English Language Challenges

A different language is a different vision of life

Federico Fellini

Learning a new language may be quite an adventure...!

Some people see language just as a means of communication. Sherlock would say "That's obvious, Watson, but..."

Learning another language means far more than acquiring and using varied lexis, mastering grammatical rules, understanding common idiomatic expressions, and using appropriate pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. These and other issues are the building blocks of everyday communication. However, language is produced by people differing in origin, race, cultural background, climate, educational system, interest, well-being, ...

Thus, the language of a particular group of people varies widely compared to that of another group of people living in a distant geographical site and using the same language; people living in warm, tropical regions are more talkative, express their feelings with strong voice and bodily movements, while people in cold regions speak with a lower voice, almost whispering their ideas, taking good care of cold drafts from affecting their throats and moving slowly to keep their bodies warm.

Similar and different

The pronunciation and the writing may also vary widely even in people speaking the same language. For various reasons, Irish, Scottish, English, Australian and American people of the USA, among others, speak English with their personal touch, either you like it or not. Immigration has also played a part in the complexity and uniqueness of the language.

Thus, you might read "Monday thru Friday" instead of "Monday through Friday" or "tonite" instead of "tonight" and may hear "overr-itiin" instead of "over eighteen"...

Films, comics, facebook, videos, blogs, internet, RPGs, emoticons, chatting via WhatsApp, twitters, ... are contributing to enrich,  for the better or the worse,  our language.

In this modern, computerized world, people are closer than ever in the history of mankind through the use of the internet and learning a language can be facilitated through the use of plenty of resources, such as videos, online activities, games, blogs, songs, pen-pals, youtube ...

Even visiting other countries is becoming easier.

Friendly communication about almost anything...

I hope that learning to express your ideas in English via blogs have been enjoyable, fruitful and educative activities; writing posts of such a wide number of subject matters that ranged from general to scientific issues is an opportunity to both share your viewpoints with your classmates  on subjects of general interest and also learn, explore and write posts about scientific themes.

During the terms you have been bombarded with exercises of various kinds: exercises from the web, WebQuests, role-playing games and situations, instructions and dialogues in English, pronunciation exercises, blogs, units with special contents, oral interactions, videos, ... and still there is a lot to be learned.

So, I wonder .... what are your English language challenges?


Now it's your turn.

> What comments can you make about your experience learning English 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: 260

- Make comments on your teacher's and 3 of your partners'  posts.

Changes to my study programme

"Always keep your eyes open; keep watching, because whatever you see can inspire you" 

Grace Coddington

My good old days at the university were also demanding. Both the academic staff and the students claimed for changes to improve education and,  like today, there was a feeling of dissatisfaction: libraries did not have enough books; the laboratories lacked enough supplies and/or technicians; the classrooms were not as clean as they should be; the materials to work with were expensive; the study programme missed significant subjects; ...  Yet, on graduation, we were all proud of the formation received and satisfied for all the accomplishments reached in those good old days.

Time seems to stand still and, although progress has solved many of the problems of the past decades, new demands arise that require major solutions. One issue that usually comes up is the study programme that seems to be always behind the times. Technology provides tools that make things easier today ...

A few decades ago, the internet was an interesting tool with plausible applications in the future; today, we cannot afford living without the internet with all its benefits and risks...; robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly becoming common issues in everyday life.

Education has also benefited from technology, mainly the internet, which has turned into an important source of information, training, entertaining...Thus, new areas of knowledge and new subjects have been created to fulfil the needs of current times and your career has also been touched by this era of changes: clinical pharmacy, gene therapy, biotechnology, genetically modified foods, nanotechnology, ... are just a few of the many new fields created in the last decades that have been included, to a certain degree, in your study programme.

As we speak, robotics is widely used in industrial processes and projects, smart buildings and smart homes are still the privileges of some, yet the time will come when they will be commonplace. Some domestic robots, such as robot vacuum cleaners, are slowly gaining space in household activities, and they will in time be cheaper. Robotics, AI, and androids will surely be essential in our lives in the coming years…

Smarter and smarter homes...

Imagine your life in about ten years’ time. In this scenario, education will definitely play a significant role in human well-being, adapting itself faster to new situations and challenges; AI will probably be leading the way to improve the standards in various areas…

In my good old days at the university, my classmates and I also thought that the study programme should have had significant changes to improve our education... What about you?

------------

Write about some changes that could be made to your study programme (career)

Among others, think about:

- The curriculum (the subjects you have to study)

- Workload and length of studies

- Faculty facilities (buildings and infrastructure)

- Use of technology

- Teaching methods

- Word Count: 250

- Leave comments on 3 of your classmates’ and the teacher's posts.

In my opinion

Chile is an extraordinary place to live and learn... A distinctive mountain range,  deserts, rivers, lakes, beaches, islands, seas... together with warm people inhabiting every place in our country should lead us to be proud of and take better care of our environment, our culture, our history, our surroundings... 

Cóndor

Outlanders enjoy their holidays by doing a countless number of activities that range from skiing on the snowy slopes of Andes' mountains to fishing in rivers or lakes or surfing the long waves in Pichilemu coast or... The activities are so varied that I could spend hours describing them in a post like this.

Foreigners certainly want to know how people live in small towns as well as in big cities and they usually feel pleased with the warm welcome of our people.

In my opinion, we have much to do to be really proud of ourselves in relation to our way to communicate with one another and how we take care of our environment and our belongings. We still have much to learn to love our country, our people, our history, our folklore...

Not long ago, Santiago was chosen as one of the most beautiful cities in America by an international tourism organization; yet we hardly find information about the origin/history of the names of some places or streets. Did you know that Manquehue comes from "manque" meaning "condor" and "hue" that stands for land or site? That Nuñoa is a native term that means "a placed filled with Ñunos"? I think that we should spread this kind of information via information displays not only in Santiago but also in other big and small cities and towns with the names of rivers, lakes... Another example: Curicó comes from "curi", meaning "black" and "co", meaning "water".

As citizens of a big city like Santiago is, we should also take good care of our language, which reflects our way of living and thinking; we should also try to keep places clean, which shows your education... and so on and on...

Chilote's Minga

Some years ago, my family and I were spending our summer holidays in Chiloé and I couldn't but feel proud of the historical information that we spontaneously received from a family living there. They told us about their traditions, folklore, cuisine, local attractions as well as their daily life activities and the future of their island... They actually felt proud of themselves.

I would have liked that this experience were commonplace all over our country, ...

In my opinion, globalization, especially via the internet, is making us informed citizens and as such we should learn to become better individuals, exhibiting respect to our environment and to one another. There is still much to be learned ...

“Do not Do unto others what you don’t want others Do unto you.”

Confucius

Now, your turn,

 Choose 4-5 of these questions. For each of them, write a 40- to 50-word response describing your personal opinions on the topic.
 Total number of words: approx. 240
 Leave comments on 3 of your classmates' posts + a comment on my sample post.

What is your opinion about women in the military?
What is your opinion about Chilean politicians?
What is your opinion about violence on television?
What is your opinion about buying instead of adopting pets?
What is your opinion about having an exotic pet at home?
What is your opinion about legalizing marijuana and other drugs?
What is your opinion about climate change?
What is your opinion about cloning?
What is your opinion about recycling?
What is your opinion about Immigration?
What is your opinion about the legalization of abortion in the 3 cases?

Our smart brain et al....

"Everyone walks by him, moving randomly and watching nowhere...images like thieves moving in his mind come and go...perhaps illusions that will fade away any minute..."

In times of loneliness, our imagination is a faithful company. We create our own friends who will be what we want them to be: someone to talk to, to love, to care, to hate, to dismiss, to feel pity on, to play with...

Our smart brain provides the input to satisfy our needs. This situation lasts for some time until someone from the actual world talks to you and you realize your own existence and importance. A smiling face in front of you can take you away from your abstract world and be a good company for a while. But, if you are not in the mood,  you shortly afterwards look through that face and immerse again in your own imaginary world. The smiling face says goodbye and fades away, while you only want to dream away...

Today is an awesome day. Early this morning I realized that the sun shines over me, the sky is bluer, the grass is greener, birds fly and sing, the weather is warmer, people walk and greet me. I smile back and say nice words to everyone along the street. I am in the mood for smiling, talking, touching, watching, feeling. I call a friend to have lunch with... It seems that my brain has shifted from the inner, private space to the outer, common place; perhaps it needs input to enrich its library with information from the outside world.

At noon, I enjoy my lunch, sometimes a brunch, in a cozy cafeteria; a good-looking girl waits on me and brings a dish that seems to be better than earlier ones. By the time I get home, I recall the activities done with a feeling of being in command, in closer contact with the real world.

But I wonder if I was in command of my decisions. Scientists have observed that mental processes occurring in our brain are faster than our (sometimes crucial) thoughts or decisions, e.g., when crossing a street, you jump away from a high-speed car before you realize that you are in danger of being hit by the car, even before thinking of the danger, otherwise you might be dead.

What about lunch, sex, sleep, .... ? Hormones and neurotransmitter cells are in charge of stimulating us to take some actions and others to delay or stop them. Thus, when we have lunch, dopamine is produced in the brain, giving you a sense of pleasure and stimulating you to go on eating. If you have eaten too much, another kind of neurotransmitter counteracts dopamine and you stop eating.

A few neurotransmitter cells

Significant changes occur during childhood, but as teenagers, and later as adults, you feel the urge of touching, kissing, loving the opposite sex. Why? Hormones and neurotransmitters are sending messages to brain cells to trigger the sex drive that will eventually lead to reproduction, and thus preservation of the human species... and here serotonin, another neurotransmitter, keeps you pleased as oxytocin and vassopresin help in creating a stronger bond with your partner.

Adrenaline is another neurotransmitter that plays an important role in our lives. Just an example: if you have been severely injured, this neurotransmitter gives you enough strength to withstand acute pain until help comes and/or pain subsides...

So, if my brain et al. are in charge of most of the living  processes, what decisions can I make?

I want to believe that I make the most important decisions in life, such as the kind of person I want to be, the girl I marry, the healthy dish I should have for lunch, the kind of book I want to read, the places I want to visit, the exercises I want to do to keep fit,  the number of hours I want to sleep, the career I want to study, ....These are part of my free will.

And I always will be grateful to the mental processes ocurring in the 1.4 kg brain encased in the skull of my head, which is the major organ of the central nervous system and controls most processes and permits that I enjoy living.

Help our faithful brain et al., by having a healthy diet and doing exercises, preventing stroke and other undesirable illnesses.

Now it's your turn:

What organ(s)/system(s)/substance(s) /sense(s) of the human body is (are) amazing to you. Why.
What role it plays
Where it is located.
What size it has.
What illnesses can alter its normal functioning.
How you can help to keep it healthy.

Total Wordcount: 230 words minimum.
Remember to write comments on 3 classmates' posts and the teacher´s

Post Graduate Studies

Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow. 

William Pollard

Perhaps you wonder whether it is fair to ask about future postgraduate studies now when you are just undergraduate freshers studying at the university. Some of you are s till evaluating your current career, wondering if you have chosen wisely.  (UK, postgraduate student = USA, graduate student)

The fact is that we live in times of haste, changes, progress, specialisation, ... Society is changing so fast that we need to be prepared and be flexible enough to adapt ourselves to new demands...

Some decades ago, Master and PhD degrees were a luxury that some privileged professionals could afford. At present, most universities have a Graduate School that offers graduate studies in the form of Diplomas, MS and PhD degrees... and these studies are becoming a necessity in various fields. 

Time flies and sooner rather than later you will have to think of having further studies on a specific subject. After four years of successful study, you will have a major in a discipline and then you should decide to go on after a professional degree (ie. Biochemist, Pharmacist, Chemist, Food Engineer...) and/or go on after a Master, PhD degree and do research.

Summing up, you will have a display of possibilities that will certainly have an impact on your future:
Professional degree (Chemist, Pharmacist, Biochemist, Food Engineer...) is awarded by a university after completion of the professional programme;
Diplomas: usually short programmes given within the year to professionals or majors.
Master degree: usually a 2 yr long programme, is an academic degree awarded by a university (MA, Master of Arts; MSc, Master of Science; Master of Education; Master of Engineering; MBA, Master of Business Administration).
PhD degree: usually a 3-4 yr long programme given to applicants having a major or a professional degree

Higher specialisation has become a necessity in almost any area; however, sometimes technological advance leaves some specialties obsolete and newer specialisation is required to face novel challenges. On-line learning, following a well-designed program and suitable supervision, may become a serious alternative to make the most out of your time.

Thus, it seems wise to start thinking of promising postgraduate studies as soon as possible to have a wider range of attractive working fields of your liking at your disposal.

Now tell me about a postgraduate course(s) that you would consider taking in the future.

Include:
- Reasons to do the course
- Subject(s) you would like to study
- Where you would like to study (Chile or abroad)
- How you would like to study (distance learning, blended system, part-time course, etc)
- Any other relevant ideas

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts + a comment on your teacher's post.

- Word Count: 220 words

Your future job

"If you think you are too big for small jobs, maybe you are too small for big jobs"

The Ingalls family

Little House on the Prairie was a TV series of the 1970s and early '80s based on the life of the Ingalls family who lived in the nineteenth and the turn of the 20th century in the USA. The everyday activities of this charming family give us a glimpse of their way of living in the new world.

Apart from surviving in a sometimes hostile surrounding, finding a job was not then a big deal: people worked as farmers, as fishermen, as craftsmen, as woodworkers, as handymen, bankers, silversmiths, furniture makers, traders... 

The probabilities of moving from one place to a distant one to find a new job offering greater possibilities for personal growth in a new attractive surrounding were limited, not always an easy decision, nor a feasible choice.

Downton Abbey's butler, housekeeper, maid

By then, in England, the butler and the housekeeper were common jobs, less glamorous than we want to believe after watching the BBC series; the butler was the chief of servants in a household, while the housekeeper ran the house with the help of maids,  cooks, gardeners...  Many young people were moving from the countryside to the city in search of a better future; some of them working in textiles, clothing, ... and leaving farming, mining, and other heavy activities behind.

At present, research and development, R&D, in various areas account largely for the continuous progress of mankind, the internet being probably the most important breakthrough in our growth, and innovations in different areas are a challenge for today's man.

Inserting samples into a freezer - Nutrition Study
Credits: NASA

Thus, finding a good job nowadays is becoming a complex issue. After studying a significant number of years, you want a well-paid, comfortable, challenging job ... with modern (research) facilities in a healthy and friendly environment. In addition, globalization now permits mobility to work here and elsewhere and usually calls for a fairly good command of another language, mainly English.  

Our civilization becomes more demanding and we have to be prepared to improve our abilities to adapt ourselves to this brave new world since novel fields of work are open to your participation.

Luckily, we can use internet resources to find the best possible job and also to keep updated in our field of work. Some people have online jobs... maybe a future trend...

Freelance online job

I would like to have an online job in the near future. Technology is becoming a wonderful tool to work indoors and earn your living, thus it would be challenging to have a new start in a different environment...yet, I think that writing professional issues is gaining space in my mind.

At present, the once unreachable institutions, like NASA, are ready to offer new opportunities for a job to capable professionals like you will become.

So how will your future be? I cannot but expect the best for you all.

Now, it's your turn,

- What kind of job would you like to have? How do you imagine it?

- Outdoors /indoors?

- Would you like to travel a lot in your job?

- What about the salary?

- What major are you studying /are you thinking of taking? Explain why

- Add any other related ideas.

Total Wordcount: 210
Remember to make comments on 3 of your classmates' and the teacher's posts.

About love, pets and friendship

Man's best friend

People say that dogs are man's best friend... In my case, however,  my first memory goes back to a small green parrot, Enicognathus ferrugineus, that is usually found in the south of Chile. This Austral parakeet lived free in my house, walked around  all the rooms, fed on my mum's hands and had a sharp voice that was heard from distant places. The longer wings had been cut so that it couldn't fly away. By then, I was in primary school and I remember as it were yesterday when my little friend combed my hair, eyelashes and eyebrows to wake me up on weekends. 

It also used to walk on my shoulders and observed enthusiastically how I did my homework. One day, at lunch, it was on my mum's shoulders observing with distant interest the conversation of my family and friends, so I decided to bother it by touching its long tail; it moved towards me, protesting for such an uncomfortable situation; I did it again and again a little time later ... it moved restlessly, was really upset and protested by using its powerful voice... I was told not to bother again, so I focussed my attention on my dish. My little friend looked at me peacefully, showing sympathy... then it quietly walked from my mum's shoulders to mine in a clear demonstration of affection..., all of a sudden, it gave a bite on my face and ran away....my little friend gave emphasis to the lesson "do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself". 

Time passed and when my kids were adolescents, I looked for a parrot to satisfy the need for a pet. Another small green parrot of the same kind became part of our family, a friend of all. I felt it had a special connection with me; it reminded me my first friend, the same kind, color, mood. I used to whistle when I walked back home, and this little friend heard me and used its sharp voice to announce my presence. In sunny days, my family enjoyed watching it having a bath under the sun.... 

Many years passed till one afternoon, when I had just come back from work, I was told that our little friend was feeling ill. I gently put it on one hand, it opened the eyes, moved its head and passed away.... My little friend, Polo, had waited to say goodbye.

The love you feel for your pets is greatly corresponded by them, and sometimes they are better friends than you are. These videos are a great demonstration of love for the other. 

Hippo trying to help impala

Remember to take care of your pets!

Now is your turn:

Tell me about you favourite pet(s)
What its(their) name is(are)
Since when you have it(them)
Why you love your pet(s)

Upload a photograph if possible
Minimun length: 200 words