venerdì 30 settembre 2016
giovedì 29 settembre 2016
Timelines for the Middle East
Syria profile – timeline
Iraq profile – timeline
Israel profile – timeline
Middle East – timeline
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Middle_Eastern_history
Some notes about learning to write in English
For
the Concorso you need to learn to write in English. How do you learn
to write? Well, as regards handwriting, speed and perhaps essay
organization, you can do this partly by the act of repeated writing.
As regards the main task, absorbing words, expressions and structures
and then producing them, you do this by reading and taking notes on
the elements you want to remember. It’s what you did in your L1,
but unconsciously. You should focus on CUDU (could use, don’t use),
language that you have often seen in English, that you know is common
but that you wouldn’t normally manage to produce. This kind of
imitation is how you gradually improved in your L1 (and also how you
would improve your English while working at the Ministry). This is
your basic task for the next 8-12 months. If you write, use a
bilingual dictionary to find words you don’t know and a monolingual
dictionary to check how to use the expression.
However, if you simply write a lot and frequently without reading and
taking notes and without using a dictionary your English will NOT
improve. You will simply reinforce your grammatical and lexical
errors.
I
will mark whatever you give me as long as it is your own work(!),
researched, checked with a dictionary for basic errors, typed or
written clearly and on alternate lines so that I have space to
correct it. No margin is necessary. Please give it to me with your
name, surname and class. Don’t send it on my email. Please don’t
use translation programs. They don’t yet produce standard English,
and you can’t use one in the Concorso!
At
the Concorso I think they are looking for good
standard, clear English,
good
content and quality,
not quantity. 10 pages of incomprehensible English will not gain you
anything. Your first page and a half should be error free (!), in
terms of both language and content.
Use
a dictionary that has example sentences to show you both the right
word to choose and how to use the word.
The
address of this blog is:
Read
the following entries for September this weekend:
Some
useful sources and resources / Some language for essay writing /How
to write an essay on international relations / Some questions to
think about
The
best model for the kind of English you need to produce you can find
on the UN site, particularly at
http://www.un.org/apps/news/archive.asp
, on the EU site, and texts in English on the site of the Italian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.esteri.it/mae/en
, and Italy’s Permanent Mission to the United Nation in New York,
http://www.italyun.esteri.it/rappresentanza_onu
.You will find that the English used on these sites is slightly
Latinized and without many of the journalistic expressions that make
US and UK newspapers and magazines quite difficult to read. It is
also based on a more limited vocabulary of common expressions. This
is a good thing, not a bad thing and will make your task easier!!
Remember, the object of language generally, but particularly with a
mixed audience of L1 and L2 listeners and readers, is clarity and
successful
communication.
Well, that is what the UN believes and so should you!
When
you choose a topic to write about, you need to do extensive research
and arrive at a balanced view of the subject, taking into account any
position taken by the Italian government and/or the EU.
martedì 27 settembre 2016
Demographics for the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict
Israel and the Jews
In Israel the total population is 8,522,000.
The Jewish population makes up 6,377,000 (74.8%);
1,771,000 (20.8%) are Arabs;
and, those identified as "others" (non-Arab Christians, Baha'i, etc) make up 4.4% of the population (374,000 people).
In May 2014, the Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel, who himself lives in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Adumim, put the settler population at up to 750,000: 400,000 in the West Bank and up to 350,000 in East Jerusalem
The population of Israel will reach 10 million by 2025 or sooner.
Israel welcomed approximately 36,000 new immigrants between Independence Day 2015 and 2016, with most immigrants arriving in Israel from France (25%), the Ukraine (24%), Russia (23%), and the United States (9%).
Out of the 14.3 million Jewish people in the world, 43% reside in Israel.
In the US 5,300,000
In France 465,000
In Canada 385,000
In the UK 269,568
In Russia 186,000
In Argentina 181,300 - 230,000
In Australia 112,500
In Germany 99,695
In Brazil 95,000
In Italy 28,000
However figures for the global and country by country ‘Enlarged Jewish Population’ (a looser definition based on ancestry and members of Jewish households are much higher.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_by_country
see also: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/jewpop.html
The
Palestinians
Total
population worldwide 12.37 million
Palestinian
territories total
4,816,503
West
Bank 2,935,368
Gaza
1,881,135
Israel
1,771,000
Global
total figure for Palestinians descended from refugees 5,149,742
refugees
in Jordan – and estimate including Jordanian citizens of
Palestinian descent
2,100,000–3,240,000
refugees
in Syria 526,744 (2011) but where are they now?
refugees
in Lebanon 449,957 (2014)
in
Chile 500,000
in
Saudi Arabia 400,000
in
Qatar 295,000
in
the US
255,000
What are the main questions that need to be resolved in the search for a lasting peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians?
- Some questions to think about:
- What are the main recent events and developments in relations between the two sides?
- Why is a lasting agreement important to the international community?
- What is the role of the international community in this context?
- What are the normal pre-conditions for effective negotiations?
- Make a list of the long-term problems to resolve?
- Comment on prospects for each point on your list?
- Are there other important factors that you think need to be mentioned?
- What are the prospects for successful negotiations and the dangers of failure?
- How should you structure your answer using the points above? Can you create a logical framework for your essay, where one point leads to the next?
10.
Is there anything you need to avoid? What is the examiner looking
for?
Italy, Israel and the Palestinians
To read the first article without subscribing to the WSJ, click on the link, then copy the title onto Google search.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/france-convenes-international-meeting-on-israeli-palestinian-peace-process-1464949662
http://www.wsj.com/articles/france-convenes-international-meeting-on-israeli-palestinian-peace-process-1464949662
Con il Ministro Avidgor Lieberman, che ha invitato
Gentiloni ad una prossima visita in Israele, è stata confermata la
solidità dei rapporti bilaterali e l’interesse reciproco a
svilupparli ulteriormente. Il Ministro Gentiloni ha auspicato che
possa essere presto ripreso il negoziato per il processo di pace in
Medio Oriente e ha riaffermato la tradizionale posizione dell’Italia
che auspica nuovi passi verso l’unica soluzione possibile che è
quella dei due Stati.
mercoledì 14 settembre 2016
International Current Affairs quizzes
Here
are some links to some quizzes, most with answers. Some of them are
old so check what the updated answer would be. However, they should
give you some ideas about possible question areas and you can always
find new quizzes by doing a search on Google for current affairs or
international relations quizzes 2016-17.
in
Italian
in
English
http://currentaffairs2012quiz.blogspot.it/search/?q=quiz&search_submit.x=0&search_submit.y=0
international
relations
https://inquiry.princetonreview.com/grad/internationalaffairsquiz/default.asp
http://mcauleyhistory.edublogs.org/international-relations-revision-quiz/
the
EU
http://www.isabelperez.com/europe.htm
(second half of page on the left)
the
UN
the
IMF
https://www.sporcle.com/games/SwedishViking/imf-non-member-countries
NATO
http://www.triviaplaza.com/nato-facts-quiz/
international
law
https://www.sporcle.com/games/Max_J_Graham/intl-law-and-the-un-wk4
the
environment
http://www.factmonster.com/quizzes/environment/1.html
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2017/jan/19/understand-global-warming-climate-change-quiz
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=nuclear-power
nuclear
weapons
http://www.wmdawareness.org.uk/quiz/
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz30334622ba678.html
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz33113525e8890.html
world
leaders
https://www.sporcle.com/games/subcategory/worldleaders
history
geography
world
geography
http://www.jetpunk.com/tags/geography
world
population
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/topic/world-population
the
economic crisis in the US
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0070983992/student_view0/chapter23/multiple_choice_quiz.html
failed
states
https://ww2.sporcle.com/games/jack_attack17/failed_states
Africa
general
book
Il
concorso per segretario di legazione, edizione 2017
Some more international affairs quizzes 2016
http://www.sheir.org/current-affairs-quiz.html
(lots of pages, lots of questions, some odd language)
and
more quizzes
Free English language tests and practice
I
think this is currently one of the
best online sites
for free tests, grammar explanations and exercises.
Go
to the homepage and explore the site:
or
choose a level and go directly, for example, to Cambridge FCE level
(B2):
and
then to FCE Practice Papers, clicking on the right, for example, for
Use of English :
http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_use_of_english_part1.htm
multiple choice gap fill exercise.
Do
an exercise, using a dictionary and a grammar guide when necessary,
and check your score.
http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_use_of_english_part2.htm
open gap fill exercise.
Do
an exercise, using a dictionary and a grammar guide when necessary,
and check your score.
http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/fce_use_of_english_part3.htm
word-building gap fill exercise. Do an exercise using a dictionary
when necessary, and check your score.
http://www.examenglish.com/FCE/Use_of_English.htm
lexical/grammatical sentence transformations. Do an exercise, using a
dictionary and a grammar guide when necessary, and check your score.
for
Grammar go to:
Do
the exercise and keep an eye on your score. Check the ones you get
wrong with a grammar guide.
for
Reading Comprehension go to:
and
then go to the tests on the right. Do an exercise, using a dictionary
when necessary, and check your score.
For
Listening Comprehension go to:
and
do an exercise and check your score.
.
You
can, of course, do one or all the exercises that you will see on
these pages!
For
revision tests at this and all
lower levels
of grammar (i.e. A1, A2, B1, B2) and to check the grammar
explanations go to:
At
this point you may want to move to CAE level (C1) and repeat the
process.
So go to:
So go to:
and
do the same thing.
Finally move to Proficiency level (C2!) and repeat the process.
So go to:
Finally move to Proficiency level (C2!) and repeat the process.
So go to:
and
do the same thing.
You
may also want to look at the IELTS section, if you hope to take that
exam at some point.
or
TOEFL:
Have
you had enough English? would you like to try another language?
For
other languages go to:
Then,
for French, for example, go to:
then
click on Français and go to:
choose
the language you want to learn again, clicking on le Français:
and
then put in your mother tongue – clicking on l’italiano:
and
your level (principiante? avanzato?)
et
bon courage mon ami!
More
free test sites
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