MAGIC MESOZOIC NUMBERS

http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/songs/dinosaur-1-10

I was inspired to make this blog because of (British Council Learn English Kids) song that you can see on the above link. It's really very helpful for me to remember the dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era. I love numbers and music, so here are the loads of information about the Magic Mesozoic numbers.


1. VELOCIRAPTOR

Name Means: Speedy thief

Lived:85-80 million years ago ( Late Cretaceous period)

Where: Mongolia, Russia and China

Diet: Meat eater (it hunted in packs)

Size: 2 meters long and 1 meter long

Features :It could run up to 60km per hour , it had a 9 cm long claw on the middle toe of each foot.

2.BARYONX

Name Means : Heavy Claw

Lived: 125 million years ago (early Cretaceous period)

Found in: United Kingdom, Spain

Diet: Meat eater (it probably mostly ate fish)

Size: 8-10 meters long and 5 meters tall

Features: 30cm long claws on its hands , jaws like a crocodile

3. TROODON

Name Means : Wounding tooth

Lived :76-70 million years ago (late Cretaceous period)

Found in: USA and Canada

Diet: Meat eater

Size: 3 meters long and 2 meters tall

Features: It was probably the most intelligent dinosaur, it moved fast on two legs

4. TRICERATOPS

Name means: Three-horned face

Lived:72-65 million years ago (late Cretaceous period)

Found in: USA and Canada

Diet: Plant eater (it probably ate low-lying plants)

Size: 9 meters long and 3 meters tall

Features: It had three horns on its face, its head was nearly one third as long as its body

5.TYRANNOSAURUX REX

Name means: Tyrant Lizard King

Lived:85-65 million years ago (late Cretaceous period)

Found in: USA, Canada and Mongolia

Diet: Meat eater (it hunted alone)

Size: 12 meters long and 6 meters tall

Features: It could eat 230 kgs of meat and bones in one bite

6.IGUANODON

Name means : Iguana tooth

Lived:135-125  million years ago (early Cretaceous period)

Found in: Europe, Northern Africa,USA, Mongolia 

Diet: Plant eater

Size: 9 meters long and 5 meters tall

Features: It had a beak with no teeth, its teeth were in its cheeks, it had a claw for a thumb

7.PTERANODON

Name means: Winged and Toothless

Lived:85-75 million years ago (late Cretaceous period)

Found in: Kansas, USA,  North America, England and Europe

Diet: Meat eater (probably ate mostly fish)

Size: 1.8 meters tall, 7.8-10 meters wingspan

Interesting fact: It was a flying reptile that lived during the time of the dinosaurs

8.DIPLODOCUS

Name means: Double-beamed

Lived:155-145 million years ago (mid-late Jurassic period)

Found in: USA

Diet: Plant eater ( it probably used its long neck to reach plants in the middle 

of the woods)

Size: 27 meters long , with an 8 meter long neck and a 14 meter long tail

Features: It had extra bones below its backbone

9. GIGANOTOSAURUS

Name means: Giant southern reptile

Lived: 100-90 million years ago (mid Cretaceous period)

Found in: Argentina 

Diet: Meat eater

Size: 14 meters long

Features: It was the largest meat-eating dinosaur

10.BRACHIOSAURUS

Name means: Arm lizard

Lived: 156-145 million years ago (mid-late Jurassic period)

Found in: North America and Tanzania

Diet: Plant eater (it probably ate the tops of trees)

Size: 13 meters tall and 25 meters long

Features: Its nostrils were on the top of its head

Photo Credits to : www.google.com and National Geographic
Editing tool : pizap.com
Information: British Council Learn English Kids

"Common Problems for Korean native speakers when learning English"

Teaching English to native Korean speakers



Some Korean academics believe that the reason why some Koreans cannot pronounce English is because of physical differences. “Those who have a short frenulum (a strap of tissue linking the tongue to the floor of the mouth) can face problems pronouncing some characters due to a disturbance in lateral movements of the tongue,” said Bae Jung-ho, an oral surgeon at Seoul’s Yonsei Severance Hospital.

Such drastic measures are often taken in an ever increasing level of competitiveness in the Korean society, where the need for speaking English is higher than ever.

The operations are mostly performed on young children and cost about 150,000 won. But do they really help? The answer is that there is no decisive evidence, as many months of speech therapy is need after the operation, and the level of success largely depends on the child’s mind & the ability to acquire new language.

Many speech problems can be improved by constant practice of phonics and speech therapy.

Here are the reasons why Korean native speakers have difficulty speaking English:

1. Some English sounds do not exist in Korean, which include friction sounds such as /f/, /v/, /z/, th )


2. Syllables: Korean words never have more than 2 consonants pronounced in one syllable (eg. ‘Disks’ has 3 consonants in a row, ‘sks’). In English, the word ‘disk’ is just one syllable, while in Korean it would have three.


3. Final Sounds: In Korean, consonants are not released unless they are followed by a vowel in the same syllable (eg 맛이 - mashi ), and word final consonants are never released (eg 맛 - mat). This results in Koreans adding an extra ‘u’, or ‘i’ vowel to the end of each English word that ends with a consonant. Eg ‘dark’ becomes /darku/


4. Overall pronunciation of sentences: The semantics in the English language depend on the stress and intonation of words, and how they relate to each other. This allows the English language to include weak forms that may sound completely unfamiliar to Korean English learners, such as: "What'a'ye'gonnaDO?", or “Wach’ya’NAME?”



5. Pollution from Koreanized English words (Konglish). See below for more.



A table of 15 Common Pronunciation Problems



PROBLEM


ENGLISH SOUND





COMMON ERROR





PRACTICE MATERIALS

Tongue touches hard palate.


/l/


"light" (clear)


/r/


"right"




Contact. Brief "schwa" after release.


/ɫ/


"tall" (dark l)










Back of tongue to back roof. Nasal.


/ŋ/ + /k/


"think"


/ŋ/ + /g/


"thin" + k or g




Voiced stop: back of tongue to back roof.


/ŋ/ + /g/


"thing"


/ŋ/ + /k/


"think"




Voiced: tip of tongue behind top teeth. Friction.


/z/


"rise"


/s/


"rice"




Voiceless. Friction. Tongue between teeth.


/θ/


"thin"


/s/


"sin"




Voiced. Friction with top teeth & bottom lip.


/v/


"vet"


/w/


"wet"




Voiced. Friction with top teeth & bottom lip.


/v/


"vet"


/b/


"bet"




Tongue central. Then tightly round lips.


/əʊ/


"bone"


/ɔ:/


"born"




Tongue central. Then tightly round lips.


/əʊ/


"note"


/ɒ/


"not"




Weak endings: e.g. "London" "England"


/ə/


"the" (schwa)










Fix tongue in central position. Long.


/ɜ:/


"bird"










Tongue low, back & fixed. Jaws together.


/ɔ:/


"bought"


/əʊ/


"boat"




Tongue low & back. Jaws together. Long.


/ɔ:/


"nought"


/ɒ/


"not"




Keep mouth round and tongue back.


/ɒ/


"not"











Konglish 

Konglish words are Korean words borrowed from other languages such as English. There are five types of Konglish:

1. “Verbicide’: Words whose meaning has been killed eg. ‘한들’ (Handle) in English is ‘Steering Wheel”


2. Fabricated Phrases: Words that have been made up from an original word or words to mean something different. Eye Shopping (Konglish) = Window Shopping(English)


3. Phonetically Different Words. Words where pronunciation has changed. Eg. Pizza (English), in Pija (Korean).


4. OK Konglish: Where meaning and pronunciation are roughly the same. (eg. Bye Bye)


5. Abbreviated Words, where the original English word has been shortened. Eg Air Con



When teaching English to Koreans, be on the lookout for any Konglish words they throw in, and correct straight away. Sometimes however, Konglish can be useful in teaching English vocabulary - because those are the words that they feel like they can master very easy.
Sources:

A shortcut to better English, MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.com/news/981625.asp
Korean speaking problems http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/l1korean.html
Korean English Taxonomy: http://efl.htmlplanet.com/konglish.htm

Interview Questions and Answers

This is a guide in answering interview questions.. I've taken  some information from the web.. This post is made possible due to the request of my student online. Shim Jae Hyung (Shims), I hope this would be helpful to you in your endeavors in life. Good luck for your interview. I know you can make it.

Photo source: www.google.com

 

nTell me about yourself? 

It seems like an easy interview question. Its open ended. I can talk about whatever I want from the birth canal forward. Right?

nWrong. What the hiring manager really wants is a quick, two- to three-minute snapshot of who you are and why you’re the best candidate for this position.

nSo as you answer this question, talk about what you’ve done to prepare yourself to be the very best candidate for the position. Use an example or two to back it up. Then ask if they would like more details. If they do, keep giving them example after example of your background and experience. Always point back to an example when you have the opportunity.

nTell me about yourself does not mean tell me everything. Just tell me what makes you the best. 

 

nWhy should I hire you? 

nThe easy answer is that you are the best person for the job. And don’t be afraid to say so. But then back it up with what specifically differentiates you.

nFor example: You should hire me because I’m the best person for the job. I realize that there are likely other candidates who also have the ability to do this job. Yet I bring an additional quality that makes me the best person for the job--my passion for excellence. I am passionately committed to producing truly world class results. For example . . .

nAre you the best person for the job? Show it by your passionate examples. 

 

nWhat is your long-range objective? 

nMake my job easy for me. Make me want to hire you.

nThe key is to focus on your achievable objectives and what you are doing to reach those objectives.

nFor example: Within five years, I would like to become the very best accountant your company has on staff. I want to work toward becoming the expert that others rely upon. And in doing so, I feel I’ll be fully prepared to take on any greater responsibilities which might be presented in the long term. For example, here is what I’m presently doing to prepare myself . . .

nThen go on to show by your examples what you are doing to reach your goals and objectives.

 

nHow has your education prepared you for your career?
 

nThis is a broad question and you need to focus on the behavioral examples in your educational background which specifically align to the required competencies for the career.

nAn example: My education has focused on not only the learning the fundamentals, but also on the practical application of the information learned within those classes. For example, I played a lead role in a class project where we gathered and analyzed best practice data from this industry. Let me tell you more about the results . . .

nFocus on behavioral examples supporting the key competencies for the career. Then ask if they would like to hear more examples. Enhance your career opportunities by getting the training you need, find top degrees and schools near you!

 

nAre you a team player? 

nAlmost everyone says yes to this question. But it is not just a yes/no question. You need to provide behavioral examples to back up your answer.

nA sample answer: Yes, I’m very much a team player. In fact, I’ve had opportunities in my work, school and athletics to develop my skills as a team player. For example, on a recent project . . .

nEmphasize teamwork behavioral examples and focus on your openness to diversity of backgrounds. Talk about the strength of the team above the individual. And note that this question may be used as a lead in to questions around how you handle conflict within a team, so be prepared.

 

nHave you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor?

nHow was it resolved?

nNote that if you say no, most interviewers will keep drilling deeper to find a conflict. The key is how you behaviorally reacted to conflict and what you did to resolve it.

nFor example: Yes, I have had conflicts in the past. Never major ones, but there have been disagreements that needed to be resolved. I've found that when conflict occurs, it helps to fully understand the other persons perspective, so I take time to listen to their point of view, then I seek to work out a collaborative solution. For example . . .

nFocus your answer on the behavioral process for resolving the conflict and working collaboratively

 

nWhat is your greatest weakness? 

nMost career books tell you to select a strength and present it as a weakness. Such as: I work too much. I just work and work and work. Wrong. First of all, using a strength and presenting it as a weakness is deceiving. Second, it misses the point of the question.

nYou should select a weakness that you have been actively working to overcome. For example: I have had trouble in the past with planning and prioritization. However, I’m now taking steps to correct this. I just started using a pocket planner . . . then show them your planner and how you are using it.

nTalk about a true weakness and show what you are doing to overcome it.

 

nIf I were to ask your professors to describe you, what would they
 say?

nThis is a threat of reference check question. Do not wait for the interview to know the answer. Ask any prior bosses or professors in advance. And if they’re willing to provide a positive reference, ask them for a letter of recommendation.

nThen you can answer the question like this:

nI believe she would say I'm a very energetic person, that I’m results oriented and one of the best people she has ever worked with. Actually, I know she would say that, because those are her very words. May I show you her letter of recommendation?

nSo be prepared in advance with your letters of recommendation. 

 

nWhat qualities do you feel a successful manager should have? 

nFocus on two words: leadership and vision.

nHere is a sample of how to respond: The key quality in a successful manager should be leadership--the ability to be the visionary for the people who are working under them. The person who can set the course and direction for subordinates. The highest calling of a true leader is inspiring others to reach the highest of their abilities. I'd like to tell you about a person whom I consider to be a true leader . . .

nThen give an example of someone who has touched your life and how their impact has helped in your personal development

 

nIf you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?

nFocus on a key turning point in your life or missed opportunity. Yet also tie it forward to what you are doing to still seek to make that change.

nFor example: Although I’m overall very happy with where I’m at in my life, the one aspect I likely would have changed would be focusing earlier on my chosen career. I had a great internship this past year and look forward to more experience in the field. I simply wish I would have focused here earlier. For example, I learned on my recent internship, then provide examples.

nStay focused on positive direction in your life and back it up with examples.