Vocab Notebook 2

So, my method for learning the great number of words for the second PC actually changed a little bit. For the first PC I created a word doc and wrote all the vocabulary in a spreadsheet. I discovered that I memorize unfamiliar words better when I write them down in my book, so I did this. There were about 400 vocabulary in total so, in order to manage writing all those out, I already started to do so during Christmas break. I worked with four different websites that helped me out a great deal: Vocabulary.com, Oxforddictionaries.com, Thesaurus.com and Howjsay.com. I wrote down every single unfamiliar word in my vocab book along with its explanation, synonyms, antonyms and some example sentences too. I also used the vocab list on Vocabulary.com, as it enables me to test myself whether I learned something or not. I focused on the 'hard' words first, as they are the more tricky ones. As the pronunciation of those words where extremely important for this part of the PC, I actually studied the phonetic alphabet and wrote every single word I wasn't sure of how to pronounce in phonetic script. I also worked with the "spelling bee" on Vocabulary.com, to make sure that I memorized the pronunciation. Unfortunately I could not save my progress with the spelling bee on Vocabulary.com so I had to start over and over again, which was a little bit annoying. All in all, I will definitely continue to write vocabulary down as my experience has appeared to be the best way of memorizing unfamiliar words.

Reflection on the Pecha Kucha experience

When I first heard the term "Pecha Kucha" I haven't had a idea what this could be. The first challenge was the pronunciation of this word. After a considerable long time of searching the web, I finally found I funny video on YouTube, which we got shown in class the next day. It’s a 'cover' of the well-known song "Mahna Mahna" from the Muppet Show. I continued informing myself about the presentation style and I was actually really surprised to read that this is a well-known presentation style even beyond China. There are a number of events and "Pecha Kucha nights" organized. This presentation uses 20 pictures per 20 seconds. This meant that we would have only six minutes and 40 seconds for our whole presentation. My first thought wasn't negative at all! I found the task to create a "Pecha Kucha" presentation challenging but I was motivated to do it. 

For our presentation we chose the topic euronews because we found it quite fascinating that the channel is available in 13 languages. Unfortunately, when we started researching we found out that the provided information is rather subjective. A prerequisite for this presentation is high-quality, comprehensive and above all not only on-sided. The topic can be very dry and boring unless you have an interest in that area and we had so we started digging deeper. While writing our transcript we wanted to keep it as interesting as possible. We wrote thousands of mails (or maybe just nine hundred) to finally get an answer from an account director from euronews. We asked him some questions that were not to find anywhere on the internet. I have to say that we were really lucky that someone actually answered our questions. We combined the information what we felt was important to mention from the euronews official website, with the interview of the account director. At first I was a little bit skeptical if people would be interested in this topic but I think we managed to arise the interest mentioning the survey we have done in class. The central aim of our presentation was though, to make our classmates realize what a great opportunity this is to enrich our language skills. It provides countless ways to improve our fluency and to acquire some new vocabulary. I am sure that the spoken presentation was way more authentic than the written one and that we managed to deliver it in an interesting way. =)

Summary

Before:

SUMMARY OF Europe already has one foot in “Japanese” deflation grave

The risk of an European deflation and a potential debt crisis are being analyzed by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the article “Europe already has one foot in “Japanese” deflation grave”, published in “The Telegraph” on October 23, 2013.

According to Evans-Pritchard, Europe is going to slide into a deflation trap, as Japan is now, if policy errors continue to happen. A deflation would become lethal, once total debt exceeds 300pc of GDP. Besides, inflation has dropped to an alarming rate of 0.9pc, which caused price falls and a growth in debt in many European countries. Especially Italy has faced the problem of “runaway-dept”.

Mr Darvas states that the only possible solution is to let the inflation grow. The EBC should implement all possible measures to ensure that inflation does not fall below 2pc, which however is not done. Moreover this is not accepted by Germany, even though it may soon become a victim of deflation itself.

The author’s proposed solution is the unification of France, Italy, Spain and the Club Med allies. Demanding appropriate action from Germany, they could force them to accept inflation. On the contrary, Europe hopes for global growth to save the economy, which is unlikely to happen.

200 WORDS, NOT INCLUDING TITLE

After:

SUMMARY OF Europe already has one foot in “Japanese” deflation grave

The risk of a European deflation and potential debt crisis are being analyzed by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in the article “Europe already has one foot in “Japanese” deflation grave”, published in “The Telegraph” on October 23, 2013.

According to Evans-Pritchard, Europe is going to slide into a deflation trap, as Japan is now, if policy errors continue to happen. Deflation would become lethal, once total debt exceeds 300pc of GDP. Besides, inflation has dropped to an alarming rate of 0.9pc, which caused price falls and a growth in debt in many European countries. Especially Italy has faced the problem of “runaway-debt”.

It is thought that the only possible solution is to let inflation grow. The EBC should implement all possible measures to ensure that inflation does not fall below 2pc, which however is not being done. Moreover this is not accepted by Germany, even though it may soon become a victim of deflation itself. 

The author’s proposed solution is for Club Med to demand appropriate action from Germany: force them to accept inflation. On the contrary, Europe hopes for global growth to save the economy, which is unlikely to happen. 

Text Project

Lejla Kurtic, Dunja Devic, Monika Maric

First Version:

Joining the EU has brought serious immigration problems to Malta

I. Malta

A. General information

Malta is one of the world's smallest and most densely populated countries, with a total population (includes including foreign residents) of 389,769. Malta has always been seen as the home of settlers and conquers such as the Sicilians, Arabs, Spanish and many more. Being a southern country, it is located…. As one of the most southern European countries, it is located close to Tunisia and Libya. After the EU accession in 2004, Malta has become the closest gate to the European Union for immigrants from these northern African countries. This has caused a continuous rise of immigration numbers. In 2009, 4.4% of Malta’s total population were occupied by foreign nationals, which was below the EU average of 6.4%. Of these, 2% were EU citizens (mostly British, but also Italians and others), while 2.4% were from non-EU countries. Since the late 20th century, Malta has become a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe. Between 2008 and 2012, Malta received, on average, the highest number of asylum seekers. This inward movement of foreigners into the Maltese Islands is regulated by (the Chapter 217 of the Laws of Malta:) the Immigration Act.

We would write a topic sentence and a concluding sentence. Sum it up and give the readers (in the topic sentence) an idea what your paper is about.

B. The way to EU membership

There were various opinions on Malta’s EU membership. Many people were looking forward to being a part of the community and underlining Malta’s European identity. Having advantages such as free travelling, choice of residence within EU countries and a hope for more tourists coming to Malta were some reasons to support the Nationalist party. The Labour party on the other hand had other plans for Malta, aiming to lead it to a “Switzerland of the Mediterranean” with closer ties to the EU but no membership. Amongst other arguments they argued that there was a threat of Sicilians taking Maltese jobs. Instead, it is African immigrants flocking to Malta in search for better lives. In the end, 53.6% of the voters had voted yes, forming a narrow majority in favour of accession. It was by far the lowest approval rate in the EU’s enlargement.

II. Immigration

A. Before joining the EU

Before Malta joined the EU in 2004, immigration levels were negligible. With its long history of repelling unwanted invaders like Ottoman Turks in the 1500s and helping Britain to keep Hitler at bay in the Second World War, it finally became independent in 1964. The Maltese needed to form a new identity after centuries of foreign leadership. This achievement is threatened now by thousands of immigrants coming to Malta, bringing unfamiliar habits and culture to the small island.

B. Changes that came with EU-membership

Now Malta receives the most asylum applications in the whole world, in relation to its small size. Alone in 2013 1,079 refugees found shelter in Malta and over the last decade the number adds up to 17,743. The high number of immigrants causes several problems for the small country and it has difficulties to cope with the situation. Its closeness to Africa has made Malta into a gateway for immigrants seeking entry to Europe. These refugees are generally poor and undocumented when they arrive in Malta and have to stay in crowded detention centres for up to 18 months. The conditions in those detentions centers are considered to be in a poor state and inhuman. The government states that resources to deal with boatloads of migrants who arrive at Maltas shores, are not given. Furthermore there is a growing fear of “cultural invasion” and racist assaults have begun to occur. Malta is the smallest country in the EU but has to carry a burden that is much bigger than in any other country and therefore desperately needs help from the EU.

III.Conclusion

Looking towards the future



Feedback:

1. Too many numbers in the first paragraph
2. Cohesion is sometimes missing
3. Rewrite Topic sentence
4. Concluding sentence missing in the second paragraph
5. Habits --> Customs (informal-formal)
6. "Most asylum seeker" --> "The largest number of..."
7. "Looking towards future would be a new aspect, not a conclusion."


Final version:

Joining the EU has brought serious immigration problems to Malta

In 2004 Malta became a member of the EU and with the membership a new problem occurred - exceptionally high immigration numbers. Malta is one of the world's smallest and most densely populated countries, with a total population (including foreign residents) of 389,769 people. It has always been seen as home of settlers and conquerors such as the Sicilians, Arabs, Spanish and many more. As one of the most southern European countries, it is located close to Tunisia and Libya. After EU accession in 2004, Malta has become the closest gate to the European Union and a transit country for migration routes from Africa towards Europe. This has caused a continuous rise of immigration. Between 2008 and 2012, Malta received, on average, the highest number of asylum seekers in the EU, who are causing serious problems in the Maltese society.

 

When Malta entered the EU admission process there were various opinions on its membership. Many people were looking forward to being a part of the community and underlining Malta’s European identity. Advantages such as free travelling, choice of residence within EU countries and a hope for more tourists coming to Malta were some reasons to support the Nationalist party, who were in favour of the EU membership. The Labour party on the other hand had other plans for Malta, aiming to lead it to a “Switzerland of the Mediterranean” with close ties to the EU but no membership. Amongst other arguments they stated that there was a threat of Sicilians taking Maltese jobs. Instead, now it is African immigrants flocking to Malta in search for better lives. In the end, 53.6% of the voters voted “yes”, forming a narrow majority in favour of accession. It was by far the lowest approval rate in the EU’s enlargement and there are still many voices that consider the EU membership as a poor decision.    

Before Malta joined the EU in 2004, immigration levels were negligible. With its long history of repelling unwanted invaders like Ottoman Turks in the 1500s and helping Britain to keep Hitler at bay in the Second World War, it finally became independent in 1964. The Maltese needed to form a new identity after centuries of foreign leadership. This achievement is threatened now by thousands of immigrants coming to Malta, bringing unfamiliar habits and culture to the small island. Although most immigrants want to proceed and go to mainland Europe, they have to return within three months to the country they first came to. As a result of this regulation hundreds are caught each year and forcibly sent back from other Schengen countries. Still the desired destination for most immigrants is another European country and therefore they have no intentions of integrating into Maltese society.

Malta receives the most asylum applications in the whole world, in relation to its small size. Alone in 2013 1,079 refugees found shelter in Malta and over the last decade the number adds up to 17,743. The high number of immigrants causes several problems for the small country and it has difficulties to cope with the situation. Its closeness to Africa has turned Malta into a gateway for immigrants seeking entry to Europe. These refugees are generally poor and undocumented when they arrive in Malta and have to stay in crowded detention centers for up to 18 months. The conditions in those detention centers are considered to be in a poor state and inhuman, but the government states that resources to deal with boatloads of migrants who arrive at Malta's shores, are not given. Furthermore there is a growing fear of “cultural invasion” and racist assaults have begun to occur. Malta is the smallest country in the EU but has to carry a burden that is much bigger than in any other country and therefore desperately needs help from the EU. Unfortunately, so far there have not been any measures taken to enhance the immigration situation in Malta.

The future of Malta remains uncertain. Action has to be taken from different directions. On the one hand the EU needs to support frontier countries like Malta in implementing policies concerning asylum seekers and mandatory burden sharing throughout the EU. Cecilia Malmstrom, the European home affairs commissioner, offered extra emergency funds and assured to get other EU states to take some of Malta’s immigrants. On the other hand the people in Malta - its residents as well as migrants - need to accustom themselves to each other. The Maltese need to adjust to a more multicultural society without segregation of ethnic minorities and rising of racist sentiments. At the same time the migrants who want to stay in Malta need to integrate with the help of a proper system which will assist them when they arrive and process applications faster. This could be a way to solve the immigration problems in Malta. 

Academic Paper

Environmental protection within the EU

Writing the paper

My academic paper will be about the environmental protection within the EU and its organizations. While working on my paper I realized that the sources are going to be one of my major problems. I had a few difficulties with finding some useful sources other than the official website from the European Union, which appeared to be kind of biased to my opinion. For that reason I have started doing some research outside the internet and I found some really interesting books which I borrowed from the university library. If you are also struggling with the same problem I would definitely recommend searching there for some books, articles or magazines. To extend my sources even more I have searched on Google Scholar for some academic texts relating to my topic. I found some books that I can read online without having to buy them. If you lack academic sources, this will definitely help you out.

Comment on a summary

SUMMARY – Europe already has one foot in ‘Japanese’ deflation policy      

(The Telegraph)

            What happened in Japan some years ago is now happening in Europe. Deflation has arrived and with it all of its inconveniences. A serious wariness about how to sustain the Eurozone and its debt rates is now exploding and a tense atmosphere can ne breathed Europe. Although the whole EU is immersed in this critical economic situation, different countries are approaching this situation in various ways. For example, the known as PIIGS are implementing austerity policies without offsetting any monetary stimulus. This directly affects the population by growing of the unemployment rates and basic care needs. Why is this happening to the PIIGS? Because of the “denominator effect” this means that debt is growing faster than nominal GDP. On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of one the possible solutions that is being considered is that “Club Med” gets together with Germany so that it can implement the relation policy. Another possible solution could be inflation, but for the moment the option governments, politicians, economists … are taking is to hope for global growth to save us.

What happened in Japan some years ago is now happening in Europe. Deflation has arrived and with it all of with all of its inconveniences. A serious wariness about how to sustain the Eurozone and its debt rates is now exploding and a tense atmosphere can ne breathed Europe. Although the whole EU is immersed in this critical economic situation, different countries are approaching this situation in various ways. For example, the known as PIIGS are implementing austerity policies without offsetting any monetary stimulus. This directly affects the population by growing of the unemployment rates and basic care needs. Why is this happening to the PIIGS? Because of the “denominator effect” this means that debt is growing faster than nominal GDP. On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of (??) one the possible solutions that is being considered is that “Club Med” gets together with Germany so that it can implement the relation policy. Another possible solution could be inflation, but for the moment the option governments, politicians, economists … are taking is to hope for global growth to save us.

• The student could have written a short introduction mentioning the author of the text, the newspaper and the date. This gives us an overview of what the article is about.
• The summary could have been divided into separate paragraphs. That would make it easier to read. 
• The student could have explained what the PIIGS are (because someone is reading this for the first time and probably does not know about "the PIIGS")
  
  
  
• I am not sure what the author wanted to say with "can ne breathed Europe". I suggest rewriting it.
• "the known as PIIGS" -->something is missing. I would suggest writing: "The countries know as PIIGS" or similar.
• "Because of the “denominator effect” this means that debt is growing faster than nominal GDP.". I would suggest rewriting the whole sentence as it is not quite clear. Maybe write: "Because of the “denominator effect” dept is growing faster than nominal GDP."
• "On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of (??) one the possible solutions that is being considered is that “Club Med” gets together with Germany so that it can implement the relation policy." 
• I would suggest rewriting the sentence as it is clearly too long and a little bit confusing. I do not understand what is meant with “because of one the possible solutions…”.
• “to get together” is not high register. Consider writing something like “pair up”, “the unification of” or “unite”.
• Maybe divide this long sentence into two sentences.
• On the other side there is Germany that apparently is not doing bad, but is also at risk because of (somthing??). One possible solution is that “Club Med” pair up with Germany to implement the relation policy.   

• Be careful with "..." in a high register text.
  

Other than that the text gives me a general overview of what the original article is about.  The anonymous author mentioned important arguments and stayed focused on the topic. The student seems to have understood the main points of the text and remained impersonal.

The Concil of Europe

The Concil of Europe

The Council of Europe is the most important organisation besides the European Union in Europe. It was founded in 1949 by ten European states in order to promote democratic stability, human rights, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms all over Europe. The Council further strives to raise awareness of Europe’s cultural identity and diversity. Currently there are 47 members, including all EU member states as well as several other European countries. The general requirements for a country to join this international organisation are to be at least partially located on the European Continent and to share the goals the ten founding countries stated. However, countries that are located beyond European borders can join too, as observer or partner, provided they accept the Council’s guiding principles. These states are permitted to send representatives to the meetings of the Committee of Ministers and intergovernmental committees in order to observe these assemblies. With the Parliamentary Assembly, which consists of 318 men and women from all the member states,  they may attain observer status, meaning that they are authorized to engage in Assembly sessions, only without voting rights. Furthermore the Council also partners up with organizations such as the EU, the UN and a variety of international organizations, including the Arab League Educational, Cultural, Scientific Organization (ALECSO) or the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The main purpose of the Council, with it’s members, observers and partners, is to assure democracy in and cooperation between all European countries, which makes this organisation one of the most important on our continent.