Paula Sánchez - Week 5

First of all, I have had zero working experiences until now, so I do not have any specific knowledge about any kind of job, just general information. Having said this, I believe I do not think of a particular job as the worst ever, but there are certain aspects that can help me discern between jobs that I would enjoy and others that I would not. For example, I would like to have a job in which I do not have to stand all the time, a job in which I could have my own bureau to traduce documents, TV shows, films etc, not a job in which I have to face the public and stand the whole day. I would be totally fine as long as a I do not have to speak every day to lots of people, since I really dislike it.

Regarding job conditions decades ago, I asked my grandmother, who is 82 years old, to let me know about them. And what she told was that she has had only one job in her life, and it was as a waitress at a café in Córdoba. She has had only one job since women "could not" work when they got married, since during those years it was believed that men had to be the ones to bring money to their homes. So, she told me that her job conditions were correct. The café was clean and nice, and her boss was also a nice person. In fact, when she got married he lamented to lose her, since she was so good at her job that he felt no one could replace her. But she has also told me this was her case, there were many people in poor conditions and getting low wages.

Taking in account was she has told me, I cannot see any pro of older job conditions since many were low waged and in bad conditions. And even though she was lucky and could take advantage of a good job, nowadays the same job is higher remunerated and developped in better conditions, since we now have more rights as workers. Personally, I am happy I was born not so long ago so I can aim for a proper job and achive my goals.

Lastly, what I have done to improve my English is to attent my classes and watch TV shows in their native language, which is English. 

Tips and Advice - Week 4

Paula Sánchez Morlsesín

Tips and Advice 

1. When browsing the net I found a piece of advice I especially liked, which is the following:

"When there is a problem don't just complain about it. Don't do something about it either, change it! Doing something usually isn't enough. If the element broke on your stove, would you go buy the replacement part then be satisfied because you did something about it? No, nor should you be satisfied with 'doing something' about life's bigger problems. Do you feel that people are wasting too much of their lives on their electronic devices? Don't be satisfied with making a youtube video about it, to try and get the word out there, Keep going until the problem is fixed! Too often people 'do something' then stop as if that was enough.

Everytime someone has screwed up their life in some way or another, figure out what went wrong, then make sure you don't follow the same path. You'd be surprised just how many people have actually screwed up in life once you start paying attention. If they are unhappy or unsatisfied, something's gone wrong. Don't make the same mistakes as those around you!"

Source: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-best-piece-of-advice-you-could-give-someone-about-life

   2. And the text I chose that contains modal verbs is an excerpt I took from 'Twilight', a book written by Stephenie Meyer:

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast. "No." 

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.

That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.

"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond, "so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap." 

"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask. 

Now, I will explain the specific meaning they have in the context of the sentence they are used.

- Would: in the sentenced it is used, it expresses the consequence of the situation the character refers to.

- Can't: is used to express prohibition in the present and in general time.

- Could: could is used to express permission and prohibition in the past.

- Wouldn`t: is the contraction of 'would not',' and expresses an action that did  not in fact happen. Someone was not willing for something to happen. 

   3.The activities I have done during these last four weeks to improve my English,  apart from attending English language classes and working with this blog, have been the regular ones, such as watching some shows in their original language (which is English), chatting with my friends in English on the SNS and listening to some British songs. In addition, I have also started to read our compulsary reaing book for English language. And regarding speaking I have just spoken English once, and it was because a tourist needed my help to get to a place in Murcia.

Isabel Martínez Puche (Week 4)

1. Browse the net and find out a text in which advices are involved. This can come from another blog, a newspaper, a journal website, etc. Underline/highlight the expressions related to advice  

10 top tips for improving your spoken English

Speak, speak, speak!

Be confident and speak as often as possible to as many people as you possibly can! Do not be shy to make mistakes! The more you practice the better and more confident you will become in your pronunciation and vocabulary. Remember, speaking is a skill like learning a musical instrument or new sport – the only way you can get good is to actually do it!

Use technology

A smartphone can be a powerful tool for learning languages. Use it to record yourself speaking then listen back to see how your English sounds to other people. Make the most of all your favourite productivity apps to organise your practice time and make a note of all the new words you learn.

Listen

Listen to news bulletins and songs in English to listen to the pronunciation of words. You can also learn new words and expressions this way. The more you listen, the more you learn! Try copying what you hear to practise your pronunciation and learn which words in a sentence are stressed.

Read out loud

Read the newspaper or a magazine out to yourself. You could even find a script for your favourite TV show and act it out! This is a great way to practise pronunciation because you only need to concentrate on making sure you English sounds great and don’t need to worry about sentence structure or grammar.

Learn a new word every day

Choose a word you would like to work on and use practice it in different sentences. Use the word until you have learnt it and keep using it regularly.

Watch films

Watch movies in English and pay attention to new vocabulary and pronunciation. Imitate the actors and have fun with it.

Full article: https://englishlive.ef.com/blog/10-top-tips-improving-spoken-english/

2. Look for another text where modal verbs appear and analyse the modal verbs explaining the specific meaning they have in the context of the sentence they are used.

***
I remember going to the British Museum one day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment of which I had a touch. I read all I came to read and then I began to study diseases, generally, turning the leaves idly.

I came to typhoid fever, read the symptoms and discovered I must have had it for months without knowing it. Cholera I had with severe complications and diphtheria I must have been born with. I was relieved to find that Bright’s disease I had only in a modified form and, so far as that was concerned, I might live for years. The only disease I could conclude I had not got was housemaid’s knee.

I sat and pondered. I thought what an interesting case I must be from a medical point of view. I was hospital in myself. All students need do would be to walk round me and after that take their diploma.

I tried to feel my heart. I could not feel my heart. I think now that it must have been there all the time, and must have been beating, but cannot account for it.

I had walked into that reading-room a happy, healthy man, I crawled out a decrepit wreck.

              (After "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome)

must have had: obligation/probability
must have been born: obligation/probability
might live: probability
could conclude: ability
must be: obligation/probability
need do: necessity
could not feel: inability
must have been beating: obligation/probability
cannot account for: inability

3. Note down in your blog entry all the activities you have done in the last 4 weeks to improve your English.

I have been reading quite a lot recently, for example, the reading book for this subject. I have also underlined and written down all the vocabulary and expressions that I did not know. In addition, I have watched some films and series in English to pay attention to the pronunciation and to make my vocabulary wider as well. All of this apart from listening to music in English that is also useful to get in contact with the language and keep improving. 

Anastasia Oplakanets: Week 4 'Tips and Advice'

The following text is the one I have chosen for the first task of this Week's 4 assignment 'Tips and Advice'. The whole text is not shown in the blog, I have decided to show the two points I liked the most.
You can read the whole article by clicking here

1

· A good teacher is an assertive teacher

Your students can have problems, bad days, stress, or even depressions as well. If you see that some of your students start to study worse, have no desire to do all schoolwork you give them, and just want to give up everything, do not be in a hurry to argue and tell them about how bad or lazy they become.

You can become like a parent to them. Support your student, ask about what happens to him, push him to do better. If you see that your student is depressed, maybe it would be better to meet with him after classes and find out what exactly is going on. 

5

· More explanations

Even if you consider yourself a cool teacher who explains everything in a way that even the stupidest person would understand you, don't be lazy to explain it to your students several times, and what is even more important – try to do that in different manners. Sometimes, they really don't get it, but it's not because they are stupid: maybe some of them just think different.

Be patient, and explain your material over and over again, making sure all students understand what you're talking about. You know, how difficult it will be for them to learn further, if they don't get the basis.

 The next texts belong to the second task of Week's 4 assignment 'Modal Verbs'. This text is an extract of Sabaa Tahir's book 'An Ember in the Ashes'.

She walks carefully, gingerly—the Commandant must have whipped her recently. And yet she doesn't hunch or shuffle like the others slaves. The straight-backed grace with which she moves tells her story better than words. She'd been a freewoman before this—I would bet my scims on it. And she has no idea how pretty she is—or what kind of problems her beauty will cause for her at a place like Blackcliff. The wind pulls at her hair again, and I catch her scent—like fruit and sugar.

“Can I give you some advice?”

Her head flies up like a scared animal's. At least she's wary. “Right now you...” Will grab the attention of every male in a square mile. “Might stand out,” I finish. “It's hot, but you should wear a hood or a cloak—something to help you blend in.”

She nods, but her eyes are suspicious. She wraps her arms around herself and drops back a little. I don't speak to her again.”
Page 145

― Sabaa Tahir, An Ember in the Ashes

Modal verbs meanings:

· Must have → used to say something that is likely or logical
· Can → used to ask permission to do something
· Might → possibility that something will happen or be done
· Should  → shows what is right or appropriate

Assignment nº 3 of this Week: What activities you have done in the last 4 weeks to improve your English?

Apart from attending my English lessons, I did what I always do to improve my English, which are my usual everyday activities: I love to check out movies and series in their original language, which is mostly English, because I love listening to the actors' real voices. Through these past weeks I have seen many 'Vikings' and 'Friends' episodes in its original language but I think I haven't seen any film. I also love watching YouTube videos, such as PewDiePie's videos, which I truly find very amusing. Apart from watching videos on YouTube, I like to scroll down the comments and learn new words and expressions from there.

I love listening to music too, everytime I hear a new song I try to understand the lyrics and I must confess that it is a great exercise to practice because the music in the backround is really distracting and you have to concentrate quite hard on the singer's voice and understand the words.

Finally, reading is my favourite activity of all time and although I did not like to read in English not so long ago, now I find it much easier and I like it more and more, I've just finished reading 'The Foxhole Court' by Nora Sakavic in English and I really enjoyed it.    

 

Isabel Martínez Puche (Week 3)

In my case, I have contradictory feelings. On one hand, I consider that it is positive being a public figure because they have so many influence on the public. That is useful in order to raise awareness about many things, and also to help people to become better persons. There are a lot of cases of individuals with mental or physicals issues and public figures play a social role, encouraging them to recover and to get a better life. This is the good part of the fame, in my opinion, not mentioning the money and prestige you can get from being famous. 

Nevertheless, on the other hand, not everything is as easy and glamorous as it seems from the point of view of an ordinary person. Behind the fame, there can be found a lot of difficulties along the journey. One of them being the media pressure that the celebrities are put into. It is not easy to deal with a paparazzi or with a lot of cameras and flashes directed to you all at once. Apart from this, in order to give a good image and set a good example to your public you have to behave yourself in every moment, something that becomes difficult due to all the stress and pressure brought with the fame. Sometimes all of this leads to depression and other diseases that are dangerous and can put their lives in risk. 

All in all, I think I wouldn’t be able to cope with all of that even if I wanted to. I’m used to live a relaxed life. I’m not the type of person that goes every weekend to parties. Instead, I enjoy staying at home watching films, reading or listening to music.

Paula Sánchez - WEEK 3

I would definitely not like to be in the public eye, since I am a shy person and just  the fact of talking in front of many people makes me feel extremely nerveous. In order to be a public figure you must feel confortable when it comes to be in front of people or to be chased by paparazzis or journalists, for instance. That is the worst of all, being chased and not haveing privacy when you need or want it. From my viewpoint privacy is important, and I would not stand being in the centre of the public conversations, because people tend to speculate a lot and maybe many rumors would sorround my person.



I enjoy being an anonimous person and I do not think this situation will ever change. I like moving around without dealing with people's uneasy stares. I think few people are made for being popular, or at least famous. Most of the common people prefer to live the way they do. The only good point I can find about being famous is that it provides you a lot of money, which is clearly useful for us all, but it can also take you to "the dark side" and ruin your life. Summing up, I would love to remain anonymous and have a normal life plenty of happiness and the things I love.

Anastasia Oplakanets: Week 3 - In the public eye

Would I like to be a public figure? My answer to this question is definitely not. Being a celebrity or just famous by any other reasons may be a great experience and it surely has many plusses but  we shouldn't forget that it also takes away your privacy, or most of it at least. We all know well that anyone who is minimally famous receives a lot of undesired attention, it does not really matter how famous you are, there will always be paparazzis and journalists poiting at you with their cameras. And the worst thing about this situation is that famous people can't really do much about it. On one hand it is wrong to shout or attack these annoying journalists because at the end of the day they are only doing their jobs. On the other hand is perfectly understandable that celebrities get angry and frustrated by all the paparazzis following them constantly and end up breaking one or two cameras.

 

In my case, I have always been a very quite girl and I wouldn't stand people surrounding me all the time and taking hundreds of pictures of me everyday. I truly think that it would be great to be known by the world and influence possitively on someone's life  but my privacy is clearly a price I am not going to pay. Imagine how exhausting it has to be to hide from the press everytime you go out on a date, dinner or simply on a walk. In all of these following situations I wouldn't be able to enjoy my free time with my friends because of the extra attention I would receive, how I am supposed to accept that?

In sum, If someday I became famous I would probably tell every paparazzi near me to go away and eventually I would be known for being that crazy famous one who always fights and yells at the cameras. Fame can give you many things but it is definitely not for me.