Show 819 Monday 8 September
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.
Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
As you may or may not know, thanks to Super Simple Songs, we are giving away some awesome CDs on The Daily English Show. Congratulations to 林 真佐子 (Hayashi Masako) from Chiba who got July’s CD and さえママ(Sae-mama) in Iwanai who got the CD in August … I hope you enjoy the CDs as much as I do.
We still have one CD to give away, Super Simple Songs number 3. I highly recommend these CDS if you teach kids or if you have kids or if you have friends with kids. The CDS come with lyrics too and cute fish.
So, if you’re a member, you can send me an email to say you want this CD and I will send it to one lucky person at the start of October. And I’ll send it anywhere in the world too, you don’t have to be in Japan.
Today's guest is Paul. Paul is from New Zealand and he's in Japan at the moment - visiting friends and also writing a few stories because he does some freelance journalism.
You might recognize him from TV commercials, if you’ve ever watched TV in New Zealand because he’s been in quite a few ads in NZ – and one or two Japanese ones too I think. If I can find any on the internet I’ll put a link next to the video. Anyway, he contacted me to say he was interested in writing a story about The Daily English Show and then he came to the studio on Saturday to interview me. And he also agreed to be a guest on today’s show. I asked him how he found out about The Daily English Show.
Well, I have some Japanese friends who came to New Zealand, um, Genki and Kei from Okayama and Takamatsu. And I met them when they were cycling in New Zealand and we spent time together and we had a BBQ and quite a lot of in Wanganui. And they introduced me to your show and I was quite fascinated so I’ve, I’ve … one of the reasons I came to Niseko was to come and interview you for the, for the New Zealand newspapers, yeah.
STICK NEWS
Kia Ora, in Stick News today, the 2008 Paralympic Games are now being held in Beijing.
The Paralympic Games are a multi-sport event for athletes with physical, mental, and sensorial disabilities.
Apparently the name was originally coined as a portmanteau combining paraplegic and Olympic.
Paraplegia is paralysis of the legs and lower body, typically caused by spinal injury or disease.
The Paralympics were originally for people with spinal injuries, but when other disability groups started to be included, the explanation of the name was no longer considered appropriate.
So, the formal explanation for the name has changed.
The explanation is now that it derives from the Greek para- (which means beside or alongside) and thus refers to a competition held in parallel with the Olympic Games.
This year, the 13th Paralympics are being held in Beijing, China.
The games opened on Saturday and will continue until the 17th of September.
Over 4,200 athletes from 148 countries will take part in the games.
And that was Stick News for Monday 8th of September.
Kia Ora.
conversations with sarah
#503 Where are you from?
Step 1: Repeat Sarah’s lines.
Step 2: Read Sarah’s lines and talk to Paul.
Sarah Where are you from?
Paul I’m from Auckland, New Zealand.
Sarah How long have you been in Japan?
Paul Ah, this is my fifth visit and I’ve been here four weeks so far.
Sarah What are you doing here this time?
Paul Ah, I’m just visiting my friends. I’ve been all over Japan to Okinawa, Hokkaido, Okayama, Hiroshima, yeah, quite a … travelled around Japan quite a lot.
Sarah Why do you have so many Japanese friends?
Paul Um, because I started martial arts about 20 years ago, doing karate and judo and became quite involved with judo and so became involved with Japanese culture. And then about 15, 10, 15 years ago I made the team to the first world sumo champs at Kokugikan in Tokyo.
Sarah So the first time you came here was for judo?
Paul The first time it was for sumo, to compete in a sumo competition. But then I’ve also come every time – that time and other times – I’ve come to do judo training as well. Yeah, I go and do a lot of training in Saitama with my good friends from Saitama.
Sarah And all the training is in Japanese?
Paul Yes.
Sarah So how did you learn Japanese?
Paul I’d like to live in Japan, but I haven’t been able to do that yet, so I thought the next best thing is to have a houseful of Japanese flatmates, which I did in Auckland. And I was always listening to them talking Japanese and I’d try and learn a new word or two off them every day and try and use it and I think the important thing is once you’ve learnt it, to use it as many times … especially that day and the next few days, as much as possible. That’s the best way to retain it long term.
Sarah You do some freelance journalism, don’t you? What kind of stories do you do?
Paul I’m quite interested in human interest stories. So, um, I’ve interviewed some Buddhist monks, who came to New Zealand and lived in New Zealand got citizenship. A guy that had the first car number plate in the Maori language. A mother of a child that disappeared off a beach in New Zealand and was never seen again. Um, that kind of thing. Yeah, so, quite a broad interest.
Sarah Do you have any advice for people who are learning English?
Paul Um, yes. I’ve been studying English for 46 years and I’m still learning. Ah, I still make mistakes. Ah, so, I think if … especially if you’re speaking English, don’t think too much about what you’re going to say first, just say it. And I think most people don’t care if you make a mistake. They just want to know you and understand what you want. They don’t care if your language is perfect or imperfect. And try and use it as much as possible. If you have friends who are learning English, try and have one day a week or one time when you speak English with them. Even if it’s, you know, you’re all Japanese, still try and find a particular time when you’re just going to speak English together. So, repetition I think is the most important thing, to, to use it as much as possible. And I think I’ve heard you say and lots of other people say, “use it or lose it” and it’s, I think it’s quite true.
links
today's STICK NEWS pictures
music
show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace
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: Ensono
album: Night Culture
track: Waking Dream
from: Vigo, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
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