Learn English with Teacher Joe

Hi Everybody,

The Olympics have finally come to Beijing! I watched the opening ceremony on a large-screen TV in one of Beijing’s biggest parks. It was quite spectacular. China has already won two gold medals, in weightlifting and shooting. The games are off to a great start.

I just remembered that I made a list of some Olympic vocabulary (click here to see the article) about a month ago. I think some things could have been better. For example, I wrote that running sports are refered to as “track and field”, which is the usual expression in the U.S., but they are more often called “athletics” in the Olympics. I will have to change that in future versions.

Let me know if the article was useful for you or not. If you have any other suggestions, including words or expressions to include, please let me know. We can discuss all kinds of improvements in the comments section, if there is interest.

On my website I suggested to students that they learn vocabulary by reading the captions under newspaper photos.  (Click here to read the original article.) That is one way I used when I was a student to learn many French words. The pictures help you to understand the meaning of the captions (the words under or next to a newspaper photo) and they can be very interesting too.

Just now I saw some interesting photos from my “second hometown”, Beijing. Things have changed a lot since I came here almost six years ago. You can see lots of interesting photos on Yahoo right now (Click here to view.) and learn English by reading the captions. Also, you can see where I live and some of the interesting things that are going on here.

I’m going to try to find some tickets to Olympic events in the next few weeks and I’ll let you know if I am able to see anything interesting. Probably, though, I’ll just be watching most of the Olympics on TV, just like you! (^_^)  Until then, I hope you go to Yahoo and learn some new words by reading!

During my five plus years in Beijing, I have passed by the Drum Tower more than a hundred times. Yesterday, finally, I went inside. I learned about the way the Drum Tower, and the nearyby Bell Tower, were used for time-keeping in the past. There are also some other kinds of ancient time-keeping devices on display next to many large, traditional drums. I learned that the first Drum Tower was build in 1272. It was destroyed twice and the current building was built in 1420.

My visit to the Drum Tower was far more interesting than a typical visit to Wangfujing.  I enjoyed learning a bit about history but the best thing was the view. From the second floor, you can see south to Jingshan Park. To the west of the park you can see the dome of the new Beijing Performance Arts Centre and get a good view of Hou Hai, one of the ponds where emperors used to play and where young people now come to drink on the weekends. The “Fragrant Hills”, to the far west of Beijing, were visible yesterday, a sign that maybe Beijing’s pollution is in fact being reduced. To the north is the Bell Tower, just a short walk from the Drum Tower. To the east is Beijing’s prospering Chaoyang District, including the tallest buildings in the city.

 It was a worthwhile visit, though I recommend going on a clear day. I think you’ll enjoy the view! 

Thanks to Shirley from Girls on Top for my page of the week, showing Beijing’s new Olympic swimming arena called the “Water Cube“.

Pretty impressive, don’t you think? But I wonder, was it money well spent? Some people think the money spent on the Olympics is an investment in China’s future. Others think it will benefit Beijing only. What’s your opinion?