Panel of Seven Regional Speakers

We have organized a panel of guest speakers from different regions of the United States for Wednesday 31 March, 2010. The panelists are:

• Brett from Arizona
• Travis from Texas
• Rebecca from Colorado
• Allan from New York
• Stephanie from Alabama
• Meghan from Washington
• Amy from Minnesota

You must be prepared to participate in the discussion about Chapter 4: American Social Life, which deals with: Friendships, Parties, Invitations, Announcements, When to Arrive and Leave, Drinking Alcohol, Dinner in a Home, Relationships between Men and Women.

Prepare 3 questions on the above topics for the guest speakers and try to get an answer for at least one (since the time will be limited).

Take notes of the guest speakers' answers to your questions and/or any reflections you may have during the discussion.

Your notes will consist of:

• the names of the guest speakers,
• the region they come from,
• any first impressions you may have for each of them (differences in accent, etc)
• your question/questions
• the answer/answers you received
• any thoughts you may have on what is being discussed.

I expect everyone to write their personal observations on the Course Blog within Saturday 3 April, 2010, 12.00 pm. After this deadline, I will start assigning points to each of you for class participation, based on the quality of your postings.

Emanuela Dregjoni

On Wednesday we had a conference with seven American people. The first thing that makes me more impression was the map that Becca draw on blackboard.It let us know more the distance from the regions the come from,and to understand how small is our country compared with America.In this class was very clear that students were free to ask them for everything that has to do with the American culture and his features. Our guests were:

Steph (Alabama), Amy (Minnesota), Becca (Colorado), Alan (New York), Travis (Texas), Megan (Washington).

I made two questions, and I was the first who opened the interview.

The first question I made to Becca and Steph,and it was about the friendship in America. Stephany says that the friendship is different for every person. She has a lot of friends male and female.Sometimes they invite them to dinner.

Becca says that at university she has more friends and a lot of them were gays. Tge other question was about the relationship between man and women. Trevis says that they are variety and in big cities they are more opportunities for relation ships.When I made the question to Trevis he says me three times I can't hear you, speak more loud. It's very useful for us to make this meetings not only to learn more about American culture but also to improve our speaking and to speak with the right stress of the word. 

We hope to have other meatigs like this and we also say thank you for coming each of six American people and we are looking forward to see them again.Tank you proffessor for this opportunity.

Besjana Murataj

Conference with 7 americans
ALLAN new york
BRETT arizona
MEGHAN washington
STEPH alabama
BECCA colorado
TRAVIS texas
AMY minnesota

The questions were:
1.relations between boys&girls,how do they friends
2.relations in a marriage
3.do they feel save here after midnight,do they go out
4.why are more single women in usa
5.what do they think for albanian culture
6.a feature by their cities
7.do they think we speak well english
8.compression university of vlora,albanian universities,with them in usa,methody of teaching&how do they costs
9.are americans more reserved than british

they all speak english with their speech,steph spoke fluently,said some words different than other.about the answers they tell to us enoght thigs&we most been more attended to us.
they live in different cities of albania.

Eranda Hodaj

On the 31 March we have conference with some guest from America:
1-Rebeca from Colorado
2-Stefany from Alabama
3-Brett from Arizona
4-Alen from New york
5-Trevis from Texas
6-Meghan from Washington

These are some questions that I made to the guest:
1-Wich is the Americans attitude towards newcommers from other countries?
2-According to the text America have a great number of single people,why this large expanded preference? they dont appreciate marriage and the creation of a family or other reasons?

1-Alen:In general doesnt exist a specific attitude mostly this depends from the country that them came from. There are sympathy and disaggrement according to theirs origin.
-Trevis:In my country most of the people have born there or are emigrants from Latin countrys so we dont have so much emigrant from other countries.
-Brett:We have a lot of emigrants most of them from Asia and they have a big influence in our society and we are opened to those people and accept them liberaly.
-Stefany:Our attitude depend from the country they come. In general we are more open to people who come from Asia or Mexico.
-Rebecca:Are a lot of tension in my country about emigration. Is difficult to have good relationship in a country with so much population from different countries. They are almost not accepted.

2-Brett: This is a preference that have to do with mentally ideals. Most of the people are always busy working or other activities so they dont have enought time.
-Stefany:We also have a great number of persons that get married. About the rest is their choice for doing so.
-Rebecca:Womens priority is their education and finding a good job and maybe after that they get married depending from the personal preference.
-Alen:Thats because when you are single you can have a easier life. Also is very expensive to get married and create a family.
-Trevis:Most of them are affraid from divorce and its conseguence. According from what I have known 50% of marriages get divorce.

The interview with them makes me undrestand more the features of the different country about the issues that we disccused. Theirs answers were totally useful and enjoyable to mett persons different from us.

Anjeza Sadikllari

On the 31 March we meet:
1-Stefany from Alabama (Peskopi)
2-Rebeca from Colorado (Rubik)
3-Brett from Arizona (Rubik)
4-Alen from New york (Gjirokastra)
5-Trevis from Texas (Vlore)
6-Meghan from Washington (Jal)
7-Amy from Minnesota (Vlore)

Some of the questions that I asked to the panel are:
1-Features of their city?
2-How do you trated new commers in America?
3-How find albanian culture?

Some of their answers were:
1-Stefany:Alabama is a very religion country, and she goes in church 3 times a week.
2-Rebeca:My country is in west and Colorado have national parks,forets,a beatiful nature. Rebeca love spending more time outside.
3-Trevis:Texas have a lot of cultures different from each other,is diverse have more majority than minority.

2-How do you trated new commers in America?
-Trevis:We have people that are just coming in the USA and are from different countries. So are a lot of attitudes,but we tried to support them.
-Meghan:In Washington emigrations are from Egypt,Asia and are very open people.
-Amanda:Emigrant in my country are most of them from Asia,China etc but are very friendly people ans are welcome to our state.

The first impression was that they all very frely,to express the best of what they know. It was very useful to hear they answers and their opinion becuase help me to undrestand better the social life in America. I hope that I can have another chance to meet them again,it was a great experience.

Marsela Malaj

On 31 March we met 7 American people. They were from New York, Colorado, Alabama, Arizona, Texas and Amy from Minnesota. I enjoyed very much this class. I learned new things about their culture. I felt very well with them. I feel like I was drinking cafe with them and we just make a discussion. I like very much the way how they talk. They talk like friends with us. They talk since problems. We make them questions and they answer this questions. The first question was:
- How are the relationship between men and women?

Most of them said that they know their friends in high school and university. They like to pass the time with their friends. Stephanie said that it isn't say that they have to married with the first boy or girl that they meet. They have lot of boyfriends and girlfriends. She said that she has friends that are in her age and were married and also have children. She said that she is 27 and she isn't married and this doesn't make any problem for her. Travis talk about the divorces. He say that his parents were in the third marriage. Stephani said that most of them have the parents divorced. She said that her parents were in the second marriage.
Another question was about the university here in Albania. Travis said that students here in Albania don't have respect for their teachers. Ans he said when we talk somebody in the class smoke or talk with each other.
-Do you feel more safe here in Albania than in the States, after the midnight?
They all said ''Yes we feel safe here in Albania but we are not confortable''
- We asked them an advice how to learn English better and they say that we have to write, read and to speak a lot English. And we ca go out for a cafe with them. than we asked them that who have to pay for the cafe and they say: everybody for their own.

Anisa Ismailaj

STUDIES IN THE AMERICAN CULTURE
On Wednesday in the studies of American Culture we invited 7 American teachers from different cities.
They are: 
Alan is from NEW YORK.
Stephani  is from ALABAMA.
Trevis is from TEXAS
Rebeca is from COLORADO.
Amy is from MINNESOTA
Bred is from ARIZONA.
The questions that we made to them are:
1- What is the process of inviting someone in America?
2-What are some of the features of America ?
3-What is the attitude of new comers in America?
4- What is the relationship between man and women?
5-How is the accent of Albanian people in studying English?
6- What is your advice for the students here in Albania?
The answers are: 
1-The process of inviting someone is usually by email.
2-America has a diverse population and is known for controlling nature.
3- Texas is the second biggest place with different attitudes about mew comers.In Washington there are a lot of immigrants and they think that Albanian people are more generous ,
hospitable and very open to Americans.
4- Men and women relationships start earlier. They get married, make children and have a normal life.
5-The Albanian accent is good. They learn quickly how to speak using accent.
6- For the student of English branch , their advice is: Read , write and learn English.
Have a coffee with American teachers vec e vec and ask questions to them.
My impression is: The Americans are so direct and they help everybody in studying English. Working with American teachers is a great opportunity because they help us have a wide knowledge about American culture in English language. 

Zamira Iljazi

On Wednesday, 31 March 2010, we had a metting with Steph from Alabama, Brett from Arizona, Rebecca from Colorado, Meghan from Washington, Travis from Texas, Amy from Minnesota, and Alan from New York.

We asked them a lot of questions and some of them were:

1)Which is the process of inviting someone in America?
2)What are some of the features in USA?
3)What is the attitude of new comers in America?
4)What is your advice for the students here in Vlora?
5)How is our accent in the English language?
6)The relationship between men and women?
7)Is USA a reserved population?

1)The process of inviting in America is by Facebook.
2)Alabama: is a religious city,Steph said tha she went 3times a week on church.There is also a very good food here.Arizona:is known for her high temperatures.Colorado:for her nature,there are a lot of high mountines,they do a lot skying.Washington:for the Pacific ocean and for her rock bands.Texas:for couboys.New York:is a big city and its full of high buildings.
3)They are very opened.
4)The advice for the students here is to hear,to listen and to speak more English.
5)They said that we had a good accent,there are a lot of othercountries that study english that are very understandable.Steph that was teaching English in Japan said that it was very hard for her because they speak vrey bad the English language.
6)In general the relation between men and women are work relations and personal relations.They said that there are a lot of single women in America,because they prefer to grow up their children by them selves,they also said that its very expensive to get married so they preffer to work and make carrier.They also said that50%of Amecans are divorced and they are on their2nd or3rd marriage.
7)America is a very big city and has a very big population,so there are a lot of ethnic groups that
live there.

It was a very nice metting.We learned a lot about America.Something very interesting was when Rebecca drew the map of America and the map of Albania inside her,to make the comperison how big is America and how small is Albania.

Eranda Hodaj

On the 31 March we have conference with some guest from America:
1-Rebeca from Colorado
2-Stefany from Alabama
3-Brett from Arizona
4-Alen from New york
5-Trevis from Texas
6-Meghan from Washington
7-Amy from Minnesota

These are some questions that I made to the guest:
1-Wich is the Americans attitude towards newcommers from other countries?
2-According to the text America have a great number of single people,why this large expanded preference? they dont appreciate marriage and the creation of a family or other reasons?

1-Alen:In general doesnt exist a specific attitude mostly this depends from the country that them came from. There are sympathy and disaggrement according to theirs origin.
-Trevis:In my country most of the people have born there or are emigrants from Latin countrys so we dont have so much emigrant from other countries.
-Brett:We have a lot of emigrants most of them from Asia and they have a big influence in our society and we are opened to those people and accept them liberaly.
-Stefany:Our attitude depend from the country they come. In general we are more open to people who come from Asia or Mexico.
-Rebecca:Are a lot of tension in my country about emigration. Is difficult to have good relationship in a country with so much population from different countries. They are almost not accepted.

2-Brett: This is a preference that have to do with mentally ideals. Most of the people are always busy working or other activities so they dont have enought time.
-Stefany:We also have a great number of persons that get married. About the rest is their choice for doing so.
-Rebecca:Womens priority is their education and finding a good job and maybe after that they get married depending from the personal preference.
-Alen:Thats because when you are single you can have a easier life. Also is very expensive to get married and create a family.
-Trevis:Most of them are affraid from divorce and its conseguence. According from what I have known 50% of marriages get divorce.

The interview with them makes me undrestand more the features of the different country about the issues that we disccused. Theirs answers were totally useful and enjoyable to mett persons different from us.

Anjeza Sadikllari

On the 31 March we met:

1-Stefany from Alabama (Peskopi)
2-Rebeca from Colorado (Rubik)
3-Brett from Arizona (Rubik)
4-Alen from New york (Gjirokastra)
5-Trevis from Texas (vlore)
6-Meghan from Washington (Jal)
7-Amy from Minnesota

Some of the questions that I asked to the panel are:
1-Features of their city?
2-How do you trated new commers in America?
3-How find albanian culture?
Some of their answers were:
1-Stefany:Alabama is a very religion country, and she goes in church 3
times a week.
2-Rebeca:My country is in west and Colorado have national
parks,forets,a beatiful nature. Rebeca love spending more time
outside.
3-Trevis:Texas have a lot of cultures different from each other,is
diverse have more majority than minority.
2-How do you trated new commers in America?
-Trevis:We have people that are just coming in the USA and are from
different countries. So are a lot of attitudes,but we tried to support
them.
-Meghan:In Washington emigrations are from Egypt,Asia and are very open people.
-Amanda:Emigrant in my country are most of them from Asia,China etc
but are very friendly people ans are welcome to our state.
The first impression was that they all very frely,to express the best
of what they know. It was very useful to hear they answers and their
opinion becuase help me to undrestand better the social life in
America. I hope that I can have another chance to meet them again,it
was a great experience.
Anjeza Sadikllari

On wednesdey

Elda Poci

On 31 march we have a coference with 7 American people which were from Washington, Colorado, Arizona, New York, Texas, Alabama and Amy from Minesotta, As we see they are from different countries...We made them many questions. Some of them are:

1-What do we need to learn english better? They said tha if we want to learn english we have to write, read, and speak a lot english language.

2- What do you think about Albanian university? 

We talked about the divorce and all of them had the parents divorced, two or three times. Also we asked them if they feel more safe here in Albania than in US, after midnight: and they said ''yes we fill more safe here but not confortable''.

METTING WITH 6 AMERICAN PEOPLE.

On wetnesday31 March 2010 we had a metting with:Steph from Alabama,Brett from Arizona,Rebeca from Colorado,Meghan from Washington,Trevis from Texas and Alan from New York.We made o lot of questions to them.Here are some of them:

Saimir Hyskaj

On the 31 March we had a pannel from a team made up by 7 members from the USA.

1) Rebeca from the state of Colorado(rubik)
2) Steaffany from Alabama(peskopi)
3) Allan from New York(gjirokastra)
4) Travis from Texas(vlore)
5) Brad from Arizona(rubik)
6) Melany from Washington State(jal)
7) Amy from Minnesota

The first impression i got from the panel, was that each of them was coming from a different state of the USA, but each of them was so different in many aspects.
The first was their accent, we could see how different was their way of talking, we could distinct the south from the north accent.
Each off them had a specific personality, and the impresion that they had lived different lives.
Some of the questions we asked to the panel:

• Do you think the americans are more reserved than the british culture?
  
• Do you guys feel more safe here in Albania than in the States, after the midnight?
• What is one of the features of your city you guys can identifies your self with?
• What is your impression you guys have when albanians hug, touch or kiss you 4 times on your cheeks?
• What is your attitude towards the emigants from other states that emigrate in the USA?
• When is the first time you guys have heard about Albania?
• What you think about albania culture

1. They didnt have any clear idea on this topic-but Amy thought the british are more reserved or is a bit difficult to give the full answer.
2. They ansewer was "YES", but they were not confortable at 100%
3. Allan from N.York said the N.City is the center of the world. They had diversity of cultures, languages.
   

• Trevis said in Texas is a city of majority and minority. many streets have spanish writings on the streets, and there are many hyspanic people and is the second biggest state in the USA.
• Rose explained that her city was famous for the ocean, and was the city where the NIRVANA group come from
• Beca came from Colorado, the place of the highest mountains, so it best goes for the beauty of nature
  
• Brad, talked about his city, had many spanish, was quite a place for bull racing.
  
• Stefany said her town was a religious one, more conservative town

4) it was ackward to them, but now they are getting used to it and they like our hospitality.
5) They said if the emigrants were legal in the States everything was fine to them. we try to support them, welcome them
6) Only Allan had 2 albanians neighboors in his building, but he had no idea where Albania was in the world.
7)They all thought albanians are very hospitable, kind, they were impressed how the albanians like to buy the coffess for everyone in the table.

I really appreciated the panel, the way how the talked went, it would be much better if we as students would listen and respect more the visitors. I liked their way of free thinking, being opened, directed people, indipendent, willing to share their own experiences and being very helpfull to the youngs here. I want to thank them for briliante and helpfull opinions.

I would love to have other opportunities where i will get other chances to talk and practise my english, otherwise i can loose it.