Language → Capturing Language and Photos

A Look at 4 Years of TWGH’s English Summer Camps

July 14, 2023

Growing up, Summer camp was extremely important to my development. I attended a variety of camps in middle school and in high school. Now as an English teacher in Hong Kong, I am happy to see students participating in TWGH's (Tung Wah Group Hospitals) English camps. TWGH is a large organization. All together there are 18 schools. Each school sends around 8 students, so that means there are approximately 150 students attending. Thankfully The Seventh Day Adventists Academy has been able to host the camp for many years now. In Hong Kong it is rare to see so much grass. Their campus…

End of the Year Globalization Tour

July 10, 2023

The English Ambassadors from my school just had a globalization tour field trip in Tsim Sha Tsui. Ms. Kwok, Mr. Wai, and Ms. Wong all worked hard to train the ambassadors. I am proud of the students for sticking with the program and I think it is fitting that the school offered the students an end of the year treat for all of their hard work. Ms. Kwok scheduled for us to meet our tour guide Audrea at the chock- tower in TST at 9:45. Audrea took us to 10 famous tourist spots and explained their significance to us. She…

An Interview – Help From Others on Our Language Journey

June 12, 2023

I suppose you heard of the self-made man, the self-made woman or rugged individualism. The idea is that you can be successful on your own without the help of others. The problem is it simply isn’t true. Don’t lie to yourself. Of course, there is a lot that you can and should do for yourself, but at some point we all need other to help us. In this video, I talk with my friend Patrick about language learning. Patrick is a Hong Konger, who both studied and worked overseas. I start the interview in English, but then shift over to…

Sizing People Up

May 5, 2023

They say that you can't judge a book by the cover. The problem is that we do it all the time. Years ago a Chinese friend that I met in Rochester NY told me that I need to memorize a clever sounding introduction for myself to recite every time I met a new Chinese person. At the time, I thought his idea was a little over the top. Why go to that much trouble to make a good impression. Well, as a blond hair blue eye white guy, I meet lots of Chinese people who just assume I can’t speak…

Chinese Characters are Hard

May 5, 2023

Saturday morning a little after 11 am, I was walking back to my motorcycle from Trio Beach when I met this elderly couple. They were visiting a relative here in Hong Kong for a month. Both of them wish that they could stay longer. Hong Kong is an amazing place they told me. There are so many islands and places to visit. Reading Chinese The gentleman pointed to above sign and said that he finds the characters very fascinating. By that point in our conversation, I had already told them that I have lived in Hong Kong for 7 plus…

Get them to Speak More English

April 17, 2023

As many of you know, I resigned from my teaching position at WFLC, Wong Fung Ling College, in December of last year, 2022, due to the vaccine mandate. Now it feels like I am beginning again. Upon returning from a home-visit to the US, the vaccine mandate was lifted. The vice-principal of my school reached out to me to let me know that the school was looking for a NET teacher. She asked me if I wanted to interview for my former position. I said sure. The first interview was being held the week after I arrived back from the states.…

You Can Learn a Language Later in Life

April 9, 2023

Everyone’s got a different language journey. We all come from different family backgrounds. My guest today, Hubert, comes from a Hong Kong family, but his parents were adventurous. They decided to establish themselves in Singapore when Hubert was only 2 years old. Hubert had to learn Cantonese at home, but today he considers English his first language, Mandarin his second and Cantonese his third language. We decided to make this interview just an audio one. In the interview, I recall the time that Hubert helped me look for a village house. I thought he was smart because he could speak…

Meeting New Friends

April 2, 2023

Meeting new friends in another language is a cool experience. Somewhere on our language journeys we get to go beyond all of the formalities and the hard work of learning a new language and just experience it. It's not all fun; sometimes we don't understand what's going on around us. But little by little we understand enough to enjoy the experience and enter into the lives of a new set of friends. That's what happened to me. Yesterday, my wife, Tracy, invited me to a BBQ with her friends from the Lutheran Seminary. She took classes there and her classmates…

If I Can Do it Anyone Can – Tom Johnston

March 30, 2023

I have known Tom since I was in grade school. I have always appreciate Tom’s kindness and encouragement. He himself was an underdog. He likes to say, "If I can do it anyone can." (be successful) Here are the questions I prepared for him. Tell me about your early years? Did you have a happy childhood? Why or why not? How did the experiences of your childhood contribute to the person you are today? What challenges did you face? How did you overcome them? What regrets do you have? What advice would you give to people who struggle to fit…

Insights on Overcoming Language Struggles – Interview

March 18, 2023

Tim used to be my teacher and counselor. He has a cross cultural marriage. I got the chance to meet with him while I was on home visit in Rochester, NY in February 2023. He was gracious enough to let me interview him about his language journey with his wife. Tim has a number of insights on overcoming language struggles. https://vimeo.com/809078268 Here are some of the questions and points from the interview. What kinds of challenges did you face in your marriage? Key points - Language cultural differences can be offensive. Yield to the others cultural expression. What language(s) did…