Question 3

The most unfriendly city in the USA is the 'City of Angels'.http://www.koreatimes.com/article/639616

Question 1

The sudden dip of the graph shows the significance of 9/11 to the United States. After 2001, it became much harder to have oversea products because security was very strict and the US was afraid of terrorist attacks so oversea arrivals went down right after 9/11 but went continued to rise after that event. Statistics can help explain the significance of historical events because if we find the statistics on a graph for a certain year, we can figure out and research a specific event that occured in that country that made their statistics rise. A specific example is for children per woman because many African countries were at the top since the men would migrate to different woman and have sexual relations with them, so many children were born.

Language Interview

Andrew Beard

Mr.Wojewodski

Honors Human Geography

1/9/11

My Interview

            For my interview, I decided to interview a girl named Renee L’Altrelli. She is currently a sophomore here at John Carroll and she was born in Maryland. Her primary language is Spanish and I interviewed her to find out how hard it was for her to transition to English from Spanish. I also wanted to find out how her experienced has differed in America since she speaks another language than English and if her lifestyles have changed. It was a great experience to interview her and I also thank her for taking part and putting her time into this project.

Q: How difficult was it for you to learn English?

A: I had a few challenges like learning slang and words that can have two meanings, also words that you have to rhyme together. It was definitely a big change for me and it took me a while to really get the hang of speaking English. I knew I had to learn English in order to live in the United States and I could not give up learning English because I knew I would not fit in correctly.

Q: Did you want to learn English at all?

A: I wanted to learn English because it is something that all countries use for business and it is something that I find would be helpful for the future.

Q: Do you still speak your primary language to your family?

A: No we mostly try and try to speak as much English as possible but sometimes we break into Spanish.

Q: Do you like living in the US so far, or were you born here?

A: I have enjoyed living in America so far, and I am trying to get used to all of the technology and all.  I was born here in Maryland but have been moving all around since I was 3 years old.

Q: How has your lifestyle changed?

A: My lifestyle has changed by the clothing styles are different here and having to make new friends and trying to get used to all of these different areas in Maryland

Q: How hard is it to learn your subjects in English?

A: It is hard for me because they teach differently and they have more requirements for assignments. Also, a lot of times I do not know what some words mean, so I try to ask people next to me.

Q: What is your native language and does your family speak it at home?

A: My native language is Spanish because I grew up speaking it with my family, but for now we speak English as much as possible at home because we want to learn new words, and sometimes we will break into Spanish depending on the conversation.

Q: What is your favorite thing about living in the United States so far?

A: My favorite thing is how all the stores and such are close so we don’t have to travel far, and all of the American food is incredible. There are also a lot of fun things to do here and there is always something going on during the weekends.

Q: What do you like least about living here?

A: How people are always in a rush here, also that it is super cold here compared to Mexico, so now I have to buy a new wardrobe of clothing. It is also much harder to fit in than in Mexico and a lot of things are very expensive, especially clothes.

Q: How hard it to make friends since English is your second language?

A: It is hard because sometimes I don’t know what the easiest word can mean, and then I will ask them, and then they make fun of me for it because they think I am stupid, so I feel out of place sometimes.

Q: Do you know other students who share your first language?

A: I don’t know anybody else here who speaks it, but it would be very interesting to find someone who speaks Spanish so we could communicate together and be friends.

Q: How are high school students here different from those in your native Country?

A: High school is different here because in Mexico I went to an international school so they were a bit more ahead there, also I feel like people do not understand me a lot because I have had experiences there that people will probably never experience here, for example dead people lying on the street, and tons of drugs.  You make friends with people that you can connect with, and here there really isn't anyone here like that.

Journal Entry on my visit to Sweden

Dear Journal,
I have just taken a trip to Sweden over the Christmas break to see the lifestlye of Swedish people. I went in a student exchange program and I was paired up with a young boy named Sven Johansson. When I first got to the country by airplane, I noticed how beautiful the wildlife was and I thought to myself that this was going to be a great time. The Johansson family picked me up and took me to their home just outside of Stockholm, the country's capital. The family's house was relatively large, and I concluded that they were a middle-class family. The family mostly spoke Swedish, but Sven spoke a little English since he was currently learning English at his school. I could pick up his English just enough to know that his dad worked in Stockholm at a very large company called Ericsson. I could tell he was a very smart guy since he was doing work at his desk. Sven told me his mom was a math teacher at his school and it was very convienent for him to go home each day since his mom could drive him home. Sven said he went to a primary school because he was fourteen years old and they called it "grundskola". He was currently on break, too and he had to go back in early January. After all the conversations I had with Sven, his mom prepared an excellent dish for dinner called palt. Palt is a traditional dish in Sweden and consists of dumplings filled with pork. They also had fresh baked bread, which was excellent. The whole meal was delicious, and it felt good to eat something different! At that point, I could not wait for dessert! The dessert was also excellent, and it was called ostkaka. It was a traditional cheesecake in Sweden, and it tasted different from American cheesecake. Since it was Sunday, I had a chance to go to school with Sven tomorrow. Sven's school was very nice and most of his classes were similar to the ones I am taking now at my school. He is in the ninth grade like me and he technically graduates after this year. During that week, my exchange students and I went sight seeing in Stockholm and we also visited neaby countries including Denmark and Norway. The Johanssons even took me sking in the mountains of Sweden, located in the north. One thing that stood out the entire trip was that it was extremely cold the entire time and I had to wear multiple layers the whole time. I would definitely come back to Sweden again later in my life since it was so beautiful and I was amazed at how clean the counry really was! It also snowed a couple days I was there, and it was really exciting to see the snow pile up! It was also dark for most of the days I was there, and they said they only saw about 6 hours of daylight in late December. It was just a great overall time for me and I was very fortunate to have a family like the Johanssons take care of me during those two weeks. I was actually upset to leave Sweden on the last day because I knew I would be leaving behind so many memories behind on that famous trip.

Sources- http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page for all pictures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Mexico Project

My topic was Undocuented Workers in the SouthWest United States.  The people in my group are Brenden H, Konnor D., Megan G., Erika L., and me.

My Country

My country is Brazil

Bibliography

References

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(2010, Mar. 26). In POP MUSIC BRAZIL 2010- MARIO BROZ. Retrieved Nov. 28, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaeFvtd9Tcs

Central Intelligence Agency, (2010, Nov. 9). In Brazil. Retrieved Nov. 28, 2010, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/br.html

Corrosion Doctors, (n.d.). In Corrosion ib Brazil. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2010, from http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/AtmCorros/mapBrazil.htm

Jirage, R. (n.d.). In Traditional Brazilian Clothing. Retrieved Nov. 22, 2010, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/traditional-brazilian-clothing.html

Portal Brasil, (2010). Retrieved Nov. 28, 2010, from http://www.brasil.gov.br/?set_language=en

Susie 1506, (2010). In Brazilian Baby Names. Retrieved Nov. 21, 2010, from  http://baby.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Brazilian_Baby_Names

Wikimedia Commons, (2010, Sept. 14). In Brasil. Retrieved Nov. 23, 2010, from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Brazil All images from Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, (2010, Nov. 28). In Brazil. Retrieved Nov. 28, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil