Ninety-five: Is it Okay to Say “Merry Christmas?” Noventa y cinco: ¿Está bien decir "Feliz Navidad"? Novantacinque: Va bene dire "Buon Natale"? 95歳メリークリスマス」と言ってもいいのか？ Dziewięćdziesiąt pięć: Czy można powiedzieć "Wesołych Świąt"? Noventa e cinco: É correto dizer "Feliz Natal"? Nittiofem: Är det okej att säga "God jul"? Doksan beş: "Mutlu Noeller" Demek Doğru mu? 九十五：可以说“圣诞快乐吗？”

Mark: Hi again everyone, Mark Kaufmann here for the EnglishLingQ Podcast. Today I am joined by Jill. Hoje estou acompanhado por Jill. How’s it going Jill? Como vai Jill?

Jill: For something completely different. Jill: Para algo completamente diferente.

Mark: Yes, a new wrinkle. Mark: Sí, una nueva arruga. Mark: Sim, uma nova ruga. Марк: Да, новая складка.

Jill: I’m well thanks, how are you? Jill: Estou bem obrigada, como você está?

Mark: I’m good; although, it’s kind of ruining our theory about the sunny podcast day today. Mark: Estoy bien; aunque, en cierto modo, está arruinando nuestra teoría sobre el soleado día de podcast de hoy. Mark: Estou bem; embora esteja meio que arruinando nossa teoria sobre o dia ensolarado de podcast de hoje. It is 1 degree and raining. Está 1 grau e chovendo.

Jill: No, it’s actually 6 degrees, apparently.

Mark: Is it?

Jill: But I think up on the mountains it’s snowing; it’s cold enough that it’s snowing higher up. Jill: Pero creo que en las montañas está nevando; es lo suficientemente frío como para que esté nevando más arriba. Jill: Mas eu acho que nas montanhas está nevando; está frio o suficiente para nevar mais alto.

Mark: Yeah, you can see it. Mark: Sim, você pode ver. At least over night the top half of the hill or the houses on the top half of the hill are snow covered, anyway. Al menos durante la noche la mitad superior de la colina o las casas en la mitad superior de la colina están cubiertas de nieve, de todos modos. Pelo menos durante a noite, a metade superior da colina ou as casas na metade superior ficam cobertas de neve, de qualquer maneira.

Jill: Yeah, that’s better than the rain. Jill: Sim, isso é melhor do que a chuva. I wish it was colder and snowing. Ojalá hiciera más frío y nevara. Eu gostaria que estivesse mais frio e nevando.

Mark: Absolutely, it would be great if it snowed all the way down to where our office is; sea level; but, maybe this weekend I’ll go and snowshoe or something up on the mountain. Mark: Por supuesto, sería estupendo que nevara hasta donde está nuestra oficina, al nivel del mar, pero quizá este fin de semana vaya a la montaña con raquetas de nieve o algo así. Mark: Com certeza, seria ótimo se nevasse até onde nosso escritório está; nível do mar; mas, talvez neste fim de semana eu vá andar na neve ou algo assim na montanha. I haven’t done that yet this year. Ainda não fiz isso este ano.

Jill: That would be nice; that would be great. Jill: Isso seria bom; isso seria bom.

Mark: Head up there snowshoeing or maybe cross-country skiing. Mark: Dirígete allí con raquetas de nieve o tal vez esquí de fondo. Mark: Vá até lá com raquetes de neve ou talvez esqui cross-country. My dad will be keen to do that. Meu pai vai adorar fazer isso.

Jill: It’s supposed to be wet all weekend, so it will probably be snowing up on the mountain basically all weekend. Jill: Deve estar chuvoso o fim de semana todo, então provavelmente vai nevar na montanha basicamente durante todo o fim de semana.

Mark: Yeah, I think if it’s up to 7-8 degrees down here then it’s snow up top so, if that’s the case, it should be great conditions for everything up there with skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing; everything is better in fresh snow. Mark: Sí, creo que si hace hasta 7-8 grados aquí abajo, entonces hay nieve arriba, así que, si ese es el caso, debería haber unas condiciones estupendas para todo allí arriba, con esquí, esquí de fondo, raquetas de nieve; todo es mejor con nieve fresca. Mark: Sim, acho que se está de 7 a 8 graus aqui embaixo, então é neve no topo, então, se for esse o caso, deve haver ótimas condições para tudo lá em cima com esqui, esqui cross-country, raquetes de neve; tudo fica melhor na neve fresca. The skiing would be good, but on the weekend up here it’s so busy it’s just not enjoyable between the waiting in line to get on the chairlift and getting hit by people that can’t ski. Esquiar seria bom, mas no fim de semana aqui em cima fica tão agitado que não é nada agradável entre esperar na fila para entrar no teleférico e ser atropelado por pessoas que não sabem esquiar.

Jill: Yeah, that’s the thing. Jill: Sim, é isso. None of the runs are very long, so you’re done very quickly and then it takes quite a while, not always, but it seems like it’s a while to wait in the line to get up the chairlift.

Mark: For sure.

Jill: And you’re down the run in two minutes. Jill: Y estás en la carrera en dos minutos.

Mark: In no time and the runs can be, you know, they’re regular runs, but there are a lot of people on them. Mark: En poco tiempo y las carreras pueden ser, ya sabes, son carreras regulares, pero hay mucha gente en ellas. A lot of people that start skiing start locally and they’re up there; it’s a little bit dangerous.

Jill: Especially the beginner snowboarders.

Mark: Oh yeah.

Jill: They really have no control usually.

Mark: Well and snowboarders have trouble seeing in one direction, right? Mark : Eh bien, les snowboarders ont du mal à voir dans une seule direction, n'est-ce pas ?

Jill: Right.

Mark: You see fine when you’re heading down the hill or when you’re facing down the hill, but then when you turn and now you’re facing sort of up hill you don’t see what’s behind you as you make your turns; it’s a little dangerous. Mark: Ves bien cuando te diriges colina abajo o cuando estás mirando colina abajo, pero luego cuando giras y ahora estás mirando colina arriba no ves lo que hay detrás de ti mientras giras; es un poco peligroso. Mark : Vous voyez bien lorsque vous descendez la colline ou lorsque vous faites face au bas de la colline, mais lorsque vous tournez et que vous faites maintenant face à une sorte de colline, vous ne voyez pas ce qu'il y a derrière vous lorsque vous faites votre se tourne; c'est un peu dangereux. You’re a snowboarder, aren’t ya'? Eres un snowboarder, ¿no? Vous êtes un snowboardeur, n'est-ce pas ? Jill: Well, no, wanna' be; I’m going back to skiing. Jill: Bueno, no, wanna' be; Voy a volver a esquiar. Mark: Are you?

Jill: Yeah.

Mark: I’ve never tried snowboarding.

Jill: I think once you get it it’s fine, but there seems to be more of a learning curve than there is for skiing, at least for me. Jill : Je pense qu'une fois qu'on a compris, ça va, mais il semble y avoir plus de courbe d'apprentissage qu'il n'y en a pour le ski, du moins pour moi.

Mark: Is that right.

Jill: So, because I already know how to ski and I don’t get out enough in a year to really get good at snowboarding, so every year it’s just not fun. Jill : Donc, parce que je sais déjà skier et que je ne sors pas assez en un an pour devenir vraiment bon en snowboard, donc chaque année ce n'est pas amusant. I have got all my equipment, which is a shame but, I don’t know, maybe I’ll try to sell it or give it away or something and go back to skiing. Tengo todo mi equipo, lo cual es una pena pero, no sé, quizá intente venderlo o regalarlo o algo y volver a esquiar. J'ai tout mon matériel, c'est dommage mais, je ne sais pas, je vais peut-être essayer de le vendre ou de le donner ou quelque chose comme ça et de retourner skier.

Mark: Yeah, that’s what I think too. I’ve never tried it, but I don’t ski very much, so when I go I don’t want to spend three days falling down. Nunca lo he probado, pero no esquío mucho, así que cuando vaya no quiero pasarme tres días cayéndome. Je n'ai jamais essayé, mais je ne skie pas beaucoup, alors quand j'y vais, je ne veux pas passer trois jours à tomber. I’ll just go and ski, which I can do and have fun. Je vais juste aller skier, ce que je peux faire et m'amuser.

Jill: Yeah.

Mark: As I say, if I go five times in a year I don’t want to waste it learning something. Mark : Comme je l'ai dit, si j'y vais cinq fois par an, je ne veux pas le perdre à apprendre quelque chose. It’s different if you’re doing it all the time, but anyhow. Maybe this weekend I’ll get up and snowshoe anyway.

Jill: That would be fun.

Mark: Yeah.

I guess before we go on, one thing we did want to talk about today was the frequency with which we do these podcasts. Supongo que antes de seguir, una cosa de la que queríamos hablar hoy era de la frecuencia con la que hacemos estos podcasts. Je suppose qu'avant de continuer, une chose dont nous voulions parler aujourd'hui était la fréquence à laquelle nous faisons ces podcasts. Right now, between you, me and my dad, we’re doing three a week. Ahora mismo, entre tú, mi padre y yo, hacemos tres a la semana. En ce moment, entre toi, moi et mon père, on en fait trois par semaine. We were doing two a week and then in the last couple months we’ve upped it to three a week. Nous en faisions deux par semaine, puis au cours des deux derniers mois, nous sommes passés à trois par semaine. We’re just kind of wondering how our listeners feel about that, so what we’d like you to do is let us know. Did you prefer it when it was only two? Tu l'as préféré quand il n'y avait que deux ? Is three good for you?

I know one thing we’re thinking is that any of you who are listening and then reading the text on LingQ and looking up the words and phrases and reviewing and so on, it could be quite a bit of work to try and keep up to three podcasts a week so, for that reason, we’d like to hear from you. Je sais qu'une chose à laquelle nous pensons est que tous ceux d'entre vous qui écoutent puis lisent le texte sur LingQ et recherchent les mots et les phrases et révisent et ainsi de suite, cela pourrait être un peu de travail pour essayer de suivre trois podcasts par semaine donc, pour cette raison, nous aimerions avoir de vos nouvelles.

Jill: On the EnglishLingQ Forum is a good place.

Mark: Yeah, on the EnglishLingQ Forum. In LingQ itself in the forums area there’s an EnglishLingQ Forum and any feedback about the show that’s where we would like you to share it with us. Certainly, regarding the number, the frequency of the podcasts, if you could let us know your thoughts. Do you want us to cut it back down to two? ¿Quieres que lo reduzcamos a dos? Do you want us to do 10 a week? Voulez-vous que nous en fassions 10 par semaine ?

Jill: No, that’s not an option. Jill : Non, ce n'est pas une option.

Mark: Fifteen a week? We’re just constantly doing them. Nous les faisons constamment. You know, let us know and, as usual, any suggestions on topics. Ya sabes, háznoslo saber y, como siempre, cualquier sugerencia sobre temas. We have had some suggestions recently and we are going to be implementing those. We had a suggestion…I can’t remember right now who made it. Nous avons eu une suggestion… Je ne me souviens pas pour l'instant qui l'a faite. Was it Enrique, maybe? Anyway, someone in Mexico, the name escapes me right now, but he wanted us to have the odd guest in here, which is a good suggestion and we’re going to try to do that. De todos modos, alguien en México, el nombre se me escapa ahora mismo, pero quería que tuviéramos algún que otro invitado aquí, lo cual es una buena sugerencia y vamos a intentar hacerlo. Quoi qu'il en soit, quelqu'un au Mexique, le nom m'échappe en ce moment, mais il voulait que nous ayons un invité ici, ce qui est une bonne suggestion et nous allons essayer de le faire. He is also an architect and was interested in having a guest on who was maybe an architect or a builder or us discussing those topics. We’ll see what we can do for you there in the next, hopefully, week or so. Veremos qué podemos hacer por usted en la próxima semana.

As well, we had some suggestions from Vicki or a request to discuss specific words, which she put in her post on the EnglishLingQ Forum which, again, escape me.

Jill: I think “tell”, “say”.

Mark: “Say” and “tell”.

Jill: “Speak”.

Mark: “Speak”, “say”, “tell”; the differences between those similar words. I think you’ll cover those probably on Wednesday; Jill with my dad. But, anyway, please keep that feedback coming. We do and will respond to it and do let us know about the frequency, because we certainly don’t want you to feel pressured that you’ve got to listen to every one and work on it in LingQ and then feel like you’re running out of time, because the podcasts end up being quite long, you know, anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes and that’s a lot of text to work through if you’re saving words and phrases. Nous y répondons et nous y répondrons et nous informerons de la fréquence, car nous ne voulons certainement pas que vous vous sentiez obligé d'écouter tout le monde et de travailler dessus dans LingQ et ensuite de vous sentir comme si vous étiez manquer de temps, car les podcasts finissent par être assez longs, vous savez, entre 15 et 20 minutes et c'est beaucoup de texte à parcourir si vous enregistrez des mots et des phrases.

Jill: The only other thing I think we were maybe going to talk about… We don’t really have any LingQ updates to mention.

Mark: No, unfortunately. We’ve got some good stuff coming, but nothing was added this week. Nous avons de bonnes choses à venir, mais rien n'a été ajouté cette semaine. We definitely have some improvements in the works, including an improved profile section for each member where, eventually, you’ll be able to see more information about other members. You know, if you’re signing up for a discussion you can click on a member’s user name and depending on whether or not they’ve shared the information, their name, a picture, a bio…

Jill: …where they’re from…

Mark: …maybe some statistics on how they’re doing at LingQ, those sorts of things. Mark: ...quizá algunas estadísticas sobre cómo les va en LingQ, ese tipo de cosas. We’re in the process of developing the User Profile and, hopefully, we’ll have something in the next week or so there. Estamos elaborando el perfil de usuario y, con un poco de suerte, tendremos algo al respecto en la próxima semana. As well, many of you have been after translation on the site. De plus, beaucoup d'entre vous ont été après la traduction sur le site. Ayrıca, birçoğunuz sitede çeviri yapmanın peşindeydiniz. We are getting close to having a tool that will allow us to implement the translation at which point we will be asking our members to help with the translation, but the tool should be very easy to use and I think many of you will quite enjoy being involved in translating the interface in LingQ. Otherwise, yeah, so, hopefully, next week we’ve got… Por lo demás, sí, así que, con suerte, la semana que viene tenemos...

Jill: …some updates to talk about. Then just something we were talking about around the office today a little bit is this whole issue of Merry Christmas, saying “Merry Christmas” and how so much…at least in Canada and I think in Britain as well I’ve heard that it’s like that there; I’m not as sure about the U.S.

Mark: I think in many western countries it’s an issue.

Jill: Where I think we feel, not you and I specifically, but we feel somehow that saying Merry Christmas is excluding or disrespectful to the people who live here who do not celebrate Christmas and so it’s become the norm in schools and Christmas cards and many things to say happy holidays or seasons greetings instead of Merry Christmas. Jill: Creo que sentimos, no tú y yo específicamente, pero de alguna manera sentimos que decir Feliz Navidad es excluyente o irrespetuoso para las personas que viven aquí y que no celebran la Navidad y por eso se ha convertido en la norma en las escuelas y en las tarjetas de Navidad y en muchas cosas decir felices fiestas o saludos de temporada en lugar de Feliz Navidad. I know on our email cards and we’re going to be sending one out for Christmas from LingQ and we’ve had them from The Linguist in the past, I think we’ve always said Merry Christmas because to us that’s what it is. We grew up saying Merry Christmas and we still believe that it’s fine to say Merry Christmas.

Mark: Right.

And really, and it’s not the same for everybody, but speaking for myself and I think for you as well, I don’t really see Christmas as a religious holiday necessarily, it’s more of a tradition; it’s certainly a Canadian tradition. That’s what we’ve grown up with; that’s what the majority of people celebrate.

It’s this whole politically correct movement that we’ve been well, basically, suffering through, in my opinion. C'est tout ce mouvement politiquement correct que nous avons bien, fondamentalement, souffert, à mon avis. I’m not big on political correctness. Je ne suis pas fan du politiquement correct. I believe in being fair to everybody, but we have our traditions here and I certainly don’t see why we should be changing our traditions in hopes of not offending someone. Because if I’m somewhere else where they have certain traditions I’m very accepting of those traditions and happy to celebrate those.

Jill: And I’m not offended by them.

Mark: And not offended.

Jill: Exactly. I would not move to another country and expect that they would change their traditions because I don’t celebrate or have the same traditions. Je ne déménagerais pas dans un autre pays et m'attendrais à ce qu'ils changent leurs traditions parce que je ne célèbre pas ou n'ai pas les mêmes traditions.

Mark: I mean absolutely not. In fact, I would be disappointed if they didn’t celebrate and carry on the way they always have because part of going somewhere different is to experience what happens there. En fait, je serais déçu s'ils ne célébraient pas et ne continuaient pas comme ils l'ont toujours fait, car aller dans un endroit différent consiste en partie à vivre ce qui s'y passe. To be fair, I don’t think that it’s the immigrants or new Canadians or Muslims or whoever it is in Canada that are making noise and expecting this.

Jill: Yeah.

For the most part, I think you’re right. I don’t think it is actually them.

Mark: I think it is your “do-gooders”, politically-correct types, who feel like they have to bend over backwards to make sure we don’t offend anybody. Mark: Creo que son los "bienhechores", los políticamente correctos, los que sienten que tienen que hacer todo lo posible para asegurarse de que no ofendemos a nadie. It’s just, you know, we have to not say Merry Christmas because they don’t celebrate it. C'est juste, vous savez, nous ne devons pas dire Joyeux Noël parce qu'ils ne le célèbrent pas. They know; they understand what we celebrate here and they don’t care, most people. Ils savent; ils comprennent ce que nous célébrons ici et ils s'en fichent, la plupart des gens. They’re happy. We celebrate our thing, they celebrate there thing. Nosotros celebramos lo nuestro, ellos celebran lo suyo. There’s no need to sort of bend over backwards for people. No hay necesidad de hacer lo imposible por la gente. Il n'y a pas besoin de se plier en quatre pour les gens.

Jill: And, you know, as I was saying, my dad is married to an Indian woman; a woman who was born in India and has lived in Canada since she was a child, but still really values her Indian roots and culture but, at the same time, celebrates Christmas and is perfectly happy to celebrate Christmas. Her children have grown up with it; she’s certainly not offended by it. Sus hijos han crecido con ello; desde luego, no se siente ofendida por ello. My mom has a couple of very good friends as well who are of Indian descent and celebrate Christmas and enjoy it. It by no means means that you can’t also have your traditions and the things that you celebrate; Hanukkah, Ramadan, whatever it is, I’m not offended if people want to celebrate those holidays.

Mark: What offends me is we are supposed to feel like we have to hide or not promote the fact that we celebrate what we celebrate. Mark : Ce qui m'offense, c'est que nous sommes censés nous sentir obligés de cacher ou de ne pas promouvoir le fait que nous célébrons ce que nous célébrons. We do; that’s what we do here. Nous faisons; c'est ce que nous faisons ici. We have Christmas, “Merry Christmas”, nobody is that fussed about it. Tenemos Navidad, "Feliz Navidad", a nadie le importa tanto. No, I agree. When you all get your LingQ Christmas cards you’ll know why.

Jill: It says Merry Christmas.

Mark: If you would like to wish us something else back we’re more than happy for you to do that too. Mark : Si vous souhaitez nous souhaiter autre chose en retour, nous sommes plus qu'heureux que vous le fassiez également.

Jill: And to tell us about your holiday if you like. Jill: Y para hablarnos de sus vacaciones, si lo desea. I really enjoy listening to or hearing about the traditions that other people have. It’s very interesting to me, so that’s great.

Mark: Yeah, so a little bit of a deeper topic this week.

Jill: Hopefully we didn’t offend anybody.

Mark: Yeah, I’m sure we didn’t.

Jill: It wasn’t our intention anyway.

Mark: Other than that, I think, not much planned for this weekend myself. Mark: Aparte de eso, creo que no tengo mucho planeado para este fin de semana. It looks like it will be a wet one.

Jill: Just getting ready for Christmas, I guess.

Mark: Not too long now. We’ve got a week’s shopping left. Nos queda una semana de compras. Il nous reste une semaine de courses. I better get out there. Será mejor que salga.

Jill: This is early for you.

Mark: Yeah, I know.

Jill: What are you talking about; you’ll wait until next Friday. Jill : De quoi parlez-vous ? vous attendrez jusqu'à vendredi prochain.

Mark: Christmas Eve is a good day to go because nobody is in the mall, especially in the afternoon.

Jill: That’s right.

Mark: Yeah, there’s not so much selection.

Jill: I was going to say, there’s really not much left at that point, but what is left is usually on sale for at least 40 percent off. Jill : J'allais dire qu'il ne reste vraiment plus grand-chose à ce stade, mais ce qui reste est généralement en vente à au moins 40 % de réduction.

Mark: See, another good reason to go at that time, yes.

Jill: Well, good luck with that.

Mark: And you’re all done, I guess, all your Christmas shopping.

Jill: Pretty much. Jill: Más o menos. I think I have a couple of little things to get, but yeah, I’m pretty much done and I did it all for Chris as well; for Chris' family, for my family. So, last night we were talking -- we’re going to my mom’s actually tomorrow night with my brother and sister and niece and nephew and all of us to have our own little Christmas because we’re going away on Friday for Christmas – so, he said oh, so I don’t need to do any more shopping though? I said no, I’ve got you covered and what do you mean do any more? He dicho que no, que te tengo cubierto y que qué quieres decir con hacer algo más. Я сказал, что нет, у меня все схвачено, а что вы имеете в виду, когда говорите, что делаете больше? You haven’t done any! ¡No has hecho nada!

Mark: And a big sacrifice that you made because you don’t like to go shopping, I know that.

Jill: Yeah.

Okay fine, I like any excuse to shop. Très bien, j'aime n'importe quelle excuse pour magasiner.

Mark: Right.

Jill: So, yeah, just pretty much finished.

Mark: Yeah, same for me, really. Kindrey does most of the shopping I just have to get something for her. Kindrey fait la plupart des courses, je dois juste lui trouver quelque chose.

Jill: Right.

Well, Chris said that I’ve already got my Christmas present because a few weeks ago our dryer broke and when I came home from New York he surprised me with a brand new dryer. Eh bien, Chris a dit que j'avais déjà mon cadeau de Noël parce qu'il y a quelques semaines, notre sèche-linge est tombé en panne et quand je suis rentré de New York, il m'a surpris avec un tout nouveau sèche-linge.

Mark: Well there, you see? Mark : Eh bien là, tu vois ?

Jill: And he said yeah, and this is your Christmas present and he kind of keeps bringing that up. Jill: Y él dijo que sí, y este es tu regalo de Navidad y él tipo de sigue trayendo a colación. Jill : Et il a dit oui, et c'est ton cadeau de Noël et il n'arrête pas d'en parler.

Mark: Yeah.

Jill: I think if he knows what’s good for him he’ll find something else. Jill : Je pense que s'il sait ce qui est bon pour lui, il trouvera autre chose.

Mark: You’re not buying it?

Jill: No. Thanks, because I love doing laundry so much. Merci, parce que j'aime tellement faire la lessive.

Mark: Is it a nice dryer?

Jill: Oh, it’s fine, it’s nothing fancy. Jill : Oh, ça va, ce n'est rien d'extraordinaire. Джил: О, все в порядке, ничего особенного.

Mark: There you go.

Jill: I hang all my clothes to dry anyway. Jill : Je suspends tous mes vêtements pour les faire sécher de toute façon.

Mark: You do?

Jill: Most of them, yeah.

Mark: Just out of principle? Mark: ¿Por principios? Mark : Juste par principe ?

Jill: Just because things stay nicer.

Mark: Right.

Jill: The colors are nicer and the fabric stays nicer.

Mark: Don’t get worn.

Jill: Yeah, so I usually hang everything. I put all his stuff in the dryer; he doesn’t care. J'ai mis toutes ses affaires dans la sécheuse ; il s'en fiche.

Mark: So, he bought the dryer for himself then? Mark: Yani kurutucuyu kendisi için mi aldı?

Jill: Yeah, pretty much.

Mark: So, he better get out there. Mark: Así que mejor que salga. Mark : Alors, il ferait mieux de sortir. Марк: Так что ему лучше выйти. Oraya çıksa iyi olur.

Jill: That’s a good point. Jill : C'est un bon point. I’ll have to say that. Bunu söylemek zorundayım.

Mark: Alright then, I guess we’ll…

Jill: …talk on Monday.

Mark: Sounds good, bye, bye.