Preparation for 10th of June

Here you can find two articles which you can synthesize in a summary report.  The summary should be no longer than two 1.5-spaced pages. If you send me your summaries before our next session on 10th of June, we can talk about one of them during the workshop.  You may try using as many lists as you can in your summaries.

Semicolon, colon and lists

In Sections  2.5 - 2.10 of the English Style Guide published by the Directorate-General for Translation, you can find the rules on the use of colon and semicolon with the appropriate hyperlinks for other relevant issues, such as lists.

You can hereby find more information on the use of colon and semicolon as well as providing lists as it is presented in the Interinstitutional Style Guide.

Here you can find a document on the use of semicolon and colon, including the use of the latter to introduce lists.  The first rule on the use of colon in this document is at odds with what is said in the Commission's "English Style Guide" and  the "Interinstitutional Style Guide".

Here you can find a quiz on the use of colon and semicolon with the key and explanations.  In the explanation for the answer to question 21, you can find the capitalization rule in sentences after colon.

Apostrophes

Here you can find a quiz on apostrophes.

Composite nouns

Some of the issues that come up in our last session concerning composite nouns can be found here along with some exercises.

Sample listening report

A whistle-stop tour of the European Institutions

The reporter in the broadcast gives us a tour of some of the European Union (EU) buildings at the heart of Brussels’s European district, as he describes the functions of the three main EU bodies, i.e., the Commission, the Parliament and the Council.

Robert Schuman, who was one of the first and most influential people to be inspired by the idea of a united Europe, was a former French foreign minister whose name was given to the metro station in the district. A monument commemorating him was erected in front of the Berlaymont, which is the main building of the Commission.

The European political construction started after the Second World War, and it grew from 6 to 27 countries. The EU enables the same policies and legislative standards to be enforced in policy areas such as global warming, pollution, chemicals or pandemic diseases. The EU also helps improve the infrastructure in certain Member States (MS), for example the Hungarian sewage system. This means that, whether you like it or not, the rich MS pay to help the poor ones.

The first main EU institution mentioned in the report is the Commission with its 27 Commissioners, each one of whom is in charge of a certain policy area. The Commission’s main task is to propose new laws. It is also the guardian of the soul of Europe, and as such, it is above national interests. Given the balance of power the Commission has with the other two institutions, the EU is a unique experiment in the world.

Thus the Commission’s power is limited, since it needs to reconcile with the national interests represented at the Council, which is the second main EU institution presented.  Government representatives from MS meet at the Council every week. They have meetings on specific themes, such as defence, agriculture or foreign affairs. The most important meetings attended by heads of state and government are held at least three times a year; these can be tense affairs.  The bar visited between formal sessions provides a good opportunity to have informal discussions.

The third main institution, which is more familiar than the other two for those of us from democratic countries, is the European Parliament (EP). The Members of the EP (MEPs) are seated according to political groups. The MEPs debate issues in proposed laws, on which they can then vote to amend.  Even if used rarely, this institution also has the power to revoke the nominations of the Commission or to reject the proposed EU budget, and its influence had been ever increasing when this report aired.

In a nutshell, laws are drafted by the Commission, and sent to the Council for verification. Then the Council can send them back to the Commission for changes. The decision process continues at the EP, which may vote for amendments to the legislative proposals.  Afterwards, the Commission decides whether or not to modify the proposed texts, and sends them to the Council for approval again.  As such, this legislative circuit consists in a unique balance of powers between these three European Institutions.

Relative, -ed and -ing clauses

Here you can find some exercises on relative, -ed and -ing clauses along with the key.

Preparation for 20th of May

For our next session on 20th of May 2011, please watch the BBC news report on the European Institutions once as you take notes.  Then, bring these notes to a summary report of no longer than one 1.5-spaced page.  If you can send me your summaries before our meeting, we can use one of them during our workshop.

Preparation for 13th of May

Please read the sample report in the previous post below.  Do you think you can shorten it, such that it is about 1/3 of the original article?

Sample reading report

Why Belgium's unending linguistic disputes matter to Europe    

The 1968 language wars between the Dutch-speaking and Francophone Belgians led to the division of the 1.6 m books in the library of the University of Leuven. It was followed by the partition within the Catholic church and the main political parties (Catholics, liberals and socialists). Belgian politics became tribal, and Belgium turned into a near-ungovernable federation.

After the election in June 2010, a caretaker government was in office for 230 days, thus holding the European record for being the country without a government for the longest time. Fortunately, the bond markets seemed largely unconcerned about Belgium's giant public debt close to 100% of its GDP. Surprisingly, Belgium registered some student protests urging their country's politicians to get a move on not until the end of January 2011.

At the time this article came out the world gave little thought to Belgium, even though a break-up looked less unthinkable than it had been before the elections in 2010. Paradoxically, the slow dissolution of Belgium went hand in hand with the deeper integration of the EU. One way of looking at Belgium's divide is to see it as a counterpart to the EU's split between the north and the south. In Belgium’s case, however, the euro gave all parties the luxury of intransigence.

The blockage in question is unlike the previous ones in that for the first time, an avowedly separatist party, the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), became dominant in Flanders. This party, led by Bart de Wever, wants a decisive shift of powers to Flanders, and it makes little secret of its wish to see Belgium “evaporate” within the EU. The N-VA wants to see the EU-rope string Belgium up.

Strangely, the erosion of sovereignty is seen as the antidote to violent nationalism. According to Mark Leonard, the Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, the EU's “taking the gun out of politics” has contradictory effects; on the one hand, it makes it easier to draw violent groups into politics. On the other hand, it allows not only peaceful nationalists to act up, but also voters to support them, because there is no danger of bloodshed.

Separatism is not a singular phenomenon restricted to Belgium in the EU, e.g., rich regions pulling away from poorer ones in Spain and Italy, big ethnic minorities in many ex-communist countries moving towards more autonomy, or the Scottish nationalists speaking of independence while remaining within the EU.

Changing national borders rarely resolves nationalist and ethnic disputes. Nevertheless, where communities overlap, tolerance, respect for minority rights, autonomy and cross-border co-operation are better democratic tools.

In any case, it will be much more difficult to separate the Dutch-speakers and Francophones in Brussels than it was at the University of Leuven. This conundrum offers the best hope that, in the end, Flemings and Walloons will somehow learn to live together for the benefit of Belgium and perhaps of the whole EU.

Linking words

The first and second parts of the documents on linking words are hereby available.  You can also find the key for the exercises here.  As you do the exercises, please remember the following three types of linking words we have identified:

• Linking words that connect two parts of the same sentence as in the following example: We only have one week off for Easter, so we will be staying in Brussels.
• Linking words that connect two separate sentences as in the following four examples, which are different ways of saying the same thing:

1. We only have one week off for Easter.  Therefore, we will be staying in Brussels.
2. We only have one week off for Easter; therefore, we will be staying in Brussels.
3. We only have one week off for Easter.  We will, therefore, be staying in Brussels.
4. We only have one week off for Easter; we will, therefore, be staying in Brussels.

• Linking words that are covered under both the first and second types as in the four following examples:

1. Besides giving his friend a lift after work, he helped her with her grocery shopping.
2. He helped his friend with her grocery shopping, besides giving her a lift after work.
3. I am afraid I am not allowed to help you with that question.  Besides, I do not know the answer myself.
4. I am afraid I am not allowed to help you with that question; besides, I do not know the answer myself.

Note that the meaning of the word 'besides'  in the first two examples is different from its meaning in the last two examples.

In all these examples, please pay special attention to the punctuation.

Articles

Here you can find the document on articles along with the key for the exercises.