Wales

Hello!
Today I am going to talk about Wales. I am mainly going to write about the history of the country, and how it is to live there. Afterwards I am going to tell you some fun facts.

The reason behind the name of the country, "Wales", is the Roman empire. It is a variation on a common word used hundreds of years ago by the Anglo Saxons to mean foreigners or outsiders.  It was derived from the name of the celtric tribe, and the people who immigrated used the name Wealas when they were talking about the lands.

Wales as a country began with Henry VIII. He unites Wales with the rest of Britain in 1536. Before that Wales had been a collection of independent lordships and kingdoms. It is believed that there has been inhabited by humans even before the last ice age, in year 250,000 BC. 


The government in Wales is made up of Assembly Ministers from elected members, and it is headed by the First Minister. The government consists of the First Minister, Welsch ministers, The Counsel General, and deputy ministers. They are all supported by civil servants who are working across devolved areas that include public life such as education, health, and environment.
The Welsch education system is different from the rest of Britain. The education in wales is compulsory between the ages of 5 to 16. There are about 19.000 schools, offering free education to more than 470.000 students. Also, another 65.000 students are in vocational training in further education systems.  

One of the traditional foods in Wales, is the Welch cawl. Cawl is a traditional Welsh stew and depending on your location in Wales, it will be made in many ways. On the coast you will get seafood cawl, where as if you are inland or up in the hills you will get served lamb or mutton cawl. Something that is very typical Wales, is the nature landscape and the Welch language. The landscape consists of green fields, trees, water and mountains. When i think about Wales, I picture this: 

The language is quite strange, and there is not many people who understand it. The vocabulary draws mainly from original Brythonic words, such as (wy - egg and carreg - stone). Also, it loans from Latin, with words like (ffenestr - window and gwin - wine). Of course, it consists of the english vocabulary as well (silff - shelf and goat - gate). The Welch language has been spoken in Wales all through history, and in 1911 it had become a minority language. The supporting of the language grew during the second half of the 20th century.

Fun facts

1.Wales is believed to have more costless per square mile than anywhere else in the world.
2. The population of sheep is four times greater than the population of humans.
3. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch is the name of a town in Wales, and it is believed to be the longest city name in the world.

I believe the biggest news in Wales right now is that Ole Gunnar Solskjær will be the new football coach for the team Cardiff in Premier League.

http://www.wales.com/en/content/cms/english/live/education_system/education_system.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language

English as a subject

Hello!

Today I am going to write about my English skills. Yeey! :D


This is the task; Write a blog post about what you find difficult or challenging with English as a subject, and what you like about it. Present what you consider your strength in the subject is, and what you need to focus more on when it comes to developing your English skills. 

What I find the most difficult about english, is speaking it. When I think about how to speak it it in my head I sound like a professional, but when I actually talk, it does not come out the way I want it to.

My favorite thing about it, is that you can talk to and understand everyone who also speaks it around the globe. I think it is definitely an advantage to be good at it.

Personally, I think my strength is that I feel like I understand almost everything. I may not be able to translate everything into Norwegian, but that is because I sometimes find it hard to find the right words. English consists of many more words than norwegian does, which makes it hard sometimes. I have no problem watching an English film or video and understanding it. Sometimes when I am with other people I even have to translate for them. :O

I think I need to focus more on is just speaking it in general.

Love, Mari.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

Finally, I decided to start reading my book, The Fault In Our Starts, as I have been looking forward to this for a long time. Sadly, I am not one of those persons who can easily sit down and read a book. Even if everyone is telling me it is the greatest book ever and I would be a complete fool not to.

Without giving away any spoilers, I will tell you what has happened in the book so far. 

In the beginning, you learn that the main character, Hazel Grace, has cancer. She is getting depressed about it, so both her mom and doctor decides it would be best for her to join a support group. Every wednesday, Hazel and a couple other teenagers meet in a basement of a church. When they are there they talk about their diseases, and how they are there for each other. One day, wednesday to be exact, there was a new boy in the group named Augustus. Isaac, one of the members who were already there, brought him as moral support. Augustus could not stop staring at Hazel, something she turned into a staring contest. After the group session was over, they started talking. Hazel ended up going over to his house for a movie. Augustus meant it was important that she watched it straight away, and preferably over at his house. 

Here is a description of the two main characters.

Hazel Grace: She is 17 years old, and lives with her mom. She has lung cancer, so she has to walk around with a cannula (It gives her oxygen so it is easier for her to breathe). According to her, cancer is only a side effect of dying. She has short brown hair and green eyes. Because of the treatment, she describers herself as having chipmunk cheeks. The story is told through Hazels perspective. 

Augustus: He is a good-looking 17 year old boy with dark hair. When he was younger he had cancer as well. Unfortunately he had in his leg so he had to amputate. He lives with his family, which consists of two sisters, mom, and dad. One of his biggest fears is oblivion, as he wants to be known for doing something good in the world. 

I hope this inspired you to read the book as well! I already recommend it, even though I have only read about 50 pages. 

Hello readers!

In english class we are learning about literature, which means we have to read a novel. We could choose which ever novel we wanted, as long as it was in english.

I chose "The Fault In Our Stars", by John Green. I have had very many recommendations to read this, so it was an easy choice for me. I am really exited about this book, even though I normally wouldn't read a book like this... or even a book at all. :)

My expectations are actually quite high. I am expecting it to be one of the saddest books I will ever read.

Wish me luck!

Here is a picture of the book.

Welcome!

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog. This is the first entry of my english blog. I will mostly post things related to school, seen as that is what this blog is for. Just take a quick look to the right, and you will find my bio. I am 16 years of age, and live in Norway. That means that i am currently in My interests are dancing, music, and friends.