As usual, the Web is full of new tools we can make use of for our purposes: YouTube is one of them! I must admit I felt almost overwhelmed by the huge amount of videos you can find on it: and, as usual, what is difficult is to filter and select what is actual useful to you..
Surfing YouTube I realized that this tool offers videos for any purpose: if you want to be informed on what's going on in the world, or if you want to learn something new about a particular subject, or if you just want to relax and have fun...in YouTube you can find all this! Moreover, what's great in YouTube (and in all the other tools we've discovered so far) is that anyone can upload their own materials and share them with the rest of the Net-explorers.
Can YouTube be useful to improve our English? I definetely think so: you just need to sort out the right stuff from this huge cosmos of information and you'll then have the chance to watch and listen to any kind of videos.. They don't necessarily have to have a pedagogical purpose, because you can learn even from funny stories.. Indeed, I would say that you can learn things better by having fun!
YouTube is not only useful to learn a language, but also to share impressions and ideas on topics you consider to be important... That's why, surfing TeacherTube, I've chosen to add a video on racism to my personal blog. I was quite struck by this video because it speaks directly to our soul trying to rouse our reaction on this still actual problem. I think that watching videos of this kind can make us think about urgent matters and, possibly, stand up against them.
video by cirnbarnsley
4 commenti:
Hi Marta! All of us think pretty much the same things about YouTube. It is a useful tool if it is used with intelligence and a pinch of good sense. Unfortunately stupid people exist and there will be no end to the amount of nasty videos on the web.
As regards language learning I agree with you: while you're having fun you can learn things quicker and better.
The video you chose about racism is very beautiful and makes you reflect on how dumb human kind can be. That's why I think that YouTube can be fundamental to make people aware of this and many other problems.
Hi Marta,
I really enjoyed your post as a whole, I think it is the perfect synthesis of our thoughts and considerations about YouTube: it is a greatly innovative tool that enables us to broaden our horizons, but a dangerous "land" as well, in which running into vulgar and disrespectful materials seems very easy.
Fortunately, we can also find fascinating and instructive videos like the one you chose: racism is still a burning issue and it is based on stupid prejudices that are difficult to deracinate. Some people haven't learnt anything from history: racism led to the Second World War, we should try not to repeat the same mistakes again and again.
Have fun in Spain!
See you next week,
Elena
Hi Marta!
I was disoriented by the great quantity of videos I found YouTube as well. In effect I didn't put one in my blog, because I didn't have time enough to "filter" that amount of information. I can't but agree with you and the other girls in saying that this way of sharing videos has both positive and negative aspects. I think that we all are clever and mature enough to choose what is worth to be watched and what is simply rubbish, in order to take the most advantage from this tool. The problem is that not everybody is or wants to be so...
Hi, girls!
I read all your comments and I agree with you all. I like YouTube very much, above all because it's a very useful resource which could help us in keeping opened our minds to the world issues. It's true, there're many people in the world who haven't brains...Fortunately, like Sara says, we all are smart and mature girls, so we can use this tool in a rewarding way.
I liked the video you chose, Marta. I was quite impressed, because the video's very effective and speaks directly to your soul. I'll surf TeacherTube as soon as possible!
See you next week!
Martina
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