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.
Movies are wonderful – for watching, for thinking about, and for escaping – just for a little while – everything else around us.
VOCABULARY:
Persistence – n., sticking with and doing something you believe in
Depict – v., to show, to tell about
Struggle – n., difficulty, a hard time doing something
Platforms – n., different internet sites and sources for watching movies and video
Defeating – v., to overpower, to conquer
Repressive – adj., when freedoms are limited
Political unrest – n., troubled government, conflict among leaders
Forcibly displaced – adj., forced to move out of one’s home
Intimate – adj., private, personal
Uprising – n., a movement that seeks to overthrow an established government or situations
Siblings — n.pl., brothers and sisters
Soon-to-be – adj., in the near future
brutal — adj., cruel, very mean
Khmer Rouge – n., a radical Communist group that ruled Cambodia in the ‘70s and killed millions of people
Diligence – n., strong and consistent effort
Empire – n., a large territory ruled by a single ruler
Access — n., entry, opening
Especially interesting, to us, are movies about the immigrant experience: stories of hope and courage and persistence, above all. To leave one’s home country, no matter the circumstances, is a brave and often dangerous step to take. Here are 6 films that depict and celebrate that struggle. All are available to borrow from the New York Public Library (free), or can be streamed on various platforms (cost about $4).
A Korean American family searches for their American dream on a farm in Arkansas, a state in the deep South of the USA. They face many challenges in their new life in the Ozark Mountains, but finally realize the strength of their family, no matter where home is.
This animated film tells the story of Marjane Satrapi, a yung girl whose family dreams of defeating the Shah in the 1979 Iranian Revolution. However, as Marji grows up, she sees how repressive the new Iran is. Her parents send her to study in Europe, but when she returns home, she finds that both she and her homeland have changed too much.
Surprised to see this Disney classic among movies about immigrants? After being forced out of their Colombian homeland by political unrest, the Madrigal family is blessed with magical gifts. When the family’s powers begin to fade, Mirabel – the only member of the family who was not granted a special ability – is the one to bring everyone together and save the magic. At the center of Encanto, the fear of being forcibly displaced again is part of this sweet story.
4. FOR SAMA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsvBqtg2RM0 FOR SAMA is an intimate journey into the female experience of war. A love letter from a young mother to her daughter, the film tells the story of Waad al-Kateab’s life through five years of the uprising in Aleppo, Syria. She falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, all while terrible and life-changing conflict swirls around her. Should she leave to save her daughter? It is an impossible choice.
5. FLEE
FLEE – Official Trailer In FLEE, Amin’s life has been defined by his past and a secret he’s kept for over 20 years. Forced to leave his home country of Afghanistan as a young child with his mother and siblings, Amin now struggles with how his past will affect his future in Denmark and the life he is building with his soon-to-be husband.
6. THE DONUT KING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY2jXx0OP88 An immigrant story with a twist, The Donut King follows the journey of Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy, who escaped the brutalKhmer Rouge and arrived in California in the 1970s. Through a mixture of diligence and luck, he built a multi-million dollar donut empire up and down the West Coast. A tale of success and loss – who gets access to the American Dream, and what happens when you achieve it.
Ramadan is a month of intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts. Here are some questions and answers about Islam’s holiest month:
WHY DO PEOPLE FAST DURING RAMADAN?
The fast is intended to bring the faithful closer to God and to remind them of the suffering of those less fortunate. Ramadan is a time to detach from worldly pleasures and focus on one’s inner self. It’s seen as a way to physically and spiritually purify, refraining from habits such as smoking and caffeine.
HOW DO PEOPLE FAST?
Muslims who observe Ramadan abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk for the entire month of Ramadan. A single sip of water is enough to invalidate the fast. Just before the fast, Muslims have a pre-dawn meal of power foods to get them through the day, the “suhoor.” Egyptians eat mashed fava beans called “ful,” spiced with cumin and olive oil, while in Lebanon and Syria, popular suhoor food is flatbread with thyme, cheese, or yogurt. In Afghanistan, people eat dates and dumplings stuffed with potato and leeks, first steamed, then fried.
CAN A PERSON BE EXEMPTED FROM FASTING?
Yes. There are exceptions for children, the elderly, those who are ill, women who are pregnant, and people traveling, which can include athletes during tournaments.
HOW DO PEOPLE MARK THE END OF RAMADAN?
The end of Ramadan is marked by intense worship as observing Muslims seek to have their prayers answered during “Laylat al-Qadr” or “the Night of Destiny.” It is on this night, which falls during the last 10 nights of Ramadan, that Muslims believe that God sent the Angel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad and revealed the first verses of the Quran. The end of Ramadan is celebrated by a three-day holiday called Eid Al-Fitr. Children often receive new clothes, gifts, and cash. Muslims attend early morning Eid prayers the day after Ramadan. Families usually spend the day at parks and eating — now during the day.
New York City, as everyone knows, is a famous tourist destination. Some of its most well-known landmarks include the Empire State Building, Times Square, and Central Park.
This weekend, Lynne’s W1 class did an amazing job introducing the W2 and W3 classes to some other great, lesser-known places to visit in New York, including the Irish Hunger Memorial, the Noguchi Museum, Historic Richmond Town, the African Burial Ground, Federal Hall, Fraunces Tavern, Roosevelt Island, Green-Wood Cemetery, Dykeman House, the Eldridge Street Synagogue Museum, Gracie Mansion, the Merchant’s House Museum, and Castle Clinton.
Lunar New Year is a major holiday celebrated in many East and Southeast Asian cultures, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Mongolian traditions. It marks a fresh start, emphasizing themes of family, prosperity, and good fortune. Key traditions include a reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, exchanging red envelopes with money to symbolize luck, cleaning and decorating homes with red banners and lanterns, and vibrant community festivities like fireworks and lion dances to ward off evil spirits.
The holiday also incorporates the Chinese zodiac, with each year linked to one of 12 animals, such as the Rabbit, Dragon, or Tiger. This year, Lunar New Year begins on Wednesday, January 29th. Celebrations often span up to 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival, which this year falls on Wednesday, February 12th.
Below are the 12 Chinese zodiac animals, including their associated years (1924–2043) and personality traits. What zodiac animal are you?
Civil rights movement: n., actions between 1954 and 1968 taken to change laws of racial discrimination
Protests: n., a gathering of people who believe the same thing and want others to learn about it.
Abolish: v., to eliminate or stop something completely
Segregation: n., when all of one kind of people have to be together; for example, racial segregation.
Boycott: n., to stop buying or using something as a protest
Unconstitutional: adj., an act or belief that is not part of the ruling document of a country
Orator: n., someone who speaks powerfully and well
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an important leader in the civil rights movement in America in the ‘50s and ‘60s. He used peaceful protests to secure basic rights for people of color, including the right to vote. It was by nonviolent methods that he helped abolish the racial discrimination and segregation laws that were in place at the time. These laws ruled where people of color could sit or walk or even go to school.
His first efforts in the civil rights movement were inspired by the Montgomery Bus boycott. This began in 1955, when an African American woman named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white man, as the driver had told her to. Parks was arrested and fined. Subsequently, people of color refused to ride the buses at all, and this boycott continued for over a year. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled that these laws were unconstitutional.
King went on to work hard helping people of color, changing many laws and attitudes in America. He became known as a great orator, and his speech “I Have a Dream” is one of the most famous in this country’s history. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated when he was 39 years old, while still trying to improve the lives of others. We mark his birthday nation-wide as a federal holiday and try to increase our awareness of the racial problems that still exist in America.
Sign From Segregated Nashville Bus Number 351
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington.
The speech was ranked the top American speech of the 20th century in a 1999 poll of scholars. The speech has also been described as having “a strong claim to be the greatest in the English language of all time.”
2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes, prepared as described below, or 2 cups canned imported Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
5 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
Salt to taste
Put either the prepared fresh tomatoes or the canned in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato.
Stir from time to time, mashing up any large pieces of tomato with the back of a wooden spoon.
Taste and correct for salt. Before tossing with pasta, you may remove the onion (as Hazan recommended) and save for another use, but many opt to leave it in. Serve with freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for the table.
Making Fresh Tomatoes Ready for Sauce
The blanching method: Put the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or less. Drain them and, as soon as they are cool enough to handle, skin them, and cut them into coarse pieces.
The freezing method (from David Tanis, via The Kitchn): Freeze tomatoes on a baking sheet until hard. Thaw again, either on the counter or under running water. Skin them and cut them into coarse pieces.
The food mill method: Wash the tomatoes in cold water, cut them lengthwise in half, and put them in a covered saucepan. Turn on the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes. Set a food mill fitted with the disk with the largest holes over a bowl. Transfer the tomatoes with any of their juices to the mill and puree.
