Grrr.... Grammar! (1)

Let me quickly admit that grammar is not my favourite topic and I don’t consider myself a good grammarian. I remember struggling with grammar in school and not enjoying the lessons. Nope, no happy memories there.

But to teach is to learn twice and having to discuss grammatical issues with teachers simply means having to learn my grammar. And I did. I armed myself with some good reference grammars, read grammar books and articles and generally paid closer attention to grammatical matters.

Imagine my surprise when I found out what teachers use to teach and learn grammar. I had asked some teachers to bring their reference grammars for a grammar course I was conducting. Without exception, everyone brought copies of the assessment grammar books that one finds in Popular bookstore. Yes, the kind that parents and pupils buy as well. These books are written for students and parents and only deal with the basics of grammar. If one has to teach grammar, one needs to know more than the basics! And judging from some of the questions teachers ask me about grammar, I do think there is a lot more learning that can be done where grammar is concerned.

It is with this in mind that I decided to make a new list of resources for grammar. I have shared some of this information with some teachers but others may find the list useful too. My first source for grammar is always the dictionary. You’d be amazed how many grammatical issues, especially issues regarding usage can be answered by checking the dictionary. And I don’t mean those little matchbox-size dictionaries which I’ve seen some teachers using! Nowadays, of course, we can also check an on-line dictionary, and the second resource all teachers should be in the habit of using is Google or any on- line search engine. Here are some useful websites for grammar that’s on-line and free. Most of these are recommended by webgrammar.com, a useful site for all teachers.

GRAMMARBOOK
http://www.grammarbook.com/

COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH: PROFESSOR PAUL BRIANS' SITE http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

DAILY GRAMMAR
Check your grammar knowledge. Quizzes take four minutes.
http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.shtml

ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Special help in diagramming sentences
http://members.cox.net/teachro/grammar/diagramming.htm

ENGLISH IDIOMS & PROVERBS
All pages have at least one picture each drawn by students.
http://humanities.byu.edu/elc/student/idioms/idiomsmain.html

GRAMMAR CENTRAL
Links to a teacher's notes on grammar lessons as well as copies of the lessons themselves.
http://tinyurl.com/94q5d

GUIDE TO GRAMMAR AND STYLE: JACK LYNCH
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/contents.html

MRS. BLUEZETTE'S GRAMMAR CORNER
"A PBS mind in an MTV world." Delightful, highly educational articles by a wonderful English language wizard (umm...wizette).
http://www.newsblues.com/grammar.htm

PROFESSOR CHARLES DARLING'S GRAMMAR SITE Outstanding as a quick reference for your grammar questions.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

THE ENGLISH MAZE
A web-based learning system for individuals and schools worldwide. Students can improve their pronunciation, speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills.
http://www.englishmaze.com

USINGENGLISH.COM
A large collection of English as a Second Language (ESL) tools and resources for students, teachers, learners, and academics.
http://www.usingenglish.com/

WEB ENGLISH TEACHER
Beginning teachers can find guidance; experienced teachers can find inspiration.
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/

Another useful site is www.grammargirl.com and you can subscribe to her newsletters and her other information sharing platforms. In Singapore, I find the 938Live! English@ Work newsletters very informative. Every issue discusses some grammatical items that teachers will find useful to their teaching. Each newsletter also recommends related books and discusses such topics as the origins of English words and issues related to writing. To subscribe go to: 938Live.sg.

And if you need more than grammar, try this website: http://sentencesleuth.blogspot.com/ for information and entertaining advice on how to write better sentences.

My next entry will deal with grammar books for teachers and kids.

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In search of bouillabaisse…

After more than 28 years of marriage to a gourmet/gourmand, I have developed a well-trained palate and surviving on French food for more than a week has been no hardship. But for gourmets, France, especially the Provence region, is probably their idea of a food heaven. Food in Provence was indeed delightful; tasty, well-cooked and well-presented and wine was always cheap and drinkable. But I must say that coming home reminds me that nothing can rival our cuisine. Where else can one get a range of Chinese, Malay, North and South Indian, and Western food? Well, perhaps in California but still, food is available here almost 24 hours. I can have a week of meals from a range of cuisines without repeating a dish or menu and that certainly beats Provence hands-down.

So we did indulge a little in rich food for a week and even croissants tasted special. But my husband was determined to have some bouillabaisse. This dish of fish stew is famous in Marseille but is also available along the coast. The story of this dish is linked to Venus, who created it to serve it to her husband Vulcan, so that he would be lull into a deep sleep while she indulged in some hanky panky with Mars. Bouillabaisse is more than just a fish stew; it is made with a mixture of fish and seafood and it’s the inclusion of saffron, fennel seeds and orange zest that gives it its special flavour.

We had it in Nice many years ago and as expected, never found the equivalent in Paris or any other part of the world. So, this trip must include an obligatory trip to the best bouillabaisse restaurant along the coast. The search for the fish stew took us to Antibes and our guide book recommended De Bacon restaurant for the 120 euro dish. This restaurant is so famous that it did not need a signboard, and the directions simply told one to drive towards the Cape of Antibes and look out for this place. Well, I drove this time and we had a smooth drive to Antibes and with some directions from a local, found ourselves heading in the right direction to the Cape. The road got more and more narrow and before we knew it, we were driving next to the sea and voila, we were at Juan le Pins, the next town. Yup, we completely missed the restaurant. By then, it was well past lunch time so we just parked (French underground car parks are narrow, dark and quite trying) and ate at the nearest restaurant. The meal turned out to be another delight. I had the degustation meal ( a series of small tasting dishes) which included a Provence pie, some octopi, assorted marinated vegetables and a saffron infused seafood soup. My husband, still longing for the fish stew, had Soupe de Poisson, another version of fish soup which was not the real thing, but served to temporarily satisfy the palate. After this meal, we drove back to Aix-en-Provence where we were based. A light rain accompanied us all the way. No, we didn’t weep for the lost bouillabaisse because we were still determined to search for it while we were there.

Our last two days found us back in Vence. On the way, we went to St Paul, described as the prettiest village in France. Here we visited the Maeght Foundation to see a renowned collection of modern Mediterranean artwork. The South of France was, of course, the home to famous artists like Chagall (buried at St. Paul), Van Gogh and Picasso. St Paul is a pretty walled village on the hillside with many art galleries, restaurants and great views.


Our last attempt to find the elusive fish stew took us to Vence itself where we found a restaurant which declared the dish to be among its specialities. We also found another restaurant serving paella and perhaps it was our need for some rice that made us decide to have the bouillabaisse in one restaurant followed by paella in the next. So we did that, and was it outstanding? Sadly no. Of course we didn’t expect it to be like the one we had in Nice years ago, but this bouillabaisse disappointed with the lack of seafood and flavour. Still, it was edible for 22 euros.

The day we were supposed to return was filled with rumours about the volcanic ash from the volcano with the unpronounceable name in Iceland. Fifteen Spanish airports had closed by then, but our flight was cancelled due to a technical problem with the plane engines. So we were sent off to the swanky Radisson Blu along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice for a night. Dinner was provided by the airline but given the short time the hotel had, all they could rig up for us was a tomato and mozzarella salad to begin with and ravioli with tomato sauce as the main course. The passengers, who were predominantly Malaysian tourists and Filipino cruise ship workers on their way home via Dubai, almost staged a revolt in the dining room. A few four letter words were hurled around because the Asian passengers wanted rice or Asian food. As expected, the dishes were left uneaten and many left, hungry and angry. In retrospect, the hotel should have served spaghetti instead; the Asians would have taken better to that than ravioli. Well, the next day they served rice with roast chicken; not quite Loy Kee but enough to placate the Asian palate.

Thus ended our culinary adventures and upon reaching home, I found the fridge full of porridge that I had cooked for Junior who was recuperating from a minor operation and in Junior’s room, a huge pile of dirty laundry. He ate only a portion of the porridge (cooked from a special recipe) and said he had no energy to do the laundry. On that note, the post-holiday blues begun….

Many miles from work and home...

I am here in the Luberon region in Provence, France, with my husband, a million psychological miles away from work but never that far away from home. It has been raining since we arrived at Nice on Monday but that didn’t stop us from picking up our rental car and driving to Vence, our first stop. The walled city of Vence is spectacular from a distance; inside it’s quite touristy and full of traffic jams. The old city still has its charms though we quickly realised that driving on the right hand side of the road is not the problem; the very old and narrow village roads are! This is also our first trip where we did not have a proper map to guide us. We relied on an incomplete map from the car rental and on road signs most of the way, and don’t think that I wasn’t worried! But we made it and stopped at tourist offices to pick up maps on the way.

After a night in Vence, we drove almost eight hours through half a morning of rain through the Verdon district and onto Luberon. On the way, we saw the gorges of Verdon which reminded us of the Taroko gorge in Taiwan. The drive was more spectacular though. The roads were narrow and winding, and we slowly made our way to the top of the mountains and down again. On the way, we did not see many cars and often we were the only vehicle on the road for miles. Still, the views are breathtaking and spring has also brought verdant fields and colourful wildflowers. My husband declared that there is no bad scenery in Provence and I am inclined to agree with him. Many parts reminded me of England’s Cotswold region from the small country roads to the far flung villages.

Our bed and breakfast place near the village of Bonnieux is a peaceful hideaway, and blessed with a large garden and acres of vineyards and forest nearby. If we strained our ears, we can hear the sound of a motorcar or two. Otherwise it’s only the birds and the gentle hum of silence. We have just returned from driving around the villages and what is amazing is the way many houses were built into the side of the hills. The village Gordes is a good example and the view from just outside the village is more spectacular than what is in the village.

The food so far has been okay, but I think globalisation has ruined some things for me. At Comps-sur-Artuby, we stepped into a historical restaurant which has been operating since 1737 by the same Bain family and was immediately greeted by Coldplay music. Every meal I had here could be eaten in Singapore and I began to wonder what is special here apart from the olive paste, tapenade which not easily obtainable back home. I could be wrong though.

Also, my textbook French, or what is left of it has served me well so far. At least I can make out what’s on the French-only menu and make some basic inquiries and understand what is said to me. Alas, serious conversation eludes me though and it’s a good thing that more people speak English here than what I used to remember of France.

More sightseeing tomorrow. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for good weather. And then it’s on to Aix-en-Provence!

Teachers who care

Recently I received an invitation to celebrate NIE’s 60 years of teacher education. Among the events being celebrated is the Caring Teacher Awards. Present and past recipients of the award have been invited to a dinner to launch a commemorative book, Teaching is Heart Work. Unfortunately, I will have to miss this since I will be in the south of France on that day. This, however, does not reduce the importance of the award to me as I consider it my most significant contribution to the teaching profession.

In 1996, I was asked by the then Director of NIE, Professor Leo Tan, to help develop a concept for an award to be given to teachers. Exxon Mobil was going to sponsor the award as it has since the inception. Initially, the idea was to give the award to the most effective teachers or the teachers who produce the best results, but after kicking that idea around for a while, we realised that this is something that would be hard to quantify and evaluate. Eventually, I suggested that we give the award to teachers who show the most care and concern for their students, and this can be decided by those nominating the teachers. We also decided that we will allow everyone who has anything to do with the teacher and the school to do the nomination.

I was then left to take care of the details such as coming up with a logo, writing the concept paper and the guidelines for nomination, setting up the judging system and liaising with the press and schools. One of my students who graduated from the poly as a graphic designer helped design the red and blue logo. I am always grateful to her for the lovely design. I do, however, feel bad that she was never properly thanked by the Institute for her good work.

I remember a whirlwind of activities and the nail biting suspense waiting for support and approval from MOE. I remember too the relief and excitement of the first few nomination letters. My small committee (which included the current chair, Dr Nick Aplin) and I read all the letters eagerly and we were moved by the trouble parents and students took to nominate the teachers who have shown them care and concern. It was very gratifying and we were touched many times by the letters and stories. I left NIE in 1998 but not before managing two rounds of the awards; that was enough for me to believe that the awards will go on. And they did.

The recent invitations led me to reflect about the nature of our work and how it often exceeds the job description. I would say that all our caring teachers went beyond their job description and walked the extra mile. Working on this award was also one of those extra-curricular activities I had as a lecturer. I don’t remember how I felt about the extra work but I do recall the excitement I felt when we received support for the idea. In the end, not only did I help launch an award to highlight a key aspect of teaching, but I also learnt a lot about juggling jobs, managing events, prioritising work, and also about my own strengths and weaknesses. Managing this award helped me realise that I was a good organiser and gave me the courage and the conviction to finally leave NIE and to work for myself.

What is my message to you then? Simple. Do your duty and do it well. Don’t begrudge those who give you extra work. Instead, learn from the task. Learn about the task and in doing so, learn about yourself. It’s only from understanding what you are capable of that you can grow as a person and in your career. My dear friend LK, a well-respected principal in Singapore, once spoke about her beginning tasks at a junior college where we were both young teachers. Among her many duties was the job of buying dustbins for the whole school. I don’t know how many teachers would take this task on nowadays, but my friend never considered this job insignificant. Instead she referred to this procurement of dustbins as her special duties and she gave it her careful attention. The Principal was grateful and appreciative, but my friend’s point was not to underestimate any job, and not to think of such menial jobs as a sort of punishment. They certainly are a test though, of your character and of your attitude to work.

And I think that’s the central meaning of the Caring Teacher Awards too. Care for what you do, care for those you are in charge of, care for yourself and everyone you are in contact with and everything will fall into place. True, nothing is ever that glib or easy. If it were, nothing would be worth the effort.

I don’t know if any of the recipients of the award read this blog, but I don’t think it’s out of place to congratulate them for being a true teacher to their students. I hope their students will always remember the example their teachers have set for them.