An ESOL Resource from University Settlement's Adult Literacy Program
Author: US Adult Literacy
We offer free 10-month long ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Language) classes in Lower East Side of Manhattan. We help immigrant New Yorkers by providing them with intensive English language classes, and counseling. We're located at 175 Eldridge, Street, New York, NY. This is a blog for our students so they can get more practice in English language, and learn about life in New York City.
Field of Lighthttps://www.fieldoflightnyc.com/ Wander across 6 acres, through an installation of almost 19,000 spheres of light, and enjoy the beautiful shifting colors. With the skyline on one side, and the East River on the other – this will be a walk you’ll remember! (Now through the end of 2024.)
For some outdoor cinema fun, Movies Under the Stars – Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Friday, October 18th 7:00 – 9:00 pm
In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters.
In Kissena Corridor Park, Queens (at entrance – Colden Street and Elder Avenue)
We come together to consider foods that signify moments of togetherness. This fire feast is to give energies back, to consider our togetherness and how we strive for freedom of others.
soy sauce (noun) – a sauce made with fermented soybeans
al dente (adjective) – cooked so as to be still firm when bitten.
“…ensure they remain chewy and al dente.”
chop (verb) – cut (something) into pieces with a knife
toss (verb) – throw (something) somewhere lightly, easily, or casually
drain (verb) – cause the water in (something) to run out, leaving it empty, dry, or drier.
WHAT IS RE GAN MIAN, OR HOT DRY NOODLES?
“Re, 热” means hot, “Gan，干” means dry, and “Mian, 面” means noodles. Re Gan Mian, or “Hot Dry Noodles” are a top breakfast choice in Hubei Province.
HOT DRY NOODLES (RE GAN MIAN, 热干面): THE RECIPE
Start by preparing the sauce. Add 3 tablespoons sesame paste to a bowl, and gradually stir in 2 tablespoons sesame oil to smooth out the paste. Then add 1 ½ teaspoons of dark soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce. Add 1 teaspoon sugar, and stir until well combined. If the sauce is still too thick, add in a few drops of warm water to thin it out. Add salt to taste and set aside. You can prepare this sauce ahead of time.
Boil a pot of water to cook the noodles as per package instructions, undercooking it by 1 minute to ensure they remain chewy and al dente. Drain. Shake off any excess liquid from the noodles, and put them in a large bowl.
Toss the noodles with the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil to prevent noodles from sticking together. Add in the preserved mustard stems (zha cai), pickled long beans, garlic, chili oil, cilantro, scallions, Chinese black vinegar, and tahini sauce.
Start by preparing the sauce. Add 3 tablespoons sesame paste to a bowl, and gradually stir in 2 tablespoons sesame oil to smooth out the paste.
Then add 1 ½ teaspoons dark soy sauce and 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or 4 ½ teaspoons of master sauce, if you have it). Add 1 teaspoon sugar, and stir until well combined. If the sauce is still too thick, add in a few drops of warm water or more master sauce to thin it out. Add salt to taste and set aside. You can prepare this sauce ahead of time.
Boil a pot of water to cook the noodle as per package instructions, undercooking it by 1 minute to ensure they remain chewy and al dente. Drain. Shake off any excess liquid from the noodles, and put them in a large bowl.
Toss the noodles with the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons sesame oil to prevent noodles from sticking together. Add in the preserved radish, pickled long beans, garlic, chili oil, cilantro, scallions, vinegar, and tahini sauce. Quickly toss the noodles together and serve hot.
Back to school and ready to grow! All classes have now begun. Here’s to a year full of learning, progress, and success. Wishing all students the best as they embrace new challenges and opportunities. Let’s make this year unforgettable!
We held student orientation for daytime, evening, and weekend students in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and English. Students are well-prepared to start their first day of classes! We look forward to working alongside them on their English language journeys. Not only will they be gaining important life and language skills in classes, but they will also be making new, lasting friendships. Have a great school year, everyone!
We are excited to be a part of students’ English language journeys. We are certain that if students come to class every day, speak English every chance they get, and do their homework, their English levels will soar to new heights this year!
You may feel that you do not have much money or power, but in the voting booth, your choice is equal to everyone else’s. As an American citizen, you are able to make your voice heard about what really matters to you.
Reasons to Vote:
■ You care about clean air and clean water. The government makes laws that can protect or hurt the environment.
■ You have family members in another country who want to move to the U.S. The government makes rules about who can move here and how easy it is.
■ You are in school or have children in school. You want the school to provide a good education. The government makes rules about teacher training, programs, and testing. It decides what kinds of programs receive funding.
■ You are looking for a job that offers a good wage and job security. The government guides the economy. That affects how easy it is to find a job, how much companies can pay workers, and what benefits companies must provide.
Where?
On Election Day, people vote in different sorts of places. Your voting site might be a school, a church, a community center, a fire station, or another neighborhood building. You must go to the correct polling place. The place you go to vote will depend on where you live.
After you register to vote, you will receive a card confirming your registration and indicating your polling place.
How?
Firstly, inform yourself. Watch television, read newspapers, and explore the internet to learn how the candidates stand on issues that are important to you.
Here are some useful links:
■ Rock the Votewww.rockthevote.org Targeted towards younger voters, this site seeks to inspire and inform on building political power in young people.
■ Vote 411 www.vote411.org Countrywide, personalized information on candidates and where they stand on what you’re voting for.
■ Project Vote Smart www.votesmart.org Free, factual information on candidates in simplified, straightforward language.
Watch debates, watch television, read newspapers, and consult with trusted experts.
For fascinating fun and a bit of history, this site has information, explanations, and ads going back to the beginning of televised election commercials.
Oasis – n., something or some place that provides refreshing relief
Wander – v., to move about with no plan
Stillness – n., quiet, absence of sound
Burial ground – n., a place where people are buried when they die
Lush – adj., growing thick and healthy
Enchant – v., to charm and delight, to put under a magic spell
Contemplate – v., to look at something for a long time, to think about deeply
Dazzling – adj., amazing, impressive
Perennials – n., plants that bloom every year
Abundantly – adv., large in amount or number; more than enough.
Neglected – adj., not taken proper care of
Decline – v., to go downward
Guerillas – n., a group of soldiers who do not work as part of an official army.
Rubble-strewn – adj., covered with rocks and debris, messy
Din – n., loud noise
Wonder – v., to feel admiration, surprise, or amazement
In these last few weeks of summer, what better way to spend an hour (or two!) than discovering a green oasis in the middle of New York City? If you need a break from concrete and steel, we recommend a visit to one of these special and precious places… to wander in or just to sit and savor the stillness of the late-season beauty.
M’finda Kalunga Garden
The name of this garden means “Garden at the Edge of the Other Side of the World” in the Kikongo language.¹ It is named in memory of the African American burial ground that was located on nearby Chrystie Street between Rivington and Stanton Streets. There is dense and lush growth everywhere, with little paths winding through the trees and shrubs. Flowers bloom, chickens roam, and the fish pond will enchant you as you take a bench and contemplate the peacefulness.
Relax under the trees in the M’finda Kalunga Garden.
LaGuardia Corner Garden
LaGuardia Corner Garden is an award-winning community garden in the heart of NYC’s Greenwich Village. It is a place of natural beauty, where the visitor can find an oasis of calm in urban surroundings. During the growing season visitors can enjoy a dazzling display of daffodils, tulips, irises, peonies, roses, and other perennials, as well as shrubs and fruit trees.
The gates may be open at other times when the weather is fair. You can go in whenever you see the garden open!
Lilac blooms abundantly in the LaGuardia Corner Garden.
Liz Christy Bowery-Houston Garden
This was the first Community Garden in New York City, founded in 1973; it is located on the northeast corner of Bowery and Houston Streets in Manhattan.
In the 17th century, this site was part of a large farm owned by Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of New Amsterdam. Hundreds of years later, in the 1970s, this “bouwerie” (the Dutch word for ‘farm’) was neglected and filled with abandoned buildings; a neighborhood in complete decline.
In 1973 a local resident named Liz Christy and a group of gardening activists known as the Green Guerillas were planting window boxes and vacant lots with ‘seed bombs.² They saw the large rubble-strewn lot as a potential garden and in December went to the City to find a way to gain official use of the land. Volunteers hauled the garbage and rubble out, spread donated topsoil, installed a fence and began planting.
In 2002, it became one of the protected community gardens by law. The garden feels like a private place despite the din of traffic. Two ponds are home to fish and turtles, there is a perennial lotus, a native plant habitat, vegetables, herbs, and many flowering plants. The tallest Dawn Redwood tree in the city is located in the garden.
Perfect for a bit of wonder, a little relaxing meditation, a moment of peace…bring a snack, a sun hat, and yourself to a garden before the warm weather ends!
¹ Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Angola.
Seed bombs are little clay-covered mounds of seeds and growing soil. They’re often used to help reseed natural plants to wild areas, and they were first made popular by guerilla gardeners, people who use public space to grow things.
Medicine – something used for the treatment or prevention of disease
Uganda – a country in East Africa
fern – a flowerless plant with feathery or leafy fronds
antibacterial – substances that kill bacteria or prevent them from growing
consume – eat, drink, or ingest
Read the Article –
Humans have used plants as medicine since prehistory. Scientists have now found that chimpanzees use plants to heal themselves. Researchers conducted a study of chimpanzee behavior in a forest in Uganda. The researchers observed a male chimp with an injured hand looking for a fern. The fern may have reduced the swelling in its hand. Another chimp with an infection ate the bark of a tree. This may have helped to cure the animal.
The researchers say there is a correlation between the chimpanzees’ ills and the healing properties in plants. The researchers tested the plants the chimpanzees ate. They found that 88 percent of them had antibacterial properties. A researcher said: “Results suggest that Budongo chimpanzees consume several [plants] with potent medicinal properties.” She said the research may lead to a greater use of medicinal plants in our lives.
Disorderly conduct – n., behavior that is not peaceful
Trespass – v., to go onto private property without permission
Fondly – adv., with warm feelings
Close – n., the enclosed part of a cathedral
High-wire artist Philippe Petit will walk a tightrope across the nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in New York City, on Wednesday, August 7th, and again on the 8th. Grammy Award-winning musician Sting, a friend of Petit, will perform original music for the event. The performance is called “Towering” and will raise funds for the Cathedral’s ongoing programs.
Petit, well-known for his daring high-wire walks around the world, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.
Even though Petit was arrested for what came to be known as “the art crime of the century,” he has never stopped walking on wires. “If I see two towers, I have to walk,” he told The New York Times. Later he added, “Anything that is giant and man-made strikes me in an awesome way and calls me.”
The illicit walk took 45 minutes and Petit, who turns 75 next week, was arrested for disorderly conduct and criminal trespass, but today his act is remembered fondly, including as part of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
He has walked high wires all over the world, from the Sydney Harbor bridge in Australia, to the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and now, at 75 years old, he will celebrate the anniversary of this daring stunt in a place that holds great meaning for him – and is his spiritual home in New York. It was the Reverend James Parks Morton, at the Cathedral in 1974, who requested Petit’s release from his arrest. His daughter’s ashes are also at the Cathedral. When Morton retired at the end of 1996, Petit performed “Crescendo,” an aerial tribute on the cathedral’s close.
