What to do with a wild elephant?

Today, I read about the raging elephant in Kampong Speu province, and thought about how for all our modern lifestyles, it is still difficult to stop an angry elephant. It also reminded me of a famous essay by George Orwell, the author of Animal Farm and 1984. He was a police officer for the British Colonial Government in Burma (Myanmar today), and was once forced to shoot an elephant with a powerful rifle. But why did he shoot the elephant? Read the story below to find out:

Questions to think about:
*Have you ever been in charge of something? How did that change the way you acted?
*Have you ever been afraid of being embarassed? How did it change the way you acted?
*What do you think life was like for Cambodian people under the French Colonial Government?
*What do you think life was like for the French people who worked in the Colonial Government?

Click the link below to read the story.

A Good Video: How to Write a Research Paper

Earlier, I explained some basics of how to do research. Once you have done your research, however, you need to write it up into a paper. Here is a helpful video that explains one easy method of writing a research paper, journal article, or thesis:



Thanks to Simon Lindgren, maker of the video.

a recommendation

I try to keep in touch with my former students, or at least the ones who were interested in learning. Panharath, one of my former students, has his own blog. He has a unique writing style, born from his command of English vocabulary and structures, and willingness to use them in any situation. I encourage you to read his short story about a family that comes to Phnom Penh for the Water Festival, and gets caught in the terrible stampede on Koh Pich:

...the excitement grew stronger as the parents had been told about the newly built playground at a park near the riverside and mostly thrillingly, the fanciest venue available to everyone, the country’s renounced Koh Pich (Diamond Island). The expectation for Om Tuk this year then got even higher, and the anticipation of seeing the new places is overwhelming... 

--From  "The Festival of Fun and Fatal Fiasco"