Will summer 2013 be similar? I hope not. But present weather conditions are beginning to suggest  that it could be. The last part of April and the first week of May this year gave us hours of wonderful, clear, warm summer-like weather, but for the past several days, we have experienced strong winds, often coming from the North, with low  temperatures, and generous amounts of rain.

So, I’ll go back to last Monday, 6th May, which was a public holiday in the UK. And yes, it was the last day of that brief period of lovely weather. My wife and I went to London to visit some of our family members, who live there. They include two children, ages 11 and 13. How did we spend the day? We went for a picnic. Firstly, we walked for 10 minutes along the path beside a canal, then immediately into a small park. There we found a suitable place for our picnic. The children  spent most of the time playing ball games.

What particularly impressed me were the other people in the park walking their dogs, cycling around (especially very young children) other picnicers, etc. having a variety of languages and skin colours. Yet, they were all relaxing in similar ways to each other, as if they were all of the same ethnic origin. Two old ladies, with their dogs, stopped to talk with us. They were two of the very few original old Londoners still living near the park. They surprised us, by explaining to us that what is now a small, green park, was once a group of worker’s houses, and how a World War  II German flying bomb (V.1), had exploded there and ruined the houses, and that it’s now a little park. We could think that that was a sort of Phoenix development. The mixing of people of different origins, and the origin of the park in the company of family, made that picnic one of my most memorable. By the way, it’s raining as I write this article. But who cares?

Glossary:

brief   -   short, momentary

generous   -   free – giving

Watching TV is not my favourite past-time, although of course, I watch it sometimes. I can watch German TV (via satellite) if I choose to. Comparing German TV with British TV can be very interesting.

Often, news programmes have completely different priorities in their presentations. The inclusion of English words in modern German seems to increase week by week, and the pronunciation is generally quite good.

However, the word ‘live’ is often mispronounced, so I thought I would use this blog to try to help you with this little, complex matter. The first problem is the pronunciation of the letter ‘v’ in ‘live’.’v’ needs to be pronounced with the help of the vocal chords in the throat. If this help it not used, the word becomes ‘life’, where ‘f’ needs nothing from the throat. OK so far? There are two different basic meanings of the word ‘live’. The one you most often hear, is that which concerns having an electric/electronic current. For TV it means that it is ‘now’ and not recorded, i.e. the current is live. The letter ‘i’ in  this meaning, is pronounced as the word ‘I’, e.g. I enjoy good wine. Remember, the ‘v’ is voiced. The other meaning of the same word e.g. I live in Oxford. Here, the ‘v’ is also voiced, but the letter ‘i’ is pronounced like the ‘i’ in the word ‘if’. Again, may I remind you that the ‘v’ is  voiced.

Now, let’s look at that other very similar word – ‘life’. In this word, ‘f’ is not voice, as for example the ‘f’ in the word ‘fast’. Here is an example of the meaning of ‘life’; life in the USA is different from life in Europe. The following is an example of how you could use these words in one sentence, each having a different meaning: He was a lively man, who lived all his life in the Alps; his livelihood was cheese-making. Oh dear! Have I confused you? I hope not. Above all, try to concentrate on the different pronunciations of ‘v’ and ‘f’, even if they are pronounced differently in your own language.

Try not to translate, but speak instinctively in English. Try! At the risk of further confusion, I include the word ‘liver’, which has no connection with the foregoing. The liver is an internal organ of the animal body. Sorry about that extra word! Again: ‘v’ with voice, ‘f’ without voice. Who said that the English language was uncomplicated! But, practice makes perfect, especially if you practice with inlingua.

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;’

At this time of the year, in Britain, it is easy to see crowds, or hosts of daffodils. Daffodils are completely yellow; not to be confused with the narcissus, which is yellow on the outside of the flower, and a more orange colour in the centre. Daffodils are the larger of the two.

‘Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze .’

If I look out of my window, I can see hundreds of daffodils, in the park. You can see them along roadsides, in old churchyards, on the traffic roundabouts: almost everywhere.

‘Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:’

I’ve loved the daffodils since my childhood. They tell me that Spring has arrived, and they never look unhappy. And then, this wonderful poem by William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) comes automatically into my mind.

‘Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.’

Dear reader, it would be wonderful for me, if I could think that you might enjoy this poem with me, especially at this time of the year, so I will complete the last two verses of it:

‘The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee (happiness):

A poet could not but be gay (happy),

In such a jocund (happy) company:

I gazed – and gazed – but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills

And dances with the daffodils.’

I have put the meanings of three words in brackets, as a help to you. But I think, you yourself should find any other meanings which are not already clear. In this way, my private hope is that you will learn this poem by heart, so that it will increase your standard of English, and like with me, when Spring comes and you see some daffodils, it will put spring into your step!

 

 This week, new British government regulations were put in place, to reduce the £ billions of public money being spent on social securities. (e.g. unemployment, benefits, sickness, child, housing, etc, etc.).

Most people are aware that a lot of this money is being wasted, because of illegal claims by lazy people. As with many such irregularities, much of the blame has been put on immigrants. However, a new statistic shows that only 2% of claims come from immigrants. Of course, the parasites of the community don’t want to hear this. Yet, as I wrote in a previous article, immigration over the centuries, has been the making of this country. Ah well!

Which brings me back to the language. There has been an immigration of people, but also of individual words. Today, I’m thinking of words which have come from Asia. Here are some examples: bungalow, dungaree, guru, juggernaut, pundit, atoll, catamaran, teak (Hard wood), curry, (without wurst or pommes) ginseng, bamboo, ketchup, harem, jar (glass container for food), sofa, kiosk, coffee, yoghurt,  caravan , divan, turban.

There are more, but these are words you may hear in today’s English language. Why don’t you, dear reader, have some fun, putting these individual words into full sentences. It may well help improve your standard of English. If you have problems with it, then I’m sure ‘inlingua’ will help you. Give it a try.

After finishing this I’m going to drink a cup of char (from char, meaning tea). Office cleaners were called charwomen in the past. Politeness changed it to ‘charlady’. In other words: she was the cleaner who also brought tea to the office workers. I must hurry, the tea water is boiling. 

Tausche und Erlebe:

]]> http://blog.inlingua-duesseldorf.de/2013/ohne_kategorie/its-a-small-world/feed 0 http://blog.inlingua-duesseldorf.de/2013/ohne_kategorie/look-for-the-silver-lining http://blog.inlingua-duesseldorf.de/2013/ohne_kategorie/look-for-the-silver-lining#comments Sun, 31 Mar 2013 16:49:44 +0000 lewis http://blog.inlingua-duesseldorf.de/?p=640  

A. London, September 1666 AD. The Great Fire of London. 13,200 houses were burnt to the ground. Catastrophy! But, there is an old English saying: ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. So it was in this case. At the same time the great plague (pest) was raging across the country. In London alone, it killed 15% of the population of 450.000. The ‘silver lining’ was, that the fire completely destroyed the plague infection. Most of London’s houses and buildings were built of wood, before the fire. After the fire, they were mostly rebuilt with stone, including the 54 churches by architect Christopher Wren. All the information about the fire comes from Samuel Pepys, who kept a detailed, daily diary of the fire. (He also wrote other, now famous, diaries of his time of life.)

B. On 5th March, 2013 there was a theatre production in London, which included the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The theme of the show was the Great Fire of London A choir for the show was chosen from a London primary school.The main characters in the show were Samuel Pepys, played by a well known actor, Sevan Stephan, and his female counterpart, Jane Birch, also a well-known actress. The third character in the trio, Sam Penny, a boy in the street, was played by a 11-year old boy from the same primary school.

And who is he? Wait for it! He is my grandson! For me, this is a second ‘silver lining’ to the great tragedy in 1666.

Glossary:

 lining   -   a second layer of material inside most jackets and coats. 

 

When I wrote the blog, I didn’t realise, that on the following Saturday, there would be a very important Rugby football match between England and Wales. When got to know, that this match would take place, I decided to watch it on TV. Ruby football is physically a very tough rough game. It is generally agreed, that American football had its roots in Rugby football. It’s a fast, exciting game to watch.

Saturday arrived and I sat in front of the T.V. But then my old problem began again. Who shall I cheer for? My Welsh half, or my English half? Well, I decided to go for England.. After all, that’s where I was born.  And anyway, I would be on the side of the certain winners. Wales couldn’t possibly beat England – or so I thought. Yes, it was an exciting game.

Who won? Wales won by 33 points to England’s just 3 points. How will I ever finalise my problem?

My mother was born in Wales. My father was born in England. My elder brother was born in Wales. I was born in England. How do I class myself? I am English and I am British.

England does not include Wales and Scotland. Britain (GB) includes all three countries. If we want to include Northern Ireland, then it becomes ‘The United Kingdom ‘(UK). The ‘Great’ in ‘Great Britain’, is there, to prevent confusion with Brittany in the north of France. OK, so far?

So what is the difference between English and British. As far as history can tell us, the original people in England were Britons of Celtic origin. They lived in separate tribes, which helped the Romans when they came to conquer them. After the Romans had left, three main Germanic nations came. The Celtic language was gradually replaced by a form of German. The two German States mostly mentioned were the Angles and the Saxo As society developed, it became necessary to differentiate between the Old Saxons and the Saxons in England. Thus the name Anglo-Saxon came to be the name of those in England. The Anglo-Saxon language, replaced the Celtic language. Today, we only have a very small number of Celtic words – mostly the names of rivers, or towns, where the name begins with ‘Pen—‘. The 8th-century Latin writers used the name Anglo Saxons.

This is probably the beginning of the new name. Anglo, no doubt, came from the name of the Anglo nation. In the year 880 AD, the Treaty of Wedmore was made between the Saxon King Alfred and the Danish leader Guthrum. Here, we see all the non-Danish population in the country, named English. The others were named Danish. The name for the country had variations of ‘Engla laude’ e.g. Engle land; Englene londe; Engelond and Ingland; with England, finally in the 14th century. As I mentioned earlier, England does not include Wales, Scotland or Ireland. The Celtic language (in 2 main forms) is still alive in the non-England countries, which allows them to be British, but not English. The Irish do not normally include themselves in British, despite their everyday use of a Celtic language – (politics!) The Welsh form of Celtic is widely spoken in Wales as a second language. It was also spoken in Cornwall, where it has since died out.

The last fluent speaker there was an old lady, who died in the late 1700s. A form of the same language is also spoken in Brittany in France. Scotland and Ireland have a different form of Celtic, where it is also a second language. So, now you know, why I am both English and British. Or do you? It’s all a bit complicated.

Glossary:

prevent – to stop something

gradually – slowly

From my bedroom window I can look out onto large playing field areas, mostly covered in grass. The word playing field immediately suggests children. At the end of the playing field is a school for young children.

The school day begins at 9’ o clock. So from around 8.40 a.m. the school safari passes by. From ‘tiny tots’, i. e. 3-5 year olds, to maybe 9 – 10 year olds. The older kids, mostly on bikes, cycling with an air and speed of seniority over the little ones, often on mini-bikes, which they have to propel with their feet on the ground, since they don’t have pedals. The little ones are accompanied by their mothers or fathers. Even on freezing cold mornings they run or bike up and down and around, full of fun and colour.

Then there are the dog owners with their various breeds of canine creatures, romping and galloping in all directions, not to mention the birds of all sizes, diving, swooping, hopping or just sitting on the branches of trees, adding their voices to the chorus of the children and the dogs. To be sitting up in bed, drinking my morning tea. It’s one of the most enjoyable parts of the day. No matter what the remainder of the day brings, nothing is too bad after such a beginning. Being able to enjoy such moments, makes retirement simply a second career in life.

So, dear reader, make retirement a happy target. Go for it. I’ll stop writing now, because its time for mid-morning coffee (elevenses!) and time to feed the birds again.

Glossary:
romping  -   jumping, rolling on the ground, etc., for fun
swooping   -   similar to diving, mostly by birds

But I believe that there are more other additives to much of modern processed food, just to make it attractive to eat by the public, who have little, or no information about the hidden contents, for example, the latest  horsemeat in beef foods scandal. So we have foods containing too many fats and sugars, made more inviting by taste additives. Such processed foods are made all the more attractive by being openly displayed on the shelves of super markets.

Individual food retailers have great difficulty in price competition with supermarkets, so they too are tempted to sell the cheapest foods that they can find. Many of them can’t compete, not only on price, but also on lack of parking space for shoppers, who prefer to carry their purchases home by car, rather than carry them on and off buses.

Processed, ready meals are becoming more and more popular with housewives, who are away from home during the day, because they have regular jobs. What is easier for them, than to call in at a super market on their way home from work and buy ready meals for the family, which probably need only a few minutes in the microwave before being ready to eat? This has become a way of life, that would be very difficult to reverse. So the population becomes more and more obese, except for those lucky ones, who have the time and cooking skills to put unprocessed food on the table.

It has been said, that the British population was never so healthy and slim, as during and for five or six years after World War II. This was the result of strict food rationing, with few or no luxury foods to be had. But, who would want to revert to food rationing? The food production and distribution has become so ingrained into modern society, that there is no possibility of reversing it.

So, it seems that the ‘fatties’ will simply become fatter, and all the associated illnesses will increase in number and variety. Hopeless? The human race has existed and increased in numbers, because of its natural ability to adapt to new conditions and catastrophies. What will its answer be to obesity? For myself, I’m looking forward to my evening meal of home-cooked fresh vegetables, organic meat from the local butcher and home-baked bread, baked in an ordinary oven. (No need for a bread maker)

By the way,I am not obese.

During World War 2 they were often known as ‘mystery bags’. Another name for them is ‘bangers’. They are usually included in the typical English breakfast and are certain to make a person’s mouth water, as they sizzle happily in the frying pan, becoming browner by the minute.

Sausage and mash is another typical meal. Mash is simply boiled potatoes, pressed into a creamy looking mass. Sausages can vary in quality, depending on the standards of the particular retailer. Many households are never without sausages in their fridges (refrigerators).

My own household is seldom with them. I prefer the German and Italian types of sausage. Although, even they seem to have lost some of the intensive taste they used to have. Or is that just my personal imagination? What will I be eating today? Fillet steak, fish and chips, Chinese take-away? I don’t yet know. I do know that it won’t be ‘bangers’!    

Glossary:
 
sizzle   -   the noise of frying fat