Hello everyone all around the world,
This Summer course enhanced my American English vocabulary. Before I came here, I mostly knew British English, because it is taught at German schools. Now I came more aware of the differences in these types of English. In contrast to English classes, I learned a lot of slang by our care taking Tutors.
Some friends of mine have already been in the US. From them I heard a lot of stories and they created stereotypes in me. The majority of those stereotype have changed positively and some are still current. Biases are crucial for every country, although they are sometimes negative, you are able to explain them to people, who weren't in these countries.
Regarding culture, I have more learned than in any other trips. I think I will benefit in later business contacts with Americans. In addition I have found out that I don't have any problems in native English speaking countries. Inside there has created a feeling to come back and stay for longer in the US.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Our Language Course in detail
Hello everyone all around the world,
During my classes here, i got to know a complete new way of being taught. We hadn't have regular classes with four hours per day. Each day we experienced a new part of American culture, e. g., literature, religion and so on.
If you were not in a country, it will be very hard to understand how those locals think and feel. Vocabulary and grammar can be learned without being in the foreign country. In Germany a teacher stands in front of the classes and conducts his learning units. I didn't feel any teaching, it had be done really unconscious for me.
We also had "normal" classes, but they were more held like discussion. Everybody was free to say something and was often addressed directly. Our teachers helped us to overcome grammatical lacks, which they identified in our blogs. We learned out of this blogs and could keep in touch with friends all around the world. For me blogs are a new progressive way of improving writing.
I am getting more open-minded to the other culture. Later in the future, i will come aware of things I have learned here. In detail I have acquired a lot from the American history and life style.
During my classes here, i got to know a complete new way of being taught. We hadn't have regular classes with four hours per day. Each day we experienced a new part of American culture, e. g., literature, religion and so on.
If you were not in a country, it will be very hard to understand how those locals think and feel. Vocabulary and grammar can be learned without being in the foreign country. In Germany a teacher stands in front of the classes and conducts his learning units. I didn't feel any teaching, it had be done really unconscious for me.
We also had "normal" classes, but they were more held like discussion. Everybody was free to say something and was often addressed directly. Our teachers helped us to overcome grammatical lacks, which they identified in our blogs. We learned out of this blogs and could keep in touch with friends all around the world. For me blogs are a new progressive way of improving writing.
I am getting more open-minded to the other culture. Later in the future, i will come aware of things I have learned here. In detail I have acquired a lot from the American history and life style.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The culture of music in America
Dear readers all around the world,
Our last days in Cincinnati have started and we are already preparing for our last destination in the US: New York.
Yesterday we spent the whole day travelling to Cleveland, visiting a museum and going back to Cincinnati. There, in Cleveland, we visited the Rock 'n Roll Hall of fame, which is really closely located to the Great Lake Erie.
The museum didn't meet my expectations, because I hoped to get more information about the life and motivations of all this music stars. During our walk through the exhibition, we could just view clothes of the musicians, their instruments, notes and some other things. For deeper research, there were possibilities to watch movies, for example, about the Woodstock festival, and to listen to music on music stations with touchscreen. In contrast to the Freedom Center, this exhibition didn't go under my skin. The atmosphere, shown there, is similar to normal museums.
It is a pity, that all music styles were mixed up and so you were confused by lots of stimuli. At the beginning of the exhibition, the visitor saw key periods of music history and the local center of it in the vitrine.
Music takes a high position in America. If we take a look to German, almost every announced music comes from North America. All past decades brought out new stars, who were the starters of something completely new. Furthermore, music can be seen as something holy. This is the reason, why musicians are ranked to get a place in this museum. Not understandable is the late admission of Metallica in the year 2009. Due to high occurence of Rock n' Roll stars, the Hall of Fame wants to give an overview of all artists. This means that a normal visitor won't find so much information about his favorite bands.
Rock n' Roll stars keep still famous despite their sometimes negative behaviors, because they have changed the music in it's core and they are often loved by girls. They stand under high pressure by record companies and work physically hard. Before these celebreties got popular, they were often outsiders or had a bad childhood, for instance Michael Jackson. This caused psychological problems for them. With being in the spotlight of the media, they didn't come along.
Our trip reminded me of listening to in the meantime forgotten bands like Queen, Doors and many more.
Our last days in Cincinnati have started and we are already preparing for our last destination in the US: New York.
Yesterday we spent the whole day travelling to Cleveland, visiting a museum and going back to Cincinnati. There, in Cleveland, we visited the Rock 'n Roll Hall of fame, which is really closely located to the Great Lake Erie.
The museum didn't meet my expectations, because I hoped to get more information about the life and motivations of all this music stars. During our walk through the exhibition, we could just view clothes of the musicians, their instruments, notes and some other things. For deeper research, there were possibilities to watch movies, for example, about the Woodstock festival, and to listen to music on music stations with touchscreen. In contrast to the Freedom Center, this exhibition didn't go under my skin. The atmosphere, shown there, is similar to normal museums.
It is a pity, that all music styles were mixed up and so you were confused by lots of stimuli. At the beginning of the exhibition, the visitor saw key periods of music history and the local center of it in the vitrine.
Music takes a high position in America. If we take a look to German, almost every announced music comes from North America. All past decades brought out new stars, who were the starters of something completely new. Furthermore, music can be seen as something holy. This is the reason, why musicians are ranked to get a place in this museum. Not understandable is the late admission of Metallica in the year 2009. Due to high occurence of Rock n' Roll stars, the Hall of Fame wants to give an overview of all artists. This means that a normal visitor won't find so much information about his favorite bands.
Rock n' Roll stars keep still famous despite their sometimes negative behaviors, because they have changed the music in it's core and they are often loved by girls. They stand under high pressure by record companies and work physically hard. Before these celebreties got popular, they were often outsiders or had a bad childhood, for instance Michael Jackson. This caused psychological problems for them. With being in the spotlight of the media, they didn't come along.
Our trip reminded me of listening to in the meantime forgotten bands like Queen, Doors and many more.
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