#841 Home Alone: I'll Give It A Whirl, Prisoner Escapes Using Sheets

Show 841 Tuesday 30 September
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

Today we’re doing a scene from the movie Home Alone which is a comedy that came out in 1990.

I used a few scenes from this movie when I was teaching at a junior high school – it’s a good one to use for younger teenagers because a lot of good movies aren’t really appropriate.

If you haven’t seen Home Alone, it’s about a young boy who accidentally gets left at home by himself when his family goes on holiday. And so the boy, his name is Kevin, has to look after himself until his family gets back.

The scene we’re doing today is when Kevin is at the supermarket. He’s doing some grocery shopping, but he’s only 8, so the checkout woman is suspicious asks him some questions, like:

Where's your mum? Where's your father? What about your brothers and your sisters?

A few points about the language in this scene.

The checkout woman says to the boy: Are you here all by yourself?
All by yourself means the same thing as by yourself – the all is just emphasizing the fact that he’s alone.

And he replies: Mam, I'm eight years old. You think I'd be here alone? I don't think so.

Mam is a word that’s used in the US. It’s a term of respectful address, used for women. It’s like the female equivalent of sir.

I’m not really sure how common it is, or in what situations it’s used … it’s not used in New Zealand – except for in the military - so I’ve only really heard it in American movies.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora in Stick News today, a prison in New Zealand has introduced sheet counts during cell checks after a prisoner escaped by collecting enough sheets to make a rope.

In May this year a 26-year-old man escaped from Mt Eden prison by climbing over a wall using a rope made of sheets. Today the Department of Corrections released a report about the escape. The report said the escape was "not a simple escape" and very few people would have had the dexterity the man showed. They said that since the escape they’ve changed some of their systems – including the sheet system. Before the classic sheet escape, the prison didn’t do checks on sheet numbers. The sheets are now swapped one for one and guards also do sheet counts when they’re checking the cells.

And that was Stick News for Tuesday the 30th of September.
Kia Ora.

Word of the Day

Today’s word is whirl.

Whirl means: move or cause to move rapidly round and round.

Give sth a whirl is an idiom which means: to try sth to see if you like it or can do it.

I found an example online using this idiom.

This is someone writing a blog entry about hummus:

Earlier in the summer I tried replacing the mint in my hummus recipe with sage, and this time around I thought I’d give rosemary a whirl.

conversations with sarah
#519 Are you here all by yourself?

* On my DVD, this is in chapter 12 (0:50:36)

Step 1: Repeat the checkout woman's lines.
Step 2: Read the checkout woman's lines and talk to Kevin.

Kevin Are those microwave dinners any good?

Woman I don't know.

Kevin I'll give 'em a whirl.
For the kids.
Hold on, I got a coupon for that. It was in the paper this morning.

Woman Nineteen eighty three.

Kevin OK.

Woman Are you here all by yourself?

Kevin Mam, I'm eight years old. You think I'd be here alone? I don't think so.

Woman Where's your Mum?

Kevin My Mum's in the car.

Woman Where's your father?

Kevin He's at work.

Woman What about your brothers and your sisters?

Kevin I'm an only child.

Woman Where do you live?

Kevin Ah, I can't tell you that.

Woman Why not?

Kevin 'Cos you're a stranger.

links

today's news
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: Wild Mind
from: Vigo, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

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.

#840 Studying Abroad, Gateway 21 Bankruptcy, Paul Newman

Show 840 Monday 29 September
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


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

Today I wanted to talk a bit about an issue with studying abroad. A lot of people in Japan – and in other countries too – use agencies when they go abroad to study. For example, to study languages, like English.

Usually, you pay the agency, and they organize the trip for you – the flights, the place to study, the accommodation.

Anyway, one of these agencies in Japan has just closed down. It’s called Gateway 21. They suddenly closed on Friday and all these people have been writing about it on the internet, on sites like Mixi … with such sad stories. And the story has just come out in the news today.

Apparently, they were accepting money right up until they closed. And then they suddenly closed everything and disappeared – and now their offices are empty, no one answers the phone, and the website is gone. They’re not officially bankrupt yet, but they’re now preparing to file for bankruptcy.

Some people had just handed over all their money – so they might lose it all. And some of them had worked so hard, saving all their money … And for most people, it is a lot of money so it’s really sad. I did a couple of student exchanges when I was a teenager, so I know what it’s like working after school every day and in the holidays, saving all the money that you can to pay for the trip.

So I just wanted to say to those people who have lost all their money and suffered this setback that I hope it all works out and if it doesn’t, remember that every cloud has a sliver lining, so maybe something positive will come of this situation. And if it was your dream to study abroad, then I hope you don’t give up your dream because it’s such a great thing to do.

And if you’re thinking about studying abroad in the future, you might want to think about organizing the trip yourself. Not that all the agencies are going to go bankrupt – I’m sure some of them are great, solid companies. But organizing it yourself might be easier than you think. Especially with the internet, these days it’s a lot easier than it used to be. Before it might have been really important to have the agency for things like emotional support. But now you can get that off the internet. For example, if you’re staying with a host family and you’re having some problems and you’re thinking, “Are they complete freaks, or is it just me? Am I doing something wrong? What should I do?” Then, you can go online and tell your story and ask for people’s advice – and there are so many people out there who have been in similar situations and who are just waiting to help you and support you and give you advice.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora in Stick News today, a thief in Germany surprised his victims by returning to deliver an apology note and compensation.

A kiosk in Germany was broken into on a Saturday night. Alcohol and cigarettes worth 4300 Euros were stolen. Reuters reported staff were surprised when they turned up to work on Thursday and found an envelope stuffed with 400 Euros. There was also a note which read: “Sorry. To make up for Saturday night.”

And that was Stick News for Monday the 29th of September.
Kia Ora.

Word of the Day

Today’s word is bankrupt.

I always thought that this word came from bank and rupture which means break or burst suddenly.

But I just looked it up and it says here in the Concise Oxford Dictionary that the word comes from the Italian for “broken bench”.

conversations with sarah
#518 Haven’t you heard of Paul Newman?

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

Tim Did you hear that Paul Newman died?

Sarah Paul Newman … who was he?

Tim He was an actor. Haven’t you heard of Paul Newman?

Sarah Mmm … the name sounds kind of familiar. What was he in?

Tim Lot’s of movies. The Sting.

Sarah I haven’t seen that.

Tim You haven’t seen The Sting?

Sarah No.

Tim How about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?

Sarah No, I haven’t seen that either. I don’t think I’ve seen any of his movies.

link

today's news
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: Wild Mind
from: Vigo, Spain
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

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.