what is St David's Day

What is St David’s day?

There are many festival and events in UK. According to the statistics, there are about 106 local festivals in this country every year. Some of the festivals are very famous in the world such as Christmas Day. Although Britain does not have a unite National Day, However, each nations set up their own National Day. This National Day used to in memory of their Patron saint. In Wales, people have their National Day in the March 1. This National Day begins at 18th century. People miss their Patron saint which called St David. In this festival, people wear their National emblems. The boys are wearing the clothes attach with the leek and the girls are wearing the clothes attach the daffodil. Furthermore, people make the Welsh cakes and eat the cakes in their houses.

Who was St David?

St David was born in the 520 year. He was a gentle man and always helped other people. It is said that the Saxon invasion of Wales in the 7th century. The Welsh put their life to resist aggression. In order to distinguish the Welsh and their enemy, the Patron saint St David tell the Welsh put the leek on their helmet or hat. Finally, he led the people to defeat the Saxons. The Welsh defend their country against the enemy. In the March 1 of the 589, St David passed away. In order to commemorate him, the Welsh set this day as the National Day of the Wales.

Is he special in Wales?

Yes, because he is the Patron saint of the Wales. There are four famous Patron saints in UK. Each province has its own Patron saint. Take an example, England has its own Patron saint which called St George. In Scotland is St. Andrew and in Ireland is St Patrick.

As a missioner, St David treated the Welsh as well as he can. He always helps the Welsh to solve their problems. According to the Christian tradition, Most of the Welsh believe that he is the Patron saint of the Welsh.

Why is the daffodil associated with St David's Day?

People like to put the daffodil on the clothes on the festival because it has a special meaning for the Welsh. The leek and the daffodil are used to distinguish each other in the war. When People see the leek and daffodil, they can remember the war. On other hand, the leek and the daffodil are the emblem of the Welsh.

Employment in Britain

What aspect of an organization deals with employment?

The organization always consider about their employee’s personal capacity. As the employer of the organization, they usually ask their employee have a good education background. They believe a good education background can show someone’s qualification. After 1990s, the UK government begins to carry out the education reform. The elite education begins to change into the public education. Many technology schools change to the university. After the reform, going to university is not a dream. More and more people go to the university and accept an education in the school. As a result of large number of university students, the employment competition is increasing. The employment opportunities are not enough for the people and people who graduated from the university are very hard to find a good employment. At the same time, an undergraduate education is no longer interested the organization. Some of the organizations require the higher education background such as master. Another factor is that many workers do the different work from their major. The organization asks its employee to do the business even their employee is not a business major.

What are some of the key issues in Britain related to employment?

There are several key issues in Britain related to employment. First one is the education background. A good education background helps you easy to find an employment. The second one is the professional background. For example, people who have a science major background are much easier to find a good job than some one major in the liberal art. Some uncommon major will be very welcome to an organization but not the popular major. Take an example, many students major in IT technology and graduate from the university. They are all very skilled in the computers. But the matter is that there are too many IT talents. The requirement for the employment becomes a huge competition. As some one major in chemical analysis, they can easily to find a good employment because there are only a few of students graduated from the school every year. In UK there are a large number of pharmaceutical company and environmental research units. These companies require their employee with a relative professional background. As a consequence of that, people who have an uncommon professional background are very easy to find a good employment in UK.

What must an employer take into considerations when offering employment?

Looking for a job is a very difficult process. People usually sent lots of CV and take a long time to wait the reply of the company. Many companies in UK always put their advertisement on the internet or sent the email to those people interest in their employment. The employment advertisements usually have a respond date or closing date. The advertisement consists of several parts. It has a description of the employment.

People who apply the employment should read the description carefully. When they accept the job, they need to know about the all the elements from the contract. After they read the contract, they can have a deep understanding of the work’s requirement after they read the description. If they feel interesting, they can find the contact information in the end of the advertisement.

What should an employee be aware of before accepting a job?

Before accepting a job, an employee should have a good patient. They have to prepare many CV and write lots of application forms. Good job is hard to find and the competition are very intense.

Employment in Britain

Why did you choose to have a university education?

First, as for me, the university can afford a relative independent environment to the students. Students can arrange their own way to study. They can decide how to study better and work as hard as they can. When they doing their assignments, they have to find out the good way and discover the right answer. At the same time, they can bring out their thinking ability after their finish their study. Second, when I doing the assignment, the tutor asking me to read more and more book. A good assignment needs a relevant reading and good reference. So many people may read as more as book when they were in the university. They gain the reading ability in the university. Third, students are all come from different area. People may learn much different foreign culture when they study together.
In China, more and more people choose a university education because it is very hard to find a good job at the moment. China has a great number of populations. When people finish their education, they seeking job every where. But there are no many enough jobs in the same time. So a high school diploma is not enough today. Many employments ask for a university degree. That is the reason why many people choose to study in the university.
Why did you choose to study in the UK?
UK is a fantastic country. It has the best education level in the world. It has the most famous university in the world such as Cambridge University. Teachers are all very kind and they have the professional teach skill. As for me, I like English and I want to speak fluent English as possible as I can. If I study in the UK, I can learn more English words and speak English every day. It can have me to improve my English. Another reason for me is that the diploma in UK is of good authority. When I finish the study and get the degree, I can gain more chance to find a good job.
What do you expect a university education will do for you?
I think the university can afford more practice opportunity in my course. The university can give their students more opportunity to communicate with other universities. When we begin our course, we can communicate with some one which come from other universities and ask them how they study. How do their teachers teach in the same course?
What do you expect of your life with a university education?
Like what I have talked above, many employments needed a university degree and need the professional skill. I can gain these skill and ability after I accepted the university education. If I find a good employment, I can earn more money and live better. Therefore my life is very closely linked with the employment.
What do you NOT want from your life that has led you to choose a university education?
I choose a university education because I want to gain more ability and learn more knowledge. Time may change my life, but the knowledge that I have learned from the university remains. I need these abilities and the professional skill to work better.
Are you different from those who do not have a university education? How?
Yes, those people who do not have a university education were very hard to find a good employment a live in a hard living condition. They can not find a good work with a university education. They do not have the professional knowledge and skill when they face a professional problem.
How do you imagine your lifestyle to be in 10 years, once you've achieved your academic goals?
Once I have achieved my academic goals, I will arrange my working direction. I will work hard for several years, and then I will become more professional. As the time pass, my ability will have a big improvement. I will live better and better.
How do you imagine your lifestyle in 10 years without an education?
If I seeking the employment without an education. It will very hard for me to find a good job. I need to work hard than those people who have accepted university education. I need to work hard many years to achieve my life goals. Because many work require good education.
Think about employment in your country. What levels of employment are there? Who works in those jobs? Where do you hope to fit in?
In china, there are several levels of employment. High level employment usually requires good education background and professional skills. Different level employment requires different education background. But university education is very necessary at every where. So you can find a good employment if you have a very high level education background. That is the reason why people choose to have a university education. For me, I do not have special requirement. I think if I work hard, every employment will be fine.

Exploring British Newspapers

In this section I do a research on four different newspapers. The first one is The Independent. The second one is Financial Times, the third one is The Guardian and the last one is The Daily Telegraph. These newspapers were all reported on 13 August 2007.

The Guardian is consists of 33 pages, and the top story is an event about murder. Some one has been killed on the motorway. The introduction on page 1 writes as “Motorcyclist shot dead on motorway”. It has a brief description about this event and reader can find this news on page 5. This event takes one fifth on national pages. The reporter is Chair Shaikh. When I compare to other newspaper, I find that different newspaper have different sections. As The Guardian, page 1 to page 3 is ordinary news. Page 4 to page 13 is the national section. Page 14 to page 20 is the international section. Page 21 to page 23 is the financial section. Page 24 is the economic section. Page 25 to page 27 is the comment debate section. Page 28 to page 29 is the reply section. Page 30 to page 31 is the renew section. Page 32 is the weather section.

Look at The Daily Telegraph. The top event on the day is the murder event too. It reported as “Hell’s Angel shot dead riding his bike along motorway”. This news reported at the first page and the writer is Bonnle Malkin. The newspaper consists of 30 pages. Pages 1 are some brief descriptions about top news. Pages 2 to page 12 are some ordinary news. Page 14 to page 16 is the world new section. Page 17 is the big full-page advertisement. Page 18 is the fashion section. It tells people how to buy some good clothes and some useful ways to make their life beauty. Page 19 is very interesting. It is the introduction part, it introduce some good houses in France, put some pictures and introduce good houses. This section tells the readers how to buy a house in France. Page 20 to page 21 is the comments section. Page 22 is the court and social section. Page 23 is the obituaries section. Page 24 to page 25 is the health section. This is different from The Guardian, because The Guardian does not prove this section to the readers. This section proves lots of idea about health issues to the readers. Page 26 is the review section. Page 28 to page 29 is the television and radio section, this section is only provided in The Daily Telegraph too. It shows information about the TV and radio to the readers. Page 30 is the back page and it reports the weather forecast at that day.

The third one I have read is The Independent. The top news on the day is the religious events. The topic is “Amnesty vs. the Catholic Church”. It takes half position of the first page. This is very different from other newspaper. This newspaper is consists of 63 pages. The sport section takes 20 pages. Another different from those newspapers is that it does not have the comment section and it provides the editorial and opinion section to the readers.

The last one I have read is Financial Times. This newspaper is only consists of 14 pages and the top news on the page one is the business news, it proves the financial news. Page 2 to page 4 is the national section. Page 5 to page 8 is the world news. Page 9 is the analysis section and it is different from other newspapers. It provides some good analysis about financial events. Page 10 is the letter section. Page 11 is the comment. Page 12 is the business life section. Page 13 is the art and TV section. Page 14 is the weather section.

Compare to each newspapers, I find that they are all very different. Each newspaper have their own way to report the news but all the newspapers use a few pictures and the writers use lots languages to describe the events. You can use your imagination when you read the words. The comment section always consists of two sections. One is the editorial section, this section express the views of the newspaper. Another section is the letters section. This section provides some opinion from outside world. It is usually different to the newspapers’ opinion. But they are all very useful for us. Compare to these comments. We are not only read the news. After we read the comments, we can find the news behind the news.

Health Issues in Britain

Britain is a highly developed country. Compare to other countries, it has a perfect health care system. With high qualification and high professional knowledge, the health system provides people the best services. In UK, the NHS is the most famous system which operated by the government. This system provides two kinds of the health care system. The first one is the Community-based primary health care. It usually provides the general practitioner and nurse to the patient in the community. Another type is the Hospital-based specialist services, this service provide several doctors and dealing with the serious health problems.
There are a number of factors that seem to play a role in the quality of health care available around Britain.
One of the factors is the region. As we know, all the British citizens may go to see a doctor without any cost, because the National Health Service provide free health service to all the British citizens. So if you are not the local people who live in UK not more than six months, then you have to pay for the health service by yourself. Take an example, there is a limit in the NHS. The NHS medical services are only suitable for the students who attend courses in the United Kingdom for more than six months and their dependents. If you do not belong to this area, then you have to pay for the health service.
Another factor is the allocation of resources. As we know, the good quality of service was depended on the allocation of resources. Take an example, a good hospital should have a decent transport links, it can make their patients easy to access the health services. There is a good example in London, nine hospitals lack good access and it make the patients hard to access the health services (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7283867.stm).

There is another problem in UK. A survey shows that many schools do not get enough support in dealing with their students’ mental problem. People who have the mental problems need more help from the health care system. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7209166.stm)

In UK, government pays more and more attention to help people solve the health problem. Some people who need special help can put notice on the internet and search for help. Take an example. A people who called Rod are unable to live independent. The BBC put a video on the internet and asks people to help him. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/politics/video/156000/nb/156180_16x9_nb.asx?ad=1&ct=50).
From what we discussed, we can make a conclusion that UK has the highly developed health system and it has its own features.

Health Issues in Britain

The public health care system is the main health care system in Britain. It support by the National Health Service, the abbreviation is NHS. It includes two types of the health care system. The first one is the Community-based primary health care. It usually provides the general practitioner and nurse to the patient in the community. Another type is the Hospital-based specialist services, this service provide several doctors and dealing with the serious health problems. There is a limit in the NHS. The NHS medical services are only suitable for the students who attend courses in the United Kingdom for more than six months and their dependents. If you do not belong to this area, then you have to pay for the health service.

Because the doctor only determines the prescription, so you have to buy the medicine by yourself. This is the main different point between Britain and China. If you live in China, after see a doctor, you can have all the medicine and services. Another different point between Britain and China is the book service. When you live in UK, you need to book for a doctor and arrange the time for the service. But in China, you can go to see a doctor in any time.

In my opinion, I prefer the health care system in China. Because when I get sick, I do not have to book for a doctor and wait them come. I can go to the hospital immediately and the doctor will always stay in the hospital and waiting for me. But if I get sick in Britain, I think I may probably book for the service and wait for a long time.

Education in Britain - Homeschooling

When it comes to education, the majority of people believe that education is a lifetime study. As we know, the British education has a long history. It has many advantages, such as tradition and full range. The structure is perfect and the quality of education is the best of the world.

There is a big event happen in 1992. The British government promulgates a decree to the people. This decree regulate that all the multidisciplinary technical colleges renamed University. The university can grant the degree to the students which graduated from the schools and finished all the courses. At the same time, the degree-granting committee has lost its functions. According to their nature and situation of the degree-granting, the university can be divided into different types. At present, there are 90 universities and 123 colleges. Also there are 50 higher education schools.

There are many differences between the university and the college. The university is independent and it can set up different courses as it wants. When the students finish the courses, the university can grant the degree to the students. According to the level of the courses, the degree can be divided into different types, such as bachelor, master and doctorate degrees. The college is smaller than the university. It can provide many courses to the students. It focuses to the quality of the course and pays more attention to the students. When the students graduate from the college, the college will grant the diploma to the students and confirm that they have passed all the examination of the courses.

The British academic year can be divided into three terms. The first term start at September and the second is at January. The third term start at April. As we discussed in class, British education relies heavily on public funds. The British government grants many schools and help people to finish their courses in the school. This policy helps the citizens to improve their knowledge and abilities. More and more people go to school and enrich themselves in the study. The more knowledge they learn the more life chance they get. They can earn more money to improve their life condition. Also, no all the school are public funds, there are lots of school indecent and uncontrolled by the government.

There is an interesting type of schooling in Britain. It is named homeschooling. It means that people did not need to go to school and they can study at their home. This type of study has lots of advantages. Every child is different and each of them has their own gift. If they go to school and accept the same education from the teacher, they may become the perfect student as the teacher want. They know how to speak and how to write. But on the other hand, they lost their own gift. They accept the same education and learn the same skill. If they study in their home, they parents know how to teach their own child, they will arrange their homework and tell them how to learn more. Another advantage is the quality. The child was the only student in the family but not the only one student in the class. The quality of the teaching will improve. The student can learn more and more.

Despite many obvious advantages of the homeschooling, it is not without its disadvantages. Because the parents are not the Professional teachers, so they don’t know whether if the courses will acceptable for the child. Some parents may fall to teach the child if they do not truly understand the topic of the course.