Ne paruski?

Yesterday, I read an interesting article in the Kleine Zeitung, written by Alexander Widner for his column "Letters from New York". In the article, he talks about his experiences with American Russians.

First of all, Widner describes the residential neighbourhood Sheepshead Bay in southern Brooklyn where the common language is Russian instead of English and the cyrillic alphabet is as common as the latin one. If somebody asks you a question in Russian and you don't understand it people will be astonished. Ne paruski? That's what you're asked if you don't know Russian there.

Sheepshead Bay is a Russian settlement area. The last spate of immigrants arrived in the 90's, predominantly Russian Jews and many many old people. They are no longer dreaming of starting a new life, they don't think about the American Dream. Welfare check, free housing, food from the Kosher Food Network of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. No life in luxury but still they emmigrated? Why?

"It's no life in affluence but it's secure. And it hasn't always been. I wanted, at least once in my life, live unmolested, without all this anti-Semitic crap that is still alive in Russia."

That's what a 70 year old woman said, in very broken English. She lives in the ghetto and can't leave it. Not because she's forced to stay but because she couldn't communicate and cope with the life outside Little Odessa.

A young man joins the conversation of Alexander Widner and the old lady. He says that he had actually planned to stay in Vienna but got abused because of his skullcap after three days. That's when he realised that he had to continue his journey. He says that there's no big distance between being abused and being beaten up and so he went to the USA. His family stayed in Vienna. They now have a big house, a lot of money and an enterprise that works out really well. But that's not what he wanted. He only wanted to live as a Jew, in peace.
He now can live his life in peace with a wife, two children and a job. It is very important to him that English is the first language for his children and Russian only the second one because he wants to make a life outside Little Odessa possible for them.

By the way: Just arround the corner there are two adjacent buildings: A mosque and a Jewish school. "No, there have never been incidents due to the coexistence. Why should there be?" says Esther, a teacher at the Jewish school.

Yes... Why should there be?

High School at Home - A different path

Today, I read an interesting Newsweek article that I will briefly summarize. After that, I will write what I think about homeschooling.

In the United States, more and more parents prefer to educate their teenagers at home. In 2001, more than a million students in the USA were being home schooled, which means that there has been an increase of 29% in two years. But it is not only the parents who are increasingly attracted by it, there are also many teenagers who don’t like going to school but don’t want to drop out either and who therefore suggest home schooling to their parents.

Opinions on the topic vary since just like with everything there are advantages and disadvantages.

Critics argue that an important part of teenager’s social life takes place in the school they attend and that they learn for life there. In school, they have to learn how to cope with many different people and they learn a lot concerning social interaction. In their opinion, homeschooled children can easily bet isolated and have a hard time making friends.
Another point of critique for opponents is that teenagers, when being homeschooled, miss out on formative events like the prom or graduation.

Supporters argue that being homeschooled makes the life of teenagers a lot easier. At home, they are save from the violence in schools that is constantly increasing, and peer pressure can be avoided more easily as well. They also have a clear refutation to the isolation argument: Isolation is not a question of homeschooling but a question of parenting. Advocates argue that the majority of parents do get out with their kids and do a lot with them.
Prom and graduation is also no valuable argument in their eyes. They don’t miss out on that because homeschooling groups organise such events as well by inviting the whole community, awarding diplomas and holding speeches.

In my opinion, homeschooling really is not a good thing to do. I strongly think that the teenagers miss out on a lot of experiences that they would have if they were in a normal high school. Of course, school is annoying for every student, but the social component definitely has to be considered. In high school, I met many of my present-day best friends and I often think back to the time there. All those school trips are really something I wouldn’t like to miss, and although I complained a lot about school, I loved going there. On graduation day, I was really sad that school was over!
Another point I am a bit worried about is the standard of education. Of course, the different states have regulations concerning homeschooling, but who is able to control what the children are actually being taught? Evolutionist parents will never tell their children about Darwin, and so the children won’t have the chance to make their own opinion on the topic. And that’s what I consider very problematic. Parents only teach what they want their children to know, and thereby they could be deprived of a lot of knowledge.

On the other hand, I think that homeschooling is a good opportunity for children or teenagers that are bullied in school and just can’t stand that any longer.

Still I think that homeschooling shouldn’t be chosen as an easy way out because homeschooled children will lack a lot of experience and beautiful memories later on.

My poor brain...

I just realized that my poor brain has to be overwrought (good joke, isn't it) or something like that...
I finished reading Under the Tuscan Sun two or three weeks ago (I can't even remember when, aaaaaaaaaaaaah) and was sure that I wrote an entry about it... But I didn't! Hallucinations? Probably...

Well, my short conclusion is: I liked the book. I mean after reading JWI, I guess I would have loved ANY book, but I think I would have liked it even if I hadn't had such a traumatic book experience before...
I've never been a person dreaming of leaving her homecountry and moving to a new place and more or less building up a new existence. But the book made me dream of that...
In my eyes, what makes a book a goog book is that it makes you feel as if you were there. And this really was the case. When Frances Mayes described how she walked through the house and loved every room and just enjoyed it I could imagine what this must be like. And when she wrote about Italian piazzas and restaurants, I felt the strong desire to have a coffee and to eat something (very very bad, maybe I should blame Francis Mayles for what the mean little boy did to me).

On the other hand, I have to admit that sometimes she exaggerated her descpritions. The way she describes Italian life and Italian mentality is great, but there are so many descriptions of ways she likes to walk along with exact details about the churches and trees and stones and dust particles are too much... Or at least, that's too much for ME.

And if I liked cooking I would also try some of her receipes... But I'll try to find someone to cook for me since all that really sounded like I HAVE to eat it.

Well, that's it I guess... My brain needs some rest, who knows what will happen next if it doesn't get the ease it needs?

The Globalization of English

On the weekend, I read a long but interesting article about the adavance of English and the effects it has on the language itself. I summed it up to hand it in, and I thought to myself: Why not put it in the blog? Why do the work twice? ;)
So here you are :)

At the moment, a global revolution is taking place in which more people than ever are learning English. This is because it has become the planet’s language for commerce, technology and also empowerment.

According to a recent report from the British Council, two billion people will be studying English and three billion people will speak it in ten years. Linguistically speaking, it is a totally new world. At the moment, there are more non-native speakers of English than there are native speakers; the ratio is 3:1. For the first time, there is a language that is being spoken by more people as a second language than as a first. In Asia, there are 350 million English-users, and this number equals the added-up populations of the USA, Great Britain and Canada. There are more Chinese children studying English than there are Britons. All these new English-speakers are not only using the language, they are also shaping it. The terms Japlish (mixture of Japanese and English) and Hinglish (mixture of Hindi and English) refer to new varieties of English that came into being all over the world. In South-Africa, many blacks have adopted their own version of English including many indigenous words.
Of course, all languages are work in progress but the globalization of English is a process the world has never seen before, a change whose effects we can only imagine. Experts talk about a future tri-English world in which speakers of English will speak a local dialect at home, a national variety at work, school or university and some kind of international Standard English to talk to foreigners. Since among the millions of English-speakers around the world there are relatively few native speakers, it is likely that students won’t learn Standard English but will be encouraged to embrace their own local versions. This can already be seen now: International pilots pronounce the number three as tree in radio dispatches, since tree is more widely comprehensible. It is very likely that in future, teachers will not only not correct pronunciation mistakes, but also mistakes like she look and a book who.

As a consequence of English’s advance, governments all over the world are pushing the language. Although many countries are not very fond of the it (i.e. France), they have realised that English, along with computers and mass migration, is the turbine engine of globalization. It is the language of business. If you want to have a good, well-paid job, you have to have a good command of the English language. That’s why English language schools are packed with men and women in their mid-twenties eager to learn English. Additionally, learners of English are getting younger and younger. Last year, schools in big Chinese cities began offering English in the third grade rather than middle school, and many parents send their preschoolers to English courses. Because of the English boom, schools are becoming more and more creative. Last year, South Korea built an English village on a small island with a fake bank and airport. There, students must conduct all transactions in English. The aim of this camp is to train capable global citizens who can promote South Korea all over the world.

Since English has become so important, it is no longer only a language. English is a business, and the traditional custodians earn a lot of money with “their” language. There is an amazing demand for English native speakers, and because demand exceeds offer, China and the Middle East turn to India for English teachers. English is being advertised like a product. Just like with every other product, there are more and less serious suppliers, and price and quality can vary.

But no matter where you learn it, and how much you pay for it: You have to learn it if you want to keep up.

And we do, since we knew all that before ;)

Two approaches to illegal immigration

Saturday, rain, nothing on the TV, so why not use the time and do some reading? I started with Under the Tuscan Sun, and I like it better with every page. What I like most is the fact that I don't have to have a dictionary next to me all the time, which happened to be the case when reading JWI. BUT: I fell asleep... Frances Mayes' talking about the Italian siesta led to my personal siesta...

So when I woke up, face on the book, book and face crinkled, I decided to try something else. Next stop: Here on Earth. I listened to a radio show about language and class which was really interesting, and at first, I wanted to write about it in my blog. But since there are a lot of dialects to listen to, it wouldn't have made sense, so just listen to it yourself. But I have to warn you, you might get jealous. One of Jean Feraca's guest is able to speak 26 ( in words: twenty-six) languages fluently!!!!!!

The second program I listened to was called "Why the world loves soccer and we don't". But to my disappointment, Jean Feraca wasn't able to solve this mistery...

So I decided to turn to reading again, I read a few articles, and I want to tell you about one I found quite interesting. A Newsweek article titled

Two approaches to illegal immigration

In the article, 2 communties and two ways of facing the influx of illegal immigrants.

In suburban New York, everything is done to get rid of them. Suffolk County Police have orders to bear down on illegal workers by targeting their employers with traffic fines (no, this is NOT a joke). A Suffolk County Executive is of the opinion that all labor laws have to be enforced, but since this is not enough (in his eyes), new laws will be introduced as well. One of these new laws will require employers with county business to prove all workers are legal. Workers who are there illegaly will be arrested immediately, and federal officers will be stationed there to deport arrested illegal aliens.

New Haven, Connecticut, does just the opposite. The City Hall sponsors tax filing centers where no questions are asked concerning who is there legally. Many say that New Haven is becoming a so called sanctuary city because it wants to help undocumented residents get city services or bank accounts by introducing a municipal ID card. The mayor of the city says that it is important to engage everyone who lives in the community positively, that "New Haven's goal is to be a safe, civil place where people are able to fulfill their ambitions".

I don't want to comment on this since this is a very diverse topic and this issue is definitely a hard one for politics all over the world.

Should schools conduct random drug tests?

Last week the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy announced that it will be holding four meetings to decide whether there will be random student drug testing in public middle and high-schools. This program has already been introduced in nearly 1000 schools and requires students to do a drug-test if they wish to participate in competitive extracurricular activities like athletics.
Schools have been doing it voluntarily since the 1990’s, but when the Supreme Court stepped in it became more formalized. Once grants from the Department of Education were available, guidelines were developed.

How then does the whole procedure work?
First, a child is chosen at random and asked to go to the nurse’s office where it has to deposit a urine sample. This sample is then tested for cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and steroids. If students test positive, the school will remove them from their extracurricular activities for the rest of the year, and sometimes even for the rest of their school career. Some schools provide counselling, but this always depends on the school’s financial situation.

Of course, opinions on this topic differ.
Proponents like to talk about one statistic in particular. The U.S. military has been doing such tests for 20 years, and the results are phenomenal. In the beginning, 27% of the tested were positive, and in the course of less than a decade there has been a steep decline. Now, only 1.5 % of the tested are positive, and this number has been steady for years.
Opponents are not sure about the moral correctness of applying a military program to school children. Soldiers are very different from high-school students and therefore should also be treated differently. Critics back up their argument with a statistic as well. Researchers compared 94 000 students in 900 schools with and without drug-testing programs. The result? There was no difference in drug-abuse among students from the two sets of schools.
Another argument against such programs is the message that is being delivered to the young people. Shouldn’t we believe them when they tell us that they don’t do drugs rather than test them? Many have concerns that testing can weaken the relationships, widen the generation-gap, hinder open communication and stop students from participating in extracurricular activities. This last point is especially problematic, since these activities help students to feel integrated and connected.
Finally, there is the question of privacy. Does random drug-testing violate the student’s rights to privacy? In this case, the proponents are the ones with the stronger argument. Of course, privacy is very important for adolescents. But if children are doing something illegal that can harm them, the more important value has be to protect them.
And that’s what opponents and proponents agree on.

Creationism: A Museum for Middle America

Believe it or not, but in late May, a Creation Museum will open its gates in Petersburg, Kentucky. The project was brought into being by Ken Ham, a former high-school biology and zoology teacher who felt he wouldn't be consistent if he taught evolution while believing in the literal truth of the Bible. So one he and his students visited a natural-history museum in which evolution was presented as a fact, he came up with the plan of opening a Creation Museum.

Creationists believe in the Garden of Eden, they think that the world is 6000 years old, that God created man and animals simultaneously and that the flood wiped out every living creature that wasn't inside Noah's ark.
The museum focuses on Genesis, the first book of the Bible and actually offers a lot to see. There is a special effects theater ( when the flood comes, seats start to shake and water squirts around), the story of the Bible is told through videos, voice-overs, models and mural paintings, there is a gargantuan replica of Noah's Ark and even a planetarium. The costs? $26 million...

Jason Lisle, who is in charge of the planetarium, has a very interesting point of view: "Science comes out of a Biblical worldview. We don't try to prove the Bible from outside evidence. We accept the Bible as presupposition."

Ham often asks evolutionists how they can gain knowledge from the past if they hadn't been there, and if people ask him the same question, he answers: "Man by himself couldn't have written such a consistent, non-contradictory book."

The museum expects 250 000 visitors in the first year, and if we consider that last year a poll found out that 58% of the interviewed support the idea of teaching creationism along with evolution in schools, this is likely to happen.

Interracial Marriage in the USA

Today, I read a quite interesting Newsweek article about interracial marriages in the USA.

June 12th: Loving vs. Virginia. Richard Loving, a white man, and Mildred, his black wife, got married in 1958, in Washington D.C. BUT: In Virginia there was a statute barring whites from marrying non-whites ( maybe this finally is a politically correct word ;)). So on June 12th, the Supreme Court ruled that Virginia couldn't criminalize this marriage, the statute was knocked down, and with it many similar statutes in other US States.

And what once seemed so radical is commonplace now. Nice to hear, isn't it?

According to the census bureau, there were 65 000 interracial marriages in 1970, and the number amounted to 422 000 in 2005. In 2005 there were 59 million married couples, 7% of them interracial.

The result of this tendency, and the fact that immigrants from all over the world are coming to America, is a 21st century America that is more diverse than ever.

“The racial divide in the U.S. is a fundamental divide. ... but when you have the ’other’ in your own family, it’s hard to think of them as ’other’ anymore. We see a blurring of the old lines, and that has to be a good thing, because the lines were artificial in the first place.”

Sounds great, doesn't it? But of course, there will always be people who are against such relationships...

What I considered rather shocking was the fact that a university in South Carolina didn't drop it's ban on interracial dating until the year 2000. Can you imagine that? How can anybody expect today's young people to be open-minded and tolerant if things like that happen in universities???

Not shocked enough? Well, I've got something else for you! When Alabama wanted to remove it's ban on interracial marriage in 2001, 40% of the people were against it.

Considering all this, it's no wonder that multiracial families are often confronted with problems, if not to say hate. Taunts, crossburnings and threats happen from time to time, not too often. The problems biracial families are having are more nuanced. Kids that are being asked what they are doing here, black adults that can hardly find any white friends. And sadly enough, not even the families accept the decision of their, lets say kids, to marry somebody from another race. And it's not only the whites that don't accept a black person in their families, it also happend vice versa.

Lets face the facts: Racism is, and always will be, a big issue in a meltingpot like the USA, and also everywhere else.

But it's good to know that there are people who face the challenge and just do what their hearts tell them :)

Oh I'm such a romantic soul... :)

I know why the caged bird sings

As I already mentioned, I started reading the book "I know why the caged bird sings" about two weeks ago. Well, I finished it yesterday and I have to tell you that this book is really amazing.

I know, I wrote about it already, but I'll have to repeat some things now ;)
The book is about a small black girl called Marguerite, or Maya, who lives with her brother Bailey and her grandmother whom they call Momma because their parents sent them away at the age of 3(Maya) and 4(Bailey). The children like living with Momma, a very religious old lady owning a store, which allows them to live a better life. One day, Mayas father turns up unexpectedly and takes her and Bailey to St. Louis where they live with their mother and her new boyfriend. He rapes Maya, and this "event" is just one of many who turns the young girl into a totally different person. Maya, who used to be a talkative, inquiring girl starts to withdraw from other people, even from Bailey who seems to be her only friend. She doesn't dare talk about what happened, but her mother still finds out, and shortly after that, her rapist is murdered, probably by her mothers familiy.
After that coincidence, Maya and Bailey return to live with Momma again. Back in Stamps, Maya is no longer the young, innocent girl she used to be. She doesn't take things for granted anylonger, she starts to srutinize, and what she realises is that racism is and always will be part of her life. On graduation day, a white speaker who says that black people can be good at sports, but not at academics takes Mayas pride. A dentist for white people refuses to treat her, says that he would rather look into a dogs mouth than into hers.
After a while, Momma sends them away again, to live with their mother once more. For some time, things are pretty great, Maya does well at school, meets a lot of interesting people, and decides to spend the summer with her father. BUt she doesn't get along with his girlfriend, and after a terrible quarrel ending up in a fight, Maya decides to leave and lives in a junkyard for a month, but decides to return home. But problems are waiting there as well. Bailey and her mother don't get along, and he decides to leave home.
Maya tries to find a job, wants to be a streetcar conductor, but black people don't get these kinds of jobs. But Maya keeps trying and finally is hired, decides to return to school after a while.
Wordloving Maya reads some lesbian literature and starts to wonder whether she is lesbian herself. That's why she decides to find a boyfriend, and what she does is walk up to a boy, ask him to have sex with her and, of course, he agrees.
Maya is pregnant, and very afraid. She's afraid of hurting her baby, afraid of not being able to look after it.
But she succeeds:
"Mother whispered: See, you dont have to think about doing the right thing. If you're for the right thing, then you do it without thinking."

The story would be shocking enough in itself, BUT: It's Maya Angelous true story, that's what her childhood was like.

A long way down

Today, I want to tell you about another great book I read three months ago: A long way down by Nick Hornby.

The book tells the story of four different persons that have got nothing in common but the wish to put their lifes to an end. They meet incidentally on New Year's Eve on the top of a builing they all wanted to jump down. The four individuals start talking to each other, mainly because none of them is willing to jump in front of three strangers, make a pact not to commit suicide and meet again on Valentines Day.
So they leave the roof, want to solve the smallest problem, and from there on, you get to know the four characters.
Martin, a talkshow master, is a man whose life has been pretty perfect until he slept with a 15-year old which didn't do his career and his private life any good.
Maureen is a catholic woman in her fourtees who dedicated her entire life to her son who has a severe mental handicap and doesn't notice anything that happens around him and can't respond to anything.
Then there's Jess, a young girl who just thinks that commiting suicide would be quite a rebellion, especially commiting suicide because of a guy when you're a politicians daughter.
And finally there's JJ whose band broke up and who feels that his life has no sense any longer.

So you can see, people couldn't be more different. Still they spend a lot of time together, go on a holiday, try to solve each others problems.

What I really liked about the book is that the story is always told from another perspective. Every situation is described in four different points of view, which makes the book great to read. It's quite confusing in the beginning, but you get used to it.

I really want to recommend this book although there's been a lot of critique. Many people feel that Hornby is playing down the topic of suicide and that he is making fun of people's problems, but form your own opinion :)

One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

This quote summarises everything I read in a shocking Newsweek-article today.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17773294/site/newsweek/

The article is called "The war in the words of the dead" and is part of a series called "Voices of the Fallen" published by Newsweek.
The shocking thing about this article is that it's not about the Iraq-war in general, but about individuals.
The families of those who died in the war work together with Newsweek, allow them to publish letters, e-mails etc.
I only started reading the whole thing, I've only read the introduction, but I found it very touching and moving.
This sad topic also has a language-learning side: Newsweek offers recordings one can listen to and videos one can watch, soldiers talking about life in Iraq.
The series isn't yet finished, more letters and videos will be added, and I think it's really worth a look because it just makes you think. We all have a image in our head, we all think we know what war is like, but the truth is: We don't even have an idea of what it's like, and we really should be glad about that.

I would like to finish with what a soldier said:

"It's a fight of 10 man squads in the dark, of ambushes and snipers and IEDs. When I go out to fight, it's usually with less than 20 men ... And I go out to fight almost every day."

Any books to recommend?

Talking about books, I want to ask you something...

If you have any books you can recommend, just leave a comment... There are so many books I want to read and so little time ;) So please, help me make a decision :)

My favourite book

Today I would like to tell you about my favourite book. I don't know the English title and couldn't find it anywhere on the internet, but it's called " Hector et les secrets de l'amour" in French and "Hector und das Geheimnis der Liebe" in German. The author of the book is Francois Lelord, and he wrote many other amazing books as well, i.e. "Hectors Reise oder die Suche nach dem Glück" or "Hector und die Entdeckung der Zeit", but I loved the one about love most (typical for a girl, isn't it ;)).



It's about a psychiatrist whose patients are, in most cases, unhappy because of love. To little love, unrequited love etc. That's why Hector starts to believe that there are no happy relationships, he wonders why we love who we love, and why love leaves after a while.

One day, a big concern asks Hector to produce a medication that heals people from the sickness of being in love with the help of a professor. But this professor, who already managed to produce such a medication fled because he didn't want anybody to make use of it.



What follows is a long, long journey on which Hector tries to find the professor and realises numerous things. Although the medication could make many people happy, it would also cause a lot of harm. Love would lose it's appeal, it would be totally calculabe, would lose it's fascination.



I don't want to tell you the end, maybe one of you will now want to read the book as well- i can only recommend it. It's such a touching, moving and at the same time real story and conquered my heart in a matter of seconds...

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
Eleanor Roosevelt

I came across this quote today and didn't want to deprive it of you :)

Furthermore, I started reading a book today. It's called "I know why the caged bird sings" and is written by Maya Angelou. I've only read twenty pages so far, but I quite like her writing style. The book is an autobiographical novel telling the story of a small black girl living in the racist south. Maya and her brother live with their grandmother "Momma" and are often faced with prejudices.






The title of the book derives from a beautiful poem:

"I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It is not a carol of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,
But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings -
I know why the caged bird sings.