Image copyright: pixabay.com
Hi, OLS-ers! :D
Over the weekend, OLS celebrated the one-year anniversary of its relaunching! That’s right, friends, OLS version 2.0 went live on 1 July 2022 and since then, we’ve had a whole year of language learning, culture exploring, and friend-making to be proud of!
What are some of the highlights or favorite memories from using OLS during the year? How has it helped you? What questions do you have for us? We’d love to know, so tell us in the Ask the Community forum where there’s a dedicated discussion thread just for you!
Congratulations to Spain! #EU2023ES
Image copyright: EU Council
More great news happened on the 1st of July!
Congratulations to our Spanish community members! Spain has taken over the rotating presidency of the EU Council. The theme is, “Europe, closer” which is Spain’s message of unity and hope while it leads Europe for the next six months.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will be at the helm. Get to know him and his missions here. English transcript and subtitles are available.
President Sanchez is now responsible for driving forward the Council's work on EU legislation, ensuring the continuity of the EU agenda, orderly legislative processes and cooperation among member states. To do this, he, like all past and future presidents, must act as an honest and neutral broker.
The two main tasks of the office of the presidency are:
1. Planning and chairing meetings in the Council and its preparatory bodies.
2. Representing the Council in relations with the other EU institutions.
We thank President Van der Leyen, of Sweden, for her service in this role over the last six months!
To learn more about the EU Council and to see if your country will be the next to serve as president, visit their website. There's a lovely, short video there too. :)
Good luck, President Sanchez!
International Day of Jokes
Image copyright: pixabay.com
Who knew that July 1st would be filled with so many momentous events, right?! But did you know July 1st is also the International Day of Jokes?
The origins of this day aren’t completely known; but what is clear is that we all love to smile, laugh and be in good spirits. A little joke, a simple poem or even a riddle can brighten our moods.
Watching comedic movies in French and Italian has been one of the best motivators for me to keep up with my language
learning. I want to be “in on” the jokes too, so my brain is highly
activated to pick up clues from the visual contexts when I can’t understand every
word. What about you? Do you watch funny movies in your new language?
While it’s true that sometimes humor is cultural and country-specific, and you may not ‘get’ some of the references, it creates desire and sparks curiosity to learn more about the country and its culture.
Once you start laughing at jokes in your target language, you know that you’re really advancing in the language!
So, what are some of your favorite jokes? Did you tell any
jokes over the weekend in celebration of International Joke Day? Tell us some of your favorites in the Practice Your English forum. :D