Kinetic Typography: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Here is a magnificent example of kinetic typography by Seth Brau.The English is not very difficult (I have glossed some words below the break), and the ideas are very important.


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from Seth Brau on Vimeo.

The complete 1948 declaration is long and a little difficult. This video shortens the text and makes it a little easier to understand by adding beautiful pictures and music.


Below is the complete text and some notes to help you understand the words in the video, You can also find links in Chinese, Russian, Spanish and French:

Anne of Green Gables: Book and Video

After reading the Oxford Bookworms version of Anne of Green Gables, it might be fun to watch some scenes from the 1934 film version. This story has been made into movies and cartoons many times, but this version is well-acted and very clear.

(1) The first important scene is where Matthew picks Anne up at the train station. Matthew doesn't speak very much, but Anne has no trouble making conversation:

(2) In the next scene, Anne arrives at the house and meets Marilla, who doesn't seem very friendly. Anne is not happy with her name:

Survival Videos (Improvisation)-2

After reading the previous post in this short series [Survival Videos (Improvisation)-1], here are some more Sensible Prepper videos to use for writing reports:

20_Paper_Clip_Hacks_for_Survival_Everyday_Uses

Zip_Ties_19_Uses_5_Tricks_for_Survival

SHTF_Aluminium_Foil_20_Uses

If you want to see more ideas, more videos and suggestions appear below:

Survival Videos (Improvisation)-1 (making a visual summary)

YouTube has lots of silly videos, but there are many useful things to watch. In 15 Trash Bag Uses for Survival, the Sensible Prepper explains how to use Heavy-Mil ("heavy-mil = thick, strong plastic) trash bags to help you stay alive outside.

After watching this video, I decided to discuss eight of the fifteen uses.

Preparing for Disaster: Learn to Improvise!

Many Americans believe that it is important to prepare for earthquakes, tsunamis, blackouts, wars and other disasters:

Earthquake in Mexico City (1985), Public Domain image

Atomic Bomb (test explosion) -- Operation_Upshot-Knothole_-_Badger_001, Public Domain image

Tense Morphemes, Past and Present: 過去式語素和現在式語素

A morpheme is a basic unit of meaning. Some English morphemes, such as teach and nation, can be independent words, but other morphemes are only parts of words, such as inter- and -er, which cannot be used alone. 語素是語義的基本單位。英語的某些語素（例如：teach 和 nation）可以獨立使用，但有些語素只能當詞語的一部分（例如：inter- 和 -er）：

teacher	international
	INTER-
TEACH	NATION
-ER	-AL

Unlike many other European languages, English only has two tense morphemes: present (PR) and past (PA). PR only appears as -s after 3rd person singular verbs; in other places, is is not visible [Ø]. In written form, PA usually appears as -ed, but it has many other shapes. 有別於其他歐洲語言，英語只有兩個時態語素：現在式 PR 和過去式 PA。在單數第三人稱動詞之後，PR 用 -s 形式；其他情況則是用零變體 [Ø]。PA的書面形式通常是 -ed，但也有許多其他的形式。

Just like other morphemes, tense has a meaning. Here are some possible meanings of PR contrasted with PA. 就像其他的語素一樣，時態具有意義。底下是一些可能的意義：

	1	2	3
PR (present)	repeated event  重複發生的事情 (general truth)	true (dramatic)	now
PA (past)	one time event 單次發生的事情 (specific)	unreal	then

Chinese has no tense morphemes, so Chinese students are often not sure which tense to use. 漢語沒有時態語素，所以中國學生有時無法確定該用哪一個時態：

Cyclones vs. This Cyclone
1 Plural nouns with no determiner (cyclones, tornadoes) usually refer to something that is generally true, so the verb should be PR (begin = BEGIN + PR [Ø])
不加限定詞的複數名詞通常指一般的真理，所以動詞應該加現在式。
"Tornadoes begin as dark clouds" 應該翻譯成『龍捲風的形成通常是烏雲』

2 A singular noun (cyclone) with a determiner (the, this, that, my, your etc.) refers to a particular case, so the verb should be PA (began = BEGIN + PA [*])
加限定詞的單數名詞指個別例子，所以動詞是應該加過去式。
"This cyclone was no different" 應該翻成『這一次的龍捲風不例外』

More examples below:

Gift of the Magi (New Yorkers: The Christmas Present): three videos

[Updated May 5th, 2015]
One of O'Henry's most popular stories is the Gift of the Magi

Here is a made for TV version (the actual story starts at after 5:00, so you can jump forward if you don't want to wait):