Our Language Table series, Something to Talk About, offers a chance to meet other people for fun, informal activities and casual conversation. Anyone in the Northwestern community is welcome to join and participate.
- Free and open to all members of the Northwestern community
- Events are mostly held online throughout the academic year
- Advanced registration is required to access the session.
- Each event highlights a specific aspect of US English and/or American culture
- Ask questions, share experiences and opinions with peers and ELP staff
- A supportive environment for speakers at any level of English proficiency
Spring Quarter 2024 - Something to Talk About Language Table Events Series
- One sign-up form (click here)
- Register for one, two, or all of the language table events for this quarter
- If you sign up for an event, but your availability changes, contact us by email or submit the form again
- ELP will contact you with ZOOM meeting information for events that you have registered for
- Format for language table events for Spring 2024 -> 6 remote events (via Northwestern ZOOM)
- Language Table Event Schedule for Spring 2024
| Date | Time | Event Name (format) | Event Description | Hosted By |
|
4/12/24 (Fri)
|
12:00 - 1:00 PM | Medicine in the USA |
Join ELP's Speech Language Pathologist, Mark Temenak, for a remote language table event that will feature medicine and healthcare in the United States.
Mark will focus on a variety of subtopics related to medicine and healthcare, including medical terminology, medical specialty areas, and similarities/differences between the U.S. healthcare system and healthcare systems abroad.
This is a VERY USEFUL event if you have ever had to navigate the healthcare system at Northwestern!!!
|
Mark Temenak (ELP Speech Language Pathologist) |
|
4/19/24 (Fri) |
12:00 - 1:00 PM | Language Focus: Explaining Visuals in Presentations |
Join ELP's Assistant Director, Brian Hampson, for a remote language table event that will focus on the language skill of explaining visual information during an academic or research presentation.
When you include visuals and/or graphics in your coursework or research presentations, explaining this visual information in a concise, succinct way can be challenging for the presenter(s). This event will highlight different language tools that are available to the presenter to explain visual information and make it easily understandable for the audience.
|
Brian Hampson (ELP Assistant Director) |
| 4/26/24 (Fri) | 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Gardening Tips: Getting Started & Maintaining a Garden |
Join ELP's Language Pedagogy Specialist, Jen Alexander, for a remote language table event that will feature gardening.
Gardens range in scope, scale, and size. They can provide both tangible benefits (ex: growing your own vegetables and/or herbs) as well as wellness benefits (ex: research suggests gardening can have a positive impact on mental health). Jen has A LOT OF EXPERIENCE in gardening!!! She can be such a great resource to help you get started, help you manage a garden given a set space (and other limitations), and answer questions about the best types of plants to grow given the growing environment in Evanston/Chicago.
|
Jen Alexander (ELP Language Pedagogy Specialist) |
| 5/3/24 (Fri) | 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Plants & Animals in Evanston & Chicago |
Join ELP's Senior Director, Julia Moore, for a remote language table event that will focus on the natural environment in/around Evanston and Chicago.
Following up on Jen's event about gardening, Julia will host an event to focus on the different types of native plants and animals that you can see in and around Evanston and Chicago. This can be helpful when you are out and about in Evanston and Chicago. It can also be useful to know about the various animals or animal types that you might see in and around your residence. Julia is an avid plant lover, so she can also be helpful if you are thinking of ways to decorate your place with indoor or outdoor plants, especially as spring is often the planting season for certain types of plants.
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Julia Moore (ELP Senior Director) |
| 5/10/24 (Fri) | 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Recounting Information Using Movies as Cultural References |
Join ELP's Speech Language Pathologist, Autumn Bryant, for a remote language table event that will highlight the speaking skill of recounting information during conversation.
Discussing movies can be an excellent way to generate small talk amongst friends and peers. For instance, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) now has 30+ movies related to various Marvel characters, and Marvel Studios has been releasing Marvel movies for close to 20 years, the content: characters, storylines, suspense, climax, etc. can be excellent sources of information to recount in small talk conversations.
In this language table event, Autumn will use the MCU as a cultural reference source to talk about the speech act of recounting information.
|
Autumn Bryant (ELP Speech Language Pathologist) |
| 5/17/24 (Fri) | 12:15 - 1:15 PM | Writing Clear and Professional Email Messages |
Join ELP's Language Pedagogy Specialist, Tami Wysocki, for a remote language table event that focus on writing clear and professional email messages.
The ability to write professional email messages is an important skill to acquire and getting the tone just right is critical. In this language table event, Tami will discuss general email guidelines as well as writing a request and following up on requests. The event will also touch on how AI can help and hurt the process of creating appropriate messaging. Participants will also have time to go over any questions you may have about writing email messages. Don’t miss this hands-on opportunity to polish your writing skills.
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Tami Wysocki (ELP Language Pedagogy Specialist) |