2
IN-CLASS-CONTRIBUTIONS
Coversation about the beach and the mountain
- Valeria: Do you
prefer to live in the mountain or in the beach?
- Alejandra: It’s cheaper
live in the mountain than a beach.
- Briance: Yes, but
it’s far funnier to live in the beach.
- Alejandra: It’s
depends, in some places it’s almost the same as beach.
- Valeria: It’s a
little bit overwhelming to live in the beach, I prefer peaceful places.
- Daniel: I disagree
with you, the more you live there, the more you get used to it.
- Briance: I agree
with Valeria, the beach is considerably more crowed; it’s not nearly as
personal as the mountain.
- Alejandra: It’s a
little bit easier to live in the beach than in a mountain, because you can find
a supermarket close in a mountain maybe you have to travel to the town.
- Valeria: But it’s considerably
better the weather in the mountain than in the beach, because you don’t need a
lot of sun block.
- Daniel: It’s slightly
better I think feel the heat of the sun in your skin and be able to tan any
time is so much better.Coversation about the beach and the mountain
- Valeria: Do you
prefer to live in the mountain or in the beach?
- Alejandra: It’s cheaper
live in the mountain than a beach.
- Briance: Yes, but
it’s far funnier to live in the beach.
- Alejandra: It’s
depends, in some places it’s almost the same as beach.
- Valeria: It’s a
little bit overwhelming to live in the beach, I prefer peaceful places.
- Daniel: I disagree
with you, the more you live there, the more you get used to it.
- Briance: I agree
with Valeria, the beach is considerably more crowed; it’s not nearly as
personal as the mountain.
- Alejandra: It’s a
little bit easier to live in the beach than in a mountain, because you can find
a supermarket close in a mountain maybe you have to travel to the town.
- Valeria: But it’s considerably
better the weather in the mountain than in the beach, because you don’t need a
lot of sun block.
- Daniel: It’s slightly
better I think feel the heat of the sun in your skin and be able to tan any
time is so much better.
Video (teacher)
Superheroes
The unit 4 was
a little about superheroes. The teacher made us an activity, was to
create a superhero with no powers previously used.
As a group
we decided to create a superheroine, because most of superheroes we see in
movies are men, and we wanted to create a woman. The name of the superheroine that we
created is Transforming Girl, she has four superpowers:
- Transforming
things in food to feed homeless
- To
heal people's mouse by touching them
- To
clean the dirty water
- Night
vision
She is a
superhero with very different superpowers, she wants peace in the world, and
thus transforms the planet into a better world.
April Fools´Day
Part of the
activities in class was to make a presentation on a topic of their choice. For
the presentation we decided to talk a little about April fools’ day.
The American people
have an amazing way to celebrate the Holidays, it´s exciting to see how they
prepare for this day. For example when it’s near Halloween you can see the
supermarkets with a lot of things to decorate the houses and the same happen for
Christmas, Thanks giving, etc.
April First is a
day to be happy and enjoy little pranks; they are prepared with plenty of time
to make the best jokes. You can find in the internet lot kinds of jokes to do
in this day.
In Costa Rica we
don’t celebrate this day, but we have a day to make pranks and it’s the Day of
the Holy Innocents.
Verb tenses
This day we
made a practice that was based on recall each of the verb tenses. We had to put
the correct verb depending on the context of the sentence and the correct form.
When we
talk every day we do not realize we're using the simple progressive or simple present
perfect, but when we have to write something is where we fall into account the
importance of using them correctly, because it is the only way that the message
that we want to transmit through the words the people can understand when they
read what we write. Unlike the Spanish language, English language has only 12 verb
tenses but many times we get confused in their use, so it must be constantly
reminding the proper use of each.
Present tense
The instructions of this activity were fill in
the space with the correct form of the verb in any aspect of the present tense.
I think that the present tense is one of the most used, because people usually
speak about what is happening at the moment.
For that reason we suppose that is easy to find or to put correct form
of the verb, but also people sometimes make mistakes when speak and they make
the same mistake when write, for that reason we have to be careful and put more
attention when we are speaking or writing because is very important to use the
correct tense and the correct form of the verb.
Adjective clauses
It is very boring to go to a class and just sit
and listen to the teacher, I'm one of the people who are easily disturbed and
when a class is boring I star to sleep. I really enjoy activities that make you
enjoy the class, learn new things and have fun at the same time.
This day we perform an activity based on curious
information and we had to see if the information was given about the animals was
true, false or if you did not know the answer. I had no idea about many of the
data was real or not, but at the end when we review the answers I could know.
In addition to learning basic data I acquired more knowledge, as there were
several words that had not heard and therefore did not know its meaning.
Prepositions
Another activity that was performed was about
the use of prepositions. It is very easy to learn in which contexts are used but
often at the time of writing is difficult because it is easy to get confused,
because often we have used incorrectly and this error was not corrected.
When the practice was performed there were some
phrases that were a little difficult for me because I felt constantly confused
when I tried to put the correct preposition. So I know I should pay more
attention, especially when I talk use the correct prepositions.
E-Magazine #1
The important of learning of second language
The educational program of our country has been
based on a complete teaching, so in addition to the main subjects this program
add subjects like computing, art, a second language that is English and even in
some cases French. This is because today's world asks for people with high
technical and scientific knowledge. The competition becomes bigger every day because
companies need people with experience in specific fields, and also the
knowledge of one or more additional languages to it native tongue. If you
really want to have a good job or maybe an excellent salary you have to be
different. For that reason you need to put the maximum effort and have the
initiative to be a valuable person for the labor market.
I remember when I was in high school the
process of learning English was not easy at all, because of the professor of
technical English. He was very hard with his students; he always made us do presentations
in front of the class and often embarrassed us in front of the whole group.
I'll never forget once he made a classmate cry. For that reason in my case the process
of learning a second language has been difficult, because the pronunciation of
words has been very hard for me because many of the sounds of English are very
different from Spanish. I always thought that to learn a new language a special
talent was needed, but if you don´t have this quality you must be very
disciplined and put a lot of effort to achieve the level of others.
Despite all that, I tried to have a positive attitude
and no matter how hard it is I am putting my effort of learning of speak this
language. I am a strong believer that everyone needs to speak at least 2
languages. One of my biggest goals is to be a successful lawyer and I really
know that If I want to transform this goal in a achievement I need to speak
English fluently at least because there are a lot of good lawyers in the labor
market and for that reason I must be different. For example, this week a friend
sent me a video in which the president of Ecuador was at a conference speaking
English in a not very professional manner and he was heavily criticized. This
made me think in how important it is to speak and understand other languages,
because sometimes there are opportunities that arise once in life, and if you
aren´t prepared they can easily go.
Now I am thinking in learning to speak another
language that is Portuguese. I think that it´s very similar to Spanish and can
be easier to learn in my case. Also I have been thinking that if I want in some
future moment to travel and to know new cultures I have to begin now learning
all the languages that I can. Now is the moment to start and add all that I can
to my academic process. I need professional skills that make me a coveted
professional. If you really want you can to do anything, you only need the best
attitude.
E-Magazine #2
An amazing biography
There are many
people who have been vital to the lives of others. People who have influenced
and managed to be examples for other individuals. Today, there are many people
who have the ability to be leaders, because they go beyond the normal human
being. Also in ancient times there were people who made major changes in the
world and which today you can mention a number of people who performed great
deeds because they are remembered like big heroes. Worth writing about those
people who have influenced the lives of everyone as they have been part of the
character, personality or way of thinking that we have developed today.
I’m going to
write a little about 3 people who have influenced my life.
Og Mandino was
born on December 12, 1923, in Framingham, Massachusetts, United States of
America. He was an amazing author, I really enjoy every one of his books,
because he had a philosophy that states that every person is a miracle and
everyone has to be able to guide his own life. One of my favorites books
is “The Greatest Salesman in the World”, and it is about how people can become
successful despite the difficulties and challenges that arise in life. He said
that all prosperous people take their own lives by "charting" or
intentionally choose both the wanted purpose and the way to get to it.
Another
important character is Mother Teresa. She was born on August 26, 1910, in
today's Macedonia. She was a missionary and religious sister.
Although I am not Catholic, she was a very important person for humanity that
inspires me to be good with others. All her life was devoted to serve others;
she gave true love to others without the intention of getting anything in
return. She was an exceptional woman that was an amazing example to others
because of her dedication to do good to other people. In 1979, Mother Teresa
received the Nobel Peace Prize,
"for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress,
which also constitutes a threat to peace."
Another very
important person in my life is Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. He was born on January
27, 1756 in Salzburg. He was a prolific and prestigious composer of
the Classical era.
Definitely he
was not a “normal” child; his musical abilities were a divine miracle. When
Mozart was four years old he played the clavichord and composed little pieces
of music of considerable difficulty and when he was six years old he played the
harpsichord and the violin. He could read music at sight; he had a prodigious
memory and an extraordinary capacity to improvise musical phrases.
One of my
favorites Mozart compositions is the Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major (K. 412, I
Allegro) because of the combination of sounds of the orchestra. Despite his
death, it is amazing to see how important Mozart is today, because he left a
huge legacy. Today most people know who he was, because he was a genius in
music that we enjoy today amazing musical compositions that inspire people.
E-Magazine #3
Sports and hobbies
I never was the typical girl who loved to have barbies
and dolls, I never asked my parents to buy me a barbie for my birthday or for
christmas. The barbies I had were because I inherited from my older sister.
When I was a child most of my friends were men, almost never had female
friends. Therefore since childhood I have always liked to play soccer. I
remember that all the time I played soccer the ball always hit me in the face,
it was like I had a magnet in my face.
I 'm not very good playing soccer but when I was in
high school I was in a football team. I enjoy playing soccer because it is a
way to exercise, feeling good and share good time with friends. Besides playing
soccer, I love running; 4 years ago I was in an athletic group but high school
course load made it impossible for me to continue training. But also now I’m
trying to return and begin exercising for my physical and mental health.
Another of my favorite
hobbies is dancing, now I’m in the group “Proyección Folclórica Ulacit”. I
think that one of the best ways to express yourself is dancing because you can
be free and move your body, release stress and share
time with people who love the same as you. All my life is around art, I’m a
native artist, since I was a child I enjoy every single way of art.
I have played the French
horn since 2003, when I was 8 years old. I really don’t know why I chose the
French horn but also is “the love of my life”. I remember the first classes
were terrible because the French horn is a big instrument and at that time I
was young so I needed a lot of air to blow the instrument and the sound was not
very nice, it was like “the sound of an elephant”. Later was better but never
easier. Now I have like eleven years playing the French horn and I really love
it. For me it’s the best instrument in the world. I do enjoy playing music, for
me is the best way to be me.
Books are the key of knowledge. Books are little treasures where you can find new worlds of knowledge. For
that reason I do enjoy reading books, every day before I go to bed I have to
read, it is a habit that I have since I was a child. The love for reading made
me feel love for writing, like 5 years ago I started writing poems. It was like
something natural, I only began one day and now I have many poems. I know that
I’m not the best writer, but I love writing. Definitely I’m better writing than
speaking, for that reason I write, because it’s the way to say what I think and
feel. My poems are so valuable to me. Maybe one day I’ll write a book and I’ll
put some of my poems inside it. I haven’t done it for a long time, but I want
to return and write more poems. I want my future generations to know who I was
and why I wrote the poems.
