Your experience learning English at University/A reflection

University has always been very different from school to me and this course isn’t an exception. At school, we had a lot of theory classes and some listening sections, not much talking. The teacher talked in English or “spanglish”, but there wasn’t an interaction between people of the classroom -like in University-. I didn’t learn the most part of the words I know of this language in that place, but it was useful to understand the basic vocabulary. Then I started to translate some of the songs of my favourite musical groups. When I analyze those translations now, I can notice I have improved, because of the mistakes I find there. In 2007, I won a scholarship to learn English for three months in “Wallstreet Institute” and I must say I hated it with great part of my heart, so I went to something like four sessions and I got to leave it. The thing was they had an innovative way of study English, a variation of listening sections: self-teaching. You had to listen to conversations between recorded people and then answer some questions to pass the units and there were talking sections with students and a teacher too, ok, well. But there was this annoying loud lady voice I had to listen with too tight earphones. I travelled a long way to get there and I didn’t want to leave the place with a strong headache. I wasted the opportunity to learn a bit more, I recognize it, but I wasn’t going to pay for the course after, so no problem. Comparing it to University, I like more this place, I don’t get great marks in the talking part, because in general and above all in another language I expressed better writing. I use to forget English words when I’m talking. Anyway, I like this class isn’t stressful as some other ones and I think it’s more enjoyable than that institute. I don’t like it’s far from the Medicine Faculty and I think it’s not the best English program, but it’s one of the bests where I’ve been.

Good vibes for you

She was always the most of men -and probably some women- type, clearly a beautiful girl. But not just that, also she had the best marks in her classes, a great personality and good friends. At an early age she noticed some strange mental force in herself, the kind that could relate her to another dimensions. She had the ability to see the aura, imagine past things some people lived or be medium in Ouija sessions, among other things. She used to see the aura of trees and described it like shiny white. She was scared of knowing what she didn’t ask for and her mind showed anyway. I had this rare feeling that everything around was or could be different when I was with her. I’m not a perceptive person in spirits matter, but I like to know about it very much. Séances changed the air; you noticed when it was starting, when it wasn’t a joke from anyone involved, and we knew it wasn’t a good energy every time, because of the indicator -something like a coin or a carved piece of wood- movement speed, for instance, it started to make fast circles around the center of the smooth glass where we fixed the letters and numbers. I think I’m losing the point here; I’m just trying to say that all situations were unusual around this young woman. I don’t know why her mother wasn’t frequently pleased with her. Obviously, she wasn’t perfect, but I feel her mom had a problem admitting her daughter qualities. It was common to see them quarreling. I think now she’s far from home surely things have varied. For several years, she has wanted her mother could live in a better place than the actual one, so she planned a way to earn a lot of money. She was so motivated with that idea and many more… I wonder why she’s so blue now. I’m asking you: why are you so blue?

Dancing in the moonlight

When I was beginning secondary school, Axé and Ragga rhythms were the bomb, I mean, what was most popular on radios and parties, at least the ones the students council of the institution gave. I remember I went a couple times to dance with my friends at that reunion place: the schoolyard and the gym. Well, some young dancers learned the moves to keep the wave, but some others didn’t -like me- and it was very funny to see everybody trying to do their best. One of my classmates almost only knew a single step, so he repeated it great part of the Axé songs. Another growing boy of my class was an expert in “perreo”, so we tried to be in a reasonable distance to leave him in harmony with his agitated nature. Actually, I liked music like nü metal and Marilyn Manson… not much like “Taphina” or “Papi chulo”, but it was a good time anyway. Music started to evolve and Reggaeton took control of discotheques. In a space full of sexual dance I found a shelter in alternative music and electronic sounds -I love it seems tragic-. My friends and I, usually got together in one of us house. I wasn’t interested in going out, because of the style of parties, but finally I accepted to go to a “heterosexual disco” -like I name the ones that use too much reggaeton; an excessive generalization, I know- and I didn’t feel totally comfortable with it but with my friends it was more pleasant. I think that kind of music isn’t too bad, leaving out the lyrics issue; I like the power of it, but not in the case of following the same beat half night or more. Just this year I tried in alternative discos and I feel it was really different. I didn’t even think I could want to go out and dance, but when I have time enough, strangely to my childhood thoughts and definitely without being the queen of the dance floor, I really enjoy doing it.

Dealing with stress at the University

At primary school, sometimes I got very anxious when I was about to have an evaluation, I had a knot in my stomach so unbearable in occasions that I couldn’t go to do the test, but I was a good student anyway. Some things have changed since my early years. Now, I don’t get all that nervousness, because I almost never feel prepared to an evaluation, so in those cases I think I deserve bad marks and the new feeling isn’t exactly the one I had as a kid, it’s more like stress and depression, with the apparent fact of not achieve something relevant to “my future”, considering that I’m living in a place very far from home and I displeased Santiago a lot -now this thought have changed-, but before I leaved Temuco I felt really useless so I needed to prove I could make things by myself. I did it, in a way, but marks didn’t improve. I -not always- think I’m capable to be a better student, but concentration and insecurity are my annoying limitations. So, I believe -like self-help books and many people say- it’s necessary to have an escape. Energy starts to accumulate and what else to do? Use it! I don’t mean stressed persons got to start banging fists on trees… ok, maybe concrete, but not nature! Anyway, my manner to get stress away is to do some kind of exercise, like jogging in the hill, it helps to start again with a revitalized organism; I mentioned it in another post. It depends on the person, of course. The most important thing is to do what we know can make us change the uncomfortable mood: listen to music or the sound of a river, being in a natural place or different from the actual one, do some art, be with friends… That’s the way I think it’s possible to deal with stress.

Critical periods to learn

“Dispelling “Neuromyths””, chapter 6 of the Neuroscience book we had to read, made possible to reflect on things that can be useful to “sell the ointment”, but referring specifically to Neuroscience myths. In general, it’s a very interesting lecture and one of the issues that caught my attention in a greater way was the section where the author talked about the critical periods to learn about certain matters in lifespan. It states that adults are less capable of learning some things than kids or young individuals. It is related to the not confirmed belief that people lose neurons, but actually, according to investigations about it, nerve cells get smaller, they don’t reduce their number. In addition, researchers have concluded there are synaptogenesis types in life: the one linked to “experience-expectant learning” -it occurs early in lifetime- and the other connected to “experience-dependent learning” -with the exposure to varied environments-. So, the second one can be improved during existence. But, the thing is, the writer is against the thought that suggests there is just an opportunity to learn some matters like, for example, playing an instrument. It is true kids can learn faster, so that might be the generalized problem to say the first idea, but adults -maybe in a slowly way- can learn anything too. I think it is necessary to maintain our minds working, because of the process of cortical plasticity, I believe we can be prone to learn faster if we do that. I've noticed my 11 years old cousin is really fast when someone teaches her something. I believe it's a thing of mental speed that can be improved.

A healthy lifestyle, is it possible? How?

Some parents teach their children to live in a healthy way. They make their kids eat fruits and vegetables. Fast food would be just for special occasions and sports or some kind of exercise would be highly necessary to keep them active, not just looking at the computer -thinking about these times-. I went for a jog to San Cristobal hill last weekend and I saw a family -mother, father, two kids and a baby- riding on bicycles, even with their baby in a little cart pulled by the father’s bike, I think that’s great.
I believe it is possible to have a healthy lifestyle, but I think it’s very important to be encouraged by parents, because the physical state has to be cultivated when we are young and now is too easy to prefer sedentary living ways, everything has become more comfortable, but it shows not good secondary effects. That’s why we need to be capable to make wholesome things seem -and be- pleasant. It’s usual to hear people talking unwillingly about exercise, but it is because they are not used to do it! First times doing exercises the body may be in pain and tired, but with patience it turns revitalizing -sometimes addictive, but that’s another issue-, just the opposite and great feeling. If it goes with a healthy way of eating is even better.
My mother always gave me varied meal in reasonable portions, but I don’t know how I get used to eat out of hour -not healthy food, by the way-. Physically, I was a bit overweight, so I remember doing exercises since a little kid; I think I started with step aerobics at seven, and then karate, later aerobox and now I use the climbing wall sometimes. But still I’m not so healthy, because I don’t organize my time well and when I get stressed, I start sinning with greed and I “don’t have time” to activate my body. There’s always time, the thing is get rid of the lack of willpower and start doing things efficiently. Being physically healthy really helps to be mentally better too. Doesn’t it sound good?

Thinking about childhood

I was very serious as a child. It's going to sound weird, but my parents tell me now that they were worried about my lack of smiles... I mean, make me laugh wasn't very easy. Once, my aunt Marisol told me: "You don't smile because you don't want to get wrinkled?". When I was eight, I went to a party with some cousins and an aunt, we were sat around a table and in front of my view, there was a few years older boy -like an adolescent-. He started to stare at my eyes. Don't get confused, it wasn't love at first sight. Actually, he wanted to play "Make the other get uncomfortable". Bad idea, he didn't know that quiet silent type girl wouldn't stop staring at his eyes until he got bored. But finally he wasn't bored, he was embarrassed. At that time, I didn't realize of "the power of the seriousness", so in some way I had to learn to smile more and stop having an expressionless face with people. I think I noticed it isn’t very kind.
In general, my childhood was good. I have a one year older brother and when we were children we played together a lot, he was the “master mind” for the games. Because of my father’s work, we lived in seven places of Chile. I lived most part of my life in the ninth region. My family and I went regularly to the volcanoes and natural places. When it was winter, sometimes Curacautín -the city where I lived between six and nine- had a layer of snow that didn’t let me move many steps out of my house. In fact, now my mother laughs about once she sent me to buy some food for lunch and I was crying with my plastic boots in the snow, because I couldn’t walk. In that city, we adopted my beautiful dog. Her name is Perra and she gives happiness to all of us.
These are the words for today.