My Beloved Aunt

Listen to this week's podcast - My Beloved Aunt by Golf - and read the story below.


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Diploma Level 4A Writing - The Long Walk of Life

This term, the writing task was to write about a person, living or dead, who has been an influence on your life. You had to give examples and details to show how that person was important for you. We used the example of Rowan Atkinson's biography from Module 1 of Cutting Edge Upper Intermediate, which we are studying in Level 4.

This is, also, very similar to the personal preference writing task you get in the TOEFL. Here is an excellent essay written by Patipan Jinawong (Golf), who is an English Major at Chiang Mai University. You can also hear it in the podcast above. So, you can listen and read at the same time.

My Beloved Aunt

My aunt was a dependably selfless woman, who gave everything and did anything just for her family to be happy. Everyone around her would recognize her by the size of her body and the look of her cheerful face.

She was born in 1960, exactly five years after my mother was born. Her family was poor, and her native place was originally Lampang. In 1967, when she was 7, her mother decided to move to Mae Hong Son, because her father worked there. At that time, there was no airport in Lampang and even buses were hardly seen. Therefore, her family had to walk to Mae Hong Son, almost 300 kilometres, and it took them 3 months to get there. Tragically, her father passed away two years later.

She was the youngest in the family, so she got a lot of attention from her mother. In 1977, she was sent to Chiang Mai to further her education, but on one condition, she had to live on a low budget. After graduating college, she moved back to Mae Hong Son and became a teacher. Later in 1982, she got married to a man from a far away province. They said it was fate that brought them together.

As a teacher, she fulfilled her duties, but it seemed her income was never enough to support her family, neither was her husband's. So, she took an extra job selling jewelry. It went well for the first two years, but selling jewelry got her into a lot of debt. Therefore, she decided to do something else apart from selling jewelry. She came up with building a shop, but it was cancelled due to her family's financial position. Finally, she decided to sell Moo Yaw, Thai pork sausage.

In 2006, she decided to have a thorough medical check up, because she had had a terrible stomachache for a long time. The results showed she had stomach cancer, which was really rare. The doctor couldn't guarantee she would get better after surgery, but she was willing to take the risk. Therefore, she decided to have the surgery. The doctor successfully removed the cancer, but it had already spread to her whole stomach. So, her whole stomach was also removed. After the surgery she was continuously treated with chemotherapy. It was unimaginably painful for her, but she fought really hard to survive. She was truly a great fighter.

Later in 2007, her condition got even worse. There were no cures or remedies for her. Her body gradually turned black, due to a lack of "something or other" in her blood. Tubes were pushed down her throat, so she couldn't talk. Her hands shook when she tried to write. Her tears shed every time we came to visit her. It was a tremendously horrible moment. After three weeks of horrendous suffering, she passed away.

As I attended my aunt's funeral  tears formed in my eyes and rolled down my cheeks. She was one of the greatest and most interesting people I've known in my entire life.

Linking Ideas

When writing essays for the Diploma or the TOEFL you should try to link your ideas using connecting words or transitions, in order to develop your essay, and give it order and unity.

These words serve different purposes within a sentence.

"Although, but, yet, on the other hand, despite, still" are words that compare and contrast. 

"Further, moreover, in addition, besides" add information or an opinion.

"Because, for, since, due to, as a result of" gives reasons or proof.

And there are many others that can be used to help your essay flow and take shape. In order for the reader of your essay to follow your argument and your ideas, these words are essential. They are like signposts, because without them your reader is driving blind.

Consequently I would suggest that you start using these words in all your written work, because not only will it improve your writing, but also get you a higher grade.

The Dangers of Mobile Phones

As many of you know I'm not a big fan of mobile phones. I can't really see the point of them. They're incredibly annoying and they're dangerous.

When I was young there weren't any mobile phones and not many ordinary phones. They were a luxury and we tended to ignore them. If you wanted to talk or see your friends you went round to their house, and when you were far away you could write a letter. Letters were great. Who ever gets a letter now? If you didn't see your friends for a while you had all the more to talk about. You saved it up. And what do people use mobile phones for? "Hi. What are you doing?" "I'm answering this phone. What are you doing?"

The other thing I can't stand are the stupid ring tones. Who gives you the right to pollute the environment with this awful noise? Do you never think other people have to listen to this? And the most annoying thing of all: when you're deep in conversation with some one and their phone starts ringing, what do they do? They answer the mobile phone!!! And then they turn their back on you and start whispering to someone else. How rude can you be? Now, the mobile phone is more important than the person standing in front of you, or the people you're in company with. So many times I've sat in restaurants watching people at a table not talking to each other, but taking it in turn to talk on their mobile phones. Why did you go out to eat together? Do you not like the people you're with? Why don't you just go home?

Of course, mobile phones, apart from being stupid and annoying, are also proving, like cigarettes and alchohol, not only to be addictive, but dangerous as well. One danger is that they basically send microwaves through the air, so that when you hold one to your ear for long enough, you're cooking your brain. I once sat on a bus from Lamphun to Chiang Mai for over an hour, while the girl sitting next to me chatted nonsense on her mobile phone. She came on to the bus with it glued to her ear and left with it in the same position. She probably complains of headaches and not sleeping at night. I wonder why. The second danger caused by mobile phones is using them while driving. You see this every day in Chiang Mai. People driving one handed, dialling numbers and texting, weaving all over the road. Motorcycle riders are the most obvious idiots, but if you're sitting at the traffic lights you can see an awful lot of car drivers doing the same thing. And of course they're in the right. They're doing nothing wrong. They can do whatever they want. They don't care about you and me.

Watch the video below made by the Welsh police and never use your mobile phone while driving again. Be warned. It contains some shocking scenes. It's time to wake up to this mobile phone stupidity.