I suppose there are many people I admire. But today I will refer to one that I don’t always mention and has impressed me more than once.  He is called “the father of modern linguistics” by more than one. His name is Noam Chomsky.

I got to know about him when I was studying language acquisition. At the time we looked at the theory of universal grammar. Hi argued that the human brain has a system that allows any human to learn languages just by being in a linguistic environment in normal conditions. This was in the 1950s. During these years behaviorism was the main trend. In 1959 he criticized B. F. Skinner and argued behaviorism had no faith in linguistic creativity of humans when it comes to learning.  This was very controversial.

He has been in the public debate since the 1960s when he wrote a series of books criticizing the role of the US in the war of Vietnam. He also wrote other essays about Cambodia and the violation of human rights in general.  He has argued against the US intervention in different countries. He was arrested more than once back in the day.

He worked at the university of Harvard and has worked at MIT since 1955.

If I had the chance to meet him, I would ask him more in depth about his feelings  towards the role of the state of Israel  in Palestine and Arab countries in general. He has got really interesting views on this. Especially for an American born to Jewish parents.

Write about a public person you admire.  Say:

How you got to know them

Give some general information about them

What you would ask her/him if you got to know them

Anything else you find relevant.

Write a minimum of 220  and 3 comments on any of the members' blogs

Green

I don’t think I am a particularly “Green person”, I think I am  “greener” than the average Chilean person, but not as Eco- friendly as I could be.
This idea of being “green” is so relative. I think it is very difficult to be all “planet friendly” when the whole system invites you to buy and dispose.  I love visiting new places, and basically this is what I spend most of my savings on. Do I pay to try to reduce my carbon footprint? So far, not a bean . Shame on me!!!

On the upside, I try to use the bike as often as possible. I also take bottles and cartons of milk to the supermarket as often as possible. But I also use the car!!! I used to have worms and separate the biodegradable rubbish but I don’t anymore. A thing I do is I put a bottle in my toilet cistern so I use less water when I flush the loo.  When I go to the supermarket or the vegetable market I take my own bags. I make my own washing detergent, which pollutes the water and my skin a lot less than Omo or any of those. I make my shampoo and in the past I made soap but it is not easy to find the time. I reuse and recycle as much as I remember. I have learnt from lovely people wanting to share and also out of my own curiosity, I suppose.
There is no way for things to improve in this aspect without education. I think the boroughs i.e. (Estación central, Recoleta, Ñuñoa, etc.) and the national School programmes need to include the topics of recycling, reusing and reducing so people become aware. One needs to do these things at home for children to become aware. I would like to start a group to raise awareness in children and people in general one day.
What about you?

 - How green are you?

-        Do you think there is a point in being “green”
- Have you incorporated recycling into your habits? Describe
- Have you joined or supported any eco-organisations? Why/Why not?
- What do you do /would you like to do to help the planet?
- What's missing in our society/Santiago regarding this issue?

Number of words: 240
Don't forget to make comments on at least 3 of your classmates posts and the teacher's 

Video 2 on pendrive Nov 5th. Online Nov 7th

  A Journey

Record a 2 minute mobile phone video presentation* about a journey you would like
to make in the future.
Say:
Where you would like to go,
Who you would go with,
Why you would like to make this journey,
What things you would like to do on the journey.

Mention anything else you think is important.

Please Remember NO READING!  ALL VIDEO IN 1 take

*A mobile phone video presentation is a video of the student talking directly to the
camera. This activity is seen as part of the learning process. Videos are made in the
students’ own time and they are free to practice and record as many versions as they
see fit in order to complete the task. However, the final video must be in one take
(i.e. they must not be edited). Moreover, you should be able to see the student
clearly in the video (i.e. No sunglasses!). If you think that the text is being read you
can arrange for the student to re-record it or repeat the talk in class. Please make
students aware of this fact.

Education

Since today we had a demonstration regarding discontent in the area of education. Let's address this topic.

I would like to share a fantastic video in case you have not seen it.
You can refer to Education from any angle.


I think this vid stresses really important points regarding where education is going. I hope you enjoyed it. I will adress it from a different angle, though.
I had the opportunity to work assessing educational projects for the ministry of education in the past. This experience somehow changed my view of things , I would say not in a positive way. One of my main interest was on educational policy.
I feel the issue of education is somehow a lost cause with the political class we have. Unfortunately, many of the people in congress have money invested in schools and universities. Why would they want any changes? They can afford a "good" school for their kids and they know they will enter Uni
.
A second point is why would they want  educated people?. A country which applies "critical thinking" is a country which could get organized and  fight to make changes for the people. 4,6 of our GDP is devoted to education. The lowest in the OECD. How can we develop at a micro level without proper education for everyone?

On a different note, education is an area where emphasis should be put.. Especially, in the first few years. If kids are allowed to be themselves, to explore the world with some guidance and especially, with affection, half of the work is done. For me, what is happening in schools nowadays is a shame. We have a lot of children who misbehave because at home they are left by themselves. We also have a number of teachers who have not realized the world is changing and simply cannot cope with today's children in the classroom. As a result, an important number of kids are diagnosed with ADHD and taking  different types of medication. Consequently, these kids are not themselves. Food for thought.
Last but not least, teachers have a great amount of paper work outside the classroom and little time for themselves and for professional development. In the case of Chile,most of them are underpaid. the conditions are pretty bad. I do not want to generalize but a number of them don't have the motivation they need to be in the classroom let alone teach or do research. I can't blame them.



Write a minimum of 230 words and 3 comments

Free

Hi guys,
Today we have a free post.
We have two choices:
 We can write about an individual interest or a group interest.

The decision is individual topic.
Remember to organize the text into paragraphs.

Remember a minimum of 230 words and 4 comments.


Blog post 1  date 1 /8 October

Elisa  5.0
Samantha 6.0
Cristina  5.8
Claudia 5.5
Jonathan 5.5
Vale A    5.5
Maria Elena 4.7
Eyki  5.0
Tábata 5.0
Yahira 4.7
Alexandra 6.5
Polette 5.0
Vale J  5.0

Something

If I had to think of one in particular, I guess it would be difficult to give an answer, however, and since I don’t want to be incoherent, I will. I remember one morning in the day of my birthday that my husband woke me up and gave me an envelope. At the time I thought “What a weird present, is it money?” Then I opened it and I realized it was a plane ticket. I remember I was a bit shocked; really, it was a plane ticket with hotel and everything to go to Buenos Aires the weekend after. I did no show much enthusiasm at the time since I had been waiting for something different, I suppose. However, I think this has been one of the best weekends ever. I had never been to Buenos Aires before and we had a wonderful time. We went to the typical sights; we also went to a tango club (and tried to dance!). I spent hours in libraries and got a few books for much better prices. I suppose what I liked the most was the fact that people can be so nice there. Being a capital city, it is a completely different attitude towards others. Less hostile, I think.  Also, in general the ordinary people in the streets seem so knowledgeable about their history, culture and that is really nice. It seems like culture is everywhere. I really enjoyed it. Now it is one of my good memories.

Write about a present you received.

Say:

What it was,

Who gave it to you,

Why you liked it,

Where it is now.
Anything else you find relevant.
Write a minimum of 230 words and 4 comments on any blog in the class.

tense revision

Here are some examples so you use tenses correctly. Notice the previous post has a verb list and therefore, you can look at the verb and tense you want to use.

what I normally do:

Nosotros vamos a conciertos 1 vez al año/ Nunca leo sobre arte/ My mama trabaja en su casa. 

 We go to concerts one time a year / I never read about arts / My mom works at home

When I want to talk about a particular occasion.

En esa oportunidad yo fui al campo/  Nosotros estábamos cansados ese día/ Comió el pastel y se fue.

I went to the country on that occasion /We were tired that day/ She/He ate the cake and left.

About things that started in the past and continue to the present...

He estado bien cansada ultimamente/ No he comprado tantos dulces / He querido ir pero no he podido

I have been tired lately/ I have not (haven't) bought many sweets/ I have wanted to go but haven't been able to.

When I am talking about the past and I want to refer to something further in the past.

Ese día me di cuenta que lo había visto más temprano. / Hasta entonces no había tenido tiempo.

That day I realized I had seen him earlier./ I hadn't had time until then.

Conditionals

Si tengo tiempo, te llamare.

If I have time, I will call you.

Si tuviera tiempo, te llamaría.

If I had time, I would call you.

Si hubiera tenido tiempo, te hubiera llamado

If I had had time, I would have called you.

Modals
Creo que puedo ayudarte/ Tú deberías trabajar un poco más / Ellos irían si  ella  los invitara

I think I can help you /  You should work a little more (harder) / They would go if she invited them

I hope this helps :)

TODAY MAKE SURE YOU REGISTER IN PLATAFORMA, PLEASE

GO TO www. plataforma.uchile.cl