– a Singaporean teacher's storeroom 🖖
today is one of the happiest day of the year （最开心的日子）, where ex-students gather at our place, to meet up with their 老teacher, as well as with each other 🙂 all of us have clocked several years since the schooldays, and as i told them, it’s really 心境 that matters *haha*
the facebook photo album is available here.
thanks to all who managed to make it. if you din make it, there’s always a next year to come (:
恭祝大家“虎年行大运，事事顺意，岁岁平安！” oh yes, and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ALL, cos it’s 初七人日 today 🙂
it’s the start of the chinese new year once again, 一年又过，今天是庚寅年的大年初一，一会儿就要出去拜年了。 the eve of cny in singapore is extremely boring, compared to in shanghai, and not even comparable to malaysia just across the straits and viewable from my flat. 新加坡的除夕真是无聊透顶，一点气氛都没有！ if the government is serious abt retaining the Chinese culture, allow our youngs (and olds too!) to light fireworks (some singaporean might gasp on hearing this) and firecrackers. this would bring the mood and atmosphere of cny back, as well as the opportunity to tell the stories/traditions behind why we do it at all. this is a teachable moment for culture, not learning dead culture on textbooks, learning it as told by a teacher who hasnt seen or light any firecracker his/her own life *duh* of cos, the word “dangerous” will always be used as an excuse. well, singapore is world-renowned for its rules and order, just set some rules, and allow singaporean to play safely 🙂 we simply do not stop cooking or play soccer becos there’s a risk of explosion or breaking the nose, do we?
anyway, this cny i received 3 cny cards in my snail mailbox, 2 from my teachers, 1 from my students 🙂 my tuition teacher 素卿姐 i’ve known her for 26 years now, my chemistry teacher mr poh mah see 傅妈思师 i’ve known him for 20 years, and Si Hui 斯惠 6 years now. notice any ‘pattern’ here? yes, it all revolves around teacher-student relationships, something that has been missing from my life for 5 years now. a tug at my heart on where i should belong. shall work towards it and see if there’s any good news to report come cny 2011? (:
last but not least, may i wish all my teachers, students, and friends: 一元复始，万象更新。新年快乐，万事如意！ 恭喜恭喜！ Gong Xi Gong Xi!
this afternoon received an email from 张豫峰师 and i was told our article, 《以元认知为主导信息科技为辅的口语教学模式探索》 (A Metacognitive and Information Technology Integrated Approach to Teaching Speaking in Chinese Language), was selected and republished in the prestigious 中国人民大学书报资料中心《语言文字学》， aka 人大复印资料《语言文字学》。
期刊简介 (source: http://ipub.zlzx.org/ )
这是一座精挑细选的文献资料宝库。它以涵盖面广，信息量大，筛选严谨，突出学科热点焦点问题而成为国内同类期刊中具有权威性专题文献资料宝库，也成为国内外了解中国语言文字学研究最新成果的最集中、最权威、最精华的信息出版园地和专题文献资料库。在这里您能将看到编者以敏锐、独特的视角为您精心挑选的有关语言学、语言文字规划、语言文字规范、推广普通话、社会语言学、语言教学、对外汉语教学、计算机多媒体辅助教学、计算语言学、面向中文信息处理的现代汉语基础研究等等多方面的前沿研究成果。这是一片属于语言学文字的精神家园。是一本面向所有语言文字研究与教学工作者的重要刊物。不论您是语言文字研究部门、信息处理部门、文秘系统的专业人员，还是高校中文系、计算机系、外语系和对外汉语教学专业的师生，或是中等师范和中学的语文教师、各级语委的业务干部以及其他语文爱好者，您都会重视它，需要它。
while it felt good for a while, i was asking myself when can i possibly work towards another such publication? it’s nowhere in sight 😐
today i received in my SNAIL mailbox FOUR copies of 《世界汉语教学》 (Chinese Teaching in the World). the journey of getting our article 《以元认知为主导信息科技为辅的口语教学模式探索》 (A Metacognitive and Information Technology Integrated Approach to Teaching Speaking in Chinese Language) has been a long one. it was first submitted in march 2008, after 2 reviews, it’s finally published! my first attempt at getting an article published in an international recognised blind-refereed journal (:
the article is an abridged version of my MA research, so if you would like to find out more, i would suggest you go here 🙂
Citation:
Tan, Y.H., Tan S.C., & Teo, E.H. (2009). A metacognitive and information technology integrated approach to teaching speaking in Chinese language. Chinese Teaching in the World, 23(4), 519-534.
陈育焕、陈成志、张永慧. 以元认知为主导信息科技为辅的口语教学模式探索 [J]. 世界汉语教学, 2009, 23(4), 519-534.
chanced upon this video “Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”. the greatest takeaway for me personally is these statements that appear towards the end of the lecture:
“It’s not about how you achieve your dreams, it’s about how you lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and your dreams will come to you.”
life’s not all 一帆风顺, things more often than not go the way we least intended or not intended at all. that is life, and how one LEADS one’s life decide how your life will eventually turn out. if we choose to feel miserable, we’ll be miserable; if we choose to live life to its fullest till the last day like the cancer striken Dr Pausch. 就真正可以说不枉此生了。
here’s another ‘follow up’ video if u’re interested to catch:
enjoy n be inspired too (:
btw, he’s the man behind Alice, a software to teach children programming in the fun way and this software would allow “millions of kids having fun”.
