Pronunciation Diary #2

After receiving the feedback of the pronunciation exercise I watched the record carefully to detect my problem areas. It is always strange to hear myself on record or see myself on video, but at least watching myself on video is something I got more or less used to thanks to sign language exercises ;).

It must have been so much fun for the teachers to listen to the blabla we produced, especially at describing the picture.. :D

But back to the topic: My problem areas. As it came to light through my recording / the feedback, there are a few words I simply didn't know the right pronunciation, one word I used in the wrong context and one specific sound I struggle with. 

1. Incorrectly pronounced words:

There's not much I can add to that, I simply have to learn the right pronunciation.

- aluminium

- spiral

2. Currency in Plural:

Instead of using the plural for the currency I just said "27 dollar 96 cent", which should of course be "27 dollars 96 cents".  I'm glad this mistake was pointed out to me so it (hopefully) won't happen again.  

3.Salad:

I used the word "salad" for the picture description in the wrong context.

According to vocabulary.com, a salad is:

food mixtures either arranged on a plate or tossed and served with a moist dressing; usually consisting of or including greens

For describing the picture I should have used the term "lettuce". 

4. The sound "ð"

I was never really aware of the fact that the "th" at the beginning of "that / this / there/ that / them / ..." should actually sound the same as the "th" in "others" or "smooth". I always pronounced it like the "d" in "dame" or "did", but I guess I should definitely work on that ;) 

Here's a video of a women (with British accent) pronouncing the "ð" sound:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/sounds/con_voiced_6.shtml

I can only recommend this link if you struggle with specific sounds, because all of them are explained carefully at this website. 

Bye, /ɪnˈdʒɔɪ/ improving your  /prəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ skills! ;) 

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

http://heroldflux.blogspot.co.at/2013/12/why-european-union-schould-intervene-to.html

Me and my Academic Paper

Ho ho ho.

To be honest, I'm not making much progress at writing my academic paper about the Design of the Euro Banknotes. It is one of the points on my Christmas-Break-To-Do-List, because right at the moment I have to focus on various other projects that have to be finished until Christmas. But during the holidays, motivation will knock on my door and overwhelm me with consistent presence. Hopefully. :)

I think the best way to explain what I'm going to write about is posting my introduction, so here it is:

The Design of the Euro Banknotes

The euro is the official currency of 17 countries within the eurozone and therefore it was of great importance to create a design meeting all country’s expectations and representing both multiculturalism and unity. The purpose of this paper is to cover three key points to display the process of how the euro banknotes got were designed. First of all, the design of the currency sign will be introduced as well as the competition launched in 1996 at which a range of possible designs of the banknotes were presented and valued. A summary of the main features the banknotes must contain according to the ECB will be given as well as the reasons for the choice of the actual layout, which was designed by Robert Kalina. The second part of this paper will give an overview of the illustrations, symbols and other elements the actual design of the banknotes comprises. Since the design of all euro banknotes gets modified and refreshed within the next few years, the third part of this paper will cover the reasons and main alterations of this changeover. Finally, it will be scrutinized if all countries and different cultures of the eurozone are represented and displayed as equal by the design of the euro banknotes.

Pronunciation Diary #1

To be honest, I never really cared about my pronunciation. I never asked myself whether I would like to speak with American or British Accent - for a long time I couldn't even name the main differences. 

But things obviously have to change now, since pronunciation is an important issue for the next weeks and even the PC2. I read about the pros and cons of the two options and now decided to focus on British English. Even though I think American English would be easier to learn, especially because most of the English movies and TV shows are from America, I just prefer the sound of British English - I do not even know why. I guess the most important thing is to stay motivated to practice my pronunciation skills - and simply to imagine myself speaking fluently with a British Accent motivates me a lot more than the opportunity to watch a lot of American movies to learn the right pronunciation. Watching movies, by the way, is something I do not have time for at the moment, so this argument is irrelevant anyways. ;)

So, the first thing to do is: 

The next step is to find some good examples. 

At the following video, the main differences between American and British Accent are explained:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nAnT3PASak

British Accent: Some Pronunciation Rules

- r: 

If the letter "r" is in the initial position of a word or in the middle of it, there isn't a huge difference from the pronunciation in American English. (rain, drain, spring, berry) 

However, the letter "r" is dropped if it occurs after a vowel in a monosyllabic word or at the end of a word. 

(birth,turn, learn, work, farm, other, clever, director)

For example, if somebody with a British accent speaks the sentence "Are there more birds?", no "r" is heard, but if the sentence is changed to "Are there any birds?", an "r" is heard at the end of "there" because "any" starts with a 

-t:

In British English, the letter "t" is always pronounced the same way. (In American English, the letter is dropped if it's at the end of a word.) 

- keeping the vowel sound very small

If the vowel is short, it should be pronounced small  (pit, put, pet, pot)

To come to an end, here is a short list of the main words (or letters) that are pronounced differently. To find out the right pronunciation in your preferred accent, check out the end of the video above. 

- Z

- new

- adult

- brochure

- garage

- address

- laboratory

- route

- advertisement

- controversy

- patent

- apricot

- vase

- hurricane

- enquiry (Am: inquiry)

- leisure

- either

- neither

The Council of the European Union - group paragraph

http://kristinasmurf.blogspot.co.at/2013/11/the-council-of-european-union-group.html
-> link to our group project about the Council of Europe :)

Comment on "Summary Deflation Crisis"

Original summary:

Europe is in the deflation crisis, which influences the rise of debt. Moreover, the history of 

mankind has experienced this problem before. Sometimes deflation may be lethal for economy, 

when debts exceed the margin of 300pc. Generally, in Western Europe inflation is not perfect, 

2pc which even deteriorates the case. Denmark is close to finding itself in deflation, so is 

Sweden.

With a downward shift in inflation, countries like Italy and Spain may be in a ‘’runaway debt’’. 

In Italy, for example, unemployment is already very high, and private debt there and in other EU 

members like France, Portugal keeps on rising by more than 100%.

Indeed, most of the countries could still be rescued by boosting inflation rate. Europe would not 

have to end up with Japanese-style deflation and with a burden of damaged private sector. 

Hence, the inflation may not fall below 2pc. With flat inflation, close to 0, even stable country 

like Germany is at risk. 

 Club Med allies could also unite and demand appropriate action from Germany. By making 

bilateral decisions countries could achieve more. Hopefully, deflation will leave Europe in short. 

Global growth is a valid reason to keep waiting, but it is not how responsible economy should 

behave.

Comment:

To begin with, I think a summary should start with the author, date and name of the newspaper the article was published in. I would not mention precise facts at the introducing sentence but give a short overview of the topic. In general, I would leave out facts as the situation of the single countries which only confuse - people interested will probably read the whole article anyways. Anyways, I like the third paragraph and the way the author put the information in his/her own words. 

Surprising Europe: Culture Shock

SURPRISING EUROPE: CULTURE SHOCK

intercultural differences expressed through music

Riedl Natalie, Kaspar Heimo, Haunschmid Sonja

Africans who come to Europe have to face a variety of problems - racial prejudice, xenophobia and identity crisis are only a few examples. How do they deal with that? Many of them try to give vent to their grief with music as it is a common way to express their feelings, raise awareness and overcome racism. 

Wonda Wendy, a French musician raised by Gabonese parents, is a perfect example for intercultural music experience. Even though she was born in Paris, she considers her „culture to be totally African“. To find out about her own roots, Wonda Wendy lived in Gabon for a while — now she describes this part of her life as the time she learned most about herself. She points out some differences between the European and the African culture: While in Africa there is always someone around, for example to take care of your baby, you have to pay for favors like that in Europe. She advises Europeans to learn something from the African culture. Wonda Wendy, caught between two completely different cultures, processes and expresses her feelings through her music, a mix of Hip Hop, Soul and some elements of Reggae. Her lyrics speak of identity, comparison and pride: “it expresses the best of me: My African roots and my Parisian neighbourhood; I keep the mix, I exchange, the words of angels, my past; Europe is progress, individualism; Africa is respect and ‚sorealism‘“

Not only Wonda Wendy noticed such clear differences between the European and African culture, but also Mousse from Senegal, who now lives with his family in Amsterdam, experienced the same. In Europe, everything is faster, everything is planned, everything needs to be organized. People usually do not take time for someone in order to have just a nice conversation with others. Performing in the streets of Amsterdam is for Mousse a perfect way to preserve his African roots and to reduce xenophobia, which seems to be a timeless phenomenon.

Talking about racism - Ade Bantu, a musician from Nigeria who lives in Germany, has gathered a group of black musicians , known as The Collective Brothers Keepers, in order to combat racism. The reason for the foundation of this group was the tragic case of Alberto Adriano. He was a black African  who became victim of a racism motivated murder. As a tribute to his cruel death they dedicated a whole song to him to tell the story of an unfair fight. Adriano‘s case again shows us the power of music and its relevance for all of us. 

“Europe is progress, individualism; 

Africa is respect and 

‚sorealism‘“

Wonda Wendy