We learned many things this month. For example, we read the absent author, a book about an author that goes missing. I thought that book was very fun and interesting. We also had dialogue worksheets. We needed to use a dialogue to write a story. Then, we needed to act the story out. Ｉthought the dialogue work was hard because we needed to think about characters, setting and what each character should say. 

In this project, we were tasked to form teams with our classmates, work together to write a dialogue play, and act it out in front of the class. I learned to apply the vocabulary and grammar I learned from class. This helped me focus on creating a dialogue that can used as a storyline and play. It helped me learn to work together as a group to write a story based on people might say in real life situations.

What could I improve?
I can improve on trying to communicate with my teammate outside of class if he is often not coming to school. I can try to use more of the vocabulary and grammar that I learned from class. I can be more engaged with the project, be more connected with my teammate, and use more of what was learned during class in the project. I will also practice my performance at home to make sure that my  speaking is smooth and pronunciation is correct.

What habits can I work on?
I can work on better habits like setting small goals and making plans with my teammates. When not working with my teammate, I need to focus on my own tasks.  I need to learn to be proactive. I can work on keeping up with the teammates even if they do not come to class.

Collaboration and feedback:
I need to work on my part of the Dialogue Play even when outside of class and not working together with my team. If I work hard and focus, I know I can do better.

How does this connect to other classes:
This project can connect to my other classes when I use my English writing and speaking skills and teamwork skills. It can allow me to do better in my other classes in different ways. My other classes also require us to work in groups and use English.

Unit 3

For Unit 3,  the assignment was to write a compare and  contrast essay about Taipei versus Mumbai.  It was interesting because we had to do research on many differences between these two large cities. Some of the differences I researched was cost of living, modes of public transportation, and overall convenience of transportation. We use the information from our research to write our esssays comparing and contrasting Taipei and Mumbai.

Final Essay
                                                  Taipei vs Mumbai

Mumbai and Taipei are two busy and lively cities in Asia. Both places have crowded streets with and people moving around every day. Even though they are far apart, they still share some similarities. They also have some differences that affect how people live. By comparing transportation and the cost of living, we can understand life in both cities better.

Mumbai and Taipei both have strong public transportation systems. Taipei’s MRT is clean, fast, and very convenient for daily travel. People use EasyCards to pay for their ride. (No textual evidence. No Explanation.) Mumbai’s BEST bus system is large and affordable, and it connects many neighborhoods. (No textual evidence. No Explanation.) Both cities show how important public transportation is for helping people travel every day.

One major difference between the two cities is salary and cost of living. People in Mumbai earn less money each month than people in Taipei. According to Numbeo.com, Mumbai’s average salary is about 24,072 NT, =while Taipei’s salary are 49,595 NT. However, life in Taipei is more expensive, especially for transportation and education. These differences show how daily living costs can change from one city to another.

Mumbai and Taipei are both lively cities with busy lifestyles. They share similarities in their public transportation systems. They also have clear differences in salary and living costs. These similarities help keep life moving in both cities. The differences shows how each city offers its own way of living. 

3 things I could improve: 

1. check my grammar more carefully 

2. do more research and remember to cite the source

3. revise and proofread my drafts a few more times

What habits can I work on?
To improve, I can learn to not procrastinate and begin working on my essays sooner so I have more time to edit and revise my work. I can spend more time brainstorming and researching if I start earlier. More vocabulary words from the book, Thirst, could have been used in my writing. I also need to work on reading my work out loud so I can improve my pronunciation and flow.

How does this connect to other classes?

For this essay, I did a lot of research into the public transportation system, cost of living, overall living standards of both Taipei and Mumbai. In Science and PBL class, I had to do research on the internet. The research that I did for this compare and contrast essay project was mainly to find information. In PBL, I had to do research and find YouTube videos on how to make a simple water filter to make clean water. It is interesting to learn about the world in many different ways through research. For Science, I have to research on the topics like matter and find pictures to include in my GSP. I learned that some sources of information are less reliable than others. Not everything we find on the internet is real. One example is when I first researched, I found out that Taipei McDonald's is more expensive than Mumbai McDonald's. But when I searched again more carefully, I found out that Taiwan McDonald's Big Mac price is the cheapest in the world. Learning to verify facts and do deeper research for this project helped me learn skills that can also be applied to my other classes.