Italian Cork Soakers

Let's continue with our series dedicated to accents of English and start recognizing accents influenced by foreign languages. For this purpose we shall use a skit from the American television show Saturday Night Live.

Saturday Night Live is one of the longest running television shows ever to be aired. This New York-based sketch comedy show has run since the fall of 1975. Many famous actors and actresses have starred in it: Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, Paul Shaffer, Eddie Murphy, Joe Piscopo, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Martin Short, Joan Cusack, Robert Downey Jr., Dennis Miller...

In its first season, Saturday Night Live began a running gag based on the treatment of Franco's terminal illness and imminent demise by the Spanish media, announcing periodically on its news segments “Generalissimo Franco is still dead!”

In the following sketch, an Italian family of cork soakers explain in detail the art of cork soaking. Enjoy!

NB: Maybe you would like to become cork soakers yourselves!

Regional Accents of English Speakers - Part II

Now that you're familiar with the huge variation of accents in the British Isles it's time to move a step further and deal with accents of English in other countries where it is spoken as an official language.

The better news is that most non-British accents are generally easier to understand than some accents in the British Isles. Learning about these accents will also help you improve your listening comprehension, and to respect and appreciate the cultural diversity in the English-speaking world.

Enjoy now this tour of accents of world English (USA, Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand...).

NB: The tour starts with Irish English and finishes with Scottish English.

Don't forget to check the links in the previous posting.
Have fun with lifelong learning!!!

Regional Accents of English Speakers

Unfortunately this course is nearing its end. Many of you are close to getting your well-deserved EOI Certificate in English.

Now I'd like you to remember what we've said so many times: learning a language is a lifelong task. Just an example: sooner or later you'll come across regional accents of English that deviate a lot from the standard British English model you're most familiar with. Don't be disappointed if sometimes you can't understand a word of what someone's saying, especially in the UK: the British Isles show a huge variation in regional accents.

The good news is that most accents can be understood with some practice. The best is yet to come! Learning to distinguish accents is not only very useful, but also fun, and helps you to respect and appreciate the diversity within a culture.

Just to get used to what may lie ahead of you, listen to this tour of accents of the British Isles (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland). The background imagery will help you to identify and associate places with typical accents.

NB: Buckle up! The tour starts with a rendition of some Scottish accents...

If you're interested in learning more about accents, and in listening to real samples, you can check the following links:

Wikipedia: Regional accents of English speakers
The speech accent archive (contains also foreign accents of English, and recordings of other languages)
BBC: The Voices recordings
British Library: Sounds familiar? Accents and Dialects of the UK
Authentic American Pronunciation
ESL Pronunciation Work Page: American Accents

Have fun with lifelong learning!!!

Sing Along with Frankie Boy!

Relieve your exam stress by singing along with Frank Sinatra in one of his greatest hits: 'New York, New York'.

Frank Sinatra is one of the highest selling musicians of all-time and an absolute icon of the 20th Century. His influence in modern music has been monumental: "Frank Sinatra's voice is pop music history. [...] Like Presley and Dylan—the only other white male American singers since 1940 whose popularity, influence, and mythic force have been comparable—Sinatra will last indefinitely. He virtually invented modern pop song phrasing."

NB: If you wish to change the pitch of the recording to suit your vocal range, you can use music software programmes like SoundMania or Amazing Slowdowner. Don't try to sing too high or too long, or you might damage your vocal cords!

Most Underreported Story of 2006?

While we strive to improve our English, life - and death - goes on in this crazy world.

Everyday we are confronted with mounting evidence that war is seldom a solution to any international conflict. Indeed one of the most tragic consequences of the unfinished Iraq war is its enormous toll on the civil population. Critical voices claim that whereas the US media meticulously report American casualties, Iraqi losses are largely ignored and the Lancet study of the number of Iraqi deaths has been the most underreported story of the year 2006 in the United States. Moreover, estimates of Iraqi civilian deaths from 2003 to October 2006 vary between 30,000 (US government) and 655,000 (Lancet study). How and why is this possible?

Watch this controversial video and form your own opinion:

Basic Wardrobe Planning

Due to popular demand we start a new series of postings dedicated to basic wardrobe planning. Please excuse my almost total ignorance of the subject; with your leave, I shall try to do my best.

Did you know that "women wear only 10 percent of the items in their closets 90 percent of the time"? How is that possible: a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear? Is there any woman out there who never said "I don't have a thing to wear!"?

What you gals need is BASIC WARDROBE PLANNING. Let's get some orientation from Mississippi State University in the following article.

NB: Sorry guys in the corner. Let's see it this way, this may help us understand better the feminine psyche.

Do Women Check Out Other Women?

Do women check out other women? Melissa Lafsky, a popular American blogger, thinks that women compete for men and therefore can't help checking out their peers all the time, and sees it as one of the 'universal rules of femaledom'. I found her article not very scientific but highly descriptive. See what you think.

Are women highly competitive by nature, is this behaviour ingrained in female genes, or is it a partly natural instinct that society has made worse?

NB: What does T&A stand for? (in 'their own [men's] ingrained T&A-gazing stupor')

Virginia Tech: The Aftermath of the Massacre

You've heard the news of the massacre in Virginia. Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old student of Korean descent killed 32 people and then took his own life in the bloodiest shooting spree in modern U.S. history.

Sometimes we learn of heroism in the face of such madness. A seventy-five year old Holocaust survivor, Professor Liviu Librescu, for instance, sacrificed his life by barring the door of his classroom while at the same time exhorting his students to jump through the windows to safety below.

After the shock and the grief, there are many questions that won't go away. The following articles deal with some of the most worrying aspects of this tragedy.

What motivates such shootings? [Video] Michael Welner, M.D., a Forensic Psychiatrist for New York University discusses the psychology of a mass shooter, and what may have prompted a person to go on a rampage.

The kid who never spoke Cho's high school classmates recall 'kid who never spoke'

Internet key in probe of Va. Tech gunman Computer forensics are playing a key role in the probe of the Virginia Tech gunman, with investigators revealing he bought ammunition clips on eBay designed for one of two handguns used to kill 32 people and himself.

The Silence of Politicians There are myriad questions from the evolving tragedy at Virginia Tech. One is how such a gravely disturbed student as this killer could raise heightened concern among the authorities over a year ago, yet manage to proceed unhindered to take 32 lives. But no less pertinent is the question of how, after detailed tracking of the guns purchased for the ghastly spree, the lethal empowerment of such a troubled individual can somehow be pronounced entirely legal under the laws of a civilized nation.

ENGLISH CONVERSATION CLASSES AT THE EOI!

The long awaited conversation classes are finally here!

It is my pleasure to announce the start of the English conversation classes at the EOI CS, organized by the AEA.

WHERE AND WHEN:
- Every Wednesday from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the “Sala de Juntes” (Meeting Room) starting April 18th.

REQUIREMENTS:
- The classes are free but the participating students are required to be members of the AEA.

TEACHER:
- Robert W. Egan from Los Angeles, California.

A Viral Ad: Volkswagen Polo - Small but tough

Viral ads have become extremely popular in the past few years. This VW-Polo advertisement is a very good example.

I'll leave you with two questions though:
- what is a viral ad?
- is this a genuine Volkswagen advertisement?