Making the world a better place.

Anne Rice once said “Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a dangerous enemy indeed”. Reading books is a very important part of the human development, despite that is not really a priority for the 21st century’s society.
It’s stated that the reading levels that we can reach can importantly determine the quality of our lives. The same can happen with an entire country of readers. Life in Chile can be much better.
That is why, I propose as my social project to create a book club, where anyone can join and be a member. Every person in this club can learn from others, and thus, improve their writing, reading and critical skills.

I have always believed that the world would be a better place if only we, as members of the society, could dedicate at least a moment of our day to enjoy and absorb all the good things that only a book can bring us.
I remember when I was 14 years old I went with my teacher and my classmates to a low-income school to help children in their study habits, as their SIMCE test was approaching, and I noticed how big their problems were. Their ability to understand what they were reading was very low and it was affecting the way they were learning the language and also, mathematics. Poor reading comprehension was affecting all areas of their potential learning. Probably, that was the moment when I realised that something needed to change.

Currently, I’m studying pedagogy and it’s giving me the tools I’m going to need to teach. I see it as something I’m going to need in the future. Also, I have been using Internet platforms, checking blogs that have been created by other teachers to share knowledge. My present is my investment. All I get now is to be given away in the future to others who need more.

I want to specially focus on kids and teenagers, that is the range of age where we must create the foundations of how they are going to be in the future, and of course, give them the autonomous decision to continue learning for themselves and not because is an obligation. My plan is, to start by little. First, the literary club, then go forward and transform it into something bigger.
As I said before, in five years I’m going to be an English teacher, and I firmly believe that this is going to be a true ally in my proposal. Children and young students must create the habit if they want to be better as a person and as a future worker of our society.
So, in my plan to take things a bit forward I pretend to take advantage of the tools that I have and bring together my English classes and reading: 15 minutes of reading texts in English and quizzes, so I can know what they actually learned. Tasks like this create communication and dialogue, the students will share ideas and opinions about the words they have been reading.  Little by little those tiny texts will become books, and eventually those students will be able to recommend by themselves their favourite books to the others.
More than 80% of Chileans between 16 and 65 years old has the minimum reading level compared with the rest of the world. This has a solution, but it’s up to us to create the awareness that something as simple as a book can open endless doors to a better life.

A music column.

1991 was witness of an album that you can love or hate. It has been twenty years since the release of My Bloody Valentine’s masterpiece ‘Loveless’. This record has been named one of the greatest creations of the 90’s by several music magazines, and rightly, the mixture of sounds that this album gives us is a strange experience, yet at the same time, beautiful. Songs like “sometimes” and “to here knows when” are a clear demonstration of my previous statement.
The other day, I was asked the question that every music lover wants to hear: “What are your favourite albums?” ‘Loveless’ was obviously one on my choices. But enough about me.
This was the second (and sadly, the last) album released by Kevin Shields, Colm Ó Cíosóig, Bilinda Butcher and Debbie Googe as a group. According to their own members, it took two whole years to record, and several record companies to accept the vision and the creative temperament that Kevin Shields had. In an interview he stated: “I have been listening the same things for years, the bands do not dare to be different. It’s like they don’t care anymore.  That is why I have made this record”.
When the album came out the world was ruled by grunge and that horrible music specially made for you to dance. Only a few selected members of the world wide audience knew about the “shoegaze”, where noisy guitars and shoe-gazers musicians were masters of the use of effect pedals and musical distortion. That was the musical scene where My Bloody Valentine was born and raised. That was its maternal nest, its home.
Although, the band is no longer together, you can tell the legacy of this album with famous bands like M83, Wild Nothing, Deerhunter, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. 'Loveless' is truly a masterpiece.