2014年9月24日 星期三

英文口語練習範本:以圖書館簡介為範本

英文口語練習範本 
English speech practice samples



以下文字源自Stanford大學東亞研究系(或東亞研究中心)2014年9月15日的電子報。是一則關於東亞圖書館遷館後全新對外開放的簡短介紹。私以為很適合拿來做更進階的英語口說導覽練習。

The following passages are quoted from the CEAS Weekly Digest (September 15, 2014).  The CEAS Weekly Digest is an email newsletter highlighting the events of East Asian Studies at Stanford University. For more information, please refer to Center for East Asian Studies: https://ceas.stanford.edu/

The East Asia Library of Stanford University will reopen to the public at its new location in Lathrop Library on Monday, September 15, 2014.

In addition to three floors of stacks, the new East Asia Library possesses several conference, seminar, and group study rooms, numerous sofas, chairs, and desks under sunny windows, large exhibit spaces, state-of-the-art technology including dual-boot MAC/Windows computers and a latest-generation microfilm reader, and a newly established special collection.

This beautiful facility will provide a new level of service to the faculty and students in East Asian studies both on Stanford campus and beyond. We look forward to welcoming you in our new library soon.



這段關於東亞圖書館的簡短介紹也挺適合拿來做口說練習。尤其是館藏數字,中文我們說「有六十八萬本藏書」,以萬為單位,英文卻是說six hundred and eighty thousands,以千為單位。

*The following passage is from the Stanford East Asia Library: http://library.stanford.edu/libraries/eal/about

The East Asia Library, Stanford’s primary Asian studies collection, holds over 680,000 volumes in the social sciences and humanities for all historical periods in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages. With access to more than 800,000 volumes of online books and journals, EAL collections also consist of special collections, government documents, media, and periodicals.

註:
*680,000=six hundred and eighty thousands
*800,000=eight hundred thousands

國鳳整理於Sep 24, 2014

2014年9月23日 星期二

英文口語練習範本 

英文口語練習範本 
English speech practice samples

以下文字源自UC Davis 課程摘要
The following UC Davis course descriptions are quoted from the Japanese, Chinese, and History department websites.  I will use them as English speech practice samples for my upcoming interview this Saturday.  I will remove them if there's any copyright issue.

*UC Davis East Languages and Cultures: http://ealc.ucdavis.edu/home
*UC Davis Department of History: http://history.ucdavis.edu/

私以為這三小段很適合拿來當英文朗讀練習。若是太久沒講英文,可試著先用大聲朗讀的方式來找回說話的節奏,若像我一樣沒有人可以練習英文對話,至少自言自語/自問自答/跟空氣自我介紹的時候,不會一直and...and then...ahh! ehh... 個沒完...

  • 唸了一遍我才發現我的rl發音都會打結,有-ly-ed結尾的字甚至變成氣音。
  • 講話的步調要放慢,在此提醒自己!
  • 這些用來當writing sample也不壞。給同樣有需要面試藝文或導覽相關職缺的人參考囉。

將唸得不順的地方畫黃線,加油!

國鳳整理於 Sep. 22&23, 2014



Japanese 10. Masterworks of Japanese Literature (國鳳按:回顧UC Davis的讀書時光,我最喜歡的就是這堂課,閱讀簡單又營養,教授選的文章和書單至今仍有不少令人難忘,推薦學弟妹有機會可以拿這堂通識課~)
Course Description: This course serves as an introduction, in English, to selected masterworks of Japanese literature from 7th century into the 21st.  We will read from a wide variety of genres:  poetry (both ancient and modern), myths, tales, novels, plays, and short stories.  The course is organized chronologically around a central theme:  depictions of love in literature.  We will consider the historical and cultural context of each work, as well as the conventions of the various genres we encounter in our readings.    Among the questions to be considered throughout the course are:  What kinds of love and what aspects of love are depicted in literature?  How are they represented?  What is not represented?  What does it mean to be a “masterpiece” of literature?  This course has no prerequisites, and there is no assumption of prior knowledge of Japanese language, history, or culture.  Student grade based on quizzes, in-class discussion, term paper, midterm and final exams.

Chinese 150. Fifth Year Chinese
Course Description: This fifth-year Chinese course is designed to prepare students with advanced-high level competence for future professional engagement in Chinese. It focuses on developing sophisticated Chinese speaking and writing skills for formal settings of communication as well as deep understandings of Chinese culture and society. Students study authentic Chinese texts, mainly literary works and scholarly essays on selected topics of Chinese language, literature, culture, and society. Multimedia materials may also be adopted. Students gain familiarity with and better command of the expressive system of written Chinese, including its rhetorical strategies, discourse devices, sentence patterns, formulaic expressions, prosodic characteristics, and vocabularies featuring different types of written Chinese. They also develop critical thinking and scholarly understanding of social and cultural issues of modern China as related to the course materials. Major class activities include intensive reading, discussion, composition and paper writing, and formal presentations. All classes are conducted in Chinese.

History 191C – Late Imperial China
Patterns and problems of Chinese life traced through the Ming and Qing dynasties (c. 1500-1800). In the sixteenth century, when Europeans first reached the far eastern shores of Eurasia, the Ming Empire was one of the most populous, urbanized, economically advanced, and culturally sophisticated societies in the world. By the early twentieth century, that status quo had been turned on its head.  European and American steamships now dominated the Pacific while China was in the throes of social and political upheaval. Using documents, fiction, art, architecture, and selected scholarly writings, we will try to understand the historical dynamics of this enormous change.

2014年7月15日 星期二

【創作】國鳳的最新創作,短篇小說:畫境



大家好久不見,其實最近Angel我在另一個格子忙著寫小說(是的,這是今年度第二篇故事)!如今新篇的小說創作《畫境》來到尾聲(目前五萬字!),預計再三到五個章節就會完結篇,在這個格子打個廣告~

本來我是打算拿《畫境》去投稿金車奇幻文學獎的,但沒料到故事徹底言情化,寫著寫著甚至超過了預設的三萬字!早早認清自己不是奇幻寫手的料也好~(也許該投身羅曼史界?)

《畫境》的故事大綱很簡單也很cliche:一個女孩來到畫中的異世界,周旋於三個男人之間(?),於是兄弟鬩牆(?),兩國交戰…

相較之下,我還是比較喜歡寫鬼故事鬧鬼比戰爭好寫多了!

國鳳的最新創作,短篇小說:畫境 @ 黑心湖。the black lake
黑心湖。the black lake 網址:http://heixinhu.blogspot.tw/

PRINCE OF PERSIA
Image via http://muslimreverie.wordpress.com/

2014年7月10日 星期四

[不及格教學] 補救教學研習

之前剛好從學校老師那裡耳聞有補救教學的研習,說是參加完研習之後就可以進行國小的補救教學,本來想著可以順便在沒工作時賺個外快,又可以利用公假外出吹冷氣,所以跟學校請假後就去參加這個研習。

三天的研習,有的講師上課上的很努力,但也很不幸有時候會讓人想昏昏欲睡,有的講師採取的是互動式分組教學,因為他很明白我們會不專心和睡覺。其中補救教學的數學算是我比較有興趣的,因為自己念的也是理科,跟語文科比起來數學是學得比較久一點,(學得比較久而不一定比較好),那個講師之前也有來我們學校做補救教學的政策講解,我有看過她,那時候我負責場地拍照,所以有點印象。

以前一直以為數學就是這樣學就好,像分數除法不就是那樣,但是當我深入想,如果有小朋友就是沒有辦法理解這層觀念,那該怎麼教,如果是發生在自己的親人身上該怎麼指導?又或者小朋友是過動不專心要怎麼教?

講師在講到一個算十字面積的例子,她講到她以前碰過的印象深刻的小朋友,小朋友程度不好,老師給他算一題十字面積的題目,一般人都是先算一直一豎的面積後再剪掉中間重疊的部分,但是因為這題剛好兩條十字都是一樣的寬,所以就可以把它做切割,然後合起來用一個式子就可以算出來。我第一眼看到這題也是照著一般的想法算,但看到這一步也覺得滿厲害的,難道說所謂的天才才是真的看到一般人所看不到的地方所以才稱之為天才?像愛因斯坦小時候也被認為是智能有問題一樣。

題外話:
之前我就有思考過一個問題,有個老師問我以前是念什麼類組的,他說他小孩在選組但是不喜歡背東西所以有意思想選理組。從我自身的經驗,一般人都覺得數理偏向理解,但是我卻覺得在現層面上卻又變成在背書,以前有個高中數學老師問我們說:你覺得你在學校學數學學到現在,是被得多還是真的理解得多?我當時不能體會他的意思,直到畢業後出社會才漸漸有感,背得比較多。記得高中學拋物線,一開始學補習班老師說只要理解根本不用背公式,可是到快聯考在複習時,公式寫那麼多次,最後都乾脆記起來直接代比較快。畢竟考試是比快,哪有時間慢慢理解。出去面試時也是一樣,直接叫你在黑板上寫個排列程式,直接叫你算一個邏輯電路,問你protocol 的分層,當然對高手而言是簡單的問題,但這對我而言都是記憶,偏偏我又是個很容易忘記的人,就算自己做過的project也都忘得很快,畢業時做的project也都忘了,程式語法也都沒再用了,就連前幾個月寫的俄羅斯方塊都忘了是怎麼寫的,面試時考官只覺得你不會,是不熟的不會還是真的忘記的不會,又或是本來就不會根本就沒人管,他只知道你不會。所以說現實是殘酷的,還是多背多分吧。(純粹是個人觀點,可以不同意我沒關係)

其實想想自己數學這門科目的學習,從國中小學數學一路克服除法小數分數統計代數幾何多項式和證明,到高中的指數對數三角函數向量陣列矩陣排列組合,後來又到大學的微積分機率傅立葉級數轉換一堆雜七雜八的課程,看似學過很多,還只是數學一門科目而已 ,好不容易畢業後卻面臨22k的大環境問題,那還不如當初就做一個連分數都不會算的補救教學學童就好了,人生啊。