Journal Work # 1

English Reading and Writing Habits.

When I first studied English, about 9 years ago, I never expected it to be such a fascinating journey to discover as it has been and still is. Indeed, the first time I took classes at Britanico, I was extremely nervous, because I truly believed learning English was something simply impossible for me to accomplish. I remember like if it was yesterday, when I entered to my first class, and my teacher had that extraordinary accent, and I knew in that moment that this was like a dream. In my first years, I was so happy by learning about this whole new world that a few years ago not many people had a lot of access to (but happily, now it has become easier and more affordable for everyone). I remember my dad telling me: this is the language of the future, and youre very lucky to know English, but to be honest, I was just fascinated to believe that there are others, so far away from home, that do not speak Spanish! And that as English, there are a million of languages out there in many different parts of the world! Nine years after, I still believe this is a fascinating journey. Over these years, Ive worked hard in order to improve my English skills: writing, listening, reading and talking. For me, its just like a mother-tongue language. I love speaking in English, and it has become sort of natural for me, that sometimes I dont know how to say a word in Spanish but I know it in English, or I remember a word in English but I totally forget how that word in Spanish is! I know it may sound crazy, but sometimes that happens. Also, there are some things I can express better and in a shorter way in English rather than in Spanish, and there are some words in English that express so many things, but that in Spanish there isnt an exact word for it! and its super crazy, because as a native Spanish speaker, Im a like: OMG! We dont have this in Spanish language! Phrasal verbs like take apart which means: to get rid of something into all its different parts; its kind of difficult to translate in Spanish, because there isnt an exact word, and besides, we use more words to express the same idea. This is an example of the main differences for expressing things in an easier and shorter way in English rather than in Spanish. But nothing is simple when you first start, and English was not the exception. I really wanted to learn this language perfectly so, I started reading little books for kids and magazines when I was 10, and of course music was the best help I couldve ever had to improve my English fluency and accent, so I also started trying to read the lyrics of any song I liked. It was a combination of music and literature. Later, when I reached a higher level in English comprehension, I started reading books a little bit bigger and with a higher level from Oxford University Press (because most books say at the back Stage 1, 2 and so on). Ive read books like The Woman in White (1859) and Great Expectations (1860) and I must admit both Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens are beyond the greatest authors Ive had the pleasure to read about. I love reading novels. They are my favorite type of books, because they tend to be very romantic and captivating, and besides, I always fall in love with the characters I read! One of my favorite English writers is Jane Austen, an English writer from Hampshire who is the author of Pride and

Prejudice (1813), my favorite book of all times. I really like her because she had a particular way of writing her novels, with a combination of irony, indirect speech and at the same time being very realistic, giving a very hard critique to the portrayal of woman in the 18th-century. Even though I like old books, I also read more contemporary ones, like the Twilight saga, by Stephenie Meyer and The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg. I also like reading Vogue magazine, because it keeps a very sophisticated way of writing in each of its articles and also because its about the Fashion Industry (the new trends, fragrances, models and all those things) and its something really interesting to read if you like fashion. Another thing which is also good to improve your English skills, is writing. I must certainly admit, this is my weakest point, because I have more mistakes in writing than in speaking or listening. Last year, when I bought my diary (as I do every year) I decided to write it in English, and at the beginning it was so hard for me to write, because I was just not used to it, and what is more, I couldnt know if what I was writing was ok or not, because I couldnt let anyone read it! But I found out, that it has become easier for me to write now, since Ive been writing a whole year, so when you practice daily and consciously, you get better with time. I also like writing down any phrase I hear from the movies I watch, and I must say this is also an excellent way to improve both your listening and writing skills. Ive written down little scripts from movies like Ratatouille and The Kings Speech and its great fun to do something you like by your own, and know that you are getting better makes it even better!

Journal Work # 2

Peruvian Values
Its well-known Latin American countries are totally different from most European or Asian ones, but far from being just partying and sleeping all-day we are all one big family with a lot of traditions and values, which take part in the construction of our own identity. This is the case of Peru, a South-American country, full of history, traditions, delicious food and so many different cultures that had ended up in a really big diversity of expressions in many fields such as art, literature, dancing and others. But even though, we do not share the same values and traditions, we are still part of the same nation, therefore, and as part of one culture, we have our own way of perceiving and relating to the world around us. Peruvian culture is famous for keeping their traditions. This is something that comes right from the history of our country, because Peru has been primarily rooted in Amerindian and Spanish traditions, although weve also received some influence from African, Asian and European ethnic groups. Thats why something very important to understand about Peruvians, is the significance that has to keep our traditions, because they represent a big part of our identity. This is probably the main reason why older people tend to be very conservative in many aspects of life: because they have the idea that is of vital importance to maintain the customs. One example could be what happens in the northwestern region of Lambayeque (one of Perus 25 regions) which is very famous, for its music and dance. In fact, theres one special dance, call the Marinera nortea, which is actually one of Perus national dances and also the most beautiful of all, because it is danced with such and elegance and perfection between the couple. In this region, young children are taken from very young, to dance classes, in order to learn the Peruvian Marinera. This is because, for Peruvians, its extremely important that children learn to love and respect but also understand the concept of preservation of their own traditions. They assume that Marinera is part of who they are and for that raison, they should keep it with them. By the end of the year, many Peruvians and also tourists from all over the world come to this place just to see the National Contest of Marinera which is Lambayeques biggest event that lasts for mainly 3 to 4 days. Another value which seems totally evident in Peruvian culture is our concept of informality. Although, we do not have the same idea that Americans have, most Latin American countries are somehow informal, but this will entirely depend on the situation we are facing. This means, we believe that being informal is natural, but we do not think we can be informal at any time we want. This value is much related to equality. Peruvians tend not to treat people equally, because we are accustom to treat people with a certain level of respect, according to the social status they belong to: low, medium or high. These notions of equality lead us to be quite informal in our general behavior with people we know (like family or friends), but when we talk about business or we attend to any important social or public event, this situation automatically changes, and we start showing formality to show respect. You can see it at any public event or social meeting. One day, my dad was invited to a Conference from the Marines Department, and he was allowed to come with his family, so he took me to the meeting. While we were there, I immediately recognized some familiar faces for me, like Rodrigo

Martinez and Santiago Villanueva which are very close friends from my dad, but during the entire meeting they were totally straight and formal, and they were always trying to find the way to say more outstanding things than the other one, and I was so terribly confused by the way they were acting, because every time they came home, they were very friendly and outgoing and their body language and dress were (from head to toe) so different from the way they looked that day! Despite this glitches, I really think this 2 Peruvian values, help you a lot to understand the differences that we see all around our country, but how we are also one big family!

Journal Work # 3

Concepts of Time and Cultural Values connected.

In Times Talks with an Accent, Robert Levine centers on cross-cultural differences in concepts of time and how this affects directly in people relationships. In his text, Levine says that the rules of punctuality are inseparably intertwined with cultural values, this means that how people (who grow up and belong to a particular culture) construe the time of their lives (and how much importance it has for them) comprises all the general patterns - values and assumptions - this main culture shares as a group. But people from one culture do not necessarily share the same exact values to the same extent, but most of them generally agree with each other. Just like he said in his text, I designed my first systematic experiments about time in an attempt to understand Brazilians beliefs and rules about punctuality (par. 16), although, we might not go so far, when it comes to understand a new culture, we must understand first that DIFFERENT cultures mean DIFFERENT values. For instance, we should take a look back at all the examples Levine writes about when he moved to Brazil, of course, it was not easy for him to understand Brazilians idea of time and how it was so intertwined with their daily life actions and ways of treating everyone else around us, and he did suffer a lot in the beginning, but he later understood this system. But, why it was so hard for him to understand these new concepts of time? - Well, the answer seems a bit simple, but it doesnt mean youll soon understand it - Because he comes from another culture, and from where he comes from, time values change and so their general behavior. There are many ways in which societys concept of time reflect cultural values. In my country for instance, Peruvians are very famous for being late for general appointments - business meetings, family reunions or even when going out with friends. This is something that most foreigners are surprised about when they first come to Peru, because they are trying to understand our ideas of time and how it involves many aspects of their daily life. To be more specific, this is something that happens all the time in my family. Whenever my father is working and its almost time to eat lunch or dinner, my mother usually calls him in order to know if hes coming soon and if we should wait for him, but he always goes with the same answer: oh, yes, sure! Ill be there in 15 minutes, but the same as Levine, Ive also designed my own systematic experiments about time in an attempt to know my fathers time to come home. When he says 15 minutes, then that means half an hour and when he says 30 minutes, then that means 1 hour or probably a bit less. The funniest part is that whenever I tell my father, you were supposed to be here 15 minutes ago (or something like that), he tells me: me? But if Ive sad Ill be here on time! Peruvians idea of time and punctuality are sort of similar to Brazilian ones. This is a very good example of main differences and similarities between cultures, because even though we are talking about 2 different countries (therefore, two different cultures), we are also talking about general aspects that we see in Latin American countries (now both of them as part of one big culture). One similarity with Peruvian culture is that many students usually come late to classes,

especially if they start early; but generally they tend to be no more than 15 to 20 minutes late maximum, this means, they do not enter later than that [But we must take in consideration what we say right at the beginning, about how values are not always taken to same extent by everyone.] Another thing that happens in Peru is related to business meetings, because if someone is late for any important reunion, sometimes it can be put off until the next day, no matter if the rest of attendants have arrived on time.

Journal Work # 4

On nhabite pas dans un pays, on habite dans une langue.

I remember the first time I met one of the best teachers Ive ever had, Monsieur Jesus. Actually, he was my teacher of Translation and Interpretation in Global Environments class during my first semester, but now he teaches me French. I remember it was Tuesday (my second day of classes) and I was very nervous to know who was going to be my teacher for the next 16 weeks. But, all of a sudden, this tall and thin man came in and for over 2 hours, I was absolutely amazed by the way he talked and how he expressed himself, which to me was just unique. In his presentation, I couldnt do any other thing but just staring at him. He told us he was born in Arequipa, but he had lived in Paris for around 17 years, and of course, he speaks French really fluently. When he said that, I was really impressed: my teacher was French! He knew perfectly the language I chose to study in my career! But, that was just the beginning of my admiration towards this new and very particular character for me (because, thats the way I used to call him). During those four months, there wasnt any single class in which I couldnt be amazed by how much knowledge Mr. Jesus had about the world. The course I had with him was definitely the hardest one, because the main goal of it was to bring students to the reality of translation and interpretation in the context of globalization, and all over the semester, we kept analyzing from an overview, historical, ideological, social, cultural and economic phenomenon. We did a lot of research, reading books, watching videos, summing up information and just keeping with the main ideas to bring and share with others (because we usually had presentations in front of the class). But none of these was easy. We really tried so hard to full fill the teachers expectations and throughout all this process he was constantly giving us his support, and telling us it wasnt going to be easy but challenging, but at the end of the day every effort has its reward. And he was right, because by the end of the course, we really had a totally different and much broader vision of the career both locally and internationally, and we also learn a lot about the connection that our career has with multiculturalism and multilingualism in the world. I know all those things up there may have sound a bit weird, but we truly achieved that level of effort with Mr. Jesus, and even though it was hard, he was always encouraging us to give more than 100% in anything we do and telling us to enjoy as much as we could of our life as students, because thats what life is all about: live our lives day by day, and not just wait for the future to be better. Even now that he teaches me French, I still admire the type of person he is. Mr. Jesus is so adventurous, he enjoys travelling and getting to know and discover new things, new costumes,

new people, he loves arts, like painting, music, dancing, acting and mainly literature, because he absolutely adores his books and really feels passion for the language and he fully understands the importance of it and all the things we can express by it, and most specially, because hes still amazed by the languages he knows (Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese) everyday. Ive discovered we have indeed many things in common, but I wish one day Id be just as passionate in my life as he is. Thats probably the main reason why I admire him so much, because he tries to enjoy his life every single moment. However, thats very hard for me, because I usually get so nervous for doing something that I just keep being negative all the time, and there are other days in which I think I wont be good enough in this career, because I consider that Im not giving all my effort. But, there are other days in which I believe in myself and I feel capable of facing any challenge, no matter how hard it can be. And this is something I need to thank my teacher, because anytime I feel like Im going down and Im very sad, I remember him and all that desire of being so good in something I like as him, gives me a lot of strength to keep going in this trip, because as he told us in our first class: We do not live in a country, we live in a language.

Journal Work # 5

Multiple Intelligences.
When taking the online quiz about Multiple Intelligences, I got surprised by the results in both Intrapersonal and Visual intelligences. Actually, I was aware of my linguistic skills and how it works for me to learn things by doing them, (kinesthetic intelligence) but when it comes to Intrapersonal and Visual intelligences, its something I truly havent recognized in my own as one of my strengths, but at the same time, I got familiar with the common characteristics of each of them. Intrapersonal Intelligence, as says in the book, is the knowledge of ones feelings, needs, strengths and weaknesses, and this is something I definitely recognized in myself since I was at school. I consider this ability of Introspection and Self-Reflection as something very useful if you want to achieve goals or if you want good results in any activity you are doing. By being aware of your emotional feelings and motivations, you have a deep knowledge of yourself, so you are able to know which your strengths are and which things are harder for you. In fact, every since I was a child, I knew math class was terribly hard for me, but I also realize that language classes were something I really enjoy and It wasnt hard at all! This intelligence is probably the most helpful of all for me, because by getting to know my own self, I can recognize which learning tools suit me best. For instance, my best way of learning is independently, but this doesnt mean I do not understand anything in class, because I do, but it means I can study by my own and still get good results. Also, people smart are often very intuitive when doing things or trying to solve a problem or taking a decision and this is something that has also work for me, not only when studying or deciding something, but when meeting people and getting to know them better. Since I was in school, I knew when people were faking or saying lies or when people were truly good people, and I still use intuition at UPC, because its a good way to process information through patterns and impressions. Furthermore, people with Intrapersonal Intelligence spend a lot of time thinking and reflecting not only about themselves but about others too. This ability of being aware of people around you really helps when understanding people choices or way of being and it can also help to get on well with others and avoid conflicts (which is something that has worked for me). However, Visual/Spatial Intelligence is also a very interesting area of human capability. Ive recognized this intelligence since I was 9 years old, because every since then, I fall in love with different colors, shapes and structures that you see everywhere. Being Picture smart means you are very aware of surroundings and you are good at remembering images, and this is something I use as a learning tool, and its actually my favorite, because by making graphics, mind-maps or any other type of visual aids, I can study in an easier, active and more dynamic way. People Smart generally enjoy photography, and Im not the exception. I love pictures of any kind: people, architecture, everything where I can notice colors and shapes (as I said before) and this ability is

very useful whenever you need to memorize a place or a number, because you can actually remember it in detail! Another good skill of this intelligence is having a great sense of direction which can actually be really helpful, if you get lost somewhere. For instance, I remember once I got lost in the zoo! I was extremely afraid, but I didnt see them anywhere, so I start walking around the place I was and I was trying to memorize everything I see: it was as if I was constructing a sort of map so I can find them easily and indeed, I did, because I was the one who found them! To be honest, I think these two intelligences have certainly been a good help for me, and theyre intelligences that somehow relate to the career, because they are excellent learning tools and also, they are good to get to know people better. In Translation and Interpreting studies, this is very important, because we never stop learning; were constantly learning new words and expressions, and in this career, we work for people and our main function is to be a way of communication with others, but how will we get to understand others, if we do not know each other?

Journal Work # 6

Female Stereotypes
Ive always been the kind of girl who doesnt like to be told what shes supposed to do as a good girl and daughter, and this has always been a problem for me at home. I come from a very traditional family, where the authority of the man has always been the most important and therefore, it has always represented a high level than girls. But, when I was born, things radically changed at home. My father and my brothers had to get used to the idea of having a new little member in the family that was actually a girl! And they had to change many things in their behavior, because as mom has told me, they used to be 100 times more tough and rough than they are now! However, even if they have become less rude and a bit more sensitive, Ive always argued with them, especially with my dad, because he tends to get really angry when I dont do whatever he wants me to do (he usually wants me to cook, or clean-up the house). I remember 3 years ago, we were actually preparing a really big party, because it was my moms birthday and she was turning 50, so we really wanted to give her a huge surprise with all of her friends from school and we also tried to bring all the family together (and that was truly hard, because most of them live in Cajamarca!) So, after everything was done and we were all ready to start the party, my dad just came into my room and told me: Hey, Monica, go to the kitchen now and help the other girls (my aunts and cousins) with the meal! My dad wanted me to go right into the kitchen and help the other girls, while my brothers were both sitting in the couch doing absolutely anything but watching the TV and he knew I was really busy trying to wrap my moms gift! And besides, all the people who were at the kitchen were girls, there wasnt any guy helping them! Not even my dad or my brothers! So I just got completely pissed off and I told him: Im not going to the kitchen, because Im busy here doing this stuff, so you and my brother who are not helping should go there and do something! And please, dont start telling me this is a womens job, because were in the 21ST century! The minute I just said it, my dad immediately walk away and went to the kitchen with my brothers, and that was unbelievable! For the first time in my life I had the courage to confront my dad and tell him what I think, and it felt so good to realize he actually saw my point and understood why I was so mad at him. I really think the best phrase to summarize what my dad thinks about women is Girls are supposed to know how to cook and how to do the household chores. This is something Id to endure throughout my entire life, because he really considers important the fact that a woman should obey a mans authority and take care of things at home, but at the same time its kind of

confusing to me, because he always encourages me to do my best and effort myself as much as I can in order to have a good future and I can depend on my own, not just sit down and wait for my husband to pay for the bills! So, its kind of weird how he reacts whenever I tell him hes wrong about having those old female stereotypes, but its also amazing how he wants me to get better day by day and to learn how to do things by my own!

Journal Work # 7

Our process of thinking.

Whenever we are in contact with others, we are unconsciously categorizing them: by the time we see or speak to someone. This is something pretty interesting, because we all do it all the time, but it works systematically in our brain and we do not actually realize whats happening when we think. I remember we saw something about this during my Language class: how language its so important for human beings because without it, we wouldnt be able to think and how its also super economic, because it allows us to express ourselves without using so many words. During our process of thinking, we classify everything we see, feel or hear and for this, we use the language: because we analyze, compare, define, summarize and finally CLASIFY the reality. What Im trying to explain is that, we have to classify what we see in order to think; otherwise we wouldnt be able to express our selves, because we would consider every single thing different and we wouldnt be able to do generalizations about anything. We would definitely be totally crazy trying to put a name on every minimal difference of things, for example of movements: it would no longer be the same to run 12 minutes than 12 and 1 second more! As soon we recognize a characteristic about a person, we have immediately started to categorize him or her. I instantly classify people by their sex (male or female) and by the kind of activity they do: what their occupation is (if they are students or workers), what other things they do (like their hobbies, any physical activity they do or how they spend their free time). For instance, whenever I refer to a person, I usually categorize them by something they do, for example: Giannina is a student and his father is an engineer. I also categorize people by some physical characteristics, but I do it without even realizing it. I tend to categorize them by age, hair, height and specially weight. However, I do consider the last one as a very important one, because by the weight of a person, you can identify whether he/she is healthy and cares about feeling good and comfortable in their own skin. I know a lot of people that dont care about staying healthy at all, but I know hundreds of girls that actually care about staying physically slim and beautiful (as a really specific concept of beauty) and they just dont follow a regular diet: they dont eat anything and when they do, they it fast food or any other thing that contains a lot of sugar. To me, weight does not mean youre fat or thing, it means you keep a balance between your height and weight, in order to feel good and with energy and avoid being tired all the time (as it happens in the majority of cases of overweigh). As an example, whenever I want to refer to someo2ne, I usually say: Carla, the tall black hair dress, the one thats fit (meaning she is in her weight).

As I have showed it before, we category people unconsciously, but its a necessary tool we use though our daily process of thinking.

Journal Work # 8

My TI 4 Class
When I first got into my TI4 class, I truly thought this course was going to be easy, because last semester, we actually had this teacher who actually didnt teach us much (instead, we were just working with the Touchstone book) so, I thought maybe this time it was going to be that way. Then, I saw this teacher who, a couple of minutes later, handed me a schedule with all the activities we were going to be doing during the next 16 weeks, and I was totally impressed by the amount of things in that piece of paper, thinking: Ok, you have to be kidding me. Theres no way Im actually doing this, I cant! Well, 15 weeks later, Im glad to say I did, I was actually capable of doing all the things that the schedule had programmed, and I feel so proud of myself, because Ive realized all the progress Ive been making throughout the course, and how I just pushed myself through the limit, in order to improve and achieve my goals. Ive always thought there was a huge difference between my writing and my speaking skills . For instance, Ive always felt more comfortable when speaking than writing (especially if I had to write an essay or any other formal paper) and actually, many of my former teachers have told me the same thing, so I just got used to it. But in this class, I had to develop my writing skills because this is a writing course, and I truly feel I have accomplished a great level of writing by now, and its great because now it has become quite easier for me, and I dont have as many mistakes as I used to have, so its pretty cool: now, I do most of my French outlines in English because Ive a better organization and I come up with so many different ideas for my text. After choosing which ideas to use, I translate them into French, but it works pretty fine for me, because I practice both French and English at the same time! However, this process was hard for me, because I was not used to write so many things weekly, but I kind of like it, because Ive noticed that my way of expressing my ideas and organizing them in a paper is totally different from what I do orally or even in Spanish or French, and I really enjoy it, because it makes you feel proud when you have a great result of a whole process of prewriting and I like the way I turn in my papers. Another thing that was truly hard to actually understand and get used to, was the IPA alphabet. At the beginning it was so weird to see all this new little symbols that we didnt know but somehow, we understood the sounds, because some of them were very familiar to what we listen and say every day. But it was also complicated because each week, we were learning more IPA symbols and we had to memorize an remember the sounds we already knew in order to establish a difference between those and the new ones, so it was particularly hard for me to notice the

difference of each sound, but at the end of the day, it was worth it: when I got back my Midterm Exam, I realized I had no mistakes in the Phonetics part! And It was so great! However, later on it was sort of disappointing when I got back one of our Phonetics quizzes and I got 13.5, but then I understood I had to do my best if I didnt want to get that score again, so Im working on it Overall, I think the IPA alphabet is what I like the most about the course, because its not an easy task to train your ears and to recognize the difference of each sound, but its truly helpful if you want to improve in your pronunciation and fluency: I use it now, whenever I look up for a new word in the dictionary and I read the IPA symbol to get the correct pronunciation of the word. Now that we are close to finish the semester, I would like the next TI 5 course to be a writing class, because I think we must keep this level of writing. But it would be interesting if TI 5 would also be focusing on our pronunciation!

Journal Works - English TI 4 2012-2 por Monica Giuliana Bravo Diaz se encuentra bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribucin-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 Unported.