iexam Laura Salmeron

 

 

IEXAM1:

The human being, from his primitive stage, has had the need to communicate and for this he has devised and created different forms and means. The smoke signals, the flashes sent by mirrors, the homing pigeons, reflected the search for solutions to meet that need. As human groups expanded their activities of life, commerce, war, government organization, their means of communication became more complex. Therefore, after meeting their local commitments, they found it necessary to expand these means of communication and reach long distances. It was no longer enough to depend on messengers during warfare. Human ingenuity was able to create the telegraph, which was perfected until it evolved into the telephone, then the radio, much later television, today, the computer, cable television, communication satellites and finally the mobile phone. Sometimes we would have to stop to think how much we have evolved and how our way of communicating has changed. I have never stopped to think about how we communicate and the details that escape us on a daily

In the morning, I have met some teammates there and you can know that it is Saturday because everyone is dressed comfy, with the face of having slept well after a hard week of university, the girls with a bow and the boys a bit disheveled. I have realized that one of the most important things in communication is body expression, it shows you part of the message you are talking about, you can know if the person you are talking to is sad or happy without having said it. When a person gets angry with you, you can see it in his look, face and tone of voice, and you can see how what you have done has affected him. Thanks to the corporal expression we understand the meaning of the message. Another thing that I have noticed is that we take care of our hair, the way we dress, our make up... when we want to show a good impression.

Moreover, we can't say everything we think because then we might hurt people's feelings, sometimes you just have to keep it to yourself. And if we have to say something that we know is going to hurt the other person, then we must say it in the best possible way so that they do not take it badly. I have also realized that our way of speaking depends on the person we are talking to, for example, if we’re talking with our teachers we will feel more shy and you will talk more formal. But if you’re talking with your friends you’re not going to be shy, you won’t speak formal and you will feel more you. When we write mails to our teachers, I think we write as much polite and respectful as possible  but if we’re writing to our friends we just write as less polite as possible and also we write with abbreviations and sometimes with no sense.

I tried to keep track of the time without a cell phone, a computer or any electronic device. I have to say that it was difficult because nowadays teenagers were born with the telephone by our side, in fact I believe that we have lost part of the essence of the human being, we communicate more with the telephone than face to face. We spend many hours on the phone, and obviously the communication is not the same. On the one hand, it is more difficult because you cannot see the body expression that he is talking about, perhaps he is making a joke and you think he is angry with you. But on the other hand, it helps a lot with distance communications, in my case, the telephone helps me a lot to be able to talk with my family and to feel better with them. It helps me explain everything and that despite the time difference, communication is easier. Talking on the phone is never the same as talking in person, I value it more now. One negative thing about communicating on the phone is that you cannot feel human contact, for example a hug, when they hold your hand, when they greet you with two kisses. Many times I wish I had the opportunity to talk to my parents face to face and give them a hug but I cannot, so the phone makes me feel closer to them. Finally I have to say that my time without electronic devices has been difficult, I could not speak with my friends or family from Spain. I think that the telephone makes us lose the option of noticing many things that happen around us that we do not see. And I also have felt a bit lonely, as I said before, nowadays, we depend a lot on the telephone and what others are doing, instead of enjoying our own life. An example is when we are with friends and instead of explaining stories or anecdotes, we are using our phone. It's sad to think about it, but I feel like I'm missing something without my phone.

To sum up, I believe that human beings have evolved a lot and the way we communicate has changed radically, we have adapted to our needs and the discoveries we have made. This exercise has helped me learn small details that I did not take into account before. Moreover, when I left my phone and spent couple of hours without it, I felt alone and sad but I realized that I don’t have to be all day with my phone expecting to know about my friends or my family, I have to live my life here and when I have time, call them and explain them the amazing adventures I’m having here.