19/02/2025
Moi Drodzy,
Na podsumowanie moich niezapomnianych zimowych warsztatów, mam dla Was garść ciekawostek dotyczących USA 🇺🇸 🗽. Poznajmy zwyczaje amerykańskie i odkryjmy miejsca na ich mapie. Zanurzmy się w, tak bardzo różniących się od siebie, akcentach języka angielskiego: brytyjskim, australijskim i amerykańskim 🇦🇺 🇺🇸 🇬🇧.
Day 5 – February 7th 2025
Our last 😥 day of the winter English session came to an end. Today we virtually visited the United States of America.
During our virtual American adventure we beamed down to the USA and went through the key landmarks and symbols, including famous portraits of politicians (George Washington, John Kennedy), scientists (Neil Armstrong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flPFlY8hECk), actors and musicians (James Dean, Marylin Monroe, Sylvester Stallone, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Clint Eastwood), and some non-existing icons (Uncle Sam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvltLYj3zm0). We consolidated our knowledge by watching a short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpyOoCZl2zM.
We also talked about America’s all-time favorite traditional treats and specials, such as s’mores (crackers with marshmallows and chocolate, usually baked on bonfire) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCKhQRNpjig, a pizza slice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP69YPqHquY, a New York cheesecake, a Boston cream donut, a hotdog and a hamburger.
Based on the YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrk7Z-stp60 we noted down a recipe of cinnamon cookies called “snickerdoodles”.
We also learned about some US national days that had been coming soon in the current month. One of those was National Pizza Day, which is being broadly observed across the country on February 9th. Another date in America's calendar is February 11th, which marks Friendship Day, encouraging people to reflect on their friends list, and, at the same time, make new friends.
Besides, we got to know more about American wildlife and National Parks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEgEIEfSuvU.
To sum up the topic of the American adventure, based on my own experience with the culture, I told my students the story of my 2018 US trip. During the two weeks of exploring the North-Eastern part of the United States, I had a chance to travel across six states: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Below is my step-by-step travel, starting with my first flight from Poland, and ending with the flight back to Poland.
Poland -> Rome, IT -> Boston airport, MA -> Richmond, NH -> Keene city, NH -> Brattleboro, VT -> Boston, MA -> Newark airport, NJ -> New Brunswick, NJ -> Jersey City, NJ -> Princeton, NJ -> New York City, NY -> Philadelphia, PA -> The Bushkill Falls, PA -> Newark airport, NJ -> Poland
Here are the memories from the things I did and the places I visited:
-> I had a chance to experience a truly American outdoor cinema
-> I walked through the Liberty State Park in Jersey City, with the breathtaking view of New York City’s skyscrapers. Commemorated were in that park the victims of the September 2011 attacks and, in this respect, the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial was set
-> I took a Staten Island Ferry boat trip, and I saw the Statue of Liberty at close range
-> I had an opportunity to walk through Princeton University’s area in Jersey City
-> I explored New York City and had a wonderful chance to see the "Aladdin" Broadway Show
-> I visited typical American supermarkets, such as Costco and Walmart, and tried some local food. Those were: Diner with New York cheesecake, Wendy’s with burgers, Pizza place with a popular New York pizza slice, and Dunkin Donuts coffee shop. I also tasted cornbread, a sandwich with sunflower butter and forest fruit jam, s’mores, and some seafood (octopus)
-> I explored Philadelphia city in Pennsylvania state, and saw the Independence Hall – a very important historical place, inscribed on the UNESCO list, in which the nation was created (1776) and, 11 years later, the US Constitution was signed
-> The place I enjoyed most in the whole US was the National Park of Pennsylvania, The Bushkill Falls, with amazing views and pure nature – impressive fauna and flora.
Going through all these topics, we truly immersed ourselves in American culture, and felt like we were at the place, reveling in the taste of snickerdoodles and s’mores, admiring the breathtaking views of the Liberty State Park and the Bushkill Falls, and, last but not least, blowing in the wind on the US 66 Route.
Coming back from our virtual US trip, there the time for English accents’ comparison has come. Together with the “English with Lucy” Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOHTr-MxtGM we checked out three different ways of pronunciation: British, Australian and American.
The last subject on our schedule was devoted to feelings and emotions. With the Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzNde-bz_Hc we learned some useful vocabulary connected to the ways of expressing ourselves. Then we answered some action-reaction questions. Finally, we watched part of the, directed by Pete Docter, American animated movie “Inside out” presenting different human emotions in various life situations https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp1I_iFRRVA&t=112s.