I will write ASSIGMENT in CAPITAL LETTERS so you don't miss it!
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Reading/Writing
This week, you have to respond to the "My Idea of What it is to Learn a Language" entry with a 50-75 word comment. You will find the instructions at the end of the entry!
2. Listening
Download DNTO's "When Did You Get Lost In Translation":
Directives:
Listen to the following excerpts from the show (below). Choose one story from the 6 that you will listen to and:
1. Discuss (explain) how the culture and/or the wrong tones, or both have had an effect in the people getting lost in translation (how culture/wrong tones contributed to the misunderstanding).
2. Tell the class about a similar story that happened to you, a friend, or that you have noticed in your life!!!
(There is no word limit, as long as you put your point across clearly. Make sure it is clear to everyone that will read your comment which story you are talking about.)
Also look out for the unfamiliar vocabulary that I highlighted for you from each of the excerpts and remember Teacher Joe and pay attention to English rhythm! The vocabulary is in chronological order, so if you hear the 2nd word without hearing the 1st one, it means that you have missed it...
Remember to use howjsay.com to hear what English actually sounds like and practice or see for yourself the stressed and unstressed pattern of the English Language!
**note: If you downloaded Google translator that comes with the Google taskbar (see Useful Links section of the blog to the right), simply put your mouse over the words to get a translation! In the case of phrasal verbs or compound nouns (verb and nouns that have more than one word), first highlight the group of words that you want to translate and then put the cursor over to get a translation! Otherwise you only get part of the answer! For longer expressions, Google them!
Listen to these passages:
1. Swedish Cornflakes? (0-2 mins.) 2 mins
Helpful voc: rudimentary, show off, taken aback
2. Chinese Tones (2-4 mins) 2 mins
Intro by host Sook-Yin Lee
voc: Lazy Susan, stunned, I have eaten enough, death (tough/fast pronunciation)
3. Virgin Slovak Marie (21:45-24:20 mins) 0:30 mins
voc: mother-in-law, polite Slovak, fiancé, turned out, future mom-to-be, ouch!
4. L’Homme Qui Vit Dans... (21:45-24:20 min) 1 min
voc: try as she may, bless her soul, bring over, Rene Levesques, ambled over, nasty French
5. Ukraine Poop! (21-54-24:20 mins) 1 min
voc: shorten version, I thought (ought sound like “aut” in the French word “auto”, translator
6. Moving back to Pakistan! (24:20-28:00 mins) 3:40 mins
voc: move to Canada, share of loss, melt down, sleep over, rite of passage, you’ve made it, Pakistani immigrant, slang phrase, take English literally, broke down in tears, flush that out with her, language taken literally, thinking back, navigate through cultural references, take for granted.
Total Listening Time:
Only
10 mins 10 secs!!!
3. Speaking/Pronunciation
Check out the video/youTune clips that are in the SPEAK UP! section to the right of the blog. Teacher Joe is somewhat of a corny guy but what he says makes sense! Practice as much as you think you need to in order to be ready for next Monday with Anita! It's all about English Rhythm!
4. Azar
I will notify eveyone by email and on the blog when I will have set up a student profile for you in Azar and I will give you more details then. You will probably have to do the whole first section. It's all review stuff that should be easy and help you get back into it!
Discussion about ''Chinese tones''
ReplyDeleteIn Chinese, a word can have different meanings according to the way that you use the tone.
In this story, a woman was invited in a famous chinese restaurant by her gran-aunt but her Chinese is very bad. In this restaurant, she met the biggest Lady Susan who told her with a smile if she would like more food.
Unfortunately, she made a mistake of tone and instead of saying ''I have eaten enough'', she said ''I am dead'' that means the meal killed her. The woman was stunned.
With her mistake, she understood that Chinese people are very superstitious and his mistake would be considered as bad luck.
So, when you don't know a culture and you speak with wrong tones, you can hurt your speaker involuntary and the situation can be embarrassing.
My lost translation story
ReplyDeleteWhen I were in Spain for an immersion trip, I lived with a nice family. Every morning, the mother was used to make my breakfast before going to work. One Sunday, the breakfast wasn't on the table and not being at my home, I didn't dare to serve myself. So, I decided to have breakfast in a coffee shop. Unfortunately, the responsible for my trip was in this coffee shop too and she was surprised to see me here. I explained her the situation but because of my rough Spanish,she crew my welcome family didn't care of me. Consequently, she called them in order to demand an explanation. I were very embarrassed because I learned the Sunday was their day's rest and as they had confidence in me, they didn't make up thinking I would make the breakfast myself.
Ukraine Poop!:
ReplyDeleteThe woman in this story only heard how to say good bye in a short way, so after she didn’t say the right word. It’s was probably very embarrassing for her because she said poop, not good bye.