Half Way Through July

Hello, Friends.

Summer is in full swing!

Mark your calendar and get pumped up! The Olympics begin July 21 in Tokyo, Japan. While spectators are prohibited this year, most of us aren't lucky enough to see the games first hand. 

• Watch the Torch Relay.
• Here is a great Master Schedule for events and dates.
• Meet the athletes.
• Sign up for updates and follow your favorite sports.
• Watch the Olympic Channel.
• And Meet the Mascot Miraitowa! This fun video is an exciting overview of the sports to come!

Watch the Olympics on NBC

Opening ceremonies will be broadcast live beginning at 6:55 AM EST on July 23 and then be rebroadcast in the evening 7:30 PM to Midnight and then will be replayed.

COVID-19 

Vaccination for our children are a hot topic. Hamilton County Health Department is presenting a town hall hosted by two pediatric experts July 22 at 6:00 PM EST. The meeting is virtual only and to participate you need to join Microsoft Teams using this link. Read more about this event from the Current In Carmel or from the Hamilton County Reporter.

The DELTA Variant is the latest worry for the world. Internationally, many countries are bearing the brunt of this outbreak. Here in Indiana we are seeing a bit of an uptick in numbers. Be sure to check Indiana State Pages for the most accurate and up to date information for our state.

Listening and Speaking

ladder

letter

litter

These three words are easy to misunderstand and may be difficult to pronounce. There are some similarities.

• All begin with "l" (pronounced with your tongue at the roof of your mouth behind your teeth and opening your mouth).
• All have the "d" sound in the middle. (That is a "d" sound in American English, but many of you hear an "r"-the name of the sound doesn't matter it is what you hear that counts)
• All end in "r" (pronounced by closing your back teeth and closing your mouth with a "smile").

These are all rather tricky sounds, but then we have similar sounding short vowels. Oddly enough, when you substitute a "b" the subtle difference between the vowels is easier to hear and to say.

Punctuation and Parallel Language

Notice the bullets above. They all have a parallel sentence structure which means that these  which is important when writing bullets either in text or on a presentation. Since they are complete sentences they end with a period. If they were phrases there would not be a period at the end of each statement. 

Rules for Vowels

We had a great talk about vowel pronunciation and rules. Long vowels are easier to distinguish from each other and there are some basic rules (that can always bent and broken because English is a language that absorbs words from other languages). 

Long Vowels (the letters say their name)

• When "i" or "o" are the only vowel in a word and they are followed by two consonants they are pronounced long. Examples: child, hold, post, kind. But not: chit, cot, dip.
• Two vowels side by side say the name of the first vowel with the second being silent. Examples: seed, read, lied, rail, boat, tail. But not: said, 
• Add an "e" to the end of the word and the vowel is pronounced long. Examples: tale, tile, hole, dupe. 

Read more about short vowels and irregular vowels in Rules for Long and Short Vowels.

American Sign Language: Monday, 5:30-6:30,  PM EST, Zoom

We had a great meeting learning the signs for the Olympics. It was really nice to have the full contingent together again! We are open for more Friends to join us! 

Summer Grammar Workshop: Thursday, 10:30-12:00 PM EST, Zoom

We met again after a very long time (ok, it was only two weeks). While this advanced group communicates very well, there are some usual and some unusual mistakes that people make no matter their original language. Join us for our last to sessions of the summer.

Kid's Conversation: Thursday, 4:00-4:30 PM EST, Zoom

We shared hello and good bye in our home languages. We shared our drawings of our invented amusement park rides (and shared where we would scream at each ride).

July 22: Make an origami animal and share it with the crew. 

Brush Painting: Third Saturday of the month (July 17), 9:00 AM-12:00 PM EST, Cornerstone Lutheran Church, Carmel

Meet in person to practice your art at Cornerstone Lutheran Church. Bring your supplies and project. Enter Door 6 and go up the stairs.

bearing the brunt: put up with the worst; suffer the main 

crew: the team

full contingent: all people present

get pumped up: get excited

hot topic: an issue that is being discussed widely

oddly enough: strange to notice

spectators: people watching an event

subtle: fine

to come: happening in the future

town hall: an event where public officials answer present information and answer questions from the public