obecor-blog

[obecor-blog]

proposal for English course

I had a great time during these English courses. It always was one of my favorite subjects and I didn’t disappoint these years. The thing that stood out most for me was that there were options for people who were advanced in English (the C1 course). This was what kept me interested. Because the first year was if you asked me pretty easy.  

This brings me to my first point of improvement. Do something in the first year for people who are good in English. This year never really challenged me. The words and phrases I had to learn I already knew. The listening, speaking en reading exercises were also not that hard for me. The writing exercise was more difficult for me, but writing was always my weak spot.  

Secondly, I would change the way people have to study for their tests. I almost only learned the words and phrases that I didn’t know and I got a good grade. Maybe let the students use those words In a speaking exercise instead of just a paper test. This way the students learn how to use the words in a conversation. Besides the students can test their speaking abilities.

But after all, Thank you to the teacher for the lessons. I had a blast

[obecor-blog]

Words or expressions that I didn’t know

When I was looking for words I had never heard off, I came across the word Hullabaloo. It means the loud noises people use when they're angry. You can just use it as a word to describe the noises you hear when someone is loud and angry.  https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/weird-strange-english-words/  

An expression I came across, when I was listening to a podcast was: The whole nine yards. It means All the way. So for example I'll defend you the whole nine yards. https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-idioms/  

When I was watching a TV show, I heared the word poppycock. It means nonsense. You can use it when someone is giving a lot of irrelevant information. You can say: that’s pure poppycock. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poppycock  

[obecor-blog]

letter to my employer

Dear client,

The last 6 months I did a project with you as a client. I had a great time during these months. The way you motivated me and helped me when I got stuck during this project meant a lot to me. During the corona crisis I learned that in order to motivate myself I had to use others to help me keep being interested in the project. Whenever we talked you could motivate me to take my project to another level.  

Secondly even when I couldn’t work at the office because of corona. You gave me the experience on how the work culture is at your company. By letting my join meetings between employees and customers. And the friday afternoon drinks online were a blast. It really helped getting to know your company.  

Also, I like to compliment you on the way you helped during this project. You are very involved in this project. This helped me to adjust the course of the project in time when it needed.  

At last a word of advice. Try to involve others in this project. Not only me but all of your employees. I got a feeling that your employees didn’t really know what I was working on. This feeling became true when I talked to them.  

Thanks for the past 6 months and good luck in the future

Yours sincerely

......

[obecor-blog]

personal learning experiences

Last year i took a minor at hogeschool Utrecht. In this minor you learn how to start and develop you own project. During this time we had a lot of international speakers on. One of my favorite speakers was an estate agent from New Zealand. This person started with nothing. He had no money for school or other ways to learn. So he offered to work for free by businesses which he deemed valuable for his personal development. His story thought me that there is always a way to develop yourself, but sometimes you have to take a step back to see how you can move forward. 

During the corona crisis a lot of lives changed, mine too. I learned that in order for my to work effectively, the place where i work means a lot. My own home i sacred, Normally when I am at home my work is done and I can relax. During corona I had to stay at home and work there. The first few weeks were a learning curve for me. After these weeks i found out, that if you told someone what i had to do today and that someone asked me about it at the end of the day. My motivation to work at home rose. And I actually got things done. 

[obecor-blog]

New words

During my blogging experience I have come across a few new words. The first of these words is venture “capitalist” this is someone who dares to invest a lot of money in a risky business for a high reward. The second word was “feasible” which means that it is executable, you can act on it. I didn’t came across more words which I didn’t know already, but you can only increase your vocabulary one word at the time.

[obecor-blog]

International Journey to Macedonia

In July 2018 I went to Macedonia with a few friends. This is a country that until recent years has had a lot of civil wars. Therefore not a lot of tourists visit Macedonia and the local population is quite poor. Because they had only a few weeks in July where they could profit from tourism they were very kind. You could ask anything of the local people they would always deliver. This was sometimes difficult for me, because I hate to ask things of people when I could do these things myself. This resulted in some embarrassing moments. For example a tug of war for a coat. A local man asked if he could take my coat and before I answered he already had a part of my coat in his hand. It went to fast for my brain so I also grabbed my coat. But even with some embarrassing moments I have had a blast in Macedonia. The biggest difference between the Macedonian culture and the Dutch is that the Dutch too often think about money. In Macedonia if you eat by someone at home, you can have the whole fridge and if that is not enough they will get you something. This astonished me, because it is one of the poorest countries in Europe and they would give you anything if you asked. I learned from this experience that when you are having a good time, don’t think about money.

[obecor-blog]

Article 3. Nissan says Ghosn received $9m in improper payments.

This article is about Carlos Ghosn. He is the former chairman of Nissan and Mitsubishi. He has been detained since November on charges involving financial crimes. By a joint venture between Nissan and Mitsubishi received Carlos a total of 7.8 million euros in improper payments. After his arrest both companies fired him. He signed a contract which would give him a compensation of 7.8 million euros, but he signed this contract without consulting two other board members. His lengthy detention in japan has raised suspicion of a powerplay within an alliance between Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault. Because Carlos is still the chairman of Renault. He also was the man who created the alliance between Nissan, Mitsubishi and Renault.

Personally I think that Carlos imprisonment is justified. He stole money therefore you get a sanction. And because he already has a lot of money, I think imprisonment is the right sanction. Because if you fine him he just pays and that doesn’t hurt him that much. But if it is true that he is still in prison, my believes shift. The government shouldn’t interfere with the justice system. These powers are split for a reason. The government should not have the power to keep people in prison for their own gain.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46915514

[obecor-blog]

Article 2. Detroit auto show: Firms bet on petrol to fund electric future.

This article is about the future of electric cars. This has been the number one topic of discussion at the Detroit auto show. Ford and General Motors have both announced to grow their electric vehicle line-ups. Caddillac a brand owned by General Motors, introduced at this auto show a new kind of battery package. They say these batteries will fit into the car, the way “ice cubes fit into a tray”. This new design will help drop the costs of changing a battery pack. Lots of other companies are experimenting with electric cars. But at the car show where only a few fully electric cars. This is because most companies would have to sell the cars they already make to pay for the development of an electric car.

Personally I do think that electric cars are the future. But they still have quite a long way to go. Because of a few reasons. First of all are these electric cars too expensive for most people. Secondly to change a battery package is almost as expensive as buying a new car. At this moment you have to change your battery package every 10 years. Most petrol cars have a lifespan longer than 10 years. My third problem with electric cars is the long wait to charge your battery. At this moment a battery of an electric car is charged in one hour. This compared to the wait of a few minutes to fill your car with petrol. Because of these reasons I don’t think this is the right time to change to electric cars, but I believe it will be the future of cars.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46872928

[obecor-blog]

Article 1. Germany 'considers ban on Huawei' amid global backlash.

Germany is exploring stricter security requirements which may prevent Huawei products being used in its 5G network. A lot of other countries are also trying to prevent Huawei products from using the network. These countries think that Huawei is using the 5G network for espionage. Huawei denies these claims. The politicians in Germany are opposed to banning any suppliers from its 5G network, but they are considering excluding Huawei by adding stricter security requirements to the network. The United states, Australia and New Zealand have already blocked local firms from using Huawei. The United Kingdom and Canada are considering to block Huawei from there 5G network. The Chinese ambassador to Canada warned of “repercussions” if the country banned Huawei from their 5G network. Canada and China are in this moment embroiled in a diplomatic row, because of this. China sentenced a Canadian to death and Canada reacted by arresting a top official and the daughter of the founder of Huawei.

Personally I don’t think that banning or blocking a company from a market is not the best move. Because I think everybody should have a chance to compete in any market. But I can see why these countries would want to ban Huawei. Especially if it involves espionage. But by sentencing people to death and responding by arresting people are a little bit childish and way to extreme in my point of view. In conclusion I believe that Huawei should have a chance of using the 5G network. But they should be watched. And if it is true that they sell trade secrets then I think the other countries have a profound reason to ban Huawei from their network.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46914489

[obecor-blog]

Yale lecture. The Game Theory

The first part of this lecture is the game of grading. In this game you have actions strategies and reasons. We miss in this game the objectives or payoffs. In the game theory only yourself can decide what your goals are in life. Only when we know your goals the game theory can help you get there. First lesson of the class is do not play a strictly dominated strategy. Because if instead I play the strategy that dominates it you get a better payoff. Second lesson of the class is rational choice (not choosing the dominating strategy) can lead to outcomes that suck. This is in other words known as the prison dilemma. You can use it in economics for example in a price war. If players choose the dominated strategy, because if the other chooses the same strategy the overall result is better. If you change the payoffs you get another game with another outcome. Therefore you need to know what you goals are before you make a strategy. If you don’t have a dominant strategy you have to look at your opponent’s dominant strategy. The essence of strategic thinking is to put yourself in you opponent’s shoes to figure out what their payoffs are and try to figure out what they will do. It is much easier to know your own payoffs than to know your opponents payoffs. A reason for choosing a dominated strategy is to raise the overall score.

This lecture was relevant to me because most people look only to themselves if they have to choose a strategy. This lecture helps me see that in order to choose a strategy you sometimes have to know what the others payoffs are and which strategy they will choose in order for me to choose the right strategy. The second part I learned from this lecture is that in order to choose a strategy you have to know you goals. Because when you don’t your strategy doesn’t help you get to your goal. Both of these lessons will help me study and in the future if I need to make strategies.

https://oyc.yale.edu/economics/econ-159/lecture-1 

[obecor-blog]

Ted talk 3. Reigniting creativity in business

Often companies tell their employees to solve a problem by thinking outside the box. These sessions often results in terrible ideas. Being creative doesn’t work. Alan Iny says: “the Key to being creative is doubt.” He uses Bic as an example. They made pens. Until in a meeting, where they discussed how to grow. In this meeting someone said: “Why don’t we make razors.” This certain someone doubted that Bic only could make pens. This wasn’t a new idea. Some other companies already made razors, but it was new for Bic. This helped Bic to develop from a company who made only pens to a company who made disposable plastic products. This talk was interesting to see how you can think outside the box by doubting the unspoken rules.

Alan Iny quoted George Orwell who said: “To see what is in front of ones nose requires a constant struggle. Which means that to know what the environment does you have to be constantly looking. Because when you don’t look it changes and you are playing catch up. I liked this quote because it tells me that I always have to keep an eye on the environment. This will help me to see opportunities and act on them.

https://www.ted.com/talks/alan_iny_reigniting_creativity_in_business#t-148138 

[obecor-blog]

Ted talk 2. The argument for trouble

In this talk you realize that trouble is not always bad. The word trouble has often a negative effect on us, but it is also helpful. If you look for it. You can prepare yourself for a problem that is coming. This will probably be the reason that in ten years 40% of today’s Fortune 500 companies will be gone. Mark Modesti also explains in this talk that there are 2 different mindsets: the builder and the fixer. The fixer mindset is a mindset where you like solve many problems quick. The builder mindset is the mindset of someone who looks by a problem for a permanent solution or a new model which dodges the problem. This talk helped me see that trouble does not always have to be negative. It can also help you prepare for a problem which is coming.

Marc Modesti said the following quote: “If you don’t look for trouble its going to look for you.” I like this quote because I often postpone problems. Only to realize that they stack up until its to late. This quote says that you have to look for solutions for the problems right the second as the problem presents itself.

https://www.ted.com/talks/mark_modesti_the_argument_for_trouble#t-432475

[obecor-blog]

Ted talk 1. How cryptocurrency can help companies get investment capital

In this Ted talk Ashwini told her story of how she got investment money by buying cryptocurrency and selling it. This helped her company get more money faster. At this moment she has helped nearly thirty companies by getting them investment money. She also explained the benefits of cryptocurrency in stead of venture capitalists. That explanation was very understandable. In conclusion it was an insightful talk and it learned me that sometimes you have to think out of the box to solve a problem.

In this ted talk I heard the quote: “access to capital is access to opportunity”.  I picked this one because it implies that in order to get new opportunities you need to have capital. In other words you need to invest if you want to grow or get new opportunities. For me is this something to keep in mind. Because sometimes I hesitate before i make a decision for this exact reason. 

https://www.ted.com/talks/ashwini_anburajan_how_cryptocurrency_can_help_new_companies_get_investment_capital 

[obecor-blog]

My English Experience

When I was 6 years old i started gaming. My first real game was called Tibia. Its an open world game, where you had to interact with other people to get good in the game. this game is mainly played in Brasil and Poland so I had to talk English a lot of the time. 

After a few years i started playing League of Legends. This was a game where you had to work together with five other people to win the game. Most of my teammates on League of Legends were from different countries, So I had to talk English a lot. After a few months I became friends with them and started playing a lot of games with them and visited them sometimes. This developed my English language a lot. 

Because of these experiences I was quite good in English at school. That developed in little work and good marks for English. At school I did a lot of presentations those resulted also in good grades. Those presentations helped develop my Englsih speaking skill even more. 

During my time at middle school i watched a lot of american sports such as NBA (basketball) and NFL (American football). I also watched a lot of movies and series during this time. I always hated dutch subtitles because they were different spoken text. that really bothered me, so when I was about 14 I started watching movies without subtitles or only English subtitles for movies with a really thick accent. 

I still watch all my movies and series with no subtitles. I also speak to my English speaking friends from time to time. Because of this I keep my English skills at a steady level and develop them even more.