About the English Test on 2010 SAT

Yesterday, the two-day 2010 SAT was over.   English was tested.  Click on the link and you can find the test items.

http://www.ceec.edu.tw/abilityexam/AbilityExamPaper/99SATPaper_Index.htm

Books to Read--a List from Shihjen

Shihjen (張世仁), a student in Class 209 who came in second place in last year's Taipei High School English Speech Contest (see http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/1130/33122), emailed me on Jan. 25 a list of some of the books she had read. There are altogether 38 titles on the list, including literature, teenage pleasures, poems, novels, etc. As she mentioned in the mail, her point of listing the books is that reading really matters in language learning. Click on the link, and you can download the list. It's a good reference.

Books Shih Jen Chang has read.doc

A Good Time with Annie

This noon I have a happy gathering with my dear friend Annie (詹麗馨老師) at Tasty. We saw each other about twice a year.

Don't Be Evil--聯合筆記／青春輓歌

Life is a series of decision making. The following UDN article teaches us to make the right choice and avoid going astray. I like Google's motto, "Don't be evil."

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/5394282.shtml

聯合筆記／青春輓歌

聯合報╱張佑生】

2010.01.29 03:30 am

English as a Tool, Not a Subject--Jan. 26 Entry on my LifeType blog

Thank Annie for reminding me this afternoon that I didn't post an entry for January 26.   In fact, I did keep my blog as usual that day.  However, I forgot to copy and paste the entry on this blog.  Click on the link, and you can read my Jan. 26 entry on the LifeType blog, or you can just read on.

http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/1130/33921

On Writing--廖玉蕙：走進學測考場前

Tomorrow is the first day of the SAT. Ms. Liao advised the examinees to take the test a little easier so as to exert their creativity in writing.

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/5392275.shtml

廖玉蕙：走進學測考場前

【聯合報╱廖玉蕙】

2010.01.28 03:31 am

Electronic or Printed Dictionaries?

In today's UDN Vocabulary column, besides introducing some words, Mr. Chen compared the electronic dictionary with the printed one.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=232988

 一生必學的英文單字(十五)

【聯合報╱本報訊】2010/01/27

A Writing Task on the GEPT

Those who are going to take the 2nd Stage of the GEPT in March can visit the GEPT official website:

http://www.gept.org.tw/

The Writing Section includes two tasks.  One is Passage Translation (from Chinese to English); the other is Composition.  The following is part of the writing task in the past test booklet, Book 4, which was published by The Language Training & Testing Center. So far the Center has published 4 past test booklets, each costing NT$200.

How to Prepare for the 2nd Stage of the GEPT--Rerun

A student asked me how to prepare for the 2nd stage of the GEPT; that is, speaking and writing. The following is an entry in my blog posted on March 5, 2008. It's also a reply to a former student's similar question.

http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/1130/23239

If you feel too lazy to go to that page, just read on.

A Life Worth Living--林火旺：台大症候群 別只著墨挑撥師生

I do love this article found in the UDN dated Jan. 23.

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/5382970.shtml

林火旺：台大症候群 別只著墨挑撥師生

聯合報╱林火旺／台大哲學系教授（台北市）】2010.01.23 08:05 am

Q12: How would you help him/her out?

If your friend tells you that he/she finds life boring and meaningless, what will you say to him/her?  What will you do to help?

Q11: What would you do if you were an English teacher?

If your were an English teacher, what would you do in class to enhance students' learning?  And what would you have students do outside of class?  Please be specific.  Instead of saying, "I'll make my class interesting," tell us what you would do to arouse your students' interest.

Q10: Which lesson in Book 3 impressed you most?

There are twelve lessons in Book 3 and we discussed in detail eight of them.  Which lesson impressed you most?  Why? What did you learn from it?

Q9: What makes a good friend?

We all need friends and we are all someone's friends.   What are some qualities of a good friend?

Q8: What do you like about yourself?

This is nothing about narcissism.    To have a positive self-concept is the first step toward a happy life.

Q7: What can you do for others?

Albert Einstein once said, "...man is here for the sake of other men."  Please list at least three things you can do for others.

 P.S. If you'd like to read the article by Einstein, just read on:

Q6: What is a well-educated person like?

Give a definition of your own about a well-educated person.  How do they behave?

Q5: What kind of parent would you like to be in the future?

Life is a cycle.  You'll be a parent to someone in the future.   What kind of parent would you like to be?

Q4: If you could invent anything, what would it be?

For this moment, let your imagination fly.   Imagine yourself as a great scientist.  What would you invent?  What would your invention look like and what would it do?  (SC, Jan. 14)

Q3: What is one of the things you want to change about yourself?

Everyone wants to become a better person.   What is one of the things you'd like to change about yourself?  Why and how?

Q2: What do you wish you had spent more time doing last semester? Why?

During last semester, you must have done a lot, but still there seem to be some things you wish you had done if time had allowed.  Talk about one of them.

Q1. What would you most like to do during the winter vacation? Why?

If you could do anything during the winter vacation, without any restraint, what would you most like to do? Why?

Q & A for 2010 Winter Vacation

Dear 209 and 214,

How is your winter vacation so far?  Exciting, relaxing, or a little boring?   Let's do something different from what we did during the last semester.  You'll very likely find a lot of fun in it.

In this Q & A activity, everyone can share opinions about some questions on my blog. Do not care too much about grammar. Just write out your thoughts. To answer the question, click the "2010 Q & A" category in my blog, and you'll see a list of the 12 questions. Click on any one and key in your answer in the comment box.

The following are some rules:

1. Everyone has to answer at least 2 out of the 12 questions. The more, the better.

2. Answer each question in around 30~50 words, surely in English.

3. Your name can be given in one of the following forms:

1) Your real name, either Chinese or English.

2) Your class + student number, for example, 20901, 21433, etc.

3) If you hate to leave any clue to anyone except me about who you are, you can use a pseudonym, but please tell me the "secret" by sending me an email. My email address: june0626@gmail.com

4) Those who use the WordPress system will feel confused why your comments don't show after you enter your messages. Well, that's because all the comments have to be approved by me before they appear on that blog of mine. So, just key in and hit enter. You'll see your comments approved later.

Please enjoy sharing your opinions. This activity is meant to create a real-life English environment for you. If you have more interesting questions, let me know. I might add them to the list.

Have fun! 

P.S. For your reference, click on the following link and you'll see how this was done last year (2009).

http://www.tiec.tp.edu.tw/lifetype/post/1130/29439

It Takes Time to Build Character--洪蘭：走馬燈校長 難建立校風

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/5382719.shtml

洪蘭：走馬燈校長 難建立校風

聯合報╱洪蘭】2010.01.23 03:31 am

On SAT English Composition

The following is an article by Ms. Huang about her feedback to an English essay written for last year's SAT English writing task. In Part 1, she only focused on the structure of the essay. In Part 2, she'll go into details and correct sentences one by one. Before reading Part 2, which will be shown below this one, why not try correcting the sentences by yourself?

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=231269

學測指考英文作文》98學年度作文考古題解析（上篇）

Farewell Party for the Retired Teachers

(Click on the photo at the pause and you'll see the caption.)  

Yesterday we had a farewell party for the three retired teachers right after the end-of-semester meeting.

A Big Day, a Big Gathering, And a Big Photo

(Click on the photo to enlarge it. Click on the enlarged one and you can see an even bigger photo.)

Today is a big day.  To begin with, today is the last day of the semester.  In the following 32 days, teachers and students can live their life as they like.   Of course, students still have some assignments to finish, but at least they can have their own schedule. 

On English Dictionaries

Here is an article on vocabulary learning.  Part of it is about English dictionaries and what dictionaries to use.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=381&f_SUB_ID=4274&f_ART_ID=232040

Life with Purpose

Sih-heng (鄭思恆), a former student who graduated in summer 2008, called me tonight. Sih-heng is a anthropology major at NTU now. She asked me about the TOEFL. I suggested that she borrowed a TOEFL book to get familiar with the types of the test items before preparing for the test. That way, she will go in the right direction.

On UEE English Composition

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=231267

學測指考英文作文》一定要懂的作文考題類型—兩段式寫作

【作者／黃玟君，本文選自眾文圖書之《學測指考英文作文─黃玟君教你高分寫作技巧》】 2010/01/18

A Good Website for Physics Learners

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=231671

台師大物理教學網 紅到國外

【聯合晚報╱記者嚴文廷╱台北報導】2010/01/17

She Cares

I was quite happy when Hsin-yu (張昕妤), a student in Class 314, called me in the evening and talked to me in English to fulfill the oral-test requirement. Although she failed to meet the deadline, which was yesterday, at least she cared about what she was required to do.

Chatting in English

Today is the last day of this semester. To fulfill one of the course requirements, many students came to talk to me. They either answered my questions based on "You've Got to Find What You Love" or read aloud the poem "O, Romeo, Romeo, why are you Romeo?" When asked whether they would have the guts to quit school if they found what they learned in college did not interest them, quite a few students said they would stay in school rather than drop out because they need the diploma.

Haiti Earthquake

A magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit Haiti and killed thousands of people. What do the survivors need? Everything! Let's pray for them and give them a helping hand.

Click on the link and read about the devastating earthquake.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-01-13-Haiti-main_N.htm

Follow Your Heart

Gina and Howard, two 314 students who graduated last year paid me a visit this afternoon. Gina, a Chinese major at NTNU, suggested that I tell my students to choose what they really love as their majors because they then can enjoy their life every day. Gina loves English. She told me if she majored in English now, she would be happier.

Blog Allows Them to Join My Past

This morning when I told Class 209 that those who are going to take the 2nd stage of GEPT, which is held in March and contains speaking and writing tests, can consult the English writing category in my blog duting the winter vacation, I felt very happy that I kept the blog. With the blog, my current students can join my past. If I hadn't, I would not have anything left for them to read now. Besides, with all the materials kept in the cyberspace, my students can have easy access to them anytime anywhere. If I give them handouts, they might either lose or don't need them. After more than two years of keeping blog, I still enjoy it.

The 31 Places to Go in 2010--from The New York Times

The New York Times listed 31 places to go in 2010.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/travel/10places.html

I don't know what the criteria are. There are a lot of new names to me. Among the 31 places, I've only been to Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

A Mystery

Something mysterious has happened recently. I remember sending photos of Class 209 to their homeroom teacher some day after Christmas. Last week on my way out of the office to my class, I asked her if she had got the mail . Then she asnwered that she, at that time in front of the computer, was about to check. Yesterday, she told me she couldn't find the mail, suspecting she might have deleted it accidentally, and asked if I could resend it. "Of course," I said, "I can forward the mail from SENT MAIL right away." However, when I checked SENT MAIL on the gmail, I couldn't find the mail! I checked again and again, incredulously.

Persistence

I was touched by the inspiration Mr. Chu gave the students.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=230367

朱學恒談堅持 建中人鼓掌2分鐘    2010/01/8

【聯合報╱記者邱瓊玉／台北報導】

DVDs on Character Building & Living with Other People in Mind

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=230383

心中有別人 品德DVD受好評

【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】 2010/01/09

Yes, They Can

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=11&f_SUB_ID=270&f_ART_ID=230117

黃政雄用寬容 給孩子探索的勇氣

【聯合報╱記者祁容玉】2010/01/08

Why I Kept the Blog

This morning, Meng-fang (蔡孟芳老師), a colleague and friend of mine, told me she read my blog yesterday for the first time and was touched. She read it until midnight, one entry after another. Her words made my day. When she asked how she could email someone the entries on "If I Were a Freshman Again," I thought to myself, "Yes, that's one of the reasons I kept the blog for."

Tips on Preparation for the UEE English Test (UDN)

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=229903

學測衝刺英文／練習考古題 熟悉時事單字

【聯合報╱本報記者 薛荷玉】2010/01/07

Tips on SAT English Composition Writing

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=229692

學測考前總複習－英文作文的五不五要

【聯合報╱本報訊】 2010/01/06

Tips on SAT Chinese Composition Writing (Part 2/2)

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=229495

學測考前總複習 有關學測作文10點叮嚀(二)

【聯合報╱本報訊】2010/01/05

Tips on English Learning from Two Successful Examinees in GEPT Advanced Level

The following news report is about two students who has recently passed the GEPT Advanced Level. 

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=229081

劉富蘭克林 通過英檢高級

【聯合報╱記者謝恩得／嘉義縣報導】  2010/01/01

Tips on SAT Chinese Composition Writing (Part 1/2)

The following is an article offering some tips on SAT Chinese composition writing. Though my current students won't take the SAT until 2011, this article is still worth their while to read. After all, they are often asked to write composition in Chinese class.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=229320

學測考前總複習 有關學測作文的10點叮嚀

【聯合報╱本報訊】 2010/1/4

For Midnight Oil Burners

This article from BBC is for those who are used to burning the midnight oil.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8435955.stm

If you find the article too long, please read the following summary, which is from somewhere online. Sorry that I can't find its URL.  It was saved in my computer yesterday.

Teen depression 'linked to sleep'

How to Pronounce the Year 2010

Upon booting the computer this afternoon, I saw the following message on Yahoo!. That reminded me that last week when a student paused in her sentence, not knowing how to say "2010," I told her either "twenty ten" or "two thousand and ten" was OK. In fact, the first thing came to my mind was "twenty ten."

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/100102/8/1y2wh.html

2010英文怎麼說？　習慣順口即可

更新日期:2010/01/02 12:16 趙元穎

New Year's Day Photos Taken Around the World--BBC

Click on the link and you can see 16 photos taken on New Year's Day around the world. Sit back and enjoy the festive atmosphere.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/8436989.stm

Reflection on the First Day of 2010 & the Movie Avatar

Today is the first day of 2010. I still remember a decade ago when waking up and finding the Y2K bug was not around, how relieved we all were! Time flies! Ten years have passed since then. During the decade, the worst nightmares might have been the global economic crisis triggered by America's subprime mortgage and some natural calamities. However, it seems the nightmares have gone far. Truly, everything will be all right.