24/7

As you probably know 24/7 usually means that something is available at any time every day. However, what a lot of people who is learning a language don't usually know is that learning process should also be 24/7.
In order to get your goal, you need to make it a part of your life, a part of your daily routine. Besides, you need to enjoy learning and practice your language skills as much as possible, whenever you have an opportunity.
I have to admit that this post is just an excuse to let you know my own achievements in the English learning process. I've been taking some courses online about different subjects (all in English, of course) and I already finished some of them. I'm still enrolled in a few others.

I discovered that this is a good way to learn about a lot of new and interesting subjects and fields that I know nothing or very little about, and at the same time improve my English skills and acquire new vocabulary.

If you are interested yourself in trying some of this courses, I recommend you to visit www.futurelearn.com. Hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Life on Mars

Some pieces of information about current and future missions to the planet Mars have hit the media lately. It has been for a few years now, but today it was made public an unsuccessful mission developed by ESA (European Spatial Agency). Basically, the plan was to put a robot on Mars and use it to collect and transmit information to the Earth to help the researchers to decide if there is life on Mars or not. It sounds amazing and challenging. However, to set up all these kind of projects it is necessary a lot of funds.
On the one hand, it is well-known the fact that investing in research and development for this kind of projects has a huge impact in our lives because of the future use of the technologies and scientific breakthroughs obtained during the path to achieving the goal. In fact, a lot of the commodities we enjoy nowadays are due to advances in science and technology achieved during the project Manhattan to build the atomic bomb, or during the Cold War in order to put a man on the Moon.
On the other hand, it is easy to consider that a lot of funds still can be destined to research and development projects aiming to improve the quality of life on Earth, taking into account all of the people living here, and our environment. This way, money would not be wasted and better investments would be made, providing benefits to a larger amount of people saving a considerable amount of capital in the process.
Following with the idea of not funding projects to travel to Mars or other planets that cannot give us shelter, it is fair to ask what the point of putting a human being on Mars is. Considering the climate conditions not suitable for human life, the scarcity of water in the liquid state, the lack of other raw materials needed to survive, the distance to Earth, etc. it is understandable to find this project a way to throw away a lot of money and resources that could help millions of people to survive, and have a better life here on our planet.
In conclusion, governments should be more concerned about citizen's needs and less about trying to achieve a place in history. It should be necessary to vote to decide on this kind of megaprojects.

About writing

When I start writing something in English, I usually have two problems. On the one hand, I have the most common problem about writing: fear of blank page. Besides, I have the usual doubts of non-native speakers when dealing with a language.
The "syndrome" of the blank page is not a big deal for me. I started a blog several years ago, and I used to write quite often. Also, I read a lot about different subjects, so I also have ideas wandering around my mind and ready to be put down in words. The problem is sometimes the way I write down those thoughts. I only have to take some time to order my thoughts and keep my writing structured.
Writing texts is always a challenge to our mind, thus writing in a second language is even more challenging. I have a lot of doubts about the punctuation, the suitability of the words I use in every situation, the grammar, or the structure of the whole article. This situation is not very different than when you use your native tongue. However, in my opinion, using English raises these feelings of insecurity to a higher level.
In conclusion, we are not such unique individuals. We share a lot of things in common, and one of them is the fear of the unknown. Considering that, it seems to me clear that the best way to mitigate our issues with writing is doing it. There are no magical solutions, just working on it. The more we practice, the more comfortable we will feel about it.