Blog End

Hi there Blogheads,

Today is your last post so, it's time for a little reflection.

Please answer the following questions:
Which post you enjoyed writing most? (& why?)
Which post you enjoyed writing least? (& why?)
Which of your classmate's blogs you enjoyed reading most? (& why?)
Who has the most attractive blog? (& why?)
What you enjoyed or disliked about the blog writing experience? (& why?)

Your Favourite Cartoon Character

Hi Blogheads,

Today we’re going to talk about our favourite cartoon character. I think mine must be Songoku (Goku) from Dragonball. I was first introduced to Goku by Miguel, the son of a friend when I lived in Spain. I used to read the comic to him once a week it helped me learn new vocabulary and expressions. I enjoy Dragonball because it’s very funny and imaginative and it mixes folk-lores with myths and other elements of popular culture both past and present.

Goku is such a great character because he’s so pure of heart when he’s young. He’s also brave and fearless and goes out of his way to help other people. I think these are admirable qualities. He is also extremely strong with a huge appetite. In fact, if he gets too hungry he tends to faint. Did I mention that he has a tail?

 Actually, I’m only a fan of Dragonball, not the subsequent versions (GT & Z).  From what I remember, they’re full of non-stop battles between super-warriors with no sign of the humor!

I think my favourite Goku episode is when the dragon comes for the first time. I won’t tell you what happens just in case you decide to read it!

Write about a cartoon character you like.

Say:

Who it is,

How you discovered the character,

Why you like the character,

What qualities the character has,

What your favourite episode was,

Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

Free Post

Write about a topic of your choice.


 Write at least 250 words. Leave a message on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

One of the best films I've seen in the last few years is a British film called Fish Tank. I actually saw it at home on DVD as I don't go to the cinema very often any more (I've been once this year). The film is an independent movie by director Andrea Arnold and my eldest sister Terry suggested that I watch it. The film tells the story of a young girl from a broken home growing up in a poor part of London. The film is a drama and it stars unknown actors. The lead role is played by Katie Jarvis and it also stars Michael Fassbender who is the star of the other movie I was going to write about (and best movie I've seen this year) "Shame" by British director Steve McQueen (A must see movie - Watch it!!!). I enjoyed Fish Tank because it is a very British movie and it relates to elements of British culture that many people don't know about. The young girl in the story is a bit of a loner and has a very troubled home life. Actually, I've just seen that the full fill is available (subtitled) on Youtube:)

Write about a movie you enjoyed.

Say:

What it's called,

Where and when you saw it,

Which actors star in it,

What genre it is,

What it's about,

Why you enjoyed it.

Mention anything else you find interesting.

Write at least 250 words. Leave comments on your teacher's blog and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

10 Things You Want To Do Before You Die

Because of my age I'm limited with my choices. I can no longer play football in a Premier League football team for example or travel around Europe on a Student rail card (you need to be under 26 years old!).

However, there are other options.

1. I'd like to travel to lots of places. If money was no option I think my first stop would be Japan because I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture and I'd like to experience it first-hand.

2. I'd like to direct a movie. I started making little videos last year and I think it would be amazing to do something more professional.

3. I'd like to finish writing a novel. I've started lots but never get past 2 or 3 pages. I think if I took six months off it would be a possibility.

4. I like to record some of my newer songs in a good studio. I've made lots of recordings but I haven't recorded anything in a good studio since 1996.

5. I'd like to see Janelle Monae in concert. My nephew saw her last year and said that she was brilliant.

6. I love cooking so one of my ambitions is to open a little restaurant. Maybe it’s something I’ll do when I retire from teaching.

7. Actually, I love drinking so I’d also like to open a little bar. One that plays good music and that all my friends use as a meeting place.

8. As most of you know, I come from a big family so; I’d love to be able to invite all my family for a holiday reunion in Chile. It would be great to show them all how beautiful Chile is.

9. One of my ambitions would be to take a year off and work my way around the world. My wife and I have joked about doing it so maybe next year……….

10. Finally, I’d like to find inner peace and contentment. Phew!

My Brother Adrian

I come from a big family; I have 5 sisters and 3 brothers. Today I'm going to talk about my brother Adrian or Ady (Adie, AD) as we call him.

Ady is 18 months younger than me. He lives in Paekakariki, a lovely little beach town in New Zealand, with his wife and two teenage children. He's a furniture designer/maker but he spends a lot of time repairing violins and cellos. He's very good at what he does and enjoys doing it. He's also a very good musician. He plays violin and guitar and loves making music in his spare time. His wife is also a musician so they often play together live in Paekakariki and in neighbouring towns. As a child Ady had the nickname Billy Whizz (a British character from a comic) because he was also running off very quickly. My elder sister used to look after him and if they took their eyes off him for more than a second he would disappear in a flash. Ady has a great sense of humour. He’s always making jokes and fooling around and although he has his serious side, he tends to be smiling and laughing most of the time. Although he studied Kung Fu and other martial arts, he has a very gentle nature. He likes to read and one of his favourite activities is going walking. In fact, he and his family often go on walking holidays, which are very popular in New Zealand. I have a great relationship with Ady and we speak to each other every month. It’s great that we had Skype and internet because it’s easier and cheaper to keep in touch. I love visiting Ady because he lives in a beautiful place and has a beautiful family.

 

Write about someone in your family.

 Say:

Who it is,

Where they live,

What they do,

How often you see them,

What sort of relationship you have with them.

 

Mention anything else you thing is important. Write 250 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of a least 3 classmates.

A Beach You Like

The first time I went to the beach in Chile was a special occasion because it was the first time I saw the Pacific Ocean. It must have been in October or November 1996 and I went with 2 Chilean friends, Rodrigo and Chelo. Rodrigo was a student of mine at UMCE and Chelo was his neighbour. They invited me on a trip to El Ouisco for the weekend. We left Santiago at about 6pm on a Friday evening so my first glimpse of the Pacific was actually from a bus on the coast road into Algarrobo. The beach in El Quisco isn't that attractive and the town was (is) quite run down. We spent the first evening on the beach drinking and chatting to other people who were also drinking and chatting and then spent the night in a kind of hostel that cost 2 lucas per person. As you can imagine, it was very basic. The next morning we took a local bus down the coast and went to the beach I'm going to talk about, Canelillo. The sensation was total different from El Quisco beach. Canelillo was a beautiful cove. Golden sands, pine trees running almost down to the waterline, deserted. It reminded me of something out of the Narnia books or Lord of the Rings.

I didn't have a swim suit, but it didn't matter because the water was way too cold for swimming. However, it was nice just to lie on the sand and soak up the rays of the sun. We spent the morning on the beach. As from 11 o' clock other people started to arrive with their deck chairs and their picnics so at about 1PM we walked back to El Quisco along the coast. It took about an hour but it was a nice walk. I’ve been back to Canelillo a number of times; the last time was about six months ago. Unfortunately, they built some apartments on one side of the bay which takes away some of its charm but it’s still a great beach, especially when it’s empty.

 

Write about a beach you like.

Say:

Where it is,

When you went there for the first time,

Who you went with,

What you did there,

Why you like it.

 

Write at least 300 words. Leave a post on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Present

One present I remember receiving was a musical note shaped earring. My sister Moria (Scottish version of Mary) gave it to me for my 20^th or 21^st birthday. The reason I remember this particular present is that my sister lived in London at the time and I was living in Chester (6 or 7 hours train journey in those days) and she came up especially for my birthday. Moria, or Moe as we like to call her, was a DJ at a well known London club called Stringfellows and I always used to go and stay with her in London so I was really surprised when she came to see me in Chester. She didn’t tell anybody she was coming and, if I remember rightly, she was waiting outside my flat when I got home from work. Just seeing her was a great present so I was really happy when she gave me the earring. Anyway, we went out for a meal and a few drinks with one of my brothers and a couple of close friends. Obviously I wore my new earring (men usually only used 1 earring in those days although I sometimes used 2) and I thought it was really cool. I actually wore the earring until I came to live in Chile when people advised me to take it out for job interviews (in 1996 not many Chilean men used earrings as it was frowned upon). By that time I’d grown out of my earring phase so it was no big deal to take it out. I still have the earring in a box of trinkets I have at home. Every now and I then I come across it and it reminds me of my other life as an aspiring musician.

Write about a present you received.

Say:

What it was,

Who gave it to you,

Why you liked it,

Where it is now.

 

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

One of the best parties I ever went to was actually a party I held in my flat on New Year’s Eve in about 2002 or 3 (I think).  At that time I was living in a 2-bedroomed flat on Manuel Montt close to the corner with Elidoro Yañez. My wife and I gave the party. We invited about 30 people put on about 10 or 12 people made it. Even so we had a really great time. If I remember rightly, we cleared out 2 rooms; one for eating and chatting, and one for dancing. We made sushi and bought other things to nibble and, of course, lots of drinks; mainly beer, wine, pisco, rum and vodka. About 8 or 10 people arrived before 12 o clock; the others arrived at about 2 or 3 in the morning.  I’d made up some mix CDs to dance to and everybody really enjoyed the selection (I think I’d prepared about 10 hours of music).  What good thing was that my friend’s Marco and Jacki arrived at about 2AM just as people were starting to get tired. They came with a friend of theirs called Carmen Gloria who was full of energy and ready to have fun and enjoy herself – actually I thing she was a little bit drunk. However,  their arrival gave everybody a new boost of energy and we ended up dancing until about 7AM and then we went to the Mercado Central to get some Paila Marina and recharge our batteries. All in all it was great party.

Write about a party or celebration you remember.

Say:

Where and when it was,

Who you went with,

Why you remember it,

Mention anything else you thing is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and a comment on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Tiki Tiki Ti

I don't normally get involved with the celebrations for Fiestas Patrias. I used to go to barbeques with friends or house parties but I never enjoyed going to fondas in Santiago because I always found them over-crowded and over-priced. In fact the only fonda I ever really enjoyed was 8 or 9 years ago when I went to Algarrobo. I went with my wife, a British friend, Karen, and a Chilean friend Claudio. Claudio's parents have a house in Algarrobo and we went to stay there for a couple of days. It was great being near the beach and getting some fresh sea air. Also, the weather was warm and sunny during the daytime and not too cold in the evenings.

The fonda was on the main road leading into Algarrobo and we went twice on consecutive evenings. There were lots of people but the atmosphere was friendly. We did the typical things like play some games, eat empanadas and drink chicha. There was music and people dancing cueca. Later on we drank piscolas and danced (shuffled about!!) to cumbias.

I think my friend Karen found it somewhat strange. She’s from Liverpool and I don’t think she knew too much about South American culture. Nowadays, being a “fish-e-tarian” I don’t go to so many barbeques but I’m quite happy staying at home and celebrating with my wife. We actually, met on September 18^th 1996 at a house party so it is a special date for us for other reasons:

Write about a Fiestas Patrias celebration you remember:

Say:

When it was,

What you did,

Who you were with,

Why you enjoyed it.

 
Mention anything else you think is interesting. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Concert, Exhibition or Sports Event

I guess I've been very lucky as far as live music is concerned. I started going to concerts on a regular basis when I was 16 and I got to see lots of great bands. Often I got to see bands by chance because they were supporting other bands and other times I went to gigs were lots of bands were playing, often free of charge. The last big free festival I went to was in Bristol in 1998. It was about a month before I came to live in Chile. The festival is a yearly event in a place called Ashton Park. This year was special because my brother was playing the festival with his band (Grist) and my sister-in-law was singing Bulgarian songs with one of her friends. The festival also had a great line up of some local Bristol bands. I went with one of my brothers but met up with a lot more family. In fact the festival is a family event so there were 3 of my sisters, 3 of my brothers, in-laws, and nephews and nieces.

There were 4 or 5 stages and some of the bands performed in big tents. I think my favourite band was Moloko. They played in a small tent to about 300 people and were simply amazing. Especially Rosin the singer who is a great performer. The festival finished with a special concert by Portishead who are from a small coastly town just outside Bristol. They played on the main stage and were watched by about 30,000 people. My favourite part of the concert was when they played "Glory Box" which is the song of theirs that I like most. The sound was excellent and everybody had a great time.

Write about a concert, exhibition or sports event you went to.
Say:
What it was,
Where and when it was,
Who you went with,
What you enjoyed about it.

Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

An Expert You Admire

There are lots of interesting people related to my field of Applied Linguists and Teaching English as a Foreign Language. The first one who really had any lasting effect on my Teaching was a man called David Nunan. He's an Australian who has worked in lots of different countries and today he is one of the most respected English language teaching experts on a world level.

I first heard about him in the year 2000. I was involved in a course that was supervised by an Australian University here in Santiago. One of the visiting professors referred to Nunan's work and I decided to investigate.

I admire Nunan because he actually started out as a teacher and therefore he knows all the in and outs of teaching. Additionally, he has written some excellent books on teaching that are really accessible to teachers and not just academics. My favourite book by him is Language Teaching Methodology, which is the first one that I read. However, he has also written really good books on Task-based Learning, and Learner-Centred Teaching and Learning. A lot of the things that he writes about are very practical and I guess he is the person who has most influenced my teaching over the last ten years or so. Nunan introduced me to a lot of new ideas about what is to teach without forgetting that the learner is the most important element of the equation.

Write about an expert you admire.
Say:
Who it is,
What their area of expertise is,
How you heard about this person,
Why you admire him or her
What effect they have had on your studies.

Mention anything else you thing is important. Write a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

My Favourite Piece of Technology

My favourite piece of technology is my macbook. I got it in February 2011 at an Airport duty-free shop in New Zealand (I'd been on holiday visiting my brother who lives in Paekakariki near Wellington). At first I thought it was a bit extravagant to buy it because I have a PC but my wife encouraged me to get it. She always tells me that I should spoil myself every now and then.
I use it for making music and videos. The only 2 programmes I use are Garageband, for mixing audio, and imovie, for editing video. I often combine the two programmes and publish my creations on my Vimeo page.
I use the macbook about once a month during term-time because I don't have much free time. If I start creating something I can easily spend 8 hours a day working on it so I need to have all my other work done before I can dedicate time to this hobby.
I guess I like the macbook because it is so easy to use. I managed to create a song the first time I used the mac without even having to read the instructions. If you know a little about audio or video then the programmes are very logical to use.
Life would be very strange without my macbook. I could still do the same things on my PC with other programmes but the mac just feels like a more sophisticated and classy machine. I think I would take longer to compose and create on a different machine. The model I have has been discontinued now but I hope to use it for a number of years as I don't need a more powerful machine ....... yet!

Write about your favourite piece of Technology.
Say:
What it is,
When you got it,
What you use it for,
How often you use it,
Why you like it,
What life would be like without it.
Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and a comment on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

PET Practice link.

http://www.examenglish.com/PET/reading1.htm

Expressions for the Oral Exam

Here are some oral expressions that may be useful:
Stating an opinion
•In my opinion...
•The way I see it...
•If you want my honest opinion....
•According to ...
•As far as I'm concerned...
•If you ask me...

Asking for an opinon
•What's your idea?
•What are your thoughts on all of this?
•How do you feel about that?
•Do you have anything to say about this?
•What do you think?
•Do you agree?

Expressing agreement
•I agree with you 100 percent.
•I couldn't agree with you more.
•That's so true.
•You're absolutely right.
•That's exactly how I feel.
•Exactly.
•I'm afraid I agree with James.
•You have a point there.

Expressing disagreement
•I don't think so.
•I'm afraid I disagree.
•I totally disagree.
•I'd say the exact opposite.
•Not necessarily.
•That's not always true.
•No, I'm not so sure about that.

Interruptions
•Can I add something here?
•Is it okay if I butt in ...
•If I might add something...
•Sorry to interrupt, but...

(Adapted from: http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/agreeing-disagreeing-expressions.htm)

A Field Trip

All geographers have to take part in field trips as part of their professional training. This often involves travelling to a distant part of the country and carrying out field work or practical activities in a specific context. This gives future geographers the chance to experience working on real problems in real situations.
Talk about a field trip you've been on:
Say
Where you went
Who you went with
How long you went for
What you did there
How useful you found the experience.

Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on your teachers blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

London

Choose one of the places from the London Webquest that you would like to visit.
Say
Where it is,
How you can get there,
Why you think it would be good to visit.

Mention anything else you think is important.

Write at least 150 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog.

A Song You Like

Music has always been an important part of my life. My elder sister influenced my listening habits when I was younger with soul and rock and roll and early psychedelic music but since the age of 11 or 12 I began to develop my own likes and dislikes. David Bowie was the first musician to really get a hold on me but he was about much more than just the music. Later, I was attracted to the punk ethic of "Do it yourself" which rebelled against stagnant progressive rock and then later I started listening to musicians who crossed boundaries like Nina Simone, Van Morison and of course David Bowie.

Nowadays I still have a wide range of musical tastes. I can appreciate most styles of music except heavy metal and overly commercial music. Unfortunately, having such a rich musical background means that I’m not easily impressed by “the next big thing” as there is very little that truly new. Most new bands tend to emulate their influences and there is little originality. However, I pop song I like at the moment is Time to Pretend by MGMT. It has some interesting elements and is very infectious on the ears! I first heard it last year and thing it has a great riff and intelligent lyrics. It makes you think both musically and lyrically which I think is the sign of a good song.

You can listen to the song here:

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/B9dSYgd5Elk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Write about a song you like.

Say:
Who it’s by,
When you heard it for the first time,

Why you like it.
Mention anything else you think is important.
Write at least 200 words. Lead a comment on your teacher’s blog and the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Good Friend

One person I consider a good friend is a guy called Martin who I first met when I was 18 or 19 years old. We met when he auditioned as drummer for the band I played in. He's 3 or 4 years younger than me but we always got on really well. I don't think that we are that similar in terms of personality but we share similar tastes in music and sense of humour. We also both like football. We shared a house for 6 months in the late 80's when we lived in London and continued to play music together whenever we could. I like Martin because he's a down-to-earth person with a great temperament. He’s also really talented. He’s a great artist (he draws) and a brilliant drummer (you can listen to a song we composed together here: http://www.myspace.com/uktheotherside/music/songs/isolated-78640997).   

During the 1990's Martin and I lost touch, I was living in Spain and he had moved to New York. We kept in touch by letter for some time but we both changed address and somehow lost contact. In 2007 I manage to get back in touch with Martin when I got in contact with a band he used to play with in New York. I saw his name on their website and although he was no longer a member of the band they were still in touch with him. I passed through New York on my way to Britain in 2007 and we meet up for 12 hours. Since then we keep in contact via mail and facebook.

Write about a good friend of yours:

Say:

Who it is,

How you met,

What things you have in common,

How often you see your friend.

Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Website

There are a number of websites I visit everyday, however, I need to make a difference between social networking sites like gmail or facebook and tools like YouTube and The Guardian. In my case, The Guardian is the site I visit most for news. I can find out about both UK and international news plus lots of other interesting things related to arts and music. Nevertheless, I think I mainly use this page to keep up to date on news about football. The guardian has a great football section with up to the minute news on everything that's happening in the UK and around the world. One of my favourite sections is something called the "Rumour Mill". It's a page thats dedicated to giving a summary of all the rumours about football transfers in the British press so it's a complilation of what's said in all the newspapers on a particular day. It's very funny because it treats all the rumours as true although many of them are obviously untrue.
I also read a lot of international news as the Chilean press doesn't give good coverage to the things I'm interested in. The Guardian tends to give an ubbiased report on most things but I was very annoyed that they didn't cover the Mapuche hunger strikes last year. I actually wrote to them to ask why but got no reply. Obviously, the editorial board didn't think it worthy news, which is a pity because I presumed it was the type of news the Guardian readers would be interested in.
Still, nothing in this world is perfect!

Write about a website you like.
Say:
What it is,
Why you like it
How often you visit it
What makes it better than other sites.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A place to visit in Chile

Over the years I've been in Chile I've had the chance to visit lots of wonderful places. However, one of the places I remember most and would like to visit again is Alto Los Vilches or, as it's also known, La Reserva Nacional Altos Del Lircay. This is a wonderful place in the foothills of the Andes close to Talca. I went there in about 2001 with my wife and some friends, one of whom had been before. We camped for 2 nights and spent our days walking the park. It has lots of wonderful things to see: the Descabezado Volcano, the Alto Lagoon and the Enladrillado Plateau. I think I was most impressed by the Enladrillado. It's a plateau that looks like it's a landing site of an alien spaceship. It's as if somebody sliced the top off a mountain and you can see inside. However, the most magical thing about the place was stalking a male Carpenter Woodpecker. We actually saw two but on the second occasion, at the end of our journey, we followed on for about 5 or 10 minutes. He seemed to be leading us back to our campsite. He'd fly ahead and we'd loose site of him for a minute or two and then we'd see him again. A truely wonderful sight. We also saw some creepy stuff. My wife almost had a heart attack. She went to the bathroom at 3am in the morning and saw a mini-monster!!

Write about a place in Chile you like to visit.

Say:

Where it is,

Why you like it,

What you can do there,

When the last time you went was.

Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Photograph

This photo is one of my favourites from when I was younger. It was taken by my ex-girlfriend. I must have been about 19 years old and I was playing with my band The Final Programme in a local discoteque. The rest of the band were punks but I was a David Bowie fan so my image was modelled on him. It's quite odd looking at the photograph now because I've changed so much over the years. For example, I wore my hair long until I was about 24 and then cut it short and that's the way it's always been since then. I also like the way that fashion is so retro. I used to wear make-up and wear outlandish clothes that were totally original in those days. However, nowadays it's quite normal for people to wear make up, dye their hair and dress in that way. It was great fun being part of that scene and I had lots of fun. There was lots of great music being made and that's what this photograph reminds me of: music and good times.

Write about a photograph you like.
Say:
Who took the photo,
What it shows,
Why you like it,
What memories or feelings it gives you.

Mention anything else you thing is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Free Post:)

This week's holiday post is a freebie:)

Write 200 words on a topic of your choice. Don't forget to leave a comment on yout teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Journey

Hi Blogheads:
Today I'm going to tell you about a journey I made when I first visited Chile. It was summer 1997 and a Chilean friend invited me to join him for a camping trip to the South of Chile. On the first day, we set off early in the morning. We visited the Saltos de Laja and then a campsite near Laguna Laja. However, there had been a drought and the water level was very low so we decided not to stay and drove to Los Angeles where we spent the night on a small campsite. The next day we drove to Pucon where we stayed with some friends. After that we spent 2 weeks touring all the lakes in the lake district region. I remember Valdivia, Lican Ray, Frutillar and Puerto Varas but we also stayed in lots of other places In Ensenada, in a campsite at the foot of the Osorno Volcano we meet two Italians and we offered them a lift to Chiloe. We spent 4 days in Chiloe and although it rained every day it was a wonderful experience. I especially liked Cucao. I'm also really glad I got to see Castro with the shopping mall!!!
On the way back to Santiago we spent 4 or 5 days in Pucon where I had the chance to climb Villarica Volcano and do some white water rafting. All in all it was a wonderful trip.

Write about a journey (long or short) that you remember.
Say:
Where and when you went,
How you travelled,
What you did,
Why you remember this journey.

Mention anything else you thing is important. Write a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Country I'd Like to Visit

One thing most people seem to enjoy doing is travelling abroad. In this sense I can say I've been very lucky as I've had the chance to visit various countries. However, one of my dreams is to visit Japan. I think I became fascinated with Japanese culture when I was younger and I would love to experience it firsthand. I read many stories that talked about the life and culture in Japan and I would love to see it because it seems so different to Western culture. There are many things I would like to do such as visit the religious temples or see Mount Fuji and I think it would be wonderful to explore ancient cities like Kyoto which are full of history and culture. I also love Japanese food and it would be wonderful to experience it in its natural environment. Unfortunately, Japan is expensive to get to and expensive to travel around so I can’t see myself visiting any time in the near future.

Write about a country you would like to visit.

Say:
Which country you would like to visit and why,
What you would like to do there,

Why you thing this would be an interesting place to visit.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 150 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A book

Hi Monday morning blogsters. One of the best things I've read in recent years is Snow by Orhan Pamuk. I read it about 12 months ago. I read it because I'd heard a lot of good things about the author. At first it reminded me of Dostoyevsky but as the story progressed it found its own feel. I liked peering into another world, another culture, and seeing things that are quite alien to me. The story is about a poet who goes back to his home town after 12 years and the things that happen on his return. It highlights some important political, social and religious issues regarding modern day, small-town Turkey. One of the most interesting parts of the book is about a group of young girls who go on hunger strike regarding the use of religious head-dresses. I think the book was very well written. I’m reading another by the same author (My Name is Red) and recently acquire a 3 of his novels (The Museum of Innocence).



Today I'd like to write about a book you read and enjoyed.
Say;
What the book was,
Who the author was,
When you read it,
Why you read it,
What you liked and disliked about the book.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 150 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

PET Vocabulary

http://www.lttc.ntu.edu.tw/cambridge/ms/Handbook/PET/pet_vocablist.pdf

Mondays!

Welcome to blogland! Each week you will have a topic to write about on your blog. You also have to comment on your teacher's blog and on at least 3 classmates' blogs.

Today you have 2 tasks to carry out:

- create your English blog and link all your classmates

- write a 50 word introduction post for your blog