Radio listening and writing – This I Believe

This I Believe is a project on NPR in which listeners can submit essays about their personal beliefs.

“[Host] Allison and [producer] Gediman say their goal is not to persuade Americans to agree on the same beliefs. Rather, they hope to encourage people to begin the much more difficult task of developing respect for beliefs different from their own.”

These are good examples of personal essays.

A. Listening

Listen to the following essays once before you read them.

There Is No Such Thing as Too Much Barbecue (5:25)

“Jason Sheehan heard our series on his car radio and told us he liked the concept because for many people, belief is just a nebulous clutter of half-held convictions, but the process of putting them down on paper helps cement those few things a person truly believes: the core of a principled life.

“He also noted that the subject of his belief was sitting on the seat next to him in two plastic bags.”

Vocabulary:

• soul food
• comfort food
• barbecue
• civil rights
• putting on airs
• sides
• portions

How does Jason Sheehan believe that barbecue helped change culture in the Deep South, which was racist against African Americans?

The Connection Between Strangers (4:36)

“[Sometimes the most important events in our life are just short moments.] These moments may seem insignificant at the time, but they reverberate afterwards, and even become the basis of a life’s credo. This is what happened to Miles Goodwin.”

Vocabulary

• tour of duty
• wept
• compassion

Why was Miles Goodwin nervous on the airplane?

What happened that “touched” him (gave him a good feeling in his heart)?

B. Writing

Read the details about the rules these writers were using when they wrote their essays.

• Tell a story.
• Be brief.
• Name your belief.
• Be positive.
• Be personal.

What would you say? Write a short essay about a belief you have. Try to be personal and specific. (More personal and specific than, for instance, “I believe in God” or “I believe in my country.”) Try to follow all of the rules above. Don’t forget to illustrate your belief with a story!

You may write or type your short essay, but please be legible!

In class on Monday, we started an activity which included listening practice and a discussion about narrative structure (stories). We are watching the PBS Nature documentary “The Wolf that Changed America.”

If you would like to watch the beginning of this 45-minute film, you can go to the PBS video page here. (This is optional.) On Monday, we watched the first three segments of the program. On Wednesday, we will finish it.

Some elements of a story:

• Characters (the people and/or animals in the story)
• Conflict (the problem or problems for the characters)
• Climax (the highest action in the story, where the story “turns”; usually takes place near the end)
• Conclusion (helps you understand the theme or purpose of the story)

Vocabulary for this film:

• bounty
• assassin
• naturalist
• “piece of cake”
• far-fetched
• demon / demonize
• “throw caution to the wind”
• adversary
• villain vs. hero
• regret

Questions:

• What is the setting of the story? (Time and place)
• Who are the main characters?
• What are the conflicts in the story?
• What is the climax of the story?
• What do you think is the theme or purpose of this story?

If you are interested in reading more about the history of wolves in America,  there  is a  good article here: “Wolf Wars: America’s Campaign to Eradicate the Wolf.”

In this lab, you will listen to an essay that was broadcast on the radio. You may listen as many times as you like. Then answer the questions and bring them to class Friday, July 24.

“A Duty to Family, Heritage and Country” by Ying Ying Yu

Program name:  This I Believe – Morning Edition

Date of story:  July 17, 2006_

Web address and NPR story ID #:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5552257

1. In your own words, what is this story about?

2. What does Ying Ying Yu believe?

3. What did Ying Ying first want to do when she grew up?

4. What is her plan, now?

5. At first, Ying Ying had a hard time “opening up” her feelings to write this essay. What made it easier?

6. Write about your personal thoughts and feelings on this topic or something related to the article.

(Optional) If you liked this listening exercise, you may find more “This I Believe” essays on many topics at NPR’s This I Believe website.

This is an internet lab. You may do it at any computer that allows you to listen to audio and allows you to print.

1. Go to esl-lab.

2. Under General Listening Quizzes in the Easy column, click on “Phone Message.”
Pre-Listening Exercises:
Imagine you have answered the phone. The caller asks to speak with someone. That person can not come to the phone. You say:
“I’m sorry, he can’t come to the phone right now. He’s __________.”

What are three ways to complete that sentence?
Example: He’s out of the office right now.
a. ________________________________________________________________________________
b. ________________________________________________________________________________
c. ________________________________________________________________________________

3. Follow the instructions in part II, Listening Exercises. You may listen as many times as you want. Answer the questions.
1.
2.

3.

4.

5.
5. Do do Part III, Post Listening Exercises.
Mixed-Up Sentence
Sentence:

Sentence and Vocabulary Matching
Sentences:
-
-
-
-
-
Text Completion Quiz
Answers:
1                    6
2                    7
3                    8
4                    9
5                    10

6. What does “right off the bat” mean?

________________________________________________________________________________

7. On Friday, bring this page, with your answers, to class.

For English listening practice using radio and podcasts, go to this post.

In addition, here are some movies with language that should be fairly easy to listen to.

I have checked the DVDs of these movies. They all have either closed captioning or English subtitles. (Closed captioning can be accessed through your televion. To turn on subtitles, use the DVD menu language options.)

You should be able to rent most of these movies at a local video rental store, or buy them online at places like Amazon.com or Deepdiscount.com. You can find information about these movies by looking them up in the Internet Movie Database.

Animated films:

• Wall-E
• Toy Story
• The Iron Giant
• Monster House
• Antz

Live action dramas:

• Titanic
• E.T.
• The Karate Kid
• Rudy
• Secondhand Lions
• Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

Documentaries (nonfiction):

• Encounters at the End of the World – about exploring Antarctica
• Animals Are Beautiful People – 1975 film about African animals
• Secret Yellowstone – about the U.S. national park
• March of the Penguins
• Space Station: IMAX

If you use one of these movies to practice your English listening, I would like to know your opinion!

• Was it easy to listen to?
• Did the captions or subtitles work?
• Was the movie interesting to you?
• Would you recommend the movie for other ESL students? Why or why not?
• Would you recommend a different movie?

I. Listen to Jon Carroll’s essay “Failure is a Good Thing” located here

1. What is the essayist’s job/career?

2. What does he believe in?

3. Which is more natural, first-time success or first-time failure?

4. What does he say is good about failure?

a.

b.

c.

5. What did the essayist’s daughter do that he uses as an example?

6. What would he like to tell his granddaughter?

II. Browse other essays on the NPR site or the This I Believe site.

Choose one other essay to listen to.

1. Name of essay:______________________________

Author of essay: _________________________________

2. Briefly summarize the essay.

The author’s belief is _________________________________

He or she supports this main idea in the essay by…

III. Think of a core (personal) belief that you have. Briefly (in one paragraph) summarize this belief. What is your belief and why do you personally believe this? Use reasons and examples from your own life, not general statements, to support your belief.

The Thanksgiving Story

Modern U.S. Thanksgiving traditions

History Channel mini-site: Thanksgiving

Fun Facts: look for statistics about Thanksgiving, including superlatives (most, largest, first) and questions with “How…?”

The First Thanksgiving

History of Thanksgiving (video)

Welcome to IELP Summer semester 2008 and Shayna’s Class blog!

Here are the radio stories you may have listened to in class, if you would like to listen again:

John Williams and the Music of Star Wars

Ivan Menaces Mobile, Gulf Coast with 135mph winds

Gulf Coast Residents Prepare to Outlast Storm

Due 9/29/2006

You will be listening to “A Duty to Family, Heritage and Country” by Ying Ying Yu .

This is an essay she wrote for a class assignment. It was broadcast on NPR’s “This I Believe” segment on Morning Edition, July 17, 2006.

1. In your own words, what is this story about?

2. What does Ying Ying Yu believe?

3. What did Ying Ying first want to do when she grew up?

4. What is her plan, now?

5. At first, Ying Ying had a hard time “opening up” her feelings to write this essay. What made it easier?

6. Write about your personal thoughts on this topic. Do you think your country and culture have affected your life goals?

This Sunday, many Americans will be celebrating Easter. If you are unfamiliar with this holiday and how it is celebrated in the United States, here are some resources to look at:

Video: The History of Easter

Video: Dyeing Easter eggs

The Traditions of Easter – an article about the history and traditions of the holiday

Whyeaster.com’s articles about Easter Sunday, Eggs & Chicks, Bunnies, Rabbits and Lambs, Easter Foods and Easter Flowers

Worldwide Easter celebrations

Comprehension questions:

• What are some Christian religious traditions and symbols of Easter?
• What are some modern cultural (non-religious) traditions and symbols of Easter?
• Which modern Easter traditions and symbols came from pagan (non-Christian) beginnings?
• Name some foods people  traditionally eat for the Easter holiday.