Four seasons in one week!

Hello Friends,

A new season of programs has hit the networks. What kind of television programs do you enjoy? Action? Drama? Comedy? Mystery and detective? Did you notice that many of the programs in the United States occur in Los Angeles, California? That is because our major movie studios are located in and around Hollywood.

Do you use Netflix, Amazon Prime or other on demand pay per view options? Do you go to network webpages and watch? You can download videos on your smart devices and watch them whenever you have time. How do you watch? Do you listen in English and turn on subtitles (interpretation)? Do you listen in English and turn on Closed Captions? This is a great way to experience your English study in a very enjoyable way. You can watch a movie (experience), hear the language (aural), and see the language (visual).  Count this as working and not recreating. 😊

Water and Ink Club: the Third Saturday, 2:30-4:30
Our painting club delivered our paintings to the Nature Center at Cool Creek Park. This is our second year participating in this show. This year five of our painters are participating with nine paintings. The show opens February 18 and runs through March 5.

February 18: Join us as we paint. Bring your favorite paints or come and try Chinese Brush Painting.

International Bible Study: Tuesdays, 9:30-10:30, room 100.
Last week we read in Acts 10 the story of Cornelius, a devout Gentile seeking God, and also of Peter's vision of common and unclean animals being let down from heaven on a sheet. This week we read more in chapter 11 about why God gave the vision to Peter. He knew that others, such as the Jewish believers in Jerusalem, would doubt and question, and He gave Peter, through the Holy Spirit, the ability to connect the two events together for the glory of God, so that others would continue to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. In Messanic Publications Robert Roy explains how the story in Acts 10 was practiced and how Peter used this vision to teach:

So God, then, used Peter’s Vision to break down a barrier (a dividing wall) that the Jewish traditions of the day had erected – a barrier that severely hindered the spread of the gospel to the nations.

And this is what believers continue to do today. Because God loved us so much, He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins. In gratitude we also share God's love with others, with our words and with our actions, and so the Church continues to grow. ~Jan Heimmann

February 21: Next week join us as we finish reading chapter 11 in Acts.

International Friends: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:00, room 100.
What a delicious experience! We shared our customs and rules of dinner etiquette. We talked about the standard Western table setting. A crowded round table can be confusing, but simple rules apply: use your utensils from the outside of the plate, your bread plate is on the left, your beverages are on the upper right. leave your plates on the table when eating. Your napkin goes on your lap. If you leave the table for the restroom, loosely fold your napkin and put it to the left of your plate. When finished, crumple the napkin to the left. Never wipe your nose or spit food into your napkin. Do not leave your napkin on your chair when you leave the table and will return. In the United States, it is customary to eat using the fork in your right hand (when you cut your food with your knife in your right hand, place the knife down on the plate and pass the fork back to your right hand to take food to your mouth). In Europe the fork always stays in your left hand and your knife in your right hand. You can find more details here. Dishes are served from the left and cleared from the right. You can pick up ribs, fried chicken and bread with your fingers. Crudités can also be picked up and eaten. Do not pick up your plates to eat.

Japanese etiquette allows you to pick up your bowls to eat. Do not stand your chopsticks (or hashi) in your food. You are allowed to eat sushi and rolls with your fingers. Mix your wasabi in your soy sauce for a dip for your rolls. Use the pickled ginger to wipe off excess sauce. Dip either the fish or rice side of your sushi in the sauce.

We tasted delicious Mexican tostadas and tacos dorados de pollo. Usually you are offered a variety of fresh toppings and sauces to prepare as you like. With both of these dishes you begin eating with your fingers, but then you use your fork to pick up the pieces that fall to your plate. You can and should hold your plate to catch anything that falls to enjoy!

Korean etiquette does not allow for picking up dishes. Each side is in a separate dish. The rice is served on the right. Chinese etiquette allows you to pick up your dishes to eat.

Noodles are slurped in Asia, but not in Western countries.

February 21: Join us as Hadeel teaches us to cook Arabic kabsa.

Conversation: Wednesdays, 4:30-6:00, room 201.
We enjoyed talking about so many wonderful topics. We talked about constituents, birds like peregrine falcon, February holidays...

February 22: Join us as we continue the conversation.

English Classes: Thursdays, 9:30-12:30, Upstairs classrooms.
Do you want to have some mad skills when it comes to improving your vocabulary? Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner has five principles that can help:
1. make memories memorable-use pictures and sounds as well memories you already have to hook the new word into your brain and being
2. maximize laziness=study something until you can repeat it one time
3. don't review, recall=testing yourself on short intervals sparks you to remember because you have made a reason to remember.
4. nearly forget...does that sound counterintuitive? If you can catch a word just before it is extinguished from your memory, you will better cement it in your brain.
Using an app like Memrise or Duolingo can make repetitive learning interesting and fun. They take the guesswork out of trying to memorize and apply these rules.

February 23: Our classes are continuing through May.

hit: started

A new season of programs has hit the networks.: be careful that your subject (a season) agrees with your verb (has) both are singular...of programs is just extra stuff!

networks: American television "free" tv that is paid for by commercials; networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS
on demand: watch what you want, when you want
pay for view: pay to watch something for a fixed amount or time

recreating: resting
runs through: is available as performance
Closed Captions: the exact spoken text of video or television and can include other sound elements
Last week (referring to February 7), This week (referring to February 14) Next week (referring to Febuary 21)

doubt: to be uncertain about; consider questionable or unlikely

severely hindered: strongly delayed, interrupted, stopped

indented paragraph quote: when you are quoting someone else and the quote is long a few lines long, highlight it by setting it apart from the rest of the text (writing)
gratitude: feeling grateful or thankful

etiquette: manners, polite behavior
utensils: forks, knives, spoons, etc.
beverages: drinks
crumple: loosely crush
customary: usual
crudities: raw vegetables use as an appetizer
wasabi: green paste made from Japanese horseradish
does not allow for: should not happen
mad skills: slang for being able to do something
Fluent Forever: in formal writing underline the name of a book
does that sound: when sound is used when someone is asking your opinion; does that look is another way of saying this
counterintuitive: not what you would normally want to do
extinguished: erased
cement: settle or fix as in remember!
app: (pronounced like cap with out the c=ap) a small, specific computer program developed for smart phones and tablets
repetitive: do over and over; practicing with flash cards is repetitive
apply: use