Report

Self-paced English Learning Project Report

Submitted by

Tzu-Chia Chiu

Department of Business Administration

Student ID # 964001010

Prepared for

Ms. Grace Liu

National Central University

June 12, 2011

Evaluation of Whole Project:
In the beginning of this semester, I just wanted to improve my English better and
study business English. However it’s amazing that I get more important thought in the
end.
I plan to study business English at first, and then I found that was not interesting to
me. At that time, Teacher Grace introduced the resource “American Rhetoric” in our
class. Being a senior student, I thought that I should use the material which doesn’t
come from the school because I hope after graduation I will still have the habit using
them. Another reason I choose “American Rhetoric” is there are lots of
commencement speeches. I want to know what kind of things the speakers would give
to Harvard or some greatest universities in the world. Obviously, this would be one of
the greatest choices I have ever made. I learned a lot of things from their speeches,
passion, failure, world,etc. They let me know that the most important is your attitude
toward the world, not your knowledge. I learned how to read a very long article
without a dictionary. I can really know what she/he said! Besides, I took 2 books and
they helped me a lot, too. Now I think I can see the world, not feeling afraid or
nervous all the time. We seldom have the time to do what we want to, I think the most
precious thing is I got the courage and passion to embrace the world.
During doing self-study, I changed my syllabus all the time. That sounds bad, but I
hope I can read the book not for English but for the message it wants to talk about. I
asked myself every day “Do I want to read it or not?” Then I chose the best resources
and did it. However, during the bad time, my mental problem came back to me. I had
to take the pill to control my brain and I couldn’t read even a word. What I did was to
turn on the CD, hoping my brain could touch a little massage from “Being Peace”.
Thich Nhat Hanh’s voice came to my heart. I used to be a person who liked to see the
sky or some street scenery and thought it’s beautiful. Thich Nhat Hanh reminded me
of it. And then I thought I couldn’t waste time living someone else’s life.
In the end, although this semester I think that I didn’t learn many materials, my
time management got something wrong. However, my learning journey won’t stop
for the graduation. Now I got the power which is named courage and passion to take
adventure of the world. English is not a barrier anymore!

Self-paced Learning Weekly Report Worksheet

Worksheet No. __1___ Week ______4/3________

Major __Business Administration Name __邱子嘉______________

1.Material(s) used: Please write down the name(s) of the magazine, the DVD, or
other materials you used.
Steve Jobs- Commencement Address at Stanford University
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/stevejobsstanfordcommencement.htm

2. Summary of the things you learned/activities you did this week (e.g. new
vocabulary, phrases, sentences, plot of the movie, etc.)
 And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned
out to be priceless later on.

stumbled into 一頭栽進

curiosity 好奇心

intuition 直覺

turned out to be

priceless 無價

later on 稍後

ex. That novel is fascinating that I stumbled into it all day and all night.

fascinating 迷人

calligraphy 書法

 Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence
to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that
will make all the difference.

down the road : sometimes in the future

 What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was
devastating.

What had been the focus of my entire adult life: 那些曾經是我人生的重心

screwing up 搞砸

The turn of events at Apple

 The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a
beginner again, less sure about everything.

Grammar：A was replaced byB.

 Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm
convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.
You've got to find what you love.
 keep looking -- and don't settle
 "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do
today?"
 Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

3. Reflection

"Reflection"的部份是此報告最重要的部份,主要是針對當週所做的自學活動方式,

自學的份量,當週學習的心得感想(或有趣的小插曲)等做一個描寫,若覺得恰當的

部份可繼續下去;若不理想(如原 syllabus 所擬的自學份量過重),擬如何改善等等,

用這樣的角度來寫這個部份,以期讓自己的自學成果漸入佳境!!

You may choose to use either English or Chinese to write this part.

I wrote my notes on the summary. And actually I read the entire article. It took me a
lot of time but Steven Jobs’s speech had so many famous quotes that I couldn’t
ignore them. I LOVE THESE QUOTES. In this semester, I have to find a job that would

be the first full-time job in my life. Sometimes I would wonder how I should choose.
Jobs told us the way to follow up. That’s really helpful and his speech skill is
fascinating. I replayed the speech more than 5 times. Finally I almost could listen to it
without subtitles or script.
However, I have no time to watch movies. I think I have to change my time
management.


Worksheet No. __2___ Week _____4/8_________

Major _Business Administration Name_____邱子嘉 _____________

1.Material(s) used:
American Rhetoric Bono
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/bonopenncommencementaddress.htm
movie “THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION”(DVD)
iMDB (for the script)
2. Summary of the things you learned/activities you did this week From the
commencement speech:

 As well as :連接詞;介詞

Bono: It's true we were here before with U2 and I would like to thank them for
giving me a great life, as well as you.
(I’m not sure what “as well as” means here. I am waiting the answer from OWL)
 John Mortimer : No brilliance is needed in the law. Nothing but common sense
and relatively clean fingernails.
From THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
 Conspiracy
It’s a big conspiracy, and everyone’s in on it.
e.g.: It seems that you are in a terrible situation. I think it must be somebody’s
conspiracy.
 Size someone up
Bogs sizes Andy up with a salacious gleam in his eye, mutters something to Rooster.
Rooster laughs.
e.g.: In Asia, parents always size their children up by score at school.
3. Reflection
This week, I only read and listened to a commencement speech which is from bono.
And I found that it was a little bit difficult to get the information. Bono gave a very
long speech, and it’s not like Jobs. Bono used many words to show what he wanted
to talk about. This gave me some trouble. The information was complicated. I had to
spend lots of time to get used to it, and then finally knew what’s going on. I’m sure
that the thing what he mentioned to us is important. However, truth be told, I have
no interest in listening to it again and again. This week I also shared the movie
“SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION” with my friends. It took me a lot of time, too because I

don’t understand jail’s culture. However, my schedule was delayed. I have to think of
some solutions. Maybe I should adjust my syllabus.



Major Business Administration Name_____邱子嘉 _______________________


("Material"的部份請寫明所使用的教材的名稱,文章名稱,出版社名稱,頁數等相關

資料(in English))

Movie “Legally Blonde” DVD with subtitle
iMDB (for the script)
American Rhetoric J. K. Rowling
http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-
imagination

2. Summary of the things you learned/activities you did this week
Legally Blonde:
 Perm:
e.g. You can perm your hair in the barber shop.
 Go with:
I think you should go with red. It's the color of confidence.
e.g.: You should go with black when you enter a funeral.
Commencement speech from J. K. Rowling:
 A win-win situation!
 Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average
person’s idea of success, so high have you already flown.

3. Reflection
I found that I am very busy this semester, so I have to change my strategy of self-
paced learning. And this week, I learned something about the difference between
American English and British English, especially for the pronunciation. J.K. Rowling is

a British writer. I found that sometimes J.K. Rowling used some words that are
unusual in daily life. I think that’s because of her background. But when she said
some word like “obviously”, I heard a strong accent that is totally different from
Jobs’s or Bono’s or the movie stars in Hollywood. And then I heard a joke from my

friend about British accent. This is Famous Taiwan dancer 布拉瑞揚’s story in

London. He went to a restaurant to have a meal. The waiter asked him, ”Are you
dancer?” He was shocked why the waiter knew him! And then, he found the answer.
The waiter was not saying “Are you dancer?” but was “Are you done, sir?” This made
an impression on me. The pronunciation is so amazing around the world.



Major _Business Administration Name_____邱子嘉 _____________



資料(in English))

Your next speech 75 ways to improve it (DVD+book from library) TIPS 1 to 20

英語自學工作坊--履歷自傳撰寫及面試技巧求職利器 from NCU 英文自學網站


("Summary"的部份,請寫明當週自學部份的 new vocabulary, phrases, sentences,

plot of the movie, etc.或是所進行的學習活動)

1. Schedule a big chunk of time
2. Don’t assume you’re the only speaker.
3. Start with a question.
4. Build your own library.
(This is what I think I have to do since now.)
5. Limit the scope of your speech.
(I should focus the main point, don’t be greed to give audience too many things.)
…..
And so on.

3. Reflection





After learning some speeches from speakers, I think there’s some skill in their
speeches, such as the structure. So I borrowed a book and DVD named
“Your next speech 75 ways to improve it from library”. Then, I found the secret rules
the speakers often use from the book. For instance, in tips 9, it said that we should
use our own experience. According to commencement I learned these days, they
always give the audience their own experiences from their amazing life. They spoke
from the heart from these stories. (Tips 14) And most important is they know their
audiences. They choose the materials which attracted the graduates. And the words
in the speeches are not difficult. These help me to think about my interview. When I
need to speak in an interview, I should consider how to choose the materials, and
how to let the company size me up in a very short time.


Major _Business Administration Name_____邱子嘉_____________



資料(in English))

Watch Movie “Scott pilgrim vs. the world” with both Chinese subtitle and English
subtitle.




Scott pilgrim vs. the world:
 She has the capacity to geek.
Capacity:
E.g.1 He has the capacity to be a good guy!!
 Pleased as punch
E.g.1 Scott was pleased as punch when he dated a 17-years-old girlfriend.
 A: Hey. What’s up with his outfit?
B: Yeah. Is he a pirate?
C: Pirates are in this year!
In: (adjective) popular and fashionable
E.g.1 The iPhone is in this year

Your next speech 75 ways:
39. Brevity(being short) is key in storytelling.
It means we should omit any extraneous detail.
35. Junk the jargon

We have to avoid using the words such as business shorthand. It can’t provoke
emotion most of time.

3. Reflection





This week, I got a trouble. “Scott” is the movie my friend recommends me to watch.
However, I can’t understand what it talks about. It’s funny but I think I don’t quite
understand the culture. So maybe I should watch it again next week. If I still do not
like it, then I plan to stop it.
The book “your next speech” is still keeping going. It tells me a lot of points I might
not notice. I think it’s interesting and I found that now I can read an article without a
dictionary even if there are some words I do not know.


Worksheet No. __6___ Week _____6/5 _________




資料(in English))

Watch Movie “Scott pilgrim vs. the world” with both Chinese subtitle and English
subtitle.




Your next speech:
Use humor whenever possible
 Don’t force them to laugh.
 Keep it relevant.
 Don’t offend anyone.
 Cite your source.

This topic helps me a lot. Actually, I’m not a humorous person. When I listen to
commencement speeches, I found the speakers can make their audiences laugh.
Steve Jobs said “Since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal
computer would have them (fonts).” He is talking about his story, and the audiences
have the background knowledge with computer. Everyone knew that Jobs just had a
joke on Microsoft but it still tie to his message.

3. Reflection





This week, I watched “Scott pilgrim vs. the world”. This time, I thought it’s a very
funny story. I finally know what the movie talks about. And this made me think a lot.
Sometimes we might not understand some new information because of our moods
or background knowledge. I should give it a try again, to make sure if I like it or not.






資料(in English))

Being Peace – Thich Nhat Hanh Distributed by publishers Group West introduction
and first episode.




Your next speech 75 ways to improve it:
65. How to control those pesky butterflies
 Visualize something calming
 Focus on breathing
 Imagine yourself as someone else
 Talk to a friend at first
At the end of “your next speech 75 ways to improve it”, it talked about what you
should do or shouldn’t do before your speech. I think it’s quite useful especially
control those pesky butterflies. This is important to me.
Being peace:
 If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can blossom like a flower, everyone in
our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.
 Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present
moment I know this is a wonderful moment.
3. Reflection
This week is breathing topic. (HAHA) Coincidentally, after finishing the speech book, I
began reading “Being Peace”. Then, “focus on breath” came to me again! When I
become nervous, I would speak very fast and forget lots of articles. That’s not a good
situation in speeches. I hope it does work when I give a speech especially in English
or job interview.





("Materail"的部份請寫明所使用的教材的名稱,文章名稱,出版社名稱,頁數等相關

資料(in English))

Notes by Gordon Kalton Williams
Witold Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra
Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto NO.3 in D minor, Op.30
Jean Sibeluis: The Oceanides



 It was as if (就好像)

 In the’teens’of the 20th century (means 1910~1920)
 Draft

 be coming to terms with 開始接受

 feel compelled 被迫

 The work’s title suggests a homage to sb. (這首作品的標題是向 sb.致敬)

3. Reflection
This is G.K Williams music introductions. I avoid reading English introduction before
even though I know that some translation might be wrong. Today’s notes are not
difficult. Being a self-paced learner, I think I have to challenge them. I found that if a

Chinese wrote the introduction, you could see the Chinese language thinking. But for
the native speaker, it looks totally different. And for me, I think this time I have a
good try because I have some background knowledge that can support me. Another
reason is that most of the music researches are written in English. Of course there’s
no translation version. I think I can try to search some information on websites which
are written in English and not to be afraid of it.

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