Problem/Solution Composition (Práctica Evaluable)

Disabled children attending non-special education schools has always been a controversial and problematic issue in Spain. My mother, who has been a teacher in a Primary School for 30 years, has always had some disabled kids in her class, in a school which is not adapted for disabled students. In the beginning, there used to be one or two, but in recent years, the number has increased and so, the problem.

Indeed, it is very positive for disabled children to attend classes together with non-disabled children to promote integration. The problem appears when there are too many disabled and the teacher has to choose either to focus more on the disabled ones, which obviously require more time and attention, or on the non-disabled ones.

One possible solution would be the construction of more special education centres and schools, where children with special needs could receive full attention and get a better learning. But then, it would not foment their integration with other children, which is very good for both parts as well. Another solution could be that the special-education teachers who come once or twice a week to deal with these children, were given more hours. These teachers come to take disabled children out from the standard class a few hours once or twice a week. Instead, they could do it, for instance, everyday.

As a way of conclusion, we can say that it is very positive to include children with special needs within non-special education classes. It is very enriching for both disabled and non disabled. But it is very important to do it in the right way, which is hiring these special education teachers during more hours, so everybody can get advantage from it: disabled children can improve and learn more and the number of unemployed teachers can go down.

Opinion paragraph about something I like but most people don't like (Práctica evaluable)

Although this may sound stupid or even funny, I would like to give my opinion about black, bitter chocolate, which I love, against milk chocolate, which is a favourite for most people. Real chocolate lovers would always prefer the black purer chocolate with more than 80% of cacao in it. This kind of chocolate is healthier than the milky version because it contains less additives and sugar, which makes it lighter, less caloric and thus better for those who cannot do without sweets or need to eat chocolate everyday. In addition, its lack of milk makes it perfect for those who are allergic to dairy products. In short, the black and purer chocolate is always a better option than the milk or white chocolate, which is made of mostly artificial ingredients. Remember, when it comes about chocolate, the purer, the better! 

Social Networks: Pros and Cons

In a relatively short space of time, the social networks have become incredibly popular. Ten years ago, it was not even common to own a laptop, and nowadays we cannot live without twitter or facebook. Certainly, social networks have many advantages. They let us communicate with people from all around the world in real time. Or catch up with an old friend whom you've lost track of but who you can learn everything about just by checking his facebook profile. If someone is fond of photography, social networks like Instagram, for instance, let him show his talent to the world just by uploading his pictures. They are, why not, a good entertaiment always available as long as we have wifi. On the other hand, social networks may have disadvantages if we make a negative use of them. We often wonder how we could live before we had facebook, for example. The worst part is that we really mean it, and, unfortunately, for many of us social networks are becoming rather an addiction than an entertainment. An excessive use of them can turn people into obsessive or paranoiac. At the end, they are not real life and we should not consider them important. Definitely, social networks are a very cool and useful invention with lots of advantages, but we should be cautious and not devote our lives to them.

Some Thesis Statements...

1) Being successful at school does not ensure success in life, and, certainly, many times it is the other way around.

2) The increasing and obsessive importance of a healthy diet makes us forget that food is something to be enjoyed, and many times we are not even able to eat an ice-cream without feeling guilty.

3) Although the Internet and Social Networks have many advantages and make us feel “connected to the world”, they also have disadvantages and an excessive use of them can affect us in a negative way.

Outline of an Essay

I. Travelling abroad is now easy and cheap thanks to Erasmus plus.


II. All people should have the possibility to spend some time abroad at least once in their lives
* See other cultures
* Learn and respect the differences


III. There used to be many programs with this aim that are now gathered in one single program called Erasmus plus
* Studying abroad (Erasmus students)
* Working abroad (Erasmus Placement, Internship)
* Participating in Youth Exchanges or Training Courses (Intercultural exchanges)
* EVS (European Voluntary Service: to develop a voluntary service in a foreign country).


IV. If you are between 16-35 you can enjoy all the possibilities above
* Erasmus plus covers almost 100% from all the costs (no need to spend a lot of money)
* Meeting new friends from all over Europe
* English as common language: possibility of practising and improving your English.

V. Once we know all that, we can conclude that Erasmus plus offers just advantages for youngsters to improve themselves
* Personal development
* Professional development
* Invest in your future

Keep calm and quit smoking (Problem/Solution Essay)

Despite the constanst advertising and awareness campaigns against it, smoking is still one of the biggest problems for public health and the first cause of death in the world. The numbers speak for themselves: 140 people die in one day in Spain because of tobacco, the product that most diseases and deaths causes in the majority of the developed countries, and that could be prevented. Unfortunately, nobody seems to care about this situation. On television we just hear about deaths by traffic accidents or contagious diseases, when it is actually smoking the main cause of mortality in our society. Tobacco companies, on their behalf, represent a pressure for the governments and health authorities, creating thousands of victims every year, so it is difficult to find solutions.

Nevertheless, there are things we can do. One possible solution could be to restrict (even) more the number of places where smoking is allowed, but this remedy would be criticised, problematic and complicated to lay it down, since it is already forbidden almost everywhere, and the cure would be worse than the disease. Another remedy is to make stricter punishments for those who break the smoking ban laws, for instance, by imposing higher penalty fees. However, it would be very difficult to control everybody everywhere, and there would be still many people infringing this law.

A final solution can be to increase the taxes and price of tobacco, as when its price rises, not only is the number of people who smoke reduced but it also prevents many from starting cigarette consumption, especially at very young ages. This is probably the most effective way to dissuade smokers and restrain its use, and it is accepted normally quite well by everyone, even smokers, because, at the end, we all know how damaging smoking is. 

Super funny #Superbritánico

Looking around some shops, I stumbled upon some notebooks and diaries that caught my attention. Traditional expressions were written on them, but translated literally from Spanish into English, which looked like funny, very funny.

Straightaway, I googled some of them and I discovered Superbritánico. Three colleagues with a Translation company in Seville, one French, one English and one Spanish, like in the joke, started to amuse themselves by translating colloquial expressions literally from Spanish into English. Short after, thanks to the social networks, they became incredibly popular.

Because it is an easy way to make people smile and because it may be less embarrassing to say certain things, now you can express yourself with an air... Superbritánico, even if you are an English philologist.