PSY ‘s Natural English Gangnam Style!

South Korean rapper 'PSY’ (Park Jae-sang) is sweeping the globe with his musical video creation known as ‘Gangnam Style’.  Gangam Style has gone viral on the Internet!  Not only that, PSY has been teaching celebrities from all over how to do Gangnam style dance moves. Even Britney Spears tried out the Gangnam horse ridding inspired dance on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Even though the majority of North American listeners don't understand the lyrics, the video has garnered enormous attention in the media. Music and visuals can be such an expressive medium without international boundaries.

So, as I was listening to PSY and trying out a few of his moves, I noticed he used some excellent, natural, and casual English to teach his famous dance moves.

 PSY said:

“You ‘gotta’ use your upper body also not just your legs.”(to do the horse dance) ABC News

The key word in the sentence is ‘gotta’.  Maybe you already have some experience with ‘gotta’ but let’s just break it down, just in case.

Pronunciation Style

got to = gotta

Meaning

got to = have to/need to

“You ‘got to’ use your upper body also not just your legs.”

=

“You ‘have to/need to’ use your upper body also not just your legs.”

Grammar form

gotta + use

gotta + infinitive verb

Speaking Context or Usage

This is only one of the many ways ‘gotta’ can be used in casual conversation.  I would go into more detail but it would take a few pages of writing.  So, I just want to focus on the use of gotta for teaching someone.  Although ‘gotta is considered bad grammar, we can hear this expression in real life situations such as parents teaching their kids, or friends teaching friends, on You tube, etc.  Also, in a casual teaching context people tend to use the subject marker ‘You’. I recommend using ‘You gotta’ as PSY did. ‘Gotta’ seems like an easy word but, as you know, some of the simplest words have some complex grammar ideas attached to them. 

Try it out!

How to:  Make Instant Cup Noodles or Kraft Dinner or Tea/Coffee or your idea!

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Try it out with a friend, or send me (blogalexg@gmail.com) a sound file, or post a video link. 

Next week, I will post an example answer at Celebrity English.

Answer Idea- Using 'gotta' in a 'How to' teaching context.
Background

Halloween will soon be celebrated in North America (every year on Oct. 31).

So to help get ready for a Halloween party here is an easy idea for creating a Healthier Halloween Treat for kids!  The idea below should be used in a talking style because of the use of ‘gotta’.  You can change it to a writing style by simply substituting ‘gotta’ with 'have to' or 'need to'.

How to make Scary Sippers – Mummy Style

• First, you gotta buy some juice boxes.  You can get darker colored juices like grape or cherry to get more of a Halloween look or feel. Remove the attached straws from the outside of the box.

• Next, wrap the juice boxes with white electrical tape.  Any white tape is 'ok' but electrical tape has a better mummy texture to it. Make sure not to cover the juice box straw hole with the tape. 

• After that, glue on googly eyes.  You can buy these quite cheaply at any craft or dollar store. 

• Then chill the Mummy juice boxes in the fridge until the Halloween party is ready to begin.

• Finally, you gotta put the straws in the Mummy juice boxes. 

Now you are ready to serve these Scary Sippers – Mummy Style to your thirsty little Halloween guests!

Happy Halloween!

(Adapted from the October 2011 issue of Parents magazine)

POSITIVE POWER TO PSY!

An International musical success story,

 ALEX - By the way, I think I will leave the dancing to PSY!

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Celebrity Easter Part 2

President Obama and the Easter Bunny!

                                        

This week’s conversational style is the follow up from last week’s 'Celebrity Easter' blog post.  Everyone is now talking about Easter again.  However, we are now talking about what we 'did' during Easter Weekend:

‘What did you do for Easter?’ or ‘What were doing over Easter weekend?’  (over=during) or ‘What were you up to on Easter?’ (up to = doing)

For language learners, try out these conversational topics with your friends!

Example Speaking Styles

Question 1:  What did you do for Easter?? 

Answer 1: We painted Easter Eggs with the kids and then went to  a big Easter Egg hunt at our local church.. Oh and of course, we went to Easter Mass. 

Question 2: What were doing over Easter last weekend?

Answer 2:  I went to a nightclub on Friday and then had Easter dinner with my parents on Sunday.

Question 3: What were you up to on Easter? 

Answer 3:  I ‘hit the slopes’.  The sun was shining and the snow was great! (to hit the slopes = go skiing).

Now let’s see how the celebrities enjoyed Easter this year.  What were they up to  for Easter?

On Monday April 9, 2012, the First Family (American President Obama and family) hosted the 134th annual White House Easter Egg Roll. 

Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Phillip, attended Easter mass at St. George's Chapel in Windsor, England.

Katy Perry celebrated Easter with Russell Brand at a party.

Robert Pattinson is rumored to have planned a romantic Easter surprise for Kristen Stewart.

 

Hope you had a great Easter weekend!

 Alex

Celebrity English

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Celebrity Easter

Robert Pattinson Easter Card

Easter Time!

This week’s conversational style is quite easy.  Everyone is talking about Easter.  ‘What are you doing for Easter?’ Or ‘What are you going to do for Easter this weekend?’ or ‘What are you up to on Easter?’ (up to = doing)

Now there are many traditional ways to enjoy Easter such as:

…paint Easter Eggs.

…give Easter Cards/chocolates/plants.

…bring Easter Cards/chocolates/plants to loved ones.

…go on or have an Easter Egg hunt

…have Easter dinner with family and/or friends.

….go to Church.

…bring your children to Church.

…go out for dinner/lunch/brunch.

…go on a picnic.

…go to a party or nightclub.

…go to an Easter event.

…take a short vacation.

For language learners, try out these conversational topics with your friends!  I have selected some of the most common ways to enjoy Easter and some of the most common verbs used for this time of year. 

[Cultural Note: in North America a lot of people will have a 'long weekend' (a long weekend =3 days off in a row including Saturday and Sunday)]

Example Speaking Style

Question 1:  What are you doing this Easter? 

Answer 1: I am going to paint Easter Eggs and have an Easter Egg hunt. 

Question 2: What are you going to do for Easter this weekend?

Answer 2:  I am going to go to a nightclub on Friday and then have Easter dinner with my parents on Sunday.

 

Question 3: What are you up to on Easter? 

Answer 3:  I am going to ‘hit the slopes’.  There is still lots of snow on the mountains (to hit the slopes = go skiing).

Since most people have an extra day off from work this weekend, most people will be talking about their plans for the weekend.  People will have been talking about their plans all week unless they have to work. 

Now let’s see how the celebrities are enjoying Easter this year.  What are they going to do for Easter?

David Arquette and Courteney Cox are going to stop by a friend's house in LA with an Easter basket.

Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth are going to bring Ava and Deacon to church in LA.

Jaden Smith and Will Smith are going to the White House to give an Easter Egg Hunt concert.

 

Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale are going to bring Zuma and Kingston to her parents' Southern California home.

 

Well, that is all for now. I will be doing the past tense next week regarding Easter:  “What did you do on Easter?”

Celebrity Easter 2

See you then and have a great Easter Holiday!

Alex

Celebrity English

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Fergie: Chilling!

Fergie

Fergie the duchess of pop! American singersong-writer, fashion designer, TV host and actress.  Very well known for her work with the hip-hop group ‘The Black Eyed Peas’.  Let’s check out what she does on her day off. 

Interview

Question: What do you usually do when you aren’t working?

Fergie: At home…I'll lie out by the pool, and Josh (Josh Duhamel-Fergie’s husband) hits golf balls to Zoe (Fergie’s dachshund) as we listen to music. In the evening, we'll order Indian or Chinese, turn on the fire pit, and talk about old times.  We're pretty chill.

Fergie’s Speaking Style

Fergie answers the question with a lot of detail so the listener can imagine her usual day off from work in the daytime and evening.   She paints a nice, relaxing but fun picture of her home life: by the poolside listening to music while her husband plays with the dog.    The evening ‘picture’ finishes with take out food, sitting by a fire, talking about old times.  It is very inviting for the listener.  Fergie has given us a glimpse of her personal life in a rich storybook fashion. 

With regard to grammar usage, Fergie starts by explaining a usual day with the simple future tense ‘will’ to predict or make an assumption about her next days off.  It isn’t 100% but this is how she usually spends her leisure time.  The verbs after follow simple present tense for a habitual/common feeling.

Fergie: “At home…I'll (=will) lie out by the pool, and Josh (Josh Duhamel-Fergie’s husband) hits golf balls to Zoe (Fergie’s dachshund) as we listen to music.”

Once again, Fergie follows the same pattern for describing her evening. 

Fergie: “In the evening, we'll order Indian or Chinese, turn on the fire pit, and talk about old times.”

Then she sums up her feelings about the picture she has painted for the listener with the casual expression:  “We're pretty chill.”

Casual, Common Speaking Expression

to chill = to relax, hang out, take it easy; not doing much

Feeling of the Language

As a listener, I would like to spend time with Fergie, her husband, and her dog by the poolside.  Moreover, an evening of food, fire pit, and people reminiscing can be quite cozy.  Her talking style is inviting and rich in imagery.  You could almost say ‘idyllic’.  It is also pronounced because she uses a future tense to begin the morning and evening imagery.  Fergie’s English speaking style is high class.  Quite often, people respond to this question using one or two sentences:

Example of common 1~2 sentence answer style

“Well, I usually  ________.  And then, I often  _________.  (That is how I spend my time off from work).

This pattern is also great/useful but not quite up to the level of Fergie “The Dutchess of Pop”!

Casual Conversation Practice

Question: What do you usually do when you aren’t working?

Answer: At home…I'll lie out by the pool, and Josh  hits golf balls to Zoe  as we listen to music. In the evening, we'll order Indian or Chinese, turn on the fire pit, and talk about old times. We're pretty chill.

Ex. 1

Question: What do you usually do when you aren’t working?

Answer: At home…I'll read in the backyard, and my husband weeds the garden  as we listen to music. In the evening, we'll  make dinner together. We're pretty chill.

Ex. 2

(Simpler style)

Question: What do you usually do when you aren’t studying at school?

Answer: At home…I'll play video games with my best friend and we watch our favorite TV shows.

Have a good one! And Enjoy some of Fergie’s Biggest hits!

Alex

Celebrity English

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Beyoncé: Clothes and Hairstyles

                                                            Beyoncé

Question 1:  What’s one item of clothing you can’t get enough of?

Beyoncé Answer 1:  T-shirts.  I can never have enough.  My favorite is a simple white T-shirt.

Question 2:  Of all the hairstyles you’ve tried over the years, which one is your favorite?

Beyoncé Answer 2:  My favorite is still a high ponytail.  It’s clean and classic.

 

Talking clothing and hairstyles with American R&B recording artist Beyoncé. 

Speaking Style Answer 1

Beyonce uses a common grammar pattern but puts the Object at the beginning creating two sentence styles.

Common grammar pattern

I can never have enough T-shirts.

(S)               (V)                 (O)

Beyonce’s style

T-shirts.  I can never have enough. 

(O)           (S)             (V)

Beyonce’s answer sounds natural in conversation because all of the elements of the sentence are in the answer.  This speaking style emphasizes T-shirts and then Beyonce follows with a second sentence.  The second sentence, with the use of the word ‘favorite’, also implies an idea of ‘one item only’ and gives more information to the listener. 

Speaking Style Answer 2

Beyonce uses common English to describe her favorite hairstyle.  The word ‘still’ in the answer reflects the idea of ‘over the years’ (asked in Question 2).  She then follows with a second sentence to give more detail or the ‘why’ she likes the high ponytail. 

Clothing and hairstyles are pretty popular topics but here are some more to try out!

Enjoy!

                                             

Example Speaking Styles

Speaking Style Answer 1

Question 1:  What’s one item of clothing you can’t get enough of?

Answer 1:  T-shirts.  I can never have enough.  My favorite is a simple white T-shirt.

Ex.1

Question 1:  What’s one item of jewelry you can’t get enough of?

Answer 1:  Earrings.  I can never have enough.  My favorite is a simple hoop earring.

Ex.2

Question 1:  What’s one kind of food you can’t get enough of?

Answer 1:  Ice cream.  I can never have enough.  My favorite is chocolate.

Speaking Style Answer 2

Question 2:  Of all the hairstyles you’ve tried over the years, which one is your favorite?

Answer 2:  My favorite is still a high ponytail.  It’s clean and classic.

Ex.1

Question 2:  Of all the skin care brands you’ve tried over the years, which one is your favorite?

Answer 2:  My favorite is still L’Oreal.  It’s silky and accelerates skin recovery.

Ex.2

Question 2:  Of all the cars you’ve driven over the years, which one is your favorite?

Answer 2:  My favorite is still a mustang.  It’s cool and fast.

Until next week let's enjoy some popular music from Beyoncé!

Beyoncé performing Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

Beyoncé performing Best Thing I Never Had

Alex

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Brad Pitt: Love

                                                             Brad Pitt

Question: How do you know when you’re in love?

Brad Pitt: Do you know how you tell real love? It's when someone else's interest trumps your own. I like to put it that way: trumps your own.

(to put it that way=to say it that way)

(to trump your own=to beat/defeat/over-power your own)

Talking about Love

Talking about love with friends.  Love is a topic when you have talked to someone 4 –5 times; maybe more.   Love is a strong emotion and people often listen closely and check to see if you feel the same or different from them.  People see love as a core value. 

Brad Pitt uses a rhetorical question to answer the original question. Also, he re-frames the original question in another form but the topic idea remains the same.  The form he uses has an authority style feeling to it.

Do you know how to tell (=notice) you’re in real love? = I will teach you.

This authority style speech gives him an aura of father, teacher, guru, expert, etc.

However, it is common and doesn’t sound too strong for the listener in a rhetorical question form.  You may also want to use this style to give yourself a moment to think of an appropriate answer. 

He says his idea about love using a common wording that is often used to describe love:

It's when …

Next, he gives his message and reemphasizes it by simply repeating the same words again:

It's when someone else's interest 'trumps your own'. I like to put it that way: 'trumps your own'.

He is using a strong expression style and then changes to a softer feeling. The change of tone expresses his passion and belief about love for his mate.  His mate is number one and he will be number two for her because he truly loves her.  Brad Pitt comes across as a man with strong convictions about love.  Brad achieves HIGH CLASS COMMUNICATION/English with only a few sentences. 

Speaking Pattern

Do you know how to tell you’re in real love? It's when someone else's interest trumps your own. I like to put it that way: trumps your own.

Part One

First, let’s simplify Brad’s style:

Do you know how to tell you’re in real love?  It's when someone else's interest trumps your own.

Examples:

Do you know how to tell you’re in real love?  It's when someone else's interest trumps your own.

1.Do you know how to tell you’re in real love?  It's when two becomes one.

2.Do you know how to tell you’re in real love?  It's when you can’t imagine life without the other person.

Part Two

Now, let’s lengthen the style:

Do you know how to tell you’re in real love? It's when someone else's interest trumps your own. I like to put it that way: trumps your own.

Examples:

3.Do you know how to tell you’re in real love?  It's when two becomes one.

I like to put it that way: two becomes one.

4.Do you know how to tell you’re in real love?  It's when you can’t imagine life without the other person.  I like to put it that way: can’t imagine life without the other person.

Try it with me :-)

I would love to see one of your ideas in Brad's simplified form. Please post or send me 1 Example Sentence. :-)

It’s when ______________________.

Also Find Out what Angelina Jolie feels about Long-term Relationships!

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BRAD PITT’S LATEST MOVIE!  "THE TREE OF LIFE" 

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                                                                        Heidi Klum

Girl Talk: Describing your MAN!

 

Question: What’s your guy like?

Heidi Klum: He’s mysterious, do you know what I mean? He has these dark eyes, and they’re very intense. He is so warm, and he is so well-mannered, so like a gentleman.

Talking to your friends about your MAN (boyfriend, husband, significant other)!

Heidi talks about her ‘man’ with a lot of passion. She starts by answering the question with a rhetorical question with the alluring adjective ‘mysterious’:

"He’s mysterious, do you know what I mean?"...

No answer is necessary. She is just emphasizing her feelings in an attractive way.  Next, she uses the word ‘these’ to emphasis her man’s eyes. 

Her language sounds natural and gives the listener lots of information.  Her passion and detail signal that more questions about this topic are good for making/continuing a conversation with Heidi.

 A lot of people native and non-native English speakers make the mistake of answering this question with a one-word answer.  If you want to improve your conversation skills it is necessary to use answers full of information and passion.  This will send a signal to the other person to continue with the conversation. 

As you can see, the passion and detailed information comes from the use of adjectives.  The adjectives aren’t difficult but when put in this pattern style become High Class English/Communication!  It is easy to see that she loves this guy! Passionate, natural, clear communication achieved.

Speaking Pattern

He’s mysterious, do you know what I mean? He has these dark eyes, and they’re very intense. He is so warm, and he is so well-mannered, so like a gentleman.

 Some Examples to get you started in your social circles:

1. He’s mysterious, do you know what I mean? He has these blue eyes, and they’re very intense. He is so gentle, and he is so considerate, so like a gentleman.

2. He’s mysterious, do you know what I mean? He has these green eyes, and they’re very intense. He is so hot, and he is so kind, so like a gentleman.

3. He’s mysterious, do you know what I mean? He has these hazel eyes, and they’re very intense. He is so nice, and he is so thoughtful, so like a gentleman.

4. He’s mysterious, do you know what I mean? He has these piercing eyes, and they’re very intense. He is so strong, and he is so courteous, so like a gentleman.

 

Check Out Heidi Klum’s MAN!

Hope you are having fun! 
Hang in there and don't be shy!
Talk to you next week,

Alex - Celebrity English
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