Show and Tell: A Tang Jacket

^{David modelling his Tang jacket}

This month my students are doing show and tell presentations. A show and tell presentation is a kind of informal talk in which a student stands up in front of the class and talks about an object he or she has brought to class.

That's why we call it show and tell. First, you show the object to the class . Then, you talk about what it is, where you got it, why it is important to you, or to your culture, whether it has a historical or an emotional story behind it

A few days ago,my student David brought in a beautiful tang jacket, which he modeled. He gave a short, but very interesting talk about the jacket and how it has come back into fashion - especially during the Spring Festival.  The non Asian students in class were very interested and had many questions. 

 More about  the Tang jacket

A tangzhuang (Chinese:  literally "Chinese suit" is a Chinese jacket that originated at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). 

Tangzhuang evolved from Magua ( a Manchu clothing, which was in turn adopted by the Han Chinese during Qing Dynasty. At that time, only noblemen, aristocracy and government officials were wearing it, however, in modern times it was eventually adopted by common people.  

Tangzhuang has become one of the 3 main formal men's dress wear in China behind Zhongshan suit and western suit. Tangzhuang is usually made in different colors, most commonly red, dark blue and gold etc for creating a harmonious, joy and festive atmosphere. 

One common design is the usage of Chinese characters (Hanzi, 汉字) as monogram such as Fu (福,'happiness' in Chinese), Shou (寿, 'longevity' in Chinese) to spread good luck and wishes.

 Now wearing Tangzhuang at important occasions such as formal partyiesm festivals and celebrations has become a trend for Chinese men while women will usually wear Qipao to match them.

How Small Talk Saved a Life

Many English learners don't want to try making small talk because they are afraid that they will make mistakes, that people will laugh at them, or that they will be "uncomfortable." 

The truth is you WILL  make mistakes and you WILL be uncomfortable when you go out and practice, but THAT'S O.K.

You can't learn unless you make mistakes and unless you are uncomfortable. That's what learning is all about.

Learning = being uncomfortable  

Have you ever learned how to ride a bicycle,  how to swim, how to drive, how to play the piano well without making mistakes, or without being "uncomfortable."  I don't think so.


When you are trying to improve your English listening and speaking, being too comfortable means you are probably not learning anything new. You are simply staying at the same level - your "comfort level."

That's fine if you don't want to get better.  But, if you want to make English speaking friends,  get into a good English university or find a good job where strong English communication skills are required, you need to be prepared to be uncomfortable and to make mistakes.

The Power of Small Talk 

It IS very important to learn how to make small talk. Learning how to become comfortable while you do it, will help you in many social, educational and business situations in the future.  It will definitely help you make new friends. It might even help you save a life. 

 Making small talk is the first and most important step in making new friends. Those few seconds or minutes of "chit chat"  are when you break the ice in order to get a conversation going. 

Sometimes that one or two minute conversation can simply be that: a pleasant exchange. Other times it can be the beginnings of a beautiful friendship. 

Watch the following video to get an idea about the difference small talk can make in a person's life.

I will be writing more posts on the "art of making small talk, but for now try 
 Improve Your Small Talk: Review 2012

SO... WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT'S YOUR OPINION:  

Here are a few questions to think about.  

As an English instructor, I would greatly appreciate your comments and feedback on this video and any of the questions below. .

QUESTIONS: 

• What is YOUR reaction to this story? 

•  Has it convinced you to try and practice ,making small talk? 

• Do you think it is important to learn how to make small talk? Why?

•   What are the advantages of knowing how to do it?  What are the disadvantages? 

•  What kind of experiences have you had making small talk with strangers? Has it led to anything more? 

LEAVING A COMMENT:  

•  You do not need to be a member of this site to leave a comment. 

• To add a comment, click on the comment button below - even if it says 0 comments. That is how you open the comment box. 

• If you are still not sure, read the how to leave a comment .

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What is She Like? Personality Vocabulary

One way to help yourself learn, study, remember and even  spell and pronounce new words is with  a program called Quizlet. 
 Quizlet allows you to make  flashcards, in the same way as you would make flashcards of your own. 

It then allows you to learn the new words, along with their meanings. You can then test yourself and even play games to help yourself remember. 

 Hear and learn to spell the words

Two of the best features of the program is that it allows you to hear the pronunciation of the new word, the definition and even an example sentence. As well,  it teaches you how to spell the word by dictating it to you so that you can practice spelling it yourself. 

Today, I am featuring Part 1 of a vocabulary list on personality words.

Before you study them, make sure you understand the difference between several expressions with the word: like. 

Does Like vs Is Like  

What  does he like? = What kind of thing does he like? This depends on the context of the conversation. If you are talking about television, it means what program does he/she like? It your are talking about food, it refers to the type of food the person likes. If you are talking about sports, it refers to the kind of sport the person likes. 


What does she like to do? = activity 
 What are this person's interests?  Does he/she like or enjoy sports, reading books, going for walks, cooking? How does she enjoy spending her spare time?  

What does he/she look like? =  physical appearance
Is the person, short, tall, slender, chubby? Does he/she have blond, black, brown hair etc? 



What IS he/she like?  =  character or personality 
 
When we ask what a person IS  like, we want to know if the person is thoughtful, dependable, outgoing, reserved, friendly, or sociable?  

These words and examples that show a person has this personality trait will let us know if we will enjoy spending time with this person or not. 


For the complete set of activities, go to Quizlet: Personality Vocabulary

SMART Goals for Improving Your English

 

Six months ago I posted an article about how ESL students can achieve their goals more successfully.
Today, as a new year AND a new term begin for many of you, I want to re-post that article because I think many of you could really benefit from reading it. 

You CAN be successful.  BUT, you need to be very clear about to WHAT specific goal you want to achieve, how realistic it is and how you actually plan to do it.  This article can help you start start the process. 

Reaching Goals the SMART Way

If I asked you what your goals are for this term, many of you would say: " I want to improve my English."  Others would try to be a little more specific and say, " I want  to be more fluent."  or I want to improve my grammar." 

What do these  vague  goals actually mean?  How do you know how to achieve them, or when you have actually achieved them?  
 

So... what's the answer?

It's important for you to have a dream, a destination you want to reach.  However, if you truly want to reach that destination,  you can't just hope it will happen by saying you want to improve. You need real strategies  that will help you get what you want. 

Instead of having vague, undefined goals, you need to set realistic targets for yourself - targets you can actually hit or reach.  

Business experts and psychologists have proven that setting SMART goals will help you get to your destination much more efficiently and effectively. They will also allow you to measure and see the progress you have made.

The word SMART is an  acronym for the words: SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, REALISTIC AND TIMELY. 

'Watch the following video on SMART goals. Then, think about how the strategy could be  used to help you set "real" goals for different aspects of your English learning. 

;

 

VIDEO # 2: SMART GOALS for language learning  

So what does this all mean?

One way to think about  SMART GOALS is to think of them as a series of smaller,  easy to accomplish action steps towards achieving your bigger goal. 

If you use this method, you are more likely to move one step closer to your final goal instead of always being disappointed with yourself and your progress. You are also more likely to develop the self-discipline to do the required work, and the belief that you can eventually achieve your bigger goal.

S= Specific: 

• Make your goal(s) specific, not general. 
• What do you want to accomplish? Saying you want to improve your English grammar is general. It doesn't really mean anything because you don't really know what you really want, or how to measure it. 
• On the other hand, if you are an advanced level student, start with something like " I want to be able to write with only a few verb tense mistakes by the end of the term,  or I want to understand and use prepositions properly 80% of the time."   
• Don't say you want to improve your communication skills.Try something like this: I want to be able to comfortably carry on a ten minute conversation with a stranger. 

M=Measurable. 

• Make your goals measurable.  For example, if you want to make fewer verb tense errors in your writing, start working towards that goal by learning which tenses to use in your writing. 
• Start proofreading and editing  your writing. Finally, count the  number of verb tense errors your teacher has marked. Are you making fewer errors each time? Don't give up after one or two tries. Keep doing this over a period of time, and measure the improvement. 
• Are you getting closer to your goal? If you do reach your goal- extend the goal,or develop another one.

A= Attainable:

• Make sure you can achieve your goal within a realistic amount of time. 
• Don't set too many at the same time. For example, if you are not comfortable speaking English out of class, don't think you will be fluent and comfortable at the end of three months. Instead, decide that you want to be comfortable speaking in a few non-survival situations.  Then, make a plan and stick to it.
•  If you never speak English outside of class, decide to join a church, a club, a meet-up group, or a sports team. Do this regularly, and as often as possible. Participate, become engaged rather than sitting back and letting others do the talking. Become as comfortable as you can with that particular group. 
• After a few weeks, try to determine if your comfort level has increased. 
• Continue measuring it. Are you now using your English spontaneously with strangers, at work?

R= Realistic or Relevant 

• Make sure you goal is relevant to your needs. 
• Focus on areas you are weak in  rather than on stronger skills.  For example, if your  pronunciation is OK,  leave it alone. 
•  Decide what you DO need to work on now. How about your vocabulary? Do you still use simple words like bad, good nice, interesting, have, be, and do instead of better words that show you are not a beginner.  
• Determine the  kind of vocabulary you want to be able to actively use correctly in three months. 
• Make sure these words are useful ones for your life - NOT  the kind you will only use once on a TOEFL test. Then, make a plan as to how you intend to accomplish this. Make your plan specific, measurable and realistic.

T= Time Bound (Creating Deadlines)

• Set a time frame, or deadline within which you want to achieve your small goals.
•  Remember. There is no magic. Your English will not be perfect in three months. It takes time. 
• But, you CAN make fewer mistakes in your writing and speaking. You CAN improve your ability to listen to the news, or understand more complicated instructions at work. You CAN  start feeling more comfortable stepping outside your comfort zone and speaking to English speakers. 

What next?

Next, I will discuss some of the steps involved in setting and most importantly keeping SMART GOALS. Some of the steps include choosing your goal(s). writing them down, assessing them and getting specific, creating a plan and executing it by developing  habits and making changes  in your life to  make time for your actions, staying motivated, tracking your progress and being accountable. 

  
  What do YOU think about this?    All comments and suggestions are welcome. 

 To leave a  comment, click on the  blue word comment or no comments.  

 

Polar Bear Swim: A New Years Tradition

Can you think of a better way to ring in   the New Year than plunging into  freezing water? 

All over the world, thousands of people participate in annual Polar Bear swims, running into icy lakes, rivers and even oceans  in order to  welcome the new year.  The first day of the year in 2013 was no different. 

Some do it because it has become an "fun and exciting" tradition for themselves, their families and friends. 

Others do it only once in their life "just for the experience of being able to say they went swimming on the January 1stm." or because they think it will bring them good luck.

Still others do it to raise money for charity.  This year, the majority of American Polar Bear plunges were held to raise money for victims of Hurricane Sandy. 

 Netherlands Polar Bear Swim Biggest in the World 
 

The biggest polar bear swim in the world takes place in the Netherlands. Every New Year's day  more than 30,000 people jump into freezing water in a  "neiujhaarsduik"   (New Year's dive)  in 89 locations around the country. This year a record 37,000 participated in the annual event.

The largest dive is held at the beach of Scheveningen, where well over 10,000 people plunge into the sea each year. 

The Dutch tradition started in 1960 in Zandvoort when a swim club decided to start the year fresh with a plunge in the sea. The new year’s dive received national attention after a big soup brand decided to sponsor it. From that moment on, the amount of participants and locations has increased every year.” 




Vancouver, Canada: Oldest Polar Bear Swim 

One of the oldest and most established Polar Bear swims took place in Vancouver Canada's English Bay. This year  a record 2,200 dressed in super hero, dinosaur, shark and other wild costumes raced into the water to the encouragement of more than 20,000 observers. 
 
The Vancouver Polar Bear Swim club has been around since 1920 when there were only 10 swimmers. Since then  its membership has grown to hold a new record of 2,246 official entries set in 2011. Now, in its 93rd year, this year's 2013 swim raised food and cash for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.

Increasingly International
An increasing number of people from all over the world are now participating in the annual event. 

Baba Keisuku, a Japanese-English language student in Vancouver, came third in a 100 yard swimming race that was part of the day's events.  

 "It's too cold, " said Keisuku. "It's like swimming in icy needles." 

Paulo Costa, a 30 year old engineer who moved to Vancouver from Brazil five years ago,
took his fourth plunge into the ocean on New Year's Day. 

"It's fun," he said. " "When you first go in, it hurts., Then you go home and take a hot shower, the best part of the day."    

Polar Bear swims also took place in dozens of other Canadian cities and towns, including St. John's Newfoundland, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton where thousands people of all ages brave the freezing snowy conditions to participate in their own celebration of New Year. 

 Courage Polar Bear Dip Largest Fund Raiser in Canada  

Meanwhile, in Oakville Ontario, more than 700 ran into Lake Ontario to raise money for World Vision.  In the 17 years since the Courage Polar Bear Dip first partnered with World Vision it has raised more than $1 million for clean water projects. 

"At first it was just some friends and family who got together," said Trent Courage co-founder of the event.  " But even after we moved it somewhere public and got charities involved, I never dreamed we'd be here looking at a $1 million mark and what effect that $1 million has," he said. 

Listening Quiz Polar Bear Swim

Polar Bear Swim Popular in Europe, U.S and China 

Celebrating in South Queensbery, Scoland 

Not only Canadians braved the cold to participate in a Polar Bear swim  

This year, more than 1,000 swimmers, many of whom wore costumes,  participated in the annual Loony Dook Polar Bear Swim to ring in 2013 in South Queensberry Scotland. 

Thousands more in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweeden, Russia and even China - where the idea of a refreshing  

Man in Berlin, Germany enjoys a cold swim 

cold swim on New Years Day has also 
taken hold - jumped into lakes, rivers, 
outdoor pools and even holes in the ice.

Meanwhile all over the United States similar events also took place - mainly for charity.

The Coney Island Polar Bear Club in New York, the oldest Polar Bear Club in the world, swam in the Atlantic Ocean to help raise funds for Camp Sunshine, an organization that helps kids fighting  life threatening diseases. 

Coney Island Club existed since 1902

This year participants were also encouraged to donate to assist in the rebuilding of the Coney Island community which was devastated after Hurricane Sandy hit it earlier in December. 

 Dozens of other cities including Seattle, Boston, Chicago and Detroit among many also held Polar Bear dips to help raise funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy.   
                                                               

For more photos of polar Bear swims around the world:

• Calgary Herald Photo Gallery 
• MSN Polar Bear Swim Gallery

Only Man in World to Swim with Polar Bear 

Meanwhile, Mark Dumas, a 60 year old bear trainer from  Abbotsford, British Columbia is the only man in the world who swims with a polar bear. 

Online Interactive Reading Quizzes  ( can also be downloaded as pdf files)

• Reading Gap Fill: Only Man Who Can Swim with a Polar Bear

• The Polar Bear Swim: a New Year's Tradition

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5 New Years Resolutions for ESL Learners

One important New Years' custom in North America is to make New Years Resolutions.

A New Year's resolution is a a promise or commitment you make to yourself  to improve your life, or to achieve a personal goals. 

Some ways you can improve your life include: breaking a bad habit, doing something completely new,  or working harder to reach a specific goal. 

New Years resolutions are usually related to your own personal goals, your career, your health, your love and family life, or even your good or bad habits. 

My own New Years resolutions for this year are: 

• Swimming three times a week in order to get more fit and to lose weight. 
• Spending more time with my adult children by setting up specific weekly dates. 
• Spending more time with my husband  by setting up a weekly date night that can not be cancelled unless there is an emergency. 

Here are a few of the Top 10 Resolutions for 2012 . from Slide share. I don't think they have changed much for 2013.

• losing weight
• getting organized
• spending less, saving more  
• enjoying life more 
• staying fit and healthy  

One important thing about New Year's Resolutions that makes them different from other types of resolutions is that people make them in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings. 

  New Years Resolutions to Improve Your English 

Since this is an ESL blog aimed at helping you, have thought about  making some New Years' resolutions to improve some specific English skills? . 

Listening:  

1. Why not promise to listen to English for 30 minutes a day, even on the weekends.  

You can listen to the radio, television, Internet listening activities with scripts (especially now that you can download them onto SMART phones and Mp3 players.

2. Why not promise to listen to 15 or 30 minutes of English music a day (with  or without the lyrics. You'll have fun, and you'll remember both the rhythm, the vocabulary and the phrases much better than through dry exercises.

Speaking: 

3.  Why not promise to speak English for 15 to 30 
 minutes a day. 
If you live in a country with few English speakers this can be difficult, but not impossible.

• Try using a specific website focused on speaking such as English Central , or joining a meet up  group. 

• While doing your English alone or in your room do them out loud, speak the complete sentences and vocabulary. It will triple your ability to remember what you learn AND in some "muscle memory"  of how to use the correct grammar when you speak. 

Sign up for  Google + .  Then set up your own  hangout page   and  invite your friends to practice English conversation. Then, make sure you actually do it at least once a week -with a topic you have prepared for. 

• Try using any of the software , or programs that allow you to speak and monitor your speaking such as:  Voice Thread , Vocaroo or Voxop.

• If you live in country where people speak English,.you can still use all of the above methods, but you can force yourself to speak English to people at work,  go to a park, a community centre or any other available place to practice making small talk.  

• Try to make English friends through volunteering, a social or professional organization, or a church.

 Oral Grammar

4. Why not promise to work on one specific aspect of grammar when you speak. For  example you could focus on using past tense consistently when you need to, working on he/ she pronouns or adding "s" at the end of words that need it.   

Vocabulary: 

5. Why not promise to improve your vocabulary by learning 5 new words a day, or 50 new words a week.

You can also promise to improve your vocabulary by going out and using the new vocabulary you learn each day in any possible way you can: speaking it out loud, writing sentences or paragraphs, creating your own games and flash cards, recording yourself.... .. 

 

Setting Achievable Goals 

There are MANY more specific resolutions and goals you can make to help yourself speed up your English learning. But, the main thing is you must know what is the most important area for you, and how you can accomplish it.

Early in January, I will discuss some ways to make your New Years resolutions realistic AND achievable. In the meantime, if you hare having trouble choosing resolutions that DON'T involve learning English, try this  Resolution Generator from Monin Verlarde.

In order to get ready, try reading or listening to:  

• The Voice of America: Five New Years resolutions for English learners 
• The BBC New Years Resolution dialogue
• Video: How to Stick to a New Years Resolution 

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Improve your Small Talk: Review 2012

Do you have problems making small talk om English?

You are not alone.


Most of my students say the biggest problem hey have with small talk is NOT knowing WHAT to talk about. 

"We can talk about our hometown, our job or our hobbies for a while," is a common complaint. "After that, we don't know what to say." 

You need to know a little about a lot

The best answer is that you need to be  able to talk a little about a wide range of topics - especially current events, and popular trends  in sports, music, films, electronics, viral videos  etc.. 

Many of you may not be up to date with u with current events or trends.  You will need to work on this n order to be able to socialize in English. ( But I'll talk more about small talk in another post)

But, right now you have the perfect opportunity to find out a lot about everything important that happened in 2012 without having to do very much work. 

Best of all, you can download all this information for free, and review it every time you want to practice speaking on a wide range of topics.You can even build some vocabulary!

What's the magic formula? 

In these last few days of 2012, every newspaper, television network and magazine is publishing extensive reviews of the major events and trends of  2012 as well as predictions for 2013. .

All you need to do is  read, look at, listen to and download some of the information being published. 

The more you do that, the more you will have to talk about. 

Imagine being able to go to work, school, or the park and be able to comfortably talk about  about who was the most important person in the world in 2012, or what  the most watched video of the year was on the Internet. (By the way that was .Gonging Style by Korean pop star Psy. ) which has reached a world record with more than one billion You Tube hits.
 

Imagine being able to ask someone else what THEY think was the most important event of 2012, and to be able to respond with your own answer. 

 Material to Talk About : 2012 in Review 

I have put together a list of sites that give an easy to understand overview the most important events of 2012. 

Some focus mainly on pictures. Others, such as he Guardian Interactive Review, tell the story with pictures and words. Still others Such ads .... deliver the information with video, music and rap. 
 . 
2012: The Year that Was: An Interactive Review  (The Guardian) 

From the golden summer of sport for Britain to the destruction Hurricane Sandy caused - and Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking jump from space, 2012 was a rich year for news. Here's the Guardian's interactive guide to the most extraordinary moments.

You can simply scroll down to read the entire interactive, or go to the left and click on the month you are interested in.

Australian Broadcast Corporation Year In Review 

For more on what Australians considered the top stories of 2012, go to ABC Net

• "The National's" Top Stories of 2012 (CBC.ca) ( 20 minutes)  As 2012 comes to a close, CBC's flagship news program The National takes a look back at the sights and sounds of the year's top stories. "Rewind 2012."

•  Vote to Help the CBC Pick the Top Story of 2012 (CBC.ca) 

• World Moments of 2012 PBS Newshour from sunken ship to Olympic victory, view the top world moments of 2012)  PBS.org

•  2012: The Year in Graphics ( New York Times)  Graphics and interactives from a year that included an election, the Olympics and a devastating hurricane. A selection of the graphics presented here include information about how they were created.

• Times' Top Ten of Everything for 2012 In 55 wide-ranging lists, TIME surveys the highs and lows, the good and the bad of the past 12 months

• "The Year in Seconds ( Video) BBC From a royal jubilee, to a royal baby. From drought to flood. Into recession and out again. Elections, protests and of course, the Olympics. It has certainly been an eventful year.  Watch the news stories of 2012 condensed into 201.2 seconds."

 More from the BBC

• The numbers of the year 2012
• Faces of the year: The men
• Faces of the Year: The Women 
• Global notable deaths of 2012

Tweets of the Year BBC News Magazine 

 Every week, the BBC Magazine presents 10 tweets to capture the spirit of the news commanding attention in North America. Now, as we bid adieu to 2012, a look back on the tweets that encapsulated the year. As always, some are more serious than others. 

a Brief Glimpse of Our Writers' Favourite Moments with photos and videos  (from The Guardian U.K)

• 2012 Year in REview ( YAHOO news)  The standout news and pop obsessions gleanedf rom your search ha bits." 

•   You Tube Trends of 2012

• Spotlight 2012 Review (Aljazeera.com ) Interactive infographic on highlights and photos of 2012 
• 2012 China Daily 

• 2012 in Review (The Telegraph.co)  A look at what happened over the last 12 months in the worlds of politics, news, sport, celebrity, science, technology and the arts. 
• The Year in Review from CBS  Look back at some of the highlights of 2012 and peek ahead at what awaits in 2013.

• The Year in Review from Twitter

• Facebook Year In Review  An opopportunity to see your own year in review as well as trends from around the world

2012  in Photographs

• The Year In Pictures from the BBC The pictures that made headlines  in 2012

• The Best Photographs of 2012 in Pictures ( Guardian U.K.co)  "From the camaraderie of the Tour de France to snipers in Syria, Sarah Gilbert selects her favourite pictures of the year." (Guardian.co.UK)
• Best Photos of the Year (Reuters An International News Agency

•  2012: The Year In Pictures from CNN

• 2012: The Year in Pictures Part 1 (The Atlantic)

• The- Year in Photos Part 2 ( the Atlantic)

•  The Year in Photos Part 3 ( the Atlantic)

 Predictions for 2013

• Experts make predictions for 2013

 And last, but not least.... a little RAP from Flocabulary.com to make the history more interesting.  

Watch Flocabulary 2012 in Rap with lyrics 

How much do you remember? 

Try some of these quizzes on 2012 in Review :

• The Year in 52 questions (BBC Magazine) 

• 2012 Quiz from the English Blog  

• 2012 Quiz from New York Times Learning Network