International Friends: October 2025

Saturday, October 25, 2025

Hello, Friends.

This week brought on a cold snap with surprise. We had freeze warnings on Wednesday and Thursday. Many of us finally kicked on our furnaces. The fall color in Indiana is beautiful! Our weather is changeable here in Indiana and in the Midwest. We should still have some warmer days.

HALLOWEEN HINTS

Don't forget that Halloween is being celebrated on Friday, October 31. Check community Trick or Treat time and be ready for guests (porch lights on and/or yard decorations means people are welcoming kids). If you do not want to give out candy to kids, make sure your house lights are off.

If you are going out to Trick or Treat, stay safe. Carry a flashlight. Watch for traffic. Don't eat unwrapped candy. Be prepared for sudden and unexpected weather changes.

Fall Foliage Field Trips, and Feasting:

Fall Foliage Finds from Indy's Child

And other Fall Foliage Field Trips from USA Today

November Calendar with International Friends

I have a friend who said that after Halloween, the school year is over.

November 20: International Friends Feasts: bring your favorite feasting dish to share. Learn to prepare a turkey and other traditional mid-western dishes. Then let's feast!

November 22 to December 24: The Carmel Christkindlmkt is open with 50 vendors, music, ice skating and just a great place to meet friends and enjoy a German-style winter/Christmas fest.

November 24-28: No meetings or classes. Happy Thanksgiving
November 27: Thanksgiving Day
November 28: Black Friday kicks off the Christmas shopping season.

Questions in the News

Immigration is in the news locally and in the United States as well as internationally. Legal vs illegal immigrants are at the forefront. Each country defines and enforces their own laws. In the United States the Department of Homeland Security (USDHS), United States Immigration, and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) all have a hand in enforcing immigration laws outlined in Federal law.

USCIS defines and identifies the forms or legal documents that are necessary and offers explanations for filing the forms.

This page defines the laws and processes for working in the U.S.
This page defines the laws and processes for visiting (not living in) the U.S.
This page defines humanitarian protection.

USDHS provides a page explaining "How Do I" for public (as in general people in the community). This includes more than immigration. Employers and businesses have a separate set of definitions and are responsible for their actions.

The page regarding the enforcement of immigration violations from ICE defines deportation from a law enforcement perspective. Self-deportation is an option for people who are in the United States illegally. People can download the CBP Home Mobile Application.

It is important to find an immigration lawyer and get official advice to avoid heartache.

Time Travel in American English (or It's Grammar Time)

Review our Language Learning Basics. Move beyond the simple rules in your conversations.

Scott Metzler

What time is it? As we describe our activities and tell our stories in English, we can become "time travelers" exploring the fine differences between verb tenses to explain exactly when something happens.

Begin to build on the basic tenses you already know:

Present--I watch TV.
Past--I watched TV yesterday.
Future--I will watch TV tomorrow.

Then try the progressive tenses:

Present Progressive--I am watching TV right now.
Past Progressive--I was watching TV when the phone rang.
Future Progressive--I will be watching TV tomorrow at 8:00 PM to see the new nature program.

Then explore the perfect tenses:

Present Perfect--I have watched TV every day this week.
Past Perfect--I had watched TV for an hour before I went to bed last night.
Future Perfect--I will have watched TV for an hour before I go to bed tomorrow.

Then mix it up with more complex (and unusual) perfect progressive tenses:

Present Perfect Progressive--I have been watching TV for an hour.
Past Perfect Progressive--I had been watching TV for an hour when my husband came home.
Future Perfect Progressive--I will have been watching for an hour before I go to work tomorrow.

Think about your life experience as a timeline—an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, your whole life. Draw a picture of where events happen on the timeline. Then put yourself on the timeline to help you know which verb to use. We will continue to practice verbs in the coming weeks.

Vocabulary

We encountered the very common American English word "as". This comparison word that can be lost in translation. One strategy for learning how something is used in English vs a preferred non-English language is to reverse the idea: how do I use/translate the word if I am trying to learn your preferred language? The How to Say Guide has some great information.

How to say "as" in Korean

How to say "as" in Italian

How to say "as" in Spanish

International Friends Meeting Notes

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

We are moving slowly through the 10 Commandments in Exodus 20. We reprised our discussions in the context of Luther's Small Catechism, which gives a simple and effective definition supporting each commandment and provides supporting Bible verses (Luther's philosophy of "let Scripture interpret Scripture"). We noticed that the commandments provide more than surface rules, but a context for understanding our relationship with God and with other people (Mark 12:28-34).

In remembering the Sabbath Day or setting aside a day for God and for rest is not something we think of in our 24 hour day. There is a trend for a four-day work week and talk of work-life balance, then there are people working two or more jobs to make ends meet. We talked about taking time to rest and making time for corporate worship-meaning time to read the Bible and pray together. In Mark 2:27 Jesus explains that this commandment is intended for personal care not as a burden. As one study friend observed, "It is about protection. Protecting self and all one's own. It is the one day not to worry but to take time and rest. You can put God first. You can be the best of yourself."

The fourth commandment is about honoring your parents. While this commandment looks like it is about children respecting their parents, there is a responsibility as a parent to be the best of yourself to be worthy of the honor of being a parent.

October 27: We will begin with the fifth commandment: you shall not murder.

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

We got deep into grammar and explored more on how we can be better storytellers to get our point across. Don't get tense over tenses. In American English time is all in the verb.

Homework:

Look and Listen: Notice how you hear verbs used in the world and media (news, movies, podcasts) around you. Try using subtitles to note differences in what you hear and read. Report on our observations next week.
Send Carolyn a copy of your sentences about your activities last week describing where you came and went.
Draw a timeline of your experiences. You choose the time frame (day, week, month, year).

Examples:

<———————————————————————————————————————>

M T W Th F Sat Sun

Doctor Lesson Meeting English Brunch Party Dinner

< ———————————————————————————————————————>

1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2025 2026

Marriage Moving Parenting Parenting College Empty Nest Retire

October 28: Get ready to share your sentences and stories. Tell us what you discovered. Thinking in the past and telling about it in the present (in English) connects your life experience, languages, and vocabularies.

American English and Culture: Thursday, 7-8:30 PM, CLC, Carmel, room 100

Check out our boards in our Class Notes! Look through all of them. We reprised much of our previous lessons to build on our impromptu sentences. Look at the summary from our Zoom class. We need to build confidence. We are looking through a list of the 1000 Most Frequent Words in English. There is another list our Class Notes. We drilled our word and sentence practice as we read through the words. We knew almost all of the words. For the next week, make sentences using the words from the first page. Concentrate on the words that are mot familiar. Are there any words that do not have a similar word in your home language?

October 28: Bring your sentences. We will read them and work with them.

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

We met and talked about tennis and tennis practice and how we train for that sport. We also talked about electricity. In Japan, our Friend built an electrical system using a battery and copper to light a light bulb. That reminded me of science projects here in the States where we use coins to make a battery. Science Buddies has a great experiment to try using coin. This experiment explains the terms used in the project.

October 29: Let's talk more about electricity!

Words and Phrases and Resources

Luther's Small Catechism resources

Project Gutenberg provides documents that are not copywritten for download. This link takes you to several versions of Luther's Small Catechism including a Japanese translation (not an easy translation to find. There is also a free app available from the Apple store for reference and a companion to the Bible apps.

burden: a load; drudgery

forefront: leading or an important thing

get [your] point across: tell what you need someone to know

have a hand in: play a role, participate

heartache: emotional anguish or grief (especially at the loss of or in behalf of a loved one)

impromptu: off the cuff, not planned in advance

kicked on our furnaces: turn on or ignite your furnace

lost in translation: misunderstood because there is not a way of conveying and idea across languages with a quick translation; something that needs explanation, not translation

regarding: concerning; dealing with issues or information

reprised: repeat as in repeat performance

shall: should

tense: stressed, upset

tense: verbs that indicate when something takes place

Friday, October 17, 2025

Mid October Messages

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Hello, Friends.

Stuff and nonsense.

Fun, Field Trips, Frights:

American English and Culture

It is a little early to be planning for Halloween, or is it. This holiday is a favorite. Basically, it is one big costume party for kids. They go door to door asking for treats. This holiday was brought to the United States by the Scottish and Irish immigrants. Nowadays it is a secular holiday having no meaning although it has roots in the pagan belief in Celtic past that this particular day the dead can return in spirit or otherwise.

Here is the Carmel press release (which is similar to those in any town).

CARMEL, Ind., Oct. 15, 2025 - The City of Carmel's official hours of trick-or-treating will be Friday, Oct. 31 from 5 to 8 p.m. Homes welcoming trick-or-treaters should turn on their porch lights. If you do not wish to participate, or run out of treats, please turn off your porch lights.
While there are many neighborhoods and other organizations that hold their own Halloween events and celebrations, we encourage those who want to trick-or-treat door-to-door to use the City's official hours to do so.
The City would also like to remind its residents of a few guidelines and proper safety procedures to follow for a safer celebration. While preparing for Halloween festivities, there are several important safety tips to keep in mind.
Motorists should drive with extra caution and keep an eye out for “little goblins” roaming the neighborhood.
Adults should always accompany their children and use a flashlight at night, staying within their own neighborhood and known homes. The use of glow sticks or reflective tape on costumes can also help with visibility.
Watch for traffic before crossing any street.
Avoid costumes that are long, which could cause tripping or costumes that have hard plastic or wood props like swords that could be a hazard.
Face paint is often a safer alternative to masks that may obstruct vision.
It is also important to inspect candy before allowing children to have it; dispose of any candy that is unwrapped.

Learning Skills

Cadence or the rhythm of American English came up in our class this week. Listening songs on the radio is a great way to get an ear for the song of English. Compare the singing to the DJ's speaking patterns. Can you hear the song?

International Friends Meeting Notes

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

We started reading Exodus 20 which is the 10 Commandments. God dictated these commandments or to Moses to help the people know how to live a good life. The first three commandments tell about our relationship with God and what He wants for and from us. We had great discussions about the meaning of the commandments and could understand how our relationship and view of God could impact the future generations by our attitudes and teaching.

These commandments can take center stage in American culture in battles of their display in public buildings.

October 20: We will continue our discussion of the commandments with the fifth commandment.

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

Easy Come, Easy Go: We had fun sharing our favorite seasons and proverbs from our cultures. Proverbs resonate across cultures. The imagery may be different and create a unique sense of place, but the messages, morals, and wisdom seem familiar. They “translate” to teach us simple lessons about perseverance, patience, hard work, humility, inner beauty, and good character. They reach across time to preserve legacy and tradition. The book 101 American English Proverbs: Understanding Language and Culture Through Commonly Used Sayings by Harry Collis is an entertaining illustrated book to help you learn.

As we continue to tell our stories, we explored the verbs come and go in various tenses. Sometimes it is difficult to know which of these verbs to use. The secret is to ask:

Where is the speaker?
Where is the listener?
Where is anyone else in the conversation?

Also consider if the movement in the story is toward the speaker or listener or away from the speaker or listener. Notice that English has MANY phrasal verbs and phrases with come and go.

Come vs Go Grammar Shorts

October 23: Continue the momentum we generated this week.

Narrate the story of your activities this week. Write at least seven sentences about where you come and go each day. HINT: Because you are reflecting on the past, use came and went (the irregular past tense form for you Grammar Geeks) in most sentences. This exercise helps you review a, an, the (articles in Grammar speak). Underline "come and go" in your story.
Bring at least one question about the homework (or anything on your mind).
Start keeping a list of phrasal verbs with come and go. Can you find some in the example?

EXAMPLE: On Monday, I went to the gym in the morning and came home for lunch. Then I went to the grocery store, and I came home to make dinner. After my husband came home from work, we ate dinner and watched a movie. Then we went to bed early. On Tuesday, I went to a doctor’s appointment and stopped by the library before I came home. On Wednesday, my sister and I went to lunch. Our niece came with us. On Thursday, my son came home from college to stay for the weekend. On Friday, our family went to a Pacers game and came home late. On the way home we talked about our vacation last year when we went on a cruise. On Saturday we didn’t go anywhere, but our neighbors came over for a cookout. On Sunday, our son went back to college, and my husband and I went out for brunch. When we came home, we both took a nap. It was a busy week!

American English and Culture: Thursday, 7-8:30 PM, CLC, Carmel, room 100

We had a great time talking about many things. Check out our white boards to see our conversation. Several things to take note of:

Adults are efficient learners. They do learn differently from kids because of their life experiences. Learning American English is not anything different than learning to order from Starbucks or McDonalds. You need to know what you need and then you quickly learn the words and structure to get the job done.
When you compare the structure of American English and your home language, notice that there are many of the same elements. Many of the words are similar, also. American English is one of those languages that uses other languages' words (with a different accent and Americanized spelling).
The cadence or song or rhythm of a language makes a big difference in how hard it is to pronounce words. It also makes a difference in how we understand them.

October 23: Everyone in class this week got a list of the 1000 most frequently used words in English. Read through the list and notice how many words you already know. Bring questions and bring your list to spin some conversations about these words. There is another list that I really like: 1000+ Most Common Words.

Pick a podcast and listen in English. Be sure to pick a topic that is interesting to you.

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

My deepest apologies. I had technical difficulties and was not able to connect to Zoom this Friday. Please check your Email for more information. While I was able to connect later (using the same equipment), I am still sending out a new Zoom link to use from now on.

October 24: We will finally talk about electricity. Electricity plays an important part in our lives. Be ready to talk about where it comes from and what you know about it. Come charged up!

Words and Phrases

center stage: become the focus of something

do: used to emphasize or underline what someone is saying

imagery: writing that causes physical and emotional responses

nowadays: currently

resonate: to appeal to someone emotionally

Friday, October 10, 2025

October Surprises

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Hello, Friends.

October in the United States is a transition time for the weather and for our activities. School is underway and kids are getting Fall Breaks or a vacation. Depending on the school and the district, the break may be anywhere from a few days to a whole week.

October is time to clean up yards and winterize garden beds. Be prepared to bring in any outdoor plants and prepare to cover other plants against the first frost. Here in Indiana it can happen any time now. This does not mean that warm weather is over for the year. Take advantage of the last of the hot and sunny days.

October ends with Halloween. People have begun decorating for this fun for kids of all ages holiday. Take a drive and see the spooky and silly Halloween fun! People let their hair down. Halloween decorations

Fun and Field-trips:

Santa Claus is really a city in Indiana. Where else can you go to enjoy the holidays. Put this on on your list because Santa Claus is not just for Christmas!

Indiana Department of Natural Resources has fall fun for families. Pumpkin carving and Halloween fun, sleepover deals, or just hiking in the autumn woods.

American English and Culture

Be is an irregular verb that means none of the words look or sound the same in all their different forms (or place in time: past, present, future). Forms of be are common little words we rarely notice since they are our most used verbs and because they are all different.

be (base or infinitive-often used with "to") She wants to be a fairy for Halloween. You be quiet.
am, is, are (occurring in this moment or the present) I am a bat for Halloween.
was, were (occurring in the past) We were going to the pumpkin patch.
being (ongoing actions) I am being a witch at the haunted house.
been (ongoing actions) I wish I had been a ghost for Halloween.

Grammar Geek out: Grammarly