Listeningtopodcastsandmore.org (not a real website, just the title)

This week we got introduced to this website called edx.org, on which there are various podcasts and lessons executed by a whole bunch of universities from all over the world. It seemed like a handy learning platform, so as soon as I came home, I enrolled in a couple of classes. They don't start for another 1-2 months, but I'm very excited and can't wait to find out how good, easy to follow and interesting they actually are.

As for the vocabulary exercises, they went a lot better this time around. I think I'm finally getting the hang of it, but I might tell you otherwise in a couple of weeks, so I won't be throwing parties just yet.

We learned about causal links and I wrote down that there never are any linking words in a story (like in the explanation of the picture of Elba Covarrubias in the text). Is that so? Just making sure I'm not studying something that's false. Moreover, I found it fairly difficult to find the causal links in the text, mainly because I had no idea what to look for in particular (since we just had to look for the links without any explanation first). I would prefer an example of what we're supposed to do next, so that I'll have an idea of what I'll have to look for. 

Another thing we went over, is the use of hinges: moments in a text where the author decided to change topics. This was a lot easier for me to find, thanks to the perfectly described explanation given at the bottom of the page, so I could immediately start making the exercise without feeling too much of a klutz.

And finally, something that I have been thinking about for a while now, is including the explanation of newly learned words in my blog posts. Sometimes I write down explanations that have been given by the teacher, so I thought it might be a good idea to put them on my blog as well. I'll also place the definition found on oxforddictionaries.com underneath, so that you and I don't have to worry about studying the wrong explanation later on. 

That's the end of this week's adventure, take care and I'll talk to you very soon!

Inès
                                                                                                                      
To digress

• Explanation in class: to strain away from the subject
• Oxford Dictionary: to leave the main subject temporarily in speech or writing