FINAL REFLECTION

DIFFERENCES AND PROGRESS

Now I’m writing my last two posts, I’m going to try to do it the best possible I can because if I have to compare it with the first one I did when I was at 4th of ESO, I have to make the difference and the progress remarkable. 

My first writing (which you can find by clicking this link http://ainaenglishblog.blogspot.com.es/2014/10/my-dream.html) was about my dreams and I can asure that I did it as better as I could and I remember searching words in the dictionary in order to make it more worship. However, when I’ve read it again, I’ve seen that there’s no words that make it mature and the vocabulary is quite plane. The structures tend to be simple and short. 

If I compare it with the most recent one, which is the one I’m writing right now, I can say that words come to my mind easily and there’s no need to be constantly checking the dictionary, and I think I’m using a lot of new word which I have learn in this two years. The syntax is more complex and I use lots of different verbal tense that we have been looking through in batxillerat. What I can remark the most, is the use of phrasal verbs which has increased considerably and it always make the writing and the speaking sound more fluently. 

If I had to talk about my oral presentations, I have no hesitation in saying that I have gained confidence in myself and my voice and body reflects it perfectly. What I think it has helped me the most is the preparation I did days before the official TDRs oral presentation. I presented it to my family and my friends and they were correcting me and advising me about what I could do and what I had to avoid to do: like moving a lot, let nervous take me over, etc. 

In the first one oral presentation (which you can find by clicking this link http://ainavesamartinez.blogspot.com.es/2015/11/self-evaluation-of-our-oral-presentation.html) it is obvious that I’m really nervous and the vocabulary and the structures we use are simple and they aren’t too much inovative and complex. 

Comparing it with the last one (which you can find by clicking this link http://ainawanderlust.blogspot.com.es/2016/12/presentation-10-you-use-any-resources.html) the words I use are more refined look and I try to use the vocabulary I’ve learn in second batxillerat. I also try to avoid grammatical mistakes and I think that I did a good job but where I can spot the big difference is when my sentences become longer and complex, where it’s easier to commit a mistake. 

MY ENGLISH COMPETENCE 2017

If I had to choose my ‘favourite’ or my best oral presentation I think I would choose the one I did with Marta about Instagram and social networks and how they affect society nowadays. It’s a pity because we couldn’t post it and now we can not link it, but I suppose that Lourdes can remember it. Marta and I were talking about how we all want to have the lives that appear in Instagram and how it makes us feel uncomfortable or empty. We prepared it a lot and we were practising it for a few days, maybe because we were interested in the topic. 

I think it was my best oral presentation because we gave examples and we asked for the collaboration of the rest of the class. They answered the questions we asked them and they realize that what we were saying was exactly what they feel when they are at home connected in the social networks. 

Apart from it, we also try to find fitting and new words to make it more mature and to make it sound ‘more english’. 

Now, if I had to choose my best written post, I would say that is the one that talks abou ‘White Helmets” (http://ainawanderlust.blogspot.com.es/2017/03/news_12.html). 

I think I really enjoy it and I just let my mind fly away. I was really inspired and my words came to my mind like if english was my first language. I used expressions like ‘cry for fewer people’ that make it sound more english. I wrote long sentences and complex ones.

After all, now we have finished batxillerat, I would like to make a fast view through this last year and I would like to say that my english has definitely improve, my vocabulary is richer and my oral expression is more fluently. 

What I think it has helped me the most is watching television in english. When they first told me I wasn’t used to watch it in a different language, but when I first decided I should change my habits, I finally got to watch one episode of Grey’s anatomy in english. From that moment, I have been listening lots of films, series and songs in english so it’s easier for me to understand the listening we do at english class.

One thing I would like to propose to the high school is to teach the students more phrasal verbs and expressions because they are what english people really use and sometimes, when you are taught in some way and then you hear people talking and using expressions you didn’t hear before, it become more difficult to understand. 

Finally, I would like to thank you, Lourdes, for helping me to improve my english and taking me into account. It has been great to spend my last year of batxillerat with a teacher who puts all her efforts in their students. 

INFORMAL LETTER

12 Devonshire Street

17486, London

9th May, 2017

Complejo de la Moncloa

Avda. Puerta de Hierro s/n

28071 Madrid

Spain

Dear Mr. President Rajoy, 

I am writing to express my concern regarding the weath distribution that is being carried out in the Spanish government. 

I would like to point out that, in my own opinion, lots of millions of euros are being allocated to the army and useless infraestructures.

I think that lots of other aspects should be taken into consideration: almost 20% of the Spanish population is unemployed, hundreds of families have been, and still are, foreclosed, university taxes are one of the most expensive of Europe and so on.

I would like you to know, with my more truthful respect, that the wealth distribution needs to take another route and you should assume the responsibility to reduce the difference between weath and poverty. 

I strongly urge you to take my request into account and you lay out policies and laws that help to improve social conditions, in order to built a new better society.

Your sincerely,  

Aina Vesa Martínez.

FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

It’s difficult to define what human rights are but one way to explain it is the rights we all have simply because we’re born: rights to live, to born free and equal, to choose your religion, etc.

It’s not really known where and when they were created but it’s considered that the Cyrus cylinder was the first writing where feature the human rights. At the very first beginning there wasn’t any rights, you were in the crowd or not. Then the Cyrus Cylinder came up in 535 b.C., After that, different events happened and they marked historical dates where human rights were vindicated: Natural Law (27 b. C.), Magna Carta (1215 a. C), American Constitution (1776), French Revolution and Natural rights (1789), Napoleon defeat (1800), Ghandi (1915), World Wars (1914-1917, 1939-1945) and finally United Nations (1946).

In every event there were written different human rights, but nowadays the ones who are remaining are thirty, for example: Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights or Article 2: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

There are lots of human rights that must be respected and I can't hightlight one of them. But if I could talk about one of them I would choose freedom of thought.
What makes the difference between people and animals is the capacity to think and call the shots that we think benefit us. We can valorate different people because of what they say or how they act.  If we repress this right, in what we become? Our identity principle dissipates and our values disappeares.
We must have the freedom of speech and express what we think, make the difference and share opinions. Find the best way to progress and there is no better way of do that, that sharing opinions and discusting about which one is the best.

SPEECH TO UNO

Yes, we can say we have progress in technology. We can also asure it in education, in medications and with lots of other aspects. It's easy to feel the progress just if we focus on what really they (the government and the high positions) are interested to show us, but what is the dark side? What is hidding behind the progress? Or preferably, what do they want to disguise?

Money has brought lots of benefits nowadays but it aslo has accentuated corruption. It's the worst evil imaginable in human beings and it makes them forget about what human rights are and represent. 

What we thought we had overcome, has resurfaced again and harder than ever. 

They let people suffer and they ignore absolutely thei suffering, and their families suffering. 

What about investing money in the struggle for justice? We should lay aside money interests and work for what you really create UNO. 

Fight for equality and human rights, we all have the same oportunities and chances to live. 

NOMOPHOBIA

14 Castelló d'Empúries

Girona

18th April 2017

Dear Xènia, 

How are you doing? Hope you are really good. 

I just have deided to write you because I think you should know how your mobil phone addiction is affecting you and I would like to talk to you about nomophobia. I think you are constantly topping up your battery life, you are always checking your phone just to make sure you don't have missed messages or calls, you are worrying about losing it and even you feel panic and anxiety when you are separated from it. 

What I would recomend you is to try to leave it apart and try to stay for a week, minimum, without the phone. If you need to contact someone and talk to them, you can send a message to meet them and leave it again. Also, you can try to entretain yourself by doing some activities like outdoor sports, watching films, reading books or chating with your friends or family members. 

After all, you just have to want to overcome this nomophobia beacuse if you don't put all your effort, it will be wasted advice. 

So, I'll see you next day and hope you take into consideration what I've told you. 

All the best, 

Kisses from Aina. 

NO MEN BEYOND THIS POINT

“In a world where women have become asexual and are no longer giving birth to males, a quiet, unassuming housekeeper named Andrew Myers finds himself at the centre of a battle to keep men from going extinct.”

I must say that while we were watching the film we all feel a little bit estrange about it because we were, and we aren’t nowadays, used to imagine a world without men. But, however, it has been interesting to see how the world would change in this situation.

When you watch this film you realize that men are most of the time the main causes of many problems we have at present. Their nature is usually more aggressive than women’s character and it brings them to start wars, arguments, gender-based violence, and threats, among others. And it doesn’t end up here; women are usually more organized than men and they really know how to share a flat, to show solidarity with the rest, be helpful when they are called for help, respect themselves and the life space of everyone, etc.

After all of it we could say that maybe a world without men would be a great idea and it will eradicate numerous troubles we have today. But if I had to choice which world I would prefer I wouldn’t have the hesitation to choice the world with men; nevertheless I would like to signify that men should value much more what women do for them and they should take in consideration all the great ideas that women can have and how useful they can result, letting them to hold a position plenty of responsibilities, like president.

And according to the film, the best way to make them realize about all of this stuff is to reach the borderline and it would be then, when they are going to react. As is often said, you don’t realize about what you have until you lose it. 

ABOUT LONDON

1- Locate our hostel  "Safestay Elephant and Castle" in google. Check out the facilities and regulations of the hotel. What you can do and what you mustn't do. 

FACILITIES
- Central city location
- Bar and restaurant
- Key card security system
- Full CCTV coverage
- 24-hour reception
- Free Wi-Fi in public areas
- Laundry room
- Social areas including TV and chill-out rooms
- Private garden at Kensington Holland Park and Elephant & Castle
- Private terrace at York
- Great social spaces at Edinburgh

REGULATIONS

- At Check-in, groups are required to leave a security deposit of £250 (£500 for Stag and Hen Parties) to cover any damages caused during the stay at the hostel. The deposit will be returned on departure subject to no damages being reported or detected. The deposit is payable via cash, debit or credit card.

- The comfort of all of our guests is of paramount importance. Any guests who in the opinion of our staff compromise the comfort, safety, or security of other guests, staff or local residents will be requested to leave the hostel premises and will not be issued a refund.

- On arrival, at least one leader will be required to sign a statement of intention to uphold the rules set in place for groups upon arrival. The group leaders must ensure that all members of their group behave in an acceptable manor.

- The group leader will be responsible for any wilful damage that is caused to the rooms, furnishings or hostel, for any theft of hostel property by any member of the group or in the case of guest complaints due to the behaviour of the group. Damages will be deducted from the security deposit paid and remaining costs will be required to be paid, or a payment agreement reached prior to departure.

- Should damage come to light after the group has departed, we reserve the right to make a charge to the group's credit / debit card, or send an invoice for the amount to the registered address. We will however make every effort to rectify any damage internally prior to contracting specialists to make the repairs, and therefore will make every effort to keep any costs that the guest would incur to a minimum.

- Smoking is strictly forbidden anywhere on Safestay premises. Any group member found smoking within the building will be charged a fee of £250.00 in order to cover the extensive cost of restoring the room to a smoke-free condition. Further failure to comply will result in the group being asked to leave the premises immediately and will not be offered a refund. If you wish to smoke please ask reception staff about designated smoking areas on arrival.

2- In google maps:

What can you visit near our hotel? (30 minutes on foot)

How far is the hostel from the center Piccadilly Circus?

How can you get to the center by bus and by tube?  UNDERGROUND

SAFESTAY ELEPHANT AND CASTLE

BIG BEN

LONDON EYE

GERALDINE MARY HARMSWORTH PARK

Piccadilly Circus is about 52 minutes on food and 17 minutes on underground if we take it in Bakerloo.

2. How can you get to the restaurants for dinner? and from the restaurants to the hostel?

On the 4th of April: LEICESTER ARMS (844 Glasshouse Street, Picadilly)

On the 6th of April:  ZETLAND 82 Bute Street, kensington)

To go to the first restaurant, we should take the underground from Bakerloo until Piccadilly Circus Station. And the same to go back to the hostel: take the underground from Piccadilly Circus Station to Bakerloo.

The second one, we should take the underground from South Kensington Station until Westminster Station and then take the underground from Westminster Station Bridge Street (Stop H) until Larcom Street (Stop A). So this is the way from Zetland to our hostel. 

3. Look for 3 must-see landmarks in London you definitely would like to visit.

Write 50 words about each landmark and how to get there from our hostel by bus or tube.

LONDON EYE → The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. Also known as the Millennium Wheel, it has also been called by its owners the British Airways London Eye, the Merlin Entertainments London Eye, the EDF Energy London Eye and, as of mid-January 2015, the Coca-Cola London Eye. 

BIG BEN → Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London and is usually extended to refer to both the clock and the clock tower as well. The tower is officially known as Elizabeth Tower, renamed to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012; previously, it was known simply as the Clock Tower.

LONDON TOWER

1066 : William the Conqueror establishes the Tower to keep hostile Londoners at bay.

1080s: Work on the White Tower is under way.

1101: Ranulf Flambard, the first known prisoner at the Tower, makes a daring escape.

1155: Thomas Becket, keeper of the works at the Tower, carries out repairs.

1220s: Henry III starts a major expansion of the royal palace.

1251 : A polar bear joins the Tower menagerie.

1263: Henry III surrenders the Tower to Simon de Montfort.

1275-79: Edward I builds St Thomas’s Tower and the watergate now known as Traitors' Gate.

1360 : John II ‘the Good’ of France lives in great splendour as a prisoner.

1381: Simon of Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, is dragged out of the Tower and murdered on Tower Hill during the Peasants’ Revolt. 

1389: Geoffrey Chaucer, clerk of works, oversees completion of Tower Wharf. Chaucer is better known for having written The Canterbury Tales.

1483: The Princes in the Tower disappear, presumed murdered.

1485: Henry VII founds the body ofYeoman Warders or 'Beefeaters'.

1536: Queen Anne Boleyn is beheaded on Tower Green by a swordsman brought especially from France.

1554: Lady Jane Grey, the ‘nine days queen’, is executed. Princess Elizabeth, later Elizabeth I, is imprisoned in the Tower.

1605: Guy Fawkes is tortured at the Tower following the failed Gunpowder Plot to assassinate James I and blow up Parliament.

1671: Colonel Blood attempts to steal the Crown Jewels.

1780: The last hanging takes place on Tower Hill.

1826: Duke of Wellington becomes Constable of the Tower and appoints Yeoman Warders based on their exemplary military service.

1835: Tower Menagerie closes. The animals are transferred to the new London Zoo.

1841: Crown Jewels are saved from fire.

1850: Koh-i-noor diamond is presented to Queen Victoria.

1952: East end London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray are held at the Tower.

2012: The Crown Jewels exhibition opens.

CAN LOVE LAST FOREVER?

Love is something difficult to define and even up to poets have tried to do that like something very personal. Nevertheless, over the past few years, there are researchers who are trying to give an explanation to this feeling. 

One of them is the psychologist Robert Sternberg who talks about the “triangular love Theory”: intimacy (emotional closeness), passion (sexual attraction) and commitment (be together). 

On the basis of this theory, we can define an enduring love as that which comply with and respect these three rules. But, can we keep this foundations forever? 

Thanks to all the investigations that have been taken over recent years, we know that the biggest source of all what happens to us when we fall in love is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that increase and produce pleasant symptoms. But it doesn’t act alone, because noradrenaline steps in also, and it makes us focus our attention in one object (love object in this case). We have to add a decline in serotonin which is the responsible to generate obsessive thoughts related with our love. 

This could sound as a real love and we could say outright that love will last forever if people could maintain their feelings on the top, but it has been demonstrated that chemical love ends in 2 or 3 years after the first crush. 

In light of the anthropologist Helen Fisher, two patters were repeated: women had children every four years, exactly the average of expiration time of marriage. Coincidence? The anthropologist wraps up that in couples it tends to repeat a cycle: a first stage of crush which the priority is sexual contact; the other one called love or affection, where the objective is to have a child; and the last one which ends up with the splitting.  

Notwithstanding, it is just a theory but not a science. Passion can increase or decrease depending on the chemical fluctuations, but along the time other elements can raise like solidarity or fellowship, which will contribute to feed the passion. 

If we are able to keep passion in equal measures as affection and solidarity, everything improves. 

On the other hand we can compare two different opinions between teenagers and elderly people. What we are going to obtain is a large percentage of teenagers that deny the possibility of “love for ever” and, in contrast, the majority of elderly people would believe in eternal love. 

The reasons why we obtain these answers are: nowadays technology and social networks are all around and we are much more open to the society considering all the chances that lie ahead; today, and thanks to all those who fight for it, we have the freedom to choose with who we want to stay and we have the right of divorce in comparison with the madness that was meant to split up with your couple. 

In conclusion, we can say that we must take into consideration the three rules of the “triangular love Theory” if we want to love someone forever and we should keep the fire burning if we want prolong the chemical love that appears when we crush with someone.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

TED’S àhttps://www.ted.com/talks/alec_soth_stacey_baker_this_is_what_enduring_love_looks_like  [09.03.2017]

https://www.ted.com/talks/helen_fisher_tells_us_why_we_love_cheat [09.03.2017]

https://www.ted.com/talks/jenna_mccarthy_what_you_don_t_know_about_marriage [09.03.2017]

ARTICLES à

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hold-me-tight/201006/can-love-last-lifetime [09.03.2017]

https://www.babble.com/relationships/ways-to-tell-if-your-love-will-last-forever/  [09.03.2017]

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

JOKE

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B13RjxWm6qCMUWphZTFMN0o1czA

TED SPEECH

YOUR BODY LANGUAGES SHAPES WHO YOU ARE

This twenty minutes speech shows us how can you be uncovered with just looking at your body or, in contrast, how your body language can change your mind and your way to act.

Amy Cuddy has offer a speech which she begins with a little introduction asking for the attention of the audience who has to focus on their body position the next two minutes. Afterwards she goes on with an example for introduce her talk which will persist until the end. She talks about the position of power. Other scientists and she have been studying how people reacts in front of different situations and they have wrapped up that there’re two noticeable postures that transmits how powerful the person feels in that moment.

Amy Cuddy split this responses into powerful people, those who tend to optimise the space occupied by opening their arms or putting their legs on the table, or stretching their legs as much as they can, etc. The other kind of reaction was striking in feeble people. They close their arms, they are hunching, crossing their legs, wrapping their ankles: making themselves smaller.

Throughout a study that consists in submit people under pressure or in a threatening situation like job interviews, she comes to the conclusion that cortisol and testosterone are the gauges that correspond to those body postures. Testosterone increases and cortisol decreases in powerful people and the other way round in non-powerful ones.

Practically concluding Cuddy narrates a short personal story reminding the importance of overcoming and how you should struggle with your mind faking you feel comfortable and gain confidence with yourself as time moves forward and always think that if you are doing something it is because you were supposed to be there.

And finally she advices audience to adopt these powerful positions when we aren’t sure about feel strong enough or skilled enough, in one way or another faking our minds making them seem as though that we feel comfortable and sure with that situation.

First of all, I’ve found this speech interesting because it talks about attitudes we aren’t conscious we do, so it is always a good idea to investigate about some behaviours ruled by our unconscious mind.

I agree at all with the explanation she gave about how people adopt different postures depending on how they feel in this situation. Looking back, I confirm that I tend to cross my legs during an oral presentation, or wrap my arms, etc. because I don’t feel comfortable in this situation, I always think this isn’t my place and I try to go unnoticed as much as I can. But, however, when I spend time with my friends or at home (places where I feel absolutely comfortable, I tend to spread out and take up space, feeling sure with what I’m defending.

Making a reference to the other part of the speaking, the last one, I can’t corroborate the effectiveness to fake our minds. I’ve never tried it, and it’s something I should do. I’ll show a powerful and self-confident posture every time I don’t feel I should be there. I will believe in myself and maybe it can offer more relaxed and fluid sensations which I can transmit in my talks.

Some words I’ve learned in this speech are:
Awkward interaction: an interaction difficult to use, do, or deal with.
Sued: to take legal action against a person or organization, especially by making a legal claim for money because of some harm that they have caused you.
Cortisol: a hormone that is used in medicine to treat parts of the body that are swollen and painful.
Take a gamble on you: trust in you.
Whopping: extremely large.
Fake it: To make a pretense of knowledge, skill, etc.
Feeling sort of shut down: feel devastated. 

I’ve chosen some Amy Cuddy quotes with which I agree: 

“EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU HAS SOMETHING TO OFFER AND YOU HAVE THE RESPONIBILITY TO DISCOVER WHAT IT IS"

Dear Lourdes,

I’m Aina Vesa Martínez and I’m 17 years old. I live in Castelló d’Empúries and I was born in Figueres hospital.

Nowadays I’m a student from IES Castelló d’Empúries and I’m doing second of batxillerat in order to access to a university degree. Indeed, I’ve been a lucky person to the effect that I have always had a clear idea of what I would like to study in the future; my life goals are pretty set.

If we talk about this course goals I could say that I hope to earn good grades because I would like to get a scholarship to have a part of my studies paid and because it’s a hallmark of a good student. It also means that I would study whatever I am interested in and wherever I prefer.

I don’t really expect any challenge this course because I’ve been always putting pressure upon myself to get excellent marks, so maybe the only challenge I have to face is to keep up with my study rhythm and try not to drop in grades.

But if we refer to a broader meaning I’m convinced I have a long way to go plenty of challenges which I will try to overcome working hard with the strength of self-improvement and always counting on the unswerving support of my parents, my friends, my family and the teachers that once believe in me.

I would like to make a careful consideration about the sentence “Every single one of you has something to offer and you have the responsibility to discover what it is” said by President Obama. I’m in favour of multiple intelligences which means that everybody has different skills. It’s too complicated to know about everything and it’s not necessary either. Just focus on what you are good at and with what you feel comfortable and improve yourself spending time on whatever it is, in order to be the best, if not more, playing your part in that you’ve been working at. Maybe your contribution will be the grain of sand necessary to end the sandcastle.

Hence, refuse to give up and don’t listen to those who try to sink you, they haven’t found with what they are good at, so they don’t want to let you find your way.

Put your best effort and don’t let any opportunity scape because one of them belongs to you.

  
So, that's all. Hope to see you soon,
Good bye, Lourdes.