He was called “The great communicator”. At the time I wasn’t willing to listen to any of his speeches, because he was at the opposite end of the political spectrum, and I was out in the streets demonstrating against cruise missiles, Star Wars and all that. But I was just reading Vicki Hollett’s very interesting analysis of the current BP crisis yesterday and have been thinking about her idea that Americans are expected to demonstrate “seriosity“, a lack of which is seen as cynical and subversive. Vicki thinks that seriosity doesn’t play the same role in the UK. I don’t know much about the British take on this, but I do have insight into the American side, and I think the magical formula to demonstrating that you are 100% engaged and really care about an issue in the US must be seriosity plus humor. For me, Reagan telling Russian jokes in 1988, the year before the wall came down, epitomizes what Americans cherish in their public figures. Reagan’s timing was brilliant, he knew the exact moment and situation when humor would seal his commitment.

bloggers, other | 13 Comments »

Which of these two is correct? We say

• “Nice to meet you” when we meet someone for the first time, and “Nice meeting you” when we then say goodbye.
• “Nice meeting you” when we meet someone for the first time, and “Nice to meet you” when we then say goodbye.

˙noʎ ʇǝǝɯ oʇ ǝɔıu (s,ʇı) :ǝuoǝɯos ʇǝǝɯ
˙noʎ ƃuıʇǝǝɯ ǝɔıu (sɐʍ ʇı) :ǝʎqpooƃ ʎɐs

The difference is very subtle, and perhaps not everyone will agree with me, but it really sounds wrong to me when someone mixes up the two. I think it’s because we also say “(I’m) pleased to meet you” (which doesn’t work grammatically with the -ing) and “It was nice meeting you” (which seems to refer more to the whole event rather than just the act of meeting).

Socializing is my own main topic this week! I’m very honored to be a guest blogger on Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto’s blog, Teaching Village. She’s the co-author of a children’s English textbook series called Let’s Go, teaches children and adults in Japan, and you can “meet” her here in Darren Elliott’s video interview:

Barbara Hoskins-Sakamoto Interview from darren elliott on Vimeo.

Her blog subtitle says it all: “We’re better when we work together”. The blog has been gaining momentum as more and more people from our PLN (professional learning network) join as guest authors. Her latest venture is a series of quizzes on blogposts written by different members of the network, a great way to zone in on what these people are “all about”.

My contribution is on a socializing game I did recently and will repeat this coming week. It’s a variation on one I learned from Jo Westcombe, who is just full of great teaching ideas.

bloggers, grammar guru, teaching | 2 Comments »

Und diese Woche lernen wir eben kein Englisch The Island Weekly is on strike.  Great links for strikebreakers on Sue’s blog. May the best team win!

PS: Ok, ok, Schland u Schland story in English for my English-speaking friends: Student prank becomes football’s new favorite hymn

lied der woche wir lernen eben kein englisch

songs | 5 Comments »

Born in Mississipi, Chicago bluesman Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett) would have turned 100 today (June 10, 1910 – January 10, 1976). His version of Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” blues poured cocaine, love and murder into one mean, raw line: “But one spoon of little .45 save you from another man.” Ok, cross out ‘love’.

Happy Birthday, big man!

It could be a spoonful of diamonds
Could be a spoonful of gold
Just a little spoon of your precious love
Satisfy my soul

Men lied about a little —
Some of them cried about a little —
Some of them died about a little sp—
Everything fightin’ about a spoonful
That spoon, that spoon, that sp—

It could be a spoonful of coffee
Could be a spoonful of tea
But a little spoon of your precious love
Good enough for me

Men lied about that —
Some of them cried about that —
Some of them died about that —
But everything fightin’ about a spoonful
That spoon, that spoon, that —

It could be a spoonful of water
Saved me from the desert sand
But one spoon of them .45
Save you from another man

Men lied about that —
Some of them cried about that —
Some of them died about that —
Everybody fightin’ about a spoonful
That spoon, that spoon, that —

song of the week englisch lernen mit liedern

songs | 5 Comments »

They’re similar, but different: * meeting  * appointment  * date

• Can you schedule a/an _________________ for the project team?
  ɯɐǝʇ ɐ ɥʇıʍ ƃuıʇǝǝɯ ɐ ǝlnpǝɥɔs
• I want to make a/an ___________________ with Mr Hoss to discuss the CERT project.
  ǝuoǝɯos ɥʇıʍ ʇuǝɯʇuıoddɐ uɐ ǝʞɐɯ
• Can we fix a/an ______________________ for the next meeting?
  ʇuǝʌǝ ʎuɐ ɹoɟ ǝʇɐp ɐ xıɟ
• I think Hossy baby is in love. He’s going out on a hot ____________ tonight.
  ǝʇɐp ɐ uo ʇno oƃ

grammar guru | 5 Comments »

So you see, The Tallest Man on Earth, Kristian Matsson, isn’t tall at all. Swedes. Experts at dealing with bad weather. I love the way he says “daisssies” and “rossses”. Naked emotion:

The Tallest Man on Earth – Graceland (Paul Simon Cover)
b-side single, not on album

As a non-native songwriter, he uses recognizeable chunks of language, and chooses an even more recognizeable accent he can relate to, to create something distinctly his own. Here “blues fall down like hail” instead of rain. Dylan meets Nordic – and: Latin American! – legend in The Wild Hunt and Burden of Tomorrow. Our fake identities come undone in King of Spain and The Gardener.

The Tallest Man on Earth will be in Munich at the 59:1 club on Monday, 9 August. Should be an excellent concert.

Want lyrics etc. ?

Read the rest of this entry »

songs | 1 Comment »

Just reacting to a tweet by Nergiz (about someone else) made me realize that my self-deprecating self-referential language – “grammar guru” and “method blogger” – could be taken at face value. Oops. Needless to say, I am neither a (grammar or any other kind of) guru, nor a method actor. I frankly wouldn’t know what to say to one if we met. Hello, I love you, maybe. I grinned stupidly at Harry Rowohlt, for example, and he frowned back. He’s alright.

It’s well known that Brits use self-deprecation, or making jokes about themselves, but many Americans do, too. When we’re self-conscious, we like to overstate things, make ourselves much bigger than life, so everyone knows it’s just for fun. That takes the edge off of the competition so central to American life and turns it into a game.

Thanks, Nergiz. Maybe that guy is a bighead, but maybe not.

• self-deprecation, self-deprecating = Selbstironie, selbstironisch
• self-referential = ich-bezogen
• self-conscious = befangen, verlegen
• take sth at face value = etwas für bare Münze nehmen
  
• overstate = übertreiben
• grin/ frown = grinsen/ finster dreinblicken
  

other | 5 Comments »