All times listed are GMT-5 or Eastern Standard Time
Hello, Friends.
It looks like our groundhog was very right with his predictions! The snow on Monday was one for the records. Meanwhile we can be sure spring is coming: This week marks the 100 days to the Indy 500! Watch the news clip and find out if we will have fans in the stand and see Takuma Sato get his face on the trophy!
Holidays Missed, But Don't Worry: There Are Fish Frys
February 16: Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras is the feast day before Lent for Christians. Break out your King Cakes! This time we celebrate Cajun Style. The city of New Orleans in Louisiana is best known for Mardi Gras Celebrations, but that doesn't mean that we have to be left out!
February 17: Ash Wednesday signals the beginning of Lent or the 40 days of repentance and fasting
Lenten Fish Dinners: During Lent Catholic (and other) churches host fish fries. This is a particularly favorite tradition in the Midwestern and Northeastern states.
- February 19, March 12, March 26: Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Click for the menu. Drive through only behind the parish hall.
- Every Friday 5:00-7:30 St. Elizabeth Seton: Click for the menu (more than fried fish and details) Eat in and curbside pickup is available.
Suggestions and Springtime!
Two Homes One Heart virtual performance February 20, 7:00-8:30, $20-30
Indiana Free Fishing Days: in order to fish in our parks, rivers and streams people need to have fishing licenses. You can get yours online. But if you just want to casually "wet a line" as my uncle used to say, Indiana Department of Natural Resources hosts some free fishing days. Mark you calendar: May 2, June 5-6 and September 25, 2021.
How Do I Find a Good Movie Or My Next Binge?
- IMBd is a great place to find out what other people think of a movie. Movies and programs are ranked up to 10 stars by viewers. Amazon Prime uses this
- Rotten Tomatoes is named for the old style practice of throwing rotten fruit and vegetables at performers to show displeasure. Rather than ranking by stars, Rotten Tomatoes gives a percentile score.
STEM in the Kitchen
The Betty Lab by the Betty Crocker turns the kitchen into a laboratory. Cooking is science and physics. Betty Crocker has partnered with Barbie to create a program
Pronouncing H...Not Really
One observation about English (both American and British) is that the letter "h" sometimes is not really pronounced or evident. There are words where "h" just is never said: herb (erb), heir (air), honest (AH ist), honor (AH ner). Then there are those times when people do not pronounce the "h" during conversation because the preceding word ends with a strong sound that obliterates the softer "h" sound. Some examples:
- "Let her in." sounds like "Letter in."
- "Give it to him." sounds like "Give i twim."
- "Put it here" sounds like "Puddid ear."
To complicate the matter further, we may write A Historic Event or An Historic Event delves deeper into when we say "an" with a word beginning with the "silent h" (because it sounds better) as opposed to when we write "a" (because it looks better).
Pronunciation or Accent and Just How Do We Study
We talked about studying alone. There were a bunch of great tips shared. Here they are in question form for food for thought:
- Do you use flash cards?
- Do you use Post Its on the wall and label everything in your home?
- Do you write the sound an English word makes in your home language pronunciation or do you use English pronunciation?
- Do you create at least seven examples and sentences to help you use what you have learned in daily living?
- Do you review what you studied last week after giving yourself time to either forget or let the information settle in your mind?
- Do you talk to yourself? Do you carry on conversations and practice questions and answers?
- When you say a word in a way that sounds like a completely different word to American English ears is that an issue with accent or is that an issue with your pronunciation skill?
In, At and On
These three prepositions are often confused. This is because they can indicate place or time!
For Example: Meet me at the school on Main Street in room 110 at10:00 in the morning on May 15.
Exchanging Pleasantries
People in Indiana (and other places) often greet each other whether they know each other or not. They greet in a very casual or familiar way that may leave you wondering whether you have met them before (even though you know you haven't since we rarely get out these days!). Say you are pumping gas and someone pulls up to the other pump and hops out of their car. Or you are out on a walk and encounter another person. You make brief eye contact and the following conversation might happen.
Him: Hey there!
You: Hey! Hi! How are you?
Him: Fine thanks. You?
You: Doing well!
No, he probably doesn't want to be friends. Yes, he is just acknowledging that you made eye contact.
Many years ago I was in the Indy 500 Parade in 2011 when a golf cart was going past. I recognized one of the men in the cart but couldn't remember where I knew him from. Do I say hello? I better because he might be offended and I will hear about it later when we meet. So, I yelled and waved:
Me: Hey! Hi! How are you?
Him: Hi! Doing well! You?
Me: Doing well! Great day for a parade!
Him: It sure is!
The golf cart sped on it's way. Meanwhile, I remembered the man's name...Anderson Cooper. Whew! Wait? ANDERSON COOPER! He was the parade grand marshal that year. Hmmm. I doubt if he remembers me or our exchange of pleasantries. Regardless, it is always good to show hospitality. Sometimes that might be the nicest thing that will happen to that person that day.
International Stories and More: Saturday, 7:00-7:30 P.M. EST/Sunday, 9:00-9:30 A.M. JST
We are continuing our pilot of Stories and More with our Japanese friends. We talked about Valentine's Day and how it is a day to show people how much we care. We counted to ten and learned how Americans count on our fingers. We discovered that it isn't easy to pronounce the word "heart". This word rhymes with art not out.
February 28: We meet again!
Stories and More: Monday, 10:30-11:00 A.M.
We told each other about our Valentine's Day. We counted to 16 because that is how many cards one of our friends gave to her friends at school.
Since it it snowy and cold, we danced to the Christmas Freeze Dance.
February 22: We will continue winter fun with penguins!
American Sign Language: Monday, 5:30-6:30 P.M.
We had a great review and built on time like time of day, how to say the months. We had great discussion about using the words yes and no and right and wrong. When learning a new language we always fall back to yes and no when we really need to indicate right (or correct) and wrong (or incorrect).
International Bible Study: Tuesday, 9:30-10:30 A.M.
Jesus teaches about the ups and downs in life. We hope things always go well and we can be happy, but life does not always go that way. Jesus teaches in Luke 6:17-26 that when things are at their worst, you can find comfort and strength in him and from other people. Jesus further explains the teaching of Isaiah 5:20 where people confuse things in life...Not that riches, being full, or being admired is bad, but when you trust in yourself and your situation, that situation can change and you will be left wanting.
There were great words:
- weep: deep sadness when your eyes water
- woe: great sorrow or distress
February 23: Join us as we talk about Luke 6:21-36; Jesus teaches to love your enemies!
International Friends: Tuesday, 10:30-12:00
We didn't share life hacks. We did have a sharing just about everything else!
February 24: Let's try again to share life hacks.
Afternoon Conversation: Wednesday, 4:30-6:00 P.M.
Once again we got sidetracked. We didn't get around to Excel in time.
February 25: Join us to learn more about how to use Excel and other spreadsheets.
English Classes: Thursday, 9:30-12:00
Students trickled into our Zoom because of the snow day so we had a group discussion for a while.
February 26: Join us! We miss you!
End of the Week Conversation: Friday, 10:30-12:00
Although we got a late start (and thank you for understanding), we certainly made up for it! We still managed to get our full time in and then some.
February 27: Join the conversation. There is much to say to wrap up the week and get ready for the weekend.
and then some: even more than was required or expected
be left wanting: unfulfilled
fall back to/on: resort to
food for thought: consider or think about something
get out: leave home
get our full time in: use the complete time
just about everything else: we talked about a lot of stuff
make brief eye contact: see each other
made up for it: do something that compensates for a loss
news clip: short informational video
one for the records: a or an historic event; because of the unsaid "h" people say "an" but because
pilot: test
these days: recently
trickled into: arrived slowly
wrap up: conclude
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