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!

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.