In YouTube anyone can post a video and everybody can see it. Is it a bad or a good thing? I think it can be both. There are so many videos you can watch to know what's happening in the world, for learning purposes or just for fun. But there are also a lot of stupid, useless and vulgar videos you can run into while you are looking for something else. So, the important thing is to learn how to filter this huge amount of information. However, YouTube is great: you can upload your own videos and share them with the rest of the world.
I think we can definitely use this tools to improve our language skills, watching and listening to videos in English, which don't necessarily have to be specifically about English learning. The best for us would be to search a wide range of topics in order to get in touch with various aspects of the language. I took a look at TeacherTube and I saw that there are many interesting channels like World languages and Writing but also videos about science, sport and cooking.
The video I chose is taken by "An Inconvenient truth" and it talks about global warming which, in my opinion, is one of the most urgent issues to be solved.
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4 commenti:
Hi Giovanna,
I had already watched the video you chose and in my opinion it is another good example of satire (after the one about I-rak we watched on Wednesday) on one of the most pressing issues that contemporary world has to face. Why should we worry about global warming if it can be easily solved by plunging into the sea larger and larger blocks of ice, in order to decrease the temperature of the water??? Neither does the little girl believe it is possible, but she is hushed by the man speaking: it is a clear image of how people tend to forget that they are living in a pressure cooker that is about to explode, hoping that temporary solutions can avoid the impending catastrophe. I never watched Al Gore's documentary-film, but I hope I will as soon as possible. Your video shows that YouTube is a powerful tool to spread news, information, messages and appeals. I agree with you when you say that it can be used to support our learning process: looking for videos dealing with different topics is a smart and pleasant way to enlarge our vocabulary and to check how the language is used in different contexts.
Cheers,
Elena
Hi Giovanna!
Wonderful video! As Elena wrote, it's an effective satire that actually discloses our politicians' facile attitude towards such an increasingly worrying issue. Videos of this kind aim at making people think critically over problematic matters and, possibly, change their own behaviour and way of living.. In this sense, tools like YouTube can be a useful means to spread positive inputs. Yet, YouTube can also become dangerous: people uploading wrong materials on the Web can influence other people's bahaviour and the effects, especially on young people, can be horrifying.. How can people be so self-centred and cruel to spread examples of violence, hatred and pervesity? Do they just want to show off? Do they really have fun uploading disgusting videos on the Net, conscious that everybody will watch them? What do they actually look for: honour?!! I fear these are questions for which there's no answer..
Have a nice weekend!
See y on Monday!
Marta
Hi Giovanna!
as I can see reading all the posts of our group, we all agree on saying that YouTube can be a positive and useful too, provided that it is used with intelligence. As a matter of fact, videos like that on global warming you chose can play an important role in making people aware of this problem in a funny, but at the same time, intelligent way.
Hi Giovanna!
I looked at your video yesteday afternoon in the lab. I liked it very much because it's a good example of what I wrote in my post: even having fun, you can learn a lot of things! Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his documentary-film about global warming...So MAYBE there's something true in what he said!And yet, when the film was first shown, many politicians said it was an exaggeration!
In what kind of world are we living?!?!?
Martina
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