Hi David,

How are you doing?
GW is over, is it?

Anyway, the kid playing the drums is pretty cool. I couldn't hear the sound as I'm at work and supposed be working!

Yeah, interviews are good listening practice, isn't it? There are so much stuff out there and you can choose formal one to casual one. I like listening to radio at home and on the way home or to work. You'll hear lots and lots of conversations, news, and interviews and topics are also varied.
Another way to have listening practice is that listening to the same program again and again and again. That way, you'll remember the word, expression, pronunciation, intonation and rhythm etc. You can even shadow it. It works to make you sound more natural as well.

Anyway, I'd better go now.
Talk to you later all.

•  Michelle
• 2008年5月 6日 14:36

Hi everybody! Long time no see. This is Alice.
There are many genius kids on TV lately, right?Everytime I can't believe them! I know some funny You Tube videos but it's not like interview or practice English so.

By the way, This is my trouble. I am not satisfied with my English school. I feel boring and waste my time. Maybe almost people who comes here, learning English by yourself. How about other people who go to English school like me, are you fun at there?

•  Alice
• 2008年5月 6日 16:28

Hi David,

I'm glad to hear that you finished re-writing the manuscript for your new book. It means that the book is coming soon, right? It's exciting, isn't it?

The 7-year-old boy is amazing! Are his parents musicians or something? He is a gifted child! And thanks for pasting the link of You Tube. I was able to see it just by clicking it. That's nice!(because I'm not used to You Tube. Actually, I don't know much about it..)
I watched Parkinson's interviews with Victoria & David Beckham again and again, but I didn't understand why they were laughing. I didn't understand why Victoria Beckham said ‘You know, come on.’ and David beckham said ‘but she doesn't listen..’ What does 'golden balls' mean? Is it about his hairstyle?
Anyway, I'll try it again later including the Rown Atkinson interview. As you said, I think it would be very good listening practice, but I need your recordings as well!

Well, Golden Week is over, and I'm going to get back to a normal life tomorrow. I'm very happy about that.

Speak to you soon,

Tomo

PS Alice, nice to hear from you again! About your problem, if you think the eikaiwa school is boring and a waste of time, I think you should quit it. If you are not interested in what you are doing at the school at all, I don't think you will be able to improve your English so much. There are a lot of different ways to study English, so I think you can find another way which is good for you.

•  Tomo
• 2008年5月 6日 21:23

Hi Tomo,

When Victoria Beckham was talking about 'Golden Balls', she meant that he was really good at football, but that expression can have a very different meaning. If you translate each word directly into Japanese, I think you will understand why everyone was laughing!

•  David
• 2008年5月 7日 07:52

Hi David,

Golden Balls.., now I understand why everyone was laughing! I should have understood it in the first place..(笑)
Anyway, thanks for your reply. I'll try to watch it again!

Have a nice day,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2008年5月 7日 09:33

Hi David and everyone,

David, thanks for sharing the program. Indeed, recently there are many talented children, aren't they? I like watching interview programs not only on You Tube but also on TV. Among them, I love the program ' Actor's Studio' interview aired on NHK, and you can enjoy some of them by typing 'Actor's Studio Interview' into the search box in You Tube. I watched Parkinson's interview program　Victoria ＆David Beckham first ,and it was fun! Three meanings came to mind as for 'Golden Balls', the second one is from TV program in UK and the last one is...., it's fun even though Victoria never meant that. What an anchor said,'she is pushy' tells everything ,good or bad , I think . Talking of David Beckham, even now I remember the shock and discouragement when I heard his voice for the first time a few years ago! His voice was rather different from which I had imagined. Other TV program which I sometimes watch on PC is ' The Daily Show', and you can reach the home page by typing ' The Daily Show' into the search box in Google. It covers from news to interviews with the touch of irony and humour, and to be honest, it's rather difficult for me to catch the whole meaning, so I listened to it again and again.
Actually, depending on each anchor, the taste of interview is rather different, isn't it?
I'd like to watch other programs which David recommended.
Hi Alice,
I've never attend the English school, so I'm not sure my thought is proper or not, but if you are going to continue , how about changing the level? ( I mean moving to a little upper class.)It's one of the ways, and how about preparing questions for the teacher before attending the class? Having the specific purpose(特別の目的）would make you motivate studying more.

Bye for now,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2008年5月 7日 16:29

Hi David and Everyone,

I found an interesting video! After watching the Beckhams and the Rown Atkinson interviews, I thought that there might be an interview with Daniel Radcliffe, then I searched and found the interesting video by chance. I'm a big Harry Potter fan, and I like Daniel Radcliffe, so it was fun to me. In the interview, Daniel Radcliffe performed something with his tongue, and I can do that, too!(I'm glad to find that I can do the same thing as him.(笑)) If you are interested, type 'Dan on Ellen' into the 'search' box in You Tube;-) Can you do that with your tongue?

Speak to you later,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2008年5月 7日 17:53

Hi Tomo and Anne!!
Good to talk with you again! And thanks for reply. I've taking a one to one lesson right now. Almost my teacher talking and I try to talk a lot than her every time but.... . So I am decided to quit that school! But I couldn't study alone so I'll find other school. Thank you so much!!

Wow! Already watched the 'Parkinson'?? I was thinking I'll watch it after the postbut... Tomo and Anne said "that was difficult." so I'm so afraid to watch them. But it sounds interesting!!

•  Alice
• 2008年5月 7日 17:58

PS The video I watched is the fourth one from the top(09:36).

•  Tomo
• 2008年5月 7日 18:02

少し訂正；
there are many talented children, aren' they?
→there are many talented children.

again Hi Alice,
行くと決めたのなら、何か一つでも覚えてこよう！と言う気持ちが大切なのではないかしら。せっかく先生がいらっしゃるのですから、学び取ってくる事はたくさんあると思いますよ。。。現状を知らないので中途半端ですが。。。

See you soon,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2008年5月 7日 18:05

Hello again Anne!
I'm trying! but... I find 自分に合わないスクールなんだなって。It just tough without 'interesting' and 'fun', I think. もちろん上手くなりたいとは思うけれど本来の英語がスキ、面白いって気持ちは忘れたくないからね♪ So I found this space, David's blog. I'm so happy to looking and reading David and your postings. いつも違った話題が話せてたくさんの興味を出してくれるから I like here!!

Hi David!!
I saw the video of Parkinson's interview with Mr and Mrs Beckham. But it's sooo hard for me. Will I catch the sentence if I watch it over and over again??

•  Alice
• 2008年5月 7日 18:26

Hi David and everyone,

You Tube is an amazing video web sharing site covering from politics to private ones. The world has been changing! Who imagined these circumstances a few decades ago? At the 2008 presidential election, each candidate has been using You Tube as a way for advertising himself/ herself.
I watched the interviews with Robin Williams, Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Jackman. The interview with Robin Williams was fun, but it was tough to keep up with his mood.( He always appears such a tension, isn't he?)
I like watching movies, so I sometimes type the name of the movie which I'm interested in and an actor/ an actress, and enjoy the interview.
Tomo, I did it! But I couldn't do the last one....^^;)
By the way, type ' ellen show Josh Groban' ,and you can enjoy the beautiful song( You raise me up). He is one of my favorite singers.
Have a nice weekend!
PS
「彼はいつもテンションが高い、」はどう表現するのがぴったりくるんでしょう？
He is hyper energetic.
He is in a hyper mood.
Members ,I'm waiting for your advice!

See you soon,

Anne

•  Anne
• 2008年5月 9日 12:02

Sorry, I made a mistake.
He always appears~, isn't he?→He always appears~,doesn't he?

Anne

•  Anne
• 2008年5月 9日 12:09

Hi Anne,
I watched the video you recommended. That was a beautiful song! I didn't know Josh Groban, but he has a nice voice, doesn't he? I like sweet and low voice;-)

About your question, hmm.., it's a difficult one. I'm not sure, but I guess ‘テンション’ is a Japanese English.(What do you think?)
How about this?

・He is always cheerful and has a lot of energy.

I watched the interview with Robin Williams, too. Is he always like that? I knew that he was a great actor, but I didn't know that he was such a funny man. In the interview, he kept talking all the time!

See you soon,

Tomo

•  Tomo
• 2008年5月 9日 13:33

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