Scientific English

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Scientific English
Your teacher Bor-ming Jahn (???) Graduated from
NTU-Geology in 1963 (BSc.) Left Taiwan for the
U.S. in 1965 Returned to Taiwan from France in
2003 NTU Chair professor (Jan. 2003 Jan.
2006) NTU Adjunct professor (Aug. 2004
present) MSc - Brown U Ph.D. - U of
Minnesota Post-doctoral research - NASA-Johnson
Space Center Lunar Science Institute, Houston
( 4 years) Associate full professor at
Université de Rennes, France, for 27
years. Written 160 articles (only 1 in French
0 in Chinese) Present post - Director (and
distinguished fellow), Institute of Earth
Sciences, Academia Sinica
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Contents
First semestre (22 September 2005 January,
2006) Every Thursday 16h30 to 18h20 (session
of 2 hours per week, for 16 weeks) A total of 16
sessions (32 hours) of course and practical
work Learn something that you do not learn in
ordinary English class Structure of the
course  (a) Introduction (1 session)
Purposes to improve your skill of English
expression - in scientific reading and writing
- in oral communication Analysis of
common Chinese problems in English expression -
pronunciation - grammatical errors (b) Writing
a scientific or technical report (1
session) Basic grammar for good style
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Contents - 2
(c) Minimum vocabulary in earth sciences (5
sessions)  Earthquakes  as a textbook - to
increase your vocabulary and get familiar
with terms in earth sciences. (d) Practical
sessions - Writing scientific report (3
sessions) - Writing CV and reading ads or
publicities (1 session) - Audio laboratory
exercises (CNN listening or BBC World News 2
sessions) - Analysis of science articles in
Newsweek or Time magazines (2 sessions) The
contents might be modified as time goes Quiz (3
times the duration of each not
determined) Mid-term examination Final examination
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Introduction - 1
Purposes to improve your skill of English
expression - in scientific reading and writing
- in oral communication It is surely
axiomatic that the aim of scientific or technical
writing is to transmit information accurately,
quickly and economically from one person to
another. But why do so many scientists and
engineers make their writing so heavily
unreadable? Obviously, their subject matter is
sometimes complex and conceptually difficult but
frequently the  unreadability  stems from use
of a style that makes the readers task much
heavier than it need be.  Style  matters -
direct, effective and readable.
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Introduction - 2
Analysis of common Chinese problems in English
expression - in pronunciation - common errors
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Introduction - 3
Accent and pronunciation (correct
spelling?) (a) English pronunciation no easy
rules Let's see just a few examples ow we
bow before the king you wear a bow-tie a bowl
of rice bowling cow, a queen dowager, how, low,
now, know-how. ou loud, have a bout with
someone, cough-couch, double, doubt, mouse. au
author, caught, caution, daughter, fault, gauge,
laugh, taught, drought, draught ( draft
beer). o move, woman, women, hot, top, ton,
tone, gone, tomb, tome, bomb h hand, hear,
hint, horn, hurt, hungry-angry, (muet)
hour ch-sh English, not Englich talk-walk,
work-walk word-world pseudo, psychology-psychiat
ry idea, determine, olivine folk-fork indicted
war criminals receive, reception, receipt short
debts make long friends deeply indebted to you
for... iron, iron oxide ion, cation, anion g
never ju like in french.
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Introduction - 4
(b)  Chinese  problems in English oral
expression - Placement of accent (sometimes,
but not so often as the French) - Frequent
cut-off of vowel or consonant (very severe) -
mixing of  l  and  r  (terrible for the
Chinese and even worse for the Japanese) Ex.,
Accent interpret-interpretation,
contribute-contribution, image-imagine, attribute
(v in second, n in first)-attribution,
even-event, Mixing of  l  and  r  Clinton,
clay minerals, plate tectonics,
flattening, apply-application, flesh-fresh,
player-prayer, close-cross, class- classic
(Japanese I rike to show, I rike to eat lice,
) Difficult sounds thickening (sickening), 3
(tree, free, three) Vowel cut-off icetop
(isotope), ecgite (eclogite), omfcite
(omphacite), aptite (appetite, apatite,
uptight) Consonant cut-off (Cantonese style)
not at all, good luck, outside, inside- out,
call-in, W, w, quartz
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Suggested references

• Langosch, Sydney L., 1999, Writing American
  Style, Barrons, 200 pp. (available at Costco,
  NT 305)
• Kirkman, John, Good style writing for science and
  technology. E FN Spon, London, 221 pp. (ISBN 0
  419 17190 8)
• Yang Jen Tsi, An outline of scientific writing.
  World Scientific, Singapore, New Jersey, london,
  Hong Kong, 160 pp. (ISBN 9810224664, pbk)
• CNN Listening. Live ABC
• Whatever you may find in bookshops

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Entertainment
FUNNY ENGLISH NOTICES AROUND THE WORLD! Here are
some signs and notices written in English that
were discovered throughout the world. Dont be
shy, we all make mistakes! In a Tokyo Hotel Is
forbidden to steal hotel towels please. If you
are not a person to do such thing is please not
to read notis. In a Bucharest hotel lobby The
lift is being fixed for the next day. During
that time we regret that you will be
unbearable. In a Leipzig elevator Do not enter
the lift backwards, and only when lit up.
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In a Belgrade hotel elevator To move the cabin,
push button for wishing floor. If the cabin
should enter more persons, each one should press
a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going
alphabetically by national order. In a Paris
hotel elevator Please leave your values at the
front desk. In a hotel in Athens Visitors are
expected to complain at the office between the
hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily. In a Yugoslavian
hotel The flattening of underwear with pleasure
is the job of the chambermaid.
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In a Japanese hotel You are invited to take
advantage of the chambermaid. In the lobby of a
Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox
monastery You are welcome to visit the cemetery
where famous Russian and Soviet composers,
artists, and writers are buried daily except
Thursday. In an Austrian hotel catering to
skiers Not to perambulate the corridors in the
hours of repose in the boots of ascension. On
the menu of a Swiss restaurant Our wines leave
you nothing to hope for.
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On the menu of a Polish hotel Salad a firm's
own make limpid red beet soup with cheesy
dumplings in the form of a finger roasted duck
let loose beef rashers beaten up in the country
people's fashion. Outside a Hong Kong tailor
shop Ladies may have a fit upstairs. (get
surprise, angry) In a Bangkok dry
cleaner's Drop your trousers here for best
results. Outside a Paris dress shop Dresses
for street walking. From a Japanese information
booklet about using a hotel air
conditioner Cooles and Heates If you want
just condition of warm in your room, please
control yourself.
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In a Rhodes tailor shop Order your summers
suit. Because is big rush we will execute
customers in strict rotation. A sign posted in
Germany's Black Forest It is strictly forbidden
on our black forest camping site that people of
different sex, for instance, men and women, live
together in one tent unless they are married
with each other for that purpose. In a Zurich
hotel Because of the impropriety of
entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the
bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used
for this purpose. In an advertisement by a Hong
Kong dentist Teeth extracted by the latest
Methodists.
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In a Rome laundry Ladies, leave your clothes
here and spend the afternoon having a good
time. In a Czechoslovakian tourist agency Take
one of our horse-driven city tours - we
guarantee no miscarriages. Advertisement for
donkey rides in Thailand Would you like to ride
on your own ass? In a Swiss mountain
inn Special today -- no ice cream. In a
Bangkok temple It is forbidden to enter a woman
even a foreigner if dressed as a man.
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In a Tokyo bar Special cocktails for the ladies
with nuts. In a Copenhagen airline ticket
office We take your bags and send them in all
directions. Two signs from a Majorcan shop
entrance - English well talking. - Here
speeching American. In a Norwegian cocktail
lounge Ladies are requested not to have
children in the bar. In a Budapest zoo Please
do not feed the animals. If you have any
suitable food, give it to the guard on duty.
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In the office of a Roman doctor Specialist in
women and other diseases. In a Tokyo shop Our
nylons cost more than common, but you'll find
they are best in the long run. From a brochure
of a car rental firm in Tokyo When passenger of
foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet
him melodiously at first, but if he still
obstacles your passage then tootle him with
vigor. CNRS-INSU excursion guide, December
1996 Two nights in hotels are reserved with two
persons per room. Mating will be done on site.