Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, page 12 - Critical thinking

What is it?

page 11

In their critical thinking exercise that concludes the reading "The Rise of Crowdfunding", Warwick and Rogers invite us to discuss a question that follows up the idea in their example of assumptions at in the notes at the top of the close reading exercises on page 12, (2018). This question invites us to use our own examples, details and explanations to extend the ideas in the reading to a related issue. 

If you need to, click on it to show the full-size screen shot of page 11, the reading.

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Question

• Discuss why you think women are less successful than men at attracting capital investment, but are more successful at attracting crowdfunding? 

You have 15:00 minutes to plan and write a response to the two questions. I suggest you divide your time roughly as:

• planning = 3:00 minutes (It's usually a good idea to plan before you start to write.)
• writing = 9:00 minutes, and 
• editing = 3:00 minutes.

A helpful strategy

Imagine you are writing for someone who has not read the question you are answering or the article that the question follows up. Your job is to clearly communicate your response to that reader, so it might help to paraphrase the question at the start of your response to it. But you need to rewrite (paraphrase) the idea in the question as a statement. 

Because your writing should make sense independently of the question it might be answering, it is usually useful to give background, which can often be done by paraphrasing the question into statements that begin your answer. This is especially important in exams such as IELTS and TOEFL.

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Reference

• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education

"full of regulations and being strict" (Poom)

Also: "discipline" (Put), "the habit" (Kitt) and "control myself" (Num)

The quotations in the title and heading are from your responses to our first blog writing, where you shared your ideas about Zemach's suggested five strategies for successful learning. As I read Poom's comment, and the replies to it, I realized how well it applies to myself, or, rather, how badly I manage my time. Zemach doesn't really address it, but Poom and his commentators are right that having regular habits is an important part of achieving a goal that takes time, which is why achievers from sports stars to successful novelists all talk about sticking to regular habits: doing things at set times. 

I'm not going to pretend that I excel at that, I don't. But I do have some regular habits that help me to get things done. I start the day with my morning coffee, during which I also read the news from few different newspapers and magazines, and sometimes I write a quick, or not so quick, response to some of the articles that interest me. I usually set aside the first two hours of my day for this. It makes for a relaxing start that also lets me achieve something, and that gets the day off to a positive start for me. 

I then have my breakfast a couple of hours after I've got up, except on weekends. On weekends, I have a reading and discussion class at 9:00 AM. In fact, this class also means I have to modify my usual coffee time activities: on weekends, I cut my time on browsing the the news to one hour, before moving to work mode, which includes reading the coming text for class again and going over my lesson plan. 

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Ways to regulate and discipline your life

Google calendar boxes nicely.
Include the fun things

With breakfast, I enjoy watching some NetFlix. But I have to resist the temptation to binge. A useful trick (strategy?) I learned a few years ago is to box my time, including time to relax and do things that are fun. This means that when I have my late breakfast after the coffee and news browsing, I'm allowed to watch about 30 minutes of NetFlix as I eat. Series like The Big Bang Theory are good for this — each episode is only 20 minutes. Gripping series like The Queen's Gambit would be dangerous for me: each episode is way over the breakfast time limit, which would tempt me to watch just a little bit more: disaster for my daily schedule of things to do. 

View from my phone

Since I've gone into Covid mode, following routines has been worse and more important than ever. The usual external disciplines that regulated my day have been messed up, leaving me more dependent on myself to manage my days. And I've never been good at that. Just making a to do list does not work for me; I'm very good at finding excuses to not do things on the list. But having time actually set aside — boxed — for a particular activity, including fun things like like NetFlix or lunch with friends, does help me to impose a little constructive "discipline" as Put put it, or "being strict" as Poom put it. And some of  my boxes are regular habits, which make them much easier to stick with. 

The reason I wrote this post was not only to share my own ideas, but to invite you to share your own experiences about how to effectively regulate your time so that you get things done as an independent learner. 

And my real reason was to push you to think about setting aside time for regular reading and writing in English. When will  you box some time for reading and writing, for example, reading and responding to posts here on our our class blog? 

Num's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

Although my major is film production, I am also into the psychology area. Human's brain is mysterious. Our acts work under the mind. Basic psychology was a fundamental subject for freshmen to be enrolled in my faculty. The knowledge gave me a new perspective to connect with others by understanding their needs. For example, to communicate with others, we need to comprehend what and how they feel toward us, so we can express proper feedback to them and convey them to respond to what we want. Psychology helps communicators to use communication skills more effectively. Especially, to persuade people. Regarding the advertising business, there are many marketing plans that are based on research of customers' behavior. Some creative directors produce advertisements to raise attention from their audience to feel attracted to their products. This is an example that I have got when I learned about psychology and integrated it into my major. But what I really am interested in is human emotion. Emotions are very complex things, now I didn't study psychology in the class anymore, but I still keep reading psychologist work to understand my own emotions. Once I perceive my own emotions and understand them, it could help me have more emotional balance in life. This teaches me to accept myself better. I did not suppress my feelings anymore so my mental health has developed once I understand how emotions work in life.             

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

I don't have any knowledge about interior design but I really love checking out decoration magazines. Sometimes I try to match furniture which I like in my head. I remembered when I was a kid, I had a tiny pink closet and a cupboard, I kept playing with it. During my teenage years, I had a dream that I could be an interior designer because I like to decorate my own space. But I cannot draw, so I gave up. But I still like to buy monthly decoration magazines just to keep looking at how different spaces were designed. I appreciate walking in the furniture store for a whole day during my free time even though I did not have a plan to buy any.     

Skillful 4: Reading and Writing, page 9 - After you watch

Discuss (v.) & discussion (n.) 

page 8

In every unit of Skillful 4, authors Lindsay Warwick and Louis Rogers make frequent use of the verb discuss (2018). The noun discussion is in fact the very first word of every unit, and the third word in every unit is the verb, for example on page 152. Rogers and Zemach almost always collocate the verb discuss with the object noun partner, or put them in close proximity. They clearly intend the discussion to be spoken, which is what we sometimes do, but in many cases, it helps our reading and writing class more to have a written discussion of the questions the authors ask us to discuss.

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Why hold the discussion on an online forum? 

Apart from the fact that ours is a reading and writing class, there are several solid reasons for holding at least some of our discussions online. 

• It practices response writing for fluency. Unlike in more formal academic writing, the goal is not to do research or even to plan carefully, but to quickly communicate your own ideas on a topic or in response to an issue. You should still write complete sentences organized in paragraphs, but we are not looking for a carefully planned piece of work that was extensively reviewed and revised after it was first written and posted. Response writing is not academic writing; it does, however, practice the fluency that is also important in more formal work.  
   
• This sort of response writing is common at universities today. As part of their assessment, students are often expected to participate in online discussion forums that explore issues raised in lectures, seminars, or tutorials. This sort of response writing is a common component of academic work. 
   
• Brainstorming and sharing ideas independently of face-to-face group discussion typically produces a wider and more thoughtful variety of responses, which is good for the group. See, for example, the articles on this in the Harvard Business Review by Art Markman (2017), Andrew O’Connell (2010), and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (2015). (If you are interested, read some of the sources I've cited here after our class. They are all short.) 

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Warwick and Rogers' questions 

Rogers and Zemach's questions are: 

1. 

   Click to enlarge image

   Would a service like On Your Way be useful for you? 
    
2. Would you be happy to fulfil an On Your Way request for somebody? Why or why not?
    
3. Can you foresee an issues a cross-border courier service like this may face? 
    
4. What impact do you think a service like On Your Way could have on online retailers? 

 

A helpful strategy

Imagine you are writing for someone who has neither seen the question you are answering nor the video that the question follows up. Your job is to clearly communicate your response to that reader. Because your writing should make sense independently of the question it might be answering, it is usually helpful to give background, which can often be done by paraphrasing the question into statements that begin your answer. 

Also, it might work better not to respond to the questions in the order they are given here. That is not necessary. Whatever you do, do not number your answers. Do not write 1, 2, 3, or 4 anywhere in your response. It's OK if you don't cover all five questions. 

You have 12:00 minutes. I strongly suggest you spend at least 2:00 minutes thinking and planning before you start writing. It's a good idea to have some idea where you are going before you start to write, but in quick response writing like this, you might not follow that plan; that's not a problem, but it's still good to have a plan before you start to type.  

 

Remember: sentences in paragraphs 

This is response writing. You want to communicate your ideas fluently as if you were speaking for two or three minutes to someone listening carefully. However, that person can't stop you to ask questions, so it's important to state your ideas in complete sentences organized into paragraphs. 

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References

• Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015, April 2). Why brainstorming works better online. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-brainstorming-works-better-online
   
• Markman, A. (2017, May 18). Your team is brainstorming all wrong. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/05/your-team-is-brainstorming-all-wrong
   
• O'Connell, A. (2010, February 4). Sometimes, it’s better to brainstorm alone. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2010/02/when-its-better-to-brainstorm
   
• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education 

Earth's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

Although I am not good at chemistry, I have most loved to learn more about it. It was astonished at how chemical reaction occur. When I was in middle school, I had not have a passionate about substances and matters, but I enjoyed studying general sciences. I remembered my teacher who taught my class was very smart and funny. From the first class at school, she made me love to study with her and want to learn more. I realized that science has more than I saw. During the class, I learned a lot of things on Earth that made of chemicals and these was chemistry. After finishing school, I went back home to study more about chemical reactions in my daily life. It helped me understand how items around me are made. When I known how shampoo and hair conditioner worked, it made me excited an eager to learn. It still amazes me today that shampoo is made from weak acid to diminish any dirt on hair and hair conditioner improves soft feeling and shiny appearance. Although chemistry was quite complicated, I found it challenging to learn. Chemistry made me view the world in different angles.

I frankly said that it was not necessary to have a good grade at school because I thought the most important thing was how much interests would I earn. Apart from being interested in chemical phenomenon, I think chemistry is not only explained how reactions occurred in daily life, but it effected how we feel and interact with other things. These made me decided to study pharmacy to find out the reasons. Fortunately, I made the perfect choice, although chemistry cannot explain all of universe, it made me see the world in different way and my feeling was fulfilled.

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

After thinking about the favourite subject being not taught in school, psychology came into my mind.  I have never studied psychology and more than ten years during high school, I had doubted why I and my friends reacted differently. I tried to find the reasons, but I had no ideas about it. After having been struggling to understand the feelings, I thought that it might be because of the reaction of a human brains. Psychology helped me understand my personality and inside of my behaviour. 

Honestly, at that time I did not realized that I was a suspicious girl, and I always looked around to see how people think and feel. In my point of view, I am one of people who understands others even though I am quite quiet and shy. Psychology helps me develop my communication skills and now I think my speech is better than before. The way I talk was not just effected myself, but also people who listened. 

Having understand myself and others give me positives perspectives on my role. I loved using my knowledge of psychology and behaviour interacting with people as I found it was useful to make and sustain the relationships with my colleges. 

Although now I have not understand all of psychology, I have been studied about it and sincerely believe that one day I will become an idealist. I do not like to talk, but it is better rather than being quiet. In my view, learning about psychology does not develop my skills to deal with difficult situations, but also help others overcome their difficulties. I assured that psychology is worth to learn and I am one of the people who are passionate about it.

Prim's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

            Since I remember, I always enjoyed studying mathematic in school, high school, and university. Mathematic is my favorite academic subject after all.  

 

Why is that? Asking myself this question then spending my time thinking about What is the reason? ,  What kind of person I am ? and what personalities I have ? which influents me to be in this area. For a more accurate analysis, Let go back to my childhood I was a play full student not a reading or studying type at all. During my lunch break, I always seek out of the classroom to play basketball with my friends and after school also. I'm always being represented as a sport and energetic student. After trying to understand my behavior, I realize that I didn’t like studying at all but I like competition. This is why I like playing sport and it’s the reason I like Math as well. Because it always presents itself that way, a problem for me to solve to complete with myself. Solved, found a solution, and answered. The harder It becomes, the eager and energetic I feel to solve it. 

 

When I went to high school, I studied science-math, and even when I went to a university I still chose where they teach math. And after a long period of solving problems. Mathematic allow me to learn by understanding the concepts not by remembering stories or sentences which is totally not my strong suit. In the end not only the equation answers I got but also the skills of analysis, processing, logical thinking, and a way to never give up before finding solutions which I can adapt to my life experience and work as well.

A favourite academic area not formally studied

           

            I'm always interested in studying the language. Whenever I have free time I love traveling, visiting other countries, seeing different cultures and eating different foods. I’m always being inspired by talking and listening to people aspects and their experiences in life. According to that, I see language as a way to connect myself to the world and communicate with other people to understand and exchange knowledge and thoughts.  So one of my favorite hobbies is to learn languages. Right now, although I don’t have a lot of free time, I try to spend my time apart from work studying English and Deutch. Which actually generate from the same root line. 

And although we have covid 19 situations,  We spend a lot of time in our home, our hometown, and our country. We lack inspiration and diversity in life. I hope we all can still enjoy our hobbies and find happiness in everyday life, doesn’t have to be a big thing but can start from small things in life such as a smile or your favorite books. Then we can pass this situation together and continue our life as normal. Having the chance to experience and travel to other places again and communicate with people in other cultures and languages.

Phum ‘s interest

A favourite academic area formally studied

Mixology/Oenology/Drinking thingy

                    Hotel management is very vast to learn like a duck, you will learn to do almost everything, for example marketing, housekeeping and the food & beverage, but if you want to go deeply on something, you really need to learn something more on your own. 

                    I‘m really fond of the charisma of the drinks, getting to know more about their history that intoxicates my brain and my vain. My university also provides the lessons too, but as is being said,I only learn the brief of them. That’s why I really love to go out and drink a lot and learn the brief of the drinks, especially the alcohol one, in order to know more of the taste and what suits best when you mix something together. 

                   but another one of the main reasons that can’t be refused is I love to hangout and drink, especially whiskey one, there’s a lot of history and the terrain of the plantation that will provide the unique kind and taste of them.

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

                    I love to watch movies a lot, movies are giving me some kind of a mind set or the morals that conceal beneath each movie. Firstly, I watch them as a fun of my youth, but it seems like my perspective of the movie style is growing besides me and making change of my watching style.

                    Nowadays I watch the movie that use the unique technics that’s fit on the mood & tone of the movie or the situation such as the Reverse the time from Christopher Nolan, snorricam from Guy Ritchie and the long-take action sequences from Matthew Vaghn. Also the material that makes the story look interesting, the satire dialog from Quentin, or the meaningful silence from Wong Kar Wai.                                                                                                                                      

                    Such a contrast that my friend who is studying film , now interests in drinks, but me who learns drinks is excited for the technique of filming and storytelling.

Phon's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

Even though I can not say that I am proficient in English, an English class was my favourite. The English has been my favourite since I was in my last year of high school. I found that I enjoyed English. When I was in high school, I explored what were my hobbies. I loved to spend my time reading the book, listening to music and watching movie. I didn't hang out with friends; I loved to enjoy on my own companied. So those which were encouraged me to study in English. I would like to know more about English. An English is very important and useful for me and everyone as well. It helps me to explore and investigate new knowledges what I would like to develop and learn. I like to set my environment relates to English. The English is my ticket to be a professional and getting to know more about this world.  

There is plenty more knowledge I would like to learn, mostly using English communicating to an audience. 

I am passionate and encourage myself to keep studying English.

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

I am always wondering how is amazing human body system. Thus I would like to study about the optimal health and wellness. I want to know how to look after our body and mental.

Now a day we are facing a lot of pandemic, pollution and other disease. Everyone is at risk for getting those problems. There are many people who are suffering in the situations. I desire to be healthy in physically and mentally. I am willing to share my experience and knowledge for helping people to look after themselves. 

Currently, The most of population in this world realize that healthy it relates physical and mental. They are coordinating likes a teamwork. If your physical and mental are healthy, you can be more productive in your career or your purpose.

I absolutely believe that if our body and mind are strong, we can create anything what we passion. The priority of achievement is the optimal health and wellness.   

Emma's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

As I graduated with an MBA degree, I studied 16 subjects on how to run a business company successfully. However, my most favorite subject is financial management. I have to say that I am not good at math, and the subject doesn’t require intensive knowledge on math. I was lucky that the professor of the course could make the complicated subject into simple one. I still remembered the first question that he asked his students at the first class—why does a corporation exit? My first answer to that question was that it exits to produce and offer goods and services that benefit to customers. Surprisingly, I was wrong and most of my classmates was wrong too. He said the correct answer is that a corporation exits to maximize shareholders’ equity. After I knew that correct answer, I was unhappy, because when I watched advertising on TV or listened to radio, all of companies said that they offered good products and services to customers. By the way, I had to memorize the correct answer to do the examination. However, since I started my career in the banking industry, I have to say that the professor is right. A corporation does exit to maximize revenue for its shareholders. 8 years ago, I worked in commercial credit department and I had many chances to talk with CFOs. So I knew that when a firm make decisions on their business, they consider the benefits of shareholders as the number one priority. By the way, I never feel disappointed with my favorite subject, because it allows me to discover and understand the world around me better.

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

Although I studied business administration at university, I enjoy learning on earth science in my free times. I think the subject is fascinating because it opens my world. My interests on the subject began when I started planting some flowers 26 years ago. It was the first time when I deeply cared about soil, water, sunlight, and air to grow my plants. While I was doing gardening, I noticed on these small matters—liquid, solid, gas, and energy. In some ways, it reminded me about the Big Bang theory that my science teacher taught me. After I finished the gardening, I came to my mother and told her about my new discovery. She listened to me and said that I was very imaginative person, and she bought some Nation Geography magazine and subscribed Discovery Chanel for me to learn more about the topic. Since then, I has been a big fan of the two magazines, and I am considering about visiting the north pole and the south pole in someday. 

Kitt's academic interest

A favourite academic area formally studied

People enjoy different phases of their life. One of  the most enjoyed and unforgotten period in my life is my university lifetime.  There are many things to do and a lot of activities to join in university. It is a time for students to explore their interests and find their own passion. Besides extra activities and various clubs to join, university also offers many interesting subjects to study. 

Psychology is the subject that I like to study most at my first degree. I loved to learn the theory of Maslow's heirarchy of needs, the famous Learning theory of  Pavlov, Personality traits and Defence Mechanism. The subject helps me to see the relationship between the motivation within and the behavior shown. It is very interesting to learn that there are always drives underneath every action. There is no any single action that happens without a root cause, whether in a concious or subconcious mind level. When there are conflicts within our mind, the very best way is to find a quiet place and explore our mind. Once we find the root cause, we need to embrace and accept it first and try to find the appropriate solutions to end or to lessen the severity of the existing problems. I think psychology not only helps me understand the others' behavior, but also my own's one. 

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

My first degree is International marketing. I did enjoyed studying the subject, but outside school I am interested in how people live and what they think about living their life. I love reading the fundamental thoughts and the arguments of the ancient philosophers both from the Western and Eastern. Philosophy is my favourite subject that I did not formally studied in school.

I love freedom and love to live freely. I hate to be kept in the cage like a bird. I strongly want to live my own life. I do not want to be oblidged myself to monetary success or materials. Many times I refused the highly paid job offered that is against my living will. Some people do not understand why I made those kind of decision, but I do not pay attention on it. When come to the question whether we can live freely totally, I probably need to say, "No, it isn,t", but we still be able to manage to live freely as much as possible. Some people might again argue that 'To live freely as much as it is possible in the context'  is not to live freely. I probably do not  argue further as I am not a philopher with high logical reasoning ability. As long as I am happy with my decision and I am able to survive, that is it.  

Peter's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

Euler's identity
Could anything be neater?

Although it was not my major at university, I've loved mathematics since I was in high school. It was a surprise to discover this. When I was in primary school, I hadn't really thought about mathematics, and the nuns who taught me at the Catholic convent school I went to were not very good at mathematics. But from the first class in high school, I discovered that it is was easy for me. Better, I loved the certainty. When I proved something in mathematics, it was proved 100%, and that gave me a great sense of satisfaction. After school, I used to do math problems for the fun of seeing them work out. I always remember my amazement in year 11 of high school when I could prove Euler's identity for myself. It still amazes me today that that set of very different foundational numbers so neatly combine in one short, simple equation, although the mathematics behind that apparent simplicity is a bit more complex, so to speak (math joke). The equation is the image on the left. 

Yes, I was a bit geeky in school, also at university, where I continued studying pure mathematics alongside my major in philosophy. 

I think the things that attracted me to mathematics, apart from being very good at it, are also reflected in other areas of my life. I like things to be clear, certain and settled. Unfortunately, most of life is not so neat as mathematics. Those messy things, like relationships, often cause me grief because they are much more difficult to understand, and are often insoluble for me, or at least not so neatly solvable as problems in mathematics. 

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

As I was brushing my teeth this morning, I was thinking about why economics has been a favourite subject for some decades. I've never studied economics, and for a long time, I think I had the wrong idea about it, but when I actually read some economics, I realized how fascinating it is. I can't remember I began reading economics, but it was probably while I was studying the political implications of different moral theories for philosophy courses at university. Looking at how capitalism and communism decide how goods are produced and supplied showed me that economics matters: it affects every aspect of our lives whether we know it or not, and whether we are living in an ancient hunter-gatherer economic system or a modern capitalist state in the liberal democracy of Australia, which is what I grew up in. 

A fun read

The connection that popped into my brain as I was brushing my teeth was when I remembered something Kitt had said in his quick introduction last night: "I love democracy." I also love democracy, and part of the reason for that is that a foundation of democracy is free speech, which is in turn a condition for discovering the truth about things. And economics is a powerful tool for correcting false beliefs. A concrete example might help here. A few years ago I read an essay (actually a whole series of brilliant essays) by behavioural economist Dan Ariely, who applies the methods of economics to how we make decisions not only about producing, buying and trading goods and services, but to other decisions we make, such as those that contribute to things like corruption, which has serious economic consequences for many countries, including Thailand. Based on research he and his teams had done, one of his essays showed me how seriously wrong some of my beliefs had been. I had always thought that dishonest behaviour was a characteristic of only some people, but Ariely demonstrates convincingly that all of us, certainly at elite universities like Harvard, where he did some of the basic research, are easily tempted to dishonest behaviour, but mostly only a little bit dishonest. If you want to reduce corruption, understanding things like this, and the underlying explanations, is important. A different example was about 15 years ago when I read a famous research paper by economist Steven Levitt in which he used his economic analysis tools to investigate why crime had dropped dramatically in the United States in the 1990s: the most surprising part of his answer, one that shocked many people, was that it was the legalization of abortion in the United States in 1973 that had led some 20 years later to the sudden drop in crime. Levitt attributed 40% of that drop to the US Supreme Court decision that gave every American woman control of her own body. 

It is because economics often forces me to correct assumptions I had sincerely believed about how human beings work in the world that I like reading it. I don't like being wrong, but it's better to have a false belief corrected than to continue with it. (But not technical financial economics - that is important, but does not excite me). And as I realized while standing in front of my mirror brushing my teeth, the correction of false beliefs, including my own, makes enjoying economics consistent with a love of democracy. 

Sadly, the insights of economics are still not so pure and certain as the proofs of mathematics, but it tells great stories about we humans. 

Put's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

    Hi everyone. It’s my pleasure to meet you all for the first time, So I’m going to tell you more about myself. I’m 2^nd year class midshipman and my field of study is electrical engineering and naval science. All of you may be curious why military student like me has a field of study like this. The reason why midshipman like me have to learn about electrical engineering because is because warships literally contain of electrical system such as communication system, combat information system, and weapon system. Although the Naval officers especially deck officer branch don’t have to fix or design all these things themselves, The Naval officers still have to know how all of these systems work. Not only electrical engineering which midshipman have to learn but also Naval science which midshipman must use this knowledge when they’re commissioned as a Naval officer.

    Naval Science is not literally theoretical subject. It’s practically subject which includes of art and science. I am supposed to learn all about physics, astronomy, ship’s handling, seamanship, Maritime laws, navigation, and meteorology. To be precise, all of these subjects can not be learnt by listening to a lecturer or reading a PDF files. Consequently, the Royal Thai Naval Academy establishes Midshipmen training squadron to help midshipmen be able to use naval science as their professional skill. Thanks to Midshipmen training squadron gives me a lot of experience and seamanship, I’ve got a chance to go abroad and learn about how ship's crews and naval officers work . 

    Finally, Being a naval officer is not about going abroad with learning nothing. We, Midshipmen, all appreciate Thai citizen whom we love and We swear we will protect Thai maritime territory including Marine national interest, Democracy and Monarchy with our heart, and blood.

At HTMS ANGTHONG's port wing.

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Here is a footage During HTMS PATTANI stationed at Chang hi naval base, Singapore , 2018

What we'd done during under midshipman training, 2018

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

During free time, I always go jogging and do the bodyweight training. All of these things cannot help me ease my tension from class. Hence, I choose to read a book or journal about history which make me feel leisure before bed time. I especially concentrate on East Asian history because China, Korea, and japan influences on Thai urban culture.

 I am very curious why China always be the most empowered country in this region So I have to study about Chinese history. Chinese history isn’t totally about china itself but it covers two more countries such as Korea, and japan. China and Korea have had a relationship for a long time. Mostly, Korea always was a Chinese tributary state. Yet, Korea are independence countries nowadays although they are separated into two. And I also curious why Japanese culture aren’t like Chinese sometimes despite of sharing their culture during tang dynasty.

For all of these, I wish I could learn this connection to understand international relationship and be aware of incoming events.

Phing's academic interests

A favourite academic area formally studied

    After attending to the university class, I fall in love with the history of art and design. It was one of the most enthusiastic classes for me because it provided me with the dissimilar experience. I used to feel blue when I had to research or learn about the past in general. The exporting the olden days through the lens of art and design is enjoyable and fully with hope.

    My high school textbooks contain lots of vintage photographs related to the Great War and the next one. I saw people are suffering or losing their valuables and confronted with human right issues. Spreading of deadly diseases, such as Spanish flu, resulted in a tragedy that humankind was an incapable flight. The worlds 'Depress' and 'Cheerless' described my emotions at those moments squarely. I truly respect the previous generation and thank you for what they had done for us. Whereas It was hard to say that I enjoy learning history.

    On the other hand, the history of art and design presents the past in a different mood. Movements of art and new design invention makes me feel energetic and full of hope. During a tough time, art still has places for us and human have never stopped creating. A bad day mightn't the whole tragic. De Stijl was formed in the early 20th-century. Although the first world could lead to some obstacle, those group of artists and architects still created this memorable style.

    I had seen older-generations people's lives in grey, like vintage pictures. Learning history in another focus is like adding colours in my imagination of the past.   

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A favourite academic area not formally studied

    I have travelled to many places in Thailand and overseas. My journies brought me to lots of beautiful buildings. Walking through the historical streets, incredible buildings and the charming city's skyline introduces me to architecture.
  
     I love how the habitat embraced me. When I get into good design places, I sometimes would like to stay in as long as I can.
Architecture influence people behaviour which is like the hidden magic.
It can enhance dwelling life and represent cultures. While walking in the old street in Kyoto, the sense of japan permeated through me automatically.
   
     

The church of light

    The church of light by Tadao Ando is one of the most impressive places for me which attract me to architecture. There is a cross that is generated by sunlight. Praying in front of a shining cross will be such an impact moment for me.

 

Passion about architecture forces me to travels. I have lots of bullet points to go. Even though I have never studied about architecture, it inspires me silently.

Welcome to EAP RW4 unit 1 and to our class blog

Summary 

Click to see
images full size.

Although I've read a bit in preparation for it, this post has a different purpose than summarizing and responding to something I've read. I want to welcome you to your EAP class on Mondays and Tuesdays.

So, welcome, and thank you for registering for the class this term.

Our aim is to cover all of unit 1 of Skillful 4: Reading and Writing, which we should be able to do in our 16 hours of classes over the next four-and-a-bit weeks. In addition to your paper book, there is also a very useful digital version of the text, and an online workbook for further practice.

As with the Google Apps for Education that we will use and this class blog, it might take a couple of sessions for you to become familiar with these tools, but I am confident that you will find that initial effort worthwhile. By moving some of the work to out-of-class activities, we can then focus our class time on preparation for and discussion of the skills you will practice at home, or wherever you like.

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Response 

The digital version of  the
book is very convenient

In her introduction to students on page 6, the series consultant, Dorothy E. Zemach, gives some strategies for successful learning, one of which is to "be an independent learner" (in Rogers & Warwick, 2018). As Zemach suggests we do in her comment, it is one way for you to "practice English outside of class." Some of the topics you will write about here are the unit topics, but I also like Zemach's suggestion that "reading for pleasure and using the Internet in English" are important, so your writing here will not be limited to the topics of the units that we study over the next three weeks.
 
Another point that I like in her introduction is Zemach's emphasis on practice, for which she suggests that we do "a little bit each day." The research on this is strong: regular practice in small chunks of time is far more effective than long sessions once or twice a week. Since we meet twice a week, and on consecutive days, this is especially important to bear in mind.   

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Question

As Warwick and Rogers often do, giving readers a specific question or two to respond to is often an effective way to engage readers. It helps to check that we understand what we have read, that we have thought about the ideas critically, and to that we can apply them to our own of more general situations. 

• Which one of the five strategies that Zemach introduces on page 6 do you think will be most useful for you to focus on over the next three weeks? 

It's good if you think all five are useful, but this question asks you pick one of them, so you will have to write a little more to explain your choice of that one over the others. About 90 to 120 words in twelve minutes sounds good: read for 2:00 minutes, plan for 3:00 minutes, and write for 7:00 minutes. 

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Reference 

• Warwick, L. & Rogers, L. (2018). Skillful 4: Reading & Writing, Student's Book Pack (2nd. ed.). London: Macmillan Education