Ninety-six: Weekend Activities and Forum Questions Noventa y seis: Actividades de fin de semana y preguntas del Foro Novantasei: Attività del fine settimana e domande del forum 96：週末のアクティビティとフォーラムでの質問 Dziewięćdziesiąty szósty: Weekendowe aktywności i pytania na forum Noventa e seis: Actividades de fim de semana e perguntas do fórum Nittiosex: Helgaktiviteter och forumfrågor Doksan altı: Hafta Sonu Etkinlikleri ve Forum Soruları 九十六：周末活动及论坛提问

Mark: Mark Kaufmann here again for the EnglishLingQ Podcast with Jill Soles, Jill?

Jill: Hello.

Mark: What’s new today?

Jill: I hate that question. Jill: Odio esa pregunta.

Mark: You should be prepared, you know something’s coming. Mark: Měl bys být připraven, víš, že se něco blíží. Mark: Deberías estar preparado, sabes que algo va a pasar. Mark : Vous devriez être prêt, vous savez que quelque chose arrive. Mark: Hazırlıklı olmalısın, bir şeylerin geleceğini biliyorsun.

Jill: But there’s really not a lot new, what can I say? Jill : Mais il n'y a vraiment pas grand chose de nouveau, que puis-je dire ? Jill: Ama gerçekten yeni bir şey yok, ne diyebilirim ki?

Mark: Over the weekend; nothing? Mark : Au cours du week-end ; rien?

Jill: Not really anything. I mean I did some things on the weekend, but…

Mark: More Christmas shopping? Mark: Další vánoční nákupy?

Jill: A little bit, but I’m mostly done. Jill: Trochu, ale většinou jsem skončil. Джил: Немного, но в основном я уже закончила. No, I went to a production of Beauty and the Beast at one of the theaters in Vancouver. No, fui a una producción de La Bella y la Bestia en uno de los teatros de Vancouver. Нет, я ходила на спектакль "Красавица и чудовище" в один из театров Ванкувера. Hayır, Vancouver'daki tiyatrolardan birinde Güzel ve Çirkin oyununa gittim.

Mark: Oh yeah.

Jill: I took my little nieces there and that was good; that was fun. It was a long, so even for a 6 and 8 year old they were pretty fidgety and bouncing around in their chairs a lot by the last hour. Fue un largo, por lo que incluso para un 6 y 8 años de edad eran bastante inquieto y rebotando en sus sillas mucho por la última hora. C'était long, donc même pour un enfant de 6 et 8 ans, ils étaient assez agités et rebondissaient beaucoup sur leurs chaises au cours de la dernière heure.

Mark: When I go to productions, I’m like that too. Mark: Yo también soy así cuando voy a producciones. Mark : Quand je vais à des productions, je suis comme ça aussi.

Jill: Well.

Mark: Yes, I have that problem like at a show, right? Mark: Ano, mám ten problém jako na výstavě, že? Mark: Sí, tengo ese problema como en una exposición, ¿no? Mark : Oui, j'ai ce problème comme lors d'un show, n'est-ce pas ?

Jill: Ants in your pants? Jill: Mravenci v kalhotách? Jill: ¿Hormigas en los pantalones? Jill: Mieren in je broek? Джилл: Муравьи в штанах?

Mark: Yeah, it’s tough; knees start to hurt. Mark: Jo, je to těžké; začnou bolet kolena. Mark : Ouais, c'est dur ; les genoux commencent à faire mal.

Jill: Yeah.

Mark: I don’t have that problem at movies so much, but I’m just not a big production, live theater fan, so I can sympathize… Mark: Yo no tengo tanto ese problema en el cine, pero es que no soy un gran aficionado a las producciones, al teatro en vivo, así que puedo simpatizar... Mark : Je n'ai pas tellement ce problème au cinéma, mais je ne suis tout simplement pas un grand fan de production, de théâtre en direct, donc je peux sympathiser… Марк: В кино у меня такой проблемы нет, но я просто не большой любитель постановок, живого театра, так что могу посочувствовать...

Jill: Yeah, well it was good though.

Mark: …with your nieces.

Jill: Yeah, but they’re 6 and 8; you should be able to control yourself.

Mark: I have to stand up; go to the bathroom. Mark: Tengo que levantarme; ir al baño. Mark : Je dois me lever ; Aller à la salle de bain. Марк: Я должен встать, пойти в туалет.

Jill: Well there was an intermission, but it was quite long, I have to say. Jill: Byla tam přestávka, ale byla docela dlouhá, musím říct. Jill : Eh bien, il y a eu un entracte, mais c'était assez long, je dois dire. I mean I was ready to leave when it was done too, but that was good. Je veux dire que j'étais prêt à partir quand ça a été fait aussi, mais c'était bien. And just got together with my family one night and had a big dinner with all my siblings and niece and nephew and mom and then last night got together with some good friends for dinner at a new French restaurant in Vancouver and that was very good. Y me reuní con mi familia una noche y tuve una gran cena con todos mis hermanos y sobrina y sobrino y mamá y luego ayer por la noche se reunió con algunos buenos amigos para cenar en un nuevo restaurante francés en Vancouver y que era muy bueno. Yeah, that’s about it. Sí, eso es todo.

Mark: That sounds pretty good.

Jill: It was a good weekend.

Mark: Myself, we didn’t get up to much. Mark: Já sám jsme toho moc nevstávali. Mark : Moi, on ne s'est pas trop levé. Mark: Zelf hebben we niet veel uitgespookt. Марк: Я сам, мы не так много успели сделать. Mark: Ben de pek bir şey yapmadık. The kids had their sports events. Děti měly své sportovní akce.

Jill: Are they on all week? Jill: Jsou zapnuté celý týden? Jill: ¿Están en toda la semana? Jill: Staan ze de hele week aan? Is there a break for Christmas at some point? Je někdy přestávka na Vánoce?

Mark: Yeah, yeah, although Kyle’s hockey seems to be on this week. Mark : Ouais, ouais, bien que le hockey de Kyle semble être au rendez-vous cette semaine. The soccer is done as of this past weekend, but he’s got a game on the 23rd, which is crazy. El fútbol está hecho desde este fin de semana pasado, pero tiene partido el 23, una locura. Le football est terminé depuis le week-end dernier, mais il a un match le 23, ce qui est fou.

Jill: That’s on Sunday.

Mark: I know. It’s like, what? To jako, co? Это как, что?

Jill: Oh wow.

Mark: I know, so they were trying to reschedule it, but apparently they didn’t, so Sunday at like 8 in the morning.

Jill: Well, I guess you get it over with so if you do still have lots of things to get ready for you’ve got the rest of the day. Jill: Bueno, supongo que lo consigues con lo que si usted todavía tiene un montón de cosas para prepararse usted tiene el resto del día. Jill : Eh bien, je suppose que vous en avez fini, donc si vous avez encore beaucoup de choses à préparer, vous avez le reste de la journée.

Mark: Yeah, for sure. Mark: Sí, seguro.

Jill: It’s not at noon or something. Jill: Není v poledne nebo tak něco. Jill : Ce n'est pas à midi ou quelque chose comme ça.

Mark: No, I know, I know. Mark: Ne, já vím, já vím. Marc : Non, je sais, je sais. I mean that’s the thing, at that time of year you’ve got events to go to and you’ve got to prepare for Christmas and shopping and, you know, whatever food you’ve got to buy for Christmas dinners and… Я имею в виду, что в это время года нужно посещать мероприятия, готовиться к Рождеству, ходить по магазинам, покупать продукты для рождественских ужинов и...

Jill: …decorating.

Mark: I do most of that stuff at home, that’s the thing, so I’m going to be busy. Mark: Většinu těch věcí dělám doma, to je věc, takže budu zaneprázdněný.

Jill: Sure.

Mark: Still, even for me it’s not ideal timing, but anyway he’ll be happy. Mark: Přesto ani pro mě to není ideální načasování, ale každopádně bude šťastný. Mark: Aun así, incluso para mí no es el momento ideal, pero de todas formas estará contento.

Jill: Yeah, he loves it, so.

Mark: For sure. Other than that I didn’t get up to much. I went snowshoeing with my dad yesterday, which was fun, up on the mountain. Took our dog; he was quite excited in the snow. A pris notre chien; il était tout excité dans la neige.

Jill: I can imagine.

Mark: Quite the workout for him if he got off the trail where the snow is quite deep. Mark: Todo un entrenamiento para él si salía del sendero donde la nieve es bastante profunda. Mark : Tout un entraînement pour lui s'il sortait du sentier où la neige est assez profonde. I mean he’s got four legs, but he’s working hard. Je veux dire qu'il a quatre pattes, mais il travaille dur.

Jill: Yeah.

Mark: It’s kind of funny. Yeah, other than that… Sí, aparte de eso...

Jill: You took it easy. Jill: Te lo tomaste con calma. Jill: Je deed het rustig aan. Джил: Ты не напрягался.

Mark: Took it easy, yeah.

Jill: Well that’s good too this time of year if you can actually manage to take it easy on a weekend and have downtime. Jill : Eh bien, c'est bien aussi à cette période de l'année si vous arrivez à vous détendre un week-end et à avoir des temps morts. Jill: Nou, dat is ook goed in deze tijd van het jaar als het je lukt om het in het weekend rustig aan te doen en vrije tijd hebt. That’s a rare thing I think this time of year.

Mark: It is. What’s nice is -- as the kids' events stop happening -- yeah, it’s funny how all of a sudden you’ve got lots of time on the weekend because usually we’re running around. Ce qui est bien, c'est que - alors que les événements pour enfants cessent d'avoir lieu - ouais, c'est drôle comme tout d'un coup vous avez beaucoup de temps le week-end parce que d'habitude nous courons partout. Jill: Yeah, from soccer to hockey to dancing.

Mark: It’s amazing; it’s amazing. Other than that I thought today we could maybe pull a few examples off the forum; questions that our members have been asking on the Ask Your Tutor Forum and expand on them a little bit. Aparte de eso, he pensado que hoy podríamos sacar algunos ejemplos del foro; preguntas que nuestros miembros han estado haciendo en el foro Pregunte a su tutor y ampliarlas un poco.

Jill: Good idea.

Mark: And so the first question was asked by Rosie. She was asking about starting a sentence with “but”, which is a question that actually comes up fairly often because a lot of English teachers…and I know when I was a kid you were always told never begin a sentence with “but”.

Jill: And or but.

Mark: And or but.

Jill: Yeah, that’s right.

Mark: I’d get that wrong. Mark: Me equivocaría. You’d get that wrong, right? No, you can’t start a sentence with “and” or “but”.

Jill: Right.

Mark: But, you see that now.

Jill: You do, all over; writers, authors, people begin sentences with “and” or “but” all the time.

Mark: And the question is, why are you not allowed to start a sentence with “and” or “but”? Somewhere along the line someone decided that was a rule. En algún momento alguien decidió que eso era una norma. But, you know, really, a lot of the time the first sentence really has ended and at least when you’re speaking you are starting a second sentence with “but” and really, what’s wrong with that?

Jill: Yeah, I’m not sure how it evolved, but I remember one English teacher in particular in high school hated it. He hated “and” and “but” and he would say use, you know, “however”, “on the contrary”, “nevertheless”. Odiaba los "y" y los "pero" y decía, ya sabes, "sin embargo", "por el contrario", "no obstante". There are all these other transitional words you can use that are so much better than “and” or “but” and maybe just because they’re bigger words, I don’t know. They sound more sophisticated and that’s fine. It is good to use those words, but you can overdo it. C'est bien d'utiliser ces mots, mais vous pouvez en faire trop. If you use those words constantly in one paragraph it sounds ridiculous too. It’s totally redundant and it just doesn’t sound good to use them too often either.

Mark: Right.

And a lot of the time “and” or “but” is just fine, although for the rest of our conversation I’m going to try to use “nevertheless” as much as possible.

Jill: “On the other hand”; “however”. So yeah, what I told Rosie is that now it is perfectly acceptable. Así que sí, lo que le dije a Rosie es que ahora es perfectamente aceptable. I know that some of our writing correctors will still correct that, will change it, if you do that in your writing. Je sais que certains de nos correcteurs d'écriture corrigeront encore cela, le changeront, si vous le faites dans votre écriture.

Mark: Right.

Jill: That’s because they’ve been taught that way.

Mark: And, technically, maybe…I don’t know even what to say. Mark : Et, techniquement, peut-être… je ne sais même pas quoi dire. Technically, is it still wrong?

Jill: I don’t know.

Mark: I don’t know. You see it a lot. I mean the thing is language…

Jill: …evolves.

Mark: That’s right.

It’s not fixed, so what’s for sure is you didn’t used to see “and” or “but” starting sentences at all 20 years ago. No es fijo, lo que es seguro es que hace 20 años no se solía ver "y" o "pero" empezando frases.

Jill: Yeah.

Mark: You just didn’t see that and you see it now more and more.

Jill: I see it all the time.

Mark: All the time and it’s not going to go back the other way again. Mark : Tout le temps et ça ne reviendra pas dans l'autre sens. Марк: Постоянно, и это уже не вернется в другую сторону.

Jill: No.

Mark: Basically, that’s becoming…

Jill: …the norm.

Mark: And so, you may get that wrong in your corrections sometimes from some of our tutors; you may not. I guess what we’re saying is don’t worry about it. If you want to start your sentences with “and” or “but” go ahead.

Jill: Again, like with any of the other words, you shouldn’t use the same words over and over and over again, so if you have a paragraph that’s five sentences don’t begin three of them with “and” and “but”.

Mark: Right.

Jill: You know, try to have a variety in there, but I think it’s fine to start a sentence.

Mark: As I think about how I use “and or “but” or if I use them to start sentences, I probably try not to use them to start sentences that often, but if there’s a situation where I have to do that I have no problem doing it.

Jill: Right.

Mark: And so, I mean, maybe that’s a good rule of thumb. Mark: Y entonces, quiero decir, tal vez esa sea una buena regla general. Mark : Et donc, je veux dire, c'est peut-être une bonne règle de base. Don’t make a habit of starting all your sentences with “and” or “but”. Try to keep them…

Jill: …to a minimum, maybe…

Mark: …but if you have to it’s certainly not something to worry about.

Jill: Yeah, I agree.

Mark: With that, why don’t we move on to the next question and that was “the powers that be.” That was Serge asking about that phrase.

Jill: It’s quite interesting because I can understand why he would be confused and why anybody would not understand what that means; it’s kind of abstract. I think it’s fairly useful. It’s maybe not really common, but it’s still useful to know.

Mark: For sure. It’s one of those phrases that you can’t understand just by understanding its constituent parts, individual words. C'est une de ces phrases que vous ne pouvez pas comprendre simplement en comprenant ses éléments constitutifs, des mots individuels. For whatever reason, those words put together mean a certain thing. “The powers that be” refers to the people that are in charge; the people running things; the powers that be. "Los poderes fácticos" se refiere a la gente que está al mando; la gente que dirige las cosas; los poderes fácticos. « Les pouvoirs en place » fait référence aux personnes qui sont en charge ; les gens qui dirigent les choses ; les pouvoirs en place.

Jill: The people that are controlling everything. Jill : Les gens qui contrôlent tout.

Mark: Right.

It’s a fairly common expression and one that’s probably worth knowing anyway. You don’t have to use it, but you want to understand it when you hear it.

Jill: Yeah.

Mark: Yeah, that’s basically all there is to it. Mark: Sí, eso es básicamente todo. There’s no real explanation as to how it came to be or why it means what it does, but it refers to those in charge.

Jill: Exactly.

Mark: Lastly… Mark: Por último...

Jill: I think it was Rosie again.

Mark: Was it Rosie again?

Jill: I believe so.

Mark: That was asking about…

Jill: …sticking needles in your eyes? Jill : ... vous enfoncer des aiguilles dans les yeux ? Jill: ... naalden in je ogen steken?

Mark: Yes. I think on one of our previous podcasts you said “I think I’d rather stick needles in my eyes.” Not that you would rather stick needles in your eyes than be in a podcast with me. Je pense que sur l'un de nos podcasts précédents, vous avez dit "Je pense que je préfère me planter des aiguilles dans les yeux." Non pas que vous préfériez vous planter des aiguilles dans les yeux plutôt que d'être dans un podcast avec moi.

Jill: Right, no.

Mark: It was referring to something else.

Jill: Rather than playing football in the snow; that’s what it was referring to. Jill: En lugar de jugar al fútbol en la nieve; eso es lo que se refería. And, I mean, of course too, like I said, I was being dramatic and I didn’t mean I would actually physically take needles and put them in my eyes; stick them in my eyes.

Mark: But it’s a nice image there to get your message across. Mark: Pero es una buena imagen para transmitir tu mensaje. It was that you really don’t want to play football in the snow.

Jill: And I’d pretty much rather do anything else, even stick needles in my eyes. Джил: А я бы предпочла делать все остальное, даже втыкать иголки в глаза.

Mark: That’s right.

Now having said that, I think probably you would be in the majority there. The majority of people would rather not play football in the snow, but you’re all missing out. La mayoría de la gente preferiría no jugar al fútbol en la nieve, pero se lo están perdiendo. De meerderheid van de mensen voetbalt liever niet in de sneeuw, maar jullie missen allemaal wat.

Jill: I’ll take your word for it. Jill: Voy a tomar su palabra. Jill: Ik geloof je op je woord. Джил: Я поверю вам на слово.

Mark: Yeah; yeah so.

Jill: There are so many different things you could say to mean the same thing that are very dramatic and you’re exaggerating. My aunt…I have this aunt who’s very, very, funny and she’s quite witty. Mi tía... tengo una tía que es muy, muy, divertida y bastante ingeniosa. One time she said to me and I mean it sounds kind of horrible, actually, and I can’t remember what we were talking about, but she said “Oh, I’d rather set myself on fire”, so it was the same idea. Una vez me dijo y quiero decir que suena un poco horrible, en realidad, y no puedo recordar de qué estábamos hablando, pero dijo "Oh, prefiero prenderme fuego", así que era la misma idea. Однажды она сказала мне, и я имею в виду, что это звучит довольно ужасно, на самом деле, и я не помню, о чем мы говорили, но она сказала: "О, я лучше подожгу себя", так что это была та же самая идея.

Mark: Right and I think those kinds of expressions…or people say the same kinds of things I would assume in all languages just to make your point. Mark: Sí, y creo que ese tipo de expresiones... o la gente dice el mismo tipo de cosas, supongo que en todos los idiomas, para que quede claro. Very often you can understand what they mean even if you haven’t heard that expression before. Très souvent, vous pouvez comprendre ce qu'ils signifient même si vous n'avez jamais entendu cette expression auparavant.

Jill: Right, the context.

Mark: Obviously, you’re not really going to stick needles in your eyes and light yourself on fire, but you’re trying to make a point.

Jill: That you really, really, don’t want to do something.

Mark: That’s right.

Jill: So yeah, and, actually, playing football in the snow would not be the worse thing in the world. I mean I enjoy the snow and I love being in the fresh air, but with a bunch of men where I’m probably going to get maimed… Quiero decir que me gusta la nieve y me encanta estar al aire libre, pero con un puñado de hombres donde probablemente me mutilen... Je veux dire que j'aime la neige et j'aime être à l'air frais, mais avec un groupe d'hommes où je vais probablement me faire mutiler…

Mark: Not so many girls would really want to do that, no, no.

Jill: No.

Mark: I wouldn’t expect it, yeah. Mark: No me lo esperaría, sí.

Jill: I’m glad you understand.

Mark: Yeah, that’s right. Do we have time for one more? I think we can probably wrap it up. Creo que podemos terminar. Ik denk dat we het waarschijnlijk kunnen afronden. Should we just see what else? We can see what else we’ve got… Podemos ver qué más tenemos...

Jill: … on the forum.

Mark: Yeah, “the nuts and bolts.” Mark: Sí, "las tuercas y los tornillos". Mark: Ja, "de moeren en bouten."

Jill: Oh, that was something people asked about on The Linguist as well.

Mark: 'Newalb' is their user name. I don’t know who that is, but asked a question about the expression “the nuts and bolts” of how to learn languages.

Jill: The basics. I mean the “nuts and bolts” when you’re putting something together, a table or I don’t know, whatever, they’re the smallest part, right? Je veux dire les « écrous et boulons » lorsque vous assemblez quelque chose, une table ou je ne sais pas, peu importe, c'est la plus petite partie, n'est-ce pas ?

Mark: Exactly.

Jill: And they’re your building blocks. Jill: Y son sus bloques de construcción. You start with the nuts and the bolts.

Mark: Exactly.

Jill: And you have to have to have those to actually put whatever furniture together you’re putting together.

Mark: So, it just refers to starting with the smallest pieces and sort of building from there. Mark: Se refiere a empezar con las piezas más pequeñas y construir a partir de ahí.

Jill: Right.

Mark: In this case it refers to learning languages, but you hear that expression used in many different contexts.

Alright, well we’ll end there today and we will talk to you again…

Jill: …on Friday.