Oral Blog Post Entry Seven: Diploma Lecture 2

Last Tuesday Rohan Stace from the Police of New Zealand visited us. He talked about the Police in New Zealand, its general role, responsibilities and what kind of crimes seems to happen most often.

For foreigners there is often the issue of communication difficulties because of language barriers. In case of an accident the language could become even worse because of anxiety and shock. In these situations you should always ask the police officer for the ‘Language Line’ where you can be connected with someone who is able to translate for you. You are expected to call as soon as possible after the accident happened and you should give as much information as you can provide. You should also ensure that the person on the other side of the line understands you clearly and mention if you need other services like for example an ambulance.

To avoid being robbed or attacked it is advised by the police to walk in crowded places, never be alone at night or at least in well lit areas. Trust your instincts about other people, carry a cell phone with you and do not carry too many valuable things on the body.

Text Blog Entry Eight - An article about my country in the international newspaper

Knut is a big star in Germany, all the kids love him and people are waiting in long queues to visit Knut every day. He is maybe the most popular Polar Bear in the world. He is well known in many countries and subject of a huge merchandise wave. 'The Guardian' boosted this popularity by its article from may 13th.
He lives in a zoo in Berlin and there are shows every day for the crowds to watch Knut and his caretaker in action. The director of the zoo is aware of the big success of his little habitant and says: "Knut has become a medium of communication..." Proposals from USA, Japan, China and Taiwan have been offered for getting licences on the new brand called Knut.
However, the director wants to use Knuts influence just for environmental dialogue. The bear is mascot of environment conferences and inspires people all over the world but there are others too who want to harm the little Knut and even sent a threat to the zoo, on April.

Oral Blog Entry Six - Picture Comparison 2

The following exercise shall compare these two pictures : picture 1, picture 2

Both pictures describe the learning situation in primary schools although there are many differences between them. In the first picture you can see the children learning from books but in the other picture they are using computers to learn. They are working on their own in the first picture in contrast to the second one where they are working in groups of five persons and they also wear uniforms unlike the other picture.

In my opinion the use of computers for learning can be more effective but also more complicated. Computers can help children to learn if they use them for their investigation about different questions or for presentations. Besides they can work on exercises without buying books or wasting paper in addition teachers can benefit, because it is easier to mark assessments at the computer. On the other side computers can sidetrack the students and it can be difficult for teachers to control a whole class when they are online, of this and many other reasons, the schools should have a balanced education, a mix of both of these pictures.

Text Blog Entry 7 - Diploma Trip

Last week we had a wonderful Diploma Trip to the beach. We were afraid it would be raining because the weather the day before had been very dirty. But it fortunately changed for our trip and it became a lovely day. My raincoat I brought with me became useless but I didn't complain. Ron took Miah, Amman, Hani and me in his big van with him to the cafe La Vinci. We had a coffee there and a short conversation before we went on to the Huia Point. The road to Huia Point was windy and went through a very nice landscape. We enjoyed the nice view at Huia point and waited for the others who lost Ron because of his fast -formula one- driving style. Here is a picture from the view:



When the others finally arrived at Huia Point and had a look around we drove to Cornwallis Beach. I liked this beach very much with its fine sand and lush green coastline.





Miah, Amman and me had a little walk along the beach and were lucky to talk about something different than school. When we came back we realized we were hungry and so we could benefit from what everyone had brought to the shared lunch. The tables were packed with food and I couldn't even try from every meal. But especially a shrimp and a chicken salad will be in good memory forever. I also tried a delicious mandarin cake and a Chinese speciality called Wo Kok. All of it was really good. There were so many other cakes, biscuits, fruits and even a tart. At the end I was stuffed like a goose on Christmas day. This was a really good trip.

Text Blog Entry 6: Climate Panel goes for nuclear option

The article is about the discussion between different partys and their proposals to fight the global warming. This discussion was raised at the the third United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The scientists think it is possiple to stabilize the economic situation but the people all over the world would have to change their way of life and disclaim bad habits or luxurys which causes damage to our planet. Especially India and China as development countries would be needed to work into this direction. Nevertheless there is a big issue about whether to use nuclear technology or geneticly grown crops as energy source for the future. However, critics are complaining that the IPCC was insufficient in its support of problematic technology.

I counted 32 active and 7 passive forms in the text.

the passive forms:
1. "...genetically modified crops..." - simple present passive
2. "...measures needed to save..." - future passive
3. "...are prepared..." - simple present passive
4. "...modified biofuels..." - simple present passive
5. "...changes were needed..." - simple past passive
6. "...fertilizers used to grow..." - simple past passive
7. "...than envisaged by..." - simple past passive

Oral Blog Entry 5 Domestic News Headlines

I heard the story on the record of the Morning Report from National Radio on Monday April 30th

"The paper also reports that climate change experts and environmentalists will clash over proposals to fight global warming."

Here are three pronunciation features which I noticed.
1. consonant to vowel linking - "...and_environmentalists..."
2. weak pronunciation - "...clash over proposals..."
3. weak pronunciation - "...to fight global warming."