Topic #8 - What Did You Learn?

Hi Class!  We have finally come to week eight, the last week of our summer semester.

We have had a very busy class, learning about seven different writing styles: Narrative, Descriptive, Process, Compare/Contrast, Argument, Business Letter, and Cause & Effect.  We also learned about formatting: heading, title, double-space, margins, indent, font size, superscript citations, etc.  Perhaps some of you used Word and Google Docs for the first time, attaching and sharing your essays.  With all the typing you did, hopefully you are using about 9 fingers, instead of 2 fingers to type, and you are typing faster than before.  We also had a class blog which allowed all of you to share a little bit about yourself and your opinions and experiences.  When you read and comment on your classmates' blogs, you can feel a little more connected to each other, and a little more of a sense of community.  If you took advantage of completing all the drafts I assigned and read all of my comments, I believe your writing will have greatly improved through this summer class.  In our grammar lessons, the key areas we covered were compound and complex sentences.  Hopefully, it was review for you.  If it was new, then you need to make sure you fully understand these types of sentence structures.

I certainly learned a lot from all of you this summer.  Three of you told me how to make Kabseh.  I also found out that camel meat is delicious.  One day I must try these dishes.  I learned that the Han River and the Alforat Rivers are beautiful rivers in Korea and Iraq.  Also, three of you described the spectacular city of Dubai.  I discovered that there is a lovely black sand beach in China.  Maybe I will put all these places on my bucket list as places to visit before I die.  Besides this, I learned that Muslims may not eat or drink during the daytime in the month of Ramadan.  All of my Muslim students have had to overcome a great challenge to their regular eating and sleeping patterns and still get to class on time.  Finally, I learned about the strong family relationships most of you come from, and I admire and appreciate that kind of close, loving family structure.  It is a weakness in America.  Many of you have high aspirations to get undergraduate and graduate degrees.  I wish all of you success in all of your future endeavors.

Well, what did you learn this summer?  What will you take away with you when our class is over?

Topic #7 - What's on Your Bucket List?

We have a slang expression in America; when someone dies, we say, "He kicked the bucket."  This is not a euphemism or polite expression.  In fact it is somewhat rude and crude.  One theory of where this expression came from is from the Middle Ages when a criminal was hung.  The criminal would stand on an overturned bucket while the noose was tied around his neck.  Then when the bucket was kicked away, the person would hang and die.  From this expression came a movie in 2007, called Bucket List,  which was about two men and their wish list of things they wanted to do before they die.  The two men were terminally ill with cancer.  Before they died, they went sky diving, rode motorcycles on the Great Wall in China, went on a lion safari in Africa, plus many more adventures. Now we may ask another person, "What's on Your Bucket List?"  This means, what do you want to accomplish, what do you want to see, where do you want to visit, or whom do you want to meet before you die?

As for myself, I have always wanted to travel to Europe.  I would like to visit England and see the Buckingham Palace and the Westminster Abbey where Prince William and Kate Middleton wed.  French cafes look so lovely and picturesque.   I can imagine eating in one of the sidewalk cafes.  Rome has famous structures as the Colosseum and Pantheon.  It would be amazing to step back in time in these places.  I heard the train system is very convenient there.  Before I die, I would like to take a trip to Europe and travel in a train from country to country.

What about you?  What is on your bucket list?  I know Muslims are supposed to visit Mecca.  Besides visiting Mecca, where else would you like to go?  Who would you like to meet?  What would you like to accomplish?

Topic #6 - Euphemisms

A euphemism is a polite way of saying something.  We have many euphemisms in English.  Instead of saying a person died, we say he passed away or he passed on.  Instead of saying a girl is ugly, we say she is plain.  Instead of saying toilet room, we say restroom or bathroom.  Instead of saying jail, we say correctional facility.  Instead of garbage collector, we call him sanitary engineer.  Instead of short, a funny expression is "vertically challenged."  Similar to this, people who are not adept to using modern technology are technologically challenged.  Someone who used to be called retarded is now called developmentally delayed.  A pre-owned car is a nicer way of saying used car.  A person who is not living up to his potential or is unmotivated is the same thing as a person who is lazy.  Finally, overweight sounds better than fat.

Other countries also have creative names for toilet room.  British people call it the water closet or WC.  In the Philippines, they call it the comfort room.  Chinese people call it the room where you wash your hands.

What kinds of euphemisms do you have in your language?

Topic #5 - If I Could Change My Country

Hello, Class.  We are now starting week 5.

Every country has good points and bad points.  There is no perfect country.  America has strengths in her many freedoms and opportunities.  These opportunities include the chance to study and do research and improve your knowledge.  There are opportunities for work and business.  There are also opportunities to create and design new inventions.  In addition, there are opportunities to improve your social, financial, and material status.

On the other hand, one of America's weaknesses is her citizens' ignorance of other countries.  Americans are comfortable with knowing only about national news and celebrities and are complacent about learning about other countries.  In high school, the foreign language requirement is only two years.  During the evening news, the international news segment is only about ten minutes.   To learn about international news, you have to go to a cable news station, such as CNN, or you can search international news on Yahoo.  If the ordinary person wanted to learn about other countries, he would have to put out some effort.

If I could change something about America, I would try to improve American citizens' ignorance.  I would make the foreign language requirement four years.  I would also have an hour of international news every evening.  What is something you would like to change about your country?

Topic #4 - Appreciating Your Family of Origin

Good morning.  It's week 4!

For this week's contemplation question, I would like you to write about some of the things you appreciate about your family of origin.  First of all, no family (no parents) is perfect.  Often times when we are children or teenagers, we may feel hurt or angry or disappointed with our parents or our family of origin in general.  We may feel that they are too strict with us, or that they don't understand us, or that they don't pay attention to us. Then as we get older, hopefully, we realize that for the most part, our parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts tried to raise us and to love us as best they could.  What are some things you appreciate about the people who raised you?

For me, I grew up in a stable family.  My mother always paid attention to details, such as the weather, and if I dressed warmly enough. She faithfully cooked dinner every night and tried to make sure we all ate balanced meals, including rice, meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit.  My mom passed away three years ago.  I miss her faithful love and concern over me.  My father was always busy working; but every time he came home, he would ask what I was learning in school and what new things were happening in my life.  He tried to make time to talk to me.  I am glad my dad is still healthy and alive.  He is in his late seventies now.

I look forward to reading about your families.  :)

Mrs. Tong

Topic #3 - Differences Between Your Country and the U.S.

Welcome to Week 3!

Now that you have been in the U.S. for a few weeks or maybe for a few months, what are some differences that you have noticed between your country and the U.S.?  Don't write about the obvious, like the middle eastern countries are primarily Muslim in their religion, whereas the U.S. has many different religions.

Here are some of my observations from my experiences.  When I traveled to Taiwan, I noticed that to turn on a ceiling light, you flip the wall switch down.  To turn off, you flip the switch up.  In America, it is the opposite.  Up means on, and down means off.  In the toilets in Asia, they do not provide toilet paper.  You must carry your own toilet paper.  In America, every restroom stall provides a roll of toilet paper.  Finally, when I traveled to the Philippines, every time I entered a store, the salespeople would greet me with, "Yes, ma'am" instead of "Hello, how can I help you?" or simply "Good morning."  I thought their greeting of "Yes, ma'am" was very odd because I didn't ask them a question or issue any request.  I guess that is just what they say when greeting customers.

Anyway, what things have you noticed here that are very different from your country?

I am looking forward to reading your observations.....
Mrs. Tong

Topic #2 - Dream Job

Good Morning Class, Happy Monday!!  There are thousands of jobs people in this world have.  There are regular jobs such as teacher, banker, businessman, or car mechanic.  Then there are unusual jobs such as stunt man, make-up artist, entomologist (someone who studies insects), limousine driver, dog groomer, etc.  If money were no problem, what kind of job would you like to have for fun?

For me, I think it would be fun to be a restaurant critic.  These people visit different restaurants, try the food and write about their experience.   A critic would describe the service, the ambiance (the mood, feeling, and decorations), the quality of the food, the price, and the location of the restaurant.  Have you ever read restaurant reviews in newspapers or magazines?  Can you imagine being paid to visit restaurants??  I think that would definitely be a great job.

How about you?

Topic #1 - Getting to Know You

Hi Class,

Welcome to Intermediate Composition Section 4 Summer 2012!!  I am really excited to get to know each of you through our class blog and hope you will enjoy blogging and sharing your thoughts.  In our first blog I would like each of you to introduce yourself - where you came from, your family, your educational or work background, your major you would like to study, and anything else interesting about yourself.

As for myself, I have been teaching ESL for about 8 years and love working with international students.  I taught for many years, then took a break to raise my children, and now am back to teaching.  I am married and have three daughters ages 20, 17, and 13.  I am a Chinese-American; my parents came to America from China in the 1950's as foreign students.  Then my brother and I were born here, so we are considered 2nd generation Chinese-Americans. My children are also born here and are considered 3rd generation Chinese-Americans.   Besides the U.S., I have taught in Taiwan and China.  I have also traveled to Hong Kong, the Philippines, Canada, Mexico, and different parts of the U.S..

I think I am pretty adventurous in trying new things.  I am always the first in my family to try a new food, go to a new restaurant, meet new people, visit a new show or attraction, or go to a new museum.  I also enjoy doing things with my hands.  I like to paint, garden, cook, sew and make scrapbooks.

What about you?

:)  Mrs. Tong