Susan Boyle Sings on Britain’s Got Talent
Britain’s got Talent! As for the opening act of the season, we were told as children: Don’t judge a book by its cover. The old “freakshow” is alive and well, and it’s still got morals for the masses. The embedded video doesn’t run, so see it here. What I’m doing with this A group of […]
Peace! and laughter
Easter is traditionally associated with peace. Here’s a wonderful old news reel. It’s September 1943, in the middle of WWII, and Mrs. Eleanore Roosevelt, the First Lady, is standing on a stage, in uniform, telling a humanitarian joke. http://www.archive.org/details/1943-09-30_Mrs_FDR_Tells_One “Just as the Marines were in order to leave Guadalcanal, an officer found a private (Gefreiter), […]
Two Englishmen are standing on a corner…
… when a woman drives up. She asks, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?” “No, sorry, I don’t.” “¿Habla español?” “I’m afraid not, sorry.” “Parlez-vous français?” “Unfortunately, no, not a word.” Frustrated, she drives off. So one guy says to the other, “Hey, maybe we should learn a foreign language.” “What a waste of time,” says the other. […]
iphone
It’s a little embarassing to have and use an iphone if you’re not big on gadgets. But I’ve got one and use it all the time now… for everything … From Ian, thanks:
Learning English with The Wrestler
I really like “The Daily English Show”, presented by Sarah, a New Zealander based in Niseko, Japan. It has its own blog (Englishlernen online: Daily English Show). The latest edition features “The Wrestler”, or rather that nice scene where he breaks down her defenses and they have a beer together. The focus of the lesson […]
Doitcha shpraka
I hate translating complicated inversions from German into English. German academics love them, probably because it proves that they can juggle an idea in the air for minutes on end. Ok, guys, yes, you are geniuses. Can we go home now? You see, then a poor translator gets it, and those academics need the translators […]
Jill Tarter: A young science in an old universe
Writing something on astronomy for Spotlight (dort Englischlernen). Ever since, as a child, I sat gazing at the August night sky on Drummond Island with those “10 to the 22” (=10 hoch 22) stars above me, I’ve always loved them. Isn’t it marvellous to think that what you see up there is history, fossilized astronomy, […]
