| Money can not buy happiness. Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2000 11:08:32 -0400 One of my students sent me this email (which appears below). I want you to correct her letter to me. The story about money is good, but she needs to know when to use a period (the people in London say "the full stop"). Steve hi Steve last week, i was in Italy (near Lecce) for a friends wedding. she was beautiful and we had a great but stressfull time, even it was not my own wedding. we ate a lot of seafood and spent the nights in discos and bars. and i spent a lot of money, too. that's why i'm asking you to forward the following to all students and teachers of Talk. many thanks and best regards Ebru MONEY... It can buy you a House But not a Home It can buy you a Bed But not Sleep It can buy you a Clock But not Time It can buy you a Book But not Knowledge It can buy you a Position But not Respect It can buy you Medicine But not Health It can buy you Blood But not Life It can buy you Sex But not Love So you see, money isn't everything. The best things in life can't be bought, and often we destroy ourselves trying! I tell you all this because I am your Friend, and as your Friend I want to take away your needless pain and suffering... So send me all your money and I will suffer for you. A truer Friend than me you will never find. CASH ONLY, PLEASE. Ebru =================================================== CORRECTION Hi, Steve, Last week, I was in Italy (near Lecce) for a friend's wedding. She was beautiful and we had a great but stressful time, even though it was not my own wedding. We ate a lot of seafood and spent the nights in discos and bars, and I spent a lot of money, too. That's why I'm asking you to forward the following to all students and teachers of Talk. Many thanks and best regards, Ebru ==================================== Well, I guess you know that Ebru had a very expensive weekend.... So we must feel sorry for her. Maybe we can suffer with her? I'm going out tonight to buy some beer and I'll cry for her - what will you do? Go back to the starting page This is a project that I'm creating with my students. Please ask your students to join in. Send replies to englishlesson@mail.com The Book of Courtesy "That's not how people act in my country!" From The Garden of English (The Students of Portable 11) Introduction Every year more than 1 million people move to the United States to live and work. They leave their countries but they don't leave their traditions. They bring their culture and ideas with them and many of them are surprised by the conflicting traditions of the USA. My country is a collection of people from many different cultures. My job as an ESOL teacher is to teach ENGLISH to SPEAKERS of OTHER LANGUAGES. However, I find the most interesting part of my job has nothing to do with language. I spend much of my day explaining the traditions and expectations of people who were born in the USA. Our culture needs to be explained to PEOPLE of OTHER CULTURES. Frequently I have to admit that U.S. culture is inferior or less interesting that the traditions that my students bring with them. I encourage them to keep their traditions alive. I also hope that they will melt into and blend into US society. I asked them to answer the questions in this book and they created more questions…and that's how we created this book. It is a guide to visitors, it is a workbook for people born in the USA (to explain other cultures) and it is a way of laughing together. The more I look at the differences between cultures, the more I find that we are similar: we all love to laugh. Steve McCrea TESOL teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages ACTPOC Apologizer of Culture to Peoples of Other Cultures ============================== Please think about traditions and actions that you do in your country and compare them to traditions in the USA. Write a situation with suggested answers. One of the answers is something that you do in your country and another answer is something that you see people do here in the USA. Let's collect examples of different cultures. You can email the situation to englishlesson@mail.com or write it during the Internet session on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. Classroom Situation 1: You need to leave the class early. The teacher is explaining grammar to the class and answering questions. You wait for the teacher to stop speaking, but he keeps talking. You walk toward the front of the class. The teacher continues to talk to the class and he doesn't see you. What do you do? a) a) You quietly leave and hold the door so it does not make a noise when it closes. b) b) You interrupt the teacher. "I'm sorry. I need to leave. Good bye!" c) c) You wait until the teacher sees you. Then you wave goodbye without saying a word. (You don't want to disturb the class.) Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? ============================= Table of Contents Questions about Driving Questions about Social Situations Questions about Standing in Line Questions about ____________________ ? Driving Situation 1: You are on a highway with 3 lanes. You are in the center lane. You want to get around a large truck that is in front of you. There is space on the right side of the truck. There is a fast car coming in the left lane. What do you do? a) a) go around the truck on the right side? b) b) Slow a little and wait for the fast car to pass and then you go on the left side of the truck. c) c) Put on your left signal and move left, forcing the fast car to slow down. Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? Driving Situation 2: You are waiting in a left-turn lane. There is one car in front of you. The car is waiting at the line, not in the middle of the intersection. You know that the light will turn yellow, then red very soon. There is no policeman in view. There are no cars behind you. What do you do? a) a) Go around the idiot in front of you. b) b) Wait for the cautious driver in front of you to turn. c) c) Back up 10 feet, turn right across three lanes, make a U turn and go when the crossing street turns green. Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? Driving Situation 3: You are thirsty. You are driving home after doing some shopping. You open a soda can. A) then you remember that a can of soda looks like a can of beer, so you quickly drink it and hide the can under your seat. B) You relax and drink the liquid slowly. C) You give the drink to a friend who is riding with you. Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? Driving Situation 4: You are impatient. You are driving home after work and you are late to see your family. You drive 45 mph in a zone marked 35 mph. You see the flashing lights of a police car behind you. You pull the car over to the side of the road. What do you do next? a) a) You reach for your driver license and you find the car's registration and insurance. You make everything ready for the officer. b) b) You sit quietly with your hands on the bottom of the steering wheel. c) c) You roll down the window and you put both hands out the window. d) d) You get out of the car and stand quietly next to the car. e) e) You get out of the car and you walk toward the policeman (so he does not need to walk or get out of his car). f) f) You sit quietly with your hands on the bottom of the steering wheel. Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? Social Situations Situation 1: Giving a gift. You are at a party. You brought a gift for the host. What do you do? a) a) You leave the gift on a table (so the host picks it up later). b) b) You find the host and give her the gift. You say, "I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me." You wait for the host to open the gift. c) c) You find the host and give her the gift. You say, "I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me." You talk a little with the host and then you say, "Well, I'm going to mix. See you later." You walk away and you start talking with other people at the party. Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? Social Situations Situation 2: Giving a gift. You are at a wedding. You brought a gift for the couple. What do you do? d) d) You leave the gift on a table with the other gifts (so the bride and groom open the gifts later). e) e) You find the bride and give her the gift. You say, "I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me." You wait for the bride to open the gift. f) f) You find the bride and give her the gift. You say, "I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me." You talk a little with the bride and then you say, "You have a very nice reception. I'm going to visit with other people here. See you later." You walk away and you start talking with other people at the reception. Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? Social Situations Situation 3: Giving a gift to a teacher You are in a classroom. You brought a gift for your teacher. Nobody is in the classroom. You are alone with the teacher. What do you do? a) a) You leave the gift on the teacher's desk (so the teacher will be surprised and he will open the gift later). b) b) You get the attention of the teacher and give him the gift. You say, "I'm so happy to be in your class. Thank you for being a good teacher." You wait for the teacher to open the gift. c) c) You get the attention of the teacher and give him the gift. You say, "I'm so happy to be in your class. Thank you for being a good teacher." The teacher says something to you and you continue to talk for a minute. Then you say, "Well, I have to go now." Then you leave the classroom. Explain your choice. What are the reasons for choosing the other choices? |
| The class of Portable 11 is creating a book of jokes, culture and observations (opinions and advice). You can respond, too! englishlesson@mail.com \ ALSO My students in Florida want to write to other students. Here is a list of students who like to receive email... When you write to these students, please write: "Hello, is it OKAY if I write to you? Steve the Teacher in Florida says that you are a good writer of letters." Venezuela danibabe81@hotmail.com Dr. Daniela UK Cary the Teacher bradstow2@yahoo.co.uk Germany Little_witch@hotmail.com ebru Florida Elsy the Dentist elsycampos@yahoo.com Georgia (European) georgebalan@aol.com George the guy from Georgia BRAZIL bannwart@uol.com.br MATE |