Tuesday, July 31, 2007

On learning a new lingo...

My new computer has been having issues but I'm glad at this point they are all resolved. First the DVD drive stopped working, then the CD drive, and last night the browser would not open if I begin with my blog site... I guess this is the flop side to technology. No more surprise please!

Today our class officially finished the first semester with the last final test. The oral interviews were dragging long but I could not help listening in awe to these Americans who have only learned Mandarin for 5 months. They definitely speak better than many Hong Kong Chinese! And I love them to death as they are so fun to teach but they take learning seriously at the same time.

Many people ask the secret to mastering a foreign language, through this experience of teaching with encouraging results from both "low acheivers" and "high achievers" my conclusion for effective language learning without too much of the theories from the academia includes the following factors:
~courage to take risks: mistakes are your best teachers!
~determination to work hard: you need to put in your effort to lay a foundation of knowledge to be built on.
~good rapport: working with fellow learners and teachers as friends definitely help ease the nerve and you can always swap ideas and tricks to do better.
~multiple resources: references, internet, software, media, and even background knowledge and experience just make things easier that one can relate to or associate with.
~open mindedness: just be aware of the many different ways of expressing thoughts and ideas with different languages.
~passion to learn: the more opportunity one finds to use the language, only the better will one get.
~sense to culture: I realize when I learn a new language, it opens a door to a whole new world to me. One good illustration is that I used to detest and frown on anything written in simplified Chinese. But once I get used to it, there are million more books that I can enjoy, and look where it has brought me... landing at this wonderful job. :)

Monday, July 30, 2007

Update

Another couple weeks. Or even another year has passed. Birthday does not mean as much for me now but I still managed to take a trip to Vegas, West Grand Canyon in Arizona, and San Diego last weekend. These are the places I always enjoy or long to go. Quite an experience. We drove a total of about 1600 miles in 4 days but it was very enjoyable. Stayed at Planet Hollywood in Vegas the first day and I had my free birthday seafood buffet at Todai. The seafood platter I created was way better than a birthday cake!Then we were headed to my much anticipated West Grand Canyon and experienced the Skywalk.It was smaller than we expected but the view was spectacular and it did feel scary when I took the first step onto the middle of the glass floor with 4000 feet deep of Grand Canyon clear below. I wish they had built a complete glass platform instead of a U-shape walkway with only a tiny path of trasparent glass. We chose to stay at the cabin there in the ranch for the night. It was shockingly barren and primitive when we arrived at the "cowboy town" but it turned out to be a nice, peaceful, and quiet stay in contrast to the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle we are always in. We even befriended a local native Hualapai tribe member that he taught us how to toss horseshoes, throw axes, and even play with guns. He also told us a little bit about his background and the area. My friend said the horsewagon ride was even more fun than Skywalk. I would not mind doing this kind of living in the wild more often.Horse wagon ride towards Grand CanyonPlaying with a gun!Being a silly and stupid cowboy...Sunrise looking out from our cabin.We also drove pass the Hoover Dam en route to Grand Canyon.
San Diego is rather cool and hip with its rich and diverse culture.Historic building in Balboa Park
Our last event for the trip was the Wild Animal Park. I love animals. Especially those from Africa! How can this be possible?! I did see both zebras and giraffes at the zoo which is waaaayyyy coooool.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Getting hi-teched...

I found technology more and more amazing each day. The DVD drive has been having problems on my new laptop and I've been working on that for the past week with technicians from Dell over the last week. You know these days much of the IT service is outsourced to India from the US and so what happened was a bunch of tech guys remotely accessed my computer from India (cuz I could tell from their names). It's so crazy watching some invisible guy working on my computer through the internet. Their conclusion after a whole week of investigating on my system is that I need a new drive that they will send me a new one. I'm glad I get the problem fixed without taking the computer anywhere or even leaving my desk at all.

I'm also addicted to YouTube these days that I found so many lost gems and hidden treasures like my favorite cartoons from childhood, tv shows from around the world, and lots of hilarious stuff. If you download the latest version of Real Player you can even save them onto your own computer! Here are some of my new founds:

I think I saw this quite a while ago but it still looks better than many shows you pay to watch now!

I was so glad I was referred to this that I never got to read the books even though I have them. It is even more interesting to see and hear first hand with Patten what was actually going on the few years before the handover.

When I first listened to this girl sing, I didn't quite like it, but as I saw her on different episodes I was mesmerized by her grace and poise. She's just a heaven-sent angel.

I think I saw this documentary in the theater when I was very little. Sky is the limit of what humans can do.

I saw this dog on another tv show and I guess there are times people can learn from dogs...

Last but not least this is my favorite cartoon of all time! So funny, random, and hip at the time. It's like the asian version of the Simpsons. I used to rush home after school to watch it to get good laughs.

Ok, enough idly sitting and watching stuff. I'd better go out do something more active to shed off my extra few pounds...

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Wonders

I like today's date. 7 has always been my favorite number.

I've been quite occupied by what I considered as errants but something can't live without: figuring out the new computer, fixing the internet connection (I do have internet withdrawal syndromes), fixing my car, someone's birthday, and some important legal paper work (no, I'm not suing or being sued by someone). Amidst all this madness I was able to experience and enjoy some of the natural or man-made wonders in the area.

We had our first class outing about a week ago and the weather was perfect. After the "Chinese" lunch at a restaurant we headed to the beach for a few games. Had a great time. It's incredible to see these soldiers playing Chinese kid games!
Last weekend I finally made it to the well known Hearst Castle. The media magnate millionaire William Hearst made his dream of building a European style castle dwelling come true by working with the bold female architect Julie Morgan. (I finished reading a children book of her biography at the giftshop!) Owning over 250,000 acres of land, he constructed a castle spanning over 100 acres with 165 rooms and two humongous swimming pools. I would die to swim in those!

Then we checked out the Point Lobos Reservation on July 4th and the view is so stunningly beautiful and it was surprisingly calm and quiet except for the sound of the waves and the occasional noise from the wild seals.That is the remains of a whale the fisherman caught years ago!