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