Culture Days _KGP

I went to see like 21 presentations, 18 Irish topics and 3 American ones, since I was interested in so many topics. The were about:

1. Animal Symbolism in Irish Mythology (I)

2.      The history of ISL (I)

3.      Homophobic Bullying in Irish schools (I)

4.      Oscar Wilde and William Yeats – so different, yet so similar (I)

5.      Transition year – working towards maturity (I)

6.      Appreciating Life - Donal Walsh's Fight Against Suicide in Ireland (I)

7.      Psychiatry in Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s (I)

8.      Ireland vs. Austria - Whiskey Distilleries - Challenge accepted (I)

9.       Life of Irish Traveler Women (I)

10.  Gaelic and its use in Northern Ireland (I)

11.  Hill of Tara - Historical and spiritual at the same time (I)

12.  Oprah Winfrey: perhaps the most influential woman in America (A)

13.  How the Columbian Exchange changed the world (A)

14.  Delta Blues (A)

On my KPG I want to be tested on the topics 1-5 listed above. I want to be tested on the topic of„Animal Symbolism in Irish Mythology“ because it is interesting to know what each animal stands for and what they are likely to be. The topic of the “History of Irish Sign Language” is also interesting for me since, I study Austrian Sign Language. Both Sign Languages have some similarities. It is important for me to learn more about the history of other Sign Languages. I want to be tested on „Homophobic Bullying in Irish schools“as well, since this an interesting topic and much more should be done about that. The comparison of the two authors Oscar Wilde and William Yeats, was also worthwhile. I have not read any books of them; I like Oscar Wilde’s quotes though. The topic of the “Transition year” was also interesting. This year is a great opportunity for Irish people after graduating and should be considered for Austria too.

All in all, I had two great days. All culture projects I listened to, were highly interesting and it was not easy to choose the five most interesting ones.

 

Th or t, of or off – the wrong/right pronunciation can change everything!

One of my friends studies teacher education with the subjects English and History. Due to this fact she had to take a course called Pronunciation. Today was the final oral exam. To do well on it, we met a few hours before her exam and practised reading texts. I learned many interesting things about the pronunciation. I learned which things should be considered and many other things.

The wrong pronunciation can confuse native speakers; it can change the whole meaning of a sentence. Therefore, the points that have to be considered are the following ones:

It does make a difference when the ‘’s’’ in a word is unvoiced or voiced.

It also can have a different meaning when the’’ th’’ is voiced or unvoiced. It is important to pronounce it in a correct way.

Concerning the suffix  ‘’ed’’ it is also important to not pronounce it as a ‘’t’’, this is just wrong wrong wrong J

The pronunciation for the words ‘’bin’’&’’pin’’ and ‘’off’’&’’of’’ should also be a different one.

Now it’s your turn: Try to read this text out loud!

1. Geoffrey saw the pass/path and took it.

2. Thora and Thelma read all about the trees/threes.

3. After the rain, his booths/boots were covered with mud.

4. All the students saw the free/three men and applauded.

5. The new manager really liked his new theme/team

1) I laughed at the joke. 

2) Our work is finished.

3) The snake killed the mouse. 

4) The teacher helped the student. 

5) When I was younger, I wanted to walk on the moon. 

6) We hiked to the top of the mountain. 

7) James rented his apartment. 

8) We can’t go swimming because the pool is covered.

9) That old house is haunted. 

10) We hunted for her keys, but could not find them.

I’ll really try to consider all these points on Thursday!!!

http://www.eslflow.com/pronunciationlessonplans.html

One year at University

This year at University was probably the most interesting one. I’ve learned a lot, improved my English (that’s what I think) and experienced a lot of good things and bad things. I’ll come to that later.

The semester started, of course, in October. I had signed in for too many courses, like SUK1, two other English courses, sign language and other different things. Otherwise it won’t have been challenging – just kidding J SUK1 turned out to be the most difficult one. I spent many hours on studying for all the exams and at the end it did not even work out the way I wanted.

The 2^nd semester was challenging as well. After passing the “Sprachprüfung” for Sign Language, I could sign in for SUK1. This semester I had 5 exams until now and many other things to do, the semester turned out to be awesome though. I’ve learned so many things, improved my English (even when it’s just a little bit) and I’ve already passed Sign Language.

I wanted to mention the good things I experienced. I met so many nice people. I’m so happy that I had the chance to get to know them.

Summing up, I really learned a lot, this is one of the many things:

"Life is a song - sing it.

Life is a game - play it.

Life is a challenge - meet it.

 Life is a dream - realize it.

Life is a sacrifice - offer it.

Life is love - enjoy it."

Life is awesome. It’s so important to take it the way it is. Every person is awesome. And the most important thing is: Don’t give up - No matter what. In German I would say: “Ma gibt nur an Brief auf”.

SUK PC2

Today was the most horrifying day, excuse me.. no.. the most amazing day of the year. I got to finish my last PC this semester. Yay J

My day started like every Thursday. I got up at 7:45, got on my way to university. Nothing special. At University we just talked about the upcoming exam. Everyone was nervous and interested in what the pc will look like. In class we learned how to write a report. Nothing special either.

However, at 18:30 the PC did start. I planned on starting off with the writing task, since the other way round it has not worked before. When I saw what the report was about, I changed my plans though and started with vocab and grammar. Some parts of the things tested on grammar and vocab were totally okay, but some things I were not easy at all. Like the exercise about collocations. I don’t know if I’ve got any of them right. I hope I do. The other parts were partly okay and partly difficult. After  50  minutes we had our vocab and grammar part to be finished up and switched to the writing task.

The writing task was about .. aah I don’t have to tell you what the writing task was about. It was not easy at all for me. The main problem was the fact that I got to nervous. I changed my topic of the 3 paragraphs like thousand times and I started to write 20 minutes before the end of the exam. Awesome. I hope it will be graded positive.

After whining about the pc, I wish you a nice/beautiful day. Bye.

A new Down's syndrome test - Why??

A new test, detecting if a baby has Down’s syndrome, was invented. This can be tested in the FIRST trimester.  The new kind of analysis a baby’s DNA in its mother’s blood.

 Current tests can be administered between the 11^th and 13^th week of pregnancy, using ultrasounds and a hormonal analysis. This method of testing is a first look at the feasibility of screening for the chromosomal disorders.

However, the new method can limit the false positive rates to 0.1%.  Which is good, but… now to the main reason why I want to talk about this topic…

What is the right thing to do after being tested positive and the knowledge of having a baby with this kind of disability? Is it okay to have an abortion? Is it okay? I can persuasively say that I think it would not be okay.  Having an abortion means ending the short life of a human being - Just because it is unique? Every human being deserves to have the chance to live. So why do there even tests exist to find out if a baby has Trisomy? I don’t know. I would ban tests like that. 

Canada Day

Since I am going to spend one month in Canada this summer, it’s interesting to me to know how they celebrate their most important day of the year.

However, first of all I want to tell why I am going to spend one moth in Canada, where exactly, what I am going to do and much more. I am going to live in Vancouver, North Vancouver exactly. My plan is to improve my English by taking language courses and living with a host family. I want to see as much of the city and the surrounding areas as possible. I won’t be alone, because a friend comes with me. It’s going to be an amazing time and we well learn and see a lot. J

So, now I want to switch to Canada’s most important day and how to celebrate it. When is it celebrated? - At the 1^st of June. And what is celebrated? - The birth of the nation and when Canada gained its freedom from British rule.

Now to the tips:                                                      

1.   Dress in a patriotic way to show your pride for Canada (dying the hair colour and wearing Canadian flags and clothes are options too)
2. Being a part of parades can mean a lot of fun
3. Having a cookout with your family is a nice tradition too (It depends on the area you live, but here are some meals to cook: Deep fried bread dough with cinnamon and chili (beaver tails), Lobster rolls or fried clams, Baklava… )
4.  Letting off fireworks can be awesome too