To my beloved students, it is very likely I will be leaving Direct English in the near future. For those of you I am in contact with online, please keep in touch. For those of you who I have your business card, who knows what will happen to those, hahahah. In any case, I greatly enjoyed taking class with all of you, and you have made my time at Direct English great, so thanks! Don't be a stranger. Facebook me, or email me. You can find me in various places on the web like Twitter, Facebook, Google Chat etc. by searching my e-mail address: nathanksimpson at gmail dot com. Thanks again all. I will not be answering any questions regarding the reasons for my leaving here on this blog so do not ask.
I will leave this blog open for you go back and see what I'm up to, or review some resources I have put here. Perhaps I will keep updating it with my current events and daily life wherever I end up. Hope to see you checking back in often. Please leave comments.
P.S. tonight will be my last group class for a month. Hopefully my managers will let me have one last round in November or December.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday ATC: An Author's Path To Success: Quitting Your Day Job
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130101936
Before he became a writer, Sonny Brewer held the position of chief chicken fryer at Woody’s Drive-In in Millport, Ala.
He followed that up with a stint in the Navy, then as singer in a honky-tonk band. Brewer has also worked as a car salesman, a construction worker and a coffee house manager — but in his spare time, he was always writing.
One day, Brewer finally quit his day job. That was four novels ago. Brewer made it as a writer, but he never forgot his earlier jobs — and he figured other successful writers didn’t either, which is how his latest project was born.
Don't Quit Your Day Job is an anthology of 23 southern writers reminiscing about former jobs. Brewer tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about how he recruited writers for the project.
"I said to William [Gay], 'Would you write about hanging sheet rock in the hills of Tennessee, before you were what Stephen King referred to as an American Treasure?'" Brewer recounts. "And he said, ‘No, I’ll write about working at the pinball factory, though.'"
Appalachian Writer of the Year Silas House agreed to write about his time as a mailman; author George Singleton shared his experience as a garbage truck driver; and Winston Groom, of Forrest Gump fame, wrote about being an Army officer in Vietnam.
Groom tells Kelly that the novelty of Brewer's project was what initially made him want to be a part of it.
"I [had never] thought about anything like that," he says. "But you are what you do. I think that … experience in life is informed by all the things that you do, and work is most of it."
Groom says he had never realized how many different jobs he had held — and what he had gotten out of them — until he started looking back. His first job as a newsboy taught him he wasn't an early riser; his work in construction taught him he didn't like hard, manual labor; and the Army gave him enough experience to write a book about — his first novel, in fact, Better Times Than These.
"And that’s what got me out of the newspaper racket," says Groom, who had ended up a reporter at the now-defunct Washington Star. "That book launched my career. That was 30 years ago, and I haven’t worked a day since.”
Groom says that while the old adage "Write what you know" proved good advice for his literary debut, it shouldn't always be taken as a rule. After all, his book Only was written entirely from the point of view of an orphaned Old English sheepdog, and it's not like the sheepdog can correct him. (Though Groom insists the dog loved the book.)
Brewer offers some more advice for aspiring writers:
"Truman Capote just said, 'Write something true,'" Brewer says. "It doesn’t matter if it fits in the book or not, but if it’s true that the wind is blowing and that the sky is blue … write the truth for a minute."
"Then, start lying," Groom adds. "A very convincing lie."
Before he became a writer, Sonny Brewer held the position of chief chicken fryer at Woody’s Drive-In in Millport, Ala.
He followed that up with a stint in the Navy, then as singer in a honky-tonk band. Brewer has also worked as a car salesman, a construction worker and a coffee house manager — but in his spare time, he was always writing.
One day, Brewer finally quit his day job. That was four novels ago. Brewer made it as a writer, but he never forgot his earlier jobs — and he figured other successful writers didn’t either, which is how his latest project was born.
Don't Quit Your Day Job is an anthology of 23 southern writers reminiscing about former jobs. Brewer tells NPR's Mary Louise Kelly about how he recruited writers for the project.
"I said to William [Gay], 'Would you write about hanging sheet rock in the hills of Tennessee, before you were what Stephen King referred to as an American Treasure?'" Brewer recounts. "And he said, ‘No, I’ll write about working at the pinball factory, though.'"
Appalachian Writer of the Year Silas House agreed to write about his time as a mailman; author George Singleton shared his experience as a garbage truck driver; and Winston Groom, of Forrest Gump fame, wrote about being an Army officer in Vietnam.
Groom tells Kelly that the novelty of Brewer's project was what initially made him want to be a part of it.
"I [had never] thought about anything like that," he says. "But you are what you do. I think that … experience in life is informed by all the things that you do, and work is most of it."
Groom says he had never realized how many different jobs he had held — and what he had gotten out of them — until he started looking back. His first job as a newsboy taught him he wasn't an early riser; his work in construction taught him he didn't like hard, manual labor; and the Army gave him enough experience to write a book about — his first novel, in fact, Better Times Than These.
"And that’s what got me out of the newspaper racket," says Groom, who had ended up a reporter at the now-defunct Washington Star. "That book launched my career. That was 30 years ago, and I haven’t worked a day since.”
Groom says that while the old adage "Write what you know" proved good advice for his literary debut, it shouldn't always be taken as a rule. After all, his book Only was written entirely from the point of view of an orphaned Old English sheepdog, and it's not like the sheepdog can correct him. (Though Groom insists the dog loved the book.)
Brewer offers some more advice for aspiring writers:
"Truman Capote just said, 'Write something true,'" Brewer says. "It doesn’t matter if it fits in the book or not, but if it’s true that the wind is blowing and that the sky is blue … write the truth for a minute."
"Then, start lying," Groom adds. "A very convincing lie."
Sunday, September 26, 2010
ATC NOT Monday but TUESDAY: Driving into the American Dream - The Globe and Mail
We'll be discussing part of this article for class tomorrow Tuesday! We didn't use this on Monday: Driving into the American Dream - The Globe and Mail
Even without the escaped murderer roaming nearby, this was by any reasonable measure a terrible campsite. The grass was dry and mixed with thorns, the ground was dusty and infested with a plague of grasshoppers that twitched over everything. Worst of all, not far from the site, we had seen a snake that looked an awful lot like a rattler. Shotgun shells littered the ground, and lying next to them chunks of white plastic emblazoned with the NASA logo. There were no hot showers, no water, not even a campfire ring.
But somehow, we had stumbled into the American dream, or at least a version of it that remains surprisingly easy to find in the western states, where the fireworks are cheap, the beer even cheaper and, best of all, great parts of the sprawling landscape double as a giant campsite that is free of rules and free of charge.
The idea that we could camp just about anywhere was a wholly unexpected discovery – but, of course, so were the free copies of the U.S. Constitution at a Wyoming gun shop, and the man who insisted we hold his Honk If You Heart Drilling sign on a busy Utah street corner.
Sometimes, serendipity happens with a full gas tank and no real itinerary. We had left Calgary with a vague plan to thread through Montana into Yellowstone National Park.
Then, if we had time, head to parts beyond. We were two couples – my wife and me, plus close friends of ours – whose normal idea of adventure involves a place where English isn’t spoken. This time, we wanted to see if our own backyard might brings us the thrill of the far away.
We turned south with our camping gear, a dog-eared road atlas and fingers on the AM dial – conservative talk radio seemed like a suitable soundtrack for this foray into the heart of Red America and its odd attractions. We were, after all, pointed toward some of the continent’s strangest vistas – geysers and lava fields; red sandstone arches and salt flats.
Vocabulary
by any reasonable measure
littered
free of charge
serendipity
itinerary
dog-eared
AM dial
vistas
Discussion:
We will be discussing the themes here: freedom, serendipity, adventure, wilderness, friendship, road trip, camping
Even without the escaped murderer roaming nearby, this was by any reasonable measure a terrible campsite. The grass was dry and mixed with thorns, the ground was dusty and infested with a plague of grasshoppers that twitched over everything. Worst of all, not far from the site, we had seen a snake that looked an awful lot like a rattler. Shotgun shells littered the ground, and lying next to them chunks of white plastic emblazoned with the NASA logo. There were no hot showers, no water, not even a campfire ring.
But somehow, we had stumbled into the American dream, or at least a version of it that remains surprisingly easy to find in the western states, where the fireworks are cheap, the beer even cheaper and, best of all, great parts of the sprawling landscape double as a giant campsite that is free of rules and free of charge.
The idea that we could camp just about anywhere was a wholly unexpected discovery – but, of course, so were the free copies of the U.S. Constitution at a Wyoming gun shop, and the man who insisted we hold his Honk If You Heart Drilling sign on a busy Utah street corner.
Sometimes, serendipity happens with a full gas tank and no real itinerary. We had left Calgary with a vague plan to thread through Montana into Yellowstone National Park.
Then, if we had time, head to parts beyond. We were two couples – my wife and me, plus close friends of ours – whose normal idea of adventure involves a place where English isn’t spoken. This time, we wanted to see if our own backyard might brings us the thrill of the far away.
We turned south with our camping gear, a dog-eared road atlas and fingers on the AM dial – conservative talk radio seemed like a suitable soundtrack for this foray into the heart of Red America and its odd attractions. We were, after all, pointed toward some of the continent’s strangest vistas – geysers and lava fields; red sandstone arches and salt flats.
Vocabulary
by any reasonable measure
littered
free of charge
serendipity
itinerary
dog-eared
AM dial
vistas
Discussion:
We will be discussing the themes here: freedom, serendipity, adventure, wilderness, friendship, road trip, camping
Friday, September 24, 2010
Friday ATC: Spanish take first Korean proficiency test
BARCELONA, Spain -- Spain for the first time held the Test of Proficiency in Korean this month along with 23 other countries, becoming the 39th ninth in Europe to conduct the examination.
The TOPIK, administered by the Korean government, is a certification test on the use of the Korean language for people who do not speak Korean as their mother tongue.
A total of 39 examinees, most of whom were students of the Korean Language Department at the Official School of Languages of Barcelona, attended the test on Sept. 11 in the city to have their Korean language ability evaluated.
The department presently has about 85 students, most of them local Spanish youngsters who took an interest in the language through Korean pop culture, according to professor Hwang Seung-ok in charge of the department.
“Though the Korean language remains a minority foreign language, especially compared to Chinese and Japanese, it is significant that the students have been given a chance to have their level evaluated officially by the Korean government,” she said.
“This test is to be a major step in promoting Korea, its culture and its language here in Spain.”
A majority of the students studied Korean for less than two years and took the beginner’s level test.
“I started to learn Korean in 2008 after I was attracted to the pop group Dongbangsingi,” said 26-year-old Sara Martinez.
“Though I found the test quite difficult, I am excited that I took my first official test in Korean.”
Like most of the other students in her class, Martinez is learning the language out of pure personal interest and has no specific plan to pursue a related career, she said.
Some, on the other hand, have academic or career reasons for taking the test.
Oriol Pallares, 27, has been on an exchange program at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, majoring in foreign relations, and has long-term plans to go back with a teaching post.
Foreign students or job seekers may submit their TOPIK results in order to gain an advantage in joining Korean schools or public firms.
Ethnic Koreans, who do not speak the language as their mother tongue, may also apply to take the test.
“I wanted to see how fluently I could speak and write in my parents’ mother tongue,” said 21-year-old Anna Ban, who immigrated to Spain with her parents aged 5.
The test, however, has not sufficiently been promoted in the local Korean community, let alone the Spanish one, she also pointed out.
“I would not even have heard about the exam if not for my Spanish friend who learns Korean in the Barcelona language school,” she said.
“I hope that in the future, the test will be promoted through various channels other than the school.”
The total number of applicants who took the test this month was 81,076, a 14.6 percent increase from that of the 18th test which was implemented this April, according to officials at the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation.
The test was first implemented back in 1997 when only 2,692 people from four countries applied. The accumulative number has, however, reached 710,000 people from 39 countries and is generally on a steep rise, said officials.
In response to the growing demands, the Korean Education Ministry decided to hold the test from this year on a quarterly basis instead of the formerly bi-annual basis.
The administering body is also to be changed from next year to the National Institute for International Education, in order to promote the test as a means to educate overseas Koreans and to attract foreign students, said officials.
The test is divided into the Standard TOPIK, evaluating basic knowledge of Korean language and culture, and the Business TOPIK, focusing more on the communication skills required in business transactions.
Applicants are to be tested in four categories vocabulary and grammar, writing, listening and reading.
The September results will be published on the website (http://topik.or.kr) on Nov. 3.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)
(Korea Herald correspondent)
The TOPIK, administered by the Korean government, is a certification test on the use of the Korean language for people who do not speak Korean as their mother tongue.
A total of 39 examinees, most of whom were students of the Korean Language Department at the Official School of Languages of Barcelona, attended the test on Sept. 11 in the city to have their Korean language ability evaluated.
The department presently has about 85 students, most of them local Spanish youngsters who took an interest in the language through Korean pop culture, according to professor Hwang Seung-ok in charge of the department.
“Though the Korean language remains a minority foreign language, especially compared to Chinese and Japanese, it is significant that the students have been given a chance to have their level evaluated officially by the Korean government,” she said.
“This test is to be a major step in promoting Korea, its culture and its language here in Spain.”
A majority of the students studied Korean for less than two years and took the beginner’s level test.
“I started to learn Korean in 2008 after I was attracted to the pop group Dongbangsingi,” said 26-year-old Sara Martinez.
“Though I found the test quite difficult, I am excited that I took my first official test in Korean.”
Like most of the other students in her class, Martinez is learning the language out of pure personal interest and has no specific plan to pursue a related career, she said.
Some, on the other hand, have academic or career reasons for taking the test.
Oriol Pallares, 27, has been on an exchange program at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, majoring in foreign relations, and has long-term plans to go back with a teaching post.
Foreign students or job seekers may submit their TOPIK results in order to gain an advantage in joining Korean schools or public firms.
Ethnic Koreans, who do not speak the language as their mother tongue, may also apply to take the test.
“I wanted to see how fluently I could speak and write in my parents’ mother tongue,” said 21-year-old Anna Ban, who immigrated to Spain with her parents aged 5.
The test, however, has not sufficiently been promoted in the local Korean community, let alone the Spanish one, she also pointed out.
“I would not even have heard about the exam if not for my Spanish friend who learns Korean in the Barcelona language school,” she said.
“I hope that in the future, the test will be promoted through various channels other than the school.”
The total number of applicants who took the test this month was 81,076, a 14.6 percent increase from that of the 18th test which was implemented this April, according to officials at the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation.
The test was first implemented back in 1997 when only 2,692 people from four countries applied. The accumulative number has, however, reached 710,000 people from 39 countries and is generally on a steep rise, said officials.
In response to the growing demands, the Korean Education Ministry decided to hold the test from this year on a quarterly basis instead of the formerly bi-annual basis.
The administering body is also to be changed from next year to the National Institute for International Education, in order to promote the test as a means to educate overseas Koreans and to attract foreign students, said officials.
The test is divided into the Standard TOPIK, evaluating basic knowledge of Korean language and culture, and the Business TOPIK, focusing more on the communication skills required in business transactions.
Applicants are to be tested in four categories vocabulary and grammar, writing, listening and reading.
The September results will be published on the website (http://topik.or.kr) on Nov. 3.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldm.com)
(Korea Herald correspondent)
Proficiency
Youngsters
Ethnic Koreans
Quarterly
Bi-annual
Basis
Discussion
- Why do you think there has been such an increase in TOPIK test takers over the past 5 years?
- Do you think this trend is good or bad, and why?
- What kind of influence do you think Korean culture will have globally in the next 5 years?
- If you were to choose to import a culture to Korea whose culture would it be and why?
- What aspects of that culture would you hope to import?
Friday, September 17, 2010
Friday ATC Class
Woah! Sorry folks I totally forgot to post what I had planned for this class!
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/idiots-guide-to-understanding-todays-marketing-catch-phrases
Great for getting into the English business world. We'll just be discussing these points and some of the language used in this article. We won't go over everything in detail.
http://www.flowtown.com/blog/idiots-guide-to-understanding-todays-marketing-catch-phrases
Great for getting into the English business world. We'll just be discussing these points and some of the language used in this article. We won't go over everything in detail.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Thursday ATC
We will be discussing the SLE article number 6: Illegal Plastic Surgery Ends In Death
You can find this article throught Direct English website if you want to preview.
You can find this article throught Direct English website if you want to preview.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)