Please remember the period to post on the blog is in class or within 48 hours. Check this on the older posts :)

Someone

 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. He 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 (Ideally Chilean, not necessarily, though).  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 240  and 4 comments on any of the members' blogs

favorite artist

Write about your favorite artist
Say:
Who are they
When you first discovered them
What you like about them
What is your favorite piece by them

Write a minimum of 210 words and make 4 to 5 comments:)

Paper blog

Something youd like to learn

Dear all,

I would like to do a lot of things and this is why this post is difficult.  As opposed to you, I have had a number of jobs and to decide on a particular one is difficult.

I like my job, I think what I like the most is the interaction with people and the most fulfilling part of it is observing learning processes. In FACSO at times this is difficult depending on the students’ feelings towards the class but on the whole, it is a very fine experience to me.

To think of an ideal job would always be about helping people somehow. A part of me would like to help people with more difficulties. One time I taught Spanish to people for Haiti and this was really rewarding because you knew that these people would have an immediate benefit from it. I also taught English to admin workers “funcionarios” in facso and that was really nice.

Because I like my current job, I’ll mention another job to complement this, but not as a full time one. I would like to work in the area of sports and health too. It would be wonderful to see the recovery of people.

 I think practicing sports, yoga, trekking (something that involved physical activity) is a really wonderful experience and I think many people who haven’t done it, don’t know how good it can be for the body and soul. I have only discovered this in my thirties.  I think my ideal job maybe would involve exercise for rehabilitation of injuries. Like a physical therapist. I would have to train in anatomy for a while, though.  I have seen how specific exercise can help to recover from really bad states with perseverance. 

Write about a job you would like to have. Mention:

What the job is,

Why you would like to do this job,

What qualities or skills you would need to do this job,

What type of reward or job satisfaction you would get from doing this job.

Mention anything else you think is important.

Write a minimum of 210 words, put a comment on my blog and 4 more comments.

video 2 Thursday 10

A JOB YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO IN THE FUTURE

Record a for 2 minute mobile phone video presentation* about a job you would like to do in the future.

Say:

What the job is,

Why you would like to do this job,,

What qualities or skills you would need to do this job,

What type of reward or job satisfaction you would get from doing this job.

Mention anything else you think is important.

Remember if you read you will not have a pass mark. Practice makes perfect.

 ALL IN ONE TAKE.

Book

Today we are going to write about something  interesting, I think.

It has been hard to choose because I am often reading more than one thing at the time.  I read the newspaper, academic papers, stuff on meditation, essays, my students' blogs, etc. 

I started reading about the brain some years back when I studied language acquisition and education = learning processes.

However, later I decided to read beyond linguistics and education, and bought a really interesting book called “Mind map” The book I am devoting most time to at the moment is called “The emotional life of your brain” It is written by a neuroscientist (R. J. Davidson) and a health and science journalist (S. Begley).  I suppose I am reading it out of pleasure. The book is about different research done on the human brain and the different emotional styles, how genetics and environment influence them and how they develop. It also includes  the mind – body connection. Although I have onlt read about 80 pages, I'm really enjoying seeing how certain personality traits can be linked to certain hormones released in certain areas of the brain and some of these processes could be modified if there is will. It is  fascinating.. Chemical processes were never my thing at school but now it is fun. It also touches “abnormal “ conditions such as autism, which I find interesting.

I think I am enjoying it because there is no pressure involved. I just read a while before I go to sleep or during the day if I have the time.

Write about something you are reading at the moment.

Say

What it is called

Which genre it is ( novel, academic, manga, report, blog, etc)

Whether you are enjoying it

What it is about

Include anything else you find relevant.

Write a minimum of 210 words and 4 comments on different class blogs. Mine also counts :)