Sunday, November 12, 2023

Get Ready for Thanksgiving...or Not!

Hello, Friends.

This week we have a few classes. If you are available, join us in person for our pre-Thanksgiving feast. We cook together (learn how to roast a turkey a la Carolyn--pretty standard Martha Stewart meets normal house) and bring our favorite feasting dishes to share and eat!

Local Fun

November Events to Do in Hamilton County 

Keeping Safe

Cybersecurity Tips: How to Use Cybersecurity in Your Everyday Life 

In America!

A Tour of American Accents: Enjoy this article that shows the difference between the accents in the United States. 

Equity or Equality 

These two words are an important part of the American vocabulary. Equality is written into the Constitution. Equity has been trending in popular culture and on campus. Is there a difference?

Black Friday Sales

Amazon Starts November 17. Walmart is on now. What is Black Friday? It was traditionally the Friday after Thanksgiving and inaugurated the Christmas shopping season. This is the day that many retail stores went from red to black (made money). Look for great deals on what you want, need, or want to stockpile for gifts.

Meetings and Classes

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

We practiced a list of signs relating to Thanksgiving and then asked each other questions using those words. For  example:

  • Do you eat turkey on Thanksgiving?
  • Does your family get together for Thanksgiving?
  • Do you like pumpkin pie?

The most useful part of the class was to actually go through the list from the videos (in the November 5 Update and in the November 12 Meetings and Handouts)and practice the signs with each other.

November 14: Elections and voting are an important part of American life and culture. 

Here are some videos informing our deaf friends that represent the many ways to communicate about voting in America.


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

Our study in Acts highlights how the followers of Jesus, who were ordinary people, become extraordinary in speaking and acting (Acts 4:13-14). Acts 4 continues to tell the story of how the people were bold to speak the good news in public. God blesses their words and work and strengthens them (Acts 4: 31). As Acts continues, the stories of the Apostles taking the story of God's love and care for everyone (Acts 10:34) regardless of their race or culture or history is an inspiration.

November 13: We finish reading Acts with chapters 14-28. Join us!

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

We had an interesting class covering the topic of "filler words" or sounds that frequently are heard but never discussed in classes. Words and phrases like these inform spoken conversation and the mechanics of understanding person-to-person conversation or speaking, but are rarely found in written language. The Ted Talk: understanding filler “words” is a good explanation of how these words and phrases work in all languages. 

November 16: In Person at Cornerstone Lutheran Church to celebrate American Thanksgiving and feasting!

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

We had a great conversation about our week and were proud to share success. Our MadLibs were reasonable. 

November 17:

Here is the list for our "MadLib". Quick, name a word for each of the following. No, you don't need the context. It will be silly!

  1. adjective
  2. plural noun
  3. verb ending in "ing"
  4. verb ending in "ing"
  5. verb ending in "ing"
  6. animal, type of fluid
  7. verb ending in "ing"
  8. adjective
  9. verb ending in "ing"
  10. animal-plural
  11. verb ending in "ing"
  12. verb ending in "ing"
  13. plural noun
  14. verb
  15. animal
  16. adjective
  17. type of fluid

Words and Phrases

a la: in the style of

extraordinary: unusual or remarkable

if you are available: if you don't have anything else to do 

inaugurated: marked the beginning for public use or event 

is on: is occurring

pretty standard Martha Stewart meets normal house: 

  • pretty standard: a normal style
  • Martha Stewart: an upscale (fancy) TV homemaker personality
  • meets: versus
  • normal house: average lifestyle

No comments:

Post a Comment