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.