【883-886】黎巴嫩艺术家通过艺术测试阿拉伯妇女的意见&免费书教人爱阅读&颜色配对的表情符号选项&曾祖母证明学习永远不晚
AS IT IS
Lebanese Artist Tests Opinions of Arab Women through Her Art
March 17, 2019
Lebanese Artist Tests Opinion of Arab Women through Her Art
Lebanese artist Christina Atik has created a series of digital pictures to show expressions commonly used in Arab countries to criticize women. She hopes her creations will empower Arab women.
The project raises issues like female freedom, beauty and sexuality in societies traditionally led by men.
Atik, 27, said she thought of the project last year after her younger sister Maria was criticized by their mother.
"My sister has a big nose and my mother always made fun of her," the artist said. The mother would say things like ‘when are you going to do an operation for your nose?’ and ‘your nose is not nice for a girl.’
Atik told the Reuters news agency, “I decided to do a drawing for my sister to show her that her nose is beautiful and she doesn’t have to listen to mum. And this worked. She did not do an operation for her nose.”
The picture won praise from local art supporters and quickly turned into a series. The Reuters report said there are currently seven illustrations.
Other illustrations read: “It’s not nice for a girl to have (body) hair,” “It’s not nice for a girl to like another girl” or “It’s not nice for a girl to live alone”. Each saying has its own picture, digitally created by Atik, along with a comment in Arabic.
“I think it’s very important to sit and talk about such subjects. So maybe we can break them or stop them and have the courage to say ‘no, I won’t do my nose operation’ or ‘no, I want to leave the house’ or else,” Atik said.
Her pictures have been shared across the internet. They have received many shares and have increased Atik’s followers on one social media website.
“I hadn’t at all expected people to share them that much, and women have started to send me things they hear from their families and societies around them. Women from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia... were touched by the illustrations I did, so that was something really nice,” she said.
Atik believes the condition of women is slowly improving around the world.
“I think we have a long way to go in Lebanon and in the whole world (on women’s rights) but I think we’re getting there, little by little,” she said.
Lebanon recently appointed the Arab world’s first female interior minister. She is just one of four women in the country’s government.
While some consider Lebanon a liberal country in the Middle East, it continues to permit marriages between children and adults and marital rape.
I'm Susan Shand.
The Reuters News Agency reported this story. Susan Shand adapted this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
digital - adj. using or involving computer technology
drawing – n. an image made by a series of lines
illustration – n. a picture or drawing in a book, magazine
courage – n. the ability to do something that is difficult or dangerous
interior – adj. concerned with the inside of a country or home
AS IT IS
Free Books Teach a Love of Reading
March 17, 2019
Joshua Clark is happy as he sits down to read a book to his son, Mason. But Clark remembers not always being happy about reading.
"I remember my mom almost forcing me to read books doing those summer reports right before you got back to school, and it was tough."
Reading became like work to him. He decided that when he had his own child, he would make sure reading was an enjoyable experience.
"When you can present things in a joyous way and not that it be a task, you're more willing to do it, and I wanted to provide that for my son."
Today, Clark and his son live in Washington, D.C. The young father has been able to ready many great stories to 3-year-old Mason, thanks to a local program called Books from Birth.
A book in every home
Through Books from Birth, Clark and others who take part receive one high-quality book each month in the mail. The program is open to D.C. residents with a child under the age of five.
Books from Birth began three years ago. Clark joined the program before Mason was even born. Clark knew the program would help him feel closer to his son as well as help his son learn.
"I knew I could use this tool to not only bond with my son, but also give him skills that he would need in everyday daily life."
Learning new words
The program sends each child age-appropriate books. So, early ones may teach simple shapes and sounds. The books become more complex as the child grows.
Clark says monthly books are helping Mason learn many new words.
Clark says, "He will repeat a word and understand it and later on repeat it and use it in a way that was used with him."
And that is the goal of the program, said Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser. She recently spoke at a news conference celebrating the program’s third anniversary.
"We know from all of the research that children who are read to, sung to as well, at home, have a vocabulary that is vastly larger than children unfortunately who come to school without that type of preparation.”
Bowser added that having a larger vocabulary means children may read sooner and learn more once they begin school.
Improving reading rates
D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen introduced the law that established the project.
He said, "When I first got elected to the Council, I had a 2-year-old daughter -- she's 6 now -- but I saw that in her bedroom she had dozens and dozens if not a hundred books. That's not the reality for every home in D.C. And I wanted to do something quickly about early childhood education and early literacy.”
More than just reading skills
Mason's mother, Margaret Parker, says she likes how Books from Birth can help her teach her son another language, too.
"Teaching him another language is something I've always had an interest in. And getting those English-Spanish books have been a great follow-up to songs that we sing, or words that I teach him, or things that he picks up at school."
Parker says the books are carefully chosen to teach other important skills, as well. For example, one of the books Mason received was all about bugs, or insects.
"We were outside, kind of exploring, and one of his friends, I guess, wanted to step on one of the bugs and he said, ' Oh no, don't squish bugs' -- a part of one of the books that we read with him -- so I thought that was pretty cool to see him make that connection between the two."
When the library comes to you
The D.C. Books from Birth program is a local partner of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The singer-songwriter started the program in 1995 in her home state of Tennessee in honor of her father, who could not read or write.
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The organization mails a book to a child’s home once a month, from birth until the child turns 5. The organization has sent out more than 115 million books to children in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Britain and the United States.
The goal in America’s capital is to have 100 percent participation – especially among poorer families, says D.C. Public Library chief Richard Reyes-Gavilan.
He said it is difficult for busy, working families to visit a library every week or month. But, with Books from Birth, “the library comes to them.”
I’m Jill Robbins.
Julia Taboh reported on this story for VOA News. Jill Robbins adapted this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in This Story
task – n. a job for someone to do
bond – v. to form a close relationship with someone — often + with
exposure – n. the fact or condition of being affected by something or experiencing something
squish v. to press (something) into a flatter shape
vast – adj. very great in size, amount, or extent
unfortunately – adv. used to say that something bad or unlucky has happened
Did you read many books as a child? Do you read to children as an adult? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.
AS IT IS
Emoji Options for Couples of Color
March 17, 2019
Couples of Color emoji
In 1967, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the banning of interracial marriage violated the Constitution.
The court decision against the state of Virginia helped lead American society to an acceptance of racially-mixed couples.
Now, mixed relationships have been recognized in emoji form. The non-profit group Unicode Consortium has approved 71 new emoji representing these unions. A technology activist group, Emojination, and the dating app Tinder had called for the action.
Until now, emoji of two or more people have been available only in yellow.
The Unicode Consortium is made up of Google, Microsoft, Apple, Huawei and other international tech companies. Jennifer 8. Lee is a cofounder of Emojination and is on the emoji subcommittee of Unicode.
“Unicode is taking user demand for more skin tones across emoji very seriously,” said Lee. “Users around the world (are) demanding to see themselves…on the emoji keyboard.”
Jenny Campbell is the chief marketing officer for Tinder. She thinks many technology companies will include the new emoji in their products.
Last year, Tinder carried out an online petition in support of the new characters. Fifty-thousand people signed on.
Cambell said, “...we wanted to get the interracial emoji couple on people’s keyboards not only for equality, but also to spread acceptance for all couples no matter what their race.”
Emoji of single people of color and of same-sex couples were added in the last several years.
I’m Susan Shand.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
emoji – n. a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, emotion,
tone – n. a shade of color
keyboard – n. the set of keys that are used for a computer or typewriter
petition – n. a written document that people sign to show that they want a person or organization to do or change something
AS IT IS
Great-Grandmother Proves It Is Never Too Late to Learn
March 17, 2019
At the age of 91, the great-grandmother is learning English with the help of her family. She hopes to use the language at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo. (Twitter@Grandma_English)
Setsuko Takamizawa is set to prove that it is never too late to learn.
At the age of 91, the great-grandmother is learning English with the help of her family. She hopes to use the language at next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Never too late to learn
Takamizawa was one of the more than 200,000 people who requested to volunteer for Tokyo’s 2020 Games. English is not required for service, but it is a helpful skill for volunteers to have.
But Takamizawa had not been able to learn the language when she was young.
Takamizawa told Reuters that she was in high school when World War Two started. She said, “In my second year there, English was banned because it was the enemy language.”
Takamizawa said that her grandchildren helped persuade her she was not too old to learn.
“When I talked to my grandchildren about my wish, they said, ‘it’s not too late. We will teach you one word a day. It’s going to be a good challenge for you’.”
Natsuko is Takamizawa’s granddaughter and main English teacher.
Natsuko sends a new English word to her grandmother’s phone every day. They also often work together directly on phrases that Takamizawa will need for the Olympics.
“Welcome to Tokyo, this is the Olympic stadium, how can I help you?” Takamizawa answers when asked to say an English phrase she has learned.
Natsuko explains that she wanted to give her grandmother something to enjoy. “I can clearly see her English is getting better. It’s my joy now.”
Global Perspectives
The EF English Proficiency Index is a measure of the level of English spoken in a country. Japan ranks 49th among countries where English is not the first language.
This situation is slowly changing as younger generations welcome English. Japanese students often learn English at a much younger age than they did in the past.
However, Takamizawa believes real change will not happen unless Japanese people become more open to the rest of the world.
She says that people in Japan should act not only as Japanese citizens, but also as “global members” of the Earth.
With around 500 days to go until the Games begin, the whole Takamizawa family is ready to welcome the world to Tokyo.
When Japan last held the Summer Olympics in 1964, Takamizawa was too busy raising a family to go to any events.
Takamizawa said she never thought the Olympics would happen in Tokyo twice in her lifetime.
“It’s good,” she said, “to live long.”
I’m John Russell.
Jack Tarrant reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
grandmother – n. the mother of your father or mother
great-grandmother -- n. the mother of one's grandmother or grandfather.
granddaughter -- n. a daughter of your son or daughter
phrase -- n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence; a brief expression that is commonly used
challenge -- n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do
global -- adj. involving the entire world