Lesson 23: Rock Star

Summary Anna interviews musician Emma G on her show. But, her excitement starts to become a little....strange.    Conversation   Anna: Hello? Ms. Weaver: Anna, this is Ms. Weaver. Anna: Ms. Weaver! Ms. Weaver: Tomorrow, you’ll be interviewing musician Emma G. (Anna is very excited. She loves Emma G’s music.) Anna: Emma G?! I will be talking to Emma G?! Ms. Weaver: Anna? Anna, are you there? Professor Bot: Anna and Ms. Weaver used the future continuous verb tense to talk about the interview. Prof. Bot: We use future continuous to talk about actions that will be in progress at or around a time in the future. Prof. Bot: For example, Ms. Weaver says, “Tomorrow, you’ll be interviewing musician Emma G.” Prof. Bot: There are two options for future continuous. The first is: will be + the -ing form of the verb Prof. Bot: And the second is: be + going to be + the -ing form of the verb. Keep watching for more! Anna: Hello and welcome to The Music! Today, musician Emma G will be joining us here! Anna: She is a wonderful songwriter and an amazing singer. And I love her! Let’s give a warm welcome to Emma G! Anna: Hi. Thank you for coming on the show, Emma G. Emma G: Of course. It’s great to be here. Anna: Well, we can’t wait to hear you sing. I listen to your music a lot. So, I feel like I know you. Is that strange? Emma G: Anna, listening to music can be a very personal experience. So, no, that’s not strange. Anna: Good because I made something for you -- a video scrapbook of our friendship. Anna: I took photos of you and added myself. I worked on it all weekend. Emma G: Well, that -- that’s strange. Is that even -- is that even legal? Anna: Now, Emma, let’s talk about your schedule. Tell me ... I mean, tell us exactly where you will be and when. Exactly. Emma G: Sure. Well, in early June, I’ll be performing at several venues across Austin, Texas. Anna: That’s my vacation week. I can meet you there! We can tour the city. We can have lunch. Emma G: Um, yeah maybe. Then in mid-July, I’m going to be teaching at a music camp in Chicago. Anna: I’ll be visiting my sister then. She only lives about six hours from Chicago! I could drive over. We could hang out. Emma G: Yeah, uh maybe. You know, maybe now is a good time for some music. Anna: That’s a great idea. Now, let's hear a song from Emma G.! Emma G: I wrote this song a couple of years ago. It’s called “Wary.” Emma G: Do you believe in happy endings? Anna: Endings... Emma G: Do you really believe that we could be… Anna: Be... Emma G: I think something is wrong. I hear a voice in the background. Anna: Sorry. Sorry, Emma. That was me. I’m just so excited. Emma G: No problem. I'm glad you like the song. Anna: You go ahead. You go ahead. Emma G: Okay. Do you believe in happy endings? (She hears a tambourine playing and looks at Anna.) Emma G: Anna, there’s no tambourine in this. Anna: I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Emma. See, I’ve always wanted to sing with you. Emma G: Well, come on over then and we can sing a song together first. Anna: No, I couldn't. Emma G: Come on. It’ll be fun. Anna: Okay! Here. I brought my favorite song. Emma G: Oh, uh okay. Actually, I like this song. Um, are you ready? Anna: Yes! Yes! Emma G: Okay. Emma G / Anna together: Every breath you take* Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take I'll be watching you … I’ll be watching you... I’ll be watching you... *From "Every Breath You Take" by The Police   Music by Emma G And now, here's a song by Emma G called "Just Drive." Click here to read the words. This song is not part of the lesson but just a little something for you to enjoy! ​New Words add – v. to put something with another thing or group of things amazing – adj. causing great surprise or wonder background – n. a position that attracts little attention break – v. to separate something into parts or pieces often in a sudden and forceful or violent way breath – n. the air that you take into your lungs and send out from your lungs when you breathe  bond – n. something (such as an experience, or feeling) that is shared between people or groups and forms a connection between them form – n. a type of kind of something future – n. the period of time that will come after the present time​ hang out – v. (phrasal verb) to spend time relaxing, talking, or doing something with someone ​ interruption – n. to say things while another person is speaking legal – adj. of or relating to the law mental – adj. of or relating to the mind​ personal – adj. relating to a person's private feelings, thoughts or problems schedule – n. a plan of things that will be done and the times when they will be done scrapbook – n. a book with blank pages to which you attach photographs, letters or newspaper stories to help you remember a person or time songwriter – n.  a person who writes the words or music to songs step – n. one of a series of actions that are done to achieve something​ tambourine – n. a small musical instrument that is held in one hand and played by shaking or hitting it with the other hand tour – n. a series of performances, appearances, or competitions that occur at different places over time wary – adj. not having or showing complete trust in someone or something that could be dangerous or cause trouble venue – n. the place where an event takes place   Practice Now, you try it! First, read about the future continuous verb tense below. Then, write two or three sentences in the Comments section about your future plans. Be sure to use future continuous in each sentence!   Future Continuous We use the future continuous verb tense for future actions that will continue for a period of time. Future continuous is used only for action verbs. An action verb is a verb that expresses a physical or mental action. Examples are: write, read, sing, work, think and stop. Verbs like be, become, feel and look are not action verbs.  Future continuous: for action verbs only has two forms Forms: will be + ing verb be + going to be + ing verb Examples: Today, musician Emma G will be joining us here! In early June, I’ll be performing at several venues across Austin, Texas. Are you going to be teaching at the music camp in Chicago this July? She won't be returning to Washington, DC until the end of the summer. I will be becoming happy when you visit my show tomorrow. (wrong) With the future continuous, we often shorten the part of verb that comes after the subject. Look at the examples (You'll, I'll, I'm).  subject will be -ing verb You  'll be interviewing Emma G.  will be joining  I  'll be performing   In the second form of the future continuous verb tense, the verb to be is conjugated -- it changes to match the subject. See the examples below. subject to be (conjugated) going to be -ing verb  I  'm going to be teaching They  are going to be singing   Test Yourself How well do you know the grammar from Level 2? Test yourself! In Lesson 23, you will see examples of grammar that you have learned in Level 2. Look for sentences in Lesson 23 with: Passive voice Prepositions Reflexive pronouns Present perfect Verbs talk, speak, tell and/or say Then, write those sentences in the Comments section. For example, "I’ll be performing at several venues across Austin, Texas" uses the preposition at.   Listening Quiz See how well you understand this lesson by taking a listening quiz. Play each short video, then choose the best answer.​ ​ ​Free Materials Download the VOA Learning English Word Book for a dictionary of the words we use on this website. For Teachers Send us an email if you have comments on this course or questions. Grammar focus: Future continuous Topics: Telling someone about future plans   Comments Let us know what you think about this lesson. Send us an email or write to us in the Comments section below or on our Facebook page.  

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New AI Technology Lets Students Evaluate Professors by ‘Chatting’

Artificial intelligence, or AI, has slowly begun to influence higher education around the world. Now, one new AI tool could change the way university students evaluate their professors. The tool is called Hubert.  It is a teacher evaluation tool that appears as an AI-powered chatbot. Instead of filling out a form, students use a chat window to give feedback on the course and their professor. Afterwards, Hubert categorizes the students’ comments for the professor to review. The beta version of Hubert launched about seven months ago. It is free for educators to use. More than 600 teachers use it already. Making evaluations easier, and more human The goal of the new Hubert program is to improve education by giving teachers detailed, organized feedback from students. Viktor Nordmark, from Sweden, started the company in 2015, with several friends. Before creating Hubert, the founders asked teachers what would improve their teaching skills. The answer, Nordmark said, was qualitative feedback from their students. In other words, teachers wanted students to write detailed answers to open-ended questions about their experiences in class. Qualitative feedback is different from the survey responses students are often asked to provide at the end of a class. “This kind of data takes a lot of time for professors to collect and analyze,” Nordmark said.  And for the students, it can also be “really boring to fill out.” So Nordmark and his friends designed Hubert as a compromise between a traditional survey and a personal interview. “You can reach a really large crowd, but you can also get really qualitative data back,” Nordmark said. First, they ran a program to train Hubert to understand human conversation. Hubert learned different types of comments, and how to respond to them. Then Hubert learned how to organize the comments it received into categories. Now, when Hubert receives comments from students, it compares them with the information already in its system to organize the data. This idea, Nordmark says, is that Hubert will continue to get smarter as it receives more comments. How it changes classrooms What makes Hubert special is its similarity to communicating with a human. For some professors, this feature helps them receive higher-quality feedback. “It allows students to zero in on things that are of interest to them… of concern to them, and a chance to say something good… they can essentially present what their concerns are…and it’s not threatening,” said John Munro, an associate professor of business at the University of the Virgin Islands. Munro believed traditional methods of evaluating professors were not very helpful. They happened only at the end of the course, and the questions were formed around a four-part ranking system based on traditional lecture classes. These kinds of surveys, Munro said, did not give him the right information to make effective changes in his classroom. In contrast, professors can offer the Hubert evaluation anytime they want. The chatbot asks students four questions: What could the instructor do to improve the course? Is there anything the instructor should stop doing? What's working well? How has the class been over all? Munro thinks the “chat” format of the evaluation helps get more information out of students. “Everyone, both students and professors, are already comfortable with chats,” Munro said. If students respond with no information, Hubert knows to try again by asking follow-up questions. For example, if a student responds with “no,” Hubert might ask, “Are you sure there is nothing that could be different?” Hubert evaluations might also be helpful for English language learners. Samuel Adams is an instructional technology specialist in English language programs at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He tested Hubert with his English teacher training course. “On average, we get very little written feedback from language learners,” Adams said. Adams found that Hubert was effective in getting written feedback about his course. But it did have its limitations. Adams found that the pre-set interview questions made it impossible to get information about other parts of his teaching. And the feedback is also organized into pre-established categories. An artificially human future Nordmark says he and his co-founders have plans to make Hubert more flexible and accurate. They would like to give teachers the possibility of selecting their own evaluation questions. And they will teach Hubert to create its own categories, so that it can more correctly organize information. This feature would also allow Hubert to be used outside of education systems. Its creators also want to make Hubert more human-like and possess qualities such as humor in the interviews. Another goal is to let Hubert users share the information they are learning.  If teachers are discovering strategies that work well in their classrooms, Nordmark wants to develop a way for them to share that advice with other Hubert users. I’m Phil Dierking. Phil Dierking reported this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. What are other ways you think artificial intelligence could be used in higher education?  We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Quiz ​_______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story accurate - adj.  free from mistakes or errors​ analyze - v. to study (something) closely and carefully​ artificial intelligence - n. an area of computer science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they have human intelligence​ boring - adj. dull and uninteresting ​ categorize - v. to put (someone or something) into a group of similar people or things​ chatbot - n. a computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users, especially over the Internet.​ contrast - v. to be different especially in a way that is very obvious course - n. a series of classes about a particular subject in a school comfortable - adj. not causing any physically unpleasant feelings data - n. facts or information used usually to calculate, analyze, or plan something essential - adj. extremely important and necessary evaluate - v. to judge the value or condition of (someone or something) in a careful and thoughtful way​ feature - n. an interesting or important part, quality, ability, etc. feedback - n.  helpful information or criticism that is given to someone to say what can be done to improve a performance, product, etc.​ flexible - adj. an interesting or important part, quality, ability, etc. format - n. the form, design, or arrangement of something (such as a book, magazine, or television or radio program) lecture - n. a talk or speech given to a group of people to teach them about a particular subject interview - n. a meeting at which people talk to each other in order to ask questions and get information instructor - n.  a person who teaches a subject or skill ranking - adj. having a high position or the highest position in a group or organization response - n.  something that is said or written as a reply to something review - v. an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or condition of something or someone select - v. to choose (someone or something) from a group strategy - n. a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time​ survey - n. ​an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something type - n. type zero in - phrasal v.  to direct all of one's attention to (someone or something) 

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Successful People 'Take the World by Storm'

  Now, Words and Their Stories from VOA Learning English. Every week, we explore common expressions in American English. Thunder storms. Rain storms. Snow storms. Electrical storms!  If conditions get bad enough, almost any kind of weather can become a storm. Stormy weather can cause people to cancel their plans. It can cause major events to be postponed. And severe stormy weather can be dangerous to people, property and animals.    "Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky, stormy weather since my man and I ain't together, keeps raining all the time." Now, let's flip around the term “stormy weather.” If you weather the storm, or ride out the storm, you survive and move on without harm or injury. For example, let's talk about Tornado Alley, the name for part of the central United States. During springtime, this area often has a large number of powerful tornadoes. People who live there are taught to hunker down in the safest place they can find and wait for the storm to pass. People who live in Tornado Alley are used to weathering many storms! "To weather the storm" can also mean to make it through a difficult experience or trying times. So, if the stock market crashes, you might have to weather a financial storm. If you are a politician who gets discredited in public, you may have to lie low and weather the political storm.    Often before a big storm, conditions are calm. The calm before the storm can happen anytime. It is the time before something bad happens. For example, at the beginning of a family reunion, the adults were all talking happily. But the older children knew it was just the calm before the storm. They’ve seen it happen before. The adults talk happily for about an hour. Then they start arguing about events from the past -- things that should really stay buried! But after the storm begins and you find yourself in the middle of it, you are in the eye of the storm. In the world of weather, the eye of the storm is the calmest part, in the center of a hurricane, for example. However, in the English language, if you are in the eye of the storm, you are in the most intense part of a conflict. For example, she had no idea that walking into the meeting would put her in the eye of the storm. Now, a storm can cause great destruction, but it can also cause excitement. It's something people talk about.   If you want to give people something to talk about, you might want to use the following "storm" phrasal verb. Combining a verb with "up" and then the words "a storm" gives you a very useful phrasal verb. It means doing something to a great extent or degree.   For example, if you danced all night, you can say you danced up a storm. If you spend the whole month writing a book, you can say you wrote up a storm. If you are at a party and meet someone who won’t keep quiet, you can say they are talking up a storm. I think you get the idea. Let's look again at the verb "to storm." It can also mean to attack. If soldiers storm a military base, they are attacking it. Used another way, you could say one storms into a place. We only do this when we are angry and/or full of purpose. For example, if you find out that someone at the place where you work is making twice as much as you do while doing less work -- you might storm into your supervisor's office and demand a raise. But I would suggest that you call, make an appointment and calmly walk into the meeting.   There is another very useful expression involving the word "storm." But it has two very different meanings. Taking something by storm can suggest a sudden, perhaps violent attack. For example, the police took the bank by storm and arrested the bank robbers. But this term can be used in another way. "To take something by storm" can mean to have great and sudden success in a certain field. And that field can be just about anything. Let's say you are a great cook and open a new restaurant. Everyone loves it and it quickly becomes a big success. You can then say you took the restaurant world by storm. Or maybe you are a gifted violinist and perform in over 100 cities. Critics love you and they say you are taking the classical music world by storm. So, taking something by storm is a good thing. But a perfect storm is not. In the world of weather, a perfect storm is a violent storm that results from a rare combination of severe weather events. We can use this expression in other situations, but the meaning is the same. It's when a particularly bad or critical situation arises from several bad and usually unpredictable events. Let’s hear this one in an example. You are going on a trip and you are very excited! You have no idea that a perfect storm is building to ruin your vacation. First, the city where you’re going has an unexpected electrical outage. Then when you arrive you find that the airline has lost your luggage. And finally you discover that a person you really don’t like is staying in the same hotel and wants to hang out the whole time! There are other kinds of storms. Firestorm is also another "storm" word that can used when talking about the weather and real life. An actual firestorm is a strong, damaging fire that often has tornado-like columns of fire. In conversation, a "firestorm" is a violent outburst or disagreement that causes damage. For example, the movie star created a firestorm when she made comments about the political situation in her home country. However, a brainstorm does not exist in the world of weather. To brainstorm means to try to solve a problem by talking with other people. And that's Words and Their Stories for this week. I'm Anna Matteo. And I’m Bryan Lynn. And don't worry. If we have trouble thinking of an idea for the next program, we can always brainstorm with you!   "Riders on the storm, riders on the storm. Into the house we're born, into this world we're thrown."   Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. This audio story features Ella Fitzgerald singing "Stormy Weather" and The Doors singing "Riders on the Storm." _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   flip – v. to change from one state, position, subject, etc., to another hunker down – phrasal verb  to lower the body to the ground by bending the legs : to stay in a place for a period of time to remain safe degree – n. a step or stage in a process, course, or order of classification column – n. something that is tall and thin in shape

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Smart Mirrors Show What You Would Look Like Wearing…

  Software applications let smart phone users do a lot with their photographs. Apps such as Snapchat already give users the ability to add dog ears, colorful rainbow tongues and other images onto smart phone photos. Virtual mirrors are a little different. They are designed to let users see what they would look like wearing products that they might want to buy. Some examples are earrings or other jewelry, lipstick and eyeglasses. These smart mirror applications are gaining popularity among retail businesses, which want to get people into their stores. A smart mirror is simply an app that turns the screen of a smart phone or other mobile device into a mirror, using its camera function. As users look at the image, the app will make it appear as if they are wearing the product. Peter Johnson is with FaceCake Marketing Technologies. He said, “Virtual try-on offers people the ability to try on numerous products, many more than they would be able to try on otherwise.” Recently, Johnson demonstrated how an app called Dangle works. The software program lets store customers try on different earrings without touching a single pair. Dangle can be used on a computer tablet. It uses the tablet’s camera and the app’s facial recognition technology to make it appear as if the user is wearing earrings. The digital earrings in the image appear almost real. They move with the user, providing a realistic experience. With Dangle, retailers can show customers all of their earrings in a short period of time — something almost impossible without technology. There are other good reasons to use the app. Trying-on products with the virtual mirror means there is nothing to damage, lose or at risk of being stolen. “In-store jewelry, even costume jewelry, in now quite expensive,” noted Peter Johnson. “This is a way to keep inventory secure, while people are making decisions about what they want to wear,” he said. A makeover for shopping outside of the home Virtual mirrors work with another product that takes time and effort to try on: makeup. A company called MemoMi has developed an augmented reality app that lets customers virtually put on makeup. At Neiman Marcus stores, customers can use the app on a mobile device to see how beauty products would look on them. The MemoMi software also is designed to teach users how to use the products. The app can record a beauty care expert putting makeup on a model, along with notes and spoken directions. The recording can then be shared with others on social media. Alec Gefrides is with the American technology company Intel. He said the app can help people use products the way experts suggest and allows them to repeat the process at home. Getting people to shop in stores again Smart mirror apps are an example of how retail stores are turning to online services inside their stores to attract customers. Online shoppers already expect experiences that are in some ways interactive, easy to use and involve social media. Online shopping also makes it easy to pay for products. A virtual mirror app like Dangle, supporters say, will enable stores to offer a huge number of products with many of the benefits of online shopping. The MemoMi app lets stores collect information about its users. The information can include what products customers like, dislike and what they bought in the past. Many shopping websites already do this. Stores hope that by using customer information, salespeople can make better suggestions to customers and sell more goods. Gefrides believes that stores across the country will improve their businesses as these technologies improve. “We always hear about the big store closings," said Gefrides. "But Intel sees technology becoming more important in providing customers with a better experience." I’m Mario Ritter.   Tina Trinh reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted her report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   apps (applications) – n. computer programs designed to do a specific task or related tasks virtual – adj. online or digital, no real or physical customers – n. anyone who pays for, “consumes,” goods or services otherwise – adv. in a different way pair – n. two of something expensive – adj. pricey, costly augmented reality – n. pictures, video or other recordings of reality that also have something digital added to them to provide an “increased” experience shopper – n. people who looking for things to buy attract – v. to make someone interested in something benefit – n. something that produces good or helpful effects We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

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Working at Kansas Ranch ‘Like Slavery,’ Immigrants Say

  Immigrants working at a large, remote farm in the state of Kansas are forced into hard labor to pay back the farm’s cost of illegally bringing them into the country, an Associated Press report says. The AP spoke with former workers at the Fullmer Cattle ranch.  The company raises cows for dairy companies across four states. Esteban Cornejo is a Mexican citizen and an undocumented immigrant in the United States. He spent eight months cleaning out calf pens and doing construction work. He left Kansas in November after paying back his loans. He thinks his loans totaled nearly $7,000. One of Cornejo’s paychecks shows he worked about 15 hours a day, with Sundays off. He earned $10 an hour. Before taxes, his pay was $1,828.34. But the company took away $1,300 from his pay because of a “cash advance repayment.” Cornejo said this was to return the loan for smuggling him into the country. In the end, he received just $207.46 for two weeks of work. He made just over $1 an hour. “It’s like slavery” Rachel Tovar also used to work at the ranch. She told the Associated Press, “It’s like slavery what they do to those poor people.” Former workers say they received no holidays, health insurance or overtime pay. They even had to buy their own safety equipment. Dean Ryan, the company’s lawyer, said in an email that the former workers’ accusations “are simply not true.” “There was no smuggler’s fee and has never been,” Ryan wrote. He added that there are “plenty of people willing to work in western Kansas without having to ‘import’ them.” Ryan said company policy is to give pay advances to workers who have no credit history. He said those loans are made so employees can buy vehicles or homes. President Donald Trump’s administration has made an effort to reduce the number of immigrants living in the country illegally. But it has focused less on companies that employ them or possibly smuggle them into the United States. Bringing outside workers The case in Kansas brings attention to exploitation that immigrant workers may face. Under U.S. law, employers do not have to give agricultural workers overtime pay. Erik Nicholson, national vice president for the United Farm Workers union, said it is not unusual for employers to hire immigrant farm workers. Rachel Tovar’s husband, Arturo, was a Fullmer manager for 11 years. He was living in the country illegally. He described the company’s smuggling process to the AP. When the company needed workers, Arturo asked employees if they knew someone who wanted to work in the United States. Then, Arturo was told to call the company’s smuggler, who lived in Piedras Niegras, Mexico. The smuggler would then begin to make preparations. The company would give Arturo Tovar a check, which he would exchange for cash. He would give the smuggler some of the money before he transported the immigrants. The smuggler would get the rest of the money after the immigrants arrived San Antonio or Houston, two cities in Texas. There, the workers would be picked up and taken to the ranch in Kansas. A history with illegal immigrants Fullmer Cattle’s calf-feeding operation is outside of Syracuse, Kansas. It is about 25 kilometers from the Kansas-Colorado border. The company says it raises thousands of cows for 18 dairies in Texas, Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota. Fullmer Cattle says on its websites it has “lower labor costs.” The ranch’s owner is Que Fullmer. In 1998, law enforcement officials carried out an immigration raid at his ranch in Chino, California. They found workers living in what a California labor official described as “economic slavery.” Fullmer admitted guilt in 1999 to hiding immigrants in the country illegally. He was sentenced to six months of home detention. Court records also show Fullmer was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and perform 500 hours of community service. The Kansas ranch’s lawyer noted that, because of Fullmer’s past, the company takes “extra care” not to hire workers who are in the country illegally.  I’m Phil Dierking.   This story was originally written by Roxana Hegeman for the Associated Press. Phil Dierking adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. Do companies in your country hire foreign works illegally?  What are their working conditions like?  We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   calf - n. a very young cow​ cash - n.  money in the form of coins and bills​ dairy - n. a place where milk is kept and butter or cheese is made​ exploit - v. to use (someone or something) in a way that helps you unfairly​ fee - n. an amount of money that must be paid​ focus - v. a subject that is being discussed or studied​ hire - v. to give work or a job to (someone) in exchange for wages or a salary​ manager - n. someone who is in charge of a business, department, etc.​ pen - n. a small enclosed area for farm animals​ remote - adj.  far away​ smuggle - v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly​ trailer - n. a long platform or box with wheels that is pulled behind a truck or car and used to transport things​

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English in a Minute: Show Your True Colors

Has someone shown you their true colors recently?

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Lesson 25: Watch Out!

Summary Anna learns about a new game, "Catch Americana." She walks around the memorials to U.S. Presidents and learns fun facts by playing the game. Speaking In this video, you can practice saying the new words and learn how to make recommendations using "should." Pronunciation This video teaches about past tense contractions, like "didn't." ​ Conversation Anna: Hello from Washington, DC! This city has many monuments and memorials. Anna: Today I am visiting the ones built in memory of our Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Anna: I want to learn more about them. Anna: Hey! Watch out! Dan: Sorry! I didn't see you. Anna: You were not looking. You should be more careful. Dan: I know I should be more careful. But this game is really fun. Anna: What kind of game? Dan: You have to find things that aren't really there. Anna: How can you find things that aren’t really there? Dan: They're in your phone. See? Anna: I see. It’s like a scavenger hunt. Dan: That’s right! Anna: I don’t have time for games. I want to learn about U.S. presidents. Dan: Then you should play this game! When you find an American symbol, you win points and a Fun Fact about a U.S. President. Anna: I have time for this game! Dan: Here are the symbols that I caught: the Statue of Liberty for 20 points, Uncle Sam for 40 points and the American flag for 60 points. Anna: What symbol are you looking for now? Dan: I am looking for the bald eagle. That is 100 points! It should be near the Washington Monument. Anna: This game is awesome. Dan: You ought to buy the app right now. It’s called “Catch Americana.” Anna: Got it. Catch Americana. Anna: Thanks! Good luck! Dan: Good luck to you too! Anna: This is the Jefferson Memorial. I know that Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence! Now, where is that symbol? Anna: Here it is! My first one. It’s an American flag! I won 60 points! Anna: An American flag works well for Thomas Jefferson*. I see lots of American flags on Independence Day! Anna: Where is my Jefferson Fun Fact? Voice: In his lifetime, Thomas Jefferson wrote about 19,000 letters! Anna: I did not know that. Where is the next symbol? *See an explanation of this sentence in the Learning Strategy section. Writing In this lesson, Anna learns about a new video game. What games do you like to play? Write to us to tell us about the video games or other games you like. Send us an email or write in the Comments section. Use the Activity Sheet to play a game that helps you practice talking about games, sports, and leisure activities. Learning Strategy Learning Strategies are the thoughts and actions that help make learning easier or more effective. The learning strategy for this lesson is Make Associations. When we think of connections between things we are making associations.  In this lesson, Anna connects the picture of an American flag in her mind with President Thomas Jefferson. She sees the flag in the game and says, "I know that Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence! Now, where is that symbol?" "Here it is! My first one. It’s an American flag! I won 60 points! An American flag works well for Thomas Jefferson. I see lots of American flags on Independence Day!" Anna is making associations between the flags and President Thomas Jefferson. What associations do you make when learning new things in English? Is there something in this lesson that you can associate with the new words? Maybe the association will help you remember them. Write to us in the Comments section or send us an email. Teachers, see the Lesson Plan for more details on teaching this strategy. Listening Quiz Check your understanding and practice your listening skills with this quiz. ______________________________________________________________ New Words Americana - n. things produced in the U.S. and thought to be typical of the U.S. or its culture bald eagle - n. a very large bird of North America that has a white head and white tail feathers build / built - v. to make (something) by putting together parts or materials be careful! - an instruction to take care in a particular situation catch/caught - v. to capture and not allow (a person, animal, or fish) to escape Declaration of Independence - n. the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776. It said that the thirteen American colonies would not accept British rule find / found - v. to get or discover something or someone that you are looking for flag - n. a piece of cloth with a special design that is used as a symbol of a nation or group Independence Day - n. July 4 celebrated as a legal holiday in the U.S. in honor of the day when the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 memory - n. the power or process of remembering what has been learned in memory of or in someone's memory - made or done to honor someone who has died ought to - modal verb. used to say or suggest that something is the proper, reasonable, or best thing to do. It has the same meaning as should and is used in the same ways, but it is less common and somewhat more formal. point - n. a unit that is used to score a game or contest scavenger hunt - n. a game in which players try to find specified items within a particular period of time should - v. used to say or suggest that something is the proper, reasonable, or best thing to do Statue of Liberty - n. A large sculpture given to the United States from the people of France. It is a symbol of freedom and democracy. symbol - n. an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality Uncle Sam - n. A common symbol of the government of the United States. Watch out! - phrasal verb. to be aware of something dangerous American Presidents (Part One) ​Thomas Jefferson - America’s 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence on America’s birthday - the 4th of July. (The symbol for President Jefferson in the Catch Americana game is an American flag.) ​______________________________________________________________ Free Materials   Word Book 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 talking about games, sports, and leisure activities. 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:  Modals: should; ought to ​Topics: Warnings: Be careful, Watch out; Recommending products, giving advice Learning Strategy: Cooperate Speaking & Pronunciation Focus: past tense contractions ;  Making recommendations using ‘should’ Are you teaching with Let's Learn English? Send us a photo of your class and we'll put it on our Facebook page.  ______________________________________________________________ Now it's your turn. What do you think the game in this lesson? Do you play a game like this? 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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March 16, 2018

A look at the best news photos from around the world.

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'Pigs Is Pigs,' by Ellis Parker Butler

Our story today is called "Pigs is Pigs."  It was written by Ellis Parker Butler.  Mike Flannery, the agent of the Interurban Express Company, leaned over the desk in the company's office in Westcote and shook his fist. Mr. Morehouse, angry and red, stood on the other side of the desk shaking with fury. The argument had been long and hot. At last Mr. Morehouse had become speechless. The cause of the trouble lay on the desk between the two men. It was a box with two guinea pigs inside. "Do as you like, then!" shouted Flannery. "Pay for them and take them. Or don't pay for them and leave them here. Rules are rules, Mr. Morehouse. And Mike Flannery is not going to break them." "But you stupid idiot!" shouted Mr. Morehouse, madly shaking a thin book beneath the agent's nose. "Can't you read it here – in your own book of transportation rates? ‘Pets, domestic, Franklin to Westcote, if correctly boxed, twenty-five cents each.'" He threw the book on the desk. "What more do you want? Aren't they pets?  Aren't they domestic? Aren't they correctly boxed? What?" He turned and walked back and forth rapidly, with a furious look on his face.  "Pets," he said. "P-E-T-S! Twenty-five cents each. Two times twenty-five is fifty! Can you understand that? I offer you fifty cents." Flannery reached for the book. He ran his hand through the pages and stopped at page sixty-four. "I don't take fifty cents," he whispered in an unpleasant voice. "Here's the rule for it: ‘When the agent be in any doubt about which two rates should be charged on a shipment, he shall charge the larger. The person receiving the shipment may put in a claim for the overcharge.' In this case, Mr. Morehouse, I be in doubt. Pets them animals may be. And domestic they may be, but pigs I'm sure they do be. And my rule says plain as the nose on your face, ‘Pigs, Franklin to Westcote, thirty cents each.'" Mr. Morehouse shook his head savagely. "Nonsense!" he shouted.  "Confounded nonsense, I tell you!  That rule means common pigs, not guinea pigs!" "Pigs is pigs," Flannery said firmly. Mr. Morehouse bit his lip and then flung his arms out wildly. "Very well!" he shouted. "You shall hear of this! Your president shall hear of this! It is an outrage! I have offered you fifty cents. You refuse it. Keep the pigs until you are ready to take the fifty cents. But, by George, sir, if one hair of those pigs' heads is harmed, I will have the law on you!" He turned and walked out, slamming the door. Flannery carefully lifted the box from the desk and put it in a corner. Mr. Morehouse quickly wrote a letter to the president of the transportation express company. The president answered, informing Mr. Morehouse that all claims for overcharge should be sent to the Claims Department. Mr. Morehouse wrote to the Claims Department. One week later he received an answer. The Claims Department said it had discussed the matter with the agent at Westcote. The agent said Mr. Morehouse had refused to accept the two guinea pigs shipped to him. Therefore, the department said, Mr. Morehouse had no claim against the company and should write to its Tariff Department. Mr. Morehouse wrote to the Tariff Department. He stated his case clearly.  The head of the Tariff Department read Mr. Morehouse's letter. "Huh!  Guinea pigs," he said. "Probably starved to death by this time." He wrote to the agent asking why the shipment was held up. He also wanted to know if the guinea pigs were still in good health. Before answering, agent Flannery wanted to make sure his report was up to date. So he went to the back of the office and looked into the cage. Good Lord!  There were now eight of them! All well and eating like hippopotamuses. He went back to the office and explained to the head of the Tariff Department what the rules said about pigs. And as for the condition of the guinea pigs, said Flannery, they were all well. But there were eight of them now, all good eaters. The head of the Tariff Department laughed when he read Flannery's letter.  He read it again and became serious. "By George!" he said. "Flannery is right. Pigs is pigs. I'll have to get something official on this." He spoke to the president of the company. The president treated the matter lightly. "What is the rate on pigs and on pets?" he asked. "Pigs thirty cents, pets twenty-five," the head of the Tariff Department answered. "Then of course guinea pigs are pigs," the president said. "Yes," the head of the Tariff Department agreed. "I look at it that way too. A thing that can come under two rates is naturally to be charged at the higher one. But are guinea pigs, pigs? Aren't they rabbits?" "Come to think of it," the president said, "I believe they are more like rabbits.  Sort of half-way between pig and rabbit. I think the question is this – are guinea pigs of the domestic pig family? I'll ask Professor Gordon. He is an expert about such things." The president wrote to Professor Gordon. Unfortunately, the professor was in South America collecting zoological samples. His wife forwarded the letter to him. The professor was in the High Andes Mountains. The letter took many months to reach him. In time, the president forgot the guinea pigs. The head of the Tariff Department forgot them. Mr. Morehouse forgot them. But agent Flannery did not. The guinea pigs had increased to thirty-two. He asked the head of the Tariff Department what he should do with them. "Don't sell the pigs," agent Flannery was told. "They are not your property.  Take care of them until the case is settled." The guinea pigs needed more room. Flannery made a large and airy room for them in the back of his office. Some months later he discovered he now had one hundred sixty of them. He was going out of his mind. Not long after this, the president of the express company heard from Professor Gordon. It was a long and scholarly letter. It pointed out that the guinea pig was the cavia aparoea, while the common pig was the genus sus of the family suidae. The president then told the head of the Tariff Department that guinea pigs are not pigs and must be charged only twenty-five cents as domestic pets.  The Tariff Department informed agent Flannery that he should take the one hundred sixty guinea pigs to Mr. Morehouse and collect twenty-five cents for each of them. Agent Flannery wired back. "I've got eight hundred now. Shall I collect for eight hundred or what? How about the sixty-four dollars I paid for cabbages to feed them?" Many letters went back and forth. Flannery was crowded into a few feet at the extreme front of the office. The guinea pigs had all the rest of the room.  Time kept moving on as the letters continued to go back and forth. Flannery now had four thousand sixty-four guinea pigs. He was beginning to lose control of himself. Then, he got a telegram from the company that said: "Error in guinea pig bill. Collect for two guinea pigs -- fifty cents." Flannery ran all the way to Mr. Morehouse's home. But Mr. Morehouse had moved. Flannery searched for him in town but without success. He returned to the express office and found that two hundred six guinea pigs had entered the world since he left the office. At last, he got an urgent telegram from the main office: "Send the pigs to the main office of the company at Franklin." Flannery did so. Soon, came another telegram. "Stop sending pigs. Warehouse full." But he kept sending them. Agent Flannery finally got free of the guinea pigs. "Rules may be rules," he said, "but so long as Flannery runs this express office, pigs is pets and cows is pets and horses is pets and lions and tigers and Rocky Mountain goats is pets. And the rate on them is twenty-five cents." Then he looked around and said cheerfully, "Well, anyhow, it is not as bad as it might have been. What if them guinea pigs had been elephants?"   Download activities to help you understand this story here. Now it's your turn. Did you ever have an experience with an official who did not understand you? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ QUIZ   _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   interurban - n. between cities or towns guinea pig - n. a small furry animal, or rodent, that is often kept as a pet hippopotamus - n. a large African animal that has an extremely large head and mouth and short legs and that spends most of its time in water genus - n. a group of related animals or plants that includes several or many different species telegram - n.  a message that is sent by telegraph (an old-fashioned system of sending messages over long distances by using wires and electrical signals) Just for fun, here's a cartoon of the story.

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Everyone Gets to be Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day

  On March 17, people around the world celebrate the Irish holiday of Saint Patrick’s Day.  It is a major holiday in Ireland, but the rest of the world has influenced its celebration as much as the Irish themselves. Calm, religious beginnings Most Americans think of Saint Patrick’s Day as a big party centered around drinking alcohol. But its beginnings in Ireland were religious, says Mike Cronin, a professor of Irish history with Boston College of Massachusetts.  Ireland is a mostly Roman Catholic country. Saint Patrick lived in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago. He is widely considered to have established Christianity in the country. The Church honored him with a holy day in the 17th century. March 17 marks the date of his death. St. Patrick, a Briton reportedly, is believed to have served in Ireland as a Catholic Bishop. One traditional story says that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. The average Irish person honored March 17 quietly. Attending church services was the main activity.  In fact, most businesses that served alcohol would close in honor of the day. In the early 1900s, Ireland’s government made St. Patrick’s Day an official holiday. By the 1960s, towns across Ireland started celebrating the holiday with parades and music. In Ireland today,  St. Patrick’s Day is a four-day public celebration that includes parades, music, food, and games. Putting the Irish on center stage For Irish people living outside Ireland, Saint Patrick’s Day became a chance to celebrate their Irish identity and culture. “It’s very much a day by which the Irish put themselves center stage,” Cronin said. Now, countries and cities around the world celebrate March 17 in creative ways.  Many countries hold Saint Patrick’s Day parades. Famous monuments, including the Great Wall of China, the Colosseum in Rome, the Niagara Falls, and the Gateway of India in Mumbai will all be colored by green light for the day. The U.S. is especially famous for its Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations.  Many cities with large ethnic Irish communities, like Boston, New York and Chicago, hold parades and parties. Cities will also color local rivers green for the day. Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle. The country is covered in deep green grass. Cronin says that the worldwide popularity of Saint Patrick’s Day has helped the Irish government, which uses the holiday as a form of diplomacy. “So what you have is this quite remarkable day where literally over much of the globe, everybody, whether they’re Irish or not, the one thing they do know is the 17th of March is Saint Patrick’s Day. And for a small island of 4.5 to 5 million people it's quite remarkable that they have that kind of soft power." An American holiday However, Cronin says many modern Saint Patrick’s Day traditions were invented by the Irish in America. In the U.S. on Saint Patrick’s Day, it is common for Americans to drink green beer or eat corned beef and cabbage. However, Cronin, says, many of these traditions are not really Irish.  “You could walk around the streets of Dublin all day and not find any corned beef and cabbage,” he said. Neil O’Flaherty, an Irish citizen now living in the U.S., agrees. Growing up in a small town in Ireland, O’Flaherty remembers celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day much differently than it is now. "Back then, for Catholic families, it was the day you had to go to church, you were required to go to Mass on that day. It had much more the feeling of a religious holiday than a public holiday." He also remembers everyone wearing small, three-leaf plant pieces, called shamrocks. O’Flaherty said that he was surprised to see how much Saint Patrick’s Day in the U.S. has become linked to drinking lots of beer or other alcoholic drinks. However, there are some Irish connections between drinking and Saint Patrick’s Day. One tradition that does come from Ireland is called “drowning the shamrock.”  Cronin explains that this tradition involved taking the shamrock that people wore all day, and placing it in a glass of whiskey or beer before drinking it. Professor Mike Cronin suggests it is not that important how people celebrate March 17.  He calls Saint Patrick’s Day “a day for everyone to be Irish.” I'm Kelly Jean Kelly. And I’m Phil Dierking.   Phil Dierking reported this story for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. How do people celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day where you are from?  We want to hear from you! Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   whiskey - n. a strong alcoholic drink made from a grain (such as rye, corn, or barley)​ beer - n. an alcoholic drink made from malt and flavored with hops​ remarkable - adj. unusual or surprising​ literal - adj.  involving the ordinary or usual meaning of a word​ globe - n. an object that is shaped like a large ball with a map of the world on it​

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'National Geographic' Magazine Chief Admits History of Racist Coverage

  National Geographic magazine admitted this week that racism had influenced its reporting on the world for generations. The head of National Geographic was critical of its images of bare-breasted women. She rejected descriptions of brown-skinned tribesmen as savage and unintelligent. "We had to own our story to move beyond it," editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg told the Associated Press. She was speaking about the magazine's April edition, which explores the issue of race. The National Geographic Society, a not-for-profit organization, first published its magazine in 1888. John Edwin Mason, a photography historian, investigated National Geographic’s reporting and choice of photos over the years. He teaches African history and the history of photography at the University of Virginia. Mason reported his findings to the magazine in late 2017. His study found that until the 1970s, National Geographic largely ignored people of color in the United States unless they were laborers or domestic servants. It often supported the idea that people of color from foreign lands were "exotics, famously and frequently unclothed, happy hunters, noble savages…every type of cliché," Mason added. For example, in a 1916 story about Australia, a sentence next to a photo of two Aboriginal people read: "South Australian Blackfellows: These savages rank lowest in intelligence of all human beings." This examination comes as other media organizations are also considering their past reporting work. The New York Times recently admitted that most of its obituaries described the lives of white men. The newspaper began publishing stories on famous women in an area called "Overlooked." It launched the project on March 8, International Women’s Day. The April edition of National Geographic included a letter from Goldberg. She identified herself as the magazine's first female and first Jewish editor. Goldberg said in the letter that when the editors decided to examine the subject of race, “we thought we should examine our own history before turning our reportorial gaze to others.” She told the AP, "I knew when we looked back there would be some storytelling that we obviously would never do today, that we don't do and we're not proud of. But it seemed to me if we want to credibly talk about race, we better look and see how we talked about race." Mason said his investigation found repeated examples of racist imagery in the magazine's representation of people of color. For example, they often wore little clothing, he said. People of color were also not usually seen in cities or with “technologies such as cars, airplanes, trains or factories,” Mason added. “People of color were often pictured as living... as ancestors might have lived several hundreds of years ago and that's in contrast to Westerners who are always fully clothed and often carrying technology." Boys and men, Mason said, "could count on every issue or two of National Geographic having some brown skin bare breasts for them to look at." He said he believes that the editors knew that was “one of the appeals of their magazine.” Women, especially those from Pacific islands, were photographed in “ways that were almost glamour shots,” Mason said. Samir Husni heads the Magazine Innovation Center at the University of Mississippi's journalism school. He said many Americans first learned about the rest of the world by reading National Geographic.  Husni said it is important that kind of coverage never happens again. He added that offering jobs in the magazine field to people from all backgrounds is a way to apologize for the past. Goldberg said she is doing just that. She noted that National Geographic has done a better job of employing women than members of racial and ethnic minority groups. "We need photographers who are African-American and Native American because they are going to capture a different truth and maybe a more accurate story," Goldberg said. National Geographic now reaches 30 million people around the world. It was one of the first magazines to publish color photos. The monthly magazine is well known for its coverage of history, science, environmentalism and culture. It can currently be found in 172 countries and in 43 languages. I'm Ashley Thompson.  And I'm Caty Weaver.   The Associated Press reported this story. George Grow adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   bare-breasted – adj. without clothing covering one’s breast; topless savage – adj. not under human control; wild or violent beyond – adv. on the father side; until a later time edition – n. the form or version of a publication exotic – adj. very strange, unusual or different cliché – n. something that has become commonplace obituary – n. an article in a newspaper about the life of someone who has died recently gaze – n. a fixed look credibly – adv. in a way that is reasonable to trust or believe​ obviously – adv. in a way that is easy to see, understand, or recognize​ contrast – n. something that is different from something else; a difference between two people or things glamour – n. a very exciting quality accurate – adj. free from mistake; able to produce results  

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