Tag Archives: Listening Practice

National Public Radio: Hecho para vos

2 Oct

National Public Radio online.

Here’s a rock’n site full of goodies.

That’s Not What I Meant!

15 Sep

“That’s Not What I Meant!” she insists at 6:41. Ah, don’t we all know the feeling, stumbling around in the foreign languages we speak. Well, at least we’re not on the air!

This video gets pretty boring at moments, but check it out for a few truly hilarious moments.

As you know, I’m always saying, “It’s not how well we speak a foreign language; it’s how well we recover when we screw up.” Well, it’s great to see how these journalists — live, in front of thousands –  handle diverse LQSs (Language Quilombo Situations).

What do you like better, the more slapstick moments (@ 0:16!), or the slip-of-the-tongue blunders?

You Don’t Have To Imagine the Words

20 Jul

My newest student, Marisa Repetti, mentioned that one of her favorite songs is John Lennon‘s “Imagine,” presented here with “lyrics-on-top” to help you strengthen your English-hearing.

Personally, I love “Imagine.” It’s of my all-time favorites.  And no, not just because it’s so cursi. To me, it speaks to my own humanist perspective, which Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. articulates better than I ever could:

We Humanists behave as well as we can, without any expectation of rewards of punishments in an Afterlife. We serve as best we can the only abstraction with which we have any real familiarity, which is our community.*

And how.

–

* From “At Clowes Hall, Indianapolis, April 27, 2007,” published in Armageddon in Retrospect.

Inventory of Emily

5 Jul

Check this out! Inventory of Emily is short, captivating, wonderful — and I’m not just saying that because my niece, Emily, is the star. This is fantastic poetry — verbally, visually, conceptually. Diez puntos!

My favorite lines from the poem by Mary-Catherine Jones:

“Nobody wants to die.

That’s why there’s FoodMart, Marlboro Reds.

This is my sex,

That is a bird.”

What’s your favorite word, words or phrase?

What the Politician Said

28 Jun

If you think yanquis can understand every word of this, think again. But see if a few words pop out — protect, ethanol, windmills. Mostly, don’t try to understand. Just pay attention to the American sound, and listen to the tone of how these politicians speak in Iowa’s Unlikely Privilege by Jim Lo Scalzo.

What is it that makes them all sound American?