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