大葉大學國際語言中心通訊Newsletter第二期

Volume 1, Issue 2

DAYEH UNIVERSITY

INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGES NEWSLETTER

12 September, 2013

DYU color run

Color run photo clockwise from the top: Whiter 李致儒, Lily 連惠雯,

from the other colleges as they began this fun noncompetitive color race.

Ricky 蔡祐瑜, and Judy

Students said that it was an amazingly fun experience and that they made lots of new friends during the run.

梁家琪。

On Tuesday 10 Septem-

ber, 2013 more than 2,000 new DYU students enjoyed their first color run. The run started at about 4:15pm just outside the DYU ILC and finished just outside the DYU gym at about 5:30pm. Some teachers also joined in the run.

Every DYU college was given one of six especially made safe colored paint powders for their runners and bystanders to throw over their own college’s runners and the runners

After placing some of their color run photos on Facebook students reported getting many likes.

According to Wikipedia color runs are untimed events that emphasize fun over competition. While runners usually start the run wearing white t-shirts, their t-shirts do not stay white for long since runners soon find themselves and their clothes covered in many brightly colored paints. Editor’s note: color is also spelt colour outside of North America.

English learning fun and success Has learning English left you feeling

exhausted? Do you not have enough money to learn English in an Englishspeaking country right now?

Some of my friends and students have had bad English learning experiences that have stopped them from learning the language well and yet they still need to acquire a certain level of English proficiency for their job or further study.

Carrie Ching-Yi Liang 梁景儀 (a new ILC English teacher, Office J415) on how to have enjoyable and successful English learning experiences.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

It is said that “The worst mistake anyone can make is being too afraid to make one”. Very often, we keep quiet rather than speak in English at social events or in English class. However, if we do not try, we may never gain enough confidence to become fluent English speakers.

speaking environment. You can create an English-speaking environment of your own. For example, I have changed the language on my Facebook and Twitter to English. I also like to watch English movies and TV. In these ways, I can learn authentic English in a really relaxing and fun way.

Use an English-English dictionary. Reading the meaning of the vocabulary in English helps you to think in English.

Practice makes perfect. Be a user of English, not just a learner. Grab every chance you can to use English in and outside of your English class.

I have found learning English to be a fun and rewarding experience. I hope you will also enjoy your English learning experiences here at DYU.

Immerse yourself in an English-

Taboos, myths and superstitions Braden Rico (an ILC English teacher) shares some of his summer camp reflections.

In my recent DYU English Climber

workshop on taboos, a student mentioned that as a child she had been warned by her grandmother not to point her finger at the moon. She was taught that should she ever not obey this prohibition, she risked waking up with cut ears.

Upon hearing this, my first thought was that it was a cruel thing to suggest to a child. Indeed, teaching such a thing could even cause some highly imaginative children to become afraid of the moon!

However, after further reflection I recalled that as a child I was taught a rhyme that promised even greater illfortune. It went like this: “Step on a crack and break your mother’s back!”

This superstition was repeated so often in the playground of my primary school that by eight years of age I became so concerned about avoiding cracks in the pavement that I walked home from school carefully avoiding each crack in case an inadvertent step on a crack should put my mother in need of back surgery.

Today I can laugh at my childish gullibility because I know that superstitions have no reality in fact.

Come hot or cold weather North Americans love ice cream Like Taiwanese, Americans enjoy eating outdoors. While in the USA my host family held a party in their yard at home and to my surprise it was very much like our Taiwanese Moon Festival. For example, we ate crab legs just like in Taiwan.

Ruby’s experience of life in the USA Page 2

party all the vegetables were eaten uncooked in a salad.

Most unusual of all was one custom that I could never get used to. Americans enjoyed eating ice cream all year around even in cold weather!

One of the main differences that I noticed between Taiwanese and American food was how they prepared vegetables.

While in Taiwan we tend to eat vegetables cooked one way or another, at this DAYEH UNIVERSITY

Cycling to DYU is healthy, environmentally friendly and fun Cycling is not only one of the

healthiest ways of getting to DYU from the surrounding villages and towns, it is also environmentally friendly and fun. So long as your bicycle has a good set of gears pedalling up the hill to DYU is not as difficult as you may imagine. Why pay huge gym fees when you can get a healthy workout like this for free?

Also, unlike cars, motorcycles and scooters, bicycles make zero fossil fuel emissions.

An added bonus of riding a bicycle is that you not only get the best view but also often get to smell the sweet scents of the grass, flowers and trees along the side of the road and sometimes even get to hear a few birds singing along the way too.

When I first moved to Penghu (澎湖)

to live and work several years ago cycling was still generally considered to be a somewhat eccentric (that is, an unconventional and strange, perhaps even an unfashionable) way of getting around.

However, several years on, cycling is now quite rapidly becoming very popular here in Taiwan with more and more cycleways being built across Taiwan every year.

Cycling is also really popular in my home country Australia these days.

It is noteworthy that one of the first things Australia’s newly elected Prime Minister, Tony Abbott did on his first full day after winning the election was to go for a bicycle ride.

Call for newsletter contributions from students and staff Submissions should be original, include an original photograph and be e-mailed to the editor:

How and when to tip or haggle in the UK Phil Sced 李鈞皓 (an ILC English teacher, Office J415) offers his advice on how and when to haggle in UK.

These are some of the questions I’m

often asked by Taiwanese about living in the UK. If you’re interested, here’s how I might answer.

In the UK many restaurants add a service charge to your bill but in places that don’t you are expected to leave a 10

to 15% tip unless the service was unsatisfactory. Waiting staff are often paid low wages because their income will be supplemented by tips. It’s legal for restaurants to include a service charge in the bill, but this should be clearly advertised. You needn’t add a further tip.

While you never tip to buy a drink in a pub, taxi drivers expect to be tipped about 10%.

martin@mail.dyu.edu.tw Bargaining is virtually unheard of, even at markets, although it’s fine to ask if there are discounts for students, young people or youth hostel members. Some negotiation is also OK if you’re buying an expensive item such as a car or a motorcycle.

Editor: How does this differ from your own experiences here in Taiwan?

Please do e-mail in and tell us about your own experiences of tipping or haggling here in Taiwan.

Scones, jam and cream for high tea Jonathan Kuo Chia-Chang 郭家彰 (an ILC English teacher, Office J415) shares some of his travel experiences

One of the highlights of my time living in Newcastle, England, UK was having tea with the Mayor of Newcastle. To my surprise, it was a very formal occasion. You can see from the very casual clothes that I am wearing in the photo that I was unprepared.

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2

The use of the word tea in the UK is quite confusing. There is high tea, afternoon tea and even the evening meal is sometimes simply called tea. So if you visit the UK please take care to double check the level of formality and the time of the tea you have been invited to.

Page 3

Flying to a new nest INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE CENTRE Room J314 Foreign Languages Building, Dayeh University, 168 University Road, Dacun, Changhua, 51591, TAIWAN (R.O.C.)

Phone: +886-4-8511888 Fax: +886-4-8511666

langcntr.dyu.edu.tw /newsletter

Learn English, travel the world

Professor Chen Mei-hua 陳美華, Dean of DYU’s Foreign Languages College as well as Director of our International Language Centre and the Applied Foreign Languages Graduate Program shares with us some of her thoughts on moving from Kaohsiung to DYU.

Before coming to DYU about one

year ago, I asked myself the following question: “Will my passion for teaching and caring about students and doing administrative work decrease after moving to a new university?” “No. Not at all” was the clear answer so I set off on a new adventure to DYU which for me was just like flying to a new nest on a green hill: the beautifully green hillside of DYU. Now, after just over one year at DYU, I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to launch several new projects that all focus on enhancing DYU students’ language learning experiences and of course, I am also most thankful for the strong support that DYU President Wuu Dong-Sing 武東星 gives to our university’s shared endeavor to improve all students’ English.

Thirty years of teaching and researching experience at Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages (文藻外語大學) in Kaohsiung (高雄) including three years as Vice President has certainly been a long and helpful preparation for my work here at DYU. If there is a lesson to be learned from my own experience of moving here to DYU it is that new experiences are good for us. Therefore, I would encourage all students, particularly those who will soon graduate to look forward to their new post graduation careers. As for freshmen, I would encourage you to see your new college life experiences as exciting adventures.

Finally, I would like to encourage you all to take every opportunity to speak English with our nativespeaking English teachers.

Adolfo Wu Yin-shi

吳穎錫 (a new ILC English and Spanish teacher, Office J22305) shares some of his experiences of using English for communicative purposes in Europe.

A few years ago I successfully ap-

plied for a European Union scholarship called Erasmus Mundus. This scholarship, organised by professors from France, Norway, Spain and Portugal recruited students from all around the world. I chose to study in France and Spain because I had studied both these languages before.

In France I studied in the University of Reims. The educational training course was taught in French and English. Highlights of my time included sightseeing. Of particular interest was the Reims Cathedral which is more than 800 years old making it one of the oldest cathedrals in France.

Madrid Palace, Spain Reims Cathedral, France In Spain I saw the oldest palace in Europe, the Madrid Palace which was built by Spanish kings over many years. This palace had Spanish and

English tour guides. You can see from these two pictures that the French and Spanish architectural styles are quite different. If you can speak English you can easily travel throughout Europe. Learn English now and you will be able to travel the world.