my weekly musings

Once again, the end of the term has arrived, and with it, the final hours of this blog. This experience was slightly different from the last one, and I would like to comment on it. In my humble opinion, the prompts for each post were, in contrast with last term’s ones, quite restrictive. They hardly left any room for creativity, as the instructions were very specific. I found last semester’s blog posts to be more interesting and less of a dread than the ones in this second semester. It might be just due to the actual contents of the course, but I thoroughly enjoyed expressing my thoughts and ideas in Lengua Inglesa III, whereas in Lengua Inglesa IV, I had to push myself to write. Last term, I was extremely up-to-date with the blog and I looked forward to doing each entry on a weekly basis. However, this time around, that was not the case at all. Regarding some advice, I would suggest that the blog entries did not require browsing the Net in each one. Instead of commenting on ...

With the help of the Internet, this blog post is going to cover the reporting of results in a formal context using adverbial clauses. I have scoured the Net to find an article that reports results or research conducted. The title of the article is " Lack of sleep puts you at higher risk for colds, first experimental study finds". This is the link:  https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/09/lack-sleep-puts-you-higher-risk-colds-first-experimental-study-finds I will underline the examples related to reporting results, and highlight the adverbial clauses found as well as state its type. Lack of sleep puts you at higher risk for colds, first experimental study finds By  Hanae Armitage Sep. 1, 2015 , 11:00 AM Moms and sleep researchers alike have stressed the importance of solid shuteye for years   (adv. cl. time), especially when it comes to fighting off the common cold. Their stance is a sensible one— skimping on sleep weakens the body’s natural defense system,...

Given that we've been going over academic language in texts, as well as linking devices, this blog post is going to be dedicated to those things. Firstly, I am going to link down below a piece of new where an academic topic is developed, and I will include all of the formal expressions in a list, so as not to clutter the post with a long text. Title of the article: Detached Mindfulness In Cognitive Therapy: A Metacognitive Analysis And Ten Techniques. Link:  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10942-005-0018-6 Formal expressions in the text: (consider all of them quoted) information processing requirements the construct emerged from... a metacognitive state that facilitates chance in core underlying pathological processes ...has  multiple components suspension of conceptual processing proliferate underpinnings abnormality Next, I found a reliable classification of linking devices from Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.es/zaymamacita/essay-transi...

This blog post is dedicated to complaints in formal contexts and phrasal verbs. First and foremost, I looked for illustrated phrasal verb charts. I am going to add to this post the one that I found more useful, since it is constructed from the particle 'be', very common in English. Next, I am going to add a couple more that are from the same family: be above be along be around be in for be in on  be on about be on to be upt o be cut for be there for be with When looking for a text on the Internet where a complaint is stated, I went on the following Oxford site, where three letter of complaint models were provided. Here is the link:  https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/writing-help/letters-of-complaint I chose the one about a faulty product, and the vocabulary useful for complaining is in bold. 8 Kennedy Circle Sydney  NSW 2010  11 November, 2015  Customer Services Manager Evans Electrical Products  7 Swan Street Sydney ...

Essay writing is an essential part of any academic career, and especially in our degree, English Studies, as it involves a lot of essay writing. In today's blog I am going to provide some useful links to writing labs online and explain the difficulties I face when writing essays. First of all, let's see the best  online writing labs (or OWLs) that are offered on the Internet. 1. The OWL at Purdue University:  https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html 2. Capital Community College's Guide to Grammar and Writing:  http://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/index.htm 3. The Excelsior College OWL:  https://owl.excelsior.edu/ 4. "Writing@CSU" (Colorado State University):  https://writing.colostate.edu/ 5. HyperGrammar, a writing centre at the University of Ottawa in Canada:  https://arts.uottawa.ca/writingcentre/en/hypergrammar Next, I am going to share the difficulties I face when writing essays. My biggest fear is experiencing a case of writer's block. ...

Everybody seems to be talking about the weather these days, don't they? Well, global warming is indeed creeping up on us like a cloud of pollution or toxic fumes and people should be talking and doing something about it! Anyway, in today's blog post I am going to be sharing with you two news articles that I found on the Internet. Pay close attention to the parts that I highlighted, since it is useful vocabulary to know about the topic! The world is getting warmer. Whether the cause is human activity or natural variability —and the  preponderance of evidence  says it’s humans— thermometer readings all around the world have risen steadily since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. (Click on bullets above to step through the decades.) According to an ongoing temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880. Tw...

Oh, how wonderful the world is! I would just love to discover for myself all of the natural wonders that it has to offer! However, as my travel money is quite short as of this year, I will have to make do with searching for descriptive texts of well-known places online (that I will hopefully get to see with my own eyes in the future). Here is a descriptive text about the Grand Canyon, retrieved from:  http://enjeloverything.blogspot.com/2010/06/grand-canyon-canyon-is-exceptionally.html I will underline and bold the expressions the expressions used to describe it. Next, I am going to add a few sentences of my own that could improve the text: The crimson orange and yellow colours swirl on the irreguar, immense walls of rock. The Grand canyon stretches a whopping 443 kilometres long and can encompass up to 29 kilometres of width. The flora and fauna found in this unpopulated sight vary from evergreens and desert plants, as well as rabbits, snakes, and even a couple of lone c...

Knowing persuading vocabulary in English can come in very handy in many situations. Spaniards are known to be persuasive and insistent. Therefore, it is useful to apply our nature in our second language. However, keep in mind that you must not cross the line or it will seem impolite. The blog  English of Expressing has many useful phrases to express persuasion. I found it to be particularly useful since it is more colloquial, day-to-day vocabulary. (The underlined link will take you direcly to the particular post dedicated to persuasion). Here are the ones that stood out to me the most: Come on,  give it a try.   Believe me, you’ll have fun. Don’t be a spoilsport.           (I have personally also heard the term party-pooper and I prefer it) It will be fun, I’m sure.  You’ll enjoy  it. Go. You won’t regret it. This is once in your lifetime, don’t waste it.  It’s your only chance, try it.  Would it be possible...

In sights of our second writing hand-in, I have decided to further explore the narrative essay conventions on the Internet. The top two websites that I found on the topic were: 1.  https://essayinfo.com/essays/narrative-essay/ 2.  https://literarydevices.net/narrative-essay/ The main characteristics that I retreived about narrative essays are the following: they are written in 1st person but can also be written in 3rd. they include plenty of sensory details, usually that are not abstract. as they are stories, they have to include a setting, characters, climax and ending. they are usually about a personal experience. dialogue can be employed showcases lessons or morals of the story In addition, the main differences between a descriptive essay and a narrative essay is that the latter has a more structured plot. However, both of them share the characteristic of being vividly descriptive. ... Regarding my English improvements this week, I reckon that this was not...

I am positive that absolutely everyone hates liars, even those who lie hate to be lied to.  In order to combat this common issue, you can do some research so as to catch the next lie someone tells you. I looked at links on the characteristics of liars, and I am going to share the top ten ones that I found in my own words: Ask what is unexpected to see how the person reacts to it, even their microexpressions, which is a concealed emotion that lasts less than a second. Look for changes in behaviour: if a person that is normally anxious but now looks calm, or viceversa, chances are that they are lying. Pay attention to your intuition, which might be telling you something. Do not ignore your 'gut feeling'! Contradictions in utterances are great direct-tellers of lies. A sense of unease in the speaker, such as infrequent eye contact, sweating or anxiety Too much detail means that they have thought out what they were going to say, or even rehearsed it previously.  If they ...

I love cinema, so reviews are something I am accustomed to reading to see if other viewers share my point of view or have reacted the same way to a specific film. This time around, I searched the web for a review on  The Favourite.  Here is the link:  https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/dec/30/the-favourite-review-olivia-colman-emma-stone-rachel-weisz-yorgos-lanthimos  (last accessed 1/03/2019) Regarding the structure of this review, it has 8 paragraphs, although the 8th one can hardly be considered one, since it is just one long sentence, almost like a closing statement. Anyway, it does not seem to have a strict, extremely thought-out structure, but rather a more flowing one. In regards to the language employed, it is very formal. Exquisite vocabulary is used, which enhances the review-style and the expressions used are far from colloquial (e.g. preposterously, bewigged, vociferous opposition, riddled, interloper, vantage, pathos, cantankerousness, angst... ) ...

Regarding the differences between descriptive, narrative and discursive essays, I have indeed searched the web to find the key. However, since blogger does not have the option to insert a chart, I have found some really great ones online that include the essential information. I will insert them below: Next, I found a brief sample of a descriptive essay. Instead of copying and pasting it, since its far too long, find the link below: https://academichelp.net/samples/academics/essays/descriptive/my-room-descriptive-essay.html As one can see, its main characteristics are vivid imagery, sensory adjectives describing a plethora of smells, sights, sounds, feelings etc. and meticulously placed details that enable a clear depiction of the subject of the essay, in this case, a bedroom. The language is concise and straightforward but still descriptive so that the impression given to the reader is like a photograph or picture in their head. There is nothing abstract mentioned, but rath...