A tour around Buenos Aires

In the ranking of places that are worth visiting in Buenos Aires, there are three at the top of the list.

Argentina is a wonderful country with many sights of interest for tourists, which range form historic buildings to beautiful natural sights in the centre of the country. The most important tourist sights are located in the main towns of each province. In the case of Buenos Aires, they are located in the town centre.
Among many attractions that Buenos Aires has to offer there are 'El Obelisco,' 'La Boca' and 'Puerto Madero.' These are three symbolic places that are worth visiting. No tourist has left the country before exploring them.
Most people go to see 'El Obelisco,' ?La Boca' and 'Puerto Madero' during their stay in Buenos Aires because the first and the second places are symbols that represent the foundation of this city, whereas the third one is popular because of the broad variety of activities that offers visitors. These places are probably the most common to see in postcards.
'El Obelisco' was built to commemorate the anniversary of the first foundation of the city. It is located in the centre of the Plaza de la República, where the Argentine flag was flown for the first time in Buenos Aires. Tourists are allowed to climb up the stairs for a spectacular view of the city. The chances to see the inside if this building and to have this stunning sight of Buenos Aires are too good to miss.
Also worth visiting is 'La Boca.' There is a narrow street called 'Caminito' there, which retains a strong European flavour. This street attracts tourism because it clearly shows Argentine culture. It is said to be the best place to learn the typical Argentine dance 'tango.' Visitors will find the Museum Street 'Caminito,' De la Rivera Theatre, the 'Bellas Artes' Museum of La Boca and the 'Vuelta de Rocha,' where one has a great view of Nicolás Avellaneda Bridge.
Another significant place to explore is 'Puerto Madero.' It is full of wonderful restaurants, where tourists can taste typical traditional Argentine food and any kind of food. Thousands of foreigners come to see how the old docks that once stocked products to be sold abroad, now have become one of the most luxurious and modern areas in Buenos Aires.
'El Obelisco,' 'La Boca' and 'Puerto Madero' among many others are places where tourists can get in touch with Argentine culture. In the case of Puerto Mader, tourists can taste typical Argentine food. As regards La Boca, foreigners can learn how to dance the typical Argentine dance, Tango. El Obelisco also gives tourists the possibility of getting in touch with the Argentine History. Any tourist who is interested in those aspects of Argentine culture will-for sure- enjoy these three extraordinary places.

Should abortion be legal?

Abortion has always been a rather controversial topic. Whereas some people believe that it should be banned, some others are in favour of its legalization. It is therefore interesting to look at the arguments to put foward to defend and to oppose abortion.
First of all, decriminalizing abortion would reduce the current death rate. If abortion were legal, there would not be so many cases of death because of backstreet abortions, since it would be carried out in public places, such as hospitals. Consequently, women would not run any risk at all.
Abortion should definitely be allowed in cases of rape. Lately, there have been many of them in which eleven or twelve-year-old adolescents were involved. It is in this situation that abortion should be granted because it is impossible for such young girls to bring up a baby. Apart from that, getting pregnant at that age may affect their state of mind for the rest of their lives. In the case of older women, they should have the freedom to choose whether they wanto to deliver this undesired baby.
As regards the arguments against abortion, some people claim that abortion may cause psychological pain and stress. A pattern of psychological problems known as Post- Abortion Syndrome (PAS) have been identified by researchers on the effect after abortion. It has been discovered that women suffering this syndrome may experience problems such as sexual dysfunction, repeated abortions, damage self- esteem and, in some cases, attempt to commit suicide.
Moreover, adults are supposed to take responsibility for their own actions. If a woman gets pregnant, the couple -or single mother- has the duty to deal with it in a more mature way. Furthermore, there are other options to solve the problem without resorting to having an abortion. One of these options is adoption. The couple or single mother can put the child up for adoption once it is born.
To conclude, this essay has attempted to put forward the main arguments for and against abortion. The former are the reduction of the rate death due to illegal abortions and the need of it in cases of rape; the latter are the psychological effects that it has on women and the couple's responsibility. Even though the two positions justify clearly what they support, people seem to be uncertain about which way to take. Consequently, abortion keeps on being a rather controversial issue.

Abstract on Language Acquisition

First Language Acquisition: Is the process of acquiring a language straightforward?

How hard is it to be bilingual? Since we may be familiar with first and second language acquisition, during this talk, we will show some evidence of the theories that we have been discussing throughout these years. We will count on the personal testimony of an English-speaking mother and a Spanish-speaking father who have shared with us their own experience of their children's language acquisition. Both theory and first-hand experience are key factors in understanding the process a child has to go through in order to acquire his/her first language.
Do come and see our poster to find out more about this complex process!

Speaker's corner

Going back home in the evening seems to be the most chaotic thing that could happen to anyone. At that time, kindness and morality fly away and nobody seems to remember them, especially men. I' m talking about people who wait for the train in Retiro. What I hate most is when they cross the railway towards the platform that is opposite to the one they should be waiting for. They do so in order to take advantage of the few civilized passangers who are waiting for the train where they are expected to. While these are waiting for the people to get off the train so as to get into it, the uncivilized passangers get in it through the opposite doors. That's the way they manage to get a seat and don't you dare think that they would give you the seat if you're an elderly person or if you're pregnant. No way! You'll have to wait till the next train and hope they wouldn't do the same thing. One of the possible solutions could be that guards control these disrespectful passangers who forget about values but, unfortunately they take the easiest position and let passangers do what they please. As all of us can see, moral values are totally lost and we live in a society that seems to be in a constant civil war.

My profile

Self-corrections chart (WT1- My profile)

Language mistake	Why is it wrong?	Correct version	Any reference books consulted? (If so, specify which)	Practice exercises done? (If so, specify which)	Any queries? (record query + tutor/PM/AK's answer)
half an hour.	I expressed myself wrongly.	An hour and a half.
which sometimes is stressful.	W.O.	which is sometimes stressful.
Regarding to hobbies.	too formal	As for hobbies.

I believe that I should pay more attention to the register next time. The problem lies in that I'm too formal to write so I find it more difficult to write an informal piece that a formal one.
I also tend to run out of ideas quickly. Maybe, I should devote more time to the first step: generating ideas.

Culture

Having intercultural activities with Anna has been a great experience. I believe that both parts have learnt a lot. Personally, I found it extremely interesting because I've never visited the UK so, I was given the possibility to have access to cultural things such as food, environment, education and means of transport, among others.
Anna's personal experience in a boarding school helped me to understand the British Educational System because it is quite different from ours.
What caught my attention as regards Brit's culture was the idea of individualism. In order to study, they move from place to place, leaving behind their family and all their friends. From an Argentinian's viewpoint this is rather crazy because family ties are too strong.
I also loved sharing croissants, cookies and other Argentinian things with Anna because it reminded us that it was, in fact, an intercultural experience. At times, we seemed to forget that she also wanted to learn things from us and we stared at her, dazzled by her wonderful pronunciation.
I really loved this experience! I would like to do something similar once I graduate!

Speaking

I believe it was great to create a speaker's corner in the language class because it gave us the possibility to get on our soapbox about the topics that annoy us the most. It was also good in the sense that it allowed us to develop our speaking skills in an ordinary situation. Most of us are used to making up unreal situations in order to practice speaking, but this experience was totally different. I really enjoyed it but I must admit that, at the very beginning, I was a bit nervous. I realised that I will need to relax a little bit so as to perform better next time.