San Francisco and Its Main Activities

Introduction For a city to be established, there are specific things that need to be considered, for instance, economic growth, cultural affiliations, geography and topography, history that defines the origin of the city, resources available, politics, governance, population and facilities available. San Francisco is one among the many cities in California.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on San Francisco as a Center for Transportation, Cultural and Financial Activities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This paper will discuss San Francisco and determine how it established itself. San Francisco city occupies the seven-mile-wide northern tip of the San Francisco peninsula, and hosts a population of 750,000 people with very slim possibilities of going beyond that capacity (Sinclair 1). As a city, it has gone through tough and good times socially and economically, some but a few include earth quakes, floods, an d economic instabilities in the earlier days and the world wars both one and two. Due to it being a hub of activities, each time the city is faced with such challenges; it takes a short time to get back to its feet (Bing and Channell 33). It is considered as one of the major centers for transportation, cultural and financial activities. It has its history based on arts as its major establishment activity. The San Franciscans are known to be imaginative, which has given the city its name, â€Å"city of the imagination† (Sinclair 1). Throughout history, San Francisco has been known to be a city where anything and everything is possible. From politics, economic backgrounds and stands to their liberal perception on issues, it creates an atmosphere where everybody and anybody can coexist. This has attracted foreign investors from around the globe which has changed the face of the city to a more attractive one. Thesis Statement Due to San Francisco’s establishment as a city based on imagination and one that is always in progress and growth, it has taken the position of being considered a more livable city than most of the other cities in California. This far, it has been able to preserve the grounds on which it was established; imagination and attracting the outside world through its position in the region, state, national and global economy (Brook, Carlson and Peters vii). Due to the city’s stand, it has continued to contribute positively to the growth of California, which has contributed to the attraction of foreign investors and heads of major corporations. This has contributed positively to the image of San Francisco from the old ugly town to the productive town that has grown with time. San Francisco The economy of San Francisco has been on rapid growth since the time of Gold rush. This attracted so many people from all over the world who came in order to search for the gold. This increased the population of the city to an unimaginable numb er which in turn contributed positively to make the city a commercial centre and the present financial district (Sinclair 1).Advertising Looking for research paper on geography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As the city got to be established financially, California became a major beneficially of the same growth since it opened its frontier to investors. San Francisco being a Financial District, which is expansive to the shores of the ocean, and opens the beaches to the tourists, has been a major source of income to the California people. The growth of the economy in San Francisco has established itself as a centre for employment, which has attracted professional work force from neighbor states, cities and countries, a thing that had not happened in the past. Though the magnetic pull of employment has called people from all professions, this has greatly led to the economic liberation of the young people since the housing rent s remained low enough to allow artists, refugees and those outside the mainstream to survive and to prosper in the main city (Brook, Carlson and Peters 9). Its ability to host the Chamber of Commerce, Mission District, banks like Bank of America among other banks and many other significant components of the economy has made San Francisco accessible to all kinds of development that comes with civilization. Many people have been leaving their countries to get white color jobs in San Francisco even though the standard and the quality of living are very high there. Its opening to the neighborhood has been a drive in establishing restaurants and entertainment centers to cater for the needs of the people. As a city, San Francisco has been well established in arts and entertainment. The city is known to host the most enduring artists whose works sell so much all over the world. The city has been consistent in the production of high-quality soaps that are watched all over the world through their refined artists who have been in the field for a long time. San Franciscans’ use of stage from acting to music is such a catching thing that all over the world people will tune to the San Franciscan TV channels to watch their productions. The arts in this city range from photography where they have one of the best world collections that can be seen in their museums and galleries (Bing and Channell 40), social commentaries, painting and sculpture, high concepts, high craft, storytelling and by use of the new technology, they are still developing more arts.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on San Francisco as a Center for Transportation, Cultural and Financial Activities specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The San Franciscans are also in music where they are producing music in different categories ranging from opera to local entertainment. All the mentioned arts contribute to the economy of the city and in turn to that of California at large (Bing and Channel 42). Freedom of expression is one of the key features in the law that makes San Francisco to be one of the most liberal cities in California. Freedom of expression is meant to be respected by all citizens as long as an individual is not threatening the peace of the society around him/her, the person should be let to express themselves as they deem fit. The gay and the prostitute community are free to express themselves since they are accepted politically and culturally. Any people who express themselves and face the threats from the police or members of the public are at liberty to report that as harassment and the demonstration of such persons is justified. Education offered in San Francisco is that of highly specialized skills so that as professionals and individual are able to offer the society the best skills needed in changing the market. Every so often, San Francisco and California at large review the education syst em in order to improve the system to match up with the emerging needs of the world (Divine 1). This not only sets the city at a good position globally to provide up to date services, but it improves the city’s governance as they respond to local and international need to do that. As mentioned earlier, the city of San Francisco is one of the major tourist attraction places in the world, and tourism is the largest industry which generates the highest annual income for the country. Every tourist who has visited the city will do it repeatedly because the entertainment venues in San Francisco cannot be exhausted. This is because there are enough recreational sites to visit ranging from the museums, entertainment theaters, public and private beaches, animal reserves, local entertainment, explorations to up to date accommodation facilities. Out of statistics in San Francisco, it has been shown that, â€Å"the massive injection of visitors directly supports local hotels, restaurant, shops, attraction and cultural centers. It also indirectly bolsters practically every segment of the city’s economy and has a broad positive influence on the government finances† (San Francisco 1).Advertising Looking for research paper on geography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Politics and governance are two important key features of any given place and greatly affect the economic condition of the place in question. San Francisco being the only consolidated city- County in California passes its own laws and budgets through the mayor, who is the head of the city. The mayor who has the power to appoint a committee to govern the city, and this makes it easier for him to manage the city governance (Brook, Carlson and Peters 1). This has been like so since 1856 out of the observation that the city out of its numerous economic activities was doing well. Due to its independence, it has been mandated to be the state of Supreme Court of the state of California. San Francisco is considered as one of the best places for conventions and conferences. Due to good governance and the security established by the local government, San Francisco has been considered as one of the best places to invest. Its rapid growth and central governance of resources make it an attractiv e city for business people who put in efforts to meet the needs of the growing population; one is always sure of selling their goods and services and make profits. Because of the city’s ability to attract wealth from many corners of the land, San Francisco has a legacy of wealth; this has made California one of the greatest engines of the world’s economic growth (Brook, Carlson and Peters 8). This also has a disadvantage because it attracts people with all manners of expertise from positive to negative. San Francisco is one of the cities where one needs to be careful when dealing with strangers lest one finds themselves in the hands of gamblers or thieves. Conclusion San Francisco as one of the cities in California, has greatly established itself. Its establishment is based on the development of a strong economic foundation through many activities that are carried out in the city. The strong education system and the ability to attract many investors give San Francisco a chance to contribute to the world economy. Tourism as a major attraction point has been one of the greatest strengths in raising the largest share of country and global revenue, a position that gives San Francisco a plus over other cities in California. Due to the city’s ability to attract investors and different economic activities from around the world, San Francisco is considered a city where everything is available regardless of its small size as compared to other states around California. People have always been moving to San Francisco for a better life which is made possible through improved infrastructure which the city government had to put in place to take care of the growing population. This has made the city so famous, and it makes the city attractive to people from all over the world that have either heard about the city or have been to the city. Works Cited Bing, Alison and Channell Dominique. San Francisco. San Francisco, CA: Lonely Planet, 2008. Print. Brook James, Carlson Chris and Peters Nancy. Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, and Culture. San Francisco, CA: City Lights books, 1998. Print. Divine, Caroline. â€Å"Education Policy in America; Education Policy in San Francisco.† Divine Caroline Articles, 2011. Web. San Francisco. â€Å"San Francisco Visitor Industry Statistics.† San Francisco Travel, 2011. Web. https://www.sftravel.com/. Sinclair, Mick. San Francisco. A culture and literary history. San Francisco, CA: Signal Books, 2004. Print. 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Intonation and Stress in English

Intonation and Stress in English Correct intonation and stress are the key to speaking English fluently with good pronunciation. Intonation and stress refer  to the music of the English language. Words that are stressed are key to understanding and using the correct intonation brings out the meaning.   Introduction to Intonation and Stress Exercise Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes. The beautiful mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.   Time required? Probably about five seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.   Time required? Probably about five  seconds. Wait a minute- the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence! The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.  (14 syllables)He can come on Sundays as long as he doesnt have to do any homework in the evening.  (22 syllables) Even though the second sentence is approximately 30 percent longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are five stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you neednt worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly dont). You should, however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly. This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length). Many speakers of syllabic languages dont understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages, each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words. Simple Exercise to Help With Understanding The following exercise can be used by students and teachers to further help with pronunciation by focusing on the stressing content words rather than function words in the exercise below. Lets look at a simple example: The modal verb can. When we use the positive form of can we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced. They can come on Friday. (stressed words in  italics) On the other hand, when we use the negative form cant we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing cant. They cant come on Friday.  (stressed words in  italics) As you can see from the above example the sentence, They cant come on Friday is longer than They can come on Friday because both the modal cant and the verb come are stressed. Understanding Which Words to Stress To begin, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Stress words are considered content words such as: Nouns (e.g., kitchen, Peter)(Most) main verbs   (e.g., visit, construct)Adjectives  (e.g., beautiful, interesting)Adverbs (e.g., often, carefully)Negatives including negative helping verbs, and words with no such as nothing, nowhere, etc.  Words expressing quantities (e.g., a lot of, a few, many, etc.) Non-stressed words are considered function words  such as: Determiners (e.g., the, a, some, a few)Auxiliary verbs (e.g., dont, am, can, were)Prepositions (e.g.,  before, next to, opposite)Conjunctions (e.g., but, while, as)Pronouns (e.g., they, she, us)Verbs have and be even when used as main verbs Practice Quiz Test your knowledge by identifying which words are content words and should be stressed in the following sentences: Theyve been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited in April if I had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying for four hours by six oclock.The boys and I will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Answers: Words in italics are stressed content words while unstressed function words are in lower case. Theyve  been learning English for two months.My friends have nothing to do this weekend.I would have visited  in April  if i had known Peter was in town.Natalie will have been studying  for fours hours  by six oclock.The boys and i will spend the weekend next to the lake fishing for trout.Jennifer and Alice had finished the report before it was due last week. Continue Practicing Speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. As  you begin to listen and use stressed words, you will discover words you thought you didnt understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English. After students have learned basic  consonant  and vowel sounds, they should move  on to learning to differentiate between individual sounds by using  minimal pairs. Once they are comfortable with individual words, they should move on to intonation and  stress exercises  such as  sentence markup. Finally, students can take the next step by  choosing a focus word to help further improve their pronunciation.