Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Show 578 Wednesday 12 December




The latest version of this transcript has been moved here:
http://www.thedailyenglishshow.com/show/578-no-smorking-x-i-hope-to-hearing-x/



























Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today’s mistake comes from a website for a place in Niseko called Gentem Café – I’ve never actually been there, but I really want to go and check it out.
Anyway, I was looking at their website and on the front page, it says “No Smorking”.
I think what they mean, is No Smoking, so there shouldn’t be an r there.
But that’s quite a common mistake. I’ve seen No Smorking signs before.
Something else to talk about today ...
Someone asked me this:
Why does one have to write: I hope to hearing from you soon. Why is it not: I hope to hear from you soon.
Actually, there are two ways you can write it:
I hope to hear from you soon.
And I look forward to hearing from you soon.
This is something you could write at the end of a business letter or email. It’s a polite way of saying “hurry up and reply”.
They basically mean the same thing. But I think they are slightly different. I hope to ... sounds like you’re not sure if they will or not, but you really hope that they do.
I look forward to ... sounds like they’re definitely going to do it, like you’re not giving them the option of refusing.
So, I would go with the second one.
As for the grammar, why do you need –ing after look forward to?
And why can’t you say, “I hope to hearing from you?”
The answer is that some verbs take to plus infinitive and some verbs take the ing form (or the gerund). And some verbs take either and they mean the same thing, and some verbs take both but they mean different things.
So how do you know which is which? Well, I recommend doing exercises with books like this, this is one of my favourite books.



If someone asks me a question about grammar, I usually look it up in this book. It has really clear explanations on one side and then exercises you can do to practice on the other side.
For example, in unit 52, you can practice what we were just talking about. Although it might not be unit 52 anymore because this isn’t the latest version of this book.
Anyway, for today remember this:
Hope goes with to plus infinitive.
And look forward to goes with the -ing form or the gerund.
hope to see you soon.
look forward to seeing you soon.
hope to meet you soon.
look forward to meeting you soon.
hope to hear from you soon.
look forward to hearing from you soon.



STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, this is Stick News. Yesterday an American airline began offering email and instant messaging on one aircraft.
On most planes in the world, passengers can’t use the internet.
It looks like soon it’ll be a different story.
Yesterday was the inaugural JetBlue flight with e-mail access.
Next year other airlines are planning to introduce internet services on some flights.
But CNN reports some people aren’t too keen on having internet access on planes, which are “one of the few downtime environments you get in this day and age”.
A guy called Jon said that between kids, meetings and electronic interruptions on the ground he gets some of his best work done on the plane.
He said good decisions and breakthroughs often arise from "the kind of deeper, reflective thinking" not possible when new messages continually arrive.
Not everyone is crying though. A guy called Henry said he hates that sense of dread when he turns on his BlackBerry after landing and gets a flood of e-mail.
He said the new system is a godsend. 
And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 12th of December.
Kia Ora.




SNOW REPORT
on the road
This is Kutchan at 1am this morning. The good thing about doing the snow report in the middle of the night is that if you want you can stand in the middle of the road and not get hit by cars. Hang on, I hope there’s no one coming. No. Sweet.



conversations with sarah
#352 Would you like a cup of tea?
Step 1: Repeat Brenda’s lines.
Step 2: Read Brenda’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Brenda Would you like a cup of tea?
Sarah No, I’m OK, thanks.
Brenda Are you sure?
Sarah Yeah, I’m fine.
Brenda I’m just about to have one anyway.
Sarah Oh, OK then, you’ve twisted my arm.
Brenda What would you like?
Sarah Whatever you’re having.
Brenda OK then, is Earl Grey OK?
Sarah Perfect.


notes
reflective - the actual quote said "reflecting", but I accentally said "reflective"


links
today's STICK NEWS pictures
English Grammar In Use by Raymond Murphy
This is one of my favourite books. I highly recommend it.

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

the snow report start
artist: Olga Scotland
album: Scotland Yard
track: Absolute
from: Moscow, Russia
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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: Silence
album: Encre
track: Plume
from: Bruxelles, Belgium
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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