Archive for Culture

Spanish Film Festival in Singapore

March 18, 2013 / / No comments

I used to drop by the annual NUS film festival. Free screenings of less wellknown foreign movies. The fact that they were free wasn’t so important. It was especially great to have a change of the usual Hollywood staple.

The Spanish Film Festival promises just that! It kicks off on Monday next week. Should be a great opportunity to exercise your Spanish too & bring new inspiration to your learning effort.

The movies are free to attend and start at 7:30pm every day. Monday is by invitation only, the rest of the days are open to the public.

Check out the program below! You can click on the image to get a larger view.

Spanish Film Festival 2013

 

 

Category: Culture, Europe, Spanish / Tags: , ,

How Wuxia Kicked My Chinese Learning to the Next Level

February 28, 2013 / / No comments
Light Sabre in Buddha Palm

Star Wars? No, it’s a wuxia movie.

What is wuxia? A quick and dirty way to explain it is to compare it to Star Wars.  Some people say Star Wars is wuxia in outer space, and they have a point.  If you took the story of Star Wars, set it in the Chinese empire, replaced the Jedi with xiákè, replaced the light sabres with Chinese swords, replaced ‘the Force’ with Taoism/Chinese medicine/Chinese martial arts/etc., then the result would be indistinguishable from wuxia.

Actually, you don’t even need to replace the light sabres.  The weapon this guy from the movie The Buddha Palm is holding sure looks like a light sabre to me.

Wuxia has been a big, BIG help with my study of Chinese.

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Category: China, Chinese, Culture, Taiwan / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Learning a language: 7 Habits of Highly Effective Learners – Part 2

February 6, 2013 / / 4 comments

Cover of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

In last week’s post, I shared how the first 3 Habits of Highly Effective People from Franklin Covey could be applied to language learning. I’ve now finished the book up to habit # 7, and in this blog post, I’ll cover the last 4 habits.

Part 2 should be even more exciting. In part 1, I covered the habits that are “private victories” – things you need to master within yourself first, before you can be successful in your interaction with others.

And language learning is all about interacting with others. So let’s get started with habit 4-7!

Habit 4: Think win/win

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Category: Culture, Learning methods, Self Learning / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Essential Life Skills: is your child learning them?

January 21, 2013 / / No comments

Businessman in suitAre your kids missing out on the three top life skills? 

Do you remember how you learnt the three top life skills?
Those three skills being financial management, cooking and social etiquette (including grooming). If you could give yourself a grade in these areas what would it be?  

Financial Management
Think about your financial story – how did you learn this crucial skill?

When I was growing up I was a Brownie (the younger arm of the Girl Guide Movement) and I took the Thrift Badge which aimed to teach financial skills. I remember having to keep a savings account to show how I could save money, and also show how I cared for the things I owned. This was probably financial management at its most simplest and today is woefully inadequate.

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Category: Culture, English, Kids/Family, Language schools, Languages, Learning methods, Singapore / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cultural difference? Baby milk costs three times more in Singapore

January 17, 2013 / / No comments

Milk Powder is so much cheaper in Holland

To be entirely honest, I did worry a bit when we were approaching customs at Changi Airport with 4 kg of white powder in my suitcase. Fortunately, they let us pass without questions.

Not that I was fearing for my life. Just worried of having to explain what that white powder was.

I could already imagine the customs officer’s words: “Sure, it’s baby milk powder. That’s what they all say.”

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Category: Culture, Europe, Netherlands, Singapore / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Childhood learning styles: what’s most important?

December 28, 2012 / / No comments

Who should read this article?

  • Parents with young children
  • Parents who want well-rounded successful children

Little Bears
I teach a Little Bears class for children officially aged at least 2 and half, although if the child is ready before that age they can join. Usually children are in the two to three age group. In my experience, kids have to be at least aged two before they can appreciate some of the activities.

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Category: Culture, English, Language schools, Languages, Learning methods, Singapore / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

K-Pop in Thailand: Is the Korean Language Taking Over?

November 14, 2012 / / No comments

I Love K-PopForget Adele! Forget Lady Gaga! The hippest thing in South East Asia these days is a dose of K-pop!

Many of you reading this may not be old enough to remember the days before early 1990s – before the Internet and ‘globalisation’.

Back then popular culture formed locally and slowly spread to other countries via the media of TV, movies, magazines, travel etc. Nowadays it seems to spread quicker than the Bird Flu virus did and it sweeps over entire regions and continents in no time!

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Category: Culture, Korean, Thailand / Tags: , , , ,

Love and Language: Does Love Break the Language Barrier?

November 11, 2012 / / 2 comments

What if you were travelling in a foreign country and you found this very attractive person; you approach her and introduce yourself, best foot forward. And then, a blank stare.  She didn’t even understand any word you said!

I have often wondered, if it was even remotely possible, for two people speaking completely different languages, to fall in love and be together.  See, it’s easy to adjust to say, a Filipina and an American.  That’s easy.  A Filipina and a Japanese is manageable.  But what if it’s a German and a Thai?  What if both only know one language?  Who would learn what?  Would they both learn something new? Something common?  What would they teach their kids? Are love and language so closely intertwined that one cannot happen without the other?

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Category: Culture, Travel / Tags: , ,

Language Tuition in Singapore: Necessity or Optional?

October 6, 2012 / / No comments
Lee Wei Ling's article on Language Tuition

Lee Wei Ling’s article on Language Tuition. (Click the image to read the full article).

Is it absolutely necessary to take language tuition in Singapore, or is it just optional to give your child’s language skills some ‘extra polish’? English language teacher Susan McKenzie discusses Lee Wei Ling’s recent article about language tuition in the Sunday times.

Pain and Pleasure
Lee Kuan Yew’s daughter Lee Wei Ling reveals snippets of her growing up years in The Sunday Times. Personal experiences of school, tuition and her philosophy on the pains and pleasures of study are put under the spotlight.

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Category: Culture, Learning methods, Places, Singapore, Singlish / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Kpop in Singapore: Performances, Festivals and Korean Culture

September 4, 2012 / / One comment
Wonder Girls

Wonder Girls performing “Nobody” at the 2008 Bucheon World Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo opening ceremony. Photo by 복사골철이

The Kpop craze has invaded Singapore! Indeed, Singapore was not spared, as it has fallen in love with the tunes, the moves, and even the fashion that these Asian stars have been infecting the world with. Various well-known Korean artists have already visited the country and there’s still several more coming before the year ends.

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Category: Culture, Korean, Singapore / Tags: , , , , ,
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