So here’s a piece of good news: The UK will rejoin the Erasmus+ student exchange program in 2027, allowing British students to study in Europe and vice versa without extra fees. The agreement covers the 2027-28 academic year, with future participation dependent on new deals.
Hurrah for that. Back when I was a modern foreign languages teacher a fair few of my students benefitted from the Erasmus scheme. Then along came Brexit!
It’s rather a pity that there has been a decline in the study of modern foreign languages at A-Level and at university. Now, what could have caused such a decline? I wonder!!
I find it quite ironic that now that it is no longer obligatory to study a modern foreign language up to age 16, there has been an increase in the number of people studying a language via Duolingo. Of course, I have no actual statistical evidence to support that statement but it does seem that an awful lot of people I know are ‘on a learning streak’ in some language or other.
I was amused by this description: “Duolingo, Inc. is an American educational technology company that produces learning apps and provides language certification. Duolingo offers courses on 42 languages, ranging from English, French, and Spanish to less commonly studied languages such as Welsh, Irish, and Navajo, and even constructed languages such as Esperanto and Klingon.”
And a part of me finds it strange to put Esperanto and Klingon on the same level. More years ago that I care to admit to, my Spanish teacher tried to persuade us all to learn Esperanto. She spoke it but I’m afraid none of us to my knowledge followed her example. We were too busy getting qualifications in school subjects that would earn us a place at university!
When Phil and I visited Pisa, quite a long time ago now, I somehow managed to take photo of the famous leaning tower looking remarkably straight. Here is a photo of a church, a very old church, in a place called Dry Doddington in Lincolnshire. St James’ church has a tower which leans at a greater angle than the famous Italian tower. It was built in 12th century and is a Grade II listed building.
The church was originally built as a “Chapel of Ease” for older residents to attend rather than walking to neighbouring Westborough. What a splendid idea! It later became its own parish church and its tower, dating from the 14th century, is estimated to have first moved in the late 19th century or early 20th century.
They’ve already spent a good deal of money stopping the tower from falling over and now they want to raise £100,000 more for general restoration. It’s an expensive business maintaining old buildings.
It seems that places which have the highest concentration of centenarians are called “Blue Zones”. Who knew? Not I! Sardinia and some parts of italy are Blue Zones. Someone called Dan Buettner has studied all over the world to find such zones.
So here is a link to an article Italian grandmothers and the secret of how to live a long life. It refers to this as “nonnamaxxing” (another …maxxing word!) and tells us how to live like an Italian grandmother (nonna). It may, of course, just be a matter of living in a friendly climate, having enough income to get by, and ot stressing about how to get more money.
On a more serious note, here is something by Norman Finkelstein:
“Israel lobby funded a quarter of British MPs
Yvette Cooper condemns Iran for shutting off the strait.
She does not condemn the USA for starving Cuba.
She does not condemn the USA for kidnapping the President of a country who have a lot of oil
She does not condemn the unprovoked attack on Iran, who have a lot of oil, or the murder of schoolgirls.
She has never once condemned the genocide.
She is “concerned” about the murderous destruction of Lebanon but does not condemn it, as over 2000 are killed by Israel.
It will be a surprise to no-one to discover that Yvette Cooper is one of approx 40 Labour MPs who are members of LFI. Labour Friends of Israel, a Parliamentary group which supports Israel’s interests in Britain.
To see how politicians continue to travel to Israel and engage with the genocide lobby explains why our government continues to defy international law by facilitating Israel’s war crimes. It explains why government policy and justice is heavily influenced by the Israel lobby. I wonder if someone whispered in Yvette’s ear with the suggestion to proscribe Palestine Action. Surely not. I wonder if, when their action was decreed unlawful, someone from the powerful Israeli lobby suggested Labour should appeal the decision so the police could arrest a few more vicious pensioners.
Much of the British political elite remains in bed with the Zionist movement even as Israel perpetrates an ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
There you go! And here’s a photo of a protestor being arrested at a pro-Palestine demonstration. No comment!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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