Blogging Your Learning Experience

To make yourself learn better, you need to develop a study plan and share how you make the plan work. The plan is crucial to motivate and help you to learn and enhance your English skills in a long run. You also need it for record-tracking your learning journey. The record can help you see how you reach your learning goal so you are more aware of the responsibility for your own learning.

Blogging can help stir up your desire to learn. The desire can fade out without a support from others. Using the blog can easily gain the support. Start by sharing your experience in learning some new phrases everyday. Talk about something that impacts your daily life. Use the blog to record your thinking, this helps you express better in writing. Share the blog with your friends as much as possible.

Most importantly, no man is an island. We can't really isolated ourselves. We enjoy learning and sharing. We want to grow both intellectually and spiritually. We can't grow without learning. Learning takes a life time. Learning a new language also means appreciating some new culture and value that you may not have encountered before. Take myself as an example, I am Christian. I read Holy Bible every day. I did it ritually and didn't gain much insight until I started switching the language mode from Chinese to English. I now gain a lot more insight from the Words in the Bible. It impacts me immensely, because I can make a better reflection when memorising and mediating the Words in the second language.

Playing Dual Roles: Teacher and Student

You will have a lot of fun if you can play dual roles being a teacher and a learner to enhance your English skills. The ideas below provide some tips.

• Use audio materials to teach yourself. If possible, help yourself listen to learn before you will read to learn.
• Make yourself answer and respond to the listening and reading tasks. So, you will engage in deep learning not the superficial learning.
• Get into the details. Learning happens when it touches on the great details of the subject. So, read and listen to something that you are immensely interested in. Your study will also satisfy your intellectual thirst.
• Take time to show yourself the learning materials as many times as you can. It is necessary to repeat the listening and reading. Give yourself a break if you are bored by the reading.
• Record your own reading or speaking. You will see your own progress in the process.
• Tell yourself that you appreciate and value your effort. Believe in yourself and your ability of learning English.
  

Can and Can't

I can eat, but I can't cook.
I can swim, but I can't dive.
I can run, but I can't skate.
I can jump, but I can't fall.
I can ride, but I can't drive.
I can make, but I can't create.
I can walk, but I can't fly.
I can sit, but I can't nap.
I can kick, but I can't hit.
I can take, but I can't steal.
I can close, but I can't lock.
I can hike, but I can't climb.

How about you?

Fill in the blanks.

I can eat, but I can't _______.
I can swim, but I can't ________.
I can run, but I can't ________.
I can jump, but I can't ________.
I can ride, but I can't _______.
I can make, but I can't _______.
I can walk, but I can't _______.
I can sit, but I can't _______.
I can kick, but I can't _______.
I can take, but I can't ________.
I can close, but I can't _______.
I can hike, but I can't _______.
I can ______ , but I can't ________.

Reading Project - Triangle of Life

Yesterday I received an email message regarding the earthquake safety. It is known as "Triangle of Life" by Doug Copp. Read the message below. The picture below can help you better understand the article. The picture was downloaded from the link http://shehui.club.xilu.com/bbs/chinabox/newsview-950432-642104.html . You will also see the Chinese translation of the message if you follow the link.

However, the validity of the advices has been questioned by others. Read the research article you will find at the link http://www.cert-la.com/RejoinderToDougCopp.pdf. You may also use the Google search engine to search for the related articles by typing in the key words "triangle of life".

Write your comments by comparing the two techniques: "Duck and Cover" and "Triangle of Life".
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My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.

I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries. I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation (UNX051 -UNIENET)
for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.

In 1996 we made a film which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul, Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test.

We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did "duck and cover" and ten mannequins I used in my "triangle of life" survival method.


After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results.

The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover. There would likely have been 100 % survivability for people using my method of the "triangle of life." This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA, Canada and Latin America on
the TV program Real TV.

The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under their desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.

Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life". The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using
this void for safety will not be injured.

The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building. They are everywhere. I trained the Fire Department of Trujillo (population 750,000) in how to survive, take care of their families, and to rescue others in earthquakes.

The chief of rescue in the Trujillo Fire Department is a professor at Trujillo University. He accompanied me everywhere. He gave personal testimony: "My name is Roberto Rosales. I am Chief of Rescue in Trujillo. When I was 11 years old, I was trapped inside of a collapsed building. My entrapment occurred during the earthquake of 1972 that killed 70,000 people. I survived in the "triangle of life" that existed next to my brother's motorcycle. My friends who got under the
bed and under desks were crushed to death ...I am the living example of the "triangle of life". My dead friends are the example of "duck and cover".

Tips from Doug Copp:

1. Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE is crushed to death -- Every time, without exception. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are
   always crush.
2. Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void.
   Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3. Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. The reason is simple: the wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If
   the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4. If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed.
5. If an earthquake happens while you are watching television and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6. Everybody who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the door jam falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7. Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building
   continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8. Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible. It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
9. People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles, says the author. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10. I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
    

Love-driven Acts in Sichuan Earthquake

Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love always protects.
Love always trusts.
Love always hopes.
Love always perseveres.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7407927.stm



The acts of love can easily be seen in Sichuan after the strong
China Earthquake. Kindness, patience, protection, hope, perseverance are names for the caring acts. These love-driven acts have eased the pain and lifted people's spirit.




"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
(Corinthians 13:4-7)

Benjamin Franklin's 13 Principles of Success

Benjamin Franklin, a seventeen year-old boy, arrived in Philadelphia, USA without a penny in 1723. At age 42, he retired, wealthy. Few men, before or since have ever been as successful as Benjamin Franklin. He gave credit for his many inventions and business successes to the list of 13 principles of success below.

1. Temperance: Eat not dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. Silence: Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself, avoid trifling conversation.
3. Order: Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have it's time.
4. Resolution: Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. Frugality: Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; waste nothing.
6. Industry: Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. Sincerity: Use no harmful deceit; think innocently and justly; and if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. Justice: wrong none by doing injuries or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. Moderation: Avoid extremes; forebear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. Cleanliness: Tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes or habitation.
11. Tranquility: Be not disturbed at trifles, nor at accidents.
12. Chastity: Be chaste in matters with the opposite sex.
13. Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

M-o-t-h-e-r Poem

Mom is the name I call you.
Oh, I wish you always stay strong and young.
The love you give me is uncountable.
How much contribution you have made on my life?
Ears and eyes are two things you train me with.
Reading Bible everyday is what makes you shine!

Thank you God for giving me the wonderful mother.
I love you, Mommy!
I wish you a very Happy Mother's Day!