2008年8月31日 星期日
The Most Impressive English Song
What is the most impressive English song you've learned in class?
Please answer the question by leaving it as a comment. If you forget the title of the song, you can just key in a line or two. Thank you. Reason(s) for choosing the song would be more than welcome.
2008年8月30日 星期六
A very touching story at the Olympic Games
A very touching story at this year's Beijing Olympic Games. My student Etta sent me a Chinese version by email. When I read it, I just couldn't stop my tears from flowing down my cheeks.
Then I found this story run by The Taipei Times.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/sport/archives/2008/08/20/2003420908
2008年8月29日 星期五
Self-discipline
When I asked Diego to give the NHSH students a piece of advice yesterday at our gathering, he said that being able to control oneself is the key to success. I can't agree more. Self-discipline counts a lot.
2008年8月28日 星期四
2008年8月27日 星期三
澳門行之回憶 Part 2 (Day 2, Aug. 23)
第二天竟然睡到8:20才起床。
決定先去漁人碼頭走走。颱風警報解除了,有公車可以搭,真好!澳門的公車站牌好體貼,顧及到向我這種個兒小的人,看站名時不必仰天長嘯。
在澳門搭公車若在澳門本島車資是澳幣2.5元,若要離島,則要3.3元。
2008年8月26日 星期二
澳門行之回憶:Part 1 (Day 1, Aug. 22)
2008年8月25日 星期一
To Etta
You must have been to Macau. Only those who've been there know three days is too short for this fascinating place. Though far smaller than Hong Kong, Macau is rich in culture in its own way. Before I went there, I thought three days might be too long. However, on the third day, I found there were still many places I had planned to visit but didn't. Well, a good excuse for me to go there again.
2008年8月24日 星期日
Going back to Taiwan
2008年8月23日 星期六
The second day in Macau
2008年8月22日 星期五
Thank you, Diego.
2008年8月21日 星期四
English as a tool
Besides, I told them when they were taking English tests or doing English exercises, taking all the passages they read on them as something which provide them with new information will make the tests or exercise more fun.
2008年8月20日 星期三
Just get started
"When you have loads of work to do, it is no use complaining. Complaining doesn't get the work done. Just get started and you'll finally complete it." This is what I like to tell my students, knowing many of them feel overwhelmed when given assignments from all the teachers. Of course, I practice what I preach.
Yi-hsin (羅翊芯) told me one day in June that these words gave her power when she was preparing for the UEE.
2008年8月19日 星期二
Ben's visit & a good article worth reading
Today Ben visited me. We had a wonderful afternoon. She showed me a book she bought during the summer vacation, Don't Worry, Make Money, which was written by Richard Carlson, the author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff series. She bought the book second-hand for NT$70. Hmm, it's a good buy.
Ben invited me to read the 3rd chapter "Learn the Magic of Nonattachment," which impressed her deeply. After reading it, I told her the idea Mr. Carlson tried to convey was part of my philosophy of life, which, in fact, I often conveyed to my students.
2008年8月18日 星期一
The beauty of education
"Little did I know how to write a composition in English," a student in Class 310 made this sentence druing the break. She came to clarify some grammatical points we discussed in class. Then, with the belief that making sentences with the pattern students are learning works better than mere explanation, I asked her to make a sentence starting with "Little...." And this is the sentence she made. Hearing this and noticing that she used the past tense, I asked, "So you know how to write one now?" She nodded and said, "Yes."
2008年8月17日 星期日
Sample compositions by
Over the weekend, I read three classes' compositions. Two of the classes were asked to write a paragraph starting with the topic sentence, "I am a(n)...person." or "I am a person who..." The other class began their paragraph with the same topic sentence or "... is my favorite season." I gave them this in-class writing assignment right after the discussion of paragraph writing in English. We talked about the topic sentence, the supporting sentences, and the concluding sentence. This assignment was intended to check if they understood the concept of "paragraph unity." Most of the students did a good job in maintaining paragraph unity.
Last Friday I came across a handout I made last year. It contains sample compositions of the students who just graduated this May. They also did this assignment when they first learned paragraph writing last summer. Quite a few of the paragraphs are really good.
2008年8月16日 星期六
在大學上山下海 打開你的眼睛: A letter to college freshmen from Jiang, Xun (蔣勳)
This is a letter to college freshmen from Jiang, Xun (蔣勳).
給大學新鮮人》在大學上山下海 打開你的眼睛
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=143124
A very touching story
http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/634/26771
Whether it is a true story or not, the love in it will definitely touch one's heart.
2008年8月15日 星期五
Who's to blame?
Today Ms. Chang (張俐俐老師) told me what she had told her students, "If we always put the blame on others, we won't get improved." (「一直怪別人,自己就不會進步。」) I can't agree more.
Still more reading lists for high school freshmen
More reading lists for high school freshmen:
成功高中:
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=142821
台南一中及台南女中:
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=142571
高雄中學:
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=142276
師大附中:
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=141660
2008年8月14日 星期四
Peer Support, plus An Act of Kindness
Today in class I told the students the news story of the class of which all the students entered the high school of their first choice.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=142001
I told them the power of peer support and encouraged them to go together for their dreams. However, I said that what impressed me most was their act of kindness. Each of the 30 students deposited NT$1 every day. So every month they gathered NT$900. With the extra NT$100 from their homeroom teacher, they had NT$1,000 every month to help a child.
I told the students that we don't do good things in the hope of getting something in return. However, the goodness in our heart will surely lead us upward.
2008年8月13日 星期三
A wonderful gathering with two former students
I had a wonderful lunch with two former students, Chun-yuen (邱俊淵)and Hung-sheng (廖鴻聲). They graduated from NHSH 7 years ago. Chun-yuen majored in math (undergraduate) and computer engineering (graduate) at NTU, and Hung-sheng majored in computer engineering at Tsing-hua University.
2008年8月12日 星期二
Word power
"Reading is the only way to expand one's vocabulary," a teacher from Studio Classroom once made the remark at her speech. What impressed me most was she said "the only way," not "one way."
2008年8月11日 星期一
Another letter to college freshmen: Improve your foreign language ability
Here is another letter to college freshman, which was written by Prof. Chen (陳超明). The title is 強化外語能力 與世界對話.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=141490
Several of the points he mentioned are what I also told my students every year.
2008年8月10日 星期日
Three more reading lists for high school freshmen
Two more letters to college freshmen
Click and you can read two more letters to college freshmen.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=140944
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=141286
2008年8月9日 星期六
7.69
This year, the lowest score to enter college is 7.69.
In my opinion, if the person decides to and can learn something which interests him in college, 7.69 will be a lucky number for him/her. However, if he/she doesn't know what going to college is for and decides to fool around in the following four years, it will be a curse for him because he will waste four very important years in his life.
2008年8月8日 星期五
The Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games
Now the athletes from different coutries are coming into the stadium. A good chance to get to know their names and see people of different races! In fact, I don't even know many of the countries. It's amazing to see people from different corners of the world gathering together. Only the Olympic Games can. I love the theme of this year's Olympic Games, "One world, one dream."
2008年8月7日 星期四
Letters to College Freshmen
The United Daily News is running letters to college freshmen. Here is the fourth letter. And you can get connected to the previous three on the same webpage.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=140654
In today's letter, Prof. Peng encouraged college students to fall in love. He mentioned that the best gift one gets in college is falling in love. By falling in love, you stop living only for yourself, but begin to care about another person. Though it might leave a scar in your life, you learn something--the opposite sex, relationships, and your own strengths and weaknesses.
2008年8月6日 星期三
Reading lists for high school freshmen
This webpage offers a reading list for TFG freshmen.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=11&f_SUB_ID=23&f_ART_ID=140220
You can find another reading list made by Zhongshan Girls High School.
http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=11&f_SUB_ID=23&f_ART_ID=140470
2008年8月5日 星期二
Watch/Listen to Skeeter Davis sing "The End of the World"
In her comments on my yesterday's blog, Etta introduced the video in which Skeeter Davis sang the song "The End of the World." In fact, before I taught the song, I'd watched/listened to it for several times. However, I forgot to make the link to the video in yesterday's blog. Here it is:
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=0l-GpISGBFY
I’d like to thank Etta. She is always so caring, so tender. Now, to me, she is more a friend than a student.
2008年8月4日 星期一
Teaching English through songs
Today I taught Classes 310 and 314 the song "The End of the World." We were reviewing English questions and wh- noun clauses. This beautiful song contains both patterns.
The following is the handout I gave.
2008年8月3日 星期日
To :)
畫這幅畫的人
是能帶給別人快樂的人
Posted by :) at 03/08/2008, 02:59
Dear :)
This picture was drawn by my 8-year-old niece. You're right. Whenever I'm with her, I feel very happy.
I was amazed at kids' imaginatiion. See the straw the bee uses to suck the nectar? Of course, it is not using the straw we humans use. However, kids connect the bee's mouth with the straw. I once read an article about how humans can get ideas from the natural world. This picture reminded me of that article.
2008年8月2日 星期六
The True Olympic Spirit
2008年8月1日 星期五
Love Knows No Limits--the Video "Christian the Lion"
In the email she sent today, Etta introduced me a very touching video which she had come across in her friend's blog. It's about how a lion recognized his former masters at their visit in the wild after a year of separation. The moment the lion saw them, the happiness he shows will definitely bring tears to your eyes. Here is the blog URL and you can find the video URL there.
http://weijentravel.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-post_31.html
If for some unknown reason, you cannot get connected to the blog, where you can read the story, just go directly to the video at YouTube.
http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U
BTW, the video has English subtitles. The background song "I Will Always Love You" is beautiful.