Reflective Section.

I found the course very interactive and dynamic, and we performed many activities that enriched my learning. With class discussions achieved hear the views of others and to express equally. We did a lot of investigations and presentations which I think very important for these times where technology is in everything, and research and use it is very good.

The topics were also problems that we saw, which were interesting I learned things that I never knew of each of the topics and vocabulary related to such issues. I learned a lot about grammar and achieve understanding topics such as conditionals that were not simple, but I managed to understand with the help of the teacher. I am aware that I need a little practice and try to talk some more to learn the language and to express myself one hundred percent in English.

 

Grammar.

Conditionals.

Conditionals are situations or sentences that have a result. Those sentences as the name says are conditioned, therefore if a situation occurs there will be a consequence. Normally is used the preposition if or when.

There are four types of conditionals. I will explain one by one:

The first is the zero conditional: it is about real situations. Time in this case is used in the present; therefore the simple present is used.

Then the first conditional: it is a real or potential situation. In this case we need use one sentence in simple present and the other in simple future.

The second conditional: it refers to a hypothetical situation or unreal situation. It is necessary use simple past and present conditional or present continuous conditional.

And the third conditional: It refers about a situation in past and unreal situation. It is used past perfect and perfect conditional.

https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/conditional-sentences-3 

Simple past.



The simple past is used to actions that occur in the past and it finished in the past too. It is very easy to use and it is only of practice.

We have regular verbs in where we only add ed, and irregular verbs in where we need to change all the verb.

 

When the sentence is negative the correct form of create the sentence, it is use the word did.

In the next image could be give a clear idea to how use this verbal tense.

 

Finally, I upload a list with irregular verbs and their past tense.

http://www.englishpage.com/irregularverbs/irregularverbs.html



Past perfect.

The past perfect serves to indicate an action that happened before another, ie, the time before the recent past. It is composed of two parts: the past of the verb to have and the past participle of the principal verb.

 

Some examples are:

Mary had saved the document.

Mary had not saved the document.

Had she saved the document?

 

We can see that in the past examples one it is affirmative, the other negative and the last one it is a example to how formulate a question.

I found a excelent practice with this topic, and I wanted to upload it and share it. 

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/past-perfect-exercise-1.html 

 

Present perfect.

We use the present perfect when a action started in the past, but yet continued in the present. 

The Present Perfect Tense is formed using the following structure:
Affirmative: Subject + Have / Has + Past Participle
Negative: Subject + Haven't / Hasn't + Past Participle
Question: Have / Has + Subject + Past Participle
It is important remembered that we use has with he, she and it; and have with I, you, we and they.

 

http://www.really-learn-english.com/present-perfect-exercises.html





Out of class contributions.

Hurt

    Christina Aguilera

I would hold you in my arms
I would take the pain away
Thank you for all you've done
Forgive all your mistakes
There's nothing I wouldn't do
To hear your voice again
Sometimes I wanna call you
But I know you won't be there

                                                            Comment.

This is a verse of a song that I really like, the singer is Christina Aguilera and the song is called hurt . Whether the song has a deep lyrics , try a little bit about when we lose someone close and maybe not value the time or the effort that person has done for us .
When a day you open your eyes and see that person is no longer with us and no way to turn back time.

 

 

 

They say practice makes the teacher.

In fact I think that saying, and it is for this reason that I have spent time listening to English music, watching movies in English and as far as possible to talk with people who handle the language.

And now that my work come many foreign people , because international insurances, I have tried to put into practice what I have learned and help people who require it, and do not speak spanish.

 

 

Applying lessons learned . 

Last week, I was walking through San Jose when suddenly I saw some tourists a little lost . As is my custom, I went where they and I tried to help us. When I speaking us I discovered that they speak English, and in one way or another I fell even more excited to give my help. So I talked a little with them and we communicate effectively, I achieved guide them and gave them the information that they needed. At the end I said they were very grateful and it really was satisfying have found someone in the middle of San Jose that have understood and helped them. This is one of the reasons why I want to learn the language at one hundred percent , it is not the first time I help someone who does not know Spanish , helping people more when they do not are near their country and do not know how to express themselves in Spanish I It makes you feel great .

In class contributions.

Essays.

Essay 1.

What are your goals for your career or personal life? What challenges do you think you will face in achieving these goals?

      The first step that we need to have clear is the meaning of goal; goal is the purpose toward which an endeavor is directed. In some cases, some goals take more time to achieve than others. In the diary life is normal to see obstacles every day; we need to know that the perseverance is essential to achieve our goals, in all aspects of our life. I think that it is important to have conviction and have a fixed vision, if you really want to achieve your goals. Normally, people have a series of goals; goals guide people to endeavor, and try to grow and be better persons with the pass of the time.

     Like I mention in the previous paragraph, everybody have goals, and I am not the exception. For me, it is important to have goals clears; I work hard every day to establish exactly what I want, because I really think that if you want, you can.      

     My first goal, of course, it is finish my carrier. I want to get my degree in business administration, I have approximate two year of study in Ulacit and I really want to finish now. I really like this carrier, to know, and having the knowledge to guide and grow a business seems very interesting.

     I am thinking of studying a second carrier, but yet I am not sure. Maybe could be something like laws. I think that it is interesting to mix both carriers: business administration with law, because nowadays is necessary to have knowledge of the legislation and laws of our country.

     My second goal is probably to learn of speak English at one hundred percent, and other language such as Portuguese, French or Italian. To speak different languages help to the development brain, and too it is important for the communication, for me it is very interesting be a person that can speak with many people in different languages.

     In the future, probably one of my biggest goals is to create and establish my own company. Entrepreneurship is something that has always captured my attention, and be able to lift your own business from scratch something that attracts me. I would like to have a nursery or a dance academy; however a medium term could be a catering service.

     Throughout life, we will always find challenges and obstacles to achieve our goals, in my case the weather and tiredness are some of them. However, it is important to have God present in everything we set out and always to do things in the best way and with the best attitude, we learned with everything that we do it, and we must take advantage of everything that happens, whether negative or positive, it says that sometimes people learn more of the bad things.

     I would like to finish my essay with two quotes, of a person who changed the world and really is admirable, Nelson Mandela. He said that: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”; and the second one: “It always seems impossible until it is done”.

Essay 2.

Which sports are typically dominated by men? Which by women? Why do you think this is?

 

     We live in society, every day we coexisted with different people. Normally, as is of our knowledge, the decades or the time itself brings several prejudices and conflicting opinions in many aspects of daily living. Among these we could mention prejudices like machismo or feminism, if it is true, in the past it was much more pronounced and common, now has removed a bit, but still exists.

     In this time we focus on what is sports, it is no secret that from previous centuries has always existed a margin as to sports that only practice men, and sports that are considered are for women only; some for questions of strength, agility, speed,  form of respond, among many other excuses. I mention the word excuses because I believe that the above are not traits or characteristics of a particular gender.

     Stereotypes that have been created with respect to femininity or the force that have been considered like differentiate according to the same, if we add the biological differences that have been misunderstood for long time, we get the limitation of either men or women to play a sport, quite simply because society is so established. For example the taboo that man are stronger and aggressive; contrary of this, women are slickest, passive and sensitive, as well as a series of labels that have been characterizing either sex.

     We could make lists which differentiate sport should practice depending on whether if the person is male or female, to mention some examples of these differences can be highlighted: in the case of women swimming, tennis, rhythmic gymnastics or artistic . While at the other end in the case of men they include sports such as football, boxing, rugby, basketball, cricket, volleyball, golf, horse riding, motorsports, sailing, judo, cycling, skiing, athletics, equestrian, Olympic shooting, among others.

     A while ago in Atlanta, a sport called "softball " which has been similar to baseball but with ranges or slightly different dimensions, which is practiced mostly by women emerges .

     At this point, I would like to take a moment and look at the fact that it is obvious that the list of sports that according to stereotypes can be practiced by a man is much greater than the list of sports that the society says can be practiced by a woman. But I must also mention what happens in our society when a man practices a sport cataloged as female, in some cases he has been seen as a weakling and sometimes female; of course it goes without saying and make it clear that one thing has nothing to do with another .

     It seems important to stress that we must work and fight so that these stereotypes disappear it in our society, anyone can practice the sport of their choice regardless of their characteristics, limitations much of the time are in the mind, and we cannot let be stronger than the desire to make something we really like, if you want to be. On the other hand we cannot generalize by saying that sport is for men, for women and others, as we all have different qualities and talking therefore individually all we are different.

     To conclude, sport serves to enrich the quality of life of people is of utmost importance to promoting the free choice of physical and sporting activity you want to practice. Sports such as dancing, risk and adventure, allow greater expressiveness, communication and delight, without classifying people by reducing slightly the gap that marks society. More however we cannot stay there, if not go beyond where equality is the principal characteristic of this.

 

Essay 3.

 

The role of humans in global warning.

     The global warming, in these times it is one of the biggest concerns worldwide, because if we do not have the necessary knowledge and we do not act in favor of our planet, it is possible that the planet may soon disappear, we cannot see it as a story of science fiction or like we have seen in the movies; this is a situation that currently although we do not realize it, this problem is happening now. We have all heard about that subject so trite, but how many we have taken the time to sit down and investigate what is really happening? We have reported that is causing this serious problem and how can we fix it? What is our role as humans in all this?

     This is an issue that will in chain and to understand that is really the role of people in this conflict and the scope, it is necessary to be aware that it is and understand every one of its concepts. Planet earth has a layer surrounding it, it is called the atmosphere, the function of this cape is to trap some of the sun's rays and keep them on the planet to have a temperature of about 15 degrees Celsius, otherwise the sunlight is reamed and the planet's temperature would drop to -18 degrees Celsius, this is known as the greenhouse effect. This effect is caused by gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and others. In proportion suitable of the greenhouse gases, those discharge their responsibilities, but if you change your concentration, sunlight could not leave the atmosphere and the planet's temperature would rise with disastrous consequences.

     Why change the concentration of greenhouse gases? Because burning of fossil fuels and forest destruction, that absorbs carbon dioxide; the trees are large proportion of carbon dioxide produced due to population and industry, another factor affecting the planet is the increase in population; we can see how much of what is named above is caused by humans. Everything is a vicious circle, the population is increasing and therefore the demand for food, water and natural resources also increase. Now a days we are destroying our forests, and it are the lungs of our planet is now destroyed, this only to meet this demand, we can also mention the outdated technology, in these times is used normally carbon plants to generate energy, that translates into 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year that is expelled into the environment. On the other hand excessive automobile use generates 1.5 billion tons of carbon that go directly to the atmosphere.

     What consequences bring the global warming? When caught as much sunlight, the planet temperature increase considerably; this causes droughts, water shortages and fires, but it sounds contradictory, the global warming also produces rains and severe flooding because the sun's rays increase the temperature of the oceans causing more evaporation and thus more precipitation. In fact it produces the extreme temperature changes, total drought or extremely heavy rainfall. Increasing the temperature causes the poles thaw and consequently more sweet water enters the sea, this raises the level of the oceans causing severe flooding. The problem is more serious than we think, if the sea level will rise 6 meters, many places could disappear for example: Florida, San Francisco, Netherlands, Beijing, and Mexico Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Tabasco. We need to start doing something now and not keep waiting for more bad things; we need to start helping our planet. There are many ways to help our planet, such as energy saving, buying bulbs or energy saving bulbs, turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby, reduce consumption of heaters and air conditioners. One way to help would be greatly to change fuel cars electric vehicles. Also it is excellent way to help the planet is to practice recycling, the human being from birth produces a lot of garbage and if we do not have a culture of recycling, probably our planet could pay the bill.

     It is important not to shelve sustainable development, the development that is able to meet current needs without compromising the resources of future generations. A sustainable activity is that can be maintained, for example, cut trees of our forests, ensuring the repopulation of this trees. On the contrary we know that oil consumption is not sustainable because we know it can be finished but we do not know when. We can say that most human activities are not sustainable. The reuse and the reduced should be part of our culture and gradually it changing our thinking, small changes make big differences. So we have to change our way of thinking, because for this reason we do not appreciate that we have, and for consequence do not care the environment. Natural resources are depleted and if we do not raise awareness of what is happening and we do not act fast our planet is going to be more affected, it is our home, so we could be in serious problems too and will be getting worse. The plan is to stop wasting resources and knowing how to use and care for those that now we have, together we can achieve it.

Biography:

National Geographic. (s.f.). obtained from http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-overview/

 

 

Reflecting on my writing performance. 

Write essays have always been a great challenge for me , because for me it is difficult the sort ideas correctly and the correct use of grammar is something I know I need to improve. More however I did my best effort and I really feel that I learned a lot this quarter. It was a little difficult to choose the topic because many called my attention. No doubt the writing and reading helps a lot when you are learning another language, besides I practiced grammar, I learned new vocabulary, and I learned about the new topic that I written, thus being able to speak more confidently and safety.

Projects.

My talent or skill.

 
 
 

Our first individual project was about a talent or skill. I exposed about cooking, because I think that is one of my talents. I love cooking, and I explained in my presentation about one of my favorite recipes chocolate chip cookies. It was very interesting, and all my classmates explained about their talent and I really liked to listen what they said.  
I learned that, in some moments you thinking about if you have a talent, and maybe you do not find it, but all the time persons have a special skill, so it is only necessary to look into yourself to find it.

 

 

 

Modern Genius. 

Modern genius, this was the name of our first group project. So each group must choose a modern genius and explain about their history, skill and gift. I found very interesting because our group spoke about a child with only 12 years and was a surgeon. Only being a child that have short age really is a genius, it helps many people with his ability. What I learned from this project was how there are people who use their gift or talent to help others. I shared the story with many friends, because really the story of this child impact me. Certainly a great example to follow.

 

Does money mean power?

In the world there are people with outstanding intelligence, people who achieve success thanks to their way of thinking and acting. Beyond that, people who come to have such a great fortune by his abilities, that it seems incredible that after all adversity that they passing, think in help people most in need. Such is the case of Gordon Moore, who after hard work, he achieved to create a company which is consider one of the most successful company in the world. We've all heard about Intel's multi-billion dollar company. Well this time, my work group investigated about this interesting man, your company and social work itself that with his wife Betty performed. This time what I learned in this project apart from vocabulary, was to see how there are people who are willing to help others with their money. What we achieve with this project was to have knowledge of a person who invests part your money in a society for the common good, and now I can explain to others persons, and at times having money really helps a lot.







 

The World: Are we in trouble?

It is no secret that the world is in serious trouble. In this presentation, the teacher gave us a problem that the world is facing, and each group have to talk and explain the problem. In this case my group talked about armed conflict. This is a really sad subject, see how many children and innocent people die without having anything to do with the conflict. As a result of this project I can mention that I can now talk about the cause, consequences and possible solutions to this serious problem never ending. Now I can speak fluently and confidently about the subject, and I can explain to others with the right vocabulary. 

 

 How do people respond to advesity?

Today we made our last project, how do people respond to adversity? All my classmates chosen to a person who was a example of live, that despite the adversities strongly fought for their ideals and today has managed to get ahead. We chose Chris Gardner, we have all seen or heard the film in search of happiness. It starred Will Smith , but in real life, the protagonist was Chris Gardner. The movie is really sad, and it is only part of the life of this man, which was very difficult. Without any doubt, remember and know examples of life as we exposed today, it make us put our feet on the ground and thank God for what we are and what we have. With this presentation more to learn, I remembered valuing things and that situations in life depend largely on how we act, if we have good attitude and faith in God everything will be better than we expect.

 

 

 Oral presentations.

Job Interview.



At some point in our lives we have to go to a job interview, and like is of our knowledge, the nerves are usually fundamental part in middle of this process of our work or professional life. One of the questions we have it is in that moment ask questions, and which are good options to ask and what definitely not. So I upload a presentation that we made regarding this issue. With the completion of this activity and hear the presentation of the other groups, I learned things did not know before, now I know how to act in a better way in a job interview , in addition I learned the right times to ask and respond in this important moment. I think I could teach some other people about the topic and give some tips to have a successful interview.





Why should people learn to speak a second language in CR? 

Today knowing a second language is essential , languages ​​have become essential part for both own satisfaction as to find better job opportunities. The labor competitiveness is increasing day by day, and languages ​​know gives us the opportunity to be more competitive. In our case, our mother tongue is Spanish and the second most used language is English. I understood many advantages of speaking a second language. I can say too that now I learned and I know that the university in which we study have a lot of facilities to learn another language, such as grants or options of traveling to another country. I can guide and inform university students about facilities that give us to learn another language, besides giving advice to friends who want to start to learn another language.

 

 

 

 Making a difference.

Small changes make big differences. And what better way to show it by giving examples of people who have struggled with a fixed vision, doing what they think right and what your heart tells them. It motivating us to always do things as they should, and not permit injustices. They fought without wars and weapons, fought a smarter fight for their beliefs and even for his people. I speak about of three incredible people: Malala, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. We perform an oral presentation of these three characters, and it was very interesting because we learned fun facts of these people and their lives. Now I can share these stories with others, besides trying to motivate them to do the right thing, and follow their ideals giving them great examples of people who have done it and they have succeeded.

What is success?

Success has a slightly different meaning for everyone. The way used to achieve success, and what people want to achieve as well. In our English class we elaborated an interview, in order to do the interview our classmates, and know what you think about success, at the same time my classmates conducted interviews that they had done, and I could give my opinion and that meaning the success for me. I achieved to improve the way in which I make questions, and structure to create it in the best way. Through the interview I was able to practice my speech in English and it caught my attention the different opinions I received, for example, when some said that having money did not mean that the person was successful, while others on the contrary said that of course the money was part of success.

 

 

 

Philantropist.

Imagine or dream about changes that one would like to make in the future is the best option to one day achieve what you want . As the creation of a foundation to help people who really need it. This was precisely what we did in one of our classes . The work was in pairs, and I along with my classmate Nati wanted to create a place for young people with cancer. Our idea was to equip a place where young people could feel at ease in middle of all this process that must pass to confront the disease. Giving support and a little fun in all that chaos. The ideas of the other students were also very interesting and I liked to remember that we should not lose feeling in middle of everything going on in the world. Remember that we are the future of this country and in our hands is to succeed in creating foundations, which are assumptions right now, but in the future could become reality.

 

Money is the Most Important Thing in Live.

 People always have different and conflicting opinions. An example of this is when you talk about money, if it is the most important, if not . It is a very controversial issue, and we must respect the point of view of each person. However personally I believe that although money is essential and important to live, there are more important things, we must think and give thanks every day.

 

30 Days Challenge.

In groups we had to create a thirty day challenge, something that was possible to achieve, and it was possible to achieve. It is no secret that bring a completely healthy lifestyle is a challenge for most people , but it is not impossible. So our challenge was to create a completely healthy lifestyle . Taking into account from drinking eight glasses of water , exercise daily , do not eat fast food, dedicate time to family and recreation activities, and others. I think it's the dream of many people, including me.

 

Creation of a unique product.

 We had to create a unique product, this was one of the dynamics that we had to perform in class. As far as possible something that did not exist. After several options and all opinions, finally we choose our product. We decided to create a bottle or glass, which was perfectly functional for people who do not like drinking water or for people who suffer from kidney or such diseases where needed the drink lots of water. The bottle is made ​​of a special material, and has four different flavors or different smells. So while persons are drinking the bottle is playing with the brain. By smell, the brain will believe that what is drinking is not water, and what will taste is the flavor that contains the glass.

I found something very new, interesting and even I think that it is possible carried out. Besides an excellent idea to help people who do not drink water, being this essential for life.

 

Debate: Does Money Mean Power.



Today we made a debate about whether the money means power. It was very interesting, the teacher divided the group into two and some were in favor and others against this assumption. She decided that part which would favor and against. I really think that money is not everything in life, health, family and dematerialized happiness for me it is the most important. However we touched us to be in favor, and defend the view that money is the most important.

Though it seemed that everything was against us and that the odds were saying we would lose, we tried to argue our views. One of our arguments was that many times if people had money could save your life with good treatment depending on the disease you have, another argument was that fewer people would die of hunger. Thus we were looking for different arguments , we were finally able to defend so well our view that we won the debate.





In class work.



Group activities. 

Group activities I think are very enriching. I can mention that of all the activities that we done, I learned a lot, for example when we practice grammar together. It was fun and interactive , the teacher put internet practices where all shared and we answered the same time. I remember the practices in working groups , we discussed differents subjects and although occasionally, we lost the topic we managed to keep the conversation in English.  Each and every one of the ideas of the activities were excellent , learning by something that catches your eye, for me is one of the best methods.



 

 Research in class

They say that reading is an excellent way to learn. The teacher assigned different topics that we investigate and seek in class. In addition to generating greater awareness towards different topics, we learned new vocabulary and even doubts were clarified. In addition to then explain what was read, because often happens that some interpret reading one way and others another thus explaining the reading, we gave more knowledge in addition to listening to the opinions of others and we had so different points of view.