This is a video with a woman who imitates 21 different English accents, including British, Irish, Scottish, Australian, and American accents, as well as several European ESL accents. I think her performance is quite impressive. Notice how she changes her facial expression for each accent. Like any good actor, she knows that the sound that comes out of your mouth depends on the role, the character, that you play.
If you didn’t know these two words–kitty-corner and copycat–you may think they have something to do with cats, but they don’t.
A kitty is what we call a small or baby cat. However, kitty-corner means that something is located diagonally across from something else, usually across an intersection where two streets meet.
In this picture, the chicken is kitty-corner from the restaurant. The bench (long seat) is kitty-corner from the two trees. There are no cats–or kitties–anywhere.
Copycat (or copy cater) is a word used by children to refer to someone who copies someone else’s ideas or behavior, such as the way they dress or the way they speak. Adults sometimes use it jokingly to mean the same thing.
For example, if I cut my hair short and bleached it (made it a lighter color), and the following week, Jeff cut his hair and bleached it, I may say, “Jeff, you are a copycat.” Of course, those of you who have been listening to the podcast for a long time know that that would be impossible!
As many of you know, California has many immigrants who speak English as a second language. The State of California has developed a special website to help adults learn English online. It is full of short, interesting news stories with additional materials to help you improve your English. These stories are good for both intermediate and advanced students. The site is called the California Distance Learning Project (CDLP).
How to use this site: Warren Ediger, one of the best ESL classroom teachers and online tutors I know, has detailed suggestions on how you can use this site to help improve your English. Warren gives you specific steps on how to make the best use of the articles and stories you will find on the CDLP website.
Many of you know that Voice of America has a “Special English” program that helps you improve your English by using a more limited vocabulary and slowing down the rate of speech (how fast someone talks). It is similar to ESL Podcast, except that there are no explanations or “fast” versions at the end.
Voice of America Special English now has a 30 minute television show which gives you four to five news stories each week in video format. The nice thing about these videos is that they are captioned, meaning you can see the words in English on the screen. VOA makes it easy for you to get these automatically by making them part of a weekly podcast.
If you have iTunes and want to subscribe to the podcast, do this:
(a) Open your iTunes and go the the Advanced menu on the top
(b) Click on the ‘Subscribe to Podcast’ menu item
(c) Copy and paste this web address into the box:
http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/customcf/videocastxml.cfm?id=1316
(d) Click Okay.
The latest podcast will begin to download in iTunes. When it’s finished downloading, just click on the episode and enjoy!
Last week, I wrote a post about something called the Din in the Head, what is sometimes called “involuntary mental rehearsal.” (If you haven’t read the first post, go back and read it now.) I asked at the end of Part 1 what the meaning of the Din was. What does the Din say about language acquisition?
One researcher thinks that hearing a Din is a sign that your brain is actually picking up new vocabulary, sounds, and grammatical structures. The “noise” of the Din is a product (result) of your Language Acquisition Device (LAD) - that part of your brain that is dedicated to (has the special purpose for) language acquisition.
Who gets the Din? Usually, it is those who are not yet very advanced speakers of the language, or those who are reading or listening to a type of language they are not familiar with (they don’t know very well). Notice that I said read or listen to this language. We acquire languages by reading and listening, especially reading and listening to things we are able to understand. The Din may be your brain’s way of telling you that you are picking up new language, that your LAD is working.
Don’t be discouraged (down, depressed) if you don’t now hear a Din after listening to or reading English. Many of you are already very advanced speakers, and the English you read and listen to now may not contain anything “new” for you to acquire (to get, to pick up). Remember the Din also seems to work for music as well as language, so just listening to a new song a couple of times will soon give you the Din experience. Just be sure to pick a song you like!
Several years ago I published some scientific articles on a topic called involuntary mental rehearsal. To rehearse means to practice or go over something so that you get better at it. Involuntary is the opposite of voluntary, and means that you don’t intend or try to do something - it just happens. Mental refers to thinking. So you put these all together and you get “thinking about something over and over again without actually wanting or trying to.” An example of involuntary mental rehearsal would be when you hear and song and you keep singing or humming (making noise without opening your mouth) it, even if you don’t like it! (This is sometimes referred to as the Song Stuck in My Head experience, as researcher Tim Murphey has called it.)
Involuntary mental rehearsal also happens with language acquirers (people picking up a new language). One of the leading (best, most important) linguists in the world, Dr. Stephen Krashen, called this the “Din in the Head.” A din is noise, usually a noise that you cannot understand. Krashen noticed that he sometimes experienced a “din” or involuntary mental rehearsal in languages that he was studying. Here’s a description of this experience. See if you have ever had this happen to you in English:
“You have the Din if you sometimes ‘hear’ a clearly noticeable jumble (mix) of English words, sounds, phrases, or even melody patterns in you head. These words and phrases are usually things you have been hearing or reading recently (in class or on English audio programs or television). Often you ‘hear’ the words and phrases in the voice qualities of your teacher or of the people who made English audio, or maybe even in your own voice. These random pieces of English just come into or appear in your head at nearly any time or place, and it’s all usually involuntary. At times it may be active enough to be described as a ‘constant rehearsal in the head.’”
I used to get the Din in my head when I was a beginning and intermediate student of Spanish, and I still do after I read magazine or watch a TV show in Spanish. The same thing happens to me when I hear other languages I’ve tried to acquire (such as Italian and French).
It is also possible to experience a din in your own languge, if you read or listen to a style or type of language that you are not familiar with, such as poetry or an older form of your language. The din usually doesn’t last long, and will go away after a few days unless you continue to read or listen to that form of the language.
Do you ever get a Din in the Head after listening to ESL Podcast? The Din usually takes place when you are not thinking about English or concentrating on something else (for example, when you are washing the dishes or driving and not listening to music).
The more important question is: What does the Din really mean in terms of language acquisition? To find out that, come back next week for Part 2 of this post.
The importance of protecting and not harming the environment is an issue that more and more Americans are paying attention to, especially after Vice President Al Gore’s influential documentary (movie based on true events) An Inconvenient Truth.
American companies are trying to appeal (make more attractive) to consumers (people who buy products) by claiming that their products are “earth-friendly” or “eco-safe,” when it is not clear whether they are or not. (Eco is short for ecology, which is the study of how people and other living things interact with their environment.) This is called “greenwashing,” since the color green is associated with nature and the environment. This new word comes from the old term “whitewashing,” which means to cover up or hide a mistake, problem, or flaw (imperfection; weakness). Greenwashing, then, means that a company is trying to hide the real way it does business by saying or claiming that the way their products are made does not harm the environment.
The U.S. government regulates (controls; supervises) how some words are used in advertising. For example, companies must meet minimum (lowest acceptable) requirements before they can call their products “organic” (grown or developed naturally, without chemicals) or “recycled” (turning waste or garbage into new products). However, right now, there are no regulations about who can use terms like “eco-friendly” and “environmentally-safe.” So, buyers looking for “green” products have to beware (be careful). We have to ask ourselves: “Is this a product that will not harm the environment or is the company simply “greenwashing?”
You are a guest at dinner with friends or colleagues (people you work with), and you are offered more food. You’re full (not hungry). How do you refuse (say ‘no’) politely?
This is a question we received recently and I thought I’d answer it here. If your host (the person who organized the event) cooked the meal, it is considered polite to compliment or say something nice about the food before refusing more. There are many ways to give a compliment about food. Here are a few:
- That was delicious.
- That’s the best meal I’ve had in a long time.
- Your cooking is such a treat (something that gives people a lot of pleasure, but that isn’t experienced often).
- You’ve outdone yourself.
(This means, “You have cooked a meal that is even better than the delicious meals you normally make.” To outdo (oneself) means to do or perform better than you have ever done before. You can use this compliment for other situations.)
To refuse more food, you can use one of these phrases:
- No, thank you. I couldn’t eat another bite.
- Thank you, but no more for me.
- That was very good, but I’m full.
- I’m stuffed (very full) and I can’t eat anymore.
- No, thank you. I don’t have room (space) for more.
We’ve had a few questions about how to say “thank you” and I thought I’d post a message here. I’ve split up (divided) the ways to say “thank you” and the appropriate (suitable; acceptable) responses under two categories: “more formal” and “less formal.” However, the situation and your inflection (change in your voice) will help determine how formal it is.
~ Lucy
More Formal:
Thank you very much/Thanks very much
Thank you so much
Many thanks
Thank you
Responses (More Formal):
You’re welcome
It’s my pleasure
It was the least I could do
That’s really not necessary
. . .
Less Formal:
Thanks
Thanks a lot
Much appreciated
Thanks a million
Responses (Less Formal):
No problem
No sweat
Don’t mention it
Forget it
Anytime
It’s nothing
“I’ll be visiting you this next Friday.” Will that be the Friday of this week, or the Friday of next week?
We’ve had several questions along these lines (on a similar topic), so here is an example that I hope will make things a little clearer.
If today is Monday, January 1, and someone says to you:
Meet me Friday = January 5
Meet me this Friday = January 5
Meet me this coming Friday = January 5
Meet me next Friday = January 12
Meet me this next Friday = Probably January 5, but this is ambiguous (not clear; vague). You can respond by asking, “Do you mean this week or next week?”
Meet me the Friday after next = January 12 (see * below)
Meet me a week from Friday = January 12
Meet me two weeks from Friday = January 19
I hope this makes things a little clearer.
~ Lucy
….
* The Friday after next refers to January 12, not January 19. The problem is this: “Next” is ambiguous. It can mean 1) coming or approaching, or 2) the one after the coming one. Which meaning it is depends on the context or situation. In this phrase, it means coming or approaching. That is why it refers to January 12 and not January 19. This is how most people would understand it.
However, there is a small possibility that there could be confusion, so if you want to be certain, you can ask, “What’s the date?”
Many of you know that 
You are a guest at dinner with friends or colleagues (people you work with), and you are offered more food. You’re full (not hungry). How do you refuse (say ‘no’) politely?
