My English Competence in 2010

I have chosen the oral presentation of my research project as the best oral evidence, whereas my the last informal letter we did as the best written obviusness.
First of all, I have chosen the second presentation of this course because of many reasons. It was about the project I had been working on since last summer so I perfectly knew what was I saying. Moreover, I had already done the oral presentation of the research paper in English. Therefore, my pronounciation was very accurate and the nerves weren't present. On account of the specific topic it was about, it was full of technical words as well as linking words and a complex grammar.
Secondly, I think that my best written evidence is the informal letter about a doctor without borders because it's very-well adapted to what was asked for. I mean, it satisfies the structure, the vocabulary and the grammar demanded by an informal letter. For instance, I used a familiar greeting (hello mummy and daddy!), verbs which expressed my feelings, phrasal verbs and some typical expressions of this type of compositions such as 'see you son!' or 'love'.
All in all, I think that the result is totally visible when you really work on what you're doing.

My English progress from 2008-2010

No matter comparing my first written document and my last essay or my fist oral presentation and my final presentation, there is a big difference in every aspect.
If we first notice the email I sent to Gemma at the beginning of first of batxillerat, we realize that the grammar and the vocabulary are very poor. I used too many comas insted of starting a new sentence. For this reason I also used too many times the conjuction 'and' and the adverb 'then'. For instance, the last phrase before saying goodbye starts with 'And', which is something I definietly wouldn't do now in a composition. However, I think that the strucutre of the email was quite accurate. Taking now my last composition (Mind-body thrapies are a waste of time) into consideration, we notice I use a higher amount of connectors such as 'first of all', 'secondly', 'moreover' or 'in conclusion'. What's more, the vocabulary employed is more rich, with some synonims and without lots of repetitions.
Let's analyse now the oral presentations. Whether we notice, the language, the content or the body-language, it's obviously that I have improved. I don't feel the same with my fluency and pronounciation, though. I think I used to speak more fluent perhaps because of the fact that I had spent part of the summer in England. Unfortunately, that's one of those things which deteriorates if you don't practise constantly. On the other hand, in my last presentations I wasn't as nervous and insercure as I was last year. Moreover, the vocabulary and the grammar used is more complex.
Last but not least, in all these documents I can see a personal development. There is evidently a higher presence of maturity in my last compositions than in the firsts ones.

Mind-body therapies are a waste of time

It is a well-known fact that mind-body therapies are becoming more popular every day all around the world. In my opinion, this may be because they are not a waste of time but on the contrary, they are truly successful.
First of all, most of mind-body therapies make yourself feel good, relaxed and healthier, and that's never a waste of time. The hours you spend doing a mind-body therapy are totally worth since then you will work and live muck more calmly.
Secondly, it has been demonstrate by many studies that when you suffer from an illness these mind-body therapies help you feel better. They won't cure your disease, for that you'll have to go to the doctor, though will surely reduce your harm. Moreover, it's a way of having new experiences and meeting pople, which is always very comfortable.
In conslusion, I think that mind-body therapies are not a waste of time because the time it would take you not to feel stressed if you didn't practise them might be much more longer.

New study: sleeping consistently less than six hours can kill you

Researchers from the UK and Italy have filed a new study with new information about the link there is between the hours you sleep and the risk of dying prematurely. The academics saw that people who sleep consistently less than six hour per night are 12% more bound to a premature death. Nevertheless, sleeping more than nine hours is neither good for our health. Consequently, spleeping generally from six to eight hours per night might be optimal if you want to enjoy a long life.

This is a very interesting infromation, don't you think? Just by checking the hours you sleep per night you're lenghtening your life. It's truly helpful to know how many hours you should sleep for having a healthier life.
For instance, now we're in our last week of batxillerat and some of won't probably sleep eight hours owing to the huge amount of exams we have. I usually sleep between seven and eight hours per night. However, on an exams' week I may sleep less. So now that I know the medium period of time I should sleep, maybe I'll go to bed earlier in order to be more alert next morning.
On the other hand, I have to confess I normally sleep more than nine hours per night during the weekend. It's something I can't manage. Despite of promising myself I'll wake up early next morning so as to have time to study, then I get as late as usual. So I hope this study affects my concience!lool
Even so, the point is: will we continue sleeping the same hours as we did, or will we change our habits?

[Resource: short news]

if I had eyes - Jack Johnson

If I had eyes in the back of my head / Si tingues ulls al darrera
I would have told you that / t'hauria dit
You looked good / que estaves guapa
As I walked away /mentre marxava

If you could have tried to trust the hand that fed / Si haguessis pogut intentar confiar en la ma que t'alimentava
You would've never been hungry / mai hauries passat gana,
But you'll never really be / però de fet mai en passràs.

The more of this or less of this or is there any difference / més, o menys, o hi ha alguna diferència
or are we just holding onto the things we don't have anymore / o simplement ens aferrem a allò que ja no tenim

Sometimes time doesn't heal / A vegades el temps no cicatritza
No not at all / no, no del tot
Just stand still /tan sols quedar-se quiet
While we fall / mentre queiem
In or out of love again I doubt I'm gonna win you back / en l'amor o el desamor altre vegada, dubto si et tornare a aconseguir
When you got eyes like that / quan tens els ulls d'aquesta manera
It won't let me in / no em deixaran entar
Always looking out / sempre anant en compte.

Lots of people spend their time just floating / motla gent passa el temps simplement 'flotant'
We were victims together but lonely / Vam ser victimes junts pero solitaris
You got hungry eyes that just can't look forward / Els teus ulls tenen tanta gana que no pots mirar endavant
Can't give them enough but we just can't start over / No els puc donar prou però no podem començar de nou
Building with bent nails we're falling but holding, / Contruint amb claus curvats estem caient però aguantant
I don't wanna take up anymore of your time / no vull fer-te perdre el temps mai mes
Time time time / temps temps temps

Sometimes time doesn't heal / A vegades el temps no cicatritza
No not at all / no, no del tot
Just stand still /tan sols quedar-se quiet
While we fall / mentre queiem
In or out of love again I doubt I'm gonna win you back / en l'amor o el desamor altre vegada, dubto si et tornare a aconseguir
When you got eyes like that / quan tens els ulls d'aquesta manera
It won't let me in / no em deixaran entar
Always looking out / sempre anant en compte.

2010/2011

The fact of finishing 2nd of batxillerat don't mean just leaving the high school but lots of things: chosing a degree, moving to another city, meeting new people... starting a new way of life.
At last I have decided to study Industrial Engineering at the UPC (universitat politècnica de catalunya). It is a varied degree where you do a little bit of everything and it has infinite professional opportunities. This might have been some of the characteristics that have finally convinced me. Everybody told me: "if you are not so sure it's better to study Industrial Engineering 'cause it's the most general one and then you can specialize in many things.
On the other hand there is the factor of living. In spite of not knowing anyone, I'm decided to go to a residence at least for the first year. I haven't chosen one yet, though. I have to confess that I'm quite afraid even though beeing determined.
Anyway, I'm sure this new way of life is going to be very postive. I already know I'll have to study a lot, but I'll try to have fun as well (I'm sure I will!loool).

Emergency talks on air chaos

As the impact of the volcano Eyjafjallajoekull destructed flights in major Europe for fifth days, European transport ministers are looking for ways to bring stranded travellers back to their countries. For instance, the British Prime Minister Grodon Brown has displaced three Royal Navy ships to begin the rescue.

One of the proposals in discussion is using Spain as a gate hub into Europe. Mr Brown says the only way for thousands of people who need to get home from America and from Asia through by plane is to get to Spain and then use other forms to travel to Britain.

In my opinion, in this type of situations, is when the politicians have to show their skills. They have to make us think they're doing their best and feeling the solution is close. If now they get to work out all this air traffic chaos succesfully, people might think they'll be capable of resolving common problems. On the contrary, if the governments don't achieve to take everyone to his/her destination, people may refuse to think they'll do something positive. I think most of people is guided by this stuff. The problem is that this situation do not depends on the governments but to the nature. And this is what most people don't understand. They just want to arrive were they wanted though not thinking they could die on the way because of the ash.

[Resource: BBC News (video)]