My 2007 was not entirely bad actually. Lots of working, lots of surfing. Ah, a little bit of pain, ah you know as they say, no pain, no gain. It’s all good. A lot of fun.
It was very good. Good times.
It was very good, thank you.
Outstanding. Yeah, absolutely outstanding. Couldn’t be better.
2007年は、まあ良い年でした。 2007 was alright.
仕事が忙しい年でした。 It was a busy year at work.
スゲー良かったよ。 It was wicked.
すごい波瀾万丈でした。 A lot happened this year.
What was the highlight of 2007?
やっぱりハイエースのカギをアンヌプリスロープに置いてきたことです。 It would have to be leaving my Hiace keys on the slopes at Annupuri.
享年レッスンしたお客さまがまたニセコに帰ってきてくれて、また私を指名してレッスンを受けていただいたことです。 Customers who took my lessons last year returning to Niseko and asking to take my lessons again.
無事に、ケガもあったけど、また貧乏ながら楽しく過ごしたことが最高に良かったと思います。 I was injured, but, although I'm poor I'm enjoying life, so it was an excellent year.
music
artist: Chenard Walcker track: Auld Lang Syne from: la Goutte d'Or, Paris, France download the song here (song 21) artist site
Sunday Kitchen #75 Toshikoshi Soba Today I made some toshikoshi soba. It’s a day early, but, whatever. I cut up some ginger and cooked it in sesame oil with some crushed garlic and onions, chilli and some carrots. Then, I added some water, cooked it for a while, and added some soy sauce and dried mushrooms. Then I added the soba. I cooked it for 5 minutes, then threw in some nira. Then I transferred it to bowls and sprinkled some sesame seeds on the top.
music
artist: Kaffeinik track: The Auld Lang Syne Hop from: Udine, Italy Download song here (song 22) Artist site
"Auld Lang Syne" is a song by Robert Burns (1759–1796), although a similar poem by Robert Ayton (1570–1638), as well as older folk songs, use the same phrase, and may well have inspired Burns. In any case, it is one of the better-known songs in English-speaking countries, and it is often sung at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day. Like many other frequently sung songs, the melody is better remembered than the words, which are often sung incorrectly, and seldom in full. The song's (Scots) title may be translated into English literally as 'old long since', or more idiomatically 'long long ago', or 'days gone by'. In his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language, Matthew Fitt uses the phrase “In the days of auld lang syne” as the equivalent of “Once upon a time”. In Scots Syne is pronounced like the English word sign — IPA: [sain] — not [zain] as many people pronounce it.
So I guess it should be Auld Lang Syne not Syne.
Anyway, I think one of the most interesting things about this song is how the melody is used in so many different ways around the world.
For example, it used to be used for the national anthem in South Korea. In Italy it’s used by some football supporters singing songs about their team. And in Japan the melody is used for a song called Hotaru no hikari – and it’s also used in department stores at closing time.
Thank you very much to those people who have already signed up to be members of The Daily English Show. If you don’t know anything about that, you should watch show number 585.
If you become a member before the end of December, you have a chance to get one of two things. One of those things is an Acadia T-shirt or sweatshirt. This is the stuff that I got when I was there. I really like this red one. This one’s kind of boring, come to think of it, cause it’s just one little A ... and this one is probably my favourite– except that the first time I washed it the paint started flaking off, which is pretty dodgy. So I’m not sure if I’d recommend this one. Unless you like the paint coming off look. And I like this big A too, but it’s kind of cold in winter.
Anyway, you can choose one you like, they have a selection online.
The other thing is a copy of a magazine called SCEEN – which I don’t recommend for beginners. More for native English speakers, or advanced learners. And especially if you’re interested in things like animation, game art, djing, vjing, demoscene ... stuff like that.
I did some work on the magazine, so if you get a copy you’ll get to see a picture of me. I would hold it up and show you, but it’s only just been printed, so I haven’t got a copy yet – but I should hopefully be getting one soon. And if you become a TDES member you might get a copy too.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, according to a university study, Saint John is the happiest city in Canada.
A university professor in Canada examined almost 100,000 survey responses and came to the conclusion that the happiest city in Canada was Saint John. Saint John is a city in the province of New Brunswick with a population of 68,000 and a motto which is Latin for: O Fortunate Ones Whose Walls Are Now Rising. The professor said it's no coincidence that smaller communities scored higher than bigger ones. He said trusting others is important and those kind of connections are easier to make in smaller cities.
And that was Stick News for Friday 28th of December. Kia Ora.
How long have you been skating for? スケートはどれぐらいやってる？
About ten years. １０年ぐらい
Are you a local? 地元の人ですか？
No. 地元じゃないです
Where are you from? どこからですか？
I’m from Muroran. 室蘭から
Do you also ski or snowboard? スキーかスノボーやってる？
No. いや、やらないです
How often do you skate here? ここでどれぐらいスケートやってる？
About once every two months. 二ヶ月に一回ぐらい
How about in summer? 夏は？
I skate almost every day in Muroran in summer. 夏は地元でほぼ毎日
Do you have a park in Muroran? 地元にパークはある？
We made a skate park ourselves. 地元には手作りでみんなで作りました。
What’s that park called? そのパークの名前は？
Rainbow Skate Park. レインボー・スケートパーク
What do you think of the Loaf bowl? ローフ・ボウルはどう？
It’s difficult, so it’s fun. Loaf は難しくて楽しい
friday joke
I'd heard this joke before, but I came across it again here.
A boy is born with no body. No arms, no legs. He’s just a head. On his 18th birthday his dad takes him down to the pub for his first pint and he takes a sip and suddenly, woosh, out pops his torso. And everyone in the bar says, go on, take another sip, so he does and suddenly, woosh, out pop his two arms. Then he takes his third sip and suddenly, woosh, out pop his two legs. And he’s so excited that he runs out into the street, straight into the path of an oncoming truck and, bang, he’s killed instantly. And the barman says to his dad, “That boy should have quit while he was a head.”
conversations withsarah #362 Do you get it?
Step 1: Repeat Billy’s lines. Step 2: Read Billy’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Sarah Do you get it?
Billy What?
Sarah The joke.
Billy Oh. No, not really.
Sarah Well it’s a play on words – a head and ahead. Do you know what ahead means?
Billy In advance?
Sarah Yeah. And quit while you're ahead is an expression, which means you should stop while things are going well. So in this joke you could take that expression two ways – either the boy should have stopped while things were going well, or he should have stopped while he had a head and no body.
Billy Oh, I get it. It’s not that funny though.
Sarah No, it isn’t. I came across it for some reason when I was looking for end of year jokes and it was on a British TV program and it was really funny, just the way they said it.
credits bgm artist: Die Dicken Puppen track: Auld Lang Syne artist site
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Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.
EDIT: Thank you for pointing out the mistakes in this show's transcript, Joon!
The video I recommend today is the Queen’s speech.
As you know, you can watch it on YouTube (note: this used to be available on The Royal Channel, but has been made private) – and the best thing is, there is a transcript available, so you can read along while you’re listening to it.
So, what can we learn from the Queen’s English today?
First, she uses an idiom: to turn a blind eye.
This means: to pretend not to notice sth bad that is happening, so you do not have to do anything about it.
For example, if you notice your neighbours are abusing their children, you could do something about it, or you could turn a blind eye, just pretend that you don’t notice anything is happening – which is probably the easiest option – but probably not the best.
That’s what the queen is saying, when she’s talking about helping people, she says: it’s all too easy to turn a blind eye ... and leave it to the experts and professionals.
It’s all too easy means it’s very easy, and I think that structure is used when it’s not a good thing that’s easy.
She says: All the great religious teachings of the world press home the message that everyone has a responsibility to care for the vulnerable.
“Press home the message” means tell people the message strongly, or emphasize the message.
So, that’s all pretty serious ... as for the funny side ... I think it’s pretty funny when the photographer says: watch the birdie.
I’ve never heard anyone say that before when they take a photo ... maybe it’s a royal thing.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, a campaign has been launched in New Zealand which uses blame and guilt to encourage people to be SunSmart this summer.
The Health Sponsorship Council (HSC) is a social marketing agency of the New Zealand government that markets health messages. One of their brands is SunSmart. According to the SunSmart website: NZ has one of the highest melanoma death rates in the world. Over 300 New Zealanders die from skin cancer every year. This year, SunSmart’s campaign warns parents to protect their children from sunburn now – or put them at risk of deadly skin cancer later in life. The campaign includes a TV ad with images of sunburnt children and a woman in hospital – implying that your child could get cancer later in life. The ad says: A child’s sunburn now could lead to melanoma skin cancer later on in life. Never let your child get sunburnt.
And that was Stick News for Thursday 27th of December. Kia Ora.
THE SNOW REPORT at fire ICE
このアイスバー、いつから作り始めましたか？ When did you start making this ice bar?
このバーは今年に関しては12月になってから始めてます。 This year we started making the bar in December.
このアイスバーというプロジェクトは何年前からスタートしましたか？ When did you start making ice bars?
一応ですね３年前、あぁ２年前に一番最初はニセコでやって去年は札幌市の藻岩山の上で作りました。
Three, ah, two years ago we made the first ice bar here in Niseko. Then, last year, we made one on Moiwa Mountain in Sapporo.
活動拠点はどこになりますか？ Where do you usually work?
僕は夏は福岡で冬が北海道、夏夏休み、冬冬休みっていうスタイルで作品を作っています。
In summer, I’m in Fukuoka and in winter, in Hokkaido. So I make things in a hot place in the summer and a cold place in the winter.
夏はどんなことをやっていますか？ What do you do in summer?
そうですね、えーっと、色んなモノをプロデュースしたりとか空間を作ったりとか、まあ一応「造形作家」っていう仕事なんでジャンルにこだわらず色んなモノをやってますね。 Well, I produce many things, and design spaces, well I’m actually a sculptor but I don’t have one particular style, so I’m involved with many kinds of projects.
このアイスバーを作るのにスタッフは何名いますか？ How many people do you have making this bar?
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EDIT: Thank you to Joon for telling us about a mistake in this script!
I’m at Saison Club in Niseko. This is our first day here and we’re going to be here every Wednesday. Saison Club has a hotel, café, restaurant and this cool club which I’m sitting in now. They even have karaoke, pool and a piano. It’s very cool.
And we’re really happy to be able to film here because it means we have lots of interesting locations we can use for filming. Like, at a café, playing pool, inside a room.
First, I’m going to take you on a bit of a tour of this place, then I’m going to talk about a common mistake.
So this is what the outside looks like. I love this window. I like their logo too. Cool font. This is the road. Saison Club is on Route 66. This is a duck. Some snowmobiles. A machine for clearing snow. And this is the inside. They have some cool lounge areas. A fire. And a restaurant.
Wednesday Mistake
Mmm, this is a nice place ...
And the price is not expensive.x And it’s not too expensive. And the prices are pretty reasonable. And the prices aren’t too bad.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, this is Stick News. Yesterday, for the first time, the queen’s Christmas message was broadcast on YouTube.
Every year on Christmas day, The Royal Christmas Message is broadcast to the Commonwealth. The first Royal Christmas Message was issued by George the fifth in 1932. Apparently, the King was “originally hesitant about using the relatively untried medium of radio to issue a Christmas Message”. In 1957, the message was televised. That year, the queen said, “That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us.” This year, fifty years later, the Queen’s message was broadcast on YouTube, on The Royal Channel, the official channel of the British Monarchy. In her speech, the queen talked about family, Jesus and war.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday 26th of December. Kia Ora.
THE SNOW REPORT at Niseko Weiss
Today KNF went snowboarding with some of the staff from Saison Club. They went to a place called Weiss which is one of the ski areas in Niseko. They did cat snowboarding, which means you get driven up the mountain on a thing called a cat, and then you snowboard down.
conversations withsarah #360 What are you going to sing?
Step 1: Repeat Simon’s lines. Step 2: Read Simon’s lines and talk to Sarah.
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To make a mashed potato Christmas tree, first make some mashed potatoes. Then cook some spinach with some garlic and olive oil. Then cut up a red pepper and cook it in some olive oil. Make the Christmas tree. Add the spinach to make the tree green. Then decorate the tree. Merry Christmas!
music
artist: Kevin MacLeod track: Jingle Bells artist site download the song here
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Under increasing pressure from the abolitionist movement, the United Kingdom outlawed the slave trade (1807) and soon began enforcing this principle on other nations. United Kingdom
More recent pop acts, including The Smiths, Oasis and the Spice Girls, have ensured the continuation of the UK's massive contribution to popular music.
Riding a wave of publicity and hype, the group released their next singles, "Say You'll Be There" and "2 Become 1(the Christmas Number 1)", in October and December respectively. Christmas Popular Christmas themes include the promotion of goodwill and peace. Merry Christmas!
artist: Kevin MacLeod track: Jingle Bells artist site download the song here
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Wikipedia says part of the song: takes the form of a call and response between two Irish immigrants, lovers or ex-lovers, their youthful hopes crushed by alcoholism and drug addiction, reminiscing and bickering on Christmas Eve in New York City.
Anyway, for some reason it’s really popular – maybe just in the UK.
And this is why the song has been in the news:
On December 18, 2007, BBC Radio 1 made the decision to censor the words "faggot" and "slut" to 'avoid offence'.
You can read the whole story if you want, but basically a whole lot of people complained to the radio station, BBC Radio 1, and then they changed their mind.
So I thought that was quite interesting.
This is the verse that those words come from:
You’re a bum, you’re a punk
You’re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead
On a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last
Such uplifting lyrics, how dare the BBC try and kill the Christmas joy!
So, anyway, faggot and slut are both offensive words, so I wouldn’t recommend calling anyone those words. But faggot has other meanings too, like, a bundle of sticks bound together as fuel. Which makes sense when you scroll down and look at the origin:
ME: from OFr. Fagot, from Ital. fagotto, based on Gk phakelos ‘bundle’
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, this is Stick News. Yesterday two famous paintings were stolen from a museum in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Just after 5am yesterday thieves broke into the Sao Paulo Museum of Art and stole two paintings – one of a coffee picker and one by Picasso of a grumpy-looking woman. The lead police investigator on the case said it was, “a highly professional job, done by people who knew exactly what they were doing." He said, "Everything indicates they were sent to do it by some wealthy art lover for his own collection - someone who, although wealthy, was not rich enough to buy the paintings."
And that was Stick News for Friday 21st of December. Kia Ora.
Today we went to Loaf to ask some people about the snow but we ended up watching people skate instead. I don’t skate myself but it’s fun watching. The bowl is finished now too so people can skate around and around.
friday joke
What goes red white red white red white? Santa rolling down a hill.
conversations withsarah #359 What are you doing for Christmas?
Step 1: Repeat Tim’s lines. Step 2: Read Tim’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Tim What are you doing for Christmas?
Sarah Nothing much. Probably work, I’m pretty busy.
Tim How sad.
Sarah Mmm. I might go out at night I guess.
Tim That’s good. You can’t work all day, it’s Christmas!
Sarah Yeah. Actually I think I might write some emails to my family and friends to say Merry Christmas. Yeah, I think I’ll do that ... I haven’t emailed some of them for years.
Tim That’s a good idea.
notes
junk - (informal) heroin
faggot - one of the meanings of faggot is "a bundle of sticks bound together as fuel", but it isn't commonly used that way. In New Zealand faggot is usually used to mean "a stupid or unpleasant person" (slang, offensive)
qa bgm artist: Kevin MacLeod track: Jingle Bells artist site download the song here
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Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.
I think it was released in 2005, so you might have already seen it. But I just came across it the other day and I think it’s quite funny.
The joke is that it’s a stereotypical British Santa – who doesn’t usually live in a house like that - contrasted with elements of a stereotypical American hip-hop star, I guess.
And the language is part of the humour. Because Santa is mostly speaking in a certain style – mixed with a couple of words from a different style – so they seem out of place.
It’s funny because it’s usually one or the other.
You’d either say: Hello, I’m Santa Claus and welcome to my house. Or: Yo. Wassup. I’m Santa Claus and this is my crib.
Or something like that ... however they say it ...
For me, as a native English speaker, even though I don’t use words like crib myself, it’s easy to understand which words are out of place. But if you’re not a native English speaker, you might not get it.
Hello, I’m Santa Claus and welcome to my crib. This is the most important room in the house. This is my bedroom. This is where Santa shows “the real north pole”, if you know what I mean. I’ve got my 52 inch plasma on the wall here. Over there in the corner, I’ve got my closet. In here is where I keep my threads. I’ve got, ah, YSall? CK, Gucci, Vercase, Jean John? And somewhere in here, I’ve got one Madonna sent me. OK, that’s it, ah, Merry Christmas from myself and from everyone at One Post. Thank you so much for coming and letting me show you around my crib. But, ah, now you’ve really all got to go. Goodbye. Merry Christmas.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, a man in Nova Scotia, Canada has been given a 1000 dollar reward after he returned some bags of money that fell out of a truck.
Yesterday a Nova Scotia man was driving on a bridge when he saw bags of money fall on to the road in front of him. He said he had just driven through the toll booths on the bridge when the back door of a van in front of him opened up and two bags of money fell out. He pulled over and picked up the money. CBC quoted him as saying: "I just thought, 'Oh my geez, these people are going to get in trouble for losing that money.' " He caught up with the armoured vehicle, handed over the money, then drove away. "I never left my name at the scene or nothing,” he said. “We were blocking traffic and you're not going to have a chit-chat with an armoured vehicle." Before he left the truck's guards wrote down his number plate, then tracked him down to thank him and give him a reward.
And that was Stick News for Thursday 20th of December. Kia Ora.
THE SNOW REPORT
on Centre 4
with Karin
Where are you from? Hong Kong.
How often do you come to Niseko? Niseko, um, every, every Christmas holiday. One Christmas holiday, every year.
How many times have you been here? Third time.
How do you like Niseko powder? I love Niskeo powder, because, um, I usually ski, ah, maybe, near France and also Korea. But I prefer this powder show, it’s the best powder snow.
Are you a skier or a snowboarder? Skier.
How long have you been skiing? Um, maybe for ten years, but I stopped, ah, I stopped skiing for a few years because of health problems. And then now I’m totally recovered, so I ski again. So, let’s say now, recently I’ve been skiing like, ah, five years.
conversations withsarah #358 Did you ever believe in Santa?
Step 1: Repeat Jake’s lines. Step 2: Read Jake’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Jake Did you ever believe in Santa?
Sarah Probably, but I can’t remember ever believing ... so I think someone must have told me when I was quite young.
Jake So you didn’t put out Christmas stockings?
Sarah Yeah, we did. But we knew that it was our parents that did it.
Jake What kind of stuff did you get?
Sarah Inside the stocking?
Jake Yeah.
Sarah Um, there was always an orange, for some reason. And these chocolate coins, covered with gold tin foil and other random stuff like sparkly stickers ... stuff like that.
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The other day Yumi sent me a piece of writing and asked me to use it for mistake day. Thanks Yumi, that’s great. If anyone else would like me to find some mistakes in your writing and help us all learn from them, then please send me an email: thedailyenglishshow@gmail.com
I found a good mistake to talk about.
Yumi was writing about food. About a kind of food called obanzai ryori. And she went to an obanzai restaurant in Yokohama and she wrote:
It was so nice! The taste was all great and all are healthy.
I think it’s a common mistake, for Japanese students anyway, to say things like, the taste was good, because that’s how you say it in Japanese.
In English, you usually say, it tastes good, or, it tasted good, or, it tasted great, awful, gross ...
So you could say: It tasted great and it was healthy.
I have an announcement today.
I’ve mentioned before about wanting to find ways to generate funds to help The Daily English Show survive, and not just survive – but to flourish.
We have great plans for things we’d like to do with the show – including things like traveling and buying some equipment.
One of the ways we’re raising money is through sponsorship with a few businesses here in Niseko. We’ve found a couple of places that work really well for us – good for us because we get some interesting topics to cover and locations to use for filming – and good for them because they get some promotion by being on this excellent show.
And another thing, which I’ve been thinking about for a long time and ... we’re finally starting today, is .... The Daily English Show membership.
So people will be able to pay a yearly fee to be a member.
And what do they get for their money? Well, nothing much, really. Basically, it’s for people to show their support for the show. You don’t get access to any special shows or VIP rooms or anything.
A lot of language learning podcasts have the system of letting people listen to some of the podcasts for free – and if you want to listen to more or if you want the transcripts you have to pay x amount per month or year.
And whatever, good for them, but I don’t like that system and that’s why The Daily English Show isn’t like that. And it never will be. A very important part of The Daily English Show philosophy is that the show and the transcripts are available to everybody to use for free.
But we are going to do one extra thing for members, and that is give away presents every month. I partly got this idea from a radio station in New Zealand called bFM. They sell cards, called bCards, and if you have one of those cards you can ring up and win stuff off the radio or get discounts to events, stuff like that. So I really like that idea – everybody can listen to the radio, but for people who want to get a bit more involved and show their support for the station, they can buy one of these cards.
So back to The Daily English Show membership, I don’t expect everyone to be interested and I know that some people don’t have the extra money to spend even if they are interested. And that’s fine. But I know some people will be interested so I think it’s worth doing.
Membership is 3000 yen for one year and we’ll be giving away stuff once a month. And I have two things to give away in December – and it’s almost the end of December, so your chances are pretty good.
One is an Acadia t shirt or sweatshirt. And the other thing is a magazine - and I have a few copies of that to give away.
I’ll tell you a bit more about those things next week. But for now, if you’re interested in becoming a member of The Daily English Show, then please follow the link and find out more.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, an Italian court has ruled that a couple could not name their son Friday.
Fifteen months ago a baby boy was born in Italy. His parents decided to call him Friday. They registered his name at the City Hall. Reuters reports, about five months later, a city hall clerk brought the unusual name to the attention of a tribunal, which informed the couple of an administrative norm which bars parents from giving "ridiculous or shameful" first names to children. The parents were ordered to change the boy’s name but they refused. This month a court ruled the boy would be legally registered as Gregory because he was born on that saint's feast day. The boy’s mother said she was livid. "A court should not waste its time with things like this when there is so much more to worry about," she said. "My son was born Friday, baptised Friday, we will call him Friday but when he gets older he will have to sign his name Gregory."
And that was Stick News for Wednesday 19th of December. Kia Ora.
THE SNOW REPORT
near King #3
with Jongwon
Where are you from? I’m from Korea. South Korea.
Is this your first time in Niseko? Yeah, first time.
How many times have you been snowboarding here so far? Here, second time.
How do you like Niseko? Very soft, so after I fell down, I don’t hurt. So, very good.
Where do you usually go snowboarding in Korea? Ah, there is Muju resort, near Daejeon. So at there, at that time, last year, I went to Muju resort and play ... I got season, season pass. So I played very well in there.
conversations withsarah #357 Would you call your kid Friday?
Step 1: Repeat Chris’s lines. Step 2: Read Chris’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Chris Would you call your kid Friday?
Sarah Mmm, probably not, but it’s not that bad a name. And I like the idea of people having interesting names.
Chris Do you like your name?
Sarah Mmm, it’s alright. But it’s kind of boring.
Chris Would you rather be named after a fruit or something, like banana?
Sarah Mmm, maybe not banana.
Chris Did you used to call yourself different names when you were a kid?
Sarah Yeah, I tried to get people to call me Billy once, for some reason, but it never caught on.
notes
flourish v. to develop in a healthy or vigorous way
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The New Zealand Listener is one of the best magazines in New Zealand. Well, I think it is. And it’s probably my favourite magazine in the world.
I had a whole pile that my mum sent me in Tokyo, but I had to get rid of them when I moved here. But I kept a couple. This is one with Scribe on the front, he’s a famous New Zealand musician. And this is Helen Clark, the New Zealand prime minister.
OK, so it’s not like I haven’t been told my videos suck before and I don’t really mind if people write comments like: “boring!!!!!!!” or “I just wasted 5 minutes of my life”. You know, whatever.
But this is like my favorite magazine and it’s not exactly the kind of debut I was hoping for, so I thought it was worth a bit of a rant.
First let me read what they wrote. This article is about New Zealand YouTube. And when that was launched, one of The Daily English Show videos was featured on the NZ YouTube homepage. And this article is basically saying, the videos they chose sucked, YouTube editors suck, the usual stuff people whinge about.
Anyway here goes:
... the featured clips appear to be the result of an automated text search for the terms “NZ” and “New Zealand” in the title or accompanying information for the video. Thus, a clip from a Canadian community series demonstrating the proper means of baking brownies has been featured because, deep in her profile, the uploader lists her hometown as “the Coromandel, New Zealand”. While this same collection of boring and/or irrelevant clips sits unchanged on the home page, a rather large domestic news story has been unfolding.
Blah, blah, blah and it continues. Wow, it’s so impressive how many mistakes you can fit into one paragraph. Where do I begin?
Firstly, as you probably know, The Daily English Show is not a Canadian Community series. I know this says Acadia, but I don’t think it takes too long to figure out that The Daily English Show isn’t actually Canadian and because he’s a journalist you’d think he would spend at least a couple of minutes doing some research before he wrote the story.
Secondly, he says the videos appear to be the results of a search for New Zealand in the title or the video description. Then he says, thus my video was chosen because I have New Zealand in my profile. Um, that makes no sense. If the first part of his argument was true, then surely my video would have been chosen if I wrote New Zealand in the title or the description.
This guy that wrote this is quite famous in New Zealand and he’s supposed to be some kind of internet guru, so I don’t know why he would write that.
The fact of the matter is, I’m from New Zealand, and I’m probably one of the most, if not the most prolific New Zealander on YouTube – and The Daily English Show features quite a lot of New Zealand content. So I’m not at all surprised that they chose one of The Daily English Show videos to put on the New Zealand homepage.
Another thing the video definitely wasn’t trying to teach the “proper” way of making brownies ... no, that wasn’t the point.
I also think it’s quite ironic that he is accusing the YouTube staff of not doing enough research, when if he did more than about 5 minutes research, I don’t think he would have come up with these ridiculous conclusions.
And finally, I think it’s outrageous, that he is totally implying, that I’m not even from New Zealand.
“... deep in her profile, the uploader lists her hometown as “the Coromandel, New Zealand”.
Uh, why wouldn’t I write that?! That’s where I’m from. OK enough ranting for today. Time for the news.
STICK NEWS Kia Ora, in Stick News today, more than 15 thousand people in Samoa marched to parliament to protest the government’s plans to switch the road code from left hand drive to right hand drive. In Samoa, people now drive left hand drive cars on the right side of the road. But the government is planning to change the rules so that vehicles would drive on the left side of the road. Many people aren’t happy about the plans. And today’s march was Samoa's biggest protest march in five years. The speaker of the house spoke to the protesters. He thanked them for coming to Parliament, but said the Government could not give them an immediate answer. He said the government accepted the protest and asked the protesters to now let the government go through the proper procedures. “Wherever God leads us to we will go, it is the way to the future,” he said.
And that was Stick News for Tuesday 18th of December. Kia Ora.
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Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.
We have no guest today. So you’re stuck with me and the Texas armadillo. It’s actually quite hard to find guests every week – because half the people I ask say no and some people say “maybe later”, which means no, and some people “yes” and don’t show up ... which is worse than saying “no”.
Back on show 481 we had a guest from cyberspace – well I’m sure he actually exists in real life – but I’ve never actually met him. I just sent him the questions and he sent back a video with the answers. And that worked out really well, so I’m keen to do that again. So, if anyone wants to be a guest on The Daily English Show, please send me an email: thedailyenglishshow@gmail.com
About the survey, thank you so much to everyone who took the time to do that. I haven’t finished compiling all the data yet – but I have finished some of it. So I can tell you some things today.
The average age of the people who responded is 29. Which is interesting, that is exactly how old I am. The youngest person was 16 and the oldest was 48.
As for the countries where people live, the country with the highest percentage, by quite a lot was ... the United States. Which didn’t really surprise me, because when I check the country statistics for who accesses the site with the scripts, the US is usually the top country.
The top four countries were the US, Germany, Japan and the UK.
And there other countries were:
US 29% Germany 15% Japan 10% UK 6% Poland 4% Spain 4% Canada 4% Brazil 4% Italy 4% Netherlands 4% South Korea 2% Mexico 2% France 2% Austria 2% Sweden 2% Singapore 2% Columbia 2%
Those are the countries where people are living now. If it was the countries where people are from, then other countries would be included, like Hungary and Norway.
The thing that surprised me the most was the percentage of males and females. 83% male and 17% female.
Wow. I thought it would be a bit more even. So I guess that could mean that The Daily English Show has a lot of male viewers. Or it could mean that females can’t be bothered filling out surveys.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, a Japanese man was sentenced to a year in prison for posting a threatening message on an internet forum.
2channel (2ちゃんねる,) is a Japanese Internet forum, thought to be the largest Internet forum in the world. Wikipedia says: some people engage in hate speech on 2channel. And due to its massive size and anonymous posting, the forum is “littered with slander and defamation against public figures and institutions.” In December last year a woman was planning to give a speech at a lecture hall in Nagoya. But, before the speech a man posted a message on 2channel, declaring he would set fire to the venue. According to Kyodo news, the message caused the cancellation of the speech. The man who posted the message was taken to court. He pleaded not guilty, saying he had no intention of harming the woman and posted the message merely to express criticism of her. On Friday he was sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for four years.
And that was Stick News for Monday 17th of December. Kia Ora.
THE SNOW REPORT On Hanazono #3
with Kip
Where are you from? I’m from Oregon, in the United States.
What’s your job in Niseko? Ah, snowboard instructor.
How many times have you come here? This is my second year and hopefully many more.
Are you a skier or a snowboarder? I actually do both. Snowboard, teach snowboarding but I do a lot of skiing in the backcountry.
Is it difficult to teach beginners? It’s pretty difficult to teach beginners. Lots of Australians, ah, come from a warm area where there’s not a lot of snow. So they ... it takes a little bit of practice.
In the US, which mountain do you usually go to? Ah, I live by a little mountain called Anthony Lakes in eastern Oregon.
How would you describe it? Ah, quite similar to this. Nice dry snow, lots of good tree runs. Friendly people. Nice place.
What do you think of Niseko? I really like it. Ah, I think the people are friendly. It’s a nice place to go. There’s some good lines, nice trees. Good snow.
conversations withsarah #355 What’s wrong with my hat?
Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines. Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to the Armadillo.
Sarah So, um, why are you wearing a hat?
Armadillo What’s wrong with my hat?
Sarah Nothing. I was just wondering ...
Armadillo You don’t like it?
Sarah No, no, no, I like it. It’s cool.
Armadillo Really?
Sarah Yeah. I was just wondering because all of the other Armadillos I saw on YouTube weren’t wearing hats, that’s all.
Armadillo You want me to be like the other Armadillos?
Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.
Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.
The Daily English Show is the world's first daily online English language show. Produced by studio tdes and presented by Sarah - a New Zealander currently based in Auckland, New Zealand.
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