Learn English with Teacher Joe

We have a challenging topic for you today! The Greek dramatist Sophocles, famous for plays like Oedipus the King, once wrote this:

“The end excuses any evil. “

Today, we sometimes say “the end justifies the mean”, which means the same thing.

This is a difficult quote to agree with, but for some practical-minded people, maybe it makes sense. If we can do something good, if we can help people or make the world a better place to live, then maybe it IS good if we do some evil things along the way. Well, I’m not sure I agree with that. Do you?

I often hear people speak of the importance of passion, both in our personal lives and in our work. I found this quote by the French writer and philosopher Denis Diderot:

“Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.” 

(Language notes: “elevate” means “to lift up”; “the soul” means “your spirit”)

When I teach, I try to bring great passion to the classroom. I deeply care about my students’ success, though sometimes they don’t know it. I am fascinated by how people learn and grow. I love it when students can easily do things that they could not do before. It’s a lot of fun to watch students improve!

I used to have great passion for a certain woman, someone I cared about very deeply. Unfortunately, she did not have the same passion for me.  It was a sad, though common, situation, but I guess I learned something from it. It was worth all of the pain if I am a better person now.

What do you have passion for? Do you have passion for a special person in your life? Do you have passion for your work. Or maybe passion for your FUTURE work? What kind of great things could you do in the future?

 Today’s quote is below. It comes from The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce. 

“Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think. “

(Language Note:  An apparatus is any machine or piece of equipment. )

So, do you think we really think? Or do we only think that we think? Or is Bierce wrong to think that we only think that we think? Maybe when we think that we think we think more than when we don’t think that we think! What do you think???

Here’s today’s quote, about time management:

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.”   -  Carl Sandburg

Language Notes:  1)  ”coin” in this quote means “money” in general;  2)  “determine” here means “to choose”

I sometimes use my time very well, especially at work. When I teach, I know what I want to do every minute and how I want my students to learn.  My goals are very clear. When I am not working, however, I am not very well focused. I waste a lot of time, especially on weekends. So, I guess I’m wasting money, right? Maybe I should try to plan my time better. Or I could set some specific goals. Another possibility is to wake up earlier, get out of the house, and just do whatever comes to mind - that could help me find things that are both interesting and productive. Well, we’ll see what I do this weekend…

How do you use your time? Do you think you use your time well? How can you use your time more effectively?

Here is my Quote of the Week. Be sure to leave comments at the end. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts! 

 “If you can dream it, you can do it.” - Walt Disney

Language Note: In this case, the word “it” means “something” or “anything”.

What did Walt Disney dream? Did he dream of a world populated by a funny mouse and other animals? He made that dream come to life in Disney Land. At the same time, he also brought many dreams to people around the world. Two questions come to mind:

1) Do you think it is always true that we can do whatever we dream? Can you think of any truly impossible dreams?

2) What are three possible dreams you can think of for yourself? They don’t have to be realistic dreams at this time in your life. Let your imagination run wild!

For me, if I really let my imagination run wild, if I really let myself dream the impossible dream, I would dream of being a blues guitarist. I like the hard, fast, soulful sound of an electric guitar playing the sad sound of the blues. I suppose I also could dream of being a professional athlete. (I still remember the time when I was a boy of about 7 and our teacher asked us to write about what we wanted to be when we grow up – what kind of job did we want to do. One boy wrote about being a baseball player. I thought he was crazy! Baseball is a game, not a job! How could the teacher let the boy write about playing a game as a job? It took me many years to understand that.) On a more global level, I sometimes dream about ending world hunger. I once volunteered for a group that was working to help hungry people around the world. We not only asked about donations, we also educated people about the need for action. Now I feel the world is too cold, and people are too selfish, to really help enough, but I can still dream…

Anyway, those are my dreams. I’m looking forward to hearing yours!

Here’s another favorite quote of mine:      

       “The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining.” - John F Kennedy

Very often, I put off doing things. I mean, I should do something today, but I decide to wait until tomorrow. And sometimes I wait another day, then another, and then another. Putting things off like this is called “procrastination”. The first three letters of that word look like “professional” and if there is anyone who is a “professional crastinator”, it’s me! As an example, there is a Procrastinators Club in my hometown. When I was back home two years ago, in the summer of 2006, they were planning on having their 2003 annual meeting. However, I could not attend because I had always put off becoming a member. It didn’t matter as they postponed their meeting until early 2007, but the point is, I put things off too frequently. Often, I pay a big price. When some difficult problem comes up, it’s often because I did not prepare for a “rainy day” (a problem) when it was sunny. When it’s sunny, in other words, when I have no problems at all, I want to enjoy myself, and so I don’t get important things done.

As I mentioned in my entry of February 7^th, I have the dream of being able to “Teach from the Beach”. About 7 or 8 years ago, when my life was sunshiny and bright, however, I did not “fix my roof”. I did not learn the skills I needed, I did not prepare for the day when I could live without a full-time job. Now I work at a full-time job which is not bad, but it’s not like life at the beach! (Where’s that long-legged bikini-clad woman I’ve always dreamed of? Not in MY office!) But now it’s time to get ready for the future. Today is as good a day as any. What are you doing to prepare for your future? Do you have any leaky roofs (problems in your life) that need to be fixed? What are they? Maybe if you tell us your difficulties, someone here can help you solve it. At the very least, you’ll start thinking about your problem yourself, and when the rainy days come, you’ll be ready!

I heard a great quote from a friend more than two years ago, then I heard it again this morning. Now I realize the true meaning behind it. Here’s the quote:

“A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.”  - Harvey Mackay, author of Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

This certainly describes my dream of being able to “Teach from the Beach”. I have had the idea in my head since my first Internet English lesson in 1999. I have dreamed of being in Hawaii, or Okinawa, or Hainan Island, or Langkawi Island, sitting on the beach with my computer, a set of headphones with a microphone, and nice cool drink by my side. Okay, a nice, long-legged girl in a bikini also pops into my dream from time to time, but that would be a bonus! The main thing would be to help students around the world improve their English. Too bad that this has always been just a dream. In fact, I have no plan that I am trying to follow. And with no plan, I also have no deadline, no time limit to achieve my plan, so in a typical week or a typical month, how much work do I do to achieve my dream? Not very much. 

I think language learners often dream about being fluent in another language. That is a great dream! But do we have a plan for learning? Do we even know what a good plan is? Do YOU have a plan for improving your reading in English (a great way to learn vocabulary!) or to improve your pronunciation or grammar? Do you know what your strong points and weak points are? And what is your timeframe for learning? In my experience, students who put at least 20 minutes a day into learning a language EVERY DAY have more success than those who study for four or five hours two days a week, then forget the language the other days. In other words, you need to think about how much time you will spend on English. There is no easy answer - you have to find the best answer for YOU, just as I have to find the best answer for ME. Good luck to all of us!

For some ideas on how to learn a language, check out Teacher Joe’s suggestions here.