WEEK 6: Telling the truth

• Browse the Net and find sites where lies are approached

The following links provide us with some information about telling lies and some psychological ways to know whether someone is lying or telling the truth.

https://www.wikihow.com/Detect-Lies

1. Look for micro-expressions.  Typically, in a person who is lying, his or her micro-expression will be an emotion of distress, characterized by the eyebrows being drawn upwards towards the middle of the forehead, causing short lines to appear across the skin of the forehead.

2. Look for nose touching and mouth covering. A lying person is more likely to cover his or her mouth with a hand or to place the hands near the mouth, almost as if to cover the lies coming forth. If the mouth appears tense and the lips are pursed, this can indicate distress.

3. Notice the person's eye movements. You can usually tell if a person is remembering something or making something up based on eye movements. When people remember details, their eyes move up and to the left if they are left-handed. When right-handed people make something up, their eyes move up and to the right. People also tend to blink more rapidly ("eye flutter") as they're telling a lie. More common in men than in women, another tell of a lie can be rubbing the eyes.

4. Do not use eye contact or lack of it as a sole indicator of truthfulness. Indeed, it has been shown that some liars tend to increase the level of eye contact in response to the fact that investigators have often considered eye contact as a tell. Clearly, only use eye contact aversion as one indicator in a general context of increasing distress when being asked difficult questions

• Tell us what you've done this week to improve your English.

In order to improve my English I have been doing some exercises from the teacher's website, they seem to be quite helpful, not only am I improving my English but also preparing for jun's exam. Furthermore, I have also watched a couple of episodes of Stranger Things; a very entertaining TV series. 

SARA BAHADI

WEEK 8: NARRATIVE ESSAY WRITING

• Find out on the web 2 different links where narrative essay writing is explained and summarise the main characteristics. In which way is it different from discursive essay writing? 

    - https://www.freelancewriting.com/creative-writing/5-tips-writing-a-good-narrative-essay/

    - https://essayinfo.com/essays/narrative_essay.php

Some of the main characteristics of the narrative essay are the followings: 

• It is told from a particular point of view
• Makes and supports a point
• Is filled with precise detail
• Uses vivid verbs and modifiers
• Uses conflict and sequence as does any story
• May use dialogues
• Clarity
• Do not describe each and every of your own movements
• Avoid the second person narrative
• To interest the reader, dynamic word choice is key

The goal of the discursive essay is to make people discuss the topic pointing different opinions. In this type of essay we are required to determine our position regarding the topic discussed, study opinions of oppponents and followers, and explain why one point is acceptable while the rest is not. On the other hand, the narrative essay  is based on telling a story that has a specific point, such as teaching a lesson, it includes a plot with characters and is developed in a specific time and space.

• Tell us what you have done this week to improve your English. 

This week in order to improve my English I have started reading the book "Saturday" by Ian Mcewan for my Literature project. 

Nassira Dahmani

WEEK 7: PERSUASION

•  Find out expressions to express persuasion, different from the ones offered in the textbook.

From: http://howtolearnenglishofexpressing.blogspot.com.es/2015/01/expressing-of-persuading-someone.html

* Give it a try.
* Try them on.
* Believe me, you’ll have fun times.
* Don’t be a spoilsport.
* It will be fun, I’m sure.
* You’ll enjoy it. Go.
* You won’t regret it.
* This is once in your lifetime, don’t waste it.
* It’s your only chance, try it.
* You wouldn’t find them twice, come on!
* You’ll never feel sorry about it.
* Not even for me/for my sake?

Some expressions to express hypothesis:

• If ...
• What if ...
• What you have done if ...?
• What might have happened if ...?

A website where the hypothesis is explained: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/wishes-and-hypotheses

• Tell us what you've done this week to improve your English.

This week in order to improve my English I have watched a film "Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented" based on a novel by Thomas Hardy. 

Nassira Dahmani

WEEK 6: TELLING THE TRUTH

• Browse the Net and find sites where lies are approached. make a list of the characteristics shown by a person who lies according to these websites.

According to this website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-i-m-approach/201702/why-do-people-lie there are two types of lies. 

One is called the "white lie" and we use it  to maintain our social status.
There are many reasons of why people choose to lie. Here are some of them:
- When people lie, sometimes they are doing so because of something about them.
- Other times, there is something about you that tempts people to lie to you. Sometimes when people lie to you, it is because of your very best qualities. 

As stated in this other website:
https://chopra.com/articles/the-truth-about-lying-why-people-lie-and-how-to-cope

The following are some of the main reasons why people lie.

• The thought of protection
• Personal gain

Not all liars have the same characteristics, but the following illustrate seven common characteristics of a lifelong liar.

1.Frequent Lying

2.Inability to Confront Truth

3.Changing Stories

4.Insecurity

5.No Eye Contact or Aggressive Eye Contact

6.Lack of Emotion

7.Anger When Accused of Lying

From. http://positivemed.com/2016/04/25/common-characteristics-of-a-liar/2/

I have enjoyed watching the comedy "Liar, Liar" specially with Fletcher Reede and his son Max who was annoyed by his father´s lies and unfulfilled promises. There are many scenes I liked in this film, such as when the Max´s teacher asks him about his father profession he replies liar. Or when Fletcher put all his effort in order not to lie, thus when he says what he thinks about his partners in office, they did not believe him and thought he was just kidding. Another funny scene is when he fights with himself in the bathroom. Although it is a comedy, there are many touching scenes that shows us how children feel when someone lies to them. Max being just a child, in his birthday he makes a wish, that his father could not lie for twenty four hours. In short words, "Liar, Liar" I have had great time watching this film and my favourite scene of it is this (Although I disagree with Fletcher ):

This week I have helped my brother to write an essay about sport in South Africa for his English class. I also read some articles from different English newspapers. 

Nassira Dahmani

Telling the truth (WEEK 6):

Why do people lie?

This is the definition of the word "lie" according to the dictionary. I searched the web to find out why people lie and these pages explain it clearly. Thanks to the ideas that these pages show, I have made a list of the most important reasons why we lie.

• https://chopra.com/articles/the-truth-about-lying-why-people-lie-and-how-to-cope
• https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-single/201706/why-do-people-lie-you
• https://www.thehopeline.com/107-what-is-lying-why-do-we-do-it
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/06/lying-hoax-false-fibs-science

And the main reasons why people lie are: 

1. The lie does matter to the liars. 
2. Telling the truth can be inconvenient for them.
3. They do not want to disappoint other people with the truth.
4. Someone starts with a little lie, but then it turns into another big lie, it is like lies snowball.
5. When a liar says something, they want to think that this is not a lie to them.
6. The liar might want their lie to be true so badly that their desire and needs again overwhelm their instinct, to tell the truth.

• 

I found this review of the film that summarizes well what it is about and the moral that it entails.

Fletcher Reede calls himself a lawyer, but he’s mostly a liar. Why tell the truth when you can lie your way out of a messy situation? Reede is successful at his job, but his family life doesn’t look really good. His wife, Audrey, divorced from him, bored of listening to his lies, and she’s now seeing another man. The new couple is planning to get married and move to Boston, bringing with them Max, Reede’s son. Fletcher’s not a very good father, but he does love Max, even though he can’t keep the promises he makes to him. That kinda pisses off the young boy, who wishes over his birthday cake that his dad couldn’t lie for a day. Uh oh.

Fletcher’s about to go through one painful situation after another. For 24 hours, he’s unable to lie, whether it’s in court, at the office or anywhere else. That puts him in a lot of trouble, and in a totally hilarious movie. The script is fairly written and the direction by Tom Shadyac isn’t too bad, but what’s great about “Liar Liar” is Jim Carrey, probably the funniest performer in movies. Here, he gives an extremely physical performance: he even gets into a fight with himself in which he “kicks his own ass”! Carrey has the ability to make you laugh all the time. The film has some sentimental moments that would be boring if it starred say, Chevy Chase. But Carrey achieves to turn any scene into a laugh riot, and the film sometimes reminds you of those feel-good Frank Capra classics. Around Carrey’s dynamo of a comic performance, other actors offer nice turns. Maura Tierney is good as the ex-wife, and so is Justin Cooper as the kid and Jennifer Tilly as a greedy slut.

“Liar, liar” finds an amusing premise and beats the hell out of it, propelling it into one hysterically funny situation after another.

(Extracted from: http://montrealfilmjournal.com/liar-liar/).

Finally, this week I continued reading the book "Dead Famous". But I also saw the movie "The Shallows" in order to improve my English. 

LORENA CONESA MARTÍNEZ. 

Rave reviews (WEEK 5):

American Psycho's Review: 

"American Psycho" is the story of Patrick Bateman, a rich, arrogant, twenty-something yuppie in 1980’s New York, who also happens to be an insane serial killer. He is the quintessential citizen of consumer society who consumes the victims of his insanity, all with the same disengaged obsession he uses in choosing outfits. There is no real plot, no consistent timeline, rather it is told as a series of events from Bateman’s point of view. Furthermore there is no real character development; Bateman does not seem to see his “friends” or acquaintances as people, instead, he observes them as objects. He does not describe those he comes across by their physical characteristics or their personalities, but rather by what they are wearing and who designed it. At times these descriptions can get downright tedious, but I believe that this is the way Bateman perceives everything… as blatantly boring. His only concerns seem to be his appearance, women (hard bodies) and the murderous things he wants to do to them, how much items cost, the videotape rentals he has to return, and what was on the Patty Winters Show that morning. 

(Extracted from the webpage: https://americanpsychoandcensorship.weebly.com/summary-of-american-psycho.html).

• Review: Having read the novel by Easton-Ellis a year ago I was intrigued to find out how it could be made into a movie.
  
  Whilst turned off by the totally unnecessary details of Bateman's crimes in the book, I felt that Easton's insight into superficial 80's yuppie culture made it a classic.
  
  Who could play a credible Bateman? Leonardo Di Caprio? I think not.
  
  How would Mary Harron deal with those controversial torture scenes?
  
  What we got was one of the finest movies I have seen for some time. Of course, those of closed minds will slate this film without even bothering to see it, simply because of the book's notoriety.
  
  I was impressed to see how closely Harron followed the book, replacing the un-filmable scenes with a suggestion, aka ear-cutting scene from reservoir dogs so that you believe you have seen more than you have. There are more parallels with Tarantino, such as the use of classic (& non-classic) 80's pop to create a stylised feel to the movie, that has not been seen since Pulp Fiction.
  
  The casting was superb, with Cristian Bale giving the performance of a lifetime, We, the audience, saw the soulless monster within, Bateman's superficial acquaintances, saw another faceless human being.
  
  Just like the book, you are never sure whether Bateman's crimes are real, or just imaginary, but his slide into insanity is clearly real and paced expertly by Bale.
  
  Reese Witherspoon as Evelyn was disappointing, "Election" showed what a great actress she is and although this role called for an airhead performance, it was clear that she was cruising.
  
  Mary Harron deserves the credit for creating an excellent film, that could have so easily been just another slasher movie.

 (Review from the page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/reviews).

This review compares the book with the movie, something that always worries the audience. In this case, the movie follows the order and all the details described in the novel. The cast is right for this movie, and the crime scenes, the strongest, are also very successful. The author of this review also compares scenes from this film with some scenes of Quentin Tarantino's films. This review is very good, with a clear language and vocabulary and hooks to watch the movie.

Finally, this week I started reading a book in English called "Dead Famous", written by Ben Elton. The novel is about a murder that occurs on a reality television programme called House Arrest, which is very similar to the program Big Brother, and the efforts of three police officers to identify the killer by watching all the video recordings of the ten housemates while the remaining housemates continue the reality television show. The novel jumps back and forth in time to show the events in the live video recordings, leading up to the night of the murder, where the remaining eight housemates at the time had to remain in an Indian sweat box- an old-style sauna with a pitch-black interior, the intention being to prompt the housemates to have sex-; the victim left the box to go to the toilet and the killer apparently left the box wrapped in a sheet to conceal his or her identity and stabbed the victim twice in the neck and head.

Later, a note is found in an envelope that had been sealed weeks previously that says that the victim will be dead by the time the housemates read the note and that one of the three remaining housemates will be murdered. The police have to catch the killer before he or she strikes again.

The killer is revealed on the final night of the show to be the show's producer, who had set up the murder to attract increased ratings for the show, faking the video footage of the killer leaving the sweat-box with the aid of her deputy producer; Detective Coleridge, an amateur actor, provokes a confession by creating fake video evidence of the producer's rehearsal murders.

LORENA CONESA MARTÍNEZ.

WEEK 5: RARE REVIEWS

• Find a review on the Internet and comment of the structure of the review, the language used and the information included (opinion versus facts). Upload the link to your blog.

The review starts given facts from the movie "How I meet your mother", the names of some of its actors and the author´s opinion. To support his review, he gives facts, what other people have said, compares it with other movies without making any spoiler. He includes his own interpretations about the movie, why did it happen like that and not the other way around? He uses a formal language. The review ends with the author´s reaction to the movie, how did it impact him and what did he learn from it:
"Sometimes something you love dies terribly, and you move on. And you just have to remember everything that you loved for as long as you could." 
Link of the review:
http://time.com/44702/how-i-met-your-mother-finale-review/

• Tell us what you've done this week to improve your English.

This week I finished reading the book "The alchemist" written by Paulo Coelho which I friend of mine recommended me months ago. It is an inspirational book that has taught me that if we want our dreams come true we need to fight, and struggle to achieve them. The book contains amazing quotes and many life lessons to take into account. I highly recommend it since it is worth reading and can make a change in your life. I wrote down some of my favourite quotes I want to share with you.

"People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they do not deserve them, or that they will be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of moments that could have been good but were not, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because, when these things happen, we suffer terribly."

"Because wherever your heart is, that is where you will find your treasure."

And finally the most repeated quote in the book: "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." 

Nassira Dahmani

WEEK 4: WHO WE ARE

• Find out at least 5 more expressions with body parts, and write their meaning.

From: https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/idioms-body.htm 

stick your neck out

help someone a lot, with possible bad consequences for oneself

I stuck my neck out for Bessie when she was thrown out of her house.

get something off one's chest

tell someone your problems

Thanks for listening to me complain about my boss. I just needed to get this off my chest.

let one's hair down

relax, have fun

Go to the cottage and let your hair down this weekend.

neck of the woods

nearby location or region

I heard that they might be opening a post office in ourneck of the woods soon.

play something by ear

do something without a plan

We don't know if the weather will be good enough for camping. We'll have to play it by ear.

rule of thumb

basic rule (not always followed)

The rule of thumb is that the students wear black pants and white shirts.

• Browse the Net for websites where inversions are explained. provide their links.

I have found this video on Youtube where the inversion is well explained. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9CGTrpYnE8

Other websites I also found useful are:

https://www.englishgrammar.org/inversion/

https://www.learn-english-today.com/lessons/lesson_contents/verbs/inversion.html

https://www.ecenglish.com/en/social/blog/san-francisco/2011/11/28/grammar-lesson-inversion-and-emphasis

• Tell us what you've done this week to improve your English.

This week I have watched the documentary "India´s Ladycops".  It deals with women´s police stations who are combating domestic abuse and sexual violence in India. I also read some articles published by the BBC newspaper. 

This is the documentary´s link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bc18PRjEXg

Nassira Dahmani

WEEK 5: rave reviews

Review of BLACK PANTHER

Black Panther is a 2018 superhero movie. It is the first movie where the entire cast is black. This fact supposed a great impact on black communities since they were in some way represented. In the following review we can find the most important aspects that characterize an ideal review. The review is mainly composed by facts and the writer's opinion. Within the facts there are sentences like:  "The Dora Milaje, the Black Panther’s personal guard, believe that this means serving their country no matter who is on the throne" and opinion statements like the following: "I cannot fully express the joy of seeing a smart, carefree, nonsexualized young black woman on the big screen" "That controversial mindset", "Wright steals every scene with her bright smile"



                                                         


Review from https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/6/16974898/black-panther-review-marvel-movie

Black Panther seeks to find a middle ground between these two worlds: a world where black Americans aren’t left out of the cultural celebration of their West African roots, and where greedy people don’t have an opportunity to consume Wakanda. By focusing on the citizens of Wakanda and their disagreements on how to manage the country’s future, Coogler creates a sense of harmonic anarchy. Everyone wants to reach the same goal — to protect and preserve Wakanda — but they all have different ideas on how to get there.

“Wakanda forever” is a popular phrase among the nation’s people. The Dora Milaje, the Black Panther’s personal guard, believe that this means serving their country no matter who is on the throne. To N’Jobu, T’Challa’s uncle, and W’Kabi, his best friend, it means protecting Wakanda from any threat, at any cost. T’Challa believes in Wakanda’s moral fiber. He follows traditions closely, but also seeks to rectify the mistakes of the leaders who came before him. That controversial mindset comes to life in Shuri, T’Challa’s little sister, who bucks tradition.

Played by Letitia Wright, Shuri is a revelation. Wright steals every scene with her bright smile and perfect comedic timing. From a brazen middle finger to a sense of fashion and confidence in the face of imminent danger, Shuri is an inspiration for all. I cannot fully express the joy of seeing a smart, carefree, nonsexualized young black woman on the big screen.

But Wright’s is only the first in a long list of outstanding performances.

The women who make up T’Challa’s support system round out the cast terrifically. Angela Bassett plays the king’s mother, Ramonda. Headstrong and regal, her presence brings a calm assuredness to the team. Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia is incredible. A Wakandan spy first, she is unwilling to compromise her desire to help people with her love for her king. There isn’t a Black Widow sex symbol here, or a Pepper Potts standing in the wings. The women of Black Panther are vital to Wakanda’s success.

In the swell of hype not much attention has been paid to Chadwick Boseman. Like Batman, T’Challa is a complex character who carries a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. And, like Batman, he is most interesting when the family he has collected surrounds him.

For T’Challa, this is his blood family — his mother and his sister — as well as the Dora Milaje and other local leaders. Because his people are his main priority, the conflict must come from within the community. Black Panther launches a new style of Marvel film. Like Ant-Man, Black Panther is a world unto itself. Although it’s connected to the larger universe through CIA operative Everett K. Ross, there aren’t any Avengers in the film. T’Challa will always choose Wakanda first.

• What you've done this week to improve your English

In order to improve my English level I have watched a couple of episodes from a TV series known as "Riverdale". Obviously, I have watched them in English and with English subtitles, not only because my purpose is to learn English but because I enjoy originality, I like to hear the real voices of the actors and actresses. Furthermore, I dealt with some exercises from the teacher's website. In addition to that, I also helped my little brother to practice his English exam.

                                 

SARA BAHADI

WEEK 4: who we are?

1. Find out at least 5 more expressions with body parts, and write their meaning.

These are the expressions that I have found in relation with body parts: links: Idioms/body

-(Have) egg on your face: you will have an egg on your face if you say something stupid and get embarrassed 

-(your) hands are tied: which means that you are prevented from doing something. 

-(your) heart goes down to someone: when you feel a huge sympathy for someone. 

-(your) heart is not in it: this means that you are not okay or comfortable when doing something, you do not really want to do it. 

-a bad hair day: when everything seems to be going wrong for you. 

-a kick in the teeth: If you get a kick in the teeth, something bad happens to you or you feel that you've been treated poorly. 

-a pain in the neck: someone is a pain in the neck if he or she is too annoying. 

-a slap on the wrist: If someone gives you a slap on the wrist, they give you a mild punishment for making a mistake or doing something wrong. 

-a weight off the shoulders: You can say a weight is off your shoulders if you no longer have to worry about something or deal with something difficult. 

-an eye-opener: you would be an eye-opener if you make someone realize something. 

-bite your tongue: if you bite your tongue you avoid saying something although you really want to say it. 

-caught red-handed: If someone is caught red-handed, they are caught in the act of doing something wrong such as cheating or stealing.

2. Browse the Net for websites where inversions are explained. provide their links.


There is a brief explanation of what is inversion provided by Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/word-order-and-focus/inversion

Here are other useful links:

 https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion.html

https://www.learn-english-today.com/lessons/lesson_contents/verbs/inversion.html



3. Tell us what you've done this week to improve your English.

In order to improve my English, this week I have been reading a couple of poetry books, and I also did some exercises from the teacher's website. In addition to this, I have watched a movie in English and with English subtitles.

                                                            

SARA BAHADI