January Week One

Animal Instinct
First of all, Happy New Year Everybody! I hope you enjoyed a lovely holiday season and have come back refreshed in the New Year.  This week our topic of conversation was animals, both domesticated and wild. We talked about the things we love and hate about them, their habits, rights, and instints.  And now, on to the homework!

Listening
Learners may enjoy listening to many of the articles from VOA English that have to do with animals.  Choose any of the exercises at About Animals.  Or, for something a little more difficult, try the story Visiting the Zoo from Randall's Listening Lab. For original version listening, try the This American Life episode In Dog We Trust (mp3 and transcript) or Animal Sacrifice (mp3 and transcript).

Reading
We all know that dogs are man's best friend, so it's not suprising that there is plenty to read about animals. Learners should try something from Animal Stories or  The BBC Words in the News Story, A Dog's Life.  If you'd like to read something in original version try When Pets Attack or George Saunder's short story The Red Bow.

Writing
Now that the holidays have wrapped up, surely you have a little extra time to practice writing, don't you?  Try responding to one of these topics this week: Imagine your day as an animal (a pet, wild animal, your choice).  Describe your actions, thoughts, habits.  Or try putting onto paper a funny animal story that has happened to you!

Welcome back to class and may 2014 be your best year of English study yet!

Best,
Kelly

"The love of all living creatures is the most nobel attribute of man." -- Charles Darwin