THE WISE PATH TO LEARN ENGLISH LAURA CAIZA YACHAY TECH
THE WISE PATH TO LEARN ENGLISH
LAURA CAIZA ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAM YACHAY TECH UNIVERSITY LEVEL 6-013 TEACHER:HAMILTON QUEZADA JANUARY 5, 2017
YACHAY, ECUADOR
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Portfolio letter Response essay Interpretation essay Argumentative essay Final research project essay Thank you letter
Reflective Letter Laura Sofía Caiza Suite C 3.3, Hacienda San José S/N Universidad Yachay Tech 100199 San Miguel de Urcuquí, Imbabura, Ecuador December 15, 2016
Dear Portfolio Reader,
My name is Sofia. I am student at Yachay University. The purpose of these words is to show you the experience gained on the long way learning English. Although this path was difficult and in many times I was scared, being constant and dedicated helped me to succeed. Moreover, realizing that until the most sinuous way has its fun part when it is about learning something new beyond my comfort zone. Well for me, English in level six was like a wild horse. At the beginning it thrown me one and million times. But being patient I could tame it. Obviously, if you are not a good rider, you should not try. Everybody learns English at school right. Well these steps are the most important because the first knowledge marks the beginning of a new stage for us. It is the seedtime of the first seeds of English in our broad field of knowledge. For me this process was difficult because I had to learn how to write and pronounce colors, numbers, letters but I enjoyed with short English songs. However, I was getting the necessary tools to have a good base in English for the future and the perfect conditions allowed that our knowledge. In English each part makes a contribution to achieve our goals, the stem of my knowledge plant is everything that I carried from the school and it was the base for a good development at level 6. Also, it is all the grammar presentation in class that help us to improve the writing part for essays too. Each leaf means one essay that contributes to be reflective and to understand what the concept of the essay is because each one is different. The flowers are the moment that I enjoyed learning English: Halloween’s day, the birthday of my friend or maybe anecdotes. I remember the day when in a bus a boy was
asking for a direction but no one spoke English. I was the one who helped him to find that place. Although I did not know English too much, I understood him. And finally when the plant completely developed the fruit appear that is the result of the effort, the perseverance and the dedication to know something new about English. In this moment I am thinking in an article of the class “What if everyone on Earth spoke the same language?� obviously I was against of that fact because just focusing on the cultural way, we can perceive many disadvantages. The principal one is the loss of almost all the reasons of our origins because the language was born with customs, traditions and it is part of our idiosyncrasy. However, I think that English was the language that the author mentions in the article because it is the tool to represent the knowledge and it is necessary to show what you are able to do to the world. Second thought, English is the global language because it has been in my life since I was a child with my first Spanish classes.
Sincerely, Laura Sofia Caiza Llano
Response essay
College Education Is Not an Investment Laura Caiza Yachay Tech
People expect that getting a college is a safe passport to get a good job. But what is the real situation about it? Approximately 31 percent of the population of each country is college students wishing to get a degree that allow them to act in the labor field. However, today this version has completely changed. The author of this article ensures that college education is not a good investment because without a degree people can also achieve competition in the labor field. Then the author shows three examples of students: the first, who graduate and get the desired job. Another student who with less effort a degree but his job is not related with his carrier. And finally, a student without degree achieves to be successful just only with some courses. Such as result George Leef claims that college education is not a good investment because success depends on personal performance rather than educational pedigree but some of his ideas are not entirely supported. In his article, George Leef explains that college is not a good investment because nowadays people have found the way to be successful without a college degree. The author argue his article on the big change of labor market from 40 years ago and how it is capable to change the conditions for the graduates to get a job today. In fact, he means that people with an educational pedigree could expect to reach their goals, receiving honors and getting an excellent job. However, the future will not be similar to the past for the majority of college graduates because the effort that students make today is not a warranty for the future. So Leef (2013) avers: “In truth, going to college is not an investment at all�. For this reason the author mentions that recommend a college degree is neglected, although cheerleaders still do. Then Leef shows the difference to obtain a compromising future of getting a college degree and without it with three examples. The first situation is about a dedicated student who makes his best effort to get excellent grades at university and he will be a successful businessman. Second, it is about a student that is not engaged with the academic activities but he gets a degree with the lowest grade.Such as a conclusion, the author mentions that success depends just only on personal performance and not on college degree.
There are important aspects of the article that I agree with the author. The first, a good academic performance at college could give a student more opportunities for a future job like earning premium. At college most of the students are aware of the responsibility that means to make the best effort at studying to reach their goals and complete the desired job for an entire academic life struggled. In fact, these young graduates will have great job opportunities because entrepreneurial companies are searching bright students with new ideas that raise its capital income. For example, a student who makes an effort at school and university to make his wish real. He will be prepared to get a degree and apply the knowledge in a comfortable job in one of the best companies. The second point of view that I agree with the article is that the panorama changes completely for the students who have low interest for academic events. Probably the future for those students will be a failure. At university there are students who are confused and devote their time to another activities but never to study. Furthermore, they are ones who do not aspire a compromising future with a substantial salary. But rather, they of course will get a job that is not related to their college degree and maybe they do not like. For example the student B of the article, he graduated from high school with minimum of effort and register at college to have luck. Of course, with some luck he achieved to graduate in an undemanding field. And yet, even if he achieved to get a degree, he would get a job that is not related with it. On the other hand, I do not agree with the last point of the author. To be a selfstarter with an innovative idea without a college degree cannot be a competitive advantage for the labor field. Nowadays, people without college degree have two options to work. First, getting a job in an undemanding company. And yet, there are a lot of people who are looking for the same job. In this situation, large and small companies prefer to contract young people who have college degree because a trained staff represents major qualities and higher profits. But it will not have much impact because this idea involves a major responsibility. In fact, the government will try to control the new company through regulatory institutions, and the paperwork for a legal company takes a lot of sacrifice and money. The example of the article is about a student without a college degree but with some help and courses he will get a good opportunity of job in another country. However, this job will not be paid as well who has a university degree in the same company.
In conclusion, according to the author nowadays college degree is not a good investment. Probably people expected to get a degree was a good opportunity of job forty years ago And yet, who has a college degree has a better job with double salary than the previous person in the same company. In addition, the situation of students A and B are more real and probable. In those cases to get a degree and a desired job depends on the effort to study at university. So a college degree opens the panorama of labor field with more opportunities to get a job in any field that a university student wishes.
REFERENCES Leef, G. (2013, June 12). Don't Buy the Hype, College Education Is Not An Investment.
Retrieved
October
04,
2016,
from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/06/12/dont-buy-the-hype-collegeeducation-is-not-an-investment/#8cf7597ee602
Interpretation essay “Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else�. Leonardo Da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian painter, architect, engineer, writer and sculptor of the Renaissance with a huge knowledge in many fields. Because of his different way of thinking, he became an extremely important man, recognized for his curiosity and ingenuity. He stood out for his deep passion for knowledge and research, clear principles that were highlighted in one of his most relevant works: the Vitruvian Man. Although this work was not recognized at first, from approximately three centuries ago it surprised experts because of its accuracy and meaning. In this drawing that was made in 1492 Da Vinci shows the symbolic solution of a mathematical problem known as "the quadrature of a circle" through a representation of a naked man in two overprinted positions of his arms and legs, and inscribed into a circle and a square. But in a deeper context, what he tries to express is that the perfect proportions of the human body have a close relationship with anatomy, architecture, and religion. Based on this idea, he wants to support the Renaissance theory that the human is the center of the universe. Although many consider it only as a sketch, this drawing has an important connection with architecture, and the great influence it had on the architectural models of the Renaissance remains to these days. The Vitruvian Man was made from the indications of the Renaissance architect Vitruvius. The aspect that attracts viewers the most is the proportionality of his drawing, the mathematical relationship between every part of the body; the accuracy in this work creates in the viewer an almost unconscious feeling of curiosity towards it. This accuracy is in the fact that the Vitruvian Man was formed by nature so that the face, from the chin to the highest part of the forehead measure one of the tenth parts of its total highest. Also, Da Vinci uses the umbilicus as the natural focal point of the human body because the hands and toes have the same distance from the umbilicus that is the relation with the circumference in one of both positions (Da Vinci, 1492). On the other hand, it can be noticed the dedication he put
into this work by the artistic concepts used such as the Fibonacci sequence, and the double unit and the golden ratio. These concepts used by Da Vinci are so useful and appealing that today they are widely used in photography and painting. The anatomic notes at the bottom of the drawing relate it with anatomy. Those notes which originally belong to Vitruvius, give a complete description of the external anatomy of humans, in which all the measures are related. The resemblance of the measures proposed by him and those of a real human are surprising. But, how can an artist represent something with such precision? Well, Da Vinci had an intense curiosity about the exploration of the human body. He was one of the first to dissect anatomical structures, so he knew in depth the characteristics of a body and how to draw it in detail (Hudson, 2014). Moreover, the Vitruvian Man is related to a healthy and balanced human who is a model of welfare, reaching the conclusion that the human body is perfect. Also, the drawing is used as an image of the practice of medicine. According to the Stanford University, the Vitruvian Man was considered the ideal patient in the medical field, and also it symbolizes the three characteristics of a complete physician: science, humanitarianism, and artistry (2012). In conclusion, this illustration reflects several anatomical points through the perfection of a human. This fact was important to anatomy because these points were fundamental for the medical description of this time. Out of the scientific implications of Vitruvian man, this drawing impresses for the relation that has with the philosophy and the religion, especially with the humanism. At the Renaissance the humanist movement was born, which is characterized by putting the human being at the center of the cosmos, and recognizes the human as the wisest and most independent living being (IHEU, 2014). This way of thinking won many supporters in Europe, and Da Vinci was one of them. The Vitruvian Man is perhaps Da Vinci’s work that has more humanist influence. In this, he tries to show that man is the measure of all the things, that is, that all things in the universe should have proportions like the human ("Humanism, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Vitruvian Man", 2014). In addition, the artist suggests that man is the center of the cosmos by placing it in the center of the circle and the square, which in a philosophical context represents the spiritual world and the earthly world respectively. In the drawing, the man connects the circle and the square with his fingers, which would imply that the human being is the bridge between the material and the divine, and that the connection between these two worlds would be the soul.
All the ideas mentioned before show that Da Vinci’s work is meaningful, it is amazing to know that he, in a single work, could integrate aspects as different as architecture, medicine, philosophy and mathematics with the mastery that he did. Besides that, the artist can express that the human is the center of the universe in a unique and complex idea that has influenced the way in which the Renaissance humanists saw cosmos and has aroused the curiosity of the experts in arts. The Vitruvian Man is a work of art and a scientific illustration at the same time, is a magnificent representation of perfection, of accuracy, and of the beauty of the human kind.
REFERENCES Borson, B. (2013). Scale and Proportion – The Architect’s Domain. Life of an Architect. Retrieved 13 November 2016, from http://www.lifeofanarchitect.com/scale-andproportion-the-architects-domain/ Da Vinci, L. (1492). Le proporzioni del corpo umano secondo Vitruvio. Venecia, Italia: Galería de la Academia de Venecia. Hudson, A. (2014). Leonardo da Vinci: Art, anatomy and humanism. Leonardo Da Vinci: Between Art and Science. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from http://faculty.virginia.edu/Fiorani/NEH-Institute/essays/jones Humanism, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Vitruvian Man. (2014). Beau's Blog. Retrieved 15 November 2016, from https://beacou.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/humanismleonardo-da-vinci-and-the-vitruvian-man/ International Humanist and Ethical Union. (2014). What is Humanism?. Iheu.org. Retrieved
14
November
2016,
from
http://iheu.org/humanism/what-is-
humanism/ Stanford University. (2012). The Vitruvian Man. Leonardodavinci.stanford.edu. Retrieved
12
November
2016,
https://leonardodavinci.stanford.edu/submissions/clabaugh/today/health.html
from
Argumentative essay Througout human history there were many languages, some of them are new and others are disappearing from the past until today. It is almost impossible to determine the number of the languages that nowadays there are. For that reason it is impossible to think that the world will be dominated by one global language. However, having a conversation with a person with a different language becomes a hard situation because it is difficult to understand what he is trying ti say, but also what he is explaining. However, many languages are considerated as part of the identity of a cultural group. For them having their own language means that they are different and pure in comparison with other people. For this reason, there should not be one global language because for some ethnic groups it is a part of it culture, also it will be an imposition and it is difficult to imagine that situation. However, a common language could carry many advantages for a global comunication. First, each culture on earth has its own language, and the people of this part of the society think that as well as the costums and traditions, language is part of their idiosyncrasies. Language was born with the construction of the history of each ethnic group and that language was the first necessary tool for a good comunication. Language would bring the homogeneity of the population and therefore the destruction of the multiculturalism. It happens because the people of those cultural groups consider their languages as part of their life and costums. Secondly, having one global language could carry many disadvantages because it is an imposition for a person that does not like the idea, but in a masive way. Also, another problem of this imposition is the cost to teach the global population. For example, to know English for a person in a year means a thousand dollars aproximately. This situation will be difficult. It event could happen just with a global political power. For that reason is logical to think that the language gets to be global will have to be linked to a political, economic and socal power.
On the other hand, thinking in one common language could bring positive effects. With one language the posibility for a global comunication is real. It will allow formidable conections for work, investigations, debates, social relation and maybe also having ona language can help to solve global problems. For example, the good comunication between many goverments helps to avoid racism toward blacks, latinamericans and others. Another example is the solution for the global pollution of industrial companies for example. One common language makes the comprension easy and the interaction with many other cultures. They will have the opportunity to get the knoeledge that was born in all the world. In fact, they will be a better population with a good trade and a lot of apportunities to work. In conclusion, having a univesal language is the equivalent toa globalized world. The interaction between the people of all the world, getting new knowledge about other cultures different from us. But also it means to understand the way to think of the people with different costums. However, inposing a global language colud carry many disadvantages like the absence and the loss of the cultural diversity. For ethnic groups language is part of its culture because they can understand its dialect. For that reason, it should not be an universal language.
REFERENCES Cancio, C. (2006).What if everyone on Earth spoke the same manguage?. Retrived from http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth
Final research project essay
Racism Toward Blacks At School Causes Future Disadvantages For The American Society Caiza Laura Yachay University
This paper is an analysis of the consequences of racism toward blacks in The United States and how it can entail serious disadvantages for the society. Why in America? The United States is one of the most powerful, but also is the country with the mayor register of this kind of racism since its foundation, then effectively it is the best example of racial discrimination for the present research project. The usage of the research methodology was necessary to search and analyze previous research and relevant articles about racism. This is how the purpose of this research is to show Yachay society that racism causes serious aftermaths, and how big societies can be destroyed as results of immoral acts of racism. Then students can become awareness and promote a big change at Yachay and their lives. To conclude, although there are rights to avoid this type of racism in The United States, it could not completely eradicate causing instability for the society. For this reason to decrease the discrimination rate it is recommendable to teach children since childhood to respect their peers.
"The issues of slavery, segregation, and discrimination cannot be viewed within their own individual time capsules. To gain proper perspective, these issues must be viewed collectively as devastating to our culture and threatening to democracy." (Lugo, 2014.) Most of us think that racism is a modern invention, but racism was born at the Renaissance and Reformation was also the time of the expansion of European people. The different skin pigmentation that they found in Africa, Asia, and America made them
despise the natives. Nowadays, there are a lot of kinds of racism in all the world, but the most common is the following. Racism toward Blacks in the United States began with words before the civil war, but whites during the Civil War entail a set of laws against black citizens. The problem has been a matter of controversy throughout the history. But even today, white people practice acts of discrimination in different ways, in fact, it is also present at school where it is common to see how a human despises another by some physical feature in particular. Although there are opinions that justify racism such as lack of money, it is just a consequence of discrimination. Certainly, racism toward blacks at school in the United States can cause future disadvantages for the American society. The results of racism cannot allow that black people can contribute to the society. Then the discrimination closes job opportunities for blacks and as a consequence criminal acts appear. Finally, laws to kept blacks exercising their rights were made, prohibiting that they can be part of the society. Racism does not allow the development of black citizens who are discriminated because if those people are not allowed to be educated, they cannot make any contributions to society in technological, scientific, economical, medical and many other areas. However, the beginning of the consequences of the racism toward blacks tend to be at school, it is the way how it can become a serious aftermath in the future. Resmovits (2014) argues “Public school students of color get more punishment and less access to veteran teachers than their white peers, according to surveys released Friday by the U.S. Education Department that include data from every U.S. school district” (p.1). This means that the majority of black students have less level of education because they have fewer access to advanced level teachers. Moreover, three quarters of those students are enrolled at school where the 20 percent of the teachers do not have a college degree to teach, and those schools receive less economic resources to pay the teachers. This situation can entail most alarming consequences such as dropping out of school by the student. Resmovits (2014) also explains “Such discrimination lowers academic performance for minority students and puts them at greater risk of dropping out of school” (p.1). Of course, it becomes an economic and cultural disadvantage for the future society. In fact, if one class of people are not allowed to be educated, the society is losing the intellectual potential of each black person and the opportunity to know about the differences and similarities between people. Therefore, all population could not practice feedback for a nation consolidated by the innovative ideas of all its citizens. Without
education blacks could not contributed for the development of a cultural society because they do not have the principal tool that is the knowledge. Then they cannot help for a new society, rather those citizens will act for the benefit of each one. Nevertheless, the consequences of racism are not just about the loss of the culturalism of a nation but the destruction of morality due to the non-acceptance of the neighbor. In fact, this detail means denying the representative characteristic of the citizens of the nation. Then clearly, racism is the most damaging at school to the black children that are forming their personality, this is the time to avoid the future possible consequences which were previously explained. Racism rises the delinquency rate affecting a huge part of the society, it happens due to discrimination toward blacks does not allow them to have the conditions to survive. Blacks are considered such as the most dangerous population in the United States because of the high level of delinquency or criminal acts generated by those people. However, this situation takes place for two reasons; First, delinquency can be an effect of the structural factor that is racism. To clarify, most of the black students drop out school because of racism and they cannot complete the requirements to find an excellent job. Probably most of them have family to keep but the lack of opportunities guide them to commit criminal acts to survive. Of course, those people prefer to maintain their family, instead of seeing that their children are starving and without a house where they can take cover. The second reason is the psychological consequence of trauma because of the racism at early ages. According to Lockett (2014), “Bryant (2011) argues that youth violence in African American communities is currently at epidemic proportions, specifically in the form of intraracial crime” (p.22). To rephrase it, black citizens suffer abuse or bullying acts in many cases a student drops out from school, but the detestation toward blacks by their peers lead to criminal acts. Lockett (2014) argues “Fox and Swatt (2008) found in the years 2002 until 2007, homicides involving African American young male victims increased by 31% and as perpetrators by 43%” (p.22). However, it entails many psychological consequences because the child becomes adult with this traumatic problem. Many of those people take the idea of delinquency such as an example to have a good life or to not be beaten again or maybe just for revenge against racism. To sum up, racism can cause several consequences even the death.
White supremacy made a set of laws known as Jim Crow to keep people of color from exercising their rights as full citizens. Firstly, What Jim Crow laws are? Between 1876 and 1965, there are a set of local laws that
advocated
racial
segregation
under the “separate but equal” slogan. In other words, blacks were prohibited to be part of the society. They were considered an inferior race in many ways, even social status, intelligence, and behavior. And yet, this situation caused several economic, educational and social disadvantages because many productive activities stopped. Even black people participated in the economic movement of the United States and that people contributed to rise the development of the country. But it was not an excuse to apply Jim Crow laws, whites regulated a lot of aspects of black life style, including sexual relations, education, use of public space, and voting rights. Also, schools where one of the most affected institutions because nowhere it was more obvious than in segregated schools. Even if this situation took place in the past for almost a century, nowadays the conditions for some blacks never change. According to Pew Research Center (2016), “The survey – and the analysis of the survey findings – is centered primarily around the split between blacks and whites and on the treatment of black people in the U.S. today” (p.1). The graphical scatter plots is centered firstly on the unequal rights between Blacks and Whites in the United States. As we can see whites are treated better on voting elections with 43% more than their black peers with 20%, in the workplace, blacks are treated fewer friendly than their white peers with a difference of 42. Then these statistic data shows that the ideology of Jim Crow laws is maintained until now. However, the real problem is that this situation can produce serious consequences for black citizens and now we can explain the lack of opportunities
for
a
job
or
good
schools
for
them.
Also, if a class of people is not allowed to be educated, they cannot make important contributions to society in technological, economical, and many social areas.
This is the opinion of many blacks about what the real problem is.Many believers of that fact conclude that “In a gallup poll taken in June, poor blacks said that money, not racism, was their biggest problem. This poll, which measured race relations, found that three-quarters of blacks considered their own relations with whites to be good. However, that 53 percent of blacks were dissatisfied with their incomes� (1997). For the black population, the issue is the lack of money for an excellent education, good nutrition and daily medications for any disease. A quarter of African-American population between black family remain trapped in poverty. For this reason the lack of money in many cases is confused with racism. But poverty is just a consequence of it. For example, they cannot have the best education, walking on the street without danger of discrimination or having the same comforts such as a white family. These disadvantages make it seem that blacks are poor. However, Americans assure that the consequences of racism toward blacks are a future set of issues for the society. And effectively, black people explain that those issues such as poverty, lack of education and malnutrition will not happen because the problem is racism and poverty is just a consequence of that. In conclusion, the previous analysis proves that certainly racism toward blacks at school in the United States can cause serious consequences for the society. In fact, discrimination is the cause of many socioeconomic problems that affect the quality of life of all citizens. Discrimination in America began after the first civil wars when white American people enacted a variety of laws against black citizens. Since that time racism carries consequences for the people. However, the students at schools are more prone to be discriminated causing serious aftermaths for the future. The first one is that racism does not allow the development of black people in many ambits, causing that they cannot make contributions to the enrichment of a nation. Moreover, the consequences of racism toward blacks carry out many criminal acts by people who are discriminated. And also, some laws that were created prohibiting the rights of blacks have influence in the current society. Then while the rights of blacks are not respected, there will always be racism. So to avoid this problem whites should teach children to respect their black peers, sharing with them, and not to judge others. In this way we may be able to see a future where all people live together without being judged. REFERENCES
Mcelwee, S. (Ed.). (2015, March 24). The hidden racism of young white Americans.Retrieved
September 26, 2016, from
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/americas-racism-problem-farcomplicated-think/
Resmovits, J. (2014, March 21). American Schools Are STILL Racist, Government Report Finds. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/21/schoolsdiscrimination_n_5002954.html On Views of Race and Inequality, Blacks and Whites Are Worlds Apart. (2016, June 27). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/on-views-of-race-and-inequalityblacks-and-whites-are-worlds-apart/ Lockett, T. N. (2013, October). Effects of Racism and Discrimination on Personality Development among African American Male Repeat Offenders. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? article=2178&context=theses
Thank you letter Thank you for reading my English portfolio. I hope that this portfolio will be an example to learn that English is important and in many cases it will be sense of life. Really I enjoyed many steps of this long way of learning and also hope that you make a strong effort to learn English because at the beginning it was difficult for me but in level six it was common in my daily life because. Thank you.
Sincerely, Laura Sofia Caiza Llano