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It’s a Breeze in Easy English Times
Idiom lessons by IAB in EET
“These lessons will help you use more colorful English in your life. Idiom by idiom, you will find speaking English less difficult and more fun. You might even find speaking English ‘a breeze.’”
Idioms certainly have acquired a notorious reputation among English language learners. Even for native speakers, few English expressions seem logical. It’s a Breeze by Toni Aberson seeks to make learning idioms easier and more fun. Recently, we’re pleased that the Easy English Times has featured the book’s lessons in its issues and will continue to do so for the time being.
Easy English Times remains a valuable resource to have in the classroom for beginning and intermediate language learners. Editor Lorraine Ruston and Publisher Betty Malmgren compile newsworthy articles, stories and activities focusing on ESL, adult literacy and citizenship. Naturally, I’m pleased Compelling Conversations grabs a spot in every issue and on the website! If you haven’t subscribed yet, I recommend emailing easyenglish@aol.com to request a free sample copy.
How do you teach idioms in your classroom? Do you encourage your students to read the news?
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Q&A with Dennis Hackin, Hollywood writer about Android Roy
Hollywood writer Dennis Hackin and three-time Chimayo Press author, has always possessed a passion for writing, prolifically producing plays, movies, novels, and poems since the age of eight. Hackin’s Bronco Billy was adapted into a movie starring and directed by Clint Eastwood in 1980. His latest novel Android Roy is Chimayo Press’ first science fiction title.
1. Where did the inspiration for Android Roy originate from?
[I began to wonder] what is consciousness? What is all this? Why do I think? And then you look at computers and computers think–are we programming the computers or are they programming us? I like reading theology, and well, God created man, so I thought, what if God created Androids? I liked that concept… [that] maybe the Androids created man. Once day I was on a walk and I was thinking about Android. And then the name Roy. Android Roy. Android Roy, the Paranoid Android, it was like a poem almost.
2. Why did you decide to write a science fiction novel?
I’ve been writing science fiction for a long time. My dad was a reader and really instilled in us to read, and I always liked science fiction; I was drawn to it, be it movie or books. Living in a scientific world draws you into science. I don’t know a lot about science, but I like knowing about scientists. Scientists are interesting; they’re explorers. And writers are like detectives exploring new environments, new mysteries.
3. Describe the driving force behind the story’s plot.
It’s like a quest; there’s a journey. The idea was Dr. Paradox, who I love, who Android Roy thinks is his creator, is putting him out there in society. The real question is, if God created Androids, is Android Roy really the one seeing how society reacts to Androids? [Android Roy] doesn’t understand why he’s here because God just doesn’t tell you that.
4. Is Vanilla Swan based off a real-life influence?
The real Vanilla Swan is a scientist, a writer of fiction and collects praying mantises. She is the smartest person I know.
5. Who does the Paranoid Android represent?
The Paranoid Android represents humankind. Weapons are a human creation. I think in the beginning the arrow was meant to be for a hunter, to sustain the tribe. Then you had people thinking ‘Well wait a minute, I can sell arrows to the hunters, but there are people that are very aggressive. I can sell arrows to the conquerors’. I think that the Paranoid Android represents technology out of control.
6. What was one of your favorite scenes or chapters? How did it relate to the book as a whole?
I love the horseshoe competition, because I never saw that as a competitive sport. I like the human nature of what that was. Going up this pyramid, or the yellow brick world, there are portals that Android Roy enters. [The humans] think he’s becoming wiser to humanity, but God sees that he’s becoming wiser to God. God’s all alone. God wants Android Roy to really get closer to him.
7. What is the idea behind the Walled City?
The Walled City–like [ancient] China, where those that rule get the spoils. The idea is that Many are Called, Few are Chosen. Those that are Chosen get to choose their lifestyle, and it’s not concrete. Kind of gloomy, pre-Soviet era, kind of bleak. The people that are living in oppressive societies can rebel against oppression if they’re willing to give up the comforts of their kiosks. You see the fanatics willing to give up their lives. Where are the warriors of peace? Are they willing to give up their comfort? If not, the fanatics are going to take over.
8. What does the White Plague symbolize?
The White Plague represents man’s inhumanity. when gluttony takes over, when you are craving materialism, when you get off your moral compass–you create disease.
9. Throughout the novel, you emphasize the meaning of love and an Android’s ability to love. Can you elaborate why you chose to incorporate these themes?
Love is everything. Love is the great elixir of a writer. Without love, where is life? I love love. It takes two to have love, so when that happens, it’s a beautiful dance. But it’s not permanent. What’s permanent is the memory of love. How Android Roy love isn’t always human love. His love his dependent on the purity of what he believes love is: trust, truth, justice.
10. God appears in the novel as an idea and creator. What is your perception of God?
God is friend, God is father and mother, God is a magician and trickster, I’ve been angry at God, but I think that God can handle all the anger in the world, but God is not perfect. God reflects us. I’m God, you’re God. We’re all God.
11. How do you feel about the prevalence of technology in today’s society?
Elon Musk’s greatest fear is artificial intelligence over nuclear weapons. Real thinkers come at all different ages, like child prodigies. In the wrong hands, technology could attack human beings.
12. How do you hope your audience will react?
I have to leave that up to the reader. I can’t answer that question. I would hope that they got a laugh, got a tear, got a smile–they wouldn’t be fearful; they would be hopeful. When I read a book and the author taps into to best of who I am, I think. I’m hoping that it soothes them and makes them feel good. If they feel good, they’re having a better day, and I’ve helped humanity. It’s a chain reaction.
13. What does the future of Android Roy look like?
There will be more Android Roy books. I know I want to take Android Roy on his adventure to Freedomland. Freedomland is not quite as free as he thinks. Android Roy is also being sent out in regards to possibly being made as a movie or a CD-ROM game, or a graphic novel.
To purchase Android Roy, click here.
Jessica Lu, Chimayo Press summer intern, conducted this interview with Hackin to give readers a glimpse into the inner workings of the book. A fan of the book herself, she hopes this Q&A will illuminate the deeper aspects of the book for readers.
Conversation Tip #1: The right attitude is key
Positive attitudes generate positive experiences
“In order to carry a positive action, we must develop here a positive vision.”
So often our desire to have meaningful conversations overshadows the reason why we want to have them in the first place: to learn from others. Every time we interact with family, friends, acquaintances and strangers, we develop new growth and understanding. Therefore, it remains important to keep this in mind when we strike up a conversation. What can we learn?
How do we help students keep a favorable attitude? Most importantly, emphasize the importance of keeping an open mind. Doing so ensures things start off on the right foot. Remind your students that even if they find themselves disagreeing with the person, they can sustain a tolerant mindset. Their conversation partner has a whole world of experiences to share–and so do they!
Conversation skills tend to be neglected. While this blog usually focuses on ways to increase speaking skills and communicative lessons in English classrooms, conversations remains a neglected and often overlooked social skill in our daily lives too. Perhaps because we do it all the time, we forget it’s importance to understanding and appreciating. Imagine how much poorer our lives would be if we only learned from books and formal educational institutions?
We learn from conversations every day. What, for instance, did you learn in conversations in the last 24 hours? What can be learned from conversations in the coming week?
Conversations matter, and bringing a positive spirit to new conversations helps create more positive experiences. We need to bring this simple observation into our English classes. We sometimes have to nudge students to see the positive possibilities of starting conversations in English.
How do you encourage your students to feel more positive about their future conversations in English?
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Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.compellingconversations.com
Jessica Lu, a first-year student at the University of Chicago, interned for Chimayo Press and the Compelling Conversations blog through the summer of 2014. Over the months, she has perused ESL textbooks, analyzed newspaper articles and tested out mobile apps, seeking out ways to inspire discussion. During the fall, the Compelling Conversations blog published her top 10 tips to create compelling conversations outside of the English classroom.
Perfection and grammar: not essential for ESL students, or even native speakers
Certain grammar rules unnecessary for comprehension, everyday conversation
“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.”
Is it always essential to have perfect grammar? Must we always avoid split infinitives, dangling modifiers and grocery shopping lines labeled “Ten Items or Less,” since the sign should read “Ten Items or Fewer?”
Leading linguist and Harvard Professor Steven Pinker doesn’t think so. In this Guardian article, he spotlights 10 grammar rules that are okay to break some of the time. His reasoning varies by example, but mostly regards contemporary acceptance, informal vs. formal settings and the historical use of the word. These rules have foiled great writers, national ad campaigns and grammar purists themselves–but whether or not they are actually broken falls under another story. While Pinker does praise writing with classical grammar, he emphasizes the fact that sometimes some grammar rules are taken too seriously, and unreasonably so.
Pinker’s points reiterate the importance of clarity and communication above all else. Though English language learners should learn certain grammar rules, they must know that perfection is not the ultimate goal. Clearness is far more important. For instance, teachers waste time stressing that sentences can’t end with prepositions–one of the misconceptions Pinker debunks-instead of focusing on content and real-world situations. In the real world, people say sentences like “Who are you writing to?” instead of “To whom are you writing?” And (notice this sentence starts with a conjunction) English learners need to know when they’re not making real mistakes and that, instead, they’re violating an outdated, unused rule.
What other grammar rules have become obsolete? Which rules do you stress in your classrooms?
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Create Compelling Conversations.
www.compellingconversations.com
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Chimayo Press presents Android Roy by Dennis Hackin
Chimayo Press, publisher of Compelling Conversations books, branches out to sci-fi
“What is consciousness? What is all this? Why do I think? And then you look at computers and computers think–are we programming the computers or are they programming us?”
Hackin poses these philosophical questions in describing his inspiration behind his latest novel, Android Roy, a Chimayo Press book released earlier this summer. Hackin intertwines his love of writing and science to find some answers. He explores through the unconventional, thought-provoking sequence of events surrounding protagonist Android Roy.
Android Roy, as the first Android homicide detective, seeks justice in his technology-run, dystopian world. He aims to track down the Paranoid Android, a villain who skins the superior humans to allow the inferior Androids to disguise themselves with the harvested scalps. Yet Android Roy reaches beyond a murder mystery–it also explores the complex relationship between Androids, humans and God, and the meaning of love and morality.
The Compelling Conversations series perhaps remain Chimayo Press’ most well-known product, but this niche publishing company carries several genres outside the ESL realm as well. Consider ourselves excited over this most recent release.
Though the unconventional formatting and advanced reading level may not fit in an ESL classroom setting, Android Roy does offer important topics for discussion. Is technology too prominent in our lives? What will the relationship be between androids and humans in the future? Where do we come from?
Read the Q&A with Hackin here, hosted on Chimayo Press’s website.
Ask More. Know More. Share More.
Create Compelling Conversations.
Visit www.compellingconversations.com
