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2nd year students
Introduction
to
General knowledge
30 / 10 / 2013
2nd year students
Part I : What is general knowledge and why it is important
Part II : How to develop your owngeneral knowledge
Part III : Class’ organization
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Part I :
What is general knowledge and why it is
important
Part I
Being a farmer in Cambodia
Part I
If you are a farmer in Cambodia, you are an expert in :
Part I
It will be helpful if you know :
Accounting and economy
Working in a cooperative
Climate change
Politics and social issues
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Whether you are a farmer or an engineer …
Whatever your life, knowledge it different fields may prove
useful !
You can live with few in your mind, but what a pity …
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What is General knowledge ?
• In french : Culture générale
• The basic knowledge that you have in various fields different from your field of expertise
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Usually, General knowledge means :
History
Politics
Geography
Sports
ScienceCulture (art,literature,…
Recent events /current affairs
Famouspersonalities
Economy
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Why is General knowledge useful ?
• To better face life’s various challenges
• To better understand people’s ideas and actions
• To interact with people more easily
•To develop your critical eye!
• To broaden your mind and horizon, and discovernew things you like!
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Quoteof General de Gaulle :
In french :
“La véritable école du commandement estla culture générale”
In English :
“The true training of command is the general knowledge”
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The critical eyes …
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The critical eyes …
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The critical thinking …
Real mind requires that you open yourself up to the possibility that parts of your judgment might need to be rethought.
Achieving this state of mind is difficult.
But having a critical eye makes you a better thinker, and then a better man.
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The critical thinking …
So it’s worth considering carefully how you might learn to see your own work with the objectivity essential to successful self-criticism.
The 2 step in gaining objectivity are:to get some distance from your workto ask yourself what are the weaknesses of
your thought
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Globalization :
So, it’s better to know about India or Chile !
Today, something happening in India or Chile can change your life in Cambodia.
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Some
Examples …
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Knowing the politics of your country
How does your country’s political situation compare
with that of other countries?
How did your country and these countries evolve
during the last 50 years?
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Knowing majors events worldwide
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Where is it ?
On the Planet of Mars
Knowing scientific acts
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Knowing scientific acts
How fast does a plane
fly ?
For a fly with passengers: around 800-900 km/h
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Knowing scientific acts
It is a fast :
around 343 m/sWhat is a Mach 1 ?
The Mach 1 is also call The Wall of the Sound.
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Knowing scientific acts
How far are the Moon and Mars fromthe Earth ?
Earth-Mars : between about 56 millions and 400 millions km
Earth-Moon : 356400 to 406700 km
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Knowing the works of famous artist
Who painted this ?
Leanordo Da Vinci
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Knowing the works of famous artist
Who took this picture?
Charles C. Ebbets
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Knowing the works of famous artist
Who wrote Romeo and
Juliet?
William Shakespeare
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Knowing Bits and foreign languages
•What do you think of a foreigner who can speak khmer very well ?
•Wearing embarrassing t-shirt… ?
•Learning about other cultures …
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Knowing important ethical questions
•Are you for or against the Death Penalty ?
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Knowing important ethical questions
•Do you think that someone who is not born from Cambodian parents can ever become Cambodian ?
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Part II :
How to develop your general knowledge ?
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Who is curious here ?
0 10
From 1 to 10, rank your degree of
curiosity …
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The more curious you are …
the easier it is to develop your
own general knowledge
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An everyday habit
•If every month, you take a full day to readthe dictionary randomly…
You may learn something but…
You may soon feel bored
•Cultivating one’s mind is an ATTITUDEIt has to be a small part of your daily life
Many available options choose the onesyou like
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Learn from the best
If you want to learn how to dance, will you go to see a dancer or to chemist ?
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Time flies, therefore …
Learn from the best sources !
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What are your source?•Others!
•Real people!If you meet a famous singer or actor/actress, what questions would you ask him/her?
•Newspapers
•Television, radio
•Internet
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Always make your mind slowly
•A person may not always tell you the truthPersonal point of view / convictions, activism etc.
•Everybody may be wrongEven good journalists make mistake!
•Always compare sourcesGive more credit to more competent peopleNever take anything for granted
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Good source acknowledge their references!
•A good journalist tells you where he found his information
•A good scientific book contains a list of references
•You should quote people too!
•Beware of the Internet!
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Read (good quality) Newspapers
Some Newspapers are internationally recognized for their quality
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2 ‘international’ Newspaper
The global edition of the New York Times Translates papers from many journals to French
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Read (good quality) Newspapers
Of course, it may be difficult to read these newspapers…Don’t read much each day, and learn unknown words with a dictionary!
Most of these newspapers have free websites!Le Monde : www.lemonde.frIHT: http://global.nytimes.com/?ihtNew York Times: www.nytimes.comTime: www.time.com/timeCourrier Int.: www.courrierinternational.com
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Read good literature•Some classics to be read
Famous Khmer writersFamous writers from some centuries agoSome contemporary writers from different countries and cultures
•Go to the library! French Cultural CenterBophanaIn the Center (ask the permission at Kimleng)
•Look for advice on the Internet to know which books are good
www.amazon.com or www.amazon.fr
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Explore the Internet•Wikipedia: www.wikipedia.com
A lot of informationBut need cross-checking if possible
•NGOs or UNs’ websiteshttp://www.unesco.org/For figures about the world: http://data.un.org/
•Government websites
•Interesting blogs
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Watch (good quality) TV programs
•DocumentariesDiscovery ChannelNational GeographicTV5 Monde
•NewsCNNFrance 24
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The Notebook Method
•Carry a small notebook.
•When you hear or read something interesting, write it down in the notebook
New words or expressions in Khmer, French, English, Chinese etc.Facts, figuresQuotes by famous people
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Conclusion
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Be curious, be open-minded, give food to your mind everyday!
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Part III :
Organization
of the year
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General Knowledge program
•You will have 12 class, and your presence is compulsory for each
•6 class will be with all your promotion
•6 class will be given to a half promotion, and you have to be registered in one group of half promotion
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General Knowledge program
The program of the 6 class with all your promotion:
-Introduction to General Knowledge-Media-Human and Children Right and Duties-The mains things to know in different
countries-Violence and conflicts- Economy
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General Knowledge program
After this session of 6 class, you will have to choose your group of
class for the 6th last class.
20 students per group
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Evaluation of General Knowledge
At the end of this program of General Knowledge, you will have an evaluation about the different class where you was registered.
This evaluation will be a part of your evaluation in the Center.
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The next lesson of General Knowledge will be
on 19th of December.
the topic will be : Media
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Thank you
for your attention !
