It means currently or at present. It is used to discuss the present. Example: Nowadays all children in New York City have access to kindergarten.

Short answer, it's correct. Native speakers will say a variety of things, but the general formats are "X costs five more dollars than Y" or "X is 5 dollars more expensive than Y" or "Y is 5 dollars cheaper than X". Both expensive and high indicate a greater value, but they are vague because expensive and high are relative values. Using comparisons helps give readers/ listeners a better idea of what "expensive" or" high" means to you. I think that the situation will dictate what phrase you should use. In a casual setting, you can use "higher," but in a formal setting, it would be best to use "expensive" because it has a direct connection with expense and price.

A tag is usually attached to the item or person in a manner that it will hang off. Example: A price tag hangs off the sweater sleeve. A label will go over the item and it is usually completely attached. Think of a food label, the words are stuck on the item. They are not hanging off.

"A" is used before a consonant and "an" is used before a vowel. Examples: "That's an apple." "That's a motorcycle." This rule is followed even in the past tense "That was an accident." When you talk about yourself and use "am" you are stating that you currently are a _______ person. If you wish to talk about what you used to be you would say "I was an open person." Or "I used to be an open person." The verb you would change is "am" not "open".

You should read! Reading will expand your vocabulary and help you figure out how sentences are strucstructured. You may be able to find free pdfs of books online. You can also look at English grammar on websites like Purdue grammar.

An essay based on the picture below

As is graphically described in the cartoon, Children's growth is dominated by their parents. The girl in the picture is holding her admission notice, telling her mom:"Good news mom! I was accepted to the college of your choice." A 1* woman, her mom, is sitting in the sofa with a satisfied smile. According to the picture, we can draw the 2* conclusion that parents play a very important role in their children's growth. This can make children lose* themselves.

As far as I'm concerned, parents are supposed to be good guides in their children's lives, within limits. The first reason is that children are too young to make correct decisions. They can't distinguish right from wrong. Secondly, education is the duty of parents to their children. Finally, although they are young, every child is an independent individual with unique ideas about everything. Therefore, their lives should only be arranged by themselves. In conclusion 3*, children should have the right to decide how their lives should be like.
To reiterate 4*, parents should be guides but not managers in children's growth.

Disappeared people

I was listening to the radio while I was correcting a text written in Spanish in italki. The interviewer, a journalist, who specializes in crimes and a police inspector were talking about missing people. Many people disappear each year in Spain. Fortunately, a big percentage of them are found. But some of them aren't, this type is called a "high risk disappearance".

The inspector has encouraged people who have a disappeared relative to report to the police as soon as possible. They should not  wait a day because the first hours are very important to the investigation. The police officers in charge of the investigation are meticulous, tenacious and logical. Therefore all of the evidence the family can provide them is essential.

I can't imagine how bad the family feels when one of their relatives or friends doesn't come back home. They don't know if the relative is dead or alive. They don't know if the disappeared person is being taken care of or suffering at the hands of a depraved person.

They have also commented that there are people who disappear because they want to. And when they are found, they ask the police to keep their location hidden from their relatives. The police has to respect this and they can't explain anything to the family.