New achievement

A couple of weeks ago I attended C1 Certification exams at the EOI (Official Language School) with the humble intention of assessing my level the same way I did back in 2011. I was not really sure I had the skills needed to pass all the exams, in part because of the lack of speaking practice, to give an example. However, that was the point of signing up for it, to test those skills. That's what exams are for, right?

Well, the exams were all on the same day. In the morning, I had the speaking related evaluations (they took me around 25 minutes in total, and they were carried on in pairs). In the afternoon took place the rest of the exams (reading, writing, and listening), and they lasted for around 4 hours. All things considered, I must admit that I really enjoyed it.

In my view, my worst performance was during the first part of the spoken part (mediation). I didn't even know what that was before that morning, but I did my best, and in the end, I realized that it had been my weakest point. During the afternoon, I felt quite inspired, and I left the place with a feeling that my results on those 3 skills should be good enough to pass.

A couple of weeks later, the grades were published and I got really surprised. Apparently, I had missed two of the exams. I couldn't believe it, I knew I had been there, and it hadn't been a dream. The other results were the way I expected, but I would have to wait until the exam review day to find out what had happened.

After a long weekend waiting, on Monday I went to the EOI building to check my exams and to ask for an explanation. And the explanation was easy, there had been a human mistake while passing the data to the computer. The teacher who made the mistake apologized repeatedly, and we went to the head of the department to explain to him the situation and ask him to change the grades. Then, after all, I had passed the exams, and now I have a certified C1 level of English.

The exams made me realize how much I still have to learn, but at the same time helped me to see how far I have gone with a lot of self-learning, and some external help to practice speaking, get confident, and enjoy having conversations in English. This means a lot to me!

Languages are worth their weight in gold

According to different reports, the English level in Spain is not good, and it has not improved in the last decade. In contrast, other countries with a similar level 10 years ago have increased their numbers. These same sources suggest several factors that would explain this situation.

First, Spain's low GDP per capita affects the way people are interested in foreign languages. As a relatively poor country in Europe, Spaniards do not consider learning foreign languages as a priority. Furthermore, the size of the country is against the improvement of performance just because of the large domestic market that reduces the need for people to find external opportunities to make a living.

Finally, speaking the 4th most spoken language in the world also represents a drawback because dubbed movies, translated books, subtitled songs, etc. are widely available reducing the need to acquire a foreign language.

All the previous reasons should encourage young Spanish people to try harder to master a foreign, or at least to get a decent knowledge. However, the data shows otherwise. As a way to encourage them to try to change this trend is a good idea to remember some of the advantages of knowing at least a second language.

A person proficient in a second language can have the chance to meet more people and enjoy a good conversation with them. This is an amazing opportunity to have friends from different nationalities and cultures, and all the benefits in terms of learning and interacting with disparate/opposed views in relation to vital subjects in life that this implies.

A second language also increases the number of sources of information available. For instance, on the internet, there are plenty of resources in hundreds of languages and some of them are only available translated to just a few languages or even with no translation at all. Then, the more languages a person is familiar with, the more amount of information will have accessible. Likewise, options to choose where to study and job opportunities, and their quality in terms of salary, work environment, extra benefits, etc. will expand considerably.

In terms of leisure time, there are also several advantages in knowing different languages. It is possible to enjoy films, books, videogames, etc. in their original version without any translation or subtitles (these options are not always 100% reliable). Reading newspapers from various countries or watching local TV programs when on vacation abroad are also feasible possibilities. Besides, to have the chance to have conversations with natives and learn about their way of life and the cultural peculiarities is a plus that no money can pay.

As a curious fact, it is also relevant to manifest that according to some research works the knowledge of more than one language affects the way brain connection is set, and this alternative configuration makes it more difficult to develop some illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer's.

The only drawback is that the process of learning a new language takes time, and sometimes people get frustrated when they do not see results in a short time period. However, integrating a new language in our daily routines will help remarkably to shorten the learning curve, it will increase the fulfillment, and the task will become pleasant.

Accessibility

Human beings live on a planet built to facilitate their life and they model the world to better accommodate their needs and that way makes their life easier. Taking this into account, all humans  should feel comfortable and should not experience any sort of trouble performing daily tasks. Accessing a building, watching TV, having a drink at a bar, or going to the toilet. for example, should not represent an enormous effort. Despite this, for people with some kind of disability access to simple things can become very difficult, very long, and even very risky.

There are several possible causes of this situation. For instance, people's selfishness and lack of education seem to be at the core of the problem. Not caring about others' problems is not uncommon these days and this attitude produces complications like the lack of accessibility. The lack of education is always a problem and when it comes to accessibility it means that the ones who design the world do not take into account some people's needs. Sometimes, this is because they are not aware of the distress people with disabilities suffer every day of their lives just because of the additional obstacles they find in their ways. Other times, the cost of doing things the right way is just not worth it according to their standards. However, if it is considered that every person will suffer from some disability sooner or later, this idea does not make much sense.

As possible solutions to tackle this situation are to modify and enforce laws to contemplate most vulnerable people's needs. In addition, schools should show students by example how people with some type of disability struggle on a daily basis. As an example, kids should drive a wheelchair for several days to suffer the inconveniences that people with mobility problems have every day of their lives. Thus, people will have knowledge of this circumstance during their entire lives.

If humanity hopes for being equal and inclusive some action is required because right now it is not. Fortunately, there are a lot of thorough people fighting to achieve a better world where everyone is an important part. 

Complaint letter

 Dear Minister of Education,

I am sending you this letter to share with you my concern about the current situation of the education system in general, and the schools in particular in our country. I will try to remain objective and explain in a clear way my worries. I am not a part of the system, but I have enough information to give a fairly valid opinion about the subject.

The news about the Spanish education system are not good as long as I remember. For example, results on PISA tests are below the average year after year. Furthermore, students in Spain spend many more hours in the classroom than others from countries that obtain better results in the tests. Hence, it is pretty obvious that more time does not mean better learning. 

One of the main causes of this disastrous performance of our students is the importance given to memorization in the exams. Instead of fostering the learning of new skills, and using practical examples to better acquire new concepts, we keep memorizing a lot of data for the exams, and then, a few days later most of this knowledge is mainly forgotten. This explains why Spanish students perform badly in math and science subjects. Mastering these subjects implies to really understand them, it is not a matter of ability to memorize.

Another cause of the bad results is the lack of motivation of many teachers who are not vocational and just applied for the job because it is a job for life, with a good salary and good working hours. Besides, performance assessment is something personal because there is not a real system to evaluate their work. Then, we can compare the teacher's situation with a car with no obligation to pass the ITV (Vehicle Technical Inspection) every year. If the car's owner considers that it is in good condition, roads could be full of potential weapons if the owners are a little bit too optimistic.

Something curious about our schools is that the number of hours of class time in Spain is higher than the average, however, this is not reflected in performance. This is possibly due to the lack of motivation of an elevated number of educators.

There are some key points that authorities should rethink and try to improve. First of all, they should develop a good assessment system to review teachers' motivation and performance. Secondly, if a teacher does not fulfill the requirements of their position he or she should be dismissed. Finally, the way different subjects are explained in the classrooms should be reviewed and changed to avoid excessive and useless memorization. 

I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my opinions. I encourage you to take some action in order to make some improvements to our education system because the future of our country depends on it.

Sincerely yours,  Justme.

Education

According to the Cambridge dictionary, education can be defined as the process of teaching or learning, especially in a school or college, or the knowledge that you get from this. This definition could be complemented taking into account all the teaching that people usually receive at home mainly during their childhood. At home, families show their younger members important values like respect, friendship, love, empathy, effort, etc. All these moral principles should not be underestimated because they define who a person is in the eyes of others more than his or her formal education.
Generally speaking, education allows members of a community to adapt, follow the rules, and be able to live in society and to be a valuable member of it. A good education helps people to understand the user's manual of society and that way it is possible to get something valuable out of it.
Education is not an easy subject to tackle. The main problems are that there are too many different points of view about it, besides everyone seems to think that their view is the best and this makes it even harder to reach an agreement to improve it. Furthermore, not everybody gives it the same importance, and if the importance is different, the budget to expend on it varies too.
Even though sometimes it seems the opposite, the way education is handled nowadays is going to have a huge impact in the near future. Firstly, the problems of the future will need people prepared to propose smart solutions, to deploy them and that way gives the human race the chance to avoid extinction in the medium term. The main problem on many occasions are the politicians ruling the countries because they put their own benefit before the common interest. As a result, education policies are changed every time the government changes its colors, and unfortunately, it is usually for the worst.
In Spain, for example, this situation has been happening for several decades and there are no signs that it is going to change. Not only all these changes have not solved any of the main problems of the education system in the country, but also the situation is deteriorating with every new government.
In this case, two issues should be sorted out as soon as possible. First of all, the way students are evaluated, lowering minimum grades to pass exams and consequently courses instead of increasing the level of education provided. Secondly, the lack of a serious periodic evaluation of the teachers' performance during their career, the existence of a great number of teachers with the knowledge of the subject that they teach but without the necessary skills and knowledge to teach others. Finally, and probably the most important issue is the lack of vocation among teachers. A lot of teachers in the national education system have no interest in teaching, they applied for the job because it is a well-paid work for life.
Considering all the above, it is clear that education should be considered as a leading role in governments' agenda and this subject should be seriously studied and obtain a majority consensus to develop a new way to approach education at all ages, fostering a culture of effort, teamwork, curiosity, self-learning, critical thinking, etc. This idea will also need a considerable amount of economic resources to put it in practice, but it would be a much better way to spend money than how it has been wasted in later years.
There are several examples of successful public education systems that are based on a clear vision, a consensual solution among all parties involved, and a lot of patience and hard work. This means that there is still hope but it is not going to be easy at all. I just hope our rulers realize the problem and they will be able to sort it out sooner than later.

Music

Music has been around us for a long time, several thousands of years as some anthropologic discoveries have revealed. Apparently, music is something all humans have had in common during a big part of our existence. People living in very different parts of the globe share the same attraction for music, different kinds of music, of course, but music anyway.
There is an important number of studies that show how music has important effects on our brain and the way it stimulates the mind. Different styles of music affect our body and mind very differently. While classical music can help us to relax and reach in a calm mood, others like rock or techno, for example, can get us excited or put us in the mood to perform physical activities.
Although music has been at our side during so much time, it is easy to understand that its importance has not always been the same. Music has acquired a lot of importance during the last centuries, where musicians have received recognition and influence in different societies and periods of our history.
During the last few decades, music has become a huge industry with revenue reaching billions of dollars per year. Even though it has suffered a lot of changes lately due to the advances in technology and the way people consume music, the songs keep playing louder than ever. This is in part because of the fact that new mobile technologies allow people to listen to music everywhere at any time, and offer them tons of music of all styles and regions of the world.
In fact, this industry keeps generating new stars, some of them are one-hit-wonder while others have a long time successful career. In recent years, thanks to social media, musicians, and singers have more opportunities to let the public know them and to have the chance to become a new star in the music industry's constellation. Furthermore, to produce a hit it is not necessary to have the support of a big record company, and a big studio available during a few days or weeks. Nowadays, you can get the job done at your own home if you have a few thousand dollars to buy some basic equipment. We could say that music is becoming much more democratic these days.

Saying goodbye

The last two days have not been very pleasant. A very good friend of the family passed away yesterday morning. Even though it was something expected because he had been fighting terminal cancer for more than a year, it was not easy to say goodbye to him. A lot of good memories with him have come to my mind during the time we spent at the funeral home, at church, and at the cemetery.
I met him a few years ago through my in-laws. He was the Catholic priest of the church where they go to Mass every Sunday, and they became friends. He came very often to have lunch with us and was a part of the family.
I must say that I was educated as a Catholic, but since more than a couple of decades ago, I consider myself as an agnostic. However, that fact didn't suppose any problem between us. That was one of the things that impressed me more about him, besides his sense of humor, humility, and kindness. He was a friend to me, and I am going to miss him a lot. I really hope that he will be in a much better place from now on, and someday, if he is right we will have the chance to meet again in the afterlife.

Bye, Manuel.

P.S. Let me remember the song your phone played when you had a call (Twist and Shout, by The Beatles):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-VAxGJdJeQ

Covid-19

Today is April 4th, 2020 and there is a trendy topic in the news these days, COVID-19 crisis. It seems really paradoxical that a microscopic virus can cause so much pain, panic, and damage at all levels. However, people around the world are locked up in their homes, all non-critical businesses are closed and the disease still keeps spreading, infecting millions of people, and killing thousands.
COVID-19 is the name coined to this virus by the epidemiologists. It means that it belongs to the Coronavirus family (COVI, D stands for Disease), and it was first detected in 2019. Its origin is located in the city of Wuhan (China). Apparently, it is a virus that used to infect animals, but it found the way to reach human beings too.
At the beginning of this pandemic, most countries (I mean their leaders, and most citizens) did not take it seriously enough, causing the spread of the virus to accelerate and collapsing health systems in many countries. More than 3 months after the beginning of the outbreak, more than 1 million people infected worldwide, and more than 60000 people confirmed killed by the virus, unprecedented measures have been taken in most countries around the globe to try to contain the spreading, and to give a break to the health systems, putting aside the economic crisis that all experts (and not experts) are predicting for years to come.
After all the information published by serious sources, and all the fake news that are flooding the internet during last months it is quite clear that the main problem with this virus is the way it spreads (it is highly contagious and people with no symptoms may be able to infect others in close contact). Because of this aggressive behavior, and its mortality rate (between 2 and 5 percent), health systems around the world are struggling to cope with this unexpected (at least for most people, not for the experts) enemy. The most vulnerable are the elderly, and people who present previous pathologies, and the rest of the population should be more careful than ever when being in contact with them. The only way to fight this plague is to stay isolated at home, keep the distance with other people, wash our hands often, to be aware of the emergency rules and health authorities' recommendations. Eventually, researchers will find a cure, and this nightmare will come to an end, but the best predictions say that it will not happen this year.
Apart from the obvious consequences of the pandemic (people infected and killed), there are plenty of other huge consequences in all sectors of society. Economic, social and political aftermath will be severe, and very traumatic decisions will be made by governments to make their countries get through this period avoiding their citizens as much suffering as possible, a lot of things will change after the end of this tragic event in our history, and we will have to deal with it with patience.
Only time will tell us how historians will put down in words this episode of World history.

Keep yourselves safe!

Rights and obligations

Every other day there are people complaining, demonstrating, going on strike, etc. to defend their rights. That is nothing new, and we know that thanks to those fights in the past we have the privileges we have today. However, I have never seen one of those people that claim their rights to talk about their obligations.

We live in a society where, in order to work as it is intended, every member have a series of rights, but also some obligations. Most people complain as soon as they feel that their rights are being violated or cut. Nonetheless, nobody seems to understand the importance of being aware of their obligations and fulfill them.

We should be a bit more empathic and try to understand that if we avoid complying with our duties we are very likely affecting other people's rights. Besides, you can seriously harm them.

A simple and full of meaning word comes to my mind when I think about people who do not respect others by fulfilling their obligations. That word is SELFISHNESS!

Insomnia

It is exactly 3:43am and I am on the couch writing this post. I have been here for more than one hour, after spending almost one hour in bed trying to fall asleep. It was useless. My brain is too awake to even consider hibernation for the night. So, I decided to do learn some French on Duolingo, to read some articles online, and then I remembered my blog, this blog. I want to believe that if I work a bit, I will eventually get tired and I will sleep like a baby. But, in the meantime, I will get the most of my insomnia.
Writing this post is not as easy as it looks, at least for me. The ideas come to my mind a little fuzzy and disorganized. Besides, my writing skills are quite rusty, and I don't feel completely confident with what I am writing. To mitigate my doubts, I verify some phrases and check some vocabulary. Next, I will explain the process that involves writing these lines.
First, I start writing some points I would like to deal with in the article. When I have a few, I start thinking about how to develop the different ideas. This usually involves weighing the advantages and disadvantages of every one of these ideas, or just explaining what it is without judging.
After writing a few paragraphs I start thinking about how they should be ordered, and the ideas organized. This criteria, or way to do things, is not very orthodox, but it works for me. I also try to find a way to put on paper all I have on my mind while I am working on the new blog post.
I also have to admit that I do not always proceed in the same way. Sometimes, I decide to focus on the structure of the text, and I make an effort to follow some guidelines that I have learned over the years. However, I can feel inspired and then choose to take some risks focusing on the way to express the ideas without paying too much attention to the way it is structured.
Finally, I can see that this is not going to be one of my best works, but it is enough for me because it helped me to spend more than half an hour of this foreseeable long night. Additionally, it would be great if it was a bit boring to read it so it could help me to get to sleep, although I do not have too much faith on that. Maybe I will write about that in a future post.

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.

Blank mind

It's been a while since my last post here. I have no excuse this time, I have been busy doing other things, or doing nothing at all sometimes. But life doesn't stop just because I don´t write. Therefore, I guess I have just been living my life. Today, I have felt a bit lazy since I got home in the afternoon. I have been resting, and doing nothing for a while now. But a few minutes ago, I remembered this blog and I decided to take a look at it. I have nothing in my mind to write about, that means I am improvising.
I guess I could write about politics (current situation in Spain has no precedent in history), or about corruption and fraud all over the world (Panama papers are on the news permanently these days), or about football (Barcelona vs Real Madrid match took place last weekend, and last night Barcelona played against At. Madrid for Champions League). Or I could write about something else, but, like I said, I am feeling a bit lazy today.
Taking this into account, I think it is enough for now. I will consider this post as a kind of warm up session to start writing again soon more frequently.
At first, I had no intention to publish this, but after a bit of thought I decided to do it. I have read a lot of articles in newspapers and magazines that don't say anything interesting or nothing at all and they are still there. So, why shouldn't I post this?
I will write another entry on this blog when I actually have something worthy to share with the world (how solemn that sounds!). Anyway, I am glad to be back.

Always learning

Learning a language is always an incomplete process. There's something new to learn every day. Today I'm going to write about my last achievement in English learning, and the great opportunity I had a couple of weeks ago to test my listening and speaking skills.

I have been learning new things about different topics using the Internet, through MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). This courses are provided by a lot of universities worldwide, and you can learn about a huge amount of different subjects.
A few weeks ago, I found a course about writing essays in English, and I decided to sign up for it. It was developed by University of Reading in the UK. As you can see in the picture on the left, I finished it. It is a basic course about writing essays, but it helped me to learn how to organize my ideas and thoughts, and to improve my writing skills.

I have to admit that speaking is the hardest part to practice when learning a language. Fortunately, some friends of mine are English native speakers, and I try to meet them from time to time and practice a bit. However, it is never enough time.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a bonus. I traveled to England to attend a wedding that I had been invited about 6 months ago. This trip was a good opportunity to meet a lot of people, all of them English native speakers. It was a great experience, that I enjoyed a lot, and it encouraged me to keep learning and mastering English language.

To sum up, it is important to keep learning, but it is even more important to remember that the goal of learning a new language is to communicate with people who speak that language. I will continue to do both things.

Talking to a child

A little girl is sitting in the school hall waiting for someone. She looks shy, and a bit nervous, but she handles all these feelings quite well. She is short and thin, and around 6 or 7 years old. She has long dark hair, and her skin is quite pale. Her big brown eyes stand out on her face. She is wearing what seems to be the school's uniform, and she is carrying a bag on her shoulder.
After a while, a young woman approached her. The woman was probably one of the teachers at the school and she came to welcome the new student.
    -Hello! You must be Sarah. I am Laura, and I am going to be one of your teachers here.
    -Hello!
    -I have been told that you do not speak Spanish. Is that right?
    -Yes, I am so sorry.
    -Do not worry. You will learn Spanish soon, we are here to help you. And you can help us with our    English. I am afraid it is quite rusty.
    -Thank you! I will try to learn as quickly as possible. And your English is quite good, I understand you very well, and I am very happy to have someone to talk to.
    -Ok, then. Are you ready to meet your classmates?
    -Yes, but I am very nervous.
    -There is no reason to be worried. They are looking forward to know you. They even have been asking things to the English teacher in order to be able to talk to you. I think you will get along very well.
    -Ok, I feel a bit better now. We can go.
    -Come on, then. This way.

Respect

This single word could be the solution to most of the problems there are in the world nowadays. If we unwrap the full meaning of this word, we will find that it is not just a word, it reflects a bunch of human behaviors that mostly differentiates us from animals. Respect is not about being politically correct, or trying to keep your bad behavior hidden, or not hurting people that you know. Respect is to be considerate of others, to care about other people. It is about avoiding to hurt others even if you have never met them, and it is about really trying to behave the best you can, considering other people's feelings and situation. This is what comes to my mind right now, but I am completely sure that I am missing something. Anyway, I think it is enough to make my point. Taking into account my previous definition of respect:

• Do you think that politicians respect their voters?
• Do you think that banks respect their clients?
• Do you think that someone that beats his wife respects her, or loves her?
• Do you think that a teenager that is bullying a classmate is respectful?
• Do you think that someone who doesn't pay taxes having millions respects others who pay?
• Do you think that a football player that fakes a foul respects his opponents and their supporters?
• Do you think that someone that made a mistake and avoids to pay for it respects someone?
• Do you think that a driver who parks his car in a place reserved for disabled people respects them?
• ...

In my humble opinion, nowadays people mistakenly confuse respect with other things like admiration, envy, fear, etc. Therefore, politicians and banks "respect" you if you are a powerful person, or you have a lot of money because they can get some benefit from you. In the same way, an abuser will "respect" you if you are stronger than him or her, but just because he or she is afraid of you. And most people "respect" the rules, because if don't, they would be punished in some way. I am sure that true respect will solve a lot of problems in our world, but my doubt is how to teach respect? I consider that the best way is giving example. What do you think?

New Year's resolutions (V)

It has already been 5 years since I started to share my resolutions for the New Year. During these years I have always tried to be realistic, and I was able to achieve a lot of what I was planning to do during the next year. I have just reviewed my resolutions for the year 2012, and I have to say that I tried hard to do what I promised, and I got some positive results. Unfortunately, there were a lot of unexpected events this year, some of them pleasant, but others quite unfortunate. I know that all that events are beyond my will, but I will try harder this year to fulfill my expectations. I think that next year will be a year full of opportunities and I have to try to take advantage of them.

During this year I accepted a challenge, and I had the opportunity to teach some students, and I enjoyed that experience a lot. And more important, I realized that I can do things that I consider I am not able to do. Therefore, it was more than a very good experience, it was a valuable lesson for me.

Apart from the fact of realizing that I am capable of doing things I thought I couldn't do, I also learnt new skills. I started to learn French more seriously, and now I feel more confident when reading writings in this language. Besides, I started learning how to program Android apps, and I am reviewing other skills that I had partially forgotten. In summary, I am trying to make a good use of my time. 

I also met a lot of people with whom I spent the good and bad times during this year. They are the most valuable thing of the year, the most precious treasure I can keep.

At this point, I have to make my resolutions for the year 2013. I intend to keep improving my English and French level, and practice them as much as possible (that is the only way to stay fluent). I also want to keep learning programming Android, and building amazing apps, and also learning new skills in this field. I would love to meet new friends like the ones I am lucky to have now. It would be great if the current situation in Spain and the world improves, most people don't deserve this kind of punishment.

There are several other resolutions that I am going to make, but I am not going to write them down here because I did it in the past and I was not able to fulfill them. Therefore, I am not going to do the same but I will try harder to achieve that "invisible" resolutions.

Finally, in order to finish this post I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year!!!

P.S. I have to say that I celebrated New Year's Eve the typical Spanish way on the 30th December for the first time (Apparently, it is a new tradition in Spain to celebrate this date before the real time. Crazy, isn't it?).

Song in French

If you have read previous posts on this blog, you would probably know that I have been learning French for a while. My level in French is quite low, but I am trying to learn something new every day. Today, I am going to show you here a song I have listened to recently, and I was amazed because I understood a lot of it. I hope that this means that I am improving, even if it is slower than I would like. I am not in a rush to learn French, but it is very comforting to see some improvement from time to time.

Ma chambre a la forme d'une cage
Le soleil passe son bras par la fenêtre
Les chasseurs à ma porte comme les petits soldats
Qui veulent me prendre

Je ne veux pas travailler, je ne veux pas déjeuner
Je veux seulement l'oublier et puis je fume...

Déjà j'ai connu le parfum de l'amour
Un million de roses ne m'embaumerait pas autant
Maintenant une seule fleur dans mes entourages me rend malade

Je ne veux pas travailler, je ne veux pas déjeuner
Je veux seulement l'oublier et puis je fume...

Je ne suis pas fière de ça, vu qu'il veut me tuer
C'est magnifique et très sympathique
Mais je ne le connais jamais

Je ne veux pas travailler, non, je ne veux pas déjeuner
Je veux seulement l'oublier et puis je fume...

And below is the English translation of this song.

My room has the shape of a cage
The sun passes his arm around my window
Hunters at my door, like soldiers
that want to catch me.

I don't want to work, I don't want to have breakfast
just want to forget it, and then I smoke

I had already known the perfume of love
A million roses wouldn't stun me so much
Now, one next to me makes me sick

I don't want to work, I don't want to have breakfast
just want to forget it, and then I smoke

I'm not proud of it, after seeing that it wants to kill me
It's great and very likeable,
but I don't know him.

I don't want to work, I don't want to have breakfast
just want to forget it, and then I smoke

Finally, you can listen to the song following this link.

What is love?

I remember a song from the 90's called "What's love?" by Haddaway. It is dance music, and I like to listen to it when I am running or doing some exercise because it is encouraging. The thing is that I never paid attention to the letter of this song, therefore I don´t know what love is.

However, in a second thought I am going to tell you about my idea of what love is. I am not going to write here a complex definition about how love mechanisms work, or discuss whether it is fate related or just some chemical reaction.
In my opinion, love happens when we stop being selfish, and start to worry about somebody else. That is basic love, and it is very simple to explain. Then, of course, there are different kinds of love. I am sure that you can find several classifications on the Internet, but the idea behind all of these kinds of love should be the same, the one I wrote above.
I like to write more in my entries on the blog, but I consider that I have nothing else to write about this subject. And I think that because sometimes less is more.
Well, just one more thing. In case you are interested in the song I mentioned before, you can watch the video here.