LAST CLASS FOR A DEBATE

I really can't imagine how fast time flies. I still remember the first class of ESP2 and it seems like it was yesterday. But unfortunately now it's the end. It's our last English class for this period  of our studies and next year we won't have any English classes :( I have always enjoyed English classes and this semester I had the best experiences. These classes were not about grammar and stuff like that which are kind of boring for us, but it was all about communication which also helped us improve our skills and abilities and prepare us for the future and the life after university, which obviously will not be the way we think or want.
Our debate topic was about cohabitation. It was a topic that I had  never thought of and I really didn't know my attitude towards it. So for me it was a little harder to debate and argue with the others. My two colleagues and me were chosen to protect the disagreeing points of cohabitation against our three other colleagues. It was obvious that they won the debate because they had strong arguments but in the end they didn't change my mind. I have still a neutral opinion when it comes to cohabitation. But I have to say that it doesn't decide if a marriage will be successful or not as my colleagues claimed. Anyway it was a productive debate for both sides and we continued discussing even after we left the building. It's a never ending discussion.

P.S. Through this post I would like to thank all my colleagues of the ESP2 and our much respected professor Luiza. I appreciate all her advice and her devotion to work and towards us. We wish her the best luck and a lot of success in her new experiences. Thank you!
My dear colleagues we still have a long way to go together so I hope we will make it to the end and make our dreams come true! Good luck to all of you :))

ROLE PLAYS 

So after we finished with all the lessons about communication, conflict and conflict resolution in the workplace, now was time to apply these methods in practice. Our task was to chose a conflict situation and make role play about it where we had to find the solution. I liked it a lot. I enjoyed writing the roles. It was easy but we had to be careful when choosing the methods for solving the conflict. The main topic of our role play (together with Engin and Bashkim) was based on true story. Mine. I have not experienced it in a workplace yet, but usually I am late everywhere I go, despite my efforts to be on time. So, this play was about a team leader who was working in the same office with her colleague but she was always late. Thus her colleague had to look after her job and answer her calls while she was not in the office. So he decided to complain to her about this issue but she didn't take it too seriously. After the boss heard his complaining he warned her to be more careful with the arrival to work. This warning did not give any result so after holding a meeting with both of them in his office, the boss decided to divide their tasks and their offices as well, so it was a good solution and a satisfactory one for both sides.
I think we played it well and we really had fun during the role play. Based on the lessons we learnt, we tried to choose the one that suited more our conflict. In the end we were very satisfied with our work and the professor as well.

CONFLICT AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

As we learned in the previous classes communicating right in workplace is very important  in order to avoid conflicts. Conflicts can occur every time even when you are not aware of it. Usually conflicts are a result of a bad communication or misunderstanding. But not communicating at all can make a conflict even bigger, more serious and harder to resolve. Conflicts in the workplace usually occur between coworkers who are interdependent , who are angry to each other or act in different ways that cause problem for the company.
Resolving a conflict is a very hard job. But if we use some of the options that help us during this process then we can be successful. Mediation is one of the first steps to resolving a conflict. The mediator is not there to find the guilty one or the fault the mediator is there to find a resolution which will be on advantage of the sides involved in the conflict. Before trying to resolve the conflict the mediator should analyse the conflict and the context, plan the way of resolving and than choose the right option to mediate. While trying to resolve a conflict, depending on the situation, the mediator should know which option to use, whether to hold a meeting with all the sides or meet them one by one. Meeting one by one is a good chance for the people involved in the conflict to manipulate and give information that are on their advantage while on the other way they have to tell the truth and thus finding the solution becomes easier.
If you are personally  involved in a conflict try always to be the mediator yourself. Don't let the conflict grow because it will be harder to solve it and it may bring big consequences.

TIME MANAGEMENT

This lesson was about managing you time in the work place. Time in the workplace must be spent productively and and effective time management is one of the best components of this process. It involves long-term planing which is used for organizing the duties or projects that can be done over an extended length of time and short-term planing which is used to organize your task that have to be completed in shorter period of time, for example the daily tasks as completing a document, returning phone calls or e-mails, or having a brief meeting with coworkers.
So in order to be productive and never miss a deadline, creating and keeping a schedule is the best idea.

COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE

Communication is the best bridge for building good relationships with people. Communication in the workplace on the other hand is not always as we would like it to be. So we have to know how react and how to communicate with others in the workplace. It will not be always as simple as we think because there are different types of communication in the workplace that may not always give the wanted results if we do't know how to use them correctly. There are four categories of workplace communication:

1. FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION
this is the type of communication when you speak to someone directly. It can occur in a board meeting, interviews, causal or formal communication. But keep this in mind: no matter how causal the interaction is, never fall in the gossiping trap! Don't forget that you are in the work place and keep it professional.

2.TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION
This type of communication has its advantages and disadvantages. The person on the other side of the line can not see you and you are not always sure that he is paying attention to what you are saying. But on the other hand it can be an easier way to say the things you can not say face to face.

3.WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
It involves signature documents(contracts or agreements), invoices, formal correspondence, handouts and invitation. There are some information that are sent through paper or documents and during this process it is important to check the grammar and spelling. Pay attention to the information you are sending, it has to be true!

4. VIRTUAL COMMUNICATION
It means electronically communicating through e-mails, online conferences or web sites.

You should be careful when using them. Always find the appropriate type of communication depending on the situation. It is good to know that every culture has its own style of communication. So before dealing with this situations is good to search and read about other cultures' communication manners.

IT'S INTERVIEW TIME!

We spent a lot of classes discussing and preparing for the interview. Even though it was an improvisation I was excited. I was feeling nervous and I could not remember some words. Although I would like it to have gone as planed I am not that disappointed because at least I could learn from my mistakes and experience the emotions for which I am happy they occurred in front of my colleague and not in front of an real interviewer. What I learnt is that you don't have to rush while answering your question.Listen carefully to the question and before answering think carefully again what you are going to answer. Having this type of interview in English for the first time will really be helpful for me in the future. But still I think that in every interview it always feels like having it for the first time. 

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW

Since we are Communication students and that is what we pay more attention to, interviews are one of the most important communication process when you want a job. Interviews are the main part of the whole "looking for a job" process where you have the chance to "sell" yourself to the employer. As we earlier said that the cover letter gets you the interview, now the interview gets you the job. But it is not as easy as it may sound: interview! Actually it is a job interview, where you have to measure every word you say and carefully arrange them in every question. If you try to convince yourself that you don't have to prepare in advance and you will just answer about your past experiences and your future goals, then you are wrong. Listening to our professor's experiences with interviews was an advantage for us to perceive how an interview goes and what to expect during that process. In this week's classes we could learn about interview stages, types and job interview questions. Besides that we could discuss about the way we should look and act in an interview and also watched some videos about that. We could listen to other colleagues' experiences with interviews which was very useful especially when you take it from somebody else's experience. We really had to pay attention as we will have to do the same with the colleagues once in the role of the interviewer and then in the role of the interviewee. Here is a link with useful tips when preparing for an interview:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSylCmes5dw

PREPARING FOR INTERVIEW

 This week in English for Specific Purposes we were discussing about the most important things that we have to pay attention when getting in an interview. The way we look and behave sometimes can be more decisive in an interview. Through some videos we also saw what is more appropriate to wear in an interview. Black and white were not always the right colors, as most of us thought, they seemed to be too much formal for an interview.  So as much as you prepare for your answers, you should care about your appearance. But this doesn't mean that what you say or answer is not significant. Talking a lot does not always mean that you are smart, but what matters the most is  what you say and how clear are you to the person in front of you. An interviewee should always be short and clear and focused on the topic. Being honest also is an important element but you should be careful how much honest are you with the interviewer. Sometimes it's better not to mention everything, especially when it comes to your weaknesses. Try to make them sound as positive elements from which you can take advantage of. 

COVER LETTER

I love the fact that our classes start discussing about actual topics that occur in our country. It is like a warm up for the following hours of the class.  Even if we start with a particular topic it always broadens and we end up learning other new things and information from different fields.
These classes were mainly about the cover letters and how should we prepare them. Through some videos we gained some general knowledge about the cover letter and some useful tips how to write a better one. Cover letter is like a first impression. It should attract employers attention.
The next class we brought our cover letters and read them. We could give advice to each others for things that we thought are unnecessary and things that could be added. However well written cover letters will not always get you an interview. You have to be a little creative and you will be different from others. And being different means that you can be chosen from dozens of other applicants.Before preparing the cover letter and adding your skills and qualifications always remember to search about the job position and company that you are applying for. Letting them know that you have gained information about their company is an advantage for you. It is really important that before preparing your cover letter you search for tips that can help you break the monotony of the regular cover letters which usually end up in the employers' office wastepaper baskets.

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES 2

As soon as I came back from my exchange period in Slovenia, one of the first courses that I attended was English for Specific Purposes 2. I was really excited because it was going to be my first time in this course and as my colleagues had attended its first part last semester, I was not very familiar how it goes. My first meeting with the new professor was really nice. First I was kind of shy and I think I had some difficulties while talking but she was very friendly with us that it could attract all my attention and I felt released. Later after we discussed the syllabus, we had a talk about communication in general. We could all express our opinions. In the end of the class I was very pleased as I felt they were two productive hours and it was not boring at all.
On Thursday we held the second class of the week in ESP2 and I enjoyed it as well. I loved the method that our professor used to begin the class. She mentioned some events that lately occurred in our country with the intention to arouse the debate in the classroom. It ended up to be a very good debate with strong statement from everyone. I think that we were not complaining about the situation in our country because we all know how it is, but we were giving our ideas how we can overcome it. We had a long discussion with one of our colleagues who was not interested in doing something about the country but leaving it as soon as she has the chance. Even though everyone of us would like to live in a better and developed state we thought that first of all we have to defend our country from those who are ruining it and to fight for a better future as I see the youth as the only constructor of it. Giving up and leaving is not always the best choice. Anyway, we all have our opinions and dreams, and dreams are always bigger than anything else.