On the course blog I read that today you start the second semester. I will no longer be able to come to class, because in two days I will have finished my stay in Padova. So, unfortunately, I'm leaving you. You were a nice group and it was a pleasure to be helped by you while working on my English. I wish you to finish your studies successfully and in the shortest time possible!
BYE!
mercoledì 27 febbraio 2008
sabato 8 dicembre 2007
PLE: People, Life, Experience
photo by www.jupiterimages.com
I reflected briefly on which is the best way for me to learn and I've come up with the following key words that describe my personal learning environment: interaction, experience, repetition, action, real-life situations, media.
As you can see, my PLE is far from being based on technological tools. Apart from media, which is of minor importance, my PLE focuses on experience and interaction.
For me formal learning is quite ineffective. The knowledge I acquire in formal processes is extremely short-term. Why? Because I find hard to remember things that are transmitted to students in the traditional way, like listening to the teacher, reading from textbooks or other written sources, doing boring exercises... Unless something is supported by a real-life experience, I don't memorize it. For this reason, working in a certain field, having various summer jobs that require active knowledge of a language, is of great help to me. Doing translations, for instance, is one of the ways I learn the best. First, because in translating a lot of research is involved and by doing it you expand your knowledge without being aware of it. In addition, it's often very repetitive, and repetition is the synonym for success if you want your knowledge to be permanent.
Apart from experience, interaction and my own active participation are also very important. For example, the best way for me to learn new words is to talk to native speakers. If the new word in question comes out in a funny, embarrassing, shocking or weird context, memorizing is even faster. In this way I remember the situation, the person I talked to and these facts help me build a context, a background which is essential when learning new words. The fact is, that the more senses (and feelings) are involved in learning the more effective the learning is. To conclude, other people are extremely important in this life-long process called learning. The information I collect and store in interaction with my peers and friends from all over the world is the most long-lasting.
I reflected briefly on which is the best way for me to learn and I've come up with the following key words that describe my personal learning environment: interaction, experience, repetition, action, real-life situations, media.
As you can see, my PLE is far from being based on technological tools. Apart from media, which is of minor importance, my PLE focuses on experience and interaction.
For me formal learning is quite ineffective. The knowledge I acquire in formal processes is extremely short-term. Why? Because I find hard to remember things that are transmitted to students in the traditional way, like listening to the teacher, reading from textbooks or other written sources, doing boring exercises... Unless something is supported by a real-life experience, I don't memorize it. For this reason, working in a certain field, having various summer jobs that require active knowledge of a language, is of great help to me. Doing translations, for instance, is one of the ways I learn the best. First, because in translating a lot of research is involved and by doing it you expand your knowledge without being aware of it. In addition, it's often very repetitive, and repetition is the synonym for success if you want your knowledge to be permanent.
Apart from experience, interaction and my own active participation are also very important. For example, the best way for me to learn new words is to talk to native speakers. If the new word in question comes out in a funny, embarrassing, shocking or weird context, memorizing is even faster. In this way I remember the situation, the person I talked to and these facts help me build a context, a background which is essential when learning new words. The fact is, that the more senses (and feelings) are involved in learning the more effective the learning is. To conclude, other people are extremely important in this life-long process called learning. The information I collect and store in interaction with my peers and friends from all over the world is the most long-lasting.
giovedì 29 novembre 2007
It's time to reflect...
Last year I attended a course where we translated texts on EU. The web pages we used to find information had to be reliable and relevant. Anyway, our professor advised us certain sites where we could find what we needed and we didn't have to check on their relevance. However, sometimes the necessary information couldn't be found there and we had to search by our own. And here you had to be careful. I usually used Google or Najdi.si (a Slovenian search engine) depending on what I was looking for. Then I also restricted the query to specific domains, like .gov, .eu etc., so I was sure that they were not written by unprofessionals. I think that in the above case including a domain into the search was enough to guarantee its success, but unfortunately there are many cases when domains alone can't help us and we have to valuate a certain site by our own.
I usually look the layout first; I proceed only if it's well-organized and not flashy. The layout in fact can communicate a lot! If it's well-done it's probably because somebody put much time and effort into creating it; usually institutions with a high level of authority like governmental agencies pay much attention to how they present information on thier websites. Then I also look at who the author is and if he or she is an expert of the field. Another criterion is the date the article was published. If the page is updated regularly that's a good sign. Lastly, I also make sure there is a list of resources or bibliography for further reading, which is a clear sign that the article in question was written carefully and that the author based himself on other resources.
However, after reading the tips for choosing appropriate and reliable sources that Sarah suggested, I realized that I should pay attention to many other features of a Web source and that there are many tools that can help me sift. I will point out just one of them: Internet Directory of Published Writers. I believe it's very useful, because it helps to find information about the author and enables you to decide whether a certain article was written by a professional or not.
domenica 25 novembre 2007
You Tube
Hmm... YouTube... I don't know, I'm a bit sceptical about it. I have always seen it as a place where people are free to put all sorts of videos, from really indecent ones to the most silly ones. And actually I didn't change my mind working on the E-tivity 7. It could be that it's my fault, because I'm probably not very skilled at searching. It took me so long to find an interesting video! Unfortunately, if a certain website doesn't help me to get to information quickly, I'm reluctant to use it. Wasting time is something I prefer avoiding. Furthermore, there is another drawback: Correct me, if I'm wrong, but on YouTube you can't filter the relevant videos from the stupid ones. There is some sort of rating, but people can rate highly a clip because it's amusing and not because it is useful for what you are looking for. I don't know, maybe I should have persisted on discovering the potentials of this tool a bit more.
However, I find TeacherTube much more appropriate for learning. At least it's not so crammed with dumb videos. I found a video on Web 2.0. It's about all the things we are doing in our course.
However, I find TeacherTube much more appropriate for learning. At least it's not so crammed with dumb videos. I found a video on Web 2.0. It's about all the things we are doing in our course.
Slovenia on CNN
I thought you may be interested in what my country has to offer, so I chose the above video. It is a sequence of different promos advertising Slovenia. It displays its natural beauty, because Slovenians feel proud of it. So, if you visit us, don't expect to see great monuments like Saint Anthony's Cathedral, because to be sincere there are just a few sights of such importance. No, you should come to discover wonders that nature has produced. Feel free to contact me, if you come! I'll be your guide!
domenica 18 novembre 2007
I pod, and you?
I just came back from my exploring expedition into the world of podcasts. At the beginning of my wandering through this jungle I went to look for podcasts for ESL students. The result was that I found myself listening to conversations that were so slow and unnatural that I almost fell asleep. I soon realized that I have to omit the word ESL in my future searches. Well, maybe this is not the case with all ESL podcasts, so let me know if you found anything more interesting to listen to. So, I concentrated myself on podcasts that are interesting, that help me discover and learn new things, that deal with topics that are familiar to me, that are about current issues, and that are food for my soul as well.
The first podcast I chose is Discovery news.
I don't know for you, but for me keeping concentrated when listening to world news or other types of news is quite impossible. I usually loose myself in thoughts somewhere between a report and an other. So, I opted for news that usually appeal to me because they are different and interesting. The duration of podcasts vary from 5 to 30 minutes. Participants are scientists or just common people who love science. The conversations are spontaneous and I think this is very important because in this way we can learn how people really interact in English. And above all, this kind of programe helps us build up our vocabulary.
Then I would recommend Morning Stories. These are very interesting podcasts in which different people tell us their life stories, curious events... in short, they share with us their experiences, both pleasant and unpleasant. There are even music inserts that help the listener feel with the narrator.
The last one is Vanessa Feltz Radio Show. I found this podcast on the BBC web page. It is a talk show where people call in and discuss about different things. This time however the people involved are Londoners, so they discuss local issues as well as more global ones. Again I find it useful from the discourse point of view as well as from the "culture learning" point of view.
I think listening is quite a demanding activity when it's not accompanied by images, so I chose podcasts that are enjoyable but which at the same time don't fail to be informative. If you want to check other podcasts I found go to del.icio.us. My username is evapremrl.
The first podcast I chose is Discovery news.
I don't know for you, but for me keeping concentrated when listening to world news or other types of news is quite impossible. I usually loose myself in thoughts somewhere between a report and an other. So, I opted for news that usually appeal to me because they are different and interesting. The duration of podcasts vary from 5 to 30 minutes. Participants are scientists or just common people who love science. The conversations are spontaneous and I think this is very important because in this way we can learn how people really interact in English. And above all, this kind of programe helps us build up our vocabulary.
Then I would recommend Morning Stories. These are very interesting podcasts in which different people tell us their life stories, curious events... in short, they share with us their experiences, both pleasant and unpleasant. There are even music inserts that help the listener feel with the narrator.
The last one is Vanessa Feltz Radio Show. I found this podcast on the BBC web page. It is a talk show where people call in and discuss about different things. This time however the people involved are Londoners, so they discuss local issues as well as more global ones. Again I find it useful from the discourse point of view as well as from the "culture learning" point of view.
I think listening is quite a demanding activity when it's not accompanied by images, so I chose podcasts that are enjoyable but which at the same time don't fail to be informative. If you want to check other podcasts I found go to del.icio.us. My username is evapremrl.
sabato 10 novembre 2007
A way out of the dumpsite
For me, Del.icio.us in first place means helping each other. Internet is a virtual universe that will never cease to expand. But that doesn't mean that everything you find in it is relevant, useful and true. Far from that! Unfortunately, it is crammed with various rubbish, if I may use this word. How can we avoid choosing wrong websites? Simply: by registering to Del.icio.us. Del.icio.us is one of the paths that takes you out of the stinking dumpsite of bad websites. Why? Because when you search for web pages inside Del.icio.us you actually "rummage" among websites that the people of the Del.icio.us network thought useful. By reading the comments people posted about the bookmark, you can decide wheter the site is relevant to you or not. The number of people who saved a certain bookmark can be another indicator of quality. If, for example, 38000 users bookmarked a web page there is probably something to it.
So, if I got it right, the philosophy of a social bookmarkinig site like Del.icio.us is: Share with others and others will share with you.
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