Science Leadership Academy @ Center City

Rape In Africa Blog post #2

Posted by Sophia Deoliveira in English 1 - Dunn on Friday, May 18, 2012 at 10:31 am

Hello again readers! If you have forgotten who i am, my name is Sophia DeOliveira.What my research has been identifying is the topic Rape in Africa. Now, i have definitely looked more information about this issue and i just wanted to share my updated study of this issue.

Also, if you have not gotten a chance to view my first blog click here

I have gone deeper into the topic, and found out that A Medical Research Council study found that 28 percent of men in South Africa reported having perpetrated rape; three-quarters of first-time rapists are like Rebombo - under the age of 20."This violence, there is violence elsewhere in the world, but you don't see the staggering numbers of rapes that are seen here in South Africa," Rebombo says.

Now lets talk about mainly this particular scene in which Rebombo was in.After Rebombo had done what he did,he eventually left his village and joined first a religious organization and later an aid agency. He learned about respecting others, but oddly enough he did not even think twice of raping that girl.As time went on, he told others about his emotional stages and then he thought of the girl.As i had mentioned before, he apolgized many years after, and the girl swelled up in tears.Not only did he want forgiveness, but the anger inside of him just was to much...So he did what he felt like he must do, inorder to have a clean conscience.He made time to for change.He went into more detail of his life with many, and he joined more organization in the topic he focuses on.Everyone wants to do something, or atleast spread the word of this grand circumstance.

A woman is raped every 26 seconds in South Africa, according to People Opposing Women Abuse, a nonprofit group for the eradication of gender violence.The sexual violence is strong because of what some have said repeatidly.Some say it is the country's strong culture of violence.It may also be the fact that men do not realize the rights of woman, of not recognizing them necessarily as being full human beings compared to men themselves.There are many cases of multi aged- rape. There have been many news stories of 70 year-olds raping 3 year-olds, as odd as that may be.

There are many organizations trying to stop this horrible,rapid-spreading tragedy that goes on in not only africa, but also where i live too.Sexual assult, or also known as rape can be anywhere, infact all over the globe.We have for example, Rombombo,working with the "One Man Can," a project to promote healthy relationships between men and women. As such, he is out to change the national mind-set so that men will no longer think it cool to disrespect women. Violent acts must stop, he says. So must the silence of men who witness such acts.We have family service centers that are known as “havens”.There is not much that i can do to stop people from abusing others, but i can do the small things that mean a big part in my project.What i can do is increase the self-awareness about this issue.Wait for my next blog for more information !

You and the World Blog Post #2

Posted by Dylan Long in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 9:54 pm

Throughout my first blog post, I addressed the issue of gay marriage. This blog will go further in depth on the new research conducted.

Many different factors play roles in the debate over gay marriage, such as religion, beliefs, the Government, pride.

Some religions view homosexuality as a sin. Some go so far as to protest the funerals of gays with signs that read, “God Hates Fags”.

On political terms, recently Vice President Joe Biden came out in strong favor of gay marriage.

President Obama soon also came out in favor, stating that his view on gay marriage has been evolving.

Reports say that Biden apologized to Obama for the timing of his statements.

Now that I have talked about political and religious standpoints, let’s talk social standpoints.

I created a Google Forum asking four questions; two were multiple choice, and two were text response questions.

A total of 60 legitimate responses were given over a two day span. Here are the results:

As shown above, the mass majority of those who participated in the survey are those who are in favor of gay marriage and homosexuality in general.

Of those who took the survey, the majority of them are teenagers. The majority of the teenagers in today's society favor homosexuality and unions between gay couples.

A survey on homosexuality from an online quiz website shows that the majority of those who took the survey favor gay marriage, and are teenagers.

As shown in the screenshot above, over 80% of the participants in the
survey favor gay marriage.

As shown in the screenshot above, 54% of the participants are ages 14-16, and 23% are ages 11-13.

The information and data presented thus far has a great effect on someone’s opinion on the topic, and this has happened with me.

As I said in my first blog post, I fully support gay rights, gay marriage, and all forms of unions between same sex couples, because I think every human being should be able to be happy without other people's beliefs getting in the way.

As I delved deeper into the topic of gay marriage and gay rights, I noticed that the debate over whether to legalize gay marriage is very similar to the debate over whether to legalize rights Civil Rights.

Both topics have similarities:

When Civil Rights among African Americans were finally acknowledged and respected, it had a huge impact on America, both positive and negative. It is better known for its positive impact. Gay marriage is argued to have a huge negative impact on America, but many believe gay marriage being legalized we would become an overall more accepting country.

America became more of an accepting country once Civil Rights were legalized. Gay marriage being legalized would likely result in the same.

I believe that the worst things that would come from the legalization of gay marriage are merely some tax increases and tension. This is similar to what happened when Civil Rights were legalized.

Both issues violate our human rights.

The religious aspect of hatred among homosexuals confuses me. Sure, someone has the right to have an opinion, but why must that opinion interfere with those being judged?

Yes, those who believe in that are entitled to their beliefs, but should they have say in the beliefs and decisions of those who think and feel differently?

The answer is no. To elaborate, here’s a quote I found on the internet.

“Claiming that someone else’s marriage is against your religion is like being angry at someone for eating a donut because you’re on a diet.” - Anonymous

Thank you so much for reading. Feel free to take a look at where I got all of my information for the first blog post and this one here.

Stay tuned for my third and final blog post, this time on how we can start to make a change. Thanks!

Ybrownlee blog post 4

Posted by Yasmeen Brownlee in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 9:30 pm

This blog post is a bit short since i was not able to talk to my person after it disconnected. But my goal fo this week was to find out how to ask about college and what someone wanted to do in their future it turned out quite well and i learned a bunch of new stuff. (It won't let me upload a screenshot just yet though..)

Take Two - The World As I See It: Technology

Posted by Alaina Silverman in English 1 - Dunn on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 7:47 pm

In my first post I spoke about robots existing as their own entities.

However, what happens when we begin to incorporate inorganic, manmade, and (dare I say it?) super high-tech objects into our body systems? Right now, for example, there is a lot of hope riding on a new model of artificial heart. It doesn't pump which means the patient has no pulse - the pulse usually being the first vital sign checked - and looks nothing like a real heart.

Would you want a heart that looks like this?

It's not just organic hearts being booted. A plethora of other organs are having mechanized versions of themselves made to take their place. Body parts such as eyes, legs, arms, and even ears have been remade with plastic and metal. Actually, I think this is great. So far people have only received these transplants if their lives or livelihoods depended on it.

Society is riddled with new health problems that a greater number of people are developing, it is possible that these robotic organs will become conventional. At that point, what is to stop someone from going out and getting a body part removed and replaced for kicks?

I think that the moment something that was originally for medical purposes suddenly becomes an item of vanity, a fault in the community has developed. As an example think of plastic surgery. Yes it is used for reconstructive purposes after an accident, but it is more well known as something cosmetic. It creates a fractured body image in people without, and it is very possible that people getting their surgeries can take it too far.

Mixing man and machine has become a common place occurrence in society - fictional society, at least.

Making new arms and hearts is fine and a good thing (snazzy, even) but what can be said when the basis of a being is tampered with - the brain?

In a rat whose brain was damaged, scientists implanted a computer chip that restored motor function. It takes information from the spinal cord and successfully relays it to the rest of the brain. On the opposite end, rat brain cells were grown and stimulated enough that they could move primitive machinery. These two experiments have the potential to make life better for a good deal of people; people with paralysis, or those thought to be catatonic or comatose. Already there are plans for computer chips that can be inserted in human brains. There is a chip designed for the part of the brain that controls learning and memory, likely to be used for people with damage or delayed growth in that area.

If that technology is perfected, what is to stop people from having their learning capabilities enhanced? It definitely doesn't sound legal since it's a little like steroids for your brain, but even worse is how it will affect business and education. It's possible that people won't be hired if they can't get a brain chip, or kids won't be allowed the same opportunities.

I'LL BE BACK.

There is a genuine part of me that would love being a cyborg... but shouldn't we put certain parameters and boundaries in place before there is even a possibility of these enhancements getting out of hand?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alaina Silverman, Martian Dictator extraordinaire

For further reading my sources can be found HERE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those interested, please feel free to fill out this survey. The results will be posted in the third and final blog, as well as my fun, incredibly distorted, and Martian view on what it could mean.

SLA Students in the Art in the Open Festival!!

Posted by Joshua Block on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 3:59 pm

For the fourth year in a row SLA students are collaborating with the Leah Stein Dance Company to create site specific performance pieces. The pieces are part of the Art in the Open Festival and will be performed on Friday, May 18th between 1:00-3:00. All performance sites are within four blocks of the school. As always, the process has been stunning to watch...

Click here for a printable performance schedule. (This will also be at the front door of the school on May 18th.)

Enormous thanks to all our collaborators and for all of the wonderful collaborative energy everyone is bring to the project!

Hidden City Festival 2009

AiO Publicity Video (can you spot the SLA student?)

Bright n' White Toothpaste

Posted by Manna-Symone Middlebrooks in Digital Video - Herman on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 2:51 pm

Manna
Rashaun
Lulu
Anthony

PJAS State Science Fair 2012

Posted by Timothy Best in Bio-Chem 10 - Best on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 1:53 pm

This past Sunday, a group of SLA Students departed to represent Philadelphia and Bucks Counties at the annual PJAS State Competition. There, the students presented their Science Fair Projects to a panel of judges at the Pennsylvania State University. Sophomores DeSean McLoud and Jalisa Smith were honored with Third Awards. Ellen To and Owen Grzywinski's presentations earned the two sophomores Second Awards.

SLA Junior Manna-Symone Middlebrooks returned to her second PJAS State Fair to present a project on a Local Pollutant's Effect on Dissolved-Oxygen Producing Algae. This earned her both a First Award and a $2000/semester Scholarship to the Pennsylvania State University!

Finally, Senior Jeff Kessler earned a total of five awards at this year's competition! Jeff's study of the ElectroMagnetic Fields Emitted by Cell Phones not only earned him a First Award, but he achieved a perfect score of 5.0 (an additional distinction earned by less than 2% of all participants)! At the Special Award Ceremony, Jeff was also recognized for three years of participation at both the Regional and State levels, and won one of five Oerlein Awards for Outstanding Senior High School Science Student.

In total, SLA took home 10 State-Level awards and over $16,150 in monetary prizes! Congrats to all SLA PJAS State Participants!

Spanish Blog Post Five Ideas

Posted by Matthew Ferry in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 10:06 am

For my fifth and final week I want to focus on the system of education. This time I will be using sharedtalk, as I found it more effective to use than live mocha or friends. My question for this week is "how is education structured?" I don't have anyone from a particular country or background that I want to talk to answer this question, as I'm open to any place to learn.

-What is the system of academic progression in your country like? E/i are there grades?
-How is secondary education structured?
-Are there mandated test?
-What is the structure of college?
-What's a popular field of study in college?

Que es la sistema de académico evolución en tú país como? Son ahí grado?
Cómo es secundario educación estructura?
Son ahí mandato grado?
Que es la estructura de universidad?
Que es un popular campo de estudiar en universidad?

1960s Primary Source Doc Stories

Posted by Diana Laufenberg in American History - Laufenberg on Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 8:51 am

In the comments, post your story. Then... read through other stories and build on it with another one of the primary source documents. Keep the stories interesting and relevant. No shenanigans, please. Goal is to represent a story line that creatively incorporates the primary source docs in a building story.

Communism in Vietnam Blog #2

Posted by Chris Tran in English 1 - Dunn on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 9:27 pm

Since the last post what I have found is so surprising I can’t describe it in words. The information that I found was about people protesting about communist rulers in Vietnam is selling the country over to China. These protests in peace.Some of them protest communism by writing songs expressing their feelings. One out of the many songwriters this person’s name is Việt Khang, his real name is Võ Minh Trí has been locked up because two of the few songs that he wrote was talking against both the Vietnamese and Chinese government.

The songs are called “Anh la ai” ( “Who are you”) and “Vietnam Toi Dau” are both songs that have a strong message to the world, even though the Vietnamese Community wasn’t paying attention at the time. Soon the community found out about his capture and decided to take action. Now Vietnam has three problems, one is about the Catholic church being taken over by the communists rulers, two about the communists ruler selling Vietnam to China, and the final one is about Việt Khang’s capture. During the research I have came up with several questions. What can the citizens of Vietnam do now?

Is the communist going too far with their plan? If the communist sell Vietnam to China, what would happen to the citizens of Vietnam? What would happen to their lives? What terrible events would occur after this exchange?

This picture is a picture of a guy name Viet Khang who wrote songs expressing his feelings towards the situation of Vietnam trying to sell themselves to China.

Well now I’m well aware of what the people of Vietnam are going through and I understand that there has to be something that I can do to change it. My personal opinion about this topic is that the communism’s power over the people is expanding. I think they have gone too far about not letting their citizen have the freedom to express their feelings towards that problem. I still wonder if I can do something about it. To help the people over there who are in search of democracy instead of communism. My plan is to go out and talk to people and inspire them to help the citizens over in Vietnam, but in the third blog post I will talk more about my plan of change.

Here are some of the newspaper articles that are about this topic in this blog.
Here is the google translator to translate these articles.

1.1250783573.catholic-church-in-quy-nhon

These are one of many churches in Vietnam who are taken over by Viet Cong.

Here is the hyperlink to my first blog. I hope you will enjoy reading my article

SLA Bike Week!

Posted by Samuel Sirochman on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 5:52 pm

SLA BIKE WEEK!

If you plan on participating fill out this form.

Hello everyone! This is Sam Sirochman, I am hosting SLA Bike Week, it will be happening from May 21st -

May 25th. It is my Senior Capstone and I am doing this to promote a healthier and happier community at SLA. My goal is for everyone to ride their bikes to school, although that may be unlikely, I would like for as many people to ride to school as possible.

Why should you ride? Well because exercising in the morning is a great way to lose weight, increase brain function, and increases overall happiness. Now if you are planning to ride in the mornings, I highly suggest that you take a look at the Preferred Commuter Routes. I must also ask that if you plan on riding, please wear a helmet! We at SLA, are all very bright people and I would hate for any of us to fall and get seriously injured.

Now the best part, if you plan on riding and are interested in getting a PhillyLove’sBikes Sticker. Let me know and I can save you one. (I’ve got 250, they will go fast!) Finally, the SLA Bike Week Raffle, we will be raffling a $50 Modell’s Gift Card. Everyday you ride your name will be entered in the Raffle. You ride once, you have one chance. If you ride everyday, your name will be entered 5 times. There will be a spreadsheet by the bicycle rack, you must write your name and bike model, I will put a check for everyday you ride.

Please remember to use the Bike Rack!

Thank you for your time, I hope to see you all riding!

Read up on some safety guidelines!

Blog post #4

Posted by Allison Patterson in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 5:40 pm

This week I spoke with a guy who lives in Spain in an effort to compare the violence and criminal activities between a first world country and second or third world countries. I found out that the government has made drugs illegal in Spain so, most people stay away from them. This is similar to the way the America government has dealt with drugs. As far as the idea that Spanish speaking countries are highly dangerous and full of drugs, Spain seems to be the odd one out. I tried talking to my partner about why this is but he went offline. However, I believe that Spain is different because it has other European culture to influence it's decision. In other Spanish speaking countries most of the countries around have drug or violence problems so there is no positive influence. For my final post I want to speak to some one from Brazil or another large Spanish speaking country.

Ybrownlee Blog post 3

Posted by Yasmeen Brownlee in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 3:45 pm

This blog post is a bit short since i was not able to talk to my person after it disconnected. But my goal fo this week was to find out how to ask about college and what someone wanted to do in their future it turned out quite well and i learned a bunch of new stuff. (It won't let me upload a screenshot just yet though..)

Blog #4

Posted by Chelsea Smith in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 12:41 pm

Who you spoke with and why you chose that partner
I spoke with Looghan de Rubens from Mexico.
What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?
While talking to this guy he spoke in english to help practice his english. He also told me a little bit about himself, for example he worked in an office.
How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goals?
In general my goal was to enhance my spanish and be able to hold a conversation with someone. The more I chat with these people the closer I think I am to this goal.
What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations? What specifically to you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)
Something I have done well that I continue to do is keep a conversation going as well as being able to interact more with the person I am having a conversation with. I had more with this person but something happened with my computer and I lost the other conversation me and this person had, but I uploaded everything that I do have.

Blog Post #4

Posted by Sierra Dinvil on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 11:40 am

Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?

I spoke with my best friend Nicolette who's native language is Spanish. I chose her because she knows spanish very well, and it's easier to talk to my friends for this project rather than random people .
What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?

I learned a lot about her taste in music. Although she is my best friend, this isn't something that I know pryer to this project. In a way, this strengthened our friendship.
How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?

Well, I guess in a sense it didn't. I expected to get more from this conversation, and really just realized it wasn't as good as a question as I expected.
What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?

I mean as far as expectations go, I don't feel as though this conversation went as well as it could have.
What specifically do you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

I need to improve on having more in depth conversations. Maybe I could find another topic that have created a better conversation.

Bloggy Thingy

Posted by Sergey Kuznetsov in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 11:28 am

· Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?

I talked to a Charles in my conversation, and obviously I chose him because he responded.

· What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?

I learned that he loves anime, and speaks English pretty darn well.

· How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?

He is the first one to correct me, so it helped me in more then one way!

· What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?
Since my goal was to learn about him and life there, I’d say that this Dominican republic guy was pretty helpful!

La Conversation Numero Cuatro

Posted by Symone Smith in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 11:28 am

Goal: Share my opinions and experiences (Talking about things we have in common)

Las Preguntas

¿Música esta importante en tu vida? ¿Por que?

¿Qué typo de música te gusta?

¿Comó estas presentar bailar?

¿Solamente tu te gusta bailar en tu familia?

Transcript:

Yo:Hola chica! Que pasa?

Ella-Hola.nada,escuchando música y tu?

Yo-Yo también! Yp escuchando a Justin Bieber para el momento.jaja.¿Música esta importante en tu vida?

Ella-si musica es importante en mi vida

Yo-¿Por que?

Ella-La música es importante para mí porque me ayuda cuando estoy molesto, feliz, cansado, excitado. No importa lo que yo estoy en el estado de ánimo que puede encontrar una canción para que coincidan. Yo crecí con la música tocando el piano, la guitarra y el violín. Es lo que me mantiene viva del tipo.

Yo-yo ve,yo ve.M siento también…la música ayuda me relajarse,concentrado,y hace feliz.A veces música describe comó me humor mejor de me.

Ella-claro que si.

Yo-Esta bien.Me gusta R&B y pop.¿Qué typo de música te gusta?

Ella-todos.

yo-esta bien. Qué es tu favorita?

Ella-R&B

Yo-si si…con todos la música a escucha,te gusta bailar?

Ella-Si te gusta.

Yo-Yo también!! ¿Comó estas presentar bailar?

Ella-Yo bailo ballet y danza moderna. Cada canción me hace bailar de otra manera. Depende del ritmo y el humor de la canción.

Yo-¿llevas clases de baila?

Ella-No. Yo me enseñan a partir de vídeos y viendo Dancing With The Stars.

Yo-Jaja yo también! Yo bailo desde que pequeño pero yo no llevo un clase.Me gusta veo vídeos de baila en Youtube y intento aprendo la coreografía.

Ella-si si yo también!

Yo-jaja.Mi padre baila tambien...yo obtengo mi habilidades desde el.¿Solamente tu te gusta bailar en tu familia?

Ella-Un poco más. Mi papá baila para ser gracioso. Pero desde que mi mamá es de Puerto Rico baila salsa cada vez que tenemos los partidos con la familia.

Yo-Muy Bien!

Reflection:

For this conversation I continued talking to Brianna Perrin. I like talking to her because I feel more comfortable.In this conversation we talked about something that interest both her and me, music and dance. I feel like this conversation is actually a conversation we would have as friends, it seemed more realistic and not like an interview. I think I am making progress with making my conversation more casual. This is helpful because if I'm talking to someone in spanish its not just going to be question and answer. I noticed that my transitions and conjugations are getting better. I still do need to improve on getting my point across with my questions,make them more specific.

Proyecto de Conversación: Our Favorites

Posted by Annisa Ahmed in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 11:22 am

Annisa Ahmed
Español lll, D Band
Conversation Project: Week Four

Antes de Conversación:
What will your topic of conversation be?
    Trying to find out what people enjoy doing as well as how can we find similarities within.
What are you looking forward to about this conversation?
    I am looking forward to talking to a person on a more personal level than I have ever dared to go before.
What are your nervous about?
    I am a tad bit nervous about how I will write down my own key highlights, and responding to theirs. I don't want to take very long or make them feel reluctant to share. Wish me luck.

Después de Conversación:
Who did you speak with and why did you choose them?
     All of them find me, as did Majela Alvarez Rivera. She was around my age and I figured it would be easier to find some things that we might have in common - teenagers are pretty much the same.
What did you learn about them?
    Majela likes basketball, swimming as well as music. And she likes a long list of genres.
How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your goal?
    I got a long list of answers, from things she likes to do to the number of siblings she has. So yes, I would consider this to be a success.
What did you do well according to your goals?
    Yeah, I sidetracked a bit but for the most part, it was a great conversation.
What specifically do you need to improve on?
    I should try to not use WordReference too much for words I don't understand and just go with what I know because it will be better practice and also, less relying of me.

Yang- Conversacíon #4

Posted by Allen Yang in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 11:22 am

Who you spoke with and why you chose that partner
I spoke with Emilio for the 3rd time, and that's also the reason why I picked him. It's easier to communicate with.
What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?
Spanish verbs are a pain to learn even though he's a native speaker. He taught me some different ways to say "awesome."
How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goals?
Gained new vocabularies and learned proper ways to state a certain question. It's advancing me in vocabularies.
What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations? What specifically to you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

Still need to improve on question/sentence structures.

Msanders Blogpost 5

Posted by Michael Sanders in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:55 am

Before

• What will be your topic of conversation be?

Drinking.

• What are 5 questions related to your conversation goal that you can think of ahead of time to ask your partner?

- Do you drink?

- Whats the drinking age?

- Where are the partys at?

- If so where do you go?

- If not then what bad stuff you do.?

• What are you looking forward to about this conversation?

I don't know if this was personal but I asked about drinking in Mexico. Obviously I talked to someone who was underage and she said never in her live did she drink.

• What are you nervous about?

I'm nervous that I might mess up and she will Yell at me and say I can't speak spanish correctly. I had no confidence.

After:

• Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?

I talked to Nohemi from Mexico She was 17 from Mexico.

• What did you learn about them?

The drinking age in Mexico is 18. Thats different from the 21 drinking age in America. I also learned that in Mexico there are a lot of partis at the beach. Its different from regular teen parties. In mexico its more tradition with music parties.

• How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?

Nohei was a very nice girl. She was my age and understand what I was going through because just last year she felt the same about english. Also she said that she was ok with the topic which was fine by me.

• What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?

I learned about drinking in Mexico. I also learned that Nohemi is a good little girl who never does anything wrong. She said she never had one sip of alcohol in her life. Not that she was suppose to but most teens usually have at least 1 sip in their teenage years.

• What specifically do you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)

I want to improve on talking like a regular spanish person and not like I'm some 5 year old trying to learn the language. I want words to come natural to me instead of looking them up.

Blog #4

Posted by Pauline Garcia in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:50 am

Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?
I spoke to Jonathan Flores, he's from Spain. I didn't chose him chose him. He asked to have a private conversation. Then I thought, why not?
What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?
I learned that he loves rock and romantic musics, but he hates rap music because he think it's ugly. He's 23 years old and he's a student in college majoring in English because he said he wanted to be a teacher in the future :)
How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?
To be honest, I always tend to talk about other things that what I planned to do. I think this is because we're both just going on with the flow of the conversation. But dont get me wrong though, we still talk to each other well and have a good conversation. We might have some awkward silence for a while but we both regain back our cheerful self.
What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?
I did well on speaking and actually not being awkward and getting along well with him. I didn't have the awkward pace were I'm trying to see what I can say.
What specifically do you need to improve on?
Probably more topics to talk about.

I would have more pictures but I didn't know that when I shut my laptop, the conversation will end and close as well. Lo siento.

blog post #4

Posted by Daniel Wirt in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:50 am

Who did I speak with and why did I choose that person?
I spoke with Alice, and i spoke with her for a few reasons. For one i hadn't spoken to a girl native speaker yet and wanted to see if there was a similarity in different genders. She was also 18, so she was the youngest person i had talken to as of yet.
What did you learn about them? What did you learn from them?
I learned that she is from Mexico and she is chosing to learn english because she wants to come to the US to take up college education. She also wants to learn medication which is cool because i too want to take that up in college.
How did this interaction help you move towards achieving your personal goal?
Well it helped me to see that learning different languages are helpful for future education and depending on the field you go in, it could be necessary.

What specifically did you do well according to your goals/expectations?
I was able to improve on my vocabulary and see what the younger people want from learning different languages.
What specifically do you need to improve on? (Quote specific things you said or did and what you would have done or said if you could do it again)
Work a little more on conjugations.

¿Comó son las vidas de personas en otras países?

Posted by Sabrina Stewart-McDonald in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:47 am

I spoke with an 18 year old boy from Mexico named Miguel. He had invited me to talk on Sharedtalk. I learned that he loves architecture, wants to visit New York and also loves Dragon Ball GT. He was very friendly and extremely enthusiastic; using a lot of smileys and talking avidly. He also wanted to prove that, unlike the movies, Mexicans do not wear festive looking sombreros and not everyone sells drugs. I learned that his city has a huge cathedral and is very quiet.
At first it was difficult to get him to speak in complete Spanish; he loved to speak in Spanglish and I actually had to ask him if we could set aside about 10 minutes so I could ask him a few questions. I had to remind him again to speak in Spanish after my first question.

JHinton - Blog Post #4

Posted by Jessica Hinton in Spanish 3 - Gierke on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:45 am

For this blog post, I spoke with someone named Santiago, from Colombia. I actually enjoyed speaking to him. I felt really comfortable speaking with him, so I think that's why my Spanish was much better. We spoke a little bit about school, and then we spent time speaking about the culture in Colombia.