seda news_agosto_12_08_2011

Skills & Enterprise Development Academy - nº I - August 2011

Welcome to the first edition of our SedaNews, a monthly newspaper that we hope will bring you everything about our School and a little bit about Dublin.

In July, our teachers had to prepare themselves for the following six months. Page 3

Study to teach

amount of colaboration trough text and pictures. You’ll be able to see your classmates talents and trips. Hopefuly, in the next edition, it will be you in one of these pages.

But most impor tantly, it (this paper) is going to be an open channel for Seda’ students to communicate themselves. In this first edition, we are already counting on a great What do you think

about the new changesat SEDA?

Page 3

VOX POP

See all the activities for August at Seda

Page 2

SCHEDULE

Films, books andmusic reviews

by studentsPage 8

WHAT’S ON!

Respond correctly and you might win a prize

Page 7

TEST

Get to know Donegal. Teacher Emma’s

home town

Page 4

HOME

Learn (all) aboutSaint PatricksCathedral. Theoldest church

in Dublin.Page 8

SEDA+

What’s up, Seda?

SEDA News, August 2011 SEDA News, August 20112 3

Carol’s Chronicle Welcome, everybody, to our first edition of mySEDA News, the newspaper of the Skills & Enterprise Development Academy. This monthly paper will let our students know all about what’s going on in the school and in Dublin, as well as give them the opportunity to put some of their work in print. Founded in 2009, SEDA academy has been working hard over the past two years to build a strong reputation based on high quality and affordably priced courses for students from all around the world. To those of you around the world who are reading this in Brazil, Spain, Italy or in Bahrain, I hope this paper will encourage you to come to study in Dublin. Dublin is a small city with a long and fascinating history. Dublin has a young and multicultural population. We have a reputation for our lively night-life, but we are also known as the city which has produced more great writers than any other. It’s no wonder that people think this must be a geat place to learn English. Thousands of international students come to study in Dublin every year. In many ways, Dublin is the gateway to Europe. Our students often enjoy weekend trips to London, Paris and Rome: low cost airline fares can be as low as €20. I hope you enjoy our newspaper, and I hope that more of our students will write for us next month, so if you are a student here at SEDA and you have any stories, articles, reviews or even cartoons and pictures, send them on to [email protected] and you might see your name in print next month.

SKILLS & ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY (SEDA), EDITOR: Rodrigo Luiz Vianna, LAYOUT: André Martins Ressel, FINAL REVIEW: Carol Cregg, CIRCULATION: 1 thousand copies

EXPEDIENT:

?VOX POP ??

Teaching is a really hard task. Just imagine making it your career. It is not just getting in on time and trying to repeating a string of facts to a captive audience. It is a demanding job that requires hours of preparation and study. Last 30th of June, a meeting with the English teachers and the school’s academic head, Carol, took place. The purpose of the conference was to plan the second semester of the Academy. There were many things on the agenda: which students would change level at the start of the new term; which books should be used; who would be teaching the new classes. But one thing stood above them all: How would we plan the new system of classes at SEDA? Now every class has two teachers. So, in the first half, the grammar will be given by one teacher, and after the break, another one will take its place to focus in developing the skills of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking of every student. This way, Seda hopes that everybody will progress faster. Questions about the new methodologies applied at Seda were discussed so everybody could be on the same page. That led to considerable debate about activities and different ways of helping the students.

The efforts of SEDA to make a better school is more notable as each day goes.

It’s been months since I got here, and I’ve been following all the improvements they have made in different areas. This month the news was more perceptible with the two teachers per class.

This way, we have Grammar classes in the first half, focusing on writing and on the development of the fluency capacity trough speaking, listening, reading and writing. With the teachers’ help, we can fully

My research was about Seda’s teachers. I interviewed five people: four English students and one Business student.

I asked them the following questions: 1 - What do you think about Seda’s teachers?2 - Do you like to have two teachers in the class?3 - Do you like the teachers methods? What is your favorite method?4 - What do you think about Business classes?5 - Do you have any suggestions?

And the result was:Most people think that the teachers are good, and they prefer two teachers in the

class as well. Only one of the interviewees does Business class and he said the course is nice

and he approves of it. The interviewees gave the same suggestions like:- more focus on grammar;- more exercises with music and movies;- be more organized;

In the interview, I had similar answers from the interviewees and all of them gave the same suggestions.

Sincerely, I REALLY DO like it. We only have to gain from all the changes in the school, both students and teachers (at least, that’s what I think).

My classmates (the ones that I’m talking with), also approve the changes and everybody is learning more - although many of them still talks in Portuguese in the classroom, this has decreased, especially because of Emma’s “reprovals” (haha).

The only thing that we, students, think that could be better is the level test system.

We think that doesn’t relate as much with what we learn in class. Just to make myself clear, everything that we learn it’s great and we

love it, but the evaluation are a little bit different of the way the teachers approach it.

And this journal, I taught it was a GREAT idea, really!!! It’s one more way for the students to express themselves and reveal

something that they might need. So we won’t depend on the notices on the walls of the school.

Teachers have class too

Rodrigo CassemiroUpper Intermediate

Andreia CristinaIntermediate

Marcel ZuccherattoPre Intermediate

Keep it On-lineSeda is on the web!

Read our blog:http://www.seda.ie/blog/

See our Flicker:http://www.flickr.com/photos/myseda

Follow us on twitter: My_SEDA

Be our friend on Facebook:sedadublin

What do you think aboutSeda’s improvements?

Carol Cregg explains the changes: “The benefits of the new change are clear. There is now a clearer definition between grammar and skills work. Every student will now see two different

August at SEDA:

FUN

FRID

AY

understand the text. Like in our “mother language”, I truly believe that READING is the flagship in the learning process, while grammar is essential to obtain the fluency that, in these few months here, has made a dream come true for lots of SEDA students that I’ve seen .

In the second period, we have CONVERSATION - I won’t deny that it’s the best part. So we have 1 hour of straight conversation in English, with tips of different accents and pronunciation in dynamic classes.

But Friday Classes are what I LOVE most, when we can improve our Conversation even more, or learn Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese.

Generally speaking, all the improvements made by Seda are noted by its students. And although learning English - as any other activity in life - depends on ourselves and our capacity, I can assure that in my 6 months here I’ve noticed a MAJOR upgrade in my English. And the most important is that I am not afraid anymore of speaking English with anyone.

teaching styles within their level, and hear two different native Irish accents. One of the best features of our academy is the range of accents heard in class: hearing Cork, Donegal and Dublin accents in the

different classes all mean that students can improve their listening skills and get a handle on the variety of English language accents which often makes learning English so difficult.

Basics of Bar 11:00 AM

How to create a CV 1:00 PM

Spanish Class 2:00 PM

Portuguese Class 2:00 PM

English Conversation Class 2:00 PM

Basics of Housekeeping 11:00 AM





Basics of Bar 11:00 AM





Basics of Restaurant 11:00 AM





5th 19th

23th12th


Discover Donegal

HistoryCounty Donegal Irish: Contae

Dhún na nGall is a former administrative county of Ireland. It is situated in the North West of Ireland in the province of Ulster. The population of the county is 160,927 according to the 2011 census. In terms of size and area, it is the largest county in Ulster and the fourth largest in all of Ireland.

At various times in its history, it has been known as County Tírconaill, County Tírconnell or County Tyrconnell (Irish: Contae Thír Chonaill). The former was used as its official name during 1922-1927. County Donegal is famous for being the home of the once mighty Clann Dálaigh, whose most famous branch were the Clann Ó Domhnaill, better known in English as the Gaelic (native Irish) ruling-families. The Clann Ui Néill (known in English as the O’Néill Clan) of modern County Tyrone were more powerful. The O’Donnells were Ulster’s second most powerful clan or ruling-family from the early 13th-century through to the start of the 17th-century. For several centuries the O’Donnells ruled Tír Connaill. O’Donnell power was finally ended in what was then the newly created County Donegal in September, 1607.

Donegal is known for its Gaelic culture and the Irish language, the county holding the second largest Gealtacht area in the country. Gweedore is the largest Irish-speaking parish with over 4,000 inhabitants. All schools in the region use Irish as the native language. The Donegal Gaeltacht also attracts young people to County Donegal each year during the school summer holidays. Gaeltacht courses give young Irish people a chance to learn the Irish language and traditional Irish cultural traditions.

MusicDonegal is well known for its

songs which have, like the instrumental music, a distinctive sound. Donegal musical artists such as the bands Clannad and Altan and solo artist Enya, all from Gaoth Dobhair, have had international success with traditional music. Another popular solo artist is rock artist Ballyshannon-born Rory Gallagher. The song “Beautiful Bundoran” was very popular all over Ireland in the 1950s, and it was performed by Sinead O’Connor in the film The Butcher Boy”.

Sport The Gaelic Athletic Association

sport of Gealic football is very popular in Donegal. Donegal county football team have won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title once in 1992. On the 17th July 2011 they

became the Ulster Champions after defeating Derry and things are looking promising to become All-Ireland Senior Football Champions 2011. Hurling, handball and rounders are also played but are not too popular. There are several rugby teams in the county. Many people travel to Donegal for the superb golf links-long sandy beaches and many golf courses have been developed. Golf is a very popular sport within the county, including world class golf courses such as Ballyliffin located in Inishowen. Other courses to note are Murvagh (located outside Donegal Town) and Rosapenna (Sandy Hills) located in Downings (near Carrigart). There is an 18 hole golf course in Bundoran. Other active sports include climbing, hillwalking, surfing and kite-flying.

Donegal Town was a host to the final stage of the World Rally Championship on Feb 1st 2009 and viewed to 68 million people worldwide.

It gives me great pleasure to be associated with Skills, Education and Development Academy - SEDA’s inaugural newspaper and to take this oppor tunity to wish everyone associated

with it and the school, success for the future. During the past decade or so, the world has witnessed an astonishing globalisation of education. There has been an increase of nearly 60% in the number of students outside their home countries. This trend is expected to continue, and between 4 million and 7 million students will be studying overseas by 2020. The combined value of third level and English language international education in Ireland is estimated to be currently wor th 900m to the Irish economy. Ireland has been behind in marketing and attracting overseas students as the ideal destination to study. We must let the world know we are open for business. And Ireland has had great successes. There are many places where

No prejudice, no judgments,... just

reflections. It’s interesting how some behaviours are exactly the same even across the ocean. Deciding to have a typical Irish Sunday, I started my day going to mass. I became astonished and definitely could conclude that a mass is not more than a world renowned sit, kneels and up choreography. Why do church microphones never work correctly and every five minutes make that unbearable noise? Honestly, I really thought that it wouldn’t happens in a “first world” place. So I concluded that this noise - along with the sit, kneels and up choreography – is essentially a good strategy to maintain all the faithful properly awake in a Sunday morning and listening the same bla bla bla from the Sunday before and saying amen to each priestly full stop - which is perceived for

Message from Ruairí Quinn, T.D.,Minister for Education and Skills

Just looking around... Why Dublin?

an Irish education is renowned, and where we have been very successful. For instance, we are a very popular choice for European Erasmus students; in the United States, we are - along with China - the fastest growing destination for study abroad; we also have a very strong reputation for medical education, ar ticularly in the Middle East and South East Asia However, we must up our profile on the global market. In March of this year, I jointly launched with my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Education in Ireland - national brand. In this context, the Programme for Government gives us a roadmap for what we must achieve in the years ahead by doubling international students from impor tant emerging markets such as India and Brazil. Government will play a leading role in

this but will only be successful if we continue to develop deep, meaningful and ongoing collaboration within and between the various institutions and sectors. In other words it must be one big team effor t. Let us sell this wonderful country abroad. I am pleased to learn that SEDA will be sending representatives to the upcoming Expo-Estudiante 2011 in Brazil to encourage Brazilian to come to Ireland to study English. You are indeed playing your par t in promoting Ireland in that market. The international students we educate today will make up a new network of Irish-educated alumni that can be of critical assistance in the future promotion of Ireland overseas.

I wish you well inyour endeavours.

Student Text

Industry and tourismCo. Donegal is a favoured

destination for many travellers, Irish (especially Northern Irish) and foreign alike. One of the country popular places is Glenveagh National Park. The park is a 140km squared nature reserve with spectacular scenery of mountains, lakes and woodlands.

There are many sandy beaches in the area of Donegal Town, such as Murvagh beach and good surfing conditions such as Rossnowlagh. Donegal Town is also popular for hill-walking in the nearby Bluestack Mountains. Many people have to travel to nearby towns such as Letterkenny for facilities like public swimming pools, cinemas and large shopping centres. Dunloe town attracts many tourists every August when the Mary From Dunloe International Festival takes place. It was founded in the 1060s and it has been frequented by many special guests over the years including Daniel O’Donnell, Cliff Richard, Gay Byrne and Sharon Shannon.

Killybegs is a natural deepwater harbour of 12 meters of water at all times at all times at a new 50 million peir completed in 2004. The harbour is home to all the largest Irish-registered midwater pelagic trawlers, but it handles many other types of shipping as well. The harbour is impor tant to the Irish pelagic fishing industry. It speialises in the processing and freezing of species such as markerel and herring, and sending the finished frozen fish out to markets in Africa, the Middle East and Europe by ocean-going cargo ships.

Finally, the cliffs of Slieve League is a MUST see and will take your breath away. They are the sixth-highest sea cliffs in Europe. A drop of 2,000 feet separates the Atlanic Ocean from the highest point of the cliffs. So, be very careful. DON’T JUST DREAM IT….VISIT DONEGAL.

BY EMMA BRENNAM

BY ANA CLAUDIA AZAMBUjA

RUAIRÍ QUINN

BY TELMA hISSAMATSU

Teacher Text

his pause, once 98 per cent of priests that I had ever met have a terrible diction. Why? I really don’t know if it is a Latin classes’ influence, or if they really don’t care if they are being understood. I made a statistic by myself, and being very optimistic, I had concluded that 3% of people really reflect about the mass ritual’s real meaning. The other 97% are divided into sleepers, on the ones reflecting about a new car that they want buy, about night before... and the ones trying to make thier children be quiet! That’s another point that I really don’t understand: why all nationalities parents insist on carrying children to a mass? If it is already so boring for an adult, imagine how torturous isn’t it for a little child be quiet, in silent and looking for that strange person on the “stage” saying a lot of uninteresting and nonsense words for a child. As a result: generally crying, they run through the aisles while their parents make reprimands and more reprimands, asking their children the impossible: Be

quiet and silent! I really think that parents must make themselves aware and make a rotation: one Sunday mum goes to “speak with God” and one Sunday dad goes... children can stay at home, watching cartoons, playing ball, or doing anything else more productive and interesting in a their point of view. I’m sure that God will bless them too. As a result of the story, what is important is that everybody had used the best clothes, met the neighbours and maintain their conscience in peace... “Fulfilled the Sunday morning responsibility with superior entity, let’s go to a nearby pub, drink a pint and relax, because the day after will be a working and stressing Monday... So you can scold a secretary, be rude to the cleaner, kick the dog, send your wife to hell, fight with your son, be cross and impatient with an old man because he is slowly on traffic... But that’s ok, Sunday is a mass day and God is a “good guy” and forgives everybody! Amen.”

Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the country, as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administration, economy and industry as we know. According to my research, most of the students in Seda choose Dublin to live for several reasons. One of the most important reasons is that they consider Dublin a cosmopolitan place, with diverse cultural backgrounds. They can make friends easily, friends from all over the world. Dublin is a city that is booming culturally and gastronomically, and also its bars and pubs are internationally renowned for their Guinness. So, this whole atmosphere is magical and exciting, especially for young people. The other reason is that they have a chance to learn English from native speakers and travel around Europe easily. Another is that it’s not complicated for us to get a visa .


What have youbeen doing?

There i s the par t where we a l l l ear n Eng l i sh . We s tudy grammar and vocabu la r y, fo r ins tance. Bu t tha t i sn ’ t a l l . Tha t i s jus t one par t o f the Dubl in exper ience. Meet ing peop le tha t m igh t sur pr ise you w i th a f r iendsh ip tha t can las t fo r a l i fe t ime is ano ther th ing tha t we see happen ing here ever y t ime. Above, a p ic tu re taken o f the Morning Upper-In termediate Class (1 ) ga ther ing here a t Seda. D iscover the c i t y and new ways to look to th ings. Be low,

Antonio Noca (2 ) took a p ic tu re tha t shows more in the second look . Be low we can see one o f the most famous par ks o f Dubl in , S tephen ’s Green and the two more impor tan t ways o f t ranspor ta t ions o f the c i t y : b ikes and the Luas (e lec t r i c t ra in ) . And we a l l know tha t Dubl in i s a door to o ther par ts o f Europe. On the le f t , Miguel Mar t ins (3 ) went to see the A tomium, in Br usse ls, a monument tha t represents an i ron mo lecu le magn i f ied 165 b i l l i on t imes.

Anderson Felippe (4) discovered one of Ireland’s most stunning landscapes, replete with dramatic glacial valleys, soaring mountain passes and some of the country’s most important archaeological treasures – from breathtaking early-Christian sites to the elegant country homes of the wealthiest of Ireland’s 18th-century nobility. Roberta Gedoz (5) enjoyed a little bit of our neightborhood’s cold. Scotland was in her first stop in a little trip that she took around. Marco Aurélio (6) enjoys capture the daily cuts of life in his camera. Here, we can see art captured by an artist eye.

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What’s on!

Kilmainham Gaol

The Pursuit of Happyness Mary Poppins

The film “The Pursit of Happyness” is about a young father (Will Smith) that tries to give to his son a better life. In the beginning of the film, the protagonist loses everything: his wife, his job and his hope for the future. But during the film, he tries to change his life by finding different kinds of jobs, thinking of his son’s future. In the end, Will Smith, the father, after a hard time training, becomes a Financial Manager, the job of his dreams. The film is set in the USA, at the

Mary Poppins was directed in 1964 by Rober t Stevenson. It was written by Bill Walsh and Don Dagradi. It stars Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke as Ber t, and David Tomlinson as George Banks. The film won five Oscars; for Best Actress (Julia Andrews), Best Editing, Best Soundtrack, Best Original Song (“Chim Chim Cher-ee”), and for Special Effects. The film is set in London, but it was filmed in the USA. Talks about a typical British family of good standing, seemingly perfect, they have problems with their children, Jane and Michael - they are very naughty. When Mary

One of my favourite tourist places in Dublin is Kilmainham Gaol in Inchicore. Some people talk about ghost stories related to this jail, although I think this topic could be interesting it’s not the most important.

When you are out of your country, it is always important to try to comprehend the history of your new town, because if you understand the past it will be easier to understand the present. Ireland has a very rich history and its present is the consequence of many years of wars, rebellions, ideas and men and women who fought for a new and independent country.

This place can teach you, through a very interesting exhibition, the process that led Ireland to become an independent country, and the Civil War that followed then. But this jail can teach you much more, for example, how Dublin was many years ago, how The Great Famine affected the Irish population and how the ideas related to punishment changed along the years.

The first place that you will visit inside the jail is the chapel. There you

end of the 90’s, and it was filmed in the USA too. “The Pursuit of Happyness” was directed y Gabriele Muccino. It stars Will Smith as the father and his real son, Jaden, as his son in the film. The film was nominated at the Oscars in 2008 for Best Film. I recommend “The Pursuit of Happyness” because it is a dramatic story with ironic scenes and, in the end, can teach you that nothing is impossible if you really want it and you work hard every day for it.

can enjoy a short video about prisoners, and the most common reasons of why they were there. Of course, some of them were revolutionaries, but many others were normal citizens who where there for different crimes and felonies such as: stealing food, like bread, potatoes and in a few cases, for stealing meat. I was very shocked to see that this jail was mixed and even more when I read the high percentage of children who were there paying their

“crimes” with hard work. The sentences could be from one week from to one month and the youngest prisoner was a girl of 5 years old.

The jail was built in 1796 and the original idea was one prisoner for every cell, but a few years later, that was impossible, the jail was crowded and there were people even in the corridors of the jail. Many of them died, because the conditions were very difficult, others were hanged,

some were deported to Australia and just a minority had the opportunity to tell their story inside this terrible and cold jail, like Eamon de Valera , an American citizen who became the head of the Irish government for many years and President of Ireland between 1959 and 1973.

The jail has two different stages. The first one is terribly dark and cold. The cells are wet and haven’ t much light. Just a small and high window from where God can see every movement. The second stage, the East Wing is a very popular place and I believe is the most important reason for many tourists who come to visit this jail, trying to be part of many films like Michael Collins, In the Name of the Father and the Mackintosh Man.

If you are in Dublin and you haven’t gone to this place, it could be a nice opportunity to know more about your new country. The jail is in Dublin 8, very closed to the Museum of Modern Art and the student ticket is only two euros. At least one thing is cheap in Ireland, you can’t miss it.

MOVIES

Student Text

BY MATTEO PARIDE GhEZZI

BY jORDANA MARRERO

BY PAULA CUERVO

Poppins comes to their house (she is a kind of super nanny), their lives change. Jane and Michael have many adventures that they can’t ever forget. At the end of the film, Mary Poppins returns to her home because she finished her work to please the family and show them what is most impor tant. I recommend Mary Poppins because it’s a lovely film for all the family. You can learn about the most impor tant thing in life. You can have a nice time with the music and the stars. When the film finishes, you want to see it again. I believe this film is fantastic.

(2006 - Drama - 117 min) (1964 - Fantasy - 139 min)


The Irish economy has had its difficulties in recent years with a large deficit in the finances available to the government and what would appear to be wholesale job loses throughout the country. However, it is not all dark clouds ahead for Ireland. In March this year there was a new government elected and with it new hope that there maybe a brighter future for Ireland with new incentives for job creation. As part of the program for government the two new parties (Fine Gael and Labour) set a strategy to create employment. Some fruit has now started to bear in this regard. It was announced by the government that a reduction in the VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sector from 13.5% to 9% should make Ireland a more attractive destination for tourists especially those who are looking for short weekend breaks from the UK The Tanaiste, Eamon Gilmore, states; ““The Government introduced the measure in order to boost tourism with a view to additional jobs being created in the sector.”

In 2008 the Irish banking system started to have great difficulty in financing its day-to-day operation. Inadequate and lax supervision by the regulatory body made government intervention unavoidable. Anglo Irish Bank was nationalised in January 2009 but recapitalisation wasn’t enough to save the bank. During the following weeks, AIB and BoI benefited from bailouts of €3.5 billion. Nowadays these kinds of operations are continuing, but people are protesting more and more because of unemployment and the cuts in public welfare. This analysis of the situation allows us to understand why these measures are inevitable. Firstly, some economists argue that a private debt default would be

The first student who emails Carol with the correct answers to these questions will win a cool prize!Economy, Jobs and Education:

It’s not all Bad news

Bailout people or banks?

Seda Dublin and English Grammar Quiz This is a sector that many international students have gained employment over the years and can only be seen as a positive move by the administration and for students looking for work in this sector. The minister also stated “The measures contained in the Jobs Initiative are among a number of steps this administration has taken to ensure that the country is in a better place than it was when we took office earlier this year. We will now build on these measures to steer the country out of recession.”

Education Ireland Another positive move by the government is the Brand “Education Ireland”. This was an initiative by the last government and the then minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keefe. In a report by Enterprise Ireland in November 2010 it was stated that international students generate 430 million for the Irish economy. In the same report Mr O’Keefe stated that the growth rate of international students will increase by 300%.over the

next 15 years. How then does this relate to what is happening to day>? In a statement in a related article within this publication the new Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn, T.D states that; “In March of this year, I jointly launched with my colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Education in Ireland - national brand.

In this context, the Programme for Government gives us a roadmap for what we must achieve in the years ahead by doubling international students from important emerging markets such as India and Brazil”. This is recognition by both the last government and the new administration the important role that education as an export will play in the economic recovery for Ireland.

BY STEPhEN j. MURPhY

BY MAURO BERLANDA

Student Text

preferable to a growth of public debt. In the United States, the Tea Party movement protests against bank bailouts and proposes to reduce government spending, the national debt and the federal budget deficit. In 1929, President Herbert Hoover let the American banks declare default. However, the consequences for the population were terrible in terms of unemployment, impossibility to obtain credit and depression of the international market. The default of Lehman Brothers recently risked pushing the global economy into the same steep decline. Secondly, the Irish crisis is first of all a banking crisis: the exposure of Irish banks to the American market produced a domino effect after the insolvency of

CDOs in the U.S. Even if the public debt was substantially under the limit set by Maastricht’s parameters – according to Eurostat : 25% instead of 60% of GDP in 2007 – private debt was very high. Thus, when the private debt system – the banks – collapsed, the state decided to take on its shoulders the weight of this financial crack and public debt rose up to 100% of GDP in only 3 years. Finally, several protest movements claim that the abolition of the austerity measures considered the “cuts brutally unfair”. Today there is rioting in Greece and Spain because of decisions of policy-makers: several hospitals have been closed, investments into education and research reduced and pensions

reformed. Nevertheless, there is no alternative, because it is strictly necessary to reduce public spending. International institutions, however, such as the IMF and ECB, should make provisions for “rogue” states and financial institutes in order to prevent the moral hazard risk. To sum up, the only way to bailout people is bailout the banks. Bank default also means families’ savings, insurances and pensions default. The Irish banking crisis made government intervention inevitable, thereby increasing the public debt. Now policy makers promote several austerity measures, because there is no alternative. However, ulterior actions are necessary in order to prevent moral hazard.

Teacher Text 1) SEDA is located in the part of Dublin known as Dolphin’s Barn. This area is called Dolphin’s Barn because….

a) It was a well-known dolphin storage facility in the eighteenth century

b) It comes from the phrase ‘Dublin’s Spar’, because this area had the first Spar shop in Dublin.

c) A man whose surname was Delphyn owned a barn here

2) In the nineteenth century, Dublin’s main street, O’Connell Street had a different name. What was it?

a) Sackville Street

b) Baggins Street

c) Barrytown Street

3) The crest of Dublin features three….

a) Swimming dolphins

b) burning castles

c) fighting Vikings

4) The river that flows through Dublin is called the…

a) Niffey

b) Liffey

c)Shannon

5) Which of these sentences is not a conditional?

a) When drink Guinness, I sing.

b) If you don’t hurry you’ll be late

c) When I lived in Bello Horizonte, I used to go swimming every day.

d) If you had listened to me, you wouldn’t have lost all your money.

6) Which one of these subordinate clauses is not correct?

a) My sister, who lives in Spain, is a teacher.

b) Dublin, where is in Europe, is my favourite city in the world.

c) The students who do their homework will improve more quickly

d) Everyone that works hard will be rewarded

7) Which is not a normal way to say hello in Dublin?

a) Alright?

b) What’s the story?

c) Good day, my good sir, how do you do?

d) How’s it going, man?

8) ‘Craic’ is a word people in Dublin often use. It means…

a) Fun

b) Milk

c) Schoolbag

d) Church

send the answers to [email protected]

The answers will bein the next edition!

SEDA News, August 201112

The colour of your door

Know the oldest church in Dublin

Wander around the streets of Dublin just after arriving in the city without a map can be dangerous. Not because any violence or such. Nothing like that.

The thing is that – to unfamiliar eyes – the streets can be extremely similar one to another. And it is because of the architectural design of the houses. The facing bricks, the shapes of windows, the absence of skyscrapers, everything can fool the newcomers. If you try to take a church as a point of reference, you could be in trouble too.

The funny bit is that these houses that now may seem like an image from the past are, actually, the result of a period of renovation for the Irish capital.

Dublin was a medieval city. The Liffey was used as an open sewer for the families who built their homes backed onto the river. But Dublin’s prosperity gave the new protestant elite a will for development and brought the question of renewing the city’s characteristics, thereby changing the face of the capital into how we know it today.

A group called the Wide Street Commission was created in 1757. The whole city was changed into a construction site. Houses wore torn down to enlarge some streets, like O’Connell Street, or to create others, like College Green. The new city was planned with the Liffey as its centre.

The Baroque ideas died with the Middle Ages and the times called for simplicity. So the concepts of a man named Colen Campbell got into action.

Campbell believed in symmetry and harmony, inspired by the Greek architecture. As soon as we look at the houses in Dublin we can realise the care with the distance between the windows was chosen, the delicate proportions of construction. The math is as necessary as the beauty, the

functionality and the structural stability of the facades.

This way, you can mistake some streets, or even houses and places. If you live in Mountjoy Square, one of the finest exemplars of Georgians spots in town, it’s good to memorize quickly your house’s

number (or, at least, the colour of your door).

But, honestly, the fun bit is to keep looking for the details that every house has. The door, or its knob or the window frame. Some trace of personality - as that flower’s vase behind the glass.

During the last week of August the tower of St. Patrick’s Cathedral will be open for public viewing. The tower, which is 68 meters high, can be explored in Heritage Week, held 22-26 August. Guided tours of 45 minutes will be made Monday through Friday at 4pm. Each tour may have only eight people, so you need to make reservations in the office of the cathedral. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is the oldest church in the city, founded in 1190 and the building was built in 1220 in honor of St. Patrick, Ireland’s national patron. It is the largest Protestant church in the country, a symbol of the rise of religious freedom and a connection between all people. Today the Anglican Church of

St Patrick is the National Cathedral Church in Ireland. A place of faith, music and worship, the cathedral serves as a shelter for the tomb of Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels and many other impor tant figures of Ireland. With its medieval style, it is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Dublin. Open to the

public as a historic site, architectural and especially for worship. In July and August a service is offered daily with guided tours lasting 30 minutes at the following times: 11:30 am, 12:30 pm and 2:30pm. No extra charge for this service is made, however, the normal admission is charged. This fee is for maintenance and future preservation of this sacred building.

BY jULY LEMOS

BY RODRIGO LUIZ VIANNA

Student Text

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