ORAL PRESENTATION (The Big Bang Theory)

PROMISES

Promises are such a crazy thing. Some people believe promises are the hardest contract between two people, and that can’t be broken. I may be one of those… but no really.

It’s true that promises are something you can’t renege on, but they aren’t that important. The meaning of promise could be a statement or declaration that something will or will not be done, given, etc.; an indication or a sign of future excellence or achievement…

Those are simply words. Each one knows what a promise is, and each one assigns a specific meaning to this word. The only purpose of promises is to improve relations if respected, and deteriorate them if breached.

Promises are such a crazy thing. Some people believe promises are the hardest contract between two people, and sometimes that contract gets broken. 

"CHRISTMAS"

Christmas is a wonderful word, because when people think about it, they imagine the streets full of decorations, the night of Christmas eve, the illusion of a child the moment he or she opens the present… all those kinds of things that make you smile. But, is it really like that or it’s the image we’ve created about it? Christmas is a short period of spending money; it could be on presents, meals, Christmas sweets…

The word consumerism means the spending of the money without limits in the way of presents and other things that could be useless. In the past, people liked Christmas because of his essence, the feeling to be in front of a fire telling stories, there was no need to buy or receive presents.

Nowadays Christmas (for the majority) is based on spending, spending and spending more and more money on unnecessary things. A month, or more, before Christmas there is a huge amount of advertisements of toys, clothes, cologne or perfume, chocolate, chocolates and things like these.

Here in Catalonia we celebrate Christmas with the “tió” and, after Christmas, the Three Wise Men came to each town or city to see the children and give them sweets and little presents. That’s another example of consumerism. Why did the three wise men need to throw sweets and candy to the children? Why didn’t they only keep their letters with the list of presents they had written? Because that’s the new concept of Christmas. Children went to the street procession basically for the present, not only to leave the letter.

However it’s not everybody who has that image of Christmas. Poor people live it in a different way, I suppose.

A part from the consumerism Christmas has a special thing: it makes people more solidary. When Christmas comes and some poor people are in the street asking for a little money, people think it’s a good thing to give them something, because everybody deserves a little bit of magic on those special dates.

JOKE

ALIENS

Are aliens just a fairy tale, or do they exist? That's a good thing to wonder. 

Sometimes, I ask myself if there is life out of the earth, if there is someone out there controlling or just watching us as if we were an experiment... Maybe this is just a paranoia and some questions are just stupid; or maybe not. 

Supposing that aliens exist, I think they should be experimenting with us, checking if weapons help or damage our societies; if natural disasters destroy many things, or humans have the capacity to construct buildings strong enough to support them... Maybe they just wanted to see if a whole new world could develop without their intervention.

Probably this is just something that someday comes to anyone’s' mind and makes the person think: oh God, what am I thinking about? This is completely impossible. 

In conclusion I would like to say that we really don't know anything about our beginnings, even if such a lot of research has been done to demonstrate things. We have to believe their words as the religious believe in God. 

NEWS #4

PROTESTS ERUPT IN WASHINGTON DC AS BLACK STUDENTS DETAINED AFTER WHITE COUPLE “FELT UNCONFORTABLE AROUND THEM”

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/10/14/black-students-arrested-after-white-couple-felt-uncomfortable-around-them_n_8292302.html

SUMMARY:
A pair of black students had been restrained by Police in Washington DC after a white couple called the Police because they felt uncomfortable around them. One of the students was withdrawing money from a cash machine when some officers tackled him. The friend known as Mike recorded the scene and tweeted what happened to let people know the truth version.

The officers said that someone called them because of a robbery, but later they confirmed that nothing happened. Twitter has responded to this fact with a lot of people standing out for black rights, as they shout be treated just as white people.

OPINION:

America seems to be the best country in the world, but as all the cultures has its defects. Not everybody is prepared to establish contact with other cultures and this news is quite a good example of it. The two boys were treated like this just because they were black, and this isn’t fair. We should be more tolerant and accept different cultures as we accept ours.

VOCABULARY: restrained, withdrawn, tackled. 

source

(This video appears in the news and it is quite interesting because it defends what the article says)

"CRIMINAL MINDS"

Morgan: “Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters.”

Reid: Bob Dylan once said, "I think the truly natural things are dreams, which nature can't touch with decay."

Criminal minds is a serial about crimes. In the serial, all the characters are experts on people's behaviour, and they are able to analyse what the criminal is like from the crime he has committed.

An interesting thing about the serial is that all the crimes that appear are serial murders, and the stories are based (sometimes) on real facts. The reason I love this programme is because I think it must be absolutely astonishing to be able to make people's profiles' just by analysing the crimes they've committed. I would love to have that ability, as I love psychology and crimes. I see myself working as they do, analysing peoples' behaviour in crimes or just in life, knowing why they act one way or another. 

My dream is to become a graduated in criminology and fly to the US to work there as a police officer as the characters of the serial. 

My favourite character has to be Morgan, because he is strong physically and psychologically, but at the bottom he is so sweet and empathetic. He identifies himself with teenagers, because when he was a boy a man of his area abused him.

As a conclusion, I'm going to say that I would love to be a criminologist and be like Morgan, sweet but strong. 

BATTLE OF INTERESTS

Do you know what a war is? Do people really know why wars start? Well, in my opinion, a war is a capitalist or religious battle, caused by the interests of different countries. The First and Second World Wars were cause basically because of the interests of a few countries; wanting to control the most part of the world they could.

Wars shouldn't exist, because the only thing we learn from them is that a lot of families loose people around them, and also the feeling of the citizens of the whole world sinks; and that makes me think: if countries know the consequences of war, why do they keep on starting them?

I wold like to say that, if humans have invented war, they should have the ability to eliminate it. So, our obligations must be: to stop wars and just let people live their own lives. I know this isn't as simple as it seems, but Rome wasn't built in a day; we have to persevere to reach our objectives. 

NEWS #3

PARIS ATTACKS: FURY OVER CLAIMS BY PHILOSOPHER ONFRAY

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34904939

SUMMARY:
A French philosopher named Michel Onfray has given his opinion about the attacks in Paris. He has basically said that France had started by joining the United States in trying to impose their ideas on the Middle East. He says the Islamic State (IS) has attacked Paris in a response to their attacks. The philosopher doesn’t argue that the Paris attacks were justifiable; he simply says that they were inevitable. Onfray’s words in a 2013 interview were: "Why do we have a problem of terrorism? Muslims are not stupid. We bring war to their homes and kill them by tens or hundreds, and then expect them to be nice.”

His words had been so criticised by other Parisians such as Laurent Joffrin, an intellectual man who is against immigration and Michel Houellebecq, a novelist that has caused controversy in France with his ideas.

OPINION:

As Onfray says, France has started it all. In my opinion, he is totally right, because what the terrorists had done isn’t justifiable, but France can neither justify his actions. It’s totally normal that French people criticise him, because their main city has been attacked, but analysing the situation France should have thought before attacking Syria. 

This is what wars consist of, attacking and attacking pretending to defend each ones actions and not trying to solve the problems. This, my friends, is the world of capitalism and interests.                         

VOCABULARY: sowed, maverick, scornful, endorsement. megalomaniac, hotbed. 

WARWICK UNIVERSITY STUDENT OBJECTS TO SEXUAL CONSENT LESSONS SAYING HE DOES NOT "LOOK LIKE A RAPIST"

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/10/14/people-are-really-angry-about-what-this-student-wrote-about-consent_n_8293104.html?utm_hp_ref=uk-universities-education 

George Lawlor, a Warwick university student, had rejected to assist to sexual consent courses at his university as he thought he didn't look like a rapist. The student wrote in a blog for students named The Tab, in which reflected his anger against the University for making students assists to such an insulting consent training lessons. 

He defended himself saying that he already knew what consent was and that he didn't needed to be taught not to rape because he wasn't a rapist. 

Some people reacted to his words replying on twitter in his favour or against him. 

This could be a good thing to debate... In my opinion, Lawlor is in his right if he didn't want to go to the training lesson, but the University doesn’t make that kind of classes in vain. I think this boy just had an exaggerated reaction to what could be a good thing, because there isn't a rapist figure, it's just people that  abuse of others, there's no need to look different. 

VOCABULARY: rapist, consent, hackles.

NEWS #1

MINNEAPOLIS MAN SHOT DEAD BY POLICE "NOT HANDCUFFED"

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34870718 

SUMMARY:

A 24 year old man called Jamar Clark has been shot by Minneapolis police this November. There had been many demonstrations against this fact because some testimonies said that the police shot and then handcuffed him. The man died a day later, and a lot of protests broke out then.

Demonstrations continued and, as a big number of shootings of black people had appeared, there had been a lot of protests nationwide about the excessive force against African Americans.

OPINION:

This is such an impressing item to talk about, because it seems that the Minneapolis police had forced the situation and killed a man with no fault. They’ve said he was the suspect in an assault case and was interfering with people working on that case, but this isn’t a relevant excuse to shoot a man.

Police sometimes seem to be racist in that type of context, because if a white man had been suspect and supposedly interfering in the case they wouldn’t have shot him. 

VOCABULARY: handcuffed, assault and sparked. 

AN E-MAIL TO MY TEACHER - MY DREAMS

Actually, I don’t know what am I going to do with my life. I mean, I have some options in mind, but I haven’t decided which one is the best for me. Those options are totally different, so I have to compare the different advantages of each one and decide. (Yes, I know these things aren’t dreams really, but this is how I thought I should start my composition)

Well, talking about other things, one of my dreams is to achieve my bucket list, that it isn’t that long. The most important thing for me in the list is to do bungee jumping; as I think it has to be an amazing and exciting experience. All the things in a bucket list are like little dreams that everybody wants to fulfil, don’t you think? So, let’s try to find another dream.

My biggest dream may be to find a dream to accomplish; because now I am focused on my studies and my future, and all this stuff is so stressful, so I can’t think about anything that it isn’t related to this.

Maybe my dream is to become an adult with a good work and a good salary to make my family and myself happy… or maybe happiness for me means to become a traveller to have an exciting life going around the world and making new friends; or perhaps just going with a friend to meet new cultures…

Definitely YES!! I've found my biggest dream and it is to travel and discover as much places and cultures as possible in the world!! So here you have my deep thoughts about my dreams... there aren’t many, but they may be sufficient. 

Sincerely, Rosó

IS HUMOUR NECESSARY?

Is humour relevant? Is it really necessary? Do you think we sholud spend our time wondering about this? I have the answer: YES. Humour is necessary and important in our society, and I am going to explain you why.

First of all, you have to know that humour strenghtens your immune system, protects your heart and relaxes your whole body. This is so significant that it means that laughter improves your health in more tha one way.

As a secong argument, humor helps you group bonding, and it is useful to create confidence and stong relationships. When you laugh with someone else, you are creating a nice situation that makes people feel good and comfortable. 

The third thing you ought to know about laughter is that it increases happines ans intimacy, because the confidence feel that is betwen people when they laugh makes everybody feel more confortable.

In conclusion I would say that a life without humour must be so boring and depressing, because laughter makes moments more interesting and it's easier to go on. 

THE KEY TO SUCCESS? GRIT

Angela Lee Duckworth started working as a teacher when she was 27 years old. She went to teach 7th graders math in public schools. She realised that the difference between her best and worst students wasn't the IQ, because some of those with the best IQ results were the ones that had the worst grades in math.

After years working as a teacher, she perceived that what education needs is a much better understanding of students and learning from a motivational and psychological perspective. She wanders: “what if how you learn in school doesn’t depend on how quickly you learn?”

Then she became a psychologist and started making predictions about teachers, students, etc. and about their possibly future.

In all those different situations one characteristic emerged, and it wasn’t social intelligence, physical health or the IQ. It was grit. Grit is patience and perseverance, having histamine, sticking with your future and living your life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Grit is important for kids in school. She discovered that grit is unrelated or even inversely related to the measures of talent. We have to measure whether we have been successful. We need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier. 

Angela Lee Duckworth seems to be a serious person that have researched a lot about students and the way they should learn. I do believe that what she has been doing during several years is going to be an important "discovery" in education, as she confirms she has proved that it's not only the IQ what defines the intelligence of a student, but the grit he/she has. I suppose this is a big step in our society, because bit by bit we uncover new theories and have the ability to apply them into our society, and this is how we develop as humans. 

FINAL REFECTION

As a conclusion of all this year I would like to say that it has been quite good. My English has improved because now I'm able to write "complex compositions", like the one called Is it fair?. I think I'm more "mature" in this way because writing more has made me think more about the things i write. I don't know which is the activity that shows better my level of English, but I would say that my Exploitation of children essay has a good level of vocabulary. 

All the compositions we've made had helped me to improve my level, because to give an opinion on something it's harder than write a simple composition about something I like. The activities I didn't find useful are the book and film reviews, because they're not a hard composition; they only consist of writing a summary and a little opinion about something that didn't help you improve your level at all. I would say that we should continue doing opinion essays next year, but choosing a topic to talk about is harder than it seems, so I think teachers could give us some topics to talk about. We should continue reading books too, because to read really helps to improve the vocabulary and writing of people. 

To sum up I would like to say that teachers should continue making their classes like they do because they help the students a lot making them write opinion essays and that next year shoud be better than this one. 

REFUGEES ORAL PRESENTATION

BOOK REVIEW: THE WOMAN IN WHITE, Wilkie Collins

The book is basically about a love story with trouble in between. Basically what happens is that Walter Hartright falls in love with one of his students, Laura Fairlie, and later on he had to leave because he finds out that Miss Fairlie is already engaged. Sir Percyval is planning something that probably Laura wouldn't like and that brings mystery to the story. The thing is that Sir Percyval wants Laura's money, and he planned to simulate her death by the death of Anne. Sir Percyval work out with his plan at the beginning, but then Marian finds out that Laura is in an asylum and she went to rescue her. Finally Sir Percyval dies burnt because he wanted to make disappear his documents and Laura and Walter get marr

ied and had one son.

The main characters are Walter, an art teacher; Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe, they're stem sisters; and Anne Catherick, the woman in white. Marian defends and protects Laura in every trouble she has. Marian is my favourite character because she is a strong and confident woman. Anne is a weak girl, very similar to Laura physically.

I have never done any of these things in the book and I don't relate myself to any of the characters because this story is settled in another time and society was so different. 

In my opinion this book is so interesting; I couldn't stop reading it because in every page there was new information which revealed new secrets. My favourite part was the mystery in the beginning, the moment when Sir Percyval (Laura's future husband) was planning something you didn't expect. 

If I could change something in this book is the death of Anne Catherick. I don't like the idea of making her disappear because she was actually the woman in white. 

I would recommend this book to people who like tragedies and love stories, or whoever who likes to read. It is interesting and you get hooked on easily.

NEWS #3

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32081681

It has been discovered that the co-pilot of the Germanwings crash, Andreas Lubitz, has probably caused the plain crash deliberately.

Several airlines have stablished a new rule, which consists in: there can never be a person alone in the cockpit.

In 2009 Andreas has fell in deprerssion and he has been in treatment for a year and a half. When he was trainning to be a pilot (2008), he stopped for quite a lot of months (probably because it was the time when he fell in depression), and then, when he went to do his pilot exams, he passed all of them. 

The police have went to Andreas' house to search for clues, and they have found some evidences of mental health problems. They have took away his propieties to examinate them. They've found out that he didn't left a suicide note, but a big evidence that they diodn't want to reveal. 

Andreas Lubitz's parents are so sad, because they have a trauma; not only because of the lost of a son, but also the probability that he had caused that kind of tragedy.

Police have found a crutial clue for this investigation, a blackbox. There is a recording of the voices and sounds while the accident was happening. That has been a clue to confirm that the co-pilot had caused it, because the rounds reveal he was breathing until the last tiome, and he didn't open the door to let the pilot enter to the cockpit.

NEWS #2

LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/opinion/the-risk-of-over-thanking-our-veterans.html?ref=opinion 

SUMMARY:
People in America have a great respect for their veterans. All those who have gone to the war receive disability checks because they were in need and now they continue receiving it. To be able to have a disability check is easier than it seems, because the system can be beaten easily.

The writer of the news item has received a disability check and, since he wanted to cancel the payment, they wouldn’t let him. American people have the duty to respect their vets, but it’s exaggerated because the budget has increased a lot in a few years and it would greatly be better if we stopped it.

OPINION:
I think this is too much, because it is true that they have served their country, but other people who perhaps need checks more than veteran people, don’t get them. We could solve this problem sharing out the money between everybody that needs it.

VOCABULARY: witnessed, withdrawal, lionization, budget. 

NEWS #1

LINK: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-329518927

SUMMARY:
UK doctors have discovered two new drugs that can shrink tumours. These drugs are called ipilimumab and volunab.

The immune system is a defence against infection. Our body has some “brakes” in its system that let cancer protect itself from the attacks of the immune system. These drugs have the function of taking the brakes off. It has been demonstrated that this drugs can shrink the cancer a third part in the 58% of the people who did the trial.

Dr James Larking told us that by giving these drugs together the immune system is able to recognise tumours and destroy them. Even though these drugs produce some side effects, some people hopes this will have a big future for the treatment of cancer.

Cait Chalwin, 43, had been diagnosed with melanoma in 2013. At first doctors told her she would have 18-24 months to live, but with these drugs we have been talking about, she is alive and feels better than when she didn’t take the medicine.

OPINION:

I think this medicine or drug has been a big step in medicine because it has worked in so many cases so we probably can trust it. If scientists will investigate more about these medicines, they could find the way to change them to quit the side effects and improve the treatment. If this have helped one life, it can help to prolong others, even if the effects are different in each person.

Some people would say no because of the damage, but at the end medicine is improving because of failures and successes. We should let the process continue, willing to lose the less people possible. 

VOCABULARY: Rash, boost, harnessing.

ELECTIONS

Every four years elections are held to change the mayor in every town and the president in every country. When election time arrives, at least in towns, the ones who are in charge start to change things like repairing the roads, open new places and they try to be kind to everybody to gain votes. Politicians try to fulfil the things they said they would do, but they really didn’t. When elections approach, they became a wolf in sheep’s clothing. 

Most of the times, people in towns vote more the person itself than the political party, because normally people know the people who are presenting to be mayor and they don’t read the information but vote for the person.

Nowadays I’m not able to vote, but I think a lot of people who are 18 years, aren’t aware enough to vote. Some people just don’t care or don’t like politics, so they vote the first one that comes to their mind, and that’s why I think some people shouldn’t to vote at 18 years old; even though there are many adults that have the same problem. 

STRIKE

In 1^st of batxillerat, if you want to go on strike you have to present a document to the headmistress asking for it and they have to accept it. We can decide to go on strike, but I think it’s a stupid thing to do and stay at home sleeping. When you want to go on strike it’s because you want to demonstrate for something and you want to do justice or change something in the society that isn’t doing well. Most students just want to go on strike to stay at home sleeping and watching TV. This isn’t fair, because many people organize these events because they want people to take part in them to show to society that students are capable enough to express themselves even to defend their opinions and try to change things.

And also, if you go on strike, you would have to believe in the cause, because if not, you’re doing nothing and you’re wasting time that you could be using for something else more important.

OPINION ESSAY- IS LAW FAIR FOR UNDER-FOURTEEN IN SPAIN?

Today we have heard about a new, a teacher have been murdered by a student. This boy, who is 13 years old, isn’t going to be judged by the society because he is too young.

In my opinion, this boy should be judged, even if he is too young, because he had murdered a person and injured some others. High schools don’t need to have more security, because people normally didn’t act like this, but exceptions make the difference.

Nowadays high schools don’t have much security because here, in Spain, guns are illegal, and people don’t expect a boy to enter and start hurting people like this boy did. But, even though this boy is under-eighteen, he would have to be punished or sent to an under-eighteen centre. It isn’t fair to let a boy kill somebody and then let him live like nothing has happened.

I do believe that this boy has to live in very bad and/or violent conditions, or probably he has a depression or something, because the social and family background affects in everybody’s behaviour. As far as I am concerned, law would have to change some aspects referred to under-eighteen people. To sum up, I think this boy would have to be punished and judged by society and their parents would have to be submitted to a mental test. 

"IS IT FAIR?"

A few days ago an accident happened in the sea. Some immigrants were on their way to “a new way of life” and, because of a negligence, they have disappeared and probably died. All this starts with a business. Many mafias take advantage of the desperation of some people in Africa; they promise to take them to a new country where they could have the chance to live a new life just paying some money. Ok, up to this point everything seems to be perfect, but the thing is that these mafias try to make the most of the boats transporting more people than the boat can hold. They only think about making business and money, and that’s the problem.

The accident I’ve mentioned before is a consequence of this greed. People in the boat started to become nervous and move, and then the boat overturned, or at least I think this was what happened.

About 700 people disappeared or died there. At this point I wonder something: Has this item shocked on the news, or has it only appeared a few times so people didn’t know? When the accident of Germanwings happened, it almost reached the news all over the world, and there were less than half this number of deaths (even though we didn’t know if they’re dead or not).

What people don’t realize is that the news only reflects occidental problems and interests. If people in the third world disappear or die in big quantities, we practically don’t notice. That’s a shocking thing that, if you don’t take notice of it, you won’t realize it.

I think this is totally unfair because we are all human and we have the same rights as people in the third world, even if we have more money or technology, we are all people. 

REINCARNATION

The other day I was thinking and I asked myself: what is going to happen after my death? I mean, when someone dies the body stays there and sometimes it’s used for science or it’s burned or maybe buried. But what happens to our soul? I do believe we’ve all got a soul and I can’t imagine its shape, but I think it doesn’t disappear. I am sure our soul stays alive and goes from body to body. Or, maybe it stays on earth without being in any body.

Don’t you believe in ghosts? Maybe a ghost is a soul wandering everywhere to see the changes in the world. Maybe your soul has existed for many years; can’t you imagine you being a soldier in the First World War? Or even a dinosaur? Because, if our soul goes from one body to another, we probably were a butterfly in another life, and a dog in the previous one. I think when I wonder I think too much, but, nowadays we have the answer to almost everything, but we really don’t know anything.

I believe souls exist and pass from a dead body to a baby being born. Once I heard that babies are born crying because it’s the only moment when you remember your previous life. I don’t know if this is true, but what is true is that we’ll never know. We’ll never discover that because we don’t have any way to go inside our soul and see its memory.

It’s quite good not to know everything, because if we knew from where our soul is, maybe we would go mad. I mean, to know everything isn’t always an advantage.

So, my conclusion of all those thoughts is that you have to enjoy your life as you can, celebrate your victories and your defeats; every single moment in your life. Try to do your best, and don’t worry about the little things, because time flies! 

DESCRIBING A PICTURE

listen to ‘DESCRIBING A PICTURE’ on audioBoom

NEWS ITEM 3: Nemtsov murder: Two held over killing of opposition politician

LINK: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/06/teacher-banter-pupils-jokes

Russia has experienced the murder of Nemtsov, a veteran liberal politician. Two men have been detained, but the investigation is still going on. They were suspect of being the killers because the FSB found a car with a lot of evidences.

Kremlin was accused by Alexei Navalanyh of ordering the assassination; because of economic problems.

I think they should investigate more to find out the real murderer. I believe the Kremlin part, because if all they were politicians I’m sure that they would have problems, but not to murder anybody. 

VOCABULARY: allegedly, deputy, gathered. 

US PRESENTATION

UNIVERSITY: WITH FRIENDS OR AT HOME?

I have a question to be answered: is it better to live on your own (with friends) or to live with your parents while you are studying at university?

It all depends on where you study, for example; in my case, if I wanted to study in Barcelona it would be better to live there, because it’s a little bit far to return every day. If I wanted to study in Girona, I would have the chance to return every day or to stay there in a flat with friends.

I don’t know where I am going to study; but I’m sure I will live in a flat with friends because I don’t like the idea of returning every day and going there every morning. It probably costs a lot of money to stay there, but if I work this two coming summers and I save the money I earn, I will probably have some money to go there.

OK, returning to the firs question, it really depends on each person and each ones economy. An advantage to live there is that it’s easier to get to the university because you are nearer than if you are at home. It’s true that you have to make your own food and wash your own clothes, but it must be a great experience. You have more intimacy and that’s a big point.

If you live at home while studying, you have the advantage that you don’t have to do housework and you have time to study, but you waste a lot of time going and coming back.

Another important aspect about living in a flat is to choose carefully the people you are going to live with. Sometimes it’s not the friendship but the responsibility to live on your own in a flat. 

source

CARNIVAL

Carnival consists in a party or street procession, depending on the country, where people walk and wear costumes to make other people enjoy themselves.

The typical carnival parade that everybody imagines when you talk about carnival is the one in Brazil, I think, because it’s the most popular. It has to be so funny and enjoyable because carnival is a party to enjoy and have fun.

Here in my town, Castelló, and Roses we celebrate carnival. I really enjoy it because carnival here consists in a street procession with people dancing and having fun and then there is a party where you can dance all night. The main feature is that nearly everybody goes there with a costume and it’s so different.

When you go to a party in a pub or a disco you usually have a lot of fun because there are a lot of people, and the music is normally fine, but carnival is special because the fact that everybody wears a costume makes it different and so funny. To see a lot of people with amazing costumes is so exciting!!

Even though I really like it there are some things that make it dangerous or that make you act carefully. These things are people drunk or drugged that make you feel in danger (at least that happens to me) and that’s disgusting because if people learnt how to have fun without going over the limit all these kinds of parties would be better.

Carnival normally lasts for two or three days so you can make the most of your costume. Moreover the parties in the different towns are not always on the same days, so you can go to different towns to celebrate carnival. 

source

TDR problems

To choose a topic for the research project is more difficult than I thought. At first, when teachers talk about that project you think that it’s so easy to choose the topic you want to talk about, but it isn’t as easy as it seems.

Now is our turn no start that project and it’s so hard to choose the topic because you know you’re going to be doing that project for a long time and if you decide on something you don’t like, then you have a problem.

That project lasts for nearly seven months if you start in February. It consists in the research of something and going deep into it. Right now I really don’t know what to do, but I have some ideas. I’ve thought of many things but I don’t know how to develop them, because sometimes you find one topic interesting for you but then realize TDR has to be so extensive.

Some people want to do the project of topics that have been done before, and it could be likely that the teachers don’t agree to that topic. Teachers say that if you do a research project you haven’t to explain about new topics that haven’t been done before.

I think that the TDR is important because when people decide to do Batxillerat it’s mostly because they want to go to university, and the last year of it you have to do a type of research project about you career; and it is probably compulsory to get us prepared. 

NEWS ITEM 1: Jerome Jarre: The Making of a Vine Celebrity

LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/style/jerome-jarre-the-making-of-a-vine-celebrity.html

Jerome Jarre is 24 year-old boy that grew up in Albertville, France, just with his mother. He went to Chine and Toronto for business but he failed. Then he went to New York and discovered an app named Vine. He started making vines because it makes him happy and because he thought that it could be a way to make people smile. When he went to New York he had a basic level of English he had learned with an audiobook he listened to.

At first he wasn’t so famous but as the time went by he gained more and more followers. An ad agency offered him one million dollars to help them with an advertisement but he said no, he didn’t wanted to be under nobody’s orders. 

When he walked by a public place teenagers stopped him to take selfies with him. Mr Jarre calls his fans “friends” because he thinks the term “fans” sounds too hierarchical.

Jerome transmits happiness to his fans and he also transmits the spirit to do what you want when you want. He says that everyone should have a purpose in life, and when a journalist asked him which was his purpose, a teenage girl ran up to him and then he said: “My purpose is helping people find their purpose.”

I think Jerome has a special way to see the world and it’s amazing to see that one single person can get across to people so easily. He understands people’s minds in a way nobody does and that makes him special. The thing is that he arrived there in New York with nothing and increased himself, it’s simply amazing.

VOCABULARY : stunt, hierarchical, snowbaled, hiatus.

FILM REVIEW: EXPELLED

The name of the film is Expelled and it’s an American film.

It’s a teenage film about the story of a bad boy mixed with a little love story and it’s a great movie to see with your friends.

This film is about a boy who is expelled from high school and he didn’t tell his mother. Then he start to act like a “bad boy” and his brother recues him from the jail, where he has been sent in consequence of his multiple troubles. Then he fell in love with a girl.

I liked the plot because it’s related to teenagers and it reminds me to the actual teenagers and their behaviour. The love story was so short but enough to understand the film. The costumes were good and actual and great.

I didn’t like the way they made the film because if the story have developed more the characters, it would have been better. The actors were so young and a little bit inexperienced and that made it a little bit bored.

TRAILER:

I will recommend it to people who like films but it isn’t an amazing film, it was OK, not bad.