Assignment 11 - Asking a question on BBC Learning English Message Board

How can I say that ?

Hi,

I wonder how to express that situation if I want to describe that someone feels sorry but still have to tell the truth because it is necessary. Could anyone help me to come up with an example sentence?

Thank you already.

Chenghsien

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(The following is posted by Robert J.)

A: "I know you're sorry, but only being sorry just won't cut it; you still have to tell the truth."

B: "You can't handle the truth!" (29th most famous line in motion picture history)

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I asked a question on learning English Message Board last night. It's been about two hours before I got Robert's reply. At first, I am worried about whether nobody want to answer my question. I'm glad to get a reply finally. The following is the website of my discussion.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mble/F2712585?thread=6653117

Assignment 10 - Comment about Academic Earth

Fisrt of all, I have chosen Academic Earth to explore. I found a lecture to watch by subject. I picked the one " Introduction and Lumped Circuit Abstration" , and it's produced by MIT. I have watched it for about thirty minutes. And I found they also offered the notes of PDF file. I think that's convenient and neat for everyone to consult. What they offerd really let me have the opportunity to experience the feelings of learning abroad. Even though there are something to be desired, like the lack of amount of lectures, it's sitll a nice website for learning not only English but academic subjects as well. 

The following is the websites of Academic Earth:
http://academicearth.org/ 

Assignment 9 - Radiotime

Program name: Free Talk Live – Keene, NH

What’s on your mind? Unlike those right-wing or left-liberal extremist shows, Free Talk Live is talk radio that ANYONE can take control of. Yes, even you. Free Talk Live is the next generation of issues oriented talk. What is the meaning of freedom? This show is about Liberty with a capital L.
http://radiotime.com/station/s_88606/Free_Talk_Live.aspx

Comment:
I think it is quite like a group of people with unique thoughts gathering there discussing the current or past issues. At first, I was attracted by the phrase” free talk” and clicked in. Then I found the way they were talking met what I expected. It’s just like normal conversation I might have in day lives. Although what they were discussing about are a bit difficult for me to understand, it’s still all right.

Assignment 8 - "Your Song" by Elton John

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It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money but boy if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live


If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song and this one's for you


And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on

So excuse me forgetting but these things I do
You see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue
Anyway the thing is what I really mean
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

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Actually, I first knew this song from this semester's class, Learning English through English Songs, I've signed. I have learnt a lot of songs and their behind cultural meanings in that class. However, because there are too many songs I can choose from, I chose this song "Your Song" by Elton John, which impressed me so much by it's beautiful melody and lyrics.

As I knew, he was not so famous until this album released. And he is a six time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. He also has done many legends in his field. He even has been ranked #49 on the list of The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, by Rolling Stone Magazine, in 2004.

Although it's kind of like a old song, it is certainly a classic one. Even now, there are still many people following this song.

Assignment 7- Commercial from YouTube

It did took me a great deal of time to choose from so many commercials on youtube. Eventually, I choose this one because it did remind me of the importance of learning English, especially listening and speaking ability.

I thought this scene is in a Germany battleship. The newcomer is learning about the environment and something else from his supervisor. After that, the man receives an urgent radiogram which says "Hello, is there anyone... We... are sinking...we are sinking..." However, the guy seems not nervous and reply "Hello?What are you thinking about??"

Well, it's ironic that I misundersood "sinking" as "thinking" at first time, too. But after then, I gradually realized the actual meaning. ha ha...
I hope this kind of situation never happen to me.

Assignment 6 - ESL Podcast 466 Having a Good or Bad Bedside Manner

I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a doctor.
*I don't know whether I'm created to be a doctor.
cut out: to have the talent for sth. or to be born to be sth

You have a great bedside manner.
*You treat your patient nice.

He just blurted it out.
*He just said it without thinking first.

Diagnosis: the conclusion about medical problem
Prognosis: opinions about how your health will change in the future
-gonosis: the opinions of a doctor

He didn't even try to soften the news.
*He didn't even make an attempt to tell a white lie about the news.
Soften: to make something less unpleasant and more acceptable
idiom: soften the blow

comfort and reassure there are used in similar meaning.
if you comfort or reassure others, they will feel better and more confident.

It didn't seem to faze him that the patient was very upset and close to hysterics.
*It didn't seem to bother him that the patient was very unhappy and almost going crazy.

I'll try to remember to be more compassionate with my patients.
*I'll try to keep in mind that I have to be more sympathetic toward my patients.
Compassionate: caring, kind and nice.

It's against your nature to be anything but considerate.
*It's opposite to your nature to be mean.
because there are two negative words, the adjective finally turns back into the original meaning.
in other words, so I could say " your nature is to be considerate." But if I said that, it's less emphasis on the description.

Assignment5- Five Expressions Learned from Randall's ESL-Lab

I chose "Daily Schedule" and "A Healthy Lifestyle" as my lessons to practice, and the former is in easy level and the later is in medium level. The following are the five expressions I've learned from the two clips.

1. to set aside time/money for
2. to abandon the idea/plan
3. to cut back on the fatty foods/the cigarettes
4. to take up a little weight training/exercise
5. to build up your cardiovascular system/vocabulary

I found them very usefull and frequently applied, so I chose them to be into my learning list. Although I have seen them before, I seldom used them in my talking and composition. I think these expressions worth memorizing. 

    

Assignment4- Comment on Corpus-Based Tools

Before I learned about those corpus-based tools, such as concordancers and colocation retrieval systems, I was really unaware of them and only used some dictionaries online. After I got more acquainted with them, I found they are not only useful but also powerful for some particular purposes. For instance, if I want to know which word to collocate with or the frequency of its showing up, I can just look it up through those systems.
As far as I am concerned, I think that I may use them as second assistant tools. That's because I more often look words up through dictionaries so far. However, I still consider them excellent assistant tools to use. If I can't find the information I need in dictionaries, then it's just good time to turn to them.
The two main difficulties I have encountered in using them are the large information to orgenize in the right way and the differences between various corpora. For the third assignment, I apparently made many mistakes in analyzing, and it may make me misunderstand them in the future. So it will take me a lot of efforts to master it. Secondly, it is also important to know exactly where the data come from. If I don't know that, I might make the sentences inappropriate.

Assignment3 - The Differences Between Big and Large

After last lecture, I have known how to make great use of corpora and learn English with new tools. And, this week's homework is to find out the differences between "big" and "large" by using corpus resource. As to me, it's really tough to distinguish the two similar words before. But now, I finally discover some differences between them. The following is what I define to organize them:

Big: to describe something abstractly or you are not quite sure of its exact amount, range or extent.
EX:controversy, client, city, art, adverture, event, issue, loser, personality, power, problem, role, success, winner, account.

Large: to describe, especially,an object physically, like volume and amounts. Or to say something which have particular size, like clothes, shoes, cups of drink, household appliances and so on.
EX: aircraft, amount, volume, chunk of, city, collection, screen, ship, crowds, family, fortune.

Because all the above is just my inference, please help me to revise it and share your ideas with me if you find anything wrong.

Assignment 2 - Two Confusing words

After last Thursday's class, I realized that there are plenty resources of

online dictionaries which are really convenient to reach for.

After then, I made a list of dictionaries websites in my blog for further use.

I have looked up a learner's dictionary to try to find out the differences

between the two words which used to make me feel confused .

The two simple words are "lovely" and "cute".

I chose some key sentences I thought explaining the differences from the dictionary.

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Lovely: attractive or beautiful especially in a graceful way

For example: She was wearing a lovely dress.

Cute: having a pleasing and usually youthful appearance

For example: What a cute little baby!

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In addition, I also found that "cute" has a special meaning in US.

It can also be used to say someone is attractive in a sexual way.

In other words, it's like "hot" and "sexy" in that sense.

It reminds me that I have to think twice before saying someone is cute.

About me

Hello everyone who comes here!

Let me introduce myself first.

My name is Johnny, and now I live in Keelung my hometown.

I am a sophomore in NTUST and will major in Electronics Engineering.

I am so glad that I could have the chance to enter this scool to study.

In my free time, I like doing exercise, watching movies, and surfing the Internet.

The sports I like the most are badminton, table-tennis, and swimming.

At present, I am taking a part-time job as an tutor online to pay for my essential expense.

The reasons why I took this course are to learn some usefull resources and to make some

changes of the way I used to keep in studying.

I hope that I could learn a lot from this course CALL and make a lot of friends in class.

Thanks for finishing!


Good luck~