Welcome back to
university! This is my first post for SUK3 and because we are discussing the
European Union during this term, my first post concerns this topic. As we have
to write an academic paper for part 2, I now present you my five possible
topics:
1) Loss of cultural identity
By this time, every one of us has heard the motto of the EU at least
once: “United in diversity”. It indicates that European citizens have
come together, in the form of the EU, to work for peace and prosperity, while
at the same time maintain a member state’s many different cultures, traditions
and languages. In my opinion, however, there is one problem: In terms of open
boarders within the European Union migration is playing an increasingly
important role. People from different member countries are in a close contact
to each other. Therefore more and more cultures are going to meld together. So
the first question that came to my mind is if there will be only one European
culture one day?
2) Multilingualism in the EU
I have always envied people who were grown up bilingual. It takes you a
long time to master a foreign language and sometimes you only see the effort
you put into your language learning. Whereas someone who was raised bilingual has
advantages without really work on it. As I mentioned above migration is a
crucial topic for the EU and therefore is worth writing a paper about it.
3) YELL2 Young Europeans
Love Languages
“YELL2 promotes the improvement of language learning and encourages
creative teaching to inspire and motivate language learning.” (source: European
Commission) YELL 2 stands for Young European Love Languages 2 and it is a
network of European organizations which consists of three partners from
Germany, UK and Turkey. The institution also gives individuals the chance to
actively participate in the project by signing up in a network and educators have
the opportunity to share their own best practices with others. I really like
the idea of this establishment, because the ability of speaking foreign
languages is more than just a boost to your CV or handy for travelling. It also
improves the functionality of your brain!
4) Lifelong Learning
Programme
I am convinced that everyone has heard about Erasmus but do you know
that this is just a sub-programme of an European initiative called “Lifelong
Learning Programme”? Not only students have the chance to spend some time abroad,
but also pupils, people who are participating in vocational and adult
education. The reason why this is a topic worth writing about is the fact, that
it enables people at all stages of their lives to take part in significant
learning experiences, as well as helping to develop the education and training
sector across Europe.
5) Unemployment rate
As a future worker I am often concerned about the increasing
unemployment rate in the EU. Will I find a job as a translator when I have
finished university? What should I do not get a job? The average unemployment
rate of the EU amounts to 10 % which is very high. Although the number of
unemployed people has also risen in Austria, it is an outstanding fact that our
country has the lowest rate compared to all other member states. So how are our
job prospects going to be in the future? What does the EU do to combat this
problem? These are just a few question that I would try to answer with this
paper.
