James' self-introduction

My name is James. I’m a doctoral student of Department of Taiwanese Literature at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. My research interests include contemporary Taiwanese literature, East Asian film studies, and migration studies. I received my undergraduate degree in English Literature, but due to personal academic interests, I change to pursue my graduate degree in the newly emergent discipline, Taiwanese literature. However, recognizing English as an important tool for transnational communication, I still make efforts to keep and improve my English abilities. This is the major reason pushing me to participate in the English study group.

Unlike Angela, I don’t like kids. Getting along with kids sometimes kills me, because I can never stand loud noises that kids make, and also because I have no patience to take care of kids. I think I’m well-disciplined (this is exactly what kids lack…), looking for everything is on the right track. Some friends of mine even see me as workaholic. I do agree in some extent. But that does not imply that I am a dull person. I still love to have fun in free time, such as watching TV, going to see movies, singing in KTV and so on.

Well, hope we can have fun in this study group.

Cancellation for Jan.01, 2010 (GMT-08:00) Online Discussion

Dear all,

Recently I get serious cold. I cough and sneeze a lot, also having running nose. Worse than that, I almost most my voice, and now I had difficult time in talking. I'm sorry that I have to cancel this week's online discussion. The discussion will resume next week. Sorry about that!!!

May everyone a happy new year :)

Angela

Discussion Material for Jan.01, 2010 (GMT-08:00)

Hey folks, this week we are going to talk about business education. "The Economist" magazine this week has a series of articles on MBA programs. The article I chose is: The end of the affair.

Here's the audio clip that their business education editor discussed the results for the evaluation they conducted. Please listen to it and try to share what you get out of it during our discussion.

You can read more relevant articles on their website. (this is not mandatory)

Happy new year and talk to you soon :)

Angela

Angela's Self-introduction

As I hope everyone can introduce yourself here, I think I should take initiative, and here it goes.

My name is Angela, and now I in the program of Educational Technology and Learning Design in SFU(Simon Fraser University) in Vancouver, pursuing my Master of Education degree. My undergraduate major is foreign language and literature, linguistic division, and also took the program of "information, communication, and media," which I think is the initial relevance I had with my current program.

Before I came here for study, I worked as a research assistant in a research center of NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University) for almost 3 years, conducting comprehensive surveys for higher education. I think most of you may have the experience of filling in online survey we developed :P I think this experience can sot of explain why I am in education field right now.

I like to get along with kids. I used to volunteer in Taipei Public Library as an English storyteller. I also had a couple of years of experiences teaching English at cram schools. Regarding hobbies, I like to watch movies and listen to music, particularly experimental films and new age or ambient music, respectively, though I still watch Hollywood movies the most, as they are so overwhelming!

I hope one day I can employ educational technology to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, bringing more access of educational resources to the need. Though it may be a naive dream, but at least I do have a dream. How about you :)

Here are my photos I take in Vancouver. Enjoy!

PS. You can expect the beautiful scenery, rather than the pretty girl :P

Thanks for First Session

Last night James and me had a good time chatting in first session. Because there were only two of us, we can have thorough self-introduction and discuss freely regarding anything we think of. Hope everyone had a good time for your Christmas and the coming new year celebration! I'm also hoping that next time there will be more participants joining us :)

For those who join in this study group, feel free to post / share anything to our members on this blog, movie critique or book reviews, anything is welcome! Before the next session, I'm hoping that all of us can post some self-introductions here, so that we can know each other better. You are free to show your photo for sure :)

I think learning is both team play and individual work. The more people contribute, the more diverse inspirations we may get out of it. In the mean time, the more efforts you make, the more performance you can expect. It is the learners' own responsibility to determine how much they want to obtain out of the whole learning experiences. I hope everyone can have great learning experiences here.

Self-introduction here is voluntary, so are the pre-and-post-session written discussion and being the host. So enjoy here!

By the way, I will be the host for next discussion and I will post the discussion materials soon. Stay tuned!

Love, Angela

About First Session

The first session of English Pick Up Online Study Group will be held via Skype from 1pm to 3pm on this Saturday (Dec. 26, 2009), Taiwan time.

Don't worry about the material and the host of the first session. I will be the one :) As for the material, I think we can have something relaxed, as this is the first session and it will be the day after Christmas. My plan is that we will have self-introduction with some games, followed by some Christmas discussion.

Any ideas are welcome:)

Angela

How English Pick Up Run

Hey people! Welcome to English Pick Up!

We are a group of people who want to improve English ability through weekly discussion on diverse reading topics. Topics range from education, business, social issues, science, to politics, and each discussion lasts 2 hours. The group will be made of 3-5 people and the discussion will be facilitated through technology in both written and oral ways.

Participants meet online once a week and held the synchronous discussion through Skype or MSN. Before and after the real-time discussion, participants are required to contribute any relevant ideas or raise questions regarding the weekly reading materials on the blog. Through reading articles, blogging, and having real-time oral English discussions, we try to improve our listening, speaking, reading, and writing abilities.

Each discussion will be hosted by one of the participants, and all participants are required to take turns leading the discussion. Other than leading the session, it is also the host's responsibility to announce the discussion topic, find the readings, and come up with at least 5 discussion questions on blog no later than 3 days prior to the real-time discussion.

Sample Post for Host

Hey people this week we are going to talk about business and technology. Please refer to the following url:

Yahoo gets kicked to curb by Google, Bing

Discussion questions will be released a few days later. Enjoy the reading!