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.
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.
There was plenty of good cheer, food, and fun at the University Settlement’s Holiday Parties this year. The Daytime and the Evening classes contributed dazzling dishes from their home countries. The music, the festive decorations, and the games added to the fun. Both teachers and students celebrated the winter holiday season and had an excellent time together!
Setting up for our Daytime students was as much fun…
…as the party!
We played games to see who would eat first:
and then we ate!
Waiting to eat.
Abby and her students:
What’s a party without presents and reindeer?
And Joe and Christine celebrated with their students!
Our W1, W2, and W3 weekend holiday party this year was a festive celebration full of laughter, good food, and great company!
We enjoyed a delicious potluck lunch with food and treats from all over the world.
What made the day truly special, however, were the wonderful performances from each class. Whether it was singing a holiday Wham! tune, karaoke to Jingle Bells, or sharing things we are thankful for, it was clear that the joy of the season was in full swing.
