I’ve never seen anyone actually cleaning the droppings themselves.
Speaking of which, the other day I showed my daughter a picture of a hamburger and she called it mydonlau, even though we’ve only taken her there once in her life (I think she learned it from TV at nanny’s house). It was very disheartening and I corrected her immediately: hamburger, hamburger, hamburger.
Speaking of which, the other day I showed my daughter a picture of a hamburger and she called it mydonlau, even though we’ve only taken her there once in her life (I think she learned it from TV at nanny’s house). It was very disheartening and I corrected her immediately: hamburger, hamburger, hamburger.[/quote]
ahhh … successful marketing at work 
[quote=“miltownkid”]Bet no one is teaching shit like this.
[/quote]
That is one prolific pooper. And how come it’s a dark-skinned girl cleaning up his shit?
[quote=“ImaniOU”][quote=“miltownkid”]Bet no one is teaching shit like this.
[/quote]
That is one prolific pooper. And how come it’s a dark-skinned girl cleaning up his shit?[/quote]
Maybe it’s her damn dog.
WHAT?! Black kids can’t have DOGS!
It is, and her name is Jenny. The other flash cards are “walk my dog”, “pet my dog” and “feed my dog” I think.
[quote=“Mother Theresa”]
Speaking of which, the other day I showed my daughter a picture of a hamburger and she called it mydonlau, even though we’ve only taken her there once in her life (I think she learned it from TV at nanny’s house). It was very disheartening and I corrected her immediately: hamburger, hamburger, hamburger.[/quote]
Indeed. How the crap that MuckDonald’s sell could ever be mistaken for actual hamburgers is beyond me.
It is, and her name is Jenny. The other flash cards are “walk my dog”, “pet my dog” and “feed my dog” I think.[/quote]
If these are cards published in Taiwan, then they forgot “dress up my dog”, “carry my dog in a knapsack”, “take my dog into an Indian restaurant where people are eating”, and “lock my dog in a cage outside in 36 degree weather”.
Judging by the fact they used a black girl and not a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl (and they said “clean the dog dropping” which we know doesn’t happen here), I’m gonna have to say they’re imported.
Does it bother anyone how often young girls here draw themselves with blonde hair and blue eyes as if their own Asian features aren’t pretty enough?
back to the OP
i think the meaning of “appropriate” teaching isn’t just reserved to taiwan,or the english language…
one of my great bitterness in life is to have been made to sit in school for many years,learning shit i’ve never had the need to use again.
i think those responsible for making the draft of education should be made to think more about what they make us learn,especially at the youngest age.
I used to think that too. But over the years I have found that the purpose of school is not always to learn something you can use later on, but to be forced to do something, or to complete a task, you might not like or you might find very difficult, in a certain time frame. And THAT is exactly what you will encounter in practically every job you are going to have later on. You will always be asked to deliver and the work you deliver always has to have a certain standard, otherwise you will be in trouble (like in school).
When it comes to English teaching, I think an important part should be to show the students HOW to learn a language. Teach them how to memorize “Barn” in the most effective way, and they will find it easy to memorize any word in the future.
The most effective way to learn English is by continuing to focus on things that interest you, a dynamic that your teaching philosophy actively discourages.
[quote=“bob”][quote=“Infidel”]
Do you spend any time explaining stuff like “Wutsis?” “Wutsat?” “Wadawegonnadotaday?” “OK, wadrtheroolz” “Yadonwannaplay nine ball?” “Whydonyawannaplaynineball?”, or is it some kind of osmosis thingy? [/quote]
It is more of an osmosis kind of thingy. Here is how it works: I say sumpthin like “Yanoyaloozifyaskrachontheeightballrait?” and he says sumpin like “But last time you scratched on the eight ball you just brought up two balls” and then I know he understands what I said. If I had said “yanoyaloozeifyaskrachontheeightball” and he said “Existentialism has been characterized as a philosophy of depair but actually it is a philosphy of joy, choice and personal empowerment” then I would know that he probably didn’t actually understand what I said and perhaps some translation, body language, demonstration, art work etc would be required. I may even write it down later on the score board at the pool hall. Essentially though it’s a communicative thing really. Perhaps even more so than an osmosis thing but the osmosis thing is good too. Can I keep it?[/quote]
Uh, unless people talk by separating every single word as if it were its own sentence - “How. Are. You. Today?” as a opposed to /haueryootahday/, then most people are teaching listening comprehension this way.
No. Big. Deal.
However, if you’re talking like you’re drunk and slurring your words beyond what is normal speech, I can’t see the practicality of that unless your students are training to work in a bar.
It’s not haueryootahday it’s howryataday. No stress on you.
Ask any adult student what the hardest thing is about talking to foriegners and they will say “They speak so fast!” If this problem is going to be resloved at all it will take some work, mostly, to start, with teaching how grammatical words are, perhaps not slurred, but rather whizzed through by native speakers. No stress ie, very fast, very low volumne, the schwa vowel and frequently with silent letters. It hardly makes sense not to teach the pronunciation of the most common words in the language does it?
while i think what you are doing has merit, it also bears keeping in mind that the majority of taiwanese are unlikely to predominantly use english with other native speakers. they are far more likely to use english with other non-native speakers that don’t speak mandarin that they have connections with, for business or whatever.
many of my private students can speak fairly fluently with me, but find that they must slow down and enunciate each word precisely when abroad (especially in doing business in japan). so it pays to know in advance what the student is looking for in terms of how they will use the language.
The most effective way to learn English is by continuing to focus on things that interest you, a dynamic that your teaching philosophy actively discourages.[/quote]
Sure, I totally agree.
My comments where in response to the notion that what we learn in school is not necessarily what we need in daily life in the future.
What I meant to say is that part of school education should be learning how to learn, and learning how to complete tasks you might not like just for the sake of learning how to do things you don’t like, cause that is what you will be up against in most jobs in your future life.
Apart from that I am all for teaching the things that students are interested in and can relate too.
“OK, chaps, let’s all log on to the English website of Jolin Tsai.” :bravo:
[quote=“xtrain”]while i think what you are doing has merit, it also bears keeping in mind that the majority of Taiwanese are unlikely to predominantly use English with other native speakers. they are far more likely to use English with other non-native speakers that don’t speak Mandarin that they have connections with, for business or whatever.
many of my private students can speak fairly fluently with me, but find that they must slow down and enunciate each word precisely when abroad (especially in doing business in Japan). so it pays to know in advance what the student is looking for in terms of how they will use the language.[/quote]
Yes but maybe the entire EFL industry needs a nudge in the direction of natural, relaxed speech so that even EFL speakers can converse with each other without sounding like robots. There is perhaps no clear cut answer on this one but I realized a long time ago that I couldn’t be all things to all people. If your goal is business with Japanese business men my style might not suit you. If your goal is to learn about contemporary western culture particuarly as it has been captured digitally in the form of music CDs, movies, television programs etc and as a consequence of that study develop a naturalness with the language that you are unlikely to achieve otherwise, then relaxed speech is one of the things you’ll be working on forever and my aim is to provide a bang on introduction. Movies and music are pervasive, enjoyable, interesting aspects of English culture and with a bit of effort (quite a bit of effort actually) students can be taught to learn from them. Seems a real waste for any student or teacher not to pursue this at least to some extent.
Anyway, I use “Whaddyasay? Guided practice in Relaxed Speech” by Nina Weinstein quite a lot. Aside from my own material it is about the best treatment I have found on the subject so far.