Wednesday, July 21, 2010

#1249 Justin Bieber’s Tweet, 100 Māori words, German Motorway Party, Egalitarianism

Show 1249 Wednesday 21 July
Watch today's show at YouTube or BlipTV.

Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today is mistake day and we’re having a look at a tweet by a guy called Justin Bieber who is one of the most popular musicians in the world right now.

Last Wednesday, he wrote – or tweeted - this:

Thanks to all my fans In New Zealand!.. #nzbieberday it really mean alot To me Thanks,
love u all and god bless!


Apart from the random capital letters there … can you see any mistakes?

Of course, this is just a tweet, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s not perfect. Although he does have almost 4 million followers, so he could be a bad influence on today’s youth with his bad spelling …

Anyway, a lot should be two words. This is quite a common mistake for native English speakers.

There is actually a word allot. It has a different meaning though.

allot, verb, to give time, money, tasks, etc. to sb/sth as a share of what is available

For example: I managed to complete the test within the time allotted.



click here

As you may know, in New Zealand English, we use quite a few Māori words, such as kia ora, which is an informal greeting that we use in Stick News.

If you live in New Zealand or you want to read New Zealand news online or watch New Zealand movies or TV shows, then you need to know at least a few Māori words.

And yesterday I came across a really good page which is called: 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know.

It has a list of words, and a simple definition for each word and you can click on a button next to the words to hear how they’re pronounced, which is very useful.

You can find the link to that page next to this video, or in the transcript for today’s show.



STICK NEWS


On Sunday, 60 kilometers of one of Europe’s busiest motorways was closed for a party.
Some news reports said more than three million people came to the event.
Organizers set up 20,000 beer garden tables.
And there were around 7000 different groups providing entertainment.

And that was Stick News for Wednesday the 21st of July.
Kia ora.


We need an impressive event to showcase our fine culture.
How about a massive piss-up on the motorway!
Party on!


I'm on the motorway... hic!
Are you drinking and driving?!


We're sitting at a table...
How will I find you?


The band was awesome wasn't it?
Which one?



Word of the Day

Today’s word is egalitarian.

This is a New Zealand magazine called the Listener. And a couple of weeks ago their cover story was a guide to being a New Zealander.

It talked about what it means to be a New Zealander and in the first paragraph, it says that as a nation we are told we are:

over-indebted
big-spending
house-mad
underpaid
insufficiently productive
over-eating
sports-obsessed
underinvesting
alcohol-abusing
nuclear-free
child-beating
carbon-emitters

So that’s … wonderful. But on the positive side, there is:

kiwi ingenuity
anti-materialism
tolerance
And, above all, egalitarianism.

So what’s this egalitarianism that’s supposed to exist in New Zealand?

egalitarian, adjective, based on, or holding, the belief that everyone is equal and should have the same rights and opportunities



conversations with sarah
#797 Do you like his music?

Step 1: Repeat Brian’s lines.
Step 2: Read Brian’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Brian Who is Justin Bieber anyway?

Sarah He’s a pop star.

Brian Another talentless manufactured pop star?

Sarah No, I think he actually has talent.

Brian Do you like his music?

Sarah No, but I think his early videos on YouTube are quite impressive. He can actually sing. And I think he used to look cute.

Brian But not any more?

Sarah Nah, now he’s signed to a big label and his voice is all auto-tuned, and his videos are … very cheesy.

Brian I guess someone must like him.

Sarah Oh yes, millions of people love him. One of his videos is the most viewed ever on YouTube.




Justin Bieber - 2007



Justin Bieber - 2010



links

today's news - reuters


music

show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

click here start
artist: #NarNaoud#
album: Green Vision
track: Oriental Standing
from: Gironde, France
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: DovEporTar
album: Test night n. 1
track: Il treno
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo

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