Paris 13 L1 Droit

Reminder: there is NO CLASS today at 5.15pm. See you next week.

Paris 8 psychology

Tuesday 8 November: Tobie Nathan's lecture will take place in Amphi B at 6pm. I'll post a new message if I hear of any change, but otherwise I look forward to seeing my Tuesday evening group at the lecture.

Paris 8 IEE thème

Here is the text for next week's class (2 Nov):

Volkswagen en passe de devenir premier constructeur automobile mondial

Le groupe de Wolfsburg engrange les fruits de sa bonne position sur les marchés émergents

Volkswagen (VW), dans son irrésistible ascension vers le leadership mondial, fait vrombir son moteur. Jeudi 27 octobre, le groupe de Wolfsburg a annoncé des résultats aussi inattendus que spectaculaires : le chiffre d’affaires a bondi de 26%, à 116 milliards d’euros. Le résultat opérationnel a presque doublé.

Sur les neuf premiers mois de l’année, « Das Auto » a trouvé plus de 6 millions de preneurs. Le record de 7,3 millions de véhicules vendus en 2010 est donc en passe d’être dépassé. Et l’objectif des 10 millions de véhicules vendus chaque année pourrait être atteint bien avant la date prévue de 2018.

Ces performances exceptionnelles, quand le marché européen est en berne, tiennent à la forte demande sur les marchés émergents, sur lesquels VW est bien placé. Le groupe vend un tiers de sa production en Asie-Pacifique, avec une demande écrasante en Chine, qui a elle seule a absorbé entre janvier et septembre 1,6 million de véhicules, soit une hausse de 14,6% par rapport à la même période en 2010.

C’est en Russie que la progression a été la plus impressionnante. Les ventes du groupe y ont bondi de plus de 72%. La patrie du groupe de Wolfsburg n’est pas en reste : l’Allemagne, qui voit fondre son taux de chômage, a permis d’écouler quelque 860 000 véhicules sur la période (+12%).

Volkswagen va-t-il atteindre dès 2011 son objectif de ravir à un Toyota, affaibli par la catastrophe de Fukushima, la place de numéro un mondial ? Et dépasser du même coup le numéro deux, l’Américain General Motors ?

La question divise les experts. Selon les prévisions des analystes de JD Power, de PwC et d’IHS Automotive, rapportées par le quotidien Financial Times, VW devrait dès cette année monter sur la première marche du podium.

Le Monde, samedi 29 octobre 2011

Paris 8 IEE thème

There is no other room available on Wednesdays at 3pm, so this is what I propose to do: each week I will ask a dozen of you to leave after signing the list, and to send me your translation by email. I will try to make sure it's not the same people who leave in successive weeks. I know that's not an ideal solution, but it seems to be the only one available. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

Paris 13 L1 Droit Monday 31 October

I understand you have an extra class with another teacher on Monday 31 October from 5.15 to 6.45pm. So there will be NO English class at that time. Please pass this message on to any other students who might not have checked my blog.

Paris 4 translation

For the DST on Friday 18 November you should revise vocabulary about information technology, smartphones etc. I advise you to read articles in the press and on internet about these subjects, and to ask me this Friday and on Nov 4 if you have any questions (remember there is no class the week before the DST as Nov 11 is a holiday).

Paris 8 IEE thème

As yet we have no solution to the problem of getting over 70 students into room A041, and no room change is planned. So tomorrow I'll make a list of the other classes you are taking which make it impossible for you to come on Wednesdays at 4.30pm. Please have your timetables with you.

Paris 8 IEE thème

About the problem with the room: I've asked if we can have a bigger room, and when I have an answer I'll post it here.

Paris 8 psychology

Reminder:

Tuesday group: next lesson tomorrow, Tuesday 25 October at 6pm in room C102

Wednesday group: next lesson this Wednesday, 26 October at 9am in room A317

Paris 8 IEE thème

One student asked if I could post a 'model' translation of the first text we worked on. Here it is, but remember this is just one of many possible ways of translating the text.

The People of Saint Denis Have their Say

The evening lasted an hour and a half, like a football match. This was the kick-off meeting of a series which will be organised by the council in connection with its mid-term review. On this democratic pitch, two hundred and fifty people took their seats in the town hall’s reception room early in the evening of 9 September. There was no one in the audience who had come in out of curiosity because they had seen the lights on, just men and women involved in community life and local participatory democracy. The purpose of the evening was for everyone to validate a method and target the priorities to be tackled during the four meetings planned in October and November.

In his introduction Didier Paillard [Mayor of Saint Denis, Ed.] spelt out the town’s "dynamism" but pleaded for everyone to speak freely and express a diversity of opinions, repeating that there were "no taboo subjects" and that councillors needed "to listen so that they [could] plan". The Mayor’s wish was granted. As soon as the facilitator opened the floor to the public, everyone wanted to speak. Of course insecurity "which is getting worse and worse" was targeted. The cleanliness – or rather dirtiness – of our public spaces was also pointed out. "I really love this town but it wears me out" was how a woman who lives near the station summed it up, saying she was "ashamed of living in a rubbish bin".

Adapted from the Journal de Saint Denis, 14 September 2011

Paris 8 IEE thème

Here is the text for next week's classes:

La BCE et la Fed au secours des banques européennes

L’intervention se produit sur fond de croissance atone et de risque de blocage du financement de l’économie

La crise des dettes souveraines a contaminé les banques. Va-t-elle maintenant conduire au grippage du financement des entreprises et des ménages ? Jeudi 15 septembre, les banques centrales ont lancé une action concertée pour apporter des liquidités en dollars aux établissements, en leur prêtant à trois mois et ce, de manière illimitée. Un procédé similaire avait été déployé après les attentats du 11 septembre 2001 et dans les mois précédant la faillite de la banque d’affaires américaine Lehman Brothers. Cette fois, les systèmes de financement ne sont pas bloqués. « En réalité, il n’y a pas véritablement de problème, mais pour faire taire la rumeur selon laquelle il n’y aurait pas assez de dollars disponibles dans les circuits de financement, on tente de rassurer le marché en montrant que les banques peuvent venir se servir chez nous », indique-t-on en interne à la BCE.

Les introductions en Bourse de plus en plus rares

Si les banques venaient à resserrer les vannes du crédit, la Bourse ne prendrait sans doute pas la relève. Depuis 2008 et le début de la crise, les marchés financiers restent si agités que seule une poignée de sociétés se hasardent à s’introduire en Bourse. C’est particulièrement vrai en Europe mais les Etats-Unis ne sont désormais plus épargnés. Même les stars américaines de l’Internet comme Facebook, valorisé 100 millions de dollars, ou le site d’achats groupés Groupon, hésitent à faire leur entrée à Wall Street. Selon les données du cabinet Dealogic pour l’opérateur des places de Paris, Bruxelles, Amsterdam et Lisbonne, Nyse Euronext, en 2011, seules huit sociétés ont fait leur entrée en Bourse sur ces places. Et dans la plupart des cas, il s’agit d’opérations dites techniques, comme la scission d’une activité d’une grande entreprise. In fine, seul le spécialiste des biotechnologies Mauna Kea a levé des capitaux en juillet, pour 56 millions d’euros. Une misère au regard des 9,2 milliards récoltés au total en 2007. Les experts commencent à s’inquiéter.

Le Monde, 17 septembre 2011

Paris 8 psychology

TUESDAY GROUP

This is to confirm the dates of our remaining lessons for the semester:

25 October
8 November
29 November
13 December
3 January

On 8 November and 13 December we will go to Tobie Nathan's lectures and have our English lesson afterwards. I know one or two of you are not particularly interested in Ethnopsychiatry, but I would like you to come to the lectures anyway. It's very important (particularly for a psychologist) to know about other points of view and different perspectives, and even if you disagree with them you should know why.

Paris 8 psychology

WEDNESDAY GROUP: CORRECTION

Our next lesson will be on WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER in room A317 as originally planned. If the group is too big for that room we will find another solution for the remaining lessons of the semester. We will also decide on the dates for the other lessons.

For everyone

A colourful picture for a grey October day

Paris 8 IEE all students

About Techniques de rédaction and Affaires internationales: it's too complicated for too many people if I change the timetable. So there will be TWO groups in Affaires Internationales in the first semester, one on Tuesdays at 9 and one on Wednesdays at 12, and Techniques de rédaction will be in S2 on Wednesdays at 12. If you want to do TdR but can't come at that time, contact me and we'll find a way for you to validate the course without attending classes (submitting work by email, for example).

Paris 8 IEE thème and Paris 4 translation

'Mûgir': to bellow, howl, growl, and also - as we thought - to moo like a cow.

Paris 4 translation

I've been thinking about how artificial the exercise of translating in class is, compared to real-life translating work - and exams are even more so. But I think it's as legitimate as any other exam; it's a test of what you can do in peculiar conditions, which is some guide to your abilities. For example, we don't let you use dictionaries in exams, whereas no translator would ever work without a dictionary. Exams are of course totally artificial, like experiments, but they're one of the ways we've come up with to evaluate what people can do. Unfortunately the capacity to do well in exams is only a partial indicator of real ability. Can you imagine someone saying, "I've discovered I have a real talent for doing well in exams, so I've decided to make exam-taking my career"? Maybe we'll talk more about this in class.

For everyone

One of my students at Paris 13 suggested I ought to post more pictures on my blog, so here's another. I hope you like it!

AgroParisTech

My cat Darcy (see picture below) is infected with the feline leucosis virus. The effects of this are similar to HIV in humans - his immune system is affected, and that makes him vulnerable to opportunistic infections and liable to develop tumors. However there are two interesting differences: there is an efficient vaccine against this virus in cats (and as we know, there is no vaccine for HIV yet), but there is no antiviral treatment available - the opposite of what is the case with humans. How would YOU care for a cat with this virus?

For everyone

Some people's eyes are bigger than their stomachs!

Paris 13 L1 and L2 Droit

REMEMBER YOUR DICTIONARIES and A-Z notebooks!!!

Paris 8 psychology

It looks as if we're going to have a very big group on Wednesday mornings - we already had about 30 last week and there may be other people still to join the group. This means we will probably be in a different room next time (26 Oct) - I'll post a message here when I know.

Paris 8 IEE all students

About the techniques de rédaction class: I thought it would suit everyone if I moved it to the first semester, and put my second Affaires Internationales class in the second semester. I now learn that that doesn't suit everyone at all! On Monday I will contact the IEE administration to see what the best solution is. I'm afraid it is sure to be something that doesn't suit some of you, but I'll do my best. If it turns out to be impossible for you to attend one of my classes that you nonetheless want to validate, we'll have to see if there's some other solution to the problem. I'll try to post a message for you on Monday evening, or on Tuesday, to tell you what I propose to do.

Paris 8 IEE Techniques de rédaction

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the Erasmus programme. For next week's class this is what I'd like you to do:

1) if you are an Erasmus student, prepare a short (5 min) presentation about the Erasmus programme and your experience of it;

2) if you are not an Erasmus student (i.e. most of you), find out what you can about the Erasmus programme, using different sources of information - internet, talking to fellow-students, etc. Try to find your information in English; that way you will get good vocabulary and structures - if you collect your information in another language and try to translate it there will certainly be errors.

See you next week.

Paris 13 L1 and L2 Droit

Remember to bring your dictionaries and A-Z notebooks to every lesson. They are essential tools for studying a foreign language.

Paris 8 psychology

We will stay in room A317 for our next class (Wed 26 Oct).

Paris 8 IEE thème

Here is the text for next week's classes (also available by clicking on the link to the right):

Les Dionysiens ont la parole

Une heure et demie, comme un match de foot, c’est ce qu’a duré la soirée de lancement des réunions qui vont être organisées par la municipalité à l’occasion de son bilan de mi-mandat. Sur ce terrain démocratique, deux cent cinquante personnes ont pris place dans la salle des mariages de la mairie en début de soirée, le 9 septembre. Dans l’assistance, aucun curieux entré là parce qu’il a vu de la lumière : uniquement des hommes et des femmes investis dans la vie associative et les instances participatives locales. Il s’agit ce soir de valider conjointement une méthode et de cibler les priorités à aborder au cours des quatre rendez-vous fixés en octobre et novembre.

Didier Paillard, en introduction, détaille la « dynamique de la ville », mais il plaide pour que les bouches s’ouvrent en grand, dans la diversité des opinions, martelant qu’il « n’y a pas de sujets tabous » et que les élus ont besoin « d’écouter pour pouvoir se projeter ». Le souhait du maire est exaucé*. Dès que l’animateur sollicite l’avis de la salle, la parole fuse. L’insécurité « qui devient de plus en plus grave » est évidemment ciblée. La propreté, ou plus exactement la saleté de notre espace public, est également pointée du doigt. « J’aime beaucoup cette ville, mais elle est fatigante », résume une habitante de la Gare qui a « honte de vivre dans une poubelle ».

Adapté du Journal de Saint Denis, 14 septembre 2011

* « exhaussé » dans l’original

Paris 8 IEE all students

Tomorrow's (Wednesday's) class at 12 o' clock will be Techniques de rédaction. If you can, please pass this message on to your colleagues who weren't at my class this morning.

Paris 8 International Business

Here is the programme for the course this semester. You can also access it by clicking on the link to the right.

SAINT DENIS UNIVERSITY (Paris 8) Institute of European Studies

ENGLISH – INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

FIRST SEMESTER 2011-12

Teacher: Edward Hughes

Programme

Week 1 (11 Oct) Introduction

Weeks 2-3 (18, 25 Oct) Topics in Marketing and Management

Weeks 4-6 (1 – 15 Nov) Project I: Case Study

(NB: no class on 1 Nov, All Saints’ Day)

Weeks 7-9 (22 Nov – 6 Dec) Project II: Creating a Company

Week 10 (13 Dec) Exam (DST)

For the two projects you will be working in groups (not necessarily the same groups for both projects) and will make a presentation to the rest of the class, which will form part of your evaluation for the course. Each member of the group will get the same mark, so you have to decide how to allocate the work among yourselves – who is best at doing what? Your marks for the DST will be individual.

For everyone

A picture of my cat, Darcy. I adopted him from the SPA refuge in Gennevilliers two weeks ago.

Paris 4 translation

I was thinking we might continue on Friday with the text we started last week - it's important for you to have more practice translating French to English as it's so much more difficult, and I don't think the text planned for this week will take us very long.

Paris 13 L1 Droit

I hope your groups aren't going to get any bigger than they were today! It was nice to meet the new students, and I apologise again to those of you who didn't get my message that I would be away last week.

Remember to bring your dictionaries and A-Z notebooks to every class from now on.