What are human rights?

This article is the result of a group work from some 4DSA students .

Human rights belong to every human being regardless of sex, race, nationality, socio- conomicgroup, political opinion, sexual orientation or any other status.

Human rights are universal

They apply to all people simply on the basis of being human.

Human rights are inalienable

They cannot be taken away simply because we do not like the person seeking to exercise their rights.

They can only be limited in certain tightly-defined circumstances and some rights, such as the prohibition on torture and slavery, can never be limited.

Human rights are indivisible

You cannot pick and choose which rights you want to honour. Many rights depend on each other to be meaningful – so, for example, the right to fair trial would be meaningless without the prohibition on discrimination, and the right to free speech must go hand in hand with the right to assemble peacefully.

Human rights are owed by the state to the people – this means public bodies must respect your human rights and the government must ensure there are laws in place so that other people respect your human rights too.

For example, the right to life requires not only that the actions of those working on behalf of the state do not lead to your death, but that laws are also in place to protect you from the actions of others that might wnat to do you harm.

Human rights were first recognised internationally by the UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS in 1948, in the aftermath of the Second World War.

This was quickly followed by the adoption, two years later, of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In 1998 the Human Rights Act was passed, making the rights and freedoms in the european convention on Human Rights directly enforceable in the UK. lt came into force on 2 October 2000.

The UK is also a party to a number of other international instruments that seek to protect and promote other human rights.

Ancora sulla domanda di lavoro – job application letter

Dear students,
I have just finished to check your job application letters…
Let me remind you some important points:

– se scrivete all’estero, non dimenticate di anteporre il prefisso della nazionalità al vostro numero di telefono (per l’Italia +39);
– rispettate l’uso della punteggiatura, in particolare l’uso della virgola dopo il saluto di apertura e quello di chiusura;
– ci si firma mettendo prima il nome e poi il cognome.

That’s all. Good luck for tomorrow’s class test. 😉

 

Scrivere una domanda di lavoro – writing a job application letter

Dear students,
ritorno volentieri su un argomento già affrontato in passato (usate il motore di ricerca per trovare altri posts e andate nell’area download per trovare degli esempi di lettera) per ribadire alcuni punti nodali indispensabili ai fini di un corretto apprendimento di un’abilità che può tornare molto utile nella propria vita professionale.
Scrivere lettere in inglese non è difficile. Lo stile di una lettera amichevole è analogo a quello usato in una conversazione informale, bisogna tuttavia seguire alcuni accorgimenti nello stendere una lettera, soprattutto se si tratta di una lettera formale. Ci sono infatti regole precise su come e dove scrivere la data e gli indirizzi del mittente e del destinatario; ci sono formule consolidate per aprire e chiudere una lettera.
1. Il nome e l’indirizzo del mittente sono solitamente stampati sulla carta da lettera, altrimenti vanno scritti a mano.
2. La data: in Gran Bretagna e negli U.S.A. non si usa scrivere prima il luogo, a meno che non sia diverso da quello stampato nell’intestazione. Per la data si utilizza comunemente la forma 2 (oppure 2nd) March (oppure Mar.) 2007; in America Mar. 2, 2007. Usando soltanto cifre, pertanto, 2-3-2007 vuol dire 2 marzo in Gran Bretagna, ma in America vuol dire 3 febbraio, ATTENZIONE!!! :-)))
3. La formula iniziale: tra le più comuni ricordiamo
Dear Dr Johnes, Dear Doctor, Dear Teacher
Scrivendo a una ditta, agenzia, ente, ecc. si usa Dear Sirs.
Dopo queste formule in Inghilterra si mette la virgola, in America si mettono i due punti; quindi si va a capo e si comincia a scrivere sempre con la lettera maiuscola.
4. E’ importante rispettare la divisione in paragrafi nel corpo della lettera.
5. La formula di chiusura può essere, ad esempio:
Yours sincerely, Yours faithfully o simili.

That’s all guys, I hope to have been useful. Your online tutor wishes you a fantastic day.
All the very best

CFCE word list of unit 6 (photocopy)

Dear 4DSA, here is the word list for unit 6 (photocopy).

• alert = vigile, attento, sveglio
• branch = ramo
• clearing = radura
• crop = coltivazione, coltura
• debate = dibattito
• endangered species = specie in via d’estinzione
• exhaust fumes = fumi di scarico, esalazioni dal tubo di scappamento
• exhaust = tubo di scappamento
• to go ahead = andare avanti, precedere
• to ground = tenere a terra
• idly = pigramente, svogliatamente
• in the wild = allo stato selvatico
• keeper = custode, guardiano
• litter = spazzatura
• nature reserve = riserva naturale
• to play a part = fare la propria parte, contribuire
• pollution = inquinamento
• remote = remoto
• to scramble = arrampicarsi
• to slip = scivolare via
• to sneeze = starnutire
• to sniff = annusare
• to squat = accovacciarsi, fare gli ‘squat’
• surface = superficie
• threat = minaccia
• to wander = vagare
• watchful = attento, guardingo, vigile

Happy Tuesday! 🙂

CFCE word list of unit 8

Dear 3ASA, here is the word list for unit 8.

• compulsory = obbligatorio
• contestant = concorrente
• to fulfil = esaudire
• to get experience = acquisire esperienza
• geek = imbranato, asociale
• hooked = patito, appassionato
• invaluable = inestimabile, impagabile
• to launch = lanciare, varare
• nerve-wracking = snervante
• to pursue = dedicarsi, perseguire, intraprendere
• to release = lanciare (film)
• to strip away = strappare via, rimuovere
• stuck = bloccato
• to turn down = rifiutare, respingere

Happy last school week! 🙂

Melancholy in Italian and English Romanticism

Domenico Fetti – Melancholy (about 1620)

Dear B.F., here are my considerations about the importance of ‘melancholy’ in Italian and English Romanticism.

Melancholy is a fundamental Romantic theme. It may be linked both to physical and psychological loneliness and suffering; it is not to be cancelled with oblivion, but to be enjoyed.

Many Romantic poets belonging both to English and Italian literature have made an extensive use of this topic.

In Italian literature the Romantic poets who dealt with this topic were Ugo Foscolo and Giacomo Leopardi. Foscolo felt a sort of melancholy for the happy, light period of childhood and used the remembrance of glorious people belonging to the past in order to overcome the negativity of his age. Leopardi pointed out the difference existing between infancy, the age of happiness and illusions, and maturity, a period in human life characterised by sadness and disillusionment. His melancholy was caused by nature, which was indifferent to man’s sufferings in Dialogo di un Islandese; by the regret for what never belonged to his life experience in Il Passero solitario; by the longing for a love which was never satisfied in A Silvia; by a nostalgia for the past in Le Ricordanze.

In English literature William Wordsworth, Percy B. Shelley and George G. Byron were linked to the theme of melancholy. In Wordsworth melancholy was the remembering of past sensory experiences in Daffodils and Tintern Abbey. Shelley’s melancholy was caused by loneliness in To a Skylark.

Good luck for your exams!

CFCE word list of unit 7

Dear 3ASA, here is the word list for unit 7.

• athletic = atletico
• be around = essere in giro da
• blister = vescica
• civilised = civile
• come across = imbattersi in
• cushion = attutire
• drop out = ritirarsi
• endurance = resistenza
• eternity = eternità
• extreme = estremo
• furious = furioso
• guarantee = garantire
• hallucination = allucinazione
• hazardous = rischioso, pericoloso
• heighten = aumentare
• hop = saltare, fare un salto
  • to hop on = salire su. We hopped on the bus.
• keep up = tenersi al passo con
• learning curve = curva di apprendimento
• little in the way of = scarseggiare di
• made up of = fatto di
• methodical = metodico
• opponent = avversario
• pace = ritmo,velocità
• rough = turbolento, difficile, violento
• run into trouble = finire nei guai
• safety-conscious = attento alla sicurezza
• set = stabilire, fissare
• spectator = spettatore
• turn out = rivelarsi
• trophy = coppa/trofeo
• turn out = risultare

Happy weekend! 🙂

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Dear 4ASA students, here is the help in the text analysis you have requested.

What is the role of nature in Coleridge’s poetry?

Unlike Wordsworth, Coleridge did not consider nature as a morale guide or a source of consolation and happiness. His contemplation of nature was always accompanied by the awareness of the presence of the ideal in the real. However, his strong Christian faith did not allow him to identify nature with the divine, in that form of pantheism which Wordsworth adopted. Coleridge used the shapes and colours of nature to represent and symbolise emotional and mental states.

What is the difference between The Rime and the traditional medieval ballads?

The difference between The Rime and the traditional medieval ballads is the presence of a moral at the end, which makes The Rime a Romantic ballad.

How has the poem been interpreted?

The Rime can be interpreted in different ways. It can be considered the description of a dream, which gives the poet the opportunity to link  the sub-conscious and supernatural elements of his personality to a familiar experience. It can also be seen as an allegory of the life of the soul in its passage from sin, through punishment to final redemption. It can be interpreted as a description of a poetic journey typical of Romanticism.

What are the faculties of the mind, according to Coleridge?

Fancy and imagination are the faculties of the mind, according to Coleridge.

Cheers 🙂

CFCE word list of unit 14

Dear 4ASA students, here is the word list of unit 14.

• to catch your breath = riprendere fiato
• to disguise = travestirsi, mascherarsi
• dizziness = stordimento, capogiro, vertigini
• to dress up = vestirsi eleganti, travestirsi (in costume)
• to drizzle = piovigginare
• to finalise = concludere, ultimare, definire
• to gather = dedurre, concludere, raccogliere
• harvest = raccolto
• to hold – held – held = tenere
• to juggle = fare il giocoliere
• to let off = rilasciare, sfogarsi
• let your hair down = lasciati andare (sciogliti i capelli)
• living = da vivere
• to earn one’s living = guadagnarsi da vivere, guadagnarsi il pane
• to make a fool of = prendersi gioco di
• makeshift = improvvisato, di fortuna
• to make your way = dirigersi verso, farsi strada
• mist = nebbiolina, foschia
• to overlook = dare su, affacciarsi su
• parade = parata, sfilata, corteo
• stunt = acrobazia, caduta
• to unwind = distendersi, rilassarsi, ‘staccare’
• vantage point = visuale, punto d’osservazione, punto di vista
• wave = ondata, onda
• wide-brimmed (hat) = (cappello) a tesa larga, con la visiera
• to wind (curve) = serpeggiare, snodarsi.
  • The road winds up and down the mountain.
  • La strada serpeggia su e giù per la montagna.

Good luck and happy weekend guys, see you next Monday 🙂

 

The Wife of Bath, by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Dear 3 ASA students, here is the paraphrase of the first eight lines of the text.

In our group of pilgrims there was a notable woman from a place near Bath, who was a little deaf unfortunately. She was very good at making cloth and her products were much better than the ones from the well known weavers of Ypres and Ghent in Belgium. She was a religious woman, in her parish no one went to the altar to give an offer before her, otherwise she got very angry.

That’s all folks, good bye! 🙂