My English competence in 2009!

MY BEST ORAL EVIDENCE!

I think this is my best oral evidence because it’s the last one we had done and we weren’t as nervous as other times. So, the lack of nerves helps me to take more care about the pronunciation. Moreover, I think we speak more fluently and it makes it more entertained than the orals we had done before.

Another important reason why I have chosen this one is because during it I felt confident and meanwhile I was talking I move my hands and this made my speech more understandable.

The last reason of my choice is the structure we followed during the presentation. First we explained all about our trip to London and then, when we have finished, we showed some pictures of the trip and we comment them.

To conclude, I want to say that I like this oral in particular, because we told our own experiences and that was much easier than talking about something you haven’t experienced before.

MY BEST WRITTING EVIDENCE!

http://carles---porfolio.blogspot.com/search/label/discussion%20essay

I have chosen this evidence because it is my favourite one. In this writing I had been critical with one of the main tools of the modernization, but I think I did in an appropriated way.

In fact, I like the topic and it was easy to write about it. Besides, I think this is one of the best structured writings I had ever done because it is well separated and really easy to understand. I believe that another strong point of it is the use of the connectors, for example: on the other hand, to sum up…
Another reason why I have chosen it is because the arguments of this discussion essay are, in my opinion, really strong. I remember that before writing it, I decided what I was going to argue and why.

Finally, I want to say that this was one of those writings which are funny to write. I enjoyed writing it and, maybe, that’s why it is my favourite one.

Analyse your work!

As our teachers have recommended us, I have been looking at all my portfolio work and, now, I am really surprised. I have compared the first writing I wrote at the beginning of First of Batxillerat with the last writing I have done. As I said, I have been really surprised because the maturity and the structure of the first writing were really poor. Moreover, I have noticed that I presented myself talking about my family, my pet… Nowadays, I think I will do it in a really different way. Now, I think I write with more maturity and with longer sentences. Besides, I use more vocabulary and I try to write as an English person. It means that I try to write typical English sentences (with a better structure).

Apart form the grammatical point of view, I would like to analyse my fluency because I know how many hours I spend to write a composition in First of Batxillerat and I know how much time I need now. One year ago, I spent most of the time I had to write thinking about what I wanted to write about and with what vocabulary. Nowadays, I write more quickly and the vocabulary came to my mind more quickly than before. Moreover, I think that, now, I am not afraid to use complicated structures and I am more self confident than before.

To conclude, I would like to say that if I hadn’t done this post I wouldn’t have noticed the importance of the famous “Practice”. Today I have seen that these two years of hard-working have been useful, because I can appreciate a clear improve of my English level.

The interpreter!

I am going to take profit of the film we have watched with the English teacher Joan Carles, the interpreter.

All the story began when Silvia Broome, an interpreter born in Africa who works for the ONU, listens to a mysterious conversation. In it, she understands that a criminal organization wants to kill the President of the republic of Matobo. After listening to these whisperings, the life of the main character makes a radical change.
At this moment appears, Mr. Keller, a policeman whose objective consists on protecting the live of the interpreter. But he notices that Silvia is hiding some important information. Later, he knew that she grew up in Matobo and that she was a militant of a guerrilla who fought against Edmond Zuwanie (the President). Moreover, most of her family was killed by the soldiers of Zwanie.
When Mr. Keller discovers all of these things, he began to suspect about her intentions.
Lastly, when Edmon Zuwanie arrives at the ONU building, a killer tries to kill him but he failed. After that, they move the president to a safe room where there was Silvia.

She has the chance to kill the dictator accused from genocide, but after listening to Mr. Keller words, she decides not to do it.

The video of the news I have chosen is about the last year earthquake in China.

I think that it is really sad, because this disaster happened last year and until now the government hasn’t done anything to solve it. The landscape is terrifying; all of the houses of Beichuan (the most affected town) are completely destroyed.

Moreover, I get frightened when I watch that there are small shops which sold souvenirs of this catastrophe. I think it’s amazing that people buy souvenirs of one of the most important earthquake that happened in China. Besides, I think these souvenirs will remind the disaster for lots of years, and, in my opinion this is not good.

To conclude, I want to say that what surprised me most was the fact that lots of tourists go to this village to see what the earthquake had done. Imagine that you have lost most of the members of your family in this earthquake, how will you feel seeing all of these tourists and shops around the destroyed buildings?

Psychologists on our society.

1- Write about the influences of psychologists on our society. Are they well considered? Could they be the answer to our physiological necessities?

We live in a modern country and we have some of the most important physiological problems of the modern society. Now, everybody wants to live in an easy way, with no problems, always calmed. That’s why psychologists have appeared, but can we live without them?

On the one hand, I think that sometimes we aren’t strong enough to solve our own problems. Moreover, we haven’t got time enough to think what’s happening to us. So, maybe, going to the psychologist is like taking our car to the mechanic because they have to repair us quickly, like the car.

On the other hand, psychologists are really useful for these people who have important problems such as: murderers, drug-addicts… For those people, going to the psychologist is really useful, but, normally, these are the ones who don’t want to visit counsellors.

To conclude, I think that if evolution has given us the psychologists is because we need them but I am not sure that they could always be the answer to our own psychological necessities.

News summary!

DYING LANGUAGES

When a language dies, the UNESCO says that the world loses a cultural heritage (legends, poems, knowledge, live style…)

In 2008, died the last native speaker of Eyak, and she took the language with her. She was Miss. Marie Smith Jones and she died at the age of eighty-nine.

The UNESCO says that if we want to preserve our language diversity, we have to be proud to speak our language and prevent it from the extinction.
In the last five years, the governments of Mexico, New Zealand and the United States managed to make sure people are conscious about the danger of losing one language. But according to the UNESCO, the phenomenon of dying languages appears in every region and in very diverse economic conditions.

A great deal of: many, a lot of something

Campaigning: taking an action aimed at achieving a goal.

First swine flu case in Europe

The first confirmed case of swine flu in Europe has been diagnosed in Spain. The health ministry of Spain confirmed the case on Monday morning.
The patient is twenty-three years old, and he is from Albacete. He had fever when he arrived home from Mexico last Wednesday and on Saturday night he was isolated in a hospital room. After that, twenty suspected cases of swine flu are under investigation, these twenty people are from Madrid, Barcelona, Mallorca and Basque country.

All of them had recently returned from Mexico but, none of the cases is thought to be life threatening.

Fever: unusually high body temperature caused by an infection

To be life threatening: to be severe enough to cause death