British Newspapers

bbc.co.uk, 2012

There are two types of newspapers in the UK i.e. quality newspapers and tabloids. Both these newspapers attract a different type of audience. Quality newspapers have good quality news topics and articles whereas tabloids have less news and more gossip and images. This is one of the reasons why tabloids are sold more than quality newspapers. We are going to compare an article from The Independent (Quality) to a similar article from The Sun (Tabloid). The articles are related to the recent issues at London Metropolitan University.

	The Independent (Quality)	The Sun (Tabloid)
Language	Formal: irreparable, comply.	Informal: little English, went to lectures, uni.
Content/Details	Explained the issue very well. Authors mentioned.	Video of the news report from Sky News. The article says 2000 students whereas the video says 2500 students to be deported. Not enough details given. Author mentioned.
References	Gillies, M. (vice-chancellor of the university), Hunt, S. (general secretary of the University and College Union), Thomas, E. (chairman of Universities UK), Burns, L. (President of National Union of Students), Bryant, C. (Labour’s immigration spokesman), Wanambwa, E. (lawyer), students.	Green, D. (Immigration Minister), Cameron, D. (Prime Minister)
Visual Images	One image showing students protesting outside the University.	Image of the University. Video of the news report from Sky News.

References:

BBC (2012) British newspapers [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-20591689 (Accessed: 7 December 2012).

Garner, R. and Rawlinson, K. (2012) 'London Metropolitan University's future at stake as 2,500 students face deportation', The Independent, 31 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/london-metropolitan-universitys-future-at-stake-as-2500-students-face-deportation-8096884.html (Accessed: 17 November 2012).

Heighton, L. (2012) '2,000 foreign students face boot', The Sun, 31 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/4513125/2000-foreign-students-face-boot-as-London-Metropolitan-University-is-stripped-of-its-power-to-recruit-outside-the-EU.html (Accessed: 17 November 2012).

Language

indianmaps.com, 2012

Gujarati

The language Gujarati is mainly spoken by the Gujarati community from India. It is the official language of the state Gujarat, which is in the western part of India. It was the mother tongue of the Indian freedom fighter, M.K. Gandhi. According to UCLA (2012), Gujarati is spoken by approximately 46 million people all over the world which makes it the thirty-third most spoken language in the world. Majority of the Gujarati speaking population is found in India. Other than India, there are many Gujarati speakers in countries like Tanzania, Uganda, Pakistan, Kenya, the United Kingdom, the USA, Singapore, South Africa, Fiji and many more (UCLA, 2012). We are mainly going to talk about Gujarati in the United Kingdom.

Gujaratis can be found in many parts of the UK. According to BBC (2012):

Gujaratis form the second largest of the British South Asian speech communities, with important settlements in Leicester and Coventry in the Midlands, in the northern textile towns and in Greater London. In a survey of London schoolchildren in 2000, Gujarati was the fourth most commonly spoken language in the capital. Gujarati families are found, in particular, in a western zone from Hounslow to Barnet, including both Harrow and Brent, and in a smaller eastern zone which consists of Lewisham and Newham. More recently there has been some movement of Gujarati speakers from larger cities to areas such as Gloucestershire.

During 1950-60, some Gujaratis came to the UK directly from India while some come from the east African countries where they were working as farmers and traders and the political discontent in Uganda also made many Indian people to move to the UK or Canada (BBC, 2012).


References:

BBC (2012) Voices - Gujarati. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/gujarati.shtml#A (Accessed: 13 November 2012).

Indianmaps (2012) Gujarat map [Online]. Available at: http://www.indiainmaps.com/gujarat/ (Accessed: 7 December 2012).

UCLA (2012) UCLA Language Materials Project. Available at: http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/profile.aspx?langid=85&menu=004 (Accessed: 13 November 2012).

Feedback on Presentation

Today we had our first presentation in the class. We had to create a powerpoint presentation on the subject we will study after the IFP. I was slightly nervous, but after looking at my exam results I was all pumped up. According to me overall I did well in the presentation but if I had to compare my presentation with the few of the other's, I would say my slides had a lot of text in them. Thus, it was a bit boring for the audience. Also, I was reading all the text out so, I could not maintain much eye contact with the audience though, my tutor felt I was good at maintaining eye contact. The tutor was happy with my presentation except for the few points I mentioned earlier. One of the main things for me was that I was around the time limit which is good because an incomplete presentation is never good.

Time Management

The term time management can be referred to as follows (Management Study Guide, 2012):

• Time Management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is allocated to the right activity.
• Effective time management allows individuals to assign specific time slots to activities as per their importance.
• Time management refers to making the best use of time as time is always limited.

According to me, time management is basically how you utilise the time you have properly for doing a particular work. One should not waste time as once time goes it never comes back. Time management is very important in all stages of life, whether a student or a working person. I often have a habit of leaving things till the last moment. My father never liked this habit of mine but I always used to ignore him. I realised what he meant when I started my own business 3 years ago. As I had to manage everything myself, I had to make sure everything was done on time. Now, I am much more organised with things. In order to manage time, I maintained a diary in which i would write my daily to-do list. Sometimes I even set reminders on my phone. It really helps and you by doing this you do not miss out on anything.

In conclusion, do not misuse time as once gone time never comes back.

References:

Management Study Guide (2012) Time Management - Meaning and its Importance. Available at: http://www.managementstudyguide.com/time-management.htm (Accessed: 8 November 2012).

The Welsh Assembly

wao.gov.uk, 2012

What changes were made in the referendum in 2011?

On 3 March 2011, the people of Wales voted in a referendum on the law making powers of the Welsh Assembly. The question of the referendum was "do you want the Assembly now to be able to make laws on all matters in the 20 subject areas it has powers for?" (Welsh Government, 2011). A majority (63.5%) of people voted 'YES' in the referendum. As a result, the Assembly can now make laws for Wales on subjects for which the Assembly and the Welsh Government were already responsible, without taking permission from the UK Parliament. This has represented a significant development in Welsh devolution (Welsh Government, 2011).

References:

Wales Audit Office (2012) Welsh Assembly Government [Online]. Available at: http://www.wao.gov.uk/assets/englishimages/WAG_web_logo.JPG (Accessed: 8 November 2012).

Welsh Government (2011) Welsh referendum 2011. Available at: http://wales.gov.uk/legislation/referendumpowers/?lang=en (Accessed: 31 October 2012).

Government

Part I
Advantages and Disadvantages of Being a EU Member:

The European Union (2012) stated that "the EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 27 European countries that together cover much of the continent". The EU is active in several policy areas like agriculture, fisheries, culture, business, education, customs, economy etc. (European Union, 2012). We are going to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of being a member of the EU.

Advantages:

The health of the environment is important for human being so it is important to preserve it. The EU has created policies with a purpose to protect the environment. Apart from this, EU has created policies to prevent people from turning to terrorism (Derham, 2010). These policies are concentrated on the radiation of the terrorist group like Al Qaeda and the groups that it inspires (Council of the European Union, 2008). The EU’s priority is to ensure the safety and security of its members. As a result, EU has been working with the regions that are across its borders like the Balkans, North Africa, the Caucasus and the Middle East.

Derham (2010) says that both EU citizens and businesses have the benefits of the single market. According to him, 2.15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the money that citizens get from the single market which was approximately 708 EUROS per person in 2006. In addition to this, the single market has contributed to reduce the number of unemployed. According to CEC (2008), more than six million jobs were created in the last decade and the European industry has contributed a lot to increase the number of jobs within European Member States. Citizens of any country of the EU are allowed to live and work in any other EU country.

Disadvantages:

Prior to the implementation of the European Communities Act 1972 the UK had complete supremacy. The national sovereignty is reduced gradually as the member states follow the EU law.

To find more important disadvantages of EU membership, you need to look at the States separately. For instance, some of the larger EU countries such as Germany, France and the UK would argue that the fact that they contribute more money to the EU then the other countries, to being a disadvantage (which it is of course if you are looking at in basic realistic terms). Smaller States such as Ireland, Austria and Slovenia and say that the fact larger countries such as the ones above have more of an influence and say on the workings of the EU, to be a disadvantage for them.


References:

Derham, M.D. (2010) European Union: Risk-Benefit Analysis [Online]. Available at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/29274464/EU-Risk-Benefit-Analysis-written-March-2010 (Accessed: 30 October 2012).

European Union (2012) Basic information on the European Union. Available at: http://europa.eu/about-eu/basic-information/index_en.htm (Accessed: 24 October 2012).

European Union (2012) Policy areas of the European Union. Available at: http://europa.eu/pol/index_en.htm (Accessed: 24 October 2012).