My writing cloud

While looking at all my 14 entries in "My Writing Cloud" I can´t help experimenting such a feeling of achievement and hapiness! This whole subject meant a lot of effort and creating each entry was a synonym of working hard and dedicating time. It was difficult sometimes but when I look back and I see everything I have improved and learnt... I know it was worth it. This portfolio means a lot to me.. it means that every effort has its own reward, it means that improving my English skills is a process and it takes time and now, writing its last entry it means that i´m getting closer to one of my biggest dreams: becoming an English teacher.

During this year I´ve had to present many written assingments... This meant a lot of struggle for me, a process of discovery and learning. I´ve become aware of things I didn´t even know they existed! For example, what a topic sentence is, a topic introducer, theme and rheme, cohesion and coherence and others... Taking all this into account and writing an essay was a huge mountain to climb and when I finally did it, I couldn´t believe it! I finally uderstood that writing is not easy, that it involves doing research, thinking, considering your audience and really doing your best! It´s definitely a challenge for which you need to have the right tools and knowledge... but it´s really worth trying.

Video 1 - " The Inspector needs "a flawless American accent" The inspector´s objective is to acquire a perfect American English accent so as to avoid suspicion. “ I am going to America, I am going to have to speak with a flawless American accent, so as not to arouse suspicion.”, he says. The problem is that his French accent is so strong that although he tries and practices a lot he can't achieve it. Video 2 - Students´ dialects? Even though people speak the same language and share the accent of the same language, still they can misunderstand each other because of sharing different dialects. Apart from this, some negative features of the language such as mispronouncing words, overusing idiomatic phrases, lack of vocabulary and grammar can lead to a mismatch among people. In this video, even though all the students speak the same language and share the same dialect, they find it really difficult to understand one another. On the contrary, someone who doe

Summary of the  BOOK: Yule, G (2016).  The Study of Language.  Chapters 18, 19 & 20  . U.K.: CUP. Chapter 18 This chapter is focused on language and its variations depending on where the language is used. The standard language This is an idealized variety of a language because it has not a specific region where it is spoken such as  the Standard American English in the United States or the Standard British English in Britain. It is the variety that is taught to those who want to learn the language as a foreign or second one. Moreover it is taught in most schools, it is used in the mass media, and it is found in printed English such as newspapers and books. Apart from this, it is associated with administrative, commercial and educational centres. Accent and dialect Whatever the language you speak, you will have an accent and dialect. But what is the difference between them? On one hand, listening to a speaker’s accent can help you to determine where the person belo

This is a summary of the 4 skills: Speaking, Listening, Writing and Reading based on the book:  Celce-Murcia, M. & Olshtain, E. (2000):  Discourse and Context in Language Teaching . A   Guide for Language Teachers.  Chapters 6, 7, 8 &; 9. U.K.: CUP.

HOW TO WRITE A THESIS STATEMENT WHAT IS A THESIS STATEMENT? ü   It's the single, specific claim that your essay supports. ü   It is not simply an observation, a question or a promise. It includes a topic, a precise opinion and reasoning. PARTS OF A THESIS STATEMENT 1.        The subject : the topic of your essay. 2.        The precise opinion : your opinion on the subject of your essay. 3.        The blueprint of reasons : This is where you show your reader how you plan to argue and prove your opinion. Typically, you should have 3 strong pieces of evidence to support your opinion. Later, you will expand on each detail in the body of the essay. The Thesis Statement tells your reader: ü   Where you are going in your essay. ü   How you plan on getting there. WHEN YOU ARE COMPOSING THESIS STATEMENTS, YOU NEED TO KNOW THE FOLLOWING: ·          YOUR TOPIC : what your paper will deal with. ·          YOUR CLAIM : what you think about the topic. ·    

The outsider For centuries, psychologists have emphasized that the sense of belonging is a human need, just as the need for food and shelter. Yet there have always been individuals who do not belong because of political, ethnic, sexual or religious differences. This provokes a feeling of loneliness, of living surrounded by people and alone at the same time. The idea that there are –and have been- outsiders in our society is reflected in many famous singers´ lyrics such as U2, Sting and Elton John. In his song “An Englishman in New York”, Sting presents an English gay author living in New York and his experiences as an outcast. The famous Quentin Crisp, who moved from London to New York in 1986, defined himself as “an alien”. As his costumes, modals and homosexual lifestyle were not the popular ones at that time, he did not belong to the society, he was not part of it. People ignored him and this made him suffer, as it is clearly reflected when he says “it takes a man to suffer ign