Third meeting in Bremen - May, 12th to 17th 2009

PROGRAM 3rd MEETING IN BREMEN
COMENIUS – 12th to 17th May 2009

With thanks to:
Werder Bremen, Bremer Sport Club, Wassersport Verein Woltmershausen, Europaschule SZ Utbremen, Europa Punkt Bremen, Jakob Bieger, Susanne Otzen, Könecke Fleischwaren

Young people and their leisure time / Andrea Caldas

Young people, when we have free time, want to have fun, but how can we have fun? Are these the same as in the past or we have got different ways of amusement? These are some of the topics we are going to speak.

Our parents and grandparents also had fun when they were young, although we don’t believe it. This is true and we can know if asking them.

If we ask them about what they used to do in their leisure time we can discover things like, for example, that they didn’t play computer or video games and watch TV either. It’s obvious because these ways to have fun weren’t invented until the beginning of twentieth century and just a few people had access to them at their homes.

Other thing which can impress us is that the majority didn’t use to go to the cinema or visit museums and art galleries. Visiting these places was so expensive for many families. Most normal activities were walking, going to the park, riding bikes with friends, playing football, reading books, writing or painting for example.

The young people who lived in the country used to have fun doing activities in the nature like going on a picnic, going fishing in the river, walking and spending time with family helping them with the country works.

Nowadays young people also do activities like these but less than in the past because in the last years new ways of amusement have come up. The best examples of this fact are electronic games, which have revolutionized the world of game. Don’t worry if you are alone, you can play with a computer; Besides, today exits internet and with it we can play, shop, make or meet friends . . . all these things only by surfing the internet. Neither can we forget mobile phones. Today it is strange that a teenager hasn’t got one.

Currently go into the cinema or museums isn’t so expensive as in the past, now everyone can go to the cinema at least once every three weeks.

The world of music has changed too. With the new technologies (mp3 for example) and internet we can listen and create music wherever and whenever we want.

It’s also usual that in the place where we live there are sport centres or sport activities. Doing them we can make or meet friends and chat with them.

Besides all these new ways to have fun we can also do the activities which our parents or grandparents used to do.

In conclusion, nowadays there are more activities for free time than in the past.
All these leisure activities, past and present ones, have in common it main function: have fun; although their ways were so different. The majority of the activities that our parents or grandparents would do were in company, with friends (playing football, going to the park, spending time with family...).Nowadays it is very common to have fun alone. You can surf the internet, create and listen music, play in computer games or watch TV... you can do all of these with or without friends.

Other difference is the price of this new way of amusement, it can be expensive. Electronic games can be an example of this. The last “Play Station” cost about 600eur and then besides you need the video games to play. Each one cost about 70eur.This is a really unnecessary expense which not all families can allow.

In my opinion the best way to have fun is doing all activities which I love doing always with my friends or family, never alone, so I prefer the leisure activities in the past. These are, the majority, cheap and when I practise them I have a lot of fun with friends. I love walking in the town with my friends, shopping, playing sports with them, hiking, dancing, skating in the park or going to the cinemas once a month on Fridays.

Of course I like relaxing while I am listening to music and walking alone in the nature, in the country.

To sum up leisure activities have changed since the past until now. Each person must decide what the most enjoyable leisure activity is to him or her to practise it and have fun a lot because amusement is necessary and not everybody enjoy doing the same, we are different.

by Andrea Caldas León, 1º BACH-A

Leisure time abroad / Leila Lulad Buzaid

In my country Western Sahara a lot of people live in the countryside and others in city. I had never been there, because I am a refugee in Tinduf, but my grandmother told me about everything. So, I asked her about her free time and their leisure activities.
On the one hand, a game called Arah Dama, and on the other hand, Sig Kruro.
They told me that they are the funniest in the world.
In Tinduf where I live in summer time, we don’t have any places where you can meet your friends, but you can go to their houses; we also have games like football, pinaga, volleyball or we spend a lot time with our family.
Also we watch TV, dance and listen to music.
Nowadays there is technology and progress, but I agree with my grandmother, our popular leisure activities are the best, because you can play them wherever and whenever you want.

PINAGA
1. WE DO TWO GROUPS.
2. WE PAINT A CIRCLE AND BUILD A TOWER WITH STONES
3. ONE PERSON HAS TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CIRCLE WITH A BIG STONE IN HER HAND.
4. SHE HAS TO THROW IT AND HIT THE TOWER.
5. WHEN THE TOWER FALLS DOWN, THE PERSON WHO HAS THE STONE AND HER GROUP HAVE TO PICK UP THEM ALL.
6. WHEN THEY HAVE ALL THEM, THE SECOND GROUP CAN PLAY.

by Leila Lulad Buzaid, 1ºC BACH

Personal approach to bad and good habits / Laura Bouza

These days most teenagers are spoiled and have some unhealthy and bad habits. This may be because of social influence, I mean, everything that people talk about as it was seen on TV, heard from other people, read in newspapers and all the media. They can also get these bad habits from their friends and family; they see people around them doing it, so they should do the same, shouldn’t they?

In my opinion, this rule and thought isn’t a good example to follow. We’re all aware that each day more and more children want to buy the newest game console, computer or any electronic device. At the same time, sports and cultural activities are more and more abandoned. Most teenagers are reducing their hobbies only to surfing the internet and playing computer or video games. To me, it seems a pity, because they are losing the time they could spend with family or friends, or even going to different places such as the cinema, parks, sports centres… There are a lot of enjoyable activities that are being forgotten, for instance, writing or reading, which for me, is the most enriching and fun activity in every way.

Of course, all these novelties I have just named have a positive side too; or better said, almost all of them are good but, like everything, used in a logical way, without abusing of them. As the saying goes, “Everything in moderation”. If we only do these activities, which don’t include any physical exercise, relationships with other people or a learning experience, what will happen with the rest of our skills? What is going to keep them working correctly and try to improve them? My advice is that everyone should make an effort not only to centre their attention on one of them and try to mix and conserve both.

Maybe things should be different, but centuries are passing and society is changing constantly. However, although we can’t make society change totally, we are able to modify the situation a little if each one contributes a bit.

I’m sure no one would like a world where the most important things are machines and electronic advances and where people could be considered “robots” without any feelings, emotions or other ambitions in life. This is not the world a child, who has the most innocent imagination, would dream of. Everyone has to take part in this work if we want to see the dream of our childhood come true.

That is why each person has to start trying to change their own habits. Despite the fact that the older people are, the more difficult to adapt habits, it is never too late to take up doing new activities. For example, activities that you hadn’t time to do before or you simply didn’t think of, such as playing any sport or instrument, singing, going to the beach, reading, sleeping… Maybe they are more relaxing and you enjoy them much more than using machines.

If we start correcting the problem, then we will be able to tell other people what he best thing for them is and maybe someone will copy these good and healthy habits. By doing this, we will at least be helping in a small way, which is better than nothing.
In conclusion, we should always do our best to improve and change things we don’t do well: activities which teenagers do in their free time are one of them and we can prove we are able to modify them!

by Laura Bouza Romero, 1ºA Bachillerato

Julie, profile to Ourense 2010

Hello,

My name is JULIE. I’m 16 years old. I live with my parents and my brother in Belgium. I’ ve recently started to play the guitar, since September 2008 . I love going out with my friends. (Movies, at the home; …) I LOVE music, but from different styles: rock, hardrock and hardcore. If you don’t know them, I'd let you hear when we meet.
I join in the Comenius project because I would like to travel abroad, know your culture and your lifestyle and learn your language. I love having fun and discovering new things.
Julie DECHESNE

Kelly, profile to Ourense 2010

Hello,

My name is KELLY. I was born on 6 th of August 1994 and I’m 14 .
I’ m portugese. I really miss my country. I have brown hair and brown eyes.
I have a brother. His name is Dylan. I have a wonderful family. I love dancing.
I have a dog. I’m really happy to join in this project.
Kelly MARTINS

Jérôme, profile to Ourense 2010

Hello, my name is Jérôme, I am Belgian and I am fifteen years old. I have two big passions: like diving and what I prefer is theatre! Later, I would like to be an actor…
I go to the institute saint-Raphaël. I live in the country in a small village near Esneux, in Fontin.
I have many animals: hens, rabbits and ducks. I had a guinea pig which was Punky
(because of his small wisp).
We also have a kitchen garden which I very much like to look at in spring!
I‘ve traveled a lot with my brother, my sister and my parents. We’ve been to Italy, to Portugal, many times to France and sometimes to the North Sea in Belgium. I also left Europe and our continent to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Canada! It was very nice, landscapes were magnificent and the inhabitants of Quebec were very nice.
Here is my portrait.
Jérôme WATHIEU

Ella, profile to Ourense 2010

Hello,
My name is ELLA. I’m 16 years old and I live in SPA with my mother, and I live in ESNEUX with my father. At my mother’s, I have one sister and one brother, we live in a house in the forest. I have a horse which stays in a riding school 200 meters next to my house. My mother plans to open a shelter for 24 persons. Every Monday and Wednesday run in the athletics club and I sometimes make competitions. My sister is ten years younger than I. My mother works at home she has got workshop, she makes sofa’s for a shop in SPA. My father is an artist, he makes tables, lamps, chairs, … My two houses are in the country, I don’t like big towns I prefer living in a small town with not too many people. I love nature!!! When I am older, I would like to work in the field.
Ella PORTIER

Teenagers’ leisures (Belgians' survey)

Teenagers’ leisures (Belgians' survey)

Children usually choose their leisure activities according to their parents’ schedule and to the cultural values they inherited from their family. But what about teenagers?

A survey carried out among 300 teenage (from 14 to 18) students of our school enables us to set up the following table. The students were asked to choose from a list ten activities they regularly practice and to classify them in order of preference.

Teenagers 14-15 ans
1. meeting friends 2. going to parties 3. going online 4.watching TV 5. listening to music 6. doing sport 7. going shopping 8. going to the cinema 9. playing computer games 10. going for a drink.

Teenagers 16-17 ans
1. going for a drink 2. playing sport 3. meeting friends 4. playing computer 5. going online 6. watching TV 7. listening to music 8. going shopping 9. going to the cinema 10. reading magazines

Teenagers 17-18 ans
1. going for a drink 2. going to parties 3. playing sport 4. meeting friends 5. going to the cinema 6. listening to music 7. going online 8. watching TV 9. playing computer games 10. playing instruments

It’s obvious that their need to socialise and to have fun grows according to their age. Teenagers not only go to pubs or clubs, but also to sports halls (basketball, volleyball, dance…) and sports fields (football.).

Conversely, as they acquire autonomy, they tend to turn away from passive activities. Watching TV, for example, which comes 4th among the 14-15 year-old, gets the 6th place among the 16-17 year-old and only the 8th place among the 17-18.

The CRIOC - « Centre de Recherche et d’Information des Organisations de Consommateurs » (Centre for the research and information of consumers’ organisation) – interviewed 2642 French-speaking Belgian teenagers and observed that one teen out of four answers ‘sport’ when asked about what he/she likes doing. 54% of the girls and 80% of the boys from 9 to 18 say they do some sport in their free time. 80% of the 10-year-old children do sport against 45% of the 15 year-old. At 16-17, the percentage rises to 60%.
According to our survey, boys are more fond of sports but also more painstaking than girls. They like doing sport until they get exhausted and aren’t afraid of danger.
15-year-old girls seem the least interested in doing regularly sport. Sports teachers often complain about their lack of motivation!

Modern dance is the most practiced sport (among girls!) in our area. It can undoubtedly convey a positive image to others. It is at the same time an individual and collective activity, combining sport with culture. What’s more, it makes them feel free.
Horse-riding and basketball come next, which is no surprise as we live in a semi-rural area, teeming with basketball clubs.
We also notice that the interest for group activities lasts longer than for individual activities, as dancing.

The survey by the CRIOC, which was published in September 2008, also points out a difference between leisure activities for ‘the rich’ and activities for the other social classes.
75% of the teenagers from the so-called ‘higher social classes’ do some sport (and, to a lesser extent, play a music instrument) against 51% in the ‘lower social classes’.
As far as computer is concerned, it seems to attract younger teenagers (14-15 year-old) who classify it in the 3rd place, more than the 16-17 year-old and the 17-18 year-old who place it respectively in the 4th and 9th position.

The teenagers’ media world (TV, video games, radio, MP3, computers, cell phones…) is of course very rich. Through chats and exchanges, computer has become a good means for self-assertion and socialisation. The youth rules aver the ‘computer world’, which explains why parents often give up controlling its content.

Most of the young people interviewed reckon they get headaches and sometimes feel dizzy, they also complain about smarting eyes after having played (worked?) too long on the computer. Some of them ‘play’ for three or four hours running. Others admit they spend the night playing and even dream about it during the day, which makes it impossible for them to concentrate in class. All the teenagers claim they feel aggressiveness towards the one who interrupts the computer game.

Another means for self-assertion and socialisation is the cell phone, called ‘GSM’ in Belgium.
Four young out of five owe one. At school teachers have to punish teenagers so that they keep their phone in their bag, away from any temptation!

Survey from the CRIOC, among 2642 teenagers
Percentage of teenagers (9 -18 year-old) who do this activity:
1. Watching TV (96 %), 2. Listening to music (92%), 3. Watching DVD’s (88%: girls 92%, boys 84%), 4. Playing sport (67%: girls 54%, boys 80%), 5. Visiting an amusement park (64%: girls 45%, boys 83%), 6. Playing video games (63%: girls 44%, boys 82%), 7. Having a drink (62%), 8. Clubbing, going to parties (46%: girls 51%, boys 41%), 9. Visiting museums, exhibitions (29%), 10. Joining a youth movement (28%: girls 24%, boys 32%),
11. Playing music, an instrument (24%).

The young people’s nights out
We live in a mostly rural region: consequently, our young people have different types of going outs than young people in cities: neither clubs nor discotheques.
Every year, our school organises a party for our last year’s students and all the young people join in. As a result, young people essentially meet at those parties, or private events on Friday or Saturday nights. They usually dance alone or in until 3 or 4 in the morning.
Except for some private parties which require smart clothes, the young people don’t need to dress up. Yet, girls wear more and more sexy clothes.
At those parties, where young people from the age of 13, 14 usually go, alcohol is a must-have. And sometimes, it goes too far: the aim is to be drunk as fast as possible! It’s the English “Binge drinking”: the young drink a mix of alcohol and energizers in order to “hold” as long as possible … the adults try to supervise those parties with consciousness-raising campaigns against drugs and alcohol. Moreover, policemen surround those events, where hundreds of young people go.
The young people’s favourite music is still techno and RNB, which is not very favourable to communication: it allows them to be united in trances which sometimes go too far.
Some young people from this region also go out in town: they go to the centre of Liège in “Le Carré”, where they can find a lot of cafés which are open all night long, they go back home in the morning… there’s an important animation in that neighbourhood, especially during the Saint Nicolas’ student party, at the saint Toré, another student party which takes place at the end of the exams. By the Pupils from the “Social Sciences” option - Belgium

Putting our leisures into words and images (Belgium)

Putting our leisures into words and images (Belgium)
Every pupil of the “Social Sciences” option answered to a questionnaire. The aim was to describe their feelings, to explain what they did during their leisure and what they thought about it. We illustrated the results of this survey with pictures and drawings then we created small books. Here are the texts published in our albums.

When I drink too much…
At first, I feel light, free. I laugh, I cry. Then I feel dizzy and fuzzy. I talk no sense and I see the others laughing. I tell everybody that I love them. I go to everybody’s arms. Sometimes as well, I have red eyes and I want to map people. In the washroom, I sit next to the loo and I feel horrible. I am afraid to fall on the floor or to be raped. At the end of the party, I can’t walk anymore and I vomit. When I am thinking, I tell myself I shouldn’t drink.

When I watch TV too much…
Sometimes, I watch TV all day long. I sit comfortably in the couch or in my bed.
I eat pizzas, crisps in a plate. I argue with my brothers if they disturb me. I have a headache, my eyes are aching. I feel tired, I yawn. I think we are living in a crazy world. I mistrust other people. I find myself ugly and pointless. When I am thinking, I am ashamed of having done nothing else all day.
When I play too much computer…
I play 3-4 hours without stopping, sometimes during the day or at night. I am hypnotized and I can’t stop playing. If someone interrupts me I get angry. I am excited. My eyes blink, they are aching. I have a headache and sometimes I feel dizzy. I can’t sleep well, I have nightmares. In the classroom, I feel weak and tired, I think again about the game pictures. When I am thinking I tell myself that I should meet people. I am afraid of becoming addicted.

The Basketball, it’s my life !
I like the team spirit. I train like an NBA player. I like the atmosphere created by the supporters. I feel proud when we win. I feel good. My brain creates endorphines. I forget my failures when I play. I commited 5 fouls. I have to stay on the bench. I respect the players, the coaches and the referee. I’m afraid when there is a free throw. I’d like to play like Mickael Jordan.

The theatre and me
I like making people laugh and clowning around. I can exploit my comedian talent. I have sereval personalities when I play.I strengthen my self-confidence. I forget my worries. I have to memorise my lines sometimes, it’s hard !!! The faces, the expression and the articulation are important.It’s a very good listening exercise when you play with a lot of people.
I have to take the others’play into account to adapt mine. I want it to become my job.

The dance, it’s fun!
I do some streching to avoid having cramps. I have to assert my style, be creative. I always have to check the beauty of the position. When I dance, I feel like carried by the group’s energy. I don’t see the time. I forget everything when I dance. I wear casual clothes. When I don’t manage to do the steps, I ask myself questions.
I am afraid of hurting myself and having to stop dancing. I really would like to make it my job.

The horse-riding
When I’m on my pone , I feel free and confident. I’m happy when I ride. I use my body to guide my horse. I develop the muscle of my back and my stomach when I ride.
I go over difficulties. I like competition. I respect the animal’s rythme, I learn patience. I have a friendly relationship with my poney. I also have to take care of the stables.
I would like to look like Eric Lamaze, the Olympic champion.
by the pupils from the 3 rd“Social Sciences” option

Coming soon ...

ROCKEYE 2009
Rock Festival, 5th edition

23rd may 2009
at 17 o'clock
at the IES AS LAGOAS in OURENSE

Young people nowadays / Laura Bouza

These days most teenagers are spoiled and have some unhealthy and bad habits. This may be because of social influence, I mean, everything that people talk about as it was seen on TV, heard from other people, read in newspapers and all the media. They can also get these bad habits from their friends and family; they see people around them doing it, so they should do the same, shouldn’t they?

In my opinion, this rule and thought isn’t a good example to follow. We’re all aware that each day more and more children want to buy the newest game console, computer or any electronic device. At the same time, sports and cultural activities are more and more abandoned. Most teenagers are reducing their hobbies only to surfing the internet and playing computer or video games. To me, it seems a pity, because they are losing the time they could spend with family or friends, or even going to different places such as the cinema, parks, sports centres… There are a lot of enjoyable activities that are being forgotten, for instance, writing or reading, which for me, is the most enriching and fun activity in every way.

Of course, all these novelties I have just named have a positive side too; or better said, almost all of them are good but, like everything, used in a logical way, without abusing of them. As the saying goes, “Everything in moderation”. If we only do these activities, which don’t include any physical exercise, relationships with other people or a learning experience, what will happen with the rest of our skills? What is going to keep them working correctly and try to improve them? My advice is that everyone should make an effort not only to centre their attention on one of them and try to mix and conserve both.

Maybe things should be different, but centuries are passing and society is changing constantly. However, although we can’t make society change totally, we are able to modify the situation a little if each one contributes a bit.

I’m sure no one would like a world where the most important things are machines and electronic advances and where people could be considered “robots” without any feelings, emotions or other ambitions in life. This is not the world a child, who has the most innocent imagination, would dream of. Everyone has to take part in this work if we want to see the dream of our childhood come true.

That is why each person has to start trying to change their own habits. Despite the fact that the older people are, the more difficult to adapt habits, it is never too late to take up doing new activities. For example, activities that you hadn’t time to do before or you simply didn’t think of, such as playing any sport or instrument, singing, going to the beach, reading, sleeping… Maybe they are more relaxing and you enjoy them much more than using machines.

If we start correcting the problem, then we will be able to tell other people what he best thing for them is and maybe someone will copy these good and healthy habits. By doing this, we will at least be helping in a small way, which is better than nothing.
In conclusion, we should always do our best to improve and change things we don’t do well: activities which teenagers do in their free time are one of them and we can prove we are able to modify them!

by Laura Bouza Romero, 1ºA Bachillerato

Leisure activities of young people / Irina Fernández

I think that there are many leisure activities to choose nowadays, so young people can do many different things when we are not at school or doing schoolwork.

For example, if you like sports, you can practise it on your own, such as swimming, walking, going to the gym…; or you can go painting; if you enjoy going out with your friends, maybe, you’d like to go to the shopping centre or to the cinema; and if you’re the kind of person who likes staying at home, you can take advantage to read a book, to surf the internet or to watch TV.

From my point of view, all of these activities are good because some of them help you to be fit and healthy, and others are better to develop your mind, so you’ll be never wasting your time.

However, there’re other activities, such as get drunk or destroy the urban facilities, which, I believe young people (or other people) should never do.

To avoid such negative activities in young people, I think that positive activities should be promoted by the governments, making campaigns to show their advantages. These campaigns can be about the environment respect, showing to young people that in their free time, they can look after woodlands, help to clean rivers, parks, gardens…and improve this way, our life quality; or governments could also invert in public libraries, sports facilities, schools of music, wifi-areas… to provide places where young people can spend their time in a good way.

In conclusion, young people can do a lot of things in our leisure time, but it would be better if we choose a positive one, because it will be good for us, and our future.

by IRINA FERNÁNDEZ FERNÁNDEZ, 1º C BAC

What I do in my free time / Cristian Fernández

During the winter I cannot do many outdoor activities because of the weather, although I do other things.
I enjoy cycling but in Galicia the weather is rainy and I cannot do it very often, only at weekends, when I go to my village. I sometimes go out with my friends; we play football and basket, we go to the cinema and we usually have dinner together, I like going to “the wines” street. We also go out to the pubs at night and we have fun there, but we do not drink alcohol.

I love car racing and I sometimes go to a circuit in “Monterrey”. There, I drive a “four times” car and I spend the whole afternoon doing it; my cousins come with me because they are fond of it, too. I have got an uncle who lends me his quad and I really like doing it, but I do this only when I go to my village.

The activity in which I spend most of my free time is playing the bagpipe. I go to the school of music three days a week and I have to practise for about two hours. I started seven years ago and I really like it. I play in the “REAL BANDA”, we usually travel all over the world: we have gone to New York, Europe, Egypt…and this year we are probably going to Paris and London. I am interested in doing it because in the future this will help me if I do not find a good job.

In conclusion, I spend my free time doing and learning what I like. With the activities I do, I know places, I do exercise, I meet people and I am with my friends.

a

by CRISTIAN FERNÁNDEZ NÚÑEZ, 1º BAC C

Leisure activities nowadays / Pablo Mosquera

I am going to try to explain what different types of leisure activities teenagers (like me) have nowadays. In my opinion, we have four kinds to fancy in our free time. Each has its pros and its cons; however, I find two of them much healthier than the other two:

● First of all we have the teens who spend their whole time in front of the computer screen, playing playstation, or watching TV program after program until dinner. This is such an unhealthy life that it could even develop into an overweight disease. Nevertheless, people will have a very specific talent at something.

● There are a few (in percentage) who have musical talent, and feel like playing an instrument everyday. I find it boring, but I cannot deny they can take advantage of that.

● Another group of people (where I must be included), prefer to practice a sport seriously. If you take it seriously, it will be difficult to hang out usually with friends and to pass examinations at an ordinary school.
I, for instance, despite having good marks, would get even better ones if I had not chosen this way to spend my free time.
This is the healthiest type of leisure life, although it is difficult, both physically and mentally, to keep on doing it for a long time.

● Finally, still remains the last group. Most of the teens just have fun, going to the malls and taking part of the so called “Big Bottle” during the crazy nights. That is the best way to enjoy their free time, but there is a high risk of taking drugs and drinking much alcohol.

To sum up, we have proven there are several types of leisure activities, and it is also proven that people can have benefits out of them, or put themselves into risky situations because of them. I think we should not change, and everybody can choose the best option for him/her.

by PABLO MOSQUERA PÉREZ, 1ºBACH C

Activities in the past and now / Sheila Fernández

The activities in the past and now are very different because the people have other way of thinking and the economy has changed too.
My grandparents enjoyed drinking “colacao” or eating biscuits because they were unusual in their houses.
However, currently, we are more capitalist, we don’t mind having indispensable things like a toilet or soap that didn’t exist in the past, in addition, people spend their free time in different ways.
In the past, the children have a lot of things to play with and most of them don’t play with them.
Teenagers used to go to the town’s parties, where they danced, drank, in short, they amused, but now the teenagers go to pubs to dance and know other people, but they don’t drink a lot there because it is very expensive, for this reason, they do a lot “BOTELLON”.
They buy in the supermarket or in a 24h Shop cubs, ice cubes and drinks because there, they are cheaper and then they go to the “Alameda” because now they can’t go anymore to the “Plaza de las Mercedes” because it’s forbidden.
Friendship is different too.
In the past, friends talked on the phone if they had, but now we talk in the internet, messenger, mobile phone etc.
In conclusion, times have changed and both, the way to spend our free time and people.

by Sheila Fernández Pérez, 1º BACH C

Leisure activities today / Paula Conde

When you are 16 and you are studying bachillerato, be sure that your free time will be pretty short or you won’t have it most of times. So your leisure activities can’t be long last or be settled far away because of the time.
While young people are not at school or doing endless homework go out with friends for a walk or a drink (just if you are very lucky enough and do not have homework or you have holidays you can go to the cinema or shopping). Some people go out at night and most of them get drunk or takes drugs (or even both), so they return home high.
To stop this is a challenge for the government, which thinks that it is disgusting and unhealthy for young people. And every year it spends huge amounts of money making advertising campaigns which seem to be useless.
First of all, banned things are more attractive; in the past teens drunk alcohol too, but now that is illegal, alcohol drinking has increased a lot. And secondly, young people who drink do it for different reasons: ones do it because they like the taste and drink just a little, others who do it just because they think that if they are drunk the world seems to be funnier, and the ones who drink because it is a way to get into a social group.
Knowing this, making teens know that alcohol is not the solution of their problems or the ticket to the popular life is maybe the best solution. Because everybody who drinks knows that alcohol is unhealthy, if you drink too much and people who gets drunk does not mind at all, so the campaigns telling the alcohol effects aren’t useful at all.
But, to be honest, the government can’t reach the objective without parents’ aid, who let their sons drink and go out at night when they are aged 13 or even younger

by Paula Conde 1ºc Bach

Leisure activities in the past and now / Sara Maslanka

The activities that young people used to do in the past are very different from the leisure ones in the present, although some of them haven´t changed.
In the past people spent more time out of their homes because they didn´t have so many games or computers, televisions and vidiogames as we have noow.
They spent a lot of time with their friends, and when they had money they used to go to the cinema on weekends.
Nowadays we hardly ever go to the cinema, beacause we are used to downloading the new films we want to see from the Internet.
People in the past were longer outise because they wanted to see and talk to their friends, but today we spend more time inside our houses, because we don´t need to go out to communicate with our friends. We just need to turn on our computer, or our movile phones and we can speak to anybody all over the world.

But there are things that haven´t changed at ll. Young people in the past liked to practise sport together, and so do young people in the present.
It´s a funny way of working out, and spending time with friends is something that was and still is ver ypopulat between young people.

In general all generations of young people like music. Music is very popular although the styles and music preferences have changed throughout the years.

I think that leisure activities may have changed from the past to the present days, but, in my opinion, young people in the past enjoyed, as much as we do now, their free time hobbies. It doesn´t matter if they have changed.
Mostly they have changed because of the new technologies, but they can be the same fun now as they were then.

Perhaps nowadays we are too dependent on technologies to communicate with others, but for young people now the inportant things in their lives are the same as they werein the past.

by Sara Maslanka Figueroa, 1º Bach C

What do you think about the leisure activities of Young people nowadays? / Brais Llorente

We use our free time for doing things that we the most like. We do these activities in totally voluntary way and can use them to rest or to amuse, the objective is that they generate satisfaction to us. We preferred to do it with our friends to share it with our family.

At present I believe that the most common activities between the young people are: listening to music, watching television, surfing the Internet, playing with the play station, going shopping, alternating in bars, cafes or pubs, going to the cinema and practicing sports, although normally the preferences vary according to the sex of the young person.

Our families would prefer us to spend our free time in another type of activities, like reading, activities in the open-air, visits to museums and expositions, attendance to cultural acts, but the reality is not that, we prefer funnier activities.

If we spent a suitable time in activities that we like, we are doing it in the correct way, there is no problem, the problem arises when we make an excess. Then we can fall in very dangerous problems like the excessive alcohol consumption, drug consumption, violence in the streets, promiscuity, no wished pregnancies, consumption, television, computer, video games abuse, studies problems…

Regarding the activities that we preferred, I suppose that some could be considered more beneficial than others. It’s obvious is better than we practice some sports that we are meeting people in a bar, but each activity must have its moment. Also we can think that it is more advisable to share the moments of leisure with friends, but sometimes, we preferred enjoying in private, the important thing is always to enjoy ourselves.

It also happens that certain young people see themselves “forced” to realize any type of activities because in their surroundings there are no other possibilities or she does not have means to do them. Unfortunately, in many cases, the young people must themselves devote to meet people in a bar and to play cards, because it is the only thing that there are (countryside for example).

Enjoying our free time is something fundamental for any person, if the activities that we do contribute to make us happiness, we will be fulfilling the objective. It is clear that we will have to take those activities with respect and responsibility to the others persons. Throughout the decades they have changed the enjoying forms, but there is something which hasn’t changed, and it is to share our time with our friends and it continues being our favorite activity.

by Brais Llorente Iglesias, 1ºBACH C

Good and bad aspects of the leisure activities of young people nowadays / José Piñón

Today, young people do a lot of different things in our free time: from doing sport or staying with friends to going to the cinema or surfing the internet. I’m going to analyse the good and bad aspects of these activities.
I think that all the leisure activities that we can do are positive. Some of them are really good and others can be also good, but with certain moderation. I have invented a classification of the different free time activities. We can divide them in sport, culture, technologies and friends.

All the sport activities (playing basketball, football, swimming, skiing…) are totally positive; because we do exercise, we relax, meet people and we forget all our problems for a moment.

As sport, culture activities are completely good. They are things like learning to play an instrument, reading a book, writing or even going to the cinema (depending on the film).

In the technology section, I include playing videogames, surfing the internet, watching TV, listening to music, phoning a friend... Playing videogames and surfing the internet can be something very funny and interesting. There are games which tell us incredible stories as a book or a film; but we should be careful with these activities, because they can make people introverted and we mustn’t stay too much time at home. The same happens with television. There are good and bad programmes, which can influence us negatively; so we must select and not to stay much time watching them. In general, we must moderate the use of this type of activities.

Finally, we have the things that we usually do with friends: going to the cinema, going out for dinner, going out at night… Probably, they are the activities that we like the most, and they really have a lot of benefits. However, nowadays there are some problems with young people and alcohol at nights that, on the other hand, have always existed. Some people drink a bit to become more extroverted and be more talkative. But others drink until they are completely drunk. I don’ t understand the second ones very well but I think that they drink a lot to become ‘silly’; and when they are ‘silly’, all for them is funny. For me, the idea of these people, the necessity to be ‘silly’ to have a good moment, is very sad. The consequences of this are seven or eight people with an alcohol poisoning in the hospital each weekend.
It’s difficult to solve the alcohol problem because we need to change the mind of a lot of people. But I think that the government should increase the control of the alcohol sales to young people because they are starting to drink very early. Boys and girls of twelve or thirteen are buying drinks without problems. And there is a law, but it isn’t respected.

In conclusion, sport and culture activities are completely positive. The rest of activities are even better but we must moderate the use of technologies and be careful with alcohol and drugs at night. If we put this advice in practise, we can have very good moments in our free time.

by José Piñón Vila, 1º BACH A

Comparing cultures / Leticia Arely González

TOPIC1-What do you do in your free time? Why?

I’m from Mexico, so I’m going to explain what I used to do there, and the things that me and my friends used to practice or do .I prefer to do something or the other in my free time. Generally I get free time when I have finished my homework, so in my free time I prefer to do something which gives me enjoyment like listening to music, dancing and then I just give a call to a friend and ask her to come out with me for a walk.
I like to be alone, but just sometimes, not always. When I’m alone, I listen to music, because my mother and I don’t like the same music. I also play with the computer or watch the TV, I love series like "Friends" or "Two and a Half Man" it depends. I really like films about love, and action too, but I prefer see it in the cinema on Saturday night, because in home sometimes is bored, I think.
And, not all the time has to be productive, I sometimes, when I’m stress, listen to music in a green area, or just relaxing.

When I was in Mexico, I went out with my friends on Friday night, or I went to the beach, I love the beach, I enjoyed passing time there! And when I was free I used to go skating with my friends in a place called "Roller", I love it, because I had a lot of friends there that taught me to skate better. I’m a normal girl that does normal things like spend time with my friends, and chat with my other friends from Mexico or other countries.

My mother always goes out for a drink in the night, so I am alone. But she doesn’t do it every day. When I am alone I like to dance, and paint, but I really don’t paint well. I like to spend time with my mom, or with my father, we use to go to the movies, or play bowling. My father and I like to play tennis too, and sometimes we used to go practice in a hotel.

In the weekend my mother, her boyfriend and I go to the village in Cerdeira but I prefer to stay in Ourense, because the village is bored. But the only thing I like to do is to ride a horse, I also play games with my cousins Paula, Yaiza and Ana, we spend a lot of time together. The other weekend my cousins were teaching me to ride a bike, but it didn’t work, I still don’t know how to ride a bike, but I know I will learn it with confidence and courage!

When I’m bored I go to swim in a river of my village called "Embalse de las Gìstolas", and when I was in Mexico I used to swim every day in my pool, because Acapulco is always sunny.
I have a dog, its name is Dolce, from Dolce & Gabanna, it is a york shire terrier, it doesn’t like to be at home, it prefers playing with me or with my mom and go out. When I took it to the street, the people say to me that it is beautiful, and charming, because it is so small and it like playing with people that it doesn’t know. I like to play with my dog, and sometimes we spend a lot of time together.

When I was in Mexico, I went to dance in an academia called Juventus, I love dancing. At the first I danced Hawaiian music, I really liked it, but then I started to dance regional music of Mexico, it was so bored!, so I left it. After I started to practice football, I stayed in a team called "Los Tiburones" (Spanish for “The Sharks") which is a female team, but we played with boys too.

First I played because I liked it, but then it turned dangerous from me because I broke my hand and I had much pain and it really scared me. Now, I don’t practice any sport, I just sometimes go for a walk.

In summer I went to a disco called "Paradise" that remembers me a lot of things. This summer I will go to Mexico, and I plain to have much fun than ever!

I would like to do something different to the things I do normally, for example: ride a motorbike, bungee jump, ice skating, climbing... something like that. I think those activities are dangerous but exciting.
I think I do normal things, but they are funny too. I hope I will do activities more interesting, because sometimes I’m bored.

TOPIC2- Places where youngsters spend their free time. Why?

To answer this I’m going to ask some questions to my cousin Paula. Because she lives here, and she knows more than me, about what the youngsters do on their free time.

She and her friends like to go to "Café Real" in O Barco, because that place is quiet and it has a good ambient, and good music also, their friends like to go to "Morticia" in Ponferrada, because it isn’t a normal place, because it is a dark and strange place. They go to "Café Real" all Fridays, and to "Morticia" all the Saturdays at night.

The other teenagers go to cafés or to the movies or go shopping, with his friends.
My friends like to go to "Pontevella" all weekends, because in Ourense there aren’t much places to go and have fun. My friends don’t do cultural activities, they like to go to an academia of dance, or a Language school, a friend of mine also goes to the Conservatoire of music.

Also my friends spend much of their time on the Internet, in Tuenti, Facebook, or hi5, this are web sites to put photos, or videos, and it use to know people too. I think youngsters like that web sites because people can know you, and see your photos, and than is a way to know and do friends, but also it’s a way to spend time commenting and seeing photos of your friends, or people that you even don’t know, and it can be the start of a nice friendship.

My friends of Mexico practice sports like football, or basketball in the park or in the beach, it depends on the day. My best friend Yajaira, like to go to the Gym, or spend time with her family, all Sundays she have to go out with her parents, to watch a movie, or go for a walk. But I think she doesn’t really like to spend time with her parents, well, anyone likes to spend time with their parents.

My mom did almost the same things like me, went out with her friends or something like I mentioned. But when she was young the Internet didn’t exist, so she had to pass the time in parks, or in the cinema.
People spend also time with his/her girlfriend/boyfriend, going to the cinema or watching movies at home, or doing things they both like.

We all have hobbies, and we spend our time doing things we like, and enjoy, with people we like or care.

by Leticia Arely González Zúñiga, 4º ESO

Two interviews, two different generations / Carme García

Nowadays, young people have a lot of activities to spend their free time. The internet revolution has required a new world of information and hobbies so people changed the way of spending their free time. In my opinion, these changes have taken place in a very short period of time. The media say than youngsters spend three hours in front of television. PC or whatever virtual machine. However, they also have time to practise sport, study and go out with their friends.

I would like to compare the different ways of spending free time in different generation. I’m going to start the interview with a person from the 1920s generation and then, I’m going to ask the same questions to a person from the 1990s.

1. How did you spend your free time in your teens?

1920s: I hadn’t so much free time. I really spent all of my time working and helping my parents to live, because of the little salary my father earned. Firstofall, I worked at a sweet factory and then I sewed jackets for a shop. When I had free time I rarely went to the cinema because it cost so much. I also went for a walk to the main square.

1990s: I started going out with my friends when I was 13 years old. We went to the park and go to de disco where we linked with boys. We used to go to de cinema once a week. Besides, I liked chatting with my friends by internet when I arrived home. Especially I enjoyed gossiping.

2. How did other teens spend their free time?

1920s: They would go to the cinema. People who had enough money also went to a café where they could dance on Saturday. Boys played football and girls went for a walk. There weren’t swimming pools and only boys could go to de the river to swim.

1990s: My friends and I did what I just said. Some of them play football, basketball or practise any sport. Actually, I don’t like sports so I don’t play any. Some also played any instrument at the conservatory of music and when we are on our own at home we can spend hours in front of television.

3. What was your town offering you to enjoy the free time?

1920s: Cinema and it had a café where you could go to dance.

1990s: A swimming pool from June to late August. A ‘sportive town’ with an athletics track and a tennis court, a football pitch, a wall where you practise climbing. It also offers an air-conditioning swimming pool. Besides, schools offer theatre lessons in the afternoon.

In fact, the society has changed a lot in the last 100 years. Today there aren’t the same necessities as 60 years ago, so towns have also changed, that is why people spend their time in a different way. It’s difficult to decide which one is the best.

by Carme García Benito, 1º BACH A

Young people: Good & bad habits / Manuel Ángel

Young people usually use their free time very well. After a hard day, doing what we like it is very good for our body. There are a lot of activities that we can do as relaxing, playing football, playing computer games, reading, go fishing, going for a walk, going to the cinema, going to the park…

Playing a sport improves our health and it helps us to feel better. It avoids us to think about school for a time and our mind can take a break. Furthermore, playing a sport rises our interpersonal intelligence if it is a collective sport as for example basketball, football, handball…

If you are very tired and you don’t like to practise a sport, it’s very good to have a relaxed walk looking at the landscape and enjoying the moment. Teenagers prefer sunny days because we can enjoy the day outdoors, not cold days when you have to pass the time enclosed in some place.

In spite of the fact that to enjoy the free time is very important the first thing is the studies because it will be very important to our future and the will mark our life. A sport will save you if you are a very good person doing it. Meeting friends is the activity which we do a lot in our free time because we can share opinions, problems, feelings…, but teenagers also do wrong things. For example at nights. It’s true that not all the teenagers do it but most of them do it. Drinking alcohol or smoking are very bad to the health at any age, but still more if you are a young person because our body is still developing and these would stop its growth.

There are many ways to stop these activities. For example, shops can’t sell alcohol or tobacco to people who are less than eighteen years old, even though they continue selling them and teenagers continue buying them. If you drink or smoke you won’t be a better person, in any case you are showing that you aren’t mature. “Botellones” are going to be very difficult to stop because our generation didn’t invent them. They have remained in the time and they will continue more years until police punish them very hard. Anyway, night is not only alcohol or drugs because a lot of people dance; they go to several discos…

These activities aren’t the only which are bad for our body. Staying at home watching T.V., playing computer games, playing videogames… is bad for your eyes if you are a lot of time on them. In addition, it doesn’t help you to relate with other persons. Relationships at our age are very important because we have long holidays and teenagers are pleasant and entertaining persons.

Definitely we can do a lot of activities in our free time. Some of them are better than others, but it turns difficult to understand how a teenager can say: “I’m bored”.

What do you do in your free time? / Iago Iglesias

First I`m going to say what a leisure activity is; a leisure activity is something you do outdoors or indoors, I mean, things to do outside or inside home. It can be activities we can do to improve our health like sports; activities we do to relax like going to the cinema, playing computer games, going to the park; or some cultural activities like visiting museums, going to the opera or going to the theatre. These activities help us to feel better and they are a good remedy against stress.

Many teenagers practice at least one sport in their free time. Football and basketball are two of the most practiced sports in the world. A lot of teenagers in Spain enjoy watching football on TV and some of their idols are footballers like Ronaldinho, Zidane or Lionel Messi. Some teenagers play in football or basketball teams and a lot of them become as good as sport stars. Sports have a very good repercussion on teenagers` life, they make friends, they forget the oppression of studies for a while and they spend a good time outdoors.

Some teenagers don`t like sports and they prefer other activities as, for example, going to the cinema or the theatre. My friends are very interested in the audiovisual world, they make short movies, video clips and theatre plays. I enjoy helping them because it's very interesting and sometimes I act in the movies, I learn a lot from them. The last short movie we did was called "Ti Transplantas" (Galician for “You transplant!”) and I acted in it, it was an exciting experience. We sent it to a contest and we are very optimistic because the result is very good. I like acting in these movies because I think that is a good way to lose my shame. In September of 2008 we did "La Casa del Terror" (Spanish for “House of Terror”) in "A Casa da Xuventude", a youth centre here in Ourense; we had a lot of visitors (approximately 300) and we collected a lot of money. It was like a mental hospital and I acted like a crazy man, it was very terrifying. Some days ago we finished the filming of another short movie, we called it "Braille" and we filmed it in my village, I didn`t act in them (because in this movie we used expert actors) so I helped in lighting and I helped my director in some things like the stage design. Some days we meet in "A Casa da Xuventude" and we write scripts for future movies, now we are thinking about doing a comedy and this summer we are going to do some video clips for some music groups. Here is one of the photos of "Ti Transplantas", my director and I (on the right) appear in it, we have good expectations of this project:

Meeting friends is the most popular activity that we do in our free time. A lot of teenagers meet their friends at the weekend and they go for a walk, play a sport, go to a bar or a restaurant or simply they talk and laugh. We can share opinions with friends, tell jokes or even gossip. We must choose correctly our friends; some young people smoke, take drugs and drink alcohol in "botellones" and they can involve us in that world; so in my opinion it's very important to know how our friends are.

But not all the leisure activities were the same over the years. My grandparents, for example, used to go to the mountain to catch flowers and insects and then they sell them, they collected a lot of money. My mother said to me that when she was a little girl she rode her horse on Saturdays and she went across the mountain with it, she was a very good rider, she loves horses. I admit that these activities are not popular nowadays but I think that they sound funny; teenagers could prove them.

Playing computer games has become the most addictive activity over the world. Many teenagers don't spend their free time outdoors because of the computer, the playstation ... etc. This activity could be bad for our health and for our state of mind. It could hurt our eyes and we can become unsociable people if we spend our free time indoors and it could even affect in our marks.
In conclusion, teenagers spend their free time doing a lot of activities. The leisure activity that a teenager does depends on his/her way of thinking. We can do it for pleasure (or for interest) and it's a good way against boredom.

by Iago Iglesias Cebreiros, 1º BACH B

7 Françaises en Allemagne

Manon is missing...

WHAT YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOWADAYS ON THEIR FREE TIME? / Javier López

Nowadays, and despite the enormous volume of exams and schoolwork young teenagers have, they still have some free time to spend with their friends, do new activities, and relax before classes start again. They have different possibilities depending on where they live, their economic situation and their age. But all students and young people have many options to spend their valuable free time, although sometimes they don’t know what to do and they stay at home having a nap or totally bored.

Sport activities are the first option for most students. Joining to a football, basketball, hockey, handball or volleyball team are interesting ways of doing exercise and having a good time. Teenagers can also play tennis, go to the swimming pool, or work out at a gym. The good side of sport activities is that they help you to stay fit and healthy. Most sports are also funny, like team sports. You can practice sport alone or with your friends, and you can also meet new interesting people. The bad side of this kind of activities is the possibility of having an injury. If you aren’t careful, you can easily fall down and break an arm or a leg. And if this happens, you won’t be able to practice any sport or do any physical effort for a long time. Many young people do sport because they want to be like their idols. They want to play tennis as well as Nadal, or be as good at football as Messi, so they train a lot of hours. This is a good reason for practicing sport, too.

Another good option to spend your free time is going to the park. There are lots of parks in all cities, and you can go alone, with your family or with your friends. In a park, you can read a book or have a nap. You can also kick a football around. And, if you want, you can take a picnic basket and a picnic rug and have a picnic. But remember: be careful with ants. This activity have one advantage: you can stay outdoors, surrounded by nature, but you don’t have to do physical efforts. You can just relax. The problem is that going to the park is only an option in a good, sunny day. You can’t have a picnic during a storm.

Teenagers that don’t want to be outdoors can stay at home. They can spend their free time watching a good film or any TV programme. There are many types of films to see, like comedies, action films, horror films and thrillers, romantic and musical films, documentaries, Science fiction and fantastic films… And there are also hundreds of different TV programmes, like soap operas, talk shows, sport programs, documentaries, and more. When you are bored of TV programs and don’t want to rent a film, you can switch on your computer. Nowadays teenagers love to surf the Internet for hours, where they can talk with their friends using social networking sites, blogs or chat programs. They can also research images and videos, download music and know what is happening all around the world visiting news websites. And when there isn’t any interesting thing in the Internet, they can use the computer or a game console to play videogames. Watching TV can be very funny, and there are lots of good films you can choose. When you are surfing the Internet, you can find really interesting news, videos or programs. Internet, like telephones, also helps you to be in contact with your friends, even if each of you live in a different city or country. And it’s proved that videogames help to train your brain and your intellectual abilities. But, like all things, abusing of TV and computers can be really harmful. If you usually spend a lot of hours in front of TV, you’ll probably have to do some extra physical exercise if you want to keep fit and with good health. Despite these problems, TV and computers are two of the best friends of bored students at their free time.

Many young people prefer going out with their friends to stay at home all day. If they decide to go out, there are many things they can do. They can go for a walk, play any sport or go shopping. They can go out to a bar, or go out for a coffee, if they want to sit and talk. They can play billiards, bowling, chess, cards, too .They can have dinner at a restaurant, have a barbecue, go to the swimming pool, or any other activity that they all enjoy. Finally, at night they can go to a disco, to a party or to a concert. These are perfect options if you want to keep in contact with your friends, meet new people, or both things. Although you’ll prefer to stay at home if you are ill or if all your friends have gone for holidays and you are alone. Going out is what most young people do at weekends.

Finally, some people prefer cultural and artistic activities. In a normal-sized city, this kind of people has many cultural locations and events to attend. They can visit a museum or an art gallery, go to the zoo or the aquarium, read novels and comics, listen to music, study something interesting or write in their diary. They can learn to play a musical instrument, too, like guitar, piano, flute, violin, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, drums… There are also many, many arts and crafts to learn and practice, like drawing, painting, sculpting or making furniture. These are interesting and relaxing activities most people can practise, even when some of them are a bit expensive (like going to museums, concerts or operas).

As we can see, there are thousands of different activities to choose when young people have some free time to spend. There are the same number of activities to do as the number of teenagers they can practise them. Some of these activities are healthier (like sports), some of them are more ecological (going to the park or going for a walk), and some of them are more instructive (going to museums or doing cultural activities) than others. But all of them are recommendable things, as there are other activities some people do that can affect their own health or health of people who are around them. Activities like breaking benches and bins, burning rubbish containers or stealing things are really insane leisure activities, because they are bad and harmful for the one who does them and for the rest of us. So, in conclusion, we have the possibility of spending our free time doing funny and interesting activities, wherever our likes are.

by Javier López Gómez, 1º BACH B

Interview with my grandmother / Andrea Santos

My grandparents' leisure activities were very different from our leisure activities nowadays.
My grandparents didn’t have the same time for leisure activities as us, because in the past they had to work during the week and they hadn’t got so much toys as us.
I interviewed my grandmother.

Interview:

Did you have much free time when you were about my age?
--No, I hadn’t

Why?
--Because when I was the same age as you, I had to work hard to help my family because we lived in the country and we had got cows, sheep…The only day I had got free time was on Sundays evenings.

Did you use to spend your free time on your own or with other people?
--No, with other people. We used to walk on Sunday evenings and some times when we took the cows to the meadows, we tried that another friends come to the same place and then we could play games as: “hide-and-seek”, running…

What were your hobbies?
--My hobbies were sewing, knitting, talking to my friends and dancing.

Did other youngsters enjoy doing the same things?
--Yes, more or less. Not all the girls liked sewing and knitting.

Why did you do that?
--Because my mum taught me and I liked it.

If you could, which thing or things would have you changed?
--I would have liked to have more free time, not only for playing but for going more to school.

What is your opinion about the way young people spend their free time nowadays?
--I think that you don’t have enough imagination because you can’t enjoy yourselves without computer, TV, mobile phone…You need spend a lot of money to have fun.

Conclusion:

In the past my grandmother hadn’t got the same way of enjoying themselves me because her way of living was very different from mine.

Of course, I prefer my way of life.

by Andres Santos Fernández, 1º BACH A

How leisure activities have changed ... / Sara Cid

Leisure activities have changed a lot for the last years. They aren’t the same in the past and now. Our grandparents and parents used to do other things in their free time. They enjoyed more of the nature and they spent more time together.

For example, my parents used to play with toys made of wood and painted. Nowadays, all toys are made of plastic and they need batteries. In my opinion, children in the First World don’t develop their imagination. One reason is that toys move alone, they are mechanized; other reason is that children have a lot os games, toys...

In the past many people had to go to the mount with the cows, like my father. He lived in a village and his parents were ranchers. Nowadays, everything is easier because we have supermarkets where we can find any product.

I admit that my generation has everything within our reach. We have Internet, which is an important tool, TV, radio, a lot of magazines or newspapers... We can know what happens all over the world.

Our parents had TV but there was only a channel and with few programmes, so they spent their time with family or friends. Not very frequently and only the lucky ones went to the cinema. The cinemas of before were different. There were very few movies and they spent more time in billboard.

My grandparents would play with popular games, such as spinning top, runs, to clap... My grandmother used to make dolls with spikes of corn. In the past there weren’t toys. In addition the few ones there were very expensive for the majority.

My grandparents lived in a rural way, so they used what existed in the field to amuse themselves. In my opinion this way of entertainment is good because you enjoy yourself and at the same time you respect the environment. I believe that technology is not necessary to have fun.

Nowadays, teenagers are only worried in playing with computer games and they don’t socialize. These games are addicted and very expensive and they are bad for their mind because some teenagers usually think the real world is like these games.

In conclusion, every way of entertainment is different and it has advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, leisure activities in the past were cheap but there were few ones. On the other hand, nowadays there are a lot of activities but nearly all need from the technology. Probably in the future there will be other ways of spending the free time...

by Sara Cid Feijóo, 1º BACH A

Young people's leisure activities nowadays / Rubén Viso Vidal

Nowadays, many adults argue about how young people spend our free time. So I am going to write about our leisure activities and I will try to find if they are good or not, as well as the good and bad sides of each activity. First, I am going to explain what we do in our free time. School and schoolwork are very hard, so we need some activities to relax and disconnect from it. It is also important to have a good time while we do those activities. These are our leisure activities:


When a teenager finishes his/her work, the first thing he/she will do is to call some friends and go out with them. Then, most of them will go to the cinema to watch a film or go to the shopping centre. These are good activities because when a teenager goes to the cinema or shopping, he/she doesn´t annoy anybody and he/she will enjoy himself/herself. The problem comes up when the teenager spends too much money in that activity, so they will probably receive a punishment from their parents. Young people can also go to the amusement arcades, where they can play video games, billiards and table football.

This is such a good way to enjoy oneself and to meet new people at the same time. However, it can also be a problem if the teenager spends too much time at those activities because it can affect his/her school marks and he/she can waste too much money. A lot of young people will spend their free time going for a walk, doing sport or going out for a drink. They are very good activities for teenagers because those are such really good ways to meet other teenagers and to enjoy themselves at the same time. Going for a walk and doing sports are also good for our health.

However, a few teenagers will stay at home. There, they will spend their free time watching TV, playing computer games, surfing the Internet or chatting. These activities, which are very funny, can also affect their health and lead them to a sedentary life and to obesity.

In my opinion, young people can enjoy ourselves and get high marks at school at the same time. I think that our leisure activities are different from our parents’ leisure activities, but neither better nor worse. I am sure that the problems which could come up with our leisure activities can be resolved with a bit of responsibility from us, from politicians and from all citizens, especially noises at nights.

by Rubén Viso Vidal, 1º BACH

All photos taken by Rubén Viso Vidal.

What I do in my leisure time?

Nowadays most young people spend their leisure time in a wide range of activities. Usually these activities are going out with our friends, surfing the Internet, playing computer games or relaxing, but there are lots of different activities that young people normally don’t do. In this composition I’m going to talk about these activities.

First I want to talk about the world of theatre, to which I have just entered. I started relating with people, who have a special interest in it, last summer and now I’m in two groups of theatre. In the first one like a technician of lighting and sound, the name of this group is “A Sombra Teatro”. The group is composed by five actors and a technician. We have just represented “Os Carniceiros” in the MOTA, a sample of theatre in Ourense.

At the second group of theatre, I’m in it like an actor. For me, it is a special group because I started in it five years ago and I have a lot of recollections about it. Its name is “Leria” and sometimes we fuse with another group of old people, with which we do some representations. At the moment, we are preparing a new representation called “XXVI + XV” with which we are going to compete in the “MOTECES”, a sample of school theatre.

Also, I have a Cultural Association, called “Delatoute productions” (it’s not French), with a group of people that love cinema and in general, audiovisual. Here I do a lot of things, as for example, I’m the lighting and sound technician, one of the four operator camera and finally, I have a small role as an actor. I’m very happy with our new project, a television series, called “Carleision”, which mixes comedy and intrigue. This is our first project, which Telemiño (a local TV channel) has already accepted.

Finally, I will talk about the youth house of Ourense. This is the starting point for many groups and associations. The youth house gives grants to these groups and lends them a space for rehearse. It isn’t just a theatre site, because there are many other activities such as: playing chess, doing sports, dancing, renting films and music, surfing Internet, reading newspapers and magazines…

In conclusion, most young people have a wrong stereotype of leisure time, because there are thousands of different things to do instead of those mentioned before. I think people shouldn’t get drunk or take drugs to have a good time. I make an appeal to people who believe that getting drunk or taking drugs will make them happy, to try to do something new, like going to the theatre or see a good film.

by Roi López Blanco, 1º BACH – B

Leisure activities in the past and now / Adriana Iglesias

I’ve always thought that children have everything they want, and that they don’t have time to get bored. Leisure activities have improved a lot; I mean, there are many video games and facilities that 30 years ago people couldn’t imagine they would exist someday.

When my parents were very young, they used to go out with their friends. They went to the park with them and sometimes with their family. There, they exercised or they just played on the children’s playground. When they became teenagers , they started to do different things. For example, my mother loved reading romantic novels, and my father joined a band. At nights, they went to the disco to dance or to date someone, since that was the place where my parents met.

My grandparents used to do similar things. They lived in villages and there, they played popular games and they took care of animals like horses, sheep and cows. They liked going fishing to the river and there they swam. They also had picnics and went camping. My great- grandfather would hunt and he taught my grandfather how to do it, though he didn’t like it because he was fond of animals.

Nowadays, people do different things, but also the same as them. I sometimes have lunch with my friends in a restaurant and then we spend the rest of the day together. In summer, we go to the swimming pool, which is crowded, and we sunbathe, swim in the pool and play cards. Some people love going to the shopping center. They can buy clothes or whatever they want. Others like reading and they can spend all their time doing it.

One of the things that has always been very important is spending time with your family. I meet them every Sunday, and we always have a good time together. I think this was even better in the past, because it was very common to live with your grandparents or other members of the family, so you could see them every day.

We should do more things outdoors, as people did in the past. Although they didn’t have electronic machines, they knew how to have a good time and spent more time with their friends, something that helped them to be sociable and more confident. Many people stay at home watching TV or playing computer games, instead of playing sports, going to the cinema…
In conclusion, our leisure activities can improve even more if we mix things people did in the past with other things we do now. Maybe, if you’re used to doing something, you can make an effort and try to make it funnier than it is. It just depends on how you want to spend your free time.

by Adriana Iglesias Pazos, 1º E Bach

Interviewing our grandparents

Comparing parents and grandparents’ free time and mine, I realize; some years ago there were more free time, more imagination to spend it and less dangers on the street, but parent’s orders were stricter.
On one hand, my parents used to go fishing and having walks in the nature and; on the other hand, I just go out on evenings Saturday three times a month. I would like to spend more time with my friends, but with my homework I don’t have enough.
I’ve interviewed my grandmother, who is in her seventies.

Me- Did you have much free time when you were about my age?
Grandmother- Yes, I did.
M- Why?
G- Because when I was seventeen, I had already left school. I got married at the age of eighteen.
M- Did you use to spend your freetime on your own or with other people?
G- That depends. Sometimes alone, another times with friends or family.
M- What were your hobbies?
G- I used to do needlework, I liked to sew, to embroider, to knit,…
M- Did other youngsters enjoy doing the same things?
G- The girls….yes. But boys used to play football, ride horses, catch birds, climb trees, they were doing pranks every day.
When we were younger, both girls and boys, used to skip rope and play with the spinning top.
M- Why did you do that (to sew)?
G- Because we spent most of the time at home. Parents didn’t allow you to go out. If you were at the cinema, watching a film, which had already finished and you must came back at home at an hour, you had to leave the film unfinished.
M- What is your opinion about the way young people spend their free time nowadays?
G- There are good, and bad things. It’s ok a flexible timetable, leave the film unfinished had no sense, but there are too young people who go out to eight in the morning; that’s too much!

I don’t think that my grandmother’s activities were more enjoyable than mine (to sew is not funny). But they spent less money and had more imagination.
Nowadays, most teenagers spend their free time opposite the computer’s screen or television.
In my opinion, society should reflect on teenagers’ behaviour. We should take advantage of gyms and mixed groups (boys and girls friends), so, leave the TV remote control or the social drinking glass and have a walk in the nature.

by María Martínez López, 1ºBAC A