correction: House Swap Letter

Dear Rachel,

Thanks for the email with all the details I need to know about your house. There are just a few more things I need to ask. First of all, you said that your neighbour would hand me out the keys, but since I assume that there are several houses, which one do you mean? The next thing I’m unclear about is your cat. Should I take care of the cat? If so, please give me some information what I should feed it. Everything else is clear to me, so everything should work fine. Now, let me tell you about my apartment and a few important things about Graz.

First, I want to explain to you how to get to the apartment when you arrive at the main station. In front of the station are a number of bus stops. The right bus for you is the one with the number 58 going to “Mariagrün”. Take this bus two stops until you are at Lendplatz. When you got off, you should immediately notice a small Turkish grocery store with the name “Akdac”. On the other side of the street, just opposite this store, is a beige house, my place. Just ring the bell where my name is written. My roommate will be there to welcome you and give you the keys.

In the apartment, you should not have any problems. The electronic devices and all other things are fairly self-explanatory. I just want to mention that the DVD player is not working and the hot water is used up very quickly.

For grocery shopping, you can find quite cheap supermarkets just a few meters from the apartment at Lendplatz, such as Spar and Billa, for example. To get fresh produce, you should definitely visit the Farmer’s market on Lendplatz. If you want to eat out, I can recommend Bierbaron or Posaune near the university. There you can get cheap but gorgeous food.

Last but not least, I would like to give you a few tips on the sights you should see. Since it is not a very big city, there are not many well-known sights to visit. Perhaps you have heard of the Schlossberg, which is well worth a visit. To get up there, I recommend the Schlossbergbahn. You’ll see why. Around the main square there are some very nice old little streets. If the weather is good, it’s definitely nice to go there for a walk and drink a coffee in one of the many cozy coffee places.

I am sure that you want to explore the nightlife of Graz. Kottulinsky, for example, is always crowded and good fun. If you prefer pubs and bars, you will find them close to the main square. A hot tip is also the culture museum, if you are interested in things like that.

 

I think that is everything. If you still have any questions or need anything, please write me.

 

Nina

correction: The most awesome meal ever

The most awesome meal ever

An excellent meal depends not only on the food itself, but also on the external circumstances. The best circumstances under which I ever had a meal, were on a beach in Portugal one sunny day last summer. After wandering around a long time starving, a friend and I luckily found a small pizza place close to the beach. Hungry as we were, we decided to take a pizza and sit down at the sea. The sound of the sea, the sun and our rumbling stomachs, all that made this pizza the most awesome meal I have ever had. Since then I have tried many other pizzas, but none was as good as the one at that beach.

What good bloggers do

What good bloggers do

As my blogging in the first semester was not very successful due to some misunderstanding about what I am expected to do, I have created a plan of what I will do better. The first step will be that I will write complete substantial texts on my own. This will certainly be the most important change in my blog, but to become a really good blogger I need to improve many things more. Logically, a blog only makes sense if it is read by others and to get some followers, the topics have to be interesting and original. This will be no easy matter, since my ideas so far ended in descriptions of Santa Claus. All I can promise is that I will try to take up meaningful topics in the future, which inform the reader about something new what they otherwise might never get to know about. In addition to the content, the importance of the layout is not to be underestimated. The font and font size, the colors and the images, all is crucial for determining whether a blog is enjoyable to read. I'm sure if I manage to implement all this, my blog this year will be much better. However, the things mentioned are only the basic conditions of what good bloggers do. The really successful blogs all have something unique that sets them apart from the others. Whether I'm going to find that certain something is doubtful, but I'll do my best.

Correction: Paragraph PC 1

 

Paragraph PC 1

Studying English and studying Spanish, my second language, are different in a number of significant ways. Not only the languages in general, but also the English and Spanish cultures couldn’t be more different. As different as the cultures, are the English and Spanish classes here at the university. The main difference is that the English classes are always held on the computer, in the Spanish classes, however, we use only books and paper. Another point is the way homework has to be handed in. The English teachers are very strict when it comes to formatting homework, whereas nobody cares about that in the Spanish course as long as you hand in your homework. One reason for the strict homework formatting rules in the English course is the number of English students, and that leads to another significant difference. The Spanish language is not as popular as the English one, consequently there are less students and smaller groups. It is clear to see that Spanish and English courses are very different but both languages are enjoyable in their own way.

Correction: Paragraph about Irish culture

Paragraph about Irish culture

The most fascinating aspect of Irish culture I learned about by watching the Story of Ireland was the Great Famine and its consequences for Ireland. The Great Famine was a period of mass starvation caused by a disease called the potato blight. Since potatoes were the main food for Irish peasants, a million people starved and a million more emigrated. Irish emigration was mainly to the United States, where they were the poorest of the poor. Within a decade that changed. The Irish emigrants managed to become the driving force of New York politics, because they were able to organize themselves politically on their underprivileged social level. An Irish political organization founded in the United States, called “Fenian Brotherhood of America”, wanted revenge for the Great Famine. The Fenians were convinced that the British had not helped the suffering Irish as much as possible. The Irish organization carried out terrorist attacks in Britain and had much influence on social revolution in Ireland. These Irish emigrants were just one of the many consequences of the Great Famine, a terrible time that affected the history of Ireland and America significantly.

American culture

The Amish

Some basic facts ( but there are many more interesting things to know):

• ·        The Amish (pronounced 'Aahmish') are an American Protestant group with around 200,000 members descended from European Anabaptists who came to the USA more than two centuries ago to escape persecution in Europe.

• ·         The Amish believe that it's essential to keep themselves separate from the 'world', so they live in their own small communities and differ from other Americans in their dress, language, work, travel and education.

• ·        Members of the community help each other, and the whole community will work together to help a member in trouble.

• ·        They do not accept state benefits or use insurance, but rely on community support instead. The Amish stress simplicity and humility.

• ·        They avoid anything associated with self-exaltation, pride of position or enjoyment of power. Some modern 'conveniences', such as cars, electricity and telephones are avoided too.  

• ·        Amish use three languages, a German dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch at home, High German for worship and English with outsiders.

• ·        Amish only marry other Amish and don't divorce. They have large families averaging 7-8 children.

Register

Register

The language register is the appropriate level and style of your writing or also the language you use in specific situation depending on the people you are talking with.  It determines the vocabulary  and the structure and grammar of the text or conversation.

The three most common language registers in writing are:

• Formal
• Informal
• Neutral

The formal register is more appropriate for professional writing and letters to a boss or a stranger. 

The informal register (also called casual or intimate) is conversational and appropriate when writing to friends and people you know very well.

The neutral register is non-emotional and sticks to facts. It is most appropriate for technical writings.

To your friends: What's up? It's awesome that you came over!

To the President of the United States: Good morning, Mr. President. We appreciate your visit.