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Hello, Friends.
September is almost finished! Wrap up the month in style with great weekend weather and festivals. We covered so much in our classes and meetings, so visit each one to see what we learned and talked about. Find words to add to your list. Find culture notes. Be ready to talk this next week about them.
If you are registered, you are welcome to join any of our meetings, even if you didn't check the boxes.
As always, children are welcome!
Fun, Fieldtrips, and Festivals:
Where did you meet up? We had fun running into each other outside of our regular meetings. It is always nice to see one another! See you on Main in Carmel Sunday, the 28th.
Carmel International Arts Festival: September 27 and 28
American English and Culture
Lyrics can be wholesome or they can be inappropriate. Any music genre can have lyrics that are not acceptable in all situations, but the tune can be catchy and have us tapping our feet or dancing. Be careful what and when you sing along. This can go for any style of music.
International Friends Meeting Notes
Join us! Click here to register.
International Bible Study: Monday, 8-9:00 PM, Zoom
We enjoyed reading Exodus 15 and the poetic account of the Israelites escape from Pharoah and praise and rejoicing in the escape. As the story continues, the Israelites have a rough patch, and God provides. Our discussions included observations:
Is God harsh in his actions and judgment? People portray God as violent and ascribe violent actions to him. The Bible is clear: God does not what anyone to be lost. He is deeply grieved. Isaiah 55:6-7, Psalm 145:8-9
Is grumbling bad? Our discussion highlighted the expectation that God would provide an easy life in every detail regardless of the decisions and actions of the people. We observed that grumbling is the outward expression of frustration and discomfort. Recognizing these dissatisfaction can lead us to personal growth and a deeper trust and reliance on God. Romans 5:3-4 explains suffering produces perseverance, character, hope.
When God hardens Pharoah's heart, is he condemning and rejecting him? Our discussion and reflection in understanding and balancing God's love and with his power. "Keisho" or being "small minded" or inflexible or rigid in our minds and hearts to the point that we refuse to see our mistakes. God gave Pharoah many opportunities to change. Pharoah knew who God and was clearly forewarned and able to avoid grief and destruction. Pharoah's path led him to this outcome.
September 29: Exodus
American English and Culture: Thursday, 9-11:00 AM, Zoom
Are you familiar with the game Trivial Pursuit? Our discussions today
prepared us to answer many questions about a range of topics. AND
we reviewed English grammar, pronunciation, and cadence, too.
Sports and Leisure:
Do you love a certain sport? We have friends who love downhill skiing,
cross country skiing, and bowling. Others play bocce, golf, tennis,
pickleball, badminton, and ping pong. Some of us don’t play but prefer
watching sports. If you are a “football widow,” you may get bored
watching your husband watch football on television all weekend. To keep
our class from becoming boring, we shifted from golf to the Gulf States
(the vowel sound here is distinctly different).
Geography:
Are you planning to travel in the U.S.? There are distinct geographic and
cultural regions here. You may notice distinct accents in each region also.
Looking a map of the U.S., we highlighted some of these regions and
references: Gulf states, Coastal states, Corn Belt states, Midwestern
states, Flyover states, Southwestern states, Plains states, Pacific
Northwest states, Tornado Alley, New England states, Mid-Atlantic states,
Mountain states, Bible Belt states. How many U.S. states have you
visited? I have never visited Montana, but I have gone to Illinois many
times. How would you define the regional identities in your home country?
We welcome you to share your thoughts with the class. We agreed that
we should look beyond stereotypes (often portrayed in movies) and
assumptions to enjoy the full and fascinating sense of people and place in
any region.
Hospitality is a central part of most cultures. We find gatherings and play
dates for kids fun and entertaining, but the expectations may differ across
cultures. What does it mean to be a good neighbor? Should you drop by
to see someone or call ahead to prearrange a visit? Are you being rude if you decline a last-minute invitation? Must you have a perfectly clean
house before you can invite someone over? Does it make you a nervous
wreck to host a gathering? How do you organize your home and balance
your social life? We agreed that the most people want to experience your
warm welcome, not judge your decorating or housekeeping. In fact, we
enjoy seeing how different families “feather their nest.” Home Sweet
Home!
Concluding remarks from our friends:
“I learned about cultural approaches to visiting.”
“People are different, and that’s normal.”
“I learned a lot about regional boundaries and American culture. It
was really fun.”
“Polite curiosity about culture can promote conversation and
connection. Tell me more ....”
October 2: Maybe next week we will discuss Art and Literature and Science and
Nature! Join us to find out!
American English and Culture: Thursday, 7-8:30 PM, CLC, Carmel, room 100
We started working with our sentences this week. Each sentence becomes a lesson!
- We continued work with pronouns.
- We talked about subject/verb agreement. Often if the subject is singular (or only one person, place, thing, or idea), the verb is made singular by adding an "s" to the end.
- We talked about the meanings and uses of to, too, two. This is only confusing when they are written (because they all sound the same).
- We reviewed questions and answers.
- We talked about how adding -ing to the end of a verb makes it an ongoing action, but we are married (They are getting married in the fall. They got married in the fall. I am married. I am divorced.).
October 2: Review your sentences from the past weeks. Do you see ways to correct or improve your sentences? Continue writing three sentences a day (21 by next Thursday) and add to your word list.
American English for Kids: Thursday, 6:00-6:30 PM, private Zoom
We met up at the Oktoberfest (on Zoom). We had a great conversation, after some technical difficulty on my part, but we still had a great meeting.
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