Someone Who Inspired Me

Do you think it can be a conflict listening to hardcore hip-hop after the last hits of electro-dance music?

Or before put any flamenco record on the music player?

Well, no doubts it can be done, I mean, look at myself, I have no problem with mix and enjoy different music genres.

But has never been a problem? I guess that when you look back and you see how you used to be, you think “How dumb and unskilled I was”
I haven’t always have the ability (let’s call it ability, why not) to enjoy eclectic and different kinds of music.
I guess it all started ten years ago, more or less. I had recently discovered an Spanish hip-hop artist called Distorsion M., and as I enjoyed a few of his records, I started following him at Facebook (I guess this is a ritual, nowadays)

Then, few days later, he posted a link to an interview he had done; this link, added to my motivation of wasting five more minutes in front of the computer, made me read it.
And there was, after the typical questions that can be asked to a musician, arrived the one

“-What are you currently listening to now?
-I just discover a few groups of flamenco fusion which are awesome!”

Flamenco fusion? What does it mean? Is THAT even a genre?
Seemed to me like “something only your parents will enjoy”

Really didn’t expect that, and maybe was the shock that made me think “why don’t give a chance?”

So, I gave it a chance, I listened to those groups and surprisingly I enjoyed. After this… obviously not every single group I have listened, I liked; but I can tell you that I discovered awesome groups far away from my mainly music taste.
This is how, Curro Morales, as known as Distorsion M., who I admired as an artist, made me open my music preferences.

Communication (based on personal experieces)

Many things have been said about communication, about how to make a presentation, about what you have to do in an oral exposition in order to hook your listeners.

I’m not going to write any kind of speech guide (I certain don’t have the knowledge) but after reading advices and have done and assisted to several talks (well, the ones I have done were more like little oral presentations in class) I’m going to tell you about the most important thing that a talk needs, obviously, in my opinion.

Enjoying the talking point seems to me the linchpin. Why do I think this? I’ll tell you the two personal experiences that made me think it.
First.
It was like 8 years ago when I had to do my first English oral project , in a little summer course; never did anything like that before, but, since it was a free topic to talk about, and i have prepared well, I was feeling confident.

I’m not going to say that I enjoyed it, I don’t want to be cynical (come on, it’s an exam; it’s not difficult to imagine things that I rather be doing before an exam), but after have been five minutes talking to the examiner about “The Eclectic variety of music genres you can find on the Beatles discography” I said to myself, “well, I wouldn’t mind been talking for another five minutes, or doing it in front of a bigger audience”

My other enjoy-what-you’re-talking-about experience is as an spectator.

Some friends and I assist to a lecture about European economics. I wasn’t really into the topic, in fact, I only assisted because I knew the speaker, and I knew he was an awesome one and that he was mad about economic stuff.

Wasn’t’ wrong. Almost two hours of talking were flying by, even make me get interested in economics .

If you enjoy your speech, and nothing else matters.

E-mail cancelling an arrangement

Dear Kevin,

I’m so sorry I couldn’t contact you before, it was impossible for me to assist to last Thursday meeting.

I’ve been thinking over, about the job you offered me, and sadly I have to refuse.

I don’t want you to take me wrong, It has been a pleasure and an honour work with you this three years, I don’t want you to think that I’m declining because of a lack of interest or money problems, I’m aware that nowadays (and more in a sector like ours) we have to work for a pittance or even for free.

I cant accompany you in this foreign business because of my brothers illness; unfortunately he is dealing really wrong at this moment an it would be unfair and selfish leave the rest of my family the responsibility of taking care of him.

I wish you the best and I hope we could work together in a future.

Application Form

I’m writing in order to ask if there are vacancies in the Film Studio Course, I’ve never studied audiovisual arts or anything like that, so I’m asking to join the “amateur level”. But don’t take me wrong, I’m pretty motivates and enthusiastic about joining the course, I’ve been fascinated with the seventh art since (when I was a little child) an art teacher showed us in class, how Kubrick used the music and the camera in order to create sensations as distress or fear.
From this moment, on every film I have seen, I’ve tried to analyse and realise the elements that the director is using to make you feel in a certain way.

Also, I’m a big fan of independent films, so I think (as was said on the advertisement ) I will enjoy most of the films.

Please let me know if there are still chances to book a seat.

Yours faithfully

Pablo Baraona

Communication based on my ideas

Communication is essential in our lives. Nobody would reject this,  but... have we stopped to think what is the best way to communicate what we mean? As Walt Disney said "Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language", which means that a picture is worth a thousand words said. Me, as I am studying journalism and I think that is something that directly affects me, I’m going to say the best ways to communicate that we have, on my opinion.
We would not understand communication nowadays without technology; yeah, I know it's a recurring theme, but we are not allowed to understand the world, in this moment, without whatssap, twitter or facebook. Social network is winning the race to traditional media, but I have no doubt that there will be other media that, in the future, will remove the ones that we have today. And why are social networks so successful? Because they combine the ability to share ideas by text (this is comparable to the text in newspapers), with the ability to hear what others have to say (as do the radio) and people can also share videos, no matter if they are of their own or from another people (television, audiovisual media).
To conclude, I would say that communication is a constant in our lives, and what should prevail over all these media is the ability to express ourselves; because having expression freedom, is not the same as knowing how to use it.

someone who inspires you

I know it´s not very original to say that someone who inspired me profoundly was a teacher, but it is. In this case, in fact, was one of the biggest reasons why I do what I am doing now.

I am studying History of Art now; I had never studied it in my life till the last year at school (at school, as you all know, in History books the parts dedicated to art are at the end of the units and there´s never enough time to study them, at least in my case). I had it as an optional subject in my last year and I decided to study it along with economics, geography or maths, for instance. I´d always liked it in general, I´d gone to a lot of museums and travelled with my parents, it wasn´t something completely unknown for me, but I had never even read about it. 

I was lucky enough to have a teacher who also teached history and other subjects, but he always said art was his favourite, and you really noticed about it when you listened to him in class. For me, it was a new way to look at images or buildings I had seen all my life, but from a perspective of someone who really knows what he´s talking about and does it with real enthusiasm. He told you anecdotes, he knew how to make you feel curious, ask questions to yourself and to look at things with new eyes. 

When I had to choose a degree, I had absolutely no idea what to do. He knew I liked Art and encourage me to study it and I will never regret it. 

I knew very clear that, above anything, I was going to study something I liked; I didn´t wanted to spend my years at university hating what I was doing, and so as he thought. Maybe it´s not the easiest field in the world to find a job, but as my teacher told me (and as I am finding out by myself now), everything is about working hard and loving what you do, because you never know where life will take you. When someone asks me why I am studying art I always tell this story, because probably if  I´d had a terrible teacher I wouldn´t have gone back to a museum in my life. 

In The Mine by George Orwell

In this story we learn about the perception of mines and miners. The growing England’s industry needed a great quantity of coal, the main fuel at those days. So the activity of extracting coal was one of the most important for the British economy. The work was very hard in the mines, and Orwell wanted readers, living in cities, knew all about that because, as a member of Communist Party, he was very concerned about worker’s welfare and rights.

The Orwell’s purpose in writing this piece was to make aware people about the hardness of working in a mine because the bad conditions of this activity, the lack of rights, and the illness produced by dust coal. The miners were breathing an air plenty of coal dust because they hadn’t any protection and mines lacked of efficient ventilation. So he showed that miners were breathing that polluted air during all their work days. Besides, as the ceiling height was so little in the galleries, the miners, who were strong but small, were obliged to work kneeling what made his work harder, almost unbearable. The height of galleries was just the height of coal vein. Orwell speaks too about the difficulties of walking through the mine for reaching the vein where face workers have their task. For him, a very tall man, it was really difficult to walk in such a small height, and needed to take frequently a rest for stretching himself. But miners, strong but small, could walk more quickly.

As there weree a lot of words only used in a mine, “Fillers”, for example who are the miners that load the belt with the coal detached by others miners, the face workers, Orwell was obliged to describe those activities. This is a vocabulary typical in a mine and it’s not difficult to translate it to other languages, if you know this jargon, of course.

She and Einstein inspired my choice!

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Albert Einstein 

I still remember the day when Silvia, my last year philosophy teacher at the High School, came to class and wrote this quote on the blackboard. Without knowing it, it changed my life.

Until then, I had studied physics, biology, mathematics, chemistry and other subjects that didn´t make me feel comfortable. I felt out of my place and, although I was not a bad student, the truth is that I couldn´t feel completely happy. I was desperate. In fact, I remember this last year as a horrible experience due to I couldn´t reach my goals and, for many moments, I thought I wouldn´t get the mark I needed to study in the University I wanted.

However, that day, this quote made me meditate and think that it was pointless to continue studying something I didn´t really love. That wasn´t my place and that's why I felt stupid doing it.

That was the reason, I decided to break with everything and change my entire life. The first option I put in my application for a place at university was, surprisingly for all, Advertising and Public Relations. Suddenly, I felt that communication area was the water for the lost fish I had been being.

application form

Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Blanca Gómez, I´m a 22-years-old student from Madrid and I am writing to apply for the Film Studies course from your Adult Education Programe. 

I´ve been looking for some courses to do this summer and I found this one on your website, in which I´m particularly interested.There are several reasons why I would like to do this course:

At first, I love films and I would like to know as much as possible about it.
Secondly, I´m studying history of Art and I have only one subject dedicated to films, so it´s almost impossible to get a wide knowledge about it in only four months. 

In addition, studying it from the point of view of a historician, I don´t have the opportunity to know many things about the technical side of films, so I think this course can be the perfect complement for me. I´m very interested in learning every aspect of all the technical processes of filmmaking, beyond the artistic side, and maybe it could give me a different perspective about future studies or become a new option for my future career. 

Thank you very much for your attention.

Yours faithfully,

Blanca.

NO CLASS MONDAY APRIL 27

Although the CSIM 'calendario' may seem to indicate something different, we have no class on April 27. However we DO have class on May 4.

Why is English so hard

Hi guys,

I've just found this video about the English history as an evolving languaje. I think is really amusing and interesting, and helps us undestanding why Eli sometimes says "even English people have problems with that".

http://mentalfloss.com/article/62995/why-english-spelling-so-weird

See you on Monday,

JJ

End of Course exam

The exams will be in the last two classes, May 18 and May 20. On May 18 you will have Listening, Reading and Use of English. On May 20 you will have Writing and Speaking.

Attendance is COMPULSORY. If you are not going to be able to attend on either of these dates you need to tell me as soon as possible so we can look for another session that you can attend. You will need to provide a JUSTIFCANTE if you need to change to a different date/time.

Jornada Gastronómica

Especialidades culinarias típicas de distintos países, concurso y sorteo de bonos de comida
Los distintos idiomas que se imparten en el CSIM presentan una selección de comidas típicas para su degustación.
También hay un concurso de preguntas sobre cultura y costumbres de los países representados en la Jornada Gastronómica para su posterior sorteo de bonos de comida en restaurantes típicos.
Actividad reservada para los alumnos del CSIM, que recibirán una invitación para ellos y sus amigos y que deberán presentar en los distintos puestos.

Miércoles 22/04 - 18:00 - 20:00. Cafetería de la Facultad de Derecho (jardín).

CSIM CINEMA

This Friday, 10/4, there is a special filmm session for CSIM students, absolutely free.

http://www.ucm.es/csim/noticias/actividades-culturales-marzo/abril-2015

The film is called 'The Sapphires' and it will be shown 16:00. Aula 404 / Facultad Filología A.

The secret world of Lewis Carroll

Hello everyone!!

I don´t usually watch many documentaries, but a few months ago I watched one by the BBC about dance, wich I found very interesting, and since them I´ve seen several more. As Eli told us in class once, documentaries are a very good way to improve our english and they´re easier to undestand than a film or a TV series, and the BBC has great documentaries. They´re not just the typical ones about wildlife, they talk about many different subjects, and I´ve brought you one that I´ve found really interesting.

This documentary is about the life and figure of Lewis Carroll, the famous author of The adventures of Alice in Wonderland.It explores the personality of the writer, his childhood and youth, and the origins of his famous story. This book, due to its particularity, has been surrounded by a kind of mistery, directly related to his also misterious writer. There are a lot of theories about the psichology and personal life of Lewis Carroll, and how them are implicit in the characters he created. The main one, Alice, is said to be inspired by the real Alice Liddell, the youngest of three sisters with whose family Carroll had a special relationship.

I don´t want to spoil you the rest of the story, but I cheer you up to watch it. It is very interesting and I think you all will like it.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irlpvtwu1Rs

Photography course

Dear Mr. Alex Nikon

My name is David Gorricho and I'm interested in the photography course. I'm 20 years old and I'm studying computer engineering.

Last february, I recieved a reflex camera as a present for my 20th birthday. I thought that it would be easy to take good photos with a camera like that, but I've realised that it's not as simple as I supposed. I have taken a lot of photos with my new camera, some of them are really good, but I have the feeling that they are not good enough. I think that I could do better photos if I'd change some parameters and I wouldn't take the photos in automatic mode. But the problem is that I don't know what parameters I have to change and is because of that, that I'm interested in this course.

The other thing that I'd like to learn in the course are some tips about raster graphics editor. I've installed on my computer Photoshop and GIMP and I know basic things about them. But I know that both of them have a lot of options that I don't know and I'm interested in knowing how to use them. I'd like to know how to change the exposure, brightness, sharpness and all of these parameters to make the photo looks better.

Yours faithfully,

David Gorricho