Today I went to therapy after a long time. I haven´t been myself lately. So, I decided to give it a shot. The counselor recommended me motivational programs. I do think they do help a lot. Given the fact that one can learn how to deal with people. You gotta remember that life ain´t as easy as carpooling to work everyday for free. Lots of sacrifices gotta be made in order to succeed. It´s also necessary to be assertive while dealing with people. Albeit, you don´t have to be intemperate to make your point. Many disasters have been wrought by people´s   lack of communicative skills. Anyhow, I hope these few words I´ve written help you somehow. Never forget to pursue your goals. No matter how hard it gets along the way. Remember, even from the slightest mistake you make, you can learn something new.

Once again I´m thoughtful. I´ve been thinking about how I can deal with my shyness. This writing is gonna turn on the need to be more assertive. Before I put my thinking cap on, I´ll let you know what I´ve tried to overcome daily issues: First, I´ve tried so far to be polite no matter what. I mean you can  be assertive and polite at the same time. Second, I´ve tried not to give up on what I do. Third, I´ve also tried to relax. Apart from this,  there has to be a balance among your tasks. We all gotta do copious amounts of work each day. Though, if we get to settle to it, we still can succeed. It´d also be crucial to say that by glossing over your problems, you don´t fix anything. We all fear lots of things. Though we gotta be brave enough to go through life; holding our heads high may also help us to feel better. I want my work to someday plumb the depths of inspiration. And I´m getting there I think.

It´s true that we gotta forego some indulgances , so that we can have a better shot at succeeding. Though, it´s totally worth it at the end. Life may be as hard as unrequited love. However, most of us eventually find our way.

2013 is about to finish. I feel that I could have accomplished a lot more. Though, I gotta keep going. My shyness is something that has stopped me from achieving many things. I even have many sore points I´d rather not hear again. Regarding my past failures of course. I know I´m still young, but I feel that if I don´t change soon, I´m gonna miss out on a lot. Notwithstanding all my mistakes, I´ve still gone through a healthy path. I exercise often, I study, etc. I mean, I´ve always tried not to stand out like a sore thumb in any situation. However, I seem to give the opposite impression. Not cuase I´m not a nice person, but because of my indecision. I´ve even played a passive role in my family´s decisions for so long. Having affected me the most my parents´ divorce. Anyhow, talking about the positive aspects of my life, I would say the following: I´ve always been a fervent English learner. Apart from this, I´ve always tried to be punctual to school and whatnot. Therefore, I´d say that not everything has gone bad in my life. Lastly, I wanted to mention how sore I get by injustice, I can´t understand why the rich are the ones who get to have the best education here. If only wealth were to completely trickle down through society, things would be better. Of course this should start from politicians 

I should be studying for my psychology test. Instead, I´m writing down a few words. Since I don´t have a stenographer, I gotta do the job myself. I know I´m still 21, though I´d like to be rich already. I´m totally not. I´m student who occasionally gives private ESL classes. Actually, I was thinking about how important it is to express your love to somebody. You never know what´s gonna happen. I heard about what happened to Paul Walker. Such a great man, it actually surprised me. Besides, I saw a video of one of his friends telling him how much he loved him just the day before he died. We all gotta have faith and hope that everything will turn out well for us. Though, bad things happen. I know religion is a hot button, that´s why I won´t be talking about it. I just know that what I see  is what I believe. On the other hand, I´m not sure either of the existence of God. Anyhow, I don´t know how I ended up mentioning God. To sum up, I´d would submit that you should consider the acronym YOLO. Though, I also recommend to front-load your work so you can enjoy life more.

I´m about to finish my freshman year at college. I don´t even know if I´m gonna pass all my courses. I may be smart, but I´m also sloppy. Something I gotta change next year. Anyhow, I just wanted to write down a few words regarding my thoughts on what has happened to me so far. I haven´t always been on seventh heaven, though I´ve been lucky enough to have a decent life. Besides, what I can say after all I´ve experienced is the following. Life is indeed hard, it has its rewards however. Apart from this, I´d say that believing in hedonism is crucial for having healthy existance. Living with no regrets is also important. Nonetheless, to me that´d be impossible. Moreover, the cure for me would be just to learn the things I didn´t learn before. Til this day there ain´t a single method that is all the rage and that allows you to succeed. Every person´s journey is different, and they gotta take as many opportunities as they can. Remember to never let depression take over; don´t wriggle out of doing any task either. I myself have regretted doing the last. Anyhow, take the example of undeveloped countries applying mimesis in their community. They copy developed societies in order to improve the quality of life of their inhabitants. Just like they do that, we gotta try to be better each day.

Have you ever though about the fact that most of the ones who fought for equality and peace got killed? Great examples of this are famous prophets, politicians,etc. Such us Luther King and John F. Kennedy. These people never had misgivings about doing the right thing. You cotton on to how evil actually us humans turned out to be. As soon as a public figure tries to tackle a  big problem, lo and behold, they get attacked. This has happened since the beginning of time. Take Jesus´ example for that matter. He got crucified cause he was trying to fight against the injustice of Jules Cesar´s regime. Anyhow, for some reason, it seems as if I had run out of words. What I wanted to talk about here is how persistent these heroes were, and how they showed unwavering support for their community. Nobody else would have outshone them in defending people´s rights. It may have been quite a coup to achieve what they had. However, they clawed their way to success come what may.

When am I gonna stop talking about self'-confidence?. Never... the reason for this is as follows: I do believe that no matter how good you´re at what you do. If you don´t believe in yourself, you ain´t gonna succeed. Some have got down in the dumps after trying to overcome shyness and failing. I myself thought I was one of them. However, now I know it´s not the case. I may be making slow progress, but at least I´m trying. Anyhow, there is a lot of reasons not to get sullen for thinking there´s no way one can become a confident and successful person. It is a long process that doesn´t happen overnight. Apart from working hard, one has to be organized and persistent. The verb ¨to give up¨ cannot exist within the corpus of your knowledge of English. Nonetheless, to become social ain´t easy. There is a few steps one has to take. People may say for instance:- ¨I don´t know what to do¨. - ¨Every time I go up and talk to a new person in a party, my conversations tend to be vapid¨. Well, this can be solved by being more creative. Find out what the person you´re interested in likes. Try to ask questions about themselves and even spice the conversation up with a few slight jokes. Any social activity can help you deal with shyness. By joining any sports club or whatnot. Not only can you make new friends, but also you can learn a lot of new things. It´s important to be assertive as well. Next time your mom tries to ply you with sweets; tell her the following: ¨I´m sorry mom, but I´m on a diet starting today¨. To sum up, I´d say that you should disregard people who deride your work out of envy and ignorance. Focus your energy on achieving your goals.

The History Of Christmas - Part 1

Christmas is coming up. We all are immersed in our daily routines for now. However, we´re surely looking forward to it. What is the tenor of this celebration?. Well in fact, they all say it´s all about sharing and having a good time with your family. That may seem a cliché, though it is true. 

It is a time in which people usually make up and ponder over what they´ve done all year long. It does herald a stream of hope in families. It´d be also important to mention how many ads are made just for this holiday. I´m not an splenetic person. However, it does bother me when big franchises try to profit as much as they can in holidays like this. I don´t wanna fall into pleonasm, but in Christmas you should think with your head rather than with your heart.  

I mean this especially at the moment of picking gifts for our kin and friends. Decoration and Christmas carols are really taken into consideration during this holiday all over the world as well. Being the most representative symbols of Christmas the beautiful evergreens and carols like ¨Red Rudolf¨. It ain´t a cinch to go through all this preparation for the festivities. Nonetheless, it´s all worth it. There´s also a wide range of superstitious traditions that are said to bring good luck to the ones who perform them. Especially if done during New Year´s Eve.  

To sum up, I´d say that Christmas is not about having a fancy dinner or getting a bunch of expensive gifts doled out to you and your people. It´s about reflecting on what you´ve done well and what you haven´t so far. It´s also about thinking on improving in every single activity we do the following year and having a ball with your loved ones.

Family relationships, hard ones indeed. Especially between brothers. Personally, I do think it depends on the situation. For instance, in my case the difference of age between me and my older brother is large. Like for 10 years; therefore, it was hard for us to get along once I started growing up. I was never upstaged by my brother in any field.

 

However, he did boss me around many times cause I was kind of insecure. It´d also be important to mention the fact that our father didn´t actually support us completely and catered for our every need. Thus, José, that´s how my brother is called, felt obligated to help out as much as he could. He did a pretty good job at the beginning.

 

However, as time went by, he stopped listening, and started being remiss in his acquired duty. That´s why we started fighting and the relationship broke down. Luckily for us, we made up after two years of not talking to each other. He finally latched onto the the fact that I had a say. I myself leaned that giving him a shoddy treatment as retaliation was not the answer. Besides, I actually had to go into overdrive to catch up with my studies. Every single experience help us grow, though many of them is not pleasant.

 

One of the things I used to do in my free time while still not talking to my brother was to lock into my old garret to write stuff I could later use to create this blog. Anyhow, I keep going off on a tangent. One particular thing I´d like to mention though, is how we both are besotted by foreign languages. Never had I imagined I was gonna end up writing like he did.

The State of Ontario's Education System

Education, something I´m never going  be tired of talking about. I myself got marvelled after studying in a Canadian high school for at least a year.  The province of Ontario for instance, home of Toronto which is the financial centre of Canada, does quite well in terms of education. So that, getting a toehold for an international student by studying there is kind of necessary these days. 

 

On the other hand, the educational system in third world countries can´t be beefed up overnight. Sometimes, the few good local schools even gild the lily by adding unnecessary courses in the curriculum. Most private schools here profit with higher education especially.

 

Thus, parents are usually pushed from pillar to post trying to get the best education possible for their children. Besides, I´d say the main problem in Peru for example, regarding regular education is the following: After finishing high school, children are not prepared whatsoever to pursue a college degree. As a consequence, informality allows private institutions to prepare students so they can get into college. In a period of six months, high school grads are expected to be ready to apply to university.

 

It seems ridiculous, though that´s the reality in my country. The lack of a grade twelve here is actually very noticeable. A lot of work has to be done to solve this problem. Local politicians tinker with educational laws regarding quality of education and infrastructure. The less their inhabitants know, the more they can profit.

The Indigo Evolution Full Length Documentary Indigo children

Have you ever thought about the people who tried to beat down your confidence just cause they fear you?. No matter who does that: It can be your brother, classmate, or even your professor. However, one thing is for sure, they´re not always right. You can make a quip and shut them up. I´m just saying. Besides, there´s a lot of things in life that try to discourage you from achieving your ultimate goal.  Disregard all that crap and keep your mood buoyant. Remember the saying ¨He who laughs last laughs longest¨. On the other hand, there´s something to take into account. In Peru for instance, the following happens: Education is prerogative of the rich and the smart who kill themselves trying to get a slot in one of the best public colleges.Nonetheless, the wealthy still have a huge advantage over the average person here. From the access to the best schools in which they can get a bilingual education to the fact that they can even afford to study abroad. So that they can pursue a better undergraduate program. In addition, we may also consider the ones who gird themselves up to pass their mid-term exams and not lose their jobs. Your hopes can never wither away. Even if you´re not able to afford everything you wish you could. Stop listening to people who berate you for no reason. Once again, they may be jealous you either are gonna surpass them or already have. Take Indigo children as an example. Ignorant people may misjudge them without having previously found out how exactly they behave among other things. However, this type of children have amazing abilities that far outclass any disability they may have.

[BBC] Why Reading Matters [Part 1 of 6]

Reading.... how fascinating is it? A lot indeed. Since the invention of the press 500 years ago, people haven´t stopped reading. The more you read the more able you are to understand others. Besides, who doesn´t wanna be lauded for their intellect?. However, to become an avid reader ain´t easy task. In fact, now more than ever, it has become very difficult to keep up with our studies. Tablets, Internet, and many other means of entertainment keep us busy most of time. Though, they also help us learn a lot. So that, it´d be necessary to keep a balance between the use of books and other sources of knowledge. For instance, I remember once for Christmas back when I was 10, I got a PlayStation and a bunch of English novels. Of course I picked the console instead of the books. Then again, nobody had encouraged me to read English books. I didn´t have a motivation to do it. Whereas in the case of video games, I did have a motive. I wanted to live out my fantasies by becoming one of my favorites movie characters for a few hours. Years later, I prayed for my English to still become quite good. I luckily got the results I wanted. If I had been primed not to play as much video games as I had, things would have been different by now. Nonetheless, nobody knows for sure how things would have panned out if they could alter the past. As a consequence, I decided one day to itemize a list of the books I wanted to read to catch up. Therefore, I got proficient at reading after a few years of practice. Conversely, recent studies have pinpointed how reading habits in teenagers have stagnated. I didn´t even have to scour the web for an article on this topic. Lastly, I´d say that nothing can be compared to what one experiences while and after reading a novel. Imagination is so powerful that it makes us fantasize so vividly at least in our dreams.

What is customer service ? The 7 Essentials To Excellent Customer Service

Customer service, something that seems to have been forgotten these days. I can subsume all my opinions into one word: ¨Disrespect¨. One can complain as many times as they want due to this kind of behavior in pretty much any establishment. It´s our right to do so. No matter how sorry the manager of a fast food restaurant is for their employees´ attitude. The customer is always right, and has to be compensated if the case may be. Humongous franchises hire anybody so they can profit more. However, it doesn´t mean their staff are gonna trample over people. They think that just cuase their establishments are  crawling with customers all the time they are invincible. That ain´t the case whatsoever. Therefore, one has to remain strong and put them in their place. I don´t wanna name names, but I´ve had pretty bad experiences in almost every single fast food establishment there is. They think that it´s OK to walk over customers with the excuse of a more juvenile service. That´s BS. Mostly, I´ve seen this in fast food franchises; though it happens in other kinds of businesses as well.  Anyhow, to sum up, I´ll say anytime you run into this situations in which you get brushed off or whatnot from one of these bad employees. Do not get jittery, just calm down and ask to talk to the manager. Sometimes it is necessary to see the flip side of a situation so that you can tackle your problem.

The Best College Majors

How important is it for you to know what you wanna do with your live before you finish high school? Very... Unfortunately it just isn´t the case in every single situation. One has to experiment a little in order to discover what they are good at. So many crappy private schools are there right now. Especially where I come from, that mislead students so badly. High-schoolers are driven into making the wrong decisions cause they´re bombarded with ads from the aforesaid schools. I for instance, was literally forced by my folks to study something I didn´t wanna pursue. As a consequence, I got really frustrated. Nonetheless, I found my way soon enough. What I mean is that I actually ended up drifting into what I liked. Most people find themselves in the same situation I was. In fact, previous experience also does help. Though, it´s much better not doing something that is gonna make you waste time and money. Sadly, local governments perpetuate injustice by allowing private colleges to keep profiting with people´s ignorance. They allow this to happen cause they also get their fair share. My opinions are slanted in favour of reason according to what I know. So, if you don´t wanna wind up living a monotonous way of life, find out what you are good at. Bad situations can be averted if you know how to. Lastly, I´d say that even though cushy jobs are no more, you still can get a pretty good one. A job that  is gonna help you grow into person you want to become.

We all get edgy about what might happen in the future once in while. Who doesn´t wanna have a perfect life without anything bad exacerbating their plans to succeed?. Well, it ain´t that easy. The quicksilver path to realization is full of setbacks that are gonna make us wanna quit. Life can flog you more times that one can actually count. Though, one thing is for sure. All those gazillions of mistakes we make are gonna take us somewhere. You don´t have to be engrossed on your job to the detriment of your health to actually become somebody. What is crucial in this journey to ultimate glory is to have set a goal and make sure how to achieve it. Organization is one important thing, to revel in your job is even more important. Besides, how you convey your ideas and beliefs can make a difference. The way people look at you depends on how you behave and communicate with them. Do not be like I´ve been for so long. A diffident guy who missed out on so many chances in life due to this manner. However, I also recognize I´m pretty good at complaining. Not everything has been bad for me. I´ve also got quite a shot to make something out of myself at this program I´m taking. Anyhow, to sum up I´ll say that what I´ve been talking about is not only true in a manner of speaking. In every single situation one has to go through a bumpy ride to get what they want.

Once again I think about the ¨what ifs?¨... Something I do very often. Today however, I was pondering over my past more than ever. What´s the crux of the matter? (meaning reason for my worry). I don´t know for sure. Tapering off bad thoughts from my mind is what I´ve been trying to do to solve this.

On top of everything else, I´m getting rid of an annoying cold which turned into a flu. Anyhow, let´s talk about the cold for now. We all live in an environment in which we are surrounded by people of all sorts. Whether we´re at work or school, we are always exposed to germs. So that you have to be careful whenever you see anybody sneezing. Have I been looking for ways to cure it. In fact, I´ve heard of a plant called Echinacea, capable of healing the body after infection. I definitely want to try it. It is also recommended to drink plenty of liquid and rest. Apart from that, I´d recommend not to ingest citrus during this period of illness. To sum up, I´ll say that there is a myriad of methods to treat the common cold; nevertheless the time it takes you to rid of it is almost the same in every situation. The better nourished you are, the less risk you have of getting a cold. Therefore, I suggest you take care of yourself as much as you can. So that you´ll be able to frolic around and prance like a clown with joy more often.

Nikola Tesla The Master of Electricity

http://www.youtube.com/v/-z16nAuGz88?autohide=1&version=3&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=qxDZlKUsmFX9BTnvBPEV0A&autohide=1&feature=share&autoplay=1

Nikola Tesla was without a doubt one of the smartest persons to have ever existed. The reason why I wanted to talk about him this time was cause of my fascination with physics. Even though I know so little about this science, I hope some day to become a physicist.

Back to Tesla´s biography: This Croatian electrical engineer naturalized American at 21, blazed a trail in the branch of alternative current. Tesla was an eccentric man with cross-current beliefs; possessor of a nimble mind capable to learn up to five languages at an early age.

He also worked with Thomas Edison for some time, but collided with him in certain matters. He didn't want to entrench his ideas in society. His sole purpose was to build tools that would be useful for his community and that would also change its inhabitants lives. Most of his inventions helped create powerful and successful industries that remain that way until this day. Other scientists looked at him with animosity, he carried on regardless. One of his greatest inventions was the AC generator, capable of providing energy throughout large areas.

 To sum up, I´d say that I relate to him somehow. You see, he was said to lack social skills. I kind of do too. Anyhow, hope to someday become as motivated in my work as he was in his. Of course one thing I don´t wan to have in common with him is that: I do not want to end up living on stipend like he did.

Hacking Language Learning: Benny Lewis at TEDxWarsaw

http://www.youtube.com/v/0x2_kWRB8-A?autohide=1&version=3&showinfo=1&autohide=1&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=27WoHN5Dz3dLDN1oyEmgJg&feature=share

Language learning... something I´m passionate about. Though, something I´ve struggled with as well. I´m a Spanish speaker who learned English as a second language. My experience in learning English started at 16. Even though I ran into some setbacks, I could indeed get fluent at it. Nevertheless, I still think I is not good enough.

Despite the fact that even now I´m taking an English teaching program. I can assure you however, I indeed am quite good. Just take some time to read my posts. It´s just that I sometimes feel that I could have learnt a lot more if I hadn´t come across lots of logjam. Then again, I still hear the advice that people tell me. ¨It´s never too late to learn anything new¨.

So, I guess I shouldn´t dredge up bad memories from my mind. Back to the main topic, I´d say that you´d be impressed to know that learning a second language is not as hard as you thought it was. This time, I saw Benni Lewis´ speech about languages. Have I heard before that motivation is key to learn anything new.

However, I hadn´t got the gist of the aforesaid phrase. Happiness must tinge your actions while you´re trying something new. Never be afraid of making mistakes while learning. Besides, everyone runs into trouble at beginners level when studying a language. To sum up, I´ll say that Benni has motivated me to improve my English even more; and perhaps in the future, learn a different language.

Karen Thompson Walker: What fear can teach us

http://www.youtube.com/v/OwgWkUIm9Gc?version=3&autohide=1&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=0RlsWhe58N-0_n7FKBTqgQ&feature=share&autohide=1

Fear... This time I heard what Karen Thompson had to say about fear. In fact fear is a hardwired response to our everyday experiences. So that, the more we run into quagmires, the more scared we are going to be. However, fear is something we can control. Besides, it actually bogs down our progress in life.

 

Therefore, instead of letting fear batter us, it´s to be the other way around. Karen relates fear to human imagination as well. Sometimes, we make a big deal out of it. Though, we can´t go soft-shoeing through our lives either.

 

We have make a difference. Even if we go through thick and thin in the pursue of our goals, we have set aside our fears to conquer them. Being tough minded ain´t easy; we have to make an effort to be like that though. People smell out fear.

 

If we let them know we are scared, then we are screwed. To sum up, I´ll say that no matter how tough life gets. Keep this advice in mind: Positivism is crucial to have a healthy life. So that trying to be full of beans as much as you can is the best you can do. Disregard morass in life...

Visit Lima Peru

http://www.youtube.com/v/u2SFh9QMWNI?autohide=1&version=3&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=J5To5VSOtGTva9rIQD9-Yw&autoplay=1&autohide=1&feature=share

Something I really hate about my country, Peru is without a doubt its public transport system. If you have not been to Lima yet, you have no idea how stressful it is. If anything brings Lima´s traffic to a grinding halt every day, it is transportation's  disorganization.

I mean there´s no way out. You either deal with it or move to another country. However, you can take advantage of the low bus fares. For instance, today that I left school late, I had to take two buses to get home. They were both crowded, though I could save some cash.

It really is hard for a Peruvian citizen to get through their lives with such a disorganized public transport. Nevertheless, one thing we´re famous for is for not giving up. In fact, some local students plead transport problems for arriving late at school.

Anyhow, I´ll be posting a video about this topic. Therefore, you can see not only the negative aspects of Peru, but also its positive ones. To sum up, I´ll say that Peru may fare badly in public transport, nonetheless it does well in other things. Its food for example.

The Real Story of Halloween.wmv

http://www.youtube.com/v/Hm9jeSLGTZU?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&autoplay=1&showinfo=1&feature=share&attribution_tag=EY5gq_nwcDK5RTSliSDNig

Halloween...we all have heard of it. Though, we don´t know much about it. It is commonly known to come along every October 31st, and that we disguise for fun. Besides, it is a healthy celebration and it´s meant just for entertainment. People usually complain they gotta wear earmuffs cause kids call at the door all the time that day asking for candies.

However, not only do young-lings enjoy this celebration, but also adults. In fact, I myself try to dress up and hang out with friends every year. I mean life is too short not to have fun once in a while. For instance, once I dressed up as Harry Potter; since I had a resemblance to him back as as kid. Anyhow,

I´ll be posting a video on this topic too. I wanna let you guys know a little more about its history. Personally, all I know about Halloween is that I spent hours watching horror movies and guzzling with soda. However, I´ve heard as well that this celebration is related to death and suffering. Though, I don´t see it that way.

Of course Christians see Halloween as a pagan celebration as well; nonetheless, it´d be important to disentangle the truth from those false believes. To sum up, I´d say that Halloween, is indeed a significant bash for society. In fact, I´ll be partying this October 31st as a way of cheering up.  Kind of on the mend after depression. I recommend you do the same.

Nobody Likes a Bully - How to Stop Bullying in Schools - Deal with Bulli...

Bullying is something that shouldn´t exist. However, just like any other bad thing there is in life, it does. Therefore, we gotta learn how to deal with it. One thing we always gotta remember is that we ain´t alone. There´s a helping hand who is willing to  help us if we ask. Besides, you can also stand up to a bully without fighting.

 

For instance, back when I was in high school, there was a guy who used to tease me cause I was shy. Once, the worm turned. I actually got mad and threatened to punch him. I got amused by his reaction. Apparently, his bark was worse than his bite.

 

What I´m trying to say is that when you nerve yourselves to do something you´re afraid of, you can get amused. I mean, I´m not a violent person. Though, I´ve got my limits. In adittion,taking a karate class wouldn´t do any harm. Of course I don´t wanna fan the flames of violence with this writing either. Besides, everyone knows that Martial arts help to boost up your confidence. Anyhow, it´d be also good to consider counselling as a way to solve the problem.

 

To sum up I´ll say that there are many ways in which one can stop bullying. Just keep positive, and don´t even consider the fact that you´re worth less than those vandals.

Best Motivational Speech ~Secrets to Success, How Bad Do you Want it? {F...

You really want to be successful? I came across a motivational speech today. I was thinking about how much time I´ve been wasting by complaining about my failures. I´m going  quote the speaker ¨You gotta wanna succeed as bad as you want to breathe¨.

 

Such phrase shook me up completely. I´ve accomplished some goals in life, though those are not enough for me. What I´m trying to say is that there are not limits whatsoever for what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. No matter how many diversions cross your mind, you have to stay focused.

 

This keynote speaker even gave an example based on a story from which his quote derives from. Basically he talked about a person who wanted to be successful and contacted a guru; the guru told him to meet him at the beach the next day. If you want  hear the end of the story, watch the video I´m going to post after this.

 

Anyhow, to wrap this up, I´d say that we all know what it means to suffer while trying to accomplish an objective. Nevertheless it´s never too late to start over or move on. So remember: the only one who is preventing you from success is yourself. Nobody is going  give advice out to you on how to solve every single one of your problems. Though what you can do get is motivation from different sources.

How to Manage Your Time Better

What I´ve been thinking about recently is how one can do to prioritize their duties. It´s kind of tough to work and study at the same time. Though, most gotta do that in order to pay their bills and be able to get a degree as well. In fact I myself find it difficult to accomplish efficient time management. However, I do my best not to mess things up.  For instance., I get myself riveted by watching speeches on the Internet, nonetheless I try to leave it for my spare time. The keynote of this piece of writing is for me to encourage you to organize your time. I don´t wanna bother you with nebulous concepts either; just remember the following: The start of a path to success is like the inception of a company; it is hard at the beginning but has its rewards in the long run. One even gets at sea after running into a setback. Just keep track of your achievements and also keep them up. Personally, I´ve had to learn how to deal with time management effectively. For instance, before it was hard for me to get things done in time; such as assignments, etc. Nonetheless, I now try to set deadlines for myself, so that I can spent more time in my tasks and finish sooner. Anyway, to sum up I´ll say there is a myriad methods of improving the way you manage your time. You only gotta find the one that suits you better.

Eric Mazur, Abridged "Confessions of a Converted Lecturer"

Today I got to attend a wonderful lecture about education. This time a saw Eric Mazur deliver a sharp and fantastic speech about education. He´s a world-wide known physicist and professor. What he mainly talked about was how wrong teachers have been for so many years on their pursue to reach out to students. First, he says how important it is for us educators not to think teaching is a one-way process. During the 20th century it was thought that to teach was to transfer info. That´s not true whatsoever. In order for a student to fully learn something, there has to be interaction among them and the teacher. Besides, Eric explained how he even had at some point grown to believe that giving a lecture meant only providing info. According to him ¨ Teaching is a holistic process; which implies not only interaction, but also immersion among the learners¨. He also highlighted the fact that one teaches through questioning and not by telling. Phrase coined by Socrates thousands of years ago, but which people tend to forget. Therefore, students gotta get involved in a welcoming environment; apart from the fact that they also gotta be kept motivated all the time.  A great learner is one who can revise their believes after learning something new. Thus, allowing personal growth to take place. What shouldn't be forgotten either is what teachers actually do to make learning more interesting and accessible to students. In addition, I´d say that I don´t mean students shouldn´t put from their part either. I´m just suggesting that in order for a learner to succeed, they must study in a convenient facility. Lastly,  I´ll wrap this up by saying that us educators never stop learning, hence the need to constantly research and look for ways to improve our teaching.

Kathryn Schulz: Being Wrong

I´ve been kind of introspective lately. The reason for this is that once again I´ve been thinking about my past mistakes. I gotta be more creative on what to write, though I wanted to wrap this topic up first. We all run into logjam in the pursue of our goals. Basically because most of us gotta deal with many situations at the same time to get on in life. Here comes the big question though. How do we remain  undaunted so that we can keep going?. Well, there´s not an exact answer to that. Every single person on earth pertains to a different way of living. Not only because of how much money they have, but also because of their traditions. Besides, what grips my attention is how my life would have been if I had done things differently. Something that many ask themselves. However, as I heard in the speech I´m gonna post following this: ¨We´re all experts at doing things wrong¨. By this I don´t mean those words literally. Nonetheless, I do know that in order to succeed one has to make a lot of mistakes. Neither do I wanna say that you should just go through life following your nose. You gotta plan out your path. Furthermore, it´s also crucial to hedge your bets so that you can have a better shot. For instance, I myself like singing. Though, if I don´t educate my voice and take my chances, I won´t have any future at doing it. To sum up I´d say the following: Your behavior can either smack  of optimism or negativism. It´s up to you whether you succeed or fail in this hard journey called life. Is it worth drooping all the time. I think it ain´t. So, please never back down to any challenge and always trust your guts. Godspeed!

Surprising Lessons From 100 Days of Rejection: Jia Jiang at TEDxAustin

Nowadays, fear to rejection is getting bigger and bigger. The reason for this may be due to the proliferation and social media and other technological means of communication. They´re a double-edged sword. One of the negative aspects of them is that they prevent people from socializing among each other. Though, there´s a lot of more reasons why people fear rejection. This particular time I saw Jia Jiang´s speech about rejection. He himself is a entrepreneur who at 30 realized that he´d forgotten his original dream. His wife encouraged him to seek that goal he´d been dreaming of since before he emigrated to the US at 16. Of course it wasn´t easy for him; his original plan was to become an entrepreneur. So that he decided to venture into a creating business; unfortunately his plan fell through  cause the loan for the project didn´t get accepted. After licking his own wounds for some time, something unexpected happened. He ran into this amazing ¨Rejection therapy¨ created by a Canadian psychologist. After plunging himself into this new project he decided to do it for 100 days, and vlog it. Basically what he had to do was to go out into the street and people randomly if he could do some unexposed thing. For instance, one he asked a police officer if he could sit on the driver´s seat and pretend he was him. The officer said yes to his surprise. Of course he got rejected as well many times. Though he got more yeses. Moreover, it´s important to consider as well what he did after almost fulfilling this project. Jia got so many questions from people who´d seen his videos, he didn´t have time to answer them all. One French guy for example, told Jia his story. He´d been trying to flirt with this girl at the gym for like a month. Even though it seemed she was into him too, he was too afraid of rejection. To sum up, I´d say fear ain´t something we´re born with. We learn to acquire it. Just as we learn how to do that, we can also learn how to control it. I myself have abandoned many plans cause of fear of rejection. Don´t be like I was. Listen to Jia Jiang!

Hacking Language Learning: Dr. Conor Quinn at TEDxDirigo

Learning  English as a second language ain´t easy, neither does getting fluent at it. However, most of us can do it no problem. The important thing is to know which steps to take  in order to improve our learning faster. I myself went through a lot  to get fluent in English. Luckily, I managed to make it possible. We gain nothing by searching out methods to learn a new language if we don´t know where to go or what to look for. What we gotta keep in mind is the abilities we have to master: Grammar, Speaking, Listening, and Reading. Once we are good at all of them, the job is done. According to linguists, the best way to learn grammar for instance is by first getting the structures from context. By reading a story, we learn grammar. To master listening and speaking, you have to immerse yourself into the new culture. You can both talk to foreigners and watch films, series, etc. in the target language. Another interesting way of learning English is by singing songs in it . Even people of low income can manage to get stuff to learn it . For example, just as there are many stores in which they sell a job lot, there also is a variety of bookstores in which they sell second hand material. It is indeed a thievery from some schools that charge so much for short ESL programs. To gain in confidence speaking in English, it takes one many years of intense practice. Then again, ¨No pain, no gain¨ as they say. One never knows when we´re gonna need to master English. What if you draw lots for the right to go on a business trip to the US representing your company?. You gotta know English. Anyhow, to sum up I´d say the following: Nowadays, it´s quite necessary to learn not only English, but any other language that is getting popular worldwide. Keep in mind nonetheless, the tools you´re gonna need and how you´re gonna learn this new language. I myself wanna number among the best ESL teachers on Earth. (Since I´m studying to become one.

If at First You Don't Succeed... : John Coyle at TEDxNaperville

I´ve talked about this already. Though I wanted to go even deeper on this topic. Many people always regret things they either did or didn´t do in the past. I include myself in this list. However most of us don´t realize that the time we waste complaining, can be used to start over and move on with our lives. Our plans can be deep-sixed by our insecurity. Though, what matters is what we do to  correct those previous mistakes we made earlier. I was really depressed after coming back from Canada. Things hadn´t gone my way cause of a number of reasons. I wanted my education to be expedited from that point on. So that I could get back the time wasted. When it comes to time, I always worry. Anyhow, I the realized it wasn´t worth it to freak out about the speed at which I was growing. As long as I could get both a good education and job. My life needed to be on a Knife-edge; luckily I´m almost there. The most important thing in life is to achieve your goal. It doesn´t matter whether it takes you longer or not. No matter how up to your neck you´re in work all the time either. Usually by being wise after the event, we even get to achieve more. For instance, I´ve always tried to apply the trial and error technique in my life. I even wanted to be as wise as those scientists I watched on TV. Nonetheless, I learnt that I didn´t have to become a gnomic speaker or whatnot. What I needed is to be confident in what I did and look for opportunities to grow. One good thing to do before starting out a project is the following: Pick over all your alternatives for success. Once you´ve done that. it´s better to choose the best ones. To sum up, I´d say that it´s never good to put all your eggs in one basket. You always gotta have many options. Not only to have more chances of success, but also not to get depressed by any setback.

Education is something that should not be forbidden to anyone. Unfortunately, even if it is not, it ain´t good enough either. Especially elementary education in developing countries. I do believe public schools in North America are better structured than in Latin America. Despite the fact that many say US kids these days are getting more fool every single day that passes. The reason for this way of thinking may be due to the lack of discipline there´s in those schools. I´d go deeper, but I know you caught my drift. It´s ironic though how the educational system in South America is the opposite to  the American one. South Americans complain that public schools are so bad they have to rely on private ones and fork out a fortune; whereas in the US parents are OK sending there children to public schools because they are good enough for preparing them to attend college. Who doesn´t wanna look smug about the fact that they finally got their Bachelor´s degree from a good school without much effort?. That ain´t the case though. Besides, there are some other things to be taken into consideration. For instance, in South America, private colleges are just as expensive as the ones in the US. However they´re much worse. That´s why most people there attend public universities. Conversely, in the US there are student loans provided by the government. So that American students can get into good universities by working a little harder. Of course the US government recoups their investment by being paid in parts. Everyone knows that, that same system ain´t applied in developing countries however. Since the authorities in the aforementioned countries don´t help out people. enough. (Most of them even embezzle public funds for education). The community itself has to pool their own resources to educate their kids as a consequence. One interesting piece of info for example, is to talk about the best University in Latin America which is ¨The Autonoma de Mexico¨. It is famous for their science programs. Anyhow, managing to get a degree there for a common person is like lugging your bags up to the 20th floor of a busy hotel. The best colleges on earth may be thronging with applicants who just got in, but only the ones who get to finish the program are taken into account. To sum up I´d say that indeed education in developing countries needs to sex up its image. That´s why not only the community but the authorities themselves will have to improve it little by little.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS - Official Trailer - In Theaters 12/7

I just finished watching ¨Playing For Keeps¨ and it got me thinking how important it is for a child to grow up with a father. Indeed this film was quite moving. It´s very unlikely though ,that somebody who has already got divorced gets back their family after three years. Ever since the kid gets christened, they need their dad right beside them. Why is it that important you may ask?. Well, let me tell you about my personal experience. My parents got divorced when I was 16. Though both my folks were very supportive, which made the misfortune less tough for me. Of course I´m not gonna budge an inch on my opinion. Not having your pops around, even when you´re a teen, is hard. It seems to be quite a trend however to see couples getting divorced these days. Their children are the ones affected, and they can´t do anything to change the situation. Some just try to block out the past.  Not reminding themselves about the fact that they barely see their offspring on a regular basis. It gets worse nevertheless. Sometimes when you try to forget the past, it hunts you. Especially when you´ve done something you´ve seriously regretted. Conversely, many teens even put on a confident manner not to worry their parents. No matter how used to somebody is not to having their dad around. Whether it´s due to a divorce, decease, or even abandonment. The feeling one gets inside is almost the same in most of these unfortunate situations. Lastly, I´d say that at times we don´t even realize how wonderful those moments we spend with our dads are. Be grateful for each one of them.

Michio Kaku on Time Travel

There´s something I´ve been meaning to talk about since I created this blog. I tend get introspective sometimes; one of the thinks I used to think about was Time Travel. I mean, it may seem crazy to talk about this stuff; I´ve got my reasons though. Ever since I got into college the 1st time, I realized I´d done something wrong. I´d basically let my older brother force me into getting into school. I picked the program myself;

I wasn´t sure about it however. It was just right after I finished high school. After a time and some other failures, I thought my life was over. I wanted to go back in time. Rewind all the bad things I´d done wrong and do them again. Luckily for me, things started to pick up right away. Nevertheless, I will never take this feeling out of myself. ¨What if things had been different?¨, I make that question to myself every time I go to bed. I even took up some science.

I wanted to know, if maybe in the future it was gonna be possible to do that. I came across some wonderful physicists, such as Dr. Michio Kaku and Professor Mallet. They both gave me hope about the possibility of turning back time. Of course it wont be in the foreseeable future. Not to mention the countless paradoxes that could be triggered if it one day came to become a reality. Everyone wants to get stoked cause success after they´ve worked hard to achieve something. Nonetheless, lots of setbacks and temptations cross their paths.

Only the ones who ultimately reach their goals get to feel fulfilled. Being pent-up doesn´t help either. People gotta release all their negative emotions in order to feel relieved. The fact of one falling by the wayside doesn´t mean unhappiness though. Even if you don´t achieve what you ultimately wanted, you still can be happy. Trying is important as well. It´s crucial to stoke up courage in yourselves, no matter what happens. To recap, I´d say that even though I´m fascinated by this ¨Time Travel¨ topic, I still realize how limited our technology still is to even dream of doing that one day.

There are many private colleges, especially in undeveloped countries that profit at the expense of desperate parents. For instance, where I come from this happens a lot. Quite a lot of schools care more about cash than education these days. It´s normal for a high school student who has just finished to be bombarded with info about different schools.

It´s hard for them to make a decision in such a short time. Thus, ill-intentioned people take advantage of these confused teens. Just to make a simple comparison between the education system of my own country and the one of a first-world nation. Just in Lima (Peru´s capital), there are more than 15 universities; whereas in Toronto where I used to live there are just three.

Don´t think that private schools are cheap in Peru though. Actually you kind pay the same for a higher education here as in the US for example. I´m just talking about one South American country, not to mention all the others. Therefore, a lot of work has to be done to correct this unfair facts. One of the things that annoy me the most about these so called ¨private¨ schools is that they even preach about responsibility and values.

I can assure you they don´t even know what those words mean. Schools here are not proscribed for insanely expanding and raise their fees whenever they want. However they should be. I´m pretty sure that if one the deans of these lame schools were asked about the layout and importance of their syllabi, they´d just digress. Next time you´re planning on taking a college program, don´t let these people fool you with their bullshitty propaganda.

The First 20 Hours - How to Learn Anything: Josh Kaufman at TEDxCSU

Like always, I get amazed by TEDx´s publications. This time I watched a  relatively new video. It was about the 20 hour rule. Implemented by Josh Kaufman, an American speaker with astounding talent for learning things. She´d recently had a child, though his time was cut off.

Therefore his passion for learning was kind of thwarted by this development. Regardless of what he had to go through with his new child, he still found the time to learn this new rule. At first, he started off by geeking in the library for quite some time. He learned that it takes a 1000 hours to master any new skill.

Not to learn it though. So that he decided to go deeper in his search for answers. He dug up more precise information saying that it only takes 20 hours to learn the foundations of any new skill. This time can even be broken up for better improvement. He wanted to master the ukulele; what he did was basically divvy up his time and focus as much as he could on this goal.

Even though he didn´t actually master it, he could learn to play quite a few songs. Josh wrapped up his speech by performing on stage and saying the following: ¨ Sometimes people are scared to try new stuff. They´ll be blown away when they realize how much you can improve in such a short time¨. I wasn´t exactly quoting but you get the gist.

I remember one time that I was quite depressed, I watched this video from ¨TED-talks¨. For the ones who still don´t know ¨TED-talks¨ is a site in which you can watch conferences and lectures about almost everything. It guests the most prestigious speakers known to mankind. From whiz-kids to very experienced people. This particular time was the turn of Nick Vujicic to speak, a world wide known Serbian-Australian performer.

He inspired me that day mainly because of one of the things he said in his speech. Life hadn´t been easy for  him growing up due to his disability. The fact of being looked with disdain by bullies in school was one of those setbacks. Nevertheless, this strong-willed man has blown away more than one person. Not only because of his courage but for his desire to live and help out others.

During his speech he mentioned he had attempted to commit suicide at the age of 10 by drowning himself in his bathtub.

However he realized while doing this it was not worth it. He thought about how much pain his parents would have gone through if he had killed himself that day. It made me cry to hear what he was saying at that moment. Everyone experiences blips once in while. However, I myself would  have not plucked up enough courage to keep going If I had been in his situation. It is indeed admirable and heroic what this man has done. Regardless of all he has undergone, he even managed to get a Bachelor´s degree in Accounting and marry a wonderful woman. He´s controverted the former belief that you need to be 100% physically healthy to succeed in life. A lot of hale and hearty people haven´t even achieved half of what he has. He also gives motivational talks around the world and has written several novels such as ¨Life without Limbs¨.

Not to mention his appearance in the short film ¨The Butterfly Circus¨ in which he was the protagonist. Lastly, I´d say that we all have a thing or two to learn from this wonderful human being. If he never threw in the towel, why would you?

It is said that we´re almost never 100% free to make the decisions we want. For instance, in some countries lefthanders are not allowed to use their creativity cause of some restrictions that still exist. We can never say however that our entire future is riding on an interview or something like that. We gotta take as many chances as we can. Most of the time we even have to steep ourselves in what we wanna improve.
 Along the way of course we ride out difficulties, but what matter´s that we keep in mind what we set out for. Planing on a project is like writing an essay. You basically set out your ideas as organized as possible following a format. As well as one vets their questions prior to an interview. Sometimes  we even gotta repurpose the content of our project for it to succeed.

It is important to consider things like plunking down a postgraduate program in the way of improving our chances. Furthermore, it ain´t easy to start out any project. A crucial thing to do is to glean info from different sources. Making sure everything is well sorted out before going on quest to success is essential. Life is like a wayward kid, it gets difficult to control.Therefore we cannot put all our eggs in one basket. Not even the greatest people on Earth have gotten away without getting rejected several times. Once one gets lucky enough to reach their goals though.

It´s much easier to unbend and chill out. I myself have tried to avail myself of every single opportunity I could have got. I wish I had done more however. I´ve learned that to be assailed by worries about the past ain´t a solution to any problem though. Besides, it also helps to indulge your passion for what you mostly like. Having said that I´d go so far as to say that what it all boils down to is either you try and succeed or you don´t try and live in uncertainty.

I´ve been thinking about what makes people succeed in life overall. Once I heard in an English class the following: ¨It´s said that the native Americans believed people know everything before they´re born; however, they forget everything once the come out of their mothers´ wombs. As a consequence, they have to start over and try to get back that knowledge throughout their entire lives.¨ It kinds of makes sense, though it may also seem to be improbable in reality. Anyhow, today I heard a motivational lecture in school. They were talking about how to motivate people as best as possible. For instance, in an experiment you test two children on how well they do at puzzles. After they both have finished and done well in the puzzle you praised them differently. You tell one that he must be very smart cause he got a good score; whereas you tell the other that he tried hard and therein lies the key to his success. After some time you keep testing the two participants. The one who had been told he was smart failed the second quiz; on the other hand, the one who was told he tried hard did great on it. It´s amazing how just a few words can change the entire outcome of a process. This aforesaid example is scientifically proven. Therefore, we realized how important it is to actually be motivated in what we want to achieve. Hard work and perseverance are in fact byproducts of motivation. What keeps you from throwing your hand in after a few setbacks? The answer is of course motivation. Nevertheless, the only way in which we can be encouraged to succeed in anything is to love what we do. It seems to be a cliché, but it´s indeed true.

Today, I´d like to talk about regrets. Every single one of us has regretted something that has caused a lot of pain at least once. Apart from the regrets we experience on a daily basis, the aforementioned ones are actually the ones that hurt us. Therefore, we have to look for ways to learn how to deal with them effectively. For instance, let me tell you a little a bit about my rough experience over the past few years. Right before I was finishing high school, I was bombarded with  a large number of college ads. Colleges that mainly profit with students indecision.

I innocently picked out one of those. Gosh did I hated to make that decision. I do know that it is also true that my family had put a lot of pressure into me to get into school ASAP. Though, I also know that I was right off the bat clueless about what else to do at that time. I got into business school. It didn´t take me long however, to realize that I had not chosen the right program for myself. I dropped out after one semester. By that time, I was about to immigrate to Canada. My brother had made that possible after doing a lot of documentation for several years.I spent the last few months before my trip learning how to drive. I knew that I had an intermediate level of English which was not going allow me to handle myself perfectly over there. Though I decided to go on just having a taking a two month ESL program that didn´t help much. When  I arrived in Toronto, On, I realized I was not ready to deal with rough situations over there.

I´m going to go off on a tangent for a little while. I come from a two children family, Nevertheless, my older brother is 17 years older than me. So that it´d been really hard to deal with him from the beginning, Besides, he is indeed a very manipulative person. It doesn´t mean I do think he does this all the time. Though he did it with myself almost all the time. He did not let me decide many times, and because of these I ended up messing up. Back to the my story, apart to having to stand my crazy brother while in Canada, I also had to struggle with all the difficulties that came along. I couldn´t find a single job, cause of the simple fact that I felt insecure. All I did was to study as Going from program after program. I withstood all these things one year. After that I realized the was nothing else to do but to go back to my home country. Back in Peru, I started from scratch, took a lot more ESL programs for another year. though this time it was different. This programs I was taking were a lot more advance and allowed me to teach as a trainee instructor in school and also to take the Michigan ECPE test. Of course I did passed this exam, after that I applied to a job in the same institution in which I had studied, I passed every single exam while going through the examination process. Until I saw that the person that was going to interview me was actually a Supervisor which I´d heard and seen before had a bad reputation and enjoyed maltreating new applicants.

I neglected to mention that I had previously got a temporary job at a hotel teaching English to the maintenance staff. I  really thought this was my time to finally get what I deserved. However, I was wrong, I couldn´t accept the fact that I had to answer questions to this SOB, but I did. He unfortunately gave me a low score in the interview, which mean that on average I was out. I got really depressed I though everything was lost. Luckily for me, I got another opportunity. The following year, I got accepted into a College program for ESL teachers. I was finally going to study what I wanted. I also met wonderful people. And even though I´m still grappling to find an answer not to get depressed, I feel much better now. I´ve been giving private classes and attending conferences regarding Education. I know that my chance to get a good job will get pretty. I´d done volunteering for over two years before school this year, So I know what it looks like to help others. That´s in my opinion going to open me many doors in the foreseeable future. To sum up I´d like to tell you that if I could pick myself up many times after failure, you can do it as well.

A few days ago, I came across an article talking about the effectiveness of antidepressants. I know I´m supposed to talk about education; though I figured this is related to it as well. So, lets go on...

According to this and several other articles I´ve read, antidepressants should only be prescribed to people who are suffering from extreme cases of depression. In fact, the placebo effect proves the aforesaid sentence. People who just on mild stages of this mental illness get a lot more benefit from exercising. Besides, the are a lot of different ways in which one can cheer up. The busier you are, the weaker your depression becomes. Moreover, we gotta take into consideration what I was saying earlier. Mental health is extremely important for success in every single aspect of life, including education of course. Instead of harking back to how things used to be in the past all the time, one can actually move on and experience new things. Setting up a new schedule every once in a while helps us out a lot too. To sum up, I´d say that it´s indeed essential to avoid any sort of depression/stress to do the following:

- Do as many activities as you can.

- Organize your time as more efficiently as possible.

- Do not overdo anything.

- Have plenty of rest.

- Relax every now and then.

- Have a healthy diet.

- Be social.

Alright, those were my thoughts on this issue. I could have talked a little more about it. Though I thought it wasn´t gonna be really necessary to do so. Hope you liked it!

Some time ago I happened to go to a conference in which they were talking about new trends for learning English in South America. For instance, I heard that in Uruguay, there´s been an ESL program implemented for children in some private schools. Basically, they were exposed to English spoken by a native Speaker once a week via video conference. This seems to be a great idea to start off learning a new language. The problem is that their actual teachers ain´t proficient in English; therefore, what they can do for them regarding their learning process is very little. However, this educators do as much as they can to keep up with their students. In my opinion, what really needs to be done to improve the overall level of English in South American children is the following:           

-Hire near native/native Speakers in most English centers.

-Set as a requirement that all the applicants hold a degree in education.

-Ask for at least three years of experience in the field of teaching.

-Make sure that this people really have commitment with their job. 

Well, those were some of my thoughts on this topic. I´m sure there are even more requirement and characteristics that schools should take into consideration as well. Though, the few ones I mentioned here are essential according to my way of seeing things nowadays.

Recently I´ve been pondering about some stuff I did in the past. I remember making hasty decisions right after I left school and regretting them after some time. There is one thing that we always going to keep in mind, it doesn´t matter how many times we fail to get where we want to be.

What matters is how strong and determined we are go through all those obstacles in order to succeed. So, let´s take a look at the definition of this verb: ¨To hesitate¨, according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary 2013 edition, it means the following: ¨To be worried about doing something, especially because you´re not sure it´s right¨.

However, I´m not satisfied with this definition so let´s look up this idiom to elaborate on it: ¨He who hesitates is lost¨, which means that if delay doing something, you may lose a good opportunity.¨ Having said all of that I ask myself the following: Why do we overthink everything sometimes?. Well the answer to that is simple; there are many reasons for doing it in fact. For instance, I may not apply for certain job because I ¨feel¨ I´m not qualified enough to deal with it. When in fact it´s a job that does not need any special one. Therefore, it is hard to take the first step in anything, but it´s crucial be confident enough to handle this situations.

To wrap things up I´d just like to say that despite the trouble we have to go through in life; there´s always a chance to improve and finally achieve what we look for by working hard. Never lose hope...

I´ve been recently thinking about how hard it is for younger people in my country to have access to a decent education. For years we have suffered the consequences of having been taken over by dictators and heartless politicians. We live in a society where ignorance is essential for this kind of people to govern a country, or better said misgovern it.

Conversely, educated people would not accept to be under the control of immoral governors. Back to what I was saying about Peru, I´d like to give you guys just one example of how hopeless is the path to success for students who belong to the middle class or below. In Lima, the capital and financial centre of this country, there are only two main libraries not fully equipped. For instance, if a middle school student wants to get a copy of a famous English fable, such as ¨The hare and the tortoise¨, they´re darned.

This is mainly because the only two aforementioned libraries don´t have any book written in a foreign language whatsoever. This not only discourages young promises, but also may allow them choose the wrong path. Furthermore, I´d like to add the fact that public schools here don´t have English as a compulsory subject. Even if they do, it´s as if they didn´t. That´s why several language centres were created to ¨teach¨ English to future generations.

However, this sparked off the following. These institutions wanted profit with education more than anything else. So that, they hired either Americans or Peruvians with a high level of English. The only thing they had to do to get hired was to get a certificate after finishing a 6-month program, and passing an International English test. They still do the same thing until this day. Therefore, ESL students don´t seem to be in such good hands, do they?.

Anyhow, to sum up I´d like to say that we have to keep into consideration that teaching is an art. That´s why, people who are not qualified to practice this art should not be able to do it.

Hi everyone!. Well for my first post I wanted to share an essay I wrote back when I was preparing to take my ECPE English test. Hope you like it...

Nowadays the proliferation of media has allowed most of the popular novels to be shown in the big screen. Some believe it seems better to read the books, others believe watching the movies gives them a better understanding of the main topic of the story. I personally think reading the books is better because of the following reasons.

     

     Firstly, It would be important to take into consideration that reading novels gives us a better understanding of everything related to the story. One gets to learn the details and important facts that sometimes are not shown in the movies. Moreover, imagination plays an important role in this topic. People can actually guess what is going on in the book while reading. For instance, when a person reads a science fiction novel book such as ¨Time Machine¨, and tries to recreate the events of the book in their mind.

     Second, some believe watching the movies seems more interesting. They claim that it is a waste of time to read the novels when one can actually avoid doing that. These people are mainly interested in just learning the main topic of the film. They are not interested in the details whatsoever. For instance, a group of people attends the theatre to see how the last ¨Harry Potter¨ movie turned out to be, rather than using their imagination.

Finally, I would say that nothing can be compared to the joy one gets while reading. Not only because a person feeds their imagination, but also they get to know a lot more about the story.