BIRTHDAY PARTIES

Everyone likes being at a birthday party. There you can eat, drink and meet friends. What else is needed to have fun? These celebrations are made in order to express the birthday boy or girl your gratitude for having them as friends. During these parties many activities are done: playing cards, listening to music, dancing, taking photos… However, what I like more than being to birthday parties is preparing surprise birthday parties. Surprising a friend with a party is one of the most satisfactory feelings. However, it is a tough work most of the time although at the end it is great for everyone.

When saying tough work I mean that it is often difficult to coordinate all the variation in order to develop the party. For instance, you need to ask to the birthday boy’s parents to acknowledge if they intended to prepare something. Then you will need to talk to many friends of him willing to come to the party. Then you need to think about place and time: choosing a day that is convenient for most people. After that, you will need to calculate your budget: you will need much money. Birthday parties are not cheap since it is necessary to buy the food, the drinks, some decoration and the present. Furthermore, choosing and buying the present is one of the hardest things. You will not stop thinking on what to buy him as you finally decide it. Then, some of his friends will tell you that he will not like this or that and throw your ideas to the floor.

Once you have done all the preparation for the party, the day comes. You actually need a pretext to make the birthday boy come to the place without feeling anything strange about your behaviour. For instance, in most surprise birthday parties someone talks too much and the birthday boy starts suspecting on something happening strange. Finally, when he enters the room and everyone screams out loud “SURPRISE”, you know all your work has already been done. Then you can relax and start having fun as the other people do. When it is time to the present to be given to him you will feel nervous again. For example, on my last surprise birthday party I was given a suit I loved from Zara that was blue and beautiful. I had been thinking on a suit for the graduation of last year’s course and I decided to buy a new blue one. So my friends surprised me with that beautiful suit that I loved. What usually happens is that they like the presents and so they show thankful for preparing the party.

Overall, surprising birthday parties are a good time to spend with friends although they are sometimes difficult to prepare. The making of it is hard and there are plenty of things to do and to buy. However, once you prepare everything and the party starts you have fun anyway. In addition, if you were one of the ones that prepared the party you will feel very satisfied. 

PRÁCTICA 17 (COMPOSITION)

SUMMER JOBS

Summer jobs are a great option to spend your summertime and not to waste it. Some people just do nothing for the summer and some other people work. Most of the people that decide to work stand for supermarket or delivery person jobs. However, a big part of young people usually work in the hotel industry, mainly as waiters and waitresses. As long as working is tiring, being a waiter tires even more. I have worked for two years as a waiter and I can tell that even though serving is tedious, being able to earn money is good for being a bit independent.

Serving is disgusting for most people. There are few waiters that are working in the hotel industry because of vocation. Nevertheless, once you have learned a couple of things, and you know how the place you are working in functions, it is not really difficult. I do not like working as a waiter since serving causes me feeling embarrassment. When I worked I had to come up every day well-dressed and wearing a tie that I continuously put into the dishes. Besides this, I had to wake up every morning of my summer really early to be on time to work. Furthermore, when I went out some nights to pubs and I got to bed a bit late, the following day I was exhausted at work! Also, serving is sometimes tedious since I had to carry five plates at the same time. The problem there was when some of them would fall over and make me feel more embarrassment.

Despite the fact that working is tiring, it has actually some advantages. Being able to earn money has been good for me since I know how hard it is to earn it and so I do not waste it so unnecessarily. On the other hand, it also makes me a bit independent on summers. As long as I am working, I have more money to spend on whatever I want. Last summer, I worked the whole month of July just to buy me a new mobile phone! I spent almost all the money I earned that month. Then, working is good to acquire some of your most selfish desires. Furthermore, I did not have to ask my mum for money and I could go to the parties I wanted with no limit.

As long as I am studying, I will continue to work on my summer holidays since it is a good way to earn money although it is often tiring. There are some pros and cons on working as a waiter. However, there are many options to think about and you can just encourage yourself seeing is as a temporary job.

PRÁCTICA 16 (INTRODUCTION AND CONCLUSION)

Watching films and series in English is very useful when learning the language. Children all over the world learn their mother tongues just by hearing it every day. Television is an important part of the daily lives of many people. It is a cultural activity to do on your leisure time. However, watching films in English is the best option for those who are trying to learn it. Although it may seem difficult at first, watching films in English can make you develop your listening skills and also improve your vocabulary.

Overall, despite it can be difficult, watching films in English is very helpful to learn new vocabulary and collocations and to improve your receptiveness when listening. It is also interesting to listen to the real voices of your favourite actors and actresses. A new world is opened to you once you have discovered how to perfectly understand it all. The only thing I recommend is not to be afraid since you will end up catching every single word.

PRÁCTICA 15 (ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES)

Living by the coast has advantages and disadvantages when referring to climate and activities. Living by the coast can be an exciting experience since you always can go to the beach. The climate also tends not to be very cold. Furthermore, there are more sports to practise since everyone living by the coast is used to beach sports. Besides this, tourism is fantastic when getting to know more people: in summer, coast villages fill up with tourists and you will be able to see every shop and bar full of people. Sun is actually another benefit of living by the coast: in the village I lived in, it was sunny almost all the year. As I mentioned before, tourism is great to learn more about other cultures since many people travelling to the coast are foreigners. On the other hand, not living by the coast can sometimes be a better option. Some disadvantages of living near the coast are that the climate is very wet and cold always passes through your coat to freeze you. Also, you will not be able to practise mountain sports such as hiking and climbing. In addition, during winter seasons you will see that the village is empty! That is a common thing on coast villages: they are almost uninhabited during winter when compared to summer. Finally, if you have to choose where to live, consider all these benefits and make a decision that is right to you.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION

Environmental pollution is a serious problem.  Plenty of cars, buses, industries and factories pollute the environment every day. Global warming is alarmingly increasing. Governments try to solve these problems with no success. This situation needs to change since human beings are destroying their own world. Furthermore, the problem of litter is out of control. Population from all countries throw away many objects. In addition, tonnes of inorganic trash are thrown away every day. It takes almost 150 years for a plastic bag to decompose. So imagine how many plastic bags we throw away and how many years it takes for just one of them to decompose. Air pollution is another serious problem: the ozone layer is being destroyed and that is harming the Earth in many aspects.

In order to solve these problems more measures must be taken. A famous set phrase says “desperate times get desperate measures”. As I see it, no matter if we do not like these measures, we should accept them anyway. We will not see our world destroyed since we will not be on Earth to attend to it. If we could see how life would be when humans run out of petrol and water, we would reconsider it. Due to the fact that natural sources are not endless, we must not waste them. All electric transport must be developed and replaced for those who use fuel. Providing that it takes many years for plastic to decompose, food items must be sold inside of glass jars. Recycling must be compulsory for all populations and those who do not recycle must be fined. Governments are already trying their best in order to minimize environmental pollution and more people are conscious about its danger. The only thing that is up to us is to take care of our planet. 

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY

Christmas is one of the most desired holidays. Nevertheless, Christmas was easier when being a child. One you have grown up, you see this holiday in a big different way. However, Christmas is still a national holiday for many countries and it is a good time of the year to forget about anything else and to be happy. For me, Christmas holidays are meant to rest, to meet the family and also to receive presents.

One of the things that I love doing the most during holidays is resting. I simply love having nothing important to do but reading, watching films and meeting friends. When holidays come, I try to forget about studying and problems of my life and I just come back home. Going to parties is actually part of my Christmas holidays: on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, after having dinner with the family I usually go out with my friends to have some fun. I do not get to do this very often since I spend the rest of my time going to class, doing my homework and studying. So when I am free I like going out.

Meeting the family is also very common in Christmas. Christmas is the time of the year when people all around the world travel and cross oceans to reunite with their relatives. In my case, as my parents are from other town in Albacete, I go there in order to meet my grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. Getting to see them is great since I do not see them very often. In fact, I only see them on Christmas and on Holy Week. My family and I feel very thankful to be able to come twice a year and get together with them.

Children are always looking forward Christmas to come since they get to receive many presents. As we grow up, we forget about Santa Claus and the Three Kings but we still want our presents! Although we are conscious about the business sense of this holiday we give our relatives and friends some kind of presents. I love being given something for Christmas but I do not like big things. I prefer something special and handmade if it can be. However, this is sometimes more difficult so I often get some sneakers of shoes for Christmas that I do not dislike either.

As long as I am able to rest, meet my family and receive any presents Christmas will continue to be one of my favourite holidays. However, it is important to properly spend our time and not to waste it. So providing that we have some little time to forget about studying, we should make the most of it.

PRÁCTICA 14 (COMPLEX PROBLEM/SOLUTION)

Animal abuse is a really serious problem that we all should be concerned about. First of all, people own animals that they do not want to take care of when time passes by. Some people mistreat and harm animals with no regrets. All animals are living creatures and they feel pain as humans do. They actually have feelings and they suffer when people torture them for fun. For instance, hunting is legal in many parts of the world, and most of the time, hunters play that “sport” for fun. Taking it a bit farther, it is also legal to use animals’ skin on clothes. It is very sad that people kill some animals to make leather clothes. For instance, the human beings do not eat some animals and they only kill them to use their skin. It is very heart-breaking. Endangered species are illegal to hunt but people still hunt them the same!

In order to solve this problems harder punishments must be applied to those who kill animals for fun. If they were sentenced to jail for having killed an animal, they would think twice before grabbing a life. The painless method of killing animals should be developed in order to make them suffer the less possible as we need to eat meat. But killing animals for fun is unacceptable. All type of hunting must be illegal since these animals are born free and they have their right to be in nature. Producing and wearing leather clothes must be illegal as well. It is really shameful that people pay large amounts of money for an animal skin. The seal hunting in The Artic definitely shows the harm and pain human can cause to nature. Nowadays, more and more people are conscious about animal abuse and there are people fighting for animals’ rights but if we do nothing to change this situation, animals will continue to suffer since they cannot defend themselves.

PRÁCTICA 13 (COMPARATIVE PARAGRAPH)

Players from rock bands and orchestras are both artists and they have more similarities than dissimilarities. The characteristics that they have in common are the feeling of music that seems to run through their veins, that they try their best on concerts, that they awaken admiration on people and that they influence society. Nevertheless, they have a few differences. Artists from rock bands mainly play loud music with explicit lyrics. They tend to get mad at concerts and to give an interacting live show. They also play different electric guitars and drums combined with pre-recorded and some artificial sounds and also combined with the singer’s voice. On the other hand, players from orchestras offer a quiet and smooth show. The rhythm they play is more placid than the one played by rock bands. They also have a wide variety of instruments to play: they use all kind of them, from all instruments’ families. Furthermore, they awaken different feelings on people listening to them. Another difference is that artists from orchestras have a contrastive lifestyle to rock artists; they do not need to be loud at concerts and to get mad, they are always peaceful. As I mentioned before, they have more similarities than differences and if you could go to concerts of both of them, you would easily notice.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

A very important part of studying for a degree is oral presentations. At school and at secondary school we have always been forced to present some topics. Sometimes we were the ones who chose them and some other times we were not. The reality is that we do not like presenting anything to our classmates. Even if they are old friends of ours, we always feel embarrassment. A missing piece of oral presentations is that they are focused on us learning how to deal with shame and learning how to be able to present any topic.

We always feel shame when we are forced to speak in public. We may be in the street or at any place and we do not feel any shame but when it comes to talk to the class we feel very insecure. The point is that we should not get that feeling when talking to people we are supposed to know. Then, where does that feeling come from? Embarrassment comes from the fear some people suffer of being ridiculed. There is actually a very common phobia of people being scared of speaking in public. This is kind of a mental problem and there are people that have a really bad time when they have to present something. However, although it is very difficult to overtake this concern, all we need to do is to face the situation and just carry on.

By continuously exhibiting and speaking in public, we can develop our skills and stop that silly fear some people suffer from. People have problems when presenting some topics in their mother tongue so when they have to present the same topic in a foreign language, people have more problems. It is a fact that we always feel more confident when taking in our mother tongue. For instance, when I am forced to explain to the class some issue talking in English I feel very nervous and always think that I would surely be better standing up for the same issue in Spanish. However, this is a common mistake of every foreign speaker: we tend to think in our mother tongue instead of thinking in the language we pretend to speak. In order to learn how to develop any issue we may be asked for, we need to stop being scared of mistaking.

Overall, oral presentations always make us feel insecure and shy. The point is that we have to learn from them in order to deal with shame and to present different topics. In so many courses we are expected to do this type of things without doubting so, let’s start from now and acknowledge the principal key of oral presentations.

LONG WEEKENDS

Holidays are one of my favourite periods of the year. I love doing nothing and having nothing to do! However, I am always busy, no matter what time of the year I am at. Besides this, long weekends are a really good opportunity to rest from the university life. Long weekends are a few-days-rest that I love to spend on doing nothing as I did not have plenty of homework to do. In all the long weekends I have had in my lifetime, I have always wasted my time. People usually travel and go abroad on long weekends, but I can no longer see long weekends in the same way as I did in the past. Unfortunately, although long weekends are meant to rest and to meet friends, they are actually meant to study.

Before in my life, I used to spend the whole time I could resting. Staying at home, watching films in the sofa with a blanket and eating some popcorn have always been my favourite plans. When I had some free time from studying I loved to search on the Internet issues I am interested in, to follow my favourite singers fan pages and basically spending time on me. Another thing I really love is reading so when I could I spent the whole day and night reading books. I was a passionate reader but I could not focus on reading when I had study to do. I only read on holidays and long weekends since they are a really good occasion to disconnect and to concentrate on doing things I like doing.

Meeting friends is actually one of my favourite parts of long weekends. In the present, I am living in Murcia and I love it. But one of the bad things about it is that I do not get to see my friends very often. I do not meet the friends that chose not to study and so they are still living in San Pedro, my hometown. When I am able to come back and I have free time, I love meeting my friends. I have many friends that are not friends between them so I have to choose from weekend to weekend which ones I have not met for a long time and which ones I want to see. During long weekends I can do a lot of things but I always end up doing less than I would have liked since I have no time for all those things.

Lately, I have found out that long weekends are the best time for catching up with my homework and studying. They are very lengthy and I have time to study a lot! During the course at university I always have any tasks to do and I cannot study as much as I would like. So this past long weekend, I have caught up on behind tasks and practices and I have also had time for studying a bit. Therefore, although I would rather spend long weekends resting and meeting friends I welcome the time that has been given to me to be up to date with the course.

Overall, long weekends still are an extraordinary time to spend on studying, resting or meeting friends. There are always long weekends during the year and if I have to spend one of them studying, I do not mind. There will be others in which I will be able to do nothing. The matter is that I do not waste my time ever again since once the time has passed, there is no turning back.

PRÁCTICA 12 (OPINION PARAGRAPH ABOUT SOMETHING I LIKE AND MOST PEOPLE DON'T)

NICKI MINAJ

She is an American female rapper and singer. Her real name is Onika Tanya Maraj and she is 32. I love the way she created her own style and also the way she raps. Many people criticize her and tell she is a commercial singer. Nevertheless, I still like her. She has been the first female rapper in the United States to achieve that quantity of awards and to get to rap with the most influential rappers of the time, such as Lil Wayne, Birdman, Milk Mill, Eminem, etc. For me, she has made an icon of herself and I will continue to love everything she is in. Despite that fact, she is not really known in Spain: a big part of young people have only listened to a couple of songs that have been played on the radio. I must recognise that many people will not agree with my point of view but I personally believe that they should give her a try. 

PRÁCTICA 11 (DESCRIBE SOMEONE)

My girlfriend is Paula and she is the best person I have ever met. For me, she is physically and personality-related perfect: she is a short girl (or I am too tall) and thin but strong at the same time. She is blond-haired and usually has it curly though she sometimes straightens it. She has beautiful almond-shaped brown eyes and she is also light-skinned. She has full lips and lovely chubby cheeks. On the personality, she is very funny and outgoing. She may sometimes look crazy but she is very intelligent. She hardly ever gets angry or sad. In fact, she is a very happy woman that can make me feel happy at every single moment.

WHAT FREEDOM MEANS TO ME (PRÁCTICA 10, DESCRIBE A FEELING)

I see freedom as a lifestyle. For me, freedom means having what I want and I can provide; it also means doing what I feel like and it is supposed not to be judged. Many people fought for having freedom and most of them died in that battle against society. In some Arabic countries, women are not free: they are forced to marry and to wear their typical clothes. I think that nowadays we live in a free world but, at the same time we are not free because we never really get to do so many things because of what society would think of us. In conclusion, although we are supposed to be free we still need to fight against society judgements.

THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION (PRÁCTICA 9)

Education is what life is all about. I have been studying for 18 years and I cannot bear in mind a single moment when I had not been thinking about my education or exams to pass. We live influenced by our future, our life plans. We want to study, to be educated because we want to work somewhere we can do something we like doing. However, as this professor claims education has been badly defined since it is more important to motivate students to learn on their own, to use technology and to inspire them than to force them to pass tests.

Education has been badly planned. It is only focused on passing tests. You can spend your lifetime studying and your only motivation would be to pass your exams. At school, at secondary school then at university you only want to pass exams. You would only rest and not think about passing exams when you get your degree and start working. Schools and universities have in common the fact that they try to prepare students to pass their exams so they are able to pass courses as well. However, it is simple way of assessing them; it would be much harder in a different way.

Technology is a very valuable base on everyone’s researches. Nevertheless, in most cases technology only helps to make it easier to just find plenty of information and not to learn from it. In the past, if you wanted to learn something, you had to look for it on several books and read the whole text then you selected what you needed. Nowadays, you can easily find information on the Internet, so you do not need to truly understand what you are studying. Technology is an important issue for the researches that you may need to make and nothing but a not-challenging matter.

Education should be focused on helping students to learn on their own. Being educated should allow people to be inspired and to always want to do their best. However, in your studies you will always find subjects you are not interested in; the matter of it is to learn, not to just memorise.  Education ideology is to promote people’s desires of outdoing. For instance, there lies the key to the development of science: always in need of more and better discoveries.

Overall, education is well when preparing students to carry out great labours. Besides this, measures should be taken to develop any different educating plans to inspire people. As we, the ones who study do not want to see education being regarded as an obligation just for your future but for your life.