My Corner for Education

I really miss the atmosphere of a traditional Chinese New Year.

Living in a town where only a few Chinese are around, Chinese New Year is just another working day for me. So, how did I celebrate Chinese New Year? I went to work as usual, got home, heated up my left-over dinner, stirred fried tomatoes with eggs over a bed of rice, and ate it.

SAD!

Happy New Year to all my friends and readers. Enjoy the special New Year events in Taiwan.

It has been ten days since I started to feel ill. I don’t want to write about the flu because the feelings are awful. Plus, I am so sick and tired of this flu already, and I get grumpy. Put it this way, I wouldn’t wish this flu upon any of my worst enemies.

When you have a lot of free time with nothing to do other than groaning and moaning in bed with the fever and cough, you would have no choice but to do lot of thinking. I did it, anyway, in and out of sleep. In fact, for a few days, I was so drugged out that I had hallucinations. Now, I am able to walk around a bit and stay awake for a longer period of time. It is about time for me to kill some time here.

 Anyway, these are my grumpy thoughts from the sick bed. Please bear with me.

 What is the spirit of Christmas?

The Spirit of Helping

Every year I take on the organization of a Christmas food drive for our school community. This year, instead of donating all the food to the food bank or Salvation Army, we packed them for some of our school families first. I am pretty sure that most of the food went to help the needy every year. Do the people who are at the receiving end feel happy about the baskets they have received? I don’t know the answer. I usually choose to be the collector of food, instead of the packer and deliverer of the baskets. I don’t know if I can handle the delivering to people I know. I know I would definitely cry when I get to the food bank or talk to the people there. I think I would rather remain anonymous.

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I am a ghost from the past. I love Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, and Charles Dickens. The characters in Dickens’ books all seemed to live in a dark and dingy time period, in need of a big scrub in the tub. I wish I could fly back in time to see the past though. That was a romantic thought. However, the presence is really the past for those children of presence in the future. Does that sentence make any sense to you at all? Well, bear with me; I am sick, you know. I just mumbled. Anyway, talking about children, some children could make me nosebleed.

Ode of Remembrance

After all the years have gone past,

I am still thinking of you, and

The time you stood up alone  

When nobody would dare to join.

I can no longer remember your name,

But I certainly know how you came to fame.

You gave the world strength and hope,

But your where about is still unknown.

It is about time for me to post my first article here on Nciku. To tell the truth, when the finger pointing, name calling incident was happening to me a while ago, it was also my busiest time writing my second term report cards. I was stressed out with final evaluations and report cards writing while all the heated debates were going on in my cyber backyard. I didn’t really have time to pull my thoughts together then. Now the reports are done, signed, and ready to go home, I can finally kick back and ponder what to write next.

I actually have cold feet testing the water here on Nciku. Like many other old friends I met online, I have put a lot of time and effort into promoting the daily communication in English (in all four areas of expressive and receptive language skills). Learning a language is like playing the piano. The only way to improve the skill is to practice consistently. Unfortunately, unlike playing the piano, a language is a tool for communication. You cannot practice the language alone behind the locked door for ever. At some point in time, you do have to put it to use.

A social site, either Nciku or the “orange one”, is a great place for people to come practice their language skills through the exchange of different opinions. People, however, are funny creatures and like to fill in the blanks in their own mind. A rumour is such a nasty thing! Just because I always write and post my articles in English, it does not mean that I snub writers in Chinese. Some readers like to read the conversation posted between two people and immediately fill in the blanks with assumption of their own. Dichotomy continues to be at play in many instances; if I were not black, I must be white. What kind of logic is that? Do I really have to pick a side for “either or”? Why can’t I be somewhere in between or simply offer a totally different third opinion? I always think that different opinions and voices should be heard and respected as long as with good intention and courtesy. Respect should be valued and practiced!

People might have different philosophy when it comes to learning a new language. They tend to use their own learning experiences as the ruler of measure to judge how the others should learn. We are all creatures of judgment and I am no exception! After teaching for so many years, one thing I have learned is that all students, regardless their abilities, can learn at their own pace and in their own way. Every student has their special learning style just like each individual teacher has their own unique way of teaching. There is no right or wrong as long as you are in pursuit of your goal. One’s strategy may not be another’s cup of tea. No matter which way strikes your fancy, a consistent practice is always the key to successfully learning a language.

I am all for putting the language into practice in our everyday life. Inter-communication among friends reduces the stress and formality of learning. Through the interactive exchange in a foreign language, we actually utilize the skills we’ve learned and enhance our ability to express in a more natural and spontaneous manner. Those people who participate in the exchange of thoughts also indirectly help shape the characteristics of the cyber community and create a cyber culture. I have to admit that the greatest blessing that I have received is the precious friendship established through the online community. Who would believe that I could make so many good friends online?

Looking for English Classes? Here is one.

 I started blogging a couple of years ago to keep friends and family posted about my life in general. Honestly, the truth was that I was too lazy to write to everybody and repeat the same thing too many times. If they want to find out trivial things that happen to me daily, now they can go online to check my update on the blog. Later on, my blog became a place where I publish anything and everything (well, not exactly everything) about my thoughts. My friends and family don’t often leave comments on my blog. Instead, they email me. Meanwhile, I started to get messages from total strangers and gradually get acquainted with many of those readers who frequent my blog. Suddenly, my blog became a new social circle that I did not expect to establish in a million years. Anyway, for friends new and old, thank you for your frequent visit.

I didn’t expect to attract this many readers to begin with. Every time, when a website reorganized or bought out by another company, I moved camp. The one I have at Wretch is the longest one I’ve ever had. I set up a second blog at Pixnet because Wretch was not reliable at one time before it was bought out by Yahoo. The site was down quite frequently which frustrated me tremendously. With my limited time to spare, I didn’t have the patience to wait around. So, before Wretch’s transaction was finalized, I set up my blog at Pixnet as a backup. Well, little did I know, this blog attracts more people than I could have imagined. I used to be a very private person who took a big step to publish my thoughts on line. Now, the management at Wretch seems to be quite stable, and I wonder if it is still necessary for me to keep two blogs going at the same time. But, which one should I shut down, Wretch or Pixnet? What do you think?

Note: I discovered a new website when I was trying to look up one of my many blog sites. For those readers who are interested in learning English in a social circle or need assistance in this subject matter, check out 台灣英語網 2.0 beta at http://www.english.tw/network.html, which is an interesting site for people who plan to improve their language skills.

I am not an American. Obama is not my president. However, it is exciting for me to see a president with such charisma and inspirations to his people finally step into the centre stage. It will be a historical moment and I am glad to witness this moment. Will he be an excellent president as he has been cut out to be? I don't know because I have become so disappointed on politics. I’d rather channel my energy to education. I am just looking so much forward to some integrity, honesty and hope for the future of America. I know one thing for sure though; that is, it will be great for people of all races to look up to the event tomorrow and honestly say that anything is possible in the US of A. On the eve of the president inauguration, let’s be thankful that Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream has finally become true and let's pray for the good tide coming.

I am trying out these two software, Movie Maker and Audacity. I have taught my students how to use these two software. They actually created their slide show with the Movie Maker. Here is my experiement on Pixnet. Now you can hear my scratchy voice.  

For Cat Lovers! Pleas help Debby!

I don't know if this test result sounds like me. For those people who read this blog, does this sound like the perspon you know?

I love the 80's. Roxette is one of the bands that I used to listened to. Let's refresh some memories.

This group is the Canadian girl power of the 80's. It was a two-sister band, Heart. I love their voice and the guitar sound. Alone Never What About Love These Dreams