Language Hungry! by Tim Murphey

Murphey (2006)

Language Hungry is full of "simple, practical suggestions" for language learners (Helbling online catalog, Language Hungry, 2012.12.21), in bite-sized chunks. I have recommended it to students since an earlier edition came out in 1998.

References

Murphey, T. (1998). Language Hungry: An Introduction to Language Learning Fun and Self-Esteem. Tokyo: Macmillan Languagehouse. 

Murphey, T. (2006). Language Hungry: An Introduction to Language Learning Fun and Self-Esteem. London: Helbling Languages. [ISBN-10: 3-902504-78-1] [ISBN-13: 978-3902504784]

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WSBulletin 2-02 (Fall 2012): Book Reviews & Revised Essays

A couple of quick comments already this a.m., and follow-ups (reminders), for everyone:

pab said...  Hello R...,  All book reviews this semester need an opening quotation to spark readers' interest, and an APA-style reference at the end.  Cheers, PB  December 13, 2012 ...	Everyone: Please review WSBlog posts with the labels "quotations" and "references," especially: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010 Quotations and references for book reviews
pab さんは書きました... H...,  You and your group mates need to rewrite your essay in the _third person_, without "I," "We," or "You" [in main clauses]. Cheers, PB  2012年12月13日 ...	Example (from 1C, Dec. 12): Version 2-03a (draft): We chose this actress because she ... and .... Version 2-03b (revision): The reasons we chose this actress were she ... and ....

If you have concerns or questions about either the on-going book review assignment, or the current movie review assignment, please spell them out in comments on this post.

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Stars or stories? A Rough Outline

This post displays a rough outline of points to consider in planning and drafting your comparative movie reviews. The topics listed below came from maps prepared in both classes. The second option, comparing the same stories told and retold in different movies, didn't get any takers this time. So this outline focuses mainly on the stars, that is, on the same actresses or actors performing in the two or three different movies that your teams have chosen.

There are three things I'd like each team to consider while re-reading this outline from classwork last week:

1. This is not a complete outline for any particular review; it's an aggregate. Topics that you didn't announce in class may be just as important as some of those represented here, or more so. For instance, examples of genres and settings in this outline are just that, examples. You'll need to tailor topics that you chose from this outline to suit the movies that you're reviewing.
2. It isn't necessary to cover all of the points in this outline in your reviews. For instance, you needn't cover stars['] other roles, or lives outside acting. Similarly, some of the stars you'll be focusing on may not have won awards for their performances in the movies you've chosen. So please decide for yourselves whether any particular type of content will complement or support your comparisons of stars' roles, or detract from your reviews of the movies themselves.
3. The order and arrangement of topics in your reviews may well differ from those in the outline below. These are just the ideas that you and your peers shared with the class. You should consider arranging these and other topics you cover in ways that make it easy for readers to follow your ideas as you develop your reviews from one paragraph to the next.

If you have concerns or questions about possible content or organization for your joint movie reviews, please spell them out in comments on this post, activate the option to receive follow-up comments by mail, and feel free to respond to your classmates and peers in follow-up comments as well.

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Comments on essay prep. posts

This quick comment collection is to remind everyone what to put in their essay prep. posts, and what not to.

Numbers of movies to watch

pab2012年12月3日 13:13

Hi A...,

I suggest that you all plan to watch at least two two of the movies, if not all three of them (when you make the third choice), so you'll have a solid basis for comparisons.

Cheers, PB

pab2012年12月3日 13:48

Hi K...,

Please note, and let your teammates know, that teams of three need to watch three movies that are related either by stars in them or similar stories.

Cheers, PB

Bases for selections, foci for planning

December 3, 2012 1:20 PM

Thanks for the info., M....

Now what's the connection among those films?

Cheers, PB

2012年12月3日 13:29

Hi 'A...,

Thanks for sharing this info. Now would you please ...? You also should all plan to co-write about all three movies.

Cheers, PB

2012年12月3日 13:32

Hi M...,

I hope you'll consider not only differences but also similarities from the get go (from this early planning stage onward). [emphases added]

Cheers, PB

Too much personal info.

2012年12月3日 13:29

Hi 'A...,

Thanks for sharing this info. Now would you please trim your teammates' family names back to their initials? You also should ....

Cheers, PB

2012年12月3日 13:37

Hi M...,

Thanks for sharing this info. Now would you please trim your teammates' family names in your post back to their initials?

Cheers, PB

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Class notes: Nov. 28 classwork, group work, & homework

Yesterday was a big day in Writing IV, as those of you who attended will recall. Yet, as I have learned to expect, it was also a day on which there were technical challenges, not the least of which (for me, at least) was display of class notes on laboratory monitors.

The screenshot below, an enhanced version of my class notes, more or less reflects board work and general instructions from class yesterday. Square brackets enclose enhancements in this retrospective, or responses to questions in one section of the class or another.

Screenshot of enhanced Nov. 28 class notes, 2012.11.29

Essay prep. posts, as well as previewing, actual viewing, or reviewing of the movies that teams choose, are essential components of the homework assignment for this week.

Please click on the graphic above to get a closer look, or zoom in on it in your browsers. Then, if you have any questions or concern about the classwork, group work, or homework in that outline; please spell them out in comments on this post before the end of November.

Last but not least, I'd like to ask you again to share what you learn from posts on the Writing Studio Blog with your classmates and peers. Thank you in advance for your continuing cooperation.

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A Timely Video from One of Larry's Bests Posts

Today is World Toilet Day!

The video below is one that I've just found in Larry Frelazzo's post: The Best Resources For Learning About World Toilet Day & The Issue Of Public Sanitation In The Third World. Watch and learn!

World Toilet Day 2012 - Official Animation Video

If that interests you, there are plenty of other resources you can check out in Larry's post.

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Writing Studio Bulletin: WSB 2-01 (Fall 2012) - PEs

This quick post is to advise everyone of general reminders that I've posted in Portfolio Elements workbooks (PEs) today:


2_1_Essays, Col. B

• Please use title case for titles, both here and on your blog.

2_2_BRs, Col. B

• Please include BR numbers, both here and on your blog.

• Please use title case for titles, both here and on your blog.

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Ichiro pitching!!!

Ichiro is at the Yankees now, but I like this video!

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Get a load of this video!

This is a very funny video!

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Comments from Proto-Portfolio entries

The table below includes a number of comments that I've left on recent Proto-Portfolio entries for the month of October. I'm sharing them here, so everyone will be able to learn from them right away, before November Proto-Portfolio entries are due (Dec. 1).

Rows	Comments
2-16	Japanese numerals don't work in spreadsheet formulas.
9	Please show and tell me in class on Nov. 7 what you have counted as essays in Oct. Thanks.
10	Please count slides as ¶¶ for Essay 2-01a, and encourage your classmates and peers to do the same. Thanks!
10	Please show and tell me in class on Nov. 7 what you have counted as ¶¶ in essays in Oct. Thanks.
11	Your presentation (Essay 2-01a) includes  graphics, doesn't it?
13	Please show and tell me in class on Nov. 7 what you have counted as (a) post(s) with media in Oct. Thanks.
15	Please show and tell me in class on Nov. 7 what you have counted as (a) post(s) with original video in Oct. Thanks.

Please note that entries in rows 11 through 15 of your Proto-Portfolios should match up perfectly with labels you add to posts that you make each month:

• Row 11: graphics,
• Row 12: links,
• Row 13: media (for embedded presentations, as well as audio and video),
• Row 14: media, original audio, &
• Row 15: media, original video.

If you create new labels for posts that include original audio and original video productions, and apply suitable labels to each post that you make from now on, searching through links in the Labels clouds in your sidebars will make it easy for you to count posts for future Proto-Portfolio entries.

For more info. about labels and kinds of posts to use them on, please review the list and explanations on the Labels and Links page.

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Preparation for Audioboo recordings

listen to ‘Prep. for Audioboo recordings’ on Audioboo

The Audioboo recording above introduces the current, three-step homework assignment. Please listen to the recording carefully and completely. It is less than two minutes long.

Next, please open and read "more details" on the Writing Studio Calendar event for October 9. You also can find details in your invitation to that calendar event, and in a Gmail reminder to follow a couple of days before the assignment is due.

Screenshot of Writing Studio Blog:
Calendar of Events page
(Agenda view)

If you have concerns or questions about this assignment, please spell them out in comments on this post a day or two before the assignment is due, and make sure to select the option to receive follow-up comments via Gmail. Then, if your classmates, peers, or I respond to your comments, you will get Gmail notification messages immediately.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

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Writing Rules! Advice From The Times on Writing Well - NYTimes.com

In Writing Rules! Advice From The Times on Writing Well, my favorites are rules five and nine. Here are a few excerpts from those two rules, and from one of the cross-linked readings.

Rule five, Study Sentences, comprises two related suggestions:

Look for examples of interesting sentence structure and sentence variety in a work you are studying or reading, then write your own "copy-change” versions, in which you borrow another author’s structure and use it to create your own piece. 

You might also consider excerpts from children’s book[-s] to review sound literary devices and explore the music that sentences make.

(Rule 5: Study Sentences, ¶¶4-5, italics added)

A Pomegranate Words page illustrates the "copy-change" process with poetry, if you follow the first link in the passage above. Yet the process of imitating sentence structure–not copying content–applies equally to prose, as does the advice on that page to give credit to your sources:

If there's no trace of the source, you don't need to give anyone else credit. If, on the other hand, evidence of the original structure remains, you should give a nod to the first writer in some way.

(Pomegranate Words, 2008, Poetry: Copy Change (Imitation), ¶2).

Rule nine, Fail, again from the Times, may sound a bit too adventurous–until you read the explanations. Though the subject heading, "Fail," is an attention grabber, the point is to learn from your mistakes by collecting and reflecting on your written work:

Value mistakes, and the successes that grow from them, by keeping a portfolio of your work, including revisions and editing exercises. You might even reflect in writing on how your writing has progressed....

(Rule 9: Fail, ¶2, italics added)

The suggestions that I've highlighted above should seem quite familiar to you by now. If they don't, please ask about them either in class, or in comments on this post.

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Fluency MC does collos!

Just connected with an edu-rapper, Fluency MC (Jason R. Levine), who creates music videos highlighting what he calls "collos" (short for collocations) of English vocabulary. In a recent conversation with Dr. Nellie Deutsch (WizIQ: Conversation with Jase: Teacher, Trainer[,] and Entertainer, 2012.09.20), he suggested that he might come to Japan in the future.

On his YouTube page, Levine defines a collo as "a high frequency CHUNK of language" (About Fluency MC). The following featured video, posted less than 24 hours ago, presents dozens of verb+noun collos to help English-as-an-additional language learners remember ways to use the verbs make and do.

 

If you like that, be sure to check out other videos in his English/EFL/ESL ColloLearn playlist. There are 34 of them as of today.

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Pointers to videos from the LLD Project Blog

In this post, I'm replicating a post on the Language Learner Development Project Blog with the author's permission. I want to share, here, the same pointers to a collection of videos for listening comprehension that I did on that blog.

Let’s Have Fun with English: Videos for listening comprehension

Posted by Paul Beaufait in LanguageLearning

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for pointing out Ms. Haquet’s Let’s Have Fun with English video collection in one of his posts:

• Excellent Video Site for Learning English (2012.03.26).

Here’s a direct link to Ms. Haquet’s site, and here’s another straight to her menu of videos for listening comprehension. The two videos that I’ve previewed so far represented … [two distinct] cultures, and ranged in difficulty from intermediate to advanced:

• The Crown Jewels, and
• Wolverine.

[70 words]

Tags: activities, cultures, listening, videos, viewing

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 at 14:57 pm and is filed under LanguageLearning. ...

If you're looking for a bit of variety or a change in pace in video viewing, you should check out Ms. Haquet's video resource collection. I have no doubt you'll find other videos there that are challenging to listen to, as well as interesting to watch.

[85 words, above and beyond the 70+ from the other post]

Even birds may enjoy bluegrass!

The bird on the guitar in the screenshot above (from approx. two minutes into a rough but ready dogwork.com video) seems to have dropped in to listen to Josh Williams, who stopped playing and pet the bird, but continued singing the song. 

KeenValleyGuy, who uploaded the following video, pegged the event at the Doyle Larson Bluegrass Festival, in Denton, NC, on May 5, 2011:

Josh Williams - Mordecai, uploaded by KeenValleyGuy, June 7, 2011

Since the bird didn't get it's own mic, it's hard to tell whether it actually did sing along!

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Writing Studio Bulletin 2-00 (2012): Summer Blogging

What follows is a reply to a student who had written, and asked about blogging (s-)he'd done at the beginning of August.

Hello ..., 

Thank you for your message (Fri, Aug 3, 2012[,] at 11:55 PM; below).  

From it, I gathered that you'd been blogging for the previous few days (Aug. 1-3). You seemed to ... [have been] wondering whether words you'd written since the final exam would count for 1st (spring) semester. 

As I announced in class, displayed on monitors, and summarized on the whiteboard; book reviews and other posts that you write in August and September will count towards achievement of _2nd_ (fall) semester course goals (Writing IV, section[s] 1A & 1C). Writing you've done in August won't influence your grade for 1st semester. Complete Proto-Portfolio and Portfolio Elements entries for 1st semester writing through July were due Aug. 1, as were 1st semester Portfolios.  

Please keep track what you write in August and September in your _2nd_ semester Proto-Portfolios [PPFs] spreadsheet. It sounds like you've got an early start. 

Cheers, PB

(Sun, Aug 5, 2012[,] at 11:22 AM)

I'm sharing that reply here, so you all will understand that you are welcome to continue writing original book reviews and other posts during the summer recess, and to count them in your 2nd semester PPFs. 

To start earning credit for 2nd semester, please note that complete PPF entries for August and September will be due Oct. 1.

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A few more comments and reflections

The comments I've collected in this post represent three sorts of suggestions that many bloggers other than the immediate recipients of the comments should heed in their own posts:

1. Choosing and using labels (again [Labels..., again?!? {Yes, labels, again!}];-),
2. Creating paragraph divisions to improve readability, and
3. Summarizing for a variety of reasons.

pab さんは書きました... Hi Y..., Better labels for this post (three or more for every post) might be: "animals, birds, chicks, dogs, gardens, ..." (comma-spaced values without quotation marks). Some of those you also could use on your next post. Cheers, PB 2012年6月18日	General recommendations: 1) Use topic labels that you are likely to use again and again. 2) If the labels are countable nouns, use their plural forms. Choice of suitable labels is important for several reasons. First and foremost, if the labels you use are both accurate and appropriate, they can help blog visitors find the kinds of posts they want to read, compare, or comment on (such as essays: drafts and revisions), as well as special topics they want to read about. Next, depending on how many times you use appropriate topic labels, the numbers of times you use particular labels may indicate both to you and to your readers which topics interest you most, as well as which you may want to write more about. Last (today;-), but not least, reflecting on the topics in your posts as you choose labels may help you decide where and when you should divide your posts into paragraphs, and perhaps even see where you might reorganize your paragraphs to make your ideas easy for readers to follow.
pab2012年7月12日 Hi A..., It is interesting to hear of your fondness for mystery stories, especially those written by Jirou Akakawa. However, this post summarizing one of his stories, recently dramatized on TV, probably would be easier to read if you divided it into paragraphs clearly separated by blank lines (no indentation necessary). Cheers, PB	Remember: White-space is golden! Divide large blocks of text into paragraphs to make them easier to read. Single blank lines between paragraphs orient readers' eyes towards topic shifts, if not to topic sentences, at the beginning each subsequent paragraph.
pab2012年7月12日 Y..., Would you please (re-)read the following post on the Writing Studio Blog, paying special attention to the illustration of summarizing, where the yellow part becomes green? FRIDAY, JUNE 22, 2012: Incorporating quoted passages Then please summarize the message from (a) member(s) of your host family in a similar fashion, using your own words. Cheers, PB	Summarize the writing of others, in this case, for three main reasons, namely to: 1. Avoid copying; 2. Present only key points, and mainly your own ideas; and 3. Avoid publishing personal correspondence without the authors' permission.

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My Language Learning Story: Map[s] & Outline

This is a model essay prep. post.

Mind-map of my language learning history (2012.06.28)

The graphic above, a FreeMind export (PNG), shows a recent version of the mind-map that I started in classes on Wed., June 27. ... [Here is a snapshot taken June 27:]

Mind-map of my language learning history (2012.06.27)

Below is an outline ... from an HTML export from the ... [extended, 2012.06.28] mind-map, copied and pasted into and out of Microsoft® Word to get the bullet points for various levels of the outline.

My language learning story

• childhood
• pre-natal
• ?
• early years
• mother tongue (English)
• parents
• older brother
• pre-school years
• family
• parents
• siblings
• relatives
• grandparents
• aunts & uncles
• neighbors
• friends
• elementary school
• English
• secondary schooling
• JHS
• NA
• SHS
• French
• skills
• listening
• speaking
• pronunciation
• intonation
• reading
• writing
• sub-skills
• grammar
• vocabulary
• college
• French
• upper division courses
• post graduate
• overseas experience
• France
• cultural exchange
• homestay
• travel
• with friends
• alone
• work
• (graduate studies)
• Japan
• work
• travel
• France
• intensive course
• travel
• revitalization workshop
• French
• graduate studies
• French
• intensive course
• Japanese
• online courses
• library services
• English
• Canada
• Spanish
• Mexico
• life-long learning
• English
• French
• Japanese
• Spanish
• What's next?

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Incorporating quoted passages

This post presents three versions of a filtering and focusing post that I wrote for another blog (The LTD Project Blog, 2012.06.22). I am posting these three versions here to show how to:

1. Sandwich paragraph-length quotations between personal reflections;
2. Shift the balance of content from quotations to reflections, by:
1. summarizing rather than quoting an interview prompt, and
2. adding further reflections; and
3. Quote short, already quoted passages, using nested quotation marks.

---

Version 1

In an exclusive interview for the Library Thing, for the State of the Thing newsletter (June 2012), investigative television journalist Dan Rather responded to a question about his former teachers.

You write in the book about the important role certain teachers played in your life. Tell us about those teachers and what key lessons they taught you that you've put to use in your life and career.

One common thread for many of my teachers is that they believed in me and took the time to treat me as an individual. They taught me that it is not just about the destination but it is about the journey. However we try to reform our educational system, we must allow for teachers to see their students as individuals.

(Dan Rather: LibraryThing Author Interview)

Among other issues he addressed were tenacious, growing corporate interests in control of conventional media.  At the end of the interview, Rather also mentioned new installments to come out this fall (2012) in a series on education (HDNet: Dan Rather Reports).

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Version 2

In an exclusive interview for the Library Thing, for the State of the Thing newsletter (June 2012), investigative television journalist Dan Rather responded to a question about important roles his former teachers had played.

One common thread for many of my teachers is that they believed in me and took the time to treat me as an individual. They taught me that it is not just about the destination but it is about the journey. However we try to reform our educational system, we must allow for teachers to see their students as individuals.

(Dan Rather: LibraryThing Author Interview)

Among other issues he addressed were tenacious, growing corporate interests in control of conventional media.  At the end of the interview, Rather also mentioned developing new installments to come out this fall (2012) in a series on education (HDNet: Dan Rather Reports).

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Version 3

In an exclusive interview for the Library Thing, for the State of the Thing newsletter (June 2012), investigative television journalist Dan Rather responded to a question about important roles his former teachers had played.

One common thread for many of my teachers is that they believed in me and took the time to treat me as an individual. They taught me that it is not just about the destination but it is about the journey. However we try to reform our educational system, we must allow for teachers to see their students as individuals.

(Dan Rather: LibraryThing Author Interview)

Among other issues he also addressed were tenacious, growing corporate interests in control of conventional [news] media. That was in response to a passage the interviewer had quoted from Rather's memoirs, Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News, about "'censorship masquerading as good business'" (2012).

At the end of the interview, Rather mentioned developing new installments to come out this fall (2012) in a TV series on education (HDNet: Dan Rather Reports). I'm looking forward to following those developments.

[180 words]

---

The third version of the post on that other blog is approximately the same length that the first version was. However, in the third version, the proportion of quoted text has decreased from about 56% (98/174) to 36% (65/180). Square brackets around the word "news" in the third version indicate that I added that word after publishing the post.

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