Speak English, My Dear Students

Finding this sheet of paper, I collected my memories of all those times when I had my students talk to me in English...

The Next, And then the Next...

“You must never think of the whole street at once, understand? You must only concentrate on the next step, the next breath, do next stroke of the broom, and the next, and the next. Nothing else…That way you enjoy your work, which is important, because then you make a good job of it. And that’s how it ought to be.” (Ende, Momo 36)

"Trusty translation"--A Column in The Student Post for English Learners

The following is an old column in The Student Post (Sunday, July 20, 1997). It presents two ways to translate the same Chinese sentences. The A translation is how students in general would do, and the B translation is sugggested by The Student Post. You can translate the Chinese sentences first before reading the two versions. As noted in the column, the B translation is not the only correct answer, but it is how native speakers would say.

Trusty translations  精譯求經

Giving Away Books

Guess what I was doing here?

"Teach students everyday English please"--from Sunday China Post

Besides the "Ask Alexander" column, there is "Campus Voice," where students in Taiwan talk about education issues.

Here's an example:

"How to increase your pleasure in reading"--from Sunday China Post

I stocked quite a few copies of Sunday China Post like this. For the sake of de-cluttering, I've got to throw all of them away except one or two copies. Thanks to the digital camera, I can still keep some good articles in them.  Among them is the "Ask Alexander" column, which deals mostly with English learning. I guess it was the main reason why I kept the papers. The following is an example:

A Postcard from Salzburg

(Only the left half is shown here because in the right part is my address.)

 

"Adding Excitement to Your Classroom"--Speech Handouts from Studio Classroom

(Please click the photo to enlarge it.)

Doing the cleaning-out, I found the handouts given during a speech by Ruth Seamans from Studio Classroom years ago. If my memory serves me right, it was more than 10 years ago. All the tips provided were what I tried my best to do when teaching.

The sentence on page 1 "Teacher should speak English in class. If you don't, why should your students?" contains a good argument.



P.S. Finding this precious handouts reminded me of the book A Perfect Mess. Had I thrown them away, I would not be able to share it here now. Why didn't I share then? Well, I hadn't started my blog by then.

On Reading--"青春名人堂／閱讀 是拿來用的 不要只是讀"--from UDN

http://udn.com/news/story/7044/784190-%E9%9D%92%E6%98%A5%E5%90%8D%E4%BA%BA%E5%A0%82%EF%BC%8F%E9%96%B1%E8%AE%80-%E6%98%AF%E6%8B%BF%E4%BE%86%E7%94%A8%E7%9A%84-%E4%B8%8D%E8%A6%81%E5%8F%AA%E6%98%AF%E8%AE%80

青春名人堂／閱讀 是拿來用的 不要只是讀

2015-03-24 09:00:03      聯合報 今日登場／鄭俊德

我每月收到的書很多，每月收到的稿更多，對於編輯工作者而言，無論是讀書或是讀稿都是一種需要大量閱讀的工作。曾聽過在出版社擔任編輯的朋友分享，很多人以為他的工作會讀到很多書，其實不然，有時候回到家是不太閱讀的。

我每次演講時總會被問到，怎樣可以很快讀完一本書（大家似乎都希望很快讀完），或是如何面對網路的大量資訊。面對這些問題，我是這樣回答：

My Favorite Teacher--from Studio Classroom

This essay was written by Billy Haselton, a Studio Classroom teacher. Since I couldn't find it online. I'd like to type it up and share here. You can see how teachers make a difference. Following the essay are words from Billy's favorite teacher and some ideas for showing appreciation to teachers.

 My Favorite Teacher 

by Billy Haselton  September 27-28, 1999, Studio Classroom, pp. 32-33

I love math. All those Xs and Ys and equations…solving word problems…playing with numbers and formulas…I call this fun. Maybe you’re surprised that a Studio Classroom English teacher could enjoy math so much. You’ll understand better when I tell you about my favorite teacher, Mrs. Lou Cleveland. She taught me—you guessed it—math. Actually, though, I haven’t always enjoyed math. In fact, in 7^th grade, I hated it.

"Ten Ways to Simplify Your Life"--from Studio Classroom

Before having this old issue of Studio Classroom (Dec. 1996), I'd like to share some tips on simplifying our life presented in its last article.

The article was written by Mark Golin.

Living Principles

1. Just say "no" to unnecessay commitments.

"There Could Soon Be a Pill to Make Us More Compassionate"

A compassion pill?! This would be really something!

http://time.com/3753383/compassion-brain-chemistry/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

There Could Soon Be a Pill to Make Us More Compassionate

Alice Park  @aliceparkny        March 21, 2015

How brain chemistry influences compassion

Biology may have a lot to do with our behavior, especially in social situations. And that means our social interactions could be manipulated by a pill.

MRQE--A Movie Review Search Engine; plus Reasons for Using Films in English Class

MRQE (Movie Review Query Engine)

http://www.mrqe.com/

Doing the decluttering in my study, I came across a notebook that contains notes I took from several speeches.  One of the speeches held at Taipei Municipal Dazhi High School on March 8, 2004 was entitled "Implementing DVD Feature Films into English Curriculum. The speaker was Chin-chien (金堅老師).

An Entertaining and Eductional Trip

(Photo from Mei-chu)

This past Tuesday, I went with my high school classmates and some of their friends to Shihshanhang Museum of Archaeology at Bali in New Taipei City.

(FYI: http://www.sshm.ntpc.gov.tw/)

‘Top ten’ principles for teaching reading

The following list is from an article I have taken a picture of  before throwing it away, which I read around 20 years ago. The principles still works for today's English learners.

‘Top ten’ principles for teaching reading

Ray Williams

ELT Journal Volume 40/1 January 1986 © Oxford University Press 1986

"…

The following are my ‘top ten’ principles:

1. In the absence of interesting texts, very little is possible.

Signs of High and Low EQ

This was information from one of my teaching folders this morning. A supplementary reading, or rather, a cheklist used for a lesson on EQ. Happily, I could still find it online.

http://eqi.org/signs.htm

Signs of High and Low EQ

Note: This was written before I made a clear distinction between innate emotional intelligence and what happens later in life...So it is better to think of these as signs of a healthy or well-developed innate emotional intelligence.

Listed below are general characteristics of people with high and low EQ, as I define it. Obviously, these are generalizations, but are helpful as guidelines. Please note that these lists include general signs of high and low self-esteem, as well as other variables which have not in fact been specifically correlated to emotional intelligence as defined by Mayer and Salovey. Future work will attempt to more clearly differentiate between self-esteem, emotional intelligence and my definition of EQ.

Signs of High EQ

A Very Important Skill To Learn To Be Successful in the World Today_2005 NHSH English Writing Contest_First Prize

The following is the first-prize essay in 2005 NHSH Writing Contest. The winner Chi-ya Lin later represented the school to enter the citywide English writing contest and came in the 3rd place. Here I presented the essay as it was written without correction/revision. Although quite a few mistakes can be found in this essay, for students who just started to have writing class two months before the contest, this is good enough.

內湖高中94學年度英文作文比賽 

What is a very important skill a person should learn in order to be successful in the world today? Choose one skill and use specific reasons and examples to support your choice.

第一名作品     三年十四班   林琪亞 

Three Compositions by Joy, a former NHSH Student: The Thing I Want to Do Most after I Enter College, My Best Friend, When I Am Feeling Down

 These are three essays written by Joy (林妙鍾), a former NHSH student who graduated in 2000. They were written either in writing class or on a mock exam. Joy won the fourth place in a nationwide English writing contest  held in Kaohsiung in 1999. After graduating from NTU, where she majored in chemistry, and working for one year, she went on to study at Cornell University for her master's and doctoral degrees.

Today I found these three compositions of hers in a folder. Before throwing the papers away, I'd like to type the essays up and share them here.

The Thing I Want to Do Most after I Enter College 

"Waitress gets 130% tip, heartwrenching note"--from USA Today

A touching story!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/14/newser-heartbreaking-tip-message/24756355/

Waitress gets 130% tip, heartwrenching note

Arden Dier, Newser staff     11:40 a.m. EDT March 14, 2015

A waitress in Tennessee was brought to tears this week when a customer left her a generous tip and a moving message.

A Gathering with Brian, after So Many Years

Finally, yesterday afternoon I had a gathering with Brian, a former student who I taught at Chiehshow Junior High School and got reconnected more than two months ago (See http://june.ettachou.com/2012/08/20/a-life-changing-sentence/comment-page-1/#comment-440157). We haven't seen each other for around 20 years! However, when I saw him, I could recognize him right away.

We caught up on what we'd missed for these years. His studies, life experience, philosophy of life, etc. When he told me that among the 50 countries he'd been to, the most appealing one to him is Iran, I was a little perplexed, given the current situation there. According to him, people there were nice, never suspicious of others and not coveting what didn't belong to them. But that was years ago and he didn't know if it stays the same now.

Annual Chinese New Year Banquet with Chiehshow Colleagues

Attendees: Around 70 Retired teachers from Chiehshow Junior High School. Since I taught there for 13 years before teaching at NHSH, I was also invited.

Designer Pronunciations--a Good Website for Brand Lovers

http://fashion.about.com/cs/designers/l/blpronounce.htm

Designer Pronunciations

Do you know how to pronounce brand names, such as IKEA, Versace, Evian, Hermes, Loewe? The above link is provided by English Digest (Jan. 2007).

Nutrition and Crime?--"洪蘭／吃得營養 預防犯罪"--from UDN

Did you ever consider the connection between the two? I didn't.

http://udn.com/news/story/7340/757412-%E6%B4%AA%E8%98%AD%EF%BC%8F%E5%90%83%E5%BE%97%E7%87%9F%E9%A4%8A-%E9%A0%90%E9%98%B2%E7%8A%AF%E7%BD%AA

洪蘭／吃得營養 預防犯罪

2015-03-11 02:08:41      聯合報 洪蘭（中央大學認知神經科學研究所教授）

高雄監獄有六個犯人認為獄政不清，保外就醫不公，鋌而走險，挾持了典獄長，最後六人自殺，結束了這個悲劇。

「不平則鳴」，自古皆然。最近媒體報導的監獄黑暗面，確是令人觸目心驚。若是這六條人命可以換到獄政清廉，倒也值得，只怕沉痾已久，難以見效。

These 20 Regrets From People On Their Deathbeds Will Change Your Life

This topic sounds like a wake-up call. Very inspiring!

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/these-20-regrets-from-people-their-deathbeds-will-change-your-life.html

These 20 Regrets From People On Their Deathbeds Will Change Your Life

by Kyle B. Hart

You’re going to die someday. 

Perhaps the 5 most powerful words ever spoken to me. No matter how immortal we feel waltzing through life’s ups and downs, we all must someday stare death in its devious eyes as we reflect on our lives.

"「Lazy Susan = 懶惰的蘇珊？」十組含有名字的常見俚語你一定要會！"--from CommonWealth Magazine

This is shared by I Simply Love to Share on my FB page.

http://blog.cw.com.tw/blog/profile/260/article/1925

「Lazy Susan = 懶惰的蘇珊？」十組含有名字的常見俚語你一定要會！

2015/03/05

作者: Lily Chou

1. Murphy’s Law

覺得這說法相當熟悉嗎？沒錯！這就是「只要沒帶傘就剛好會下雨」的莫非定律！它的具體意思是「凡是可能出錯的事必定會出錯」（Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.），想避開Murphy’s Law只有一個做法，那就是時時刻刻做好準備，迎接隨時都有可能出現的插曲囉！

e.g. Well it’s Murphy’s law. Washing your car usually seems to bring rain.➢這就是莫非定律，你洗完車後通常都會下雨。

"23 Things Top Students Do"--from Lifehack

Actually, at first I intended to post an article on English slang today. However, when browsing the website, I came across this article, which I think could be helpful to those who have a hard time keeping up with their studies.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/23-things-top-students.html

23 Things Top Students Do

by Tom Miller

They are the ones you catch out of the corner of your eye. They get their exam back, calmly flip through the few (if any) errors they made, and swiftly place their 94% into their bag.

My comments: What caught my eye in the first paragraph is the words "flip through the few (if any) errors they made. Learning from mistakes helps us better ourselves.

One Day When We Were Young...

Today, an NTNU classmate LINEd our group these photos, which were taken when we were in college. The above picture was taken during our graduation trip around the island.

Thumbs Up for Their Effort

Before getting rid of an old magazine, I go over it very quickly to see if there are any good information or articles worth keeping through photo-taking. Yes, there are quite a few, like the above pages, which I found this evening. These illustration pages are followed by four long dialogues and some extra information, such as a checklist, an E-ticket, and the procedure before and after the flight.Thinking about the effort the authors/editors put into the magazine, I cannot but hold my thumbs up.

"28 Internet acronyms every parent should know"--from CNN

I don't think teenagers in Taiwan use these acronyms.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/08/living/internet-acronyms-every-parent-should-know/index.html

28 Internet acronyms every parent should know

By Kelly Wallace

Updated 3:24 PM ET, Fri January 9, 2015

Editor's Note:Kelly Wallace is CNN's digital correspondent and editor-at-large covering family, career and life. She is a mom of two girls. Read her other columns on digital life and follow her reports at CNN Parents and on Twitter.

(CNN)If you think you are tech savvy all because you know what "LOL" means, let me test your coolness.

Any idea what "IWSN" stands for in Internet slang?

"The ABC Song of Loving Yourself"

This song was found when I was cleaning out a file of songs I taught years ago. It can no longer be found online. So I typed it up and posted here to share with my readers this inspiring and lovely song.

I don't remember how I got this song, or perhaps it was introduced by a student to his/her class. There was a time when I had students teach their classmates a song once a week.

THE ABC SONG OF LOVING YOURSELF

Happy Chinese New Year!

(Photo from Mr. Chen Shih-lu)

Every year, we NHSH retirees got together duing the Chinese New Year at the school we taught to wish each other all our best. At today's gathering, Mr. Lin Hui (林煇校長), the first principal of NHSH, talked about giving rather than wishing to receive. He mentioned that those who always want to get something from others won't be happy because they will very often be disappointed. Besides, he added that even when one is suffering, if they can humbly take it as something they are destined to go through without complaining, they will more probably ride out the difficulties. Glad to hear the words at the beginning of the CNY.

"Fast Fashion: Cheap and Chic"

Before throwing away/recycling the NNN newsletter, I typed up this article in it.

Fast Fashion: Cheap and Chic

平「衣」近人

from NNN (Nani News Network) Dec. 2011

李為堯

In the past, Zara, H&M, and Uniqlo were names relatively unheard of compared with Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Gucci. But in recent years, they are taking market share from these high-end clothing brands. Like luxury brands, these fast fashion companies employ world-class designers to guarantee the quality of their clothing. They are very sensitive to the latest trend, the style showcased on catwalks or worn by celebrities. Most important of all, these stylish clothes are sold in low price [at low prices].

"Koreans Revel in a Brutal Study Regimen"--from NYT

A NYT article I came across while cleaning out the old newspapers and found online. It was written more than six years ago. Has the condition changed in Korea?

http://www.kbvidyalaya1944.com/koreans-revel-in-a-brutal-study-regimen

Koreans Revel in a Brutal Study Regimen

By Sam Dillon

The New York Times / Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Seoul, South Korea:

It is 10:30 P.M. and students at the elite Daewon prep school here are cramming in a study hall that ends a 15- hour school day. A window is propped open so the evening chill can keep them awake. One teenager studies is standing up- right at his desk to keep from dozing. Kim Hyun-Kyung (in Korea like China, the last name is written first), who has accumulated nearly perfect scores on her college entrance exams, is preparing for physics, chemistry and history exams.

My comments: 15 hours! It means the students have only two hours for relaxation if they get a eight-hour sleep.

"Building Vocabulary Through Word Parts: 6 Helpful Websites"--TESOL Blog

http://blog.tesol.org/building-vocabulary-through-word-parts-6-helpful-websites/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

Building Vocabulary Through Word Parts: 6 Helpful Websites

Posted on 20 February 2015 by Elena Shvidko

Prefixes, suffixes, and roots are very helpful in vocabulary building. If students know the meaning of word parts (especially of Greek and Latin origin), they will more likely be able to understand the meaning of a word in a particular context and increase their vocabulary arsenal.