National holidays

I don't normally get involved with the celebrations for Fiestas Patrias or the national holidays. Reason being, I feel nowadays there is little independence to refer to. I always wonder how the native people in our country feel during these celebrations.  But let’s face it; it is a great opportunity to have a relaxing time. 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 10 or 12 years ago when I went to Algarrobo. I went with my husband, a British friend of his, Karen, and a very good Chilean friend of mine, Claudio. Connie, Claudio’s girlfriend at the time, was there too. 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.

We all enjoy our national holiday for different reasons, I suppose.

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 230 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

EVALUATION

Video 1:  Fiestas Patrias  for October 9

Record a for 2 minute mobile phone video presentation* about how you spent Fiestas

Patrias this year.

Say:

>Where you were

>What traditional things you did

>What you enjoyed most about these fiestas.

>Mention anything else you think is important.

Remember this is not a reading test. You can start practicing now to get a good mark.
Ask me if you need help until Sunday 4 (cienciasociales2@gmail.com)

Word order PLEASE!

Hi guys,
I hope you are well. These are the activities you want to practice before next class. Also, remember your blog post for today.


Activities to do today

www.plataforma.uchile.cl

Level pre intermediate

Extra material and reinforcement Unit 9


Gender   Unit 5. Do all the activities.


AND your blogpost + comments.

Remember you are responsible for your learning.

September 11th

Actually, I think I feel strongly about this topic. I think it is because I lived  in dictatorship. Enough to remember
My dad was a political person and he was detained and taken to Estadio Chile for reasons that didn't have to do with politics. Luckily, he was saved in time but most of the people who got there did not live to tell the story.
As I said earlier, I feel strongly about this topic because I feel it is very recent history. However, I really wonder how a person who was born in the late 90s with no political background may see this.
I think the way the state of Chile has dealt with the many people who violated human rights is embarrassing. I know that we have done more than other countries but if you think about it, very few people have been prosecuted and the ones who have, are in a luxurious prison.
The state have not given answers to many of those who lost family members and loved ones. I think it is terrible the fact that people are considered fascists or communists and that, has to do with the state not trying to educate people.
Regarding people who demonstrate and how they feel about this, I am not one to judge them. Everyone deals with their anger in different ways and I think most teens who do this are somehow showing their contempt for the state, the police or the system itself.
On a different note, The United States were involved in this and other dictatorships in the region and I think this is a key factor. I think this date should affect young people  the same as everyone else. As I said before, I consider this very recent. I think it is very important for everyone to know about what happend here, from all the angles so that we never allow these type of thing to happen again.



How do you feel about it?
Is it Ok to complain about human rights violated 40 years ago?
How has the state of Chile dealt with the people responsible for these  crimes and the victims?
How do you feel about people building barricades on the road  burning tyres or being violent to police forces?
In your opinion, is this outdated?
How does this date affect the life of young people?

Write a minimum of 210 words and a comment on this blog PLUS 3 comments on your classmates' blogs

Since today we have talked about a different place, we will write about a place we will like to visit.

Today I will write about a place I’d like to visit. To be honest, travelling is one of the things I find most valuable. A lot of people prefer to buy stuff and that is fine by me. I personally feel experiencing different cultures and sharing with people is priceless. Even though I understand that as a tourist you don’t really experience the culture the way a local does, I enjoy travelling very much. I have a lot of places in Chile I'd like to see but I'll go for something different.

Choosing a favourite place puts me in a difficult situation. I more or less love all places. I will select one because it is part of today’s task. In 2014 I had the opportunity to visit Turkey. I simply fell in love. I would like to come back to this place one day. I would like to learn more about the Byzantines and the Ottoman empire. It is such an interesting culture. I would also like to visit the coast since they say it is amazing. To be honest, I would like to learn more about the language. The Turkish language is nothing like anything I heard before, much nicer than the Arab language (in my opinion) but still pretty intricate in terms of structure. So I guess I’d like to go there for around 6 months to get a good feel of the place and visit all the places I didn't get to see..

I think Turkey is the perfect transition place as transit from west to east and the arab world.

- Which country would you like to go to? Why?
- What do you know about it?
- What would you like to do there?
- Would you like to study/work/live there? Explain. Put a picture too!!

- Make comments on 3 of your classmates’ posts and my blog if you like. Word count: 150 words !!

Blog mark and assessment

Dear all,

On this post I will explain how the blog work will be assessed.

First of all, I'd like to remind you TRANSLATORS are NOT allowed. The objective of writing the blog is improving your English level by making the effort of thinking in English. You can use wordreference.com or a different dictionary  to find words you need or ask your teacher if you don't find them. This is the way to learn.

The marks go as follows

Every class you get 2 points for posting and writing comments in class.

If you post and comment within 48 or outside the classroom you get 1 point.

No post , no points

This corresponds to mark 1 =50%

Mark 2 = 50%, corresponds to a linguistic evaluation of 3 post during the semester.

Mark 1 + Mark 2 = Blog mark 

ASSESSMENT   LIV
Evaluation	Type	Percentage
1	WRIITTEN (BLOGS)	20%     Every week
2	CA	30%    Videos September- October - November
	ORAL INTERACTION	20%     December
4	FINAL WRITTEN (SUFI)	30%    December