El blog de Joe

I was unable to go into a deep conversation with anybody on Skype this week but I did find somebody from Spain who is willing to talk.  He speaks English really well but has went out of his way more than once to let me know that If I have any questions or want to talk mainly for help, he is more than willing to help.  Also, I have sent many emails out to classrooms in Spain.  A person named Miguel emailed me back telling me about himself and responding to what I asked him and said about myself.  I asked him what classes he takes, does he like school.  What sports does he play and what his family is like.  I also asked him what Spain was like. This is his letter that he wrote back. ggg

Hi Joseph
Thank for your e-mail, I didn´t aswer you before because I was very busy.
My name is Miguel, I´m 14 years old. I´m interested in handball and volleyball.
My birthday is the 22nd February. I don´t like eating fish. I live in La Palma, the weather here is wonderful.
I like my family too, I have got 1 sister and my parents. At school I learn : English, Spanish, Chemistry, Biology,Music,Maths,
Phisical Education,Geography and History. And in the afternoon,as I love the languages, I go to french and german lesson at the languajeschool
I don´t like listening to music but i play guitar and piano. With my friends I usually play football.Here It never snows.

This is great.  I am hoping to be able to connect with this person.  I can learn about Spain and learn Spanish a little bit better too.  Connecting with a lot of people will help me reach my mid-term goal.

In week nine, we went outside our network and attempted to communicate and contact somebody connected with a Google blog.  I came across a blog about soccer.  After I read about it and the person’s life and his soccer team, I was real interested.  I left a comment telling him that I like soccer and was very interested in what he has to say and his soccer team.  I asked him to comment on my blog.  Hopefully, we can start talking to each other about something that interests me.  As part of my personal goals, I really want to learn more about Spain.  This is a great opportunity for me to be able to develop a relationship with this person and talk to him.  Learn about his culture and Soccer.

En mi opinion, fútbol es muy diversion y apasionante.  Pienso que esta articular es muy interesante.
This person is basically describing a time when he played soccer and that he still does. He speaks of playing on a more elite level with the “elderly” helps him learn and develop new skills and ways to play the game. I found what this person said very interesting because he talks through experience. I play competitive soccer and wish to play at a higher level as well. Fútbol is really big where he plays. He also writes and goes into detail about a game he remembered playing. It was fun reading it, almost like the play-by-play for me. He would describe the feeling of giving them a goal and how him and his team must come back and what they have to do. It was very interesting. I remember one of my biggest games; it was in a tournament. Which, we had won in penalty kicks. Each team had five shots and I was the last one to shoot for my team. Since my goaly saved one, and all my four other teammates had scored greatly, if I scored we would win. The team we were facing, we got crushed by in one of the biggest tournaments, and now, we were sticking with them and not allowing them to gain a grip on us and capitalize on a mistake. Although, when I took my shot I hit the high cross bar and the ball bounced back down, bounced and hit the ground bouncing back up right in front of the goaly’s eyes and into the goal. We had won a huge tournament against an opponent much more experienced then us.  On the other hand, when we came into that game, we outplayed them emotionally and mentally.  We knew that if we did what our coach told us to do, with the mind set that we could win, we could play with them until the end. And we did. It was a pretty exciting game.

This is the link to the blog:
http://laescuadrademago.blogspot.com/2009/11/el-verdadero-futbol.html

In week eight, we mostly have been going over the basics and everything we have learned so far. How to use correct pronunciation, memorizing phrases, and vocab. Although, I began towards accomplishing my mid-term goal. My mid-term goal was to learn a little about a country who speaks Spanish. I was interested in Spain because I am interested in Europe. I can speak with people on Skype and discuss with them their life styles and what goes on in Spain. Especially their culture, I would like to learn about their culture from someone in Spain. Currently, I am trying to email people in Spain through Epals. Although, Skype I think can help so much because I am able to chat with people who kind of know me and are interested in me too. Therefore, we both can learn about the other. Also, it can help me with my Spanish and developing an ear for Spanish. So far though, I have been unable to contact anybody.

In week seven, we went over verbs, ir and ar, and going over weather and other topics and taking quizes on them. Topics include school, apartment, describing people, colors, and numbers. My voicethread was school wtih school supplies. We were also suppose to comment on other people’s voicethread and repeat whatever word or phrase they say about their topic. Going over all of these topics and phrases are really a big help.
Also this week, I was unable to chat with anybody on Skype. Whenever I was availble they were not. Hopefully next week, we will be able to find the time. I look foward to learning about what they are like and things about them. I will also help move closer towards completing my mid-term goal. I think Skype can and will help me a great deel.