Final reflection

My English progress from 2012-2014 and my English competence in 2014

This is my last post and it’s time to see my improvement along these two years, from 2012 to 2014. To see my improvement I’m going to compare my first written document with my last composition, and also my first oral presentation with my last one. Moreover, to show my English competence I’m going to choose my best writing evidence and my best oral evidence.

My first post in the blog was “The animal in me” and I have read it again and it is really embarrassing. I had written it three years ago and comparing my first post with my last one, I have to say that I have improved my writing skills. I think I didn’t realize that the connectors exist. Another difference is that I used to talk about boring and ordinary topics. I have noticed that I have improved over the years in grammar and vocabulary, especially with the adjectives. If I’m honest I didn’t know which my best written composition is, but if I have to choose one of all my post, that would be “Four ways to give your brain a break”.

Regarding my oral presentation improvement I have to say that I feel more confident in front of my classmates, although I need to practice my pronunciation and my tone of voice. I have to say that I hate doing oral presentation because I felt insecure and incompetent but if I have to choose my best oral presentation I would choose “Pau Casals a Prades” (my TDR) because it was my last oral presentation and I was extremely happy doing it.

All in all, I can’t finish my last blog without mention the advantages of writing this blog. At first, someone could think that writing a blog is a way of wasting time, but I can confirm that it have helped me to improve my may to explain my point of view and to increase my knowledge of English.

Jane

I absolutely thing that this video, which is based on a true story, deservers being watch by everyone. It talks about a young girl called Jane who “had” a baby when she was 18. Jane is a single mother and she goes to school and also she has to take care of her daughter. This situation is really difficult for her but she loves her daughter and she would sacrifice everything for her.  The other mothers criticized her for having a baby being so young but the thing is that they don’t know the truth. The truth is that Jane one day was walking along the street and she saw a bag on the floor. She opened it and insite there was a baby. That baby became her daughter but she decided to keep it in secret.

That video shows how cruel could be the society because in this case, all the mothers criticized Jane without knowing the truth and they are harmed her and her daughter. 

Extra film review

HOME

The truth is when the teacher told us that we’ll see a documentary I felt like saying: what are you talking about? But the idea got worse when she said that the documentary talked about the climate change.  I just thought, another documentary of this theme?, no please, I have been watching lots of videos about the same topic.  Now, after watching it, I have to stop speaking about it because my idea of the documentary was wrong.

 

Home is an interesting and astonishing documentary through which you really realise that we are doing something wrong with our planet and we have to take conscience on how to improve the Earth.  Home is very emotional because it gives us a message to think about it. This message is associated with the problems of the climate change and the consequences that it brings.

Also, the video shows us how the world was and how it is now. This difference is so huge and it impacted me because we are responsible for what is happenning right now.

In conclusion, I liked watching it but I think it was too long and most of the things that it says we knew before. Although I enjoyed it and made me think about all the things we do wrong.

Extra your-say

In this post I want to talk about my birthday present. My birthday was in November but I’m going to enjoy it now because of the weather. Some of my parents’ friends gave me that present eight months ago. You might ask what kind of gift is it, so I am going to answer you your question right now. This week I’m going to jump in parachute in Empuriabrava.  I’m so excited.

I will enjoy it with my friends Ona and Irene who also have the same opportunity as me.  We will celebrate the end of the scho
ol together. It will be fantastic. I’m counting the days left for the jump.

 

Extra news

bbc

Arguably one of the most heated debates in science, Alla Katsnelson explores the many issues behind efforts to reduce the number of animals used in studies.

One of the most contentious issues in science is the use of animals in research. Because are many people against the use of animals in research but they are necessary to investigate new treatments. Scientists experiment on animals for a host of different reasons, including basic research to explore how organisms function, investigating potential treatments for human disease, and safety and quality control testing of drugs, devices and other products. There is a long list of medical advances made possible with the help of animal research. Opponents believe it is cruel and meaningless, as observations in animals often do not translate directly to humans.

The truth is that around 29 million animals per year are currently used in experiments in the US and European Union countries. The 80% of these animals are Rats and mice.  

Some believe technological advances will one day make animal studies unnecessary, while others argue that “non-living” models will never be capable of reliably replicating all of the uses of laboratory mice and other creatures.

Capable: capaç

Meaningles: sense sentit

 

Nowadays this issue is very problematic and is delicate because there are people against and also in favor, so it causes a dispute. The main issue is that the humans use animals to do experiments and that's not fair because we hurt them just to improve our life. Moreover we take away their freedom for then killing them.

But the truth is that we need them to explore how organisms function, investigating potential treatments for human disease, and safety and quality control testing of drugs, devices and other products. So they are necessary to us but in my opinion we use the animal for our benefit and we don’t respect them as they deserve.

 

 

Extra podcast

vocaroo

Final evaluation

In these two last years I have improved my English, especially this year in batxillerat. The best activity which shows our level of English is the oral presentation. In my opinion the oral presentation is more useful than the other activities because we can improve our pronunciation. Moreover, this year we have learnt a lot of new vocabulary in the language room.

For the next year, I would like to do again the blog, the oral presentations, some listening and writings in class.

 All in all, I want to say that I really like the English class because we have fun, I enjoy it, it isn’t stressful and of course is useful learning English at school for our future.

Dialoge

-      Marcus  (speaking on the phone) Sweety, I have something to tell you… Yes, it’s important, can we meet now? It’s about the last party when you were ill at home.. Ok, see you. I love you…

-     Juliet (opening the door with a worried face) What it’s going on, baby? (She gets close to kiss him, but he turns down. Well, come in…

(They sit down on the sofa, but without any word) (Marcus decides to start).

-      Marcus I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to do it. I was drunk…

-     Juliet (she stands up and she invites him to get out home painting the door) Stop. Don’t talk anymore. I know what’s going on. You said you loved me. Didn’t you? I’m not going to belive in you again. I’m freaking out (shouting at him).

-     Marcus (Tears in his eyes) Give me a second chance. I love you, I’ve loved you since I met you, and I know I will love you forever. I’m not proud of what I did… F_ _K! It’s not fair, I was drunk, I love you…

-     Juliet Bye.

(He leaves home. She closes the door. She starts to cry).

Opinion essay

We have almost learnt to respect the Word

Nowadays we live in a world where the pollution rises every day. The problem began when the human built all the industry and destroyed the forests. All depends on us. We have almost learnt to respect the world. I agree with the sentence in the earth so we have to respect it.

Firstly, we have to consider that we, humans, are the ones who destroy the world. It is important to accept that because there are people who think that they haven’t done anything to destroy our world and they are wrong.

Secondly, we have to reduce, reuse and recycle in our house and at the school because it is also important. We have to do little things to improve the situation of the world.

In conclusion, we have to cut down the pollution if we want to live in nice conditions in the future. Also is important that every person in the world help to do it. The children have to be educated to fight against the pollution because they are the future of the world. Moreover, we have to support all the organizations because they act for good causes. It all depends on us.

Oral presentation

Marina, Lidia and I talked to you about Teen mom. We decided this topic because we think that it’s interesting and important.

Like some classmates we used the Prezzi to do our presentation. We showed you different photos, not too many but I think there were enough. The structure of our presentation it was clear and you can follow all the different parts of our project and we didn’t use very difficult words. Also we explained you new information and we think that we chose good information.

In my case, I think that I have to improve my body language and look at all the audience. Also I know that I have to improve my pronunciation.

I just need summer

 
I’m counting down the days until school finishes for summer. I can’t wait to finish school, I just need vacations. If it could be possible I’ll say I need six month vacation, twice a year. I’m sure that most of the students need the same as me. But before summer we have the final exams. They are so hard and they stress me. The last month before summer I’ll have an exam every day so every afternoon and every weekend I’ll be studying to get the highest mark possible.

I hate doing exams in good weather because I can’t concentrate. That’s why on the third term my marks are always lower, but this year has to be different, I have to concentrate and study hard. And finally when I finish the exams the holidays will start.

A whole day in Barcelona

Some days ago I went with a friend of mine to Barcelona to visit my cousin who lives there.

We got on the train but the screens didn’t work so we didn’t know where we had to get off. We shared the coach just with a foreign man. Suddenly the man asked us where we were but we couldn’t answer him because we were in the same situation, we didn’t have any idea. Finally we saw a poster outside which showed where we were, unfortunately was our train stop. We got off and we looked for my cousin. After a while, she phoned me and told me that we had to take the underground. So we did it but we arrived thirty minutes late. Then my cousin invited us to a Mexican restaurant and the three of us went shopping.

Gap Year

It’s a year you leave your country before, while or alter University. You can choose where you want to go, what you want to do and howlong you want to stay there.

On the one hand, you can leave behind all your problems you have on your country, the simple routine of every day. Moreover, you can be a volunteer and for example, you can look after old people, poor children, disabled people and more.

On the other hand, when you’re abroad you many miss your family and all you had there. Also, it can possibly not be as you expected.

All in all, we can say that you find out a new world and you live incredible experiences like meet new people, know different cultures or taste different food that maybe you want repeat. In our opinion, we think that if you have the chance to go on a gap year, you have to do it because not everybody can do it and you will always remember.

in ten years time

Some days ago in the English class we were talking about the future and the teacher asked us our future plans and if I’m honest, I don’t have any idea and it scare me a lot. Most teenagers are in my situation so fortunately I’m not the only one who doesn’t know what I’m going to do in the future. I admire people who know exactly what they want to study or what they want to be, although I think that nobody have plans for ten years time. In ten years time lots of things could happen, so my single objective in my live at the moment is to be happy.

Like some, love some, trust none

“Like some, love some, trust none”, this phrase was said by Wiz Khalifa, an American rapper. He is quiet famous around the world for his songs, style and quotes.

If I 'm honest, I don't like too much rap and I rarely listen to this type of songs. Although I really like Wiz Khalifa's. I admire him because He always says what he thinks. In my opinion, people like him because they identity themselves with what he says.

 “The best thing in life is finding someone who knows all off your flaws, mistakes, and weaknesses and still thinks you’re completely amazing.”

“I'm shy. Most people don't take the time to get to know me. They don't take the time to explore the real me. So i'd like to thank everyone who has. Everyone who didn't miss out".

 “Worrying is stupid. It’s like walking around with an umbrella waiting for it to rain.”

These are some quotes, as you can see he tells the truth about life and it makes you think about it. 

Sleep

I really like sleeping, it’s one of my favorite hobbies. I just love sleeping and I could never understand people who don’t like it. If nobody disturbs me I can sleep twelve hours without any problem. Also I can get up, eat breakfast and then go to sleep again. My family call me “Sleeping Beauty” and my best friends call me “marmot” because I ‘m the one who goes to sleep first and gets up last. Then I get angry with myself because I think I have wasted my time sleeping instead of doing something useful or having fun with my friends.

Ikea

I love going to Ikea. Maybe some people think that it’s quiet strange but I love spending time in there .I don’t know if there are more people who think that but It might be possible. One of the reasons why I like Ikea is because I have been there four times and every time I go I see different things. The other reason is because you can find everything and you try whatever you want.

Ikea it’s like another world where you can get lost every minute because there are so many spaces, corridors, halls, rooms, kitchens, bathrooms… there are so many article, in fact you can find whatever you can imagine.

Scusa ma ti voglio sposare

This book is the second part of Scusa ma ti chiamo amore. It talks about the story between Nikki and Alex. Both are in love to each other but he is twenty years older and this is a problem because she is twenty. However, when Alex invites her to spend some days in New York, he proposes her to get married. While they are in a helicopter, she sees a poster “Scusa ma ti voglio sposare” and of course she accepts but her family and friends thing that she is too young to get married. She feels alone because no one help her (either Alex because he is always working) so she decided to break off with Alex. Then she meets a new guy, Guido but she knows that her true love is Alex. After that, Nikki with her friends go to Fuerteventura and Alex go there too and tells her that he is still in love with her. They reconciled and get married two months later.

A different day

Few years ago I spent a whole day with some friends sailing on a boat. We got up very early and we sailed to France but in the way we saw a fantastic cove so we decided to moor there. The sea was calm, the water was crystalline, the sun shone and there weren’t any clouds. Then the weather changed: the sky became black and the sea got rough. The younger members in the boat were scared and some started to cry. The situation wasn’t so good because the waves were very big and the water entered in the boat. I’ll never forget this day.

Berlin

Since I was a child I have had the same obsession to go to Berlin. I don’t know exactly why, but I always liked this city and want to visit as soon as possible. I perhaps wish to go there because I met some people who spent some days there and told me that Berlin is a fantastic place and they also wish to return. If it was be possible I’d travel to Berlin right now but it wouldn’t be possible because I could never find the time to go there. I wish to spend some time there to know the city but the thing that I really want is to live there for a while but not forever, just for a short time in my life.