giovedì 25 ottobre 2007

My first two weeks of blogging


Hi, everybody!
I'm supposed to write some reflections about my first two weeks of blogging. Do you see the photo on the left? Well, it perfectly explains what kind of approach I had with this activity at first!

I knew what a blog was, of course, but I had never used one before. I usually don’t spend a lot of time navigating the internet, especially because I still don’t have the ADSL line at home, so my parents go out of their heads when they recieve the telephone bill! For this reason (and for many others ;-) !), I’ve never developed my technological skills more than what was strictly necessary. So, try to image what my reaction was when I realized I would have to spend many and many and many hours developing my personal blog for the following eight months! Yes! I immediately became sad, worried and angry like the poor Donald Duck you see in the image on the right! So, I must admit that I began my experience on blogs a little mistrustful. But at the same time, I entertained hope because teachers told us that this year course would have been a good opportunity to improve our written and spoken English. And I need to improve a lot my English! I knew that it would have implied a lot of effort, but how can you better without any effort?

Fortunately, after a first moment of disorientation, things have been bettered. I’m gradually finding my feet with blogging and soon I’ll have the ADSL line at home! :) After two weeks, I can say that the idea of blogging is quite good; I’ve seen that it’s a very useful way to share information. For example, thanks to my peers, I’ve discovered a great blog on recipes (thanks, Marta!), I got new information on translation tools, and I visited new web sites on travels, which could be very useful to plan my travel to Scotland. To tell the truth, I sometimes find difficulties in writing my posts and comments: I don’t like writing very much, especially because I spend many time to think about what to say and write: I’m a pedantic “writer”, so I want my thoughts to be expressed very well and I work a lot on my English, which should be as correct as possible. I surely should work more on the time, because I can’t spend the whole afternoon to write few lines… I’ve many others things to study!

As regard the language, I think that blogging could be very useful to improve our English. Until now, the English teachers have insisted on writing skills focusing particularly on formal register and academic writing. I was used to write in a formal way, so now I’m not still able to manage the colloquial written style, but I’m sure we’ll be able to learn it, even because blogging means a constant exercise and exchange of information. I still find difficulties in memorizing new words but I believe that continuing reading and writing every week is a good chance to improve my register. I hope that all this effort will bear fruit!
See you soon!

Bye bye!

Martina

mercoledì 17 ottobre 2007

Welcome!

Photo by duffofdean


Hello everybody!
I took a lot of time to choose a photo that could represent something about myself… just one image is not enough to explain one’s personality! However, after a long research through landscapes and dogs, I finally chose this beautiful photo… coloured flowers. Why did I choose it? Well, just because it reflects my inner personality. In my mind, colours are life, and I love them as I deeply love life. I am one of those who can appreciate the little things of everyday life… an unexpected smile, a sun-day, the smells of nature. I really believe that we should be delighted at every day of our staying alive; it is not simple at all, but I try to live following this "philosophy"... and I am happy!

I don’t usually spend a lot of time in internet, because I haven’t the ADSL, so that I cannot visit the most interesting web sites; it would take me a very long time and I have too many things to do in my day! Obviously, the web sites I use daily are those of our university, so… nothing new for anyone of you! :-) You have to know that I have a dream, that is to make a great journey with my university friends, before this our exciting adventure at university comes to an end. So, searching for ideas for our travel, I have found these two amazing web sites; I suggest you to have a look at them.

The first one is http://www.inter-rail.it/ : there you can find very useful information about how an inter-rail travel works and also a detailed list of suggestions about travelling in the various countries.
Then, if you like Scotland, then you should visit http://www.visitscotland.com/it/ . It is the official site of Scotland's National Tourist Board, where you can find extremely useful information about visiting Scotland: accomodation offers, holidays ideas, etc. There is also an interactive map showing Scottish regions and cities, and where you can discover more about a Scottish particular area.
Finally, I often visit http://www.disinformazione.it/ , a web site for those who want to see the "two sides of the coin", that is for those who want to go beyond the official version of the facts. It is a way to keep your mind opened, in order to live as aware men!
I look forward to see you soon!
Bye!
Martina