The Most Impressive English Song

For those who read my blog, here I have a question. 

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.

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

Self-discipline

Finally, I finished the story of the three-day trip in Macau. In fact, I regretted a little bit after I wrote about the first day because it took me a lot of time to type Chinese and add photos.  However, I told myself, "You can't quit."  And finally I finished it. 

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.

澳門行之回憶 Part 3 (Day 3, Aug. 24)

最後一天在澳門了，吃完早餐，十點checked out，提著行李往著名的威尼斯人酒店出發，這樣傍晚就可以直接從威尼斯人搭coach往飛機場。

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。

澳門行之回憶：Part 1 (Day 1, Aug. 22)

難得用中文寫網誌。為了提供資訊給更多人，這次遊記及心得就用中文寫吧。

從未想過要去澳門，印象中澳門就等於賭場。但因只安排了三天行程，只好選擇近的地方，香港又去過了，最後決定去澳門。

行前上網看了一點資訊，學生Diego也建議了一些可去看的地方，KK Travel也提供了一小冊澳門介紹。

To Etta

Dear 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.

Going back to Taiwan

It's my third and last day in Macau. This evening I'll return to Taiwan. I might feel reluctant to leave Macau because there are still many places I haven't had the chance to visit. However, as a line in a song says, "east, west, home is best." The feeling of going home is definitely sweet.

The second day in Macau

Today is the second day of my trip to Macau. Of course, I'm going to open my eyes and ears to every new place and new thing. Being a curious person, I love traveling. How I wish I could travel around the world one day!

Thank you, Diego.

I'm going to Macau today for a 3-day vacation. My former studnet Diego (邱元亨) will spend time with Classes 313 and 314 in the morning. I believe my students will learn a lot from him. He is a special person, knowing a lot about many things, such as Asia, fashion, cars, sports, etc. When he was in his second year at NHSH, he used to talk to me at noon, in English. I was amazed at how much he knew and his good memory of the historical events and geographical facts. A very special student.

English as a tool

Today I told my students that if they learn English as a tool instead of a school subject, they would find it more fun and learn better.   For this reason, I invited these new students of mine to visit my blog, which is written mostly in English and intended to create some sort of English environment for English learners in high school.  Though they won't learn "big words" from my blog, since people seldom use big words in blogs, they will get accustomed to reading something in English.  It would be better If they can leave their comments in English.  I believe that "learning by doing" is still the most effective way to learn a language. 

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.

 

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. 

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.

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." 

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.

I am a... person.

 

 

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

I came across this story in a teacher's blog and read it with tears keeping rolling down.

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.

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

 

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.   

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.

Word power

This evening, I chatted with Diego (邱元亨), a former student who is studying at NTU, on the phone.   Among other things, he mentioned ways to learn English.  According to him, he jots down new words when he listens to English programs, for example, BBC Top Gear.  He told me his experience taught him that to make a big progress in English, vocabulary size plays a crucial role since grammar is finite while words can expand infinitely.   Then I asked him if he memorized vocabulary lists.  His answer was no way.  He would rather read a lot to learn words.  

"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."

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. 

Three more reading lists for high school freshmen

Here are three more reading lists.

麗山高中

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=140661

建國中學

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=140923

高雄鳳新高中

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=141491

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

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.

The Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games

Now, I'm watching the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.  I was touched by the performances.  China is a country with a rich tradition, so it has a lot to show to the world. I applauded for several times and even gave the performers a standing ovation. 

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."

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. 

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

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.

 

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.

To :)

:) left her comments about the picture on my old blog.  The following are what she wrote and my response to her.

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.

A lovely picture

What do you think of this picture?

The True Olympic Spirit

In the latest issue of Reader's Digest, there is an article entitled "The True Olympic Spirit." It contains 7 touching stories about sportmanship. Click on the following URL and you can read at least one of them.

http://www.readersdigest.com.sg/rd/rdhtml/en/magazine/mag_content.jsp?cid=6299

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.