Thursday, August 30, 2007

Being choosy, fussy, picky etc

Hello again

Yesterday we talked a bit about reading. I emphasized the need for being selective with what you read. I recommended that you look at up to 100 books before reading one. The books you choose to read must be interesting to you, and they should be at the correct level. I believe that you should know 98% that is on any page.

If a person is going be that choosy, how does he or she find enough material to read? Here are some suggestions: browse books on an interesting topic (non-fiction books are grouped in a library) or explore a genre. Look for more books by an author that you enjoyed. Tell a librarian the kind of material you are looking for and they will be happy to make suggestions (it's their job). Take a look at books recommended by others. Hunt up some of the books mentioned in the bibliography of a book you enjoyed.

I'm reading Beyond Civilisation by Daniel Quinn. How did I find it? Well, I read another of his books, Ishmael, and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to read another. How did I find Ishmael? Mami recommended it to me. How did she find it? It was mentioned in another book, Culture Clash, that she had read. It was a book that I had recommended to her. . .

Some books have whole websites devoted to them , and Ishmael is one of them Here is a list of listening excerpts from the book Beyond Civilisation. You might start by listening to page 6.

The dictation today will come from some of your work - I must remember to return it.

I have a story for error correction. There are 33 sentences with one mistake each:

Veronica was a only child. Even as a child, she decide that she was going to be a doctor. All her dolls became her patient. All her dollhouses becomes hospitals for her patients. Hhe spent her early childhood treating her patients for all kinds of diseases and injuries. She saved all them and billed none of them.

Veronica got straight A’s on high school and college, because she knew that good grades would help her get into a good medical school. She graduated medical school near the top of her class. She became paediatrician. She got married, had two kids, one boy and one girl. Veronica husband David was an architect and a great cook. Her children did they homework without being told. They have got straight A’s in school. They ate all their vegetables with out complaining. They were perfect little childrens.

Veronica get home at 4:30 p.m. today. David gave her a big kissing and a hug. Then her kids gave she a kiss and a hug. She went upstair and changed into shorts and a T-shirt. When she returned, the kids were waiting for her in the living room to talking about their day in school.

Marvin, 10, said what today his biology teacher helped them cut up dead frogs. They smelled badly, but he enjoyed seeing their little body parts, like their lungs and heart. “I am like biology,” Marvin said. “I want to be a biologist, an animal doctor, and an inventor I grow up. I’m going to be invent a pill so that animals all learn to live together without eating each other all the time.”

“Your crazy!” exclaimed Rebecca. “What are the animals going to eat if they don’t eat each other.”

“Okay, here’s how’s I’ll keep the animals from eating each other. I already thought of that, off course. The solution are a pill that will make all animals like to eat grass, like the cows and sheep do. That way not more animals will eat each other, and kids won’t have to mow the lawn any more. So, that will killing two birds with one stone.”

“Well, that’s too clever,” Veronica told Marvin.

On the reverse of that sheet there are a couple of more academic texts.

One of them, from the Toastmasters article, talks about Guidance and Support for learning English. I shall get you to summarize that information, the same as yesterday, either in groups or individually (your choice).

The other article is from today's newspaper. It seems like a grown up version about the narrative above. I wonder what your opinion about this issue is. Perhaps you could write and tell me. Here is another article about the same person.

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