Show 878 Thursday 6 November
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.
Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today I recommend two videos. Barack Obama’s victory speech and John McCain’s concession speech.
Our kids and grandkids will probably be studying Obama’s speech in their history classes – but we get to study it while it’s hot off the press.
I thought they were both great speeches - very well written and delivered.
One of the special things about this election, of course, is that Obama’s dad was from Africa. And because of that in the past a lot of people wouldn’t have wanted him to be president.
It’s amazing to thing it wasn’t really that long ago that Rosa Parks was expected to give up her bus seat just because of the colour of her skin. That was in 1955.
The fact that Obama won was moving enough for me – and I wasn’t alive then and I’ve never even been to the United States. So it must be so much more significant for people who actually lived through those times. And in his speech, Obama talked about a 106-year-old woman who voted in the election.
Her name was Ann Nixon Cooper and Obama said:
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.
In John McCain’s speech, he also talked about the significance of Obama being the first African-American president of the United States.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
Of course bigotry and racism, prejudice and all kinds of nasty stuff still exists in the world … but I think in most parts of the world we’ve come a long way.
In his speech Obama said the true genius of America is that America can change.
Of course he was talking about America, because it was an American election – even though it kind of felt like a world election. But I that’s the great thing about people and societies in general … is that we can change. And we should all be happy when things improve in another country, because it affects us all as citizens of the world.
The Acadia Report
Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada
When we were at Acadia last year, they had a homecoming parade. Homecoming is a tradition at North American universities. It’s a kind of reunion weekend they have every year when former students come back to visit.
Keep it comfy for everyone. I have no idea what that means … but I like the word comfy. It’s short for comfortable.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora in Stick News today the Kenyan government has declared a public holiday to celebrate Barack Obama’s victory.
Barack Obama was born in 1936 in Kenya.
When he was 23 he moved to Hawaii to go to university.
At University he met a student called Ann. They got married and had a baby. The baby was born on the 4th of August 1961. They called him Barack Obama.
Barack Obama’s parents ended up getting divorced.
Then, after studying at Harvard University, his father went back to Kenya.
Obama’s father had eight children with four different women before he died in a car crash in Kenya at the age of 46.
The US President-elect now has members of his extended family living all over the world – including Kenya.
CNN reported that people in the village where Obama’s father grew up partied in the streets when they found out Obama won.
Obama's 86-year-old grandmother Sarah did a victory dance.
And the Kenyan Prime Minister said the entire country was proud of Obama's presidential victory.
He said it offered hope for Kenya and the world.
And that was Stick News for Thursday 6th of November.
Kia Ora.
Word of the Day
Today’s word is unyielding.
To yield is to give way to demands or pressure.
If something is unyielding it means it doesn’t bend or break when pressure is put on it.
So, unyielding support – is very strong support.
This is from Obama’s speech:
And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady, Michelle Obama.
conversations with sarah
#546 The world has changed
Step 1: Repeat Jake’s lines.
Step 2: Read Jake’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Jake Do you really think Obama’s going to change the world?
Sarah Yeah. He already has.
Jake You think all the world’s problems have suddenly disappeared?
Sarah No, of course not. But the world has changed. The world changes all the time.
Jake But what difference will it really make?
Sarah Many things … people’s image of America has changed for a start.
Jake Mine hasn’t changed.
Sarah Well not everybody’s image – but mine has, for sure.
links
today's news and here
today's STICK NEWS pictures
Barack Obama - Wikipedia
Obama Family
Acadia University
Study English at Acadia University, Canada
music
show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace
The Acadia Report start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Concerto
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace
qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
qa bgm
artist: Zeropage
album: Ambient Pills Update
track: Ambient Dance
from: Switzerland
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
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