My name is Amanda Martins, I’m 15 years old, and I’m already trying to think in something to do in my future. I study in the Colégio Pentágono, in Brazil. There, we don’t have time to do nothing, only study. It’s too boring, but it’s necessary and I believe it will help me and others students in our futures, it will help us to get a job, to improve our knowledge and have good conditions to support our families in the future.

I’ve been doing an English course here in California ate the CSUF, and I think it’s helping me to improve my English. Not only the grammar part, but principally the pronunciation. Today, to get a good job, you have to speak at least two or three languages, and I already know Portuguese, Spanish and this summer camp is helping me to improve my English, that’s why I think it’s being so important to me and to my life.

As I already said, this course is helping me mainly in the part of pronunciation and listening. We’ve practiced many times our listening. The teacher put the song and we had to try to write the whole lyrics of the songs. This is only one example of exercises we’ve made.

Tomorrow we finish the course, and I think my English is better, and I’m not shy anymore, like I was before coming to California. And I have to thank all teachers and all my old and new friends that helped me during his travel! 

The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade

This is an article that defends the idea of teenagers wake up later, because if they have to be at school at 8am, they are not prepared to pay attention in the first class. Most of the adolescents stayed up too late every night or most of them, so they can’t wake up too early, and if they wake up, they go to school, but too angry, because they want to sleep more and more.

I totally agree with this article, because I wake up every day at 6am, and I have to be at school at 7:30am, and most of the first classes are boring and I can’t stay awake, I’m always falling asleep and wanting my bed. I think we should start having classes at 10am. It would be perfect, I would go to bed at 23pm, like I do every day, and wake up at 9am, so my mind would be refreshed and I would be awaked and happy, because I have slept very well. 

Synthesis Exercise

Are computer games bad for children?

As the source one says, the majority of computer games today have violence as their principal theme, and children who play it every day have tendency to be more aggressive than the ones who prefer to play sports, or have fun outside of their houses, not inside, sited at the sofa the whole afternoon playing those violent games.

In the third source, it’s saying that children who start playing it every day can’t stop anymore. They start to substitute homework, sports and other activities to play computer and dangerous games.

Child plays it alone most of the time, and it is making them more solitary. They are not having much contact with their friends, parents and family as they had before playing these games.

After reading some sources, I concluded that computer games don’t have any aspect good for children. Just because they distract kids and make them happy, doesn’t mean that it’s good for their lives.

Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato are going to record a duet. Nobody knows yet what will be the name of the song, all we know is that they will record together. Demi is also recording with many other artists, like Timbaland and Sebastian.

We also know that Bieber will perform on the Fox program, Teen Choice Awards. We don't know yet what song he will sing, but we know that Miley Cyrus, Zooey Deschanel, Josh Hutcherson, Taylor Swift, and Lea Michele are included.

Walker, Robert. (2009). Frakenfood. Passadena, California. Ross Publishers.