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JacksonFive's
Free Weekly "Learning English" Newsletter
         Issue: 12     "Who is JacksonFive?"     May 7, 2000
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Dear Readers,

    After many rainy days, how have you enjoyed the last three days of
    sunny weather?  Today, I went to my Canadian friend, Susan's house.
    She teaches at the Lincoln American School in Taichung.  She had
    many of her teacher friends at her house for a nice get-together.
    We even took a nice long hike up the popular hiking trails near
    her home.

    I haven't been to Susan's home or near her home since the 921
    earthquake.  For many of our readers who live near Taichung, you
    will know why.  Susan lives next to Encore Garden (雅哥花園), an
    upper class, yet heavily damaged part of Taichung.  Even now, you
    can still see many concrete steel bars protruding from cement
    walls.  Cracks in the concrete appear everywhere in her
    residential area.  Susan's roommate, another teacher, even
    collected and drank rainwater from a drainage pipe for three
    weeks after the 921 earthquake.

    I spent pretty much all afternoon in the area visiting different
    friends I know.  I'm amazed about all the changes that have
    occurred in the area since the earthquake.  One American friend
    even told me he has rented a high-class bungalow for 1/3 the
    price, as compared to before the earthquake.  I'm not surprised.
    Many "for sale" signs were seen on buildings in the area.

    It has been a meaningful day.  The memory of the 921 has been
    fading little by little.  The events of today reminded me again of
    how fortunate we are and how we should never "take anything for
    granted".  What do you take for granted?

                                                              JacksonFive

    P.S. Did you feel the earthquake this morning?

THIS WEEK's FEATURED QUESTION:

    "Who is JacksonFive?"

ANSWER:

    Who do you think I am?  One new reader even thought I was an
    university student in Taichung ^_^

I'm a thirty-year-old Canadian
living in Taichung.  I'm a bit
unusual and certainly not
someone you meet everyday
("foreign or domestic" ^_^).  I
enjoy Bonsai, photography,
tennis, collecting cultural relics
(def: old items), . . . and offcourse,
most of all, teaching English.  I
also enjoy very much visiting
other countries and
    learning new cultures.

    I value my friends and enjoy making new friendships.  I have
    many good friends around the world that I stay in contact
    with by email.  Some of them however, I have never seen
    before because I met them through the Internet (like many of you).

    I grew up in North America, but I have also lived and worked in
    China and Vietnam.  I'm living now in Taichung.  I have been in
    Taiwan, "on and off" now, for the last eight years.

    I'm a computer programmer and MBA by training.  However, I have
    also been a DJ, pizza delivery person, and had many other odd
    jobs while growing up.  I value the fact that each job and each
    environment, no matter how difficult, will teach you something if
    you allow it to (be open-minded and observant).  Many of my
    earlier jobs have shown me that I'm a "people person", and I enjoy
    being with people.

    To be honest, I never expected to like teaching so much.  My
    biggest reward from teaching English is seeing my students'
    English improve.  I have taught adult English most of this time,
    and my students have come from "all walks of life" (meaning:
    different backgrounds and careers).  I have taught managers and
    staff, professors and students, civilians and soldiers.  I have
    even taught other English teachers ^_^

    For me, whenever I walk into a classroom, I feel energized and
    enthusiastic.  I think a "hallmark" (def: characteristic) of a
    good teacher is P&P (Passion & Patience).  There are many other
    important skills to have, but if the teacher has teaching passion
    and patience, all the rest comes quickly and easily.  Don't you
    agree?

    As you can probably see from my newsletter, I feel it is important
    to have fun while learning "practical" English.  To do anything
    well and continuously, you need to feel motivated to learn and the
    greatest learning motivator is when you are having fun.

    Part of having fun is not having to memorize a lot of grammar and
    vocabulary.  I have designed a system of techniques for learning
    that doesn't depend on memorization.  Memorization is so boring and
    a "fun killer", don't you think?  I always tell my students that I
    don't teach English.  I'm teaching them easy and fun techniques for
    acquiring life-long English.  It is the same meaning as the Chinese
    saying, "don't give them fish, teach them how to fish."  When
    applied well, they can take their existing English foundation and
    without memorizing one extra word, expand their English ability
    many times.

    When you think about it, a language is an extension of a culture
    and learning a new culture can be fun and often funny.  In each
    class, I think it is important to show the students where the fun
    and humor is in the English material.  This livens up the class and
    makes the learning experience much more enjoyable.

    Back to our JacksonFive family newsletter.  I'm writing this
    newsletter because it is an easy way to "help more people" with
    their English and spread the message that learning English can be
    fun.  I do this for no financial gain because I feel we all need to
    "put something back into the society we live in".  Rather than
    continuing to complain about your environment and society, why
    not do something about it?  We all have something we are good
    at or have a positive message we can share with others.  Why
    not help others grow and in the process grow yourself?  This is
    the spirit of my newsletter and our JacksonFive family.

    I would really love to have more time to share about myself, but
    this newsletter is getting a bit too long.  I would love to meet
    all of you, and I have plans for a "JacksonFive Potluck Party"
    sometime later this month.  If you can join us, please go to
    http://www.path2english.com/PartyRSVP.htm to let me know.  I think
    it would be a great opportunity to get to know each other better.
    I also plan to demonstrate one of my "English learning techniques"
    mentioned above.  This would make your trip worthwhile, and I'm
    sure all our members are very fun people to be with.  Do you want
    to eat fish ^_^

NEXT WEEK's FEATURED QUESTION:

    "What's in a letter?"

    Please also visit our new "English Share" section,
    http://www.path2english.com/Share/Share.htm.  Please send me any
    good "English Shares" you have and don't forget to email a simple
    "thank you" email to our contributing members.

(If you benefited from this newsletter, please share it with a friend.)
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