Language and Identity

I believe English will never dominate the world. There are several reasons why it will never happen. One of the reasons is the strong relation between language and culture. A great number of countries have their own cultures even though globalization has been developing rapidly, and their cultures have hardly changed. The culture of English, which includes English as a language, has influenced many countries; however, these countries will never be dominated by English. Another reason is the connection between language and identity. I would like to discuss this idea.


There is a strong relationship between identity and language. One of the functions of language is to communicate with other people who are located in the same society. To communicate with others, it is better to have a common language. From this point of view, language indicates the society which people belong to and if we consider this theme widely, like the country or area where people speak the same language, the language may become one of the elements to identify the people. Furthermore, it is widely believed the language indicates a part of people’s identity. Considering these issues, language is strongly related to identity so that different languages may indicate different identification.

On the other hand, language is changing over time. For instance, a lot of English has been exported to Japan and some English words are used commonly in these days. For instance, lunch, restaurant, even “English” as words are spoken in common. This may be considered as a part of domination by the English language. Moreover, the more English words are used rather than other languages, such as Spanish, French and so on. Regarding this point of view, English has been dominating the world. Furthermore, if this process will continue, it may be possible that English will dominate the world in the future.

In conclusion, I think it may be possible to take over a part of lthe language and influence a lot of the other countries; however it is impossible that one language can dominate the others completely because the language, which the person speaks, is part of the identity.

English will never dominate the world.

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

We live in small world, globalization is all around us and whereever we go somehow we will be affected by it.

However, every nation wants to have their own identity, their own culture and languages as well. On the other hand people want to contact each other so they can exchange views, development in different fields. But that could be impossible if they do not have same languages .

And in my opinion English can be the international languages, it is easy and there are a lot of countries where English is the first or second language.
So it is not wrong to learn, speak and use English. It will never going to cancel any other languages.

McDonald's is the best?

Most people say that McDonald’s is one of the most successful companies in the world. It is true that you can find easily the big ‘M’ wherever you go in the world. Thousands of people go to McDonald’s and have lunch, thinking they are eating the best hamburger. These days, thanks to globalization, global products are thought to be better than others because they have the same quality all over the world. However, I think it is not true.

The first reason why McDonald’s was successful was ‘standardization’, which is to make the product have same features and qualities. They created the fastest and most efficient way to provide the same taste of hamburger, and it worked. People were pleased because they could eat a delicious hamburger which they could eat in different places. However, we should realise that the same quality is not good quality. Most of global companies try to produce their goods in the cheapest, as well as the most efficient way. What it means is that they do not want the best quality product, but a reasonable and fair one.

On the other hand, most local companies want to create the best product because their market is a local , not international. Their marketing target is local people, for this reason, they provide various kinds of goods with very good quality which their people like.

To conclude, global products do have not bad quality, but also not the best quality. However, I am sure that if I were going to have a hamburger for lunch, I would chose a local restaurant rather than McDonald’s.

English will never dominate the world.

I am writing to agree that English will never dominate in the world because every country has own language.People want to use their own language which is simple for them, to communicate and to change ideas.People continue with their culture which they have been inherited from their parents, and they are doing different kinds of activities happily using their language
and their culture.It is true that people only need English in business sometimes, because some kind of business need to be imported or exported,there fore, they need to communicate in English.Also to label packets by using English words ,and also some goods are written in English and are sold on line.
Further more, it will never replace other language because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures.I agree with this comment that, if you replace other language it will be possible to introduce the new culture which is going together with the language.As a result people will be forced to adopt English culture and forget about their culture,which is not good.People need to have freedom and do what is right and good for them.
In addition it is good for every country to use their language and their cultures.By doing this they will develop their countries and be able to abolish poverty .

Lastly but not least English people should encourage other countries to study English ,by listening to the radio , reading magazine,on the Internet, and going to school etc. Also if possible to help poor people who do not have enough money, or total they don,t have money to pay for school.This will help them to do well in their business inside and outside,

English

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

It is very difficult for English to dominate the world someday because people want to keep speaking their own language, but whether we like it or not, learning English is a need in the globalised world where we live nowadays. A person who manages to dominate the use of this language has more advantages and chances than other people who do not know the language.

As far as I am concerned, English is the global language par excellance. If you know English you can communicate with almost everyone all over the world and this is something that I have been able to check by studying outside Spain. Since I am in Sussex, I have met people from other parts of Europe, but also from countries such as Japan, Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, the United States,... and it is amazing how you can communicate with all of them through one common language: English. Furthermore, if you know English you are able to work everywhere and you have more opportunities to be chosen for a job than a person who does not speak it, but it is not true that you only need English in business. English can be very useful in almost every situation, from reading the instructions of an electrical appliance to travelling anywhere.

However, this fact does not mean that everyone must stop speaking their own language and start speaking only English, leaving their culture behind. The point is that it is good to know another language different from your mother tongue and if you have to choose another language, the best choice is English because nowadays it is the most worldwide language.

In conclusion, English may not dominate the world, but you certainly may dominate the world by speaking English.

Possibility and Hope for English

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

I partly agree with this statement. I agree that English will never dominate the world and it'll never replace other languages. I think language plays a large part in your identity. I have experienced it myself through studying England since April. I've been here for approximately eight months and fortunately I haven't had any close Japanese friends here, so I don't have opportunities to talk in Japanese in my everyday life. The only chance to talk in Japanese is talking on Skype with my mother and boyfriend at the weekends. However it's sometimes really difficult to find time to talk because there is a huge time difference between Japan and England. When we couldn't talk for three weeks I was completely sick for the Japanese language and I couldn't concentrate on my studies because of a lack of enthusiasm about English. At the time I felt like I was sick and not in my right mind. The lack of opportunity of talking in Japanese made me sick and drove me to listen only to Japanese songs and watch Japanese TV on Youtube. I wasn't aware of doing that but I instinctively needed Japanese language. It made me feel like the loss of some part of my identity and realised that languages play a large part of identity based on my experience. I could learn about other countries and their languages intensively but never live without my language. Therefore I don't think English would replace other languages. People can't give up their own culture and language because their culture and language are implicit and they are deeply rooted in their identity. Identity is not replaceable. Even though people live in other countries for a long time you would never forget your language or culture and you would not be assimilated by their cultures. You could adopt their culture and language and feel their culture plays a part of your identity but it won't be replaced.
Nowadays more and more people can speak English and it is considered a natural thing. But I believe the aim of learning English is not only as a business tool but also an international tool for communication in order to broaden understanding and accept other cultures . If English is the only tool to communicate with others, why don't you start learning English? You can see another world which you have not seen before through communication with people from all over the world. I believe that to broaden your ideas leads to individual development and enrichment of yourselves. I also hope it will lead to world peace.

English as a lingua franca

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

English is becoming more popular everyday. It has reached the point where it is considered a lingua franca, which means that English is the language used to communicate internationally. When you meet people from different countries who speak different languages, there is a strong tendency to use English to initate communication. Therefore, the main question at hand here is to know whether English could one day dominate the world or not.

Without calling into question the popularity of English in the world, it is fairly thought that English will never eradicate all the other languages. The reason for that, first of all, is that English culture is not as popular around the world and, therefore, people will want to keep their own, which means keeping their own language as well. Another reason is that English is mainly used in business, so people who aren't "business people" won't feel the need to speak English.

Nevertheless, it is impossible to predict what the future will bring. And because nowadays, English is taught in elementary schools in countries where it is not the official language, we can fear a dominance of English among the new generation. The technological progress will also contribute to the growth of English speakers because of the descriptions and explanations of the products having to be understood by the largest part of the world population.

All being well, English won't replace other languages because of the fear of losing diversity in languages and cultures. I think that people are very curious and that they like to discover new things, new lifestyles, travel and meet people from all walks of life. Notwithstanding, English is already omnipresent in the world and it is certainly not going to stop its expansion now.
If English comes to dominate the world, many people will lose their jobs and especially translators!

In my opinion, culture and language are very important to every human being. Indeed, these are things that bring people together, the need to feel that you belong to a culture shared by a community is inherent in each of us. It involves a set of values and ways of life that are characteristic of a particular group of people and that make them unique and different to other groups. There is no doubt that being part of a culture gives you a sense of identity,which is vital for everyone.Indeed, identity is something that is imbued with great meaning and that is enormously important for the well-being of a person . It is a concept that is widely referred to in literature for example. Authors often allude to the issue of loss of identity and its negative consequences . So, I think that there is a tendency in human nature to struggle for one's identity.When I say identity, it encompasses the sense of belonging to a culture and speaking a language. This is the reason why I doubt that the English language will ever be able to dominate and replace all languages .However, we cannot deny that English is spoken all over the world .Moreover, the English language has led inevitably at the same time to the diffusion of the American culture . There are countless examples around us which prove that the world has become hugely Americanised . Indeed the result of the expansion of English has been the expansion of a culture which seems to have become worldwide: everyone goes to Mac Donald's, listens to English songs, watches the BBC. We have become so deeply emerged into this culture that we should feel in quite another world should it be removed from us. However, even though nobody cannot deny the fact that we are involved in this culture and that English seems to reign supreme, it appears that people cannot detach themselves from their own culture . It is something that people want to preserve, notwithstanding the spread of the English culture . With regards to that, it should be noted that in some countries today,certain people are reacting violently against the English language and culture. Indeed, this originates in this constant fear present in each person of losing his culture and as a result his identity.To conclude, I would say that I disapprove of the idea that the world will end up becoming an homogenous culture ruled by English.

Speaking English all over the world

Communication is the basis of our societies.

For ages, people around the world have tried to open up to other countries for different purposes like conquering, trading, globe trotting or just getting more knowledge about other cultures which come from the other hemisphere. But the differences in languages and cultures can sometimes mean an obstacle for those who want to get in contact with their fellow friends. That is the reason why some people have been working to introduce gently a sole language to make communication between people from different countries easier.

One of the first attempts was the creation of a language whose basis rested on a mix of many Roman (or Latin) languages which was called Esperanto. The aim of this creation was to introduce it as a new international language which would be taught all over the world to facilitate the contact between human beings.

Unfortunately, it wasn't successful and was forgotten very quickly. Perhaps this was because it didn'y have any roots, any culture and any rules like normal languages do. So, the resarchers had to trust in the ease of human beings to adapt to new cultures they want to communicate with. And I suppose that is how English has gradually become the language known as Lingua Franca.

Still, even though English is nowadays the language used in business and trade, I don't think it will become the sole language spoken everywhere. In fact, if we observe countries which use English as a first language like the UK, the USA, Australia, etc. we realise that there are some discrepancies within the same language! So, imagine the result if we had to be forced to speak English in every country...we would have thousands of varieties of English and the problem would remain the same!

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that we are conditioned by the culture and the language we have been brought in. Depending on the culture, we can have different ways of approaching the same situation. That is why people won't ever speak English as a first language..It is not only a reason of will but also and overall a matter of culture.

5th December

Choose to write about either
1. Global products are good because you know that the quality is the same all over the world. I want to know that a hamburger is a good hamburger, not some strange local idea of a hamburger.
2. English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

what is the reason for not being banned?

Smoking cigarettes should be banned like other drugs. There is no benefit for people’s health; furthermore, it may influence not only the smoker, but also the people who breathe the same air as smokers. I have seen an article about second-hand smoke and it said that second-hand smoke does harm to those around. This means that even if people did not smoke, they may have been influenced by the smokers. In my opinion, it is not fair for non-smokers to have their health harmed by second-hand smoke as they have not done anything wrong.

On the other hand, there are some difficulties . One of the reasons is addiction. Smokers tend to be addicted to smoke even if they want to stop smoking and it may be difficult for them to stop it. Smoking cigarettes has become one of the habits for their lifestyle and also it might be said as a part of life. I have seen many people who want to stop smoking and try to stop it, though, they never succeed. In addition, the cigarette industry is another reason as it is huge, and the income from this market supports the government as a type of tax. Because of strong connection between cigarettes market and politics, I think it is very difficult to be banned.

In my opinion, it is very difficult and almost impossible that smoking cigarettes can be banned. Considering these issue, it is better to do something else instead of banning smoking. For example raising the tax of cigarettes is one of the options which governments may be able to act on. The most important issue to be considered is how smokers think of non-smokers and the influence of their own behaviour.

Controversial topics

Prostitution is an issue which has existed in all societies since the beginning of time. However, in modern life it is more common and has actually become a controversial topic.

Many people including me strongly believe that it should be banned as we do not want to put our community at risk. Also, several issues are related to it such as poverty, human trafficking and sexually transmitted diseases (STD). In addition, it is against the many religious principles. It is usually considered selling the body which as a human we are not allowed to do.

On the other hand, some people might argue that banning it can not stop people from doing it. In fact people start to do it illegally and put themselves at a higher risk. Furthermore, it could be said that as humans, people are free to choose their lifestyles and by banning it people face some sort of retriction.
In addition, they believe that prostitution is immoral but they are a victim and should receive help. However, their clients should be prosecuted.

To sum up, it is a very controversial topic and different from country to country but people should be more educated and provided better finical conditions.

Prostitution should be banned

Prostitution is when someone earns money by having sex with people.Prostitution should be banned because first of all it is sin , and it can cause lots of problems eg diseases ,death,also it is bad behaviour and some girls and women lose their reputations.
The women or men can spread HIV, and sexually-transmitted diseases,by having sex with different people who are affected. This is not a nice business ,people should do the right things,legal things eg study,work,look after their children and not to think about doing illegal things eg prostitution etc
People must think how to develop and achieve success in different jobs,. educate their children etc.The people who earn money to have sex are killers,people die because of AIDS .,girls,women , boys,and men fail to do well in their schools,jobs, because of prostitution. Also people who are doing this type of job are bad people, because they attempt and destroy people,s lives.They harm them mentally and physically.
Therefore people will improve and have a good life if prostitution is banned.

In my opinion, the only way to tackle the big problem of addiction to cigarettes is to completely ban it. Indeed, whether cigarettes are expensive or not, people will carry on smoking as long as they are available on the market. There is no need to point out all the negative consequences of cigarettes on people's health. There are countless examples of people around us who suffer from diseases engendered by cigaretttes such as lung cancer, oesophagus cancer or heart attacks. In addition, it is also a issue in terms of the amount of money people spend on cigarettes. Sometimes, it constitutes a big part of a person's budget. Some people will argue that everyone is free to smoke or not and indeed they are right, we are not compelled to smoke. However, I believe that it is very hard for people to stop smoking because once you have started, it becomes like a vice and it is very addictive. The thing is that because it is allowed people are tempted to buy them, whereas if it were banned, people would not be able to buy cigarettes anymore.I think that the government should take action to ban cigarettes, it is the only way to make people stop smoking and by doing so it will reduce a huge number of problems as regards health. Nevertheless, I am not saying that the government or the cigarette industries should be blamed for the misdeeds of cigarettes on people's health .Indeed, we are free to make choices and only we are responsible for our health .If we suffer from a disease because of smoking, no one should be reproached but ourselves .But my belief is that if it were banned, matters will be much more easier.

Prostitution

Prostitution should be banned.
Prostitution is a serious problem in Japan and it causes a lot of other problems as well. Normally girls prostitute themselves for money and their living by having sex or doing sexual things. These are always connected with crimes such as murder, kidnapping, forced prostitution and sexual abuse, because prostitution is not guaranteed and it's held in private. Some girls start prostitution at an early age, it's really dangerous because they are not aware of knowledge or the risk for having sex. The lack of knowledge leads to the spread of the infection of HIV or unwanted pregnancy. Nowadays it is really easy to find a prostitute in the town. You can easily find the advert for prostitutes and you can just make a call if you want to do. I feel that society looks the other way rather than prohibit it. This is because prostitution is difficult to control by the government and there are many unlicensed brothels. Prostitution can be outlawed but never eradicated as long as there are people who want to use prostitutes. The worse thing is the people who use prostitutes including politicians or big shots. That's why it is difficult to be outlawed.
Another serious problem is many women from Southeast Asia come to Japan legally and illegally to enter prostitution for money because they can earn far more money than in their countries. Many of them come to Japan for their families' living and families depend a lot on the women. Some women come to Japan to get married to Japanese men for money. It is really sad sometimes they have an unwanted pregnancy and are forced to abort them or give birth and go back their countries in poor conditions as the father won't support them and refuse to recognise them and they don't even pay for money.
Prostitution never produces benefits and should be banned and eradicated.

Should smoking in public place be banned?

These days, many people already know the danger of smoking. It can cause some serious illnesses such as cancer to smokers. However, the problem is that non-smokers’ health could be harmed by passive smoking. Therefore, many countries are starting to prohibit smoking in public places. The majority of smokers argue that the law is an infringement on smoker’s rights, but I think it should be banned for public good.

First of all, we should realise how passive smoking is bad for non-smokers. In fact, many people who get lung cancer are non-smokers. Of course, it might be caused by different factors, but passive smoking is one of the major causes. If smokers have a right to smoke, non-smokers have a right to avoid cigarette smoke as well. However, to protect each other's rights, the only way is to stop smokers from smoking in public place, because we can not force non-smoker to wear a gauze mask over the mouth and nose.

According to a recent study, 120,000 deaths per year in UK are caused by smoking. People should stop smoking not only for one’s health, but also for everyone. Before smoking, you should think about your family or friends who could be suffering because of you. For this reason, banning smoking in public places is a good way to encourage people to stop smoking. Naturally, if there is no place to smoke, people have less chance to smoke.

In conclusion, smoking in public places should be banned in order to prevent non-smokers from passive smoking and to encourage people to stop smoking.

Should prostitution be banned ???????



First of all when I have been asked to write about this I think it should be banned! I decided to choose something that has nothing to do with culture, nothing to do with religion, som thing that is really refused by every nation, religion, culture, rejected everywhere and every language which is ‘Prostitution’

What is Prostitution ?
In general we could define prostitution as a people who sell ther body for sex, especially woman!



Giving money to some one you do not know him, catching several kinds of diseases just to have sex!
What is the benefit of that? Having pleasure for a short time so that you might lose money, honour, and in some cases could be a life.

We have to respect our body, it not create to treat it in bad way.
In my opinion encourage people to Prostitution would not go down too well. So it should be banned.

Gun clubs

Gun clubs are very popular in the United States but not so much in other European countries for example. I have recently seen a documentary which is called "Bowling for columbine" and which talks mainly about a shooting that happened in a college in Colorado. In the documentary, the issue of gun clubs is raised and questioned. In the United States, the number of people killed by guns is much higher than anywhere else, and ironically, the United States is the country where the number of people carrying a weapon "to protect themselves" is the highest. That really gives food for thought!

I completely understand that people have this need to protect themselves because they don't trust in the police being able to ensure the security of everybody. However, gun clubs might not realise the impact they have and this could lead to abuses and accidents like in Colorado. There are, unfortunately, people who aren't responsible enough to be able to carry a weapon, or people who just don't take it as seriously as it should be taken.

In the United States, a law allows people to carry a weapon at home. Gun clubs know that and they want to make sure that this law stays in force. Therefore, they try to encourage people to join clubs without taking into account that young people may not be well prepared or even aware of the risks.

In conclusion, what is worth saying is that gun clubs are a consequence of a general feeling of insecurity that dominates the United States nowadays. Unfortunately, the only thing to do, in order to improve the security of everyone, is for the government to ban definitely gun clubs and repeal this insane law!

Should human cloning be banned?

All through the last century, medical research made progress in many fields by finding out the way to explore DNA and the genes which cause many diseases. In 1996, a team of Scottish researchers managed the revolutionary cloning of a mammal: the famous ewe Dolly!

This extraordinary (but also polemical) finding not only meant a huge step for science, it also brought lots of questions and medical issues that are still discussed nowadays, for example, is cloning really beneficial for human beings? what is the risk of carrying out this activity? what are the boundaries?

Many opponents protested against it and tried to prevent cloning from being done even for medical issues. They presented several reasons such as religious issues or how unnatural cloning is and, as a result, they lobbied the governement to pass a private bill prohibiting the practice of such an amazing discovery.

According to me, cloning shouldn't be banned by the authorities as it is a very interesting way to cure a large number of patients suffering from diseases like cancer or genetic illnesses. In fact, researchers discovered a few years ago that the stem cells in the placenta collected after the delivery could be cloned and used in order to heal people who have leukaemia and, consequently save their lives. In addition, these stem cells can also be modified to produce any kind of bodycells (like the cells of the skin) and be grafted onto a person who has serious burns.

Of course, the government has to lay down a law to legalise this practice and to control it. If they don't, there is a risk of abuse by those who handle this incredible technique. However, I think it is a risk we should take because no one is guaranteed not to get a terrible disease that can be cured by cloning.

How you can use your acknowledgement of gender?

I think the men who live in this country tend not to dominate women, compared to men who live in Japan. The reason why I think this is because men listen to what women say with respect. In addition, they seem to appreciate what women have done for men. This attitude may encourage women to work, and it gives satisfaction to women because generally, women need approval. These men’s attitudes may help encourage better and smoother relationships between men and women.

In contrast to English men, Japanese men tend to lack appreciation of the things which women have done for them. Moreover, there is a tendency for men to take women’s behaviour as natural or usual, so they do not express their thanks. This behaviour may decrease the motivation of women, and also it may lead to worse relationships between men and women.

The number of divorces in later years is increasing these days in Japan and most of the allegations are from wives. One of the reasons for divorce is Japanese men are unlikely to express their appreciation of women. Additionally, the reason for this increase is that men usually have a lack of delicacy so that they may not be able to pick up the signs which women have been sending. These represent men tending to be insensitive towards women’s attitude. However, I think it shows that men have an ability to be patient. I think men also have many points to say to women, even though, they tend to keep their emotions bottled up instead of expressing them.

Concerning these points, I think these outcomes represent how society has been changing to make gender more equal. However, I think this change also leads to disrespect. In my opinion, if one gender notices the tendency of the other, they should use this acknowledgement to make the relationship better.

In my country, generalisations about men and women are not just sexual stereotypes, actually they are meaningful.Indeed, men tend to do certain things that are characteristic of them and it is the same for women.In Reunion Island , women do the cooking and domestic chores whereas men tend to think that these tasks are only for women.I think that is because my country is still very traditional, things have not changed yet compared to other countries. For example, here in England, I have noticed that men also take part in household chores .As regards housework things are changing, but in other fields I think that characteristics are meaningful internationally.Concerning conversation, for instance women usually tend to talk more than men, they feel more at ease than men to start up a conversation, they have a constant need to talk, they want to know everything about the person they are talking to whereas men tend to keep to themselves and are not so curious or gregarious like women.Another case in point is commitment , everyone agrees that men have an enormous fear of commitment, because it involves being completely devoted to the other person in a couple and losing your freedom.However If I compare my country with England, the fear of commitment is much stronger than in Reunion Island. Here men have a tendency to wait until they are in their thirties before thinking about taking the plunge and deciding that it is time to consider getting married.They tend to think that if you get married early, then your life is over, they prioritize their professional career,they want to enyoy their youth to the utmost. In Reunion Island, even if they have a fear of commitment, people get married quite early, generally under the age of 25.Another difference I have noticed is about appearance.People here don't care much about their appearance.Men here do not seem to spend a lot of money on clothes shopping whereas in my country, they give more importance to their appearance. Another difference I have noticed here concerning women's behaviour is that they are more assertive than in my country.Indeed, in my country, women have a lack of self-confidence,they are in some way afraid of asserting themselves in the couple, and they let their husband push them around without saying anything .Men tend to be bossy, they are the ones who establish the rules, they have this constant neeed to be in control of the family and women don't have a say. In England, I think that women are more assertive, they know how to impose themselves. Apart from these differences, characteristics associated with women and men are the same as in my country.

ROLE OF TANZANIAN MEN AND WOMEN

The heading above concerns what I want to speak about and the jobs that men and women have to do in Tanzania. Tradition and culture divide the of labour for men and women.
Men generally are the head of the house ,therefore they must make sure that the family have enough food, shelter, a good house, money for school, treatment, clothes etc.
Men build houses but women do not ,men go hunting but women do not,men climb tall trees and prune, men have to fell trees ,be tree fellers and saw the wood to make furniture and build houses.Also men do carpentry but women do not,men dig walls but women do not,men go to war but women do not,men carry patient using traditional beds but women do not.
Women have to stay at home to look after their children .and do other jobs like ,cooking,fetching water,and also they go to the shamba to dig or weed.They tend to have small gardens which they can plant vegetables, etc for home use.
In addition if a man or a woman has money they don't do those jobs themselves but they can look for workers and pay them , yet still women and man do different jobs .
I can conclude that by doing different roles men and women have to solve lots of problems and most of the famillies live in a happy home.

The difference between Japan and England

As I told you in the class I used to live with my host family for four months. This family consists of four members, father, mother, two children. And they usually have few a international students in the house like me. I can't say it's a general English family but all I experienced is based on the experience there. In this house the roles of the mother and father are really flexible and interchangeable. My host mother is working as an education adviser at school in quite a high position. She is full of ambition and has a sense of achievement. Also she tends to be away from home because she's always busy with meetings and presentations at school and with the local government. On the other hand my host father used to work at school as an Art teacher but after retiring he has worked as a buyer of paintings. He often goes to France and London to buy and sell some paintings, but his work is usually flexible and irregular. That's why my host father usually tends to do housework including cooking, looking after children and organising international students. For example it was my host father who taught me the house rules which are about how to use facilities and general and useful information about Brighton such as transportation, local shops and restaurants. At first it was easier to get to know my host father than the mother, which was not what I had expected. I've seen families with husbands and wives share the housework if they both work, but it was surprising that a man does more housework than the woman.
In Japan it's getting more common and could happen but I could say Japanese society tends to be dominated by men. But it keeps changing and it is true I actually can see the change in these days. For example, my father didn't use to do housework at all when I was a child even though my mother was working as well. But recently he started helping my mother wash the dishes, gardening, cooking and shopping. My mother has kept saying and trying to persuade him for a long time and he started to help her eventually. Another example, me and my boyfriend used to live together and we shared the housework. I usually cooked the meal and he washed the dishes and cleaned the house. It didn't happen in the generation of my grandparents and or in my parents' generation. But nowadays it's becoming popular and common in Japan. I think one of the reasons is the influence of western countries and broadcasts. If you watch the TV you will see many TV programmes telling you about modern society in which men do housework as well as women and women work really hard and are promoted as well as men. These things encouraged people to have an equal idea about men and women and this idea has already been established in Japan but there are still disadvantages for women. Woman have a desire to have a family and children and a need for a stable situation both financially and mentally. Men tend to like competition and the need for adventure and ambition and they can't live without a sense of achievement. They tend not to like to stay in the same situation or to be tied up and they prefer change rather than steadiness. That's why they have a fear of commitment. Thus they have different ideas about their work and they put importance on different things. That is why men tend to put an emphasis on their achievement or their work in their life, while women tend to put an emphasis on their family in their life. I think this generalisation about men and women are meaningful and helpful because sometimes it's difficult to understand them because of different values. But I don't agree with the stereotypes such as 'Women in the kitchen, men go to work.' I hope Japanese society becomes more equal and we can see my host family's house as a common thing.

The role of men and women

The role that men and women have had over the centuries has been conditioned by social and cultural factors which have given rise to differences in the way that men and women act in several fields of life, such as economic, familiar, or social ones.

In my country, differences between men and women were very noticeable thirty-five years ago, but little by little, things have been changing and, fortunately, there has been enormous progress. Previously women worked at home and very few could go to University, for example, if they married and had two children and one of them was a boy, the boy, even if his sister was older than him, had a preference to study at University, while his sister was taught to be a good housewife. Nowadays, that is unthinkable, although there are exceptions.

In my family, for example, there are three men and three women. I have two brothers and one sister and when my mum asks us to help her to do the households, she always asks my sister and me and not my brothers, and I am always complaining about that because I think that it is a male chauvinist attitude. However, the opposite happend here with one of my flatmates in England. He is an 18-year-old boy and he knows how to cook every meal, how to wash his clothes, how to iron...and he also cleans everything. He does everything much better than the girls in my flat(including me. Last Tuesday, for example, I told him that he would be a good family-man and he told me that his mum had taught him how to do everything, and then I replied him "your mum must be very proud of you", because I was thinking that my little brother is 19 years old and he does not know at all how to cook, my mum always does everything for him.

In conclusion, as far as I am concerned, I think that England has progressed more than Spain in gender issues.

Difference between men and women in Korea

Traditionally, Korea had a culture which made a strict distinction between men and women. The reason is that Korean culture was based on Confucianism which is quite conservative. Men go out and work, women stay home and keep house. Nowadays, it has changed a lot, however, there is still a stereotype about the role of men and women. For example, if we look at a typical Korean family, fathers are the head of a family. Fathers always make important decisions about the family, and they feel a responsibilty that they should take care of their wife and children and protect them. Also, they have a tendency to want their family to admire them. On the other hand, mothers tend to concentrate on supporting their husband and children. Of course, these days, many women in Korea have a job and work like men, but once they have a family, they give up everything. Traditionally, it was regarded as model of a wise mother and a good wife.
I think that Korean society is still run by men. Even though girls have outperformed boys in every kind of exam in school, they can not help facing sexual discrimination when they go out into society. One example is politics, it is often said that there should be no discrimination in the entry of women into politics, however, in reality there is a kind of invisible boundary blocking women into politics. It will take a long time, but I really hope Korean society will be able to change someday.

What is the difference between man and woman in general ?

Many things will have to be clarified in this context. the difference between male and female is biological.

This seems to be an odd phrase. It appears that though we are living in the 1st half of the 21st century, there are some people, here and there, who have a medieval way of thinking, and still pursue the outdated idea of disparity between man and woman. Like the people of the medieval ages they are of the view that woman belongs to the inferior sex and that she is not a perfect human being. She is something between a man and animal. She is not fit to lead an independent life and must live under the supervision and control of man. But we know that all these ideas are outdated and obsolete. Today we know very well that the fake charge of imperfection against woman was concocted by man during the days of his ascendancy over her. Now, the proven fact is that woman belongs to the superior sex and man to the inferior one.

However, God made Man and Woman different. And though they both are human beings, well, they function really differently. I’m sure you will agree with me that men and women seem to operate at different frequencies and sometimes, it’s difficult to get both to agree with each other.

Differences between men and women

When I first came to United Kingdom, I did not notice any difference in terms of how men and women behave here in comparison to Switzerland. It is true that I have not had the oppportunity to experience it by living with a British family or having British flatmates, but I would say that there is a balance concerning the household chores.

Generally, I am prone to thinking that most of the characteristics that make women different from men are due overall to the way they have been brought up. In fact, mothers are more likely to teach their daughters how to run a home, and fathers are propbably more prone to explaining to their sons how to change a tyre. This habit could also be explained by the fact that children tend to identify with the parent of the same sex and, as a result, are used to staying with one of them and copy their gestures as if they were a kind of model to follow.

However, this tendency is changing nowadays...Young people are used to leaving their home to study abroad or in different city to theirs and, to "survive", they have to be able to manage themselves. So, men are kind of forced to learn how to run a home.

But, according to me, this is a characteristic of anglo-saxon countries like the UK, the USA or Australia where universities are quite far away from the citiy centres and provide accommodation for thousands of students. In some other countries, such as Switzerland or Spain, universities are more spread out in the city and there isn't a campus and or any accommodation. So, local students usually live with their parents and don't have to worry about buying and cooking food, doing the laundry, etc..

Furthermore, in Latin countries like Spain, Italy or Portugal, women are expected to do the household chores as if it was a natural skill they have. Men won't ever be told to do something and, if they are, they will warn their wives not to get used to seeing them doing it many times! And the same happens with the children; while a girl would be asked to join her mother in the kitchen, a boy would be asked to join his father in the lounge to watch football on tv.

That is why I think there is a slight difference between anglo-saxon countries and other more traditional countries: it is not only due to the circumstances of life but also (and above all) the culture we have been brought up in.

But I won't lose hope that someday these habits will change for the good of everyone!

Gender

I think the gender differences seem to be less obvious these days, however it has come up as a discussion issue. On the other words, it is difficult to distinguish which job is for men, which is for women. Taking “nurse” as an example, this job used to be a job for women, however, nowadays, there are many men who are working as male nurses. Another example is that female taxi drivers have become popular in the area where only males used to work as a taxi driver. In the past, we could see only male drivers, however, we can see a lot of female drivers today. These changes represent how our views and attitudes about gender have changed. Moreover, I think these changes represent how people are changing the way of thinking about the opportunities and equality in our society.

This tendency has both advantages and disadvantages. First of all, the opportunity for people becomes wider. For instance, women can choose a female taxi driver instead of a male taxi driver, and most customers who have used this system feel more secure and comfortable than male drivers because they are the same gender. It may be similar when men are treated by male nurses. I think these points are the advantages of social changes, which have lessened the gender gaps in professions.

On the other hands, it has become difficult to distinguish what is discrimination and what is caused by gender. In addition, the argument for gender has become more complicated. I think this complication may be seen not only in professions but also all over society. Because it is a complicated cause and difficul to identify, there may be other causes too.

In conclusion, I think the argument about gender has become more complicated than ever before, and it gives us the opportunity to consider what is the gender for both the same sex and opposite sex. I think “gender” is an arguable issue.

From my point of view, differences in intelligence and personality may have genetic causes.There are for example people who suffer from mental disabilities because of genetic problems such as trisomy 21.Yet, apart from a few examples of people whose personality is influenced by genetics, the way people behave and their degree of intelligence originate in their environment.Indeed when you are born your brain is like an empty box and little by little your personality will be moulded by your environment , society will contribute to adding things to this box.How intelligent you become is not determined in advance by your genes.It is something you develop as you grow up.It is the same for your personality.There are values and ideas attached to each society and these ideas are conveyed to you as you grow up.If you live in a family with educated parents who provide you with the opportunity to have a good education, then you are likely to be well educated yourself.Likewise if you live in an environment in which you receive a lot of love and affection you are likely to be able to convey love and affection to people around you. Conversely, if you grow up in a difficult background with non loving parents you are likely to suffer from this lack of affection and it may influence your psychological development in a negative way.Nonetheless, I have to challenge my point of view as regards intelligence. For the majority of people intelligence is something that you improve as you grow up, the more you learn, the more intelligent you will be. However the world provides us with countless examples of people for whom it does not seem to work like that.I allude to the child prodigies whose intelligence capacities are amazing .Obviously these people are endowed with an intelligence which is much more superior to common people like us, so to speak.For them no doubt , genetics is the explanation.Unfortunately for people like you and me, we have to count on our environment.

Do you think that differences in intelligence and personality have genetic or environmental cauces

Referring to the subject above i think differences in intelligence and personality have genetic and environmental causes.
As far as i have read lots of text books like genetics books a child inherits a high percentage of genes from her/his parents. I mean parents pass on genes to their children. Therefore if dad and mum are intelligent enough the children will be intelligent also.The baby inside her mum's womb develops and during this time doctors and nurses give advice to mums not to eat certain foods or to do dangerous things which can harm the baby. During this time mother should avoid drinking alcohol and dangerous food and dangerous things as it can cause brain damage and lots of problems.Therefore in this case it can affect children's intelligence.
About environmental causes,in this case some children are affected by the environment like if they don't have a good dad and mum ,they are poor, they have bad friends, if they behave well and other things which can cause poor attendance and difficulty in their studies.
I conclude that differences in intelligence and personality have genetic and environmental causes.

Inherited children's behaviour from their parents

I think how children behave, what they good at or what they like to do are influenced by their parents both by their genes and also by what they do.
For example, the influence of their parents' genes: I have taken after my father in many ways regarding what kind of subjects and sports I'm good at and my way of thinking. And my brother has taken after my mother. Everyone has different strong points and it depends on their genes through successive generations. I don't know why I'm likely to be better at arts such as languages and history than sciences such as math and engineering. But even if you have strong points, it would be useless if you don't take advantages of that. It's just　that we are biased and if you are aware of your strong and weak points, you will deal with these and might overcome them. I've read an article about a father and son in the U.S. The father divorced and left his son in an asylum because he couldn't afford to take care of him any more. He hadn't seen his son for a long time but one day he saw him on TV having won an archery contest It was his son who won the archery competition. It didn't take him long until he recognised his son because his father(grandfather of his son) was also a competitor of archery. There's no way his son could have known that his grandfather was the competitor but his son chose to play archery because of his genes. We can't avoid being influenced by genes without noticing but it depends on you to take advantage of your strong and weak points.
On the other hand the way you behave could be influenced by your parents' upbringing. I have taken after from my mother, because we spent more time together than with my father. I have been affected by the way I speak, think, deal with problems and how I try to solve them from my mother. It's parental imprinting by their behaviour. We will see their behaviour in the closest way and also they teach us how to be nice and communicate with others and how to handle the problems and difficult situations because they are the best person to help you first.
In Japan we say 'a child of frog is frog.' In English it's the same meaning as 'Like father, like son.' We say this saying for both inherited genes and parental behaviour. Therefore children behave like parents because they have been taught this way and because they share genes.

The gender issue

Ever since their earliest childhood, children are taught not to make any differences between genders regarding girls' and boys' abilities. They are told to be respectful to each other and not to be prejudiced against the opposite gender. But then they grow up and realise that, despite those good words, there are actually plenty of differences between men and women which have not only biological explanations but also social or cultural roots.

According to scientific research, men's brains are slightly different from women's. Many surveys showed that men are more prone to succeed in scientific fields and are more accurate at subjects which involve the sense of direction in a space (e.g. reading a map) than women. On the contrary, they cannot manage to do many things at the same time while women are used to doing this all the time.

However, we can think that, despite these physiological facts that have been scientifically proven, the differences in abilities between men and women can also be a matter of social or cultural background. In fact, for ages women have been brought up in a way to learn how to become a good housewife and mother. They had to know how to run a home with all the tasks it includes, such as cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing and bringing up their children. Men only worried about bringing back the bread (or at least the money to purchase it!). They haven't been used to getting involved in the household chores or even in the children's education.
That could be a reason why they seem to be overwhelmed when they have to face such situations.

But sometimes, some of them who are asked to give their wives a hand just use the pretext that they haven't been taught how to do the household chores to avoid it...or even worse, they do it in the wrong way on purpose not to be asked to do it anymore!! So, in many cases, it is not just a matter of knowledge or ability..it is overall a matter of will.

Be that as it may, it is important not to generalise about the opposite sex to avoid discrimination. We are all very different from each other and there are lots of exceptions that can refute the best theories about this topic.

Are the differences between men and women biological or social?

It is often said that men and women are totally different. I remembered that even there was a book called 'Men are from Mars, and women are from Venus'. They have different characteristics and abilities. However, the question is that whether the differences come from biological or social causes. In my opinion, both biological and social reasons make the differences between men and women.

First of all, we can see that men and women are biologically different. Not only do they have a different body and appearance, but also feelings and characteristics. Genarally, for example, women are more sensitive than men. They consider one's feeling as the most essential thing in realitionship with people. To take another example, men tend to concentrate on one work, while women are able to do various jobs at the same time. We can see that these examples are more related to biological factors rather than social factors. What I mean is that these differences are not an ability or a habit which can be acquired by experience.

However, social situations also make the differences between the both sexes. It is true that people have such a stereotype of gender. For instance, 'Boys should play with a toy car, but girls should play with a doll' or 'Men should be tough, while women should be elegant'. In other words, they emphasize manhood and womanhood. For this reason, people educated their sons and daughters in different ways, and this leads to the difference between men and women.

To conclude, the reason for the differences between men and women is both biological and social. However, I would like to say that the important thing is not distinguishing charateristics between both sexes, but understanding each other.

Do you think that differences in intelligence and personality have genetic or environmental causes?

Intelligence and personality make up the characteristics of a person. When growing up, people show a lot of differences in those two characteristics. And that is necessary because that is what makes the world interesting and that is what brings the variety of opinions, taste and characters. It is interesting to know though, what the cause of these differences is. The main question here is therefore to know whether the environment is what influences the personality of a person and his intelligence or the genes they share with their family and especially with their parents.

Analyzing families, we would certainly always find similar characteristics between some members; such as a daughter that is shy just like her mother or a son that acts just like his father. Don't we always say: "like father like son"! These are of course very superficial statements but if we look at the physical characteristics for instance, children look like their parents. So why shouldn't the genes for appearance be transmitted and not just the genes that build the personality and intelligence?

Nevertheless, genetics can not explain everything and can absolutely not be the only cause of the differences in intelligence and personality. Otherwise, two sisters should, because they have the same parents, have the exact same intelligence and personality. However, we all know that this is not the truth. Therefore, there must be another cause. And that cause is the environment. Think about those children who were very responsible and intelligent and who started to follow the wrong path. For example, they started to miss school a lot or to smoke, drink,etc. In many cases, the reason for this can be found in the fact that they kept bad company or that they went round with disreputable types. The place where you grow up also determines the person you are going to be. Here is an example to illustrate this idea: if you grow up in a society where the dominant religion is christianity, then you will certainly become a christian too because of the mentality or the habits that predominate in this place and that influence you. This reasoning can be applied to personality too.

To conclude, the differences in intelligence and personality have several causes and can't be explained by genetics alone, or by the environment. I haven't mentionned it, but education certainly also plays a big role in the making up of a person, as well as people's own experiences.

Are the differences between men and women biological or social????
Well!!!. My answer will be that biological differences lead to social differences.

The biological differences mean differences in chemicals, such as males have far more testosterone than women and women have far more oestrogen and progesterone than men.
Men are physically stronger than women with more developed upper body strength.

The chemistry of men's brains are different than women's. Men and women tend to rely more on the opposite side of their brains to work out problems, although women tend to use both sides more than men. women tend to be better at multi-tasking, whereas men tend to be linear thinkers. Women experience pregnancy, birth and suckling. And men do not.
These are just a few examples of a biological differences.

And because of that we found differences in social situation between men and women.

Discussion points

Capital punishment is a deterrent to would-be murderers.

Although in some religions capital punishment is allowed it should only be carried out in exceptional circumstances. People are also advised to forgive and not to practice an eye for an eye.

The statistics show that capital punishment does not decrease the rate of murder. Actually, in some cases, it can raise the number of victims as the consequence of killing one person or more would be same for murderers.

In addition, some people might think capital punishment can give some sort of relief to a victim’s family but I think they do not consider that the murderer has a family too. Therefore, we might relieve the pain slightly from one family but at the same time, we are providing pain to another family.

In my opinion, capital punishment should be banned and instead, anothertype of punishment should be usede.g. life sentences.

People should not be able to obtain a better education or better medical care for their families by paying for them.

It is generally believed that medical care should be free for everyone (Certainly cosmetic surgery and other option should be excluded.) A healthy society is best for everyone, don't you agree? Is it really for every one? We should all try to help each other.

At first glance, it might seem to be free but it is not free because we are all paying taxes to the government. The paid money is allocated to different parts of the medical care system by the government. Therefore, it is not free at all; it is free at the point of delivery. Everyone chooses a family doctor. Of course, people have the possibility of paying to see experts in private clinics, in order to avoid waiting lists or to exercise personal choice, but this is optional.

However, I believe that every one should be able to have easy access to both medical care and education but some people might argue that it is not fair as every one should get the same treatment while we are paying different amounts of tax and some people try to use the system in the wrong way. You should get what you pay for.

There is nothing wrong with people living together before they are married

According to the heading above, my opinion is , it is good to live together after you are married ,as in bible ,God said that it is a sin to live together before you are married.I think this is good because it encourages love .In this case S D A CHURCHES give some lessons to boys and girls to be honest and not to have sex until they are married ,they give education based on the advantages and disadvantages of having sex before marriage .The disadvantages are , it is a sin ,you can get sexually transmitted,the girl to loses her virginity which is very important for her husband and he will trust her in their holy life of living together.The girls might have

unwanted pregnancies,and children without fathers who will care or look after them.If people live together before marriage they can separate at any time .In our country a wife doesn't have the right to have her husband's property or things after her husband dies. Another thing is , the girl sometimes loses her chance of being married .Most people respect married people. In our country if you live with a wife or a husband before married we call it HAWARA it means you live together against the LAW.Last but not least it is good to be married and then live together.

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is a deterrent to would-be murderers.

I disagree with this statement. Capital punishment is legal in Japan but only for crimes such as murder and treason while some countries prohibit it (Europe, Canada, Australia, Mexico and so on). I personally agree with capital punishment as long asit has been proved that the offenders have committed the crime and they can't be expected to rehabilitate. According to Wikipedia, between 1946 and 1963 Japanese courts sentenced 608 people. In recent years the death penalty has typically been applied only to those who committed several murders or in cases which combined murder with rape or robbery. I totally agree with capital punishment being carried out for these crimes, because it's not difficult to be given parole and released within few years or few decades depending on what crime you commit. Therefore we definitely need capital punishment for serious crimes, but I don't think capital punishment could be a deterrent to would-be murderers. It would be good for offenders who comitt multiple murders but it can't work for would-be murderers. Capital punishment should prevent people from being killed by repeating the crime or for atrocious crimes againt humanity. Japan is noted for high public support for the death penalty. A survey by the government in 1999 found that 79.3 percent of the public supported the death penalty. In 34 polls taken between 1953 and 1999, support for the death penalty has never dropped below 50 percent. One of the reasons why capital punishment is supported so strongly in Japan is that fewer cases are given life sentences, compared to other countries where there are only few cases. If offenders are given a life sentence, they can be given parole before they finish their sentence in most cases. If Japan forbids capital punishment,there are no strict sentences in Japan any more. Even now it is said that there is gap in punishment between the most strict one which is capital punishment and the second most strict one which is life sentence with parole.

there is nothing wrong with people living together before they are married!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Every body needs to live in group. No one can live alone all his life, man does not live by bread alone. So it is good way to have a partner, who has same ideas, hobbies, and things in common.
And to get that, you need to know about this person very well because you will be with him until the end of your life. And you want this relatioship to be successful!
However, talking with this person, travelling with him, hanging out with him, spending more time with him is enough to know him if you are not independent financially. But if you are it will be a good idea to live together before you get married.
But the main thing to get across is to know about your partner before going any further .

Human nature, beingwhat it is, war is unavoidable.

I don't agree with the statement which says that human nature, being what it is war is unavoidable. Indeed, human nature is not something that is fixed and remains unchanged.You are not born bad or good.In the past, before the renaissance and humanism, people believed that man was inherently wrong, but humanism refuted this idea and placed man at the centre.They believed that human nature could be improved and I agree with this idea.Many factors play a part in the moulding of your nature as you grow up : the type of education you receive, the society in which you live,whether you live in a democracy or not.The presence of war can't be explained by the nature of people, because nature is something flexible .A person can be good and then become bad if they are influenced inappropriately. To give an example, in some countries, there are many children who are trained to become soldiers or terrorists, it does not mean that these children are basically wrong.They live in an environment which teaches them that fighting is good, they have not been taught that fighting is bad, that's why they can't differenciate between good and bad . On the contrary if a person is raised in a ideal background in a democratic country he is more likely to have values which enable him to know that war is bad.Nevertheless, we can't deny the fact that mankind tends to be selfish and greedy.There are countless of examples in the history of humanity which prove that man is capable of the worst horrors.War is always a result of selfishness, the lure of money and power. However, even if we don't live in a perfect world and that there's a lot to be done to reach a peaceful world, we shouldn't go as far as to say that there's nothing to do to prevent war because of the nature of man.There are lots of examples of people who struggled in life to bring justice and peace to their country never resorting to war, think about Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King.So I definitely believe that we can work to improve human nature for the better.

What's your opinion?

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS A DETERRENT TO WOULD-BE MURDERERS

In my opinion, capital punishment is not the best way to punish someone who has committed a crime. I think that criminals such as killers or rapists should be sentenced to life imprisonment, but definitely an 'eye for an eye' is not the solution. Moreover, if you kill them, they just die, but they do not actually 'pay' for what they have done. However, there are cases and cases, for example, I live in Spain and neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment exists there. Although many criminals are sentenced for 3000 years, they can be imprisoned for more than 25 years and this is, from my point of view, really unfair. This year, for example, one of the most cruel ETA terrorists was released after being in jail for 25 years because he killed 30 innocent people in the 80's. He was not even been in jail one year of each victim's life! Furthermore, the first thing he did when he was released was encourage his colleagues to carry on killing! For me, a person who has commited such horrible things and does not regret them should be punished severely, perhaps killing him/her is not the solution, but at least, the fairest punishment is being sentenced to spend his/her life imprisoned.



THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH PEOPLE LIVING TOGETHER BEFORE THEY ARE MARRIED

Living together with your boyfriend or girlfriend before getting married is not viewed well by Catholic people, who call it 'living in sin'. Nevertheless, I am Catholic and from my point of view, it is a good idea. In fact, I think that it is better to live with your partner before getting married because it is the best way to realize whether things are going to work between you and him/her. I believe that Catholic people do not think it is a good thing because if you are Catholic you are not supposed to have sex with your partner until you are married, and they think that if you live with him/her, having sex is more likely to happen. The Church and Catholic people in general should update their views concerning this issue because the truth is that nowadays most brides (having lived or not with their partners) should not wear a 'white dress'(concerning what it means for church) on the day of their wedding...