my weekly musings

After looking at some online ads regarding studying abroad opportunities, I have found a couple websites that are helpful if one wants to carry out that exciting experience. I am going to analyse them, taking into account the convenience of getting involved in each one. The first website is  Euro Centres , specialising in language-learning courses in 6 continents! It has many professional features, offering a plethora of languages to learn. This website is fit for someone who wants to go abroad but not to necessarily continue a university degree. Other advantages, such as listing the price of the experience before-hand and guaranteeing it stays that way, is useful in order to set up an economic plan accordingly. The next website I found,  GoAbroad , takes the typical summer abroad to another level. This programme, lasting just a month, boasts an itinerary of 14 cities to choose from, in Asia and Europe. Students learn new things by taking classes while they travel. Hav...

Below are two examples of a report and a proposal. I am going to be analysing them and stating how they differ from each other. Proposal Source:   http://www.rubenvalero.com/english/content/cae-proposal (last accessed 18/11/2018) In this proposal we can see that there are headings for each paragraph. Of course, there is an introduction showcasing the aim of the proposal, followed by some background information on the problem. Then, the needs of the students are explained. In the last section, bullet points are used to display the actions that they would like to be taken. I would like to say that this proposal lacks some details to make it better:  it should back up the suggestions with arguments and facts, and it should also show emotions such as empathy and awareness of the reader's position and their problems. Report Source:   http://apruebaelcae.com/writing-report-proposal/   (last accessed 18/11/2018) In this report we can...

New York City in 30 years By the time I am 50 years old, New York City will have made various changes in its urban core in order to meet the demands of its growing population. Skyscrapers will tower even higher above the ground to accomodate more offices and to increase the living space for the millions and millions of inhabitants that fill its bustling streets. Life will continue to be hectic, but measures to decrease pollution will have been taken. Since the top priority will be preventing smog from taking over the breathable air, eco-friendly electric transportation will have been put in place so as to get rid of exhaust fumes and thus relieve contamination. ... Next, I am going to share other places I would like to live in and why they are good. I have actually been lucky enough to have visited them already. San Francisco San Francisco is the ideal city: well-managed, clean, and located in a gorgeous bay with stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge on one side an...

A weird but brilliant invention I found when scouring the web is the "Baby Stroller and Scooter Hybrid". This stroller is extremely convenient if you are in a rush since it enables parents to get around much quicker without the pesky stroller weighing them down. It comprises a regular baby carriage (that is interchangeable) with a step below in which the foot ought to go. With a swift motion of the lower body, the speed will increase by at least double. Additionally, this feature should distribute the weight more evenly since our body's strongest muscles are our legs and they can take more weight than our arms and back can. All in all, this product would be an innovation in terms of time and comfort if parents were more fun and daring. Nonetheless, precautions must be taken, otherwise they might put their baby in danger. To improve my English this week, I went to see The Wife  in original score. It was a heartfelt film that I thoroughly enjoyed because it talke...

Everyone has pondered about starting a business  at least once in their life . Being your own boss, possibly getting rich and living your dream life sounds like the answer to all our problems. However, it is no piece of cake, as it takes dedication and determination. A succesful business to me is one which gives you a  long term  financial profit, one which enables you to employ other people so you are not the only one benefiting from it, and one that grows exponentially and is not stuck progress-wise.  After browsing the web, I found other people's opinion's on what is a successful business and what is not: A successful business, according to Goldman and Nalebuff, has to do with something you believe in, because this is what will get you through hard times. It is also full of compromise, except on the "big things": it should alway follow the "core values" you have chosen but it has to be flexible everywhere else. In another site, David Ingram said tha...

October 22, 2018 Dear Marco, As you know, I have started my second year of English philology, and so far so good. However, the level has definitely increased and the classes are much more demanding than the first year. Thus, I have to be actively involved in the lectures and I spend quite a bit of my time after class to be up to date. Thoughout these months I have discovered methods to do so. Since you're interested in boosting your level a bit,  I can come up with a couple of different ways you can improve you English too! To start off, you should  to establish a timetable to be more productive and organise your goals accordingly. Leave some time to study the theoretical parts such as vocabulary and grammar, but most importantly find dynamic ways to practice what you learn.  What I recommend the most is watching films in the original score, listening to tons of music and specially getting out there and practicing with native speakers. There is a really inter...

My worst job would be working as a maid of some sort or in a cleaning service. If I already struggle with keeping my apartment tidy, I cannot fathom having to do that as a full time (or even part-time) job. Furthermore, cleaning jobs always involve sweeping and mopping the floor and deep-cleaning the bathroom, which are the tasks that I hate to do the most in my personal life. I would rather do any other job in the world than work as a cleaning lady. When talking with my grandparents about  the job conditions of their time, I realised that we benefit from many improvements nowadays. To contextualise a bit, my grandparents' careers took place after the Spanish civil war, where Francoism was in full swing and Spain was invaded by poverty and opression. According to them, working conditions were quite precarious: manual workers (in the fields or in the cities) did not wear a helmet or gloves all the time, and they did not have any kind of insurance that covered accidents....

In order to deal with the first point of this entry, I selected the article "10 Things You Can Do Today to Improve your Life", which I found on the website psychcentral.com Here is the link (last accessed 9/10): https://psychcentral.com/lib/therapists-spill-10-things-you-can-do-today-to-improve-your-life/ The expressions related to advice that we can find in this text are: I suggest Consider... The solution is... The rest of elements that can, perhaps, be related to advice are simply the verbs used. I nfinitives are used to indicate what the enquirer should do, according to the writer's criteria. Some examples from the text are: Identify what's keeping you stuck; Stop; Look; Listen; Get to bed earlier; Create an intention, etc. ..................... For the second part of this blogpost, I chose an article called "How to gracefully decline a job offer". The link is below  (last accessed 9/10): https://www.thecut.com/article/how-...

To be or not to be in the public eye? As a person who doesn't like being the centre of attention, I can assure you that I wouldn't like to be in the public eye. In the following text, I will illustrate my reasoning. First of all, I would have no privacy nor peace. Each and every holiday or time off would be invaded with paparazzi swarming about, taking pictures and recording my every move. Whether they camp outside my house get a sneak peek of my daily life or snap pictures of my figure while I'm having a nice break at the beach, it sounds horrific and would deeply disturbs my peace of mind. Twisting it even more, I might even have to deal with stalkers that follow me around or insane people that are obsessed with me and are very threatening. I'd rather keep my treasured privacy, which is essential in order to maintain a good quality of life. Secondly, I would be bombarded with constant criticism and speculation. Everyone will have an opinion about me, ...

Friends are the family we choose. Friends are a crucial part of my everyday life. I don't take them for granted and I cherish them from the bottom of my heart. Today, I've chosen to highlight only my bestest friends: Inma, Eloisa, María and Elena. Although I have other friends, these girls have been through it all with me. They are so understanding, loyal, caring and positive that it's a breath of fresh air when we're together. We hang out on a regular basis, whether it is to study away at the library (because they're extremely talented and hard-working) or go a little crazy on our weekly Friday night out, no moment is a dull one when they're around, and no problem is big enough to hinder them from making me feel better. Inma's outshining quality is being a good listener, Eloisa's is restoring the peace if things get heated between us or other people, Elena's is not judging anyone or anything and María's is being the sweetest, kindest per...

My favourite way to improve my writing is through different vocabulary. A rich lexis is like music to my ears, I love finding new ways to word what I want to express. Always try to implement diverse vocabulary in each piece. To do this, I personally use online resources such as www.thesaurus.com to look up and learn new synonyms (with their definition), thus enriching my work. It's really quick and useful! Reading is another tool that really helps to pick up new terms. As an avid reader myself, it's relatively easy to innovate due to the high number of words that I'm exposed to. Additionally, since I much prefer to read in English rather than Spanish, the grammar, syntax and word order has basically become ingrained in my brain and it comes naturally to me, so that's a bonus bookworms benefit from as well. The last essential in my writing is correct spelling. I am a bit of a spelling freak! I love to get it right and, in my opinion, a misspelled word looks just...