FINAL REFLECTION

After one year of extensive English lessons and hardwork at home, I would like to give you my opinion about my improvements during this school year. 

First of all, I think that above all I have improved my vocabulary expand and then my grammar knowledge. Some of the activities done in class were very useful such as exercises from the Vocabulary extemsion dossier and some exercises from the Grammar Book.

 I didn't enjoy writing essays because I found it difficult to organize the different parts: how to start the essays and how to express different points of views. So, I guess I have improved little in this field. Moreover, I believe that six "your-says" a year are too many. I sometimes found it hard to write about everything. I enjoyed reading book, It was a good way to increase my vocabulary and to learn useful expressions. The book I enjoyed the most was the book we chose in the third term called " A kiss before dying".

Preparing the projects was quite interesting except for the last one which I found it very boring as I didn't like the topic. 

In conclusion, I think I am not good enough at writing. I would like to improve it next year. I think that it is quite difficult to write different writing samples but it is also very important for the selectivity to have a good level at writing.I also believe that I must improve my oral comprehension so, I should listen more often to the English language or even watch TV series, news and films in original version.

NEWS: UNHEALTHILY UNDERWEIGHT MODEL

I choose this news because I think that i't's interesting and this is the beginning of a big change in the fashion world. 

Summary:

An Yves Saint Laurent advertisement has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The advert, which appeared in Elle UK showed a photo of a woman who was unhealthily underweight. Readers complained that the advert was "irresponsible" because they were using a model who appeared unhealthily thin.  

Although the ASA didn't agree with the readers opinions at the beginning, they finally admitted that the advert was not suitable to be advertised in magazines or on TV. 

Some people agreed that adverts using underweight models are promoting a distorted image of beauty and it may also promoted cases of anorexia and bulimia among adolescets.

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My opinion:

I think that modelling agencies should employ models who are hot below a certain body mass index because teenagers use to follow the fashiong trend. 

YOUR-SAY: ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES ABOUT TOURISTS IN THE COSTA BRAVA

As you may know the Costa Brava is a place where thousands of tourists come to spend their holidays. Some towns change a lot from winter to summer. I will take about the advantages and disadvantages when tourists come over our country. 

Some advantages are that our country has a good income of money. Peple who come on holidays usually spend much money during their vacations. Moreover, you have the possibility to make new friends and If they come from a foreing country you have the opportunity to practice the foreing language. Furthermore, another advantage is that when you go out in the streets you can see people everywhere, something which is very rare in winter. 

On the other hand, there also disadvantages when many tourists visit our country, First of all it takes longer to get to the places because the roads are crowded. When you go shopping you must queu for a long time because shops and supermarkets are full of people. 

In conclusion, although there are many people in summer and sometimes it's very stressful, summer is better than winter because towns are lively and you have much better. 

BOOK REVIEW: A KISS BEFORE DYING; Ira Levin

Summary:

This book is a story about one man who is obsessed with being rich. The main character leaves his girlfriend pregnant and she says her that they have to get married. The man doesn't want to marry her without the father permission because the father will be angry and he stops to give money to his daughter. The abortion pills failed and the only solution is kill her. Then, the sister of the victim, called helen recive a suicide note from her sister and she decides to go to the place of the murder to look into. Ellen's boyfriend says her that doesn't go to investigate but she doesn't listen to him. Bud, the boyfriend killed Ellen and another man who was investigating the murder with her. His only hope for being rich is go with the old sister called Marion. She knows that Bud was the boyfriend of his sister and first she doesn't want to know anything about him. Bud investigates what she likes and finally she get interested in him. They are going to marry but he doesn't reach his objective because he was discovered as a murder of her sisters and Marion killed him. The main character was the boyfriend of Dorothy, the little sister, then of Ellen and finally of Marion only for being rich because they are a rich family. Ellen didn't know that Bud had been the boyfriend and the murder of her sister. 

My opinion:

I like the book because until the end you don'y know who is the murder and that the main character had been the boyfriend of the three sisters. It's an interesting book but it's a little confusing. The book has three parts. Each part talks about one of the sisters and the relationship of there with main character. My favourite part is the second one because it is when there is the investigation of the murder by the sister and it's when you wander who could be the murder? In conclusion I recommend this book because you don't get bored reading it. 

                                                                                                          

YOUR-SAY: ADOLESCENTS NOWADAYS VS ADOLESCENTS 50 YEARS AGO.

I will talk about adolescents nowadays and adolescents fifty years ago. 

Fifty years ago teenagers used to do different things that teenagers do now. In the past they used to work instead of studying. Families were quite poor and parents couldn't afford their childrens studies. So, most of the teenagers didn't use to go to the University. Instead they looked for a job and helped the family. Nowadays, teenagers have better oportunities to study. Most families think that Education is very important and they help their children in order to have a better life they had. 

I would also like to talk how teenagers spend their free time now and how they used to spend it fifty years ago. Nowadays adolescents spend their time with new technologies like computer, playstations, tablets and so on. Fifty years ago, they used to play in the street with their friends. They share their time, their ideas, their feelings... Teenagers nowadays are not as sociable as they used to be in the past and that is because these young guys don't make any effort to meet together. Instead they want to stay at home and using technologies to communicate. 

I think that things have changed a lot during the last fifty years. However, I am not quite sure who had a better adolescence.

YOUR-SAY: ADOPTIONS BY GAY COUPLES

"How do you feel when you see two men walking with their baby child?"

Nowadays, there are a lot of adoptions made by gay couples because they can't give birth as both of them are men or women. This is one of the possible ways for them to be parents. The could also pay for a surrogate mother. 

Most people think that a child must have a father and a mother in order to have a good education. However, gay couples don't agree with this thought, as they strongly believe they can be as good parents as heterosexual couples. In some countries the law doesn't allow that a gay couple adopt a child. In the same way, there are countries which also don't allow gay couples to get married. 

If you asked me the previous question I made at the begining my answer would be I feel good for them. When I see an homosexual couple with a child I don't find it strange. I think that gay couples can be very good parents as well and they deserve to reach their dreams. 

NEWS: WHERE IS MY SOLAR CAR?

I choose this news because when I read the tittle I thought that it will be an interesting news. 

Summary:

The students of the Institute of Technology in Manipal, southwest India have designed solar car prototype. This is called the SERVe (Solar Electric Road Vehicle). It's a join project of Manipal Institute of Technology and Tata Power Solar, the most important solar company in India. 

The solar panels that cover the roof keep the car reasonably aerodynamic. The battery and power system are handled by a student-programmed Raspberry Pi. The car's body is a fiberglass-reinforced plastic over steel tubing. Its weight is 1300 pounds and the car can drive more than 90 miles. The top is about  speed 37mph. 

These students weren't trying to build the fastest  or the farthest solar vehicle. They were trying to build a solar car that not only worked, but one that could be commercially viable. 

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My opinion: 
I think that we live in a technological world and it's possible that in a future all the cars that we will used be solar cars because this are more economics and don't pollute the world. 

YOUR-SAY: LONG DISTANCES MAKE OR BREAK RELATIONSHIPS

I will talk about a topic of a discussion that is: "Long distances make or break relationships" which some people agree or disagree with.          

I think that large distances relations are hard to be hold because people really wish to spend as much time as possible with their boyfriend or girlfriend. However, life sometimes makes you take this decisions because of work, family or other life circumstances. 

I think that if you have only 10 days to be with someone, it just makes the experience much more intense because you don't want to miss a second of it. 

I believe that distances are difficult to manage but it also give you the chage to realise if you really love that person or not even you are far away from him or her. 

YOUR-SAY: IS THE LAW FAIR?

A few days ago I and the society in general were shocked by the news of a teenager of 13 years old who had murdered his teacher at highschool. Unbelievable but this happened in BCN. 

Personally, I feel that the law must judge and punish this boy although he is under 18 years old. It's seems to me that this boy suffers from a mental illness and he can be very dangerous any moment. I think that he could even repeat the same accident if he is not sent to a special hospital or school. The law in my country says that people under 14 years old can not be judged. I don't agree with it because since he has murdered a person he should be responsible for his actions. 

From my point of view, teenagers should not have guns or other violent objects and not even be allowed to take them at school. Personally, I think that the law in my country should be mpre strict and weapons should not be sold to people under 18 or to people who suffer from a mental illness. 

All in all seems to me that there should be a ligher control at highschools and schools around the world. I think that it is not fair that children die because of this horrible accidents.

NEWS: GERMANWINGS CRASH

Police found that Andreas Lubitz, the man who crashed the plane into the Alpes France, had had a depression. In this flight died 150 people. Several airlines established the rule that in the cockpit there will be two members of the crew all the time. Police took away Lubitz's properties as the computer and boxes. In 2009 Lubitz finished his training but in the middle he had to stop because he was diagnosted serious depressive episode. Police haven't found a suicide note but they have found a black box with a voice recorder. In this audio seems that Mr. Lubitz want to "destroy the plane". When the pilot came back to the toilet and he realised that Lubitz didn't want to open the door, the pilot tried to open it with an axe. Mr Lubitz's parents have double trauma because they have lost their son and this son has killed a lot of people. 

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PODCAST: DESCRIBE A PHOTO

                                                 listen to ‘Describe a photo’ on audioBoom

REVIEW: FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

Fifty shades of Grey is a romantic film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. This film is based on the novel written by the author E.L James. The main protagonists are Jamie Dornon who plays like Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson who plays like Anastasia Steele. It was a film really waited fot the people and its premiere was on the 14th of Frebruary of 2015 in Spain. 

Synopsis: 

Anastasia Steele is a University Student in Washington. Her best friend is Katherine. She works for the collage newspaper. Katherine had to interview a famous business man called Christian Grey but unluckly she was feeling sick and instead she asked her friend Anna to do it fot her. The story starts when Anna is interviewing him and Christian gets interested in her. From now, hey start a relationship but it isn't a usual relationship. Christian is addicted to sado and he looks for a submisive person not a girlfriend. She doesn't really know where she is getting into because she is virgin and she doesn't know much about sex. However, Anna will discover a new amazing world. She will experience a different way of having sex. 

I read the book last summer. I think that the film is not as bas as people say. It's true that the book is better than the film but this always happens if you compared the film with the book. In this case, the film is lighter than the book because the film foccuses on the romantic part. However, the book foccuses on the sex part. The film can't show all it is in the book because it will be a porn film.

I am not dissappointed with the film but I prefer the book instead. I think that the book is richer than the film. I would like to point out the role Dakota plays in the film. I think that se plays the character very well. 

Star Rating: ****

NEWS: US SEX ABUSE SUSPECT DETAINED IN BRAZIL

I choose this news because when I read the tittle I wanted to read all the news. 

Summary:

A man in Brazil was detained last Friday because he was suspected of sexually assaulting young women while they were in a religious group in Minnesota. His name is Victor Barnard and he is fifty-three years old. Is accused of a different violations between 2000 and 2012. 
He used the religion to cover his assaults. He did religious campsites where there were a lot of young women. One woman says that she was sexually abused by him between the ages of 13 and 22. His sentence is maximum 30 years in prison. 

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My opinion:
I hate people like this man. I think that they aren't humans because if you do these things is because you haven't got feelings. If I make the laws, people that rape young girls without their consent don't go out from of prison in their lives. 

YOUR-SAY: SCHOOL READERS

Every year, when we start a new school term we have to buy the school books and the readers we need for that year. 

Readers are good for us because this way we read novels. Students don't read much for pleasure. Most of us prefer doing more exciting things than reading such as sailing on the net, going out with friends... When we read we increase our vocabulary and we learn new structures. 

However, I think that two or three books in batxillerat are too many books for us. Because we have got lots of homework, essays and many other things to do along the year. Then, I think that teachers sometimes choose badly. They have to choose a good and especially funny novel because if it is a boring novel, we aren't interesting in read it.  

This year, in batxillerat I don't like the books that we have to read. In my opinion, the worst is "Tirant lo Blanc" because is written in ancient Catalan and it's difficult to read. Apart from this I don't like the plot. 

YOUR-SAY: ADOLESCENTS IN PARTIES

In this essay, I would like to talk about the adolescents behaviour in the parties at night. 

First of all, I think that nowadays when you go out at night you see very young teenagers spending the night out. Every day more, teenagers start going party earlier than it used to be. I don't think that this is the main problem but they start drinking and taking drugs being very young. 

For this reason, as they don't know what they are consuming, they act in a very stupid way. If they were in normal conditions, they would have fun instead. I think that teenagers do not really know the way to enjoy and they think that getting drunk and consuming drugs is the best way. 

In conclusion, I think that they can drink alcohol but they should control themselves in order to haven't got any problem. 

NEWS: DOGS CAN TELL IF YOU'RE UNTRUSTWORTHY

I choose this news because when I read the tittle I thought that it can be very interesting. We live with this animal and I think that is a good idea know more about it. 

Summary:

Dogs are very clever animals. Many studies confirm that this animal can sense the human emotions. If a dog sense that one person is unreliable it stops following his cues. 

A University in Japan did an experiment which consists of three rounds of pointing. In a conclusion, they observed that dogs didn't return to trust someone that before has tricked them. After that, another University, in this case of UK did other experiment more. 

Dogs are more intelligent that we believed, but their intelligenceis very different to ours. Although they are very intelligents, they do what the owner do if they trust them. 

   

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My opinion: 

I like this news because I think that is interesting and I learn more about one animal that I have. I love dogs and I agree with this saying: "Dog is the best friend of man". One thing that impressed me is that dogs can sense what are our feelings. 

YOUR-SAY: ABANDONED DOGS

Last day, I was reading the newspaper at home meanwhile I was having breakfast. I was surprised when I read the news about dogs which are abandoned every day. The news stated that more than hundred pets are abandoned in Catalonia every day. Moreover, they talked about the problem they have when they collect these dogs from the street and are taken to the pinfold. There is not enought space in these pinfolds for so many dogs. 

I think that people who abandon their pets haven't got any feelings. I could never abandon my dog for instance. Before that, If I couldn't take care of it I will look for another family to host him. There are people who abandon their pets only because they have grown and they don't like them anymore. 

In my opinion, I think that when you decide to buy a pet you must take it into consideration, because animals are not toys. They need your attention and your time. 

YOUR-SAY: INTERNET

Since many years ago, Internet has become a very important gadget in our life and it changed people's life a lot. You can search information faster than if you have to search it in a book or encyclopedia. Also, you can read the newspaper for free. You can book your vacations or you can even do the shopping. If you need to cook a recipe, ypu can even look for it on the net. 

Internet has made our life easier but more technological as well. Children start using the Internet very early nowadays. This can be dangerous because they are very innocents and they easily get addicted to it. As they are children, they do things without think too much and then this can be harmfuk for them in the future. 

I have used the Internet since the primary school where teachers taught how use a computer. Since then, I never stop to using it because in the school is a very important tool to learn. Moreover, in my first year of ESO we were compulsory to use a laptop to learn. 

NEWS: MANY SOUTH SUDAN BOYS "KIDNAPPED TO BE CHILD SOLDIERS"

I choose this news because I think that is interesting to read and know more about this horrible occurrence. 

Summary:

South Sudan is in a state of civil war with President Salva Kiir to Loyal forces pitted against rebels subordinate by Vice-President Riek Marchar. Hundreds of boys in South Sudan have been kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers. Unicef reported last month that there were, more or less, 89 children. Also, said that these boys were abducted by the Shiluk Militia, under the control of Johnson Oloni. The UN believes 12,000 children were used as child soldiers last year in South Sudan. 

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My opinion:
I don't know what in the world can be this terrible thing. People who abduct these children to be a soldiers haven't got a heart. I'm against with this action and I would like that in a future this stop.

ORAL PRESENTATION: THE UNITED STATES

Here, there is our presentation about the United States. The project is a gap year. In this oral presentation we talk about the language, the food, the economy and more.