November 16, 2008

2008 Vietnamese Circuit Assembly

here's what you've all been waiting for!! (or maybe just Kevin, i dunno. well, either way, these pics are getting posted!)


yay! 1 sister baptized! ^.^

awesome talk!

boy, the 75-300mm lens sure does come in handy!

b & w!

portrait shots taken mostly on the 300mm end.

portrait photography is pretty fun!
i love the clean background when i took shots of the people on stage!


thank you everyone who had a part or helped to make the assembly a success! it was very encouraging, certainly a memorable event for all! i know it was for me!



bowling

the awesome lynna

used a telephoto prime lens.


long exposure (.7 sec and up works best) + use flash = slow-sync flash



dessert... Yum!

hmmm... so many choices to choose from!

TESOL Class

*for an explanation of what the TESOL class is, please scroll down to the post titled "Apologies!".

juggling contest winners! congrats Ryan & Gabriel! ^.^

us guys singing with our instructor... to the ladies...

what a deep thinker!

our main source of food every afternoon for 1 week...

brick background was a nice touch!


vietnamese chefs

she's making "Cha gio" (egg rolls? eh, i dunno)





Portland by Night


my first time successfully using long-exposure -- shutter was open 30 seconds!

natural beauty





Come and visit us in Portland again sometime! =D

November 12, 2008

eureka!

this post is for you phtographers out there using Canon IS lenses...

You have to focus, then hold down the shutter button half-way for at least 3 SECONDS, then press down all the way to shoot - for IS to be activated.

For indoor pictures, I found that IS is very effective up to .7-1 sec. exposure!! So the 17-55mm IS kit lense is not bad indoors with IS! Just make sure your subject can stay still for .7-1 sec. (depending on exposure time) =D


and btw, did you already know about the IS lense taking 3 seconds to activate lynna??

November 11, 2008

apologies

So sorry guys! I know you have all been waiting and waiting for a post, and I've disappointed you all! I was waiting to be able to post all my pictures up, but I guess there's nothing wrong with posting w/o pics.

Last week:
TESOL
Class of 2008 in Portland, OR! 12 brothers/sisters from different Vietnamese cong. and groups came! Total of 60 people, 95% witnesses.
TESOL is an intensive 1-week course that teaches how to teach English or another language, and a certificate is given at the end of the week that is valid in most foreign countries to be able to teach in a school. Currently about $575, classes hosted all over the world.
Basically, the teacher researched all the different methods in the world being used to teach, and collects 30 of the best ones to show you how to employ those methods in your own classroom.
TESOL - teaching english to students of other languages.
Class was AWESOME!! Learned so much about neuroscience - how the brain works (our teacher loved using that word haha)
General principles learned:
  • When trying to learn anything new, (esp. language) use AS MANY of your 5 senses as possible! Ex: use songs, use gestures, movement, juggle, etc.
  • *Neat point: When learning a phrase in a different language, try starting from the LAST syllable and working forward.
Ex: (Teaching someone a Vietnamese presentation for tract campaign) - "chu"..."cho chu"..."mong cho chu"..."giay mong cho chu"..."mot giay mong cho chu"..."co mot giay mong cho chu"..."Con co mot giay mong cho chu."

Very effective in helping others remember phrases better, and helps pronunciation too.
  • Your brain is not linear. So why do you take notes line-by-line, left to right? I don't know, honestly. Must be because of educational system. Much more effective way of taking notes is called "mind-mapping". It's basically a brainstorm, where you categorize and branch out from the main points of the talk to the small details.
Try it for a week or two for every talk you hear!
link for more info if you are interested in taking the class in the future: http://cie.ca/

That's all I could remember!
Taking this class is HIGHLY recommended if you have the goal of going to a foreign land (i.e. special pioneering in Vietnam or something like that), because it will enable you to get a job as a teacher there! It's better if you take the class close to when you are going to move to a foreign land, so you don't forget all the things you learned!

Circuit assembly was soo fantastic! Touching experiences, encouraging talks, Jah really does provide our spiritual food "at the proper time"!

I will post pictures soon, thanks for your patience!!! (I have about 5 posts lined up for 5 different sets of pictures, so stay tuned!) =D