In these weeks I browsed the net a lot and I came across many blogs! Well, you can find whatever you want: sport, music, television, politics; you have the embarrassment of riches!
Variety is good but at the very beginning I felt bewildered: the blogosphere is a sort of world aside where everything is fast – the time to click on an hyperlink and you are connected with the rest of the world! I was amazed when I found out that maybe blogs are the most updated source of information: they’re daily updated while the daily news are sometimes already outdated!
Variety is good but at the very beginning I felt bewildered: the blogosphere is a sort of world aside where everything is fast – the time to click on an hyperlink and you are connected with the rest of the world! I was amazed when I found out that maybe blogs are the most updated source of information: they’re daily updated while the daily news are sometimes already outdated!
Another important question I’d like to deal with is the kind of information. Of course there are some official blogs but in general I found that information is treated in unconventional ways. You can hear many voices so that you can build up your own opinion. The most evident case in Italy (maybe not only in Italy) is the one of Bebbe Grillo. However, there are a number of these examples. For instance yesterday I visited an American blog where a girl made some observations about the emergency measures adopted by Bush in California compared with the ones he adopted in Louisiana, interesting, isn’t it?
As to the language I think it’s very informal. In the posts there are no linking adverbial: words flow as in a spoken discourse. Questions are very common because in this way the writer creates the impression that he is talking to the reader. Moreover, writers use colloquial lexis (slang, swearing…) and abbreviations. You can often find exclamations marks, dots and dashes. Far from being a standard, formal written text in blogs there is interactiveness (for example see the hyperlinks) and a sort of shared situation as in a conversation (the blog becomes a meeting place where people can exchange their opinions!).
Finally, the third element I’d like to point out is layout. Blogs are a question of style! You convey a message not only through the contents or through the way you write but also through how you present it! Since the purpose is to catch the audience’s attention, blogs are generally very appealing, colourful and full of images.
Let me know what do you think about it…
Stefania
Let me know what do you think about it…
Stefania
8 commenti:
Hi Stefania!
I totally agree with you! Blogs are a worlwide source of information, on them you can find whatever you want! The languge is sometimes too informal and full of slangs and colloquialisms, but it has to reproduce the standard of a normal conversation, as you are talking with a person who is sitting in front of you! I think this is a wonderful think, because in our everyday life it's difficult to have the opporunity to speak with so many different persons!!!
As a good blog has to catch the reader's attention it has to be full of interesting images, links and colours, so the style is very very important!
See you soon!
Bye
Letizia
I agree with you too. I think this kind of language we are taking into consideration is the best so far because it can be more interesting, funny and closer to native speakers’'. I mean interesting because you can find expression we are not used to. For example in a blog I found: Can I has a cheezburger?... It's absolutely beyond any kind of grammar rule we studied! Do you imagine Trembath's expression to a student saying this?!?
Now we are definitely allowed to use strange sentences and forms!
HELLO!
Reading my post I realized I forgot to write my conclusion! I’m going to do it now…
As you read in my message I found the blogosphere really interesting. I find this kind of work very useful because:
1) We read a lot and we can improve our vocabulary
2) We learn a lot of “spoken English expressions” rather than formal ones
3) Hopefully, during the Monday lesson we can use the new vocabulary and have the opportunity to speak in English
Last year we did a lot of translation but what about conversation? Moreover, I think that blogging can improve our writing skills too: at the beginning I realized that I have some difficulties writing informal texts. Actually, in these years we wrote essays, papers, thesis… but what about real language?
Stefania
Yes, what about about real language? I think that at university there is the tendency not to to explore this aspect of language, which is actually very important for students!!
Anyway, I noticed we chose the same model of blog! I like it because it is really minimal and as I already said I don't like blogs full of colours because I get lost, but I totally agree with with you when you state that the layout is meaningful: blogs must be appealing in order to attract attention, but in my opinion bloggers sometimes exaggerate!
While reading for the first time your post I realized that you pointed out something interesting, you write that blogs are the most updated source of information and this is amazing, I mean, I had never thought of blogs in these terms. I think that this aspect makes of blog a powerful mean of communication, don't you think?
Nice post Stefania!See you soon!
Giada
Hi girls!
I perfectly agree with what you wrote about language! We have always been accustomed to academic writing, formal translations and so on and so forth but the language spoken in Britain or in the United States by “normal people” is completely different! I’m not saying that there’s no point in learning how to write an essay; of course it is fundamental but it represents only a part of the skills required to master a language.
As far as the blogsphere is concerned, I was impressed by the amount of different styles too! I personally like blogs which are full of colours, images, links and photos but actually I agree with Giada: simple and linear blogs are much more easy to use. As a matter of fact, the main disadvantage of these worldwide sources of information is the possibility to get lost!
Hi girls!
I agree with you that academic writing doesn't represent the only way to improve our English; informal writing and oral skills are a fundamental part of our learning as well, and I think that blogs will certainly help us improve this level of English, which last year was quite left out..
Moreover, I agree with you Stefania on the fact that blogs are really various and contain a lot of information, even though it can be a disadvantage when it is too much and organized in a confusing way..so we have to be careful to select the information we come across, otherwise we can get lost, as Alessia said! What I particularly appreciate of blogs is the fact that they enable people to interact with each other: in this way you can express your opinion and exchange your ideas with people from all over the world..isn’t it great?!
Finally, I also think that style is very important in creating a blog: in order to be effective you have to organize it in a clear way using a lot of colors,pictures using infomal language as well, so that it can be more eye-catching and interesting as well!
Good work Stefania!
Bye,
SIlvia
HI!
Well, we all agree with the thesis that "real language" is quite different from the academic/ formal one. Hopefully, writing blogs can help us to be more at ease with the English language... of course the real one! :-)
Stefania
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