Live and Learn English with Jean Lee

BUZZ WORDS from last week (March 14-20, 2026) Do you work on vocabulary by textbooks? Following the world news updates makes one good way for you to improve vocabulary.   1.    strait : (noun) a narrow channel joining two larger bodies of water   The ongoing military conflict with Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to most of its usual traffic, including tankers that carry about 20 percent of the world’s oil from the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. The U.S. President Trump has urged European countries, South Korea, and China to send warships to protect the narrow waterway from Iranian attacks, but so far foreign nations have declined to do so.   2.    abysmal : (adjective) exceptionally bad or displeasing           A remake of the film War of the Worlds was widely panned as    abysmal .   3.    aristocrat : (noun) a member of the nobility      ...

Every answer is a three-syllable word, name, or phrase in which every syllable starts with "B." Ex. Possible result of an infested mattress    -->   B ED B UG B ITE   1. Largeish insect with a stinger   2. Implement for a slugger   3. Luxurious soak in a tub   4. Some soft-colored eyes, informally   5. Period of very high birthrates   6. Religious part of the country, informally   7. Large, lovable oaf   8. Singer/rapper with the 1988 #1 hit "My Prerogative" (once married to Whitney Houston)   9. Companion of Yogi in Hanna-Barbera cartoons   10. Including every single detail, as an account of an argument   11. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera   Answer Keys      1.   B um b le b ee     2.   B ase b all b at     3.   B u bb le b ath     4.   B a b y b lue       5.   ...

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE Do you take delight in watching films or listening to pop music? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.   #25. The Illiterate (authored by Ágota Kristóf) The Illiterate is a memoir by Hungarian-Swiss writer Ágota Kristóf, composed of stark, concise vignettes that recount her childhood in Hungary, her flight to Switzerland in 1956, and her difficult adjustment to a new life and language. In particular, she grapples with French, which she regards as an “enemy language” that endangers her native tongue. The work reflects on themes of displacement, loss, and the enduring influence of language.   "It is here that my battle to conquer this language begins, a long and arduous battle that will last my entire life. I have spoken French for mor...

  AI and Me by Jean J. Lee   In the blink of an eye AI and I see eye to eye My expectations for all get high Finding myself deceived in illusions that belie   Fast and convenient life is dry Missing out on raw feelings passing by Losing my righteous doubt to deny Easily to accept and comply   I take a moment to pry and purposefully look awry So that AI cannot defy and later on, I won't get to sigh   I know it'd be difficult to try to be completely away from AI But as long as I keep asking why My perspectives will never die

 LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE Do you take delight in watching films or listening to pop music? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.   #24. Matter of Time (Documentary Film, 2025) Matter of Time (2025) is a documentary that captures Eddie Vedder’s deeply moving benefit concert in Seattle, alongside the efforts of the EB Research Partnership to find a cure for Epidermolysis Bullosa. The film presents the heartbreaking realities faced by those living with EB—many of them young children—and reveals the profound toll the disease takes on both patients and their families in the absence of an effective treatment.   “For me, my approach to life would be to live in each moment to the fullest and not dwell on the things that you can’t change.” ð   This is a q...

LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE Do you take delight in watching films or listening to pop music? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.   #23. Mrs. Kennedy and Me (authored by Clint Hill, 2012) The book was written by Secret Service agent Clint Hill, who was tasked with protecting the highly private First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy from 1960 through the period following Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 election. He recounts those years, from the most captivating experiences to the most tragic day, not only as a devoted guardian of the White House’s most prominent woman but also as her trusted confidant.   “She was standing there, still in her pink suit. Less than six hours earlier, I had seen her in Room 850 at the Hotel Texas, putting on the finishing touches – the hat,...