UNIT 8

ONE OF THE BEST CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WORLD IS THE GENEVA 

CONVENTIONS, (WHERE THE INTERNATIONAL COMITTEE OF THE RED 

CROSS WAS FOUNDED), BECAUSE  THEY HAVE HAD VERY CLEAR OBJECTIVES, 

TO HELP WOUNDED SOLDIERS IN A WAR, NO MATTER IF THEY BELONG ANY SIDE.

MY PERSONAL OPINION IS: IF WE BECOME A SYMBOLIC RED CROSS AND WE APPLY THIS KIND OF HELP TO GIVE AN ADVICE OR EXPAND OUR HAND, WHEN SOMEONE ASKS FOR, WE CAN BE A GREAT HELP TO HEAL THEIR PERSONAL LIFE, BECAUSE OUR ENVIRONMENT IS FULL OF EMOTIONALLY INJURED PEOPLE.

The Bold and the Bashful

In this unit, we told about these two adjectives, bold and bashful.  The professor asked us, which of the two we identified with.  My opinion was, it depends on the moment, I can be bold or bashful.

For example, if I am with people I already know and I am used to talking and joking with them, I tend to be bold.  But if it is with someone I just know, I generally behave bashfully.

The vocabularies that this unit has are the following:

Reticent: unwilling to talk
Phobia: very strong fear
Merit: value
Extroverted: very sociable
Adverse: negative
Syndrome: condition
Chronic: continual( in a medical sense )
Kindred souls: people having similar traits
Misattributions: false assumption
Handicap: disadvantage
Aloof: distant
Condescending: treating others as inferior

The bold and the bashful

I believe that when shyness is not extreme, it can be kind of healthy since being a little reserved is not bad when you know when to act like that.

As we saw in class in China being shy may not have adverse consequences as it does in other countries. In fact, some studies have shown that Chinese children who are shy are well accepted by their peers and often end up in leadership roles.





Many people do not know that sometimes we believe to be outgoing, but in reality each person is shy in their own type of way, some are more than others and others might not show it so vividly but the shyness is there. we just need to try to keep a balance between the to sides and remember all excess is bad.




Finally, I can not help praising the vocabulary chosen for every single unit. Words such as the followings:

• reticent
• kindred souls
• aloof
• condescending
• adverse
• standoffish
• grouchy
• draw out 

I have learned great words during this summer, and I look forward to using them and understand them when someone else does.

Here is a list of vocabulary I also find useful 

Honesty is the best policy

Once again I have to mention the vocabulary in this unit, just perfect. Very useful, handy and diverse.

 Expressions as; the rule of thumb, to be caught lying, and put the pieces together are already part of my vocabulary




Another point is the accuracy in this unit when it comes to honesty and how people have lost their values maybe to get a better position at work, to get friends, to avoid embarrassment, to avoid punishment, and many other reasons.

 It is human to lie, I mean each one of us has lied about something in life but we have to avoid this, since as we learned, it is quite difficult to gain trust back when we lose it.






We have to be aware of the consequences of lying, but also the causes. As we saw, narcissistic people are most likely liars, people who only think about the here and now might as well drop into the liar category.

If you want to find out more about why people lie and how to avoid it click here: https://www.paulekman.com/blog/why-people-lie/




Speak the truth. People will forgive an honest mistake; they won't forgive you if you lie. Mark Goulston

The internet and other addictions

On this unit we got to know more about social media impact in every life and each person around us, even ourselves. The dependance we have developed to machines, the loneliness in front of the computer and growth of the support groups are some of the reason why people need to wake up and break the bad habit of internet addiction.




Some of the vocabulary used here was the following: 

• engaging in
• turning each other in
• fulfillment 
• therapy
•  present with
•  compulsiveness
• surf
• anxiety

It is good to remember what the professor has been saying during this summer class, we need to handle the difference among noun,verb, and adjective and know this by heart. It is imperative that when speaking, writing or teaching we use the correct form of the word otherwise we would not be delivering the trust of a expert in the matter.

On the grammar point we saw WISH to express unreality, it can be used in present, past, or future.

Using "wish"

1-   We use wish + simple past to express that we want a situation in the present.

              a.      I wish I had a big car.
                       I don’t have a big car.

              b.      I wish I was on a beach.
                       I’m in the office.

              c.      I wish I spoke French.                       I don’t speak French.
  

 2- We use wish + past perfect to express a regret, or that we want a situation in the past.

• I wish I hadn't eaten so much.
  I ate a lot.

• I wish they'd come on holiday with us.
  They didn't come on holiday with us.

• I wish I had studied harder at school.
  I was lazy at school.



3-  We use wish + would/could + base form to exprees that we want a situation in the future.


  • I wish you would stop smoking.
    You are smoking at the moment and it is annoying me.

  • I wish it would stop raining.
    I'm impatient because it is raining and I want to go outside.

  • I wish she'd be quiet.
    I am annoyed because she is speaking.

Source for examples with wish     https://conditionalsotherwaystoexpressunreality.weebly.com/

Microfinance: changing lives $50 at a time

In this class we saw how poor people can start having their own businesses and maintain the profit it makes, or even multiply the value of this one. Even though there are many pitfalls when you manage a business, it is always compelling to have a source of income that makes you go ahead every day.

It is great that these type of assistance is there for poor people and entrepreneurs since this not only helps them succeed in life, but also it improves the economy and disemployment is diminished every day.

On the other hand, I love the vocabulary in this unit, it is just so interesting and useful, to be honest, I had a backlash when I saw this many words that I did not know, but then as a started to go through them, I was thankful I learned them now instead of regretting not knowing them later.

When it comes to the grammar in this unit, we talked about the unreal conditional in present past and mixed:

PRESENT     IF I CLEANED THE ROOM, I COULD INVITE FRIENDS OVER AND WATCH A MOVIE.

PAST              IF SHE HAD NOT EATEN THE ROTTEN TOMATO, SHE WOULD NOT  BE IN THE HOSPITAL.

MIXED        IF PEDRO HAD NOT STUDIED, HE WOULD FAIL THE TEST.

I liked this exercise because I was not sure we could use this conditional in a mixed way and now my expressions have improved a lot.

To sum up, this unit was very handy to today's way of living, where almost everything we see is on sale and almost everyone has a small or large business, with the knowledge we obtained we could we can actually be more understanding and maybe even get motivation to start a cottage-industry.

How shy are you?

How Shy are you?

As we could see in the short film, Shyness can be considered as a decision. If you deside to be shy you might lose a lot of opportunities in life. However, if you challenge yourself to face your fears, you will achieve your goals and succeed in life.