correction of homework

Having looked at a number of monolingual print dictionaries in class this week, I have decided to invest my money in the “Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners”. The Macmillan not only gives an explanation and the phonetics of the words; also a grammar part is included. Special features of the dictionary include the “star rating”, which shows how common a word is, as well as a CD. All those who are not familiar with print dictionaries can find a guide showing “how to use this dictionary”. As the Macmillan offers all these features it is very simple to use. In comparison to other dictionaries, finding words is easier as they are written in red letters. The dictionary uses helpful colors and pictures which makes it even more interesting for me. Besides the information if a noun is countable or uncountable it also shows you the plural forms of the verbs. For all these reasons the monolingual Macmillan Dictionary is a great opportunity to improve your vocabulary and therefore definitely worth buying.

correction of homework: "Story of Ireland"

The most fascinating aspect of Irish culture that I learned about by watching the Story of Ireland was the incredible solidarity among the population in Ireland. The Irish fought many years to gain independence from the British Empire. Although various revolutions failed they never gave up. Ireland wanted to have their own parliament which should be ruled in Dublin and not London anymore. To accomplish this, the Irish formed groups like the Irish Republican Brotherhood which tried to separate Ireland from Great Britain. These groups had a large supporting base not only from the Irish in Ireland but also from the Irish who emigrated to America during the Great Famine between 1845 and 1850. That the Irish in America supported these groups, even though they weren’t really affected by all the problems in Ireland that were caused by the British, showed that the Irish population is very patriotic. This solidarity really impressed me. The documentary film “The story of Ireland” showed five hours of fascinating Irish history. The five parts of this movie provide completely new as well as familiar information.