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conversation day 9

2009-07-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

Conversation Day 9

- Tell me about your favourite subjects in school.

My favourite subject is Physical Education. Firstly,it makes me active and fit. Usually I will feel extremely tired when I am in class listening to the teacher. Physical Education helps to enlighten me up and always after the lesson,I feel more awake. Secondly,Physical Education is fun and enjoyable. I get to move around during this lesson. I also get to play sports like basketball,volleyball and football which are all fun and exciting. As I love sports too,Physical Education is my favourite subject.

- What would you like to study after you graduate from school?

I would like to continue my studies on maths and sciences as these are my best subjects. Knowing a lot on maths and sciences can give me many choices. I might even grow up to be a doctor or a scientist!

- Do you think everyone should go to university? Why or why not?

It is best that everyone is able to go into university. Going into university might give us a better job in future and lead us to a better life. However,we should not force ourselves to go into university for further studies. Unless we have the confidence to strive harder,we should not fore ourselves to enter university just because it is good. Some people cannot manage to coop in their studies and drop out. Thus we should go into a university only if we really want to go and not by forcing.

- Why is science an important subject?

Science is everywhere around us. To understand more about our surroundings and the environment,science is the only subject that gives us the answer. Sciences tells us reasons of what is happening around us and shows us the logics in life. Science is everywhere,without it,no one will understand the things happening around us.

- How would you encourage young children to take interest in science?

I would tell them what is science all about and how fun science can really be in life. As science is happening every second around us,science is the answer to the childrens' curiousity. Maybe to let them know more about science,I could bring them to the Singapore Science Centre to learn more about the interesting facts of science. To the young children,science can be as fun as magic,and there are logics behind it that make it interesting.

- What do you think of the view that boys make better scientists than girls?

I would agree on this statement. To me,I would think that boys are better in subjects like maths and science,while girls are better in subjects like the languages. Thus,this makes boys to be better scientists. Most boys pursue towards the subjects on science and maths rather than other subjects. I have seen many male scientists nowadays and they are much more than the female scientists. There are also research showing that more boys would prefer science,and want to grow up to have a job related to science. Thus i agree that boys make better scientists.

picture discussion day 9

2009-07-10T06:05:00.000-07:00

Picture Discussion Day 9

- Why are these students wearing this particular clothing?

They have to wear this clothing as they are students doing experiments and they are undergraduates,thus if they are becoming doctors or professors,they have to wear this clothing.

- How do you think they are feeling about the activity?

They are all having fun while do the experiments by the looks on their faces. They are smiling and laughing while having the keen and passion to learn. Perhaps they felt that this lesson was enjoyable and interesting. As they are doing experiments in groups,they are interacting with each other well while completing the experiment.

- What do you think the students might do after the activity?

Being close friends and classmates,if they have the time,they might go for lunch together,perhaps chatting about the experiment that they did together whils having their lunch.Other than having a lunch together,they might go to a library together to do some research on the experiment they have completed.

conversation day 7

2009-07-10T05:37:00.000-07:00

Conversation Day 7

- Tell me about the house or apartment where you live.

I live in a terrace house,where I have a small garden. The house is rather big and spacious,and it is quiet as usually there are little people at home.

- Do you think you are a tidy and organised person?

I think that I am not really a tidy and organised person. I always leave my things on the table or chair and run upstairs to watch television whenever I reached home. Only some of the time,I bothered to pack my stuff and keep my things neat and tidy. Usually,I leave things around and do not bother to keep them. Therefore being an untidy person,I sometimes lose things and cannot find them anywhere.

- How do you keep the house or apartment clean?

Usually,it is my maid doing the job of keeping the house clean but when I have the time,I always helped her by sweeping or moping the floor. As I hate dust and dirt lying around,I will clean the floor thoroughly so that the floor looks extremely shiny,clean and save from pests. Also,during some public holidays,my whole family cleans the whole house together and clear all the unwanted items in the house. This ensures that there are not too many old things that are unwanted lying around in the house.

- How important do you think hygiene is?

I think hygiene is extremely important. We need to keep ourselves and the place that we stay clean to prevent spreading of diseases. Hygiene is also very important as it gives us a good impression to others. If we keep ourselves clean,there will be much less harm to us and the others around.

- When might it be difficult to have good hygiene?

Usually it will be difficult to have good hygiene during periods where there are activitieswhich make us dirty. For example,when we do sports,we get sweaty and dirty after exercising,thus it will be difficult to have good hygiene at that point of time.

- Can you think of any problems with being too hygienic?

Being too hygienic is really bad as it shows people that you are rather weird. For example,a person being too hygienic will bathe himself at least 6 times a day,will wash his hands after touching anything and clean his house everytime he sees a speck of dust on the floor. These are actually ways that can keep hygienic,but it has gone overboard.

picture discussion day 7

2009-07-10T04:09:00.000-07:00

Picture Discussion Day 7

- Why do you think these people are trying to make the area so clean?

As cleanliness is one of the priorities in public,hawker centres have to be clean so that the public can use the tables while eating without complaining about cleanliness. Also,to not scare away people from coming to the hawker centres,they must keep the hawker centre clean,with no pests and dirt. Making the hawker centre clean also keeps a more healthy and clean environment. Cleaning the place up can reduce the chance of diseases spreading aroung the hawker centre.

- Describe how the location might look on a normal day.

On a normal day,the place might be quite crowded during meal times,and more quiet during periods between meals. Many people come to hawker cantres to eat during lunch and dinner time,so the place will be more crowded during those times. Also,people like the elderly tend to come during periods between meals as they have a lot of time,so that there would be lesser people and thus be able to meet with their friends.

- What do you think the woman on the far right of the picture might be thinking?

The woman might be thinking that cleaning the hawker centre is tiring,by the looks on her face. She is helping out in cleaning the hawker centre by spraying water on the floor for cleaning. She might also be thinking that it is embarrassing that so many people are watching them cleaning the whole hawker centre.

conversation day 5

2009-07-10T03:18:00.000-07:00

Conversation Day 5

- Tell me about a subject at school you enjoy.

I enjoy mathematics in school. It is easy,fun and requires great thinking skills,which makes the subject interesting. It just requires the knowing of formulas,a lot of practice and mathematics will be very simple.

- Do you like working with your hands? Why,or why not?

I like working with my hands. It is more creative and interesting using hands than always just writing on a piece of paper. Working with my hands can make learning more simple and fun too. However,in some cases I also dislike using my hands to work. For example,in biology or chemistry experiments,I would get to touch chemicals which are sometimes disgusting,or I get to experiments which require boiling. This makes the using of hands to work more dangerous.

- Is it better to learn from doing things,or from reading about them?

Actually,it depends on the person's preference. The persons's preference determines if he is better to learn from doing things or from reading them. Sometimes a person learns more from doing things as they will remember it more clearly after the do it finish,while some people can remember more clearly by reading things. For me, I am better to learn from doing things. As i am not that good at reading and then memorising, doing things give me the experience of it,thus making me learn faster and better.

- Do you think some subjects are more important than others in school?

No,I think all subjects in school are equally important. All the subjects are relevant in our daily lives,and each different subject is improtant for our future,therefore all subjects are important. I have seen people saying that only some subjects are important but i disagree with that. The person might say some subjects are important due to his preference,not the importance. Even for myself,though i dislike subjects like the languages,history and geography,but that does not mean it is not important. Thus,all subjects in school are important.

- If you could re-design your school timetable,what changes would you make to it?

I would make an excursion out of the school where students get to learn more about the outside world. It will use up one day every month during curriculum time. This can help make learning more fun and interesting,while students will not only get to learn things in school.

- Do you think school prepares you well for life?

Yes. It gives us a good education and helps improve in our studies. It gives us the experience in all the subjects we learn,which is related to our future lives. School shows us th path we are taking in future and prepares us for life. For example,in job interviews,we have to gain majority of those knowledge in school. Thus,school prepares us well for life.

picture discussion day 5

2009-07-10T02:56:00.000-07:00

Picture Discussion Day 5

- What do you think the woman on the left might be thinking?

The woman on the left might be thinking of guiding the students in this experiment and finding ways of helping them in this experiment. She is also trying to explain the details on this experiment and showing to the students how the experiment of the structure works.

- What might the woman have been doing earlier in the day?

As the woman on the left is a teacher,she might be teaching other students on this experiment too. The experiment seemed to be difficult for these students to understand,therefore the teachers have to go around explaining to other students in the class to help them understand more about this experiment.

- Why do you think none of the students is smiling?

One possible reason is that the students are all listening to the teacher carefully and treat the experiment very seriously. As there might be a test coming up,the students have to understand the experiment,so they are trying out the experiment seriously. Another reason that the students are not smiling is that the students are tired and bored of the lesson already. This might be the last lesson of the day and the students might be very tired and are wanting to go back home to have a rest. Furthermore,the students might also hate lessons in school as the lessons are really boring,thus the students are also bored and are not smiling.

conversation day 3

2009-07-10T02:29:00.000-07:00

Conversation Day 3

- Tell me about a competition you entered. How seriously did you approached it?

I have entered into a swimming competition before. I did train for the competition every week and I treated it quite seriously. However as the other competitors were much better,I did not won any trophies.

- Do you enjoy competing?

Yes,I enjoyed the competing very much. It was really fun to try competing with other people,and I also get to go swimming every week before the competition starts. Though I did not got any trophies,I did not felt sad after all. It is really important to have fun in the activities I participated in.

- Some people say that children should take part in more outdoor activities. What do you think?

I think that children can stay at home and enjoy doing their hobbies. However,they should also take part in outdoor activities. By doing this,the proportion of taking part in indoor and outdoor activities will be more equalized.

- Why do many children enjoy computer and/or videos games?

I think there are many reasons that children enjoy computer and video games. Firstly,children like having lots of fun. These type of games give children lots of fun and thrill. Thus children play these games to enjoy and have fun. Secondly,through these games,they get to interact with many friends,whether if it is their classmates,friends or public people. These games allow children to play with each other and interact. Thirdly,children might play these games to either burn time or to escape from doing work. Children use the time of doing the homework to play games as they are either bored of doing work or they hate homework.

- What do you think might be some of the disadvantages of these games?

There are many disadvantages to these games. Children might get addicted by these games,therefore not doing their homework and deteoriate in their studies. As these games are like a virtual world,children might get sucked into these games and get addicted. As a result,they will not do homework and play everyday while their studies slowly deteoriate. These games are also bad for health. They spoil childrens' eyesight and staying too long on these games can result in sleepiness,lost of appetite and worst,children become violent after playing games containing violence.

picture discussion day 3

2009-07-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Picture Discussion Day 3

- What do you think these people are planning to do?

These people are planning to build sandcastles and to enjoy playing sand on the beach. They are having fun building the sandcastles together. They might be trying to have a competition on which team can build the biggest and largest sandcastle.

- What is the role of the woman on the right?

The woman on the right is to teach the children how to build structures properly and nicely using the sand on the beach. As the children might not be good in making sandcastles,and there might be techniques on the way to build sandcastles,the woman on the right have to teach and guide the children.

- What othar activities might these people do during the day?

They might go for a swim in the sea and enjoy the playing of water,have a picnic under a coconut tree for breakfast or maybe play ball games like beachball or volleyball there to keep themselves active. In addition,they might bring some of their toys and play them on the beach with the sand.

conversation day 1

2009-07-06T08:13:00.000-07:00

Conversation Day 1

- Tell me about an elderly relative of yours. What have you learnt from this person?

I learnt to have manners towards anyone i know in the society and most importantly,to my family members,close friends and relatives.

- If you could do something special for him/her,what would it be?

I would want to help him,if he has any targets that he have not in his entire life,and help him achieve it before the passes away,to fulfil his wishes.

- What is your view on where,and how,elderly people should live?

I think that elderly people should live in their family's home,so that his family members are able to take care of him until he passes away. As an elderly have done so much for his family members and the society when he is young,the elderly should have lots of rest and lead a peaceful and great time for his remaining life.

- If you could design a special home for the elderly,what would it include?

I would include a televesion set for them to view what is happening in the outside world,a mini park for them to relax at and do some outdoor activities to keep themselves more active,more voluntary workers to take care of them,a spacious room for all the elderly to interact with each other and other better facilities.

- Should healthcare and nursing homes for the elderly be free of charge?

It should be free of charge as the family members might have difficulties in paying for the healthcare if it is not free of charge. It would not be fair if it charges money and the rich can afford while the poor cannot afford. Furthermore,the nursing home is voluntary,thus the expenses for the nursing home will not be very expensive,and the healthcare should be free of charge.

picture discussion day 1

2009-07-06T07:30:00.000-07:00

Picture Discussion Day 1

- Why do you think these people are here?

These elderly people are here as firstly,their families have not enough income to take care of them at home. Either the family is too poor or the family members have no jobs to have any income. Secondly,all his family members have not enough time to take care of them. There may also be no close friend or relative they know to help take care of the elderly. Thus their only choice left might be to send them to a nursing home.Thirdly,it is that the family members all do not care about their elderly and want to get rid of them by sending them to a nursing home.

- Do you think the people in this picture are enjoying themselves?

Yes the elderly people are enjoying themselves. The picture shows the helpers passing a ball to each elderly so let the elderly be more active.

- Describe what a day in the life or a resident in this nursing home might be like.

A day in the nursing home might be like going about the nursing home and participating activities to keep active,with the helpers trying to help out in the physical problems you have. There may be people from the public coming to visit the nursing home too so a person might be able to meet someone in the outside world and interact with each other.

Term 1 Week 10 journal entry

2009-03-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last week,there was a new maths teacher teaching us as our old teacher has retired. We were having high hopes that this new teacher will treat us well and have great teaching skills. However,it was totally disparate from what we had expected. As the teacher was teaching,my whole class realised that her explanations were very nebulous. Thus,my class had vicissitudes in doing our assignments and homework. In addition,when we asked for help in our assignments,instead of explaining to us all over again,she reviled us that we are wasting her time and indicted us that we did not listen in class. I felt extremely frustrated and lugubrious about this incident.

Term 1 Week 9 journal entry

2009-03-23T07:20:00.000-07:00

In order to improve Ruritania's financial position,an astute but parsimonious treasurer was installed and given wide pecuniary powers. He tried to get the little country back on its own feet by slashing all waste from its budget,dismantling King Andre's sumptuous palaces,and firing all incompetents. In addition,Prince Schubert was able to get the United States to underwrite a substantial loan that would enable him to start a program of public works. Even so,Ruritania was still in desperate trouble.

Term 1 Week 8 journal entry

2009-03-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

When I was young,I always crave to create my own computer game. After many years,I finally had the chance to do it. I planned to create a game of many tortuous mazes in a pyramid full of mummies. I had surveyed the popularity of this gamje and it was very positive. Therefore,I started creating the game using different computer technologies. However,I did not notice that I was gradually making the game irrelevant. As it was my first time doing this kind of stuff,I had made the game too difficult and tough to play. Thus,lesser and lesser people played the game,and many gave negative feedback. I was dumbfounded,and I started to modify the game to make it simpler,and accommodate to the peoples' recommendations. Now,my game was extremely popular,which was played internationally.

Term 1 Week 7 journal entry

2009-03-23T06:17:00.000-07:00

After walking out of the games shop,I carried my computer game that i have just bought and rushed home. I quickly started the game once i put in the disc. It was a game of labyrinth, which was a game of thinking and strategy. The game was enigmatic as I had to think of a way to walk pass the labyrinth safely,avoiding creatures and dodging fallacious traps. As there was also a time limit each level,I had to rack my brains and evaluate the number of steps taken for the shortest route. As I was assiduously playing the game,I fell into a subterfuge and had to play the level all over again! What an interesting game!

Term 1 Week 6 journal entry

2009-03-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

On a sunday,my friends and I went to the park in a coterie to our cache. As we reached the park,it was like a natural habitat. I could smell the saturated fresh air in the surroundings. As we went into our cache,we shared about the matters in our respective secondary school. We were gregarious while chatting with each other. Every week we had fun together in the park,which had became my childhood memory.

Term 1 Week 5 journal entry

2009-03-12T20:41:00.000-07:00

After waking up, he felt refreshed. As he look out through his balcony, a grin appeared on his face, thinking that he was the paragon for great successful man. His ravage across the villages would definitely be a landmark victory for him. Out of the sudden, his daughter walked towards him, with the pleasant smile on her face. Not wanting to fetter his mood, he declaimed his own daughter. She, knowing that his father was furious again, started sobbing and imeediately ran off with an unhappy face. His father display of asperity saddens her, but it cannot be helped. What she was was totally different from her parents...

Term 1 Week 4 journal entry

2009-03-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

Until now,I had no goal in life. When i was young,i aspired to be a millionaire,where i could live in a mammoth mansion with my family. However,it seemed like it will only happen in a million years time. I could only lay supine on my back while daydreaming,as I almost gave up in finding a job. About 2 years ago,I borrowed money from my parents to set up a convenient store. However,i was careless in managing the store,and therefore the store had to be closed down. All my efforts went down the drain,and my parents were disappointed in me too. Then,I became a waiter in a restaurant. As i was really lousy in that job,it went into a havoc. Customers complaint about my poor service and i was fired. Today,I still did not have the valor to find a new job for myself.

Term 1 Week 3 journal entry

2009-03-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

After being locked in prison for months,I decided to break out of the prison. Inchoate ideas of evil plans swirled in my mind as i thought. As i knew that my prison room was located at the corner of entire building,and the prison room floor was sand and soil instead of concrete,I started digging an subterranean tunnel. It took about 2 weeks to complete the whole escape tunnel. I went down the tunnel,and with surreptitious movements,I reached to outer side of the prison. It was my ultimate goal to subjugate the world now!

Term 1 Week 2 journal entry

2009-03-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

On a sunday afternoon,I found this hawker centre which was very prestigious. It was like an ilk of utopia,as the place was almost as perfect as a restaurant. It sells a greater variety of food than other hawker centres and the surrounding was sparkling clean. The stall holders wore a kind of "uniform",which was similar as the principle of the school,where all students had to wear uniforms. In this hawker centre, these stall holders dress themselves with the "hawker uniforms" in a flamboyant way,which made the whole place attractive and creative. Then,when i was finding a seat,I had a fortuitous encounter,where i met my best friend at the hawker centre. This hawker centre was indeed a popular place.

Term 1 Week 1 journal entry

2009-03-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

During the June holidays when i was sec 2,it was disastrous. Teachers gave up piles of homework,which made everyone in my class totally upset. At home,instead of enjoying our holidays,my whole class was inundated with homework. While trying to complete our homework,many of us were garbled as of how to do the homework and the submission date of the homework when school reopens,so we had to contact one another to corroborate our querries. Although many of us were reluctant to do the homework,we had to coerce ourselves to prevent getting detention on the first day of scholl reopen. I really thought that teachers giving students too much homework during holidays is rather fruitless,as holidays are also mend for us to enjoy.