Post 8 Your summer holidays

You have to write about your plans or ideas for these summer holidays.

Among other things, they should write about:

> Places you are going to / would like to visit
> People you are going to / would like to be with 
> When you are going and for how much time
> Activities you are thinking of doing
> How much money you will take and what you'll spend on with it

- Leave a comment on my sample post + 3 of your classmates posts.
- Word Count for post 8: 280 words

Sample:

I'd like to have a really good time this summer. Not like last one when I didn't have any vacations. Just a lot of work and doing nothing because I was broke. This year I'd like to travel as far away as possible from Santiago. It's really hot this week and I can't stand the heat any longer. I need the beach and the sun and somewhere to relax, read a book and drink a cool beer. Luckily my parents finally decided to invite me to a summer cabin in Algarrobo. They always go on vacation alone because they say we are adults and we can make our own panoramas. My parents are really boring. All they do is watch cable TV even on vacation. But they are paying so I´m not complaining. Besides I can go out wherever I like and I know some friends from university will be staying in Algarrobo or El Quisco so I'm sure I'll have some fun at last. I'm taking my guitar because I look forward to singing and playing by the campfire like I used to do when I was a kid. Maybe I'll meet someone interesting that way. I'll probably be there for two weeks if my father doesn't get to bored and decide to go back to Santiago. He really likes being there. I can't believe him sometimes! I´ve saved some money and I think I'll spend it on some good books and restaurants and maybe a dance club or two if I go out at night with friends. I really hope I enjoy my vacation and come back rested for another study year.

Level 4 >> Post 10 (week 13): English Language Challenges

Talk about your English learning experience

• What comments can you make about your experience learning English at university? What about the use of blogs?
• What aspects of your English need to be improved and how do you plan to do this?
• Outside the English class, how much are you using English these days? What for? Speaking? Reading?
• How do you expect to use English in the future, once you've finished your undergraduate studies?

- Wordcount: 260
- Make comments on 3 of your partners' posts.

Sample:

Hello friends! I came to talk about my learning experience. I really enjoyed spending time in class, because I learned and practiced a lot of  English. I don’t like English so much, but it's been fun participating in pair work and group work with my classmates. We get to talk about interesting topics and we practice real-life situation such as ordering food in a restaurant or buying clothes.

Without any doubt the blog has helped me, I decided to do the posts by myself, without the help of an online translator. And I actually  did it! It's not perfect but I don't have to correct every time I write. The topics could be more interesting, though. I'd like to be able to choose my own. For future experiences with the other courses, some things I would like to say about this class is that I would prefer to write more about some themes I'm interested in. I understand that you put the same theme for everyone as to evaluate all students with the same difficulty but maybe if we could write more about things we care about that will motivate us more.It is very clear for me that I still have so much to learn! But at least now I have the will to overcome the shock that English causes me. 

Right now I use English mainly to read articles and book chapters related to my studies. I'm trying to understand movies and videos without recurring to Spanish subtitles and sometimes I can understand what the actors are saying. It gets a little easier with time.

In the future, I expect to use English in conversation. For example, talking to other students and researchers in my field, specially by Skype. It's really necessary nowadays. I can write short emails now and I think I'll be writing more complex stuff in the future such as articles and abstracts. I really look forward to learning more English.