The World of Mr. R: 2012

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Banks of the Seine

View the UNESCO video of the area along the Seine.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Nanotechnology is an exciting but difficult topic. If you are brave and want to read more, here is one site from England and here is another site. Don't be afraid to explore one or both of these sites!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Demonstrations in Egypt

Read and listen in VOA's Special English section to learn about the big protests in Egypt against their leader.

Monday, November 26, 2012

Stress Patterns in Pronunciation

"There is no single position where the primary stress of a word can be expected to fall in English," according to A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language.

The stress can fall anywhere from the first syllable, as in fam i ly,
to the sixth syllable, as in in dus tri al i za tion.

However, there are a few generalizations that we can use.

1. All abstract nouns ending in -ion are stressed on the syllable preceding this ending:
     counteraction     suspicion     adoration     exhaustion     globalization

2. The stress falls on the last syllable before nominal -ity:
     curiosity     unanimity

3. The stress also falls on the last syllable before the nominal and adjectival suffix -ian:
     librarian     Asian     gramarian

Of course, you can always use your dictionary to look up the position of the stress.

The problem is that you do not have time in conversation to either apply the few generalizations (above) or to look up the words in your dictionary. Therefore, I think that the best way to improve your use of stress is to listen to lots of English, trying to include both the conversational English of movies and TV, and the more academic English from sites like Voice of America.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Thanksgiving

Read about Thanksgiving. When you finish the reading, go on to page 2 to take a quiz. Relax! There is no grade.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

An Incredible Goal

Read and watch the video.

Vietnamese Refugee Routes

See the map of refugee routes and Little Saigons in the United States.

The Future of Energy in the United States

By 2020 the largest oil producer in the world is expected to be the United States, not Saudi Arabia. Read about it here.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

More about Sharbat Gula

An interactive presentation can be found here on the internet. Follow the story of the girl from Afghanistan.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Survival in the Andes: Revisited

Read and see the photos of the 2005 expedition when three people walked the escape route of Nando and Roberto in 1972.

For Silvio

Read this article to get some ideas for your paragraph comparing diesel trucks and LNG trucks.

Monday, November 5, 2012

A New Leader in Egypt

Read about the new pope of the Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Little Saigon in the newspaper

Read about Westminster's Little Saigon and other Little Saigons around the United States.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Sandy's Effects (from VOA)

Read about the problems that Sandy brought to the East Coast.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Why are hurricanes named after women?

Read the answer here.

Monday, October 29, 2012

The Latest on the Girl from Pakistan

Read the Monday article.

The History of Halloween

Read the history and take the quiz. Have fun!

Monday, October 22, 2012

In Jail for Failing to Predict an Earthquake?

This is an amazing story from Italy. An Italian judge is sending some earthquake experts to jail because they did not predict the big earthquake in Italy.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Petra

Read about the lost city of Petra and view photographs.

Archaeology of Iran

Read "Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran," see photos, and take a quiz, just for fun!

Afghanistan's Hidden Treasures

View beautiful Afghan works and read their stories.

Stonehenge (Unit 6 in RE)

Read about and see photos of Stonehenge.

The Dangers of Facebook

Read about privacy problems with Facebook.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Pastic Surgery for Men--in Asia

This video won't help you with your Reading Log, but it relates to our textbook reading on different ideas of beauty.

A New Role for Men

Read about men as caregivers.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

A New Dictionary in Favorite Sites

If you look to the right, you can find the Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary now listed under "Favorite Sites." You now have a choice of four dictionaries here on my blog. A good exercise would be take one word and look at the definitions for that same word in all four of these dictionaries.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Natural Disasters

Choose from a variety of readings about natural disasters. Reading Explorer introduced you to a few, but there are many more disasters to learn about, including tornadoes, which occur in many parts of the United States.

Japan Tsunami Video

National Geographic has posted a video which shows the great power of the tsunami that hit Japan.

Friday, September 28, 2012

What do Columbia, Vietnam, and Egypt have in common?

Read the answer to this question.

Monday, September 24, 2012

News from Vietnam

Here is an article from VOA Special English for listening and reading practice. You can read this for your Reading Log.

Baby Panda Death

There is sad news (Click on the link for a video and reading.). A baby giant panda died in the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, D. C.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Reading Explorer 3 Topics

Read more from the National Geographic website about . . .

--the human body and skin (Unit 2 in Reading Explorer 3)

--the snow leopard (Unit 3)

--the giant panda (Unit 3)

Not far from us, the San Diego Zoo has a wonderful giant panda exhibit. You can see the new baby panda, born in July, on the panda cam.

(Easier reading can be found on the National Geographic for Kids website.)

Remember to read--not watch videos--for the Reading Log.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Paris

Read about Paris through the eyes of a Paris-loving American.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

"Teach me some slang, Mr. R!"

Enjoy "Mastering the Finer Points of American Slang" from The Wall Street Journal.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

A Punctuation Party

Try these online exercises for punctuation. Click on Punctuation.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Heavenly Music

This won't help with your Reading Log, but listen and enjoy this wonderful music from J. S. Bach, performed in the church where he worked in Germany. This is the last in a series of 15 videos which cover The B Minor Mass.

A New Titanic

An Australian billionaire is building a new Titanic. Read about it here.

April 30

Read the news of April 30 commemorations in Orange County.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Hungry?

If you are, don't look at the pictures with this article about a French Vietnamese bakery in nearby Santa Ana.

An Authentic Comparison

Here is a comparison with a strong opinion that I saw on the internet today. If you can't understand it, don't worry because it is difficult reading.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Robot Dog Therapy

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Comparison Paragraphs: Three Plans

View the outlines and paragraphs which we discussed in class on Wednesday.

Friday, April 20, 2012

A Big Story from China

The internet is filled with stories about Bo Xilai, his wife, and a dead British businessman, who once taught ESL in China. Here is just one story from England.

Monday, April 16, 2012

True? False? No Information?

I saw this article today and am having a hard time believing that it is true. What do you think?
(Warning: not ESL reading material)

Thursday, April 12, 2012

White Collar Crime

Read about one of the most famous white collar criminals. This is very long but fascinating.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Motion Capture Technology (p. 100 in Reading Connections)

Watch . . .
--the trailer for Tintin and a behind-the-scenes discussion of the making of Tintin,
--a segment from Assassin's Creed 2 (a video game),
--and an interview with an actor from Lord of the Rings.

Product Placement

Here are some readings for you:
"How Product Placement Works"
"A New Look for Product Placement"
"Has Product Placement in Movies Gone Too Far?"
"'Bond 23' to Break Record for Product Placement Sponsorship"

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter

Easter is a Christian holiday, but many people who are not Christians also celebrate the day. I could not find a good easy reading, I'm afraid, but you can read about the Christian holiday and also about some of the symbols of Easter and Easter customs at these websites. The Christian celebration has its own music, and here is one of the most famous:

Friday, April 6, 2012

Why is it "Good" Friday?

Choose the best answer:
A. Today Mr. and Mrs. R have their 27th wedding anniversary.
B. Today the Time-Warner repairman fixed Mr. R's internet connection.
C. Today Christians all over the world remember that Jesus Christ died so that they can live.

Here is the piece that I sang with my church choir on Good Friday.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Maundy Thursday

The word maundy comes from the Latin mandatum, which means "commandment." On this day Christians remember Jesus' last night with his friends. They ate a meal together and he told ("commanded") them to love each other. He was killed the next day, Good Friday.