Childhood Monsters

It’s very common that we tend to look back to a time in which we were kids, afraid of the dark, monsters and other supernatural beings, often laughing now that we take this things for what they are, superstitions or figments of our imaginations.

As kids our fears were founded on things we thought as very real, and even if now we laugh looking back, at that time we did not in fact only believed in monsters, we KNEW monsters were real, and as such treated them as real dangers and threats to us.

In my particular case though, I never actually feared monsters in the classical sense of the word. What I found the most terrifying thing of all were aliens that could abduct us in the night. In part, I think this has a basis on the fact that to a “10 year old me”, I associated aliens with space and science, and that made them all the more plausible or real. Other important factor in the development of my fear of aliens was the TV series “OVNI” that aired sometime during the 90’s. This show talked about “real” cases of abductions and sightings of extraterrestrial spaceships and beings. Often incorporating interviews.

Now that I look back I can see that my fears have shifted over the years. From a fear of the paranormal I’ve come to develop a fear of the acts of real people of flesh and bone. As I see it, sometimes reality manages to be so much scarier than anything we invent, or that our minds can fathom.

How green are you?

We read all over the news the impact that industrialization has had on our world, mainly on the ecosystem. As global warming has been established as a scientific fact, proven to be caused mainly by human related pollution and contamination, it has reached the point that we can no longer ignore it.

Ironically, the way in which this problem is often discussed, as a global issue of grand scale, we often regard it as a problem that either doesn’t have a tangible or direct impact on one’s life, or on the other hand that it’s effects are so slowly showing themselves in relation of the lifespan o only one human being, that we tend to gravitate to inaction.

 Inaction and apathy not only makes a bad example as to what other will do, but the collective apathy means we become accomplices of the gradual degradation of our own quality of life and safety of our environment.

That being said, I always try to preserve as much energy and heat as possible while in my house, try to be responsible in the way I treat my refuse (we have 3 different bins for garbage so we can recycle plastics and glass), and try to stay up to date on the latest news concerning energy and environmental sciences. After all, the first step is to be informed as to what are the ways in which people can make a difference, giving us the tools for action and demands for the government.

We must make an effort even if the most strongly felt effects and consequences are not to be seen in our lifetimes. From an ethical point of view, it is important to make a better world for the ones that will come once we are long gone, not contributing to the worsening of their living conditions.

English Language Challenges

As this year comes to an end, so does this particular step in the process that has been studying English. Obviously the learning process (as with any other language) never actually ends. Overcoming a challenge means opening the door to new and more exciting ones, and a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the language.

That being said, my experience up to this moment studying English at university has overall been a very good one. The main point being that on this course I gained a more profound insight in the way the English language actually works, making me more aware of the way in which phrases are constructed. Before I mainly relied on memory or “gut feeling” that comes with experience.

Of course there are still thing I need to improve and work on. Conversational or spoken English is something I’m still trying to get the hang of, specially relating to flow and pronunciation. That means that the next step in my learning process would be to find someone to talk to and practice face to face. Outside university, I’ve found several ways to use English on a daily basis, but with an emphasis on writing and reading. I mainly read in English while surfing the web, be it searching for international news, listening to podcasts, writing on internet forums, or just chatting with other people in video games.

The way in which the use of blogs is integrated in the study of English is, in my opinion, a good way to teach the language, considering a medium (internet) that it’s becoming the main way in which non-native speakers use the language and interact with native speakers. Internet has made it possible to overcome the geographical barrier and be able to speak with people all around the world, so it’s vital to learn and use this new tools.