Today I am going to try an American accent. I chose a video by a girl from Texas.
She mostly sings on YouTube – but this video is an introduction video about herself. I think it’s a good one to study to practice introducing yourself.
A couple of interesting language points from the video ... she says anyways with an s – but in New Zealand English there’s no s ... it’s just anyway. She also says “years old” quite often– I have a feeling that might be an American thing – but I’m not exactly sure. But anyway, I don’t usually say the “years old” ... I would just say I’m 28.
So now I’m going to try a Texan, American accent. Wish me luck.
From 101: So, um, anyways, I am 19 years old. I’m a music major. Um. I live in Saxy, Texas, a small town, ah, I love to sing. I love music. I love to write. I love to act like I can play the piano. I wanna learn how to play the guitar. Um. I have tons of brothers and sisters. Um. I am ... taken at the moment. Um. I don’t know, ah, I have new hair, it’s red and I know it’s different, but that’s just me. Um, I don’t know what else? I mean, I , I like to have fun, ah, I like to laugh, um, I don’t know, if you want to know anything else you can just ask, cause I really don’t know what else to say, I think I said everything. My birthday is January 6th 2007. And I’m very excited because I’ll be turning 20 years old and that is one year away from 21. So, I’m, I am excited. I work at Sonic. I been there for 7 months. And um, it’s OK, I just want a better job that pays more.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora, this is Stick News. Today a man met his biological father for the first time since he was separated from his parents 25 years ago.
25 years ago in South Korea a three-year-old boy was walking with his mother in a market. For some reason the boy disappeared. For the next few days the parents looked for their son in many local orphanages – but they couldn’t find him. He ended up being adopted by an American couple who were ski instructors from Colorado. They called him Toby. At the Olympics last year, Toby won a medal for skiing. Following the media attention, many parents in South Korea came forward to claim Toby was their child. Tests were needed to confirm who were the real biological parents. Today Toby met his South Korean father for the first time in 25 years.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday 28th of February. Kia Ora.
conversations withsarah #183 No paparazzi?
Step 1: Repeat Kim’s lines. Step 2: Read Kim’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Kim Has your life changed after being featured on YouTube?
Sarah Um, no.
Kim No paparazzi?
Sarah No. Very sad.
Kim No death threats in the comments?
Sarah No. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be actually.
Kim Were most of the comments positive?
Sarah Yeah, they were actually. There were some negative comments ... but not as many as I thought there would be.
Kim What did the negative comments say?
Sarah Mostly just that it was boring. Which is kind of true ... I don’t think it was the most interesting video I ever made, that’s for sure.
Hi I’m Sarah and this is the 300th show of The Daily English Show. On Saturday we had a party here to celebrate. And it was a lot of fun. One great thing was that it coincided with Eri and Akira and Kazuki’s visit from Tokyo. Eri is a very dedicated Daily English Show viewer. She’s watched almost all of the shows I think. So that’s awesome. And Mike also came. Mike is the very first person that I actually met through The Daily English Show. He’s a snowboard instructor from Scotland. And before he came to Niseko he was looking on the internet for videos about Niseko and he came across The Daily English Show. And he ended up getting in touch and we met and it turns out he’s a really cool guy. So, the party was really good and then, now, on the day of the 300th show, it happens to coincide with the first time The Daily English Show has been featured on the front page of YouTube.
So that’s cool. A nice 300th show present. So, I’m really happy about that. YouTube is such a popular site that hopefully it will mean that a lot more people can find out about The Daily English Show. I’ve already had a couple of emails from people saying nice things like they were happy they found it and they wished they found it earlier. So I’d like to thank YouTube for that.
And I’d also like to thank grouper. Grouper is the first website that I started uploading The Daily English Show to. And they quite often feature The Daily English Show on their front page, which is great, I really appreciate that. And more recently some Japanese sites, like watchme.tv They often feature The Daily English Show videos under their recommended video section. And also zoome. For the last couple of weeks, The Daily English Show channel has been on their front page. So, thank you.
And I’d like to thank all the people that have watched the videos and all the people that have sent me nice emails and left comments under the videos. And thank you to the people that have made me video resoponses. Amazingly some people have been watching since right at the beginning or almost the beginning. So, wow, thank you. And I’d like knf for his great support. And I’d like to thank the academy.
Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show. People often ask me how they can improve their pronunciation and fluency. One idea I have is to watch a video on the internet and try and copy what they are saying. You can start by stopping the video after each sentence and repeating what they say and then work up to leaving the video playing and speaking at the same time as them. I’m going to do this to show you what I mean. This week I’m going to choose a different video every day and I’m going to try and copy their accent. I’m going to choose women – but if you are guy you should do it with guys. And I’m going to try and copy a different accent every time. But you can choose – say if you really want to sound like an American for example then choose someone who you think sounds nice and try and copy how they speak. And don’t worry if it doesn’t sound perfect – because it won’t – I’m going to try it now and it definitely won’t sound perfect – but that’s not the pint. Just give it a go and it will definitely help your English. I chose a video today by an English girl. I think it’s a really funny story – and I also think this video is a really good example of how to use filler words like you know, like, um.
Hi, hello guys, um OK, check this out, yeah, I went up to the shops yesterday, um, to get some fruits, yeah. So, I go up to the till and ... there’s this lady standing in front of me, yeah, middle aged lady, probably late 30s or something like that, or probably early 40s, I don’t know. But you know she’s standing in front of me to like get her things, you know, paid for and ... stuff and I’m just like there holding my ... toiletries. And you know just standing behind her. And then, all of a sudden I sort of like smell something really, really disgusting ... seriously this lady farted, I mean, she really, she farted in my face. You know literally, I was just standing ... And it smelt so bad. And seriously, because I was like the only person standing there, yeah, it was like, you know there was no other person there to smell what I was just smelling. Because it actually turned my stomach, you know, I had like really upset stomach because it was so disgusting, you know, she, she could of as, she could of as well just like sat on my face and farted. That was just how it felt. And she didn’t just, she didn’t bother, she just, she just went up straight to the till and you know just put her card in and paid for whatever she bought and that was it ... you know, it was horrible, seriously. I mean, I just, I just, it’s good to fart yeah, but don’t fart in someone’s face.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. Martin Scorsese won his first Oscar yesterday. It was the eighth time he has been nominated.
Martin Scorcese was born in New York in 1942. He studied film at university in New York and in 1967 made his first feature-length film. Since then he has directed dozens of movies and has been married 5 times. Before this year he was nominated for an Oscar for directing five times – and he never won. Yesterday, he finally won.
And that was Stick News for Monday the 26th of February. Kia Ora.
conversations withsarah #182 Did you watch the Oscars?
Step 1: Repeat Kate’s lines. Step 2: Read Kate’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Kate Did you watch the Oscars?
Sarah No, we don’t have a TV.
Kate Do you normally watch it?
Sarah Yeah, if I have the chance. I quite like watching it. I did watch some of the clips on the internet though ... and saw some of the photos.
Kate What did you think of the dresses?
Sarah I didn’t really like any of them that much.
Kate If you had to choose one ... ?
Sarah Of the ones that I saw, maybe Jennifer Lopez’s dress. That was pretty cool. With the, like, sparkly things around here.
6. SweetLiss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a9TogjSJ68 So, basically, I never thought I’d be doing a video blog. Because, in the beginning, um, I thought it was cheesy. But now I really think I like it. And, I’m going to do one anyway, so ...
7. armywife122703 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aOgPTfw5G4 OK, so, this is my first video blog. I’ve ... not really planned anything ... but, um, I just really wanted something to put on YouTube other than little family videos.
10. madfudge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkIFxuxRXuw Hello, I’m Sandy and this is gonna be my first video blog. I just thought I’d try it. I’ve been on YouTube for a very long time now and I’ve always wanted to make one.
13. kyles666 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXhCwEhgJFw Today is the 3rd of August 2006. It’s half nine in the morning. I’ve just got out of bed, so I’ve got my dressing gown on. It’s my first video blog. First video blog. First, first video blog.
21. imaginaryjenn89 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0bSw0ZUWIQ This is my first time video blogging. I was intrigued by it. Actually, I only just started watching video blogs a few days ago because I was using YouTube and looking for music videos and stuff ... I don’t even know what I was doing. But, I found a few that were really interesting, um ...
28. canadiangeek http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlU9c9YRLy0 Hi YouTube, my name is Chris, ah, also known as canadiangeek here on YouTube. Ah, this is my first official vlog, blog, web log ... whatever you want to call it. I personally call it a vlog or a video log.
Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show. Tomorrow night we’re having a party to celebrate the 300th show of The Daily English Show.
Back last month, I said that I might ask Heineken to sponsor the event ... and I did – I emailed them. And they replied ... actually the head of Heineken in Japan replied and he asked me to send more information about the event. And I did – I sent a two page proposal of my great plan to have their product featured on one of the best shows on the internet. And they never replied – so it guess it was a no. Oh well.
Anyway ... the party is tomorrow night and you should come if you live in NIseko. I know that at least 2 people who live here watch the The Daily English show – because I’ve had emails form them. So that’s at least 2 people that might be coming. I tell you what man, Heineken will be kicking themselves to have missed this great opportunity.
The video I recommend watching today is called The Spelling Bee. A spelling bee is a spelling competition – I think they’re quite popular in America. They’re not so common in New Zealand ... but I think we had one once at my primary school for a fundraiser. Anyway, in this video, the word they ask how to spell is sphincter. A sphincter is a muscle in the body. It’s hard to spell and it’s quite a funny word – but you don’t need to remember it ... I can’t think how it would be useful in a conversation.
So this video gives you a bit of an idea of what a spelling bee is like ... kind of ... and I just think it’s funny.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora, in Stick News today, a popular New Zealand-made TV advertisement has been banned in Australia because people think it might cause car accidents.
Last year Hyundai promoted one of their cars with a TV ad featuring two toddlers driving to the beach for a surf. The boy toddler gets out of his cot, grabs the keys and starts driving. He picks up a girl toddler who is hitchhiking, they then go to the beach and he has a surf. The ad was popular in New Zealand and was even voted New Zealand’s favourite TV ad. 71 people complained to New Zealand’s Advertising Standards Complaints Board about the underage driving in the ad. In September 2006, the complaints were dismissed, because the board said that the commercial was clearly fantasy and was not shown during children’s programmes. But it was a different story across the Tasman. The Advertising Standards Board in Australia received more than 80 complaints and they decided to ban the ad. They said: “The Board certainly acknowledged that the notion of a toddler driving a car was unrealistic and fanciful, but under the Advertising for Motor Vehicles Voluntary Code of Practice, fantasy cannot be used when it contradicts, circumvents or undermines the Code.” “Many of the complaints were from parents concerned that the advertisement would encourage copy-cat behaviour in young children and might lead to accidents.”
And that was Stick News for Friday 23rd of February. Kia Ora.
the snow report
Kazuki made a cave today. It’s very cool.
conversations withsarah #181 Do you think the ad should be banned?
Step 1: Repeat Maki’s lines. Step 2: Read Maki’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Maki Do you think the ad should be banned?
Sarah I don’t really see how it could cause copy-cat behaviour.
Maki What does copy-cat behaviour mean?
Sarah It means they think toddlers could copy the ad.
Maki They would try to drive a car? But ... how?
Sarah Exactly. I don’t know how they would put the keys in the lock for a start.
Maki And their feet can’t reach the pedals.
Sarah Yeah. Still ... I guess if they were already in the car they could climb over the seat and turn the key and that could cause an accident.
Maki But the parents should make sure the car is safe if they leave the kids in there.
In this video she asks the question: If you could pick 3 people that you would have a conversation with – whether it be past, present, future, living or deceased - who would those 3 people be?
And her answers are: her maternal grandmother, the first female president of the United States and her mother’s real father.
I think if you’re studying English it could be a good idea to memorise a few questions like this… because it can be hard to think of ways to start a conversation.
And I don’t think the answers are necessarily that important – but it could start an interesting conversation because you can ask people why they chose the people that they chose.
As for me if someone asked me today I think I would choose: Hitler, George Bush, and Kim Jong-il.
I don’t want to chose dead friends or family because ... I don’t really have anything to say to them – I mean I enjoyed their company when they were alive and I miss them now that they are dead – but there’s nothing I really forgot to say to anyone.
There are lot of famous people whose work I like ... like actors, directors, authors ... and it would be exciting to meet them – but I don’t thing I have anything to say to them either.
So if I met Hitler I would ask him if he had any advice for me as to what I could do to shop someone like him from doing what he did. When I talk to George Bush I think I will try and convince him to become a pacifist. And I’d like to talk to Kim Jong-il because I’d like to ask him about his philosophies and way of thinking. And what he thought about the possibility of letting North Koreans travel to other countries and use the internet and that kind of thing.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora, in Stick News today, a TV show host has decided to not make jokes about Britney Spears because he says she is vulnerable. Craig Ferguson is the host of an American TV show called The Late Late Show. Usually he makes many jokes about American celebrities. But on Monday he announced he wouldn’t make any jokes about Britney Spears in the near future. He said comedy should be about attacking the powerful for example politicians, members of the Trump family, and blowhards. He said comedians shouldn't attack the vulnerable. Craig also announced that he was an alcoholic and stopped drinking 15 years ago. He said he didn’t know if Britney Spears was an alcoholic – but that he thought she needed help. Britney Spears was reported to have checked in an out of rehab a few times recently. And that was Stick News for Thursday 22nd of February. Kia Ora.
conversations withsarah #180 Have you seen The Late Late Show?
Step 1: Repeat Tim’s lines. Step 2: Read Tim’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Tim Have you seen The Late Late Show?
Sarah Only clips of it on YouTube.
Tim What’s it like?
Sarah It’s a comedy show – basically one guy making lots of jokes.
Tim Is it funny?
Sarah Some of them I’ve seen were kind of funny ... but nothing to write home about.
Tim Nothing to what?
Sarah Nothing to write home about. It’s an idiom. It means I don’t think it’s that good.
Today I recommend watching a video by a New Zealand guy called John Key. John Key is a politician. He’s the leader of the National Party. The National Party isn’t in government at the moment. So John Key’s title is the leader of the opposition. So he wants to be the prime minister.
And a couple of months ago he started video blogging on YouTube. Which I think is a great idea. It gives people a chance to hear his policies, ideas, plans and people can give feedback via comments or video responses.
So I thought I’d make a video response and tell him what I thought of his videos. So, hi John. I quite liked your first video, which was: 2 minutes with John Key I saw that just after you put it up a couple of months ago. And I like the style – I think you came across pretty well – friendly, relaxed and positive. But today I went back to your channel and I saw your latest one which was John Key - In the House ... and I wasn’t so impressed with that one.
Firstly, I think it was kind of lacking substance. I don’t think there is anything wrong with criticizing Helen Clark’s speech – because that was the point - you were giving a response. But it seemed like you were too concerned with trivial things like she used one word 34 times or her speech was 30 minutes instead of an hour. I would have more preferred specific analysis of the Labour Party’s policies and why exactly you don’t thing they are working and how you hope to change it.
I thought some of your points were illogical and I didn’t think talking about the murdered woman was appropriate. You seemed to be using her death to get political points which I don’t think was fair. It think that just because she worked in the sex industry and she took illegal drugs and she had children when she was young – that doesn’t mean she is a different class of person – she was just a human just like you and me and sadly she died.
And if when she was alive you wanted to encourage her to pursue a different career or partake in more healthy recreational activities then I don’t think calling her “underclass” would have helped her at all.
I know you have a strong financial background – which is great – but I also hope that you think more carefully about the power of language too. And I hope you think a bit more carefully about what effect labeling people as underclass will have on them.
Also I think your presentation needs work. Even if I disagreed with everything that you said - I would be happy to listen to you if you spoke in a calm and clear way. The way you delivered your speech seemed like it was an end-of-year speech at a rugby club or a wedding or 21st speech – like you were more interested in making people laugh than saying anything intelligent. I think humour is important and effective when you’re making a speech – but maybe you said just a few too many jokes... Especially because you were talking about such serious things like child poverty. And yeah, thousands of kids in New Zealand don’t get an adequate diet – and it’s not funny. But you came across as kind of sadistic, like you were really enjoying saying those statistics. Actually, to be perfectly honest,it kind of sounded like you were drunk. I mean I don’t think you were but just your delivery made it sound like that – so yeah, maybe you could try calming down a bit, don’t move around so much, don’t say so many jokes. And … good luck!
STICK NEWS
Kia ora, this is Stick News. A man in Kyushu was arrested after stole an ipod and accidentally called the place where he stole it from to find out how to work it.
Last Friday a 23-year-old man went to a job interview at a second hand shop. While he was waiting for the interview he saw a jacket that he liked and decided to steal it. After the interview he went home and found there was an ipod in the jacket. He was pretty happy about this – but he didn’t know how to use it – so he rang a company to find out. After this call he got a call from the second hand shop telling him he didn’t get the job. He was still confused about the ipod so he decided to call the company back. Unfortunately for him he got the incoming and outgoing call histories confused and accidentally called back the second hand shop. He didn’t realize his mistake and explained he was ringing about how to use an ipod. When the employee realized his jacket was missing he put two and two together and the thief was arrested.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 21st of February. Kia Ora.
conversations withsarah #179 How old is John Key?
Step 1: Repeat Tim’s lines. Step 2: Read Tim’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Sarah How old is John Key?
Tim 45.
Sarah How long has he been leader of the National Party?
The video I recommend watching today is called Before and After and it’s by swisho. I recommend it because it’s good natural conversation involving two people.
The first half is a boyfriend and girlfriend looking into the camera talking about where they’re planning to go that night. And the second half is recorded after they come back – and they’re mostly talking about a TV program.
I have a couple of words to introduce.
Urine. That’s one of those words that is pronounced in different ways in different countries.
In the video he says urin and I say urine. Check it out and see if you can notice the difference.
Urine means: a pale yellowish fluid stored in the bladder and discharged through the urethra, consisting of excess water and substances removed from the blood by the kidneys.
Mmm I hope you’re not eating lunch or something right now.
Another thing to study is the way she uses like. She says: Yeah, pretty much everybody in there has been drunk for like 60 years straight.
In this sentence like means about.
She also says: If we don’t end up there we’re probably going to go to like the Lava Lounge.
In this case I think like means the same as somewhere like.
End up is a very common and useful phrasal verb. In this sentence it means: go.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. A German paragliding champion survived after being pulled into a storm that took her almost 10 thousand meters above sea level.
Paragliding is a sport in which a person glides through the air with a kind of parachute. The official world record for height is 4526 m. It was set by an English man in 1993. Last week two paragliders were pulled into a storm when paragliding in Australia. A 42-year-old Chinese man died but a 35-year-old German woman survived. She was pulled 9,940m above sea level. She passed out and flew while unconscious for more than half an hour. She then regained consciousness and landed 60km from where she took off. She suffered frostbite and blistering on her face and ears.
And that was Stick News for Tuesday the 20th of February. Kia Ora.
the snow report
This is Jonny snowboarding. Jonny is a snowboarder from New Zealand.
conversations withsarah #178 Where are we going?
Step 1: Repeat Colin’s lines. Step 2: Read Colin’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Krissy Um, where are we going?
Colin We’re going to The Paradise Lounge.
Krissy The Paradise Lounge, in Madison, Wisconsin.
Colin The best martinis this side of the Mississippi.
Krissy No. It smells like static electricity in there.
Colin And stale urine.
Krissy Yeah, pretty much everybody in there has, ah, been drunk for like 60 years straight.
Colin Pretty much.
Krissy And, ah, drinks are really cheap.
Colin Yep.
Krissy If we don’t end up there we’re probably going to go to like the Lava Lounge.
Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show. This week I’m going to introduce more videos that I recommend to study – for one reason or another.
There’s a guy called Culexor on YouTube and he has a lot of ranting videos. To rant is to speak or shout at length in a wild, impassioned way.
I quite like his rants. I like his tone and I think he chooses interesting topics – things like same-sex marriage and whether violent video games cause actual violence.
So I recommend watching his videos if you’re interested in studying English that is spoken fast and passionately - I think it’s really good listening practice. His videos are also good to study if you want to study how people swear in English - because he swears a lot.
And of course if you find swearing offensive then you shouldn’t watch his videos.
The other day I spent ages watching his rants – and I chose one to study. I chose it because it has a language theme – it’s about the use of the word gay.
The word gay used to mean happy or brightly coloured - it’s also a woman’s name too. And now, these days, it means homosexual. And it also means stupid or not cool.
For this last meaning, the example culexor gives is: What did you think of that movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme in it? Man that movie’s gay as hell.
Which means I really didn’t like that movie or I thought that movie sucked.
Some people think using gay in this way is unacceptable because it’s insulting to gay people. But Culexor doesn’t think so. And I think I agree.
Language changes and evolves all the time and I think that – in New Zealand anyway – the use of the word gay as an insult now doesn’t have any connection with homophobia.
I heard a good discussion about this on National Radio a couple of months ago - National Radio’s a New Zealand radio station - and the people discussing it came to this conclusion as well. One woman gave an example that her daughter said “Homophobia? That’s so gay!”
Having said that, it does sounds like some people think that it’s offensive – so if you are a language student maybe you should avoid it – just in case. Or if you’re interested in the issue – you could bring it up as a discussion or conversation topic – you could try asking somebody “do you think it is OK to use the word gay as an insult?”
STICK NEWS
Kia ora, in Stick News today, American singer Britney Spears has shaved her head.
Britney Spears was born in Mississippi. As a child she studied gymnastics and performing arts. For two years she performed on a children’s variety show called The New Mickey Mouse Club. In 1996 she was in a group with 5 other girls, called Innosense. A year later, she decided to go solo. At the end of 1998 her debut single was released. Her debut album was released in 1999. Since then she has released 5 more albums, 4 books, 7 DVDs, a doll, a video game, and 4 perfumes. In 2004 Britney got married for 55 hours. Then she changed her mind and had the marriage annulled. Later that year she married a dancer Kevin Federline. Britney and Kevin had two children together. Then in November 2006, Britney decided she wanted to get divorced. According to TIME magazine Spears has sold over seventy-six million records worldwide. Because she is so famous paparazzi often follow her and photos. Some magazines also write stories about her clothes and hairstyle. Big news in November was that Britney went out with no underwear on. And the latest Britney news is that she shaved her head and got two tattoos.
And that was Stick News for Monday the 19th of February. Kia Ora.
conversations withsarah #177 Do you listen to the radio much?
Step 1: Repeat Mike’s lines. Step 2: Read Mike’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Mike Do you listen to the radio much?
Sarah No, not on the radio. But I listen to it over the internet.
Mike What stations do you listen to?
Sarah Usually National Radio. But I haven’t listened to it much recently.
Mike What kind of station is that?
Sarah It’s a public station.
Mike So it’s owned by the government?
Sarah Yeah. The programs that I listen to are mainly interviews.
Hey there folks this is Culexor. How’s it going? I’ve been sitting around and just chilling and I happened to bump into somebody recently. I’m just, I’m not really talking to everyone, I’m just sitting around hanging out. And ... some dudes in public like were around me and I overheard a conversation and this guy had a cell phone he didn’t like and he was like dude, man this cell phone is gay. And another guys like all offended, gets like, takes it all offensive, going, dude I can’t ... why do you always use the word gay oh my god I’m so offended. Na na na. Now, today’s topic is about the word gay. That’s right, the word gay. Why is it that every person... especially a straight person gets all offended if you call an inanimate object or movie gay or something. What is so fucking, like, what is the big deal about it? Seriously, I just want to know. Because it’s kind of pointless, to get all mad at someone just because they refer to an inanimate object as gay. That’s slang. People use that word as slang. Example: Hey John what did you think of that movie with John Claude Van Dam in it. Man that movie’s gay as hell. Oh my god. Oh my god. You’re not going to see some gay guy pop his head out of a rock and go, oh my god I’m like so offended. I am so sick and tired of people getting offended over stupid things. Why are people so fucking dull when it comes to this shit. I mean, I don’t give a crap what logic you guys throw at me about this. It’s just plain ridiculous. Now people are going to try to say: oh my god it’s sexual harassment. Morons. Only morons think like that OK. Just because some guy, like has an opinion and wants to express it in a way he feels that is his way of expressing. That doesn’t give us the right to sit up there and try to judge them on that shit. Translation to all you guys out there – just because a guy decides.. or just because a guy thinks that the newest Nike shoes are fucking gay as hell. That doesn’t mean that is attacking homosexuals, OK? Think about it! That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. To have someone get offended just because someone thinks that the latest shoe or the latest video game is gay as hell. Look, aye, that’s the way I talk too, I’m slang about it. For example: I hate that Play station, I think it’s gay as hell. That’s why I always refer it to the gaystation. Oooh, I don’t say any raging angry homosexual coming after me with an axe. Oh my god, the word gay, I’m going to use it in a sentence. Gay, gay, gay, gay, gay. Wooohooo. I fucking used the word gay in my sentence. Fucking sue me. Man, why, why does everyone have to be a moron. Why does everyone act like a moron when it comes to this word. I mean, damn. It’s understandable if you use the n word. That’s understandable. OK. It’s like me walking up and it’s like oh man, this movie is so n-word. Understandable, very understandable. And for the straight people out there if you’re not homosexual and a guy refers to an object as gay. Stop bitching about it. I mean seriously you guys act like it’s attacking you guys. And especially you guys that are gay. Just because a guy uses the word gay in a sentence. That’s not referring to anybody. That is not attacking anyone, that’s not targeted to anybody. That doesn’t give you the right to get all pissy and wine at the guy and get all disgruntled at him. Geez. What is wrong with society today? We’re taking everything too seriously. This country is literal minded now. This country is full of literal minded people, I swear to god. Like, like, I could use, like, a figure of speech now. It’s like, dude, if I don’t paycheck I will totally kill myself if I did’t get a holiday bonus. And then like a person right behind me hears it and all of a sudden I’m in fucking counselling. It’s like: Billy why did you try to kill yourself. I wasn’t planning to kill myself, it’s a figure of speech. But, the point is: people stop taking every fucking thing, so goddamn personal and so goddamn serious, if it doesn’t refer to you. If somebody is referring to a goddamn object, stop taking it personal, because it’s not a personal attack to you. God, just get your head out of your ass, and just don’t be serious all the time. Because this whole seriousness is kind of killing vibes around here now. And it’s making us look bad. I mean not us, I’m talking about everyone as an American citizen. Well, I just had to get that off my chest. I’m sorry if this rant didn’t have that much oomph in it. I’m just pretty much just waking up from a nap, because I got to go to work. So, this is Culexor signing out. Peace. Oh, and fuck the PS3.
Today I made some dango. I used this dango flour and followed the recipe on the back. First I put the flour into a bowl. Then I added 300ccs of hot water and mixed it with chopsticks. When it had cooled down I kneaded the mixture. Then I made some balls. I cooked the dango in boiling water for 15 minutes.
There are many ways you can eat dango. I decided to make mitarashi dango. To make the mitarashi I cooked sugar and soy sauce in a frying pan.
It was supposed to be 100 grams of sugar and 30 ccs of soy sauce ... but I didn’t know how to measure 100 grams of sugar so I just made a wild guess. Then I was supposed to add 20 grams of potato starch. I guessed that amount too. I think it might have been a bit much.
Then I put the dango on sticks and put the mitarashi on top.
Twinkle, twinkle, little star. It was originally an English poem called "The Star", by Jane Taylor and it was first published in 1806. At some point it began being sung to the tune of a 1761 French song. Ah ! vous dirai-je, Maman
There’s a video which I really like on YouTube of a boy called Rintaro singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It’s one of the greatest renditions of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star that I’ve ever seen. It’s a little bit out of sync, but it’s still really good!
STICK NEWS
Kia ora in Stick News today Universal Pictures is developing a film about Milli Vanilli.
In 1988, a German music producer wanted to make a band. He found some talented singers but he didn’t think they were good looking enough to be marketable. So he found two cute dancers to pretend they were singing. The band was called Milli Vanilli. Their first album was All or Nothing. It was very successful. Especially these hits: All Or Nothing, Girl You Know It's True, Baby Don't Forget My Number, and Blame It On The Rain, Girl I’m Gonna Miss You. They even got a Grammy award for Best New Artist in 1990. But many people suspected they were lip-syncing and the 15th of November 1990, the producer confirmed it was true. Milli Vanilli then had their Grammy award taken away. Universal Pictures has announced it is going to make a movie about the Milli Vanilli story.
And that was Stick News for Friday the 16th of February. Kia Ora.
the snow report
This is what the snow was like today at 9:51 in the morning.
conversations withsarah #176 What’s your favourite nursery rhyme?
Step 1: Repeat Tomomi's lines. Step 2: Read Tomomi’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Tomomi What’s your favourite nursery rhyme?
Sarah I don’t know. Maybe It's Raining, It's Pouring, The Old Man is Snoring.
Tomomi What does snoring mean?
Sarah Snoring is breathing loudly when you’re sleeping. Like this ...
Tomomi Ahh. Do you snore?
Sarah I don’t think so. Maybe sometimes ... like, if I have a cold or something.
That video is on this YouTube channel. kree12 She is a primary school teacher in New Zealand.
I think this video is really interesting to watch to see how some New Zealand kids learn how to swim.
And I think it would be good for studying because it has subtitles saying what the kids are doing. So you can read the titles and understand what they mean by looking at the images.
For example: We can swim freestyle across the width of the pool. We can float like starfish. Three whistle blows means we exit the pool safely and have a shower.
I think it could also be useful for a discussion. You could have students watch this and afterwards ask them: Is this how you learnt to swim? If not, how did you learn how to swim? Did you enjoy it? Tell me about it ... that kind of thing.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. Two skiers were killed in an avalanche yesterday in Aomori, Japan.
An avalanche is a mass of snow, ice, and/or rocks falling rapidly down a mountainside. Wikipedia says between 55 and 65 percent of victims buried in avalanches are killed. Yesterday 24 members of a ski tour were skiing in two groups in Hakkoda, Aomori. One group, with 19 members, was hit by an avalanche at 11:20am. Two people died and 8 were injured. One injured woman is in serious condition. Just 10 minutes before the avalanche an avalanche warning for all of Aomori prefecture was issued.
And that was Stick News for Thursday the 15th of February. Kia Ora.
the snow report
It snowed quite a lot this evening.
conversations withsarah #175 Did you learn to swim like that?
Step 1: Repeat Taka's lines. Step 2: Read Taka's lines and talk to Sarah.
Taka Did you learn to swim like that?
Sarah Yeah, that looks similar to what we did, from what I can remember. We also swam in the creek.
Taka What’s a creek?
Sarah It’s a small river.
Taka Really? There was a river by your school?
Sarah Yeah, there was a good swimming hole about 10 minutes walk from the school.
Taka Did you usually swim in the pool or in the creek?
Sarah Mmm both. We also swam in the sea sometimes too. Because the school was next to the sea.
Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show. Today is Valentine’s day. Happy Valentine’s Day.
I have a poem for you:
Roses are red Violets are blue Sugar is sweet And so are you
This is a very famous romantic poem that most English speakers know. It’s not famous for being a great poem. I don’t know why it’s famous ... but it’s very cheesy. And people often write humorous variations.
For example you can add another verse which is:
The roses are wilting, The violets are dead, The sugar bowls empty, And so is your head.
Today I thought I’d tell you how to write a roses are red poem yourself. The easiest way is just to change just the third line. For example: chocolate is tasty or this song is awful.
I found a website which teaches you how to write roses are red poems. It says first you should make a list of colours. Like this. Then find words that rhyme with the colours. Like this. Then try and think of a line that ends with one of these words. These are the extremely lame poems I came up with.
Roses are red Chocolate is brown Let’s go out For a night on the town
Violets are blue Roses are pink I think you’re hot Can I buy you a drink?
Roses are red Concrete is grey Thanks for the flowers But I’m gay
Please try and write your own roses are red poem. I’m sure you can do better than that.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. At the Grammy Awards on Sunday an American pop singer spoke one sentence of Japanese. And the Earth is still spinning on its axis. However the incident caused a bit of a fuss on the internet.
The Grammys are an American Music awards ceremony. At the awards women usually wear pretty dresses and men wear penguin suits. They walk along a red carpet while people take photos and ask them questions. On Sunday one TV presenter asked a musician about his new girlfriend. John Mayer decided to answer in Japanese. Hundreds of people then debated the incident on the internet. Some cringed at his pronunciation while others argued over the correct English translation and struggled to decide who they liked less: John, Ryan or Jessica.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 14th of February. Kia Ora.
the snow report
It was really windy today.
conversations withsarah #174 What do men give women?
Step 1: Repeat Thomas’ lines. Step 2: Read Thomas’ lines and talk to Sarah.
Thomas Do people celebrate Valentine’s Day in Japan?
Sarah Yeah, but it’s different than in New Zealand.
Thomas How so?
Sarah In Japan women give men chocolate.
Thomas Only chocolate?
Sarah Yeah, pretty much. And they give chocolate to their co-workers too – that’s called giri choco.
Thomas Is that like a brand of chocolate?
Sarah No, giri means obligation.
Thomas What do men give women?
Sarah Nothing. But on White Day they’re supposed to give something back to the women that gave them something.
I think it’s great. It’s a simple but catchy tune to teach these prepositions: in on under over in front behind
It’s made by David who is a teacher from Canada, I think, who now works in Osaka, Japan. He’s also published a few books. This is his site.
The news and conversation today are about a skydiving accident. A guy was parachuting in New Zealand and his parachute didn’t open – but he survived. It happened a couple of months ago, but since yesterday you can see the video on the internet. They must have sold the video to an English newspaper. It’s an amazing video, so check it out.
The guy that fell is English and the guy rescuing him is a Kiwi. So you can hear some real New Zealand English too. From a language perspective, I think it’s really interesting to study what people actually say in situations like this. I wrote a transcript of the video too – you can see that on the blog.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. A British skydiver thought he was going to die when his parachute didn’t open in New Zealand last year. But thanks to some blackberry bushes, he survived. Now you can see the video of his fall on the internet.
Michael Holmes is a 25-year-old parachute instructor from England. He now lives and works in Taupo, New Zealand. He has jumped out of planes more than 7000 times. Last year, on December the 12th, Mickey’s parachute didn’t open. When his reserve parachute also didn’t open, he thought he was going to die. He was videoing the jump so he tried to think of something to say for the camera – but all he could come up with was: "Oh shit, I'm dead...Bye!!!!" Luckily, he landed in some blackberry bushes and survived. He suffered a broken ankle and a punctured lung. From yesterday, the video of his fall and rescue was available to be seen on the internet.
Michael plans to continue skydiving for a living. He hopes to start again in April. That was Stick News for Tuesday the 13th of February. Kia Ora.
the snow report
It snowed yesterday, but there was no fresh snow today.
conversations withsarah #173 You got any pain anywhere?
Step 1: Repeat Michael’s lines. Step 2: Read Michael’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Jonathan You got any pain anywhere?
Michael Left leg.
Jonathan Left leg?
Michael My Left lower leg.
Jonathan Right here?
Michael Yeah, just the lower leg. It’s not actually ..
Jonathan Oh yeah.
Michael It’s not actually that bad. Who was I … ?
Jonathan Huh?
Michael Who was I filming?
Jonathan Who were you filming? You were filming a tandem, bro.
Michael Oh.
Jonathan Alright, just watch your eyes there a bit of blackberry around.
Michael I thought that was a dream.
Jonathan Alright. How’s that arm?
Michael Yeah, it’s good.
Transcript for skydiving video:
Michael’s video
Mickey! Speak to me, bro. Don’t move, man. Take it easy. Talk to me, man. How’s it. You OK? No. You hurt, anywhere? Where are we? Huh? Get me out. No, no don’t move, man. Don’t move. Just stay there. Breathe, breathe. Huh? Just stay still bro. Help’s on its way, alright. What happened? Lot’s happened. You landed in a good place.
Jonathan’s video
Mickey! You OK? Mickey! You OK, bro? Don’t move, man. Take it easy. You breathing man? Yeah. Talk to me, bro. Talk to me, man. How’s it? You OK. No. Stay still, man. Yeah. Where are we? We’re by the beach. Under a main or a reserve? Both. You got any pain anywhere? Left leg. Left leg? My Left lower leg. Right here? Yeah, just the lower leg. It’s not actually .. Oh yeah. It’s not actually that bad. Who was I ... ? Huh? Who was I filming? Who were you filming? You were filming a tandem, bro. Oh. Alright, just watch your eyes there a bit of blackberry around. I thought that was a dream. Alright. How’s that arm? Yeah, it’s good. I’m mean it’s just a little ... bit of a ? feeling. Did I ... ? Are you numb anywhere? No. Can you feel that? Yeah, I can feel that. My other leg hurts a lot. Yeah. But not there sort of like down the bottom. OK, I’m just giving you a feel ... What’s that? Yip, thank you. Ambulance too please. Hey, did you see what happened? Yeah. What was it? Looks like you were tangled up in your, ah, detachable. Can you feel that? Stay still, please. My detachable? No detachable... No? No more canopy. That’s your reserve bridals bro, to rap up in your slider. I know I’m dead. Yeah, but you’re alive, mate. Did I hit pretty hard or not? Yep, you hit it hard. Oh.. You alright? But your hand there bro. The shock’s sort of gone away. Yip. Ahh.. I’m just trying to.. Just stay ... just concentrate on staying still, bro. I think it’s just my left. My left foot, but I don’t think it’s too bad. No, it’s alright. Hey Mikey. Gosh if you wanted to stand down you should have just said, mate. Yeah, dude, I’m tired. How’re you going buddy? What I want you to do… I think it’s maybe just a twisted ankle or a ... Yeah, but ... we’re going to put a ... um... The paramedics are probably going to come. And we want you to keep your spine exactly where it is. The spine’s pretty sweet. Yeah, I know, it might be sweet, but you never know. Yeah, we’ve got to be cautious here mate. Yeah, OK, I understand. Oh shit. How you going? How you going mate? Still recording. Oh, yeah.
Recently I started offering online lessons. I put some information about that on my website. So if you’re interested in taking online lessons please check that information out. I would love to teach you. I’ve taken a bit of a break from teaching since I left Tokyo – but I’m really keen to start again. During a lesson when I’m listening to people tell me their opinions or plans or what they’ve been up to – I always get inspiration ... so that’s one of the things I miss about it. If you have a webcam then I can teach you using MSN messenger or Yahoo messenger or Skype or another program that you suggest. And if you don’t want to use a camera we can just do voice chat. Or even if you just want to do text chat only – that’s fine too. I’m pretty flexible. If you have any questions, please email me: thedailyenglishshow@gmail.com
The person who makes these videos is American and teaches English in Shizuoka in Japan.
This video is a 2-year-old English student, called Shunya, giving a speech. This is the speech that he gives:
My name is Shunya. I’m 2. I like Anpanman. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.
Except he says it a lot better. I am so impressed his speech. Not only does he remember 6 sentences, but his delivery is fantastic. Good pace and volume and he’s really confident and he’s not distracted by the noise around him.
So, if you ever watch this Shunya – nice work. Good speech!
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. 39-year-old American celebrity Anna Nicole Smith died last Thursday. She left behind a 5-month-old baby. Three men are now claiming to be the father of the baby.
Anna Nicole Smith was born in Texas in 1967. She was named Vickie Lynn Hogan. Vickie told people she wanted to be the next Marilyn Munroe. She didn’t finish high school. When she was 17 she got married to a 16-year-old. He was the cook at a restaurant where she worked as a waitress. They had a baby a year later. Then they separated and she moved to Houston with the baby. In Houston she became a stripper. In 1992 she was on the cover of Playboy. The next year she was chosen as their model of the year. By then she had started calling herself Anna Nicole Smith. She then had a job modeling for a brand of jeans called Guess. In 1991 when she was working at a strip club, she met an oil billionaire J. Howard Marshall and they began seeing each other. Two years later Smith divorced her first husband and in 1994 she married Howard Marshall. Some people called her a gold-digger because he was 89 and very rich and she was 26. Her husband died in 1995. After her husband’s death Smith began a legal battle with her step-son for Howard Marshall’s money. The case still hasn’t been resolved. During Anna Nicole’s life she was often in gossip magazines. One issue was her body shape. She often lost and gained weight. She also behaved strangely in public. Last year Smith had another baby. She said the father was her lawyer Howard Stern. But her ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, said he was the father. Then, a new court battle started. Three days after the birth of her daughter, Anna Nicole’s 20-year-old son Daniel died. He died from a lethal combination of drugs. Two weeks later Anna and Howard Stern had an informal commitment ceremony. Last week Anna Nicole died. The official cause of her death is not yet known.
There are now questions over who will take care of her daughter. A third man has now claimed to be her father. People are also fighting over her house.
And that was Stick News for Monday the 12th of February. Kia Ora.
conversations withsarah #172 It’s a public holiday today, isn’t it?
Step 1: Repeat Toshi’s lines. Step 2: Read Toshi’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Sarah It’s a public holiday today, isn’t it?
Toshi Yeah, it is.
Sarah Which holiday is it?
Toshi Um, I don’t know ...
Sarah Is it Constitution Day ?
Toshi No, that’s in May. Oh, that’s right, it’s kenkoku kinen no hi.
The other day, for some reason, my boyfriend bought a jar of vegemite from the shop around the corner called M Pocket. I don’t like vegemite. I’m a marmite girl.
Marmite and Vegemite are similar products. They’re both savoury spreads made from yeast extract.
Marmite debuted in England in 1902. The name comes from the French word for a kind of pot.
Wikipedia says Marmite is now widespread in countries such as the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
But the Marmite in New Zealand and Australia is different than British Marmite.
In 1910 the Sanitarium Health Food Company started importing Marmite from Britain. In the 1930s they started experimenting with blends that led to today's independent product.
Vegemite is made by an American company called Kraft. It was invented in Australia in 1923. In 1928 the name was changed to Parwill to allow the advertising slogan Marmite but Parwill. Hahaha ... not. The name changed back in 1935.
In Australia, Vegemite now outsells Marmite and other similar products. I’m not sure about New Zealand though. I think it’s fairly equal in New Zealand. I think most people in New Zealand either like Marmite or Vegemite. Some people like both. And some people like neither.
The next time you meet someone from New Zealand, ask them this question: Do you like Marmite or Vegemite?
Anyway ... back to this jar of vegemite. Marmite and vegemite are usually eaten on toast or bread. I decided to eat some of this vegemite. It wasn’t too bad actually. I still like Marmite better though.
On Tuesday we went to Sapporo for the snow festival. We stopped on the way to look at some scenery.
In Sapporo we stayed at a place called Nada. It was great.
We had soba for lunch. I had soba sushi for the first time.
My favorite part of the snow festival was this hot foot bath. There was some great Engrish here too.
There were free wheelchairs available so I decided to use one because I have a sore knee. The wheelchair gave me an interesting view of the city.
We had dinner at the Potato Circus.
We went to a Spanish bar and had some delicious wine. The bar was great. There was even some live music.
Then we went to another bar and then a club. This is the inside of the club. Not that you see anything except the mirror ball.
It was snowing pretty heavily on the way home. Ouch! After dropping my wheelchair, my drunken driver left me lying in the snow so he could take a photo.
The next day we went to see Tokedai, which is the Sapporo Clock Tower - a famous thing in Sapporo.
We went to Otaru on the way home. First we visited the Music Box Museum. It was quite impressive. I was exhausted after walking around for about 10 minutes so I sat down with a bear.
We had coffee at this café. It was really nice. A woman was playing the piano.
We walked around Otaru for a bit and had dinner at a place called Very Very Strawberry.
Today I’m going to teach you some idioms. This is a response to kusaimamekirai. This YouTube channel is guy from America, I think, who has some videos teaching English. His video titles used to be in Japanese, so you can’t read them anymore. Because since YouTube’s last update I think – most of the Japanese on YouTube has been scrambled – which is bit of a pain in the arse – I had a lot of Japanese words in my video descriptions ... but anyway. In this video: Idioms-"Piece of Cake","Hang On","Pay through the Nose" He explains those three idioms. So I thought I’d talk about them too – because if you watch two different videos explaining the same thing – then you’re more likely to remember them or understand them. Repetition is good.
A piece of cake means easy. I think most English students in Japan know that one – it’s often used as an example in textbooks. Uploading a video is a piece of cake. A variation on that one is a piece of piss. I don’t necessarily recommend using that because people might be offended. But, you know, it’s good to understand all kinds of language.
Hang on literally means hold onto something I’m hanging on tightly to my bag so nobody can steal it. The idiomatic meaning is wait. You can say: hang on, hang on a minute, hang on a second, hang on a sec. Hang on a second doesn’t literally mean one second, it just means a short time.
What time does it start? Um, hang on a sec, I have the flyer here somewhere ...
And lastly, pay through the nose means to pay a high price for something. Are skiing lessons expensive? Group lessons aren’t too bad, but you pay through the nose if you want a private lesson.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora this is Stick News. The league team which is co-owned by actor Russell Crowe has decided to scrap cheerleaders because they make they make the audience uncomfortable.
Cheerleading started in the United States in the 1880s. It was originally an all-male activity. Now, most cheerleaders are females and the activity has spread to other countries. Some teams in the Australian NRL have cheerleaders. They dance and shake pom poms wearing sexy outfits. Russell Crowe is famous for acting in Hollywood movies and throwing a telephone at a hotel employee. Last year he and another man bought an Australian rugby league team. The team has just decided to stop having cheerleader perform at games. Crowe said they make people feel uncomfortable. Souths with replace the cheerleaders with a drumming band for their home games.
And that was Stick News for Friday the 9th of February. Kia Ora.
the snow report
This is snow in Sapporo on Tuesday. It’s amazing how dirty city snow gets. The place looked nicer on Wednesday after a fresh layer of snow.
conversations withsarah #171 What’s he been in?
Step 1: Repeat Marvin’s lines. Step 2: Read Marivn’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Marvin Are there many cheerleaders in New Zealand?
Sarah No, not really. I’ve only seen them a couple of times.
Marvin What do you think of Russell’s decision?
Sarah I think it’s a great idea. The first time I’ve ever been impressed by something he’s done. Do you like his acting?
Marvin What’s he been in?
Sarah Ah ... The Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind ...
Marvin Oh, that’s right. I liked A Beautiful Mind.
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.
Posts
