tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-93720012012-01-22T13:40:38.400+08:00Life will never end.Changnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-88087618930095583132012-01-22T13:40:00.001+08:002012-01-22T13:40:38.416+08:00

F.I.Y. (For Your Reference) If you live in Hsin-Chu city and don't know where to find a good mechanic to get your car fixed, here is good news for you. I recently found a nice mechanic near the train station. Mr. Yang has been running his garage for decades. He is a very in the know of all different car makers and models, new or old alike. I feel so secure when I turn my car to him becasue

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-26516922602931022622012-01-15T00:25:00.001+08:002012-01-15T00:25:17.321+08:00

Nothing Changed. After months of politically fighting against each other, the outcome of the election doesn't surprise me as much. The Pan-Blue and Pan-Green parties still remain 55-45 proportion. It seems that though tremendous time and money have poured into this political war but that doesn't mean it works out well on each side. What a waste.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-48641926759521847942012-01-12T19:29:00.000+08:002012-01-12T19:29:09.606+08:00

In year 2000, when someone asked me how I thought about the presidential election and who was going to win the election, I said, "Two dogs strive for a bone, the third runs away with it." This year, is the same shit happening again? We will see.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-69640773327679744362011-12-30T19:07:00.002+08:002011-12-30T19:07:48.272+08:00

Sunday is a holiday, so my instructions at ELITE has come to an end by today. Tomorrow the Saturday I will be going to Taipei and enjoy the big celebration with my family near Taipei 101. I am hoping that everyone is having a wonderful holiday. And for the upcoming year 2012, all your dreams and plans will come true and get fulfilled. I am looking forward to seeing you again in class. Happy New

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-6769298891755988632011-12-30T18:44:00.002+08:002011-12-30T18:52:31.668+08:00

I responded to an British friend's question. He asked if using 注音/ Zhu Ying is better than 拼音/ Ping Ying. Here is my answer. Mandarin speakers from China sound much purer than those from Taiwan. That's for sure. However, Mandarin speakers in Taiwan use Traditional Chinese and some ancient cultures have also been preserved by Taiwanese. Taiwanese didn't go through Cultural Revolution, so they

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-43768449341278320582011-12-28T23:50:00.000+08:002011-12-28T23:50:24.158+08:00

Richard's class was canceled today, so some of his students turned to my class. That's why my class had better attendance than before. Richard, don't come back! ;)

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-8558449713918906222011-12-13T19:44:00.003+08:002011-12-13T19:44:46.956+08:00

If you haven't watched the movie "Seediq Bale" yet, this article may provide more of the information for you. If you have done so, you sure need to read this article to refresh your memory to the movie. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnngo.com%2Fhong-kong%2Fvisit%2Fseediq-bale-401232&h=-AQHrnbFPAQEMT9clM8ByVlgu8kRaC0l93Bb6oEZkHjWjQA

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-12530746750106645822011-12-04T00:37:00.001+08:002011-12-04T00:38:27.621+08:00

Aruru, a friend of us and who used to be a diligent student at ELITE, posted this video clip for us. In this video clip, you'll see President Obama "pardons" two turkeys, one is call "Peace" and the other one "Liberty". The word "pardon" usually means forgiving someone or something. However, what it means here is not to kill these two turkeys for food on Thanksgiving so that both of their lives

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-3328996218270738212011-12-04T00:35:00.001+08:002011-12-04T00:37:03.069+08:00

Remember that weeks ago an article posted on the website named "Lonely Planet" revealing the ten best places in the world, which are worth taking a trip to? Taiwan is in the ninth place. I finally found it online and finished reading it through. If you think it's too challenging for you, why not just focus on the Taiwan's part? http://www.lonelyplanet.com/taiwan/travel-tips-and-articles/76856

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-15899495206878367322011-11-26T01:03:00.001+08:002011-11-26T01:07:11.102+08:00

I think I did a terrible job at the substitute class I was covering earlier tonight. I feel so disappointed with my performance in class. Why I feet it this way is that I didn't do the best I can to help the students learn what they were supposed to learn. I shouldn't have wasted much of the time asking them to do the redundant practices. And what's more, the vocabulary list that I prepared

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-82442074227996953552011-11-26T00:43:00.001+08:002011-11-26T00:43:15.865+08:00

Thanksgiving? What is it? I don't sense anything like that here in Taiwan, not even a bit of it. Having received many Thanksgiving wishes from friends in the U.S., I feel sorry for my indifference towards this holiday because people don't give it a damn about it here.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-59551639925427599102011-11-22T08:09:00.001+08:002011-11-22T08:10:01.535+08:00

If you haven't taken any of Monica's classes, you should now. Yesterday evening I had a small talk with her in the teacher's lounge along with another American teacher. Frankly speaking, I pretty much enjoyed talking with her. I could sense the strong energy coming out of her, as opposed to the Caucasian teacher, forgive me for not mentioning his name, who didn't have that much energy and

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-85310107407359845102011-11-12T23:26:00.001+08:002011-11-12T23:26:34.552+08:00

I just read a student's comments at the website for ELITE's teachers. He/ She provides me with some suggestions about how to improve the quality of my grammar class. I feel so grateful for his/ her comments. I think I will be making some changes tomorrow based on his/ her ideas. Anyway, thank you so much though I don't know who you are.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-74421458076765835132011-11-11T23:36:00.001+08:002011-11-11T23:36:47.574+08:00

From Monday to Friday, the number of students coming to my classes at ELITE is only 29, which is extremely low attendance. I think the bad weather should the the blame. A new course of mine will get started next Wednesday in the Science Park. I am getting hyper now. Can't wait to show up in class.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-14443959530127701892011-11-10T23:21:00.001+08:002011-11-10T23:23:05.054+08:00

It's commonplace to see school students in Taiwan wear uniforms. Besides, they are required to have their schools' names and ID numbers embroidered on their jackets so that those who take care of the students' behavior, both on and off campus, can easily have the students in check. To certain degree, this may be able to stop some youth crime. Some people may not like it, but I think it's not a

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-47936757145207721902011-11-08T23:06:00.002+08:002011-11-08T23:08:37.039+08:00

I sent an email to my alma mater- asking for any chances to teach English there. Before I furthered my study abroad, I was a junior college student in Taipei. These years I have always been thinking about going back to my old school and helped those juniors with their English problems. I know there is only little chance for me to be employed, but I am still waiting for good news. Dream on, Albert.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-24090546948712204472011-11-03T23:17:00.001+08:002011-11-03T23:18:22.870+08:00

CQ is flying to Australia to work and study there next week. She will follow her senior schoolmate, Chris Huang's step, and I am glad to hear her decision. When I asked her if she had got everything packed and ready to go, she gave me a unclear answer. She only reserved a hotel room for seven days on her arrival in Australia. And for the rest of her life there, she will go with her gut (跟著感覺走).

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-83165971227829016542011-10-23T21:09:00.002+08:002011-10-23T21:32:56.819+08:00

I am still between a rock and a hard place now. Two choices lie ahead... if I should take a dessert-making lesson or a teaching-Chinese-as-a- second-language course? The former one is just a time-killer, and the latter is a career plan for myself. Both sound important to me at the moment. You might question me about why I want to learn making desserts. My answer is "I don't know", but I just feel

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-25261649831381760122011-10-14T18:31:00.002+08:002011-10-14T18:31:25.781+08:00

Chris showed up when my class came to an end toady at noon. He will be catching a flight to Australia this evening to get his working holiday trip started soon. I can't recall the first time I saw him, but it must be somewhere around more than six months ago. Over the past few months I have definitely seen tremendous improvement the has made on language learning. He is an earnest student to a

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-81128781120476449372011-10-06T23:11:00.002+08:002011-10-06T23:11:51.769+08:00

A new student would like to borrow from me the CDs for a listening course. I didn't feel comfortable while she was asking for them.For one thing, because I don't know her. It was only her first time showing up in my class. If she were one of those returning students to my class like most of you, I would definitely lend the CDs. For another thing, making copies of the CDs surely violates the

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-82892302799061128012011-10-05T14:40:00.001+08:002011-10-05T14:41:00.082+08:00

Hey friends, If you have any problems with English, don't hesitate to ask me. I am not Mr. Know-it all, but I will be glad to help you out. While there may be some questions taxing my brain as well, I am still willing to do the best I can to find  answers for you. Here I would like to honor Ken, who is a very diligent and hard-studying person. Mr. Shiue seems never to stop asking me questions,

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-73387960081315577702011-10-01T01:22:00.002+08:002011-10-01T01:22:34.408+08:00

October is here!! The fourth quarter of 2011 is on its way now. I just wrapped up a class on Friday night, which means that I can now pass my time by doing something fun. Hey ... how about learning how to make desserts? I am thinking if I get to learn to make stuff like this, then I can bring it to any of my classes and reward my students who answer my questions right. No more shit that goes like

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-50834312675801157922011-09-28T01:11:00.003+08:002011-09-28T01:12:44.505+08:00

Making hand-outs is a never-ending job. I am still working on that right now.. in the middle of night. Learning that my close friend has got cancer, I kinda think about my own health. Is it high time for me to change my nightly schedule now?

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-68879140802150512702011-09-20T08:17:00.002+08:002011-09-20T08:17:45.350+08:00

A female student of mine posted a message on her FB, " I won't ask for more. Just simply sending me a card can touch my heart. See how simple I am."And here is the message that I followed, " A Visa Gold Card"I hope she won't get mad at this. :)

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-60974933537972658932011-09-18T22:32:00.002+08:002011-09-18T22:32:35.804+08:00

Jon the American teacher showed me today a couple of websites that I should go check out for buying a new cell phone. I have told him several times that it's time I got rid of my old one. What's happening now is that I want my cell phone to include a lot of useful functions but the price has to be affordable. After talking with him, I felt like these is a saying that goes, "You get what you

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-7768709159132326092011-09-13T09:52:00.000+08:002011-09-13T09:52:22.902+08:00

What is the best tool of making a presentation online? I have been wondering how I can transform my teaching materials into an online-based structure. Imagine how cool it will be in my class as I turn on the projector and have everyone look at the big screen in the classroom without taking notes on a trite and boring whiteboard. Any advice?

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-66912270663153123122011-09-11T08:47:00.000+08:002011-09-11T08:48:01.758+08:00

Teaching a dog is just like getting on with people; you need to stay calm and assertive, and of course be dominant if you want to take control. That's what I have learned from a TV program called dog whisper.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgUBAa3dH7k&feature=related

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-78124080499985438292011-09-06T13:41:00.001+08:002011-09-06T13:43:27.567+08:00

I was just done with one substitute class last night-- Grammar for Intermediate Level. Though currently I am not a regular teacher for this kind, I was still pleased to be there. I have got lots of thinking about what I should do to improve my teaching skills next time for this level. Unfortunately last night during the class I was unable to go through all the things in my handouts, but Julie

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-9534702250179438852011-08-23T23:20:00.000+08:002011-08-23T23:21:02.684+08:00

I was very disappointed with Taiwan team's lousy performance during LLB 2011 games. They could have done better but unfortunately didn't. This is the worse Chinese Taipei team I have ever seen before. In any case, there is always next year, isn't there?

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-74706015195569506632011-08-20T17:39:00.001+08:002011-08-20T17:39:34.430+08:00

Checking out students' comments on me has been my on-line routine. It really makes me feel good seeing good comments, but if I see bad ones it really hurts me bad. However, here is one kind that I find very funny-- someone went like,"好玩，老師很用心." Does that mean my class is fun, easy to play, or what? I swear I've never meant to make my class a "好玩" class. Maybe he/ she just wants to say my class is

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-87960423727213116722011-08-18T22:44:00.002+08:002011-08-18T22:45:00.260+08:00

Go Go Chinese Taipei!! My favorite baseball games are coming up again this summer. Taiwan team will get their first game vs. Mexico started tonight in just few more hours, at 1 am tomorrow morning to be exactly. If you are the fan of little league baseball, like I have been for thirty odd years, you mustn't miss it out. Let's cheer for Chinese Taipei!!! ... actually, this team is from Kaohsiung

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-17469901229998412712011-08-09T19:57:00.000+08:002011-08-09T19:58:01.789+08:00

I was taking a walk this evening at the woodland across from my apartment. A lighting bug appeared just in front of me, floating gracefully in the air of the dark. This last time I saw a lighting bug has to date back to more than thirty five years ago in my hometown in Taipei. Back when there were no big crowds nor high rises and the air and the water in rivers were way much cleaner and purer

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-85578848732309269582011-08-09T19:56:00.000+08:002011-08-09T19:57:33.058+08:00

This article comments on Wang's first game against Met after he has made his come-back to the Major league. People still remain a big hope on him. After the second game however, who knows if they are still confident with him any more... http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/nationals-vs-mets-chien-ming-wang-takes-loss-in-first-mlb-start-in-more-than-two-years/2011/07/29/

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-74426035531807326272011-07-28T00:52:00.001+08:002011-07-28T00:54:42.573+08:00

It's been a long while since I last post my message here. Yes I have been tied up with a tight schedule these days. During the summer vacation most instructors are supposed to be much busier than usual. Though my life just simply revolves around my classes and family, I still wish for much more free time.A couple of days ago my family and I drove down to Taichung to meet a friend there. When we

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-29581005994912206152011-07-10T20:36:00.000+08:002011-07-10T20:37:18.429+08:00

There is a girl at one of my classes who never seems to pay enough attention to my instructions. I have noticed since the first day she came to my class that most of the time she looks down at her cellphone, always looking busy fiddling with her phone by pressing the number keys without a stop. I guess she might be thinking that I didn't notice what she was doing, but unfortunately I did. I just

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-4165261315199850252011-07-03T21:43:00.001+08:002011-07-03T21:43:45.389+08:00

Recently, I have got quite a few comments from friends to my classes. What I would like to say is; criticism or praise, that I really appreciate your help. I believe either way matters to me, and most of them will guide me to bettering my skills in helping people learn the language. Please keep on telling me what I should do to improve myself. Thank you so much.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-39752754717470361742011-06-26T21:43:00.001+08:002011-06-26T21:43:27.620+08:00

Albert: I just felt an earthquake going on!!Albert's wife: Are you out of your mind? There's no earthquake at all, and you must have got a sunstroke.Minutes later the breaking news appeared on TV, reporting that an earthquake (Magnitude 1 in Hsinchu City) occurred just minutes ago. My wife is speechless now.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-29361667279423660782011-06-20T22:56:00.002+08:002011-06-20T22:56:26.220+08:00

I had a real hard time living here in the first few years as I came back from the US. Now I tried "not" to make comparisons between Taiwan and any other advanced countries because I know Taiwan still has got a long way to go in terms of improving its people's quality and civilization. I feel much relaxed now if I don't expect too much progress to be made here.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-72834475907349336262011-06-20T22:42:00.001+08:002011-06-20T22:42:53.193+08:00

In traditional Chinese, love is written in this way "愛"; however in Mainland Chinese it was simplified to "爱“, which means that the character "心" inside no longer exists. Same thing happens between "親" and "亲", in which the character "見" is removed."親不見，愛無心" "Seeing no parents, love with no heart."Boy, why are people learning simplified Chinese? It is cultural disaster. Whoever invented this

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-47799582937949934302011-06-17T08:39:00.001+08:002011-06-17T08:39:51.417+08:00

Today (Friday, June 16) is the last day of school for my son and he will be attending the graduation ceremony next Monday. Six years of elementary school life has finally wrapped up.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-58095360080431094772011-06-14T23:11:00.001+08:002011-06-14T23:11:40.635+08:00

My wife has been sick for a month. I strongly suspect that the flu was passed on to her through my son. In the past three nights, we had gone to the ER of Mackay Memorial Hospital in Hsinchu for twice, but her condition did not get much improved. While she was getting an i.v. in the observation room, I kept her company all night. I took a seat sitting next to her ward bed, chatting with her in

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-10987330028632819052011-06-01T15:48:00.001+08:002011-06-01T15:48:56.445+08:00

From now on, please stop having the following diet items and for sure you are going to have a much healthier life than you are: coffee, dairy products, soda, ice desserts, deep-fried food, alcohol. Do the following often: drink less or modest amount of water, eat more vegetables and less meat, more exercises, reduce times of sexual life, no fruit during your menstrual cycle.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-90455633917362036642011-05-24T00:17:00.001+08:002011-05-24T00:17:22.883+08:00

I have never been as busy as I am now. Monday through Thursday evenings, I have got training courses run at different companies. Other than that, my regular cram school classes need me to show up and teach at different sites during weekday mornings and every Friday evening. I also got to do some teaching jobs the whole day on Sunday. While being home, I need to check tons of students' writing

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-6334564794777471852011-05-09T22:24:00.001+08:002011-05-09T22:24:41.156+08:00

Our fifteen-year-old SONY TV had finally seen better days, so this late afternoon I took it to a recycling center near by. The lady in charge paid me one hundred NT as the amount this heavy guy with twenty-seven-inch screen is supposed to be worth now. It had kept us company for so many years. I first picked it up brand new for six hundred US dollars at "The Good Guys", a famous store for

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-37534740892516209372011-05-02T23:24:00.000+08:002011-05-02T23:25:20.048+08:00

Let me remind all of my dearest friends here: day after day, you are moving on your way toward being more fluent in English. If you find the articles you read have more unknown vocabulary than before, you should be proud of yourselves because you feel like not being satisfied any more with simple stuff only. You are on your way to the pursuit of more real stuff in English, that something makes

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-10191191980176814982011-05-02T21:09:00.001+08:002011-05-02T21:09:32.050+08:00

Tax filing in Taiwan is as easy as 123, compared to the annoying 1040 tax return. No need to get software like Quicken or stuff like that, whereas the government offers you a downloadable program for free. More surprisingly as you open it, you will learn that the most info about you, your spouse, and dependents has been preloaded. It also advises you on which deduction you should go by, either

Changnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-28092443154947867432011-02-28T00:16:00.001+08:002011-02-28T00:16:30.672+08:00

Because of the aging society, there are more and more attention paid to the graying population, which in a way presents unlimited business opportunities.Making profits in this industry is never difficult. All businesses have to do is come up with some innovative ideas to meet the seniors' demand; in turn they will get new customers and new business opportunities. In the past few years, the

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-45394557689590659362011-02-26T21:58:00.001+08:002011-02-26T21:58:44.839+08:00

Sophia asked me what "Grand Tour" meant. Frankly I really have no idea about it. Here is what I have found on the Internet.In Google dictionary, it's a visit to the main cities of Europe made by rich young British or American people as part of their education "in the past".According Wikipedia, the Grand Tour was the traditional travel of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-77609755590485304192011-02-17T23:33:00.001+08:002011-07-16T10:40:02.213+08:00

The symptoms of my cold have been eased. Thank you all for your concern, and I also feel sorry for passing my flu over to other people like Paul Chen and whoever. Sorry about that.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-21907901439817770622011-02-07T20:29:00.001+08:002011-02-07T20:31:54.208+08:00

I took the picture in the vicinity of my parents' home. The high rises in Taipei always amaze me, but I really don't like living in the urban area. Too many cars, too many people, and too many worries. To live a little, stay away from things that will freak you out.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-11442245572338351732011-02-07T20:28:00.003+08:002011-02-07T20:29:40.867+08:00

I have slept the whole day today since I came back from Taipei in the early morning. I really had a blast hanging out with my family. Knowing that the Chinese New Year vocation will end in one more day, I decided to stay put at home today in order to reserve more energy for the days to come.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-10253381812602039432011-02-07T20:26:00.000+08:002011-02-07T20:27:41.038+08:00

On Monday morning, we will be learning an old song called "Dream on". I first heard of this song not from its original singer but from a Taiwanese lead vocal (主唱) Tarry Lin 林志炫. The song is short but very touching. Apparently I found Lin singing way much better than Scott after comparing their performance. Unfortunately I only could find the one sung by Andy Scott on Youtube.Listen to this song

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-77542164502812943622011-02-07T20:25:00.000+08:002011-02-07T20:26:28.965+08:00

A friend to my class asked me how to say "成千上萬" in English. I think something like "by the thousands and tens of thousands" can be the proper expression. But I also found that "thousands of something" meaning "數以千計" and "tens of thousands of something" meaning "數以萬計" are even more commonly used in writing. I have hardly seen any sentence written with the phrase "by the thousands and tens of

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-49342520936518817152011-02-07T20:23:00.002+08:002011-02-07T20:24:56.785+08:00

I would like to recommend another good website for all my friends- The ESL Pod. Here at this Website users can choose the topics which they want to listen to, and even download the mp3 files to listen to at their leisure. You can also find things like blogs and some other interesting features here. So make the most of it now!!Check it out now:http://www.eslpod.com/website/index_new.html

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-19032731690385122342011-02-07T20:22:00.001+08:002011-02-07T20:22:48.942+08:00

The winter break has begun. I can see more and more school students make the most of it by studying a foreign language. Some of them are returning students to their language schools. I am also looking forward to seeing them back in my class.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-51106410949499987162011-02-07T20:12:00.004+08:002011-02-07T20:21:32.855+08:00

We are going to learn two songs this week: Rick Astley's "When I fall in love" and "Together forever". Both songs are the ones of romance. The former "When I fall in love" is a very old song remastered by Rick, and the latter is originally sung by him. These two songs come in very different styles, so I really can't help but introducing the two songs to my students at the same time this week.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-40437313470249848762010-02-20T10:54:00.002+08:002010-02-20T11:00:19.098+08:00

Gong(恭)Xi(喜)發(Fa)財(Ci), whose literal meaning is "congratulations for getting rich", is commonly used in Chinese societies during Chinese Lunar New Year. It is derived from the time when Japanese was eventually defeated by the Allies in 1945. In China's Sichuan province back then, people began to use such expression, "恭喜", to congratulate one another on Jap's surrender. However, we seem to forget

Changnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-85007694757259154122010-02-10T16:13:00.002+08:002010-02-10T16:23:05.748+08:00

Something went wrong while I was taking a trip a long time ago. Probably 10 years ago. I remember I was taking a trip to Las Vegas from San Francisco in 1999. I went down there with my family during the Labor day holiday. It was a long weekend, so I decided to go somewhere farther. It usually takes about 12 hours driving down to Las Vegas, which is in Nevada state. And, you know that the city of

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-47138555087266567152010-02-08T17:45:00.005+08:002010-02-08T18:01:53.596+08:00

I found there were some errors in my writing for the Business English Unit 4 example. Here is the final version:errors 錯誤version 版本You are calling some agency to get help from its customer service. Before you are further assisted by one of its representatives, there are a few things that need to be clarified, such as your full name, ID number, etc. Do a role play like this with your

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-54339608136682140812010-01-14T08:22:00.002+08:002010-01-14T08:37:10.167+08:00

revision 修改版The hardest decision I've ever made was about whether I should move back to Taiwan in 2001. Back then I was working for a marketing company in Fremont, California. Just as with other companies in Silicon Valley which were suffering the big business downturn mostly due to the bubble economy in the US, my company started to lay off its employees in order to stay in business.hardest 最困難的

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-22912175604157826742010-01-04T17:23:00.003+08:002010-01-04T23:29:33.830+08:00

A few months have passed since I last put some words on my blog. I feel like saying something now before the end of the year, just as with other bloggers who would do the same thing on their own sites.blogger 部落客site 網站(Website) First off, 2009 feels like a plain but somehow exciting year to me and my family. This has been our second year since we relocated to the beach side. So now we can get

Changnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-74703060647110830972009-10-02T10:17:00.002+08:002009-10-02T10:21:51.843+08:00

People in Taiwan are highly addicted to Happy Farm now. Media hype should take the blame for it. As for me, I think it is such a good idea using Facebook to find friends that you haven't been in touch with. However, I don't think I will draw attention to that "Happy Farm" thing. Maybe I am just too old for it.be addicted to 沉溺於media hype 媒體的渲染take the blame for... 為...負責in touch with... 與...連絡

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-43098748327544572802009-08-02T15:22:00.003+08:002009-08-02T15:32:39.257+08:00

The hardest decision I've ever made is about whether I should come back to Taiwan in 2001. Back then I was working for a marketing company in Fremont, California. Just as other companies in Silicon Valley were suffering a big downturn mostly due to the bubble economy in the US, my company started to lay people off in order to stay in business.Back then 那時候suffering 受苦於downturn 低迷due to 由於bubble

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-23074738910870195072009-05-21T08:52:00.009+08:002009-05-23T08:12:54.260+08:00

Since years ago it has been a craze in Taiwan that many people are riding bikes. They are doing this for various reasons. However, for the most part, they ride bikes either for keeping themselves in shape, for saving gasoline expenses on their vehicles, or the like.craze 一時流行various 各種不同的for the most part 主要地keep in shape 保持健康身材gasoline expenses 汽油花費vehicle 車輛the like 等等 Speaking of myself, with

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-78971263746967899992009-03-26T09:27:00.003+08:002009-03-26T16:02:58.709+08:00

My half-baked idea of popularizing LingQ has finally shaped up. To get started, I will make my first LingQ presentation at the place where I live. I just sent an email to the chief of the apartment office. In my email, I stated clearly that I was planning on giving a presentation followed by a workshop about language learning, which would be based on some views as follows.hit the road 開始，上路

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-72752565655339173752009-03-15T08:45:00.003+08:002009-03-16T16:46:03.066+08:00

Don't take me as a teacher, please. I am just a trainer. I train you to learn English independently. This is my goal, and I have always wanted you to spend the least money on language learning but get the most effect. Here I found LingQ. I can't guarantee you that your language skills will be improved all of a sudden because it's between you and the language in the end. You are the one that

Changnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-28900293730053636362009-03-11T20:50:00.005+08:002009-03-12T23:12:40.789+08:00

Here is another letter I wrote to Mr. Steve Kaufmann on using his language learning tool, LingQ, to teach my students as I will apply for more teaching jobs to the local schools in my city.====================================================================Hi SteveI read your new post earlier today. Thanks.earlier 早先I would like to tell you that meanwhile I am working on the proposal which I will

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-88654116787734482092009-02-25T23:30:00.008+08:002009-03-12T23:16:06.611+08:00

I was in a substitute class at GVO, a.k.a. Global Village, today. This cram school has many education facilities islandwide. I used to teach there very often in the past. But now I go there only when they call on me for urgent substitute class.substitute class 代課a.k.a. 又叫做cram school 補習班education facilities 教育設施(分校)islandwide 全島used to 過去一向call on 請求urgent 緊急的I had prepared my own handout I was

Changnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-686835980441621232009-02-23T08:39:00.005+08:002009-02-23T19:11:34.435+08:00

Mr. Steve Kaufmann is a linguist, who can speak more than ten languages, Chinese Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, and just to name a few. Amazingly, he is a Caucasian Canadian, and his age is 60 something now. His success in using languages seems to have broken the myth from us that only kids can learn English better, older people are not

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-29554168579597803702009-01-18T23:19:00.005+08:002009-02-22T23:39:59.177+08:00

I found a beagle on the sidewalk the other night as I was on my way to the bus station. In the first place, I thought it must have gotten lost, so all I did was just stand there to keep her company. I thought her owner would come back for her, but I was absolutely wrong. No one seemed to come pick her up. Then I started to realize that she might be a stray dog dumped by her heartless owner.

Changnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-52837977914328322002009-01-13T21:12:00.004+08:002009-01-13T21:32:55.095+08:00

I have told some friends of mine that starting this year I will try to contribute more writings to my blog. The problem is how I am going to squeeze words and phrases out out my brain, especially when English isn't my mother tongue. After thinking for a while, I came up with an easy solution- I will probably just avoid writing something too long. Usually I write within the range of 1000 words,

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-35061194238611700072008-12-30T21:28:00.009+08:002009-01-19T08:18:36.786+08:00

Wow, it's about the end of the year. I think no matter how busy I have been in the whole year or what good excuses I have got for not writing more stuff here, I should at least commit a little my time now to a year-end review of myself. Here it goes.no matter how 不論如何的...excuse 藉口, 理由at least 至少commit 承諾,撥出year-end review 年終回顧To look back the year, I think I am a lucky guy. I know some of you may

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-75529553156124153342008-10-11T17:51:00.008+08:002008-11-01T18:19:20.325+08:00

Since I have soaked up many different ideas on how to learn a language in a more cost-effective way, I recently found a good idea doing it on my own. My son, without question, has become the guinea pig in this experiment of mine. Here is what I do.soaked up 吸收cost-effective 省成本的recently 最近地without question 無疑問地guinea pig 實驗鼠experiment 實驗First I write down something on a piece of scratch paper

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-30009086683560909892008-07-12T00:42:00.012+08:002008-07-21T23:44:39.896+08:00

I met this student again, not in the class but on the street.I was crossing the street when she came across me on her motorcycle. She was on her way home from some sort of party with her co-workers, and I was about to go home from work that night. Frankly I don't know her well. She is actually no one but a student of mine. The only one time when I talked to her went back to one evening in class.

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-64489097779774342022008-04-14T08:22:00.003+08:002008-04-14T14:47:09.481+08:00

I am excited now about buying a new home after having rented apartments for many years.excited 感到興奮的rent 租apartment 公寓The whole process of buying it is not completely settled yet because I am still negotiating the price with the dealer with the construction firm. This guy told me since the price he offered to me couldn't be accepted by both of us, he needed to ask his manager to get it lowered a

Changnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-38826652454169733862008-02-02T01:07:00.000+08:002008-02-02T02:02:47.611+08:00

The count-down clock shown above is to indicate the remaining days of presidency for the Taiwan current president- Chen Shui Bian. The clock shows how many days are left before hesteps down.count-down 倒數indicate 指出remaining 剩下的presidency 總統職位step down 下台According to the opinion polls in Taiwan, more than 80 % of the population agree that Chen is the lousiest president in Taiwan's history. Over

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-21140830351081404552008-01-02T10:10:00.000+08:002008-01-02T10:16:27.288+08:00

by WeijenIntroductionPronunciation is crucial to other language skills: word memorizing, listening, grammar, writing, reading…its importance cannot be over-emphasized. There are only 26 letters and 40 something phonemes, so why don’t so many people just take some time to master those few sounds?Thus comes the pronunciation course.The course does not pretend to change your life, but that doesn’t

Changnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-65533511101338386882007-12-11T17:32:00.000+08:002007-12-11T17:53:23.690+08:00

It just struck me that I hadn't been posting anything yet on my blog in such a long time. So, I would like to apologize to those who come visit my blog more often than not. It just struck me that ... 我突然想到post 刊登apologize 抱歉more often than not 常常The original idea of my building this blog was that I wanted to post my writing somewhere on the Web, so my friends and my students would get to know

Changnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-39367514277092675562007-10-16T23:01:00.000+08:002007-10-17T09:56:34.501+08:00

Well, there is actually not a lot on my mind. It is just that my son really pisses me off sometimes. First, I think he is neither like my wife nor like me. We always keep ourselves active in things we are working on. Instead, he lacks ambition to care about stuff around him, which nevertheless can be good for him. Moreover, it appears that only things like watching TV and playing on-line games

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-63627771150312361492007-08-14T23:42:00.000+08:002007-08-15T09:25:53.156+08:00

I haven't written anything here yet since June. For those who want to know how I have been doing recently, here is what I am going to tell you.First of all, I am still alive 活著. Though sometimes I feel like busy as hell 忙得跟狗一樣, I never stop to complain about 抱怨 anything. Instead 反而, I think I am getting more energy 能量 out of my job. To let more people know that I am a hard-working guy, I have

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-54633555708880712792007-06-26T10:16:00.000+08:002007-06-27T16:29:28.404+08:00

A reliable source of information indicates that the marriage rate has been going down down on a annual basis, which has been accompanied by a low birth rate as well. The increasing population of the elderly is causing an aging society.reliable 可靠的indicate 指出on a annual basis 每年地accompany 伴隨increasing 增加的population 人口the elderly 老人aging 老化的The more developed the society is, the higher standard has

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-78363540522325865202007-06-21T00:40:00.000+08:002007-06-23T23:45:21.040+08:00

An improved life has little to do with materials but more with spiritimproved 被提昇的，改進的material 物質的spirit 心靈的For the average people like you and me, the foremost concerns for how to live better lives in this material world seem to involve buying more luxurious houses, posher set of wheels and outfits, higher position at work, more relations in sex, and just to name a few. Therefore, making more

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-12512612282129508182007-06-01T16:51:00.000+08:002007-06-03T01:17:21.248+08:00

I got a chance to be a subsitute teacher for a writing class last night. The topic of the night was "Writing Descriptions". During the class, I asked each of the students to work on a translation practice. They all seemed to pretty enjoy themselves while working on that. Here is the original text in Chinese following an English translated sample:昨天下午3點30分左右，市中心第一聯邦銀行發生一宗搶案。兩名搶匪闖入偷走了300萬元台幣。

Changnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-71139677359166059182007-04-25T15:32:00.000+08:002007-04-25T23:53:50.231+08:00

Few days ago I bumped into a guy who used to be in my class before. I caught his eye while entering the lobby of the building where I usually had class at. I run into people I know here more often than not because this gate seems to be the only access to the building for all workers of the company for the sake of security.personal endeavor 個人努力bump into 碰到used to 曾經catch one's eye 四目交接enter 進入

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-44531865222510585852007-04-18T09:08:00.000+08:002007-04-18T15:11:54.883+08:00

I would like to tell you a true story about myself. It just happened last night and the moral of it is how important cooling down yourself can be.unexpected compensation 不預期的賠償moral 寓意cool down 冷靜I pulled my car into the nearest gas station of my home on Tuesday night, as usual. On Tuesdays this station provides its customers with much cheaper gas price than others-- normally around 1.5 NT per

Changnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-52128117569893561972007-03-14T23:07:00.000+08:002007-03-14T23:24:23.181+08:00

Dear teacher,Thank you so much for the Business English course. I am now reading English grammar by myself.The textbook is "Tunghua Contemporary English Grammar". This book is intended for those Chinese learners of English who range in their background from the first year of senior high to the freshman level of college, said by the author.It is difficult for me to read, because this book is

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-55656304088521827492007-02-17T00:45:00.000+08:002007-02-17T01:18:11.044+08:00

I recently found that my bank had been continuously charging me 25 dollars each month.recently 最近continuously 不間斷地charge 收費I just couldn't believe what I saw as I was viewing my account information on the bank's Website. I rarely do the checking on my account since I believe there shouldn't be no problem with that. Normally most banks in the U.S. won't charge their clients if they have saved

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-39259549700454485912007-02-02T00:08:00.000+08:002007-02-02T00:25:10.792+08:00

Dear friends:Here I would like to make a pleasant announcement about English reading. My long-time friend Bruce Lin is going to open a few English reading activities in Taipei. He will be working with you on several issues including finding the beauty of English reading, acquisition of language, use of Harry Potter series, and so forth.Bruce is not only a learned person but also an experienced

Changnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1168529226799599072007-01-11T22:49:00.000+08:002007-01-12T11:03:32.300+08:00

It is supposed to be a great thing to see the grand opening of Taiwan High Speed Railway (HSR) which has been on its trail operartion for a few days. However, I just can't convince myself to be proud of it, seeing so many problems come up over the past few days. Maybe I shouldn't be so mean to them, seriously. I understand that the lousy situation will be eventually under control, but I also want

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1167051568531662112006-12-25T20:42:00.000+08:002006-12-31T00:39:40.630+08:00

I recently subscribed to some podcast programs on the Internet about how to learn English in a more efficient way. One of them which impresses me most comes from Steve Kaufman. Speaking of this Canadian people, his capability of speaking nine languages has indeed surprised lots of people including myself. Not only can he fluently speak some European languages which I believe easier for him to

Changnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1166458971305192132006-12-18T23:26:00.000+08:002006-12-20T10:38:54.393+08:00

It sure surprised me to see unexpected high number of students in my class tonight.unexpected 沒有預期的Usually on Mondays, most learners still suffer from the impact of Post-holiday syndrome. I can perceive that the reason why low attendance rate is usually well predicted for Monday's class is that the two day's rest has made their tiredness. As they get back to work on Mondays, seeing countless

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1165545004294640232006-12-08T10:20:00.000+08:002006-12-08T10:30:04.316+08:00

Mr. Chang was very angry at Tonny because he said dirty words in class. Therefore he decided to teach him a lesson."Tonny. As I metioned earlier, those who say dirty words in class will have to pay five dollars to us as a fund for the class. Pay us now!""Okay, Mr.Chang. Here is ten dollars. Would you make change for me?" Tonny said to him."Sure. Let me check if I have some in my pocket...Ooops! I

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1165508212547222612006-12-08T00:06:00.000+08:002006-12-08T00:16:52.586+08:00

Customer: I'd like to buy a book which contains no killing, no romance, no mystries, no billionaire's stories, no sexy girls and macho men. Can you recommend one?Clerk: Let me think.......how about a train schedule?

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1164039848645947362006-11-21T00:15:00.000+08:002006-11-21T17:57:56.466+08:00

A young lady asked me in class if I had ever seen a movie called "Matchman", wondering what that meant in English. I had no idea frankly speaking, but I promised her that I would find the answer for her asap.wonder 想知道frankly speaking 坦白說promise 承諾asap= as soon as possibleAftre returning home, I looked up my dictionary and found no answers to that word. I also checked answers.com and the outcome

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1162473462136764682006-11-02T20:45:00.000+08:002006-11-03T15:06:11.353+08:00

It has been a long while since I introduced Podcast to you. Now to continue with Part One, I would like to provide you with more resources for getting Podcast programs. The followings are the handy Podcasts I found:introduce 介紹 provide someone with something 提供某人某事resource 資源Podcast--> an audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1160030741761309912006-10-05T14:30:00.000+08:002006-11-03T09:14:52.166+08:00

I know you should blame me for not having shown up for such a long time. There is no excuse for that. Plus I'd just like to tell you that I never forget you all. I am hoping that you are able to make the best use of this long weekend. Four consecutive holidays is a real nice gift to certain degree. Your family are expecting you to go back home for the happen-once-a-year gathering.What are you

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1157952952484511262006-09-11T13:32:00.000+08:002006-09-11T13:35:52.506+08:00

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1157875414326007222006-09-10T16:01:00.000+08:002006-09-11T15:50:05.306+08:00

I had never joined a demonstration before; however, this one seemed not only important to me but also to all the people who live on this island.join 加入demonstration 遊行seem 似乎I went on the Kaitakelan Boulevard yesterday at about 3 pm, seeing over 100,000 local people rally to demand the resignation of President Chen Shui-bian. Most of us do believe that he must step down due to his series of

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1156354118618279252006-08-24T00:58:00.000+08:002006-08-24T01:35:30.103+08:00

Five years ago as I moved back in Taiwan, I had never thought about that one day I would stick to a teaching job like this for such a long time. It is all due to the help from Bruce, a friend of mine who I met in the US. If you wish to know more about what'd happened between he and me, pelase refer to my earlier articles on this blog. I hope you can find it.stick to something 堅定於due to 由於refer to

Changnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9372001.post-1155712482629363742006-08-16T15:11:00.000+08:002006-08-18T01:18:03.080+08:00

The question that people often ask me is about how to improve their TOEIC scores. I think to answer the question is quite simple. Usually before giving an advice I would ask how many tests, both the real and simulated ones, they have already taken so far. Not surprisingly, most of them just did very few times to the tests. No wonder they wanted to know if there are some sort of instant way to get

Changnoreply@blogger.com0