Jeng Academic Center

08/19/2024

今晚閱讀：https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2024/06/why-classics-necessary-louise-cowan.html

08/18/2024

How JAC Designs the English Curriculum for 2024 Fall Semester

Dr. De-Yin Jeng (08-18-2024)

For a long time, I have often told my students, "English -- not mathematics, physics, chemistry, computer science, biology, or any other subjects -- is the most important subject worthy of in-depth study."

This does not mean that other subjects are unimportant, but rather that strengthening language skills inevitably enhances the ability to learn other subjects as well. Language involves reading, comprehension, thinking, writing, verbal expression, and organizational skills. These abilities are like the foundation of a tall building—a strong and solid language foundation is an indispensable skill for future academic development.

As for English, due to its highly structured nature, English writing can take on a multitude of forms, from simple workaday communication to nuanced and intricate discussions and arguments. Coupled with its vast vocabulary, the range of difficulty in English reading can be extremely wide. Short sentences can be complex and difficult to understand, whereas long sentences, if structured clearly and grammatically sound, can be smooth, coherent, and easy to grasp.

This means that to excel in English reading and writing, two things must be mastered: (1) a rich vocabulary and (2) a solid foundation in grammar.

Since the advent of smartphones, tablets, and other 3D products, having a rich vocabulary has become increasingly elusive. This is because most students' reading habits stem from 3D products, which only offer common, almost colloquial vocabulary.

A strong foundation in grammar, unfortunately, is not favored by contemporary American culture. The prevailing popular culture in the United States believes, "There is no need to learn the grammar of my own mother tongue, because I was born speaking English, and I understand English." The fact is, within the realm of spoken conversation, no one would — or needs to — worry about grammatical issues. That is the hobby of an egghead professor, a term Americans love to mock. No one needs to be an egghead professor. (However, those who follow popular culture forget that English learning in general also includes reading and writing in the "non-spoken" world. The vocabulary for writing is much larger than that for speaking; the vocabulary for reading is even larger than that for writing. Without grammar training, English proficiency can only stay at the primitive, spoken level.)

When this popular concept permeates the classroom, it manifests as a collective, subconscious belief that “grammar is an irrelevant accessory.” This subconscious belief is reflected in the collective “neglect of grammar instruction” in public schools, leading to a collective lack of grammar knowledge among today’s American middle and high school students. This lack of grammar knowledge, in turn, limits their potential in language learning and further restricts their academic performance in reading and writing skills. In other words, as a well-known English proverb goes, “for want of a nail.”

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.�
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost.�
For want of a horse, the rider was lost.�
For want of a rider, the message was lost.�
For want of a message, the battle was lost.�
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost.�
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

It may be of interest to create a similar ditty:

For want of a grammar training, the sentence became unclear.�For want of a clear sentence, reading ability was lost.�
For want of reading ability, comprehension was lost.�
For want of comprehension, academic performance was lost.�
For want of academic performance, the students’ choice for future were lost.�
All this because of neglecting grammar.

—Dr. Jeng (2024)

08/18/2024

JAC如何設計2024年 秋季班的英語課程

鄭德音 ( 2024年八月十八日）

長久以來，我經常對學生說：“英語— 而不是數學，物理，化學，電腦，生物等等其他科目—才是最重要且最值得一門深入地學習的科目。”

這並不是說其他科目不重要，而是說，強化了語言能力，也必然同時強化了其他科目的學習能力。因為語言涉及閱讀，理解，思考，寫作，表達，組織能力，這些能力如同一座高達建築的基底，強健穩固的語言基礎是日後學術發展不可或缺的能力。

就英語而言，由於它的語言結構性顯著，使得英文的表達形式千姿百態，從簡白的日常傳情達意到曲盡幽微的細密議論思辨，配合上海納百川式的豐富詞彙，使得英語閱讀的難易差異跨度極廣。短小的句子可能複雜難解；反之，漫漫長句，如果結構清晰文法得體，卻又可以清通流暢，一覽無遺。

這說明要學好英語閱讀和寫作，需掌握兩個要素：

（1）豐富的詞彙量，
（2）深厚的文法基礎。

豐富的詞彙量在手機和平板等3D產品盛行以來，變得遙不可及。因為多數學生的閱讀習慣來自3D產品，而3D產品只能供應普遍常用，近乎口語的詞彙。

深厚的文法基礎不受美國文化的青睞。當前的美國通俗文化普遍認為「沒有必要學習我自己的母語的文法，因為我出生就講英語，我懂得英語。」事實是，在口語會話的範圍內，的確沒有人會，也不需要，糾結於任何文法問題，那是蛋頭教授(egghead professor)的嗜好。而蛋頭教授是美國人最喜歡嘲諷的對象。沒有人需要成為蛋
頭教授。（不過奉行通俗文化的人忘了，英語學習還包含「非口語」世界的閱讀和寫作。寫作詞彙遠大於口語詞彙；閱讀詞彙又遠大於寫作詞彙。少了文法訓練，英語能力只能停留在口語階段。）

這種通俗概念傳到了學校教室內，就成了「文法是無關緊要的附屬品」的集體潛意識。這種潛意識反映在公立學校集體地「忽視文法教學，」也造就了今日美國中學生和高中生集體缺乏文法知識，這種文法知識的缺乏，又回頭限制了他們在語言上的學習高度語與深度，並進一步限制了中學生與高中生在閱讀和寫作能力上的學術表現。用一句耳熟能詳的英文諺語來說，這叫做「for want of a nail.」

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.�For want of a shoe the horse was lost.�For want of a horse the rider was lost.�For want of a rider the message was lost.�For want of a message the battle was lost.�For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.�And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

為了一顆釘子，馬蹄鐵丟了。�為了馬蹄鐵，馬丟了。�為了馬，騎士丟了。�為了騎士，訊息丟了。�為了訊息，戰役丟了。�為了戰役，王國丟了。�這一切都是因為忽視了一顆馬蹄釘。

我們可以拿來比擬：

為了一個文法，句子弄不清了
為了句子，閱讀能力丟了
為了閱讀能力，理解能力丟了
為了理解能力，課業丟了
為了課業，未來的選擇丟了
這一切都是因為忽視了文法。

——Dr. Jeng（2024年）

07/25/2024

慶祝JAC創立二十週年，回顧歷年來教學足跡和理念。並製作短視頻為註腳。

03/30/2024

Dear parents,

The new Adaptive Digital SAT exam finally made its debut in the United States in early March 2024, marking the beginning of a new era for this examination. This is College Board's third major overhaul since 2004, aimed to adapt to the rapidly changing times and the growth of young students in the new era. Besides transitioning from paper-based to digital testing, the format and content of the new exam are significantly different from the old specifications. For details about the new format, you can refer to this report: https://blog.prepscholar.com/digital-sat-format

The SAT exam experienced a decline in test-takers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading many schools to adopt SAT Optional or SAT Blind policies. However, over the past three years, starting in 2023, many elite schools have gradually abandoned these policies and began encouraging students to take the SAT/ACT again. The reason is simple - "standardized tests" remain a important and reliable measure for assessing students' academic levels and their future performance in college.

JAC has been offering SAT courses continuously since 2004, accumulating twenty years of experience. Dr. Jeng, known for his unique teaching method of "never teaching test-taking skills," has been widely loved and has helped many students improve their academic performance. Dr. Jeng's teaching has always focused on "understanding English grammar, grasping mathematical concepts," encouraging students to become "thinkers who enjoy thinking." In the age of AI, spending time learning test-taking skills to beat the test seems akin to learning Morse code from the 19th century to communicate with others.

Such a learning approach solely aimed at scoring high on exams is no longer suitable for today's society.

Since 2020, JAC has fully embraced online learning, allowing students to take classes without geographical constraints.

03/06/2024

今夜閱讀：

Let me begin this brief reflection with a testimonial. Culture is the motive that gives me joy from one day to the next, the reason I get up each morning. And what do I mean by culture? Let me attempt to articulate my precise

01/02/2021

01/02/2021

JAC2021年春季班課程說明

12/15/2020

—嘉科教育中心八年級學生對於2020年秋季班邏輯課的反饋—
以下這篇短文來自JAC2020年秋季班邏輯課裡的一位八年級學生，述說她這學期在JAC邏輯課中的學習心得。
我自己在大一時曾經選修過理則學，是在成功大學化學系的系館裡上的課。實話說，我完全不記得自己學了什麼。
2010年開始，我在加州教了幾年英語課之後，逐漸體會我在英語課裡所要傳達的英語句型結構概念，事實上是屬於不變的「形式/結構」（form），由「形式」想到了柏拉圖的「理型」（idea），由柏拉圖又不可避免地接觸到亞里士多德創立的形式邏輯（formal logic）。於是心中尋思著有朝一日要開邏輯課。此事兩年前終於實現。我授課的對象是六到八年級學生。
我自己大一時都茫然不解的科目，八年級學生的學生能從這古老的形式邏輯學會什麼？我們且看看這位女學生自述的心路歷程。
首先，她引用一句Good things take time 的老生常談，開門見山提起剛接觸邏輯課時的應接不暇，但立刻補充說明正是因為邏輯課的初期摸不著邊際感讓她體會這句老話的真實。
接下來是一系列的引述這學期她所學會的概念，條理分明地從三種mental act (simple apprehension, judgment, deductive inference)，和三種verbal expression (term, proposition, syllogism) 說起。接著學會A，E， I， O等四個範疇命題裡的量（quantitative）和質(qualitative) 的區別， 然後提到認識了歷史上著名的邏輯學者。接著是形式邏輯中的distribution概念以及七個讓邏輯命題有效的基本原則。
這門課雖然還沒上完，她已經可以感受思考符合邏輯的益處。她用邏輯推理的方式，很平和且極具說服力地讓她的生物老師同意她對一道作業問題的解釋觀點，老師更正了原先的批改，給了她滿分！
這位學生思維清晰，秩序井然，有條不紊，確實適合學習邏輯！
她上課時總是歡欣地帶著微笑學習，明顯看得出她非常享受學習的喜樂，而這種喜樂，恰是嘉科教育最想要傳遞的學習體驗。
疫情以來，我從未和這班學生有過直接見面的機會，但這不影響我們的教學與學習成效。以往遠距所造成難以克服的疏離感，已經被科技消弭於無形！
她的原文如下：
Logic Reflection
By M. R.
“Good things take time.” I’m sure most people have been told this cliche saying by their parents at least once and have carelessly tossed it away. Even I once doubted the verity of this overused statement. Only difference is, I came to realize its deep significance through logic.
Logic is a hard topic to grasp. During the first few logic lessons I took, I was incredibly overwhelmed. All the new concepts and facts made no sense to me and I was utterly confused. But as I persisted: taking classes and doing my homework, everything started to fall into place. The puzzle pieces had finally begun to arrange themselves together and I was starting to see the big picture. To set the foundation for learning logic, I was taught the six Mental Acts and Verbal Expressions. Following, I learned about each of the four kinds of categorical statements: A, E, I and O. Next, I learned how to determine the quality (affirmative or negative) and quantity (universal or particular) of all four of them. Then, I learned about how all the statements were related through Aristotle’s logic table. I also was educated on all the ancient (and more recent) logicians and philosophers who made important contributions to the study of logic. Some examples include Aristotle (the father of logic), Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and John Stuart Mill. Later, I learned about distribution and the three types of terms. Most importantly, I learned about the difference between validity in the form of a syllogism and truth in the content of a syllogism. Currently, I am learning about the seven rules that syllogisms must follow to be considered valid.
You may be asking, “Sure, this sounds cool and all, but how will I use this in my real life?” I was wondering the exact same thing when I started taking logic. Turns out, logic applies in all of our everyday lives! Logic will greatly boost your argumentative skills on paper and in person. This comes in especially handy when discussing with teachers as it is essential to ensure that you have a solid, bulletproof argument so they can easily understand your perspective. Logic is also very useful for exercising your common sense. When you learn logic, you will begin to view the world in a completely new way. As Dr. Joe Lau from Critical Thinking Web states, “Formal logic helps us identify patterns of good reasoning and patterns of bad reasoning, so we know which to follow and which to avoid. This is why studying basic formal logic can help improve critical thinking”. In general, logic makes us more reasonable and knowledgeable people.
To conclude, even though logic is hard at first, it is critical to keep on going. This semester, logic has truly taught me so much not only about the subject itself, but also about how good things need to take time. The crop you sow will only grow if you take time to nurture and care for it. But in the end, the harvest you reap will be well worth the wait.
(There are countless benefits to learning logic but there is one thing you should keep in mind: logic is a powerful tool, so be cautious with how you use it. If you are right all the time, people will start to dislike you because you will always make sense/be correct and they will get very annoyed. )
Why are you still here? You should be learning logic right now! Seriously it’s one of the best subjects to learn. ESPECIALLY in Dr. Jeng’s class. Thank me later 😉

09/14/2020

嘉科教育疫情期間推薦讀物：「亨利-大衛梭羅日記」

2020年八月二十七日的華爾街日報刊登了一篇名為「Philosophy for A Time of Crisis」文章。作者是自稱為philosophical traveler 的Eric Weiner， 著有The Socrates Express， The Geography of Genius 等書。這篇文章所提到的幾個哲學家，除了卡繆之外，恰巧都在今秋的「跟鄭老師讀書」課中介紹過: 蘇格拉底，梭羅，蒙恬，Epictetus, Zeno等。Werner認為古希臘的斯多亞(Stoics)學派的哲學觀和近代的存在主義思想可以幫助大家更有智慧地面對疫情所帶來的巨變和不安。有興趣的讀者可取來一讀。

Reading with Dr. Jeng這門課介紹這些哲學家給七八年級的學生認識， 目的在引導他們對不同人的思想觀點有初步理解。通常我會要求學生就課程所介紹的作者寫一小段生平事蹟，以加深他們對該作者的印象。當他們往後在閱讀其他讀物時-比如說華爾街日報這篇文章-自然會有親近熟悉感，而不致於因對於哲學家一無所知而卻步。

從鼓勵學生獨立思考和英語寫作的角度來看，我則向家長們建議七八年級以上的學生在這段期間可以閱讀梭羅的作品。不過我要介紹的不是那本廣為人知的「Walden」（中譯：湖濱散記），而是較少人知道的「The Journal」-梭羅日記。這是一本近700頁的書，搜集了梭羅從二十歲到44歲的日記。

七八年級的學生還不足以深刻理解梭羅的思想，但絕對可以學習梭羅對大自然的愛好，觀察入微，以及隨處可見的人文情懷。讓電子世代的青少年親近並認識喜歡大自然，可從自家後院的草木鳥類以及出沒頻繁的昆蟲蜥蜴等觀察起， 可以讓心靈遠離電子訊號，身體接近泥土，時刻感覺自己是大自然的一部分。如果以閒適從容不迫的心情和態度來仔細閱讀，近700頁的書可以佔據整個中學時代。

另一個好處便是英語寫作。梭羅是個仔細推敲文字的作者，下筆總要經過深思。他的文筆自成一格，主要來自他獨特的思想特質，再加上深厚的古典人文素養，令這位喜歡獨處和享受山林野趣的自然主義思想家也成了卓越的作家。