Because I am past the mood, and because I want Ring Ding Dong at the top for just a while more.
This performance has wayyyyyyyy too much feathers.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Friday, December 04, 2009
Don't be silly, Girl; You're my miracle
EXAMS ARE OVER!
Crazy addictive song!
Stuck in my head while I was doing my papers!
THE BLONDE! THE BLONDE!!!!!!=D
Crazy addictive song!
Stuck in my head while I was doing my papers!
THE BLONDE! THE BLONDE!!!!!!=D
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Ooooonce in a while, You gotta send Somebody a Smile
First exam of the term!
And.............
For the first time in my university life, (and perhaps my whole life), I was late for my examination!!!!!
Luckily, it was the only one paper (out of my five) that I could afford to be late. As predicted, it was the kind of paper whereby the entire examination venue empties after just one hour. But even though I know there will be sufficient time to do the paper, I couldn't help feeling quite anxious on the bus mah..and the venue is some ulu place so I got to wait for internal shuttle.
Luckily again, I met Croix on the shuttle bus! Safety in numbers=D He looked super relaxed about being late haha...so that made me feel loads better. I can't be late next Monday though. Yup yup. That's when my second, and third, paper will be held. My morning paper, PL3234, is at PGP and I have never been to PGP in my entire life...Happy sia.
I can slack until next week liao.
But I still don't dare to watch You're Beautiful because I have no self control, later cannot stop! Sigh. Safer to watch dramas that only have one new episode per week for now.
考完试元气大伤！该去休息了。
BYEEEEEEEEEE.
And.............
For the first time in my university life, (and perhaps my whole life), I was late for my examination!!!!!
Luckily, it was the only one paper (out of my five) that I could afford to be late. As predicted, it was the kind of paper whereby the entire examination venue empties after just one hour. But even though I know there will be sufficient time to do the paper, I couldn't help feeling quite anxious on the bus mah..and the venue is some ulu place so I got to wait for internal shuttle.
Luckily again, I met Croix on the shuttle bus! Safety in numbers=D He looked super relaxed about being late haha...so that made me feel loads better. I can't be late next Monday though. Yup yup. That's when my second, and third, paper will be held. My morning paper, PL3234, is at PGP and I have never been to PGP in my entire life...Happy sia.
I can slack until next week liao.
But I still don't dare to watch You're Beautiful because I have no self control, later cannot stop! Sigh. Safer to watch dramas that only have one new episode per week for now.
考完试元气大伤！该去休息了。
BYEEEEEEEEEE.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Raining woes and dismay
I read an article yesterday regarding the MM's thoughts on his bilingualism policy. It seems that he is feeling regretful about insisting on bilingualism in the early years, and many people seem to agree that it was a wrong step. Ironically I agree more with his earlier policy than his current stand. Apparently he thinks that "teachers in completely Chinese schools who refuse to teach the language using English" were at fault.
All along, I felt that it's nonsense to teach Chinese Language in English to children. English and Chinese have different grammar patterns, use different phonological sounds and have different sentence structures. How is it useful to teach someone how to swim using a hula hoop? Not to mention, what kind of message are we sending to the children? It's okay if you cannot speak Chinese, there's always English to fall back on. Chinese is an 'extra', the teachers are teaching it because the government says so, and I am learning it because I have to pass my examinations. Children were not born hating Chinese, they learnt it from adults' attitudes. If everyone is telling you, "Mandarin is VERY difficult and VERY boring, but you have to learn it because otherwise you cannot get into a good secondary school", then obviously you are not going to like it! Contrary to the schools' aims, when we try to use computer games to teach very young children Mandarin, this is precisely what they will think. "I will not like Chinese if I were not playing these computer games." That is the attitude they will adopt.
He made this comment at the opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language. "It is too chinese an atmosphere," he said. Erm, pardon me, but...what kind of atmosphere should it have then? French? If one is to avoid 'chinese atmospheres' like this, it is no wonder so many Chinese teenagers today cannot speak their mother tongue. It is very disheartening to hear friends say they cannot speak Chinese and they do not care. People are saying, "Oh it is too difficult to learn Chinese! There are so many strokes in the words and so many words in the dictionary." Don't you think you need to put in effort to get better at Chinese? It is the intrinsic motivation that is lacking. When all they are thinking of is the economical benefits and academic requirements when flipping open the textbook, it is hard to push oneself to learn. I believe that when children have someone consistently speaking to them in Chinese from a young age, they will embrace the language. In school, everyone is encouraged to speak English (I remember all the times my class got scolded for speaking in Chinese during Math, Science or other lessons). So why are parents still afraid that they do not get enough chances to speak English? Talk to them in Mandarin if you want them to score in that subject too, they don't magically learn it!
MM Lee said,"Nobody can master two languages at the same level. If (you think) you can, you’re deceiving yourself."
I disagree. It is certainly not impossible for someone to attain proficiency for two languages, even three, four, five or more. Learning two languages at a young age, as long as one has sufficient exposure to both, is definitely easier than learning one first then the other. Researchers studying bilingualism even found that when you try to master a second language after you have mastered the first one, it takes at least five to seven more years before you become proficient in it. In comparison to children who learn two at the same time, I mean. And adults are usually unable to fully grasp the grammar of languages they try to learn later.
It is during their young years, before 6 years old preferably, that we should allow children to see, hear and try to experiment with the languages. That would build the grammatical foundation for them to learn with ease later in school. Furthermore, contrary to what our MM thinks, I don't agree that rote learning is bad. Anything that we learn, we depend on memorising it first. Only when we get it into our mind can we think about it, reflect upon it and assimilate the new information with our prior knowledge. We learnt our languages by rote learning, by imitation, by social learning. Through exposure to Chinese and English in the media, from our friends and relatives and books, we slowly understand how to use the languages. The foundation has to be built in childhood, with the help of adults.
I don't even want to comment on his gender stereotypical views.
For reference, you can go here.
All along, I felt that it's nonsense to teach Chinese Language in English to children. English and Chinese have different grammar patterns, use different phonological sounds and have different sentence structures. How is it useful to teach someone how to swim using a hula hoop? Not to mention, what kind of message are we sending to the children? It's okay if you cannot speak Chinese, there's always English to fall back on. Chinese is an 'extra', the teachers are teaching it because the government says so, and I am learning it because I have to pass my examinations. Children were not born hating Chinese, they learnt it from adults' attitudes. If everyone is telling you, "Mandarin is VERY difficult and VERY boring, but you have to learn it because otherwise you cannot get into a good secondary school", then obviously you are not going to like it! Contrary to the schools' aims, when we try to use computer games to teach very young children Mandarin, this is precisely what they will think. "I will not like Chinese if I were not playing these computer games." That is the attitude they will adopt.
He made this comment at the opening of the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language. "It is too chinese an atmosphere," he said. Erm, pardon me, but...what kind of atmosphere should it have then? French? If one is to avoid 'chinese atmospheres' like this, it is no wonder so many Chinese teenagers today cannot speak their mother tongue. It is very disheartening to hear friends say they cannot speak Chinese and they do not care. People are saying, "Oh it is too difficult to learn Chinese! There are so many strokes in the words and so many words in the dictionary." Don't you think you need to put in effort to get better at Chinese? It is the intrinsic motivation that is lacking. When all they are thinking of is the economical benefits and academic requirements when flipping open the textbook, it is hard to push oneself to learn. I believe that when children have someone consistently speaking to them in Chinese from a young age, they will embrace the language. In school, everyone is encouraged to speak English (I remember all the times my class got scolded for speaking in Chinese during Math, Science or other lessons). So why are parents still afraid that they do not get enough chances to speak English? Talk to them in Mandarin if you want them to score in that subject too, they don't magically learn it!
MM Lee said,"Nobody can master two languages at the same level. If (you think) you can, you’re deceiving yourself."
I disagree. It is certainly not impossible for someone to attain proficiency for two languages, even three, four, five or more. Learning two languages at a young age, as long as one has sufficient exposure to both, is definitely easier than learning one first then the other. Researchers studying bilingualism even found that when you try to master a second language after you have mastered the first one, it takes at least five to seven more years before you become proficient in it. In comparison to children who learn two at the same time, I mean. And adults are usually unable to fully grasp the grammar of languages they try to learn later.
It is during their young years, before 6 years old preferably, that we should allow children to see, hear and try to experiment with the languages. That would build the grammatical foundation for them to learn with ease later in school. Furthermore, contrary to what our MM thinks, I don't agree that rote learning is bad. Anything that we learn, we depend on memorising it first. Only when we get it into our mind can we think about it, reflect upon it and assimilate the new information with our prior knowledge. We learnt our languages by rote learning, by imitation, by social learning. Through exposure to Chinese and English in the media, from our friends and relatives and books, we slowly understand how to use the languages. The foundation has to be built in childhood, with the help of adults.
I don't even want to comment on his gender stereotypical views.
For reference, you can go here.
Monday, November 16, 2009
My Curtain has Colourblinds
WTF. I spent a full 10mins removing the pear's skin, just as I was washing it, I dropped it into the bag of washing powder! What a waste of time. I have hands like legs!
Okay.
I want to share a story I read from my tutee's assessment book.
End of story.
What do you think? I think the dog is a bitch! (I wrote the story out myself but the main points are there...and I purposely used the female pronouns haha) The farmer was planning to put her to sleep and there she is, demonstrating her 愚忠 to the family... the wolf helped her out and all her friend asked for was a miserable chicken. What if the farmer came out and shot the wolf dead? Would she be able to live on with a peace of mind? What about loyalty to your friend, isn't that important anymore huh. Stupid dog.
Okay 太激动. But I seriously think the way the story tries to portray loyalty is very wrong. What kind of things are they teaching kids and putting into their young impressionable minds!
Okay.
I want to share a story I read from my tutee's assessment book.
Once upon a time, there was a farm. One day, the old farmer told his wife, "The dog is getting old, she is unable to help us anymore. I plan to put her to sleep one of these days." When the old dog heard this, she grew very sad. She had been on the farm since she was a puppy, and had guarded the farm loyally. She had not expected this kind of ending to her life.
With her spirits down, she sought out her best friend, the wolf, to bid her farewell. "I am to be put to sleep soon, and I have come to say my goodbye," she wept. The clever wolf listened to her woes and came up with a brilliant plan to help her dear friend. "Have no worries, my dear. Act according to my plan and you shall live on long and well," she comforted the old dog.
The next day, the farmer went to care for his crops along with his wife. As usual, they left their child under the care of their loyal dog and set off with an ease of mind. The young child was playing along the bank of the river when all of a sudden, the wolf appeared. She snared at the child and let out a low howl. The old dog immediately leaped in front of the wolf to protect her ward. With a few barks, she scared the wolf off. When the farmer heard of the old dog's heroic act, he was very pleased. He declared,"Thank you, my dear dog. I am so sorry I ever thought of putting you to sleep. Do not worry, I will keep you with us till your very last days."
The dog was ecstatic when he heard the farmer's words. She was saved! The wolf's plan had worked. The next afternoon, her friend came to visit her on the farm. The wolf asked to be allowed to steal a chicken from the farm as a repayment for her help. However, the dog was determined to be loyal to the farmer. She gave several loud barks and alerted the farmer. The farmer came out with his hunting gun and chased the wolf off the farm. The wolf never dared to go near the farm again.
End of story.
What do you think? I think the dog is a bitch! (I wrote the story out myself but the main points are there...and I purposely used the female pronouns haha) The farmer was planning to put her to sleep and there she is, demonstrating her 愚忠 to the family... the wolf helped her out and all her friend asked for was a miserable chicken. What if the farmer came out and shot the wolf dead? Would she be able to live on with a peace of mind? What about loyalty to your friend, isn't that important anymore huh. Stupid dog.
Okay 太激动. But I seriously think the way the story tries to portray loyalty is very wrong. What kind of things are they teaching kids and putting into their young impressionable minds!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Last Promise
ARASHI IS GOING TO STAR IN A DRAMA TOGETHER....FIRST TIME SINCE 1999!! Where was I in 1999? Primary 4? Oh my tians. (I bet most of you don't care anyway, but WHEEEEEEEEEEEE ♥)
Okie. Calms down.
I can't believe I managed to survive my last day of semester 3. FINALLY. Feeling so relieved now!! Not only was Pl3234 term quiz quite tolerable, my oral was a swift and painless death too. hahha. I managed to use my intelligent guesses to score in the test. They told us the answers immediately after we handed in the papers so we could check. Cool right, but just a little traumatising. I got quite a few questions wrong but I was feeling too ecstatic over my correct guesses to care. I got a pretty decent mark for the term paper too! Well worth the pain I underwent while writing it ♥
My throat is so sore from practising my Japanese for oral examination today. Popping Strepsils like nobody's business. Please don't speak to me for the next two days...oh wait, you won't have the chance anyway because I am going to be a full-time 宅女 and rot at home! YAY.
Just a quick note to commemorate the moment. (Can you sense the hyperactive tone)
Now I'm going to reward myself with dramas and SLEEP.
Oyasumi, minnasan!
Okie. Calms down.
I can't believe I managed to survive my last day of semester 3. FINALLY. Feeling so relieved now!! Not only was Pl3234 term quiz quite tolerable, my oral was a swift and painless death too. hahha. I managed to use my intelligent guesses to score in the test. They told us the answers immediately after we handed in the papers so we could check. Cool right, but just a little traumatising. I got quite a few questions wrong but I was feeling too ecstatic over my correct guesses to care. I got a pretty decent mark for the term paper too! Well worth the pain I underwent while writing it ♥
My throat is so sore from practising my Japanese for oral examination today. Popping Strepsils like nobody's business. Please don't speak to me for the next two days...oh wait, you won't have the chance anyway because I am going to be a full-time 宅女 and rot at home! YAY.
Just a quick note to commemorate the moment. (Can you sense the hyperactive tone)
Now I'm going to reward myself with dramas and SLEEP.
Oyasumi, minnasan!
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