more on asking questions

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a nice Christmas - and to those of you who don't celebrate Christmas - I wish you well at the close of 2007.

Today I'd like to talk about using repetition and asking questions to help you speak in another language. 

I believe that when we speak another language that we are learning as an adult, we tend to worry that we aren't as good at speaking as we would like to be - as we are with our mother tongue for instance. It is often the case that we then think we need to speak faster than we should do - because maybe the person (or persons) listening to us would perhaps be:

* not understand us so well as we would like them to

* be a little impatient with us as they might be busy

* frustated that we don't speak as well as a native speaker

When I speak French or German I often try to speak too fast and make it difficult for myself.  I think this comes from frustration that I don't speak these languages as well as English and especially when I struggle to find the right word.

This happened to me in Germany last week. My wife wanted some paper tissues and I didn't know the word for "paper tissue" in German. I was frustrated that I had no dictionary with me, but then I thought "maybe just speak slowly and politely and then ask for tissues by saying (in German) "I would like some things please that we use for blowing noses, but I can't remember the German word!"

So, this is what I decided to do. I walked into a pharmacy and said that - very politely with a slightly apologetic smile. The shopkeeper immediately understood what I wanted - and gave me the tissues and said (in German) "please have them - f0r free". Not only did I get some tissues for my wife - but I got them for nothing! Obviously, I would have paid for them if the lady in the shop had asked me for money, but I was trying to illustrate how having a polite and pleasant attitude can help when we are speaking a different language.

This doesn't always work - I asked for a coffee at a German railway station kiosk - and then tried talking about the weather being cold - but the lady serving me was only interested in serving the coffee and getting the money - so I could only ask for a coffee in this particular situation.

Anyway, to talk a bit more about repetition. When talking in another language, repetition can help also. For instance, 

"Could you tell me the way to the railway station?" you can then add " do you know where the station is please? - is it far from here?"

This way, you have asked the question twice, and kept the listener's attention whilst they think if they can tell you.  The key thing then is to not say anything, but listen very carefully to their reply  - and just nod your head to show that you understand. Never be afraid to say "did you say, left at the next street? or should I go right? They can then confirm what they said before. You must then thank them and hopefully you will feel that you had a successful conversation.

It is always useful to have a few questions ready in your head that basically ask the same question. For example:

"Where is the nearest post office please?"

"I've been looking for a post office for quite a while - perhaps you know where one is please?"

"I have not been able to find a post office - but maybe you know where there is one nearby please?"

"Do you know where a local post office is please?"

If they start answering after the first question, then just leave out the extra questions unless you need them.

Always stay polite - and if someone ignores you - don't be too worried - they may just be too busy to speak. Don't assume they are not interested or dislike you.

I'm only speaking about my own experiences using my second and third languages.

Have a great New Year!

Bye for now

Thankyou to all podcast listeners and blog readers

Hello everybody,

I would like to thank those people who have listened to my podcasts and read my blog over the past year. It's fantastic for me to know that people like what I have prepared and discussed. I am not a teacher - but as a language student (although quite old now...lol) I can understand the difficulties faced when learning languages and so, maybe I could consider myself a sort of friendly language guide.

Please let me know any subjects about English life, culture and language you might be interested to know more about and I'll see what I can do in 2008!

One thing I can tell you is that next year the city of Liverpool is to be the "city of culture 2008" which is exciting - and after all, this is the home of "The Beatles" - one of my favourite bands.

Next year I am planning a new podcast site for some guitar-based songs I am recording. I hope you like them.

I hope next year you can all realise your ambitions and dreams. In 2008 I would like to improve my Spanish, Dutch and Mandarin Chinese - I hope I can do this.

So to each and everyone of you, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Lancashire, England.

Vielen Dank, merci bien, gracias, obrigado, spasibo, xie xie .......

Here's a website about my region of England: www.pendle.net

Many thanks once again

Bye for now

Alan

Thankyou to all my

Twas the Night before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore

Hello everyone, welcome to my podcast and today I'm just going to recite a poem. It's a christmas poem- very famous in England called: "t'was the night before Christmas"- and you may have heard it already.

Anyway, you can hear me saying this poem and you can read it on my blog. Also, I've put some of the more difficult words there for those of you who are learning English, with some explanations for you.

And so, as I said, it's a rather informal chat just now and then I will go and read the poem. So, thank you for those of you who have given me some feedback. It's always nice to receive it.I do enjoy reading your feedback, I'm glad you're enjoying, er, listening to my podcasts. So, here is the poem"t'was the night before Christmas" and I'll hopefully do another podcasts before Christmas- so you can listen to that when I've done it.

So, see you next time, bye.

T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there. (T'was = It was. St Nicholas = Santa Claus)

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap. (nestled all snug= comfortable, 'kerchief=handkerchief, nap = sleep)

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. (clatter = noise, flew like a flash=quickly, tore open = opened quickly, sash = type of window slide opening)

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer. (breast (here) = on the top of, lustre = appearance of the light)

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name! (coursers = (here) the reindeers)

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!" (dash away = move away quickly)

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound. (prancing and pawing = the movement of reindeers hooves on the roof, with a bound (here) = jumped quickly out of the chimney)

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack. (peddler = old name for street trader, flung = swung onto with force)

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow. (twinkled = sparkled/shone, droll = amusing)

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly! (stump = short end of something,encircled = all around, wreath = circular garland, jelly = geletine dessert)

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread. (chubby/plump = quite fat, jolly = happy, dread= fear)

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose! (straight to = immediately, jerk = quick movement, finger aside of his nose (here)= a gesture with finger meaning that the other person should not speak, nod = tip head forward, rose= went up)

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!" (down= soft featherlike part of thistle, thistle =plant, 'ere =before)

Alan's Weekend Words 2nd December

Hello everyone
I hope you like my new guitar tune introduction which I recorded yesterday. I wanted a new tune for 2008 – but I’m starting early by changing it now.
Today my weekend words is about Christmas traditions in England. It might be interesting for you to see what we different traditions we have here compared with where you live.
Firstly, the celebration of Christmas is not just a religious festival here. It has become the main winter holiday for England and most people now can take maybe up to 10 days off work to celebrate Christmas and also the New Year. In the USA for example, there are other celebrations that the whole country can take part in, such as Thanksgiving and Independence Day. In France, Bastille Day is very important. However in my country there a very few holidays where many people take a holiday at the same time. Christmas and New Year represent our biggest holiday celebration of the year where people give presents, remember family and friends with presents and cards and also take some time off work or even have a holiday in another country.
So unless you are particularly religious, for us, Christmas actually begins on the 25th December. Some people do have family parties on the evening of the 24th, but this is quite rare.
Those people who are religious would go to church on evening of the 24th. Catholics for example have "midnight mass" which is held late in the evening. For other people, the 24th or "Christmas Eve" is the time to go out to visit friends, go to pubs or clubs and enjoy the holiday late into the night.
For those with young families, it is the night when Father Christmas (or Santa Claus) visits and brings presents. When I was young, we used to hang up an old pillow case or large stocking by the fire which would have presents inside it in the morning.
Usually the day starts with presents being given to family – especially children. The most common traditional family lunch is roast turkey (or chicken) with roast potatoes and mashed potatoes, boiled or steamed brussel sprouts and carrots for vegetables, a rich meat gravy sauce and stuffing which consists of breadcrumbs and herbs baked in the oven as a soft dough. Some people prefer pork and this can be eaten with apple or cranberry sweet sauce. Of course for those people who are vegetarians, there is the choice of maybe some roast vegetables with garnish of herbs such as parsley or thyme.
The traditional dessert is "Christmas pudding" which is a steamed pudding using a mixture of dried fruits and cake mixture to bind it all together. This is eaten with a white sweet sauce to look like a snow cap. Some people don’t eat the pudding with sauce or maybe they would eat ice cream with it.
To finish off the meal, there are mince pies which are small pastries filled with dried fruit sweet sauce called "mincemeat" – which in the past was real meat, but now is fruit.
For drinks – many people like to drink whisky or brandy (and sometimes some brandy is added to the christmas pudding and set alight for a few seconds prior to serving it. This makes the flavour very strong.
The afternoon is usually the time to visit family or invite friends to come and visit. The day will be quite quiet as many people have eaten a lot by then. Even meals can be a buffet snack so that people can eat as much or as little as they prefer to.
Often the children will be tired and maybe ready for bed quite soon as they had woke up very early to see what presents "Father Christmas" had brought them.
For other people who don’t have children, or young adults – they often go out to visit people or go to a pub (public house)
So that is "Christmas Eve and Christmas Day" – I’ll tell you about the 26th of December (known as Boxing day) next time.
Take care and bye for now

Alan's weekend words November 24th

How to keep motivated when learning languages
Hello again. Sorry it’s been a while since I left a podcast episode. I’ve been very busy lately.
I’ve decided for this podcast to go back to my "chatcast" idea – where I talk as a would in a conversation – as much as I can do. It’s funny, but very few people who listen to these podcasts give me feedback or comments. In fact I just realised that I rarely give feedback to other podcasters myself - and it’s quite difficult to know why. So, rather than keep mentioning this, I’ve decided to make podcast knowing that there are around 1000 views per week – so obviously people must find them interesting.
I always feel more like making a podcast at weekend – it’s not just because I may have a little more free time to make one, it’s also a time where I tend to reflect on things a bit more. You know, when I’m not at work or so busy with things.
As you know I enjoy learning languages – but just as importantly I find that it is a way of better understanding other cultures as well.
Recently I started an evening course in Mandarin Chinese. Now this language is very difficult to learn for westerners I think – at least it is for me. We have a very enthusiastic lady teacher orginally from China who speaks English very well indeed and can explain the lessons very well too.
I find that starting a new language is very much like walking through a thick fog where you can’t see very well at all. As you learn, the fog clears little by little and it then gets easier to walk along. Another analogy for language learning is like making a very large jigsaw puzzle with many thousands of individual pieces. The secret to success with jigsaw puzzles is to look for the correct pieces and then you can discover the true picture when you start to complete it.
With Mandarin – there are very few clues to find from English. The only word I’ve heard so far that sounds a little like an English word is "ka-fei" which is coffee.
What impressed me is the enthusiasm of the teacher. She tries to link words to real situations. Also, she tries to make the language and culture join together not only through the lessons themselves, but last Sunday, she organised a Chinese meal for her students at a Chinese restaurant in Manchester "China town" . I found that having some chinese food and discussing language at the same time – helped me see how language can be made to be more "real" by a good teacher who wants to keep students’ motivation high.
Motivation and time are the key to learning anything – not just language, but as languages take some time to master – then keeping motivation as high as possible – it something that we should strive for.
Personally speaking, I have moments when I lose my motivation to some extent and I devised a list of things to help to keep interest high. I have to admire my Chinese teacher who herself must have her own list on how to motivate students to keep learning well.
My list is as follows:
Realise that motivation goes up and down and that everybody can have moments when they find language learning difficult. Sometime we also feel a bit lonely and this is when language classes can help as we can then see people making similar mistakes to ourselves and also making improvements too.
One we have realised that motivation can vary – then find ways to take away the some of the reasons for low motivation. Tiredness for example – if you’re tired – don’t work too hard!
Look for interesting things about the culture or history that are reflected in the language for example why do we call the game "Rugby football"? Learning the history behind this can make us enjoy the language more.
See if you can find someone who speaks the language in your area, or find a correspondent that speaks the language you’re learning - penfriend or business contact
Read some magazine articles rather than serious books when you find books are very difficult or tedious. Reading short articles can make reading more fun and less tiring.
Keep your "eye on the ball" that is – make sure you are honest with yourself about progress – many people think that they are not learning so much and become demotivated – but if they really think about it – they are probably just not learning as quickly as they would prefer.
When a topic interests you – look up some related words/phrases: e.g. Christmas:- Yuletide, Christmastime, the season of goodwill etc.
I think that will be enough for today – I don’t want to demotivate you by making this podcast too long.
Christmas is not far away – I’m looking forward to a trip to the Christmas markets in Cologne in December – so this should motivate me to keep learning German – I’ll look at some words relating to Christmas now…
Take care
Until next time

Link words in English conversation October 13th

Linking words to help you time your english conversation
Hello everyone.
It has been some time since I made a podcast – but I have a little time today and I have made a short podcast for you.
Please leave me some feedback about my podcasts. It’s nice to receive it – as it’s not possible to know whether they are interesting or not. Anyway, I’ll leave it to you to decide. In any case thanks for listening.
In England, there are words we use that help us with keeping our thoughts on track during a conversation. They give us a little more time to decide what we want to say. When people learn English, these little words and phrases can also help to give more time to choose the right words and keep the conversation going.
Here’s an example. I’ll try to make this seem like a natural conversation as much as I can.
The first example is without the linking words:
Example 1 (I can say) " Hello David. How are you? I haven’t seen you for a while and it’s nice to see you. What are you doing these days? The last time we spoke you told me that you were working in a bank and that you were enjoying it – are you still working there?
Example 2 "Well hello David. So, how are you then? You know, I haven’t seen you for a while and it’s nice to see you you know.
So, what are you doing these days? Let me think… the last time we spoke you told me that, hmm, you were working in a bank – is that right? Well then, tell me…I think you said you were enjoying it – so,, are you still working there?
You can see that the second example uses the following extra words:
Well, So, then, Let me think, you know, hmm,is that right, well then, tell me
It could be said that these words aren’t really necessary - and example 1 would suggest this to be true. But in conversation, many words are often added or even taken away to make the conversation more informal, more friendly, simpler. Also, it gives the speaker more time to decide what to say and the listener more time to think how that want to answer and what they would like to say.
David says: "Hello there Alan, yes, well – I believe it was, hmmm, about 3 years ago wasn’t it? Yes, I think that we met up in a pub or something, yes, that’s it. You asked about my job, well, yes I’m still sort of enjoying it"
David could have said "Hello Alan, yes about 3 years ago? I think we met up in a pub or something. You asked about my job, well, yes I’m still enjoying it"
So David’s response uses these link words and phrases: there, yes, well, I believe it was, hmmm, wasn’t it, that’s it, well yes, sort of.
No this might seem to complicate the conversation – and for someone who isn’t used to English conversations – or doesn’t have a high level of English, it could seem to make listening more difficult. But this could actually make this easier – as it takes longer to say and gives you more time. It is also a good way to make things more friendly.
These extra link words and phrases are very popular in England and there are many more than those I’ve mentioned today.
So, have fun with link words – find as many as you can and try using them for conversational English!
Take care and see you next time

Les cactus aie! aie!

Le monde entier est un cactusThe entire world is a cactus
Il est impossible de s'asseoirIt’s impossible to sit down
Dans la vie, il y a que des cactus
In my life there are only cactiMoi je me pique de le savoirI sting myself to know it
Aïe! Aïe! Aïe! Ouille! Aïe! Aïe! Aïe!Dans leur cœur, il y a des cactusIn their heart, there are cacti
Dans leur portefeuille il y a des cactus
In their wallets there are cactiSous leurs pieds, il y a des cactus
Under their feet, there are cactiDans l'heure qu'il est y a des cactus
At whatever time it is there are cactiAïe! Aïe! Aïe! Ouille! Ouille! Ouille! Aïe!Pour me défendre de leur cactusTo protect myself from their cacti
A mon tour j'ai pris des cactusFor my part, I took some cacti
Dans mon lit, j’ai mis des cactus
In my bed, I put some cactiDans mon slip, j'ai mis des cactusIn my underpants I put some cacti
Aïe! Aïe! Aïe! Ouille! Aïe! Aïe! Aïe!
Dans leur sourire il y a des cactus
In their smile there are cactiDans leur ventre il y a des cactusIn their stomachs there are cacti
Dans leur bonjour, il y a des cactus
In their hello there are cactiDans leurs cactus, il y a des cactusIn their cacti, there are cacti
Aïe! Aïe! Aïe! Ouille! Aïe!Le monde entier est un cactusThe entire world is a cactus
Il est impossible de s'asseoirIt’s impossible to sit down
Dans la vie, il y a que des cactus
In my life there are only cactiMoi je me pique de le savoirI sting myself to know it
Aïe! Aïe! Aïe! Ouille! Aïe! Aïe! Aïe!Aïe! Aïe! Ouille! ...

Informal style conversation

Hello everyone.
It’s nice to know that you enjoy my podcasts, thankyou for your feedback. Please feel free to leave comments on the podcast site or my blog.
Today, I’m going to make a slightly longer podcast – actually, this time – more of a "chatcast" as I see it.
Talking with you as I would talk with friends and family. Basically I’m talking about "everyday" conversational English. What I am talking about is language people use when they are chatting to family and friends and also to people we meet in the street, or on a train or on holiday perhaps.
Firstly I have to say that I am talking about a style of speaking with English as it is spoken in England. As we all know, English is a very widespread language –and many people around the world can speak my language. I can only talk about things that I know and my own experience. Although I have not travelled a great deal, over the years, my family and I have welcomed people from other countries to stay with us, either through the twin town or language exchanges, or from friends we have met from holidays or correspondence. When people visit us, we always try to speak in a conversational way – that is, quite informal.
When people learn English in classes, often they are learning a formal-style of English. Of course, this is very good in enabling people to learn to make hotel reservations, or to buy things in shops, ask directions etc, but it isn’t so useful if you stay with a family and want to chat about things in an informal way and just enjoy the opportunity to talk in another language.
For an informal chat though, it should always be a less stressful exercise and more enjoyable for you as there are some differences from speaking in this style.
It gives you the chance to learn more about how people live, their likes and dislikes
It gives you an opportunity to make mistakes without worrying and if you do make mistakes, find some alternative words and phrases that can move the conversation along.
Allows you to get to know people better and make friends
Gives you a better chance to get to know some slang words or local sayings
Gives you a chance to share jokes and different expressions
Helps you to think more in the language e.g. form and reform sentences before you say them as a casual listener.
There are drawbacks:
Sometimes native speakers forget you are a learner and speak faster or use words and expressions that you are unfamiliar with
If you are speaking with a group of native speakers for instance at a table eating a meal – they will speak normally with each other and you can feel a bit alone – a bit left out if you don’t understand everything
Here is an example of formal English and informal equivalent:
Scene, in a restaurant
Waiter: Good morning Sir. Can I help you? What could I get you please? Would you like the menu and would you care to start with some drinks?
You: Oh, Good morning. I would like to have some time to decide. Yes, I would like the menu please and firstly please bring me a glass of wine and then I can look at the menu.
Waiter: Of course Sir, here is the menu and I will bring you a wine.
Typical scene, at home with a friend
Friend: So, what would you like to eat? Maybe, I think, you’d like to try some typically English food such as fish and chips? We could either make them at here home or go to a fish and chip shop and buy some – what d’you think?
You know, I really like fish and chips and I’m sure you’d like them. Did you know that we put vinegar on them? It really makes them taste better I think. Maybe you’d like it? If you don’t like it – it’s ok - just try some salt or mayonnaise.
You: Oh, yes, I think I’d like to try fish and chips – I have never eaten them before.
Friend: Well, I’d try them if I were you – because now you’re here in England, you know, they are one of the most well-known meals in England and you can find fish and chip shops in nearly every town and village in Britain.
You: Really? So they are very popular then?
Friend: Yes, really popular – although I find that some shops sell fish and chips which taste better that others.
You: I’d love to try them – thanks for the suggestion.
I am trying to show that, with the conversation with a friend, there is more language used to discuss something like chosing a meal. Also, more information is usually discussed: what to try, whether to buy or make them at home, maybe try some vinegar, some information about how popular fish and chips are and some information about how many fish and chip shops there are.
So the informal conversation would often involve more information being given without asking for it, and also mean you will need to listen more carefully:
In an informal situation or a friendly conversation:
I’d is often used instead of I would
I’ll is often used instead of I will
Words are added like "you know", "I think" "maybe" "it’s ok" "well" "so"
More questions are asked to get information back from you to "what about?" "would you like?" "how about?"
So, you need to listen more, and allow the conversation to develop. You don’t need to say much more than in the formal situation if you choose not to.

I’ll use some informal language now to tell you something about England.
" well, what can I say about England? It’s a nice place to visit, with many interesting places I think. You know, we do talk a lot about the weather in England. People say it rains a lot here – but I think it is often cloudy.
It’s always nice travelling around England to different places. I like the Lake District – so many lovely hills and mountains – wonderful scenery – it’s particularly nice in Autumn.
You know, it’s a while since I went there, maybe a few years now. Perhaps we should have a trip there?
Maybe soon, what do you think?"
More formally would be:
" What can I say about England? It is a nice place to visit, with many interesting places. We do talk a lot about the weather in England. People say that it rains a lot here – but I think that it is often cloudy weather that gives this impression.
It is always good to travel around England to visit different places. I very much like the Lake District – with its many lovely hills and mountains. It has such wonderful scenery and it is particularly nice to see it in the Autumn.
It has been a while since I went there. I believe it is a few years ago. Perhaps we should have an excursion to the Lake District?
Perhaps soon, what do you think?"
I hope you can hear and read the differences in style that shows the first example as more "conversational" to the second example. Both use slightly different word choices and language "style" However they are both discussing the same thing.
Take care and see you next time

Everyday phrases

Here's a chatcast about those "everyday phrases" in common usage in English.
The book I mention is "Red Herrings and White Elephants" by Albert Jack which is available from Amazon.com ISBN 1-84358-129-9
It's surprising how much we use these phrases and expressions in English conversation...
Feedback/comments welcome :-)


Hello everyone,
Today I’d like to talk about "everyday phrases" that we use so often in English. In fact it’s only when we native speaker start to talk with non-native speakers that we start to realise just how much we use these sort of expressions and how much we need them in our everyday speech.
I found a book called "Red Herrings and White Elephants" by Albert Jack (ISBN 1-84358-129-9) which I’m acknowledging as the source of the explanations of my examples today to introduce some of these common phrases. It is available on amazon.com should you wish to buy a copy for yourself. The book is really good as not only does it give us the meaning, but also some of the history behind why we use each expression.
Here are some typical ones. I’ll start obviously with the two in the title of the book:
Red Herring. (BOOK)" This is used to describe something that provides a false of misleading clue"
Example: "That tourist brochure is a bit of a red herring, as the seaside resort it told us was so good was nothing like that when we went there!"
White Elephant (BOOK)"is an expression used to describe something useless that has, or will become a huge burden to those who possess it"
Example: "That car you bought is a white elephant, it is always breaking down and it cost you too much money!"

Here are some more everyday phrases with examples (which are my examples – you won’t find these in the book) There are many more in the book – but I’ve chosen some of the phrases I use a lot in conversation.
"Codswallop" is something worthless, rubbish or nonesense. "That’s codswallop! – you can’t use those scissors to cut wire!" Actually, I also use it to dismiss something as rubbish " You can buy a beer for a 50 pence? Codswallop! Where??
Tarred with the same brush – is to be part of a group regarded as all having the same faults and weaknesses, often unfairly.
"I’d tar him with the same brush – he can’t draw a picture any better than his brother"
"Neck of the woods" is used to imply a person’s neighbourhood. " He’s from the same neck of the woods as that friend of yours" (same town as your friend)
"Bite off more than you can chew" is an expression we use to indicate someone has taken on more than they can cope with or manage
" I’m learning French, German, Spanish and now Chinese. Do you think I have bitten off more than I can chew?"
You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours" Is a saying we use to suggest two people will do each other a favour, or look out for each other so that both benefit from each others’ actions.
"Can you baby-sit for me next Saturday please? You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours – I’ll baby-sit for you next month…"
Take care, let me know if you like these and I’ll record some more for you
See you next time

Something about the East coast of Yorkshire in Northern England

Hello everybody

I’ve just come back from a nice holiday “by the sea”. I went to the North East coast of England with my wife and son last week. This area is well-loved area for tourism in England and there are some nice sea-side resorts as well as the National Park the “North Yorkshire Moors”.

A few things that you may not know, Whitby is a small fishing town on the East Coast – and is really popular with tourists. It has a fine beach, some really good fish restaurants and an interesting old abbey, but it is also famous for being the place where Captain James Cook worked and set sail for his voyages of discovery in the southern hemisphere. There is therefore a “Captain Cook museum” and many references to the famous explorer are in the town – most notably a fine statue on the hill near the beach.

Whitby also is famous for being the place where Dracula came to England aboard a russian ship and the author of the book Bram Stoker was living in Whitby when he wrote the book.

Further inland, there is a steam railway called the North Yorkshire Moors railway. The journey starts in a market town called Pickering and goes all the way to Whitby. On of the train stations on this line is in a village called Goathland, and this train station is well-known as the train station used for filming the Harry Potter train that takes Harry to Hogsmeade.

In Goathland, there is also the oldest railway tunnel in the world.

We also went to a place called Eden Camp near the town of Malton which was originally a prison camp for Italian and German prisoners of war – which is now a second warld war museum and very well restored.

Pickering has a steam rally every August – which is where many restored steam tractors are shown in working order. The steam engines will slowly travel around the town and many people come to watch the old engines puff out their smoke – it really gives an impression to what it was like around 100 years ago.

Other towns on the Yorkshire coast are Scarborough – which is a popular seaside resort with a castle and Filey, a small seaside resort with a fine beach and rocky coves.

We also visited York – which is the county town and probably the most historic city outside of London. It used to be England’s second most important town after London and has been there since Roman Times.

I’ll tell you more about York in another podcast.

Bye for now

English can be a bit silly sometimes

Hello,
Today I’d like to talk about how the meaning of what we say in English can vary or change, either depending on the stress on the words, or sometimes just the words that we use. This happens in quite simple sentences – not just in complicated ones.
An example for you:- If I say this sentence:
Take your bag
without accent, it can sound like a simple instruction or invitation
If I say:
Take your BAG. This would mean a bag, not your camera, watch, cup or anything else you may feel like taking
If I say:
Take YOUR bag - I’m meaning your bag, not someone else’s bag
If I say:
TAKE your bag - this emphasises the word "take" rather than kicking it, or whatever else...
Even with so simple a sentence, a changed accent can give a different meaning.
Another example of the way English can be difficult is when the meaning isn’t so clear. We can emphasise this in two silly examples
I like Ice cream sundaes - I like Ice cream on Sundays
Do you like fruit fool? Do you like fruit you fool?
There are some ways of saying things that sound a bit strange
Hang up the telephone (put the telephone receiver back on the telephone or press the button to finish the call)
Lay the table (hens lay eggs... why do we say lay the table for meaning put the knives and forks and crockery onto the table before a meal)
Climb the stairs (we climb mountains as well!) simply means go up the stairs
Mow the lawn – which just means cut the grass
Catch a cold – how do we catch the virus that we can’t see? It just means we become ill with a cold
I go to bed – but when I get to the bed – I have to get on the bed to sleep I think....
Fall asleep – which means to go to sleep – Personally I just lie in bed and then sleep – I don’t fall anywhere...well, hopefully I don’t fall out of bed...
Throw away my old clothes – I don’t ever throw them – I just put them in a waste bin
Put the kettle on – I just switch on my electric kettle on to heat water. This is an old saying from when people placed the pot on a fire to heat water.
Take a bath – (have a bath) – My bath is still in the same place it hasn’t moved.
To fire someone – means they lose their job – they don’t get burned – we’ll unless the boss has other ideas.... It’s no easier in England as we say "to sack someone" which also means to lose their job – do we put someone in a sack??

Why do we say "I can’t wait for Christmas!" (meaning, "I’m eager for Christmas to arrive") when quite obviously we have to wait
So, English is quite a silly language sometimes
Bye for now
See you next time

Isn't English a bit odd sometimes?

Hello,

Today I’d like to talk about how the meaning of what we say in English can vary or change, either depending on the stress on the words, or sometimes just the words that we use. This happens in quite simple sentences – not just in complicated ones.

An example for you:- If I say this sentence:

Take your bag

without accent, it can sound like a simple instruction or invitation

If I say:

Take your BAG. This would mean a bag, not your camera, watch, cup or anything else you may feel like taking

If I say:

Take YOUR bag - I’m meaning your bag, not someone else’s bag

If I say:

TAKE your bag - this emphasises the word “take” rather than kicking it, or whatever else...

Even with so simple a sentence, a changed accent can give a different meaning.

Another example of the way English can be difficult is when the meaning isn’t so clear. We can emphasise this in two silly examples

I like Ice cream sundaes - I like Ice cream on Sundays
Do you like fruit fool? Do you like fruit you fool?

There are some ways of saying things that sound a bit strange

Hang up the telephone (put the telephone receiver back on the telephone or press the button to finish the call)

Lay the table (hens lay eggs... why do we say lay the table for meaning put the knives and forks and crockery onto the table before a meal)

Climb the stairs (we climb mountains as well!) simply means go up the stairs

Mow the lawn – which just means cut the grass

Catch a cold – how do we catch the virus that we can’t see? It just means we become ill with a cold

I go to bed – but when I get to the bed – I have to get on the bed to sleep I think....

Fall asleep – which means to go to sleep – Personally I just lie in bed and then sleep – I don’t fall anywhere...well, hopefully I don’t fall out of bed...

Throw away my old clothes – I don’t ever throw them – I just put them in a waste bin

Put the kettle on – I just switch on my electric kettle on to heat water. This is an old saying from when people placed the pot on a fire to heat water.

Take a bath – (have a bath) – My bath is still in the same place it hasn’t moved.

To fire someone – means they lose their job – they don’t get burned – we’ll unless the boss has other ideas.... It’s no easier in England as we say “to sack someone” which also means to lose their job – do we put someone in a sack??


Why do we say “I can’t wait for Christmas!” (meaning, “I’m eager for Christmas to arrive”) when quite obviously we have to wait

So, English is quite a silly language sometimes

Bye for now

See you next time

French song - Ne me quitte pas (Jacques Brel 1959)

Ne me quitte pas
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s'oublier
Qui s'enfuit déjà
Oublier le temps
Des malentendus
Et le temps perdu
A savoir comment
Oublier ces heures
Qui tuaient parfois
A coups de pourquoi
Le cœur du bonheur
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Do not leave me
It is necessary to forget
All can be forgotten
Who flees already
To forget the time of
Misunderstandings
And wasted time
Namely how
To forget these hours
Who killed sometimes
With blows of why
The heart of happiness
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me

Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Où il ne pleut pas
Je creuserai la terre
Jusqu'après ma mort
Pour couvrir ton corps
D'or et de lumière
Je ferai un domaine
Où l'amour sera roi
Où l'amour sera loi
Où tu seras reine
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Me I will offer to you
Pearls of rain
Arrivals from a country
Where it does not rain
I will dig the ground
Until after my death
To cover your body
Of gold and light
I will make a land
Where the love will be a king
Where the love will be law
Where you will be queen
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me

Ne me quitte pas
Je t'inventerai
Des mots insensés
Que tu comprendras
Je te parlerai
De ces amants-là
Qui ont vu deux fois
Leurs cœurs s'embraser
Je te raconterai
L'histoire de ce roi
Mort de n'avoir pas
Pu te rencontrer
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Do not leave me
I will invent you
Foolish words
That you will understand
I will speak to you
Of these lovers
Who saw twice
Their hearts ablaze
I will tell you the
History of this king
who died not having met you
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me

On a vu souvent
Rejaillir le feu
D'un ancien volcan
Qu'on croyait trop vieux
Il est paraît-il
Des terres brûlées
Donnant plus de blé
Qu'un meilleur avril
Et quand vient le soir
Pour qu'un ciel flamboie
Le rouge et le noir
Ne s'épousent-ils pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

One has often seen
The rekindled flame
Of an old volcano
That one believed too old
It is it seems
Burned grounds
Giving more corn
Than the best April
And when comes the evening
with it's blazing sky
Red and black
don't they match together
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me

Ne me quitte pas
Je ne vais plus pleurer
Je ne vais plus parler
Je me cacherai là
A te regarder
Danser et sourire
Et à t'écouter
Chanter et puis rire
Laisse-moi devenir
L'ombre de ton ombre
L'ombre de ta main
L'ombre de ton chien
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas.

Do not leave me
I will not cry any more
I will not speak any more
I will hide there
With you to look at
To dance and smile
And to listen to you
To sing and then to laugh
Let me become the
Shadow of your shadow
Shadow of your hand
Shadow of your dog
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me
Do not leave me.

Alan's Weekend Words 22nd July

Alan’s Weekend Words July 22nd

Sleep

I’ts surprising how many things we can talk about related to sleep in English. Apparently the Swedes have 95 different words for sleep. I don’t think we have anything like that many in English, but even so, we talk abou sleep and sleeping in quite a number of ways.

For instance, we have:

sleep for the noun
to sleep, sleeping – the verb

and other words that describe sleep in different ways> Examples:

A nap or a “catnap” = a short sleep – usually in the daytime

to snooze, or a snooze” same as a “nap”

Often, an alarm clock will have a “snooze” button – so that we can sleep a little longer and then another alorm will sound.

To doze – where it’s describing someone not sleeping too deeply. “Don’t doze off when you’re driving!!” an important thing to remember.

There are other slang words or expressions. Here are some I know and quite like:

“Shut-eye”
“Kip”
“40 winks”
“Nod-off”
“Zonked” (usually after someone has had a lot to drink”
“Slaughtered” (very tired)
“Dead to the world” – when someone can’t wake up very easily – after a late night

I remember that Americans sometimes say “bushed” – meaning tired – but maybe they don’t use that so much these days...

We sometimes use the Spanish word “siesta” to talk about sleeping during the daytime – for a rest, when on holidau or having a sleep when the weather is very hot.

There are many others I can’t remember just now. Perhaps you’d like to do a bit of research yourself!

When someone needs to get to sleep, we sometimes “count sheep” in our heads. The idea is to get so bored counting sheep – you fall asleep! Try it!


See you next time

German/English Deutsch/Englisch post

hallo, wie geht’s. Diesmal ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch. Ich lerne es seit 6 Jahren, aber ich habe Deutsch schon in der Schule gelernt vor vielen Jahren!!.

Heutzutage, wenig Leute lernen Deutsch im Vergleich als ich jung war. Deutsch ist noch immer eine wichtige Sprache aber ich glaube viel mehr Leute aus verschiedenen Laendern wollen englisch lernen . Weil ich Engländer bin, ist es fuer mich sehr interessant, andere Sprachen zu lernen, und ich finde Deutsch sehr interessant und besonders wenn ich in Deutschland bin, weil ich mit meinen deutschen Freunden auch deutsch sprechen kann.

Ich kenne gut Hessen, die eine Region in der Mitte von Deutschland ist. Besonders die Stadt Kassel, wo meine Frau und ich Freunde haben. Ihr könnt ein Podcast von unseren Besuchen nach Kassel das wir im Mai gemacht haben hier lesen und hoeren.

Heute habe ich mit einem Freund aus Deutschland im Paltalk gesprochen und er hat mir gesagt, daß das Wetter in Deutschland schoen ist. Leider ist das Wetter hier nicht so gut - zu viel Regen. Weil das Wetter nicht so gut ist, habe ich mich entschieden - dass ich Zeit genug habe, diesen Podcast zu machen.

Vielleicht, ist das nicht so langweilig fuer Sie, ein Podcast ueber das schlechte Wetter zu hoeren... aber das ist ein sehr wichtiges Thema fuer einen Englaender!

Bis zum naechsten Mal

(many thanks to Bettina for the corrections)

In English....

Hello, how are you? This time I’m speaking a little German. I’ve been learning it 6 year, but I did learn German when I was at school – a long time ago!

Today, not so many people learn German compared to when I was young. German is still an important language but I think many more people from other countries want to learn English.

Because I am English, I'm also interested in other languages. I find German very interesting and particularly when I'm in Germany as I can speak German with my friends there.

I know Hessen well, this is a region in the middle of Germany. I know Kassel especially well, where my wife and I have some friends. You can read and listen to a podcast about our visit to Kassel which we did in May.

Today I spoke with my friend from Germany in Paltalk and he told me that the weather in Germany is very nice. Unfortunately here it isn’t so good – too much rain. Because the weather is bad, I decided I had enough time to make this podcast. Perhaps it isn’t so boring for you to listen to a podcast about bad weather – but it’s a very important topic for an English person!

Until next time!

The owl and the pussy cat

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to seaIn a beautiful pea-green boat:
They took some honey, and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy, O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"

Pussy said to the Owl,
"You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married; too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the bong-tree grows;
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

Edward Lear

French/English podcast

Hello,

This time I decided to record a podcast in French as well as a translation in English. I don’t know how many visitors to this site understand French, but I think it is worth putting a podcast completely in French here.

I have been learning French for 16 years. It is always difficult for me, but despite this difficulty I continue with my hobby and improve my French. The French word “pefectionner” is an interesting word, because there isn’t really an equivalent in English. We say “develop”, “learn” or “improve” when we talk of language learning.

A few years ago I was an admin for a chatroom with www.about.com. It was great to have the chance to meet with others who were learning French like me as well as people who spoke French as a mother tongue.
Thanks to the visitors I got lots of information and other interesting websites. Amongst this, someone recommended me to read an “online” book which I am recommending to you. This is a book written by an american whilst working in Paris. Here’s the site. The book is in English and well written for students of French – but it could be useful for people learning English too.

http://www.signiform.com/french/

I find singing songs very useful for language development. Sometimes I sing French songs and I’ve put a few on this podcast site for you which I recorded some months ago following a few concerts at French language learners evening meetings around my area in the UK.

Bye for now

Podcast français/anglais

Salut.

Cette fois j’ai décidé d’enregister un podcast en français ainsi que une traduction en anglais. Je ne sais pas combien de visiteurs du site comprennent cette langue – mais je pense ça vaut la peine de mettre un podcast sur ce site complètement en français.

Je parle le français depuis 16 ans. C’est toujours difficile pour moi mais en dépit de ça – je continue perfectionner mon français comme passe-temps. C’est un mot interessant : « perfectionner » parce qu’en anglais ce mot n’existe pas. On dit en anglais : « developper », « apprendre plus » or « amelioerer » quand on parle d’un apprentissage d’une langue.

Il y a quelques années j’étais administrateur pour une salon de bavardage (chatroom) chez www.about.com. C’étatit très bien d’avoir l’occasion de faire les rencontres aux autres personnes qui apprennaient le français ainsi que les francophones. Grace aux visiteurs, j’ai trouvé les informations et d’autres sites Internet très interessants. Parmi ces visites, quelqu’un m’a conseillé de lire un livre « en ligne » et je vous propose ce site pour lire ce livre écrit par un americain pendant son sejour à Paris quand il travaillait la.
Voici le site. Le livre est en anglais et c’est un livre bien écrit pour les étudiant de la language française en particulière.

http://www.signiform.com/french/

Je trouve les chansons bien utiles pour aider le developpement d’une langue. Moi, je chante de temps en temps les chansons francaises et j’ai laissé certaines ici sur ce site que j’ai enregistré il y a quelques mois. Je les ai enregistré après des concerts aux cercles français qui exisitent dans ma region de l’Angleterre.

A bientôt

Foule Sentimentale (words and music by Alain Souchon)

Alain Souchon
Foule sentimentale
Oh la la la vie en rose
Oh the good life
Le rose qu'on nous propose
That they offer us
D'avoir les quantités d'choses
To have things in abundance
Qui donnent envie d'autre chose
Which makes you want even more
Aïe, on nous fait croire
Oh, they make us believe
Que le bonheur c'est d'avoir
That happiness is to have
De l'avoir plein nos armoires
Our wardrobes full
Dérisions de nous dérisoires car
It’s a mockery, because
Foule sentimentale
The sentimental crowd
On a soif d'idéal
They are thirsty for the ideal
Attirée par les étoiles, les voiles
Attracted by the stars, the sails
Que des choses pas commerciales
Than the mundane
Foule sentimentale
Sentimental crowd
Il faut voir comme on nous parle
We need to see it as they speak to us
Comme on nous parle
As they speak to us


Il se dégage
It comes easily to us
De ces cartons d'emballage
From these product wrappings
Des gens lavés, hors d'usage
From washed out, worn out people
Et tristes et sans aucun avantage
Sad types, with nothing going for them
On nous inflige
They inflict us
Des désirs qui nous affligent
With these desires that distress us
On nous prend faut pas déconner dès qu'on est né
Feed us rubbish from the day we are born
Pour des cons alors qu'on est
Fools that we are

Foule sentimentale
This sentimental crowd
On a soif d'idéal
They are thirsty for the ideal
Attirée par les étoiles, les voiles
Attracted by the stars, the sails
Que des choses pas commerciales
Than the mundane
Foule sentimentale
Sentimental crowd
Il faut voir comme on nous parle
We need to see it as they speak to us
Comme on nous parle
As they speak to us

On nous Claudia Schieffer
They give us Claudia Schiffer (famous model)
On nous Paul-Loup Sulitzer
They give us Paul-Loup Sulitzer (self-made millionaire)
Oh le mal qu'on peut nous faire
The the harm that they can do to us
Et qui ravagea la moukère
And which ravaged the harlot
Du ciel dévale
From the fallen sky
Un désir qui nous emballe
A desire that thrills us
Pour demain nos enfants pâles
For tomorrow our pale children
Un mieux, un rêve, un cheval
The best, a dream, a horse

Foule sentimentale
The sentimental crowd
On a soif d'idéal
They are thirsty for the ideal
Attirée par les étoiles, les voiles
Attracted by the stars, the sails
Que des choses pas commerciales
Than the mundane
Foule sentimentale
Sentimental crowd
Il faut voir comme on nous parle
We need to see it as they speak to us
Comme on nous parle
As they speak to us

Thanking people in English

Thanking people
In English classes, the most taught forms are:
Thankyou – useful for nearly any situation – formal or informal
Thankyou very much – useful for emphasising that you are very grateful to someone
Thanks – more informal – matter of fact – used in nearly any informal situation
We also use other words and phrases for thanking:
The most popular word these days in England is: "Cheers"
This can be a bit confusing as it is also the word we use for toasting someone with a drink (usually an alcoholic drink) "Cheers!"
Cheers – when we mean thanks is a popular way of thanking people for many things: in shops, on the street, with family etc
Other words we use:
Thanks a lot – we tend to use this in two ways: one to emphasise that we want to thank someone for their help "Thanks a lot for helping me with my homework". But also a negative way to say "I wish you hadn’t said that, or done that…thanks a lot!"
Thanks a million – is a very friendly way of saying thanks when someone has done something really special or helped you personally. "Thanks a million for your kind donation to the charity fund!"
Thanks so much - similar to "thanks a million" "thanks so much for all your help"
Thanks a bundle – this is like "thanks a million" - "thanks a bundle for the loan of your car"
Thanking you! This is a way of saying thanks in a way that shows other people you mean it. "thanking you for your help last week when you took my son to school"
"Thankyou kindly sir" (or madam) or "thank you kind sir" (or madam) we say this when we want to appear to be appreciating someone’s help in a pseudo formal style – deliberately to sound a little old-fashioned. Really we are saying this to friends or family to put a little more emphasis on the idea of thanking someone.
Nice one! An easy way of saying to friends the equivalent of "thankyou for this – I really needed it" example: lending someone some money..
Good one! Similar to "nice one"
Sound! (colloquial) Similar to "nice one"
We occasionally use a foreign word such as "gracias" or "merci" just to be a little different
Bye for now

Asking questions in English

It’s interesting how many ways we can ask questions in English.
I wanted to explain a little in this podcast about the different ways do this. In fact I had to think about this a lot before I recorded the podcast – as a lot depends on the situation and who were are talking to.
Regarding asking people for things. In English we use the "conditional" form a lot. This is where the question sounds more polite.
For example:
"Could I have a cup of tea please?" sounds more polite that "Can I have a cup of tea please?"
The reason is that English people usually ( but not always of course) try to be polite and the word "could" means that the person who is being asked would feel that the person asking the question was not demanding a cup of tea – almost that the person being asked has a choice. Of course if you were in a café asking this question, it would seem a bit silly that they would not want to give you some tea – but this way of asking questions still stays in our language.
"I would like…" is similar
" Could I trouble you for….?" Is very polite and fomal
Between friends and family, it is less formal:
"Can you lend me a garden rake?" is perfectly acceptable.
"I want a…." is not normally used – as it sounds impolite. However as always, there are exceptions. " I want a holiday – I’ve been working too many hours" could be used as a statement. But, if you were to ask your boss for a holiday, you would say "Could I have next week off please? I want to go on holiday"
"Have you got some stamps?" is ok to use when asking for stamps in a Post Office
Also,
"Do you have some(any) stamps?" Would be the right question to see if the place selling stamps had any e.g. Newsagents
"Do you sell stamps?" would also be ok – if you were in a shop and wanted to see if they sold stamps
To add emphasis, we often say:
"I really would like…… do you have any? (or "could I have?)
"Do you mind if I take….?" A useful phrase in, say a Tourist Information office and they offer leaflets and you think that they are being offered for free – but you are not sure.
"Will you come to my party?" a direct question to a friend – which means that they should give you an answer "yes" or "no"
An alternative (and more polite) would be " Would you come to my party?" this means that the person being asked might say "no thanks – I have to visit my mother – thanks for asking me"
"Shall we go to the seaside for our holidays?" is more direct than "should we go to the seaside for our holidays?" and usually you would get a different response.
The first question would normally mean the person being asked would say "Yes, it sounds a good idea" or "No, I don’t want to go to the seaside this year"
The second question would normally mean the person being asked would say "Let me think about it, it might be worth doing" or " I’m not sure – whether I like the idea or not"
So, it is worth learning the different ways to ask for things in English and see what response you get. If you find that the question seems too direct – then try using:
Could I/you/we?
Should I/you/we?
Would I/you/we?
Might I/you/we?
Another very polite way is "is it ok if?" or "do you mind if?"




More direct ways or asking questions are
Can I/you/we?
Shall I/you/we?
Will I/you/we?
Don’t be worried about using these ways of asking if you need help or are in trouble or you need a direct "yes" or "no" answer.

Petite Marie

Francis Cabrel
Petite Marie
Petite Marie, je parle de toi
Little Marie, I speak of you
Parce qu'avec ta petite voix
Because with your little voice
Tes petites manies, tu as versé sur ma vie
Your little habits, tu have poured on my life
Des milliers de roses
Thousands of roses
Petite furie, je me bats pour toi
Little wild one, I fight for you
Pour que dans dix mille ans de ça
So that in 10,000 years from now
On se retrouve à l'abri, sous un ciel aussi joli
We’ll find ourselves a shelter, under a sky just as pretty
Que des milliers de roses
As 1000’s of roses

Je viens du ciel et les étoiles entre elles
I come from the sky and the stars only
Ne parlent que de toi
Speak of you
D'un musicien qui fait jouer ses mains
From a musician whose hands play
Sur un morceau de bois
On a piece of wood
De leur amour plus bleu que le ciel autour
Of their love more blue than the sky above

Petite Marie, je t'attends transi
Little Marie, I wait for you transfixed
Sous une tuile de ton toit
Under a tile of your roof
Le vent de la nuit froide me renvoie la ballade
The cold night wind brings me back the ballad
Que j'avais écrite pour toi
That I had written for you
Petite furie, tu dis que la vie
Little wild one, you say that life
C'est une bague à chaque doigt
Is a ring on each finger
Au soleil de Floride, moi mes poches sont vides
In the sunshine of Florida, my pockets are empty
Et mes yeux pleurent de froid
And my eyes cry from cold


Je viens du ciel et les étoiles entre elles
I come from the sky and the stars only
Ne parlent que de toi
Speak of you
D'un musicien qui fait jouer ses mains
From a musician whose hands play
Sur un morceau de bois
On a piece of wood
De leur amour plus bleu que le ciel autour
Of their love more blue than the sky above

Dans la pénombre de ta rue
In the shadow of your street
Petite Marie, m'entends-tu ?
Little Marie, do you hear me ?
Je n'attends plus que toi pour partir...
I’m only waiting for you to be able to leave
Dans la pénombre de ta rue
In the shadow of your street
Petite Marie, m'entends-tu ?
Little Marie, can you hear me ?
Je n'attends plus que toi pour partir...
I’m only waiting for you to be able to leave

Je viens du ciel et les étoiles entre elles
I come from the sky and the stars
Ne parlent que de toi
Only speak of you
D'un musicien qui fait jouer ses mains
From a musician whose hands play
Sur un morceau de bois
On a piece of wood
De leur amour plus bleu que le ciel autour
Of their love more blue that the sky above

Words and music - Francis Cabrel
English translation: Alan Palmer

Runaway/Vanina

As I walk along I wonder a-what went wrong
With our love , a love that was so strong
And as I still walk on, I think of the things we've done
Together , a-while our hearts were young
I'm a-walkin' in the rain
Tears are fallin' and I feel the pain
Wishin' you were here by me
To end this misery
And I wonder
I wa-wa-wa-wa-wonder
Why
Ah-why-why-why-why-why she ran away
And I wonder where she will stay
My little runaway , run-run-run-run-runaway


Loin de toi je me demande
Pouquoi ma vie ressemble
A une terre brûlée
Mais quand l'amour prend ses distances
Un seul être vous manque
Et tout est dépeuplé
Vanina rappelle-toi
Que je ne suis rien sans toi
Vanina si tu m'oublies
Je serais pour la vie
Seul au monde
Oh ! Mon... mon... mon...monde
Toi, toi…… si loin de toi
Et le monde
N'existe pas
Si tu es loin de moi, loin loin loin loin de moi

Original version by Del Shannon
French version by Dave
This version by me!

Alan's Weekend Words 17th June

Hello everyone

Thanks for all your feedback on my podcasts – I really appreciate it.

Today I want to talk some more about the way we speak in normal conversation as opposed to the language you read in text books or in English language classes.

Obviously I can only talk about my own experience in England,

When people speak quickly, it happens that some words become harder to distinguish and this can be difficult for English language learners I think.

For instance, If I asked a friend of mine, “would you like to go to the cinema?” it can often become “would yer like t’go to the cimema?” You can hear that the word “you” becomes more like “yer” and “to” becomes more like the letter “t”

This can be considered lazy speaking, but between friends, with work colleagues etc it is just easier and doesn’t mean that we are lazy.

Another example is “Do you want to?” which often becomes “do yer wanna?”

Here is a list I have made of some common phrases that can often be shortened.

I have got to go – I’ve gotta go
When I come back – when I’m back
What time is it? = what’s the time? (what time do you make it?)
I need to put some fuel in my car – I need to fill up (my car)
Do you sell sandwiches? Have you any sandwiches (sarnies)
Do you have a pen I can borrow please? Have you a pen please?
Could you pass me the salt please – could I have the salt please?
Did you take any good photographs when you were on holiday? did you take any good pictures(photos) on your holidays?

I’m trying to show you examples of where we use alternative sentences to those that would normally be taught in English classes.

I’m also trying to avoid (as much as I can) using examples of dialect – because some dialects in England shorten words as a feature of the dialect.

I’ll give you an example: Do you have a pen I can borrow please – often becomes Have you got a pen please? and in my dialect, I could say “d’y’ave a pen please?”

So I’m not trying to show you dialects in this podcast – I’m simply discussing how we choose different sentences sometimes – because they seem less formal, friendlier, easier to say – for quite a number of reasons. Often it may be simply because of habit. Do y’want a coffee? is much more common to ask as a question to a friend or member of the family than “would you like a cup of coffee?”

This type of “everyday speech” is, I think, what can make it more difficult for English learners to understand when listening to spoken English – it is quite often not like the written standard forms.

Some other examples:

Hello! it’s very nice to see you, please come in – “Hi, come on in!”
Well, I am really tired so I should go to bed – “I’m off to bed - I’m tired”
Did you enjoy that TV programme that was shown yesterday evening? Did you like that programme on telly yesterday evening?

Hopefully, you’ll be able to hear and read these differences and it may give you more understanding of why English may seem more complex – when in fact, it is often being made simpler to make it easier and quicker to have a conversation between friends and family.

See you next time

Bye!

My trip to Germany (Kassel)

Hello everyone,
Today I’d like to tell you about my trip to Germany. Last week I went with my wife and son to Kassel, which is a city in the centre of Germany in the Hessen region. We were taking part in an exchange group visit with the "Pendle-Kassel Community Exchange". This was a great opportunity to visit the town once more, meet with our friends from the German side of the group and to stay with these families in the city.
The Pendle-Kassel community exchange has been in existence for 26 years and my wife is the chairperson on the English side. Pendle is my home region which comprises of 3 towns. Together, these towns make up the same number of people as those who live in the city of Kassel – around 150,000 people.
The idea of the exchange is quite simple. Each year a group of exchange group members will travel to either Germany or to England. This year it was our turn to visit Kassel. Each group has about 50 members. This year 32 members of the group travelled by aeroplane (Air Berlin) from Manchester to Kassel. We stayed with "host families" (called Gastgeber in German) who were all so kind as to welcome us into their homes to stay as guests for 7 nights.
So that we don’t abuse their hospitality (in other words, so we don’t take too much of the families’ time) each day of the week we take part in activities or excursions. Some of our hosts will organise these activities or act as guides on the excursions. This way, it allows our hosts to still go to work or do things that they need to do and also gives us (the visitors) chance to see more of Germany and German life.
The exchange started in 1981 between a school in Pendle and a school in Kassel. At that time, it was just school children and teachers that took part in the exchange. Later, the exchange group opened up a welcome to parents and their friends. Now it is open to anyone who is interested – of any age. In reality, this means all ages from quite young children with their parents through to quite elderly people. I like this aspect, because it allows different age groups to do things together and this is quite a rare thing in my country these days. Where there are young children visiting, these children will stay with a parent, although when the children are a little older, they may stay with a family on their own.
It is also an opportunity to develop language skills (for those who wish to) and to discover more about German way of life, peoples’ interests and hobbies, food and drink and well as to see some of the sights.
Each day in Kassel is an opportunity to get to know our hosts better and make friends at the same time. For those visiting for the first time, the first few hours after arrival are be the most difficult. Even though it may seem daunting, it always seems to work our well and soon the new people make become friends. Even language difficulties are not such a problem because those who take part do so volutarily and they will try hard to make sure that visitors are comfortable and feel at home.
A lot of communication can be done by guesswork and even by gesturing and language difficulties never seem to hold back people from enjoying themselves. Of course, quite a number of the German people speak some English and this helps the English people enormously. Some English visitors speak German as I do, and of course this offers many opportunities to experience another language in a "real-life" situation and a chance to learn and share language.
The visit then becomes almost like an activity holiday. Each visitor is free to take part in the organised activities – such as an organised walk, a visit to a museum or a visit to town for shopping.
The programme this year was very well organised. We had a couple of free days with the families to decide what we could do together and then each of the other days, there were excursions by "Reisebus" (which is a tour bus) to visit interesting places.
The excursions took us to: Eisenach and Wartburg (in the former East Germany where Martin Luther translated the Bible)
Wiesbaden near Frankfurt – to visit the regional parliament building and go shopping in the town.
Willingen in Sauerland where we visited a church that is now a restaurant and had a trip on a chair lift used for skiers in winter.
We also visited the famous "Herkules" monument and park just outside Kassel which has some marvellous "wasserspiel" or water games twice per week. http://www.wilhelmshoehe.de/home.htm
We also had the chance to look around Kassel. I particularly enjoyed a visit to a Flohmarkt (garage sale or flea market)
One thing that must be said is that good friends can be made during this visits. Me and my wife stayed with a very nice family for the first time in 2001 and since then, we have visited a further 3 times with this year’s visit making it our fourth visit
On the Thursday morning we visited the "Rathaus" (City Hall) for a chance to present the mayor with a small gift.
On the Saturday evening everyone met at the school hall for a party night. This was a great chance for everyone to discuss how well the week had gone, and to thank all those who had worked hard to prepare the excursions and also it was an opportunity for giving presents. Later in the evening there were some music, dancing, food and drink for all.
The final day (Sunday) gave people chance to say their individual thanks and to get their suitcases packed and then later in the day we were off back to the airport (Paderborn) for the flight back to Manchester.
Of course, before we left, we invited the German members of the Exchange group to come over to England next year and to spend a week in our region. This is planned to take place in May 2008 and my wife and I will be happy to welcome our friends once more to stay with us.
This exchange is a great way to make friends and understand people from other countries and long may in continue!

More on accents

Hello everyone
As I’m travelling to Germany this coming weekend, I am recording my chatcast today.
Today’s chatcast is about language learning and accents.
I think a lot of people who learn English have concerns about their accent. First and foremost, is it understandable to other people? Does it sound "right"? What do native speakers think when they hear it? Will it ever become like a "native speaker"?
Many questions like this come to mind. I have talked to many people over the years who are learning English and I often hear them say " I would like to improve my English" and also " I would like to improve my accent – to sound more "British" or "American"
I often wonder why this is. Why does it seem important to have a "near-native" accent? Maybe it is because it is a personal ambition to speak well, where people will appreciate the learner’s ability to speak naturally, without the need to explain "I am from this country or that country"
On the other hand, it can be a desire to lose the accent of the mother tongue, because maybe the learner don’t like their own language so much and would prefer to speak English – or even to live in an English-speaking country.
I get a bit concerned that some people would like to "hide" their accent and work very hard to sound exactly like a native speaker, because which accent should they copy? For instance in England there are many different accents and dialects that are not the "standard" accent – which in our country is called "received pronunciation"
More native speakers speak with a regional accent than speak "received pronunciation"
The important thing surely is communication? As a native English speaker I hear a lot of different accents when I travel around the country, on TV and radio and when I travel to other countries. I’m sure I speak for many of us native speakers when I say that for us accents matter less than good communication. In other words, a person speaking with a foreign accent is fine as long as we can understand what is being said. We are used to hearing many different English accents – not just across the country but from around the world. We don’t think it so important when we meet someone from another country who is learning English and we hear an accent.
In fact, very often many people from foreign countries speak more clearly and with better grammar than many native speakers.
My advice is to try to improve your accent if you want to or if you can, but don’t get too concerned about it if you feel you are not making progress.
Having said all this, I can give you some tips and hints for a more natural-sounding English.
First, relax! Try not to get stressed and anxious about speaking – most people are friendly and appreciate that you are speaking English. Some mistakes are acceptable.
Secondly. Take your time speaking – don’t rush to say all you want to say. Many non-natives try to speak too quickly when they speak English. Try listening to a few English native speakers and you’ll realise that not many speak very fast.
Thirdly. There is no need to apologise for example "I’m sorry my English isn’t so good" A better approach would be " I keep trying to improve my English"
Fourthly. Take note of the stress that is put on words. This is very important in English for a good pronunciation – irrespective of what accent we have. To show you an example: the number 42 is pronounced FOURTY -two. If it said without stress on the first syllable "four-ty-two", it could sound like "for tea too"
To give you an idea what I mean. See what you think about these words, the first pronunciation is correct
Confident – conFI-dent – Con-fi- DENT
Solution – SOL – u- tion - SoluTION

I hope you have a nice weekend
Bye for now

Transcript - Alan's Weekend Words

Hello everyone
Here is a new chatcast. I’m calling this "Alan’s weekend words". I usually have a little time at the weekend to make a podcast and this weekend is no exception. I’m happy to know that you find my recordings interesting and I hope to keep on making them and hopefully keep your interest at the same time.
One of the reasons I decided to make these recordings was to create a small "language corner" where I can tell you some of the things I think are interesting and important about language. Also, whilst I think language lesson podcasts can be very good and helpful, I didn’t want to make mine into language lessons. Firstly, because I’m not a teacher and secondly (and more importantly in my opinion) because I think that people who are interested in languages, or are learning languages seriously need a way to hear that language spoken in a normal, everyday way. A podcast is one way of these people getting that opportunity.
I try to make my presentations like a "chat" and hopefully this will mean you will hear something different to language drills or situational dialogues and vocabulary or grammar tests in my recordings. I will try to just "chat" (inverted commas) in that, I will just talk about things that interest me or things that I have heard about that you might find interesting too.

In a week’s time, next Saturday, me and my wife will be going once more to Germany. We will be going with the Pendle/Kassel community exchange group. My wife is the leader of the English side of the group. This is a cultural exchange where a group of people from Pendle (the region in England where I live) will travel to Kassel in Germany to stay for a week. We will stay with families in the town.

This exchange has been in existence for 25 years and started as an educational exchange between a school in Pendle and a school in Kassel. This originally was for a group of students from each school to take part and visit their counterparts in either Germany or in England. The idea of the visit was to stay for a week with families, enjoying life with a family, and having excursions through the day to visit interesting places. Each year one school would host the visit and the other year they would be guests. This means that the visits took place annually – England one year and Germany the other year.

After a few years of successful student annual visits, some of the students’ parents were interested in taking part and they also enjoyed visiting and staying with families. These days, anyone can join at any age. We have members as young as 12 and as old as 78. This is a good opportunity for older and younger people to do things together, although of course not all the activities we do are for everyone. For example maybe the adults would visit a museum and the younger people would go swimming.

I like this exchange visit very much. It also gives me a chance to speak German and see more of the country and culture. My wife does not speak German, but she is fine because some people in the group can speak English and often language problems can be overcome easily by taking a bit of time to speak slowly. If necessary, we can always use a dictionary or phrase book or even make a sign of what we want to say.

I think these sort of exchanges between people from different countries can work very well and I’m looking forward to going and telling you about it afterwards.

As I am just chatting using my normal way of speaking, if you find some of the vocabulary difficult, please let me know and I’ll explain it more next time I make a podcast.
Don’t forget that you can read the transcription at my blog: www.alanpalmer.blogspot.com

Bye for now
Tschuess
A la prochaine
Zaijian!

Podcast #5 songwords

Les Champs-Elysées

Je m'baladais sur l'avenue le cœur ouvert à l'inconnu, J'avais envie de dire bonjour à n'importe qui

N'importe qui et ce fut toi, je t'ai dit n'importe quoi. Il suffisait de te parler, pour t'apprivoiser

Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit

Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées

I was strolling down the avenue wondering what I should do. I felt the need to say “bonjour” to everyone

Then suddenly you came to view. I came right up to talk to you

And everything felt right there on the Champs Elysees

Oh Champs Elysees, Oh Champs Elysees. In the rain or in the sun - from morning till the day is done - There’s all that you could need there on the Champs Elysees

Tu m'as dit "J'ai rendez-vous dans un sous-sol avec des fous, qui vivent la guitare à la main, du soir au matin"

Alors je t'ai accompagnée, on a chanté, on a dansé et l'on n'a même pas pensé à s'embrasser

You told me that you’d a rendez-vous -at a café bar where there are people who
Like to party through the night - until daylight
So I came along and we danced and sang - to the sweet music of the band
Didn’t even stop to kiss there on the Champs-Elysees

Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées

Hier soir deux inconnus et ce matin sur l'avenue - deux amoureux tout étourdis par la longue nuit
Et de l'Étoile à la Concorde, un orchestre à mille cordes - tous les oiseaux du point du jour chantent l'amour

Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées - yesterday two strangers who, this morning on the avenue
Are lovers weary from that long and special night. And in this new Parisian scene
We’ve just begun to live our dream - and sing our song of love there on the Champs Elysees

Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit
Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées

Oh Champs Elysees, Oh Champs Elysees. In the rain or in the sun - from morning till the day is done - There’s all that you could need there on the Champs Elysees

Podcast #4 Transcript

Hello
Welcome to my 4th podcast
This time I wanted to carry on the theme of making my podcasts more like a Chat. When we learn languages, it’s often quite difficult to get the chance to actually hear someone speaking in a casual way, as we do in a conversation, I am hoping to do this today a little with my podcast.
I think it’s a good way to see how everyday speech sounds. I know it’s a little difficult to have a "chat" as I’m speaking on my own, but on the other hand I am so used to using text chat in Paltalk and other chat programs, that I thought I could just talk and write down what I said and hopefully it will sound like we are having a conversation – you and me.
I was very grateful to Alba, from Paltalk for telling me about the Podcast website, because it means that I can easily post (as it is called) a podcast to the site when I have made them.
I’ll put the text on my blog.
It is interesting how words are created. Computer and Internet terms are springing up all the time and the two words "blog" for "weblog" or web diary and podcast from "I-pod and broadcast" are two quire recent words which are now well known in Internet circles.
The English language is always expanding. It’s interesting to think how many words have come into the language since I was a child. Also words become old-fashioned and disappear from use. This makes English one of the biggest languages in terms of vocabulary as well as number of people who speak it.
In Britain there are many accents. I speak with a Northern English accent, or more precisely with a Lancashire accent, but even in Lancashire there are quite a number of slightly different sounding accents. So I could say that I speak with a East Lancashire accent. Even then, I could say that some words and vowel sounds are a little different between the town where I live and the next town nearby.
These differences are quite small and you would probably have to have been brought up in the region to hear it. In fact accents are changing quite a lot in my country. Most people used to speak with a pronounced (or strong) regional or local accent, and many still do, but a lot of the accents are not as strong as they used to be and this is because people move around the country more than they used to in the past. Also, TV and films have a big influence and people modify their speech to make themselves more understandable to others.
Some of the more noticeable differences are the short open vowels in the North such as "bath" where in the south it would sound more like "bath" (long a)
In the North people often shorten the word where the "th" in the word "the" sometimes is shortened to "t" - walking t’dog instead of "walking the dog". A recent Northern pronunciation which sounds quite funny is " t’Internet" instead of "the Internet"
I’ll talk more about accents another time.
If you find that some of the words or phrases a little difficult to understand, then please leave me a comment and I’ll try to explain it.
I’ve started to use podcasts myself for learning languages. I love Chinesepod.com for listening to Mandarin chinese. The podcasts are really interesting and helpful. I’ve also found some useful French podcasts and Alba’s Spanish podcasts here in this site are really great.
It’s great that we can listen to interesting presentations so easily these days. I remember when I was young I used to have a short wave transistor radio and I used to try an listen to other languages but the quality was always poor and the radio stations I did find were very faint and the language and country seemed so far away. Nowadays it is so easy to contact people and speak with them around the world. I think it is really fantastic that the technology exists that allows this to happen. It makes you wonder how this will develop in the future.

I hope you like the guitar tune introduction that I play on my podcasts. Although I play a few different styles, I thought this folky tune would suit my style – a relaxed style. Some of you have remarked that you like my style of presenting and I’m glad about that – as it is my preferred style and I wouldn’t want you to be bored listening.
If you have any suggestions for my chatcasts (as I prefer to call them) let me know. For the moment, I am just talking about things that interest me in the hope that you find it interesting too.
Here are some different ways to say goodbye in English
Bye for now
See you!
Ta ta for now
Byee
See you later
See you in a bit
So long
Cheerio
Toodle-oo
See you next time

Podcast # 3 supplementary (French song)

San Francisco
Paroles et Musique: Maxime Le Forestier 1973
C’est une maison bleue
It’s a blue house
Adossée à la colline
Which backs on to a hill
On y vient à pied, on ne frappe pas
You go there by foot, you don’t knock
Ceux qui vivent là, ont jeté la clé
Those who live there have thrown the key away
On se retrouve ensemble
We meet up together
Après des années de route
After years on the road
Et l'on vient s'asseoir autour du repas
And we all sit together to eat
Tout le monde est là, à cinq heures du soir
Everyone is there until 5am
CHORUS
San Francisco s'embrume
San Francisco is in the haze
San Francisco s'allume
San Francisco is lighting up
San Francisco, où êtes vous
San Francisco, where are you?
Liza et Luc, Sylvia, attendez-moi
Liza and Luc, Sylvia – wait for me

Nageant dans le brouillard
Swimming in the fog
Enlacés, roulant dans l'herbe
Rolling on the grass
On écoutera Tom à la guitare
You can hear Tom on the guitar
Phil à la kena, jusqu'à la nuit noire
Phil on the Ken flute until night falls
Un autre arrivera
Another is coming
Pour nous dire des nouvelles
To tell us the news
D'un qui reviendra dans un an ou deux
Of someone who’s coming in a year or two
Puisqu'il est heureux, on s'endormira
Since he is happy, we’ll sleep easy
CHORUS
San Francisco se lève
San Francisco is rising
San Francisco se lève
San Francisco is rising
San Francisco ! où êtes vous
San Francisco, where are you?
Liza et Luc, Sylvia, attendez-moi
Liza and Luc, Sylvia – wait for me

C'est une maison bleue.
It’s a blue house
Accrochée à ma mémoire
Hooked onto my memory
On y vient à pied, on ne frappe pas
You go there by foot, you don’t knock
Ceux qui vivent là, ont jeté la clef
Those who live there have thrown
the key away
Peuplée de cheveux longs
Populated with the long hairs
De grands lits et de musique
Big beds and music
Peuplée de lumière, et peuplée de foules
Populated with light and crowds
Elle sera dernière à rester debout
She will be the last one standing
CHORUS
Si San Francisco s'effondre
If San Francisco falls apart
Si San Francisco s'effondre
If San Francisco falls apart
San Francisco ! Où êtes vous
San Francisco – where are you?
Liza et Luc, Sylvia, attendez-moi
Liza and Luc, Sylvia – wait for me

Podcast #3 transcript

Hello

Welcome to my third podcast. Bonjour, Guten Tag, Buenas dias, Bom dia, goeden dag, ni hao Jo napot

This time I’ve decided to call this a “blogcast” because I thought that it might be a nice idea to just talk about a few things, writing it down as if I were just chatting with you.

So, I’ll talk for a few minutes about a few things that I’m interested in regarding my language.

The first thing I’d like to talk about is expressions

English people love using expressions and sayings when they talk with each other. It adds interest to conversations and “colour” to the language. It always surprises me that when I am talking with non-native speakers I notice just how many expressions I want to use – but then have to think about whether the person I am talking with would understand them.

When I was in France in 1997 to learn French, I made a comparison between English and French expressions. It was interesting to discover which were the same (when directly translated) as for example, “walls have ears” and others that were not quite the same:

Never in a month of Sundays (English)
Never in a week of 4 Thursdays (French)

The meaning was the same – it means that something will never happen.

Here’s a good website that explains lots of expressions: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/

I often wonder how people keep motivated when they learn something. Language learning is difficult and it’s easy to get a little bored or feel that things are a bit too difficult. I also think that keeping motivation high is not always easy. Here’s a good expression I found on the Internet:

Be respectful towards yourself:
"Don’t shout at the apple and demand that it ripens!
It won’t ripen any faster and all you’ll get is a sore throat!!!"

This really does apply to language learning I think – even the part about shouting !

Have you ever tried singing in a different language to your own native language. I’ve been learning French songs for a couple of years and it’s very difficult! On the other hand it’s really interesting to have a try and see how pronunciation can improve – it also interesting to be able to see what the songwords mean – depending on the song these can be difficult to understand.

One thing that is difficult for language learners is when native speakers speak fast and it is difficult to follow them. I have had lots of problems with this in the past with French and German people speaking too fast for me – and it sometimes still happens.

I have a technique that seems to work for me and I’d like to share it with you. This involves trying to listen carefully but also to listen mostly for key (or the most important) words so that you can follow the sense of what is being said. Also, don’t be afraid to interrupt (politely) with an interjection something like “ oh yes?, I see” or if you don’t understand so well, then repeat what you think was said.

Here’s an example of what I mean:

Main speaker (native speaker)

“ Ah, so you are learning English, and how do you find it – do you find it interesting, difficult sometimes I suppose. We talk a bit too fast maybe it’s difficult for you to follow everything that is said…”

Here the words to listen to

“ Ah, so you are learning English, and how do you find it? – do you find it interesting, difficult sometimes? I suppose you would. We talk a bit too fast maybe it’s difficult for you to follow everything that is said…”

You could say:

“Ah, yes, I’m learning English” - it is interesting – sometimes I find it difficult yes

The idea is to keep listening to the important points, and if you don’t understand something completely, then always be prepared to say so “oh, sorry, I didn’t just catch what said there – could you just tell me that again please?”


Bye for now

See you next time