Random Quote
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
it's probably not a good idea to underestimate my ability to make an ass out of myself—just when I seem to have it under control, I'll turn around and surprise you.
---- Tenser said the Tensor
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
---- Malcom Forbes
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Those who know nothing of foreign languages, knows nothing of their own.”
---- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 -1832)
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
---- Isaac Newton
It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
---- Franklin D. Roosevelt
Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
---- Fred Allen
I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
---- Mitch Hedberg
The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
---- Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995
If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
---- Doug Larson
To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent.
---- Robert Copeland
There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun.
---- Pablo Picasso
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
The least of learning is done in the classrooms
---- Thomas Merton
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
Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.
---- Gail Godwin
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
---- H. G. Wells
To have another language is to possess a second soul.
---- Charlemagne
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
---- Sheik Abd-al-Kadir
A magician pulls rabbits out of hats. An experimental psychologist pulls habits out of rats.
---- anonymous
We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
---- Thomas A. Edison
I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.
---- Terry Pratchett
This may be the most interesting blog theme I've ever seen. http://eflgeek.com/index.php Definitely in my top 5 at least.
---- Steve Dembo
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
---- Thomas A. Edison
Foreign(ers’) in Seoul?
If you have lived in South Korea for more than a few years you will have noticed that the country and the Seoul metro region in particular are becoming increasingly diverse. If you only just arrived in Seoul and don’t think it’s very diverse, just ask someone who has been here a few years. This just doesn’t mean more tourists, but also large numbers of migrant workers, Korean-Chinese, marriage migrants, international students and, of course, English teachers. Let’s be clear, Seoul is hardly a New York, Toronto, London, Dubai or Singapore, but its increasing diversity is making a big difference. From a wider range of restaurants, public festivals celebrating different cultural backgrounds, new churches and mosques, a wider range of languages to be heard and, of course, the different sorts of people you will meet.
Research with foreign English teachers in Seoul
Are you a foreign English teacher in the Seoul metro region (including Incheon and the Gyeonggi Province)?
Are you interested in talking about your life in Seoul? What are your stories of living in this mega-city?
What sort of adventures have you had? Who have you encountered?
What challenges have you faced? What’s your everyday life like?
Do you think you have an impact on the city?
If you are interested in talking about any of these issues then I am interested in speaking to you. I am a researcher from the National University of Singapore. I was also an English teacher in Seoul in the early 2000s but now I do research on different urban geography and migration issues. Right now I am conducting research on the lives of English teachers in the Seoul metro region. There are two ways you can take part:
- Survey of Foreign English Teachers in Seoul Region You can complete an online survey which will ask some basic questions about your background, and your work, home and social life in Korea. It will take about 15 minutes and, for your troubles, you can be entered in the draw for an Apple Ipod Nano. Go to this webpage to complete the survey:
- Interviews. In April and May this year I will be in Seoul doing interviews with foreign English teachers. If you want to take part just drop me a line at the email below. We can meet at a time and place of your choosing – the coffee is on me. Francis Collins: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
This research is totally independent and confidential; the aim is to get a better understanding of the lives of English teachers in Seoul and the ways that they contribute to the urban environment. In 2010, findings from this research will be combined with findings from research with low-skilled migrant workers on similar issues.
If you want any more information on the project, then feel free to drop me a line at the email address below. I will be Seoul in April and May and can arrange meetings at any time during my stay. If you ever wanted to say anything about living as a foreigner in Korea, now is your chance. Take it.
Francis Collins
(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore
+65-65167270
Francis Collins inscribed these words of wisdom on Monday Feb 9, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Random_Ramblings | Teaching | Guest Author |
