EU Language Quiz

Just imagine that Europe contributes with 11% (740 million people) to the world's total population.
(data from 2011, http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/world_population.htm)
In Europe 234 living languages exist which is a really huge number.
http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/languages.htm
I'm just fascinated by the diversity of languages in Europe and I find it amazing how many languages developed throughout the centuries, sometimes even in geographically small areas.

Dear Frank, thanks for recommending this language quiz, it has just made me even more conscious of how much I'm fascinated by the phenomenon of languages.

How do you sneeze in your mother tongue?

So, after doing (the first half of) the quiz here are my results and the most important things I learned:

Number of questions answered: 30
Number of correct answers: 21 (though some of them only for the second time)
Score: 175
http://ec.europa.eu/languages/quiz/quiz_en.htm

Did you know that...?:

• Mark Twain had troubles with learning German, he had been suffering with trying to master the language for 20 years! He complained that sometimes he would need a telescope in order to find the verb at the end of the sentence. Mark Twain claimed that Friedrich Schiller was able to put the whole history of the Thirty Years' War between two parts of a separable verb.
  (I know exactly what Twain meant... :)
  
  
• The saunas in Finland were not only used for relaxing but also for healing the sick and for giving birth because that was to most hygienic place on a farm. The mothers stayed there for a couple of days with their newborn babies.

• Latvian and Lithuanian are the only Baltic languages and they are among the oldest Indo-European languages. Lithuanian is also called "the dinosaur of languages" because it's so archaic.
  
• The word 'robot' was first used by a Czech playwright in the 20th century.
  (I though it was much older!)
  
• Slovene poetry is pretty romantic! Slovenian has a rare grammatical form referring to exactly two entities, thus making it easier to express love.

What surprised me the most:

• The Wiener Schnitzel actually comes from Milan! It's called cotoletta alla Milanese and the difference is that the Italian version contains the bone. There are different theories how it came to Austria but none of them is sure.

And last but not least, the easiest question (at least for me):

• Hungarian is the only language in Europe which places the family name before the given name. The reason is that the family name is usually a description, such as a personal feature (Kis Anna = Anna Little), original nationality (Német Anna = Anna German) or profession (Kovács Anna = Anna Smith) and these descriptions are always before a noun - or a name, in this case. It was really strange for me here in Austria to get used to the 'general' European way. Apart from Hungary this type of name order is used in some parts of Africa and Asia, for example in China and Japan.

Suggestions to a Summary

Summary of „Europe already has one foot in ,Japanese‘ deflation grave“ (the apostrophe should always be like this: ' or ", but never ,)

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, in The Telegraph of October, 23 ,(the commas are not necessary because these are important information) 2013 analyzes Europe‘s debt crisis. Evans-Pritchard mentions two main problems, namely the risk of deflation and policy errors. The first problem is considered dangerous as debt can become wayward (I think it's only used of a person) and expensive to repay. The only real but unpopular way out is by cutting spendings. (uncountable) This problem face many countries such as France or Greece. (Many countries face this problem...)

The latter problem, videlicet (is it Spanish?) policy errors, means that different countries have different expectations. That makes it problematic to settle on a viable solution such as inflation. The author mentions Germany, which refuses to agree to it, as the Bundesbank worries about the consequences like the rise of estate prices. Therefore Germany threatens to retrogress (or return) to the D-Mark should Europe opt for inflation. However, Germany is soon likely to face deflation too as there has been no inflation since March.

The author proposes a strategy to enforce (the) said solution. Evans-Pritchard claims it would be best if all the Club Med members rallied and stood up to Germany and force its acceptance for this way out. This is how Europe would be able to avoid a major debt crisis like the one Japan had to endure.

[200 words without the title]

Nice logical structure and compact thoughts!

Group work analysis – EU Citizenship

Group work analysis – EU Citizenship

 

Revised version:

Every citizen of an EU member country is automatically an EU citizen. However, being an EU national does not replace national citizenship but can be seen as a supplement to it. There are various ways to obtain EU citizenship, namely acquisition by birth, descent, marriage or naturalisation. The latter necessitates spending at least a certain amount of years in a EU country legally. Being an EU citizen has important advantages. One of them is the right to move and reside freely within the European Union under the protection of the diplomatic and consular authorities of any EU country. Another positive aspect is that EU citizens are enabled to influence European politics either by voting in the European elections or by standing as a candidate.  

Apart from these clearly positive aspects, there are also a few disadvantages of EU citizenship. One of the most significant downsides is overcrowding, which economically stronger states might have to deal with as a result of free migration within the European Union. While authorities of host countries struggle to master this challenge, the local citizens might see immigrants as scapegoats for taking their jobs. As a result, many migrants might have to face  racism and prejudice every day. Being a European citizen has benefits as well as disadvantages but the positive aspects prevail as being part of the EU can grant you rights which are only available by being a member of this union.

[238 words]