Post 4 (week 6) >> Themed/Free Post 1 "My Favourite Music"

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination

and life to everything.”

Wonderful quote by Plato, In my case Music has always been part of my life since I was only months of life, and the most beautiful thing is that for all my family music is important too. I would say that for this reason I like playing drums and my brother plays the bass and guitar. We enjoy spending time singing and discovering new bands.  

My parents always remember that when I was a baby and I couldn't stop crying my dad just put some music on the radio and I immediately calm down. Since I was a child I've always been exposed to music in English, specially from the 80's, and with the passing years my musical interests have changed a lot, but I'll never forget the moment when it became really important... 

When I was 8 years old I listened to a song from Aerosmith called "Hole in my soul" that just blew my mind, and from that moment on I couldn't stop looking for new similar bands. I like different types o music, my favorites ones are aggro or nu metal (deftones, korn, staind, tc.) and grunge (alice in chains, pearl jam, smashing pumpkins,tc.) and I'm really lucky to say that I have seen most of my favorite bands live, whenever they come to Chile I always go to the concerts. 

The most amazing one I've ever seen was Roger Waters presenting "The Wall" in 2012, It was so overwhelming that every time I watch the DVD of this presentation again I get goosebumps.
I also love film soundtracks, some of them are Ennio Morricone who came to chile in 2013 with Mike Patton (Mondo Cane) it was a wonderful concert I had the opportinity to see, there is also Jon Brion who composed songs for a movie I like a lot  "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind"  and my favorite one Danny Elfman, who is a close friend to Tim Burton, so he has composed soundtracks for many of his movies like: Big Fish, The nightmare before christmas, Batman, Edward Scissorhands among many others. I can say that I'm a big fan of movies and music plays a relevant role there.
I also enjoy quiet music. I think that Sigur ros is one of those bands that helps me think clearly when I need to relax, and similar to this Post Rock style I listen to are "God is an astronaut" "If these trees could talk" "Explosions in the Sky" etc. 

And from Disney movies of course! "hakuna matata"  and "you've got a friend in me" from Toy Story.

Dear all,

Your assignment this week is writing about your favourite music. Please include:

- The kind(s) of music you like and why you like it?

- When you started listening to this kind of music.

- Any information about the bands or the musicians you like.

- Concerts or music events you have attended.

- Any other piece of information you may consider important.

-140 words minimum.

- Include a picture. 

- Comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

Post 3 (week 5) >> My favourite Piece of Technology

In this opportunity I'll talk about my favorite piece of technology. I have to admit that it was kind of difficult at first thinking about only one, as we have many technological devices that we use every day and make our life easier. I realized how important is for most of the people having their cellphones for example. Nowadays everybody spend a lot of time in front of their computers or sending text messages, but to tell the truth I'm not a tech fan. I actually don't use them very often and I've never played those popular cell games, so despite their are useful tools in my life of course, I wouldn't say that I actually "enjoy" using them. But then I started thinking Which one of them I really like? and what first came to my mind is my camera.

I love taking photographs! ... since I can remember I've always have fun taking photos, when I was younger I used a small camera, but two years ago I  bought a professional one with more options to make photographs more precise. When we go on holiday with my family I really enjoy to capture all those beautiful moment with people I love, and from landscapes I don't want to forget.   
For some people is annoying carrying a camera all the time, or they are worried because they want to look good in every photograph, but I like to take them in spontaneous moments, like when people is laughing or they look happy and they don't realize that I'm taking photos, so then they are surprised to see them.
Some people say that the problem with the cameras nowadays is that you can take hundreds of photos and you never have time to see them all, and that's right but at least in my case I check them and after erase those who are not that good I put them in a CD, so every time we want to see them again we have them there.  

Of course I would like to learn how to use it properly because it has  many options and everything I know I have learned it on my own, so I'm thinking on taking one of these summer courses so I can take advantage of the full potential of the camera. 

... What about you? What is your favorite piece of technology? 




*Write about your favourite piece of technology

Say:

-What it is.
-When you got it.
-How you use it.
-How often you use it.
-Why you like it.
-What life would be like without it.

- 130 words minimum.
- Include a picture. 
- Comment on at least 3 of your classmates’ blogs.

Post 2 (week 2) >> " Expectations for a New Semester"

I should start saying that this year has been full of surprises, well... at least so far... I had wonderful holidays and I have accomplished many projects I though would take longer, so I hope it could continue in the same way or even better.

About this semester expectation I have many... First of all I would like to pass all my subject at the Master. I really enjoy studying again, the subjects are so interesting and I've met really nice people. I have one course that is called "Physiology of Language" in which we learn about neurolinguistics and neuroscience. Is really interesting to see what happen in a cognitive level when people learn a new language, or another course I like is "Critical Pedagogy" where we discuss about many topics regarding teaching issues and also we the chance to see other points of view through group works. I have enjoyed them a lot.  
The only problem about my studies is that  I can't practice Tang Soo Do anymore because classes are the same days and at the same hours so I can't do both, but I expect to keep running in the mornings at least. I thing that practicing any kind of sport has become an important part of my life because I feel happier and I think that it gives me energy to keep working during the rest of the day, so I hope I can continue doing it.  
I'm also planning to travel abroad by the end of the second semester but this depends on many factors... anyway, for now they are just random ideas but I hope I can make them real .

Last but not least, about my job... This year I have had to work with students from different careers and in my opinion their participation in English classes has been good. I think the expectations about my job this semester are basically to make my students enjoy learning english and feel confident to express themselves in classes and to ask me for help every time they need it.
I would like also to make them realize that learning this foreign language is not just useful in their labour fields, but is also something they can use in their daily life (they can find news, advertisements and information in English everywhere) so I hope they can have fun learning this foreign language.

Instructions for Blog Session 2:" Expectations for a New Semester" 

Write about:

- The subjects you are doing this term.

- Extracurriculars you are taking.

- Other activities that you are part of  at university.
- What you expect from this new academic period.

Word-count: 110 (minimum)

> Make comments on three of your classmates posts.