Why Italy should remain an EU member state

Original text

In times of the current financial crisis, numerous EU member states are debating on whether or not it would be a wise decision to leave the European Union. Italy, one of the countries most strongly affected by the recession, still appears to be in favour of remaining within the EU. The number of problems Italy currently has to solve, such as the high unemployment rate, have not changed the mind of Italy’s population because the majority of Italy’s nationals are still supporters of the European Union. Only a miniscule number of people have taken a stand against the EU-membership. This essay will discuss why the advantages of Italy’s EU membership outweigh the disadvantages and show, on the basis of  Italy’s current economic situation, why Italy should decide against leaving the EU.
     Since Italy’s joining in 1952, and even before, the relationship between Italy and the EU member states has always been a very strong one, thanks to Italy’s political leaders. Alcide De Gasperi was Italy’s first Prime Minister after abandoning the monarchy in 1861. In De Gasperi’s period of governance, Italy joined the NATO, was part of the American Marshall Plan and experienced an economic boom. He was also one of the founding members of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) alongside Jean Monnet, Robert Schumann and Konrad Adenauer which leads to establishing the European Union as known today. In the past as well as today, the Italian population admires De Gasperi for everything he had done for the country and shares his opinion of a united Europe and his dream of democracy, integration and political and economic cooperation.

     Italy is one of the EU member states most strongly affected by various financial and social problems. The global financial crisis struck in Italy in 2009 and economic growth has been almost non-existent ever since. The youth unemployment rate has exceeded 40% and corporate debts have also reached a very high level. General high indebtedness causes the state to sell public property for example schools, palaces and hospitals.  The European Union has established the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) and the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility), two rescue funds which are supposed to help Italy to repay its debts. Without the EU’s help Italy would most presumably drown in debt which would ultimately lead to a collapse of the entire country.
     Due to the current disastrous situation in Africa, boatloads of migrants pour into Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island closer to North Africa than to Italy itself. An estimated 30,100 immigrants reached the island between January and September this year and is therefore overloaded with migrants. According to international law, refugees who flee from persecution or war are granted asylum, but Lampedusa cannot cope with this enormous influx of migrants anymore. In order to address this problem  the Italian government has called on the European Union to support Italy with this critical issue. The country receives(or received?) 12.12% of the total EU budget for migration-related issues, making Italy second only to Spain. Moreover, Italy will also be given another €6.9 billion by the European Social Fund. Having been to Lampedusa in October, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has announced that Lampedusa would be granted with an additional amount of money to help Italy to improve the standards at its immigrant holding centers. If the European Union left this problem to its member state, Italy would be, without doubt, unable to deal with the rapidly growing number of immigrants that seek help in Lampedusa.

Feedback summary

Katrin and Orsolya are the two students who were looking at our text. All in all, we received a very positive feedback. They especially liked our introduction, as it is logically structured and contains all the important information. However, the two noticed that there are some unclear referents in our essay which Lisa, Sandra and I have overlooked. Furthermore, Katrin and Orsolya made helpful recommendations for improving our text, such as stronger collocations. We consider Katrin’s and Orsolya’s suggestions as very useful and we included all of them in our final version.

Having received the feedback, we were going through the list of questions posted on the WBW and applied them to our own text. Although we were very satisfied with our overall essay, some individual paragraphs definitely needed improvement. We had to ensure that each paragraph contains an introducing and a conclusion sentence and talks about a new argument. Another important point that we looked at is that we tended to generalise and to include some vague statements.

Final version of our text

by Sandra Lang, Vanessa Steinkogler and Lisa Vido
In times of the current financial crisis, numerous EU member states are debating on whether or not it would be a wise decision to leave the European Union. Italy, one of the countries most strongly affected by the recession, still appears to be in favour of remaining in the EU. The number of problems Italy currently has to solve, such as the high unemployment rate, has not changed the mind of Italy’s population, as the majority of Italy’s nationals are still supporters of the European Union. Only a miniscule number of people have taken a stand against the EU-membership. This essay will discuss why the advantages of Italy's EU membership outweigh the disadvantages and will show, on the basis of Italy's current economic situation and past political decisions, why Italy should decide against leaving the EU.

Since Italy’s accession to the European Union in 1952, and even before, the relationship between Italy and the EU member states has always been a very strong one. Alcide De Gasperi was Italy’s first Prime Minister after abandoning the monarchy in 1861. In De Gasperi’s period of governance, Italy joined the NATO, was part of the American Marshall Plan and experienced an economic boom. He was also one of the founding members of the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) alongside Jean Monnet, Robert Schumann and Konrad Adenauer. In addition, the founding of the ECSC led to the establishment of the European Union as known today. In the past as well as today, the Italian population has admired De Gasperi for everything he has done for the country and still shares his opinion of a united Europe and his dream of democracy, integration and political as well as economic cooperation.

After the decision to join the EU has been finalised, Italy has enjoyed many advantages regarding economic, social and financial issues. With the introduction of the euro in 2002 and the joining of the Schengen Area, Italian citizens were enabled to travel, work or live in all EU member states due to the open borders. Moreover, import and export was facilitated immensely between the member countries that joined Schengen. Another very beneficial advantage that was brought about by joining the EU concerns education. Students were given the opportunity to take part in an exchange year with the help of organisations such as Erasmus. Being part of the EU has provided countless obvious benefits, but also in times of the financial crisis or the situation in Lampedusa the EU is a reliable source of assistance.

Italy is one of the EU member states most strongly affected by various financial and social problems. The global financial crisis struck Italy in 2009 and economic growth has been almost non-existent ever since. The youth unemployment rate has exceeded 40% and corporate debts have also reached an enormously high level. General high indebtedness causes the state to sell public property such as schools, palaces and hospitals.  The European Union has established the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) and the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility), two rescue funds which are supposed to help Italy to repay its debts. Without the EU’s help Italy would most presumably drown in debt which would ultimately lead to a collapse of the entire country.

Due to the current disastrous situation in Africa, boatloads of migrants pour into Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island closer to North Africa than to Italy itself. An estimated 30,100 immigrants reached Lampedusa between January and September this year. The island cannot cope with this enormous influx of migrants anymore and in order to address this problem, the Italian government has called on the European Union to support Italy. The country receives 12.12% of the total EU budget for migration-related issues. Moreover, Italy will also be given another €6.9 billion by the European Social Fund. Having been to Lampedusa in October, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has announced that Lampedusa would be granted with an additional amount of money to help Italy to improve the standards at its immigrant holding centres. If the European Union left this problem to its member state, Italy would be, without doubt, unable to deal with the rapidly growing number of immigrants that seek help in Lampedusa.

The critical atmosphere that dominates Italy at the present time undoubtedly complicates life for its nationals. The current problems Italy has to cope with will cause serious damage to Italy and, if unaddressed, they will eventually become insolvable. With the EU’s assistance though, Italy would be able to stabilise the country’s financial and social issues. The overpopulation caused by the massive influx of immigrants as well as the indebtedness could be solved and Italy’s economy would start recovering. Leaving the EU would therefore be an unwise decision that would only exacerbate Italy’s situation and divest Italy of the much needed help to rebuild their country.

[816 words] 


Corrected version of essay

Due to the current financial crisis and the economic problems that arise, numerous EU member states are debating whether or not it would be a wise decision to leave the European Union. Italy, one of the countries most strongly affected by economic problems, still appears to be in favour of remaining in the EU. The number of problems Italy is currently facing, such as the high unemployment rate, has not changed the mind of Italy’s population, as the majority of Italy’s nationals are still supporters of the European Union. Only a minimal number of people has taken a stand against an EU membership. This essay will discuss why the advantages of Italy’s EU membership outweigh the disadvantages and will show, on the basis of Italy’s current economic situation and past political decisions, why Italy should decide against remain in the EU.

     Since being part of the European Union, and even before, the relationship between Italy and the EU member states has always been a very strong one. Alcide De Gasperi was Italy’s first Prime Minister after the government had decided to abandon the monarchy in 1861. In De Gasperi’s period of governance, Italy joined the NATO, was part of the American Marshall Plan and experienced an economic boom. He was also one of the founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) alongside Jean Monnet, Robert Schumann and Konrad Adenauer. The founding of the ECSC led to the establishment of the European Union as we know it today. Italians admire De Gasperi for everything he has done for the country and still share his vision of a united Europe and his dream of democracy, integration and political as well as economic cooperation.

After establishing the EU, Italy has enjoyed numerous advantages regarding economic, social and financial issues. With the introduction of the euro in 2002 and in joining the Schengen Area, Italian citizens were able to travel, work and live in all EU member states thanks to the open borders. University students now have the opportunity to take part in exchanges with the help of organisations such as Erasmus. Import and export was facilitated immensely between the member countries that joined Schengen. Another very beneficial advantage that was brought about by joining the EU, concerns education. Being part of the EU has provided countless obvious benefits. Since the financial crisis and the worse situation in Lampedusa, the EU has become an especially helpful source of assistance.
           Italy is one of the EU member states most strongly affected by various financial and social problems. The global financial crisis struck Italy in 2009 and economic growth has been almost non-existent ever since. The youth unemployment rate has exceeded 40% and corporate debts have also reached an enormously high level. National debt caused the state to sell public property such as schools, palaces and hospitals. The European Union has established the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), two rescue funds to help Italy repay its debts. Without the EU’s help, Italy would most presumably drown in debt which would ultimately lead to the collapse of the entire country.

Another example in favour of staying an EU member is the aid concerning migrant policy. Due to the hard living circumstances in Africa, boatloads of migrants are pouring into Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island closer to North Africa than to Italy itself. An estimated 30,100 immigrants reached Lampedusa between January and September this year. The island cannot cope with this enormous influx of migrants anymore and in order to address this problem, the Italian government has called on the European Union for support. Subsequently Italy had received 12.12% of the total EU budget for migration-related issues. In addition to that, Italy will also be given another €6.9 billion by the European Social Fund. After having been to Lampedusa in October, José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has announced that Lampedusa will be granted additional funds to help Italy to improve the standards at its immigrant holding centers. If the European Union left this problem to Italy, the country would be, without doubt, unable to deal with the rapidly growing number of immigrants that seek help in Lampedusa.

The tense atmosphere caused by the financial crisis that dominates Italy at the present time, undoubtedly complicates life for its nationals. The current problems Italy has to cope with could cause serious damage to Italy and, if unaddressed, they will eventually become irresolvable. With the EU’s assistance though, Italy will be able to stabilise the country’s financial and social issues. The overpopulation caused by the massive influx of immigrants as well as the debt problem could be solved and Italy’s economy could start recovering. Leaving the EU would therefore be an unwise decision that would only exacerbate Italy’s financial situation and divest Italy of the much needed help to rebuild their country.

 

Academic paper

I have to admit that I neglected my academic paper lately due to some time-dependent problems... Now though, I am going to put some extra effort into this task. I have structured my academic paper “Towards developing minimum standards for intercultural cities” into four parts: introduction, comparison of three member cities, comparison with non-intercultural cities and a conclusion.

Having finished with the structure, I wondered if we had to include subheadings in our paper. It would definitely help to create a clear outline of the text, but the paper is not going to be that long so I don’t know if it’s necessary. Another question that came up concerns the citation format: Is it enough to list all sources at the end of the paper?

A website that I find really helpful in terms of academic language is the “Academic Phrasebank” (http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/introductions.htm). It is divided into several sections, e.g. introduction, conclusion, describing methods or findings, and each topic contains example phrases. Another good idea is searching for parallel texts to use as a sort of writing aid– as we had to do in Textkompetenz. However, your parallel texts should be written by native speakers and taken from reliable sources. Although we are allowed to copy short phrases, be careful not to plagiarise!

Pronunciation diary

Grammar and vocabulary make up a huge part of the studies of a language learner. However, the correct pronunciation is the crucial part of mastering a language. When you are talking with a native speaker, they might not notice the grammar mistakes you make or your limited vocabulary, but they will definitely take notice if your pronunciation is bad. Moreover, if you speak English with a strong foreign accent, native speakers might even have problems understanding you. Before you start improving your pronunciation, though, you should decide which accent you would like to adopt. For learing the British accent, I recommend this site http://www.wikihow.com/Speak-in-a-British-Accent for a detailed step by step explanation and this site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtXcrElq5jM to gain a quick insight into the most essential aspects of British English. I personally like watching interviews of my favourite British actors like Emma Watson. This is like mixing work and pleasure!

In terms of my pronunciation in general, one of the fields I really need to improve is the intonation. When I listened to our record of the Pecha Kucha transcript, it was actually the first time I have ever heard myself speaking a foreign language. I have to admit, that I wasn’t very satisfied with my tone of voice. It sounded like I was reading a awfully boring legislative text and was falling asleep any moment! Except my monotonous pronunciation, I also realised that I tend to end high at the end of a sentence which makes it sound more like a question than a statement. For this reason, I was searching the Internet for useful websites. The two best tips I found are: Firstly, to correct improper intonation, you need to remember to start high and end low. Secondly, listen to natural English conversation through T.V., radio, podcasts, the news, movies, etc. and afterwards recording yourself how you are speaking some of the sentences. This will give you the opportunity to directly compare your pronunciation with the original speech.

In terms of English oral communication, speaking fluently therefore is a formidable challenge for me. However, I think there is one vital characteristic you need to acquire this ability – a characteristic that I’m without doubt lacking: confidence. Emotion is critically important for fluent speech and if you are confident you are able to use your knowledge without hesitation. I don’t think that any of my class mates face the same problem, but whenever I have to talk in English, I’m nervous, worried, and afraid of appearing foolish. Fear of mistakes, fear of other people’s opinions– these destroy English fluency. I know that my difficulty has nothing to do with studying English vocabulary, listening and speaking, but with missing inner strength.

Now that I found out what my main pronunciation weaknesses are, I was able to strategize. Pronunciation is something totally individual and each student has to find their own ways to improve it. However, I think that it would take me a looong time to acquire a credible British accent.

Planning my term in Milan

As I am going to spend the summer term in Milan, it is time that I get things going! With this post I also would like to help all future Erasmus students with my step-by-step plan.

Studying abroad is one of the most challenging and exciting experiences that I probably will encounter as a student. Planning to study abroad can be a little intimidating, so it is a crucial part of the planning process to find the resources and people you will need as you embark on this adventure!

Attend an information event for stays abroad

This is the first step to study abroad! These information events normally take place in October at the main building of the KFU. Learn the basics about program options, available countries and universities, application deadlines, scholarships and financial aid, and much more. This event is also a great opportunity to talk with returning students about their experiences.

Consider your priorities and interests

Would you prefer living in a busy city or in a quiet town? Will you be on a budget while you are abroad? Would you like to live with a host family, in an apartment, or in a dorm? Will you fulfil major or minor requirements while abroad, or will you take general education courses?

These are some of the most important questions you have to ask yourself!

Talk to your abroad adviser

As I decided to take part in the Erasmus programme, I attended one of the three consulting afternoons where you receive detailed explanations for you application. I recommend talking with your abroad adviser (this is Karin Schwach for all Erasmus students) if you have any unresolved issues! It is the best to schedule an appointment with her.

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines

Although Douglas Adams writes in The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by”, deadlines are the most essential thing regarding your Erasmus planning. Check this site http://international.uni-graz.at/en/stud/outgoing/s-out-mprog/erasmus/erasmus-1415/ for all important dates.

Residing abroad

Unfortunately, the university I’m going to attend in Milan doesn’t offer a hall and therefore, I was searching a loooong time find an appropriate place where I can live for five months. Personally, I think it is very helpful to talk to students who have already been in the city you are going to study. One girl gave me the contact data of a woman who lets rooms in Milan. Starting February I’m going to live in a house near “Piazza 6 febbraio” – which is actually my birthday, so I think that’s a good sign!

This is how far I am with my planning by now. I hope this post is helpful for some of you and I wish everyone good luck for your Erasmus applications in January/February! And always remember: A good preparation is half the battle. ;-)