Fish is Fish

C8 Speech, Add Impact to Your Speech, by Alan Lin, 2006/11/2

Madam/ Mr. Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen!

This is a magic moment. Please pay attention to the balloon.

How could a balloon keep its expansion with an open end?

You cannot believe it because it conflicts with your common sense. In other words, you understand new knowledge based on what you have known.

A few months ago, for writing the proposal of my dissertation I read a storybook, titled "Fish is fish". Why did I read a children's storybook for my dissertation? That's a long story.

Now, let's begin the story about … about a fish.

Once upon a time, there was a pond at the edge of the woods. And there a minnow and a tadpole swam among the weeds. They were good friends.

One morning the tadpole yelled, "Look, look, I've grown two legs. I'm a frog!"

The minnow said, "Nonsense. How could you be a frog? If only last night you were a little fish, just like me!" They argued and argued until the tadpole said, "Frogs are frogs, and fish is fish, and that's that!"

Finally the tadpole had grown into a frog! He decided to go out onto the land. He said good-bye to his friend and promised to return and report on what he had seen to him.

Then one day, a happy splash shocked the weeds.The frog returned to the pond to meet his lonely friend. The fish excitedly asked, "Where have you been?"

"I've been around the world, hopping here and there. And I've seen unusual things."

"Like what?"

"Birds. A bird has wings, and two legs, and feather with many, many colors."

The fish saw the birds fly through his mind like large feathered fish.

"What else?"

"And people. They wear clothes and hats, and walk with two legs."

The fish saw in mind, a man and a child look like a huge and a big fish walking upright and dressed in clothing.

"What else?"

"Cows."

A black-and-white spotted fish with horns and udders chewed weeds and mooed on the fish's mind.

What was wrong? Between the frog's teaching and the fish's learning, something went wrong.

Isn't the frog a good teacher? Or the fish isn't a good student!

Maybe the frog was an earnest teacher. But an earnest teacher doesn't need to promise to be a good teacher. The frog forgot that fish is fish. He did his best to teach the fish based on the frog's own experiences, not on the fish's current knowledge. Remember, we use what we have already known to shape our new understandings, just as the fish did. That's an important viewpoint on learning. Do you agree?

Teachers have to begin their teaching from what students have already known. That's the conclusion I made from the storybook "Fish is fish". And that's why I read it for my dissertation.

Am I a good teacher, or just an earnest teacher like the frog?

Madam/ Mr. Toastmaster.

Alan's Ice-breaking

C1 Speech, By Alan Lin, 2004/8/4

Mr. Toastmaster, ladies and gentlemen, good evening!

I have good news to share with you. This afternoon, the President summoned my students for their outstanding performance in national science fair held in Kaohsiung County last week. My students won the first place Grand Award in Earth Science. They studied on the breaking wave. And I'm their teacher-sponsor.

So, you know, I'm a teacher. I like teaching science outdoors, but I'm not an Earth Science Teacher, I'm a Physics teacher. "Oh! Physics. Physics is a difficult subject." This is a common response from most of the people while they hear my introduction of myself. "I always fail in Physics." This is a second response to my occupation. Well, I have taught a subject named failure for twenty-eight years.

When I think of this, I feel discouraged. I have hummed so many lullabies in my Physics classes for twenty-eight years. I decided to change the situation. I made a decision to go back to the university three years ago, not only for learning how to teach Physics, but also for being the empty nest. Four years ago, my second son left us for university as well as his brother. And my wife went to learn Japanese for the better understanding of the TV shows on NHK. They all go to school but me. The Chinese proverb says that you will have a hateful appearance if you have no reading for three days. I have no reading for twenty-eight years. I looked at the mirror and found that I have a hateful face, then I went back to the school.

Three years is a long time for an old student like me. Sometimes I nodded my head as well as my students did in my class. Moreover, I found that I have difficulties in moving the information from the short-term memories to the long-term memories. Don't blame me! It's not my fault. With the increase of the age, I have to study hard to conquer the decrease of the synapses, which play the important roles of memory.

The month before Last month, I passed through the examination of qualification and became the candidate for Doctor degree. If you ask me what I have learned during the past three years, I could show you. Please pay attention to the ribbon. Do you believe in your eyes? Indeed, the ribbon is moving upward along the rubber string. Why? I major in magic education, oh no, I major in science education. If you are curious about it, please come to my Physics class. I'm sure you will love it.

Mr. Toastmaster.

Introduction in Chinese

Introduction (English Version)

歡迎加入左營英語演講勵進會
姜會長(2006-2007)給中油同仁的一封信 (2006/6/8)
各位同仁，在全球化與網路時代，英語是不可或缺的溝通工具，你想知道一種不用花錢，可以輕鬆學習與練習英語，還可以交到很多新朋友的好康所在嗎？在這裡為您介紹左營英語演講勵進會，他就是您所夢寐以求的解答。

國際演講協會（Toastmasters International） 是一個專為訓練會員溝通技巧與領導才能的非營利性組織，也是一個國際性的終身學習的成長性社團。1942年創立於美國加州，迄今全球八十個國家約設有九千多個分會，擁有會員20萬人。台灣地區總會已向內政部申請立案，於民國85年成立「中華民國國際演講協會」，目前在台灣地區約有八十餘個分會，其中80%使用英語。

左營分會成立於2003年，會址就設在左營高中，2004年10月起左營分會成為左營高中的合作夥伴，免費提供左營高中師生增進英語聽講能力的學習機會。

左營分會在每個月的第一及第三個星期三晚上七點三十分至九點三十分舉行例會，會議內容分為三個主要部分：「指定演講」、「即席演講」及「內容講評」，其他還包括：「每日一字」、「有獎徵答」、「文法時間」及「來賓分享」等。會議過程輕鬆活潑，全部採用英與進行，藉由觀摩與實際演練，激發個人對英語學習的興趣，對提昇英語溝通技巧及領導能力都有莫大助益。
左營英語勵進會特別著重輕鬆與友善氣氛的營造，讓您在沒有壓力的情境下自然開口說英語。如果您擔心英語程度不夠，本會會為您安排友善熱心的個人輔導員，幫助您輕鬆培養英語能力，還可以交到許多各行各業、不同年齡層的朋友。

入會
凡年滿18歲，了解本會內容及程序後，即可申請入會。會員需繳交入會費1000元（終生只需繳一次）及半年年費1500元。所收費用除部分上繳美國總會外（因總會每年會舉辦數次訓練課程，提供教材及Toastmaster月刊），其餘均使用於例會基本開銷（例如：茶點、資料影印、場租等），帳目透明，由會員自行推舉財務管理。

來賓
如果你未滿18歲或暫時不入會，也歡迎成為來賓參加例會，左營英語勵進會因為左營高中免費提供場地，因此來賓不收費（其他分會來賓大約收費100元）

例會地點
高雄市左營區海功路55號左營高中忠孝二樓（進門玄關上樓）教師會會議室。

網址
http://www.tyhs.edu.tw/campus/tytc/

部落格
http://tytc.blogspot.com/

聯絡人
石化事業部行銷室石化品貿易組姜繼文
※我是左營英語勵進會今年度新任會長（年度自今年七月至次年六月），竭誠歡迎中油同仁共襄盛舉，請跟我聯絡，我會盡力協助大家。

Inaugural Speech (2006-2007)

By Ivan Chiang, President 2006-2007

Dear IPP Angela and PP Grace, my dear fellow members:

I have never considered to take this job before Angela called me. And my first reaction was that Angela could bear it one more year. But Angela said it's illegal. And then, I recommended Alan Lin. But Angela said he is too busy working on his PHD. Angela thinks I will be the suitable candidate for this job because I am old enough not only in membership seniority but also in age. Even though I am busy too, I cannot reject her goodwill. Another reason is that I like this club and I hope to do something for this club.

Thanks all of you to support me and give me the opportunity to service for this club. I have thought over what can we do to develop our club more strong and beloved. I have some ideas to share with you and hope that you can share your opinion with me too.

First of all, I will try to invite more new members to joint us. I will try it in CPC, you know CPC has the potential ability to supply a huge numbers of member. And I will try on my supplemental go school, my classmates, my friends and my relatives. I ask you to try it too. To try to persuade all people you know to joint our club and enjoy the pleasure of progress and friendship.

The second important point is we must keep the quests stay and become our new member. I hope that every receptionist when receive a new guest must introduce him/her to president or PRVP, and president or PRVP will introduce a mentor for him/her to help him/her to understand the operation of our meeting. And this mentor will sit by him/her side and help him/her to feel comfortable in the meeting, and be sure that they can get needed information about the club after the meeting till he/she becomes our new member. So I need your help to work as a friendly and enthusiastic mentor.

Some of the quests coming first time will be amazed about our elder member's English ability and afraid that they cannot catch up. That is the time the mentors shall help them, to help them to make some simple self-introduction and/or feeling sharing. Every meeting all attendance shall have the chance to say something even only a few of simple sentences with the help of their mentors.

Above is my personal idea about improving our club's operation. I hope you will present your idea and share with us. Beside this, I will ask all of you to try your best to attend all kind of activities, like officer's training, outdoor or entertainment activities or sister club's activities, etc.

After all, I wish all members and quests will enjoy the meeting and obtain progress in English and leadership in the coming yearly period. Thank you very much.

How to Manage a Sweet and fortunate Marriage

Script for Division D speech contest, By Ivan Chiang, 2006/3/27

Toast master, ladies and gentlemen, before I deliver my speech I want to ask you a question. What kind of interpersonal relation in your life is most important? Please think over this question for five second. O.K. My answer is: "The most important and last longest relation is with your spouse. It can last over 50 years."

How will you manage this most important affair in your life? That is my topic today. I will give some advice here. But you may ask me: "Are you qualified to give any advice?" I must mention that among my colleagues and friends, my wife and I are famous as model couple. And I have had some experience to be consulted about the marriage problem. So I belief my advice should be useful and helpful.

My discussion will be departed to two parts: before marry and after marry. Before you get married you should know: "To choose a right person promises 50% success." How to choose your Mr. Right? I will present three main points below:

First, you must choose a good man but not an attractive man. Did you ever hear such words?
"Even thought my friends and relatives have bad comments on him, but I still believe he love me truly." Or "He has had many girl friends before, but he swell to me that I am the last and the only one." Do you believe it? Let me tell you: Love is blind, but marriage must be rational. Observe this man carefully about how he deals with other people, like his parent, his friends and weak fellows. You can find out if he is a reliable person or not.

Second "Personality suitable for each other is important." People's personality could be much different. Man can be romantic or realistic, generous or stingy, open-minded or reserved. I can't say that a romantic lady married to a realistic gentleman could have a happy marriage. Just image when the romantic wife cry for a touching love movie in the theater, the realistic husband still complain that to rent a VCD to watch at home will be cheaper.

Third "Only true love can make up the gap of education, wealth and social position between two families."

Will Cinderala be happy forever after she got married to the prince? I think it will depend on the attitude of Cinderala herself, prince and prince's family. Cinderala must have strong confidence on herself and prince. Otherwise the marriage could hardly be fortunate.

Following I will discuss how to manage the marriage after getting married. It will be much easier than to choose a right person. It needs not so much intelligence and insight, but a little more patience and understanding.

I will give three guidelines and four tips.

The first guideline is: "To respect your spouse's individuality". Most of people make a mistake that the closer relationship they have, the less respect they show to each other. People always ignore their spouse's individuality and regard them as their accessories. The first tip is a Chinese proverb: "The wife and husband shall respect each other like a quest".

The second guideline I must emphasize the importance of communication. Another common mistake people make is that they think families don't need to communicate. This is a terrible false. Communication is the best way to improve your love and understanding. And the second tip is: a hug and a kiss is another way of communication and the best way.

The last guideline is: "Family is not a place for rationality but a place for love". Every husband and wife will dispute, but never try to win the debate by rational argument, you must win by love. Here is the third tip: In a dispute, one who apologizes first is the winner and the fourth tip: Never say any words when you are angry or you shall regret after you calm down.

Remember that the most important and last longest relation in your life is with your spouse. Whether you can or not manage a successful marriage will determine your life being successful or not. You need to pay much attention to it. Wish all of you have a sweet and fortunate marriage. Ladies and gentlemen, toast master of the evening.

Never Stop Learning and Don't Fear of Learning

C10 Speech, By Ivan Chiang

Toast master, Ladies and gentlemen!

At my 50th years birthday I just passed last year, I was thinking about what is my comprehension of my life. I concluded it to a simple motto: That is: "Never stop learning and don't fear of learning." This motto can describe my passed 50 years of life and will be the guideline of my second half of life. I will share my experience with you.

I was not a smart student in my school days. I had no chance to enter top junior high school or senior high even through hard study. During the second year of senior high, I was pretty ill and miss the final exam, so that I am failed it and had to study one year again. In this second year, I studied very hard to keep my score at top of my class till I graduated. And then I passed the entrance examination for university and entered a famous national university.
To review my study procedure, it is not smooth, but since I never give up, I finally caught up with many smart and better classmates in the end.

In my job career it is the same, I was never a frontrunner at the beginning, but after ten or twenty years, I gradually started to move forward. I owe what I am today to one reason: "I never stop learning."

Another example for me is to learn go game. My father taught me go game at my high school days. After one or two years, my father could hardly win, so he did not like to play with me anymore. After I joined go club in university, I found that my go level was very low, something like nine Gi. When I worked in CPC, I joined CPC’s go club. CPC has a whole company's go contest. Kaohsiung refinery needs to select 5 contestants to participate in this contest. At first few years I could not get the top-five ticket. When I finally won the ticket, I participated in this contest from the lowest丁group. After that, every year I got the top 3 award and moved to an upper group from 丙、乙、甲till the highest Dan group.

I caught up all these players smarter and better experience than me just because they looked at go as a game but I studied it as a knowledge.

Ladies and gentlemen! Most of the adults stop learning just because they fear. They are afraid that people knows his ignorance. They only want to show what they know and never ask about what they didn't know. How frequently you say the three words: "I don't know"? Do you know a very interesting phenomenon that the more people knowledgeable, the more frequently they say this three words. What does it meaning? It means: knowledge comes from your admission of ignorance.

During every learning process people will face failure. Some adults come to my go school to learn go. But after several time lost to children, they gave up. Once I saw a colleague listening to a foreigner speaking. He nodded his head all the time. And after this foreigner left, I asked him what this foreigner said. He said: "I didn't understand a singer word."

Last month my family joined a skiing tour to Korea. We had a skiing course here. Half of the members dare not to learn. They even didn't want to try. Another half put on the ski, took some picture, tried some times. When they fell down, they gave up. Finally, only the one who fell down the most times can learn to ski.

Ladies and gentlemen! Learning is a whole life career, and absolutely not limited to in school. To keep learning make your career successful, make your life colorful, and make you always young. But understanding that is not enough, you must not fear of making mistake when you learn English, not fear of falling down when you learn skiing, and not fear of losing when you learning go. It's the only way you will be able to have a successful learning.

As my C10 speech, I present this motto to inspirit you and myself: "Never stop learning and don't fear of learning."

The powerful words we say

C5 Speech, By Paulina, 2006/12/27

We speak every day, but how much do you know about the power of words? Have you ever been angry with someone due to their criticism? Have you ever listened to someone's words, but never understand its meaning? That's the power of our words!

In ancient Japan, people believe in soul of words. That means the words we say has miraculous power. They believe when we give praise to God, the praise is not for God to hear. This is because God already knows your thoughts before you speak those words. The value for praising god is creating miraculous powers through your words. It is believed that things happen following your words, praise or curse. Therefore, they are afraid to wrongfully use words that may cause disaster.

We can also see the power of words from western religions. In bible, there is scripture about words powers. When Isaac was aware of his impending death, he prepared to give his blessings to his firstborn son, Esau. The blessing that a father gives to his firstborn son is particularly special, and regarded as being better and more powerful. Isaac's younger son Jacob wanted to get it, and he knew his father's eyes were too dim to tell them apart. Jacob pretended he was Esau and got his father's firstborn blessing. Jacob felt it was necessary to lie in order to steal the blessing. From here, we can see the power and allure our words can become.

I'd like to introduce the use of powerful words.

Firstly, we can speak words confidently to ourselves each morning. In the morning, when we wake up, we should loudly say: today is a beautiful day. This can give you an energy boost throughout the day. When you look into the mirror, you should say “Mirror, mirror, I'm the most attractive person in the world”. This can give you confidence. When you're going to deliver a speech, you should convince yourself you can make it. You will become less nervous. The stronger you say these words, the more confidence you will have. This can make things work out. In contrary, when we say negative words, it also affects us. If we tell ourselves we can’t do it, then it is very hard to be successful. When we say “No, I can't make it”, we will only find excuses through difficult trials. We won't try our best to find solutions. The words can lead our thoughts subconsciously. So, we can train ourselves by using words. Try to say positive words instead of negative words. Learn to actively speak in a positive manner.

Secondly, different languages, words, and intonation often reflect different meanings. For example, the traditional Art: hand-held puppet show: Only Taiwanese can show the complete artistic aspect of the puppet show. If you use Mandarin or English to present it, the feeling is completely different. Using the right language, proper words and intonation, your words will be suitable and understood.

Thirdly, we should pay attention to what we say. Sometimes, your words can change somebody, for better or worse. Have you ever noticed the words that hurt people are always quite short and heavy? Our words own different powers according to our emotion. Speaking is an art; w can use words to affect other’s mood, life, and attitude both directly and indirectly. I remember in elementary school, the topic of composition “What is the sentence which affects you mostly?” The common response is usually what their grandpa, grandma, father, mother, or teacher says to them……” When we speak negatively, it's just like hammering the nails into the wall. Each bad sentence is a single nail. Even if you take out the nails later on, you will still leave holes on the wall. Sometimes, we can't afford the result our words will cause. So, it's very important when you speak, to be extremely careful with your choice of words.Words are one of the most important tools for communication. We speak every day, and through this speech, you now know how important it is. It's just like a double edged sword where one edge can hurt someone and the other edge can protect someone. It all depends on how you use it.

Live in the right speed

C4 Speech, By Paulina Chao, 2006/8/1

Picture: what is the first thing you do in the morning when you wake up? Is it opening the curtains? Brushing your teeth? Doing exercise? Or worrying if you can complete today’s work? Actually, the first thing we do is looking at a clock. If it is still early, we would go back to the bed. If it’s late, we would jump from our bed and rush to work. We live in a time river and time flies. How can we fight against the clock?

The industry is doing us a big favor. We live in a world filled of machines. We have washing machines, vacuums machines, and dishwasher machines to save time from housework. We don’t need to wash all our clothes by hand like our grandma. We have telephones, computers, and fax machines to make our work more efficient. Airplanes and cars can take us almost anywhere we want. These inventions leave us more time to enjoy our life. They change our lifestyle and extend our life in a special way. As we can clearly see, machines are useful for fighting against the clock.

Three hundred years ago, someone predicted that in the future due to technology, we would only need to work two to three hours per day. People will spend most of their time for entertainment. The words “fast, quick, rush or hurry” will disappear. Unfortunately, the prediction has been proven to be just a dream. The truth is the opposite. Life’s footstep is becoming faster than ever before. The word “karoshi” was coined few years ago. This Japanese word means "death from overwork”. People lead a life with such a busy pace, which they pay for with their health. Although machines save us time, we still overwork to fulfill our desires in a competitive world.

Increased pressures and anxieties are causing mental and heart diseases. People are starting to review their lives footstep. They find a slower life make us happier and healthier. The master coffee advertisement says “We should waste our life on the beautiful moments. Sometimes, just with a cup of coffee or tea to drink slowly, we can smell it by our nose and taste it by our tongue. Sometimes, just listen to a lovely song, we can imagine the world. In these moments, we can tell “this is life!” We can enjoy more about life when we slow down. More and more people start to lead a slower life and enjoy it. We can see this trend from the rage of yoga, meditation, jogging, and handicrafts. The Spanish slang says “Those who run faster will reach the grave firstly”. I believe no one likes to speed up under these conditions.

Now we come to one question: what is a suitable speed for living? The fact is, there is no certain standard on how fast or how slow you should be. Your speed should be whatever you feel is comfortable. We should learn how to control time, and not be controlled by time. We can combine a fast life and a slow life together, making it balance like playing music. Include allegro, moderato, and lento for the rhythm; working fast, while eating and reading slowly. These choices are all up to you. The life will be diversified and rich when it goes in different tempos. Let us play a right rhythm for our life.

To make an effective communication

C3 Speech, By Paulina Chao, 2006/5/13

Mr. (or Madam) Toastmaster. Ladies and gentlemen.

Let me start by telling a situation we might face during the daily life. John, a new engineer in your company, is always late to the office. As John’s supervisor, you feel unsatisfied about this situation. At first, you don’t want to handle this problem, because you think his working ability is very good. You don’t want to affect your relationship with him by blaming him for late. However, you feel angrier about John while he keeps being late. Finally, you loose your patience and talk with John about this problem. He promises that he will be punctual next time, but still fails. Under this situation, how to make an effective communication? Today, I’d like to talk about three ways help you to make an effective communication.

Firstly,” Decision”. How to decide whether a communication is needed or not? From your viewpoint, John is a good worker and you have good relationship with him. Should you discuss about the problem of lateness with him? The tool to evaluate is you should review your reaction. When people are unhappy and bothered by something, even they choose not to discuss it, their facial expression, body move, and talking will reveal it. The other person can feel your dislike without understanding why. This will affect your relationship slowly. If you find that your attitude towards John becomes unfriendly, perhaps you should decide to make the communication.

Secondly, “Definition”. To define what the real problem is can make the communication more effective. When John is late for the first time, you should talk with him about the problems content. That is “you’re late and I hope you can improve it”. When John is late for second time, then, you should talk about the pattern. “You promise that you will be punctual, but you break your promise. This hurt your credit and it’s hard to trust your words next time. When the problem repeats, then it’s time to discuss about relationship. You should point out that it will affect your relationship with him. Most of people will keep talking about content only while the problem repeats. It’s very easy to turn the communication into blatter just like mothers do. Using the “definition”, that is whether the problem belongs to content, pattern or relationship, I call it CPR, can help you solve the real problem. So, to get your head right before you open your mouth.

Thirdly, “Emotion”. Emotion Control. We all know it’s very hard to control the emotion before and during the communication, especially when we’re angry. The anger is very easy to turn the communication into fighting. According to a research called “attribution studies”, which found most people are not familiar to find the reasons for the problem. People are apt to conclude the problems come from the character. When John keeps being late to work, you start to think John is someone unpolite and rude. This makes you even angrier. If you want to make an effective communication, you should control your emotion by controlling your thoughts. It’s better to calm down before starting a communication. How to make it? My suggestion is to think some good aspects and positive stories for the person instead of thinking the bad character. Perhaps John needs to send his daughter to school every morning, and that’s why he is late. Maybe you can think some good suggestions after understanding the truth. When we think the positive way, it’s easier to calm down and make an effective communication.

Let me just run over the three key points you can use before an effective communication. They are “decision”, “definition”, and “emotion”. To decide whether a communication is needed, define what the problem is and control your emotion. These tools can help us to make an effective communication. Nowadays, we all play different roles in the society, just like you and me. The effective communication can improve the human relationship for us. I’d like to leave you with the following thought – doing some preparation before the communication can make it more effective. So, well prepared!

Leon Wang
Apr., 18, 2006

The Silent Language

There is a language that everyone speaks. It’s not taught in any classrooms and it doesn’t have grammar, spelling or pronunciation. However, it is an extremely important language. This is the language of nonverbal communication- what your body posture, face, eye contact and gestures about you.

Eye contact- In many countries, for example, Muslim countries, direct eye contact is a sign of disrespect. Americans use eye contact to indicate understanding, interest, and confidence. When someone is talking to you, try to maintain good eye contact.

Hand shake- It’s customary to shake hands with an individual you’ve been introduced to or when saying hello. The best hand shake is, “Open your hand, keeping all your fingers together and the thumb open. Grasp the palm firmly, but not crushingly, and give a couple of small shakes. Don’t let your hand go all limp.”

Your voice- The voice is your first tool for communicating information with others. How you say is just as important as what you say.

Smile- The fastest and easiest way to meet people and make friends is to smile! Smiles are very contagious and a great way to start a conversation or a friendship

Personal space- In some countries, it may be acceptable to stand very close to another person, but in USA, people might feel uncomfortable and threatened. Americans usually maintain a space of 2-3 feet around them as their personal space. Unless you are on a crowded bus, try to maintain that distance to make others comfortable with your company.

[Personal experience]

The best method to learn nonverbal skills is to watch how other people interact. Go to the mall, the park, a bookstore or a restaurant and observe how others communicate in verbal and nonverbal ways. You will quickly learn what nonverbal actions Americans see as confident and friendly, and practice them yourself.

Remember, “Silent talks more!”

C1 Speech (Leon Wang in 2006)

My name is Leon. It is my French name. Last year, I graduated from CCU which is located in Chia-Yi County. I studied in Department of Foreign languages and literature. English courses are compulsory for us, and we have to take Second Foreign Language courses. I choose French. Why? At first, I was interested in Japanese courses, but I heard some bad news about the Japanese instructor, so I changed my mind to head for French realm. Honestly, I don’t learn French very well, but I always cheat my friends with some French sentences, to prove I am good at it! Such as…

My college life is a turning point for me. It is my first time to leave home and to live in the faraway place. When I didn’t go to the college, my first impression for Chia-Yi County was a place of inconvenience. I was not surprised when I reached there. The most you could see was farm, farm, and farm. Meanwhile, the air was full of the smell of fertilizer. Everything there was new for me because I never experienced it before, especially in Kaohsiung. However, God is equal. Some things only happen in rural areas. Can you imagine a firefly flies into your home? This happened to me. It stops on the top rim of my cup, twinkling and twinkling. I am excited by this little insect. The one necessary thing that students in our college need to experience during the 4 years is go to the mountain area in竹崎 to enjoy the firefly pageant. I will remember forever we rode on our motorcycles at midnight and went to the mountain where is lightless, totally dark. Finally, we really saw numerous fireflies. Until now, the most shocking scene for me is many, many, many fireflies gathering in a tree. It is like a Christmas tree. This big fake Christmas tree has been unforgettable for me so far.

After my graduation last year, I found a part-time job while I was waiting for the military service. I went to the naval troops in September, but quickly I was rejected because of high blood pressure. I “heritage” the disease from my father. Later, I took 12-day replacement service in December. High blood pressure is complicated for me. It lets me get rid of the normal military service, whereas it is a potential jeopardy in my life. As a result, I keep a habit of jogging to make my body healthier.

When it comes to my personality, I define myself as a man of discipline. I am not good at joking, but I like to be infected by happy atmosphere. I always have great fun in making humorous and amusing friends because they can bring me happiness. Obviously, members in Toastmaster are my great friends because all of you bring me the most fun. Now, I am preparing for the Entrance Exam of Political Science Department next year. I find everything about international relations is fascinating, such as International Relation Theory, International Law, Political Science. I take much time to be with the books every day. My life pattern is immutable and pure. That’s why I look forward to Toastmaster activity so much. Because you make my life colorful!

Life Is a Long Journey

June 2, 2004
Farewell Speech, by Darren Yeh, charter president(2003-2004)

Dear fellow Toastmasters, ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

I haven't seen you for a long time. How have you been? First and foremost, I want to share good news and bad news with you. Which one do you want to know first?

Good news is that I already got a job--- Evergreen Marine Co. accepted me to serve as a marine mate and asked me to get on board by the end of this month. So, I will leave Taiwan for several months and sail around the world. Before I work on a 6,000 TUE container ship, I have to take many training courses for meeting the professional competency requirements and that's why I can't attend tonight's officer's installation ceremony. I am so sorry! But if my vessel entering Kaohsiung Harbor, you are most welcome to visit my ship and be my guests on board.

About the bad news--- my NEW girl friend and I broke up last week. Through this ANOTHER tragedy, I learnt that "never believe what women said"; and "there is no good unmarried women but lesbians." John, do you agree? I know it’s hard to tell the truth before so many beautiful girls.

Life is a long journey. We may get a lot of fun during it. 18 months ago, in order to fulfill my 2 years military service, I came to southern Taiwan. At here, I met a sweet, considerate and of course, MARRIED lady--- Sherry; we started to discuss the possibilities of chartering a club in Tsoying. Then, we shared our ideas with many senior members in Division D. Certainly, we got lots of inspiring responses--- Dick, Melody, Grace and John, thank you so much for your advice and support. From then on, the seeds of chartering our club were deeply rooted in our hearts.

Through 6 months hard working, we hold 2 demo meetings, recruited 25 charter members, conducted the officer team, sent required documentary materials to HQs, then our club was finally chartered.

After the chartering, our club officers devoted themselves to our members, Ivans, Joyce, Andy, W.C., Joy, Angela, Jeff, Sherry and Alan, your effects made our club a lovely club. You did a wonderful job. I thank you.

Grace, the difference between your presidency and mine is you got it through a democratic, fair and peaceful election. Your inauguration is full of blessings and joyfulness. I believe that you will lead our club to a prosperous future. I hand it to you.

By the way, Benjamin, my Cow Lord, as an ATM, you decided and were elected SAA. I am very proud of you. I hope one day, you will be our club's president.

Life is a long journey. When we end a story, another story is just beginning. It's really nice to having you during my journey of life. And these days we were here will always be remembered.
I love you and “I'll be back, soon.”

Sincerely yours,
Darren Yeh

Festival (Word of the day, 2007/6/20)

By Summer Lin

Dragon Boat Festival
• Rice-Wrap Day, (Agriculture Calendar May 5th)
• Dragon-boat races/ Rice dumpling
• In memory of Chu Yuan!

Other festivals?
Chinese Traditional Festivals
• Spring Festival
• Lantern Festival
• Mid-Year Festival (Ghost Festival)
• Mid-Autumn Festival
• New Year's Eve (the last day of the Agriculture Calendar)
Other Examples:
• Christmas is one of the festivals of Christian Church.
• The movie generated a very positive response at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Festival?
CELEBRATION~
Definition 1:
• A series of performances of movies, plays, music, or dancing that is usually organized in the same place at the same time each year.
The Edinburgh Festival愛丁堡藝術節
Definition 2:
• an event that is held to celebrate a particular thing or activity
Yang Ming Shan Flower Festival
Definition 3:
• A day or period when there is a public holiday, often to celebrate a religious event.
Moon Festival

Etymology
• feste
• feast
• fete
• -fest

More words:
• Fest- a song/beer/food fest/ -fest/talkfest
• Festive-bright and cheerful, joyful, merry
• festivity- things done to celebrate a special occasion

Collocation
• V+ festivalhold a festivalkeep the Spring Festivalobserve/celebrate a festivalthrow a
• Adj/N+ festivala religious/ dance/drama/film/folk/harvest/music/beer/flower festival

More examples:
• The Cannes Film Festival
• A harvest festival
• A Shakespeare festival
• The silver jubilee festival
• A victory festival
• Mud Festival
• Film Festival

Enjoy yourselves!
• What kind of festival do you enjoy the most?
• Do you want to create a festival of your own?

Newly (Word of the day, 2007/6/6)

Newly By Nina Chou
newly : adv., usually before a past participle.
It means recently.
Ex.: a newly married couple
newly-wed
newborn
new year
new wave
newly industrialized