Thursday, August 22 - AM Advanced

Opening conversation: Are you proud of your country? Most students said that they were. They love their country. However, many students affirmed that they did not like the political situation in their native countries. 

We then finished the article on the difficulties of learning English. Students thought that it was funny how, used creatively, the letters g-h-o-t-i could spell the word fish. The letters gh are can be pronounced as an f, as in the word enough. The letter o can be pronounced as an i, as in the word women. And the letters ti can be pronounced as a sh, as in the word ignition. 

We then listened to the second song about America, “Fortunate Son,” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Like “Born in the USA,” this CCR song is not patriotic. Instead, it critiques aspects of the United States.

At this point, one student asked me if I could explain to the class the meaning of the lyrics of the US national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” I had fun unpacking for the class the dense and often confusing lyrics to this song that is over 200 years old.