Second Life 2

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Site name: VIRTLANTIS
Location address: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Knowingly/155/122/22

During the second week, I explored some new sites. However, most of the time, I was further exploring the Virtlantis site which I explored last week. I decided to participate in some of the activities and learn through them. The most exciting thing is that I met many friends from different countries and get to know them. Most of them are very experienced in Second Life, so as a baby in Second Life(about three weeks old), I got a lot of care from them. In the following, I would like to talk about the activities I participated, and the people I get to know through Virtlantis.

On June, 3rd, I was wandering in Virtlantis and saw an activity information, so I teleported to that place. There were just two people there, Kip and Branken. It seemed that the activity was over. I was surprised to find that both of them are the organizers of this site. We sit down on the ground and talked. Kip is an American, but he and his family are in Austria now. He has several language schools in Germany and Austria. He teaches both in real life and Second Life. I asked him what age students are his favorite. He told me adult, whom he is teaching now. He is also training teachers. He will go to China one year later, so he would like to learn Chinese from me, and he could teach me English. Branken is from London. She is also both teachers in real life and Second Life. She has four degrees, mathematics, computing, humanity, and linguistics, which is amazing. She is teaching in university and she has education technology class. We talked a lot. She gave me some suggestions and resources on Second Life. She told me there is even hospitals in Second Life, which broadens my horizon. She even gave me one of the journals about Second Life she published to read. I'm so lucky to meet and talk with them.



In Virtlantis, I find a very unique place. There is a blue ball on the top of the mountain, with a word Meditate in it. I clicked sit, then my avator was meditating. The mountain is in front of the sea. With the splendid scenery and peaceful music, I felt I was in a real world and very relaxing. I met Branden there on the second time. She told me she likes standing there and meditating.



The first activity I participated is Walk & Talk. It is very good for people who are interested in practicing English and discovering new places in Second Life. After chatting with the group, the activity organizer, Kip, took us to Vernian Deep to explore. The link address is Vernian Deep. I feel it's like an industrial area. Afterwards, we found the undersea world, with many fish and a submarine. We tried to operate the submarine, but failed.











Through this activity, I met a Japanese woman Yuri. She has been in second life for four years. She called me baby and said baby need a lot of care. LOL. She is learning Chinese. She went to Shanghai, China with her son this May. She told me she builds a new house every month. She invited me to her home in Second Life. Her house is very beautiful and the environment is fabulous.



The second activity I took part in is English Scrabble. I played the game with Astro and Vedis. Astro is from Sweden and Vedis is from a South American country. Vedis is the organizer of this game. It's a very interesting game and very good for learning English. In the game, we could increase our vocabulary and improve our speaking English, because we could also talk during the game. Sometimes, we were stuck in the game, then the others would help and think together. It was more like a team work. We also talked about many things.

The third activity I joined in is Coffee Break. I met some people I knew yesterday and also some new people. They are all very friendly. As soon as I teleported in, they said hello to me and invited me to sit down. Mimi and I were new people here, so we were invited to introduce ourselves at the beginning. Afterwards, we talked about piano, guitar, and different kinds of music. We were talking and typing. If someone didn't know the word, the people who knew it will type it in the chatting place. We are from different countries, so the time was different. It's amazing that people from different countries could talk together.





There is also a pronunciation activity. I didn't have chance to participate this one, but I will do it later.



In Virtlantis, I also find a place where we could watch youtube videos. We could choose the video we like.

I increased my experience in Second Life by participating in the activities and talking to people. I learned a lot from them. I will keep exploring and learning. The activities I took part in are very beneficial for learning English and getting to know different people in different countries. Not only could we improve our English skills, but also increase our knowledge about different countries. Some activities also help us to explore sites in Second Life. The people I met in Second Life helped me a lot. However, we need to be careful in Second Life since not all the people are good. 

Especially for teenagers, the content and the people in some sites are harmful for them. Second Life has two grids, the main grid and the teen grid. Teenagers need to be restricted to some safe sites.