THE WORLD OF ENGLISH

Well I have talked before the most important, for us Non-Native English Speakers is communicating, that's because there are a great diversity of accents, but there is a Standard to follow up. How different people, from different countries, accents and dialects communicating themselves, understand and being understood? Check it out and telling about your experience, have you been lived abroad in an English Speaking Country? Telling for us your experience abroad.




SOURCE: SPEAK UP
Speaker: Ben White
Standard: British Accent

THE WORLD OF ENGLISH

20 Years Later

You may be well under 20, or maybe you have a grandchild older than that. But whatever your age, you’re sure to agree that 20 years is a considerable amount of time. This year your favorite magazine is turning 20 –that’s something, for sure! To celebrate this Historic event, Speak Up offers some excerpts that show how the magazine looked (and sounded) way back when. For starters, he’s part of an article that was published in our inaugural issue. It was the first installment of a series called “The World of English” –and you’ll notice that our musical style was a lot different two decade ago…

(Original speaker introduces the pilot audio cassette) No Transcript audio

The World of English – part I One of an introduction and survey of the English Language and its native speakers, in which you will hear example of practical English in action as the international language of the modern world, plus the history and development of the language, from Old English to Modern English, with examples of its evolution drawn from its greatest literature through the ages, performed by leading professional actors of the English speaking theatre, television and films. No here is Richard Gale to introduce you to the World of English:

English contains many variations of accent and even dialect, but unlike Italian or German, the dialects are rarely different enough to make comprehension impossible. True, a London Cockney would have a very difficult time in a conversation with a steel worker in Glasgow, and a Carolina cotton picker might find difficult to understand and be understood by a sheep farmer from Australia, but a businessman from, say, Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. would have few problems dealing with a businessman form Dublin, Ireland or Sydney, Australia, Auckland, New Zealand, Liverpool in England, Johannesburg, South Africa or Kingston, Jamaica. A reasonably educated Standard English allows comprehension and communication all over the English-Speaking world. Can you guess where these native English speakers come from?

Voice number one

…”and often breakfast cereals like porridge and cornflakes” was an English-speaking South African.

Voice number two

…”often even the boss is Mike or John and not Mr. So-and-so” was from the Republic of Ireland.

Voice number thee

…”I grew up only speaking English” was a West Indian from Dominica.

Voice number four

…”at least it’s certainly true where I come from” was an American from the East Coast of the United States.

Voice number five

…”these are foreign concepts, so we have to use the foreign words” was from Australia.

But the geographical spread of the English-Speaking world cannot entirely account for English beings the “lingua franca” of the modern world. The industrial and technological achievements, mainly of Britain and the United States, has made English the international language of many different fields, like:

International air traffic control:

Lufthansa pilot: Bahrain Tower…this is Lufthansa 146 cleared to descend to 1,500 feet.

Bahrain tower: This is Bahrain Tower. Roger

Lufthansa pilot: Turning into final approach, runway three zero.

Bahrain tower: Wind three two zero degrees. One five knots. You are cleared to land – runway three zero.

Sea navigation (Morse code between ships)

The complex jargon of computers and space technology:

Armstrong: Houston, this is Tranquillity. We’re standing by for a go for cabin depress, over.

Mission Control: Tranquillity Base, this is Houston. You are go for cabin depressurization.

Armstrong: O.K., the hatch is coming open…

O.L. Houston, I’m on the porch.

Mission Control: Roger, Neil. O.K. Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now.

Armstrong: I’m at the foot of the ladder. I’m going to stepoff the L.M. now…that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. 


Like this article? Please help to promote an Educative blog, thanks for spreading love worldwide.

YOU ARE MY LOVE

                           



Happy Valentine's day, telling for your wife/fiancee/Girlfriend you love her, I already talked to my fiancee I love her




You are my love
You are the one that I adore
You are my love 
you are the one I've waited for 
you are my love 
you are the one that I adore 

Ohhhh you are my love 
Ohhhh you are my love 

You are my day 
you changed my winter into spring 
you came my way 
And then my heart began to sing 


Ohhhh you are my love 
Ohhhh you are my love 

Times were getting lonely 
I was thinking only yesterday 
of all the friends I thought I had 
But no one came to call on 
never were around to close the door on 
never thought things would get that way 

you are my love 
you are the one I'll always need 
you are my love 
for you I'll get down on my knees 

Ohhhh you are my love 
Ohhhh you are my love 

Happy Valentine's day

                                 Me and my fiancée Gerlane

Who’s the owner of your hear?

Well let me talking about the owner of my hear, she’s 38 years old, brunette and live in the capital. Her name’s Gerlane. It’s turning 3 years we celebrate this year, since the first time we called. That’s right, I met her through a cell phone’s chat and I decided to call her. It was love at first calling, since then I fell in love with her.

I’m just sharing with you because tomorrow we celebrate the Valentine’s day, quite different from your country, isn’t it? Tomorrow is the Wedding’s saint…Santo Antonia from Lisbon, Portugal. Anyways I desire all sweethearts a wonderful Valentine’s day in particular my girlfriend….I love her so much. You don’t realise how much I need her, I love and I cannot live without her. Well that’s it for today and do not forget to say I love you, for your girlfriend or wife, telling how much she is important in your life. Well I’m far from 219 kilometres but I enjoy the opportunity to say….Gerlane I love you so much. Well now as I posted last week check it out the Maganews honor for Valentine's day check it out the entry please...

Source: http://www.maganews.com.br/

Love
The origin of Valentine's Day

Brazil celebrates the date in June, but in other countries the date is celebrated in February. Learn why

     Brazil celebrates Dia dos Namorados on 12th June, but in Europe andNorth America this date is celebrated on 14th February. The probable origin of Dia dos Namorados is Ancient Rome. In the 3rd Century Emperor Claudius II believed that single soldiers were more efficient than the married ones, and so he decided to prohibit weddings during a time set aside for wars. But there was a priest called Valentim who had the courage to celebrate various weddings. One day the emperor discovered this fact and had Valentim killed. The priest died on 14th February and became a saint. In the 17th Century the French and English decided to celebrate, on the same day (14th February) Saint Valentine’s Day and Dia dos Namorados. In the following century the USA adopted “Valentine’s Day”.

Traders profit from the date

  In Brazil the origin of this date is less noble and romantic. In 1949 the advertising executive João Dória returned to Brazil after spending time in Europe. He returned with the idea of introducing Dia dos Namorados to the country. But instead of the date being celebrated in February, the month chosen was June. The reason: the traders always complained about not selling much in June and Dia dos Namorados would make a great excuse to improve sales. The 12th was chosen because it is the eve of Saint Anthony’s day, the “wedding saint.”

Vocabulary

1 Ancient Rome – Roma Antiga

2 emperor – imperador

3 single soldier – soldado solteiro

4 set aside for – destinado às

5 to have something done - mandar fazer algo

6 trader – comerciante

7 to profit – lucrar

8 advertising executive – publicitário

9 to complain – reclamar

10 to sell – vender

11 excuse – no texto = estímulo

12 eve – véspera

13 wedding saint – santo casamenteiro

Matéria publicada na edição de número 25 da Revista Maganews

Foto (casal André Dias e Daise Rodrigues): André Dias

Nuclear Power, No Thanks!

BRITAIN





Speaker: Justin Ratcliffe
Standard: British accent
Language level: Advanced
Source: www.speakup.com.br 

Nuclear Power,

Today there is considerable concern about global warming, not to mention the world’s dependence on Middle Eastern oil. For these reasons nuclear power, which was seen as the great evil a generation ago, is being re-evaluated. In July the British government announced its intention to build more nuclear power stations. In order to get an idea of public opinion, Speak Up took to the streets of Cambridge and asked people the question: “Does Britain Need More Nuclear Power? “ The first person to speak, Andy Holcombe, is a marketing director:

Andy Holcombe

(Standard British accent):

I think that’s a difficult question to answer. I do feel frustrated that the government doesn’t pay anything like the level of investment in non-nuclear, sustainable energy sources that it does in nuclear. I’d far rather see investment in wind, tidal barrage, methane, biomass-type energy than I would in sustaining something that’s just increasing the risk. If we do have to invest in nuclear, then I’d like to see more investment in things lie fusion, which is an inherently safe form of nuclear energy.

Stephen Murphy is a musician:

(Standard Northern Irish accent):

No, because it’s dirty and it’s dangerous. It’s difficult to dispose of the waste. And it involves no investment in other renewable energy sources like wind and it doesn’t encourage people to look after their own energy requirements and get insulation and things like in their houses.

Nicola Buckley is a festival organizer. She is a supporter of renewable technology. So what are her misgivings about nuclear power?

Nicola Buckley

(Standard British accent)

Maybe a threat from terrorism, attacks on nuclear power stations. And just the long time for the waste to, you know…it’s still dangerous and has to be disposed of.

Last but not least, Carol Roberts is a reception manager:

Carol Roberts

(Standard British accent):

No, I’m sure there must be some other way of…helping us to get more power than nuclear. I don’t agree with nuclear power. We’ve got a sea out there. We’ve got the windmills. America’s doing, what is it, in the desert? We must…I mean, all the sunshine we’re getting now. There must be another way that nuclear power. Look at…Chernobyl: you don’t know if that can happen. It’s like one of those things, it’s something waiting to happen. And I’d rather not go down that road, I’d rather go, you know, more natural. With all the technology we’ve got, surely we can do better than nuclear.

The Shape of Things to Come? (No audio)

The tiny village of Dunwich lies on the exposed east coast of England. From the cliff to p here you see all of nature’s natural power before you: the restless ocean, waves, tide and wind. Five miles (8km) to the south, rising large as a full moon over tranquil Minsmere Bird Reserve, is the white dome of Sizewell B nuclear power station. Sizewell B was completed in 1995 and it now produce three per cent of Britain’s total electricity needs; enough to supply 1.5 million households.

Good or Bad?

Nuclear has been making headlines ever since the first headlines ever since the first power stations opened in the 1950s. It has been celebrated as the solution to the world’s energy needs, condemned as a health risk labeled a “toxic time bomb.” Last year, for example, marked the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. 

No time to Lose

In Britain, as elsewhere, alternatives to fossil fuels are badly needed. By 2016, a quarter of Britain’s electricity generating capacity will need to be replaced. Tony Blair is an enthusiastic supporter of nuclear power, but its attractiveness as an alternative source of energy is undermined by the huge coast of building, supplying and maintaining nuclear power stations, not to mention extracting rare uranium and disposing of toxic waste.   

Nuclear Power, what do you think about it?

Instead of invest in Green Energy (renewable energy) world leaders invest in Nuclear Power, and one of the risk of a disaster similar to Japan's Tsunamis and other ones. That's because one of the raw material is Uranium mineral. Where I live there a lot and the incidence of Cancer has been increase, because the water table is poisoned by Uranium. And you, what do you think about the usage of Nuclear Power? It will be the next entry, please commented here and express your sincere viewpoint. 

Louis Khan, 1901-1974: He Helped Define Modern Architecture

Source: Voice of America Special English
www.manythings.org/voa/people 

I'm Steve Ember.  And I'm Barbara Klein with the VOA Special English program, PEOPLE IN AMERICA.

Today, we tell about Louis Kahn. He is considered one of the most important American building designers of the twentieth century.

Louis Kahn helped define modern architecture. Architecture is the art and science of designing and building structures such as houses, museums, and office buildings.  Kahn's architecture has several defining qualities.

For example, Kahn was very interested in the look and feel of the materials he used. He used brick and concrete in new and special ways.  Kahn also paid careful attention to the use of sunlight. He liked natural light to enter his buildings through interesting kinds of windows and openings. Kahn's work can also be identified by his creative use of geometric shapes. Many of his buildings use squares, circles and three sided shapes called triangles.

Louis Kahn was born in Estonia in nineteen-oh-one. When he was five years old his family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Even as a child, Louis Kahn showed excellence as an artist. When he was in school his pictures won several competitions organized by the city.  In high school, Kahn studied architecture briefly. He later went to the University of Pennsylvania and studied architecture full time. He graduated in nineteen twenty-four.

Louis Kahn's buildings have many influences. Some experts say his trip to Rome, Italy in nineteen fifty-one influenced him the most.  Kahn spent a few months as an architect with the American Academy in Rome. He also traveled through other parts of Italy, Greece and Egypt. There, he saw the ancient Greek and Roman ruins that also would influence his works. He was very affected by the size and design of these ruins. They helped influence him to develop an architecture that combines both modern and ancient designs.

Other experts believe Kahn was also influenced by the part of Philadelphia where he grew up.  There were many factory buildings with large windows.  These brick structures were very solid.  This industrial design is apparent in several of Kahn's early works.

Kahn's first projects involved building housing in Philadelphia. He later received government jobs to design housing during World War Two. In nineteen forty-two, he became a head architect of the Public Building Administration.  Kahn's first important project was the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut in the early nineteen fifties. The outside of the building is very simple.  The surface is made of brick and limestone.

The inside of the gallery shows Kahn's great artistic sense. For example, he created a triangle-shaped walkway of steps that sits inside a rounded concrete shell.  This building was very popular. Its completion represented an important step in Kahn's professional life. He was now a famous architect.

(MUSIC)

One of Kahn's other important buildings is the Salk Institute, a research center in La Jolla, California. It was built in the nineteen sixties. This structure further shows how Kahn was able to unite form and function. This means his buildings were beautiful and also useful.

The Salk Institute has two structures that surround a marble garden area or courtyard. This outdoor marble area is almost completely bare. The only detail is a small stream of water running through the middle of the square towards the Pacific Ocean. This simple design is very striking. Inside the building are many rooms for laboratories. Kahn was very careful to make sure they all received natural light and a view of the ocean.  He linked the indoor and outdoor spaces in a very beautiful way.

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is another famous building by Louis Kahn. Some say it is his best. Kahn built this museum in the early nineteen seventies.  This large museum has long rooms with curved or vaulted ceilings. Inside, all of the walls can be moved to best fit the art collection. Kahn was able to make the concrete material of the building look both solid and airy. He used sunlight and bodies of water to create a truly special building.

Kahn once said this about the Kimbell Art Museum: "The building feels…that I had nothing to do with it…that some other hand did it."  The architect seems to say that he was helped by some higher influence. Many people feel that his architecture has a very spiritual and timeless quality.

Kahn mostly created public buildings such as museums and libraries. However, he also designed a few houses. His most famous home is the Fisher house near Philadelphia. It is made of several box- shaped buildings. The house is made out of glass, wood and stone. Many windows provide a view of the nearby trees.

(MUSIC)

Louis Kahn also designed buildings in other countries, including India and Bangladesh. His largest project was a series of buildings that would become the government center of Dhaka, Bangladesh. This structure includes the parliament, meeting rooms, offices, eating places and even a religious center. This series of buildings looks like an ancient home for kings.  Huge rounded and box-like buildings have windows in the shape of circles and triangles. The structure is surrounded by water. From a distance, it appears to float on a lake. Khan spent the last twelve years of his life on the project. It was completed in nineteen eighty-three, nine years after his death.  Because of Kahn, experts say, one of the poorest countries in the world has one of the most beautiful public buildings on Earth.

All of Kahn's buildings share a common solidity and heaviness. Experts say they are very different from the works of other famous architects of the period. These architects preferred light and airy buildings. Their weightless-looking structures were mostly made of glass and metal. Kahn used stone and concrete to make monumental buildings. Many of his structures look more ancient than modern.

(MUSIC)

Louis Kahn was an artist who created beautiful works.  But he was not a very good businessman. He would change his designs many times. This would make each project take a great deal of time and cost more money. The majority of the projects he designed were never built. Also, he did not like to compromise his design ideas to satisfy a buyer's wishes. For this reason and others, Kahn did not make many buildings. His design company did not always have many jobs or much money.  In fact, when Kahn died, he was in great debt. This is especially unusual since he was considered one of the most important architects in the world.

In two thousand four, Mr. Kahn's son, Nathaniel Kahn, made a film about his father's life. The film is called "My Architect".  It is interesting for many reasons. "My Architect" gives a history of Kahn's life. The film presents the architect and his buildings.  You can see Kahn working at his desk and talking with his builders. You can also see him teaching university students. You can tell that he had great energy. The film also shows a great deal about Kahn's private life.  Kahn had a wife and daughter.  But he also had two other families. Kahn had a child with each of two other women that he was not married to.  In the film, Nathaniel Kahn describes visits from his father.

He says that as a child he did not understand why his father did not live with him and his mother all of the time.

In "My Architect," Nathaniel Kahn meets his father's other children. They talk about what it was like to have such a famous and hard-working father. They also discuss what it was like having a father with so many family secrets. Many questions are left unanswered about Kahn. Yet, the film helps tell a very interesting story about a very important man. Louis Khan died in nineteen seventy-four.  Yet his influence lives on. While teaching at the University of Pennsylvania, he trained many future builders. Some students have become important architects. And Kahn's architecture has remained fresh and timeless.

This program was written by Dana Demange. It was produced by Dana Demange and Lawan Davis.  I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

IN THE NAME OF ART

IN THE NAME OF ART

By William Sutton

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: B1 Lower Intermediate

Speaker: Rachel Roberts

Artists sometimes adopt names for simplicity, sometimes to add mystique. Often, they are given nicknames by accident.

PLAYING WITH NAMES

Diminutives: Antonio Canal, famous for paintings of Venice and London, was known as Canaletto (you can read entertaining stories about his activities in England in Janet Laurence’s novels, such as Canaletto and the Case of Westminster Bridge). His nephew, Bernardo Bellotto, found success by borrowing his uncle’s pseudonym.

Donato di Nicollo di Betto Bardi is known for sculptures such as the David in the Bargello Museum, Florence, under the name Donatello.

English graffiti artist Banksy keeps his real identity secret, partly to avoid arrest for his guerrilla artistic activities. The pseudonym may be based on his real name possibly Robert Banks or Edwards Banks. This uncertainty mirrors public reaction to his work. Some criticize it was vandalism. But his distinctive paintings, appearing on walls around the world as if by magic, use dark humour to generate debate. One example is an image of two policemen kissing; another is a Guantanamo Bay prisoner on a Disneyland ride.

A SENSE OF PLACE

El Greco found fame in Spain, working for the Church. The Spanish found his name hard to pronounce, but his paintings are signed Domenikos Theotokopoulos.

Controversial artist Michelangelo Merisi is known by the name of his hometown. Caravaggio. He developed chiaroscuro, the melodramatic contrast of light and dark, and shocked society by using a prostitute as his model for the Virgin Mary.

THAT ARTY FEELING

Sometimes a name sounds more artistic. Emmanuel Radnitzky began using the abbreviated name Man Ray to avoid anti-Semitism, but this strange pseudonym suited his modernist ethic. Polish-French modernist Balthasar Klossowski de Rola chose the memorable name Balthus.

Arhitect Charles-Édouard Jeanneret Gris believed that artists, and cities, could reinvent themselves. He chose to be called Le Corbusier, perhaps connected to the word for crow, but similar to his grandfather’s name, Lecorbésier.

Hilaire-Germanin-Edgar De Gas chose a less pretentious spelling of his name Degas. And Andrew Warhola, the son of Czech immigrants, removed a letter to become Andy Warhot.

MEANING AND SIMPLICITY

Because Jacopo Comin’s father was a dyer or “tintore,” he became known as Tintoretto. (His real surname, which translated as the spice “cumin,” was discovered only recently by the curator of the Prado).

Nicknames have also been attached to modern artists. Picasso was the Bull and Salvador Dali The Magician, while Jackson Pollock was known in London as Jack the Dripper.

POLITICS AND MANIFESTOES

The Futurists used pseudonyms to reflect their modern ideas: Volt (Vincenzo Ciotti), Fillia (Luigi Colombo) and Luciano Folgore (Omero Vecchi).

Radical feminism produced the Guerrilla Girls, a New York collective who promote egalitarian ideas. The members use disguises during interviews, naming themselves after dead female artists, such as Frida Kahlo and Sonia Delaunay.