Happy Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year! Wish you an auspicious year!

Happy Lunar New Year!--"11 things to know about Lunar New Year"--frome CNN

Can you guess what the 11 things are?

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/27/travel/11-things-lny/index.html

11 things to know about Lunar New Year

By Grace Huang, for CNN

January 30, 2014 -- Updated 0048 GMT (0848 HKT)

(CNN) -- It's that time again: Lunar New Year.

Cherry Blossoms, Friendship Blossoms

Yesterday, Jerry, Mei, Jennifer (朱美珍老師), and I went to Yangmingshan to see the cherry blossoms. We spent most of our time in Alley 42, Ping-ching Street (平菁街42巷). In the bright warm sun, all the cherry blossoms competed to bloom. Although this was just the second time I had a gathering with Jerry and Mei, we were already like old friends, chatting and laughing all the way, with our eyes fixed at the breathtaking masterpieces of nature. What a bliss!

"I Have the Right Not to Learn English"

Today at lunch, May, the new friend I met last week, said in her opinion, if students don't think it important to learn a language, then teachers don't need to force them to. This reminded me of a senior student who told me, "I have the right not to learn English," in response when I reminded to study English because he put all his effort only into physics.

 

From Different Angles

I looked at the same tree from different angles, and it is so different! This is true of life.

The photos were taken in the afternoon last Saturday, Jan. 25 at Pihu Park in Neihu.

"Here's what to do about your anxiety"--from CNN

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/24/health/raison-anxiety/index.html

Here's what to do about your anxiety

By Dr. Charles Raison, CNN contributor

January 24, 2014 -- Updated 1814 GMT (0214 HKT)

Racing Against the Clock

Tonight, I was so focused on writing listening exercises for junior high school students that I almost lost track of time and skipped today's entry. Fortunately, at the last minute, I found it and, racing against the clock, put down at least a sentence on today's entry. When we work hard, it always seems time flies faster.

英文作文 閱卷老師：考生「很敢寫」

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=496256

英文作文 閱卷老師：考生「很敢寫」


【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】2014/01/24

Let Tests Flip the Classroom--考題太顛覆？ 教學該翻轉了

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8435099.shtml

考題太顛覆？ 教學該翻轉了

【聯合報╱陳禹齊／高中教師（台南市）】

2014.01.19 04:11 am

The Washback Effects of Tests--學測國文／這回，樂見考試領導教學

Teachers often comfort students who are under great pressure from tests by saying tests are a necessary evil. However, tests don't need to be evil. A well-designed test can have positive washback effects on teaching and learning.

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8436814.shtml

學測國文／這回，樂見考試領導教學

【聯合報╱范曉雯／高中教師（台北市） 詹嘉芸／高中教師（新北市）】

2014.01.20 04:57 am

UrSchool, a Website to Help Choose Majors--大學生設網路 幫高三生選系

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=495471

大學生設網路 幫高三生選系

【聯合報╱記者沈育如／台北報導】2014/01/19

Tips for Choosing Your Major--如何選系？過來人這樣說…

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=495398

如何選系？過來人這樣說…

【聯合晚報╱記者王彩鸝╱台北報導】2014/01/18

Meeting New Friends

(Taken with Jennifer's cellphone)

Today, Jennifer (朱美珍老師) introduced two new friends to me. In fact, they're a sweet couple. They both taught at school before their retirement, Jerry at college in the States, and May in junior high school in Taiwan.

"For Westerners: Downsides of living in Taiwan"--from Taiwan Explorer

The other day, I posted CNN's "10 things Taiwan does better than anywhere else." This morning, I came across online a different view of Taiwan. The author listed "10 most common challengs Westerns might face in Taiwan." Please read it, and think if you agree with what the author said.

http://mykafkaesquelife.blogspot.tw/2014/01/downsides-of-living-in-taiwan-for-foreigners.html?m=1

For Westerners: Downsides of living in Taiwan

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Phubber--A Newly-Coined Word

This morning, I learned a newly-coined word: phubber from the Liberty Times. I used to call this kind of person a "cellphone addict."

http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2014/new/jan/20/today-life3-2.htm?Slots=Life

低頭族phubber

2014-1-20

English Test on 2014 SAT--英文科圓仔又入題 考生直呼親切

The English test on 2013 SAT, which students took today, can be downloaded from CEEC.

http://www.ceec.edu.tw/AbilityExam/AbilityExamPaper/103SAT_Paper/103SAT_PaperIndex.htm

OR

02-103學測英文-定稿

The following are comments in today's United Evening News.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=495512

英文科圓仔又入題 考生直呼親切 

【聯合晚報╱記者游婉琪、劉開元、王彩鸝╱連線報導】2014/01/19

On Education--洪蘭／教育，讓我們不再是「it」

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/8433445.shtml

洪蘭／教育，讓我們不再是「it」

【聯合報╱洪蘭】

2014.01.18 04:35 am

Another Three Classes

These are the three classes I taught for three weeks from Dec. 30, 2013 to Jan. 17, 2014, substituting for Ms. Yeh, who is on her honeymoon. Although I only taught them for three weeks, I still had the photos taken. We were meant to meet each other, and I cherished the time we spent together, exploring more not only about English but also about life. Nice meeting you!

A sentence in the card from Class 201 ensures me that I did not teach in vain: "謝謝老師! 您讓我感受到滿滿的對英文之熱情!!"



Class 201 (Taken on Jan. 9, 2014)

(Please click to enlarge the photo.)



Class 204 (Taken on Jan. 13, 2014)

 



Class 217 (Taken on Jan. 9, 2014)

She Got a 985 on TOEIC--小六生考多益 差5分滿分

For those who are going to take TOEIC or want to learn English well.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=11&f_SUB_ID=3022&f_ART_ID=494936

小六生考多益 差5分滿分

【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】2014/01/16

"10 things Taiwan does better than anywhere else"--CNN

Everyone in Taiwan should read this article from CNN. Before reading it, why not make a guess of the 10 things.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/15/travel/10-things-taiwan/index.html

10 things Taiwan does better than anywhere else 

By Tina Hsiao, for CNN

January 15, 2014 -- Updated 0809 GMT (1609 HKT)

A Brainchild

The first thing that greeted me this evening when I got home from school was ten copies of the listening book I co-wrote with Annie, which was published by CET.

Teaching Grammar with Simple Graphs

(Please click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Today, we dealt with the sentence pattern "Adj..., S V...." After examples were given, sentences were made, and the exercise was done, I pointed out the difference between the following two sentences:

Character Building Should Always Come First--給有錢人的道德教育

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI1/8419771.shtml

給有錢人的道德教育

【聯合報╱黑白集】

2014.01.12 03:34 am

Activity for Vocabulary Learning

One way to make vocabulary learning more coherent is by inviting students to make sentences with the new words to talk about a topic. For example, when teaching the vocabulary listed in Lesson 12 of the Sanmin textbook Book 3: celebrated, passionately/passionate, enemy, sneak, balcony, swear, mere/merely, hostility/hostile, insight, prevail, handicap, torture, indeed, abandon, reconciliation/reconcile,  we can challenge students to use each word to say something about Shakespeare's famous tragedy Romeo and Juliet, whose plot is familiar to them. Students may come up with these sentences:

Father and Son Both Pass GEPT Advanced Level--高級英檢81人及格 父陪子考英檢2人都過關

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=493815

高級英檢81人及格 父陪子考英檢2人都過關
【聯合報╱記者陳智華／台北報導】2014/01/09

When Grammar Meets Vocabulary

After teaching the first sentence pattern in Lesson 12: S wish that S had V-en and having students talk about what they wished they had done when they were younger, I started to teach the vocabulary. To get the students more familiar with this pattern, I challenged them to make sentences with both the vocabulary word and the newly-acquired pattern. Here are some sentences they made, with the new words marked blue and the grammar point underlined:

I wish I had sneaked out of my mother's room when I stole her money.  (The student said he made the sentence just for the sake of making sentences and that he didn't stole his mother's money.)

I wish I had not pushed him off the balcony.

I wish my father had bought the house with a balcony.

I wish I had not sworn at my father.

He wished that his girlfriend hadn't sworn to him that she would never cheat on him. (Wow! Very complex!)

I wish I hadn't been hostile toward my classmates.

"Cute alert as Taiwan's first giant panda cub goes on show"--from BBC

This afternoon, at the beginning of the class, I invited Class 217 to read this news on the CNN webpage, which is about the beloved panda Yuan Zai. On the page are some photos with captions. Because the captions are not big enough for students at the back of the classroom to see clearly, I had the students sitting in the front read aloud them for the class. And they did a good job. A good strategy to have students practice speaking English.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/07/travel/taiwan-panda/index.html

Cute alert as Taiwan's first giant panda cub goes on show 

By Grace Huang, CNN

January 7, 2014 -- Updated 1618 GMT (0018 HKT)

A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Today I told students how lucky they were when showing them two pictures of deck. Although their vocabulary book gave Chinese definitions of  the word: 甲板; 露台, the students  still couldn't have a good grasp of the word when it means "a wooden floor built out from the back of a house, where you can sit and relax outdoors." After I showed them the photos I found online, they got a clear image. More often than not, a picture gives a better definition of a word than the dictionary does.

Are Native Speakers Always Better English Teachers?--教小朋友美語不是外國人的專利，台灣的老師更適合

An article shared by my FB friend Alice Lin.

http://www.thenewslens.com/post/20034/

教小朋友美語不是外國人的專利，台灣的老師更適合

作者：梁冠煇（Jarod Leggett）

A Happy Gathering with Annie

This afternoon, Annie and I got together to celebrate her birthday, which falls next week.

Writing Letters to Santa Claus--耶誕老人回信了！英文課變好玩

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=11&f_SUB_ID=5212&f_ART_ID=493114

耶誕老人回信了！英文課變好玩

【聯合報╱記者莊旻靜／新竹縣報導】2014/01/05

Forum on FB

A function of FB is to start a forum there.  All the FB friends can have a real-time discussion about a topic.

Tips for Preparing for the 2014 SAT--English

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=492512&kdid=AR10&r=2

英文╱拚英文抓時事 留心小鴨與食安
【聯合報╱本報記者張錦弘】2014/01/02

Murder most fowl? Giant rubber duck bursts in Taiwan

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/01/travel/taiwan-giant-rubber-duck-deflates/index.html

Murder most fowl? Giant rubber duck bursts in Taiwan

By CNN staff

January 1, 2014 -- Updated 0653 GMT (1453 HKT)

Vocabulary Activity

Juniors in high school should be able to learn most of the English vocabulary words on their own. So on Tuesday, I invited my students to teach their class the new words in Lesson 11. The class was divided into 10 groups. Each group was responsible for two words. They were challenged to use the two words in a skit they would create. After the skit, a member of the group had to point out some important phrases, word usage, or grammar point in the example sentences offered by the textbook, followed by me providing additional information about the words.

"20 of 2013's most overused words"--from BBC

2013's most overused words?! Guess what words are among the 20 listed in this article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23362207

20 of 2013's most overused words

By Vanessa Barford BBC News Magazine    1 January 2014 Last updated at 01:11 GMT

Happy New Year!

A photo taken at the Countdown at Miramar, Neihu, in the year 2014.

Happy New Year! Have a good 2014!

And the following song is a must-sing. Though it's dated 2013, it is an all-time classic for a new year.