COMMENTS :)

I have commented on Ebru's and Özlem's journal entries. The links :

• http://rue-sama.blogspot.com/2012/12/journal-set-2-body-size-diversity.html
• http://ozlemdogann.blogspot.com/2012/12/journal-set-2-facebook.html

I have commented on Elif's and Nur's multi-media entries. The links :

• http://elifglsen.blogspot.com/2013/01/set-3.html
• http://gokdemirsddkanur.blogspot.com/2013/01/journal-set-3_20.html

REVISED JOURNAL 4 : PASSION OF SHOPPING

   Generally  people like shopping .Men are reluctant and wait until they need something, but it is a passion for women.It is a form of social interaction.It is about freedom, self confidence.
   Women always have reasons for going shopping.They want to feel relaxed or reward themselves.It is the most suitable activity when they have free time and it is a therapy for them.Also, there are a lot of special days when they need buy gifts like Valiente's Day,anniversary of marriage,birthdays...
   One of the reasons the passion of shopping is shopping centers that we see everywhere. People can buy clothes, jewellery and other things at a discount at these shopping centers. Moreover, they get people encourage for shopping with a lot of advertisement, and so they can extract money from people's pocket.
   Because of these reasons, specially women buy a lot of unnecessary things.Most women  have many hangbags, shoes that they don't wear in their wardrobes. They understand that they needen't  buy so much things.However, they can't help going shopping. They walk into a store without any real purpose or they are in there with the intention of buying one or two items. Furthermore if they haven't enough time to go shopping, they do online shopping.
   Women must take precautions for unnecessary shopping. They should focus on what will really benefit.They should control themselves and get organised. They must do shopping list. If they enter a shop with a list, they will only buy what is on the list. Besides, before they buy anything, they must slow down and think, and they must memorize people who even can't buy necessary things for subsisting.

  

REVISED JOURNAL 3: TRADITIONS

 Tradition is a set of customs and beliefs which have been passed from one generation to next generation over a long period of time. Every community has its own traditions and social rules. For instance, a young in Turkey kisses the right-hand of an older person. After s/he raises the hand of the older person, touches it to his/her forehead. This is the traditional way to demonstrate respect.

 Traditions determine the community’s social relationship and the behavior pattern of people. People know how to behave in daily life with the help of traditions. Traditions develop relationships between people. They are also means of conveying cultural values. Thanks to traditions, national items are transmitted to next generations and unity is provided between old and next generations

While traditions are important in many societies, not all traditions are good ones. Some traditions may be wrong or they may give harm to community if people believe traditions blindly. Namely, people believing traditions blindly cannot think independently. They do not accept the new ideas so they get out of date.

   As a consequence, people must not follow traditions blindly. They must find out reasons or meaning of traditions by questioning. After, they must form their own opinions and act accordingly.

REVISED JOURNAL 2 : AN IDEAL UNIVERSITY

   Universities which are dreamt are different from one another for everyone. For me, an ideal university provides a good education at the highest level. However it doesn't just focus on education of its students. It prepares them to real life too. It helps students develop abilities in different areas like communication, problem solving.

   It is a place where students can think, speak, and investigate freely. In other words; students are allowed to do what they want without being stopped to some extent. It helps students be aware of social problems and tries to find solutions for the problems. It teaches the value of honesty, loyalty etc. Culture and heritage are preserved and developed.

   An ideal university has teachers who are knowledgeable about their subject, concerned about the welfare of students, and supportive. Also, such kinds of teachers really know how to teach. They help students learn content.

   An ideal university must provide a lot of opportunities. It should have comfortable and modern dormitories and provide scholarship for the students that need financial support. Students shouldn't face any transportation problems. Also, there must be social activities at an ideal university.

   METU fits all criteria that I have set for an ideal university. It is one of the most prestigious universities of Turkey. It focuses on the needs and expectations of students. It is a place of interaction.

   There are 18 modern dormitories within the campus. Tv rooms, computer laboratories, and kitchens are available at these dormitories. With ego buses, minibuses, taxis, and ring buses which operate between dormitories and departments, transportation is very easy. The campus is away from traffic jam.

   Cultural, arts, sports events like concerts and conferences are organized for students. Also there are many student groups and societies in METU.

   METU is an ideal university for me. Moreover, it is beyond my wildest dream.

REVISED JOURNAL 1: BEING A STUDENT AT METU

                                 

    Being a student at METU was my goal in high school. Although I have fulfilled my dream, I have some adaptation problems now.

    Firstly; because all my close friends are at a different section, I am so sad. I have difficulty in developing new relationships and adapting to an unfamiliar environment. Living with people who I don't know so much about is a hard condition.

   Secondly, the campus is too complicated and broad. On account of the distance between faculties and dormitories, it takes so much time to go to anywhere.

   Lastly English is the language of instruction at METU.As a consequence of this; I find it difficult to understand my teachers clearly. Moreover, university lessons are more difficult than high school lessons. While I spend less time in class, I study hard at my free time. Also, I need to balance work and social life.

   To cope with the challenges that I am facing, I am trying to get along with my new friends. I communicate my expectations respectfully for avoiding conflict with my roommates. By using maps, I learn where faculties and other buildings are. When I don't understand what teachers are talking about, I ask for help. Also, I attend class regularly and take notes in order to improve my success.

   Despite its hardships, METU provides a lot of opportunities for students. They can find whatever they want or need at shopping centers. Also, there are a wide range of places like cafes, library, post office, health center etc. Besides, there are many social clubs.

   METU gives me the freedom I need. This is one of the advantages of METU for me.

  Consequently, I am happy about being at METU. Despite difficulties, being a student at METU is privilege.

A DEVICE TO PROMOTE LEARNING ENGLISH

 Learning a new foreign language can be compelling for many people. While people try to learn a new language, some problems appear. I think; most probable one is memorizing words since there are a lot of words which should be memorized. However, of course memorizing all of them is impossible. So people need a device or program that will solve these problems.

     On the market there are lots of online programs which translate words; but they aren't useful for us. As programs don't have ability of comment; when we want to translate a sentence or a figurative word, they can't translate words or they translate words absurdly. So I designed a program to solve this problem.

     This program can be used by people of all ages wanting to learn a new language. As I said before it will be an online program. By using this program, we will translate sentences or figurative words properly, beause; when we write the word which will be translated, it will be translated by people who were chosen especially for this job. When we write the sentences or words on computer or mobile phones via this online program, they will translate them immediately and tell us. In other words, we will hear pronunciations of the words from people working at translation centres.These are advantages of the program.

     Although the program is very useful, there may be some disadvantages of it. To illustrate, when there are plenty of people using this program at the same time, it takes some time learning the translation of word. However, this problem can be solved by increasing the number of the people working at translation centres.Firstly, translation centers should be established and people should be employed especially for this job to using this program effectively. As we need manpower for it, using this program will be costly.

     To sum up, learning a new language will be so easy due to this program. It is useful for people from every age. I recommend you to use it.  :)

JOURNAL SET 3 : MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY

     This video is about culture shock. It exemplifies process of adaptation to a new culture and informs us about phases of culture shock.

      At the beginning of the video we see a man in the honeymoon phase. This phase is fun time. This man is so excited and happy since he is in New York that he says a lot of irrelevant things to people walking on the New York Streets. After, we see scenes about crisis phase when people notice even slight differences and don’t like host country. There are three examples of this phase in the video. Firstly, we see four men who come from a tropical country to a cold country. These men are shocked when they feel freezing weather. Secondly, we see a man having difficulty in speaking foreign language. He misunderstands the other man. He thinks that the other man is talking about singing. However the other man is trying to say that he is sinking. Lastly we see people eating insects. The women can’t stand them and faints. Later we see scenes about reintegration phase. In this phase, people feel more confident and relaxed. Most probably, these scenes are the funniest part of the video.

     I think, it is an interesting video and it is highly triumphant. I believe that you will like it. :)

JOURNAL SET 3 :CULTURE SHOCK

  Culture shock is a condition that affects people who go to abroad. Namely, people travelling to a different country have difficulty in adapting to changes and feel confused.

  People going abroad may have problems emotionally. They may feel anxious, angry, frustrated, sad or lonely. For instance, they feel alone since they don’t have any friends with whom they can share their ideas or feelings or they may miss their families, relatives and friends. Moreover they may have problems socially. For example, they do not know what to say what to say when they meet someone new or how to refuse/accept an invitation. They may have problems with language. Also they may find food of host country strange. To illustrate, a person going to China may find people who eat insects disgusting.

   Although these difficulties, culture shock is a temporary situation because the more people learn about host country, the more they adjust the new culture. They learn how to behave in daily life. They know how to react to some incidences. Also, they develop their foreign language abilities and they learn some idioms and metaphors. These make communication easy. Furthermore, they socialize since they make new friends.

    At the end of the process, they combine culture of host country and their own culture .They fell more confident and comfortable. 

JOURNAL SET 2: MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY

      This video is the fragment of a movie which is called as The Invention of Lying. I chose this video because it attracted my attention while I was looking for a video that is about lying.
       The Invention of Lie is a romantic comedy film which is written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matthew Robinson. Ricky Gervais stars as Mark Gervais and Jennifer garner stars as Anna McDoogles. At the beginning of this fragment, there is information about plot of movie. It is stated that people live a world where everyone only can tell truth and no one has ever lies. There are no big lies and not even white lies in this world. After, Mark Bellison is introduced. He goes out on a date with Anna McDoogles who is a beautiful and wealthy woman. However she says that she is not attracted to him because of his looks and financial situation. On the next scene, Mark goes to the bank to close his account because his landlord evicts him for not paying his rent. The officer says that the computers are down and asks him to how much money he has in account. While Mark is about to tell her, a strance reaction occurs in his brain and he tells the world’s first lie. So he takes $ 800 although he has $ 300 in his account. Then Mark starts to lie in a variety of other circumstances. For instance, he gets money from a gambling casino with the help of his lies.

      In my opinion, it is an intriguing video. I am looking forward to watching the entire movie and I recommend you to watch it.  :)

JOURNAL SET 2: WHY DO PEOPLE TELL LIE?

 

    Lying is one of the most common behaviors in society. There are a lot of reasons behind the lies.  

    Firstly, people lie to hide information. In society, people are expected to in a certain manners and when people don’t act like that they can fell disappointed and isolated. However, lying help them to avoid conflict. Lying is easier than meeting expectations of people. Secondly, people lie to gain attention, respect, power etc. Namely, when people create a new truth, it becomes more effective. Thirdly, people tell lie to escape from punishment because they are scared of the consequences of their lies. To illustrate, if a child knows that he has done something wrong and is afraid of being punished by parents, he tends to lie not to be punished. However, many times that just makes it worse because they have to keep on lying. Lastly, people tell lies to deceive other people. For instance, in online world people may hide their own identity and deceive others by giving false information about themselves. Probably, this is the most harmful type of lying because this is like taking other’s belongings or life.

    Despite bad sides of lying, people seem to feel lying in some circumstances is acceptable. For instance, sometimes we can be obliged to say white lies. Howbeit, we must avoid lying.

JOURNAL SET 1: MULTI-MEDIA ENTRY

      “The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. It was first published in the June 26, 1948. It is regarded today as one of the most famous short stories of American Literature. This video is adaptation of “The Lottery”. 
      At the beginning of the video, Mr. Summers who draw one of the papers is seen. After, we see scenes about people gathering for lottery. Children collect stones and put the stones in their pocket. Men gather next and women follow them. Mr. Summers reads names. They come up and draw a slip of paper. Anyone doesn’t look at the paper until the lottery finishes. Afterwards, Mr. Summers finishes calling names. When everyone opens his/her papers, people find that Tessie has drawn the paper with the black point on it. Tessie says “It is not fair” but no one cares her. Villagers grab stones and run toward her. Everyone, even his son, throws stones at her.
       I chose this video because of its theme. It is a good example that suggests how dangerous a tradition can be when people follow it blindly. Namely, villagers don’t really know much about origin of lottery. However they are insistent on preserving their cruel and nonsense tradition. Before we know what kind of a lottery it is, the villagers seem harmless. However, these people kill someone easily. Consequently,  blind acceptance of traditions can be dangerous.

JOURNAL SET 1 : TRADITIONS

  Tradition is a set of customs and beliefs which have been passed from one generation to next generation over a long period of time. Every community has its own traditions and social rules. For instance, a young in Turkey kisses the right-hand of an older person. After s/he raises the hand of the older person and touches it to his/her forehead. This is the traditional way to demonstrate respect.

 Traditions determine the community’s social relationship and the behavior pattern of people. People know how behave in daily life with the help of traditions. Traditions develop relationships between people. They are also means of conveying cultural values. Thanks to traditions, national items are transmitted to next generations and unity is provided between old and next generations

While traditions are important in many societies, not all traditions are good ones. Some traditions may be wrong or they may give harm to community if people believe traditions blindly. Namely, people believing traditions blindly cannot think independently. They do not accept the new ideas so they get out of date.

   As a consequence, people must not follow traditions blindly. They must find out reasons or meaning of traditions by questioning. After, they must form their own opinions and act accordingly.