I miss Boston

Evaluation of the activities and improvements done in this second semester

(picture from flickr)

The exchange with the Dickinson college was very important to me and because it stimulated my curiosity and interest towards the US. I’ve always been fascinated by the US and last February I decided to apply for an exchange program with the Boston University. I was asked to provide a long list of application papers and to do an interview in English. Finally, despite the huge number of students from every faculty of the University of Padova competing, I was accepted for the exchange.
Therefore I started looking on the web for information about the BU and I asked also to my tandem learning Abby and my peer Allyson to give me suggestions. Both Abby and Allyson explained me the basic differences between the Italian and the American educational systems. We discussed about some Italian habits that sound quite odd to them, and we talked about some prejudices about Italians which aren’t completely groundless.
In particular, I learnt a new word from Abby: jingoism. Jingoism is a strong and unreasonable belief in the superiority of your own country. In my opinion, Italians are sometimes so proud of their origins and traditions that seem to be affected by some sort of jingoism or, as we say in Italy, ‘campanilismo’.
These issues made me reconsider my own culture and I reflect upon the way Americans perceive Italians. I think it’s fundamental to criticise our behaviour and reflect upon our defaults or weaknesses because it helps people to become more open and tolerant towards foreign cultures.

Actually I never felt uncomfortable when working with my American peers or Italian peers. Maybe some topics we discussed about were quite delicate. When we talked about elections everyone in the group expressed freely his or her own opinion. Even though I strongly state my opinions I tried not to offend people who have opposite political views.
As regards the final project, I experienced the problems connected with working as a group. In my opinion, the most important thing while working in group is to respect other opinions, to be responsible with my own work and to respect deadlines.
I think that in my group Allyson gave us important contributions. I think it was difficult for her to interact with us, because not only she met us on skype only once a week but also because she wasn’t very stimulated. I think that Italian students were very prepared and interested in the project. Our American peers weren’t much interested in working with us but I’m not sure about the reasons of this low interest. Maybe it’s due to the fact that the Italian culture isn’t as attractive as the American culture, or maybe we couldn’t stimulate their interest enough, or they weren’t expect to participate very actively in the work. Maybe they simply are younger than us and so they are less trained and motivated to work in group.

Allyson told us that she had much work to do in other classes and so she couldn't send us her part, at the beginning. Anyway, a few days ago she sent us a brilliant report on her film and she actively contributed to build up our page and revise all the work done. Overall, I think this experience was really satisfying and to me it was very important to work with Allyson and the other American peers because I honestly think they tried to do their best and I hope they found this experience very helpful, as well.

While, working on the final project, while speaking on skype, while discussing in class about our topics I felt very satisfied with the work done. One of the best experiences was our meeting with Chiara Olivi. She is very nice and out-going and we enjoyed a relaxing and interesting conversation. Maybe we asked her too many questions and it seems we were doing an interview. Anyway, I think we clearly displayed our interests towards her culture and her country.

Self-Assessment of my Language Learning

• words, expressions I learned in English:
  I learnt many words, mainly about politics, abilities and feelings.
  Jingoism: is a strong and unreasonable belief in the superiority of your own country.
  Warmonger: someone who encourage people to start or to join a war (I leant this word while speaking about Bush).
  Stutter: to have difficulty in speaking.
  Tycoon: a tycoon is a person who is successful in business and so has become rich or powerful.
  Grumpy: irritable.
  Laid-back: someone who never worries about anything.
  Fussy: someone who keeps everything in the correct space.
  Neat: tidy and smart.
  To sulk: if you sulk you are silent and bad-tempered for a while because you are annoyed about something.
  To creep round the boss: to be pleasant with someone and criticise him behind his back.
  Driven: ambitious, determined.
  To nag: keep asking to do something.

• improvements in my pronunciation of certain words or intonation:
  I tried to abandon the typical flat intonation of Italians and assume an American-like intonation.

• improvements in my listening:
  I manage to understand most of the words my teacher and my peer Allyson say. If I don’t know a word a try to work out its meaning from the context or I ask them for an explanation.

• changes in the way I speak Italian to non-native speakers:
  I speak slowly and spell words clearly. I try to use an accurate range of words but I try to express myself with short and well-built sentences. I prefer short clauses to long sentences.

• words, expressions I learned doing the wiki project:
  close-knit: closely linked
  padded cheeks: fairly thick cheeks
  raspy: a voice which makes rough sounds
  to stroke: move your hands slowly and gently over a pet (in this case)
  stiffly: it does not bend easily
  to wield: to have powers and to be able to use them.
  to shrug: if someone shrugs, he raises his shoulders to show that he is not interested in something
  boor: rough, uneducated and rude.
  buffoon: foolish
  bigot: fanatic, racist
  bimbo: although he is pretty, he is rather stupid.

• improvements in my reading doing the wiki project:
  I manage to scan and skim information easily. I don’t read all the articles but I focus on the parts that interest me most.

• improvements in my writing doing the wiki project:
  I learnt to melt together the information I found on the web and my own reflections on a specific subject. I remember to quote everything I copy from another source and I quote also the words which I paraphrase. I learnt to write smoothly and to express myself in a clear, concise, and effective way.

A Special thanks to Sarah, group 5 in the 1st semester and group 2 in the 2nd semester, my Italian and American peers and all the people who help me to improve my English!

Thank you very much for this wonderful year together! Enjoy your summer and have a relaxing holiday!!! =)

A vision of students today!

The Godfather or Il padrino

(photo source)

THE GODFATHER

Materials I've found so far:

• The Godfather: Stereotype or Reality?
• Italia Living Blog
• That's Italian? Mass Media Stereotypy
  By Michael Parenti
  'Due to ignorance and lack of knowledge stereotypes cause people to have false information about others. Stereotyping is used to type cast of a certain group people, even though many stereotypes are wrong and disrespectful to those being stereotyped. Organized crime, buffoonery and illegal activities are some of the stereotypes that are associated with Italian-Americans. This causes the public to be afraid or intimidated by Italians. A great example of negative stereotypes is in the television drama are The Sopranos. Although Italians portrayed in the mob is not a new stereotype in the entertainment industry, it is believed that is does portray false images of the Italian community and promotes the acceptance of violence in today’s society. Italian-Americans who actually participated in organize crime is a small percentage of the Italian population. One of the main factors that lead to stereotypes is the media. '
• Beyond The godfather : Italian American writers on the real Italian American experience / A. Kenneth Ciongoli and Jay Parini, editors.
  'Beyond The Godfather, Italian American Writers Writing about the Real Italian American experience is a collection of stories from various Italian authors who offer an intimate and unique insight into what there lives were like completely disconnected from the experiences depticted in a movie like “The Godfather”. This work is not so mucha response to the film “The Godfather” as it is a reaction to those that have seen the film and can not distinguish between reality and fiction or are simply content to place stereotypical
  The first story in the book is that of Louise Desalvo called “Finding My Way” and his experiences as a young boy growing up in Hoboken, New Jersey and going to grammar school. This interesting little story shows how important education was this Italian American family and the pride that they felt to become integrated into American society as opposed to the extra legal activities that you would experience in “The Godfather.” Moreover, his real-life experiences at school prove him to be quite astute and polite. This quaint story ends as it had began ground in the real experience of family, one that has no connection to the mafia.
  This book takes a step back from the stereotypes that one might decide to adopt from the portrayals of Italian Americans in The Godfather. Understanding the distinction is important not only because stereotyping a group of people is ignorant, but because in realizing that the book or the movie are a work of fiction should increase one’s appreciation of the work. '
• Beyond The godfather : Italian American writers on the real Italian American experience / A. Kenneth Ciongoli and Jay Parini, editors. 'The book Beyond the Godfather: Italian American Writers on the Real Italian American Experience, is a collection of essays written by writers of Italian descent. The book is in response to the wide popularity of The Godfather. The popularity of this book and movie has overshadowed the culture of Italians. As a result, these essays were compiled in order to give an overview of the styles of writing of the Italian Americans.
  There are three main sections of the book: Memories and Memoirs, Italian American Literature and Identity Politics. Memories and Memoirs are full of anecdotes from Italian American everyday lives. In Louise DeSalvo’s story, “Finding My Way,” he discusses his education experience growing up. From this essay, it is apparent the importance of family as well as education in the life of this Italian American. The Italian American Literature section mainly discussed the different types of styles of writing. This is used to show the diversity in terms of its culture. Lastly, Identity Politics discusses the role that Italian Americans have in the United States. In the essay, “Italian Americans and American Politics,” Michael Barone discusses the influential role of Italians in the U.S. government, and the prominent figures, such as Fiorello LaGuardia, that were present in society.
  The purpose of this book was to respond to the stereotypes of Italian Americans that was created by The Godfather. Although Mafia is an aspect of Italian Americans, the book highlights other aspects of their culture. Most notably, it shows the power that Italian Americans have in America. However, this power is through respectable positions in government and not through illegal ways. In addition to this, the importance of family is evident through the essays written, which is mirrored in the movie.'

About movies

Hello guys!

Sorry I haven't send contributions so far but I was quite busy last week. I promise I'll be more helpful next week. Thank you Allyson and Enrico for your suggestions, a special thanks to Anna who created the the link for our wiki page.

Today we are going to speak about our project and write an outline, right?

Here are some links where you can find information about these movies:

1. Italian Movies about America:

- Spaghetti western

- Natale a New York

-Un americano a Roma

2. American Movies about Italy (places and characters):

- Il Padrino / The Godfather

- Il talento di Mr Ripley

- Hannibal

- Casanova

- La baia di Napoli*

- Addio alle armi*

- Stazione termini*

- Vacanze romane*

* Movies of the 50th

Well, I think I'll look for more information on del.icio.us and then I will bookmark the most interesting resources. We still have to the decide the tags but I think we'll discuss about it today.

Cheers

Immigrations

Nowadays immigration is a very debatable issue, especially in Italy. Almost everyday, the news on TV and the newspaper report about flows of illegal immigrants who arrived in Italy in very bed conditions. Immigrants must endure a long and expensive travel by see and they are packed into small and old boat for many days. The conditions on board are very precarious because of the lack of food and water, so when immigrants arrived in Italy, they exhausted and drained by their fast.

Italian politicians have tried to solve the problem of illegal immigration by means of some law. One of the most recent is also the most debated because this law, the Bossi-Fini law was overall ineffective. This law doesn’t prevent illegal immigrants from entering the Italian borders and even though Italian policemen send immigrants back, actually the flow of immigrants arriving is still increasing.

The basic problem is that our country isn’t able to provide to all this people a job and so many immigrants are recruit by criminals. In addition, many people are scared by immigrants and they see in them not only potential criminals but also competitors in the work. Some Italians are afraid of loosing their own job because of the immigrants who settle for a low salary. Actually, I think this is an just an excuse since the immigrants often do the hardest and worst job (an Italian would never do).

In the following class we will discuss this problem in detail and I’ll ask to my peer Allyson to explain us how she perceive the phenomenon of immigration in the US, keeping in mind that Italians were immigrants in the US in the past.

Questions to Allyson

Last week, we did Skype in four, it was quite a mess because sometimes we couldn’t say and listen to our opinions at the same time; however it was very stimulating because the conversation was brilliant and every participant in the conference wanted to support her ideas. Overall, we managed to argue clearly about our political view and I think our exchange was very effective. Not only we discussed valuable issue about elections and politicians but also we find out the importance of voting. It doesn’t matter what candidate you vote, the important thing is to express our opinion and our preference.
The following extract are taken from the discussion on Skype among Laura, Alessia, Allyson and me. Enjoy it and let me know what you think about it!

1. In your opinion, to what extent the decision of the army withdrawal from Iraq is a central theme in the political campaign?
Allyson: ‘I think it’s very important because Clinton and Obama propose to lave Iraq gradually while McCain is determined to carry on it. I think the was in Iraq was a mistake’.

Why do you think that the war in Iraq was a mistake?
Allyson: ‘Bush stated that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but that was an excuse, it was not true.’



2. According to you, what are the most important reasons that persuade American people to vote?
Allyson: ‘Some people are more involved other don’t support anyone. In the families, they vote in a different manner. People feel that they don’t have so much control. A lot of people are registered to vote, but they actually don’t vote. I think people should definitely do it, it’s very important.’


3. If Mac Cain wins the elections, he will be the oldest U.S. President. What do you think about it? Could he be the right person to represent also the youngest generations or not?
Allyson: ‘I’ve never thought about it. I don’t support him. I don’t think he will be the good choice as president from my personal point of view.’


4. Do you think that Hillary's and Obama's campaigns are more concerned with gender and race than mere political issues?
Allyson: ‘I don’t agree to vote for Hillary just because it is a woman. Some old women I know say that they will do vote for Hillary just because she is a woman. As regards Obama, he represents a minority because he is black but I don’t think many people will vote for or against him just because he is black.’
According to you, is there still racism in the US?
Allyson: ‘It is not as bad as it was some years ago. People at my college think that they will vote for him because he is a good candidate and not just because he is black.’

5. In the US are there more private or public hospital?
Allyson: ‘Most are private. We don’t have that many public services.’
Do you think that private works better?
Allyson: ‘Most people think that if you are paid better you do your work better.’

About our final project

Hello friends!

I'd like to reflect a little upon our final project. We are going to decide together the topic of our project. First of all, Anna Bordignon said: 'I would like to compare how Italians learn about Americans and viceversa. How do teachers in the schools present the Italian language and culture? And, do Italians study American language and culture? Why, or why not? Is it important in Italy to differenciate, for example, American English and British English? At which level? Which aspects of Italian/American cultures are studied? Which movies/books/music are chosen, and why? Is this material also studied by Italians in Italy as part of their culture and viceversa?'

I do agree with what my peer Anna wrote. I’d like to write the final project about education and I think that the learning perspective that Anna proposed can be very interesting. I think we should discuss in group about the sources we can find and create. Since our final project can’t be very long I think we should try to write very concise and effective pages. The presentation should be clear, simple and eye-catching. We could divide our project into three parts:

1. What US students learn about Italian culture? (e.g. past history or contemporary history, Dante or Calvino, only literature or also historical background, normative or descriptive Italian grammar)
   How do US students learn? (Do they use mainly books or do they exploit technologies effectively? We could provide some explanations about what means US students do use to approach Italian culture, e.g. links of the sites).
2. What Italian students learn about American culture? (e.g. past history or contemporary history, Shakespeare and Milton or Orwell and , only literature or also historical background, normative or descriptive English grammar)
   How do Italian students learn? (Do they use mainly books or do they exploit technologies effectively)? As in the previous section, we can include links, pictures and explanations of how do they learn for example, just by listening to pop music, watching videos onYouTube, participating in forums, or watching movies ).
3. Comparison and analysis of the differences among US and Italian educational systems and perspectives for future students of these languages.

These are just some ideas, I think we need to discuss what aspects are more relevant and what perspective we want to convey in our final project! Think about this, see you on Monday!

cheers!

xxx

my Yoga form!

I think that one of the best ways to improve language skills is reflect upon them. Since the first year at the university we were trained by our teacher to fill in a form about our linguistic abilities, the EUROPEAN LANGUAGE PORTFOLIO. I think it that the YOGA FORM is another very interesting tool which helps students to understand the weak and strong point of their learning process. The YOGA form is structured into different part according to the different degree of abilities that a student of foreign languages has achieved.

Also, one of the basic parameters to differentiate among learners is the effective time that a student has spent in a foreign country. So students who have participated into an exchange program with another country are expected to have reflected much more in depth about the foreign language. Almost two year ago I spent one semester in Wales and this clearly affected my comprehension of English culture and language. At the University of Aberystwyth, I was compelled to speak English all the day long whether inside or outside the university; formally, by attending classes or informally, by working or socializing with native speakers).

I’m very happy because next year I’ll have another wonderful opportunity to discover another university and spend a semester there. I’ll go to the BU and I think this will strongly affect my studies because not only I’ll improve my learning skills but also I’ll come close to the American culture.

As regards my YOGA form, I think it provides a framework within which I can gradually compile a profile of myself as a learner and user of foreign languages. In my opinion, it’s important that to compile a more objective profile as possible, that’s why I asked my tandem learning partner Abigail to fill in the form and to judge my language abilities. According to her, my degree is very high and I belong to the advanced category of learners, I hope that’s true and I hope to exploit all the suggestions she gives me when we meet. I’ll make them value!

happy April Fools' Day =)

(photo from flickr)

Happy April Fools' Day

Our discussion about political elections

Today I participated in a very interesting conference about US and Italian elections, together with Valentina, Laura and Allyson. We discussed mainly about our own political views and the differences between the American and Italian electoral systems. Among other questions, I asked Allyson these five questions:

1. What are the most important features a political leader must have?

2. Are you influenced by the political campaign or do you have a specific political idea?

3. Do you think you are really represented by your candidate?

4. Is the electoral system really effective?

5. What do you think about the means candidates use in order to promote themselves?

Basically, the most striking answers she gave us consist of the way US people perceive elections. As a matter of fact, Allyson told us that 'theoretically, each “elector” should vote in the way that most people in that area want him/her to, but that does not always happen. That’s how the popular vote can predict that one candidate will win, when in fact they do not have enough electoral votes.'

On Monday we discussed in class the controversial issue of the American electoral system. To sums up, I can say that in the US each state can decide whether to adopt a proportional electoral system or a 'winner takes all system'. For this reason, there are states which result to be much more important than other states. Here is the explanation Sarah gave us in class:

Let's say that in Vermont, one candidate can gain 10 electoral votes and in Florida, he or she can gain 50 electoral votes. While Vermont has a proportional system, Florida has a 'winner takes all' system. The results are the following:

e.g. Vermont

candidate A takes 80% of the popular votes, he/she takes 8 electoral votes

candidate B takes 20% of the popular votes, he/she takes 2 electoral votes

e.g. Florida

candidate A takes 51% of the popular votes, he/she takes all 50 electoral votes

candidate B takes 49% of the popular votes, he/she takes none electoral vote.

So, Italian and American electorla systems are very different and we all agreed in saying that they should be reformed in order to be more effective. If you want to read more on the subject, please, ahve a look at our forum and leave a comment.

A central concern: Developing Intercultural Competence

The monument you can see at the left is the monument to multiculturalism. I think it was very representative of the great importance we are giving nowadays to multiculturalism.

Intercultural competence is 'the ability of successful communication with people of other cultures. This ability can exist in someone at a young age, or may be developed and improved. The bases for a successful intercultural communication are emotional competence, together with intercultural sensitivity.' (wikipedia)

If you want to find more on the subject search for this article “Exploring Intercultural Competence: A Construct Proposal” NCOLCTL Fourth Annual Conference . Many useful information and projects have been elaborated by Alvino E. Fantini, Ph.D. School for International Training Brattleboro, Vermont.

Monument to the multiculturalism- photo source

About leadership

(photo from flickr)

‘Leadership is not magnetic personality- that can just as well be a glib tongue.
It is not ‘making friends and influencing people’- that is flattery.
Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher things, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.’
Peter F. Druker, author and management theorist.

‘We all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.’
Michael Caine, British film actor (in the film The Italian job).

‘How shall I talk of the sea to a frog,
If it has never left his pond?
How shall I talk of the frost to the bird of the summerland,
If it has never left the land of his birth?
How shall I talk of life with the sage,
If he is prisoner of his doctrine?’
Chung Tsu, 4th Century B.C.

Is politics seducing the masses?

(photo from bamboccioni alla riscossa)

As Sarah wisely reported, the two major parties of the Italian politics are producing tons of advertisement and now even two videos. In order to gain a competitive advantage over rivals, politicians and their supporters are creating songs, films and magazines to depict the wonderful destiny they foresee for Italy.

This propaganda represents aspirations and a desirable image of life that the electors would like to identify with. However, people seem quite disillusioned with the nowadays reality and are not likely to appreciate the empty promises of the politicians- not matter what candidate proposes them.

It seems like politics has become a sort of marketing due to the fact that politicians are ever busier in promoting their perfect and marvellous programs. I feel like we are all a little bit poorer, a little bit angrier and a little bit disillusioned; however the electoral period it’s a time where we can all be positive and plan for a great new government.

The most important thing I wish Italians would never forget is that nice songs, enticing videos, charming smiles would never pay the taxes for us.

Terrorism in the USA

Last Tuesday I spoke again to Allyson. Also this time Laura had some problem with the volume of her microphone but in the end we managed to discuss together. The topic we dealt with was mainly terrorism. Allyson told us that even though US people have been totally frightened by the attack to the Twin Towers, now they are trying to reject fear and keep on living a normal life. I think it’s very courageous and mature. In fact, people cannot surrender to fear and must fight against terrorism.

As we can see at the airports, there are many measures anti-terrorism that prevent terrorists from doing other attacks. Sometimes these measures seem very restrictive but I think they are absolutely necessary. Allyson, Laura and I agreed that’s fundamental apply those measure very carefully and to do our best in order to avoid other terrifying attacks.

As regards my use of skype, this time we not only spoke on the phone but also chat. In skype, I created my personal contact list and I could chat and send my email address to Laura and Allyson. So we can keep in touch with emails, as well.

(photo source)

Into the wild

Some days ago I watched this impressive film. I recommend this movie to anybody who believe in freedom. Even though Into the wild introduces us in society where people cannot attain freedom; finally Christopher Mcendless will find his way trough and he will disclose us his last truth:
HAPPYNESS MUST BE SHARED.

Happy Easter!!!

Dear all!

I wish you, your families and beloved ones a very happy and sunny Easter!

Have fun and relax!

cheers

Martina

(picture from flickr)

Chiara Olivi was here!

(photo from flickr)

hello!

Last week our peer from the US, Chiara Olivi, came to Padova and visited us. It was very interesting to speak to her face to face. At the beginning of our speaking session we were a little embarassed but after a while we got more confident and we started asking her many questions about lifestyle in the US, Dickinson college, US politics and social system. As a consequence, we started making comparisons between Italy and the US and we mainly talked about the problems of our universitary system. Sometimes we have to study very hard; as a result we are supposed to gain many competences. However, this is not true! It's very frustrating the fact that despite so much hard work, Italian students are much more ignorant than US students. This issue made us reflect upon our learning process and our educational objectives.

On Tuesday, we'll speak on skype again. I'm very looking forward to discuss new interesting and stimulating topics with my peers Allyson and Laura. I think that Skype is a very challenging opportunity to improve my pronunciation. During the lessons by professor Busà, I realized how different is my intonation, compared to an English native speaker. The Skype sessions will help me to improve my fluency and my skill to reproduce English sounds.

Allyson speaks very well because she clearly pronunce the sounds, giving to her discourse a very cute intonation. Sometimes, we cannot hear each other because of the noise but overall I find it very easy to understand what Allyson says. It's very nice to speak about our everyday life and I'd like to have a webcam, so that it'd be even more easy to communicate. I'm really looking forward to next Tuesday!!!

Cath you later!
Martina

Abigail: my tandem partner!

This week I want to introduce you to my tandem partner. She comes from Chicago and she studies at the Boston university. WOW! I met her for the first time two weeks ago and since the beginning she appeared to me a very positive and lovely girl.

We met at the cafè Dersuit in piazza dei Signori where we could enjoy a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere: that was the perfect place to start a new friendship! While having our cappuccino, we talked about travelling around the world, studying at university and meeting new friends.

After our first meeting I was so excited that I couldn’t wait for the next time and so I decided to introduce her to my friends the day after. We enjoyed a brilliant evening at Highlander pub and we had a great fun all together. Abby is a very nice girl and even though I get to know her only two weeks ago, I already feel very at ease when I spend time with her.

Abby is always very smiling and caring. She has a very nice smile and beautiful red hair. For this reason, we’ve started calling her Ginger. What I like most in her personality is that she is very natural and out-going; I think these are very good qualities.

I will publish soon in my blog some pictures of us, so keep on visiting my blog!
See you soon!

Martina

Welcome to the Padova-Dickinson exchange!

Dickinson College

(photo source)

Heya!

The new semester has just started and we have already started a new interesting and stimulating activity: the Padova-Dickinson exchange! In the following months most of the class will participate in this project and I’ll be asked to reflect on the tasks we’ll try to achieve and on the way we’ll achieve them.

In the first lessons, we created a wiki page and we discussed about stereotypes. The students in Padova and in Dickinson were asked to complete a questionnaire in which they were asked to define the most important features of some entities. Among all the topics, we discuss mainly about the American and Italian nation, American and Italian women, American and Italian education systems, and American and Italian teachers. The basic conclusions we came up with are in this list:

• America
  
  - Both groups mention fast food and McDonald
  - Only Americans talk about their national flag
  - Many Italians mention grande, grandezza

• Italy
  - Both groups mention food, in particular pizza and pasta
  - Americans are more stereotyped (beautiful, mediterranean) but one of them mentioned the important difference of free health care
  - Italians are stereotyped too, but they also mention real problems (fuga di cervelli, immondizia)

• American women
  
  - Both groups think that they are independent
  - Americans stand to consider that they are anorexic or fat and fake
  - Italians only consider them overweight, but stressed out

• A good education is...
  
  - Both groups agree on the fact that a good education is very important and it helps you for your life after school
  - Americans think that education should prepare you for the future and their working career
  - Italians mention the fact that education should also consider the student as a person and is not so closely related to the future career

• A good teacher is...
  
  - Italians write more elaborated answers based on an ideal image of a teacher
  - Americans are more realistic and focus on specific skills a teacher should have

During the lessons on Tuesday, I finally get in touch with my skype partners: Allyson and Laura. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to talk for a long time because Laura didn’t manage to use skype properly and Allyson had to leave very soon. Anyway, I was very satisfied with this first experience because I could talk a lot with Allyson about our everyday life, our educational systems, the difference between high school and university, the importance of campus life in the American university. On the whole, it was a very exciting experience and I hope next time it’ll work even better.

One of the most interesting targets I hope to accomplish by using skype is to develop self-confidence while speaking with an English native speaker and to gain fluency when speaking about both academic and non-academic issues. What is more, I would improve my writing skills and my learning to express myself in a clear, concise, and effective way by using our wiki and Facebook. I added Allyson in the list of my friends in Facebook, so now I can send her not only messages but also pictures, images and a wide range of different applications!

See you next week!

Best friends in St.Andrews! xxx

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is a very important celebration for Chinese people everywhere. It is also called Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year.
The exact date of the Chinese New Year changes from year to year, but is always between 21st January and 19th February. In ancient China people used the moon to calculate time, and the Chinese lunar calendar every month begins with the new moon.
Every year of the Chinese Calendar has an animal’s name. These animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, cockerel, dog and pig. The Chinese believe that a person born in a particular year has some of the characteristics of that animal.
Check this list and fins out what are the characteristics of your sign.

1. Rat:
- Years: 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996
- Character: happy, charming, ambitious
2. Ox:
- Years: 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997
- Character: works hard, patient, timid
3. Tiger:
- Years: 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998
- Character: strong personality, courageous, temperamental
4. Rabbit:
- Years: 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999
- Character: peaceful, sociable, secretive
5. Dragon:
- Years: 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000
- Character: energetic, honest, generous
6. Snake:
- Years: 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001
- Character: sensitive, careful with money, responsible
7. Horse:
- Years: 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002
- Character: popular, independent, talkative
8. Sheep:
- Years: 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003
- Character: gentle, intelligent, loves beautiful things
9. Monkey:
- Years: 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004
- Character: intelligent, creative, solve problems easily
10. Cockerel:
- Years: 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005
- Character: faithful, punctual, eccentric
11. Dog:
- Years: 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006
- Character: loyal, honest, good leader
12. Pig:
- Years: 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007
- Character: strong, kind, likes to learn