My experience learning English.

This is my first and last English course that i have during these 2 years at the university (i hope i don't fail this course!!!). I've always wasn't good enough to speak, listen, read or write in English, but not bad enough to have panic to do those things. I have some problems like syntax of English when i'm ordering my ideas before i speak and more than anything the pronounciation of words, and they've been surrounding me since i was learning for the very first time this language. But, now that i'm more conscious about learning a second language and how important is to me to my professional career, i'm getting better as days pass by and this course, English IV, has developed my syntax and improved, without a doubt, my pronounciation, by the activities in classes and the blogs, especially!

This semester was the very first time that i feel confident with my knowledge in English and, paradoxically, it has been the semester that i've received most critics and i've felt that i don't know anything!! But, for me, that meant to be a golden opportunity to rebuild my skills and to grow my self esteem when i'm talking in English, which in my opinion is the most important part about learning English and the less checked aspect of the courses of English in our education. Me and almost everyone of the students of our country have not the confidence to speak English because we are more capable of reading and writing in English than talking in it. That's why to improve our speaking skills we need to talk in English!!! It's the most basic way to communicate ideas, and i've been using a lot this practice to use English outside the class and because i want to be a professional that speak English fluently, and that gives me something "extra"!! I can go to other countries and talk with people from all over the world!

Changes to my study programme

First of all, i have to admit that my study programme needs a lot of changes because there are things that are unnecessary and things that are missing. Mostly, here in the EGGP, there's a lack of infrastructure and a lack of quantity of technology devices that contribute to a better study for all of the students that are part of this school (including me).

The actual building isn't enough for around of 700 students that are part of the EGGP, number that will increase due to the addition of a new career that the university will give in this building: Political Sciences.  Considering that next year will be full of people, because this new career will bring 40 more students, and now the building is struggling to give an ideal place to study, to entertain, to relax, to eat; basically, to give people a comfortable place to live. Financially, as a institution, we depend on what INAP (Instituto de Asuntos Públicos) have to spend and the problem is that it is a low amount of money, in comparison to other departments of the university like FEN or FCFM, thus INAP can't afford more technology devices or a better infrastructure.

About the career and their curriculum, it's also pretty disappointing but can be improved. Our curriculum have a bad design and isn't the best way to guarantee that all the students have what the institution wants to all of them when they graduate, mainly due to two things: academic freedom and the curriculum itself and their subjects. Academic freedom makes that teachers can do whatever they want, and this is a double-edged sword because sometimes it can make the learning and the revision of some topics easier to the students in order to teach better, but that's too subjective that teachers understand this as they want and usually it doesn't work!! And, about the subjects, they repeat semester by semester!!! It sounds funny and unrealistic but it's true, and i have confirmed that with older partners that are in 3rd or 4th year (i'm in 2nd). Definitely that wasted time can be used to learn other things that are really important to our career like ethics or interpersonal intelligence.

My opinion about...

Today i have to give my opinion about some different topics that i've been asked. I choose to answer about legalization of marijuana and other drugs, hooligans, recycling and tattoos.

Marijuana and other drugs:

I've always thought why people can't see that marijuana is less harmful and dangerous than legal drugs like alcohol or cigarettes that literally "kill" people because of the excessive consumption of these. Also, marijuana helps people with illnesses, people with insomnia and to relax. About other drugs i have a different opinion because i will never legalize cocaine or heroin, but the legalization will spoil drug trafficking and all the bad things that involve it.

Hooligans:

Going to watch sports it's an activity that everyone must enjoy peacefully and politely. Violence is something that musn't be in different spaces where people coexist, and also it brings horrible things like injured people and chaos. The final of Copa Libertadores of this year it's a true example of the terrible consecuences of the actions that hooligans do, with the final match relocated to Spain (which is something unacceptable)

Recycling:

It is important to take care of our planet. We can't go to another place and we haven't explored other planets to go if we want to leave the Earth, so we must have awareness about the environment or we will die!! It's necessary to make actions that contribute to the environmental care because there's some habits that are harmful, and we don't know that.

Tattoos:

People thought that tattoos is something that gangsters or burglars have, and i think that's a lack of respect to some honorable people that have tattoos on their bodies and don't make bad things. Everyone has the right to make whatever they want with their body and it's a pretty bad thing judging people because of the mere fact of having a tattoo.