Learning thru English

You know that I always tell you to speak and read slowly and give a proper intonation to your speech. Perhaps you would like to practice on your own, so why don´t you pay attention to this video?

If you go to County Antrim, in Northern Ireland, you will discover a mysterious collection of about 40,000 columns of stone next to the sea. Local people call the stones the Giant´s Causeway, and there is an ancient story about their origin: 

  In Ireland, lived a gentle giant called Finn McCool. At fifty two feet six inches, he was a relatively small giant… 

… But across the sea in Scotland there was a rival giant called Benandonner. 

The two Giants hollered across the sea of Moyle, each demanding a trial of strength. This was agreed, and hospitable Finn offered to make the contest possible by building a rocky causeway between the two countries. But the work was so laborious that Finn fell asleep with exhaustion… 

Oonagh was Finn’s wife, a giantess; she woke up early the next morning to find Finn asleep. Then she heard the sound of thunderous footsteps… 

… and saw the mighty Benandonner approaching. He was truly gigantic. Finn would be no match against this Scottish giant! Quick thinking Oonagh covered the sleeping Finn with a nightgown and bonnet…

“Where’s Finn?” bellowed Benandonner, “Where is the coward hiding?” He peered at the sleeping Finn.

“Be quiet,” Oonagh warned Benandonner, “or you’ll waken the bairn!”

Benandonner panicked. If the child was this big, how much bigger might Finn be? He did not stay to find out… He hastily retreated across the causeway, destroying it in his wake…

 Modern geologists have another opinion about the Giant´s Causeway. They say that they are the result of a prehistoric volcanic eruption. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12 metres high and the solidified lava is 28 metres thick in some places.

There are several supposed origins to this word. The earliest recorded use of this expression has been traced to the Boston Morning Post edition of 23rd March 1839. It seems to have been an example of a wrong abbreviation, and supposedly stood for “oll korrect”, meaning “all correct”.

Another story says that in 1840, the Democrats in New York created a body called the Democratic OK Club to support their candidate Martin Van Buren. “OK” here actually stood for “Old Kinderhook”, his birthplace in the state of New York.

But the most common and accepted origin is attributed to a spelling mistake made by Andrew Jackson during the presidential campaign in 1828. He wrote “ole korrek” on a document which contained the acquittal of a condemned man.

In 1932 it was officially included among the international terms for radio broadcasting. Later, during the Second World War, the American army used “O Killed” to refer to “zero killed”.

Last week we talked about mysteries … Do you remember the Loch Ness monster?

Well, they say they were filming an interview when they saw something which could be Nessie. What do you think? Is it fact or fiction?

Did you know that “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is a song from the 1945 musical, Carousel.

Because the song is included during the graduation finale of the musical, it has become a standard, sung by graduation classes in the United States.

The song is also sung at football clubs around the world, where it is performed by a chorus of supporters on matchday. This tradition began at Liverpool F.C. in the early nineteen-sixties when the deejay at Anfield played the top-ten commercial records in ascending order, with the number one single transmitted last, shortly before kickoff. You’ll Never Walk Alone, by Gerry and the Peacemakers (a Liverpudian group) was no.1 for a long time and supporters sang it along. Once the song dropped out of the top-ten, they continued to sing it.

Now it´s Liverpool anthem and the title appears on the club’s official badge.

People who have been at Anfield say that listening to You´ll Never Walk Alone is a really thrilling experience and everybody sings (even supporters of other teams!).

If you have never listened to it, here it is…

And here is the original version with lyrics (so you can try and sing it, too!)

World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD) is an organization founded in 1980 by Peter Gabriel, former lead vocalist and flautist of the rock group Genesis, Thomas Brooman and Bob Hooton. They had such an enthusiasm for music from other cultures that they thought they could share that with other people. This developed into an event incorporating music from all over the world.

The first WOMAD festival took place in Shepton Mallet, England, in 1982. Now, festivals are held in over 20 countries with an audience of over 80,000 people per event.

The next WOMAD festival in Spain is taking place in Cáceres from 7th  to 10th March.

Here is the link to WOMAD in case you want more information.

http://womad.org/