essay question

In many countries people no longer wear their national costumes. They are forgetting their history and traditions. More people should be encouraged to wear their national costumes everyday.

Do you agree or disagree?

The Last of the Omans....

Yesterday Carlos told me about the story of the old man who lives on the street. Currently he lives on the street outside UCINF, eating scraps of food that he finds or people give him. Interestingly though and somewhat surprisingly, he used to be extremely well off. Moreover, he had a beautiful house in the country, as well as two Mercedes and furthermore, he was married to a real beauty. However, despite all this he was desperately unhappy because he believed that he was the last of the 'Onas' people - an ancient tribe of South America. On the one hand he was so happy with the life that he had but on the other hand he was saddened by the fake plastic world of the rich and felt a need to live his life as a nomad as the Omans always had lived before.

One day he had a dream and suddenly all was clear. He had to follow his routes. The ancient Oman site was outside the grounds of the new UCINF University so he decided to lay his hat there and live with the trees, pigeons and cars. Luckily he has found a way to be happy. It may not be how many of us would like to live our lives but it works for him and that is what matters.












http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/omgrammar/contraste2.htm

worksheets from last week's class

You may need these if you were not in the class last week on Wednesday! Also you can have a look at the other students' blogs to get the idea!



Phrases for reporting expert opinions or general claims:

It is said that…. Experts say…..
It is claimed that….. Leading authorities state….
It has been suggested that…. Smith (2003) claims/states/says…..



Phrases for reporting facts or statistics:

Research shows that….. Studies indicate that…..
A recent survey revealed that…. Public opinion is that…..
An opinion poll showed that…. Scientific investigation proved….



Phrases for reporting personal opinion:

In my opinion, From my point of view,
My own personal feeling is that… I firmly/strongly believe that…
From my perspective, I am of the opinion that…


This is backed up by public opinion/by the experts/by Aretha Franklin




Ask your teacher what the public opinion is about …


Nursery Education AGREE DISAGREE

Nursery education should be free and available for all children.

There should be no emphasis on reading or writing at Nursery.

Children should only study for half a day at Nursery.


Primary Education

Testing should be compulsory at age seven in Primary School.

Children should be silent in the classroom at Primary level.

All children should be obliged to play team sports once a week.

Primary school should start at age six.


Secondary Education

Physical punishment should be an option for teachers to deal
with bad behaviour.

Parents should be expected to pay all text books, uniforms and
sports equipment for their children at secondary school.

All students should be in mixed-ability classes throughout secondary
school.

Watch the second video from the top (the one with the picture of a desert!) or click on teh link `Where the hell is Matt?' and then answer these questions.

Where does Matt go and what does he do in each country?

In you blog tell everyone which five countries you would go to if you could go anywhere and what you would like to do in each country!

Deadline August 31st!

Good Luck!

my favourite song...

We Never Change
Cold Play



I wanna live life, never be cruel,
I wanna live life, be good to you.
I wanna fly, never come down,
And live my life,And have friends around.
We never change, do we?
We never learned to leave,
So I wanna live in a wooden house,
I wanna live life, always be true,
I wanna live life, and be good to you,
I wanna fly, and never come down,
nd I live my life, and have friends around.
We never change do we? No, no,
We never learned to bleed,
So I wanna live in a wooden house,
Making more friends would be easy.
O I don't have a show to say,
Yes, and I sing of a single day,
We never change do we?
We never learned to leave.
So, I wanna live life in a wooden house,
Making more friends would be easy,
I wanna live where the sun comes out...

I love this song because really this is my dream. To live in a wooden house with my boyfriend, a couple of kids, grow my own veg and have a few animals and most importantly have friends around. It is also a beautifully simple song.

A bit about me!

I'm Maria Bernadette Byrne but my bestfreinds call me Marjie or sometimes Mazza. I come from London but have been living in Santiago, Chile for over 2 years. I am desperately trying to learn Spanish but its really hard because I am an English teacher and therefore speak English everyday (obviously!).
I live in Nunoa which is a great neighbourhood - full of life, restaurants, nice bars and a wonderful plaza. I don't go out much though during the week but at the weekends you can often find me having a nice glass of red wine somewhere in Nunoa! At home I plan lessons, email friends, watch TV, cook (I love cooking) and sometimes play the guitar (but my boyfriend doesn't like it!).

Anyway that's enough about me. Now I am looking forward to reading your blogs!