My reflection on my writing and this class

I wrote some articles about languages, schools, and transportation, and so on. I used the Internet, the knowledge I had originally, and handouts my teacher gave us. I am good at writing in English, so I think that I did not mistake about grammar. However, I could not make my writing concrete. I used the words like “some” or “and so on” a lot. My teacher said to me what “some” or “and so on” are. I have should write examples of those. I was looking for information on the Internet, but I could not find the important information. I keenly realized that I do not have a researching ability. I am third grade in my university, so I will work for the good of society soon. For working, I want to get that ability. I will practice researching something by using computer. This is a reflection on my writing.

Next, I will write about this class. I wanted to go to New Zealand or British before taking part in this class, but it was just my interest. I have learned these countries, and could get a lot of information of these. Now, my thought which I want to go to these countries does not change. However, it is because I learned a lot of things. I could get more interests through this class. I will take this class next year, so I am looking forward to meet you again in class. Thank you very much!

Languages will disappear

Minority languages of the UK
In the world, there are many languages which are likely to vanish for example, Welsh and Gaelic. According to the Internet, the number of that are 6,000 languages. Besides, now, languages have disappeared once two weeks. One researcher says if this condition continued, 95% of languages would disappear. I was very surprised at this news. Therefore I will introduce minority languages, especially the UK, to you. People in UK use English, Welsh, and Scots Gaelic now. Of course, there are some languages disappeared, for example, Manx and Cornish. Manx was spoken in Isle of Man, and Cornish was spoken in Cornwall. Some languages are too strong like English, so other languages gradually become weaker. In addition, old languages were not spoken by young people. Only older people can speak such languages. However, they will die someday; as a result nobody will speak old languages. This is why minority languages increase or disappear.

Promoting Welsh language
As I wrote before, some people can talk in Welsh, but the language is weaker than English. It is probable that nobody can speak Welsh. Our classmates thought of ways of promoting Welsh. TV Companies can make TV programs in English, and the program is with Welsh subtitle. The companies should ask famous people to appear in that and speak in Welsh. For kids, game companies can make video games in Welsh. Most of kids will be interested in those games. Also, a variety of companies can make newspaper, songs, books, and radio in Welsh. These have not only Welsh but also English, because people can understand and study easily. I think that the best way for young people is to live with older people, and communicate with them in Welsh. They can enjoy communication, and learn many things. As you know, we must not increase minority languages. Therefore, we should think of them more to promote those languages.

Teachers could not teach in Welsh by the Education Act in 1870, but of course, most of British people talked in Welsh. I guess that they had some troubles about their language, and also Welsh gradually became weaker. People thought that only poor people spoke in Welsh. After about 100 years, Welsh started to become strong again. However, the language could not become major, because English was too strong. Fortunately, in 1588, someone translated Bible into Welsh.
In 1980s, only about19% people could speak Welsh, but in 2001, 24% of people got the ability of speaking in Welsh. Now, there is a citizenship examination. This is not official, but many English people have taken this test. I hope that Welsh become stronger than now in the future.


reference
・Storry, M. and Childs, P. (2007) British Cultural Identities. (3rd.) Routledge.

Co-educational School, Cheltenham

I reseached scools, for example, Harrow, Roedean, and so on by using official web page of those schools and Wikipedia. According to Wikipedia about Cheltenham School, that school was damaged by World War the second. I was interested in that article and that school. Therefore, I will introduce some information about that school and history to you in datail.

The college was located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, and established in 1842, July. This college is the oldest one of all the major public school in Victorian times. The college is famous for classical, military, and sporting traditions. There are about 600 students who are 13 to 18 years old at there, but I could not find how many boys or girls. It cost about 28,000 pounds (about 5,000,000 yen in Japanese) per year.This college has great histories of sports; especially rugby and polo are very famous. In 1887, Rugby Football Union adopted “Cheltenham Rules”. I am sorry that I could not find information about these rules. The college won the championships of Rugby and Polo many times. That is why Rugby Football Union adopted the rules. Needless to say, there are many clubs at Cheltenham College. According to the website of that college, there are about 25 clubs. Students take part in their clubs from Monday to Wednesday.

675 Old Cheltonians which mean former students in this college were killed by World War I, and 363 students were also killed by World WarⅡ, because they joined their army. Therefore this college was damaged by those wars. Now, all people in this college respect all of victims. People recorded former students’ names which were killed by WWI and WWⅡ in the college chapel and dining hall.

Most of students go to The Russell Group universities, and a few students can go to Oxbridge university from this college.

Some universities in Britain

In 1980s, there were only 46 universities in Britain. After Margaret Hilda Thatcher was inaugurated as the prime minister, the number of universities increased. She made the polytechnic schools which students can learn technical skills, so more students have been able to go to universities. The polytechnic schools are new, so I will introduce old universities. They are classified into ancient and red-brick. The university of Oxford and Cambridge called Oxbridge are in the ancient group, and also Durham and St. Andrews are in that group. The University of Oxford is the most intelligence, and Cambridge is the second. This year, people celebrate 800th anniversary of the University of Cambridge, so a variety of events are held. In addition, Oxford was established in further older days. The most of students of these universities went to the private schools, so they were born in rich families. I will explain about red-brick to you. Birmingham and Manchester is classified in red-brick, because the building was made from red bricks. These schools are also very famous, and so intelligent. The pupils of these universities can get the greatest jobs for them. The universities have many colleges. Colleges mean kind of dormitories, so students can sleep, eat, play sports, and relax in colleges.

Now, there are about 100 universities in Britain. On the other hand, Japan has about 750 universities like Tokyo University and NUFS. If the number of universities were increased, more students could learn a lot of things at their universities. I hope that from now on.

"Class" in Britain

Introduction
We have learned "class" in Britain for several weeks, so I will give you some information about that. There are 4 classes roughly, and they are Upper Class, Middle Class, Working Class, and Under Class. Middle Class is classified into 3 classes, and they are Upper Middle Class, Middle Class, and Lower Middle Class. Also, Working Class is classified into Skilled Class and Unskilled Class. I will write what are there jobs, and what are differences among those classes.

Upper Class
As you know, Upper Class is the best in all Classes. People in Upper Class are politicians, members of the nobility, royal family, and the president of big company, etc. They are very wealthy, and have strong power. They have had one third of the nation’s wealth, because they have controlled really large businesses. They are in the same network, so they take the same education, and are probably very friendly. Of course, they have good speaking like beautiful accents and formal. Besides, they like the sport called “Polo” which people ride horses, and throw a ball to some targets. If you want to become Upper Class, it is important for you to be born very rich family. If you were born this class, you would not have the anxiety of money. The 1% of people is Upper Class.

Middle class
Upper Middle Class people have worked as lawyers, doctors, and dentists. They can get good jobs and income. They are consisting of white-collar people. 15% of people in Britain are Upper Middle Class. Lower Middle Class people have jobs like office workers. Some people in Lower Middle Class graduated from their university, and others did not do that. About 30% of people belong to this Class. In addition, Middle Class people have worked as teachers and so on. In Middle Class, males can get the promotion. However, females cannot get that. Some of them have their own small company, and they are the President. The population of whole Middle Class is increasing and growing now.

Working Class
Upper Working Class called skilled class people have worked as electricians. Their working conditions and private lifestyle are same as non-manual workers. Also, there is Lower Working Class called unskilled class in Britain. Most of them are cleaners and helpers for Upper Working Class. Besides, they have distinctive things like political imagery and status situation. Middle Class people are increasing, while Working Class people are decreasing now. However, political divisions like gender, ethnicity, and region are increasing. About 30% of people are in Working Class.

Under Class
I do not know in detail, but the social position of this class is less than Lower Working Class. Therefore, people in Under Class have no house and job. They are in the poorest situation.

About Britain

I will write about Britain, especially, longitude and latitude, time difference, size, and transportation.
We usually call Britain a variety of names, for example, UK and Great Britain. UK includes Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Great Britain includes Wales, England, and Scotland.

Firstly, the latitude of London is about 51° north, and longitude is about 0° east. the latitude of Tokyo is about 35° north, and longitude is about 139° east. In additon the latitude of Wellington is 41° south, and longitude is 175° east. London is the northernmost city in these cities.
Secondly, I will introduce time difference to you. The time difference between Tokyo and London is 9 hours, and between Tokyo and Wellington is 3 hours. Therefore, the timedifference between Wellington and London is 12 hours. If I leave Tokyo at 3 p.m, I arrive London at 6 a.m. I must be get jet lag.
Thirdly, What dou you think which country (Japan, UK, and New Zealand) is the largest? I thought UK is the largest, but it was not true. Actually, Japan is the biggest counrtry in three countries.

Finally, I would like to tell you about transportation in UK. I will write about 2 types of transportations. One is ferry, and another is train. As you know, France is near to Britain, so many British people go to France by ferry. It takes about an hour and half from Dover in UK to Calais in France by ferry,and the return ticket (2 adults and a car) costs about 35 euro. Here is the homepage of one of ferry company.
Next is train. There is a famous train called "Eurostar" in UK. It takes about two hours and half from London to Paris, and the one-way ticket costs about 130 euro per adult. I like ferry than train, so I want to go to France by ferry.

That is my research. I could get a lot of information through this oppotunity. I want to know about UK more, and go to London someday!

Introduction about England

Hello! How's it going?
I had learned about New Zealand for 3 months, and I could get a lot of knowledge of New Zealand. Next, I'm going to learn about England! In fact, I have never been there. However, my friend who has been there by using school trip told me that England is very good place and has nice tea. I love tea! Of course, I'm interested in England.

I want to go there, and I tried to go there. As you know, To go to England needs a lot of money, but I had no money..., as a result I couldn't go. Therefore I will try to go there after graduation again. To do that, I have to save money, and learn about England! I'm glad to learn about it.