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