Gina, Thank You. You're an Angel.

This evening I got an email from Carla, the girl from Switzerland.  In the mail she told me that Gina (胡靜), the girl who joined our night market tour on Aug. 27, invited her to her grandmother's home tomorrow to have lunch with her family. I was really touched by Gina's kindness and hospitality.

A Wonderful Day with Carla, Her Third Day in Taipei

On August 27 (Tuesday), I served as a tour guide for my newly-acquainted friend Carla, who just arrived from Switzerland on August 24. We got to know each other through our mutual friend Shu. The following photos showed how we spent the day.

Walk for Your Health--「健人就是腳勤」 走出健康自信

http://udn.com/NEWS/HEALTH/HEA2/8122162.shtml

「健人就是腳勤」 走出健康自信

【聯合報╱柯俊銘／公職臨床心理師】

2013.08.27 03:49 am

Happy birthday, Sarah!

Today is an old friend Sarah's birthday (殷彩鳳老師). Dominic (彭道明老師), Annie (詹麗馨老師), and I celebrated it for her at Merlot at noon.

Starting At 14 to Think About Their Future--未來的路 瑞士學子14歲就開始找

http://vision.udn.com/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=1067&pno=0

未來的路 瑞士學子14歲就開始找

聯合報／特派記者蕭白雪、曾學仁／瑞士報導、攝影

Glad to See You, Lanya

This afternoon, I had a gathering with Lanya, who graduated from NHSH two years ago. We had a lot to catch up on.

From 6 Points in English on the JCEE to a Good Command of English--英文奇蹟

http://udn.com/NEWS/LIFE/X1/8119938.shtml

女生成長／英文奇蹟

【聯合報╱李子（台中市)】

2013.08.26 03:07 am

Gem of Wisdom

A sentence I read in the newspaper:

"Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness."

from Frank Tyger

Give a Little Blessing--"六百元善款的小確幸"

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8117211.shtml

六百元善款的小確幸

【聯合報╱莊聰吉／醫師（屏縣潮州）】

2013.08.24 02:57 am

Three Interesting Students

   

Today's gathering with Spencer is the only one without his two good friends, Wei-chen and Wei-yi, the former having to work and the latter in the army.

Good Luck, Spencer!

Before Spencer (陳昭龍) leaves for the States to study next week, we got together this morning for brunch at the Taipei Main Station.

Pay it Forward

Have you ever been helped by someone? Now, it's a chance to pass the favor on.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2013/08/22/2003570306

Underprivileged children need help, survey shows

Thu, Aug 22, 2013

TIRED AND HUNGRY:One in three children from needy families do not eat breakfast every day, 30 percent have less than NT$30 for food and 60 percent go to bed hungry

By Hsieh Wen-hua and Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwan Has Improved on IELTS--雅思英測台灣躍進 亞洲只輸香港

Good news!

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=472585

雅思英測台灣躍進 亞洲只輸香港

【聯合報╱記者王涵秋／台北報導】2013/08/21

Two Cute Girls

Besides Jack, today I came across two girls from 209, the class I taught for only about one week last year. Upon seeing the girls, I threw my arms around them, tied by the bond established during those six classes. It's been around a year since we bade adieu last September. And now they are going on to their senior year. How swiftly time flew! Though it seems to me they haven't changed a bit in appearance, I know they've grown a lot intellectually. 

Intrinsic Motivation

This morning, I bumped into a former student Jack (莊子賢), who graduated from NHSH four years ago. He came back to school to get some documents for his military service. I went to submit the final grades of the summer class. We had the right timing.

"Twenty-eight Reasons to Love Taipei"

A newly-acquainted young lady from Switzerland, Carla, is coming to Taiwan next week to study Chinese. We got to know each other via our mutual friend Shu. To give her a glimpse of Taipei before she arrives, I emailed her the following link, which now I've forgotten how I found online. You may like to list some of the reasons first before clicking the link.

Going All Out to Pursue a Dream

The man in the photo is Hsieh Tze-huang, a former student who I taught for two years at NHSH and graduated from NHSH in 2001. We had a get-together yesterday afternoon at Moon River. He drove from Chang Gung University in Linkou after class. We had a hearty chat for more than 3 hours.

"Test That Can Determine the Course of Life in China Gets a Closer Examination"--a New York Times Article

This article from the New York Times depicts an education problem shared by mainland China and Taiwan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/world/asia/burden-of-chinas-college-entrance-test-sets-off-wide-debate.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Test That Can Determine the Course of Life in China Gets a Closer Examination

By EDWARD WONG

Published: June 30, 2012

A Lovely Handmade Card from Alice

Yesterday afternoon, I got a handmade postcard from a former student Alice, who graduated from college last year.  The warm colors caught my eye and my first impression was that the lady are joyously dancing in the hot sun.

"A Thing of Beauty Is a Joy Forever"

 

"Taiwan implements amended military justice law"--BBC News about Taiwan

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23698791

Taiwan implements amended military justice law

15 August 2013 Last updated at 05:44 GMT

A Letter to the Summer Class

On the back of the test paper I returned to the students this noon, besides the key to the test, which was provided since we have no more class for discussion, the students can find a short letter from me as follows:

The Summer Class I Taught

This is a photo taken this afternoon. In the photo is the summer class I taught for six days, from August 5 until today. Every day we met, besides reviewing Book 4, I offered them an article to read and a song to sing. The following are the articles and songs for the six-day class.

What Can Be Done in One Minute?

In today's class, to help the students realize how many words they can review in three minutes, I made them experience how long "one" minute was. Setting the timer to one minute, I asked the students to do nothing but breathe as seconds ticked away. When the buzzer went off, everyone seemed to feel one minute was really long.

What Do They Leave Their School with?

On Education Reform--洪蘭：教改第一步 父母、老師要先改

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=470667

洪蘭：教改第一步 父母、老師要先改
【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】2013/08/09

12年國教明年就要上路，中央大學認知神經科學研究所教授洪蘭昨天在一場演講中指出，教改第一件事情就是要改變父母和老師的態度，多鼓勵、少責罵，允許孩子犯錯，不要跟別人比，發揮長處，放在對的地方，且要給孩子崇高的理想。

To Write, Read--中女中林迎珊 英文作文滿分

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=470194

中女中林迎珊 英文作文滿分

【聯合報╱記者喻文玟／台中報導】2013/08/07

"Sentence Completion" Activity

Sentence completion is a fun activity for sentence pattern learning. For example, when teaching the pattern "never...without...," the teacher can cue students with the first half of the sentence and has them give the second half. This would make it easier to get responses from the students. The following are some example cues:

Practicing Sentence Patterns in Context

Yesterday when I taught the pattern "Such is/was N that S V," after explaining how the pattern is formed, I had the students make sentences. To make them know when to use this pattern, I gave them a lead-in sentence. The following is an example,

How to Memorize Vocabulary

My survey done yesterday shows that most of the students in the make-up class find English difficult because of the vast number of vocabulary. They have often been intimidated by new words on the test and can't remember words well.

The First Summer Make-up Class

I'm going to teach a summer make-up class for a teacher from today to August 13. All the classes are in the afternoon, the latest until 7:55pm. The textbook is a supplementary material by the same publisher of their textbook used during their 2nd year.

Do You Hear the People Sing--Four Versions

Here are four versions of the song from Les Miserables, "Do You Hear the People Sing?"

1. The original with lyrics and scenes from Les Miserables:

"Taiwan protest over Hung Chung-chiu death"--BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23561244

Taiwan protest over Hung Chung-chiu death

3 August 2013 Last updated at 13:37 GMT

Let Go--你可曾因孩子戴起魔戒？

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8071771.shtml

你可曾因孩子戴起魔戒？

【聯合報╱徐九華／台大教授（台北市）】

2013.08.03 01:48 am

To Students in Taiwan

I came across this article on FB weeks ago posted by a former NHSH colleague for a class we both taught four years ago. It could be a rude awakening for some students in Taiwan.

http://www.life.com.tw/index.php?act=view&news_no=42107

寫給台灣在校生

✿邱斯華

2013-03-28

"Hold infinity in the palm of your hand"

This late afternoon around 6:35, on my way to the eye clinic, I saw a rainbow in the sky. My heart leaping joyfully, I took out the camera and shot several photos. Then in the clinic when reading an article in memory of a professor at NTNU, I came across William Blake's poem. The third line "Hold infinity in the palm of your hand" nowadays can be used to depict what a camera can do. Yes, whenever we take a photo, don't we eternalize the moment?