Sunday, January 31, 2010

#1154 Brussels Sprouts


Show 1154 Sunday 31 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Sunday Kitchen #152 Brussels Sprouts

I saw some brussels sprouts in the supermarket today. I hadn’t had them for ages, so I decided to buy some.
I cut the ends off and steamed them for five minutes.
Then I cut them in half, put them on a plate and squeezed some miso on them.
Simple and delicious.

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Zen Dub 2
from: Angers, France
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.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

#1153 Relay Swimming Race In Lake Biwa, Japan Part 4


Show 1153 Saturday 30 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

The fifth swimmer was Ikeda Katsuhito.

I normally swim in the ocean. The water in the lake is warmer and there's no jellyfish and the water's not salty so even when I swallowed a bit, it wasn't too bad. So the conditions were good.

The last swimmer got cramp, so the reserve took over two minutes before his 30 minutes were up.

After about ten minutes, I got cramp. When I saw the sign for the last ten minutes I thought I would make it. But first I got cramp in my left leg, then in both legs. So I got Keisuke to take over. It was a bit of a bummer.

I only swam for a short time but the water was pretty warm and it felt good.
I only had to swim for two minutes so I swam as fast as I could.

After each swimmer had done a round of thirty minutes, they started from the first person again and did ten minutes each.

During the third ten-minute round, they reached the shore and all the swimmers jumped in and ran towards the finish line.


Part 1:


Part 2:



Part 3:




music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Phases Dub
from: Angers, France
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.

Friday, January 29, 2010

#1152 AC/DC Thunderstruck, Dinosaur Colour, Ejaculation, Surfing Competition


Show 1152 Friday 29 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I'm Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

I thought we’d study a song by AC/DC today because they are playing in Auckland next week so I’ve been thinking about them recently.

Have you heard of AC/DC?

They’re from Australia and they’ve been around since 1973 and they’re pretty successful. It says in Wikipedia: As of 2008, AC/DC have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.

Not bad.

The song we’re looking at today is called Thunderstruck.

This song is very popular – I think there are millions of people in the world who could recognize this song just by hearing the first few seconds.

I only remembered the part where they say thunder over and over again, so I was surprised when I looked it up and found that there are actually lyrics. And the song seems to tell a bit of a story:

I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
I looked round
And I knew there was no turning back
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you

So, what’s it about?

Well, I think it might have a double meaning – like the name of the band.

AC/DC is about power … it refers to “equipment that may be operated using either alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power. “

And AC/DC is also an informal word for bisexual.

And as for the song, it could be about actually being thunderstruck, which means being “extremely surprised or shocked”. Or it could be about sex.


And that theory makes sense to me.

For example, these lines:

I was shakin' at the knees
Could I come again please?
Yeah the ladies were too kind.

What do you think the song’s about?




STICK NEWS

Kia ora, in Stick News today, for the first time ever, scientists have been able to confirm the colour of a dinosaur.

Dinosaurs are animals that have been extinct for about 65 million years.
Until now scientists didn’t know what colour they were.
Recently some reddish-orange colour was discovered in the 125-million-year-old tail of a small Chinese dinosaur.

And that was Stick News for Friday the 29th of January.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is ejaculation.

n. the moment when sperm comes out of a man’s penis

And there’s also another meaning.

(formal) a sudden shout or sound that you make when you are angry or surprised



friday joke

What do you call a dinosaur as tall as a house, with long sharp teeth, and 12 claws on each foot?
Sir.


conversations with sarah
#730 Did it ever start?

Step 1: Read Mary's lines.
Step 2: Repeat Mary's lines and talk to Sarah.

Mary Did you go and watch the surfing competition?

Sarah Yeah, the final was yesterday so we went out and watched it.

Mary How was it?

Sarah It was really good. I really enjoyed it. Except for the last part.

Mary What happened?

Sarah Well, the prize giving was supposed to start at 2. And so everyone was standing around on the concrete waiting for it to start and it was really hot. And then an hour later, someone came out and said it was going to start at 3:30.

Mary Really? Why?!

Sarah I don’t know. They just said that the drug tests were still happening.

Mary So there was a problem with the tests?

Sarah Yeah, maybe, I guess so. So, yeah, we decided to keep waiting cause we thought, “Oh, we’ve already waited an hour, we might as well wait another half hour.” And then, we waited until 3:30 and the guy came back and said, “Oh, sorry, it’s going to start at 4:30.”

Mary Did it ever start?

Sarah I don’t know. We gave up and went home … I was so exhausted.





Thunderstruck by AC/DC - Lyrics

Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder
Thunder

I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track - Thunder
I looked round
And I knew there was no turning back - Thunder
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do - Thunder
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you - Thunder

Sound of the drums
Beatin' in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You've been - thunderstruck

Rode down the highway
Broke the limit, we hit the town
Went through to Texas, yeah Texas
And we had some fun
We met some girls
Some dancers who gave a good time
Broke all the rules, played all the fools
Yeah, yeah, they, they, they blew our minds

I was shakin' at the knees
Could I come again please?
Yeah the ladies were too kind
You've been - thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck

Yeah
Oh, thunderstruck, yeah

Now we're shaking at the knees
Could I come again please?

Thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck
Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah

Said yeah, it's alright
We're doing fine
Yeah, it's alright
We're doing fine
So fine

Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Tunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Whoa baby, baby, thunderstruck
You've been thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Thunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck
You've been thunderstruck


links


AC/DC - Wikipedia
AC/DC - site
Thunderstruck - video on YouTube

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
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

friday joke start
artist: AdHoc
album: Toutes directions
track: Sumbala
from: Annecy, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Zen Dub 2
from: Angers, France
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.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

#1151 Fresh Prince Prank Email, Nándor Tánczos Cuts Off Dreads, B-ball


Show 1151 Thursday 28 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi I'm Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

The video we’re studying today is about a prank email that was sent to a religious TV station.
I think it’s a live TV show where people can call or send an email asking a question or telling them something.

And someone sent this email in, and the guy on the show read it out.

I’m a newly born-again Christian and I would like to share my story of salvation with you.
I was born in West Philadelphia and also raised there. I spent most of my days playing basketball on a playground but also chilling out and relaxing.

To anyone who is a fan of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, it’s obvious that that’s a re-written version of the rap song at the start of that show.

But the guy reading it out doesn’t realize that and he thinks it’s a genuine story. So it’s very funny.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a TV show from the 90s and the intro was a cool rap song that people used to sing a lot at my school.

Part of it went like this:

In West Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool
And all shootin’ some b-ball outside of the school






STICK NEWS


Nándor Tánczos was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1999 to 2008.
He represented the Green Party and was New Zealand's first and only Rastafarian MP.
Nándor has just cut off his dreadlocks.
He said his soul had become polluted by his experience in parliament and cutting his dreads off was a kind of cleansing ceremony.
He said he was in a forest when he got a message it was time to cut them off.

And that was Stick News for Thursday the 28th of January.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is b-ball. B-ball is slang for basketball.

Baseball also starts with a b, but it’s not called b-ball, as far as I know.



conversations with sarah
#729 Where were you born?

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


Will Where were you born?


Will Did you grow up there too?

Sarah Yeah.

Will What was that like?

Sarah Pretty good. I spent most of my time just hanging out at the playground and playing basketball.

Will So how come you moved to Bel Air?

Sarah I got into a bit of fight and my mum freaked out and said I had to go and live with my aunty and uncle.



The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air Intro Rap - Lyrics

Now, this is the story all about how
My life got flipped - turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel Air

In West Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool
And all shootin’ some b-ball outside of school
When a couple of guys
Who were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said 'You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air'

I whistled for a cab and when it came near
The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror
If anything I can say is that this cab was rare
But I thought 'Man forget it' - 'Yo home to Bel Air'

I pulled up to the house about seven or eight
And I yelled to the cabbie 'Yo home smell ya later'
I looked to my kingdom
I was finally there
To sit on my throne as the Prince of Bel Air



notes

* The guy reading the email doesn't realize it's a prank until 0:30 when a guy off camera says "that's from Fresh Prince of Bel Air".



links


Nándor_Tánczos - Wikipedia


music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Zen Dub 2
from: Angers, France
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.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

#1150 Male Vs Mail, Sorosoro.org, Brad And Angelina, BS


Show 1150 Wednesday 27 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I'm Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

The other day a letter arrived from Japan. And on it, it said: AIR MALE.

Can you spot the mistake? Yes, it should be m-a-i-l.

If you’re male, you’re a man. And mail is what you find in the letterbox.



click here

This is an interesting site I came across the other day. It’s about protecting threatened languages.

They say they want to contribute towards “the preservation of as many languages as possible; because inaction will amount to the same thing as resigning to the cultural impoverishment of humanity.”

Apparently, sorosoro is a word from the Araki language in Vanuatu, which means “breath, speech, language”.

Part of what they do is film people speaking different languages. And I had a look at some of their videos on YouTube and I can tell you that ougogoua means yellow in a language called Benga.





STICK NEWS

Kia ora, this is Stick News. In gossip news today, some websites have reported that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are about to break up.

Brad Pitt and Angelia Jolie are an American couple famous for making movies, being incredibly attractive and collecting children from all over the world.
In the last few days there have been reports that couple may be planning to split.
The news caused a trending topic on twitter.
However, not everyone believes the story and there have also been reports that rumours are not true.

And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 27th of January.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is BS.
BS is American English slang for bullshit.

That guy’s full of BS.

Bullshit is vulgar slang for nonsense.
And you can also use it as a verb.

For example: She’s just bullshitting.
Don’t try to bullshit me!

But as I said, it’s vulgar slang, so some people find it offensive. But BS is more acceptable. So you can get away with quoting it in a newspaper for example.

And I read a quote somewhere saying that the reports that Brad and Angelina were going to break up or had broken up were: BS.



conversations with sarah
#728 let me see …

Step 1: Read Hannah's lines.
Step 2: Repeat Hannah's lines and talk to Sarah.

Hannah Do you think they’ve broken up?

Sarah Um, let me see … the last time I spoke to Brad and Angelina.

Hannah No, I mean from what you’ve read.

Sarah Well, it’s impossible to know.

Hannah You mean if it’s true or not.

Sarah Yeah, because the gossip sites and papers just make stuff up.

Hannah But they quote people.

Sarah Yeah, they quote "sources". "According to a source close to the couple …" they’re just making it up.



links


music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

click here start
artist: #NarNaoud#
album: Green Vision
track: Oriental Standing
from: Gironde, France
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Zen Dub
from: Angers, France
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.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

#1149 The Blind Side, Auckland Power Cut, Up And At 'Em


Show 1149 Tuesday 26 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi I'm Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today we’re studying a scene from The Blind Side which is a movie that came out last year and stars Sandra Bullock.

It’s about a guy who has a rough start in life, as it says in Wikipedia, he had an impoverished upbringing … and then a happy ending basically. He has a happy family, he goes to university and he plays football.

Not that I have seen the movie, but I feel like I have because I watched the trailer.

So a rich woman decides to look after the guy and she lets him stay at their house and he becomes part of the family. And when she shows him his room, she says: I found some time to figure out another bedroom for you.

Figure out is a phrasal verb which means: to think about something until you understand it or to calculate something.

In this situation she means she figured out, or solved the problem of where he was going to sleep. Maybe she had to move some furniture, or rearrange something.

And then he tells her he’s never had a bed before.

This is mine?
Yes, Sir.
Never had one before.
What? A room to yourself?
A bed.

That, Yes, Sir is interesting.

Yes, Sir is, of course, used in military situations, when you’re talking to someone who ranks above you. So you’ll hear it if you watch war movies.

It’s also used in some formal situations, like flight attendants often say it to male passengers.

But in this situation, it’s friendly. I think it’s kind of used for emphasis, like saying, yes, that’s right or yes, absolutely.

This film is set in the South or maybe it’s the South East of the United States, and apparently in Southern American English, people use Sir more often, so maybe that has something to do with why she says that.





STICK NEWS


Auckland is the biggest city in New Zealand and the home of the world famous studio tdes.
Yesterday afternoon the power suddenly went off.
The power cut lasted for more than two hours.
The Daily English Show crew amused themselves by watching traffic drive through an intersection with the traffic lights off.
The power returned just before 7 o’clock.
Apparently the power cut was caused by a fire underneath some power lines.

And that was Stick News for Tuesday the 26th of January.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is another phrase – it’s an idiom: up and at ‘em.
'Em is short for them.
The mother in today’s movie says this to her son: Up and at ‘em.

I’d never heard this before and I thought she was saying up and Adam. So I searched for that and then I found an answer saying, “I think that you mean "up and at 'em".

In this situation it clearly means get up and I think it also means things like, let’s get moving, or get going. And I found this example: Up and at 'em - there's a lot of work to be done.

Have you heard this idiom before?

My mum never said that to me when I was a child. But I think she might have said rise and shine sometimes. Well, that was the first time. And if I still didn’t get up it was something like: Get up, you’re going to miss the bus again.



conversations with sarah
#727 That sounds exciting.

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

Billy Are there a lot of power cuts in Auckland?

Sarah Well, yeah, there’ve been two this month already, so yeah, quite a lot.

Billy Don’t they have a back-up system?

Sarah Hmm, that would be a good idea. Yeah, um, I’m not really sure how it works.

Billy So what did you do during the power cut?

Sarah I looked out the window at the traffic.

Billy That sounds exciting.

Sarah No, it’s actually quite interesting to see how the traffic flows through the intersection without traffic lights.




links


The Blind Side - Wikipedia

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm


artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Zen Dub
from: Angers, France
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.

Monday, January 25, 2010

#1148 Learning Spanish, John Dillinger's Getaway Car, No Batteries


Show 1148 Monday 25 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi I'm Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

I mentioned the other day that I was learning a bit of Spanish and I was planning to make a few videos to help my learning.

Well now I’ve have made one and I’ve uploaded it here.
I have been listening to a podcast called Spanish Pod. And what I did was just try to repeat one of their dialogues.

I think producing something really helps you learn. It works for me anyway.

I could just listen to the podcasts and repeat the conversations out loud, but by making a video to put on the internet, it really made me focus on trying to remember the words and trying to say them right. And I’m much more likely to remember the dialogue because the process of making the video has caused it to get stuck in my head.

How about you? Have you tried making videos to help your English? If you have the equipment why don’t you give it a go? There are many things that you could do – for example you could take a conversation from The Daily English Show and make a video saying that conversation.




STICK NEWS


John Dillinger was an American bank robber who died in 1934.
According to Wikipedia he was considered to be a dangerous criminal who robbed at least two dozen banks and four police stations, escaped from jail twice and was idolized by some as a modern-day Robin Hood.
On Saturday, one of the getaway cars he used in 1934 was sold at an auction $165,000.

And that was Stick News for Monday 25th of January.
Kia ora.



conversations with sarah
#726 It doesn’t work

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

Tommy It won’t turn on. It doesn’t work.

Sarah No wonder. There are no batteries inside.



links



music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Zen Dub
from: Angers, France
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.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

#1147 Watermelon Guitar Ice Blocks


Show 1147 Sunday 24 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Sunday Kitchen #151 Watermelon Guitar Ice Blocks

To make watermelon guitar ice blocks, first cut up some watermelon.
Then put the watermelon in a blender with a bit of water and blend.
Pour the liquid into the guitar ice block moulds.
Add the necks. And put them in the freezer.
When they’re frozen, take them out and eat them.
They taste especially good on a hot summer’s day.

music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Phases Dub
from: Angers, France
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.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

#1146 Relay Swimming Race In Lake Biwa, Japan Part 3


Show 1146 Saturday 23 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

The second person to swim was Hoshika Yasuyuki.
He swam for 30 minutes.

It’s so different to swimming in a pool.
Yeah, the waves were pretty big.
You’re fighting against the waves, which takes a lot of energy.
Halfway through, I thought about giving up.

There are waves coming on an angle so it pushes you closer to the boat, but you try and keep away from the boat cause you don’t want to go under here and get caught in the propellers.
So, yeah, it’s hard work. Fun, though.
The sun’s out, the wind’s died down, it’s all good. Yeah.

I swam last year as well.
And last year it was really tough.
This time it felt really good.
Yeah, I really enjoyed the swim.


Part 1:


Part 2:



music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

bgm
artist: King Dubby
album: Chapter II
track: Phases Dub
from: Angers, France
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.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

#1144 Haiti Earthquake, Red Cross, Loss Of Life, Hinder


Show 1144 Thursday 21 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi I'm Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

As you know, of course, last week there was a massive earthquake in Haiti.

And since then, countries and organizations and people have been doing what they can to help.

So, today I thought today we’d study a video from one of those organizations, The Red Cross.

This video was made five hours after the earthquake and it’s an update about what they know and the steps that have already taken and the steps that they’re likely to take.

What we’ve heard so far is damage to major infrastructure.

Infrastructure is: The basic physical and organizational structures (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

And as she does on to say, that’s an important point because the more damage there is to roads and airports, the more difficult it is to get people and supplies in there to help those affected.

The language and presentation style for this kind of video is interesting. Because she’s talking about such a serious topic – a really tragic event, her tone needs to reflect that – and I think her delivery was really good.

And the language is very plain, very serious. You won’t find many of the things which make language more colourful or interesting, like metaphors, idioms, phrasal verbs, slang.

Right now we’re getting conflicting reports on the use of the airport.
It’s very likely though, because of the location, that it has been damaged.

And she uses the euphemism loss of life when talking about death.

There’s going to be significant loss of life.

That’s a less direct way of saying: a lot of people have probably already died and will die.




STICK NEWS


Dan Woolley is from Colorado in the United States.
He was making a movie about the impact of poverty on the people of Haiti
and had just returned to his hotel from a day of filming when the earthquake struck.
According to news reports, thanks to the iPhone first-aid app he’d downloaded, Dan knew how to treat his broken leg and head wound.
The app also warned him not to fall asleep if he was going into shock, so he set his phone’s alarm clock to go off every 20 minutes.
Dan was rescued 65 hours after the earthquake.

And that was Stick News for Thursday the 21st of January.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today's word is hinder.

In today’s video the woman says that because the roads are damaged it will: hinder the movement of supplies.

hinder verb to make it difficult for sb to do sth or sth to happen

And ne of the examples in here is: Some teachers felt hindered by a lack of resources.



conversations with sarah
#724 It’s a really poor country

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

Bob Have you ever been to Haiti?

Sarah No. How about you?

Bob No, I’d never even heard of it.

Sarah Yeah, when we were in Canada the prime minister visited the country and that’s the first time that I’d heard of it.

Bob It’s a really poor country, isn’t it?

Sarah Yeah, apparently there’s a massive slum there.

Bob How big?

Sarah About two or three hundred thousand people … almost as big as New Zealand’s capital city.

Bob Wow. And now their lives will be even more difficult.

Sarah Yeah, it’s really sad.



links


music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: kitaygorod
album: Phoenix
track: Om
from: Moscow, Russia

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.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

#1143 There Is + Plural, Misspellings, World Junior Surfing Championship In NZ, Haemorrhoids


Show 1143 Wednesday 20 January
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi I'm Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

The other day someone left a comment – Christopher, I think – Saying that it drives him mad when people use there’s, as in there is, and follow it with a plural. And he wanted me to talk about it. So thank you for the suggestion.

As you know, language is always changing and we don’t always like the way it changes. This seems like it’s one of his pet peeves, but it’s not actually one of mine.

I would say that the use of here or there is with a plural noun is very common and acceptable in informal situations.

And I use it myself. For example, I might say: There’s some peanuts in the cupboard if you need a snack.

… when officially it should be: there are.

And when I say acceptable, I mean that most people wouldn’t look at me strangely if I said that – although Christopher might be annoyed.

But they would look at me strangely if I said, for example: There are peanuts some the in cupboard if you need a snack.

… because the word order’s wrong, and it’s not acceptable in any situation.

As for formal situations, I’d recommend sticking with the classic style: there are with plurals.

For example, if you’re talking to a friend, you might say: There’s some things I want to talk to you about.

But if you’re emailing your boss, or a client, you might say: There are some things I’d like to talk to you about.

So, sorry Christopher, I can’t advocate super gluing people’s mouths shut … but I do feel your pain because there are other things which annoy me.



click here

Speaking of common mistakes and pet peeves, today I recommend you check out this page, which someone recommended to me.

It’s a chart showing some of the common misspellings that some native English speakers make, and others get infuriated by.

It’s pretty funny and it might actually be useful if need some help remembering how to spell words such as weird and definitely.



STICK NEWS


The International Surfing Association has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
This year, for the first time ever, the competition is being held in New Zealand.
It’s being held at a beach called Piha until the 28th of January.

And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 20th of January.
Kia ora.



Word of the Day

Today's word is haemorrhoids (US spelling: hemorrhoids).

This is a word from the poster about misspellings.

And this is a tricky word to spell too. Not that you’re likely to spell it … or say it, very often.

So, what are haemorrhoids?

a swollen vein or group of veins in the region of the anus



conversations with sarah
#723 Are you going to go and watch?

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

Bob Where’s the surfing competition being held?

Sarah In Piha.

Bob Are you going to go and watch?

Sarah Yeah, I’m planning to go and have a look – for one day at least. And I went to the opening ceremony today.

Bob How was that?

Sarah It was good. There was a parade and a pōwhiri and the sand ceremony was really cool.

Bob What was that?

Sarah Each team bought some sand from a beach in their country and they poured it into a container together to represent coming together in peace … or something like that … it was really cool.



More footage from the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship:













links



music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

click here start
artist: #NarNaoud#
album: Green Vision
track: Oriental Standing
from: Gironde, France
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Jazzpospolita
album: Live Studio Recording
track: Tribute Aerobit
from: Warsaw, Poland
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.