Describing My Feelings in NSM

"I wanted something good to happen to me
I know now: this thing will not happen to me
I feel bad because of this"

note: NSM (Natural Semantic Metalanguage) is developed by Anna Wierzbicka.

To Hit the Books or To Surf the Net

People nowadays are enjoying the benefits generated by the Internet and the World Wide Web. It is possible for you to look for many kinds of information by surfing the Web without having to go out of your house, even get out of your bed. By a few clicks and keywords, you are led to anything you want to know about your favorite rock star or the recipe of a Korean dish you have just had the other day. Moreover, our fast-paced busy life should thank the existence of online media, both text and video, for it allows us to keep up with the hot issues with the slightest distraction from our demanding daily activities. That is how the Internet cover our need of conventional radio, newspaper, and television. Now, when it is compared to the classic source of information, books, does the Internet still able to emulate them?

In case of learning something, the Internet can help you catch the gist of it but books are vital to give you a thorough and credible information. You can say, hey, there are websites out there with the same weight of content! It is a flawed argument for there is a fatal weakness in the Web: anyone can post anything freely there. You can not do the same thing with books, especially those printed by the notable publishers. There are copywriters and editors who conduct tough selections among the scripts. This kind of process is extremely rare in the Web.

The next point that is going to be elaborated in this paragraph is the fact that the Internet is also a medium to access books. Books, in nature, are pages containing some accumulated information which were written for a certain purpose and function. In this advanced world, it is not necessary for books to be tangible. To avoid shipping problems and limitations, you can buy the digital version of particular books and print them by your very own printer or you can just read them on your screen. What help you to do this? The Internet. Therefore, even though you begin with the cyberspace in your study, you will end up reading books available there.

Eventually, it is not possible for us to learn just as much by surfing the Internet and the World Wide Web as by reading books. The information available in the cyberspace are overall and superficial. To learn something at best, reading books are still the most helpful way.

GRE Issue Task 6

Oh, this GRE stuff is killing me :(


“The university of today is a kind of service industry. In order to operate successfully, the administration and faculty need to be responsive to the desires of the students who are the paying customers.”

The speaker viewed the university as a kind of service industry with students as its paying customers. Therefore, it is consequential for the university’s success to comport with the desires of the students. It implies that students have a big bargaining position in the university and thus the university has less freedom to use its income as it sees fit.

Even as a college student, I am not keen of this opinion. University exists for enhancing knowledge and nurturing people with it. Hence, it is only reasonable to let the students have all their desires met if those reflect this end. However, I doubt that students know what is best for them, less knowing what is best for the university.

For instance, the university is saving money to establish an advanced research center. Meanwhile, the students are signing a petition to urge the restoration of their old stadium. Someone will point out that the stadium would be useful for a larger proportion of the students, but this gives very little support to the university’s achievements in the academic fields. If the university indulges the students by agreeing the petition, some of its goals as an academic institution will be more difficult to be achieved.

Another issue might dwell in the academic process itself. If the students feel that the current curricula is to strict and difficult, is it better that the university change it? The university is a place to learn at best, so an easier curriculum would enfeeble the students’ minds. That means, again, the university should not subject to its pupils’ requests.

Nevertheless, the university’s keep being on its toes about the students’ desires will not hurt. As long as they propose advantageous changes in their demands, the institution should consider them seriously. If these desires are met, the students would be merrier during their presence and study in the university. The positive atmosphere would make them more productive.

Eventually, it is advisable that the university is cognizant to what its students want, but it should not be responsive or subject to it. The university should focus on its academic objectives and stick to them.