http://www.mat.upm.es/~jcm/murakami-perfect.html
Hi. I've told some of you this story in class. I hope you enjoyed yourself.
If there's any short stories you would like to recommend, feel free to post it under comments.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
No writing assignments - but a focus on PACC
Hi 3e1 and 4n2,
I have decided not to give any writing assigments for the holidays. But we should look at some things that would help us in writing speeches. There are 4 aspects we can consider:
Purpose, Audience, Context and Culture [PACC]
PACC is the same as USA, user purpose, audience, CC is situation.
Briefly
Purpose would be - "what are you trying to achieve?"
- are you trying to convince, apologise, debate, make people laugh or motivate? First, you need to identify the purpose, then you can decide how you want to craft your speech.
Audience - "who are you talking to?"
- would you speak the same way if you spoke to your Mom, your friends, your coach and your teachers?
Context
- this determines if you want to make it serious or not. At a fun fair and at a funeral, would you behave the same way? Depending on the situation and location, you should talk differently.
Culture
- This one is easy. If you spoke to a foreigner, and you're going to eat Nasi Lemak, would you say
i) let's go eat Nasi Lemak
or
ii) Have you tried Nasi Lemak? It means coconut rice.
I'll focus a bit more on purpose
Purpose -
I repeat, Purpose would be - "what are you trying to achieve?"
- are you trying to convince, apologise, debate, make people laugh or motivate? First, you need to identify the purpose, then you can decide how you want to craft your speech.
Look at the following few pictures, although the speaker is the same, and the audience might be similar, what do you think the purposes are?
You can make a guess and post under comments.
Futhering the scenario:
Recently, if you were Jack Neo (who cheated on his wife), and you decide to hold a press conference what would be your purpose? If your purpose was to deny the accusation, would your speech's content and tone be the same as to apologise?
Suppose your purpose is to apologise the next 2 questions to ask would be
i) who's the audience?
ii) what tone do you use?
would you say
1) sorry la, very paiseh
2) Hey family and friends, I am sorry.
3) I have made a mistake. I have hurt my family and friends. I regret the things I have done and I sincerely apologise for my actions.
4) I'm sorry! haha.
Think about it.
I have decided not to give any writing assigments for the holidays. But we should look at some things that would help us in writing speeches. There are 4 aspects we can consider:
Purpose, Audience, Context and Culture [PACC]
PACC is the same as USA, user purpose, audience, CC is situation.
Briefly
Purpose would be - "what are you trying to achieve?"
- are you trying to convince, apologise, debate, make people laugh or motivate? First, you need to identify the purpose, then you can decide how you want to craft your speech.
Audience - "who are you talking to?"
- would you speak the same way if you spoke to your Mom, your friends, your coach and your teachers?
Context
- this determines if you want to make it serious or not. At a fun fair and at a funeral, would you behave the same way? Depending on the situation and location, you should talk differently.
Culture
- This one is easy. If you spoke to a foreigner, and you're going to eat Nasi Lemak, would you say
i) let's go eat Nasi Lemak
or
ii) Have you tried Nasi Lemak? It means coconut rice.
I'll focus a bit more on purpose
Purpose -
I repeat, Purpose would be - "what are you trying to achieve?"
- are you trying to convince, apologise, debate, make people laugh or motivate? First, you need to identify the purpose, then you can decide how you want to craft your speech.
Look at the following few pictures, although the speaker is the same, and the audience might be similar, what do you think the purposes are?
You can make a guess and post under comments.
Futhering the scenario:
Recently, if you were Jack Neo (who cheated on his wife), and you decide to hold a press conference what would be your purpose? If your purpose was to deny the accusation, would your speech's content and tone be the same as to apologise?
Suppose your purpose is to apologise the next 2 questions to ask would be
i) who's the audience?
ii) what tone do you use?
would you say
1) sorry la, very paiseh
2) Hey family and friends, I am sorry.
3) I have made a mistake. I have hurt my family and friends. I regret the things I have done and I sincerely apologise for my actions.
4) I'm sorry! haha.
Think about it.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
COMMON ENGLISH ERRORS
Hi, here are 3 things I want to talk about:
1) The use of capital letters.
2) Commas
3) The word "often".
The use of capital letters
Here's a question. Do you know that after every sentence, you need to begin a new one with a capital letter? If you do not do it, you'll be penalised for the grammatical error.
Benedict also wants to emphasize that every name, country or language begins with a capital letter. For example, Young Jun came from Korea to Singapore and is working hard on his English.
Commas
put a comma after "Thus" and "However"
Eg.
It was raining. Thus, he carried an umbrella home.
Eminem is a successful rapper. However, his family broke up because of his career.
Often
Okay, pleaaase don't make this error ever again. There is no such word as "oftenly".
Eg.
I often wish for a star to fall from the sky.
1) The use of capital letters.
2) Commas
3) The word "often".
The use of capital letters
Here's a question. Do you know that after every sentence, you need to begin a new one with a capital letter? If you do not do it, you'll be penalised for the grammatical error.
Benedict also wants to emphasize that every name, country or language begins with a capital letter. For example, Young Jun came from Korea to Singapore and is working hard on his English.
Commas
put a comma after "Thus" and "However"
Eg.
It was raining. Thus, he carried an umbrella home.
Eminem is a successful rapper. However, his family broke up because of his career.
Often
Okay, pleaaase don't make this error ever again. There is no such word as "oftenly".
Eg.
I often wish for a star to fall from the sky.
Politics - Introduction
Politics refer to affairs of governing and governments, primarily referring to Nations/Countries. Although many in power abuse their powers, the main end of politics should be for the bettering the life of the people in a Nation. I shall briefly describe a few forms governments.
Dictatorship - In a dictatorship, there is one supreme ruler. Arguably, the Emperors of China, Kings of England can be called dictators. Does one need to be a King/monarch to be a dictator? No. Hitler was not a king but he's a dictator. Despite the bad name that dictatorship receives, it need not necessarily be a cruel system that doesn't benefit its citizens. If a King is wise and kind, then his people would benefit from a Dictatorship.
Authoritarianism - The state maintains a large amount of power, but excludes potential challengers. Usually, the rulers are non-elected.
Democracy - Several people I know champion Democracy. However, they do not understand what Democracy truly is. A purely democratic system is one in which major political decisions are undertaken through votes by all of its citizens. Does this sound like a good idea to you?
There are definite inadequacies with this system. Firstly, the masses may be uneducated in affairs of the state. The laws they pass and the decisions they make may harm the country as a whole rather than benefit them. Secondly, the decision making process may be drawn out and inefficient, considering that votes have to be cast and counted before a decision can be made. Compare this with a Dictatorship. Which one do you think is more efficient.
Dictatorship - In a dictatorship, there is one supreme ruler. Arguably, the Emperors of China, Kings of England can be called dictators. Does one need to be a King/monarch to be a dictator? No. Hitler was not a king but he's a dictator. Despite the bad name that dictatorship receives, it need not necessarily be a cruel system that doesn't benefit its citizens. If a King is wise and kind, then his people would benefit from a Dictatorship.
Authoritarianism - The state maintains a large amount of power, but excludes potential challengers. Usually, the rulers are non-elected.
Democracy - Several people I know champion Democracy. However, they do not understand what Democracy truly is. A purely democratic system is one in which major political decisions are undertaken through votes by all of its citizens. Does this sound like a good idea to you?
There are definite inadequacies with this system. Firstly, the masses may be uneducated in affairs of the state. The laws they pass and the decisions they make may harm the country as a whole rather than benefit them. Secondly, the decision making process may be drawn out and inefficient, considering that votes have to be cast and counted before a decision can be made. Compare this with a Dictatorship. Which one do you think is more efficient.
The first breath
Greetings 3e1 and 4n2,
I think that the restrictions of class time does not allow me engage your thoughts in a deeper level, beyond mere academic requirements. Each one of you is an individual with critical thoughts, and I would like to speak to your thoughts and passions through here.
You are welcome to post comments.
Cheers,
Ben
I think that the restrictions of class time does not allow me engage your thoughts in a deeper level, beyond mere academic requirements. Each one of you is an individual with critical thoughts, and I would like to speak to your thoughts and passions through here.
You are welcome to post comments.
Cheers,
Ben
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)