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Lignano 2014 33rd National Selection Conference of EYP Italy 1
Breakthrough Media Team of Lignano 2014 EDITRESS Sabrina Ariana Mellerowic (DE)
VIDEO-EDITRESS Carolina Comis (IT)
JOURNALISTS Amy Campo Mc Evoy (ES) Gianmarco Franchini (IT) Riccardo Passarella (CH) Siebe Geerts (BE) Fabrizio Zamparelli (IT)
Table of Contents. The Chairs Team. 4 “A series of small steps” - Interview with Marius Aure
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We are NOT all feminists now
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Just do it. 10 Making the difference. 12 General Assembly: the way we do it.
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Phones down! 16 The English language: something more than just a ‘useful’ tool 18 Teambuilding Impressions. 20
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Editorial
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What inspires you?
If you are trying to tell me that there is nothing that inspires you, either you don‘t tell me the truth, either you haven‘t figured out what it is. Some of you might see music or movies as a source of inspiration. Doesn‘t a good song raise your mood? You might now wonder why I‘m writing about inspiration in general. Well, I think inspiring moments and people is what life is mainly about. An easy example would be traveling: Why are so many people fond of traveling? Of course the reasons are different from character to character but all in all I‘d say is that people travel because they want to experience something they haven‘t done or seen before; witness breathtaking nature or cities with their own eyes, instead of only googling photos. I personally find the art of poetry very inspiring. Poets have the enviable ability of putting feelings that most of us struggle to find words for onto paper, even manage to form stunning rhymes and rhythms. Poems can have such a complex structure while still sounding melodic and light-hearted. One of those fascinating poems is “If“ from Rudyard Kipling, read the first stanza: “If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise“ After a short literary excursion let‘s come back to Lignano, to the European Youth Parliament. As you might have noticed, EYP can also be very inspiring. Spending time with so many young, ambitious and interesting people from all over the continent often awakes by then unknown interests. This might be a cheesy example but my interest in photography, video-editing and design in general started after having attended an EYP session. My committee journalist and the video-editor back then had both been geniuses with their cameras and I‘ve admired their photos and videos ever since. Apart from heated political discussions, EYP shows you what is possible - in my case with a good camera. All the skills you may gain from an EYP session, no matter if it‘s capturing moments in photos, learning to cooperate in a group of actual strangers or constructive debate, are all useful in your daily life. I hope that this second issue of BREAKTHROUGH is also an inspiration for you on top of all these other things that you might or might not consider inspiring.
Sabrina 3
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The Chairs Team.
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“A series of small steps” You have witnessed him as an elephant, a random dancer and as Jack from Titanic. However there is another side of him that you have not met yet. Riccardo and Siebe went on a quest to unravel some of the mysteries around the session President, Marius Aure or /Øre/. Below you will find some of the inquiries we confronted him with during our interview. Read further and discover everything you need to know about Marius, the inspiring personality. You have been a delegate a couple of times. Is there anything you would like to change, if you had the chance do it all over again? I would definitely like to be a delegate at a summer International Session again. This is how I met Lorenzo, we were in the same committee in Helsinki1 and after that we even traveled together to Frankfurt2. However, once you have chaired, it is difficult to go back and be a delegate again. You know, the worst delegates are by far those who chaired because they have an opinion [on chairing] and know how to do that. How do you go on with EYP? Was it your National Board which inspired you or was it someone in particular? I think everybody in EYP has a mentor or two. You bump into more experienced people who tell you that you should apply to a certain session or try something out. For me, it was Victoria Wilkinson in the beginning and afterwards Ruben Wagenaar. They are probably the ones that helped me the most. Back then, I never thought I would be in the same role towards other people. 1 2
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International Session Helsinki 2009 International Session Frankfurt 2010
What was the first role you took as an official? Chairperson. Then I went on to organise. I helped organising the extraordinary Session in Lillehammer. I really think everyone should organise at some point and preferably take part in organising an International Session. You said you did not see yourself as a role model, but was it something you wanted to achieve from the start? No, it sort of happened. EYP is like a bunch of small steps. Suddenly you start looking back and you see that it has been quite all right or you even find yourself being the president of a session. Do you think there should be a moment when you think you have done everything? Do you think you will fall into a black hole and do nothing between EYP and work? If you look at most EYPers, you notice that they never actually give up EYP. They say they would retire, but somehow they keep on coming back. I think the most natural thing for me to do now is to take an in important role in the Norwegian National Committee.
2# Breakthrough As I did a couple of years ago when I was “secretary general”. However, there is a new generation coming up and I think my future in EYP is with them. What was your role in the board of EYP Norway about? I kept in contact with members, recruited people and was in charge of Alumni. Do you think you will stay with us for another couple of years or is there anything else you want to do in your near future? Well, I’ve got my Postgraduate coming up, so that keeps me busy at the moment. I think I will have another year or two in EYP, maybe chairing another time at an IS. That would make me happy.
In your future career, do you think you will take anything from EYP? Definitely. I think the skills you develop in EYP will be useful in the rest of your life, especially the interacting and social stuff. You simply cannot learn it in books, it is just pure experience.
“If you look at most EYPers, you notice that they never actually give up EYP. They say they would retire, but somehow they keep on coming back.”
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WE ARE NOT ALL
his headline has been taken from a debate on the motion “This House believes we are all feminists now” held at Oxford Union on Valentine’s Day 20131 and I can highly encourage you to watch it, as it will complete the opinion formed in this article. First of all, what is Feminism? It was born as an ideal of equality between men and women and its name comes with good reasons. As a matter of fact, if our goal, back then, had been to reach parity, we would have had to fight against male chauvinism. However, the notion of feminism evolved through time. In fact, from a concept of pure fairness, it has now wrongly turned into the idea of fight and somehow discrimination against men. It is not an argument that all feminists hate the male, but it happens to be the misleading vision of society towards feminism. Another misleading vision is the one of some women and girls who call for rights and equality, denying any possible obligation related to these achievements: feminism is different from egoism. The current misconception of feminism is what might drive rightful feminists to take their distance from an abused term. At this point it might be reasonable to reconsider whether we still need Feminism. 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cSrX2FJ-Q8
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If we consider all the steps governments worldwide have taken throughout the twentieth century to ensure equality, at least in the so called western countries, we will notice that, on the surface, everything looks clear. Women can vote, women can study, women can work and reach top positions in business and politics. Women can do whatever they want. Whether these achievements are due to Feminism or simple common sense of Justice and Fairness (that are what Feminism is all about) shall be left to a historical and social analysis. What is sure is that we now live in a world that is closer to freedom. Nonetheless, if we dig deeper into the structure of our society and the business model, it is unmissable that discrimination towards the “weaker gender” has not stopped yet. Women struggle with reaching governing positions, they are generally less paid and their bodies and personae are usually objectified by media and fashion. The necessary consequence is that we need Feminism more than ever. In general, movements that protect women must arise everywhere in the world. In this case we should talk about Geographical Feminism, namely the shape the concept should take considering the necessities of a given area.
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FEMINISTS NOW There is still a lot women can do. The first step for women to take is to stop blaming others for their incapacity to achieve their personal goals. Secondly, these women must understand when it is time to act and to not miss a chance when it is offered. Also men have to understand that they have no right to think they are better and welcome the idea of having women sitting as board members and bringing some freshness. Society should be restructured from its very foundation and change radically, if we want to end all discriminations and perhaps, with time, it will happen. It is now acquired that we need Feminism. Nonetheless, the question whether we really need Feminism is still open. Should equality be reproached to any gender? A real feminist should find the answer quite easy to give: no. It is a paradox to define parity by the reference to females, since the idea might appear as one of superiority. The generalisation of equality quarrels with the essence of the concept itself. In the twenty-first century all men and women should be considered as human beings and
any innuendo to a diversity based on genitalia should be spared only for biological reasons (such as maternity). Everyone who wants to call her or himself a human being has to live with the idea of achieving justice, fairness, and equality. We do not need hope but to act in a hopeful manner; persons need to care about each other no matter the gender, the sexual orientation, the ethical group or abilities. This is why a new notion to underline the importance of absolute equality: “Equalism”.
“What is sure is that we now live in a world that is closer to freedom. Nonetheless, if we dig deeper into the structure of our society and the business model, it is unmissable that discrimination towards the ‘weaker gender’ has not stopped yet.”
By Riccardo Passarella 9
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JUST DO IT. D
o you know the feeling when you want to do something but somehow you keep yourself from doing it? I often have this feeling when it comes to sports, particularly running. I really feel like putting on my running shoes and going outside; but on the other hand sitting in front of my laptop on the couch is so much more comfortable.
You will be facing issues which path to take, which subject to focus on, which university to go to, which city or country to move to. Nowadays the range of possibilities is overwhelming. Some think that going straight to university is the best option to choose; others might consider taking a year off for traveling; others just have the feeling to do something different from studying in front of books and screens. European Voluntary Service, Work and Travel, Au pair work, Work Camps; to name only a couple of possibilities that await you when the school routine has come to an end.
I then tell myself: „It‘s OK to be a couch potato today, I can still burn some calories tomorrow“. Being a couch potato once is fine, but maintaining and applying this lazy attitude to life is detestable. Sport brands know our sentiment; they know us as lazy humans who cannot overcome their laziness barriers. Nike‘s In the beginning we are excited by the end“Just do it“ became one of the most popular less horizon of options. Many of us actually advertising slogans worldwide. consider getting off the couch and taking a gap year, but as soon as we start digging The dilemma of staying on the couch instead deeper into something specific we see the of going for a run can also generally be ap- inconvenience. That project which sounded plied to us - the Youth of Europe. It is abso- so exciting is suddenly not at all what it made lutely normal to reach a point where you seri- you expect; and voluntary work abroad acously consider what to make out of life. At the tually costs quite an amount of money even earliest you will be confronted with these per- though you are working the whole day. sonal questions when finishing high school.
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This frustration leads to the point where you might reconsider taking a gap year. Isn’t it a waste of time not to move to higher education straight away? When most of your friends decide to go to university without really knowing if the subject they chose is the right one, you might start to believe it is the best to just follow the crowd and not stand there alone. You don‘t want to be the one still attending lectures when your friends already started working in a fancy company, do you? For some of you it might be the right way. Personal barriers (or couches) are different for everyone and of course moving from school to university is not easy either. I personally call it the comfortable way. It is always easier to follow the crowd and fall into a daily routine at your local university than to plan a year on your own, risking unforeseen challenges and disappointment or in other words: rebelling against the crowd. What is one year? Nothing. Does it really matter if you enter business life with 26 or 27? If you move to another city or even country there will be different people, a different routine and different gaps to fill.
I am on a gap year right now. Not because I did not know what to study, but because I consciously decided to have one; not because I am a lazy person who generally prefers couches, but because I had the feeling that I wanted to see more than books, schedules and restrictions. Of course it is not the right decision for everyone and of course it is not always easy to handle personal freedom either. Friends of mine keep telling me that they envy me traveling around and attending EYP sessions all over Europe. They could have done the same though. What I want to tell you is the following: Whatever path might be the right one for you (if you manage to find out), be courageous enough to take it - it might not be the most comfortable or easiest one. Don‘t stay a couch potato because you are too lazy to go for a run. Recall the amazing feeling after your run, with oxygen rushing through your blood; the feeling of overcoming your personal barriers.
By Sabrina Mellerowic
“It is always easier to follow the crowd and fall into a daily routine at your local university than to plan a year on your own, risking unforeseen challenges and disappointment or in other words: rebelling against the crowd.” 11
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Making the difference.
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he session has finally started and you Susan B. Anthony’s speech, 1873: On have hopefully had the chance to get Woman’s Right to the Suffrage an insight into the world of the European Youth Parliament. We are young people Anthony was an activist, involved in the fight from all over Europe, we are passionate and against slavery, abuse of alcohol and, most we want to change the world – to different famously, in the struggle for women rights. extents, of course. In 1872, she voted at the US presidential After participating in my first session, I had elections, being aware that women were not a lot to reprocess . What was EYP about, af- allowed to do so at the time. Consequently ter all? Had I enjoyed this session because fined and arrested, she protested against I had met extraordinary people or because this treatment in a very famous speech, the I had had the chance to dip into the fasci- following year. nating world of international politics or, yet again, was it simply the lack of sleep that Approaching her speech, the reader is had destroyed my personal barriers? It has struck by Anthony‘s clear expression in only been a year since I attended my first dealing with the topic. She starts by openly session and obviously I am still not able to stating her main aim: “It shall be my work answer these questions properly. However, [...] to prove to you that in thus voting I not one thing I know now is that one of the rea- only committed no crime, but simply exersons I do EYP is because it is a place where cised my citizen’s rights” increasing the curipeople can express their opinions freely. osity of the audience and casting new light on the fact: it was not an infringement of the In only a few days you will be attending law, but a legitimate citizenship act. It is thus General Assembly (GA). GA is the part of necessary for her to prove that, on the one the session in which you all get the chance hand, all citizens are entitled to vote and on to speak up. Get to the podium and have the other, women are rightful citizens. your say. Many men and women have done so before, in different contexts, with differ- Right at the beginning of her speech, Anent backgrounds, to a difference audience, thony refers to the preamble of the Federbut with one common aim: making their al Constitution, which she uses as the juvoices heard. ridical and authoritative backbone to her claims. The latter reads “We, the people of United States […] do ordain and estab“Get to the podium and have the lish this Constitution for the United States of your say.” America” . Following these words, Anthony affirms: “It was we, the people; not we, the
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white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people […] we formed it [the Federal Union], not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them” and “To them [women] this government has no just powers derived from the consent of the governed”. She clearly states that human rights are not something granted by the governing authority, but that all human beings were born with them. However, individuals realise that their rights will not be fully respected until they have rules. So, they accept to deny part of their freedom to establish a regulating authority. As a consequence, this authority is provided with powers, but with a precise limit: it cannot violate human rights, hindering their freedom. The core of the speech deals with the ultimate goal: giving women the right to vote. We can read “[the women] are denied the only means of securing them [the blessings of liberty] provided by this democratic-republican government—the ballot”. At this point, Anthony demonstrates that the government is obliged to respect citizens’ rights, and showed that the ballot-box is the main instrument of ensuring this respect.
The only question from the speech yet to be answered is: are women citizens? Anthony responds to that point in the conclusion of her speech: “Webster, Worcester and Bouvier all define a citizen to be a person in the United States, entitled to vote and hold office. The only question left to be settled now is: Are women persons? […] Being persons, then, women are citizens[...] Hence, every discrimination against women in the constitutions and laws of the several States is today null and void”. Just so you know, Susan B. Anthony really did make the difference, although she did not live long enough to see it. In 1920, fourteen years after her death, women were finally given their right to vote. While I do encourage you to pursue high accomplishments, do not worry: you do not have to change the world from one day to another. Take your time, phrase your thoughts, get into the critical mood. Just stand up from your seat, walk to the podium and begin to speak. Break through the walls of timidity and you will already have made a difference. The rest will come along.
By Gianmarco Franchini 13
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General Assembly: the way we do it. By Siebe Geerts For those outside of EYP the combination of formal outfits, colourful bow ties and nervous people would seem rather odd but for us, the attendants of Lignano2014 it is nothing else than the General Assembly (GA). As this extraordinary event is coming closer you feel yourself getting more and more nervous, even though you have probably spent quite some time preparing yourself academically. But don´t you worry child, the Media Team gives you a hand along the way, going through the entire procedure step by step.
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Committee Work (CW) Congratulations you have prepared yourself academically and (hopefully) made it through team building (TB) without too much trouble. But now it is time to focus, so you should definitely not spend your time on your smartphone or sleeping throughout the entire CW. Besides, you really do not want to risk receiving a disappointed look from one of your chairs. Therefore, be active and you are halfway there!
The night before… It is probably not necessary to warn you of the lack of sleep you will definitely going to have. Consequently it is best to invest your energy wisely. There are loads of ways to do so, but among these, binge drinking or not sleeping at all are certainly the worst options one can come up with. However, helping others writing attack speeches or hanging out with your committee can be both productive and fun. For those with a lack of preparation and extreme ninja skills, stealing someone´s preparation might be a proper solution. But obviously, it is best to combine a proper preparation with the necessary amount of sleep.
2# Breakthrough The General Assembly: debating Expressing yourself clearly during the rounds of debate is also important and it definitely should not be underestimated. Since most of us are still not entirely comfortable with the English language, mispronunciations are impossible to avoid. But remember this: you should only talk about the European Onion when the topic is about vegetables and there sure is a difference between /fock us’/ and /focus/. Obviously it is not all about phrasing, but including quotes of famous people always works out real well in speeches. As you will notice soon, GA really is not as frightening as you would have expected and believe me, you are not the only one that is feeling a little nervous. Sweating a little bit more when making a point or doing a speech is completely natural, but remember, it is all about the impression you make. So suiting up nicely in combination with paying attention on how to express yourself will improve your general appearance. On an additional note: whenever you are tired, do not sleep during a debate, but rather drink some coffee instead. Good luck and may the force be with you!
The General Assembly: dress code You are almost there, the last yards before you cross the finish line. But you are not there yet, believe me, there will be plenty of opportunities to fail on your way towards the end. For example finding the perfect outfit can be quite challenging. The question is: what do you feel most comfortable with; do you want to go for the smart, casual look or do you feel more like looking elegant? Whichever way you go, please do not exaggerate. Colourful socks, stylish bow ties, blazers or fancy dresses will sure do the job. So sticking with short skirts or ripped jeans will not make you look any better.
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PHONES DOWN! “Tieni, è l’ultimo che mi rimane.”1 These were the words he used when, on the train to Lignano, he handed her his last tissue after she sneezed. She had looked hopelessly into her bag for one, but when she failed to find it, she had put her head down and continued texting her friends.
teach them to say thank you but, in practice, we show them it is not necessary. They learn from our mistakes: we have started to take everything for granted and now so do they. From the moment we wake up to the one when we go to sleep, how many times do we stop to appreciate what we have?
“Tieni, è l’ultimo che mi rimane.” Why had We no longer see beauty in nature, we take these words surprised her? food for granted and the fact that we could one day be lonely does not scare us into apToday, gestures like this one are rare. We preciating our friends. We rush around with treat strangers like aliens and live our life as our heads down, texting all day. We have if there was no one else around us. We have forgotten the meaning of face to face inforgotten the difference a small word like teraction, because, instead, we are looking “thank you” can make with a stranger, how down at our smartphones. We need to learn a smile to the person who helps us in the to take the time to stop; step away from shop can change their day; we have forgot- our hectic lives and have a look around us. ten how important caring is. Start talking to the person you are having lunch with, saying sorry when we bump into Words like thank you, please and sorry are someone and having a conversation with rarely used in our day to day conversations, strangers in general. and even less with a stranger. Children grow up being used to asking She wanted to give him something back. She and receiving everything they want, and we had forgotten that strangers could be nice. She looked into her bag and saw sweets. 1 Here you go, I only have one left
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She thought of taking them out and offering them to him. She did not. That would be weird… Not only have we lost our conversational skills, we have also lost touch with humanity and forgotten how to be polite. Whilst we are looking down at our phones, we forget to open the door for mothers with children, we forget to give our seat up to a man in his seventies who is standing awkwardly on the bus and we ignore a blind woman trying to cross the road. We are busy, we are texting all day. Talking over dinner has become the unusual; helping people has become the unexpected and smiling in public, weird. When did this happen? When did we start looking down? Our everyday distractions make us unaware of how we can help the people around us but in the meantime, pictures that “restore
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our faith in humanity” make us smile. However, we can become the protagonists of these pictures. In the unlikely event that we decide to put our phones in our pockets and look up, we see a different world. A world in which we can help people, respond to things we see; we can finally behave like human beings. Like the man on the train who gave the girl the tissue, we can restore faith in humanity. Revolutionise the scenery and puzzle people. All we have to do is put our phones down.
“We have forgotten the meaning of face to face interaction, because, instead, we are looking down at our smartphones.”
By Amy Campo McEvoy
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The English language: something more than just a ‘useful’ tool. Der Spiegel hängt an der Wand. Can you understand this sentence? Do you have any clue? I am sure most of you don’t. Around 2700 languages are spoken all over the globe and English is the one with the widest range of vocabulary, having over 500,000 words. Surprisingly, languages which have a more limited amount of words, such as German, which only has about 185,000, are not studied as much, as most of you have no clue what those German words mean. This leads to an obvious question: how and why does English turn out to be the global language par excellence and what makes a language global? It is hard to precisely say what the actual reasons are: there are several. Over the past fifty years, with a sort of uncontested approval, the global society decided that in order to survive in a globalised world, a common language was essential. English had what it took: simple grammar and accessibility. Some think this was merely a consequence of a historical factor: the British colonisation in the 19th century. A further factor is a modern one: the power America gained after World War II. Its new position led to the spreading of popular American culture and this contributed to the spread of English across the globe. The reason why a language becomes global has however little to do with the number of peo-
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ple who speak it. Spreading a language is more about where it is heard, when it is used and who makes use of it. We are constantly confronted with English in our everyday life, on TV and in clubs, but more importantly the business world. These aspects have led to the fact that English has become such a powerful language. Today over a billion people want to speak it. Nowadays English is considered the lingua franca of international business as well as worldwide communication. It is therefore regarded as a ‘useful’ requirement in order to get a good job and to have one’s word heard in the business world. In today’s life, as a matter of fact, you cannot even imagine employment, traveling the world, turning your laptop on or even going to the bank without understanding any English. Furthermore, I personally believe that a path of cultural development cannot exclude the knowledge of the English language. It proves to be a necessary tool to broaden one’s horizons, embark on new relationships by getting in touch with new people coming from all over the world, getting into contact with other cultures and, as you have with no doubt realized by now, it is one of the many things that EYP encourages you to continue. At this point, if you‘re reading this article, in a certain way I‘m sure that English is one of your passions or, at least, something you chose to take further than what was
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taught in the classroom. In recent years a new fashion seems to have developed: the art of learning English because it is useful. This is certainly a motivation and a valid enough reason. However English is not only important just because of that, but, as far as I’m concerned, it is not the only reason; would you be happy if you were told by your boyfriend/girlfriend that
he/she has a relationship with you just because you prove him/her to be “useful”? Of course not. Studying and speaking a language is a matter of something else concerning, above all, passions and interest. Go out and spread the good word and next time you approach the study of the English language, think about all its benefits.
“In today’s life, as a matter of fact, you cannot even imagine employment, traveling the world, turning your laptop on or even going to the bank without understanding any English.” By Fabrizio Zamparelli
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TEAMBUILDING
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IMPRESSIONS.
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