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!)
If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.
Posted in Canada, Cross-Cultural | No Comments »
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.
If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.
Posted in America | No Comments »
May 21st, 2009
I was privileged to give a lecture for the Foreign Languages Department and International Exchange Department at the Hunan Institute of Science & Technology ( 湖南理工学院 ) on Wednesday, May 20th.
My topic was “Cross-Cultural Communication: Communicating Effectively in a Culturally Diverse Environment” ( 跨文化交际 ).
If you’d like to see my powerpoint slides, download them here.
Posted in Asia, Communication, Cross-Cultural, Education | No Comments »
May 8th, 2009
This 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!)
Posted in America, China, Cross-Cultural, Education | No Comments »
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.
If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.
Posted in America, Asia, China, Education, Hong Kong, Vocabulary | No Comments »
April 27th, 2009
I’ve got some important meetings tomorrow in Changsha that could change things, for the good, in a big way. I’ll update the blog if there is any news.
Basically, my goal of establishing a company in China may be closer to being realized. 
Wow, this has already been such a long road!
Stephen
Posted in China | 2 Comments »
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.
If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.
Posted in America, History | No Comments »
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.)
If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.
Posted in America, Education, History | 2 Comments »
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.
If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.
Posted in America, Education | No Comments »
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.
If you would like to have the Presentation Notes from this week’s class, click on the link to view or download them.
Posted in America, Education | 2 Comments »