To understand spoken English and common expression

When I spoke English, I knew my words were something no common expression, so native speakers didn’t understand even though meaning was correct. I want to communicate in English clearly, effectively, and naturally. If I do that, I have to leearn common expression or slang. I usually went with my Canadian friend who is native speaker when he went to meet his friends. Then I was just listening their conversation, and I tried to understand, but I couldn’t. There were many slang and many words which I couldn’t understand. However, it becomes better and better to understand. Hearing conversation between native speakers is a good exercise to learn spoken English and common expression.

Recently, I often watched English movie. When I watched English movie, I tried to watch it without subtitle at first, but I couldn’t understand, it was so fast. Finally, I used English subtitle. However, I understood only approximately 60% of it because I didn’t know a lot of informal or slang expressions. I need to learn informal English, so I felt that I should watch TV more or talk with my native friends more.

Black tea or green tea- which is healthier?

Black tea is more oxidized than the green, oolong tea. Black tea is generally stronger flavor and contains more caffeine than the less oxidized tea.
Actually in China, black tea is known as red tea, not a black tea.

Until recently, tea research has focused on green tea. Green tea is loaded with the compound epigallocatechin gallate ,a powerful anti-oxidant. Since the fermentation process used to make black tea converts EGCg into other compounds, researchers assumed black tea had less health benefits than green tea. However, recent studies indicate the compounds contained in black tea do more than contribute to its dark color and distinctive flavor. They also provide health benefits originally attributed solely to green tea.

What are benfits about black tea?

Black tea has a lot of polyphenols, so it can make people younger than now, and black tea can protect our body from several diseases, like heart attack, immune system disease and several cancer. In addition, black tea can reduced risk of stroke because health benefits of foods contain high flavonoids which were obtained from fruits and vegetables, seventy percent came from black tea. Finally, black tea can help our diet. Black tea is low calories, and they offer essential nutrient like vitamins and essential amino acids.

Illegal immigrants in the U.S.A

http://imagesearch.naver.com/search.naver?where=idetail&query=%BA%D2%B9%FD%C0%CC%B9%CE%C0%DA&from=image&ac=-1&sort=0&res_fr=0&res_to=0&merge=0&start=4&a=pho_l&f=nx&r=4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.naver.com%2Fnews%2Fread.php%3Fmode%3DLSD%26office_id%3D077%26article_id%3D0000172804%26section_id%3D104%26menu_id%3D104

In Korea, we have an illegal immigrants, but I think the U.S.A has the largest populantion about the illegal immigrants.

First, in health care part medical study shows that the total federal cost of providing medical expenses for the 78% illegal immigrants without health insurance coverage was $1.1 billion, with immigrants paying $321 million of health care costs out-of-pocket. The study found that undocumented immigrants tend to visit physicians less frequently than U.S citizens because they are younger and because people with chronic health problems are less likely to immigrate.

Second, in social security, Since 1986, Immigration Reform and Control Act made the hiring of an individual without documents and offense for the first time. They set penalties for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, most illegal immigrant workers have been using fake or ID’s and social security numbers to get a job, so now for illegal immigrants, it is harder to get a job. Even if they got a job they work at low salaries or 3D jobs which U.S citizen don’t want to do. Because they don’t have social security numbers, they can’t get the right which they can deserve.

At last, education is the largest public cost associated with illegal immigration, and it's likely to have long-term consequences. Whether we like it or not, these children will probably remain in the U.S. and become adults who either contribute to the economy or do not.

Should the Masai tribe Westernize?

http://100.naver.com/100.nhn?docid=58562

When I first saw an article about the Masai tribe, I felt their culture is very unique and special. They have a lot of differences between other cultures, for example they just eat cow, and they live in the hurts which is made by cow’s dung. They are looks like very weird, but that is part of their culture too. The Masai tribe has their culture, and it should be protected. Besides, they don’t cause any problem about pollution, and they live in harmony with animals even though the reason is little bit strange. They believe the earth brings them misfortune, so they don’t want to use any resource in the earth. However, the Masai tribe’s culture still has some problems to fix. In their culture people are very hard to keep their belief especially for women. They are very pitiful because they must build the hurts, they live in separate hurts, and man can chooses where to sleep. They circumcise to women because women must not feel any sexual pleasure. Women are also human being, so they should be protected and they have own rights to deserve. In addition, in men’s case when boys became thirteen or fourteen years old they have to show their brave through circumcise. If they showed pain or fear and then they are killed. The Masai tribe has to improve standard of living. In western sight, their culture is very strange to accept, but in their sight, it is natural and important belief that should be protected.

Food!!

I love to eat and cook!!

Especially, when I cook I feel comfortable, and my cook time is my relax time. However, recently food has a lot of changes.

I would like to explain about food's past, present and future.

In the past, Koreans were self-sufficient. They cultivated food for themselves, because Korea was an agricultural society,. They always ate rice and vegetables. Everyday people ate their own food that they cultivated themselves. They grew crops and raised livestock some of the cattle made milk some of the cattle became beef. There were pigs, geese, and chickens that produced eggs. Cows were used to plow the ground. At that time, Koreans were not obese like now. They didn’t have frozen food, and they use only pots and pans to cook.

Now, people can eat anything and everything, because trade and technology have developed. Russians can eat California oranges and bananas. People can eat everything like rice, bread, meat, seafood and vegetables. We can buy them in a supermarket in just 5 min.

In the future, people won’t need to go to a supermarket. Right now, just a click of the mouse, a supermarket is at our finger tips. People don’t need to cook. People will just watch TV, and click their remote control and food will be delivered to their house. People won’t need to waste time cooking. Just click, pay and eat!!

What I enjoy most

In Asian traditional culture girls should stay at home, should learn how to take care of a home, and should listen father’s words carefully, but I don’t like that.
One of my favorite things is traveling. After I became 20, every year, at least once a year I traveled to other places. During the semester I usually have a part-time job. I teach middle or high school students and after I saved money during the break. I traveled to many different countries. It didn’t help my bank balance, but it did help my experience balance.
Another of my favorite things is meeting new people. Usually during the semester, I joined an on-line club. In Korea, we have a lot of on-line clubs and sometimes I belonged at the university club. When I meet new people I am happy, and they teach me a lot of things.
My most favorite things is shopping. It’s a little bit different from the earlier two favorites, but it is an outside activity and one of the most joyful for me. I think most women love shopping although we don’t have enough money. Window shopping is good enough for women, but I should be careful when I go shopping because it makes me spend a lot of time and money.
When I do something exciting I feel happy. I am not a common Asian girl, so everyday my parents worried about me, but I am happy with those experiences. Those experiences add more pleasure to my life.

Korea's national flag

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_South_Korea

I would like to explain about my country's national flag.

August 15, is Korea's independence day, and that day, we have to

hoist our national flag in front of our house.

The Korea's national flag called "Tageukgi".
Taegeuki is composed of a red and blue which is in the center and four black trigrams, one in each corner of the flag. I checked wikipedia, they introduce the symbol as taeguk come from the chinese book "zhou yi", but it's not true. 400 years ago in Korea(shinla dynasty) already have a symbol as taeguk.
Taegeuki was designed by King Gojong in 1882. King Gojong proclaimed the taegeuki to be the official flag of Korea on March 6, 1883. The white background symbolizes " Purity of the people" the taegeuk represents the origin of all things in universe, and It means before the division of sky and land. We called "yang" and "yin". Red half represents the "yang" that is the positive half. Blue half represents the "yin" that is the passive half from the orient principle. Two forces together, and they keep the balance. In addition, balance and harmony represents the sphere of infinity. The trigrams surround the circle each trigram symbolizes one of the four universal elements.
left upper side part called "geon(건)" which consists of three bars and stands for Sky, Spring, East and Virtue.
¦¦¦ right lower part called "gon(곤)" which consists of six bars and stands for Earth, Summer, West and Justice.
¦ left lower part called "li(리)" which consists of four bars and stands for Sun, Fall, South and Courtesy.
At the last, ¦¦ right upper side part called "gam(감)" which consists of five bars and stands for Moon, Winter, North and Knowledge or Wisdom.

The taegeukgi was used as a symbol of resistance and the independence movement during the Japanese occupation and ownership of it was punishable by execution.
Since the 2002 World Cup that fired the passion of the people for the month of June, the Taegeukgi has been transformed from a sacred symbol of the nation to a familiar part of everyday life. The taegeuk symbol can easily be found on all sorts of everyday items and it has various images representing Korea. The Taegeukgi is no longer just a symbolic flag that is hoisted up high but an integral part of Korean daily life.

A person who influenced my life

The first person who influenced my life is a woman, named Han bi ya. She is Korean who works for World Vision. World Vision is a kind of organization which helps people in trouble. In her 20s, she was just a working woman. Suddenly, she thought 'I want to go travel and I want to learn foreign languages!!' she quits her job, and she went to China to learn Chinese. After China she went to France to learn French. In addition, her English was already good. She can speak about five different languages. After she came back to Korea, she worked for World Vision. She often went to Africa, Afghanistan and other countries which need help. Like Han bi ya I am also interested in foreign languages and helping children. I want to be like her, she always enjoy facing a challenge, and she never gives up what she wants. I admire her very much, and I want to have the same qualities.

My first time I traveled China

My first time in China was wonderful. When I was sixteen years old, I went there to travel. I still clearly remember the experience. It was just six days of travel, and I only went to only Beijing. I saw a lot of ancient architecture like The Great Wall and The Palace Museum. That experience made me more interested in China. After the China trip, I started to study Chinese. When I entered university, I decided Chinese would be my major. My trip to China, although short, was an amazing, life-changing experience

My favorite picture

Claude Monet is my favorite artist. I like his color and light on the canvas. This painting is not in the public museum. It belongs to a person. This painting is not too big, the size is 74.6 * 105.3 cm 29 3/8 * 41 7/16 inch. This picture is oil on canvas. This picture is about the lake. Claude Monet has several paintings about lakes. I think he wants to represent the beauty of light on canvas. Actually Monet’s paintings are realistic, so he doesn’t have any 3D kinds of painting, but we can feel perspective. Monet is called an impressionist. This means that he doesn’t paint exactly realistically. Rather he uses many, many small brushstrokes to create an ‘impression’ or feeling about the topic. When I saw Monet’s picture I felt comfortable, especially l love this picture because of that reason. I don’t know exactly what he wanted to represent on his picture, but he defiantly love light and water lilies color.

HI~~ This is Claire's homeP~ welcome!! :)

Now~ I'd like to introduce about myself !!

When I was seven years old I could ride a bike, and I had my own bike at that time. One day I felt the weather was so nice. It was really sunny, so I took some bread, water and candy, and I started an adventure with my bike. I was so young, but I wanted to know about the other side of my city. Five hours later I was in a new place that I never been before. Finally I was lost and didn’t know how to go home. I was so nervous and worried about this situation. At the end of the day, finally I found my house. It was 11 o’clock at night, and my mother cried because she thought she lost me, but that day I really enjoyed my small adventure.

As I said in my introduction my childhood was full of adventures. I liked to go outside, and I liked to visit new places. My mother always said to me ‘ you act like a boy, not a girl’. My hometown is located in the country side; It is small, but it has several mountains and clean river. When I was young I usually went to the mountain for fun because they have a lot of flowers, plants, and insects. They were new worlds to me. One day in summer I went to the mountain. Around the mountain road I found a red fruit, I thought it was a strawberry, but it wasn’t. It was an Indian strawberry which contains poison so people can’t eat it. That day I had a stomachache and I should have gone to the hospital.

During my high school time I had one of the most important experiences of my life. When I was seventeen years old I visited china for six days traveling with my two friends. At that time my Chinese was just beginner level. I studied Chinese just three months with out teacher, but I wanted to know about china, so I decided go to china with my two friends. It was a small adventure to me, but during the traveling I felt china was so attractive and fascinating, and six days were not enough for me. I wanted to know about china more and more. After that experience I decided my university major, and I started to study Chinese more deeply. My small adventure changed my life a lot.

When I was twenty years old my mother, my younger sister and I traveled to western Europe. We didn’t know anything about Europe, but three women decided to travel to western Europe. We couldn’t speak English very well, so everyday we had small problems and most people wanted to help us. My favorite city in Europe is Vobe. It located in Switzerland. Vobe wasn’t the city that we wanted to go to, but we took a wrong train, so we found that city. My mother said ‘In every adventure you need to face risk, but every adventures give you a small gift.’ I think I was influenced a lot by my mother. She loves adventure more than me, and she persuades to me explorer new world and into the new world.

Now, I am a 23 year old girl. Even though I am young, I have visited several countries, and I have had different adventures from those experiences. I felt a lot of things about myself. Who am I ? and what do I want to do? I love adventures, I enjoy facing challenge and I would like to help people who have troubles. Even though they were small, I had some experience about the world. When I became older 30s, I went to work at ‘world vision’. Working there I can meet new people and can experience new situations, and I can help people. Because of these purposes, I want to learn several languages and believe my personality will help that.