More Mind Map Software -- Freeplane and Blumind

Freeplane is Open Source software. It makes wonderful mind maps to help you study.

(http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page)

Download Freeplane here.

Edraw Mind Map Freeware

Edraw Mind Map Freeware

The free version of Xmind is great software, but if you don't like Xmind, or it doesn't work on your computer, you can also try Edraw. Download it here:
http://www.edrawsoft.com/download-mindmap.php


This YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=B4-fSg6rJNs) shows you how to use Edraw.

The computer voice sounds strange. Even for me it is hard to understand, but you can easily read the words on the screen.

Study Tools: Mind Maps

Mind mapping is a clever way to put your thoughts on a piece of paper. You can read more about mind mapping at Wikipedia. The Chinese Wikipedia article is rather short. The English Wikipedia article is better.

There are many free mind mapping programs. Choose one that works for you. Don't be afraid of a new computer program. If you practice enough times, you will become a computer wizard. People will ask you to be their teacher!

"Wizard: -- CC Robin Hutton, Flickr BY-NC-SA

Petit Papa Noël -- A French Christmas Song

[Updated 26 December, 2015]

Christmas is coming. This is a season when we should be aware of how much God has blessed us. We should always be grateful and remember to share our good fortune with other people.

This year, instead of only singing English Christmas songs, why not sing the most famous French Christmas song: Petit Papa Noël  On my linguistics blog I posted several different YouTube versions. Let's sing along!

cute-linguistics.blogspot.com/2011/12/petit-papa-noel-best-french-christmas.html

Please visit my linguistics blog and leave a comment. 

French songs are not really difficult. You can use your English to learn French, and learning French words can help you improve your English vocabulary.

There are many French words in Petit Papa Noël which are similar to English words (cognates are words which are similar because they came from the same place [like cousins] or borrowed words). Here are three stanzas from the song. Can you recognize the words which are similar to English?

1 C'est la belle nuit de Noël

2 La neige étend son manteau blanc

3 Et les yeux levés vers le ciel

4 À genoux, les petits enfants

5 Avant de fermer les paupières

6 Font une dernière prière.

belle: French = "beautiful," English = "a beautiful young woman"
nuit: Fr = "night", Eng ~nocturnal = "occurring at night [ADJ]"
Noël: Fr, Eng = Christmas
1 = Fr, C'est la belle nuit de Noël = Eng, "It is a lovely Christmas Eve"


étend: Fr ="spreads out", Eng extend = "stretch out, spread out"
manteau: Fr =coat, Eng ~mantle = "cloak"
blanc: Fr =white, Eng blank = "not written or printed on" 
2 = La neige étend son manteau blanc, Eng, Snow spreads its white coat

7 Petit papa Noël

8 Quand tu descendras du ciel

9 Avec des jouets par milliers

10 N'oublie pas mon petit soulier.

11 Mais avant de partir

12 Il faudra bien te couvrir

13 Dehors tu vas avoir si froid

14 C'est un peu à cause de moi.

Drinking in Europe

What do people drink in Europe? Here is a map of Europe's "Alcohol Belts:"

Red = WINE, brown = BEER, blue = VODKA (Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons)

Speech Prep

The Six Minutes blog gives you excellent suggestions for preparing to make a speech. After you choose a topic, you should write an outline of your main points. Then you should write your FIRST draft.

After you have finished your first draft, please post it here so that we can critique your writing together.