Self assessment on learning ESP.

The goal of this article is to access my achievements in learning ESP. This semester went by really quickly. I still can not believe that it has almost come to an end. So what have I achieved so far.
Writing a summary. I have written some summaries this semester. I believe I did this assignment pretty well. Of course I do admit that some mistakes were made but no one is perfect.
Writing vocabulary tests. I did write a couple of these tests and my performance improved quite a lot compared to the first semester’s tests. Although I admit that they are harder.
Performance in class dictations. I did not get the chance to write this dictation. But i=I believe this task could not have been too hard for me as I do not tend to do any spelling mistakes.
Listening practice in class. Listening tasks were always my favorite ones. It is easy for me as I have had a lot of practice in listening to native English and American languages. I have no problems with this assignment.
Listening to peers’ power point presentations. It is always fun and relaxing to look at some colorful and interesting presentations made by group mates. On the other hand, all the information that is presented is not new for us so sometimes it might get a little bit boring.
Making power point presentations. I have not made a presentation myself yet so I can not say anything about it. Not really the most interesting part of ESP class.
Short talks on ESP themes in class. Those talks sometimes put me in an awkward position as I often do not agree with my group mate’s opinion. I do not want start arguing with them so I just have to keep to myself. I am comfortable with speaking in English on any subject as I do not find it difficult too.
To sum things up, I should mention that I was not participating in a lot of classes but that is not because they are uninteresting or boring. English is a must in the 21st century and ESP classes are really useful. It is a pity that I have missed and have not learned so much.

The English language

The English language has changed a lot since its foundation. It was influenced by occupations by the Roman Empire, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Anglo-Saxons formed the basis of modern English. A lot of words have assimilated, changed their meanings or were forgotten. The vocabulary was enriched with words from other languages.

English now is not the same as it used to be. It has a different way of putting words together then back then. The flexibility and simple grammar made English language an effective medium of international communication in spite of the difficulties caused by the difference between written and pronounced language.

Today English is the most popular language in the world. It became the international language for sports, business, commerce and other fields. Most of the mail is written and even most of the popular songs are sung in English. Even people who speak English with a different dialect can communicate with each other without any problems.

Good knowledge of English language opens up a lot of opportunities and enables us to communicate with almost everybody anywhere. It is the language of the world.

Picture reference:
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/11/language_2.jpg

Psychology studies in MRU and the University of Brighton.

To start with - psychology is a young science. And despite this fact you can study it almost on every corner of the earth. Europe, America, Asia – you name it. You can choose a university that mostly fits your needs without any problems. And what are the differences between them? I would like to compare two universities that provide psychology studies – Mykolas Romeris, the university I study in, and the University of Brighton, which is in England.

Mykolas Romeris universities studies of psychology take 4 years. It gives a comprehensive general knowledge of the central topics of psychology. A lot of attention is drawn not only to individual work but also to a work in groups. A lot of assignments are given to three-to-five student groups. This is a very good thing, to my mind, as it makes us debate on certain aspects of psychology, thus encouraging us to look deeper in to the matter that is being discussed. The semester lasts 4 months plus one month for the exam session. But it has no training during undergraduate studies.

The University of Brighton offers a bit different approach to psychology. Undergraduate studies take 3 years. The main thing that this university is concentrating on is sociology. It mainly explores the relationship between the individual and society in a wide range of different theories and perspectives. It also focuses upon notions of equality, diversity and difference, particularly in the context of understanding behavior, development and identity at the level of the individual, interpersonal and group interaction, and social and cultural formations. Semesters and exam sessions are similar to Mykolas Romeris University. It does not have training too.

To sum things up, there are a lot of differences between these two universities. But that is the beauty of it – you can always choose the one you prefer more. I like it here in Mykolas Romeris University and I would never change it to any other. While new and undecided students can compare and choose the one they think is the best.

Picture reference:
http://www.mruni.lt/mru_lt_dokumentai/naujienos/foto/nauji_rumai.jpg
http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:TOxLhDSjAi4w5M:http://www.idrottsforum.org/features/sport_and_politics/gregynog.jpg

Happiness

How happy are we? Can we state that we live in a country where everybody is happy? O can we think that life somewhere far far away is better? Runt Veenhoven decided to do researches on happiness in 95 nations.

He found out that the happiest countries are Denmark, Switzerland and Austria. While Lithuania takes only 83rd place. Why is that so? Better economic conditions, education or even different free time activities that are available for everybody. How can a person feel good while he has to think about how to get food on the table for the next day? When you have that sorted out you start to think about other things that matter. Like future perspectives for you or your children. Education is what matters a lot. And of course free time. For example here in Lithuania, when we want to have a good time, we have to choose from a little variety of different clubs. While in other, richer countries we get to choose the music we like first and then go to a club accordingly.

This is only a narrow space I have covered. There are a lot of other things that matter while talking about happiness. And it would take quite a while to talk about them all. But still facts are facts – Lithuanians are very unsatisfied with their lives and it is up to us only to change that.

Picture reference:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1iKdId2Rrt0M2t0qZN4OzqGfTWAMj34IvQq3sSFocOBBUpWv_x6vP51qX2ZVAjHKP8LKGDcwL4hU3ssto3fxq3XMlt1BuKEoBNLcX-sISHnTJB5fycQwxevoEFGLOVuQpoCN6sJXp9s/s1600-h/happiness-web.jpg

Self-assessment of success in learning ESP

ESP is a difficult subject. It is really not that simple to write a summary or a comprehension test on modules in psychology. I will now evaluate my process in learning ESP.

First of all, I should mention summary writing. I must admit that this is one of the most difficult tasks. Writing a summary not only checks if you manage to summarize the text that you have read, but also tests your grammar knowledge. It was quite hard at the start, but now I am getting used to it and it does not take that much time and effort to write it.

Secondly, the comprehension tests on modules in psychology is definitely the most difficult part of the whole ESP. I was never good at learning various definitions and that is why I did not do well on these tests. I understand the text quite well, but I just can not remember specific definitions.

Furthermore, making power point presentations was really fun. Looking up for information and pictures was interesting. I believe I did well on this assignment.

More over, I never had difficulty in speaking impromptu. I feel comfortable with my general English so it was not hard to speak in class at all. I believe I did it well enough.

Listening tasks were easy. I had a lot of practice in my school. We used to listen to various text almost every lesson so I have trained my ear to hear and understand even native English speakers. I also loved to watch English films and that gave me a good exercise too. Listening practices are my favourite ones.

Finally, writing contributions to e-portfolio (weblog) was really interesting. I have had a blog earlier so administering it was not difficult. It is a very good way to store your works as they never get lost. And it gives the opportunity to express yourself in a creative way. I believe I performed well on this assignment.

All in all, ESP is a thing that requires a lot of time and effort. I understand that I did not do everything that was in my power to learn as much as I could. But I feel that I have improved my English thanks to ESP lessons.

The real summary on Nomophobia.

Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact – and it is the plague of the 24/7 age. More and more people are becoming dependant on their mobile phones. 53 per cent of mobile phone users experience anxiety and stress when they find themselves without their cell phones or if they understand that the battery of the phone has discharged.

Francesca Steele has performed an experiment about this fear. She wanted to prove that this mobile obsession is misguided. Francesca decided to spend a week without a mobile phone while leaving all the daily activities the same. She stated what in the old days people managed to survive and communicate without even knowing about such an invention as a cell phone.

On the very first day of the experiment she got an SMS just before she had to turn off the cell phone. As it became clear after the experiment it kept bothering her the whole time. The whole week turned out to be a total disaster. Francesca missed trains, she was constantly late on appointments. She could not even meet up with her friends. Francesca tried to use payphones but it was not a solution to her problem whatsoever. It only cost her a lot of money and gave no benefits.

On the other hand, this experiment did have some positive sides. After a long time Francesca spoke with her parents on a landline with no cars roaring beside her. They could finally have a quiet and normal talk. Moreover, she realized how calming it is to be incommunicado on occasion. How relaxed you can feel while no one can bother you. When you can have a rest between work and whatever you are doing afterwards.

To sum things up, Francesca did feel really uncomfortable without her mobile phone. It was difficult to plan the day. She wasted a lot of time searching for her friends. She admitted that living without a cell phone nowadays is almost impossible.

Learning ESP

What is the easiest way of learning ESP (English for Specific Purpose)? No one can give a straight forward answer to this question. But we all can agree that only practice can improve it.

Firstly, you will not be able to learn ESP if you do not have at least a decent knowledge in General English. There are different ways how to learn it as it is not too hard. English is one of the easiest languages in the world. It is learned by listening to audio materials, reading and writing texts or even just by watching English films or TV shows.

However, things are much more complicated with ESP. At first it looks really complicated and difficult as you have to learn a whole lot of new termini. The definitions are sometimes very hard to memorize and there are so many of them. To my mind the easiest way is to participate in class activities. Most of the students are simply afraid to speak bad, to make grammar mistakes or just to show that he (or she) did not understand a termini of some sort. Reading literature, watching films on psychology is not enough. We must speak as much as we can about psychology issues. ESP classes provide us with perfect conditions to do that.

In conclusion, ESP is not an impossible thing to learn as we have all the needed things to do that. The only thing that might be missing is motivation but this depends on everyone personally. It is all up to you my friend - you can do it!

Picture Reference: http://www.havering.gov.uk/media/image/0/p/LEARNING1_1.jpg