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CHANGE!

         Greg's English as a Foreign Language 外语 wàiyǔ

Updated March 21, 2022
Sometimes the "drop-down" menus above don't drop down. So, I put a link list (site map) at the bottom of this front page so readers can see and access all the pages on this site.

Good learning is wide and
deep like the ocean.
海阔天空 (hǎi​kuò​tiān​kōng​) wide sea and sky

Below is an EFL textbook you can download I've been working on lately. It's not finished, but something of a start.
It's about writing and peace studies.

Take a free IELTS practice test at:

http://www.canadavisa.com/ielts/free-practice-tests.html

Traveling time and the Silk Roads

To me the most exciting travel, history, business, and economic opportunities that have opened up in the 21st century are those tangentially related to the Silk Road Development Plan (One Belt, One Road) being developed by China's President Xi. Five hundred years ago the land Silk Roads started to die because European powers mastered sailing and cannons and basically took over world trade. From China to Turkey across Asia and the Middle East the economies suffered except in those countries that had ports, and even then in most cases the Europeans colonized those nations. None-the-less the Silk Road countries are rich in natural and human resources, history, and culture. Reopening the ancient land Silk Roads and reconnecting the ancient Maritime Silk Roads is thus a most exciting project!


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Photo taken from ferry to Istanbul from Bursa_rugged coastline
Anyone who wants to visit those countries is quite free to do so, as I have done over the past four years, as I have traveled some 14,000 kilometers on the ground across China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and visited at least a few Maritime Silk Road countries including Qatar and Vietnam. My one lament is I haven't had the opportunity to visit Iran, Syria and Yemen yet, for different reasons, and can only wait until political situations smooth out in those countries. None-the-less there are still hundreds and even thousands of places along the ancient Land and Sea Silk Roads I haven't visited yet but can if and when I have the time.

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Silk Worms
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Samarkand
Most people who might wish to explore some of humanities most colorful and ancient places, some reading before traveling is always a good idea. It's nice to know the meaning and history of what one sees when traveling. Below is a posted a reading bibliography with pretty many links for those who might wish to discover "the heart of the world," for the Silk Road countries always were, and still are "the heart of the world.
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Samarkand
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Citadel of the Arc in Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Also I'm posting some of the documents I've found during my research, articles, books and so on that can be downloaded. This is a historian's dream come true, and I hope the visitors to this site can gain an appreciation and understanding of the value of this work.
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Yep, that's me in Dayahatyn Caravansarai, Turkmenistan, an ancient Silk Road trading post and hotel. For some reason I can't define, ancient caravansarai are favorite places in the world!
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Some people like to just travel and see, but I always mix interviews with martial art masters and photography, exploration into the local cuisine, museums, most ancient places and so on to get a wider sampling of the people, cultures and histories of where I travel.
Just below is a Silk Road bibliography I put together a couple of years ago. If I had the time I could easily double its length now, but it's still a pretty good start for someone wishing to learn about the roots, trunk and flowers of human civilization. As stated above, there are a lot of links on the bibliography that will provide the reader with weeks, months and maybe years of oh-so-cool reading and research. Below that are some of those great reading resources...
1_silk_road_research_bibliography.docx
File Size: 44 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

waugh_reconfiguring_the_silk_road._new_research_on_east-west_exchange_in_antiquity.pdf
File Size: 506 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

ibn_batuta.pdf
File Size: 828 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

among_the_celestials_travels_in_manchuria_gobi_by_younghusband_-_copy.pdf
File Size: 194 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

across_asia_on_a_bicycle_thomas_gaskell_allen_and_william_lewis_sachtleben.docx
File Size: 288 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

dbet_t2087_greattangrecordofwesternregions_1996.pdf
File Size: 2553 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

1877_buried_cities_in_shifting_sands_of_great_desert_of_gobi_by_forsyth_from_prgsv21_s_-_copy.pdf
File Size: 1251 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Site Map

On some browsers I've noticed the menu at the top of this page doesn't open the sub-menus, so I'm posting the site-map below on this front page to help finding all the resources on this site.

Home
  Beginning -  some simple lesson plans: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/beginning2432022987.html
  Tests: gregsefl.weebly.com/tests3277135797.html
  IELTS/TOEFL Study: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/ieltstoefl-study.html
  Travel: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/travel-2605328216.html
     Airplane: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/airplane-3913426426.html
     Hotel: gregsefl.weebly.com/hotel-2605339302.html
     Restaurants: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/restaurants.html
     U.S. Embassy Interview: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/us-embassy-interview.html
     Idioms: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/idioms2510435821.html
Health: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/health2058124247.html
   Sports: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/sports.html
   Recipes for delicious nutrition food: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/recipes3913535889.html
   Doctor: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/doctor.html
Relationships: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/relationships2085131995.html
   New University Student: gregsefl.weebly.com/new-university-student.html
   Counseling: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/counseling-21516203943586421830.html
   Teen Rebel: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/teen-rebel387382356924180.html
   Love and Marriage: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/love-and-marriage.html
   Liberal vs. Conservative: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/liberal-vs-conservative.html
   Rude people: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/rude-people.html
   Law: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/law.html
   Business: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/business3382919994.html
        Advertising: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/advertising.html
        Business: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/business-ppts.html
Entertainment: gregsefl.weebly.com/entertainment2308920048.html
   Music: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/music.html
   Movies: gregsefl.weebly.com/movies.html
  *** Books: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/books.html
(Please read books! Reading is the number one skill correlated with academic success)
   Dance: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/dance.html
   Comedy: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/comedy.html
   Games: gregsefl.weebly.com/games.html
   Holiday: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/holidays-2055126399.html
   Famous days in history: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/famous-days-in-history.html
Arts and sciences: gregsefl.weebly.com/arts--sciences.html
   Science PPTs: gregsefl.weebly.com/sciences-ppts.html
   Arts PPTs: gregsefl.weebly.com/arts-ppts.html
*** Arts and sciences open innumerable doorways within and to the world without. The above PPTs are useful overviews to at least of few of the amazing arts and sciences.
Contact: https://gregsefl.weebly.com/contactabout.html