Monday, 10 December 2018

Exploring American Slang & Phonemic Chart for IPA

Exploring American Slang


1. 2 Lessons on Using the Word " AIN'T "

2. Mastering the Word " AIN'T " (2015)

Slang: very informal words and expressions that are more common in spoken language, especially used by a particular group of people.


Phonemic Chart for IPA

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/phonemic-chart

Download the chart
You can download this chart to use on your PC - you'll need Adobe Flash Player to use it.



Thursday, 8 November 2018

How Marshmallows Predicts Your Success

Michio Kaku, Reimagine Tomorrow - Have you found your marshmallows?
High IQ people can be average in life... World-renowned physicist Michio Kaku reveals one of the psychological test that correlates with success in life - how a simple test using marshmallows can predict how successful you can become... “If there’s a pot of gold waiting for you, do you want a simple payoff now, or will you delay (the) gratification into the future...” 
The meaning of life is about self-discovery - reinvent and recreate ourselves. It is about “rediscovery”.



Thursday, 1 November 2018

Dr Michio Kaku, The World in 2030

Improve Your English and Gain Some Insights
  by listening to these talks on YouTube:-
1. “The World in 2030” by Dr. Michio Kaku
2. Thomas Suarez: A 12-year-old app developer
3. David Blaine: How I held my breath for 17 min


Monday, 13 August 2018

Charismatic Jack Ma, Founder of Alibaba

1. “I was rejected from Harvard 10 times!”

2. Interviewed by Charlie Rose @ Davos (2015)

3. Jack Ma’s Story | The Brave Ones ~ CNBC (2017)

4. E-commerce in China and Around the World (2013)

5. You Need To Hear This (2018)

6. 7 pieces of advice from Jack Ma


Wednesday, 18 July 2018

Thailand Cave Rescue

How did the boys get out?
All of the 12 Thai boys who became stranded inside a flooded cave network were successfully rescued, along with their coach on Wednesday (11/7/2018). The perilous operation to extract them took place as rainy weather moved in ...

18 days underground: the key events
  
The Moo Pa (Wild Boars) academy team, whose ages range from 11 to 16, became trapped with their 25-year-old coach, Ekaphol Chantawong, inside the six-mile Tham Luang cave in the Doi Nang Non mountain range on 23 June.

Nine days later rescue divers located the team sheltering on a ledge surrounded by water. About two miles of narrow, flooded passageways separated their refuge from the main entrance. Efforts to pump water out began immediately as authorities tried to take advantage of a break in monsoon rains.

How did the rescue work?
Round-the-clock pumping paid off with conditions said to be walkable in some parts of the cave. But the rescue operation still hinged on the boys using scuba equipment despite having no previous diving experience. Each boy was to be accompanied by two divers with the rescuers facing an 11-hour round trip.


The miraculous story of the Thai cave rescue


Thai cave rescue: Challenges divers face in operation



Thursday, 21 June 2018

Gaming Disorder 電玩成癮

容易分心吗?不能离开手机吗?玩手机上瘾是精神疾病?

世界衛生組織今年初決定將「電玩成癮 (gaming disorder)」列為精神疾病,並於今年18日生效。「電玩成癮」的症狀包括,無法控制地玩電子遊戲、常將電子遊戲放在其他生活興趣之前、即使有負面後果亦持續或增加打電玩的時間等等。

據世衛標準,要判斷是否屬於「電玩成癮」患者,被診斷者的沉迷電玩行為必須導致其個人、家庭、社會、教育、職業或其他重要功能領域方面面臨重大傷害,而且至少持續一年。

世衛指出,與電玩相關的健康問題不限於「電玩成癮」,還包括身體活動不足、飲食不健康、視力或聽力問題、肌肉骨骼問題、睡眠不足以及社會心理功能問題等等。

1、【无手机恐惧症】典型症状是不愿关机、总想看看有没有未接来电或者新信息、连接不上网络时会感到焦虑、经常给电池充电以及带着手机去卫生间。

2、【“鼠标手”、“触屏指”】经常用大拇指玩智能手机的人,其手部肌肉长时间保持快速、紧张的运动,易导致手指、腕部关节过度劳损和手部肌肉痉挛。

3、【干眼综合症】长时间地盯着屏幕,会导致干眼、眼睛疲劳酸痛、头痛及视力模糊等。

4、【“低头族”增加患脊椎病的可能】人类的头部重量约4.5公斤,身体长时间前倾,会让脊柱承受过多压力,导致颈部、头部和肩部疼痛。

5、【手机通话过长致听力下降】

6、【幽灵震动综合症】手机虽然没有响起铃声,但用户却产生这种错觉。手机在震动,幻响

7、【睡梦中发短信】这种行为通常发生在入睡后两小时内,除了在睡梦中发短信而不自知,会产生令人尴尬的对话外,还会打乱深度睡眠进程,导致人起床后感到精疲力竭,影响大脑功能。

8、【自拍是种“病”?】迷恋自拍可能是年轻人自恋或极度自卑,缺乏自信或自我意识的明显标志,可能使他或她出现其他问题。

9【注意力缺陷、多动症】经常处在多任务状态的人在处理工作时的注意力显著下降,这大大削减了我们思考的能力。


由于韩国打电动人数超多,韩国政府早已抢先世卫,在2016年 将电玩游戏归类为上瘾物,像毒品与酒精一样,将电玩成瘾视为疾病进行管理。

早在2014新加坡一些精神病专家向卫生部门提议把网络成瘾症和手机上瘾症列为精神疾病。

新加坡鹰阁医疗中心(Gleneagles Medical Centre)的精神病医生Adrian Wong指出,手机上瘾和网络成瘾应被列为一种精神病。许多患者过度沉溺上网和社交媒体,导致焦虑症状。一位18岁男孩,因网络成瘾,垢面蓬头、胡渣满面,被父亲拔掉网络线后痛苦难耐,必须送医接受抗忧郁治疗。

新加坡中央医院医生Tan Kian Hian指出,智能手机出现令“低头族”比比皆是。青少年在走路、排队甚至过马路的时候都在玩手机。

新加坡南洋理工大学的助理教授Teresa,他对手机上瘾的定义是这样的:用户不停查看手机;或者用户当无法使用手机时表现对数码设备的渴望,感到焦虑,导致学习和工作效率下降。同时指出,父母不能为了安抚哭闹的孩子而给他们玩智能手机或者平板电脑。

去年南阳理工大学的一群本科生就在校内发起名为“把手机调到朋友模式”的活动,鼓励学生在和朋友或者恋人一起的时候把手机放下。新加坡计划在今年年中对学前儿童父母开展“网络健康”教育,教导父母不要过早让孩子接触数码设备。

中国专家表示,现在人离不开手机与其说是上瘾、有精神疾病,不如说是依赖手机作为逃避工作的借口。人们应该少玩手机,更应该充实自己的生活。

手机上瘾并非年轻人的专利,年近50的钟先生今年才换了智能手机就有了相见恨晚的感情。“现在网上什么资讯都有,我拿个手机天下大事都知道了。”

南京的国家心理咨询师俞旋表示大多数长时间玩手机的人并非精神方面出了问题,而是该反思自己的生活态度。“很多人玩手机,说自己有瘾其实是不想好好工作的借口。如果有正确的生活态度,生活过得很充实,也没必要天天挂在网上。”


电玩成瘾gaming disorder如何诊断与治疗

电玩是否占据你日常生活大部分时间?
从起床开始,电玩是不是你最常想的事?
如果因为电玩影响日常作息,或许已经对电玩上瘾,患上“电玩失调”。

国立成瘾治疗服务专科顾问医生张炜彬说:“诊断准则包括:无法打电玩时会出现戒断症状(withdrawal symptoms),试图少打电玩却无法成功,欺骗家人或其他人自己有多沉迷电玩,利用电玩逃避或舒缓消极情绪,以及因为电玩阻碍工作、学业或感情。”

电玩失调症的初期症状和体征包括:
- 花极多时间打电玩
- 为了打电玩而迟迟不睡,结果缺乏休息
- 因为打电玩而忽略生活大事
- 无法打电玩时,会感觉烦躁、焦虑不安
- 因打电玩影响正常作息,例如旷课或没有上班

20162017年,约50人因电玩行为问题而向国立成瘾治疗服务求助,求助人数维持在稳定水平;其中,10岁至19岁的青年人数占最大比例。

张医生说:“电玩失调和其他成瘾病症有许多共通处,所以许多治疗原则都可以应用于此。世界卫生组织的决定不会影响我们采取的介入方式,治疗针对患者的症状,以及因为电玩行为问题而造成的障碍。治疗时间因人而异,因为要看电玩行为问题有多严重,以及患者是否同时患有其他心理健康疾病。”

电玩失调的治疗由国立成瘾治疗服务的治疗团队携手进行:心理医生会评估个别患者的问题严重程度,以及是否同时患有其他心理健康问题如抑郁症或焦虑症。如有其他心理健康问题,或须采取药物治疗。此外成瘾辅导员会利用动机式访谈法(motivational interviewing)。这是一种强调协作的对话技巧,目的是强化自我改变的动机和意识。张炜彬医生解释:“动机式访谈法是关键技巧,因为很多时候,患者不会意识到自己的成瘾问题有多严重,也抗拒改变。”

此外,辅导员会采取其他针对行为和认知的策略进行辅导。“行为策略”包括帮助患者策划日常活动,以正常活动取代电玩。“认知策略”则有助改变患者对于电玩的偏执。要是患者还在求学,辅导员也会和校方协调,帮助患者重新适应学校环境。

要知道自己是否对电玩或互联网上瘾,
可登录国立成瘾治疗服务官网,使用网上自我测试:

如果怀疑家人或朋友患上电玩失调症,张炜彬医生建议:和对方谈谈,表示关心;要是无法好好沟通,可把相关求助资讯放在对方容易看得到的地方。

智能手机普及化,越来越多人机不离手。除了电玩,手机和互联网也可能让人成瘾。要知道自己是否过度使用手机或上网,可利用一些应用程序(App)或网络工具记录自己的使用习惯。

张炜彬医生说:“了解自己的使用习惯,有助认清自己是否过度沉迷于某些东西。”

至于孩童,家长可以透过下列方法培养良好上网习惯:
限制孩童上网或使用电脑、平板或手机的时间。
和孩子预设固定电玩时间。
由家长在电脑或平板上设定上网限制(parental control settings
家长应知道孩子在玩哪些电玩。
把电玩器材摆在大家都看得到的地方,方便家长监控电玩时间和器材的使用方法。


電玩成癮列精神病 專家主張全家治療

加拿大資深輔導員黃承斌指出,他在該領域工作十多年來,發現電玩成癮現象日趨嚴重,不少患者「病入膏肓」時才來求助,且多數是其親友代為求助。

有大學生就認為,跟其他玩家一起在線參與的遊戲,往往會較易成癮。

全家治療時需作180度轉變準備
他分析說,出現「電玩成癮」的原因和其他成瘾症,如吸煙、吸毒、賭博等类似,多数是在人们需要面对压力时,转而寻求一种较为熟悉的活动来舒解压力与焦虑。卑詩省列治文市電玩成癮者約有六成為亞裔,而年輕人出現成癮問題不純屬個人問題,更是整個家庭的問題,亟需全家人一起努力才能改變。

因此,在治療成癮症時,輔導員會了解造成壓力的根本原因,從而將該壓力先去除,才可解決「電玩成癮」問題。

黃承斌更指出,造成成癮症並非患者一個人的問題,很多時候是整個家庭造成。他稱不少亞裔家庭望子成龍心切,對孩子施加很大壓力,有的堪稱「殘忍」,更有許多家長將自己的心情好壞,完全寄託在孩子的成績單上。他說,家長不能要求孩子為自己的心情負責,孩子的人生更不是為了家長而活,因此在對「電玩成癮」的治療上,輔導員將會對家庭整體進行治療,有時甚至成癮者本人不出現都沒有問題。他說,家庭在治療電玩成癮者問題時,全家都需要做好180度大轉變的準備。如果家人對成癮者進行責罵,家庭氣氛不和諧,治療效果只會變糟。

黃承斌還表示,家長應積極幫助孩子參與非電子類活動,同時家長自己減壓,從而減少帶給孩子的壓力。若出現成癮問題,應及早向專業人士或機構求助,如列治文癖癮服務協會(Richmond Addiction Services Society)等。



Tuesday, 22 May 2018

Comfort Zone + Optimal Anxiety

The Science of Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone, and Why You Should
By Alan Henry     |     7/03/2013     |     lifehacker.com

You've seen inspirational quotes that encourage you to get out and do something strange—something you wouldn't normally do—but getting out of your routine just takes so much work. There's actually a lot of science that explains why it's so hard to break out of your comfort zone, and why it's good for you when you do it. With a little understanding and a few adjustments, you can break away from your routine and do great things.

It's important to push the boundaries of your comfort zone, and when you do, it's kind of a big deal. But what is the "comfort zone" exactly? Why is it that we tend to get comfortable with the familiar and our routines, but when we're introduced to new and interesting things, the glimmer fades so quickly? Finally, what benefit do we derive from breaking out of our comfort zone, and how do we do it? Answering those questions is a tall order, but it's not too hard to do.

The Science of Your "Comfort Zone," and Why It's So Hard to Leave It

Simply, your comfort zone is a behavioral space where your activities and behaviors fit a routine and pattern that minimizes stress and risk. It provides a state of mental security. You benefit in obvious ways: regular happiness, low anxiety, and reduced stress.

The idea of the comfort zone goes back to a classic experiment in psychology. Back in 1908, psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John D. Dodson explained that a state of relative comfort created a steady level of performance In order to maximize performance, however, we need a state of relative anxiety—a space where our stress levels are slightly higher than normal. This space is called "Optimal Anxiety," and it's just outside our comfort zone. Too much anxiety and we're too stressed to be productive, and our performance drops off sharply.

The idea of optimal anxiety isn't anything new. Anyone who's ever pushed themselves to get to the next level or accomplish something knows that when you really challenge yourself, you can turn up amazing results. More than a few studies support the point. However, pushing too hard can actually cause a negative result, and reinforce the idea that challenging yourself is a bad idea. It's our natural tendency to return to an anxiety neutral, comfortable state. You can understand why it's so hard to kick your brain out of your comfort zone.

Even so, your comfort zone is neither a good or bad thing. It's a natural state that most people trend towards. Leaving it means increased risk and anxiety, which can have positive and negative results (which we'll get to in a moment), but don't demonize your comfort zone as something holding you back. We all need that head-space where we're least anxious and stressed so we can process the benefits we get when we leave it.

 

What You Get When You Break Free and Try New Things

Optimal anxiety is that place where your mental productivity and performance reach their peak. Still, "increased performance" and "enhanced productivity" just sound like "do more stuff." What do you really get when you're willing to step outside of your comfort zone?
  • You'll be more productiveComfort kills productivity because without the sense of unease that comes from having deadlines and expectations, we tend to phone it in and do the minimum required to get by. We lose the drive and ambition to do more and learn new things. We also fall into the "work trap," where we feign "busy" as a way to stay in our comfort zones and avoid doing new things. Pushing your personal boundaries can help you hit your stride sooner, get more done, and find smarter ways to work.
  • You'll have an easier time dealing with new and unexpected changes. In this article at The New York Times, Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, explains that one of the worst things we can do is pretend fear and uncertainty don't exist. By taking risks in a controlled fashion and challenging yourself to things you normally wouldn't do, you can experience some of that uncertainty in a controlled, manageable environment. Learning to live outside your comfort zone when you choose to can prep you for life changes that force you out of it.
  • You'll find it easier to push your boundaries in the future. Once you start stepping out of your comfort zone, it gets easier over time. This same NYT article explains that as you step out of your comfort zone, you'll become accustomed to that state of optimal anxiety. "Productive discomfort," as they call it, becomes more normal to you, and you're willing to push farther before your performance falls off. This idea is well illustrated in this infographic at Future Science Leaders. At the bottom, you'll see that as you challenge yourself, your comfort zone adjusts so what was difficult and anxiety-inducing becomes easier as you repeat it.
  • You'll find it easier to brainstorm and harness your creativity. This is a soft benefit, but it's fairly common knowledge (and it's easily reproducible) that seeking new experiences, learning new skills, and opening the door to new ideas inspire us and educate us in a way that little else does. Trying new things can make us reflect on our old ideas and where they clash with our new knowledge, and inspire us to learn more and challenge confirmation bias, our tendency to only seek out information we already agree with. Even in the short term, a positively uncomfortable experience can help us brainstorm, see old problems in a new light, and tackle the challenges we face with new energy.

The benefits you get after stepping outside of your comfort zone can linger. There's the overall self-improvement you get through the skills you're learning, the new foods you're trying, the new country you're visiting, and the new job you're interviewing for. There's also the soft mental benefits you get from broadening your horizons.

How to Break Out of Your Comfort Zone
Outside your comfort zone can be a good place to be, as long as you don't tip the scales too far. It's important to remember there's a difference between the kind of controlled anxiety we're talking about and the very real anxiety that many people struggle with every day. Everyone's comfort zone is different, and what may expand your horizons may paralyze someone else. Remember, optimal anxiety can bring out your best, but too much is a bad thing.

Here are some ways to break out (and by proxy, expand) your comfort zone without going too far:
  • Do everyday things differently. Take a different route to work. Try a new restaurant without checking Yelp first. Go vegetarian for a week, or a month. Try a new operating systemRecalibrate your reality. Whether the change you make is large or small, make a change in the way you do things on a day-to-day basis. Look for the perspective that comes from any change, even if it's negative. Don't be put off if things don't work out the way you planned.
  • Take your time making decisionsSometimes slowing down is all it takesto make you uncomfortable—especially if speed and quick thinking are prized in your work or personal life. Slow down, observe what's going on, take your time to interpret what you see, and then intervene. Sometimes just defending your right to make an educated decision can push you out of your comfort zone. Think, don't just react.
  • Trust yourself and make snap decisions. We're contradicting ourselves, but there's a good reason. Just as there are people who thrive on snap decisions, others are more comfortable weighing all of the possible options several times, over and over again. Sometimes making a snap call is in order, just to get things moving. Doing so can help you kickstart your personal projects and teach you to trust your judgement. It'll also show you there's fallout to quick decisions as well as slow ones.
  • Do it in small steps. It takes a lot of courage to break out of your comfort zone. You get the same benefits whether you go in with both feet as you do if you start slow, so don't be afraid to start slow. If you're socially anxious, don't assume you have to muster the courage to ask your crush on a date right away, just say hello to them and see where you can go from there. Identify your fears, and then face them step by step.

There are lots of other ways to stretch your personal boundaries. You could learn a new language or skill. Learning a new language has multiple benefits, many of which extend to learning any new skill. Connect with people that inspire you, or volunteer with an organization that does great work. Travel, whether you go around the block or across the globe. If you've lived your whole life seeing the world from your front door, you're missing out. Visiting new and different places is perhaps one of the best ways to really broaden your perspectives, and it doesn't have to be expensive or difficult to do. The experiences you have may be mind-blowing or regrettable, but that doesn't matter. The point is that you're doing it, and you're pushing yourself past the mental blocks that tell you to do nothing.

Trying new things is difficult. If it weren't, breaking out of your comfort zone would be easy and we'd do it all the time. It's just as important to understand how habits form and how we can break them as it is to press yourself out of your comfort zone by doing specific things.

 

Why It's Important to Return To Your Comfort Zone from Time to Time

You can't live outside of your comfort zone all the time. You need to come back from time to time to process your experiences. The last thing you want is for the new and interesting to quickly become commonplace and boring. This phenomenon, called hedonistic adaptation, is the natural tendency to be impressed by new things only to have the incredible become ordinary after a short time. It's why we can have access to the greatest repository of human knowledge ever created (the internet) at our fingertips (on our smart phones) and still get so bored that all we think of is how quickly we can get newer, faster access. In one way it drives us forward, but in another it keeps us from appreciating the subtle and the everyday.

You can fight this by trying new, smaller things. Ordering something new at a restaurant where you get the same thing every visit can be eye-opening the same way visiting a new country can be, and both push you out of your comfortable spaces. Diversify the challenges you embrace so you don't just push your boundaries in the same direction. If you've been learning Latin-based languages and you find yourself bored, switch gears to a language with a completely different set of characters. If you've taken up running, instead of just trying to run longer and farther, try challenging yourself to run on different terrain. You still get the challenge, but you broaden your horizons in a different way.

 

Take It Slow, and Make Stretching Your Boundaries a Habit Of Its Own

The point of stepping out of your comfort zone is to embrace new experiences and to get to that state of optimal anxiety in a controlled, managed way, not to stress yourself out. Take time to reflect on your experiences so you can reap the benefits and apply them to your day to day activities. Then do something else interesting and new. Make it a habit if you can. Try something new every week, or every month. Our own Adam Dachis has committed himself to doing something weird and new every week, just to test his boundaries.

Similarly, don't limit yourself to big, huge experiences. Maybe meditation pushes you out of your comfort zone just as much as bungee jumping. Try the former if you've already done the latter. The goal isn't to become an adrenaline junkie—you just want to learn to learn what you're really capable of. That's another reason why it's important to return to a comfortable state sometimes and just relax. Just don't forget to bring back as much as you can carry from those inspired, creative, productive, and slightly uncomfortable moments when you do.


Thursday, 26 April 2018

Learn, Unlearn and Relearn (Alvin Toffler)

The illiterate of the 21st century

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.
Alvin Toffler

Live as if your were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.
Gandhi

I cannot teach anybody anything,
I can only make them think.
Socrates

Anyone who stops learning is old,
Whether at twenty or eighty.
Henry Ford

I never teach my pupils;
I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
Albert Einstein

  

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
― Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Power at the Edge of the 21st Century

“Psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy: The new education must teach the individual how to classify and reclassify information, how to evaluate its veracity, how to change categories when necessary, how to move from the concrete to the abstract and back, how to look at problems from a new direction—how to teach himself.”
  

“If you don't have a strategy, you're part of someone else's strategy.” 

“You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” 
  

“Change is not merely necessary to life - it is life.” 

“To survive, to avert what we have termed future shock, the individual must become infinitely more adaptable and capable than ever before. We must search out totally new ways to anchor ourselves, for all the old roots - religion, nation, community, family, or profession - are now shaking under the hurricane impact of the accelerative thrust. It is no longer resources that limit decisions, it is the decision that makes the resources.”
― Alvin Toffler, Future Shock


“The future always comes too fast and in the wrong order.” 









21世紀的文盲,不是那些不會讀和寫的人,而是那些不懂得學習、忘記所學和從新學習的人 (停止学习、不懂得舍弃学习到的一些东西与不能再学习的人)

21世纪的文盲 - 那些停止学习的人