【推荐1】Some people think only school children do not agree with their parents. However, it is not true.     1     If it’s hard for you to communicate with your parents, don’t worry about it. Here are some advice for you to bridge the generation gap.

Don’t argue with your parents. Don’t get to your parents when you are angry. Your parents possibly won’t consider your ideas if you are shouting at them. And you can express yourself well if you are angry.     2    

    3     Perhaps you and your parents disagree on something. You can keep your disagreement and try your best to accept each other. Michael’s mother didn’t agree with him about buying a motorcycle. They argued over it. But they finally came to a compromise. Michael bought the motorcycle, but only drove it on certain days.

Of course, your parents might refuse to compromise on something. In these situations, it is especially important to show love and respect for them.     4    

Talk about your values（价值观）. The values of your parents are probably different from those of your own.     5     Understanding your values might help them see your purposes in life.

A good relationship with your parents can make you a better and happier person. It is worth having a try.

【推荐2】I stand outside waving at the car pulling slowly out of our driveway. I force a smile, hoping it will cover up my tearing eyes, but I know it’s not working. I run into the house, slam the door behind me, and begin crying. It’s just occurred to me that I can’t see my elder sister, Monsura, in the next four months.

I ask myself why it is that I’m crying when I know she's doing something good for herself. I feel selfish for thinking about it but I’d be lying if I said I was happy for her choosing to study in a university in Boston. When my brother, Shafat, left for college, it was different. I still had one sibling at home to call me the stupidest person on a daily basis.

I am reminded of the things we did together as kids. In our old two-bed-room apartment, our parents gave in to our constant begging and traded rooms with us for one night. It was like being part of the amusement park, using our parents’ big bed as a trampoline (蹦床).It was during the first night that I witnessed a full moon. My sister and I believed my brother. He said that the moon was yellow because it was made from cheese. We made plans to visit the moon so we could melt a part of it and make cheese dip. But now I laugh at myself for being so innocent.

Sitting in front of my computer, I listen to songs that remind me of my two best friends. I come to terms with the fact that there's no longer anyone here to laugh uncontrollably with me or to turn to at night when I have a nightmare.

I’m shaken into reality by the sound of my cell phone ringing. Shafat is calling. I pick up and he immediately says “Thank you for such a great childhood.'' Those few words mean the world to me. We three-way call Monsura and spend the next hour reliving memory after memory, and by the end, I forget that I’m alone at home.

A few weeks ago, I came back from work and found my young daughter waiting for me in the hallway. She greeted me and laughed. As I put my bike into the house, she asked me to say the word---butterfly.   So I did.   “Butterfly,” I said.   “Daddy,” she said, trying to prevent a laugh. “It’s pronounced butterfly, not bu-uh-fly.” It was then that I realized she asked me to pronounce the word on purpose. She was clear that the way I pronounced such words was different from hers. She ran off laughing aloud, almost as if she couldn’t believe her luck that I had fallen into her trap. This is her new trick. If I pronounce something in a way she is not familiar with, she will make her feelings known.

All of this is due to my London accent. And it is fairly obvious. Her trick first started when she asked how old I was. I told her, “I’m 37 years old.” She said, “Thur-eee? Not thur-eee. Thir-tee.” She shook her head at me in disappointment for I couldn’t get my basic pronunciation right.

My daughter’s obsession with my dropped “t”s is becoming wearing. I find myself paying attention to everything I say. And by everything, I mean e-ver-y-thing, not every-fing.

I tried to explain the concept of accents to her. Because she is growing up in Bristol, she starts to develop some strange West Country accent, like her pronunciation of the number two. It sounds like that it has an extra “w” on the end. She sometimes also adds a doing word to the end of her sentences, like “I’m going to the park, I am.” Or “Your pronunciation is funny, you do.”

She refused to accept she had an accent. She told me that she sounded like herself, which was true. But I want to make her aware of the importance of accepting that people say things in different ways and that there’s no correct way to speak. I wanted my daughter to appreciate differences, instead of wanting us all to conform to one voice.

【推荐3】When people ask how many languages I speak, I reply I have forgotten six. That’s the problem with languages: if you don’t use them you lose them. But a little practice soon brings them back and you can once again enjoy the magic of talking to others in their own language and on their own terms.

I was a disaster at languages at school. I obtained 5 out of 200 in zero level French — an all time record. I was badly taught and I could never see the point. But as a young Royal Navy soldier to Singapore in the early 1960s,I heard that in Malay there was one word for “let’s take off our clothes and tell dirty stories”. Suddenly I saw the point. I never found the word, but in the process I learnt my first language. In the mid-60s,I was sent to the deep jungle among the local people. In their long-houses there were dried human heads hanging from the frames of the houses. I decided I would feel more comfortable if I knew their language too.

Not long after that, I spent two years learning official Chinese language in Hong Kong. One day, at a party with fellow students and teachers I tried to make a small talk with my female Chinese teacher. “Have you ever flown in planes?” However, with my terrible Chinese tones, I made a mistake by asking “Have you by any chance sat upon a flying cock?” So you can imagine how I really felt inside my mind at that moment! You know what it means by speaking in such an uncomfortable tune to a female teacher!

Then I changed my languages and chatted with her in German, French and Russian in brief. God Heavens! My female Chinese teacher finally reacted and turned her red face to normal! Indeed this is the only time in my adult life when I haven’t been learning a language. Languages have changed my life-and enriched it. And I think they can change yours too.

【推荐2】One night I received a Facebook message from Laura, a former classmate. “Hey Steve,” she said, “I know you’ve always been an animal lover. I’ve just had a baby and I can’t keep my mini pig.”

Being fond of animals, I knew I wanted the pig. I just had to figure out how to make it happen. I lived in a two-bedroom single-level house in Georgetwon, Ontario. It’s tough to bring a pig back to the house I share with two dogs, two cats, and my lifelong partner.

But I was not letting that pig go. So I told Laura I’d take the animal. When I got home with the pig, I hid her in the bedroom, and began to prepare a dinner for Alisha —her favourite bacon cheeseburgers. It’s better to make her happy before introducing the new member to her.

When I led her to the bedroom and showed her the surprise, Alisha stood in the doorway like a statue. It took her a few seconds to know what I had done. She complained about my unreasonable action. She insisted there was no more room in the house.

I knew I was wrong, but I hoped I could smooth things over. Soon enough, the lovely pig did the smoothing for me. Never had we felt such joy as she brought to us. We got her a name “Esther”.

Esther’s arrival changed our lives. A few weeks later, we decided to stop eating bacon. We figured it was our turn to try to change the world for other animals. A few months later, we moved to a farm where we cared for abandoned animals — so far, six rabbits, six goats, two sheep, one horse, three cows and three chickens.