Day 30 - End of the Challenge

For the last 30 days, I have been participating in a 30-day challenge. The core of the task was to work on the languages each one of us was learning, but also to do something in group which is always more fun and motivating than doing it alone. Today, now that the challenge is closing, it’s time to look back and assess what I’ve gained and what areas I need to reinforce. The positives are that I could catch up with my English studies after not having done much in the past 2 years, and to my surprise, I’ve continued to improve in spite of not having worked on my English actively. Another thing that makes me close these 30 days with a smile is knowing that I never took the challenge lightly, quite the contrary, every day I <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">spare</s> devoted / dedicated / took some time to write something meaningful to me. In fact, if I had written something quickly just to keep up with the challenge, <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">now</s> I’d be quite dissatisfied with myself now.

As for the aspects I need to take more seriously; : Punctuation. In this regard, most of the feedback I got had to do with punctuation. Hence, this August I’ll <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">put myself to study</s> spend more time studying what relative, dependant, and independent clauses are. I admit that for many years I’ve proudly refused to even consider studying that aspect of grammar. However, since I’m looking forward to the C1 certificate, I have to make peace with the idea that English in this regard is different from Spanish. For example, in Spanish we have more freedom when writing, punctuation is also more intuitive than regulated. Besides we don’t have anything called “run-on sentences”. That’s why in Spanish one has the freedom to write long sentences, and also to use plenty of adjectives to describe the same thing. In conclusion, I’m the one who has to adapt to English grammar and not the other way round.

I would also like to learn another language, consequently (consequently is correct but just "so" would be more natural) this next 30 days I’ll allocate some minutes <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">of my days</s> of each day to write in French. I have a simple goal: write a 100-word paragraph daily. Luckily I have engraved in my mind<s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">,</s> the first time I wrote a paragraph in English, it took me the whole afternoon. I assume that with French I’ll have to go through the same agony.

Day 29 - Life is a Dream

Life is a Dream is the title of the famous play written in the 17th century by the playwright Calderon de la Barca. Since the first time the play was performed on stage<s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">,</s> it immediately became a resounding success, enchanting <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">to</s> all the audience equally, from the royalty to the plebs 'plebs' is an old-fashioned word, nobody uses it anymore. As its title suggests, the motif of the play refers to the idea of our material existence as a mere illusion, something without substance. In this sense, some scholars have connected the author’s ideas with some oriental beliefs, more specifically <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">based on</s> those of Hinduism and Buddhism <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">world visions</s>.

Other major themes of the play are the ideas of destiny and free will. In this regard, the play introduces the audience to a King who is also an astrologer. The King predicts that Segismundo, his firstborn, when crowned King will become a tyrant, a despot, a King who will oppress his people mercilessly. To prevent this scenario, the King, influenced by what he had seen on the stars, decides to incarcerate his newborn<s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">,</s> as a measure to twist destiny’s arm. Thus, the conflict of the play lies in discovering how free we are to choose our destiny and also how real <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">is</s> the world that sustains us is.

Yesterday, I went to my <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">students’ house Oscar and Kathy</s> students Oscar and Kathy's house to teach them as usual. They are adorable, but sometimes they don’t listen to me. I guess they are getting too familiar to with me, sometimes they have done <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">something</s>, things which have crossed the line.

However<s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">,</s> I don’t take it seriously<s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">,</s> or hold<s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">ing</s> any grudges against them because they are still too very young; sometimes they just say things <s style="background-color: rgb(250, 204, 204);">out</s> out loud without thinking about the consequences. Frankly, the hardest thing to handle well is the classroom management.