Topics

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English / A Few Native English Idioms

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:36:54 PM »

1. (To) Hit the books

Literally, hit the books means to physically hit, punch or slap your reading books. However, this is a common English idiom among students, especially American college students who have a lot of studying to do. It simply means “to study,” and is a way of telling your friends that you’re going to study. It could be for a final exam, a mid-term test or even an English exam.

 “Sorry but I can’t watch the game with you tonight, I have to hit the books. I have a huge exam next week!”

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Story, Article & Poetry / Cecilia's Story

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:29:15 PM »

During the course of a lifetime, we all make mistakes. And, often we take for granted what we have thinking that either we deserve what we already have, or believing that we will never need anyone to help or assist us out from under difficult and challenging times.

Such was the case of Cecilia.

Cecilia, not her real name, had a great job, a nice house and everything she needed. She was, though, not a kind person for several reasons that became obvious once you got to know her.

The first thing that became obvious was her lack of compassion for others who were not as fortunate as she was. She would not help anyone, nor would she even begin to express any empathy for anyone's plight. Her view was that they were just plain lazy or that they were not deserving because they had personal problems.

But, then came the fateful day. Her husband got into financial difficulty, severe difficulty, to the point where he was forced to declare bankruptcy. Now, she found that she was the one who had nothing.

Now, the tables were drastically turned, and she was desperate for help. She also found out that her parents were unwilling to help her but, fortunately for her, his family was willing and able to help them through these difficult times despite the fact that she had shunned them and had excluded them from her life.

I wish I could give you a beautiful ending to this story of help but I sadly cannot. Even though Cecilia was assisted through challenging times, once over, she reverted to her true self.

But, this is not the main point of this story.

The real point is that we all need help somewhere along life's path whether we think we will or not. And, if you are the one giving and helping, just remember this: no matter what happens later, you will always be secure in the fact knowing that you have remained strong and true to assist those that need your help.

If you move through life helping, caring, forgiving, you will always have you're your own special fan club - it is those who love and respect you no matter if others you have helped may not. Never let others stop you from helping and caring.

Catherine Pulsifer

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Story, Article & Poetry / You are Unique!

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:26:54 PM »

Think what a remarkable, unduplicatable, and miraculous thing it is to be you! Of all the people who have come and gone on the earth, since the beginning of time, not ONE of them is like YOU!

No one who has ever lived or is to come has had your combination of abilities, talents, appearance, friends, acquaintances, burdens, sorrows and opportunities.

No one’s hair grows exactly the way yours does. No one’s finger prints are like yours. No one has the same combination of secret inside jokes and family expressions that you know.

The few people who laugh at all the same things you do, don’t sneeze the way you do. No one prays about exactly the same concerns as you do. No one is loved by the same combination of people that love you – NO ONE!

No one before, no one to come. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY UNIQUE!

Enjoy that uniqueness. You do not have to pretend in order to seem more like someone else. You weren’t meant to be like someone else. You do not have to lie to conceal the parts of you that are not like what you see in anyone else.

You were meant to be different. Nowhere ever in all of history will the same things be going on in anyone’s mind, soul and spirit as are going on in yours right now.

If you did not exist, there would be a hole in creation, a gap in history, something missing from the plan for humankind.

Treasure your uniqueness. It is a gift given only to you. Enjoy it and share it!

No one can reach out to others in the same way that you can. No one can speak your words. No one can convey your meanings. No one can comfort with your kind of comfort. No one can bring your kind of understanding to another person.

No one can be cheerful and lighthearted and joyous in your way. No one can smile your smile. No one else can bring the whole unique impact of you to another human being.

Share your uniqueness. Let it be free to flow out among your family and friends and people you meet in the rush and clutter of living wherever you are. That gift of yourself was given you to enjoy and share. Give yourself away!

See it! Receive it! Let it tickle you! Let it inform you and nudge you and inspire you! YOU ARE UNIQUE!

Author Unknown

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Story, Article & Poetry / Positive thinking

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:25:30 PM »

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?” Jerry replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.’ I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“Yes it is,” Jerry said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live life.”

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins. Wanna see my scars?”

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. “The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,” Jerry replied. “Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked. Jerry continued, “The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, ‘He’s a dead man.’ I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said Jerry. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes,’ I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply… I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Bullets!’ Over their laughter, I told them, ‘I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.

By Francie Baltazar-Schwartz

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Story, Article & Poetry / The important things in life

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:24:36 PM »

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up the remaining open areas of the jar.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things – your family, your partner, your health, your children – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party, or fix the disposal.”

“Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

Author Unknown

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Story, Article & Poetry / Spread the World

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:22:30 PM »

Sometimes love is not enough, sometimes we have to believe in ourselves for the love to grow, and to expand. His power is immense but it can only exist in our self-love and to the love of the entire humanity.

There are no terrorists or victims. There are only human beings in the wrong place at the wrong time, following their own way of life in their own comprehension of the world.

It will stop, it will stop when we will understand that peace needs us to accept ourselves and everybody else as they are, good or bad.

We have to love unconditionally, absolute compassion, forgiveness!

No excuses for our actions of betrayal of humankind but forgiveness for those who are also victims of our world at risk.

Raise yourself in front of this world and create a new one full of love, connection and compassion.

Serenity has to go through crisis, happiness will come.

It is hidden but will be revealed one day, soon.

Love is around, more and more powerful and the darkness is reacting to this fear of losing what it already has.

But the light is becoming stronger, people are united. Unity is the secret, unity is the light's strength. Light substitutes to darkness.

There are more people in the light than in the darkness even if we can't hear them that much.

Sing, sing out your love to the world, to the beauty, for its unlimited beauty, without frontiers, religions or political parties. Sing out your love, enlighten the world with your inner peace, serenity and love.

Peace will come, it is within reach. Believe it and create it as your inner love is, this immense love everybody has. Peace is in everybody's heart.

Express more and more peace and love.

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Story, Article & Poetry / There Is Always, Always, Always Something To Be Thankful For

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:21:07 PM »

A famous writer was in his study room. He picked up his pen and started writing:

**Last year, I had a surgery and my gallbladder was removed. I had to stay stuck to the bed due to this surgery for a long time.

**The same year I reached the age of 60 years and had to give up my favourite job. I had spent 30 years of my life in this publishing company.

**The same year I experienced the sorrow of the death of my father.

**And in the same year my son failed in his medical exam because he had a car accident. He had to stay in bed at hospital with the cast on for several days. The destruction of car was another loss.

At the end he wrote: Alas! It was such bad year!!

When the writer's wife entered the room, she found her husband looking sad lost in his thoughts. From behind his back she read what was written on the paper. She left the room silently and came back with another paper and placed it on the side of her husband's writing.

When the writer saw this paper, he found this written on it:

**Last year I finally got rid of my gall bladder due to which I had spent years in pain.

**I turned 60 with sound health and got retired from my job. Now I can utilize my time to write something better with more focus and peace.

**The same year my father, at the age of 95, without depending on anyone or without any critical condition met his Creator.

**The same year, God blessed my son with a new life. My car was destroyed but my son stayed alive without getting any disability.

At the end she wrote: This year was an immense blessing of God and it passed well!

See! The same incidents but different viewpoints. If we ponder with this viewpoint that what could have happened more, we would truly become thankful to the Almighty.

Moral : In our daily lives we must see that it's not happiness that makes us grateful but gratefulness that makes us happy.

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for!! Stay Blessed!

-- Author Unknown

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English / Qualities of good writing

« on: November 25, 2015, 04:14:40 PM »

1.   Powerful writing is readable
      In terms of what makes for good writing, readability is about the basic ability of a reader to make sense of what is written. A work that’s readable is grammatically sound (not necessarily grammatically correct – what’s important is that grammar not get in the way of the meaning) and stylistically clear, requiring only as much work to understand as is necessary.

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Faculty Forum / Eating healthy in winter

« on: November 25, 2015, 08:14:38 AM »

We need to be conscious abot ur food habits in winter. You will get some ideas from the link below.


http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=george&dbid=141

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Faculty Forum / Most visited destinations of Bangladesh

« on: November 25, 2015, 08:07:45 AM »

http://www.bdtourplan.com/2012/02/10-most-popular-and-favorite-tourism.html

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Faculty Sections / Being polite

« on: November 24, 2015, 11:19:56 PM »

Being polite is not easy. Needs to exercise different behaviors. Let's see how much we can make!

Say hello to people – greet people appropriately, gain eye contact and smile naturally, shake hands or hug where appropriate but say hello, especially to colleagues and other people you see every day. Be approachable. Do not blank people just because you’re having a bad day.

Take time to make some small talk - perhaps mention the weather or ask about the other person’s family or talk about something that is in the news. Make an effort to engage in light conversation, show some interest, but don’t overdo it. Remain friendly and positive and pick up on the verbal and non-verbal signals from the other person.

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Faculty Sections / Stay well in winter

« on: November 24, 2015, 11:14:08 PM »

Keep safe and warm during winter with our tips and information.

Keep your home warm home during the day

Heat your main living room to around 18-21°C (64-70°F) and the rest of the house to at least 16°C (61°F). Make sure you keep your living room warm throughout the day and heat your bedroom before going to bed.

Set the timer on your heating to come on before you get up and switch off when you go to bed.  In very cold weather, set the heating to come on earlier, rather than turn the thermostat up. This means you won’t be cold while you wait for your home to heat up.

A warm home at night

Try to keep the temperature above 18°C (65°F) in your bedroom overnight. Never use hot water bottles in the same bed as an electric blanket, even if the blanket is switched off and unplug blankets before you go to bed. Get your electric blanket tested every three years for safety.

Keep warm by dressing warmly

Wear plenty of thin layers rather than one thick one,  and don’t forget to put on a coat, hat, scarf, gloves and warm shoes or boots when you go outside. Wear clothes made of wool, cotton or fleecy synthetic fibres. Wear bed socks and thermal underwear at night.

Eat well

Eating regular meals will help keep your energy levels up during winter, have plenty of hot food and drinks and keep your diet as varied as possible.

Stay active

Exercise can keep you warm in winter.  If possible, try to move around at least once an hour.

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Faculty Sections / Winter consciousness for mothers of young children

« on: November 24, 2015, 11:09:43 PM »

Young children generate less body heat, and get cold more quickly than adults.
Check often that children are staying warm and dry while playing outside in the winter.
Dress your child in layers of clothing that can be put on and taken off easily.
Infants being pulled in a sled need extra bundling. Because they aren't moving, they can't generate body heat the way a playing child can.

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English / English Speaking Club

« on: May 26, 2015, 12:18:44 AM »

Me, with my avanced level students in the English department, have arranged an English Speaking Club to improve students' English speaking proficiency. This is an open discussion session in which any student of English department can join. We meet every Thursday at 2.30pm for 1hour and 30 minutes. I am surprised that students are really interested to speak, we just need to make the space.

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English Language Lab / English Proverbs

« on: October 19, 2014, 03:12:02 PM »

A change is as good as a rest