A year with international English

 I think this year has been great! In the English class we have done much fun varied work. We have watched many movies, read interesting books and learned about inspiring people. Moreover I am also very happy that we wrote a blog during the year, because I got so good writing experience by doing it.

What I wish we would have done more is oral tasks, perhaps more class-discussions. Besides that, I am really satisfied with this year!

Why we should allow the use of internet when testing

I am now done with my exam, and will therefore share my experiences with using the internet. As I already foreseen, my use of internet was minimal. I used it to read my blog mostly. However I also used it to expand my vocabulary. On the other hand, if I got another chance I might use the internet more. The reason why is because, when I hear what the other students used the internet for, it seems so smart. Many of them used it well; therefore I have much to learn from them. As a conclusion I will try to use the internet better the next time.  

My views on using the internet during the exam

The international English classes on Sandvika vgs are actually the first English classes in Norway who are allowed to use internet during the exam. Therefore we practiced during our spring exam, so that we would be better prepared for the main exam. Using the internet on an exam can be both positive and negative, that is why I am in this blog-post going to write briefly about both.

 I am going to start with writing about the negative. Firstly when you are writing an exam you only have a limit of time. I usually use long time to find out what I am going to write about, and how I am going to phrase myself. So when I am done writing, I usually only have time to correct my mistakes and then time is up. Therefore what I found negative with using the internet is that a lot of time is used on researching. Moreover, when you do researching on the internet you have to use at least three sources to make sure that what you have found is correct. As a conclusion on this, when using the internet you easily use at least 30-45 minutes. That is a lot of time! Secondly, in my opinion I think that you should be tested in what you have learned during the year, not how fast you can google. If I am going to exaggerate a bit, it is like having a math exam where you get tasks outside the curriculum, and need to use google to find the answer. You get the point, right?

On the other hand internet can also be very positive. To start with, internet gives you the opportunity to expand your vocabulary. If you are stuck in how to write a sentence you can find thousands of alternatives on the internet. Internet also gives you the opportunity to write a better and more exiting exam. When you can use internet you can find interesting facts about the topic, or maybe good quotes from famous people. When you use the sources wisely you can make an exam which is kind of unexciting to something interesting and funny.

To sum up, using the internet can be a good thing, but it can also ruin your exam. It is all about using the internet wisely, and finding good sources. Good luck to all my fellow students!

Into the wild

For some people money, a good job and education and a perfect family is everything they could ever want. But what if you already have all those things, and you still did not understand the point with it all, what do you do then? Do you work harder to achieve an even greater success? Do you make sure to earn even more money? The movie “Into the wild” is about a boy who struggles with exactly this. He has everything anyone could ever want. He has a wealth family, a great education, and good jobs are thrown at him. Nevertheless, even though he has got it “all” he does not have anything. Christopher McCandless rejects his parent’s lifestyle and travels into the wild.

The book about Christopher is based on a real story . Therefore it is hard to really understand what he wanted to find when he left. Did he want to find “himself”, did he want to find love, or did he want to find the meaning with life? No one knows. Moreover, did he have a goal? Since no one knows, in this blog post I am going to write briefly about why I think he left, and why I think he did all the things he did.

First of all, Christopher is not an ordinary person; he does not want what everybody else wants. He wants something with a deeper meaning than materialistic gadgets. On the other hand, I don’t think that even he knows what he is looking for. All he knows is that whatever it is he is looking for, he has to find it. However before he left he had entered rock bottom, he had nothing to loose, but everything to gain.  That is perhaps why he just travels and stays where the road leads him. I think that it did not really matter to him where he went, because nothing could be worse for him, than what he came from. On the other hand, he did have one goal, and this goal was Alaska. So after a long journey without any money and little supplies, he travels towards Alaska.

Why Alaska? Just like all the other questions, this one is also hard to answer and understand. The difference between Alaska and the other places he had been was that he intentionally went to Alaska so he would not meet any human beings. He wanted to be all by himself. Perhaps he went there to clear his mind. He knew that he would not be influenced by anyone there, so it would only be him and his own thoughts.

He was extremely stubborn, he had to be. I think that after a while in Alaska Christopher was tired of traveling and wanted to go home. However he was making a statement, therefore I think he was afraid that people would think he gave up. In the end I think he stayed in Alaska just to stay in Alaska! On the other hand, he tried to return home, but realized that he could not cross the river, so he turned back. What he did not know is that there was a way to get over the river, just a few miles from where he stood, but he did not find it. Actually he did not look for a way to get across the river, he just went back.

At the end of the trip he got very sick. He was poisoned by a flower, therefore he was very weak. That could be a reason why he did not look for a way to cross the river. However, I think that he did not want it enough; I think that if he really wanted to go home, he would try to find a way to cross the river. But, then again, no one really knows what he wanted, so it is hard to come up with a conclusion of what he was doing and what he was thinking. 

Mystery ailment

Erin Brockovich is a lawyer and an environmental activist. She got famous when she in 1993 solved a case against PG&E, without a law degree. (Read more about this case here).

However now she is investigating a case concerning the illness of teenagers at a high-school in Le Roy, N.Y. The symptoms of this disease are facial tics and verbal outburst. 15 students have been infected by this disease, but among those 15, there is only one boy. Doctors and professors are not certain of what this disease is, and what is causing it. However Erin has her own theory.

In 1970 a train spilled cyanide and industrial derailment solvent called trichloroethene near by the school. Erin thinks this has a connection with the disease. Therefore she is now investigating this case. So far she has not found out any results because the school refused to let Erin and her team run tests. However she is still working to get permission to do those tests she needs. 

The great debaters

The great debaters

In English class January 17, we saw the movie “The great debaters”. The movie was about four afro-american students in the 1930s. They joined the debate team at their school. The team won more or less every competition they joined, and their goal was to compete against a “white school”, Harvard.  However on the way to success they met some challenges they could not solve with good and convincing arguments. They met some challenges not only the students had to face, but also the rest of the population in the US. Therefore I am in this blogpost going to focus on two questions based on the social problems. Firstly “How was life for the afro-americans during the 1930s?”  and secondly “what is the Jim Craw Law?”.

How was life for the afro-americans during the 1930s?

I am going to focus on how the afro-americans in precisely this movie lived, and how their life was like. To start with, during the 1930s white people and black people were segregated. For instance, they had to go to different schools. This led to that the debate team only debated against “black schools”. Also especially in the southern states in the US the black people were seen as less valuable for a long time. They did not have as good jobs as the white people. Moreover the black people had to show so much undeserved respect to the white people. An example of that is when the father of one of the main characters hit a pig with his car, he has to pay the owner of the pig (a white man) over twice as much as the pig is really worth. Because if he does not pay, he risks the life of his own and his family. My point is, is that the life of afro-americans in the 1930s was not easy. They had to follow everything the white people told them to do.

What is the Jim Crow Law?

The Jim Crow law, was laws in the US between 1876 to 1965. The laws states that black and white Americans were equal but segregated. That meant that the black and the white Americans had to go to different schools, different hospitals, restaurants, hotels, etc. However it states that they were supposed to be equal, but that was not the reality at all. The black Americans were treated much worse than the white. They were victims of public discrimination. 

Roald Dahl

When I read the short-story “Lamb to the slaughter” I got to think about Roald Dahl. He was an author from England, and he lived from 1916 to 1990. He is one of my favorite authors. I am really not a reader, and when I was a child I hated reading. However, there were some books I simply loved. That was books by Roald Dahl. I think that he is the best children’s books writer. All of my favorite children’s books are written by Roald Dahl. For instance I can’t remember how many times I have read “James and the giant peach”, “Matilda”, “Charlie and the chocolate factory” and of course “George’s marvelous medicine”. The drawings in the books are also amazing! He writes in a way no other author does, because almost all children’s books now a days have a moral, however the books Dahl writes are not like those. He often writes completely without moral, and I think that that is what children like. He writes funny, and children (including me) love his brutal humor. So the reason why I wrote this blog post is just to honour my favorite author!