Oral Blog Portfolio Post Entry Seven Diploma Lecture 2

Helping others was the topic of the lecture which given by Dave Griffiths on week nine. Basically he mentioned about a First Aid.

He taught us what we should do before helping others and how we should react: The first step is to STOP, THINK... am I safe?, BARRIERS then MOVE. Then talk to a person by saying are you alright, tell them your name, I am here to help you. Following that look, listen, and feel if needed call an Ambulance for help by dialling 111 however, you have to help the person till the Ambulance officers arrive they might take about 35 minutes to arrive. He also told us we don't have to use any medical treatment to help them but we should give them the kiss of life or a CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitate). When we give CPR we should give them different treatment according to their age for instance, for an adult you should use two hands, for a child one hand and for an infant is two fingers and for all of them 30 compressions.

Accident can happen any where and any time for example, they could happen when we are driving, when we are sitting at home or studying at school. So having First Aid experience is very useful to help our family, friends and ourselves.

I really like the way Dave presented the topic because he is very funny man.

Week Ten Text Blog Entry Eight - an article about my country in the international press

Here is an article in the British press that the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has been fighting Ethiopia for independence since 1984. The Ethiopian government accuses it of being associated with al-Qa'ida, but the ONLF denies this.The region at the heart of the dispute was awarded to Ethiopia by the British in 1954. It has since been the cause of two wars between Ethiopia and neighbouring Somalia. I have chosen this article because as we all know there is big fighting between these two countries. I think they misunderstood one another because Ethiopia thinks they are trying to keep a peace however Somali people don't believe that. people are worrying about this because it could be like Iraq as the violence will continue.

Text Blog Entry 7 - Diploma Trip

It was really great that we went to Titirangi and the weather was prefect although we thought it might rain. I enjoyed very much having that chance with my classmates. I got there with my teacher (Ron) and three of my class mates ( Carsten, Miah and Hani) on time. We had a cup of tea with other students there and relaxed. When we first arrived I was expecting to have a little walk and look around however we left very soon.

The second place we went to was Huia point which is a beautiful I would like to take my family and friends there in the future. I liked the spectacular views there and we stayed there just about 15 minutes having fun, looking around and taking some photos. Following that we went to Cornwallis where we had a little walk and then had a huge lunch because we were very tired, hungry and thirst. It was a big lunch but we couldn't finish and I really amazed we were very hungry but we didn't eat that much. At last some students remained there to catch whales and others came back to Unitec for afternoon class but unfortunately we didn't have our class because we were late and some students went home.

Text Blog Entry 6: Parties offer own climate change solutions

This article is about New Zealand politicians to be united so that they can fight a global warming. The parties decided that representative from all major parties responded to a questionnaire. The politicians were asked a number of questions including " how urgent they think action on the climate change was? and "what practical steps should New Zealand government and business taking? all 13 survey respondents from seven parties said " it was not vital to take action on the climate change immediately. But the labour's climate change minister David Parker said " New Zealand needed to aim to be carbon neutral economy, with a focus on environmentally friendly vehicle fuels. United also called multi- party conference on the issue to be Held this year so national consensus on action could be reached that was not subject to the " Whims and changes " of the three-year electoral cycle.

This article is about New Zealand politicians to be united so that they can fight a global warming. The parties decided that representative from all major parties responded to a questionnaire. The politicians were asked a number of questions including “how urgent they think action on the climate change was? And "what practical steps should New Zealand government and business taking? All 13 survey respondents from seven parties said “it was not vital to take action on the climate change immediately. But the labour's climate change minister David Parker said “New Zealand needed to aim to be carbon neutral economy, with a focus on environmentally friendly vehicle fuels. United also called multi- party conference on the issue to be Held this year so national consensus on action could be reached that was not subject to the “Whims and changes “of the three-year electoral cycle.


I have got 28 active and 5 passive forms here in the text.

1 . ….. …“were asked”…simple past passive
2.………”needed to be taken…infinitive passive
3. …. …”was not done... simple past passive
4……..”can be found….. present simple passive
5............” to be held…….infinitive passive

Oral Blog Entry Six Pictures Comparison

There are two pictures which show having classes at primary school. The first one tells us children are learning from one another and the second one shows that they are learning from a teacher.

I prefer the first picture because often students comfortable when they discuss with one another than studying with teachers because it’s good for them to have more self confidence. But if only teachers talk to them just like lecturers daily, the students become very lazy.

I think it is not good that teachers give them all what they need if so it becomes very dull. So it is better for them to find out what is important.

Oral Blog Entry 5 Domestic News Headlines

These news which I heard when I listen to the record of the morning report from national Radio on Monday April 30th

"Paper also reports the climate change experts an environmentalists will clash over proposals to fight global warming"

I notice these pronunciation features:

1. weak pronunciation ..."over proposals"..
2.consonant to vowel linking ...."an environmentalists"....
3.weak pronunciation ... "the climate"...

About my break

During the holiday I went to Rotorua with my family and friends. However the weather sucked: windy, cold and rainy. We hired a big bus which had enough space for every one of us but what happened was, we nearly had an accident because of fog. My two bothers who drove to Rotorua drove very carefully although it took too long to get there. After we arrived because of the smell of the lake we regret going there but later on we got used to it. The five days with our group of 26 people were a lot of fun. Especially, when we swam in the hot spot, had meals and played together. It was a really enjoyable time that we had at Rotorua. When I remember that, I wouldn't imagine that beautiful time would come again.

Summary of the book

This book is written by Buchi Emecheta who is one of Nigeria's great literary talents, has been a librarian and a community worker and now divides her time between University teaching in London and Nigeria. The gist idea of this book is about social divisions and about two young people who fall in love, although the beliefs of their people will not allow them to marry eachother. There is a lady called Aku-nna and she has a younger brother. Their father died when they were young, and they have no one to look after them. However they were welcomed by their uncle because of Aku-nna's bride price ( the money that her future husband will pay for her). In her new, strange home one man was kind to her and taught her to become a woman. Soon they were in love,however everyone says he was not a suitable husband for her. The more the world tries to separate them, the more they were drawn together until, finally something has to break which was death of her.

Budgeting & Finance

The lecture was presented by Annette Pitavao (from student funding centre or student services). It was very enjoyable, useful and clear. She gave us advice on managing our money and told us about two key financial institutions (Study Link and Work and Income) which could help us while we are on our studies.

She also mentioned all students are welcome to fill scholarship which is available on line however it is closed now until 1/03/2008. She told us in order to fill the form on line first we need to go http://www.unitec.ac.nz/ then the Quad after that just click on the scholarship.

Everybody needs to create their own budget to manage their income and expenses. For instance, if our income is $150 a week, we should look at what we need to spend for (food, rent, fares, petrol, power, phone and insurance) so we also as the students need to have this plan.

About Me

My name is Aman Halango and I originally come from Ethiopia which is a part of east Africa. I was born in Oromia which is in central Ethiopia. In my country the weather never changes. I have been in New Zealand for about one year and nine months. I like New Zealand very much because I normally like green and peaceful places. I have got four brothers and four sisters. Three of them are married and have got children, two of them are in my country and seven of us are here in New Zealand with our parents. I have dreams to achieve in my life journey which are short term goals and long term goals.

My short term goals are to complete my Diploma in English (Advanced) course, to study Bachelor of Nursing and then to become a Registered Nurse. The reason why I want to become a nurse is that I naturally like helping people and dealing with medical stuff. For example, I am currently working at Aranui Hospital and Rest Home LTD as a nurse aid. I really love spending time with elderly people and participating in the free medical course which is available it. That is very useful course and I am enjoying it.My long term goal is to work as a journalist because I want to help my people with my knowledge. I’m keen to have speed reading, writing and speaking skills and have a good memory. In addition I would like to translate foreign languages to my language. For example, English news to Amharic news or Swahili news to Afaan Oromo news etc. In my country many books still haven’t been translated from English language to Afaan Oromo (my mother tongue) therefore the new generation can’t understand what’s happening around them. Not only this but they can’t get sufficient news immediately. For this reason and others although it’s not my field, I have decided to become a journalist in the future.