Examples of our students' written work:

Please imagine the scene as follows:

Girl A: Your hair looks very smooth. Which kind of shampoo do you use?

Girl B: Head and Shoulders. It’s very good for your hair. Trust me please.

What do you think about this dialogue/ Is it an advertisement or TV; does it happen between the customer and shop assistant? No. It just happened the first time I met my best friend, who is my classmate at university.

She was born in a typical South China family in Hangzhou which is one of the most well known cities in China. Bright eyes, smooth skin, delicate lips and a quick and clever mind made her so remarkable that she was not only popular with boys but also with girls. She did very well in studying so that she was enrolled as a Postgraduate by our university.

She has many hobbies, for example tennis, table-tennis, basketball, singing and soon. In my opinion she has a gift for acting. Sometimes she chose the parts of the novel to act. She would arrange the roles and direct the programme. And she must be the main actress in all operas. When we took photos on the tour she would set everyone’s poses. We all looked like film stars in the photographs. What a wonderful friend I have.

We have almost the same interests and emotions in everything. I love the things she loves. She hates the things I hate. She will do anything for me without a moment’s hesitation. And so will I. We have a permanent friendship. The long distance cannot prevent it from deepening as time passes.

Nowadays all people know about the "I.Q.". It is one of the indexes to know a person’s ability, in particular logical thinking and general knowledge. It was discovered in France about a hundred years ago. After that it has been getting popular and I.Q. has recently been used to determine a person’s suitability for a job in the Army and Companies. We have some questions now: is the I.Q. a perfect index?

We have the "E.I." ( Emotional Intelligence ) now, in addition to the I.Q. It is the index in order to know a person’s character. I think that the E.I. is better than the I.Q. to know a person himself. A person is built with the character and intelligence. The character is how to behave and the intelligence is how to think. When we live within a society the character is more important. For example, you work for the company and have a big project as a member of the project team. In this case, each person has a speciality: sales, marketing, accounts and so on. All people are amateurs in other departments. All members must help each other to achieve their project. Intelligence is not important in this case. The spirit of "help" is more important.

On the other hand, some people say that intelligence is very significant because a genius discovers new concepts or ideas or makes new technology. It is true that we need new ideas and technology and we can live more comfortably thanks to them. However they are discovered in limited areas, in the lab or research centre. I think that intelligence is more crucial in only a limited area.

In conclusion, I thimk that I.Q. is not a better index than E.I.. The E.i. has the generality for measuring a person in our world.

I live with my host family in Oreston. Oreston is situated in the south-west of Plymouth and faces the sea on the West side. It takes 15 minutes to go to the city centre by bus but Oreston has local walks with good views of Plymouth Sound. We can also look across Plymouth from a hill.

In Oreston there are a few local shops including a post office, a newsagent, a hairdressers’s and a florist’s. There are also pubs and a private Yacht Club.

Oreston has a village carnival every July. The carnival is very popular so a lot of people come to Oreston from surrounding villages and it is often crowded with people.

Oreston is a quiet residential area and also slightly historical as it has 3 churches.

The best thing about living in Oreston is that it has nice houses and is quiet so we can spend a relaxing time there. I like this Oreston very much

I live in Kazakhstan in Astana. Astana is the new capital of Kazakhstan and is situated in the Northern part on the banks of the river Ishim. It is an important industrial, cultural and administrative centre of Kazakhstan. Its history begins with the foundation of a military fortress in Kazakh steppes in 1830. It was first called Akmolinsk. In 1954 many people of different nationalities from the former Soviet Union came to this town to take over the virgin lands of this region. Since then the town has grown into a bi industrial, agricultural and railway centre of Kazakhstan.

The population of Astana is growing from day to day and now is above 350,000 people. The life of the new capital is changing for the best; new, modern buildings have been built.

There are many state and private secondary and special vocational schools and colleges. There are three big higher institutions: the Eurasian University, The Agrarian University and the Medical Academy, as well as some private branches of the university. There is a nice park on both banks of the river Ishim and many people like to go there at the weekends.

Free Time

In my leisure I go to the coffee hubbly bubbly with my friend and we chat and play cards or dominos, some time watching TV, but usually chatting.. On Wednesday and Thursday I go to the Corniche by the sea and I watch cars or motorbikes for the evenings.

I see my friends sometimes but me, usually I work everyday; I like to work more than going with my friend. Sometimes I go to the gym or I go on a trip for two or three days on the beach- sometimes swimming and cooking and playing football or I go to the swimming pool in my farm where I write poetry and listen to music.

To talk about superstitions is to talk about the culture, history and diverse facts with a strong influence. On the life and development of each country and obviously Mexico is not an exception. But Mexico is something special as a consequence of the mixture between the traditional customs and faiths of the different pre-Columbus native cultures of Mexico ( or Meso-America ), with the Spanish customs and with Christianity.

To describe the magic of Mexico can take more than one simple sheet ,but if you are interested, Octavio Paz and his book "El Laberinto de la Soledad" ( winner of the Nobel prize ) is a very good and "tasty" option.

Before describing the superstitions of my country it might be convenient to know what a superstition is:

According to the dictionary, it is " the belief that particular events happen in a way that cannot be explained by reason or science, the belief that particular events bring good or bad luck."

Mexico shares a lot of superstitions with different countries in the world. For example it is believed that if you open an umbrella in your house it is bad luck.

It is thought that breaking a mirror brings bad luck as well.

Walking under a ladder is not a very good thing to do.

As well as sharing some superstitions, Mexico has its own superstitions. The 2^nd of November ( in all the country but especially the South) is a very big religious party- "the day of the dead". On this day all the people go to the cemeteries to clean and decorate the graves of their ancestors, bringing with them some of the Deads favourite food, because it is believed that the spirit of the dead person enjoys the food as he or she did when they were alive.

Many people believe that it is bad luck if a pregnant woman sees a lunar eclipse without the appropriate protection, like wearing something red or a piece of metal on the stomach.

Ivan Villalobos- Mexico 21 yrs.