If you could change one important thing about your country, what would you change?

If I could change on important thing about my country,sounds interesting,actually,i always think about those kinds of questons because there are a lot of things need to change in my country.I'm from China,frankly,I want people in China have freedom of speech,why i have this idea,there some seasons below. Firstly,freedom of speech is foundation of democracy.One of my dreams is a democratic China,The value of  democracy is people can say what they want to day without fear,and the goverment should listen the people's voice,not crack theirs.people can put those different opinons to the media,like Taiwan,people have freedom of media in 1987,finally,Taiwan became a democratic country now. Secondly,I think freedom of speech can make the things easy,if you wouldn't let people say,maybe you get wrong about your decision,just like a company,If the boss often comunicate with their employees,sometime they will get good idea.The country also like this,The governor should have this kind of  open mind and make the country better. So that what i think,I hope one day China will become a democratic country and take a important role in the world.People respect China,not because it's "great",because it's a "great democracy".

• Rookie Obama
  

If you could change one important thing about your country what would you change?

I am Friendly Rexie from Vietnam. I am really glad when catching your topic "If you could change one important thing about your country what would you change?". 

This interesting topic reminds me when I still was a pupil till a student. Education programme is really hard to me. A large knowledge I have to cram into my mind, but I don't know how to memorise all of them in the right way. In other words, noone shows me method to remember information and knowledge. Almost of students have problems like me, learning by rote as a way to choose because too many things we have to study to complete grades in limited time.

If I could change one important thing about my country, the first thing I think is improve education system. In Vietnam, a large amount of knowledge in books we have to learn for exams and grades but there is still much information not suitable or redundant for every grade. For example, I was a student in marketing but I had to take chemistry and physics exams both in hard level at the beginning. I passed the exam and seldom saw them mentioned in studing programmes. When I graduated up to now, knowledge is just around maths, English and commercial paper work. Chemistry and physics almost disappear in office work.

Education system is very important to every country because it effects on young people those who will contribute to nation's development and strength. 

To sum up, a country has good education as a key to integrate successfully into world economy and stimulate homeland's economy development.

• Friendly Rexie
  

This is an agrument about whether smoking should be prohibited in public place

Recently, the debate over whether people who smoke cigarette in public places should be allowed or be banned with different laws and regulations has aroused wide concern. People retain diverse attitudes towards this hot issue. Before presenting my view, I intend to explore both sides of the argument.

Many people claim that people taking cigarette in public should be accepted by others and administrators. To begin with, by smoking on the streets and so on, you can easily start conversations with others and even quickly make new friends and improve the relationships. Moreover, it can cater the needs of smokers and can stimulate the development of the society by gaining the money from smokers, because cigarette industry plays a major part in the local revenue, if lots of smokers don’t buy cigarettes, which will give a negative impact on social development. Furthermore, to stop taking cigarette in blocks may bring out some negative outcomes such as violence and crime. It will undoubtedly exert a negative influence on society security and residents’ daily routine.

Some other people, however, strongly hold that it is essential for the local government to publish rules to limit and prevent smoking behaviors in public places for several factors. Firstly, some researches have shown that tobacco contains varieties of dangerous materials, many of which even potentially give rise to serious diseases including cancers. Therefore, it is extremely worth for us to make an announcement to prohibit smoking in public regions. In the second place, as a consequence of using the fire to light up cigarette outside, serious fire emergency will happen and it will put public facilities and staying people in a dangerous position. Lastly, in public zones smoking will mislead teenagers and young adults, so it is necessary, obviously speaking, to prevent smoking in public areas and build a health environment for most of non-smokers.

From the above discussion, we can see that there is actually some truth in both statements. Personally, I totally agree with the second view that we should ban smoking in public places. Apparently there is some truth in supporting smokers taking cigarettes in public places but, to put the issue into perspective, many of us have realized that smoking will lead to a number of problems to the environment and humans, after all., the public place is not the special area merely for smokers and at the same time smoking is not a good habit at all.

This is an agrument about whether the teacher can be replaced by the computer

Recent years, the debate over whether the teacher who plays a major part in educating students should keep his or her position or be replaced by computers and electronic facilities has become the focus of the public. People retain diverse attitudes towards this hot issue. Before presenting my view, I intend to explore both sides of the arguments.

Many people are of the opinion that, teachers or professors teaching students with face to face still plays the major role in education system. To start with, by using computers, students will be lack of chance to practice some essential skills such as cooperation and competition though starting conversations and playing games together directly. Moreover, by electronic facilities, students have few chances to communicate with human teachers and deal with questions they have when they learn knowledge. Furthermore, to read articles or to do homework by typing words into computers though a long time may bring out negative outcomes such as boring and distraction, it will undoubtedly exert a negative impact on the efficiency of gaining knowledge.

Some other people, however, strongly hold that it is absolutely necessary for us to give up this traditional teaching method and take some innovations by installing computers to translate teaching sources in classrooms for several explanations. Firstly, by using electronic equipments and Internet, schools or universities can reduce the total fees, therefore, lots of people including those who live under poverty lines are able to accept education. In the second place, as a consequence of using computers and Internet to teach students, they are able to study at home or any place they want. Lastly, for the society, learning through computers will save lots of the public funds, so it is extremely worth, obviously speaking, for governments and education institutions taking computers as the major way to teach students.

From the above discussion, we can see that there is actually some truth in both statements. Personally, I strongly support the first view that we should keep the traditional teaching methods, which teachers are the key in it. Although I agree with computers replacing teachers up to a point, to put the issue into perspective, many of us have realize that human teachers teaching students can have a better effects, after all, computers are machines, they merely can input and output data.

On my way to English City....

Something very unusual happened to me on my way to English City yesterday. I was walking along the road trying to get on-line and what did I see but a group of beautiful horses being ridden by soldiers cross in front of me!

I heard their hooves clip clopping and they were shaking their tails and manes and shining in the sunlight. As most people use cars these days or get the tube in London I was very shocked at seeing the horses there.

I love living here in London and despite the business and the rain sometimes it is a fascinating city with a great, vibrant social scene.

I also like the way it is extremely traditional but ultra-modern too.

Here is a picture of the horses in the street for you.....

See you soon in English City - Jessie Teacher

Jazz's Sailing Trip

Hi Everyone

As you may know I have been travelling on our sail boat with my husband for a few weeks. It was an amazing few weeks, more of an adventure than a cruise. Since we lifted the anchor on 6th March we have had either no wind and sunshine or too much wind and rain.

Three days into the trip we heard that a category 5 cyclone (very severe hurricane) was coming down to say hello to us where we were anchored. So before it got too windy we got into our little rubber 3 metre dinghy with a little engine and started investigating creeks that we could shelter in.

We managed to get up a narrow mangrove creek and put out two anchors and 4 ropes and waited. It was a bit nerve racking. See the photo of the cyclone, it had 250km winds at its centre.

We had to stay in the creek for 4 days with high winds, even up the creek, until the Cyclone weakened into a low depression and it then just rained.

Getting out of the creek was a little hair raising as we had to turn the boat around in a strong current and wind. As soon as we released the ropes a little it took off turning itself around a little too quickly for comfort and catching a few mangrove tree branches on the way. We then motor sailed in wind and rain and low visibility following the leads and beacons like hawks to avoid the shallow sand banks to a lovely anchorage beside a large sand island. There we had turtles and dolphins playing around the boat.

We then had 5 days of sunshine but not much wind while we continued sailing up the coast visiting some beautiful beaches and lighthouses.

After 5 days we took the boat into a marina near a town where many family members live where we enjoyed showing the boat to our family. The weather was not good again with high winds and another cyclone developed so we waited for the bad weather to pass before we set off again.

In the last week we had sunshine but very big seas. The waves were as big as 4 metres high. I got a little frightened at times but the boat performed very well. We spent the last few days visiting some beautiful islands before heading home.

I am now back at English City and look forward to seeing you all in the City soon.

Bye for now.Jazz

When Moon loves Earth

This is a fictional story I wrote for reviewing knowledge I learned from some of the events and the words I learned from the contest.


In 3009, with the development of the technology and the successful decoding the technic of aliens by analyzing the data acquired from a satellite, scientists invent how to plant a flower as installing a microcomputer on the top of the head in order to save the memory and transform the sun power into nutrition which is provided for a human body. Moreover, another greater benefit for human is that we can transplant our memory. For instance, before a person will die, the flower, on top of his head, can be moved from his head to another person’s head, for example, the person’s child. Therefore, the child who maybe is 3-year-old has the competence of his father and can continue to do his father’s work. Hence, planting a flower on top of the head is increasing popular everywhere, this kind of people now is ubiquitous. Jac, who is one of them, now is sent to a hospital after a serious car accident.

Monday, March 23, 3009
On the top of Jac’s head, it’s his flower named Earth, he calls it that because he was born on the moon and bought the flower from a shop on the earth. He is a luck man, without nutrition from his flower, he wasn’t able to survive in the mountainous area until someone found him sleeping on the road next to his broken car. Now he is lethargically and hopelessly lying on the bed. In the same sickroom, living in a girl, her name is Cob, she intends to be an immigrant on the moon and start a new life there, so she names her flower Moon. She got a headache since two weeks ago due to her heavy press from her job. Now she is reading a book named’ The Aesthetic Faculties of Aliens’ with peace and content. ‘The Aesthetic Faculties of Aliens’ is quite well known in 22 centuries after everyone celebrated the first city being built on the surface of the moon. In this book, the writer sets a hypothesis about aliens’ wisdom and intelligence, and most of us believe ‘The Aesthetic Faculties of Aliens’ can teach you how to communicate with aliens such as Martians and transformers once they meet them. Although we, including the writer, just watch aliens from movies and TV programs, we don’t know exactly what they like and what they eat and some of us merely meet aliens in their dreams, even it is said that the writer got the idea to write this book from the God while he slept on a spaceship traveling to the moon, so in order to appreciate the chance he had for visiting the moon, he wrote this book.

Tuesday, March 24, 3009
After sleeping for nearly 20 hours, Jac recovers his mind, despite he is still tired and is lack of energy. He takes a look around and tries to remember what happen in these days. However, he realizes that he can’t remember anything, it seams that he lost his memory. In addition, he tries to download the backup of his memory from his flower, but Earth is still sleeping. Cob feels refreshing and energetic today caused she gets the news that she can leave the hospital this Sunday. She is delight and she starts to prose what she will do after she leaving the hospital, where she has spent nearly two weeks. In addition, now, Moon, her flower also feels delight and affectionate while he is focusing on Earth, and she is attracted by his shape: not like the flowers on the moon, it is smooth and natural. She assumes that she falls in love with Earth.

Wednesday, March 25, 3009
Jac wakes up early in this morning, and he feels a bit well. When he can retain the cheerful emotion for 5 minutes, he receives a bad news from a doctor: He has to take an operation to cut off his left hand’s middle finger, because it’s out of control. (Here, it is just a ridiculous example for fun and shows how luckily Jac is!) In general condition, if Jac lives on the earth, he doesn’t need to do that, but the problem is that he is the resident of the moon, all of them including Jac, they are the pioneers of the human to meet the aliens. As far as we know, sometimes the circumstance is complicated, contributing to different cultures and believes, a middle finger could lead to misunderstand and conflict among two totally different nations. Moreover, it’s incredible that this absurd criterion, from Jac’s estimation, comes from the famous ‘‘The Aesthetic Faculties of Aliens’. Obviously the doctor who gives the advice to Jac and emphasizes the importance of this operation is a crazy fan of that book. He feels frustrated and desperate, he tries to search and download the data from Earth in order to turn his mind on another thing. But unfortunately, he feels more painful because he finds out the memory concerning a falling-out among him and his girlfriend before the car accident. At that time, he realized that the girl he loved so much, just regarded him as her money machine to earn L$ from the beginning he knew her. Where is the God of Jac’s? He feels that today is the end of the world. Earth endeavors to console him and reduce his pain, but it seems that Jac turns a death ear to Earth’ words and is cut off from the outside world. In the wrong place and at the wrong time poor Jac has to accept the wrong thing. While Jac wants to suicide, in another part of the sickroom, Cob feels peaceful because she is full of hope about the life after she leaves the hospital. In addition, Moon smiles to Earth, and praise what he has done for fostering Jac. After Jac and Cob fall asleep at the end of this day, they start a conversation. They talk about the people’s life on the moon, what they have seen and share the memory and secret they save. With times pass on, they realize that they love each other so much. Therefore, they decide to implement Jac and Cob becoming a couple for they can have an opportunity to live together forever.

Thursday, March 26, 3009
After taking operation, sleeping and waking up this morning, Jac feels better and comes over hurdles, rebuilds his confident and hope in his mind. Furthermore, then, he starts to talk to Cob, his roommate. They chat about their family and their job. When they increasingly understand each other, the Earth and Moon smile to each other, because Earth had created a good image and a fantastic story about Cob and saved as one part of memory of Jac; Moon had taken the same way to affect Cob’s brain. Now, their discreet plan is going on, the effect is appeared clearly. In the afternoon, when Jac and Cob share some funny story, the boring doctor comes back and brings another bad news to Jac: he has to cut off the other middle finger for the same reason! There maybe is something wrong with the doctor, maybe he begrudges Jac because he lives on the moon, and maybe he is driven by his flower. However, in surprised, no matter what will happen, Jac just accepts this extremely brutal operation with the aloof and morose emotion, no crying and no shouting. It is really strange, maybe he is existing so much about the time when he chats with Cob.

Friday, March 27, 3009
It’s really a beautiful day, for most of the working people, They will take a break tomorrow and sooner. However, when Jac and Cob enjoy themselves, in the afternoon, Cob gets the news that her company is bankrupt as a result of several circumstances such as economic crisis concurring to bring out the result. It’s really a black Friday for Cob. Suddenly, everything has changed, she is strained and jittery. Jac uses relating some stories this kind of approach to soothe Cob. That certainly enhances their friendship.

Saturday, March 28, 3009
Jac and Cob, both feel delight and congenial, they talk about dream, they exchange views about the moon and the earth, just like close friends. Meanwhile, for Earth and Moon, they are so busy working together to create some consciousness and memory which will increase the relationship of Jac and Cob.

Sunday, March 29, 3009
It is the last day for Cob staying in this hospital, both Jac and Cob feel ambiguous to decide something, It seems they don’t want to end something and make a decision. Finally, with the potential influence of Earth, Jac encourages himself to ask Cob to be his girlfriend. He doesn’t want to lose her. Cob agrees with him, which will be very romantic from today.

As we know, sometimes a small step of the human is the big step of the world. Jac and cob’s decision will clearly show that it is the first event flowers oblige human by using their wisdom. In order to commemorate Moon and Earth, their off-springs decide to write a story called ‘When Jac falls in live with Cob’.