Fiona Dictionary Review

 What would be the best monolingual dictionary ?

 

Having looked at a number of monolingual print dictionaries in class this week, I have decided to buy the "Collins Cobuild" dictionary. Just like most of the other dictionaries, an introductory guide is to be found at the beginning to help me use it efficiently and understand how to read the International Phonetic Alphabet. What I could not find in the other dictionaries though was the well-organised layout. At first glance, it appeared easily legible and entries were pleasantly separated. For each words, thanks to a supplementary column at the right of the word, we have indeed access to additional grammatical information such as the right preposition to use after a word or a verb.  Moreover as the "Collins Cobuild" was printed off in 2006, we can find modern vocabulary and new expressions. It was indeed the only dictionary to suggest the phrase : "to nurse a drink"  under the noun "nurse". Because the "Collins Cobuild" dictionary is well-formated, clear and well up-dated, it is by far my favorite.

[167 word]

Language Learner Review

Dear Fiona,

I have been studying English for ten years now. German has been my second foreign language since the eighth grade. There are several reasons that kindled my passion for foreign languages . To begin with, the cultures of other countries have always interested me. I would like to communicate with as many people as possible to gain perspective on their customs and ways of living. I was even more eager to learn foreign languages when international trade turned out to be my dream job. In order to be able to work in this field, I aim to master the English language as it is vital for communication in international trade, and also German considering the position the country has in the foreign market. 

 Two major events helped me progress towards my goal. Firstly, I spent my ninth grade in South Africa. Although I was in a French school I had the chance to practice English with my classmates, my teachers and in everyday life situations (order a meal, shopping...). I then spent July of 2013 working in Germany in the department of logistic. These two experiences helped me improve my speaking skills and expand my vocabulary, but I still need to ameliorate my grammar and my writing skills. Therefore, I am taking Business English courses at the University of Graz. I also listen and read extensively in English. I will try to make the most of my Erasmus year and practice German and English as much as possible.

Best regards,

Marianne

Wine in Austria

<Wine in Austria>

It has been now two months since I first came to Austria. I had to adapt to a different way of living. It was not too hard getting used to gaz being cheaper compared to France. On the other hand I needed more time for others habits. I will only focus on one aspect in this article. First time I went out for a drink, I ordered a beer (of course) and my erasmus neighbours told me I had chosen right. Not just because Austria is well known for its good bier but because he told me horrified that they were mixing wine with water here. I just could not believe it at first because I had already taken a glass of wine in a restaurant with my mother when I arrived and this wine was really good and perfectly waterfree. I must say I was kind of disappointed people would mix water with wine because it felt like damaging it for me. I remember when I was about 8-years-old, my grand father would pour me some red wine in the bottom of my glass and then lots of water on top of it so that I could drink wine like grown-ups. That would be the only situation in which I would understand that someone was mixing wine with water. 

Then I realised I was being narrow-minded, the opposite of a good language learner, right ? Thus I ordered one famous "Spritzer weiß“ and then later a "Spritzer rot". Although I did not really like the one with white one, I admit the one with red one was in fact tasty. Of course I will always defend my French wine but I have faith in Austrian wine again. I even registered for a Wine Tour in the region organised by the ESN (Erasmus Student Network). I am really looking forward to this event to know more about this kind of drink.

I actually tried to find some explanation for doing so but I could not find much. I just know that Austrians sometimes find their wine too bitter and like therefore to add some water. What about the historical background of this drink ? Once more I unfortunately drew a blank. I discovered though that it was originally drunk by soldiers. It could have been maybe to save some pure wine in time of scarcity ? You can also find this aperitif in the Northeastern region of Italy that used to be part of the Autrian Empire. It is famous too in Croatia, Hungary, Roumania and even Slovenia, all of them being neighbouring countries of Austria.

I am continuing to investigate on this matter and hope I am eventually going to find out who got the idea of such a mix and why !

Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween :)
Marianne

Dictionary review transcription

SUK1 WS13 Fiona  <Dictionary review transcription>

First, this is the transcription of what I said during the dictionary’s presentation.

There is another section called “Sentence Examples”. So if you go there you can find the sought word in a whole  sentence, but we didn’t really feel like it was useful because it’s just one sentence took out of its context so it’s not really useful to know how to use it correctly. And there is another section up there called Quotes.  So for example if I want to find a quote with nurse in it I just take the word nurse and it gives me this. So it’s original but not really useful as well but original still.

Then here are the comments I would like to make after hearing myself.

I first noticed while listening to me that I was using lots of useless linking word such as “like” and “so”. It is tiring for the person listening to hear this words over and over again.

I am quite happy with my pronunciation expect for a few word: For example I sometime pronounce “coat” instead of “quote”. I also say “sowt” instead of “sought”. I would also like to sound a little bit more dynamic.

I would say that my thoughts are organised but the end of my presentation is a little bit muzzy and unclear. It would have been better to describe more precisely how to find a quote with nurse. I should have maybe said “for example if I want to find a quote with the word “nurse” in it, I write “nurse”  in the search bar at the top of the page and these are the results.”  instead of “for example if I want to find a quote with nurse in it I just take the word nurse and it gives me this.”

To conclude I would say that although it is not dynamic enough and there are some mistakes on pronunciation, I am happy with how I developed my idea except at the end.

My Erasmus Trip

Hi everyone ! 

I am a French Erasmus student from the University of Lyon 2. I came in Austria to spend an amazing year in Graz. I have never been to the Eastern part of Europe. Therefore I intend to make the most of my time here and travel to these eastern countries around Austria that seemed so far away when I was in France and so close now that I am here ! I love travelling and I am definitely not the only one.

Most Erasmus students are also trip-lovers as coming to Graz was already a journey we all went on very gladly. If you are en Erasmus student and you want to go abroad, you can be sure you will find some friends to come along ! Moreover as I came by car here, it is very cheap to go on a road trip when the car is full. And of course the more the funnier ! Let me present you some of the trips I took since I arrived in Austria.

With some of my friends we have already been to Maribor and Ljubljana (I think it is the right spelling!) in Slovenia. We were about 15 and we had a lot of fun. The Capital is a lovely city (even if the center is in fact very small) and the hills around were also worth seeing. Maribor on the other hand was too quiet and some places were badly-kept. We also went to Croatia. We drove along the coast and even had a lovely swim ! Even if we were in a small city we found one of the best night club ever in the marina. On Sunday, on our way back we stopped in Zagreb. It was drowning under the rain and quite empty so we did not linger there but we went home with nice memories of our Croatian trip.

I really enjoyed these trips to Croatia and Slovenia. That is why, once more, I will be leaving Graz and Austria this weekend. This time, we are going to Prague in the Czech Republic. I can not wait to get there and live some new adventures.

Thanks for reading me :)

Marianne

Interview

Christina's interview !

I interviewed Christina today. She studied Business Administration last year but she asked if she could drop it this semester for TKK. She is still anxiously waiting for the answer from the Dean of the university. In the meantime she already attended some of her hypothetical future classes. She is learning French, English and she also plucked up courage to start Chinese courses!  

Along studies, she dances Salsa with her boyfriend and enjoys going to Tuesday Night in Katalunsky. If you want to find out more about her, she will be more than happy to practise her English with you.