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Deicide
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani
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 Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:32 pm Post subject: |
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| johnslat wrote: |
Dear Deicide,
Any job where you deal with the public has pretty much the same downsides.
Maybe you should push paper, instead.
And, as I implied, student evaluations have never been a problem for me since the vast majority of my students don't let personal feelings get in the way (besides which, I pay well for good evaluations.)
Regards,
John |
My friend, this is exactly what I intend to do! Hopefully it will work out, if not I can always off myself....  |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Deicide,
How Hamlet-like:
"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of disprized love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action."
Regards,
John |
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Deicide
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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| johnslat wrote: |
Dear Deicide,
How Hamlet-like:
"To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of disprized love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action."
Regards,
John |
That's the plan. I give myself til 40 and if I am still not ahead...well I will dreaming for a long time... |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Deicide,
Be easier on yourself - make it 60, not 40. That's how long it took me, and I'm awfully glad I waited.
Regards,
John |
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Deicide
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| johnslat wrote: |
Dear Deicide,
Be easier on yourself - make it 60, not 40. That's how long it took me, and I'm awfully glad I waited.
Regards,
John |
No, 40 is the limit. If things are not rolling by then (job, career, income, partnership, children, etc.) then there is really no point. Still have 8 years, hopefully it will work out. |
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Justin Trullinger
Joined: 28 Jan 2005
Posts: 3110
Location: Seoul, South Korea and Myanmar for a bit
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| Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2009 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| This is what I truly hate about EFL. It is totally random and arbitrary and has precious little to do with your knowledge or your ability to transfer that knowledge to others. This epecially true when you teach children but also true in a different way with adults. It's all about whether they like you or not or if they are having a bad day or not or whatever. Moreover some people think because they are taking an English class they will leave that class speaking fluent English (I have also seen idiot monoglot Anglophones with this same attitude regarding other languages). I want to work in a field where it is about my competence, my knowledge and my ability to complete work well not random moodiness, edutainment and all the other bullshit I so hate...I once had a closet gay guy who had a crush on me in one of my classes and because I didn't reciprocate his 'interest' he whinged to the boss and I got sacked. Another example is little Korean brats complaining about the white monkey sweating in the summer when it is nearly 40 degrees (imagine that)....by all the gods I hate this mierda. |
Wow. Yeah- I think it's time you had a good long time outside of EFL.
Won't argue the downsides- there are plenty. I think there are ups too. But I'll agree with John; however long it takes to "sort things out," you'll be glad you waited. (Trust me. I was a REAL mess 8 years ago. I know whereof I speak.)
Justin |
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Deicide
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:32 am Post subject: |
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| Justin Trullinger wrote: |
| Quote: |
| This is what I truly hate about EFL. It is totally random and arbitrary and has precious little to do with your knowledge or your ability to transfer that knowledge to others. This epecially true when you teach children but also true in a different way with adults. It's all about whether they like you or not or if they are having a bad day or not or whatever. Moreover some people think because they are taking an English class they will leave that class speaking fluent English (I have also seen idiot monoglot Anglophones with this same attitude regarding other languages). I want to work in a field where it is about my competence, my knowledge and my ability to complete work well not random moodiness, edutainment and all the other bullshit I so hate...I once had a closet gay guy who had a crush on me in one of my classes and because I didn't reciprocate his 'interest' he whinged to the boss and I got sacked. Another example is little Korean brats complaining about the white monkey sweating in the summer when it is nearly 40 degrees (imagine that)....by all the gods I hate this mierda. |
Wow. Yeah- I think it's time you had a good long time outside of EFL.
Won't argue the downsides- there are plenty. I think there are ups too. But I'll agree with John; however long it takes to "sort things out," you'll be glad you waited. (Trust me. I was a REAL mess 8 years ago. I know whereof I speak.)
Justin |
No, that's the time horizon. I wish I could get out now but I reckon I need to put in some more years IN ORDER to get out. |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:08 am Post subject: |
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deicide posted
| Quote: |
| No, 40 is the limit. |
the limit for what  ?
Already past there by 8 plus 1!
Yes, a change of careers would be useful.
JT posted
| Quote: |
| ...About student feedback on teachers- the instruments of feedback have to be pretty carefully designed, don't they?.. |
Yes, they should be, the wording of the questions and answers on surveys are important. That and what is done with the surveys afterwards. Some places simply use it as a justification to remove teachers they don't like.
JT posted
| Quote: |
| ..A VERY good point. You can't automatically assume that the students' answers in whatever country you're in will be just like, say, the answers of students back home. The same words CAN mean different things.... |
Related to the first point, but yes interpretation is important. "So and so is a great teacher." can have a lot of shades of meaning.
A few 'great' teachers I had in university;
One had a party at his house (excellent)
One taught a very interesting class, business law and gave very clear examples of past cases and how they applied to the textbook material. To this day I still enjoy talking about case studies concerning businesses.
One allowed me to attend very few classes and get a high mark (extra sleep time).
and
one gave us the exam questions the week before (made answering the exam essay questions a lot easier).
They were all 'great' teachers  . |
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Deicide
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:49 am Post subject: |
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| gaijinalways wrote: |
deicide posted
| Quote: |
| No, 40 is the limit. |
the limit for what ?
Already past there by 8 plus 1!
Yes, a change of careers would be useful.
JT posted
| Quote: |
| ...About student feedback on teachers- the instruments of feedback have to be pretty carefully designed, don't they?.. |
Yes, they should be, the wording of the questions and answers on surveys are important. That and what is done with the surveys afterwards. Some places simply use it as a justification to remove teachers they don't like.
JT posted
| Quote: |
| ..A VERY good point. You can't automatically assume that the students' answers in whatever country you're in will be just like, say, the answers of students back home. The same words CAN mean different things.... |
Related to the first point, but yes interpretation is important. "So and so is a great teacher." can have a lot of shades of meaning.
A few 'great' teachers I had in university;
One had a party at his house (excellent)
One taught a very interesting class, business law and gave very clear examples of past cases and how they applied to the textbook material. To this day I still enjoy talking about case studies concerning businesses.
One allowed me to attend very few classes and get a high mark (extra sleep time).
and
one gave us the exam questions the week before (made answering the exam essay questions a lot easier).
They were all 'great' teachers . |
Procreation, relationship, real life, etc... |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 12:56 pm Post subject: |
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Procreating can be a career...  ? And what is a 'real' life anyway? As opposed to just 'a' life ? |
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LoPresto
Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 1:15 pm Post subject: |
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Greetings folks. Say hello to the last of the "real" positive thinkers -
"No, 40 is the limit. If things are not rolling by then (job, career, income, partnership, children, etc.) then there is really no point. Still have 8 years, hopefully it will work out."
Now that I'm 40, I've decided to quit my job/career, give all of my money to charity, get a divorce, abandon the kids and pursue fame in LA.
Wish me luck!
Yunqi = not Lucky so far, but, it ain't over until the fat lady sings! |
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basiltherat
Joined: 04 Oct 2003
Posts: 952
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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We use trainee feedback forms but .... ,for us, they serve one principal purpose called 'COCA' (Cover Our Collective A#ses).
We got tired of students complaining about their courses only when they found out they had poor exam results. Now, we get the feedback forms back from the trainees before they take their exams.
If they fail and decide to claim that it was because of the 'poor quality' of the course, we just refer each of these 'j@ckases" back to their particular completed feedback form, which invariably shows no evidence of complaint.
Ha ! Ha !
Best
Basil |
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Deicide
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1005
Location: Caput Imperii Americani
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| Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2009 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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| LoPresto wrote: |
Greetings folks. Say hello to the last of the "real" positive thinkers -
"No, 40 is the limit. If things are not rolling by then (job, career, income, partnership, children, etc.) then there is really no point. Still have 8 years, hopefully it will work out."
Now that I'm 40, I've decided to quit my job/career, give all of my money to charity, get a divorce, abandon the kids and pursue fame in LA.
Wish me luck!
Yunqi = not Lucky so far, but, it ain't over until the fat lady sings! |
You have already fulfiled your life's purpose. You're fine. |
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LoPresto
Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 87
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| Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:45 am Post subject: |
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What is the meaning/purpose of life?
Get a good job and procreate while socializing with your neighbors who also have 2.2 kids, a lawn to mow and other things that most of our Fathers did?
Bollocks I type.
In my opinion, the meaning of life is to have a good time. Everyone's understanding of that is different. I certainly don't aim towards a stable existence in the suburbs.
To each his/her own. |
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Chris_Crossley
Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1797
Location: Still in the centre of Furnace City, PRC, after eight years!!!
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| Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:52 am Post subject: The meaning of life |
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| LoPresto wrote: |
| What is the meaning/purpose of life? Get a good job and procreate? |
I've already done that, since I have had a good job at my current employer for the past 4 1/2 years and my second child is due to be born within the couple of weeks (it's a boy, so they tell me ... )
What's left, then? Growing old and losing my teeth and hair? 
| LoPresto wrote: |
| Bollocks I type. |
The sequel to "Murder, She Wrote", I take it?
| LoPresto wrote: |
| In my opinion, the meaning of life is to have a good time. Everyone's understanding of that is different. I certainly don't aim towards a stable existence in the suburbs. To each his/her own. |
Somehow, having an unstable existence in the alleyways of the centre of the city is not exactly my cup of tea, but who knows when the bank's going to order a foreclosure of the loan?  You only know when it's already happened ...
Life is precarious in these times of economic recession/in China (recession or not!). |
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