THE INDEPENDENCE OF SCOTLAND AND CATALUÑA

THE INDEPENDENCE OF SCOTLAND AND CATALUÑA

This year we have had a lot of problems with the issue of independence and it hasn’t finished yet. We see the case of Scotland and a lot of Spanish people think that they should be independent. However, when foreign people ask us, if Cataluña should be or could be independent, we don’t have the same answer.

Some people say that the case of Scotland is not the same as the case in Cataluña. It is true that they are in two different regions, that their purpose after their “possible Independence”, is different. But we have to take into account that they are people that want their independence, because they don’t feel English in one case or Spanish in the other case, they have their own language and they are in a specific territory, so they have the possibility to be independent. It’s for that reason that I don’t understand some people when they say, that Cataluña can never be independent.

In spite of this, I personally don’t want the independence of Cataluña or Scotland, because I think that not all the Catalans feel only Catalans and not Spanish, and not all the Scottish feel only Scottish and not English, the Catalans or Scottish that want the independence don’t represent all their country. In fact, in the case of Cataluña, they are only the third part of Cataluña. 

Nevertheless I think that they should vote and be conscious about what they want. It will only affect me, if F.C. Barcelona doesn’t play in the Spanish league (because I don’t like it) and if I go another time to Scotland or Cataluña, so for me it wouldn’t be a problem.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC?

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF MUSIC?


There are a lot of people that like a lot of different types of music, but not everyone likes the same type of music. There are some that like rock, other like jazz... Because, if we had had the same opinion for music, we would have been robots, and we are humans.

It’s true that there are some types of music that you can hate like reggaeton or artists like JB... However, everyone should accept others' opinions, and not be intolerant with the interests of these people, like in my class. 

My favourite songs this year were Because I’m happy (Pharrel Williams), Hey Brother (Avicii) in English, and in French Sur ma route (Black M). Although, there are some artists that they will never die like ACDC, Michael Jackson, Mika, Bruno Mars or Train, because they are my favourite singers.

WHAT IS PODEMOS?!

WHAT IS PODEMOS?!

Podemos is a left-wing party created in January 2014. Nowadays it is the third political party, and the first in intention of vote. They are mostly from the left, but they also have people with conservative ideas. They have become successful because they want to change the bipartisanship of PP and PSOE. But, they have to solve a lot of problems if they want to win the elections. 

On the one hand, they have to be as they had said when they started, because they are having a lot of problems with TVs, newspapers... and they are beginning to have corruption in their party. Moreover, they have to define their intentions, I mean that we don't know how they are going to do what they would like to do in Spain.

On the other hand, it's true that I'm not going to believe all that the TVs or newspapers are saying, because, if we want to talk about corruption, they are the first that have corruption, and they are the opposition. And not many people take into account this fact. In addition, they are doing things that neither the Conservative Party nor the Socialist Party have ever done, and that is why they have gone to a lot TVs to defend their opinions.

All in all, I think that we have to wait and see if they have become so popular just because they haven't been in the government yet. But, seeing the things that have happened in the latest weeks, I can only say one thing, and it's that we tend to hate all what is new, and I'm not talking about technology.

THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN

THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN

Britain has got a lot of culture, because a lot of civilisations have been there. So, unless we have this in mind, we will never understand how the English language developed and why there are so many words of Latin origin in the English language, for example: pedestrian, via, versus.... It’s a well known fact that Romans stayed there for a long time, but what cities did they create and how long did they stay?

However, they left many monuments, cities and examples of Roman architecture in Britain that we can now visit. Last Easter I went to the Roman baths in Bath, they were really interesting. Next year, we are thinking about going to Chester, as long as I have good marks at school. I think that if I go, I will learn more about Roman culture. Moreover, Chester has a lot of beautiful and important monuments that we have to visit too.

In conclusion, Romans left us a lot of culture and not only in Britain. In Spain we have a lot of archaeological remains of the Romans, Muslims, Celts...

City skylines

London’s changing skyline: Are new skyscrapers good for the capital?

In Europe, big cities are usually very traditional. This is because Europe began to be more civilized before than America. Although, this is becoming a very big problem, because now builders have to be very careful with old structures and they can’t build as they like, their new buildings must be similar to old buildings. But, are big European cities respecting these factors, or not?

In some countries, like in Paris, they have a lot of dilemmas with these two problems. But, they are trying to respect them, and they aren’t building any skyscrapers or modern structures inside the city. There are other capital cities in Europe that are more modern like Madrid, as they haven't got so many monuments, and they can live wherever they want.

In spite of this, there are other capital cities that have very old structures, like London, and they only want to preserve the city centre, and in the rest of the city they are building big skyscrapers. And, why are they doing that, there is only one reason: money. 

All in all, we have to be sensible, we had got a very big crisis, and now countries need money, so the richest men in the world are investing in that. Europe also needs to be modern, but I think that cities were more beautiful before than now, with the old structures. 

Glossary: skyscraper, dilemmas, investing, preserve.

Putin signs law banning smoking in public in Russia

Smoking in Russia

Putin signs law banning smoking

in public in Russia

In the 60's a lot of people used to smoke. A lot of young people used to smoke because they thought that it was cool but, they didn't know the consequences of smoking. They didn't have talks about it, and they didn't know the components of a cigar or a cigarette.

However, nowadays it’s not the same because now, we have a lot of talks about it, even, if we don’t smoke. We also know their components and the diseases that you can have, if you are a heavy smoker. In spite of this, many young people continue doing this, and the problem is that they can’t stop.

The only “good thing” that they have is that if you are a very nervous person, it can relax you, but you are going to like more and more, and this is the big problem. Smokers think that there are others that drink alcohol, or take drugs... and they continue doing that, but this isn’t an excuse. However, there are some doctors that prescribe marijuana because it’s healthier than tobacco and it can relax you.

In conclusion, in my opinion the law banning tobacco in public places is really strict, but I'm in favour of it. However, people have rights, and this can be really unfair for smokers. 

GLOSARY: tobacco, marijuana, ban, disease, right.

Captain Nemo's dream

Captain Nemo's dream

World record broken for underwater living

Cousteau grandson attempts to break underwater record

There are a lot of forms of living, but one year ago someone said me that some Japanese engineers wanted to do houses underwater because, they wouldn't have enough space to build houses. I couldn't believe it, but it was true. I saw it in the news, in spite of this I haven't seen anyone living underwater, except Jacques Cousteau.

On the one hand, I think that living uderwater could be really difficult, because your house can be broken and you could drown. Another important fact is that it would cost a lot of money and not all people could live there. Moreover, you won't breathe fresh air in these types of houses.

On the other hand, it could be an important fact to think about because our planet could be polluted and we must have a place to escape. It could also be really amazing to live underwater for more than a week.

All in all, it's only an experiment, so we can learn how it works and how it will finish, it can finish bad. However, I think that they are lucky to do this experiment, but they have to pay attention to sharks.

2014 FIBA BASKETBALL WORLD CUP IN SPAIN

2014 FIBA BASKETBALL WORLD CUP IN SPAIN

The basketball world cup is being held these days in Spain, and our national team has five wins in a row.

Will they be able to reach the final and defeat the American team?

I think that there are a lot of sports that Spain is good at, for example: football,
basketball, tennis, Formula 1, badminton... But I think that our favourite types
of sports are team sports. It’s for this reason that we are good at basketball. We
have six players that play in the best  league in the world (the NBA) and six that 
play in two of the best clubs of our league. 

All people are saying that we can win this time. However, it is really difficult with 
the USA. They have the best league of the world and very good players that have
won the Basketball World Cup a lot of times. 

All in all, we have one of the best players in the world: Pau Gasol. And with him,
his brother, Juan Carlos Navarro..., we are going to put the USA in trouble. 
Spanish people say that the third time is the best to win, and I think I will support
Spain in the Final.

SUMMER MUSIC

SUMMER MUSIC

Go ahead and tell everybody. We want to know what are going to be our favourite songs for this summer. 

Here's my hint. What about yours?

A lot of artists write songs in summer because they know that people, especially young people, are going to listen to them during their holidays. Nowadays, I think that music is not as good as it was a few years ago in the 60s, 70s and 80s. I say that because now you can do a song without voice and instruments, only with a computer, and that isn’t good music.

In spite of this, I’ve heard good music this summer for example The Man (Aloe Blacc) or Summer (Calvin Harris)... I don't like all the types of music that I’ve heard this summer, but there are some of them that can be really good. I think that languages are very important in music, because most of my friends only like Spanish music. I don’t say that Spanish music is bad, but we should listen to foreign music, to learn a foreign language, if you want to learn one.

Different types of lifestyle

Different types of lifestyle

Nowadays, there are a lot of forms of living. There are people that live in trees, other people live in boats... And they live there because they like it. I think that you should be comfortable in the place that you are going to live for many years.

In spite of this, I reckon that not all people are satisfied where they live. It’s because if you haven’t got any much money, or you haven’t any place to live..., you won’t be comfortable. So, you have to live in other places that are not as comfortable as any person would like: in streets, in forests... Furthermore, nowadays with the crisis when we are having, this is becoming more common and this is a serious problem.

In my opinion, modern life is becoming more materialistic. In these days all people in a house have a computer, a mobile phone (not me), a TV, Internet... and they can’t live without them. For example, this year, I was talking to one of my classmates, and he didn’t look at me because, he was chatting with other classmates that were next to him.

All in all, I can’t talk about this because, I don’t have a mobile phone. But, I know one thing, I won’t live in a forest or in a boat if I can live at home with my things. In spite of this, I think that I can be less materialistic.

LIVING ALONE

LIVING ALONE

Nowadays, it is a well known fact that a lot of people live with their parents because they don’t find any work. It’s for this important reason that this is becoming a serious problem because, if you are living with your parents and you are comfortable, you will never accept a bad job which involved a lot of travelling, low pay or long hours. Therefore, are young people doing enough to find a job? Or can’t they work just because there aren’t any opportunities?

On the one hand, we may think that nowadays living alone can be very expensive. Not everyone could afford it. What’s more, if your house is near the university or job, you won’t need to be alone in another apartment.

On the other hand, we need to live alone because, our parents won’t live forever and they won’t be taking care of us at every moment. Another fact, it’s that you can do what you want at any time, you’ve got more freedom and independence.

Summing up , if you want to live alone, you will have to learn how to cook, you will need time to do all your housework... and that will take you a few hours a day. In spite of this, I think that all people need to be independent.

HOROSCOPES: Looking to the stars to foretell our future.

HOROSCOPES: Looking to the stars to foretell our future.

Nowadays, a lot of people have depressive problems and they think that medicine doesn't work because they have been taken medicines a lot of time, or they are very credulous and they believe in all types of horoscopes. It's for this reason that this people try to find alternatives like astrology, homeopathy, yoga... And I would say that for example all the people that look their horoscopes are been deceived, because we don't watch the stars in the same place that they are.

In my opinion there a lot of people that are called diviners that prey of other people and that is really unfair. I reckon that we are in a modern society, so that means that we don't think like in the Middle Ages. Now, we don't believe that there women are witches or things like that, we have changed.

However there are alternative medicines like acupuncture, that can you relax if you are really stressed. And with that I say that not all alternative medicines are bad for us. Futhermore there are some people that can't take medicines, so they have to prove alternatives.

In conclusion, if you are an intelligent person, you should think in what you have to do with your money if you were ill. 

The Tour de France is about to start and guess what...

The Tour de France is about to start and guess what... 

women find faster cyclists more attractive.

listening exercise and article to read

There are a lot of sports that need wheels to do them, one of them is cycling. Cycling is one of the oldest sports that we have nowadays. The most important event is The Tour of France, obviously it is in France and teams from all over the world take place once a year. It lasts three weeks.

This year there a lot of good cyclists that can win Froome, Cavendish, Nairo... Although, I hope that Alberto Cotador will win, because he is very good at it, he's Spanish and he has my name. I remember that when I was in France people used to call me Contador, but with the problem that he had of dopage of 0,0000..........5g of dopage, people thought that he was a liar and he hadn't won the Tour honestly. 

However, I think that if he had taken drugs, he would have said it at the end, like Amstrong. I don't know what to think with this joke because when I heard the news I couldn't believe it. In spite of this, Contador was brave and he is cycling to deny all this. I think he is going to fight really hard,

All in all, cycling is one of the hardest sports to do, you have to climb mountains by bike, after 100 kilometers cycling at 60 kilometers per hour. If you want to have very strong legs, it is your perfect sport.

The future of our employments

The future of our employments.

It is clear that the labour world and its conditions is changing. What do you think of these changes?

Nowadays, if you want to have a job (I'm not talking about the job of your life, I'm talking about a simple job), it's very difficult. That's the reason for the high rate of unemployment in Spain. However, are people searching for a job or are they watching TV at home? Has the Spanish government done anything to solve this problem since the beginning of the crisis?

Firstly I'm going to talk about all the people that are searching for a job and they don't find one. I think that if you search, you'll find it but the big problem I think that is the conditions that they are looking for. They can get a job, but for example if you earn 1000€, and you work very hard all the week, you have children, you have to pay for the house, the food, the car..., you won't accept this job.

Secondly, our government, in my opinion, thinks that unemployment isn’t an important factor to solve the crisis. At the beginning, the Spanish government did a lot reforms without taking care about layoffs that companies were doing. Nowadays, a lot of young people, and even people who are not so young, are jobless.

All in all, we have to think that one day we aren’t going to be in crisis and there won't be so many jobs as we expect.

Visit Scotland & the Scottish Independence referendum

Visit Scotland & the Scottish Independence referendum.

Two years ago I made my first study trip to Edinburgh. 

The experience was really incredible!!!

Scotland is a country which is in the UK, it has wanted to become an independent country since 1707, and with a lot of money it has created some independent laws. However, nowadays it's part of the UK. Scotland is very famous because it has got the Loch Ness, I haven't been there but the story tells that inside the loch there is a monster.

The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, it's a beautiful city, I was there two years ago and it was amazing. All the monuments that it has got, all its history, all its landscape... We went at Easter and we had a fantastic weather. The news said that they had got a drought during that week. The best monument that we saw was the big castle of Edinburgh.

A unique final and a great success for Spain & Madrid!!!

A unique final and a great success for Spain & Madrid!!!
No matter who has won. The most unique thing has been that two Spanish teams and two teams from Madrid have played an incredible math.

On 24th May this year a unique event happened in the world of football, and the record was that two teams from the same city reached the final of the UEFA Champions League. A lot of people think that it could be very possible in other leagues, like England in London (with all the teams that are in London). But, at least it happened in Spain with Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid.

The match was really exciting,although if you are very nervous, you'd better not watch you shouldn't have watched it, because in the minute 93 R.Madrid scored goal to force the extra-time, with a fantastic goal of Sergio Ramos. At the end Atlético de Madrid was exhausted, so he lost the match. The result was 4-1 for Real Madrid, but I think that the match was closer than what people can think if they only pay attention to the result.

I like Real Madrid, so I wanted Real Madrid to win the match. Although I think that Atlético de Madrid is a good team, this year they have won the league, and that's really difficult. All in all, the two teams were Spanish, and that's the important thing.