My experience learning English at the university

When you go to the University you suppose to take some classes that correspond to your career, in addition, the University follow an educational model based on form integral professionals, make you take some other subjects, like CFG () sports or English, and you must to take them, in other way you can’t  graduate form University. The thing is that nobody ask the students if these obligatory subjects are really been necessaries to their professional training. Well, thinking in that I’m going to talk you about my experience learning English at the University…

I remember in the first year of classes, when somebody told me and my classmates that we must to take an English exam to evaluate our knowledge in this area. I thought that maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult to me because since I was like eleven years old until I was around thirteen I took some classes of English in a language academy, also I had English during high and secondary school, so English to me was very familiar and I had even enjoyed to learn it. After that, “the exam at the University wouldn’t be so difficult to pass” I was thinking. But I was totally wrong.

We took the exam at the computer lab. It has two parts, one consisted in recognized words and complete sentences and the other of audio compression. In this one, the earphones were not being working so I couldn’t respond correctly the item. That makes me loose some points. At the same time, because I couldn’t ear. I miss many words, unfinished the exam. Because of that I must took level two, three and four.

While I was at the second level, the miss told me if I wanted to move to the fourth level immediately, I say yes! but after that I was disappointed because the English class at level fourth couldn’t match with my schedule. So, I resigned and took the levels.

In conclusion this experience helps me to improve my skills in English. Even if I wasn’t totally happy with doing almost all levels, this helps me to practice my speaking, to get better my grammar and my listening. Instead I wouldn’t do it again.

My home!

Hi! Today I´m going to talk about my home.  Now  I´m living in a flat, but I have lived in 5 different places . The thing is that I´m from Iquique, and before I get here, when I was living there, I change house twice. The first place was a small house where beside from my parents and brother, lived also my grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin. I move from there with my parents, brother and grandmother, when I was five years old. Then we lived in a house for like 10 years. The last time we moved I had around 15 years old. That is the house where my parents, grandmother and the family of my brother live now; it is a big house, with many rooms and bathrooms, it has a big yard and also a pool, I like it a lot. When I´m on vacations I stay there, but in the concrete is not my house anymore.

The third time I moved was for lived in a flat in Viña del Mar, when I started the University, in that time my brother and I where studying in the city. When I changed the career I moved from there to the place I live now. It a flat too but is bigger, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a nice kitchen, a great dining and living room.   It´s pretty big and I lived alone, so is very comfortable and I can do whatever I want, I have the freedom to use any bedroom whenever I need. I like that because sometimes my classmates stay at my home when we have to make a work for the University, my friends and family stay too when they go visit me. I like to have all these place to myself and to have the breathing space to do whatever I need.        

Are you worried about the environment?

Hi every one!! The post of today consists in talk about the environment.  Well, the first thing that I have to tell you is that I´m not really an Eco-Hero, but I think that to keep the environment is very important, because nature what maintain us alive in many ways. I can´t imagine how life would be without nature…there would be no life.

I think that in our days, the topic of keeping the environment is very important, there are many organizations that are supporting this cause and they are doing many things to teach the people the real meaning of caring the environment and what could happened if we doesn’t get aware of this problem. In what way, they are trying to help us to understand that the industries and the garbage of the world is hearting really bad the nature and to ourselves.  They are helping a lot, but is missing a formal preoccupation of the government and the press to transmit the people that this topic is very important.  

The thing that we will have to do to help to reduce the contamination is with our behavior and habits, in little things what we do every day. We have no idea, but if we change that, we can help a lot… because automatically we will be teaching to our friends and family to be more conscious by acting different ourselves.

I actually try to be aware of my behavior and that it contribute the most possible to the environment. I try to walk when I have the time to do it. I also try to recycle when I go to the supermarket; I use my own bags and not the plastic ones that gave you there. I try to use the most possible glass bottles and not the plastic ones, I use rechargeable batteries, the olds notebooks... and many things...

And you? Are you worried about the environment? What do you do t help it?

Children at risk because of pressure on social workers, research finds

The post of today consists in choosing a news related to my career… The thing is, that I couldn’t found a news on internet that touched a specific topic in psychology, that be related of what psychologist do in the different areas of this discipline. But I could found a theme that I think is very important too, and has to do with mental health of people who work with vulnerable children, in this case: Social Workers. The news is based on an investigation, and informs us about the conditions that Social Workers do their jobs and the environment that these persons are dealing in a difficult context to require them to make decisions about the protection of the children. Here I give you a summary of the news, but if you are interested you can also go to the link that is above this post.

A recent study of the British Association of Social Workers survey of 1.390 social workers and found that 70 % of these people doesn’t feel able to protect a child because of the pressure that this job causes. Almost 95% admit to take decisions about the safety of the child with insufficient information, increasing the danger of abuse and neglect in the children who depends of them.

You can read the news in: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/oct/06/overworked-social-workers-children-risk 

The cinema..

Hi! The topic today is the cinema...  I really like and enjoy very much to go and see a good movie. I actually don’t go more often to the cinema, but I would love to go every week to saw a nice film. The last time I went was three weeks ago. I went to saw Inception, I really recommend this film, I think that is a movie with a good argument, talks about the dreams and how to access to them to change person’s ideas. If you can, go to the cinema to see it! Or maybe you can rent it, if you ask me...  I think is a movie to see in a cinema room. I prefer to go to the cinema, I don’t like very much to rent movies, I think that I enjoy better in a cinema room.

Another movie that I enjoy a lot was “The Big Fish”. This movie tells the history of a man that tells stories that were supposed be moments of his life, the distinctive of the stories is that he adding them fantastic characteristic, strange characters and places were always presents on them. His only son, sceptical that these stories actually happened gets very angry with him because he was tired that his father was always laying about his life. Until he found out that his father actually lived many of the situations that he told, just with the particularity that they were remember through the language of his father amazing creativity.

I think that I like this movie because it makes me think that our life is just how we are telling ours stories to ourselves, the moments that we actually lived are just the representations of the memories that are full of emotion and affectivity looked by the eyes of ourselves. If you haven’t seen it I truly recommend it!!

Where to go in Santiago

Hi everyone! To start the post, I have to tell you is that I didn’t born in Santiago, actually this is my third year living in the city, I move here because of the University, I have the opportunity to emigrate from my home town and access more possibilities of education.

Since I´m living here I have visit many interesting places, so I think that with my little experience I can tell to the people who is visiting the city for the first time some places they must visit. One of them is the Santa Lucias´s hill, the importance of this hill is that was the place where Santiago was founding, also has the particularity of been an island hill, that means that is separated from the mountain range and is situated in the middle of the city, so from it you can see all the city. The second place that I thing that you can´t forget to visit is “La Moneda”, this is the government house where the president works, this national monument was bombarded in the beginning of the dictatorship in 1973. Also I think that a tourist must to go to is the Bellas Artes Museum, in here are reunited all the works of art of the country since the colony to our days, this place is situated inside the Forestal Park, that is a park where is the neuralgic point of the cultural life in Santiago, so this is another interesting place to see, maybe a tourist would enjoy a long walk in this area and after a nice coffee or ice cream in the rounded bars. Finally you can´t miss to visit the Central Market where are all the sea food that you can think, is a very typical place in Santiago and has a lot of history and is a place full of local color.       

Music!

I think to hear music is very important to health, because it stimulates our sense and body; in one way I think that it keeps you alive and you are happier when you hear it. I like very much to hear music in many kinds, I like a lot the music, but I think that the different kinds of music produce many different feelings, for example, for me is not the same to hear Metal that to hear Jazz, I prefer to hear music more calm and peacefully, music that you may relax hearing it, or music, that you may having a fluid conversation while you are listen it and do not disturb very much, I also like music to dance!

I would like to have the ability to play any instrument; many of my friends do and play very well instruments that require a lot of practice... but me? I´m really not good at, I think that I have to conform to enjoy hearing them to play and to hear music in general.

I think music is very important because is an expression of something that could last many time, that is why today we can delimitated every decade with a particular style of music, or distinguish the different cultures, they are also characterise by the music they made and produce, also by the music we can symbolize a country... I really thing that music is very important to us, without it life will be very boring!