Articles in English

I spend a lot of time studying English every day with a wishful thinking that I can become a writer some day. I read a lot, extensively and intensively. I write a lot, extensively and intensively. I speak a lot, extensively and intensively. But there is still a long way for me to publish a book, if there is any.

To be honest,as a non-native speaker of English, I feel as much frustrated using articles in English as any high school kid, when it comes to the English grammar. My native English editor friends often compliment my articles written in English, but not my usage of articles in English.

The articles in the English language are "the" and "a/an". "The" specifies the definite articles. "A/an" specifies indefinite articles according to adjacent sounds. An article combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun.

Every noun must be accompanied by an article, if any, corresponding to its definiteness, and the lack of an article (considered a zero article) itself specifies a certain definiteness. This obligatory nature of articles makes them among the most common words in English. And the most frequent word is "the" in English.

I had a tendency to abuse "the" before the noun. Last Monday evening, I gave a prepared speech "the hair is everything" at Prestige Toastmasters Club. Toastmasters Lester Lin was my individual evaluator. He told me that "the hair" conjured up a single, specific hair. I was recommended to change my speech title to "Hair is Everything". If we could think it twice, in stead of saying, "The money is everything", we would say, "Money is Everything."

Yesterday evening, Toastmaster Virginia Lee raised a question about an English quiz at her niece's school, she was curious if "The chinese are a hard-working people" a correct sentence grammatically. I thought of the English lesson I learned at once at Prestige club.

Among golden ladies, there was a heated discussion about the English grammar. Which sentence is correct, "Chinese are hard-working people" or "The chinese are a hard-working people", or both, I hope I can grasp the nuance of the language affect from a writer's point of view little by little. It is never too late to learn!

I am a Bird!

When Toastmaster Caroline Kiang asked me to deliver a demo speech at 傑人會, a 6 months old Chinese-speaking Toastmaters Club, I said Yes without any hesitation. It was the first time I delivered a humorous speech for 5-7 minutes, I was happy I made it this evening.

Caroline, Toastmaster Kate Hsu, and I met for dinner at a small family restaurant near the meeting venue before 6PM. After dinner, we were the three early birds at the meeting 30 minutes in advance. Kate took the last minute assignment as the joke master.

It was a successful meeting at the most sophisticated meeting room in District 67. After meeting, Toastmasters Eva Liu invited us for snack at her boutique in the neighborhood. Eva showed us her product line of a brand new Taipei brand. President Jennifer Liu, Kate, and I spent a small fortune to support Eva's idea and dream.

We didn't leave Eva's boutique until after half to 12 midnight, Eva gave a good discount to Kate and me, wishing us happy birthdays in October. Both Kate and I are looking forward to showing off our new dresses to golden ladies Toastmasters at our birthday parties next month.

****我是隻小小鳥****

我是隻（小小鳥的動作），飛就飛，叫就叫，自由消遙(轉一圈、摔一跤、沒人笑) 沒摔好，還要加強演練！不能慌，整個場面要hold住，（中文會不可以穿插英文），我穩ㄨㄣˇ 住了！

我不知有憂愁，我不知有煩惱，只是常歡笑！（拍手、笑臉、引導觀眾鼓掌）！別得意，我穩住了！

（一看手錶）今天我是隻早起的鳥，六點，滿地都是蟲，mmm, mmm, 好吃耶!

我騎上三陽野狼（bu~bu~bu）, 來去復興鄉天空步道！

今天天氣好清爽,陌上野花香, 多麼鳥語花香的好日子啦！

紅燈右轉，遭了! 路上有警察埋伏！

說時那時快，我這隻早起的鳥變成驚弓之鳥。心想七早八早，竟然碰到這種鳥事，整個場面要穩住, 不能慌，我穩住了！

「駕照行照拿出來，妳沒看到紅燈」？

「看到了，但我沒看到您波麗士大人！」馬上轉變情緒，一幅小鳥依人的模像，使用各種談判招數，一哭、二鬧、三上吊、四講笑話（在演講會看到紅燈，還可以通融三十秒）、五下跪。

二隻警界菜鳥，三二下就被我這隻溝通老鳥給乎巄過去了！ 好不高興，賺到一千八！要鎮定，我穩住了！

經過摩斯漢堡，聞到咖啡香，點杯熱咖啡，等熱咖啡的同時，順便上洗手間補妝！

喝完咖啡，精神一振，繼續上路！

糟糕, 我的野狼鑰匙不見了，會掉到那裡呢？東也找不到，西也找不到，最後到摩斯漢堡的垃圾箱找到了，還找到別人的眼鏡及假牙，真噁！想吐！不行！我是貴婦，要裝模做像，我穩住了！（bu~bu~bu）

（再看手錶）不得了，己經七點，騎上野狼（bu~bu~bu）,一路橫衝直撞、闖黃燈、闖紅燈、闖綠燈、多虧我是隻早起的鳥，路上沒有人！喔喔喔，向前行！

怎麼都沒人呢？該不會弄錯集合地點罷！別慌張，有耐心，我穩住了！七點半了，怎麼還沒半隻鳥？

打電話給瑪麗，『妳說什麼，明天才去玩，今天是星期一？』我的神經快崩潰了, Haaaaaaaa！反正也沒人再看，我就別hold住了！Haaaaaaaa！一隻鳥兒號久久！

倦鳥歸巢後，一下看小說、一下看報紙、等到想看電腦，卻找不到眼鏡，廚房沒有、臥室沒有、廁所沒有，一看鏡子，結果頭頂上有三付眼鏡！

打開電腦，看到瑪麗的email, 恭喜我中標—老年過動健忘症AAADD，東西丟三落四，從早天到晚，東一點、西一點，結果一事無成，每天都被時間追著跑，聴到老字，我就氣，不行，要穩住了！不然鄒紋就會跑出來！只要穩得住，就好！穩得住的小鳥 No. 1 啦！

我的演講好不好？我的演講讚不讚？我是隻（小小鳥的動作）？

小笨鳥啦！笨鳥要先飛，老師有在講，你們有沒有在聴啦？

Hair Is Everything

After Division A Advanced Manual Training on the last evening of August, I was all lifted up to work on the Interpersonal Communication Manual. Tonight, I completed the project 1 Conversing with Ease to my satisfaction. I wanted to thank Toastmaster Lester Lin for being my individual Evaluator, President Naomi Kao for being my role player. Toastmaster Gordon Brook gave a friendly remark before I concluded my Project 1 speech within the time limit.

I arrived at the Brown Cafe' before 6:30PM. It had become one of my habits to arrive at the social functions 30 minutes ahead of time, just in case I might go astray on the way, say running into a handsome guy for instance. Besides, there is a Chinese saying, "A slow sparrow should make an early start".

I followed the sign to the huge second floor only to find a few customers. Before I I sat down, I was approached by a weird young man.

"Are you a Prestige member," I asked him with a friendly smile. "Where is the stage," I tried to be polite. And walked to the counter to get myself a cup of hot water.

"Do you work," he asked. "No, I don't," I replied and wondered what a question it was to start a conversation. Then he looked at me from head to toe, and commented, "you don’t look like a person who works". By then, I knew that he was not a member of the Prestige Toastmasters Club member. The episode came to an end.

It has been a long while since I last joined Prestige club meeting. As I could recall, probably for only a couple of times before it was split into two clubs, Prestige and Premium. It felt good to back to Prestige club to see old Toastmasters friends and make new ones, especially the guests—the potential Toastmasters.

I didn't realize the meeting room was at the far end corner until I heard SAA Matt Chang start setting the room in order in a hurry. I took a back seat for myself in order to be able to observe the meeting and to remember all faces and names of the participants of the evening.

President Naomi arrived, followed by Good old fellow Gordon. We started a joke session about hair. I asked Naomi if she would be my role player for my speech. When Toastmaster Jennifer Chen walked into the room with magnificent manicure and pedicure, shiny straight long hair. She caught my immediate attention. I should have asked Jennifer to be my role player if she would have arrived earlier. I asked her if she would play a silent role in my speech. Jennifer gave her consent at once. She would make a perfect model in a scenario of a hair salon.

When I was told that Jennifer prepared the yummy authentic Vietnamese spring rolls for the refreshment during the meeting, I was drawn to her for the second time. After she told me that the spring rolls were made by her Vietnamese friend, I was a little disappointed, because I was enthusiastic in writing about the cooking Toastmasters in District 67.

I felt extremely flattered to be evaluated by Lester Lin this evening. He was the Trainer of the Advanced Manual-Interpersonal Communication. He said a lot of sweet words and evaluated my speech by SEX (start, execution, exit). When he uttered the word out of his mouth, Oh, I was all ears, so were the audience, to the unique evaluation method I had never heard before. To be honest, a woman at my age, I was on cloud nine to be conjured up the idea of SEX. (Ha! Ha! I had better get a hold of myself like Hold住姐). In conclusion, Lester Lin encouraged me to use open questions skillfully to let the role player express more opinions and viewpoints. He also recommended I wrap up the speech with a more powerful conclusion.

Serendipitously, Toastmaster Robert Huang, the role play partner of the demo speaker Neal Stovicek of Project 1 at Division A Advanced Manual Training, was in the audience. He is the Marketing Manager of ShowLin Hair Salon. Robert offered me a few suggestions about the correct usage of the words in the hair business during the intermission.

After the meeting was over, Naomi, Jennifer and I hang around till Mr. Brown was closed at 10:30PM. We continued the women chitchat for another 15 minutes on the street. With the extra time, we could move to the fourth level of communication. I knew that Naomi was going steady. I knew that Jennifer was in charge of a beauty salon and she was the best beautician in eyelash extension in town.

Now I'm excited to work on Project 2—The Successful Negotiator, with an aim to get a good beauty business deal with Jennifer in the near future.

~~Hair is Everything~~

It was a scorching afternoon. I was in a hurry to meet up with my lady friends for afternoon tea!

Taxi~~~

A middle-aged taxi driver backed his yellow cab and stopped at the curb with precision, right in front of me! The back door was open, and I slided myself in the passenger seat. "The Mall, Please", I said. Then I took out the Advanced Manual--Interpersonal Communication from my bag and started reading.

"Your hat is pretty", the taxi driver started a conversation. "Thank you", I replied. I thought it was my day to run into a taxi driver with proper attire and adequate demeanor in Taipei. On top of that he listened to the classic music on the radio.

"I wear hats to cover my gray hair", I tried to continue the small talk with the special taxi driver to apply the communication skills in Project 1--Converse with Ease. "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life," commented by the driver.

Forrest Gump's mother was right. Life is indeed like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Wow, isn't life amazed to run into a stranger of wisdom in a moving container for a short while? What can happen to two strangers when they bump into each other, from the frist impression to friendship, partnership, to relationship!

Conversing with a stranger is never a piece of cake. But it's fun to explore the possibilities of interpersonal communication. In our everyday lives, we interact with people in a variety of situations, clients at work, strangers on the street, and family and friends. Being a good conversationalist has a great impact on our personal and professional lives. Every friendship and business relationship begins with a conversation.

Skillful conversationalists know four levels of Communication:
Level One: Small Talk (the weather, immediate surroundings, current events)
Level Two: Fact Disclosure (occupations and hobbies)
Level Three: Viewpoints and Opinions (personal viewpoints and opinions)
Level Four: Personal Feelings (personal problems)

In case of an encounter of a short time span, the tetralogy of Conversation might be of use:
Opening with Friendly Gestures
In Search of Common Grounds (Mutual Understandings)
Information Exchange (Sparks of Life)
Finale in Gratitude

In the role play, I attempted to converse with a stranger in a hair salon. We talked about coloring the hair and the various hairstyle, from bobs to bangs, straight to shorn. I was told that the hair we wear says a lot about who we are. And I am curious about my hairstyle personality.

When it comes to coloring my hair, I...
Opt for subtle highlights and occasional touch-ups for grays. I usually work with the stylist. I don't mind trying some new things, but only if I know it's right for me.

PS:My Hair style and Personality
60% Stylish and refined, you have a taste for the finer things in life. You take the time to make your hair look perfect every day, and you're not one to shy away from a new product or tool. You're up on the latest trends and have worn your hair in many styles, but never stray too far from the classic, clean lines you've always loved.

20% Fun-loving and bold, you are always up for an adventure. Your hair has been permed, bleached, teased, and maybe even shaved -- and you don't regret a single style. Most often though, you opt for a short, tousled cut that reflects your confident, outgoing nature -- and doesn't get in the way of your fun.

20% Casual and friendly, you value practicality above all else. When it comes to haircuts, you opt for styles that won't interfere with your active life or take time away from things that are really important, like family and friends. Your hair has almost always been medium-length with a few layers, either in a ponytail or tucked behind your ears. And for good reason -- the look highlights your good-natured, laid-back style.

Leadership and Genes

Birds of a feature get together. Among ten golden ladies Toastmasters, the blood types are either O or B. All golden ladies birthdays fall on the second half of the year. Isn’t the statistical data intriguing? Are Toastmasters of natures or nurtures?

Toastmaster Trini Ding brought up the blood type issue yesterday, when she was in Tainan to accompany for her mother for the weekend. When she looked at the group photos of ours, she took some thinking how interesting it was forming a group like ours.

At the beginning of this semester, while getting to know her students she realized she was wrong about a lot of things that she was so sure of. For instance people with Blood type B is just a little bit more than blood type AB. Being "O" the predominant blood type, in one of her classes "Type A" is more.

I belong to the group of type O. It's the predominant group in human beings, including people in China, Britain, and the US. Type O is particularly high among the indigenous populations of Central and South America, where it approaches 100%. But group A is more prominent in Japan, with 38% of the population. Interestingly the most common type among Japanese Prime Ministers is O. What about the blood type demography among Toastmasters leaders in District 67 and in the Toastmasters International?

Blood-typing is used to determine compatibility for marriage and romance, and also for career paths. My husband is type A, which is compatible with type O woman. Maybe that's one of the reasons why we still stick to each other after two decades plus happily married after.

I had never thought that talking about the blood types in public would invade the privacy, until the day I gave a workshop at Mongolia Management Institute in January 2010. When I asked the participants, mainly professors, to break into groups according to their blood type, they made a strong protest immediately.

In Taiwan and in Japan, people talk freely and openly about their blood types, but not in Mongolia. I don’t know if people are discreet about their blood types in China, Britain, and the US. That would be another interesting area to study how people of different countries interact with one another!

Welcome to the new Brand

I received the Toastmaster Magazine September 2011 in my mailbox this morning. It had a layout quite different from those issues in the past six decades. It spoke out the new brand that would precede us in the Toastmasters International from now on!

In the viewpoint, the newly elected International President Michael Notaro talked about building a better brand at Toastmasters: a place where leaders are made. Toastmaster Beth Black, Associate Editor of the Toastmaster Magazine, explained why a new logo was necessary and how the new logo the Toastmasters globe emblem was evolved.

While thinking about how much it might cost to have the club banner with the new logo made in the future, I read the article "How to benefit from change" by Dana LaMon. Yes, why can't I accept the change of the logo? I should not fear it, but use it! Benefit as much of the new logo as possible for another six decades. I must hang in there. Yes, I will!

The Cooking Toastmasters--Chapter Two

President Gina Cheng had had insomnia for the past two weeks, worrying about the coming welcoming party & orientation training at her place Saturday noon, September 10th. It must have been more than two months since she started engineering the luncheon menu. Carol Wang, one of her longtime friends, provided her elegant and exquisite Spode dinnerware for the gathering two weeks in advance.

Gina wowed every member the moment she shouldered the responsibility as the President of Grand Toastmasters Club in July. She didn't spare any time taking various initiatives to make Grand the Toastmasters Club of choice in town. She was keen to inject a powerful transfusion of good cheer into the vessels of members and guests of Grand. Everyone felt so much lifted-up when she presided the club meetings.

While Gina joked about her President Anxiety Syndrome, she broke the record by recruiting new members in less than two months. Her enthusiasm and dedication to Grand set a new record among the past Presidents Of Grand. Gina showed her love and enthusiasm without reservation to cultivate an atmosphere of excitements at club meetings and social events exclusive for Granders. Gina would certainly make a record for herself as the President of Grand.

After the first chapter of the cooking Toastmasters chez Jo, Gina agreed to share her kitchen with the Toastmasters in District 67 in the second chapter of the cooking Toastmasters chez Gina. I was thrilled to work with her on the menu as both of us love cooking. We often exchange recipes from time to time. When I came across the book, "The days of Giving More Life" by Chef Ruprecht Schmidt and Author and Reporter Dörte Schipper, she was the first Toastmaster I shared the book with.

Menu of the Day
Soup: Vegetable Soup of Tofu, Broccoli and Fresh Mushroom
Appetizers: Duck Breast, Smoked Cheese, Sherry's homemade Scallion Pancakes and Dried Tomatoes marinated with spicy Virgin Olive Oil
Red Wines: Roy, Erin & Joel Wright
Salads: Caesar Salad, Chicken Salad prepared by Billy Chen
Main Dishes: Chicken and Broccoli Au Gratin, Sakura Shrimp Fried Rice
Desserts: Assorted Cakes, Donuts of Mister Donut donated by May Huang
Fruits: Grapes, Pears, Tomatoes, Guavas
Drinks: Earl Grey Tea

Every house has a kitchen. In every kitchen, there is a cook. Be cooking universal and ordinary in everyday life, it takes the whole heart of a cook to make cooking artistic, sublime, and ritual to all. In contrast, every Toastmasters club has a lectern. Behind every lectern, there is a speaker. Be speaking in public devastating and awe-inspiring, it is accomplishing and rewarding if there is a whole heart of the speaker.

President Gina Cheng extends her welcoming remarks, "Life is a moveable feast. Welcome to my house parties. Welcome to my kitchen. I look forward to breaking the record of 13 guests at my warm and cozy nest soon in the future!"

Cross-Strait Mid-Autumn Concert 2011 海峽梨園情二○一一

墨流轉，詩逸揚；歌清亮，曲繞樑~

When Toastmaster Kate invited to see the Cross-Strait Mid-Autumn Concert at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, I started planning what to put on to look like a connaiseur of fashion and Chinese Opera.

Cross-Strait Mid-Autumn Concert 2011 was a huge musical program organized by Fu-kien Television Group (福建省廣播影視集團). It was the sixth year in a row since 2004. This year featured the mix and match of Calligraphy, Poetry, and Chinese Opera accompanied by Chinese and Western Orchestra, to interpret the four seasons, and to depict the four beauties of ancient China.

In the first half of the show, Composer and Conductor Wu Hwa 吳華 lead a orchestra group of 50 musicians to perform the theme music to open the show (瀚墨京韻), followed by four Peking Opera talents to praise the four seasons, 探梅、夢蘭、聽竹、問菊, with the animated colorful background of Chinese painting.

Like some ladies, I was interested in seeing the show, but I was more interested in being seen at the show. During the intermission, I asked Kate to walk around to greet the acquaintance and strangers, mainly the senior citizens, to make sure
my beautiful chipao was seen.

The second half of the show started with two famous Taiwanese Peking Opera singers Li Pao-chun and Wei Hai-ming, followed by four lady talents from four schools of Peking Opera, to play the four beauties of ancient China, Diaochan 貂蟬, Xi Shi 西施, Yang Guifei 楊貴妃, and Wang Zhaojun 王昭君.

While seeing the show, Michelle said that she wanted to be Yang Guifei, I joked that I could be Xi Shi, but on the second thought, I didn't want to lead a miserable life like hers, I changed to Wang Zhaojun, because I went to Mongolia to promote the Toastmasters. But both Michelle and Kate joked I was more like ruthless Wu Zetian 武則天. I didn't mind being her, the one and only Empress in Chinese history. She was not famous for her beauty, but for her communication and leadership skills. Empress Wu and I were both born in the year of goat and we were both Libras. Maybe she was me in my previous life!

The highlight of the concert was the Calligraphy Orchestra. The Chief Organizer Luzanne Shu 舒展 wrote two big scrolls of Chinese Calligraphy on stage accompanied by the orchestra conducted by Condutor Wu. It was amazing to witness the collaboration of different music disciplines to mix and match with calligraphy in a new artistic dimension and sublimation.

Af the concert, Kate, Michelle and I hang around to meet up with the talents from across the strait to get their signatures and photos. We continued our second party with a lovely chat over a light snack at the McDonald's across the street from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. I walked Kate to the Bus 311 station in the moon light to conclude a joyful evening at the begining the 8th month of lunar calendar.

How I look forward to more entertaining functions in the name of Moon Festival this month to dress up, to cheer up, to lift up!

PS:
西施沉魚 Xi Shi sinks fish 昭君落雁 Wang Zhaojun drops birds
貂嬋閉月 Diaochan closes the moon 貴妃羞花 Yang Guifei shames flowers

西施腳大 Xi Shi big feet 昭君肩溜 Wang Zhaojun shoulder slip
貂蟬耳小 Diaochan small ear 貴妃腋臭 Yang Guifei body odor