Tweets 18/11/2015

Tweets 12/11/2015

Vainglory will lead a person to a hard fall into a fathomless pit.  To ban or not to ban e-cigarette requires the wisdom of the decision maker.

虚荣心会使一个人惨跌入一个无底洞。 禁/不禁止电子烟, 这就是真考验一个人的智慧。

Tweets   18/11/2015

对于饮食，我真的几乎都是小心翼翼。 不能任意随意吃，吃，吃，吃。。。我都尽量定时定量，还要适量的运动，我的运动就是走动走动做家事。 不然，嗯。。嗯，会胖得不像样。不然，我的体形 会有比熊猫更熊猫。 这么样的体形会让一个人[面目全非]。 这样的样子真的太可怕了。 这一生能[修好身，养好性]，是要练一门真功夫。

The Art of Grace

On Moving Well Through Life

Sarah L. Kaufman (Author)

A Pulitzer Prize–winning dance critic teaches us to appreciate—and enact—grace in every dimension, from the physical to the emotional.

Grace has long been taught as essential to civilized living. The Three Graces—goddesses of charm, beauty, and creativity—exemplify ease and harmony with one another and the world around them. But what has happened to this simple, marvelous concept of being at ease in the world?

With warmth, humor, and an ever-perceptive eye, Sarah L. Kaufman sifts the graceful from the graceless, celebrating heart-catching moments of physical elegance in sports, movies, dance, fashion, and music; rare sightings of celebrity grace; the secrets of gracious hosts; and grace found unexpectedly, in the kitchen of a high-end restaurant and among strippers in a basement bar. Kaufman’s thought-provoking reflections on these physical and social acts of grace offer hope for even the clumsiest, most awkward among us.

Guided by the muse of Cary Grant (with further inspiration from Smokey Robinson, Roger Federer, Nelson Mandela, Margot Fonteyn, Amy Purdy, Beyoncé, and others), Kaufman illuminates the importance of grace in the small moments of everyday life. In The Art of Grace, she inspires us to walk taller, spend time on unnecessary kindnesses, and celebrate the grace notes in our lives and those of others.

Book Details

• Hardcover
• November 2015
• ISBN 978-0-393-24395-6
• 5.9 × 8.6 in / 336 pages
•  
• Sales Territory: Worldwide

Endorsements & Reviews

“Kaufman mines history, pop culture, sports, and her own neighborhood to share moving moments of grade in beautifully sculpted prose…. [She] reminds us that even in a world where most eyes are locked on smart phones, there are still people who really listen, think before they speak, and move gracefully.” — Candance Smith, Booklist, Starred review
“As an antidote to the ill manners so prevalent in today’s society, Pulitzer Prize-winning dance critic Kaufman recalls the reader to grace…. Kaufman’s narrative is timely and sheds light on a long-lost art.” — Library Journal, Starred review
“Part love letter, part cultural commentary, and wholly a joyous exploration of the essential trait of grace, from ancient Greece to the golden age of Hollywood.” — Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post and author of Thrive
“Sarah Kaufman offers an old-fashioned cure for a modern-day ailment. The remedy for our culture of coarseness is grace—forgetting ourselves, being attentive to others, and approaching our encounters with the effortlessness that comes from being at ease in the world. This is an elegant, compelling, and, yes, graceful book.” — Daniel H. Pink, author of Drive and A Whole New Mind
“This is a truly eloquent book… Sarah Kaufman paints a charming, dignified portrait of a lost art.” — Adam Grant, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of Give and Take
“As a dance photographer, I have considered myself an expert on the art of grace. Not anymore. Sarah Kaufman has set the gold standard by which I will judge all future subjects.” — Jordan Matter, photographer and author of Dancers Among Us
“Sarah Kaufman has nailed it: she has detected precisely what it is that has changed us so for the worse… Her book is itself most graceful, and ever knowing.” — Frank Deford, NPR sports commentator, and author of Alex: A Child
“This thoughtful meditation will stay with me for a long while. Sarah Kaufman’s thoughts on the rare virtue of grace are both inspiring and uplifting. Humanity at its finest is merely what she is offering here, and we could all use a bit more of that in our lives.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic
“Fascinating throughout, this book not only serves as a reminder of the crude gracelessness into which modern society has descended. It also offers hope that we can reform our current personal and social habits with an eye toward more civilized, harmonious living. An insightful, intelligent examination of grace, which often 'seems to elude fixed meaning.'” — Booklist

Some ideas about English teaching and learning 4/11/2015

Some ideas about English teaching and learning 4/11/2015

All languages have two forms, ie, spoken and written forms.

Grammar is all about word Forms and their Functions. 

Chinese words /characters are the language forms of the Chinese language and different word forms have different functions.  So are those of the English language.

Language accuracy

You must have a good knowledge of English grammar in order to use the language accurately.   If you know the English grammar well, you can even correct /edit your own writing.

It is advisable to present the grammar forms systematically like learning the English Alphabet A-Z or numbers 1-100 or more for easy teaching and learning.

Learning which is considered has taken place when you can remember the rules or concepts and apply them at ease and at will.

Thus it is very important to present the English rules systematically for ‘sight learning’ as our eyes are just like camera.  Hence I encourage the ‘whole picture approach’ and let our pupils /students hear and how each grammatical items are related to one another. 

For example, presenting the five cases of Personal Pronouns in table will let them see the forms and with the help of teacher they know how these word forms work in a language. 

I believe in drilling each grammatical item in isolation to get them familiarise with the forms especially and their functions.  There must be at least two periods for grammar drilling.

Teacher may explore learners’ prior knowledge in other languages when you teach nine English word forms ie Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Conjunctions, Prepositions, Exclamations and Determiners.  For example, when you teach Proper nouns, you may ask them to tell you about it in the Chinese/Malay language.

Language fluency

I also believe there must be a lot of texts reading in English to reinforce their grammar learning and to build up the stock of the vocabulary.   The best way to pick up English vocabulary /words is learning them in meaningful contexts or in stories.

So there must be at least two periods devoted to reading texts in English.  Our pupils may be asked to look around for good stories to be shared.  Classroom library should be encouraged.   With the convenience of  the modern technology,  the access to the 

abundance of English learning materials geared to different levels is at our fingertip.   

We may make good use of the internet to explore children stories in English.

No matter how good your pupils are at English grammar is never enough if they do not read intensively in class and extensively during their free time.  Pupils must have enough stock of vocabulary and knowledge to speak and write in English. 

They must be enough input in listening and reading to enable the output in speaking and writing.