Michael’s Mother’s Day Thought
Mother, It was your eyes I saw first.
Mother, It was your smile that first let me know I was alive.
Mother, It was your milk that I tasted first.
Mother, It was your words that first encouraged me to read.
Mother, It was your touch that first soothed my boo boo.
Mother, It was your ears that first heard my cries.
Mother, It was you who told me that first was not important when I had to stand in the back of the line.
Mother, It was you who told me that first was not important when I lost the race.
Mother, It was you who told me that first didn’t matter because you loved me no matter what number.I was always an obedient child, Mother, and never disagreed with you.
But today on Mother’s Day, I want to say that you were wrong about being first.
To me, first is the most important thing because first is how I think of my Mother.
Tag: video
Idioms of the Week: Early Bird or Night Owl?
For this week’s Idiom of the Week, we’re featuring the last two idioms: Early Bird and Night Owl.
To review, an early bird is someone who likes to get up early, while a night owl is someone who likes to stay up late at night.
We talked to a few University Settlement staff members and students and asked them this question: Are you an early bird or a night owl? Watch their responses below:
Language Learning Strategies
This post is from our E4 teacher, Mary Staub. Mary shares some language learning strategies she’s used. We also get to watch a video of her students sharing their favorite tips to improve their English. Read and watch below, then share some of your favorite ways to practice English in the comments section:
Foreign languages have always been part of my life.
I grew up bilingually, speaking Swiss German
and English since childhood, and started learning French and Spanish during high school. More recently, I’ve tried to start
learning Arabic. Over the years, I’ve used a lot of different language learning strategies to help me improve more quickly.
For example, when I was living in Seville, Spain, for eight months during college, I looked for opportunities to meet
Spanish people and took part in all the town festivals. I also joined a Capoeira (Brazilian martial art) group
while I was there, where all of the members spoke only Spanish. This forced me to use Spanish all the time and helped me become more fluent. Another thing I did was take dance classes from a teacher who spoke only Spanish. All her instructions were in Spanish so I had to learn to understand.
Another thing I did and continue to do is to read as much as possible in Spanish or French. I read books, newspapers, or
anything else that I am interested in. I look up the words that I don’t understand and seem important.
Then I write the ones I want to remember in a journal so I can review them. I also sometimes make flashcards, especially at the beginning when I’m learning a new language. That’s what I did when I started learning Arabic.
I also practice using new words and phrases by imagining little conversations where I can use them or I’ll try to start ‘thinking’ in the language. I often do this when I’m taking the subway or riding my bike and have time to let my mind wander.
Watch the video to hear about the language learning strategies that some of my E4 students use. Then add a comment to share some of your own strategies.
March 2013 Student of the Month
The University Settlement Adult Literacy Program is pleased to announce the March 2013 Student of the Month: J.C. Ye. He was nominated by his Class 2B teacher Regina, who said:
I nominated J.C. as Student of the Month because he is a highly motivated and outgoing student. He participates a lot in class, encourages his fellow classmates to speak, and asks a lot of questions. In addition to my class, J.C. also attends the movie class with his fiancée, Debbie, and June Foley’s writing class. He told me his goals are to improve his English and to eventually go to university here in New York City.
Here’s a video interview we did with J.C.:
Staff Spotlight: Leanne
Our beloved office assistant Leanne already answered most of your questions, but Laptop #3 sat down to talk with her to ask her some more questions. Watch the interview below, then take the quiz to test your understanding:
Website Spotlight: Fast Forward
Looking for ways to improve your English outside of the classroom? Striving to become a lifelong learner? FastforwardNY is a great video resource for you to practice your listening skills and learn some valuable life lessons. Some of the topics of the videos on the site are GED prep, Workplace skills, Family situations, information on American Civics and government and even episodes of the TV series designed for English learners, Crossroads Cafe.
You will need to enter an address to watch the videos, you can put your school’s address if you want. Explore the website, watch some videos, comment below and let us know which videos you find most interesting. Enjoy!
February 2013 Student of the Month
The University Settlement Adult Literacy Program Student of the Month for February 2013 is Class 3C student Ma May. Here is a short autobiography she wrote:
I was born in Yangon, Myanmar. Yangon is the capital city. There are a lot of pagodas and monasteries. People are friendly and kind. Myanmar has three seasons. It doesn’t have snow. When I arrived in New York, I felt the weather was colder than in my country.
When I was in second grade, my family moved to a small town. Then I got a degree. I was a teacher in my town. I used to ride a bicycle to school. My school principal was very nice and students paid attention to me. I was very happy to live there.
When I got married, I moved to the city. I worked in a jewelry shop with my husband. I learned new things. I had a lot of experiences in the jewelry field. I loved it.
I immigrated to New York in 2008 with my family because we wanted to get a better life and education. Now I’m learning English at University Settlement so I can speak and write better. The United States has more opportunities than Myanmar, so my children and I can get a good education and jobs.
I like New York, but I want to go back to my country.
Now watch a short conversation between Ma May and her teacher Michelle. Afterwards, take a quiz to test your reading and listening comprehension.