Twelveth Task

In Memoriam

To have been in this path was grateful after all…

Although this is the ultimate “Task” of this blog, as a notebook, we ought to feedback our learning process by this platform. In order to sum-up our knowledge, the following small text gathers that process in and outdoor:

"At the beginning we were worried about how we were going to use this new notebook.

To be in touch with many people was an amazing adventure; thereby, we will keep doing it; to be in touch with our guider was discouraging  at first view but we knew, after all, he were there, in silence, seeing how we were growing in a writing skill.

We need to thank to our mates even knowing we, everyone, failed at many ways while posting; we need to thank to our lecturer even knowing he disappear from our side many times. But, it is worthy to know that failures make us to be humans and, most of all, ongoing-process peers.

Blogger was a tool, a confident and a diary for everybody; Blogger contributed with a blank willing to be filled with thoughts, non-sense thoughts.

The course, Communicative Competence, was a challenge for each one, not because it was difficult, but it was a place where we were going to change our outlooks and writing affairs.

To have been in this path was grateful after all…now we are willing to not disengage anymore.

"Watch your thought, for they become words;
Watch your words, for they become actions;
Watch your actions, for they become habits;
Watch your habits, for they become character;
And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny”

                                                  Margaret Thatcher, Female British prime-minister

 

Written by Aaron S-N aka Julian Z.

 

Thanks for everything, readers.

Eleventh Task

“Ex post facto, I got submerged in a Flashback”

 

Last two ago we were working on some Flashbacks and their usage in narrative. Thus I consider the next story as a brief example. Besides, I would like to contextualize thee in order to lay out where this story comes from:

At the beginning, this one was a task for other two subjects last semester – Now, I am in 3^rd semester – and, as a college student, I think we ought to save some “material”, important material, and use them in case of need; nevertheless, I realized, by reading the given theory, this could be a good way of showing the implementation of this topic without know it before.

So I hope you like this story.

The Doc.

Questionnaire

1.     Where do you notice the “Flashback Effect” inside the story?

2.     Have you ever use it as a narrative tool?

3.     Have you ever once implemented a narrative tool unconsciously?

Tenth Task

Many stories and just one pen

Last week we were working on some stories of our authorship. The idea was to turn some words’ meaning into another (E.g. tomorrow replaces fireworks; knight replaces sun, etc.) then we had to take five of those, at least, for our story. Finally, we shared every single tale or anecdote.

These were the words and their replacement.

Toothbrush = knife; pencil = coffeemaker; Husband/Wife = box; window = umbrella; going on vacations = scratching the nose; take the Metro = diving; a kiss = monster; telephone = night; smiling = house; looking = zoo; thunder = Ravioli Plate; tongue = shaking.

The ones I picked up were:

Husband/Wife = box; window = umbrella; pencil = coffeemaker; tongue = shaking; looking = zoo; telephone = night.

So, the following text was my product and I hope you enjoy it as I did:

Echoes from a sudden death

-         “Oh my Lord, I’m heartily sorry for having offended thee!” - She said after falling in tears.

After all, it was not her fault. She had just seen how her box had jumped through the umbrella and, without zoo at his back, from the eleventh flour of the building. He just had proceed and there was nothing in this world she could not do for him…He simply passed away.

Some years ago, she met and dated him - her future fiancé, and then, box; she acquainted him by her beloved best friend, Amelie.

-         “Antonio was everything from me!” – She cried out.

Although the current situation was not running good at all, she was still in love with him – she even took the coffeemaker and wrote down an apologizing deep letter for him.

-         “Oh my Lord. Oh my lord. How he dared; how he proceeded!” -, She kept calling out.

Thereupon, she felt something had bitten her shaking and then carried on toward her doomed soul. Ex post facto, she couldn’t keep standing up and felt down such a faint. Next, the telephone covered the whole room in shadows and, afterward, she could not see how the gloom filled her corpse and letting her aside in the Oblivion.

The End

After reading this tale, let’s take advantage of this activity to create anything, as you want, with these words:

Lord = knight; marvelous = whatsoever; dear = rotten; afraid of = lovely; importance = relentless.

Keep rolling!

 

 

Ninth Task

 Interesting stories only can be told throughout nonsense thoughts

“The art of writing is the art of  discovering what you believe." Gustave Flaubert

This week we got the chance of creating stories by passing our notebooks around. Howbeit nothing at the end had not sense, we ended up laughing at loud because of that “exquisite corpses”.

In order to improve our writing skill, Professor Jean Paul wanted us to create, at first, a single question using two “at-board-written-adjectives” and two nouns as well. Then we had to spin our notebooks around to let everybody write down a “viable” answer on it; each one with cohesion and coherence. Finally, we received our notebook with many thoughts, incomplete ideas, nonsense outlooks that replied everyone's question; nevertheless, we fixed, after all, those fragments to create a well-structured text and next share it by a poster (this last part was done in groups).

So, this is my product and I hope you like it:                                   

Where the dreadful snake is going to be whether the dog's tree is by the way or the hammer gets away?

Maybe it passed by the dog's tree... but, wait, hold on a second. What if the dog got lost while it was on path toward its tree? If I'm right, the dreadful snake could not see it or, from another viewpoint, the hammer never got away but It did act as an obstacle and did hide the dog's tree - at least the tree - from the dreadful snake's sight; or being just an ordinary obstacle for snake's get away due to hammer's endeavor was just murder the dreadful snake; therefore the hammer acted as a barrier for the dreadful snake's way. Why would something act like that? Well, I guess - I have seen it already - the hammers are usually possessed by demons from Purpleland and they, the demons, always kill whatsoever into the woods. Thereby I just don't want to know anything to do with that... and also because I have not could find the dreadful snake. Why? Uhm, it will bring me down if I explain it. Alright. Now I am so sad. Everything is because I am ugly - yes, I know -, but I strongly know that even ugly people as me can find someone pretty alike to live with. Wait! I remembered something meanwhile... oh, damn it, I will cry! That fucking hammer cheated on me. It used to think that everything inside of me supposed to be beauty and, as you know, it is truly better being ugly but honest... Oh, you'll never gonna realize how many nights I have spent alone because of that hammer. I still remember how everything was and how it, the hammer, nailed my heart. What a shame! It was simply horrible... For instance, just being asked uncountable times "What is a noun?" Oh, my lord!

Well, I end up - as usual - do not wanting to remind everything of as I do it forevermore...The dreadful snake can go fuck! I bit the dust, buddy. I hate it as well as that fucking hammer. I don't know what I did ask for. All that shit can go to the hell... fucking question.

Thanks for reading!

“Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn't exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. As soon as you have an idea that changes some small part of the world you are writing science fiction. It is always the art of the possible, never the impossible”. Ray Bradbury

Eighth Task

Does Colombia very well?

On July 11th of 2014, Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, in company of Minister of Education, Maria Fernanda Ocampo, introduced the program named “COLOMBIA very well” to the nation. In order to improve students and professional English level, the government is endeavoring to invest in them, the people, over 1.3 billions of pesos along 10 years (2015 – 2025) with the aim of giving English as a communicative tool for opportunities and, by the way, to take out “Ley de Biligüismo” by this new program.

English, for instance, has been taken as a lead speech not only here, Colombia, but for other countries as well. This has meant a lot of languages begin to pass away because many people is just focus on learning English as a communicative instrument to spread ideas, thoughts, so on and so forth. Thus: Does Colombia very well? I do not think so. Besides the importance of those speeches and how every single policy from government has to reply the contexts and global trends, this policies ought to take into account the other languages that are spoken in the country and how to take them as rich knowledge resource. In fact, to create awareness of how this world is full of languages and ,most of all, this country, Colombia, has richness in relation with tongues and dialects, which are worthy to share to one another.

Now, dear reader, I do not want to leave some questions so, instead of that, I am going to leave a video from TED – Talks that has to do with a global issue. Hope you like it and please let me know your ideas or thoughts by a single comment.

 

Seventh Task

SECOND WRITTEN:

The importance of getting involved in grammar

 

Grammar is the backbone of any language and, not having it, any single thing you know could be flux, in a sort of jelly without much consistency. It also provides you with the necessary structure to set or organize and put your ideas, thoughts or “whatsoever” across. It is the “railway” by which any message is transported and then delivered to another. If it were not exist, you wouldn’t be able to convey your ideas because there’s not a way to pass them on. It means, whether you are second language users or not, going in deep really matter.

Now, in regards  the way it is taught, well, there are a lot of things that, might be, are going to turn many people around. Being instructed in grammar in our nowadays is a tough task due to education just has been focused on two main scenarios: the grammar as everything and context as main means. The first one is related to language’s formal structure and some lacks in contextualization of meanings; the other is just the “communicative” approach and how the context is the main means of expressing. So it has meant many people just get involved in the use of one these and fail at the other.  Finally, the results are a mass of misunderstandings and people falling in filatures that has to do with any language learning process.  In fact, there should be a balance in structure, context and language acquisition in order to cause a great and joyful experience in grammar practicing.  

Sixth Task

Idioms

This week we were getting involved into the world of idioms. As many of you may know, these are very common in other languages due to every culture's needs. It means each one is allowed to express its own wisdom by suitable statements. Now, here I let some English idioms and few explanations: 

Hit the road: this common idiom has two meanings. The first one is to begin or  to start traveling in an automobile or another road vehicle (if she’s going to make it by dawn, she’d better hit the road); the second one is to go away (hit the road and do not come back anymore, man!). Its equivalents in Spanish could be (in our paisa slang): “abrirse, largarse, pisarse; empezar.”

Tie one’s on: it means to drink alcohol excessively until the point of getting drunk (Mary tied her on after the party). The equivalent can be: “estar copetudo/copetón”.

Bite the Dust: this is a very common uphemism and has two meanings, as well: to die (my wife finally bit the dust after two endless days); to quit or fail from something (Eliot has bitten the dust because he thought it was enough). In Spanish may be like: “tirar la toalla; colgar los guayos”.

For a song: you shout for a song when something was cheaper or almost for free (we got it for a song). Its equivalent could be: “por nada; no valió nada; regalado”.

Have a Cow: it means to overreact or get angry because of something (he always has a cow when everybody speaks aloud). In our paisa slang can be: “estar/ponerse como un tití; estar/ponerse como una fiera; ser PA-TI-CO”.
 

Fifth Task

“We wander for distraction, but we travel to fulfillment”

  - Hilaire Belloc

Human beings, as per-nature-travelers, truly feel thrilled when they are traveling. Everyone has, even once, a desire of get-away and stays in other places just for a while.

Tatiana Chiquito

Laura Isaza

This week I was really delighted interviewing two “academic peers”. The first lady was Tatiana Chiquito. She was born here, Colombia, but she spent almost her entire live – at least her studies -, living in Milan, Italy. She is Colombo-Italian. She under graduated from a linguistic institution with emphases in English, German and; the second lady, Laura Isaza, is from here, Medellín, but after she graduated from high school at the age of 13, she started to travel abroad several times: she’s been in UK, Canada, US, and Argentina. She has studied Cuisine at Mariano Moreno Institute in Buenos Aires, Argentina;  fourth semesters of Industrial Design at UPB and a Minor in Graphic Design from SENA; now, she’s studying Physics at Universidad de Antioquia (in fourth semester) and Bachelor’s Degree at UPB (“ a rare kind-of seventh semester” , as she explains”). As life-long travelers, both agree that the experience of journeying is simply overwhelming (in positive terms). It has meant, for them, to be in touch with diverse cultures and spend time with many people who have many differences in comparison at the way they were raised and, the very best thing: learning countless manners from each culture, such as feeding differently, adjusting their vocabulary according to the place, and behaving.

Furthermore, in relation with their last updates on each one curriculum, both have got deep experiences by teaching. Tatiana was working on a kinder garden at a Military school; Laura worked in school where she took over a course for physically challenged children. So that is why she got involved in education; therefore they carried on this specify degree.

Finally, there’s another thing missed to say: “A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.” – John Steinbeck.

 Questionnaire

1. Where would you like to travel abroad and why?
2. Is Colombia a good place for studing a degree?
3. Do you like or have you ever heard the term "Journey Literature"? whether yes or not, please what spring your mind where you read it?

 

Fourth Task

Music of the heart (1999)

 

This is very well-known movie, which its starring, Meryl Streep, portrays a remarkable person called Roberta Guaspari. She is a violin teacher who struggles to achieve a dream, an impossible dream (for those who are afraid of). As a sequel of an Academy Award’s best documentary feature nominated (1995): Small Wonders; a person from the real world, Roberta, founded a program for kinds named Opus 118 Harlem School of Music.

Educators have always had to defend their own position against many outside facts, such as: a tough environment, a well-structured system, and, most of all, each one particular story. Besides, the way everyone teaches might become in kind-of barrier for their endeavor, if they do not realize that the context and students respond to diverse needs and claims. It has meant teachers cannot reach what they have set as an achievement indicator for their work due to wrong methodologies. Roberta is a very interesting example of those teachers who, against many circumstances, struggles for raising these kinds at Harlem School.  At the beginning, she has no idea of how to handle the situation because of an inaccurate and closed teaching method that do not helps to manage this context where she is emerged. Then, after a long transition of failures and many advices, she understands how they, the kinds, need to be taught. On the other hand and bringing back the context, she has got involved on an extra-curricular program that is taken for granted by the School’s budget; therefore, the efforts are not seemed as truly worthy. Finally, she succeeds on her endeavor of creating something endless after a big and exhaustive fight. Now, in attempt of contextualizing this example, few teachers has won on "battlefield”. Improper outside outlooks and many other circumstances have been against them. In fact we, as future educators, ought to “play from the heart”.

So this is a questionnaire for you, readers,

1.     On a tough context, what would it be a good method of teaching for any subject? (In base of the Trailer)

2.     What do you think about “play from the heart”? (From a proper way of teaching)

3.     From what teacher did you learn the most?

 

Trailer:               

 

Third Task

“Professor Adriana, professor Serna and I are the linguistics”

An interview to professor Olga Arbeláez

 

On wdnesday I got the opportunity of interviewing one of our remarkable professors in the Faculty of Education, Olga Arbeláez. She coordinates Etnoeducation program and teaches to some indigenes communities, as well, the subject: Introduction to Linguistic. 

As some may not know, the Etnoeducation program teaches to the indigenes communities being aware of writing through IPA¹. So the program, itself, it is on task of helping to design a Phonetic Alphabet for these people because of a highlighted importance of perceiving these languages. However, professor Olga thinks this is a big deal because the endeavour on this project is turning tough due to some facts on the process. She lays out this semester, she had to invite professor Serna to her class because her students asked to her a lot questions that had to do with transcription and IPA. Why? Well, --as she can interpret--, some misunderstandings and lack of information by Summer Institute of Linguistics have made more exhaustive the process.

 On the other hand, she has gotten much knowledge from them and her experience there. She learnt there’s another Emberá family: Esperarada Siapidara Emberá. In particular the ways they greet have some variations in transcription terms. She explains it is because one those families is son of a linguistic and the other ones are children of another linguistic, as well; those families’ tongues come from the same root but this variations in base of transcription terms, turn pretty difficult a well appropriation of the study of these languages.

 Besides, Etnoeducation Program by compound by some subjects, such as : Language and Culture, Introduction to Linguistic, and Linguistic Analysis. This bachelor’s degree has a distance modality; therefore they only have 32 of 64 hours by attendance class divided in 4 days long. Professors that lead this program as well as Olga are: Adriana Álvarez and Juan Manuel Serna. “Professor Adriana, professor Serna and I are the linguistics”, she highlights.

Finally, she remarks the context in which these communities live in. she considers that this experience, itself, has changed her life-outlook and the way she teaches. She says that when you are there, in those places, every single person is unique universe: the diversity is everything, even for them because each one from a tribe has a different way of being, way of thinking.

Questionnaire

1.     Do you consider these programs contribute to change our outlook in transformation terms?  

2.     How we, the outsiders of these communities, ought to remain these programs?

3.     Have you ever one take into account to study a degree like this?

 

 

 ^{1.               International phonetic Alphabet}  

Second Task (p2)

QUESTIONNAIRE

 

Paradise - Coldplay 

• What springs your mind when you listen to the following  stanza (5 thoughts at least):

“So lying underneath those stormy skies, she’d say: ‘I know the sun must set to rise’”.   

•  Have you ever consider the life as a Paradise?

• “Music is the soundtrack of your life.” – Dick Clark. Could this quote becomes an encouraging way of thinking? Why?

 



Second Task (p1)

FIRST WRITTEN:

"Paradise and The Emotions"

Many teenagers (and some children), in school-term, start to find out the influence of feelings in their learning process. In some circumstances the system, Educational System, fails because of a state of mind follow-up lack. It means the only thing that really matters, the most, is a learning process throughout academic content. So what about the feelings in that learning process? It seems too blurry.  It´s very important to educate them, the students, in feeling take-care.

In order to make sense on what it said, there’s a stanza from Paradise - Coldplay .

“When she was just a girl,  she expected the world.
But it flew away from her reach
and bullets catch in her teeth.
Life goes on,
It gets so heavy,
The wheel breaks the butterfly.
Every tear a waterfall.
In the night, the stormy night,
She closed her eyes.
In the night,
The stormy night,
Away she’d fly” (2^nd stanza)

Well, it sounds quite encouraging. Here it seems a situation, in which an ordinary girl is  on a endeavour of overcoming a “challenge” because she understands how the world works, and also, it is really worthy to give a try to that reality. Therefore, she is seeing the world by a different outlook and then she creates a new atmosphere to live in.

It is a fact, in Colombia many students – teenagers in general – commit suicide because they never learnt how to handle their own feelings along their growing up process; in high school they never were taught on taking care of what they felt; and, even worst, the teachers usually do not get involved in their student’s dilemmas due to the system bans that kind of relations between teachers and students.

From my personal point of view, Music eases my strain. Music by itself affects our perspective of life as well as school changes our thoughts because both reflect different way of thinking, indeed. In addition, my learning process in school was overcharging, as well: Everything had to do with our future as an individuals but nothing had any relation with how we should face the real world.  Fortunately, I had some teachers that encouraged me to overcome many difficulties even knowing that System forbidden them to act like that. At the end, I got by and I could achieve many life's aims.

Right now, I am studying my bachelor's degree and by this written I want you to beware of feeling follow-up in learning process. On the other hand, the effects of feeling lack of inside the System. What truly matter is our teenagers will be able to face their world, their reality, confidently.


Dear Reader, I would like to know how you feel in relation it with what it is said here. So, please, in your comment, take into consideration these three aspects:

1. An objective viewpoint
2. Our reality inside of the schools
3. Ways to resolve these kind of issues.
 

First Task

About the Blogger

Welcome!

I'm Julián.  I'm 18 years old. I am studying a Bachelor's degree in English and Spanish languages at Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana.

I live in Guayabal that is a neighbourhood in the southwest of Medellín; I live with my mom, Paula. I graduated at the age of 16 from Octavio Calderón Mejía public school; and I am software designer half-technician.

Besides my love for languages, I really enjoy playing orchestral instruments such as clarinet and sax. Since I was 7, I started learning how to perform sheets and rhythms in a marching band and nowadays I keep learning at Red (Red de Escuelas de Música de Medellín). Another delighted personal hobby is photography. At leisure, I like walking alone around the city and take many pictures to Medellin's main places at sunset; I would like to take a photography course in order to improve my "shooting" skills. 

On the other hand, I truly admire people that are involved in Arts because is really interesting how they perceive the world and also how they have set their own life-outlook along experience -- it's simply awesome. Therefore, indeed I think It changed my perspective of life.

So, who are you? In what are you interested for? Please, let a comment for us, the community.

We really appreciate what you write so let's give it a try!