Observing my blog, I see an improvement in my essay, so I think that I do my work better than the first term. For example, I have improved on my-says and on oral presentations, in my opinion.
I have learnt a lot of vocabulary because I have had to do some readings, I have had to do an oral exam and I read a book that was very hard and a little bit difficult to understand.
This is the activity that in my opinion, I have done the best. I chose “Great Expectations” because of the title of the book. First of all, when I started reading it, I thought that it was so boring, but after I started to enjoy it. I had to search a lot of words in the dictionary and I did a summary of every event that happened. So I learnt at the same time to summarize, to read a long book and I memorized all of these for my oral exam.
But there are other activities that were useful for me, for example: the oral presentation of Canada, because I searched a lof information and I prepared myself well; another was my last presentation of Violence aganist women and I also think that I have improved my English when I summarize news items and especially, when I have to write a podcast because I’m not used to writing conversations.
If I stop and think about all the writings that I have done on this course, I can’t find anything that hasn’t helped me to improve my English because I always think that everything that I do is good to improve and learn more about.
Finally, the greatest thing of this year, so the thing that I want to repeat next year, is the blog, because we have the opportunity of writing the things that we think that are interesting and important, and at the same time we learn a lot of new things.
Maria: Me too. Why are you phoning me? We spoke yesterday.
Aida: Yes I know but I'm phoning you because I'm coming home sooner than I expected.
Maria: Wow! That's fantastic.
Aida: Yes! I'm looking forward to coming home.
Maria: I want to meet you tomorrow if you can, but maybe you will be tired.
Aida: Oh no no! I want to see you, of course!
Maria: Ok! What time shall we meet tomorrow? What about the afternoon?
Aida: Yes, that's fine. Is seven o'clock ok?
Maria: Yes yes! Goodbye.
Aida: See you!
(The next day at seven o'clock.)
Maria: Aida!
Aida: Darling!
Maria: I'm very happy to see you. What did you do in Paris?
Aida: Uff... I worked a lot. But in my freetime I visited interesting places, like: the Effiel Tower, The Louvre Museum, the Champs Elises and others.
Maria: That's great! I would like to have been with you there.
Aida: And, everything OK here?
Maria: Yes, very well. I spend my time going shopping, going to the cinema and the best is that I met a boy, first of all we were very good friends but one night we went back together and we talked a lot. Now he's my boyfriend! I hope that you become friends =D.
Aida: Ah! I also want to tell you something. Me and my partner went out sometimes to pubs and discos, and there we met a lot of nice people. And soon you will meet some of these people, because they live in the USA like us.
Maria: I would like to meet them. Oh... I'm sorry it's too late I have to go home!
I want to talk about my grandma because she’s the person who always helps me and she gives me advice. She always spend the time working, cooking, and looking after (before, her five children) and now, her grandchildren.
I remember that when I was a child I spent most of my time with her because my brother and my parents were working. But I was so happy, because she told me her stories, we played a lot and I enjoyed myself.
I also remember when we went to the beach and we played with a float.
She has a lot of patience, so I did what I wanted to do: watch films, play with something, but the favourite thing that I prefered was to do her hair.
Last summer, she was really ill and the doctors said that she would die. This time was very hard for me because I always wanted to go to hospital to see her andto hold her hand and to speak to her even if she didn’t hear me.
Fortunately, now she’s with me again and, of course, we can’t do the same things as before, but I have lunch in my granparents’ house everyday, so I always visit her.
For me, she’s the strongest person that I have ever met. And I will never forget the moments with her, because for me she’s like my mum, my old mum and I love her more than me and more than everything!
When I was a child, I remember that I always played with my cousin Grego because we stayed at our grandparents’ house. He always bothered me when I was sleeping, but we were good friends.
After, my other cousin Artur was born. So, we three played with different things, for example: we painted and drew, we jumped all over the garden, we played with barbies (because I was the only girl and they sometimes did the things that I wanted) but we played more at fighting than dolls.
Also, we played football and I wasn’t too bad. We went by motorbike and we went on a trip.
In summer, I spent more time with Artur, and we enjoyed the time too. We went to the beach to played in the water but most of all my cousin loved fishing a lot of different types of fish.Moreover, on 30th of August it was my birthday and my mum always prepared a lunch for all the family and everybody give me a lot of presents, so I love summer.
In my opinion, my childhood was one of the best stages because I was really happy and I didn’t realize the problems.Finally, if I have to sumarize my childhood with two words or two names, for me, are these: Gregory and Artur.
I think that the plot of the film is not so original, because it is about a woman who wants to have children and she goes to a clinic. She becomes pregnant but at the same time she meets a man. He’s perfect, he looks smart and he’s handsome. But there’s a problem: he doesn’t know that she’s pregnant, so she’s afrait of his reaction.
This type of film always has a good ending: he accepts the twins and they live together forever.
In my opinion, this story is the typical story of Hollybood and always has a happy ending. But, I liked it. Because I prefer to go to the cinema and watch a film that is funny and with a happy ending.
Of course, I believe that films have to be comedy, horror, funny... But I’m very afraid so, when I watch a horror film, after I’m afraid!
Moreover, when I watch this type of romantic film I think that the story is perfect, because the woman is always so beautiful, the man
is handsome, and at the beginning of the film maybe everything is a little bit strange or bad things happen but at the end everything is perfect.
When you’re watching this film you think: “ Oh! I want to do this and I want to have a boyfrend like this and, and...” But if I think for a moment, I realize that in real life is different because it’s imposible that everything is perfect.
But it doesn’t matter, I continue enjoying these films because I’m a very romantic person.
I want to talk about this song, not noly because it’s very beautiful, but also because it transmitts many good feelings. Moreover a lot of really good singers appear and I think that all their great voices together give more strength to the message. In addition, I believe that the idea of doing a song to support and help countries that need it, in this case Haiti, is very good.
And refering to the lrics of the song, in my opinion, they are fantastic, and they have many interesting messages: “There comes a time when we hear a certain call, when the world must come together as one...”. It’s amazing when you hear this piece of the song, because you think: “It’s true, we have to do this.”
“Send them your heart so they know that someone cares, so their cries for help will not be in vane. We can't let them suffer no, we cannot turn away right now they need a helping hand”. But, in my opinion, this is one of my favourite messages, because it explains that we can’t control the earthquakes, but all of us have to help people who suffer these misfortunes.
So, in conclusion, I chose these topic because of the children who died, the children who survived and they don’t have family and, in general, for all the people who unwittingly have to live through this.
“We have almost learnt to respect our World. Do you agree?”
I definately disagree with the idea that we have almost learnt to respect our world. I think that we have to do more things to protect the planet.
First of all, in my opinion, we have to reduce the contamination because our cars have contaminated a lot. For example: instead of going by car if we have to go near by we can go by bycilce or go on foot, so we reduce pollution and we do sport at the same time.
In cities there are a lot of people who go to work by bycicle or by motorbike, but they don’t do this because of contamination, they do this because they don’t have enough car parks.
Secondly, I also believe that the majority of people don’t recycle.
Nowadays governments make new plans to recycle and people have different containers to put their rubbish in and after they collect the rubbish from their home. But a lot of people continue without recycling. It seems to me that this is easier than before because we didn’t have these advantatges.
Moreover, there are a lot of rubbish that can’t be destroyed because it causes very negative consequences for the population.
In conlusion, I would say that people need to act more responsibly because maybe our children won’t have the same conditions of life as us.
In addition, people who live in cities or countries that have a lot of pollution, can’t see the stars in the sky because contaminating gases stop them. So I think that we don’t give enough importance with the reference to pollution.
The United Nations General Assembly defines the violence aganist women how:
-The result of all sexism violence is a possible or real physical, sexual or psychological harm including threats, coercion or deprivation of freedom, in public or private life.
It means that the violence aganist women it’s because they’re only women.
- Historians think that violence is connected to history when women were seen as property or servants of men.
Types of violence:
-Physicalà It’s the type of violence that leaves marks on the boody. For example: bites, kicks...
-Psicologicalà This is when a person receives insults and threats. The aim of the attacker is to take control of the woman and dominate her.
-Economicà The attacker wants to take control of the economical situation.
-Socialà The victim can’t meet her friends or she can’t visit her family.
-Sexualà The attacker compels the victim to have sexual intercourse.
Characteristics:
1. Violence aganist women happens because men think that they’re superior to women.
2. Women are considered worse than men, so they can be ill treated.
3. Violence appears in every social class and at different stages in life.
4. Violence aganist women depends on the education and the society.
5. This type of violence is recognized thanks to the reports to the police.
Women are at risk when:
· He critisizes your way of dressing or thinking.
· He forbids you or deosn’t like you to make up.
· He compares you with other girls.
· He gets angry for nothing.
· He shouts at you or pushes you around.
· He says things that hurt you when you argue.
· He watches you and controls your mobile phone or your emails.
· You get scared when he gets violent.
· He frequently gets jealous.
· He accuses you of flirting when he sees you with other men.
What to do if somebody has been attacked
1. Call the police.
2. Ask a neighbour or a person in your family to witness their physical condition, harm and attitude of the aggressor.
3. Collect all their personal documents.
4. If there have been injuries:
-Go to the doctor and get the medical certificate.
-Take photos of the injuries.
5. Ask for legal advice.
Psycological consecuenses:
Women change their way of dressing and they also change their character, their customs...
Moreover, they can develop symptoms of stress, depression, rage, low self-esteem, blame and resentment. They usually have sexual problems and addictive contuct.
These women can’t sleep because they have nightmares, they can’t concentrate, they’re irritable...
So, important depressive problems could appear.
Types of protection:
There are 2 types of protecion:
-Physical protectionà Making sure that the agressor cannot come into contact with the victim and commit agressions.
-Legal protectionà Security through: possessing the family house and custody of the children.
There are two measures:
1. Criminal measures:
-Provisional prison
-Restraining order
-Prohibition of communication
2. Civil measures:
-Suspension of visits
-Withdrawal of custody, if they have children.
Examples of famous singers who were ill-treated:
Christina Aguileraàwhen she was a child suffered physical abuse by her father.
Shakiraà She was psychologically abused by her boyfriend, Osvaldo Ríos.
Mariah Careyà She suffered psychologically abused by her both boyfriends, Tommy Mottola and Luís Miguel.
Tina Turnerà Her husband abused her physically with severe strokes and this real life drama was made into a movie.
RihannaàRecently, her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown abused her physically, with severe blows.
Statistics
In 2009 died 141 women for those different reasons and in 2008 died 207 women.
The statistics say that between 35% and 40% of women who live with their partners suffer physical or psychological violence from men.
Thousand of women are even threatened with death.
One in every three women in the world, has been physically ill-treated or compelled to have sexual intercourse and often by somebody they know.
Violence against women is practically invisible.
Many women are afraid or ashamed and they don't report the incidents to the police.
Impact on society
- The World Health Organization says that violence on women causes more expense for the health services because these women need more treatmen.
Conclusion:
Nowadays women have more freedom than before, and this has caused men to become more violent. It’s necessary reinforce the rights of women to fight aganist this resistance.
We have to:
-Reforce the police and the citizans help.
-Recognition by the goverment
-Aplication of new criminal tools.
But the best would be that we can receive the same education, because violence is a conduct that can be modified.
Today, I want to talk about smoking because it has always been a very important problem for the society and it affects children, teenagers and old people, because there are so many people that smoke.
So, I think that it’s an interenting topic to talk about.
Most smokers begin during adolescence or early adulthood. In my opinion, smoking has elements of risk-taking and rebellion, which often appeals to young people.
I also think that the presence of high-status models is also an incentive to smoke and it’s good that nowadays people who has a cigarette don’t appear in television.
Moreover, cigarettes are a very addictive substance and people depend on them. I meet people who say something like: “Everyone dies and so cigarettes do not actually change anything”, this sentence is only to justify that his or her behavior is not so important.
But often I listen to teenagers saying this and I believe that young people who think this don’t think that life is very important and it’s very serious that these people think like this.
I have had a very sad experiance because of smoking, and that’s not so easy for a family. My grandfather died of throat cancer a few years ago, but before he died we were all hard hit. And my other grandfather had the same cancer, but he survived.
So, I think that smokers should think about what they are doing and if it’s worth it.
I’m not aganist people who smoke, because I believe it’s good to try something to find out what it is like.
This year is so hard for me because of school, family problems, teachers... So sometimes I want to disappear. I think that nobody understands me and my personal problems, because everybody has their life and they don’t stop and think about me. When I was a child, I thought that my world was perfect and my family too. Of course I continue thinking that but everything has changed for me.Because I have grow up I have to learn that life is more difficult as you get older. So, your mum doesn’t protect you like before, your family has new problems, your friends become different and sometimes they don’t talk about their problems and they aren’t interested in yours and this is when I realize that there are 3 or 4 people in your life who want to be with you forever. For me it’s very difficult to understand this. Like a child who doesn’t understand that he has dropped his lollipop, I don’t understand how people don’t think about others, they don’t think about people who are important in their lifes. But I hope that my future will be good because I always believe that I have good luck, because I have people who love me, I have a fantastic boyfriend who always helps me and he understands me, but maybe we won’t always be a couple. But I know that he’s one of these 3 or 4 people who will never fail. In conlcusion, there’s a thing that I have learnt and I understand too: Life is very short, and we have to make the most of it to the end.
This story talks about a child, Pip, who hasn’t got parents, so he lives with his sister and her husband Joe. Joe is the backsmith and he always helps Pip.
One day Pip met a convict (Abel Magwitch) on the marshlands and for a time Pip gave him money, food..
Later the convict wanted to help this boy and he paid a lot of money so that Pip could receive education and study.
So Pip, went back and he started to live in London. In this city he met Jaggers (a lawyer), Wemmick (who is his worker) and Herbert Pocket (who is the son of his teacher).
Pip was so happy in London, but he always thought about Estella. She was his love. Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham (who was a strange old lady who hadn’t celebreted her wedding, so, she spent the time in a dark room, wearing a white dress and she had her wedding cake on a big table.
And sometimes Pip went to her house to play with Estella. But she never loves him.
When Pip was 25 years old, Abel Magwitch appeared at his house and he told him the truth... (why he went to prison, why he got a divorce from his wife...). So, Pip wanted to help and protect him from people who wanted to hit or kill Abel. In the end, Abel died in prison and Pip was with him.
Finally, Pip and his best friend Herbert, became partners in a ship company, in India.
Pip visited Joe and he met Estella. She was very loving and friendly with Pip and they became friends for ever.
2.
Yes, I found a turning point and it’s this:
“Now, what I have to say, and remember, I’m only an agent, I don’t speak for myself, is that this young man has great expectations.”
3.
The story takes places in a different cities: Essex and London i n 1860.
4.
In my opinion, the character who takes the role of the story is Pip.
He’s a child who lives with his sister and her husband (because they don’t have parents) and he meets a convict. Pip helps him for a long time and after, the convict gives his money to Pip, so he can receive an education and he can study too, but in London.
The other character is Miss Havisham, who was an old lady who lived in a big house and Pip used to visit her.
5.
The secondary character that I want to discribe is Estella:
She’s a child who was adopted by Miss Havisham. She doesn’t know her parents. She’s very smart, but Estella can never love any boy because Miss Havisham educated her like this.
First, she seems moody, bigheaded and very cold with people (especially with boys). But at the end of the story seems more mature, responsable and loving.
6.
No, I can’t. Because I think that my personallity or caracter is different from the all of characters of the story.
For example: -Estella is cold, and I’m not.
-Miss Havisham is a strange and unfortunate woman.
-Pip sister’s is very moody.
But, maybe I can identify myself with Pip or Herbert, because they always help each other and the other people, and I do the same.
7.
My favourite moment in the story is when Pip meets Estella. He is a little bit sad, because he isn’t lucky in love and she feels the same. Pip always loves Estella, so he is very happy to meet up with her again.
This scene shocked me for two reasons:
-On the one hand, because Estella was really lovely with Pip and changed a lot.
- And on the other hand, because they meet up at the same place where they met for the first time.
8.
To tell the truth, I needed a lot of words, but the key words were:
-proud (orgullós)
-inherit (heretar)
-bright future (futur brillant)
-may (potser)
-suffered (patir)
-shelter (refugi)
Of course, there are more words but sometimes I knew the word in the context of the sentence.
9.
The ending of the story is so beautiful for me. But maybe, I would prefer that Pip gets married to Biddy, because she always loves and helps him.
Another possible ending would be that Pip’s sister doesn’t die and Joe continues with her, so at the end, Biddy and Pip love each other and celebrete the wedding.
10.
Yes. Because I think that it’s really interesting. Before I started reading the book I thought that it would be boring but as I went on reading it I started to enjoy it. It is the kind of book that holds your attention.
Thanks for sending me your letter. I think that the places which you recommended to me are really beautiful. So, I want to describe the most beautiful and interesting things and places in my village, because it’s a good place to go on holidays.
I live in a housing estate and I love my area because the houses are newer than the houses in the centre of the town and it’s a relaxing place. But for me, the most beautiful cultural places that are interesting to visit in Castelló are these: The flour mill, The prison, The church, The music school... These buldings are really nice and to tell the truth, they make an impression on you.
Moreover, there are few shops and some little supermarkets too. So, if you want to buy something, don’t worry about it because you won’t have to go to other places to buy food or clothes.
Winter in this area isn’t very cold, but this winter it was snowed and it never snows in Castelló. It was a really good experience for everybody.
However I prefer to recommend you the summer, because it is very funny and different like other villages or countries. In Castelló, Empuriabrava, Roses and more towns near mine, there are fantastic beaches, where there are usually a lot of tourists because people want to practice scubadiving, parachuting, windsurfing, kitsurfing... and things like these. Never the less if you want to relax on the beach, if I were you, I would go there at 7:00 or 7:30 on the afternoon, it’s fantastic and you can enjoy yourself a lot. At night, you can go to some discos like Chic (in Roses), Fata (in St.Pere), Mille... and there are few discos in Empuriabrava too.
Finally, if you come here, you have to visit the monastery of St.Pere de Rodes because the views are really beautiful.
Catalan festivals wouldn’t be the same without “Gegants”.
Giants really exist. Anyone who’s been to a “festa major” has seen the tall kings and queens supported by humans who “wear” them.
Some of these giants emerge from a workshop in Terrassa and the man who makes the giants is called Jordi Grau.
In Catalunya there are approximately six people who make a legal living from making giants.
Giants are made from moulds, on top of which is stuck a type of cardboard like papier mâché. Once it dries, it’s very hard, and can be painted. It takes them approximately 1’5 months to make a single giant and 2 to 2’5 months for a couple.
The clinets are councils or associations and for asmall giant they pay three or four thousand euros and a large giant, five or six thousand.
A lot depends on the clothing and hair. A wig is very expensive, and can cost up to 1.500 €.
