Let's go dancing in Second Life!!!

The first thing when I woke up was to go to Second Life. It seemed that I had been addicted to it. I logged in the place called Twitlight crystal. I was lucky for there would be an event later on. I met a friend there, whose name was Tinx. (The girl who wore white outfit in the picture)She was very nice. She gave me fantastic outfit, which made me look brand-new and hot!!! She was also pateint to give instruction on how to wear those items since I was new. She even invited me as a member of this club. I was so happy to be here. It made me feel at home.


I think one of the differences between Second Life and Real Life is that people here like to help and share with others more, compared to the real life situation. What's more, people in Second Life will greet with you even if they don't know you. Living in the real life, somtimes I feel upset about the indifference of people. But in Second Life, it makes me feel warm and valued.

Then, the dancing started!! Everyone was dancing wildly. Even though it was not the real dance, I could still feel that kind of atmosphere. There was a special activity called "Sploder." People who wanted to join should pay L$30.(money in SL) When the time was up, it would announce who was the winner. I won twice. Yeah! Today was my day!!!

During the chat, people used a lot of expressional symbols and abbreviation while there were some I did not know what the meaning was. If someone knows the meaning, I will really appreciate if you share with me :)

Here are some abbreviation I have learned in SL:

1. frm: from
2. b: be
3. 1m: first message
4. wen: when
5. ya: you
6. hun: honey
7. bro: brother
8. sis: sister
9. gtsy: glad to see you
10. nps: no problems
11. cyl: see you later
12. wtg: win the game

Here are some I don't undersatnd:

1. t: let me know wen ur ready and i put ur stream on xxx
2. t: bro the dance ball is hte silver one now ubove the stag the other was to laggy lol
3. t: okies lets get tping lol
4. t: hb sweetie xx
5. t: ty sweeite xx
6. M: tc barry :)

Trying to find a fit dress in Second Life

I went to a lot of places in today's SL adventure. I was trying to find a fit dress and my boyfriend in SL teleported me to the place called noob island( picture as follows). There were a lot of free clothes to choose from. However, what really annoyed me was that the computer lagged so that I kept logging in and out, which took me almost one hour. I think that's one of inconvience for second life if the computer of the user does not work well.
After a while, my boyfriend teleported me to the place called Heaven of the God. We greeted each other as following:

D: Hey, Cherry. Iit's nice to see you.

C: Me too :)

Then I met a new friend here, whose name was luna, the girl who wore high heels and danced well. She was a friend of D and actually D was the manager in this place. In this place, I observed that some people flirted with Luna by saying:

F: Wanna fuck?

L: No thank you.

I was a little shocked when hearing that and finally understood what Emma said "harrassment". Perhaps in the virtual world, some people think they do not have to take responsibility for what they say.

Later, Luna suggested us to go to the club (the picture as follows). We teleported there; however, there was no music playing at that time. So Luna left soon. When it was time for me to leave SL, I said goodbye to him by saying:

C: gotta go, D.
C: see u soon :)
D: Okay, bye.
D: hug (with the kiss gesture)
C: kiss
C: bye

Different relationship has diffferent degree of interaction. For the relationship of lovers, they will be more intimate and care about each other more. They will IM each other whern they are online and share stuff with each other.

I like to be in relationship with D. It makes me have some attachment and have more strong motivation to go to SL.

Meeting in Second Life

Our group members Amanda, Wienie, Iris and I met each other in the Princeton University. While waiting for another members to show up, Wienie and I taught and shared with each other how to use the tools and functions in SL. By communication, we interact with people while exchanging the information and receiving help.

In our chat, I found some linguistic features. First, in order to save time, we use a lot of abbreviation. Besides, in order to type fast, we ignore some spelling or grammatical mistakes as long as the meanings can be understood. Here are the examples:

C: hi u look cool

w: i want a buatiful out fit > <

C: you just check your place u save ur stuff

Second, we used a lot of expressional symbols to express our feeling. Since we were all new, we did not quite know how to use the gesture in Sl. The following are the examples:

A: >////////////////<

w: i want a buatiful out fit > <

w: i had been to Freebie and got a lot of clothes :P

Also, I found that we change to use native language when we are short of vocabulary in the target language. Here is the example when we told the peers some instruction for setting:

A: i m nor sure if i succeed to set it

C: press 即時通

C: and there is log chat

In the meeting with TA, because of different register, which is in the conference room with TA, the use of language becomes more formal compare to the chat between the peers. TA gave several questions for us to discuss. The interaction was going well. We shared our opinions and gave some feedback with each other. Sometimes TA would ask us to elaborate our ideas more and guide us to discuss further. Here is the example:

TA: Are you satisfied with the tools/page elements Blogger offered?

A: not really

C: not realyy

TA : why?

TA : does dome functions bother you?

C: it's hard to edit if u wants to post pictures

i: strange in their tools

A: i get used to the usage of Taiwanes Blog so .....i don't think blogger is convenient as pixnet or other blogs in TW

TA : i thought it was much the same as the wretch blog?

All in all, I like Second life a lot. I like to have a virtual class here. It is so free and so fun. What's more, I can make friends around the world and learn some real language use here. It really helps. I can't wait to be in SL again. :)

I've got a boyfriend in Second Life!!!

Today I went to freebie heaven in SL, trying to get some free stuffs. Then I met HIM. At first, he asked me if I had some change to spare with him. I told him I was new. Then he added me as friend and teleported me to Sooseunhwa.

After greeting, he asked me if I would be his girlfriend in SL. The following is our conversation:

d: you said your new here

d: berstam: in sl

d: so how are you

C: yeah

C: i am good thx:)

d: i can buy you stuff if you want

C: Thanks :) I want a pair of earing

d: will you be my girlfriend in sl

d: ill treat you good

C: let's try ( a little shy)

d: is that a yes

C: yeah

d: so we are together in second life then

d: nice

C: it will be a special experience

d gave you Silver Hoops-Left ear.

d: for starters

I was shy when I heard that but I decided to gave it a try. He gave me a pair of earing and took me to the mall for shopping.

I found that people in SL really care about their apperance and dressing and I was no exception. After we were in a relationship. He started to give some "suggestion" for my dressing. He asked me to take off the gloves ( I admit that they are not good)and changed jeans into the skirt. His look was nice. He wore a shining necklace and watch and dressed in fashion.

As a new player, I asked him the question about where he was from in real life. At first, he did not answer me. After we were in a relationship. He asked me where the time scale I was in real life and also answered my question. It was kind of paradox because we were in the virtual life but we ask about the things in real life. Maybe in SL, we can let go of who you are in real life and start a new life in SL. I think it is one of the reasons that Sl is so attractive for the people around the world.

Why do we use stories for teaching?

Verdugo, D. R. & Belmonte, I. A. (2007)


I like to use stories as a teaching resource. There are many advantages. Take my tutor student in senior high school, Ivy, for example. I taught her English with the song "Travelin' Soldier" whose lyrics was a story about the love between a town girl and an American soldier who was going to Vietnam war. The following is the clip and the lyrics:

"Travelin' Soldier"

Two days past eighteen
He was waiting for the bus in his army green
Sat down in a booth in a cafe there
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair
He's a little shy so she gives him a smile
And he said would you mind sittin' down for a while
And talking to me,I'm feeling a little low
She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go
So they went down and they sat on the pier
He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care
I got no one to send a letter to
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you


Chorus:
I criedNever gonna hold the hand of another guy
Too young for him they told her
Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier
Our love will never end
Waitin' for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter saidA soldier's coming home


So the letters came from an army camp
From California then Vietnam
And he told her of his heartIt might be love and all of the things he was so scared of
He said when it's getting kinda rough over here
I think of that day sittin' down at the pier
And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile
Don't worry but I won't be able to write for awhile


[Chorus]
One Friday night at a football game
The Lord's Prayer said and the Anthem sang
A man said folks would you bow your heads
For a list of local Vietnam dead
Crying all alone under the stands
Was a piccolo player in the marching band
And one name read but nobody really cared
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair


[Thanks to www.azlyrics.com ]


By using a story as a context, the student can contextulize the new language and also can make the context meaningful to her. Because the background of this story is Vietnam war, which is associated with the student's history knowledge. By this story, the student can learn the cultural value and perception from it. Besides, it is the story about love, which is also associated with the adolescent girl's feeling. Therefore, I found that Ivy wasvery interested in the story and was deeply into it.


Because the student is motivated, she will eaily absorb the linguistic forms, grammar, phrases and vocabulary from the story. Besides, the meaningful story can make the student connect what she has learned together.


Besides, in this story, the writer uses some verbal expression, which the student can learn the verbal usage from the story.


In conclusion, using stories for teaching not only enhances student's motivation but also enhances the comprehensive comprehebsion for reading.