The First Two Months In CA —— Enjoying In The Changes

I have been here at Cheshire Academy for two months, and they are also the first two months for me in CA. In those weeks, I met many new friends and learned a lot that I did not have chance to get in China. Now, I am happy and grateful for my life. It is  because I know here at CA, I would have many opportunities to improve, and to study.

At the beginning of this semester, I set some goals for myself. I hoped I could learned something about the culture. Here we have students from more than thirty different countries, and all of us came here to combine to a new community. That was exciting to  me. I like approaching new things, because that would make me feel I am growing and learning each day. I did, from my classmate I did learned a lot. My friend Sera is from Turkey. She told me that in her country, the high school students have much higher pressure than here in America. They have many tests and homework each week, but only a few interesting activities. I was shocked. It was not because of their high pressure; I was shocked by the similarity in Education of Turkey and China. That was exactly what my life was like. Just like Sera, I also made some friends from other different countries. From their stories, I am establishing an outline of this world that we live in, and I think that is very meaningful for me especially at this age. Knowing about culture can help me build a more comprehensive mind to understand the world, and deal with people in the real society.

Furthermore, I also have some improvements on academic subjects. I wanted to be a better writer, and improve myself on language. In those two months, I have written many stories and essays in my English and Writing and Comp classes. Back to two months ago, I had to spend more than forty minutes to finish an writing. However, after those practices, I can clearly feel that my speed of writing is much faster than before. When I wrote my essays, I did not translate everything I want to type down from Chinese to English any more. On the contrary, I can just use English to think, and it is also much easier for me to build the whole passage. During the process of practicing, I wrote, read, amend, and reread my writings over and over again. Each time, I could find some inappropriate points, and each time I was better by eliminating those errors. When I read back to my writings, I felt that they are not only words and sentences, but also the treasures for me.

I did improve myself a lot. However, They are also some wishes that were not completed in the past two months. Besides a better writer, I also wanted to be a better reader. Nonetheless, I did not have enough time to spend on reading. Everyday was fabulous and full, so that after I finished my homework and did some preview, they were not enough time for me to read the books I like. I think I will adjust my time schedule, and make it more scientific. Moreover, I also need to be more active. Usually when the teachers talked about some topics I would have my own ideas. However, I was not used to say my ideas out. It is because I did not think that is necessary at first. When you have something in mind, showing them out would not has much difference to you. Therefore I would rather to keep thinking and making my ideas better. Then, I finally found out that if you speak your ideas out to others, they may give you many useful advices. The brain storms like that are actually what could really improve ourselves.

All in all, I enjoy in my life here. I like my improvements, and even the spaces that wait for me to make progresses. Those months are only a small step; I believe I would keep getting better in the every single day at CA.

Present Perfect tense

1. Definition

2. Video (how to use)

3. The difference between present perfect tense and past simple tense. (questions)

4. Specific & Unspecific expressions

5. What you need to remember.

6. Game time (story) 

The hardest part in my paper—— The analysis of the thesis and content

Every paper I wrote taught me a lot. From the process of writing, amending, and reading, I could easily find many problems and then eliminate them. This time my paper is about a significant moment that happened in my childhood. The story part was not hard for me. However, a good paper needs much more than a single story. The comprehensive analysis of thesis and content is indispensable, and it was also the hardest part in my writing.

When I wrote my paper, the first thing came into my mind was the exciting story. It was very impressive, so that I used almost four fifths of the words in the first draft to prescribe the story. The story happened when I was nine. My cousin Tracy and I knocked the every door in the corridor without locking our own door while our parents came out. From that story I have learned a lot. Nonetheless, I did not focus well on what I have learned in the first draft. The story part was good, but I found out that my story needed more analysis to be supported; otherwise it was just a  funny story without thinking and meaning.

Then I read my writing over and over again, and finally decided to add analysis in the third paragraph and the last paragraph. However, the problems came again——I had to clarify my thesis. I love my story; I finished it, and I had certain places to analyse it, but I did not knew my analysis should be developed from what thesis. That really costed me a lot of time. I recalled the every single fragments of my memory of the Knock Knock, and thought about what I truly felt that day. I felt excited and embarrassed, but more important, I learned how to be a thoughtful and unselfish person.

Therefore, base on the “recklessness” and “selfishness”, I analysed my behaviours during the Knock Knock and developed my thinking into a profounder phase. I used to only care about myself and ignore my responsibility that my parents had given me. After my dad’s “punishment”, I understood that even a little carelessness may cause many undesirable results. Moreover, we can not find any excuse for our selfish actions. Then I connected some social problems with my thesis, and concluded the the impactions that this significant moment had given me. Finally, my analysis part and story part have almost the same proportion in the paper. I was afraid that I could not mix the big part of analysis with a long story, but now, I am proud that I solved the problem which seemed difficult before.

We used more than a week to amend this paper. During the class time, we read each other’s writing, and gave out our own advices.I have learned a lot of skills of writing from my classmates’ papers, such as how to organise the passage’s structure, and how to highlight the thesis better. What I have learned from my classmates leaded me to face those hard parts in my writing. In the next days of Writing and Composition class, I will try my best to deal with those parts that I am not good at----improving my skills of organising the thesis, and make more meaningful and comprehensive analysis.

Knock Knock (final draft)

                                                       

   What makes us who we are? Our lives. In my life, many significant moments combine together and stay with me since I started remembering things. Each of them has given me some unforgettable memories, and I am sure that they would never leave me. It is because what those moments taught me have already embedded in my personality. That is how we grow up——we imagine, practice, fail or succeed, and finally we would learn something, and then we will be more like an “adult”. When I was a kid, I always did something stupid, and that really took me many troubles. Actually I am a little appreciate those troubles now, because at least I won’ t be that stupid again in the high school. From all of those significant moments in my childhood, the Knock Knock game left me the profoundest memory. My cousin and I knocked all the doors in the corridor but left our own door opened, and finally we were punished for it. Although it was kind of like “catastrophe”, it was still educational. This special Knock Knock game lead me to be a person who is more careful and unselfish in some ways.

    That was a summer seven years ago.

   “Hurry up! We have to come back in twenty minutes!” My cousin Tracy running out of the door like an arrow. She rushes to the end of the corridor, and turns around waiting for me.

   This is our “big plan”.

   I am only nine years old now, and she is eleven. Our parents went to the supermarket which is two blocks away from here, and we do not want to waste the precious time that can be totally controlled by ourselves. We want to do something excited, but in a hotel with hundreds of people what is excited for two young kids? After a bitter argument, the “Knock Knock” game became the winner.

   It is really easy; all we need to do is just knocking the every single door in the corridor. However, Tracy says it seems easy, but you should be very careful and fast in order to run away before some furious adults catch you. Therefore Knock Knock is also hard, because once you estimate the wrong time or hide behind the wrong conner, you are definitely “dead”. It reminds me of the math problems. Some of them are pretty easy, but the half of the credit would be lost if you calculate a small number incorrectly. And so does the work, people are always cautious in the company; they do not want their boss to be mad and ask them to leave. My mom said life is also like that, and every step is important to us; we can not fail.

   

   But this would be extremely fun, I think.

   However, trouble comes even before the start.

   “Tracy wait!” I shout at her, “ We don’t have the card! How can we get back to room without the card?” I am nervous; I am afraid our cool game would be killed in swaddle.

   “Uh…”She is pondering; every time Tracy start thinking she would bite her lips.

   “Maybe we can just use something to keep the door open,uh…, like a book, or comb.”

   “Book! So people would not even notice the door is not closed because they are too thin; you are such a genius!”

   “Right, and we can just put it at the bottom of the door, that is not obvious.” She is excited, and run the whole way back to room, and puts her math book between the door and the doorframe.

  “ It’s time for the Knock Knock!”

   Two arrows rush through the corridor. “Knock, Knock”. We hide behind the wall and wait for people to come out. Ten seconds later, a fat old woman opens the door. She frowns and looks around while Tracy and I are laughing behind the hands.

   “So weird.” she murmure,and then turns back inside.

   Oh that is great! I can even imagine how the lights reflect from my eyes. It feels so good to tease someone. Apparently, Tracy also enjoys it, and she even has already started the next door.

   For the next fifteen minutes, almost every door on the this floor has been knocked once or more. We are shrewd. We controlled the time for each door, and that means you can not knock the next door until the last person back in, otherwise many people would be in the corridor and look around at the same time; they will find out they were teased by kids.

   If we were caught by them, they would definitely take us to our parents.

   However, the fact is often much more cruel than the imagination——we are caught by our parents.

   Like I said, sometimes life is just like a game——once you lose, then almost everything would be destroyed.

   It seems like my parents’ faces just came out from the refrigerator, and my aunt, Tracy’s mom does not even look at her. Tracy said this kind of silence is the “you really got in trouble”signal.

   “Do you know what we would lose if someone came in?” Finally, my dad break this terrible silence, “Our passport, cash, phones, and packages. You think you are smart enough to leave the door like that?”

   Oh god! I am screaming inside. They found out the book! So it is not because of the Knock Knock!  “No, that was stupid.” I answer.

   It’s true, we were careless. Maybe it is just because of the limit time, and we did not thought that much. I am not dare to watch my dad’s eyes, because I know what he means; once some thieves came into the room, the loss would be unmeasurable.

   “Come here, I’ll beat each of you ten times on your hands for the punishment.”

   We do not say anything, just accept our punishment wordlessly.

   I swear that was the first time my dad beat me in my life; even seven years past, that was also the only one.

   I think I did learn something form that unforgettable pain.

   Never make any decisions easily when you are eager to do something else.

   It is because you may ignore many important aspects if you are impatient. It just like if you decide to leave the fire in kitchen only because your favourite movie will start in five minute, then maybe after you come back a burning house would be the only thing you have. Recklessness is terrible, it is one of the main reasons of the traffic accident, work fault, and business failure. The little points that we missed in a regular day may be a start of the disaster. Then just take your time and think about what result would be caused by your behaviour instead of what you would be benefit from the speed.

   And never only care about yourselves——that is what my dad said all the time during the “punishment”. Because of selfishness, we ignored our responsibility of taking care of the room and packages. We enjoyed the happiness that the exciting game provided us, and all we had in mind was how to knock the door and hide behind the wall. Actually, that was what my dad really mad at; he said “selfishness” can not be forgiven in this world.

   I remember this all the time. Now, after I finally grew up and became mature enough to understand my dad’s words, I begin to realise the meaning behind it. Everything happened in this world for a reason. Even the bad things. Some people steal wallet because their children need money to study; some people take the bread away without paying for their hungry old parents. However, there are also someone who break the rules for their personal needs. They refuse to think about others’ feelings, the result that caused by themselves, and even the moral rule in society,. They are selfish, and finally become greedy.

   Therefore, I am grateful to my dad and the Knock Knock for what they have taught me when I was a child. At the end of last semester, I was facing a very boring essay, and I was exhausted with that. My friends suggested me to just find a paragraph on the internet and copy it into my essay. However, I refused, because I remembered that impressed Knock Knock, that unlocked door, and my dad's words. They alerted me what to do and what not to do. If I copied others' work on the internet, finally it would be harmful to both the authors and myself. Sometimes the easiest way is not a good way to go.

   Now, I think our “big plan” was actually more like a lesson. After that summer, every time when I planned to do something, the pain of my hands always  reminded me to be thoughtful and take everything into consideration.

Knock knock1

                                                            

   Our lives make us who we are. In my life, many significant moments combine together and stay with me since I started remembering things. Each of them has given me some unforgettable memories, and I am sure that they would never leave me. It is because what those moments taught me have already embedded in my personality. That is how we grow up——we imagine, practice, fail or succeed, and finally we would learn something, and then we will be more like an “adult”.

   When I was a kid, I always did something stupid, and that really took me many troubles. Actually I am a little appreciate those troubles now, because at least I won’ t be that stupid again in the high school.

   From all of those significant moments in my childhood, the Knock Knock game left me the profoundest memory.  Although it was kind of like a “catastrophe”, it was still exciting, and even educational in some ways.

   That was a summer in seven years ago.

   “Hurry up! We have to come back in twenty minutes!”

   My cousin Tracy running out of the door like an arrow. She rushes to the end of the corridor, and turns around waiting for me.

   This is our “big plan”.

   I am only nine years old now, and she is eleven. Our parents went to the supermarket which is two blocks away from here, and we do not want to waste the precious time that can be totally controlled by ourselves. We want to do something excited, but in a hotel with hundreds of people what is excited for two young kids? After a bitter argument, the “Knock Knock” game became the winner.

   It is really easy; all we need to do is just knocking the every single door in the corridor. However, Tracy says it seems easy, but you should be very careful and fast in order to run away before some furious adults catch you. Therefore Knock Knock is also hard, because once you estimate the wrong time or hide behind the wrong conner, you are definitely “dead”. It reminds me of the math problems. Some of them are pretty easy, but the half of the credit would be lost if you calculate a small number incorrectly. And so does the work, people are always cautious in the company; they do not want their boss to be mad and ask them to leave. My mom said life is also like that, and every step is important to us; we can not fail.

  

   But this would be extremely fun, I think.

   However, trouble comes even before the start.

   “Tracy wait!” I shout at her, “ We don’t have the card! How can we get back to room without the card?” I am nervous; I am afraid our cool game would be killed in swaddle.

   “Uh…”She is pondering; every time Tracy start thinking she would bite her lips.

   “Maybe we can just use something to keep the door open,uh…, like a book, or comb.”

   “Book! So people would not even notice the door is not closed because they are too thin; you are such a genius!”

   “Right, and we can just put it at the bottom of the door, that is not obvious.” She is excited, and run the whole way back to room, and puts her math book between the door and the doorframe.

  “ It’s time for the Knock Knock!”

   Two arrows rush through the corridor. “Knock, Knock”. We hide behind the wall and wait for people to come out. Ten seconds later, a fat old woman opens the door. She frowns and looks around while Tracy and I are laughing behind the hands.

   “So weird.” she murmured, and then turns back inside.

   Oh that is great! I can even imagine how the lights reflect from my eyes. It feels so good to tease someone. Apparently, Tracy also enjoys it, and she even has already started the next door.

   For the next fifteen minutes, almost every door on the this floor has been knocked once or more. We are shrewd. We controlled the time for each door, and that means you can not knock the next door until the last person back in, otherwise many people would be in the corridor and look around at the same time; they will find out they were teased by kids.

   If we were caught by them, they would definitely take us to our parents.

   However, the fact is often much more cruel than the imagination——we are caught by our parents.

  

   Like I said, sometimes life is just like a game——once you lose, then almost everything would be destroyed.

It seems like my parents’ faces just came out from the refrigerator, and my aunt, Tracy’s mom does not even look at her. Tracy said this kind of silence is the “you really got in trouble”signal.

   “Do you know what we would lose if someone came in?” Finally, my dad break this terrible silence, “Our passport, cash, phones, and packages. You think you are smart enough to leave the door like that?”

   Oh god! I am screaming inside. They found out the book! So it is not because of the Knock Knock!  “No, that was stupid.” I answer.

   It’s true, we were careless. Maybe it is just because of the limit time, and we did not thought that much. I am not dare to watch my dad’s eyes, because I know what he means; once some thieves came into the room, the loss would be unmeasurable.

   “Come here, I’ll beat each of you ten times on your hands for the punishment.”

   We do not say anything, just accept our punishment wordlessly.

  

  

   I swear that was the first time my dad beat me in my life, and seven years past, that was also the only one.

   I think I did learn something form that unforgettable pain.

   Never make any decisions easily when you are eager to do something else.

   It is because you may ignore many important aspects if you are impatient. It just like if you decide to leave the fire in kitchen only because your favourite movie will start in five minute, then maybe after you come back a burning house would be the only thing you have. Recklessness is terrible, it is one of the main reasons of the traffic accident, work fault, and business failure. The little points that we missed in a regular day may be a start of the disaster. Then just take your time and think about what result would be caused by your behaviour instead of what you would be benefit from the speed.

   And never only care about yourselves——that is what my dad said all the time during the “punishment”. Because of selfishness, we ignored our responsibility of taking care of the room and packages. We enjoyed the happiness that the exciting game provided us, and all we had in mind was how to knock the door and hide behind the wall. Actually, that was what my dad really mad at; he said “selfishness” can not be forgiven in this world.

   I remember this all the time. Now, after I finally grew up and became mature enough to understand my dad’s words, I begin to realise the meaning behind it. Everything happened in this world for a reason. Even the bad things. Some people steal wallet because their children need money to study; some people take the bread away without paying for their hungry old parents. However, there are also someone who break the rules for their personal needs. They refuse to think about others’ feelings, the result that caused by themselves, and even the moral rule in society,. They are selfish, and finally become greedy.

   Therefore, I am grateful to my dad and the Knock Knock for what they have taught me when I was a child.

   Now, I think our “big plan” was actually more like a lesson. After that summer, every time when I planned to do something, the pain of my hands always  reminded me to be thoughtful and take everything into consideration.

Knock knock

“Hurry up! We have to come back in twenty minutes!”

My cousin Tracy running out of the door like an arrow. She rushes to the end of the corridor, and turns around waiting for me.

This is our “big plan”.

I am only nine years old now, and she is eleven. Our parents went to the supermarket which is two blocks away from here, and we do not want to waste the precious time that can be totally controlled by ourselves. We want to do something excited, but in a hotel with hundreds of people what is excited for two young kids? After a bitter argument, the “Knock Knock” game became the winner.

It is really easy; all we need to do is just knocking the every single door in the corridor. However, Tracy says it seems easy, but you should be very careful and fast in order to run away before some furious adults catch you.

It would be extremely fun, I think.

However, trouble comes even before the start.

“Tracy wait!” I shout at her, “ We don’t have the card! How can we get back to room without the card?” I am nervous; I am afraid our cool game would be killed in swaddle.

“uh…”She is pondering; every time Tracy start thinking she would bite her lips.

“Maybe we can just use something to keep the door open,uh…, like a book, or comb.”

“Book! So people would not even notice the door is not closed because they are too thin; you are such a genius!”

“Right, and we can just put it at the bottom of the door, that is not obvious.” She is excited, and run the whole way back to room, and puts her math book between the door and the doorframe.

“ It’s time for the Knock Knock!”

Two arrows rush through the corridor. The first doorbell rings. We hide behind the wall and wait for people to come out.

Ten seconds later, a fat old woman opens the door. She frowns and looks around while Tracy and I are laughing behind the hands.

“So weird.” she murmured, and then turns back inside.

Oh that is great! I can even imagine how the lights reflect form my eyes. It feels so good to tease someone.

Apparently, Tracy also enjoys it, and she even has already started the next door.

For the next fifteen minutes, almost every door on the floor three has been knocked once or more. We are shrewd. We controlled the time for each door, and that means you can not knock the next door until the last person back in, otherwise many people would be in the corridor and look around at the same time , they will find out they were teased by kids.

If we were caught by them, they would definitely take us to our parents.

However, the fact is often much more cruel than the imagination——we are caught by our parents.

It seems like my dad and mom’s faces just came out from the refrigerator, and my aunt, Tracy’s mom does not even look at her.

Tracy said this kind of silence is the “you really got in trouble”signal.

“Do you know what we would lose if someone came in?” Finally, my dad break this terrible silence, “Our passport, cash, phones, and packages. You think you are smart enough to leave the door like that?”

Oh god! I am screaming inside. They found out the book! So it is not because of the Knock Knock!

“No, that was stupid.” I answer. It’s true, we were careless. Maybe it is just because of the limit time, and we did not thought that much. I am not dare to watch my dad’s eyes, because I know what he means; once some thieves came into the room, the loss would be unmeasurable.

“Come here, I’ll beat each of you ten times on your hands for the punishment.”

We do not say anything, just accept our punishment wordlessly.

I swear this is the first time my dad beat me in my life, I think I do learn something form that unforgettable pain.

Never make any decisions easily when you are eager to do something else. It is because you may ignore many important aspects if you are impatient.

And never only think about yourselves——that is what my dad says all the time during the “punishment”. I think our “big plan” is more like a lesson now, and maybe the next time when I plan to do something, the pain of my hands would remind me to be thoughtful and take everything into consideration.

About Grammar

There are two kinds of grammar problems always appear in my writings——Run-on sentence, and Definite and Indefinite articles. Those problems are very small but important, because they can decide the structures of the sentences, and even more important, they can control your grade.

First, according to a grammar website: “A RUN-ON SENTENCE (sometimes called a "fused sentence") has at least two parts, either one of which can stand by itself, but the two parts have been smoothed together instead of being properly connected.” (web, http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm,Run-on Sentences, Comma Splices) Both of the  two parts of the sentence are independent sentences, and they are connected by comma. However, comma can not be the only thing stands between them; if you want to connect them together a conjunction is necessary. FOR, AND, NOR, BUT, OR, YET, SO——they are six common conjunctions.

For example, there is a wrong sentence in my writing: “ Griet had a poor family because of her father’s accident, it moved the huge responsibility onto her young shoulders, but even more pathetic, her younger sister Agnes died in the plague.” In this sentence, there is a comma connect the first two clauses. However, I missed a connecter “AND”. Therefore, the correct sentence should be: “Griet had a poor family because of her afters' accident, and it moved the huge responsibility onto her young shoulders…..” The third clause is right, because it has the connecter “BUT”. Furthermore, adding semicolon between those clauses is also a way to solve the problem.

Second, definite and indefinite articles were also confused to me. “THE” the a definite article; we usually put it in front of some specific nouns. For instance: “Please give me the cup.” In this sentence, the cup is a definite noun, because it is obviously which cup I want. Therefore the definite article “THE” must be put in front of the “cup”. As for the differences between definite and indefinite articles; I found an instruction on the website “YOURDICTIONARY”: “ When We’ve introduced it already, or there is only one in existence that matters, or we describe exactly which one we’re talking about; then we can use definite articles. When we are introducing a noun for the first time in a story, or we don’t care which one exactly; then we can use indefinite articles.” (web,http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/definite-and-indefinite-articles.html,Definite and Indefinite Articles )By the way, both of “A” and”AN” are indefinite articles, and which one to use depends on the initial of the noun.

For instance: “……and that do make me feel like I am standing right in the picture when a warm zephyr is blowing through low tides of L’Ally Point and taking the sunshine away.” The “low tides” is an error in this sentence. It is because those low tides’ location is clear; they are just L’Ally Point’s low tides, so I should add “THE” in front of the “low tides”.

I learned those grammar problems and clarified the usages of them this week. Then, I plan to reread my writings before, and mark all the errors in them, because in this way they can leave me a stronger impression and remind me not to make the mistakes again. Throughout this year, I would be more carefully while writing, and read more excellent books in order to study the sentence structures, because I think the grammar is just the first step towards a great essay, and good sentences should be not only correct, but also beautiful.