Skype exchange: 2nd part

picture taken from: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/104/292573252_9d14d49d87.jpg?v=0

Before reflecting on my second skype exchange I would like to thank Sarah for having given us this great opportunity. We, as students, always complain that we cannot speak and communicate with native speakers, well, now we can. I would like to add that this activity should be part of the previous years' courses as well. I noticed that by talking to native speakers on actual subjects I can get an idea of my level of English. While we are having a conversation, we don't have so much time to reflect on grammar, syntax, words, etc. Everything becomes much more complicated and we have to be quick. That is why by talking we can really improve our English! For these reasons, I think teachers, in general, should promote this activity.

So far you understood that I'm enthusiastic about our skype exchange! Last wednesday I talked to Ugo and he told me that he has Italian ancestors, as my previous skype partner. So I thought that probably most Americans who decide to learn Italian are of Italian ancestry and are therefore linked in some way to our culture. After a brief introduction of ourselves we begann to talk about politics and I gave him the link to the video of Berlusconi. Actually, it took a while before I succeed in convicing him that it was not a joke. He could'nt believe that a political candidate could do such a thing. Comparing it with the videos of the Obana girl, we came to the conclusion that it could benefit but also demage the image of Obama himself and that it is not respectful of his privacy at all.

We then dicsussed about the role of the media (especially in democracy), focusing on the political campaigns. He knew that three of the major Italian channels belong to Berlusconi and that the other three channels are not so free as they are supposed to be. He told me also that CNN is on the side of Bush as well. So, where is media freedom? Is this control on print and broadcast media threatening democracy? I think that it could be worthy to explore further this aspect as we are living in countries which are always proud to confirm how important democracy is. I must to say that I have never been so interesed in politics as I am now. So our skype exchange is not only useful for our language but also for our personal knowledge: it is important for us to stay informed, not only about what is happening domestically, but also globally.