Vitamin English: Conversation through Current Events

Explore how the national anthem tradition frames patriotism and how Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protest against police violence influenced more NFL players to join the action.

Explore the two sides of kneeling during the national anthem: supporters view it as a thoughtful protest for marginalized communities, while critics see it as disrespecting the flag and country.

Explore key vocabulary from current events, such as fire, rhetoric, condone, boo, fan, and distraction, through practical usage and example sentences.

Explore a conversation about players kneeling during the national anthem at a football game, featuring a role-play dialogue between Mike and Chloe and reading and comprehension activities.

Chloe and Mike discuss free expression and the impact of Trump rhetoric while answering comprehension questions about violence against minorities in current events.

Navigate speaking practice by responding to current events. Use keywords like maverick, distraction, fire, fan, and boo to articulate clear, concise responses.

Engage in a timed vocabulary quiz that presents a definition and asks you to identify the matching word within five seconds; review if needed before the next section.

Examine the Saudi women driving debate as a decree enables women to drive by June 2018, with celebration by some and opposition from clergy.

Contrast two perspectives on Saudi women's right to drive, weighing progress and cultural context. Acknowledge Western criticisms alongside debates on racial minority treatment and gun laws.

Explore vocabulary related to Saudi women driving, including decree, clergyman, testament, issue, license, and approval, with examples from 2018 policy changes on driving.

Join Mavis and Alex in a Saudi women driving conversation, exploring how women can obtain licenses and participate more in Saudi Arabia's economy.

Discover how a Saudi Arabia decree allows women to drive without approval from male relatives, with clerics supporting the change, seen as a step in the right direction.

Practice speaking through current events prompts about Saudi women driving, using examples from history and daily life to respond with target words like testament, issue, approval, decreased, and clergyman.

Conclude the Saudi women driving unit with a vocabulary quiz that asks you to identify the defined word from this section and review key terms.

Explore how scientists used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit a disease-carrying gene in human embryos via in vitro fertilization, discussing disease prevention and potential uses of embryo gene editing.

Explore the two sides of embryo gene editing and its long-term uncertainties. Discuss hopes for healthier babies, potential attribute selection, and concerns about cost, access, and governance.

Explore embryo gene fix vocabulary through practical terms like edit genes safely, defect, preliminary, ethics, devastating, evolution, in vitro fertilization, and plague in contemporary contexts.

Practice a doctor–patient conversation about cystic fibrosis and family planning, with scenarios on conceiving a healthy baby and concerns about inheriting the disease.

Mavis seeks to have a baby without cystic fibrosis and considers joining a clinical trial editing the cystic fibrosis gene in embryos. Dr. Ikhwan reports very positive preliminary results.

Engage in speaking practice around bioethics, medical research, and genetic topics, from evolution and defects to in vitro fertilization, with scenarios about ethics, reports, plague, and pregnancy.

Engage in a vocabulary quiz on human embryo gene fix, match definitions to the associated word, and continue studying before moving to the next section.

Examine sex abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein as reported by The New York Times and The New Yorker, with dozens of accusers and his insistence on consent.

Examine the two sides of the Harvey Weinstein sex scandal, contrasting abuse by powerful men with the call for women to speak up and recognize both good and bad men.

Explore vocabulary related to sex abuse and misconduct, including abhorrent, advances, assault, battery, intimidate, manipulates, disgust, and harassment. Learn how these terms describe inappropriate actions in social and workplace contexts.

Practice a workplace sexual harassment dialogue between Alex and Sue, reporting harassment by a manager, and reviewing examples like advances, comments on clothing, and hotel room invites.

Examine sexual harassment by a manager, uncover manipulation and intimidation, and learn to document evidence and report to human resources.

Practice speaking about current events through dialogues, using key vocabulary such as disgust, harassment, manipulate, intimidate, assault, and report to the police to respond to challenging situations.

Engage in the quiz portion to match each word with its definition and say the word the definition describes.

Examine whether the U.S. government acts as spy or protector as it amends the Privacy Act to collect immigrants' social media and monitor relatives and doctors.

Explore the debate on whether the government should monitor social media to protect against terrorism or invade privacy, weighing warrants, immigrant surveillance, and the balance between security and privacy.

Explore essential vocabulary for us government context, including handle, alias, resident, monitor, institution, implement, practical, and commercial. Apply these terms to current events.

Follow a visa interview at the U.S. embassy as social media activity influences eligibility. The drama illustrates tracking immigrants online and identifying suspicious posts.

Discuss how a government program monitors immigrants' social media to identify suspicious individuals and why Alex cannot return to the United States.

Engage in practical speaking practice, using words like handle, alias, monitor, and implement to respond to scenarios about privacy, workplace policy, the commercial district, and resident discounts in current events.

Finish the vocabulary quiz on government terms, study each word’s definition, and reinforce current-events language as you complete this section on spy or protector concepts.