Dear Students, sunshine of my life :

  Your homework assignment for the week of April 6 - 10 , 2009 is as described below.

        Comedy :

Please be prepared to be funny in English in class.

The Purpose of this class is to learn something about  American comedy , while learning English and having fun.

Please learn the following vocabulary :

  comedy comedienne comedian comedic  {romantic comedy} slapstick sophisticated {straight man}joke limerick { the three stooges}humor

Have fun

Allen

• Homework Assignment For The Week Of March 30 - April 3 , 2009

  Mar 21, 2009, 9:27 pm edit

  Dear Students:
    Your lesson for the week  of March 30- April 3 ,2009 is as described below :

• 
        " Passionate Kisses " 
  

•  Please come to class prepared to tell me the meanings of the words and phrases I have underlined and the meaning of the song. I will want to know what you are passionate about. Please consider this carefully and be prepared to "think on your feet." Please make sure to either copy or write down the lyrics and bring them to class. I will play the song for you.I will now give you a little hint. Many American songs have deep hidden meaning. A lot of metaphor will be used.This song does not have a very deep meaning. It's a fun simple song. It is right on the surface. This is NOT a difficult assignment. Please do NOT make it any more difficult on yourselves than it needs to be.

   I will also want you to find the lyrics to the following few songs all by Mary Chapin Carpenter.

   " Down At The Twist And Shout "

          " I Feel Lucky "

          " The Hard Way "

       " Shut Up And Kiss Me "
  

  The goal of this lesson is threefold.:
        1: To help you learn some new vocabulary.
        2: To help you understand how people's life experiences effect the culture in the form of music in this case but also literature , art , food , architecture etc etc.
        3: To impart some practical real life knowledge based upon experience.
  See you in class

• 
  Allen 
  

•                                                                                                  "Passionate Kisses "

   By Mary Chapin Carpenter
  

  Is it too much to ask
  I want a comfortable bed that won't hurt my back
  Food to fill me up
  And warm clothes and all that stuff
  Shouldn't I have this
  Shouldn't I have this
  Shouldn't I have all of this, and
  Passionate kisses
  Passionate kisses, whoa oh oh
  Passionate kisses from you
  
  Is it too much to demand
  I want a full house and a rock and roll band
  Pens that won't run out of ink
  And cool quiet and time to think
  Shouldn't I have this
  Shouldn't I have this
  Shouldn't I have all of this, and
  
  Passionate kisses
  Passionate kisses, whoa oh oh
  Passionate kisses from you
  
  Do I want too much
  Am I going overboard to want that touch
  I shout it out to the night
  "Give me what I deserve, 'cause it's my right"
  Shouldn't I have this (shouldn't I)
  Shouldn't I have this (shouldn't I)
  Shouldn't I have all of this, and
  
  Passionate kisses
  Passionate kisses, whoa oh oh
  Passionate kisses from you
  Passionate kisses
  Passionate kisses, whoa oh oh
  Passionate kisses from you
   
  

  

Dear Students  :

 Now that we have become a bit more familiar with each other and you have an idea what to expect in my classes I think the time has come for me to discuss how I will grade you.

  There will be basically three tiers of scoring. These tiers will be based almost exclusively upon your effort.

 Tier 1 : 87 % - 100 %

    This tier will be for those students that do their homework ALL the time , that come to class fully prepared ALL the time , that participate in class fully ALL the time , that attend ALL the classes. In other words the best students based upon their effort in my class.

 Tier 2 : 74% - 86%

   This tier will be for the next group of students that do all of the above but only some of the time.

 Tier 3 : 60 % - 73 %

 This tier will be for the last group of students that do very little of the above seldom.

Tier 4 :

   This will be for the students that fail. I hope there would be no students that fail but I suspect that there will be a few.

 Students the grade that you get is entirely up to you. Those that work hard will get a good grade. Please keep in mind that I don't care how good your English is.   If you can't speak  well but you make a great effort you will get a good grade. If you can speak well and make little or no effort your grade will reflect that lack of effort on your part.

 Remember winners make money , losers make excuses. It's your choice whether to be a winner or loser.

 If your mark is not what you expect there will be nobody to blame except yourself.

Now JUST DO IT!!!

Allen

 

Dear Students:

  Your lesson for the week  of March 23 - 27 ,2009 is as described below :

             "Where Corn Don't Grow"

Please come to class prepared to tell me the meanings of the words and phrases I have underlined and the meaning of the song. I will also ask you questions about how this song effects your life or how it may effect your life in the future. Please consider this carefully and be prepared to "think on your feet." Please make sure to either copy or write down the lyrics and bring them to class. I will play the song for you.I will now give you a little hint. Many American songs have deep hidden meaning. A lot of metaphor will be used.This song has a very deep meaning but it is not hidden. It is right on the surface. This is NOT a difficult assignment. Please do NOT make it any more difficult on yourselves than it needs to be.

The goal of this lesson is threefold.:

      1: To help you learn some new vocabulary.
      2: To help you understand how people's life experiences effect the culture in the form of music in this case but also literature , art , food , architecture etc etc.
      3: To impart some practical real life knowledge based upon experience.

See you in class

Allen

As we sat on the front porch
Of that old grey house where I was born and raised
Starin' at the dusty fields
Where my daddy worked hard every day
I think it kinda hurt him when I said Daddy
There's a lot that I don't know
But don't you ever dream about a life
Where corn don't grow

He just sat there silent
Staring at his favorite coffee cup
I saw a storm of mixed emotion in his eyes
When he looked up
He said Son I know at your age
Seems like this ol' world is turning slow
And you think you'll find the answer to it all
Where corn don't grow

Hard times are real
There's dusty fields
No matter where you go
You may change your mind
'Cause the weeds are high
Where corn don't grow

I remember feeling guilty
When Daddy turned and walked back in the house
I was only seventeen back then
But I thought that I knew more than I know now
I can't say he didn't warn me
This city life's a hard row to hoe
Ain't it funny how a dream can turn around
Where corn don't grow

Hard times are real
There's dusty fields
No matter where you go
And you may change your mind
'Cause the weeds are high
Where corn don't grow

You may change your mind
Oh the weeds are high
Where corn don't grow

 Dear Students :

     Your homework assignment for the week of March 16 - March 20 , 2009 is as described below.

   
     " It's A Man's World "
         By James Brown

You will need three things to best understand this lesson.

1. The ability to laugh at  yourselves.

2. The ability to make an apology. Many of you will need to.

3. An understanding of the following phrases : " Behind every successful man is an amazed mother in law." " A Woman's place is in the kitchen "
    I'll give you a hint about these phrases. If you don't know what they mean try Babelfish. www.babelfish.com

The purpose of this lesson will become clear to you at the conclusion of the lesson.

Warmest regards. Have a nice day.

Allen


  It's A Man's World

  By James Brown

This is a man's world, this is a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

You see, man made the cars to take us over the road
Man made the trains to carry heavy loads
Man made electric light to take us out of the dark
Man made the boat for the water, like Noah made the ark

This is a man's, a man's, a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

Man thinks about a little baby girls and a baby boys
Man makes then happy 'cause man makes them toys
And after man has made everything, everything he can
You know that man makes money to buy from other man

This is a man's world
But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl

He's lost in the wilderness
He's lost in bitterness
                                                                

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Homework Assignment For The Week Of Monday March 19 - Friday March 13 , 2009

March 2 , 2009

Dear Students :

 

 Your homework assignment for next week is as follows. I would like you to answer  the following questions. Please turn in your homework in a type written form.

 

1. What is your name ? { Chinese , Pin Yin and English }

2.What is  your hometown?{ City and Province please }

3. What is your class number?

4. What is your student identification number?

5. What is your major?

6. How many people are there in your family?

7.  What are your hobbies?

8. How much time do you spend on your hobbies each week?

9.  What do you think is the most important job of a teacher?

10. Do you like music?

11. Do you like movies?

12.  Would you like to use movies and music as learning tools for your lessons?

13. What would you like to learn this semester?

14. Did you enjoy your first class? Why or why not?

15. What is your e-mail address? If you don't have one please get one.

16.What is you mobile phone number?

17. Do you own a computer? Do you have it with you on campus?

See you in class. Have a nice day.

Allen

P.S. : Don't lose your head over this assignment.