Comment on summary

Countries within the Eurozone have to face the hazards of rising deflation and a potential risk of a serious Euro crisis. As the Euro becomes increasingly valuable, countries such as Italy and Spain, which are already struggling to handle their debts, are getting more and more in arrears. These countries are not capable of paying back the runaway-debt, which continually becomes higher. They encumber themselves with even more credits, simultaneously cutting wages or other earnings of the citizens. In this problematic cycle of debt, the only possible solution seems to be the devaluation of the Euro, hence inflation. By shortening down the runaway-debt, these countries could pay back a great sum of money and thus accelerate the process of developing their economic growth. However, Germany refuses to rise the percentage of inflation as the country derives a great benefit from the deflation. Germany's politicians forget to consider the risk of being affected by the potential Euro crisis too. Once the Euro crisis befalls even the more prosperous countries such as Germany and French, severe damages could occur. Not only are the indebted countries endangered, but every European state will sooner or later feel the full impact of the Euro crisis.

200 words

I like your summary although I think that you should have written an introduction sentence where you mention the author, the source and what the article is about. Your summary starts rather abrupt. I also think that you should have divided your summary into paragraphs (at least: one for the introduction sentence, one for what the article was about and one concluding paragraph). However, I have the feeling that you understood the topic very well and wrote a nice summary (from my point of view). You used some really sophisticated words and topic related terms such as “arrears” or “prosperous” (one of the Porter words for PC1 J). All in all, I liked your summary and would advise you add an introduction and divide it into paragraphs.

Porter book game

Hey guys!

Last Thursday we had so much fun in class because of an awesome but simple game :). The instructiosn: Everyone had to cut a piece of paper into eight pieces and write a number on it (from one to eight). Then we looked for an unfamiliar word in the porter book, wrote a sentence with this word on the first page and passed it to our neighbor. He/She had to draw our sentence and pass it on. The next one drew what his/her neighbor had written and so on... It was (of course) not allowed to cheat and have a look what the other person had written/drawn. 
After eight rounds we looked through the texts and read them out.

I proudly present the "bleak house story". Have fun!

What I learned

Dear Mr. Bower,

My name is Katrin Wiesinger and I am from Spannberg in Lower Austria. My mother tongue is German, I study English and Austrian Sign Language and my Matrikel number is 1210373. As you can see from my Matrikel number, I started university in 2012. My teachers last year were Melissa Kercher in SUK1 and Fiona Begley in SUK2. My grades in SUK1 and 2 were not outstanding but I will do my best to improve them this year. In SUK1 I had a D and in SUK2 I was really happy to achieve a C.

As my grades were not the best, I knew that I had to work really hard for the FDE oral exam. I studied hard and finally got a one in all three languages, which was amazing for me. The FDE oral exam grades was my highest point in the first year. Unfortunately, I also had some low points. The low points were all the progress checks last year. Before the exams, I studied at home and did my best to prepare myself but I often failed or got a D. After the exam I was often frustrated and did not want to continue but then I motivated myself again and started studying for the next one. Frustration and disappointment but also hope and ambition marked my first year in English.

Although I was often frustrated, I think it would have been worse if I had not been to New Zealand in 2012. After I had finished school in June, I did an internship for six weeks at a school in Nelson. Living in an English-speaking country and working at a school helped me improve my English and become more self-confident in terms of talking to native speakers.

During my internship the teachers showed me some great resources to practice and improve my English. I am still using these sources. They recommended that I should listen to the BBC podcasts “Six Minutes English” and “The English We Speak”. A teacher even lend me one of her favourite books “Twenties Girl” by Sophie Kinsella. I loved it so much that I immediately bought another book written  by her in a New Zealand book store. I am still ordering her books and enjoy reading them.

In New Zealand I also started watching series and shows in English. My host mother was (and I presume still is) a huge fan of “The Big Bang Theory”. I had not heard of this series before but loved it from the beginning. During the summer, I watched four or five seasons – in English - because I hate the dubbed version. I also spent my summer reading various English books I bought online. Some of them were really interesting and the two books I liked most were “Me before you” by Jojo Moyes and “Tricks of the mind” by Derren Brown. (No paragraph!!) The second one, in particular, was great practice for  my English because it contained many, to me, unknown words. I learned and read about homeopathy, different placebo effects, faith healing and mind reading. While reading Browns book, I found out that he also produces TV shows and went on watching them on YouTube.

YouTube is a great source for watching online tutorials on English grammar but my favourite EFL website  is www.quickanddirtytips.com. I have bookmarked this website because Mignon Fogarty, the author of it, explains grammar, punctuation and vocabulary in a fun way. I use her website to inform myself and to study for exams because many of her tips are listed in the major No-No’s. To avoid these major No-No’s I bought an interesting book I really like and can definitely recommend. “Forbetter your English” by Eric T. Hansen. The author mentions all the typical mistakes German English learners tend to make. He also points out how important a monolingual dictionary is for language learners. My personal favourite is dictionary.cambridge.org.

I found out that he also produces TV shows and went on watching them on YouTube.

YouTube is a great source for watching online tutorials on English grammar but my favourite EFL website  is www.quickanddirtytips.com. I have bookmarked this website because Mignon Fogarty, the creator of it, explains grammar, punctuation and vocabulary in a fun way. I use her website to inform myself and to study for exams because many of her tips are listed in the major No-No’s. To avoid these major No-No’s I bought an interesting book I really like and can definitely recommend. “Forbetter your English” by Eric T. Hansen. The author mentions all the typical mistakes German English learners tend to make. He also points out how important a monolingual dictionary is for language learners. My personal favourite is dictionary.cambridge.org.

With the online dictionary, Eric T Hansens book, quickanddirtytips.com, the BBC podcasts and everything I learned in year 1, I think I am ready for a new and hopefully successful semester.

Yours sincerely,

Katrin Wiesinger

Comment:

When I wrote this homework I did my best to avoid common mistakes and major No-No’s. When I handed the letter in I thought that it was okay (not perfect – but okay and without tremendous mistakes). After I looked through the corrected version and the suggestions, I know now that my text wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. I had three major No-No’s in my text – they were all in one (!!!) paragraph (I am really embarrassed to admit this to you but it is true). And, what’s even worse: I was not aware that they were in there (If I had known it, I would have correct the mistakes). So, the most important thing I learned from this homework is, that I should proof-read my homework more seriously, that I should scan my next texts for major No-No’s (because they are not acceptable) and that I should look up everything (words, phrases) I am not a 100 per cent sure about.

European Dream vs. European Nightmare

Nowadays, more and more Africans come to Europe chasing their hopes and dreams. Whereas 7 to 8 millions work illegally, only 2.5 millions are officially allowed to work and study in Europe. Although some succeed, their new life in Europe not always holds what it promises, as you can see in the case of Michael.

He is a 40-year-old Ghanaian who tried his luck by coming to Spain. At first, he worked as a construction worker, but when the financial crisis hit Spain, he was no longer needed. For a short period of time, he managed to work as seasonal worker on farms until the heatwave came. Now Michael is unemployed, homeless, has nothing to eat and begs for money. Although the living situation in Ghana is probably better than in Spain, he refuses to go back because he is too ashamed to face his family. His five children, wife and mother are looking up to him and are hoping for money. Michael is so embarrassed of his failure that he even takes photos of other persons’ cars and houses pretending that they are his property.

However, there are also some immigrants who live the European Dream, for example Steven. He is also from Ghana and experiences the Netherlands as heaven. He always strived for a better lifestyle and believed that he could succeed. He went to university in order to have the qualifications required for leading a proper company and was working as a travel agent as well as a travel consultant. After some years, Steven founded his own travel agency in the Netherlands called Trans Africa Travel. His advice for all the Africans coming to Europe is to work harder, always strive for education and to believe in god’s blessing.

These two stories show us that it is essential to never give up believing and hard working. However, the European Dream can easily turn into an European Nightmare and vice versa - it is always about luck.

By: Stefanie Almer, Laura Rossberg, Katrin Wiesinger

Competitions

I love competitions! I regularly search though all the portals I know to find out whether there are new and interesting ones I would like to take part in. Because I take part in so many of them, I sometimes win really cool prizes. Last year, for example, I won a return flight from Vienna to any European city of my choice. Together with my brother and his girlfriend we flew to Paris for New Year’s Eve – it was awesome. For another competition I had to write a poem about sweets and then won a big box full of chocolate!!

                           My brother and me in front of the Eifel Tower

                                                                            

My last prize took place about two weeks ago. On Facebook I read that a travel agency raffled a diving course with the Austrian world champion in freediving, Christian Redl. I was fascinated. I knew that I had to take part because I love scuba diving and snorkeling and all other sorts of water sports. I filled out the application form and waited…and waited…and waited, but nothing happened. On Facebook the travel agency congratulated the winners but unfortunately I was not one of them. 
A few days later I received an email where they informed me that one participant cannot take part and asked me if I had time and would like to come. Of course I had time! Two days later I met the other winners (about 10 people) at the “Therme Wien” in Vienna. When Mr. Redl arrived some of the participants were really excited and nervous and took pictures with him. He turned out to be a really nice guy, talked to all of us and told us the agenda for the next four hours. Then we started. At first, we had to hold our breath as long as we could and he timed us. I managed 1 minute and 5 seconds. 

Afterwards he showed us how to relax and concentrate on our body and breath. Moreover, Mr. Redl taught us how to breath correctly. I now know that it is important to have positive thoughts because they need less oxygen then negative ones and that it is essential to relax your body and to slow down your heart rate. Finally, we did the same exercise from the beginning. Everyone had to hold his or her breath and our teacher timed us. I nearly doubled my time with 2 minutes and 5 seconds! This was a great experience and I learned some very useful techniques. 

The Austrian world champion in Freediving - Christian Redl

EU individual paragraph

In class I heard about the “European Year” for the first time. I was not aware that the EU set up this project in 1983, with the year of craft industry, in order to raise awareness of specific topics. The years focus is chosen by the European Parliament which makes sure that the topics are of general interest and major concern to the EU member countries. This year’s focus is important and interesting for all of us – 2013 is the European Year of citizens. The European Parliament chose to focus on citizens in honour of the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty. This treaty is responsible for the creation of the EU. It was signed by the members of the European Union in order to work towards a unified foreign policy. Common rights for citizens is the aim of the European Year of Citizens Alliance (EYCA). The EYCA is planning to mobilise society throughout this year to promote active citizenship. To do so, the alliance is active in various fields like education or youth work. To sum up, this year's focus is about the most important part of a country – their citizens. 

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Brainstorming

Feedback 1 (topic sentence):

My colleagues Orsolya and Lisa did a good job! They pointed out that I used the word "years" as well as "year's". We did some research and found out that "year's" is the correct form. Orsolya suggested some ideas for my topic sentence whereas Lisa advised me to capitalize the word "citizens". 

In class I heard about the “European Year” for the first time. The attention of the European Year 2013 is on the citizens. I was not aware that the EU set up this project in 1983, with the Year of Craft Industry, in order to raise awareness of specific topics. The years year’s focus is chosen by the European Parliament which makes sure that the topics are of general interest and major concern to the EU member countries. This year’s focus is important and interesting for all of us since 2013 is the European Year of cCitizens. The European Parliament chose to focus on citizens in honour of the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty. This treaty is responsible for the creation of the EU. It was signed by the members of the European Union in order to work towards a unified foreign policy. The aim of the European Year of Citizens Alliance (EYCA) is common rights for citizens. The EYCA is planning to mobilise society throughout this year to promote active citizenship. To do so, the alliance is active in various fields, like such as education or youth work. To sum up, this year's focus is about the most important core part of a country – theirits citizens. 

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Feedback 2:

This time, Orsolya took a closer look at my text. She helped me a lot, had many good ideas and also found some mistakes. She pointed out, that I should not use “I was not aware” because it sounded informal and not very professional. When we read through the text we realized that I used the word “focus” five or six times in one paragraph, which was clearly too much. Orsolya is great at paraphrasing sentences, so we used “centre of attention”, “spotlight”, and “chose to concentrate” instead of “focus”. We also replaced “the most important part” with “the core part” because it sounds more formal.
Orsolya, thank you for your help!

The attention of the European Year 2013 is on the citizens.The EU set up this project in 1983, with the Year of Craft Industry, in order to raise awareness of specific topics. The year’s focus is chosen by the European Parliament which makes sure that the center of attention is of general interest and major concern to the EU member countries. This year’s spotlight is important and interesting for all of us since 2013 is the European Year of Citizens. The European Parliament chose to concentrate on citizens in honour of the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty. This treaty is responsible for the creation of the EU. It was signed by the members of the European Union in order to work towards a unified foreign policy. The aim of the European Year of Citizens Alliance (EYCA) is common rights for citizens. The EYCA is planning to mobilise society throughout this year to promote active citizenship. To do so, the alliance is active in various fields, such as education or youth work. To sum up, this year's focus is about the core part of a country – its citizens.

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Final Paragraph Nr. 2:


The attention of the European Year 2013 is on the citizens. The EU started this project in 1983, with the Year of small business (SMEs) and the craft industry, in order to raise awareness of specific topics. The year’s Focus was chosen by the European Parliament. The Parliament makes sure that the centre of attention is of general interest and major concern to the EU member countries. This year’s spotlight is important and interesting for all of us since we are all European citizens. The European Parliament chose to focus on citizens in honour of the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty, which was responsible for the creation of the EU. It was signed by the members of the European Union in order to work towards a unified foreign policy. Since the European Unions slogan is "United in diversity", the EYCA, an EU wide network of society organisations, is aiming for active citizenship and civil society engagement throughout 2013. The European Year of Citizens Alliance (EYCA), an EU wide network of society organisations, is aiming for active citizenship and civil society engagement. In order to achieve this goal, the EYCA is active in various fields, such as education and youth work. planning to mobilise society throughout this year. To put in a nutshell, this year's focus is about the core part of every country – their citizens.

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My five EU paper titles

Hello and welcome to my blog! These are my five favorite EU topics for the academic paper.

• The difference between getting a driver’s license in an EU member state and a non EU member state (e.g. Ukraine) for deaf or hard of hearing people
•  I am really interested in this topic because I study sign language and am always amazed how good and carefully deaf people drive. I think its unfair that in some European countries deaf people are not allowed to drive while in EU member states they are.

• The abortion law in Austria compared with Ireland
• This is an interesting topic because in Austria abortion is allowed in the first 16 weeks of pregnancy whereas in Ireland abortion is strictly forbidden. The EU has established so many laws but unfortunately they are not able to state a rule for this very important topic.

•  Gay adoption right in Austria compared with the UK
• At first I wanted to compare the “normal” adoption rights but then I saw the LGBT website. LGBT is the short form for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. Before reading the website I was not aware that there are different adoption rights for these people in the EU. While in some EU member states (including Great Britain) LGBT adoption is allowed, in Austria it is still forbidden. Again, I think this is an important topic and we all should have the same rules in the EU.
• The European Prize “For youth employment in the Social Economy”
•  I learned about this prize at school and I think it would be a good topic for a scientific article because it could affect all of us. Youth unemployment in the EU is very high and continues to rise everywhere. Therefore, the European Network of Foundations for Social Economy (OMG, who thinks of all this long names?) decided to establish this European prize. The jury is looking for a company, which was set up by young people and has created employment for young jobseekers in the EU. The winning company will receive € 5,000 . Not bad, huh? 

• How Innocent smoothies influenced the European juice market
• This is my favorite topic but obviously also the most difficult one. I thought of something I really like and am interested in and suddenly Innocent came to my mind. I love their smoothies, their advertisements and how carefully they design their bottles but I couldn’t think of an EU-related topic. My study buddy Anita suggested I write about the European juice market and how Innocent influenced it.
• Did you know:
• that Innocent Innocent is over 90% owned by The Coca-Cola Company?
• that Innocent Drinks are Europe’s number one smoothie brand?

What do you think about my topics? Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Please comment J