Watch today's show at grouper or YouTube.
Introduction
Hi, I’m Sarah and this is The Daily English Show.
Harry Potter is in the news today. And the conversation is also from a Harry Potter book. This conversation is an excellent one to practice sarcasm.
Some people say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. And it can be overused at times I guess. But I think there’s a definite place for sarcasm in this world. And I’m a fairly big user.
So Harry Potter has a nasty cousin called Dudley. Dudley is a greedy, stupid, mean bully and he often picks on Harry. And on Harry’s birthday Dudley decides to be mean to him. He says: “I know what day it is”.
He means Harry’s birthday and Harry knows this too – but Harry decides to be sarcastic because he knows that Dudley is going to say something nasty next.
So Harry says: “Well done. You’ve finally learned the days of the week.”
So this “Well done” is sarcastic. You can tell sarcasm from the tone or from the context.
Next time you’re watching an English movie, try and identify some sarcasm.
And you can try it out yourself. I recommend trying it out on some good friends or family. Perhaps ... not recommended for strangers.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora. In Stick News today, researches in England and the United States think they can make an invisibility cloak like Harry Potter’s.
Harry Potter is a fictional character created by J.K.Rowling. In the first Harry Potter book, Harry gets an invisibility cloak for Christmas.
There are Harry Potter fans worldwide. Including this group of scientists from England and the United States.
They loved Harry Potter so much they decided they wanted an invisibility cloak like Harry’s.
But since no such cloak exists – they decided to make one.
The scientists haven’t said how they are planning to use the cloak. It is understood all of the group are too old to be admitted to Hogwarts.
And the American military has supported the research. They think a few invisibility cloaks may be useful during their next overseas invasion.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 31st of May.
Kia Ora.
conversations with sarah
# 38 How come you haven’t got any cards?
This conversation is from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K.Rowling
Harry Potter’s nasty cousin Dudley starts hassling Harry Potter on his birthday. Harry pretends to do magic to scare Dudley.
Step 1: Repeat Harry’s lines.
Step 2: Read Harry’s lines on the screen and talk to Sarah.
Dudley I know what day it is.
Harry What?
Dudley I know what day it is.
Harry Well done. So you’ve finally learned the days of the week.
Dudley Today’s your birthday. How come you haven’t got any cards? Haven’t you even got any friends at that freak place?
Harry Better not let your mum hear you talking about my school.
Dudley Why’re you staring at that hedge?
Harry I’m trying to decide what would be the best spell to set it on fire.
Dudley You c-can’t – Dad told you you’re not to do m-magic – he said he’ll chuck you out of the house – and you haven’t got anywhere else to you – you haven’t got any friends to take you -
Harry Jiggery pokery! Hocus pocus ... squiggly wiggly ...
Dudley MUUUUUUM! MUUUUM! He’s doing you know what!
Notes:
The conversation is on page 12 of my book.
I accidentally said "which" instead of "what"... In the book it is: "I'm trying to decide what ...)
The music on today's show is by Philharmonia Baroque from San Francisco, United States.
The track is from the album Beethoven Symphonies No 3 Eroica and No 8.
This music was used with permission from magnatune.com
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