Topic of the Week Using Social Media to learn English

Sippy and Ham Tweet by Cbrenn on GoAnimate

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I hope you enjoyed my latest creation from GoAnimate.  I decided to give the characters names - That's Sippy on the Left and Ham on the right.  Clever, huh!  

Anyway, Sippy and Ham are talking about social interaction websites collectively called Social Media in the United States.  These are websites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Skype, and blogs.   Ham is an expert but Sippy as usual is a little clueless.  

Do you use social media to help you learn English?  Tools and websites like the ones mentioned above can help you connect with content in English but more importantly they can connect you with other people.  People who speak English.   After all, it's people that put the social in social media.  With today's technology it's easier than ever to find English speakers who share your interests and want to talk about it.   How are you using Social Media to learn English?  Share your ideas in the comments.

Topic of the Week Neil Armstrong

Topic of the Week Neil Armstrong by Cbrenn on GoAnimate

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Culture Connection
Michael Jackson is a popular American singer who was famous for a dance he created called the moonwalk.    He first did this move during a song called "Billie Jean" in 1983.  To see a video of Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk for the first time click here.

Neil Armstrong was an astronaut who was the first man to walk on the moon in space July 1969.  To see video of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon click here.

Topic of the Week - Vocab Building

Our new Topic of the Week is Vocabulary Building.  How do you learn and remember new words in English?  This week I will share with you some websites and strategies for Vocab study.  Feel free to add your own tips in the comment section.  

I made this cool word picture at Tagxedo.com.  The program looked at all the words here at fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com and created this image.  The bigger the word, the more often it is used.    Learning these words will help you understand this website better because they are used often.  

The same is true in English.  You can study the words that are used the most and it will help you understand more.  They are called High Frequency Words and you can find the top 1200 most common words in English  here. http://school.elps.k12.mi.us/donley/classrooms/berry/sitton_spelling_activities/4thgrade_spelling/sitton_word_list.htm

Topic of the Week - Fast Food

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Hello and welcome to a new topic of the week.  This week we are going to talk about fast food in America. Why do Americans love fast food?   Well, here's a few reasons -
It's convenient.  You can drive thru. You don't even have to get out of your car.  You drive up to a speaker, you give them your order, and within like two minutes they have your order ready.  You pay and you are on your way home. 

It's cheap. It's cheaper than going to a restaurant where you sit down and order a meal.

And it's tasty!  It tastes good.    

Kids love fastfood because you can get things like a happy meal.  Doesn't that sound like fun. And it comes with a toy prize inside.  And a lot of fastfood places have bright colors, they have a jungle gym play ground for the kids to play in with slides and tubes to climb through, and big giant ball pits to play in.  

So, these are some of the reasons that Americans love fast food.  Tune in all week and we'll talk about different aspects of fastfood.

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

US Flag Day

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Today, June 14 marks a special day in the US.  It is the day we celebrate the US flag.  It was on this day in 1777 that the Founding Fathers passed a resolution saying that the flag of the United States should have 13 stripes and 13 stars to represent the original colonies that became the first states of the newly independent country.  Although we have added a few more stars since then, the design of the flag has stayed pretty much the same. 

When the original resolution was passed it did not say how the 13 stars should appear on the blue field.  Should they be in rows or should they be scattered randomly like stars in the  night sky?  Since the lay out of stars was not stated, flags from that time period have many different patterns.  However, there was one design that was the most popular.  The 13 stars were arranged in a circle and it is what we call the Betsy Ross Flag. 

Betsy Ross was a seamstress and flagmaker.  She was also a friend of George Washington.  As the story goes, Washington asked her to make a flag from a design he had sketched and the US flag was born. 

This is a story many Americans grow up learning.  However, historians have not been able to prove  that the story is true.  They do know that Betsy Ross was a real person who made flags and she did know George Washington. But did she make the first US flag?   We may never know. But it does make an interesting story.  

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Topic of the Week - US Flag



The new topic of the week is the US Flag.  Americans call it bya many names Old Glory, the Star Spangled Banner and The Stars and Stripes and we proudly display it to show our love and support for our country.  Join me this week as I talk about interesting facts and customs related to the US flag.

Topic of the Week - Baseball

The new Topic of the Week is Baseball.  It's been called the National Sport of America.  Join me this week as we talk about how this game is played and some other interesting things related to this sport.  

Here is a fun video to get you started. 

 

Topic of the Week - Breakfast in America

The New Topic of the Week is ...    Breakfast in America.  I've noticed that breakfast foods here in Asia are much different from what we eat in the United States, so for the next week we will take a look at what's on the menu. 


Here's a cartoon to get us started. 

Doctor Cartoon by Andertoons

Why Wear a Motorcycle Helmet?

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Why should you wear a Motorcycle helmet?  This one is easy - the reason to wear a helmet is to save your life and save your brain.  According to the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation,  If you are in an accident and you are wearing a helmet you are 42% less likely to die and 69% less likely to be injured.

Because it's not just about dying.  You don't want to end up in the hospital with a life long injury to your brain.   Think about people,  everything you do is controled by your brain and if part of it doesn't work anymore neither do you.  That means you might lose the ability to talk, to walk, to think, to feed yourself and now you are dependent on someone else to take care of you for the rest of your life.  

If you are in an accident and you hit your head, your head stops moving when it hits the pavement or the other vechicle or whatever, but your brain does not. It keeps moving forward until it hits the inside of your skull and even then it doesn't stop moving.  It bounces back to hit the other side of your skull.  All this bouncing around causes damage that can result in a minor head injury such as a concussion or it can cause death.  Don't let it happen to you - WEAR A HELMET!

So, This information is pretty easy to understand.  So, why don't we do it.  Why do people NOT use a helmet every time they ride a bike?  Well, the list of excuses usually includes things like -  I wasn't going very far
I'm a good driver
It's too hot to wear a helmet
Does any of this sound familiar? 

Well, watch this public service announcement and see if you still think those are good excuses. 

Thanks for listening and remember No Excuses wear a helmet everytime you get on a motorbike.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Topic of the Week - Road Traffic Safety

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Wow I'm really late posting the new topic of the week.  But it's an important topic so I hope you will forgive me.  Our new Topic of the Week for May 8 - 14, 2012 is Road Traffic Safety and specifically helmet safety. 

I'm really excited to be able to talk about this subject because it's important here in Vietnam where motorbikes are the main form of transportation.  Did you know 70 percent of all traffic accidents involve motorbikes and it is the leading cause of death in young people ages 15 - 29 years of age. I don't want that to happen to you.  I want you to live a long and healthy life so that is why this subject is so important. 
     
I went to a training session yesterday with the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation.   You can find their website at www.asiainjury.org and I went to their training session and I learned alot of information that I will be sharing with you on this blog about why it's important to wear a helmet, how to pick a safe helmet and how to wear it properly. 

But if you are one of my readers from the American Center Hanoi you can attend a special event to launch Road Traffic Safety Week.  Monday May 14 at the American Center there will be a presentation on Road Traffic Safety and a Poster contest with prizes. That's right I said prizes! You could win a custom Pro-tec helmet.  I hear it has a special design and it's really cool.  And of course, it's a good helmet to protect your head. So, be sure to come.  You can find all the the information on the American Center website at vietnam.usembassy.gov/program.html and of course, you can find all of those websites in the show notes. I hope to see you there. 

Thanks for listening.  This has been Cassie Brenn for fastfoodenglish.blogspot.com.

Topic of the week ... Graphic Novels and Comics

Topic of the Week ... May 1 - 7, 2012

The Topic for the week is ... Graphic Novels and comics.  Join me as I bring you interesting articles, audio and video links and other ideas about this topic. 

To see all posts on this topic click Graphic Novels.

Topic of the Week - Tips for Learning English

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The Topic for the week is ... Tips for Learning English. 

I'm guessing that if you are reading this blog you are trying to learn English.  Great!  You are in the right place.  This blog is for people who are trying to learn English and want to learn American English. 

But  this blog is a little different than your typical "Learn English" site because I'm not an English teacher.  I assume you already have one of those.  So, there aren't any grammar lessons.   There aren't any drills.  There is just a lot of talking , in English, for you to listen to. 

It's my opinion that if you listen to a lot of English at a level that is easy enough to understand you will improve your listening skills, your speaking skills, and your pronunciation skills.

That doesn't mean that grammar is not important or helpful to your learning.  It's just easier to find those lessons in a classroom, a book or the many excellent websites already on the internet. It's harder to find interesting topics in simple English that have audio and text. That's what I try to bring to you each week. 

So, that's  a little about my idea of how to learn English.  This week I will be bringing you links from other websites with other ideas.  How do you learn English?  What works best for you?  Share your ideas with me and the other readers by leaving a comment.

Topic of the Week - Driving in the USA

Topic of the Week ... April 18 - 24, 2012

The Topic for the week is ... Driving in the USA.  Join me as I bring you interesting articles, audio and video links and other ideas about this topic. 

To see all posts on this topic click Driving.

Topic of the Week ... April 11 - 17, 2012

The Topic for the week is ... Education in the USA.  Join me as I bring you interesting articles, audio and video links and other ideas about this topic. 

To see all posts on this topic click education.

Topic of the Week ... April 3 - April 10

This week's topic is POETRY.  April is poetry month in the United States.   Please join me here at Fast Food English for discussions on American Poets and Poetry.


To see all posts on this topic click Poetry.