What It Takes: B.B. King

00:00:02    OPRAH WINFREY: "Hattie Mae, this child is gifted," and I heard that enough that I started to believe it. 00:00:08    ROGER BANNISTER: If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity, and you don't take it, you may never have another chance. 00:00:14    LAURYN HILL: It all was so clear. It was just, like, the picture started to form itself. 00:00:19    DESMOND TUTU: There was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life. 00:00:27    CAROL BURNETT (quoting CARRIE HAMILTON): “Every day I wake up and decide, today I'm going to love my life. Decide.” 00:00:34    JOHNNY CASH: My advice is, if they're going to break your leg once when you go in that place, stay out of there. 00:00:39    JAMES MICHENER: And then along come these differential experiences that you don't look for, you don't plan for, but boy, you’d better not miss them. 00:00:52    ALICE WINKLER: This is What It Takes, a podcast about passion, vision, and perseverance. I'm Alice Winkler. 00:01:00    ALICE WINKLER: On each episode of What It Takes, we dig into the Academy of Achievement's vault and pull out one recorded interview to share. Now, these are conversations with the most accomplished people from every field, people with stories about struggle and doubt, as well as grit and determination. Does the name Riley B. King ring any bells? A humble cotton picker from Kilmichael, Mississippi, born to a family of sharecroppers? If not, you surely know him by his stage name, B.B. King. 00:01:31    MUSIC: THE THRILL IS GONE 00:01:31    The thrill is gone The thrill is gone away The thrill is gone baby The thrill is gone away You know you done me wrong baby And you'll be sorry someday 00:02:03    ALICE WINKLER: B.B. King, who died in 2015, just shy of his 90th birthday, was one of the most influential guitarists and singers of the past century, Ambassador of the Blues, and national treasure. But his idea of making it, back when he was a farmer, was pretty humble. He wanted to wear something other than overalls. 00:02:28    B.B. KING: You wore them every day. Every day you had overalls on. Overalls are jeans with a bib to me. Well, I'd wear them all the week, on a Friday night wash them and dry them, and iron them on Saturday morning, and wear them to church on Sunday. But I swore, if God let me live, there are two or three things I would never do again — wear overalls. I would always have enough to eat if I needed it, and food that I like to eat. 00:03:04    Those three things, I swore to myself, if God let me get to be grown, these three things I'm going to have. And I didn’t get to be this big for nothing, so you can tell I've had food I like to eat. 00:03:16    ALICE WINKLER: Yeah, B.B. King was big, every which way — big voice, big laugh, big presence, big womanizer, big talent. But as big as he eventually made it, celebrated by musicians, fans, presidents, kings and queens, he remained largely that modest country farmer, as you can hear in this 2004 interview with journalist Irv Drasnin for the Academy of Achievement. 00:03:44    B.B. King was 78 at the time, still touring almost nonstop, but he seemed almost as proud of his prowess on the farm. 00:03:53    B.B. KING: I used to chop cotton. I did all these things when I was seven. I was considered a regular hand when I was seven years old. I used to bale hay. I guess I did everything that, you know, farmers usually do, and they expected me — the men expected me to do what they did, and I did. And I started to do more of it after I had dropped out of school because I made a little more money. 00:04:22    Then finally I learned — I don't know. I was kind of into — today I guess you would say technology, because I learned to drive tractors, and I was pretty good. I had never heard the word “superstar”, but when I think about it today, I was a superstar tractor driver. I loved it. I loved it for several reasons. Well, hey, the girls look at you. I made a lot of money. 00:04:49    I've been feeling crazy about girls all my life. That was my downfall, I guess. Still is. But I made a lot of money. My salary, compared to everybody else, was great. I made $22-and-a-half a week! Then I'd go to town on Saturday, after I got through with my tractor, sit on the street corners with my little guitar. I had a little red Stella guitar, and I'd play. 00:05:19    And I'd sing, starting with gospel all the time. Sing a gospel song, and people would — and I guess I was kind of smart, in a way, because I knew where the white people passed and the black people passed, so I’d sit right at that corner. Well, the white folks had to pass me going this way and that way, and the black folks passed me going this way and that way. 00:05:48    So some of all would stop, listen to me, because I guess I made enough noise, and I had my big hat sitting down there, or a bucket or something for them to put tips in. And people that would ask me to play or request a song, when I finished playing, if it was a gospel song, they would pat me on the head and the shoulders, and they would applaud me. 00:06:18    "Boy, that was nice! Keep it up! You're going to be good one day," but they didn’t put anything in the hat. But people who would ask me to play a blues would always put something in the hat. Now you know why I'm a blues singer. 00:06:32    MUSIC: WHY I SING THE BLUES 00:06:32    Everybody wants to know Why I sing the blues Yes, I say everybody wanna know Why I sing the blues Well, I've been around a long time I really have paid my dues   When I first got the blues They brought me over on a ship Men were standing over me And a lot more with a whip And everybody wanna know Why I sing the blues Well, I've been around a long time Mm, I've really paid my dues 00:07:23    ALICE WINKLER: To listen to B.B. King talk about his childhood with that mesmerizing voice and sense of humor, it can all sound, well, a little idyllic. He said he passed the time, as all boys did then, fishing, hunting, playing marbles, but of course, it was the segregated South, the Deep South. When interviewer Irv Drasnin asked King what the hardest thing was growing up, it took a little digging to get him to talk about that, and you'll hear that part of the conversation in a moment, but the first thing that came to B.B. King's mind was more mundane. 00:07:58    B.B. KING: Getting up in the morning, going to the fields. I never did like that. I am a farmer at heart. I loved farming, producing food, and seeing the trees grow, the grass and everything else. It's great after you once get out there, but getting up that morning to get up to go out and do it was hard. It'd be cold in the morning, and I never have liked a lot of cold. 00:08:27    And I see why I'm not white, because I could not stand the cold. I walk around now, I see people — especially white people, in their shirtsleeves, and I have on something heavy and I’ll still be cold. You know, the reptiles have nothing on me when — or the air conditioning. I don't want to, you know, bust anybody’s balloon, but they could have kept the air conditioning, as far as I'm concerned. 00:08:27    ALICE WINKLER: But, back to that childhood in Kilmichael, Mississippi, interviewer Irv Drasnin insisted, “How was it growing up black in that time and place?” 00:09:09    B.B. KING: I had never experienced the North. I didn't know anything about the North. I didn’t know anything about any other society other than what we lived in. I didn’t think I was any different from anyone else, other than I was a black kid instead of, you know, a white kid, and it was a segregated society. We walked to school. The white kids had a school bus. And I was crazy about Roy Rogers. 00:09:40    I liked William Edward. We called him Wild Bill. Never did think of him as being white. Those cowboys, my heroes. So to answer your question truthfully, it was all right with me. Just that some people had and some had not, and I wished I could have been one of those that had. Now that’s the truth. 00:10:06    I knew that if I went to town on a Saturday, which I did, and there were two fountains, one said “Black,” one said “White.” I didn’t think other than, that if you want to stay out of trouble, leave the white one alone. I also noticed that when I went to the restrooms, there was one that said “White Men,” “White Ladies” and “Colored.” 00:10:37    That's all I knew. I grew up with it. My family would always say — and because there were people being lynched around me, I've seen — I haven't seen people be lynched, but I've seen them after they were. And I was told by some of the elders that, "Hey, don't bother the white ladies. You don't do this. You don't do that." And I learned that at an early age, and to me, it was just part of my training. 00:11:05    I think this is why black people never did resist for such a long, long time, because if there's any such thing as being brainwashed, I was brainwashed, but it didn’t bother me. I didn't know the difference until people started to tell me, and I started to hear about the North, and I started to hear, past the — what they call the Mason-Dixon line. 00:11:30    Well, after I got, say, in my teens, I started to realize that. I started to notice that some of the people lived — Chicago seemed to be the place you could go and get a nice car. You could live anywhere you want, and you can marry anybody you want. You could date anybody. I started to think about it a little. 00:11:52    ALICE WINKLER: But as a younger child, B.B. King was far too steeped in his own trying circumstances to dream about going north. It is remarkable, absolutely remarkable, that he achieved what he did. 00:12:04    B.B. KING: I could have done better, but my mom died when I was nine. I lived alone from the time I was nine until I was fourteen, because my mom and my dad were divorced from the time I was five, and my mother had taken me from the Delta, back up in the hills, up to Kilmichael, where we were talking about. 00:12:24    I lived there after my mother died, as I said, when I was nine; she was twenty-seven. They didn’t know what was wrong. My mother went blind. I could see the big blood clots in her eyes, and she couldn't see, but she would talk to me. I was the only child, and I liked working for the people that my mother worked for, the Cottledge family. 00:12:50    I liked them. So while working for Mr. Flake Cottledge, I was what they call in the country a houseboy. Houseboy was a guy that did whatever was around to be done. And my wages — I made fifteen dollars a month, which I thought was a lot of money. Fifteen dollars a month. That’s how I got my first guitar. People talk about people gave it to me and this and that. I didn't. Mr. Flake Cartledge bought it for me. Took half of my salary one month, and took the other half the next month, so it cost me fifteen dollars, a whole month's salary to get it. 00:13:32    When I would finish my chores — I used to milk twenty cows a day, ten in the morning, ten at night — and when I would finish, they'd let me go to school. And that's how I got my schooling, and I would walk five miles to school, and I managed to make it through the tenth grade, and that was it. But if I had tightened up, I could have done better. Of course I could have done better, but without any supervision — they didn’t make me go to school. 00:14:02    There were no agencies around there that would take me away from where I was, but, now, there were people in the area, in the community — it was almost like a village — that would tighten you up if you got out of line. Any of them could and would. 00:14:19    ALICE WINKLER: The number-one person to tighten up B.B. King, and the first person to open his eyes to the injustice around him, was the teacher at his school. 00:14:28    B.B. KING: We had one room where we sat at and one teacher, and I guess it was about forty or fifty of us, and that was the most of my schooling. And my professor was a guy called Luther H. Henson, whom I love today. I truly believe that he was one of the few people that was able to get through this very thick skull of mine, because things he told us then, it was long before we ever even heard of a Dr. King, long before we ever heard of integration, anything of that sort. 00:15:08    But he used to tell me then — after they calmed me down first when I would come to school — it was a lady that sat in front of me. Oh, I guess she was about eight or nine, and so was I, but she was fully developed, seemingly, as a woman, heavy breasts and everything. We'd sit on pews. We didn’t have chairs like what we're sitting in. 00:15:37    And about once or twice every month, I'd get that urge — because I sat behind her all the time — to just reach over and grab her. So when I'd get that urge and reach over to hug the girl — I don't know why — yes, I do. We won't talk about that. But I would grab — she was just pretty to me. And the minute I would grab her, she'd bite, like that, and when she'd bite, he'd hit. You know? 00:16:09    Ever hear of an elm tree? An elm tree has limbs that grow very long, and they don't break easily, and the people used to take them — it was just like a whip. You would almost swear it was a whip. And they would sort of put them in the heater, and they'd sort of bind it a little bit. And when they bound it, it seemed to me the bark on the side of it was like leather. 00:16:42    So after I sat up there for a while and got over that terrible pain, he would start to talk with us, and for some reason I understood him very well. He said, "One day, you won't have to walk to school." We had to walk five miles to school. "One day you won't have to walk to school. One day there'll be a central school," he would say sometimes, "and everybody will go to that school." 00:17:10    "Some day nobody will look at you and think of you as — a country boy, or this, if you don't act like that, and they will judge you by your deeds." Those were his words. "Whatever you do, however you do it, will follow you the rest of your life." 00:17:32    ALICE WINKLER: With a good straightening out from his teacher and the righteous example of his mother when she was still alive, B.B. King headed on the path toward becoming a gospel singer. 00:17:44    MUSIC: SAVE A SEAT FOR ME 00:17:44    Tell my mother to save a seat for me Save a seat for me              Because I’m weary              Lord, I'm tired              I've been ‘buked, Lord              I've been scarred              I've been talked about              Though my loved ones are gone              Oh, Jordan! 00:18:16    B.B. KING: My mother would take me to church, and this preacher in the church was named Reverend Archie Fair, we called him. Archie Fair was his name, and he played guitar in the church, so I wanted to be like him. I had sung with this group, the Elkhorn — like an elk's horn — Jubilee Singers. That's where I started in Kilmichael, and I thought we were pretty good, but then when I moved to the Delta, that broke up the group, and I started to sing with another group called the St. John Gospel Singers. 00:18:58    And I would usually sing as a lead singer, and I had started to play the guitar pretty good, so we were one of the few groups, gospel groups, that used a guitar. And I thought we were good because we had sung on programs with, oh, some of the great, great gospel singers. We were like an opening act, opened shows for them, and I thought — I personally thought we were pretty good. 00:19:22    And we would work our crops each year, and come harvest time we talked about leaving and going someplace to record because there were no recording studios in the area. So we would have had to go to Greenwood, Greenville, or to Memphis, and I thought Memphis would be the best because I'd heard so much about Memphis and the things they were doing. 00:19:54    Each year, for about three or four years, the — we would talk about it, the guys and I, and every year one of them would say, "Well, man, I didn't make but two or three bales of cotton. I don't have any money, and I can't leave now." So finally one day I said, "Well, I'm going to leave," and that's how I did it. I left and went to Memphis. But going to Memphis then was like, a few years ago, going to London or Japan or somewhere. Memphis seemed to be far, only a hundred-and-some miles, but so far from where I was. 00:20:27    The buildings and everything — they had big hotels and much going on. And there was a nice recording studio. A fellow named Sam Phillips had a nice studio. I had never been in a recording studio. At that time, we didn't have stereo. Everything was mono. 00:20:49    MUSIC: THREE O'CLOCK BLUES 00:20:49    Now here it is three o'clock in the morning Can't even close my eyes Oh, three o'clock in the morning, baby Can't even close my eyes Well, I can't find my baby Lord, and I can't be satisfied 00:21:29    ALICE WINKLER: B.B. King did work with Sam Phillips, but when he signed with RCM Records, he started recording at a makeshift studio with the YMCA. This tune, recorded there, Three O'Clock Blues, became his first hit single. The recording quality's not great, but you can hear what would become that signature urgency in his voice, and as Rolling Stone magazine called it, the “prickly comet” from his guitar after nearly every phrase he sings. 00:21:58    Also, you hear a more sophisticated arrangement than you'd find in the average country blues song at the time. B.B. King said Memphis changed him and made him up his game. 00:22:09    B.B. KING: I thought before I left home that I was really good. Oh, man, I could — thought I could really sing. Play the guitar. Thought I was really good. When I got to Memphis and went down to Handy Park — at the time I think it was called Beale Street Park — and heard those people out there, it was like a community college on the streets. I found out then that I wasn't so good as a singer. 00:22:38    Oh, I thought I could sing, but nothing compared to what I thought before I got there and heard these other people sing. I saw people dancing, and I couldn’t even hardly walk. I’ve never been able to dance in my life. So I got books from Sears Roebuck. I'd write and order my books. There was a guy called Nick Manoloff. Nick Manoloff had books, guitar instruction books in the Sears Roebuck catalogue, the big one. 00:23:13    I'd order those books, and I studied them really just — and that's how I learned to put my fingers on, learned how to tune the guitar, and learned my first bit of learning how to read music. I'm a blues singer, blues musician, but I can read music. Not fast, but I do, and I learned to even write a little bit. Now with my computer I can write a little better. And I believed in myself. 00:23:43    ALICE WINKLER: Believed in himself and worked incredibly hard. James Brown may have been called the hardest-working man in show business, but it's hard to imagine that B.B. King couldn't share that title. 00:23:54    B.B. KING: I had bought an old bus. We called it Big Red. Bought that in 1955. Big Red — and that year I think we did 342 one-nighters. Well, people laugh at me because we did, but blues has never been a popular music like rock-and-roll or like jazz or anything, so I always used the word — we seemed to be at the bottom of the totem pole all the time. 00:24:25    But my guarantee, I believe, was about $250 a day, or night, and we needed the money. Always felt — still do — that moving about would introduce us to the kind of music that we do. I happen to think that the great spirit, God, put us all here for a reason, and all of us have something to do. 00:24:54    There's a place for playing the guitar. There's a place for singing the blues. I tell stories like other people do, in song, so why shouldn't I? 00:25:02    ANNOUNCER: King of the Blues, B.B. King! 00:25:11    ALICE WINKLER: B.B. King continued during his career to tour constantly, right into his eighties, and every night, he told the Academy of Achievement, he had to overcome his fears. 00:25:21    B.B. KING: You're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you. I have stage fright today. Seventy-eight years now. I had a lot of confidence that I could do it. I hear Professor Luther Henson again, saying, "If you try, try, try hard. If you try — nothing beats a failure but a try," and I believe that. 00:25:50    I believe that today. I believe you — sometimes you may not make that mark that you were trying to get, this time. 00:26:00    MUSIC: WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN 00:26:00    I was a sailor who was lost at sea Under the waves before love rescued me I was a fighter who could turn on a thread I stand accused of the things I've said    When love comes to town I'm gonna jump the train When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down But I did what I did before love came to town 00:26:26    ALICE WINKLER: It seems unimaginable that B.B. King suffered from stage fright his whole career. He was so good. He just made it look easy. 00:26:35    B.B. KING: No, it doesn’t really come so easy. I think that I know my job pretty well, but I always think this way, and no, it's not false modesty or anything: I'm never any better than my last job. You understand what I'm trying to say? In other words, I don't always think that I've got it made and, "Hey, I'm B.B. King so-and-so." Never that. Never that, because the people put you up there and they can cut you down like that. 00:27:12    I've known people that had a little money, and overnight something happened — insurance no good, and what little money they had was gone — so I never think that I got it made. 00:27:27    ALICE WINKLER: In fact, there was a good, long period, he said, when he lost much of his African American following. Blues had given way to all the other forms of music it influenced, but B.B. King continued to spread the gospel of the blues, and then one day... 00:27:50    B.B. KING: And then one day I was reading a magazine. At this time, The Beatles was the hottest group I ever heard of, and I guess anybody else, and I read where John Lennon was being interviewed, and he — the interviewer asked him what would he like to do. And he said, "Play guitar like B.B. King." I almost fell out of my chair. 00:28:16    Now we started to pick up a different audience. Instead of the black audience that we had, we're now getting young white people. Now I'm traveling about, and I'm going to San Francisco. I'm going to small places all over the United States. Then finally this agency booked me at a place called the Fillmore West. Now I'd play the Fillmore many times before when it was owned by another person. 00:28:49    But this time, when I get there, there are longhaired kids, kind of like Jesus Christ used to have. Long hair. I had never seen people wear hair like that, around me. I saw it in papers, books, and the Bible. When I pulled up there, and we’re still on this bus — this is Big Red, as we called it. Looked out there at the Fillmore, where we used to go, and on the stairway leading to the door, there were people sitting from here all the way across, and there were about three or four stairs that led up to the door. 00:29:33    The stairs were about as long as the average length of a regular car, and they’re body-to-body sitting there. So I told my road manager, I said, "I think they made a mistake this time. I don't think we're supposed to go here." I said, "The band and I are going to sit here. You go in there and find out what the mistake is." So my road manager went out, and he found the promoter, who was Bill Graham, one of the greatest people I think I've met. 00:30:02    And he came out and said, "Oh, no, B. This is the right place." I looked and went to say, "Are you sure?" And he said, "I'm the promoter. Come on in." I'm scared to get off the bus, scared as I could be. I’d never played for anybody like this. Now when we finally get through this — these people on the stairway, we get inside, there's no tables, just a big ballroom, bare. No tables, no chairs, nothing. 00:30:34    People now are sitting body-to-body on the floor. Said, "Oh, my God." So we’ve got to get past them, this way and that way, and finally we got to the old dressing room that I had been used to going to. I looked at Bill, and I said, "Bill, I’ve got to have a drink." He said, "B, we don't sell liquor here." "Don't care. I’ve got to have a drink." 00:31:03    He said, "Okay, I'll send out and get you one." He sent out and got me a half-a-pint of something. I don't know, but he — they brought it to me, and now I had a big belt of it, and I sat there reminding myself of how a cat would be if a dog were in front of him. I'm scared to death. So when time was — when it was time for me to go on stage, he came back and got me, and we had to wade back through these people again. 00:31:32    But when we got to the stage — see, they don't know me by looking at me. They don't know what I look like. They only know me by the music. He said, "Ladies and gentlemen," and everybody got very quiet. "I bring you the chairman of the board, B.B. King." The best intro and the shortest I ever had in my life, and all of a sudden they started to applaud, and they stood up, and they applauded, and I cried. 00:32:02    Because I was starting to think how these people can be so good to me, and what the heck am I going to do for them? I’ve never played to any people like this. Well, I quite often perspire quite a bit. Perspiration is running all on me — but I was crying, too — and I think I had about a 45-minute set. Do you know they stood up two or three times more? 00:32:30    And that's the first time that I ever thought that I was doing pretty well. Not really made it, but I've gotten pretty close to the door. 00:32:40    ALICE WINKLER: B.B. King walked right through that door, even if he wasn't willing to let himself sit back and feel he'd made it. But the endless honors he received testify to the fact that he had. A place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honor, the Presidential Medal of Arts, honorary doctorates from University of Mississippi and Yale, visits with four sitting U.S. presidents and the Queen of England. 00:33:11    Without B.B. King, there might not have been a Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Fleetwood Mac, Carlos Santana, or Rolling Stones, many of whom he played and recorded with later in life as they recognized the debt they owed him. B.B. King liked all that, sure, but this is the ruler he said he used to measure his true success. 00:33:37    B.B. KING: This is sort of long, but my impression of the — what I get from people when they talk about blues singers, they picture a big black guy, like myself, sitting on a stool looking north, with a cigarette hanging on the east end of his lip, a guitar that's ragged laying across his lap, and a jug of corn liquor on his west side, and his pants split on the south side. 00:34:14    You still with me? A cap with a bib, and the bib is kind of turned up. So it's been my life, always, to show that there's a different blues singer, not just that one. But I've thought many times, if you're black and you're a blues singer, it's like being black twice. Two times. I've always fought against that. The myth is that everybody thinks it's all sad because it started from the slaves. 00:34:53    That is a myth. Some of it is. But tell me what music doesn't have some sadness in it? I have learned that blues singing is just like singing any other kind of song. You still try to tell the story. You have a soul, you have a heart, you have a feeling, and your music is life. 00:35:22    Life as we've lived it in the past, life as we're living it today, and life as, I believe, we'll live tomorrow. 00:35:34    ALICE WINKLER: It's hard to think of anything to add to that, so I'll just end by saying, “B.B. King.” If you want to learn more about him or see videos of him performing for the Academy of Achievement, go to achievement.org, and next time you're jonesing for a dose of inspiration, you'll find it right here at What It Takes. I'm Alice Winkler. 00:35:55    And a special thanks, as always, to the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation for funding What It Takes. 00:36:02    MUSIC: PLAYIN’ WITH MY FRIENDS 00:36:02    I'm gonna call up some of my buddies, And a few of the ladies I know I'm gonna rent a hall and get them all and, Put on a heck of a show   Make sure we got a kitchen, With an oven and a stove We'll all get in there cookin’, Then we'll throw open all the doors   Playin’ with my friends Playin’ with my friends Playin’ with my friends We'll have a good time Playin’ with my friends  

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Lesson 5: Where Are You?

Summary Anna visits Marsha at a friend's house. Anna and Marsha see many rooms in the house. They talk about what people do in each room.   Speaking Watch the video and practice talking about locations. You can also download the worksheet and practice talking about the rooms in a house with a friend. Pronunciation Learn two different ways to ask questions in this video.  Conversation      Anna: Hello, everyone! Today my friend Marsha is at her friend's house. She says it is beautiful. I want to see this house! Here we are! Anna: Marsha, I am in the kitchen! It is a beautiful kitchen! Marsha: It is beautiful. We cook in the kitchen. Anna: I eat in the kitchen. Marsha:  We relax in the living room. Anna:  I relax in the living room. Marsha, let’s go upstairs! Marsha: Anna? Where are you? Anna: Marsha, I am in the bathroom! I wash in the bathroom. Marsha: I am in the bedroom. We sleep in the bedroom. Anna: I sleep in the bedroom!   Writing What are some of the rooms in your house? Write to us in the Comments section. Tell us what you do in the rooms.  You can also download the worksheet. Practice writing the names of rooms in a house.   Learning Strategy Learning Strategies are the thoughts and actions that help make learning easier or more effective. Plan to Learn is an important learning strategy because it helps you arrange your best learning conditions. You organize the resources and tools you need to study well. Here is an example of how to use this strategy.  Oluchi knows she needs to have a quiet place to study. She takes her English homework to a quiet corner of her home, and turns off her phone and radio. She brings a cup of coffee to help her stay awake. She makes sure her dictionary is near and that she has pencils and paper to write notes. When she begins studying, everything she needs is in easy reach. Her full attention can focus on what she wants to learn. How about you? What conditions help you to study better? Some people like a little background noise, like in a cafe. Others need a very quiet place. Do you have a favorite chair or place in your home where you study well? Do you work better when you study with a friend or in a small group?  Write to us in the Comments section or send us an email about your best learning conditions. Teachers, see the Lesson Plan for more details on teaching this strategy.   Listening Quiz See how well you understand the lesson by taking this quiz. Each question has a video. Play the video and choose the correct answer. New Words bathroom - n. a room with a sink and toilet and usually a bathtub or shower beautiful - adj. very good or pleasing; having beauty bedroom - n. a room used for sleeping eat - v. to take food into your mouth and swallow it house - n. a building in which a family lives kitchen - n. a room in which food is cooked living room - n. a room in a house for general family use relax - v. to spend time resting or doing something enjoyable sleep - v. to rest your mind and body by closing your eyes upstairs - adv. on or to a higher floor of a building wash - v. to clean (something) with water and usually soap ______________________________________________________________ Free Materials Download the VOA Learning English Word Book for a dictionary of the words we use on this website. Each Let's Learn English lesson has an Activity Sheet for extra practice on your own or in the classroom. In this lesson, you can use it to practice writing the names of rooms in a house. For Teachers   ​See the Lesson Plan for this lesson for ideas and more teaching resources. Send us an email if you have comments on this course or questions. Grammar focus: BE + location Topics: Asking about location; Naming places and activities Learning Strategy: Plan to Learn Speaking and Pronunciation: BE + location; question intonation _______________________________________________________________ Now it's your turn. Send us an email or write to us in the Comments section below or on our Facebook page to let us know what you think of this lesson.

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The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe, Part Three

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Popular Culture and Academic Writing

  Popular culture can teach you about English grammar. You might be surprised to know that music and films can show you how to use difficult grammatical structures. How so? Consider the song "Capable of Anything" by the American singer Ben Folds. "We’re told we are capable of anything But you don’t seem to think that you are Capable of anything"   In today's report, we will explore one structure that you heard twice in the song – an adjective + preposition combination. The words "capable of" are an example of this type of structure. Last week, we discussed common adjective and preposition combinations in everyday speech. This week, we will explore such combinations in academic writing. Even though these structures are most often used in writing, we will give you fun examples of how speakers use them in songs and films, too. But before we give you more specific examples of these combinations, we need to give you a few definitions. What are adjective and preposition combinations? Adjectives are words that describe nouns. They can come before a noun or after a non-action verb, sometimes called a linking verb. These adjectives sometimes go with specific prepositions. Together, these adjectives and prepositions make combinations that have specific meanings. When adjectives come before a noun, the adjective is almost never followed by a preposition. When adjectives come after a non-action verb, they may be followed by a preposition. Here are two examples: 1: The students are happy. 2: The students are happy with the test results. In the former sentence, the adjective happy describes the noun students. There is no preposition. In the latter sentence, the adjective "happy" comes after the non-action verb BE. After the BE verb and the adjective "happy," there is a preposition: with. "Happy with" is one example of an adjective and preposition combination. Susan Conrad and Douglas Biber are language experts. They note that there are six common adjective and preposition combinations in academic writing. We will not study all of these combinations today. Instead, we will study three of them: adjective + of, adjective + for and adjective + to. Adj. + of One common adjective and preposition combination is adjective + of. Consider these lines from the 1961 film, Judgment at Nuremberg: "My counsel says we were not aware of the extermination of the millions. He would give you the excuse we were only aware of the extermination of the hundreds. Does that make us any the less guilty?"   You will notice that the speaker used "aware of" twice. "Aware of" is a formal way of saying that someone knows about the existence or happening of a certain thing. "Aware of" is one example of an adjective + of combination. Other common examples include "independent of" and "capable of," which you heard at the beginning of our report. You might read these types of expressions in academic books about law, psychology, and so on. Adj. + for A second common adjective and preposition combination is adjective + for. Once again, lines from the film Judgment at Nuremberg show you how speakers might use these structures: "Are we now to find the American industrialists guilty? No, Your Honor. No! Germany alone is not guilty: The whole world is as responsible for Hitler's Germany."   You heard the words "responsible for" in the movie clip. "Responsible for" is one example of an adjective + for structure. Other common examples include "essential for" and "necessary for." You might read these types of expressions in many types of academic books – philosophy, politics, and so on. Adj. + to Our final common adjective and preposition combination is adjective + to. The words from the Beatles' song The End use this structure. "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."   "Equal to" means that something is the same in number, amount, or quality. Other common examples include "identical to" and "similar to." You will often read these types of expressions in mathematics or physics books. What can you do? The next time you are reading a book or watching television in English, try to look for examples of adjective + a preposition. Does the writer or speaker use one of the structures we talked about today? Does the writer or speaker use different structures? Learning these adjective + preposition combinations can be difficult. But if you work hard and practice, you will be capable of anything. We are going to end our report with a homework assignment. Try to use "aware of," "capable of," "responsible for," or "equal to" in sentences. Write your sentences in the comments section of our website. I'm John Russell. And I'm Jill Robbins.   John Russell wrote this story for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   capable – adj. able to do something : having the qualities or abilities that are needed to do something — + of preposition – n. grammar : a word or group of words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object academic – adj. of or relating to schools and education specific – adj. special or particular counsel – n. law : a lawyer who represents a person or group in a court of law aware – adj. knowing that something (such as a situation, condition, or problem) exists extermination – n.  the act of destroying or killing (a group of animals, people, etc.) formal – adj.  suitable for serious or official speech and writing essential – adj.  extremely important and necessary  

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Puerto Rico Struggling with Shortages of Basic Supplies

  The storm-damaged U.S. territory of Puerto Rico continues to suffer with shortages of water, food, medicine and other supplies. Puerto Rico suffered major damage a week ago when Hurricane Maria struck with high winds and heavy rain. It was the strongest storm to hit Puerto Rico in decades. Maria destroyed the electricity system, as well as homes, businesses, roads and farms across the island. At least 16 people were killed. There still is no exact cost estimate for total storm damage. But Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello says the country’s economy will be mostly halted for at least a month. Getting supplies to the people who greatly need them has been difficult because the storm also damaged major ports.  Officials say power remains out across the Caribbean island and about 90 percent of mobile phone transmitters are not working. Many residents have been driving around the island trying to find limited areas where phone service is still working.  There are severe shortages of fuel and money. Many people cannot work or run businesses because fuel to operate power generators is in short supply. Most food stores and restaurants remain closed. There are long lines at the few banks that are open and most money machines are not operational. Travel for the island’s 3.4 million residents is difficult, with only a few flights departing Puerto Rico each day. The Trump administration announced Thursday it was waiving a federal law that bans foreign-flagged ships from transporting goods between U.S. ports. Puerto Rico’s governor and U.S. lawmakers had urged the move to help get supplies to the island quicker and at less cost. The Trump administration faced criticism earlier this week for not doing enough to improve the rising humanitarian crisis. On Thursday, Trump tweeted that many supplies and power sources had arrived on the island. “The electric power grid in Puerto Rico is totally shot. Large numbers of generators are now on Island. Food and water on site,” he wrote. Puerto Rico already had economic problems before the storm. The island has been in a recession for more than a decade, with a poverty rate of 45 percent and unemployment around 10 percent. The U.S. territory also has more than $73 billion dollars in debt. Before the storm, the government was negotiating with creditors to restructure the debt, which the previous governor declared unpayable. Current Governor Rossello said the storm has made things even worse. He told reporters that Puerto Rico will not be able to bring in any income for at least a month. I’m Bryan Lynn.   Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press and Reuters. Hai Do was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   transmitter – n. device that sends out radio, television or phone signals generator – n. machine that produces electricity waive – v. not require something that is usually required creditor – n. person or organization someone owes money to income – n. money that is earned from work  

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S. Korea Seeks to Take Over Wartime Control of Military From US

  South Korean President Moon Jae-in says his government is increasing efforts to take back wartime operational control of its military. Wartime operational control, known as OPCON, describes the U.S.-led command of South Korean military forces in time of war. The effort comes at a time when tensions between North Korea and the U.S. are very high. Moon spoke about the issue at an event marking South Korea’s 69th Armed Forces Day [on] Thursday. He said increasing military abilities and reducing dependence on U.S. military power would strengthen the country’s position with the North. “When the South has wartime operational control, the North will fear us more, and our armed forces will be trusted more,” Moon said. Robert Kelly is a professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea. He thinks such a move might be a way to show independence from the threats exchanged by the U.S. and North Korea. “I think this might be a way for Moon to separate himself somewhat from the behavior of (U.S. President) Donald Trump in the last month,” Kelly said. Peacetime control moved to South Korea The South Korean government took over peacetime command of its military personnel when the country transitioned to democracy. The South Korean military works closely with the Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command, led by the U.S. General Vincent Brooks. Brooks also commands more than 28,000 U.S. military forces in Korea.   In wartime, the U.S. commander would take control of South Korean forces. The transfer, however, is not automatic. The South Korean president must first agree to hand over control. Daniel Pinkston is a security expert with Troy University in Seoul. He said, “In a way, President Moon has control and he has a veto over giving control to the U.S. and giving control to the combined forces command.” South Koreans have different views on control Moon and some members of his Democratic Party have supported gaining wartime operational control as an issue of sovereignty. It has also been linked to anti-American feelings in the country. Conservatives have opposed taking over wartime control. They are concerned that such a move might weaken the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea. Hong Jun-pyo is the leader of the Liberty Korea Party. He recently said that “return of OPCON is basically disbanding the Korea-U.S. military alliance.” Some also have concerns that such a move would be seen as a sign of disagreement between South Korea and the U.S. Kelly said that is “what the North Koreans have wanted for a long time.” Wartime operational control was to be handed over to South Korea in 2015. But the government of then-president Park Geun-hye and the U.S. decided in 2014 to postpone the transfer to 2020 or later. The deal now depends on South Korea gaining necessary operational abilities. Some experts consider basing the decision on South Korea’s capabilities good for the U.S.-South Korea alliance. They say it puts more responsibility on South Korea for its own defense. Pinkston said that, without discussions about a transfer of OPCON, South Korea would have no reason to increase its defense capabilities. “South Korea will think we don’t have to worry about it because the U.S. will always have OPCON, they will always take care of us, so why should we spend more on our defense budget?” Pinkston said. Moon’s statements on Thursday appears to be part of that effort. He is promising reforms, including creating a more professional military and increasing national defense spending. Some of that spending could be directed to developing new systems, such as South Korea’s own missile defense system. The country may also seek to launch five military satellites with surveillance and reconnaissance abilities. I’m Mario Ritter.   Brian Padden reported this story for VOA News with contributions from Youmi Kim. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.​ _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   personnel –n. people who work for a company, organization or government automatic –adj. happening without being directed sovereignty –n. the ability of a country or area to rule itself disband –v. to end an organization or group capabilities –n. the ability to do or carry out some kind of activity surveillance –n. to carefully watch a person, group or area reconnaissance –n. efforts by a military to gain information about opposing forces  

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Muslims in Western China Told to Turn In Qurans, Religious Items

  Chinese officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have ordered Muslim families living there to turn in all religious items, Radio Free Asia reported this week. This includes prayer mats and copies of the Quran, the Muslim holy book. An ethnic Kazakh living in Xinjiang’s Altay area told RFA that officials have been confiscating the religious items. “Pretty much every household has a Quran, and prayer mats,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Dilxat Raxit, spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress group, said similar reports have come from Kashgar, Hotan and other areas. He said, “We received a notification saying that every single ethnic Uyghur must hand in any Islam-related items from their own home.” Raxit said police are making the announcements on the social media service WeChat. And people must hand over these items voluntarily or they will face punishment. Raxit said, "The announcements say that people must hand in any prayer mats of their own accord to the authorities, as well as any religious reading matter, including anything with the Islamic moon and star symbol on it." Earlier this year, Xinjiang officials began confiscating all Qurans published more than five years ago because of what they described as “extremist content.” The Qurans were taken as part of a Xinjiang-wide campaign that bans “illegal” publicity materials, religious activities and religious teachings that officials consider to be tools of terrorism. RFA and VOA are both part of the U.S. government-supported Broadcasting Board of Governors.   Radio Free Asia reported and wrote this story. It was adapted for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   mat - n. a small piece of material used to cover the floor or ground confiscate - v. ​to take (something) away from someone especially as punishment or to enforce the law or rules​ on their own accord - phrase. ​ done because you want to, not because someone has asked you or forced you to do it​ anonymity  - n. ​the quality or state of being unknown to most people​

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US Lawmaker Returns to Work after Shooting

  This is What’s Trending Today. Steve Scalise returned to the United States Capitol building on Thursday. Scalise, a Louisiana native, is part of the Republican Party leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives. On the morning of June 14, he and other lawmakers were up early and preparing for a big event: the yearly congressional baseball game. They were working out on a baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The practice was just coming to an end when gunshots rang out. Scalise was shot in the hip. The shooter was identified as James Hodgkinson of Illinois. Scalise was badly injured. Doctors operated on him a number of times to repair bones, blood vessels and internal organs. He missed work for over three months. When he returned on Thursday, Scalise needed crutches to move around. But he was happy to get back to work. Scalise said: “You have no idea how great this feels.” In a year when U.S. politicians have had trouble agreeing on many issues, House members agreed that Scalise should get a hearty welcome. They all rose to their feet and clapped loudly. Some lawmakers walked over to Scalise and gave him a hug. Later, he said: “I’m definitely a living example that miracles do happen.” Scalise thanked the U.S. Capitol police officers who were on duty in Alexandria on the day of the shooting. Crystal Griner and David Bailey were also injured in the attack. They fired back and killed Hodgkinson. Scalise told Bailey: “You are my hero. You saved my life. Thank you so much.” In a video, Scalise was shown walking slowly, holding crutches in both arms. He said he feels “great,” but still has a lot of work to do before he returns to full health.  The congressional baseball game raises money for charitable causes. It has been played most years since 1909, with Republican members of Congress playing congressional Democrats. The game is one way the politicians get to know each other outside of debating issues. The Democrats won the 80th congressional game the day after Scalise was shot.  And that’s What’s Trending Today. I’m Dan Friedell.   Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English. His story was based on reports from the Associated Press and CNN. George Grow was the editor. What do you think of Scalise’s return from his injury? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   crutches – n. a long stick with a padded piece at the top that fits under a person's arm — usually plural hearty – adj. done or expressed in a very open, cheerful, and energetic way clap – v. to hit the palms of your hands together usually more than once - People often clap to show approval or pleasure. miracle – n. a very amazing or unusual event, thing, or achievement charitable – adj. done or designed to help people who are poor or sick

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US Government Cuts Refugee Admissions to Historic Lows

  President Donald Trump plans to sharply reduce the number of refugees permitted in the United States. The move comes at a time when humanitarian groups say more people than ever should be admitted. The Trump administration said in a report to Congress Wednesday that the U.S. plans to admit no more than 45,000 refugees during the coming year. That would be the smallest number in more than 35 years. Former President Barack Obama had proposed that 110,000 refugees should be admitted during the next year. Trump is expected to announce the new plan soon. The limit of 45,000 refugee admissions would be in effect during the government’s new fiscal year, which begins on Sunday, October 1. It is lower than limits set in any year since the U.S. refugee program was established in 1980. Officials estimate about 54,000 refugees will have been admitted to the country during the 2017 fiscal year, which ends on Saturday. In the 2016 fiscal year -- the last full year of Obama’s presidency -- the U.S. welcomed almost 85,000 refugees. ​Immigration experts noted that the 45,000 limit is a “cap” – the highest number of refugees that can be admitted during the next 12 months. They said the number of refugees actually admitted by September 30, 2018, could be much lower. A person must meet several criteria to be considered a refugee in the United States. The government also has certain limits for different areas of the world. For example, 42 percent of all admitted refugees can come from Africa, and 39 percent can come from the Middle East and South Asia, according to the administration’s report to Congress. Those numbers generally have not changed since Obama’s time in office, experts say. Aid groups have sharply criticized Trump’s decision to reduce the number of refugees. They say that, because of worsening refugee crises in places like Syria, Myanmar and South Sudan, the United States must do more. Bill O’Keefe is with Catholic Relief Services. “With historically high numbers of innocent people fleeing violence worldwide, the United States response cannot be to welcome a historically low number of refugees into our country,” he said. Administration officials said the new refugee limit will improve national security and the country’s ability to properly examine and take in refugees. In his speech to the United Nations, Trump said, “for the cost of resettling one refugee in the U.S., we can assist more than 10 in their home region.” Worldwide, there were 22.5 million refugees last year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. That number does not include the many people who were displaced within their own countries because of war, violence, poverty or natural disasters. I’m Phil Dierking.   VOA News reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.  _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   fiscal  - adj. of or relating to money and especially to the money a government, business, or organization earns, spends, and owes cap   - n. a limit on the amount of money that can be spent, given, charged, etc., for something criteria  - n. something that is used as a reason for making a judgment or decision region - n. a part of a country, of the world, etc., that is different or separate from other parts in some way

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