cafebabel.com

Multi-lingualism: lived or produced?

Daiva Repečkaitė — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:46:42 -0000

The EU has made a list of eight key competences for lifelong learning - eight requirements for an educated European. Communication in other languages is listed second, which underlines its importance. Each year the EU invests lots of money in the promotion of multi-lingualism. Most of us also invest a lot to be able to speak at least one foreign language well. What are the returns?

Paris: living cheaply in an expensive city

mary maistrello — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:00:00 -0000

The crisis is an opportunity of redeeming a more democratic economy, capable not only of satisfying the individual, but especially the community. Young people in Paris are finding solutions based on reciprocity and co-operation

Why? Why on earth are we the third country in the world to military expenses? Is Europe voluntarily “blind” over the matter?

Elina Makri — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:12:28 -0000

No job, no perspective" - 1st impressions from the BabelWien conference: "

Stefan Fersterer — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:39:49 -0000

Greece that whole Europe is observing

Elina Makri — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:07:21 -0000

From Bergamo to Laos: parkour with Gato, Italian traceur

Jude Lister — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:32:18 -0000

Federico, or 'Gato' ('Cat') as he likes to be known, is an Italian biologist. But his real passion is for parkour - or rather the art of moving, a discipline which allows man to discover his own body and its limits

On St. Patrick's day, drink Poitín, the world’s strongest alcohol

Tim Mac an Airchinnigh — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:30:00 -0000

You’ll often find it in a clear, unmarked glass bottle, innocently snuggled at the back of a neighbour’s fridge, but the real Poteen (pronounced 'putch-een') isn’t sold in any shop in Dublin. St. Patrick apparently brewed it, and few people in Ireland haven’t tasted this ultra-alcoholic brew, but the lethal concoction has been illegal here since 1661

10 Things you should definitely do while in Germany

Antoaneta Ivanova — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:39:09 -0000

Finding Việt N(y)am in Hungary

Jukka — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:32:56 -0000

Written by Lien Hoang

Việt Nam and Hungary go together as obviously as, well, let's say their respective soupy icons, pho and goulash. But as a Việt Nam-born student in Hungary, I take any reason to blend the two countries. Enter Édenkert, the house of Vietnamese culture and food, located on the outskirts of Budapest.

I expected another night of bad Vietnamese cuisine, but it turned out the place's raison d'être is not completely culinary. After my friend and I ordered dinner, the effusive owner, Nguyen Phuong Thao, gave us a tour of her establishment. Or more accurately, she whisked us from room to room of the three-story, museum-like edifice she opened two years ago. Thao might be justification alone to visit. The petite, instinctively cheery entrepreneur didn't just take to me because we're from the same hometown (the old imperial capital Hue, displayed dramatically in a person-sized wall photo of the ancient palace in central Việt Nam). She was just as exuberant to my friend, switching fluently and fluidly between Vietnamese and Hungarian.

More fights over Vilnius space: nationalists are kosher?

Daiva Repečkaitė — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:43:20 -0000

...somewhere in Brussels.

Elina Makri — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:49:42 -0000

Unpleasant side of spending time on the beach

Daiva Repečkaitė — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:00:03 -0000

Tel Aviv has a very long coastline and has many diverse beaches for all tastes. Now that I live in South Tel Aviv, I go to the southernmost one. Something I noticed yesterday exposed the fact that not all beaches are treated and serviced equally.

European indie film: 'Sundance' in Paris

cafebabel.com — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:48:49 -0000

It's all eyes on the French capital's Latin quarter between 12 and 14 March 2010; the fifth edition of 'ECU', run by an Australian and supported by G-Technology by Hitachi, showcases 72 works from 28 countries across various categories. Here's our top five trailers

Sweden to recognize Armenian and Pontian Greeks genocides

lycanthrope — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:50:42 -0000

Agop J. Hacikyan: 'I don’t feel I am translating my culture into English'

renata burns — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:44:37 -0000

The playful Armenian-Canadian author talks his latest novel - hailed as a 'love letter to Istanbul' - straddling continents and his opinions on Turkey in the EU

Ozpetek’s Loose Cannons in competition at Tribeca

valerio caruso — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:15:42 -0000

Freiburg explores world cinema

valerio caruso — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:11:41 -0000

Greek Point Supreme Architects win EUROPAN Trondheim, Norway

Elina Makri — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:03:02 -0000

EXPERIENCING CULTURE SHOCK?!

Pablomombo — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:55:53 -0000

The Experience of Ridesharing

Antoaneta Ivanova — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:39:17 -0000

Zaher Rezai: dead after eight kilometres of illegal immigration

jennifer o'boyle — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:48:04 -0000

In December 2008, the 13-year-old died under the wheels of a lorry after trying to evade Italian immigration officials. A year on, artist Gianluca Constantini's cartoon strip tells the story

It’s Norway rising in Rouen

valerio caruso — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:29:13 -0000

New Polish cinema showcased at Filmland Polen

valerio caruso — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:58:51 -0000

Belfast celebrates 10th birthday with Triage, Tetro

valerio caruso — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:26:42 -0000

Getting to grips with djembe, tro-tro and obronis in Ghana

Elaine Jordan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:45:00 -0000

I was told before I arrived in Ghana that everyone wants to speak to the foreigner or the obroni (‘white person’) as they say in Twi, one of the main dialects of the forty spoken in Ghana. I had several on the spot marriage proposals; but that’s Ghana and its people for you

Finally Greece joins Visa Waiver Program

Elina Makri — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:21:19 -0000

Europarl TV: 'technology is more fast-paced than the institutions'

cafebabel.com — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:15:00 -0000

In September 2008, the TV channel started streaming parliamentary sessions and news features on MEPs and their speeches on the European parliament’s webpage. The challenge is to give the institutions a human face - press service chief Jean-Yves Loog tells us how

WANTED: Cafebabel.com looking for 3 journalists + 1 photographer for Vilnius (15th-18th April 2010)

Katharina Kloss — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:38:52 -0000

Election Bazaar in Iraq ongoing

Ari Rusila — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:47 -0000

“Obama and the Europeans” at the Burgtheater

Mélanie Sueur — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:10:01 -0000

By Alexandra Skwara

The latest instalment in the Debating Europe series presented an array of Atlanticist viewpoints, but not enough real debate.

Watch the news on EuroparlTV

Jean Anot — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:57:21 -0000

UK to Poland via France: hitch-hiking Europe

Sara Szeremeta — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:21:01 -0000

You could stay in a hotel in Egypt for a week. Or you can spread the same amount of money over a month and a half for a trip of an alternative kind: hitchhiking Europe. Here’s one way to do it, which included 30 drivers, volunteer work and new friends

New EU economic strategy - Repeating the failure of Lisbon strategy

Laura — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:05:07 -0000

Join our Greek naked conversations!

Elina Makri — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:02:58 -0000

One Red Paperclip!

Elina Makri — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:59:22 -0000

Krystof Hadek: 'foreign characters played by English-speaking actors? Disappointing'

sally harbinson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:15:00 -0000

In the last month the 27-year-old Czech actor has picked up accolades at the Berlin film festival (one of the ten 'shooting stars' in Europe) and a Czech Lion for 'best actor'. We talk fame, acting genes and language in European cinema

Mrs, miss or ms?

Tim Mac an Airchinnigh — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:08:10 -0000

In the run-up to international women's day on 8 March, one of the debates rolling around the cafebabel circles cropped up - when on earth do English-speakers address a woman by Ms?

His Majesty – the World

Antoaneta Ivanova — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:53:13 -0000

Women's day: Femibook, testosterone and internet

Sarah Truesdale — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:30:00 -0000

100 years after the first international woman's day was organised on 8 March in Copenhagen, a short statistical wonder on where the woman's place rightfully is

Blog under attack!

Daiva Repečkaitė — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:52:00 -0000

Urban space and politics, not sex

Daiva Repečkaitė — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:19:09 -0000

As some of you know, Lithuania is waiting (or not) for its first LGBT parade/demo on the 8th of May. It was, as expected, a very controversial issue, yet the way it will go will provide an important test for Lithuanian democracy.

Fathoming the power of right-wing populist Geert Wilders in Europe

euro topics — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:31:36 -0000

If the freedom party leader is successful in the June parliamentary elections, Dutch politics will be destabilised and Europe will be forced to deal seriously with the man once nicknamed 'Mozart', write the Dutch, Swiss, Spanish and Slovakian press

Join the initiative for Haiti, tonight in Brussels

Mana Livardjani — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:02:45 -0000

The Europeans nominated for the more 'random' Oscars 2010

cafebabel.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:08:17 -0000

There's a tendency to focus on which Europeans snag the best film or best actress prizes - but here's a trailer run down of the less famed contenders vying for other Oscars from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which takes place at the Kodak Theatre on 7 March

European films fill Febiofest line up

valerio caruso — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:57:10 -0000

Global Warming: Talking Hot Air in Copenhagen and Vienna

Mélanie Sueur — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:31:43 -0000

By Daniel Speich

On 18^th December 2009, the Bella Center – Copenhagen’s largest conference center just 10 minutes drive away from the airport of Denmark’s capital – finally closed its doors as the discussions on solutions for global warming concluded, and the last representatives of the 192 participating countries of the 15^th Conference of Parties (COP), colloquially known as the United Nations Climate Change Conference, departed.

The disappointed facial expressions, however, say more than the final declaration of the world leaders: Europe, China, India and America, the major polluters, didn’t achieve a worldwide roadmap for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particularly those of CO2 and methane gas. Clearly, national interests won. However, the Guardian highlights some positive aspects as well: while no binding commitments to cut emissions were made, at least the delegates agreed to establish a fund to help poor countries adapt to the threat of climate change. This fund will initially contain 30 billion dollars per year, a sum which will rise to 100 billion dollars by 2020.

Graffiti Radio – We don’t protect people only from bad music

Antoaneta Ivanova — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:09:06 -0000

Italian, French and Bulgarian press vs genetically modified potato

euro topics — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:45:00 -0000

On 3 March the European commission gave the green light for the 'Amflora', used for the production of industrial starch. This was the first time since 1998 that it has approved a GMO for cultivation. Some commentators say Brussels has bowed to the pressure of agriculture companies; others claim this paves the way for a better future

Niang Mor: story of a Senegalese 'near-extradition' from Italy

mary maistrello — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:45:00 -0000

You'd hardly believe that he was 57 if you saw his papers. Mor moved to France in 1982, then Germany four years later, to finally settle in Ravenna in 1990. He has a regular trading licence, has always been in work and has never had any trouble with the law. The story of his incredible 'near- extradition'

Safeguarding the food we eat

Mélanie Sueur — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:32:42 -0000

The EU and food safety

By [Daniel Spichtinger|http://www.cafebabel.de/profile/display/4d7e9a6a-fc10-102c-9b39-e5384fe1717a/]

Nearly every day the media inform us about healthy and not so healthy eating habits (such as the worrying rise of obesity in Europe) and about real or perceived food scares. The EU is now the biggest global importer and exporter of food and the global trade in food has very real implications for all of us. As an example, contaminated milk in China has a potential impact on the safety of cookies sold in the Netherlands. At the same time we are asked to consider the environmental cost of shipping food over large distances and NGOs urge us to grow locally produced food. Many of these issues have led to low “trust” and “confidence” in food in some countries.