MY FINAL REFLECTION

To finish this year very special for many people due to we finish the high school to start a new stage of our life, well to go to the university or do another thing, I’m gonna do a final reflection.

First, I’m going to talk about the level of my compositions. My first written posts didn’t had colour, neither they had a well-defined structure and there were a very poor and basic vocabulary. Now, above all in the third term, my English teacher showed me which structures there are depending on the composition I want to do. For example, an opinion essay or an against essay, a narrative, a letter of complaint, etc., all of these have a very different structure. My expression of English has improved and my vocabulary has enriched thanks to the gift my parents did me three years ago, an unforgettable trip of fifteen days to London with an English family, where I visited the most popular places of London. (Blog: https://99rodriguezmarc.wordpress.com/my-two-week-diary/).

Secondly, my best oral production, I think, it has been Spanish topics of humour that I did with Àlex. It was a different presentation where I told some jokes at the end of the presentation. In this oral production we had a good time and we learnt many things about our country that before we didn’t know.

To end this final reflection I want to say that this year surely it will be unique due to it has had or it will have a lot of importance in my life because next year, if all goes well, I will go the university to decide my future maybe to do C.A.F.E. because I’m a very fan of the sports in general.



                                                                                        Marc Rodríguez Casas.

Imagine you have a toxic friend that is ruining your life. Write a letter to him/her explaining the problem and proposing solutions to re-establish your mutual confidence.

19 Rentador Street

Castelló d'Empúries

21 th April, 2017

Plaza Amador 22

Barcelona

Dear Mpappé,

I am writing to complain about our critical relationship. I think is bad for both to continue our life with this form.

The problems began in the last night of the year when you, with your family, came to my house to dinner. All was OK but the end of our good relationship started when your children didn't eat and they did bad things in my house, breaking objects of value. At this moment I became angry because you didn't nothing and I hit one of them due to my hard character. Then you hit me very strong and my house became a battle.

I think the best for both is forget this terrible night and do another dinner but without children, it will  be the best for our new relationship.

I hope your answer, brother.

Your faithfully,

Marc Rodríguez.

Write a letter to an imaginary pen pal from a very different country. Tell him/her about the most common pets in the country where you live and the problems and advantages of having them. Ask him/her about similar questions in his/her own place. Express opinions, suggest ideas,...

19 Rentador Street

Castelló d'Empúries

27th April, 2017

China Town 23
China

Hi Xin,
How are you?
I am witing to you to explain a little bit about the most common pets in Spain and the problems and advantages of having them.

Here the most common pets are basically dogs and cats. About these, there are a lot of types of them. The dogs are very friendly with humans, they can become very noisy and silly in certain situations, but is the more loved pet  by the humans. Cats are more independent than dogs and also more calm than the others, most of them are in the street around the village all day, they say that these animals have seven lifes because they are very athletic and they can fall down without nothing happens.

I think for you, Xin, to have these pets in your country would be so difficult, because chinese people eat these types of animals and others really different and amazing.

Your faithfully,

Marc Rodríguez.

Write an opinion essay about the following question: Is it possible to live without computers nowadays?

It is well known that nowadays technology is in all the places where we go, more if we live or we travel around Europe. I think technology is the future.

Many people think that technology is very bad for our health. They think, more adults than young people, that we will extinguish be cause of it and at the end we will be silly people because of the computers, the machines, etc. will do all the things we do now.

In my opinion, however, the technology is good take it to a certain point not excessive, because our life in a lot of aspects is improving thanks to it.
At the present they 're founding and searching many things; vaccines, discoveries, etc. due to, also, the people who was created or made these special computers or machines.

In short, the technology takes it to a certain level, always to be for the good of our society, will be fine to our success. It is for that I think we can't live without computers.

Imagine you are a student from Shanghai living in Catalonia. Write a letter or an email to your family in China in which you talk about the education system and study habits here and back home.

19 Rentador Street

Castelló d'Empúries

18th April, 2017

High Street 21

Shanghai

Hi my fathers,

I am writing to tell you how is my life here in Catalonia. I have ever made a lot of new friends and I like so much the food, one of the best food I have ever tasted.

The problems began at the moment I arrived because I didn't know anyone and anyplace but now that I have found a house with other students I'm very good and they show each weekend new places and new types of food of Catalonia.

The education system is so good but calmer than Shanghai because here they only do six hours of class with thirteen minutes to rest, so less than in Shanghai.

That is a little bit of my life in Catalonia. I will explain you more.

I miss you a lot.

Kisses,

Marc Rodríguez.

Write an essay about aspects related to learning and using a language. Discuss difficulties, language components or even other kind of language (art, music, computer language, animal language,...).

It is well known that speaking and writing a lot of languages gives you a lot of of opportunities and options in life.

First of all, I want to say that I speak and write four languages (Spanish, Catalan, English and French). I talk and write better in Spanish and Catalan than French and English because these two I'm learning since I'm little and the others I speak them every day 24 hours.

Secondly, I think is very important to learn a big number of languages because these is unique in life and that gives you the opportunity to travel around the world and meet new people and new cultures (food, habits, sports, ..). But a lot of people think that if you write and speak well English and Spanish you can move where you want and travel to any country, and I agree with that.

In short, with more languages you can move to any place with more easily and learn languages is grow as a person.

TOURIST AREAS OF SPAIN

It is well known that the tourism is one of the most important sources of income for our country.

First of all, Spain spend a lot of years in the firsts positions of the international tourism. Throughout of these years it has suffered a lot of changes both in the way of travel and in the accommodations.

However in the big cities is considering a big problem, due to the large influx of tourism (for example in Barcelona or in Madrid) and the tourist flats are having a lot of relevance. This come with the difficulty of living the tourism with the people that live all the year in that place, because a lot of times the type of tourism isn't the most suitable and his interests aren't the same as the people that live or work.

For that reason, the authorities are doing laws harder or more restrictive to regularise this type of tourism and then has it more controlled.

Do men and women view love differently?

It is well to known that men and women we can seem very different, but at the end surely those differences aren't so many.

First of all, generally both men and women we have the necessity to live in couple with anyone that loves us, values us and respects us. 

Secondly, some of the differences could be, in the thing we think as "normal" relationships and no perverse (controlling, submissive, etc.), that the woman can look for a little more of protection, although each time less, and the man can assume more the role of protector.
In the issue related to the children normally the women have it as a priority and men postpone it more, also for biological matters, and they give more priority to the development in the theme of labour.
In the education of the children also there are differences between men and women, because the mother will use more her protector part and educate him more in values as the affection, the family, etc. and the father more in issues of physical strength, perseverance,...

As a result now, as I said before, all of these differences are each time less, at least at the western society, because these roles be exchanged with facility due to determinate labour or family circumstances.

MY SOULMATE TODAY

Both to love and to be loved you have to have a certain degree of maturity, know how you are, what you want,... although to arrive at that surely we have to overcome stages of insecurity, of platonic relationships, etc.



Actually to find your soulmate it depends both the other person and ourself, because at the end is a state of adaptation, of negotiation for both without sacrificing the principles more basics of each one.

My soulmate today would be a girl that I like both physically and character, athletic, that doesn't smoke, constant and that respects me as a person (enthusiasms, hobbies, way of being,...).

Why do we love? A philosophical inquiry

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-do-we-love-a-philosophical-inquiry-skye-c-cleary

1.Discuss. Why do we love? It’s heart-breaking and complicated most of the times yet do we need it at all?

I think the human being has the intrinsic necessity to love and to be loved or accept and to be accepted because otherwise we would be anti-social people.

The feeling really durable and important in time is to love, because the love in itself is a temporal state that you live a few times in the life and not always is objective but rather platonic.

Many times can be an unrequited love and then if the person isn't very mature or balanced you can suffer a lot. But as I say, the people more prone to suffer are those they idealize it or they have a pathological dependence on to love and to be loved.

2. How does the video define love? Put the words in order.

intoxicating             

heart-breaking

beautiful

soul crushing

1. Beautiful

2. Intoxicating

3. Heart-breaking

4. Soul crushing

3. What are the 5 Philosophers mentioned?

Platon
Schopenhauer
Russell
Siddhartha Gautama "Buddha"
Simone de Beauvoir

4. Watch again and write each Philosopher’s view on love.

Platon: "Love makes us whole, again". He explored the idea that we love in order to become complete.

Schopenhauer: "Love tricks us into having babies". He maintained that loved based in sexual desire was a voluptuous illusion.

Russell: "Love is escape from our loneliness". He says that we loved in order to quench our physical and psychological desires.

Siddhartha Gautama "Buddha": "Love is a misleading affliction". He says that we love because we are trying to satisfy our base desires.

Simone de Beauvoir: "Love lets us reach beyond ourselves". She proposed that love is the desire to integrate with another and that it infuses our lives with meaning.

5. Vocabulary work. Which Philosopher says what?

1) Dependance on another means boredom and power games.=Simone de Beauvoir.

2) We succeed in perpetuating human species and perpetuating human   tragedy.=Schopenhauer.

3) Quench our physical and psychological desires.=Russell.

4) It enriches our whole being together.=Russell.

5) Attachments are a great source of suffering.=Siddhartha Gautama "Buddha".

6) Love is the longing to find a soulmate who makes us feel whole again.=Platon.

7) Love infuses our life with meaning.=Simone de Beauvoir.

Spain's Princess Cristina cleared in tax trial

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39005056

Spain's Princess Cristina, the 51-year-old sister of King Felipe and sixth in line to the throne, has been cleared in a tax fraud trial.

However her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, was given a six-year-and-three-month jail term by the court in Majorca.

Urdangarin was accused of using his royal connections to generate business income used for private spending.

The case began in 2010 and became symbolic of perceived corruption among Spain's elites, including the royals.

Princess Cristina, who now lives in Switzerland, was the first member of Spain's royal family to go on trial since the monarchy's restoration in 1975.

In 2015, King Felipe stripped her and Urdangarin, 49, of their titles as Duke and Duchess of Palma de Mallorca.

The sentence "the justice is  equal for all" would have a lot of meaning if it was truth, thing that like we can confirm repeated times in Spain it isn't true.


The last trials connected to the royal family demonstrate that unfortunately there are different opinions when it's time to apply the law and that they aren't objectives.

This generate in the public opinion a total suspicion about the apply of the law and it transmit us a lot of insecurity, because the law is precisely for give us security and for feel us all equale under it. The thing we can't to allow is that the politics take part in favour of particular social classes, even removing the district attorney they do their job well.

THE TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS

The toxic relationships are those about which one person wants to benefit from the other without any type of empathy seeing only the personal selfishness and they don't realize this type of relationships are negative for both.

These could seem they are fruit of the ignorance or lack of education but that's not the case, the really important thing is the emotional culture and unfortunately it doesn't learn neither in the secondary school nor the universities.




When a person feels insecurity, in sickly way, all the relations (friendship, love, family) are victims in a possessive way, imposing to the other persons. Sometimes delicately and others more aggressive. 

THE STRESS

All the changes in our life, either because we want to do them voluntarily or well forced, are stressful.

The stress can be positive if it's controlled and still be good for to solve the problems, but in excess and out of control is very negative considering that we can arrive at physical and psychic exhaustion.

For that reason is very important to be conscious of when we are in alarm and submitting our orgainsm to an extra demand of adrenalin, like this we will can to control it before it gets harmful. For this there are breathing exercises, the social relationships (for example our friends), etc.

THE EXAMPLE RAFAEL NADAL

Rafa Nadal is one of the role model for any athletic person, either professional or amateur. 

In the beginning he opts, for recommendation of his manager and based on the technique, change his hand of game, the right, for the left. This requires a big effort and discipline for arrive to play to a high level.

I would stand out of this professional tennis player his great capacity to overcome the adversities (injuries, recoveries, etc.).

During his career path he has showed it in numerous occasions, because he reappeared with more strength and aggressivity than previously. But the thing that nobody hoped of Rafa Nadal is that now, that all the people brought him to an end, due to recurrent injuries and with a certainly age, he has come back to demonstrate once again the mental capacity he has, arriving at a final of a Masters 1000.

Chinese New Year: The Importance Of Sharing And Understanding Culture

http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/chinese-new-year-importance-sharing-understanding-culture/939615/

As a South African-born Asian and Australian citizen currently living in the UK (try to digest that), I'm incredibly lucky to have experienced a smorgasbord of different cultures. 

It seems perfectly normal to me that my family living room has an ancient Chinese painting placed next to a traditional African sculpture, and that my parents and I fire multiple languages at each other. 

Chinese New Year signals the beginning of the lunar calendar, and celebrations traditionally run for weeks. 

Festivities differ widely from country to country, and even from family to family. Most will spend the night before enjoying a big family dinner before heading downstairs to set off fireworks and firecrackers. 

As the sun rises, it signals the start of various parades with lots of noise and dancers dressed as lions, traditionally to scare away evil spirits.

Families wear new clothes and get together for food and to swap red envelopes containing money as a blessing.

The chinese new year or spring festival has started this past 28th of January. As is traditional, it was a day of family reunions and celebrations in the street for celebrate the arrival of the new year.

The chinese, catalan and spanish culture joined together for give the welcome to the new year. During this celebration, the dragons took the center of Barcelona and the condal city lived with the parades and activities the traditions of the orient.

THE DEATH OF BIMBA BOSÉ

The recent death, of this famous and multifaceted model, makes us think again in the importance of this terrible illness called cancer. 

At his 41 years old and with a big desire to live, this young woman descendant of a popular family in Spain and Italy, she has been victim of breast cancer.

This death has brought to light that the social networks are used for crazy people, of all types, for express the hate and all the worst that they carry deep within, against someone that she has triumphed, because she was different (androgynous) from the others. In this case, it has been especially pathetic that there are persons that in front of the pain of a loss, they can stop in these physical or of conduct details.

- George: Hi, how are you? I'm George, what's your name?

- William: Hi, nice to meet you, my name is William, I'm here because I suffered an accident yesterday.

- George: Nice to meet you too. Wow! An accident of what?

- William: I tell you, I was walking calmly with my sister in te street and suddenly a car appeared at high speed running over me.

- George: Oh! I'm sorry. And what happened with your sister?

- William: Ah! Yes! Thank God she came out unharmed of the accident.

- George: Damn! What luck she had! And which bodily injuries you have or what have you become fractured?

- William: The doctor told me that I have suffered some breakages in my body. As you can see I had broken the nose and last night they made me a surgery. Also I had fractured my left arm and my right leg and I will be here during a several months. And you, what are you doing here?

- George: Wow! I hope that all turns out OK. Be positive and patient, surely it will come out well. I have to be operated on the hip. It's a difficult operation but they say me that the recuperation is quite fast and after you can do normal life, even can practie sports.

- William: Oh, that's good! I hope after I can do normal life as you, it would be my wish...