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.

• English as a Second Language podcast
• Better @ English: 2-minute English - http://www.betteratenglish.com/category/listening/2-minute-english/

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:

• Tagalog Wikibooks: Pandiwa
• filipinosubject.blogspot.com: Pandiwa (verb)

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...

• Webelements.com - Online periodic table
• Chemicool.com - Another online periodic table
• Wikipedia: Periodic Table of Elements
• Dayah.com: Dynamic Periodic Table of Elements - Mouse over an element to see more about it, or highlight elements one group at a time

Noli Me Tangere guides

Because my first post on Noli just pointed to the free full text, here are links to some of the study guides online for it:

• Viloria.com: Buod ng Noli Me Tangere (Chapter Summaries in Tagalog)
• Webmanila.com: TOC Noli Me Tangere Chapter Summaries and Notes (in English, but incomplete as of this posting)
• Knowledgerush.com: Noli Me Tangere
• Wikipilipinas: Noli Me Tangere

As always, these resources are just a guide. Let them help you form your own analysis of the text -- learning how to do that is more important. :)

Quadratic equations

A polynomial equation to the second degree. As it happens, I don't encounter this anymore in my line of work, but many high school students have to deal with this on a daily basis. Hope these links help...

• Quadratic Equation on Wikipedia
• Youtube: Solving Quadratic Equations (in under 4 minutes!)
• Purplemath: The Quadratic Formula Explained
• Purplemath: Solving Quadratic Equations by Factoring
  

More Homework Help: Skoool.ph

Intel and the Department of Education have launched www.skoool.ph, a site that provides interactive math and science lessons for students and teachers.

You can browse it according to year level or subject. It requires that you have Javascript installed, which shouldn't be a problem if you watch Youtube on that computer anyway.

HOWEVER, some feedback for the people behind skoool.ph, based on my "surface scan" of the site:

1. Please get rid of the "concept paper" language! And with bad grammar too. For example:

The learner shall developed the following competencies:

The site is online now; talk to your audience directly, instead of referring to them in the third person. Right now it looks like a site targeted to your donor rather than the Pinoy student. And do a grammar check!!!

2. The math lesson I tried out was too UK-centric. Is there an effort to localize this? Not to dumb down the content, but only because it's not generally in a Pinoy high school student's experience to pay "2.50" for a sandwich and eat "bonbons."

Frog anatomy

The dissection of frogs is still happening in high schools all over the country, apparently. Poor frogs!

Here are some links so you can study their anatomy without actually poking through their guts.

• Youtube: 3d visualization of frog anatomy (see the related videos too)
• Kent School District: Frog Anatomy
• About.com: Male Frog Internal Anatomy (icky photo)

Home Economics: Cross-stitching

My worst subject was Home Economics. I don't know how this is being taught today, but when I was in my co-ed high school (in the '90s) they at least didn't have "boy" and "girl" subjects. Everyone, regardless of gender, had to learn how to sew clothes, cook dinner, and wire series and parallel circuits.

We also had to learn how to cross-stitch. I don't know, maybe high school kids in the Philippines don't have to do this anymore, but just in case...

• Wikihow: How to Cross Stitch
• Yarn Tree: Learn How to Cross Stitch in 5 Minutes
• Free Cross Stitch Patterns

Prepositions: On my mind or in my mind?

Prepositions tell you the relationship the object has to the rest of the sentence.

The necklace is on the table, in the jewelry box, under the pillow, so on and so forth. Prepositions are short words that we take for granted (I interchange them more often than I care to admit), but it's important to get them right because they affect what the sentence is trying to say.

• Englishclub.com: English preposition rule - A simple site for English as second language learners.
• The Writing Centre, University of Ottawa: What is a Preposition?
• Betterenglish.com: Preposition quiz!
  

1898 events

Happy Independence Day, students!

Here, from Wikipedia, is a page about the other things that happened in 1898.

The US annexed the Hawaiian Islands, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, and the carbonated beverage that used to be called "Brad's Drink" was renamed to... "Pepsi-Cola."

Back to school post! Asian history

Philippine high school students just went back to school... so this blog should be back as well. Today, we look at Asian history -- required for 2nd year students, and it's good for you to do well on this because it might show up again in college. And also, because it's good to understand the region we belong to, and what events led us to where we are now, and world peace, etc etc.

I admit to never reading more history than what my textbook provided, which is NOT a good thing. We don't need to rely purely on our required books anymore. (In my case, my required book had an obvious political and religious bias, which is difficult to shake off.) Plus, Asian history, like Afro-Asian literature, is just too broad. Just reading one website on the same topic as your assignment this week may give you something new and interesting to bring to class -- or to your test.

• University of Washington: Asian History sources - Many, many links, covering general Asian studies, Central, East, South and Southeast asia as well.
• History for Kids: West Asian History - Covering the history of areas we commonly know as the Middle East.
• Asiasource: This Day in Asian History
• Columbia University: South Asian History
• Asean Focus Group: History of Southeast Asia
• Newton.uor.edu: History of East and Southeast Asia

The Scientific Method

From sciencebuddies.org:

The scientific method is a process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions. Scientists use the scientific method to search for cause and effect relationships in nature. In other words, they design an experiment so that changes to one item cause something else to vary in a predictable way.

The process itself goes like this:

1. Ask a question
2. Do the research
3. Construct your hypothesis
4. Experiment
5. State your conclusion

However, it's not exactly that simple. How do you do research? How do you test your hypothesis? What if your experiment's results don't support your hypothesis, is that OK? There's more reading to do, and these sites will answer those questions and more:

• Sciencebuddies.org - Steps of the Scientific Method
• Brandonbeltz.com - The Scientific Method
• Discovery Education Science Fair Central - Scientific Method
• Biology4kids.com - Reasoning in Science
• Wikipedia - Scientific Method

Entrance Exam Cram: Basic English

Even if you feel comfortable enough about basic English (you've been studying it since elementary school, how hard can it be right?), you'll need to brush up on it again for entrance exam season.

My instinct for studying for exams was to tackle the subjects I have the most trouble with -- science and math, for example. That's a good plan, but don't forget to refresh yourself on the basics. It's your chance now to find out if you need to be corrected, and that's better than finding out on exam day.

• Big Dog's Grammar: A bare bones guide to English
• University of Calgary: Grammar Tutorials
• English Grammar Exercises - There's a lot of material here and it's been designed for ESL (English as a second language) learners. If some of these quizzes are too basic for you, still look at tests such as "Parts of Speech" or "Prepositions."

Entrance Exam Cram: Basic Algebra

Comprehensive exams, in my humble opinion, are the worst. There's nothing like having to remember stuff you studied (and already passed) years ago to make you worry and generally feel miserable. What I should have done, looking back, was take better notes and study to understand rather than just pass. Then maybe I wouldn't have tanked my math tests in college entrance exam season so badly.

I got into a good university eventually, but had to take remedial math. That meant I wasted a perfectly good summer going to school for just one math class. Ah, but I learned my lesson.

If any of you fear going through the same thing, check out these links:

• Math for Morons Like Us: Pre-Algebra Basic Equations - Includes quizzes so you can practice
• Intmath.com: Basic Algebra - Read further to solve verbal problems as well
• AlgeBasics - Multimedia tutorials, from basic algebra to quadratic equations. Best if you have audio!

Sending you positive thoughts for your entrance exam season... you can do it!

College entrance exam review

By now, most Philippine high school students would be on summer vacation. Some of them are coming back in a few weeks for summer school, incoming seniors probably for college entrance exam review in their own schools or tutorial centers.

Even before they start cramming stuff in your brains, you can prepare at your own pace by checking out online reviewers. You can test yourself through the ACT Test Practice Questions page (scroll to the bottom of the page for the links to test questions) -- at least in math, English, and some reading comprehension. These were developed for US students, but at least you can figure out from here what topics give you trouble, and attack them once you start your review.

Dekada '70 resources

I've never read Lualhati Bautista's Dekada '70, a novel about a family's struggles during the martial law regime. Apparently it's required in some schools, but it wasn't in mine.

For the sake of those who have to read it (and maybe some who just want to), here are a few resources:

• Dekada '70 (novel) Wikipedia entry
• Dekada '70 (nobela) Tagalog Wikipedia entry
• Dekada '70 book review at The Edsa Revolution website
• Dekada '70 (film) Wikipedia entry
• "Who's afraid of Lualhati Bautista?" by Abet Zialcita, at Inquirer.net

If you have 100 pesos or so to spare, you can get a copy at your nearest bookstore, because as far as I know it's always in print.

Newton's laws of motion

The three laws of motion as compiled by Sir Isaac Newton:

First law - An object will stay at rest or continue at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force. (Law of inertia)

Second law - The rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional to the resultant force acting on the body and is in the same direction. (Law of acceleration)

Third law - For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. (Law of reciprocal actions)

Physics is fun, once you get the hang of it.

Youtube video of people having fun with Newton's Laws. (Don't try at home!)

• Newton's laws of motion Wikipedia entry
• Physics Classroom Tutorial
• Newton's laws of motion at Glenn Research Center, NASA site
• Isaac Newton's laws of motion at id.mind.net
• Newton's laws at scienceworld.wolfram.com

Very very basic Afro-Asian Literature resources

A subject called "Afro-Asian Literature" is taught to sophomores as part of the high school curriculum in the Philippines. In my experience, we weren't required to read more than what the textbook (Gems in Afro-Asian Literature) contained. I won't be surprised if that's the case for many schools today still.

While reading selected stories from the Philippines and other countries was fun and enriching, it's hard to understand based on that book alone how diverse Asian literature is, much more if you add African literature.

Here are links to more links... just so you know that English 2 is not the end of it.

• African literature Wikipedia entry
• African literature MSN Encarta entry
• Africanlit.com - Essays on African literature
• "Literature of Asia" Wikipedia entry - links to Arabian lit, Chinese lit, Japanese lit, Indian lit, and others
• Asian Literature Resources compiled by Judith S. Ames

Philippine government

The Philippines is a democratic republic, and its government is made up of three branches:

• Executive - This is the Office of the President (Pangulo), head of state and head of government
• Legislative - Composed of the Senate (Senado) and the House of Representatives (Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan)
• Judicial - The Supreme Court (Kataastaasang Hukuman)

More on this:

• Basic overview of the Philippine government on gov.ph
• Politics of the Philippines Wikipedia entry
• "Pilipinas - Pambansang pamahalaan" Tagalog Wikipedia entry
• Government page on Pinas.dlsu.edu.ph

Economics resources

Even if you don't intend to pursue a career in the stock market or finance, chances are you'll still want to make money, or start a business, or work for a business... in any case, it's good to be familiar with the way goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed in the Philippines and the world.

For those who come from entrepreneurial families, this awareness may come sooner than third year high school Economics. But for the others, better late than never.

• Economics Wikipedia entry -- go to the bottom of the page for more helpful resources
• Economics Basics at Investopedia.com
• What is a Recession? And other questions at About.com
• Free online Economics courses at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology OCW site

Ibong Adarna links

Ibong Adarna is the enchanted bird from the Philippine korido of the same name. The story itself is an old-fashioned epic starring a sick king and his three sons, searching for a cure in the form of the Ibong Adarna. The bird's songs could either heal people or make them fall asleep (and its droppings turned the sleeping people to stone).

This is required reading for high school freshmen.

• Ibong Adarna English Wikipedia entry
• Ibong Adarna Tagalog Wikipedia entry (quite short, needs some help)
• Illustrated Tagalog komiks Ibong Adarna for download at seasite.niu.edu
• Ibong Adarna study notes at viloria.com
• Ibong Adarna Wikipilipinas entry

Trigonometry for the unwilling

Despite being slightly math-phobic, trigonometry made sense to me. I just kept imagining a ladder leaning against a wall, and I'd do all right. Trigonometry was concrete. And it should be easier to digest for you students -- it's taught in fourth year high school, right around the time when you're thinking of what college course to apply to, and what to do for the rest of your life. Especially you people with engineering-related aspirations... you should embrace this subject and not snooze through it.

• David E. Joyce's short course in trigonometry on the Clark University site
• Trigonometry tutorial on Thinkquest's Math for Morons Like Us site
• Basic Trigonometry on OnlineMathLearning.com

Searching for "basic trigonometry" on Youtube will also lead you to a bunch of interesting videos. Go for that if you have a good Internet connection.

Florante at Laura

Florante at Laura by Francisco Balagtas is required reading for the Filipino language and literature subject in second year high school. Being asked to stage it in class is very common, and was in fact one of the highlights of my sophomore year.

• Florante at Laura Wikipedia entry
• Summary of Florante at Laura in English at viloria.com
• Buod ng Florante at Laura at dkny's angelfire site
• Free Florante at Laura ebook at Project Gutenberg - beware though, it's a 1921 version and it retains some antiquated Tagalog spelling rules. Sample passage:

Salamat sa iyo, ó nánasang írog,
cong halagahán mo itóng aquing pagod,
ang tulâ ma,i, bucál nang bait na capós,
paquiquinaban~gan nang ibig tumaróc.

Writing essays

When I had to write essays in class under time pressure, I usually went step-by-step like this:

1. Decide on my position regarding the question BEFORE I START WRITING. (And yet I forgot to do this sometimes, believe it or not.)
2. Declare my position if not in the first sentence, in the first two sentences.
3. Use the rest of the space to explain.
4. Use the last two lines (or last line) to re-state my position.

Some essays will require more research and organization, and here are some tips from other sources.

This is from Kathy Livingston's site and these apply more for essays that you get as homework assignments:

1. Decide on your topic.
2. Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas.
3. Write your thesis statement.
4. Write the body.
Write the main points.
Write the subpoints.
Elaborate on the subpoints.
5. Write the introduction.
6. Write the conclusion.
7. Add the finishing touches.

Something on effective essay-question answering from the Purdue University Online Writing Lab:

1. Read through all the questions carefully.
2. Budget your time and decide which question(s) you will answer first.
3. Underline the key word(s) which tell you what to do for each question.
4. Choose an organizational pattern appropriate for each key word and plan your answers on scratch paper or in the margins.
5. Write your answers as quickly and as legibly as you can; do not take the time to recopy.
(Go to the page for the complete list of tips.)

El Fili study guides

OK, so I never finished reading El Filibusterismo, Jose Rizal's sequel to Noli Me Tangere. I got by reading a study guide in the form of a cheap comic book. If I were a student today, I would have tried a little harder.

• El Fili chapter summaries, in Tagalog at www.viloria.com
• Full text of "The Reign of Greed", Charles Derbyshire's El Filibusterismo translation at joserizal.info
• "Foreignness and Vengeance": On Rizal's "El Filibusterismo", a paper by Vicente Rafael
• El Fili Wikipedia entry

Balancing chemical equations

Here's a tutorial on balancing chemical equations hosted on the Ohio State University site. There are text-only and audio-enhanced versions of the tutorials. Might come in handy now that final exams are coming up.

"Current events" in 1896

Yes, I still discourage students from relying entirely on Wikipedia for research. But this is one example that shows how great it is as a stepping stone to other things.

1896 is a significant year for Filipino history. It was the year that the Katipunan was discovered by the Spanish authorities (leading to the revolution), and it was also the year of Jose Rizal's execution.

What else happened?

Wikipedia's entry on "1896" compiles other events that happened in that pivotal year. The Summer Olympics were held in Athens, Greece. The first edition of the Dow Jones Industrial Average was published. An earthquake and tsunami in Sanriku, Japan killed over 20,000. The first X-ray photograph was taken.

Knowing what was "current" in the world during a historical period places many things in context.

Tagalog/Filipino grammar

As a Tagalog myself, I take the language for granted and am not as nitpicky with grammar when I use it. It becomes important eventually to learn more about it in a serious, academic way -- if you want to be able to write flawless Filipino formally.

If you missed some important lessons or would just like to refresh your memory, here are a few Tagalog grammar resources online:

• Tagalog grammar Wikipedia entry - Click on "discussion" as well, to see the kind of questions that came up about the topic.
• Tagalog Grammar site at seasite.niu.edu - The lessons here are in English, and assumes that you are familiar with English grammar.

Philippine creation myths

Professor D.L. Ashliman at the University of Pittsburgh has compiled Philippine creation myths on his online library of folk tales and mythology.

Translated into English, there are creation stories with Igorot, Bagobo, Tagalog origins, and more. The major source used is a 1916 book called Philippine Folk Tales by Mabel Cook Cole.

Not exactly "Malakas at Maganda," but it's an additional reference in case you're doing research on alamat.

Animated animal cell mitosis

Mitosis, that process of cell division that results in new cells, is taught in second-year biology. (It still is, right?) The whole process goes through various phases, which textbooks often illustrate.

Wouldn't it be great if it were animated, though?

Cellsalive.com has it -- animal cell mitosis, the animated version. Clicking on a "phase" shows you a still image of that phase, so you can move back and forth to see the differences.

Some lessons really do need something more than textbook illustrations to be effective. With a process like mitosis, for example, it's better to see just how one phase flows into another. You could imagine it, but not everyone has that vivid an imagination.

Calculating percentages

The Tutors4You site has a quick tutorial on calculating percentages. It describes how percentages and fractions are related. If you're OK with fractions, then you'll be OK with percentages.

This would be great to master because you actually will encounter percentages a lot in regular life. Calculating discounts, making sure you don't get surprised when your restaurant bill comes with 12% VAT and 10% service charge, paying for your credit card with a 3.5% interest rate...

Noli Me Tangere, a 1912 English translation

From the archives of Project Gutenberg, here is The Social Cancer, A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere, translated by Charles Derbyshire from the original work of Jose Rizal.

It contains a Translator's Introduction, which describes the Philippines under Spanish rule, Rizal's life, and the context of the novel. If you're writing a Noli book report, the introduction is worth looking at for more insights to guide you. Beware, though -- the translator uses words like "apogee" and "halcyon" -- an online dictionary would come in handy!

There have been many other (possibly better) translations published after this one, but if you need a Noli English version and don't mind when it's from, then at least this is free.

Spell it, say it, define it, use it in a sentence

Some people know how every English word is pronounced or spelled. (Or claim to know, at least.) I don't. And for those words I always have trouble with, I usually go to Answers.com.

An Answers.com entry about a word contains more than its definition. Just today I looked up how "tiara" is pronounced, and now I know that, as well as its Latin and Greek source words, its translations in a dozen languages, and even how a tiara made.

Now, I could go to a regular online dictionary for what I needed, but I think I learn more when I read all those extra bits.

Know Your Asian Capitals

I had to memorize the capitals of countries in Asia in second year high school. My teacher quizzed us on it through graded recitation, which really made me nervous because of the potential public humiliation of it. I passed, and until now I still remember the capitals of Oman, Turkey and Laos -- but I have no idea where they are on a map, or what kinds of cities they are.

The Asian geography tutorials on the Sheppard Software site put it all in perspective. Choose an online quiz (there are tutorial, beginner, and other levels) and you'll learn capitals and countries and where they are on the map. The Tutorial level also gives basic information about the capital city, just so you know a little more about it.

Once you've familiarized yourself with the region's geography, try the Asian Capitals quiz on Triviaplaza.com. Did you pass?

There are how many Philippine regions again?

My old "Araling Panlipunan" book would probably say 12 regions, plus the National Capital Region. Your book should be more recent, but it's good to check online anyway.

• The National Statistical Coordination Board website says we have 17 regions, as of September 2007. (That "as of" is important!)
• The DMOZ Open Directory says 17 as well, and includes short descriptions of each region.
• The Regions of the Philippines Wikipedia entry says 17 too, and includes a history of the regional divisions, as well as links to the entries of each province.

I noticed that these sites of the three, only Wikipedia classified Palawan as belonging to Region 6. (It was transferred from Region 4B.) Which reminds me why it's good to check more than one source.

Grammar Girl

Everyone needs help with grammar. English is just that complicated! You might be in the honor roll or can write a decent "formal theme composition", sure -- but don't think that there's nothing else you need to know.

Grammar Girl offers short podcasts on grammar topics like how to use hyphens, "between versus among" and other sources of confusion. If you're at an internet cafe right now and don't have an mp3 player handy, you can read transcripts of the grammar tips instead.

Online Filipino-English Dictionary

Some school subjects require papers to be written exclusively in Filipino, some in English. The problem is that as a student, you most likely have both languages in your brain. Gersam.com has an online Filipino-English dictionary that can help you find the appropriate translations.

It's not perfect, though, because not all Filipino words have a direct translation in English, and vice versa. But this site provides "Alternate Words" at least, which can help you find a good-enough substitute.

If you can afford it, though, do get yourself a nice, thick Filipino-English dictionary from the nearest bookstore. It's just handy.

*UPDATE: Looks like Gersam.com has been down lately. You can check out the Tagalog Dictionary instead, which provides not just the definitions of words, but also related words. This is worth a bookmark!

Geometry tutorial at library.thinkquest.org

Geometry is one of those subjects that you can't be lazy about at the beginning of the school year. I know -- I sort of slacked off in the first few weeks of geometry, and as a result I had trouble with it the whole year because everything depended on my understanding of the basic concepts, proofs, theorems.

The Geometry tutorial at library.thinkquest.org can help you catch up on those basics, in case you started off like I did. The lessons are short, mostly illustrated, and there are practice tests with answers to help you.

Wikipedia

Despite the controversy about letting students use Wikipedia for research, I still think it's too useful to ignore.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to. This both a good and bad thing -- good because you get to read the shared knowledge of the world, and bad because people can post misleading or untrue information. The active Wikipedia community has rules to protect the integrity of their project, but all the same, you have to be careful and check with other sources if your Wikipedia info is correct.

Which is what you're supposed to be doing anyway. Even if your source is an old-school, heavy encyclopedia volume, it's still not enough -- you should not be using that as your only source of info. Encyclopedia entries are short summaries and may contain outdated information. Good thing the Internet is around so getting more sources is easier.

Wikipedia works best when you use it only as a guide to get more information. Check the "References" on the bottom of the page, and you'll see other websites that are probably better resources for your topic.

Alibata - fatoprofungus.net

Alibata (or Baybayin) is an ancient Filipino writing system, with roots tracing back to pre-colonial life in the islands. The Alibata pages in fatoprofungus.net contain more info about its origins.

Most likely you will graduate from college without being required to learn to write in alibata. But if you'd like to learn on your own, you can check out the site's Usage Guide or simply type a word into the online transliterator.

scholar.google.com

Google Scholar is a search engine for academic papers and documents, or "scholarly literature", as they put it. You can find many references for your "review of related literature" here, although many sites provide only abstracts and not the full text of documents. If you hit a dead end with an article that you can't read for free, search for related work of the authors -- maybe you'll find other sites that have more information.

This is also very helpful when your topic is something that is too current ("blogging habits of high school students", "social networks" etc) for your school library to have gotten good resources on it already.

ottobib.com

Tip for that term paper: OttoBib is a website that automatically generates entries for your bibliography in the different format standards. (APA, MLA, Turabian, etc... depending on what you need.)

You'll need the ISBN of the book you're referencing, so you should take note of it in case you found the book in a library. But even if you didn't note it down, you can find a book's ISBN online anyway. (Hint: Google can help.)

www.gutenberg.net

Project Gutenberg is a site that collects books that are in the public domain, publishing them in various electronic formats.

The ebooks here are free to download, and you can read them on your PC or other gadgets that can read text files. Project Gutenberg has also managed to collect works in Tagalog, Cebuano, and Iloko.

If you can't decide which one of the millions of free ebooks to start with, you can try:

• Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
• Lineage, Life and Labors of José Rizal, Philippine Patriot
• Homer's The Iliad
• Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

The Rules

The sites posted here are just to help you get the facts -- what you write must still come from your own understanding.

In other words:
Do not copy and paste directly from websites without citing your source.
Do not cite "Google" or "Wikipedia" (and other similar sites) as your only source.
Do not plagiarize.