Show 467 Monday 13 August

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

Unfortunately Monday Guest is taking a break today. So you’re stuck with just me.

So, I thought I’d tell you a story. This is a story about culture shock. Well, maybe not exactly culture shock ... more like being surprised by something different in a different country.

Since I’m from New Zealand and have spent a few years in Japan ... sometimes I kind of assume that if something is a certain way in both countries then it must be like that everywhere in the world.

But since I’ve been in Canada I’ve realized that there are quite a few things that North America does that are different than the rest of the world.
For example in the US they use Fahrenheit instead of Celsius – and Canada seems to use both actually.

But I already knew about the temperature thing. But one thing I didn’t know about is paper sizes.

In NZ and Japan, the standard size used for printers and photocopiers is A4. And most people know the size A4. And if you’re a teacher or you work in an office or something, then you’re probably familiar with other sizes like B5, B4, A3.

Anyway, I draw the pictures for STICK NEWS on A4 paper, like this and then when I’ve finished with them, I keep them in plastic things, like this.
So when I came to Canada, I thought ... well, paper is heavy, so I don’t want to bring a whole lot of A4 paper with me, so I’ll just buy it in Canada. But I’ll take the plastic things with me.

So in Canada, I went to buy some paper – it was in Keremeos. And I went to a shop and I said to the woman: “Do you sell A4 paper?” And she looked at me really strangely. And I just thought: “Oh, maybe she can’t understand my accent, or maybe she’s just weird ... ” So I explained, “You know, like, white paper that you use for printing or photocopying.” And she was like ahhh yeah, maybe over there. Actually I think I tried a few shops and no one knew what I was talking about.

But anyway, I found some paper that looked like A4 paper, but it didn’t have A4 written on it, so I thought: “Hmm, this is strange.” But anyway, there was no other paper, so I thought: “Well it must be A4.” And I bought it.

Then I used it and after I’d finished drawing, I tried to put it into one of these things - I’m calling it a “thing” because I don’t really know what it’s called - and it wouldn’t fit. And so I thought: “Ahhhh it must be a different size.”

And it turns out that ... yeah, it’s a different size. And I looked it up on Wikipedia and it says that most countries in the world use that system, with sizes like A4. But Canada and the United States use a different system. So there you go.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, patents are popular in Japan. A report has been released which says in 2005 Japan was the number one country in the world for patent applications.

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.
In most countries, if you have a patent, other people are not allowed to make, use, sell, offer to sell or import your invention.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2005, 427,000 patent applications were filed in Japan.
Coming in at second place was the United States, with around 391, 000. Number three was China and number four Korea.

And that was Stick News for Monday the 13th of August.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#286 How was your weekend?

Step 1: Repeat Jimmy’s lines.
Step 2: Read Jimmy’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Jimmy How was your weekend?

Sarah Good.

Jimmy What did you get up to?

Sarah Ah, same as usual. Actually, no, I did something different yesterday.

Jimmy What was that?

Sarah I went blackberry picking. No, I mean blueberries, blueberry picking.

Jimmy Cool. Were you allowed to eat them while you were picking?

Sarah Yeah, I think so. I did anyway. It was the first time in my life I’ve eaten a lot of blueberries.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS photos

music

show start, cws start, qa start
artist: Matthew Tyas
album: Music for the movies vol1
tracks: Superheros, Intellectuel, Three ways to run away
from: Oloron Sainte-Marie, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendoartist site

other music
artist: pharmacopia
album: For The Stilling Of Volcanoes
track: Saint Patricks Eve
from: Boonton, United States
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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 have 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.