He sings the body incredulous.
Existing between never was, and never will be.
Existing without substance, yet heralding shifting bedrock.
Occupying no fixed space, filling no specific need.
Both the unexpected journey and the probable consequence.
For all his banal and baleful presence, he is neither cause nor solution.
Category: perfect tense
An open and honest discussion
I shared a meme. It’s something many of us do, have done, and perhaps we’ll do it again. This meme was a reworking of a famous poem by German Pastor Martin Niemöller.
A message was then posted which questioned the post. I almost replied that the post was only shared, and not mine. That reply would have been disingenuous at best. I shared it because I agreed with the idea that we need to be both aware and caring. I have not identified the writer although I have put a part of his reply in quotes. I have left him anonymous, one because he’s a friend and this is not a personal issue. It’s a discussion. My second reason is that I hope that we can always approach things in a civil manner. If we lose the ability to communicate, we will eventually lose ourselves.
His reply was, “But what specific policy since Obama left has been anti-Jewish? What anti-Black? What anti-Muslim, all Muslims? What anti-all Mexicans? What anti-gay? Hoist on your own petard.”
I have not presented a petard to be hoisted upon. Trump’s campaign and his ongoing assault on propriety, common sense and your constitution are the problems before the world. What Trump will do to the world is the issue we will all face. Trump is like an elephant in musth. He seems to have little focus, no clear direction or objective. The ongoing blind destruction of policies and relationships, the trampling of enshrined rights, nor much else done by the newly minted president, don’t seem to be an issue for some Americans.
The first steps to repeal the Affordable care Act, to roll back hard-won advances for LGBT rights, to imperil women’s rights and health, to continue racial profiling, to deny climate change, to either defund or muzzle critical government services, to deny sanctuary to those in need, to violate treaty in order to violate both the environment and human dignity, and to smugly demand that UN member nations lock step with ill-considered and provocative statements. None of these things that have been put on paper, tweeted, broadcast, or signed as executive orders, should surprise anyone who has followed the campaign and has an inkling of the current administration. Governments disappoint us, but they usually parcel the pain out over an entire term.
Pastor Martin Niemöller’s original poem has been referenced, and to be fair trotted out, numerous times in response to a variety of issues both political and social. Is it apt here? It is pertinent only in as much as one chooses to look at the situation, and consider, “what next?”
As long as we keep the lines of communication open, we have a chance. My greatest fear is of extremists on both sides who use any excuse to further an agenda. They spend more time shutting down discussion than considering their, and other, opinions. Here in Indonesia, we have some fairly radical organizations that shut down discussion through intimidation and by using the political and legal clout of highly placed friends. A local governor has been charged with blasphemy and there have been a number of large protests against him. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/27/indonesia-court-blasphemy-trial-ahok-jakarta-governor
That the governor is Chinese and Christian does not sit well with the leaders of these groups. Their organizations are in turn being used to further the political ambitions of a few highly placed, and somewhat convenient, friends of more recent vintage.
If America does not reinvigorate and safeguard its freedoms, its media, and its education system, with open and honest discourse then the world stands to lose a powerful instrument for positive personal, national, and global rebirth and innovation. America has been called the most powerful nation on Earth. The American President is regarded as the leader of the free world. He must be tasked to do better, for America and for the world.
Leadership is a responsibility, not a perk. We must all demand more of our leaders. We must hold our leaders to a higher standard. Whether we are American, Canadian, Japanese, German, European, British or Indonesian we must live deliberately in this moment. When we allow ourselves to be divided along religious, racial, national, economic and ideological lines we hasten the moment when we can be drawn and quartered along more personal lines.
https://qz.com/702497/the-famous-poem-by-an-anti-nazi-pastor-rewritten-for-donald-trumps-america/
Passport in the car(continued from At the Mechanic)
Late or early
Mechanic: Hello
Customer: Oh, did I wake you?
Mechanic: Did you wake me? Who is this?
Customer: You’re fixing my car.
Mechanic: Do you know what time it is?
Customer: It’s late
Mechanic: Or early – depending on how you look at it.
Customer: I’m sorry. I didn’t know …
Mechanic: Okay. What do you want?
Customer: I’m at the airport and I don’t have a passport.
Mechanic: What?
Customer: It’s in my car.
Mechanic: What?
Customer: My passport. I left it in my car.
Mechanic: And …
Customer: I need it. Can you bring it to me?
Mechanic: Are you insane? I’m a mechanic, not a courier.
Customer: Could you have it sent here?
Mechanic: What time does your flight leave?
Customer: At 5:30.
Mechanic: It’s – it’s 4:40. I don’t have enough time to get to the garage and get your passport to the airport.
Customer: But I’ll miss my flight.
Mechanic: Why don’t you take a later flight?
Customer: I don’t know? …
Mechanic: You’re not going to make it. It’s too far.
Customer: Why is it too far?
Mechanic: First I have to get to the garage; then I have to open up, and then I have to find your passport in your car. Next, I have to call a courier and wait for him to arrive. Finally, the courier has to get to the airport. The fastest that’s going to happen is two hours.
Customer: Two hours?
Mechanic: I think we’re really looking at three or four hours …even if I can find a 24-hour courier.
Customer: What should I do?
Mechanic: I think you should reschedule your flight.
Customer: Reschedule? … for when?
Mechanic: If I were you I’d reschedule for later in the afternoon.
This is a good chance to try an activity on intent and inflection. Call a student aside and tell them to be happy when they read, tell the other to be angry. Next time try one sad and one happy. Try energetic and really tired. Ask the audience to judge how effectively the speakers communicated. Don’t let the audience in on what the subtext is all about. With time, they can identify things for themselves.
At the Mechanic
At the mechanic
Customer: Will this take long?
Mechanic: It’s going to take as long as it takes.
Customer: May I ask you a question?
Mechanic: Sure.
Customer: Is this going to cost a lot?
Mechanic: How much do you have?
Customer: What?
Mechanic: Have you brought a lot of money?
Customer: Have you lost your mind?
Mechanic: It’s a joke. Can I ask you something?
Customer: Okay.
Mechanic: Do you like slamming on the brakes?
Customer: Why do you ask?
Mechanic: The brake pads are in horrible shape. I’ll have to replace them.
Customer: I don’t want you to replace anything.
Mechanic: Maybe you’d enjoy crashing.
Customer: I’m not going to crash.
Mechanic: Have you ever been in an accident?
Customer: No.
Mechanic: You’re going to be in an accident if these brakes fail.
Customer: Okay. What else is wrong?
Mechanic: Have you hit something?
Customer: Maybe.
Mechanic: Your radiator is leaking.
Customer: You’re going to replace it?
Mechanic: No. It’s a small hole. I’m going to fix it.
Customer: Good. I don’t like paying for extra work.
Mechanic: It’s okay for me too. I don’t enjoy doing extra work.
Customer: It’s hot in here. May I turn on a fan?
Mechanic: Have I ever visited your office?
Customer: No.
Mechanic: Have I ever eaten your cooking?
Customer: I don’t think so.
Mechanic: Have I ever slept in your bed?
Customer: I hope not.
Mechanic: Good. Don’t touch my fan.
Customer: It’s so hot in here. Have you ever noticed that?
Mechanic: Why don’t you take a walk?
Note: This is an exercise to illustrate the use of the present perfect simple in statements and questions. It could also be used for pair or group practice of emphatic statements and responses.
Hope that soars
In the years and centuries to come we will explore our solar system and reach beyond the incandescent majesty of our home star. We will stretch out with our will and our curiosity.
At our best we will be, at once innovative, steady and resourceful. As always, we will be prone to self-doubt and introspection.
It will be our disembodied intellects that will stride across alien deserts and sail the glittering seas of distant moons. While we propel ourselves infinitely across an inky void we cannot be oblivious to the needs and protection of our own fragile sphere.
We will need to enrich, renew, heal and listen to our home even as we seek to communicate with her counterparts.
A visitor in Surabaya
A little girl in a hijab just showed up at the house to meet her mom, who cleans for us three days a week. This grade three student is a very polite, respectful child. This is due to upbringing, good manners and being a decent person. As the Bundy bozos and the Klan yahoos have shown, no religion or nation is free of jackasses. No nation or religion should be defined by the extremists who distort belief and scripture for their own purposes. I have broken bread with atheists, Catholics, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Wiccans and likely a couple of Jedi. I would gladly break bread with most of them again. With a few of them however, I would not break wind.
Reading and comprehension practice
Practice
Rose’s sister ran up the stairs two at a time. She wasn’t aware of how fast she was moving until she was in the long corridor. Even as she raced towards the room she wondered what had happened.
Rose ate breakfast and lunch with the family. She listened attentively to her private teacher that afternoon, and ate her usual dinner with the teacher after her music lesson. She didn’t argue when it was time to go to bed.
By the time Joanne had reached the door Rose’s screams had become an almost inhuman wail. She forced herself to focus and not give into the panic she was feeling.
Joanne attempted to open the door, but found it was locked. She placed her shoulder against the cold wood and tried to force the door. The effort was futile. The heavy door wouldn’t budge an inch.
Vocabulary
Please explain the words, using five to seven words, as they are used in the passage.
corridor ___________________________________________________________________
wail ___________________________________________________________________
Attentively ___________________________________________________________________
Futile ___________________________________________________________________
Budge ___________________________________________________________________
1. What did Joanne do when she heard her sister scream?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. Why had she been surprised?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. What had happened when she reached the room?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
4. What might have been wrong?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5. Re-write paragraph two in past perfect.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Top Ten Lists
Top ten reasons to Teach English
1. You can’t sit on the couch all year
2. Eventually The Kardashians is going to be cancelled
3. There is no new Star Trek franchise
4. Somebody has to do it
5. We can’t all work in retail
6. How many times are you going to apply at McDonalds?
7. Mom and Dad need a life
8. The girl next door is not ‘playing hard to get’
9. Someone is your graduating class needs to get a job
10. If you lived here, you’d already be home
Top ten reasons to live in the tropics
1. You’ll be there when the first coconuts come off the line
2. You could get a real suntan
3. People still won’t understand you, but you won’t care
4. Seasons? Who needs ‘em!?!
5. Sand gets in some interesting places.
6. Tan lines are better than …
7. Do you like shoveling snow?
8. Because you can
9. You will believe a man can fry
10. Fresh fruit
Top ten reasons to work overseas
1. You could use a change of scenery
2. Telemarketers won’t call
3. Something to talk about to your grand kids
4. Something to talk about on your next date
5. Get a date
6. Get off the couch
7. Disneyland is the most exotic place you can imagine
8. You need to update Facebook
9. Indonesia is not just a menu selection
10. Experience three kinds of Java (coffee, the island, and coding language)
Top ten reasons to leave home
1. Mom needs to change your sheets
2. Dad wants to have that talk with you
3. Uncle Bill’s off the wagon again
4. It’s better to have a housekeeper
5. Walmart
6. Oprah’s going off the air
7. Even Dave is moving on.
8. Your passport needs love
9. The grass is greener on the other side
10. Get tagged in some interesting photos
Top ten reasons to be a teacher
1. Respect and some money
2. Sometimes you’ll actually feel like a star
3. You can make a difference
4. What are you saving all that language for?
5. You need some experience
6. Are you experienced?
7. You have to learn grammar someday
8. We can’t all be on American Idol
9. It’s a great way to meet people
10. You’ll enjoy it
Top ten reasons to see the world
1. It’s changing
2. It’s an interesting place
3. If you stand in one place the world will not come to you
4. It’s there
5. You’ll be amazed by what you see
6. You’ll be amazed by what you hear
7. You’ll be amazed by what you feel
8. You’ll be amazed by what you taste
9. You’ll be amazed by what you smell
10. People will be amazed by you
Joining the TEFL course in Indonesia, Surabaya
For those candidates joining our next course please contact us by
email or phone to arrange accommodation and airport pickup.
Also indicate when you’ll be arriving so we can have accommodation prepared.
Call +62 31 7317352
Call or text +62 081 703 284 155
Call or text +62 087 851 964 031
admin.teflindo@gmail.com
Yours sincerely,Wayne Duplessis
Indonesia, Surabaya
Presents TEFL Course & TESOL Course
Welcome to TEFL in Indonesia
TEFL Indonesia Teaching practice for November 2013.
Our teaching practices are conducted in local schools,orphanages and Children’s homes.TEFL Indonesia graduates for March 2013
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Java is one of the most beautiful places on the planet,
and still possesses a wealth of natural and cultural wonders.
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Join our TESOL Course in Surabaya, Indonesia or in Bali
With a wide variety of social and cultural activities, water sports and other
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TEFL means Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and it’s a certification that is required by learning institutions to teach abroad.
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Upon completion you will have the credentials required to work or Teach English Abroad as a teacher in non-native English speaking countries.No previous teaching experience or specialist qualifications are required.
The only requirement is fluency in English.
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