我上字彙課應該有兩三個月了，老實說其實一開始對於課程的接受度沒有很高，也許是自己程度沒有很好，覺得每堂課之後多了一堆新的東西要去消化，但一個接著一個禮拜，吸收的速度永遠趕不上進度，心裡難免會徬徨，不過Bruce在課堂也都會和我們說，這麼多東西其實真的不可能全部都記起來，重要的是要有那個印象，很多很多都是重複講過好多遍的，不知不覺也就悄悄流進腦袋裡了。
字根練習其實高中補習班英文老師也說過它的重要性，只是自己還不會靈活運用，所以也會在想，真的每一個字都可以靠字根拆字嗎？！在上Bruce老師的課後，有些簡單易記的字根學起來之後真的能夠體會其中的奧妙，有些記不起的字根就想辦法靠些想像力和聯想網路來理解，滿好玩的。
Tristan
I've suffered from writing with too simple sentence structures and hardly figuring out the slightest meaning between two words.
For most Chinese students, i think we really want to know how to capture the most appropriate term to fit into the sentence ,and use this language more natively.
Through taking classes for months, i found myself getting used to read long sentences .
That makes me have less difficulties with reading the complicate sentences,and have more patience and interests to continue .
覺得有些在字彙課學到的東西就能馬上運用在新聞英文閱讀課上，感覺很深刻。滿喜歡Bruce老師選的文章，滿創新且實用的，雖然現在閱讀的速度還在很慢很慢的階段，但我仍舊有聽Bruce的建議，把首頁設為英文中國時報。有時看一篇新聞會缺乏耐心，閱讀到一半就忍不住去查字典，不過還是覺得自己有進步。
Andy
Bruce老師讓我重新對英文產生興趣並嘗試將其融入生活中，大學四年除了專業書籍外，幾乎沒碰英文，剛上您的課時覺得有些吃力，但也許如同您說的，這是堂"洗腦課程" ，隨著念的文章越多, 加上老師啟蒙我們推理的能力，這些跳脫填鴨式教學的內容真的讓我獲益良多，很快就被老師洗腦了^^， 到圖書館會找英文報紙看，把IE的首頁設成Taipei times，看電影會試著聽英文...等，雖然還是時常對看不懂的文章感到挫敗，或是不懂言下之意而一頭霧水，但長期努力"猜"下來似乎也有所進步，也因此我很喜歡上老師的Times賞析，因為學的不只是英文，還有各國文化及各個領域的知識，英文果然大大的開拓了我們的視野阿~ 老師解析的很棒很有深度, 我的程度不足通常只能看到字面上的意思>"< 實在很謝謝您~我會繼續努力的~
另外, 老師你的課可是堂堂爆滿,根本排不到, 老師你好很有名氣, 大家都搶著上你的課!!^^
最後,謝謝老師的教導
Connie
無形的橋樑
因為工作的需要，加上社會的現實，我大約兩年前開始認真的想要讓自己的英文變好。這次不是對成績或對長輩的一種表面交代，而是面對自己。按慣例，我找上了補習班，不過卻獲得意料之外的驚喜和驚嚇，就是認識林老師和他的洗腦課程。以前英文對我來說，就像是一個重重的包袱，一個把總分拉低的害群之馬，閱讀英文文章就像在吃一個超難吃的麵包還兼具鎖喉的功效，它讓呼吸變得困難，從來也沒想過這樣的症狀會有改善的一天。
在英文閱讀課，林老師不停的告訴我們『要把英文變成日常生活的一部分。要常常閱讀，看不懂也要看完。每一次的閱讀時，心中的掙扎都代表一點點的進步。』。或許這些話很普通，聽起來也不像『文法精進100招 或30天讓你的英文變超好』這種仙丹妙藥厲害，但是他說的都是真的，樸素的真實，而經驗值告訴我，擁抱真實才是王道。
就在洗了兩年的腦之後，我現在已經可以和英文好好相處，每天就這樣嘻嘻笑笑過個幾招，雖然還是我打輸比較多，不過已經不會看到就想哭。
LITERATURE / HISTORY
When in China, Li Yiyun’s English level was like other college students. She came to the United States in 1996 to study immunology, and from there her English proficiency started to take off. 9 years later, in 2005, she published her debut collection, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, a collection short stories about the Chinese culture and Chinese expatriates in the West. The book won her many awards for first fiction – quite impressive for someone whose mother tongue is not English. The book also is a best seller because westerners are curious about China.
Weijen
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An Excerpt from the Short Story Immortality (taken from the book A Thousand Years of Good Prayers)
by Li Yiyun
PSYCHOLOGY / SOCIETY
It is always a mystery about a person’s gender orientation. I read that a new-born baby is attracted to whatever matter in the world. When the baby grows up, he (she) is educated to be attracted to the opposite sex. Other scientists seek to explain this taking a genetic approach. To me, those explanations make little sense. What matters is, humans are humans, and should be treated as such.
Weijen
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Supporting Boys or Girls When the Line Isn’t Clear
By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN
MONEY / PSYCHOLOGY / PHILOSOPHY
The first rule in life is making money; the second is making more money. What is the third?
Money was a human invention and in the modern times it is the essence in life without which life would be plain. But does it make our life better once we have a lot? How should we position money?
The article is about money. It makes us stop what we are doing to think. It is philosophical and thought-provoking.
Weijen
LANGUAGE
To what extent can a sign represent meaning? It’s not unusual that the meaning of a word remains elusive because of the changing of society and culture.
The article is very stimulating; it makes us think of meanings of words: should the meaning of a word be based on the definition in a dictionary, or how it is used? No one can say; it is an on-going struggle for any second-language learners.
Weijen
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MARKETING / ENTERTAINMENT / LANGUAGE LEARNING
For education, we have school. But one would be narrow-minded if he thinks school is the major source for knowledge. Actually, it might be the worst because it is rarely interesting to learn in school.
For learning English, years of experiences tells me that school, textbooks, or even Studio Classroom are not necessarily the major sources to improve English proficiency. Many a time, I found that people in the real world don’t talk like the way those texts presented in our education system, simply because those sources are a distance from reality. To learn English, or any second language, we need to enter the real world. For this, I suggest that you use DVDs.
I suggest that you watch the ABC series LOST. Enjoy it, immerse yourself in the context, dialogues, interesting characters, gripping story lines. Since it is addictive, it is possible that you would watch it again and again (and indirectly you learn English). The dialogues are interesting and unforgettable and you’d learn many lines of slang real people use but rarely included in textbooks. The show is a production of globalization – it contains characters from different countries with their own accents. To have the ability to understand various English accents is very important in the 21st century.
