The Welfare System and the NHS

We talked about the NHS - the advantages and the drawbacks of the system. How does this compare with the health system in your country?

The Welfare system isn't only about the NHS, it's about providing for those people who are in need because of unemployment, sickness, homelessness and so on. How does this system work in your country? What are the similarities and differences?

The UK as a diverse society

Choose from the list of useful websites to research the history, culture and language of one of the many different ethnic communities in the UK and describe your findings on your blog.

The London Olympics

Answer all the questions on the handout, using complete sentences. Now put those sentences into one or two paragraphs and post this on your blog along with some interesting images to illustrate your text.

The British Media - TV and Newspapers

What are the top 3 news stories on the following news channels today?

• BBC News
• ITN news
• Channel 4 News

What is the top story in the following newspapers online today?

• The Guardian
• The Sun
• The Daily Mirror

Choose one story, either from a news channel or a newspaper, make notes and write a short summary on your blog.

CRIME and PUNISHMENT

The riots last summer in London and other major cities shocked everyone.]

Your task this week is to comment on what you think were the reasons behind last summer's riots  and suggest suitable punishments for the rioters, bearing in mind that some of them were quite young and others hadn't been in trouble before.

Reflection on team work activities

Write your comments about the team work activities from last week and this week. What have you learnt and what do you think you have achieved?

Welsh Assembly

The Welsh Assembly is the Welsh equivalent of the UK parliament in Westminster. The building is called the 'Senedd' and is situated in Cardiff Bay. We will be visiting it next week. You should be able to find answers to most of the questions on http://www.assemblywales.org/ . Write all your answers on your blog. Some questions you will not be able to answer until the visit, so these can be left until next week.

Parliament and Government

What do you know about the UK parliament. For example, where is it? What goes on there? What famous landmark is associated with it? There are two "Houses" in the UK parliament - what are they called? Write about the role of the parliament. See http://www.parliament.uk/.
What is an MP and what does he/she do?

Name the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister - which political parties do they represent?

The European Union

This is a big topic, so we are just going to briefly discuss some aspects. The classroom tasks will give you a better understanding, but you will have to do some research for your blogs. You may have heard on the news about the crisis in the eurozone, so on your blog write briefly about one of the countries most affected and what measures are being taken.

Education

Following the classroom discussion, use your notes and your own experience to write about the differences between the system in your country and the UK. Try to find more references sources and include these in your blog.

The Four Nations

This lesson we will discuss the different characteristics of the 4 nations of Britain such as language, identifying symbols and so on.
Useful links:
http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street/four-nations

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/UK.html

Using the internet as a source and your notes from the class discussion, write a few short paragraphs to describe the differences between the four nations of the UK. Make your blogs colourful and interesting by uploading images too.

Hi Class!

Welcome to this module - I hope you enjoy blogging and I look forward to reading your blogs!