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. Worrying that she might get hit by the cars or motorcycles she dodged, I decided to take her home first. Now I am in trouble, for I have already reared one dog, I really have hard time keeping another one. Will anyone like to keep a dog? Please let me know. Again, she is a beagle, known as the one with short legs and smooth fur, sometimes used in hunting. Send you email to me if interested. My email: aboto1@yahoo.com
beagle 米格魯犬
sidewalk 人行道
in the first place 一開始
get lost 迷路, 走失
keep someone company 陪伴某人
absolutely 絕對
seem to 似乎
pick someone up 領某人走
realize 理解
stray dog 流浪狗
dump 拋棄
heartless 狠心的
dodge 躲避
for 因為
rear 飼養
known 大家知道的
fur 毛
January 18, 2009
January 13, 2009
Resolution of the New Year
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, which always takes me a long while to finish. If I cut them down to half or even less than that, I will have more of inspiration for the next one.
contribute 貢獻
squeeze 壓, 榨出
mother tongue 母語
came up with 想出
solution 解決方法
avoid 避免
range 範圍
long while 長時間
cut down 刪減
less than 少於
inspiration 靈感
contribute 貢獻
squeeze 壓, 榨出
mother tongue 母語
came up with 想出
solution 解決方法
avoid 避免
range 範圍
long while 長時間
cut down 刪減
less than 少於
inspiration 靈感
December 30, 2008
My Newsletter of 2008
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 have faced a pay cut over the last few weeks or months, and what's worse is that some got unemployed. I feel sorry for those who have been suffering from this year-long economic recession. To some degrees, I am fine at present. So far I have only got notified about cancellation of two classes only. Just a minor loss on my pay, frankly speaking.
pay cut 薪水刪減
unemployed 被解職
suffer from 受...之苦
year-long 整年的
economic recession 經濟不景氣
at present 目前
to some degrees 某種程度而言
so far 目前為止
notified 被通知
cancellation 取消
minor loss 輕微損失
frankly speaking 坦白而言
I am still in love of teaching, and getting much more interest in doing it. My friends in class and I are like a family sometimes. I know how to entertain them and what is the key to being a successful teacher. As I always mention to you, repetition of reading and listening is the most important thing in learning a language. I am still doing it as well since I am also a learner to language learning. So are you doing it, right? I am planning to learn different languages for year to come, so don't be surprised if you hear me speaking different languages in class.
entertain 娛樂
mention 提及
repetition 重複
Brian will soon finish his first semester of the Fourth Grade in his school. Maggie quit her job in the middle of the year, and now she is a "full-time" worker doing house chores every day. Brian has some problems with math this semester, and he is still working on it. Maggie doesn't seem to find a job in the short run, especially after we kept our first dog at home. She now is too busy taking care of our dog to consider getting back to work. Well, I don't mind being the only bread winner for my family as long as my income is sufficient.
semester 學期
grade 年級
grade school 小學
quit 辭去
house chores 家事
math 數學
in the short run 短期來說
especially 特別是
consider 考慮
bread winner 養家的人
as long as 只要
income 收入
sufficient 足夠的
Alright, I have to stop here even though I still have a lot to say. At any rate, I wish everyone the best in the future, Happy 2009 to you all.
at any rate 無論如何
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 have faced a pay cut over the last few weeks or months, and what's worse is that some got unemployed. I feel sorry for those who have been suffering from this year-long economic recession. To some degrees, I am fine at present. So far I have only got notified about cancellation of two classes only. Just a minor loss on my pay, frankly speaking.
pay cut 薪水刪減
unemployed 被解職
suffer from 受...之苦
year-long 整年的
economic recession 經濟不景氣
at present 目前
to some degrees 某種程度而言
so far 目前為止
notified 被通知
cancellation 取消
minor loss 輕微損失
frankly speaking 坦白而言
I am still in love of teaching, and getting much more interest in doing it. My friends in class and I are like a family sometimes. I know how to entertain them and what is the key to being a successful teacher. As I always mention to you, repetition of reading and listening is the most important thing in learning a language. I am still doing it as well since I am also a learner to language learning. So are you doing it, right? I am planning to learn different languages for year to come, so don't be surprised if you hear me speaking different languages in class.
entertain 娛樂
mention 提及
repetition 重複
Brian will soon finish his first semester of the Fourth Grade in his school. Maggie quit her job in the middle of the year, and now she is a "full-time" worker doing house chores every day. Brian has some problems with math this semester, and he is still working on it. Maggie doesn't seem to find a job in the short run, especially after we kept our first dog at home. She now is too busy taking care of our dog to consider getting back to work. Well, I don't mind being the only bread winner for my family as long as my income is sufficient.
semester 學期
grade 年級
grade school 小學
quit 辭去
house chores 家事
math 數學
in the short run 短期來說
especially 特別是
consider 考慮
bread winner 養家的人
as long as 只要
income 收入
sufficient 足夠的
Alright, I have to stop here even though I still have a lot to say. At any rate, I wish everyone the best in the future, Happy 2009 to you all.
at any rate 無論如何
October 11, 2008
Try this way to help your kids learn a language
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 which I suppose my son may be interested in. For example, my family, my dog, my favorite music, and just to name a few. These topics as well as their contents must come very closely to the real things happened to my son. In fact, I don't want to play any English-learning CDs for my son because I know he won't be interested in them. I found them too unreal and too boring for him.
scratch paper 便條紙
suppose 假設，認為
to name a few 舉幾個例子
as well as 和
come very closely to 非常接近
in fact 事實上
Then I record the things I wrote into a music file format, say wav or mp3. And that's it. I burn the files into a CD and play it every night when my son goes to bed. There are not only English words in the CD but also translated words into Chinese after each word in English is read by me, so he can immediately get to know the meaning of each English word. I repeat the whole sentence again and again in both languages. Day after day I add different topics into the CD, so more and more new words and stories have been generated. More importantly to say, these stories are authentic things going around in his everyday life.
burn into 燒成
not only...but also... 不僅...而且...
translated into 翻譯成
immediately 立刻
get to 有機會去
repeat 重複
generate 產生
authentic 道地的
If you try doing the same thing as I did, you will find, your pronunciation skills in English is improved, your kid is more likely to listen to such an "English-learning" program done by no others but you. It's rewarding task to try. Believe me.
pronunciation 發音
improved 改進的
more likely to 有可能去
listen to 聽
rewarding 值得的
task 工作
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 which I suppose my son may be interested in. For example, my family, my dog, my favorite music, and just to name a few. These topics as well as their contents must come very closely to the real things happened to my son. In fact, I don't want to play any English-learning CDs for my son because I know he won't be interested in them. I found them too unreal and too boring for him.
scratch paper 便條紙
suppose 假設，認為
to name a few 舉幾個例子
as well as 和
come very closely to 非常接近
in fact 事實上
Then I record the things I wrote into a music file format, say wav or mp3. And that's it. I burn the files into a CD and play it every night when my son goes to bed. There are not only English words in the CD but also translated words into Chinese after each word in English is read by me, so he can immediately get to know the meaning of each English word. I repeat the whole sentence again and again in both languages. Day after day I add different topics into the CD, so more and more new words and stories have been generated. More importantly to say, these stories are authentic things going around in his everyday life.
burn into 燒成
not only...but also... 不僅...而且...
translated into 翻譯成
immediately 立刻
get to 有機會去
repeat 重複
generate 產生
authentic 道地的
If you try doing the same thing as I did, you will find, your pronunciation skills in English is improved, your kid is more likely to listen to such an "English-learning" program done by no others but you. It's rewarding task to try. Believe me.
pronunciation 發音
improved 改進的
more likely to 有可能去
listen to 聽
rewarding 值得的
task 工作
July 12, 2008
If she weren't here, she would be....
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. I just happened to have a question for her, which went "Did you ever live abroad?" I liked to ask her the question because she looks different than the average people in my class. To be more specific, I must say she just resembles most of the America-born Chinese I had ever met with while in the US. Consequently, I got a positive answer. Yes, she was there before.
cross 跨越
come across 遇見
some sort of 某種的
co-worker 同事
be about to 準備要去
happen to 剛好有機會去
average people 一般人
to be more specific 更仔細的說
frankly 坦白講
resemble 相似
consequently 最後
positive 肯定的
Now back to the street where I met her. Since she turned off her motorcycle trying to pull it over a bit to the side of the road, I realized that she was ready to have a small talk with me. I was happy to do that too, if it wasn't taking me too much time. So, the conversation began.
turn off 關掉
pull over 車開到一旁
a bit 一點點
small talk 閒聊
She was born there but for some reason she relocated to Taiwan when she was 12. I didn't ask why because I thought it would be too rude to ask some private questions. However, there must be an interesting reason behind. She must have had a terribly hard time here in the beginning. Since then, she proceeded to live her life on the island just like you and me. She went to school here, learning Chinese language from scratch. Maybe she just could already speak our language in the first place but writing could be a headache for her. Now she seems to have sorted out all the problems. She has become a full-fledged and independent woman and needs no help from anyone at all to survive in this fast-pace surrounding. Good for her, I definitely think. And I used to encounter the same problems as she did. The difference between us is that I was suffering the cultural shock in the US.
relocate 搬家
rude 無禮的
private 私人的
behind 在...之後
deal with 應付
perhaps 也許
proceed to 繼續去
from scratch 從頭開始
headache 頭痛
sort out 解決
full-fledged 羽翼豐滿的
independent 獨立的
survive 生存
fast-pace 快速步調的
surrounding 環境
definitely 一定地
encounter 遇見
suffer 受苦
culture shock 文化衝擊
After we ended our talk that night, I began to ponder something in my mind. I wondered what her life would have been like if she hadn't moved here. Did she ever regret moving down here? Would she be happier than now if she still lived in the US? Would she have a better career life, or a more harmonious relationship with people? I am not sure, but I guess she would be totally different than now.
end 結束
ponder 沉思
wonder 想知道
regret 後悔
career 事業
harmonious 和諧的
relationship 關係
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. I just happened to have a question for her, which went "Did you ever live abroad?" I liked to ask her the question because she looks different than the average people in my class. To be more specific, I must say she just resembles most of the America-born Chinese I had ever met with while in the US. Consequently, I got a positive answer. Yes, she was there before.
cross 跨越
come across 遇見
some sort of 某種的
co-worker 同事
be about to 準備要去
happen to 剛好有機會去
average people 一般人
to be more specific 更仔細的說
frankly 坦白講
resemble 相似
consequently 最後
positive 肯定的
Now back to the street where I met her. Since she turned off her motorcycle trying to pull it over a bit to the side of the road, I realized that she was ready to have a small talk with me. I was happy to do that too, if it wasn't taking me too much time. So, the conversation began.
turn off 關掉
pull over 車開到一旁
a bit 一點點
small talk 閒聊
She was born there but for some reason she relocated to Taiwan when she was 12. I didn't ask why because I thought it would be too rude to ask some private questions. However, there must be an interesting reason behind. She must have had a terribly hard time here in the beginning. Since then, she proceeded to live her life on the island just like you and me. She went to school here, learning Chinese language from scratch. Maybe she just could already speak our language in the first place but writing could be a headache for her. Now she seems to have sorted out all the problems. She has become a full-fledged and independent woman and needs no help from anyone at all to survive in this fast-pace surrounding. Good for her, I definitely think. And I used to encounter the same problems as she did. The difference between us is that I was suffering the cultural shock in the US.
relocate 搬家
rude 無禮的
private 私人的
behind 在...之後
deal with 應付
perhaps 也許
proceed to 繼續去
from scratch 從頭開始
headache 頭痛
sort out 解決
full-fledged 羽翼豐滿的
independent 獨立的
survive 生存
fast-pace 快速步調的
surrounding 環境
definitely 一定地
encounter 遇見
suffer 受苦
culture shock 文化衝擊
After we ended our talk that night, I began to ponder something in my mind. I wondered what her life would have been like if she hadn't moved here. Did she ever regret moving down here? Would she be happier than now if she still lived in the US? Would she have a better career life, or a more harmonious relationship with people? I am not sure, but I guess she would be totally different than now.
end 結束
ponder 沉思
wonder 想知道
regret 後悔
career 事業
harmonious 和諧的
relationship 關係
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