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This column is for self-study or classroom use and gives guided help with reading the wide variety of writing styles and topics that appear as feature articles in the Bangkok Post. The lessons include background information, skill-building practice and vocabulary explanations. August 24, 2004 Udomporn’s fortune-teller INTRODUCTION

This lesson is based on a lesson I suggested in last Tuesday’s weblog for teachers. I’ve revised it a bit and now I am confident that it will work quite well, even for younger students who would normally find stories in the Bangkok Post to be quite challenging. Have any of you heard of Udomporn Polsak? I’m joking, of course. A better question would be would be “Has anyone NOT heard of Udomporn Polsak?” We all know that last week weightlifter Udomporn won a gold medal at the Athens’ Olympics, the first Thai women ever to win such a medal. We also know that when she comes home, she is going to be the centre of attention for many days. But what’s going to happen after that? We definitely know she is going to receive many rewards, gifts and a great deal of money. We also know something of the career she has chosen for herself. But what else is going to happen to this brand-new Thai celebrity (famous person)? Let’s pretend you are an expert fortune-teller. You are now collecting information about Udomporn so that you can tell her fortune for the rest of her life. Begin by using facts from these recent story excerpts (parts) from the Bangkok Post. Then use your imagination to tell her life story. Describe the key events in her life and the years in which they will happen. This year is easy. Here are two things that are almost certain to happen. Your job is to add to the list for this year and for the years to come. Udom will receive a very warm welcome when she returns to her home in Nakhon Ratchasima. She will receive at least 13 million bath worth of cash and other rewards.

OUR STORY FROM THE BANGKOK POST Golden future for Nong Orn Military career, lots of awards await her POST REPORTERS Udomporn Polsak put on an awesome and inspiring performance to win her gold medal. Very soon, she will begin collecting many more rewards as well. But what will her future be like after that? — SOMCHAI POOMLARD Having put the whole country on cloud nine with her Olympic victory, Udomporn Polsak will return home to nothing less than heroine status, good news that will fulfill her dream, stacks of cash, and rapturous receptions and celebrations. Nicknamed “Nong Orn”, the Nakhon Ratchasima-born weightlifter, 23, became the first Thai woman to win an Olympic gold medal, giving the country starving for great sport success something to cheer about. When she returns on Aug 30, the city of Nakhon Ratchasima will give her a grand homecoming celebration, starting with a parade to show her off around town before ending at the municipal hall where the home-grown heroine will receive a golden key to the city. Townspeople will also give her gold weighing 24 baht, worth about 178,000 baht, while Deputy Prime Minister Suwat Liptapanlop will give her one million baht cash. At least 13 million baht worth of cash and other rewards has been pledged for Ms Udomporn and more could be expected. She will also receive a townhouse, worth 700,000 baht, as a gift from her father, Boonsong Polsak, and mother Sasithorn. And to put the icing on the cake, the army will give her what she has long dreamed of – a career in the military. Army commander-in chief Gen Chaisit Shinawatra said Ms Udomporn will be commissioned as an army sub-lieutenant. As a physical education graduate, she may be given a post at the Army Welfare Department, he said. Gen Chaisit said Ms Udomporn can continue serving the nation as an athlete, and after retiring from sport she can work as a coach for the army. Mr Boonsong thanked Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Gen Chaisit for helping arrange for his daughter to join the army service. He and his wife had prayed to Ya Mo – the legendary heroine worshipped as the guardian spirit of the province – and other spirits to help Ms Udomporn win the Olympic competition. As they answered their prayers, he will go into the monkhood for nine days after the end of Buddhist Lent to show their gratitude. Mr Boonsong said Ms Udomporn called her mother three times from Greece after scoring a win. “They cried together in joy.'' His daughter promised to open a mini-mart for her mother. He himself will continue driving his ice delivery truck. “I will let Nong Orn manage her own money,'' Mr Boonsong said. Mrs Sasithorn said her daughter had wanted to be a weightlifter since she was a little girl, so her father made barbells from soda bottles and milk cans stuffed with cement for her to practice with. Ms Udomporn graduated from the Bangkok College of Physical Education. She joined the weightlifting circle when she was 13 and became part of the national team a year later. She won a silver medal in the 2002 Asian Games in South Korea, a gold in last year's SEA games in Vietnam, and the championship in the 53kg division in the World Weightlifting Championships in Canada last year. Mr Thaksin called 2004 the ``Year of the Women''. Besides Ms Udomporn, another female weightlifter, Aree Wiratthaworn, also won a bronze. The prime minister believes Thai athletes stand a good chance of winning a few more Olympic golds. SOME VOCABULARY HELP on cloud nine extremely happy heroine a girl or woman who is admired for doing something good or brave rapturous expressing extreme pleasure or enthusiasm receptions welcoming celebrations starving for wanting something very much; hungry for pledged promised put the icing on the cake something extra that is added to an already good situation guardian someone who protects something or someone gratitude feeling of being grateful and wanting to express thanks barbells long metal bars with weights attached at each end Teachers There are detailed suggestions about how to present this lesson in this week’s learning post teacher’s notes which are available from our website: http://www.bangkokpost.com/education. • This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager/Editor of the Learning Post at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme. Read our other instant lesson here. Return to our home page. | © The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 2004 | Last modified: August 23, 2004