How playing an instrument benefits your brain

Summary 

In the TED Talk How playing an instrument benefits your brain, Dr. Anita Collin says that There is a recent research on playing music has a positive effect on our brains. This research was conducted by a neurologist. They installed scientific equipment that call fMRI and PET scanners to people who were listening to music. They saw brain activity similar to small fireworks. But when scientists switched from brain of people who were listening to music to people playing music. They saw the little backyard fireworks became a fireworks in celebration, which can be interpreted as while listening to music causes the brain to start working at a certain level, but playing music is equal to a full-body brain workout.

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Response 

I am interested in this research because I like playing music and I'm also a music teacher. Knowing the benefits of playing music that is good for brain development will greatly benefit me in my teaching career. I find that parents often ask "What are the benefits of playing music?". This research gives me useful and reliable information that benefit to give advice to student parents.

When reading exam books, I often listen to instrumental music, which helps me to relax and remember more information. I tend to not listen to music that have lyrics while reading books because the lyrics have distract my reading, I often sing along when I listen. Aside from that, I also had personal experiences that made me agree with this research that says playing music is a brain exercise. I feel dizzy after every long hour piano practice. This dizzy feeling is similar to the feeling after reading an exam or after studying ielts class. This dizziness, I think it is caused by the brain working until exhaustion.

If you not ever playing a musical instrument, I advise you or your child to try playing musical instruments because I think listening to music and playing music will benefit everyone. Especially in brain development. In addition to developing brain Music training also has other benefits, such as discipline practice, expression in public places, creating little happiness in the family etc.

A different way of thinking in language

Summary 

In the TED"how language shapes the way we think"Lera boroditsky says that There are 7000 different languages ​​in the world, and different languages ​​have different ways of thinking. Each way of thinking determines the different definition of things. language can convey the most complicated feelings, human beings can transfer knowledge to each other, even strange ideas, which can be achieved through language.the most interesting is the kuuk thaayorre people in the indigenous group of Australia. They have no concept of left and right.they used east, south, west, and north instead of left and right.language provides different ideas, but it disappears on average every week, which means that a way of thinking disappears.

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Response 

"To have a second language is to have a second soul"when I saw this sentence, I feel like I am on another planet.let me rethink the meaning of learning a new language.what does language bring us? How does learning a new language help us? Why can we use our mother tongue proficiently? Etc.These seemingly simple and ordinary problems suddenly came to my mind.language brings us knowledge and emotions, even unrealistic fantasies in our heads. But how do we get to it.

Thinking back,when we were babies, our parents spoke to us every day, even though we didn't know anything during our infancy.we also listen every day.since then,we have actually absorbed these words,until we can speak.we do not even need to be able to learn its grammar and how to use a sentence correctly, because we already have a habit and feel of the language.but as adults, we want to learn a new language. We are more or less affected by our mother tongue, so we are forced to learn grammar and recite correct sentences,but when we are in the process of learning, we suddenly find that oh ~ Every language has its own system.different feelings expressed in different systems are completely different.when we practice a new language day by day until we can feel the feeling it brings,Invisibly our brain is also undergoing changes, even personality, expressions, feelings...then we think different way.

When I learned Thai, I also learned about Thai culture and Thai thinking patterns. Language is an important tool for magic and building relationships between people.I think this is the topic until the discussion, language has shortened the distance between people and provided different ways of thinking.but language needs to be used to survive. As some languages ​​gradually disappear, in other words, the disappearance of a language may mean the disappearance of a mode of thinking.I think

assimilation of the world is not interesting things.

At the same time, we call on people around the world to actively use their mother tongue to make the world colorful.

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Question

How many different languages ​​do you know about way of expression?

Everything in this world has a meaning

Summary 

In the TED Talk There Is More to Life than Being Happy, Emily Esfahani smith says that our culture is obsessed with happiness. However, even though our life is getting objectively better, more people feel hopeless, depressed and alone, and the suicide rate has been increasing around the world. There are lack of something else in our life; lack of having meaning in life. The presentation identifies what is happiness and what is meaning of life, and shows the interesting points of creating meaning of life, which are four pillars: Belonging, Purpose, Transcendent and Story telling.
The presenter gives her own powerful experience and it impressed the audiences.
Happiness comes and goes. But when life is really good and when things really bad, having meaning gives you something to hold on to.

Response 

“Meaning of life” “Purpose of life” and “Mission”, these words have been interesting me since I was a child. I realized happiness is not purpose of life and happiness itself is always unstable. I needed more and I understood it in my own idea and feeling, but this was the first time I knew such a clear principle how to live a meaning of life. I was also interested in Positive phycology.

Eighteen months ago, when I just came to Thailand, I got crazy. I quite my job that I had engaged for 20 years, at the same time I quite take care of my father who underwent artificial dialysis and entrusted him to three nurses. I lost the meaning of life; work and take care of my parents. After coming here, I was able to use all my time for myself. However I was always anxious and frustrated. I did not know why at that time, I just understood slightly the feelings that people, who don’t suffer from serious poverty or disease or unavoidable situation, commit suicide. After I came across this presentation, I was so impressed to decided to start rebuild the pillars of mine.

Fortunately, I met a person who encourages me enthusiastically anytime and the friendly and warm attitude made me feel a sense of belonging. Unexpectedly I can cultivate a new relationship other than my family in Bangkok. It give me a power. And I started play saxophone in a band again to get the transcendent moment. I tried to go out to make friends and talk my experience and anything related to how I became me. The most important pillar for me is “Purpose”. I strongly agree the presenter’s opinion “Without something worthwhile to do, people flounder”. Serving others using your strength is the most important element in my life. I want to contribute and feel needed so I started work again. Consequently, I got better week-by-week. I stopped feel anxious and got back my sense of taste that I lost.

Actually, I still don't know exactly what is meaning of my life but I know what kind of things give meaning to my life. At least, I understood what make me depress and feel adrift. I believe my all experience will turn out to be a great meaning in my life and one day I wish I could contribute others telling my experience in some form or other.

Are you seeking Happiness? What kind of Happiness satisfies you? When you realize meaning of your life, you can have different points of view about Happiness.

Question

Write one (not two) question for your classmates to comment on in response to your blog post. Write a question that needs more than a single sentence for a strong answer. See the page "Blogging template & instructions" for full instructions. Delete these notes. 

Our human fictions

Summary 

In the TED Talk What Explains the Rise of Humans, Yuval Noah Harari says that our greatest achievements both good and evil that have made humans the dominant species on Earth over the past 70,000 years were enabled by our evolved ability to make up stories. It is because we can tell fictions about gods, nations and human rights and so on that we can cooperate with strangers in vast organizations with flexibility no other animal has, that made us masters of the planet. Money, especially the US dollar, which is strongly believed in even by terrorists who hate America, is another example of a powerful fictional story Harari gives to explain our success over every other animal.

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Response 

Harari tells his story of humankind's rise to power over all of Earthly creation very well. I had actually read the book before I watched this talk, so his ideas were not entirely new to me, but he presents them very well. His thesis that we are nothing special on an individual level is well supported with reasons, and he uses great examples to clarify his more abstract ideas about our species' place in the world. In his discussion of the fiction that is money, for example, he uses the example of how we successfully exchange a banana for a piece of paper, whereas no chimpanzee wouild do such a thing. Harari's imaginary chimp example would say, if offered  a piece of paper in exchange for a tasty banana, "What do you think I am? A human?" As well as presenting a powerful thesis about us, his talk is, throughout, also entertaining. 

Harari is a professor of history, and he clearly knows his subject well. When his books began to be published a few years ago, they got rave reviews, although I'm sure that they must have upset many people, especially the traditionally religious who think that gods, ghosts, Santa Claus, heaven, Valhalla, Thor, and life after death are real. Harari very clearly states that all of these things are fictions, made up stories that are totally untrue. That did not worry me, but some of his other points were a little more disturbing. I think that morality matters, that we should to what is just both in our own lives and in society, but Harari makes a strong case that along with every religious belief, the whole idea of morals is a fiction, including the human rights stories that I personally think very important, and which have, as he notes in other examples, been powerful forces for human organization,  helping millions of people to effectively cooperate to make a better world. But then, is the very notion of a "better world" itself anything more than a fiction that we make up, with a reality that only exists inter-subjectively, that is, between the minds of the human beings that share belief in the story they have made up? 

These seem to me deep waters for us to swim in, but we should swim in them if we care about any values, since the foundations of our beliefs about values will otherwise be easily washed away. And as science teaches us,  with its truer (?) stories about the world, understanding is a safer home to live in than confusion that is untested, unsubstantiated and perhaps not even logically consistent. 

I hope you find Harari's ideas as challenging and thought provoking as I have. 
 

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Question

According to Harari, our political systems, our nations, our moralities, our businesses, our gods, and so on are all only fictional stories, albeit very powerful stories, that our brains make up out of nothing, with no more objective reality than the nation of Wakanda, vibranium or the afterlife showin the fictional story Black Panther. 

To what extent do you agree or disagree with Harari's statement?
(I thought it might be more interesting to write an IELTS writing task 2 type question this time. But it is still only one question for you to respond to.)  

fall of the Mongol

Summary 

In The rise and fall of the Mongol Empire, Anne Broadbridge says that The 12th century CE before the Mongol empire formed. The people steppe was home to scattered groups of Mongol and Turkic pastoral nomads led by khans, they herded sheep, cattle, yaks and camels. They also lived in felt tents and move in summer and winter. Nomadic women held significant authority, men specialized in mounter warfare. In the 1230s, Chinqqis Khans' sons and daughter conquered the Turks of Central Asia and the Russian Princess, then destroyed two European armies in 1241. In the 1250s, the Mongols seized Islamic territory as far as Baghdad while in the East their grasp reached southern China by 1279. Once the Mongols conquered territory, they left its internal politics alone and used local administrators to govern for them. The Mongols let all religions flourish, as long as the leaders for them. They routinely captured artisans scholars and engineers, they appreciated what those specialists could do and forcibly settled them across Asia to continue their work. the most valuable produce in the Empire was gold brocade, which took skills from China, gold from Tibet and weavers from Baghdad.

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Response 

        This TED talk caught me know about Mongols history and know about the beginning of Mongols. I have studied archaeology. I need to study Chinese history, but this is the new story that I know. I heard the names' Chinqqis Khans and Kublin Khans in Chinese history. I just know only he is the important king of Mongols. I think this TED is very good to show the Mongols history. it talks about the beginning of Mongols to the reason for Why is Mongols very progress? It is interesting because it made by animation, all generations can watch it. 
         In my opinion, I think the Mongols history is very interesting. It like Siamese history because they also migrate to anywhere, it different that Mongols had winter, but Siamese had hot and rain. It divided the country had a lot of countries such as Thawarawadee, Sriwichai, Labburi, Haribunchai, but the Mongols had only one country and one dynasty is Khans.
        

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Question

       What do you think about Mongols history?

A scapegoat

Summary 

In Ugly history: Witch Hunt, Brian A. Pavlac says that witch-hunting had started from the15 century until the 18 century in Europe and America. 'Witch' means the Satan-believer who gained black magic. According to Hammer of Witches, it says that women are easier impacted by demons, therefore many women who were doubted to be witches were tortured while in the questioning process based on the unproven-believe. Some strongly refused and were released, but some accepted the fault claims and were burnt to death despite their innocence. However, there were some jurists, scholars, and physicians who argued against no-evidence-based investigation of witchcraft. Until in the 18 century, the witch hunt decreased by the strengthened central government and the standardization of law.

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Response 

This TED talk caught my interest because I like to learn about history both good and bad. After I listened to the story I did not feel surprised or shock once I finished, even think that it still happens nowadays only just in a different way as it was said in the last past of the video. Even though there is no stake to burn the victim, these scapegoats still get damaged in their minds from the gossip that was spread by people in the society and the incident like this is getting worse once the internet is normally used. 

Five or upper years ago, I used to spend a long time to surf the internet, to read the news, to update trends or else, and every time the tea was spilled I went to read the whole story and also comments and see how netizen reacted to that topic. Sometimes I agreed with them and sometimes I did not, this was not a weird thing because everyone has a different thought. But on the internet, where everyone thinks they can say or do anything as they wish, who spoke different against the majority, especially when the topic was about the politic, will face the witch hunt in the form of cyberbullying. Besides being treated as if he or she is a real criminal, some victims of this cyberbullying even got their personal information spread all over the website. This made me feel sick and changed the way to update news and information such as sticking with the official pages and some trust-worthy websites, no more reading the comments on some websites, etc.

From what I said above, the definition of the witch in this cyber-witch-hunt on the internet is different from witch hunt in TED talk, it means a person who speaks out his or her opinion in a different way and causes argument which makes him or her get a backlash from strangers, which is very injustice and abusive in my opinion. Even if the real witch hunt already was vanished, but as the talker said in the last minute, in the present, there is false information spreading around in social and also the rational argument to fight against it, so witch hunt on the internet will die down one day in the future.

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Question

Do you think witch hunt is still existing in these days? 

Swimming with the big fish

Summary 

In Four Billion Years of Evolution in Six Minutes, Prosanta Chakrabarty says that although it is called a theory, evolution is in fact a fact  solidly supported by observations we can make about the organs we share with other mammals, but also in the DNA we share with every living thing on Earth, from fish, to plants, to bacteria. This is because, as the theory of Darwinian evolution by natural selection says, life began once on Earth, so every single living thing is related to every other living thing. Another point Chatrabarty makes to correct a common mistake is that everything alive today is equally the end product of four billion years of evolution exactly as we humans are.

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Response 

Before I tried to write my summary, I listened to the talk twice last night, and again a couple of times this morning. Then I thought about the most important ideas and wrote short notes in my own words. Then I was ready to write my summary in 120 words or less. When I wrote the first draft, after listening to the talk again, probably for the sixth time, I thought it went well. Then I did the Google Word count, which returned 130 words. It wasn't a lot over the limit, but it did take me a few more minutes work to decide who to change the grammar to get of a few words, and in the end I had to decide which idea to cut. I think the current summary above, 119 carefully chosen and organized words, gives a good idea of the main points Chakrabaty makes. If you listen to his talk, which is actually a little less than the six minutes the title promises, you can decide how well I did. 

In fact, having written a few summaries of different pieces of work over this term, I'm thinking of revising the maximum limit on the number of words in the summary up from 120 words to 140 words, which might make it a bit easier while still keeping it challenging. I'll think about that more over my Christmas and New Year break. In the meantime, challenging is good. We learn when we challenge ourselves to do more than we have before: to hit a golf ball further, to play a new piece of music, to read a difficult essay, to cook a dish, to run further, to solve a mathematical problem or whatever. I hope you also find getting to the other side of a challenge rewarding. 


I like Chakrabaty's talk for a couple of reasons. First, I've been a fan of Darwin's theory of evolution since I first learned it in high school some for or more decades ago. It doesn't just explain all the life around us, but in a very brief, and relatively simple answer that our species did not fully discover until 1859, tells us why we are here, how we came to be. You can understand why it was so unpopular with popes and some other religious people: it neatly dissolves a major traditional reason for believing in gods. And the evolving history of reactions to Darwin's theory also interests me. In the US, for example, there is still strong opposition to teaching the truths of Darwin's theory in science classes in school. But in fact, the ideas in Darwin's theory go back much further. I remember when I was a young undergraduate at Sydney University how amazed I felt when I first read the Roman Epicurian poet Lucretius, whose only surviving work, the philosophical poem De Rerum Natura, includes guesses about the universe and life that are very similar to some of Darwin's fundamental ideas. We might be related to the fish, the roses and the bacteria, but the stories of our species are still fascinating.  

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Question

Since we are related to every living thing on Earth, how should we treat them? How should we treat the dogs, the pigs, the roses, the grass, the bacteria, and all of our other relatives?
(This is two sentences, but it's only one question.) 

A mysterious plane crash

Summary 

The Netflix series Vagabond tells the story of The man called “Cha Dal-Geon”, who earns his living and his abandoned nephew, as a stuntman. One day, his nephew was invited to be one of the Taekwondo athletes to attend an important event between Morocco and South Korea. During a flight, the plane crashed, so he traveled to join the funeral his beloved nephew in Morocco. While he was in Morocco, he saw a man who took flight on the same plane with his nephew. He recognizes this man because his nephew sent him a clip to watch while traveling. He chased after this man, but he fought and escaped. After this incident made him try to find the truth behind.

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Response 

I chose this Netflix series Vagabond because i'm a fan of korean drama and it is one of the latest netflix series that I like. Another reason is that most Korean dramas are romantic movies but this movie is an action movie that capture me to click to watch it. After I watched this series, I thought that it would become my favorite series because I was impressed with the story that made me thrilling all the time, whether it was a fierce fight scene or an unpredictable story.

If you have a chance to watch this series, you may think like me that the lead character(Cha Dal-Geon) is like a madman because he is a normal person, nothing at all. How normal guy fight a powerful and wealthy person? But he proves to me that if a man has enough effort, there will be situations or people who will support his actions. This lesson reminds me of a teacher who asked me "Do you agree or disagree with the statement that hard work, not good luck, determines income level?", in which I answered him that successful people must work hard and have good luck. But this series makes me see another perspective: If we do it with enough intention, good luck will follow.

I would recommend you to watch this series because you will enjoy the fighting scenes and prediction of various situations, sometimes the person you think is good may be a bad person.What are you waiting for? Watch now!

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Question

Do you think efforts to make humans successful?

For living fulfilling life

Summary 

The novel the remains of the day tells the story of a butler’s life in Oxford, England in 1920-50. He dedicated his life to his owner. Before the World WarⅡ, he had served to a British owner; load Darlington. After the war, his owner has changed to an American since load Darlington has passed away with notoriety, which he had helped Germany, and it effected on cause of the war. The butler reflected on his unshakable royalty, but he decides to start to serve new owner. Since the new owner encouraged him to take a vacation, he went to trip and he looks back to good old memory of 1920’s and 1930’s event in the darling house.

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Response 

When I graduated from University and just started work, I came across this novel unexpectedly. However, This novel taught me principles that guide my life, such as how to live a better life or what is work in society, and what is dignity.

What impressed me the most was his royalty to the first owner: load Darlington. In the novel, Load Darlington was so generous that he thought the treaty of Versailles had forced Germany to pay too much compensation and he tried to reach more peaceful agreement. In the result of that, the part of the Germans took advantage of his generous, and started the World War Ⅱ. Even though being at the big changing of times and politics, the butler always got things done as a butler with absolute royalty. I thought in my future, there might be such aspects, and the way I believed might be wrong. However, I can retain our self-respect as long as doing all my best with royalty.
At the end of the novel, the butler called back whole his life while he was watching a beautiful sunset. He had given up his romance because of his work as a good butler, and he wondered if his own life has been good or not. When I read the last, I felt that people couldn’t look back their life in the hustle and bustle of daily life; people finally can do it after times passing. I was determined to spend my important day.
The novel taught me a lot of things.

Other interesting point is the historical background of the UK. It might be a true story. There was a class society and I could understand the nobility had played a big role in politics, and this was the first time for me to know the idea of “noblesse oblige” that means the people with wealth, power and prestige come responsibilities to society.
One of the good references to me was the British ways, which shows how to treat others, how to be gentle when you are extremely busy, they don't say too much and always imply something. I could not help stop getting emotionally attached to British characters.

This novel gave me a good guidance trough the life of butler who had dignity and had much proud of his work. After 25 years when I read the novel, this story is still the most memorable one for me.

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Question

Write one (not two) question for your classmates to comment on in response to your blog post. Write a question that needs more than a single sentence for a strong answer. See the page "Blogging template & instructions" for full instructions. Delete these notes. 

Knight of the Knight

Summary 

He is supported by the next angel king. He is the best friend of King of devil. He has a brother who is the latest dragon of the world. And he is homeless. “Sanctity Knight(s)” is a fantasy novel written by Finch. The story began with, a century after 3 races War including heaven, earth, and the devil, a homeless boy; names Diwdrof; has to be a Sanctity Knight which is the head of the Kingdom’s knight by the accident. Nevertheless he reborn to conclude the 3 races war and connect them together. “I will not help people who want me but I will help everything which needs me help.” said Diwdrof.

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Response 

This world has a thousand million of the stories including romance, drama, and comedy; however fantasy story is the most interesting story in the latest years, espectically, the fantasy novel book named “Sanctity Knight(s)” Sanctity Knight(s) is my first and favorite fantasy story. Although, it will show the reasons why Sanctity Knight(s) is the best story ever.

To begin with, the main character named Diwdrof Errigran Holialtia. His character is extremely unique because he is a round character. He developed during a period of story. What I meant, at the beginning of the story, he is a homeless who unfortunate to be a Sanctity Knight which is the king of Knight in kingdom by accident; after that he reminded that he was the first Sanctity Knight when 100 years ago and he has to protect the world and connect all of race together. A writer created Diwdrof to be a funny person but at the same time, he is respectful. In addition, there is no weak girl in the story. Some stories love to create girl character to be susceptible and foolish; nevertheless, all the characters in this story are smart and gorgeous; for example, in a part that a daughter of King's fairy was raped with Diwdrof, she would not cry like a baby but she listens to what Diwdrof say and does it.

To sum up, the above reason is an example of the cause that I love this story especially, the character of Diwdrof; nevertheless, there are various reasons why people have to read this novel more than once. If children want to find a book to read, it will recommend

Sanctity Knight(s) for them.Then this book will become their favorite book as same as me.

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Question

Do you have the most favorite character? Why do you love it?

A friendly but reserved cat

Summary 

According to the BBC's article "Why do we think cats are unfriendly?", cats have a well-aware-behavior that made them look independent and cold, and taming cats could not help humans removing all wild-instinct from them for they still want to hunt and protect their territory from strangers. Also, cats' emotions and companionability are lower than dogs though they are improved in the present. However, companionability is changeable by its experience in the first six or eight weeks. Positive experiences at its early age can help cats getting good relationships with humans and a positive sign to notify us that a bond is being created is when they close their eyes slowly or be relaxing when they are around humans.

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Response 

What caught my interest when I saw the title is it was my question too. Even though I have a cat as my pet, I still wonder sometimes because when I play with it there is sometimes it turned in to a wild cat in a second and bite without holding back, made me got a couple of wounds. And I got the answer after I read this article; it is because there is still come wildness in cats even though it's been tamed as a pet. So I think what the article said might be right and agreed with it. But what I dislike is they did not answer the question in the title clearly if cats are friendly or not. The writer only told us that they can be bonded with humans and you can notice their sign when cats are relaxing when it is with you. 

In my opinion, Cats are like a reserved person who will not give any affection or being open-minded to strangers. It takes a bit of time for a reserved person to warm up and create a relationship and be friendly with anyone, and I think cats are like this type of person if you want an example to compare with humans. Therefore, to me, cats are friendly but not to everyone. It is an answer from my experience I got from my cat. My cat was a stray cat before when my dad found her. She was two or three months old when she first came to my house. It took a few hours before she decided to eat foods my mom prepared for her and walked around the house as if she wanted to inspect if my house safe enough before settled down on the spot she liked. It took me a couple of days to be able to play with her, got to hear she purred for the first time and took me almost a month or upper for my cat to play with me and sleep on my legs. She can play with my parents or my nephew but she always goes to hind when my cousin or guest comes to visit.

Anyway, what I could not agree with more is cats' body-language is hard to interpret and very easy to be misunderstood, especially if you do not have some interaction with them enough to be able to guess if they are in a good mood and want to play or if they want to be alone. It took me almost a year to be able to guess my cat's body language and avoid to get wound from her nails or fangs. I often get wound from my cat, because even though her intention is to play with me but after play for awhile her wild-instinct sometimes took control of her as for a toy triggered her desire to hunt and ended up hurt my hand or my leg. But sometimes she is not in a good mood and will really bite hard if I or anyone interrupts her private time. Even nowadays I still guess wrong sometimes and got a bit from this ten years old cat. So I think experience is really needed to understand cats' body language, and in order to not get hurt from a poker face cat. So if you want to befriend with cats, you might need to give more an afford than when you want to befriend with dogs.

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Question

Do you think cats are friendly or unfriendly?

gains form growth

Summary 

The film the "call me by your name"tells the story of It was the summer of 1983. 17-year-old Jewish American Elio lives in northern Italy with his parents. Elio's father invited 24-year-old graduate student Oliver to live with his family during the summer vacation and help with his academic work.Elio and oliver met each other that summer. They went to swimming,reading,traveling together, and spending a lot of time in a sparsely populated and beautiful Italian town.As Oliver's term comes to an end, he and Elio both find themselves overcome by uncertainty and longing. Elio gradually realized the most true feelings in his heart. Under the patient guidance of his parents, he bravely accepted his true self .

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Response 

Why choose this story? I don't think this is a homosexuality film. This is a complicated story that involves the depressed emotions of each of us as we grow up, and we often ignore it. Those depressive longing and fears of passions,One by one in this story. It looks like a look back in my youth. and because of this look back, we realized how much we missed. When I watched this movie,I was attracted by the slow pace of this story and the slow pace of the Italian town in the 80s. especially the open attitude of Elio parents to their children's active guidance in education. fruit trees in the backyard of Elio's parents' home,every summer everyone can drink fresh peach juice and then discuss academic together.reading books by the pool, jump into the pool when tired, fresh fruits can be picked at any time, who sleep under the fruit tree waiting for inspiration.
The story uses two actors' dialogue and simple body language to explain the real emotional changes in the hero's heart.however, most of the time, our lives are not as fanatical as drama, and it is difficult for us to truly express our feelings.Just like elio doesn't know how to deal with a relationship with Oliver.fortunately,Elio has an open-minded parent. Elio can be the most true self,and most impressed is Elio's father told him at the end of the story“How you live your life is your business. Just remember: our hearts and our bodies are given to us only ones. Before you know it, your heart‘s worn out，as your body there comes a point when no one looks at it, much less wants to come near it.”made me though about the meaning of life.
That is why I chose this story.

Question  

What are the gain in growing up ?

How to accept and become a true self?

Not fictional enough

Summary 

John Grisham's latest
legal thriller

The novel The Guardians tells the story of a small law firm working to free convicted murderers who are innocent. John Grisham's story opens with lawyer Cullen Post meeting with a client, who has to rush his last steak before the prison finds out they can't kill him that night. The main story follows the Guardians using their limited resources to overturn Quincy Miller's murder conviction from more than 20 years ago, when the black man was framed by a corrupt sheriff working with drug gangs. Post's team have to persuade old witnesses to admit the lies they had previously told in court, uncover new evidence hidden in a "haunted" house, and avoid the vicious drug gangs still operating.

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Response 

As usual, my first draft of the summary was much too long. It was 140 words, and I had to make about six revisions to get it down to the allowed word limit of no more than 120. Summarizing takes some time as you decided what is important enough to be included and what has to be cut. The latest novel by John Grisham, which I read over the last couple of days, is 375 pages, which is normal for one of his legal thrillers, and getting that down to 120 words or less isn't easy. But I'm happy with the current 119-word summary above. The most important starting point is that you know the source you are summarizing very well, which is why I asked you to choose a favourite story: if it's one of your favourite stories, I'm assuming that you already know it very well, so will not need to do any research by reading the book or watching the film again. And of course, your reaponse has to be your own personal response, so you can't do any research for that: no one else can tell you what your response to something is. 

As I was reading the novel, which is based on a couple of true stories about failures in the American legal system, I was reminded of an article in the BBC News a week ago. That article on the BBC News, "Maryland trio set free after being wrongfully jailed for 36 years," published on November 26, tells us that the three innocent young men, black men, were convicted because the police used "coaching and coercion of other teenage witnesses to make their case," which is very similar to the criminal activity of the police and state prosecutors in Grisham's story. As Grisham, who is a qualified lawyer, explains at the end of his book, although his novel is a work of fiction, it is based on real cases, and the BBC News article reports other cases where the legal system has committed great injustice, including death row cases where someone legally convicted of a serious crime has been proved innocent, often as a result of modern DNA testing, which also plays an important role in Grisham's fictional story. 

These things make me wonder how many other innocent people are in prison, or have been killed by the court system, when they were in fact innocent. Perhaps we need to be less trusting of police and courts than we are, since we know that that do make mistakes, even in the US, where legal protection for people accused of a crime is relatively strong. But I also wonder whether some things should even be crimes. In some countries, drinking alcohol is illegal because, but if someone uses that popular drug and does not harm anyone else, have they really committed a crime that can be justly punished? Or is the law itself unjust? 

More recently in Thailand, I read a couple of days ago that the parents of a young teacher who was murdered want her killer to be killed by the courts. Should the courts ever do that, however sure we might be that the real killer has been found? 
 

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Question

Should the death penalty ever be used as punishment for a crime? 

Noteworthy

Summary 

Pen or computer? 

The BBC article "When the best way to take notes is by hand" reports that, because they are more likely to compress it into their own words rather than copying exactly, students who write notes by hand rather than by typing on a computer gain a deeper understanding of the concepts in lectures, although there is no particular benefit either way when it comes to taking notes to record simple factual material. Other research reported suggests that it does not matter whether a lecture is recorded to watch again later, which apparently frees students to concentrate more deeply, although a surprizing result was that knowing the lecture was being recorded actually correlates with more note taking than usual.

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Response 

When I saw the article on the BBC website as I was having my morning coffee a few days ago, it immediately interested me because taking notes is an important skill for both the reading and writing parts of the IELTS test. That relevance to what we do when we write a summary in addition to the summarizing questions that often occur in the reading part of the test also suggested the title I chose for this blog post. And if you are a student, you probably have to take notes all the time. Note taking is also a useful skill in meetings and elsewhere. In the notes on the summarizing process that I prepared, that is also why I emphasize step 2 — be sure you understand your chosen source, in which taking notes is an important part. I was not surprised that the study showed that making the effort to take notes in your own words improved understanding of the concepts in the lecture or other material much more than simply copying exact words. Anyone can copy words without understanding them, but if you have to express ideas in your own words, you must also understand them well. 

But when I got to the end of the article, I was a little disappointed that it had not mentioned my favourtie note taking tool: Microsoft's OneNote, which I use all the time, both typing and writing with a pen on my laptop or tablet, and which seems to me to offer the best of both pen and computer. Except for a few situations in class, I don't normally write on paper there days, but I do like to write with a pen on my laptop and tablet, and less often on my phone. I usually do my brainstorming on a computer these days. That seems to me to have all the benefits of a pen on paper, with added advantages such as not losing bits of paper, being able to easily mix hand-written notes with typed text, and also paste in images if I want to. I can even add sound files and things, although I don't often do that. I would like to have seen a study comparing the results of taking notes by hand on paper and on a computer using a program like OneNote. 

Unfortunately, my handwriting has deteriorated a bit over the years as I write less and less, and type more and more, which might sometimes annoy my students when I scribble to on the whiteboard. 
 

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Question

When do you take few notes and many notes?  

brain over brawn

Summary 

three little pigs,by James Halliwell-Phillipps,is a story about three little pigs and a crafty wolf.It all started when the pigs mother send the little pigs to live their lives.The first pig built a straw house.The second pig built a stick house.The third pig buit a brick house while he was building the brick house the other two brothers laughed the big brother shrugged and said"We'll see who will be laughing".The next day the crafty wolf blew away the stick and straw house the two pigs were freighten and ran to the big brother house.The wolf try blowing it but it was no use so the wolf gave up and walked away.

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Response 

I choose this story because it was my first stories i read myself.I like how smart and patient the oldest brother pig is and he proved he brothers wrong.I like how the author James Halliwell-Phillipps hides a lot of meaningful quotes in this story such as action speaks louder then words this quote was hid in the part where the first and second brother said that they want to live a long life but they decided to build fragile house.

It was very difficult to write a summary with only 120 words this story has a lot to offer you.You should experience what this story has to offer.You may think this story is for kids,but your wrong it's for all ages i would recommend this story to all my friends and family.

In my opinion i think the first and second brother are hypocrite because they told their mother they wold live a safe and smart life but they build a fragile house so they could have more time to play but in the opposite their biggest brother kept the promise that he me with his mom that he will not let her down and i see this action as a very loyal and grateful life.Lets talk about the author who wrote this excellent storie,his name is James Halliwell-Phillipps he was an English Shakespearean scholar, antiquarian, and a collector of English nursery rhymes and fairy tales and wrote 51 books.
 

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Question

Would you recommend this story to a friend? 

By the Rule of Law

Summary 

Marlon Brando in the film 
version of The Godfather

The Godfather tells the story of how Michael, the youngest son of powerful mafia leader Vito Corleone, moves from seeking to escape his family's business to becoming its head in a bloody end, when he kills his family's enemies. The film opens at the wedding of Michael's sister Connie; while the guests are celebrating, the FBI watches outside, and Vito does business inside, arranging to bash the rich white boys who raped a "friend's" daughter. In the garden, Micheal, who is just back from World War II, tells his girlfriend about his bloody family. After his father is shot, Michael kills the shooters; then escapes to Italy before returning to head the family business after his oldest brother is killed.

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Response 

I think that The Godfather is one of the greatest movies ever made. The book it's based on is also a powerful story, but the film version of the story is even better. It's a long film, at almost three hours, but the time goes very quickly, and like all great art, it gets better with each viewing. I don't remember when I first saw it, but my parents certainly didn't let me go when it first opened in cinema's in 1972: it is full of violence, swearing, sex, crime and all the other things that have been a natural part of human life for the past two-hundred thousand years or more. 

Apart from having lots of action from the opening scene, with Don Vito Corleone plotting to deliver justice to a baker because the corrupt US legal system had not, the film explores controversial issues with a fresh perspective. One thing I like about it is that it shows how laws against personal drug use by adults greatly benefits mafia gangs and corrupt government officials, especially police. The mafia, as the film accurately shows, only gained so much wealth and power in the US because bad law made alcohol illegal, so of course the sensible businessmen supplied the popular drug that millions of good American citizens wanted to enjoy. Everyone was happy, except that the mafia and corrupt officials inluficted a heavy cost on society thanks to the unjust laws against the sale and use of alcohol. Exactly the same was true of laws against prostitution and gambling, and then against other popular drugs such as mairjuana, heroin, cocaince and so on. Sadly, the politicians in many countries still make their nations suffer greater drug harms by following the same morally bad laws that encourage mafia gangs and enrich corrupt police, judges and politicians. 

You would think that by now that politiicans would not be able to persuade so many people to support bad laws to profit mafia and corruption at great cost to society. More people need to watch that great Hollywood classic The Godfather to learn the lessons that should have been learned decades ago. 
 

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Question

Who do your country's drug laws help more: mafia gangs and corrupt officials, or society?  

The true love of the orphan girl

Summary 

Daddy long legs tells the story of an orphan girl name Judy Abbott who was adopted by wealthy man the man that she had only seen his shadow that has very long legs so she calls him “daddy long legs”.Judy always gets help from him whether scholarships and luxury clothes, which make Judy love him so much. The way that she contacts him is to write a letter. Judy has met with him whereas she doesn’t know who is he but when she got to know him better it make she fall in love with him. But when she knows the truth who is he and he is sick it makes she decided to marry him as his request.

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Response 

I choose this story because the story is romantic and the story runs uninterrupted, that I can watch or read continuously. My favourite version is the Japanese animation version because the cartoon characters have beautiful lines with cute and bright characters. Therefore, when I am watching the animation it can relieve my stress. And the reason why I got to know the daddy long legs novels is because most of the time, during the semester break, I spend time watching various cartoons, animations, and various Japanese anime until I come across with the anime name daddy long legs that adapted from a novel written by Jean Webster With the Nippon animation studio is the creator And after I watched the animation I have a chance to read the story from the novel so I was fascinated by the romance story of this novel.

    What I have learned from reading and praising daddy long legs is useful English vocabulary and idioms, including allowing me conscious of the difficulties and struggles Of orphans in the society. Therefore, daddy longlegs is one of the novels that I recommend for readers and those who like romance as a stress reliever and to inspire life.

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Question

What do you think the orphans have to face in society?

The fortune-teller

Summary 

Flesh & Blood tells the story of a boy named Kaito Togo who accidentally fell into a wormhole and time-traveled to the 16th century in England. Then he joined Jeffrey -who is a pirate captain- and his crew as a fortune-teller to survive the war between England and Spain and became friends with them. But the more he saw the more he realized that many things are different from the history he had learned from books. Just when the war between England and Spain is about to start, Kaito got infected with Tuberculosis and has to find the way back to the 21st century so he can get medical treatment before going back to the 16th century to help his friends.

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Response 

I chose this story because it is one of the stories I like and re-read when I am bored. What captured my interest is how Kaito, the protagonist, grows up and learned from what he has done in the story. As I said in the summary, he joined the pirate crew as a fortune-teller, but before he met the crew he had met a spy from Spain called Vicente and Kaito had decided to tell the truth that he came from the future and told Vicente what is a cause of his death afterward to support his fact which, of course, Vicente did not believe it and almost kill him after he heard that Spain will be defeated, despite the clothes and things Kaito had on him. So when Kaito met Jeffrey, he changed his plan and made up his background story, used his knowledge and the language skills he has to pursue Jeffrey and his commander to accept him as a fortune-teller to make sure that he secured his safety.

In my opinion, Kaito is a smart seventeen years old boy, but what he decided to do is like a double-edged sword that can hurt himself if he does not be careful enough. For example, I think, making up himself as a powerful fortune-teller who has his words become true for 100% is risky. Even though he can secure his safety for he knew that Jeffrey and his commander will do anything to protect him because they think he will help them win over Spain, he is drawing many people who an ill-intent into him at the same time. But after he had learned about that, he tended to do fortune-telling only when it is needed, especially after he found out that many things are different from what he had learned at school and from books he had read before, which is impressive for me because I do not think I could handle the situation well enough to survive tough time as much as he did. When I was seventeen years old, I did many same mistakes and still have no intention to learn from it, such as reading books without sleeping until the next morning comes and ends up going to work with my eyes almost closed just because I wanted to know the ending of the story. I did that many times since I was a high-schooler and I still do. It is a bad habit that might never be cured.

Sadly, Flesh & Blood does not complete yet and I am waiting for the next book to be released but there is still no sign of it to be published for 4 years already. I hope the author will release the next book before I completely forget this story because I do not think I can finish reading 24 books plus a new one in just one night.

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Question

If you accidentally time-traveled to 16th century England, how would you handle the situation? 

Perfectly worn and tattered

Summary 

One of my tattered
old paper editions

Pride and Prejudice, by Jana Austen, tells the story of how the desperate search for husbands dominates the lives of the five daughters and their mother, in addition to their untalkative but concerned father, of the Bennet family in late 18th century England. In the end, both Jane and Lizzie marry rich men they truly love, thereby saving their upper-middle-class family from poverty at a time when daughters could not normally inherit family wealth. Along the way, the proud Lizzie discovers that she was not insightful but foolishly prejudiced when she first mocked the extremely rich, also proud and prejudiced,  Mr. Darcy, with whom she is surprised to find herself deeply in love, which is a happy accident for all.

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Response 

After I began buying books in high school, I had collected a few thousand, and they took up a lot of space on bookshelves on my home in Sydney and they in Australia. This began to change when I started buying digital books, which all fit comfortably on all of my devices. My first Kindle from Amazon was very simple compared to the devices I use today, but it was cool to have so many books available on such a convenient tool. I don't think I've bought a single paper book for more than five years now, and a few years ago, I decided to get rid of most of my paper books. I gave most of the paperbacks away to friends in Bangkok, and the more impressive looking ones I shipped back to my brother in Australia. He doesn't read them, but they look great on the shelves in his home, and I have a lot more space in my small home here in Bangkok. But I kept a few that have sentimental value for me, and this includes four copies of Jane Austen's brilliant novel Pride and Prejudice. I've got four copies because after reading and rereading them multiple times, they become so worn that the pages fall out and generally get very tattered. My first edition goes back to the 1970s, more than 40 years ago, and the others are spaced at about ten year intervals since then. I'm not sure how many times I've read this novel, but every time I read it, I like it even more than before. I think that's a good sign that it's a truly great story, and Austen tells it in language that is clear, fun and thrilling from the first sentence to the very last some 400 pages later. 

As usual, it was very difficult for me to stay within the 120 word limit for the summary. The one above took me four revisions to get right, and I know the story extremely well, as will become apparent when I write the rest of my response. You must know your chosen piece of work well before you can summarize it. My summary paragraph above is exactly 120 words as counted by Google, which counts words exactly the same way that IELTS does: every set of one or more letters or numbers surrounded by spaces is a word. 

From my summary, you might have got the idea that the story is a bit boring, and I agree: the story of an upper-middle-class family desperate to marry off its five daughters doesn't sound that dramatic, but Austen's genius turns this story of ordinary life in an English village into a gripping analysis of human nature and social norms. She never says it directly, but her characters show how difficult life was for women and the poor in England 200 years ago, when men were in charge of everything because everyone thought, and religion taught, that that was natural. And in the most polite language, Austen talks about prostitution, lies, fraud, teenage rebellion, and learning to be a more mature human being. And it's fun. Even the most shocking events, such as Lizzie running away with the wicked Mr. Wickham, mix the serious with humour. I can't think of any work, fictional or non-fictional, that has taught me so much about life in England a couple of centuries ago, and how awful it was in those bad old days of much worse personal and social morals than today. 

I have a digital edition now that will never get tattered, torn or lost, but I still like to see my paper copies and remember how my own life has changed over the decades that I've been enjoying this great story again and again and again.  
 

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Question

Is your culture morally better or worse than it was 200 years ago?  

Hoodie for politicians

Hoodie for politicians

According to "Hoodie gets Quebec politician thrown out of legislature"  the Quebec politician  Catherine Dorion caused disputes about a government's dress code. She came to the provincial legislature in jeans and a hoodie sweatshirt, and after complaints from her colleagues she decided to leave. Therefore she gave occasion to the all political society to discuss acceptable clothes for government`s workers. Many people, especially women, supported Ms Dorion in her choice to wear casual clothes at work. Others considered that a hoodie is not respectable for an office attire. As The National Assembly has only the guidance about members' attire but not the official dress code, disputes about acceptable politician`s clothes are still open.

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Response: What is your opinion?

I prefer to wear comfortable and casual clothes in my usual life. When I worked in an office I also wore quite casual style of clothes because we had not a strict dress code. I could wear classic jeans with a blouse, for example, but not a hoodie! It was considered too casual and sporty style for a work. Our clients came to the sales office and we had meetings with them so we had to be good looking always. I think that a hoodie is not acceptable part of  an office attire. Hoodie is very comfortable for sure and it is a good choice for a walking with a dog, a picnic or a housework. But if you have a serious job, hold an important position, meet with top managers and directors, you should be responsible in everything including your outfit and appearance. Especially these recommendations are relevant for politicians and workers of governments.

A free dress code makes people more relaxed and dispersed. Bright colors attract our attention and may provoke somebody. Many men focus on short skirt and deep decollete of women. Such addiction disturbs a work between people of the opposite sex. From the other side neutral colors and classic designs help people to concentrate only on a work process.

I presume governments should to set an acceptable official dress code for their politicians. It may be a different office attire in an every country because it depends on climate, religions, traditions and etc. Probably a sleeveless top will not be prohibited in a future for majority of governments. We do not know how a fashion and rules could be transformed. Now I can advise the National Assembly of Canada to revise and change description of  the official dress code for his workers. If they determine uniform rules for everybody it helps to avoid such situations and disputes in a future.

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Question for your classmates

What is your opinion about wearing casual clothes like jeans and a hoodie at work in an office? Is this acceptable in your country?

No more violence

Introduction and summary

According to "Hong Kong protests: China condemns 'appalling' attack on official in UK", the sequential anti-government protest in Hong Kong has been expanded to foreign countries. In north London, the UK, a Hong Kong’s justice secretary surrounded and attached by a group of protesters, and she injured her arm. The video shows when she was walking towards the institutions of Arbitrators, someone shouted to her “murderer” and shows what happened and how she injured. The Chinese government criticized this violence protest and need the UK government to arrest the protesters and make sure the safety of Chinese people in the UK. The Hong Kong government also condemned them.

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Response: What is your opinion?

The protest has been continuing for over 7 months even though the extradition bill was withdrawn in September. Moreover, the horrible protest has happened in the UK. It’s very sad news, and that distresses a lot of people in the world. 

Hongkongners need full democracy now. In China, there is no Democracy. So that, The Chinese don't know the actual meaning of Democracy and they are unable to imagine what a frighten thing it is for Hongkongers to harm democracy. However, we should not use violent actions for any reasons. In this point, I support the Chinese and the Hong Kong government. 

If I ware Hongkonger, I would not be at home, definitely. I would try to come up with several kinds of nonviolent actions such as the umbrella movement in 2004, which I was so touched. I could join a protest action at an airport to lead many flights being cancelled as Hongkongers did or I would join strikes and boycotts or I could create an alternative media against the government. Democracy has developed against violence in our history. If we face a situation, which we have to recover Democracy, we should not take violence actions again; we should improve nonviolence action to solve conflicts.

Hongkongers political awareness is very high regardless age or sex. They are always thinking about domestic political affairs and external relationship. Hongkongers should determine Hong Kong’s future. I hope they win and gain a fare election system without any violence actions in the near future and I believe it would be a good role model in the world. ____________________________________ 

Question for your classmates

Write one (not two) question for your classmates to comment on in response to your blog post. Write a question that needs more than a single sentence for a strong answer. Delete these instructions. 

Murder by law

Introduction and summary

In addition to the thousands killed,
hundreds of thousands of drug suspects
have been imprisoned.

According to "Philippines drug war: Do we know how many have died?" there is enormous controversy not only over how many thousands of suspected drug users and dealers have been killed illegally by police in the Philippines under the drug war launched President Rodrigo Duterte after his election in 2016, but also whether drug use and dealing should even be a criminal matter. The vice-president of the Philippines, who is elected independently of the president, and human rights groups argue that drug use is a health issue not a criminal matter, which makes the president's drug war morally wrong in principle.

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Response: What is your opinion?

Duterte, like Thaksin Shinawatra and
other politcal populists, wants to
kill dealers of drugs he does not like

I chose this article, which reminded me of the equally ugly war on drugs led by Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from 2003, because it seems to me a powerful example of how the law can be used to commit a well-intentioned act that is morally bad. The article only hints at it, but President Duterte's war against drugs in the Philippines is also very popular, as was Thaksin Shinawatra's war against drugs in Thailand. Similarly, American Presidents from Nixon on have proposed popular wars agaisnt drugs to win votes, and the truly sad thing is that they are popular with the voters.  Of course, they only want to kill people who use some drugs: the most harmful drug to society is alcohol, which is far worse even than heroin, but these same populist politicians are happy to allow and to use the drug alcohol.

These wars against drugs are a great wrong, and show why democracy must be much more than a majority deciding the rule of law for a nation by voting. First, the Philippines' vice-president is right that Duterte's war on drugs is a failure. Thaksin's war on drugs was also a failure that killed thousands of Thai citizens, many of whom might have been entirely innocent of the drug crimes that the killers, typically police, said they were guilty of. Their guilt is not known because instead of being proved in a court of law, they were shot. There is no evidence that wars on drugs reduce drug use. Drug use continues high in the Philippines. Drug use continued high in Thailand under Thaksin. Drug use continued high in China when opium was banned. Alcohol use continued high in the US when it was made illegal. When the sale and use of anything very popular, and drugs are popular, is made illegal, it means that the national economy loses because taxes cannot be collected. And the police, prisons and so on are very expensive as well as useless. And the health harms to society are worse because the drug users cannot get help. And the prices of drugs are higher, so crime increases when the drugs are made illegal. All of these bad effects on society are shown around the world when a popular drug is made illegal.

But criminalizing popular drugs does help two groups in society: it is very good for mafia gangs and for corrupt officials who are paid very well to help the mafia gangs make money. These are the only two groups who benefit when a popular drug, whether yaa baa, or marijuana, or alcohol, or heroin or whatever is made illegal. I cannot understand why so many people are so eager to help mafia gangs and corrupt officials to get rich by banning drugs that adults want to use for fun.

We also have to ask what justifies any legal ban. I agree with the moral philosopher John Stuart Mill that the only just reason to ban anything for adults is to protect other people from harm. This means that alcohol must be legal because although alcohol is a very harmful drug of addiction, if it only harms the user who drinks wine, whisky or beer, that is their business. But if they drive a car, then they threaten other people, so drinking and driving should be illegal. The same is true of every other popular drug, almost all of which are in fact less harmful than alcohol. It is only harm to others that can justly be made illegal, and even if a majority vote for something, that does not make it right. It just means that the majority is morally wrong. This is why a democracy needs a strong constitution to stop the majority committing a great moral wrong that is popular.

I think this is controversial and that makes it an interesting topic to discuss. I look forward to seeing whether you agree with me and the Philippines' vice-president or with Thaksin and Duterte.

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Question for your classmates

Should the sale and use of any drugs be legal or illegal for adults? 

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My summary is 101 words. It took me a four revisions to get it right. 
The response is 667 words and was much easier to write.