New York Times Travel Videos

The New York Times has a series of short videos about spending 36 hours in different places in the world. The video they released this past weekend was about Cartagena, Colombia, where I went last December. It was really neat to see places that I had been and see what they said about the food/culture of Cartagena.

• Watch any of the videos about international cities by clicking here. Share what you learn in a blog post or email to bordner@cityhigh.org. Would you want to travel there? Explain your answer.

Cultural Norms in Other Countries

Fasten Seat Belts is a website that explains cultural norms of different countries, along with quick survival phrases. Pick a country (it does not have to be a Spanish speaking country), watch a few videos and summarize what you learn in a blog post or email to bordner@cityhigh.org.

World Cup 2014

Olé! It's the World Cup! The World Cup is an international soccer competition that happens every four years like the Olympics. Countries all over the world compete to play in the World Cup, and only 32 earn the chance to compete for the globe. 

Mr. Rucker and I have been leading a World Cup club for the class of 2017. We have a fancy website you can check out all kinds of things about the world cup like the music, the mascot and more!

www.tinyurl.com/chworldcup2014 

Check out the website then compose an email answering one or more of the Hot Tamale Activities to bordner@cityhigh.org or akhand@cityhigh.org

• Who are you rooting for? Why?
• Watch a few videos on the website then describe them.
• Check out some of the infographics on the World Cup 2014 page and describe them.
• Watch a game then describe it. 
• Pick a country competing in the World Cup and write a description of their culture or soccer team

Do you speak English?

click here to read about the map

I came across this photo today and was pretty surprised by how many people in Europe don't speak English. I think when we are raised in the United States you assume that all other developed countries teach English, but of course that's just us being ethnocentric.

Email your responses to the Hot Tamale Activities below to bordner@cityhigh.org or akhand@cityhigh.org

• create a chart with each country and percentage of population that speaks English
• focus on one color of country (blue, grey, brown, etc.) and identify what the official language of each country is
• What does this map teach you about being a knowledgeable traveler?