FINAL REFLECTION

We did it! 2nd Batxillerat will soon be a part of our past. Even though we're exhausted (and still haven't finished at this exact moment), we can all be proud of ourselves for accomplishing such a great task.

 Back to social life like

When it comes to English, though, we should make a comparison between the level we started with and the level we have now. First of all, let's compare my first post back in 4th ESO, which was the beginning of the "blogs era" in our student life, and my last post in this blog (the blog for batxillerat).

To start, I've noticed that I am able to use a lot more connectors than I could before. You can see: the first, the second, the third... Also, I did really short introductions (or none at all). Though it's not the same kind of post (your say vs. formal letter), you can see the difference in the vocabulary and the gramatical constructions. I realized, too, that I've learned how to organize my ideas better and I'm more able to change them or express them from another perspective.

Trying to figure out how to use connectors

back in 4th ESO.

Let's continue with oral presentations (oh... this is going to be good). This is the very first oral presentation that ended up in a blog in 1st Batxillerat, and this is the last one, in 2nd Batxillerat. When I watch these I realize that there is indeed an improvement in pronunciation. More over, in the last one it seems as if I'm more used to oral presentations (body language and such, even though I still get nervous). On the whole, I prefer the last one.

What about the blog awards? Yes, best post and best oral presentation. For my best post, I'd say Fright Night! because, when I read it, I can imagine myself having a hard time watching a horror movie. I like that this post is quite expressive when it comes to myself, even though I'm basically telling the world how much of a chicken I am.

Moving on, for best oral presentation, I choose the Research Project Oral Presentation. Why? Well, even though my nerves were terrible, I think what makes it special is the fact that I was talking about a topic that I was really into, so I was able to explain myself more openly and not just reading from a paper. The fact that you know how to get the message across the sleepiness and the boredoom during oral presentations is the key for success. The vocabulary was more specific as well, so it was important to use the right words so everyone could understand, thus being more difficult.

Inside a student's mind during an

oral presentation.

As for the future, what is ahead of us? In my case, I'll be taking the First Certificate exam on 11th June and I hope to pass. But that won't be the end, because I intend to get the Advanced Certificate as well, in time, of course. Since last year, most of the movies and TV series that I've watched at home were in English, and also the books I bought but had no time to read. Now I'll continue to use my English and to learn more, using those tools that allow you to increase your knowleadge without you even noticing it. Also, I hope that I could stay abroad for some time, a few months, a year or so (perhaps going back to London? Please???).

If you want to continue learning English

JUST DO IT.

On the whole, I'm happy of all the things that I've learned during high school, and I am really motivated to keep learning English. Hopefully, that will be the case.

And now there's only one task ahead, and that is to have a nice summer holiday!

AN EMAIL TO THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

To whom it may concern,

I am writing in order to call for a change in favor of freedom of speech which, nowadays, fails to be observed in many places around the world.

If we are supposed to be able to speak our minds, why are so many people (journaliss, writers...) imprisoned, locked up for trying to put out their opinion?

In the majority, if not in all the cases, this injustice happens when brave people call out the government for its bad performance. But this is not how things should be, that is not what I want society to be like. There is a quote that reads: "by cutting out a man's tongue you don't prove that he's wrong, you just prove that you are afraid of what he has to say". And just so you know, I would be interested in what they have to say.

I wish these countries would prove that human rights are guaranteed, I wish they would stop contributing to the misinformation of the whole world by shutting other people up, and I wish I didn't have to write this letter, because that would mean that human rights would always be guaranteed for everyone, and not only with the approval of powerful people.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Jane Parker
221 B, Baker Street.
673 67 42 10
imfromlondon@gmail.com

Education is the key, school is the lock

The other day we watched a video in class. Its title, Education is the key, school is the lock, already gives you a glimpse of what Suli Breaks has to say to the world of education. This video is a critic that wants to open your eyes, telling you that we have a wrong perception of education, and that the system should reconsider what is important for someone to be "educated". here you can see the video:

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Now, there is one specific quote of his that I find interesting.

Redefine how you view education. Understand its true meaning.

I would say that this also sums up the message he wants to transmit. Nowadays we think that education follows the same path for everyone but the truth is that everyone is different. We all have our own needs. Maybe we are more interested in focusing our education on the things that we actually want to dedicate our lives to rather than spending so much time worrying and studying for subjects that we will never put to use. Maybe education can be acquired in different ways, depending on how each person adapts to it. Society wants us all to follow the same system, the same path, but that doesn't work very well for some people. We need to stop thinking that education is a burden that fills our head until it's so full that you don't even know what you want. There are other good ways of education, it doesn't have to be good grades, university then nice career. It just doesn't work like that and I think that Sulli Breaks makes quite a good point in his video.

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HUMAN RIGHTS

In this post about human rights, I'll seek the answer for four questions that we don't usually ask ourselves, but are quite important when it comes to understanding how society works (or should work). Let's get right into it.

1. What are human rights?

Probably, the most popular answer would be: the rights we have just for being human. It's not a bad answer but, more precisely, human rights are a series of freedoms and rights that must be guaranteed for every human in order to ensure the respect we all deserve (and also want out of empathy).

2. When and why were they created?

Throughout history, there has been many attempts to create a list of human rights, but the one that has lasted until now and is accepted around the world is the Universal Declaration of  Human Rights. It was created in 1945, after the Second World War, by the United Nations (in New York). The list was created to ensure that a chatastrophe like the recent war and other ways of injustice wouldn't ever repeat.

3. How many human rights are there?

There are a total of 30 human rights.

4. Which human right were you not familiar with?

To answer this question, I'll further explain one of the thirty human rights that you can find listed here. In particular, I will talk about Article 4. Here you can see what it is about:

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Now, according to the question that I intend to answer, of course I knew that freedom of slavery was a human right, and that slavery is forbidden in every way. I also knew that, sadly, there still slaves today. What surprised me greatly was the fact that, nowadays, there are more slaves than ever. More than 27 million. Around 30 million slaves. My first thought when I heard about this in this video was: How can this be possible? How did we not realize? And worse than that: Do we know about this but do nothing against it? 

According to this article, here's a map that shows where most slaves in the world live:

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We can see that the countries that are more affected by slavery are in Africa and Asia (India is one example). On the other hand, the less affected would be the United States and European countries.

Slavery is illegal all around the world, but the right of freedom is still violated everywhere. Nowadays, slaves are forced to endure slavery by descent, bonded labor, forced migrant labor, sex slavery, early or forced marriage, child labor... And, sadly, many more. There are many ways in which these slaves are exploited, and this has to come to an end.

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But why is this possible? How can we allow this scourge of society to go on? Just in the United States, "the land of the free", there are 60,000 slaves today. It seems like we are turning our backs on them and we shouldn't do it. We all have rights, and if we don't fight against this oppresion we lack of respect for humanity itself. Even if we aren't living slavery in the flesh, we still can't act as if it's not a real problem. I think that the governtments should do more in order to crack down slavery, to stand up for human rights and equality.

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Here you have a video from Youth for Human Rights that I think is quite touching and that sends a clear message to society, which seems to be blindfolded.

Human Rights Article #4, No Slavery Video - Servitude & Slave Trade : Youth For Human Rights

ORAL PRESENTATION: My Research Project

Getting ready for London!

Sooner than we think we'll be walking the streets of London. Before our trip, though, here's a few questions to prepare the trip!

The Safestay London Holland Park hostel is inside of Holland Park. It has free wifi, free tea and coffee (did anyone notice this?), a large private garden, heating... It's also near places like Harrods, the Natural History Museum, Notting Hill, the Royal Albert Hall...

Some things we can't do is drink alcohol or smoke in the rooms (for obvious reasons).

Here's a picture of the outside!

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First of all, let's locate our hostel, the Safestay London Holland Park, in Google Maps:

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Some places to visit that are near our hostel are, for example: the Kensington Palace and the Kensington Gardens (14 minutes on foot), St. Barnabas Church (13 minutes), the Opera Holland Park (4 minutes), the Town Hall (9 minutes)...

Our hostel is one hour away (on foot, 35 minutes by bus) from Piccadilly Circus, one of the biggest and more active squares in the city. And it's 20 minutes away from the very center of London if you take the tube and 20 if you take the bus.

The second topic is three places that I'd like to visit in London. Here they are!

• LONDON EYE: (or Coca-Cola London Eye...) of course, who hasn't seen the typical London Eye? If I am to be in the city, I have to pay it a visit or else I couldn't forgive myself! This big wheel is one of the best viewpoints in the city. It's 135 m high and it's in the list of the most popular attractions for tourists all around the world. It's located in South bank of the River Thames, in London Bourough of Lambeth.

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• PLATFORM 9 ¾: I couldn't leave London without checking if this portal to the Wizarding World works or not. I've grown up with the Harry Potter series and I'd be heartbroken if I didn't go there. So in Harry Potter, the young wizard had to run with his luggage trolley towards the wall between platform 9 and 10 in King's Cross station. He runs through it and arrives to the Wizarding World, to the station where Hogwarts students board the Hogwarts Express.

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And the magical moment! That's what I'll do in London. Do you

think they have Selectivitat in Hogwarts?

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• MADAME TUSSAUDS LONDON: I know. A bit creepy. But fun. Posing with a lot of famous people without having to deal with crowds of fans, hours of waiting and 0 chances out of 0 to meet them? Madame Tussauds has the solution. This wax museum has a lot of recognizable faces to offer as wax figures, so you can marvel at some of the most famous people of all ages.

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• BAKER STREET: I know I said three, but since I was little I've really liked Sherlock Holmes. Because of that, a visit to 221B Baker Street sounds like a great plan to me. Sherlock Holmes is the most famous detective of all times and Artthur Conan Doyle's most remarkable creation. Having a glimpse of his house could be quite interesting, right?

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The third topic was to search for two musicals that I'd like to see on Saturday night! 

• The Phantom of the Opera: since I was a little kid (here we go again... the eternal fan of everything...) I've loved the film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (the one from 2004). I don't know how many times I must have seen it, but I can assure you that I've re-watched it to the point (past the point of no return, no backward glances! ...sorry) that I know every song in the film (in Spanish, though). Also, I've seen some plays through Youtube and they always look stunning! On Saturday night, at Her Majesty's Theatre, there is a session at 7:30 pm and the cheapest ticket that I found costs £34.00.

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• Billy Elliot: I've also seen the film, but just a few times. I've always seen through the internet that it's a great musical and it's even greater if you have a chance to see it live. The actors own the stage with their dance moves and the show has a lot of emotion. There is a session at 7:30 pm at the Victoria Palace Theatre and the cheapest ticket that I found costs £51.00.

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And that's all! Aren't you excited to go to London? I know I am!

Can tech make a better world?

Could we have a world without technology? Would progress be possible without it? Until now, the mjority of our progress, if not all of it, has been thanks to technology. But, is depending on these advances a negative thing?

It is true that technology has created new problems, such as the addiction to be connected all the time and the loss of privacy. It can be "antisocializing" people, because we prefer technology over face-to-face meetings. Plus, the planet has suffered because of the massive need of materials.

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On the other hand, technology has clearly improved our lives. From medical advances to transports, globalization and education. If we knew how to solve the cons it has, it would also be able to correct them. We can't imagine our lives without technology: without energy, information, comunication... Behind the majority of new discoveries there are tech advances that make it possible to know our world better and be able to help and improve it.

So in the end we can say that technologies give us the opportunity to make a better world, if we know how to use them.

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Nip Tuck Dialogue!

This is the dialogue that Berta and I wrote about the topic of plastic surgery that the Nip Tuck TV series presents.

Bob: Hey mate!
Daniel: Hey how're you doing? Umm... What's that?
Bob: What's what?
Daniel: You have a black line painted under your shirt.... Looks like a marker.
Bob: Oh that! I have been designing my new butt.
Daniel: What do you mean?
Bob: I'm tired of my saggy plain bottom, i want it to look like Nicki Minaj's! I want high soft glutes. Now it looks like my back ends on my feet...
Daniel: Oh my God man, are you serious? You don't need that!
Bob: You are jealous because I can afford a new bottom and you can't, aren't you?
Daniel: You are paying for a sociable butt. Society loves Nicki Minaj and you want it to love you as well.
Bob: Just think of all the girls I'll be getting. My surgeon says that I'll look a lot sexier,
Daniel: Bob, do you really want this?
Bob: You're a killjoy Dan! I could easily end up in a Katy Perry music video.
Daniel: A big butt won't make you successful. This is ridiculous, you are perfect!
Bob: You say that because yous is kickass!
Daniel: Who do you trust most, me or a surgeon that just wants your money?
Bob: I trust someone that can give me a nice body. Bye Daniel, I didn't expect this from you. You're just plain jealous!
Daniel: Hey! You forget something. Wait, what's this?
Bob: Oh my God, butt designs! What? You want to copy me now?
Daniel: Whatever. Take care, Bob. See you.
Bob: I don't think so. (leaves with a diva movement).

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Abstract for my research project

KEY WORDS: literature, fantasy, fictional world, novel, Young Adult Literature, J.R.R. Tolkien.

Do you know what the terms fantasy world mean? And, if I asked you to name a few, could you do it? Probably yes. Nowadays, the fantasy genre is more present than ever in literature, specially amongst Young Adult Literature. This research paper takes a closer look at the development of the creative process of building a fantasy world. From the definition of the genre and its tendencies to the importance that the space setting can have for a story to be told, this research paper has the objective to analize the characteristics of fantasy worlds in Young Adult Literature. As a practical part, I have written a novel, Las Crónicas de Hyria: Colisión, settled in a fantasy world of my own invention.

ORAL PRESENTATION: Mr. Bean

Here's the oral presentation that Sandra and I did about Mr. Bean for the humour project. Enjoy!

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TED TALKS: The key to success? Grit

The key to success? Grit is a TED Talk that psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth made on 2013 for TED Talk Education.

Angela Lee Duckworth went to teach math to seventh graders in New York public schools when she was 27 years old. After teaching them for a while she noticed that their grades weren't necessarily related to IQ. Some of her best students didn't have an awesomely high IQ and some of the students with the highest IQ struggled with grades. She started wondering why this happened, if the key to succeed in grades wasn't to learn quickly but something else.

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She decided to go back to graduate school and got a degree in Psychilogy. She and her partners did a lot of studies in different areas to try and predict which people would be successful after a long period of time and which would not. They did this in places like the military, business companies, etc. Finally, she found a common base in all of these studies: people who were successful had grit.

Grit is perseverance and passion for the things you do, it is to be brave enough to not give up on them. Grit helps you to give your future perspective a wider range: it is to look forward to succeed over the years rather than over the week or the month. When you put effort and perseverance in the things you do, in your ideas, in your dreams, that's when you become successful.

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Something else that she talks about is the ability that we all have to grow midset. We need to change our mentality when it comes to things like studies because we give up too fast. The brain is expanding its knowleadge all the time and if we perservere we'll realize that we have that ability to do things with effort.

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Personally, I think that grit is a very important thing when it comes to success. You can't be successful if you don't keep up with what you do and put passion into it. If you have a dream you won't see it become true if you don't work hard to make it your reality. Angela Lee Duckworth is right when she says that the educational system is too focused on IQ and that it should be more oriented on helping children to be grittier so they won't give up on their studies and on themselves.

Here's the video!

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PODCAST: Joke

Here's my joke for the humour project!

EXAM COMPOSITION ABOUT BEAUTY

"No woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly" comment. How have the roles of women changed in our society in the last 100 years?

There has been a great evolution over the centuries when it comes to the roles of women and how they're seen in society. However, there's still more change to do.

in the last century, women have gained the right to vote, they've been encouraged to be the ones creating a path for their own lives, they've shown the world that they are as valuable as any man... For example, as we can see in the statement that Lord Henry makes in the novel, in the Victorian times (as in the majority of times) women are only a beautiful thing to look at, a maid to take care of the house and the children, an object of display for her father or husband to show around. She does nothing. As men tell her, she doesn't need to study or work, as that is not her duty. She also can't speak her mind, as her opinion is unwanted and useless.

This kind of oppresion is not healthy for society. Still now, women keep fighting for themselves, as there are things like wages, for example, which are unfair. But it's not only them. Nowadays everyone, both women and men, seems to be objectified, molded by the interests and desires of the media and society.

Regarding all this, what I think is that objects can be decorative, but humans can't.

Is humour necessary?

Regardless of our personality, we've all laughed at something at least once in our lives. We all know how it works, doesn't matter if we're funny or not, if we like dark humour or farce... But do we need humour in our lives? Is it necessary? I think it is.

Humour is probably one of the few human features that can make us feel full of joy, even if it's just for a few seconds. Laughter allows us to forget our problems and, nowadays, with all the stress that we're under 24/7, that's quite difficult.

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Not only does it help us to forget our issues, but also it allows us to talk about them from a different point of view. We can be as harsh as we want using dark humour, but we can also put our witty comments more lightly (apparently) with sarcasm or irony.

And what about what others feel about humour? A good hearty laugh can release tension in an awkward or difficult situation. We seem more friendly (of course, if we don't use humour as an offense) specially if we learn how to laugh at ourselves.

If we share a joke with someone, it creates a bond with them and a friendly feeling.

To sum up, humour is necessary because it allows us to relax and to take our problems less seriously. It binds people together and is suitable for anyone. At the end of the day, we all look better with an honest smile across our face, don't we?

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Describing a picture

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This picture was taken in the Greek island of Santorini. In the foreground you can see many white houses and buildings. Three of these buildings have a navy blue dome with crucifixes on top, for which I assume they are religious places. Farther away there are some windows that are also navy blue. There are stairs between the houses and some plants on both sides of them. The stairs are quite narrow. This village is located in a very precipitous and mountainous area. In the background we can see more mountains and a beautiful deep blue sea. Across the sea there are more mountains that could be a part of another island. It is sunny and the buildings look bright. I think this picture was probably taken in the summer. Overall, it seems like a really nice and lovely place, specially for holidays.

I've always wanted to visit the Greek islands. I think that they're really beautiful and warm, specially during the summer. I've never had the opportunity to go there, but if I did, I would want to visit a lot of them, specially the ones that have cultural places and great beaches. I find the Ancient Greece culture very interesting, with their mithology, lifestyle and art. I would like to visit Santorini, Crete, Hydra, Corfu, Milos, Delfos... I would also visit Athens, of course.

listen to ‘Describing a picture 2: I want to go to...’ on audioBoom

US PRESENTATION

This is the presentation that Rosó, Sandra and I made for the gap year project. I think it was good, althought we had some technical problems.

Oral presentation

Here you have the presentation that Rosó, Sandra and I did about Jewish rites of passage.

I don't really know how to evaluate myself. I have to say that I talk quite slowly and I got lost for a moment. I also made a mistake saying that there are to types of celebrations: bar mitzvah for boys and bat mitzvah for girls (I said boys though I meant girls).

In general I think that it's a good presentation. We got to interactuate with the power point with the pictures and the video and I think that's a good thing. I also think that our pronunciation is good.

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