Back Issues: #32, Oct29, Growing Pains

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JacksonFive's
Free Weekly "Learning English" Newsletter
Issue: 32 "Growing Pains" Oct 29, 2000
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Dear Reader,

    What a typhoon evening! Howling winds pound my window and
    strange squeaking noise fill my ears. I hope you and yours are well
    and safe on this "atypical" evening (def: not common).

    Guess what I was doing just a few hours ago? I was picking up our
    school sign. It fell off in the "high" wind (def: strong) and was
    blown "straight" across the street (def: directly). Thankfully,
    no vehicle was hit. It took a bit of effort dragging the sign to
    a safe place in the strong wind.

    On top of this, I heard that a Singapore airline airplane has
    crashed. How sad... I think we should offer a few seconds of
    silence for these people and their family.

    Last week we spoke about corporal punishment. This is certainly
    a "controversial" topic (def: many different opinions). Many of
    you wrote to me on this issue, both against and for. I will be
    putting your replies on this page at our website,
    http://www.path2english.com/Reference/Punishment.htm

    I have changed the topic for this week's article. I think it is
    necessary to discuss some of the issues that concern most of you
    this week.

    Also note, that I have put this issue's MP3 voice recording on a
    Taiwan server so the download time should be much faster than
    previous issues. Please let me know if you find it faster. I
    would really appreciate the feedback.
    (969K MP3 Lesson Recording,
    http://home.pchome.com.tw/education/path2english/MP3-032-01.mp3)

                                                           JacksonFive

THIS WEEK's FEATURED ARTICLE:

    "Growing Pains"

ARTICLE:

For the last week or so, many of my students didn't seem like their
"regular self" (usual self). I asked if they were OK. In one
particular case, she told me she was concerned about the future of
Taiwan and her children's future. She was worried about the
unstable political situation in Taiwan.

To comfort her, I told her that the 4th nuclear power plant isn't
that significant to the economic future of Taiwan. However, she told
me that she is worried that this is not the illness, but only one
symptom of the bigger politic situation facing the new government.

Honestly, what is happening in Taiwan? From a World "perspective"
(def: view), what is happening now is totally expected. Any country
that has the same government or political party in power for such a
long time will go through quite a "shake up" when this party leaves
power (def: period of instability). This happens in many countries
around the world. It isn't anything new!

Cheer up! Is it really better in other countries? Being a Canadian,
I can tell you that the political problems Taiwanese people are
facing right now isn't anything. A few years ago, Canada almost broke
up as a country because of the "Quebec Separatist Movement". If this
happened, I don't know what country's passport I would have ;-(
Did you know about it or remember it? Maybe not, because it is
natural to remember the best things about other people's country,
while only remembering the worst things about our own.

I agree with my student above that the 4th nuclear power plant isn't
the cause but only a symptom, but a symptom of what. I believe it is
the symptom of "democracy". Democracy isn't a perfect system or the
only system available. However, if true democracy is what Taiwanese
people want, please be ready for the "side effects", including the
possible removal of the new president.

So don't worry, be happy! If Taiwanese people would like more than
one party ruling the country, this is the natural "growing pains" and
"necessary evil". For better or worse, Taiwan needs to go through a
period of adjustment, both politically and culturally to "true
democracy".

Cheer up Taiwan! You have become like the West in every way. What
you are going through now won't last forever, and the future will be
better not worst for your children ^_^

(I'm not a supporter of DPP or any other party, and I express no
   political views with this article. If anything, I think it is
   healthy for any country to "rotate" the party in power, any party.
   Remember the saying, "Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts
   Absolutely?" This is a lesson we can learn from World history, again
   and again.)

NEXT WEEK's FEATURED ARTICLE:

    "Number Worries?"

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