The Implications of Dan Slobins Statements on Second Language Essay

The Implications of Dan Slobins Statements on Second Language Acquisition - Essay Example The Implications of Dan Slobin’s Statements on Second Language Acquisition Language is essential in being able to communicate properly and communication is essential to societal life, where a person needs to be able to understand and be understood by other people in order to survive. Thus, the study of language acquisition and development in children is well-covered as many delve into the process in order to help teachers and parents to promote a healthier and more successful language development in children in order for them to be well-equipped to live in the world. And with the diversity of language comes the need not only to fluently speak one language, but to also learn a second, or even a third, language. Immigration and inter-racial marriages are two very common happenings in the 22nd Century. Gone were the days when immigrants were treated like outcasts and racial discrimination was considered normal. Today, anyone can choose to migrate to another country in order to find a better life. Because of the phenomenon of immigration wherein a country is made more diverse and multicultural, it is but inevitable for inter-racial marriages to flourish. Because of these two factors combined and the subsequent success of international and multinational corporations, schools have felt it necessary to equip their students with the knowledge of a foreign language. In fact, â€Å"the number of people in the United States who speak more than one language has doubled to almost 50 million during the past 20 years†.

Mrketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Mrketing - Essay Example My concept of mrketing is close to the definition by CIM tht looks not only t identifying customer needs, but lso stisfying them (short-term) nd nticipting them in the future (long-term retention). In its most generic form, I define mrketing s mrketing seen s reltionships, networks nd interction or mrketing bsed on interction within network of reltionships. In the brodest sense of mrketing, ll mngement, the whole society, nd even life itself, form networks of reltionships within which we interct in our roles of business executives, employees, consumers, citizens nd humn beings. Collbortion. The core contribution from mrketing is its emphsis on collbortion. In nrrow sense it comprises the collbortion between customer nd supplier. This hs lwys been prcticl necessity for services nd for the development, production, mrketing nd purchsing of complex products in business mrketing. Its prctice, however, is often unprofessionl nd guided by legl-bureucrtic vlues nd lck of empthy. Its introduction in theory nd eduction is long overdue. Tody, severl sources independent of reltionship mrketing stress collbortion. Collbortion is the very reson for forming n orgniztion; you collborte inside nd compete outside. In totl reltionship mrketing you both collborte nd compete, inside s well s outside the orgniztion. Long reltionships. Long reltionships. series of studies clim tht the longer the reltionship with customer, the higher the profit will be. This is primrily due to two effects of customer loylty: reduced mrketing costs when fewer customers defect; nd incresed 'customer shre' or 'shre of wllet' ( higher shre of the customer's purchse of product or service goes to single supplier). Long reltionships re lso needed inside the orgniztion. Win-win. Effective collbortion in long-term reltionship cn only tke plce if the prties feel like winners, or t lest tht they gin from the reltionship nd tht it is their best option under current circumstnces. It requires ech prty to think of the other prty s prtner rther thn s n

Bio-Minicry: Next Phase of Sustainable Imitating Technology

Bio-Minicry: Next Phase of Sustainable Imitating Technology BIO-MIMICRY: THE NEXT PHASE OF MODERN SUSTAINABLE IMITATING TECHNOLOGY Abstract: Bio mimicry is a form of learning and then reproduce natures forms, processes, and ecosystems to create more sustainable designs. Bio mimicry has stepped into the Advanced technologies section when it comes to thinking out of the box strategies; which mainly relate to adapt the behaviour and environmental characteristics of nature or the living species including mammals, reptiles, flaura and fauna. This review article submits the overview of the technology of the world around us by adapting the blueprints from nature, and applying those ideas to improve the co-existed ones. The Review tries to emphasise on the various economical and ecological aspects of the current Bio mimic technology in various fields scaling down their Growth and Cons in Production, Evaluative thinking and Green Technology. Introduction: Bio-mimicry mimicking Natures designs to overcome the manmade designed challenges which can be applied to a varied range of obstacles all the way from drafting a CAD model to several systems, services and the environmental aspects of the product development. Bio-Mimicry has been along from a long time since the 1900s when the revival of the pollen grains of the plant cocklebur got stuck to his coat which empowered Swiss engineer Georges de Mestral to invent a new type of fastener which later became famous and patented as Velcro Industries. This incident embarked a new process and methodology of thinking for new discoveries and inventions. The Method to imitate the behaviour the organisms or the horticulture is mainly according to the type of imitation shelled down for a particular application which is mainly divided into: (1) Bio inspiration (2) Bio replication (3) Bio imitation. The other area of concern for todays technological ladder is to produce eco friendly and much more Green designs and products which can adhere to the current eco system regarding the concept of Form follows Function . Bio mimicry can be stated as the example of a Helicopter being as similar as a bumble bee but the mechanism of hovering are totally different, which states that only a part of the idea or concept has been adapted to make something to travel at very high grade speeds. The Lotus plant has the ability to repel the water droplets on its surface which created avenue for a new technological impact for the surface coats and paint industries enabling them to make paints which could swipe off the dirt from the surface without any external cleaning agents. Medical field has also advanced from the natures geometry in such a manner that it can now adapt the soul DNA structures of various Microorganisms to tackle the cancer agents along with widely induced drug delivery system and Organs on chips concept which is indeed revolutionary. The manufacturing scale and the designs are also mimicked from the nature: the sustainability concept along with the proficient use to the application, such as surface coat for anti corrosive metals and several solar cells also use the mimicked concept of bug eyes being anti-reflective and adapting the UV rays band spectrum at a much higher scale than the normal solar cells imparting higher efficiencies to the solar cell output. The main agenda is to invent production, operations, and methodologies that are well-adhered to a sustainable Green Living. The core idea is that nature has already solved many of the problems we are grappling with. Animals, plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. After billions of years of research and development, failures are fossils, and what surrounds us is the secret to survival. Why bio mimicry is the new face of advancement in 21st century science? Todays world is facing the hurdles of overcoming the defects from their products and trying to maintain them for a longer run for much better output both economic and ecological aspects. The constant graph of growth for the awareness of bio mimicry embarks the start of a phase, all the way from the industrial model to an ecological one. Experts suggest that the industrial revolution period may have admired us with some of the many vital innovations, but it was on the base of ecological depletion and non sustainable production technology. The following review paper will cover all the fields that have been developing their scaled growth over the past decade gradually sparking the innovations and replicating natures system and its operations in their respective field for much better output that theyd usually get without using them. The recent developments in nanotechnology and manufacturing are helping us to manipulate and innovate products more like Nature does from the bottom up method, but there is still much of the gap to fill such as producing materials at ambient temperatures and still have desired properties, such as strength without wasting any energy. The Flowchart resembles the fact that a method or a process has been adapted now by the recent innovators and Big MNSCS regarding the fact to make or produce something new everytime in the research and development section. The industries are much more imparting importance to their RD department today because of the constant demand for better products with high grade efficiencies and higher production rates. They also have the criteria to waste minimal of the raw products used in the production which is inevitable at the present scale technology. Bio mimicry steps in there with the concept of giving out the agendas for production areas to work and emphasise about making and designing Green products which would be suitable to the environment as well as the application by adapting different concepts and ideas from nature. The Eco Friendly method is generally based on three factors Economic, Environmental and Social Aspects. The Main goal is to achieve the complete interaction and balance co relating in all these three factors.Adding to that the production and the blueprints of a company always have the environmental indicators which are Carbon Footprint, Energy Consumption, Air acidification and Water Eut rophication. Nanofabrication has a greater role to play in the field of bio mimicry because of the sole reason to scale grade and study the roots formation of a structure and mimicking it to a real scale model application. Example: Studying the gecko feet structure from the DNA scale level to understand the physics and the arrangement of the surface involved in high quality of friction imparting that theme to that of the tyres i.e. real scale model application. The Following subtopics of this review covers various applications where the symphony of nanofabrication and bio mimicry is synched to produce application of high intellectual usage for the industry as well as day to day science ; their approach, their limitations, advantages and problems that they have to tackle have been reviewed and discussed thoroughly. The Classification of Bio Mimicry Applications flowchart: Medicine:Nanofabrication technology has enabled the scientists and researchers all over the globe to widen their horizon to an extent where they can create cell structures that go beyond the current three dimensional in vitro models by giving them a new formed tissue tissue interfaces, spatiotemporal chemicals and dynamic mechanisms and behaviour of the micro organisms. In One research the living cells are structured within the microfluidic aids that have been designed to withstand and keep the tissues intact in the same manner as they are placed in the microorganisms. Adding to that also the organ to organ behaviour is observed and analysed so as to know the interaction between a kidney tissue and a liver tissue with their co relation to the brain cells. This study requires pathophsyciology which can be helped to understand how Organs on chip can behave when they are tested in field. PDMS a microdevice containing poly-dimethylsiloxane are molded inversely that mimics the complex structure of the relative tissue epithelial interface so as to know their behaviour in the body. Various body organs such as Lungs, kidney, liver, Breasts Chips have been formed and tested mainly on animals which proves to be quite costly and dreadful. Another application is to replicate the morphology of the chemotoxins from the cancer cells during their treatment to ease the process and the fight against the same known as sink cells which scavenge the chemokins. The embarkment of mimicking the mosquiotoes venom for anti malaria and other pathogen agents also have been formulated to avenge those diseases. Sustainable manufacturing: The manufacturing industry has started adapting the systematic approach for the biomimicry method in their various processes in a very serious and efficient attempted manner for more eco friendly product designs. The products are designed with keeping in mind the EES ( economic, environment and social ) which often led to reflect each other ; bio mimicry helps to balance these three factors and asses different products at a very early stage.The study of morphology of various surfaces leading to the slection of materials is mimicked from that of the relavant application. Example: The surface of Tio2 is sprayed with PEEDOS:PSS for the production of Solar cells which was adopted from Plants. The Process of Photosynthesis.The main agenda for this field is to take the help of Compter Aided Engineering and the Data to give sustainable and function efficient products at a very large scale at minimal cost of production. Architecture: The basic concept of architecture came from mimicking the trees withstanding extreme climate and different microorganisms including the ant mounds ; the spiders web. We generally think of termites as destroying buildings, not helping design them. The modern buildings have an internal climate control system originally inspired by the termite mounds. The operation of buildings represents 40% of all the energy used manually so more energy efficient concepts have to be introduced. The Honey comb structure morphology has been motivated for the selection of building materials which can withstand high pressure winds and climate conditions. The tensile strength of spiders larva directs to the materials of large scale structures requiring greater tension forces. Gecko (Adhesion applications ): Geckos have the amazing gift the adhere and repel their feet and toes on the surface making them stick to the surface to and fro quickly.It is possible for them to perform such a task because of millions of nano-scale hairs present on their toes known as setae and spatulae. This creates friction between the toe and the surface area on which the toe is adhered to and as the surface area increases the frictional force on the toa and the surface also increases. We can note the presence of Vander Wals forces in between the toe and the surface, Vanderwalls Forces are fragile attractive forces usually present between nearly all chemicals and materials. The frictional force requires the application of pressure for adhesion and load removal for the to and fro movement ; The Nanotechnology steps into the operation where various topographical and morphological scaling techniques are graded and used to itch down the patterns down to the nanoscale and make them im plement on the industrial scale products. The ability that the gecko adapts to create such high amount of adhesion reasons to the hierarchical and fibrillar structure on its feet. The High surface area usage of the spatula at each step enables gecko to increase the toe-pad surface area and features to use them in a combinationWith the aid of the multitiered porous anodic alumina template and capillary force bridged nanoimprinting, we can successfully plant a gecko imprint toe pad formation of nanopillars.Improvisation has also been done to increase the adhesitivity of the application to upto 150%. As the surface area gradually decreased the adhesive forces also emulated. The pillar topography also aided the fact of the increase in hydrophobicity, which proved to be quite fruitful in the applications of dry cleaning materials and super hydrophobic applications. Super-Hydrophobic Surfaces: The basic example of a naturally hydrophobic surface is the lotus leaf, the leafs when scaled down to a Nano size ; it is observed to have the surface with repels the water particles on its surface. This tendency allows the plant to withstand the dirt and self-cleaning mechanism. When the leaf is encountered with water, it creates thee superhydrophobic angle at around 160 ° which allows the water to roll down the leaf on the way helping to coolect all the dirt patricles on its surface. This is known as the lotus effect where the surface structure is at micrometer-scale bumps as well as nanometer-scale hairlike structures with a layer of wax on the leaves. The leaf air composite structure allows the air to trap beneath the water droplets and is the main reason for high contact angle and rolling behaviour of water droplet on the leaf. With the help of nanofabrication methods a superhydrophobic and transparent biomimetic surface can be fabricated by us ing the colloidal lithography and plasma etching combination. Plasma etching techniques are also advanced enough to built tall tower like strucutres on glass sheets and adding to that coating with fluoroalkylsilane self-assembled monolayers in the aim to obtain the chemical layers with a low surface energy, the contact angle of the nanostructured surface around 150 ° and 110 ° for water and hexadecane, respectively. In addition to the super hydrophobic abilities they also retained the quality of transparency which also adds on the property and creates a massive impact in the solar cell industry. sd Solar Cells: The butterfly wing scales templating method is easy and economic design for the synthesis of hierarchically periodic microstructure titania photoanode without the need for complicated experimental conditions or equipments, such as photo lithography adopted. The quasihoneycomb structure titania replica photoanode has a perfect light absorptivity and higher surface area, which give great advantages to the light harvesting efficiency and dye sorption. This structure gives the butterfly ultrablackness wings, so it is convincing that we could obtain potential ultra-absorptivity photoanode adopting the quasi-honeycomb structure. This method also gives us a better option for photothermal, photocatalyzed, and photosensitized devices research. This fabrication method have the chances for their application on other chitin substrate template and metal oxide systems that could turn out to be in the production of optical, magnetic. or electric devices or components as building blocks for nanoelectronic, magnetic, or photonic integrated systems The butterfly wing have a greater band of reflectance for the Uv rays because of the alternative layers of Air and chitin. The honeycomb structure has the upper hand of refracting on trapping light similar to the fiberoptic cable. The relative high refractive index on the wings helps to entrap the solar rays much easily. That is, the light enters the material, but whenever it co inciceds with the rest of the surface it is mirrored back to that of the reflective part. This shows that no incident light is wasted everything is reflected back and used. Nanotechnology plays its part in managing the topography and aiding the need to study the reflections and increasing optical path length than the wings. Nanofabrication aids to the butterfly wing scales microstructure titania film photoanode and can improve the wing scales and light absorbitivity on a particular surface area of the DSC photoanode. References: Huh, D., Torisawa, Y., Hamilton, G., Kim, H. and Ingber, D. (2012). Microengineered physiological biomimicry: Organs-on-Chips. Lab on a Chip, 12(12), p.2156. Alexandridis, G., Tzetzis, D. and Kyratsis, P. (2016). Biomimicry in Product Design through Materials Selection and Computer Aided Engineering. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 161, p.012046. Nesta.org.uk. (2017). Biomimicry | Nesta. [online] Available at: http://www.nesta.org.uk/event/biomimicry Wootton-Beard, P., Xing, Y., Durai Prabhakaran, R., Robson, P., Bosch, M., Thornton, J., Ormondroyd, G., Jones, P. and Donnison, I. (2016). Review: Improving the Impact of Plant Science on Urban Planning and Design. Buildings, 6(4), p.48. Arndt, D. (2017). Natures nanotechnology, bio-mimicry, and making the superpowers of your dreams a reality. [online] Sustainable Nano. Available at: http://sustainable-nano.com/2013/12/03/natures-nanotechnology-bio-mimicry-and-making-the-superpowers-of-your-dreams-a-reality-4/ Hu, S. and Xia, Z. (2012). Rational Design and Nanofabrication of Gecko-Inspired Fibrillar Adhesives. Small, 8(16), pp.2464-2468. Aryal, M., Ko, D., Tumbleston, J., Gadisa, A., Samulski, E. and Lopez, R. (2012). Large area nanofabrication of butterfly wings three dimensional ultrastructures. Journal of Vacuum Science Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena, 30(6), p.061802. Ho, A., Yeo, L., Lam, Y. and RodriÃÅ' guez, I. (2011). Fabrication and Analysis of Gecko-Inspired Hierarchical Polymer Nanosetae. ACS Nano, 5(3), pp.1897-1906. Lim, H., Jung, D., Noh, J., Choi, G. and Kim, W. (2009). Simple nanofabrication of a superhydrophobic and transparent biomimetic surface. Science Bulletin, 54(19), pp.3613-3616. Zhang, B., Park, J., Kim, K. and Yoon, H. (2012). Biologically inspired tunable hydrophilic/hydrophobic surfaces: a copper oxide self-assembly multitier approach. Bioinspiration Biomimetics, 7(3), p.036011. Ensikat, H., Ditsche-Kuru, P., Neinhuis, C. and Barthlott, W. (2011). Superhydrophobicity in perfection: the outstanding properties of the lotus leaf. Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 2, pp.152-161. Zhang, W., Zhang, D., Fan, T., Gu, J., Ding, J., Wang, H., Guo, Q. and Ogawa, H. (2009). Novel Photoanode Structure Templated from Butterfly Wing Scales. Chemistry of Materials, 21(1), pp.33-40. Sharklet.com. (2017). Technology Overview | Sharklet Technologies, Inc.. [online] Available at: http://sharklet.com/our-technology/technology-overview/

population :: essays research papers

The Immigration Debate   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Migration is a natural condition of humankind. People have traditionally moved voluntarily hope of freedom and economical, cultural and educational opportunities. As of recent there has been a conflict of interest in terms of immigration. Mr. John Isbister shows both sides in his book, The Immigration Debate. Although Mr. Isbister shows both sides on immigration, he is clearly proimmigration. He says, â€Å"immigrantscontribute positively to the quality of American life and that immigration is consistent with the moral values that Americans hold closest†isbister 4). He says immigratswill continue to add to America’s melting pot theory.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He starts his book talking abouhistory ofnited States policy. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 wereenacted as part to deny asylum toEuropean supporters of Democracy. The Immigration Act of 1924 was the first permanet limitation on immigration, established the â€Å" national origins quota system†(). This act set a quota of immigrants to the United States at two percent of the number of persons of a given nationality residing in the United States. Since quotas were based on the proportions of the U.S. population, the system greatly favored northern Europeans and discriminate against Asians. The quota system was finally abolished in The Migration Refugee Assistance Act of 1962. The act opened opportunities for families to reunify. Many refugees came from Cuba and Latin America. This actr surprisingly increased the number of non white immigrants. Now crowds of Hispanic and Asains can be found throughout the entire nation. Mr. Isbister says that the new infl ux of Hispanics and Asains is cyclical and that the population will control itself. The first cycle happened from 1820 to 1967, nearly 90 percent of all immigrants were from Canada or Europe. From the Migration Refugee Assistane Act of 1962, Mexico and other Central American countries were the maority of immigrants. Only thirteen percent of immigrants were from Europe.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now there happens to be a huge influx of illegal immigrants. To control the illegal aliens Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. This act punished employers who hired undocumented immigrants. It also granted citizenship to illegal aliens who had been residing in the United States for several years. No one really knows how many illegal immigrants there are living in the United States, but estimates say there are about four to five million illegals leaving here, almost all of them are non-white.

Research Methods Essay

This paper uses research by studying and extensively reviewing the literature on telecommunications and Belize. To conduct the search, the scope of the study was studied and the sources of information identified. Telecommunications is considered to include communication services like radio, telephone, etc and technologies which can provide such services. Studies about the impact of telecommunications on Belize were researched. Extensive research was also conducted on the role of telecommunications in various sectors like education, health, agriculture, transportation, and other activities. The primary focus was to use the experience of Belize by studying the applications and findings which are relevant to the country. Recent reports and studies on Belize, its economy, and its telecommunication sector were used as research material for this paper. Publications are also considered as they present theory or analysis of critical issues and applications. Numerous sources of information were used to prepare the literature review. Several categories of research information are used to compile the results and content of the paper. References on telecommunications in general were used to provide an introduction and scope of study. Studies comparing Belize and its neighbors were also used to determine the success of globalization and telecommunications sector in the political, economic, social, and cultural context of the country. The role of telecommunication in rural development, agriculture, education, health, agriculture, disaster management, business, and trade were also extensively studied using various databases, publications, and studies. Selected studies and documents were used because the type of studies available would lead to an extremely lengthy paper. Scope of study The research methodology is the set of processes used to collect and analyze data. Research methodology is defined as a structured set of guidelines or activities to assist in generating valid and reliable research results. This part describes the research methods and procedures used to obtain and analyze data in this study. Research design reflects the structure of the research project and provides the means of collecting suitable data to answer the research questions. This paper seeks to identify the social, political, economic and cultural issues and outcomes which have emerged from globalization in Belize. It reviews the telecommunication sector of the country by looking at the reports of BTL. It studies the performance of the BTL. It highlights the achievements and failures of the company. It researches and examines the company’s services in the light of the government’s telecommunication industry. A detailed analysis is conducted about the success and failure of globalization in Belize by using studies which provide analysis on the economic performance of the country. Finally the study uses research material to examine the globalization success or failure in Belize as compared with its neighbors. The impact of telecommunications industry in the light of globalization is studied and researched extensively in the paper. Research Questions The following research questions are asked in this paper: 1. How has globalization affected the economic development of Belize? 2. How has globalization affected the welfare of its people? 3. How has globalization affected the success of the dominant telecommunications company BTL? Content and Analysis. This chapter looks at the results of the research conducted. It is divided into three parts which answer the three research questions. Globalization and economic development of Belize Success of globalization Globalization has assisted Belize in opening up its financial markets because of the levels of social spending. The economy has become more open because of increased public expenditures. It also has launched a positive effect on the interaction of democracy and globalization on the size of total revenue. Globalization does not depress social expenditures. Belize has diversity in terms of the level of development and social protection. It has had dramatic impact on the economies and social policy of Belize as compared with industrial countries. Creating an export oriented model led to a significant lowering of tariffs from an average of forty nine percent in the mid 1980s to eleven percent by the late 1990s (Jeffrey 69, 2006). Controls on capital markets have also been reduced which is still lower as compared with advanced industrial countries. The index of liberalization has increased in the country from sixty eight to seventy seven in the 1990s. The country however remains dependant on external capital flows because of the low savings rates. It also suffers from a high foreign debt which exposes the economy to market fluctuations. Pressure exerted by IMF and World Bank have called for pursuing neo liberal directions for the economy. Social expenditures dropped in the 1980s while they recovered in the 1990s. Social policy reforms have taken place that has reduced the general social insurance schemes. The private sector has played a prominent part in the provision of pensions and health care.

How Were Markets and Fairs an Important Part of Medieval Life

Lesly Kurian 8 June 2007 â€Å"First of all, there are the hucksters who sell food to the public, the beer sellers, the publicans, and then the weavers. Not far off are the drapers, and then the parchment sellers’ pitch. Then the open space where they sell uncured skins and wool†¦Here comes the people leading the animals- cows, oxen, ewes and pigs, and men selling horses, the best you can buy, mares, foals, and palfreys, suitable for counts and kings. † Many people came to buy items from markets and fairs, including the 13th century poet who described a typical market (Pierre and Sabbagh 54).Markets were important to daily life because most of the items people bought there, they couldn’t grow or make themselves. People also made a living by selling goods there. Going to markets also gave people a chance to see goods produced in other towns (MacDonald 8). Markets were held once a week and usually lasted for a day or two (9). Since many towns were built near r ivers, merchants could easily come to them and set up stalls and tents (Grant). In the center of town, there was a large space for stalls to be set up. In wealthy towns, markets were held in grand halls or covered by a canvas roof from the weather.In the market, officials checked and measured items and identified fake money (Mac Donald 9). Merchants sold an incredible variety of items for daily life; food, utensils, tools, clothing, art, and combs (â€Å"Markets and Fairs†, MacDonald 8). Rich merchants set up stalls to sell these items. However, peasants who came to sell their goods couldn’t afford stalls, so they were forced to display on the ground. Even worse, they had to pay a tax if they displayed on the ground (â€Å"Markets and Fairs†)! Superstitions were strong in markets too!In a typical market, a cross or holy statue was placed in the center to protect customers from any danger (MacDonald 9)! Eventually, merchants started visiting and trading in other areas. By the 12th century, many became traders and used ships on trade routes (Langley 46). Most traders used ships because they could carry large loads over a long distance versus carts on roads (Grant, MacDonald 11). Items usually transported on ships were wool, metals, timber, oil, wine, and salt (â€Å"Markets and Fairs†). As trade increased, major castles and cities became wealthy. New towns were created during the High Middle Ages because of this immense wealth.Some even became independent of a lord or king’s rule by paying him a tax (Langley 48). As new towns were created, the population grew and some towns grew into major cities, like Paris, Venice, London, and Florence. The increase of trade also provided jobs for many and helped spread ideas around the world. Cities often became contacts and allies because of this (MacDonald 10). One group of contacts was called the Hanseatic League. It linked over 100 towns with each other. This group dominated Northern Eur opean trade from the 13th to the 15th centuries (Pierre and Sabbagh 54, Grant).Trading among towns led way to fairs. Fairs were very special occasions because people got to look at and buy foreign and expensive items not sold at markets (MacDonald 9). They gave people a chance to take a break from daily life and enjoy themselves. They were held once a year on a saint’s feast day (Langley 54). Fairs were usually located on the outskirts of town because there was enough grassland for traders to set up their tents and graze their animals (MacDonald 9). Traders from many different lands sold specialty items at fairs.Valuable furs, such as lynx and leopard, were popular. People also took interest in special foods like pig meat and onions. Tools and weapons were also available (Pierre and Sabbagh 54). Entertainment and refreshments was also a large part of fairs. Jugglers, stunts men, acrobats and musicians performed there. Gambling was also part of fairs. Men bet on who would win a fight; wrestlers and dogs against bears and cockfights were popular (â€Å"Markets and Fairs†). Refreshments, especially during hot weather, were enjoyable. Bakers and brewers served pies, or chewets, and beer (Langley 54).There was special fair called the Fairs of Champagne, in France. It went on throughout the whole year without stop. Merchants, traders, and customers alike all flocked there to sell and buy goods. Unfortunately, it ended during war in the 15th century (Pierre and Sabbagh 54). As anyone can see, markets and fairs during Medieval Times were an important part of daily life. They provided needed items for life and occasional luxuries, too. However, not everyone appreciated markets and fairs. Preachers often complained that fairs were held on holy days so people would shop instead of pray!They also believed that markets and fairs were places that people sinned the most; cursing, boasting, lying and arguing all happened there (MacDonald 9). Imagine that! Biblio graphy Grant, Neil. Everyday Life in Medieval Europe. North Mankato, MN: Smart Apple Media, 2001. Langley, Andrew. Medieval Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. MacDonald, Fiona. Town Life. North Mankato, MN: Smart Apple Media: 2005. Pierre, Michel and Morgan-Antoine Sabbagh. Europe in the Middle Ages. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1998. N/A. â€Å"Markets and Fairs† N/A. Online. http://www. xtec. es/crle/02/middle_ages/alumne/index. htm. 20 May 2007.