March, 2010

now browsing by month

 
Posted by: | Posted on: March 31, 2010

Hocky battling in Canada

Letters from abroad

Wednesday, 31 March 2010 15:00 Sophan Seng

LFAJust few weeks ago, Canadians were proudly cheering on their team as they celebrated Canada’s gold-medal hockey win over America in the 2010 Olympic winter games held in Vancouver. Days afterwards, the National Hockey League (NHL) resumed its regular season, and in April the league will begin its own championship tournament. There are 32 hockey teams in the NHL who represent 32 cities with their hockey-playing prowess.

The league is divided into 16 teams on the West Coast and 16 teams on the East Coast. Canada has six teams in the East Coast league, with the other 26 teams coming from America. The playoffs are the grand finale of the season, where eight teams from each side of the continent play each other for the Stanley Cup, a trophy that is given to the league’s best team each year.

“I am cheering for the Calgary Flames to reach the playoffs,” said Kevin Troung, who is an 18-year-old fan of the Canadian hockey team. “They are currently battling with the Red Wings of Detroit to get a chance to enter the Stanley Cup finals.”

While football is the most popular sport in Cambodia, hockey is without a doubt the most popular sport in Canada, and the two games have many differences. In football, the players run around on the green grass wearing nothing but shin pads to protect themselves from injury. Hockey players, on the other hand, are equipped with helmets, padding and a stick that they use to move the puck (like a flattened ball) around the ice while they move around on their skates like hurricanes. Each side is composed of six players: three forwards who attempt to hit the puck into the opponent’s small goal, and two defenders and a goalie who try to stop the other team from scoring. Like soccer, the winner is the team that scores the most goals.
Read More …

Posted by: | Posted on: March 25, 2010

Critical/Analytical Thinking

Critical Thinking

One of the crucial goals of education is to permeate critical thinking for students. You are engaging in process of critical thinking when you weigh evidence, analyze points of view, and evaluate the outcomes of a decision. Critical thinking requires you to judge thing reasonably about issues by considering evidence and using clear criteria to guide your decisions. Those criteria including consider all relevant evidence, develops criteria for making reasoned judgments, make judgments on the basis of these criteria, and works on developing the character traits, or habits of mind that promote effective decision making.

Actually, you make choices every day — at school, at home, with friends, and at work. For example, you may need to decide whether to join an after-school activity, whether to support a friend in demonstration, or how to plan your courses for the year.

Utilizing criteria to guide your decisions will help you achieve in school. Furthermore, the benefits of utilizing criteria to guide your decisions go well beyond the social studies classroom. Developing effective criteria will ensure that you make the most effective choices when faced with challenges in all aspects of your life.

Habits of Mind

Habits of mind to promote critical thinking and effective decision making are essential. Whether you are completing a social studies assignment or dealing with other challenges, these habits of mind can help you achieve success at school and in life.

What habits of mind or critical thinking you have pursued?

Read More …

Posted by: | Posted on: March 24, 2010

Letter from Abroad: Struggling Life

Wednesday, 24 March 2010 15:00 Sophan Seng

LFAIt’s February in Canada and the temperature is below the freezing point. The people are shaking in the cold, harsh winter wind and the ground is entirely covered by a thick layer of white ice. Pheak Kdey, who is 30-years-old, drives his BMW through the blistering cold every day to work at his gas station. But today, he is taking time to join a meeting with other ethnic Cambodians to discuss their action plan for 2010.

The six-strong Khmer Youth Association of Alberta has contributed substantially to its community since it was founded in 1994 in Calgary, a sprawling city in western Canada. Pheak Kdey, who migrated from a border camp in 1983 during the civil war in Cambodia, was raised and educated here, and now runs a family business.

Pheak Kdey is one of many young Cambodians who have grown up in a foreign country, and he said that this hasn’t always been easy. “My parents had a difficult time adapting to a new life in an unfamiliar culture, surrounded by people speaking a foreign language,” he said. “But I enjoyed making new friends at school, and I became a coordinator between my parents and other people in our community.” After graduating from high school, Pheak Kdey began working at a gas station and seven years later, he was the station’s owner.
Read More …

Posted by: | Posted on: March 11, 2010

Young Khmers abroad and the Khmer music

Letter from Abroad

Letter from abroad 10-03-2010

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 15:00 Sophan Seng

You might be curious to know what young Khmers living abroad choose to do to entertain themselves in their free time. Surprisingly, many of them choose to listen to the same Khmer pop and karaoke music that is so popular in the Kingdom.

While riding in his car, I noticed that my friend Patrick owned a number of Khmer CDs, ranging from oldies to modern songs. “I have always listened to Khmer songs,” said 23-year-old Patrick Meas, who has lived in Alberta since he was very young. “Preap Sovat is my favourite singer.”

Considering that he has lived most of his life away from Cambodia, as a Canadian citizen, it is incredible to see that Patrick can sing “Beautiful Girls” in Khmer.

While the song was originally sung by Jamaica-American rapper Sean Kingston, it  is very popular in Canada and has been repeatedly played on the radio here. The fact that an American song was translated into Khmer and now is being sung by Canadians shows the intermingling of cultures around the world.
Read More …