Earth from the Air

I was first introduced to the idea of aerial photography when my sister spent a summer knocking on every door in Birmingham trying to sell photos of peoples' houses taken from a bird's eye view. She worked 8 hours everyday for nine weeks in the cold, wet English summer and sold 3 photos! Either the photos were rubbish or she wasn't a very good saleswoman...... I think it was the later.

A few years ago this amazing exhibition came to London depicting some of the most incredible sights on our planet taken from above. I fell in love with "Earth from the air's" awe-inspiring beauty and how wonderfully the pictures capture our planet and what we've done to it.

From this exhibition a collaboration has sprung up between the photographer Yann Arthus-Betrand and Google to create Google Earth from the air. Check out this webpage and interview (In French with subtitles in English) with Yann to find out more about it and how to download it. Click here.

Here is a trailer (2.27 mins) for a film he made about the planet and how we are imposing our influence on the landscapes around us, for better and for worse. Click here.

What do you think? Did you go and see "Earth from the Air" when it was in Buenos Aires? What did you think of it? Do you think Yann Arthus-Betrand is a positive environmental force for change or is he just a photographer trying to attach meaning to some pretty pictures? Where does the line between photography and art begin and end? Can photography be considered art?

Tom

In the shadows of El Superclasico

As a newcomer to this beautiful country I'm looking to involve myself in the most typically Argentine pursuits. I've been to an 'asado' and I've filled my belly with facturas. However the one thing I've yet to do is go to El Superclasico. Even in England we realise that this is the biggest and most passionate game in the world apart from Tottenham vs Arsenal of course.

In the Observer, a popular British newspaper, they did a list of the top 50 sporting events you should go to before you die. El Superclasico is number 1.

Do you agree?

click here to read the article

Tom

Learning Experiences

The title of Unit 1A of the course book is "Learning Experiences".

What does this mean to you? What kind of learner are you? What is/was school like for you? Are you doing any other courses at the moment? What can you do to become a more effective learner? If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?

We are going to start an advice service to help each other to become more effective learners. Think of the techniques you use to help you to learn things and write them in the "COMMENTS" box here in the blog. Let's share our ideas and help each other to become more effective learners!

For example, one of the best ways to remember things is to ... WRITE THINGS DOWN!!! So we are looking for ideas for making the most of our vocabulary notebooks.

Remember, you need to open a Gmail account in order to make comments on the blog!

We look forward to reading your great ideas on how to be a better learner!!!

Andy

Welcome!

Welcome to the IH Advanced 1 Blog!

This is your space to express your ideas and opinions on topics related to the course and other ideas and interests you may want to include.

It´s easy to post a blog. The first step is to open a gmail account. It´s free and only takes a few minutes. You can use your gmail to post blogs (via your teacher) and to comment directly on other students' contributions. You can also email your classmates whenever you like on your class group email.

You can include images in your postings and even use video links to make your blog more interesting.

Let´s explore the possibilities together!