A student who is excellent in English told me this noon that she found her English has been getting worse since she started to pay more attention to grammar. She used to use her intuition to tell if a sentence is correct or not, but now she will think about the grammatical analysis we do in class when she is taking a test. (more…)
Archive for October, 2008
Is Grammar Helpful or Harmful?
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008Chit-chat & Memory Power
Tuesday, October 21st, 2008On today’s test, there is a passage about how to improve our memory. The sentence ”Now it’s proved that it can be easily achieved simply by chatting ten minutes daily” sounds quite shocking to me. I’ve never associated such social activity with memory enhancement. At the end of the passage, the writer suggested teachers do some chit-chat with their students before starting a lesson. This is interesting and I’d like to give it a try. (more…)
You see what you want to see
Monday, October 20th, 2008I came across an envelope this morning when I was looking for one. On the envelope was a line of words: 你的心，決定你所看見的。Seeing the sentence, I thought of a photo taken at Mr. Wei’s wedding a few days ago. Here is the photo:
At first sight in the camera, I was shocked because I coudln’t tell what was behind me. A man in black standing against the wall, with his arms crossed in front and no head? (more…)
A Visit to the Palace Museum
Sunday, October 19th, 2008Today I went to the Palace Museum with three high school classmates. We spent most of our time on three current exhibits: Masterpieces of Chin and T’ang Dynasty Calligraphy (晉唐法書名蹟), Tracing the Che School in Chinese Painting (追索浙派), and Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the Ch’ien-lung Reign (華麗彩瓷). Huai-su’s (懷素) cursive script puzzled me because I could barely understand what he wrote. Here is an example:
Can you recognize the words on the first line? (more…)
Advice from An-yu, a former student
Saturday, October 18th, 2008Yesterday morning, An-yu （彭安愉), a former student who graduated 5 years ago came to visit me. We had a long chat until around 3pm. In our talk, she said it was not until she graduated from college and went to work that she realized how wonderful and easy it was to be a student. (more…)
Wang Yung-ching, God of Management
Friday, October 17th, 2008Taiwan’s God of Management, Mr. Wang Yung-ching, died in his sleep this Wednesday, Oct. 15, in New Jersey, at the age of 91. He was definitely a respectable person. His unequaled hard work took him from rags to riches. I solute him from the bottom of my heart. Here’s a story about him I found in today’s China Post:
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2008/10/17/179042/Hard%2Dwork.htm
If
Thursday, October 16th, 2008We were reviewing if-clauses today, which seem very complicated to students. However, there is only one principle to follow:
Real or Unreal:
“I Have a Dream”–an old entry re-posted
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
I’d like to re-post an old entry for the lesson “I Have a Dream.”
http://june.ettachou.com/2007/12/23/martin-luther-kings-famous-speech-i-have-a-dream/
Watch the video, and you’ll be touched by the power of language. I remember a former student of mine told me that, while we were discussing this lesson last year, she went to the entry every time she turned on her computer. She then watched/listened to the speech and read along with Martin Luther King. She is now majoring in English at National Tsing Hua University.
The Carpenter: A Story
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
“The Carpenter” is a simple but inspiring story. It’s worth reading and remembering for life.
Here is the story:
Perseverance
Monday, October 13th, 2008「過程中一定會很辛苦，但只要有決心，撐一下就過去了。」This was what one interviewee from NTU EMBA said in the news when asked how he felt about traveling around island in nine days on a bike.