Friday, December 14, 2007

Show 580 Friday 14 December


Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

This is turning into an excellent Christmas. Check this out, this is an armadillo all the way from Austin, Texas. So cute and so cool I can’t believe someone that I’ve never even met sent me a present. Thank you Andrew.
And not only an armadillo, but Texas bats too. Very cool.
He even offered me free beer if I visit the US, so I’m totally there.

This armadillo is the state mascot of Texas, but it originally comes from Mexico ... I found out by reading this.

It began its migration into Texas from Mexico about 200 years ago. The word Armadillo in Spanish means “little armored one”. It has the unique capability to curl itself into a ball, and its shell-like skin serves as protection from predators.

Hmm ... but it’s fluffy ... maybe the real ones have shells.

Today’s song is No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley. You must’ve heard of Bob Marley right?

He was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist from Jamaica. And he is the most widely known performer of reggae music.

The official language of Jamaica is English.

But most people speak Jamaican Patois which is a kind of English, but it includes parts of other lanugages. It says in Wikipedia, it includes words and syntax from various African languages, other European languages, Pre-Columbian Caribbean languages and Asian languages.

It also says that some linguists classify Jamaican Patois as a separate language and some classify it as a dialect of English.

So the song goes: No, woman, no cry.
Which means: No, woman, don’t cry.

Then it goes something like this – well I’m simplifying it a bit, but ...

Cause I remember when we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown,
Observing the hypocrites
Mingle with the good people we met.


He says ‘ypocrites, instead of hypocrites, because in some parts of Jamaica people don’t pronounce the h.
I think, I don’t know anything about Jamaica, I just read that on Wikipedia.

Trenchtown is a neighbourhood located in Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica.

But I don’t know what they mean by government yard and I don’t know why they were sitting there.

Anyway, the reason why I chose this song, apart from the fact that I like it, is for this part:

I remember when we used to sit.

Used to - very very useful word to know, but a lot of students I’ve met in Japan don’t know it.
What does it mean?
It is used to say that sth happened continuously or frequently during a period in the past.

For example, about me:

I used to live in Nagoya.
I used to be a bartender.
I used to have really long dreads.


You can use used to in an answer too.

Do you watch Ainori?
No. I used to. But we don’t have a TV at the moment.



STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today, Canada Post have changed the rules for their Santa letter writing system, after several children received letters from Santa containing inappropriate language.

For the last 26 years, Canada Post has been running a Santa letter writing program.
They have volunteers reply to children who have written letters to Santa Claus.
But this year, for the first time, there was a problem with the system. Yesterday the company received nine complaints about Santa letters.
A spokesperson said the complaints ranged from "inappropriate language and observations about the child's letter to Santa to more disturbing comments."
CBC reports Canada Post is now urging parents to open letters from Santa themselves before their children can do so.
The delivery of Santa letters has been temporarily suspended while the company searches for other inappropriate Santa letters that might still be in the postal system.
And the Santa letter writing system has now been changed to include a logging and tracking process.


And that was Stick News for Friday the 14th of December.
Kia Ora.




THE SNOW REPORT
at Loaf Lounge

How were the conditions today?
今日のコンディションはどうでしたか?

いやー、上は風が強かったですね。
The wind was strong at the top.

でもけっこうパウダーは堅かったけど調子よかったですよ.
The powder was bit hard but it wasn’t too bad.

Where did you go?
今日はどこで滑りましたか?

今日はアンヌプリで滑ったッスね。
Today I went to Annupuri.

How long have you been snowboarding?
スノーボードの経験はどれぐらい?

始めたのは8才から始めたッスね。
I started when I was eight.

けど途中途中で遊びながらやってたから、
But I was just having fun and didn’t take it seriously.

本気になったのは2年前ぐらいッスね。
I started doing it seriously about two years ago.

Do you live in Niseko?
ニセコエリアに住んでいる?

住んでいるッスね。 実家がニセコなんで。
Yeah, I live here. I’m from here.

Which course do you like best in Niseko?
ニセコでどのコースが一番好き?

今はもうアンヌプリばっか滑ってますね。
I mostly go to Annupuri at the moment.

ヒラフとかオモシロイけど、人が多くなきゃ大丈夫、
Hirafu and that are good, they’re alright if there aren’t many people.

地形は好きッスよ、結構。
Yeah, I quite like Hirafu.



friday joke

What did Adam say on the day before Christmas?
It's Christmas, Eve.

I found the joke here.



conversations with sarah
#354 What’s magic sand?

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

Kelly Did you used to write letters to Santa when you were a kid?

Sarah Um. I can’t remember ever writing letters. Maybe I did. Dunno. I wrote lists though.

Kelly Of what you wanted for Christmas?

Sarah Yeah.

Kelly What did you want?

Sarah Usually, near the top was ... things like ... my own room, a TV ...

Kelly You wanted your own TV?

Sarah Uh, no, not my own, just a TV in the house ... cause, we didn’t have one.

Kelly Did you ever get one?

Sarah No.

Kelly Bummer.

Sarah I remember some other things that I wanted too ...

Kelly What?

Sarah Bubblegum jeans and magic sand.

Kelly What’s magic sand?

Sarah I don’t know, I can’t remember, some kind of sand that changed colour ... I just remember really wanting it. And bubblegum jeans. I never got those either.



links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

the snow report start
artist: Olga Scotland
album: Scotland Yard
track: Absolute
from: Moscow, Russia
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: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Silence
album: Encre
track: Plume
from: Bruxelles, Belgium
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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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.

Show 579 Thursday 13 December


Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.

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

The other day I was checking out UK YouTube and I came across somegreybloke.
I watched some of his videos. And I really like them. Most of them. There’s one I didn’t like, but most of them are really funny.

In one of his video descriptions, he describes the humour as dry.

dry means subtle and expressed in a matter-of-fact way

Today I’m going to talk about one of his videos called My Ex Wife.

The video starts out by him saying: My ex wife was extremely selfish. Ah, I’ll give you an example that shows just how selfish she was.

And then he gives the example and he explains very seriously and clearly why his ex wife was selfish. But from his examples it’s obvious that he’s the one that’s selfish and his ex wife was perfectly reasonable.

So that’s why it’s funny.

Also the words he chooses and just the way he says it, is funny. For example, he says, “... but no matter how many times I asked, she would always find some excuse to avoid doing it.”
As if he’s asking her to do something perfectly normal and she’s being really unreasonable by refusing to do it. But what he is asking her to do isn’t like an everyday thing, so it’s perfectly reasonable for her to refuse.

So those videos are pretty funny. And some other videos I recommend, which aren’t funny, are the Canadian workplace safety ads.

I think they’re pretty well done – and these kind of videos are good for discussion in a classroom. You could discuss workplace safety and safety in general, advertising standards – whether these ads are appropriate or effective, and you could talk about the word accident.

What does it mean when they say, “there really are no accidents” ?

What’s the difference between a car crash and a car accident?



STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, this is Stick News. An occupational safety campaign in Canada featuring graphic TV ads will take a break over Christmas and will be relaunched in January.

The Workplace Safety & Insurance Board is a workers' compensation board in Canada.
In 2006, they began a marketing campaign to “to dispel the myth that workplace accidents actually exist.”
The campaign includes graphic ads of people dying at work.
The WSIB chairperson says they make no apologies for the graphic nature of the campaign, because the ads are purposely controversial to spur reaction and awareness.
“I'm delighted they're upset about the ads because I wouldn't want anyone to enjoy watching them," he said.
The campaign is now taking a break and will start again in January.


And that was Stick News for Thursday 13th of December.
Kia Ora.




conversations with sarah
#353 Are there ads like that in NZ?

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

Dave Are there ads like that in New Zealand?

Sarah Like those Canadian ads?

Dave Yeah.

Sarah Um, not about workplace safety. Not that I can remember anyway. There are really graphic ads about stuff like drinking and driving though.

Dave Like people dying.

Sarah Yeah. Flying through the windscreen and stuff. Actually not just about drinking and driving – about, um, stuff like wearing a seatbelt and speeding.

Dave Do you think they’re effective?

Sarah Yeah, definitely. The road toll is a lot lower than it used to be.



links

today's news
WSIB
Campaign
Prevent It

today's STICK NEWS pictures

Canadian workplace safety ads:
Factory
Funeral
Restaurant
Building
Shop

music

show start
artist: Anawin
album: A glimpse inside the bubble
track: Little jazzy
from: Arles, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo

the snow report start
artist: Olga Scotland
album: Scotland Yard
track: Absolute
from: Moscow, Russia
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: San Sebastian
track: Happy Sad
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: Groovetracks
tracks: groovetracks ending
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Silence
album: Encre
track: Plume
from: Bruxelles, Belgium
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

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.