Where has time gone?

9 more weeks until end of the year

8 more weeks until X mas

Where has time gone?

We heard it all before. ‘ It’s the end of year already?...that’s so fast!’

A question I always ask myself is, ‘ Have I accomplish what I wanted to achieve this year?’

My answer is yes and no. Sometimes we get so side track with all the things that is going on around us that we lose track of what we want to achieve for the current year. Making a list gives you an idea of what you really want. It is easy to write them down but the challenging part is to making it happen. 

It is always good to write down your goal for next year as it gives you an indication and guideline of where you want to go in the next 12 months....
Works for some, really! 

Start thinking about your goals for 2013 now..before you know it, the year is already almost over...:)

Abit of extra English?

ETC Wellington will start a new advanced level English

 class for international students at 29 October 2012.

The better your English, the less you pay!

Morning classes from NZ$ 120.00 per week and Evening 

classes from NZ$ 75.00 per week.

If interested, please email tina@etc.ac.nz 

204 Willis Street, Wellington

04 385 0066

Nowhere else I'd rather be

If you keep up or take notice of the Wellington tourism site, there is a little banner which says 'the coolest little capital in the world' ....

Wellington, indeed is 'cool' and let me tell you why.

For instance, last Sunday was beautiful. It just felt like summer. Blue Sky...fresh air....it was one fine day. People were out Roller Blading by the Waterfront, some were tanning on the beach while some were walking their dogs in the park. Within 5-10 minutes walk from the CBD, you could escape the 'city feel' and go to the beach. Where else can you do that in the world? Not anywhere I know of.

                                What's your reason for the coolest of Wellington? Share your ideas:)

Let's Eat

Once every 3-4 months, students and staff at ETC bring food to share for lunch. This is the second time I get to experience this event (I even brought something to share!). The food that was put on the table range from many different cuisine such as Asian, Middle Eastern and European. I tried many things but there the 2 things that caught my attention. 

One was this dessert made by one of our Iraqi student. I don't remember the exact name of the dessert dish but it was really yummy! Very different from other types of dessert I have tried. I remembered the top was with grated coconut. It was not too sweet but too plain either, perfect finishing after the main course:)

Another dish I tried was 'Tea Leaf Salad' ... Interesting name? Certainly was interesting and very delicious. This dish is from the Burmese cuisine. Basically it's a salad but instead of the normal greens, it is with tea leaves instead and topped with crushed peanuts and some dressing. 

The food pretty much disappeared within 15 minutes! I guess this shows how hungry we were as well as how delicious everything was! This is how great it is when you have students from over 20 nationalities in one room! You get to learn not only the culture, but also what they eat...:)





 

Speaking

How often do you SPEAK?

In any language, you learn how to READ, WRITE, SPEAK and LISTEN. Personally, one of the best ways to tackle and master a language is by learning how to speak.

Think about when you were a toddler or a child and you are just beginning to make sense of the world. From your memory, does your parent give you a pen and paper or a textbook to read as soon as you started to walk? No, of course not.  After toddlers  learn how to crawl and walk...they begin to learn how to speak.

I believe the same concept apply to learning a language. Let me explain and give you an example from my personal experience. 

My native language is Thai. English is the second language I speak and I have been learning English since I was 8 years old. English was a compulsory subject during high school but we weren’t taught much on speaking. In fact, it was very little to none. Most of the time, we were learning how to read and write. As a result, when it comes to watching an English movie or speaking to an English native speaker...we just go blank. Our brain does not process as quickly as it should when speaking because we are too concentrated on how to structure the sentence right in our head by applying what we learn in the textbook. Sometimes, it doesn't work like that...we need practice.

However, Mandarin to me..is very different. I was taught Mandarin verbally. I do know very little on how to read and write but my speaking is at a much higher level. I cannot quite explain how I form sentences together but I just know where the verb, adjectives, noun or sentence structures are meant to be. In other word, I know how to form a sentence together. On the other hand, I studied Japanese for 3 years during high school and I do not remember much from it. I could still read and write (very slowly) but my speaking is poor. Reason being is because I have not had any practice.

Being a multilingual certainly gives you a competitive advantage. Not only you learn how to speak more than one language but you can also learn from the culture.

Do you speak just one language and want to improve your English? Come study with us! www.etc.ac.nz

Greeting-Kia Ora!

September is the first month of spring. Supposingly, it is meant to be warmer...but it feels colder than winter. Is that even possible? Anyway, I am not meant to write about the weather. There is far more things interesting to talk about than the weather! Although, weather seems to be the topic people talk about when they run out things to say. Interesting enough, a great conversation can generate from just talking about the weather. Does that happen to you?

English Teaching College took 75 students plus staff to Pipitea Marae on Thorndon Quay, Wellington this morning. We were first greeted by 2 friendly hosts and were then seated with men on one side and women on the other. Songs were sang and a history of Aotearoa (New Zealand) was very well explained by one of the host. That was what happened briefly.

What really interested me was the Hongi. The Hongi is the traditional Maori welcome expressed by the rubbing or touching of noses. This morning, we were greeted with a firm handshake and followed by the Hongi. The majority of us whom has not been part of the culture would have found this interesting.  

  

Each culture has a different way when meet and greet. some culture bow, shakehand, peck on the cheek...and so on. In New Zealand, I have found the 'meet and greet' to be a handshake (for  business purposes) or a hug (depending on how close your relationship is with that person).

What's your culture like?

 

Back into it....again.

Everyone like the word 'Holiday'......no matter if you are a primary school student, university student....or a professional worker. When I was a student, I look forward to holiday because it means no more assignment and staying up late to revise for exam. Holiday felt like winning a small lotto, it gives you a little pleasure with joy but with no prize given. 

During school or university, holiday dates are specify and designated into your student diary. You know exactly how many days to count down before you put those thick piles of lectures note away. 'Holiday' feels slightly different when working full time. When you start working full time, your manager do not mark down in your diary when your holidays are and to some, you may have to apply early in advance for leave. The real holiday that you can look forward to is the weekend and public holiday. I appreciate my holiday more when I started to work full time simply because...well, it isn't easy to get leave! Perhaps when things does not come easy, it makes people appreciate and value it more. 

Anyway,  I had a 2 weeks semester break and I am back now again. To be honest, I definitely do not look forward to the next 6 weeks.  Although going back into class did give me the drive and motivation to finish this course, that's a good sign. The campus is within about 20 minutes walk from English Teaching College, making it real convenient for me to get to class just in time! ..

What about you? How do you feel coming back to class after you had a holiday?

Excuse me, what did you just say....?

Slang. According to the American Heritage dictionary, slang is define as....

"A kind of language occurring chiefly in casual and playful speech, made up typically of short-lived coinages and figures of speech that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness, humor, irreverence, or other effect"

 

The Kiwis have their way of saying things. At first, what they said didn’t really make much sense to me....and I remembered my face just went.....waaaaahhttt? I didn’t know how to respond. Most probably because I was not used to it.... After a few years of being here, I begin to understand the meaning behind those slang.

So let’s take a look at a few common ones:

Good as Gold:  So this means a good job well done or not a problem

Sweet As: a term people say instead of "cool" or "awesome". For example if you say...’ see you in 10 mins?’ then you can reply, SWEET AS!

And so i notice as well that...some word have been added ‘as’ behind... such as ‘cool as’

Mad: Well if you open the dictionary, to most people, mad means angry...but to the Kiwis...it means CRAZY. To give you an example, ‘this party is mad! Means this party is crazy’

Ta: when I used to work in hospitality, I heard that word very often when customers came up to the counter to pay their bills. ‘ Ta, that was lovely’.  Well, that means Thank you.

Before you try it, remember to use it appropriately...or you may embarrass yourself. Also, don’t overuse it....

A couple of years ago, one of my good mate (another word for friend that the Kiwi use) got excited about this whole Kiwi slang thing and she wanted to use it with every sentence! So at one time when somebody served her she responded back with, “Ta mate, sweet as pie” .....Ok so that didn’t make sense. Sweet as PIE? I am not quite sure how the word PIE got into it...but anyways, those words. TA, MATE and SWEET AS..should be use separately and not form the whole sentence because it will sound very strange believe me.

Can you think of any other Kiwi Slang that you have come across?

Being a tourist

It is always interesting to hear from a tourist point of view about New Zealand.

My parents came for a visit about a couple of weeks ago and they loved Wellington. In particular, the museum (Te PaPa)......and among many other things. Surprisingly, they have not commented much on the weather! I asked them what they like about NZ..and the first thing they said was the People. Although they could not speak English so well, they really appreciate the kindness of the people who were trying to help them through immigration, luggage, checking in etc.

what is the one thing you remember about when you first came to New Zealand?

Here is a picture of Petone. Beautiful, isn't it? We went to the Winter Festival on Saturday.

Let's sing!

Last Friday we had our usual assembly but we add a little more to it towards the end. What did we do? We were SINGING!  Check us out in the video below for a sneak peak! .....we sound good don't we? 

This was a practice for the Marae that will be held next September.

Watch this space, we will come to explaining more about what this is about. Until then, we hope you like our singing!

What do you want to learn?

Did you always want to know what it is like to learn computer science? or...be a mathematician? or...get a glimpse of what academic study is like? What if I tell you there is a way you can explore and expand your knowledge in the field you always wanted to learn? Well there is!

I recently came across this website, where it enables anyone..and I mean it, ANYONE to pursue higher education. Here's the catch, it does not cost anything!  The requirement for the course is the motivation, the willingness to learn, self discipline, access to the Internet and that's it, you are enroll!

The courses are offered online that partners with TOP Universities from all around the world. The courses and subjects offered are such as Humanities, Biology, Social Sciences, Mathematics, Business and many others. Whatever your interest is, you can find it here.

The website is  https://www.coursera.org

so tell me, what subject would you like to explore?

Motivation

 I often get asked, ‘Why did you choose New Zealand?’ Well I could start by saying that my parents think it is a safe place to be in, people are friendly and also how beautiful this place is. All those facts are true but I would just like to add more facts into it.

New Zealand certainly has contributed a lot to my life experience and I would like to share one factor with you. If anything, NZ has made me ‘motivated’.  I remembered my first part time job started in Palmerston North as a kitchen hand in a food court.  I also remembered the feeling of earning, the first NZ$28.50 in my bank account. I was very motivated to earn, learn and experience what NZ has got to offer me.  Six years ago, I could not even imagine myself working in the office environment because I did not believe I could do it but because I was feeling very motivated that I set a goal where I want to see myself in 6 years time. Well, now I am here where I want to be and I have definitely proven myself wrong. 

So what am I trying to say? It’s hard to feel motivated or to even maintain that feeling but you got to have a starting point and a goal. Once you start, you are already motivated. While you are feeling motivated, remember to write down your goals and what you want to achieve in your life. Even if it is short term, long term, be in 2 days...whatever it is, just write it down 

 

First Friday of August

Last Friday, we had our usual assembly with a few announcements. 

Marty, who is the school manager opened the assembly by talking about the use of English and how there is a difference in language proficiency for people who lived in New Zealand for 3 years and 10 years. Sometimes you meet someone who has been here for over 10 years and cannot speak English as well compared to someone who has been here for 3 years or less.

His question was, how can you practice English outside school? Refering to my post several weeks ago, it takes effort and motivation to improve your English. Speaking English fluently won't come naturally to you without practicing or doing anything about it. The suggestion Marty made was to join a club after school or extra curriculum activities. Therefore, I have also encourage the students to join the activities I have organized. This will also give them a chance to meet other students.

Chances are that when you go home to your family, you are most likely to be speaking your own language. I tried that with my sister and we just ended up speaking in Thai. It's more of a habit and it's always hard to change the habit. 

Try changing your habit. Not entirely, but slowly. Instead of going home at the usual time, why not try going home a little later? Stay back after school, meet some more people. 

                                                                        Give it a go :)

Go for Gold!

If you watch the news this morning, Rowers Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan have won NZ's first GOLD MEDAL in the Olympics Games. Congratulations!

The timing couldn't get any better! We went to the NZ Olympics Museum yesterday afternoon at the waterfront. Not many people know about this museum because the respond I get from my colleagues was 'I didn't even know there was one in Wellington!' 

 Well there is and we went to it :) We also send a message from ETC Wellington on a big screen! 

                                                     Sending message to the team!

Have you met Carmen?

When I started this job 2 months ago, I was still getting to know the staff and students. Walter, one of the staff member who is a work broker said to me one morning ‘ You have got to meet Carmen, I will book an appointment for you to meet her’. I was not sure how I would be of any help to Walter or Carmen but I said yes anyway.  When I met Carmen, she has this warm and the loveliest smile. She was likable and bubbly so it was very easy talking to her.  

According to the NZ Herald back in 2009, New Zealand was ranked the world's most peaceful country. Like many migrants who came to New Zealand, we all have hope and dream. For Carmen, her hope was to create a better future and education for her two sons. At the time, the political and economy in Venezuela was in a critical stake therefore Carmen decided it was time to leave. Leaving the rest of her family behind was not easy but she knows in her heart, it is for the better. She arrived in New Zealand in 2008 with a tourist visa but because of her skills, she was able to secure a position as a Civil CAD Operator in Kerikeri and from there, she was granted a residence visa. She was working there for 2 years then moved to Christchurch for a contract job. Due to the earthquake that happened last year, Carmen and her family moved out of Christchurch for safety reasons.   

Carmen now lives in Wellington where both of her sons attend Massey University. Carmen applied for many jobs and was called for interviews in Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton but none was successful. Why is that? Is it because of the economy? Or what is it? As of today on Seek.com, there are 125 jobs available in Wellington and 964 in New Zealand for Engineering. Surely, there must be SOMETHING.... 

The amazing fact is that Carmen has very limited ENGLISH knowledge before she even arrived in New Zealand. She learned and self taught English herself. Frankly, I do not know many people who are able to do that. Learning a language by yourself takes a lot of patient and motivation and it is different to attending a class. I admire that about Carmen and that has made her stand out from the crowd. She is very self driven and optimistic. As they say...If you have the WILL, there is always the WAY. Carmen has the WILL and is ABLE. Walter meets with Carmen on weekly basis to help and support her in finding a job. We are positive and working hard to get Carmen back in the workforce as soon as possible so she can show off her skills!