NEWS

THE MOST DANGEROUS JOB IN THE WORLD

The landscape of Syria has changed this few years: cities have been destroyed, loss of homes, businesses and human lifes, etc. 

In Aleppo, there have been volunteers, more known as “White Helmets”, who delve into the ruins of Syria’s cities and retrieve survivors from the danger. Because of it, this job has been considered the most dangerous job in the world. Firstly, because they have to run towards a pile of rubble; and secondly, because they there are “double taps”, which are the secondary bombs sent down with the explicit purpose of attacking the first responders. Unfortunately, there were 470,000 deads among White Helmets in 2015.

They used to be tailors and electricians, bakers and civilians, leading pretty ordinary lives in Syria. In 2012, the year of White Helmets creation, there were 25 and nowadays they have increased until 3000. 

As if this were not enough, White Helmet have been accused from the Syrian government and Russia who says they have become politicized and help extremist group. They have answered that they would help anyone trapped in those buildings, regardless of what side they were fighting on.

What’s easily guess is that they are making a difference savining tens of thousands of lives. 

On Friday 10th of March I was at Maria Baguer’s home and we had a friend’s dinner. We were Maria Baguer, Marta Juncà, Cèlia Víudez, Ona Dorca and I and we decided to watch something on Tv. Maria had Netflix and we went through it to see with what we could spend the night watching at when coincidentally we found a documentary called “White Helmets” and we knew it was been nominated to the Peace Nobel Prize last year and, this year, it has won an Oscar. Finally we decided to play it. 

It was really dramatic because there were authentic images and you could see how people die in the middle of bombings, the White Helmets putting their lives in risk, leaving their lives for this solidary and humanity job, etc. But and the same time it was really touching. While I was watching it I feel like they should appear and be remembered along our society history, because what this group of volunteers are doing every day is something unique and courageous. 

Again, we are not conscious how fortunate we are having stable and regular jobs and lives. We should all do the effort for time to time to get into someone else shoes and start to appreciate what we have and value what we can do for the others. 

There’s no clearer example than White Helmets and what they are doing to help others. They are not stand idle complaining about what is happening in their country and crying for those who are dying, they are acting and helping as much lives as they can in order to cry for fewer people. 

So yes, they are making a difference, they've potentially saved tens of thousands of lives. It would be very easy for them not to do it, and yet they do it. I think that's real bravery, and that’s why I think they must be mentioned and remembered for what they are doing and what they are losing and we should all do our best to help them and, consequently, to end wars, being Syria or any country.

TRAILER

FULLFILM

Link: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/19/health/my-hero-hala-gorani-white-helmets-syria/index.html

NEWS

BEST PEDIGREE CHUMS!

Joel Sayer is boy who suffered from autism: he couldn’t go outside, he was trapped in a silent existence and he was unable to speak to people. 

Now, aged 13, with the overwhelming help of Caddie, a six-year-old Labrador from the company Dogs for Good charity, the world has opened up to him and his family. He is really happy now, and thanks to his guardian angel –as he says- , he has turned from muddled into calm and safe.

When they met, it was the first time Joel went outside and smiled. From that moment, his parents knew that the suggestion of Joel’s pediatrician to adopt an autistic assistance dog will make a meaningful turnaround in their lifes. 

This new attracted my attention a lot because I’m a real big lover of animals and I love to see how they can help people to overcome their difficulties and troubles. 

Since I was a baby, I have been living surrounded by animals and it is incredible how it affects in your personal life. They can give you almost as much as a person can and above all, they will never try to hurt you but to protect you and make sure you feel happy and comfortable.

They are those who always listen to you, who always play with you, those who accept any activity you propose, who stay with you make you feel coupled and they are also the best pranks partners, among others.

This is why I consider that having a pet can help you a lot in human beings aspect and can provide you lots of values you can’t appreciate without them. 

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4304738/Dog-Crufts-award-changing-autistic-boy-s-life.html

WHY FASHION ENCHANTS US?

Everybody have to dress up, but nobody has to follow the fashion trends. Despite everything, the majority we do it with the most of the pleasures. Because fashion is pure seduction: always something new, something different, sometimes glittering, sometimes shocking…

Fashion is something more than just clothes. There isn’t any comparison. The essential difference is if the silhouette is correct, if the proportions are appropriated or if the colour contrasts harmonize. Fashion is a sign of civilization: the fact of get dressed make the difference between people and animals. 

Fashion took a lot of time in catch on, it was in 1860 when Charles Frederick Worth, get the idea to put a label with his name in every cloth he designed and tailored, like if they were art treasures. From that moment, all the ladies wanted to wear signed dresses. That was fashion, and whatnot was simply clothing.

Since then, all the biggest fashion masters have created their artworks and have signed them giving them an enormous value: Paul Poiret, John Galliano, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Martin Margiela, Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Coco Chanel or Giorgio Armani, among other. Regardless of if they have preferred focus on their job, on the art or on the commercial aspect, all of them have fought for giving an expression of their perfection idea. They give their best on their collections and this is why fashion touch us. 

REFUGEES

Few days ago, in class, we were talking about what is happening nowadays with people who run away from Syria’s war and we discussed whether we should open our country doors or not. 

If we go back in time, in 1936, we could remember what our ancestors suffered. The Civil War broke out and there were lots of families who had to migrate to another country, for example France. Witnesses have never complained about if they has difficulties to be good welcomed or not, because they had West-European culture, so there were no problem to be accepted. But, what happens with people who is from another culture, Islamic for example? Haven’t they equal rights as any person in this world? Why we don’t let them shelter in our lands?

It’s hard to see how, day after day, people has to leave all their lifes behind because a war is taking place in their countries. And it is even more upsetting to see how they can’t find any place to restart their life or just a place to wait safely until the war ends. 

I absolutely agree with open them the doors, but I also think that there’s something wrong. I mean, we can greet a certain number of people and there is a limit where we have to say “enough”. We can offer them as much facilities as we can but there’s also local population to maintain. For this reason, I think we should warn and ask to countries with the same culture, as Arabia Saudi, among others, to make an effort to accommodate a part of these immigrants. I think European countries are trying to do their best and even they can improve the facilities they offer, other countries not even have started. 

Finally, I would like to mention one last thing. If there’s a water leak you can put a container under it and collect all the water leaving but you will have to keep an eye on it because it has to be changed to avoid that water flows. If rather than put a container you take direct action to problem focus you can stopped it forever. So the same happens with this war. If the same governments which are getting immigrants help them finishing the war, the infinity flow of refugees will stop. But which is the problem? The same governments who should act against the war are the same who are selling weapons to the war militaries

NEWS

HERE’S WHY SELF-DRIVING CARS MAY NEVER REALLY BE SELF-DRIVING

Two self-driving cars are headed down the highway when the lead car decides to   speed up to avoid being rear-ended by the second. That car, in turn, slows down to avoid hitting the first. Then a third car suddenly comes between the two, prompting the slower car to change lanes to avoid and accident. But, the problem is that, there are cars in the lanes on either side of it.

The scenario is called "a ripple factor" and it's one of many researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) are studying to understand how embedded software could  address a myriad number of unexpected situations that could cause accidents as self-driving vehicles speed toward reality.

One problem with trusting autonomous vehicle software is that if a software glitch exists in one vehicle, it exists in the entire line of cars or trucks.

As we have been talking about in class, it’s true that technology progresses can bring advantages forward and by making a “good use” of it we can spread our knowledge and reach as much expertise as we already have. 

But, on the other hand, there’s a part of technology we don’t really like. Maybe this part can damage us because we don’t know about it enough, but it’s possible that we certainly know about it but we make a “bad use” of it. 

Here, in the new we have already comment, we talk about technology we can’t rule properly. Although we progress in a breakneck speed, we must be sure that everything it’s controlled before make some product commercially available. And like the tittle says, the car might seem like if it works by itself but the driver is who will have to pay the consequences. 

Link: http://www.networkworld.com/article/3173629/hardware/heres-why-self-driving-cars-may-never-really-be-self-driving.html

DIALOGUE

DIALOGUE

[Miquel, Norden and Aina, a group of three friends, were sitting on a table into a bar. They haven’t seen each other for a long time, thus they decide to explain themselves what are their future plans: what they are going to study at university, with whom they are going to share flat next years, etc.]

-Aina: Hi guys! What’s going on?

-Norden: Hello Aina, I’m doing well but I’m tired of my TDR and what’s up with you, Miquel?

-Miquel: I’m fine too, but I don’t want to do the TDR, it is such a long work…

-Aina: Yes I agree with you. I’ think we are in the same nightmare! I have been doing a little bit of my TdR project and I have to say that, even it is a hard work and a heavy one, I am learning lots of things, and overall, I am knowing new points of view about social media world and life. Incidentally, do you already know what are you going to do in a few months?

-Norden: I would like to do something connected with sports. Maybe CAFEM, an education cycle. I have been always passionately in sports, since I was little. I have been practising taekwondo and it has taught me many things in live. Success usually demands commitment, so you can apply these values in other aspects of life. Also you learn how to focus in something and fight for your goals, to not give up even when going gets tough, among others. It can sound a little far out, but trust me when I tell you that sports can contribute in many daily life situations.

-Miquel: You have became an authentic philosopher, haven’t you? It becomes clearer to me everyday, what I want to do. I will go to university and try to get an history degree. This is what I feel so comfortable with. I love history because I like to know our past, you can become a worship person and history is where all comes from. I like to know who faced the music when thing turn into the worst situation and whom fled. So I think it can be interesting and useful in the future, and my opinion is that everybody should have a minimal knowledge of our past.

-Aina: They both seem to be great ideas. In my case, I would also want to go to university, Pompeu Fabra University, and get a business degree. Even I am not enjoying at all business subject this year, because of selectivity pression, I know I was born for numbers and for manage money. I can spend our in front of a paper doing monetary calculations and having new ideas of products that can stand out in the market. So, meeting myself requirements, I think going to Pompeu Fabra, the best university in economic area, I can learn a mount of new concepts.

-Miquel: Ow! Brilliant. Maybe we will meet there. Are you going to share a flat?    

-Aina: Yes. It can be a really good experience and you can know the most deepest part of you. I mean, find out parts you don’t even know about yourself, your weaknesses and you strengths, etc. Maybe, I’m not pretty sure, I will share it with Mariona Isern, from 2nd Batxillerat A. Do you know her?

-Miquel: Yes, Of course! I also want to share flat with my colleagues . I want to change my lifestyle: go out to parties, meet new people, concentrate on studies and live the life.

-Aina: Hahahahah! I see that you are looking forward to it, aren’t you? Actually, I would go so far as to say that those are the plans all teenagers are waiting for impatiently.

-Norden: Hey! I’m still here! Do you want to know about me or shall I leave?

-Norden: Waiter can you give me some water, please?

Waiter: Yes, sure!  “What an annoying group” .

-Miquel: No, no. Don’t be impatient: Tell us about you.

-Norden: Hahaha! Ok. So as you said before, I also want to live the life . So I think I’ll find someone who I could share a flat with and I also want to keep going to gym everyday so i can keep my body in perfect conditions like I’m doing now. Then I’ll come here, to Riumors, with the family, at the weekends, to remember the old times . You are going to come to your family houses too, aren’t you?

-Aina: Yes, family will always be here, so we must come back every weekend just to remember them that they have to clean our clothes hahahha.

No, that’s a joke. If we want to be independent, we have to clean our things.

-Miquel: I absolutely agree with you guys. I think I have to go. It was really good to see you and talk with you. See you soon.

-Norden: Good bye Miquel. See you next day

-Aina: See you Miquel, don’t drink too much tonight at new year party.

Norden, Aina and Miquel

SELF-EVALUATION

Presentation (10%):

-          Do you use any resources? Yes. I have used Prezi with an organized information and complemented with some images. I think iit was easy to follow.

-          Are the resources focused on the topic? Yes. I think I have presented all the information I've been searching during my TdR's project and I have put it in a correct way to make it more clearly.

-          Do the resources support your oral explanation? Yes, because if you lose you speech, just watching it, you are able to find yourself.

-          Is the timing 5-10 minutes? Yes, I have spent about 7 minutes

Body language & eye contact (10%):

-          Are you looking at your audience most of the time? Yes, I think I had been studying myspeech for hours so I was able to explain without a paper helping. Well, almost without watching it.

-          Are you reading occasionally from your notes? Just once, but because I was really nervous. Maybe it can penalize me.

-          Are you doing any gestures/movement to hold the attention of your audience? I am not going to say that I wasn’t moving but I think that instead of moving to hold the attention of the audience, I  was moving because of nerves. In comparison with other presentations, I've improved my body language and maybe because I've already presented it, it was easier for me to move fluently.

Structure (10%):

-          Do you organize your ideas in order of importance? Absolutely yes. I think that the structure of my presentation was pretty good.

-          Do you use discourse makers to make your ideas more clear? I think so. I didn’t use too much of them, but the appropriate ones.

Content (40%):

-          Do you introduce new information to your audience? Although no question had been asked, I think I introduce new information because every single one who presents his Tdr project has given new information.

-          Is your information detailed, clear and…? Yes. Maybe I have introduced some new vocabulary and it is possible that the audience has never heard about those words, but I wanted to improve myvocabulary, so I try to put them on purpose.

-          Do you give/ show examples? I put three example about Influencer benefits, and maybe I could be added more than one. But in the other hand, it is difficult to show examples in this kind of serious presentations.

Language (20%):

-    Is your grammar correct, complex? I have chosen some new words to make it more interesting but I also have tried to keep our english level and speak in my usual vocabulary. I commit some mistakes in my grammar expression, for example, like my teacher said, it is "could speak" instead of "could spoke".

-          Is your vocabulary rich, varied? Like I said before, when I was doing the presentation at home, I had to search new words because I didn't know how to translate them from catalan to englsih.

-          Do you use sentence linkers? Pretty much.

-          Do you use fillers? Just in few occasions. I have to try to improve my "mmhh..., umm..." because it appeared that I don't know how to follow the sentence.

Pronunciation & Intonation (10%):

-          Do you know how to pronounce all your words? Did you check the pronunciation? I tried to pronounce new words correctly but it’s hard to say it well when you never have used it. Even though, my teacher said that I had to improve my pronunciation, so I'm listening the Tv in english everyday, hoping it becomes better.


-          Do you change your tone of voice or use monotone tone all the time? Do you speak in a fluid continum or with breaks and interruptions? I think I changed the tone of voice more frequently but after heard me in a video, I don’t think I have do it frequently, just in few occasions.

After this revision I consider that I have made a good presentation, with a very good structure and content, and I have shared all what I have learnt with the audience.


Finally I evaluate myself with this marks:

-          Presentation : 10 % out of 10%
-          Body language & eye contact: 9% out of 10%
-          Structure: 10% out of 10%
-          Content: 40% out of 40%
-          Language: 18% out of 20%
-          Pronunciation & Intonation: 9% out of 10%

TOTAL: 96% out of 100% = 9,6 out of 10

LINGUISTIC INVESTMENT

Two years ago, I went to Ireland with a travel company because I wanted to do a linguistic investment. I have to say that it was a really good experience but, the problem was that I shared the trip, the classes and all the activities with people from Catalonia and Spain, so we spoke almost all the time in Catalan or Spanish.

So this is what brings me to talk about traveling into another country. I love traveling, and I think I repeat it in almost every post I do, but when my parents said that I would go to Ireland I was really exciting.

At first I thought it would be difficult to integrate into the group because I was traveling alone, but everybody was super kind and there wasn’t any problem for meeting new people.

Using Ireland experience as a reference, I would like to repeat it again, but I would change something. I would like to travel alone and without any company, I mean, going in a foster family and feeling the obligation to speak all the time in English. I think this is the best way to improve my English and maybe I can meet people from that country (if it’s possible, from USA, my dream destination) and get in contact with them, having the opportunity to travel again to the country and having the chance to offer my house to them, to bring them into my country and share with them all we have here. In other words, carry out an exchange.

It is possible that my obsession to travel and meet new experiences has led me to really want to find a job in which I can travel a lot and meet people from every country. I like to listen about different life and learning lots of worthy things we don’t appreciate here, seeing different points of view, and open my main to become more creative and innovative.

Concluding my text, I would say that do an exchange could be interesting if you travel completely alone, or if you make sure that you aren’t going to talk in your native language with those who are going to travel with you. And in my opinion, the best option is to be in a foster family, because there isn’t any other way to communicate with them than speaking English. And finally, you must choose a place you know you would like to visit, because getting out and discovering the city you can learn a lot of vocabulary and colloquial expressions which, after all, make your English more authentic.

NEWS

REMEMBERING THE HOLOCAUST'S FORGOTTEN VICTIMS

In Friday 27 of January 2017, International Holocaust Memorial Day was celebrated.

Although they defended people who died in death camps (mainly Jews, but also Roma, political prisoners and others), they also remembered people who were killed in the Nazi project “Aktion T4”, where disabled and ill people, even they were German, were gassed.

Anna Lehnkering, 24 year-old girl, and Ernst Putzki, were two victims of this project, and they their families talked in the name of their dignity.

Lots of people declare this act as the trigger of the big Holocaust that followed it and they have the same opportunity to be remembered like anyone else who were killed in those hell.

I found this publication really interesting because my school class and I went to German last year, and it was an educational trip. So we went to, approximately, three death camps and we also visit Hartheim Castle, which was the place where Nazis killed lots of people like Anna Lehnkering and Ernst Putzki, with disabled and ill people were murdered.

They talked us about the project “Aktion T4” and, even though I was really shocked about all the people who died in death camps, it impacted me to see that Nazis killed people of the same nationality.

Finally, I would like to say that it is a very good approach to celebrate this International Day in order to avoid this people to be buried. It has to remain for years and we don’t have to let dignity’s people die with their unfairly killed bodies.

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38773057

NEWS

THE READERS CHOOSE THE BEST YEAR SCIENCE

This 29 of January 2017, 8 investigations have been nominated for Vanguardia Science’s Award in this 7th edition.  

They are 3 of biomedicine field, 2 of fundamental biology, 2 of economics science, and one of physics. Vanguardia readers would be able to vote the investigation they consider the most interesting.

The award was created for Grupo Godó and the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera with the aim of giving visibility to Spain investigations. They consider that athletes and artists, they sometimes are better known than great scientists and offering the chance to vote for them, they give them the possibility to be well-known.

The eight finalists are: “Una estrategia contra la metastasis” of Salvador Aznar-Benitah and Gloria Pascual, “Vencedores y víctimas de la globalización” of Luigi Pascali, “Rejuvenecer los tejidos envejecidos” of Pura Muñoz-Cánoves and Laura García-Prat, “Nueva técnica para obtener electricidad” of Gustau Catalan, “Terapias para enfermedades autoinmunes” of Pere Santamaria, “El núcleo de las células genera energía” of Miguel Beato and Roni Wright, “Por qué se mantiene la brecha entre sexos” of Miguel Beato and Roni Wright and “La carrera de armamentos de las bacterias” of Francisco M. Mojica and Cristóbal Almendros.

All of them have been singled out by an advisory committee with the representation of highlighted institutions of scientific community.   

It is a Spanish news but I was reading the Vanguardia’s headlines and I came across with this interesting one.

It was really interesting to read all of the investigations, where you can get on by clicking the link of every investigation title, and see how our society is developing many worthwhile facts, and also to place value on fields that aren’t really known around the society.

Boost science researches instead of sports news, in my view, is value things that have a value of its own.

And finally I would like to say that, for me, the most interesting research was “Rejuvenecer los tejidos envejecidos” of Pura Muñoz-Cánoves and Laura García-Prat, because it can provides advantages in a near future and it is something that they have been investigating during a wide period of time. 

Link: http://www.lavanguardia.com/ciencia/20170129/413693003687/prenio-vanguardia-de-la-ciencia-2017.html