The team work activity

Doing activity in group

                 For the past two weeks, Miss Jeanette gave me some class work to do but not as usual. That time , I had to work in groups, in others words, work with other classmate. That new activity was really nice, we did games, task responses, multiples choises answers and so on. I really enjoyed it.

                 Work in group in a benificial activity. It has helped me to have more ability to work with the others, we discovered the strengths and the weaknesses of each other. Know all of that strengths and  weaknesses is very important because without it a group can not worf efficiently.

                  I had discovered what a team work is able to produce and like it is sometimes argued union is Strength.

 For us, who are International and who need to improme our diferent skills, it could be a substantial activity because we share vocabulary, story, knowledge, many other things.

                 Even if it is not an easy activity because of the fact that everybody does not all the time have the same idea and also because we also have to make to the balance and finally choose is an activity which can help even in our future life. For example when we will have to manage a family for example, I like to work in group, I also like my class.

The Welsh Assembly

The tour of the Senedd (Parliament)

Translation of some words

- Senedd : Parliament

- Neuadd : Hall

- Oriel : Gallery

- Siambr : Chamber

Informations about the senedd

               The Senedd was opened on 1 March 2006, by Her Majesty The Queen with The Duke of  Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall. The Assembly Members, Members of Parliament and parliamentarians and representatives from the United Kingdom, Europe and the Commonwealth were alson present.

                   
The world 'devolution' means a degeneration or a tranfer.

When you are standing in front of the Senedd, it is possible to see the St David Hotel and the Pier Head and Paneth.

The reception area of the Senedd is situated inside.

The purpose of the funnel is allows natural daylight into the Siambr.


The Headphones in the public areaare used to trnaslate what the politicians are saying.


The 'Plenary meetings' take place every tuesday and wednesday.


The glass walls in the Committeeroom have two purposes which are to allow to have a natural light and to alow the transparence.


In the 'i's in the Assembly shop, it is possible to buy big brands of water, gifts, higher levels of journals, magazines and newspapers.

MORE ABOUT THE WELSH ASSEMBLY

All my Classmates and our lecturer Miss Jaenette did a recent visit to Cardiff. I did have the chance to go there because of my heath but with some photos that my classmates gave to me and some descrptions and explanations, i will try to do my best about a generel impression od the Welsh Assembly. The Welsh National Assembly for Wales is just a  delight: it has a strange but very functional structure and it is located right at the centre of Cardiff Bay, where Cardiff Docks were previously.

The exterior points directly out on to the coastline and is surrounded by a landscape of slate steps quarried within a mountain near Ffestinog in Snowdonia. The Senedd’s has a  highly sustainable design provide for low energy demands thanks to the maximum exposure to sunlight due to  its high density glazing around the whole frontage and sides

 The  funnel will allow anyone to remember who has visited Berlin’s parliament building, the German Bundestag. Above the funnel is the lantern which allows natural daylight into the Siambr. In addition to this the design includes reflective material bringing more light down through the funnel and thus lessening the demand for other types of heating in the building. Rainwater  is collected from the roof and used for flushing in the WCs, irrigation and maintenance.

The Chamber / Y Siambr

Touch screen panels allow visitors to interact with many information about current debates and issues as well as news headlines including visual/audio content. Because the chamber is enclosed by the partially glazed funnel, headsets are provided for visitors to listen in on debates. Up to 60 Assembly Members may attend the debates. Access to the main debating chamber is restricted but up to 128 seated visitors may view it from above in the viewing gallery. Debates are also broadcasted on BBC TV and streamed live over the internet.

There is a  sculpture lies at the centre of the chamber which was created by the Swansea-based artist Alexander Beleschenko. The swirls have a particular signification in relation with what the Assembly is stands for. Few governmental debating chambers in the world have that type of architecture.

In conclusion, The Welsh Assembly is just a more than ecologic building fore the future which allows debates about differents subjects most important from each other.

The Role Of The British Parliament

The United Kingdom in a democratic country, which means all the Britains have a say in how the country is run. Parliament represents the people. It is where they send their chosen representatives to represent thier views in the House of Commons.

What is Parliament 

              Parliament is where politicians (MPs) meet to decide laws and make decisions for the United Kingdom. It is not the same as the Government (which runs the country). One of the works Parliament does is to check that the Government is running the country properly.

 The essential role of the Parliament  

The main functions of Parliament are:

- To pass laws

- To provide, by voting for taxation, the means of carrying on the work of government

- To scrutinise government policy and administration, including proposals for expenditure

- To debate the major issues of the day

The organisation of the Parliament

The Queen :

            The Queen is the official Head of State. Britain has a constitutional monarchy where the Queen only rules symbolically. In reality, power belongs to Parliament. So, although the Queen 'opens' Parliament each year and laws are passed in her name, the Queen herself plays no part in determining decisions made in Parliament. The Queen has the final say on whether a bill becomes law. The last Monarch to reject a law that was wanted by both Houses of Parliament was Queen Anne who died in 1715.

 

The House of Lord

               The House of Lords is made up of people who have inherited family titles and those who have been given titles because of their outstanding work in one field or another. There are 675 members of the Lords. The main job of the House of Lords is to 'double check' new laws to make sure they are fair and will work.

House of Commons : 

               The House of Commons has 659 members who have been elected by local residents to represent an area of the country in Parliament. The election of all Members of Parliament (MPs) for each constituency (local area) is called a General Election. In the UK we vote for the best candidate in our local area to represent us in the house of commons The members are called MPs (Members of Parliament). Each MP represents one of 659 constituencies (areas) in the UK and is a member of a political party, such as New Labour or the Conservative party. The Commons is the most important place for discussing policies and making laws.

Primary sources

- http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/  

- http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/parliament-government/

Secondary sources :

-  http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=AgufStH63LORCM:&imgrefurl=http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/England/day4.html&docid=T49orEDza_0NLM&imgurl=http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~hyde/England/PicsJan3/02Parliament.JPG&w=592&h=444&ei=o5Q3T_aTO4PO0QWq6sydBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=800&vpy=18&dur=972&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=111&ty=109&sig=105555719725630779664&page=1&tbnh=112&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:0

-http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=-41Ph9mnLm5CwM:&imgrefurl=http://jonathanturley.org/2011/07/20/brititsh-parliament-debates-news-corp/&docid=HIUgb1H56qCGsM&imgurl=http://jonathanturley.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/n_ireland_news_9-1__511362t1.jpg%253Fw%253D500&w=294&h=294&ei=WJk3T8y_KuOm0QXTz6GkAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1100&vpy=206&dur=1039&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=149&ty=70&sig=105555719725630779664&page=4&tbnh=170&tbnw=177&start=55&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:55

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=d7XayayHjR2N5M:&imgrefurl=http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/en/article-538/The_Parliament_Building_of_Quebec:_A_Place_of_Memory.html&docid=ARffxJZY7NKlWM&imgurl=http://www.ameriquefrancaise.org/media-4058/parlement_salon_rouge.jpg&w=533&h=800&ei=Mps3T8HkOsmw0QXprbygAg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=330&sig=105555719725630779664&page=2&tbnh=170&tbnw=113&start=21&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:21&tx=73&ty=95

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=568&tbm=isch&tbnid=wnjbOoUpJ7e63M:&imgrefurl=http://www.examiner.com/british-royal-family-in-national/queen-elizabeth-delivers-speech-formally-opens-parliament-with-new-government&docid=pMmt94iQkVAR_M&imgurl=http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/replicate/EXID16629/images/00_queens_speech_opening_of_parliament.jpg&w=512&h=325&ei=SZ43T4uWAYix0AXnhZCNAg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=546&sig=105555719725630779664&page=3&tbnh=131&tbnw=207&start=39&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:39&tx=100&ty=77

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=597&tbm=isch&tbnid=jUQmzIl5WQ56_M:&imgrefurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9031302/House-of-Lords-full-to-bursting-warns-peer.html&docid=yakNgtHeNJ0gaM&imgurl=http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02102/LORDS_2102502a.jpg&w=546&h=342&ei=jKc3T5PnMsrK0QXysI3DAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1041&vpy=253&dur=1559&hovh=178&hovw=284&tx=207&ty=122&sig=105555719725630779664&page=7&tbnh=123&tbnw=176&start=152&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:152

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=597&tbm=isch&tbnid=ASld9zMYdPMaNM:&imgrefurl=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/729900/Justice-Teacher-blames-Mps-and-footballers-Yobs-in-Britain.html&docid=EigyD1jgbE4ViM&imgurl=http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00425/SNN2609MP_384_425388a.jpg&w=384&h=278&ei=4ak3T63QE-Kl0AWO4YW3Ag&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=175&vpy=234&dur=46&hovh=191&hovw=264&tx=190&ty=73&sig=105555719725630779664&page=3&tbnh=128&tbnw=174&start=47&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:47

Spain In The Eurozone Crises

HOW THAT SITUATION BEGAN ...

The creation of the EU and when Spain entered in :

              The idea of the  European Union  came after the Second World War (1939-1945) because of a desire ti create a peaceful and prosperous Europe after the destruction of two World Wars and after a long time of antogonism and mutual distrust between the european powers.  At the begining six principals countries : West germany, France, Belguim, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy signed the treaty of Rome and formed the European Economic Community ( EEC). At that moment, Britain could joined them but it distanced itself from that European Union because it regarded itself as a commercial pomer and did not wanted to be restricted by the European relationships.

                

             It was in 1973 that Britain , Denmark and Republic of Ireland. 

In 1981 Greece,

and in 1986 Spain and Portugal. 

   

         The EEC was based initially on economic concerns and instituted harmonization programmes such as common coal, steel, agricultural and fisheries policies, aboliton of trade tarrifs between member states and aid to development to depressed areas within its borders. Some britain regions have benefited considerably from regional funds. 

             

              In 1986, when Spain and Portugal entered in the EU,  the member-states formed an internal or Single European Market, in which goods, services, people and capital could move freely across national frontiers within that was called then called the European Community. In 1992 The Maastrict treaty was a step in the process as a result of which the European community became the European Union (EU). The treaty provided for the introduction of a common European currency the Euro, a European bank and common defence, foreign and social policies.

But, the European Community which is called now  the European Union in not what it was at that time. Of course we will talk about the begining of the crisis.

THE MAIN PROBLEM...

The European Crisis and the effect on Spain : 

         Since the financial crisis hit in 2008, a wave of debt crises have swept the European Union, threatening various countries and putting the future of the euro in danger. Many countries are affected but I will just focus on Spain.

        Because of the higher increase in construction of new homes and the long time between the beginning and end of a construction project, "by the time the demand for housing had slowed in 2007, available housing was reaching its peak. By this time, construction accounted for 13 percent of total employment in Spain." When prices began falling and housing demand halted, unemployment jumped up 10 percent. In 2008, Spain fell into an economic downturn, due to the collapse of his housing market. that situation worsened the economic conditions as a result,  the country expenses unregulated savings banks were in the real estate market. the decision of increase the  public benefits caused higher government spending and the government debt skyrocketed.  In that case, investors became more reluctant to invest and Spain’s economy further declined. Banks have therefore begun to lend big money to households, which when the market became ill could not repay.Result households got into debt and could no longer give the money back and the banks too had overleveraged to allow these strong borrowings. This is the main reason of that crisis in Spain.

  

THE SOLUTONS TAKEN...

 The measures taken to try to save Spain :

Spain has seen record borrowing costs recently, forcing its government to adopt numerous austerity measures to get its finances under control. 

The housing boom turned to bust, leaving the country's banks loaded with bad debt and the highest unemployment rate in the eurozone.So the governement decided to take austerity measures. Spain experienced a real estate bubble leading up to the crisis, which hurt its growth despite the country’s unusually safe financial sector. Facing higher than expected deficits, Spain adopted austerity measures in May 2010. In March, Spain announced it had met its deficit reduction target for the previous year. Borrowing costs for Spain have spiked, spurring fears that it may require a bailout that other European governments cannot afford. Spanish leaders say they are considering more austerity measures.

To sum up

We can notice that the European crisis had a really bad effect on many countries of the Eu especially Spain and now whether with austerity measures or something, Spain does not succed to go out of this situation.We just hope that within a few years, direageants of these countries heavily affected by the crisis such as Spain finally find solutions that will help these countries get back to this crisis, which for now is just destroying them. 

Principal sources:

- Documents gaven in class

- http://blogs.law.uiowa.edu/ebook/content/spanish-financial-crisis

- http://www.articlesbase.com/debt-consolidation-articles/the-2010-euro-debt-crisis-and-its-effect-on-spain-5060686.html

Secondary sources:

- http://rlv.zcache.com/west_germany_flag_1948_proposal_postcard-p239472501889642710z8iat_400.jpg

- http://www.punjabigraphics.com/images/85/france-flag.gif

- http://www.flags.net/images/largeflags/BELG0001.GIF

- http://ifrancepics.com/wp-content/uploads/flag_luxembourg.gif 

- http://www.map-of-italy.net/images/italian-flag.gif

- http://www.flags.net/images/largeflags/NETH0001.GIF

- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/britain/Flagbig.GIF  

- http://www.enchantedlearning.com/europe/denmark/flag/Flagbig.GIF

- http://farm1.static.flickr.com/63/168817684_e6a315de0a.jpg  

- http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091230144352/desencyclopedie/images/9/97/Greece-flag.jpg

- http://www.spain-flag.eu/photos/spain-flag.gif

- http://www.olstars.com/images/flags/Big/pt.gif

- http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=fr&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:fr:official&biw=1366&bih=568&tbm=isch&tbnid=bvDQrqlp9cPj9M:&imgrefurl=http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/2011/08/03/curious-cat-investing-and-economic-carnival-14/&docid=qJQWzBx41aF2gM&imgurl=http://investing.curiouscatblog.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/government_debt_as_percent_of_gdp-1998-2010.png&w=660&h=427&ei=TSYpT9vCD4i0-Qa8mpHPBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=777&vpy=148&dur=8512&hovh=180&hovw=279&tx=108&ty=79&sig=105555719725630779664&page=1&tbnh=98&tbnw=151&start=0&ndsp=21&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0

 

Differences between Cameroon and Uk Shool system

Hi everyone!!!!

            Welcome again  in my blogg!! This is just my second article but I really enjoy doing that.  :D I hope that you enjoyed the first one about the differences between the four nations in uk. I Thank miss jeanette for the correction about the color of the english rose. Don't forget that you can do like her and tel me everithing you want to about my differents posts.

So today is a new day, and a new article should follow as. (^ - ^)

              In this new article, I will talk about the differences between the hool system but not any. I will talk about hte differences between the Cameroon and the Uk School system. Unfortunatly Cameroon is not a country where the informations that are avalaible are enough registered or certain to be true. :-/ So for this article ;ost of the information you will have about the cameroon will come from my own experience. In this article, with the differences sources i will have I will start first by the informations about the Uk, comment it and after compare it with my own experience in Cameroon. I am afraid that this article could be less informative than the first one becaue I did a french school in cameroon and the School system is very different but I hope you will enjoy it too.


              There are some schools in Cameroon offering good quality education to the children of the country. In Cameroon, schooling starts at the tender age of three. Though childhood education is not compulsory, but the parents can send their wards to kindergarten schools in Cameroon which is not free and very expensive.
               Whereas  in the Uk system, between the age of 0 and 5, there is something in the Uk system called the pre-school and nursery education where the childree have to go. Started to go to school at that age is compulsory in the Uk sytem. If the parents don't send their childreen at school, someone of the governement will come and ask explanation to them.


              The primary education is mandatory in Cameroon. It takes about seven years to finish primary schooling. Most of the primary schools of Cameroon are government owned and others are run by religious organizations or by private owners. In Cameroon, students can avail the primary education free of cost. This was really true before, now, there is not schools in cameroon which are free. Even for the governement schools. There are all not free.

              The primary educaton in the Uk system takes about six years to finish. the students have to succed classes in this order: Year 1 up to year 6. If that student was good and did all his years just once, he will finish the primary school with about 11 years old.
The Uk students can go to school in civils clothes but in most of cameroonian schools, the uniform is compulsory like you can see in the picture:

 After this level, in cameroon anything is obliged. In cameroon it is possible to miss out somes years. You just have to be brillant. Despite in the uk system, you must attend all yours years before be able to be accepted after 18 in the Highter and Further education.

In Uk, there is many several universities like (the university of glamorgan) ( where i am doing my studies ^^)  but in cameroon there is just about 5 or 6 universities some for the government other which are privates and both are not free.


The quality of the governement schools decrease each years due to the quality of the governement. but with the futures changes, we hope that the situation will change and the cameroonian schools could recovered the prestige they had before.

Sources:

- document gave bu the teacher
- Own experience.

The different characteristics of the 4 nations of Britain

Hi Everyone, this is the first article of my blog, I hope you will enjoy it and learn more about it. I will do my best to make it complete but if you have any additional information you can give them by comment it. 

Throughout this article, I will talk about the different characteristics of the 4 nations of Britain, I will start by England, next Scotland, after Wales  and then Northern Ireland.

So let start.  :-)

Most of the time, when people want to refer to a person who live in the United kingdom, they call all of them "England" and in some case it can make some people angry. 

The UK is devided in four part : England, Wales, Scotland, Northen Ireland. 

Even if their political unification was completed in 1800 when the Irish Parliament was joined with the for England, Scotland and Wales in Westminster, ( so that the whole of British isles Became a single State), all this part of the UK are really different.

To Begin, Let tall about England.

The English flag is white with the red St Georges cross in:

               The spécific plant is the Rose  and the specific color is Red. The population of England is around 60milloin people.The patron Saint is St George and the Saint's day is  every 23 april. The english people love drinking tea and thier queen Elizabeth. 

They also love talking about the weather. The other people find them tolerant, nice, polite and friendly.

Now I will talk about Scotland. This is the Scottish flag:

              Scotland is in the North of britain. The population here is about 5 million people, they joined the UK since 1707. The capital city ot Scotland is Edingburg. it contains the Scottish Parliament which is building with a work of art. 

The Scottish people have unique customs: they wear tartan kilts, play the bagpipes and toss the caber. 

There is also the Edingburg festival where is celebrate art, theatre and culture. 

The specific plant of Scotland is the Thistle, it is St Andrew the Patron Saint and the Saint's day is celebrate every 30 of november.

Next, I will talk about Wales . The Wales Flag is : 

This flag was officially adopted in 1959. The red dragon (which possibly had been Roman in origin) has been associated with Wales for many centuries. The green and white background stripes represent the House of Tudor, which is a Welsh dynasty that once held the English throne.Wales is on the western Edge of Britain. It is a separate country too. It is a part of the UK for over 400 years. The population here is just about 3 million people. The Wesh assembly is in the capital city which is Cardiff. 

The Wesh people are very proud of thier language. Most of them speak the Welsh and the other English. Singing is a really important tradition. There is a lot a male Choirs which are too popular. 

Then, I will finish with Northen Ireland.  This is his flag: 

 

              Northern Ireland has not had its own unique flag for many years. Government sanctioned flag since its government was prorogued in 1972, and abolished in 1973 . During official events, the British government uses the Union Flag which is the official flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and is the only flag used by the government in Northern Ireland. The population here is just under 2 million and the capital is Belfast. Many years ago, Northen ireland was a place of conflict.

It was classified like a dangerous place to visit. The Ulster Banner remains in use by Unionists, a number of sporting organisations in Northern Ireland and some local government authorities under Unionist control.The troubles stopped after the peace contract. Northern Ireland is rich in myth and legend.

The Irish dancing which is the  most popular and exposed around the world. 

The persons who practises it tell that it makes have a good posture. For them it is a good exercise and a lot of fun.

             That four parts of the UK like you noticed  before especially in the traditions but  there are also strengths and these differences are elastic and that is they which make United Kingdom what it is nowadays.

Principal sources: 
 - http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/four-nations
- http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/UK.html


Secondary sources :
-  http://flags-and-anthems.com/state/flag-northern-ireland.html 
- http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/flags/countrys/europe/wales.htm
- http://satakinatsukashi.deviantart.com/art/Scottish-Flag-258143690
- http://www.e-carabin.net/showthread.php?t=48495