Reading materials: Best of 2010

From Longform.org
http://bestof2010.longform.org/#next10

Convert YouTube video to MP3

Convert YouTube video to MP3
http://www.video2mp3.net/index.php

Wikispaces and MathURL for CSC565 Graph Theory Homework

My wikispaces for CSC565 Graph Theory Homework
http://csc565hw.wikispaces.com/

MathURL: easy for latex users.
http://mathurl.com/

Great Children Books

Reading English at the intermediate level  By Dr. Lucy Tse

Finding books for intermediate readers  By Successful English

Others (Most of them are children books) 
Newbery Medal and Honor Books, 1922-Present 
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.cfm
Where the Red Fern Grows By Wilson Rawls
The Adventures of Ulysses By Bernard Evslin
Out of the Dust By Karen Hesse
The Winged Watchman, The Borrowed House, Mitchells series,  Bantry Bay series By Hilda Van Stockum
Books by Andrew Clements
Ann of Green Gables
Tom's Midnight Garden
The Book Of Lost Things
The Book Thief
Coraline
The Dark Is Rising

Finished:
Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary 1984 Newbery Medal Winner

[FW]File Complaint Against an Unresponsive Company

 File Complaint Against an Unresponsive Company
http://stateofaffairs.info/archive/file-complaint-against-company/

Step by Step

1. File a complaint with the company in writing
2. File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau
3. File a complaint with your state’s Attorney General and the Attorney General of the state where the company’s headquarters is located

Roaring Twenties

What a interesting time period!

1) American History: 'Roaring Twenties' a Time of Economic and Social Change

 http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/us-history/American-History--Roaring-Twenties-a-Time-of-Economic-and-Social-Change-112612204.html

 2) American History: 1920s Were a Big Time for the Arts

http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/us-history/American-History-The-1920s-were-an-active-and-important-period-for-the-American-arts-112975584.html

3) American History: Nation Grows More Conservative in '20s

http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/us-history/American-History-Turning-to-the-Right-as-Conservatism-Grows-in-the-1920s-113369989.html

Acquiring English by reading and listening understandable English

不是有语言天赋的人，所以才有了这些感叹！
感慨嚷嚷着好好学英语这么多年，痛苦的考试也考了不少，英语却始终不能达到自己期望的水平。
来美国时间也不短了，痛苦的意识到提高英语的困难。周围中国人居多，不刻意去学英语，英语根本无法提高，千万不要相信什么到了英语的环境里英语自然会好的谬论。
知道英语的重要性，更为了自己一直执着着的梦想做准备，自己是下了不少功夫学英语的。学习的过程不能说痛苦，但确实花了很多时间。
在必修课和reserach的双重压力下，上了两门英语课，虽然这两门课都是我很喜欢的课，也觉得学到了不少的rules，可是结果却不尽满意。
ESL Podcast 听了也不少，American Pronunciation Podcast，有时间就会用Amazon的Kindle看书，镜子上贴了一些自己发音不准的单词，洗漱的时候都会读一读。
为了创造机会说英语，有空就去参加 SIT (Saturday International Together)的活动，其中的一个美国女孩非常nice，我们偶尔会一起吃饭或者喝咖啡。主要就是给自己找机会多说。
写 作始终找不到很好的提高途径，目前主要是读一些写作的书，例如 The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr., Style: Toward Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams.

提高很缓慢, 开始有些灰心丧气。。。

偶然看到 Successful English (http://successfulenglish.com/ )的几篇文章，感觉对英语学习的认识更深了。扪心自问，从初中开始学习英语，十几年的时间，为什么英语始终不能随心所欲？或许“学”英语就是不对的， 因为 “Most of our fluency (language ability) comes from acquired language, not from learned language”。


Successful English上有很多很不错的文章。我主要读了 Most Popular Articles (http://successfulenglish.com/learn/learn-most-popular/).
先从The Basics-Introduction (http://successfulenglish.com/2009/10/the-basics-introduction/) 开始读的，中间引用的5篇文章都写的很不错，关于 the process of developing language ability 给出了解释。

1. Two ways to know a language
2. What comes first?
3. Quality control
4. Only one way
5. Don’t worry, be happy!

这五篇文章首先解释了Acquire a language 和 learn a language 的不同，并指出 “Most of our fluency (language ability) comes from acquired language, not from learned language” (语言能力来自于Acquired language)。当然language learn也是有用的，只是它不能帮助我们改进我们的fluency，它更主要的作用在于帮助我们更加准确，尤其在写作上。 那么如何Acquire English呢？"how do we acquire more English? There is only one way: by reading and listening to understandable English." 多读多听有趣的你能理解的英语是关键！（不能一味追求高难度）

后来还读了Successful English的其他几篇文章。
The power of reading and listening
http://successfulenglish.com/2010/01/the-power-of-reading-and-listening/
Use popular fiction to improve your English
http://successfulenglish.com/2010/01/using-popular-fiction-to-improve-your-english/
More reading, less looking
http://successfulenglish.com/2010/12/more-reading-less-looking/
Finding books for intermediate readers
http://successfulenglish.com/2010/09/finding-books-for-intermediate-readers/
Thoughts from a successful English learner
http://successfulenglish.com/2010/10/thoughts-from-a-successful-english-learner/

看了ESL Podcast Blog上 Dr. Lucy Tse推荐读的书( Reading English at the intermediate level) 以及 Successful English对于这个书单的补充 (Finding books for intermediate readers). 决定接下来挑一本他们推荐的书来读。 继续努力！
欢迎志于提高英语的xdjm们一起交流。

books for intermediate readers

From ESL Podcast Blog

1) Reading English at the Intermediate Level

http://www.eslpod.com/eslpod_blog/2010/09/28/reading-english-at-the-intermediate-level/

 

From Successful English

2) Finding books for intermediate readers

http://successfulenglish.com/2010/09/finding-books-for-intermediate-readers/

3) Popular fiction writers

http://successfulenglish.com/discover/discover-popular-fiction/popular-fiction-writers/

4) More reading, less looking

http://successfulenglish.com/2010/12/more-reading-less-looking/

Excellent ESL Websites

My favorites:
Successful English
http://successfulenglish.com/
Practical suggestions about learning English
ESL Podcast
http://www.eslpod.com/website/index_new.html 
podcast on extensive topics and great explanation


American English Pronunciation
http://www.pronuncian.com/
Podcast, minimal pairs, and pronunciation lessons
English Central
http://www.englishcentral.com/
Practice English while watching videos, provide feedback!
VOA American History
http://www.manythings.org/voa/history/
Collection of VOA American History series.

Others:
Connect With English Videos
http://www.learner.org/resources/series71.html
Get extra practice watching the Connect with English video series here
Activities for ESL Students
http://a4esl.org
Play games, take quizzes, read grammar, and practice vocabulary
Dave's ESL Cafe
http://www.eslcafe.com
Easy to use, lots of activities, including games, quizzes, pronunciation practice, and stories
Karin's ESL Partyland
http://www.eslpartyland.com
Lots of great ESL activities
About.com ESL Guide
http://esl.about.com/homework/esl/
Quizzes and tests for different levels; employment opportunities for nonnative speakers
ESLAmerica.US
http://www.eslamerica.us/
An English language website to practice conversation, vocabulary, grammar, reading, and more AND all of it has sound so you can listen while you practice
English Page
http://www.englishpage.com/
For all skills, lots of activities, exchange messages with other students, and ask questions
Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
http://www.esl-lab.com
Excellent listening practice
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
A great place to learn more about writing and grammar

剪发

Learned from my friend Yuan.
剪刀
http://www.amazon.com/Tweezerman-Stainless-2000-Styling-Shears/dp/B000WI0640/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294798648&sr=8-1

vedio of how to cut hairs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eoBYsZJuxc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pyo7DXKT3lg

卤牛肉做法 (适合在美国的xdjm)

几次在大亚买它的卤牛肉吃后, 终于忍不住想自己做. 去walmart转了转不知道该买什么样的牛肉, 挑了便宜的一种. 回来上网搜了搜, 随便挑了一个照着做, 结果还真不错. 发现自己挑的牛肉还真对, 要用beef chuck!

这个做法是针对美国这边的牛肉的(不放血, 和国内的不太一样). 很简单又好吃. 还比买的便宜好多! 哈哈! 感谢stellaspace!

[FW]卤牛肉的做法

Posted on May 10, 2005 by stellaspace

好久没有更新啦, 太忙！这次先把jojo要的卤牛肉的做法贴一下。大家可以做个参考，做出来好吃的话，别忘了告诉我一声哦！

这个牛肉的做法并不稀奇，只是经过俺多次实验，的确好做又好吃。味道其实是酱牛肉和卤牛肉的结合。

首先当然是买牛肉。做卤牛肉绝对不能买纯的瘦肉，否则就算是神仙做出来也是柴的！最好吃的部分叫做 beef chuck，就是相当于牛的肩膀肉，瘦肉里面夹着筋和丝丝的肥肉，十分的柔嫩爽口！

牛肉买回后切大块儿；切好后放到锅子里，加凉水，盖过牛肉块儿，加生抽、老抽、料酒，比例大概为3：3：1，放炉子上开大火儿，烧！

趁着这个功夫儿准备调料：姜片、葱段、蒜片、这三种等量。干辣椒、花椒、八角、茴香、香叶、……有什么都加点，种类多多益善！如果家里有五香粉或是十三香、十八香什么的，一定要加一些：）还可以准备一小撮茶叶，可以使牛肉更酥烂。

等锅开了后，加甜面酱、黄冰糖（或是白糖），糖不能太少了，要和加进的酱油差不多量。加刚刚准备好了的调料。等锅再开了之后就转小火，火的大小要使锅里的汤一次冒三四个小泡泡为好！然后尝尝汤，酌量加点盐，要使汤比平常喝的汤更咸一些。

这时就可以去休息啦！慢炖五十分钟左右就好！这个时候还不能吃，关火后需要再卤两三个小时才会入味儿呢！上桌之前热一下，切成片，点缀点香菜碎，好吃！

锅里剩下的卤汤不要倒掉哦，再加进去鸡蛋、豆腐什么的，就可以卤出各种好吃的东东了！呵呵…… 如果不想再卤了的话，可以开大火把汤浓缩一下，然后装到保鲜袋里，放冰箱里冻起来，下次想卤牛肉的时候，接着用这个‘老汤’，哈哈……听起来是不是很专业呀？

最后和大家分享一下我总结的做牛肉的窍门儿。当然主要是针对美国这边的，因为他们的牛肉虽然比国内的肉嫩得多，却不放血，和国内的肉不一样。

1，炖肉。不论炖大块儿的还是小块儿的，都不需要用水来泡。以前看到有些菜谱说需要先泡掉或是煮掉血水，我觉得根本就不用。去了‘血水’反倒少了牛肉的香味儿了。重点就是不能让牛肉突然受热。比方说把锅里的汤烧开了才下牛肉，最后炖出来的肉就会很老。凉水下锅是最好的！这就是为什么前面的卤牛肉需要凉水下锅啦～～有人说凉水下锅会不会很腥啊？不会的！不信你就试一试！只要加点料酒，一点都不腥，而且还很香哦！

2，炒肉。不论你炒肉片还是肉丝，都要先切好之后再用凉水泡泡，去血水，呵呵……因为炒就是个突然受热的过程嘛，血凝固得快，肉就会变老啦……光泡泡还不行，接着要用点盐、胡椒来抹一下，入味儿，接着浇点香油，拌匀，最后加水淀粉和小苏打，拌匀，放个十分钟。炒之前，先用温油（就是温温的不是很热的油，开小火儿）把肉稍稍滑一下，立刻捞出。然后再按照菜谱来炒，保证你的牛肉很嫩很好吃！

Free EBooks + Free Audio Books

20 best websites to download free ebooks

1)   FreeBookSpot
2)   4eBooks
3)   Free-eBooks
4)   ManyBooks
5)   GetFreeEBooks
6)   FreeComputerBooks
7)   FreeTechBooks
8)   Scribd
9)   Globusz
10) KnowFree
11) OnlineFreeEBooks
12) MemoWare
13) BluePortal
14) OnlineComputerBooks
15) SnipFiles
16) BookYards
17) The Online Books Page
18) AskSam Ebooks
19) Baen Free Library
20) eBookLobby

OnRead


Free Audio Books

1)   Free Classic Audio Books
2)   Librivox
3)   Podiobooks
4)   OpenCulture Free Audio books
5)   AudioBooksForFree
6)   ThoughtAudio
7)   Learn Out Loud
8)   Lit2Go
9)   BooksShouldBeFree
10) Project Gutenberg

French words in English

From Seattle Learning Academy's American English pronunciation podcast 124th episode

cafe
cliche
entree

niche
champaign
chef

ballet
bouquet
filet
depot

faux pas
a la carte
deja vu
rendezvous