Saturday, January 15, 2022

January Update!

 Hello, Friends.

We had a productive week this week. While we are all getting back into the swing of things, we are also looking forward to our upcoming week and meetings.

Our classes are wide open and free to everyone! Register and join us no matter where you live.

Martin Luther King Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights advocate in the 1960s. Read his biography in The Nobel Prize.

Dr. King is often quoted. Here are some of his more famous quotes: 100+ MLK Quotes. His most famous speech is the "I have a dream" speech. You can read the speech. You can watch the newsreel from the day with subtitles:


Indiana Fun and Activities

Volunteer for the 500 Festival have fun and support the community 

iwant2run.com get in shape with these opportunities 


American Sign Language: Monday, 5:30-6:30 PM EST (GMT-5)

Coming back together is always exciting. We realized how much we lost over the break. Interestingly enough, common words like colors were gone from our memories. 

When we looked them up, we were very familiar with what they should have been? Why does this happen?

We noticed that when we started to assume a finger-spelled word we assumed letters. We became confused and lost our confidence. Why do we do this?

January 17: 

International Bible Study: Tuesday, 9:30-10:30 AM EST (GMT-5)

We talked about family dynamics in our immediate families and extended families. As the sandwich generation, we find ourselves concerned with caring for out aging parents as well as caring for and/or helping our children and grandchildren. Challenges come at every new relationship and age. Understanding how we show love and how other people show their love is important. The Five Love Languages helps to identify how people show love and how they like to be shown love. These two things may not be the same.

January 18: We are talking about the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians.

International Friends: Tuesday, 10:30 AM- 12:00 PM EST (GMT -5)

 We met and touched base about what we did over the holidays. We had a presentation of how the cyber security function fits within the IT department and it's help function. We learned that there are white hackers (people who discover ways to break the security of a system and report it for correction) and black hackers (people who work to break the security of a system for malicious intent and are up to no good). See the other "hat" colors hackers can wear in this fun and interesting article: Different Types of Hackers: Six Hats Explained from InfoSec Insights.



January 18: Let's learn about Veracruz from a hometown girl! Join us for a tour and presentation of this wonderful city from the perspective of a native.

Casual Conversation: Wednesday, 4:30-5:30 PM EST (GMT-5)

No takers...

January 19: Let's open the conversation talking about our challenges this week. Mine was cars: buying, selling, trading in, features, new, used, pre-owned, financing...

English Classes: Thursday, 9:30-10:30 AM EST (GMT-5)

We shared our goals or resolutions for the new year. As we talk about goals, we found that the ideas that people presented were good ideas to add to our repertoire. This is a little reminiscent of standing in the grocery line and seeing what the people around you are buying! Our round robin interviews describing two impactful moments in our lives and our most creative accomplishment gave each of us a chance to refine our skills and get to know each other better.

Tutoring on T

We all have been practicing the many ways to pronounce (or not pronounce) "T" in American English. Interestingly enough, when people are trying to help you understand what they are saying, they may pronounce the T when it is normally held to be better (bedder not better) understood. Learn more in the videos below.

This YouTube video compares the Stop T and no T.


Another resource for pronouncing the American "T" on the Clear English Channel. There is a great video as well as other notes to help you improve.

Finally, the American Accent Training video for Chapter Four also covers other common consonant errors. The T Sound begins at 12:52. The introduction beginning at 12:28 is worthwhile.


January 20: We will finish our conversations one on one with each other. Bring your observations about the American T lessons.  

Kids' Conversation: Friday, 4:30-5:30 PM EST (GMT-5)

We had a great meet up to share how we celebrated the new year as well as what happened over the past week. Our Japanese friend shared his handwriting practice.


Here are three examples of Japanese Shodo as a performing art:


Here is a festival version of the art:


Look for more versions. Do you think our Friend will become this type of Samuri artist?

January 21: Many Friends may still be on summer break. We people in the Northern Hemisphere are jealous! We hope to see you soon and hear about your adventures.




1 Thessalonians: pronounced "first Thessalonians" not "one Thessalonians". Usually a single digit or number is written out, but in this case the numeral is written. So, we write: the first chapter of 1 Thessalonians. We say or read: the first chapter of first Thessalonians
concerned with: interested in or 
extended family: a sociological description: family outside the nuclear family (spouse and children)
hometown: the city or place someone was born or grew up; can also mean someone's primary residence
immediate family: a legal or rule definition or description: parents, spouse, children, brother, sister, grandparents
interestingly enough: a statement to pay attention
native: someone who is originally from a place
over the past week: last week, the previous week
round robin: when people meet to compete against each other; also 
worthwhile: valuable, useful


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