Month: February 2011

Posted in Cross Cultural Comments

Under Milkwood, a play for radio by Dylan Thomas

Back in the 1950s, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas wrote a play called “Under Milkwood, a Play for Voices” for the radio. In a sense, it was rather like the stage play “Our Town,” written by the American playwright Thorton Wilder.

In the opening monologue to Thomas’ play, the narrator speaks these lines:

… You can hear the dew falling, and the hushed town breathing …

And you alone can hear the invisible starfall …

Listen it is night moving in the streets …

Time passes. Listen. Time passes.

Come closer now. Only you can hear the houses sleeping in the streets …

Only you can hear and see, behind the eyes of the sleepers …From where you are, you can hear their dreams…”

Poetry. Written to be heard.

Do you hear the sounds, both near and far?  A baby sleeping. Distant thunder.  Music coming from another room.  We hear the invisible. We just need to … listen … to make sense of it.

Language is like that. A Play for Voices. Waves in time. Welsh waves, Atlantic waves. Mediterranean waves … Voice waves. Listen … just for a moment … You’ve got all it takes … and in fact, all the time in the world.

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Posted in Newsletters Cross Cultural Comments Les Newsletters Online Language Resources for English Reading

Newsletter: 27 February 2011

Back in the 1950s, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas wrote a play called “Under Milkwood, a Play for Voices” for the radio. In a sense, it was rather like the stage play “Our Town,” written by the American playwright Thorton Wilder.

In the opening monologue to Thomas’ play, the narrator speaks these lines:

“… You can hear the dew falling, and the hushed town breathing …

“And you alone can hear the invisible starfall …

“Listen it is night moving in the streets …

“Time passes. Listen. Time passes.

“Come closer now. Only you can hear the houses sleeping in the streets …

“Only you can hear and see, behind the eyes of the sleepers …From where you are, you can hear their dreams…”

Poetry. Written to be heard.

Do you hear the sounds, both near and far?  A baby sleeping. Distant thunder.  Music coming from another room.  We hear the invisible. We just need to … listen … to make sense of it.

Language is like that. A Play for Voices. Waves in time. Welsh waves, Atlantic waves. Mediterranean waves … Voice waves. Listen … just for a moment … You’ve got all it takes … and in fact, all the time in the world.

Thanks for reading The Paris Savannah Connection! where you’ll find a link to a recording of “Under Milkwood,” narrated by the great Richard Burton.

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments

Annecy – Charm in the French Alps

From the New York Times:

The French Alps … without skis.

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Posted in Notes on English Cross Cultural Comments Online Language Resources for English Reading

George Washington

Ms. Kalman’s creation:  And the Pursuit of Happiness !

And the Pursuit of Happiness … is of course, derived from the Constitution of the United States of America which guarantees citizens the rights to LIfe, Liberty … And the Pursuit of Happiness !

George … is of course, George Washington. Here’s his story as seen by Ms. Kalman!

Enjoy

And the Pursuit of Happiness !

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments

The busy world of Richard Scarry

The Smowman

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments

Time’s face, time’s digits – The Boston Globe

What sort of watch do you wear? Digital or analog? What sort of clocks do you live by? Numbers like this: 13:58 … or do you have an “old-fashioned” clock whose hands sweep by the seconds, minutes and hours?

James Caroll understands time. The proof is in the article he published Feb 14 in the Boston Globe.

Time’s face, time’s digits – The Boston Globe.

One of the finest peices of writing to be published in … recent history.

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments

Expatica France

The complete guide to expat life

Expatica is the expat community’s online home away from home. A must-read for English-speaking expatriates and internationals across Europe, Expatica provides tailored expat guides full of essential information on moving, working and living abroad. With in-depth features, tools and more, Expatica brings the expat community closer together.

Expatica France

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Posted in Newsletters Cross Cultural Comments Les Newsletters Online Language Resources for English Reading

Newsletter: 11 February 2011

Are you a morning, daytime, evening or night person? What sort of bio-rhythm do you have? Are you so full of pep and energy that you wake up and manage all day long without a sigh or yawn? Or are you a time taking breakfast-in-bed person who then can stay up into the wee hours of the night?

There’s an expression in English that says

The early bird catches the worm.”

The same thought or idea exists in French in these words:

Le monde appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt.”

I don’t see any worms or birds in that one, but no matter: until the opening of the tunnel under the “English Channel” as the English call it and the “Manche” as the French do, the French and the English had been separated by that body of water. This, as you know,  hasn’t prevented mutual attraction, jealousy, respect nor conflict over the years. Not to mention migration!

Or … the French-American trans-Atlantic connections!

So, you ask, what do “reports and delays” have to do with all this? The answer lies in the word which shapes our lives: time. And the inter-human relationships called meetings, dates, and appointments!

The English word “delay” means “being late, or being put off until later” and is most often used as a verb like this:
“The flight to Chicago is delayed. EDT is now 1:58.”

The French word “délai” means a time frame or a period of time and can be used in the singular or in the plural:

Il faudrait compter sur un délai de 10 jours.”
“Les délais de livraison sont indéterminés.”

Put those on hold for a moment while we think of the French verb “reporter”:  this verb can generally be translated into English as “to postpone” or “to put off.” In English, the identically spelled verb  “to report” might designate signaling something, usually negative, suspicious or illegal to an authority.

Beware of and be wary of these look-alikes.These sentences, written with English words by native French speakers could confuse or even upset you:

“I must report the date.”
“Could we report our appointment?”
“Excuse me for reporting this.
“It’s only a delay.”

All of these really intend to mean “temporary cancellation.” What might be called a “rain check.”

“Please forgive me … but I’ve had a change in schedule and need to postpone the meeting we planned for next Tuesday. Could we plan it for the following week? Just let me know.”

The early bird may indeed catch the worm … but only if the weather’s right!

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments

From the British Library

Here’s a link to their online image gallery!

It’s fabulous … and if you can’t get there in person, this is a virtual visit. Enjoy.

Those of you in Savannah may be interested in doing a search on the site for Savannah …

You should find something originally published/produced in 1764.

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Posted in Commentaires Inter-culturelles

C’est votre style qui compte!

Chaque séance de coaching en anglais est unique. Année après année, je travaille avec des professionnels qui ont besoin, ou ressentent le besoin, de parler plus couramment l’anglais.

Qu’ils aient besoin d’améliorer leur prononciation pour qu’elle ne soit pas trop difficile pour leurs auditeurs, de réviser la syntaxe et la grammaire, ou d’améliorer leur vocabulaire, une chose est certaine : il n’y a pas deux individus identiques.

La langue est simplement ainsi : individuelle. En regardant autour de vous, dans votre environnement quotidien ou en public, vous seriez très surpris si vous voyiez deux personnes exactement semblables, habillées exactement pareil, marchant et parlant exactement de la même façon… si cela arrivait, vous penseriez que ce sont des robots !

La plupart d’entre nous portent le même type de vêtements de la tête aux pieds – mais selon une infinité de styles, de textures, de matières, de couleurs, de formes et de tailles. Des styles soignés, ou académiques, élégants, de haute couture… certains sont très originaux, d’autres plus décontractés, parfois nous portons un style “uniforme” : les styles s’accordent avec nos emplois, nos métiers, nos professions. Certains nous vont bien… d’autres ne vont pas, ou ne conviennent pas pour l’occasion.

Votre langue est comme les vêtements que vous portez. C’est VOTRE langue. Vos s’assemblent de façon cohérente… ou au hasard, ou de façon formelle, jeune ou moins jeune, jolie, sexy ou mystérieuse ! C’est votre style. Il peut changer selon votre humeur, tout en restant constant d’une saison à l’autre.

Votre vocabulaire, c’est votre garde-robe.

Votre grammaire, c’est votre style. Votre prononciation, c’est la façon dont vous apparaissez aux autres. Vous êtes unique.

Vous coacher selon VOTRE style… d’anglais, c’est ce que je sais faire.

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