Monday, November 9, 2009

Your question: Afro-Asian literature

This was a question from the popular Very very basic Afro-Asian Literature resources page.

Anonymous asked:
excuse me,I'm just a li'l bit confused
Is afro-asian literature different from asian and african?

I answered:
Hi, anonymous.
"Afro-Asian Literature" the 2nd year subject in high schools in the Philippines is not different from African and Asian literature. Literature from those two continents are taught in the same year level.
Although I see what may cause confusion. The term looks like it refers to literature by people of African and Asian heritage, but not in the context of the Philippine educational system.

Your question: APA style?

mecah asked:
OK...My question is how do I write references from 5 web sites in APA Style? I have to do a paper on a criminal topic and i had to pick references off of 5 different web sites, and write a references sheet in APA Style..Can you help me understand?

I answered:

Hi, mecah!
There are several ways to cite references in papers, and APA is one of those styles.
If you've been asked to do your bibliography APA style by your teacher, then head on over to these sites:
APA style on Wikipedia: Go to "Electronic Sources" and follow the instructions based on the kind of online site your reference is. The wiki's got a sample that you can use as a basis.
Long Island University's APA Citation Style: The samples here are simpler but the wiki has more of the explanations if you need to understand what it all means.
Hope this helped!

What does "magkatugma" mean?

Back from a long break to post some questions sent in through the Need Help? page.
Anonymous asked:
If synonyms are 'magkasingkahulugan', antonyms are 'magkasalungat', what are magkatugma?

I answered:
Wow, that's a head-scratcher.

I would say "magkatugma" are words that rhyme, but it doesn't follow that they're homonyms. "Magkatugma" doesn't imply that the word is spelled the same way, only that certain syllables sound similar.

This seems to be a popular question online. I hope someone posts an official answer too.
OK, so this answer doesn't necessarily make it easy for students who need the correct answer right now but I suggest that you step back and focus on what you can learn, not what'll score you points with your teacher. Filipino/Tagalog and English grammar are similar in some ways but different in others. It's possible that you won't find an exact counterpart in English for a particular word or grammar rule. (For example: what is "kilig"?)

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Where the students are

This blog is by no means super popular, but I feel good that it gets hits from outside of Manila. I've seen how net-savvy students are, even in areas considered slums. If they use a fraction of their Net Cafe time to do research on their homework then that's a good start.

That's what this is, by the way -- a start. We all have a LOT to do to make sure that all Filipino students get world-class education.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Need help?

Got a homework question? Leave a comment and I'll try to post a reply as soon as I can. Take note though that I will be providing "help" -- links to where you can find the answers -- rather than actual answers. In other words, copying and pasting my response probably won't do you any good.

If that doesn't turn you off, then yay! I hope I can help! Write your question as a comment and I'll do what I can!

Pi

Typing "pi" onto the Google search box leads to this simplified value of Pi = 3.14159265.

In high school we used 3.1416, but your school may be different. Find out more about pi by going to these sites:

Mga panghalip (Pronouns)

Pronouns such as "he", "she" and "it" replace nouns in sentences. Panghalip is the Tagalog/Filipino term for it.

More on them here:

These resources are in Filipino and require a more-than-basic understanding of the language.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Practicing English

Much of what we learn in Philippine high schools is already in English... but that doesn't mean we don't need to practice anymore. Practicing helps build our vocabulary, and can be done a few minutes a day if you have a computer or a portable music player like an iPod.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Mga pandiwa (verbs)

I'm trying to find more online resources for very specific aspects of Filipino grammar. Try these if you need help with verbs:

These resources are in Filipino and require a more-than-basic understanding of the language.

Studying the periodic table of elements

In case you lost your own copy of the periodic table...