A Christmas Story 一個聖誕節的故事
There is much good in the world. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
世上仍有許多美好的事物。聖誕快樂!
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About a week ago, I saw a family receiving help from a charity. The volunteer gave them secondhand clothes and a pair of shoes to a little girl. Her father thanked the volunteer while the little girl looked so happy and jumped around in her new shoes. It deeply touched me. How fortunate I am to live in the comfort of my home without needing to worry about food or clothes on these cold winter days. It also reminded me of my childhood.
大概一個星期前,我看到某戶人家獲得慈善機構的協助。志工提供他們二手衣物,並將一雙鞋子送給了一位小女孩。小女孩的父親看見自己的女兒洋溢著幸福的笑容,連忙向志工道謝,一旁的小女孩則穿起鞋子手舞足蹈。這樣的畫面,深深觸動了我。現在的我無疑是幸運的,無須挨餓受凍,卻不禁使我想起自己的童年。
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When I was younger, my family was also disadvantaged, and I relied on government aid just to be able to eat at times. I still remember wearing secondhand clothes that don't fit and gluing my shoes together because the sole would detach whenever I ran too fast. Now, I have my own educational platform, live a comfortable life, and have a tiny bit of influence. I can and must do much more to help.
年幼時,我生長在相對弱勢的家庭,須仰賴政府補助,才能享用學校的營養午餐。我記得自己穿著完全不合身的二手衣褲,必須用強力膠把鞋子黏好,以防我跑動時鞋底又脫落。如今,我有了自己的教育平臺,生活無虞而有餘裕,也累積了些許影響力。我想,自己必須做的更多。
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I began researching possible ways to contribute to needy children, who honestly do not need English learning more than they need food in their bellies and a coat on their shoulders.
由於聖誕節將近,我開始找尋可能的途徑,來幫助那些有需要的孩子。他們需要的不是學習英語的資源,而是能夠裹腹的食物與得以禦寒的衣物。
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Taiwan has a comparatively low poverty rate, partly due to government efforts and its definition of poverty as being low-income. However, what of those not listed in the government tax records? What about those without a roof over their heads? Even when a family is making what is considered the poverty line—anywhere from 170 to 350 USD per month depending on the area—they still suffer from the lack of resources. Think of how much you are currently earning. Would a family of four or five be able to survive on that if they did not have housing?
臺灣的貧困比例相對較低,部分原因在於政府的努力,另一方面則因「貧困」的定義--低收入。但是,那些政府未登記在案亦未申報所得稅者,以及無住房供給的人,又該如何是好?即便一個家庭的所得在貧窮線以上(視地區而定,每月所得約介於170至350美元之間),仍缺乏足夠的資源。想想我們現有的所得,如果一家四口無住房供給,他們是否能夠以此為生?
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I came across a charity program and was inspired by the following (now defunct) charity fundraiser.
我偶然發現了一個慈善計劃,並受到這個慈善募款活動(現已結束)的啟發:http://bit.ly/2WByk8q
We are five international exchange students at NTU who feel welcomed to Taiwan with open arms. In the spirit of the generosity and warmth of the Taiwanese people, we would like to give back by partnering with Andrew Charity Association to provide children in the Taipei area with Christmas gifts in addition to their monthly food boxes delivered by Andrew Charity Association.
我們五位是到臺大交換的國際生。來臺交換期間,承蒙臺灣人熱情的招待,讓離鄉甚遠的我們備感溫暖。因此,我們想與臺灣本土的慈善團體「安得烈食物銀行」合作,於歲末時以「寒冬送暖」的方式,為臺北地區的弱勢兒童送上聖誕小禮、食物箱與新年祝福,讓這份溫暖傳遞給社會中更多的人。
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因此,我立刻搜尋了安得烈慈善協會:
The food boxes from Andrew Food Bank are what these children look forward to the most every month. With the Christmas holidays coming up very soon, we hope to give them another reason to smile in addition to their boxes of food…something small but enough to surprise them and let them know that someone out there cares about them.
安得烈的食物箱是孩子們每個月最期待收到的禮物,聖誕節即將到來,在這個溫馨的節日,我們希望能夠幫助這群孩子的食物箱需用費用之外,同時另外預備適合孩子的聖誕禮物,如文具、保溫瓶等,一份額外的小驚喜,讓他們感受到愛和關懷,也是為他們打氣加油,鼓勵他們在困境中不灰心,帶著希望和勇氣迎接2020年。
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I contacted Andrew Food Bank asked them the procedure for donation. I then researched the organization before thinking about what I could do to help.
我聯絡了安得烈食物銀行,詢問了捐贈的相關程序。我研究了並且認同機構的服務宗旨,並思考著如何提供協助。
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Of course, I could start crowdfunding like the original fundraiser, but with Christmas so close, that would take far too long. I needed funding immediately, and then a Christmas miracle happened.
當然,我可以仿效原先的慈善活動開始募資,但聖誕節將至,這會花太多時間。我需募得資金,以實現聖誕奇蹟。
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That night, out of nowhere, I saw a picture of a sponge scrubber exceeding my new book in sales, so I thought it would be humorous to post the picture with a link to the book. That very night, we sold about 600 books! Now I have the funding needed to purchase about 150 gifts! I only make a percentage of the total revenue, so I decided to donate double of all my proceeds from the sale to purchase gifts in addition to the food boxes for these disadvantaged children. It's my small way of saying Merry Christmas to you and giving a little warmth to the needy.
當天晚上,我猛然看見一塊菜瓜布的銷量,在博客來網上超過我出版的新書,當下感到莫名的搞笑,就將之截圖下來,在粉絲專頁中發布貼文,並附上新書的連結。不知為何,當晚我們竟奇蹟般地售出近600本書!現在,我已募得足夠的資金,得以購買150份禮物。由於我只能獲得銷售總額的一小部分,因此我將盡綿薄之力,以我個人銷售所得的兩倍為捐款金額,用於購買這些弱勢孩童的禮物,為有需要的人傳遞些許溫暖,並以此向支持我的朋友們獻上聖誕節的祝福。
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The most basic principle of education is caring for those around you and letting them know you care, whether they are your family, friends, or total strangers.
教育最基本的準則是關懷身邊的人,並讓他們知道你在乎他們,無論他們是你的家人、朋友,抑或是素未謀面的人。
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I am not asking you to donate. Instead, let us just remember this principle of caring. Bring a little warmth into other people's lives. There are many who need your help, and we're all capable of giving so much love and care.
我並非在請求各位捐贈,而是我們都該記得這個有愛的冬天,以及這樣的生活原則。當我們行有餘力之時,不要忘了為身邊的人伸出援手,把愛傳出去。
There is much good in the world. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
世上仍有許多美好的事物。聖誕快樂!
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安得烈慈善協會: http://www.chaca.org.tw/
Eric’s English Lounge 宗旨與目標: https://bit.ly/2BaENzJ
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資料來源:
https://www.gvm.com.tw/article/72938
https://borgenproject.org/poverty-in-taiwan/
https://www.brain.com.tw/news/articlecontent?ID=45670
https://www.chaca.org.tw/happinessangel/foodbank.aspx
https://www.dodoker.com/index.php?r=project%2Fview&id=367
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english article for students 在 李怡 Facebook 的最佳解答
No Forbidden Zones in Reading (Lee Yee)
German philosopher Hegel said, “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”
In April 1979, the post-Cultural Revolution era of China, the first article of the first issue of Beijing-based literary magazine, Dushu [meaning “Reading” in Chinese]," shook up the Chinese literary world. The article, titled “No Forbidden Zones in Reading”, was penned by Li Honglin. At the time, the CCP had not yet emerged from the darkness of the Cultural Revolution. What was it like in the Cultural Revolution? Except for masterpieces by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao, and a small fraction of practical books, all books were banned, and all libraries were closed. The Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, and 2 years later in 1978, the National Publishing Bureau decided to allow 35 books to be “unbanned”. An interlude: When the ban was first lifted, there was no paper on which to print the books because the person with authority over paper was Wang Dongxing, a long-term personal security of Mao’s, who would only give authorization to print Mao. The access to use paper to print books other than Mao was a procedural issue. The Cultural Revolution was already on its way to be overturned. The door to printing these books was opened only after several hang-ups.
“No Forbidden Zones in Reading” in the first issue of Dushu raised a question of common sense: Do citizens have the freedom to read? “We have not enacted laws that restrict people’s freedom of reading. Instead, our Constitution stipulates that people have the freedom of speech and publication, as well as the freedom to engage in cultural activities. Reading ought to be a cultural activity,” argued Li. It was not even about the freedom of speech, but simply reading. Yet this common sense would appear as a subversion of the paralyzing rigid ideas formulated during the Cultural Revolution, like a tossed stone that raises a thousand ripples. Dushu’s editorial department received a large number of objections: first, that there would be no gatekeeper and mentally immature minors would be influenced by trashy literature; second, that with the opening of the Pandora box, feudalism, capitalism and revisionism would now occupy our cultural stage. The article also aroused waves of debates within the CCP. Hu Yaobang, then Minister of Central Propaganda, transferred and appointed Li Honglin as the Deputy Director of the Theory Bureau in his department. A colleague asked him directly, “Can primary school students read Jin Pin Mei [also known in English as The Plum in the Golden Vase, a Chinese novel of manners composed in late Ming dynasty with explicit depiction of sexuality]?”
“All Four Doors of the Library Should be Open” was published in the second issue of Dushu, as an extension to “No Forbidden Zones in Reading”. The author was Fan Yuming, but was really Zeng Yansiu, president of the People’s Publishing House.
In the old days, there was a shorthand for the three Chinese characters for “library”: “book” within a “mouth”. The four sides of the book are all wide open, meaning that all the shackles of the banned books are released. “No Forbidden Zones in Reading” explains this on a theoretical level: the people have the freedom to read; “All Four Doors of the Library Should be Open” states that other than special collection books, all other books should be available for the public to loan.
The controversy caused by “No Forbidden Zones in Reading” lasted 2 years, and in April 1981, at the second anniversary of Dushu, Director of the Publishing Bureau, Chen Hanbo, penned an article that reiterated that there are “No Forbidden Zones in Reading”, and that was targeting an “unprecedented ban on books that did happen”.
Books are records of human wisdom, including strange, boring, vulgar thoughts, which are all valuable as long as they remain. After Emperor Qin Shihuang burned the books, he buried the scholars. In history, the ban on books and literary crimes have never ceased.
Engraved on the entrance to Dachau concentration camp in Germany, a famous poem cautions: When a regime begins to burn books, if it is not stopped, they will turn to burn people; when a regime begins to silent words, if it is not stopped, they will turn to silent the person. At the exit, a famous admonishment: When the world forgets these things, they will continue to happen.
Heine, a German poet of the 19th century, came up with “burning books and burning people”. There was a line before this: This is just foreplay.
Yes, all burning and banning of books are just foreplay. Next comes the literary crimes, and then “burning people”.
I started working at a publishing house with a high school degree at 18, and lived my entire life in a pile of books. 42 years ago, when I read “No Forbidden Zones in Reading” in Dushu, I thought that banned books were a thing of the past. Half a century since and here we are, encountering the exact same thing in the freest zone for reading in the past century in the place which enlightened Sun Yat-sen and the rest of modern intellectuals, a place called Hong Kong.
Oh, Hegel’s words are the most genuine.
english article for students 在 Eric's English Lounge Facebook 的最讚貼文
[教育時評] 成長心態的十大必知 10 Must-Knows for a Growth Mindset
透過持續的完成人生的短期與長期目標,我們在探索和反省中逐漸了解自我,從而找到人生目標。擁有人生目標便可有效制定更明確的長短期目標,從而有規劃的活出自己想要的人生。
然而人生目標形成與達成皆需要經歷許多人生的歷練,制定相關的精準目標有需經歷探索,那年輕的同學到底要如何在尚未明確的現階段來設定目標?
每一個人完成探索目標的時間當然不同,過程中我們的目標也會不停的變動,甚至許多人可能一輩子也未必能覺察自己的人生目標。然而透過一個彈性的成長心態 (a flexible growth mindset)和他人指導,我們可以更有效率輔助自己建立和完成目標。
以下是我透過自身經驗,並參考近代教育理論與心理學,幫同學寫的「成長心態的10個必知 / 10 Must Knows」,以便更進一步的探討如何建立和達成自己的目標:
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1. Know what you want in life. While short-term goals may be ever-changing, you can start by having an overall sense of purpose or change that you want to make. For me, it was initially to have financial stability but eventually transformed to contributing to educational leadership. Having an overall purpose can help you align your short-term objectives with long-term goals, making accomplishing them far more efficient and motivating.
知道自己的目的。儘管短期目標可能會發生變化,但你應該對目標或要做出的改變有全面的認知。 對我來說,最初的目標是財務穩定,但最終轉變為對教育領導的貢獻。有一個總體目標可以幫助自己保持短期目標與長期目標的一致,從而更有效、更有動力地實現這些目標。
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2. Know that you can solve your problems and make changes in your life. While we all have different problems, and there is no guarantee we can resolve all issues, working towards a positive change will benefit you regardless of the outcome. You must know that you have the capacity for positive change.
知道自己有能力解決問題,儘管並不是所有的問題都能自己解決。每個問題都是成長和學習的機會。首先寫下問題,然後積極面對,並在有需要時尋求他人協助。
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3. Know that you can develop the skills and abilities you need to make changes through consistent effort and the development of your unique strengths. Everyone is talented in different ways but persistence is what develops talents into invaluable skills you can use to empower yourself and achieve your goals. We do not all need to be as talented as Olympic athletes to achieve the success we need in life.
知道自己可以通過持續不斷的努力和個體優勢的發展來獲得所需的能力。每個人擅長的事物皆有所不同,通過經年累月的工作和學習將自己的才能進一步發展為寶貴的技能。
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4. Know that consistently meeting small and realistic objectives that align with your bigger goals and purpose is the most efficient way to achievement. Do not try to accomplish too many things at once or your might not accomplish anything at all in the end. Set realistic goals that you can adjust and achieve a step at a time.
知道實現與長期目標相符的短期目標是達成人生目標最有效的方法。確定目標實現的優先順序,不要試圖一次完成太多的事情,否則最終可能徒勞無功。
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5. Know that achieving your goals take time and consistent effort. You must make plans and keep schedules to keep yourself from procrastinating. Do not think you can reach your end goal in a week and then be disappointed by your failure. Taking a small step each day will enable you to make great strides in life. You must also prioritize which objectives to meet first and have a plan for doing so. Consult your mentors, parents, and peers, have a discussion, and come up with your own plan.
知道實現目標需要時間和持續不斷的努力。制定計劃並表操課以免拖延。不要期待自己會在一周內達到最終目標,然後對失敗感到失望。每天走一小步就能使生活大步向前。
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6. Know that you may fail along the way, but every failure can bring you closer to achievement. However, know that failing only brings growth when you self-reflect and make changes. Do not just keep repeating mistakes.
知道自己可能會失敗,但是每一次失敗都會更接近成就。然而,只有自省並做出改變,失敗才會帶來成長。不要只是重複之前的錯誤。
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7. Know that role models, mentors, and teachers can take you to the next level. Actively seek out your role models and mentors and learn from your competitors and peers. Actively seek out talented and experienced individuals to guide you and work to earn their trust and guidance. Do not expect everyone to come to you and help you for no reason. Why should they? Be humble and be grateful.
知道榜樣、指導者甚至競爭對手都可以將自己帶到全新的高度。積極尋找榜樣和指導者,並向競爭對手學習。積極尋求有才華與經驗豐富的人的協助,並努力贏得他們的信任和指導。不要指望每個人都會無緣無故地幫忙。
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8. Know that collaboration will enable you to accomplish success on a much larger scale. Every successful person has a partner or a team behind them. There is only so much you can learn and do on your own, and you must work with talented and trustworthy people from every domain.
知道協作能使自己更大程度地取得成功。每個成功的人都有一個團隊。每個人精力有限,你需要與各領域的強者一起工作。
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9. Know that opportunities are created, not given. By actively seeking, learning, planning, and pursuing ways to accomplish your goals, you are creating new opportunities every day. Listen to advice but do not be limited by boundaries set by others. Take calculated risks and walk your own unique path.
知道主動創造機會,而不是被動等待。通過積極尋求、學習、規劃與追求實現目標,每天為自己創造新的機會。聽取建議,但不受限於他人所設的障礙。走自己的獨特道路。
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10. Know that helping others help yourself. When we aid those who are disadvantaged, we are building a more inclusive, equitable, and prosperous community. Such a supportive community leads to the exchange of diverse ideas, collaboration, innovation and positive changes, all of which will help yourself. Medical studies have also revealed that helping others enhances our own emotional-well beings. By helping others, you are helping yourself.
知道助人者自助。雖然從不同的角度出發,但我們都能以自己獨特的方式對周圍的人產生積極影響,並實現自己的人生目標。
Educational Equity (教育公平): http://bit.ly/2NvyQR3
Eric's English Lounge 的宗旨與目標: https://goo.gl/fFUBWe
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Motivation to Learn 學習的動力: http://bit.ly/2RjscPb
How to Set & Achieve Goals 如何制定短期目標: http://bit.ly/2Rdi0aU
Growth mindset poster: https://www.openrecruitmentlimited.co.uk/fixed-mindset-v-growth-mindset
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Sources
http://exploresel.gse.harvard.edu/terms/530
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/between-cultures/201805/in-helping-others-you-help-yourself
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/how-kids-really-succeed/480744/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/debate-arises-over-teaching-growth-mindsets-to-motivate-students/
https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/05/25/479172868/angela-duckworth-responds-to-a-new-critique-of-grit
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/05/10/the-problem-with-teaching-grit-to-poor-kids-they-already-have-it-heres-what-they-really-need/&prev=search
Image source: https://www.openrecruitmentlimited.co.uk/fixed-mindset-v-growth-mindset
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喜歡我這一系列的文章, 也麻煩按個讚留言「 I want to have a growth mindset!」越多分享我就越有motivation寫下一篇文章!
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教育時評: http://bit.ly/39ABON9
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