Self-assessment in learning ESP

I had been learning ESP for almost 1,5 years. During that time I had gained many new and useful information, I learned many psychological terms in English. Now I would like to analyse my self-assessment in learning ESP.
To start with, I had acquired to write two types of summary: restatement and analytical. Despite the fact, that I had many difficulties in discerning one type from the other, I think I had managed to master writing them.
What is more, I have written many ESP vocabulary tests (regretfully not all) and in my opinion, preparing for the test was the most difficult activity, though I am quite satisfied with the results.
What is more, I had taken performance in class dictations. What is the most dissapointing, I didn't broaden my knowledge in punctuation. It was always a blind-spot for me, through all three semesters I haven't broaden my knowledge about the punctuaction which is a little dissapointing.
In addition to this, I had participated in listening practice in class. After the two semesters results were disappointing, but in my opinion, my understanding of the spoken English language had improved a little during this term.
Moreover, I had made power point presentation and presented them in front of the whole group. Although that was quite dificult and required some courage and preparing, the process of making power point presentation was interesting and involving.
Furthermore, I had participated in short talks on ESP themes in class, what had improved my speaking skills a lot. I am very glad about that, because I think the most important is to be able fluently speak in English.
In conclusion, learning ESP required many efforts and occupied much time, I had managed to do all the tasks. The only dissapointing fact is that I think that I could make all the tasks better.

Your true colors. Restatement summary

The article analyzes, what impact the colours have on people's life.

To start with, there are many folklore about people reaction to colour, though the preference to one or other has much to do with the cultural custom. The investigations show that dyes have greater influence that it is imagined. According to John Ott, colour may directly affect the nervous system. Many fast food chains are embracing the effects of hues in business. Furthermore, colours are also used in the marketing of consumer products.

In conclusion, colours impact people's life in many aspects.

Online listening practice

Few days ago I did some listening practices online on a website http://martinmcmorrow.podomatic.com. It was the first time that I did listening practices online and i would like to share my opinion and retell about my success.

To begin with, the task was really difficult, more confusing that i expected. The rate of speaking was quite fast and in some places I had big difficulties in understanding what the speakers are saying. The thing i didn't like about the recordings was that in many of them there were some extraneous sounds, which compounded the task.

Secondly, I would like to evaluate my performance. As I mentioned before, the rate of speaking was fast and sometimes hardly understandable so i had to listen to the recording again and again. In overall, i listened to the recording 5 times. In my opinion it is quite much. If to evaluate my ability to understand authentic speech, it is hardly satisfactory. To say the truth, I have big doubts about passing my exam paper.

In conclusion, listening practices helped me to understand that i must improve my listening skills. I promised myself to do to more online practices and i hope it would be possible to do some listening practice in class.

Phobias

A phobia is an intense fear of something that poses no actual danger. Phobics often find that facing, or even thinking about facing the feared situation brings on a panic attack or severe anxiety. Then they may feel shortness of breath, irregular heartbeat, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, inability to speak or think clearly, a fear of dying. All phobias are created by the unconscious mind as a protective mechanism. They can spring up from a real life-scare of some sort, but also they can emerge from seeing someone else experiencing trauma. Serious phobias often significantly impact the quality of life.
Catoptrophobia is a special kind of fear in which people start fearing looking into mirrors, specially larger ones. Sufferers may fear mirrors for a variety of reasons, usually because of some emotional trauma involving mirrors, but also superstitious fear of being watched through mirrors, or because of a low self esteem and avoidance to see and judge themselves.
Ailurophobia is a persistent, irrational fear of cats. People who suffer rom this phobia may fear physical contact, such as bites and scratches, the sight of a real life cat and cats in pictures and television, the imaginable supernatural nature of cats. This phobia could be obtained by a real life scare of some kind that has to do with cats and emotional trauma. What is strange, many corageous men had suffered from this phobia: Napoleon Bonaparte, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar.
According to the American Psychological Association, phobias are one of the most common mental disorders, affecting over 11 percent of men and women. The most important is to appeal to psychiatrist or other therapy specialist for help.

Self-assessment of success in learning ESP

I am learning ESP for almost 9 moths. During this spring semester I have gained much new and useful information. I would like to analyse my achievements and failures in more detail.
To start with, I have learned to write a new type of summary – the restatement summary. Although I have some difficulties with distinguishing from the plenty of information the basic facts and not writing the details, I have managed to master writing this kind of summary.
Secondly, I have written ESP vocabulary tests and I am quite satisfied with the results. Although it was hard to learn all information in English, still it was already known from my Psychology classes.
What is more, I have taken performance in class dictations, which was the easiest part for me. I have made only few mistakes. I think I should broaden my knowledge in punctuation, because the dictation showed up that I am quite weak in this area.
In addition to this, I have participated in listening practice in class. The results were disappointing. I think I must do more listening practices, because I have big difficulties in understanding the spoken language.
Moreover, I have made power point presentation. Although making power point presentation was a difficult task, it was interesting and involving. The most interesting and my favorite part of the lectures was to listen my peers’ power point presentations, some of them were really good.
Furthermore, I have participated in short talks on ESP themes in class and that had improved my speaking skills. I am very glad about that, because I think the most important is to be able fluently speak in English.
In conclusion, the requirements were high, but I have managed to inure to them during the winter semester so now it was easier to fulfill them. In my opinion, it is still plenty to learn and I hope that I will have a possibility to do that in next term.

Learning English language

English language is one of the most popular languages in the world, it is beneficial in many aspects of life. Beyond a doubt, to learn this language is a difficult task, however there are many ways and means to make this task a little bit easier.

To begin with, a good teacher is very helpful in learning. He should attach importance to grammar, because it is the basement of every language. What is more, he should set regular homework by giving different practice. Another important point is to correct every mistake, as it is very useful to learn from them.

However even the best teacher will not be able to help a student if he will not make any afford by himself. So how can you help yourself? Firstly, you can not only write down the unknown words but also to record it in a short phrase or sentence and it will be easier to memorize it. In addition to this, it is recommended to use a monolingual dictionary in learning the language as it will make you think about the word only in English language and it will also help to absorb it better. Moreover, every learner know his weak areas in English. You can make an extra practice to change that, besides you can set yourself learning targets and fulfil them.

In my opinion, everyone can learn foreign language, it is only a question of time and the input into the process of learning.

Professor Richard Wiseman

Prof Richard Wiseman recently has became one of the most known and popular psychologists. He has gained an international reputation through his research about various areas of psychology.

To begin with, Richard Wiseman is an author of two books: "The Luck Factor", which writes about the lives and minds of lucky people, and "Quirkology" which writes about the psychology in everyday life.

In addition to this, Professor has his own website and also there is a possibility to get to know more about his research on Quirkology website. Both websites are very compulsive. There you can find an information about such unusual experiments as ''Pet personality project", "The Santa effect", "The lying experiment" and many more. On Richard Wiseman website you can read Professor's web blog and to know the latest news about the research, also to see Quirkology videos.

In conclusion, Professor Richard Wiseman is a really interesting personage, having a great imagination. His research are original, innovative, with simple ideas but revealing a lot about human thinking.

Studying abroad

Nowadays many put much value upon knowledge. Presumably university is the best place to gain it. There are plenty of them, and in my opinion it is extremely important to choose the right one. I would like to look deeper into the Psychology programmes in two academies: Mykolo Romerio University in Lithuania and University of Griffith in Australia.

University of Griffith is in Brisbane. The Bachelor of Psychology programme there tooks 4 years. What is interesting, you can get a Bachelor of Psychological Science after 3 years, but the best students, who satisfy stated criteria can study further and after a year get a Bachelor of Psychology with Honour. What is more, Griffith University offers an advisor for 1st year students, who gives them any information they need and helps them to integrate into university life. In my opinion it is not a bad idea. As a 1st year student I know, how it is difficult to orient in new surroundings.

Moreover, there is a big difference in attendance of the lectures in both universities. In Griffith full-time students attend 10-15 hours of scheduled classes per week, while students of Mykolo Romerio University have more than 20 hours of lectures. It is so because in first university scholars have about 5-6 variuos subjects per year, while in the second university - twice as much. In my submission, students in Australia go deeper into the studied subject, while in Mykolo Romerio students have to study many subjects which are not directly connected with Psychology, such as Philosophy, Ethics, Informatics or Economics. Those subjects only divert from the essential things.

Furthermore, career opportunities in Australia are much more bigger than in Lithuania. After 4 years of studying, Australian students can work in such areas as job placement, forensic psychology,councelling, guidance, health management and social research. In Lithuania you must study at least 2 yars more if you want to have such opportunities.

In conclusion, I think that both univerities have their good and bad points. The most important is that the department of the university could see the drawbacks and would not be afraid of innovations.

Happiness

Happiness - undoubtedly, the most desired state of mind. We all strive for it, we all want to be happy and if something fails we suffer and often blame ourselves. Happiness depends from many factors, they are different for everyone. Runt Veenhover, a sociologist, have done an enormous research to find out do people of our planet are glad and where do the happiest live.

The survey was done in 95 nations and it was found out that people in Denmark, Switzerland and Austria are the happiest. It was not a surprise for me that Lithuania is only 83rd. If we will compare our country with the happiest one, we will see, that not only economis conditions made it so, but also better social security, good level of education, peaceful atmosphere in the country. In my opinion, it is extremly important for every human being to feel secure and to know what to expect from the future. In Lithuania and in many more countries people are looking into future with fear and uncertainty.

To sum up, although happiness is a subjective state and it is different for everybody, the basic thing which is needed to be happy is a feeling of secure. I only hope, that situation in my country will get better and if there will happen the second survey we will carry ourselves with pride into the vastly higher position.

Analytical summary

"Understanding Psychology" is a coursebook, written by Robert S.Feldman. The first part, which is called "Introduction to Psychology", consists of three themes, which primes a student about the basics of Psychology.
In the first topic "Psychologists at work", author explains the term "Psychology" and what the representatives of this science do in general. The writer describes the subfields of Psychology such as Behevioral neuroscience, Personality or cognitive Psychology and many more. Robert S.Feldman depicts each subfield and what each explores. He presents the areas of employment for psychologists as well.
In the second theme "Ascience evolves: the Past, the Present and the Future" writer tells us about the history of Psychology. Robert S.Feldman introduces the scinentists who furthered the development of Psychology. The author describes the major approaches and different perspectives as well.
In the third theme, which is called "Psychology's key issues and controversies" author writes about the various positions taken by psychologists and distinct points of view. What is more, the author describes what impact culture, ethnicity and race have on behaviour. In the end, Robert S.Feldman informs the reader about the growing public interest in Psychology and the rising perspectives for the representatives of this science.
In conclusion, in the first part "Introduction to Psychology" author gives valuable information for the learners about subfields, history and controversies in Psychology. Futhermore, Robert S.Feldman writes about future and career perspectives for Psychology majors, giving the chance for a learner to know what he can expect in the future.

Learning ESP

To master a foreign language is a difficult task, it requires much time and training, patience and persistency. Learning ESP (English for Specific Purpose) is very alike.
Firstly, reading a literature about the specific subject is a must. Without it, you will not know the fundamental terms of your subject, what is very important. Reading a lot will help you not only to learn them but to understand your subject better and to gain about it more information.
What is more, speaking with other learners about the specific subject is highly advisable too. In this way you will expand your vocabulary and train your speaking skills.
In addition to this, there are many web sites, Tv programmes, which can help in learning too. Web sites are offering you chat rooms or games on your subject, some puzzles and tasks, solving them is not only useful but fun too. Watching Tv programmes about your subject (in English of course) is not so boring as reading books. Moreover, you may better memorize the information while watching than reading.
In conclusion, there are many ways of learning ESP, but the most important is to wish to learn. Then everything is possible and every choice of learning will be suitable and will help.

Self-assessment of success in learning ESP

I was studying ESP for four months. During that period I have not only improved my English skills but also I have learned many new and useful information about Psychology. I would like to analyse my attainment in more detail.

To start with, while writing summaries i have learned to distinguish the main facts from the plenty of information and it was quite a recency for me. In addition to this, I have improved my writing skills as well.

Secondly, I have written a lot of comprehension tests on modules in Psychology. In my opinion, it was the most difficult to fulfil as it required much time and preparation, but on the other hand I have learned many new facts about Psychology and plenty new terms.

Moreover, I have made a power point presentation about drug use. Some new acquirement about drugs reinforced my ill feeling towards them.

Futhermore, during every lecture I had a chance of speaking impromptu and I was very happ y about this, because I had a possibility to improve my speaking skills, which were not very good. I hope that during next lectures there will be even more speaking excercises as I liked them the most.

What is more, I have done some listening practise. This was quite a difficult task for me. In my opinion, I should improve my listening skills as they are quite poor.

In addition to this, I have written contributions to my e-portfolio. This task helped me to improve my writing skills and was quite interesting and very unusual.

In conclusion, the requirements were quite high and it was difficult to accomplish them all, but by courtesy of them I have improved my speaking and writing skills, and what is the most important, I have learned lots of new terms. I hope I will get a chance to improve my ESP during the next semester.

Psychology of kleptomania

The dictionary describes kleptomania as the inability to resist impulses to steal. The things that are stolen are not needed for personal use. They are also not taken for their monetary value. Let's try to look deeper into this problem.
Kleptomania was first officially recognized in the US as a mental disorder only in the 1960s. This is quite a rare condition, studies suggest that only 0.6% of the general population may have this disorder and that this is more common in females.
The exact cause of this mental illness is still unknown, but scientists presume that it is caused by depression, anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders. There is version which says that kleptomania mau be transmitted genetically.
The treating may be various. It may include such therapies as cognitive-behavioral or rational-emotive. There is recommended treatment with various medicaments as well.
In conclusion, at first sight it may seem that kleptomania isn't very serious illness, but in my opinion it is. I think very important is to understand people with this mental disorder and treat them not as thieves but as a having serious mental problems.

Psychology of laughter

Beyond a doubt, laughter is a fundamental part of our everyday life. We are so used to it that we don't give a thought to how important it is. Laughter, it is said, is the best medicine. There are lots of evidence to prove that.

To start with, it reduces pain and allows us to tolerate discomfort. There were done various researches and it was noticed, that the group of patients who were suffering an intense pain, requested fewer tranquilizers and aspirin when they were watching comedies and laughing, than the group, who watched drama.

What is more, laughter reduces blood sugar levels, increasing glucose tolerance in diabetics and nondiabetics alike. It also helps your blood vessels function better. In other words, laughing is good for our heart and brain.

In addition to this, laughter not only cures, but it also improves our job performance, it establishes a positive emotional climate and a sense of connection between two pepole. It can be said, that it unites people.

In conclusion, laughter not only have an impact on our physical health, it also has a great importance in our social life. Many will agree, that it is more pleasant to communicate with smiling people, so let's smile and laugh more frequently, after all it is not so difficult.

Sleep and dreams

"Sleep and dreams" is the 14th module in Robert S. Feldman's coursebook "Understanding Psychology". This module gives a learner valuable information about states of consciousness. Few of them, unarguably, are such states as sleep and dream.

In the first part of the module, author presents the main information about what happens during sleep. The writer clearly describes 4 stages of sleep and specifically pays atention to the REM stage, in another words "a rapid eye movement stage". In addition to this, Robert S. Feldman writes about the importance of sleep and gives some interesting facts about how many hours people need to sleep on average and how it is changing as people get older.

The second part of the module tells about dreams. The writer writes about the function and meaning of dreaming. What is more, Robert S. Feldman presents the learner the main theories about dreams, letting to look at the question from different perspectives. In the end of the module, author gives the reader some advices how to fight with a sleeplessness.

In conclusion, Robert S. Feldman in his 14th module lets the reader to know the main facts about such states of consciousness as sleep and dreams. The author gives many interesting facts, describes researches and various theories, which helps to look at questions from different points of view.

A little about me

My name is Ivona, I was born in Vilnius and I still live here. This year I entered at Mykolo Riomerio university to study Psychology. To say the truth, I can not tell why I have chosen this speciality. I was not dreaming about it from yearly years nor I was so eager to study namely Psychology like most of my group mates are. I was deliberating a lot before choosing and I said to myself: '' Ivona, you do not have any special talents for mathematics or economics and you do not like it. Better do not listen your parents who are advicing you to study something very clever and promising like Law, but listen to yourself". And I thought about Psychology because it seemed to me an interesting and useful speciality, luckilly till now I haven't regret choosing it and I hope I will not. In the future, I think that it is possible that I will work in this field, but I have not decided yet.