Greek grime.

Con esta serie se quiere dar a conocer los hábitos higiénicos de las sociedades antiguas. En este caso, vemos cómo los antiguos griegos se esforzaban por mantener su limpieza corporal, rascandose la mugre y extendiendo después grasa. Los atletas solo llevaban sobre su cuerpo aceite de oliva y las señoras, se emborrachaban con los abundantes aceites perfumados sobre sus cuerpos. Conoce, también los truculentos detalles de la vida cotidiana, putrefacta de plagas y de chisporroteantes sacrificios.

Un método realmente nuevo. Reading Greek.

Se pone de manifiesto un nuevo método para la lectura del griego antiguo denominado Reading Greek. Que la enseñanza del griego antiguo se haya visto reducido a prácticamente un solo curso de enseñanza, ha sido motivo de queja, a la que no se ha dado respuesta. De ahí que los profesionales de la enseñanza de esta materia se hayan propuesto nuevos métodos para ser más eficaces en su aprovechamiento de este escaso tiempo. Por un lado la gramática se ha dosificado con reglas sintácticas entremezcladas. Aún así no parece claro que el alumno al final del curso esté en las adecuadas condiciones de poder afrontar con un mínimo de garantías la lectura de un texto. Pero La Joint Association of Classical Teachers, tras diez largos años de trabajo ha elaborado un método denominado Reading greek, es decir, leyendo Griego, de gran eficacia. Se propone que lo mejor desde el principio mismo es introducir en los textos al alumno y éstos de una manera gradual en cuanto a adaptación del original, y con un bagaje de vocabulario que va aumentando progresivamente, al igual que la gramática al uso, que más que estudiarla tras cada unidad, resulta más bien la síntesis de la misma. En cuanto a la descripción detallada del método se señala que consta de dos volúmenes, siendo el primero el que contiene tos textos y el segundo, la gramática, el vocabulario y los ejercicios. El tiempo requerido para la puesta en práctica del método son treinta y siete semanas, que viene a coincidir con el curso académico. La materia se distribuye por secciones, dentro de siete apartados o capítulos que enfocan diversos aspectos del mundo heleno. Cada sección dentro de estos apartados viene configurada por cuatro o cinco unidades. Para terminar se realizan dos precisiones sobre la eficacia del método: en primer lugar se le considera de gran utilidad y eficacia para la docencia; y en segundo, el orden de palabras, que acostumbra ya desde el primer texto, a ese hipérbaton tan sorprendente para los que se inician.

Women, Portuguese culture and Diaspora : Women from Goa in New Zealand and cultural adaptation

New Zealand is a nation of Migrants. Immigrants have played a significant role in the country’s economic growth and cultural development. With a population of four million people, New Zealand’s population is becoming increasingly culturally diverse. Almost one in five New Zealanders were born overseas, rising to one in three in its largest city, Auckland. Asians are the fastest growing ethnic group, increasing by around 140% since 1996. Indians account for 1.2% of the population (Statistics New Zealand, 2002). The Goan community in New Zealand is relatively small and its size is not formally recorded, however, anecdotally it appears to have grown to over 200 families in the Auckland area, with most arriving after 1996. For women who migrate, loneliness and isolation have been identified as the most ‘glaring’ experience and this is intensified by the loss of extended family networks when they migrate to a country where nuclear families are the norm (Leckie, 1995). The creation of new networks and maintenance of prior networks in new ways is crucial to the successful settlement and integration into a new country. This paper reports on how Goan, Indian women in Auckland, New Zealand used specific strategies to manage the adjustment to living in a new country. The findings reveal that participants used a variety of skills to settle in New Zealand such as cultivating a “can do” attitude, obtaining support and learning. These skills enabled them to move beyond their own culture and begin to take active part in New Zealand culture. However, this process was not immediate and the participants passed through a number of stages along a continuum of settlement and integration. These stages will be discussed below and situated within a body of literature.

Heimat, Fremdheit, Zugehörigkeit : Zur Konjunktur des Diaspora-Begriffs in der Ära Internationaler Migration

In the era of international migration, the experience of homelessness, deriving from the loss of the myth of cultural and ethno-linguistically singularity in contemporary societies, seems to become an universal phenomenon. Questions of home and belonging are key issues in the current discourses on Diaspora which, since the turning point of 1989, developed beyond those academic disciplines concerned with religion. At taking a critical perspective on the loss of analytical categories, this article discusses the enormous proliferation of Diasporaconcepts in social sciences at large, and in particular with regard to discourses on Muslims in Europe.

A word study unit on Latin and Greek prefixes, roots and derivations

This paper contains an outline of study for hearing impaired children to learn language through the study of Latin and Greek roots, derivatives and prefixes.

The Greek debt trap: an escape plan. Bruegel Policy Contribution 2012/19, 7 November 2012

Without corrective measures, Greek public debt will exceed 190 percent of GDP, instead of peaking at the anyway too-high target ratio of 167 percent of GDP of the March 2012 financial assistance programme. The rise is largely due to a negative feedback loop between high public debt and the collapse in GDP, and endangers Greek membership of the euro area. But a Greek exit would have devastating impacts both inside and outside Greece. A small reduction in the interest rate on bilateral loans, the exchange of European Central Bank holdings, buy-back of privately-held debt, and frontloading of some privatisation receipts are unlikely to be sufficient. A credible resolution should involve the reduction of the official lending rate to zero until 2020, an extension of the maturity of all official lending, and indexing the notional amount of all official loans to Greek GDP. Thereby, the debt ratio would fall below 100 percent of GDP by 2020, and if the economy deteriorates further, there will not be a need for new arrangements. But if growth is better than expected, official creditors will also benefit. In exchange for such help, the fiscal sovereignty of Greece should be curtailed further. An extended privatisation plan and future budget surpluses may be used to pay back the debt relief. The Greek fiscal tragedy highlights the need for a formal debt restructuring mechanism

Why is the Greek economy collapsing? A simple tale of high multipliers and low exports. CEPS Commentary, 21 December 2012

In an attempt to understand why the Greek economy is collapsing, this Commentary points out two key aspects that are often overlooked – the country’s large multiplier and a bad export performance. When combined with the need for a large fiscal adjustment, these factors help explain how fiscal consolidation in Greece has been associated with such a large drop in GDP.