"UNESCO's newest World Heritage Sites"--from CNN

Click the link, and you'll find 20 photos of the sites, each with a more detailed description.

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/21/travel/new-unesco-world-heritage-sites/index.html

UNESCO's newest World Heritage Sites

By Katia Hetter, CNN

June 23, 2014 -- Updated 2021 GMT (0421 HKT)

(CNN) -- To explore a site inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List is to see a place of outstanding universal value.

My comments: The word "inscribed" is smartly used here.

And with more natural and cultural wonders added to the prestigious preservation list over the last few days, there are now more than 1,000 sites to visit all over the world.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has been considering new sites at a meeting in Qatar since June 15.

A Piece of News a Day

A way to get students connected to the real world is to have them read news. However, some students could have a feeling of fear if the teacher just says, "Now let's read a piece of news," because they always take news as something far above their English level, with many words or phrases unfamiliar to them and some complex sentences for them to dissect.

"Is there a distinctive 'Indian English'?"--from BBC

When I was studying in the States for my master's degree around 25 years ago, a professor in the TESL department already pointed out the term "Englishes." I don't know if it was coined by him. But at that time, I believe it was a stir in the air of the "English" world.

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-28062387

#BBCtrending: Is there a distinctive 'Indian English'?

By BBC Trending

What's popular and why

27 June 2014 Last updated at 18:26

Is there a distinctive "Indian English"? Yes, according to a hashtag that's been trending in the country - #IndianEnglish.

Cherish Your Family

A few days ago, I read a LINE passage from my friend. It says that one day when we pass away, the company we worked for will soon find a replacement, but that to our parents and other family members, it would be like the end of the world.

"10 Words You Should Never Use to Describe Yourself"

An interesting article.

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-words-you-should-never-use-to-describe-yourself.html

10 Words You Should Never Use to Describe Yourself

BY Jeff Haden

Unless, of course, you're a little too full of yourself.

Consider the word "charismatic." If someone called me charismatic, I will be incredibly flattered (and hugely surprised.) But if I call myself charismatic, you will think I'm a jerk--and rightly so.

Where Should Education Focus?--"只改升學制度 教育品質呢？"--from UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8762623.shtml

只改升學制度 教育品質呢？

【聯合報╱王伯元／創投業（台北市）】

2014.06.25 01:35 am

十二年國教一免放榜，就如每次大考揭曉一樣，幾家歡樂幾家愁，但今年不一樣的是充斥著許多委屈與憤怒、沮喪與不平。雖然蔣偉寧部長認為一免錄取率高九成多，且有百分之六十二點八六是第一志願錄取，顯示「適性輔導」政策奏效，但數字顯示的只是表象，事實上很多考生唯恐因為志願序扣分，逼不得已填選後段學校，先占名額卡位，再去拚特招。因此即便是第一志願錄取，也不去報到，形成中間學校報到率偏低的Ｕ型曲線，這樣的數字，到底代表多少意義，值得教育部省思。

My comments: A twisted phenomenon.

Mainland China Considering Holding Several English Tests in a Year-- 各國教育制度／大陸爭議：英語和高考分開考

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=521053

各國教育制度／大陸爭議：英語和高考分開考

好讀周報 2014/06/24

 

【聯合報╱文／戴定國】

大陸正在討論，要不要讓英語科退出高考。

Options for Junior High School Graduates: a Flow Chart--高中職第一次免試放榜後 有哪些選擇？

A flow chart on this webpage shows clearly the options for junior high school graduates after the high school admission results came out .

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=520494

高中職第一次免試放榜後 有哪些選擇？

【聯合晚報／綜合整理】2014/06/20

放榜了!不只「幾家歡樂幾家愁」，還充滿了許多無奈與無力，身為第一屆12年國教 的白老鼠，免試分發放榜的情緒更複雜。尤其在一級戰區北北基，更是戰況慘烈。有的如願考上第一志願，有的考5A++、作文5級分只上了第五志願，還有雙胞胎姊妹因 作文得分不同而命運迥異。到底高中職第一次免試放榜後，學生們有哪些選擇的管道呢？

Teaching Kids to Tell Right from Wrong--"嚴長壽：教孩子思辨是非更重要"--from the UDN

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=520832

嚴長壽：教孩子思辨是非更重要

【聯合報╱記者修瑞瑩／台南報導】2014/06/23

公益平台文化基金會董事長嚴長壽昨在成大演講表示，許多家長在十二年國教當中分分計較，事實上是扼殺孩子的自信與學習機會；讓孩子學習思辨是非及一技之長更重要。

How She Got a 990 on TOEIC--"看影集練英文 她多益990分"--from the UDN

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=381&f_SUB_ID=3658&f_ART_ID=520389

看影集練英文 她多益990分

【聯合報╱記者鄭語謙／台北報導】2014/06/20

台灣科技大學應用外語系學生陳玉孟靠著看影集練習、參加學校英語營隊擔任教學助理，磨練英語口說能力，不僅能說一口道地英文，也在今年拿下多益測驗990分的滿分成績。她說，想把英文學好，要先了解自己的興趣，找到適合教材，並持續學習，就能成為「英文萬事通」。

What School Uniform You Wear Does Not Count Much in Life--"人生成敗關鍵不在制服顏色"--from UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI1/8755327.shtml

人生成敗關鍵不在制服顏色

【聯合晚報╱社論】

2014.06.21 02:49 pm

頂著大太陽，生氣的家長怒吼「自己的孩子自己救」，哭喪著臉的學生不能想像 5A++還上不了第一志願，今天的這一批街頭抗議者格外辛苦。也難怪有候選人放言，「教改爭議將壓垮國民黨政權」。

My comments: Kids with confidence in his competence and passion for learning will always perform well whichever school they get into.

Writing: the Most Important Language Skill Among the Four--"作文凌駕一切 理所當然！"--from the UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8747690.shtml

作文凌駕一切 理所當然！

【聯合報╱李振清／大學退休教授（台北市）】

2014.06.18 06:08 am

首次國中會考引爆的學科「極優」，卻因作文不滿六級分，以致無緣第一志願的現象，造成不少資優生斷腸落淚，家長也抱怨「作文凌駕一切」。其實，從教育觀點與語言學習理論來分析，建構在廣泛閱讀、悉心聆聽、口語歷練、背景知識，與多元思維基礎上的作文能力，當然凌駕其他讀、聽、說的語言技能。舉凡國中會考、大學學測或指考，作文能力成為關鍵勝負因素，這是極為正常的語言教育現象。

My comments: What concerns most people is the subjectivity of the raters.

What the 2014 CA Chinese Writing Topic Reveals--"平路／作文題洩露的祕密"--from the UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/8745205.shtml

平路／作文題洩露的祕密

【聯合報╱平路】

2014.06.18 06:08 am

隨十二年國教的推動，會考成績揭曉，選填志願的複雜度有如迷宮，加上北北基把作文當成排序的最優先，近日正急速累積民怨。

作文作為關鍵項目，包括評等過於主觀、五科皆A++竟以作文定江山的不合理等，浮現出許多問題。命題作文引領的思維方式，影響更為深遠…

My comments: Hopefully, the problem of subjectivity could be solved by each essay being graded by two raters, which is already in practice. 

"10 Words People Who Lack Confidence Always Use"--from Inc.

When I asked students a question, for example, "Do you think the tips the author offers are useful?" if their answer was "Maybe," it didn't give me much information. The following article I found at the TIME website points out ten words to avoid using because they could reveal one's lack of confidence.

http://time.com/2889520/lack-of-confidence-words/?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Ftopstories+%28TIME%3A+Top+Stories%29

10 Words People Who Lack Confidence Always Use

John Brandon                                             June 17, 2014

Want to avoid giving the impression you lack confidence and authority? Avoid these words

This post is in partnership with Inc., which offers useful advice, resources, and insights to entrepreneurs and business owners. The article below was originally published at Inc.com.

"A Day Spent with Friends Is a Day Well Spent"--Happy School Reunion

Today we, a group of friends graduating in the same year from Xing-xing Junior High School more than 40 years ago, had a get-together at Beitou Museum (http://www.beitoumuseum.org.tw/index.html), where our schoolmate Sally Lee (李莎莉) is the curator.

Farewell Lunch Party

An NHSH farewell lunch party held for three English teachers who are retiring this August: Li-chin (劉麗琴老師), Mei-yun (張美雲老師), and Wen-ho (張文和老師). Not only

Does It Really Matter Not to Go to an Elite School?--國教風波／無緣第一志願 就是鳳凰變成雞？

I really love this title, which is thought-provoking.

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8742937.shtml

國教風波／無緣第一志願 就是鳳凰變成雞？

【聯合報╱陳文明／科技業（台中市）】

2014.06.16 03:08 am

十二年國教風波，很多家長一直向教育部與地方首長抗議，甚至連不要小孩「鳳凰變成雞」的言語都琅琅上口。好像小孩念第一志願的高中，就是家裡跟社會的鳳凰？沒念到就是雞？真的是這樣嗎？

My comments: Life is a long journey.

"Trouble sleeping? Put the iPhone down"--a CNN Film

Experiencing sleepless nights? Blue light emitted by the mobile device could be to blame.

"What Is It Like to Be Schizophrenic?"--CNN Film

This 5-minute CNN film, entitled "What is it like to be schizophrenic?" shows an exercise in empathy Anderson Cooper goes through,  hearing voices all the time. This film made me feel like crying, really sorry for those who suffer from schizophrenia. Watching it, you'll also feel sympathetic and empathetic toward them.  Hopefully, there will be a medical breakthrough to treat this mental illness.

You can have the subtitles on by clicking the setting icon. There is a delay between the speech/image and the subtitles, though.

History of Western Music in Seven Minutes--7分鐘讀懂西方音樂史

This is amazing! See how many of the musicians you know.

https://www.muzik-online.com/tw/article/focus/da506d2c-4a7f-13ed-f54e-e97736baa9f8

7分鐘讀懂西方音樂史

2014-06-13 作:MUZIK ONLINE

Attitude Is Everything--"再上課一年？ 學他賣斧頭給布希"--from the UDN

This evening, while cleaning out the old newspapers in my study, I came across the following UDN article, which was published four years ago, on May 28, 2010. Failing to find the original online, I bumped into a post of the article in Sean_wiz's Blog.

http://seanhuang.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/%E5%86%8D%E4%B8%8A%E8%AA%B2%E4%B8%80%E5%B9%B4%EF%BC%9F-%E5%AD%B8%E4%BB%96%E8%B3%A3%E6%96%A7%E9%A0%AD%E7%B5%A6%E5%B8%83%E5%B8%8C/

再上課一年？ 學他賣斧頭給布希

[聯合報╱張瑞雄／東華大學副校長（花縣壽豐）】 2010.05.28 02:34 am

六月畢業潮在即，教育部要讓大學畢業生再接受適當訓練、提升競爭力，雖然用心良苦，但目前規畫的做法根本無濟於事，只是延緩學生進入職場的時間而已。

An Unforgettable History Class in Edingburgh--洪蘭／教堂中震撼的歷史課--from the UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/8735326.shtml

洪蘭／教堂中震撼的歷史課

【聯合報╱洪蘭】

2014.06.12 02:24 am

日前去愛丁堡開會，在路口看見一群小朋友排隊進入一座古老的教堂，便好奇的跟了進去，原來他們在這裡上歷史課。這教堂的四壁刻著幾百年來，為國捐軀的蘇格蘭子弟名字：「我主紀元ＸＸ年，高地ＸＸ兵團ＸＸ、ＸＸ，為國王和國家奉獻了他們的生命（gave their lives），他們將永垂不朽（They shall live forever）」。

On This Year's CA English Test (2)--李家同︰會考英文太難 全校都拿C--from The Liberty Times

In this news article, different voices about this year's CA English test are given.

https://tw.news.yahoo.com/%E6%9D%8E%E5%AE%B6%E5%90%8C-%E6%9C%83%E8%80%83%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87%E5%A4%AA%E9%9B%A3-%E5%85%A8%E6%A0%A1%E9%83%BD%E6%8B%BFc-221043390.html

李家同︰會考英文太難 全校都拿C

2014/6/11 6:10am

〔自由時報記者林曉雲／台北報導〕國中教育會考成績公布後，全國有三成以上、九萬名考生的英數成績是「待加強Ｃ」不及格。清大教授李家同昨表示，位於中部的一所國中全校七成考生英文拿Ｃ，一所小型國中則是全校考生英文都拿Ｃ，甚至有位一直保持全校第一名的學生亦如此；用功三年竟拿Ｃ，考題太難，不利偏鄉小孩。

On This Year's Comprehensive Assessment--國中會考／李家同：用功三年 大家都是C…

In this UDN article, Mr. Lee mentioned the validity of a test item on this year's CA English test.

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8730491.shtml

國中會考／李家同：用功三年 大家都是C…

【聯合報╱李家同／清大孫運璿榮譽講座教授（新竹市）】

2014.06.10 02:05 am

這幾天，媒體都在報導免試升學的種種問題，大家最關心的是志願序所引起的困擾。我非常同情這些家長，但我們似乎忽略了一個更嚴重的問題，所謂免試升學，其實是要考試的，叫做會考，會考大致分三級，Ａ（精熟）、Ｂ（基礎）和Ｃ（待加強）。教育部公布的資料顯示，全國在英文和數學上都有卅三％的學生屬於待加強。

"5 Tips for Teaching the Tough Kids"--from EduTopia

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/tips-for-teaching-tough-kids-josh-work

5 Tips for Teaching the Tough Kids

May 19, 2014

Every teacher remembers his or her first "tough kid" experience. Maybe the student ignored your directions or laughed at your attempts to utilize the classroom discipline steps. We all have at least one story to share, and for some teachers, teaching a tough kid is a daily challenge. It seems that no matter what teaching techniques you try to pull out of your educator hat, nothing changes their behavior.

My comments: I tried my best, but didn't panic if I couldn't change them.

Get Out of the Comfort Zone--"跳出框框 新鮮人才能出頭"--from the UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8726602.shtml

跳出框框 新鮮人才能出頭

【聯合報╱趙坤茂／ 台大資訊糸教授（台北市）】

2014.06.08 03:44 am

鳳凰花開，驪歌聲揚，恭喜畢業生們順利完成本階段的學習。

前輩勉勵Ｔ大學生，要成為一位根基深長，且觸角廣伸的Ｔ型人才。這肺腑之言，在跨領域合作日益重要的時代裡，顯得格外有意義。

Tips from Two Students on Preparation for English Test on CEE

A friend of mine asked me to give advice to her son this afternoon on how to prepare in the last month for the CEE English test which is held in early July. To give him practical suggestions, I invited two former students via FB a few days ago to share their experiences. Both of them got over 80 in English on the 2012 CEE. What impressed me was that on the SAT in in that year's February, one of them got only a 10 ranking score on a scale of 15, approximately 60 out of 100 points. The great progress was due to his hard work.

Tips on Preparation for the 2014 CEE--指考衝刺／留心時事用語 背熟7000詞彙

http://mag.udn.com/mag/edu/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=12&f_SUB_ID=29&f_ART_ID=517249

指考衝刺／留心時事用語 背熟7000詞彙

【聯合報╱本報記者張錦弘】2014/06/04

相較於學測，指考的命題單字量較多、閱讀測驗也較難，高中及補教老師建議，考前4周，務必熟背大考中心公布的7000個詞彙，並大量閱讀文章、勤作考題，且要注意學生占領立法院、北捷殺人事件等相關時事用語，同時每周至少練習2-3篇作文，培養手感。

Family Trip

I'm in Yilan now with my mother and two sisters, one of whom has been back in Taiwan from the USA and one came from Taichung this morning from Taichung.

This is the first time we three daughters have been on a trip with our mom since our childhood. We are all bathed in great joy.

Learning English Online Helps--線上學英文1年 多益進步325--from UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/DOMESTIC/DOM2/8718119.shtml

線上學英文1年 多益進步325分

【聯合報╱記者馮靖惠／台北報導】

2014.06.04 04:18 am

為探索12年國教特色教學新方法，政大附中去年起針對高一新生開設多益情境英語實驗班，以實體教學搭配課後線上練習，兩個學期後，學生多益平均成績569分，比大學生還高，整體平均進步112分。高一生石楓進步325分最多，他開心地說，「這些題目不再是外星語了。」

On Empathy--個人到社會 集體失去同理心--from UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8714587.shtml

個人到社會 集體失去同理心

【聯合報╱薛承泰／台大兒少與家庭研究中心主任（台北市）】

2014.06.02 02:57 am

Empathy--"體恤他人 單親媽給的無價財富"--from UDN

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/8713261.shtml

體恤他人 單親媽給的無價財富

【聯合報╱李枝桃／國中校長（南投市）】

2014.06.01 05:14 am

前天晚上，我到一個朋友家泡茶，她是個單親媽媽，獨自做個小生意撫養兒子。

去她那兒時，正看到貨運公司員工在卸貨，她忙著拿冷泡茶給他們喝；工人走了後，我誇她好有愛心喔！她噗哧笑了出來，「我上次還被兒子訓了一頓呢？」她提到，上個月兒子回來，貨運行正好也送貨來，她兒子馬上捲起袖子幫忙搬，她擔心兒子不懂得如何施力會受傷，因此阻止他，沒想到兒子竟說：「如果送貨的那個人是你兒子，你會不會希望別人也能幫他；你不要忘了，他也是別人的兒子。」她被兒子說了一頓，雖然沒面子，但內心卻感到無比驕傲。兒子懂得將心比心，懂得體恤他人幫助他人，她覺得這是最大的財富。

My comments: A good example of empathy.

"Teaching the News: More Online Sources for News Materials"--from TESOL Blog

http://blog.tesol.org/teaching-the-news-more-online-sources-for-authentic-material/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=teaching-the-news-more-online-sources-for-authentic-material

Teaching the News: More Online Sources for News Materials

Posted on 27 May 2014 by Tara Arntsen

Back in February, I wrote a post about using a site called News in Levels to help students improve their listening and, to a lesser extent, their reading. That site is really just one of the many sites out there that uses current news events as a starting point for learning. Today, I want to share two more similar sites with you.

My comments: Thanks, Ms. Arntsen. I love News in Levels and was amazed at the efforts they've been making to help English learners. In the speech I made about teaching listening, I recommended this website to the audience.