BBC-- ask question

I have used the BBC message boards to ask a question, because all posts by new message board members are pre-moderated. That means it will not appear on the message board immediately, so I printscreen the picture to show what question I asked.

Even it's sounds like a stupid question, but it surely make me confusing for a long time. No only the accent but also the vocabulary.for instance: Autumn & Spring.

There are two comments on the website:

Assignment10：New Year Reflections

Time flies,
It’s time to reminding what I have done in this year. No kidding, It seems like a terrible year for me, many bad things have a tacit agreement occur at the same time. However, in the face of adversity, I should be grateful, for such opportunities do not come by easily.

Life is impermanent, it exists in the space of a breath, life ends when the breathing stops, so we must cherish every moment. I started asking myself about “How can we be free from the suffering of birth and death”? Only when we nurture our hearts with joy and unselfish giving can we truly release our attachments. As the saying goes, let go of all attachment; only then will you receive something.

Although my intern life occasionally does not go smoothly, but this work greatly improve my abilities and skills not only in dealing and interacting with colleagues or clients but also gaining and accumulating more work experience. To let me know even the tiniest bolt must be screwed on tightly in order to perform its best.

I wish that I can practice mindfulness in my daily life, because a mind free of wandering thoughts develops inner strength. If I can view the world from a different perspective, and the world is vast and wide, to change a different viewpoint and dealing with all matters, and everything will be light and easy.

Wish you a Happy New Year!

Assignment 8: Listen to ESL Podcast 528

Simone wants to get a job, and Renaldo is calling her after the interview：

wage：a regular amount of money that you earn, usually by the hour, for work or services.
salary：money that employees receive for doing their job, especially professional employees or people working in an office, usually paid every year. In USA, a professional job always use this word" salary".

compensation package (n.) 補償方案
(e.g.)Perhaps we can give you an attractive compensation package if the salary isn’t quite what you’re looking for.

be open to (ph.) 向……開放，願意接受
(e.g.)I’m certainly open to negotiations.

comparable (adj.) 類似的；可比較的
(e.g.)Something that is comparable to something else is roughly similar, for example in amount or importance.

jump at (ph.) 急切地接受
(e.g.)it’s a salary that many people would jump at.

close the gap (ph.) 縮小差距
(e.g.)if there’s any way we can close the gap in salary.

ceiling for (ph.) 上限
(e.g.)Well, $60,000 is really the ceiling for that position.

doable (adj.) 可能的
(e.g.)I think it may be doable.

REFLECTION:

Listening ESL Podcast is a way like listening broadcast in the leisure time. There is a host to explain the detail in the story, and the conversation goes with a slower speed. The stories is more pratical be used in dairy life.

Assignment 7：Steve Jobs' talk

There have some expressions I learned from his talk：

1. calligraphy (n.) 書法
   [e.g.]Calligraphy is the art of producing beautiful handwriting using a brush or a special pen.
2. no big deal (ph.) 沒什麼大不了；無所謂；小事一樁
   [e.g.]"No big deal"used to say that sth is not important or not a problem.
3. dorm room (n.) 宿舍
   [e.g.]I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms.
4. typography (n.) 印刷術；排印；版面設計
   [e.g.]Typography is the way in which written material is arranged and prepared for printing.
5. subtle (adj.) 不易察覺的；敏銳的；微妙的
   [e.g.]Something that is subtle is not immediately obvious or noticeable.
6. screw up (ph.) 搞砸
   [e.g.]If you screw up your eyes or your face, you tighten your eye or face muscles, for example because you are in pain or because the light is too bright.
7. devastating (adj.) 令人震驚的；駭人的
   [e.g.]If you describe something as devastating, you are emphasizing that it is very harmful or damaging.
8. intestines (n.) 腸
   [e.g.]Your intestines are the tubes in your body through which food passes when it has left your stomach.
9. hitchhike (n.) 搭便車(旅行)
   [e.g.]If you hitchhike, you travel by getting lifts from passing vehicles without paying.
10. sedate (adj.) 鎮定的；泰然的；不慌不忙的
    [e.g.]If you move along at a sedate pace, you move slowly, in a controlled way.

Reflect on his thought：

I have to say that I really enjoy the assignment on this week, because Steve Job’s speech brought me much inspiration. 'You've got to find what you love' Jobs says

“Stay hungry, stay foolish” I interpreted that life is once, but learning is endless. Never enough, just keep going and learning. Sometimes we feel sick of studying, maybe we can’t connect the dots looking forward, also can only connect them looking backwards. No matter how the future would like, we have to have the courage to follow our heart and intuition, because they somehow already know what you truly want to become. How important to find the things what we love, then we can get the confident to keep going that we love what we did.

Assignments 6: Randall's Cyber Listening Lab

Day/Date Time：11.16 20:00 to 20:30
Method：Computer
Program/Station/Title：Getting Around Tokyo
Level：easy
Topic：transportation
Speakers：men-woman
Length：00:51

• I have no idea on how to ride the trains.
• how often do the trains come around this time of day?
• Which train do I need to get on?
• destination (n.): the place to which you are going
  (e.g.) It took four hours to arrive at our destination.
• platform (n.)：a raised area where you can get on and off a train-
  (e.g.) Please meet me on the platform 15 minutes before the train is scheduled to leave.

Day/Date Time：11.16 20:35 to 21:10
Method：Computer
Program/Station/Title：Vacation Plans
Level：medium
Topic：travel and culture
Speakers：two men
Length：01:49

• to be in hot water： to be in a difficult situation or in trouble that might lead to punishment.
  (e.g.) you are really in hot water now!
  (e.g.) The politician is in hot water because of the he lack of lack of cultural sensitivity to that group.
• mailing list (n.)： a list of people who subscribe or join a mailing distribution on a particular topic.
  (e.g.) I'd like to join a mailing list on studying intercultural communication so I can exchange ideas with others.
• common (adj.)： the same for many situations and people.
  (e.g.) One common gesture of friendship is to greet someone with a firm handshake while looking them in the eye.
• crash (adj.)：quick, complete, short or intensive, often difficult.
  (e.g.) She took crash course in Spanish before she left for Mexico, but I'm not sure if it helped.

Assignment5: Studio Classroom 10/22,23

Day/Date Time ：10/22, Nov. 10:00 to 10:40
Program/Station/Title：Decorating for the Holiday
Method：Computer

• grill out 戶外燒烤
• grill 烤肉架
• knickknack 小裝飾品
• DIY= Do It Yourself
• particular (adj.) =especially ; particularly (adv.)
  "in particular" 尤其,特別地
• von fire 營火
• strictly (adv.) 嚴格地;確切地
  "we talked strictly business" 我們只談論公事
  "strictly speaking" 嚴格說來

Day/Date Time ：10/23, Nov. 10:45 to 11:15
Program/Station/Title：Decorating for the Holiday
Method：Computer

• lighten up = be relaxed 放輕鬆,別擔憂
  (e.g.)If someone tells you to lighten up, they think you should be less serious and make an effort to be more relaxed and happy.
• sky-high =very high; too high 很高,極高的
  (e.g.)If you say that prices or confidence are sky-high, you are emphasizing that they are at a very high level.
• sled (n.) 雪橇 [sledded; sledded; sledding ]
• sleding (v.) 滑雪橇
  (e.g.)If you go sledding, you ride on a sled.
• build snow man 做雪人
• have snow ball fight 打雪仗

English Studio Classroom provide lots of living English, that's good for us to learn the native styling and use the correct word in the correct situation. Sometimes the kind of living vocabulary or phrases are not easy to use the translation tools to find the meaning. for example, I couldn't find the interpretation of" grill out" by using the google dictionary.

Note

confidence +" in " （n.）
e.g. She lacks confidence in herself.

Have you Googled today？

Here are some useful sentence：
We have revised our project based on the perfect suggestions you gave us last week.
Attached please find the revised version.
If further revision is needed, please don't hesitate to let us know.

manuscript(n.)
• the original copy of a book or article before it is printed
He sent the 400-page manuscript to his publisher.
• an old document or book written by hand in the times before printing was invented
It is thought that the manuscript is the work of a monk and dates from the twelfth century.

Assignment 4: Use the concordance tools to answer the question

• By using the 「Virtual Language Centre」,
  The whole sentence can help us to get clear how to use these two words in one sentence：

1. Yet it is the large collaborative projects that have provided some of the most significant advances.
2. Latch's latest achievement is to convert a large house.
3. Large numbers of unattached males for whom status is defined by predatory sexual behaviour and violent seizure of other people's property

1. An Awfully Big Adventure in which he plays a powdered and bewigged member of a theatrical troupe.
2. Even the big boys want to see the big boys fall, as long as it's not them.
3. The 10 per cent rise in compensation is definitely a big boost in consumer protection.

• By using「WebCOLL- Wikipedia Edition」,
  To get more information, I chose the top 5 which are frequently used in these two words.

However, the difference lies in the contexts in which they're used.

Conclusion：

Above of all the results, i can image that "Large" implies to all types of measuring things which are measuring with a length and breadth, but "Big" implies to all types of things which are measuring by a size.

Big can be used figuratively in ways that large cannot; large tends to be restricted to speaking of actual physical size or some kind of numerically measurable distinction.

Assignment 3：10/16 Studio Classroom

• avatar：（n.）化身
  【defination 1】(in Hinduism and Buddhism) a god appearing in a physical form
  【defination 2】in computing, an image which represents you in online games, chat rooms, etc. and which you can move around the screen using the mouse or keys.
  【e.g.】a new personification of a familiar idea; "the embodiment of hope"; "the incarnation of evil"; "the very avatar of cunning"

• aggressive：（adj.） 好鬥的；挑釁的；侵略的；富於攻擊性的；進取的
  【defination】angry, and behaving in a threatening way; ready to attack
  【e.g.】As a teenager Sean was aggressive and moody.
  【defination】behaving in a very determined and forceful way in order to succeed
  【e.g.】 A dangerous aggressive dog.

• don't get personal：（phrase）別參雜個人因素；別太私人性質的
  【defination】Protecting someone’s privacy.
  【e.g.】If you must correct someone, don’t get personal about it. Do it never in front of others.

Excercise：Beautiful vs. Pretty

What is the difference between Beautiful and Pretty？
According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary...

beautiful (adj.) 漂亮的;完美的
【define】having an attractive quality that gives pleasure to those who experience it or think about it
【e.g.】I thought she was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.
The scenery around here is beautiful.
It was a beautiful plan.

pretty(adj.) 令人愉快的; (用於女性,小孩及小物件)漂亮的;可愛的
【define】pleasant to look at, or (especially of girls or women or things connected with them) attractive or pleasant in a delicate way
【e.g.】That's a pretty hat you're wearing.
The sofa was covered in very pretty flowery material.
She's got such a pretty daughter.


To my opinion：
The word "pretty" suggests that the person or object is pleasant to look at, but not necessarily impressive. When you say that something is "beautiful" what you mean is that it is very close to perfection.

Assignment 2：Olympic Sports

To get the English definition, I use the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
To get the Chinese translation, I use the Google Online Dictionary.

Here are ten Olympic sports：

1. Equestrian：(n.)騎馬者;馬術家 (adj.)馬的;騎術的;騎馬者的
(n.) a person who rides horses, especially as a job or very skilfully
(adj.) connected with the riding of horses.
【e.g.】They all showed extraordinary equestrian skill.

2. Hurdles：(n.)跨欄;欄架;跨欄賽;難關;障礙 (v.)參加跨欄賽;跳越
(v.) to run in a race in which there are hurdles to be jumped over, or to jump over something while running.
(n.) a frame or fence for jumping over in a race.
【e.g.】He won the 400 metres hurdles.

3. Gymnastics：(n.)體操;體操訓練
(n.) a sport in which you do physical exercises on the floor and on different pieces of equipment, often in competitions.
【e.g.】I love to watch the gymnastics program.

4. Javelin：(n.)標槍
(n.) a long, pointed stick that you throw as a sport.
【e.g.】He poised the javelin in his hand before throw it.

5. Martial arts：(n.)武術
(n.) a sport that is a traditional Japanese or Chinese form of fighting or defending yourself.
【e.g.】He is extremely skillful in martial arts.

6. Wrestling：(n.) 摔跤
(n.) a sport in which two people fight and try to push each other to the ground
【e.g.】He wrestled his opponent to the ground.

7. Badminton：(n.) 羽毛球
(n.) a sport in which two or four people hit a shuttlecock (= a light object with feathers) over a high net.
【e.g.】I plan to take badminton this semester.

8. Archery：(n.) 射箭術;射箭運動
(n.) a sport in which you shoot arrows
【e.g.】Archery is a challenging sport that requires archers to shoot arrows at targets look smaller than coins.

9. Diving：(n.) 跳水；潛水
(n.) the sport of diving (= jumping) into water or swimming under water.
【e.g.】I'm head over heels about skin-diving.

10. Fencing：(n.) 擊劍運動;劍術
(n.) the sport of fighting with thin swords (= weapons like long knives).
【e.g.】Her fencing is very consummating.

Assignment 1：Introduction

My name is Hui-Ting Chang,
just called me Ting~^ ^
I am the junior at Management Information System department in National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

Travel is my second life,
going around the world is my dream and what I’m doing.
I love to meet people who share the same personality with me.
How to describe myself？
I am such a person who as shy as Taiwanese, as polite as Japanese, as romantic as French, as business-savvy as Dutch, and as smiley as Italian.
The reason for named Ting as my English name is to remind myself
no matter where am I, I still have to remember where I come from.

When we haave somthing, let us cherish it;
When we do not, let us be content.
Every single day of our life is like a blank page in our diary;
Every person we meet or every event we participate in is a lively essay. Thank you to stop by my blog and colorful my life！