ISSUE 10 VOL. 1 THE OFFICIAL BIWEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF MODERN LANGUAGES INTERNATIONAL MARCH 9, 2012

What’s Inside!!!

By: Rhina Reyes and Joy Esteves

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.—Deuteronomy 6: 5

T o systematically evaluate its teachers’ performance and skills,

Modern Languages International (MLI) conducted a series of evaluation tests carrying three major components: Macro-Skills Test, Students’ Evaluation and Management Evaluation on Febru-ary 22 – 23, 2012.

MLI teachers were evaluated based on the following percentages: Macro-Skills Test - 50%; Students’ Evaluation- 25% and Management Evaluation- 25%. Under Macro-Skills Test, teachers were given oral and pen and paper tests facili-tated by the MLI School Master, Ms. Tess Gutierrez and former HR Officer, Mr. Gerard Manalo. The pen and paper test was composed of reading, listening, vocabulary, grammar and writing. The test lasted for 30 minutes.

The top five scorers are as follows: First - Teacher and Event Coordina-tor Ken Amante; Second - Teacher Rizalyn Dumol; Third- Teacher Dion Gaba; Fourth - Teacher and The Chronicle Moderator Rhina Reyes and Fifth - Teacher Joshua Navarette. MLI also initiated the ‘Most Liked Teacher’ survey from students. The top performing teachers according to this survey and the top scorers of the pen and paper test were combined to come up with MLI’s Most Out-standing Teachers which yielded the following result: 1:Group Class Category: First- Teacher Lina Tavera; Second- Teacher Ken Amante and Third- TOEIC Teacher Hiedee Corpuz. 1:1 Class Category: First- Teacher Jon Jon Tolentino; Second- Teacher and now HRD Officer Alejo Bebedor and Third- Teacher Angelo Yecla. The Most Outstanding teachers were awarded with a certificate and cash incentive on March 2, 2012 at the MLI Function Room.

PAGE 2 THE CHRONICLE MLInsight

The Chronicle Staff

Rhina Reyes

Moderator

Joy Esteves Assistant Moderator

Regular Columnists

Ken Amante MLInform

Alejo Bebedor

MLIntrospect

Contributor

Sherlyn Grace Abao

Consultants

Mr. Kim Jin Nam

Mr. Jeong Seung Ug Ms. Tess Gutierrez

MLI’s The Chronicle

#23 Panay Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines

Tel. Nos. 332-4147/332-4172

Websites: www.mlischool.com www.facebook.com/MLI-Junior www.facebook.com/mlischool

EDITORIAL

Ms. Tess Gutierrez

The trouble of doing nothing is that you

never know when to stop…

Procrastination refers to

replacing high-priority or

important actions with

tasks of lower priority. It is

doing tasks where you derive

enjoyment or putting tasks

at a later time.

Procrastination is something

that most of us experience.

No matter how well-

organized and committed

you are, chances are you

sometimes find yourself

doodling your hours away

(watching TV, your Face-

book, your cell phone, etc.)

when you should have been

wasting your time reading

your books, doing your

homework, studying your

lessons, accomplishing your

school-related projects or

working on your next goal.

Whatever you do whether

you are intentionally put-

ting off studying, ignoring,

or avoiding your priorities,

procrastination can have a

major impact on your life.

According to Freud, the

Pleasure Principle has

something to do with pro-

crastination. Psychologists

cite such action as a coping

mechanism to stress and

anxiety. Others say, it is a

low will power, low ambi-

tion, or just simply laziness.

So what should you do if you

are attacked by procrasti-

nation? Researchers suggest

that developing a schedule,

carefully planning an aca-

demic task and improving

time management skills are

all effective ways to fight

procrastination.

Remember : procrastination

is a bad habit. If you can’t

run a mile, run a block ac-

cording to Piers Steel. If

you’ve done that, try two

blocks…your personal stories

of triumphs can bolster your

spirit in years.

THE CHRONICLE MLInterview PAGE 3

Mother and Son Speak Up Their Mind…

By: Kelvin and Eli

Hi! My name is Kelvin. I want to talk about the interesting and uninteresting things about the Philippines for me. When I came here, my mom and I rode a taxi that would bring us to MLI. The moment I arrived, I started to have

some interest in everything. At first, I had interest in food. Sec-ondly, before coming here, other people said, “There, the water is dirty.” But now I think it’s clean. I only had the stomachache during my first week. Maybe it was just a part of my adaptation period in another country. I think the most interesting part is when my mother and I went to Cebu. We stayed at Radison, Blue Hotel for three days. We went to Samanda Badra School and met my brother. My brother was studying there that time. When I met him, I felt good so I want to go back there.

Eli Speaks

If I were to describe myself in one word, it’d outgoing-but-shy. I can say that I am an outgoing person but still I am not the type of person who talks a lot. Maybe it has something to do with my birth year and what I studied back in college. I was born on May 14, 1973 in South Korea. I majored in Tourism.

I chose to be in the Philippines because I think that English is very important that’s why I came here in MLI. I had studied in MLI for nearly a month. I had to stay close to my son, Kelvin. I came and chose to study here because of my brother’s friend’s recommen-dation. Going back to Korea, I will continue to study English with my children. And maybe some other time, I will come back to the Philippines again!

We heard a lot of Mindoro stories from students every now and then. Then one Sun-day, I had a talk with my chil-dren about going to Mindoro ourselves and try to experi-ence what others have already experienced. So we prepared some food like samgyeopsal, juice and snacks. First, we arrived at Batangas Port by bus. Batangas also has a very beautiful beach. But it wasn’t the end of our journey for we had to head to a better place for our destination. That’s Min-doro.

Going to Mindoro, we rode on a small ship. I was scared at

first because there was a strong wind and the waves were high.

Many people wore their life vest. But when I saw the rainbow

in the sky, I forgot about the scary ride. I began to be in an

exotic mood. When we arrived in Mindoro, I saw that the

beach was clean. We went to our lodging house then we went

on for a jungle tour and went straight to the beach to swim. In

the evening, we ate samgyeopsal for dinner. The next day, we

did snorkelling. I like to snorkel because I can swim well.

After that, we went fishing but we couldn’t catch any fish.

Then we had some barbeque for lunch, spent some quality

time together and decided to go back to MLI. We really en-

joyed that trip! At last, we had our own Mindoro experience

too!

Morgan and Dia, the father and daughter students here at MLI, have been to many vacation spots in the Philippines. They took several trips along with other families here. They went to Mindoro, Pagsanjan Falls, Laguna Hot Springs and they had been to different malls every week! Dia loved shopping, her father said. Dia has been to Tagaytay and Enchanted Kingdom for school trips.

But their most memorable vacation was when they went to Mindoro. It’s when they rode the boat, went

swimming and had a big picnic together with their MLI family. Morgan recalls it was so much nicer to eat

meals even though they may be as simple as ramyon, kimchi chige and samgyupsal. Dia has grown close to

sisters Hera and Carrie. he’ll surely miss them. She will also miss all her teachers and all the MLI activities.

Morgan said he chose MLI because of three reasons. First, the location is perfect. Second, MLI is child-

friendly. Lastly, MLI is known for having excellent teachers. And these teachers are the ones he will miss

the most when they go back to Korea. He said he will tell his family and friends all the good experiences

and good friends they have had in the Philippines.

By: Jung Hwa

PAGE 4 MLIn-Depth THE CHRONICLE

The Problems

with Status Symbol in Korea

By: Bin (Yang Seung Bin)

I’m always proud that I am a Korean. Especially nowadays, I appreciate my country because I’ve been in the Philippines and I have witnessed how Korean culture is known here. K-pop is widely listened to here. Korean dramas are televised on national television and even Korean fashion is deeply appreciated by some of the Filipinos especially the young adults. It seems that Korean culture is spreading around the world especially in Asia. Of course, my country has a lot to be proud of in our culture but there are also some parts of our culture that need to be amended. Actually I am wishing to be the president of Korea because there are customs that I would change if I were the president of my country, and I am going to discuss with you the most important things that need to be changed in my opinion. That is the preference of an academic clique and status symbol in Korea.

For many years, Koreans have considered that status symbol is undoubtedly a big deal in our society. So, for a long time, if we graduated from a reputable university, we can enter good companies or be qualified to get a high class lifestyle. I think this kind of situation can be observed in other coun-tries, too but in Koreans’ case, it is much observed than the others. It is not an exaggeration that people who have only proof of graduation but lack of real ability about their field of study can actually succeed in the society or be respected by other people. This untoward situation has gotten worse even more, and it has become one of the bad customs in the pre-sent. For this reason, several factors that affect our lives have been arising nowadays.

First, most students don’t wish to study in a university anymore if that particular university isn’t included among the top universities in Korea because in the long run, only the diploma from a reputable university will matter the most and not their passion for learning or the skills that they have acquired from studying. So scholars and skilled professors have been insufficient for quite a long time now.

Second, this preference only affects the gap between the rich and the poor because most people’s ultimate goal is to study until high school. When you finish only high school there is no assurance that you will land a good job in the future. So it is true that the gap between the rich and the poor is pro-portioned to the gap between good and bad universities.

In conclusion, Koreans have to forget this bad culture. So someday we can live in a country where people are accepted according to their own ability and skills not only because they are from a good university or from a good company.

Right Method of Brushing Your Teeth

By: Aaron (Choi Ho Jun)

These days, most people are interested in teeth. Teeth whitening products and orthodontics are eve-rywhere. People are also interested in aesthetics.

Teeth are used in chewing food. If you want to preserve and main-tain the health of your teeth, you have to brush your teeth very well. But do you really know the right method of brushing teeth.

I would like to introduce the right way of brushing teeth and its purposes.

There are four main purposes of brushing. The first one is ‘Prevention’. Brushing our teeth can remove dental plaque. So, we can prevent dental cavities and periodontal disease. If we brush our teeth and scale our teeth very well, we don’t have to worry about tooth disease. Besides, if you have regular checkups, well, you can prevent all of those dental diseases.

Second, ‘Cleanliness’, right-brushing will help you remove stains, food residue, and bad breath. Of course, it is not the perfect solution. You have to use dental floss and do scaling regularly.

Third, ‘Strength’, right-brushing can stimulate the gum and tooth. It helps make a healthy gum and teeth. However, you must not brush your teeth strongly. It will hurt your gum and teeth. Suitable strength and right direction of brushing can make good effects.

Last, ‘Aesthetics’, right method of tooth brushing makes good aesthetical effects. It’s not perfect, but if you do that in time, you can get and see the effects of it.

Now, I’ll show you ‘The right method of brushing’. Most people

don’t realize the right direction of tooth brushing. The biggest

problem is that they brush their teeth cross-way which can hurt the

teeth and the gums, also, when it does not work very well it can

cause teeth abrasion.

You have to brush your teeth with this method. And if you want to prevent all tooth diseases like dental caries

and periodontal disease, you need a regular check-up, and scaling every 6 months. It will

help you prevent tooth-related diseases.

Thank you for reading.

PAGE 5 MLIn-Depth THE CHRONICLE

My Wish for Korea

By: Philip (Hwang In Ho)

To be honest, I don't know well

about the best things in Korea. But

don't be confused about it. I'm cer-

tainly a Korean. And I know defi-

nitely that my country is great be-

cause of our ancestors. We learned

that from our history. Tracing back

our history, it seemed that Korea

had a great public security. It’s still

safe to live in Korea nowadays but

still, those who have finished their

military training understand that

our public security is still weak be-

cause until these very days, there is

still a possibility of war between the

two Koreas. South Korea and North

Korea are the only divided countries

in the world. Sadly, it has the worst

dictators in history. Even now that

Kim Il Sung and Kim Jung Il are

dead, their descendants still have a

military regime and political power

in North Korea that could threaten

South Korea. If I could, I hope to get

rid of the military regime in North

Korea. And then we could certainly

attain security, achieve unification

and maybe our countries would be

one again.

Korean Culture By: Rachel (Kang Sung A)

Countries of the world vary in their own culture. To fit well, we should understand each and everyone’s culture. Being a Korean, I’m writing about my country’s culture and geography.

Korea has a 500-year-old history. Its peninsula extends from southward to eastern end of the Asian continent. It has a lot of mountains that cover 70% of the land mass, making it the most mountainous region in the world. It has four seasons and many old traditions.

Koreans are sports–minded people. There was a time when Seoul, the capital of Korea, opened the Olympics in 1988 and the 17th FIFA World Cup in 2002. The world was surprised by how dynamic and passionate Korea was. During the World Cup season, Koreans show their support to our team by wearing red shirts. national parks and public places were full of people wearing red clothes and they went there to cheer for Korea. Families and friends watched the World Cup

together.

Our traditional costume and it is called hanbok. Our ancestors have worn hanbok and it emphasizes the beauty of straight and curved lines. Koreans wear hanbok on Chuseok ( Thanksgiving Day) or on Solar (New Year’s Day).

From the old times, Korean people be-

lieved that courtesy was very important.

So, most Koreans learned about etiquette.

As children, we were taught to respect

and treat older people in a well-

mannered way. We respect our elders,

our older brothers and sisters and these

have been a part of our learned etiquette.

During the World Cup season in Korea

PAGE 6 MLIn-Depth THE CHRONICLE

Messi was sitting on a chair beside the ping pong table, patiently waiting for his turn to play when I approached him to ask for an interview. He smiled and shyly gave his consent. He stood up and looked for a quiet place to have the in-terview. Then he gamely and politely answered all my questions.

Messi’s real name is Shin Min Chan. He chose the nickname “Messi” because of a soccer player. He was born on July 13, 2000 to his businessman father and housewife mother, he has an 11-year-old sister. An elementary school student whose favorite subject is Physical Edu-cation, he is very much into sports. He likes playing basketball, baseball, beach volleyball, table tennis and loves playing soccer. Even his favourite computer game concerns soccer. It’s FIFA Online 2!

He was so polite and calm during the whole interview. He cracked jokes but he was never offensive. I asked him who or what he will never forget in the Phil-ippines and he replied, “R-H-I-N-A”. And Teacher Lani, too. I will never forget Clark because it is very beautiful. Last December, my grandfather and I stayed in a hotel in Clark. The next day, we went to a beach in Subic and after that, we went shopping in a mall in Makati before heading home. That was fun. I’ll treasure these memories.

You know, when my mother told me

I’m going to the Philippines to study, I

was furious! I didn’t want to come here.

My mom packed my bags for me and

told me I should go.

Messi is mature for his age. He still acts like a kid and plays like a kid but his maturity is impressive. When you look at him, you’d notice that he looks just like any ordinary kid. But when you talk to him, you’ll see the sensibilities of a young man. He claims his best trait is his mind. He’s intelligent and smart. He thinks he isn’t cute but he’s certain he’s kind. He doesn’t brag about his achievements. Although most teachers in MLI think he’s cute, he didn’t want me to mention it here. He blushed when I told him the teachers like him because he’s a well-behaved kid.

The interview ended when the bell rang.

He didn’t have the chance to play table

tennis and I told him sorry. He smiled and

said, “It’s okay. Thank you!”

There are many things that make Messi happy. Aside from playing

ball games, he also enjoys playing computer games, reading comic

books, watching cartoons and seeing movies. He’s partial to color

blue and Chinese food. He also loves the summer.

He seems to be a contented kid.

He was smiling all throughout the

interview. There were moments

when he got serious but would

suddenly break into a sweet smile.

I asked him what makes him happy

and he answered, “My life. I have a

good life. Life isn’t perfect. I’m

sometimes happy, sometimes sad.

But still, life is good!” But as time

went by, I slowly started enjoying

it here. I like playing ping pong

and that’s how I met friends here.

Willy is my best friend in MLI. All

the activities here are fun. I even

like studying English now!”

By: Joy Esteves

PAGE 7 MLIn-Depth THE CHRONICLE

M a. Melanie Roxas otherwise known

as Teacher Lani is renowned in MLI

for her sweet and friendly personality. She’s

a devoted teacher, very passionate in her

task but her greatest trait is her generosity.

She loves sharing and giving whatever she

has especially to someone whom she think is

very nice. She never hesitates to give any-

thing that comes to her mind. Not only can

her friends and closest colleagues attest to

this golden trait, but also her dearest stu-

dents who really appreciate her charity and

warmness of heart.

She’s been teach-

ing in MLI for

nearly three years

now but the teach-

ing blood was al-

ready flowing in

her system long

before she started

teaching in MLI. She has taught in some

Korean academies before. She considers

herself fulfilled because she has pursued the

career that she wanted; she has seen places

in 3 continents and most of all, because she

has her loving and solid family. Her greatest

achievement so far is balancing her career

and family successfully while staying in the

academy and travelling to her dream desti-

nations alongside with.

The Students’ Feedback

Her students often describe her as a Mom-

Teacher. In fact, Ed (Kim Bo Ram) once

said that she treated her students with

motherly love but when she teaches, she

does it with utmost concern.

Students see her as a very loving mom-

teacher to them. She’s also a great

listener. She’s got the ears that always

open to listen and a good heart that is

always open to care. Many of her

students confide to her their deepest

secrets and feelings. “Teacher Lani has

a heart of gold” as Messi (Shin Min

Chang) one of her students defined her.

The Other Side of Teacher Lani

Aside from being a loving mom to her only daughter, Roxanne, a caring wife to her husband, Boyet, a very pleasant teacher to her students (too many to mention), a charming friend to her intimate work buddies Ms. Tess and Teacher Vivian, she’s also famous because she’s a true-blooded Hello Kitty fanatic!

Her students can prove that she’s crazy for Hello Kitty stuff as her room is all decorated by Hello Kitty items. From table cover, down to wall paper, to room decoration, to file holders, to notebooks, to pencils, to erasers, to tissue holders, to trash bin and to the very ID straps that she’s wearing not to mention her wrist watches and even earrings! She has it all!

But according to Teacher Lani, the Hello Kitty collections she has in her room are not yet all! All her favorite and most treasured collections are kept in her house. One would have his or her eyes grow big when he or she would have the rare chance to take a look at her priceless Hello Kitty gift packs and collectibles that she’s been collecting ever since Hello Kitty has been invented!

She first embarked herself into collecting Hello Kitty stuff ever since the famous kitty was introduced in 1976; she was a grade five student in Maryknoll. That time Hello Kitty collectibles could only be bought in a bou-tique called Gift Gate. Back then, these items could not be found in Greenhills’ Bargain Areas or in Divisoria and other economical stores for that matter. This means she herself had spent quite a fortune just to be able to satisfy her burning desire to collect her favorite Sanrio character. Her very first Hello Kitty item was a Hello Kitty doll, the original one colored white and red which was her aunt’s souvenir gift from Hong Kong. It was given to her as an ad-vanced Christmas gift.

To date, she has a room full of Hello Kitty items and collectibles excluding the ones in her MLI classroom.

By: Rhina Reyes

PAGE 8 MLInbox THE CHRONICLE

What are the things you enjoy doing with your whole family?

We often go to the spa. We enjoy it while bonding. It is very important to our family.

We often go shopping and eating out. We love sushi so whenever we go out, we always eat it.

Sometimes, I travel with my relatives. That makes us united and get to know each other better. We can also have happy moments.

My family loves to climb mountains. There’s fresh air, trees and cool water. We feel good.

My family goes picnicking. It’s exciting and joyful. We ride a bike and take a rest.

Sometimes I travel with my family. We go to the beach because we like to swim.

Watch TV program specially news program and debate after.

We usually sleep the whole day and then during the af-ternoon, we go shopping and buffet-restaurant hunting. We love eating!

Going to church and eating out with the whole family.

Bonding time with kids and watching horror movies.

We usually have dinner together with other members of the family circle on weekends, sort of a reunion every weekend.

Why Koreans Want to Go to Other Countries to Work?

By: Ed (Kim Bo Ram)

Have you seen Korean workers anywhere in the world? Its answer is “Sure!!!”

We can see them easily from every corner of the globe these days. Why are they crazy about going to other countries to work? There are several reasons for this phenomenon.

First, unemployment rate is getting worse in Korea. As Korean society becomes an aging society and automati-cally, young Korean people seldom find their jobs eas-ily. In addition, the major factor affecting the Korean economy, as always, is the condition of the global econ-omy. These days the global economic crisis is deepen-ing and spreading so there are warning signs ahead for the Korean economy now. That’s why many companies in Korea have trouble hiring new recruits.

Second, in other developed countries, we can earn more money than in Korea. Actually, although Korea is a nation of OECD and G20, Korean minimum wage is at the lowest. Korean minimum wage is set at about 4 U.S. dollars an hour but minimum wages in Australia, U.S., Canada and European countries are set at more than 10 U.S. dollars which are two and a half times as much as Korea’s. Also, the countries obviously provide much better benefits than Korea. Many Koreans know the wage gap between Korea and other developed countries so they cannot help going there.

Lastly, many Koreans want and should experience the countries’ languages and cultures due to the globaliza-tion of the world. Today, as many Koreans are exposed to other countries’ cultures, languages and news, they are interested in them naturally. Furthermore, many companies want to select capable people who are good at English or other languages and experienced various jobs and cultures. So, it is essential for them to learn and experience other countries’ cultures and languages for their own purposes.

Many Korean people think about their reality and fu-ture seriously. Unfortunately, they feel that working in Korea has some limits so they try to find their hopes in other countries, not in Korea. Therefore, many Kore-ans go to other countries to work.

PAGE 9 MLInform THE CHRONICLE

A Dear You

By: Sherlyn Grace Abao

When you came things have changed

Each time you smile it’s like a blue sky

And each day you are there to say

There’s a lovely day every step of the way

You are like a thunder

That comes from nowhere

The biggest star that shines every-where

The moon that guides through the weary nights

The sun that says ‘Hi’ with a gentle smile

And the radiant Ray that lights the day

The wave that hits the blue bay

You have taught wonderful things

Have shared the greatest dream

Laughed with simple things

And have talked what live would bring

As the day passes by

I want you to satisfy

Where else could I find

A friend to gratify

The moments with you is worth-while

Because it’s you, it’s you

The dearest friend to glorify

So promise me no goodbyes…..

Let’s Talk about Language!

(Part 1: Language Varieties)

T oo often we are confronted with terms in our field which sound quite

familiar but are nonetheless vague to us. For example, we often say that the Philip-pines has many dialects. But how many of us really know what ‘dialect’ means and how it differs from a ‘language’? The truth is, what most of us claim as ‘dialects’ are actually languages in themselves. The common notion that Cebuano, Ilokano, Waray are ‘dialects’ in the Philippines is absolutely wrong! They are languages! This arose from a common misconception of these terms. Let us examine these termi-nologies and see which among them you have mistakenly identified.

DIALECT

Dialect is commonly defined as a variety of a language that is characteristic of a par-ticular group. It is distinguished in terms of pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. To put this into context, British English, American English and Australian English (though slightly different in terms of grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary) are all dialects of the same language—English—in the same way that Manileño Tagalog, Marinduqueño Tagalog and Batangas Tagalog (more properly Batangan) are dia-lects of the same language, Tagalog. The term, however, extends to class and re-gional distinctions. A dialect associated with a particular social class is termed sociolect while one that is associated to a region is regiolect or topolect.

DIALECT vs LANGUAGE

How does one distinguish a dialect from a

language? A simple test is by means of

mutual intelligibility. When two people

understand each other's speech, most likely

they are using dialects of the same language.

If they don’t, then they most likely speak in

different languages.

SLANG, ARGOT and JARGON

These terms are defined by their special-ized vocabularies. Slang refers to informal vocabulary, especially short-lived coinages, that do not belong to a language's standard vocabulary. Argot refers to a nonstandard vocabulary used by secret groups, particu-larly criminal organizations, intended to render communications incomprehensible to outsiders. Jargon comprises the spe-cialized vocabulary of a particular profes-sion, especially when it is incomprehensi-ble to others, as with medical jargon.

REGISTER

Register is a variety of language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, in a formal situation, a person might say, “You are requested to leave,” whereas in an informal one the same person might say, “Get out!” This also spells the difference between “coming” and “comin’” where the social setting dictates which pronunciation is appropriate. Regis-ter differences can affect any of these lan-guage elements: grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. In the next issue, I will discuss more about Language with special attention to how languages change foregrounding English.

By: Ken Amante

PAGE 10 MLIntrospect THE CHRONICLE