癌症末期教授的动人演讲：人生应该怎么过？（视频） 2007-09-29 14:45:10
http://news.wenxuecity.com/messages/200709/news-gb2312-462942.html
Randy Pausch，47岁，是在拥有全美最好计算机科学系（CS）的Carnegie Mellon大学做虚拟实景（virtual reality）的一位教授。周前，在Carnegie Mellon为即将退休的教授开辟的《最后的讲座》（The Last Lecture）作了一场极其生动感人的演讲。他和其他即将退休的教授的差别在于他还年轻，但他即将死于胰腺癌，他能否活到今年圣诞节的概率只有50%。对Pausch来说，这场演讲真的是一场残酷至极的人生最后一场的演说。
人生最后一场演说，Pausch左手仍紧握著摇控器，语调依然抑扬顿挫，声音依然清脆宏亮，表达依然清晰明了，除了身体躯干被癌症折磨瘦得与常人不同以外，其他所有部份，都看不出他是个癌症末期病人。Pausch在演讲中展示他自己的断层扫瞄照片，指著那黑白的影像说，看，上面大约有十个肿瘤吧！接下来他马上提高声调：假如观众今天是要来看他自艾自怜，那大家肯定是要失望了！他说，“我比大部份的你们都还要健康（in a better shape）！”说著，他竟就扑倒在地上，做起伏地挺身，还用左右单臂撑起身体。演讲台上我们看到的不是一位癌症末期的病人。我们看到的是一位生龙活虎，思维敏捷，幽默有加的名校教授。
Pausch对听众讲：“这场演讲，是献给我的孩子们的。”他去世后，将遗下三个儿子，最大的才五岁，最小的才一岁。因此，这场演讲的题目为《真正实现你的童年梦想》（Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams）。好像是一个父亲在说给自己儿子听的话，Pausch说，他最感谢他父母当年让他随便在自己房间的墙上涂鸦，后来那整面墙都画满了数学公式；他和其他孩子一样，脑子充满梦想，小时候想要在玩乐园里赢得超大型的毛娃娃，想当NFL球员，想当库克船长，想写一篇World Book的内容，想加入迪士尼工作并设计迪士尼乐园的云宵飞车。和其他人不同的是，就算儿时梦想再荒唐，他后来竟然还是实现了大部份。他在大学时代真的冒名申请参加了NASA的无重力模拟，后来也参与过迪士尼游乐场的设计；尽管他终究无法成为库克船长，却用电脑做了一个虚拟的Star Trek司令舱。然後Pausch还将他赢来的那些比人还高的玩具大娃娃一一请人抱上舞台，当场送给大家。
但Pausch的观点不是停在怎样实现童年梦想上。像他那样一昧追梦，肯定撞墙。Pausch也在萤幕上显示出了一些他所收过的拒绝信，并且好几次播放出一面咖啡色的砖墙。他指著这座看起来好硬，撞起来一定很痛的砖墙，说：
“这面墙，总是为了某个目的才在那边的。”
“它逼我们证明，我们有多么渴望墙后面的宝藏！”
“这座墙其实不是拿来阻挡我们的，而是帮我们阻挡其他人的！”
Pausch在提到他的事业时说，“我做的事情，常常走在前面，有时失败，就变成众矢之的。”他穿上一件人家送他的背上插满了弓箭的背心来比喻这件事情。今天，Pausch已成了全美国最有建树的虚拟实景技术的研究者，他共同创造了Alice软件，目前已达100万套下载，就连现在，病魔即将带走了他，但他仍坚持的说，别怀疑，他一定会在Alice中继续活著。更让人感动的是，他也提到，有时候，帮助别人完成梦想，远比自己完成梦想还要有趣。Pausch还奉劝大家，要多多容忍身边那些让你生气的人。有些人让你生气，但只要你有耐心，等久一点，“他们好的一面往往会好得让你惊奇！”
演讲快结束时，Pausch说了一句简短有力的激励话来为这场演讲作总结。Pausch说，这场演讲，其实并不是关于你该如何达成梦想，而是关于你该如何过人生（lead your life）。“如果你用正确的方式过你的人生，命运（karma）会自己照顾自己┅。” “你的梦想，自己会来找你。”
一个即将离开这个世界的人往往会开始写点东西，对于活著的人而言，这些话语不只是生命的歌曲，让人感动一下而已。它们是人的声音，却可比拟为天上传来的天籁。这些人和我们活在同一个世界，有同样的思考方式，不同的是，他们现在碰到了生命极度危急的状况，也就在此时，他们对我们共同拥有的生命，有了一些我们平时怎么想都想不完整的领悟，让他们的智慧瞬间被推高到人类的极限。
过去几年,我到中国旅行了多次。在中国社会中我看到的主流意识倒着实让我觉得有必要给国人推荐这段描述一位即将死亡的教授如何看待死亡，恐惧，成就，社会，宽容，和人生的意义等话题的精彩演讲。
人无论如何总是要走向死亡的。问题是我们得接受现状并能自得其乐。死亡并不就是衰败，而是成熟。接近死亡并不一定是坏事，有其积极的一面，人一旦找到了生活的意义，就不会想回到从前去，只想往前走。这种乐观和态度是听Pausch演讲的感受。Pausch对死能坦然面对，他让我们觉得大多数人都生活在梦境中，并没有真正地在体验世界，一直处于浑浑噩噩的状态，做著自以为该做的事。而当人意识到自己快要死去时，看问题的眼光也就不同了。一旦人学会了怎样去死，也就学会了怎样去活，就不会迷于名利之中，很多为此而付出时间和精力的事就不再显得那么重要了，也许会让出空间来满足精神上的需求。
中国文化中有股力量，就是看破红尘。在我看来，看破红尘是消极的态度。看破红尘虽然有正面的意义，也就是超脱自清的一面，但它消极的态度其实并非人类享受幸福的真谛。如何又超脱自清，又积极向上呢？Pausch的演讲给出的药方是积极参与，努力工作。我们所说的“超脱”并不是不投入到生活中去，而是要完全投入进去，要接受所有的感情，包括失败的痛苦，让自己去感受这些经历，充分地体验，明白什么是痛苦，什么是悲伤后，然后才能彻底走出来。如果逃避这些感情，就永远超脱不了，因为会始终心存恐惧，害怕痛苦，害怕悲伤，害怕必须承受的伤害，这就无法超脱出来。
Pausch强调对人对己都采取宽容态度，他强调要原谅别人，也要原谅自己，不要陷在遗憾的情绪中无法自拔，也不要犹豫，任何事只要现在做起就不会为时已晚,很多事一旦错过就没机会挽回。
Pausch的演讲极其精彩。让我们遗憾的的是这将是他的最后一场演讲。最后一场？如此让我们感动的演讲，如此充满智慧和教诲的演讲怎能让它是最后一场？
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Ten things need to be done before 35 years old
35岁前应做好的十件事
35岁是青春的后期，35岁以后是收获的季节，如果你没有资格说这句话，你将会憎恨自己。所以在35岁以前，在烂漫蓬勃的青春年华里，你最好把下面十件事做好。 www.6park.com
第一，学会本行业所需要的一切知识并有所发展。已故零件大王布鲁丹在他35岁时，已经成为零件行业的领袖，并且组建了年收入达千万美元的海湾与西部工业公司。每个人在年轻时都可能有过彻夜不眠、刻苦攻读，这在20岁甚或30岁都没有问题，但到了35岁，就不应该再为学习基本技能而大伤脑筋了。35岁之前是一个人从事原始积累的阶段，35岁之后就应该勃发了。 www.6park.com
第二，养成个人风格。在35岁以前，找出你所喜欢的，不论是衣着或是爱好，哪怕是与众不同的小习惯也好。20岁、30岁时你可以不断尝试、不断改变，但是到了35岁，你便要明确地建立个人风格。一位男士或女士在事业中途改变自己的形象，就会让人觉得很不可靠。你喜欢穿西装吗？好！就把西装当作你的商标吧！办公桌上摆些鲜花会令你工作更有效率吗？那就每天都摆些鲜花吧！ www.6park.com
第三，在感情生活方面平和安定。在攀登事业的高峰时，如果私人生活不愉快，陷入感情危机，对你会产生很大的干扰，甚至会逐渐令你对别的事物失去兴趣。那些在35岁之前私人生活已经平和安定的人，一般都比生活动荡不安的人有更大的机会获得成功。因此，如果你想结束一段没有结果的恋情，或者你想和女友结婚，那就赶快行动吧，免得把问题拖到生命的第35个春秋。在35岁以后，你应该专注地看着你对事业的投资开始获利。 www.6park.com
第四，明白自己的短处。承认有些事情你的确做不好，或者不愿做。如果你讨厌数字而喜欢创作，那就不要因为待遇高或顺从别人的期望而强迫自己做数字工作。在35岁之前，一定要投入你所喜爱、所擅长的那种工作。否则，35岁之后必然会有一段郁郁不乐的日子。而且，真正的成功可能因为活力的消退而丧失。 www.6park.com
第五，知道自己的长处。你应该知道自己擅长什么，并且清楚你所喜欢做而又做得比别人好的事情。不管你目前担任什么样的角色，知道自己的长处对成功都很重要。 www.6park.com
第六，储备辞职另谋生路的钱。在这个多变的职业世界里，你也许不会永远在一个地方工作，或者永远在一个位置上淋漓尽致地发挥自己，当你感到无法施展时，你很可能会想到辞职，或者开辟第二职业，如果你事先储蓄了足够的钱，你便有了一个安全的后盾。 www.6park.com
第七，建立人际关系网。如果到了35岁你仍未建立起牢固的人际关系网，那你就有麻烦了。这个人际关系网包括你的朋友、亲人，最低限度包括所有可以互相帮助的人。这些人有的是你的同事，有的受过你的恩惠，有的你倾听过他们的问题，有的你和他有着相同的爱好。人际关系网不是一朝一夕就能建立起来的，它需要几年甚至十几年的培养。一个人在事业上、生活上的成功其实如同一个政党的成功，你要有许多人散布在适当的地方，你可以依赖他们，他们也可以依赖你。 www.6park.com
第八，学会授权他人。许多人不肯或不能这样做，因此始终被钉在从属的职位上。授权他人是成功的一半，一个事无巨细，不能将工作授权别人的人，注定会遇到极大的障碍。到了35岁，你最好已成为这方面的专家。换言之，你懂得挑选合适的人并信任他们。 www.6park.com
第九，学会在什么时候三缄其口。因说话不小心而自毁前程的人，比因为任何其他原因丧失成功的人都多。要学会保持沉默而且看起来机智——别人自然以为你知道的比实际还多。别讲别人的闲话，别谈论你自己的大计，守口如瓶所赢得的声誉，远比讲人闲话所带来的东西更加珍贵。你在事业上越成功，这一点就越重要。 www.6park.com
第十，对人要忠诚。如果你到了35岁仍未能建立起坚如磐石的忠诚信誉，这一缺点将会困扰你一生。不忠诚的恶名必然会使你在事业上到处不受欢迎。你不能靠暗箭伤人爬到事业的顶峰，而要靠在早期树立起来的真诚刚直和不可动摇的声誉。35岁以前，忠诚只是投资；35岁以后，你会作为一个可以信赖的人收到忠诚的回报。
35岁是青春的后期，35岁以后是收获的季节，如果你没有资格说这句话，你将会憎恨自己。所以在35岁以前，在烂漫蓬勃的青春年华里，你最好把下面十件事做好。 www.6park.com
第一，学会本行业所需要的一切知识并有所发展。已故零件大王布鲁丹在他35岁时，已经成为零件行业的领袖，并且组建了年收入达千万美元的海湾与西部工业公司。每个人在年轻时都可能有过彻夜不眠、刻苦攻读，这在20岁甚或30岁都没有问题，但到了35岁，就不应该再为学习基本技能而大伤脑筋了。35岁之前是一个人从事原始积累的阶段，35岁之后就应该勃发了。 www.6park.com
第二，养成个人风格。在35岁以前，找出你所喜欢的，不论是衣着或是爱好，哪怕是与众不同的小习惯也好。20岁、30岁时你可以不断尝试、不断改变，但是到了35岁，你便要明确地建立个人风格。一位男士或女士在事业中途改变自己的形象，就会让人觉得很不可靠。你喜欢穿西装吗？好！就把西装当作你的商标吧！办公桌上摆些鲜花会令你工作更有效率吗？那就每天都摆些鲜花吧！ www.6park.com
第三，在感情生活方面平和安定。在攀登事业的高峰时，如果私人生活不愉快，陷入感情危机，对你会产生很大的干扰，甚至会逐渐令你对别的事物失去兴趣。那些在35岁之前私人生活已经平和安定的人，一般都比生活动荡不安的人有更大的机会获得成功。因此，如果你想结束一段没有结果的恋情，或者你想和女友结婚，那就赶快行动吧，免得把问题拖到生命的第35个春秋。在35岁以后，你应该专注地看着你对事业的投资开始获利。 www.6park.com
第四，明白自己的短处。承认有些事情你的确做不好，或者不愿做。如果你讨厌数字而喜欢创作，那就不要因为待遇高或顺从别人的期望而强迫自己做数字工作。在35岁之前，一定要投入你所喜爱、所擅长的那种工作。否则，35岁之后必然会有一段郁郁不乐的日子。而且，真正的成功可能因为活力的消退而丧失。 www.6park.com
第五，知道自己的长处。你应该知道自己擅长什么，并且清楚你所喜欢做而又做得比别人好的事情。不管你目前担任什么样的角色，知道自己的长处对成功都很重要。 www.6park.com
第六，储备辞职另谋生路的钱。在这个多变的职业世界里，你也许不会永远在一个地方工作，或者永远在一个位置上淋漓尽致地发挥自己，当你感到无法施展时，你很可能会想到辞职，或者开辟第二职业，如果你事先储蓄了足够的钱，你便有了一个安全的后盾。 www.6park.com
第七，建立人际关系网。如果到了35岁你仍未建立起牢固的人际关系网，那你就有麻烦了。这个人际关系网包括你的朋友、亲人，最低限度包括所有可以互相帮助的人。这些人有的是你的同事，有的受过你的恩惠，有的你倾听过他们的问题，有的你和他有着相同的爱好。人际关系网不是一朝一夕就能建立起来的，它需要几年甚至十几年的培养。一个人在事业上、生活上的成功其实如同一个政党的成功，你要有许多人散布在适当的地方，你可以依赖他们，他们也可以依赖你。 www.6park.com
第八，学会授权他人。许多人不肯或不能这样做，因此始终被钉在从属的职位上。授权他人是成功的一半，一个事无巨细，不能将工作授权别人的人，注定会遇到极大的障碍。到了35岁，你最好已成为这方面的专家。换言之，你懂得挑选合适的人并信任他们。 www.6park.com
第九，学会在什么时候三缄其口。因说话不小心而自毁前程的人，比因为任何其他原因丧失成功的人都多。要学会保持沉默而且看起来机智——别人自然以为你知道的比实际还多。别讲别人的闲话，别谈论你自己的大计，守口如瓶所赢得的声誉，远比讲人闲话所带来的东西更加珍贵。你在事业上越成功，这一点就越重要。 www.6park.com
第十，对人要忠诚。如果你到了35岁仍未能建立起坚如磐石的忠诚信誉，这一缺点将会困扰你一生。不忠诚的恶名必然会使你在事业上到处不受欢迎。你不能靠暗箭伤人爬到事业的顶峰，而要靠在早期树立起来的真诚刚直和不可动摇的声誉。35岁以前，忠诚只是投资；35岁以后，你会作为一个可以信赖的人收到忠诚的回报。
A joke today!
Love at First Sight
A man was eating in a fancy restaurant, and there was a gorgeous woman eating at the next table. He had been checking her out all night, but lacked the nerve to go talk to her. Suddenly she sneezed and her glass eye went flying out of its socket towards the man. With lightning quick reflexes, he caught it in mid-air.
''Oh my gosh, I am so sorry,'' she said as she popped her eye back in the socket. ''Let me buy you dinner to make it up to you.''
They enjoyed a wonderful dinner together and afterwards the woman invited him back to her place for a drink. They went back to her house, and after some time, she took him into her bedroom and began undressing him. The couple had wild, passionate sex many times during the night. The next morning when he awoke, she had already gotten up and brought him breakfast in bed.
The guy was amazed and said ''You know, you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?''
''No, she replied. "You just happened to catch my eye!''
A man was eating in a fancy restaurant, and there was a gorgeous woman eating at the next table. He had been checking her out all night, but lacked the nerve to go talk to her. Suddenly she sneezed and her glass eye went flying out of its socket towards the man. With lightning quick reflexes, he caught it in mid-air.
''Oh my gosh, I am so sorry,'' she said as she popped her eye back in the socket. ''Let me buy you dinner to make it up to you.''
They enjoyed a wonderful dinner together and afterwards the woman invited him back to her place for a drink. They went back to her house, and after some time, she took him into her bedroom and began undressing him. The couple had wild, passionate sex many times during the night. The next morning when he awoke, she had already gotten up and brought him breakfast in bed.
The guy was amazed and said ''You know, you are the perfect woman. Are you this nice to every guy you meet?''
''No, she replied. "You just happened to catch my eye!''
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
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Energy research lights up: Energy from water!!!!!!
Interview: Energy research lights up
26 September 2007
http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2007/September/26090701.asp
Daniel Nocera tells James Mitchell Crow about his research into harnessing solar energy to make fuel from water
Dan Nocera is W M Keck Professor of Energy and Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. His research covers the basic mechanisms of energy conversion in biology and chemistry, in particular the sunlight-powered splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel
Could you briefly describe your own research?
My research is pretty easy to describe: water + light = oil. It is literally to figure out how to get light to act on water to split it into hydrogen and oxygen, which you can then use as a fuel.
Are there many groups working on this problem?
There are other groups working on it, but not enough, and that's what holds solar back. The way that science works, and this is what makes it beautiful, is that a discovery can come from anywhere. So if you want to up the ante in terms of discovery, you want to have as many people working on the problem as you can. There's a lot of really bright young people who could be working on it, but they don't because the money isn't there for them. I wish I had 150 competitors, because that's in the end how this problem will get solved.
The ITER experimental fusion reactor is having $12 billion and 30 years invested to try to solve the fusion problem - would that money have been better spent on water splitting?
Well, there's always bias in energy research, so of course I wish there was more money in my area. I would rather go with water splitting and photovoltaics (PV), because we know how to do this already, we have the technology - people have built photovoltaics that work at over 20 per cent efficiency, and 18 per cent efficient systems for water splitting - but they're just too costly. So the big difference between ITER and solar is, scientifically, with solar we already know how to do it and we know there's no show-stopper [that would prevent us from reaching our goal]. What I worry about with ITER is there could be a lot of show-stoppers. So, being conservative, I would say to go with PV and solar.
"What I worry about with ITER is there could be a lot of show-stoppers. So, being conservative, I would say to go with PV and solar"
- Dan Nocera
But we practically spend no money on research in the world, especially on this problem. You should be able to run ITER and do all this other stuff, because the problem is too compelling to ignore it. My guess is it won't be the environment, it will be geopolitics and energy security that will turn people to this problem, and then the money will start flowing.
What do you see as the main hurdles to water splitting becoming a viable energy solution?
There are two keys - one is you have to make photovoltaics cheaply, so you can mass-manufacture rather than have to make them a panel at a time. The second thing to figure out is the reaction chemistry on how to split water to hydrogen and oxygen. We don't know how to do that yet, even though plants do it every day. We can do the hydrogen part pretty well, but we still have no idea how to get the oxygen out - and you want to do that because you want a closed thermodynamic cycle. You want to be able to give somebody a gallon of water in the desert, make hydrogen and oxygen, and then have it recombine in a fuel cell to get water back again. It's going to take a concerted effort, we're going to need theoreticians, computational scientists, molecule builders - we really need to come together to make this happen. And there's no question these collaborations are forming; a spirit in the community is forming.
You mentioned that plants have already mastered water splitting - shouldn't we just let them get on with it, and collect the biofuels?
Well, here's the key with plants - their theoretical limit of energy conversion is 10 per cent efficiency. Practically, the best stuff people hope to see some day is 2-3 per cent efficiency out of a plant. With solar PV, people walk in the door expecting 10 per cent efficiency - so they're starting off at the theoretical limit of a plant, and they expect to top out at 20-25 per cent efficiency. So that's the big difference, and the reason why I chose this problem and I didn't become a biofuels person. It's simple maths, you want to go where the ceiling is highest.
Are you optimistic that we'll solve these problems?
I know science will get there - we already know how to do it, it's just a question of doing it cheaply. And that's not easy, it's going to take massive new discoveries to make it cheap, but we can do it, I'm sure of it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Keep Chinese Close, But English Closer
走出语言困境：Keep Chinese Close, But English Closer 2007-09-15 14:34:25
(http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200709&postID=20029)
Have been thinking to write something on the subject of how to improve English, yet not so sure if I am qualified to take on such a heavy topic as I consider my own English a failure – living in an English-speaking country for over a decade, I still find myself in awkward situations from time to time with my English skills, in particular, I always feel intellectually handicapped whenever write in English. Nevertheless, there are certain things, lessons or whatever to be called, that might have characteristics of generalization in terms of language learning and can be shared, and might shed some light for other people’s study.
I am pretty sure that many of us, if not all of the overseas Chinese living in a English country, are constantly struggling between two language systems: in an English-speaking country, we’re entitled and forced to use an alien language, or you’re taking risk of being thrown out the main-stream society, just like some of the Chinese-Americans in Chinatown whose lifetime language commitment is Cantonese. On the other hand, as a Chinese who was born and brought up in Chinese language setting, we all have a “genetic” tendency to find cultural comfort in employing our own mother tongue – it’s an effortless mental process when we speak Chinese; we take a pleasure to read Chinese because the pictographic characters could soothe our mind, to say the least; it won’t pose a linguistic challenge when we write in Chinese, and so forth. In sum, we’re inclined to use the language we were born with; unfortunately the language adds little weight to our survival skills in a society where people speak different language.
In the classic movie, The Godfather II, there is a line, a very famous one if not the most in the movie history, by the young godfather Michael Coreleone, “Keep your friends close, but your enemy closer,” a family-teaching passed onto him from his father, the old godfather, Vito Coreleone. Admiring the sophisticated life philosophy articulated in this simple line, I think it would be also a great metaphor to our English study situation here, as a figure of speech. So, how to balance this equation of English and Chinese? The answer is: Keep your Chinese close, but your English closer. Please allow me to explain how.
It should be fairly easy for us to “keep Chinese close”. Our brains are wired with Chinese to begin with and further reinforced by the education we received back to the Chinese society. Even in a foreign country, we can always find someone who shares the language and with whom we can communicate – nowadays you can probably find Chinese almost in every single corner on this planet, thanks to our people’s survival instinct; we can always call China, talking to family and friends; and we can browse the Chinese-based websites such as Wenxuexity, reading and writing in Chinese. Once again, Chinese is one heritage that we’re born with, not something you could cut it off and walk away from it; rather, it’s something in our blood and you will have to keep it close.
Now, what about English? In what way to keep it closer? Before we move on any further, I would like to make a disclaimer referring back the classical line in The Godfather II. When I say “keep English closer”, I by no means treat English as an “enemy.” The only reason we say “to keep it closer” than Chinese is because it is our second language, and therefore it is something out there alien for us to conquer. To do so, we’ll have to know what we deal with and how; so to speak, to keep it closer.
In order to command a language, one has to immerge himself/herself into it, like swimming in the ocean. It might sound like a cliché talk and easy said than be done. But here are several things, based upon my personal experience, that could help one on the way to be a good swimmer in the ocean of English language. I would like to address these issues starting with a specific question -- no offense to anyone whatsoever, thus to make it more measurable, by which you can see where you fit, and how close you are to your English study.
How often do you read English book? Once a year? Once a month?
Reading is the most fundamental thing to do in terms of improving English skills. If you open any textbook or ask anyone who has good command of language as to how to advance with your study of English, it/he/she will no doubt tell you to read as much as you can. It seems we just can not stress enough how important reading is.
To be specific, reading a book each month might sound too much to do as opposed to one book a year which is too less. How about one book every other month? If you could do this, you will finish reading six books each year; and that means you will read close to one million English words each year if each book averages, let’s say, 150,000 words. Out of this one million words, if you just could remember one percent, it will amount to 10,000. I would say that’s a quite accomplishment; let alone through reading you will also gradually learn grammatical structures, idiom usage and knowledge, etc. The more you read, the better your English skills will be. Speaking and writing definitely benefit a great deal from reading. Unless you have a family library, the local library may be the most convenient reading source. Plus, as a taxpayer, it would be a waste if you don’t take the advantage of the community service when you can.
How often do you listen to radio?
One time a guy, who majored in English in China and just came over to the US, asked me about how to polish his English, as he was baffled when he talked to the locals. I told him listening to radio might help since he as a student did not have much time to read in addition to his study. He seemed distained and scoffed at the idea. “What? Are you kidding? I don’t even listen to radio when I was in China!” I don’t blame on him for saying so. In the age of information exploration when the new media mushrooms in the light speed, radio seems out of fashion for certain people. But, neither does it means it’s out of picture, nor it diminishes its importance to learn English.
As a traditional media, radio still proves to be one of most efficient and accessible tools. You can turn it on in the morning while you’re eating your breakfast; you can listen to it when you drive to & from work, or on a trip – at least it provides a pastime when you’re stuck in a traffic jam; with an earpiece, you can even listen to radio when you’re out jogging or taking a stroll. How convenient could that be!
Beyond its easy accessibility, radio brings you an immense world of information as listening materials. To keep it as a fun instead of a forced task, you’ll have to find something that interests you. Besides the news that all the stations carry, there’s wide range of syndicated talk shows you can choose from, such as Fresh Air by Terry Gross, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Rush Limbaugh Show (not that I like his opinions, but respect his English), Sean Hannity Show, to name a few. Technically, I’d suggest listening to one or two station/show to start with, especially when you’re listening-wise not skilled enough to handle variety of accents, styles and terminologies. Once you’ve got familiar with one show, you can then move on exploring more topics.
Do you write in English? If yes, how often?
Let’s face it, unless you’re a professional writer or in an occupation that requires a lot of writing, most of us probably won’t have much time to sit down racking our brains on an English essay, as we all have work to do, family and friends to be with and all kind of personal things to tend. However, writing is just as important as reading, to not just improve your English to handle daily conversation, but, one step up, to enhance your English on a professional, educated level. Comparing to reading and listening, writing is a much more complex process. That said, it means you can speak English as good as you can, but that does not necessarily means you will automatically have good command of writing skill. When write, you have to think, ponder on your thoughts in English, and organize the thoughts in a logical fashion, and then find proper words, terminologies to express them. Through writing, not only you can have solid grasp of the meaning, the nuance of each word, but also learn different way of expressions by using different grammatical structures. Of course writing does not have to be lengthy and impeccable, you can just write down a short paragraph or even a sentence for sake of practice. Over time, your writing proficiency will grow as your practice accumulates.
Related to the above, when you write an email at work or to a friend, do you just treat it as a routine? or an opportunity to practice your English?
As mentioned before, we hardly have time to sit down writing English just for practice since we all live in a bustled, fast-paced society. However, nowadays email becomes something that on a daily basis we can not escape from, either at work or at home. And more importantly, it actually poses an occasion for English writing practice. Even for business emails at work, you can either put it in a blunt language; or you can choose to elaborate in a more sophisticated and diplomatic way that will yield a better result, and in return your writing skill will advance before you’re even aware of.
When you watch TV, do you pay attention to the captioning?
In our society, TV has become an inseparability of people’s daily life. We get news from TV each day that keeps us updated with what’s going on nationally and internationally; we’re entertained by watching the diversity of TV shows; and we can even get educated from some special TV programs. But for a foreigner, TV can also pave another road for your English study. Unless you can completely understand the language, the best way to catch up with the plot and story is to closely follow the captioning on your screen. In doing so, you can utilize caption-reading to help your listening in case there are issues of vocabulary and mis-hearing; thus put your understanding in sync with the development of the characters and story. With captioning, the drawback is that it may sacrifice your visual enjoyment. But, it will definitely facilitate your language study, and in a long run your eyes will be eventually freed from the caption once your listening gets better.
The issues above we’ve discussed are just my personal experience and opinions that I wanted to share with the forum. Hope it will help; if not, at least a further discussion on the topic is expected.
Last, but not the least, learning a language is not an easy task, but a lifetime commitment; It is a hard work plus proper methodologies, not an overnight magic; It is an odyssey that you will have to go through without taking any short-cut.
So, let’s work on it, shall we?
(http://blog.wenxuecity.com/blogview.php?date=200709&postID=20029)
Have been thinking to write something on the subject of how to improve English, yet not so sure if I am qualified to take on such a heavy topic as I consider my own English a failure – living in an English-speaking country for over a decade, I still find myself in awkward situations from time to time with my English skills, in particular, I always feel intellectually handicapped whenever write in English. Nevertheless, there are certain things, lessons or whatever to be called, that might have characteristics of generalization in terms of language learning and can be shared, and might shed some light for other people’s study.
I am pretty sure that many of us, if not all of the overseas Chinese living in a English country, are constantly struggling between two language systems: in an English-speaking country, we’re entitled and forced to use an alien language, or you’re taking risk of being thrown out the main-stream society, just like some of the Chinese-Americans in Chinatown whose lifetime language commitment is Cantonese. On the other hand, as a Chinese who was born and brought up in Chinese language setting, we all have a “genetic” tendency to find cultural comfort in employing our own mother tongue – it’s an effortless mental process when we speak Chinese; we take a pleasure to read Chinese because the pictographic characters could soothe our mind, to say the least; it won’t pose a linguistic challenge when we write in Chinese, and so forth. In sum, we’re inclined to use the language we were born with; unfortunately the language adds little weight to our survival skills in a society where people speak different language.
In the classic movie, The Godfather II, there is a line, a very famous one if not the most in the movie history, by the young godfather Michael Coreleone, “Keep your friends close, but your enemy closer,” a family-teaching passed onto him from his father, the old godfather, Vito Coreleone. Admiring the sophisticated life philosophy articulated in this simple line, I think it would be also a great metaphor to our English study situation here, as a figure of speech. So, how to balance this equation of English and Chinese? The answer is: Keep your Chinese close, but your English closer. Please allow me to explain how.
It should be fairly easy for us to “keep Chinese close”. Our brains are wired with Chinese to begin with and further reinforced by the education we received back to the Chinese society. Even in a foreign country, we can always find someone who shares the language and with whom we can communicate – nowadays you can probably find Chinese almost in every single corner on this planet, thanks to our people’s survival instinct; we can always call China, talking to family and friends; and we can browse the Chinese-based websites such as Wenxuexity, reading and writing in Chinese. Once again, Chinese is one heritage that we’re born with, not something you could cut it off and walk away from it; rather, it’s something in our blood and you will have to keep it close.
Now, what about English? In what way to keep it closer? Before we move on any further, I would like to make a disclaimer referring back the classical line in The Godfather II. When I say “keep English closer”, I by no means treat English as an “enemy.” The only reason we say “to keep it closer” than Chinese is because it is our second language, and therefore it is something out there alien for us to conquer. To do so, we’ll have to know what we deal with and how; so to speak, to keep it closer.
In order to command a language, one has to immerge himself/herself into it, like swimming in the ocean. It might sound like a cliché talk and easy said than be done. But here are several things, based upon my personal experience, that could help one on the way to be a good swimmer in the ocean of English language. I would like to address these issues starting with a specific question -- no offense to anyone whatsoever, thus to make it more measurable, by which you can see where you fit, and how close you are to your English study.
How often do you read English book? Once a year? Once a month?
Reading is the most fundamental thing to do in terms of improving English skills. If you open any textbook or ask anyone who has good command of language as to how to advance with your study of English, it/he/she will no doubt tell you to read as much as you can. It seems we just can not stress enough how important reading is.
To be specific, reading a book each month might sound too much to do as opposed to one book a year which is too less. How about one book every other month? If you could do this, you will finish reading six books each year; and that means you will read close to one million English words each year if each book averages, let’s say, 150,000 words. Out of this one million words, if you just could remember one percent, it will amount to 10,000. I would say that’s a quite accomplishment; let alone through reading you will also gradually learn grammatical structures, idiom usage and knowledge, etc. The more you read, the better your English skills will be. Speaking and writing definitely benefit a great deal from reading. Unless you have a family library, the local library may be the most convenient reading source. Plus, as a taxpayer, it would be a waste if you don’t take the advantage of the community service when you can.
How often do you listen to radio?
One time a guy, who majored in English in China and just came over to the US, asked me about how to polish his English, as he was baffled when he talked to the locals. I told him listening to radio might help since he as a student did not have much time to read in addition to his study. He seemed distained and scoffed at the idea. “What? Are you kidding? I don’t even listen to radio when I was in China!” I don’t blame on him for saying so. In the age of information exploration when the new media mushrooms in the light speed, radio seems out of fashion for certain people. But, neither does it means it’s out of picture, nor it diminishes its importance to learn English.
As a traditional media, radio still proves to be one of most efficient and accessible tools. You can turn it on in the morning while you’re eating your breakfast; you can listen to it when you drive to & from work, or on a trip – at least it provides a pastime when you’re stuck in a traffic jam; with an earpiece, you can even listen to radio when you’re out jogging or taking a stroll. How convenient could that be!
Beyond its easy accessibility, radio brings you an immense world of information as listening materials. To keep it as a fun instead of a forced task, you’ll have to find something that interests you. Besides the news that all the stations carry, there’s wide range of syndicated talk shows you can choose from, such as Fresh Air by Terry Gross, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Rush Limbaugh Show (not that I like his opinions, but respect his English), Sean Hannity Show, to name a few. Technically, I’d suggest listening to one or two station/show to start with, especially when you’re listening-wise not skilled enough to handle variety of accents, styles and terminologies. Once you’ve got familiar with one show, you can then move on exploring more topics.
Do you write in English? If yes, how often?
Let’s face it, unless you’re a professional writer or in an occupation that requires a lot of writing, most of us probably won’t have much time to sit down racking our brains on an English essay, as we all have work to do, family and friends to be with and all kind of personal things to tend. However, writing is just as important as reading, to not just improve your English to handle daily conversation, but, one step up, to enhance your English on a professional, educated level. Comparing to reading and listening, writing is a much more complex process. That said, it means you can speak English as good as you can, but that does not necessarily means you will automatically have good command of writing skill. When write, you have to think, ponder on your thoughts in English, and organize the thoughts in a logical fashion, and then find proper words, terminologies to express them. Through writing, not only you can have solid grasp of the meaning, the nuance of each word, but also learn different way of expressions by using different grammatical structures. Of course writing does not have to be lengthy and impeccable, you can just write down a short paragraph or even a sentence for sake of practice. Over time, your writing proficiency will grow as your practice accumulates.
Related to the above, when you write an email at work or to a friend, do you just treat it as a routine? or an opportunity to practice your English?
As mentioned before, we hardly have time to sit down writing English just for practice since we all live in a bustled, fast-paced society. However, nowadays email becomes something that on a daily basis we can not escape from, either at work or at home. And more importantly, it actually poses an occasion for English writing practice. Even for business emails at work, you can either put it in a blunt language; or you can choose to elaborate in a more sophisticated and diplomatic way that will yield a better result, and in return your writing skill will advance before you’re even aware of.
When you watch TV, do you pay attention to the captioning?
In our society, TV has become an inseparability of people’s daily life. We get news from TV each day that keeps us updated with what’s going on nationally and internationally; we’re entertained by watching the diversity of TV shows; and we can even get educated from some special TV programs. But for a foreigner, TV can also pave another road for your English study. Unless you can completely understand the language, the best way to catch up with the plot and story is to closely follow the captioning on your screen. In doing so, you can utilize caption-reading to help your listening in case there are issues of vocabulary and mis-hearing; thus put your understanding in sync with the development of the characters and story. With captioning, the drawback is that it may sacrifice your visual enjoyment. But, it will definitely facilitate your language study, and in a long run your eyes will be eventually freed from the caption once your listening gets better.
The issues above we’ve discussed are just my personal experience and opinions that I wanted to share with the forum. Hope it will help; if not, at least a further discussion on the topic is expected.
Last, but not the least, learning a language is not an easy task, but a lifetime commitment; It is a hard work plus proper methodologies, not an overnight magic; It is an odyssey that you will have to go through without taking any short-cut.
So, let’s work on it, shall we?
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