#8 Travelogue Uzbekistan: The bizarre world of classroom decoration
Schools in Uzbekistan are amazing. They teach foreign visitors a whole lot of things. I picked up new spellings of English words, learned that the independence of Uzbekistan is in fact another English-speaking country, that there are two Australias and that Britain also has the “evro” (euro?). I went to the bottom of English tenses and vowels and, as if that wasn’t enough, I learned that there are exactly six English and American writers (the definite article told me).
But then I also learned something else – Uzbek hospitality and warm-heartedness extended into every classroom that I was pulled into. The kids and teachers were genuinely happy to have me. Yes, humans make mistakes, but that’s the beauty of it. I do appreciate those human encounters!
---Vocab---
📍bizarre = strange 📍go to the bottom of sth = think about sth deeply 📍extend = continue 📍genuinely = really 📍encounter = meeting sb
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
Schools in Uzbekistan are amazing. They teach foreign visitors a whole lot of things. I picked up new spellings of English words, learned that the independence of Uzbekistan is in fact another English-speaking country, that there are two Australias and that Britain also has the “evro” (euro?). I went to the bottom of English tenses and vowels and, as if that wasn’t enough, I learned that there are exactly six English and American writers (the definite article told me).
But then I also learned something else – Uzbek hospitality and warm-heartedness extended into every classroom that I was pulled into. The kids and teachers were genuinely happy to have me. Yes, humans make mistakes, but that’s the beauty of it. I do appreciate those human encounters!
---Vocab---
📍bizarre = strange 📍go to the bottom of sth = think about sth deeply 📍extend = continue 📍genuinely = really 📍encounter = meeting sb
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#22 Spot Afandi and his donkey: Afandi waiting for the blackberries to get ripe
❓ Can you spot Afandi and his donkey in this picture?
❗️If you can, follow the instructions in #1 (see pinned message) and win 5,000 Paynet-soums!
👉@afandi_english👈 #spot_afandi
❓ Can you spot Afandi and his donkey in this picture?
❗️If you can, follow the instructions in #1 (see pinned message) and win 5,000 Paynet-soums!
👉@afandi_english👈 #spot_afandi
#7 Featured article: Forgotten brothers
📍 Most of us have heard some horror stories from that strange Uyghur land behind the mountains, but just like other problems that don’t seem to go away we cannot keep worrying every day. Meanwhile we’re all addicted to Made in China and Chinese money makes the world go round, that’s why this human tragedy is possible. Read this very long article – if you manage – to find out how even the fortunate Uyghurs who left China aren’t so fortunate after all.
⛓ https://www.economist.com/1843/2020/10/15/if-i-speak-out-they-will-torture-my-family-voices-of-uyghurs-in-exile
👉@afandi_english👈 #article #economist
📍 Most of us have heard some horror stories from that strange Uyghur land behind the mountains, but just like other problems that don’t seem to go away we cannot keep worrying every day. Meanwhile we’re all addicted to Made in China and Chinese money makes the world go round, that’s why this human tragedy is possible. Read this very long article – if you manage – to find out how even the fortunate Uyghurs who left China aren’t so fortunate after all.
⛓ https://www.economist.com/1843/2020/10/15/if-i-speak-out-they-will-torture-my-family-voices-of-uyghurs-in-exile
👉@afandi_english👈 #article #economist
The Economist
“If I speak out, they will torture my family”: voices of Uyghurs in exile
The Uyghur diaspora lives in fear of the Chinese state. 1843 spent months recording the stories of London’s nervous community
#14 Learn how to learn: Writing
❓ Writing often lags behind other skills. What to do?
1️⃣ Take notes. If you start writing too quickly you may run out of ideas or move away from the topic. Notes help you develop your ideas and sort them. See post #7 of 29 June.
2️⃣ Form good habits – Never write without a title, it helps you remind yourself of the topic. Always check your writing after you finish, you can find a lot of mistakes.
3️⃣ Have more ideas. When something seems good to you, think what could be bad about it and vice versa. For argumentative essays you must be able to switch perspectives.
4️⃣ Write in your daily life. Take notes during classes, make written plans and ‘to do lists’, keep a diary and write messages instead of sending voice messages.
5️⃣ Seek knowledge. What is common knowledge, what needs to be explained? The only way to distinguish that is to have knowledge yourself. Writing is not just some technical skill that needs practice.
👉@afandi_english👈 #learn2learn
❓ Writing often lags behind other skills. What to do?
1️⃣ Take notes. If you start writing too quickly you may run out of ideas or move away from the topic. Notes help you develop your ideas and sort them. See post #7 of 29 June.
2️⃣ Form good habits – Never write without a title, it helps you remind yourself of the topic. Always check your writing after you finish, you can find a lot of mistakes.
3️⃣ Have more ideas. When something seems good to you, think what could be bad about it and vice versa. For argumentative essays you must be able to switch perspectives.
4️⃣ Write in your daily life. Take notes during classes, make written plans and ‘to do lists’, keep a diary and write messages instead of sending voice messages.
5️⃣ Seek knowledge. What is common knowledge, what needs to be explained? The only way to distinguish that is to have knowledge yourself. Writing is not just some technical skill that needs practice.
👉@afandi_english👈 #learn2learn
#6 Afandi Quiz: Cultural Misunderstanding
Today’s quiz is about a cultural misunderstanding in the following situation:
▶️ Sanjay is an IT professional from 🇮🇳India who recently relocated (=moved) to 🇫🇷France for his job. During the first week of his stay his French colleagues invite him to have dinner at a restaurant. As he enters he is greeted with a firm (=strong) handshake by his male colleagues but the only lady among the colleagues kisses him on the cheeks. Sanjay is stunned (=very surprised), and the lady also happens to be very beautiful.
During the dinner Sanjay looks over to her several times, hoping to flirt (=show sb that you find them attractive) a little bit. Unfortunately she doesn’t react at all, leaving Sanjay disappointed.
👉@afandi_english👈 #culture_quiz
Today’s quiz is about a cultural misunderstanding in the following situation:
▶️ Sanjay is an IT professional from 🇮🇳India who recently relocated (=moved) to 🇫🇷France for his job. During the first week of his stay his French colleagues invite him to have dinner at a restaurant. As he enters he is greeted with a firm (=strong) handshake by his male colleagues but the only lady among the colleagues kisses him on the cheeks. Sanjay is stunned (=very surprised), and the lady also happens to be very beautiful.
During the dinner Sanjay looks over to her several times, hoping to flirt (=show sb that you find them attractive) a little bit. Unfortunately she doesn’t react at all, leaving Sanjay disappointed.
👉@afandi_english👈 #culture_quiz
What’s the problem?
Final Results
11%
Indians take marriage very seriously but men love to flirt.
59%
Kissing a person on the cheeks is just a greeting in France, nothing more.
16%
The lady actually likes the guest but French ladies prefer to look shy.
14%
French people want to be good hosts and greetings are often exaggerated.
Afandi English
What’s the problem?
Good job, guys!
👍 Kissing each other’s cheeks is indeed a traditional way of greeting in France. It is done between women as well as women and men but, unlike in some Arab countries, not between men.
👎 Similar to women in other Western countries, French ladies tend to be confident rather than shy.
👎 French hospitality isn’t particularly famous, although France is actually the most visited country in the world.
👎 Arranged marriage is still the norm in India and love marriage remains a dream for many, but that doesn’t mean that Indian men generally love to flirt.
👍 Kissing each other’s cheeks is indeed a traditional way of greeting in France. It is done between women as well as women and men but, unlike in some Arab countries, not between men.
👎 Similar to women in other Western countries, French ladies tend to be confident rather than shy.
👎 French hospitality isn’t particularly famous, although France is actually the most visited country in the world.
👎 Arranged marriage is still the norm in India and love marriage remains a dream for many, but that doesn’t mean that Indian men generally love to flirt.
#42 Our favourite mistakes: Grammar
▶️ Please translate the following sentence:
Afandining yaxshi fikri bor. Boshqa odamlar ham buni yaxshi fikr deb o’ylaydi.
❌ Perhaps you think it is:
Afandi has good idea. Other people also think it’s good idea.
✅ Well, it should be:
Afandi has a good idea. Other people also think it’s a good idea.
❓Why?
❗️ Yes, Afandi has many good ideas, but when we talk about one of his ideas we need to use the indefinite article “a” which has the meaning of “one”.
❗️ Articles are always difficult to use. Afandi English will show you the rules little by little!
❗️ Knowing the rules of using articles is not enough. How to practice? Repeat the correct sentences many times and then change the words in them while keeping the same structure. Play with the sentences!
👉@afandi_english👈 #mistakes #grammar
▶️ Please translate the following sentence:
Afandining yaxshi fikri bor. Boshqa odamlar ham buni yaxshi fikr deb o’ylaydi.
❌ Perhaps you think it is:
Afandi has good idea. Other people also think it’s good idea.
✅ Well, it should be:
❗️ Yes, Afandi has many good ideas, but when we talk about one of his ideas we need to use the indefinite article “a” which has the meaning of “one”.
❗️ Articles are always difficult to use. Afandi English will show you the rules little by little!
❗️ Knowing the rules of using articles is not enough. How to practice? Repeat the correct sentences many times and then change the words in them while keeping the same structure. Play with the sentences!
👉@afandi_english👈 #mistakes #grammar
#15 World Englishes: South African English
❗️ South Africa is the the most developed country in Africa and usually also considered an English-speaking country for its history as a British settlers colony. That said, it’s of course closer to British than American English, but it’s also got some special features. There isn’t just one single South African English but a bunch of ethnic and local varieties, and only 10% speak English at home.
🔘 Pronunciation: Similar to Australian and New Zealand English, the short e as in “better” is often sounds more like the French é; the ɜ: as in “girl” is also much more rounded, like the Turkish ö; 3) and the æ as in “apple” is pronounced like a straight e.
🔘 Vocabulary: “Ach!” comes from Dutch and just means “Oh!”, just like “domkop” for “idiot”; curiously, traffic lights are commonly called “robots”, “just now” doesn’t refer to something that just happened but means “later” and “now now” means “shortly” or “right away”.
👉@afandi_english👈 #world_englishes
❗️ South Africa is the the most developed country in Africa and usually also considered an English-speaking country for its history as a British settlers colony. That said, it’s of course closer to British than American English, but it’s also got some special features. There isn’t just one single South African English but a bunch of ethnic and local varieties, and only 10% speak English at home.
🔘 Pronunciation: Similar to Australian and New Zealand English, the short e as in “better” is often sounds more like the French é; the ɜ: as in “girl” is also much more rounded, like the Turkish ö; 3) and the æ as in “apple” is pronounced like a straight e.
🔘 Vocabulary: “Ach!” comes from Dutch and just means “Oh!”, just like “domkop” for “idiot”; curiously, traffic lights are commonly called “robots”, “just now” doesn’t refer to something that just happened but means “later” and “now now” means “shortly” or “right away”.
👉@afandi_english👈 #world_englishes
#9 Travelogue Uzbekistan: People and water
If I asked you whether water is natural or cultural you would of course say it’s natural, right? But let me tell you, there’s also a lot of culture in it. Not in the water itself obviously but in our relationship to it.
Visiting some villages broadened my definition of “running water”. I used to think it just meant tap water but then water actually runs through people’s gardens!
It always strikes me to see people wasting water and how pipes, taps and toilets don’t get fixed. Water seems more like air to Uzbeks, something that’s forever free. If they move abroad the water bill must come as a shock because water is a commodity there.
But hey, if water was more precious would the Aral Sea still be there? Just a thought.
---Vocab---
📍tap water = water from the tap, in the kitchen and bathroom 📍sth strikes sb = sth surprises sb 📍bill = a letter telling you to pay 📍commodity = a product that can be bought and sold
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
If I asked you whether water is natural or cultural you would of course say it’s natural, right? But let me tell you, there’s also a lot of culture in it. Not in the water itself obviously but in our relationship to it.
Visiting some villages broadened my definition of “running water”. I used to think it just meant tap water but then water actually runs through people’s gardens!
It always strikes me to see people wasting water and how pipes, taps and toilets don’t get fixed. Water seems more like air to Uzbeks, something that’s forever free. If they move abroad the water bill must come as a shock because water is a commodity there.
But hey, if water was more precious would the Aral Sea still be there? Just a thought.
---Vocab---
📍tap water = water from the tap, in the kitchen and bathroom 📍sth strikes sb = sth surprises sb 📍bill = a letter telling you to pay 📍commodity = a product that can be bought and sold
👉@afandi_english👈 #travel #uzbekistan
#23 Spot Afandi and his donkey: Afandi in Samarkand
❓ Can you spot Afandi and his donkey in this picture?
❗️If you can, follow the instructions in #1 (see pinned message) and win 5,000 Paynet-soums!
👉@afandi_english👈 #spot_afandi
❓ Can you spot Afandi and his donkey in this picture?
❗️If you can, follow the instructions in #1 (see pinned message) and win 5,000 Paynet-soums!
👉@afandi_english👈 #spot_afandi