English for Medical Professionals

The majority of my freelance work over the last year has involved editing for medical professionals in Taiwan who are publishing their research in English language medical journals. This has dovetailed into lecturing and doing Power Point presentations at hospitals in the Taipei area focusing on how to improve both written and spoken English in the medical environment. In gathering background information and new ways to augment my lectures I occasionally come across some useful Web sites that could benefit those in the medical field who don't speak English as their first language, but who regularly encounter English-speaking patients (like myself). One usefull site I came across is called simply English for Medical Professionals on EnglishClub.com. It's full of useful vocabulary and sample dialogs covering a range of medical situations.

Taiwan Angler Goes Live

I've finally launched my fishing blog Taiwan Angler. I've been wanting to get back into fishing for some time and with the kids getting older, I thought it was time to introduced them to this hobby just as my dad did when I was their age. The site will chronicle my attempts to get a handle on fishing in Taiwan, sharing all my mistakes and triumphs along the way. It will also allow me to research local species and share what I learn. Hopefully what I will end up with is a helpful resource to anglers like myself who had difficulty finding information in English about the local angling scene.

Just for Fun

I Write Like is one of those useless-but-fun Web tools that pop up on the Internet from time to time. Simply cut and paste a sample of your writing into the text box, hit a button and out pops the name of the famous author your prose most resembles. I pasted in the lede paragraph of a news story I had written, which turns out to be a dead ringer from the rough and tumble writing of Jack London. I've already booked a ticket on the next clipper ship for the gold fields of the Klondike. Give it a whirl. Even established authors have been known to play around with it. Speculative fiction writer Neil Gaiman recently posted to his Twitter account that an exerpt from his novel Anansi Boys is in the vein of both JRR Tolkein and Steven King. Hmm.

iPad as Education Tool: Is Apple’s Latest Wonder Too Cool for School?

The iPad, Apple’s answer to the tablet and e-reader market, has been the subject of controversy since hints of its development began leaking onto the Web last year. By the time of its official announcement, opinion seemed to fall into two camps, either this was another game-changing gadget on the scale of the iPod and iPhone, or it was an over-hyped and overpriced toy for Apple fanboys (and girls).

As the first reviews of the actual product hit the Net last week (store sales launched today in the U.S.), I along with a few others have wondered what impact, if any, the iPad will have in educational circles, particularly in language instruction. At first glance, the iPad is an undeniably sexy piece of hardware. Already, there are plans in the works to get it into schools, but will it replace textbooks, or for that matter, notebook or netbook computers in the classroom?

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App Attack: Good, Bad and Really Ugly iPhone Apps for Taiwan

image source: William Brawley/Creative Commons

When it comes to smartphones these days, it’s all about the apps. The rush is on to create localized mobile applications for the regional marketplace. Do a search through Apple’s iPhone app store and you are presented with dozens of programs tailored to local needs and tastes. Here is the first installment in our monthly survey of what’s on offer to Taiwan-based iPhone users.

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