American Gun Culture

In our last lesson we talked about the American Gun Culture. Farah told us some interesting facts.

There are three reasons why the Americans wear weapons:
- struggle against the British --> People have guns to make sure that the government doesn't go bad.
-frontier life --> People who live at the frontier have to protect themselve because there is no police around.
-hunting

At the and of the lesson we watched a video on Youtube which was about the shooting in Arizona. A young Republican wanted to kill a congress woman. Fortunately the woman stayed alive. A doctor said that she is in good condition for someone who is shot in head.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

The first Thanksgiving was 1621. The pilgrims invited other Native Americans to eat with them, because they wanted to celebrate their first harvest.

Nowadays, Thanksgiving is celbratet on the 4th Thursday in November. The whole family eats a big Thanksgiving dinner.

Typical Thanksgiving dinner:

Turkey, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, pecan pie, mashed potatoes, ...

The day after Thanksgiving is called "Black Friday". Black Friday is the beginning of Christmas shopping. The shops open very early in the morning and they grant a lot of discounts only on this day. For children there are toys very cheap and for older people electronic products.

Halloween

Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallow's Eve.
Halloween means holy.
Eve is the day before a holy day.
Halloween was an ancient Brititsh Celtic festival.
At Halloween the souls of the dead returned.
People lit bonfires to frighten evil spirits.
Now bonfires are only burnt on November the 5th, bonfire night.
Masks, customs, ghosts, whitches on broomstickst with black cats, skeletons, bets and spiders and Halloween lanterns have all become part of Halloween
Children play trick or treat.
They ask for a treat
hoping to get sweets




That's my favourite Halloween clip. I chose it because I like "Home Improvement":


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwNuxwmocdo&feature=related

My favourite advertisement!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40DykbPa4Lc&feature=related

Farrah

Yesterday, Farrah, the exchange student of our school, spent an English-lesson with us. Farrah is 22 years old and she is from the United States, exactly from Maryland, that is in the north-east of Washington DC. Sarah lives in Linz and she stays in Austria until May 2011. Farrah does not have any brothers or sisters. Her hobbies are to meet friends, listening to music, ... but she does not like sports. She likes Austria and she has already visited Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Saalbach.

The development of advertising

I have just read an article called "The development of advertising" and it talks about the history of advertisement.


Advertising started in the 19th century, also called the Industrual Revolution. First it was only for novelties and fringe products. Later, when more and more companies produced the same goods, brand-naming of products was necessary.

The economic depression from 1873 to 1894 hit the big industrial firms because the produced products were not sold. So prices and profit fell. The small companies realised that they are in a better position and so they combined with other businesses and widened the range of goods. This period was the start of "Monopoly Capitalism". After the crises the big companies started mass advertising.

Manufacture and distribution changed a lot at the beginning of the new century. 1850 there were a lot of anonymous manufacturers whose goods were distributed by wholsalers. But at the beginning of the new century companies wanted to get away from the rivals. So they decided to "brand" the goods by selling it in distinctive packages in order to facilitate recognition and encourage customer loyalty.

Lord Leverhulme was one of the first industrials who realised that advertisement must be eye-catching and should have funny slogans. It is important that people remember advertisement no matter if they like it or they don't like it.

"Write the Future"

My favourite spot is "Write the Future" by Nike.
I like it because there are some famous football stars who show their skills and tricks. The company wants to show with this advertisment what you are able to do with the new Nike-shoes. A special scene of this spot is that Homer Simpson was outsmarted by Cristiano Ronaldo.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE