Quarta-feira, 14/11, às 9:00 no auditorio 211, do CCSA - prof. Luiz Paulo Moita Lopes(UFRJ):
"Da aplicação da Linguistica à Linguistica Aplicada (In)disciplinar"
Friday, November 9, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Writing the dialogue journal was an original experience in my life, and brought me some results I didn’t expect. First, because I thought writing frequently would be difficult, but we were free to discuss what we preferred; thou Carla sometimes pointed us the topics, we could develop them our way. It was also a grammar activity because it made us use what we knew, notice what we didn’t and remember some spellings. And, specially, we could reflect on our condition, possibilities, responsibilities – and change somehow our guidelines in order to help us better in our learning.
Everything in the classes, from the round table, which was really new, thou we commonly organize chairs in a circle in other classes, to the didactic material composed by literature, films and paintings. Using English was a fantastic experience, once we normally only fill gaps and read the answers loud. So we could learn not only English, but about everything we talked about, and could make the classes interesting and even talk about what we wanted to, as in an informal situation or friend talking.
The kind of work we developed this semester also made me understand the importance of all the members in the group performance, how the collective experience is important to build up knowledge, how dialoguing can lead students further by creative interaction, once we’ll have more points of view so we can ‘surround’ the problems more completely than we’d do alone.
And the dialogue was not only among students, we could have it with the teacher, what could guarantee the best assistance we could receive. We felt ‘safe’ someone would be there to help us, so instead of complaining out of the class about what happened there and trying to solve the doubts with a classmate, we could discuss in the classroom what our needs were.
I am really satisfied with the classes we had and with discovering my wish of studying in this environment. I think this could be the beginning of a reaching experience, once we’re undergraduate students to be teachers, but to go further in that reflection, we need to solve our problems as students first.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Edna St. Vincent Millay
"My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
It gives a lovely light! "
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE6D61430F933A0575BC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends --
It gives a lovely light! "
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE6D61430F933A0575BC0A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
In this NY Times Article I had a small first contact with Edna St. Vincent Millay, who, according to the newspaper, "was a rock star, the Madonna of her time."
I found this article when I was looking in the internet for some more about that poem, which I found absolutely beautiful. Sometimes I feel like this: Living the greatest part of the year and having thrill moments, I know they won´t last forever, but as long as they last, they give a lovely light.
Yet I didn´t find a good interpretation about it. In my mind it sounds great and it kind of tells us to enjoy life as we can, instead of keep putting things off everytime. Of course we should be very careful and patient about our plans, but, at the same time, we must know that life is so fragile and sometimes we won´t have a second chance to learn, to teach, to talk, to live.
I´d like you, my friends, to tell me what´s your opinion about this, and how you prefer your candle to burn, and the reason of it.
I found this article when I was looking in the internet for some more about that poem, which I found absolutely beautiful. Sometimes I feel like this: Living the greatest part of the year and having thrill moments, I know they won´t last forever, but as long as they last, they give a lovely light.
Yet I didn´t find a good interpretation about it. In my mind it sounds great and it kind of tells us to enjoy life as we can, instead of keep putting things off everytime. Of course we should be very careful and patient about our plans, but, at the same time, we must know that life is so fragile and sometimes we won´t have a second chance to learn, to teach, to talk, to live.
I´d like you, my friends, to tell me what´s your opinion about this, and how you prefer your candle to burn, and the reason of it.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Cheating on me
Today I realized that this expression can clearly define what I´ve being doing to myself since I first entered college. At first, I´m always pretty sure about my choices: If I´m studying Civil Engineering it´s because I want to be a Civil Engineer, I know what he does and I´ve done some talking with real ones to know how they feel about their profession, but then, out of sudden, during the first third of the course I get completely demotivated in front of all difficulties and it sounds easier to me to come to the conclusion that I don´t like the course and that I probably won´t enjoy that profession as well. But so far the problem isn´t so big, after all, we can´t keep studying what we don´t like, it just goes against the right reasons of doing something.
My major problem is in not being disciplined even when I´m completely sure that I´m doing what I like and there´s nothing else I´d rather being doing instead. What happens is that I get myself too much committed to what I like, and I generally like more than two things at once, so I get hardly devoted to a lot of things at the same time. In the beginning, while I´m still full of energy and absorbed by the shine of those new things and can handle them. It works perfectly well for me when I find myself stuck into a routine. If everyday I do the same things at the same time I could keep doing it endlessly, but as we all know, things are always changing, and when I´m not able to do that thing I used to do at a certain time because I really have to do something new instead, then the risk of stop doing that old thing just because I left that cycle is huge. What´s worse is that I actually like that thing and I miss doing it, but I just don´t have the required courage to take the first step again. This can be applied to almost everything I do: studies, this blog, my workouts on gym, and even to friends.
You probably must be thinking that I have a laziness issue. But it is not, I like working, it makes me feel great. There´s nothing that happier to me than seeing a well done job being finished, and It doesn´t need to be something special, I become proud of finishing a homework, a research, a physical exercise and even a set of dishes in my mom´s kitchen sink. My big problem is about DISCIPLINE, I need it, and it won´t be a well done schedule that will give it to me, I have already tried to set time to things that need to be done, but I can cheat on me again and keep postponing my scheduled times. Only routine and discipline can oblige me, and I certainly have to be stronger in what concerns the discipline. I´d better start to think about things that have to be done as they were unable to be done tomorrow: or I do them today or I won´t have another opportunity. After all, most of us (and I´m included there) don´t know how to appreciate the value of one thing until the day we lose it.
My major problem is in not being disciplined even when I´m completely sure that I´m doing what I like and there´s nothing else I´d rather being doing instead. What happens is that I get myself too much committed to what I like, and I generally like more than two things at once, so I get hardly devoted to a lot of things at the same time. In the beginning, while I´m still full of energy and absorbed by the shine of those new things and can handle them. It works perfectly well for me when I find myself stuck into a routine. If everyday I do the same things at the same time I could keep doing it endlessly, but as we all know, things are always changing, and when I´m not able to do that thing I used to do at a certain time because I really have to do something new instead, then the risk of stop doing that old thing just because I left that cycle is huge. What´s worse is that I actually like that thing and I miss doing it, but I just don´t have the required courage to take the first step again. This can be applied to almost everything I do: studies, this blog, my workouts on gym, and even to friends.
You probably must be thinking that I have a laziness issue. But it is not, I like working, it makes me feel great. There´s nothing that happier to me than seeing a well done job being finished, and It doesn´t need to be something special, I become proud of finishing a homework, a research, a physical exercise and even a set of dishes in my mom´s kitchen sink. My big problem is about DISCIPLINE, I need it, and it won´t be a well done schedule that will give it to me, I have already tried to set time to things that need to be done, but I can cheat on me again and keep postponing my scheduled times. Only routine and discipline can oblige me, and I certainly have to be stronger in what concerns the discipline. I´d better start to think about things that have to be done as they were unable to be done tomorrow: or I do them today or I won´t have another opportunity. After all, most of us (and I´m included there) don´t know how to appreciate the value of one thing until the day we lose it.
Round Table Class
This semester, for the very first time I´m having classes in this format. We students can sit in the same chair that our teacher sits, there´s not a pre-marked spot were we can´t put ourselves in; we just choose our place every time we get in the classroom. This makes a huge difference in what concerns our motivation and confidence. Sitting as equals we have this clear message that the responsibility of learning has the same weight in everyone´s shoulders. We´re all supposed to be there helping each other in this learning journey. Every single student has his/her particular way of being and background of knowledge, nobody can miss a class or everybody will loose a little bit. We´re constructing classes and being a huge part in it. When we attend to classes like this we are not just people who are obliged to be there for his/her own sake. We´re going to class for everyone there.
We obviously need to have a superior teacher that will lead us in our road. The difference there is just that even being in a superior position, our teaches seems to care so much about what we feel like learning and ask us to help her making clear what is important for us or not, instead of just being there and giving all those grammar and English lectures that the book tells to. We can just skip what isn´t important and stay focus to our real needs and difficulties.
I always feel proud when I´m talking to someone else (even someone outside UFPB) about my English III classes, it´s just like if Carla had developed this new way of teaching and we´re the luck ones who are able to make part of it.
We obviously need to have a superior teacher that will lead us in our road. The difference there is just that even being in a superior position, our teaches seems to care so much about what we feel like learning and ask us to help her making clear what is important for us or not, instead of just being there and giving all those grammar and English lectures that the book tells to. We can just skip what isn´t important and stay focus to our real needs and difficulties.
I always feel proud when I´m talking to someone else (even someone outside UFPB) about my English III classes, it´s just like if Carla had developed this new way of teaching and we´re the luck ones who are able to make part of it.
This one is some weeks late :D
Last week in class we saw Picasso´s "Guernica". This painting depicts the German bombing of the city with the same name during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. It certainly is a complex and geniously made masterpiece, but instead of keep me thinking about arts and all its possible interpretations, it brought me thoughts about human kind and all the suffering we can cause or can´t stop. "No, la pintura no está hecha para decorar las habitaciones. Es un instrumento de guerra ofensivo y defensivo contra el enemigo." (Pablo Picasso)
I don´t know if you´re aware of, but my mother works in a hospital as a nurse and I´m working as a intern Criminal Lawer. Thus, I´ve been seeing, during this year, lots of people that are living in deep suffering: sick people that can´t afford nor it´s offered to them the ideal treatment, and enjailed people that, for the same reasons, can´t make use of their Constitutional right of defense. In our jobs we try as much as possible but it´s painful not being able to do enough to alleviate their suffering.
Having this said I´d like to reflect today about how we can use all this learning and this hours that we spend studying to make someone else happy or to compensate difficulties of their life. Teachers do this everyday, they spread knowledge and responsibility in their work. What can we students do? One thing I realized is that, first of all, we´re supposed to learn, read, talk and live as much as possible in order to get prepared to do whatever may be possible and not to waste this blessed life we have.
Last week in class we saw Picasso´s "Guernica". This painting depicts the German bombing of the city with the same name during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. It certainly is a complex and geniously made masterpiece, but instead of keep me thinking about arts and all its possible interpretations, it brought me thoughts about human kind and all the suffering we can cause or can´t stop. "No, la pintura no está hecha para decorar las habitaciones. Es un instrumento de guerra ofensivo y defensivo contra el enemigo." (Pablo Picasso)
I don´t know if you´re aware of, but my mother works in a hospital as a nurse and I´m working as a intern Criminal Lawer. Thus, I´ve been seeing, during this year, lots of people that are living in deep suffering: sick people that can´t afford nor it´s offered to them the ideal treatment, and enjailed people that, for the same reasons, can´t make use of their Constitutional right of defense. In our jobs we try as much as possible but it´s painful not being able to do enough to alleviate their suffering.
Having this said I´d like to reflect today about how we can use all this learning and this hours that we spend studying to make someone else happy or to compensate difficulties of their life. Teachers do this everyday, they spread knowledge and responsibility in their work. What can we students do? One thing I realized is that, first of all, we´re supposed to learn, read, talk and live as much as possible in order to get prepared to do whatever may be possible and not to waste this blessed life we have.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
To be or not to be...
Going to SINALE these day has been very funny. Marcia Abreu’s discourse was just cool, talking so nicely about something which is a uncomforting at Letters course: we feel tense all the time that someone will appear talking about an unknown subject and observes (based on your “no” after his/her “do you know…” question) – but you are in Letters course, and sometimes our own classmates are “bullying us”.
I feel kind of afraid of being a teacher and not having the background I’m supposed to. I mean, I don’t think I gave the ordered attention to some points and don’t feel I can answer students’ questions yet. In fact, I would like to work as a translator in future, but I feel I don’t have the basic English to read a whole book. And when I went to Carla’s,
I talked to a friend today and she told me she asked her students not to talk about grammar with her, only about literature, but I don’t think that’s a good solution – or even a solution.
I don’t feel safe with Portuguese nor with English. I mean, I can get good grades but I don’t feel like really knowing that and it sounded kind of cruel when Regina asked why do teachers don’t effetely graduate as teachers, but keep on depending on extra courses later.
I asked myself how that was possible. And I remember that at the begging of the course there were certain students of whom I already had the impression that would have this destiny. Back then I wasn’t as involved as I am now with this feeling of social responsibility, I mean, I didn’t have all these expectations of ‘walls to be climbed’ by education to change people’s reality, it was as if I’d graduate and work and that was about it, no problems in getting a job or in the job. But now I have a strange wish of continuing studying here for a long time, as if I didn’t want to finish my studying, and of coming work only here, teaching people who are already able to learn with no difficulty, not facing the terrible high school out there, as if university was a beautiful dream: we know the society’s problem and tell people how to solve it, but don’t have to do it ourselves.
Fear what concerns to my job – that’s not good at all.
A little more colorfull than it looked in the print, no?Totally 'based' - not to say stolen- on this.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Phrasal Verbs
Talking about the exercise with phrasal verbs we did last class and that we suppose to continue in the next, I always had problems with phrasal verbs and I noticed that doing the exercises, because I just knew some of them, those which came in a context. Thus, I always worried about it and I had decided that I would buy a book of expressions in English. But I put off, put off, and never bought. But, finally, three weeks ago I bought one I guess it is good; it will help a lot.
Phrasal verbs were ever the worse part of English for me; the most difficult topic to learn. But, actually, thinking now why, my process of learning it was really bad. Ok that I can’t memorize words easily, but the way I was taught (I had to know by heart pages of phrasal verbs without using them in my productions – oral or writing) made me feel more afraid of them, because I couldn’t memorize anyway.
Nowadays I know that if I want to really learn phrasal verbs I must use them every time I have opportunity; but not only to wait, passively; on the contrary, to create situations to use them.
Phrasal verbs were ever the worse part of English for me; the most difficult topic to learn. But, actually, thinking now why, my process of learning it was really bad. Ok that I can’t memorize words easily, but the way I was taught (I had to know by heart pages of phrasal verbs without using them in my productions – oral or writing) made me feel more afraid of them, because I couldn’t memorize anyway.
Nowadays I know that if I want to really learn phrasal verbs I must use them every time I have opportunity; but not only to wait, passively; on the contrary, to create situations to use them.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Reflecting on the poster
The experience of producing a poster was really nice and valuable. Manly because we had an opportunity to reflect on the production of the journal, something we haven’t done yet. Doing this, we could perceive once again, and better, the meaning of our project, and its impact in our learning.
I also really enjoyed reading the texts of Cole and Bailey (we read to have inspiration to write the poster), reading other experiences documented through a journal format as we do.
But the presentation of the poster was for me a frustration; we didn’t have that moment we should have to share our experiences, learning, etc, because nobody was there, nor even to present their posters neither to see.
So, I hope that next time it be completely different.
I also really enjoyed reading the texts of Cole and Bailey (we read to have inspiration to write the poster), reading other experiences documented through a journal format as we do.
But the presentation of the poster was for me a frustration; we didn’t have that moment we should have to share our experiences, learning, etc, because nobody was there, nor even to present their posters neither to see.
So, I hope that next time it be completely different.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Poster
I guess making this poster was a completely new experience for all of us. A funny one, I’d say – now that everything is up, but not when we were writing it. As we didn’t have research results, as all of the ones we saw had, we didn’t know what to do, how much to write and specially how to write. Thanks God Carla was able to help us in the weekend (sorry, Carla) or we would miss the ground. I was so worried about the length of the text and then a good part of it was discarded and that huge panel still looked so full, if it had all the text we had written, it would need triple size! Well, at least we notice we are able to write an article when we need ;)
Another different experience was to take a distance from the journal, I mean, we are doing the journal everyday and we can notice its benefits in our lives but to talk about it more technically was a little strange, because we didn’t write the same way we write here, we wouldn’t be talking about our learning, but about writing about our learning. In fact the way we saw the journal was the same, but we wouldn’t write to journal readers (ourselves, in case) but to the poster readers.
It’s a pity that it was kind of hidden and we couldn’t talk to much people, I was so excited with our first presentation in an event… :(
Woody Allen Movie Guide
Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Königsberg on December 1, 1935) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian, and playwright.
His large body of work and cerebral film style, mixing satire, wit and humor, have made him one of the most respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them. For inspiration, Allen draws heavily on literature, philosophy, psychology, Judaism, European cinema and New York City, where he was born and has lived his entire life.
Woody Allen movie guide:
• Take the Money and Run (1969)
• Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story (1971)
• Bananas (1971)
• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972)
• Play It Again, Sam (1972)
• Sleeper (1973)
• Love and Death (1975)
• Annie Hall (1977)
• Interiors (1978)
• Manhattan (1979)
• Stardust Memories (1980)
• A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982)
• Zelig (1983)
• Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
• The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
• Radio Days (1987)
• September (1987)
• Another Woman (1988)
• New York Stories (1989)
• Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)
• Alice (1990)
• Shadows and Fog (1992)
• Husbands and Wives (1992)
• Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
• Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
• Don't Drink the Water (1994)
• Mighty Aphrodite (1995)
• Everyone Says I Love You (1996)
• Deconstructing Harry (1997)
• Celebrity (1998)
• Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
• Small Time Crooks (2000)
• The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)
• Hollywood Ending (2002)
• Anything Else (2003)
• Melinda and Melinda (2004)
• Match Point (2005)
• Scoop (2006)
• Cassandra's Dream (2007)
• Woody Allen Spanish Project (2008)
Monday, September 24, 2007
I am very happy that this semester I’ll finish English Phonetics and Phonology. I mean, it is a normal thing to do, to course a obligatory subject, but I am kind of surprised with myself in what concerns to English. I feel I improved a lot after I started writing frequently, and I also improved my reading, and dare have a contact with the language I didn’t have before, though I knew it would benefit me, because I felt demotivated when I found something I didn’t know yet, instead of using that to add me some knowledge.
I didn’t pay the due attention to the English subjects, because we were reviewing an already too reviewed, during our whole life, basic content, and, on the other side, there was a professor who demanded from me more than I felt I was able to give.
When I was younger, have a demanding teacher helped me learning some theory, and review that theory in an English course helped me to acquire it orally, but at the university I wasn’t interested in big challenges nor, still less, in repetitive contents. But after we started writing the journal, I felt much more motivated and I found myself enjoying the subjects that, in past, made me give up of the English course, though I kept the Portuguese one.
It was good for me to talk about my difficulties and feel supported by people who had a problem alike, who were also trying to find a solution after so much time recognizing the problem and doing no more than that – we would, then, stop complaining and begin to act.
I remember in 2005.1, the professor asked me to redo a seminar, because it was too mediocre and now, in 2007.1, the same professor praised my presentation. Not only because of this, but specially because I feel motivated now, his classes became “soft”, I mean, I don’t feel “oppressed” (if I can call like this). For example, we now do the same activity we did two years ago, a reflection about each class, but I can write it with no problems, when in past I just hated and sometimes I could even cry, so stressed I became by not having what to write. The difference is that my attitude in relation to this kind of activity changed, I feel free not only to write and read, but also to reflect. I feel free to comment what I’d like to have in classes and to assume responsibility for my activities, instead of only wait for professors.
I have also to comment how the English subject, this semester, seems much better. I mean, it’s like an “anatomic” class and I notice my fluency went better though there isn’t a systematic class (or maybe there is, but not in the mould we were used to see). I really like how we work with our own material and can use English classes to discuss not only English itself, but always involving English in diversified topics, like arts or even personal things, like ironing clothes! I guess it created a good atmosphere in which we feel supported and strongly want to correspond to it giving our best.
I watched an interview in French with subtitles in Portuguese, so I could listen perfectly to what the person said, but the same day, at French course, as we made a drill with synonym sentences, I could only get their meaning because of the other, but couldn’t really distinct words by listening. I realized the same occurred with a song in English. As it has many electronic distortions, it is too difficult to listen, and even in American Google I wasn’t able to find complete lyrics, every version had something I didn’t believe I heard or something that made no sense to me, but before I read them, I was able to listen what I read in the first one. With other songs or dialogues, before I read them, I couldn’t understand them only by listening, but after reading I could.
I ask myself if it is possible do develop that prevision ability without living abroad for at least few time. I see my husband’s English improved a lot since he started having meetings and call conferences with Americans everyday and writing them in English all day long, so though he didn’t travel he already had a kind of immersion course, I mean, I can write and read and develop my grammar and my logical thinking in the language, but to listen and to speak is different, because I cannot constantly look up in dictionaries nor clearly notice boundaries. I don’t feel secure about phonetically transcribe yet, for example, because I’m not sure of the pronunciation of many words.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Liberty bell´s inscription
A inscrição gravada no Sino da Liberdade se lê a seguir:
PROCLAIM LIBERTY THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND UNTO ALL THE INHABITANTS THEREOF LEV. XXV X.
BY ORDER OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF PENSYLVANIA FOR THE STATE HOUSE IN PHILADA
PASS AND STOW
PHILADA
MDCCLIII
Em portugês:
Apregoareis liberdade na terra a todos os seus moradores LEV. XXV X.
por ordem da assembléia da província de Pensilvânia pela Casa do Estado em Philada
passe e guarde
Philada
MDCCLIII
A fonte da inscrição é a bíblia sagrada, livro de levítico, capítulo 15, versículo 10 na tradução de "King James", onde se lê "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family." (em português: "E santificareis o ano qüinquagésimo, e apregoareis liberdade na terra a todos os seus moradores; ano de jubileu vos será, e tornareis, cada um à sua possessäo, e cada um à sua família."). A inscrição tinha como objetivo marcar o cinquentenário do Charter of Privileges de William Penn, escrito em 1701.
Liberty bell
The Liberty Bell, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an American bell of great historic significance. The Liberty Bell is perhaps one of the most prominent symbols associated with the American Revolution and the American Revolutionary War. It is one of the most familiar symbols of independence, abolition of slavery, nationhood and freedom within the United States, and has been described as an international icon of liberty.
Its most famous ringing, though apocryphal, occurred on July 8, 1776, to summon citizens of Philadelphia for the reading of the Declaration of Independence. Previously, it had been rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775.
The Liberty Bell was known as the "Independence Bell" or the "Old State House bell" until 1837, when it was adopted by the American Anti-Slavery Society as a symbol of the abolitionist movement.
Its most famous ringing, though apocryphal, occurred on July 8, 1776, to summon citizens of Philadelphia for the reading of the Declaration of Independence. Previously, it had been rung to announce the opening of the First Continental Congress in 1774 and after the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775.
The Liberty Bell was known as the "Independence Bell" or the "Old State House bell" until 1837, when it was adopted by the American Anti-Slavery Society as a symbol of the abolitionist movement.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
responding anna´s thought
Anna had a very busy week thinking about her life and how she wants to live it. I do this all the time, specially because in my situation I don´t only have to please myself, but others too.
I told Anna that if she misses reading books because lack of time, she should make the time to do it. It seems that´s what she decided to do. she also told me that she is going to start yoga classes, and I got very happy for her.
sometimes it´s just nice to have some extra time to do what we like to do, instead of doing because we "have to".
I told Anna that if she misses reading books because lack of time, she should make the time to do it. It seems that´s what she decided to do. she also told me that she is going to start yoga classes, and I got very happy for her.
sometimes it´s just nice to have some extra time to do what we like to do, instead of doing because we "have to".
Frustration
Frustration is teh word that doesn´t want to came out of my mind this week. I even looked up in a dictionary what the word really means and I found this: frustration is the feeling of being frustrated; disappointment. And of course I had to look up for the word frustated which means discouraged; not satisfied; unable to be successful in one´s chosen carrer. Exactly how i feel this week.
I am very frustated in my carrer these days. I hope this feeling is a temporary one and in few weeks is completelly gone;
I hate feeling this way but sometimes is all you can do.
I am very frustated in my carrer these days. I hope this feeling is a temporary one and in few weeks is completelly gone;
I hate feeling this way but sometimes is all you can do.
English Learning
First of all, I have to thank my parents for my interest in English.They are very open minded people and since I was a little girl they encouraged me to study English. For them, mainly because they knew back then that it was going to be important for my future as a student and even as a professional.
So I started my journey at Cultura Inglesa when I was senven years old. We didn´t have many options twenty years ago as we do now. But I liked very much, I always had good teachers and I studied English as fun not as an obligation, and I do until nowadays.
when I grew older the movies and songs were my main incentive to learn more and to get fluency in the language, but I´m kind of slow, so I decided to do an intercultural exchage to the
Later, when I was nineteen I went to holland to learn another language and English too. Again one more year abroad.
I came back, continued to learn and study in many different places, I still do. Simply because for me, English never was an obligation like I mentioned before, it´s fun all the time.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Changes in this semester...
As I wrote to Elizabeth last class, it’s interesting to notice, rereading everything we’ve written until now, how the reflections we’ve done about our learning process – our impressions, feelings, wishes, etc. – has contributed to my decisions and changes. I always used to write something about time and readings (how they are connected! and how I’m trying to change them!)… We know that everything that makes we think/question/reflect, transforms, in a certain way, our point of views, world conception, feelings, etc.
It’s a fact that my contact with English has improved enormously, comparing before I entered in university, specifically in this semester. I’ve never written in English as I do now, in terms of quantity; and I’ve been really desiring to read in English, not obligatory readings, but for pleasure. I was complaining because I didn’t have time to have a closer contact with English, to dedicate myself for what I really need and want. But now, I feel so motivated with the activities I do and with my new learning process of English. I feel that only in this rhythm we can learn effectively, not having two hours of class a week as we have at English Courses, and nothing else.
And also how great is to work with different activities. Differently of what happens at English Courses, here, at university, we don’t need to follow a routine, with the same kind of exercises, topics of discussion, materials… We can choose and change according with our needs and likes; and working with different issues makes we enlarge our knowledge in different areas.
It’s a fact that my contact with English has improved enormously, comparing before I entered in university, specifically in this semester. I’ve never written in English as I do now, in terms of quantity; and I’ve been really desiring to read in English, not obligatory readings, but for pleasure. I was complaining because I didn’t have time to have a closer contact with English, to dedicate myself for what I really need and want. But now, I feel so motivated with the activities I do and with my new learning process of English. I feel that only in this rhythm we can learn effectively, not having two hours of class a week as we have at English Courses, and nothing else.
And also how great is to work with different activities. Differently of what happens at English Courses, here, at university, we don’t need to follow a routine, with the same kind of exercises, topics of discussion, materials… We can choose and change according with our needs and likes; and working with different issues makes we enlarge our knowledge in different areas.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
About time 2
Still about my routine disorganization, and talking back about what Anna K. said in the beginning:
When I made my enrollment in everything I have been studying, I didn’t know how much I’d have to dedicate for each subject. Before, my homeworks were so limited, only reading, I only wrote once a while for evaluations, but now I have to write everyday (that’s why it was important to me do determinate how long I could spend on each writing), and it isn’t always easy, because, though I course Letters, I never liked writing*…
But going back to the mainly subject, as I always had extra time I had made enrollment in many subjects (even during weekends) all day long and then, this semester, all subjects were pushier and I found myself busier than I should be, but have to handle this. I sometimes ask myself if I would be studying less than I can, because I always feel tired, but I guess I am able, at least, to succeed on grades.
As I don’t want to get out of the courses I do on weekends and of French course, I guess the best to do is not to pick up evening subjects and guarantee that I’ll have at least a turn to take care of homework (and also to find myself a maid, because I also do housework in general).
I don’t guess it is impossible to handle many activities at the same time, and I know people who made much more than me at the same time, but that’s not for me, I want studying to be pleasant and well done.
* Now I’m getting used to it, don’t write geniusly but do what I have to do. I mean, I wanted to work with writing (want to become a translator), so I’d better not postponing the practice.
28/08/07
#7
I noticed I have problems with discipline that hinder my learning. For example: as every day my shifts are different, I didn't stablish the certain time to study each subject in each day, so, many times I forget about making exercises, reading theory and even studying for tests! But see, when I say "different shifts each day", I only mean that each day has its specific schedule, not that there are frequent unexpected ocurrences, so I can plan my homeworks schedules!
It was commonly happening that I woke up earlier to do those activities just before going to classes, so I decied to stabilish that "turn" permanently, a kind of organized routine: each exercise I had to make, one our less I would sleep. At least that helped me to determinate how long I would dedicate to each activity, instead of spend a whole day with it if I couldn't finish it. But this only works with writing, not with reading, because in that case time depends on the text's fluidity.
So, although my routine isn't good enough to my purposes yet, I noticed how important to have discipline is to studying, speacially when I keep saying nowadays it (studying) isn't as easy as it used to be in the beggining. I hope I'll find it pleasent, though I'm tired when I arrive home from university and feel I can't study in my (sometimes short) rest time, because I realize that if I read some contents in advance, I'd take a better advantage of classtime.
I noticed I have problems with discipline that hinder my learning. For example: as every day my shifts are different, I didn't stablish the certain time to study each subject in each day, so, many times I forget about making exercises, reading theory and even studying for tests! But see, when I say "different shifts each day", I only mean that each day has its specific schedule, not that there are frequent unexpected ocurrences, so I can plan my homeworks schedules!
It was commonly happening that I woke up earlier to do those activities just before going to classes, so I decied to stabilish that "turn" permanently, a kind of organized routine: each exercise I had to make, one our less I would sleep. At least that helped me to determinate how long I would dedicate to each activity, instead of spend a whole day with it if I couldn't finish it. But this only works with writing, not with reading, because in that case time depends on the text's fluidity.
So, although my routine isn't good enough to my purposes yet, I noticed how important to have discipline is to studying, speacially when I keep saying nowadays it (studying) isn't as easy as it used to be in the beggining. I hope I'll find it pleasent, though I'm tired when I arrive home from university and feel I can't study in my (sometimes short) rest time, because I realize that if I read some contents in advance, I'd take a better advantage of classtime.
#6
I have recently changed my behaviour about English. For a long time I had been demotivated, but now I keep in contact with English, reading, writing, speaking and listening, I am more involved with it.
I have also recently started studying French, and I don't know if I have enjoyed it because of English or if I enjoy now English because of French, but I am now enthusiastic for both of them. So I want to read literature in those languages, and I do. I guess I participate more of my learning now, that I'm more active, and want to study. I can see that subjects which bored me in past, like English Phonetics and Phonology, now interest m, I don't feel uncomfortable anymore, though I still make mistakes, and I also pay attention to the corrections and try not to make the same mistake again.
I don't know if I contribute to the goup's development, but I feel I'm doing it for me, I mean, it was not a radical change, but at least I have a good will and became more optimistic about my situation, optimistic about realize and recognize mistakes in my speech - so I can look for a solution.
So that's waht I learned (about learning) last weeks. In terms of English subject itself, I guess (though slowly) I'm improving my vocabulary, in grammar itself I can't identify big changes... What I noticed it hat, with the variety of talkings we've had, many new situations have come out for which I still don't have grammar constructions.
P.S.: What a terribly good idea is this Blogger's one of automatically save drafts! I accidentally just turned my computer off after typing all this text, and how amazing was to discover I wouldn't have to type it again!
I have also recently started studying French, and I don't know if I have enjoyed it because of English or if I enjoy now English because of French, but I am now enthusiastic for both of them. So I want to read literature in those languages, and I do. I guess I participate more of my learning now, that I'm more active, and want to study. I can see that subjects which bored me in past, like English Phonetics and Phonology, now interest m, I don't feel uncomfortable anymore, though I still make mistakes, and I also pay attention to the corrections and try not to make the same mistake again.
I don't know if I contribute to the goup's development, but I feel I'm doing it for me, I mean, it was not a radical change, but at least I have a good will and became more optimistic about my situation, optimistic about realize and recognize mistakes in my speech - so I can look for a solution.
So that's waht I learned (about learning) last weeks. In terms of English subject itself, I guess (though slowly) I'm improving my vocabulary, in grammar itself I can't identify big changes... What I noticed it hat, with the variety of talkings we've had, many new situations have come out for which I still don't have grammar constructions.
P.S.: What a terribly good idea is this Blogger's one of automatically save drafts! I accidentally just turned my computer off after typing all this text, and how amazing was to discover I wouldn't have to type it again!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Pronunciation
This week (actually during these last weeks) I´ve been much worried about pronunciation.
Grammar has never been a problem to me. Although I certainly can´t say that I master its concepts, it never brought any real difficulty to me. Reading and listening have always been intersting. Sometimes they´re tricky but with some patience and with the aid of a dictionary or even simply reading (or listening) the context I´ve been able to handle it.
Doing my workbook exercises made me realize that I shouldn´t have quitted Phonetix discipline (although I had no other choice). I´ve always been confident while apeaking but nowadays I wonder whether is clear or not to a native English-speaker that his language is not my mother language. I know that many different accents exist in English but I want mine not only to be comunicative but to be clear and authentic as well. Sometimes I wish I were in someone´s else head just to hear me speaking in English. I tried to tape me and listen after, but it didn´t feel as authentic as I expected, I´ll keep trying to see if it comes off right.
So, that´s my next goal: to improve my pronunciation and to help my colleagues to improve theirs either.
English Learning Through Movies
Movies always had such a great importance in my english learning. I´d rather use them than books because with them I´m able to improve my listening and reading skills (using subtitles in English) and still, as in books, I can upgrade my vocabulary and learn a lot of new words. It´s easier to learn, and most times we don´t even need translation, because the visual images and the screenplay help us to comprehend almost everything.
My first all-in-English movie was seen when I was fifteen years old. My English wasn´t so good back then and I had never seen a movie about oriental culture, but even so it was an unforgettable and pleasant experience to watch "Ana and the King". After this one, every movie I rented was watched completly in English, first with subtitles on (in English) and then a second time without subtitles at all, just listening and comprehending.
Beyond all this kind of learning that movies provides us we still have to admite that it is the second best way to get in touch with any foreign culture and the real living habits of their people. That´s why we´re able to understand much better the dialogues, analyzing them ourselves rather them just rely on translations that many times sacrifices a lot of good things in order to make a more general group of people to understand it .
For these and some more other reasons (we can´t forget the entertainment and the pleasant times movies give us), I consider watching movies a great way of learning.
Beyond all this kind of learning that movies provides us we still have to admite that it is the second best way to get in touch with any foreign culture and the real living habits of their people. That´s why we´re able to understand much better the dialogues, analyzing them ourselves rather them just rely on translations that many times sacrifices a lot of good things in order to make a more general group of people to understand it .
For these and some more other reasons (we can´t forget the entertainment and the pleasant times movies give us), I consider watching movies a great way of learning.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
What I learned this week!
This week, in terms of English learning, I didn’t stop to study as I always plan and like; I just did the workbook and wrote a little bit in the blog. Weeks like this used to make me feel so unfounded, because it seemed that I was losing the control of my time, my organization, etc. But something has changed. I will write a little more about this my “transformation” or “change of point of view”, and how it has contributed to my learning process.
Last weekend I had a kind of “insight or inspiration” that made me to think about the courses I do, about my time, my life style, my whishes, and so on. I “woke up” to see that there are a lot of things in life that I value so much but I couldn’t live them. Mainly, thinking about the courses, I didn’t have time to read! I mean, we read all the time (texts from university; I’ve written a journal about it already), but I need to read much, much more and, mainly, things I’ve wanted to read since a long time ago; I look to the books on my desk; they expecting the time I will read them, and vice versa.
So, I decided that I don’t want to live only for universities anymore, because it is what I was doing; they don’t deserve it. I gave up some disciplines at UEPB, I only have two classes there now. I’m going to begin Yoga next week; I will finish some books that I’ve begun on vacation but given up; I will begin others; I will have time to watch films…and, meanly, I’ll have time to dedicate myself for everything I’m doing at the moment, without fill my weekends of studies… In terms of learning, I think I’m beginning to change my bigger trouble. I’m feeling more free and calm to plan/organize my time and studies. I hope things work better now; and, finally, I will be able to contribute much more for our English learning
Last weekend I had a kind of “insight or inspiration” that made me to think about the courses I do, about my time, my life style, my whishes, and so on. I “woke up” to see that there are a lot of things in life that I value so much but I couldn’t live them. Mainly, thinking about the courses, I didn’t have time to read! I mean, we read all the time (texts from university; I’ve written a journal about it already), but I need to read much, much more and, mainly, things I’ve wanted to read since a long time ago; I look to the books on my desk; they expecting the time I will read them, and vice versa.
So, I decided that I don’t want to live only for universities anymore, because it is what I was doing; they don’t deserve it. I gave up some disciplines at UEPB, I only have two classes there now. I’m going to begin Yoga next week; I will finish some books that I’ve begun on vacation but given up; I will begin others; I will have time to watch films…and, meanly, I’ll have time to dedicate myself for everything I’m doing at the moment, without fill my weekends of studies… In terms of learning, I think I’m beginning to change my bigger trouble. I’m feeling more free and calm to plan/organize my time and studies. I hope things work better now; and, finally, I will be able to contribute much more for our English learning
Monday, August 20, 2007
Las Meninas, Picasso
"Não é a pintura menos figurativa que tem maior probabilidade de mudar a nossa visão de mundo"?
(Paul Ricouer, Tempo e Narrativa, tomo 3, p. 304)
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Reading...
I’ve been noticing, at this phase of my English learning, how reading has helped me lot. Now it’s different because I can understand contexts easier and I don’t feel myself so lost as before. At this moment, the reading of texts, articles, pages of books, etc., has been necessary ingredients to improve my all skills: writing, speaking, listening and, of course, reading (the more we read the better reader we become). I’m feeling really, really fine at this my actual phase, because I can say now that I’m learning again. My vocabulary has improved faster and it’s made my reading much more a pleasure than a big challenge. The only trouble about all this is that the studies from university, its lot of activities, exercises, etc., have not taken me the liberty (time) to read what I need and what I want. It really makes me sad and tiresome.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Practice for fluency
#5
When I started to study in an English course, many teachers told my parents I had talent for foreign languages and that if I continued studying there, I’d probably be hired as a teacher. I was very proud of myself, because I could see other people in classes didn’t get it as easily as I did, and I really enjoyed studying English, had many learning opportunities with songs and in the regular school.
But when I was older and wasn’t in the course anymore, I begun to lost the fluency and the vocabulary I had when I was younger. That was shocking, ‘cause I still wanted to be a teacher someday, and specially, after graduating, to be a translator. I’d like to be able to watch movies without subtitles (so I could see the ones we don’t have inBrazil
That was when I decided to have conversation classes, because I needed to practice. I have to tell you those classes weren’t quite boring in the beginning, because I only cared about English and English and English, but, after some months, observing how stupid sounded the topics annoyed me. The teacher always brought mystical stuff like “do you believe in premonitions/ghosts/destiny?”, and for me the answer was always short, like, “yes” or “no”, didn’t feel comfortable to discuss for 2 hours. I never sub estimated my classmates before, but those classes seemed to bring the most “so last season” subjects of talking and seeing everybody doing children’s activities - Jesus gimme patience!
For me, our current classes have been so pleasant, because we can talk, as we’d talk in our mother language, about real situations, about our lives, experiences, tastes and even the class itself, the grammar etc. When we used that hazard waste wheel, for example, it was interesting, and the same to listen about the ‘hurricane area way of life’. I mean, that would be a normal conversation, with no need to push. So I guess the best way to practice a real English is to have real material, like reading news, interviews, discussing the day-by-day… it will normally occur us constructions we probably won’t be able to make yet so we’ll check them, and then we’ll have learning opportunities, discovering what we’d genuinely say in such a occasion, etc.
When I started to study in an English course, many teachers told my parents I had talent for foreign languages and that if I continued studying there, I’d probably be hired as a teacher. I was very proud of myself, because I could see other people in classes didn’t get it as easily as I did, and I really enjoyed studying English, had many learning opportunities with songs and in the regular school.
But when I was older and wasn’t in the course anymore, I begun to lost the fluency and the vocabulary I had when I was younger. That was shocking, ‘cause I still wanted to be a teacher someday, and specially, after graduating, to be a translator. I’d like to be able to watch movies without subtitles (so I could see the ones we don’t have in
That was when I decided to have conversation classes, because I needed to practice. I have to tell you those classes weren’t quite boring in the beginning, because I only cared about English and English and English, but, after some months, observing how stupid sounded the topics annoyed me. The teacher always brought mystical stuff like “do you believe in premonitions/ghosts/destiny?”, and for me the answer was always short, like, “yes” or “no”, didn’t feel comfortable to discuss for 2 hours. I never sub estimated my classmates before, but those classes seemed to bring the most “so last season” subjects of talking and seeing everybody doing children’s activities - Jesus gimme patience!
For me, our current classes have been so pleasant, because we can talk, as we’d talk in our mother language, about real situations, about our lives, experiences, tastes and even the class itself, the grammar etc. When we used that hazard waste wheel, for example, it was interesting, and the same to listen about the ‘hurricane area way of life’. I mean, that would be a normal conversation, with no need to push. So I guess the best way to practice a real English is to have real material, like reading news, interviews, discussing the day-by-day… it will normally occur us constructions we probably won’t be able to make yet so we’ll check them, and then we’ll have learning opportunities, discovering what we’d genuinely say in such a occasion, etc.
Previously, on our dialogue journal...
I'd like you to make a post like this and publish the texts we had produced before the blog was done. Here go mines.
#1
School times: My timeline beggining
My first experience in English learning was in the fourth year, at school. It was a small school of the neighborhood, and they tried to teach us the numbers from one to ten, some colors and the verb to be. It was really non-sense, that time, not to go further, but the next year, at another school, I began to have real classes.
In the school, we adopted a book from an English course which was developed specially for schools, but it was very similar to the course’s one. We had two books, one with texts and one with homework. The second one brought a “mask” for us to cover the answers, which were in the same page, and probably most of the students didn’t use. I did, and in fact what I didn’t like about that was just to hold the mask, instead of writing freely.
My teacher, that time, was someone who is special for my English learning still nowadays. I don’t know if it was because of her fame of scary or because I was too young and wanted to impress her, and specially, I really liked studying that time, and really wanted to speak English fluently with the classes I was supposed to have until the last year of high school… the fact was that I really learned with her. The teacher was kind of demanding and asked us to copy some lists, with about a hundred words, and check their meaning in the dictionary – and if we couldn’t write, we should repeat that word like 50 times! Of course I never did it, repeating, but I could pay attention to the words I wrote wrong once and try not to repeat the mistake.
What I most liked her was that she read the lessons and made us repeat in group, and later, individually. So I could practice reading it to myself while somebody else was being corrected – I repeated each phrase at least four times, once each student in class had to tell a line.
In fact, I asked myself how could students not to learn with her. When I was in the 7th year and an English course finally appeared in our town, all the students in my class were from the 8th year of the same school I studied. Everybody was really impressed with how fast I could get all that information and use it, they thought I had something special in that area. But I remember one of them said to the others “You see, that’s what we should learn at school. We don’t learn a real English which we can speak. I wish we had seen this at school, so it would be easier now.” And I said “But it is in our book, we just saw it at school, that’s why I can get it so fast, because it isn’t the first I see it.” And they just couldn’t remember.
Later, when I moved to another city and continued in the same English course, but with a new teacher and an old subject, I gave up of studying English. But that is in a future page of the diary.
#2
Answering Sergio's answer
#1
School times: My timeline beggining
My first experience in English learning was in the fourth year, at school. It was a small school of the neighborhood, and they tried to teach us the numbers from one to ten, some colors and the verb to be. It was really non-sense, that time, not to go further, but the next year, at another school, I began to have real classes.
In the school, we adopted a book from an English course which was developed specially for schools, but it was very similar to the course’s one. We had two books, one with texts and one with homework. The second one brought a “mask” for us to cover the answers, which were in the same page, and probably most of the students didn’t use. I did, and in fact what I didn’t like about that was just to hold the mask, instead of writing freely.
My teacher, that time, was someone who is special for my English learning still nowadays. I don’t know if it was because of her fame of scary or because I was too young and wanted to impress her, and specially, I really liked studying that time, and really wanted to speak English fluently with the classes I was supposed to have until the last year of high school… the fact was that I really learned with her. The teacher was kind of demanding and asked us to copy some lists, with about a hundred words, and check their meaning in the dictionary – and if we couldn’t write, we should repeat that word like 50 times! Of course I never did it, repeating, but I could pay attention to the words I wrote wrong once and try not to repeat the mistake.
What I most liked her was that she read the lessons and made us repeat in group, and later, individually. So I could practice reading it to myself while somebody else was being corrected – I repeated each phrase at least four times, once each student in class had to tell a line.
In fact, I asked myself how could students not to learn with her. When I was in the 7th year and an English course finally appeared in our town, all the students in my class were from the 8th year of the same school I studied. Everybody was really impressed with how fast I could get all that information and use it, they thought I had something special in that area. But I remember one of them said to the others “You see, that’s what we should learn at school. We don’t learn a real English which we can speak. I wish we had seen this at school, so it would be easier now.” And I said “But it is in our book, we just saw it at school, that’s why I can get it so fast, because it isn’t the first I see it.” And they just couldn’t remember.
Later, when I moved to another city and continued in the same English course, but with a new teacher and an old subject, I gave up of studying English. But that is in a future page of the diary.
#2
Answering Sergio's answer
See, I don’t think she was really severe, just a little demanding, and as we were too young we were kind of afraid of her. I, nowadays, agree with some of her methods. I mean, the problems was that she asked us to make activities, but in all subjects they had activities too. And, as I said, I did NOT obey her suggestion of rewriting the same word to fill a page. What I thought it was interesting is that she made us speak a little in classes, something I didn’t had in the last years of school, for example.
Because of PSS, the only thing we made at school was to read texts and answer questions about it. At that time, even being young and in the beginning of the English course, I was able to understand, if not the whole vocabulary, the essence of the text and do the job in few minutes. In fact, most of the students were in the same situation, so English classes, at school, became a talking time. And we didn’t study or made homework, because we didn’t like the teacher so we didn’t really respect him…
You told me you couldn’t learn with teachers you didn’t like, and neither can I, I guess. I fact, the reason I gave up of the English course was that I moved to another city and I wasn’t able to find friends the course. I mean, I am too shy and I used to study with my sister, and she used to make friends and, as I was always with her, it seemed to be enough. When, because of health problems, she had to abandon the course and because of school weekly “news”, I was always changing my schedule and was never with the same people for a whole semester. In fact, in one semester I’ve changed of class four times! And I was always able to get, for four semesters, the same teacher – whom I didn’t like – in different days and turns of the week. See, without company I could not face that, it was boring and I gave up.
#3
Feeling lost
Something that annoys me when I study English is that it seems like it was much easier before, I mean, I wanted to learn every word I could, and I felt able to, nowadays it is like a new content wouldn’t be absorbed… I never feel like I already know all English I need but it is like I already knew enough not to learn more. New words don’t stay in my memory, even if I write them down probably won’t take a look later, I don’t know… it is as I am demotivated, but in fact I would like very much to improve my English, I’d like to speak with the proper words instead of the describing their meanings, I would like to go further with my phrases, to speak about any subject I want, and I feel it is not possible now and it won’t be in future if I don’t do something now to change this situation. I would like to recover the enthusiasm I had before, for songs, for grammar, and not to think they are “repeated” anymore. I would like to think: hey, we are going further on that subject!
Feeling lost
Something that annoys me when I study English is that it seems like it was much easier before, I mean, I wanted to learn every word I could, and I felt able to, nowadays it is like a new content wouldn’t be absorbed… I never feel like I already know all English I need but it is like I already knew enough not to learn more. New words don’t stay in my memory, even if I write them down probably won’t take a look later, I don’t know… it is as I am demotivated, but in fact I would like very much to improve my English, I’d like to speak with the proper words instead of the describing their meanings, I would like to go further with my phrases, to speak about any subject I want, and I feel it is not possible now and it won’t be in future if I don’t do something now to change this situation. I would like to recover the enthusiasm I had before, for songs, for grammar, and not to think they are “repeated” anymore. I would like to think: hey, we are going further on that subject!
Friday, August 10, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
About time...
Today, I decided to write a little about time. Reflecting about time as also an way to find solutions to my learning. We know that we live, nowadays, in a world that requires us time and velocity, but we “don’t have time anymore” and we are always complaining about it. Something has changed with everyone: people walk fast, speak fast, eat fast; don’t find time to visit friends, to talk, to read a book; we are running to be more and more qualified and our studies and jobs busy almost our whole day and life.
I am an example of this “modern being”, but I don’t want to be for a long time. I know that everything I do now (things I like, for sure) is important for my future. So, how can I find time to study English? How can I make good use of the time I have? Why sometimes do I think I’m losing time, I’m not learning? What are the priorities? How can I do my best? Maybe, we could discuss it today.
I am an example of this “modern being”, but I don’t want to be for a long time. I know that everything I do now (things I like, for sure) is important for my future. So, how can I find time to study English? How can I make good use of the time I have? Why sometimes do I think I’m losing time, I’m not learning? What are the priorities? How can I do my best? Maybe, we could discuss it today.
Anna Karenina.
Today I woke up with a different feeling...
#4
These days, I decided to change a little my thinking about studying English. I had already had a change of my point of view with that Kaleidoscope profile, but it seems I had forgotten what the optimistic questionnaire made me deduce. In my profile, I had already written that I “needed to find natural contexts where I can use English”, that “had to collect words I find out and look at now and then, making a decision to use them in the next possible situation” and that it was “necessary to look at me as a student again and not to feel unable to learn more, to improve, just because I have been ‘stopped’ for a long time. Once I was able to acquired my little background, I'm able to go further”, but those were not my real attitudes, and I was still looking only at the problem.
As the professor was always asking us about our last-days contacts with English, I noticed I was kind of running away of written practice: didn’t read any English link I found in blogs I read, didn’t access English language sites, didn’t practice reading English subtitles if it wasn’t with the clear purpose of studying English – not ever by pleasure, just for obligation. And I also noticed Anna Karenina was doing exactly the opposite: she was reading original English/American book texts and writing a vocabulary notebook, and that gave me a little motivation, because I knew those people in my classroom were in the same situation as I was, but looking for solutions.
I guess I already complained, when I answered to Anna’s journal, that songs weren’t really useful anymore because they didn’t really bring us new stuff. I mean, texts in general used to bring a new word, but once it was able to get their meaning in the context, I didn’t pay attention to it. So it demotivated me: it seemed that I already had the English I needed, except for some vocabulary, now and than, which wouldn’t be missed. But when I was looking for a song to take to the classroom, I decided not to choose the ones I knew better, but to look for lyrics which had a reason to be seeing in the classroom, and I felt like when I was beginning to study English: I found out lyrics I didn’t know half of what they said! And I had to translate or take a look in the dictionary for almost all words. I felt great, I could finally start my vocabulary notebook with words I would be able to remember (because I would only have to memorize the lyrics).
I am now looking for texts, in English, that interest me, like interviews with celebrities I like, so it will seem more natural for me than reading only to practice English. Once I now also started with English literature subjects, I am reading a quite different English, which is more formal and sounds strange, but I guess it is much better that way, because I need to understand it precisely, so I’ll have to make effort…
Monday, August 6, 2007
My English Learning Timeline
Since I was a child I´ve been in touch with English words. I can still remember that I used to look the whole package of every toy I won and because of that I soon realized that "batteries not included" was a terrible thing. This was probably the first English sentence I´ve ever understood.
During the rest of my childhood the English language was there everyday. I saw it on videogames, on movies and cartoons and mostly on those romantic songs that my parents where always listening.
My first "formal" contact with this foreign language took place when I was eleven, in 1997. It was nice to be there on a English school, with different classmates and with that lovely teacher (Sandra), who enjoyed teaching us in a very funny way, drawing nice pictures on the whiteboard to explain us what was a windows, a pencil and so on, and telling us not to be afraid of using that words we´re seeing for the very first tim. "Look at the camera" (This was the first expression that we learned in Fisk´s book).
I didn´t have bad moments in Fisk during the learning process. Being there was like being in a city on USA, mostly because of the pictures and every kind of paper in their walls that were always in English, and for everyone there being always talking in that language either.
During the rest of my childhood the English language was there everyday. I saw it on videogames, on movies and cartoons and mostly on those romantic songs that my parents where always listening.
My first "formal" contact with this foreign language took place when I was eleven, in 1997. It was nice to be there on a English school, with different classmates and with that lovely teacher (Sandra), who enjoyed teaching us in a very funny way, drawing nice pictures on the whiteboard to explain us what was a windows, a pencil and so on, and telling us not to be afraid of using that words we´re seeing for the very first tim. "Look at the camera" (This was the first expression that we learned in Fisk´s book).
I didn´t have bad moments in Fisk during the learning process. Being there was like being in a city on USA, mostly because of the pictures and every kind of paper in their walls that were always in English, and for everyone there being always talking in that language either.
The passion for the games of the NBA started in 1998 and it helped me a lot to improve not only my English reading but also my understanding of numbers, height and weights unities of the USA.
It was 2000 already when I felt confident enought to keep and all-in-English conversation on with an american-native teacher called David. After him I had some others foreign friends: Bob (2002); Elizabeth (2005) and another Elizabeth in 2006.
Songs and books also had a great influence in my learning. I believe that after 2001 I was already able to understand most part of them, but always using a dictionary, of course. My favorite is Sir Elton John, I´m afraid I still don´t have a favorite writer.
Finishing this learning journey and to arrive where I am I must say that the Language Course that I decided to study in UFPB is great and it helps me a lot to develop a real good English. I´m amazed with the super-qualified professors I´ve been meeting until now.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Introducing the blog
This blog was created by EFL students who want to share their experiences along the process of learning, discussin how they feel, their positions, doubts, beliefs and expectations about it in different periods of their life. Here we feel at home to remember teachers, songs, films, methods, (de)motivantions... and to talk about our present experiences too.
Like the name Dialogue Journal suggests, we'll write here as in a diary and our blogmates are free to give their opinions. Our purpose is to reflect about our learning process, from different points of view.
Like the name Dialogue Journal suggests, we'll write here as in a diary and our blogmates are free to give their opinions. Our purpose is to reflect about our learning process, from different points of view.
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