Reflection

In this semester, I studied class system, education, and minority languages of the U.K. I found that there are big differences between Japanese and British systems or cultures. When I studied about the class system, I found that Britain has a clear class system while Japan does not have it. When I studied about education, I was surprised that Britain has less universities but the scale is much larger than Japan. When I studied about minority languages, I found that there are some languages in the U.K. and English suppresses other languages and endangers their existence while Japanese is only one official language in Japan. To be honest, I was not interested in the U.K. at first, but gradually, I got interested in those differences between Japan and Britain. In addition, I could get many interesting information or opinions in this class. I liked our discussions about promoting minority languages especially. Our classmates were really creative, so I want the governments to introduce those solutions in fact. Anyway, I enjoyed this class.

Minority Languages of the UK

Minority Languages

As you know, English is a dominant language in the UK. English is very strong and it shortens the number of other language speakers. There are some languages in Britain such as Welsh, Scots and Gaelic. There used to be Manx and Cornish as well; however, those languages had gone. They were extinct, but also the number of people who speak Welsh, Scots and Gaelic is decreasing. Because English is important and necessary language in Britain, many people give up speaking their minority languages. It means that English suppresses those languages. In this posting, I want to write especially about Welsh, because I was interested in the long place name that our teacher told us. I also want to suggest some solutions to protect minority languages.

Welsh
First, I want to write about Welsh. According to The Welsh Language Board, 21.7 % of Welsh people could speak Welsh in 2004. It means about 611,000 of Welsh people could speak Welsh. After Wales and England were merged in 1536, English became a common language in Wales. Speaking Wales in schools was banned, and Welsh was discriminated. Therefore, the number of people who speak Welsh kept decreasing. However, people started to protect this language from 20th century. More and more people speak Welsh recently because of the education and TV programs. Elementary and Junior high schools in Wales started to teach Welsh again, and some TV programs like BBC Wales or ITB Wales which use Welsh started to be broadcasted. While people in South part of Wales do not speak Welsh so much, people in middle or North part of Wales speak it in daily lives. If you are interested in Welsh, click here and study Welsh. You can find English-Welsh dictionary in the site.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Next, I want to write about the second longest place name in the world. The longest place name in the world is officially called "Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu" in New Zealand. People call it "Taumata" though. The second longest place name is in Wales. As you can see the top picture of this posting , the place is called "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch". Originally, this place was called "Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll" until 19 th century, but the name became longer to attract tourists. In order to protect the language and culture, Wales could have needed to attract people in some way. The handout that we were given in the class explains the meaning of this place name as "The church of St Mary in the hollow of write hazel near the rapid whirlpool by the church of St Tysilio of the red cave". People who want to move to Wales take an examination whether they can pronounce this long place name correctly though Welsh people call the place "Llanfair PG" in short; however, this pronunciation examination could be the good first step for people who are interested in Wales to speak Walsh. While pronouncing Maori words is quite easy because they are similar to pronouncing Roman alphabets, pronouncing Wales is difficult because the rule of how to pronounce are complicated. According to the rule, it may be pronounced like "Lanvair pulgwingil gogerahuwarandroubl lantisilio gogogoho" . Still, I do not have confidence. If you want to learn Welsh pronunciation, click here or here(Japanese site).
Promotion

Finally, I want to describe how to revive minority languages. There are many ways to promote them as my classmates discussed in the class. Making TV or radio programs, newspaper, web sites, songs, video games and books are very good ideas, because everyone would be interested in and see or hear them. Also, making opportunity to communicate with minority language speakers is nice for people who cannot speak that language; for instance, people can experience enjoying and studying the language at the same time through joining clubs or parties. It is important to enjoy studying, but also, the government sometimes should be strict to protect the language; for instance, making examination to get citizenship, people who cannot speak those language cannot get credit and so on. It is sad thing that the language dies because it is like the culture dies. Therefore, people must work hard to preserve minority languages.

Opinion

English is convenient to communicate, but it is too strong and endangers other languages. It is sad thing that the languages die because it is like cultures disappear. Fortunately, the situation is getting better in Wales, but Welsh government must promote the language more. I also think that the other minority languages need such promoting activities. I want them to use the ways that I suggested in this essay.

Reference
wikipedia
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%82%BA%E8%AA%9E

Storry, M. and Childs, P. (2007) British Cultural Identities. (3rd Ed.) Routledge.

Roedean School

There are girls’ schools in Britain, such as Cheltenham, Roedean, Wycombe Abbey, and Benenden. All of those schools are independent schools. Independent school is a kind of private school, but it financially doesn't depend on the government or the local government, and it runs the school by the profit from the school fee or donation. Especially, I would like to introduce you about Roedean School, because I found the interesting information about the summer program for students all over the world, so I was interested in this school.

Basic information
First of all, I want to write about basic information. It was founded in 1885. It is located in Roedean village, Brighton and Hove, England. People can see the sea from there. The school fees are between £4,550 and £9,750 per term because the fees depend on students. If a student is boarding, it costs much more than day students. There are many attractive facilities in this school, like a theater that the capacity is 320 people, a heated swimming pool, and a chapel. Pupils from 3 years old to 18 years old can go to the school. Click here to see the official site of Roedean School.

School policies

Next, I want to write about school policies. There are many policies in this school; for example, anti-bullying, smoking,and alcohol policies. Students must not bully others, smoke in the cumpus, or bring the alcohol into the school. If students break the rules, they are punished by the school. The punishments depend on the rules, but one punishment is being sent to their parents' houses. Not only students but also teachers or visitors have to agree with the policies, like "smoke in only designated smoking area in the campus" . What I was impressed was the "bihavior policy". According to the policy, students must be punctual and polite, like "Students to walk sensibly round the school and leave their bags in designated areas" or " Prepare diaries to be kept up to date". Click here if you want to see other policies. Because Roedean School is a popular girls' school, rules must be strict and make great students.

Summer program
Finally, I want to explain a summer program. What I was interested in the school was the summer program for students all over the world. Of course Japanese students can join the program if they can read and write simple English. They have English classes there, but this program is not only studying. Because Roedean is famous for sports, students can learn sports there. They can learn sports hard or they can enjoy with students from all over the world. They can choose sports from many alternatives like tennis, soccer, golf, horse riding, or dance. After school, many activities such as watching a film, disco, and karaoke, are held every day. On Saturday and Sunday, you can go London and Oxford for sightseeing. During summer vacation, the school is coeducation (boys and girls are mixed in the school), so boys can also join the program. During the program, they stay at the dormitory and have 3 meals there every day. The cost is a little bit expensive. It costs 523,000 yen for staying 2 weeks; however, it will be a great opportunity to learn English and sports at the one of the most popular schools in England.

Opinion

As I write, Roedean School is popular and students can be sensible grown-ups if we can get education here. Students can also get good physical education here. It is true that the school expenses are really high and the rules are strict for students, but this school must make students cleverer and more sensible. I strongly think that this school is worth paying expensive school fees. If I were younger and richer, I could join the summer program!

Reference
Global Edu Tour
http://www.edutour.jp/visit/plan_12.html (Japanese site)
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roedean_School

Oxbridge

There are two famous and old universities in Britain. One is the University of Oxford and the other is the University of Cambridge. These Universities are collectively called Oxbridge. Both of them belong to ancient universities. I would like to write about those universities from now.

History

First, I want to write about history. The University of Oxford was built in 11th century. Oxford University is the oldest university of any universities exist in English spoken countries. In 1209, some of scholars in Oxford moved to Cambridge, and Cambridge University was formed by them. In 2009. the University of Cambridge celebrated the 800th anniversary. Many events were held in the year; dance, music, art, and so on. Many students or clubs performed and entertained other people. Click here, and you can find many events held in the university. If you want to know more details about the history of the University of Cambridge, click here.

Colleges
Next, I want to write about colleges. There are many colleges in both Oxford and Cambridge; for example, Christ Church, Brase nose College, Harris Manchester College (Oxford), Darwin College, Clare College, and Churchill College(Cambridge). Please click here if you want to know all of colleges. According to the official web site of the University of Oxford, there are 38 independent colleges in the University of Oxford. Also, there are 31 colleges in the University of Cambridge according to the official site of the University of Cambridge.

I wrote about two famous universities in the U.K. and I was amazed that so many events were held in Cambridge University last year. There are so many students in these universities, so the area is huge. It might be because there are fewer universities in Britain. I cannot imagine the scale!

Class

There is a class system in Britain; Upper Class, Upper Middle Class, Middle Class, Lower Middle Class, Upper Working Class, Lower Working Class, and Under Class. This is complicated a little bit, but it is not so important recently. Although the classes are determined by their ancestors, they can change their classes if they can get qualified jobs or marry different class people. However, some people still claim that class system exists. I would like to write about the characteristics of each class.

Upper Class
Upper class people are very rich. Upper Class includes Loyal Family, aristocrats, and politicians. Some of them have titles such as Duke, Marquess, Lord, or Lady. They have good educations and can get great jobs. Children go to prestigious public schools, such as Westminster School, Eton College, or Ampleforth College. They read tabloids as a newspaper, and have good knowledge. They support Conservative Party. They greet formally, like "How do you do?". Although it sounds like they are intelligent, they also play sports. The major sport they do is called polo.

Middle Class
They are not so rich, but still get enough incomes. Middle Class includes teachers, business people, shop owners. They drink wines for alcohol beverage. They also tend to support Conservative Party.
(Upper Middle Class )
Upper Middle class people are also rich. Upper Middle Class includes lawyers, doctors, and dentists. They are well educated professionals, and get great incomes. They are still respectable people.
(Lower Middle Class )
Lower Middle Class includes office workers. Their bosses or supervisors are often Middle or Upper Middle Class people.

Working Class
If people are skilled, they can be electricians, engineers, carpenters, or plumbers. If people are unskilled, they can be help skilled Working Class people, labourers, cleaners, porters, or dish washer. They are not well educated, but can get such jobs. They read broadsheets as newspaper. They drink beer, gin or such kinds of alcohol beverages. The major sport they play is football. They support Labour Party.

Under class
They don't have jobs, so they are extremely poor. They may not have even their houses. I guess that people live in stations or commit crimes like robbing or shoplifting.


There is a huge difference between Upper Class and Under Class people. I feel weird about this class system, because there are few classes in Japan. We don't distinguish people by their occupations. It's British original culture, and it was interesting to learn social class system.


Reference
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_class
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_class

Location

I would like to explain basic information of the location.

First, I want to write about the longitude and the latitude. The United Kingdom located in the Northern from Japan. The longitude of the London is 0° and the latitude is 51゜N. On the other hand, the longitude of Tokyo is 139゜east and the latitude is 35゜N. Click here to see the world map. Therefore, the daytime in winter in the UK is shorter than that of Japan, and the daytime in summer in the UK is longer than that of Japan. Second, I would like to describe the size. The size of the UK is about 244,820 square kilometers, and the size of Japan is about 377,835 square kilometers. Third, I want to write about time difference. Japan is 1.5 times as large as the UK. The time difference is 9 hours between Japan and the UK. When it is 1:00 p.m. in Japan, it is 4:00 a.m. of the same day in the UK.

Next, I would like to tell about the countries that people can go from London by train called Eurostar. By using Eurostar, they can go to Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, or many other EU countries from London. Click here to see information of Eurostar. You can go to Paris from 59 euros and it takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. You can go to Brussels also from 59 euros and it takes about 1 hour and 51 minutes. You can go to Amsterdam from 89 euros and it takes about 5 hours and 5 minutes.

It sounds nice that you can travel many countries by using train. I want to travel EU countries by riding Eurostar someday.

England

I don't know much about England, but I know that fish and chips is popular food in England. Fish and chips is fried fish and fried chipped potatoes. English tea is also famous. English people enjoy afternoon tea. It doesn't mean just drinking tea but it means drinking tea and having some sweets or cakes. I have heard that some schools in England have tea break time during classes. I want to eat fish and chips and drink English tea with some cakes!