I got this picture from here.

I am a shy person. I had never sang before. However, from the birth of Karaoke Group, I sang. The funny thing is I do not even have  proper voice to sing. I even hated to listen to my voice. Listening to my voice was frightening. However, I realized everybody has this feeling. No one likes to listen to his or her own voice especially on the Internet where everybody can listen to them. I tried to ignore this feeling and sing. To my surprise, singing experience in Karaoke group turned out  fantastic.

Here are 8 benefits of singing:

1-For English learners, singing is really important. It is said that students who sing have better speaking skill and can recognize intonation of the words and sentences better than those who do not sing. (Source: I read this in an article written by A.J Hoge)

  2-Singing makes you know more deeply about your friends and know their "True self".You may think we can get to know members in the other area of MYEC by reading their comments or blogs. Not everybody expresses his or her own feelings or emotions through comments or blogs. However, singing makes you free of any limiting thoughts. You can be your "True self" and express what you really feel or think. As a result, you see your authentic friend. When you get to know their "True self", You feel you are more closer to them. Next, strong friendship blooms and grow strongly.

3- You can practice your English all day long just by singing. You can sing in the car, on the street, in the shower, in the kitchen while cooking , etc. Moreover, it's hard and boring to repeat English sentences many times, but by singing, that boring task would be enjoyable.

4-You learn how to speak in English in an amusing way. Getting familiar with English sentence structures enables learners to know how to think in English. When you know how to think in English, then you can speak more fluently.

5-You broaden your vocabulary. Each songs contain new words. Seeing these words in a sentence makes you remember the word with ease. Furthermore, the new word would be repeated in the song over and over. Therefore, by the end of the song, you have learned new words and are able to remember them very well.

6-Singing has physical benefits. To name few, it increases immune system and improves memory. (Source:More singing please)

7-Boosting your mood because of releasing Endorphin in the brain is a psychological effect of singing.(Source:More singing please)

8-It creates a sense of "Bonding" in a community.(Source:More singing please)

Now, my dear friend, Selma, posted a discussion, "Let's sing together, Zoo be zoo be zoo" in Karaoke Group. If you are interested, you are very welcome to take part in this discussion or any discussions you like in Karaoke Group. I'm so sure Selma would be so happy. I hope we all can make our friend, Selma, happy. In other words, it does not matter that much if you have a great voice or not to sing , what matter is you "ARE" with your friends while singing. Our presence is what our friends expect from us.

Resources:

1-More singing please: http://www.moresingingplease.com/benefits-of-singing.

2-Health Benefits of Singing, http://visual.ly/health-benefits-singing.

3-http://effortlessenglishclub.com/learn-english-mac

You can listen to the audio version of the blog here: http://vocaroo.com/i/s1VHtM8qTZom

The nicest person I've ever seen

How do you feel if you enter a room full of balloons that you can’t be able to even see the person next to you? How do you react if you see your doctor wears a clown outfit while examining you? How do you feel if you go to a hospital, and instead of being afraid, you have to play games, listen to funny jokes, paint or even plant flowers?

All these sound unreal. At least, they sound unreal to me while watching a movie, “Patch Adams”. I wanted to make sure if this is only a movie or was real because the movie claimed that it is based on a true story.

The movie is about a medical doctor who uses humour and laughter to cure his patients. He personally is a very funny person. When he wanted to date his girlfriend, he fills a room with so many balloons that nobody could see the person beside, however, when someone moves, others realize the movement. Not only he is a very funny person, but also he is very brave and unique. In the hospital he was working, the principal didn’t like the way he cures the patients, so, he accused Mr. Adams of not being able to cure patients properly, and filed a complaint against him to court. After investigations, court finally accused Mr. Adams as someone who is “Excessively happy.” But, this didn’t prevent him from pursuing what he truly believes. He later established his own hospital with the help of his friends. The hospital, now, is in West Virginia and runs by volunteers. Patients don’t pay a penny to be cured and the way they are treated is based on humour and laughter.

I moved by the movie so much that immediately after watching, I searched through Google to see if this person really exists on earth or not. Happily, I found Mr. Adams’ website and some of his interviews on You Tube. If you are interested, you can see his website here,http://patchadams.org/. I also leave one of his interviews to realize Mr. Adams is even more than what we see in the movie, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgKvGNsDZv4. In the movie, Robin Williams plays as Mr. Adams.  Mr. Adams himself doesn’t like the movie and says that the movie doesn’t emphasize on what he is most concern about, that is, being compassionate about people and giving love to human beings. He believes the movie only shows him as a funny doctor.

I was so delightful that I finally found my role model in medicine. My photography professor at University of Toronto, where I’m studying, asked students to take a self-portrait as an assignment. I remembered my role model, Mr. Adams, and I thought: “Why don’t I dress like a clown for my self-portrait?” As such, I painted my face, made my red nose and used a red ribbon as my bow tie along with a white shirt. And, lastly, I showed my self-portrait to the class. My professor got so surprised, however, no one in the class laughed. My professor asked if I was concerned about showing my clown picture to the class. I said: “No, I want to be like Mr. Adams curing my patients with a clown outfit and this is a good start to see how I feel about it”

I think Mr. Adams is the nicest person I’ve ever seen in my life. Many people talk about humanitarian actions and some do something about it. However,   he is the one who doesn’t do all these things for attaining fame or pretending, but for the sake of patients without expecting anything or collecting money in return. He said in one of his lectures:” I don’t have any materialistic possessions in this world, but I’m the happiest and most liberated person.”

"Dear Frankie" is one of the best movies I've ever seen. In the beginning of the movie, you have no idea what is going on and gradually, the story unfolds. "Dear Frankie" is about a deaf boy who does not know about his father at all. All he knows is that he was a sailor and he has been sailing on the sea with his ship, ACCRA. Every day "Frankie" writes a letter to his dad. However, the letters never get to his dad. Instead, his mother picks the letters up from the post office and replies him back. One day, Frankie bets if his father comes to visit him, he will give all his stamp collection to one of his classmates.  This puts his mother into trouble because there is no father and all these years, she was hiding this secret from Frankie.Therefore, his mother pays a guy to be Frankie's dad for few days.

I loved the movie. It is very thought-provoking and sentimental. When someone is deaf, people think he lacks something,however, this is not true. Frankie is so intelligent and learns everything so quickly. That is why he got the first rank at reading competition in school.

The movie also shows how parents think about their kids. They usually think kids can't understand serious matters in life. However, this is not true. They can understand and feel everything very well.

Jack Mcelhone plays as Frankie and Emily Mortimer plays the role of his mother. If you are looking for watching a good movie, I recommend it.

In few days, I will have to give my final exams. I am supposed to study for them, but I don't have any intentions or passions for that. I think I am so exhausted mentally. The reason that I realized I am mentally so exhausted was a nice message that I recieved from a friend on EC. The message made me think that I have lost true joy and contentment of my life because of my university workloads.

Then, one thing guidde me to another. To take this university workload and stress off of my shoulder, I decided to watch an inspiring video, How to be a no-limit person, a video of Dr.Wayne Dyer. He is well- known as the father of motivation. Despite the fact that he had a very tough life and reared in orphanage, he became a very successful person with perfect integrity and personality. It's not important if one is successful or not ,but it is important if a successful person has integrity and strong character.

In the video, Dr.Wayne Dyer said that our interpretations of life make life a happy or sad journey. Then, I remembered a question that my friend Anele asked almost three years ago, and I promised to write a blog about it. During these three years, I thought about what she asked. Anele asked what makes me sad. At the time, I thought so deeply and paid attention to what really makes me sad. Then, I realized there are so many things in life that can make me sad ,but I won't be deeply and truely sad because of those things. For example, you may get a low mark from one of your courses or you may lose your jaket in the university or you may hear someone talk ill behind your back or maybe someone is mean to you. None of them makes me deeply and truely sad.

Contemplating about this drew me to think about other things. I asked myself what if I won't be sad even though terrible things happen to me ,and lastly,I became curious how great people do that. Then, finally, I found the answer. Based on what I read from different spiritual people, there is no sadness or happiness in things or events. Sadness or happiness depends on my interpretations of the events. This is ME who let something looks sad or happy. If I interpret that low mark means the end of the world, then low mark is the source of sadness. But, if I think low mark is just a number and doesn't reveal anything about me , then I will be happy no matter what.

Thus, everything depends on me how I interpret them, and since I would like to have a serene life, I let myself go of things that don't matter and pay attention to things that matter. One thing that matters is a nice message from a friend. Nothing equates its joy! Thank you all my friends for all your lovely messages. I feel blessed!

To listen to the audio version, please click here:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s09eDXBHXGL5

Few days ago, Tara posted 12-12-12 What should we call this kind of date? to ask for suggesting a word in English for the day 12-12-12 ,and at the end of her post, she asked what other words we do not have in English. She also provided a link to 20 untranslatable words in English. 

This made me think back When I immigrated to Canada. The difference between my mother tongue language and English was so obvious and tangible. My mother tongue language,Farsi, is not as straight and frank as English. In English, you have to speak or write to the point, for example, in writing letters or E-mails, you should write your main purpose from the beginning of your letter. However, the way Iranians write letters is different. They do not write their main purpose in the beginning. Greetings come first and then, they write what they want to say. As a result, Persians have so many complimenting words. To give you an example, when we go shopping in Iran, after calculating how much the total cost is, the Persian salesman usually says:" You don't need to pay. It's all yours." This difference between two languages was so obvious and tangible to me.

It also made me feel uncomfortable. I felt I am cold and serious. I could not find an equivalent for my Persian complimenting words in English. Translating some words made them look funny and nonsense. To give you an example how a word can be nonsense in English, we, Iranians, use this expression: I eat your liver. This, in Farsi, means you are so dear to me or you are my heart. But, Persians use "liver" instead of "heart". Maybe this is because "liver" has a crucial role in the body. Of course, all other organs are important, but Persians preferred this to use it in the language. 

I kept thinking about these language differences and finally, one day, my linguistic professor asked me:" Do you know why we, Canadians, speak frankly and to the point? " He said:" In old days, Canada was much freezing colder than today and therefore, people could not talk to each other for a long time on streets or in the shops. They had to say immediately what they wanted to say and left." The freezing cold weather created a situation that they had to speak straightforward and quick. Thus, there is no word for complimenting in that freezing cold situation. " Do you know why hamburger is our national food?", he asked once again. "The weather! Cold weather! in cold weather, body uses more energy and therefore, it needs more calorie. The only thing that provides that energy is meat. That is why hamburger is our national food!"

I asked him: " Do you know why we, Persians, love poems and speak indirectly?" "Throughout history, because of cruel rulers, we could not express our ideas freely ,so, we had to find a way to express our feelings without being hurt. Hence, we used poems to express our feelings and ideas. That is why we have learned how to speak indirectly throughout history.

The difference between my language and English shows the difference between two cultures: how people see or perceive the world. Geographical or social circumstances have also created different words for different situations.  If there is no word for anything or any occasion,it means there has not been any need for the word due to geographical or social conditions.  

You can listen to the audio version of the blog here.

I only have three keys. I never paid attention that I do not have so many keys:one for the entrance door and the other for my car. The third one is an extra key that I made for my dad last year.He came to Canada to visit me and as such, an extra key was made for him. I think the reason that I do not have different keys with different key-chains is that I do not like to carry so many objects with me. I like to have a neat and organized purse in which I can usually find the stuffs quickly.   

My first key-chain is for the entrance door and is a copper colored, tiny statue of Eiffel Tower that is given to me as a souvenir. I always hold it in my hands as if I hold an Olympic gold medal with pride and appreciation. First, it was given to me by someone whom I love so much and second, the key-chain is unique and unusual. I think the idea of making a tiny statue of Eiffel tower for a key-chain is very creative. It reminds of Paris, the center of art and beauty, every day when I touch the key in my hands. Not only it reminds me of the beauty of Paris and its popularity for art, but also it talks to me: " You should visit me one day."  That is why I am so attached to this tiny object.

Another key-chain is also interesting. A very minute pig embodied by a glass rectangular box. The shape of the pig is consisted of single dots that, from a far distance, they look like an oval. If you look at it closely, you just observe dots. But, when you lean back, all dots reveal a shape of a whole pig, which is not vivid at first glance. It is also three -dimensional. One thing that astonishes me about this tiny pig is its tail. The tail is as small as two or three dots, but it is skillfully executed. So are the other parts of the pig such as its ears or nose. You can clearly observe all the details of its face and other body parts. This reminds me of the accuracy and the skillful ability that its artisan had.

Therefore, I think these insignificant possessions show how much I love and appreciate unique and unusual objects. I associate the uniqueness and novelty of these objects to my own character. I feel if I have a unique and novel key-chain, I am myself unique and novel. It also reveals my passion for traveling and getting to know different cultures. That is why I adore my two tiny companions.

Have you ever painted a music? The first artist who did that was Wassily Kndinsky. It is said that he once listened to music and was so impressed that he wanted to paint it. 

We, the painting students, had to choose our favorite music. The music must be plain music without any singer who sings a song. Even if someone sings, we must not paint the lyrics at all. We were supposed to pay attention solely to the rhythm and musical instruments translating them into colors and shapes. The Painting must be abstract. Depicting landscapes, human beings, flowers, etc, were not allowed and we were free to choose any strange or unusual tools to complete our paintings. For example, we could throw the colors at our canvas from a far distance or we could use papers or glasses gluing them to the canvas.

My favorite music was a traditional and spiritual song.You can listen to it here. If I want to translate its Persian name into English, it would be "I'm eager to see God." Despite the fact that I must choose a plain music without any singer in it, mine had a singer and the lyrics was about God. In the lyric, it was said that everywhere I go or at whatever I look, I see God. Then the poem explained more that human beings can see God in a butterfly or in the eyes of a children or elderly people. 

Since my music was very spiritual, I chose spiritual and sacred geographic shapes. The color purple is also very spiritual. That is why it is used in churches and it is said if you look at the color purple for a while, you would have a deep meditation. Then, I used seven colors to represent seven musical instruments playing in my music. I won't describe other elements in my painting so that you would be free to interpret it as you like and I indeed appreciate if you tell me what you think. Does my painting represent the music? What do you think? Have you ever painted to music?

                           This is what I finally painted.                        

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0gYqYDfcbYi
You can listen to audio version of the blog here.

Finally, after so many struggles, I made my decision. I would be an artist instead of being a computer scientist. I took painting class to see whether my new decision was right or not. Do I like art truly and deeply?

The first day of painting class was so much fun. First, my professor was very kind. She assured me she would give me art supplies until I prepare all my painting equipments, because I was still not sure whether I choose art as my major or not. Then, she gave her suggestions how I can be successful in this course. Hence, I fell in love with my great professor.

The assignment that we, the art students, had to do was interesting too. We should go out of our class, choose an appealing spot to paint what we see outside. It was really difficult in the beginning. I didn’t know where I should put my brushes, the mesonite, and my glass of water. Then, more importantly, where should I sit? I had no choice! I had to accept that I had to sit on the floor and immediately to start painting. I only had two hours to finish it.

As such, I loved my work and also my professor and decided to study art.

One day, we were assigned to do another project. The project was each student should write a description about an abstract painting and gives that description to his/her own classmate. The other person who has received the description has to paint the painting based on the description.

We all wrote our descriptions and gave it to our professor. The professor distributed all the description to students. I received one of the funniest, most interesting and challenging descriptions in the class. It cracked me up! The description I was given was this:

“You (as an artist) are a psychedelic hippie from the 1960s who have just finished taking mind alternating substances. As you are under the influence, your senses become changed; your vision is especially distorted through colour and realism of what you see and it is so far out man. The way you are seeing is very heavy, bright and abstract.

Your job is:

-Paint the intricate pattern of wood grains

-Paint the clouds in the sky

-do not be representational, be abstract

-be free dear hippie, be free”

(This description was written by my friend called Denise.)

I first laughed, but then, I realized I’m in a big trouble, because I didn’t even know what hippie is. Is something I should eat or is an idea? However, I told my fear that I would do my best to see what hippie is and how I should paint the wood grains and the sky.

After doing some research and reading about hippies, I realized hippie was a movement in 60s and 70s. Their main goal was to achieve love, peace and freedom. This time, I had another problem. How can I feel like a hippie who is on drug?  I don’t even drink alcoholic beverages let alone drug! . Finally, I found a way to feel like a hippie who is on drug. I listened to hippie’s songs while painting. Hippie music helped me to think like a hippie, so, you can see the result here. Have you ever put yourself in someone else's shoes to see what it looks like?

Hi,

Dear friends,

According to Writing Challenge: Compound Nouns,assigned by Tara, we are supposed to write a sentence about each of the following compound nouns. I really appreciate if you take this challenge and write your own 10 sentences in the comment. 

1-Fire-fly: I chased fire-flies in the ground."Faheem"

2-Full moon: Someone believes that the full moon makes people do strange things."Grace"

3-breakfast:Having a good breakfast is important for our health. "Grace"

4-washing machine:I once entertained of having a bath inside the washing machine."Anele"

5-sunrise:Sunrise is never a good sight for vampires."Anele"

6-teaspoonful:I usually take a a tablespoonful of honey daily. "Nadira" 

7-apple tree:I used to climb up my neighbor's apple tree to pick up some apples when I was a child. "Scarlett"

8-tool box:My tool box  becomes  handy at times. "Nadira"

9-bedroom:I love to paint my bedroom with blue color."Scarlett"

10-haircut:We should get a haircut within three weeks."Faheem"

I really appreciate it and hope you have fun!

My dear friend Heaven asked a question on MYEC Forum about how we can have a topic for a chat. I realized this is asked by some other members as well. Hence, I thought it would be good if I tell you that there is a group called, MyEC Topic Chat, specifically designed for having a topic while chatting. You can go into that group and read "How to Promote MY Chat" along with other pages.

I hope you all enjoy your chat.

Have Fun,

Nafis

In June, we had Competition# 1 and thanks a lot for all the participants who took part in the competition. I promised to announce the winner at the end of June. I did not announce it since some friends wanted to write their answers. I will announce the winner soon. 

Now, it's time for competition # 2, whoever gives the best answer is the winner and the prize is he/she can ask the next question for competition #3. 

Here is the question: 

Which one is important to you, "being right or being kind"? You should also give your reasons or explanations.

Have Fun!

You can listen to the Audio version of the blog in the coming link:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Er5MsvGVLB

To be truly happy, these two things are very helpful:

1-Expect less

2-Do more

Therefore, for the sake of my own happiness, I do not expect all members to answer all grammatical questions in "English Help" of MYEC Forum. However, I would like to mention how this most ignored section can help you learn English. 

"English Help" is a section in MYEC Forum that members can ask their grammatical problems in the form of  a question.  Therefore, one benefit of looking at these questions is to learn grammar very effectively. We might have read thousands of English grammar books and forget all what we read very easily. A very effective and effortless way to learn grammar is to look at these questions and see if we can answer them or not. The question and the answer will stick to the mind very well better than reading an English grammar book. You can also see some questions that never came to your mind while you were reading English grammar. For example, many months ago, Rajesh asked a question: "What is the difference between home and house?" This question was really interesting to me since I never paid attention to the difference between these two words and had no idea that a difference even existed.

There are ,of course, some questions that we can not answer due to the lack of our knowledge. However, with the help of search engines like Google, we can find the answers or at least try to find them. Looking for the answers and reading the descriptions once again can help us to remember the grammar point effectively. Therefore, these two process of looking at the questions and trying to find the answers are a very helpful way to learn English grammar.

Another benefit is that you can review your grammar only by looking at the questions and reading the answers. The answers are usually short and therefore, by reading them, you can review your grammar quickly. You can also see which one you know about and which one you should work on. 

Finally, if you are looking for a way to make others happy and to make the world a better place, take a look at "English Help". I am so sure our friends who have questions would appreciate your care and kindness and in return, you can make yourself happier than ever.

          "We can do no great things, only small things with great love."  ~Mother Teresa

One of my friends asked a question on MYEC forum. I would greatly appreciate if you can answer the question. To see the question, please see the following link:

http://my.englishclub.com/forum/topics/question-written-part-and-oral-part-or-writing-tasks-and-speaki-1

Thanks a lot and have a great time wherever you are,

With love,

Your friend,

                                     I got this picture from here. 

I suppose that all members know where MYEC Forum is. If you do not know about it, I will explain it for you. You can click on this link:http://my.englishclub.com/forum/categories/general-discussion/listForCategory or you just simply click on "Forum" Button on the above of your page located between "Chat" and "Members" button. 

The competition is not only fun but also helps you to grow yourself. You have to name 25 things that make you feel good. For example, the first thing that makes me feel awesome is learning. The second one is listening to music and so on. Try to find yours as much as you can. The more answers you give, the better it is. This question is asked by Anthony Robbins. He is an entrepreneur and a life coach and  has helped so many people to be successful and amazingly enough, he was once over weight and broke. However, he could overcome all his problems and live his life to the fullest.

Thanks a lot for your contribution!

Have a terrific time,

Hi,

My dear friends,

First, I want to thank all members who take their time and post some questions on MYEC Forum and also thanks those who answer the questions. Thank you all so much! MYEC is nothing without you all!

This month I chose some questions. In fact, all questions matter and all are interesting. However, some are more discussable. You can find the questions on MYEC Forum! 

Here are the questions of the month:

•  Why is it so hard to be happy?
• Would you consider having a vegetarian diet? Why not?
• True love
• Summer Holiday Plan

Have a great fun!

Hi,

My lovely friends,

I'm really touched with all your comments on my first blog about my favorite quotes and I'm so glad you liked them. So, I am going to post more and I will be glad to have your favorite quotes too. What is your favorite quote?

Previous post:

Quotes That Worth Reading Ten Thousand Times

Some people like to collect stamps. I like collecting quotes! Some give me insight and some make me relaxed and remind me of having fun and being free. I thought maybe this benefits my friends as it did to me. 

Here are some of them:

To be continued....

                                     I got this through an Email. 

I am missing all my wonderful friends. I hope from bottom of my heart, they will be healthy and blissful wherever they are. I am thankful for having them in my life! 

Missing all of you,

Nafis

It's been a while I was nagging that I have been under so much pressure. We, the students, have so many assignments to do. There are so many books to study and some essays to write about. It seems that we do not have time for doing something else. I haven't gone to even a simple party or even a walk. However, today, in one of my classes, the professor said: " yes, we know that you are under so much pressure and you have to do a lot, but this is what university is about and it should be like this. If you are not under so much pressure, then you will not learn anything and therefore, your degree worth nothing."

Now, I got why we should be under pressure.