Learning Method & Psychology: Why Can't I Speak Fluent English?

Recently, I have received a question from a non-student over the internet asking me for English learning advice. I reckon her concern is rather common so I would like to share my suggestions with all of you.

The lady in the email mentioned that she needs to communicate with English-speaking foreigners face-to-face and through email, but she can't express what she thinks fluently. She even feels "helpless" when she faces them.

THE RIGHT MINDSET

Firstly, one should feel glad that they have the chance to communicate with English speakers at work, as there are many others who beg for the chance yet have not had the opportunity.

Secondly, foreigners are not terrifying. They are like any other human being, only that they speak a different language from yours. Babies speak their own language, which is very different from the adults' ones, but babies are not terrifying.

Thirdly, if you don't agree with my baby metaphor because you are not afraid of making mistakes when speaking to babies, but you think you are afraid of making mistakes when speaking to foreigners, then you are very wrong. Because even native speakers make mistakes! When you speak Chinese, you also make mistakes sometimes. Do you feel horrified when you make an error in speaking Chinese in front of others? No, you won't! Then what makes English more frightening than Chinese?

Lastly, if you come to the conclusion that it is because of your lack of confidence, then the best way to "grow" your confidence in speaking is to learn more, understand more and practise more! For instance, if you are afraid of cooking because you are afraid that you might burn down the house, then you learn more about cooking techniques, understand the principles of cooking safety, and then practise more cooking! Back to our point, if you are afraid of trying, then you learn more about trying, understand the benefits of trying, and then practise tryiing!

SUGGESTIONS

You do need to build confidence by speaking more often with foreigners, but before you get to meet any, you can prepare yourself well by working on the English on your own.

1. HEAR YOURSELF

First of all, if you know you are speaking the right English with the right grammar, you wouldn't panic as much, which was why I highly recommend getting a good grammar book and work on your grammar first. After doing these exercises on the books, read the sentences / examples out loud. This is to get used to hearing your own voice saying the right thing. Repeat that every 2 days. It doesn't matter you are reading the old examples again and again, most importantly, you are hearing yourself. When I say, hearing yourself, I mean, you are focusing on listening every word you are reading. In this way, you will improve your spoken grammar.

2. ENGLISH DAYDREAMING

There are many reasons for a person not being able to express themselves. Maybe it is lack of vocabulary, maybe it is lack of thinking in English, maybe it is a psychological barrier. If you like to think in Chinese, then from today, start reading some news articles and then give yourself a few minutes to discuss the topic as if a foreigner is asking you what you think, and you think completely in English. Practise that as often as you can, maybe when you are on the MTR, on the bus, or when you have nothing to do. This is what I called "English Daydreaming".

If you are interested in knowing more, please read my articles written on Learning Methods and Learning Psychology. You can find them on the right side of this blog under "Labels"

"In learning, there is no can't do, there is only how much you are willing to do." -- Locky

Health and Fitness: Liquorice Root (2nd Suggested Cure for Mouth Ulcers)

Liquorice Root
Image from topnews.in

WARNING: consult a doctor or a medical expert before trying!

Traditional Chinese medicine is widely appreciated, even by some westerners. Westerners travelling across the oceans to China to study Chinese medicine and to become doctors in mainland is no longer news. Nowadays, tough diseases which are seemingly incurable are facing strong challenges from Chinese herbology. Just to list one example, Shikimic acid, a primary feedstock used to create Tamiflu which is largely used to fights SARS virus, is produced from Chinese star anises. [1]

Chinese Star Anise
Image from ninecooks.typepad.com

It seems almost magical to me to find that apart from expensive Manuka honey, there is yet another low-cost natural herb that can cure my oral ulcers -- the slightly-sweet Liquorice /ˈlɪk.ər.ɪs/ Root.

Liquorice's sweetness comes partially from glycyrrhizic acid (GA), which is an anti-viral compound significantly sweeter than sugar. It is this acid that plays an important part in curing the mouth ulcers.[2]

From my personal experience, Manuka Honey works well before and when the mouth ulcers are first formed, while Liquorice root (brewed in hot water and then drinking the water) is effective even after trauma.

Liquorice is widely used in food and medicine worldwide. It is used in candies in the UK and the Netherlands, used in cakes in some parts of England such as Yorkshire and Lancashire, used in soft drinks in the Netherlands and Egypt, used as natural mouth-freshener in Italy and Spain, used in soy sauces, broths and medicine in China.[3]

In traditional Chinese medicine, liquorice is commonly used in herbal formulae to "harmonize" the other ingredients in the formula. [4]

In modern medicine, it is shown that the glycyrrhizic acid(GA) in liquorice inhibits liver cell injury caused by many chemicals and is used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis in Japan. It also inhibits the growth of several DNA and RNA viruses, inactivating herpes simplex virus particles irreversibly[5]

Despite the benefits, one should strongly note the toxicity of liquorice. Excessive consumption of liquorice or liquorice candy is known to be toxic to the liver and cardiovascular system, and may produce hypertension and oedema.[6]

The European Union suggests that people should not consume any more than 100 mg of glycyrrhizic acid(GA) a day, equivalent to approximately 50g of liquorice sweets[5] (assuming a content of 0.2% glycyrrhizic acid)[7]

But does the concentration of glycyrrhizic acid(GA) in the liquorice roots varies with cultivated areas? Yes. Here's the study done by a group of researchers in China. A preview can be read from here.

Then how much glycyrrhizic acid(GA) is there in 1 gram of liquorice root I bought from the medical store? Unknown.

So it is fair to say that it is very hard to tell how much liquorice root we should use in brewing the water, thus we had better be careful. One indicator is how sweet the brewed liquorice water is.

Since glycyrrhizic acid(GA) is 30-50 times as sweet as table sugar[5], then 1 gram of GA will taste like 30-50 grams of sugar. When I drink milk tea, I add 5 grams of sugar (a packet) only and I already find it sweet enough, therefore, in order not to exceed the maximum suggested intake of GA, which is 100mg / 0.1 g, then the brewed liquorice water (in my milk tea standard) should not be more than a tea cup (around 250ml), and should not be sweeter than 3 - 5 grams of sugar -- meaning not be sweeter than the milk tea.

In simple words, you should not drink more than a cup a day and it should be less sweeter than milk tea. (There are other ingredients in the liquorice root that will give the sweetness and not just from GA, but in the case of safety, it is better less than more.) Of course, it is better to consult a doctor or a medical expert before taking any actions, since you are dealing with medicine... but I just don't think they know the content of GA in the liquorice roots I bought.

Vocabulary:

trauma -- specialized (a) severe injury, usually caused by a violent attack or an accident

harmonize -- originally means "to add harmonies to a music tune", hereby used in a metaphorical way, which means "lowering the sharpness or great medical strengths of some other herbs"

inhibit -- to prevent someone from doing something, or to slow down a process or the growth of something

toxicity -- the level of poisonous substance

Resources:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_anise

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice#Cultivation_and_uses

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice#Use_in_alternative_medicine

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycyrrhizic_acid

[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice#Toxicity

[7] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8386690

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice_root

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphthous_ulcer#Non-prescription_treatments

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrhosis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_simplex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circulatory_system

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypertension

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedema

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquorice_(confectionery)

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=46509&dict=CALD&topic=common-plants

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=1096284&dict=CALD

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=40799&dict=CALD

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=35887&dict=CALD&topic=writing-reading-and-studying-music

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=84146&dict=CALD&topic=poisoning-and-allergy

http://www.springerlink.com/content/a70773561w617534/

http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=a70773561w617534&size=largest

Health and Fitness: Manuka Honey (1st Suggested Cure for Mouth Ulcers)

One of the methods that works for me is taking honey, but not just any kind of honey, it has to be a type of honey called Manuka Honey AND it must come with something called the UMF, which stands for Unique Manuka Factor. Many companies such as Comvita, sell Manuka honey at various UMF. In Hong Kong, the most commonly seen UMF numbers start from UMF5+, to UMF8+, 10+, 12+, 15+, 20+ or even higher. The price also increases with the value of the UMF.

The best Manuka honey comes from New Zealand, as it comes from the bees which feed on the flowers of the Manuka Bush, also known as the "Tea Tree", which produces honey that has anti-bacterial properties. [1]

Here I have a great video that explains the difference:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XOTExMDI1NDg

All honeys contain a chemical called Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) which provides the anti-bacteria properties of honey. However, Manuka Honeys with UMF produce a much better anti-bacterial activity and are much more stable and effective even in stringent conditions than the peroxide honeys. [2]

The non-peroxide antibacterial activity of Manuka honey is reported as the equivalent concentration of phenol with the same level of antibacterial activity. (For example, an Active Manuka Honey rated as 10 for its non-peroxide antibacterial activity will kill Staph. aureus as effectively as will a 10% phenol solution.)[3]

In short, the higher the UMF, the stronger the anti-bacterial strength the Manuka honey has, which means that the honey has higher strength to fight off bacteria.

In January 2008 Professor Thomas Henle, University of Dresden (Germany) identified methylglyoxal as the active compound in Manuka honey. This is now shown on products as MGO Manuka honey. E.g. MGO 100 represents 100 mg of methylglyoxal per kilogram.[4] Thus, you might also find MGO as an alternative name for UMF now in the market.

According to my lip-biting experience, I find UMF15+ or higher most effective and any honeys lower than UMF15+ are useless in healing my mouth ulcers, but any honeys above UMF10+ still show effectiveness in soothing my sore throat and protecting me from flu, cold and cough.

Generally, I take the honey 2 times a day, once before breakfast and once before sleep, and I swallow it slowly, allowing it to have more time to kill the bacteria in my mouth, thus curing the mouth ulcers.

Here I have a video of the famous Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins explaining how she uses Manuka Honey to recover her voice:

When purchasing UMF Manuka Honey, I don't go for brands, I go for price, so I will only get them when they are on sale. They are generally on sale in large supermarkets and a 50ml Manuka Honey of UMF15+ generally costs around $200.

Comvita is usually the one I never buy because they are too expensive.

Resources:

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuka_honey

[2] http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/special.shtml

[3] http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/selection.shtml

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospermum_scoparium

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XOTExMDI1NDg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzXCgFnnvZs

http://www.umf.org.nz/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katherine_Jenkins

Health and Fitness: Mouth Ulcers

Do you like French fries? KFC chicken? Crisps or Potato chips? Hot and Spicy food? Hotpot? Pop Corns?

I have to say I like all these, but as a person with strong discipline, I manage to restrict my appetite to just the hot and spicy food (Oh mine! Indian food I love them!), and I do not have them often. Unfortunately, that does not mean I suffer less from the side effect of "heatiness". And so what do I get most of the time?

Oral ulcers / Mouth ulcers (US English: Canker sores)

Mouth Ulcer
Image from wikipedia.org

The exact cause of oral ulcers is unknown[1], but there are many possibilities. As for my mouth ulcers, they usually appear after I bite my lips with my own teeth, which happens when I have consumed too much "heaty " food.

I have tried many different ways, eat less heaty food, apply sugar on the wound, apply salt on the wounds, applying fresh Aloe Vera onto the wounds, drink herbal tea, eat Guilinggao herbal jelly (as suggested by my ex-students), but none of these work for me.

When these don't work, the wounds grow bigger and bigger, and if there are multiple of them, they will eventually merge together, forming and huge one which can be as big as my thumb nail. The pain can be terrible!

I even thought about having my tooth removed so that I wouldn't bite my lips again, but of course, I dropped that thought soon.

That's because I have found two solutions that help in my situation!!! What are they? Let me tell you on Wednesday. Till then, you should be reading those resources I have listed below:

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouth_ulcer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphthous_ulcer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloe_vera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guilinggao

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphthous_ulcer#Causes

Food and Restaurant: Café Rendezvous

Address:

Mezzanine Level, InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong,

70 Mody Road,

Tsim Sha Tsui

Parma Ham

Irish Oysters (A bit small)

Mini lobsters, Japanese spider crab and conch

Roasted Beef

Instant Cook Penne (This month only)

Scallops and Salmon

Desserts (look good)

Sour Strawberry in Sweet White Chocolate (Yum!)

• 
  
• Photos by me, dating back to 2009-9-18

________________________________________________________________________

Located in a not-so-accessible area of East Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) -- including a 10-min walk from the East TST MTR station or a 20-min walk from the TST station, inside a hotel with a not-so-grand exterior having a sea view blocked 70% by a footbridge, offering dinner buffet at weekends from $388+ might sound a little too crazy, but Café Rendezvous /ˈkæf.eɪ ˈrɒn.deɪ.vuː/

remains on the top of my list for buffet for the past 4 years for some really good reasons.

Excellent Quality for Seafood lovers (or not)

Quality is my top priority. I can eat junk food or swallow an entire fast food meal in 5 minutes for my weekday meals (which I usually do), but at weekends I must use those money I saved up in 5 days to eat something good! So I want quality, quality, quality food!

The dinner buffet offers Irish oysters all year round. They are freshly opened by experienced chefs and are washed right in front of you when you place your order, so you need not be afraid of eating contaminated shellfish because the person queuing before you were spitting saliva onto them while talking to his friend (yucks!)

Since oysters are seasonal, the size of the shellfish also fluctuates. That doesn't cause any troubles nonethless, as you can order as much as you like. I often ask for a dozen each time and the chefs never seem to mind at all! They even reply to you with a cheerful "Sure!" I am not an oyster lover and I hardly eat more than one in 6 months, but consume a dozen in a year, and now you know where I eat.

I have never really liked crabs. Hairy crabs, flower crabs, crabby crab crab, whatever. But I just can't help but keep eating the Japanese Spider Crabs here. Not only are they fresh, they are juicy and most often you can taste a tint of sea water. The crab meat is always firm which means the boiling is well-timed every time. I like it with the Thai chilli-lime sauce as it brings out the best taste of the arthropod.

Other seafood consists of baby lobsters and conches, and salmons, scallops, octopuses, sea urchins over at the sushi bar. They all taste way above my expectations! Food refill happens way before the food runs out, so there is no time-lag in between your servings.

Tender Meatloaf

They also offer roasted lamb legs and roasted beef, and they are both my favourite food, but it really depends on which depth of the meat they are cutting. Of course, the further in, the more tender texture, the more succulent they taste. I have never tried asking them to cut me the middle slice, maybe I should try next time.

Variety of Cooked Dishes

Chinese dishes such as fried rice, steamed fish, stir-fried vegetables, cooked lamb, pork, chicken, beef, plain rice, pan-fried udon and Chinese soup are not my choice in a western-style buffet, but just in case you have friends who doesn't eat seafood and dislike raw Japanese food, then you do get the familiar taste of orient and they are not bad.

Other than the roasted, the Western style dishes also consist of smoked salmon and ham, cheese with biscuits, butter with buns and borscht /bɔːʃt/.

Because every month, the cafe comes with a theme for its buffet, thus occasionally, you do get Italian parma ham and cook-on-request pastas and pizza, or Indian curry mutton and kerbab, I suggest you phone the cafe and ask them before you make reservation.

Cozy Environment

Diners here are not noisy at all, so you tune the atmosphere on your table to family-gathering, friends' reunion or romantic-candlelight style. Their staff will also arrange the best table for you for the purpose, so you may also let them know why you are going to dine there.

Sweet Watermelons

Sugar-soaked? Probably not, because I have never had a complaint from my better half, who is very sharp when it comes to tasting food. She loves Malaysian watermelons best, but the unknown ones here still receive some praises, and so I believe the watermelons are pretty good.

Desserts for Kids

Well, I say the desserts are for kids because they will surely be happy to have chocolate fondue fountain with fresh fruits such as strawberries, honeydew and cantaloupe. They can design their own Ice cream with almond flakes or melon seeds.

As for the rest of the desserts, cheese cakes and tiramisu mostly look really good, moose and cream in mini-glasses just don't fit the feeling on my tongue, so... I belong to the kids' category.

Coupons and Discounts

Ever since Openrice.com launched the English version, I find it much easier for me to search for what I want, including the coupons. However, I usually book a table for 2, so these 4 - 20 heads coupons don't do much good for me (which is sad because they offer 25% off for these coupons). Fortunately, HSBC credit card does provide a 20% off and that helped to save some. So assuming if you go at the weekends and you use HSBC credit card, each person pays about $350. I have to say it is not cheap, but with the kind of food and consistent food quality and services, you won't regret it if you go once in a while.

To add to my review here, I quoted what I wrote about this restaurant last year as follows:

________________________________________________________________________

This is the 6th or 7th time I have buffet here, and every time I go home a very happy guy!

It is not just the environment that was brilliant, the food -- the succulent, meaty Japanese spider crab, tender roasted beef, creamy Irish oysters , and this month, the theme is Italian cuisine. Today, there was Parma ham with honey dew. Still mouthwatering after a 120% full meal.

The best of all is, the savoury food got my girlfriend back from a very bad mood to a great one! It is her birthday today, so it was very important that she enjoyed it.

Really must thank the fine food!

PS: Some of the Japanese spider crabs were a bit too salty. Manager should check.

Recommended Dish(es): Japanese spider crab, roasted beef, Irish oysters
Date of Visit: 2009-09-18
Spending per head: Approximately HKD350(Dinner)
Other Ratings:
Taste 5 | Environment 5 | Service 5 | Hygiene 5 | Value for Money 4

______________________________________________________________________

Vocabulary:

Mezzanine -- a small extra floor between one floor of a building and the next floor up

Well-timed -- happening or caused to happen at a suitable or effective time

borscht -- a type of soup made from beetroot (= a small dark red vegetable)

cook-on-request -- (of a food) which is cooked to you immediately when you place order

mutton -- the meat from an adult sheep eaten as food

______________________________________________________________________

Resources:

http://www.hongkong.intercontinental.com/hongkong.dining.intercontinental.com/kowgra/dining04.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/08/food-serious-crab-time.html

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2030393

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_spider_crab

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=50251&dict=CALD&topic=floors-and-parts-of-floors

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=89933&dict=CALD

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=8975&dict=CALD&topic=soups

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scallop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_urchin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebab

http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=244

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_fountain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeydew_(melon)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantalope

TV Drama: House with Medical Terms

Picture from house.download-tvshows

After I had finished watching the entire Blackadder series, I began searching for TV programs which were performed by the leading actors, one of which has become incredibly popular on the American TV, and that is no other than Hugh Laurie. I suppose those of you who have been keeping up with my blog postings, including the one about Hugh learning American accent, you have expected that I will soon write about his TV series.

House M.D., made its debute in November 2004 and the series is at its 6th season thus far, starring Hugh Laurie as Dr. Greogory House, M.D. who works in the fictional Princeton‑Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (PPTH) in New Jersey. In the first episode, he is already a highly reputable doctor who heads a team of diagnosticians, however, as oppose to the general reception received by great doctors, his misanthropy has put him on the list of "an ass" (as his colleagues put it in numerous episodes). Despite all these, his team of diagnosticians and his colleagues still hold very high respect for him, for his brilliance in thinking "out of the box" and thus arriving at the correct diagnosis.

His favourite line is "the patient is lying!"

To understand if the show is worth watching, we should look at the awards. Quoting from Wikipedia,

The show has been nominated for six Golden Globe Awards and received two. Hugh Laurie has been nominated four times for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama; he won in 2006 and again in 2007 In 2008 the series received its first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series - Drama. House was nominated for best dramatic series again the following year, but has yet to win in the category.

What I personally think about the show is really simple, "Once I start watching, I can't stop."

However, there are tonnes of medical terms and I am really really weak in these. So, I get a little help from the internet.

When I am enjoying the show on Tudou.com, I just listen to what they say and enjoy the show, when I finished watching a particular episode, I will go to the Politedissent.com's medical review and read up on the diagnosis made and learn a few names of the diseases. The website is cool because the writer, sounded like a doctor themselves, also mentioned the errors made in the series and how different they would have diagnosed the patient in the episodes. The writer also did a great job in putting up links to the explanation of the medical terms, which saves a lot of my time in looking for the meanings by myself. It is hard to find a blogger who writes with heart and I have found a comrade here.

All in all, House M.D. is a TV series which doesn't require any medical background to enjoy, the soap opera and the twists are enough to entertain most viewers, yet if you want to learn some medical terms, you too will find interests.

_________________________________________________________________

Vocabulary:

fictional -- imaginary

diagnostician -- a medical doctor who makes diagnoses

reception -- the way in which people react to something or someone

misanthropy -- the act of not liking other people

diagnosis -- a judgment about what a particular illness or problem is, made after examining it

comrade -- (UK comrade-in-arms ) old-fashioned a friend, especially one who you have been involved in difficult or dangerous, usually military, activities with

soap opera -- a series of television or radio programmes about the lives and problems of a particular group of characters. The series continues over a long period and is broadcast (several times) every week.

twist -- [C] a change in the way in which something happens

_________________________________________________________________

Resources:

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/12/tv-drama-black-adder-for-english-lovers.html

http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2009/12/speaking-learning-accent.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_MD

http://www.politedissent.com/house_pd.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=28631&dict=CALD

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=65963&dict=CALD&topic=celebrations-parties-and-special-occasions

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=50930&dict=CALD

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=21450&dict=CALD&topic=symptoms-and-diagnosis-of-medical-problems

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=75348&dict=CALD&topic=programmes-and-other-broadcasts

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=85708&dict=CALD