The Welfare System and the NHS

The Welfare System and the NHS

We talked about the NHS - the advantages and the drawbacks of the system. How does this compare with the health system in your country?


The Welfare system isn't only about the NHS, it's about providing for those people who are in need because of unemployment, sickness, homelessness and so on. How does this system work in your country? What are the similarities and differences?

In China, Health System is developing rapidly.  Although it is not better than British, it has made great achievements and provided benefits to many Chinese people. If citizens have a job in a company, the company would ask them to buy medical insurance. The medicine fees will be discounted by the insurance about 20%off. However, Chinese health system also has some drawbacks, Chinese patients do not need to pay consultation fees to doctors so that many doctors prefer to ask patients to pay more fees of the medicine and miscellaneous income,so they may add some inessential prescription to people. Therefore, Chinese people might pay more money if they go to hospital.

There are five main parts of Welfare System in China, including the system of medical insurance, the old-age insurance system, unemployment insurance benefits, compulsory education, special policies for certain people.

old-age insurance system: elder people could get pension when they retired. If an old-age man did not have a job before or dose not have any children, they also could get financial aid from the government.

unemployment insurance :this system will alleviate the economic distress brought about by unemployment and to facilitate employment.


 compulsory education: The vast majority of children don not need to pay any tuition fees in the duration of the 9 years' compulsory education. They just only pay the fees of books.

The UK as a diverse society

 The UK as a diverse society

Choose from the list of *useful websites* to research the history, culture and language of one of the many different ethnic communities in the UK and describe your findings on your blog.

Nowadays, the UK has become a multicultural country in the world, because a considerable number of  people have been coming to Britain from other countries since thousands of years.Althought Some of them only lived here for a short  and went back their hometown,while others decided to settle down here.Due to the fact that they could be suitable British environment and like this county's culture.

There are many various countries' citizens came to UK ,such as Caribbean, Irish, Jewish and South Asian. From the website, i get some knowledge ahout the Jewish people.

Origins---Current

The first documented Jewish people settle down in Britain dates from 1066.

However, most Jewish people now living in Britain are descended from people who came from Russia and Eastern Europe between 1880 and 1914, and they mainly settle in Bristol, Gloucester, Lincoln, London, Norwich, and York .Today, about  267,000 Jewish people in the UK and overwhelmingly they are in London.

 

Culture:For Jewish people, they own a strong belief of religion. The weekly Sabbath rituals, the annual festivals, and the events in the cycle of Jewish life, celebrated in the proper manner, were all vitally important touchstones. There are many kinds of language in this  ethnic,including English, Hebrew, Ladino, Yiddish and Judeo-Arabic.

 

References：
http://www.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/default.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5076900.stm

The London Olympics

Answer all the questions on the handout, using complete sentences. Now put those sentences into one or two paragraphs and post this on your blog along with some interesting images to illustrate your text.

Reference:
http://www.london2012.com/

London 2012 Olympic is coming soon, and the Olympic torch was lit last week in Ancient Olympia. I was very surprised that the torch was lit by the sun, the flame is from the nature. the Olympic Flame will arrive in the UK on 18 May 2012, i think everyone is looking forward to seeing the opening ceremony and the match. I know that the first torch bearer in the UK is Ben Ainslie, who is the most successful Olymic sailor and won gold medals in Sailing at the Beijing 2008. There are 8,000 inspirational people who will carry it on its journey around the UK. In addition, the torch will be taken to reach the Olympics Stadium in 70 days . 

 

The Torch was designed by east Londoners Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, and they said that   8,000 circles Represent the inspirational stories of the 8,000 Torchbearers who carried the Olympic Flame .The torch'shape is triangular,according to London2012(2012)'

· The three Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship;

· The three words that make the Olympic motto – faster, higher, stronger; 

· The fact that the UK has hosted the Olympic Games in 1908, 1948 and will host them for the third time in 2012; and

· The vision for the London 2012 Olympic Games to combine three bodies of work – sport, education and culture.'More interesting, that is its colour is gold which reprensents the brightness and the warmth of the light that it shines.

About the Paralympic ,the London 2012 Paralympic Torch Relay will begin in London ,

Greater Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh. There are two mascots in UK , 

who are called Wenlock and Mandeville.Why are they called these names?

Because in order to memorize the the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock and Mandeville’s name is inspired

by Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire.

The London Olympics

The British Media - TV and Newspapers

The British Media - TV and Newspapers

What are the top 3 news stories on the following news channels today?

• BBC News

1.Bahrain activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja wins retrial

2.London 2012: Five missile sites identified

3.England floods: Driver dies crossing swollen ford

• ITN news

1.Roy Hodgson in talks to become next England manager
2.Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks cut 1,400 UK jobs
3.Flood warnings issued as rain persists

• Channel 4 News

1.Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks axe 1,400 jobs
2.Hodgson in England manager talks
3.1948 Olympics 'no big deal' says veteran

What is the top story in the following newspapers online today?

• The Guardian

David Cameron called to Commons to answer questions over Jeremy Hunt

• The Sun

Wad a garden £1m RBS boss Stephen Hester opens his mansion to the public

• The Daily Mirror

Horror at the hairdressers: Football agent arrested after his estranged wife is stabbed to death at beauty salon

 Choose one story, either from a news channel or a newspaper, make notes and write a short summary on your blog.

 England floods: Driver dies crossing swollen ford
summary:
We know that the weather was terrible during these days in UK. Many areas has suffered from flooding. This news shows that A 52-year-old man who from the Middlesex area  has died beacause of the severe flooding. His car submerged at a ford in Hampshire. He could not be resucitated by Paramedics and he was pronounced dead at the scene.His dog also died in the incident.But luckily, His wife managed to swim free of the car and was taken to hospital and was rescued finally.

 

References:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17891251
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17892419
http://www.itn.co.uk/
http://www.channel4.com/news/
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/

London riots

London riots

Last summer, London had a series of riots on August 6th, 2011, lasting for 4 days. It also influenced other cities, such as  Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. People thought that there were many reasons behind last summer's riots, some people believed the essential reason were spending cuts,which cause poverty-stricken family can not live suitable as other people. Some individuals also thought the major reason is racism, this riot began because a police officer shot and killed a black guy within the black comminity. However, British government claimed this riot was based on youngesters, who lack of morals and education.

Google Maps Charts UK Riot Danger Zons policeman shot and killed a black man which seriously influenced the riots.Most importantly, young people lack of parental control of individuals may well be contributing factor in last summer's riots.Therefore, i think parents should pay more attention to supervise their children.

 

As i know, the majority number of young people joined in London riots. In my opinion, poverty was the main reason why most of them took part in this activity is that the government decreased allowance for poor family and increased tuition fee, which aggravated families' burden. In addition, i think another reason is beacause of racial discrimination, the riots were sparked off by police shooting a mixed-race man.the

We know that some of them who joined in the riots were quite young and others hadn't been in trouble before. But it is exactly destory British environment and reputation all over the world, althought they are young they also should get suitable punishments for the rioters.  I think community service is an useful and suitable way of punishing them. They also can help other people by community service, for example, they can go to the geracomium to help elderly people . They also can acquire more knowleadge and open their mind.Additionally, some of them also need to get a fine beacuase they damage public property and some shops.

 

 

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_England_riots

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/08/london_riots.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/05/anger-police-fuelled-riots-study

about the team work activities

    

the team work activities

Write your comments about the team work activities from last week and this week. What have you learnt and what do you think you have achieved?

From last week to this week, we have already done a variety of team work activities in class. We are interested in these activities. Not only can we study together, but also we can share our ideas each other.

In my opinion, there are a considerable number of advantages of team work activity.During the period of the activity, i found that working together can create better decisions.If you do a task by yourself , you may not finish it as professionally as working with a team.

In addition, i think team working can improve the efficiency of the work. I have not to finish all the task by myself, and we can share ideas each other when we were doing the tasks.

Most importantly, individuals sharing their skills and knowledge to complete mutually beneficial tasks. It is enable to us to improver our English as well. For Chinese students , it is important for us to brush up our English by the team work activities. We have to  communicate with each other and describe something  in English more than before.

                

(funnel)

1.The Senedd, which was opened in 2006.

2.'devolution' is similar to 'transference', give power to the other one.

3.You can see some buildings when i was standing in front of the Senedd ,such as St'David Hotel and pier head and penth.
4.The reception area of the Senedd is situated on the first floor.

5.The funnel in the Oriel which is use for reflecting natural light downwards into the Siambr. what is more, the funnel is similar to a tree, visitors can share their ideas under this big tree.

6.There are many headphones in public gallery,  which be use for people who do not understand the language.Visitors could have it translated through their headphones.

7.Plenary meetings takes place in the Siambr on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

8.Firstly,the glass walls is convenient for visitors so that they can view plenary the meeting inside.In additon,Welsh people can come and listen to their representatives make decisions on policies.

9.You can buy many different kinds of  souvenirs in the Assembly Shop, such as Clogau gold, Melin Tregwynt, Penderyn and books .

I was very interested in visiting the Senedd on Wednesday.Beacuse it was the first time that i had seen the government orgnazing the meeting closely. That was amazing! In China , citizens have less opportunities to see the government's meeting like this tour.

Reference
http://www.assemblywales.org/.

Parliament and Government

Parliament and Government

Parliament is the toppest legislature in Britain . Members of Parliament(MP) usually hold a meeting at Palace of Westminister , which is a ancient building in London. In addition , Big Ben is also associated with this building. The British government comes from the Parliament and is responsible for it. Parliament consists of two Houses, House of Commons and House of Lords , and they play an essential role in Parliament. The meeting is hold twice a year, the first session is from the end of March to the end of August, the second session is from the end of October to Christmas Day.



The parliament plays an important role in the UK. In the field of scrutiny and legislation.The most essential role of the parliament is examining and challenging the work of the government . The second one is debating and passing all laws.Additonally , parliament also enable the government to raise the taxes.


What is an MP 
A Member of Parliament is called by MP in UK. British citizens who want to be a MP, they should be over 18 years old and never did some illegal affair before. Meanwhile, they also are selected by native citizens. Each constituency chooses an MP to represent them. The MPs have to talk about the views of each area citizens in parliament.

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Currently, the Prime Minister of UK is Dacid Cameron, who is the leader of the House of Commons.

 The current Deputy Prime Minister is Nick Clegg, who is responsible for constitutional and political reform. He is a leader of the Liberal Democrats.

Reference

http://www.wisegeek.com/in-britain-what-is-an-mp.htm

http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/role/
http://www.channels.com/episodes/show/4362981/UKYP-at-the-House-of-Lords-introduction-#/episodes/show/4362981/UKYP-at-the-House-of-Lords-introduction-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom
http://www.parliament.uk/lords

European Union

 

   

 The European Union is an economic and political confederation of 27 member states which have headquarters in the capital of Belgium,Brussels. It is a significant trading power in the world.The European Union 's development is closely related to European Community, developing through three main stages: Belgium,Luxembourg and the Netherlands these three economic Union, the Community and the European Union(1993).

   

                                                            The reason why the idea of a United Europe come about is that many countries were eager to creat a peaceful and prosperous Europe. In addition , they want to develop their economic stronger and create a single market with freedom of movement. Nowadays, it is the fact that European Union does stand for something important on the world stage.

     It was shown by the picture, we can find that the Structure of the EU.European Council as a central decision-making body of the EU.Council of Ministers can make a decision though the law.European Commission is a central administrative office . European Parliament directly elected for by member countries population on 5-year term.European Court of Justice ensures European laws are upheld. Judges appointed from each member state.

    The European Union is finally composed of 27 sovereign Member States in 2009: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Ppland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. 

There are 27 countries in the European Union, however, the major languages are English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. They can communicate with each other easily in common language. They also use the same currency in some countries, which is Euro. In the end of the 2011, there are 17 member states have used the Euro.

     Britain plays an important role in EU, which influced a siginificant development of the EU. Britain joined in 1973, it did not like other countries succeed in joining in EU at the beginning because many countries diagreed.Today, UK also benefits EU development because of the  economic and  history of the Britain.

 Reference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO75ZsvMkc8

http://www.euromove.org.uk/index.php?id=6509

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

 http://www.dadalos-europe.org/int/grundkurs4/eu-struktur_1.htm

The differences between your country and UK system

 When it comes to the Education system , it is quite different from UK and China!  In respect to education UK is quite different from China. Not only the educational system, but also the teaching  methods .  In UK, there are some different education systems in England, Scotland , 

Wales and Northern Island.

 http://www.britishcouncil.org/usa-education-uk-system-k-12-education.htm

In England, full-time education is compulsory for all children aged from 5 to 16.The education system is mainly divided into 7 aspects,such as Nursery, Primary education,Secondary education,Tertiary education or A-level and so on.

http://uk.internationalstudent.com/study_uk/education_system/

Eduaction in Northern Island,  it is more similar to England, but  Northern Ireland's results at GCSE and A-Level are consistently top in the UK. Northern Ireland's school holidays are considerably different from other nation's. Northern Irish schools often do not take a full week for half-term holidays, and the summer term does not usually have a half-term holiday at all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_holiday#United_Kingdom


Pupils remain at primary school for seven years. Then aged eleven or twelve, they start secondary school for a compulsory four years with the following two years being optional. In Scotland, pupils sit Standard Grade or Intermediate exams at the age of fifteen/sixteen, for normally eight subjects including compulsory exams in English, Mathematics, a Science subject (Physics, Biology or Chemistry) and a Social Subject (Geography, History or Modern Studies).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Scotland

In Wales,  i found that students have to study Welsh during their school life, which is special. But the educaiton system is similar to  England's.

In China ,  education is one of the most important parts for the government. Consequently, the government pay more attention to the education system. It is not the same as the UK education system , which have different education systems in different areas. There is only one education system in China . All citizens must attend school for at least nine years. The government provides primary education  for six years, starting at age six or seven, followed by six years of secondary education  for ages 12 to 18. Students have to finish primary and junior middle school education and then they must pass the entrance examinations for their higher education . If they cannot pass the exam, they do not have an opportunity to go to the university. Consequently,  Chinese students have to study hard and try their best to pass the entrance  examinations .

British focus on teaching students' practical skolls, therefore, teacher often organize different kinds of activities to improve students' creativity and practical skills. In addtion, there are a few students in one class, teachers can pay more attention to every student easily.


Chinese teaching methods are examination- oriented. Teachers teach student how to pass the exam instead of teaching some useful skills. However, many schools are developing teaching methods today, they are studying many other efficient teaching methods from other countries. Some school also organize some tranditional activities for the students and enrich their school life.

The Four Nations In UK

    I have acquired more knowledge from UK since i studied in Glamorgan. As we know , the United Kingdon 's full name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The name is too long ,beacuse the United King consists of  four nations, such as Englad, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.There are many differences from these nations,not only they have their own flags,but also their language and custom. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1038758.stm
  
    The main area is England . The capital of UK is London, which belongs to England. London is a big city and a shopping paradise , and you can find that there are many different kinds of brand shops and chain stores .In addtion , you also can meet different people from all over the world, such as Chinese,Americans, Japanese and so on . It is a multicultural society . I have visited some famous tourist attractions in London, which were quite interesting. I think the local people are very nice and tolerant.

Scotland is in north of Britain. Edinburgh is Scotland's capital,which is the most popular tourist city. It is famous for Edinburgh castle, the cathedral, excellent whisky.I am interested in the kilt, which is a very well-known symbol of Socttishshness. I hope i will visit there in next holiday.

"Cardiff is a city proud of its culture, history and language which has undergone a fascinating journey over the last 2000 years." It has it own language and a special flag. Before Jeanette told to us , I did not find it British Flag do not include Welsh Flag . Maybe it is because Wales is special. In spite the fact that there are not many skyscrapers in this city , there are an amount of beautiful natural landscape here. I love this country beacuse people are very friendly and gentle.They are willing to help you when you meet some difficulties.

http://www.visitcardiff.com/

There is no doubt that The Northern Ireland economy is the smallest of the four economies in British . But recently year , a growing number of tourists like to visit The Northern Ireland and improve their economy.Beacuse of the cultural festivals, musical and artistic traditions, countryside attract people to come to this country. Although i do not learn more knowledge about The Northern Ireland on the website, i know many complicated policy problems were happened in this country. However, the scenery still keep its beauty in this nation.

In conclusion, The UK is a colourful country. Every nation has its unique feature . I am pleased to come to the UK to finish my study.

15th Jan.

Today i went to my friend's home to do some cooking . I was very happy beacuse it was the first time that i had made dumplings by myself.And we have cooked many different kinds of food which from our hometown. I think it was so interesting ! After dinner, we talked many topic from our life . it was funny! we enjoyed ourselves in all the afternoon.

14th Jan. Saturday

Today , i stayed at home all day ! i felt very bored . Because we have many homework to do on this weekend , i decided to finish them today. But i found it was difficult for me to write a short paragraph . i cannot describe something clearly that i want to talk about. i am very worried about my English language ability  .

Hi everybody

my name is Karen, i am from China. I have studied here since 3 months ago.  I really enjoy studying here , in addition , i made many new friends . I think i will have a good time during the school life