Week 15a: Monday, 15 December 2014

Posted by Zakumi on December 12, 2014

(1) Discussion on bad habits to continue.

Students don't have to comment on this as you have done it already.

(2) Compelling conversations: Talking about books and reading pleasures.

Please see the attachments. There are two lists of 18 questions each. We'll work in pairs and each partner will get a different list. On list 1, we'll answer only the following questions: 1 ("Did your mother read to you as a child?"), 5, 7, 8, 10, 17 and 18. On list 2, only the following questions: 5 ("What are some books you've read and enjoyed?"), 6, 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18.

For your comment, students can answer any of those questions, or tell me about a book you read and why you enjoyed it. You decide.

Compelling Conversations x1.pdf

Compelling Conversations x2.pdf

Compelling Conversations x3.pdf

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Replies

  • Zhu Qianfeng December 14, 2014 15:42

    To be honest,I don’t like reading a book.but I love listening while others read a story for me.Because my mom always give me a story before go to sleep.By the way,I have read a book named The Temptation Of Wolves while I was a middle school students.in fact it is a romance novel,and especially moving.AS for the reasons why I love this book,the story is not only attractive,in the love and very good literary.even make me believe in love and I ever thought to become a writers from then on,I hope I can write the same moving novels.(Secretly saying,I am not sure how many times I cried when I was reading the novel.)

    • Zakumi > Zhu Qianfeng December 15, 2014 3:01

      Haha, you sound like a romantic boy, Zhu Qianfeng! I'll ask your gf when I see her next time whether that's true! That book you referred to has actually Korean origins, I see. Have you seen the movie made on that book (it may have a different name though). Yes, I noticed that is about a love triangle ... I wonder who got the girl in the end?! Oh, thanks for sharing that secret with me! So, you are also human after all (not like most Chinese men who believe men may not cry)! So, then I can also share a secret with you ... the hardest I ever cried when reading a book, was when I read the last page of a book about China (A heart for freedom) and it completely broke my heart because of the suffering it wrote about. Yeah, books can touch one's hearts!

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    • Zakumi December 14, 2014 16:15

      Zhang Yingying, when I was at school, we were prescribed that book for our English literature class! It was one of the world's most popular literary works ever! Haha, and I still remember old Friday too! I am so surprised that you liked the book too - and you are a girl! Maybe you are an adventurous girl! About Robinson's positive outlook on life, you said you were shocked about it, but have you ever given it a thought as to why he was like that? There was a very good reason for that! ;-)

  • HuoMeng December 14, 2014 14:36
    When I was a child my mother read to me every night ,at that time ,my favourite story is Daughter of the Sea.I like the little mermaid very much,but the story made me so sad ,I don't hope the little mermaid become foam over the sea .I think I like reading because of my mother ,she like reading so much , she often talk me about which book she is reading and advised me to read it.I finish reading a book last week,it's name is My life's notes which written by BiShumin,a chinese woman writer.She is my favourite chinese writer ,my mother like her books, too.BiShumin write something about her life in army in Tibet when she was young and she came back to Beijing become a doctor and a writer.After reading the book,I feel I have experienced a lifetime ,a good book really can teach people many things.
    • Zakumi > HuoMeng December 14, 2014 16:03

      Wow Huo Meng, you were fortunate that your mother had time to read to you as a child! Many students write that sometimes not one of their parents had time to read to them or tell them stories when they were small. It's so sad, because that is a time when parents should spend much more time with their children. Well, I admire your mother for teaching you the habit of reading (actually a hobby). You must never stop; it brings one so much joy and satisfaction. And with what you said about your mother also appreciating Bi Shumin's books, it reminds me of the quotation by Katherine Mansfield (in the quotes attached to the lesson): "The pleasure of all reading is doubled when one lives with another who shares the same books". But in your case, even just to talk about the author of the books you both read, must bring some enjoyment! :)

  • yinghaiyang December 14, 2014 14:35
    When i was a child,my teacher asked us to read some masterpieces.So i chose The Adventure of Tom Saywer.At first,i just wanted to finish my assignment.but later i was touched by Tom.He was so clever.He pretended to brush fence happily in order to ask others to brush them.He was also a brave boy .He dared to identity the murderer.He was full of adventure spirit.He tried to chase liberty.
    • Zakumi > yinghaiyang December 14, 2014 15:54

      It is quite interesting, Ying Haiyang, that many good writers were writing some of their best works during the 1800's, like the creator of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain. For some reason the 1800's were booming years for good authors and poets! I wonder why? Yes, Mark Twain created a very smart character in Tom Sawyer. I guess you read the book in Chinese (as school children in China never read English!). Mark Twain wrote two sequels to "The adventures of Tom Sawyer", but I guess you are now too "old" (mature) to read more of his books, right?! At your age now, the girls who still read, would probably only read love stories, I guess! :)

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    • Zakumi December 14, 2014 15:47

      Many Chinese students had similar experiences than you during childhood, Xi Rui; and many of them had also been introduced to Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales. I am not surprised that you have enjoyed his writings much. His books were translated into more than 100 languages. I remember that even in my childhood, some of his stories were read to us as children!

  • Sun Huanmeng December 14, 2014 14:15
    I like the novel Twilight portrayed the powerful love of a couple, Bella Swan is 17 years old ， she is a smart and beautiful girl, because of her mother‘s remarriage, she exiled herself to a remote town named Forks. In this town, she met a mysterious classmate named Edward Cullen, then she found out Edward came from a "vegetarian" vampire family. Bella's sweet scent attracts him -- makes him want to drink her blood, but at the same time he suppresses his desire because he is deeply in love with her, want to protect her.I saw the movie firstly,then I found the novel is more beautiful.I heard that the American version is better and more interesting.I’m already beginning to read it but very slow.

    I prefer reading Rabindranath Tagore‘s poems，novels filled of imagination and a Chinese magazine named Vista Look The World in my daily life.
    • Zakumi > Sun Huanmeng December 14, 2014 15:43

      Well Shelly, if you are reading the English (American) version of Twilight, you are just like Guo Hongtai, a very brave girl! Of course it would read slowly as the English in which it was written, is not easy to read! But, even with the little I know about you, I can see you are a determined girl and I am sure you would one day finish that book! I just wonder why you and Guo Hongtai find a love story with a vampire so interesting - what if Edward can one day not resist Bella's sweet smell of her delicious blood ..?! :)

      Wow, and you read poetry too! Rabindranath Tagore sound very Indian to me! I quickly went on en. wikipedia. org to do a little research and it is indeed so. I noticed that he was such a brilliant poet that he has even started writing poems since his childhood! And he wrote novels, dramas and even many songs! I also noticed that he grew up in the same era as Albert Einstein and they had met once. I guess he brought the same honour to Indian literature than Cao Zhan had to Chinese literature! I'm glad you make time for reading, Shelly. One day, when you have forgotten everything you learned in school (and university), the education from those books is what remains (derived from one of Albert Einstein's quotations)! ;-)

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