A reflective note

Hello everyone!
     Today I'd like to comment on some activities that we did this year. The thing I liked the most is writing a guide book for  future students of our uneversity. It was fun and I enjoyed it. As for useful activities, watching conference session was pretty exciting because I learned a lot of things about teaching children.
 This class lets me improve my writing skills by regular practice, discussing vital global problems and putting that information in our essays.However, there was a thing that I didn't quiet like is that we always had to discuss some urgent or extremely important and serious issues. I wish we had more topics which were connected with culture, art, movie and music stuff.
       All in all, I want to say that  it was good practice for all of us. And I hope we wiil keep going this way.

An opinion essay

                  Which secondary languages are worth studying today?
    I think this question ocurred everyone in my group when we were going enter the university. However, not only linguists should know many languages because with multiculturalism and the opportunity for travel being bigger and better than at other time in history, it is now more important than ever for people to have at least some knowledge and understanding of languages other than own native one.
      In my opinion there will always be  dominating languages in the world. First one, of course, is the English language.The greatest benefit of learning English is that it increases cultural understanding, not only of native English-speaking cultures, but of any other country whose second language is English. The film and music industries are largely English-driven. The art, traditions and culture of any country, especially those of native English-speaking countries, can be better understood if you have some knowledge of the English language. Being centuries-old and having been the native language of empirical powers and world leaders, English remains a great source of influence in human history.
      The second language that you learn is Chinese.One fifth of the planet speaks Chinese. It is the mother tongue of over 873 million people, making it the most widely spoken and fastest growing language in the world. So, if you’re going to learn another language, why not make it the one that almost ¼ of the world already speaks! Also it’s fair to say that more and more foreigners are arriving in China looking to find work as a teacher or to start their own businesses. And I think that's a really good reason for learning chinese.
      To sum up, I want to say that learning languages is really important. Because it will always serve to enhance your quality of life, and even if you never use that language in practical circumstances, you almost certainly will enjoy the time spent educating yourself.

A summary on an article

Hello everyone!
        Today I read an article and the information which is presented there shocked me. Could you imagine that 414m pieces of plastic, weighing 238 tonnes were found on remote island group in Indian Ocean?
      Plastic, the material that we use for everything and which pollutes our environment, is perhaps the most harmful of trash dumped by mariners and sea-goers in sea because it does not readily break down in nature. In-fact, the plastic that goes over the side today may still be around in hundreds of years to foul up the fishing gear, boat propellers, and beaches of future generations. 
    Careless usage of plastic not only pollutes the environment but also hurts animals. A plastic bag looks like a tasty jellyfish to a feeder like the sea turtle, but plastic is indigestible. It can choke, block the intestines or cause infection in animals that eat it.
        Every day, more and more plastic is accumulating in our oceans.Plastics enter the marine environment from sewage outfalls, merchant shipping, commercial fishing operations, and beachgoers. 
       This article made me think about environment and future of our planet. Not everyone knows where are things  that we are throwing away, not everyone knows that plastic is really dangerous for the nature and animals.And this article shows us consequences of our ignorance.

         Hello everyone! Today I'd like to share some information which I've learned from the conference session. Speakers of this conference are Anil Bayir, Ishak Ersin Kirac and their presentation is called "Oracy skills and the 21st century".
            Speakers talk about importance of speaking skills. Also, they say that speaking should be practiced at the same level as writing and reading and I totally agree with them.Speaking supports thinking, develops confidence and helps people listen to each other and in my opinion, this skill is really important because we have to know how express our thoughts.
           In the prersentation there was a lot of information about teaching speaking children. But I would like to learn more about oracy skills myself  because this theme is interesting for me. I want to know how to get attention of audience, make your presentation exciting and so on.
        All in all, it was very useful to watch and listen to the conference. And I hope things that were said there will help people to realize how extremely important oracy is.

How to stay motivated at writing

                             How to stay motivated at writing
       Hello! If you're reading this post now, I'm sure you keen on writing and it's your favourite hobby, and you fill with it your leisure time. But let's be real, sometimes we burn out because we want to write when we really want it. When we have a good mood, inspiration and the main thing that we should have is motivation.  So that's why I'd like to tell you about some tips from one a really interesting website about writing.
       The website is called  The Writing Cooperative. Creators of this site say: "We help each other write better in a number of different ways." And that what they actually do.
       
      As I've promised here some tips for staying motivated at writing:

•  Remember why you're writing, remember that you enjoy it and that you have something to say.  
•  Sometimes let yourself write badly,just get your first draft!
• Change your writing place in order to start thinking more creatively.
• Read some inspirational articles or quotes.
• Listen music which fits your writing. Music will definitely kick your mood for everything and for writing too.

        
More tips you can find here. Thanks for reading, I hope you find this information useful!

Testing on animals

  
    


                  Testing on Animals.
    Nowadays more and more people start concerning about testing on animals. Is it necessary? Is it painful for animas? Why the modern medicine can't do without testing on animals? All these questions made people divide into two groups. First group thinks that we have to stop testing on animals, second one is sure that the medicine won't be able to develop.
     The main advantage of animal testing is that animal testing helps to lessen the risk of an unplanned event which can happen when humans use or ingest the products that are part of the animal testing experiment. Drugs can be really harmful for people, especially during the testing period, so animal testing allows for scientists to know the quality and safety of a product before humans take it.
      The next pro for animal testing is that it helps researchers in finding drugs and treatments to improve medicine. Many medical treatments have been made possible by animal testing, including cancer and HIV drugs, insulin, antibiotics, vaccines and many more.    
        Moreover, there is no other alternatives of testing products because some animals are almost carbon copies of people. The reason why mice are frequently used in animal research is that their genetic profile is 98% similar to humans. Chimpanzees were popular to use in the past, and still are in some areas of the world, because their genetic profile is 99% similar to a human.
      However animal testing has many disadvantages. It already was mentioned that people and animals are similar. But they never exactly the same because the reaction of an animal can be completely different from human's one. This argument further weakens necessity of animal testing.
     One of the strongest arguments against animal testing is countless deaths of animals. They killed after finishing experiments. Others are injured and will still live with an injury the rest of their lives. Also some tested drugs, may never be used for anything. I think it's nothing but cruel and useless.
     All in all, I want to say that  it's vital to improve modern medicine. But people have to know that animal's lives are important too. And  they have to be treated better, also we should concern that all experiments will really help people.

Ways of spending time during the gap between classes

      And now when we are full it's time to study. Our university has many places where we can just sit at the table and start working.There are big desks and a large number of sockets on the 4th and 5th floors so you can bring your laptops and not worry about charging. Also Department of Foreigh Languages has a room for self-study 3237.
       But if you're not in the mood to do serious work in this case our university has special places with beanbag chairs where you can just relax. However these places have coffee-tables and blackboards and maybe you will not want to procrastinate.
      Okay, those two ways of spending time lead you to studying. And I want to tell you that outside there is beautiful nature. The forest of Academgorodok one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. And I recommend you just go outside, enjoy nature and breathe fresh air. It will inspire you to do great things.

Thanks for reading! The first part you can read on Yana's page.