BLOG ASSIGNMENT 1. MEETING THE DUTCH
What
would international students know about the Dutch and their way of
life? Who are we? What are we like? What is "typically Dutch?"
Dutch and
living
Every year, lots of international students come to the Netherlands
for their study. For the most students it's a one-of a lifetime experience.
When arriving, they directly see that almost nobody is walking on clumps, they’re
not that much windmills and not everybody is using pot.
Typically
Dutch products
The Netherlands is famous of his typically products like the
‘stroopwafel’ and the cheese from Gouda. We also have frites called ‘Friet oorlog’
(frites with mayonnaise, curry and onions) and the ‘bitterbal’. Not everyone
from The Netherlands is a fan of these products, but they are called typically
Dutch products.
Dutch Habits
Dutch people are busy people. We work a lot and we care about our
family. The most students like to go out on a Thursday or Saturday evening
(sponsored with money from the study fund). We also have many study-unions
spread over the country. When you become a member of a study-union, you will
explore a unique experience. It’s a community where you can make lots of new
friends.
Dutch and
work
Every morning, hundreds of people are standing in a traffic jam
when they’re going to work. Day in day out. After a hard day of working at the
office, or doing homework, the most Dutch people eat round the clock of 5 or 6.
This is quite different compared to southern countries, where they always eat
late in the evening.
BLOG
ASSIGNMENT 2. STUDENT LIFE
What
is student life in the Netherlands like? Where do students live, how
many hours a week do they spend on their study, what facillities are
there for students, what about transport, student jons.
It’s nice to be a student in The Netherlands. This time of your
live you will experience the most memorable things of your live if you ask me.
Partying on Thursday and Saturday, living on your own..
How
student’s live
Some students live at their parent’s house during their study. Other
students live on their own. It’s a huge different between these two kind of
students. When you live on your own, you have to buy your own food and you have
to cook for yourself. You will get more responsibilities and you will be
independent. This is sometimes a advantage of living on your own.
Studying
The amount of hours students spend on their study depends per
student. Some students study hard every day when school is over. Some other
students study almost nothing. If you want to achieve good grades, it’s
recommended to study hard and do your homework.
Transport
Students in The Netherlands have some privileges. For example:
public transport is from Monday till Friday for free over whole the country. In
the weekend you’ll get a discount of 40% when using public transport.
Cash
Money is important for students. Life is expensive; everything
became more expensive compared to a couple of years ago. Luckily we have lots
of jobs especially for students. You can combine these jobs easily with your study.
You can find them on the internet.
BLOG ASSIGNMENT 3. OUT AND ABOUT IN UTRECHT
What is the city of Utrecht like? What is there for students to do, see, experience in Utrecht?
Going out
I don’t really know a lot of Utrecht because I’m from Arnhem. When
I go to Utrecht, it’s mostly because I have to go to college. I went out a
couple of times in the center of Utrecht. Going out in Utrecht is much fun. There
are lots of café’s and bars where you can have a great evening (with yourself
or with friends) I know that there is a bar with a special foreign students
night on Thursday. That’s nice for foreign students, so they can meet student
with the same nationality. Students from Spain, England, Sweden, America and
many more gather at this bar.
Sightseeing
Utrecht also has canals. It’s a unique experience if you go with a
boat or canoe thru these canals. You will see the center of Utrecht from another
side. You can compare these canals with the famous Amsterdam channels.
Other
I also know that Utrecht have a couple of students-communities. It’s
much fun to join one of them. You will explore things you will never forget.
It’s easy to make new friends when you’re in a student’s-community. That’s
because of the huge amount of members and they’re all students just like you!
3.2. Listening Assignment B: Interview with Catherine Cummings
1. What is remarkable about the comments and the bloggers of the Federal
Reserve Bank?
The possibility to blog anonymous and the possibility to place a comment
anonymous.
2. The Federal Reserve Bank opened a blog to create “buzz”. What is
meant by this, in other words, what was the purpose of opening a blog?
The purpose of buzzing was to keep the news up to date and relevant for
the people who visit the website
3. What was the female recruiting manager’s blog mainly about?
About being a fulltime mom and a fulltime manager
4. What was the purpose of her blog?
Recruiting people for the FED
5. Which words show that the FED does
exercise a form of control on the blogs?
Moderated and regulatered
6. By what kind of people were the very first FED blogs written?
The senior management
7. Have the blogs changed the way that people who work for the FED think
about internal communications ?
Yes, the credibility increased
8. What is the latest development in the company as far as media are
concerned?
Closed circuit tv
9. Catherine Cummings says that this medium to communicate with staff is
better than an older medium. Which more old-fashioned way of communicating with
staff does she mention?
Memos
10. What is the next big thing in social media at the FED?
The implementation of new intranetsites
VRMP
English: Writing assignment.
Date: 12 March 2013
To the Editor: Spencer
Gallagher
Concerning article ‘Students are lazy’ on February 11st
Dear mister Gallagher,
I’m writing you this letter because I want to make you
clear that the opposite is true about your article.
In the first paragraph you wrote that Dutch students
have the same consensus about achieving grades: ’a six is good enough’. I personally
think it’s not that bad at all. I will tell you why. When student learn well
for their exam, you can see by the grades they achieve, how good they
understand the theory.
Exams at the University of applied sciences are often based
on cases. That’s far different than learning words. You have to understand what
it means and how you can use it in real-life. Some students are good in it,
some other aren’t. When somebody achieves a six as a grade, you know as
teacher that the student knows how to use the theory in real-life. The fact he
doesn’t know every word at the exam, is not that bad, because a six says that
hey knows more than the half of it. Now the student knows how to implement it
later in real-life, that’s the point of it.
In the second paragraph you wrote that Dutch students
are lazy. That’s not true!
The amount of hours students spend on studying isn’t
linked to the height of the grade they achieve. Some students have a so
called photographic memory. Studying is then much easier because they can
remember things they SEE. This takes less hours to study. How you think about
that? Further I want to tell you that the most students are busy bees. What I
mean to say is that they work a lot next to school. They have a job and they
are full of ambition.
Holland hasn’t enough people to do unskilled work. The
reason why is that lots of young people want to study for a good job. How
about that?
In the third paragraph you wrote that Dutch students are
displaying disappointing study behavior. What do you mean exactly? Is it
based on research? It’s only negative against Dutch students. Please stop
saying something when you don’t have a good source.
Regards,
Dennis Corba
Arnhem, The Netherlands
