#981 Have You Ever Been Low? Offensive Place Names, Eunkyung From Korea

Show 981 Friday 27 February
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

Today we’re studying a song called Low. It’s by Kelly Clarkson who is an American singer. She won the first American Idol series – if you’ve heard of that … it’s a kind of talent show.

A lot of songs – especially pop songs – have a few lines that are repeated over and over … and that can be really annoying. But it’s great if you’re studying English and those lines are useful to remember.
In this song she sings this line over and over: Have you ever been low?

The song is basically just another one of those songs lamenting a failed relationship.
By low, she means: depressed or feeling bad.

I don’t know if you’d ever actually ask anyone: Have you ever been low? – but have you ever been … is very useful. If it doesn’t roll off your tongue already, you should practice saying it over and over or listen to the song and sing along. Another good way to practice is to get together with a friend, or a teacher, or a classmate and spend about five or ten minutes just asking each other have you ever questions.

Have you ever been to Europe?
Have you ever tried snowboarding?
Have you ever broken a bone?
Have you ever been rafting?
Have you ever forgotten where you parked the car?
Have you ever lost your mobile phone?
Have you ever stolen anything?
Have you ever made a speech at a funeral?
Have you ever missed a flight?
Have you ever been to Disneyland?

STICK NEWS

Kia ora in Stick News today LA County in the United States has requested to rename a mountain which is now called Negrohead Mountain.

This word is considered so offensive in the United States that it’s referred to by the euphemism: The N Word.
But that wasn’t always the case and there used to be many official place names containing the N word.
According to Wikipedia, in 1967, many of these place names were changed to another word starting with N.
This word is also now considered offensive – so place names are being changed again.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has requested that Negrohead Mountain be changed to Ballard Mountain.

And that was Stick News for Friday the 27th of February.
Kia ora.

TDES Niseko Snow Report
in The Annupuri Gondola

thanks to Eunkyung

1. Where are you from?
I’m from Korea.

2. Whereabouts in Korea?
I’m from Daejeon.

3: How long are you here for?
Until April.Three months in total.

4. How did you find out about Niseko?
My friend Lee brought me here.

5. How many times have you been to Niseko?
Last year was my first time and this is the second time.

6. How are the conditions today?
The snow’s a bit heavier than usual but it’s still good. Very good.

7. Where do you usually go snowboarding in Korea?
Muju Resort. There’s not much snow at Muju Resort. Not as much as in Niseko.

8. How long have you been snowboarding?
Three years.

Word of the Day

Today’s word is low.

Low has many meanings.
When Kelly Clarkson sings: Have you ever been low? she’s meaning: Have you ever been depressed?
But at the end of the song she sings: What you did was low.
This is another meaning of the word low. Here low means: unscrupulous or dishonest.

friday joke

* I found today's joke in the comments of this video.

Why do most people have trouble getting blood transfusions in Taiwan?
Because they only have type A.

conversations with sarah
#616 Don’t you think it’s cruel?

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

Tony Have you ever seen American Idol?

Sarah Mmm, I’ve seen clips online – but I’ve never actually seen a whole show.

Tony Do you like it?

Sarah Yeah, it’s kind of entertaining. Especially the judges’ comments.

Tony Don’t you think it’s cruel?

Sarah No, cause they’ve chosen to be there and they know what they’re up for – so I think it’s fair enough.

Tony Some people get really upset though.

Sarah Well … bad luck. I mean, that’s like enabling comments on your online video and then complaining when someone says it sucks.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

Kelly Clarkson - YouTube channel
Low by Kelly Clarkson - official video on YouTube

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

nsr start
artist: Zeropage
album: Ambient Pills Update
track: Is It Real?
from: Switzerland
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

nsr bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Bass Vibes
artist site
YouTube channel

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

friday joke start
artist: AdHoc
album: Toutes directions
track: Sumbala
from: Annecy, 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: Antony Raijekov
album: See U
track: Lightin
from: Sofia, Bulgaria
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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#980 Milk, Plagiarism, Cheap Vices, Entire

Show 980 Thursday 26 February
Watch today’s show at YouTube.

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

Today I’d like to talk about another Oscar speech.
It was by Dustin Lance Black who won the award for the Best Original Screenplay – and you can watch that video on the Oscar channel on YouTube.

I thought it was a really moving speech.

The award was for a movie called Milk which is the story of Harvey Milk who was an American politician and gay rights activist.

In his speech Dustin Black said a message to gay and lesbian kids. He said "... no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you ..." and he said that very soon they’d have equal rights in America.
No matter what … who, where, what, why, how etc. is an idiom.
used to say that sth is always true, whatever the situation is, or that sb should certainly do sth

And one of the examples here is: Call me when you get there, no matter what the time is.

The Acadia Report
Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada

The Acadia University Library is called the Vaughan Memorial Library.
This is their site.

Of course a lot of their resources you can only access if you’re a student of that university – but some of them are available for anyone to use.

And one thing that you might find useful is their tutorials. They have one about plagiarism – which is a very important thing for students to understand.

When I was teaching a high school class in Tokyo I had a problem with plagiarism and I ended up giving them a long, stern lecture about it … which I think was good for some of them … but I think it could have been even more effective if I’d have got them to do a tutorial like this as well.

STICK NEWS

Kia ora in Stick News today according to the New Zealand Herald despite the troubled economic times cheap vices are still popular in New Zealand.

Apparently almost all of the only companies in the United States that did well during the Great Depression were those that sold cheap vices like sweets and tobacco.
Now the same trend is being seen in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Herald reported that retailing has been flat overall – but some sectors, including junk food and alcohol are resilient.

And that was Stick News for Thursday 26th of February.
Kia ora.

TDES Niseko Snow Report
at niseko yurt village

with Sarah Latcham
Sarah was a guest on Show 977

When did you come to Japan?

Ah, the first time I came was last year. I came for a week to visit my partner who was doing a season over here. And then I got here on the 2nd of December this year and stayed for three months.

Do you ski or snowboard?

I’d skied before but I’m learning to snowboard this year. I bought a new snowboard and boots and bindings to come over. So, I’m finding it heaps more fun actually – enjoying it a lot more.

How have the conditions been recently?

The snow here has probably been … the best week of the season – apart from the wind. But I think the next few days are going to be the best of the season, which is a shame because I leave tomorrow, so I’m going to miss out on all of it. But … ah, I haven’t seen a lot of snow. I came back to Japan for the second time cause I really liked the snow last year. Ah, I’ve skied in Mt Buller in Australia and that’s got no comparison to Japan. It’s nothing like as good as the snow is here.

Word of the Day

Today’s word is entire.

Entire means whole or with no part left out and it’s used to emphasize that the whole of something was involved.

You could say: I spent the whole day working on it. Or: I spent the entire day working on it.

They mean the same thing but using entire has more impact.

In his speech, Dustin said he would like to thank the entire cast.

conversations with sarah
#616 What’s your vice?

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

Tony What’s your vice?

Sarah My vice. Hmm … I don’t know if I want to say.

Tony Cigarettes?

Sarah No, I don’t smoke.

Tony Ah, it must be something illegal.

Sarah No, no … it’s not illegal, it’s celebrity gossip.

Tony Do you read celebrity gossip?

Sarah Maybe. Occasionally. It’s usually work-related though.

Tony Riiiiight. You read Perez Hilton, don’t you?

Sarah No comment.

notes

from today's Stick News pictures:

iconic depression picture
to hell in a handbasket

plagiarism tutorial
video about library tutorials

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

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

nsr start
artist: Zeropage
album: Ambient Pills Update
track: Is It Real?
from: Switzerland
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: Paolo Pavan
album: INSIDE
track: Blue Night Dance
from: Rome, Italy
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
MySpace

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.