Archive for the ‘West’ Category

Week 2: United Kingdom Introduction

Friday, September 18th, 2009

This post is for my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book One / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered units 1 & 2  from the textbook which is an Introduction to the United Kingdom.  We covered just some of the basics, we’ll go over some of the more fine details over the next several weeks as we take a deeper look at the UK.

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.

A New Semester, New Responsibilities

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

So, it’s been quiet around here all summer, sorry about that!  It’s not because nothing was happening, in fact, the opposite is true!  We were VERY busy this summer with the end of the Spring ‘09 semester and the arrival of 13 cultural exchange students from America!

Now the Fall ‘09 Semester has begun and in addition to the class I taught all last year, The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ),I am now also working in the foreign exchange office of the Hunan Institute of Science and Technology ( 湖南理工学院 )!

I have some new and exciting responsibilities that are going to make this next semester a new challenge, but one that I’m really looking forward to!  I’ll be sure to post a story or two here about how things are going!

Week 15: Canada (Unit 15 – Intro to Canada)

Friday, May 29th, 2009

For my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book Two / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered unit 15  from the textbook which is an Introduction to Canada, the country and its people.  (Due to the Dragon Boat Festival, my Thursday classes will not get this lecture until next week!)

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.

Week 14: USA (Unit 13 – Sports & Scenic Spots)

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

For my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book Two / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered unit 13  from the textbook which is about Sports and Scenic Spots in America.

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.

Week 12: USA (Mid-Term Group Project)

Friday, May 8th, 2009

vimeo-logoThis week in my class, “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ), we had our mid-term group project reports.  Each group came up with a list of stereotypes that Chinese often have about Americans or America in general.  From that list of stereotypes, I chose one and the group chose one and those two stereotypes became the basis for a research project.

The results of the research were put into a written report (500 words) and a 5 minute oral report to the class.

Everyone did a great job.  If you’d like to see the reports, I’m slowly getting them online here.  (They should all be up by next Thursday – that’s my goal anyway!)

Week 11: USA (Unit 12 – US Foreign Policy)

Friday, May 1st, 2009

For my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book Two / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered unit 12  from the textbook which is about US Foreign Policy.

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.

Week 10: USA (Unit 11 – Technology in America)

Friday, April 24th, 2009

For my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book Two / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered unit 11  from the textbook which is about Technology in America.  We attempted to define “technology” and then we discussed briefly the history of technology in America  from the 19th century until today.

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.

Week 9: USA (Unit 9 – Social Movements of the 1960’s)

Friday, April 17th, 2009

For my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book Two / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered unit 9  from the textbook which is about Social Movements of the 1960’s.  We took a look at what is meant by “social movement” and then we discussed briefly why the 1960’s were so active with social movements.  The remainder of the class dealt with the three main movements of the 60’s; The Civil Rights Movement, The Women’s Rights Movement, and the Youth / Anti-War Movement (aka Hippie Movement.)

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.

Week 8: USA (Unit 8 – American Education)

Friday, April 10th, 2009

For my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book Two / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered unit 8  from the textbook which is about the American Education System.  We took a look at a brief history of education in America from the 17th century until today.  I pointed out that much of the info in the textbook is sorely out of date (most statistics were from the mid 80’s!) so we spent the remainder of our class time discussing the current status of things in today’s education system in America.

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.

Week 7: USA (Unit 7 – American Lit)

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

For my students at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) who are taking the course: “The Society and Culture of Major English-Speaking Countries ( 英语国家社会与文化入门 ) : An Introduction (Book Two / Second Edition)

This week’s lesson covered unit 7  from the textbook which is about American Literature.  We actually didn’t discuss much American Lit in the lecture – I did point out some highlights and some things to note for the final exam.  However, most of our class time was used on logistics for the Mid Term Projects that are coming up.

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If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.