Show 565 Thursday 29 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

The video I recommend today is of a song by Super Simple Songs.
You can find out more about them here. And this is their YouTube channel. They make songs for kids. So if you teach children you might want to check our their CDs because they look pretty good and it’s hard to find good music for kids classes.

And if you live in Tokyo and you have children who want to learn English then check out their school: Knock Knock English. There are some dodgy schools out there ... but this one looks like one of the really good ones with dedicated teachers who put a lot of effort into their classes and they make material available online for free which I think is very cool.

Anyway, this video is of the song Five Little Monkeys. I just watched it recently and it brought back such memories ... I had a student in Tokyo called Chikako – she was great I really miss her – and she loved this song. And we sang it over and over doing actions and stuff – it was really fun. It was a different version than this one – but I like this one too. I love the animations of the monkeys jumping on the bed.

And as for music for adults I recommend you check out Midnight Oil – a classic Australian band.
For example this song: Beds are Burning. Good song and good for studying too – the lyrics aren’t too difficult and they’re interesting.
And you might learn about Australian history too. If your teacher is from Australia – or you have an Australian friend - maybe you could ask them what this song means and they might tell you a bit about Australian history.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today the Australian Prime Minister-elect has named his cabinet and he’s chosen a former rock singer as his environment minister.

Midnight Oil was an Australian band that began in the early 1970s.
Wikipedia says the band was known for its driving hard rock sound, intense live performances, and its political activism.
The singer of the band was Peter Garrett.
In 1984 Garret co-founded a political party called the Nuclear Disarmament Party.
He stood for a seat in the Australian Senate that year, but he didn’t win.
In 2002 Garret decided to quit the band to focus on his political career.
Two years later he stood for a seat with the Labor Party and won.
Garret is a Christian and some people say he’s sell-out.
During an election campaign in 2006 he urged voters not to vote for the Australian Green Party but for his own Labor Party.
Garret was re-elected in the 2007 Federal election but his campaign was apparently ”fraught with a number of tactical errors” including confiding in a journalist that Labor would simply change all their policies once they got into power.
Today the Prime Minister-elect Kevin Rudd named Garrett Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Arts.

And that was Stick News for Thursday the 29th of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#344 Can you tell me about Australian history?

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

Paul Can you tell me about Australian history?

Sarah Not really. I don’t know much about it.

Paul You never studied it at school?

Sarah No, not that I can remember.

Paul What kind of history do you study in New Zealand?

Sarah Hmm, good question. Well, at high school, I guess it depends on the kind of school you go to for a start. But the school I went to was a pretty typical state school.

Paul What’s a state school?

Sarah Um, like, not a private school, it’s government-funded and anyone can go there.

Paul Oh, OK.

Sarah And there was a subject that we had to take in third and forth form, called social studies. I don’t remember learning anything in social studies though.

Paul You must have learnt something.

Sarah Yeah. I just remember doing these quizzes on current affairs and I’d get like two answers right out of 20.

Paul You never watched the news?

Sarah No, never watched it. We didn’t have a TV. And my parents, they listened to the radio and bought a magazine called the Listener – but when I was like 13 I wasn’t interested in the news at all.

Beds are Burning
by Midnight Oil

Out where the river broke
The bloodwood and the desert oak
Holden wrecks and boiling diesels
Steam in forty five degrees

The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share

The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
Let's give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning

The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
Now to pay our share

Four wheels scare the cockatoos
From Kintore East to Yuendemu
The western desert lives and breathes
In forty five degrees

The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
To pay our share

The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
Let's give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning
How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning

The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
Now to pay our share
The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
Let's give it back

How can we dance when our earth is turning
How do we sleep while our beds are burning

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: blu
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

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.

Show 564 Wednesday 28 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

I found a couple of mistakes to share with you today.

Mistake number 1 comes from this magazine called ニセコWalker – it’s a kind of advertising magazine for Niseko.

And on page 22 it says: “snowborder Tomoki Takaku”.

What’s wrong with this word?
It’s missing an a.

Bored/board is spelt b-o-r-e-d or b-o-a-r-d but never b-o-r-d.

You can use this bored if you’re not having fun.
This party is boring. I’m bored.

And this board is for a long thin piece of strong hard material, like a piece of wood.

surfboard
skateboard
snowboard

All b-o-a-r-d.

Mistake number 2 is from the Niseko Grand Hirafu website.

They have information in English about the conditions on the mountain. And under Monday’s entry it says this:

Today, 「Kokutai course」「Tachi course」「Alpen course」 which were supposed to be opened are closed again due to the bad condition caused by lucking of snow.

Lucking of snow?
What does that mean?

I think the word they want is lack.

Lack and luck are different.

Luck n. success or failure apparently brought by chance.

There are many idioms with luck too I can see when I push my magic idiom button.

Any luck?
as luck would have it
be down on your luck
better luck next time
just my luck
the luck of the draw
no such luck
luck out

Anyway, lack is completely different.
Lack n. the state of not having sth or not having enough of something.

So there is a lack of snow on the mountain at the moment.
There is not a luck of snow.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today a car thief in New Zealand told police she stole a car because it was too hot to walk in summer.

A 33-year-old woman in Tauranga, New Zealand took a car for a test drive.
She never returned to the car yard, so the next day, they called the police.
Three days later a car salesperson found the woman sitting in the car at the supermarket opposite the car yard.
She handed over the keys and walked away. But police found her thanks to documents she left in the back of the car.
She told police it was too hot to walk in summer and she needed a car to get around.
The woman was sentenced to 100 hours community work.

And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 28th of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#343 You don’t like New Zealand?

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

Laura Where would you recommend to go in New Zealand?

Sarah Mmm, I don’t know. Depends on the person, I wouldn’t even recommend New Zealand to some people.

Laura You don’t like New Zealand?

Sarah Yeah, I like New Zealand. But part of what I like about it is being a New Zealander ... I mean not because it’s a really great place or better than anywhere else ... but just being a New Zealander means I can do a lot in New Zealand. Do you know what I mean?

Laura Not really.

Sarah I mean ... that ... just, one of the things I’ve realized is how much more you can do if you’re, like, a citizen of a country.

Laura You mean, like, vote?

Sarah Yeah, like vote. But not just that ... I mean, yeah, yeah, there are those legal things that you can’t do it you’re not a citizen of that country. But there are also other things, like, invisible barriers.

Laura Yeah, I know what you mean. I guess that’s the downside to living overseas.

Sarah Yeah.

Laura But there are also good things.

Sarah Yeah. Oh yeah, of course, and, I mean, they have to outweigh the negatives right or else, what would be the point.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: The Moon In August
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

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.

Show 563 Tuesday 27 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

I have an announcement today. We are going to carry out a survey – the first ever survey for The Daily English Show.

There’s a link to that survey next to this video. So I’d like you to go there and cut and paste it into an email and answer it and send it to this address: tdessurvey@gmail.com

The reason why we’re doing a survey is because we’d like to know more about our viewers.

One reason is that it could help us to get some ideas about how to improve the show and another reason is that it could help us to get some funding for The Daily English Show.

As you know The Daily English Show is non-commercial so making money is not our purpose. But we would like to find a way to generate some income so that we can work on the show full-time – and be able to do things like buy some equipment. We don’t need a lot of money, most of what it takes to make the show is just time, but there are some expenses.

So there are some different ways that we could generate income and I have a few ideas of some things that could work. And I have a long list of things that I know for sure that I don’t want to do – like putting a 30 second ad in the front of the video or endorsing some ridiculous product that I don’t believe in ... no way, I’d never do that. So you’re never going to see an ad for something like McDonalds on the Daily English Show. There are a lot of things like I don’t like actually, so it does make it kind of hard to find a sponsor. But there are some things that I do like, like my electronic dictionary for example. Fantastic tool and I truly believe every student should have one of these. And other things like my favourite textbooks, things like that.

And there are other options too, with finding funding, for example grants.

And ... what we did in Canada with Acadia University was perfect. We helped them promote the university to international students so it was good for them – and it was great for us because we got to hang out at this good university and do lots of interesting things and get lots of great material for the show.

And we’re going to continue to do some work with Acadia too which is great. And hopefully similar opportunities like that will arise.

But in any case, people will ask us: Who are your audience? How old are they? Where are they from? Are they all actually real people that are interested in English language study or did they all just accidentally click on your videos?

So that’s a bit about why we’re doing the survey. If you have some free time and you feel like helping us out, please fill it out. It’s good English practice too.

And don’t worry, we won’t do anything dodgy with the information like collect all your emails and start bombarding you with junk mail or something ... that’s not cool and I wouldn’t do that.

I would like to talk about some general statistics on the show because I think people will find that interesting. Like 17% of people watching The Daily English Show come from Malaysia or whatever it is ... I think it’s going to be interesting to see the results.

The survey is going to finish on Tuesday the 11th of December, so please send it back before then or on that day.
Thank you!

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, this is Stick News. The Nova Scotia government has introduced a road safety bill that would outlaw the use of hand-held cellphones while driving.

In Nova Scotia, Canada, it’s legal to drive while talking on the phone.
That may soon change. The Nova Scotia government has introduced a bill that would make it illegal to use hand-held cellphones while driving. The bill would also prohibit panhandlers and solicitors from stopping or approaching vehicles on the road and double the fines for drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians on crossings.
The Transportation Minister said, "We've seen too many tragedies, too many deaths, too many accidents involving serious injury."
The new law would ban drivers from holding phones to their ears – but they’d still be able to talk on phone if they use an ear piece or speaker phone.
Currently there’s only one province in Canada with a cellphone ban for drivers.

And that was Stick News for Tuesday the 27th of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#342 Have you tried applying for any grants?

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

Lucy Have you tried applying for any grants?

Sarah No, not yet. The trouble with grants is that they are usually country specific – so grants in Canada are for Canadians ... which makes sense, of course.

Lucy Right. So you’d need to apply for something in New Zealand.

Sarah Yeah, well, I’m a New Zealand citizen but I don’t actually live in New Zealand at the moment, so I don’t know if that would work either.

Lucy Have you tried contacting the New Zealand government?

Sarah Yeah, I have actually. The, um, Ministry of Education ... but no luck.
That’s the thing ... I think you really need to have some contacts and some luck, in a way, to find someone who sees the potential in what you’re doing.

Lucy Just keep trying.

Sarah Yeah, yeah, I will. It just takes time. And I don’t have much extra time because it takes a lot of time to make the show so ...

Lucy I’m sure something will come along. There’s a lot of money out there for worthy educational projects like yours.

notes

non-commercial
By commercial, I mean "making or intended to make a profit". We would like to generate some income to cover the expenses of making the show - in the same way that non-profit organizations need money to run their organization.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: Grigioscuro
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

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 Survey

The Daily English Show Survey #1

Instructions

Cut and paste this survey and email it with your answers to: tdessurvey@gmail.com

If you don’t want to answer a question, just leave it blank.

If you would like to answer the income question, you can use this converter to change your currency into Japanese yen.

This survey will finish on Tuesday 11th December. Please send your survey before then, or on that day (in whatever time zone you are in).

Note: We will send you an email to thank you for doing the survey. We won’t send you any other emails. We respect your privacy.

Section 1: Personal

1. Age:

2. Sex:

3. Occupation:

4. Income per year (in Japanese yen):

A: under 1 million yen
B: 1-3 million yen
C: 3-5 million yen
D: 5-8 million yen
E: 8+ million yen

5. What is your native language?

6. What other language(s) can you speak?

7. What country are you from?

8. Where do you live now?

Section 2: Travel

9. How often do you travel overseas?

10. Which country would you like to visit next?

Section 3: The Internet

11. Do you have a YouTube account?

12. Do you have a blog?

13. Do you use social networking site(s)?

14. Which one(s)?

15. Have you ever uploaded a video to the Internet?

16. How long do you spend on the Internet every day?

17. Do you have Internet access at home?

Section 4: The Daily English Show

18. Why do you watch The Daily English Show?

19. How did you find out about The Daily English Show?

20. When did you start watching The Daily English Show?

21. How often do you watch The Daily English Show?

22. Which part of The Daily English Show do you like most?

23. Which part do you like least?

24. How do you think The Daily English Show could be improved?

25. What site do you watch The Daily English Show on?

26. Do you have a video iPod (or other portable multimedia player)?

27. Do you subscribe to The Daily English Show in iTunes?

Section 5: English study
(Native English speakers can skip this section.)

28. Why are you learning English?

29. How often do you buy English study textbooks?

30. How do you choose which textbooks to buy?

31. How much do you spend on textbooks every year?

32. Do you have an electronic dictionary?

33. Do you listen to other English study podcasts /video podcasts / shows?

34. Are you currently studying English at school or university?

Section 6: Studying English abroad
(Native English speakers can skip this section.)

35. Have you studied English abroad?

36. Are you planning to in future?

37. If so, what country would you like to go to?

38. How will you chose where to study?

39. What’s important to you when choosing a school to study at?

Section 7: Teaching English
(This section is for teachers only – if you are not a teacher you can skip this section.)

40. Where do you teach? (EG university, language school etc)

41. Have you ever used The Daily English Show in class?

42. If so, how often?

43. How have you used The Daily English Show in class?

44. Which parts of The Daily English Show are most useful for using in class?

45. What kind of feedback have you had from students?

46. How could The Daily English Show be improved to be more user friendly for teachers?

Section 8: This Survey

47. How long did it take you to answer this survey?

48. How do you think the survey could be improved?

49. Do you have any suggestions for questions to ask next time?

End of Survey

Thank you so much for doing this survey! We really appreciate it.

Note: If you notice any spelling etc mistakes in this survey I would really appreciate it if you tell me.

Show 562 Monday 26 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today’s guest is Brendan. He’s from Brisbane, Australia. And he came to Japan in the summer of 1999. He first came as an English teacher on the JET program. And he was living in a small town outside of Hakodate called Esashi. And he’s been in this area for about 3 and half years.

I asked Brendan the classic question: Why did you decide to come to Japan?

Ahh, I get asked that question a lot. Um, well, the, the, the long and in depth answer is ...Where I’m from in Australia, it’s a very touristy sort of, ah, destination. Very close to the gold coast. So, growing up, I ah, was always ah, seeing lots of Japanese and um, due to some resentment from World War 2, a lot of older Australian people – especially where I live – ah ... don’t think so highly of Japanese people. So growing up I always heard many bad things about Japanese, and always saw a lot of them as tourists. Um, and then got a bit older I thought well maybe there’s some bad people, maybe there’s some good people - why not find out for myself?

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today Australia has a new prime minister. He’s a 50-year-old man called Kevin Rudd.

John Howard was the Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007. He is second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister and he’s been the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia for more than 12 years.
On Saturday there was an election in Australia and John Howard’s party lost.
The new Prime Minister is Kevin Rudd.
Kevin was born in Queensland.
He went to university in Canberra and majored in Chinese language and history.
He is a Christian and he met his wife at a university Christian gathering.

And that was Stick News for Monday 26th of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#341 Why did you apply for the JET program?

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

Sarah Why did you apply for the JET program?

Brendan Um, well, I figured that ah, coming to Japan, teaching would be the … best option, um, I studied teaching at university. Um, I asked around and I was originally going to sign up for NOVA. Thank the lord I didn’t now. Um, and someone suggested the JET program. They said it was sort of better conditions. So I applied for that, and didn’t think I’d get it, but I guess someone made a mistake and I did.

Sarah What’s your job now?

Brendan My job now, well, I, I work as a, ah, some sort of international advisor at the, or inside the Camber of Commerce.

Sarah What does that involve?

Brendan Oh, it involves many different things. Um, I do a lot of translation work. Um, translating menus, contracts, quotes, a little bit of um, interpretation work for tradesmen etc. Things like that. Um, um - how would you say it? - If people have questions about starting business in Japan, I can find out the answers to those questions and hopefully be able to help them with that.

Sarah Do you still do any teaching?

Brendan I do, yes, I have a couple of part time teaching jobs. At the hospital, a few private jobs with adults and children.

Sarah Do you enjoy it?

Brendan I do, yes, I enjoy teaching English a lot more than my current job.

Sarah What do you enjoy about it?

Brendan That’s a tough question, you’ve put me on the spot there. Um, I enjoy being able to help people with something that they have an honest interest in. Um, to be able to sort of ah … I kind of sound like, a little arrogant, but, you know, foster that interest into, you know, success. Um, obviously there’s a lot of things I don’t know but the things I do know about teaching, um, I get a sort of, I guess a sense of pride to be able to pass that information on to others and help them learn.

Sarah How did you learn Japanese?

Brendan Ah, mostly just from being here. Obviously I studied a bit through textbooks and things like that. Um, when I first came I didn’t know anything. But, ah, yeah in some ways I think that was, that was good. I hadn’t picked up any bad habits before I’d come.
I also studied it at Hakkodate University. Um, as kind of, it translates as an audit student. Not as a real student, I just went to classes that were there. Um, which was three months, three hours a week, for three months, but um, I learnt a lot, yeah, it was very good.

Sarah What’s Niseko like in the summer?

Brendan In the summer, ah, it’s a great place. Ah, the weather’s nice, it’s not too hot, there’s no snow. Um, not many tourists around either. Yeah, it’s really nice, great for BBQs, hiking, going to the beach. Yeah, yeah, it’s really cool.

Sarah Are you going to stay in Japan forever?

Brendan I hope not, but you never know. I don’t know, I don’t, I don’t have any sort of, like, long sighted, sort of, plans, I’ll see what happens. At the moment, I’m having fun, so there’s no point in, ah, stopping something that seems to be working.

Sarah Is there anything you miss about Australia?

Brendan Yeah, obviously, I miss, ah, my family. Um, I’d like to see my parents more. They’re getting older now, so every time I go back they seem that little bit older. Ahh, I miss friends and stuff but I mean, I’m getting to the age now, where people are heading in their different directions, so whether I was living in Australia or not, I wouldn’t be, sort of, hanging out with them every day. Um, I miss certain things about Australia, just the comfort of familiarity. Um, the weather. Um, I guess the laid back attitude, though I heard that’s kind of changing a bit.

Sarah Niseko is now like little Australia, what do you think about that?

Brendan Um, I think you’re asking the wrong person. Um, obviously there’s good things and bad things with that obviously. Um, the benefits to the local economy um, are good, could be a lot better. Um, if, if people used local business more. People who are making money, it’s good for them. The, more like, ah, internationally this place becomes known, the better it’s going to be in the long run.
Obviously there’s a downside as well, to lots of people coming in, it does change the atmosphere of the place. Um, but that, yeah, I mean, any place that’s cool it’s going to happen to it eventually.

Sarah Finally, do you have any advice for people who are studying English?

Brendan I do, um, don’t be afraid to try. Ask lots of questions. And, um, yeah, people, people don’t know what you’re thinking. So, just try and if you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. You have to learn from your mistakes, so talk as much as you can, listen as much as you can, ask as many questions as you can. And yeah, don’t be afraid.

links

today's STICK NEWS pictures

John Howard

Kevin Rudd

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

other music
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: into the groove
from: Saint Raphael, France
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 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.

Show 561 Sunday 25 November

Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Sunday Kitchen #70 Daikon

This is daikon.
Big Root.

There are many things you can do with daikon.

For example, daikon sticks.
Cut the daikon into strips and eat it with spicy miso. Yum.

Daikon salad. Cut the daikon into small pieces. Or grate it. Or grate it using a food processor, that’s even easier. Add some other vegetables and dressing.

You can also boil daikon, like oden.
Put in some konbu dashi, chilli and soy sauce. Boil it and eat it with miso. Mmm delicious.

And you can make daikon oroshi.
You can eat daikon oroshi like this with mochi or like this with a bowl of hot soba. Mmm.

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

other music
artist: A.K.1974
album: Darker Than You Think
track: Space Spy - Dry Martini
from: Hamburgo, Spain (?)
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 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.

Show 560 Saturday 24 November

Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

How To Disappear

First you need a camera and a tripod.
I want to disappear while I'm walking down the street so I'm going to do it outside.

First check to see if it's snowing. You don't want to film when it's snowing and ruin your camera.
Sweet, no snow.

Go outside. Set the tripod up.
Press play.
Walk.
That should be enough.
Come back and go inside.

Transfer the footage to the computer with this magic cord and open up Premiere.

Find the part before you start working and cut.
Then find the part where you want to disappear and cut.

Delete the rest of this.
Then move the bit at the start to the end.

Then open up the effects and find cross-fade and drag it to the join between the two shots.

And that's it.

notes

Premiere
I am using Adobe Premiere Elements v1.0
I'm not sure if other people call it "Premiere" - but that's what I call it.
This version is no longer available. The latest one is Adobe Premiere Elements 4.
Or, if you have more money, check out Premiere Pro.

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

other music
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending, analogue
from: Saint Raphael, France
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 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.

Show 559 Friday 23 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

Today I’d like to talk about Oprah. If you’re from Japan – or most other countries in the world - you’ve probably never heard of Oprah. But she’s really famous in the United States and in other English speaking countries.

Oprah is a television talk show host and her show is called The Oprah Winfrey Show.

In Wikipedia it says: it’s the highest-rated (I said ranked by accident) talk show in American television history.
And it says it’s currently the longest-running daytime television talk show in the United States, having run since September 1986 for over 22 seasons and 3,000 episodes.

So a lot of people watch her show so she has a lot of money and a lot of power to influence people. Maybe that’s why some people don’t like her. I’m not really sure why people don’t like her – feel free to leave a comment and explain.

I don’t remember ever seeing a whole show of hers – but I’ve seen bits of it and I’ve seen clips of her shows on her website. I quite like her style. I think she’s quite funny. Some of the topics I don’t think are that interesting – like cheesy fashion or plastic surgery. But some of the topics are interesting and I used to recommend those clips to my students in Tokyo.

Anyway, recently Oprah started a channel on YouTube. And most of the videos are just promotions for the show so they’re not that interesting. But there are a couple I thought were interesting – the one where she talks to Chad and Steve, the YouTube boys – and there’s also one of her talking to the Evolution of Dance guy. He seems like a really cool guy.

Evolution of Dance is the most viewed video ever on YouTube by the way. It’s been viewed over 65 million times ... So if you’re one of the few people who hasn’t seen it yet, you should check it out, it’s funny.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, a Japanese company has announced it will offer a 2 million yen cash gift to its employees on the birth of their third (I said second by mistake) and subsequent children.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. (大和証券グループ本社, Daiwa Shōken Gurūpu Honsha) is one of the three biggest securities brokerages in Japan.
Yesterday they said they’ll give their employees cash for babies.
For baby number three onwards, employees will get 2 million yen per baby.
Kyodo news reported the measure aims at easing the economic burdens of child rearing for its employees and will help stem the declining birthrate in the country by encouraging them to have more than two children.
They report the baby bonus is the first of its kind in the financial industry, although some companies in the manufacturing industry have already offered such gifts to their employees.

And that was Stick News for Friday 23rd of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#340 And now you have to end with the dance?

Step 1: Repeat Oprah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Oprah’s lines and talk to Justin.

Oprah Were you nervous during the dance on TV?

Justin Not so much, this wasn’t the first time, so. This was the best of the best, of course, but yeah ...

Oprah Was it? Were you nervous about premiering part of the other second dance?

Justin A little bit, so, it was a difficult process, when you work with songs and entertainment. To obtain rights of the ones that we could actually do.

Oprah Yeah, that’s ... clearing all those songs. Don’t we know! So, tell me this, how long do you think you can keep this dance thing going?

Justin Well, I’m really lucky that the dance was never what I started doing. So I’ve always worked as a speaker and the dance was just part of it. So I’m still doing exactly what I was doing afterwards.

Oprah So people call you for like motivational speaking?

Justin Correct. Yeah. Absolutely.

Oprah Yeah. So you speak to thousands of people at a time?

Justin Um, the largest audience is about 25 thousand. So ...

Oprah Wow. And now you have to end with the dance?

Justin Yeah, I don’t get to go anywhere and not do the dance. Ha ha ha ha.

Oprah And what is the basic premise of what you’re saying to people?

Justin Ah, that life is change. Let go of the things that you cannot control and focus your choices in on the things that you do have control of.

Oprah Very good! Very good. Now, I was saying this when you finished, because I was cracking up, why is this so funny to ...

Justin Honestly, I do not know. So many people are fearful of dancing because they’re afraid of looking like a fool, but if you let go of that and just go have fun, then dancing becomes an expression of your, of your joy basically.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

other music
artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: blu
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

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.

Show 558 Thursday 22 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

Today I’d like to recommend a video by skippyXG called Telephone Conversation.
In this video he’s lip-synching to a scene from a movie called Dr Strangelove. And it’s really, really well done too. It looks like he’s really saying it.

Dr Strangelove’s a great movie too, by the way, I recommend it if you haven’t already seen it.

And I really recommend doing something like in this video. He’s just doing it for fun, not for English study. But this kind of thing is perfect for English study.

Just pick a scene from a movie you like and practice it by yourself or with friends. And make a video if you like. The language that you practice may be useful one day – but, even more importantly, it’s fun. And I think that studying by doing something that you enjoy is a very, very good idea.

Dr Strangelove quote:

President Merkin Muffley: [to Kissoff] Hello?... Uh... Hello D- uh hello Dmitri? Listen uh uh I can't hear too well. Do you suppose you could turn the music down just a little?... Oh-ho, that's much better... yeah... huh... yes... Fine, I can hear you now, Dmitri... Clear and plain and coming through fine... I'm coming through fine, too, eh?... Good, then... well, then, as you say, we're both coming through fine... Good... Well, it's good that you're fine and... and I'm fine... I agree with you, it's great to be fine... a-ha-ha-ha-ha...

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, Japan has qualified to play in men's soccer tournament in the 2008 Olympics.

Yesterday Japan played Saudi Arabia in their final Olympics qualifying match.
They only needed a draw to guarantee a place at the Olympics. The score was nil all.
South Korea and Australia also qualified from Asia. And China is guaranteed a place as the host nation.
Four teams from Europe will play at the Olympics. As well as two teams from South America. Two teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, three teams from Africa and one team from Oceania.

And that was Stick News for Thursday the 22nd of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#339 Have you seen Dr Strangelove?

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

Sarah Have you seen Dr Strangelove?

Helen No. It sounds familiar though. Who’s in it?

Sarah Um, I can’t remember ...

Helen What’s it about?

Sarah Peter Sellers! That’s it ...

Helen It’s about Peter Sellers?

Sarah No, he’s the guy who’s in it.

Helen I’ve never heard of him.

Sarah Oh, really?

Helen What’s he been in?

Sarah Lot’s of movies ... old movies. He’s dead now.

Helen When did Dr Strangelove come out?

Sarah Ages ago. I don’t know ... 40 years ago? 50?

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

Men's soccer qualifying games (Wikipedia)

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

other music
artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: blu
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

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.

Show 557 Wednesday 21 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

So, The Daily English Show is back in Japan. We had a nice break for 10 days. And now we’re going to be here until next May.

The town we are in is called Kutchan. And this area is called Abuta-Gun or Shiribeshi. And the island is called Hokkaido. But the mountain closest to us is called Niseko-Annupuri and this ski area is called Niseko. So that’s why it’s going to be The Daily English Show Niseko for the next six months.

Wednesday is mistake day and I don’t need to look too far to find mistakes around here.
Let’s start with a couple of signs I saw yesterday.

Firstly, there is a “buckwheat needle restaurant”. I think they are selling noodles, so those es should be os.

Another sign says: “Welcome to Kutchan”. They’re missing an “o” on that sign. But I think it’s really sweet of them to write a sign in a few different languages to make tourists feel welcome.

Another mistake I found comes from a brochure. This brochure is for a company called NOASC in Niseko and they do things like tours, lessons, rental equipment. And they also have a bar and restaurant. And it says: “Dinner reservations excepted”.

That’s a common mistake for native English speakers actually – confusing accept and except.

The pronunciation is similar – actually pretty much the same the way I say it – but the spelling and meaning is different.

Here are some examples from my dictionary of how you can use except:

We work every day except Sunday.
They all came except Matt.
I had nothing on except for my socks.

And these are some examples for accept:

You just have to accept the fact that we’re never going to be rich.
It may take years to be completely accepted by the local community.
The machine only accepts coins.

So as you can see accept and except mean different things.
And this sentence doesn’t make sense. But they could say: “We accept dinner reservations every day except Sunday.”

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, there’s a shortage of secondary school teachers in New Zealand and according to a new survey, it’s getting worse.

The Post Primary Teachers' Association is a trade union in New Zealand.
Yesterday they released the results of a survey which they say shows New Zealand secondary schools are having serious troubles attracting and retaining qualified staff.
About a quarter of high schools in New Zealand responded to the email survey.
One principal said he was “extremely concerned about the quantity and quality of applications in some areas, especially maths and science.”
Another school said they were forced to hire 72-year-old teacher to head their technology department because finding qualified and able teachers was "becoming next to impossible".

And that was Stick News for Wednesday 21st of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#338 I can’t believe I’m almost 30.

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

Sarah I can’t believe I’m almost 30.

Ben You’re worried about being 30 already?

Sarah Only one more year...

Ben You like being young?

Sarah Yeah. One of the good things about being young is that you can, kind of, get away with not knowing much about anything. But when you get to around 30 it’s like, damn I should know something about this ...

Ben Yeah, but on the other hand, when you’re older you’re more confident and you don’t really worry about what people think.

Sarah Yeah, I guess you realize that no one really knows much about anything and it doesn’t really matter ...

Ben I’ve enjoyed my thirties. More than my twenties.

Sarah Really?

Ben Yeah, much more. And I think my forties will be even better. I’m looking forward to it.

Sarah Hmmm.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

other music
artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: Grigioscuro
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

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.

Show 556 Tuesday 20 November

Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

I remember my primary school teacher telling me that if it was sunny on your birthday, it meant that you’d been good all year. And if it was raining, you’d been bad.
I don’t remember if he said anything about what it means if it rains in the morning turns to snow and then is cloudy - so I’ll just assume it means I was an excellent girl all year.

I went for a walk to the supermarket to find something to stick candles into.

I don’t usually go to the supermarket so I walked around in circles for a bit. Where are the sweets? Here they are.

I decided to buy lots of sweets. You can do whatever you like on your birthday, right?

Mmm, bottle of expensive wine.

These sweets weren’t really designed to have candles stuck in them. But I found a way.

Putting candles into hot mochi is definitely a stupid idea.

I can’t believe I’m almost 30. Damn.

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

other music
artist: A.K.1974
album: Darker Than You Think
track: Woman's Body
from: Hamburgo, Spain (?)
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

artist: Musiciens de Surface
album: Rachamps 2004
track: Ah! que nos peres
from: Bastogne, Belgium
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

artist: OPRACHINA
album: The jazz farm
track: The Moon In August
from: Roma, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
YouTube channel

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.

Show 555 Monday 19 November

Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
Long time no see. This is our first show back in Japan – but our guest is in Canada. We did this interview on our last day at Acadia University. Mohammed is from Saudia Arabia and he’s studying engineering at Acadia. This isn’t his first time in North America, he lived in the United States twice when he was a child – the first time when he was a baby, and then again from when he was 5 to 8. I asked him if he remembered what it was like when he went to the United States.

Um, I remember like, ah, some stuff from, ah, like first grade. Like I remember some of my friends, I don’t remember names though, I remember like their faces, I remember ... ah, I remember quite a few stuff, like I remember my neighbour’s dog, I remember my neighbour, I remember the dog eating my toys when I was like young and ...

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, it’s anti-bullying week in the UK. The campaign includes posting videos on the first anti-bullying partner channel on YouTube.

Wikipedia says: bullying is the act of intentionally causing harm to others through verbal harassment, physical assault, or other more subtle methods of coercion such as manipulation.
Beatbullying is an anti-bullying charity based in London, England.
Beatbullying say they aim to“reduce and prevent the incidence and impact of bullying ... between young people.”
Their campaign includes a YouTube channel called beatbullying.
The channel now features 84 videos of people, including celebrities, talking about bullying.

And that was Stick News for Monday the 19th of November.
Kia Ora.

conversations with sarah
#337 Have you ever been to Mecca?

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

Sarah Why did you choose to study in Canada?

Mohammed Because, ah, one thing is like, I wanted to study like abroad, because, ah ... like I had like two choices in my mind, like, I was going ... actually three. I was either, I was going home, I was going out of home, no pr... Like, this is my plan, because I wanted to depend on myself, I didn’t want to depend on my family any more.
So there was one choice is I go to another city and the other choice is I’m going to Japan. Or the third choice is I’m going to ah, like, Canada, or ah Australia, you know, like, English-based countries. But the US I heard that there is sometimes complications, because you’re from Saudi Arabia, the visa takes like too long in the US. So, I was like, “I can’t waste that much time, on the visa”. And I got the scholarship to come here, so I took the scholarship. Because they pay me, they pay the university. Like they pay the university, the pay my housing and they pay me more for living costs, so it’s a good deal.

Sarah What are the conditions of the scholarship?

Mohammed Ah, the conditions would be like, OK, we ah, like we give you the scholarship for five years and probably like how much time would you need like to finish. That’s basically it.
If they see a reason, like a good reason to extend that ah ... time, they would extend it. But then you would have to work for them for the same amount of time that they paid for your school for. And basically, even back home, if you go out from any university, that’s where you go you would go to this company right. And they would pay me the same amount that they would pay someone, from, ah ... who ah, graduates from back home, from Saudi Arabia, but I would have better chances to like ah, get promoted. So I chose, yeah, this is, I mean, it’s a good deal, I’m working there anyways, if I’m taking engineering.

Sarah Do you need English in Saudi Arabia?

Mohammed Yeah, English, yeah of course, like all of the universities teach in English. Especially like ah dental ... if you’re studying to be a dentist like my brother is studying to be a dentist, everything is in English. And, ah, engineering, all the scientific majors, they’re all like ah learnt in English. You learn them in English. They don’t teach them in Arabic.

Sarah How different are Canada and Saudi Arabia?

Mohammed It’s ... different. A lot different. Like the culture. Ah, how ah ... Like, pretty much, it’s the culture. And ah, the climate of course. There’s a huge difference in the climate. And ... like the views. Like, you know, the people are ... like ... People are people, like that’s what I found like pretty much. But the difference is like, there are certain things that we’d find, like, offensive back home, they wouldn’t be offensive here. And there are certain things that ah, you know, would mean a lot back home, they wouldn’t mean it here, the opposite works too. So it’s kind of like getting used to the culture more.

Sarah Did anything surprised you when you came to Canada or were you pretty used to it from living in the US?

Mohammed Yeah, I, I was like pretty used to it like, subconsciously you know what I mean. Like some of my friends got like shock from some stuff. But I was like, I kind of understand it somehow. Like in the back of my brain, probably because like I used to like live that life when I was a child. But I can’t actually remember it.

Sarah Is it easy to make Canadian friends?

Mohammed Yeah, if you like, you ... But kind of like you have to try it, you know. Because, ah, I mean, if they see you shy ... like they don’t know ... they don’t want ... some people, like ... if I see someone like too shy right, I’m afraid that if I approach them they think I’m offencing (offending) them by something. Or I’m afraid that they probably just don’t like me. That’s why like they avoid me. So that’s kind of like what happens like when ah ... especially at the start of the year, you have to be like social, no matter how shy you are, try to make at least three friends, at least. Because those three friends, like they would have friends and they would introduce you. Like this is ah, how I got better in writing because I would have friends to help me.

Sarah Have you ever been to Mecca?

Mohammed Yeah, of course, I’ve been there like this summer actually. Like just this summer I’ve been there and I shaved my head.

Sarah What’s it like?

Mohammed It’s awesome. It’s actually awesome because ... it’s ... I don’t know, like, it gives you like, actually like a feeling of relaxation, the atmosphere. And, ah ... there’s like a well of water that’s actually, like, it’s been there since I don’t know, like for how many ... I don’t know how many thousand years and never dried out.

Sarah What do you think is the secret to learning English?

Mohammed I think just try it out, just have to try it out like if you ... you would never, like get better at something if you don’t try. Like anything in life, you have to try it. You have to like kind of ... You know, don’t do it for the sake of doing it. Doing it ... Do it just like because like, you kind of want to, like just put some, motivation in it.

links

today's news

today's STICK NEWS pictures

Bullying (Wikipedia)
Beatbullying

Saudi Arabia (Wikipedia)

Kelly Holmes (Wikipedia)

Acadia University
Study English at Acadia
Acadia links

music

show start
artist: AdHoc
album: Toutes directions
track: La note en cage
from: Annecy, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: Manu Cornet
album: Distance & Temps
track: Silk Road
from: Paris, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

other music
artist: XL Ant
album: XL Ant
track: Balbalama5
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 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.

Show 554 Thursday 8 November

Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Back to Japan 2007
Day 13: Hirafu

We drove up to Hirafu to check out the mountain and the village.

This is the ski field – it looks really different with no snow.

The place doesn’t look that much different than last year except there are a few new buildings here and there. Some buildings are still being built or renovated.

We saw a car driving on the mountain so we decided to go for a bit of drive ourselves.

This is a jump. It looks so different with no snow.

This is the place we stayed when we arrived last year.

And this is the place they were building opposite the place where we stayed. It’s all finished now, obviously.

We went to this bar a couple of times last year. This notice says they’re going to open on the 20th of December.

Show 553 Wednesday 7 November

Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Back to Japan 2007
Day 12: Kutchan

So we’re back in Kutchan, where it’s always 4:41 according to this clock.

And it’s 242 days to the Hokkaido Toyako Summit.

I keep calling this place the Shiyakusho. But it’s not, it’s the Yakuba.

Desk number 1, Alien Registration.

There are 15,699 people in Kutchan.

This is a poster about that summit. The hottest summit in Cool Hokkaido.

The minimum wage in Hokkaido is 654 yen an hour.

Here’s a poster teaching Australian English. よろしくお願いします　means please. Well ...

This is one of Kutchan’s characters. His name is Mirai-kun and his nickname is Snopiiii. Wow, I lived here for a whole season and I didn’t realize he had a name.

St Moritz is 8979 kilometres away. That’s always good to know.

Nine degrees.

The Japanese flag on top of the police station.

Hokkaido, Sapporo, Homen Kutchan Keisatsu Sho

Traffic Safety Kutchan.
Don’t get on a car if you drink.
OK ...

Here’s that guy again. 1 million yen reward.

This is where FM Niseko used to be. They went bankrupt a couple of months ago.

There are some nice shops in Kutchan like Boom, Cocoroya ...
This café is owned by an American monk.

I like M Pocket. They sell some nice wine.

The information centre has moved.

Seikomart. Long time no see.

notes

よろしくお願いします　has many meanings, depending on the context, so it is odd to translate it as "please".