Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe grammar as the “rules” of a language; but in fact no language has rules. If we use the word “rules”, we suggest that somebody created the rules first and then spoke the language, like a new game. But languages did not start like that. Languages started by people making sounds which evolved (逐渐发展成) into words, phrases and sentences. No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All languages change over time. What we call “grammar” is simply a reflection (反映) of a language at a particular time.

    Do we need to study grammar to learn a language? The short answer is “no”. Very many people in the world speak their own, native language without having studied its grammar. Children start to speak before they even know the word“grammar”. But if you are serious about learning a foreign language, the long answer is “yes, grammar can help you to learn a language more quickly and more efficiently.” It's important to think of grammar as something that can help you, like a friend. When you understand the grammar (or system) of a language, you can understand many things yourself, without having to ask a teacher or look in a book.

So think of grammar as something good, something positive, something that you can use to find your way—like a signpost(路标) or a map.

    Except invented languages like Esperanto（世界语）. And if Esperanto were widely spoken, its rules would soon be very different.

    I loved my aunt Suzy. She was such a kind old lady. I loved going to her house on holiday. She had been sick for the last few years and, though my job had taken me away across the town, I tried to visit her as much as possible. I helped with the shopping, the cooking and the cleaning and taking her pet cat Mazy to the vet.

    Sad as her passing away was, what happened to Mazy was even more worrying. Because aunt Suzy had no children, there wasn't anyone who seemed to care for her beloved cat friend. I would have taken her in a short time, but my apartment doesn't allow pets. First, we talked with her neighbors. Mr. Jenkins, who was alone and lived across the street, wasn't interested. Joe and Sally who lived next door had a small child with serious skin allergies(过敏症). My aunt's best friend Molly who had lived just down the road was unable to take care of herself as she had serious health problems.

    Second, we thought about our family members. My brother Bobby and his wife Jill were eliminated at once as they aren't cat people. My cousin in California was a bit interested, but we weren't sure about the trip as Mazy was nearly as old as my aunt (in cat years!). Finally, we came to the local humane society to see whether they would be able to help her find a new home. The problem was that most people and families only welcomed a smart little cat into their home, not a dull old one.

    In the end, we had to put Mazy to sleep. I had spoken with the vet and realized it was possible for the best. It was so hard to lose aunt Suzy and then have nowhere for Mazy to live. A few months went by and I had gone to my aunt's house to clear out some of her belongings. I happened to see her mailman. Jerry and we started to talk about my aunt when he asked about Mazy. I told him that we had to put Mazy to sleep because we couldn't find a home for her. Jerry got really quiet. “I promised Suzy that if anything ever happened to her, I'd take care of Mazy”, he said sadly. “Suzy always said she'd told her lawyer the arrangement.”

    Hearing this, my heart sank to my feet and I almost cried. The saddest part, I realized, was this all could have been avoided. I guess we were just so busy in those final months that we didn't think about it. We could have called my aunt's lawyer to take care of it in less than 10 minutes. I'll never forgive myself for not thinking of it sooner. And I'll never forgive myself for losing Mazy.

    Your kids might be ready for a break from school but the idea of being at home for three weeks loses its magic. Lucky for us Portlanders, the city has no shortage of awesome winter camps for kids.

    Trackers Earth

    For winter break, Trackers is offering several one-day outdoor and craft camps. The hard part will be choosing between so many fun options: “Ninjas Save Christmas?” Or “Here We Go A Waffling - Caroling and Waffles?”

    Details: $70. Dec. 23, 27, 30, 31; Jan. 2, 3. （Ages 4-14）

    Address: 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave.

    Tel: 503-345-3312

    Audubon Society

    Your kids don't have to be specifically bird-crazy to appreciate the Audubon Society's one-day winter camps. The classes all have a broad nature focus, including everything from ducks for the younger set to introducing older kids to bats, wolves and wildlife rescue work.

    Details: $65, Dec, 2S, 24, 26-31; Jan, J-3 (Ages 6-14)

    Address: 5151 NW Cornell Rd.

    Tel: 971-222-6120

    Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)

When your kids start to get bored with his or her own Legos (乐高玩具)－yes, it occasionally does happen－check out OMSI's one-day Lego and Museum Experience, a full day of hands-on Lego activities in one of the city's most fun, family-friendly museums.

    Details: $49. Classes offered throughout December and January, (Ages 7-10)

    Address: 1945 SE Water Ave.

    Tel: 800-955-6674

    The Children's Gym

    Your kids definitely won't complain of being bored at Children's Gym's Winter Sports Camps. From 9:0 -5:30, they'll develop their gymnastics skills on the center's excellent equipment, then squeeze in a little rock climbing and field games.

    Details: $60/day; Dec. 23, 26, and 2 7; Jan. 2 and 3. (Ages 3-14)

    Address: 1625 NE Sandy Blvd.

    Tel: 503-249-5867

    A young woman sits alone in a café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: "Where are the toilets please?" This is a familiar scene in Tokyo's so-called "silent cafés", where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.

    The concept rises by a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainty, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a "one woman wedding"—a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression-“botchi-zoku”, referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.

    One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the cafe, Miss Higashikokubaru said: “I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I'm going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere.”

    The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million "hikikomori" - a more extreme example of social recluses(隐士) who withdraw completely from society.

    Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family, and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck. I'm not going to say luck, talent, and circumstances don't come into play because they do. Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great intelligence, and that's just the reality of how life is.

    However, to succeed in life, one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical. And, in addition to that, in order to get really good at something, one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practicing. To become great at certain things, it'll require even more time, time that most people won't put in.

    This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don't enjoy what you do, it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.

    When you see people exhibiting some great skills or having achieved great success, you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost. It's sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent, but thinking that way does you no good, and there's a huge chance that you're wrong anyway.

    Whatever you do, if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out, almost to the point of addiction, and over a long period of time. If you're not willing to put in the time and work, don't expect to receive any rewards. Consistent, hard work won't guarantee you the level of success you may want, but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.

New movies set holiday eve record

    Chinese moviegoers set a box office (票房) record for the eve of the week—long National Day holiday. By 9:30 p.m. September 30, new movies had brought in 630 million yuan.

    The major movies contributing to the box office record were My People, My Country, The Captain and The Climbers.

    My People, My Country ranked first by bringing in around 270 million yuan. It was made up of seven short stories which were set in historic moments to look back at New China's 70 years of existence. The movie was co-directed by Chen Kaige, Zhang Yibai, Guan Hu, Xue Xiaolu, Xu Zheng, Ning Hao and Wen Muye.

    Another well-received film, The Captain, earned 194 million yuan to occupy second place. Starring actor Zhang Hanyu, the film is based on heroic Sichuan Airlines pilot Liu Chuanjian, who completed one of the most miraculous (奇迹的) emergency landings in China's civil aviation (民航) history.

    Also adapted from real events, The Climbers earned 157 million yuan. With an excellent cast including Zhang Ziyi and Wu Jing, the film is about Chinese mountaineers' climbing to the top of Mount Qomolangma.

    Wu Jing said the film filled a gap in the market, with sports-themed titles quite rare in the world's second-largest movie market.

    Besides the three movies, eight other films will be on during the holiday ending on Oct 7.