OPINION ESSAY- PABLO BERNÁRDEZ

OPINION ESSAY

Alcohol and tobacco are very harmful substances for humans, but they are legal because they move a very large amount of money. But this, apart from the money it collects, also causes society to be negatively affected because of its toxic effects.

In my opinion, the government should ban the sale and consumption of tobacco and alcohol. Both substances are harmful to health, and apart from physical damage, alcohol and tobacco generate an addiction that affects the consumer psychologically and their environment. People addicted to these substances suffer a lot, but also their families, which without any fault are negatively affected.

In conclusion, I believe that tobacco and alcohol should be banned since they are harmful to health, both physical and psychological. And this would help create a healthier and more responsible society with the consumption of drugs or illegal substances

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY- PABLO BERNÁRDEZ

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY

Today, being bilingual or polyglot is a very important requirement in work and student fields. It is largely due to the globalized world in which we live, in which languages are the basis for communication.

The greatest benefits are the ability to communicate with a wide range of people and work options that speak different languages allow you. All this causes higher salaries, greater job offers, meeting people from different countries, etc.

But, on the other hand, learning languages is a very complicated task that requires a lot of time and practice. And in many cases the great complexity of languages can be frustrating.

In short, speaking more than one language is a very useful tool in the world in which we live, and partly helps the development of our society

FOR & AGAINST - ALEJANDRO SÁNCHEZ

It is clear that music has made a huge change during the last few decades but so have changed the way we acquire it, provoking the appearance of the new methods as pirating it. Nevertheless, not all listeners agree on how to obtain the music: while some thinks that we should pay for it, others argue that music companies already have enough money and would not be a big deal for them. 

On the one hand, some believe that music should be paid for as it enables producers and artist to continue their career offering listeners with more and better music. Furthermore, it is a great way to help small musicians to grow up as the music industry it is not a cheap one and money it is needed to make a living out of it.

On the other hand, other people argue that music company already have and get enough money and charging in order to acquire their products is just a way of making them even richer. Another arguments against this is that most of the money people spend in the music always goes to the record company itself and just a small amount goes for the artist. 

All in all, although giving economic support to an artist is important, I believe that paying for the music not always benefits the artist but the record company they are working with instead and, usually, the prices of their products are too expensive. From my point of view, I support other ways to acquire the music such as pirating it.

For and against - David Ortiz

Since the origin of the internet lots of things have been pirated and music it is not an exception. Furthermore, music is the most affected by piracy tallied with movies and series. This may be because of the excessive price companies charge customers; however, this also affects artist who try to be successful in their carriers by their own. So, as it is damaging artist, piracy is, in my opinion, something that must not be done.

If you pirate an album, the artist who has done it will not receive any money for creating all those tracks included in their album. Moreover, it may decrease an artist motivation as it might mean that their job and music doesn’t deserve any reward.

On the other hand, more artists are coming out every year and you may be a fan of dozens of singers and, thus, you may be unable to buy all the music every one of them publish. For example: you may not have enough money to buy two singles releasing next week because you have already purchased an album, all of those from different artist you like. Also, some companies exploit the artists they represent and shouldn’t be awarded with money for that so supporting the artist by hearing their music while not giving the company which exploits them any money is not bad at all.

To sum up, piracy may be, in some occasions, justified but in general it is something damaging the music industry and, lately, lots of “free” platforms such as Spotify and YouTube upload entire albums with the consent of the artist and give them money by the ads in the platform.

Marc Álvarez - FOR AND AGAINST JUNE 2019

The music we have nowadays has changed a lot in a few years, and one of the main problems that recently appeared in this industry is piracy. Consequently, people have developed two main opinions about piracy, they agree with it or they are against it.

On one hand, piracy gives the ability to people to get and use any type of music they need for free. Furthermore, people with economy difficulties could enjoy a lot of music without needing to waste a huge amount of money for listening to their favourite artists.

On the other hand, for some artists, that their music gets pirated influences their earnings. This can cause big problems on their benefits, mainly, if the artist is not mainstream. Moreover, this could cause them not wanting to continue, and finally, leaving their musical career.  

   

In conclusion, I strongly believe that piracy has to exist, because it’s ridiculous the price of music nowadays. Probably, musicians should follow other marketing strategies, such as Nine Inch Nails, an industrial rock band that gives the opportunity to their followers to buy their albums, by paying whatever they want.

ORIOL JARIOD -FOR AND AGAINST

Even now, buying music in shops is not much popular and common, because most of the people listen them in different music platforms like YouTube or Spotify and only the people who want the CD physically buy it.

First of all, paying for music is good because you have the CD at home and when you want, you can listen. At the moment, you can also download on your mobile phone or on the computer because it is more practical, and you can use it when you are driving or when you are alone in home and you want to listening music.

On the other hand, you don’t need to pay to listen music because you can download it for free, or you can search in different music platform for free too.

To conclude, despite of paying for music is useful only for listen it when you want, but in actually and this increases that most of the population download music or listen it for free. I think that download music for free is a good idea because you save money and this is legal, also is good listen music on YouTube, Spotify because you can see the videoclip, and this is more interesting.

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY: OPTION 2- Flors Riera

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY: OPTION 2- Flors Riera

In the past few years, listening to music has become one of the biggest forms of entertainment. Nevertheless, not all listeners agree on how to obtain the music records: some claim that we must pay for them while others support music piracy arguing that record companies already have a great deal of money.

On the one hand, some believe that music should be paid for since musicians need to make a profit out of it to be able to continue producing. Furthermore, it is sometimes claimed that paying for music allows producers to put more work into every piece and, consequently, enables us to enjoy music with higher sound quality as well as more complex and detailed music videos.

On the other hand, other people reckon that the prices we are charged for music are way too expensive and only help to magnify the difference of purchasing power between those who produce and sell it and those who have to pay to listen to it. Another drawback of having to pay for music is that not everybody shares the same economic situation and, therefore, not everybody can afford it, which only results in creating a deeper division between rich and poor people.

In conclusion, although paying for music has some clear advantages, I strongly believe that music is a product everybody should be able to enjoy as it has been proven to be therapeutic and has helped hundreds of people overcome tough situations. On that account, and as long as music records are so high-priced, I support music piracy as a method to obtain music records.

For and against - Anna Terrones

Speaking more than one language has many practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world, especially English. But despite that, we can find some disadvantages of being bilingual.

To begin with, a clear advantage of being bile (in this case knowing your mother tongue like English equally) is that English has become a tool that allows communication with people from all countries and cultures. In addition, knowing more than one language has become a professional and cognitive advantage that facilitates access to knowledge of all kinds.

On the other hand, a clear disadvantage of being bilingual is that when studying or learning both languages you may not perfect any of them. This means that in territories where two languages are not spoken, it involves cultural fragmentation.

In conclusion, being bilingual gives you better and worse things but I think we should all know more than one language but there is always one that stands out above the others. We have a long life to learn and discover new things so there is no hurry to learn new languages.

For and against - Sergio Robles

Nowadays everyone can listen to music, even if we want we can buy a CD of a group and have their songs forever, but some people don't want to buy music or spend a lot of money for it and they decide to hack it.

On the one hand, I don't understand why people hack the music they like because if  instead of hacking it you pay for it you will help the creator of that music and he will make more.

One the other hand, hacking music is sometimes necessary for the consumer because some people don't have a lot of money and they can’t afford spend his money on music so piracy is a good option for listen new music.

To concluded, if you can’t  afford the payment of all the music you listen then hack , but always try to support the authors of the music that you love because you are giving the feedback that you like it and they will make more.

Opinion Essay - Sergio Robles

Our government let us buy substances that can be dangerous like alcohol or tobacco,but it don’t let us buy other substances that can be equally dangerous and addictive.

First of all, I think that our government can’t allow us to buy substances that can harm the health and some others don’t because this have no sense and it’s absurd because all of this substances are drugs.

Secondly, the legality of alcohol and tobacco make that kids can get more easily than the other substances and be addicted to them for the rest of their lives.

To conclude, a good government should have all the harm health substances illegally and inform the people why this substances are dangerous,knowledge is the best way for fight alcohol and tobacco.

For and against -- Tània Alonso

Option 2:

Do you buy music or do you pirate it? Some people argue that we should put an end to music piracy, as it generates huge losses for the record companies and music artists. Others claim that the record companies already have enough money, and that the prices they charge are too expensive. Write a for-and-against essay in which you state the pros and cons of paying for music.

Nowadays, buying music is not much popular, many people listen them in YouTube or in any music platforms, or they download them, and only the people who want the CD physically buy it.

On the one hand, paying for music is good because you have the CD at home and you can listen wherever you want. These days, you can also download on your mobile phone or on the computer because it is more practical since there are not many people having a music machine at home, they have it only in the car and then they prefer to listen it on their mobile phone.

On the other hand, you don’t need to pay to listen music because there are many Apps which download the music pirated, or in which you can listening to the music for free.

In conclusion, although paying for music allows you to listen it whatever you want, most of the population decide to download piracy or listen it for free. In my opinion, we should end with music piracy, but we have other options without paying like listening in YouTube, Spotify,...

For and against - Anna García

Music internet piracy is causing serious problems within the global society, especially the music industry. Music internet piracy itself has resulted in big music companies in losing millions of dollars every year and is progressively growing. There have been many strategies been adopted by the music industry to combat music piracy but any of these have not had the ability to stop it. However, there are both positive and negative aspects of pirated music.

On the one hand, by downloading and distributing artists mp3 files, pirates are advertising for the artists and exposing others to their music for free. Another benefit is that the majority of the pirating generation are teens who are not exposed to the means to legally purchase the music that they like to listen to. It is clear that its easier for them to download them for free. 

On the other hand, Stealing is defined as taking and claiming any item without the permission of the rightful owner. That is exactly what pirating is.  And theft is a serious crime in the eyes of law enforcement. A further drawback is that Not only do artists lose money due to pirating, but the recording labels who invest their money in the artists do, the people who advertise for the artists, and the loyal fans end up having to spend more money to legitimately support the artists to make up for the money lost due to pirating.

To conclude, music piracy not only affects the music companies and artists, but it also brings negative effects to all of us as well. An example of recent case is that music companies tend to hike prices of music albums to recoup their losses due to music piracy.  I partly agree that stealing music from pirate pages damages the artists' earnings, but also allows everyone to be able to listen to whatever music they want.

For and against - Nuria Salvador

For and against essay

Being bilingual

Bilingual people are those who can speak two languages fluently. This is an important skill on our society if you want to find a job or if you like travelling through other countries.

On the one hand, bilingualism increases the capacity of communication and job opportunities. In addition, it gives access to two different cultures including their history, cinema, literature, etc. It helps to have better knowledge development due to greater access to global information.

On the other hand, children facing bilingual or multilingual education run the risk of not reaching a satisfactory level in any of the languages. Another aspect is the interferences that bilingual people have between both languages; continuous code changes and mix may eventually results in a hybrid language such as Spanglish.

To conclude, I strongly believe that speaking two languages or more it is a great chance to broaden your knowledge offering different opportunities such as travelling, knowing cultures, giving job opportunities and being more tolerant about places that have two.

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY - Sergio López Soto

The industry of music moves a lot of money, including the production and commercialization of it. But in the last years the quantity of money has decreased considerably. The main cause of it is the music piracy, what generates different opinions.

On one hand, some people think that music piracy makes the music accessible to everyone, even these people who has not enough money to buy CDs. Furthermore, a study made by the Queen University on Canada says that piracy can make artists become more popular and, consequently, an increase of the sales of their music.

On the other hand, the pirated music has not the same quality as the real one. For example, a person who listens to a pirated song doesn’t enjoy as much as he/she could do with the real one. Moreover, it has occurred some cases of hacked computers after downloading pirated music, because it is not safe enough.

To sum up, there are very different opinions about piracy, but I think that if producers and artists want to deal with this problem, the first think they should do is to make the music more accessible for everyone, until then, I will support pirated music.

FOR and AGAINST ESSAY - Emma Ballestero

“Speaking two languages has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world.” What are these benefits? What are the main advantages and disadvantages of being bilingual?”

Today, more than half of the people who live in the world speak more than one language, especially English. Being bilingual is mainly a good thing, although it also has some negative aspects.

The positive part of mastering more than one language is that it favors every person who travels to another place where the original language is not the same as that of the person; So, you can travel without thinking that communication is going to be the main problem. It is also something very good and that is taken into account when looking for a job.

However, globalization is also making many languages ​​originating in certain countries lose importance and may end up becoming extinct. This is a big delay since language is one of the things that make the difference between different countries.

In short, bilingualism is very beneficial when it comes to communication and when looking for future projects, but also very damaging if this second language is given more importance than the native one, since this can trigger the disappearance of this.

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY - NEREA HERRADOR

The fact that people are bilingual is initially a good thing but that people are bilingual has negative and positive aspects.

On the one hand, bilingualism makes it easier for a child who can speak different languages to speak different languages which makes them have a big advantage in those jobs that have an international projection in the future and therefore they will be able to get work more easily.

On the other hand, the fact that a child or a person is bilingual may cause a rejection by society towards this person as the majority of the population are monolingual and this rejection can affect the personality of the person by making that is feeling inferior.

In conclusion, bilingualism can make you acquire great jobs. Nevertheless, it can still make you feel inferior. In my opinion, I believe that bilingualism is a positive facet ass it can provide you with many more facilities in the future.

Mireia Vallcorba- FOR AND AGAINST

Mireia Vallcorba - FOR AND AGAINST

Music piracy

Hacking music is very common, and it is becoming increasingly widespread. However,
there are both positive and negative aspects of music piracy.

On the one hand, some people believe that record companies already have enough
money, and that the prices they charge are too expensive. In fact, legally purchasing
music can be expensive. Most of the pirating generation are teens and college age
students, which are not exposed to the means to legally purchase the music that they
like to listen to. It is simply easier for them to download them for free. Furthermore, it
could also be a benefit for the artist. I mean, free downloading can lead to later
purchases. For example, if someone pirates a song that they genuinely like they may
want to purchase the album for a keep sake item. Pirating can promote future
purchases that, without it, may never have been made.

On the other hand, other people argue that we should put an end to music piracy, as it
generates huge losses for the record companies and music artists. The fact is that,
illegal downloading of an artist's work, deprives that artist of the economic benefits
connect to the sale of his/her production. If enough people illegally download, the artist
may go into terrible debt and not be able to make any further recordings. Another
reason against pirating music is that, stealing is defined as taking and claiming any
item without the permission of the rightful owner. That is exactly what pirating is. And
theft is a serious crime for police.

Overall, although buying music can be very expensive, hacking it is a crime with
serious consequences. In my opinion, we should not hack music. Nowadays, there are
many platforms that allow you to download all the songs you want to listen at a
reasonable price. In this way, both clients and the artist win.

For and against essay - LAURA PEÑA

Nowadays, due to globalization almost everyone speaks more than one language, especially English. It is often debated if being bilingual is as advantageous as we think it is.

On one hand, it has a clear advantage. This is that for instance, the fact that almost the whole population speaks English, which makes international communication easier. This way, we can travel anywhere without being worried about the communicational issue as we will be able to use English.

However, on the other hand. This globalization is also making some mother languages be in risk of extinction or be considered less important. People are more worried to dominate English than to speak properly their official language. It is thought that this is a serious issue as language is part of the culture which is the identity of each country and what makes us different from each other.  

To conclude, I personally think being bilingual is very beneficial as I can not imagine traveling somewhere without being able to communicate with people. Moreover, although it may be a threat to the cultural variety, I believe that it is our hands to not let it happen. We can speak more than one language but still give more relevance to ours.

For and against essay - David Sanz

Since internet was created, everyone is able to listen the music they like without many complications. Even so, illegal websites have emerged which share pirate music for free. Another way to get the music you want is the legal way, paying for that music.

On the one hand, paying for music, although you waste money, it's a way to reward the author for his job. Furthermore, the music you pay for, is a way better in terms of quality sound than the pirate music.
One the other hand, pirate music has a big advantage, it's free. That's the main reason for the existence of the illegal music websites. Another reason is because the process of getting the music you would like to listen is faster than if you buy it.

To conclude, pirate music allows us listening music with rapidity and easiness. Nevertheless, in some way, you are supporting this type of illegal places. On the contrary, if you pay for music, you support the author. 

For and Against - Víctor García

Do you buy music, or do you pirate it?

Music is now one of the most important things in the planet, you can listen to it buying, downloading or streaming it. But you can pay for it or you can pirate it. However, there are different good and bad reasons to do this.

On one hand, if you pirate the music probably in the future you would be involved in problems because of download it illegally, but you do not have to spend money for listen to music, so you can be involved in problems or you can pay.

On the other hand, you can find so many websites that can convert the youtube videos on mp3 so that is not illegal at 100 %. But so many people think that if you have the CD of the album is better because the money that you spend is going to be for the musicians so that can help them to do more songs like that.

To conclude, music can be listened by so many ways I personally think that pirate music is better because you do not have to pay for it and you can listen whenever and wherever you want so that’s the most important advantage.

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY- Sara Matamoros

Pirating music is very common nowadays and approximately everyone has done it before. However, pirating music has it’s positive and negative things.

First of all, downloading pirated music is totally free. Furthermore, you can download music which is not available in music apps such as iTunes or Spotify or in digital format and even on CD. Another reason is that you can download music which may not be able in your country.

On the other hand, when you download music from unauthorized file download sites, you’re breaking the law. Another argument against is that when you download pirated music paying for it, you’re depriving your favorite musicians of hard-earned income.

To conclude, although downloading pirated music can be great for having access to music for free, it can also be a crime. In my opinion, we should start putting real value on the music we listen to.