Random Quote
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
---- Thomas A. Edison
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over IBM versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs.
---- Jack Lynch
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
---- Robert Frost
Those who know nothing of foreign languages, knows nothing of their own.”
---- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 -1832)
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---- Arnold Lobel
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
---- Isaac Asimov
America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
---- Evan Esar
Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.
---- Terry Pratchett
We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
---- Thomas A. Edison
I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
---- Albert Einstein
It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
---- Arnold Toynbee
"It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.'"
---- Sam Levenson
Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
---- J. Robert Oppenheimer
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
---- Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)
The least of learning is done in the classrooms
---- Thomas Merton
If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
---- Doug Larson
As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life - so I became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.
---- M. Cartmill
To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.
---- Robert Copeland
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
---- Fred Allen
Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
---- Author Unknown
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
---- Malcom Forbes
20 Free English Language & Literature Courses
If you are trying to learn or teach the English language, there are a number of free online English Language and literature courses that can help with your quest. Many of these courses are offered through colleges and universities. Here are 20 courses to try today:
Beginning English – This free online course from About U offers eight lessons for beginning English speakers. The course is delivered via email and takes eight weeks to complete.
Beginner’s English Course – Learn English Online offers an 11 unit course that is split into 52 easy-to-cover lessons. The course is aimed at beginners, but intermediate learners may also find it useful.
American English Audio Course – This free 40-unit audio course introduces students to American English. The course focuses on practical conversations and the type of academic language used at U.S. universities.
Online English Course – 1-language.com offers several free English courses, including this 70-unit online course. The course has sections for beginners, elementary speakers, and intermediate students.
Intensive Grammar Workshop – This grammar workshop from About U offers intensive grammar instruction for intermediate/advanced-level speakers. The workshop is delivered via email and takes 13 weeks to complete.
English Pronunciation Course – The English Club provides several free courses for EFL/ESL learners. This online pronunciation course includes several self-study modules and an accompanying forum for discussion and questions.
Read the rest of this post
Karen inscribed these words of wisdom on Thursday Jun 18, 2009 at 04:10 AM
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Beware Foreign Teachers
With all the bad press foreign English teachers get in Korea it’s hard to stay positive. It also seems that there is some scaremongering going on about foreign teachers and swine flu. Anyhow ZenKimchii posted a pic of a poster his boss put up to let off steam about this issue. For those to dense to realize this is clearly tongue in cheek.
30+ EFL Teachers Quarantined
So it appears that 30+ EFL teachers in Korea have been quarantined for testing positive for swine flu. One of the teachers is maintaining a blog Under Quarantine The teachers seem rather upbeat:
Last night people smuggled Soju into their rooms. It feels something like Prison Break. I’m sure our value will fluctuate depending on how many cigarettes we have and how many we can trade.
However the American embassy doesn’t seem concerned as we can see in this entry titled Embassy Fail it’s not like embassy’s are here to help their citizens or anything. The Canadian embassy is even more useless in my opinion.
So last night we called the U.S. Embassy just to inform them of the situation. We weren’t asking for help or anything, but just because we felt they should know that, I dunno…30+ OF THEIR CITIZENS ARE BEING DETAINED! It’s not like we’re worried the Korean Health Ministry of Medicine for Make Healthy of Koreans is going to take us out in the woods, shoot us in the back of the head, dump us in a pit and throw lye over our corpses, it’s just that a few of us felt better about our government knowing where we were, which I realize is an irony as I type it.
bq. Anyways, the lady on the phone was very helpful!
bq. Me: “Hiya! I just thought the Embassy should be aware that 30+ U.S citizens have been quarantined right outside Seoul for suspicion of swine flu exposure.”
Operator: “Okay, well it’s a weekend, and we’re closed. Monday’s memorial day, so could you call back on tuesday?”
Me: “You…you’re serious?”
Operator: “Is it an emergency? Cause if it is we have someone we can call.”
Me: “Um…let’s see, there’s 30 americans in quarantine for swine flu exposure. Basically, we’re arrested. It’s totally cool, don’t worry—we’ll call on tuesday—”
Operator: “Okay, thanks for calling.”
Me: “No wait—”
click
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Monday May 25, 2009 at 07:50 AM
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The MPAA is Freaking Insane!
Ars Technica reports that MPAA: teachers should videotape monitors, not rip DVDs.
Basically the MPAA thinks that having teachers record a video using a camcorder videoing a tv is a good way to not pirate. Isnt’ this essentially the same thing as a cam version of a current release movie? They suck, so why would a teacher show an inferior product in the classroom that requires more work to produce than just ripping a clip from a DVD.
Watch the video below for an example of the whole convoluted mess.
MPAA shows how to videorecord a TV set from timothy vollmer on Vimeo.
After how many years the MPAA and RIAA still haven’t gotten it and now they’re going after underfunded schools with overworked teachers. Unbelievable.
