EU individual paragraph

 Brainstorming:

 

Topic Sentence: how does EU affect us?

Main Part:

• freedom to travel: possible to travel through EU countries without passport (Schengen Agreement, Schengen countries) - which countries?
• possible to live in other EU countries (residence permit)
• work in EU countries (work permit)

Concluding Sentence: "summary" of paragraph: EU important, affects everyday life

 

1st Paragraph:

 

The EU is an economic and political union that affects our everyday life in different ways.  Due to the Schengen Agreement, the EU makes it possible to travel through many European countries without showing the national ID-card or passport. Apart from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom, all other 22 EU-states are part of the Schengen area. Another point why the EU affects us is that each European citizen has the permission to live in another EU country. If you, as an EU national, have lived in another EU country for more than five years, you can stay there as long as you want, as you receive a permanent residence permit. However, it is not only important for us that we are able to travel to or live in other EU countries, but also that we may work there. Everybody who wants to work abroad is able to do so, as within the EU a working permit normally is not required. It is to say that the EU is certainly very important and definitely affects every one of us.

[182]

 

 

Feedback:

• Topic Sentence is okay
• I used the word "as" too often:  If you, as an EU national, have lived in another EU country for more than five years, you can stay there as long as you want, as you receive a permanent residence permit. better version: If you, as an EU national, have lived in another EU country for more than five years, you can stay there as long as you want, since you receive a permanent residence permit.
• not working permit, but work Permit

2nd Paragraph:

The EU is an economic and political union that affects our everyday life in different ways. Due to the Schengen Agreement, the EU makes it possible to travel through many European countries without showing the national ID-card or passport. Apart from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom, all other 22 EU-states are part of the Schengen area. Another point why the EU affects us is that each European citizen has the permission to live in another EU country. If you, as an EU national, have lived in another EU country for more than five years, you can stay there as long as you want, since you receive a permanent residence permit. However, it is not only important for us that we are able to travel to or live in other EU countries, but also that we may work there. Everybody who wants to work abroad is able to do so, as within the EU a work permit normally is not required. It is to say that the EU is certainly very important and definitely affects every one of us.  

 

 

Feedback:

 

• not the EU makes it possible, but it is possible
• not work Permit, but working papers
• concluding sentence: without very

 

 

3rd Paragraph:

 

The EU is an economic and political union that affects our everyday life in different ways. Due to the Schengen Agreement, it is possible to travel through many European countries without showing the national ID-card or passport. Apart from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom, all other 22 EU-states are part of the Schengen area. Another point why the EU affects us is that each European citizen has the permission to live in another EU country. If you, as an EU national, have lived in another EU country for more than five years, you can stay there as long as you want, since you receive a permanent residence permit. However, it is not only important for us that we are able to travel to or live in other EU countries, but also that we may work there. Everybody who wants to work abroad is able to do so, as within the EU a working papers normally is not required. It is to say that the EU is certainly important and definitely affects every one of us. 

 

 

Corrected Version:

 

The EU is an economic and political union that affects our everday lives in different ways. Due to the Schengen Agreement, it is possible to travel to many European countries without showing a national ID-Card or passport. This is, however, not the case for all EU countries. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom are for instance, not part of the Schengen area. Not only the freedom of movement is a term how the EU affects us, but also the fact that each European citizen is permitted to live in another EU country. If you, as an EU national, have lived in another EU state for more than five years, you can stay there as long as you want since you are entitled to receive a permanent residence permit.

  



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5 EU topics

I’ve spent the whole last week thinking about EU topics that are particularly interesting for me. Here is what I came up with:

 

1.       The EU and its Founding Fathers

Whenever I hear the word founding fathers, I have to think of the US. However, I didn’t know that Europe had its founding fathers too. I decided that I would like to know more about the men, who were responsible for the creation of the European Union in which we live today.

 

2.       What the EU does in order to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

The environmental and economic impacts of illegal fishing are disastrous. I think it’s horrible that local fishermen, especially in developing countries, are suffering and that marine habitats are destroyed, because of illegal fishing. That’s why I decided to write about the EU rules to combat illegal fishing.

 

3.       European Years

Each year the EU chooses a specific topic and then, discusses and dialogues about it within and between European countries. I think the idea of raising awareness of certain topics is great. It is important that people concentrate their attention on topics as language, creativity and innovation or racism and xenophobia.

 

4.       Lampedusa Tragedy and how Europe reacts

I think that refugee policy is a very important, difficult and topical issue in the EU. For me as a European citizen it is unbelievable, how many people risk their lives in order to escape to another country. The Lampedusa tragedy again shows us how dangerous it can be to flee a country.

 

5.       Erasmus

Erasmus is a program that offers the opportunity for students to study abroad. I think if you really want to spend a semester or even a year in another country, a program like Erasmus is extremely helpful. I want to find out more about Erasmus, as I’d love to spend a semester abroad.

Culture Days

Sorry for posting this so late, but I was really reeeaaaally very busy this weekend. Soon the KGP will start and I have to admit that I'm already a bit nervous. For the KGP we had to choose five presentations to which we have listened to on our Culture Days that were carried out on Wednesday the 19th and Thursday the 20th of June. I have listened to several Irish and American presentations. However, some of the presentations were more interesting than others. I decided to choose the following five presentations for the Kommissionelle Gesamtprüfung:

Ireland: From emigration to immigration and how the country is dealing whit integration:

I have chosen this presentation as I am convinced that this topic is very important for the Irish culture. Ireland has been dealing with emigration and imigration for many years and I think that it was very interesting to hear how the country is dealing with integration. Furthermore, the presentation was easy to understand and I really enjoyed listening to the speaker.

How the world sees Bobby Sands:

This presentation was one of the best presentations I have ever seen. The speaker seemed to know exactly what she was talking about and she spoke very clearly. Moreover, I am extremely interested in Bobby Sand’s life and I think that the hunger strikes were also very important for the Irish culture.

Homophobic bullying in Irish schools:

I think that this presentation deals with a topic which is extremely importat. Nowadays bullying is present everywhere, not only in schools. For me it is absolutely necessary that we know how dangerous bullying can be and that’s why I decided to choose the presentation for the KGP.

Withcraft in Ireland:

I decided to choose Sabrina’s presentation, because I’ve always been interested in witchcraft and all these other “mystic“ things. I loved listening to her, because she managed to present her topic in a funny, but interesting way.

The Claddagh Ring:

My last presentation for the KGP is about the Claddagh Ring. I decided to choose this presentation, because it is a very  “Irish“ topic. I enjoyed listenting to Irina, especially when she told us about the different theories concerning the history of the ring.  

Globalization - Blessing or curse ?

 

 

Globalization is one of the world’s most important topics nowadays. Various products from different companies have spread all over the world; everywhere you are able to buy everything. Of course, we cannot deny that globalization has many advantages, as it is a real progress for our society. Nevertheless, only a few people know about the negative consequences, which are caused by this so-called globalization.

Multinationals became the new “leader” of our world and are now able to determine the prizes, either to lower them or to increase them. They can put the government under pressure, draw their profit out of exploitation and they are a danger for our environment, because they do not care about it. All in all it is to say that globalization made many people rich, but far more people poor. The richest 2 % of the world’s population possesses more than 50 % of the world’s fortune. Each year nearly 11 million children are dying before their 5^th birthday, as they do not get enough nutrition or medication to heal their illnesses.

Globalization means the networking all over the world in every area, as economy, politics, culture and communication. Actually this sounds very good, right? The Internet especially made our world to a “global village”. We are able to communicate with people all over the world, which is an incredible progress for everybody. However, this degenerated in my eyes: We buy tomatoes from the Netherlands, mangoes from Brazil and clothes, which were produced from children of the 3^rd world. All these facts are the reason, why globalization made the rich even richer. Multinationals have the ability to buy resources, where they are the cheapest, whereas a small farmer can sell his products only on local markets.

The worst thing is that those so-called “Global Players” fabricate their goods in countries, where production is very cheap. This often means that children have to work for them under disastrous conditions. In development countries there are about 218 million kids between five and 17 years, who are forced to hard work. Especially in Asia child labor is one of the main problems. Many children have long hours of work, are abusively treated by the employer and do not have any access to education. Of course, in countries all over the world countless laws and policies against the exploitation of children already exist, nevertheless there seems to be no chance to end child labor.

I have to admit that it was the first time I thoroughly acquainted myself with this topic and it is shocking for me to hear those facts. I cannot believe that there are so many children, who are tortured every day with this cruel and inhuman working conditions and I hope that it will become better one day. For my part, I will try not to support child labor and I will definitely inform my friends about it. Let’s try to think about how fortunate we are and let’s be a little bit more grateful! We should really appreciate to live in such a secure country, without extremely serious sorrows and fears!!

festival mood

Festival mood

 

This summer turns out to become legendary, as I saw all the festival line-ups. I really have to admit that all the different music festivals are the main reason why I am so desperately waiting for this summer. Great music, relaxed people and a light-hearted time with friends are a mark of music festivals. Everybody is happy and just wants to dance and enjoy the music.

 

 

Everything begins with Urban Art Forms which again takes place at the “Schwarzelsee”. The festival lasts three days and is specialized on electronic music. Bands and DJs like Deichkind, Seeed, Wankelmut, Foreign Beggars, Netsky or Moonbootica will definitely ensure that the party keeps going on the whole night!

However, Urban Art Forms is only the beginning of a staggering summer. The next festival I am extremely looking forward to is Picture On. Though this festival is a smaller one and not very well known, it is really cool. It takes place in Burgenland, in the charming village Bildein which is probably the reason why the name is Picture On.  

The last festival I am definitely going to is Frequency. It is one of the best visited festivals in Austria and the line-up is incredible. Bands like System of a Down, Tenacious D, Bad Religion, The Fratellis, Flogging Molly or Kraftklub are just a few of the many fantastic bands who are going to play on the festival.

 

Honestly, I can hardly wait for the festival season to start. Hopefully, it is going to be as great as I’m expecting it to be.

Nightmare Congo - free post

Cruelty, chaos and violence – Nightmare Congo

The colonial powers Germany, Great Britain and Belgium have ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi for a long period of time. After the departure of these colonial powers the problems began. The Hutus and Tutsi are two social groups of eastern Africa. After the colonial powers left, the Hutu-majority started to fight the Tutsi-minority in Rwanda. The peak of these fights was the genocide of 1994 in Rwanda. In approximately 100 days members of the Hutu-majority killed more than 70 % of the Tutsis, who lived in Rwanda. The Rwandan Patriotic Front expelled the Hutu-rulers from Rwanda which marked the end of the genocide. In summer 1994 hundreds of thousands Hutus fled to eastern Congo, especially to the province of South-Kivu. There many of them set up camps in the deep woods of Kivu. They did this together with Congolese bandits. For these brigands this area was perfect, due to the lack of infrastructure, radio masts or early-warning systems. These criminal groups have been ruling this area already for a very long time and even nowadays they attack and raid innocent villages. With armed force the Hutu rebels control tracts of land, blackmail protection money or exploit raw materials. Cruelty, chaos and violence are the order of the day. The worst of all is that children and women are the greatest victims of this situation. In every war rape is used as a weapon, however, nowhere else sexual violence is as brutal as in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rape as weapon of war!

 



The offenders believe that the rape of virgins gives them supernatural power and strength. In African countries women symbolize honor and moral. They are seen as the driving force in society. Raping women is seen as an opportunity to destroy the heart of a society. Frighteningly most of the Hutu rebels even don’t hesitate to rape children. The consequences of this cruel behavior are immense. Many women are killed after they have been raped by several men or at least heavily injured or mutilated. The abdomen of many women has been destroyed or is marked by scars and others even have become incontinent after the rape. All women are traumatized, confused and disorientated. They often can’t go back home to their villages because of the villagers who won’t accept them. Unfortunately the rape of a woman is regarded as a serious disgrace and it is a complete taboo subject. The raped women and CHILDREN have to suffer terrible agony and there is hardly any help for them. There’s a lack of medical care and psychological support which is a reason why a lot of these women are left alone with their grief, pain and worries. “Im Schatten des Bösen – Der Krieg gegen die Frauen im Kongo” is a documentary that deals with this horrible topic and also gives a couple of examples of women who had to suffer incredible and inhumane torments. One example is the 10 year old Elisa who was raped, beaten and then again raped by several men. Another woman is the 18 year old Noella who was pregnant when the rebels deported her. They killed her husband, took her child and then put her to rout because she got sick. Another inexplicable story is about the 70 year old Ndamosu. She had to watch the rebels killing her five children and husband before they raped her several times. These women are not the only ones who have to experience such a sad fate.

I watched the documentary and I have to admit that I started crying while watching. It is frustrating, shocking and it makes you feel terrible. We can hardly understand what these women have to endure, though you feel with them by watching this documentary. I never had this feeling before, this feeling of helplessness, frustration, despair, fury, grief, sorrow, empathy and disbelief. If you hear and see this cruelty, you really start thinking about your own life and you definitely start becoming grateful for what you have and for where you live.


Im Schatten des Bösen - Der Krieg gegen die Frauen im Kongo (unfortunately it is a German documentary !! )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iZZBYNke-A

YOU POST 1

“England and America are two countries divided by a common language."

 

This famous quotation comes from George Bernard Shaw, who was an Irish writer. He was born and raised in Dublin in 1856, but he spent most of his life in England. Shaw even received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in 1950 in Hertfordshire, England.

As he lived for more than 90 years, he was able to witness the First World War, the Irish War of Independence against the British government and finally the Second World War.

 With this quote Shaw tries to show the differences between two countries with the “same” language.

Many people don’t differ between American and British English, for them it is just English, however we have to know that there is a difference! Everything began in the 17^th century, when the English language was first introduced to the Americans. During the 18^th and 19^th century many people immigrated to America, which is the reason why it has been influenced by many other languages. America and Britain both developed into various directions concerning their language. That’s why there are nowadays many American words, which do not mean the same in British, or the other way round.

Of course this doesn’t apply only to England and America. There are also other countries, which have the “same”, but in a certain way a different language. For instance Austria and Germany: Both countries speak “German” however there is an extreme difference between the languages spoken in those countries. Many Germans even do not understand Austrians. For us it is very important to be aware of those differences, in order to prevent embarrassing misunderstandings or to appear as an ignoramus of culture.