Intermedio 1
We have started to use the smaller U
16 MAY 2011
Reality check What have you learnt over the past eight months? Is your pronunciation any better?
The power of repetition Montse realized the benefits of repeating phrases over and over again It is not standard practice these days but repeating phrases can hel you get used to articulating the very sounds that make up a specific sequence. It also helps you get familiar with the actual sentence. We should remember that in language acquisition (young children acquire a language, adults learn it) repetition is key. Just think about it. How many times do we say things like does she live here? More than once,
right? Active repetition (that is, repeating a sequence) or exposure to repetition (hearing something over and over again) makes it easier for learners to integrate new elements into their own idiolects. Case in point: the sentence it doesn’t really matter (which Txema used to great effect during our dubbing session) is now impossible to forget. As a result, even if we only joke about it (as Silvia did after the world premiere) we repeat the exact same words with the exact same intonation. I am sure we all find the sentence simple enough. However I don’t think ma-
ny of you would have used the word really in that particular phrase. Yet, the very fact of inserting the adverb really is important, because it makes the sentence sound natural. So you see that something as innocent as a classroom joke can become an example of real learning. If you are brave enough to try and do the same thing when you watch a movie I guarantee that results are bound to happen. Hey, that’s how I learnt English! (OK I also spent some summers in Ireland plus I read a million books).
Which one has a different meaning?
Synonyms
a) raise b) rear c) bring up a) very strange b) weird c) peculiar a) skeptic b) cynic c) doubter
d) grow up d) bizarre d) hypocrite
On location
Fidel
Silvia
Txema
Txema and his wife visited Portobello Road just because she is a huge fan of the film Notting Hill. Like Jason Bourne, Fidel goes places but has difficulty remembering certain things. He often takes pictures and it is later (when he’s back home) that he learns about the films that have been shot in those places. Most likely, Silvia would never have traveled to Aït Ben Haddou if it had not been for the movie Gladiator.
The power of screwing up When we make a mistake in the classroom (i.e. we pick the wrong word or choose the wrong option in an exercise) we simply realize that something is not correct. The teacher might point out why it is incorrect and that is just about it. However, when we say the wrong thing “on location”, that is to say, in a real life situation (in a shop in London, at the airport in Frankfurt, in front of a videocamera) chances are we will not forget our mistake especially if our mistake has undesirable consequences. Watching ourselves on video is fun and educational: because we know that our mistakes can’t be corrected. They will forever stay on that DVD. So we will always remember them. You know how I keep telling you that you should all make the most of your mistakes. Well, this is a chance to indulge in a uchronic passtime: what could I have said?
It was later on when I realised that I had been. We decided go there, etc. We know now that the correct sentences are: it was later on THAT I realised that I had been THERE and we decided TO go there. Watching ourselves on video helps us realise mistakes we will NEVER EVER make.
Sean Connery is NOT English!
Watching the clip from The Life of Brian
Assigning to someone the wrong nationality usually shows ignorance and/or disrespect 1. The United Kingdom is made up of several countries So be very careful not to use the term English when you simply refer to an English speaker. Remember: Pierce Brosnan is Irish. Catherine Zeta Jones is Welsh. And Liam Neeson is Northern Irish. 2. Central America exists Even though U.S. citizens tend to forget this fact, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, and Nicaragua belong to Central America. In Spain many speakers refer to any Latino as a “sudamericano”, which is an unforgivable mistake. Would you ever say a Danish person is from the South of Europe? 3. New Zealanders and Belgians Kiwis are tired of being called Australians. Similarly Frenchspeaking Belgians don’t appreciate it when people take for granted they are French because they speak French. 4. China is big but there are many other Asian countries Cambodians and Indonesians are not Chinese. Also remember that the term Oriental is dated and usually offensive. Asian is always safe.
To dub or not to dub? There seems to be a never-ending
debate about the pros and cons of dubbing films. One thing is clear: when we watch a dubbed movie we don’t see the real product but just a (per)version of it: Bruce Willis’s body and Ramón Lama’s voice, accent and intonation. Anyhow, let’s check out some interesting facts. Facts are simple: movies are dubbed in countries with a dicatorship: Germany, Italy and Spain. Of course some people forget that the French also dub their films. And Portugal doesn’t. Another fact: in Germany (where movies are dubbed) students usually speak very good English. Maybe their attitude is different from ours? Having said all that, it must be admitted that for entertainment purposes it can be more enjoyable (at first) to watch a film you can understand completely. For language students, though, watching movies in the original version is simply a MUST.
The genitive can be tricky The Life of Brian but Schindler’s List. Txema felt sort of baffled by the seeming arbitrary nature of the English language when it comes to using the genitive. What can I say? We should go one case at a time.
Interesting vocabulary we saw in class Creepy, spooky, out of wedlock, larger than life, awe-inspiring, over the top (OTT), to toss and turn, knight in shining armor, Mr. Right, to look up to, to look down on, cynic, skeptic, hypocrite, idealist, anchor, to chicken out...
Okay. I admit it I’m a Star Wars fan. But you know what? There is a lot to be learnt from that film! American vs. British We have seen differences between U.S. and U.K. English. Host is American. The word presenter is more British. Fidel asked me about the term route and I explained how the standard American pronunciation is /raʊt/ whereas in Britain it sounds /ru:t/. By now you may be familiar with the Hollywood proclivity to give villains a British accent.
Some sentences that you should be able to say...
Nowhere is this clearer than in Star Wars. Think about it. The rebels (the good guys) all speak with a standard American English (except for C3PO, which is an aristocratic protocol droid). Darth Vader, the emperor and all the rest of the baddies speak with a British accent. The emperor has an overthe-top British accent which is really hard to describe. This is, of course, a (subconscious?) reference to the fact that Americans were once a bunch of rebels that decided to break away from the British empire. This same American vs. British opposition is today a in Hollywood movies in which supervillains typically speak with an obvious British accent, which suggests sophistication and elitism.
Joke vs. Choke The Jewbacca joke works because the pronunciation of joke is very close to the way choke sounds. As we know well, the problem for Spaniards lies elsewhere. Our challenge is about telling apart the words joke and yoke. Have you mastered that yet?
1. Los últimos meses he tenido que cortarme el pelo unas cinco veces. 2. Las gaviotas anidan en los campanarios. 3. Realmente no importa. 4. Este profesor nos tiene al borde de un ataque de nervios. 5. ¿Cómo es tu padre? 6. Llevas la bragueta bajada.