International Friends in October

Hello, Friends.

October is a great month. We have officially left summer behind. International Friends Classes and Meetings are moving into phase two. We have had three or four weeks to get acquainted with each other and now it's time to get down to business (but that doesn't mean that the fun and fellowship ends!). Be sure to visit each of the meetings recaps below. There are plenty of tips to speed your learning. Click here to join our classes and discussions to get more out of the notes. 

October is a month of tailgating, homecoming, and getting together with friends and family outdoors.

October is known for super moons and spooky parties.

October is the month of pumpkins and apples and falling leaves.

Join us as we celebrate all things October at a tailgate party in the parking lot at Cornerstone Lutheran Church October 26, 10:00 am-12:00 pm.

Local Fun and Topics

Little Libraries

Are you looking for a good read or just a read? Do you have books to pass along? Little Libraries are just the answer. You may have passed one on a walk or outside a home, commercial, or community building. Bookworms or book collectors or people that like to collect things and give things away are just a few of the people who start and maintain a little library. You can read the story about one that was built in Fishers, Indiana in this article in the Current. The Little Free Library organization promotes and builds libraries around the world and people can buy a sign to have their little libraries registered with this organization where they are put on an app and mapped so they can be easily found. The people who look after registered little libraries are called stewards. There are no rules! Take a book. Leave a book. Books are a great thing to share! 

Netflix

Live to 100 on Netflix talks about the Blue Zones in the world where people live long lives. Beyond diet and exercise, this series talks about the tips centenarians have for long and productive and happy lives.

The Great British Baking Show started a new season on Netflix. Join the bakers as they compete and see what beautiful and delicious cakes, breads, biscuits (cookies in American English) are whipped up each week. Good news! Episodes are released weekly, so you can't binge! This is a good thing when carb loading.

Homecoming 

Homecoming is celebrated at high schools and colleges in the fall. Students and alumni celebrate coming back to school with dances, parades, and football games. High school dances kick off the dating scene for teens. 

Meeting and Class Updates

The third week of classes and meetings are on Zoom.

Click to go to our Meetings and Classes page to learn more and register.

American Sign Language: Tuesday, 5:00-6:00 PM, Zoom

We met this week and practiced our conversational American Sign Language. We discovered that watching each other is important in understanding what we are saying. In ASL, when you can not remember a word you have an easy out: finger spell! 

September 26: It's time to talk! This week we are brushing up on our time vocabulary. Bring sentences and stories that require you to talk about timely topics.

International Bible Study: Tuesday, 8:45-9:45 PM, Zoom

This week's discussions included reflection on who Jesus counted as family and who we count as family. We talked about the book of Mark and how the stories are short and to the point where in Matthew, the stories flowed one into another. Because of the direct language and perspective, Jesus is much more of an action person in the accounts by Mark.

We also talked about the intentions of the Jewish temple leaders and their motives in questioning Jesus. Mark demonstrates Jesus' popularity with the people. Most Jewish leaders feared the authority of Jesus and refused to acknowledge his wisdom and teaching, We talked whether they were unhappy because they were restricted by their preconceived ideas of what God intended them to do. Jesus teaches using stories. He explains the stories to his disciples as an aside. 

September 26: Join us as we continue to read the Gospel of Mark. Concider how Jesus shares his message and teaching and the impact it has on the people he encounters.

American English and Culture: Thursday, 9:00-11:00 AM, Zoom

American Language and Culture topics for October are all about questions and answers. 

• Examine the words and structure of questions to help you anticipate and grow your grammar skills.
• Understand questions and generate answers in the specific areas of: shopping, medicine, and general maintenance.
• Overcome you worries about talking to strangers (or even friends) as we talk about getting comfortable using language and customs to communicate with others.

Customer Service: How do you like your coffee? 

This week's focus was on customer service conversations in restaurants. The conversation soon focused on coffee shop language. Each shop has its own lingo and ordering more than a cup of black coffee can be daunting. Starbucks has a language all it's own. This Guide to Starbucks Lingo can help you get the most out of you Starbucks experience whether you drive through or walk in or order off your app.

Getting it Done

We got back to "get" this week. We almost got carried away sharing all the idioms we know:

• Get the runaround
• get married/devorced
• Don't get me started
• Don't get me wrong   

We noticed the MANY verbs we substitute with "get." Think about these contexts:

• Get a haircut
• Get groceries
• Get a new car
• Get a babysitter
• Get a gift
• Get bored, hungry, mad, sick, confused, busy, accepted, scared...

Open Conversation

In our smaller group we took time to assess using our "-ive" chart. 

We went on to talk about our level of confidence. We also talked about how people perceive us:

• Direct
• Rude
• Sarcastic/Ironic

We talked about perceptions and how situations can influence what people think and how they react. Culture also is important when we are in social and professional situations. Tone and delivery can be perceived as funny or impertinent.

October 5

To become confident, keep observing, building, and sharing your lists of new vocabulary and usage. We get the most out of our time together when you teach what you know and ask probing questions. Try our breakout sessions.

9:00-9:15: Break the ice and warm up

9:15-10:00 Breakout sessions

10:00-10:05 Break

10:05-10:50 Breakout sessions

10:50-11:00 Recap and Reset

Breakout!

W Words and Questions: To sharpen our question and answer skills, let's spend October as reporters asking: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW. We've already had requests to explore WHO/ WHOM/WHOSE, and we can't leave out WHICH/THAT. Join us as we get our heads together and try to get a grip on some nitty-gritty grammar and usage this month. Warm up with two worksheets about basic question patterns, which are posted under the Handouts tab on the website. Quiz yourself and bring questions.

Customer Service and Shopping: Shopping in the United States is cut and dry. Sometimes you need help or need to return an item. Learn about the phrases you can expect to hear and talk about what is expected in American stores.

Talking to Strangers: Conversation with people we don't know can be a problem no matter what the setting. When we are afraid others don't understand us or we are not confident of our language skills and don't try, we miss out. Watch the TED Talk by Kio Stark.

Kids's Conversation and More: Friday, 4:30-5:00 PM, Zoom.

October 6: We are anxious to try out our new format and game for conversation. Get open ended questions ready to generate points. Practice storytelling to keep the points coming!

Words and Phrases

a good read: a good book

count or counted: consider, feel or think

lingo: language

pass along: share information or resources

preconceived: 

timely: usually this means current events, but in this case timely is a play on words!