Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.
Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today is mistake day and I’d like to talk about mistakes that aren’t actually mistakes.
One of the hard things about teaching English is that there are so many dialects, that it’s sometimes hard to know if something is a mistake or if it is actually correct in a certain dialect.
So, I would recommend that if you’re teaching English, try to be careful and look things up and don’t assume that everything that sounds wrong to you is actually wrong.
I think one of the advantages I have, coming from a small English speaking country, is that I’m quite aware that there are many dialects out there.
I grew up reading English books from many different countries and so I just got used to there being words in those books that I’d never heard before, and I’d just have to guess the meanings.
One example of that is the word bangs. I’d read that in books, like it would say something like, “she had bangs” or, “she cut off her bangs” ... and anyway, I knew it was something about hair, so I just guessed that it meant plaits.
And for years I imagined that these characters in books had plaits. But actually no, bangs means what we call a fringe in New Zealand.
Sometimes people leave comments under these videos like, “Why would anyone want to learn Australian English?” And I’m like, “Well, it’s not Australian English for a start ... “
I think there are some advantages, and this is one of them, that I’m really aware of the fact that just because it sounds wrong to me, it doesn’t mean that it’s definitely wrong.
However, I still get caught out sometimes. And I have an example: visit with.
This sounds so wrong to me and I’d always just assumed that it was definitely a mistake to say something like, “Yesterday I visited with my friend”. But no, actually, it turns out that you can say that.
I was procrastinating the other day and I clicked on a story about Britney Spears, terrible I know, but it turned out be educational. It was something about her visiting her kids and it said visit with and when I saw it, I went ... “Oh, it must be American English”. I was shocked because I’ve been correcting students on that for years.
And sure enough, it’s in my dictionary:
Visit with sb
(AmE) to spend time with sb, especially talking socially
Ex. Come and visit with me some time.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora in Stick News today, Internet company AOL has announced it will cut 2000 jobs worldwide.
AOL is an American global Internet services and media company operated by Time Warner and headquartered in New York, New York.
The company has 16,000 employees and its slogan is: See What's Here For You.
Last year AOL cut 5,000 jobs.
Now, they’ve decided to cut 2000 more.
The Associated Press reported AOL has struggled in recent years as Internet users have ditched their AOL accounts for high-speed services offered by cable and telephone companies.
The job cuts are to reduce costs and build AOL’s strength as it transforms from an Internet access provider to an online advertising company.
And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 17th of October.
Kia Ora.
ASKING ACADIA
Which country would you most like to visit and why?
I would like to, um, visit Germany or Russia. Because they seem rich in culture. Thank you.
I would like to visit Somalia, that’s where I came from. And I haven’t been there for 17 years. I would really like to go back (?) and know more about my country. I’ve been living in Kenya and then finally I came to Canada.
I’d love to visit Peru because I think it has a beautiful history. The pyramids are very interesting too and all the culture and the ? of Peru. That’s my reason.
Probably Australia, ah, just because my friends who have been there before. They said it was a lot of fun, a lot of things to do.
And the people are different, but really nice. So, yeah, I’d probably say Australia.
Probably right now Brazil, just because I’ve never been to South America. And I’m just learning a bit of Spanish, I don’t know much, but working on that. I’ve been around, I’ve been to Asia, I’ve been to Europe and I’ve done all that thing, so it’s kind of the last frontier for the traveling. So I think that’d probably be my first choice.
Ah, Cuba because I want to listen some Cuban jazz.
Actually Cuba too but not because of the jazz. Because I want to visit before Fidel Castro die. So ... before communism will, like, break up.
Which country would you most like to visit and why?
I would like to, um, visit Germany or Russia. Because they seem rich in culture. Thank you.
I would like to visit Somalia, that’s where I came from. And I haven’t been there for 17 years. I would really like to go back (?) and know more about my country. I’ve been living in Kenya and then finally I came to Canada.
I’d love to visit Peru because I think it has a beautiful history. The pyramids are very interesting too and all the culture and the ? of Peru. That’s my reason.
Probably Australia, ah, just because my friends who have been there before. They said it was a lot of fun, a lot of things to do.
And the people are different, but really nice. So, yeah, I’d probably say Australia.
Probably right now Brazil, just because I’ve never been to South America. And I’m just learning a bit of Spanish, I don’t know much, but working on that. I’ve been around, I’ve been to Asia, I’ve been to Europe and I’ve done all that thing, so it’s kind of the last frontier for the traveling. So I think that’d probably be my first choice.
Ah, Cuba because I want to listen some Cuban jazz.
Actually Cuba too but not because of the jazz. Because I want to visit before Fidel Castro die. So ... before communism will, like, break up.
conversations with sarah
#330 When are you leaving Nova Scotia?
Step 1: Repeat Brad’s lines.
Step 2: Read Brad’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Brad When are you leaving Nova Scotia?
Sarah Next Saturday, which is the 27th.
Brad Weren’t you supposed to be leaving at the start of October?
Sarah Yeah. But we extended our stay.
Brad Wow. They must like you at the university.
Sarah Yeah, I think they like us. And we’re having a great time so we wanted to stay longer.
Brad Where are you going next?
Sarah We’re flying back to Vancouver. Then going to Vancouver Island for a couple of days, then flying back to Japan.
Brad Are you stopping anywhere on the way back?
Sarah Just for about four hours in Taipei.
Brad Why don’t you stay longer?
Sarah We can’t, ‘cos we did that on the way over. And you can only do that one way.
notes
terrible I know
I don't mean Britney Spears is terrible - just that reading celebrity gossip when you're supposed to be working isn't very good.
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
asking acadia start
artist: XL Ant
album: XL Ant
track: Levitation (Club Mix)
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
qa bgm
artist: Carlos Rives
album: Improvisaciones
track: Pequeñas piezas para María 2
from: Andratx, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
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