Tour to Europe – Part 2

[The new school year is coming. Very busy! Thus I cannot but [phrase不得不] update the blog slowly...]

After the first night in Italy, we headed to Florence (佛羅倫斯), which was the origin of Renaissance (文藝復興). We just stopped there briefly. We went to Michelangelo Square (米開朗基羅廣場) to have a bird's eye view [phrase 鳥瞰] of the old city of Florence. At the center of the Square, there was a statue. But don't mistake the man for [phrase 把...誤認為(+for)] Michelangelo. It is indeed the copy of one of Michelangelo's great masterpieces [n. 名作] – David di Michelangelo (大衛像). David was a great king of Jews according to the Bible. From the photos, I know I can be as strong as David...

Then we went to have an Italian lunch. After lunch there was a kind of dispute [n. 爭論;爭執]. That night we would stay at a hotel in Venice (威尼斯). But before we went there, no other programmes were scheduled because of the long bus journey, except a self-paid visit of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (比薩斜塔). We had to pay an extra amount of about HKD 250 for the optional [adj. 非必須的] visit. Since the Tower is one of the landmarks [n. 地標] of Italy, more than half (i.e. 16) of the travelers in our tour wanted to go there. Yet about 10 people insisted [v. 堅持] that they would not go, for various and certain irrational [adj. 無理性的] reasons. The tour guide said that according to the agency's regulations, there had to be at least 20 people for the optional tour to proceed. Thus many of us were quite upset and kept arguing about it.

But back to the coach [n. 旅遊巴], the tour guide announced that we would go to Pisa. The other people who would not pay the visit could stay at a restaurant there for a rest. After hearing the good news, we clapped at once!

When we finally saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the neighboring architecture [n. 建築物], our mouths were wide open and we felt amazed [adj. 吃驚的]. Incredible! The scene in front of us was shockingly [adv. 非常地] great. Actually, we arrived at "Field of Miracles"(奇跡廣場), which also houses the Cathedral (大教堂), the Baptistery (洗禮堂) and the monumental cemetery(墓園). Indeed in 1987, "Field of Miracles" was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site (聯合國教育科學文化組織評選為世界遺產). The extra money was worth spending.

At the evening, we arrived at Venice and we were going to explore the "City of Water" the following day. Something funny happened...

Tour to Europe – Part 1 (Now with more Chinese meanings)

I am back. Do you miss me?

After the tour, I realize more deeply that human is great, yet tiny [adj. 微小的] in this world.

Human is great as we can build so many different marvellous [adj. 令人驚歎的; 非凡的; 不可思議的] buildings and create really fantastic [adj. 極好的, 了不起的] art.

Human is tiny as there are many things which are out of our control [phrase 不受(我們的)控制], just like weather [n . 天氣].

On the day of departure [n. 離開; 出發], the typhoon suddenly came back to Hong Kong. Very soon, typhoon signal [n. 信號] No. 8 was hoisted [v. 升起]. Unbelievable! [adj. 令人難以置信的]

The weather was not so bad in the afternoon. So we decided to go to the airport at about 3pm to avoid troubles from rain. Originally [adv. 起初] , we could arrive at the airport at 9pm!

Luckily, we arrived at the airport smoothly. After a long and boring wait at the airport, we finally set off [phrasal verb出發] at the time scheduled [adj. 安排,預定的].

On the first day in Europe, we visited Vatican (梵蒂岡) and Rome (羅馬). St Peter's Basilica (聖彼得大教堂) is worth [adj. 值得(做...)] visiting simply because it's huge [adj. 巨大的] and spectacular [adj. 壯觀的], though it is a Catholic [adj. 天主教的] church. Although we often see it in news reports, it is completely another thing when we are there!

Nevertheless, as the capital of Italy, Rome is a bit disappointing [adj. 使人失望的] compared with other big European cities, in terms of tourist spots, food, shopping centers, etc. That day, I visited the Colosseum (or Coliseum鬥獸場), the Arch of Constantine(君士坦丁凱旋門) and the Trevi Fountain (許願泉), which are the only few famous tourist spots in the Italian capital.

On the coming days, we visited other cities in Italy, which gave us more joy. Tell you soon!

TVB is closed!

TVB is closed...temporarily for 12 days because of my coming journey to Europe.

It will be the first time I visit Europe. In view of limited resources (i.e. money) and greed (in terms of number of countries), my wife and I are joining a tour organized by a travel agent. It should be a good choice to us (at least in certain extent) because we are mainly interested in famous tourist spots and we do not want to bother planning the itinerary.

It's nice that the typhoon has gone and there are no worries that our journey will be delayed by it. I, as well as my wife, am really looking forward to the tour, despite missing the start of English Premier League (as I am a big football fan).

I will share my experience in Europe in TVB. Remember to visit TVB again after 21/8.

[P.S. Oscar, I am not going to teach 4E next year. :] ]

HKCEE (cont'd)

Today the HKCEE results were released. The results of my class are partly encouraging but also partly discouraging. I am happy that some students who really work hard for their English get better results in English than other subjects. However, I am also really disappointed that the passing rate is not high enough and some hard-working and capable students get results worse than expected.

Actually, it was a heart-breaking thing to see many who I have taught for almost 2 years get just a few points in their best 6 subjects, while some bright students in the class almost get enough points to get promoted to S6 but just fail. I understand that some of them felt hopeless with their results but standing next to them, I could not help them much. Nevertheless, I will keep praying for them. And frankly speaking, HKCEE does not mean everything. I hope my students will keep working hard for their future, though in different paths.

In the coming years, I hope I can do better to facilitate my students' learning so that there will be fewer disappointing moments.

"...But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14) [...我只有一件事，就是忘記背後，努力面前的，向著標竿直跑，要得神在基督耶穌裡從上面召我來得的獎賞。]

HKCEE

Some friends tell me to have more pictures on the blog. I am glad to tell you that there will be more and more coming, since I am going to Europe this week for 12 days...really excited!

But before the trip, there is another more "exciting" event - the release of HKCEE results on this wednesday. Though I can guess the results my students will get, there may be several surprising final results. After all, the exam system of English (and Chinese) becomes completely different this year. Even teachers and exam markers, including me, are still unsure about certain details of the grading system.

Anyway, whatever the results my students will get, I hope my students can have the wisdom to choose the best paths for them, and learn to rely on God in their years ahead, since we all have limited abilities.

"Wii"s are friends?

"Nintendo's new system forces players to move their bodies, causing aches for some couch potatoes; a case of 'Wii elbow'..."

The above news now comes true to me, after one day I played Wii games with my secondary school old friends.

Not only Wii elbows, but also Wii shoulders.

So, Wii games are really funny and creative. They are also family-friendly. I must say its invention is a breakthrough...

But everything has another side. Thus we should play Wii games with self-control, even though sometimes it is a bit hard to control...

a MA student vs an MA student: answers

First, thank your for your reading and comments. I would like to make two points here.

a. I will be very happy if you can give me more replies and tell me who you are.
b. I think it is a good habit to read some English every day. If we keep reading, our English will be better and better.

Answer to Q3:

Actually, as simple rules, the following are true:

- use “an” in front of a word that starts with “a”, “e”, “i”, “o” and “u”
- use “a” in other cases

But the exact rules are a bit advanced:

- use “an” in front of a word that starts with a vowel sound, e.g. /e/, /ei/, /^/ …
- use “a” in front of a word that starts with a consonant sound, e.g. /b/, /c/, /d/…

We say “MA” as /emei/ but “Master” as /ma:s…/. So only the following sentences are correct:

- I am an MA student.
- I am a Master of Arts student.

Is it interesting?

Everyone's wishes can come true? [人人期望可達到?]

Yesterday, I read a book for my devotion [n. 靈修] and I found something meaningful to share with you. The writer says there are three kinds of wishes.

- wishes that you can actualize [v. 實現] only with your efforts [n. 努力]
- wishes that you can actualize only with your prayers [n. 祈禱,禱告]
- wishes that you can actualize only with your efforts and your prayers together

The above ideas can help us to know when we should pray for our wishes. For the first kind, we don’t need to pray, or it is even a bit stupid of us to pray. Examples are "I hope I can read 5 pages of this book today" and "I hope I can have a glass of water later". We can simply and successfully do these with our efforts, only if we really make efforts.

For the second kind, we cannot do anything significant [adj. 有效的] to make those things happen, except by praying to our God. Examples are “I hope that the next president of USA can be a good one” and “I hope that it will not be so hot tomorrow”. Obviously [adv. 明顯地], only God but not us can affect the outcomes [n. 結果].

Most of our daily wishes belong to the last kind. Both God and we can affect the outcomes. Examples are “I want to get 90 marks in the coming test” or “I hope I can have a girlfriend/ a boyfriend”. On the one hand, we cannot just pray to God and then do nothing and wait for the desirable things to happen. On the other hand, we are not sure that our wishes can come true only with our efforts - the wishes can be against God’s will [n. 意願] and thus can fail. The right approach is to try our best, and then pray to God, hoping that He will give the best to us. And we should remember - the best things to us in God’s opinion can be different from those in our opinions.

Wish you like my sharing.

a MA student vs an MA student

Answers to yesterday's questions:

“To swim” means the activity, swimming, in general. “To have a swim” means to experience a single action of swimming, from start to finish. So we should say:

- I like to swim. / I like swimming. (i.e. Swimming is one of my hobbies.)
- I would like to have a swim today. (i.e. I prefer to enjoy “the process of swimming” today.)

Thus, the answer to Q2 is:

- When you have time, I would like to have a chat.

But we say, “I am a person who likes to chat/ who likes chatting”.

Thus, Crystal, you are right. Keep it up!

From the above, you can see some simple words can be not simple! There is a Chinese saying “學海無涯，唯勤是岸”. It’s true! Even though I am an English teacher, I know that I still have many things that I do not know, so I also have to keep learning. As some of you may already know, I am now a part-time MA student in CUHK. What is MA? MA stands for “Master of Arts”/ 文學碩士. In Hong Kong, more and more teachers possess or are going to possess that kind of qualifications. It's common!

It’s time for a question. As we all know, we often use “an” in front of a word that starts with “a”, “e”, “i”, “o” and “u” and use “a” in other cases, but there are exceptions, like “I have been hungry for an hour”. Then, we may have troubles about the following:

Q3: Which of the following is/ are correct?
- I am a MA student.
- I am an MA student.
- I am a Master of Arts student.
- I am an Master of Arts student.

Tell me what you think. You may be correct!

I had a swim!

Everyday English – I had a swim!

In these days, I have more spare time and so I often go to swim. Today, I had a swim too!

By the way, even if “a” seems to be such a simple word, it can make things very different.

Q1. Do you know the difference between the following two?
- to swim
- to have a swim

Q2. And which one should be used in the following sentence, "chat" or "have a chat"?
- When you have time, I would like to ________.

Tell you the answers tomorrow.

TVB is open!

Hi, everyone!

Today I finally start my blog – TVB. I have several reasons for having a blog.

First of all, I would like to share with you words from God, who is really wonderful. If I can help you to know more about God's great love by having a blog, why don't I spend some time doing it?

Second, as you can see, I mainly use English in this blog. As an English teacher, I will definitely feel happy if I can share with you some English knowledge. What's more? I like writing. However, in my job I don't write a lot, but read and mark a lot...

Furthermore, I will also share something personal with you, though there won't be any big secrets of mine. Happiness, sadness, excitement, worries and all sorts of special experiences will be available in this blog.

Last but not least, I am now having a summer holiday...

So, in the coming days, I hope you can visit TVB more, but not "watch it".