My Ukrainian ENGin buddy told me about an interesting Ukrainian ritual for the celebration of the Epiphany. In Ukraine, the celebration of Epiphany, or “Yordan” (also known as “Vodokhreshche”), takes place on January 19th. It’s a major religious holiday in the Orthodox Christian tradition, marking the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. A key […]
Category: ENGin
Categories
Onomatopoeia
Ukrainian: ЗвуконаслідуванняRussian: Звукоподражание Animal Sounds:Moo – sound of a cowOink – sound of a pigBaa – sound of a sheepMeow – sound of a catWoof – sound of a dog barkingQuack – sound of a duckChirp – sound of a birdHiss – sound of a snakeRoar – sound of a lion or other large animalsBuzz […]
A Greeting from the Elder G: Welcome to the ESL Literature Page! Dear ENGin Students, Welcome to a world of imagination, discovery, and learning! Here, you’ll find a treasure trove of literature that will not only help you improve your English skills but also open doors to new perspectives, cultures, and ideas. As an Elder […]
Here are some more great ESL book recommendations for our ENGin buddies. These books fall into the middle school reading level. Holesby Luis Sackler Holes is a 1998 young adult novel written by Louis Sachar…. The book centers on Stanley Yelnats, who is sent to Camp Green Lake, a correctional boot camp in a desert […]
Especially for our ENGin buddies, we’d like to share a list of books that are popular in the American school system. We’ve either read or are familiar with all the books in this list. Many of them we read with our kids when they were little. Even though some of the books may seem to […]
We have the greatest admiration for our Ukrainian buddies who are trying to learn English. How hard can it be? Very hard. Admittedly, these charts English-centric, but it gives the sense of how divergent languages are (from the US State Department). The web is heavily weighted to English (https://www.statista.com/chart/4140/low-diversity-of-languages-on-the-web-hinders-accessability) Who’s Learning What? Some Quirky Language […]
Perhaps this is a US thing only, or maybe just a WLBOTT thing, be we occasionally encounter annoying people. In order to help our Ukrainian ENGin buddies, here are ways to express this frustration. (ed. note: the translations are a little iffy.) WLBOTT Word of the Day They are a bugging me. Вони мене дратують. […]
Idioms are a colorful way of getting a point across. Often they reflect the culture, geography, folk lore, values, and sense of humor of the people who speak the language. A little background…. An idiom is a phrase or expression that usually presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. Some phrases which become […]
Texas Slang for ENGin buddies ENGin is a wonderful program that connects English speakers with Ukrainians – sort of like pen-pals on Zoom. Conversation practice, cultural exchange, recipes, jokes, stories, friendships…. Very cool, innovative, and impactful non-profit started by Katerina Manoff. Katerina has 5+ years of experience teaching English and managing online language learning programs. […]