A blog?! What on earth is a blog?!

Arghhh!!! This was my first reaction when I was told computers, keyboards, the Internet and blogs were going to be my next tools to improve my English.. As you can understand, technology is not one of my passions..

Anyway, after two weeks of e-learning and e-activities, my skills are slowly improving and I'm even beginning to enjoy writing posts! Creating your own blog can be frustrating if you have such little knowledge of e-technologies, but it can also make you proud of yourself when you finally click on the right button publishing your post..

What are blogs for? Will they be really useful to improve my language learning? Well, we'll see..but let's just take this example: while I was looking for blogs on cuisine and recipes, I came across some new words and expressions which are usually used in spoken English. What is more, whenever I write a post, I always try to use vocabulary and grammar properly (even if I'm not the kind of person who reads their own posts hundreds of times!). In general, I would say I'm getting quite conscious of what I'm writing and reading, trying to learn from what is good on the Web.. The only problem, now, is to become able to recognize what is actually good out there!!!

;-) Marta

Yes, it's me!

A traditional London bus..

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/esuzf/

Why have I chosen this picture? Because I simply love London! I have just come back from this exciting city and I'm already planning to go back there.. What I like most of London is its amazing mixture of cultures, colours, traditions and languages..everything there seems to be lively, vivid and full of energy! When I was in London I always travelled by bus, partly because I lived in the town centre and partly because it was the best way to "explore" and to get to know the city, its streets, its oddest people, its bright colours and, why not, its traffic! I think that this picture best represents my enthusiasm and my will to go back there, one day, and be part of that fascinating reality..

Here are two websites I would suggest to you to have a look at:

http://www.wordreference.com/

I have been using this free online dictionary since the very beginning of university; I find it particularly useful when, using the computer to write in English, I come across a new or difficult word. Thanks to this website you can quickly solve many of your basic translation problems; moreover, if you just click on the right links, you can get images and samples of contexts for the word you are looking up in the dictionary.

http://www.timeout.com/london/

If you are planning to go to London, this is the website for you: it provides you with all the information you need about events, expositions, films, restaurants, pubs and TV programs that are on in the city. Each event is reviewed, and you can also get tips on where to eat nearby the place you want to visit! This website, as well as the Timeout Magazine, is largely used by Londoners to be constantly informed of what is new in their city.