Post by Ritva Paivomaa on Mar 2, 2015 5:43:47 GMT -5
Dear students
we will discuss yle news in class in March 2015. You will get a handout in class one week before the lesson. If you can't attend that lesson, you can read the selected news items and tasks here.
(If you'd rather read a word version, you can read the attachment if you log in with USERNAME 'stepsstudent' and PASSWORD 'spring2015'.Latest news 2 March 2015 2.doc (43.5 KB)
Which of these news items did you find interesting? Why?
Can you explain in your own words what the news report number 1 (2,3,…) is about?
Write an opinion (not necessarily your own:)) on one news report (or several) - or a question.
Eg. News report 1: Did you use to have a summer job when you were young? What kind of job? Is it important that teenagers can have a summer job? Why?
News report 2: It is good that half-term ski holidays are staggered in Finland. (porrastettu)
What has happened since 2 March 2015?
Did you learn any interesting new words or expressions?
How could you express the following words/expressions in English?
1. (uutis-)aihe
2. leuto ilma
3. toimia verkossa
4. oppimisvaikeudet
5. luoda, tehdä
6. ääriä myöten täynnä
7. avustaja
8. telakka
9. aleneva, pienenevä
10. veronkiertäjä
11. kopiointilaitteet
12. maksukyvyttömyys, konkurssitila
13. alokas, asevelvollinen
14.tietoturvallisuus
15. viestijoukkue
16. tulla kolmanneksi
17. ulos raittiiseen ilmaan
18. hyvinhoidettu latuverkosto
19. luistelukenttä
20. valaistu polku
1. Monday's papers: Triple homicide, Estonian elections, summer jobs
A triple homicide at a pizzeria in Central Finland yesterday, a win by the Reform Party in Estonia's parliamentary elections and the prospects for summer jobs were among the items in Monday morning's newspaper press.
2. Mild weather holidays continue
The week is set to start off with mild air moving in from the west, with drier conditions due towards the weekend. The unseasonally warm weather welcomes the third and final week of Finland’s staggered half-term ski holiday season. (staggered=porrastettu)
3. Finland’s Tweeting police aim to reach out
Social media has revolutionised communication in many different professions in Finland, and policing is no different. The principle is simple: police should be where people are. In Finland that rule has helped foster a new breed of police officer, one that functions primarily online. ‘Internet police’ now number in the dozens and their impact is plain to see.
4. Punk and tears of joy - Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät to the Eurovision Song Contest
The punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (PKN) is heading to the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna after a spectacular win Saturday night in Yle's New Music Competition. The learning disabilities the four members of the group share were, again, no hindrance to their commitment to music and determination to make the house rock.
5. Artist creates huge ‘snow drawing’ in western Finland
German-born artist Sonja Hinrichsen invited people in the western Finnish city of Alajärvi to help her create her latest snow design, a spectacular spiral pattern best viewed from the sky. A team of about twenty volunteers were fitted with snow shoes to help her to create the design in a field of snow. The large-scale snow drawing will be photographed from the air when it is complete.
6. Asian tourists flood Rovaniemi
This February the hotels of Rovaniemi, Lapland have been full to the brim with customers. Usually this many people stay in hotels in the northern city only during the Christmas season, but this year the tourist boom will continue into March at least. Especially Asian travellers have found their way to Lapland this February.
7. Long-term unemployed aid the elderly in Vaasa
The city of Vaasa in western Finland has utilised its unemployed residents in combating loneliness and seclusion among the elderly. Last year 15 unemployed people worked as aides to pensioners, with 30 expected this year. Those involved say the two-year trial has had very positive results.
8. Tallink orders fast LNG car-passenger ferry from Turku yard
Tallink Grupp has placed an order with Meyer Turku for the construction of a liquid natural gas (LNG) car-passenger ferry for its Tallinn-Helsinki route. The vessel will cost around 230 million euros and will be built at Turku shipyard for delivery in the beginning of 2017.
9. Declining readership for print media
Readership of Finnish newspapers and their supplements has decreased by 3.3 percent, and for printed magazines by 1.8 percent based on the results of a poll conducted between the autumn of 2013 and spring of 2014. The readership figures reflect print editions and do not take into account digital versions of the same publications.
10. Friday's papers: Election issues, whistle blowing on tax evaders, printed ads still preferred
NATO and beer as election issues, a surge in reporting tax fraud, and how the Finns consume advertising were among the items in Friday's newspaper press.
11. Card copiers strike petrol stations in Turku and Tampere
Finnish police are warning motorists that their cards may have been copied after copying devices were discovered at two petrol stations in western Finland.
12. Police investigation: Air Finland execs withdrew millions before declaring insolvency
Finnish Police now suspect six people, the entire board and the CEO, of the defunct air carrier Air Finland of emptying the company bank accounts of several million euros before declaring insolvency. All of the suspects have denied any wrongdoing.
13. Thursday's papers: 'Sote' reform, shopping mall drugs, fat conscripts and wood over ice
Thursday's newspapers include an analysis of the proposed changes to the social welfare and health care or 'Sote' overhaul bill, drug dealers targeting kids in shopping centres, a record year for military service contender weight gain and a trial in Oulu to use wood shavings instead of gravel to combat slippery ice.
14 Research: Mobile phones more important to Finns than work or relationships ”Nowadays mobile phones are seen as more important than work or relationships," said Aki Koivula of the University of Turku. "Internet connections are getting more important with each passing year. At the same time traditional media, like television and newspapers, have lost some of their significance in people’s everyday lives."
"Finns’ attitudes have changed to such an extent that data security is now regarded as a threat to societal stability in the same way as military conflict and economic uncertainty are," said Koivula. "This development can be interpreted as evidence that technological risks are occupying more and more Finns’ minds."
15-16 Finns take bronze in cross-country relay worlds
The Finnish women’s relay team took the bronze medal at the cross-country skiing world championships in Falun on Thursday. It was the first Finnish medal of the championship.
Finland’s women’s relay team managed a bronze medal at the Nordic skiing world championships in Falun, when they came in third behind Sweden and world champions Norway.
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Kerttu Niskanen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen and Krista Pärmäkoski celebrated the bronze medal after beating off a challenge from the US team, who took fourth. Germany came fifth.
It was Finland’s first medal of the championship.
Last year in the Sochi Olympics Finland took the silver medal, but a year before that at the world championships in Val di Fiemme, they were fifth and left without a medal.
WORDS 17-20 How to spend your ski holiday like a Finn
Stumped about what to do over the week-long winter break from school? Try Yle News’s handy selection of family-friendly ideas to get you out into the fresh air.
Finnish schoolchildren enjoy a one-week holiday from school in February-March, beginning February 16 in the south, February 23 in central areas and March 2 in the northern climes of Ostrobothnia and Lapland.
Although February’s average temperature is often many degrees below zero, the original intention of the winter break was to encourage everyone to head outside.
It all began back in 1926, when a Finnish PE teacher from the eastern city of Kouvola, Santeri Hirvonen, suggested a week-long ski holiday for schoolchildren, to offset the many hours of arduous school work sitting indoors. Cross-country skiing on the frozen spring snow would not only give the kids a healthy dose of fresh air, he reasoned, but also the tenacity to make through the rest of the academic year.
During the 1930s, the idea was pushed into law thanks to campaigning by the former athlete Lauri Pihkala, a far-right political activist who believed in creating a Finnish master race through eugenics [juːˈdʒenɪks] and the promotion of sport.
Nowadays, February's ski holiday is a long way from those 1930s beginnings, though it’s still a time when many Finns head outdoors to make the most of the ice, snow and – hopefully - sunshine. Here’s our guide to enjoying a Finnish-style winter break:
1 You COULD always ski, of course!
Finland has one of the most extensive and best-maintained cross-country ski-trail networks in the world. Even if conditions are bad, several outdoor recreation centres in the metropolitan areas truck in snow to keep the conditions optimal on at least one track at all times. There are even a few indoor tracks where you can cross-country ski year round.
If cross-country skiing is not your thing, you could always try the downhill variety.
2 Ice skating If going up and down hills on skis sounds too much like hard work, why not stick to the flatter ground of an ice rink?
3 Snowshoeing, sledding and hiking Many of the outdoor recreation centres mentioned above offer snowshoes for rent. They also feature hills ideal for sledding and miles of lit trails for lovely walks in the winter landscape. The national parks offer marked trails, including easy strolls and tougher treks that pass several popular picnic and campfire sites.
4 Winter swimming You may well have to experience it to believe it, but the exhilarating feeling after jumping into icy water is second to none.
5 Spas and water parks If you’re not the outdoorsy type, there are several indoor water parks and spas to choose from throughout Finland. The water parks are very full over the ski holiday though, so be prepared.
6 Indoor playparks If your young children are climbing the walls after just one or two days and the weather isn’t cooperating, an indoor playpark may be the answer.
we will discuss yle news in class in March 2015. You will get a handout in class one week before the lesson. If you can't attend that lesson, you can read the selected news items and tasks here.
(If you'd rather read a word version, you can read the attachment if you log in with USERNAME 'stepsstudent' and PASSWORD 'spring2015'.Latest news 2 March 2015 2.doc (43.5 KB)
Which of these news items did you find interesting? Why?
Can you explain in your own words what the news report number 1 (2,3,…) is about?
Write an opinion (not necessarily your own:)) on one news report (or several) - or a question.
Eg. News report 1: Did you use to have a summer job when you were young? What kind of job? Is it important that teenagers can have a summer job? Why?
News report 2: It is good that half-term ski holidays are staggered in Finland. (porrastettu)
What has happened since 2 March 2015?
Did you learn any interesting new words or expressions?
How could you express the following words/expressions in English?
1. (uutis-)aihe
2. leuto ilma
3. toimia verkossa
4. oppimisvaikeudet
5. luoda, tehdä
6. ääriä myöten täynnä
7. avustaja
8. telakka
9. aleneva, pienenevä
10. veronkiertäjä
11. kopiointilaitteet
12. maksukyvyttömyys, konkurssitila
13. alokas, asevelvollinen
14.tietoturvallisuus
15. viestijoukkue
16. tulla kolmanneksi
17. ulos raittiiseen ilmaan
18. hyvinhoidettu latuverkosto
19. luistelukenttä
20. valaistu polku
1. Monday's papers: Triple homicide, Estonian elections, summer jobs
A triple homicide at a pizzeria in Central Finland yesterday, a win by the Reform Party in Estonia's parliamentary elections and the prospects for summer jobs were among the items in Monday morning's newspaper press.
2. Mild weather holidays continue
The week is set to start off with mild air moving in from the west, with drier conditions due towards the weekend. The unseasonally warm weather welcomes the third and final week of Finland’s staggered half-term ski holiday season. (staggered=porrastettu)
3. Finland’s Tweeting police aim to reach out
Social media has revolutionised communication in many different professions in Finland, and policing is no different. The principle is simple: police should be where people are. In Finland that rule has helped foster a new breed of police officer, one that functions primarily online. ‘Internet police’ now number in the dozens and their impact is plain to see.
4. Punk and tears of joy - Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät to the Eurovision Song Contest
The punk band Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (PKN) is heading to the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna after a spectacular win Saturday night in Yle's New Music Competition. The learning disabilities the four members of the group share were, again, no hindrance to their commitment to music and determination to make the house rock.
5. Artist creates huge ‘snow drawing’ in western Finland
German-born artist Sonja Hinrichsen invited people in the western Finnish city of Alajärvi to help her create her latest snow design, a spectacular spiral pattern best viewed from the sky. A team of about twenty volunteers were fitted with snow shoes to help her to create the design in a field of snow. The large-scale snow drawing will be photographed from the air when it is complete.
6. Asian tourists flood Rovaniemi
This February the hotels of Rovaniemi, Lapland have been full to the brim with customers. Usually this many people stay in hotels in the northern city only during the Christmas season, but this year the tourist boom will continue into March at least. Especially Asian travellers have found their way to Lapland this February.
7. Long-term unemployed aid the elderly in Vaasa
The city of Vaasa in western Finland has utilised its unemployed residents in combating loneliness and seclusion among the elderly. Last year 15 unemployed people worked as aides to pensioners, with 30 expected this year. Those involved say the two-year trial has had very positive results.
8. Tallink orders fast LNG car-passenger ferry from Turku yard
Tallink Grupp has placed an order with Meyer Turku for the construction of a liquid natural gas (LNG) car-passenger ferry for its Tallinn-Helsinki route. The vessel will cost around 230 million euros and will be built at Turku shipyard for delivery in the beginning of 2017.
9. Declining readership for print media
Readership of Finnish newspapers and their supplements has decreased by 3.3 percent, and for printed magazines by 1.8 percent based on the results of a poll conducted between the autumn of 2013 and spring of 2014. The readership figures reflect print editions and do not take into account digital versions of the same publications.
10. Friday's papers: Election issues, whistle blowing on tax evaders, printed ads still preferred
NATO and beer as election issues, a surge in reporting tax fraud, and how the Finns consume advertising were among the items in Friday's newspaper press.
11. Card copiers strike petrol stations in Turku and Tampere
Finnish police are warning motorists that their cards may have been copied after copying devices were discovered at two petrol stations in western Finland.
12. Police investigation: Air Finland execs withdrew millions before declaring insolvency
Finnish Police now suspect six people, the entire board and the CEO, of the defunct air carrier Air Finland of emptying the company bank accounts of several million euros before declaring insolvency. All of the suspects have denied any wrongdoing.
13. Thursday's papers: 'Sote' reform, shopping mall drugs, fat conscripts and wood over ice
Thursday's newspapers include an analysis of the proposed changes to the social welfare and health care or 'Sote' overhaul bill, drug dealers targeting kids in shopping centres, a record year for military service contender weight gain and a trial in Oulu to use wood shavings instead of gravel to combat slippery ice.
14 Research: Mobile phones more important to Finns than work or relationships ”Nowadays mobile phones are seen as more important than work or relationships," said Aki Koivula of the University of Turku. "Internet connections are getting more important with each passing year. At the same time traditional media, like television and newspapers, have lost some of their significance in people’s everyday lives."
"Finns’ attitudes have changed to such an extent that data security is now regarded as a threat to societal stability in the same way as military conflict and economic uncertainty are," said Koivula. "This development can be interpreted as evidence that technological risks are occupying more and more Finns’ minds."
15-16 Finns take bronze in cross-country relay worlds
The Finnish women’s relay team took the bronze medal at the cross-country skiing world championships in Falun on Thursday. It was the first Finnish medal of the championship.
Finland’s women’s relay team managed a bronze medal at the Nordic skiing world championships in Falun, when they came in third behind Sweden and world champions Norway.
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen, Kerttu Niskanen, Riitta-Liisa Roponen and Krista Pärmäkoski celebrated the bronze medal after beating off a challenge from the US team, who took fourth. Germany came fifth.
It was Finland’s first medal of the championship.
Last year in the Sochi Olympics Finland took the silver medal, but a year before that at the world championships in Val di Fiemme, they were fifth and left without a medal.
WORDS 17-20 How to spend your ski holiday like a Finn
Stumped about what to do over the week-long winter break from school? Try Yle News’s handy selection of family-friendly ideas to get you out into the fresh air.
Finnish schoolchildren enjoy a one-week holiday from school in February-March, beginning February 16 in the south, February 23 in central areas and March 2 in the northern climes of Ostrobothnia and Lapland.
Although February’s average temperature is often many degrees below zero, the original intention of the winter break was to encourage everyone to head outside.
It all began back in 1926, when a Finnish PE teacher from the eastern city of Kouvola, Santeri Hirvonen, suggested a week-long ski holiday for schoolchildren, to offset the many hours of arduous school work sitting indoors. Cross-country skiing on the frozen spring snow would not only give the kids a healthy dose of fresh air, he reasoned, but also the tenacity to make through the rest of the academic year.
During the 1930s, the idea was pushed into law thanks to campaigning by the former athlete Lauri Pihkala, a far-right political activist who believed in creating a Finnish master race through eugenics [juːˈdʒenɪks] and the promotion of sport.
Nowadays, February's ski holiday is a long way from those 1930s beginnings, though it’s still a time when many Finns head outdoors to make the most of the ice, snow and – hopefully - sunshine. Here’s our guide to enjoying a Finnish-style winter break:
1 You COULD always ski, of course!
Finland has one of the most extensive and best-maintained cross-country ski-trail networks in the world. Even if conditions are bad, several outdoor recreation centres in the metropolitan areas truck in snow to keep the conditions optimal on at least one track at all times. There are even a few indoor tracks where you can cross-country ski year round.
If cross-country skiing is not your thing, you could always try the downhill variety.
2 Ice skating If going up and down hills on skis sounds too much like hard work, why not stick to the flatter ground of an ice rink?
3 Snowshoeing, sledding and hiking Many of the outdoor recreation centres mentioned above offer snowshoes for rent. They also feature hills ideal for sledding and miles of lit trails for lovely walks in the winter landscape. The national parks offer marked trails, including easy strolls and tougher treks that pass several popular picnic and campfire sites.
4 Winter swimming You may well have to experience it to believe it, but the exhilarating feeling after jumping into icy water is second to none.
5 Spas and water parks If you’re not the outdoorsy type, there are several indoor water parks and spas to choose from throughout Finland. The water parks are very full over the ski holiday though, so be prepared.
6 Indoor playparks If your young children are climbing the walls after just one or two days and the weather isn’t cooperating, an indoor playpark may be the answer.