10/31(Sat.) Does school kill creativity? (Host：Stephen Chiu)

[Iverson]

I don’t remember any school teachers advised me to steer away from things I liked. But, decades ago, when I was an elementary school student and really enjoyed making an excavator for schoolwork, my father persuaded me not to spend much time in making artworks. “You won’t earn a living by that.” He said.

Dear Gloria,

I had the same "You don't earn a living by that" experience back in primary school.
In my final year in elementary school, one Saturday morning, I won the championship of school's 1500m race.
I went home and told my father during lunch.
My father responded:"問動模粗脫".
All of a sudden, life turned from colorful to black and white.

Sincerely yours,
Iverson

[Gloria Lo]

I don’t remember any school teachers advised me to steer away from things I liked. But, decades ago, when I was an elementary school student and really enjoyed making an excavator for schoolwork, my father persuaded me not to spend much time in making artworks. “You won’t earn a living by that.” He said.

.

Dear Gloria,

I had the same "You don't earn a living by that" experience back in primary school.
In my final year in elementary school, one Saturday morning, I won the championship in school's 1500m race. I went home and told my father during lunch. My father responded:"問動模粗脫".
All of a sudden, life turned from colorful to black and white.

Sincerely yours,
Iverson

Dear Iverson,
I'm glad that you still maintain your hobbie of sports.
What's the meaning of:"問動模粗脫"?
Do you feel grateful for your father or not (now)?

Gloria

[toshi]

Dear Gloria,

I had the same "You don't earn a living by that" experience back in primary school.
In my final year in elementary school, one Saturday morning, I won the championship in school's 1500m race. I went home and told my father during lunch. My father responded:"問動模粗脫".
All of a sudden, life turned from colorful to black and white.

Sincerely yours,
Iverson

Dear Iverson,
I'm glad that you still maintain your hobbie of sports.
What's the meaning of:"問動模粗脫"?
Do you feel grateful for your father or not (now)?

Gloria

問動模粗脫 means 運動無出息

[stephen185]

I don’t remember any school teachers advised me to steer away from things I liked. But, decades ago, when I was an elementary school student and really enjoyed making an excavator for schoolwork, my father persuaded me not to spend much time in making artworks. “You won’t earn a living by that.” He said.

Dear Gloria,

I had the same "You don't earn a living by that" experience back in primary school.
In my final year in elementary school, one Saturday morning, I won the championship of school's 1500m race.
I went home and told my father during lunch.
My father responded:"問動模粗脫".
All of a sudden, life turned from colorful to black and white.

Sincerely yours,
Iverson

Dear Iverson,

From your translation of your father's words from Taiwanese to Chinese, I can see you have a shining creativity

Stephen

[toshi]

Toshi,

Glad to hear that you like this speech too. And I would love to hear your ideads more about the topic during this coming meeting. Actually, my topic is somewhat related to the topic Maggie hosted for last Saturday.She brought a book, " What I Wish I Know When I was 20" (by Tina Seelig), in which Ms. Seelig gives several examples of the creativity project in her classes at Standford university. I wish I'd read this book when I was 20.

Stephen

I will attend to the meeting!
Maybe I will share my own experience to you. ^_^

The book sounds interesting!
Hope I will have a chance to read it!

[technobabel]

Even if the school didn't kill it, it is often the parents that put the final nails in the coffin.
But all is not lost.
There are plenty of time to remedy the situation.
Creativity isn't that easy to kill.
That doesn't mean it is easy to provide a nurturing environment.
Governments all over the world are trying to figure the magic formula to foster it.
Few simple encouragements here and there aren't enough.
At certain point creativity or the discussion of creativity ceases to be a child-play.
The problem is that it is difficult to distinguish promising creativity from those that aren't so.
Everybody knows the cost of betting on the wrong creativity can be detrimental.

[stephen185]

Here are the attendees of the meeting,
Member:
Iverson,Amy,Gavin,Luis,Eddie,Janet,Gloria,Leon,Toshi,Laura,David Jr.,Julian,Double,
Michael,Masashi,Bernd,Allen

New comer: Christy Wu

I would like to express my appreciation to all the attendees today for we together completed an informative meeting with tremendous enthusiasm and vibrant laughter.
You guys are wonderful!!

Stephen

[toshi]

I mentioned 3 books in the meeting:
1. 如何改造自己 Self Creation, 作者：George Weinberg
2. 語理分析的思考方法, 作者：李天命
3. 臺灣河佬語聲調研究, 作者：洪惟仁

[Wayne]

Words and Expressions 1031 2009

文盲: an illiterate person; illiteracy
(學科)被當掉: get flunked
訓導主任: director of discipline
翹課: cut class/school; play truant
學長/學姊: male/female senior schoolmate
布袋戲: Taiwanese puppetry
武俠小說: wu-shu novel; gong fu story; novel about swordsmen and their chivalry
操性成績: grade in moral conduct
試用期: probation (period); try-out period

[toshi]

Here are the attendees of the meeting,
Member:
Iverson,Amy,Gavin,Luis,Eddie,Janet,Gloria,Leon,Toshi,Laura,David Jr.,Julian,Double,
Michael,Masashi,Bernd,Allen

New comer: Christy Wu

I would like to express my appreciation to all the attendees today for we together completed an informative meeting with tremendous enthusiasm and vibrant laughter.
You guys are wonderful!!

Stephen

Dear Stephen,

Thank you for bringing the projector & your NB.
We all enjoyed your well-prepared show!
Sorry we don't have these equipments for you.
Although I consider both of them are required equipments, we don't have the budget to buy them right now.
Some people might question that maybe no one will use these equipments.
But I believe that there will always be some hosts who take their hosting so seriously like you.
Having the equipments will encourage our hosts to diversify their hosting!
And I do believe so!

Thank you! ^_^

Toshi

[Iverson]

What's the meaning of:"問動模粗脫"?
Do you feel grateful for your father or not (now)?

Gloria


Dear Gloria,

I am glad you asked, since Toshi answered "問動模粗脫", I am more than happy to answer another one.
At that monent (I was 12) I felt disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged while heard "問動模粗脫".
Nowadays, I take every opportunity to tell my parents that I reallly appreciate what they have contributed to our family.
They don't spend money on personal hobbies, instead, they encourage us to study abroad without worrying about tuition.
In some ways, my father is my role model.

Sincerely yours,
Iverson

[Gloria Lo]

What's the meaning of:"問動模粗脫"?
Do you feel grateful for your father or not (now)?

Gloria


Dear Gloria,

I am glad you asked, since Toshi answered "問動模粗脫", I am more than happy to answer another one.
At that monent (I was 12) I felt disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged while heard "問動模粗脫".
Nowadays, I take every opportunity to tell my parents that I reallly appreciate what they have contributed to our family.
They don't spend money on personal hobbies, instead, they encourage us to study abroad without worrying about tuition.
In some ways, my father is my role model.

Sincerely yours,
Iverson

Iverson
My parents are also like yours, save any penny for the next generation. They don't know anything about luxury.
And like this "問動模粗脫" kind of education concept is their best way to survive in the future in their eyes, I respect it very much.
Just like Luis said, "Sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind."

Sincerely,
Gloria

[toshi]

Dear Gloria,

I am glad you asked, since Toshi answered "問動模粗脫", I am more than happy to answer another one.
At that monent (I was 12) I felt disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged while heard "問動模粗脫".
Nowadays, I take every opportunity to tell my parents that I reallly appreciate what they have contributed to our family.
They don't spend money on personal hobbies, instead, they encourage us to study abroad without worrying about tuition.
In some ways, my father is my role model.

Sincerely yours,
Iverson

Dear Iverson,

You should try to encourage your parents to enjoy their own life!
When I was a undergraduate student, I studied in Chung-Li. And one of my brothers studied in Hsin-Chu.
To my parents, it seems they lost two kids in a sudden. 'cos my brother and I, we didn't go home often.
Whenever I went back home, they seemed has so much thing to talk to me, you know including too much worry.
At that time I recognized that they need their own life! Not just paying all their attention to kids!
I started encouraging them to climb mountain.
Starting from the local mountain hills near my home, they went climbing almost everyday!
Then they made many friends who like hiking and mountain climbing.
Later on, they started climbing those 百岳.
Up to now, they have visited more than 40 百岳！
So, whenever I went back home, they always told me how much fun they have experienced in the mountain.
Showing me so many beautiful photos they took in the mountain.
You know, I am really so happy for them. 'cos they found something they feel interested in!
They do have their own life! It's not a luxury but a happy & healthy life!
(The side effect is that, they are no longer only paying attention on kids! It's great for me too! haha )

Try it! It's never too late to enjoy the life! ^_^

[Rock]

At that monent (I was 12) I felt disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged while heard "問動模粗脫".
Nowadays, I take every opportunity to tell my parents that I reallly appreciate ...

Dear Iverson,

Actually, your father gave you a good opinion. You see, there's this PE teacher in my school, Tsai Ichen, who used to be a national record holder in 100m (10.44") and 200m dash (21.17"). He also represented Taiwan to win the fourth place in Asian Games of 1989. But all he won in the end was just a teaching job in a junior high. Besides, he doesn't enjoy sports and he doesn't do exercises anymore because he worked too hard before. Who knows, maybe your father has saved both your career and precious habits in some way.

Yours sincerely
Rock

[technobabel]

At that monent (I was 12) I felt disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged while heard "問動模粗脫".
Nowadays, I take every opportunity to tell my parents that I reallly appreciate ...

Dear Iverson,

Actually, your father gave you a good opinion. You see, there's this PE teacher in my school, Tsai Ichen, who used to be a national record holder in 100m (10.44") and 200m dash (21.17"). He also represented Taiwan to win the fourth place in Asian Games of 1989. But all he won in the end was just a teaching job in a junior high. Besides, he doesn't enjoy sports and he doesn't do exercises anymore because he worked too hard before. Who knows, maybe your father has saved both your career and precious habits in some way.

Yours sincerely
Rock

Parents in America will never dismiss any sort of athletic achievement.
Even college admission offices take athletic achievement into consideration.
The spirit of athleticism goes beyond the boundary of an arena.
The value of physical and especially mental dexterity can not be overstated.