Listen to Buddhi and Kadi talk about gender roles in Sri Lanka and Estonia. And below, here is an animation about gender roles. What does it symbolize? Is it really like this where you live?
Read more!
Boy and Girl
Speak English Please!
I know, it doesn't have anything to do with this week's theme, but it's funny.
Hat tip: Luciano Tommassone from our Facebook group for sharing this video.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
You'll grow into her
Enam talks about arranged marriage in Bangledesh on elllo here. Indian-Canadian comedian Russel Peters talks about them below:
Arranged marriage is a big problem in my community man. I mean, it's not so much of a problem...it's a problem if you want it to be a problem. I mean, it's a problem for me, you know.
My parents tried that on me last year, they came up to me and they were like...my mom goes, "Russel, you're getting older now. And you're not married. What if I bring some nice girls home for you?
I go, "Mom, I bring nice girls home all the time. They just leave in the morning, you know. That's a nice girl right there."
She said, "No no, I will pick some girls and you can choose the one you like."
"Look, are you out of your mind?" My mom wanted to pick my wife! I wouldn't let my mom pick my clothes.
Can you imagine my mom walking in with this girl, "I know she's a little big now...but you'll grow into her."
Language Focus:
"You'll grow into her." - Normally, we use this phrase for something like clothing. For example, if a young boy has a shirt that is too big, his mom might say, "Don't worry you'll grow into that shirt." In other words, the boy will get bigger and then the shirt will fit and be just the right size.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Imitation Designer Brands
Melissa talks about her interest in flea markets here.
Below, listen to a comedian talk about growing up poor in LA:
We were poor when I was growing up. I mean, my mom never bought me nice clothes at Dillards or Macys. My mom used to buy all my clothes at the flea market and I hated that because I always got imitation designer clothes you know. Like instead of Polo, my mom got me Pollo. Have you ever seen a Pollo shirt bro, you know what it is? It's a little emblem of a chicken riding a horse holding a mallet, you know!
LANGUAGE FOCUS:
Imitation = fake; not real
Pollo = Pronounced /poi-yo/: the Spanish word for chicken. A majority of Americans know a few basic words of Spanish, pollo is one of them.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
California Weather
Have you ever been to Southern California? It rains and the houses fall down. It's not like the roof caves in and the windows break, the whole house. Two inches of rain...nothing left. And they don't understand why this happens. In California they figure here's a cliff, let's build a house right there. They don't understand why it fell. If you can look over the edge and go, "Wow! It would suck if this fell." It will. Then they build a house at the bottom of the cliff, "Wow! It would suck if that came down." Buy a helmet.
You see, we've got 4 boring seasons on the East Coast: winter, spring, summer, and fall. Have you ever been to California? Wind, fire, mud, and earthquakes. First it's very windy for a long time and it dries everything out. Then some idiot throws a cigarette out the window onto the freeway and half the state catches on fire; that the change of seasons. Then the rain comes along and puts out the fire, but it stays too long and then you come home and there's 4 feet of mud in your kitchen...and it's 35 miles from the living room.
People get stuck in floods in their car. How do you get stuck in a flood in your car? Here's a hint: the car in front of you is floating? Reverse! In the town I lived in people in a supermarket parking lot had to be resued in 4 feet of water. You know who needs to be rescued in 4 feet of water? People 3 feet 11 (inches) and shorter. I saw a guy carrying a Rottweiller. Have you ever seen a Rottweiller? The Tyrannosaurus Rex of dogs. The guy is walking in water up to his knees carrying 165 pound dog crying , "Somebody, help my dog!" The dog is going, "Put me down moron! Remember the beach, you throw the ball, I swim, I'll bring it back? Same stuff.
Click below to make this joke into your own...
Think about what is unusual or unique about the weather in your hometown and some of the problems that it causes people. Fill in the blanks and see if you can make it funny.
Have you ever been to ______________________? When it (bad weather) __________________ the ____________________(something bad happens). It's not like (small problem) _________________________________, the (serious problem) _______________________________________. (Example of small weather incident: 2 inches of rain) __________________ and (describe the damage) ___________________. And they don't understand why this happens. In (hometown) (example of people being stupid) ___________________________. They don't understand why (example of damage). If you can look at (describe the situation) and go, "Wow! It would suck if this (example of problem)." It will. Then they (example of something even more stupid), "Wow! It would suck if (example of worse problem)." Buy a _____________________(something to protect you).
EXAMPLE:
Have you ever been to Colorado? When it snows the people forget how to drive. It's not like they just go a little slower, they actually don't even know which pedal is for the brake and which is for the gas. . There is an inch of snow on the road and people are sliding around more than at the ski areas. And they don't understand why this happens. In Colorado, they don't understand why it's important to be careful . If you can look over the side of the road and go, "Wow! It would suck if I went too fast around this corner and slid off the road." Then you will. Then the guy behind him slams on his brakes and thinks, "Wow! Maybe it will help if I turn the wheel all the way to the right while I'm sliding ." Buy some skiis. They're safer.
Read more!
Small Talk with Barack
A winter storm in America has left millions of people without electricity and has been blamed for at least 20 deaths. Flights into New York's three airports have been delayed and also many businesses have had to close. There is more than a foot of snow on the ground in places and the weather has been given a frosty reception by new president Barack Obama. He joked that Washington can't handle it as well as his old town of Chicago.
"My childrens' school was cancelled today because of...what? Some ice? As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never cancelled. In fact, my 7 year-old pointed out that you'd go outside for recess (play time) on a day like this. You wouldn't even stay indoors. So it's uh...I don't know...we're gonna have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town. I'm saying that when it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don't seem to be able to handle things. "
So, while the snow and ice should be gone by this spring, the president is hoping that the economic problems in his country thaw out just as quickly.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Ninety Three!
In just one week, the ELLLO Friends Facebook group has grown to 93 members. This is a great place to make international friends and practice your English. Join the fun, for free here.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Mixer Podcast
The newest podcast is now online. Mixer podcast are especially good for improving pronunciation, reading and listening skill, and fluency. We also have lesson worksheets that go with the new mixers. Click here to see it online and here for the podcast.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Dark Dining in NYC
The CamaJe Bistro, in Greenwich Village, is unlike all the other entries on this list—the restaurant is lit and the patrons experience darkness by wear blindfolds. The blindfold method of darkness is logistically easy (when you want to go to the bathroom, for example) but since not all of the patrons, and none of the waitstaff, are blindfolded we, personally, would feel much more self-conscious here than we would in all-dark digs.
Read more!
The Whale Inside
The Whale Inside opened in Beijing in 2007 and has been such an overwhelming hit since that it has already expanded to Shanghai and Hong Kong. The dark’s draw here has less to do with heightening one’s palate than it does lowering one’s social inhibitions. The restaurant is an extremely popular with couples on a first date, especially couples who met over the internet (who presumably figure that they’ve never before seen their partner in person so why should they start now?). Given the groping that’s happening in the promo video on the Whale Inside’s website homepage we can only imagine what happens when the video camera is turned off. The waitstaff here wear infrared goggles. Dinner costs ¥250 (about US$26, €28).
Read more!
A Good Date and a Bad Date
The podcast based on interview #946 is now online and ready to be synced to your MP3 player so you can practice away while you are away from your computer. Sign up for the podcast here if you haven't already.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Song of the Week: U2 - "Love is Blindness"
Love is blindness
I don't wanna see
Won't you wrap the night
Around me?
Oh my heart
Love is blindness
In a parked car
In a crowded street
You see your love
Made complete
Thread is ripping
The knot is slipping
Love is blindness
Love is clockworks
And cold steel
Fingers too numb to feel
Squeeze the handle
Blow out the candle
Love is blindness
Love is blindness
I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night
Around me?
Oh my love
Blindness
A little death
Without mourning
No call
And no warning
Baby, a dangerous idea
That almost makes sense
Love is drowning
In a deep well
All the secrets
And no one to tell
Take the money
Honey
Blindness
Love is blindness
I don't want to see
Won't you wrap the night
Around me?
Oh my love
Blindness.
Read more!
Eating in the Dark
In September of 1999, The Blind Cow, the world's first restaurant in total darkness, opened in Zurich in an old Methodist church building. "Blind Cow" is the German name for the children's game known as Blind Man's Bluffin English. Today there are 18 restaurants all over the world that have adapted the concept.
The primary goal was to create workplaces for blind and visually handicapped people. Today we manage without extra funding. Earning their own money helps people's self-esteem. Another goal is to boost the dialogue between the blind and people who can see. For once they have to swap roles, the blind person becomes the guide of the person who normally sees.
Welcome to the Blind Cow. My name's Anya. May I ask you to form a congo and follow me into the restaurant. Now we move through the first curtain into the Ante-room...to the right...now we pass through another curtain to the restaurant. From now on, it will be completely dark, don't be afraid. Here we turn left. Follow the lin you feel on the floor. Now we turn left again. Straight. To the right, we're almost there. Left again, and we've reached the table. Here's the first chair back. Is everyone comfortable in the dark so far? Great, what would you like to drink?
In our restaurant, you make contacts you wouldn't make in daylight. People are tempted to sit down at empty tables. Here we place people at tables with strangers. Here we place people at tables with strangers. Once they come out of the dark, they are usually surprised to see how different their table companion looks from what they've imagined.
It might give a kind of insight into the world of blind people, but to me the restaurant is more about sharpening other senses, the sense of taste for example. Many guests tell us that the red wine tastes a lot more intense in the dark.
The blind cow changes it's menu every week. There is always one meat, one fish, and one vegetarian dish. So our staff know what kind of fish they are serving in the dark, we use different kinds of plates. For example, let's take our main courses: we use a plate with a large plain rim for meat dishes, another one with a ribbed rim for fish, and for vegetarian dishes one with strutted edges. This way our waiters always know what dish they are carrying.
After they have finished their meals, the guests are escorted back to daylight.
"You are more aware of how you eat. You have to remember what food there is on your plate and remember in what section of the plate you find the wild rice, spinach, or fish. Sometimes, you even have to use your fingers."
"It's like waking up in the middle of the night when everything is pitch dark. In the beginning, you have to touch everything to get an idea of the place. The first five minutes are quite strange, but then you get used to it and it's sort of fun."
Read more!
How do you find your fork, spoon, and glass in the dark?
At the Unsicht-Bar restaurant in Berlin
When having dinner at the unsicht-Bar dark restaurant Berlin your eyes will finally be able to take a well-deserved break. By voluntarily abandoning your visual impulses you will be able to experience what wonderful work your other senses are capable of. Feel a gentle breeze. Feel the things on your table. Let your nose explore unknown horizons and experience pure taste without any visual pretence. You will feel the presence of your table partners and will be pleasantly surprised how the simplest conversation will magnify in importance. A genuine sensory rush!
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
The World's First Dark Restaurant: Blindekuh
The name of this restaurant in Zurich, Switzerland means Blind Cow.
They say the eye is as important as the taste buds when it comes to food. Not here. At blindekuh, the pleasures of the palate are experienced by other senses that are sharpened by the darkness. Let smell and taste, hearing and touch, be your guides. You don't need your eyes to enjoy blindekuh!
We don't want you to feel lost in our world of darkness, so our professional staff are always there to help. Our team is made up of blind and partially sighted people who will take the very best care of you, making your visit to blindekuh an unforgettable experience.
Read more!
Blind Date
This week, Doron and Melissa talk about a unique restaurant where all of the diners eat in complete darkness. Click here to listen and see the slideshow. This week on ELLLO-ology we will be exploring Dark restaurants and the world of darkness...
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Punting, Field Goals, and "Going for it"
If a team is not able to get move the ball 10 yards in 3 downs (plays), then the team has two options: 1) punt, 2) kick a field goal, or 3) "go for it"
1) PUNT: The goal is to kick the ball as far into the opponent territory as possible so they will have to move the ball a very long way to be able to score. Below is an example of punting. Unfortunately for the team that punted, it was returned a very long way for a touchdown.
2) FIELD GOAL: If the team is close enough, they can try to kick the ball through the goal posts. If they are successful, they get 3 points. If they fail, the other team gets possession of the ball.
3) GO FOR IT: On 4th down, the offense can also choose to run or pass one more time to try to complete 10 yards for a 1st down. If they fail, then the other team takes possession of the ball. This is a risky play because if they they fail then the other team gets the ball, often close to their own endzone so they don't have to move the ball very far to be able to score. Teams will often take this risk if they only have 1 or 2 yards left to make a 1st down. Here's a video of a 4th down attempt that was unsuccessful.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Touchdown!
This one is pretty easy to understand: it's when everyone starts screaming!
Hi my name is Kenny Sailors. I'm here on ExpertVillage.com and I'm here to teach you how to understand the great game of American football.
Ok, we're going to talk about touchdowns. A touchdown is worth 6 points. It is scored when a players runs the ball or catches a pass in the opponents endzone. Now the team has a choice--once they make a touchdown--they have a choice to either go for a point after touchdown, also known as a PAT. This is good for 1 point extra on top of your touchdown. So they have that option to do that. What happens is the ball is placed on the 2-yard line, very near the goal, and what they do is they have the opportunity to bring their special unit out to kick the ball through the uprights to make a field goal for that one extra point. If they would like to go for a 2-point conversion instead of getting this measly 1 point. If they want to go for 2 points to make that an 8 score for this one play, then they can get the ball and they will get a chance to run one more play. And they will attempt to run that play into the endzone and if they make it successfully by either rushing or passing the ball, just a regular play, then they get 2 extra points. They will get 2 extra points for doing that though these are basically the conversion points at the end of a game. You have a touchdown for 6, you get the PAT or the Point After Touchdown, or the 2 point conversion - those are your options after making an actual touchdown.
This is the end of the post. Read more!
Sign Up! It's Free!
ELLLO now has a Facebook page where we can get to know each other. Click here to check it out.
This is the end of the post.
Read more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
