Learning Journal #3

The first group work was somehow... interesting. Yes, this is the word: interesting. I found it really interesting to have the opportunity to make our own syllabus; most of the times we don't have a single word to say about what are we going to talk during the year. But it wasn't all easy...

It wasn't a bad group; actually, I really enjoyed working with them (Bernardo, João Machado e João Meira)! We had a lot of ideas, and, the fact is, we talked a lot about the subject of the project, discussing our perspectives, and I must confess that the work itself was being left behind. I usually think that if someone don't have troubles in getting focused, a little laugh or just a light conversation may be a good technique to keep a good atmosphere among the work mates - specially if it is the first time they are working together. Maybe our problem wasn't keeping focused, but a conversation that kept consuming our attention. Probably, this was why we got along and worked so well; before doing the work, we discussed the topic in a general way, and that's a good start.
However, we got our difficulties. Our schedules didn't match, and communication outside the class could be better, just like time management; if we had managed our time in a different way, many things wouldn't be the same. And yes, if the tasks had been divided equally by everyone, it wouldn’t be the same as well. Divided roles are helpful, not just because everyone participates in the group, but as an organization method. But it was the first group work, for the most of us the first with these people, and we’re still adapting. I speak for myself – the first classes were an adaption; we didn’t just changed teacher (in my case), our classmates are also new!

I can’t say for sure that I couldn’t do this work alone… I never tried it! But certainly, within a group, it becomes more interesting (get in contact with new ideas is always nice), easy (4 heads surely work more and better than just one) and fruitful (many ideas together become just one). And we work well as a group, at least in my perspective.
Of course, what didn’t work this time, it’s going to be corrected next time. We are learning continuously.

About the other groups: I truly sorry not being there to listen to your presentations. As a student and colleague, I should have been there and pay attention, just like you were in mine. But this was a new opportunity, and as a member of a group, I should also support my group and help us to achieve our goal (which we did, by the way).
There is always a next time.

Meanings

This is the part where I try to put it more clear why I chose this particular name for my Blog and this particular image. In a way of presenting my Blog, not me.

So, why "Step By Step We Reach Our End"? Because here I'm going to walk a path to the end of the year, the end of this part of my life, and the beginning of another. In this site, the work of my last year as a secondary student is going to be the lead actor of the film that is my life (pretty poetic, hum?).
And the Salvador Dali painting? Doesn't it seam that step by step, picture by picture, we're reaching some new place? Some new picture? Some new end?
For me, everything is connected. But I confess, my connections are very relatives, and that's why they are mine.

And this is my Blog, my portfolio, my path. It was formally introduced to everyone.

Learning Journal #2

Last wednesday (30th September) we went to Universidade Católica to attend a lecture about translation and it's obstacles, and also the ceremony followed for handing the awards to the winners of the translation contest.
I confess I was pretty curious about the visit because I am a huge Harry POtter fan, and meeting the translator of the books was an opportunity to get a new perspective on the story.
The speech that I thought more interesting was the second one (now I remember it was a lady named Lara), when we had the first contact with the problems a translator faces. The Umberto Eco's quotation was very interesting: « the art of failure ». Translation is, indeed, an art, and a constant failure, followed by an enormous success!
Languages and cultures are so different, and a translator has the hard job of transmitting a piece of culture. The words with various meanings, the challenge of figuring out which word, which expression, which verb should be used so the translation becomes as good as the original, must not be an easy job.

I brag myself for knowing many things about Harry Potter; his stories and adventures are part of my teenagehood and history. But, I never dreamnt that the names of people and places have so much more meaning than what I thought (actually, I never thought about that, for me they were just names)! The lecture with the translator of these books was the cherry on the top of the cake!
But, with this last lecture with Isabel Nunes, we got to know, from the first person, the problems and obstacles a translator has to face.

Learning Journal #1

In a global view, I really enjoyed this visit! As someone who likes History, I found it very interesting what we saw and learnt (that was plenty). For that reason I'm not able to highlight precise moments.
I discovered a new face of History; through art we can learn more than we think and expect. During that hour, I think (time flew), we had contact with so many different countries, perspectives, cultures, that actually gave the sensation of traveling through the globe, just like we, Portuguese, did in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
For me, the guide was an excellent teacher; I don't think I could say so many things about the people just by looking at a painting on my own! And in a really simple way, making it clear to everyone. Probably, this visit would have been really different if we had gone our own.
Now that I think of it, the whole exhibition was so well organized and placed!... I had that notion at the time, but now, while remembering so many things, it slipped my memory. Because we visited the different rooms following the Portuguese itinerary. To understand the History and how everything happened, the developments and consequences, it was helpful.
Besides the exhibition, I must say, the garden is really very pleasant. It's always good to discover new places, just to spend some time, enjoying the view of the river Tejo.
So, in conclusion, it was a splendid morning. Traveling around the world, through centuries, getting to know beatiful works of art and true pieces of History, testemonies of a time when our country was an exemple for all the others who tried equally to discover a new world!

Here I am

So, this is going to be my interactive portfolio.
I still have to post the two first Learning Journals (which I'll be doing this weekend), with it's corrections, but it's a start!

The Internet is really an amazing thing!