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Everyone knows that euthanasia means ‘’good death’’ (from the Greek ευθανασία) and that is a very controversial matter, but few people know exactly what are the legal, moral and religious problems concerning euthanasia. Here we’re going to consider the legal aspects of the matter.
First of all, it’s necessary to distinguish between active and passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia is when a doctor uses lethal substances to help a patient to die because of his incurable pain, at the instance of the same patient. Passive euthanasia is when a doctor no longer gives medicines and other substances to an incurable patient who is going to die, at his instance or not 1. In the end it ‘’entails the withdrawing of life support’’ 2. The first kind of euthanasia has always been forbidden in Italy - it is considered murder (art. 579 and 580 of Italian Codice Penale). The second one is allowed if the patient is conscious and asks for the withdrawal of life support. The Living Will, proposed in Italy by Girolamo Sirchia, could definitely be the solution of the problem – it is a document in which a person states what to do in case of coma or incurable disease when he or she is still conscious 3.
Anyway, everyone has a different idea about euthanasia. People who are in favour of it focus the attention on the art. 2 and 32 of Italian Constitution, which highlight the importance of human dignity. People who are contrary to it state that the Italian Constitution recognizes just the right to live, not the right to die 4.




References:
1. Corriere della Sera, 25th April 2002, from http://www.ministerosalute.it/dettaglio/pdPrimoPiano.jsp?id=22&sub=2&lang=it
2. http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutanasia
3. http://www.ministerosalute.it/dettaglio/pdPrimoPiano.jsp?sub=4&id=22&area=ministero%09%09%09%09&colore=2&lang=it
4. Antonio Baldassarre. Retrived April 27, 2009 from http://www.ilsussidiario.net/articolo.aspx?articolo=3843

Listening Workshop!

I think that listening to dialogues or conversations made by native speakers is really useful, because you get used to English way of speaking. This means that you get used to different pronunciations and different accents, some of which are quite hard to understand - American and Scottish one, for example. Moreover each native speaker tends to speak very quickly and to mumble with another native speaker. That is what sometimes makes English conversations incomprehensible! Anyway I always keep in my mind what my teacher used to tell me - it's possible that you can't understand some English people because of their accent, but the important thing is that you speak a good English, so that you can make yourself understood by everybody.

The Sydney Opera House (Summary)

The Sydney Opera House is situated close to Sydney Harbour Bridge, in Australia. It is a huge building, instantly recognizable by its roof shells, that includes five theathres, five rehearsal studios, two main halls, four restaurants, six bars, and several shops. It was started in 1959 and completed in 1973, even if the completion of the building was initially expected in 1963. The final cost was also much higher than the one initially expected, $120 million instead of $7 million. The Sydney Opera House was inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973 with a great ceremony, attended by millions of people.

Countable/Uncountable Nouns

COUNTABLE: a coffee, a trip, a headache, a wood (a small forest), an apple, an iron,
a business (a company), a chicken, a work (of art), a toast (brindisi), a fruit,
a country, a chocolate (a single chocolate), a hair (an individual hair), a cold
(the illness).


UNCOUNTABLE: apple (substance), wood (substance), bread, furniture, iron (metal),
information, business, luggage, advice, news, weather, chocolate (in
general), hair, work, chicken (meat), fruit (in general), equipment,
rubbish, country, travel, flu, cold (the temperature), toast (for breakfast).

Examples:

1. Let's have a coffee!
2. I've got a terrible headache today!
3. Please don't give me your advice!
4. Don't forget to buy some apples!
5. Is there apple in this cake?
6. I've visited so many countries in my life!
7. The country is so silent and peaceful!
8. He tries to avoid any kind of hard work.
9. Picasso's most famous work is Guernica.
10. Stay away from the hot iron!
11. Iron is a fundamental metal for the heavy industry.

Learning Styles & Multiple Intelligences

Making the test in classroom I've found out that I have a Visual/Spatial Intelligence. That's absolutely true. Visual/Spatial Intelligence means that you learn best through drawings and visual aids, so that you visualize in your mind the concepts you have to learn, making mental schemes and linking ideas to images. I usually learn this way. People with this kind of intelligence should help themselves by highlighting or underlining important passages of text or taking some notes in the page when they study as means of memory retention. I think that listening to the music for people with a Visual/Spatial Intelligence isn't so positive, because we need visual, not auditory aids.

Vocabulary!

New words from all the lessons:

• arrangements (accordi)

Today we're going to talk about the arrangements between the nations.

• intimidating (intimidatorio)

I looked at him with an intimidating air.

• to sway (oscillare)

That earthquake made all the buildings sway to and fro.

• to overthrow (rovesciare)

He tried to overthrow the government but he failed.

• to soak (mettere a bagno)

Soak the tablecloth in the bleach! It's dirty!

• to bind by (costringere)

Italian judges are bound by the written law. That's clear.

• custom (abitudine)

The custom is to bring a present when you're invited to someone's birthday.

• trial (processo)

Mario was acquitted after a long and complex trial.

• receipt (scontrino)

You have to ask for the receipt, if they don't give it to you.

• extenuating circumstance (attenuante)

Judges have to consider also extenuating circumstances during the trial.

• barristers (avvocati)

I'd like to be a barrister one day.

• to plead (dichiararsi)

The defendant pled not guilty but no one trusted him.

• to acquit or convict (assolvere o condannare)

The judge decided to acquit him because there weren't enough prooves against him.

• defendant (imputato)

The defendant went on trial.

• fine (multa)

Many crimes are punished with a fine.

• to perjury (spergiurare)

He perjuried in the trial but he was discovered.

Topic Six: Reflection

I think that studying English at university is very useful. From the first English lesson at Luiss I've set for myself a main goal -keeping in touch with the language and improving my vocabulary lesson by lesson. I think I've achieved these goals -making a blog has been very nice and useful for practice and studying European legal systems made me learn lots of new legal words. My vocabulary has improved, and also my pronunciation -we've studied English sounds and difficult words. The next goal I want to achieve is to improve my listening skills, so I could watch any English film I like -listening to different pronunciations and accents it's pretty important. I'd like to take a holiday in England as well, in order to improve my speaking skills (going abroad is surely the best way to learn a language!).