Hello April! No Fooling!

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Hello, Friends.

March is not going out like a lamb here in Indiana. While we had some beautiful weather this past week, we had a line of storms blow through along with dropping temperatures. Do not put away your winter coats, yet. 

April Fool and More

April is national poetry month.

The first week is national library week (to the Carmel Clay Library and stuff a bag full books for only $10) Friday, April 4, 9-5:00 and Saturday, April 5, 9-4:00.

April 1: April Fool's Day play practical jokes on your friends and family just for kicks

April 12: Passover begins

April 13: Palm Sunday (and the beginning of Holy Week)

April 17: Maundy Thursday

April 18: Good Friday

April 20: Easter

April 22: Earth Day

April 25: Arbor Day (plant a tree)

And there are many, many more days to celebrate! Check out the Holiday Insight page for April and enjoy the month known best for spring showers

American English

Collocation or words that sound natural and are used together smooth out your conversation and written language. There are dictionaries of these word groupings and using them are key to sounding fluent and being understood. Grammar Monster is a good source to think about these word groups. To be clear, collocation differs from slang or idioms and are common language. Collocation is not to be confused with colloquialisms which are common saying in a particular area (like calling all soft drinks (a collocation) a Coke (a colloquialism) in the South). Do not get too hung up on this, just be aware. Grammar Monster has a nice discussion with examples.

American Culture

Spring break has become an important part of American life. In the recent generations, the tradition of spring break has broken out from colleges to kids in elementary through high school. What used to be just a couple of days around Easter has blown into a week-long break. In the Midwest, families flood the airports or hit the road looking for beaches or spring skiing or anything just to get out of town. Staycations became popular. Instead of bugging out, some families stay in town and take advantage of special deals and events. For some college kids, spring break does not mean a party get away with friends, but a chance to go home or visit family and do a lot of sleeping and eating! 

International Friends classes are holding with this tradition and are taking a week long break (since most of our friends won't be able to come to class anyway!).

International Friends Meeting Notes

Join us! Click here to register.

International Friends American English and Culture classes continue into the spring. We are wrapping up our study of individual professional language with an adaptation of the "I'm From.." poem. You can try it out on our Handouts page (International Friends: 2024-2025 Notes and Handouts). These types of exercises help us to express our lives and skills beyond dry facts. From here we are going to turn outward with how we interact in the workplace (which can include just being out and about) in the United States. We are going to view a Linked in Learning course on civility as a springboard for our conversations. These short video lessons have discuss civility and creating a personal brand.

International Bible Study: Monday, 8-9:00 PM, Zoom

Genesis 49 is another genealogy chapter, and this time it is in the context of blessings. Genesis 50 wraps up Jacob's life. The death of Jacob is touching. Joseph's brothers continue to worry that Joseph will want revenge, but this is the farthest thing from his mind, and he reassures them. 

19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. 

This assurance is the philosophy of the believers of the Creator God. While life is full of pain and disappointment, God takes imperfection and malice and uses it (and us) for good. Pharoah continues to show respect to Joseph and his family. Genesis ends with Joseph's death. He asks to be returned to be buried with his family and not to stay in Egypt.

March 31: We begin Exodus. The Israelites are slaves in Egypt. This book is a perfect read for the Lenten season as it mirrors the 40 days of search, anticipation, and ultimately freedom. We will parallel our Exodus study with the passion of Jesus found in the Gospels.

American English and Culture

We looked at ourselves and the words and phrases we need to express ourselves, we looked at our career and professions and the words and phrases we need to express our work and experience. We are moving into looking at how to communicate outside of ourselves and look at other people and how to communicate. To begin, we are using a LinkedIn Learning video class on Civil Language.

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

We had some great conversations and talked about civility. We revisited the Linked In Learning modules and looked at an internal communication from IU Health that helps smooth the day for patients and people working in the IU Health system. 

Manage up is one phrase we talked about. Basically, this is when someone communicates to people around them to ensure the best outcome. Here are some word pairs about conversation. What are the differences.

• Speak up:
• Speak out:
• Speak out of turn:
• Speak to:
• Talk up: 
• Talk down:
• Talk about: 
• Talking out of turn: 
• Talk to: 

March 27: Complete your professional I'm From.... and email it to Carolyn. We will watch the next Civil Language Lessons.

American English and Culture: Thursday, 7-8:30 PM, CLC, Carmel, room 102

After watching the Linked In Learning on personal brand, we brainstormed admirable attributes (see the boards on the Notes and Handouts. We read our professional I'm From... Creative and insightful. These continue to delight and help us to grow.

April 3: We will watch the next Civil Language Lessons and develop our word banks and expressions.

American English for Kids: Thursday, 6:00-6:30 PM EST, private Zoom

We took turns telling about ourselves for three minutes. Everyone did a great job talking that long and telling each other about how we like to spend our time. 

April 4: How much do you remember about our friends from last week? Let's reverse the process. Ask questions about each other's life and likes.

Words and Phrases

broken out: expand 

bugging out: leaving quickly with just the essentials

flood: overwhelm

get out of town: leave from where you usually live

hit the road: drive somewhere

spend time: what we choose to do