know this is only about one singer but I can’t help including Antonio Carlos Jobim, one of my favourite bossa nova singers. Here you have my favourite song by him, “Desafinado” or "Out of tune"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmuaIcin-YM

Belén

Blog Session 2 Instructions

Dear Class,

Please choose one topic to blog about a singer/band you like or a concert/exhibition you've been to.

When you write about 1. or 2. include this:

1. A band or singer

a) Name
b) What do you know about them?
c) What kind of music do they play?
d) Why do you like this artist or band?
e) What's your favourite song? Why?
f) Publish a picture or video

2. A concert or exhibition

a) What was it?
b) When did you go?
c) Where was it?
d) Why did you like it?
e) Mention more details about it
f) Publish a picture or video

Remember to write 120 minimum and make 3 comments on your classmates posts.

Good luck!