Retrospect of the semester

 1.  Write a list of listening skills that you learned about from each of the units that we studied.  Find them on - page 9, page 35, page 58, page 82, page 107.

Page 9: Identifying main ideas. In this page we've learnt about that the main ideas give us a general idea of what the speaker wants to communicate to the listener, and that main ideas are sometimes stated first and then followed by supporting details.

Page 35: Making inferences. Sometimes speakers state their ideas or opinions in a more subtle way. They expect the listeners to make a logical conclusion from their given facts or examples. These three phrases" So, do you mean that ...?" " So, are you saying that?"" So, would you say that..." helps us to make sure what are the speakers implying.

Page 58: Listening for examples. There are two ways to help us to understand examples. 1. Listen for phrases such as for example, for instance, as an example, let me give you an example, including, and such as. 2. Another way is rising intonation that signals items in a list. The rising intonation works like a comma to let the listener know the speaker is not finished.

Page 82: Recognizing appositives that explain. An appositive is a phrase that gives additional information in a sentence. In speaking, appositives are marked by intonation. 

Page 107: Organizing notes with a T-chart. It is useful to organize our notes as T-chart, some common patterns include cause and effect, problem and solution, and discussions of differences before and after a particular event or time. 

2.  Which listening skill (mentioned above) did you find the most valuable?  Why?

My favorites would be organizing notes with a T-chart and identifying main ideas! First of all, since I always have difficulty identifying main ideas, and it is crucial for me to acquire listening skill like this! And I think organizing notes with a T-chart is co-related to identifying main ideas, so it helps a lot as well! Moreover, I had no idea that we can organize our notes into so many groups! I am sure it would be more efficient for me to take notes like this so that I wouldn't have to write every details down! 

3.  What are some ways in which your listening in English has improved this 

semester?

Thanks to the note-taking skill and the blog, now I can easy grasp the main idea whenever I am listening to English. In fact , although I have no problem understanding English language, yet my attention is easily-distracted and I focus too much on detail or simply become absentminded most of the time. Note-taking skill not only organizes my thought but help me to decipher the main idea readily. I am never a logical person but even I could feel my progress regarding organizing things.  As for the blog , I really like the variety of assignments from a simple commercial to lengthy ted talk. Since our assignments were mostly without subtitles, we were forced to pay more attention to speaker's/songs' content, and surprisingly now I am able to tell more details when I heard native speaker talking. 

4.  What are some challenges that you still face in your English listening?  How do you plan to overcome these challenges?

My major problem of English listening skill would be the vocabularies. Now that I am capable of catching up the speaker's speech, but most of the time new vocabularies really stagnate my understanding of English language. Therefore, I felt the urgent need of supplementing my English vocabularies. As far as I am concerned, I've learnt every possible listening skill on my own. The rest would be my own problem to deal with-----memorizing memorizing and memorizing! 

5.  Based on your experience with listening to many different types of activities in English this semester (listening to radio reports, radio interviews, TED talks, the audio book, a song, etc.), what is the most efficient way that you can train yourself to improve your English listening on your own?  Explain your answer.

In my opinion, I am extremely fond of the radio interviews and TED talks.  Normally these two types of talks target native speakers as audience, so the speakers wouldn't intend to slow down as if in ESL course. This is absolutely the most efficient way to improve English learning skill, once we get used to the speed, then it would be a piece of cake whenever we are talking to native speakers!. Another thing I like about these two talks is that we really get to learn something from their contents. The saying " one stone kills two birds" really best describes it. I've never expected to learn about voluntourism, the structure of human brain or even secret about happiness!!!!!!! For sure if I am continuing training myself on English listening skills, I will be focusing more on TED talks and radio interviews in order to learn some more knowledge!!!. 

Frank Sinatra-My way

Music Video : My Way

Why are you sharing this song?

I am sure the classmates will not be able to resist  Frank Sinatra once they hear his music. His mature and mellow vioce always touch the softest spot in people's hearts, especially his masterpiece--my way. I was enchanted over and over again whenever listening to this song. The emotion within was tangible and that we would almost feel like we've sing the word ourselves! I hope the classmates would be soothed by the soul of the music as I have been.

What is the meaning of the lyrics?

Once again Frank sung this song with his unique,magnetic and sentimental tune. In this song, an old man was retrospecting his life. Although the road he'd traveled was thorny and he encountered numerous challenges, he plucked up his courage and overcome all the obstacles. Now that he'd cried and laughed and loved, he proudly claimed that he could die without regret, and most importantly, he faced it all with his own style. Frank used lots of similes in this song, for instance, instead of death he used " final curtain", and also the idiom" bit off more than he could chew" means that he overestimated his ability. He showed the trace of his contentment toward his life in several lines, such as " I live a life that's full" "when tear subside, I find it all so amusing" and " and may I say--not in a shy way" etc. Other than his satisfaction and bravery, he also mentioned his prudence by singing " Each careful step along the byway", which was one of the reasons why he considered his life successful. It is easy to immerse ourselves in the lyrics, and the words had already weaved a picture of an old man, recounting his past with pride and wisdom.


 

TV Commercial --- Butter finger!

What is happening in the commercial?
This commercial is composed of three segments and all focus on how scrumptious and tempting butterfinger is. Bart from the cartoon Simpson family wast the main character. In the first part of the commercial he he showed off to his sisters about his last smooth crispy crunchy peanutbuttery butterfinger. His sister then threated him to give her the peanut butter or she would scream. She did scream in the end and Bart had no choice but gave her butterfinger to soothe her and the little sister. In the second segment  Mr.Bully took Bart's butterfinger and his money, Bart was pissed off and use a skateboard to get his butterfinger back rather then his money!!! He hissed with warning " Nobody lay a finger on my butterfinger!" In the last part , Homer was trying to sneak on Bart's butterfinger while he was sleeping, yet the crafty and mischief Bart electrified the butterfinger! Poor Homer had electronic shock and Bart said to him triumphantly" Nobody lays a finger on my butterfinger!" 


What is the product or service?
Crispy Crunchy ButterFinger !

Who is the target audience?

Although its a cartoon but it seems to target different ages. Because in the commercial butterfinger lured almost all ages including Homer the dad, Bart the son and Lisa the daughter. Even the infant was trying to grab the butterfinger!  

 What emotions does it use to persuade the reader to buy the product or service? (fear, guilt, excitement, humor, etc.)

It was hilarious! The Simpsons advertised for the butterfinger and of course it cracks audiences up! Even the children would find this commercial cute, too. 

 Does it do a good job in persuading the watcher to buy the product? Why or why not?

Absolutely! The whole commercial revolved around butterfinger and everybody was thrilled to get thrilled to get their hands on butterfinger! Bart had also described that its crunchy crispy and peanutbuttery, they way the peanutbutter was snapped off made it even more appealing! The Simpsons were also very persuasive because it is a extremely popular cartoon and people would find their interaction intriguing! 

Animal Documentary: Komodo Dragon

Why am I sharing this documentary?

  Komodo dragons actually is not on " my favorite animals list", yet somehow I find this fearsome and mysterious creature appealing. They are the hermits of their predators kind since they could be only found on the islands of Indonesia, and they have been dwelling on their sacred territories for millions years. What makes extremely dangerous is their venom, a single bite is lethal and all they do afterwards is waiting for their prey's death. Do not make a mistake of scorning their clumsy body, they are very swift and are able to run 20km/hr! How can I not share this documentary after knowing about this creature! I was jaw-dropped and my eyes were glued to the computer screen the whole time! People would definitely be dangerously in love with this radiant creature! 
 

Summary of the documentary 

In the driest region in Indonesia there are numerous islands and  there's Komodo park which is designated as a world heritage site. On the island live the predator---Komodo dragon. They were said to be the only survivor from the dinosaur time. They are isolated from the surrounding water, and the islands are 400 from Jakarta. Other than Komodo dragon there are also various kinds of animal inhabit on the islands, including a very special kind of bird, and most of animals live in the woods. When temperature rise in the early morning, komodo dragon make their appearance. Komodo dragon are the largest lizard in the world, reaching 300 from head to tail, and weigh 150 kg. The komodo dragon are cood-blooded animal, and control their body temperature from soaking up the sunlight in the morning. They are able to survive the severe environment because their skin are think and covered with scales. Their skin not only protect them from the other animals also they also preserve water in their body. Their tongues are similar to snake's, they can detect the slightest change of temperature and weather. It is said that komodo dragon can sense their preys from 10 km away. They prey on animals like wild pig, deer. They show surprising agility when capturing a prey, 20 km/hr. They never chew on their prey they just swallow them. Also, a swing of their powerful tail can knock out their food or enemies. Their fearsome claws are sharp and they are also tools for climbing trees! The reason why they are so gigantic and vicious is because they had to evolve to survive. The more amazing thing about this ancient animal is that they can live without food for several months after a big meal! Surely this powerful and intimidating creature would still be dominating komodo islands for a long period. 

Long Ted Video: Why We Love, Why We Cheat.

Summary: 

Is romantic love a kind of emotion? Or a series of chemical effects? Helen Fisher, Anthropologist who has been studying romantic love for 45 years unveiled the secret of " Why we love? Why we cheat?." In the beginning of the speech Helen explained that if a person is in love, that is, the person take on the " special meaning." She gave an example of love poem which was written in the renowned Chinese classic" Story in the west wing." and that we tend to aggrandize the person we love and omit their disadvantages. Their existence in the world make every thing unique, and we like everything they like. In Helen's research, it turned out that when we are in love, it activate the brain part which would be stimulated as well when feeling the rush of cocaine. Helen then articulated that love is a drive but emotion. It came from the motor of our craving and its unstoppable. She divided the possible brain system into three parts. Lust, Love and attachment. Lust evolves us to look for mating, romantic love evolves to mate individually, attachment prolong the individual-mating. However, Helen did point out that these three system sometimes work respectively. For instance, we feel attached with a partner, yet we can fall in love with the other person in the same time. That fully proved why are so many people cheating because it is a natural process. Later on she mentioned that by doing something novel or orgasm triggers the dopamine in our brain and thus romantic love. In conclude, she stressed the importance of love and as long as human beings survive these three drives will survive, too. 

What can listeners learn from this talk? 

In my opinion, I think love is a indispensable element in our lives. Yet the majority of us is baffled by this baffling " emotion", or as Helen called" drive." The listeners could certainly learn from Helen's research and her point of view. For example, we would surprisingly discover that love and sex really doesn't work together sometimes! We also now understand that why people go frantic when in love----chemical effects and dopamine! By knowing these three systems I think we can better figure out some of the problems such as adultery, divorce and depression. I think all of us can not deny the fact that we still have the " animal nature" in the whole love philosophy thing. This is something that we can learn from, learn from our brains, drives , human beings and lives. 

Ted Video: To this day......for the bullied and beautiful ( Shane Koyczan)

Summary : 

To be or not to be ? In this short 12 minutes the renowned Canadian poet Shane Koyczan told us about his story of bullying and survival. At the beginning of the speech, Shane mentioned that each of us would go through the baffling transition of defining ourselves when we were young. However, other kids tend to define ourselves for us, negatively. Even the grownups were hindering us from dreaming great dreams. All this obstacles didn't deter Shane from being who he meant to be. He stood up for himself and fought back by tricking one of his classmates who once bullied him verbally. Yet he also emphasized that standing up for ourselves doesn't have to mean embracing violence. To this day, the shadow and agony of being bullied still eats into his soul and many of other victims. Moreover, kids nowadays are still being called names, those outsiders are neglected and deal with their own solitaire and loneliness. Despite the fact that we are deeply wounded by those cruel words, we shall smash frustration and depression and fine beauties in ourselves. We have to hold our ground and prove them wrong that we are not " Fag" " Spaz" " Geek" "Fat", that our lives has more to do with beauty and hopes but less to do with pain and hatred.

What can listeners learn from this talk? 

I believe that all of us would be able to echo on this video for that each of us must had a hard period of defining ourselves or being verbally bullied. Oftentimes we are compelled to be what we are not for the sake of stresses and expectations. People and things around our lives--teachers, parents, press, friends,economic statistics .......etc are imposing different and " acceptable " ideas on us. In my opinion, we could all consult from Shane's words and do not be afraid of dreaming. Moreover, the bullying problem is something we should emphasize as well. Sometimes people are too absentminded or mean to say harmful words, but they have no idea that very single vocabulary might cause lifelong trauma to the victim. No matter which role we are , bullies or victims, we ought to beware of  Shane's poem and learn something from it. Last but not least, enjoy the strength and fascination of " To this day". I am sure the listeners would be moved to tears.

Movie Clip: The Pianist

Which movie does the clip come from?

The clip comes from the movie The Pianist.

What is this movie about?

The story revolves around a Polish-Jewish Pianist--Szpilman during WWII. A series of tragedies happened when Nazi Germany invaded Warsaw.  Szpilman and his family were forced to wear the blue star of Davids armband and directly sent to the overcrowded Warsaw Ghetto. Yet the cruel destiny did not spare them. Szpilman's family was deported to the concentration camp, leaving Szpilman survived painfully. Later on he secretly helped the Jewish revolt, but then decided to seek his friend's aid. After a neighbor discovered him, he panickedly fled to the second hiding place with a piano. After one year a tank bombed his place and he was forced to leave. In the other ruins he was discovered by a German soldier while he was frantically searching for food. Luckily, Szpilman's music moved the German soldier. The soldier hided him in an attic and regularly provided him food. 1945 Szpilman was rescued when German was forced to retreat. Szpilman passed away in 2000 and still enjoyed playing piano the rest of his life.

What is happening in this clip?

Szpilman was a Polish-Jewish Pianist and he was discovered by his neighbor in the first hiding place. He escaped quickly worrying that he would be reported to the German. In the clip he was brought to an apartment where German troops are around. However, he was compelled to be quiet for that people might discover him again. His friend left him little food supplies and left. Sitting in front of his beloved instrument, Szpilman suspended his hands on piano keys , let the music flow in his mind .