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Think it goes something like this: Parents: We want our kids to have less homework and better grades! Schools: Teachers, do the homework in class, cutting out a chunk of teaching time, and dumb this stuff down so they get better grades. Then, the parents are happy until they realize (years later and with lots of money in the schools' pockets) their kids haven't learned poo poo.
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Jul 23, 2012 06:13
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| # ? May 15, 2024 02:21 |
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url posted:annual: "English test scores show inadequacy of teaching" article. As an aside, I can't be the only one who found it hilarious that an editorial about the decline in English standards written by an English professor and published in an English-language newspaper was published in translation.
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Jul 23, 2012 07:28
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I subbed a friend's adult class for a few weeks and only one out of the five talked without being asked a direct question. These were all adults that took night school classes after work specifically because they they felt needed it and it was relevant to their jobs. You can take a horse to water...
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Jul 23, 2012 09:15
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So I read this article: http://ns2.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2012/07/17/2003537940 and am wondering if anyone knows exactly what sort of stuff Ma is trying to get changed. Beisdes a few words like Nipponization I couldn't really glean many specifics.
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Jul 23, 2012 09:26
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Magna Kaser posted:So I read this article: http://ns2.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2012/07/17/2003537940 and am wondering if anyone knows exactly what sort of stuff Ma is trying to get changed. Beisdes a few words like Nipponization I couldn't really glean many specifics. In terms of the English language papers I found: Tapei Times = Pro Green/DPP China Post = Anti-China/Pro AIT (ignore the wikipedia page) Both: Sensationalist drama llamas
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Jul 23, 2012 10:12
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url posted:In terms of the English language papers I found:
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Jul 23, 2012 10:29
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Off the top of my head I can only name three news media outlets in Taiwan I don't think of as being blatantly politically biased: Apple Daily, because they only care about sensationalist poo poo, regardless who does it; Mandarin Daily News (Guoyu Ribao), because it's basically written for children; and the Public Television, which is actually good. In English, you're hosed. Taiwan News I remember being okay, which I guess must be an accurate memory seeing as how, as far as I can tell, it doesn't exist anymore.
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Jul 23, 2012 10:41
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Vacation is coming up for us Korea goons and the idea right now since it is last minute (Aug. 4-19) is to hit up Taiwan and Hong Kong. What is the travel like between Hong Kong and Taiwan? Easy? Cheap? Fast? If I have 7 days in Taiwan can anyone give suggestions, or better yet do you guys have a goon welcoming party like we sorta do? My goals for the trip are to keep it within budget, eat a lot of food, and try and make some contacts or at least get some leads for finding a job as a technical editor or patent engineer in the winter. I am of course open to anything I am qualified for that isn't teaching, maybe unless university jobs open up. Cheap lodging, things to eat and drink (tea and booze), other... stuff? I am really bad at taking vacations, just started doing them recently. Also, my Mandarin is pretty much non-existent. I off on have enough to order food and say a few words and my reading is really only limited to food items. At one point I could tell someone to put on their turtle shell and ask them where their socks were. That time is long past though.
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Jul 23, 2012 18:29
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DontAskKant posted:My goals for the trip are to keep it within budget, eat a lot of food Welcome to heaven! I'll leave the rest to the other posters, but with those being your primary goals(assuming your list was in priority order) then yeah, i'm guessing you've nailed it. The last time I had to hit HK was for a visa run at short notice over the chinese new year period. I paid around NT$7,000 for that with China Airlines. The trip is entirely painless.
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Jul 24, 2012 01:25
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HKG-TPE is actually called the Golden Route (seriously) because at one point it had the highest gross of any flight segment in the world. Cathay+Dragonair alone run ~20 flights daily in addition to tons of other airlines. With 7 days you've got a lot of time, you could go to Taroko Gorge, or some of the tiny islands like Green Island, Kinmen, etc... Or you could spend it all in Taipei. The 101, Danshui, and Shilin night market are 3 of the bigger tourist attractions. For lodging any of the hostel sites will work in the cities, maybe more rural places too.
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Jul 24, 2012 05:16
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So, this is the result of sea urchins plus Taiwanese doctors. Sadly, it's been two weeks since it happened. Still, I'd say it's a bit NMS. http://i.imgur.com/dbzyw.jpg
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Jul 24, 2012 13:49
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drat that thing got you pretty good.
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Jul 24, 2012 17:04
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HappyHelmet posted:drat that thing got you pretty good. Trust me when I say it was all the doctor.
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Jul 24, 2012 17:30
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Haraksha posted:Trust me when I say it was all the doctor. Either way, stepping on sharp animals = bad times
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Jul 24, 2012 17:43
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duckfarts posted:Are those pits or stitches or both? Neither. The needles break at the tip and remain embedded as small splinters. They're more annoying than anything else. The doctor didn't know, so they cut my heel and a big toe open. The spikes are soft so they're hard to get out. This resulted in wounds that were deep but too wide to stitch. They used an electric needle to burn them closed.
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Jul 24, 2012 17:49
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So I guess they took down Taiwan's flag at a display of world flags in London. Time for the Taiwanese media to freak out about it for a couple months. Article
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Jul 25, 2012 03:01
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Haraksha posted:Neither. The needles break at the tip and remain embedded as small splinters. They're more annoying than anything else. The doctor didn't know, so they cut my heel and a big toe open. The spikes are soft so they're hard to get out. This resulted in wounds that were deep but too wide to stitch. They used an electric needle to burn them closed. So your just supposed to leave the needles in your foot? That seems like it would be really painful. Moon Slayer posted:So I guess they took down Taiwan's flag at a display of world flags in London. Time for the Taiwanese media to freak out about it for a couple months. I totally understand why Taiwanese people would be miffed about this. However, as you say the media here will take it too a ridiculous level.
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Jul 25, 2012 03:23
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HappyHelmet posted:So your just supposed to leave the needles in your foot? That seems like it would be really painful. About as bad as palming a cactus. So long as you take some antibiotics to prevent infection, you'd be alright. I'd honestral prefer that to two weeks of open sores on my feet that were constantly oozing. I more or less had to sit on my couch and do nothing until they healed up a bit. Also, having giant holes in your feet is also a fairly painful experience!
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Jul 25, 2012 03:52
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Haraksha posted:About as bad as palming a cactus. So long as you take some antibiotics to prevent infection, you'd be alright. I'd honestral prefer that to two weeks of open sores on my feet that were constantly oozing. I more or less had to sit on my couch and do nothing until they healed up a bit. Huh? So they would just fall out naturally over time? I would think if they were on your feet though you would constantly be forcing the spines back into your foot.
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Jul 25, 2012 04:51
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Nah, your body will push them up and they're soft after they break off from the urchin. They sort of turn into pimple like bumps.
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Jul 25, 2012 04:57
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Moon Slayer posted:So I guess they took down Taiwan's flag at a display of world flags in London. Time for the Taiwanese media to freak out about it for a couple months. Oh yeah, China.
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Jul 25, 2012 07:15
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Okay, two questions if you all don't mind: 1.) What sort of outlets for work are there for an aspiring writer in Taiwan (e.g. English-based publications or periodicals, technical writing, etc.)? Can a native English speaker get published in Taiwan or should I consider contacting people outside of Taiwan? Are there English-based writer's conferences or critique groups that operate in Taiwan? 2.) Apologies in advance for this awkward question (  ), but: Is it really difficult to get oversized condoms (think Trojan Magnum XL) in Taiwan? Assuming I'd be working as an English teacher for a year minimum starting out, should I expect to special order extra-large condoms from overseas? Those Japanese Kimono Large condoms are definitely too tight for me, unfortunately.I appreciate the help. 
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Jul 26, 2012 21:32
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Yes, if you want decent sized condoms, you are going to have to import them.
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Jul 27, 2012 02:08
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Yeah tight condoms suck. And yeah, you're stuck ordering from the US.
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Jul 27, 2012 02:47
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Yeah, I also have a very large penis
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Jul 27, 2012 11:29
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Eh, it comes up enough in these threads that I think there must be a pretty big market to fill.
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Jul 27, 2012 11:45
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Do y'all suffer from hyperphalia too? It is so bad here in Kpop land that MBC was considerate enough to run a special on it.
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Jul 27, 2012 11:50
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Until a couple of years ago there was actually a business in Taipei that sold a huge range of condom sizes - you'd download a template from their site, print it out, take... measurements, and then online submit the appropriate length and girth, and they'd ship them out.
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Jul 27, 2012 11:56
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sheesh, just grab some saran wrap from 7 on your way home or, y'know, use a snickers wrapper  Better yet, turn the old one inside out. ... Rinse repeat.
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Jul 29, 2012 04:36
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OrangeGuy posted:Okay, two questions if you all don't mind: http://www.undercovercondoms.com/ has whatever you want and will ship to Taiwan. (Most places will ask you to have a shipping address that matches your billing address to ship out of the country.) url's Snickers idea is probably just as good though as long as you're eating the king-sized ones. Do they have those here?
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Jul 29, 2012 14:47
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mad carl posted:url's Snickers idea is probably just as good though as long as you're eating the king-sized ones. Do they have those here? Candy bars in multiple sizes? Surely such a thing isn't possible. Everything must be a single uniform size. Choices will only confuse the population! Unless we're talking about different kinds of tofu, then going loving hog wild. Edit: Just wanna say that Mad Carl is the only one of us who can legitimately claim to have a big cock because he actually special ordered condoms for his massive dong. Everyone else just wants to sound cool. Atlas Hugged fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Jul 29, 2012 |
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Jul 29, 2012 14:53
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Not to turn discussion away from dongs and condom sizes, but... Anyone else notice cops actually giving a poo poo about traffic violations suddenly? I've been pulled over 3 times in the last 2 months  . Got out of at least two tickets by pulling the "I'm a retarded foreigner what did I do wrong?" routine, but may have a size-able ticket coming on the other one.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:12
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What did you do? Are you licensed? IIRC the penalty for driving unlicensed is 6000NT which is a lot more expensive than most actual tickets.
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Jul 31, 2012 08:29
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I'm gonna go ahead a guess that a bridge needs repairing, or we're paying back for the half day we all got off because of the rain a month or so ago. (or perhaps the entertaining The traffic cameras seem to be working a good deal more than usual since I got 3 tickets in the past 2 weeks (one for a wrong lane, 2 for speeding). So yeah, I'd wager that somebody turned on one of the income taps. e: tickets I've had have been: Speeding #1: 1200 Speeding #2 & #3: 1300 Wrong Lane: 600 Bear in mind the speeding of #2 & #3 fell within a range of 20 over but not more than 40 over and speeding #1 was quite a while ago (Jan). I'd guess at sliding scale of fines until it hits yo' banned. I really need to take my test soon (if I get a ban, my buddy gonna be really upset). url fucked around with this message at 08:59 on Jul 31, 2012 |
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Jul 31, 2012 08:40
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There's an easy solution to your ticket problems, fellas...
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Jul 31, 2012 08:51
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duckfarts posted:There's an easy solution to your ticket problems, fellas... My last chauffeur wouldn't do the 3am 7-11 run, and Miss url doesn't drive (yet).
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Jul 31, 2012 09:01
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url posted:My last chauffeur wouldn't do the 3am 7-11 run, and Miss url doesn't drive (yet). Did you get a ticket for being out past curfew?
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Jul 31, 2012 11:58
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USDA Choice posted:What did you do? Are you licensed? IIRC the penalty for driving unlicensed is 6000NT which is a lot more expensive than most actual tickets. Let's see: First - Illegal left on a green arrow, no license, no registration ($$$ if I actually get a ticket) Second - Wrong way on 30ft stretch of one way road (cop didn't even bother to actually pull me over just told me to turn around) Third - Right hand turn on a red light duckfarts posted:There's an easy solution to your ticket problems, fellas... Not making excuses because I know the rules and I was breaking them. It is just weird because I have been living in this rural(ish) area for 2 years now, and prior to a few months ago could count the number of times I saw cops actually giving a poo poo about traffic laws on one hand. Now suddenly they are often camping all the spots people regularly break the law.
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Jul 31, 2012 15:13
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Having gotten home pretty much piss wet: a) I need a new yellow poncho b) I'm reminded that the recent weather has spoiled me, and I want a car rather than a bigger/more funner bike
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Jul 31, 2012 15:31
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I've learned that 7/11 umbrellas are piss and I need to get shoes with tread on them or I'm going to spill all of my brains out on the sidewalk one fateful day. I know both of those things should be obvious, but I grew up in a place where it only rains about 5 days a year, so yeah. Excited for the typhoon.
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Jul 31, 2012 15:49
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