. Considering my expectations about this English course, I think that I've improved on some particular areas of study. First of all I've found a new way to learn pronunciation of new words: using Phonemic Chart. It is a simple way to learn pronunciation if you don't have the chance to speak with a native speaker. Secondly I've acquired an unusual (and more practical) way to learn about English Grammar, especially Tenses. This method isn't just based on grammar rules, but takes a look also at the nature of the Speaker, the Context, and much more aspects. The next thing I'm going to work on, is my "pet hate", speaking. I think I have a lot to improve in this area, not just in relation to English, but also in regard with my own exposition, in any case and in any language. .
Euthanasia is one of that particular and delicate issue, like abortion for example, that the modern society has faced openly in these past decades. In my opinion we can't decide if euthanasia is a good thing or not, once and for all: we just have to give the chance to everyone of taking a decision on their own awarness, if they would ever had the misfortune of finding theirselves in such bad situations. I also think that polticians shouldn't take it upon theirselves to decide for everyone about something so private and delicate. All the more so the Church shouldn't push politicians to intervene drastically in this matter, that isn't religious neither political, but social. Finally I think that the solution is yet written in our Constitution, provided by the articles 12 and 32. .
. (A) Find an example for each type from the sentences below. 1. If I went out tonight , I would see John but I’m going to stay in. (2nd) 2. If I had gone out last night, I would have seen John. (3rd) 3. If I go out, I see John, he’s always in the pub. (0) 4. If I go out tonight, I will see John, he said he was going into the West End. (1st) 5. If I couldn’t speak English well, I wouldn’t have gone on the Erasmus programme. (Mixed 2/3) 6. If we had listened to the instructions properly, we would know what to do. (Mixed 3/2)
(B) Other modals apart from will and would can also be used. Now add the sentences below to the groups above. 1. If you hadn’t reminded me, I might have forgotten his birthday. (3rd) 2. If I had the money, I could lend it to you. (2nd) 3. If you get sick, you should see a doctor. (0) 4. If you make an appointment, you can see the doctor tomorrow. (1st)
Choosing the Best Conditional: The conditional you use not only depends on the situation and time but also how you see it. For example 3 different people might use 0, 1st or 2nd conditionals to describe the same event depending on views and beliefs from their own experience.
Look at the 3 sentences below. How is each situation different? (n.b. they are all present situations)
(a)If the train is late, what do you do? (b)If the train is late, what will you do? (c)If the train was late, what would you do?
Which speaker: Lives in Germany where the trains are never late? (c) Lives in Italy where the trains are sometimes late? (b) Lives in England where the trains are always late? (a) .
. .I've always asked myself, looking at the Italian government team of ministers, how could be possible to a non-technical subject (most of them are "simply" politician, without even a real job) administer a department in such technical and specific matters like Education, Justice, Economics, etc. I think that a jurist, also if maybe isn't well prepared on very specifical areas, would have at least a deeper knowledge of existent legislation and, not less important, of how to make a good law. In my opinion this formula allows the Executive system to face in a realistical and objective way lot of legislative and governative questions. .
. . Lord Denning was a renowned English judge, known as "the people's judge" due to the simple language of his judgements, easy to understand by ordinary people. On the other hand someone has accused him of giving an interpretation of law, biased by his ideas and his prejudices, generating uncertainty about possible case's outcomes. He has been a judje for 38 years, 20 of them heading the civil side of the Court of Appeal and exerting a big influence on the development of English Law in that period. Famous feature of Lord Denning's judgments are a strong regional accent and an unusual prose style.
This is an extract of a famous Lord Denning's judgment, about Miller v. Jackson case (1977), better known as The Cricket Case, that gives an example of his peculiar judgment'style:
"In summertime village cricket is the delight of everyone. Nearly every village has its own cricket field where the young men play and the old men watch. In the village of Lintz in County Durham they have their own ground, where they have played these last 70 years. They tend it well. The wicket area is well rolled and mown. The outfield is kept short. It has a good club house for the players and seats for the onlookers. The village team play there on Saturdays and Sundays. They belong to a league, competing with the neighbouring villages. On other evenings after work they practise while the light lasts. Yet now after these 70 years a judge of the High Court has ordered that they must not play there any more. He has issued an injunction to stop them. He has done it at the instance of a newcomer who is no lover of cricket. This newcomer has built, or has had built for him, a house on the edge of the cricket ground which four years ago was a field where cattle grazed. The animals did not mind the cricket. But now this adjoining field has been turned into a housing estate. The newcomer bought one of the houses on the edge of the cricket ground. No doubt the open space was a selling point. Now he complains that when a batsman hits a six the ball has been known to land in his garden or on or near his house. His wife has got so upset about it that they always go out at week-ends. They do not go into the garden when cricket is being played. They say that this is intolerable. So they asked the judge to stop the cricket being played. And the judge, much against his will, has felt that he must order the cricket to be stopped: with the consequence, I suppose, that the Lintz Cricket Club will disappear. The cricket ground will be turned to some other use. I expect for more houses or a factory. The young men will turn to other things instead of cricket. The whole village will be much the poorer. And all this because of a newcomer who has just bought a house there next to the cricket ground". .
. . Usually I learn the correct pronunciation of new words, listening to the pronunciation (if I'm watching a movie or listening to a song, or simply talking to someone) of who's speaking. I don't know anything about phonetic symbols, simply because no one of my teacher has spell out them to me before now. I'll be happy to use these symbols since now, because I've found them very useful to learn on your own the right pronunciation if you have no chance to talk with a mother tongue.
In this lesson we have learn that choosing the right tense, is not only a matter of grammatical rules. Talking about the Time aspect, we can see that present tense can also refer to a future situation, and past tense to a present or future situation. We can look at some other aspect in the chart:
We must consider:
- THE NATURE OF THE ACTION OR EVENT _Looking at the context, the duration of the action, if it's completed or not, usual, planned, relationship between the events inside the "story."
- HOW THE SPEAKER SEES THE EVENT _For ex. if the speaker is neutral and just report the event we would probably choose a Simple form, while if he express feeling we should choose a Continuous form., if he takes an istant decision (simple) of if he's talking about something in program, organized (continuous).
- THE NATURE OF THE VERB _Some verbs are used naturally in the simple form, like Stative verbs (to express states, possession, senses, mental activity, qualities). Dynamic verbs (that express activities, goings-on events, momentary, transitory) are used naturally in continuous form, also if some of them like the ones expressing habits (live, work) should be used in simple form. Others like the Punctual ones can't have duration (ex. to fire) so in continuous form they express repetition.
: . I often go to the cinema, but it's not easy to find places where you can also watch at original language movies. When I can, I try to watch movies (and especially musicals) in original language, because I think they loose much of their pecularity due to translation and dubbing process. When I watch movies or series at home (many of them related to justice or crime), I watch them as much as possible in english with the aid of subtitols. Without subtitols you can focus better on identifing the meaning of the matter, while with them you can concentrate more on pronounciation and phrase structure.
"Madness of dustbin jails - by Lord Chief Justice, October 8, 2006, Observer"
vocabulary: - CONCERN, vtr. preoccuparsi/riguardare/concernere/interessare ____________n. preoccupazione/interesse _Concern oneself with = preoccuparsi di _As far as I am concerned = per quanto mi riguarda
- GRIM (GRIMMER, GRIMMEST), adj. arcigno/accanito _Grim reality = triste realtà _Grim reaper = la morte _Grim faced = dal volto tetro
- OVERSPILL, n. eccedenza _Overspill housing development = città satellite _Overspill population = popolazione in eccesso
- CONSTABLE, n. agente (di polizia) _Chief constable = capo della polizia
- MELTDOWN, n. fusione del nocciolo nucleare/ un disastroso o rapido sviluppo di una situazione
- ESTATE, n. tenuta/patrimonio/quartiere residenziale _Estate duty = tassa di proprietà _Council estate = complesso di case popolari _Fourth estate = quarto potere
- UNDERFUNFING, n. finanziamento insufficiente
- COMPEL, vtr. costringere _Be compelled = essere costretto/sottomesso
- SERVE A COMMUNITY ORDER - COMMUNITY PENALTY - NON CUSTODIAL SENTENCE - TO JAIL SOMEONE - SHIPPING SOLICITOR - PETTY OFFENCES ________________________________________________________ a deeper look: Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales was, historically, the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor. However as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which removed the judicial functions from the office of Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice is now the head of the judiciary of England and Wales. He is also the presiding judge of the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal. Until the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 came into force in 2006, the Lord Chief Justice was also the head of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court. There is now a separate post of President of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court, currently held by Sir Anthony May.
Under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Lord Chief Justice is now to be chosen by a specially appointed committee, convened by the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Originally, each of the three high common law courts - the King's Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of the Exchequer - had its own Chief Justice. That of the Exchequer Court was styled as the Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and that of the Common Pleas was Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, leaving the head of the King's (or Queen's) Bench to be known simply as the Lord Chief Justice. Although the Court of the King's (or Queen's) Bench had existed since 1234, the title of chief justice was not used until 1268. In the intermediary period, one of the justices would be considered the senior judge, and hold a position similar to that later held by the chief justice. The courts, however, were combined in 1875, creating a single Lord Chief Justice of England.
The suffix "and Wales", now found in statutes and elsewhere, was unilaterally appended by Lord Bingham between 1996 and 2000. There is also a Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. The Lord Chief Justice's equivalent in Scotland is the Lord President of the Court of Session, who also holds the post of Lord Justice-General in the High Court of Justiciary.
The first Lord Chief Justice to act as head of the judiciary after the Lord Chancellor relinquished that role was Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, who succeeded Lord Woolf on October 1, 2005.
The current Lord Chief Justice is Lord Judge, who took over the role of Lord Chief Justice on 1 October 2008 following the promotion of Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers to the position of Senior Law Lord.
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Considering my expectations about this English course, I think that I've improved on some particular areas of study.
