2017 December Flashcards
Californians Speaking Russian Instead of English?
Posted on Tuesday - December 5, 2017 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan
Today, Alaska is the U.S.’s largest state by area (in square miles). But did you know that before 1867, Alaska belonged to Russia? In 1867, the U.S. purchased Alaska from Russia and it became our 49th state in 1959.
But before 1800, Russia wanted to expand eastward (toward the east) and in 1784, with the support of Empress Catherine the Great, the explorer (person who travels to new places to find out more about the) Grigory Shelikhov (1747-1795) established the first Russian colony (an area or community controlled by a government in another country) in North America called the “Three Saints Bay Colony” on Kodiak Island in Alaska. Fifteen years later, the Russian-American Company was founded (established; started) and took over trade (buying and selling) in Alaska.
The reason Russia wanted a colony in Alaska was because of the valuable otter pelts (animal skin). But after a few decades (periods of 10-years) of over-hunting (capturing too many animals), the otter became scarce (few in number and difficult to find).
At the same time, the Russian colonists found it hard to grow food in the cold temperatures using traditional Russian methods. The colonists didn’t have enough food, so they set their sights on (planned to achieve success in) California, which had warm beaches and famous movie actors (okay, not that last one).
At first, the Russian colonists just wanted land to grow food. But they soon discovered that there were more otter to hunt in the area. So in 1812, the colonists established Fort Ross about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of what is now San Francisco. (A “fort” is a building or set of buildings constructed so others can’t get in.) It was named “Ross” because it was a shortened version of “Russia.” The settlement lasted 29 years and is still there today.
Fort Ross was not a success. The colonists couldn’t grow enough food or catch enough otter to make it profitable (make money). At the same time, the Spaniards, who had established settlements all over California many years earlier, weren’t too happy about Fort Ross, and neither were the Native American tribes (groups) in the area.
Finally, in 1841, Russia sold Fort Ross to an American pioneer (person who is among the first to travel to a place to learn more about it) named John Sutter. But in the end, Sutter never paid. (Sutter was later more famously involved in the discovery of gold in California.)
So that’s the short history of Russian colonists in California. If things had turned out differently, today we would be speaking Russian here instead of English.
~ Jeff
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Punctuation: The Game Changer*
Posted on Tuesday - December 12, 2017 by ESLPod.com
We all know that punctuation — marks in writing, such as ” “, : , and ! — is important. Sometimes just a small change in punctuation can change the entire meaning of a sentence.
For example, consider (look at and think about) the following sentences that use the same words in the same order, but have different punctuation.
Woman, without her man, is nothing.
Woman! Without her, man is nothing.
The first phrase means that a woman is nothing if she doesn’t have a man in her life. The second phrase means that a man is nothing if he doesn’t have a woman in his life.
Same words in the same order, but the two sentences have entirely (completely) different meanings!
Here’s another example of how punctuation can change the meaning of a phrase.
The man dropped the bullet in his mouth.
The man dropped, the bullet in his mouth.
A bullet is the small piece of round metal that is shot out of a gun. The first phrase means that the man himself put the bullet into his mouth, and we can assume (believe to be true) that the man is still alive.
The second phrase means that the man dropped or fell to the floor, meaning that he is lying on the floor with a bullet in his mouth. From this, we can assume that the man died when a bullet was shot out of a gun into his mouth.
As in our first example, these two phrases use the same words in the same order, but one comma changes the meaning entirely.
~ ESLPod Team
*A game changer is an idea or event that makes a big difference in a situation. For example, the laptop computer (portable computer) was a game changer in personal computing.
**This post was adapted from “What Insiders Know” from Cultural English 91. To see the rest of the Learning Guide, including a Glossary, Sample Sentences, Comprehension Questions, a Complete Transcript of the entire lesson and more, become a Select English Member.
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Christmas: Outlawed!
Posted on Tuesday - December 19, 2017 by ESLPod.com
Nowadays (Currently; These days), Christmas is celebrated by many Americans, whether they are Christian or not. However, that wasn’t always so (true).
The first Europeans to settle (move to and make it their home) in what is the United States today came in 1620 to look for religious freedom (the ability to believe in and practice any religion). These first settlers, called “Puritans,” were hard-working and didn’t believe in taking days off to have fun and to celebrate. They even nicknamed (gave as an informal name) Christmas “Foolstide,” meaning only foolish people celebrated Christmas.
They didn’t believe that the Bible (Christian religious book) said anything about resting on Christmas. And so the Puritans worked on December 25th!
The feelings against Christmas rest and celebration were so strong in the community that in 1659, they passed a law against Christmas. The court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first European settlement (community of new arrivals), made it illegal to celebrate the holiday and anyone found celebrating would be fined (forced to pay as punishment) five shillings (British coins = to 1/20 of a pound).
It wasn’t until 1681 that the law was repealed (ended), but the Puritans continued to fight against the holiday.
Thank goodness (we are glad) Christmas is no longer outlawed (not allowed by law)!
We wish those who celebrate the holiday Merry Christmas, and to those who don’t, Happy Holidays.
And Happy New Year to you all!
~ Jeff and Lucy
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