Accent Challenge with Marcus Butler & Zoella !

Why do we have accents ?

What percentage of your brain do you use?

What we can learn from galaxies ?

筷子兄弟 - 老男孩

Sara Evans - My Heart Can't Tell You No ( With lyrics )

Annoying Gym People

THE CHINESE DREAM !

The Chinese Dream in Historical Perspective

Individuals have their private dreams of love, happiness, or success. Nations also have their dreams, of prosperity and security. History teaches us that neither hardship nor oppression, no matter how severe, can take away human beings' right to dream.

Today, on a global scale, there are three partially overlapping dreams competing for influence over human civilisation. These three great visions are the American Dream, the European Dream and the Chinese Dream.

A view of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall in Huairou District, Beijing. Photo/Chang Keyong

For an individual, a dream represents hope, aspiration, ideals and expectations. For a nation, a dream represents consensus, common purpose, target, enthusiasm, motivation, sacrifice, and taking responsibility for realising the dream.

What is the Chinese Dream ?

An aerial view of the Forbidden City. Chinese civilisation led the world for at least 1,500 years, laying the foundation for today's Chinese Dream.

The Chinese Dream is one of liberalisation, renewal and modernisation; of security, democracy and culture; of justice, prosperity and success.

The Chinese Dream is a dream of cross-straits peace and national unity.

Fireworks form the Olympic Rings over the National Stadium during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, August 8, 2008.

It is a dream of reform, of decent living standards for all, of China regaining its place among the great powers. The Chinese Dream is a dream of world peace and universal harmony.

But to fully grasp the meaning of the Chinese Dream requires a profound understanding of Chinese civilisation.

A Girl takes care of her paralysed boyfriend...

3 years ago, Yang Na, a post-90s generation girl from Qionglai, without hesitation gave up her job in Suzhou, and went back to her home town to be with her paralysed boyfriend Yan Hongbo. Her parents made a pact with her: if within 3 years he can stand up again, they would give their blessing. Now that 3 years have passed, hope for the boy to stand up again remains uncertain. Her parents reminded her to move back home, which put Yang Na in a dilemma. In the end, Yang Na made a hard decision, declaring that she is willing to “extend” this relationship another 6 months and if after 6 months he still hasn't made a change for the better, she will obey her parents, and gradually leave him. Meanwhile, Yan Hongbo is also in a dilemma: he wants her to stay, but also wants to let her go to pursue her own happiness.

“I have no choice, my parents are old, and I have to think of them too,” says Yang Na. To sum up her relationship over the past 3 years, it was half sweet, and half bitter. Both her parents and her friends all believe Yan Hongbo is a burden on her, but she doesn't thinks so. “It’s like looking after a little kid, he never causes me any trouble. He never gets angry with me even though sometimes my tone is harsh.” She says there are many things she can’t let go of, that even if she does leave, she wants to make sure his life is taken care of first, to get him a motorized wheelchair, to raise money to renovate his house. Even if he doesn't live in the house, renting it out would be economic income for him. “Only when he can live well can I be at ease. I won’t leave him immediately. I'm afraid that he wouldn't be able to cope, so I will leave him gradually. I hope he won’t blame me.”

“Some loss is destined, and some relationships will never have any result. I'm afraid that one day I may lose you. I want to cherish you so much; I simply cannot be without you. But I'm also afraid that my choice is wrong.” Yan Hongbo knows in his heart too that the “3-year pact” between Yang Na and her mother has already come due, but perhaps out of fear of facing the fact, he and Yang Na haven’t talked about this topic. Knowing the decision Yang Na has made, he isn't surprised, only saying after a long pause, “In fact, I want her to stay, but I also want her to leave and be happy– I've been very conflicted, about this problem.” He says he can understand any decision Yang Na makes, and no matter what, he will never blame her. “I don’t want to let her go, but what else can I do?”

Na Na’s mother says: “Our home is in the countryside, where men should be the backbone of the family, to farm the fields, to support the family. But Na Na can never depend on the man she is with now. We can’t help but worry. Her father is already 50 years old, and is not well. If for some reason we’re gone, how are they supposed to live? I worry that she may suffer. In the past 3 years, we often had to send her rice and cooking oil. Whenever we slaughtered a chicken or fish, we’d also bring some to them. In the past at home, she rarely did any housework, but now she must do everything herself. Over 3 years ago, she told me about Yan Hongbo’s condition. I tried to talk her out of putting herself into this bad situation. If she wanted to help, she could give him money and encouragement, but she must never invest too much feelings for him. But she was persistent, saying he had promised her that he would stand up in 2 years and give her happiness.”

21st February 2014

Kai and His Girlfriend, Ellen !

What a romantic baby !

Do babies speak with an accent?

We all know that infants don’t actually speak with an accent because they don’t really speak at all. But for a long time scientists presumed that infants’ brains could not process sounds at all. Professor Patricia Kuhl, the director of the Centre for Mind, Brain, and Learning at the University of Washington, wanted to test this notion. Kuhl studied infants between six and eight months whose parents spoke different languages, including English, Swedish, Japanese and Russian. Different languages are made of different types of sounds. Native English speakers have difficulty pronouncing the subtle vowel differentiations of French, while native Japanese speakers have trouble differentiating the l and r sounds of English. Because of these variations, Kuhl could test if a child of Russian-speaking families responded particularly to the sounds of the Russian language, or if their reaction to speech did not vary from language to language.

In her experiments, Kuhl observed that the infants were more responsive to the sounds of their own language than to the sounds of other foreign languages—even before they were able to speak themselves. She discovered that babies as young as one year acquire the specific accented sounds of their parents and that the first year of listening makes a lasting impact on the way we speak for our entire lives. As she told Smithsonian magazine, “Our research shows that a kernel of that pattern of speaking begins to form in the brain well before actual production of speech. And by the time the baby’s first words do come, those distinctive characteristics are solidly in place.”

This also helps explain why it is difficult for second-language learners to abolish their accents. The sounds of our first language are so primary, it is formidable—if not impossible—to learn some sounds of foreign languages.

To Stress ...

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Funny menstruation animation

Every mum should try this !

Please mums, do this !

Take a picture of your daughter in your wedding dress and hide it until her wedding day then show it to her!

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If My Life Were A Movie

How To Deal With Bullying

My Morning Routine Parody

Guess The YouTuber

COMPUTER YOGA

It has been a while now that we are sitting in front of our computers, navigating from page to page.... I have a question for you guys : How are your muscles feeling right now ? I guess we need to take a little break. Let's do "Computer Yoga" : It's very easy, and you'll be relaxed in just a few minutes. Computer yoga will help to resolve the tension felt in your body. It will calm your mind through meditation and self-questioning. Computer yoga is the key to remaining positive through the day; ideally, practising computer yoga daily will help you to remain positive throughout your daily routine. 
Let's start :

1/ Move your head : Turn your head left and right. Forward and backward.



2/ Move your shoulders, so that all tensions resolve. Find the way that works best for you. Move forward, and then move another way round. Do the same thing with your elbows.



3/ Move your spine to the right and left side.



4/ Move your feet on the ground.



5/ Massage your body from head to feet. Hold your hands together over your head, rub the palms, visualise the sky above you and imagine you see a light in the sky. Imagine you feel the light that comes down. Massage the light into your face, your eyes, your ears, your whole body and think "Light, Light...". Fill yourself with light. Move your feet, fill light into the earth and think, "Light...".



6/ Move your hand and send light to your loved ones and to all people. Say "I send light to... May all people be happy. May all the world be happy."



7/ Rub your palms together, while you keep thinking about the light, closing your eyes. Try to concentrate on the light, and think about your life. What are your goals ? What is your way ? Hear the answer within you. Feel the answer inside. 



8/ Put your hands on your legs or your belly, and make your mind calm.



9/ Stop your thinking for one minute. Simply sit there. Don't think.

• What do you have to take in your life? Take it.
• What is your positive sentence now? What helps you to stay positive through your day and your life? For example, "My positive sentence is: I am optimistic. I follow my way with optimism."

10/ Now have fun !

Remember, don't work too much and don't rest too much. Find your personal balance to stay healthy and happy. Do some spiritual exercises every day. Do Computer Yoga every day and the day will be yours.

Good luck ~~