February Week Two

Don't forget about this week's extra activities: an online fermentation workshop on Friday February 12th at 19:00 which is open to the general public and Saturday February 13th film club discussing the movie Moonlight.  Email me to sign up for events!

Now, on to the homework.  As an antidote to last week's news class, we used David Byrne's website Reasons to be Cheerful as a conversation starter.

Listening:
Learners can try listening to some positive news stories from VOA learning English such as Science Develops Way to Grow Wood in a Lab, or Gazans Turn Old Cars into a Profit.  There are also options from the BBC such as Greenest summer ever for UK.

For original version listening, try listening to a talk David Byrne gave about Reasons to be Cheerful at the New School.

Reading:
Learners can try reading a positive news story from Breaking News English such as Fans get inside space bubbles for rock concert or Free dumplings for motorists stranded in snow.

For original version, try any of the NUMEROUS fascinating articles from the Reasons to Be Cheerful Website, such as: Vancouver Gave Homeless People $5,800. It Changed Their Lives. or The World Is Changing — So Can We.  Another option is It’s a New Day for LGBT Health.

Writing:
This week, please write your OWN newspaper article about some piece of positive news, something that we should be cheerful about. Remember to try to use the formal style used in journalistic reporting.

Best,
Kelly