It’s been a long time since I have blogged. I have been on vacation and traveling alot so I haven’t had so much time. Right now we are at a retreat center in Crowley Lake California on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is an incredibly beautiful mountain resort town overlooking a vast desert lake and mountains. It is up in the pines so it is quite a bit cooler than the surrounding country. We have some wonderful friends here who pastor a church called Church on the Mountain. Their people decided to build a lodge to use for pastors and missionaries to get away. Since they often don’t have money for expensive vacations, the church has offered it for free! Isn’t that amazing. So, since my husband and I teach English in China for practically nothing they are giving a free weeks vacation here. Wow, are we ever happy! I’ll include some pics later.

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”

~ Winston Churchill ~

Teacher Joe’s blog had this quote recorded. I really like it and want to use it for discussion in my Business English class.

Some topics related to this issue are: What about this genereation of young people. In China, since each family can have only one child, it is said they are growing up spoiled and self-centered. Do you think this generation is selfish?

There was a report on recently about some young people from China who went to the earthquake site to help in whatever way they can. They are helping in the hospital with those who are injured. This has changed the attitude of a lot of the older generation about these young people, that maybe they aren’t all selfish and self-centered.

What do you think?

I have been wathcing the news coverage here in Beijing on CCTV 9. They have been having almost round the clock coveage of the massive earthquake in Szechuan Province. The quake measured 7.8 on the Richter Scale! That is absolutely huge. I have been glued to the TV, often moved to tears, as the rescue workers have been pulling survivors out of the rubble.

Of course, my first thought was of all my students who have families in the area. I hope and pray your families are all safe and sound. It must be a worriesome time for those who have family in the area. I have one young friend whose mom and dad live around ChengDu. He said they are both find, but that many people are sleeping outside because they are afraid to go inside. I have never been in an earthquake that big, but I have talked to people who were in the quake in Los Angeles. I was in Reno at the time and a friend moved back to Reno and said she would never live in L.A. again, it was so frightening. I can’t imagine.

I was glad to see that our workplace had a box set up for donations. We were happy to be able to give some cash to help the survivors who will have a long road ahead of them as they try to recover and rebuild their lives.

Well, has anyone ever lived through an earthquake or other natural disastor? We had a terrible flood in Reno. Nevada a few years ago and the mess was substantial. We were glad to be able to help people scoop the black muck out of their houses after the waters receded. We were lucky to be living on high ground. Reno was also very lucky that not many people died. There was mostly water damage.

Let me know what your thoughts are on this terrible disaster.

I enjoyed meeting all of you and having two classes back to back yesterday and today. I enjoyed the discussions we had in class. I believe that is the best way for you to improve your English. In fact, we only have 6 lessons altogether so there is not a lot that can be learned in such a short period, so my philosophy is to let you talk as much as possible. I know that you have studied English quite a bit in school (although that may have been a while ago.) For that reason, I don’t think studying the structure of English will be that helpful. I believe you just need practice speaking out what has been dormant (asleep) for some time. Once you get confidence that you can speak in English, you can begin adding new vocabulary and working on sentence structure on your own. So, if it seems like all we do in class is talk, that’s good! The more you talk, the better you will get at talking! Have you heard the saying, “Use it or lose it!” That is really true in language study, so use every chance that you have to speak out in class and I am sure you will improve. Besides, we’ll have a good time talking and laughing together.

There are some great web sites that will help you with the technical part of English if you want to study further. I have added some of the sites to my weblog over at the right-hand side column. If you have a few minutes a day, or an extra half hour, you can visit some of those sites and practice some of the finer points of grammar.

Good luck studying English. Please feel free to add comments here, or ask questions

Yours,

Maggie

My Business English Students are in a unique situation for learning English. On one hand, you have great opportunity to practice English with your international colleagues and customers. This is great motivation to get you going in practicing the English you already know and learning new vocabulary and phrases. Unlike many other students, you have a place to put the new words into use. That’s the best way to learn new words: using them!

On the other hand, you are all working full time so you probably have little time to study. Who wants to do boring lessons after a long day at work! Even if they aren’t boring, who has time, right? The only way then to improve your English is to find time to fit learning into your busy day. Maybe we have to think back on some of the tactics we used while in school. I know for me, if I write new words or phrases on little slips of paper and stick them on my computer, I am more likely to look at them when I have a few spare minutes, just to refresh my memory or review them. Another way is to make a study list by folding a paper in 3 columns and putting new words down the first column, the definitions in the second column, and a model sentence in the third column. Put it in your desk drawer, or some other handy place and refer to it from time to time, for instance before you go to lunch, or just after you come back before starting to work. It’s the idea of taking small steps instead of thinking you have to take an hour of your time to study English, aargh!

Well, hope this helps you keep the momentum going. I welcome your comments or questions.

I wish you great success in improving your ability to communicate in English!

BTW (by the way), I have added some links to other sites that offer help in Business English in my blog roll. Check them out! (that means, visit them and have a look). Read more »

Well, it’s time to update my blog. I would like to welcome all my new students at Symbio to my place on the web. This site will be dedicated to you since it is called English for Success. I wish you all success as you study for the next 6 weeks. Of course, you know that learning a language is an on-going process and 6 weeks will not teach you all you need to know, not even a fraction. However, I hope it will encourage you to speak out and to continue learning on your own. Hopefully, through our time together you will find that learning English can be fun and intersting, not just a burden.

I have posted some web sites at the right that are for English learners. Some are especially for business English, and some for technical English. When you have some spare time, you may want to ‘check them out’ (visit them to see what they’re like.)

Of course, I hope you will also write to me here on my blog. We can get some ‘conversations’ going if you like.

Well, here’s to a successful business English class!

Maggie

I recently bought the fourth season of Desperate Housewives but it stopped after the tornado hit. Does anyone know how I can get the most recent episodes? Of course, when I bought it it said ‘complete 4th season.’ Since I haven’t been in the States for many years, I didn’t know the 4th season is just now showing. Anyway, I am dying to know what happened to Lynette’s family. Last I saw the house they were in was completely destroyed. I imagine they are ok, but I sure would like to see the following two episodes. Any one know how I can get them?

Any Desperate fans out there wanna talk? I love that show, although I don’t usually go in for soap operas.

I never celebrated Women’s Day until I came to China and found out that it’s regularly celebrated with luncheons, special speeches and a half day off of work for (some) women.   However, this month has been dedicated to women’s history in the U.S. so if you are interested in reading some quotations by famous women check out this web site of famous quotes: http://quotations.about.com/od/morepeople/a/woman3.htm?nl=1.

It also offers links to articles about famous women in history.  A great place for students to get extra English reading practice.  If you read a quote or one of the biographies, please write your reaction here on my blog. I’d like to discuss it with you.

One of my favorite women from history is Harriet Tubman.  She was a courageous woman who helped slaves escape along the ‘underground railway’ in America.  She was an escaped slave and spent her life going back into the South, risking her life and her freedom, to help others enjoy the freedom she had. 

It’s an inspiring story.  What do you think motivates someone to risk their lives in order to help others?

Happy New Year Everyone!

The first day of the new year!  After being in China for 8 years,  I have realized that December 31 and January 1 is a non-event for most Chinese people.  Of course in the U.S. it is the beginning of the new year, but in China, Spring Festival marks the beginning of the New Year, so while we are reminiscing over the past year and making resolutions or plans on how we will make the most of the New Year, my Chinese friends just offer it a passing interest like we would give Presidents day.  Yeah, it’s a day off and a nice time to go out to eat or get together with friends, but it is not a serious celebration.  In the U.S. it’s the crowning event of the holiday season which began with Thanksgiving, crescendoed at Christmas, and ended with a bang a week later with New Year’s Eve.  Ususally, after New Years Day we take down the Christmas decorations and pack them away until next year.  I have always thought it funny that Christmas decorations here in China stay up til long after Chinese New Year it seems.

New Year’s celebrations in the West are a bit different from Spring Festival or Chinese New Year.  In the west, it’s not such a big family day.  In fact, when I was a kid, my parents usually got a baby sitter and went out to a big dinner/dance party and celebrated till the wee hours of the morning.  Us kids usually stayed up with the babysitter watching the Dick Clark show to ring in the New Year.  Dick Clark was the host of a teen dance show through the 50’s and 60’s and maybe beyond, but I quit watching.  Anyway, it was a cool show when I was young and they always played up-to-date music, much better than the shows the older people watched on New Year’s Eve.  Of course, the Chinese TV stations also have a show to ring in the New Year, both the western one and the Spring Festival. The Chinese shows are quite an extravaganza, much too much sentimentalism and patriotism fo rmy liking, but to each his own (that means whatever everyone prefers is ok.)

Of course in the U.S.we usually stay up until midnight on New Years Eve and make a lot of noise when the clock strikes 12. No fireworks though like at Spring Festival. John, my husband is happy there are fewer restrictions on fireworks here in China. All of his pent up desires to make loud noises with fire have been released. I think it’s some kind of primal urge. Every year he loads up on 5 inch mortars that, when lit, go soaring into the night sky and explode into colorful showers of sparks to the oohs and aahs of the crowd below. The fact that they are such a bargain here is double icing on the cake (an added bonus).

Wow, Christmas is only a week away! In the West the momentum is building as people do last minute shopping to prepare for the big day. As most of you probably know, gift-giving is a big part of the Christmas holiday.  We buy gifts for family members such as our mom and dad, and brothers and sisters (or nieces and nephews as we get older.)  Of course, grandparents and grandchildren are high on the list for gifts too.  Christmas can be a time of over-indulging our children by showering them with more toys than they probably need.  However, it can also be a time when children learn lessons about thinking of others. When I was a child, my parents would take me out shopping for my aunts and uncles and grandparents.  We would buy a small gift such as a scarf for our aunts and some socks or a tie for our uncles.  They were usually small, inexpensive gifts, but this was a way to teach me to think of others,  not just myself.  We would take the gifts home and wrap them carefully and put them under our Christmas tree until Christmas day.  Then in the afternoon, after our own family opened our presents, we would all get dressed in our nicest holday clothes and go visit our grandparents, aunts and uncles and deliver our special gifts.  Of course, they always had a gift for us as well.  At times we had a large family dinner where all the relatives would gather at whoever’s house was biggest and eat traditional holiday food: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and many other delectable goodies.  In that case, we would all gather together to share our special gifts.  My mom had strict rules about how we were to behave when opening gifts.  When visiting my friend’s families, each kid would tear into their pile of gifts oblivious to what others were doing, but my mom wouldn’t allow such behavior.  We had to open our gifts one person at a time so we could all appreciate each gift and the reciever could say thanks to the giver.  Showing gratitude was very important training for little ones.  Another important lesson that I learned as a child at Christmas  was to send a thank-you note to those who had given me a present.  Of  course I didn’t send one to my parents, but my mom would make me sit down after Christmas and dutifully write out a little note to Grandma McIntosh and Aunt Ella saying how much I appreciated their thoughtful gifts and how useful they were.  In this way, Christmas became a time, not just of indulgence but of appreciation for the people in our lives.