Category: Culture Class

An Eagle Scout and an Elder Stateman

11/9/2020

2020 n16
It sounds like the beginning of a joke: An Eagle Scout and an elder stateman walk into a used bookstore…

But it’s not a joke. It’s the kind of thing that happens often in KIN’s LaMP program.

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From Bully to Friend: A Middle School Story

10/5/2020

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2020 n15
When our culture instructor surveyed her class about possible topics to discuss, two mothers—one from Iraq and one from Thailand—asked about bullying. The Iraqi mother said that before they fled Iraq, they had many enemies, but they thought things would be different here in America. Now her middle-schooler dreaded going to school because some kids bullied him constantly because of his race. Both mothers were discouraged and hurting for their children.

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The Books Are Free!

9/7/2020

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2020 n14
Where is the one place you can—for free—find books:

to help your children with math,
to learn how to cook something new,
to improve your English skills,
and to entertain your children for a few minutes?

“It’s the library, of course,” you say. But what if you had never seen a library?

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The Encourager Professor

4/21/2020

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2020 n07
With over 300 active volunteers, KIN representatives serve the international population of metro Knoxville in many ways. Only a few of those have changed since we began facing COVID-19. For example, while it may look a little different, one-on-one conversation and pronunciation practice continues. For example, Diane* began volunteering with KIN last fall.

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The Van Was Loaded Down

2/25/2020

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2020 n04
The back of FBC Concord’s 18-passenger van was loaded down with framed prints, floor rugs, linens, kitchen utensils, pottery, even a small statue. On a rainy November afternoon, all the talking fogged up the windows, too, providing a great “whiteboard” for an Arabic lesson.

That’s what happens when six Arab women (and two children) join four American women for a trip to the Great Smokies Flea Market!

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Giant Strides in English

9/16/2019

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Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash.

2019 n18
Sherry moved to Knoxville in time to attend two sessions of an English class before Christmas a couple of years ago. She spoke English at what our lead ESL teacher calls “the blink-blink stage,” meaning she could say little beyond “hello.” But she persevered.

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Neighborhood Walk

5/6/2019

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2019 n09
Esther’s kids walked six blocks to and from school every day. It was less than a mile each way. As a child back in Africa, Esther and her siblings had walked much further without giving it a second thought. There were homes along the way, so Esther never imagined her kids were unsafe.

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The Cleaning Expert

3/11/2019

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2019 n05
Yasmin was upset. She handed her quarterly inspection report to our culture coach, wondering why she was on the verge of being evicted. It said “uncleanliness,” but she kept her house clean and tidy. Our culture coach went to her apartment and found everything else clean, but the two bathrooms covered with mold and mildew.

Mold and mildew don’t grow in the dessert. It’s too dry. But here in East Tennessee, they can grow in a couple of days--just one of the thousands of things to which many immigrants and refugees must adjust!

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An Eagle Scout and an Elder Stateman

From Bully to Friend: A Middle School Story

The Books Are Free!

The Encourager Professor

The Van Was Loaded Down

Giant Strides in English

Neighborhood Walk

The Cleaning Expert

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