書本介紹 – Warriors

這是一個充滿著恩怨情仇，權鬥陰謀，小人物變成大英雄，一整個好像很史詩般的故事

這也是一個關於一群貓咪的故事。
對你沒看錯，是貓咪。

對啦，我要介紹的是Warriors這個系列！

有不少以動物為主角的故事書內容都是很和平很NICE，動物們都萌萌der的，然而這本書可不是這樣一回事。這裡的喵喵們都是好勇善武的戰士，努力為了保衛自己部落的地盤而戰鬥。
我們的主角Rusty雖然是一隻家貓，但他討厭無憂無慮但是要跟主人討吃的生活，反而一直對外面的生活十分好奇。有一天他離家出走時剛好碰上一隻部落的野貓Greypaw，就這樣被推進部落社裡開始當戰士的生活。
可是這戰士可不好當，部落裡面也不是想像中如和平的一家人（貓？），一切就從一隻死去的戰士開始….

雖然老實說主角好像有點主角威能（應該不止有點吧），但是也無損看這個故事的樂趣，看著看著你可能會只管留意劇情替角色們擔心而忘了他們都是可愛的貓咪呢～（雖然他們打起來的時候一點也不可愛）
要比較的話，大概就跟名作Watership Down差不多的情況，只是由兔子換成貓而已

（不過還先得提一下，雖然角色全部都是貓咪但是劇情會有比較血腥的畫面，所以這系列比較適合青少年而不是小孩子看喔）

This is a story of love and pain, of debts and grudges, of struggles for power, of going from zero to hero, a story that might as well be an epic tale.

This also happens to be a story about a bunch of cats.
Yeah, I’m not kidding.

Anyways. This time I’m going to talk about the Warriors series!

Children books are certainly no stranger to using animals as characters, but these are usually happy little tales with animals acting cute and cuddly. Well, this book is none of those things. Those fluffy cats you see on the covers are all fierce warriors that fight tooth and claw to protect their clans’ territories.

Our protagonist Rusty might be a regular housecat, but he wasn’t all too fond of the comfy lifestyle if it meant begging your two-legged owner for food. Instead, he longed for life in the wilderness. This brought him to run away and explore the woods, where he met Greypaw, a wild cat from one of the clans. Rusty, now Firepaw, then begins his new life as a apprentice in Thunderclan.

However, life in the wild wasn’t easy and the clan Firepaw calls home wasn’t quite as peaceful as he thought. Everything changed when one of the warriors was killed…

To be honest, I wasn’t quite keen with the sheer amount of protagonist’s luck Firepaw gets, but in the end it didn’t deterr me from enjoying this series too much. In fact, as you continue reading you’ll probably be too invested in the story and its characters to care about how the characters are meant to be cute kitty cats (though really, when they start fighting each other they are anything but cute)

I’d probably liken this series to the classic Watership Down, except instead of cute rabbits we get cute cats. Still, it’s a much more serious story than what it seems like.

(speaking of which, even though they’re just cats, some of the scenes in this series may be a bit on the violent side. I’d say it’ll be more appropriate to give this to a teenager/young adult rather than children)

英美大不同 – 足球

足球是數一數二的熱門運動之一，在有些國家中甚至可以稱為國民運動，那麼足球的英文是怎樣說的呢？

你也許會說這不是常識嗎？用足玩的球當然是叫football嘛！這麼簡單還用問？！

 

嗯，你說得對，在大部分的地方足球的叫法就是足＋球這麼直接，但是football在美國指的卻是另外一種運動。American Football（美式足球）不是用腳而是用手玩的，球的外型說是球形倒不如說像橄欖，玩法也跟一般人所指的足球差很遠…

那麼我們知道的足球在美國是怎樣叫？Soccer啦～（日本的叫法也是跟美國那樣的呢）

至於為什麼美國偏要這樣叫呢？聽說是因為他們早已經把美式足球稱為football，為了把兩者分開就用了足球的別稱soccer了，而soccer這字是來足球全名Association Football的Association部分

雖然因為世界盃的關係，足球在美國愈來愈受歡迎，但是美國的NO 1球類運動應該還是美式足球吧！

Football is one of the most popular sports activities in the world, to the point that some countries consider it their signature sports. But did you know that “Football" is not the only word used when talking about this sport?

Sure you’d probably wonder, what else would you call it? It’s a ball you play with your foot, of course it’s going to be called “Football" right?

 

Well you’re not wrong, so that’s why for most countries “Football" (or at least something just as straightforward) is the word to use…..except for America that is. To the US, “Football" means American football, a game played with hands instead of feet, with a ball that isn’t even ball-shaped.

So how do the Americans call “Football" as we know it? Soccer! (Japan’s term for it also comes from them too)

Why even use a different term again? Turns out the Americans already used “Football" to refer to American Football before the other kind of football took root in US soil, so they used football’s alternative name “Soccer" instead. As for where “Soccer" comes from, it’s the shortened form of “Association Football".

Although soccer is getting more popular in the US thanks to the World Cup, American Football probably still reigns supreme as the number one sports over there!

 

書本介紹 – Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

我又來介紹Roald Dahl的書啦～

Roald Dahl最有名的作品自然就是Charlie and the Chocolate Factory了，但是大家又知不知道，這本書是有續作的嗎？

對，我說的就是Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator！

話說在上作的故事之後，Willy Wonka對主角Charlie透露了一件事：這次的巧克力工廠一日遊可不是普通的玩樂打卡遊，而是Wonka找繼承人的方法。Charlie因為表現良好而成功無損過關，所以Wonka決定了由Charlie繼承他的事業。
當然啦，可不能這樣丟下Charlie的家人不理的嘛！於是Wonka帶著Charlie和他的爺爺Grandpa Joe搭上玻璃升降機（也就是標題的Great Glass Elevator）跑去把家人們接回來。不過，這個Great Glass Elevator可不是普通的升降機…

前作的內容已經充滿想像力的了，但這本續作絕對只能以超展開來形容！誰會想到區區一次見家長活動（無誤）居然會扯到上宇宙（物理），還會遇到外星人，結局居然是主角群被請到美國白宮見美國總統先生呢？
（這可是書裡面的內容，不是我在啥扯的）
那麼到底是發生了什麼事件才有這種超展開呢？嘿，不劇透啦（

雖然Charlie的家人在前作也有出現但大概只是來打醬油的，重點依然是Willy Wonka跟一日遊的團員。這本書可不同了，因為家人們不再是路人角色而是主角群之一，作者也終於有機會好好描繪出他們的性格，讓他們不再是沒有立體感的老梗角色。
但是最讓我驚訝的是我們有機會透過這本書更深入了解Willy Wonka。作為系列的裡主角，Wonka在前作的性格已經十分鮮明，但是這本書讓我們知道Wonka可不是大家眼中那個童心未泯的瘋老頭這麼簡單。雖然電影版好像有提到Wonka內心的黑暗面（？），但是要真正了解這個角色，進入他的內心，還是得靠這本書沒錯。

真的要賣個關子的話…故事前半的宇宙之旅算是很單純的天馬行空，回到巧克力工廠之後的劇情才是作者開始秀出描寫能力的時候喔

總之！喜歡前作的讀者們可別忘了看這本續作喔！

Alright, about time I talk about another book from Roald Dahl!

Roald’s most famous work is most definitely Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but did you know that this book actually has a sequel?

Yes, I’m talking about Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator!

Our story continues from the events of the last book, with Willy Wonka revealing something to Charlie: Turns out that the whole kerfuffle with the golden tickets isn’t just a simple field trip around the factory, it’s also Wonka’s way of finding a successor. As Charlie managed to get through the entire trip unscathed due to his good behaviour, Wonka decided to let him continue his legacy and become the future owner of the business.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that they’re going to leave Charlie’s family behind, right? And so Wonka took Charlie, with his grandpa Joe in tow, to the Great Glass Elevator so that they can go fetch the rest of the family. However, this Great Glass Elevator was no ordinary elevator…

Now it’s pretty obvious that the previous book is one imaginative romp with plenty of surprises, but this book takes that up to eleven. Who would think a simple trip to fetch Charlie’s family would end up getting them to space, meet aliens and gain the attention of the President of the United States?
(I’m not joking, these really happened in the book)

But what exactly happened to cause all that? Again, spoilers!

Even though Charlie’s family already appeared in the previous book, they were mostly put aside in favour of Willy Wonka and the people in his factory tour. In this book however, Charlie’s family finally got a chance to take the spotlight alongside Charlie and Wonka, and the author also got a chance to give them some much-needed characterization as well.

However, I did not expect to see Willy Wonka getting more characterization in this book too. Being pretty much the other protagonist in the previous book, Wonka’s character was already strong enough, but this book proved to us that Wonka was much more than just some crazy old man who’s a kid at heart. Although the movies did attempt to show the hidden depths of Wonka, to truly know more about him and to read into his mindset I’d say that reading this book is a must.

Well if I have to foreshadow things a bit….it could be said that while the former half of the story with the journey through space is more fun and imaginative, it’s only after the gang returns to the factory when the author really starts to put on his character-writing gloves.

To put it simply, if you’ve already read the previous book and enjoyed it, don’t forget to give the sequel a read!

書本介紹 – The Story of Tracy Beaker

這次要介紹的書是The Story of Tracy Beaker！

在童書裡面，很多主角都會有幸福美滿的家庭，但是這本書的作者Jacqueline Wilson筆下的角色們可不一定有這麼美好的家庭：有些人物父母離異之後在單親家庭或跟繼父母生活，有些則是被父母遺棄，終日在不同的寄養家庭中打滾。這本書的主角Tracy正正就是後者。

Tracy小時候被父母遺棄之後便一直居住在被她稱作The Dumping Ground的兒童之家，因為她在成年人眼中是難以相處的問題兒童，所以Tracy很難找到願意長期照顧她的寄養家庭。
雖然照顧她的人會覺得Tracy只是一個經常吹牛作故事的小孩，但是對她來說這些天馬行空的故事也算是一種心靈上的寄託跟對能夠跟媽媽重遇的昐望吧？Tracy Beaker系列就是由Tracy的角度，描繪出小孩子怎樣面對這樣的生活

其實我個人最欣賞作者的地方就是她會願意去寫有關於這些孩子的故事。雖然媒體也許不會報導，但社會中的確有不少這樣的家庭，這樣的孩子，而他們不一定找到心靈上的支持。Jacqueline的書就是要跟他們說：不用怕，我懂你！很多人都希望能夠從書裡面找到自己，對這些孩子來說應該會更重要吧？作者能夠給予他們這樣的樂趣，單是這點就已經讓我很敬佩她的了！

This time I’m going to talk about The Story of Tracy Beaker!

In most children’s books, the protagonsts usually have a loving family and a happy childhood, but this is not the case with our author Jacqueline Wilson here. Her stories often touch subjects such as adoption and divorces, and characters may come from single parent families, families with step-parents or be abandoned children living in foster families. The protagonist of this book, Tracy Beaker, is one of the latter’s case.

Ever since she was left behind by her parents in an early age, Tracy has been staying in a children’s residential care home which she nicknames “The Dumping Ground". As she was often seen as a “problem child" by adults, it was difficult for Tracy to find foster families willing to take care of her.
Even though others find her tales too silly or self-boasting, to Tracy those stories probably serve more of a source of comfort or a way to show how she longed to meet her mother again. In short, the Tracy Beaker series tries to show the life of a child in foster care through the eyes of the child themselves.

Personally, I really appreciate how the author is willing to write about those children. Although the media doesn’t often mention them, there are indeed a lot of those “broken" families (and children who lived in them) in society, and those children do need support, not just financially but also psychologically. Through her stories, Jacqueline tries to send the message that there’s nothing to fear, she understands and cares about them.
A lot of people want to find stories and characters that they can identify with, perhaps even more in the case of children. Jacqueline can provide them with this, and that’s why I respect her a lot.

學英文的最好時機？應該如何學英文？

大部分小朋友接觸英文的地方自然就是學校的英文課，但是不同地方的學校開始有英文課的時間也有所不同。
香港畢竟是前英國殖民地而且英文是法定語言，從幼稚園或者小學一年級開始學英文是正常不過；但是其他地方卻不是必然，例如台灣可能是小五小六才開始有英文班，有些台灣朋友跟我說過他們倒是初中才開始上英文課的

那麼何時讓小孩學英文才是最好的？有些教育專家說過３－５歲是學習語言的最好時機，這又是真的假的啊？

我不直接回答你，我用例子回答你（？）
小時候的我是在幼稚園才開始學中文的，之前的時間老爸老媽都給我全英文的語境，所以正確點來說英文才是我的母語。除了這點之外，我也是從小喜歡看英文書跟英文電視節目的，英文就是這樣不知不覺地學回來….學校的英文課好像反而是其次耶（等等這樣說真的沒問題嗎

所以對我來說吧，從很小開始學英文的確是有助造就小朋友的英文能力，而且早一點接觸英文也可以讓他們不害怕英文喔（其實學習一種語言最重要就是不要害怕它！有些小朋友會因為害怕講錯或者用錯了文法而不願意使用英文，
但是我跟你講，英文的native speaker也會犯上文法錯誤的！連我自己也不敢說自己不會用錯文法，所以呢….其實不用過份執著於這一方面的，最重要還是建立起那份自信心喔）

當然啦，最重要其實是不要特別催谷孩子，試問有誰會喜歡被迫做自己不喜歡做的事情？過份催谷反而會搞得孩子視英文為壓力來源這樣就不好了吧….

When’s the best time and what’s the best way to learn English?

To most kids, the one place they get to use English the most is obviously going to be English class at school. However, with different countries/regions also comes different times when English classes are introduced at school.

Hong Kong, being an ex-colony of Britain and having English as one of its official language, naturally includes English lessons in early primary school or even kindergarten. The same can’t be said with other places though, such as Taiwan where kids might not have English lessons at school until primary 5 or 6. Some of my Taiwanese friends even told me that they didn’t have English classes until middle school.

So when’s the best time to learn English again? Some experts claimed that 3-5 years old is the best time to learn new languages, but is this really true?

Well, as a personal example…
When I was a little kid, I didn’t learn Chinese until I started kindergarten, so before that I was raised in an all-English environment. In that case, you could say that my mother-tongue is technically English. However, aside from that, I loved reading English books and watching English TV programmes, and I ended up polishing my language skills along the way. As for English classes? Er, they sort of took a backseat compared to that.

That’s why to me, I believe that introducing English to kids at an earlier age does help them learn English more easily. Besides, it helps them get used to the language and have more confidence in using it too. (In fact, one of the most important things in learning a language is to not be scared of it! Many kids don’t want to speak English because they are afraid of making grammar mistakes, but I can tell you that even native speakers make mistakes!
Even I couldn’t claim that I never make those mistakes either, so basically it’s alright to take it easy about it (but not too easy mind you), as long as you can build the confidence you need to use English in the first place)

Of course, what truly is important is to not push your kids too hard. I mean, who likes being forced to do things that they aren’t even interested in? If you push your kids too hard and they end up seeing English as a source of stress, then frankly the whole thing just backfired on you anyways.

Good luck and happy learning!

學習好資源 – Brainpop

雖然這次要介紹的不是書本，但對我來說這絕對是值得推薦的資源！

我說的是Brainpop這網站！
（傳送門在此：　https://www.brainpop.com/）

在現今網路大流行的年代，網上學習已經不是什麼新鮮事，但Brainpop可是擁有17年歷史，在大家都是網路菜鳥萌新的時候就已經開始透過FLASH卡通影片跟活動教材教授上至天文下至地理的知識（還不止是科學，連人文學科也有喔），以網上學習來說它已經算是老字號了呢
有多老字號？據網站介紹所說，有25%的美國小學跟初中會使用Brainpop作為教材，現在也有努力推廣到其他地方的學校～

但這可不代表它是過時的老古董喔！現在除了有手機版方便孩子邊走邊學，還有替一些母語不是英文的孩子設計的教材（下面寫著ESL的就是啦）

可惜這網站是實行訂閱制的，雖然有些影片是免費的但其他的都要花錢訂閱才能看….但是如果你喜歡這樣的教學方式，這點錢也是值得投資的吧？

I know it sounds weird that I’m introducing something that’s not even a book, but to me this is definitely worth promoting!

What I’m talking about? The Brainpop website!

In the web-everything world we call the present, learning online isn’t anything special anymore. But Brainpop is a website with 17 years under its belt: when everyone’s still a newbie in this whole Internet thing, Brainpop is already hard at work teaching kids through flash cartoons about things from astronauts to zoology. It’s not just about science though, humanities and other subjects also have their time of the day too.
When it comes to learning online, ol’ Brainpop can be called one of the pioneers I daresay!

This doesn’t mean that Brainpop is an outdated, cane-waving old geezer of a website either, it’s actually pretty in with the times complete with a mobile version so kids can learn as they go! It even has a special site for kids learning English as a second language, so there won’t be much trouble with the language barrier either.

One drawback though is that it’s not free. Alright, some of the videos are indeed free (and I thank them for that) but you need to subscribe to see the rest. Honestly? If you’re keen on this kind of learning website, I’d say it’s worth shelling out those bucks.