Monday, November 30, 2009

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.

Monday, November 23, 2009

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.

Monday, November 16, 2009

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.