Self-assessment of ESP Learning

WRITING SKILLS
Summaries: It was difficult to make this task first time, but later I understood how to make it and improved. It was difficult to define the main points of the text and to rewrite the main ideas in my own words. I think that my performance was normal.
ESP vocabulary tests: This term we have written less tests than last term, so it is harder to evaluate myself. My performance was not so good because of the lack of the time spent on learning, and also there were some difficult topics with definitions which were hard to learn.
self designed tests: It was useful to make such kind of tests. The good point is, that I revised the topic when preparing test for the friends and that's why I managed to do their tests correctly. Sometimes I didn't do it right, for some questions were so specific.
dictations: I was not so good at writing dictations, because sometimes I misswrite words, for they were new and I didn't know their spelling, and it was quite difficult to get used to such a quick way of dictation.
contributions to weblogs: It was ok, this task is nothing special, that's why I haven't problems with it and managed to make all contributions. However, my weak point is capital letters ant spelling. I sometimes do not pay enough attention to this and do not read twice.
SPEAKING SKILLS
Participation in class discussions I performed well in this task, for I had possibility to say my opinion every time I wanted, I was not afraid of making and correcting my mistakes while speaking.
Presentations: Haven't done this task yet.. :) But I will.
Speaking in pairs: It was not hard for me to speak in pairs, I understood my classmates, and managed to be fluent and attentive.
LISTENING SKILLS
Listening activities in class: Sometimes it was hard for me to follow the text. I performed quite good when doing these tasks, and my weakest point is filling the gaps while listening. And I perform worse if the question I have to answer has 2 or more answers and I have to choose one, the most suitable.
Listening to podcasts: It was not hard for me to listen to podcasts, for I have chosen the ones, which had interesting theme. My vocabulary is good enough to understand everything I hear. Also there was a text written which helped a lot.
Listening outside the class it was quite difficult to hear and understand foreigners speaking English, for they have different dialects and pronounce some words differently. However, I lived with them and listened to them speaking for quite long period of time and managed to understand everything till the end of the week.
READING SKILLS
Home reading: I do not face any problems when reading at home, for I can always use my dictionary if needed. It is not hard for me to understand the texts I read, for they have interesting topics and usually I can guess the meaning of the word correctly.
Class reading: It was not hard task ant I managed to make it correctly.
Reading comprehension exercises I managed to do it well, but still it was hard for me to put the missing text in the right order. Also
Computer tasks: I did it well, for I have a computer at home, and computer tasks are not difficult.

Artificial Intelligence

During all the times people try to improve their living and to create something to help them in everyday life. One of those things nowadays could be an Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is has some different descriptions, but one of them i liked the most is the description of John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956, who said that Artificial Intelligence is "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines."
Among the traits that researchers hope machines will exhibit are reasoning, knowledge, planning, learning, communication, perception and the ability to move and manipulate objects.
However, Artificial Intelligence is a new branch in science, so it can have many unexpected consequences. First of all, it may have not suitable way to be used. Like if you install a small microchip into your brains to get better memory, during operation or even after, it may harm some parts of it. And even if everything goes right, in my opinion there is some kind of damage to your intelligence, for if you will not stimulate working parts of your brains and use only artificial ones, during some time the process of thinking and reasoning will get worse, and you may even loose control on it.
Secondly, if artificial intelligence will be used in robots, like robot-nurse, robot-nanny, or any other, which aim is to take care of people who are partly or completely disabled, it may have many unpredictable effects. I believe, that only educated specialists can take care of these people, not machines, because every person has to be treated in it’s own way and no program can be created to help everybody.
To end up with, this science has to be investigated, and shouldn’t be used, till everything will be done to improve it, and not to harm any people.

Body Language

When surfing through the net, you may find many topics on Body Language. It may contain information not only about human’s, but even about animal’s (dogs http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/diagrams.html or birds http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=15&cat=1795&articleid=3334) body language. However, for us (psychologists) the most important thing is to understand people’s behavior, so this blog will be concentrated on human’s body language.

It is really good when people can listen to each others carefully, but in many ways it is not quite enough only to listen or read somebody’s speech. Words may confuse, if we do not see the person who we are talking to. That is because of the fact that up to 93 % of communication is non-verbal. We are using body language which includes: tone of voice, eye movement, posture, hand gestures, facial expressions and more. It is interesting that more often than not, you do not consciously think about it.

Knowledge of body language is useful in many ways. Especially it is needed to know when going to the job interview, communicating with a person who has some influence on you (director, teacher, parents etc.). Actually it is not so difficult to spot the general emotions of a person you are talking to, but sometimes it is hidden deep inside and you may understand it only from the body language. There are some positions and meanings of them which may help to be more confident about yourself and being sure, that you understand the person you are talking to.

Chimps beat human in memory test

RESTATEMENT SUMMARY

People have under-estimated the intelligence of chimpanzees.
Photographic memory tests have shown that 5 year old chimps have a better memory than their mothers or university students.
This research was described as "ground-breaking". It has shown the effect of evolution on memory skills of humans.



You can find more about it here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7124156.stm

The fear of Clowns

Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns.

The fear of clowns is quite confusing, as in most cases clowns are meant for amusement and entertainment. However many people find clowns disturbing rather than amusing.
You may become a victim of Coulrophobia because you are afraid of the heavy make-ups and the disguised identity of the person. The psychologists who have addressed this topic, usually say that this form of phobia probably develops out of some traumatic incident in childhood, that in some way is associated with a clown. Moreover, phobia may occur when seeing the evil representations of the clowns in mass media movies.

In fact the weird appearance of the clowns, swollen red noses and unnatural hair colors make these persons look so mysterious and treacherous.

Adults who are victims of Coulrophobia know that their fear is completely irrational and illogical, but they can’t escape the circumstance. Such people need special psychological or even medical treatment to overcome this fear.

About Meditation

Meditation

The physical act of meditation generally consists of sitting quietly, focusing on your breath, a word or phrase. However, a meditator may also be walking or standing (something new, YES? :) ) . It isn't unusual, but it can be done this way.

There are many traditions and ways to practice meditation, new meditators wonder if they are doing it correctly. According to Roger Thomson, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice in Chicago and a Zen meditator, there is one way to know for sure: "If you're feeling better at the end, you are probably doing it right."

Maybe meditation isn't so mysterious. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the brain waves. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. There is also less activity in the area of the brain where the fear is processed. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before. (Nice, isn’t it? :) )

However, in my opinion, meditation is a deeply religious action and nowadays it just becomes a fashion, but it’s not related to our (western) culture in any way. So, I believe, that people should know more about it before practicing, for it may have influence not only on our physical body, but on mental processes as well.

Influences

I am going to talk about the person, which has influenced my life the most. That is my sister Julia.

Julia is my sister and she is also my best friend. We grew up together, so we've known each other all our lifes. That may be the reason why she has so big influence on me.

She has some qualities that I like and some that i don't. However, I tend to act like she does, for she is older than me. Julia is a caring sister. She often asks me about my feelings, emotions and health. Everytime I'm not in the mood or have some problems, she helps me to cope with them. And I try to act like this when being with other people. Moreover, I do like Julia's generossity, because she often brings something cute or delicious to satisfy my heart. However, she tends to be stubborn ant times, refusing to admit, that she may be wrong about something. It's not a good quality of her character, but sometimes I tend to copy even wrong things. :}

What is more, I think that I grow a better person, when she teaches me, exchanges with me her personal experience. And I believe that she will have a great influence on me during all my life. All in all, Julia is very special to me, as she is always with me when I need her. I never get bored with her and ... SHE IS THE BEST SISTER IN THE WORLD. :)