Winner
of PANPA Award for Excellence
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Friday, November 12, 1999 |
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INTRODUCTIONGetting started with r.t.?For the next several weeks we will help you get familiar with the magazine. I’m sure you will quickly see why we wanted so much for you to have your own copy. You might be interested to know that the r.t. writers have a very tough job. Depending on their interests and their assignments, they have to watch television, listen to the radio, see the latest movies, read the latest books, meet some of the most interesting people in Thailand and, of course, go to fancy restaurants and drink the best wines. Before you apply for a job at r.t., however, remember that they also to have to write about what they see and do. And they have to do so in a lively, entertaining and informative manner and meet strict deadlines at the same time. That takes a lot of skill – and a lot of real work. Meet the editor
Apart from herself, Prapai says she has a regular staff of seven people. That includes a writer and a sub-editor, a free-lance sub-editor/writer, three art and layout people who supervise production, and one administration person. Real.time has also a number of columns contributed by other writers from both inside and outside the Bangkok Post. Some, like Andrew Hiransomboon, Veena Pratt, and Bernard Trink, use their own names. Others like Soaw Krungthep and Jingo Dam na Buri Ram clearly write under pen names. (I won’t tell you their real names here.) Prapai has little time for the fun activities, I mentioned in the introduction. She says that she reads and edits every piece that goes in to the Friday publication. She usually sees an article when it is first written and then, if necessary, makes suggestions about how to improve it. She also tries to see every article before it goes to print. Her week generally begins at the Thursday afternoon writers’ meeting immediately after the latest issue goes to press. At that meeting, they discuss the next week’s issue as well as stories for other future issues. The main focus of the meeting is on the cover story. Here, topics come from the staff members. Once an idea seems promising, they discuss what angle to take on the story and what questions would be good to ask if the story involves an interview. Writing and photo assignments also have to be made. The remainder of the meeting deals with what must be done for regular features such as the restaurant and movie reviews as well as the gardening column. According to Prapai one of the most useful sections in r.t. is also the hardest and most tedious to put together. That is the What’s on section which informs readers of dozens of events – exhibitions, concerts, lectures, sales, etc. – taking place in the Bangkok area. Many readers depend on this section to plan their weekends. The What’s on pages are full of details gathered largely from press releases and regular communications (mostly e-mail) from organisations like Alliance Francaise, British Council, Goethe Institute, Siam Society, and TAT. Unfortunately, the facts need a lot of checking and that means that she and her staff must make numerous phone calls. Not surprisingly, What’s on is the last section to be completed each week. About her own career, Prapai says she has been with the Bangkok Post throughout. She studied journalism but started as a proof-reader. She then moved up to be a sub-editor in the supplements section. Next she joined the team at Outlook and from that time her focus has been on entertainment. She then went on to a magazine as editor and from there went to the Sunday Magazine. She supervised the magazine’s move to its current Friday slot under the name real.time.
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In real.time today
This week’s cover story is on Chatuchak Park, one of the liveliest spots in Bangkok to spend your weekend. Interestingly, the story was supposed to appear last week, but the writers weren’t satisfied with what they had, so they took another week to get things right.
Each Thursday, Chatuchak features a huge plant market and page 7 of today’s real.time has an interesting story with suggestions on what to buy there. Entitled, "The spirit of the leaves" it will help you buy plants not on the basis of their beauty, but on the good fortune they may bring to you and your family. Below is a list of some useful vocabulary that will make your reading easier and more enjoyable.
| propitious | likely to result in success | auspicious | suggesting a positive and successful future | aeons (eons) | very long periods of time | imbued | imagined to have; filled with a feeling or idea | animate | to give life or action to (inanimate means not living) | cast aspersions | lto make damaging or critical statements or judgements about | infant | a young baby | hard-wiring | a permanent part of something (in this case, the writer is saying that superstition and religious beliefs have been basic part of human existence for a very long time) | oasis | a place much better than its surroundings | serenity | peacefulness and calmness |
Teacher's Note
This term we are providing you a with a series of lessons I call classic lessons. By "classic lessons" I mean that you can use the theme of each lesson to make your own lessons in the future. In this way, they are really model lessons and all you need do to keep them fresh and up to date is to find some new examples from current issues of the Bangkok Post.
We are going to begin the first two weeks of the series with classic lessons designed to help your students become familiar with the real-time weekend leisure guide which appears each Friday in the Bangkok Post. This week’s lesson is in the form of a reading accompanied by a game in which your students compete to find information in the current issue.
Begin with the reading. It is based on an interview with real.time editor Prapai Kraisornkovit. Briefly discuss what Khun Prapai says about the purpose of the section and the type of content found in real.time. This will be an excellent introduction to the game that follows.
I suggest you make the game a team competition, dividing your class into small groups of four or more. Make sure they understand the rules of the game and then be sure they all start at the same time. You will, of course, want to have the winning team give the correct answers for the rest of the class to check – or dispute.
You might want to end with a brief discussion summarising again the purpose and contents of real.time. You also might want to make short assignments based on this week’s issue or any other part of the Friday issue of the Bangkok Post. Next week, I will give you an example of a very effective real.time-oriented assignment.
You can obviously use this lesson again with a new class, but you will have to make sure the questions are up to date. Columns and columnists are constantly changing, so you may have to eliminate some questions and add others. Notice also that you can use the competition format to familiarise your students with many other types of reading material.
I have also included a short section on today’s real.time, focusing on a story that should interest your students. It also provides you with a good opportunity to show your students how to attack a feature which looks difficult, but is actually quite easy. Point out that almost all the difficult parts appear right at the beginning. That is where the writer strives to catch our attention and the language – often mixed with humour – can be difficult for non-native speakers. After that it is "smooth sailing", especially with this story since it deals with plants which are familiar to Thai students.
I have explained much of the vocabulary from the beginning to help them get through the difficult parts more easily.
Next week: Using the "What’s on" section of real.time.