Category: Online Language Resources for English

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

Newsletter: 7 February 2011

What’s a donut? or is it a doughnut? Both spellings exist and if you’d like to know much more about these sweet things, here a link to the article in Wikipedia. i was surprised to learn that they’re not only dunkin’ … but exist in culinary cultures all over the world. Often topped with with glazed sugar or colorful fruity, rich toppings.

Now the big question is this: Why are doughnuts in the news? Of course, if you’re in finance in the City, you’d know this right away but for the rest of us, it may bring a smile. Because it’s all in the shape … and I suppose in the airy weight. But essentially, traditional doughnuts look like … the letter “O” or in numerical terms … the zero (0) or nought.

Which is what this sentence from the International Herald Tribune this weekend taught us:

“From Wall Street to the City of London, so-called doughnuts are on the menu this season. While the carbohydrate-packed variety may damage their health, it is the wealth hit from the zero bonus – known colloquially as a doughnut – that investment bankers increasingly fear.”

Oh dear! Do I hear a sigh? About to cry? No need to fear. Just persevere. This is what a wise banker will advise.

Our languages are alive with metaphors, with images and if the single doughnut is all some will get with their coffee this year, they ought to be thankful for that but I suspect that …  next year some of them will get half a dozen bagels for breakfast …with poppy seeds, sesame or even just plain!

Keep smiling … and keep your eyes open. You’ll see metaphors by day, meteors by night.

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

Newsletter: 2 February 2011

Sometimes, we need a little crash course in accents….and vocabulary.Even if we don’t need to cross borders or go very far to discover that nowadays almost everyone speaks some sort of “English.”

I spent a few days at a professional event in London last week entitled Learning Technologies. There were two floors at Olympia 2. Roughly speaking, downstairs were the people providing coaching and training services and upstairs were the people promoting their technological know-how.

Many of the “products” have similar goals. They are like packagings for corportate content. As with shelf space, elearning has its visual limits defined by the space of a screen and the designers, graphic or instructional, promote their techniques for making the screens as attractive, efficient and as captivating as possible.

I met some very interesting people and discovered some valuable services. Among them, The RADA, (The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) offers executive training. I’m firmly convinced that this would help more than one of my readers … and not just those in Europe!

As for instantaneous coaching … I thought that a company called Coaching On Call was quite innovative. Call a coach? Get your ideas clear!

Others offered short courses in cross-cultural training: getting to know how to do business around the globe: Russia, Japan, the USA … even the UK and … France. If you’re interested in knowing more, you know what to do.

BTW, before I forget, this letter was going to be about accents. London has so many! There’s the occasional British one, frequent Irish ones, not to mention Polish, Russian, Ukranian, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian and Korean plus some … Canadian, American and French.

All of which are now documented at the British Library’s exhibition called Evolving English...right next to where the Eurostar pulls in … at St. Pacras.

Enjoy it. There were mostly Britons at the Library. And there’s a wonderful bookstore there … as well…where English is spoken with a beautiful English accent.

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

Newsletter: 20 January 2011

Every single language coaching session is unique. Year after year, I’ve been working with professionals who need, or who feel the need, to be more fluent in English.

Whether they need to improve their pronunciation so that it’s not too taxing for their listeners or whether they need to brush up on syntax and grammar or whether they need to improve their vocabularies, one thing is true: no two individuals are identical. Language is just that: individual.

When you look at others in your daily environment or in public, you’d be pretty surprised to see any two people look exactly alike, dressed exactly alike, walking and talking exactly alike … if you did, you’d think they were robots!

Most of us wear the same types of clothes from head to foot – yet with an infinity of styles, textures, materials, colours, shapes and sizes. Some neat, formal, fine, high fashion … some very original, others more casual, sometimes we wear unidentified “uniforms”: syles according to our jobs, our professions. Some fit … others don’t or are out of place for the occasion.

Your language is like the clothes you wear. It’s YOUR language. Your words, put together coherently … or casually, formally, young or not-so young, attractively, sexy or mysterious! Your stye. Changing according to your mood, yet constant from one season to the next.

Your vocabulary is your wardrobe.
Your grammar is your style.
Your pronunciation is how you appear to others.

Right now, clothes are on sale all over Paris. Time to restock your wardrobe!

Once you’ve done that … I can help you with the rest.
Coaching you in YOUR style … of English.
You are unique. So …
Go for it!

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Posted in Notes on English Cross Cultural Comments Fluency Online Language Resources for English Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

concluding a speech: at the end of the day …

During a recent conference,  more than one speaker used a very clear and easy to pronounce expression:

At the end of the day …” This expression,  which means … the end result …. is roughly synonomous with

When all is said and done” or “The bottom line

and in French … maybe something like … Tous comptes faits … En fin de compte … and I will say that today, at the end of the day, there was a lot of goodwill, lots of business cards were exchanged and promises made!

The bottom line,” said Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, chief of pulmonology at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Hospital, “is there’s no longterm health effect from volcanic ash.”

(see the article on the vocabulary of green, too)

When all is said and done

This means that when the discussion is over, when everything has been said … the conclusion is …

Try your own recording of these!

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Posted in Notes on English Keywords Online Language Resources for English

Keywords – “light”

How many concepts does “light” bring to mind? Light itself, weight, humor …

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/how-many-concepts1.mp3|titles=

How many concepts does “light” bring to mind? Light itself, weight, humor …

Edith Wharton wrote :

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

When a word has more than one contrary, more than one antonym, this is proof that it’s a strong word. The pronunciation of the word is vital. The accent is important … and the context is the determining factor. Humor plays on words with more than one meaning.

]

Edith Wharton wrote :

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

When a word has more than one contrary, more than one antonym, this is proof that it’s a strong word. The pronunciation of the word is vital. The accent is important … and the context is the determining factor. Humor plays on words with more than one meaning.

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/light1.mp3|titles=The word “light” is especially rich. It functions as a noun. A light, the light; it functions as an adjective: it is light, light blue; it also functions as a verb: to light … not to mention “to lighten” … and words with the root like “lightning” and just at the sound of it, you see the long yet short flash, that oh so powerful LIGHT against the (dark, darkened) sky.]

The word “light” is especially rich. It functions as a noun. A light, the light; it functions as an adjective: it is light, light blue; it also functions as a verb: to light … not to mention “to lighten” … and words with the root like “lightning” and just at the sound of it, you see the long yet short flash, that oh so powerful LIGHT against the (dark, darkened) sky.

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/I-like-to-define.mp3|titles=I like to define words by what they aren’t … first by their polar opposites  (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.]

I like to define words by what they aren’t … first by their polar opposites  (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.

What’s the opposite of “light” ? …. Well, it could be …. just a moment … what’s the context?… what time is it? Is is still (light) outside?

What is the opposite in this context? If white is light, black is …… dark.

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/and-of-course.mp3|titles=

And of course the other very frequent context using “light” to describe the concept of weight would give us … heavy, of course.

As for the verb “to light,” .. why… if the linking concept is fire, it seems to me that “to put out” is probably the most frequent in everyday speech, though “extinguish” could be very popular among firemen … and officials.

]

And of course the other very frequent context using “light” to describe the concept of weight would give us … heavy, of course.

 

As for the verb “to light,” .. why… if the linking concept is fire, it seems to me that “to put out” is probably the most frequent in everyday speech, though “extinguish” could be very popular among firemen … and officials.

By the way, Edith Wharton also said this:

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.

If you’re interested in words and concepts … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.

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Posted in Notes on English Hear it, Say it, Write it ! Online Language Resources for English

Expression of the day = “Gimme five!”

When you meet a friend … this is one of the things you might say and DO!

“Gi’ m Faiv”  “Gimme five”  or literally:  “Give me 5”

This is what it sounds like : [audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/EX18013A.mp3|titles=Gimme five]

and it means:

=  Tope-là !

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

Newsletter: November 18, 2010

Success.

This word is so frequent that if you google it (yes, to google is a verb… google … googled … have googled … googling … ) here’s what you’ll find:

success: 247 000 000

But what about the opposite, the antonym, failure? What’s your bet? more? less?

Here’s what I got: 117 000 000 … less than half!

I’m not sure that there are any conclusions to be drawn from this other than … the concept is a pretty popular one!

What’s success then? Is it winning a battle in the larger context of war? And failure … would it be losing?

Neither success nor failure are fixed and stable and forever. Such very relative states they are! There are a number of other very valuable words which describe these … ways of reaching an objective. One of the real, concrete ones might be …

breakthrough (20 100 00): a word which gives us a feeling of accomplishment, of achievement of one of the steps on the way … to success; breakthrough … overcoming an obstacle … or what seemed to be one until we’ve gotten past it. By the way, the opposite might just be … breakdown!

Milestone (25 600 000), a concrete step in progress…like the discovery of antibiotics or an event that measures progress, a specific and identifiable marker on the way to a destination. Perseverance is the road to the next milestone.

Success is like knowledge … We are always looking for where it’s hidden … What’s the secret to success? This is a question Albert Einstein answered. He said something … long before we had access to Google … but it still remains true today:

“Know where to find the information and how to use it – That’s the secret of success” And let’s not concentrate on the antonyms …, at least not today!
Good luck in all your postive endeavors!
Thanks for reading today’s Paris Savannah Connection.

Mark
PS. This feels like a real breakthrough …

Newletter November 18, 2010

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments Hear it, Say it, Write it ! Online Language Resources for English Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

There’s e.t.a., eta, ETA and E.T.A. …

When S. used the abbreviation “e.t.a.” the other day, it took me a minute to catch on.
“What’s your “e.t.a.?” she asked her mom on the phone.

Well over in France and in Spain, those initials refer to a Basque separatist movement.

In travel-intensive North America, it does not, to my knowledge, refer to a secessionist tendency.

It does have to do with time, though_

“What’s your e.t.a.?”
“Between 12 and 12:30” … That’s to say, just in time for lunch.

E.T.A. =  Estimated Time of Arrival

A fine substitute for “What time do you think you’ll get here?”

For the others, try wikipedia …

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments Audio Online Language Resources for English

NPR Podcasts

From NPR:

Podcasts you may enjoy!

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