Group Text Project

We wrote our essay on the statement "The EU has had a number of benefits on Spain". Here is our first draft:

According to the EU expenditure and revenue data published on the European Commission homepage, Spain receives more money from the EU budget than they contribute to it. With around 13.6 million euro revenue Spain is the second biggest beneficiary in the Union, after Poland. It can be argued that with approximately 46 million inhabitants Spain is also the fourth biggest country in the EU. However, the contribution to the budget being only 9.9 million euro in 2012 leaves a difference of 3.7 million euro as net profit for the country. Further research conducted in 2006 by the Elcano Royal Institute and the Office of the European Parliament in Spain shows the difference between expenditure and revenue since Spain had joined the EU. This clearly depicts that from the beginning Spain has been one of the few net recipients in the union. The only thing that has changed over the years is the difference between contribution and revenue, which has been growing since 1987. These statistics appoint to the conclusion that from a monetary point of view Spain is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the EU.

In particular with regard to the recent financial crisis Spain has benefited from being in the EU and the eurozone. Spain was one of the first-wave countries to adopt the euro on January 1st in 1999. The euro was adopted as the official currency but was only used as “book money” while the national currency remained in circulation for a period of three years. This period came to an end on February 28th in 2002 and the Spanish peseta was withdrawn from circulation. Since then Spain had benefitted from being a member of the Eurozone, in particular after the financial crisis. One major benefit for Spain was the ESM – the European Stability Mechanism. In 2012 granted the Eurogroup financial assistance for Spanish banks for the first time. In the time between July 2012 and February 2013 Spain received in total €41.4 billion for the recapitalisation of their banking sector. Due to this aid money Spain was able to reestablish financial stability. Progress in budget consolidation has been made and the federal deficit is, according to the European Commission, expected to decline this year to 6.8 percent. In 2012 there were still 10.6 percent. The recent economic model suggests a growing economy and positive developments on the financial market. These figures underline the increasing confidence of the market and would not have been possible without the ESM.

Another problem Spain would not be able to resolve without the EU is youth unemployment. According to a database from the European Commission 5.6 million young people within the European Union were unemployed in September 2013. Countries in recession like Spain are seriously affected. Every one in two Spaniards between the age of 15 and 24 is not employed nor in education or training. It is impossible for these people, also nominated as NEETS (young people not in employment, education or training), to find jobs. Data showed that in Spain the youth unemployment rate has even increased to 57.4% having the second highest rate within the Eurozone after Greece. This fact depicts today’s problems young people living in Spain have to face, but width of support for Spain by the EU is rarely discussed.

The European Union has taken measures to tackle the youth unemployment issue. It generated a programme called Youth Guarantee in order to combat youth unemployment especially in economically weak countries like Spain. For this programme € 6 billion will be mobilized to offer job training and apprenticeships starting 2014. Besides the Youth Guarantee programme, the EU promotes job mobility. It does so by facilitating job opportunities for Spaniards in other EU countries through the EURES job search network . The Council and the European Parliament also developed the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI). The YEI funding supports regions particularly struggling with youth unemployment like Spain. 


The feedback we got from our classmates suggested:
-we look at some of the "this", "these" and "that" again, because it was not always clear what they refered to
-we change the linking words
-we look at specific sentences again, regartding word order
-we make sure the connection between the individual paragraphs improves

This is our second version. The one we submitted:

The purpose of this essay is to emphasize the positive impact the EU has been having on Spain. Even though, huge debates whether or not Spain should leave the European Union have been taking place recently the country undoubtedly benefits from being a member of the Union. Spain joined the European Union in 1987 for democratic, economic and social reasons. Since then, the positive impact the EU had on Spain can be found in many areas. Even before the financial crisis, which would have meant the financial ruin of Spain without help of the EU, Spain had been profiting financially. Also regarding one of Spain's most pressing issue, high youth unemployment, the EU is helping the country to deal with it. Those arguments, together with many more, are the reason to state that Spain has benefited massively from being in the Union.

As mentioned before, already in the years leading up to the financial crisis Spain has profited financially from the EU. According to the EU expenditure and revenue data published on the European Commission homepage, Spain receives more money from the EU budget than they contribute to it. With around 13.6 million euro revenue Spain is the second biggest beneficiary in the Union, after Poland. It can be argued that with approximately 46 million inhabitants Spain is also the fourth biggest country in the EU. However, the contribution to the budget being only 9.9 million euro in 2012 leaves a difference of 3.7 million euro as net profit for the country. Further research, conducted in 2006 by the Elcano Royal Institute and the Office of the European Parliament in Spain, demonstrates the difference between expenditure and revenue since Spain had joined the EU. The results clearly depict that from the beginning Spain has been one of the few net recipients in the union. The only thing that has changed over the years is the difference between contribution and revenue, which has been growing since 1987. These statistics appoint to the conclusion that from a monetary point of view Spain is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the EU.

Particularly regarding the recent financial crisis Spain has benefited from being in the EU and the eurozone. Spain was one of the first-wave countries to adopt the euro on January 1st in 1999. At that time the euro was implemented as the official currency but was only used as “book money” while the national currency remained in circulation for a period of three years. When this period came to an end in 2002 the Spanish peseta was withdrawn from circulation. Since then Spain has been benefitting from being a member of the Eurozone, particularly after the financial crisis. One major benefit for Spain was the ESM – the European Stability Mechanism. For the first time in 2012 financial assistance for Spanish banks has been granted. In the time between July 2012 and February 2013 Spain received €41.4 billion for the recapitalisation of their banking sector. Due to this aid money Spain was able to reestablish financial stability. Progress in budget consolidation has been made and the federal deficit, which has been 10.6 percent in 2012, is, according to the European Commission, expected to decline to 6.8 percent this year. The recent economic model suggests a growing economy and positive developments on the financial market. These figures underline the increasing confidence of the market and would not have been possible without the ESM, without the EU.

Another major issue Spain would not be able to resolve without the EU is high youth unemployment. According to a database from the European Commission 5.6 million young people within the European Union were unemployed in September 2013. Countries in recession like Spain are seriously affected. Every one in two Spaniards between the age of 15 and 24 is neither employed nor in education or training. It is impossible for these people, also nominated as NEETS (young people not in employment, education or training), to find jobs. Data demonstrates that in Spain the youth unemployment rate has even increased to 57.4 percent, being the second highest within the Eurozone, after Greece. This numbers are the reason why the European Union has taken measures to tackle the youth unemployment issue as a whole. A programme called Youth Guarantee has been generated in order to combat youth unemployment especially in economically weak countries like Spain. For this programme 6 billion euros will be mobilized to offer job training and apprenticeships starting 2014. Furthermore the EU is promoting job mobility, by facilitating job opportunities for Spaniards in other EU countries through the EURES job search network. Without this measurements taken by the EU alleviating youth unemployment would be significantly more difficult.

These arguments clearly demonstrate the EU’s benefits on Spain. Being a net recipient certainly has advantages for the country and without the aid of the ESM Spain’s economy would not be able to recover. Additional to these financial benefits the EU had a positive influence on social areas, in particular regarding Spain’s youth unemployment. These were just some of the many arguments that can be stated as examples how Spain has profited from being in the EU.

This is the final version of our essay, after we implemented the corrections made by Fiona and Melissa:

The EU has had a number of positive impacts on Spain. Even though several debates whether or not Spain should leave the European Union have been taking place recently, the country undoubtedly benefits from being a member of the Union. Spain joined the European Union in 1987 for democratic, economic and social reasons. Since then, the EU has positively influenced Spain in many ways. Even before the financial crisis, which would have meant the financial ruin of Spain without help provided by the EU, the EU had been supporting Spain financially. The EU is,  furthermore, assisting the country to deal with its most pressing issue, high youth unemployment. These are some of the arguments that demonstrate how Spain has had an advantage from being in the Union.

Spain had already in the years leading up to the crisis benefited financially from the EU. According to the EU expenditure and revenue data published on the European Commission website, the EU supports Spain with more money than the country contributes to the unions budget. With around 13.6 million euros revenue, Spain is the second largest receiver in the Union, after Poland. In 2012 Spain contributed only 9.9 million euros to the budget, which leaves a difference of 3.7 million euros as net profit for the country. Research conducted in 2006 by the Elcano Royal Institute and the Office of the European Parliament in Spain, demonstrates the difference between expenditure and revenue since Spain has joined the EU. The results clearly show that, starting from the moment when Spain joined the EU, it has been one of the few net recipients in the union. The only thing that has changed over the years is the difference between contribution and revenue, which has been growing since 1987. These statistics point to the conclusion that from a monetary perspective Spain has only had advantages from being a member of the EU.

During the financial crisis Spain has profited significantly from being in the EU, particularly from being in the currency union. Spain was one of the first-wave countries to adopt the euro on January 1st in 1999. At that time. the euro was implemented as the official currency but was only used as “book money” while the national currency remained in circulation for a period of three years. When this period came to an end in 2002 the Spanish peseta was withdrawn from circulation. One major advantage Spain has had from being in the Eurozone was the European Stability Mechanism. For the first time in 2012 financial assistance for Spanish banks has been granted. In the time between July 2012 and February 2013 Spain received 41.4 billion euros for the recapitalisation of their banking sector. Subsequently to receiving the aid money, Spain was able to reestablish its financial stability. Progress in budget consolidation has been made and the federal deficit, which were 10.6 percent in 2012, is, according to the European Commission, expected to decline to 6.8 percent this year. This suggests a growing economy and a positively developing financial market. These improvements would not have been possible without the ESM or the EU.

An additional major issue Spain would not be able to resolve without the EU is high youth unemployment. According to a European Commission database, 5.6 million young people within the European Union were unemployed in September 2013. Countries in recession like Spain are seriously affected. Every one in two Spaniards between the ages of 15 and 24 is Not in Employment, Education or Training. It is impossible for these NEETs to find jobs. Data demonstrates that in Spain the youth unemployment rate has recently increased to 57.4 percent, which is the second highest rate within the Eurozone, after Greece. These numbers are the reason why the European Union has taken measures to tackle the youth unemployment issue all over Europe. A programme called Youth Guarantee has been launched in order to combat youth unemployment, especially in economically weak countries like Spain. For this programme, 6 billion euros will be allocated to offer job training and apprenticeships starting in 2014. Furthermore, the EU is promoting job mobility by facilitating job opportunities for Spaniards in other EU countries through the EURES job search network. Without these measures taken by the EU, alleviating youth unemployment would be significantly more difficult.

These arguments clearly demonstrate the EU’s benefits on Spain. Being a net recipient certainly has advantages for the country and without the aid of the ESM, Spain’s economy would not be able to recover. In addition to the financial support, the EU has had a positive influence on Spain’s society, in particular regarding youth unemployment. This shows how Spain has profited from being in the EU.

Pecha Kucha

I would like to start this post with a short description of "Pecha Kucha" for all my readers who do not know what this funny words means.

It describes a new presentation style. The basic concept is that within one "Pecha Kucha" (you say it like 'Petcha Ktcha") 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each giving one presentation the time of six minutes and 20 seconds. 

Preparing a Pecha Kucha on the topic of Swedish as a second official language in Finland made me realize how difficult it is to actually fit the time frame of 20 seconds. 20 seconds are nothing when you speak. Together with my project partner we started out creating a general outline for our presentation first. Once that was done and we had all the necessary information on the topic we thought writing down a transcript of what we were going to say would be a piece of cake. That was where we went wrong, completely wrong. I cannot recall how many times I actually rewrote my sections because what I wanted to say was either to short or to long for the 20 seconds. In general I think the reason to that problem lies in the fact that I usually am a very happy free speaker. I hardly ever really write a transcript for what I am going to say. The next problem I had was to exactly memorize my transcript as every tiny little mistake can completely destroy the time management and ruin the PK. Still, preparing the PK taught me how to fill exact frames and how to fulfil detailed requirements, a task that will be of great use to me in future.

After having done these really detailed preparations actually holding the presentation has truly been easy. We actually practised the PK a couple of times to make sure we new approximately how fast we could speak the individual sections. After that I think our time management was pretty great. The one fact that really bugged me about our presentation was the fact that due to the strict time schedule and my fear of forgetting my text I might not have made enough eye contact with my listeners. Speaking freely without holding cards with your text to stare on prevents you from making this basic mistake. Besides this one point in my opinion the PK we delivered was really good.

My Vocabulary Notebook

I have never been the "keeping a vocab note book" kind of student, but my opinion about them changed throughout this semester. At first my thoughts were quit rebellious. I had never been fond of the idea of piling up vocab just so I can, like a machine, hammer them into my head one by one. Pretty quickly at the beginning of this semester I learned the hard way that I really had to find a way of learning massive amounts of vocab without resenting it so much. Not just in English also in Russian my former system couldn't manage the masses anymore. Because of that, partly also due to the fact that we had to, I started keeping a handwritten vocab diary where I collected vocab and additional information important to me. 

That was already a step forward since just looking the words up, and writting all this stuff down by hand did a great deal of the trick. However I did not find the ultimate perfect system until I tried gFlash+. With the help of this useful app I managed to keep up with the gigantic vocabulary lists in both languages. Everything this app needs, to help me to study my vocab everywhere I go, is a simple Google spreadsheet. Here is what my vocabulary notebook for PC2 looks like:

Unfortunately I cannot directly listen to the links I put in the spreadsheet for pronunciation. Since I already listened to the recordings twice while creating the list and the google doc gives me the opportunity to listen to them from any computer in the world, this fact is not actually hindering me. Now, at the end of semester3, I think I have found THE way for me to learn my vocab: detailed Google spreadsheets and gFlash+.

My Fair Lady

or Pronunciation Post II

Gliding, whistling and exploding through different British pronunciation videos made me feel very funny throughout the last couple of days. I had a very strange feeling that I could not quit detect until half way through “RP British Accent” – a quit good RP online lesson – I stumbled across this sentence:

“In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen.”

Finally I knew why I felt so special: I felt just like My Fair Lady. If you are as big an Audrey Hepburn fan as I am, I am sure you will recognize this sentence. For all of my fellow classmates who do not know Audrey Hepburn and are a little late with their Pronunciation practise or simply looking for an easy and funny way to do this here is my tip: Watch the musical film adaptation from George Bernard Shaw’s My Fair Lady, which was produced in 1964. In addition to a marvellous Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison you will find lots of possibilities to practise together with the main characters. Basically, this movie is about the arrogant and snobbish Professor Higgins (Rex Harrison), who is a teacher of phonetics. He strongly believes that a person’s accent determines his or her place in society. He states that he could teach any woman to speak so “properly” she could be passed off as a duchess. In order to prove his theory he selects the young flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) whose strong Cockney accent is keeping her from realizing her dream to work at a flower shop. Throughout the story he not only changes her pronunciation but also falls in love with her. But I have said enough already. See for yourself.

PS: Should you not know how to get access to this movie, write me: ailuj.seemann@gmail.com