THE ROBBERY I wasn't able to see his face. I was walking down the street one afternoon, after a particularly uneventful day when I felt the blow on the back of my head. Then, an urgent authoritative voice said to me: "Escuse me sir. Would you please give all your personal belongings to me? Otherwise, I'll be forced to execute you on the spot". Well... those were NOT his words exactly but you get the meaning right? So, I surrender my watch, my mobile phone and my postman bag full of worthless papers to the delinquent. Everything happened in a flash and I wasn't able to see his face (I think I mentioned that before). What I COULD see were the words on his T-shirt. "Bad habits need to die" it said, in bold fluorescent letters.

Is this question ("Francis and Henry are moving house tomorrow") grammatically correct?

I WANT YOU to speak Spanish! Hi, I´m Leonardo from Buenos Aires (Argentina). I´ve been learning English for about eight years and Spanish for more than thirty years, so I can help you become a proficient Spanish speaker. My main goal is for you to feel comfortable and relaxed to begin speaking Spanish right away. I offer speaking practice and test preparations. Check out my teacher profile and don´t hesitate to send me a message!

Refranes Un refrán, según el diccionario de la Real Academia Española, es un dicho agudo y sentencioso de uso común. Es decir, es una frase ingeniosa que nos enseña algo y usamos habitualmente. En el ejemplo siguiente vamos a hablar de Tony Montana ("Scarface"). Podemos decir de él que "Quien mal anda mal acaba" (quien lleva una vida desordenada tiene, por lo general, un fin desastroso) o "Quien a hierro mata, a hierro muere" ( por lo general, uno recibe o experimenta el mismo daño que hizo a otro). Fuentes: http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=refr%C3%A1n http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/ficha.aspx?Par=59413&Lng=0 http://cvc.cervantes.es/lengua/refranero/ficha.aspx?Par=59343&Lng=0

Like teen spirit In broad terms, adolescence describe the teenage years between 13 and 19 which can be considered as a transitional stage. For the German-born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, this period is one of the eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood. From an artistic point of view, great works of literature has also described this period in detail. In his acclaimed novel “The Catcher in the Rye”, the American author Jerome Salinger narrates the ups and downs of Holden Caulfield, a teenage boy from New York in the 50’s. Lots of things have been said about the mental health of the most famous Salinger’s character but can he be said to be a typical adolescent or not, according to Erikson´s theory? First of all, Erikson explains that adolescents must artificially appoint perfectly well-meaning people in the roles of adversaries. Holden Caulfield does this all the time: a defense mechanism he employs in order to cope with reality. As an example, when his teacher Mr. Spencer reprimands him for his lack of responsibility he just thinks how “phony” his teacher is. Secondly, Erikson explains that “adolescent love” is by no means a sexual matter but an attempt to define one´s identity and that is why much of young love is conversation. And that is exactly what Holden does: he talks instead of performing the sexual intercourse. “Sex is something I really don't understand too hot” the boy claims. The scene in which he asks for a prostitute just to talk to her in the end is a good example of his behaviour. Last by no least, Erikson claims that young people are cruel in their exclusion of all those who are different. Holden Caulfield does not belong to any of the cliques at his school and in this respect he is a victim. But he is as intolerant as those who cast him aside, since he is always eager to pass judgment on others and criticize them bitterly. To sum up, we don´t know if Salinger´s antihero could have crossed successfully that shaky bridge between infancy and adulthood that is adolescence. What is absolutely evident is that Holden is by no means a rara avis in the adolescent world, but just a vivid example of it.

Macbeth Hi italki friends! I need the help of someone expert on Shakespeare, since I started to read "Macbeth" and of course, it's a bit complicated to me. I´d like to exchange messages or talk about the subject if possible. Thanks in advance!

A square peg into a round hole For as long as I can remember, my dad has been an ardent football fan. When he was a young lad, he used to kick makeshift balls all around my grandma’s house, driving her crazy. As a teenager he managed to join an amateur team, but a knee injury shattered his dream of becoming a professional footballer. Consequently, as I was his first boy, I was supposed to follow in his footsteps. Needless to say, the attempt was a complete disaster. I was always lost on the pitch, and the spectators could not help groaning at my clumsiness every time I went for the ball. I felt miserable, missing dreadfully the few moments I could read my favourite books, which had been gathering dust for months. Eventually, when I had had enough of being the laughing stock of my team-mates, I resolved to let my father know of my decision to quit sport. “Dad, I’m not a natural-born football player, I must tell you”, I told him without any hesitation. Then, I shattered his illusions for ever: “I will never be a playmaker like Brindisi (one of the Boca Juniors’ top-scorers in the eighties), I want to be like Edgar Allan Poe”. “A hopeless lush? What do you mean?”- he cried suddenly. “A writer daddy” I retorted- I want to be a renowned author”. He just lowered his head, gave me a big hug and let me go. The tears were streaming down his cheeks.

Live and let die In this ever changing world in which we live in, one thing is certain: rapid advances in medical technology have come to stay. These improvements have made possible to extend life expectancy like in any other time in history. But also, through the use life-support systems, respirators and feeding tubes now it is possible to keep comatose patients alive during years, even decades. Do these devices sustain life of just prolong death? This controversial question was raised again in our country weeks ago with the case of Marcelo Diez, an extreme sports lover who is in a vegetative state since a crash accident left him in bed in 1994. His sisters made an appeal to the Supreme Court to have the patient's hydration and nutrition removed, but there was never a positive answer for them. “What Marcelo was is not there anymore. Let him die” they repeat. To make things worse, the opinion of the Catholic Church is highly regarded in a country like ours. Bishop Virginio Bressanelli of Neuquén said that if Marcelo is disconnected from the respirator that kept him alive “It would constitute euthanasia by omission and the crime of abandonment”. This is the perfect example on how a familiar drama transcends its limits to become a state affair which involves lawyers, judges, bishops and a family who is denied the simple fact to give their loved one a good send off. Right-to-life activists often give the example of cases like Terry Wallis, who revived in 2003 after being 19 years old in profound coma after a car accident. He had shown improvements by regaining some powers of speech but it was said that it was virtually impossible for someone to regain the full extent of their cognitive abilities. Terry Wallis turned fifty recently and although his relatives said that this was a miracle he is still paralysed from the neck down. All in all, every case is unique and has to be considered at its full extent. To answer the question posed at the beginning we have to take into account the opinion of professionals to see if it is possible for comatose patients to regain full consciousness and lead a fulfilling life. But also it is vital to consider the opinion of the people who devote their lives to take care of the patients. Advances in science should improve the quality of life of the human being, and not to interfere with the course of its normal process of decay.

British and American history I'd like to get in touch with people passionate about history to discuss British history (from James I to the Georgian era) and American history (from the first settlements to the Declaration of Independence). I'd like to talk via skype, if possible.