From 0% to 99%

算算日子來到美國也半年了. 在這半年裡我的生活從0到99. 剛開始為了適應這裡的環境花了不少功夫. 一有空就開著車子去認識環境.從不敢開車到現在慢慢敢開離家遠一點的路.
我的生活一開始非常無聊.每天不是跑圖書館準備IELTS要不就是在家看電視． 後來我慢慢發覺這種生活不是我想要的而且說實在對我的英文根本沒幫助. 所以我開始積極的搜尋所有免費的資源包括英文課,會話課和義工的工作. 一開始義工的工作並非我想像的簡單.他們都要求很多東西例如:SSN, TB預防針,保險,或是必須接受義工訓練才行. 所以經過好幾個月的努力之後我決定放棄找醫院的義工工作,而轉戰老人活動中心.
這個機會是從我英文會話課的同學口中聽到的.我知道這個訊息後的隔天就親自跑去詢問空缺.經過簡短的interview後我就開始了我的義工生活.每個星期五中午我會在餐廳幫忙．工作內容包括當收銀員以及服務生．這些工作不僅可以訓練我和美國人間的溝通更讓我學習如何挑戰自我. 雖然這些工作在其他人眼裡是一份非常無聊的工作,可是我卻非常珍惜這個機會. 因為我希望可以藉由這個工作來加強我日後在醫院工作時跟病人的溝通能力. 幾個星期後,活動中心的工作人員特地安排了一個專門為我設計的課.因為他們知道我是護士所以安排我教那些活動不便的老人們一些簡單的伸展運動. 並且幫他們量血壓來間接告訴他們運動的重要性. 我想這堂課對我非常有意義. 因為跟我的工作性質正好相關. 我會好好珍惜這次難得可貴的機會. 我一直相信機會是靠自己創造而非天上掉下來的,不是嗎?

RN-遙遙無期的等待之路

RN-現在好像已經漸漸變成台灣護士的代名詞. 不管是在學校或是醫院中,經常聽到有人在討論"RN". 最近這一兩年RN風潮在台灣已經慢慢刮起一陣旋風. 當然RN補習班以及代辦中心也開始慢慢興起. 每個人想考RN的原因都不相同.我是因為之前在美國留學過所以愛上了美國的環境.所以想留在美國工作. 不過等考上RN之後我面臨到的挑戰也越來越多.

現在很多市面上的補習班一直積極的想推薦RN這個選擇給台灣的護士.他們通常只強調RN不難考,而且是一個金飯碗. 或許在這樣迷人的誘惑下很多人就草草決定踏上這條路. 不過有利就有弊, 而往往一件事情的弊端會被蓋住. RN的確是一個很不錯的行業,不過要有一些條件的人才能順利進入. 英文能力是第一大挑戰. 現在多少人其實早就考過RN但是還一直在準備英文? 我聽過最久的是3年前早就考過RN但是英文成績卻一直無法通過. 或許你會覺得英文只要多努力一定會過. 沒錯,我就是一個例子. 但是我是在考RN之前就先準備英文所以我並沒有時間的壓力. 然而那些已經考過RN但是一直在努裡英文的人必須在RN考過後3年內通過英文考試,以順利通過VISASCREEN和把執照換下來.否則一切又要從頭來過. 所以其實很多人現在都一直在被時間追趕著喘不過氣.
再者,綠卡名額問題也一直被許多補習班避重就輕.很多人以為考過RN或英文就天下太平. 不過綠卡名額沒下來也一樣不能換照所以也是等於零.

我相信現在很多人都已經在美國等著綠卡名額下來,我也不例外. 但是在美國的生活真的是用"燒金度日"來形容.除了日常生活開銷，還要多付額外的錢，例如：語言學校，身分轉換費用等等．這些都不是一比小數目．所以很多人因為存款用盡但還是等不到名額，最後只好放棄回到台灣．我記得當初在補習班時，有個工作人員對我說，放心啦，ＲＮ一個月賺那麼多，很快就可以把所有的錢賺回來了．我當時聽了很不不以為然，因為我付出的時間，精力和財力可能是要賺個好幾年才賺的回來吧．再者如果綠卡名額遲遲不開放，我的錢也只好在美國像個無底洞繼續燒著．我可不想ＲＮ工作都還沒開始就破產了．

所以當考過ＲＮ後先別高興太早，因為接踵而來的事情會讓你陷入兩難．已經陷入這個ＲＮ之路的人也只好繼續加油撐著．而還在猶豫的人，也請多三思而行．雖然你一定聽過很多人說考ＲＮ很簡單，但是他們一定忘了補充，真正難的是在考過ＲＮ之後的路．所以仔細分析一下你所具備的實力和條件是否符合這個夢想之路．

2007綠卡名額暫緩

幾天前詢問過美國移民律師. 因為綠卡名額在第二次審核時被拒,所以還要再多等一段時間了.至於多久沒人敢確定.不過我想大概有可能超過一年吧.因為從通過議會到正式發布大約需耗時4~6個月.所以英文還未準備好的人就加緊努力,趕快通過visascreen.至於通過英文檢定的人也必須多多練習英文．做好未來到醫院工作的準備．

2007綠卡名額通過審核?

最近聽到一些小道消息和綠卡名額有關.聽說10月底美國國會已經通過61,000個名額.現在只等著總統簽章通過.所以美國移民律師預估明年1月底會真正開放登記. 所以還沒通過英文成績的人要加緊努力了. 另外,最近想要放棄等待名額回台灣的人,可千萬別放棄呀.再多等幾個月,就可以完成夢想了. 不管你現在是用什麼方式進到美國,現在唯一的目標是待到綠卡名額出來為止.

若是用觀光簽證(B1), 在I-94到期前45天,必須趕快設法轉換身份. 你可以選擇轉換成學生簽證或是辦理延簽. 我前幾天有詢問過移民律師,她說現在很難通過延簽,除非你有醫療方面的理由,否則大多數都不會通過.若申請延簽被拒,必須立刻離開美國.而且會留下不好的紀錄. 至於學生簽證,雖然只要有學校的I-20(入學許可)應該都會過,但是也會有一些被拒的風險.而且下場也是和申請延簽被拒一樣~立即離開美國,並且短期內很難再拿到學生簽證即使你回TAIWAN 的AIT申請也有極高的機率被拒. 這樣看起來好像申請從觀光簽轉為學生簽證比較容易過,但是也必須要考慮到學費問題.

美國的語言學校收費都滿貴的,而且大部分都是以2週或是4週為一期來計費. 當然這也要依所住地區來比較.像我住在舊金山灣區,所以學費相對比較高些. 若是住在LA附近,那邊有一些專門為了一些不想離開美國的國際學生所設立的語言學校,只要付錢就會發I-20給你.也就是所謂的掛羊頭賣狗肉的補習班. 其實有很多方法繼續留在美國,就看你自己的需求在哪. 不過在做決定前自己也必須做一些研究.以免都是''聽人說" 自己一點主見都沒有.

之前有問過移民律師,轉換身份的代辦費用大概是$650~750之間. 申請人須填I-539 Form 來轉換身份.至於申請轉換身份的費用為$300---所以總共大約$1000美金.(錢在美國真的都是用燒的).以下為轉換身份的美國官方網站. USCIS

IELTS Files Share

手上有一些準備IELTS的資料,有需要的人可以寄e-mail給我.
1.最新IELTS 考試口語指南(PDF)
2.IELTS Practice Tests Plus(PDF) + audios (media files)
3.IELTS to Success(PDF) + audios (media files)
4.IELTS speaking example(WORD)

IELTS VS. Visascreen

I found information which someone has asked CGFNS about IELTS scores. Here is CGFNS answer:

1. We cannot mix TOEFL and IELTS scores. The Department of Homeland Security would not allow that combination.
2. If at least one of the overall and one of the speaking scores for the two IELTS scores that you have is passing for your profession, then, yes, we CAN combine those two scores PROVIDED that those two scores are both CURRENT. We cannot use expired scores at all.
Please see page 13 of the CGFNS/ICHP Visa Screen Applicant Handbook for a chart showing the Passing Scores Per Profession. You can use this to see how English proficiency tests are paired.
Thanks for being a CGFNS International customer. Best wishes for your nursing career.


~~Now you can pass either overall score or speaking score first. You don't need to pass all required scores at one time. Great News for everyone!!

RN必經之路--準備TOEFL / IELTS 的親身經歷

英文對很多人而言是一個可怕的惡夢.當然我也不例外. 回想起3年前,我的英文程度可能連國小學生都不如.我也不知道哪來的勇氣竟自己一個人大老遠的跑到美國唸了一年的語言學校. 也可能因為這一股傻勁,徹底改變了我的未來. 當時的我真的只聽的懂非常簡單的英文. 也因為這種程度讓我在語言學校時非常吃力.尤其是閱讀和寫作課,一個晚上看不完一篇文章,寫一篇作文需要整個晚上,有時還需熬夜才擠的出一頁.不過也因為有這些訓練,讓我的英文有些許進步.老實說,在語言學校中進步最多的是聽和說.至於文法和寫作老外教 的真的沒有台灣英文老師教的好.

結束一年的遊學後,我開始有了新的人生規劃-RN. 當時聽了很多人的建議,每個人都勸我先考到RN之後再準備英文. 不過當時我的想法是,如果英文程度不夠要如何準備美國的RN執照.而且英文的學習是不可以中斷的.如果停頓一個星期就必須用一個月去彌補. 如果我先考過英文這樣我就可以一邊準備RN一邊繼續加強英文能力. 事後證實我當初的想法是對的. 不過在準備托福的過程是非常煎熬的. 我回台灣前已經先在學校考過一次托福,當時是考筆試,我只是想要看看我的程度到底在哪. 不意外的我只有123分. 回台灣後我開始去補習班待了3個月.在這段期間,真的是遊走於補習班和圖書館之間. 於2005,9月我終於鼓起勇氣去考了我第一次的TOEFL(CBT)---153分而且寫作才3分. 當時心想,天阿,我完了,托福怎麼這麼難阿.我永遠都考不過了. 過了一個月之後我又決定把錢捐給美國人.所以我又考了第二次.沒想到這次居然207分,寫作4分.我居然過了RN的英文標準.謝天謝地,我終於開始對自己的英文有信心了. 因為當時我是連續報名10,11月.所以在我收到第二次成績單後隔沒幾天我就要去考第3次托福. 或許這次是因沒有太大壓力所以考到了233,寫作5分. 因為這次的經驗我開始慢慢相信,只要努力一切一定會成真.

通過英文後,我緊接著開始努力準備RN執照. 我花了一年的時間達到目標.在準備的過程中我也不斷的儘量讓自己不和英文脫離.所有的RN筆記和重點我盡量用英文整理.我在不懂的單字旁用英文同義字取代中文解釋. 這些平時的累積讓我不至於把英文單字和文法忘的一乾二淨. 今年5月我通過了RN,接這我就來到美國準備開始我的新生活.我知道要想在美國工作必須要有好的口語表達能力,所以我讓自己提早融入這個環境.一方面開始準備IELTS,一方面適應環境. 我相信IELTS是多數RN的選擇,因為它的口語標準比較容易通過.雖然我通過了TOEFL但是TSE卻沒過.所以我最後還是轉戰IELTS.

憑良心說,我花2個月的時間準備IELTS,真正下工夫的只有writing. 其他部分我只是做題目練習. 我規定自己每天寫一篇作文,並且交給我男友更改.接近考試時,我已經練習了將近50篇作文. 我相信作文是最容易拿分的部分.不像reading,listening需要長時間不斷練習才能看見小小的成果. 作文只需多寫多讀一些漂亮的句子,自然而然就會進步. 上個月去考了第一次的IELTS. Overall score: 6.5分. speaking6.5. 這個成績是我想都沒想過的.因為我一直以為overall會低於6分. 現在我只剩下加強口語部分. 希望在下個月能順利通過.

比較TOEFL和IELTS,總體來說,我覺得IELTS比較簡單.它是比較生活化的英文.但是TOEFL卻是比較針對學術性. 閱讀單字部分IELTS的字彙量相對簡單些,但是在閱讀題目上,IELTS卻是比TOEFL難上許多. 至於聽力部分,個人覺得IELTS較容易準備.只要多做些題目就能掌握題型及答題技巧. 以上都是我個人的應考經驗,希望對即將應考的人有幫助. 說真的若下定決心要在美國工作,必須要提升自己的英文能力.我們不像其他外籍護士擁有很高的英文水平.所以我們只能靠自己努力,這樣才能和其他人競爭.

很多人最近都在問,GREENCARD QUOTA何時下來.?何時才能開始工作? 我的想法是,就算名額下來,我真的已經準備好我的英文並且可以開始工作了嗎? 真正開始照顧病人時是面對一個生命,只要有一點差錯都可能賠上以後的RN之路. 所以當很多人在期待名額下來的同時,我也想問問他們,你的英文能力真的好到可以在美國醫院中生存了嗎? 若還未達到標準,那麼名額下不下來或許也不是那麼重要了,不是嗎? 我覺得不管是IELTS或是TOEFL成績都只是一個英文能力檢定最低的門檻,如果通過標準,也並不代表你的英文能力好到可以在美國醫院工作. 畢竟我們的英文學習背景差那些菲律賓人太多了. 所以未通過標準的人就繼續努力,畢竟這也是為了讓你以後工作順利的一項考驗.至於通過英文檢定的人也不要就放下英文. 因為只有讓自己的英文實力不斷提升,才能在大醫院中生存下來.

Crater Lake Trip

Crater Lake which is located in Oregon, the deepest lake in the U.S., is more than 1,900 feet deep. Rim Drive is a 33-mile road that encircles Crater Lake and it provides spectacular views of the lake and the cliffs that surround it. I had a chance to visit here last week and the weather was changeable during my stay. The first day of my trip the weather was nice, the next day it totally turned around. I woke up in the early morning and looked at outside of my room. It was raining at first, but the next second the rain became the snow which was slowly falling down. Actually this was my first time to see snow falling. Of course, I was so excited about seeing this white world.

The snow was falling all day long and the temperature was below the zero. It was hard to believe that the weather could have made such a big change during the two days. Because of the bad weather I could not go anywhere. Therefore, my boyfriend and I stayed at the Mazama Village where people could see the best views of Crater Lake. At times when the snows stopped falling, we walked outside to see the beautiful scenery along the lake. Fortunately, the snows did not follow us during the whole trip. The next day, the sun appeared and the snows were melted quickly.

Following the itinerary, we started the clockwise trip along Rim Drive. The scenes, the lighting and the mood of this great park changed as we circled the lake, making this one of the world’s most beautiful drives. Many special wildflowers and trees were along the drive. One of them was easy to recognize, the mountain hemlock. Its branches were flexible to bend instead of break under the heavy snow loads and winds. Moving on the route, Wizard Island, a volcano inside a volcano, was a cone-shaped island. It was surrounded by the lake and grew many of the oldest trees on it. The view from this overlook was one of the best on Rim Drive. I saw the snow covered the mountains and Wizard Island, and the lake reflected the sunshine. It was a marvelous view I have never seen before.

Since we drove for a long time, we decided to go hiking for a while. We followed the hiking trail and went to the shallow water in the channel between Wizard Island and the lake’s edge. The water appeared to be many different colors: azure blue, turquoise, and emerald green and it looked like an amazing painting.

After we had lunch and rested for a while, we kept going on our volcanic trip. We drove along Rim Drive to see different prospects and enjoyed the nature environment. Before sunset, we left for Mount Shasta, located in California. It was one of the famous volcanoes in the United States. We stayed one night at Weed City, where the population was only 3000 people, and prepared for the next day’s trip.

Near noon, we took the free way around Mount Shasta while we were heading to the Lake Shasta Caverns, which are famous for limestone and marble caves. Before starting the cave tour we took a 15-minute cruise across Lake Shasta and took a minibus, which carried us up the mountainside, more than 800 feet above the lake. There were several rooms in the cave, and each room had different formations, for example, crystal, multi-colored fluted columns, draperies, milky-white flowstone and so on. The temperature of the cave was moderate but the floor was very wet. We followed the tour guide and listened to her explanation about the history and causes of the different formations. This tour was worth taking because I learned a lot of geographic knowledge.

I enjoyed seeing beautiful nature sceneries and breathing fresh air during this trip. The most favorite part was to see the snows and feel them melting on my face. This has become my best trip since I have come to the U.S. because of the good timing.

I Wanna Talk About Me

I learned an interesting song in today's English class. The song-"I wanna talk about me" is a country music and the lyrics are very funny. Every word on this song exactly reflects most of men's thinking about women. Maybe a man would feel familiar with this song if he is surrounded by women . Nowadays, some men have many stereotypes about women, such as gossiping and talking a lot. Yet according to a research in a college, the words that both men and women speak everyday are almost equivalent. This has caused many people, especially men, to be very surprised. From my point of view, some women who are talkative just want to share what they have experienced at work, school, and so forth, with their lovers or friends. These things are not complaints at all. On the other hand, the same as men, they may want to talk about stressful or interesting things with their families, for example, work, sports and TV shows. These topics are parts of men's daily lives and can make their lives be more various. Men can perhaps find more confidence and respect from women by exchanging more of their opinions with their opposite sex. Finally, I want to share this song with you and I have also posted the lyrics below. I hope you will enjoy listening to it and have a big smile on your face.

Toby Keith I Wanna Talk About ME <--click here to play

Uh huh, that's right

We talk about your work, how your boss is a jerk,

We talk about your church and your head when it hurts.



We talk about the troubles you've been havin' wit your brother 'bout your daddy and your mother and your crazy ex-lover.


We talk about your friends and the places that you've been,


We talk about your skin and the dimples on your chin.

The polish on your toes and the run in your hose,and God knows we're gonna talk about your clothes.

You know talkin' about you makes me smile, but every once in a while,

I wanna talk about ME, I wanna talk about I Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my,

What I think, What I like, What I know, What I want, What I see.

I like talkin' about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally

I wanna talk about ME! (me, me, me,) I wanna talk about ME-E-E. (me, me, me)

We talk about your dreams and we talk about your schemes,

Your high school team and your moisturizer cream.

We talk about your nana up in Muncie, Indiana,

We talk about your grandma down in Alabama.

We talk about your guys of every shape and size,

The ones that you despize and the ones you idolize.

We talk about your heart, 'bout your brains and your smarts,

And your medical charge and when you start.

You know talkin' about you makes me grin, but every now and then,

I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about I,Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my.

What I think, What I like, What I know, What I want, What I see.

I like talkin' about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally

I wanna talk about ME! (me, me, me,) I wanna talk about ME-E-E (me, me, me)

(I wanna talk about me) MMMM ME, ME, ME, ME, ME

(I wanna talk about me) MMMM ME, ME, ME, ME, ME

You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you,I wanna talk about ME!

I wanna talk about me, I wanna talk about I,Wanna talk about number 1 oh my, me, my.

What I think, What I like, What I know, What I want, What I see,

Oh I like talkin' about you, you, you, you usually, but occasionally,

I wanna talk about ME! (me, me, me) I wanna talk about ME-E-E

I wanna talk about ME! (me, me, me) No ME-E-E! (me, me, me)

Studying English for Free

There are many free resources for studying English in the U.S.. I went to an adult school two days ago. I have learned more than I expected. The class does not have any restriction on age, education or race. You just go to the classroom and fill out an application form that only requires your basic information such as name, phone number and address. After that, you start to enjoy the free classes. There are four different levels in this course and you can choose the one that fits your level. My class is held from 09:00AM to 12:00PM every weekday except Friday. The class are separated into three parts. The first part is pronunciation practice. The teacher speaks words with similar pronunciations and the students write them down. I think this part is good for practicing listening and vocabularies. The second part is watching video episodes. Watching and listening the video will increase your concentration. By this method, you can learn varieties of American culture and grammar. For example, I learned the word "locksmith", which means a person who fixes door locks or a store that fixes locks. From this video I also learned about the function of HUD (Housing and Urban Development), which is to accept your complainants about renting an apartment. Conversation with classmates is the last part in the class. We follow the topic that the teacher gives out and present our opinions to others. At times we just have free talks but I still can get used to speak English at this time. All of parts are worth to take and you will find out you are getting better on English piece by piece.

How to improve English in 10 days

To improve English skills is a long term challenging for many students. People would like to use the traditional studying to reach their goals such as listening to radio,watching TV or movies and buying some books that you have ever done. I had studied in the U.S. for 1 year and my English skills especially listening and speaking were improved a lot at that time. In my point of view, no matter how hard study trying to involve in the English environment is the fastest way to develop language abilities .


Watching movies is one of the great loves of my life. In the U.S. I can enjoy films either with captions or not that train my listening accuracy however I could not get this profit in Taiwan. On the other hand, when you are watching movies,you also can drill your skimming skills what means you should read captions as fast as you can otherwise you can not follow the scene at the same time.


The last method is to go out to talk to people who are around supermarkets,libraries or cafeterias. My experience, the department store is the best place to show my skills. I can handily talk to the employee about cosmetics and clothes,etc. Furthermore, volunteer is the fantastic job to practice your own language abilities and communication to people. I signed up for the volunteer position in the hospital in a couple days ago. Though I have not gotten the response from them I still want to patiently wait this valuable opportunity.


Learning in the right environment not only invokes your language capabilities but also saves your studying time. You will earn unforgettable experience when you decide to be surrounded in the out side of country.

The experience of taking driver license

What is the first thing you should do once you are in the United States? Passed driver license! You will need it as your passport. When you buy liquors or lotteries ,go to pubs, and shop by a credit card,you have to keep it with you all the time. I had bad experience about taking driver license in AZ. Three years ago, I was a new student in U.S. and my English was too poor to communicate with people. A female employee who was my drivering test invigilator asked me to park my car alone a white line. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand her direction because of her "high speed" speaking. I've asked her to repeat and slow down but she just ingored my asking. After 15 minutes,I still couldn't figure out what she wanted me to do then she became to lose her temp and got mad. I couldn't forget one thing she has talked to me that "Can you understand English? If you are not, why are you taking this test." I was very mad while I heard this question like discrimination. Of course,I didn't pass the test at this time. I asked her the reason why I couldn't pass it. Guess what, the reason was I drived too slow before the stop sign. Was it a reasonable reason to fail me? Who doesn't slow down before the stop sign? What can you do if you were me? Sigh...the only way was just taking the test again. You need a driver's license,don't you? Today I went to DMV(Department of Motor Vehicles) in CA and passed my driver license. I will get my new ID in two to six weeks. I only took writting test because I have had an old ID that was issued by AZ. The writting test has two parts of questions if you decide to take Chinese virison. First, you will answer 36 questions of road rules in CA. Second one is traffic sign part and you can see 12 signs on it. You can not make errors over 6/36 and 2/12. In addition,You will get an instruction permission after you passed the writting test if you don't have an ID of another states. In 14 days, you can practice to drive on the road by accompanying a person who has driver license and age over 18 years old. After that,you can make an appointment to take driving test within valid dates. As above, you can receive your ID within couple weeks. I have some materials of driver license that include Chinese virison questions and traffic sings. If you are interesting in this you can mail to me.

Beginning

經過漫長的努力,終於看到辛苦有所回報.一路走來始終相信只要努力一定會有收穫.儘管3年前看到的是一片雜草叢生的空地,經過細心的灌溉後,現在出現眼簾的是一顆顆等待發芽茁壯的RN花園.雖然經歷許多挫折,但看到那些可愛的RN小紅花隨風搖曳時,一切都值得了,不是嗎?你還在等什麼?快拿起你的RN種子盡情的享受播種的快樂吧.