Final reflection II: My English COMPETENCE in 2012

Best written evidence: Can Internet help to make the world a better place? 

This composition is a little bit short: we wrote it in class and  the teacher reviews it, but this is particullary one of my reasons why I have chosen it. Writting the composition in class I hadn't access to dictionaries, translators or correctors. After seeing my mistakes, I rewrote it and this remaked version is the one which is in the blog.

I also like it because it has a good structure especially the introduction and the conclusion, which are very  important for a good composition. What's more, there are a lot of connectors and also one example of the situation that I was describing. Maybe the vocabulary isn't very high, but this isn't a reason why it has to be a bad composition. It's the way I write without any help.

Best oral evidence: Tdr, my research project

I have chosen the last oral presentation we did in class. I also like a lot the oral presentation of Jamaica, but I made it with Núria, so I think it's better to chose one where I'm talking alone.

I must recognize that I haven't prepared very well this oral presentation and I was improvising a little bit. That's one reason because I like it: it's natural and spontaneously. 

The content shows maturity (it's about the TDR!) and in my point of view I look quite self confidence.

Of course, I made some mistakes, but they aren't so many as I used to do before.

P.S. goodbye blog! :)

Final reflection: My English progress from 2010 until 2012

I will compare my currently knowledge with which I had at the beginning of first of BTX.

Written document:

The first "my say" from my blog is called: My Summer. The first and most obviously difference is that in 2010 I wrote more, now my writings are shorter. I think it's because in second of Batxillerat I have less time. Moreover, now the quality of them are better.

In hardly ever used to use connectors, my writings haven't a really structure and the sentences were too short. There are also a lot of grammatical mistakes like the following ones:

• I wrote comas between many sentences even before and: "spent four days in Germany, with my mother, and we..."
• Repeating words in the same sentence: "every day I meet my friends and we go to the beach or Pablo's swimmingpool, nearly every day. "
• Words like: nothing, anything, everybody, something, but,
• Concordance between subject and the verb: The temperature are...
• Verbal tenses:  the problem was that I only can work one month (it should be past, could), comes (came)
• Words: the next day (the following day),
• The correct order of the sentence:  "on Sikim, at twelve more or less meeting us there". " I made my kitesurf"

Oral document:

 My first oral presentation was about kitesurf

• Presentation: The presentation is still the same: I make colourfully PowerPoint's with a photo as a background, a lot of pictures and some sentences. I also remember one presentation with music, the topic was Jamaica. This was a good idea because this detail made the presentation special and different from the others. So, I have learnt to be more creative. 
• Body language: I couldn't change anything. My hand moves are so annoying! Many times I have tried to change it, thinking seriously about it during the oral presentation, but even so I made this mistake.
• Structure: It hasn't changed.
• Content: It hasn't changed.
• Language: During this two years I have improved a lot my language, the use of phrasal verbs or expressions and my vocabulary.
• Pronuciation: I don't think I have changed much, maybe in some specific words but in my point of view I have the same pronunciation now as two years before.

I must say that now I feel safer when I'm speaking and I have more fluency; If I don't know the word that I'm searching I simply try to find another word, which is easier, or to describe the word/ action. 

Massive rise in Asian eye damage

Up to 90% of school leavers in major Asian cities are suffering from myopia - short-sightedness - a study suggests.

Researchers say the "extraordinary rise" in the problem is being caused by students working very hard in school and missing out on outdoor light.

I found this piece of news very interesting and like a view to the future of many countries here, in Europe. Currently, from 15 people who we are now in class, 10 are wearing glasses. In my case I think that the myopia was caused from reading with to less light and also genetically.

I also have to say that the "modern" way of teaching make this problem worse: there are many classes in which we are with the light off, blinds down and the PowerPoint on. And then we must write and take notes. I don't understand how the others don't care about this. I also try to get natural light (all the others don't like it) or ask to turn on the light. Or also being in front of the laptops and computers doing viral activities don't make it better.

At home, students also have to do homework, normally with artificial light or are relaxing (or doing more homework) in front of the computer.

It's definitly a modern problem.

Prenup arangments

It's well-known that conflicts appear when a couple get divorced. A good option to avoid them could be prenup arrangements.

On the one hand, these arrangements could seem very pessimistic at the beginning of a marriage. The family of both normally think that this is a sign for a bad marriage and destroys the wedding atmosphere. Actually, this type of arangement are made by rich people who have a lot of money, cars and houses. By doing this, the couple seems selfish and give a bad image to their friends and family.

On the other hand, especially for these people a prenup arrangement can be very useful. In case of divorce it's clear how the children, material objects and money are distributed. What's more, this is the best if the couple has got children because there aren't months or years, as it's known by famous actors, when the parents fight for their kids.

All in all and taking everything into consideration, a prenup arrangement is good and important in case the couple has got children or a lot of money.

The silent revolution of Iceland

2008, In Iceland, the village has a government resign completely, imprisoned the responsible for the financial crisis in jail, nationalized most of the banks and they decided not to pay the debt that they have created with Britain and the Netherlands.

They created a popular assembly and rewrite their constitution. And all this peacefully.

The Iceland revolution has taken place before the Arabian Revolution begun. Why we didn't know this? I'm wondering why it wasn't on TV even it was successful. Currently, the previsions for Iceland are about 1,5% in 2012., what's about three times more that similar countries in the euro zone.

In my opinion, the governments of EU were afraid of the power of the village. If "normal", working people (I'm not saying that politicians aren't normal, I'm referring to people with a basic salary) would have taken example, what might have happened in mmany europeen countries?

Easter Holidays

Currently, the holidays not have finished yet, moreover I want to explain what I did these days. Actually, I haven't done anything important.

The first days were really good weather, so I spent some hours on the balcony or at the beach, sunbathing. These days were also good wind to go kitesurfing, but I must recognize that I was too lazy to do it. Every time it's exhausting and even I have been a long time without doing it, I don't want to do it during this week.

One afternoon I went with Núria and Sandra to St. Margarita and there we run into Julia and Alex (a friend of her). The other days I spent at home with my family, yesterday I went to Figueres with Mireia and Cristina and today I'm going to meet Clara.

By the way, my mother, Clara and I went to Verges to the Easter procession. It was a little bit chaotic because we didn't know very well how to arrive there; so we passed a lot of little villages in the middle of nowhere searching Verges. When we arrived, there were many people and we must park in a field. Then, we followed the crowd without really knowing where we should go.

Finally we rest in a street (called the snail street because there were hundert of (died) snails on the wall, prepared as a candle) were everybody was waiting and we supposed that there the procession would begin (at 12 o'clock). But no, we wait, and wait, and wait... (and we couldn't move because there were many people at this street keeping place) Finally, at one o'clock the procession arrives at us. It was long, with many people and we arrived home at 3:30 in the morning.

And these last days I will try to relax, meet someone and maybe go kitesurfing (I'm watching outside the window right now and the wind is coming... )

Becoming Jane

I have just seen the film "Becoming Jane", from 2007 (you can see the trailer if you click on the title of the film). The plot is about Jane Austers life, a kind of biography, with obviously some fiction details.

To sum up, Jane is a young woman in a "poor" family who likes writing. However, because of her bad economical situation her mother wants that she married someone rich. Several men try to ask her for marriage, but she refuses them. She felt in love with a "poor" lawyer and they try to run away, but at the last moment Jane decided that it would be bad for both.

Meanwhile, Jane is always writing and more or less after the half of the film she begins to write "Pride and Prejudice" and at the ending of the film she's a known writer.

I really like this film, as I like Pride and Prejudice too.

I have read several times the original version of the book in German, the short version which we read in English, an audio CD version of it (very popular in Germany, this one has about ten CD's! I always fall asleept after few chapters!) and about four times the film.

One of the critical receptions about the film is that the plot is very similar to "Pride and Perjudice", which is certainly true. However I don't think that this makes the film worse.

What's more, knowing the novel it's great to look the film because you always can find some details from Janes biography which are related to Pride and Prejudice.

For example, I recognize clearly Jane's (the novel character) sisters as Jane (the author). One of the Bennets sister is always reading, the nature from Lydia, always talking (like Jane's author cousin) and that she runs away with Wickham...

In my opinion it's a great book, even it needs a special attention to understanding the characters.

It's a well-known truth that... ( I love this beginning!)

Newspaper Suspension

Here you can read the news about the suspension of a newspaper in Kuwait.

In March 2012, a criminal court suspended the newspaper of Kuwait for three months and sentenced the editor to a six-month suspended jail term and fined him US$ 3,500 for publishing articles that "raise sectarian strife." They clearly don't respect the right of free speech; freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice."

Here in Spain the situation is different; every newspaper can say what they want, sometimes they are accused to be too offensive with someone and there are economical fines. What's more, newspaper can't be suspended.

I don't think that I or any group, which isn't from Kuwait, can change anything about this issue. It's a matter of the people there, they need to understand that the suspension are against their human rights and accept the challenge to fight again it. If they are too fewer people or the most of the population don't care because they are afraid it's impossible to make a change.

Letter to United Nations Human Right Committee

c/Pompeu Fabra

17487 Empuriabrava,

SPAIN

UN Human Rights Committee

Washington

Sunday, 18th March of 2012

Dear Madame's and Sir's

I am writing to the Committee to claim the importance of nature and environment. I know that living in a nature conscious country isn't a human right, but in my opinion it should be a human right.

The environment and the conservation of the species around the world has an enormous influence of our life. Furthermore, it will be more important in the next generation so we need to change something.

Actually, this idea came to my mind while I was studying biology: why don't exist a law to respect the nature? I know this will be extremely difficult to realize, what's more, the most complicated part is to convince all humans that the nature must be respect, but in my opinion it's worth, moreover, it's necessary.

To sum up, I'm expecting more effort about the environment problems even I know that it seems more important to safe a children life in Africa. The nature has the same importance.

Your sincerely

Lydia P.

Human rights

1. What are human rights?

Human rights are inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being.

2. Why were they created?

They created them to give the same and most basics opportunities and chances to every human on the world. It's an intent to make the world better and fair.

3. How many human rights are there?

There are 30 human rights, classificated into civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights.

4. Which human right were you not familiar with? Mention an example where this human right is respected and where it is not respected.

The freedom of speech isn't respected in many countries. In my opinion, this is a very important aspect and right for everyone, without saying new opinions a country can't advance.

An human right, which is respected in the whole world, is difficult to find, but I think that maybe the right to life is one of it. I'm sure that the terms and the called "life" are different depending on the country.

One right which I wasn't familiar with were these two rights, in the same article:

- Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.

- Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

These both are respected in the countries of United States or the Europeen Union, but I think that in countries like, for example, Cuba it isn't respected (at least the part to leave the country).

P.S. I didn't like the quiz.. It was too difficult, too long and with too many names of politicans.

You teenage years are the best years of your life!

It's often said that being a teenager is amazing and that nearly every adult would return to this age.

On the one hand, a teenager doesn't have to go work or get stressed for money. The most important duty from a teenager is to study and try to make his parents proud.

Moreover, it's awesome to relax at weekend and not take care about economic issues.

On the other hand, this pressure to be good at school and reach good marks is very demanding for students. What's more, the biology changes and the hormones makes it even more difficult for them.

To sum up, it's a good time because teenagers don't have to worry about a job or how to manage a family although they need to be good in what they are doing.

My sister's visit

These last two weeks my sister came from Germany to Spain to visit us.

She's currently studying biology in Marburg, a city near where we lived before we moved to Spain. I only see her about two or three times in one year. I will also go to Germany, but I want to come more times here to Empuriabrava because I really like being here. So, as I said, I only see my sister few times.

This time it was a little bit stressing because I wasn't often at home or hadn't time: it was Carnival and I also had lots of exams. Moreover, it was great to have she here, she helped me with the exams, we go together for a walk with the dog and meanwhile we spoke English! She and my mother always say that the correct pronunciation in English is very important and sometimes I must speak to her in English...

I went with her jogging! I go about two times a week, but she doesn't do it nearly never. So, I like it because I was better than her. What's more, she kept calm and I could encourage her to continue all the time. Next day she was angry with me because she had muscle ache!

I always like when she comes, but as I said, sometime it's stressing ;)

Fotocommunity

I'm going to talk about the web page Fotocommunity. It's an international organisation in five different language also in Spanish and Germany. There really are a lot of talented photographers, what's more, artists.

Nowadays Internet is the most important way to show your work or talent to everyone. It's said that Internet can be dangerous (specially because the copyright of images or other multimedia) but in my opinion, without it many famous people couldn't be known.

Fotocommunity has got there are differnt types of users, the lowest is free the others must be paid. One section which I like a lot is the Gallery: there are the best pictures from all the users. It's democratic: the photo with more votes and comments comes to the Gallery.

It's really nice to spend time watching these photos, but it's also very educational, you can learn a lot about technical from these pictures (there are the best between

millions).

Through this web page there are organized events and contests, where the photographers met each other to discuss photographie or look at exhibitions. The prizes to win a contest are really amazing, nearly every time it's a trip in a country in Africa or Asia (to took more great photos).

Travel

I always have dreamt about travelling a lot. I think that a trip in a country is more worth than an expensive car. The countries I would like to visit are Mexic and Australia.

Travel is forget your problems for a while, know new cultures, see amazing landscapes... I really would enjoy it.

At the moment I have been in Belgium, Italy, France and, obviously, Germany. I also have been in Egypt, but I was three or four years old, so I don't remember anything.

I like countries with beaches, sea or lakes. I'm really like being on the beach, my mother always remember that when we went to Spain for holidays and spend a day on the beach I was about two hours in the sea or more If I was allowed to be there. I don't like to trips only in the Mountains. Two or three days are okay, but more are not necessary. I also would like to visit big cities, even I have never been in one. Some weeks ago I discover that Berlin is eight times bigger than Barcelona! And from my point of view Barcelona it's very big.

Can Internet help to make the world a better place?

Nowadays Internet is the most popular way to communicate or get access to information. But why has it increased and developed so fast in the last years?

On the one hand it's great because all the people who have got Internet can search important information. What's more, they can read news or personal opinions. This information can help organize people and make them reach their objectives. An example could be the Arabian revolutions.

On the other hand, there might be false information on the Internet or people who is behaving in a different way because they are being anonymous. Moreover, there can be stolen personal information or mobbing attacks again a person.

In conclusion Internet is a great way to show information, although it's quite dangerous in many aspects. Adding to that, Internet isn't helping make the world better, despite it can be helpful.

Oral presentation: TdR, my research project

Self evaluation

First of all; my gesturing with the hands. Every oral presentation I remember myself not to do too much, but it's unconscious, I make it by an automatically way. I mus try to move them less. In my opinion the pronunciation was good, except some words like unconscious or knew.

A sentence which was really wrong was: I was taking notice. The right is: I was taking notes.

I also repeat a lot the word products. I should have searched synonyms.

Between the sentence I often says: emmm... what could be really disturbing if I do it to much. At the moment it's okay, but I will try to avoid it.

And finally, maybe my PowerPoint was to minimalist, I should write more than only the title or put more than one photo in one page.

Germany dividing Europe?

The popular cartoonist Stathis Stavropoulos has caused problems with his latest drawing.

It is one of his typical pictures: a German soldier, a gas chamber and a caption about Greek jobs being burnt. Comic art that draws on a growing anti-German feeling, as Greeks hit out at a country seen as pushing the austerity drive and deepening the recession.

"Germany has already tried twice to make Europe German," he says. "This time it's through economic means. We have to resist that. We have no bad feelings towards the German people - only towards the government and European banks."

The rift between the two countries has grown steadily; there is increasing resentment among Germans that they are largely footing the bill for the ever-growing Greek bailouts. German media have written about Greeks as lazy and unproductive.

Well, obviously my point of view is like many Germans. Greece should be grateful about the help which Germany is offering to them. I also understand that for the Greeks it's difficult to support the effort of all the saving-money laws, but I don't understand why they attack the country which is helping them more than any other. It's more, the arguments aren't currently, the cartoonist only has token this part of the history to make more trouble with his cartoon.

I don't think that any country would give a lot (and I really mean a lot..) of money to an other without imposing rules which had to be fulfilled. Moreover, Greeks can't expect money or help from other countries without changing their system.

TdR, my resarch project

The TdR is a research project which Catalan students do about one year. In first of batxillerat we chose the topic and the school give us a tutor. There must be a theoretical and a practical part.

After finished it, you also must make an oral presentation in front of three teachers.

My paper is a study of psychology and consumption, trying to explain how and why people buy what they buy.

I have researched how the purchase decisions work and which psychology factors have an influence on the customers.

Using different experiments it is shown that unconscious factors play an important role and can also change the perception of the taste of a product.

I hope this resarch paper helps readers reflect about their consumptions' habits and make purchasing decisions with greater critical awareness.

In the final mark I have reached a nine and I'm proud of it. However, this year the marks are very high (there are nearly twenty people between nine and ten!) and the teachers are happy with our results.

Gregorio, philosopher

At the last Friday before Christmas holidays we went to Figueres to an event called: Jornada de Filosofia. There comes students at the same age as us to talk about philosophies, particulary about the idea of progress. Some days before we also watched a movie which talked about this topic.

I must recognize: it was bored. I expected more from this day. We went there in the morning, divide us in different groups and begin to talk. Or we supposed to do. Nearly nobody said anything, I was lucky because I was in the same group with two friends of mine from Figueres.

Later there was a debate, then on student of each school read a self written text and all of them were very long and seemed more a history class like a philosophies text.

Finally there came Gregorio. Albert, our philosophies teacher introduce him and then Gregoria begun to talk and talk and talk and talk.

Sure, it was interesting, otherwise we had already talked a lot of hours about the same topic.

Some interesting points were when he talked about Epicurus, a famous philosopher which quotes has been discovered recently on a wall of a city which was constructed centuries late. Here is one of his quotes: He who is not satisfied with a little, is satisfied with nothing.

Another comparison, from Gregorio, which I remember was the similiarity from humans with Titanic. He said that the whole history is like the ship and their wisdom is like the part you can see from an iceberg. But the other, enormous part we don't see is all the knowledge and the progress we need to do still. This is a disturbing image from humanity, but maybe it's the right.

Christmas: Germany vs. Spain

Merry Christmas!

Some weeks ago I went to visit my grandmother in Germany. Since we have moved to Spain I had never returned being there on Christmas time. I was surprised, on the beginnings of December, the shops were full of Christmas decoration and everybody was shopping presents.

Here, in Spain, I didn't realise that in some weeks was Christmas. I was surprised to find out that on Saturday after finish school was Christmas!

I think that in Germany Christmas is too much. They begin in November selling Christmas products and for this reason people spend a lot of money to buy presents or decoration for their houses. Of course, it's nice to see nearly the whole village with Christmas lights, otherwise it isn't necessary. How my friend Mancilla would say: capitalism. And I agree with him. Of course I like to receive presents, but it isn't the most important on Christmas. Every year suggest myself that I would do anything interesting or meet my friends. And every year it's the same: I stay at home - without doing anything for nearly the whole first week of the holidays. That's my Christmas present: no stress for a while!

Well, now I'm saying all this, but I'm sure that in a few weeks I want to be in Girona or Barcelona shopping... At least, I wait until sold out after the sixth of January and not buy them before for the double price "only" to have a Christmas present.

A Chinese constructor company builds a building of 15 floors in two days

It's seems like science-fiction but it's reallity: a Chinease company builds an hotel with 15 floors in less than two days. Here you can see the video it's incredible! It's a new world Record.

That's show us how diferent cultures have different ways to do things. I remember the construction of the house wich is in front of our appartment: they need more than two years to built it...

Sure, maybe they haven't fulfilled all the security rules or the Chinease construction rules are diferent from the European. But I think the hotel is a good and secure construction. I'm sure that they will change some details in the rooms or review all what they have built before the hotel will be open.

Oral presentation, self avaluation

We had made our oral presentation about Plastic surgery. It's an interesting and currently topic, but we made the same as Cristina and Andrea! To avoid to bored our classmates, we made the presentation on the following day.

In my opinion our power-point was very good. From the beginning we put big photos in the background, we always do that. What we changed was to put an index as the first page after the cover.

I like more the oral presentation in English than in Catalan. I nearly always improvise and change the sentences. When I can't find a word a try to explain it with other's which are simple or made the description.

In this presentation I was a little bit nervous and maybe I talk to fast and articulate too much with my arms. I always see it on the video and try to remember it for the next presentation, but it's impossible!

As a mark I would put us a 9, the negative points were the body language or sometimes the language and pronunciation.

Dialouge

That's the informal dialogue that Nuria, Elvira and I made about plastic surgery.

N - I want a new nose.

E - How do you want it?

L - Wait! Wait! Can’t you see that you don’t need it?

E - Chill out girl! Why do you want a new nose?

N – It’s obvious! It destroys my face. Because of it I can’t get a job, a boyfriend…

L – Shut up!

Doctor, you can see she’s obsessed, can't you?

E – Maybe she is, but this type of operations can change people’s lives.

N - Please, please, please… I nearly dropped out of my job as a journalist cause I am ashamed be on TV with IT in the middle of the face.

E – Oh! You work on TV? You must have a good image to do it. I’ve operated a lot of people who work there.

L – OMG!!! You only want her cash. You are a fucking corrupt!

N – He’s right Lydia, my nose is horrible! GET OUT! He understands me better! You aren’t my friend.

L – It’s your life and it’s your nose. But remember that he who laughs last laughs best!

E – She’s crazy. I can so that you can get what do you want. C’mon, go to see this nose… And your boobs…

N – Yep! Can you see it? What do you think?..

Burn out

I'm going to talk about the burnout syndrome. It's a very current topic in the German TV.

Burnout basically means physical or emotional exhaustion caused by long-term stress.

It's recently happen to children which just starting out in sport are unlikely to be affected. The symptoms of burnout can be physical, mental and/or emotional. But also to people who are working more than just 40 hours a week can burn they out. For example, putting in more than an eight-hour-day five days a week makes you six times more likely to suffer ‘burnout syndrome’. Or also a worker with more than 16 years' service in the same place of work is five times more at risk of developing this form of the syndrome than another worker with a service record of less than four years.

Burnout can happen if excessively high expectations are placed on a child by parents or coaches and they are pushed too hard too quickly.

The symptoms can be confusing for parents but being aware of them is important because the severe cases can lead to clinical depression.

If the patient has a family, partner o children they can act as a protection because then the people are focused on other tasks.

I think that’s a very interesting topic because it’s a disease which will increase (and it’s already increasing) a lot in the next years. It’s because the stress and the high expectations who has everybody from the own life or other people.

It’s real. Who are you nowadays, without a job? If you don’t study and get good marks at school and University, you don’t will have a job, without job no money and with no money and no everything. So, in conclusion it all depends of how hard you study in University. I also have read than more and more students are suffering this syndrome.

Sometimes I also think that it could happen to me. All the weeks of exams, which you’re only working and have no social life? I don’t like them. However, I’m also conscious that this is necessary. If I work more now, I will life better in the future.

My tip is to be conscious that University will be important for your life, but to combine it with other activities, even you think that you don’t have enough time. There’s always half hour to go jogging, to go for a walk with the dog or phone a friend.

It’s the combination which makes you work right.

1- Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types ofreconstructive surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns.

Plastic surgery, as a specialty, evolved remarkably during the middle of 20th century in the United States.

Before plastic surgery only was used to reconstructive the soldiers’ hurts from the World War

2-high quality clinics - coupled with the favourable prices - are making Spain important as a medical destinations as well.

There are many countries which offer packs to make operations in Spain. It consist in a night in the Hotel, the operation and the flight.

Specially in England a lot of travell agencies sell this tipe of trips and they have a lot of demand.

A full face and neck lift procedure costs £4,750* € 5500in Spain, which includes a luxury private room for two nights. Compare this price with the UK where the surgery can cost between £7,000 and £12,000. 13900€ Breast augmentation in the Costa Del Sol in Spain can cost as little as £2,040**.

3-With increased media attention on beauty and perfection, celebrities and those alike are turning to plastic surgery more and more. Some take out loans for this purpose; one woman spent over $83,000 for 14 surgeries.

researchers believe that plastic surgery obsession is linked to psychological disorders

In some cases, people whose doctors refuse to perform any further surgeries, have turned to "do it yourself" plastic surgery, injecting themselves and running extreme safety risks.

5-• Do you know what plastic surgery is?

Everybody knows what it is because it’s a current affair.

• Which part of your body you don’t like?

The most disliked parts of the body are the nose and spare tire (what means that a person is a little bit fat).

• Have you ever think about operate it?

People opinion was divided; nearly the half of them would operate these parts of the body which they don’t like. But all of them share that they only would do one operation.

• How much do you think cost a breast operation?

Nearly nobody knew it. The majority thought that it was more expensive.

• Do you think Spanish plastic surgery is good compared with the other countries surgery?

People think that Spanish surgery isn’t good because of the current crisis Spain doesn’t have a good image in any aspects (economic, health, etc.). All of them were wrong.

• In your opinion, is necessary to be operated to be famous?

People opinions were that celebrities are under pressure because there always arrive younger people to Hollywood and If they want to continue being in the business they have to look like a 20 years old girl.

And here is the link to our video from the presentation

Joke

That is the joke I told in class:

-What is the longest word in the English language?
-SMILES: there is a mile between the first and last letters!"

... and here is it recorded:

Rowing: Holiday over for Olympic rowers

For Great Britain's rowers, the holiday is over and the battle to make the 2012 team begins now.
Between this October and next August, they will have one Sunday off a month. Birthdays are missed, there is no chance for a quick weekend away, friends' weddings arranged around them.Miles and miles will be covered in the gym, on rowing machines known as "ergos" and out on the lake at GB rowing HQ in Caversham, and there are extremely tough training camps ongoing around Europe.





The olympic rowers has got three weeks holidays. I think that's a very short time, but it's also necessary. Fort they, sport is their job. In this case a job with only one free day at month.
I know that after three weeks without rowing the level has decrease a lot. It's cost more to make the same distance your are more tired in less time..

I'm sure they have a lot of pressure. This year the Olympics are in London and for they it would be great to win this time, beinig "at home". It's always more motivation if your make a regatta at your own city.

In the news they talk about ergo's... I know them well. It's a type of machine in the gym and it's like rowing. At the moment, when I go to the gym I make 15 minuts to warm up and later about intervals of 5 minuts, but with more force. Many people in the team don't like ergometre, but I think it's a good way to increase your strenght when it's raining or you can't be on the water.

I think that maybe this way to row ("mobile bank") it's less tireing than the meditarranea rowing. Their boats weight few quilos, a individually boat can be carry on with only one person. Our boats weight hunderts of quilos (I think about 400- 500 kg more or less). Obviously, we must make more force. Even so, I want to try the other way to rowing because it's more international and you can do it around the world.

Is the euro about to capsize?

These days nearly every day in the news, they are talking about Greece and the Euro.

Investors believe that Greece cannot possibly repay its debts. Greece is a small country. And if it stopped repaying its debts and/or left the euro, re-denominating its debts into devalued drachmas, the losses to its bond investors would be manageable. The real problem is that what is true of tiny Greece can equally be true of much bigger Spain and Italy.

I think I have a different point of view like my classmates. The reason is that I'm German. It's logical that we must help Greece, but Germany are spending a lot ofmoney. There are many other problems in Germany that could be result with this money.

From my point of view, Germany is forced to help because it's one of the strongest and richest countries in the EU. But that has a reason, they always work hard and invest in new technologies. Shall they pay for other countries who don't do the same? If every single of the governments in the other countries would to the best even when they aren't in crisis, the case of Greece, Italy and Spain probably would not have happened.

In my opinion it's sad to live in a country where are 21 % (or more, I don't know it exactly) of unemployees. And that a 46% of them is young people who had left the University. What kind of future has a country like that? Germany is searching young people from Spain to come to work!!! (there the tax is less than 7 %). At the moment to only way to get a good job and make a carree is leaving Spain.

However, I was talking about the €uro. I think that the governments probably should have made more laws and rules how to act in a case like this. On this way, they could have prevented the disaster that's happening now.

Final reflection

I think this year I have learnt better how to write. At the beginning of the year I often wrote without sense, just the way that I thought the phrases, so I wrote them. But now I have learnt to review my compositions and to respect the order of subject + verb and complements. I know that sometimes I still do these mistakes, but I have decrease them.

I think that the activity which best shows my level of English are the oral presentation. In my opinion, it's good that I can talk as normally, with easy words, but I can make me understand. If I don't know a specially word I try to find some other which has the same meaning.

During the year we have done a lot of activities. Some which have really help me improve English are some photocopies, the Grammar Book and the separate activities in Aula d'Idionemes.

The photocopies are useful to know some things like writing a composition, how to write a letter... these are things which will be useful for a long time.

The Grammar Book and the Aula d'Idiomes help me understand and to expand the topics that we were doing in class. When I didn't understand some things, in this hour I could ask it to the teacher.

But I also think that in the Aula d'Idiomes we don't work very much. For example, I don't think that watching a film with Spanish subtitles are good to learn English. I also didn't like read the books, they are always very bored and easy storys which aren't interesting.

In my opinion, the blog is too much work for only 1 point in the final mark. A lot of people said that they won't do the blog ("it's only one point"!). I think that for these people who really do the blog (and do it well) it would be fairer if the blog count more.

I also think that it's more important to finish the text book, doing the grammar and this kind of important things instead doing readings. Since I'm in high school I never have finished an English book at school, I usually finished it at home. I don't think that this is the best way to learn English.

Dialogue

The dialogue:


Polly: Oh, sorry I didn’t realize… Well, I’m sorry to disturb, it will be better If I go home.
Tania: (shouting to Polly) : Wait, come here! (speaking to Jamie) : what has happened with her?
Jamie: what are you saying, she is only my friend!
Polly: so, last night it didn’t seem so.
Tania: Jamie, you are a liar! I never thought that you could do a thing like this…
Polly: But, what’s going on?
Jamie: No, nothing don’t listen to her, she’s crazy.
Tania: Crazy? How can you say that to your girlfriend?
Polly: girlfriend? Jaime, you told me that you were single.
Jamie: Well, Tania and I had argued and I was angry with her. And when I saw you last night, all my problems disappeared. I wanted to forget everything for a while and you made me feel good.
Tania: (to Jamie) Okay, I have understood. And you, Polly, enjoy him, but now you know the way he is. Be careful. (Tania slapped

Jamie, and went to the door). Fuck you!
Polly: Jamie, are you OK? She is completely crazy!

Spanish rebellion

In this last "my say" I think it's necessary to talk about the Spanish rebellion. I know that's maybe more a new, but I need to talk about that. One hour ago I have seen the video of the violence of the police in Barcelona, with this comment of one friend of mine:

(the video) --> the guy with the red t-shirt and glasses is my cousin. Now, he is hospitalized he has injured his leg and he has lost a tooth. He isn't uncontrolled, he is an engineer!

After watch it, I nearly began to cry.

I don't understand how a politician can give this command to the police. It must be terrible to hit womens or young people. I simply don't understand this. There are many other ways to come to an agreement.

As my father said: it seems like in Egypt. And yes, it's true. But is Spain not "bette" than Egypt? Here, there is a democracy, freedom and the humane rights. All the things that make the European system better than the dictatorships. But is there a real democracy? I don't think that in a country where the people can't protest against politicians are a fair country.

I hope there will not be more fights between the people and the police, I find it very sad that this seemed to be the only way to resolve this problem.

The people only request their rights, the right of a good future (in a country which hasn't an unemployment about a 20%).

Oral presentation

BACKGROUND:

Emergency law and Police brutality: police brutality has been common in Africa. The torture is legalized in a lot of these countries

- Globalitzation and internet: Wikileaks Anonymous and Faceboook. With the internet the groups could organize themselfe very quickly and change information. The young people see what is really happening in the modern world and don’t want to be governed from a tyrant.

- Inheritance of power and corruption in the elections: a lot of presidents in these countries were president for twenty or thirty years: manipulation of the election results have occurred during many of the elections. For example until 2005, Mubarak was the only candidate to run for the presidency. Only a 25% of the population of the country voted.

- Restrictions on free speech and press: there were a lot of sanctions . If any reporter or blogger violates this law by criticizing the government, they could be up to five years in prison.

- Demographic and economic challenges

Unemployment: there are a lot of young people and even when they have education it’s very difficult to reach a job. For that reason there are poor living and economic conditions.

EGYPT:
The protests begun on 25th of January and they take place for 18 days.

25 January 2011: The "Day of Revolt": there were thousands of protesters in Cairo and thousands more in cities throughout Egypt.The aren’t violence.

On day later is "Shutting down The Internet and Mobile Services": because they organizes groups and protests in Facebook. By this way the government impede the flow of news and people.

28 January 2011: The "Friday of Anger" after Friday prayers thousand people begun to protest Opposition leader Mohamed El Baradei arrived in Cairo. Prisons were opened and burned down and a lot of prisoners could escaped The police and the military were on the streets. Mubarak pledged to form a new government.

1 February 2011: Mubarak made a televised address. He propose to not run for another term in the elections planned for September, and to do political reforms and that he would stay in office to realize this changes. Small but violent clashes began that night between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak groups.

One day later the violence escalated at the : "Battle of the Camel between anti-Mubarak, pro-Mubarak groups and the Police. There was the speculation that the violence was being encouraged by Mubarak as a way to bring the protests to an end.

10 February 2011: Mubarak said that he would give some of his powers to Vice President Suleiman, but continuing as Egypt's head of state. This caused angry and frustration and in different cities there was an escalation of the number and intensity of demonstrations.

The next day, The "Friday of Departure": at 6:00 pm local time, Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation.

13 February 2011: The Supreme Council dissolved Egypt’s parliament and suspended the Constitution in response to demands by demonstrators. The council declared that it would hold power for six months, or until elections could be held.

3 March 2011: The Prime Minister and was replaced by Essam Sharaf.

19 March 2011: The constitutional referendum was held and passed by 77.27%.^[112]

8 April 2011: The "Friday of Cleansing": Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled Tahrir Square for the largest protest in weeks again filled Tahrir Square, criticizing the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for not following through on revolutionary demands.

There die nearly 400 people

Self-avaluation:

In this last oral presentation I felt more self-secure. Maybe it was because I had practised this one more like the others, but in fact I do this presentation very easy. Sometimes, when I forget a part of my text I improvise and say some other word which means the same.

But I didn't like the topic of this oral presentation. I know that we had chosen it, but I mean the topic of social topic because it's always the same things. But, on the other side, the rebellions are a recent topic and it was interesting to know more about them.

In conclusion I think that I was more secure and had explained myself better like in the other oral presentations.

Spain: Earthquake rocks Lorca, Murcia, killing 10

On Wednesday evening's quake came about two hours after a 4.4-magnitude tremor.The magnitude-5.2 tremor toppled several buildings. For that reason, as night fell many people were still too afraid to return to their homes and they have spent the night outdoors in the southern Spanish town of Lorca after an earthquake which killed at least 10 people.

Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution. Spanish TV captured dramatic images of a church bell tower crashing to the ground, landing just metres from a cameraman. Shocked residents and workers rushed out of buildings and gathered in squares, parks and open spaces. Old buildings were badly damaged and on the streets are many people with injuries

The quake is the most serious to hit Spain in about 50 years. Normally, Spain has hundreds of earthquakes every year but most of them are too small to be noticed.

I think that the people are too much fixed at the earthquake in Japan. The spanish goverment have know this problem since a lot of years. The reason for these eartquakes is that Murcia is close to the large faultline beneath the Mediterranean Sea where the European and African continents meet. There were a lot of eartquakes during the last 50 years and the most of the houses there were still break down or broken from others earquakes. I think if the politicans know that this is a dangerous area, they could give them money to renew the building and made them more save or install some warning sistems.

Informal letter

Pompeu Fabra
Empuriabrava
8th April 2011

Dear Kieron,
Thanks for your letter. It was great to hear from you! Sorry I haven't been in touch for so long but I'm very busy studying for all the exams. But it would be great If you come on Easter holidays!

I can't definitely recommend Empuriabrava. In winter it's a little bit bored, but from April there are tourists. I understand their reasons for coming here. Empuriabrava is a great place for holidays.

The weather from April is really good! Now I'm wearing shorts! In the Summer at noon sometimes it's too hot to stay outside, but If it's too warm you can swim in the sea! There are also a lot of pools. The beach is big, but it's also good to go to others which are not so crowded.
Empuriabrava is less than two hours away from Barcelona. But around here there are also great villages. Castelló d'Empúries is the old village center and there is a Cathedral and some old houses. Roses is very similar, but the beach is bigger and longer.

A place I really like is Sant Martí d'Empúries. It's an old village built next to the sea. It's very nice to be there because there aren't too many tourists. Near the beach there are also rocks.
Here you can also do a lot of activities: kite surfing, windsurfing, rowing, scuba diving, horseriding, sailing, cycling, swimming, sky diving... Empuriabrava is very popular for sky diving. There's a little airport and you can do sky diving or learn how to fly a plane. I have been in one of these planes it's really exciting to be only with the pilot and one or two more people in this little plane.

And finally, the people are typically Spanish. You know: everyone is relaxed and the characteristic way of thinking: If it doesn't work today, it will work tomorrow. You see, it's really great here and I'm looking forward to seeing you. Please write soon.

By for now,


Lydia

Film review

Eagle Eye is a 2008 thriller film directed by D. J. Caruso and starring Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan. The two portray a young man and a single mother who are brought together and coerced by an anonymous caller into carrying out a plan by a possible terrorist organization. The film was released in regular 35mm theaters and IMAX theatres.

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf), a young man who works in a copy shop, returns to his village when his brother dies in an “accident”. When he returns to his flat in the city he found a lot of terrorist material. Then he received a call, and a voice said what he had to do, how to escape from the police, in which train he had to go…

On the other hand, Rachel (Michelle Monaghan) after seeing off his children also received a call. The voice said that she had to follow the instruction or the train where her son was would blow up.

Both, Jerry and Rachel, follow the instruction while they are followed by the police.

The end is very strange, the voice isn’t a human being.

In my opinion it’s a very good film. It’s exactly what could happen in the future. It was very strange to see how computers can influence in our life. It’s a computer who has got the whole information about a country (USA) and went crazy because he was angry with the supervisors. The technology has got power over everything.

It was also frightening to see what the internet and all the technology knows about you.
There is one scene where Jerry doesn’t want to continue. Then the “voice” shows him all the things that she knows about him: when he was born, where, how many times he failed an exam, private videos, where he has been living, what he has bought in the last ten years, where he had been working, his illnesses… Everything!

The computer can also control him, through the cameras which are everywhere.
I find that very dangerous, the fact that every good computer “hacker” can learn all this information about a person.

I would recommend this film, it has got a lot of negative critics, saying that it’s a boring and impossible plot, but I don’t think so. I think that it’s a film which makes you think a lot about yourself and the activities you are doing in the Internet.