Sadly, we have reached that time in the academic year. Exams are upon us, and students will soon be going home for the summer. Thus, we will have our last regularly scheduled meeting tonight at 19:00 in Sweet Surrender coffee shop.
For those who are staying in Poznań during the summer, email Liz if you'd like to be on a summer mailing list. Otherwise, hope you all have a wonderful summer holiday. I'll keep posting things here that may be interesting, so keep an eye out.
Good luck with exams!
American Culture and Conversation in Poznań
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Idioms and Football
Actually have more in common than you think.
For a Brit's explanation of the rules of American football, check this site. But if you want a less detailed explanation, remember some of the big key terms: touchdown, field goal (two ways to score points), quarterback (the one throwing), receiver, and a play / a down.
We'll play another game this week or in the future.
Also, a lot of American metaphors are influenced by sports, so it's key to have some understanding of the rules of popular American sports. Idiom Site.com has a pretty comprehensive alphabetical list of American idioms, though it's hard to see them by meaning.
For a Brit's explanation of the rules of American football, check this site. But if you want a less detailed explanation, remember some of the big key terms: touchdown, field goal (two ways to score points), quarterback (the one throwing), receiver, and a play / a down.
We'll play another game this week or in the future.
Also, a lot of American metaphors are influenced by sports, so it's key to have some understanding of the rules of popular American sports. Idiom Site.com has a pretty comprehensive alphabetical list of American idioms, though it's hard to see them by meaning.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?
Meeting tonight at Sweet Surrender, 19:00! We'll be learning the rules of American football, the most popular sport in the US.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
We the People...
In honor of Constitution Day in Poland on Tuesday, here's SchoolHouse Rock's version of the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. My class had to watch this about 50 times in 5th grade (age 11) to memorize it. Enjoy!
The lyrics are here.
Meeting again in Sweet Surrender on Wednesday.
The lyrics are here.
Meeting again in Sweet Surrender on Wednesday.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Meetings
Great news! Our friends at Sweet Surrender coffee shop have reserved us a room for every Wednesday night. So, rather than meeting in a stuffy classroom in Novum, we will now meet there from now on.
Directions: Go to the Most Teatralny tram stop. Walk north on ul. Roosevelta in the direction AWAY from Rondo Kaponeira and stay on the left side of the street. Keep walking straight, about 100m from the corner at Most Teatralny, and look for the yellow Sweet Surrender sign. It will be at the first small street, Krasińskiego 1.
See you tomorrow at 19:00 at Sweet Surrender (NOT at Novum)!
Directions: Go to the Most Teatralny tram stop. Walk north on ul. Roosevelta in the direction AWAY from Rondo Kaponeira and stay on the left side of the street. Keep walking straight, about 100m from the corner at Most Teatralny, and look for the yellow Sweet Surrender sign. It will be at the first small street, Krasińskiego 1.
See you tomorrow at 19:00 at Sweet Surrender (NOT at Novum)!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Recipes
For those of you who loved the dessert sampling at Sweet Surrender, here's a few recipes for similar desserts to try at home.
Chocolate Chip Cookies: Be sure to switch to metric measurements. Also, the biggest challenge you have here is finding brown sugar. This is different from natural brown sugar/raw cane sugar. You can simply replace the brown sugar with regular white sugar, or if you want to be more exact, replace it with white sugar and a spoonful of molasses.
Blondies: Mm those delicious peanut butter chocolate bars. Most blondie recipes also call for brown sugar, but here's another that does not.
And finally, Chocolate Brownie Cake.
Enjoy! Bon Appetit! Smacznego!
Chocolate Chip Cookies: Be sure to switch to metric measurements. Also, the biggest challenge you have here is finding brown sugar. This is different from natural brown sugar/raw cane sugar. You can simply replace the brown sugar with regular white sugar, or if you want to be more exact, replace it with white sugar and a spoonful of molasses.
Blondies: Mm those delicious peanut butter chocolate bars. Most blondie recipes also call for brown sugar, but here's another that does not.
And finally, Chocolate Brownie Cake.
Enjoy! Bon Appetit! Smacznego!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The USA: Making fun of itself
Today we'll be talking about stereotypes in the U.S. about other parts of the U.S. Such as why people in the rest of the country love to joke that everyone in my state, New Jersey, looks/thinks/acts like these people:

I promise, we don't. Most of the Jersey Shore cast members aren't even from New Jersey!!
Anyhow, for kicks, here's a few fun links about other stereotypes:
The United States, according to the United States
An endless list of Stuff White People Like
Mapping stereotypes around the world
Cleveland humorous tourism video
And then there's the second one.
Portland: stuck in the 90s

I promise, we don't. Most of the Jersey Shore cast members aren't even from New Jersey!!
Anyhow, for kicks, here's a few fun links about other stereotypes:
The United States, according to the United States
An endless list of Stuff White People Like
Mapping stereotypes around the world
Cleveland humorous tourism video
And then there's the second one.
Portland: stuck in the 90s
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