Dear teacher ...

Dear teacher,

My name is Xènia Segura and I’m 17 years old. I live in Vila-Sacra and my hobbies are waterpolo and listen to music. In this course 2016 – 2017 I’m doing 2^nd of Batxillerat another time, but now I only come into 4 classes of the 4 subjects that I didn’t pass last year. I failed Maths, History of Spain, Philosophy and Spanish. But I will keep going to the others classes to improve my knowledge and practice for selectivity exams. For example in English, the 1^st day of class I asked to Lourdes if I had to do all the homework and the blog. She told me that if I want to have good grades in selectivity I have to work in class like the other people, but I don’t have to do the oral presentations.

My short-term goals this year are four: the first earn good grades in the four subjects that I have to do. The second try to learn more from the others subjects that I don’t have to study, like English, Catalan or Technology. The 3^rd one is earn a good mark in selectivity. And the last one is enter into the degree that I like. Now I don’t know what degree I want to do because I like different degrees, for example: Teaching or Design. If I choose Teaching I would have to choose between two specialties: Primary Education or a double degree of Childhood and Primary Education. And if I choose Design I would have to choose between three specialties: Graphic design, Industrial design or Interior design. The problem of choosing design is that there aren’t public universities and all the private universities are very expensive. For example, last year I went to a conference of a university of Barcelona called EINA. When I was listening of the speakers I thought that design is a good way for face my future but then they said that every credit costs 61€ and I thought: WOW this is too cheap! But a girl raises her hand and asked how many credits are in one course and they told … 250 credits!! Suddenly all the people on the room took their phones and calculate the price. The final price was … 15250€!!!! It was so CRAZY! When the conference was finish I left the room and I looked to my friend and we started to laugh!! It was unrealistic.

Now I’m think of my large-term goals, but in this moment of my live I don’t have a large-term goals because all the people who is doing Batxillerat thinks in four short-term goals: Pass Batxillerat, approve the research paper, pass the selectivity and study the degree that they like. When all these people, included me, finish all these goals, we start a new stage less stressful, a stage where we will be able to think more about our future and our large-term goals, but now we only think in get off this stage of our lives with a good results.

And I think that it’s all I think about my goals.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks. 

My english competence in 2016

Well this two courses of Batxillerat I learnet a lot and I'm so proud of my job in this subject. Now that I finish my English class I can look back and ... FLIP OUT!

I did it a lot of things for improving my English and I think that the type of class that we did it's perfect to learn English, because are Interactive and we pay more attention than if we did regular class. I think that the English class is different to the others and I'm more ready than in another class. The good think about the subject is that we learn in different ways, for example, with songs or reading news and doing this blog.

I think that in the English class just need to improve more vocabulary and practice more the phrasal verbs in class, because it's a practical thing that the English people use a lot and in my class for example we know it but we don't use it a lot. Another think that this class can improve is the way to teach the grammatical theory, because depend of the part of grammatic it can be difficult to understand.

I can say that because I see my evolution in these years and the good job that I did it. The best examples of my improvement are the next.

My best presentation was: YouTubers. I think that It would be my best oral presentation because it was one of the final group presentation, and here I show all that I learned from the English class.

My best task: Do you believe in love at first sight?. This last task talks about a topic that I like it and I express all the things that I feel and I think of this topic.

My best news: Drug Addicts Could Fight Addiction With Memory-erasing Chemical Scientists Say. This news is one of my best news because I could summarize the new without any problem.

My best your say: HELLO LONDON!. This your say it's one of my favourites and the best your say that I did it because it's like a travelling diary of our London trip. It would be one of my best your says because I writed more than 3 thousand words expressing all that I felt during on of the best weeks of my life. 

And this is all that I improved in English, in 3 years. 

My english progress from 2013-2016

In this post I would compare my first written document on this blog, in 2013 when I was in 4th of ESO and the last post on the blog this course.

I can see a lot of differences on my evolution of English, for example: My first post on the blog was a written task that talks about my old dreams. The last post I've done is about jealousy. This is a big change because my post in the past talks about silly things that I like when I was younger and now I can talk about any type of thing that is more mature or simply more interesting.
Another example of my evolution can be the way of written and the mistake that I did in the old posts.

The part that I see more differences It would be in the oral presentations and its posts, because in this posts I could see the videos of my older oral presentations and the last presentation. I see that I improve the body language, the language and the pronunciation. In the two presentations the presentation of the work was the same, but in both is perfect and also the content isn't bad.
These are the examples:

Presentation of YouTubers that I do it with Núria and Juli this course

Presentation of "The life of the models before and after the catwalk" that I do it with Anna in 1rst of Baxillerat

I'm so happy with the great improvement that I do it in all this time beginning in 2013 until 2016. I improved a lot of things like the language, a lot of vocabulary and obiously the pronunciation.

Is jealousy natural?

Jealousy is an emotional response that arises when a person perceives a threat to something he/she considers him/herself. 

This time I will talk about jealousy in couples. Jealousy that arise between couples, usually produced when you do not have much confidence in the relationship or one partner is believed inferior to the other. When a couple does not have much confidence often think the worst on both sides, because not knowing everything that happens to him or her, or what can get to think he or she, this may influence when they communicate with other people. 

If a partner feels inferior to his partner, always thought he or she wants not enough and that he or she could be with someone better than him or her. I think it's one of the worst feelings you can have in a couple, since many times because of jealousy, many couples are torn apart or many people come to hurt their partners for this. 

I think jealousy are both boys and girls alike, is also always say that girls are more jealous than boys, but this is an urban legend. Many men come to attack their partners for them. 

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Love at first sight is a personal experience and a common trope in literature in which a person, character, or speaker feels an instant, extreme, and ultimately long-lasting romantic attraction for a stranger on the first sight of them.

Love at first sight is possible, but I think it's a superficial love because you don't fall in love with the person and their personality, they fall in love for their physical attractiveness. The love at first sight is real, but not always can be a true love. The people who fall in love at first sight have an arrogant, frivolous, with a lot of self-esteem and a selfish character. 

Also I think that love at first sight it's a cliché created by the romantic movies. Any woman who has ever watched a romantic movie will know that love at first sight is a very flattering cliché in these films. This kind of movies gets to see that love at first sight can happen to anyone, and anyone can establish a relationship, as easily as in the movies. But I do not believe it because to fall in love with a person have to know how is psychologically and also know your hobbies and defects.

Love is a feeling that blooms with time and not with just a glance. I think that this term would define it as an unrealistic and superficial love that only can "enjoy" people who have a good appeal. I do not mean a less attractive person can not fall into the trap of this love, but I think it is more complicated because people often are governed by the appearance. If I had to define love at first sight in one sentence I would say: 

Do not judge a book by its cover

Do couples need to have a lot in common? What are the essentials?

Couples do not have to have much in common, since a good partner is not one to which you both like the same things. Everyone you might like different things and not for the reason that your partner does not like anything you like you mean that you are not made for each other, but simply do not you have the same tastes but you can live together.

A couple who has everything in common, does not mean they have to be the perfect match, since one could get tired of having the same tastes than the other and break the relationship, for example. Not because of different subcultures or have any fashion or musical taste different from your partner means that you can not be together. If a couple is to not think about their tastes or their hobbies, but to maintain a stable relationship in which both partners access to the tastes of the other.

A formal e-mail

The white house                                                                            INS Castelló d'Empúries

1600 pensylvania, Avenue NW                                                          17485 c/ del rentador

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www.whitehouse.gov                                                        www.inscastellodempuries.com

18-4-2016

       Dear President Barak Obama,

          We are writing to complain about the lack of equality. On the one hand, we have the equality of all the people before the law and the other hand the entitled without any discrimination in violation of the protection of the law.

          Firstly we will say that a lot of people are treated differently because they are from other races. We put out that we stay in a denveloping country that have this behaviour with this discrimination in all the different races provokes our socity to go a step bock to the past.

          Secondly, we have to crack down in the difference in front of the equalities and the protection with famous and rich people to all the other people.

          We have to be equal in front of the law independet of the race and the moeny of each person.

        We are looking forward to your repley 

        Yours sincewrly

        Xènia and Núria.

Malaysia Airlines Auckland Flight 'Flew In Wrong Direction', According To Reports

SUMMARY:

The news talks about a Malaysia Airlines plane, which took off Christmas day, began to turn off from its route and the pilots were stunned. The pilot contacted with air traffic controllers to explain the anomalies that were happening to them and how they could return to their course. On the website Flightradar24.com not reach the flight path and did not provide them any registration. The plane was lost.
In other part of the news it can explains that Malaysia Airlines had a bad reputation since a rocket hit the MH17 while flying over the Ukraine and left 298 dead.

MY OPINION:

I think aircraft companies before embarking on a route, should study the areas through which pass the planes and to detect Any meteorological phenomenon, climate or atmospheric, as these can disrupt the flight to produce their disappearance. I also believe that before embarking on a path with a large way the air traffic controllers would have to monitor its course well and inform pilots of any variant problem.
NEW WORDS:

New words:

Reportedly: acording to reports.

Within: inside.

Charter: organizational document.

Path: trail.

Plot: story of a novel, film ...

Embroil: involve.

Despite: in spite of.

Whilist: althrought.

Spokeswomen: female spokesperson.

Slightly: small in amount.

Aircraft: plane.

----News link----

People With Tattoos Have Better Immune Systems

SUMMARY:

An American Journal Of Human Biology study has said that stress to get a tattoo strengthens the immune system of your body, that is, to fight infections. This study was found to see that a person who gets a tattoo down his antibody levels and increases cortisol levels, the stress hormone. Instead, when a person who already had a tattoo and made another, the antibody levels don't decrease much.

MY OPINION:

I think that this news it's true but I don't believe that all the persons who have tattoos have a great immune system because all the persons have differents bodys and differents immune systems and differents traits. A person with a poor immune system and a poor level of antibody can have a lots of problems with the tattos. I think that it could be real but it doesnt change a lot with the persons who don't have tattos, because a person who have a great immune system have a more strenghten system than a person who have tattos. 

NEW WORDS:

Pesky: troublesome. 

Strengthen: make stronger.

Needle: small and pointy bar.

---- News link ----

Google 's 'Black Mirror' Patent Could Let Us Record And Replay Our Memories

SUMMARY:

This news talk about the invention of a thecnológic lens, similar to the Google Glass, and what can do it. This lens can record all your memories and allow us to search through a database, videos of our recorded experiences. The videos may also be sent to the smartphone. The only problem they have to make these lenses is the way they want to record memories. Now Google is searching a new way to record all the memories of a long period because now his smart glasses can record a short period of memories. 

MY OPINION:

I think that this new invention is a unnecessary object in our live. Is a great thing because you can revive the great experience that you live, but when you are having a good time it's not as fun if you're thinking of you have to connect the lens to record the time and not directly enjoy the moment. A good time is always better if you can enjoy it at the time, because the good times are those that arise spontaneously and not what you plan from top to bottom

NEW WORDS:

Chunk: Large pice.

Huge: Much higher than what is considered normal.

Portray: The descriptions of the figure or character of a person.

Upon: On.

Snippets: Scrap of information.

Trustworthy: Said of a person or thing: In which you can trust.

Footage: a length or distance measured in feet.

----News link----

Drug Addicts Could Fight Addiction With Memory-erasing Chemical Scientists Say

SUMMARY:

This news talk about the new discovery of erasing the memories, especially drugs memories without causing any widespread damage. The discoverers (In the photo below) say that this development is very important because the previous chemical products could cause some erase memory problems, but now controlling myosin, a protein, will not cause these problems.

Then the news explains the case of the withdrawal of the previous medicines, their effects and how this new discovery can help the persons who was taking the medicines. But at least for now this it was only proved in animals.

MY OPINION:

I believe this new finding is a breakthrough towards a healthier society and fewer health problems. Thanks to this, I believe that many things might be discovered, because by knowing how to erase the memory of different parts, may it can help many people with psychological problems in the long run. 

If this chemical modification, once tested in humans works, many persons with problems of rapes, abuses or family problems, they can be helped. 

NEW WORDS:

Widespread: Consider and treat generally any point or question. 

Nonmuscle myosin: A no muscular myosin. Myosin is a type of protein that we have in our bodies.

Breakthrough: Discovery.

Trigger: Action and effect of triggering. Originate or outputting movements, events or series of events, often passionate or violent.

Relapse: Falling back. 

Withdrawal: Action back.

Craving: Desire.

----News link----

CIA Torture is Unfinished Business

Summary:

This news is an interview by Laura Pitter an advisory national security of human rights of the United States, she interviewed many former detainees who were tortured by the CIA agents after the 9/11.
In this article the various detainees by the CIA explain the various ways in which torture, and until end reached to hurt a person. It is also argued that torture is an illegal act, which is subject under US law. A witness also says he is a little embarrassed by what can be committed in their country and feel much compassion for those persoans which have been battered by the body of the CIA.

My opnion:

I think a country like the United States and also a private security center as the CIA, you would not have any kind of torture of any detainee wholesale evil caused. America is a very underdeveloped country which gives you many ways to control prisoners without that torture-that way, knowing that torture is an illegal act.

New words:


Widely: to large extent.

Acknowledged: accepted.

Abduct: kidnap.

Otherwise: differently.

Diapers: baby's nappy.

Hung: not a majority.

Ceilings: upper part of a room.

Dunk in: immerse in liquid. 

Lack: scarvity.

Pitch dark: without light.

Slam: close violently a door.

Pouring: It's raining heavily.

Upright: vertically.

Handcuffed: restrain with handcuffs.

Narrow: having a small distance from one side to the other, especially in comparison with the length.

----News link----

London Evening Standard Newspaper

The first day when we arrived in London we went to the hostel to left the suitcase. Then we went to the tube line station of High Street Kensington. At the entrance to the station there were two women who share out newspapers and lifestyle magazines. One of the woman gave me a newspaper and I tought to do one of the news of the blog with this newspaper. 

This newspaper is called London Evening Standard and I have chosen a news of a crime in a restaurant called Bella Italia.

SUMMARY:

This news talk about a crim committed in London on the 24 of February in a restaurant of Leicester Quare called The Bella Italia. One of the waiters of the restaurant Bella Italia take a waitress hostage and armed himself with a knife from the kitchen. Customers and other workers fled, leaving inside the hostage with the suspect and a middle age couple. Riot police were guarding the outside while the negotiators talked with the suspect through messages in the window. Two hours after riot police threw them under the door and arrested the suspect.

MY OPINION:

I think the riot, or the London police could have come much earlier and not have to wait for more than two hours for a man armed only with a knife was threatening to one person. Also, I think that for this crime the riot has to be more than 10 persons, because I think that it's a little crime from my point of view. 

3 NEW WORDS:

Allegedly: said or thought by some people to be the stated bad or illegal thing, although you have no proof.

Barred: without rules.

Hostage: person taken prisoner. 

Riot: violent public disorder.

Shield: armour.

Letterbox: box for delivered mail.

The Number Of Teenagers Being Admitted To Hospitals For Eating Disorders Has Nearly Doubled

SUMMARY:

This new explain the terrible news that the number of childrens affected by eating disorders in UK is doubling or exceeding their values compared to previous years. Also explain that this disorders are caused for the "perfect prototype" that the people gave.

MY OPINION:

Abou the eating disorders in the childhood or in the adolescence are create for two parts. The first part it's caused of the fads that creat Tv and other medis. For example all the girls who appear in an adverstiment or all famous, usually are thin, with long hair, big breasts and big thighs. The other part would be the discrimination or bulling which produce the classmates when a person did not have the "standard" measures like them.

NEW WORDS:

• Worsen
• Misleading
• Spokesperson
• Struggle

News link

HELLO LONDON!!

How was the trip to London? ... Great !!! It is one of the best trips I've done in my life, either for to the place like the things we saw and the people who came to travel. This trip will be a good memory that I take with me ever, and also gave me desire for travel all around the world and return to this idyllic place again.

Now I will explain all that I did and what I felt:

24/2/16: We're going!!!

I'm very nervous because I never traveled on a plane for a long time and it makes me a little scared. For this reason I can't sleep before going to school to take the bus, so I started to review that if I took all the things inside the suitcase, and I have prepared food for tomorrow.

25/2/16: First day. Day of departure.

I've already finished preparing everithing and I have nothing to do, so I go to bed to watch TV. I still can't sleep. I look the watch. 1:15 am. I start to get ready and I take my suitcase and backpack and I get in the car and go to the school where the bus that leads to the airport is waiting for us. 2:00 am. I go to the bus and I sit with Míriam. We start talking and listening to music until 4:35 am. We arrive at the airport. We go down the bus and we go into the airport. When we pass the controls the teachers leave us 30 minutes free for breakfast and go to the bathroom. 

We meet everybody and we go to a few cubicle Spanish Civil Guard where they ask us for the passport. The teachers do a count and two schoolmates missing. Yuri and Jordi. Hadn't gone three hours and we had already lost two persons. But luckily Lourdes found them. They are changing euros to pounds. The teachers will begin to distribute the pamphlets with information of London and a card with all the phones of the students, of the teachers and the phone of the hostel.

Everyone sought his seat to see who seats with him. My seat is 26F next to the window and Martí. But in the other side is seat Quim with Míriam and Berta, and I ask to him to change the seat. I'm very nervous and I need someone really confident like Míriam and Berta to calm me in this situation.

We took off and now I'm not nervous. Throughout the journey I have been listening to music and looking out the window. I still can't sleep. We arrive at the airport and in two seconds I'm already freezing! We go inside and we pass the controls and go to the toilet. While I stay with Dídac keeping the suitcase of the other people, We see that everything and everyone is very different than in Spain. This surprise us. We go all out to look for the bus. Míriam becomes a seat beside me. The man begins driving and we advanced 100 meters there is a round. I stayed in shock for five seconds when I saw that the man took a round in the opposite direction and after I look to Míriam and she is like me. 

We were like two hours to get to the hostel. While we were there we went to other locations outiside London that were very neglected and aslo in all there were trash. To get to the hostel we have to cross a part of Holland Park, as the hostel is in the middle. The safestay Holland Park Hostel is so beautiful. 

We don't enter in the hostel, we go to the back and there are a little cottages where we leave all bags. Then we go to High Street Kensington station where teachers have given us some cards that serve as a ticket to enter an any public transport, and a map.

Once inside we catch the subway yellow line. We dropp of at Covent Garden station. When we arrive there the first thing that we do  is to take us photos  with the famous red telephone booths. 

The teachers give us 2 houres to lunch and visit all Covent Garden. We separete into few groups. In my group there are Pau Bosch, Oriol, Martí, Marc, Didi, Laura and me. We saw a lot of little shops that when you enter it's so big and separated in diferents shops. It's so nice. Affter we walk trought the Apple market a craft market. 

We sit in front of the st. Paul's church and we have lunch there. A few minutes after a street perfomer act in front of the church. We meet again with the teachers and the others grups and we go to Neal's Yard a beautiful street. Then, without stops walking we go to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. It is an extraordinary museaum. Jordina and Marta have told us two pictures of what they have studied in art history. The Trafalgar square is one of my favourites places of London, with the monument in the middle surrounded by four lions. In the both sides it have two fountains. 

Now we go to Big Ben, the London Eye and pass by Whitehall. While we were walking down Whitehall, three official cars enter in the parliament. We have reached the Big Ben and we are going towards the Westminster Bridge, over the River Thames. From here we see the London Eye. I made us some pictures and now we are going to dinner.

While we are walking there, we realized that we had lost half the group, but I took the subway stop to the Westminster Station St. James's Park and we go to Buckingham Palace to wait the other walf of the group. After we found it we have gone to Piccadilly Circus, where teachers have leave a free time to visit the place and shops. At 8:00 pm we met with the teachers in the restaurant Strada, close to where we are. It is a cozy Italian restaurant. We eat a tomato and cheese pizza and tiramisu for dessert. While we were having the dessert a man who works at the restaurant told us if we know sing Happy Birthday to sing a man who fulfills years and bring him a birthday cake, we say yes and when the man counts to 3 we started singing for Henrry the man of the Birthday.
Now that we have finished dinner we have free time because the theachers had to go to look at the price of the musical tickets. We sit on a sculture of the square and we are looking at a group of street dancers. Teachers cam on and we go to hostel by tube. In the hostel the techers have to chose a group leader for every room. I have offered voluntarily to be the group leader. The group leader have to distributed the cards to open the door to the room, look for any damage in the room and then go to the reception to get the rented towels. When I entered everyone has chosen the bed and begin to install. I've put on the top of a bunk of two with Jordina. We have a shower inside the room and another shared with the girls of the other room. When I finished showing me and Laura go down to the pool room where we are playing with the boys at poker. At 2:30 am we go to bed because the next morning we have to stay in the bar at 7:00 am. I'm so tired because I haven't slept at all since Tuesday night.

26/2/16: Second day. Museums day

27/2/16: Third day. The best day of the trip!

28/2/16: Fourth day. Last day.

This last day Laura, Berta and I go to the last shopping in Oxford Street. This street is full of the most famous brand stores. There isn't much to tell about this morning. Now we go to Pizza Hut to get our lunch. 

All the students had settle on at 4:00 pm at the hostel. So now we take the tube and we go to High Street Kensington, on this trip we had to take the green and the yellow line, besides we haden't got any problem to reach the destination. Now in the station we remove the money that we have in the travel card. Later we go to Tesco supermarket to expend all the coins that we have, because when you go to change the money, pound to euros, the person who is deal with you can not accepte the coins, only the bills. Now we are in the hostel with all the others students and the teachers, they say that in 20 mim the bus pick up us. When we arrive the teachers give us, like the first day, the papers of the flight and the people is another time searching the other two persons who are seated at his side. This time I have to seat in the middel with Martí and Míriam. The control of the London airport is more strict than the airport of Barcelona. This time the guard catch me the bag and the suitcase, because this time I don't remove the vanity case of the suitcase and a nail polish that I bought in Oxford Street in the bag. Now I'm with Dídac, Pau B. and Jordi in a seat of the airport waiting for Laura and the other boys and we are playing with the brands game that I have in the phone. At 7:15 pm we meet the teachers and we go to the checking posts. When all are there the person who review the ticket and the suitcase say to us that we only have one suitcase. Panic time.

All the students have the suitcase who it is going to explode. Finally the man say to us that we can check in our suitcase free and we can put the bag under our feet. Into the plane I start playing at the brands game with Paula, Vincent, Nadia (the 3 persons that I have in the row behind), Míriam and Martí. When Paula, Vincent and Nadia have fallen sleep I start reading the book Dublin people the book that I had caught in the english class library for the exam. When we arriving to Barcelona the plane have a lot of turbulence. Due to this turbulences Kaotar have an asthma attack. We land. Inmediatly we go to search our suitcase and we go to the bus. I don't sleep in all the trip, but when we arrive to Figueres i feel slep. 

29/2/16: Home, sweet home!

We arrive at 2:10 am at Castelló. All parents were waiting for use eager. Now I'm inside the car with my parents going home. I missed them a lot. When I get home I go to my room to leave the suitcase and the bag and ... My parents changed the room from the top to the bottom!!! I couldn't be more happy right now!!!