A Collection of Personal Stories and Reflections
Letter to a Friend
Dear Peter,
Thanks for your last letter. I’m sorry I haven’t written to you in ages, but I’ve been really busy. I hope you and your family are well.
I’m really very glad you’ll be visiting me next month, although you’ll only spend one week in my country. For this reason, there’s no time to lose.
The first two days we should visit Barcelona. I’m sure you will enjoy it a lot because, for me, it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world, and I want to share it with you.
After that, we should go to Tarragona, which is an old Roman city. I don’t remember if you know my little cousin Anna, but she suggested we could sleep in her flat near the beach in Cambrils, and I accepted her offer. For this reason, I think we might go to Port Aventura, an amusement park where we can do all we want. If we definitely go there, you will have to wear comfortable clothes like trainers and a tracksuit.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best wishes.
P.S.: Give my regards to your family.
Letter About a Trip
Dear Elaine and Bill,
I’m sorry about you hurting your knee, Bill, but despite that, I’ve thought about an alternative plan. There is a camping site, which has a lake and beautiful views, where we could do a lot of activities. For example, a guided tour around the forest or we can sail on the lake. This way, you won’t have to walk for a long time due to your knee, Bill.
In this place, it is always sunny, but it is a little cold in the morning, so I recommend that you wear a jacket.
For lunch, we could have a picnic in the forest, under the shade of the trees. I promise I’ll bring you Spanish food like gazpacho to eat. I know you love it!
Lastly, the camping site is only half an hour by bus, so we could meet at the bus station in Malaga at 9:00 AM.
I hope you like my suggestion, and we will have a wonderful day!
This Summer
This holiday was great. My family and I traveled to the beach in Malaga, and we had lots of fun, so I can’t complain. We stayed in a hotel where we were treated really well and started to enjoy ourselves.
I played in the sand with my little nephew. We made many sandcastles and even had a competition to see which one was better. And, as always, he beat me.
I went shopping with my mother in a very large store. We bought souvenirs, clothing, objects, ornaments, and we returned to the hotel fully loaded with things.
On the hottest days, we went into the sea and swam until we were tired. Of course, I did it carefully. My mother always took care of us and warned us of any danger. The moment I spent with my whole family was when we played football on the beach. Each and every one of us participated in the game, and we had a good time together. I think we were never so united because the rest of the year, each of us is busy with our responsibilities. So, the holidays are my favorite time of the year, and when we have to go home, we all get sad.
Obviously, we took pictures all this time, which I later edited on the computer and added effects to make them look more beautiful.
I had fun, and I’m really looking forward to the next holiday to see where we go next time. I hope it goes well, and we can travel again.
My Next Holidays
I have no plans for my winter holidays because I have to take some English exams, but I’ve been planning my next summer holidays.
I used to go to the beach to my grandmother’s house, but now she is living in the city near my house. I’m thinking about renting a small but comfortable apartment with my friends next summer. We’ll possibly go to Córdoba. I would like to visit the Uritorco Hill; I’ve heard a lot of stories that happened in that place.
My friend Alberto went to Córdoba when he was a child, and he likes the idea of going again. He says that we will all spend a wonderful time together, no matter what we do.
My Pet
Since I left my parents’ house to live with my girlfriend in a small flat, I miss my dog a lot.
Her name is Argi, and she’s the perfect pet. Besides, she’s very, very beautiful. She’s white, and as she’s a little bit fat, she’s very comical when she runs.
I think my dog is very happy. She goes out every morning with my father. They go to the park, and Argi is always playing with other dogs and running through the grass. She loves doing that.
My father doesn’t work now, so he feels very alone when Argi is not with him. He even bought an armchair for her so they can watch TV together! It’s very comical because you can see them together all the time, and sometimes, my mother is jealous!
About Myself
My name is Kostan, and I’m from Gernika. I’m in my thirties, and I’m working in the adult school of Canovelles as a Mathematics teacher.
As for my personality, I consider myself shy but sociable. I mean, the first time I meet someone, I am not the one who starts a conversation, but once the ice is broken, I’m very sociable and friendly. Apart from that, my friends say that I have my feet firmly on the ground; that is, I’m a realistic person, and I know what my limits are.
As regards my hobbies, I’m keen on swimming, reading, and running in the park of the Ciutadella. And also, I like going clubbing and partying.
I’m a good person, I guess. Thanks for everything. Bye.
My Favorite Films
Thinking a lot about all the films that I have seen throughout my life, I realize that I can’t choose just one as my favorite film.
If I want to cry, I love The Notebook, but if I’m talking about perfect cinema, I prefer watching films by Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino. They are very important to me because I love this world and their different ways of making movies.
The best film by Spielberg, I think, is Schindler’s List or E.T., and the best film by Tarantino is Pulp Fiction or Inglourious Basterds. I’m very particular with cinema, but I love watching films every day.
My Favorite Book
The best book I’ve ever read to this day is The Flanders Panel written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
I read that book five years ago, but I think it’s so interesting, and the best part is that it grips you from the first page.
It’s a mysterious book that talks about a picture that was recently found by a young restoring woman, but the picture was painted several centuries ago in the Middle Ages, and in it, there are three people, and two of them are playing chess.
The book gets more interesting when the girl discovers a secret written into the picture and also different movements of the chess pieces under the paint layers.
Between these discoveries and the following events, something that happened in the Middle Ages is revealed.
To conclude, I think Arturo Pérez-Reverte is one of the best Spanish writers at the moment because of his way of writing books.
The Importance of Learning English
Nowadays, it is very important to learn languages, whether you live in a small country or a big one.
Learning languages is necessary to improve yourself as a person because then you can communicate with many people. In this case, you can share a lot of information and experiences, which helps you understand the things that happen around you better.
Barcelona is a part of the Spanish Mediterranean Coast. We receive many foreign people throughout the year, and we have to treat them as well as possible so that they enjoy their holidays. If we want to do it right, we must understand them perfectly, and we have to try to help them get what they want, all of it because they spend a lot of money.
You can speak a language perfectly, but you will never be able to communicate as well as in your native language.
To conclude, if you want to learn a language, you have to go to the country where it is spoken. If you work as a receptionist, as a tour guide, as a waiter, and if your job depends on tourists, you have to learn several languages. For this reason, I would like to study in your school to improve my English.
Learning English in Los Angeles
Probably next summer, my brother and I will visit Los Angeles to practice speaking English a little more. We have invited a couple of friends to join us on that journey.
Last year we were traveling around the East Coast of the United States with other Spanish friends. We enjoyed a lot of its landscapes, museums, culture, and gastronomy. The United States is a wonderful country, and its people were very friendly and nice to us.
But there was a small problem. It was that we wanted to practice speaking English, and we couldn’t because we always went out with our Spanish friends, and they didn’t know this language. So we went back to Spain without learning any more English.
For this reason, I would like to study in your school to improve my English and maybe one day live in this beautiful country.
A Controversial Matter
To begin with, I would like to say that this is a controversial matter, and it is very difficult to give just one point of view. In fact, if we asked people what they thought about it, we would find many different ideas.
On the one hand, we can say that __________ has many advantages, for example:
- __________
However, on the other hand, we can also find some disadvantages, such as:
- __________
From my point of view, __________.