HOW MUCH I MISS CYMRU...
(I'll keep you posted about this topic.)

I miss Cymru, in particular, Abertawe...

I loved being there, living with a lovely and nice married couple. I loved having Toffee, Honey and Bruno around me. I loved walking to the university through the Singleton Park, passing an old little chapel...which, from time to time scared me a little bit since the chapel was situated in the middle of a cemetery where every gravestone was crooked.

I enjoyed the Botanic Garden and the sea near where I lived. I enjoyed being in Mumbles, in Clyne Garden and visiting the Gower. Oh, how much I miss you, Cymru.

I remember the day of my arrival in Cymru very clearly...it was January, 26 January, 2014, a Sunday afternoon when my dad, my godfather and my godmother dropped me in front of family Demarco's house in Eversley Road. I was nervous and honestly said, I didn't want to leave my family. After my dad parked the car next to the sidewalk, it didn't take us long to find out where the doorbell of family Demarco’s house is. Before we could rang the doorbell, we had to climb old stairs made of stone. As we reached the door then, my father rang.

I was so nervous, I couldn't even stand still for a moment. I was curious and totally stressed. After a few minutes of emotional turmoil, someone unlocked the turquoise door which I experienced as a kind of relief.

It was my host-father, a white-haired man accompanied by Toffee, a dark-brown cocker spaniel who barked very loud...After I introduced myself to him, he invited us in. I followed him hesitantly into the dining room where two puppies were expecting us. Honey and Bruno were so happy and lively that I forgot about the worries I had before my dad, my godfather, my godmother and I met them. After I calmed down, I realized how beautiful the house of my host-parents was. The corridor had a dark red fitted carpet and the banister was painted white whereas the dining room had a wooden floor. The interior design of the house looked really nice and cosy and I started to like it. Furthermore, I spotted a small white door underneath the banister and I suspected a little chamber behind it, like the chamber in which Harry Potter slept before he was invited to study in Hogwarts.

While I was inspecting the ground floor of my new home, my dad fell in love with one of the puppies, namely with Bruno. He didn't really admit it but I could see it in his eyes. The two puppies were cute, I agree.

So as we were being fascinated by the puppies, my host mother came home from work. She worked as a nanny for a family living down the street. She immediately greeted all of us very friendly and gave me a hug. Her voice was high and she talked like one of the comic figures I watched on TV when I was a child. At this point I have to emphasise that although her voice and behaviour was unusual for me, she seemed chatty and caring. That’s why I started to relax. I think, due to the “meet- and-greet-thing”, my dad was relaxed too and less worried about me. This would be the an explanation why he decided not to stay and have a cup of tea with my host parents. Another possible explanation would be that my dad and my godparents had to leave before it got dark since they stayed in Bristol over the night. So, as I said, they decided to leave earlier than I thought which made me sad because it was an awkward situation for me. Nevertheless, I had to let them go and accompanied them to the door, gave all of them a kiss and a very long hug and said buy…

After letting them go, I went upstairs and entered my new bedroom which had a violet fitted carpet. I started to unpack my two huge suitcases and starred out of the window from time to time. After an hour or so, it started to rain and I felt blue…

"Now I am stuck in Cymru (Abertawe) for five months", I thought.

To be continued...

Hey everyone!

As I have already mentioned in one of my posts, we (students) were asked to do a "Before & After Comparison" concerning our written summaries we had to do in the first few weeks of the semester. Since I didn't have time to update you regarding that, I'm going to do this now. 

One of the first tasks we were given in our English class was the creation of a mind map about a text which dealt with economics. 
We had to visualise  "The Economics of Robinson Crusoe" in form of a mind map. I have to admit that I underestimated this task as I thought it wouldn't be that complicated for me to fulfill it. Unfortunately it was much complex than I thought. Although the text isn't really complicated , I did struggle with the visualisation of the most important aspects. The first attempt I did, looked like this: 

I know, this mind map looks really complicated. 

After the office our in November, I looked at the mind map my teacher drew and decided to adjust my first attempt slightly. 

The mind map above is the one my teacher made and the one below is my second version which I consider as less complicated and easy to understand. 

I hope I provided an understandable summary in form of a mind map for you. 

See you. 

S. 

DEAR PRONUNCIATION DIARY:

During the last few weeks I thought intensively why I’d like to work on a better pronunciation and I finally drew the conclusion that my dream job plays a significant role regarding that. I’d like to work as an interpreter in the United Kingdom (I’d favour a position at the BBC or at another British TV station). Since I’d like to be an employee in the UK, I assume I should have a good pronunciation in order to guarantee that people can understand me very well (even if I only translate what other people say). 

Based on my thoughts concerning my future job I’d really like to acquire a British accent. The one which I like the most is the RP accent (Received Pronunciation) which is considered as the most neutral one in the UK and is also used by representatives of the BBC. In order to get familiar with that sort of accent I started watching videos on youtube and I’ll certainly search for more on the Internet. Some of the videos I watched, deal with British accents in general whereas some specifically refer to the RP accent. I’ll provide the videos if you are interested in watching it.

While watching the videos I could easily realize that intonation between, let’s say, American English and British English is different. If you watch the videos below, you will understand what I mean.

This is actually a really fun video. You should definitely watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scx2wh4jFY8

This video is about English in general and how somebody can learn to speak like a native: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChZJ1Q3GSuI


This video deals with the RP accent and focuses mainly on the /r/ sound:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtXcrElq5jM

This video deals with the RP accent as well and mainly focuses on how certain vowels are pronounced: (I really like this video as you can join in while watching it. I did that and it was a lot of fun. I certainly hope noone was at home during that time. Would be awkward if my parents heard me.) :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNu3q5ODgqs

This video is for those who are interested in the history of the different British accents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIemPxHSb6Q

Now I’m going to describe the  features of the RP accent which caught my attention immediately as I struggle with them from time to time. 

Interesting features of this accent are, in particular, the vocal /a/ and consonant /r/ . The vocal /a/, e.g. is sometimes pronounced like /ɑː/ as in the word /dɑːns/ (dance) whereas in an American English you pronounce the /a/sound more like /æ/. 
Compare: UK: /dɑːns/  US: /dæns/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/dance
The /a/ sound as in dance or tomato is really British, I think. If you have watched the video I provided above, you will understand what I mean. (Video I)

Another aspect of British pronunciation that could be considered as crucial, in my opinion, is the pronunciation of the /r/ sound. Why?

Well, in RP, the /r/ sound at the end of the words like brother, mother, father, sister isn't pronounced in the same way as it is in American English. In British English, the /r/ in the last syllable isn’t pronounced strongly, rather softly, whereas in American English you can clearly hear the /r/ at the end. So this is certainly an aspect of the RP accent which I’m going to work on as I tend to mix British and American English. 

Compare: UK: ˈbrʌð.ər/ and US/-ɚ/.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/brother
As I said, I decided to stick to one specific accent in order to avoid further confusion.

Of course, I have more problems regarding pronunciation, especially if I have to pronounce difficult words. Some of these words (words, that are superdifficult for me) are literally, strategy, strategically, adjacent, etc. which I'll keep practising. 

How do I solve the difficulties I have regarding accurate pronunciation?

Well, I personally recommend to do listening comprehensions in order to get familiar with accurate pronunciation. What I’m listening to/watching are British soap operas as the protagonists are mainly British with British accents, what a surprise. ;)
At this point I do have to admit that this is more a fun activity and entertains me rather than an academic approach to improve pronunciation…so please, don’t blame me for watching British TV.

Another strategy of mine is that I use online dictionaries which provide audio-material. In other words, the word I am typing in on the website of an online dictionary can be listened to afterwards. I encourage you to check out reverso.com, the oxford dictionary or vocabulary. com as these online dictionaries do have audio-material that can be listened to. I really love them.

Words I didn’t know how to pronounce and checked on oxford dictionary were:

ambiguity, authority, metaphor, caecum. I'll keep practicing them in order to stress them accurately. 

I'll also check out more videos which deal with the RP accent in order to acquire the accent. Actually, I saw some videos titled how to learn the RP/how to do RP. These videos might be helpful as they probably provide strategies to acquire that specific accent. I'll check them out, that's for sure. 

I’ll definitely keep you up to date about how I’m doing on improving my pronunciation.

See you.

S.

  

HOW TO STUDY VOCABULARY II:

Hey everybody out there!

I recently draw the conclusion that I have to adjust my current learning strategies regarding memorizing new words. How did I come to this conclusion? Well, the answer is a really simple one. I failed the PC1. The thing is, I did learn, but I assume the way I did wasn't the best one to pass the exam.
Therefore I decided to adapt some learning strategies from my colleagues (who probably passed PC1 or were at least better than I was). !?!?!? :O
One of the methods I'd like to use in future is from a colleague of mine who uses an exercise book in which she writes down every new word or phrase that crosses her path (in class or somewhere else). I think that's a good way of boosting your vocabulary as you learn new words step by step and not all of them under time pressure. I mean, if you write down three to ten new phrases per day you probably struggle less with memorizing them than you would if you have to study all of them at the same time. Therefore, I have to admit that I have faith in this method. That's why I am gonna start working with such an exercise book from now on, I guess. :D I hope that helps me to get a better result on the next PC in january. (Honestly, I'm gonna do the best I can.)
Another aid I could use to boost my vocabulary, according to my colleagues is a software called anki. Anki focuses on remembering vocabulary in a more efficient and easier way. But I am not sure if I am the type of student/English learner who would benefit from software, as I hate sitting in front of the computer. I don't even like to use my mobile phone so much. Don't ask why, I can't even explain the reason for that. ;)

Nevertheless, I checked out the website about anki. On the website, anki is described as a tool that focuses on remembering vocabulary more efficiently and easily. According to the website (http://ankisrs.net/), using anki decreases the time of studying or in other words, you learn more in less time. Doesn't sound that bad, does it? I'm gonna check out this software and if it doesn't apply to me, I don't use it. It's as simple as that, right?

That's all for now, guys. I know, I am not good at writing about boosting your vocabulary, nevertheless, I hope you found some aspects interesting.

S.

Hey everybody!

Today, I did a mind map about pronunciation as in class we were told to write about pronunciation and how we are going to improve our own pronunciation. Honestly said, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. At the beginning, I just stared at my blank sheet of paper. I think, it took me like 10 minutes until I finally started because hardly anything came into my mind when I was thinking about pronunciation. After another 10 minutes or so, I eventually wrote down the word pronunciation, which I centered in the middle of the sheet. After that, ideas just came into my mind quite suddenly. I wrote down everything even if it was really really simple. I wrote down things that are so obvious and logical for me as I wanted to make sure that I don't exlude aspects of pronunciation which might be important for the improvement of my pronunciation. In other words, I tried to consider every essential aspect of pronunciation of which learners, myself included,  should be aware of. Therefore I created a mind map which includes motives for the improvement of somebody's pronunciation, problems learners have to face and how these problems can be solved. 



After the mind map was finished, I made the structure for my text about pronunciation which I am going to write in the following two weeks. I think, that the first draft I made isn't that bad. If you have any ideas how I could improve the "structure of my text" please let me know. I'd appreciate any opinion. 

The second picture on the left is the current scope of my text:


S.

THE CRISIS OF CREDIT VISUALISED:

Hi everyone! 

As we are working on writing summaries this semester, we were asked to provide a "Before & After Comparison" which I will present in my blog. I will therfore highlight the changes I made after my professor corrected the first versions of my summaries. 

In class, we recently watched a video which is about the credit crisis (2008). After watching it we had the task to do a summary which I will provide you below so that you get an idea of what a credit crisis is and how it is caused. 

Jonathan Jarvis’s video “The Crisis of Credit Visualised”, provides an overview of the 2008 credit crisis. It explains what a credit crisis is, who is involved and its evolution.

The credit crisis is a global financial fiasco which causes frozen credit markets and bankruptcy. Examples of involved parties are homeowners, investors and institution like the US federal reserve who sells treasury bills to low interest rates. This makes borrowing money easy.

Furthermore, it is explained that links between the “participants” of the financial system  are created through mortgages which are paid by homeowners and possessed by investors. The mortgages are combined in a Collateralized Debt Obligation (CDO), which in turn is split into three AAA, BBB and unrated tranches. The AAA is insured with a credit default swap. Dependency is created which is not necessarily negative because it guarantees stability.

This changes if parties depend on each other unequally. Defaults on mortgages affect investors negatively as their investments turn into houses. The more defaults exist the more houses are for sale which cause devaluation of properties. Since involved parties are affected, a knock-on effect evokes instability which in the case of a credit crisis results in collective bankruptcy, as it is concluded.

The problem in this summary was that I could have condensed more than I actually did and that I could have included more specific terminology (CDO). Another problem I had was that I referred unnecessarily to the source...like "According to the video" or "In this video the credit crisis is described as a global financial fiasco".

Nevertheless, think I included the most important information in my summary and hope that you got interested in watching the video. Here is the link to it, if you want to know detailed information about the credit crisis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx_LWm6_6tA.

That's all for now.

See you.

S. 

HOW TO STUDY VOCABULARY:

Hey guys, I recently created this blog to keep you up to date regarding my learning strategies for English.  I am going to be writing about various topics, many learners, myself included, have problems with. After reflecting on how I intend to tackle them, I hope I can give you some useful advice.

The first topic I am going to deal with is LEARNING VOCABULARY . Since I know that learning new words and phrases can be very tedious, I would like to share some of the ways I am trying to make it more effective, easier and less boring.

Tools which support my learning process, are printed or online. They are used differently among the students, depending on the type of learner (visual, auditive, habitual, communicative). As I know that I am a visual learner, I prefer to use printed or online resources.  Printed resources I frequently use are bilingual dictionaries rather than monolingual ones because I find I can understand the meaning of a new word better when it is translated into my mother tongue than when it is defined in English.

Since I am a visual learner, after looking up a new word, the next step I make is to write it down in English and in German. Furthermore, I write down collocations of the word and phrases in which it is used.  I do not know why it is easier for me to study words by writing them down like that, but I suppose I “learn” words unconsciously by writing them down. I recently started to use is a website called http://www.vocabulary.com/.

As I am still checking out this website, I cannot give so much specific advice, but I would like to describe the first impressions I got from vocabulary.com. First of all, I have to admit that I was confused while using this website the first time. However, the more I use them the more I like using it. I think you just have to have a closer look at it so that you find out how it works. Here is an personal summary:

Since vocabulary.com is an online monolingual dictionary I still have some difficulties regarding the use of it and to understand the definitions of new words as I am not used to work with monolingual dictionaries. In spite of that I do see some advantages in using 

vocuabulary.com because it includes various features which help me to practice new words.  Some advantages are: that you can create personal vocabulary lists, you can edit them whenever you want and  you can practice them. What I like the most about this website is first of all that you can make your own lists including word definitions. And secondly that you can test  your knowledge of vocabulary. So check it out!

That is all for now but I do hope some of my approaches appeal to you. If not, share your learning strategies with me. :)

See you.

S.

DEAR PRONUNCIATION DIARY:

In class, we were told to improve our pronunciation or better said we should try to find methods to improve it. 
In addition to that we should keep a diary where we write about our progress which I am starting right now :). 
At the moment I am not sure how I should deal with the whole thing, as I am not really good in writing about my own learning strategies. 

I think, I will do a mind map. I will just write down everything that comes into my mind when I think about pronunciation. Then, I could select aspects from the mind map which fit together and write about that...somehow!?!!?
As I said, at the moment, I don't have a clue how I should start this task but I think the mind map would be a good way to put my ideas on paper. Then I probably minimise the chaos in my head...

I also thought about watching videos which deal with accurate pronunciation. Maybe I check out youtube.com. There are certainly some helpful videos for English learners who struggle with pronunciation...

What I am also going to check out is the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Maybe I will get some helpful hints. 

That's all for now... I hope I figure out how I should fulfill this task...

S.