My opinion about the English Course

The course content has been satisfying and interesting, for its part, the textbook is well designed and is an attractive material for the student.

The teacher has demonstrated proficiency in the English teaching in all its aspects, is also a friendly person and always are willing to dispel the doubts of students.

I sense that the degree of difficulty of the assessments and homeworks has been adapting positively toward the group, since the first ones were somewhat exceeded in extent and difficulty.

The classes has been balancing well and dynamics .

There have been a good combination of strategies to maintain the student interest. The key has been in the  variety of teaching tools used by the teacher, which also included ludic activities.

It should never be presented a slide with small letters, it is not easy nor attractive to the student, do not provide a meaningful learning. From this point of view, it is possible to improve the projected material.

I think that to improve our pronunciation, it would be helpful if first,  the teacher will be teach us a complete phonetic alphabet.

As student I feel that our worst enemy is fear and the pressure of public speaking, however as soon we gain experience, the conversation becomes more fluid. Therefore, it is important that teacher fosters the students self-confidence. When you're in front of people and you aren´t feeling safe, it is terrible!, the pressure never lets a good performance.

You can improve your way of studying

The study technics are a set of tools that help us improve performance, and make more easy the process of memorization and study. It is a methodology, a system that organizes a series of structured tools.
Underline and Schemes
Underline  is to locate the main ideas and secondary keywords and relevant details.
The scheme is suggested to develop after making the underline. It consists of a graphic expression of the main ideas of a text and its structure. Each scheme starts with the topic title, each main idea start a paragraph, then follow with the secondary ideas and details. The text will be brief with short sentences.
Notes and Summary
An essential aspect of the study is taking notes.
The main function of summary is to select the essential  of a text, explain it simply, briefly condense and therefore should be accurate, clear, brief and concise.

Time Allocation
Establish a schedule helps us to create a habit of studying, avoiding unnecessary waste time.
must consider everything we do: extracurricular activities, recreational, cultural and sporting activities.
Collate study time and rest.
The schedule should be flexible and realistic.
Study time should be divided into periods of forty-five minutes or an hour, with breaks of five to ten minutes during which we can stretch our legs and drink water.
In conclusion, it is recommended that in addition to the application of the techniques described, do not abandon the practice of physical exercise, the ability to relax and produce welfare, besides maintaining a healthy and balanced diet.

This is my interpretation of the song: "Life for rent" by Dido

When the singer mentions that she has not  a place to call home, is because they are not attached to anything

She apologized for not being in love, because usually in our society, we fall in love, and if not then we are abnormal

To say that life is for rent, means that one is not living his own life

We are so used to want so many things that we feeling own everything we have, when really everything in this life is temporary, nothing is forever

When we are afraid we can hardly achieve our dreams.

About the song "Affirmation" by Savage Garden, these are my comments:

I think is true what the author says, often we place our happiness in others. However, a very few people or nobody takes the happiness as something purely personal. Our happiness is our responsibility.

I believe that junk food is skillfully presented. It is cheaper because the raw material is cheap too. His process is a few developed, hence it is served very quickly and this makes it attractive for people who have little time for cooking or preparing food. The restaurant is decorated with colors and nice designs, resulting appealing to both adults and children. However, these foods are loaded with saturated fat, but don´t contain fiber, and is therefore extremely harmful to our health.

It is very easy to blame our parents for things that today we grieve, but we don´t know what circumstances they lived during our rearing.

Anything that keeps us from our true being, hurt us. Our outward appearance isn´t our true being. Our true being is immaterial is incorruptible

Understand what love is difficult in a society like ours. We have been taught to associate the word love with misconceptions. In some mystical philosophies like Buddhism for example, love is understood as a state of enlightenment, where only you are necessary, no more, you feel love all around you: the trees, our fellowman, the stars.

I understand karma as the law of cause and effect. If the universe is seen as a whole, where nothing is separated from the rest, then it makes sense to believe in karma.

When you feel hurt by something someone did, is because we have not accepted the reality. True love can´t hurt anyone.

usually we see greener the grass on the neighbor's yard. This means that we're envious of the good fortune of others We should feel fortunate to have what we have.

We are so asleep thinking about the past and the future that will never pay attention to our present. Only when our present becomes the past, but it's too late

The heart covers a part of reality, that the intellect does not understand. The heart is intuition, creativity. The soul is your soul

Begetting and raising children is something that requires love. Money is useful to cover our basic needs, like food or clothing, but money can´t give us love.

Forgiveness is like dying and then resurrected, because when you forgive, you forget completely an unpleasant experience. The unhappiness of the people is due in part to the lack of forgiveness towards others and themselves.

Most TV evangelists are only interested in collecting large amounts of money, so God can never agree with that

Failure on the Border

In Saturday's editorial, The New York Times said that Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, should eliminate the costly and inefficient "virtual fence", called (SBInet ) that the federal government has been trying to erect on the border with Mexico.

The program SBInet (Secure Border Initiative Network), consisting of towers with radar and cameras to curb illegal immigration alog the 2000 miles border, "is a costly failure" and now is time to "disconnect the virtual fence," said the New York daily.

The project, initially estimated at 7, 600 billion ($7.600.000.000) was supported in 2006 by George Bush and continued by his successor, Barack Obama, but has been plagued by software defects.

Today over $1 billion ($1.000.000.000) already has been spent, and have covered only 50 miles of border. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) adds critical reports, which question the failure to meet deadlines and established.

Napolitano, who this year halted new works of SBInet, and diverted 50 million of its funds to other programs, should delete "once and for all" the the contract with Boeing signature,  when ends next month, said.

The GAO also criticized Boeing for providing evaluation data "incomplete and anomalous", leaving Homeland Security unable to hold the company to standards for controlling costs and meeting deadlines., said The New York Times.

Said the virtual fence was a misconceived idea based on the false premise that immigration control is achieved by closing the border, with more sensors and fences " As long as the demand for cheap labor, the need for better jobs and legal impediments to enter the country, people will continue to seek ways of crossing the border, the newspaper said. Urged a comprehensive immigration reform that allows for greater border security.

According to my calculations:

 $ 7.6 billion/2000 miles = $ 3.800.000/milla

$ 1 billon/50 miles = $ 20.000.000/milla

That is, the real cost is 20 / 3.8 = 5.26 times the estimated cost

Thus the real cost would total $ 40 billons on 2000 miles

In ¢ / m = ($ 20,000,000) * (507.09) /1609 = ¢6,300,000 / m

My opinion is that the American lifestyle is based on consumerism.  Imagine building a luxurious home in the midst of slum, you know what would happen.

Partners´s speech

Oscar told us about the finances of the many problems that afflict our society, and taught us that there are smart ways to invest the money, avoiding so headaches.

José María talked about the book "Un actor se prepara" by Stanislavski. I've always admired people who are dedicated to acting because I think this art is beautiful and difficult. It is interesting to think about how to use the voice, body and mind to act.

Valerio Cristian reminded us of the history of electrification in Costa Rica. He briefly reviewed the history of the ICE, since the first time that the streets of San José were illuminated by the 50 kW generator de Aranjuez until today, where ICE´s employees have as challenge the opening of telecommunications and energy, until   recently, state´s monopolies.

"A Briefer History of Time" by Stephen Hawking, was one of the books that Manuel did read. He explained us the importance of the theories of creation of the universe by ancient cultures, the 3 laws of Newton, the theory of relativity and the laws of quantum mechanics. Physics is a fascinating subject that often present great paradoxes, such as relation time space, and the creation of elementary particles of matter. To date, the origin of the universe remains a mystery.

I do not share the thought of Henry, about that the most engineers can not express our views publicly. However, perhaps it is right that we are a little of shy. My opinion is that people who study natural science are perhaps different from those studying social sciences, are different interests also. As Seneca said, "It is Not That Difficult Because Things Are Not dare we do, it is Because We Do Not Dare That They Are difficult".

Javier did investigated a few weeks ago about the Open Bar, this is an old problem. People who frequent these bars are usually young who recently did turned 18. At this stage of life, the boys are searching, forging his personality, they imitate their friends in their behavior. This is a topic for reflection and for take action with our children.

Luis Guillermo talked us about, both family and work. He is my partner, is an excellent professional and an exemplary husband and father. We work together in LIMAT throughout the whole country. Easy is to work with such people, because we have a good communication. He leads a large group of people, and for many years he has worked in the maintenance of power transformers.

Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries. In the actuality They have serious problems politics, socials, economics and sanitaries. Voodoo is a complex variant of animism, the belief that spirits inhabit various objects or people. It originated in West Africa. The Duvalier dictatorship (1957-1986) proclamed the voodoo in oficial religion of Haiti and used it as a tool of control over the people. According to belief, those who manage the arts of voodoo, can establish communication with the supreme beings and spirits, acquire a power that enables them to raise the dead. There are two types of zombie: dead bodies without souls, and souls without bodies. The priests involved in black magic (evil sorcery) can capture the soul of people. They can also cause damage to any person through dolls, which are punctured with pins. This was the speech by Felipe.

Cristian Monge noted the importance of learning an additional language. He gave us some ideas for easy learning. Among the things he mentioned is to learn the rules of grammar, pronunciation practice and learn common phrases used in everyday relationships

Quotes

LAO TSE

1)      Muddy water, let stand, becomes clear

Many problems are like the muddy water, no action is required, only simple observation. It takes patience and serenity

2)      Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them-that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like

An author said, instead carpeting the world, easier is to put slippers. Means that instead of changing the world, oneself must change

3)      He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know

In this quote Lao Tse refers to reality. If you know something because you experienced it, then what you say about that is not reality, because reality can´t be expressed in words, these are just labels, they are like a map, that is an approximation of the reality. How can I explain the rose´s fragrance?

ALBERT EINSTEIN

4)      As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality

It is the same case of the previous quote

LAO TZU

5)      He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough

It treats on the ambition. When we reach some target, we should know when to stop and not to try to reach any more

6)      He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened

More that look at outside, the truly useful thing is look inwards, so across the knowledge of ourselves we can understand the others

CONFUCIO

7)      Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.

If we are going to do something it is necessary to do it well or better not to do it

BENJAMÍN FRANKLIN

8)      A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward.

The reality is that both, the thinking and practice liberal and conservative are complementary. Both currents are necessary for the survival of society. We can use a simile. Consider that society is like a car. The liberal thought is the engine, and conservative thought is the brake. A car without an engine will get us nowhere. And one without brakes only lead us to the hospital. Liberal action seeking change, innovation and movement. On the other hand, the conservative action supports static, the rules and to the permanent. A successful society is one that moves with guidance and with regulated speed.

WALT WHILTMAN

9)      Whoever is not in his coffin and the dark grave, let him know he has enough.

In Journey to Ixtlan, Don Juan was saying to Castaneda: “The death is the only wise adviser that we have. Whenever you feel, as always you do it, that everything is going out for you badly and that you are on the verge of being annihilated, turn towards your death and ask her if it is true. Your death will say to you that you are wrong; that nothing imports in reality any more than his touch. Your death will say to you: "I have not touched you yet”

Thus, compared with the death any problem is insignificant

SENECA

10)   It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

No try to solve problems is our biggest limitation