51IELTS访谈

Victor (李鑫) and I spent the afternoon answering questions online at 51IELTS. We were there to promote our new book, 雅思口语真经.

You can read the transcript here. (What a terrible picture!)

I also just noticed that there’s a page about me on the 51IELTS site (with another terrible picture!!).

If there are any questions about IELTS speaking or our book that we didn’t answer during the interview, please feel free to ask them in the comments here.

住宿班部开班

Sunday night Harvey （刘洪波）, Wang Xin （王欣） and I went out to our 西三棋 residential campus to welcome students from the IELTS and NETEM 考研 classes that just arrived.

We addressed the two classes together. Harvey introduced the teachers, I spoke about the importance of planning your study time， and Wang Xin went over some of the guidelines for students to remember.

After we were done, it was raining, so I gave the students there four more pieces of advice for their English study:

1) Know your reasons 想好你的原因
2) Follow your interests 跟着你的兴趣学
3) Make a plan 做一个计划
4) Persist 持之以恒

The last point is the most important and the most difficult, but it’s made much easier if the first three are taken care of…

What do you think?

ZGC Book Building Lecture

I had a lecture at the 中关村图书大厦 this afternoon. I enjoyed talking with some folks afterwards about Innovations and my Culture Class, as well as about how they could help their children learn English. I recommended cartoons.

There were also some loyal English Evening listeners, and I had fun talking with them. One girl, Esther, requested that we play Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, which I’ll try to do next week.

Do I think differently from you?

The following (except for the last paragraph) first appeared in this month’s New Channel newspaper. Let me know if you have any thoughts or criticisms.

Do I think differently from you?

When we talk about culture, one of the topics that comes up again and again is the question of whether or not people from different cultures think in different ways. And if people do think in different ways, how does this affect the ways in which we communicate, or our ability to communicate with one another?

The simple answer to the first question is: Yes! Of course we think in different ways! In fact, our membership in many different groups, not just national cultures, helps to shape the ways in which we look at the world. Do you think your point of view is shaped by the province you are from? What about the school you went to or go to? The sports team you pull for? The clothes you like to wear? Your age?
Continue reading “Do I think differently from you?”