Today I saw a presentation by Steve Gershon, who is the author of the English Upgrade series which my University uses in its conversational English classrooms. After the presentation, I was asking a coworker about how much of the ideas Gershon presented would be successful in the classes we teach here. Judging by the fact his University even offers post-graduate courses, I would assume that the student body is perhaps a little more selectively accepted than at the place I’m teaching. That, of course, can make all the difference in the world. But the question of pedagogy, and my role …
Month: October 2004
All Look Same?
ALL LOOK SAME is a game where you try and see whether you can tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, and Korean people by photographs. Some Koreans claim this is easy as ddeok, but it’s not. It’s a worthwhile game, though. Lime showed me this, and I’m crediting her even if she disagrees with a rule that won me 9 points out of 18, which is 2 points above the average scored by 1.3 million people. There’s also an essay about the concept of the game, here. I must say that I could pick out the Koreans while traveling in …
Cavare Party
Yesterday was a tiring but alright day. I left for Seoul in the morning, which meant I had enough time to wander a little before heading in for the late-afternoon sound check. I had a nice sandwich over at Itaewon and got a chance to check out the excellent new bookshop What The Book? which is not only cheaper than the big bookshops in Seoul, but lets you order anything, apparently sans credit card, and even offers free delivery if you order more than one book! The location is worth visiting, if you can find it: it’s out near the …
Asia by Blog linkage
As usual, Simon World’s Asia by Blog linkfest is worth checking out. Man, so much info, so little time.
Joy To The Gord
Well, yesterday I saw the doc at the hospital nearest my house and he told me the following: that what was wrong with me was I wasn’t sleeping or resting enough, that I put too much strain on myself, my immune system was in bad condition as a result, and the only cure is to rest carefully, not push myself, and try to sleep and eat well. I am eating well, I’m starting to sleep a lot better now, and the rest is just going to take time. The worst of my symptoms are passing and now it’s more just …