Wr-B1: A blog entry

Tarea 2: Expresión escrita. A blog entry

Last 3rd July was my mother´s birthday, and due to the end of the state of alarm, everyone of my family came to celebrate it. We hadn´t seen each other in months, so we were excited to meet again.

The party was at my grandparent´s cottage. We got there at 12:00 AM, and we decided to cook a paella. After eating, my cousins and I went to play to the swimming pool, for which my mother prepared a cake. Finally, my uncles prepared a huge barbecue for dinner, so we ate a lot.

Before leaving, we took some pictures with personalized shirts we had bought before, so we could remember the day. In summary, it was an incredible day.

In my opinion this kind of parties are very important, because family is essential in our lives, and if you are lucky to have a good family, it´s good to spend a lot of time with grandparents, cousins, uncles and parents,  so in the future I'm sure we will never regret having organised events like this one. Why don't you do the same to improve your family bonds?

 

Wr-B1: Replying an e-mail

Tarea 1: Interacción escrita. Replying an e-mail.

Good Morning Tom!
First of all, I´d like to thank you for your mail. According to the description of your family, I think this is the perfect flat for you! It´s a huge apartment, so don´t worry about the size, you´ll be really comfortable. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a big living room. The apartment is in the middle of the city, so there are restaurants, cinemas, museum and other kind of activities. In summer there is a music festival and many football matches, so don´t worry about the kids.
Finally, I don´t think renting a car could be a great idea, there is a lot of traffic, and using the bus or the subway is cheaper.
Thank you, and don´t hesitate to write me again if you have any doubt. 

The gentle breeze from the sea is already coming!

 Comment 23: The gentle breeze from the sea is already coming!

Summer is getting closer, but we are in a hard situation, and some of us ask ourselves this: Will we be able to enjoy the summer? How will we do it? We don´t really know the answer to these questions, but looking at how the things are going, we can get an idea.
The people of Granada will be reaching Phase 2 this Monday, so we´ll be able to go to the beach. This can sound good, and can make us think we´re defeating the virus very fast, so we´ll get our old lives back soon, but that´s not really true, we have to be very careful if we don´t want to go back to our homes. If you are thinking about going to the beach, it won´t be as it was before. You´ll have to keep the 2-metre distance even in the water, and you won´t be able to play on the sand. Some beaches are thinking about installing some plastic/cristal panels to keep the distances, so if this come true, the beaches will have a really different appearance.
Personally, I hate going to the beach, and in my opinion, going there under these conditions is stupid.
Talking about other things, we won´t be able to meet many people in the same place, so every town´s local fairs have been cancelled. These are bad news, but we must take care of everyone, so if we don´t want problems, this is the best solution.
In summary, I hope this nightmare will dissapear soon, and we will return to our common lives, but until that, we have to prevent any action that can put others in danger.

 

What´s the future...?

 Comment 22: What's the future...?

Our society is recovering its life step by step. Now, we are in Phase 1, where we can meet our friends and family, but we are still far from what we know of normality. Our lives will take a different way from the one we had before, we´ll have to wear masks every day, we´ll have to keep a social distance of about 2 metres, so every action that involves social contact is impossible nowadays. Every shop and restaurant will be different, because they can´t have the same space they had before this, because they must have to offer a local where you can keep the social distance.
We know that we´ll have to learn how to live with this, there won´t be concerts, there won´t be local parties, there won´t be conventions and everything where a lot of people collided in the same place will be cancelled for a while.
In a non far future, we´ll find a vaccine for this virus, and then, we´ll recover our old lives, we´ll meet a lot people, we ´ll hug them, we´ll go to parties, we´ll go to concerts, and we´ll have finally defeated the virus.
Until this happens, we´ll have to be careful with our actions, so we have to do what our governaments tells us.
We have to be strong!

Solar-power and Apple

Comment 21: Solar-power and Apple

It´s certain that the pollution in the world is changing our lifestyle, and some organisations and scientist are studying how we can stop this problem.
Solar energy can be the answer to this problem, an infinite energy that doesn´t pollute and that can be used to mostly everything. It can sound like a mere dream, but nowadays, solar power is used to many things, for example, some houses warm water with this, some places uses it to produce electricity, and even, there are some cars that use solar power instead of common fuel.

Talking about Apple, I think that years ago, it was the best brand related with technologies, it offered new devices with new features that no one has ever seen before. Nowadays, it is a common brand that only wants money and that it offers mediocre products at high prices. Some brands are gaining more popularity than Apple these years , and this can affect their sales in a future.
I hope this company notices this soon, so it could be the one that it was in a past.

Bitcoin, real currency or just a fake?

 Comment 20: Bitcoin, real currency or just a fake?

Nowadays, we are in a worldwide pandemic, so thinking about pocket money may be just a mere dream. Avoiding this way of payment can decrease the infections, so what another ways exist?
There are a lot of payment ways that don´t need a physical object, we can use PayPal, credit cards, bank transfers, ect. Of course, other ways are cryptocoins, this type of coins are unknown to most people, but they´re very interesting.
There are many of these crryptocoins, but the most famous is the Bitcoin. Did you know that a bitcoin has a value of about 8.022€? That´s an amazing prize for only one coin!.
These coins have some interesting facts, and these facts make them very useful in some moments. They are anonymous, so they don´t leave any trail when we buy with them. The value of a bitcoin is in a continuous movement, so if you are patient and lucky, you could win a lot of money investing in Bitcoins, there are a lot of people who live of this!
In summary, the Bitcoin is a very interesting tool, and in moments like this, when we need other options than cash, things like that can be very useful.

Quarantine Day 2

Comment 18: Quarantine Day 2

In hard moments it´s where you really see what a person is like, and now, with such a hard time we are living, we are noticing that people aren´t as bad as we thought before. Most of us are trying to help fighting this virus, each of us in the way we can, some are working hard at supermarkets or hospitals, others are making sure that people follow the quarantine, others are making material to help the ones who are fighting the virus, and of course all of us are staying at home.
Personally, I´m trying to help printing 3D visors for those people who have to deal with a lot of different people in their daily routines, and may of course in contact with the virus. I´ve already done about 30 or 35 visors, giving them to some neighbours of the town or helping the school with its production.
We all are trying to help others and we see how kind people are. We hadn't seen this before. Everyone is doing something to fight this hell.
Finally, I think that with the help of all and a lot of patience, we will defeat the virus, and in some weeks' time, we´ll be able to come back to our routines and normal life. Step by step we´ll do it.

April Fool´s

 Comment 17: April Fool´s

April Fools is a very famous day on the Internet, it is like The Innocents Day in Spain, a day where everybody pranks others. It is celebrated on 1st April every year. It all originated when New Year was moved to 1st January. Years ago, New Year was the 25th of March, so as a protest, they celebrated a festive day on 1st April.
Personally, I know this day because every year, everyone on the Internet is joking about everything, some people say they will quit working, some brands announce fake products, there are a lot of fake news, etc. One thing I like about this day is that a lot of companies publish fake updates to their games, and most of them are very funny and very interesting, some of them make clothes to your character, others make events, etc.
Nowadays, I think this will be an important day, we are always talking about problems related to coronavirus and quarantine, so joking a bit won´t be bad and can make some people happy, especially now that we are having such bad days. 

Quarantine Day 0

 Comment 16: Quarantine Day 0

A few days ago, the alarm state was announced by our government. That means that everybody has to stay at home and they can only go out if they have dog or if they have to go shopping. This announcement means that this virus is more serious than we thought before, so we need to stop it from expanding. Some people have followed the government indications, but others are doing what they want. If we want to stop this pandemic, we can´t meet others, so the only way we can do this is staying at home.
A problem the government has noticed is that we have very few medical resources and hospitals need them, so they can´t work well. These hospitals are getting too busy because there are a lot of patients with covid-19, so that´s another reason why we can´t go out, because we don´t want to make hospitals collapse.
There are a lot of people that are helping us to be as well as we can, like policemen, shop assistans, doctors...
As you see, this is a hard situation that we have to live, so please, don´t make it harder, and follow the indications that the government gives us, so we can end this hell as soon as we can.

2020, a leap year

 Comment 15: 2020, a leap year

A common year is 365 days long, but there are some years that have 366 days. They´re called leap years, and they add one day to February. This kind of years happens each 4 years, and that´s because the Earth takes 365 days and 6 hours, so every 4 years you´ve got 24 extra hours, which is a day.
This was intoduced in the 1 b.C, when Cesar changed the Roman calendar searching for a solution to the inequality of the seasons.
There are many people that have been born on that day, but of course they don´t only add years that day, so they celebrate their birthday the day before or the day after.
As a curious fact, in some countries it is thought that these days bring bad luck, so they say "año bisiesto, año siniestro". In Greece, they think that the whole year will bring bad luck, not only the day.

Nature could be the solution

 Comment 14:Nature could be the solution

Probably you are tired of your routine, being all the day working or studying can be very stressful and exhausting. Why don´t you try going for a walk? Go to a park near your house, go to a beach, go to a mountain, etc.
When you come back to your routine, you´ll feel better. The environment has made you feel better, this is called ecotherapy, a way to avoid the daily problems and find an escape from the routine.
Ecotheraphy can be a good way to heal mental problems, and even if you don´t like going for a walk, when you have a bad day, you should try it. Talking about harder problems, this can help fighting diseases like depression, making the patient feel better.
But nowadays, we have a problem, maybe in a few years, the landscape you see everyday won´t be there. Pollution is destroying all kinds of environment, like in Australia, burning it, or in the beaches, polluting the water. If we don´t stop this now, we won´t be able to do it in a future, and finally, we won´t have any tree or any clean beach to show to our children.

What do we need to pass English? Resilience!!!

Comment 13: What do we need to pass English? Resilience!!!

In my opinion, English isn´t such a hard subject. I like English, because it is a language that i want to master more or less. It´s true that if you don´t show interest or don´t do well at languages, this can become a hard subject, and even become a problem. To pass the subject it´s essential to pay attention in class, if you listen to what the teacher says, you will solve many questions that you had. Other important fact is doing homework, because like in other subjects, practising is essential, and if you don´t do homework, you won´t learn the grammar.
Regarding the writing and listening skills, if you don´t do these exercises you won´t become competent to write and understand later in exams.
In summary, I think you should start trying to master the grammar we´ve seen up to now, and then, when you understand and recognize all the tenses and types of sentences, try to improve your writing and listening. If you don´t improve quickly, don´t worry, continue working hard, and you´ll see the result.

It is said that we are far too many

Comment 12: It is said that we are far too many

Nowadays, we are about 2.600 million people living on the Earth. As you can see, this is a huge number, and even we can talk about overpopulation. Actually, it isn´t a problem, beacuse the planet can bring us enough resources to have a great life, but maybe in a few years, with the increase of population and the decrease of the resources, this can be a problem.

The climatic change is going to affect the whole planet, and it is going to make it less fertile, so we will have less food and less potable water. If this is true, we will be in a big problem, and we will have to survive with very few resources, and finding other ways to grow plants and purify water.

As a curious fact, many years ago some countries noticed that there were too many people living in the country, and to fight this problem, the government in these countries ordered kill poor people, or even they arranged a war with another country to reduce the population of both countries.

This isn´t a chance nowadays, but we need to find a solution to this problem if we don´t want to find us in a very difficult situation.

Teens aren´t fit enought

Comment 11:  Teens aren´t fir enought

 

Every time you go to a supermarket, you see many different types of sweets, soda, chocolate and other kinds of food. Most of them aren´t very healthy, and if you eat a lot of them, you will become fat, or worst, you will develop a dangerous illness, like obesity or high cholesterol.

To fight against these common products, many governments have develeped some campaigns to make people aware of this, telling them how important is to eat fruits and vegetables, and showing them the result of having a diet based on these products full of fats. If you dont want to end being obese, you should eat at least 5 pieces of fruit every day and have a complete diet, which should include vegetables, fish, meat, eggs, etc.

Another way to avoid these fats is burning them, so practising a sport, going running, going swimming or doing any other sport will help you to keep your body fit and healthy, and this, added to a good diet, will make you feel better.

In summary, being fat isn´t only an aesthetic fact, it includes your health too, so you should take care of your diet, and do some sport or exercise too, to keep fit and healthy.

Showing concern

Wr-06: Showing concern

-Fran: Hi David, What´s up? I see you are sad.

-David: I´ve argued with my sister.

-Fran: I see, do you want to talk about it?

-David: Ok. This morning, I used her headphones because I couldn´t find mine. She noticed and she screamed at me, so I screamed at her too. Then my mum punished me.

-Fran: You poor thing. Have you tried to talk with them?

-David: No, I was so angry that I went out fast.

-Fran I know what you mean. Why don´t you try to go back and talk with them?

-David: Maybe you´re right, but I think that now it would only make things worse.

-Fran: Ok, do you want to do anything then? What about going for a walk?

-David: All right, but instead of going for a walk, let´s go and have dinner.

-Fran: Nice. Shall we go to a Chinese restaurant?

-David: Great idea! Thank you very much!

-Fran: Don´t worry. I´m sure it will be fine.

Rubbish!

Comment 10: Rubbish!

Plastic is the most common material used by our current society. If you look in your house, you will find plastic bags, plastic glasses, plastic containers... Most of the things you usually use are made of plastic. Can you imagine a life without plastic? Maybe not, plastic is a usefull material, you can do everything with it. But, of course, it couldn´t be as great as it looks. Plastic is one of the most polluting materials in the planet. It pollutes forests, oceans, mountains, and even cities. And when we burn it, it is even worse because it pollutes the air.

Most people throw these plastics into the toilet, and then, they go to oceans and seas. Do you know that in the Pacific Ocean we can find one island made of plastic? It has an area of 1.6 km and it has the size of a new continent, so it is called the plastic continent. This can sound just like an interesting fact, without more importance, but if we don´t do anything to stop this, there will be more and more plastic continents, and in a few years, the oceans will be completely polluted.

Nowadays, scientists are investigating new materials that don´t pollute as much as plastic, to use them instead of plastic, but we must help to reduce the pollution of oceans and forests, we mustn´t throw plastics into the toilet, instead of it, throw them into a special recycling bin, it´s quite easy, and you will be helping your planet.

Better as a team

 Comment 9: Better as a team

Nowadays, we live in a century of changes. Fortunately we have something called freedom of expression, which allows us to say what we think, without being scared if it goes against what the most people say. One of the movements that have grown a lot in these years is feminism, a move that wants women and men to be equals.
I think that in the past, the human has been male chauvinist. Most of the important kings or warriors, or even scientists in history are men. Usually in History Books we see names like Cristobal Colon, Albert Einstein, Carlos III... But did they all the work alone? No one helped them? There wasn´t any woman supporting them or helping them to reach their goals? Of course there were, but just for being womans, they were treated like humans beings of a lower rank.
It´s time to change this, though. Men and womans have the same rights and duties, all of us should have the same opportunities when we want to find a job or when we want to reach a dream.
And talking about genre violence, I think it´s unbeliable that just for being a woman, his boyfriend or maybe his husband thinks that she belongs to him. As a man doesn´t belong to anyone but himself, a woman doesn´t belong to anyone either, just to herself.

It is not just climate change.

Comment 8: It is not just climate change, IT IS CLIMATIC EMERGENCY!!!

The fact that we are living a climate change is evident, an emergency that is influencing all the life forms in the planet, from humans to plants, and of course, affecting their natural habitats. This problem was created by the humankind, with his ignorance and destructive actions.
One of the most important problems that is creating this climate change is the global warming. The global warm is the increase of the temperatures of the whole planet, that is caused by the increase of the amount of polluting gases, whose creator is the humankind.
It´s important to say that it´s impossible to stop the climate change, but we can reduce the damage it is going to do.
One way to fight this climate change is reciclyng, an action whose objective is to turn rubbish into new useful objects. We can recycle a lot of things, paper, plastics, cans, bottles... And it´s an easy way to give our children a better world to live.
In summary, the fact that the climate change exists is obvious, and if we don´t do anything to stop it, our sons won´t probably have a good planet to live, or maybe they won´t have a planet.
Fortunately, there are many organisations and people that have become aware of the problem, and are trying to change our minds, so there´s still hope for us.

Thanking a friend for the advice he gave you

Wr-05: Thanking a friend for the advice he gave you

Hi Jose!

I´m writting this to thank you for helping me the other day. As you know, I couldn´t do well at triple jumping so the first time I tried, I only could jump 6,7 metres. I felt very dissapointed, because I wanted to do well, and I found it very difficult. So I told you about the problem and asked you for help. You told me that when I was getting to the line that shows where must we jump from, I used to change the foot that I was running with, to jump with the right one. So instead of doing that, I should start running with the left foot.

I tried to follow your advice, and you were right! In that attempt I could jump up to 7,6 metres. And in the last attempt I jumped 8,4 metres! About 2 metres more! That´s amazing! Now I find it quite easy, and I feel very happy. I´m very grateful to you, so if you have any problem, don´t hesitate to ask me.

Thank you very much!

David 

 

A biography of a famous band or artist

Wr-04: A biography of a famous band or artist

The football player Iker Casillas was born on 20th May 1981, in Móstoles, Madrid. He trained as a goalkeeper at the junior teams of Real Madrid, and he played in the minor divisions with that club, but he didn´t become famous until he joined the first division club.

He joined the first team in 1999 an he played a lot of matches with the team, exactly 725. In 2000 he joined the spanish national team, and in 2006, he became the captain of that team. In 2010, he became the captain of Real Madrid, too. He led the national team to the victory in 2008, 2010 and 2012, becoming the first triple win of a national team. He is considered one of the best goalkeepers of all times, and he has won the "best goalkeeper of the wold" prize five times.

In the last few years he had been the titular goalkeeper of Oporto F.C, a Portuguese team, but nowadays he is part of the technical team because he had a heart attack.