Before the starting of this course I didn't use to surf the net to visit other people's blogs, I simply looked for web sites that interested me but I never took part in any discussion or left comments on a topic. Now, I'm starting to relise how huge the blogosphere is and how fun and useful is to give your opinion on different matters and to read other people's thoughts.
I think that in this way we can learn a lot of things about many different topics and we have the opportunity to share the things we know and our opinions with the rest of the world, creating in this way a sort of cultural and emotional exchange. The author of one of the blogs I chose for e-tivity two saw my comment about her blog and she, in turn, left a comment on my post in our course blog...I was really surprised when I read it but also happy to see that my message had been noticed by the owner of that blog.
As regards language learning, I think that we are doing something we had never done before. We have always been studying, reading and translating "standard english", whereas now we are starting to deal with something different. Language in blogs is more colloquial, informal and sometimes it contains slang words. I think it is very useful to deal also with this "type of English" because in this way we can improve our vocabulary and our writing skills.
I think that in this way we can learn a lot of things about many different topics and we have the opportunity to share the things we know and our opinions with the rest of the world, creating in this way a sort of cultural and emotional exchange. The author of one of the blogs I chose for e-tivity two saw my comment about her blog and she, in turn, left a comment on my post in our course blog...I was really surprised when I read it but also happy to see that my message had been noticed by the owner of that blog.
As regards language learning, I think that we are doing something we had never done before. We have always been studying, reading and translating "standard english", whereas now we are starting to deal with something different. Language in blogs is more colloquial, informal and sometimes it contains slang words. I think it is very useful to deal also with this "type of English" because in this way we can improve our vocabulary and our writing skills.
I like the idea of having my personal blog and I think that I will continue to write on it and on other blogs also after the end of this course because it will be a chance to keep learning English and to improve it.
Giovanna
3 commenti:
Hi Giovanna!
Reading the posts you and other members of our group wrote I felt a bit relieved: many friends of mine have been developing their own blogs for a long time and they said that I was “antediluvian” because I still didn't have my own; so, I firmly believed I was the only one who didn't know what a blogosphere was and how to create my personal virtual diary!:-(( Luckily, I'm realizing that I was wrong: you - just like me and other classmates of ours - are discovering right now how many tools informatics offers you to leave your sign in the Web and blogging is certainly one of the easiest and funniest!
I particularly liked the expression you used: "creating in this way a sort of cultural and emotional exchange". Wow, I've never thought about this activity from this point of view, but you are completely right! Our blogs will become the space where we can feel free to express everything coming to our minds, a page created to welcome our thoughts and to enable us to compare, to know each other and to improve our knowledge of English.
As you said, now we are demanded to read and use a much more informal register than the register we use to translate a text or to write an essay. It will not be as easy as we could think...but we are part of a group to lend each other a hand, so no panic! For this reason, I point out a couple of things you could find useful:
1- I didn't find the word "relise", maybe you meant “realize”;
2- in the last sentence, I think you should add the preposition "on" after the verb "keep".
If you notice something wrong while reading my posts, please let me know, I will be grateful!
Elena
Hi Giovanna!!
My very first question is: how did you manage to add a picture to your title? It's a great idea!! The picture you have chosen is sooo nice!! I'm desperately trying to add a photo to the title of my own blog, as you did..but I can't work it out!
Like Elena I was, too, really impressed reading that through blogs we can create a sort of "cultural and emotional exchange" with the rest of the world.. Doesn't it sound great?! Yes, it does: you can get to know, exchange information, share emotions and keep in touch with people you have even never met..just because you have created a magical and fascinating link with them! You rightly said "with the rest of the world".. It sounds great, indeed, but..but there is something in this expression which actually puzzles and unsettles me..because it implies that all the rest of the world has the possibility and freedom to "watch" you, to read your innermost thoughts, to get to know your habits, your passions, your ideas and feelings.. You are not just sharing your ideas with a selected group of friends, you are actually exposing your soul to anyone who comes across your posts! Well, this clearly depends on you, on the extent to which you want to expose your "self"..but this is something I still need time to get used to: posting my own ideas, my own photos and my innermost feelings still seems to intrude on my privacy.. So, the idea of creating a link, an exchange with the rest of the Blogosphere is definetly amazing and wonderful, but it still makes me feel a bit unconfortable.. Do you ever feel the same?
As for language learning, I do agree with you: this course is giving us a great opportunity to improve our colloquial English, to learn new words from the "real world". So, let's take advantage of it!
Finally, I just would like to add one more suggestion on the language you have used in your post: I think you should specify the pronoun "it" in the sentence "how fun and useful is to give your opinion.."
See you very soon! ;-)
Marta
Hi, Giovanna!
How are you? Is it all ok? What a nice picture you chose for the title of your blog! I like it very much: it’s full of colours and conveys energy, life, happiness. It’s absolutely true: a blog is a way to exchange emotions, isn’t it? This discovery left me flabbergasted. Like you, I had never used a blog before the beginning of our English course. I began to find my feet with the Blogsphere but I was highly dubious about the usefulness of this new tool. Try to image my surprise when I saw that the owner of the blog you visited had left a comment in your own blog to thank you for your comment… I was simply dumbfounded, and I thought: “My God, then it really works!”. We’re using the blog as a tool for our English learning but in fact it’s a very important vehicle of “cultural and emotional exchange”, as you said. We should take advantage of its potentiality, do you agree?
Finally, just a little suggestion: I saw that the posts of your blog haven’t got a label. Maybe you could add one to your next posts: it absolutely not necessary, but it’s a useful way to classify your posts.
Well, that’s all!
See you soon,
Bye!
Martina
Posta un commento