Final evaluation

Observing my portfolio I notice a great inmprovement of my level of English since September 2008. There's an evidence of this improvement almost everywhere, but specially in the writings and in the observation of our oral presentations.
I think that the activities that best shows my level of English are the writings. When you read any comopstition such as an informal letter or an opinion essay, you realize you have included new words, expressions and phrasal verbs you hadn't heard of at the beggining of the course.
The most useful activities for me to improve my English have been the transcription and the observation of my oral presentations and listening to others' presentations. While writing down your transciptions, you realized what you did wrong and how would it be right. Moreover, doing the observation of my oral presentation was the best way for me to know what to change or improve in the next presentation. Finally, when looking to others' presentations you realized what they did wrong so what you souldn't do.
I really didn't find useful doing summaries of news. I think that we just wasted our time doing them 'cause it was just reducing a text or leave out some lines of the original text. At the most, we just learnt some vocabulary we needed to understand the news.
Finally, one of the activities I enjoyed doing it was watching films and afterwards doing a summary of it. It's a good way to learn English 'cause you have to understand what characters say and at the same time you have fun watching it. Furthermore, then you have to write a summary so you are working as well.

We have almost learnt to respect our world. Do you agree?

Nowadays nearly the whole world is concerned about the problems of our environment. There're lots of people working on reaching the way to stop or at least decrease them. Nevertheless, the solutions they find out are not taken into account for everyone.
I think that poeple could do much more to respect the world. The ozone depletion and the global warming are always increasing. There are many things you can do to stop it or not making it higher, nobody care, though. On the other hand, the deforestation is also rising every day and lots of woods areas are now golf resorts. So, do you still think that we are respecting our world?
Furthermore, because of these and other facts, lots of animal especies are becoming extinct. Not only because of changing them their natural environment, but for hunting their preys also.
In conclusion, I think that we should and we could respect much more our environment. There might be more information of all the things you could do to stop all these problems. However, I really don't care about people doing them at all.

(185 words)

Love Story - Taylor Swift

We were both young when I first saw you / El primer cop que et vaig veure tots dos erem petits
I close my eyes and the flashback starts / Tenco els meus ulls i el flaixback comença
I'm standing there / Estic allà dreta
On a balcony in summer air / En un balcó amb aire estiuenc

See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns / Veure els llums, veure la festa, els vestits
I see you make your way through the crowd / Veig com vas cap a la multitud
And say hello, little did I know / I dius hola, jo ja m'ho pensava

That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles / Que tu eres en Romeo, i tu llançaves 'esperances'
And my daddy said 'stay away from Juliet' / I el meu pare et va dir 'aparta't de la Juliet'
And I was crying on the staircase / I jo estava plorant a les escales
Begging you please don't go, and I said / Suplicant-te que no te n'anessis, i jo vaig dir

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone / Romeo porta'm algun lloc on poguem estar sols
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run / Jo estaré esperant-te, l'únic que podem de fer és córrer
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess/ Tu seràs el príncep i jo seré la princesa
It's a love story baby just say yes / És una història d'amor sisplau carinyo només digues sí

So I sneak out to the garden to see you / Jo surto al jardí d'amagat per veure't
We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew / Ens quedem en silenci perquè si ho sabéssin estariem morts
So close your eyes / Tenca els ulls
Escape this town for a little while / Escapem-nos d'aquesta ciutat per una estona

'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter / Perquè tu eres en Romeo, jo era una senyal
And my daddy said stay away from Juliet / I el meu pare et va dir 'aparta't de la Juliet'
But you were everything to me / Però tu ho eres tot per mi
I was begging you please don't go, and I said / I jo estava suplicant-te que no te n'anessis, i vaig dir

Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone / Romeo porta'm algun lloc on poguem estar sols
I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run / Jo estaré esperant-te, l'únic que podem de fer és córrer
You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess/ Tu seràs el príncep i jo seré la princesa
It's a love story baby just say yes / És una història d'amor sisplau carinyo només digues sí

Romeo save me, they try to tell me how to feel / Salva'm Romeo, ells intenten dir-me què he de sentir
This love is difficult, but it's real / Aquest amor és dificil, però és real
Don't be afraid, we'll make it out of this mess / No tinguis por, d'aquest merder ens en sortirem
It's a love story baby just say yes / És una història d'amor sisplau carinyo només digues sí
Oh oh

I got tired of waiting / Em vaig cansar d'esparar
Wondering if you were ever coming around / Preguntant-me si alguna vegada vindries
My faith in you was fading / La meva confiança en tu estava desapareixent
When I met you on the outskirts of town, and I said /Quan et vaig troabr a les afores de la ciutat, i vaig dir

Romeo save me, I've been feeling so alone / Salva'm Romeo, m'he sentit molt sola
I keep waiting for you but you never come / Encara t'espero però tu mai véns
Is this in my head? I don't know what to think / És en els meus pensaments? No sé què pensar
He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring / Es va agenollar al terra i va treure un anell

And said, marry me Juliet / i va dir 'casa't amb mi Juliet
You'll never have to be alone / Mai hauràs d'estar sola
I love you and that's all I really know / Jo t'estimo I això és el que realment sé
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress / Vaig parlar amb el teu pare, ves a comprar-te un vestit de núvia
It's a love story baby just say yes / És una història d'amor sisplau carinyo només digues sí

Oh, oh, oh, oh
'Cause we were both young when I first saw you... / I és que el primer cop que et vaig veure tots dos erem petits...

Oral presentation 3.

Transcription:

Well, I’m going to tell you about the climate change factors and well, do you have any idea of which are these factors? Well, yes, and other ones. The climate change is the result of a great many factors such as plate tectonics, solar output, volcanism, oceans variability and human influences.

Plate tectonics. Plate movements implicated the intensification of the present ice age when the North and South American plates collided to form the Isthmus of Panama and slit away the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. In fact, in the distant future plate tectonics will reposition continents, form oceans and build and tear down mountains.

Then, the solar output. The sun is the most important source of heat energy input to the climate system. And its output energy, which is converted to heat in the Earth’s surface, is an integral part of the Earth’s climate. Then, lesser amounts of energy are provided by the gravitational pull of the moon and geothermal energy.

Then, volcanism. Volcanism is the process of transporting materials from the Earth’s interior to the surface as part of a process by which the planet removes the excess of pressure and heat in its interior. A single eruption can actually affect climate. For example, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in nineteen ninety-one affected substantially climate with global temperatures dropping by about zero point five degrees and ozone depletion being substantially increased.

Then, oceans variability. Many climate oscillations owe their existence at least in part to the different ways that heat can be kept in the oceans and the way it moves. Then… aah, one second. Oceans processes such as thermohaline circulations also play a key role in redistributing heat by carrying out a very slow and extremely deep movement of water, and a long-term redistribution of heat in the oceans.

Finally, and the most important factor for me, is the human influences. Human activity is probable the cause of rapid changes in world’s climate and environment in the past several decades. And one of most concern factors is the increase in carbon dioxide levels due to emissions from fossil fuels combustions, followed by aerosols and cement manufactures. Other factors including land use, animals’ agriculture and deforestation are also concern as affecting climate.

Well now Cèlia is going to tell you about the greenhouse effect.

Observation of my oral presentation:

Presentation:

As a resource, we used a power point and I think that it was really attractive and visual because we put on it lots of photos related on what we were talking so people could understand it better. However, I jus related it to what I was saying at the beginning and I might have referred to it more than I did.

Body language and eye contact:

I looked at the audience most of the time except for when I had to show something from the screen.

I had my notes on my hands and I didn’t look them excepting one time ‘cause I was quite nervous and I just forgot what was coming. Even though, I remembered immediately what I had to say.

I did lots of gestures with my hands, not exactly to hold the audience attention, just because I was quite nervous and I usually do it.

Structure:

I really didn’t structure the ideas in order of importance. I first did an introduction and after talked about the different climate factors, not in importance order, though.

I used some discourse markers to make it easier for the audience to situate, like then or finally. I think that I used quite a lot of times then, and maybe another discourse marker would have been better.

Content:

All the information I introduced to the audience was new and interesting because I think that the climate change is an important issue but people is not very concerned about it.

I looked up for information in the Internet (Wikipedia and other webs) because I wanted to explain more things than the ones I knew.

My information was original and quite detailed. I used some technical and scientific vocabulary related with the topic.

Language:

I checked my grammar at home, but sometimes it’s difficult to say it perfectly when you are there. However. I think that my grammar was good in the oral presentation excepting a sentence which I have corrected in the transcription.

I looked up the dictionary many times to use new words or synonyms (e.g.).

I didn’t use many linkers, just and (and maybe too many times!). I also used some fillers like well.

Pronunciation & Intonations:

I didn’t know how to pronounce all the words, and I checked them on an online dictionary of pronunciation (e.g. collided, combustion, thermohaline, redistribution…).

I think that my tone of voice didn’t change a lot from the beginning to the end of the presentation. However, I was more confident at the beginning and in the end than in the middle.

I speeded in a fluid continuum excepting once I had to look at my notes. I studied so I knew what I had to say and this caused more fluency in me, there are the nerves,though.

Self-evaluation:

If I were the teacher I would get between an 8 and an 8.5.

Here you've got the power point and the video of our oral presentation.

Climate change

View more presentations from julia8_29.

Montana pops to the top of film chart

Teenage popstar Miley Cyrus has achieved the top of the North American box office chart with Hannah Montana: The Movie.
The film took $34m over the weekend taking Fast&furious off the top. Miley had previoulsy sung her way to the top with a filmed concert, which took $31.1m on its first weekend.
Hannah Montana: The Movie is the latest show in the story of a girl who has an alter-ego as a singeing star.
"Her average opening weeken is around $30m" claimed the president of box office analysts Media By Numbers. While her opening weekend's rivals twice her age.

New vcabulary learnt:
chart-llista d'èxits
instalment-entrega
box office-taquilles

Brussels to probe seven airlines.

The European Comission has started anti-competition into seven transatlantic airlines. They has opened two different investigations. The first one into proposed additional cooperations between British Airlines, American Airlines and Iberia. The second one into existing and planned cooperation between Air Canada, Continental, Lufthansa and United.
BA complained saying the Comission didn't have any proof of any infringement. Nevertheless, the comission answered they wouldn't have started them unless they didin't have reasons to do it.
They investigate into transatlantic routes run by One World alliance with memebers of all those airlines excepting Continental one, however it is in talks to join the Star Alliance.

New vocabulary learnt:
proposed-propusat
launch-fundar

informal letter.

Dear Iris,
I received your letter yesterday. How's everything in Canterbury? Are you enjoying it and improving your English? Well, I hope you're having fun!
In Chester everything is going perfectly. My host family is very nice. There's a woman called Jane and her daughters who are twins. They're eighteen so we get on really well.
The town is so charming. In the venings we usually go to such a lovely park near the river which we found out the second day. I've done many good friends here. What about you? Are there many nice persons?
Yesterday was a strange day for me. Jess, one of my host sosters, was bringing me to the downtown when the car broke down suddenly. We had to call the crane and I finally arrived an hour late to the meeting. Then, luckily for me, I came across twenty pounds on the floor and later I received your letter so I was really happy!
When are you setting off from Canterbury? I'd like to meet you when we'll be both home.
Best wishes,

Júlia

Federer weds long-term girlfriend.

World number two Roger Fedrer (27) married his girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in Basle. They met in 2000 at the Sydney's Olympic Games and they are expecting their first child.
He's going to take part of the Monte Carlo Masters next week after he was given a wildcard although he originally said he was not going to play. Federer has finished runner-up three times in Monte Carlo and he hasn't won a tournament since October.
The only member of the world's top 10 who won't be taking part of the championship is Andy Murray. Number one Rafael Nadal will try to win the tournament for the fifth time.

New vocabulary learnt:
'wildcard'-comodí
'runner-up'-subcampió

Wimbledon.

We couldn't see the whole movie, so I'm just going to summarize the part we saw.

Peter Colt is a British professional tennis player once ranked 11th of the world who is now ranked 119th. Peter is 31 and he has decided to retire after the last tournament, Wimbledon. He actually has already got a job as a coach at a club.
The championship begins so he goes to the hotel. The receptionist gives him the wrong key and he meets Lizzie Bradbury by chance in what was supposed to be his room. She is American and she seems to be a great promise in tennis; she's supposed to win Wimbledon. Peter finally gets another room. From a long time ago, he was used to lose most of matches, he starts to win after meeting Lizzie, though. Peter invites her to fish and chips in her room and they start falling in love. However, there's someone who deosn't like it, Lizzie's Father. He just wants her to focus on the game and not to get the head on Peter or any other thing.
One day, they are in a party when the paparazzies start taking photos on them so they decide to go away. They go to an apartment from Peter in his native town. They go running along the promenade, have a lot of fun and enjoy these days until Lizzie's father arrives and she has to come back London.

New vocabulary learnt:
promenade-passeig marítim
tournament-torneig

formal dialogue

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Winehouse to fan assault charge

Singer Amy Winehouse attended a police station on Thurday to be charged with assault after hit a fan at the End of Summer Ball in Berkeley Square (central London) last 26 September. She's going to attend City of Westsminster Magistrates' Court on next 17 March.
The singer's spokesman claimed that she attended voluntary to the police station and she was asked to testify in relation to the assault on last Berkeley ball. This event was celebrated in order to fundraise for the Prince's Trust charity.

New vocabulary learnt:
assault-agressió
charge-acusació
spokesman-portaveu
fundraise-recolecta de fondos