ENGLISH LANGUAGE CHALLENGES

We are daily exposed to English from different sources, and learning this language in a formal context such as university classes is definitely a plus to improve our levels.

In my experience, learning English in university has been a challenging process, especially considering regular exposure to oral activities in groups. I think speaking is one of the hardest things to learn when you are not living in an English speaking country, and practicing these skills every week helped me a lot to trust myself and develop new skills.

Regarding the aspects of my English that I need to improve, the first thing is the vocabulary ... There are many words that I do not know. Also, my fluency in speaking it is an element to consider... I think those are the most important things that I need to improve. I plan to do this by watching series and video clips and repeating their dialogue and lyrics (I really like to watch Netflix and Youtube, so it will be a daily job that I will enjoy).

Outside of English class, I really use English in my daily life. Every day I listen to music in this language! I watch interviews, series and films in my free time that involve English very frequently, and also, it is very common for some university subjects to challenge me to read papers and documents in this foreign language. So ... I have no escape!

This course has really been a support in my learning process, and I really appreciate it!

CHANGES TO MY STUDY PROGRAMME

I study Engineering in Renewable Natural Resources, and I absolutely believe that there are some changes that we could apply to our study program, just to improve the quality of our education.

Although this career provides us with a high-level education, I suggest changing gender roles through university positions, from the top down. I think it is important to apply gender quotes not only in technical positions, but also in senior positions in our faculty. Even if we are an environmental career, gender and culture are also important.

I also recommend that practical activities have a more important space in our curricular programs. In this types of careers, we need to have a constant practice of our professional duties as soon as possible, and the prioritization of theoretical classes by the pandemic context has revealed the importance of the skills that we only develop in the field, or perhaps, with physical facilities. In these contexts, it is very useful to access faculty facilities such as laboratories, better libraries or more computer systems.

We need to incorporate interdisciplinary subjects from the 1st year of studies. Today it is important to be more flexible and open-minded to different perspectives and disciplines, and the typical way of thinking about our profession (as a logical and rational way of thinking) limits our flexibility and adaptability to different contexts and situations. Why don't we have written Expression subjects? or Political subjects? This is important, considering that our career manages environmental resources in a country where nature is considering as something of high value (from an economic perspective).

TIME TRAVEL TO THE PAST or TO THE FUTURE

Sometimes, I imagine the world before the globalization process and the big cities had transformed it ... Doesn't that make you curious? How tall were the trees? What kind of flowers would be here today?

This idea always crosses my mind when I walk through cities with many buildings... So, if I could hace a time travel experience, I'd like to travel back in time and discover Santiago de Chile before any human has populated them. It would be fantastic to travel back 300,000 years, just to know how nature and wildlife were like before the humans had transformed the territory.

 I would like to go to this place with an adventurer who knows how to survive in a world without technology, and also with a photographer who tries to register those incredible images . In addition, it would be great to visit places that I know today, such as the San Cristóbal hill, the center of Santiago, or the Mapocho river, just to compare those landscapes with my memories. I'd love to know the plants and animals that populated this place. 

Although I am very curious to travel to the past, I think I wouldn't want to stay there for so long ... Life it would be difficult without all the inventions we have today.