The Last One: The Idea of Blog Assignments

Six weeks of watch on group mates’ and the teacher’s blogs. What are others thinking about the topic I have just written? What do I think about their ideas? What will be the next assignment about? Much of reading and much of writing -- this is the way to improve any language. And I am glad that I had this opportunity for my English.

The teacher asks if I believe that producing much text has made me better writer (www.engae1.blogspot.com). It might be too brave to say but I will dare -- I do think I became a better writer. It is much easier for me to write an assignment in English now than six weeks ago. It does not require looking to the dictionary as often as I used to. Moreover, thoughts come to me in English and I have no need to translate everything from my own language. My presence in a foreign country and use of English everywhere might be also a reason for this. Still, I believe that these blog assignments also helped me a lot.

The teacher also asks if I believe that having an audience has made me better writer (www.engae1.blogspot.com). I am not sure about this. I don’t think this reason helped to improve the language. But it definitely helped to improve basic writing skills. When you are writing only for a teacher to read you might not think about following points: what can one think about a kind of thoughts; can I insult somebody by writing a sentence; should I be more liberal with my way of thinking? When you answer these questions the text becomes more or less acceptable to everybody. And I find it very important to know the way of expressing your ideas without affronting anybody.

In addition, when you know there is going to be a number of people reading your text, you are trying to make it more interesting and present your ideas as clearly as you can. Afterwards, you are reading other students’ works, providing some of them with your comments, and waiting for somebody to react to your peace of writing. And after analyzing received comments you will write another text trying to avoid the same mistakes and trying to emphasize things that were enjoyable. This circle has been running for six weeks and suddenly it came to an end. I believe that some students will continue writing every week, not necessarily online, just because they got used to it.

Some advice:

• It might be better to provide two themes every week; when there is one subject you can talk about, sometimes you are not able to think of what to write. I understand it is very difficult to think of that many themes. Maybe students themselves could have some offers?
• I would recommend another day for deadline -- any day of a week but Sunday. It depends on students, of course, but most of them do tasks in the very last minute. And then half of a weekend disappears.

All in all, I liked writing and reading blog assignments. I think this way of improving students’ writing should be kept and, what is more, should be spread.

Why do people start a blog?

Diaries in the internet -- the topic I am not very familiar to. The blog for Academic English is the first for me. My group mates’ blogs are almost the only ones that I read for I do not have much enthusiasm to search the internet for various kinds of thoughts. Though, I have some friends that are studying abroad and they write blogs which I read at times.

There are many reasons to start a blog. The strongest for me is -- to communicate with friends who you cannot meet in everyday life. In this case, the peace of writing becomes as an information source about what you think, what happens in your life, what you would like to suggest to your friends, or what you would like to share with them. You even have a possibility to put some pictures in your blog and to visualize your stories -- this is great!

Our teacher says that parents, “cat owners”, or “daysleepers” have started writing blogs (www.engae1.blogspot.com). It might be that people want to share their experience, or receive some advice from others, who have already outlived similar periods of life. They find it, probably, easy to share information in this way -- it does not require many efforts: you just sit at your table in a warm room and communicate with the whole world. Furthermore, it might be that people do not find likely thinking persons around themselves and writing blogs becomes a way to convince oneself that the way a man thinks can be accepted in community. And there are also some who start blogs for class assignments as we do.

Thus, the number of blogs is growing rapidly, and I am not happy about this significant increase. It might make people refuse seeing each other, talking to each other, eventually, do things together. We might forget communication in the real world. We might become used to the screens of computers too much and start being afraid of faces or oral language. I agree, when a person is far from one’s home and there is almost no other way to communicate with one’s relatives, internet is probably the best solution. Still, I find it dangerous for the humanity -- you never know when the border is transgressed.

My Personal View of Sweden

The very first time I came to Sweden was the summer of 1995. At that moment I was a 9 years old girl and everything was very attractive for me – that was the first time in a foreign country in my life. Then, several times I was lucky to cross Sweden in a car going to Norway with some stops in the biggest cities, and eventually, January, 2006, I came to stay in Karlstad for 5 months.

If one asks my first expression about Sweden, I say – nature. I like this country’s nature very much. The great amount of forests, mountains in the northern part, lakes in the middle of the country – everything is rather harmonized. Therefore, I am very happy to have an opportunity of staying not in a big city in Sweden, but in the city which is surrounded with nature. I find Karlstad as a very calm, nice, and friendly city.

Besides nature, I like relaxed people here. It is the best atmosphere to live, to study, to work, to spend your leisure – to do everything you can think of in not stressful environment. I have been studying in the capital of Lithuania where everybody is hurrying somewhere, and I believe that in Stockholm it is the same. But here this is one of the benefits I find in Sweden.

As I am an exchange student I want to emphasize Swedish education system, which I like more than Lithuania’s one. You are studying one or two subjects at a time and after the exact number of weeks you finish the courses. Then you start other ones. In Lithuania we study 6 or 7 modules per semester and at the end of semester we have exams’ period, when all the students are taking their exams. Thus, in Swedish system I have already found that you remember much more things when you can concentrate for one subject. Furthermore, you have an opportunity to analyze more deeply the subject, because you do not have to think about other 5 that are waiting for you to study. The relaxed environment mentioned above also helps to study.

As there are things I like very much, there are things that I do not like at all. You have many rules that, I think, should be considered as an opportunity to choose. For example, if you go to a pub you must take your coat off and put it into a wardrobe, and then, of course, pay for it. Then, I did not like that all the shops close at 8 p.m., or, at the latest 9 p.m. This dislike is probably for my habitude to do shopping at 10 p.m. Furthermore, Swedish people are unpersuadable. If you decide something there is almost no probability to change your mind.

There are still more things I like in Sweden: no smoking in public places, punctuality, means of communication (buses, trains). And then there are things that are strange for me. I cannot say if they are good or bad. They are simply strange. Systembolaget is one of those things. It is very unusual for me to go to an ordinary shop and not to see any section for alcohol there. What is more, when answering the phone you say hello and your name. In Lithuania it would be understood as if you were saying hello to yourself, for we usually say hello and name of the person who is calling.

As you can see, the most things I really like in Sweden. Something seems strange, but it is normal for every culture has its own particularities. And things I do not like are actually a part of my habits. But for 5 months I can close my eyes to this. Furthermore, if I need to stay longer, I would probably get used to your particularities, for it is something that one can adjust to. All you need is time and tolerance!