Euroasia: Language, Culture and Travel

Pakistan vs United Kingdom

Ken Leong — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:34:10 +0000

A friend sent me an interesting email today.

A Tale of Two Cities -

This is Lahore in Pakistan ……………………………

And this is Dewsbury in Yorkshire , United Kingdom………………………

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NZ International Film Festival – July 2010 – French films

Ken Leong — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 00:22:29 +0000

Many of you will know that the International Film Festival is on right now. Euroasia is a long-standing supporter of international films in NZ, and every year we encourage all the students at Euroasia Language Academy to go watch these films. Here’s a list of some of the French films you should check out. As always, there’s an amazing selection of top films on offer.

p/s: Join us for French classes starting 19 July if you wish to enjoy French films without solely relying on the subtitles.

Normal ticket price is $15/session. Tip for film festival fans: if you’re planning on attending several films at the Festival this year (or planning to go with a group of people), check out the Ten-Trip Passes. At $105.00, it works out at great value. The Ten-Trip Pass can be purchased on the day or in advance and can be used throughout the Festival to secure tickets to any session that is not sold out. You can also share this pass with a friend or two.

Check out “The Tree” – 16/7 at Lido and 23/7 at Civic. Selected to close this year’s Cannes Film Festival, French director Julie Bertuccelli’s second feature is an arresting drama of loss and rebirth shaped by emotion, intuition and the elemental forces at work in its ravishing Queensland landscape.

French films showing in Auckland at the Film Festival:

A PROPHET

Jacques Audiard, France 2009, 155 mins

Jacques Audiard’s dense, involving, richly layered crimeworld drama is one of the year’s standout films. Set largely in a prison, bu…

15 Jul | 8:45pm

Civic Theatre

16 Jul | 3:45pm

Civic Theatre

AMER

Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, France 2009, 90 mins

Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani are a Belgian couple who have made five short films together. Amer is their dazzling debut fea…

24 Jul | 8:30pm

Rialto Newmarket

25 Jul | 6:00pm

Rialto Newmarket

AROUND A SMALL MOUNTAIN

Jacques Rivette, France 2009, 84 mins

New Wave veteran Jacques Rivette sets a tentative late-life romance between a performer and an intrigued admirer in a tiny ramshackle circus…

10 Jul | 6:30pm

Rialto Newmarket

12 Jul | 6:30pm

Rialto Newmarket

9 Jul | 1:45pm

Rialto Newmarket

BABIES

Thomas Balmès, France 2010, 79 mins

With wit, tenderness and a keen eye for the fledgling signs of intelligence and sociability, director Thomas Balmès documents the fir…

10 Jul | 1:45pm

Civic Theatre

11 Jul | 4:00pm

Lido Cinema

Sold Out!

13 Jul | 11:00am

Civic Theatre

9 Jul | 3:30pm

The Bridgeway Cinema

CARLOS – PART ONE

Olivier Assayas, France 2010, 100 mins

This extraordinary three-film epic, made for French television, was showcased out of competition in Cannes to a storm of…

22 Jul | 4:00pm

Rialto Newmarket

23 Jul | 4:15pm

Rialto Newmarket

24 Jul | 4:15pm

Rialto Newmarket

25 Jul | 1:00pm

Rialto Newmarket

CARLOS – PART THREE

Olivier Assayas, France 2010, 123 mins

This extraordinary three-film epic, made for French television, was showcased out of competition in Cannes to a storm of…

22 Jul | 8:45pm

Rialto Newmarket

23 Jul | 9:00pm

Rialto Newmarket

24 Jul | 9:00pm

Rialto Newmarket

25 Jul | 5:45pm

Rialto Newmarket

CARLOS – PART TWO

Olivier Assayas, France 2010, 107 mins

This extraordinary three-film epic, made for French television, was showcased out of competition in Cannes to a storm of…

22 Jul | 6:15pm

Rialto Newmarket

23 Jul | 6:30pm

Rialto Newmarket

24 Jul | 6:30pm

Rialto Newmarket

25 Jul | 3:15pm

Rialto Newmarket

CERTIFIED COPY

Abbas Kiarostami, France 2010, 106 mins

At Cannes this was the year of Juliette Binoche. She graced the Festival’s poster; then she took the Best Actress Award for her role i…

18 Jul | 6:15pm

Civic Theatre

20 Jul | 11:00am

Civic Theatre

ENTER THE VOID

Gaspar Noé, France 2009, 156 mins

25 Jul | 8:15pm

Civic Theatre

FAREWELL

, France 2009, 113 mins

Christian Carion’s tensely atmospheric Cold War spy movie reveals an amazing true story. In the early 80s a disillusioned KGB colonel …

15 Jul | 6:00pm

Lido Cinema

20 Jul | 6:15pm

Civic Theatre

21 Jul | 11:00am

Civic Theatre

FATHER OF MY CHILDREN

Mia Hansen-Løve, France 2009, 110 mins

It’s a rare reviewer anywhere who has not been caught up by this persuasively acted portrait of a charismatic, workaholic, art-house m…

11 Jul | 1:00pm

Rialto Newmarket

15 Jul | 9:00pm

Rialto Newmarket

23 Jul | 3:30pm

The Bridgeway Cinema

24 Jul | 3:30pm

The Bridgeway Cinema

GAINSBOURG

Joann Sfar, France 2009, 130 mins

A quintessential French icon gets his big- screen bio. In the 60s, singer Serge Gainsbourg mixed pop outlawry with low-down lechery to blaze…

17 Jul | 5:45pm

Civic Theatre

20 Jul | 3:30pm

Civic Theatre

I’M GLAD MY MOTHER IS ALIVE

Claude Miller, Nathan Miller, France 2009, 90 mins

This compelling drama of a boy’s obsessive pursuit of his birth mother is based on a true story. Like many adolescents, rebellious Tho…

15 Jul | 3:45pm

Academy Cinema

19 Jul | 3:45pm

Academy Cinema

19 Jul | 8:30pm

Academy Cinema

LA DANSE: THE PARIS OPERA BALLET

Frederick Wiseman, France 2009, 158 mins

“In La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet, his 36th documentary in more than 40 years, Frederick Wiseman takes his camera into the stately …

16 Jul | 12:30pm

Civic Theatre

18 Jul | 12:30pm

Civic Theatre

MAMMUTH

Benoît Delépine, Gustave Kervern, France 2010, 89 mins

Inspired absurdists and cheerleaders of underclass rancour, Delépine and Kervern follow last year’s savoury Louise-Michel with …

17 Jul | 6:00pm

Lido Cinema

21 Jul | 1:30pm

Civic Theatre

23 Jul | 6:00pm

Lido Cinema

25 Jul | 4:00pm

Civic Theatre

OCEANS

Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud, France 2009, 84 mins

A miraculously photographed showcase of some of the seven seas’ least seen and most incredible specimens, Oceans is an immersive cinem…

17 Jul | 11:00am

Civic Theatre

18 Jul | 4:00pm

Civic Theatre

THE CONCERT

Radu Mihaileanu, France 2009, 119 mins

A band of out-of-work Moscow musicians travels to Paris posing as the celebrated Bolshoi Orchestra in this lavish, shamelessly popular comed…

11 Jul | 3:30pm

The Bridgeway Cinema

Sold Out!

13 Jul | 1:15pm

Civic Theatre

9 Jul | 6:15pm

Civic Theatre

THE TREE

Julie Bertuccelli, France 2010, 100 mins

Selected to close this year’s Cannes Film Festival, French director Julie Bertuccelli’s second feature is an arresting drama of loss and rebirth shaped by emotion, intuition and the elemental forces at work in its ravishing Queensland landscape. Like her first, the lovely Since Otar Left (NZIFF03), The Tree is attuned to the delicate, strangely inspired unwordliness of characters discombobulated by loss.

On their small country block, eight-year-old Simone and her mother Dawn (Charlotte Gainsbourg) are dealing in very different ways with the sudden loss of their father and husband. While Dawn struggles spasmodically to keep it together, and her other children fare for themselves, Simone becomes convinced of her father’s presence in the magnificent primeval Moreton Bay fig tree that towers over the family’s rambling bungalow. In Simone’s eyes, Martin Csokas as Dawn’s amorous boss has aroused the tree’s anger. Why else would its roots be rupturing the drains and pushing into the house’s foundations?

16 Jul | 6:00pm

Lido Cinema

22 Jul | 11:15am

Civic Theatre

23 Jul | 6:45pm

Civic Theatre

TWO IN THE WAVE

Emmanuel Laurent, France 2009, 93 mins

Cannes, 1959. The 400 Blows carries off the Best Director award. Its young director and even younger star, François Truffaut and Jean…

15 Jul | 4:00pm

SKYCITY Theatre

17 Jul | 11:45am

SKYCITY Theatre

21 Jul | 11:00am

Academy Cinema

WHITE MATERIAL

Claire Denis, France 2009, 102 mins

Over the past 22 years, Claire Denis (Beau Travail, 35 Shots of Rum) has built up one of the most impressive bodies of work in contemporary

18 Jul | 8:15pm

The Bridgeway Cinema

20 Jul | 8:30pm

Rialto Newmarket

24 Jul | 6:15pm

Rialto Newmarket

25 Jul | 3:45pm

Lido Cinema

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French Market Bastille Day special – 11 July, Titirangi

Ken Leong — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:19:32 +0000

All you Francophiles out there should go along to the French Market, to be held at French Bay, Titirangi on 11 July 2010. This event is going to be really awesome as it's held in conjunction with Bastille Day. Our friends Catherine and Frederic from Eurodis are organising this, and they are doing such an awesome job promoting French culture in New Zealand. Buy some yummy French food, meet some good-looking French people, and practice speaking French!

When:

Sun 11 Jul, 9:00am–1:00pm

Where: French Bay Yacht Club, Cnr of Otitori Bay Road & Valley Road, French Bay

The only indoor market with French food to eat on the spot or take back home including cheese, baguette, patisseries, patés, savouries, coffee, and much more.

Also many non-food products available: Savon de Marseille, decorated boxes , "Tintin" items, table sets…

To celebrate Bastille Day, go along and enjoy a petit dejeuner including croissant, cheese, charcuterie, baguette, tarte a l'oignon, coffee and a soft drink.

Live Music for Bastille Celebration with Oscar, a young and very talented musician

P/S: Tickets for breakfast/brunch are $17 and can be bought through Titirangi Pharmacy, ph 817 76 58 or by contacting Catherine on 816 92 24 or via email at catherine@eurodis.co.nz.

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Viva la All Whites

Ken Leong — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:16:12 +0000

It’s do or die tonight for the All Whites.

New Zealand is ranked 78th in the world, and Paraguay is 31st. On paper Paraguay is a superior team. But that’s what they said about Italy, and we all know what happened there. With Paraguay at the top of the table with four points, New Zealand will have to beat them to get to five points and qualify for Round 2.

If Paraguay and New Zealand draw, and Italy and Slovakia draw as well, it will come down to goal difference.

Should be an exciting game. We support the All Whites, and wish them all the best for this crucial game.

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The secret to effective presentations – Paulus Romijn

Ken Leong — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:27:35 +0000

In 2005, I signed up for a course to improve my presentation skills. I was conducting a few lectures at that time and figured I could do with some help. That was when I met Paulus Romijn from Presenters Platform. I’ve lost count of the number of courses/seminars I’ve attended; yet Presenters Platform stands out as a really unique course. At the time I told Paulus that Presenters Platform was undoubtedly the best interpersonal communications course I have ever done.

Five years down the track, my opinion hasn’t changed. I can still recall vividly the experiential exercises: from trying to sell an exercise machine infomercial-style to producing a travel documentary, it was an amazing experience. I met some really interesting people, and we all had a great time on this course. It was initially a little unnerving to put myself out there, especially when I was the only guy in the class. Every speech is recorded and played back to the whole class. If most people are like me, they will feel uncomfortable with seeing themselves on screen, as this means having our insecurities laid bare.

Once I learnt how to let go and just be myself, I started to enjoy myself. Towards the end of the course, I was actually looking forward to the weekly session, and really missed the sessions once they were over. Perhaps the most important lesson I learnt was that there wasn’t a specific technique to master. In fact the real key to becoming an effective public speaker is to overcome our own fears and insecurities.

The Presenters Platform was created by Paulus Romijn in Auckland in 2004. Paulus was brought up in Wellington from Dutch migrant parents. He was picked as a speaker from an early age at school delivering Church readings and Drama. Over the years in his studies he excelled in subjects like motivation, leadership, group norms and International Business. Then after attending many courses he thought there was so much more to presenting to an audience or screen he developed over years of research a series of courses with comprehensive tutelage with small groups.

Over the past few years, I’ve kept in touch with Paulus and recommended some of my friends to sign up for his course. In fact, we even had the opportunity to work together, with Paulus assisting a few of Euroasia’s corporate clients with skills-development and learning how to effectively present to a Kiwi audience. Paulus is certainly a talented teacher and facilitator.

I asked Paulus to give me a list of 10 tips for effective presentations.

Being a pragmatic man, Paulus has given us 10 practical tips to you get thinking about your choices and preparation when speaking.

1. What do I want to say rather than what I think the audience wants to hear.

2. Do not have the objective of going through the motions but of making an impression.

3. Keep movement minimal and if you do move know where you are going.

4. If using Power Point do not rely on it.

5. Think about the chronological order of your delivery. What is a powerful opening rather than a predictable opening.?

6. Practical examples are always credible in relation to a theory.

7. Allow yourself to pause rather than use non words such as um and ah.

8. Practice, practice,practice. Say it out loud to a friend or partner and ask for their feedback.

9. Give yourself permission to have an opinion. “I believe” is a very powerful start to a sentence.

10. Fear of judgement is in your own head; your audience wants you to succeed.

After 7 years in the education business and seeing thousands of Kiwis come to Euroasia to embark on a journey to learn a foreign language, I am now more convinced that the key to self-improvement is the ability to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. This applies whether you want to learn a language or to speak in public. With a lot of life development, what holds us back is not a lack of skill, but a lack of will.

Check out Presenters Platform if you’re looking for a course that will challenge you so that you can be a more effective public speaker. You can reach Paulus on 09 360-5039.

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The most spoken languages in the world

Ken Leong — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 03:03:16 +0000

This would have been a Top 10 list, except Number 11 is Japanese and Number 12 German, both very important languages, so I’ll make this the TOP 12 list of the most spoken languages in the world, as at 2009. Source is Ethnologue, a widely cited reference for languages. The full list can be found on Wikipedia if you’re keen.

No surprises here. Chinese is number one – but do note that there are many dialects within the Chinese language. Chinese and Spanish are the top two because both China and South America are very populous. If we compiled another list of the most spoken languages in the world, including people who speak English as a second language, English will come up tops, especially given the rate at which young Chinese and Spanish kids are learning English.

Ranking by number of native speakers	Language	Number of speakers	Where spoken natively by more than 5% of the population or listed as an official language in the countries’ constitution
1	Chinese	1,205m	People’s Republic of China (including self-governing Special Administrative Regions),Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia
2	Spanish	429m	Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic,Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela,Andorra, Western Sahara.
3	English	428m	United Kingdom, United States, India, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand,Ireland, British Overseas Territories, Singapore, Malaysia, Belize, Bermuda,Gibraltar, Northern Mariana Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, The Bahamas,Barbados, Guam, Cayman Islands, Philippines, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago,Malta, Hong Kong, Botswana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Zimbabwe Also see List of countries by English-speaking population
4	Hindi	260m (Kariboli only)	India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Singapore, and in parts of United States, Canada, United Kingdom.
5	Arabic	221m	Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia, Libya,Lebanon, Jordan, Mauritania, Palestinian territories, Israel, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Chad, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Djibouti, Somalia, Western Sahara
6	Malay/Indonesian	260m	Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines,East Timor
7	Portuguese	205m	Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde, Goa, Macau, East Timor,Guinea-Bissau
8	Bengali	193m	Bangladesh, India
9	Russian	144m	Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Israel,Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Estonia, Lithuania, Turkmenistan
10	French	128m (2005)	Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Channel Islands, Comoros, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, French Guiana,French Polynesia, Gabon, Guinea, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali,Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Switzerland, Togo, Vanuatu, Andorra, Grenada,French overseas territories
11	Japanese	122m	Japan
12	Standard German	101m (1994)	Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium (German-speaking community of Belgium), Italy (Province of Bolzano-Bozen)

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