MY ENGLISH COMPETENCE IN 2014

In this post I'm going to talk about the best oral and written evidence I've done during this year. 


Dear Lidia,

I know you’re excited to start a new type of life and you expect that everything will come to you will be unforgettable, but remember that not everything is like you will expect.

In life you will meet with a lot of people; the ones who you will remember for a long time and the ones who you will want to forget immediately. For this reason I only want to tell you to spend your time with these people you really want to stay. Don’t be manipulated by anybody and remember to be just the way you are. 

I’m sure you will live some difficult moments when you’ll think nothing in life makes sense, but you have to be mature enough to overpass them and stand up like a hero. 

Remember: “Life is tough, but so are you”.

Yours sincerely, 

LÍDIA TARRATS COSTA

I’ve chosen this composition as the best because I really enjoyed doing it. I love the topic of the writing and I put all my effort to write a good one.  

I’ve used some expressions, I want to “the ones…. And the ones” or verbs like “overpass”, and I think they help a lot to improve the writing.  

I use passive phrases (be manipulated by) and I think it’s something that makes the difference between compositions I did two years ago. 

Also I have learned a lot of vocabulary, idioms, expressions, phrasal verbs and some others words. 

And to final, I want to talk about the personal development. I think in this writing  I've expressed my feelings and I can say I also feel more mature. Writing on the blog help you a lot to talk about everything in life you want; anything you can be frustrated with and something you love and you want to share with the others. 

And about my best oral evidence I think it’s my last oral presentation, it was about my TDR and as I said before I’ve learned a lot. Even though my oral post I’ve done this term I also think it’s one of the best. I’ve improved my pronunciation and my fluency compared with my fist oral presentation or posts. 
it's the oral post I did about "money can change the world". 

https://audioboo.fm/boos/2150788-money-isn-t-important

MY ENGLISH PROGRESS FROM 2012-2014

In this post I’m going to talk about my improvement along these two years I’ve been doing batxillerat. First of all, I will compare my first composition I did at the beginning of first batxillerat and it was an email to Sonia:

“Dear Sonia,

I’m Lídia and as we agreed, I email you to introduce myself and to give you some special information about me. 

As you know, I’m 16 years old and I live in Castelló d’Empúries. A small town, but at the same time, very special for me. About me, I can only say that I think I’m friendly and some of my friends told me that I’m someone who always wants to help somebody.

Also, I love the sports, and in my opinion, it’s so important to keep feet and to do some exercise, not so many people are aware of that thought.  I want to say I practice rowing, it's so hard but I love it. Now, you know some more about me! Thank you for the time you've spent to read my email.

Write soon!

Lídia Tarrats Costa

And this is my last post I’ve done in this blog some days ago: 

I can’t believe it, I’m writing the last post on this blog which was created two years ago. Time flies! 

I have to accept when I knew I had to create a blog to write about anything for the English subject, I think “wow, I don’t want to do it”. But then I’ve to admit you get used to do it and you realize you can learn a lot of things doing it. To be in front of a white paper and to begin to think which topic you want to write about it’s really interesting. 

Sometimes you can feel you’re wasting your time working on the blog, but now I don’t think so. 

From my point of view, writing in the blog has helped me a lot to improve my writing skills and moreover, I feel more insecure with my compositions. 

Thank you for the ones who have spent some minutes reading some the posts I’ve written here. I suppose next year I will miss to write on this blog!

Best wishes and good luck!

If I have to compare both, I can say that I have improved a lot my writing. First of all, because now I know more about grammatical categories and mainly I know what connectors are. Even though I’m really surprised, because reading my first email I see I used some connectors like “but at the same time”, some phrasal verbs (keep feet), and adjectives like “aware” (they are all marked on the composition). 

Now, after some hours of studying connectors I have to say I use them a lot, in this last composition we can read some examples: “but, from my point view, moreover, …” and they help to improve writings. 

One of the mistakes I have noticed in the first one is some words repeated, they are also marked (for example I use too many times “some”). 

And finally, I want to say I’ve improved vocabulary; reading books in English helps a lot to know more words and expressions. 

And about my oral presentations I have to say I’m really proud of me because I think I’ve improved a lot. 

I remember when I did my first presentation that I was really scared and nervous. I think I’ve improved a lot my body language, my fluency and now I can say I look more often at the audience.

To have an example, I post one of my fist presentations I did to see judge my oral skills:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyYZvSuWLzc

 I can’t post my last oral presentation about my TDR, but from my point of view it’s the best I’ve done. I know more my classmates and I felt more comfortable and I think my pronunciation improved a lot.   

Money can change the world

listen to ‘money isn't important’ on Audioboo

It is said money can change the world, we’re living in a materialistic society and everything can be got with it. There’s no doubt money has become one of the most important things is our society and I think it could be really disruptive for all of us. 

I firmly believe that there are other things more important than money in life. Happiness or love, for example, could they be bought? Personally, I think we usually give too much importance to expensive things, in other words, the more expensive they are the better we think they could be. And from my point of view, we don’t appreciate things we can get with effort and without any money.

Having said that I also want to say that most of the times to be a rich person may help you to get things easily. It’s true that life is not a bed of roses and I have to accept that with money there are more opportunities to get what we really want or need. 

All in all, I think everyone has to have their own limits and know what they need to be a happy person. 

Formal letter

C/Puig Salner 3

Barcelona

10 th January 2014

Spanish Government

Madrid 

Mr. Rajoy, 

I am writing to complain about some issues in our society today. As you know, we are living in a complicated situation and the country does not work as should run. 

Nowadays, we are in crisis and from my point my of view, this I one of the most important problems we have. Since 1948 we have lived in a society with “Humans Rights”. Do you think in our current society every one of us has all the rights we should have?

This crisis I named before has caused a lot of problems, and about “Humans Rights” I have to say not everyone has all of them. A lot of people are homeless and many of them are immersed in a violent world. However, I do not see any changes from the government and I think it’s a real problem. 

I am young and I trust in years we will see this change of our society. Thank you for the time, and I look forward to hearing from you. 

Yours sincerely, 

LÍDIA TARRATS COSTA 

INTERVIEW

I’m interested in business and especially human resources management, it’s  said you’re an expert on this and want to ask you some questions:

- When you started the degree, did you think to finish working on this eventually?

Well, not at all. I have to say when I had to choose a degree I didn’t have anything clear

in my mind.  During the first year I’d been studying a degree about biology (you can see how lost I was) but this choice made me realize what I really wanted to do. The following year I started some studies in business management and since then I’ve been immersed in this world.  

- What do you like about your job?

I love everything related with business and study how a company works or has to work. Even though, I’m working in the human resources department  and what I really love about this is that I get a chance to build relationships with great people.

- Do you find this work difficult?

I’ve always though you’ll never find something that you find difficult. You have to fight as far as you can to get what you really want. Now you’re in a period of time when maybe you think everything is difficult and tough. Even though you’re a young girl who has to decide which path want to take to decide her future. I hope you’ll choose the best option.

HUMAN RIGHTS

What are human rights and what do we know about them? 

Human rights were created in 1948 and they are considered all rights everyone has simply because they are just a human. We can make the difference between 30, but in this post I want to talk about one of them which I think it’s really interesting, it’s the right of “Freedom of expression”.

Everyone has the right to freedom of think and express whatever he or she wants, and from my point of view there’s no doubt of it. We’re free to do and say what we want, but living in a current society sometimes this becomes a difficult labor. Nowadays there are some countries where not everybody is able to express his feelings and say what he thinks.

From my point of view, not to be able to express whatever I want and be careful about what I can or can’t say is intolerant. Opinions and feelings are ours and I think that anyone can prohibit us to express them.

NOMOPHOBIC DIALOGUE

JAN: Can I arrest your mobile during a week, Susan?

SUSAN: Are you kidding me?

JAN: No, I want you o be aware of your obssesion. I’m really worried about you and I want to stop this.

SUSAN: I’m aware of it, but this problem it’s not as easy as you think. I’ve  been fighting against it since I was 13, and it hasn’t got any better.

JAN: I know it’s difficult, but I can’t stand seeing you with the mobile phone every minute of the day. Let me help you, I promise we can get over it.

SUSAN: Wow, it’s the first time you tell me this. I didn’t know you were so worried about me, and I’m really sorry because it’s something I can control.

JAN: Trust me. First of all, I think te should go to a doctor. This obsession must be treated by a specialist.

SUSAN: It’s not easy for me Jan. I’m really scared not to escape from this obsession. Help me please, I will fight as hard as I can to get over it.

Education is the key

“If you don’t build your dreams, someone else will hire you to help build theirs”

It’s important to fight as much as you can to get all you want. I think to have dreams in life it’s one of the most important things we should have ourselves. It help you a lot to be motivated and to feel like to “eat the world”. 

 “Education is about inspiring one’s mind, not just filling their head”

I totally agree with this sentence. Is it education about filling our heads and memorize thousands of words only to remember them for some hours? I’m a student and I have to say that I’ve lived this situations lot of times, and from my point of view it’s horrible. It’s horrible because after the exam you forget absolutely what you studied by head some hours ago. 

 “as long as you follow the rules and pass the exams, you’re cool”

I love this sentence and I think our education is based on this; we’re evaluated only for our marks and to do what someone else tell us to do. Personally, I would prefer another system to evaluate students; inspiration, improvisation, creativity, innovation… 

A soulmate for me

Is it said that finding a person who could by our soulmate is a really difficult challenge. I think in life we’ll  meet with a lot of different people, even though we’ll always think they won’t be that special person we’re looking for.

I’m not so strict about his looks but taking into consideration I’m tall, I would like to find someone taller than me ( not as Pau Gasol, if possible).
I would like to find a person I can spend long hours and never be tired of and someone I could share unforgettable experiences with. Above all, I think he has to accept me the way I’m and be also a person I can always trust in.
I think in a relation trust is one of the most important thinks it should has to be if the couple want to succeed and get a special bond.

All in all, even it isn’t easy to find a soulmate like this I will search as far as I need to meet him, and start a new life next to an special person.

Social classes

Since always we’ve lived in a society which is divided into different social classes. Concretely, if we make a reference to Price and Prejudice book we talk about the privileged class which was so popular in England some centuries ago. People from this social class are really recognized by the origins and their family, and of course they are also well known by their popular and traditional income.

On the one hand, I want to talk about one of the most important things related to this type of social class, it’s the education. Well, rich people from this society are recognized by having really good manners; they take care of how they have to act in front of the others and what they have to say, they are really known by the way they speak. Also, this type of people can afford to have a good education, and this issue is not allowed for everybody. In my point of view, this is one of the unfair things we have in our society. I also want to refer to these people who don’t have the origins but they do their best to have a good education and a social and cultural class.

On the other hand and as we can see in Price and Prejudice, relationships aren’t moved by real feelings. In my opinion, they search for a person who also has the origins, manners from recognized family. I think, most of the times they don’t search for a person to fall in love with, I mean a real love. The only thing they are interested in is the wealth and the kind of family belongs to. This is reflected in the film with the love stories between for Elizabeth and Darcy or Charles and Jane. 

Can Internet change for the better?

Nowadays, we're living a period of time where tecnoloy has become an essential element in our lives. Yet, are we really awal of that?

On the one hand, being connected to the whole world means you can be also informed aout anything it's happening at the other end. And of course, it gives you a lot of information that you can use however you want. Most of the times, you're allowed to search about everything and everyone you want.

Nevertheless, this connection it's now around the world can create such a dependency that can take away our privacy and from my poing of view, it's awful. Especially, with all the teenagers under 18 that use Internet everyday. They are not informed about all the negative consequensces can Internet have and they are not controlled form their parents, and this is the most negative effect. 

All in all, even all negative things about Internet, we have to accept that we can't help living a part of this connected 

world.  

Research paper abstract

This project studies the tertiary sector’s evolution of Castelló d’Empúries in a context of crisis.   

Taking into consideration it’s a town situated in a recognised zone in the world, la Costa Brava, I wanted to know how it’s being affected by this important period of crisis that we’re living nowadays.

After work with some data given by the Town Hall of Castelló, I could get results and conclusions. What I have seen it’s that this high influence of tourism has helped a lot to the service sector not to being affected. 

Self Evaluation

For this term we’ve done an individually presentation because it has been about our research project. In my case, I’ve talked about the tertiary sector’s evolution of Castelló d’Empúries.   

Well, this has been my last presentation in the high school and I think I’ve improved a lot since I did the first presentation some years ago. Even though I also think I have some things to improve.

- I use a power point as a support and I think it was a good idea; I tried not to put a lot of text on it and I think it was well structured. 

- About eye contact and body language I want to improve my movements, I have to learn and practice how to pose in front of the audience. 

FINAL MARK: 8.2

(About the video I have to say that I have had some problems with it and I can’t upload it. Even though, I could watched and evaluate myself)

Dreams in life

In my point of view, it's not easy to find or to shout out which are my dreams. There are a lot of things in life but they are very important to me or just I really love, but I think to choose one of them as a dream it’s a difficult work. Otherwise, like everybody can say, to live a good and healthy life, around people I really love and to work or do whatever I can enjoy doing it, they could be (or I can confirm they are) one of my important dreams in my life. I’m 17 and now, my short term goals are clear, to pass batxillerat with good marks and to find an university degree I really could enjoy.

I’m one of those persons who always want to meet different people, discover new places and at the most, live a lot of different kind of experiences. So in life, I would like to travel around the world with a special person, maybe that person I can be for hours with and never get tired of.  

“There is no excuse to not try”, it’s one of the sentences Barack Obama says on the speech and I want to comment on. I’m a stubborn person and I try to don’t give up if something goes wrong. Everybody can do everything they want if they really fight until the end, face challenges and put their best effort. So, personally I want to say if there’s someone who really wants to get something, he has to work hard as far as he could, and it’s very important to don’t give up.. If you never try it’s obvious you’ll never succeed, and I think that’s what I think it’s a failure. So, I will try until I get it.  

Dreams in life are essentials, it’s important to have challenges and goals to fight for, and I think we don’t have to get obsessed if now we don’t have met our dreams yet. One day we will find something special we can consider as an important dream, in that moment we will begin a new “life” with new challenges and experiences.  

Beauty and youth

I think in life there are more important things than youth and beauty. It's true most of the times when you get older you lose this sense of beauty, but I don't think it's so horrible and something you have to be upset about. 

As the time goes by, we change and that's something we have to accept. Well, if you don't want to accept it or you can't, you can visit a surgeon, but I don't think it's the best choice.

We're made to be changed by the time and to be prepared to live in a different ways.

Nowadays, we live in a world where is an important thing and something we would have, and I really don't agree with this idea. I would prefer to live in a world where honesty, for example, would be the most important thing in our lives.  

Nip-tuck dialogue

Scenario: a married in a consulting room

Characters: Doctor, Vanessa (20 years old), Charles (50 years old)

- Doctor: Hello, I’m Dr. James, tell me your problem.

- Vanessa: Well… Can you appreciate my boobs? I think they’re right, but my husband doesn’t agree with it.

- Charles: You’re wrong, I only said that you could improve them…

-Doctor: My view as a doctor is that these boobs are right for her age, of course it can be better, but I can’t do an operation if she doesn’t want new boobs.

-Vanessa: He’s packed, he would pay my surgery… you know what I mean, darling.

-Charles: yep, I think this plastic surgeon can change our relationship and I’m not talking only about our sexual life… (he made a racy look at her).

-Vanessa: Doctor, what are the risks on it?

-Doctor: It isn’t a complicate operation, I have done a lot of them. But when you enter in a surgery you ever have the probability to…(interrupted by Charles)

-Charles: Shut up, you!!

-Vanessa: What’s wrong with you?

-Charles: I want you to get a bigger boobs, so…

-Vanessa: And if I told you I didn’t want? What’s about me? Do you think I’m a doll?

-Charles: Not exactly a doll…

-Doctor: Please, can you argument it at your home, or better with a psychologist, please? Cause I’m not your psychologist!

(Vanessa stands up and she leaves).

- Charles: doctor… I want to tell you something.

- Doctor: tell me!

- Charles: mmm.. I want to take advantage of this situation to talk about my…

- Doctor: Your what?

- Charles: You know what I’m talking about…

- Doctor: Penis surgeon?

- Charles: (He embarasses himself) Yes..

- Doctor: Can we meet another day and talk about this?

-Charles: Yes, thank you.

Joke

https://audioboo.fm/boos/1639830-lidia