American vs. British English

Every one of us, who isn't a native English speaker, started learning English very young. I remember my first years of learning English. I was in first class. The learning process was more connected with different games and just picking up vocabulary than seriously sitting down and learning the language. As time went by and the level of English became higher also the vocabulary and grammar became more difficult. Not only the level of English transformed but also the teachers changed from now and than. With every teacher also the kind of English differentiated. Some have prefered American and others British English. For me it was and still is really hart to keep track were both have differences. There are three major differences between American and British English. 

• PRONUNCIATION
• SPELLING 
•  VOCABULARY

It doesn't matter if you prefer American or British English. You just need to be consistent and stick to one of them in your usage otherwise it will get really confusing. One important spelling differnece is that in American English words ending in -or and -er end in -our and -re in British English e.g. color/colour, center/centre. Another one is words ending in -ize in American English end in -ise in British English like realize/realise.

If you decide that you want to use Amercian English spellings then you can't write the following sentence The color of the apple is also his favourite. In this example sentence you can find both American and British English. Color is American spelling and favourite is British. This is of course not always easy but important to know.

My advice, if you are not sure about spelling and usage of vocabulary look it up in a dictionary. The dictionary can help you to be consistence that is also important for your language skills.

Why I love cooking

Cooking is one of the things I love most. The process of simply putting together the right ingredients while following my inspiration or a good recipe is a real pleasure. When I am at the stove, the armoa coming from the pot makes my mouth water and makes me curious about the outcome. If I've done my job right, the outcome will be something incredibly tasty from just a few ingredients. Creating this dish often takes hours and plenty of patience. But the return on investment is definitly worth it because there's nothing like the satisfaction of that first bite of a dish well made. Both the delicious taste of my own creations and the pride which comes along with it have a lot to do with why I love cooking.

Starbucks in Austria

Coffee - the energy supply for many students. Some students love to drink coffee either to stay awake or to just socialize with others. During my stay in the States my friends and I loved to meet up at Starbucks for a nice coffee. My favorite one was a cappuccino with caramel flavor. The cappuccino was delicious and at the same time it was a great opportunity to meet up with friends to chit chat. Today as I got myself a cup of coffee I thought back at the good old times and  about why there are just a few Starbucks coffee shops in Austria. I couldn't think of an answer to satisfy me so I started researching and that is what I came up with: 

The Austrian coffee market is not the first choice of Starbucks if you talk about a new target market or entry strategies. However, the demand for "coffee-to-go" increased in the last couple of years. Many people especially the younger generation loves the fast coffee.The general trend can be recognized by just looking at all the small, individual coffee shops  especially in places where you can find many students like Graz or Vienna.

The first branch from Starbucks in Austria was opened in 2001 in Vienna. Since then Starbucks grow constantly throughout Vienna. Starbucks hasn't opened so many stores outside of Vienna. A reason could be that there are a high number of competitors. In Austria competitors for Starbucks are well established companies like Tchibo, Segafredo, McCafé and a number of small, regional coffee shops. All of them have a high variety of coffees with different flavors and sometimes offer a better price than Starbucks.

The city I know the best from all other cities in Austria is Graz. The number of coffee shops in Graz is really really high. Alone in the inner city of Graz you can find at least seven coffee shops. This is one reason why Starbucks isn't so present in the city of Graz. I have to admit I would love to have Starbucks coffee from now and than.  

"Kaiserschmarren" - Austrian speciality

Have you ever heard about the term “Kaiserschmarren”? It is simply chopped pancakes and an Austrian speciality.  They are definitely one of my favorite dishes in Austria. The best chopped pancakes I have ever eaten were made by my mum. She serves them with peach compote or with baked plums. It tastes so delicious that you definitely have to try it out by yourself. I will give you the recipe my mum uses so you can create your own “Kaiserschmarren”. You definetly need to try out the most legendary

Ingredients:

·         4 eggs

·         200 g finely ground flour

·         4 tbsp crystal sugar

·         1 packed vanilla sugar

·         A pinch of salt

·         250 ml milk

·         Approx. 50 g butter for frying.

How to make it:

1.       Separate the eggs and place the yolks in a mixing bowl. Pour in the milk, vanilla sugar and add the flour. Mix to form smooth dough.

2.       Beat the egg whites with the crystal sugar and a small pinch of salt until it forms a firm peak and fold into the dough mix.

3.       Let the butter and bubble up in one large heatproof dish. Pour in the mixture. Cook the underside until light brown, turn over using a spatula and bake it until golden brown.

4.       Tear the creation into small pieces, using two forks. Sprinkle with some crystal sugar and serve it with a peach compote or baked plums

Now you have the right recipe to make a delicious “Kaiserschmarrn”. You will see it will definitely be worth trying. Enjoy the cooking and of course the taste of this tasty dish.

What does a good blog look like?!

As you may know, I started writing this blog around six months ago. It was part of our English course last semester. Before that time I had not read a single post, let alone followed a blog. As I started typing my blog and my first posts, I had no idea what topic to choose and what to write. But I was really excited about blogging and treating interesting topics I am passionate about. And of course keeping the world and namely you guys updated about my thoughts and life. My passion for writing kind of lacked after a couple of months, as I kept pondering about interesting topics but could not come up with many. Maybe this is one of the reasons why my posts weren’t that frequent. 

Today I read through a couple of really interesting posts of some colleagues of mine. I was really impressed by the way they write. By reading the posts I could really feel how passionate they were about the actual topic. The themes differed from blog to blog, each one reflecting it’s writers personality. Some blogs kept my attention for a while, whereas I just scrolled through others. Therefore I think the layout, as well as the pictures included in each post, are really essential for a good blog. 

From all the reading and researching I learnt that it doesn’t matter how interesting the topic is for everyone else. The only thing that matters is, that you feel passionate about the things you write. The post is only worth reading if you can feel the bloggers excitement. Based on this new knowledge I will try bringing more passion and also more of my own thoughts into my future blogs.

NEW SEMESTER - NEW CHALLENGES

Semester Break is over and with a new semester new challenges come along. Do you know what I like about the start of a new semester? Maybe not every student will agree but it is my opinion.

Going in many different classes for the first time is the thing I enjoy most about the whole semsteer. Do you know the feeling when you enter a new class, all full of excitement? you don't know anybody. You don't know if the course will meet your expectations. You don't know if you will be able to handle the upcoming workload. But you know that you are interested in the subject and willing to work hard to reach your goal, which forces you to keep focused during the semester. As soon as the excitement about the new courses has gone, the reality comes back straigthaway with homework, projects and exams coming up.

As we all know, the whole workload is a challenge in every semester. Right now, looking at my schedule, I have no idea of how to handle all my courses at university But my motto is ALWAYS THINK POSITIV, then everything will somehow fall into place. One big issue I have to work on this semester is time management. This semester I will start with some kind of a study plan. That idea wasn't mine. I picked it up in our first English lesson for this semester. I am not quite sure if it is going to work out, but we will see. The reason why I thought this would be a good idea, is that I often struggle with timing before an exam. I have to admit, I prefer doing projects and homework instead of sitting down and actually studying for an exam or a class. A study plan could force me to well-organised studying and I would get a bad feeling if I fell behind.

If you have andy other ideas on how I could handle time management better, feel free to answer to this post! Otherwise wish me luck for my experiment with my study plan. :D