HUMAN RIGHTS explained for and by students

TELL ME HOW YOU CRY... AND I'LL TELL YOU WHERE YOU ARE FROM!!!

BABIES CRY USING THEIR MOTHER TONGUE'S TONE

Late researchs claim that little babies' tone when crying differs depending on two different factors; the first one is the country where they are born and the second one is what their mother tongue will be, as they are able to listen to their mother's voice from the uterus in the last term of gestation. But how is it possible?

Our accent is an identifying feature of us; that's to say, it shows the place we come from without need to be revealed. An Italian or a German sounds different from a French person when speaking, even if the language used is English, a foreign language in those cases. Have you ever thought the tone could give our origin away before learning how to speak?
Kathleen Wermke, who is a Linguistic Antrophology Teacher at Würzburg University (in Germany), has shown with her recent research that babies cry with their mother's tone when they are just born. According to her investigations, newborns assimilate her mothers' language sound standards and after being born, they reproduce the tone in their cry or weep. The foetus just perceive the rythm and tone of his/her mother tongue and in a natural way to communicate, reproduces it.

A Chinese or Afrikan baby cry is more melodious and harmonious than the cry of a European baby due to the different quality of tones used in Chinese or Afrikan languages, which can be deep or high-pitched and it makes a great difference.

Würzburg researchers performed two lines of work about this topic. First of all they analysed sixty newborns' cries, all of them from monolingual families. Thirty of them were French and thirty of them were German. The crying patterns of those babies coming from French families had a rising melody contour while the German ones performed the opposite pattern; changing from high-pitched sounds to deeper ones.

The second line of work shows the most curious remarks. For example, babies from Camerun's cry last for longer and with a more variable tone in comparison to Germans. In addition, it can be said that scientists observed how babies try to answer their parents by means of the articulation of simmilar-to-vowels sounds... the vowels they hear from adults.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE (In Spanish)

LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE?

WHY ENGLISH? 

  

Here you will see some reasons thay may motivate you when learning English. I know there are a lot of excuses to give it up (it's a difficult language, I won't use it, I'm tired of trying to figure out what is what...!) but there are more reasons to keep going on learning, and I want you to read them:
1. Being bilingual, you will have more possibilities to find a job in every country in the world. The knowledge of a foreign language opens you a whole field of professional opportunities.

2. English is the most commonly used language for foreign language speakers. Imagine there are people from different countries with different mother tongues, what do they have in common to communicate? English language!

3.As you might know, English is the language of Science and Technology. As the United States is one of the world leaders in technical innovation and economic development

4. What about cinema? English is the language spoken in the Film Industry (Hollywood, for example). If you speak English, you won't need to read subtitles or see a film with a foreign audio.

5. It allows you to travel easily, feeling comfortable. English is commonly spoken throughout much of the world due to Great Britain's expansion during the colonial age.  You can listen people speaking English as their mother tongue in United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, some parts of Africa, India...

HEROES... Mr. Justo Gallego (Mejorada del Campo)

The man who is building his Cathedral

Justo Gallego Martínez  (Born in Mejorada del Campo, Madrid, in 1925), is a Spanish ex-monk who is building his own Cathedral in his village.

When he was 27, he joined a monastery in Soria and was expelled without having done his vows when he got tuberculosis to avoid infection of other monks.

Justo started his Cathedral in a piece of land inherited from his parents. He didn't have the Catholic Church support. Justo says his Cathedral is a symbol of his faith in Christ and it is dedicated to "Nuestra Señora del Pilar".

He has built most of the building by himself, with the help of his six nephews one moment in time and some volunteers who work in summer for the Cathedral. Volunteers come to Mejorada from all around the world. "About 2,000 people visit the cathedral", says Justo.

He has sometimes contracted a specialist' services with his own money, and builds his cathedral up with donated money or renting lands of his property for agriculture working.

There are neither plans nor official project for his job. Justo usually says he has all that "into his mind". He is not an specialized builder or brick-layer, what is more, he had to give his elementary studies up when he was a child because of the Spanish Civil War.

He acquired the knowledge on how to build a cathedral by means of books related to cathedrals and castles. Most of the materials used in the construction are recycled, using quotidian objects and materials thrown away by a building company and a brick factory in Mejorada, that sometimes donates him bricks to follow with his job.

An example is the large gas can used to build the columns, and a bike wheel is occasionaly used as a pulley. 

His job allowed him to make an advertising sport for "Aquarius", in 2005. He was paid 30,000 € in concept of give in the Cathedral for a three-days-shooting. All the money he took was used in the building. This advertisement allowed people to know about the cathedral, and thanks that fact, visits increased considerably, donations too. 

The Modern Art Museum in New York dedicated an exposition to the job of Justo Gallego.

Nowadays, Justo lives with her sister and brother-in-law near his cathedral. People think he could have been rich if he had dedicated his lands in the construction of flats or houses instead of his cathedral, but Justo's motto is "Serving God, then fellows and last myself is the key of happiness".

Justo Gallego suffers from aphonia, as he lost his voice, you can find a piece of paper with Justo's story.

 

I have personally visited Justo's Cathedral and I have to confess  this was an astonishing experience. What I felt... peace and emotion at the same time. There are no boundaries in a person's illusion and inspiration. For me, Justo Gallego is a hero. He never gave up, he has dedicated his life to what he thought was his destiny, and offers his daily job to thank he is alive.

Here you can see some photographs of Justo's Cathedral:

Easy RECIPES

Hello everyone!
Here you can find some easy recipes to practice your chef skills:
The first one is the "Spanish omelette" recipe, also known as "Potatoes Omelette". Practice this reading and try to cook it at home! It's very easy! :)   And delicious!

Another important course that cannot be missed when eating is a dessert. Here I have selected a recipe based on chocolate. It seems easy to cook and it's a good oportunity to test your listening skill.

KNACKING... FOR SAVING!!!!

To save or not to save? In time of crisis it not only seems to be the general question but also the answer for our desire to find some extra money from a little income and much spending.

As the proverb says: SAVE MONEY, LIVE BETTER!

Here you will find a top 5 tricks in order to save money when living in our daily routine. Enjoy them and try to practice!

1. I know this piece of advice can sound like trivial but pay attention, please...
TURN OFF THE TELEVISION!!! Watching less television is an important way to save money and you'll find lots of financial benefits: 
- Less exposition to ads. The only one purpose of advertisement is selling, marketing and merchandising. Try to focus on other things in life. Your life quality will increase!
- Less electrical use. If you think how much advantage you take of having the television on all the day, you'll notice it is non-existing. Wasting electricity taking into account the price of it... should be forbidden!

 2. WRITE A LIST BEFORE YOU GO SHOPPING, AND STICK TO IT. You shouldnot go into the supermarket without a strong idea of what you want to buy when in there. The spending in necessary food is not high in comparison with the spending in unnecessary things (such as snacks, frizzy drinks...) we buy so as to full the trolley.

3. GET RID OF UNREAD MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS and CANCEL UNUSED CLUB MEMBERSHIPS. The best example is the gym membership... The number of members of a gym largely exceeds the number of attendants. If you think can may not go or may go little it is better to cancel the membership. It means a monthly spending that would mean an important quantity of money at the end of the year and would considerably increase your saving.

4. MAKE YOUR OWN GIFTS INSTEAD OF BUYING THEM FROM THE SHOP. Handcrafts have a material and symbolic value that will appeal your friends and relatives more than anything you can buy. This involves your homemade touch, the time you dedicate in the creation of something for the target person and the original exclusivity of the gift.

5. DON'T GO TO SHOPPING CENTERS JUST FOR ENTERTAINMENT. It will make you fall into compulsive consumption even if you thought you didn't do it. The appealing presentation of the products as a need mixed with your leisure time usually means extra spending. 




 

HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN EXAM?

Hi everyone!
     We are finishing May and it's time to pass the final exams to have a relaxing and happy holidays (and of course, don't think about the retaking exams in September!). Here you can watch a video to prepare exams, some of the tips are very interesting! I hope you like it! ;)