More... In Search of a Unique Item or Product

On March 31 I summarized my quest for English words and phrases representing items unique to the US.  I need this vocabulary to create effective warmups: Vowel Charts and Dialogs that would switch students' brains into English.

So far I have the following terms: drive thru, doggie bag, to go, on the go, tailgate party, super-size, baseball, popcorn, cheeseburger, hot dog, baby shower, small talk, miles, inches, yards, feet, quarts, gallons, free refill, trick or treat, cheerleader, ice water, peanut butter, garbage disposal, mailbox, root beer, pretzels, maple syrup, same-day delivery, Ziploc bags, jukebox, speak up, trade-off, awkward.

The problem is, this represents only 11 of the 16 color vowels.  I still need something representing PURPLE SHIRT, TURQUOISE TOY, a CUP of MUSTARD, BROWN COW and WOODEN HOOK.

I'm thinking of "Boy Scout" for TURQUOISE TOY and "Girl Scout" for PURPLE SHIRT.  Similar organizations exist in other countries but I think the "scout" term and the connotation of "explorer" is unique to the US.

Sundae could be used for a CUP of MUSTARD, although other countries do have something similar, such as  the parfait in France.

For BROWN COW I may use "pow wow" (noun) or "pow-wow" verb.  This is supposed to be a Native American term for a get-together and ceremony, though I don't know if that's historically accurate.  In any case, it's used in the US to describe an informal, though often important, discussion meeting.

That leaves WOODEN HOOK, a vowel used in relatively few words. However, when those words are modal verbs, they're important.  I may use the popular expression "Coulda, woulda, shoulda!"

There must be more. 

It's Spring!

We're just past the Equinox.  It's also Easter, Passover and the middle of Ramadan.  Ramadan happens to be in the early springtime this year but begins on various dates, moving earlier on the calendar by about 11 days annually.

This got me thinking about how best to teach vocabulary centered around not just spring, but renewal. In English, we take for granted all the vernal idioms to symbolize rebirth, renewal, revival and so on.  Greening, budding, springing up, sprouting, flowering, the sowing of seeds and so on can be applied to ideas as well as to plants.  

But not all countries have the four seasons we're used to.  Some tropical locations close to the equator have a rainy season and a dry season, instead, caused not just by the earth's tilt but by the annual shifting of the winds in response to the rotation and pitch.  

I'm sure those indigenous languages have terms for those, two seasons rather than our four.  And I'm sure they have different but equally colorful idioms relating the two seasons to human endeavors.

An English Teacher Walks Into A Bar...

...and a guy says, 

"Can I buy you a drink?" 

The teacher answers, 

"I don't know. CAN you?"

I found this online at goodsitesforkids.org. I think the site is even better for their English teachers.

In Search of a Unique Item or Product

 Unique to the United States, that is. And, here, it must be ubiquitous (love that word).

I need to teach my students a term which will spring into their mind when they see it and switch their brain to English. For me, my filet will switch me into French when I check out at the supermarket. The clerk may call it a bring-your-own-bag bag. You might call it a string bag. But to me it will always be a filet. I never saw one until I went to France. 

It's too bad McDonalds is now found all over the world. Everyone knows "hamburger", even though pronunciation may be modified slightly. If I were teaching in New York, the hot dog might work because there are street vendors throughout Manhattan selling them to tourists (and locals, of course).

Any ideas? What invention or fad have people gone crazy over that has not yet spread to the rest of the world via social media?

Back from New York

 I'm back. And I did not hear a single "New York" accent the entire time!

It might have been different if I'd been trading stocks on Wall Street or going to a meeting on Madison Avenue. But, crossing those streets as a tourist, all I heard was English spoken with a large variety of foreign accents. Will there be many, new, New York accents or will all the variations melt into one? The only cohesive, immigrant neighborhood I saw was Chinatown. All the other small ethnic delis and businesses seemed scattered around the island. However, three and a half days as a tourist is not enough to get to know a big city.

Perhaps within a generation we will have a new, amalgamated, Manhattan accent featuring words pronounced a bit more clearly, phrases slurred less, syllables given slightly more equal emphasis.

Small Talk

Since September, I've been creating "small talk" dialogs for in-person adult ESL classes.  I've found that whether there are 2 people or 20 it's possible to create a flexible script where everyone involved can say one line, or sometimes two if they want, and keep up a pleasant babble of conversation.  

I've posted the link at the bottom of the Portfolio page, for now.  Here's the direct link.

New York, New York!

This Saturday I will fly to New York with my youngest granddaughter.  Back a week from tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to evesdropping on the famous New York accent.  According to googled information, Manhattan is not the best place to hear that accent because most people who live there are from somewhere else.  However, with any luck, Manhattan will host some New Yorkers from other boroughs visiting the sights on our "must see" list. 

Mostly, we plan to have a lot of fun just walking around looking at the fancy marquees, hotels and shops if it doesn't rain (or snow).  We're staying only a couple of blocks away from Central Park, where we  hope to spot Flaco the Owl, the famous escapee from the Central Park Zoo.

At the top of our indoor sightseeing list are: The American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Ice Cream.  Just about the only museum New York doesn't have is a museum of language.  I know -- I searched!

But that kind of museum does exist in other cities.  More about those places in a future blog.