Talking About the Talk

We have spent a long time writing this speech, from researching to revising, meeting a lot of problems and fixing them steps by steps.
First of all, I think there are several things I have done well. To begin with, I extremely like my topic. China is one of the most familiar things with me, therefore I can easily write the true content sincerely. I picked five small topics at first, but found it difficult  to be detailed and shortened it to three topics that I interested in most. To my surprises, these topics also interested my roommates and they have given me a lot of useful advise. Secondly, the personal experience in my speech are intriguing. When I first wrote the speech, I hardly added any personal experience but most resources. However, when I noticed that personal experience is needed, my speech started to be more fluent. I added a lot of happy memory during my childhood. The process was fun, thinking back the old days really brought me a bunch of happiness and it is the first time that I wanted to spread my felling by this speech. Luckily, that worked. The special experience attracted my roommates' interests which made me a little proud. 

Nevertheless, significant weaknesses are showen in my speech while using resources is one of the biggest problem. In my first draft, I used nearly all reasources to construct my speech. What was worse, I even did not do correct citation. Many resources were confusing too. Their language was complicated and hard to understand. Besides, I even could not state my thesis. The contents and the thesis were sometime out of relevance. 

As for my in-class delivery, I personally think it was fine. Although some of the pronunciation was incorrect, most of them was articulate. My pace was a little bit fast which I can control next time. In my opinion, the most of importance thing is that I should get more familiar with the content. There were times that I could not breath smoothly because the sentences were too long... However, the good thing is that because of the familiarity, I could express my emotion correctly and genuinely like telling a story without hesitating. 

Finally, I have learnt from watching others practice and deliver their speeches. First, I noticed that while standing without an iPad, people's hands might have a lot of small movements out of control. To deal with this, I think that I would like to have some gestures which could express my emotion with my hands like putting them on my heart. This may help me cover up my tension. Besides, pauses are needed. When putting forward a question or transfer to another topic, pausing for a while would help audience follow the speaker better. Last but not least, being confident is always better than being nervous.

All in all, I belive that this Tedtalk will be really good after a long-time preparation. I hope that I can get familiar with the speech as soon as possible and even memorize it.

The home of my heart✨

When I first heard the topic "This I Believe", what popped into my head is the scene which my mom told me that "whenever you are tired or sad, your family will always be here and China will never move." Not until I arrived in the United States, I realized that China is the most unique and warmest part in my life. China, the huge country with 5000-year-old history, not only shows her differences and developments during the river of time, but also opens her warm arms and shows her welcome to both her children and people from the world. Think deeply through your life, where is your"home" that you love so much no matter it is a place, a person or a certain small thing. As for me, China, which brings me prides, great memories and the best food, is definitely the only choice.

Mentioning China, I bet that most of you will come up with two things, the Great Wall and pandas. The Great Wall of China, the world's longest wall and biggest ancient architecture, was generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern border of China in order to protect the Chinese emperor(travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/)  The first segments were built in the fifth century BC and the last contributions of the Great wall of China where build in the sixteenth century AD. Approximately 500.000 people took part in building the wall.  There is an old saying in China that "One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a hero". When I was 4, my grandmother took me to the Great Wall and asked me to walk as far as possible. It was really a harsh task for a young girl to mount multiple stairs without any help. However, after walking for 5 hours, I finally reached the target my grandmother gave me. Standing on the highest tower, overlooking the mountain and the river of China, a sense of pride filled my heart. The pride was not only because I had done the impossible mission and built my confidence, but also because of the masterpiece my ancestors have created.                                                     

Not only protecting herself, China also dedicated her intelligence to the entire world in many ways. One of the most important contribution is China's four great inventions. China's long history has seen some extremely important inventions emerge, most noticeably gunpowder, paper-making, printing and the compass, which, in the words of Roger Bacon, changed the whole appearance and status of things in the world. The most fun thing, for me, must be the gunpowder, which led to the modern day firework. During the Chinese Spring Festival, children always play firework to celebrate. I used to be afraid of the sound, however, the blazing with color really intriguing me. In the night on every December 31st in Chinese calendar, my father would always brings me out and buy a bunch of fireworks. Later, my whole family would stays together and light the firework. Just like Americans celebrate the 4th of July Raising our heads and making a wish, the firework not only makes the festival more alive and jubilant, but also gains the family together and gives us hope. Every time I see the firework no matter on the TV or lit by myself, it reminds me of my dear family and their happy faces when they look at the flowers on the sky.

What do you like most in your country? As for me, Chinese food must be one of the best parts which constructed the reasons for my love to China.  Development and diversity of the delights of Chinese cuisine are also representative of China's long history(http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/). Chinese can change nearly everything into food from sharks to worms which built Chinese's strong stomach which sometimes really scares me. There is one time when my mom took me to a far place to eat different kinds of snakes which is cooked in 9 different ways. That was absolutely disgusting. I refused at first. However, I was really hungry since we have stayed there for two days and there was no other meat but snake. Finally, I tried a little bit fried snake. That was amazing, I admit. I could not refuse the cate anymore and started to enjoy. This is not the only experience I have met. Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that Chinese eat food blindly. There are usually stories connected with the specific cuisine. The chef who killed the snakes told me that in a legend, their village was invaded by the evil of snake. The villagers tried their best to resist and finally got success. To celebrate their triumph, they captured nearly all the snakes and cooked them in different ways. To be honest, also the multitudinous kinds of banquets are delicious, what I like most is the homemade cuisine. The sweet steam bread in the morning, the reeky noodle soup for lunch and my favorite spicy hot diced chicken built my gustation of China which I miss every second in my life.

Think deeply through your life, where is your "home" that you love so much no matter it is a place, a person or a certain small thing. Whenever your think about it, you will smile and be proud of it. People should always have beliefs. As for me, I don't believe in religions but believe in this  country and most of the things belong to it. As time pass, many things would change, even the most familiar things for us would be out of all recognition. Nevertheless, just like what my mom said, my family will always be in China for me, which I wholeheartedly believe and will never change. 

Speech first draft

When I first heard the topic "This I Believe", what popped into my head is the scene which my mom told me that "whenever you are tired or sad, your family will always be here and China will never move." Not until I arrived here, I noticed that China is the most unique and warmest part in my life. China, the huge country with 5000-year-old history, not only shows her differences and developments during the river of time, but also opens her warm arms and shows her welcome to both her children and people from the world. 

 

Mentioning China, I bet that most of you will come up with two things, the Great Wall and pandas. The Great Wall of China, the world's longest wall and biggest ancient architecture is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick,tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. The first segments were built in the fifth century BC and the last contributions of the Great wall of China where build in the sixteenth century AD. Approximately 500.000 people take part in building the wall. (travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/) 

 

Not only protecting herself, China also dedicated her intelligence to the entire world in many ways. One of the most important contribution is China's four great invention. China's long history has seen some extremely important inventions emerge, most noticeably gunpowder, paper making, printing and the compass, which, in the words of Roger Bacon, changed the whole appearance and status of things in the world. Through the Arabs, Africans and Europeans then mastered the skill. The first paper factory in Europe was set up in Spain. In the latter half of the 16th century, this skill was brought to America. By the 19th century, when paper factories were set up in Australia, paper making had spread to the whole world.

Cai Lun, also known as Tsai Lun, was listed in the book The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History by Michael H. Hart.

 

What do you like most in your country? As for me, Chinese food must be one of the best parts which constructed the reasons for my love to China.  Development and diversity of the delights of Chinese cuisine are also representative of China's long history. With each dynasty new recipes were created until the art of food preparation reach its peak during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). The dinner called Man Han Quan Xi that incorporates all the very best of Man and Han Cuisine is held in high esteem involving as it does countless dishes, each with its own distinctive flavor and appeal. This veritable banquet in its preparation and presentation typifies all of the culture and culinary arts that have been perfected over centuries and is a comprehensive amalgam of taste, instruments, and manners. Chinese can change nearly everything into food from sharks to worms which built Chinese's strong stomach.(http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/)

 

Think deeply through your life, where is your "home" that you love so much no matter it is a place, a person or a certain small thing. Whenever your think about it, you will smile and be proud of it. People should always have believes. As for me, I don't believe in religions but believe in this  country and most of the things belong to it. As time pass, many things would change, even the most familiar things for us would be out of all recognition. Nevertheless, just like what my mom said, my family will always be in China for me, which I wholeheartedly believe and will never change. 

Let's Speech!

China, the big country with 5000year old history, is my hometown. She is forever the warmest place in my entire life since she is a unque country I have ever seen and lived in. 

*history

-Written records of the history of China can be found from as early as 1200 BC under the Shang dynasty (c. 1700–1046 BC).^[2] Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian (ca. 100 BC) and the Bamboo Annalsdescribe a Xia dynasty(c. 2100–1700 BC), which had no system of writing on a durable medium, before the Shang.^[2][3]

(http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/china-history.htm)

-25 dynasty ended in 1911

-British, France, Japan, America, Spain, Russia, Prussia, Italy...have invaded China before

*Food

Chinese people are really good at cooking

Different provinces have different feature of food.

 There are 34 such divisions, classified as 22 provinces, 4 municipalities, 5autonomous regions, 2 Special Administrative Regions, and the claimedTaiwan Province.^{[1](Taiwan and hong kong belog to China)}

From shark to worm.

 development and diversity of the delights of Chinese cuisine are also representative of China's long history. With each dynasty new recipes were created until the art of food preparation reach its peak during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). The dinner called Man Han Quan Xi that incorporates all the very best of Man and Han Cuisine is held in high esteem involving as it does countless dishes, each with its own distinctive flavor and appeal. This veritable banquet in its preparation and presentation typifies all of the culture and culinary arts that have been perfected over centuries and is a comprehensive amalgam of taste, instruments, and manners.

Chinese can change nearly everything into food. 

(http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/cuisine_drink/cuisine/)

*architecture

-The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick,tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC;^[3] these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger, are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall.^[4] Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the firstEmperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall is from the Ming Dynasty.

(http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china_great_wall/)

-Forbidden city

-panda

*Great Invention

-The four great invention

Compass, gunpowder, paper and movable type printing

China's long history has seen some extremely important inventions emerge, most noticeably gunpowder, paper making, printing and the compass, which, in the words of Roger Bacon, changed the whole appearance and status of things in the world.

Soccer... Although chinese play badly now..

CuJu was a kind of rubber ball made of leather outside and stuffed tightly with feather inside. Cuju means "kick the ball with foot". It was a popular sport played by ancient Chinese during the Qingming Festival. Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor was the initiator of cuju, who invented it to train his soldiers.

*Education system

Totally different

Plenty of students stay in one room, we don't change classroom or classmates. Students would spent time with each other for couple of years everyday. There is only one exam which could decide which college students can study in. This is really different. Senior year is pretty tough though. They are always under much pressure. 

Research of Galileo.

Galileo Galilei, a pioneer of modern physics and telescopic astronomy, was born near Pisa, Italy, on Feb. 15, 1564. In 1581 he entered the University of Pisa as a medical student, but he soon became interested in mathematics and left without a degree in 1585. After teaching privately at Florence, he was made professor of mathematics at Pisa in 1589. There he is said to have demonstrated from the Leaning Tower that Aristotelian physics was wrong in assuming that speed of fall was proportional to weight. He also wrote a treatise on motion, emphasizing mathematical arguments. In 1592, Galileo became professor of mathematics at the University of Padua, where he remained until 1610. He devised a calculating device now called the sector, worked out a mechanical explanation of the tides based on the Copernican motions of the Earth (see Copernicus, Nicolaus), and wrote a treatise on mechanics showing that machines do not create power but merely transform it.

In 1602, Galileo resumed his investigations of motion along inclined planes and began to study the motion of pendulums. By 1604 he had formulated the basic law of falling bodies, which he verified by careful measurements.

Late in 1604 a supernova appeared, and Galileo became involved in a dispute with philosophers who held (with Aristotle) that change could not occur in the heavens. Applying the mathematics of parallax, Galileo found the star to be very distant, in the supposedly unchangeable regions of the cosmos, and he attacked Aristotelian qualitative principles in science. Returning to his studies of motion, he established quantitatively a restricted inertial principle and determined that projectiles move in parabolic paths. In 1609 he was writing a mathematical treatise on motion when news arrived of the newly invented Dutch telescope. He was so excited by its possible scientific applications that he put other work aside and began to construct his own telescopes.

Drake, Stillman. "Galileo Galilei." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.

Critique of speech.

Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit.

http://youtu.be/C87OYed5K1c

Citation

As one of the most basic and accessible social codes, food has many social and cultural connotations. This article aims to offer a semiotic reading of ordinary Chinese meals. The three-meal structure and four binary oppositions (Cooked/Raw, Fan/Cai, Solids/Liquids, and Vegetable/Meat) are discussed. The laws that govern the Chinese meal system reveal how Chinese people see themselves and others, how they connect the past and present, and how they identify themselves with their culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

 

Copyright of Society is the property of Springer Science & Business Media B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Qin, Jie. "Food And Binary Oppositions In The Chinese Meal System."Society 51.1 (2014): 35-39. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

It is often assumed that Chinese people tend to have a more positive attitude toward aging and old age than Americans, due to the cultural generalization of collectivism versus individualism. This study aimed to critically examine this assumption by using first-hand empirical data collected in a Chinese and an American university (standardized surveys and in-depth focus group interviews). Respectively, 980 college students in China and 332 college students in the U.S. were recruited for the standardized surveys; whereas two focus-group interviews in each country (4 participants per group) were conducted to collect more in-depth information. Contrary to the common assumption, this study revealed that Chinese students actually hold more negative attitudes toward aging and older people compared to their American peers. It was also found that females tend to hold more positive attitudes than male students across both cultures, though American female students hold more positive attitudes than Chinese female students. Chinese students' interactions with seniors are often limited to their grandparents whereas American students tend to reach out to non-grandparent seniors in larger communities. Chinese students' more negative attitudes toward aging and older people may be a result of a combination of educational, social, and economic factors-a higher level of age segregation (geographically, socially, and intellectually) and a lack of gerontological curriculum in Chineseeducational system, the caregiving burden faced by the one-child generation compounded with lack of governmental support for caregiving, as well as the rising youth-oriented consumerist culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

 

Copyright of Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology is the property of Springer Science & Business Media B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Luo, Baozhen, et al. "Ageism Among College Students: A Comparative Study Between U.S. And China." Journal Of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 28.1 (2013): 49-63. Academic Search Premier. Web. 7 Nov. 2014.

Because of the factors influence such as the region, environment, custom etc., there are many food habits differences between China and America. I summarize several aspects as follows:

1. Americans like eating several meals one day; but Chinese are used to eating three meals a day.

2. Chinese are used to buying the fresh food every day; Americans often buy food for one week once and store them in the refrigerator, eat the frozen foods every day. As everyone knows, the tin and salting foods include more preservatives and pigment, it is harmful to health.

3. Chinese families will prepare a lot of dishes when celebrating a festival and it is a lot to entertain guests; but Americans never extravagant when entertain guests or celebrate a festival.

4. Chinese like vegetable oil such as the soya bean oil while cooking; Americans like animal oil such as the butter.

5. Chinese often put in more salt while cooking; but the salt that Americans put in is only Chinese half. It may cause all sorts of diseases to take in too much salt.

6. Chinese like adding the monosodium glutamate while cooking; but Americans do not use the monosodium glutamate. The monosodium glutamate includes sodium. It is harmful to health to take in too much monosodium glutamate.

7. Chinese eat fresh vegetables and fruits more than Americans; the protein which Americans take in every day more than Chinese, but the stomach function is influenced because of lacking cellulose in the body.

8. Chinese eat the viscera of animals such as the pork liver, intestine, lung, etc.; Americans do not have this hobby. Animal’s viscera contain a large amount of cholesterol and it’s harmful to health.

9. Chinese like to eat the ordinary rice and flour; Americans like eating the bread or cake that made of white flour.

10. Americans are used to eating sweet food after the meal; but Chinese are used to the eating fruit after the meal. But the nutritionist thinks that it is more beneficial eat fruit before the meal.

11. Chinese often drink a cup of hot tea after the meal; but Americans like drinking coffee after the meal. Tea can reduce cholesterol, but coffee will improve the fat of blood and stimulate the heart.

12. Chinese generally like soybean food such as the soybean milk and bean curd. It has not merely kept the nutrition of soybeans, and human body absorbs the nutrient easily. Americans have no interest to the bean curd.

13. Chinese get used to whole serving. Americans get used to the individual serving.

14. Chinese like eating the cooked food; Americans like eating the raw food. The raw food is more nutritious than the cooked food.

It causes the food habits differences between China and America that the factors such as culture, custom, history, nutrition values… It’s beneficial to our health if we can find some questions from it and learn other’s strong points objectively.

"Mysterious China Blog." Mysterious China Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014.

Possible TED talk

#1 My hometown

#2 The importance of dream

#3 Good and bad of the Internet

Why do we need sleep?

http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_iliff_one_more_reason_to_get_a_good_night_s_sleep#t-113294

This Ted talk is about the importance of sleep. It's my first time to watch a Ted talk completely and I am so impressed by it. 

First of all, how can he memorize this speech?! It seems to be impossible for me to memorize this kind of long speeches since my memorization is bad. But he is so confident and can expresses his idea clearly. Furthermore, I am really interested in this topic. Lacking of sleep is a common problem nowadays but not everyone has realized. Thus, this speech can detaily remind people of the importance of sleep, which everyone should notice and change their mind. 

DebAtE

Homework Should Be Banned
     Pro
Survey data and anecdotal evidence show that some students spend hours nightly doing homework. Homework overload is the exception rather than the norm(http://www.nea.org/tools/16938.htm)
#1Doing homework is a waste of time
 In our opinion, doing homework is just wasting time since teachers hardly give feedbacks. What is the meaning for doing homework if we don't really know we are doing wrong or right? We spend a lot of time writing the same grammar mistakes, calculating mistakes and so on. After times writing, the mistakes become the "correct answers" in our mind which is harmful for our tests.
#2Homework makes students under too much pressure
After a day's study and practice, student are already very tired. However, we still have a bunch of homework to do. How disappointing it is. We have no time to chat with friends and parents, improving our skills and hobbies and knowing what is happening around the world since we not only have to do homework but also prepare for many tests.
 
   Con
according to research from the Brookings Institution and the Rand Corporation (see the Brown Center 2003 below). Their researchers analyzed data from a variety of sources and concluded that the majority of U.S. students spend less than an hour a day on homework, regardless of grade level, and this has held true for most of the past 50 years. In the last 20 years, homework has increased only in the lower grade levels, and this increase is associated with neutral (and sometimes negative) effects on student achievement.(http://www.nea.org/tools/16938.htm
#1Doing homework can strengthen the knowledge students learn
During the 50 minutes' study in class, students cannot memorize all the knowledge. In order to deal with the problem, teachers give students homework to practice, and figure out their own weaknesses. Although teachers may not give feedback every time, students can ask questions during extra help after they find out their own problem.
#2Doing homework can help prepare for the tests.
We all know that we have many tests. However, studying before the tests really cannot help a lot. Students should study every day to memorize the key point little by little rather than anxiously review at the night before tests. Doing homework is the best way to review knowledge. It requires students to combine concepts and applications together and make students be ready for the exams.

Video Games are Too Violent
    Pro

New research suggests that hours of exposure to violent media like video games can make kids react in more hostile ways compared to ones who don't spend lots of time controller-in-hand, reigniting the debate about children and gaming

(http://time.com/34075/how-violent-video-games-change-kids-attitudes-about-aggression/

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#1Many video games contain violent contents
There are many video games contain violent contents such as fighting, killing and guns. Many people start to play video games at a very young age. This kind of game may change their mind and ways of treating others and even cause huge trouble like fighting with or even killing people when they have argument with others.
 
   Con
#1Video games can train children to work with group members
Only some video games are violent, others are not violent but educational. Many games need people to play in groups, these kind of video games can trigger the sense of teamwork for children which is really good for their future lives.
#2Video game can increase students' intelligence
In order to win the video games, players have to think and plan for the games which can make them become more smart and careful. This is good for their study and work since those things also need people to plan in a detail way.