Life & English

Some years before, we travelled Egypt and visited Alexandria library. It was the first and oldest library. The library kept more 700.000 books of famous authors, scholars of the world, included books from ancient Greece, Rome. In some books, they wrote the birth of Alexandria city. The city was a cultural center in period Egypt under rule of Greece. Next period, Alexandria became a important business center on the trading road from East to West when Egypt was a province of Roman Empire from 30 year BC, after the fall of Queen Cleopad and General Marcus Antonious by Octavian. It was a special memory for books and history.

Picture of the old library

Now, with its compact size but contains a large amount of knowledge, e-books are convenient for storage needs, search and read books anytime, anywhere on the device personal information, such as smartphones, tablet... More and more people were interesting the explosion of the Internet makes electronic books. How will be traditional paper books? All make sense of belonging to the reader as if they are holding a traditional paper book. Many people are thinking that the printed book will become "antiques" in the near future. As people make predictions about the future of the printed book, Bill Gates was also buyers ancient book "Codex Leicester" in an auction in 1994 at the cost of 30.8 million dollars, making it the most expensive book planet. "Codex Leicester" is a collection of scientific literature by Leonardo da Vinci. The book "Codex Leicester" mere includes 72 pages of documents, presented on 36 pages of paper, each sheet includes two pages of content, and the entire book only includes 18 sheets of paper. With 30.8 million price that Bill Gates bought at auctions, every page of this paper are worth more than $ 1.7 million!

Ebook

In fact, most famous paper book has been turned into electronic books to share information on global networks. Many websites have been set up to sell or share e-books. Today, many publishers alongside the release of the additional issue of the paper also forms of electronic books with lower prices. The cost of issuing and printing e-books should be brought low economic benefits for both publishers and readers. The electronic reading devices are becoming smaller and more friendly, even able to bend like paper books, writing is represented by technology E-Ink exactly like the paper books ... It seems that ebooks is the obvious developing trend.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

Tram is a special transport of Melbourne. The old trams still run. Elapsed time, trams looked as an obsolete transport. But now, they are valued like as the pioneer to protect environment of the green city. Who can predict future and time? Also, “City Circle”, the name of number 35 red trams, is the free tram for all people. Tourists could travel around the city by these red trams, free of charge. It is a presentation of Melbourne citizen’s hospitality.

Sydney was being a city of high buildings. That was my feeling when car just came the suburb of Sydney. Car ran to the center, more and more crowded. We came Sydney center when night was starting. Bright lights. That was sunday night of month end. Shops were very brilliant. People came in and went out, sold and bought, busy hurry. It seemed that Sydney trams were many more than Melbourne trams. Trams ran on land and trams ran on high spaces between buidings. It looked “tottery”. I saw the same trams for visitors in amusement parks in other countries. I got a little surprise when knew that tram was a public transport and used by many people in Sydney.

A telephone box

I got other surprise when I found some old telephone boxs of Telstra on Sydey downtown. They were working in this modern city. I saw an old telephone box in Melbourne suburb too, I checked and its signal was good to phone. In Sydney, old telephone boxs were standing on streets of the center. In Hanoi now, the same telephone boxes did not work.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

“The world is a big village” was an idiom. In this big village “the world”, countries seems to be as houses. Every house has doors. Travellers want to visit every house need to pass one of these doors to come inside the house. Apply for visa, this feeling seems to be similar feeling for knock at a door. For travellers, every time to apply for visa is every experience and very different to others. If travellers want to visit Australia then they can apply Electronic Travel Authority.

An Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) is an electronic travel visa linked to the applicant's passport permitting travel to Australia for tourism and business purposes. As an ETA is an electronic travel visa, there is no stamp or label in the passport and passport holders from ETA-eligible countries can obtain an ETA online. An ETA is a travel visa that is valid for one year and successful applicants are permitted to travel to Australia and stay for up to three months per visit.

The notarized copy of the birth certificate is required when traveler apply for entry Australian visa. It seems to be simple. But it is not simple for people who was born and grew in war, bomb, fire… and many years old. Many other papers can prove job, position, property, incomes… of a person. The birth certificate do not prove these information. But it is a requirement for entry Australian visa. It meant if a person has not her/his birth certificate then she/he can not travel Australia. Let try, travellers! Australia will welcome and attract travellers by landscape and legends of “three systers” mountains, twelve apostles, Loch Ard Gorge with lovers…

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

(ICTPress) - Trong bối cảnh nền kinh tế đất nước đang hội nhập sâu rộng vào nền kinh tế khu vực, dẫn đến thị trường lao động ngày càng cạnh tranh cần phải nâng cao chất lượng đào tạo đáp ứng được nhu cầu mới của thị trường lao động.

Để nâng cao chất lượng đào tạo, rất cần thiết phải có các giải pháp đào tạo chuẩn kết hợp với các công cụ đánh giá chính xác và nghiêm túc được quốc tế công nhận.

"Giải pháp đào tạo tiếng Anh kết hợp phần mềm English Discoveries (ED) của ETS và đưa chuẩn đánh giá quốc tế MOS vào đánh giá môn tin học sẽ là công cụ tốt giúp nâng cao trình độ tiếng Anh, chuẩn hóa kiến thức về công nghệ trong việc sử dụng máy tính và internet một cách có nền tảng, đáp ứng đúng mục tiêu mà chúng ta đang hướng tới, một nguồn nhân lực có chất lượng, đáp ứng được các yêu cầu trong quá trình hội nhập và toàn cầu hóa để tiến tới việc công nhận lẫn nhau phục vụ cho việc dịch chuyển lao động giữa các quốc gia trong khu vực trong tương lai", ông Chử Xuân Dũng - Phó Giám đốc Sở GD&ĐT Hà Nội cho biết tại Hội thảo quốc tế "Giải pháp nâng cao chất lượng đào tạo tiếng Anh và Tin học cho khối trường THPT chuyên" do Hội các trường THPT chuyên Duyên hải - Đồng bằng Bắc Bộ vừa tổ chức Hà Nội.

Hội thảo thu hút sự tham gia của các chuyên gia quốc tế và các giáo viên các trường chuyên THPT chuyên khu vực Bắc Bộ.

English Discoveries (ED) là một chương trình học tiếng Anh trực tuyến do Viện Khảo thí Giáo dục Hoa Kỳ (Educational Testing Service- ETS) cung cấp. ED mang lại giải pháp học tiếng Anh toàn diện dựa trên công nghệ tiên tiến nhất, đáp ứng nhu cầu dạy và học đa dạng của các cá nhân, cơ sở đào tạo, doanh nghiệp. Chương trình được sử dụng rộng rãi trên toàn thế giới, được Bộ Giáo dục nhiều nước trên thế giới sử dụng trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân.

ED đem đến mô hình học tích hợp (Blended Learning) và mô hình học từ xa (Distance Learning) - giải pháp hữu hiệu kết hợp các phương pháp sư phạm truyền thống với công nghệ học tập tương tác tiên tiến nhất, tạo cho học viên môi trường học tập lý tưởng.

Trên thế giới, ED đã được triển khai thành công ở hơn 30 quốc gia với hàng triệu người học. Tại Việt Nam,  nhiều Sở Giáo dục và Đào tạo (Sở GD & ĐT Đồng Nai, Sở GD & ĐT Tiền Giang, Sở GD & ĐT Vĩnh Long…), các trường Đại học, Cao đẳng, các trường quốc tế (ĐH Hà Nội, ĐH Kinh tế TP.HCM, ĐH Thái Nguyên, ĐH Hàng Hải, ĐH Thăng Long, Học viện An ninh Nhân dân) và doanh nghiệp lớn (Vietnam Airline, cục thuế TP.HCM…) đã tin tưởng lựa chọn ED là công cụ nâng cao chất lượng đào tạo tiếng Anh.

Với thời lượng tổng cộng khoảng 1.000 giờ học chia thành 10 khóa học, tương ứng các trình độ từ cơ bản (Basic) tới nâng cao (Advanced), ED đáp ứng được phần lớn các đối tượng người học muốn nâng cao năng lực sử dụng tiếng Anh.

Bên cạnh đó, ETS đã phát triển thêm phiên bản EDO-M (English Discoveries Online- Mobile) - chương trình học chạy trên các thiết bị di động: máy tính bảng (tablet) và điện thoại thông minh (smartphone) qua hệ điều hành iOS hay Android.

Với nội dung học tập phong phú, đa dạng, chương trình học tập mang tính tương tác cao, ứng dụng công nghệ hiện đại, EDO-M hứa hẹn đem đến môi trường học tập lý tưởng, phù hợp xu thế hiện nay.

Ông Vũ Đức Thọ, Chủ tịch Hội các trường THPT Chuyên khu vực Duyên hải và Đồng bằng Bắc Bộ chia sẻ: "Hội thảo giải pháp nâng cao chất lượng đào tạo Tin học và Tiếng Anh dành cho khối trường THPT chuyên tạo điều kiện để lãnh đạo cũng như các thầy cô giáo phụ trách chuyên môn từ các trường được nghe giới thiệu về những giải pháp mang tính toàn diện, khả thi, phù hợp với điều kiện tại Việt Nam cũng như và đáp ứng chuẩn mực quốc tế và đào tạo kỹ năng Tin học và tiếng Anh tại Việt Nam."

Hiện nay trên cả nước, các trường thuộc khối các trường chuyên là những nguồn trường có lượng học sinh chất lượng cao của cả nước. Các đề tài được thảo luận trong Hội thảo quốc tế góp phần đưa ra các giải pháp, khuyến nghị và làm cơ sở tiền đề để đưa các chương trình chuẩn Tin học Quốc tế và tiếng Anh vào giảng dạy tại khối trường chuyên THPT nhằm nâng cao chất lượng đào tạo trong nhà trường, giúp cho học sinh khối THPT chuyên tại Việt Nam đào tạo ra những nhân tài cho đất nước, nuôi dưỡng thế hệ tương lai. 

Trong sự kiện này, Hội các trường THPT chuyên khu vực Duyên hải - Đồng bằng Bắc Bộ đã công bố quyết định kết nạp Tổ chức giáo dục IIG Việt Nam - đại diện chính thức và duy nhất của các tổ chức khảo thí và giáo dục uy tín trên toàn cầu như Viện khảo thí giáo dục Hoa Kỳ (ETS), Certiport...trở thành thành viên chính thức của hội - với 17 năm hoạt động trong lĩnh vực giáo dục đã có nhiều đóng góp tích cực đưa các sản phẩm giáo dục chuẩn quốc tế về Tin học và tiếng Anh nhằm nâng cao chất lượng giảng dạy trong nhà trường, đáp ứng được các yêu cầu quốc tế.

IIG Việt Nam được kết nạp thành viên chính thức của Hội

Được thành lập vào ngày 8/1/2008, sau 9 năm đi vào hoạt động, Hội ngày càng lớn mạnh về số lượng cũng như có sự thay đổi tích cực về chất lượng cũng như có sự thay đổi tích cực về chất lượng ngày càng khẳng định vị thế của mình trong ngành giáo dục của cả nước. Đến nay, không chỉ dừng lại ở 15 trường chuên khu cực Duyên hải - Đồng bằng Bắc Bộ mà Hội đã mở rộng sang các tỉnh miền núi phía Bắc và các tỉnh miền Trung, Nam với tổng 35 trường tham gia.

Nguyễn Dung

Ảnh: 

Some years before, on the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) project, we had a business travel in Sweden.

According to the ITU schedule, we flighted to Umea, a city in the north of Sweden. In Umea, a senior guided us to visit city and we joined a telemedicine workshop. He visited Vietnam sometime before. We visited a hospital and their telemedicine system. Directly saw their care for patients, their medical equipments and telemedicine systems, I understood why this senior discussed very much and very hard in Hanoi. When Vietnamese hospitals can achieve these EU medical standards and tele-medicine? Who could answer!

At Kista, the Hi-Tech area locates nearby Stockholm, we had a other workshop, according to the ITU schedule too. In this workshop, we presented about ITU telecoms rural project at Daklak province in Vietnam. We received very many questions from Sweden colleagues and we asked them so many questions too. Some questions were very hard, the answers were not easy because it was so many differences between Vietnamese rural and North European rural.

In Kista, we saw many students and researchers from Africa, Asia, Middle East… They were studying and working in Hi-Tech Institutes and companies at Kista. We joined to a workshop of IT University, where my colleague was a teacher. Many Swedish professors and foreign students, researchers from other countries, joined this workshop. A professor and his students made us surprise. During presentation, a handsome young professor (about 40 years old) turned to students and asked a pen. Immediately, a pen was thrown from an African student. Surprise did not finish yet. This young professor putted his hand up to catch the pen but it dropped. The pen dropped in the empty space between tables. The professor did not take a roundabout route or pull table to pick the pen. He flexed legs then jumped across a table, picked the pen then jumped across the table again to return his position. He raised the pen and said thank to the African student. It was a friendly style between the teacher and students. However, it was surprise for us - Vietnamese former students. From we were children, we were taught that always students should show respect for teachers and teachers should be solemn.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

In the United States, Public Libraries offer many convenient services. These service are very useful for people and support Network Society.

The first important service is information. In library, you can read and search information in many fields. You can read books and use computers and internet in this library to find and read information. The most valuable services the Public Library offers is the privilege of checking out books, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, magazines, eBooks, puzzles and video games. The second interesting service are study to upgrade English language. It is conversational English program. This program uses visual tools, small talk, and role play to teach native speakers of many languages to communicate in English, focusing on specific issues, like making a doctor’s appointment, placing an emergency call, parent/teacher conferences, and more. Even, students are also welcome to bring their 3-6 year olds with them. While parents learn English, library staff read books, make crafts, and play games with the children.

Also, many Public Libraries offer other useful services. Example: Print, Fax, & Scan, Meeting & Study Rooms, Tax forms, Notary & Voter Registration. Some Library offer free Notary Service and Voter Registration… There are an estimated 119,487 libraries of all kinds in the United States today. Public Libraries have important positions in the system. Their services are very useful for people and society. By use inteprnet and information technology, Public Libraries are supporting strongly to develop Network Society.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

The Civil War Museum, at 5400 First Avenue, Kenosha, Wisconsin, is one of Civil War Museums in the United State. The Civil War Museum opened in 2008 and focuses on the contributions of the Upper Middle West – Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, and Michigan – to the Civil War. These seven states sent over one million men to serve in the Union army while providing much of the food and raw materials necessary for the northern states to carry on the war. Men, women and children from various ethnic backgrounds experienced life during and after the war in different ways. It is through these unique stories that the museum visitor learns about the causes and effects of the Civil War and its impact on the region.

Visitors can learn Civil War history with life-scale, interactive exhibits, and audio and video technology... The high-tech digital movie experience allows visitors a glimpse for old battles. One of just a handful of venues nationwide using 360* degree movie technology, the Civil War Museum movie focuses on the personal experiences and accounts of citizen soldiers. Using letters, journals and diaries, the script follows several soldiers as they leave home and hearth, train with their troops, face battle together and ultimately deal with the consequences of war. The high technology film encircles viewers and thrusts them into the middle of a Civil War battle. It is the very large screen 360°, visual and sound effects, and ground motion enhance the experience. The film typically plays once every hour. Through the use of high tech digital movie and old stories, the Museum also explores how the Civil War impacted the people on the Western home front before, during, and after the war by connecting the prewar causes to the postwar effects.

The museum also has monthly program for people. Participants are engaged in lively conversations, storytelling, interactive exhibit experiences, object handling and other multi-sensory activities.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

As almost other cities, the downtown is the heart of Houston. The Houston downtown includes modern, high and very high buildings, city blocks. The Downtown District was formed in 1995 for the purpose of revitalizing the urban core of the country’s fourth largest city. Over the past decade, the Downtown District has used a combination of public funds and private resources to catalyze area improvements focusing on the city blocks bordered by Interstate 10, Highway 59 and Interstate 45.

Wells Fargo Plaza

Downtown underground is a system of tunnels 20 feet below Houston's downtown streets and more than 6 miles (9.7km) long. Having started out years ago as a tunnel between two downtown movie theaters, today it includes restaurants and service retail and connects 95 city blocks. Houston downtown and underground is the modern overall architecture. Only Wells Fargo Plaza and McKinney Garage on Main street offers direct access from the street to the tunnel; otherwise, entry points are from street-level stairs, escalators, and elevators located inside office buildings that are connect. Access is allowed to the general public into these buildings with few restrictions, during normal operating hours, in order to reach the Tunnel. The tunnel is generally open during weekday business hours only. The Tunnel is a series of underground passageways that, with above-ground skywalks, link office towers to hotels, banks, corporate and government offices, restaurants, retail stores… Portions of the tunnel contain gift shops, newsstands, banks, technology centers, flower shops, copy centers, dry cleaners, and food courts similar to a major shopping mall… They are widely and heavily used by office workers and tourists.

A house in East Downtown near University of Houston

However, Houston includes not only modern and high building but also old and poor houses. On the road to the University of Houston and Texas Southern University, only 2 or 3 miles from the center of Houston downtown, we saw old and poor houses with cursory graffiti. Many areas are developing, new beautiful buildings are located beside land lots or poor dirty old houses. It is uncomfortable mix-up. The mix-up of a developing city. The mixability is making style of this city.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

Chicago is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States.

The Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland, has nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States.

Chicago is located beside huge freshwater Lake Michigan, and two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and the Calumet River in the industrial far South Side. Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect, moderating Chicago's climate; making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City.

Chicago river

Downtown is the center of Chicago's financial, cultural, governmental and commercial institutions and the site of Grant Park and many of the city's skyscrapers. Many of the city's financial institutions, such as the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, are located within a section of downtown called "The Loop". The term "The Loop" is largely used by locals to refer to the entire downtown area as well. The central area includes the Near North Side, the Near South Side, and the Near West Side, as well as the Loop. These areas contribute famous skyscrapers, abundant restaurants, shopping, museums, a stadium for the Chicago Bears, convention facilities, parkland, and beaches. The Chicago Loop is the central business district, but Chicago is also a city of neighborhoods. Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's lakefront. Some of the parks along the waterfront include Lincoln Park, Grant Park, Burnham Park and Jackson Park…

A bridge on Chicago river

Chicago is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. O'Hare International Airport is the second-busiest airport in the world by aircraft traffic. Chicago's culture includes the visual arts, novels, film, theater, and music...

There are many colleges and universities in the Chicago area; among these, Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago are classified as "highest research" doctoral universities. Every year, Chicago hosted over 50-60 million international and domestic visitors. The city is one of the top visited cities in United States.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: 

“Always fresh, always free” is slogan of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH) is located in the heart of Houston Museum District. It is a non-collecting institution dedicated to presenting the best and most exciting international, national, and regional art. Through dynamic exhibitions accompanied by scholarly publications and accessible educational programs, the Museum reaches out to local, regional, national, and international audiences of various ages.

Contemporary Arts Museum Houston

CAMH was founded in 1948 by a group of seven Houston citizens to present new art and to document its role in modern life through exhibitions, lectures and other activities. The Museum's first exhibitions were presented at various sites throughout the city. The success of these first efforts led in 1950 to the building of a small, professionally equipped facility where ambitious exhibitions of the work of Vincent van Gogh, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, and John Biggers and his students… reflected Houston's receptiveness to new ideas. In 1972, the present facility opened with the controversial exhibition Ten, which featured several artists working in non-traditional media. The Museum continued its commitment to showcasing the newest national and regional art in such exhibitions.

CAMH inside

CAMH contributed vigorously to the emergence of Houston as one of the most significant cultural centers in the nation. The Museum grew significantly, extending its reach with major exhibitions that presented and toured thematic surveys of installations for performance art; contemporary still-life painting; an important group exhibition of work by Texas artists. CAMH continues to look forward with exhibitions that exemplify the art of today. This Museum is a leading destination to experience innovative art. It is a nonprofit organization that relies on a variety of funding sources, including individual, government, and corporate, for its activities. CAMH actively encourages public engagement with its exhibitions through ists educational programs, publications and online presence.

Quy Minh

Ảnh: