• Not by Ear, but by Sight

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    If pronunciation teaching is aimed at achieving native-like proficiency, it’s a futile business. However if reasonable intelligibility is the target in pronunciation instruction, it’s a fruitful, promising quest. The problem now is: how do we gauge reasonable intelligibility? There’s an interesting factor known as the interlocutor’s familiarity and attitudes towards the speaker that has to be considered. Do the

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  • What’s Your Visual DNA?

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    Through Neil, I came to know about the Visual DNA test. I got curious and tried it. Here’s where you can take your Visual DNA. My Result: Sofisticat Thoughtful and intelligent, you like to think deeply about the issues of the day and are not afraid to give your opinion. Ideas are what drive and

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  • Pan’s Labyrinth

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    Pan’s Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno) is an imaginative, thrilling, and poignant tale of a gloomy and dreamy girl, Ofelia, who was forced to stay with her mom’s new husband – a military officer tasked to exterminate guerillas hiding in the deep forests of Spain in 1940. Out of Ofelia’s loneliness coupled with her queer inventiveness,

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  • Genius Clash

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    Familiar with Sheldon Cooper and Leonard’s scientific arguments? Or House’s and Wilson’s disputes? Oh, we know Sheldon and House would always win, as their buddies seem a little below their level. Have you seen, heard or read, by any chance, Charlie and Larry‘s altercation? Have a peek: Charlie: Larry, do you remember when I was

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  • Sister Carrie

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    What is the price of ambition? Barely reading half of Theodore Dreiser’s classic work “Sister Carrie”, I could quite guess where the story would lead. I was first acquainted with Dreiser through the book “The Genius”, which main character was Eugene, who humbly began as a resident of rural Illinois yet later bloomed into an

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  • Disabled Amygdala

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    What are the risks of throwing away your fears? – Love Guru Among the many short articles featured on the monthly journal of Dubai Health Care City, the fearless woman hiding in the name “SM”, ignited my curiosity. How could someone ever live free of fear? I was glad Science Now has  a longer version

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  • Somniloquence: Sleep Talking

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    It’s 1:37 in the morning. I felt a rush of blood crawling to my cheeks as Ate Sha teased  me for talking while I was asleep. She used to sleep beside me yet now she’s a meter away. I wonder what I mumble or grumble while I’m in dreamland. Could it be Frodo’s quest? Or Sam’s

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  • My ESL: Your Companion to ESL Learning

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    Dareme2write.com sprang up to Neil and me sometime in October when we agreed to deliberately improve how we write. It surprisingly evolved into an ESL site dedicated to intermediate and advanced learners of English as a Second Language after a few brainstorming for a better subject for the site. Now ESL Online has got its new home. One closest to the name and

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  • Connie and Walter

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    Connie captures in a few words what normal people say in strings of plenty syllables, exactly opposite of what Walter habitually does. Sometimes, he forgets simple names of tools for fixing: “Could you please pass me the tool for driving screws?” requested Walter. “Say “screwdriver”, dear,” replied Connie. At other times, his mom’s lessons on

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