Yu-chen Chen (陳宇辰), Bravo!

This afternoon, at my aunt Lily's invitation, I went to Chen, Yu-chen's violin recital at National Taipei University of Education with two junior high school friends. I was enthralled by Yu-chen's performance. In fact, months ago, I heard him play H. W. Ernst's "Die letzte Rose (夏日最後的玫瑰)" at a violin concerto and was very impressed. Today, he played for nearly three hours and it was really fascinating.

15 Great Songs You Might Have Missed This Summer

http://time.com/3998401/summer-music-playlist-songs/

15 Great Songs You Might Have Missed This Summer

Jason Lipshutz / Billboard Aug. 14, 2015

How to Remember Vocabulary--a VoiceTube Video

https://tw.voicetube.com/videos/8199

This around-6-minute VoiceTube video presents five ways to remember new words one is learning. Very useful tips. It's in British English and not fast.



Summary:

Gems of Wisdom

"Stars can't shine without darkness."

"There are billions of people. Don't get upset by any one of them."

These are sentences on two different T-shirts I saw this afternoon when shopping with my mom-in-law and niece at Giordano in Carrefour.

She Is the Master of the Art of Thankfulness

Annie, a lovely friend, knows the art of thankfulness, which, according to Dr. Randy Pausch in his book The Last Lecture, is a lost art. Annie never hesitates to show gratitude, even for just what a friend should do. Annie, thank you for your "Thank you."

Tips to Stay Away from Dementia--終於公布了！日本抗老化專家公布活百歲也不會癡呆的５大方法！！一定要學起來...

This webpage offers some ways to stay away from dementia.

http://www.life.com.tw/?app=view&no=303068

終於公布了！日本抗老化專家公布活百歲也不會癡呆的５大方法！！一定要學起來...

樂樂25003  2015-07-28

Since the words on this webpage cannot be copied and pasted, I'll list the five tips in English as follows:

1. Get up early.

1) Drink a glass of warm water right after getting up.

2) Drink vegetable/fruit juice three times a week.

3) Exposed yourself to the sun 15 minutes every day.

4) Eat dark chocolate.

"World's coolest bookstores"--from CNN

And an Eslite in Taiwan is one of them. Click the link and you'll see the pictures of these 18 cool bookstores. Here I'd ike to cite only the description of our Eslite.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/03/travel/worlds-coolest-bookstores-new/index.html

World's coolest bookstores

By Frances Cha, CNN

Updated 0131 GMT (0831 HKT) August 4, 2015

(CNN)—Bookstores seem to be dying faster than it takes to download the complete works of Shakespeare these days, so when one comes back from the grave it's a cause for celebration. 

My comments: Humorous comments.

"Popular Wrong Ways to Teach Writing"

This is an article I found while unpacking a box of my stuff tonight, which had been left in the basement of the apartment building since May.

Popular Wrong Ways to Teach Writing

by Curtis Kelly

Cambridge Connection May 2001

It always amazes me how many writing teachers--and writing books too, for that  matter—focus on grammar, vocabulary and language accuracy as the main objective of the writing class. I suppose we do this because, first and foremost, we are language teachers, but there are far more important things we should be teaching instead. In particular, I believe we should focus on teaching writing fluency and organization.

On Teaching--"黃介正／「套餐」與「單點」"--from UDN

http://udn.com/news/story/7340/1105472-%E9%BB%83%E4%BB%8B%E6%AD%A3%EF%BC%8F%E3%80%8C%E5%A5%97%E9%A4%90%E3%80%8D%E8%88%87%E3%80%8C%E5%96%AE%E9%BB%9E%E3%80%8D

黃介正／「套餐」與「單點」

2015-08-07 02:29:33      聯合報 黃介正（淡江大學戰略研究所助理教授，戰略暨兵棋研究協會理事長）

通常我們造訪陌生地，又沒有朋友熟人領路，當肚子餓而進了家從未吃過的餐廳，可能最保險的做法，就是看菜單上的主廚推薦菜色，如果是一群人，最簡單的就是叫「套餐」（set menu），按照餐廳精心規畫好的菜色順序，享用一頓美食。如果是熟門熟路的客人，自然是「單點」（a la carte）自己最喜愛的餐點；倘若直接要求主廚在一定的金額內，做出菜單上沒有的菜色，才是更厲害的饕客。

我常提醒學生：上課完全聽老師準備的講義，只跟著做筆記，叫做吃套餐；而自己廣泛涉獵、勤於提問，則有如單點；而且最好點菜單上沒有的，考考老師的功力。因為廚藝越高的師傅，越不怕客人點菜的挑戰。

A Visit to Annie and Her Family

This morning, I visited Annie and her family. Annie is the one who's co-written with me many listening, reading, or CA practice books for junior high school students. Just pay a visit to her home, and you'll know what an avid reader she is. Not only is she interested in reading, writing, and teaching, she is also fond of cooking and taking pictures.

Dear Prof. Wu, We Miss You

(The two sides of the card handed to us attendees at the gate after we signed)

This morning I attended Prof. Wu's (Roseller Ortega Ing, 吳國賢教授) funeral at Holy Family Church Taipei. During the two hours, I got to know more about Prof Wu through the talk by his eldest son, his student Ms. Ho (何慧玲教授), his former colleague Ms. Shih (施玉惠教授), and his youngest sister on behalf of his wife.

When Teachers from Mainland China Meet Students in England--"陸師赴英教書 師生都抓狂"--from UDN

A kind of cultural shock.

http://udn.com/news/story/7331/1100465-%E9%99%B8%E5%B8%AB%E8%B5%B4%E8%8B%B1%E6%95%99%E6%9B%B8-%E5%B8%AB%E7%94%9F%E9%83%BD%E6%8A%93%E7%8B%82

陸師赴英教書 師生都抓狂

2015-08-05 03:15:12      聯合報 記者汪莉絹／綜合報導

英國廣播公司（ＢＢＣ）啟動一項教學試驗，邀請大陸教師到英國教書，結果師生都出現適應困難，學校和學生覺得中式教學麻木無趣，陸師則認為英國學生欠缺紀律。

My comments: An interesting experiment.

Gathering with Ali and Vicky

Time: 7pm, Aug. 4, 2015

Place: Mount Kao

Two weeks ago, Vicky suggested a gathering, and this evening, we enjoyed spending time together. Most of our chat revolved around relationship. In my opinion, what counts most in a relationship is whether both sides are happy. If not and neither endeavors to better the relationship, to me, that would not be worth maintaining.

"Developing Writing Skills Through Personal Journals: Part 2"--from tesol Blog

http://blog.tesol.org/developing-writing-skills-through-personal-journals-part-2/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews

Developing Writing Skills Through Personal Journals: Part 2

Posted on 24 July 2015 by Elena Shvidko

In today’s blog, I continue describing strategies for keeping a personal journal. In my last blog, I referred to personal journals as a tool for improving writing fluency and overcoming the problem of not knowing what to write about. As I also mentioned, I used this strategy at the suggestion of my writing teacher, and it helped me overcome my writing apprehension.

The Books of 2015 So Far Picked by TIME

http://time.com/3935938/best-books-2015-so-far/

Here Are the Best Books of 2015 So Far

TIME Staff   July 30, 2015

To offer a reading list for its readers, TIME picked 10 good books from the sea of publications as follows. "They span genre and form." Visit the webpage, and you can find description of the books.

1. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

She Works as a Volunteer During the Gap Year--高中畢業「空檔年」 德國女孩來台當志工--from UDN

http://udn.com/news/story/7314/1092191-%E5%BE%B7%E5%A5%B3%E4%BE%86%E5%8F%B0%E7%95%B6%E5%BF%97%E5%B7%A5-%E7%95%B6%E6%85%A2%E9%A3%9B%E5%A4%A9%E4%BD%BF%E7%BF%85%E8%86%80

高中畢業「空檔年」 德國女孩來台當志工

2015-08-01 03:04:34      聯合報 記者曹馥年／台南報導

20歲德國女學生許婉珊（Sarah Schwarz）高中畢業後，透過台灣國際青年文化交流協會（ICYE）來台當志工，1年來在瑞復益智中心協助早療、智能障礙孩童打理生活，也學習基礎中文。

My comments: She did this during her gap year.

Xin-xing Junior High Schoolmates Gathering

Time: 6pm, Friday, July 31, 2015

Place: Chin-hua Restaurant

"One day when we were young, one wonderful morning in May..."  We feel young at every gathering.

This morning, I paid a visit to a student's father in hospice care.

When I left, my student accompanied me to the parking lot, which is about ten minutes' walk away. He's been keeping his father company in the hospital since his father was hospitalized. A college senior after the summer vacation, he should be enjoying some merry times with his friends, but he'd rather stay by his father's side. That's the beauty of the family bond.

 

Learning English in "Minions"--"跟著小小兵學英文！跟「迷你」沒關係，你知道英文片名minions是什麼意思嗎？"--from Business Weekly

On the day Meiying, Lichu, Meichen, Shuyuan, and I met for lunch around three weeks ago, Shuyuan suggested that we watch the movie if the typhoon was too big. It was a pity that we didn't go to see it.

http://www.businessweekly.com.tw/KBlogArticle.aspx?ID=13167&pnumber=1

跟著小小兵學英文！跟「迷你」沒關係，你知道英文片名minions是什麼意思嗎？

撰文者周強     2015-07-27

《小小兵》（Minions）是今年暑假的動畫大片，此片因2010、2013 年的電影《神偷奶爸》（Despicable Me）系列票房亮眼所推出的「外傳」。

英文片名Minions 取得很妙，minions讓人立刻聯想到與「小」有關的字根“mini＂，例如迷你裙miniskirt、最小值minimum。不過事實上，minion的原義與「小」無關，其字根也非mini，它是指只遵守主人命令的僕卒，讀作[ˋmɪnjən]，可見取英文片名的作者刻意以minions的前四個字母讓人聯想到「小」。另有一說，minions是mignon（小巧玲瓏）一字的俏皮雙關語，而中文片名《小小兵》更是妙譯！

My comments: minion: an unimportant person who has to do what a more powerful person tells them to do  (Macmillan English Dictionary). I still think the prefix "mini" meaning "little" makes sense here. Someone who is unimporant weighs little in others' minds."

BTY, a word primary stress rule:  The primary stress falls on the syllable right before "i + Vowel," just like "million," "billion," "union," "communion," etc. 

A Gathering with My Chinjamu

A gathering with Chinjamu (親家母), a Chinese phrase meaning the mother of one's child's spouse. See the strokes of each character? That's why I said Chinese is more difficult than English.

Ms. Zou is the mother of Anna, my daughter-in-law.

Time: 11:30am

Place: Sufood