Final reflection on ES2007S

Although I know the day will come to me when the module ends at the end of this semester, I don't know it can be so fast. Suddenly, I realize that this module ends and I will have to be back to China in a few weeks' time. Backwards the past time in ES2007S, I really learned a lot and enjoyed a lot with Brad and my dear classmates. Thank you ! :-)

I've done a lot interesting work this semester, like peer teaching, resume writing, big project. This class is really interesting and interactive. I spent lots of time on it and in return, I learned a lot.

In our peer teaching, I had a good time with Leo and Neil. To be the first peer teaching group, we have no model to copy. We have to search material on internet and borrow books from HSSML. It is the first time that I seach among so large amount of English information. Finally, I got used to it and finished my presentation on business emails. It is the first time that I make presentation in English. To tell the truth, I was really nervous at that time and all I want to do was to find the right words and to speak out. It was a rather tough time. But I managed it. I learned how to search information in English, how to plot the teaching section, how to make effective presentation slides, how to make effective presentation, how to prepare for a teaching lesson. Above all, I experienced the feeling to be an English teacher. :-) However, there is a pity for me. As the first group, we failed to take the delicious feed (usually chocolate) to share with you. Thank you for your different kinds of delicious food after each peer teaching! :-)

Project:
Teamwork is really emphasized in this class. After recess week, I started my project with Sheila and Elin. We had a great time during this process. We wrote interview questions, survey questions and conducted interviews( then I fell in love with talking with the officals in NUS, so I made another appointment with OSA to share my experience in NUS. Hehe~). Although it was really a tough time to call as more survey participants as we could, we enjoy the process, because we are in a best team BES. After that, we started writing our proposal. I really improved my writing skills a lot, always inspired by Elin and Sheila. They are really kind and helpful. I've experienced so many 'first time' :first time to do English survey, to do English interview, to write English proposal, ..... Effective communication has a clearer meaning to me.

Resume:
Besides, I also learned how to write resume and job application letter. Brad and my peers helped me revise my resume, and I really learned a lot, and became enjoying the  English words. After that, we acted as interviewers and interviewees in class. That was really interesting. I got to know how interviewer and interviewee would think in a interview.
__________________I am not a cut line.:-)______________

In all, I enjoy this class very much. It is really a harmonious class. It is the most interesting class among all the modules I take in NUS. Thank you, guys! Hope we still keep in touch in the future days. My email is ghchen08@gmail.com. ( although it is not safe to put in my blog, I hope you get my contact information. :-)  )
Good luck with your exams!
加油 fighting
友谊长存 friendship forever
常联系 keep in touch
谢谢  thank you !
:-)
Brooks~

Feedback of our proposal presentation (Team BES, Brooks)

Hello, my dear classmates!
Welcome to leave your valuable feedback here. You can talk about anything about our proposal presentation today. Every piece of your feedback will help me improve better. Thank you for your support and caring!:-)
________________________________________________________
Now I will try to evaluate my presentation this time. :-)

Before the presentation:
* strength:  I try to present my slide in a more logic way. Only one slide is used to make my key points stand out.  I practise several times before the class.  So I get a clear mind of my presentation. Besides, we discussed with each other  in our meetings before the class, and Elin & Sheila really help me a lot! :-) With their help, I find my key points and good way to deliver them.
* weakness: Lack of accurate and excellent expressions in my presentation. I just keep using common expressions in oral English and keep repeating some of them, which may make it a little boring.

During the presentation:
* strength: By clear explaination and repeating, key points stand out in my presentation. Good eye contact with the audience. Besides, I am confident with what I am delivering, because of enough preparation for this project.  Some gesture can be found in my presentation to make it more proactive.
* weakness: some sentences appeared again and again, which made it a little boring. Besides, my points aren't clear enough due to my pronunciation.

At last, thanks for my two teamates' great help. It is their helping me that makes this not-so-bad presentation. I really enjoy our discussion a lot, really a lot of fun.
And thanks again for your valuable advice.
:-)
Brooks~

Stay hungry, stay foolish(by Steve Jobs)

In 2005, Steve Jobs, the chief executive officer of Apple, addressed a speech in Stanford. I have just read this speech and find its video. Maybe most of you have ever watched it before. It is really exciting. He teaches us to find our true dream and live to relize it.
Following is the link to the text and video.
:-)
http://onemansblog.com/2010/02/01/steve-jobs-outstanding-stanford-commencement-speech-from-2005/

Enjoy Intercultural Communications

I am a pure Chinese student ----born in China, grow in China, and will also live in China in the future. I choose to exchange to National University of Singapore this semester, to develop a better understanding of different cultures in the world.

I have a American friend named Robert. We are on a same class. I’ve noticed that he likes to lift his right leg on the seat in front of him and seldom brings & reads books in the classroom. Besides, he likes to walk on the seats along to go out after class, which I believe is not the common behavior for American students. I mentioned this during one of our talks after lab. He just said “it’s ok and that doesn’t matter”. However, I think his behavior didn’t show much respect to the lecturer.

I realize there is cultural difference here. In China, students will always sit neatly in an orderly fashion during class. Almost nobody sits on the table or lifts his leg on the table, which is considered to be impolite and will lead to unaccepted by others. So Chinese students may care more before they do things different from what they have seen before. Thus, they tend to have a conservative personality and are not encouraged to come up with strange ideas. (Situation is changing due to the development of China)

However, in America, both teachers and students are free in class. They can either sit on the table or lean on a desk. They can also raise any question whenever they like. Privacy is stressed in American culture so people tend to have more individual characters. They like to behave differently, will(spelling error) which can capture more attention, also lead to many creative ideas.

As I think of this, I have better understanding of his behavior. Besides, we also talk about many other cultural differences. Now we are good friends and I enjoy the communication a lot.

What I am trying to make clear is that we should put ourselves in other’s position during our intercultural communication, and be a good listener & learner to understand different cultures better. We needn’t to avoid the intercultural communication. Be active and try to enjoy it. After all, there still exist a lot of things in common between different cultures.

re-edited in different color

Job Application Letter

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Interpersonal conflict in a team

Several months ago, we formed a team to make a research about how the waste goes after thrown into the bin. I was elected as the team leader later. Before long, we gathered to discuss about the project. Everyone got his task.

But I found Jack wasn't so interest in his work during the next few days. Jack came from another class and I was not familiar with him. So I gave him a rather easy job. I didn't know why he showed little interest. Had I done something wrong? I need a talk with him. So I wrote an email.

Another question came. He explained he was busy these days in the email. He seemed to avoid this talk. "Is this just an excuse or it is real?" I didn't know. He also comforted me, "the work is easy for me and I am able to finish it in last few days." his work was easy, but it was the prerequisite for some other work. Obviously, he refused my invitation.

Then I tried to ask some other teammates to know more about him. But they all didn't know why.  I intended to contact some of his friends, but I didn't know how to set about. Finally, due to the time limit, I had to do his part myself.

Then I came across Wang, one of Jack's best friends, last month. When we talked about Jack, he told me the truth. "Jack complained to me about the project. He thinks the job is too easy for him. He just wants to do something more difficult."I have made a serious mistake that I assumed everything entirely according to my opinion.

what I've learned from the 1st peer teaching

Neo ,Leo and I conducted peer teaching yesterday. It is about business email/letter/good&bad news. I've learned a lot from it.

I borrowed several books from HSSML and also searched the internet for useful materials. And I found the website "mindtools",which also appears in the reading materials Brad gives us,  is useful. I happen to find some blogs creating by our seniors who have also learned ES2007S. Their suggestion is also very helpful. As I am from China, I also referred to a few materials written in Chinese, but just a few. :-)

I think slides should be simple and make vital points, which are not familiar to most of the audience, highlighted. Besides, charts and graphs are also necessary in your slides. To make it more effective to deliver your ideas, you can turn to interesting activities for help. So your audience will learn by themselves from the activities, and come up with useful conclusion themselves. Thus the points make deeper impression on them. Activities like Find Mistake, Answer Questions, Play Game, Watch Video, and putting on a show can help make the presentation more impressed.

In addition, rehearsing is necessary for a successful presentation. You can find more accurate and vivid expressions. You will also have a better sense of time during presentation. Interrogative sentences sometimes can help capture attention of the audience and make your points ourstanding, which is also very useful.


That's what I have thinked of so far. Thanks again for your support! I really like our class culture,"free to interaction and happy to be with each other". :-)