Jump! Mag

Travel

JUMP! Around the World – Ayşe in Turkey

Have you ever wanted to know what it is like to grow up in another country?

We continue our Jump! Mag tour of the world in Turkey, where seven-year-old Ayşe lives.

Hello Ayşe, How do I say hello in Turkish?

Merhaba Annie!

What are your favourite subjects at school?

That’s hard… I think most of all I like learning Turkish language and…….music.

What kind of music do you like listening to?

I like to dance to pop music like Rhianna and Adele but I like Turkish music too, I like a rock band called Duman.

What games do you like to play with your friends?

Mostly street games like Tag and hide & seek, it’s fun to chase each other around.

What do you like most about being a girl?

…….I think maybe because…you can have a baby… Also at school at playtime, the boys are always chasing each other and fighting and being a bit rough, and they can be like that with each other but not with us, they can’t be so rough with us. I like wearing dresses also and dressing up!

What are your favourite words in your language?

I love you…….mum.

If you could choose any country in the world to visit, which would it be and why?

I want to go to America, to visit my Aunt in San Fransisco, I want to swim in the sea in Mexico because my Mum has told me all about it. I’d also like to go to Africa, to visit the different native tribes that live there.

How would you describe your village to someone who wanted to visit here?

I live in a fishing village, it is very sunny, there’s no snow here! We have the sea, which I like to go swimming in and I like to go walking up around the mountain near the sea which is beautiful.

Annie-May Gibb is a freelance writer, who is passionate about creating a better world.

She mainly works on projects that work to instil equality and confidence in young people. She is also passionate about using tabasco liberally on most foods.

Here is some more information about Turkey

View Larger Map

Turkey is a large peninsula that bridges the continents of Europe and Asia. Turkey is surrounded on three sides by the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Aegean Sea. Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, is built on land in the Bosporus seaway. The city is partly in Europe and partly in Asia. Turkey is larger than the state of Texas.

Written By You

Twirling Skye

My name is Skye, and I am eleven years old. I belong to Riverside Reflections, which is a baton twirling team.

My mum teaches us how to twirl, and sets our routines for us. She started twirling when she was five years old, which is quite a long time ago!! I started doing it properly when I was about five.

If you don’t know what twirling is, I’ll try to explain. A baton is a metal stick that is weighted at both ends, and has rubber to cover these ends. It is quite heavy, and hurts if it hits you, so you have to practise lots so you don’t drop it on your head!

News & Politics

What is a Referendum?

There has been a lot of talk recently about the referendum on membership of the European Union. It seems that we cannot turn on the television without hearing about it! But what is a referendum?

A referendum is a vote, not an election by which we choose the people to represent us, but a choice in which all the people who can vote are asked to accept or reject (not accept) a course of action.

You can find out more about our main election, the General Election here.

What this means is that voters are called to say yes or no to a question. You might think that this sounds perfectly reasonable; why shouldn’t everyone have a say in what our country is doing? But it is not as simple as that.

Most questions are decided by votes in Parliament; after all, this is why we elect them to represent us, and in practical terms, we cannot all expect to be experts on all the subjects that must be covered by the government. So this doesn’t happen very often.

Referendums in the UK

In fact, in the UK there have only been twelve, yes, just 12 referendums since 1973. Twelve referendums over the course of 43 years, of which only two have covered the entire country. You can see that this is not a large number.

You might be surprised to learn that the first to cover the whole country was in 1975, and it was on membership of the European Economic Community (EEC), which is what the European Union was then known as. The second was in 2011, and related to a reform in the voting system known as Alternative Vote.

All the other major referendums in the UK have been related to questions of devolving power – or the governing of the distinct regions of England, Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Origins of the Word Referendum

The word came into use in English in 1847. But at that time, it was mostly about Switzerland, whose system of direct democracy involved (and continues to involve) a large number of referendums. The word was coined, or created, from Latin referendum, which means “thing to be referred”. This is because, in a referendum, the decision is referred to the people.

The word referendum in Latin is from the verb referre. This verb means “to bring back, to take back’, which is the very essence of a referendum: a question is being brought back to the people who will be affected by it.

What is the Plural of Referendum?

A lot of people think that the plural of referendum is ‘referenda’, but is it really?

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”The Oxford English Dictionary” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Referendum is logically preferable as a plural form meaning ballots on one issue (as a Latin gerund referendum has no plural). The Latin plural gerundive referenda, meaning ‘things to be referred’, necessarily connotes a plurality of issues.[/perfectpullquote]

What does that mean?

A gerund is a grammar term used in Latin and other languages. In Latin, ‘referenda’ would mean ‘more than one thing to be considered’, whereas a referendum as a vote tends to be on one single issue.

We can use ‘referendum’ as a plural if we wish, but ‘referendums’ has also become normalised in English, as the word has been accepted in popular use in English, and of course the usual way to make a plural in English is to add ‘s’.

You can find out more about the British political system in these posts.

The UK General Election – An Explanation for Kids

How to Jump into Politics

What is it Like to Be an MP?

Women in Politics: Be The Change You Want To See

Travel

Carnivals Around the World

You might have heard of the carnival in Rio, but did you know that there are carnivals around the world – from Germany to Greece, USA to Italy?

Millie Slavidou explains where Carnival comes from on her blog

Long before the advent of Christianity, people held celebrations at this time of year. In Germany, they once looked forward to sending Hel, the goddess of the underworld, back down to her abode so they could herald the coming of the spring. In Greece, it was a time to worship the god Dionysus. With the arrival of Christianity, the celebrations continued, but changed in nature, gradually becoming more and more linked to the new religion. The Carnival is held in the period before the start of Lent, and Lent is the time when good Christians were supposed to fast, to abstain from meat

In the UK, we don’t celebrate Carnival, but we do prepare for Lent – that is what Pancake Day is all about, after all. Traditionally, pancakes were made to use up the eggs, fat, and butter, that were not to be eaten during Lent!

Take a trip around the world with us, to find out how other countries celebrate Carnival!

Home, Health & Style, Written By You

Make Up For Girls – Is It Necessary? Written By You

At school today I was talking to a friend and he was telling me about the random thoughts that he sometimes thinks about. One of the many philosophical thoughts that were swooping round in his crowded head was; ‘why do girls wear make-up and boys don’t?’

Then that got me thinking. Boys have every right to wear make-up just as much as girls have the right not to. Both genders try to make the best of their bodies by doing exercise, being healthy and wearing nice clothes as well as many other things.