Explaining the U.S. Midterms Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 8, 2018
Every two years, on the first Tuesday following November 1st, elections are held in all 50 of the United States. This is when citizens of those states decide who will serve in the US House of Representatives. They also vote for other candidates and on various state matters and proposals affecting the electorate. Since every state…
TV Commercials and American Culture Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 1, 2018
Television advertising has a powerful effect on American culture. Slogans become part of daily conversation. Characters in commercials are as relatable as family members. It has been like this for decades, but there’s a palpable sense that commercials are now more important to our daily lives than ever before. All this is coming at a…
Using your phone in English Posted by carol on Oct 31, 2018
Hello, dear readers! Question for you: are you reading this on your computer or your phone? Either way, it is undeniable that we use our phones all the time for a variety of purposes, be it for reading work-related e-mails, chatting with friends, reading the news, using social media, playing games, getting informed and many more…
Tracing Family History Posted by Gary Locke on Oct 25, 2018
US President Donald Trump has had a long-standing feud with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren over her claims of having a Native American heritage. For years he has derisively called her “Pocahontas”, a reference to the Powhatan woman who famously saved settler John Smith from execution at the Jamestown colony. That selfless act may have been a…
The Invasion from Mars Posted by Gary Locke on Oct 18, 2018
Eighty years ago, on the night of October 30, 1938, millions of Americans believed that Earth was being invaded by creatures from the planet Mars. It was the result of a radio show produced on CBS by the Mercury Theater Players under the direction of Orson Welles. The nature of the program caused widespread pockets…
Basic English: Positively Negative Posted by Gary Locke on Oct 11, 2018
Some of the most common words in English are negatives. These words express the opposite of a positive statement. There are a lot of them. However, this is English after all, so not all negatives fit into the same grammatical category. Let’s take a little time to clarify which part of speech these negatives belong…
Public Broadcasting in the U.S. Posted by Gary Locke on Oct 4, 2018
Broadcasting in the United States is widespread and highly competitive. There are an estimated 1700+ television stations and over 15,000 radio stations! There are networks for almost any interest, from California wine to CrossFit. Most of these are commercially owned and operated, meaning that they exist to make a profit. There are also, however, many…