My experience learning English at the University

I'd like to talk about my experience learning English at the university. Firstly, I chose this topic because I’ve been studying English by two years, and I think that is necessary to evaluate this experience and make a reflection about what I learned and how much I should have to learn yet. Secondly, I’d like to reflect about the classes and the methodologies that the teachers used, because I think that it had a big influence in my learning process. Finally, I’d like to talk about the things that could be improved, in the course and by the student side, to make the English course better.

How I said, I’ve been studying English by two years in the University. I started my English course in 2008, in the second level. In that time Mr. Luzzi was my teacher. After that, in the third level, Ms. Castillo made classes in my group, and now in the fourth level, Mr. Luzzi is my teacher again. I think that I’ve learned a lot of things, above all in grammar, it was my weakest skill when I started. I think that I still have to learn a lot, I’m very bad in pronouncing and there are a lot of words that I don’t know in english yet. I think that make sentences and speak, is still hard for me. But I’d like to continue learning in other place, because I think that English is very important to my career.

Well, secondly, I’d like to talk about the methodologies that the teachers used. In one hand, I think the best methodology, was the blog because it was interactive and fun. I learned a lot writing in my blog. In the other hand, I think that the worst methodology was the listening, but I have a powerful reason to say that. I think that the England pronunciation sometimes is very hard to understand and it makes more difficult any exercise.

Finally, I think that courses should be more flexible, in the sense that should be more adapted to the reality of each group of students. Moreover, I think that the students should be more commited to the classes.

In conclusion I could say that my experience learning English at the University, has had a lot of good and bad moments. I’ve learn a lot, but I have a lot to learn yet. I think that there are a lot of things to improve to make this course better, and that the university and the students have to do a big effort for the next generations.This is my last blog, because this is the last class of the last level of the English courses. I’ve had very fun moments writing here, and I’ve told you a lot of my life, I hope that you've enjoyed this.

Hi! Today I will talk about my faculty. I study psychology in “Universidad de Chile”, so I study in the Social Sciences Faculty.

I have to say that the first time that I came here; I though that was a special place. I though that because it was small, modest, but it had a warm environment. When I came to my first day of class, I though that my faculty was a little revolutionary, and I wasn’t wrong. Actually, there are a lot of student movement, wich fight for the social justice, an a lot of other ideals. Sometimes also there are political demonstrations, the students and workers say what they think about important topics of the local and global context.

But not all the activities in my faculty are related with political, there are cultural expressions too. Sometimes in the lunch hour, some students or a guest person, make a performance and they fill the building with his/her art.I like all of this things, although, sometimes I’m disagree with the ideas that the demonstrators fight for.

I have to say that my faculty has a lot of bad things too. For example, the infrastructure is not good enough: the bathrooms are awful, there isn’t a study room, and sometimes the dining hall is not big enough, etc.

In spite of these entire things, I have to say that I love my faculty. I think that I will miss it when I graduate.

Friends

Hi! Today I will talk about my friends. I think that is very difficult to found good friends, who stay with you all the time, and who console you and laugh with you.But, sometimes in my life I’ve found special persons, for example at the school. I met my school’s friends when I was 11, and I was in the 7th grade. They are Cristina, Valentina, Loreto, Melissa y Valeria, and are one of the best things in my life. With the years we’ve created a beautiful friendship, which is alive yet. In fact I saw my friends yesterday and we past a great time, we talk and I feel really happy in that moment. I hope I can see them soon!Well, they aren’t the only persons who I consider my friends. For example, now I’m in the university, and here I found two of my best friends in the life. They are Monito y Makito. I really love them! I met them in the first year at the University, and since that moment we don’t separated anymore. They are very beautiful persons, and they are true friends, because they have been with me in the worst moment of my life. I know that we will be friends for a long time.Well, there are persons who you know and although you don’t see them a lot, you know that they will be there to give you a hug and tell you that everything is gone be all right. I’ thinking in some friends of mine that I love a lot and I miss too.Well I think that friendship is one of the most important treasures of the humans. If you think that you have a friend you must to take care of he/she, and you should feel lucky because you have a special person in your life.

“Criminals with a mental illness need a prison break”

Hi! Today I want to show you a very interesting new about the mental health, which is the area in which I study.

The titular of this new is: “Criminals with a mental illness need a prison break”. Here they tell us that in England and Wales, nine out of 10 of people who is in jail has at least one diagnosable mental health problem, a majority have two or more, combined with a range of other difficulties and disadvantages. In the prison there are 10 times more mental illness that in the population outside.This dramatically high rate of mental ill health among prisoners has given rise to a number of initiatives to improve mental health care within prisons and to divert more people away from prison to health services.Among those initiatives is the creation of two pilot mental health courts. They act as stand-alone courts for defendants with evidence of severe mental health problems. They employ mental health professionals to work alongside court staff to identify practical ways of addressing an individual's offending and ensuring they link up with services: where possible not in custody.

Diversion has been a feature of mental health service in England, since a report recommended national coverage of court liaison and diversion teams, today the role of many of those teams has expanded to include diverting people to community mental health services and to work in the police stations as well as courts.

A recent report has made 82 recommendations on improving the care of people with mental health problems and those learning disabilities in the criminal justice system.

The mental health courts being developed in England should now offer one way of achieving diversion, it should bringing their problem-solving approach into ordinary courts, which could make the system more efficient and careful, because imprisoning people with severe mental illnesses can have a devastating effect. Moreover a short prison sentence is expensive and, in everybody, is devastating.

You can read more in: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/jul/02/prisons-mental-health-illness

Hi!, today I will talk about pets. Actually I will talk about why I never have a pet. When I was a girl I wanted to have a dog, but my dad said me that we didn’t have enough space to have a pet. So I said him that we can have a little dog, but he said no, again.So I never had have a pet. Some friends had trying to give me a pet, but finally they repent because they know that to my dad doesn’t like the dogs.

I'd like to have a pet; actually I want to have a dog, a very furry dog. But if I never can have a dog, I'd like to have a parrot or a rabbit. I also like the turtles but they get lost very easily. An animal that never would have, is a cat, I hate them. I think that they are unfriendly, dirties and moreover they cause me allergy. Oh! This is other reason because I don’t have a pet!!

I like the animals, but I think that you have to be very responsible if you want to adopt one. You have to take care of it, give it food, water, it own space, and keep it clean.

I don’t know if I would adopt a dog from the street, although, they cause me sad. I think that you really have to be a dog lover to do that. I hope that the entire stray dogs, someday, can find a home, because the most of the time they are murdered for bad people who don’t like animals.

My city

Hi, today I want to give you some pieces of advices if you visit my city. I’ve always lived in Santiago, so I want to talk about my favorites places.

My number one is the Lastarria neighborhood. It’s in the center of the city, and it’s an interesting, fun and cultural place. There you can find a lot of café, restaurants, stores, cultural and memory centers, in old buildings, with paving stone streets. But this neighborhood isn’t just that, its outskirts are amazing too. For example, you can visit the Bellas Artes museum, it’s a beautiful building, and always you can enjoy different exhibitions of paint and sculpture. If you ask me, this is a place that you shouldn’t miss. After you go to the museum, you can visit the Forestal Park, it’s very nice. Finally you can go to a café in Mosqueto and enjoy a delicious cake and natural juice.

Other place that you can visit is Quinta Normal. This is a very big park, it has a lot of space to rest, it has a small lake and a lot of museum, like Natural History museum, Artequin museum and Contemporaneous Art museum. Near to this park, you can visit the Santiago’s library. It’s a big place with a lot of interesting activities. Finally you can go to “Matucana 100” cultural center, and enjoy the activities that it offers. I like these places because you can do a lot of fun and enriching activities.

I think that if you visit Santiago you shouldn’t miss the San Cristobal hill. In this place you can go to the zoo, I love it!. You can go up in the teleferico or walking, it’s beautiful. After that, you can go to the top and if rained a few days ago, you can enjoy a great view of the city.

Other places that you can visit are Clarillo River, which is in a beautiful park, and San Jose de Maipo, which is a little town that save some typical Chilean traditions. They both are in the outskirts of city.

I hope you like all of these places!

Our transport system

Today Chile have a complex transport system, which have been very criticized. I’m talking about Transantiago. But before talk about the horrible that the system is, I think that is necessary to do a comparison with the old transport system that we had.

For example, I remember that the “yellow” buses had routes that sometimes, crossed the entire city. Now you have to use 2 or 3 buses, because Transantiago system have a lot of central buses, which cover the principal avenues of Santiago in association with Metro. To get to these buses and to the subway, you have to travel in smaller buses. This little buses have different colors, each color belong to a zone in which this buses travel. So the old system was simpler than Transantiago. Moreover, in the old system you didn’t have to change of bus, so it was faster than the new system.

Other example is that to get on the Transantiago buses the most of the time you have to line up in the bus stop, with the “yellow” buses you didn’t have to do this and you didn’t have to wait for long time to get on the bus.

But not all things in Transantiago are bad. I can say that Transantiago buses are cleaner and more modern that “yellow” buses. These buses are cleaner because you don’t pay with coins, to pay in Transantiago you have to use you Bip! Card, which is most hygienic that the coins. I think that Transantiago have a potential, but is necessary that the authorities and all the people who use the buses, do their best to improve it.