I’m very happy that I can mark the 50th monthly installment in this column with a few words about Sanaz Toossi’s Pulitzer Prize winning play “English.” As I’ve mentioned a few times in this space, this play is set entirely in a TOEFL classroom in Iran. It is a very sparse play, but is a touching exploration of what it means to learn a language and to be able to (or not able to) express ourselves when we desire to do so. It is also quite funny at times. Highly recommended!
This month, while flying home from India, I plowed through the final four “New Yorker” magazines in my collection. A few articles stood out.
- First up, in the April 24 & May 1 2023 issue I read “How Much Can Duolingo Teach Us?” Of course this one is worth mentioning here! The article briefly mentions the Duolingo English Test and the TOEFL Test!
- Next, in the May 15, 2023 issue I read “Buzzfeed, Gawker and the Casualties of the Traffic Wars” about what it dubs “publishing in the age of web traffic.”
- Moving along, in the May 22, 2023 issue I liked “Earth League International Hunts the Hunters,” about an anti-poaching organization. Very cloak-and-dagger stuff.
- Finally, in the May 29, 203 issue I read “Two Weeks at the Front in Ukraine.” I don’t usually include reporting from the war in this column. I liked this article, though, as this sort of embedded reporting that tells personal stories seems the best we can do in an era where accurate “big picture” reporting seems impossible to find.
More links in a month!
