Pronunciation Diary 2

Dear all,

Winter break is getting closer and closer but somehow as it gets closer the more I long for it. So the last days are getting longer and longer. At least I finished every homework I wanted before the break so know I can really lay back and relax at least for a couple of days. However, let's speak about pronunciation.

After writing the last post I started to think about what my problems are with English pronunciation. The one I've chosen for this post is the "th" sound.

Our teachers in High School tried their best to explain how to form this sound, but as they couldn't form the sound neither it was kinda a fool's errand.

My problem was that instead of saying "th" I frequently pronounced it as a simple "t". I feel particularly uncomfortable saying the word "worth". That "th" sound after the "r" is very difficult to pronounce.
After listening like 30 times to the program on vocabulary.com pronouncing the word "worth" it gets better but I still have to work on it. Sometimes I forget to put my tongue to the edge of my teeth and because of that it simply sound like an "s".

Here is a recording of me where I read a short poem with a couple of "th" sounds for the first time:
https://soundcloud.com/herold-flux/th

Here I tried it for a second time. A bit better if you ask me.
https://soundcloud.com/herold-flux/th-2

Take care,
Harald

Why the European Union schould intervene to stop Hungary from a dictatorship

First draft: The purpose of the European Union is to establish and maintain a strong connection between its member states and to develop their economy.  The EU balances and governs many countries that all have a different political direction and economic condition and also provides guidelines and regulations that have to be implemented by the member states in order to enjoy the benefits of being a part of the Union. For example, the EU lends money to its member states at a low interest rate so they can enhance their economy.The problem arises when not all of the member states are eager to participate. The black sheep of the Union is in this case Hungary. Since 2010, Hungary suffers from the consequences of a very bad decision, namely electing the political party FIDESZ with a two third majority. Due to this, Hungarian people empowered one party that is allowed to make decisions and implement laws without having to deal with and actual opposition party. The president of the FIDESZ and therefore Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orbán. He is the person who holds every string in his hands and leads the country into an economic catastrophe. He, being the most influential person in Hungary, misused his power and caused the country to slide into bankruptcy. Apart from the creating the economic catastrophe, he is known for his strict policies against Roma, Jews and other minorities.

Shortly after the election of FIDESZ, the party immediately abandoned Hungary’s constitution and wrote an entirely new one within two weeks. With the new constitution the party reinforced their position and created a strong base for their rulership. The new constitution inhibits the political independence of the central bank. Apart from this, the new institution has caused many other negative economic changes, like the imposition of a new bank tax, which mainly affects foreign companies which have their seats in Hungary. This new tax helped on the one hand to improve the revenue but on the other hand it caused that many firms had to dismiss their employees or were even forced to shut down. In consequence, the unemployment rate has risen even more.  

Orbán is also criticized for his unsuccessful discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). After being neglected the requested borrowing conditions due to his controversial behaviour and critical statements, the situation deteriorated. Orbán went so far as to borrow money with a 9% interest rate instead of working together with the IMF who usually offers a loan for a 3% interest rate. His reason for borrowing money for such a high interest rate is that he does not want to depend on EU funding.These actions all contribute to the inflation and downturn of the Hungarian economy. The result of Orban’s strategy is that investors fear investing in the Hungarian market due to its unpredictable economic future. Feedback summary The other group provided us with very useful and corrective suggestions that we. They discovered that our topic sentences often only introduce one part of the paragraph so that much information is missing that could be relevant for the reader. The other problem they discovered was that our first paragraph needed a clear thesis and a topic. We partly resolved the problem. As the title clearly introduces the topic we did not feel the need to write it explicitly in the first paragraph. Concerning our thesis, we tried to write the text according to our opinion and we think the way it is written clearly reflects our opinion. In the second paragraph the concluding sentence did not conclude the paragraph. Without their constructive feedback our text would lack cohesion and it would not be what we want it to be.

 Revised version:

Although the main goal of the European Union is to maintain and consolidate democracy among its member states, over the past three years, events occuring in Hungary have demonstated a developing shift of Hungarian government form from democracy to dictatorship, induced by FIDESZ, a national-conservative party. With winning over a two third majority in 2010’s governmental elections, Hungarian people empowered one sole party. Since then, FIDESZ can make all the crucial decisions and implement laws without having to deal with an actual opposition party. The president of FIDESZ and therefore Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orbán. He, being the most powerful person of Hungary, has been abusing his power and caused the country to slide into bankruptcy However, the EU has done almost nothing to prevent Hungary, which is an EU member since 2004, from sliding into dictatorship.

Shortly after the election of FIDESZ, the party abandoned Hungary’s previous constitution and wrote an entirely new one within two weeks, causing damage to the country’s economy and democracy. With the new constitution the party reinforced their position and created a strong base for their rulership. The constitution inhibits the political power of opposition parties and the independence of the MNB, the Hungarian National Bank.  The new law on the MNB was adopted without taking into account all the observations of the European Central Bank. In addition, the MNB’s rate-setting panel, the Monetary Council, is made up entirely of members chosen by the ruling FIDESZ party.

Apart from this, the new institution has caused many other negative economic changes, like the imposition of a new bank tax, which mainly affects foreign companies which have their seats in Hungary. This new tax helped on the one hand to raise the governmental revenue but on the other hand it caused that many firms had to dismiss their employees or were even forced to shut down. In consequence, the unemployment rate has reached more than 10 % and many blame Orbán for this.

Orbán is also criticized for his unsuccessful discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). After being neglected the requested borrowing conditions due to his controversial behaviour and critical statements, the situation deteriorated. Orbán went so far as to borrow money with a 9% interest rate instead of working together(cooperating) with the IMF who(that) usually offers a loan for a 3% interest rate. His reason for borrowing money for such a high interest rate is that he does not want to depend on EU funding. These actions all contribute to the inflation and downturn of the Hungarian economy. The result of Orban’s strategy is that investors fear investing in the Hungarian market due to its unpredictable economic future.  

The most controversial issue that awakened the EU’s attention was the changes regarding Hungary’s media law. The media law forces TV channels, radio stations and newspapers to only publish news that have been approved by the party. By this, many aspects of democracy are hurt since no other opinions concerning politics are tolerated at the main broadcasting channels. Opposition parties have therefore almost no opportunity to present themselves in the media or to attract voters. In addition to this, FIDESZ and its various subsidiary organisations have the power to decide which journalists are being employed. If a journalist does not comply with the party’s ideology or expresses criticism, he or she will be dismissed immediately and will be very unlikely to find a new job in the media industry.

Hungary’s future would affect not only Hungary on its own but the whole EU. Therefore, the EU needs to intervene as it is responsible for maintaining economic stability and democracy in Europe. For doing so, the EU has certain tools. As Hungary has signed the membership agreement, they have to follow the provided guidelines. However, in case a member country fails to come up to the requirements, the EU has the right to suspend their voting rights in the EU commision. If this happened, Hungary would not be able to cast its vote when deciding about the EU budget or putting forward legislative proposal to the EU parliament. Suspending Hungary from its voting rights would be a severe punishment, but if the Hungarian government did not react to it and continued violating fundamental democratic rights, the EU could apply penalties with which Hungary would be excluded from the European market. If this happened, Hungary would have no other chance but obey the EU. Although this would be an extremely radical measurement, which has never been implemented in the history of the EU, it is the only hope for Hungary. Only the international pressure will help Hungary, because domestically the country is already lost. The EU needs to come up to its original purpose of maintaining democracy and freedom in order to prevent Europe from a new era of dictatorship, even if it is only in a small country like Hungary.

[815 words]

Teresa Brenner

http://brennerteresa.blogspot.co.at/

Sonja Haunschmid

http://sonyessusurrus.blogspot.co.at/

Artur Schefer

http://arturshefer.blogspot.co.at/

Harald Pasch

Corrected version:

The main goal of the European Union is to maintain and consolidate democracy among its member states. Nevertheless, events occurring in Hungary over the past three years have demonstrated a developing shift in Hungarian government form from democracy to dictatorship, induced by FIDESZ, a national-conservative party. During the governmental
elections of 2010, it managed to defeat other parties by winning a two thirds
majority. Thereupon, FIDESZ can make all the crucial decisions and implement
laws without having to deal with an opposition party. The president of FIDESZ
and therefore Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orbán. As the most powerful
person in Hungary, he has been abusing his power and has caused the country to
slide into bankruptcy. Despite all the controversial adjustments implemented in
Hungary, the EU has done almost nothing to prevent its government form slowly turning
into dictatorship.

Two weeks after the election of FIDESZ, the party abandoned Hungary’s previous constitution and wrote an entirely new one, causing damage to the country by  paralyzing economy and undermining democracy. With the new constitution, the party cemented its position in public institutions and created a strong base for their regiment. The new constitution lessens the political power of opposition parties and limits the independence of the MNB, the Hungarian National Bank. The new law on the MNB was adopted without taking into account serious concerns of the European Central Bank whether this could be used to influence decisions to the detriment of central bank independence. In addition, the MNB’s rate-setting panel, the Monetary Council, is made up entirely of members chosen by FIDESZ.

Apart from this, the new constitution has caused many other negative economic changes, such as the imposition of a new bank tax that mainly affects foreign companies which have settled in Hungary. This new tax helped to increase governmental revenue but caused many firms to dismiss their employees or even to shut down. In consequence, the unemployment rate has reached more than 10% and many blame Orbán for this.

Orbán is also criticized for his unsuccessful discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). After he was neglected the requested borrowing conditions due to his EU-critical statements, the economic situation of Hungary got worse. Orbán went so far as to borrow money with a 9% interest rate instead of cooperating with the IMF, which usually offers loans at a 3% interest rate. His reason for borrowing money at such a high interest rate is that he does not want to depend on EU funding. These actions have all contributed to the inflation and downturn of the Hungarian economy. The result of Orban’s strategy is that investors are afraid to invest in the Hungarian market due to its unpredictable future.  

The most controversial issue the EU paid attention to was the changes regarding Hungary’s media law. The media law forces TV channels, radio stations and newspapers to only publish news that has been approved by the party. By this law, many aspects of democracy are undermined since no other opinions concerning politics are tolerated on the main broadcasting channels. Opposition parties have therefore almost no opportunity to present themselves in the media or to attract voters. In addition to this, FIDESZ and its various subsidiary organisations have the power to decide which journalists are employed. If a journalist does not comply with the party’s ideology or expresses criticism, he or she will be dismissed immediately and will be very unlikely to find a new job in this occupational area.

Hungary’s future not only affects Hungary on its own but the whole EU, as the Union’s well-being depends on every member country. As it is responsible for maintaining economic stability and democracy in Europe, the EU needs to intervene. For doing so, the EU has certain methods. As Hungary has signed the membership agreement, they have to follow the guidelines. If a member country fails to meet the requirements, the EU has the right to suspend their voting rights in the EU commission. If this happened, Hungary would not be able to cast its vote when the EU is deciding about the budget and it could not put forward a legislative proposal to the EU parliament. Suspending Hungary’s voting rights would be a severe punishment, but if the Hungarian government did not react to this and continued violating fundamental democratic rights, the EU could apply penalties which would exclude Hungary from the European market. If this happened, Hungary would have no other choice but to adhere to the EU. Although this would be an extremely radical measure, which has never been implemented in the history of the EU, it would save the Hungarian democracy. Only the international pressure will help Hungary, because domestically the country is already lost. The EU needs to remind itself of its original purpose of maintaining democracy and freedom in order to prevent Europe from a new era of dictatorship, even if it is only in a small country like Hungary.

Academic Paper Project

My topic for the Academic Paper is EU standardized playgrounds. In the paper I will compare EU standardized playgrounds with the "old-school" playgrounds which had not standards and regulations, at least not as specific ones like the EU has. By comparing these two types of playground I will introduce the regulations. For example, what kinds of shock absorbing surface playgrounds have to use or how high a slope can be. Or what angle does the ladder has to have in order to be EU compatible. Furthermore I will provide some statistics on how these regulations prevented injuries. 

The problems I have are mainly small ones and I hope to find a solution to them soon. One problem I have is that I don't have access to the really valuable sources. I tried it in the library but the library has no subscription to these journals. So I will have to stick with what I have.  Another problem is really just a matter of time and devoted attention. When I chose this topic I thought it’s going to be easy to narrow it down because it’s already specific enough. I was surprised when I started to discover the many possible aspects of my topic. I could write about the legal departments and institutions that are responsible for the playgrounds and so on and so forth. I start to feel settled with my topic and my structure but I still need some more details, because it’s the first time I do something like this and I’m not totally confident about the structure.

Sources:
http://www.oralhealth.ro/volumes/2010/volume-2/V2-10-2.pdf
(It’s about dental injuries that children suffer on playgrounds.)

http://www.rospa.com/leisuresafety/adviceandinformation/playsafety/
(Overall about the regulations)

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1076/icsp.9.1.1.3326#preview
(this is one of the many I don’t have access to but the introduction has useful terms that I could use)

http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/30335956/Kidesafe_2004_-_Playground_Surfacing_Standards_-_A_Discussion_Paper.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA&Expires=1386608957&Signature=2ZQ%2Ftm4CnHOjw%2FE1RiNJLdfB3gM%3D&response-content-disposition=inline
(It has its focus on Australia but mentions European standards too)

http://www.childsafetyeurope.org/publications/info/child-safety-regulations-standards.pdf
(what are regulations and what are standards/ explains the role of standards in the EU)

Pronunciation Diary

I was cheered when I heard that from now on this class will focus on pronunciation. Finally an English lesson which is not about writing! Sure writing is a very important part of our studies, I can cope with that but I really missed using the language more in real life than on a piece of paper. So I am already curious to what extend my pronunciation will change if I follow the guidelines provided by Rachel and Amy.

My goal is to speak clearer. I sometimes realize that instead of speaking in a clear tone, I just start to mumble. I don’t know the reason why. Maybe because I think that way no one realizes that I pronounce something wrong. Another problem I often get confronted with is that I place the emphasis incorrectly. I have to learn emphasizing the right part of a word, because mistakes like a mispronounced word make it obvious that you have deficiencies.  As I live every semester with at least one native speaker of English, I have often the opportunity to speak with someone and I try to learn as much as possible from these conversations. For example, I ask them to correct me as soon as they hear something pronounced wrong.

Music must have been the biggest help for me in learning English pronunciation. Honestly, my English teachers in High School were all good teachers but they all had a very strong accent and if I would have listened more to them, then I wouldn't be here. Watching movies in English and listening to a lot of lyrically more complex music helped me more in practicing pronunciation than English class in High School. Analyzing lyrics and listening to them a hundred times helps you remember certain words and not just the word itself but how it is pronounced.

I know, listening to music and analyzing lyrics won't be enough to sound like a native speaker, so I will apply the same strategy for pronunciation practice as for vocab learning. Start early enough and do it every day. Step by step I go through Rachel's videos according to what I want to get better at. I'm already curious how it will change my pronunciation. 

Summary corrections

Original summary:

The article “Europe already is one foot in ‛Japanese’ deflation grave” by Ambrose-Evans-Pritchard, that was published on October 23, 2013 is about the European Debt crisis.

At the moment the percentage of debts in the European Union is increasing. With the exceeding debt rates, deflation is also rising. Over the past few months prices within the EU have been falling, increasing the risk of deflation. France, Spain, Greece, Portugal Cyprus, Slovenia, Latvia and in particular Italy for example have especially faced this problem.

One of the reasons for the problem the EU is currently facing has its origin in politics. Evans-Pritchard argues that because of poor policy, like imposing high taxes on the wrong countries and giving too much money to countries, as Germany, the specter of deflation rises.

The author states that one possible solution for this problem would be, if European countries like Spain, France and Italy started to work together, putting through a reflation policy that would stop the inflation fall.

Corrected version:

The article “Europe already is one foot in ‛Japanese’ deflation grave” by Ambrose-Evans-Pritchard, that was published on October 23, 2013  the 23. of October 2013, is about the European Debt crisis.

At the moment the percentage of debts(private dept or national dept) in the European Union(could be a bit more specific) is (shouldn't it be are increasing?) increasing. With the exceeding debt rates, deflation is also rising(can deflation rise? maybe occurs would sound better). Over the past few months prices within the EU have been falling, increasing the risk of deflation. France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Latvia and in particular Italy for example (already mentioned all of them, why "for example"?)  have especially faced this problem.

One of the reasons for the problem the EU is currently facing has its origin in politics. Evans-Pritchard argues that because of  due to  poor policy, like for example, imposing high taxes on the wrong countries and giving too much money to countries, as Germany, the specter of deflation rises. (I'm not sure if this is true. Germany does not get the money, but is reluctant giving it)

The author states that one possible solution for this problem would be, if European countries like Spain, France and Italy started to work together, putting through a reflation policy that would stop the inflation fall.  (A key figure in this is Germany and it is missing.)

 

Revised paragraph: EU citizenship

http://brennerteresa.blogspot.co.at/2013/11/eu-project-european-citizenship.html

Student life for an African in Europe

Throughout history of Africa, many of its presidents went to Europe to study. Nowadays also many young African students from the middle or upper class come here for educational reasons. According to a recent report, 77 per cent of all African students who study abroad choose European universities. But why is Europe so popular? Although the curriculum does not differ very much, one of the most significant differences is the quality of the education. Another reason for studying in Europe is the fact that European universities put more emphasis on practice. Thus students are able to use the here acquired knowledge to contribute to the improvement of the situation in their home countries.

Before fulfilling their dream of studying at a European university, students coming from Africa have to face serious requirements. First of all, they need to acquire a passport, a student's visa and a health and travel insurance, which can lead to difficulties as the bureaucratic system in most African countries is not as modern and efficient as it is supposed to be. In some cases they even have to bribe someone in order to get these documents. Another criterion is to have a certain amount of money on their bank account, which requires a strong financial background. This is a big problem, since generally not many families can afford to send their children to study abroad or to study at all.

Despite the above mentioned difficulties, it is not impossible for an African student to enroll in a European university. There are a number of programmes offering funds and scholarships for talented and motivated students. Furthermore, the association called AASE  (Association of African Students in Europe) plays a significant role in building a strong African community in Europe. By supporting African students, Europe can achieve a positive change in Africa´s economy and it contributes to closing the cultural gap between the two continents.

individual paragraph

2013 is the European Year of Citizens for a very valid reason. Due to lacking public awareness people do not know about their rights as a European Citizen ,thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the EU is to inform EU citizens of their rights and to promote the many advantages of being a Citizen. For example, the right to move and reside freely in any European country. By raising the public awareness the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a Citizen of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects their own goals. This can only be achieved if more people vote actively. Creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the perspective of 2013 is the individual citizen.



Feedback: I got some very good suggestions from my colleagues and also Melissa, that help me in improving my text and make it more interesting to read. One of them is that I should place the emphasis more on the reason than on the Year. So the topic sentence would reflect more the actual topic of the supporting sentences. Another point that was rather a mistake they found than a suggestion on improvement is that I wrote citizens capitalized. What's more,  they suggested to give a further explanation on how voting changes the EU. All in all, I very much appreciate the constructive feedback.




There is a very valid reason why 2013 is chosen to be the European Year of Citizens. Due to lacking public awareness people do not know about their rights as a European citizen ,thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the EU is to inform EU citizens of their rights and to promote the many advantages of being a citizen. For example, the right to move and reside freely in any European country. By raising the public awareness the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a citizen of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects their own goals. This can only be achieved if more people vote actively. Because voting is the best method to participate in changing the EU into something people want it to be. Creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the perspective of 2013 is the individual citizen.


Feedback: Again I got some very useful suggestions from my colleagues concerning cohesion and register. It was especially annoying for me that the word EU and citizen appear too often. So I mentioned this to the person who was so kind to proofread my text. The suggestion he gave me was that I should rephrase some sentences or replace the word in order to make it more cohesive. All in all, I am very happy with my text, especially after utilizing the suggestions I received.


There is a very valid reason why 2013 is chosen to be the European Year of Citizens. Due to lacking public awareness people do not know about their rights as a European citizen ,thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the European Union is to inform their citizens about their rights and to promote the advantages that are for many unknown. For example, the recent regulations concerning mobile roaming. By raising the public awareness the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a part of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects their own goals. This can be achieved if more people vote actively. Because, voting is the best method to participate in changing the EU into something people want it to be. Creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the perspective of 2013 is the individual citizen.

Final version 2:

There is a very valid reason why 2013 was chosen to be the European Year of Citizens. Due to a lack of public awareness, many people do not know about their rights as  European citizens thus they do not appreciate being one. Therefore, the goal of the European Union is to inform citizens about their rights and to promote the advantages that are for many unknown, for example, the recent regulations concerning mobile roaming. By raising public awareness, the European Commission hopes to encourage people to appreciate the significance of being a part of the European Union. They want people to participate in forming a better Union that also reflects the citizen`s own goals. In order to do so they try to encourage people to vote because voting is the best means to change the EU into something people want it to be. After all, creating a real union between nations is only possible if every individual sees his personal interest in it. This is the reason why the focus of 2013 is the individual citizen.

5 EU related topics

I have to admit, choosing five topics that interest me and are in someway connected to the EU has proved to be a bigger challenge than I expected. What's more, I tried to choose topics that are not just interesting, but also "easy" to write about. I don't want to end up with a topic that turns out to be too difficult and complicated so that I would regret having chosen it. I had that experience last semester with American religions and to be honest it was very distressing. So I tried to choose more or less wisely this time.

1. EU standards on playgrounds
The standardized EU playgrounds were my very first experience with the EU. I can remember that in my hometown all the playgrounds were demolished and new "EU playgrounds" were built instead. As I was too old to appreciate the newly set up playgrounds I just watched my brothers having a lot of fun using the new equipment. My question now is what are the standards that the playgrounds have to live up to. How is it decided whether an equipment is safe enough or not. What are the requirements of an EU compatible playground. ( one of the more complicated ones due to lack of resource)

2. The Hungarian majority's opinion about the EU.
In Hungary the recent government and partly the opposition are strongly against the European Union and permanently seek the opportunity to criticise the EU. They try to persuade the people that the EU is only holding back Hungary's economy and that the country would be better off without the EU. What are the reasons for reluctance? What kind of picture do the people get about the EU in Hungary?

3. Orbán Viktor (Hungary's Prime Minister) and his relationship with the EU.
This is partly connected to the second topic. This is a very recent issue in Hungary. Mr. Orban's relationship with the EU is very complicated and controversial. It would be great to write about this in order to gain a better view on the happenings. Besides the news and the Internet is full of resources related to this topic.

4. European Week of Sports ( EWoS)
The European Week of Sports is a request that was put forward by the Council in 2012. It is still under discussion, but it would be an event organised annually and would promote participation in Sports and physical activity all around Europe. What will the program look like. What are the ideas? What kind of sports will it promote? Will it be like an Olympia only for Europe? The problem is that it is still under questionnaire so there may not be enough information to write a paper about it.

5. The European Union as pease keeper?
The reason for the establishment of the EU ,as by know you may all know, is to prevent peace within European countries, but is that really what it does? In some aspects it seems to me that the EU is causing more controversies than peaceful stability. For example, the tension between Germany and Greece. Even if it is not causing a war, the dissension between nations seems to increase rather than decrease.

Culture Days

Hello,
So the culture days are over. I really enjoyed it but to be honest, it’s good to have it behind me. It was a culture shock. Too much information in too short time. Even though I’m  still digesting all the info, I try to fix my mind on 10 that I watched. These are my top 10.

Ireland:

 1.Julia Seeman:The Symbolism of the Harp.

2. Alexandra Pasca: Hero or Enemy? How the World Sees Bobby Sands

3.Katrin Wiesinger: Reek Sunday on Crough Patrick

America:

4. Orsolya Csizmár: Two Heroines of American Aviation: Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman

5. Marina Margeta:  Things you might not know about San Francisco and the Bay area

6. Livia Perschy:  Danger of Society Threat Groups in American prisons

7. Lucie Bois: Comic books and Superheros

8.Anna Agabani:  Why on earth would anyone live in Tornado Alley?!

9. Louis Nguyen: Harlem, New York City

10.Bianca Stadler: Sacagawea: Her Claim to Faim

The 5 that I chose to be tested on:

1.Lucie Bois: Comic books and Superheros

2.Anna Agabani:  Why on earth would anyone live in Tornado Alley?!

3.Alexandra Haunold: The Columbian Exchange

4. Danger of Society Threat Groups in American prisons

5. : Two Heroines of American Aviation: Amelia Earhart and Bessie Coleman

All the presentation I saw were in some way great. Some of them were great because of the topic, some for  the way they were presented or the PP/Prezi design. I learned a lot of new  and additional info in those  2 days. Thank You!

Whistleblowers

Dear Readers,

As we are all in the midst of the finals, it gets harder to find the time for a post. Although, I see that many of you manage it and that gives me the power to go on. I don't really feel a change in the intensity because for me the end of the semester is at least as hard as the it was in the beginning. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 4 more weeks and a couple of homework more and we are over it. But this is not the actual topic that I want to write about. Today I stumbled over a video about "whistleblowers". Actually it was two. 

One guy who's name is Bradley Manning was a US Army soldier who passed classified materiel (top secret information) to "Wikileaks". This was in 2010 and his case is still under discussion. For the Government he is a traitor, but for many people he is a hero. Standing up against authority takes a lot of courage if you ask me. His opinion is that  everyone should have the right to know what is really going on, even if this means life sentence for himself. For the Government he is a terrorist who tried to pass information to the enemy, but he just tried to enlighten the people. If you ask me, a few more weeks and no one will remember him.

The other whistleblower is Edward Snowden. He works/worked for the NSA (National Security Agency). He was in a very high position, earning tons of money and enjoying life on Hawaii. He had access to authorized information and, as you may have guessed, leaked the info. It is interesting to see that people in high positions who's interest is that this system of corruption and surveillance should work forever, change their mind and expose themselves to the world. This must mean something.

(This is a very interesting interview with Edward Snowden)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video?CMP=twt_fd

Maybe it’s because I read too much George Orwell or I'm just growing up, but it seems to me that we are somehow fooled. For example, there is a revolution going on in Turkey. Even though people died by the hands of the police (who are supposed to protect us), the media did not broadcast anything about it for days. We know just what the government wants us to know and even if they introduce certain news they introduce them in the light they want the viewer to see them. So they achieve that the most people are loyal.

I hope I did not offend anyone by this post. Sometimes I have this unbearable intention to spread the word, which cannot be heard or seen in the news.

Take Care,
Harald

MAKE ME DANCE!!!:)

Hello,

Time for a break. The culture paper is a hard task and we need to rest every once a while. So I started browsing the internet and I realized that of all the reasons why the internet is great, maybe having fun is the most important. Since the World is online, everyone can express himself by making GIFs or using MEMEs to make a comic story. Everyone can share their humor with everyone. Isn't that great?

I volunteered and hope that you will laugh at least little bit, even though we have to face hard times.

http://theuglydance.com/?v=teznfpkifm

Have FUN!!!:)

CROSSFIT

Hello everyone,

As I am slowly but surely running out of topics (or better said  which I think are interesting for other than me), I decided to write again about sports, but this time it has also something to do with the USA. I want to introduce you to CROSSFIT.

It has its roots in the USA where it already built out a very big fan base. Competitions and Crossfit Gyms open up all around the World, especially in America. In the last 3 years over 600 crossfit gyms opened up in the US. It spreads continuously and it starts to reach the public too. For the US this means another national sport.

Crossfit is a Sport that combines basically every kind of exercise you can imagine. From weightlifting to rope climbing to chin-ups. The best in the whole thing is that anyone can do it and it is not even hard to set up a workout plan. It only requires some imagination and endurance. The workout is splited into WODs which look like this:

-21 pull ups

-21 toes to bar

-21 sit ups

- 15 pull ups

- 15 toes to bar

- 15 sit ups

-9 pull ups

-9 toes to bar

-9 sit ups

WOD means Workout of the Day, though this does not mean that you can’t do more of them  within a workout session.         

The goal is to accomplish this set as fast as possible. But you can also set your alarm for 7 minutes and do as many rounds as possible. Here you can see that it has many variations and everyone can find his/her favorite. It is pretty easy to set up a crossfit gym. Basically the only fixed equipment is the pull up bar, everything else requires only space.

The competitions are structured as to give every competitor the same chances because there are no weight groups. This is the tricky part in it. Every competitor is different in weight and size and all of them have workouts in which they are better than the other, but the question is: who is the fittest among all of them.

Some days ago the Crossfit Regionals took place all over the World. In Europe it was in Denmark. To participate in this competition is already a great honor for the most of them. To my surprise, my favorite crossfitter  Kovács Lacee from  Hungary won the Regionals and with this he qualified for the World Championship in America.

On the picture you can see Lacee, the Hungarian  who won the Crossfit Regionals in Europe.

Nine Inch Nails experience

Hello!
I have to confess I wasn't very active in the past few weeks concerning my blog. Things start to overwhelm me as we are coming closer to the end of the semester. However, I can give the best out of me when I'm under pressure, so I have to keep my chin up and chew myself through this. Still the worst thing is that because the semester goes till 5th July, I will miss the show I was waiting for since I was 15 years old. Queens Of The Stone Age is touring with their new album and they are going to play in Sopron and I will sit here in my room probably studying for the oral exam. What can I do?! I have to cope with it that I again miss one of my favorite rock bands. Now we get to the actual topic, Rock'n Roll now.

We all know that America and Great Britain gave birth to the biggest rock bands in history. Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Ozzy Osbourne, Nirvana, David Bowie just to name a few. I now they may not fit in to the traditional Rock'n Roll category, but they all emerged from it. Without them, my life would be totally different. I mean I grew up on these albums and listened them over and over again, till I knew every song by heart. I realized that now that the internet gives us unlimited access to basically everything, younger generations like my brother, don't really appreciate a real CD or a Vinyl. I can remember myself looking on the Vinyls on my father's shelf with astonishment, and even though I was very young at that time and I did not really understand what it all is about (also because I could not understand English), but the music filled me with passion and contributed much to the person who I'm now.

 I'm still discovering the endless alternatives of this music and with endless I mean endless. From underground powerviolence to industrial noise to real Hip-Hop I really like to listen to everything. The band that still has the biggest impact on me is Nine Inch Nails. The leader of NIN (Trent Reznor) is a very talented musician who composed music for movies and games and his label helped many bands in their career. He collaborated on many projects with members of TOOL or David Bowie etc. Seeing him working together with Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age) gives me a feeling of enchantment. Since all of them are the giants of 21 Century Rock music, seeing them play together and collaborating in projects is for me still unbelievable.

Take Care,
Harald

The new pioneer: New Zealand

Hey,

The 17th April of 2013 was a great day for New Zealand. They joined the ranks of the more developed countries and legalized same sex marriage. It’s just a small step, but nowadays we have to be happy if that step goes forward and not backwards. Since it is still a big issue and in many countries even a taboo, I’m happy that New Zealand got to be a striking example of human progress. 

After I made some research I found out that more than 50 percent of the Americans support same sex marriage. Still it is banned in 38 states of the 50. 9 states legalized it and so gave a new meaning to the word marriage and made it open for everyone. 6 states allow civil unions between couples, but not marriage. Let’s hope this will change soon, and that the other more conservative states open their eyes and stop holding back progress.

What's your opionion on this? Do you think it is profane to allow same sex marriage? If yes why?

Here is a video of the great moment:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/17/new-zealand-spectators-sing-spectators-gay-marriage_n_3100992.html

Crossroads: labor pains of a new worldview

The other day I got to see a movie called crossroads-labor pains of a new worldview. It's a movie about the current world and the tiny little creatures called Humans. I'm fascinated by the world and its complexity. Just think of the many worldviews the people create and the realities they construct themselves. Everyone sees the world different (or should I say "sees a different world"?).But we all accustom to the society. We all differ from each other still we somehow have effect on each other, whether we accept it or not. Often without even realizing we imitate people we admire, taking off their gestures and laughing like them, especially when we are children. We learn to live in a Society. We are creatures that need relations. It is explained in the movie: We are all part of one "system" that is interconnected. We develop simultaneously, at least to some extent.

Let's take Smartphone for example. 3 years ago I never would have guessed that a Smartphone will be an essential accessory for life. I know it isn't an essential accessory, but still many of us use it on a daily base. It is easier to manage your messages and your appointments, but we could manage our appointments without a Smartphone. We just created a need for it. 

This is just one example of many that make our life easier and should spare us some time, yet I don't really feel that I would have more free-time. It doesn't really matter how much free-time we have. Life seems to get faster day by day. My parents always complain how hasty a day is now, even though they have lots of equipments that should make life more convenient and complete. Actually, we just rush through life to then, at the end, realize that we had not lived yet, just worked. There is a phrase in Hungarian (I don't know whether there is an English equivalent for it) that says: You have as much time as much you take yourself. 

I kind of drifted off the topic, but I think this is strongly related to it. It made me think what needs to happen to change the world. Now it is hanging on a thin thread. More and more revelations and confrontations arise against the economic system. The current world in the situation it is now, benefits only a small group of leaders. I know it was always like this. The only difference was that back then they called the authority the king. With this word you were allowed to exploit everyone.

 It sounds promising that we are going to evolve and get better, like a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. I know it's just a theory, but I won't be the one who prevents it from happening. Anyway, watch the movie. It's one hour long and made me think for 3 days.

Take care, 

Harald

Kettlebell

Time for a new post. 

Actually I didn’t write too much yet, maybe because I didn't really know what to write about. So after 2 days of hunting for a new topic, I decided to write about something that changed my lifestyle and had a very big effect on my attitude towards every aspect of life. 

It all started 2 years ago when a friend of mine told me about that sport he is doing and that he wants to achieve the trainer’s license. I thought that I have to give it a try. I had this often that I started a sport like basketball, karate or volleyball and after a few months I just gave up because it did not enjoy it anymore. So I decided to go to my friend's first session and try this new sport called Kettlebell. What happened was that I actually got addicted to it. Since then I just can't stop, even though I often feel like a car crash victim after the work out.

The word Kettlebell refers not only to the sport, but

to the weight itself. It is simple thing, a cannonball with a handle on it. J

Kettlebell wasn't always a sport. Originally it was used as measure weight in agriculture. Later in the 17th century the Soviet army used it as physical training equipment. Who else than the Russian.:)

So it was used in the army for a long time, but the man who made it one of the most famous sports of the 21 century was Pavel Tsatsouline. He not just popularized it over the world, but he also contributed to it and standardized the whole system to bring out the best of this seemingly simple iron ball with a handle. 

Basically it uses the rules of weightlifting, but it goes further. There are an infinitive number of exercises that can be done with the kettlebell. It is used to perform cardio exercises as well as ballistic exercises and strength training. A training session combines kettlebell exercises and own-body-weight exercises to make the torment more interesting and varied.:)

In the last few years kettlebell conquered the world and nowadays you won't really find a fitness centre where there is no kettlebell training offered or at least a few kettlebell's standing in the corner. They also refer to it as the fitness revolution. Just type in kettlebell in to the youtube search box and you will find tons of videos explaining how to do it. Be careful though the most of the people in the videos don't really have the knowledge to give instructions. The real masters of kettlebell are called RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge). This means that they accomplished the training tests lead and controlled by Pavel Tsatsouline and learned everything that is to know about the basics of kettlebell. Last year Pavel founded a new system called strong first. Basically it is the same as RKC just the name is different.

Even though it is just a weight, the exercises are pretty complex and need much practice in order to make them properly, because without instructions of a professional trainer these exercises can be very dangerous. After a few month of training the progress is astonishing. I could do things with my body that I never thought I could. It gave me a much better control of my body. What’s more it helped me with my back problems and it had effect on my lifestyle too. Before I started the sport I was shy to try things. I always thought that this is too much for me or that I am not able to do this because blablabla. Since I train regularly I got much more active not just physically but also mentally. It motivates me, or better said it taught me how to motivate myself.:)

I linked some further videos at the bottom if you are interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IzNfoXsOWs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifSUbSv9KRE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpFL_q_Zemw

Have you ever heard about VSAUCE?

Have you ever heard about VSAUCE?

My flat-mate from China showed it to me, last semester. Since then I watch at least 2 videos a week. I'm getting kind of addicted to it. Actually if I don't hear Michael's voice in a week at least once, I feel like I would have forgotten to eat for days.:)

A group of devoted people with a mega-mind behind it all: Michael Stevens.

They introduce you to fairly difficult and scientific topics, but the narrator (Michael) is explaining everything in a totally understandable and funny way. In about 10 minutes Vsauce broadens your horizon and teaches you facts you may forget 1 minute later, but it is still very interesting to watch. And who knows, maybe some of the facts get stuck in your brain without you noticing it. 

With everything I really mean everything. From topics like "What is the most dangerous place on earth?" to "ENGLISH" and "What is Déjá vu?". They really answer all kinds of questions which you always asked yourself, but never found a good explanation for it. All this, in a very clean and intelligible English. Very instructive and entertaining.

and as always: Thank's for reading :)

Introduction

Hello and Welcome to my new blog. Yes it's new because like the most of my fellow students, I also took the SUK1 course where we already had the opportunity to more or less get into the habit of blogging. I may not took it serious last semester ,but I definitely want to spend more time with free writing now. Writing is not my strength. It was always the part of learning which I did not really enjoy. I hope this will change, at least I try my best.

What will I write about? (I love to ask myself questions:))
Hmm, actually I have a few ideas, but I think that blogging is also important because it gives me the opportunity to make mistakes and learn how to write down my own, free thought, without thinking about them too much. On the other hand it's better to be careful with writing down everything before letting it go through my mental censorship.:)

actual introduction:
I'm Harald, but you can call me as you wish. Considering the fact that I mainly grew up in Hungary I got used to it if someone misspells my name. I study (as you may have guessed it) English, German and Hungarian. I love angry, fast music and occasionally fast food. I love cycling, wall-climbing, Kettlebell and Crossfit. I'm vegetarian, but not proud of it. I like movies and I read much and anything . Sure I have favorite authors ,but this is not constant. I specially admire Tolkien, Vonnegut, Palahniuk, and  Russian, Hungarian writers. I really like to go on concerts of any kind and I also help organizing shows in my hometown. As the most people who study languages I also love traveling and discovering the unknown. I could go on like this ,but you should read my posts and not my introduction.:)
Good night and good luck.
H.