Anything Could Happen! However, It Could Be Worse.

I almost passed out when I read the notification that the backup system of Life Type was damaged. http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/1/30708

All the Life Type bloggers lost their entries from April 20 to May 30. How could this have happened?

The Translation of the Word "讓"--an Excerpt from "英文不好 是因中文不夠好"

Today at my mother-in-law's house, I came across an article in the Commercial Times (工商時報)entitled "英文不好  是因中文不夠好."  A very useful article to English learners; the title sounds like a rude awakening, though.

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/090530/4/1kcv8.html

Start with Listening

The following is a news report in today's UDN.  Lawrence A. Walker, Journalism Section Chief of AIT (American Institute in Taiwan), masters 11 languages!  How did he make it?

He offered some tips:

A Word List: SAT Vocabulary (4000 Words)

My former 316 student Yi-hsin (羅翊芯) once mentioned in Class 313 that a vocabulary list I gave them last year was useful.  This morning, Chen, Ying (陳穎) called and asked me if I would give them the list this year. 

Creativity vs Collocation

Three days ago, to decide on which magazine for next semester's frehsmen to use, I listened to three English magazine programs: Live, English For You, and Ivy League Enjoy English, skipping Studio Classroom because I'd been very familiar with what its lesson is like. Then I heard a wonderful phrase in Live, "to design his way to success." On hearing it, I marveled at the creative way of putting "design" and "way"together, vividly presenting the image of architecture.

Composition Topics--2

Last year I put some composition topics on my blog before the UEE so that students can practice their writing.   Time flies.   The UEE is 33 days away.  I've collected 10 more topics.  Just click on the file name and it can be downloaded.  Or just read on for the ten topics.

composition-topics-2

Take the Responsibility

A student in Class 313 told me excitedly that he passed the make-up exam held yesterday.  I was happy for him.  At the same time, I told him that in college there are no make-up exams and that once one fails a course, one has to re-take it next semester or even next year. 

Three weeks ago, to prepare the final exam, I read a lot of articles on the Net.  One of them was to high school graduates.  It mentioned that college is in fact more difficult than high school.   The point I remember most clearly is that in college no teacher will remind you of the deadlines over and over again.  At the beginnng of the semester, students get a syllabus and after that they have to take care of everything themselves.  All the requirements are on the syllabus and failing to meet any very likely means failing that course.   

 

Even More Photos of the Water Balloon War

 

Man's Love for His Best Friend

This morning a Husky strolled into Class 313’s classroom. Excited, some students stroked it. Afraid that it might attack the students, I had to figure out a way to lead it away.

Photos--After the Water Ballooning War

More Photos--Before the 2009 Water Ballooning War

The following are more photos taken before and during the 2009 water ballooning war.

 

 
 

 

Lu-ching's Wedding

This afternoon I was invited to my former Class 314 student Lu-ching's wedding. Lu-ching (黃律晴) is only 19 and is married to Lorrie from Finland. They had their wedding in the church. A touching wedding! I was moved to tears several times. To my amazement, the groom's mother sang a song to them "Sunrise, Sunset," with the guitar accompaniment by the father. So sweet! Sincerely wish Lu-ching and Lorrie a wonderful marriage and everlasting love.

Farewell Parties

I've been to two farewell parties in a row since yesterday: Class 313's yesterday evening and Class 314's this evening. They had different styles.

Water Ballooning--Before and After it

Before the water ballooning war:



Class 313 and their homeroom teacher

Making Preparations

What are they doing?

Giving Grades

Students’ final grades must be submitted by tomorrow. Yesterday morning, I keyed in the three classes’ regular assessment grades. Tonight I’m still busy doing it and finally I’ll have the computer do the calculation. Actually, I don't give grades; students earn them.

Words

When students get their year book, they like to ask their teachers and  friends to write some words or just leave their autograph on it.    Since last Friday, I've written for 11.  Usually I'll picture the person in mind before putting words down. 

If You Care

Yesterday I took my dad and mom to DAYEH Department Store.  After eating lunch on the 12th floor, we went to Kinokuniya Bookstore on the same floor.  It occurred to me that Annie once recommended an excellent magazine Think in English, which she said could only be found in Kinokuniya.  I went directly to the information desk to inquire about the magazine.  Looking exhausted, the saleslady was not very friendly.   Understanding how busy she might have been and noticing the bandages around her fingers, I asked, softly and with a caring smile, if she'd got hurt.  She nodded.  Then her coldness melted.  She not only went to the bookshelf to check if the magazine was there but checked on the computer if there was any in stock.  Though the result was disappointing--they stopped ordering the magazine last year, I still thanked her sincerely for her help and wished her a quick recovery.

A Must-Read for the UEE Examinees: Sleep and Nutrition

Just now I came across this article at UDN's website.  The article suggested students who are going to take the high school entrance exam on May 23 & 24 sleep enough and eat well.  The suggestions, I believe, are also of great help to high school students who are going to take the UEE in July.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=193920

The Last Day of Formal Class

    

     

Today is the last day for the seniors to have their formal class.  Next Monday and Tuesday they have the finals, next Wednesday they're preparing the water balloons they're going to use on Thursday.  After the water ballooning until their graduation ceremony they'll come to school to study, preparing for the UEE. 

Complaining Leads Us Nowhere

In the last class, I read to Classes 313 and 310 two passages from the 32nd chapter "Don't Complain, Just Work Harder" in Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture:

If I didn't need to give students tests...

These days, to prepare the students for the final, I've been giving students a test in class every day.   Though it took only 20~25 minutes for them to finish the test, we still have to spend at least 10 minutes on discussion.  I had to tell myself that students need tests either to push them to study or to find out whether they have really learned what they are supposed to learn.   

Three Compositions

Among the 100 or so compositions on the 3rd mock exam which I graded, the following three are the best.  They are the originals, without any modifications by me.  I requested my dear colleague Melody (陳美麗老師) to read and grade them.  She gave them the same grades as I did. 

Writing task: 你是否可曾想過十年後你想要成為怎樣的一個人，做著什麼樣的事，過著什麼樣的人生？請以此主題寫作一篇作文。第一段，請描述理想中的你，十年後正在作什麼樣的事；第二段，請寫下你實現理想可能的步驟與規劃。

Much To Live for

A student handed in an essay "Why Living?" today.  A philosophical question.  I remember about seven years ago, Hung-ren, a student then studying at National Tsing Hua University, asked me the same question when visiting me.  He was inspired by a professor of the university Ming-hui Peng (彭明輝教授).  I told him I'd never thought about the question.  He answered that a happy person like me would never wonder why he/she lived. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is Mother’s Day. Wish all mothers health, happiness, and love.

Here is a quote from Dorothy Canfield Fisher, which I came across long ago when reading Think Big by Ben Carson:

“A mother is not a person to lean on, but a person to make leaning unnecessary.”

So one of the best Mother’s Day gifts is to convince our mom that we can take the responsibility of taking good care of ourselves, physically, mentally, and behaviorally.

P.S. I remember I once put the quote on my blog.

Follow Your Feelings

Yesterday while surfing the Net for some information, I came across Oprah Winfrey's speech at Standord's Commencement ceremony dated June 15, 2008.  Its title was "Oprah talks to graduates about feelings, failure and finding happiness."   It was a long speech, so I printed it out.  After I read it and put it down, the words I could recall best was "follow your feelings."  Oprah advised, "...feelings are really your GPS system for life.... If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.... When you don't know what to do, get still.... and let your internal motivation be the driver."  She mentioned her own experience:

Stubborn Mistakes

While I was grading the writing part of the 3rd mock exam, including translation and composition, I was puzzled by some stubborn mistakes students had made. Every year the mistakes reoccur. Though I know it is inevitable for students to have mistakes in their interlanguage, I was still wondering why students couldn’t avoid these mistakes. The spelling mistakes could have been avoided if the students had been familiar with the correspondence between sound and spelling and if they had said the words in their mind while writing. The following are some examples:

Mama

Yesterday I taught Class 310 the song "Mama," sung by Il Divo, which I already taught the other two classes last week.  This coming Sunday is Mother's Day, and I'd like them to express their thanks and love to their dear mom.   When I asked them to guess which sentence in the song touched me most, Derek (董德) said, "And I know you had dreams."  Bingo!  Every time I came to this line, it brought a lump to my throat.  I told the students that our moms had their dreams too, but that in order to take care of the family, they sacrificed.

A Powerful Sentence from TIME

The latest issue of TIME features the world's 100 most influential people.  None from Taiwan is on the list.  Well, I'm not quite sure about the criteria.

Today I mentioned in class a sentence I read this morning before leaving home:

Reading Brings Power

The stories of these two girls prove how one can benefit from reading.   They both love reading English novels. 

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=11&f_SUB_ID=3022&f_ART_ID=192760

Extensive Reading--李思穎教授演講 我的筆記

      

   

Topic: Things You Have Known and Forgotten, Extensive Reading,   Language Acquisition, and Language Education

Speaker: 李思穎教授   國立台北大學應用外語系系主任

Thanks a Lot, My Dear Assistants

    

I have some assistants, who make my teaching job smoother. 

A Surprise Phone Call

Just now, around 10:50, while writing my blog, I got a phone call. It was Chung-chun (吳宗駿), a student who graduated around 10 years ago. Hearing my surprised voice, he explained he called me because tonight he heard Brahms' D-major Violin Concerto on the radio, the third movement of which I introduced him to listen to when he was a high school senior. At that time I told him this was the piece of music that spurred me to keep writing my report during the Thanksgiving vacation when I was studying at University of Illinois, Champaign.
How music connects souls!

A Valuable Lesson

Yesterday in Class 314, we finally came to the last paragraph of Unit 12 "Have a Good Four Years."  I told the students I particularly loved this paragraph, in which Mr. Bok reminded the Harvard freshmen: "...let us remember not to take ourselves too seriously."  At this point, I told the students one way to stay happy was not to focus only on ourselves.  When we "take ourselves too seriously," we think we are very important and should be given careful attention, which usually leads to disappointment and depression.   On the other hand, when we forget our own interest, when we exert ourselves to make the world around better, we don't easily get disappointed because we don't expect anything for ourselves. 

A Heartwarming Breakfast

This morning when I got to my office around 7:55, I was surprised to find a homemade sandwich on my desk.  It was waiting for me there along with a note.