Film review: Boyhood

I went to the cinema the other day,I was not sure whether I was going to enjoy watching this film but I was rather surprised as the film was really entertaining.I was going to go with a friend but he changed his mind as I expected so I knew that this film wasn't the kind of film that he usually likes.

I was quite shocked with the fact that it took 12 years for this film to see the light as the director had to track the life of the actors of the film because of that, I really like a lot as I was going to be able to see from the beginning till the end of the film the same actors.

I have to admit that not all actors like to get involved in a 12 years old film as many of them just want to finish and move on as in this society we live in a world with so many ups and downs so all their effort made it extra-special.

The key message of the film is that no matter what happens in your life,you can overcome your problems,become a better person or a successful man or woman.Sometimes we cannot make decisions and even if we make them they might not be quite right which really happens frequently.

Our parents decide for us what is the best for us,the kind of way that we have to follow and a free guidance that it does not mean that they are absolutely the best option just for their duty of care and also our parents are allowed to make mistakes as nobody is perfect in this world,we tend to follow our instincts taking into account our previous experience and knowledge.

As this film shows that despite of an intense childhood with so many ups and downs children can become good adults and taking positive aspects...nothing is set in stones.

I'd rather recommend this film,first because it is quite entertaining and because it gives you and insight of a normal family life and it follows their timeline for over a decade,there is always a hope for a better life and no matter how bad the circumstances are we can overcome,move on and enjoy our life.....but also the message is respect yourself and others and love to yourself and other too.

I will see you at the cinema then.......!

Tomas M.

The British culture.

Hi again!

I am trying to write every now and then but as I am not getting use to I tend to forget about it.

Today I want to talk about the British culture and how my life and ideas have changed since I moved to The UK long time ago.

I came to the United kingdom if my memory is correct in 2007 when I moved to London so it is when I started socializing with English people and getting a bit more from this culture,but I have to say that because of the mix of  backgrounds in London it is a bit difficult to see the real British life in London because of the Lack of English people living there.

Firstly I have to admit that I was completely surprised with their well-organization that they have in terms of transport and how well they deal with tourism as London is one of the busiest cities in the world.

Even tough many people come from different backgrounds such as ethnicity,religion etc... people seem to get on quite well in London,moreover there are some areas or neighbourhoods where are predominantly occupied by some specific ethnicities but people appear to live without any problems as most of them have been dealing with it for many years,especially in London.

One of the things that I really love from these guys is that they are really independent and an example of that is that teenagers tend to leave their parents' houses at a early age (16-20) which is something completely different for me considering that in Spain teenagers still living with their parents till their late 20s.

Another thing that brought my attention is that couples split their bills so both pay equally no matter what kind of salary they have,while in Spain men support more the house economically or even if a British couple go on a date they still splitting their bills while in Spain the man is the one who pays the dinner,cinema or whatever it is.

Now women are more equal than many years ago and couples tend to split their chores and both support their houses not only economically and also looking after it and keeping it tidy especially if both are full-time workers.

Since I started working as a cashier I found out that many men do their shopping more often that they used to.Long time ago women used to be at home and dealing with their shopping and nowadays many men after work they go to the supermarket with their shopping list and spend some time buying food and necessities for their houses.

I have learned so much from this culture and I am also still learning a lot as everyday I am discovering new habits and learning so much.I have to say that I am becoming much more British than many British people as it is crucial to live in this country and to adapt to this society because it makes my life easier and it makes me more tolerant with people as well once you understand who they are,what they usually do and ways to respect them and make them comfortable in some situations.

Learning the language is another must for me because without being able to communicate with people, it makes you to live in a bubble without any interaction with your community and also thinking about working if you do not speak the language you will hardly get a proper job outside cleaning and these kind of jobs.

Secondly,their traditions that stood out from me for a while it is completely normal,for example like fish and chips that it is a topic now for me it is very common and I do not see it like a topic but as something completely normal for me.

Another thing that I really enjoy is the degree of politeness as many British people would not tell you something that will make you feel uncomfortable( some people would but it is not very common).

For instance if I go shopping with and English friend it will be a bit weird when I ask for feedback about a new T-shirt that person will never tell me what he really thinks as it might be offensive, Spanish people tend to be more honest when we talk about feedback or opinions such as don't buy it or it is not your colour but here it is different and people would say....it is ok, oh yeah....so it is really difficult to know what an English person want to say when it comes to giving opinions.

Thirdly : alcohol when I used to live in Spain before I came here I never thought that alcohol was made for people with problems and to avoid or to make up their lives I always saw alcohol as a way of entertainment and socialising and also not drinking too much only on special occasions so here people tend to drink very often and mostly daily so it is something that I never saw in Spain.

This is nothing to criticise or anything like that is just an overview of my experience living abroad and not all of them act in the same way...everybody is different (thanks God).

When we grow up in a society that follows the same way that you it makes things normal but if you grow up in Spain and move to another country you will find out that it is slightly different and you have to adapt yourself to some changes otherwise it will be the best to make your way back to Spain.

Fourthly ......Education,it is an important matter for me to talk about as for example the cost of books,textbooks are much cheaper than in Spain so it makes it more accessible to everybody,it does not mean that people will get involve more into education but they will have less problems to access to it.Not long ago I went back to Spain for a week and there were many books really expensive and I was wondering how could it happen in times of crisis where people need to pay a fortune for a book.

Besides there are lots of charity shops around the country that you can be able to buy some books from 1£,it really support people to buy and to cooperate with some organizations which support different causes such as...red cross,cancer support,elderly people etc...

Another story is going to Uni here as fees are at least £6000 per year much more expensive that in Spain but people can get the chance of applying for support and borrow some money that they will need to pay it back easily depending on how much they earn per year so education is really accessible here too and people are willing to study no matter how expensive or cheap is going to Uni.

I hope you have enjoyed with this article and I do not want to make it much longer so I will catch you next time with more news and topics.

see ya!

xx

Tomas M.

The 100 year old man who climbed out the window I saw it today at the cinema!

Hi!

I've just come back from the cinema tonight to see the film and it has been quite entertaining.It is about a 100 year old man that he escaped from the care home in his 100 birthday and decided to meet people along his journey and he has so much fun from the beginning.

So he has to take care of someone's luggage and that luggage has so much money so from there you need to imagine that that money belongs to someone and people will do whatever they can to get it back so he meets people along his journey....

The main reason for me to watch this film is because I have the book and I found it quite interesting I have only read 10 pages but it seems entertaining and something to keep you busy for a while.

The only surprise I had when the film because is that when the film began it said something about Sweden so...I guessed that it was a Swedish film so most of the film was in that language and sometimes in English but obviously I could read the subtitles but I got a bit distracted reading the subtitles.

I could see that people that were in the screen enjoyed as much as I did so despite of the subtitles(put me off a bit) it was ok.

The question is....will I read the book? Indeed and I am also going to start today to read it as If I don't do it now it will be easier for me to leave it on one side.

Cinema can be expensive but we need to support films because otherwise people will not invest money on them and one day there will not be movies to see as the result of the piracy which is something that should be persecuted.

Bye

Getting ready for CAE!

Hello!

I would like to share with you a few ideas about preparing to take the CAE exam which is Certificate in Advanced English C1.

I really love English language and I have so much passion about it,I am also considering teaching English in the future because if I can enjoy so much learning it will be even better teaching.

When I settled down in Exeter many years ago I became more proactive towards education,so I started attending so many courses to improve my English and to make my life much easier here in England.

Whenever I have to talk about this exam I always do it with so much respect as for me it is not an easy task despite of many years of study.

Why did I decide to take this exam?

Even though I have other higher qualifications,it has always been in my mind the idea of taking this exam,first because this certificate do not expire and second as a personal level and also to make myself proud of myself for this effort that I have make this years

The purpose of this exam for people who want to take it:

Many people want to take this exam for various reasons;

-To go to uni( Many universities accept CAE as a proof of English knowledge).
-To get a job where English language is a requirement( Because CAE is an advance level it is well-known for many companies).
-To teach English

It is important to mention that even if you get a pass(we will talk about the grades later on) many universities might take into consideration how recently you took the exam. for instance if you took the Cambridge exam 10 years ago and you have not been in contact with English language for long,you might want to consider to re-take this exam or just to refresh your knowledge because the university might take the right to withdraw your application because your English certificate was issued many year ago and they do not want to take the risk.

Why studying English?
It is obvious to say that English language is the most important language in the world,wherever you go,if you speak English  you will always feel comfortable no matter if you are in China or Poland.

Many people have started studying Chinese because as you might aware China is growing up so quick and this language is getting more important for business but English still very important no matter if you want to do business,teacher,doctor....Besides there are so many resources on internet that you will only be able to access if you speak English and to communicate with people around the world.

If I had children I would constantly encourage them to learn the language through videos,stories or any available resource accessible to me,because children can absorb the language easily and quickly and it will make a huge impact on their careers in the future and also it will give them the opportunity to move to another country.

I have so many friends who cannot speak English very well and they have always said to me...Tomas I wish I had dedicated more time in learning languages or just to brush up what I already knew to allow me to become more independent in the job market.

I teach languages and I always need to deal with the motivation field which is very important for people because you need to find a purpose in order to learn the language.People who did not learn any languages it might was because they did not find a reason for it or they did not need it for work,so there wasn't any point for that but now everything has changed within the last 10 years.

Let's face that we live in Europe and we as Spanish we have to deal with foreigners because the flow of immigration from all the world and considering that tourism is one of the most important ways of income to our country it is clear the necessity of learning English.

I have several stories from people who were forced to study languages for several reasons:

Many universities force students to learn languages as a requirement,most of these universities need proof of a certain level of English in order to enrol in any of their degrees.

Some people have lost their job because their companies told them that they needed to join an English programme to increase their knowledge on the subject and they did not succeed and because of that they were forced to leave their enterprises.

Some people studied Engineering and they did not realise that for this subject many manuals are written in English and there was not another choice for them so they had to join English classes.

There are countless stories that I have read and people have told me within the past years that have made me more aware of the circumstances of learning languages.

In the future  I will let you know how to improve your English for those who do not want to study but want to make some improvements.(just keep tracking my blog).

See Ya!

A life full of opportunities!

I am so happy today because apart from learning that people are always nice and willing to help you and also because I was given the opportunity to work in other departments and do other things.

I work in a college and I have been working in the same department for 2 years and this year has been a very positive for me because I could support the exam office working as invigilator (60 hours approx).

I do not want to get too excited but I am so happy that I am going to start in September doing some Admin duties where I work so it will give me more self-confidence and more experience in some areas so I have learned today that:

-If you do a good job you will be recognized sooner or later.
-People are always willing to help you (somehow).
-Whenever you do not expect things will happen so do not get obsessed with things just relax and be yourself.

I do not consider myself as 'the perfect worker' but I like to go to bed thinking that I've done a good job and all is done as it was expected to be.Whatever happens in my life I will need to accept it and I will need to try to overcome problems if they come with positivity because as I have read today:

Happiness is a way of travel, not a destination.

Good Night to everybody

xxx

Positivity and my story!

Hi Guys!

I am going to tell you about the book that I am recently reading which is called 'cosmic ordering in 7 steps' this book is manly based on the law of attraction as it has so much common with the universe and ordering and receiving what you want.

It might sounds a fairytale but it is absolutely true that it is like a boomerang effect,so what we give comes back to us.

I have been working in a supermarket chain(one of the biggest) and I have to deal with customers daily and I have to admit that in order to receive kindness we need to be kind with people as well.

In my humble opinion,it is very important to make a nice approach to customers in order to provide a good service and to make them to comeback again otherwise if they have a bad experience they might don't comeback or even if they see you at the till they will not go to yours(I am a cashier).

So,90% percent of the customers are very nice with me,even if they have been having a bad day,traffic jam,debts,etc.... so if you smile you get it back and if you are grumpy they will show you the same.


'life is like a boomerang be kind when you throw it as it will come back with the same intensity'.

I have had so many ups and downs in my life,bad depressions that could have cost my life but I got over it after a certain period of time that I need to reflect and to rethink the best option that I need to take in order to overcome my depression.

I have tried many different things but I would not be able to say that something worked 100% I guess it was a mix of everything:counselling,reading,healthy eating and medication.Many people do not think that taking medication for depression is OK but....shouldn't we look after our brain? because our brain sends information to the whole body so it is the engine of our machinery.

These are the tips that I would give to my child if I was about to die and I had 2 Min to talk to him.

1-Don't let people to choose your life.

2-You can achieve whatever you want in life.

3-Don't take things too seriously.

4-Smile,life is too short.

5-Money does not give happiness.

6-Don't judge and you will not be judged.

7-Do what makes you happy and follow your dreams.

8-be honest with yourself and honest with people and life will bring you more happiness.

9-People should love you as you are,as you love them as they are.

10-Family and friends are they key of your pathway.

11-Accept constructive critics not destructive.

12-Don't worry if you do not have the last word,nothing to prove.

13-Believe in self-development as we are growing everyday and become better people.

14-Nothing last forever.