English language challenges

My personal experience learning English at university is strange. Last semester, I didn’t like the way the teacher try to teach us, because of this my marks in general wasn’t so good. But this semester, in English 4 I feel really comfortable. Specifically, the use of blogs was so fun, didactic and interesting. I really enjoyed it!

I think that the aspects I need to improve in my English are related to articulation and verbal times. Sometimes I feel I need to be more focused on grammar, instead of this I think I can explain in a good way my ideas.  I plan to improve my English skills trying to talk much more this language and, obviously, to listening more English music. Every Tuesday I like to listen any English, Irish or British band from my house to the university haha.

Honestly, outside the English classes I don’t practice the language, because I don’t have many people that handle it. My favorite way to practice English still is the music, but I know that isn’t sufficient. Because of this I think I will need an extra support in this area with a kind of one-year course or something like that.

Finally, I want to thank to Benjy, I think that a good professor is always like an angel in our way haha and its appreciable when teachers give the best of themselves to their students. 

My favorite character

Today I’m going to talk about my favorite film’s character: Harry, from Requiem for a Dream. This character is performed by Jared Leto and is the principal of the story.

Well, Harry isn’t an ideal son: he sold many times his mother’s TV for get some money and to buy drugs (for him, his best friend Tyrone and his girlfriend Marion). And finally he finishes without one arm because the heroine’s needle infected it.

So, why I love the Harry character into Requiem for a Dream?  Even though Harry was a junkie, I think that he had the courage to search a future with Marion; even if it was ephemeral he always wanted to get the life he imagined. And more than the Harry character into the film, I love the performance of Jared Leto. In my opinion he reaches a perfect interpretation of a complex person: druggy, thief and dying man (at the end).

Far from being a moral film against drugs and excess, I think that Requiem for a Dream want to tell us how the modern families are in a kind of crisis: Harry’s mother is an addict too (addict to a TV show and addict to lose-weigh pills) and even Harry love her so much, the addiction of each one doesn’t let they can live in harmony. 

My future job

Since I been had decided to leave graphic design and to start journalism in Icei, I imagine my future job like a university docent. Also, I want to develop my knowledge into community education, as journalism workshops into low income schools.

In a way, my future job like a university docent involves (I hope) some travels to seminars or conferences in other countries. I think that the outdoor work in this area goes together with a constant sense of learning. Nevertheless, to making classes (in a university, professional institute or low income schools) means a lot of indoor work.

I don’t know so much about the salary of a university teacher, but I know that the community workshops don’t leave much money, as far as to live of this. In the first case, I hope that a salary as a teacher can support my future life; in the community workshops case I don’t have any expectations about the money, I really like to do this kind of works  (for free or for some moneys, I don’t mind).

In general I want to mix all my knowledge about communication with the education. I don’t believe that education is only math, language, history or arts, I think that the education can rise up in every way we want and in every subject we can imagine. 

Changes to my study programme

Since I began to study in Icei I think that the journalism curriculum could have some changes, for example, not to do obligatory some subjects (like TV or radio). I would like that each one can make a choice about how they want to direct them own way to make journalism, and obviously no one have the same visions or skills about that. I have seen many classmates feeling unsuccessful when they can’t make a “good voice” for radio, or a “good corporal position” for TV cameras. I think this is not just right; journalism is not only TV, radio, or writing press.

In my opinion, five years it’s too longer for a career like journalism. There are some countries that considerate journalism as a postgraduate studies, and I think that’s good.  Nevertheless, I think that the courses in the curriculum can be distributed better than now, balancing the academic workload among every semester. There are semesters that we can have only four subjects, and the next one we even can have seven or eight.

About the faculty facilities and use of technology, I think that Icei must have more audiovisual supplies for the students. There are sometimes all sections in photography or audiovisual must to do any test for these courses and there aren’t enough supplies for all those who need it.

Finally, I think that is necessary to apply more of constructivist vision of teaching methods. I had always considered that is not necessary to repeat and repeat till memorize and then “spit” all this information in a writing test. I prefer when we have to understand some theories and then apply it to real actual problems.

Summer Vacation

I can't believe this blog is about the summer vacation! I just bought two air tickets to Antogasta yesterday :)

Well, Antofagasta will be the first stop in our -we hope- best summer vacation ever. I plan on traveling with my girlfriend from Antofagasta to San Pedro, and then a tour will take us to the Salar de Uyuni. 

By the first, in Antofagasta, we plan on to visit a cousin and we will stay in his house about two or three nights. He is like a brother for me, so I think the experience will be amazing. Also, we want to visit La Mano del Desierto, and the beaches in Antofagasta (they say the water is temperate and I want to confirm this haha)

We are really excited for this travel, we have about one year planning to visit the Salar de Uyuni, and we hope (and know) everything will be perfect. The tour to the salt flats includes a visit to the train graveyard, Laguna Colorada, geisers and a hot springs. We have read a lot about the weather in Uyuni, and we will need many things to tolerate the cold nights, like specials sleeping-bags and thermal clothes.

We would like to travel around Bolivia too, but we think that the money will not be enough haha :(  Anyway, we’ll wait to this moment to see if we can go across other places.

Well, I leave u some photos from Antofasta, San Pedro and Uyuni :)

Postgraduate Studies

In the near future (about 2020, when I will finish this career), I would like to do a Social Communication Magister. Also I think I would like to study any related to educational subjects and mix it with social communication too. In general, my interest areas to do postgraduate studies are in this both. 

I would like to do this course because I feel interested by the investigative area of communications, how the cultural industries have a impact in the modern course of life from the 70's till the present. Also, I would like to contribute to the Latin American investigations about identities, multiculturalities and the industrialization of information process.

I can study the Social Communication Magister here in ICEI, but there are so many schools of communications around the world that offer this postgraduate plan. I think that if I could, I would like to study in the Complutense University, in Spain (in my opinion, is the easiest place to study in Europe, because the language), but if  I improve my english in the future, maybe, who knows, I could study in the UK. I hope so.

In general, the postgraduate studies are destinated to people that have a job. In this line I think that I will must to study in a part-time modality. I hope that in 2020 (it sound a little bit distant haha) I can get a job that let me pay the magister course, and in this case, I will have to work at the day, and study at the night. 

Well, I hope you like my blog today!

Jimmy's Hall Review

The movie left in me a strange feeling. I think I liked the film, but there's something that doesn't convinces me. Maybe, I saw in this movie the way that USA began to influence some countries through its music, dances and others; or it’s only suggestion haha.

I don't really have a favorite character, but I liked the way the protagonist, Jimmy, brings to his country a new way to see the present, even though all the Church was against his hall. I think that this is an admirable thing. 

I loved how the movie shows the local customs focused fundamentally (according to me) in the music. I really like the typical irish sounds!

I felt that the movie didn't go into detail about the relationship between Jimmy and Oonagh. Maybe, the director could take advantage of this dramatic area of the story to make it stronger. 

When Oonagh is singing in her language it makes me feel a lot of senses. I like the way she articulates the sounds, and how this songs are full of history. This scene can be my favorite at all.