For Thursday April 2: Commercials

There will probably be a listening quiz on Thursday, which will include some vocabulary from the past few weeks.

We are going to evaluate metaphorical meanings in commercials this time, so download the handout HERE. The key is not to understand every word. No one ever pays that much attention to commercials. Rather try to grasp the overall message. Here one we will look at:

Read the signs. Consider the statement: "It's different in a Saturn." (Saturn is a car by the way.) What is the message of this commercial?


Here is another. The car cannot be dented no matter what hits it.


In English we say, "Everything but the kitchen sink," which means that you included almost everything you could think to include. Example: "My dad's new luxury car is great. It has everything but the kitchen sink." (I found the explanation of this idiom here)

Also for Tuesday, March 31

For Tuesday, kindly print out THIS PAPER and fill in the blanks with the words on the right(just do your best).

Print THIS FILE out, look over the words, and bring it to class.

David

Homework for Tuesday, March 31

Below are several videos by Brian Krueger about interviewing. You choose 6 of them and provide a brief summary of them, emphasizing any new words that you might not have known before. An example is given below. Email me your 6 summaries before 9 am on Tuesday, March 31 at english@sejong.ac.kr

1. Tell me about yourself
2. Eye Contact
3. First Steps
4. IQ and EQ
5. Power of the Pause
6. Passion
7. Interviewing Clue
8. Clothing at an Interview
9. Sound Bites
10. Overcoming Nervousness

Example:
A Non-Verbal (Smile)



A Non-Verbal: The most important "non-verbal" (non-spoken)indication of who you are is your smile. Most people are unaware of this at all. Brian suggests that we take a good long look at your face in the mirror, especially your smile. You should try to develop a warm and genuine smile. You don’t need to keep that smile "plastered" (painted) on your face. Just "come back to it" (do it again) from time to time during the interview.

Don't merely repeat what he says. Summarize. And don't copy someone else's answers. If I find 2 answers that seem similar, I'll get really mad.

Tuesday March 24, Beauty

Most importantly, you should know the "key words" and vocabulary in THIS file. Make sure you do that!

Also, read this ARTICLE (click).
Here's some vocabulary to look up from the article. You can also double click on a word to get a definition, but I am not sure that gives the right definition each time.

super-skinny
to fall far short of
to be upbeat
self-esteem
agitation
to have an urge
to fare
to dredge up
to airbrush
not to mention
to get hung up


TAKE A LOOK AT THESE:
Here is a recent ad in the U.S. that shows the changes that models go through.

What does "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted" mean?

Here is another one about what the beauty industry does to young girls. We will watch a news report concerning the same issues on Tuesday:

What does "Onslaught" mean? The girl appears to be headed to her first day of school. And the music starts in with "Here it comes!"

Finally, print THIS out and bring it to class.


UPDATE: If you are haaving trouble waatching the Queer Eye video, download and install the codec pack. Get the pack HERE or HERE

Continue with Queer Eye on Thursday, March 19

I am uploading the Queer Eye episode now so you can watch it in advance if you like (especially if you found Tuesday's class difficult) . I would ask that everyone download it anyway since you will need it for you final exam.

UPDATE:

HERE it is (Right-click to download)

(It is only 350 MB).

for Tuesday March 17 -- Queer Eye

This week we are going to watch and analyze one of my favorite TV shows, Queer Eye, or at least 25 minutes of it.

Please print THIS out before Tuesday.

Homework for Tuesday:
1)Look up the word queer on the internet. How is it used? Why would gay men refer to themselves as "queer"?

2)Read below and look up any difficult words below.

This episode we will learn about

Jim, a father of three amazing kids, a physician, and a recent widower. The loss of his wife really affected him and his family as anyone can imagine. They don't sob anymore when they talk about her, but they have a lot of warm feelings when they do which is a huge step. Jim's mother-in-law lives with the family so she can help with the kids, but the living arrangement isn't ideal since she is sleeping on the floor of his daughter's room. Also, they have a great dog, Cricket, but Jim doesn't take Cricket to the park as much as he used to since he lost the motivation to go out. Fortunately, he's come to the point where he's ready to move on with his life but doesn't know exactly how to do it.

The mission: give Jim the tools and the confidence to start out new again.

Problem Areas
...Jim hasn't cut his long hair since his wife succumbed to breast cancer
...Their home is cluttered with their belongings
...The closet looks like a fallout shelter
...There is absolutely no organization in the kids' room

The key word to know is "moving on", or "to move on" -- Jim has to learn to move on from the past and live his life again.

For March 12, 2009

1. Here is a commercial that deals with a prejudice lots of North Americans have.



"Beauty is nothing without brains." What does that mean? What does that have to do with the Mercedes-Benz car?
(By the way, the car that Koreans usually call a "Benz" is called a "Mercedes" in North America.)

2. Here is one of my favorite commercials. He speaks with a European accent, but you should understand him.
*Why does he do these things to people?
*What is the point of the commercial?
*I think it also says something about love and understanding as well.
*Listen for, "Maybe I was too intense," "I got on their nerves, "I came on too strong". What do these mean?


Again we will spend a quite a bit of time getting talking to each other. HERE are the discussion questions for the next class. Kindly print them out, think about each issue, and bring them to class.

Don't forget to bring the vocabulary handout from the last class.

Homework for Tuesday, March 10 (BREAKING UP)

We are still gliding at this point in the semester. I don't want to get too "heavy" until the class list in finalized. I gave a good feeling about this class... I think we can have a lot of fun.

Please download THIS file. We will be discussing these questions IN GROUPS for 30 minutes or so on Tuesday.

Also print out the following file about breaking up, read it and bring it to class:

Make sure you know all the underlined words.

Next, print this out out THIS SHEET and THIS. You don't have to do these now. We will do them in class.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. Watch the following video.


Key phrases are:

*to drag something out: continue doing something too long
*to go our separate ways: break up
*"I just couldn't resist" means he was deeply attracted to another
*to move on: forget about the past (girlfriend, car or anything)

Homework for March 5

(I AM AWARE THAT THIS WEBSITE HAD SOME PROBLEMS YESTERDAY, BUT IT IS FINE NOW)

FIRST
Watch the following video and answer the questions:


The questions below can be downloaded from THIS MS word file

Vocabulary Questions. (Use the search engine links on the side if you need. For example, type: "love at first sight define" in the search box)

1: What is "love at first sight"? Have you experienced it before?

2: What does "gaze" mean? When do we gaze at things?

3. What is a "staring contest"?

4. In the sentence what are the two meanings of the word "pupil":
As they try to become pupils of each other's pupils"?

5. What does it mean when two people "have chemistry"?

6. What does "lame" mean?

7. What does it mean to dig someone?

8. What is a "loser"?

Comprehension questions

Where is the bar in the video?

What is the intention of "eye-gazing" according to Neo Young?

Why does Tim Ferris feel that "staring" can be helpful?

How long does each couple stare at each other?

Will Tim get any phone numbers?

SECOND
Print out the following files and bring them to class (We will do these in class, so you don't have to do these before class... but if you want, you certainly can):

and this: