ENG 099 Conversational American English (Dec. 2012) Atom 3:
Language Talk 1 of 10
Vocabulary
- bud, n. IPA: /bʌd/ a small bump on a plant stem; a future leaf or flower.
- sign, n. IPA: /saɪn/ that by which anything is made known or represented; that which shows evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof.
![Zodiac signs_16th century_medieval woodcuts [Public Domain]](http://www.mr.danoff.org/eng099/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Zodiac_woodcut-300x235.png "Zodiac signs_16th century_medieval woodcuts")
- mental, adj. IPA: /mɛntəl/ to do with the mind; intellectual.
- idea, n. IPA: /aɪˈdiə/ a picture in your mind; a future plan: an image formed in the mind of something you may not see in front of you; a notion.
![Zodiac signs_16th century_medieval woodcuts [Public Domain]](http://www.mr.danoff.org/eng099/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Zodiac_woodcut.png "Zodiac signs_16th century_medieval woodcuts")
Language Talk Dialogue 1 of 10
These “Language Talks” are designed to give you a useful way to think about English. Read the dialogue below twice and write down your answers to the teacher’s questions.
- Teacher— I will pronounce these three sounds very slowly and distinctly, thus: b-u-d. Notice, it is the power, or sound, of the letter, and not its name, that I give. What did you hear?
- T.— I will bold these words, so that you can see them, three letters—b-u-d. Are these letters, taken separately, signs to you of anything?
- T.— What then do these letters, taken separately, picture to your eye?
- Student.— They picture the sounds that came to my ear.
- T.— Letters then are the signs of what?
- S.— Letters are the signs of sounds.
- T.— I will pronounce the same three sounds more rapidly, uniting them more closely: bud. These sounds, so united, form a spoken word. Of what do you think when you hear the word bud?
- S.— I think of a little round thing that grows to be a leafy branch or a flower.
- T.— Did you see the thing when you were thinking of it?
- S.— No.
- T.— Then you must have had a picture of it in your mind. We call this mental picture an idea. What called up this idea?
- S.— It was called up by the word bud, which I heard.
- T.— A spoken word then is the sign of what?
Video
- Please watch and take notes on the video below from 6:52 to 11:25 [4 minutes 33 seconds] to see the “Friendly American English Greeting” explained by Mr. Danoff.
- Pay close attention when he discusses appropriate and inappropriate times to use this greeting. It is not appropriate for formal settings, e.g. work; with your teachers and/or when talking to the government.
- If you can’t see the video below, click here to watch it on YouTube.
Slides
- Please click through the 3 slides below in the gallery and read the captions below to go over the Friendly American English Greeting again.
- A: “Yo.”
- B: “Yo.”
- A: “What’s up?”
- B: “Not much. You?”
- A: “Not much.”
Exercise
- For the following 3 people, please say which greeting is appropriate: “International English” or “Friendly American English.”
- Your Math teacher
- Your boss at work
- Your American college roommate
- Please leave your answer in the comments, or via Facebook, P2PU and/or Wikiversity.
Copyright Notes
- Please respect the copyright plus terms and conditions of all links and media not by Charlie Danoff.
- Atom Text Copyright © 2012 by Charlie Danoff. Rights given a CC Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
- Video 1: Lecture 1 from 3:00 to 6:36 via YouTube. Copyright © 2012 by Charlie Danoff/Mr. Danoff’s Teaching Laboratory. Rights Available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
- Audio: “En-us-mental.ogg” Copyright © 2007 by Wiktionary User:Dvortygirl/Wikimedia Commons. Rights available under the GFDL / CCASA 3.0, 2.5, 2.0 & 1.0 licenses. Download (right click with your mouse, then select “Save as”): from danoff.org / Wikmedia Commons [Ogg Vorbis sound file12.9 KB]
- Figure 1: Friendly American English Greeting Slide 1 of 3 via Wikimedia Commons. Copyright © 2011 by Charlie Danoff/Mr. Danoff’s Teaching Laboratory. Rights dedicated to the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
- Figure 2: Friendly American English Greeting Slide 2 of 3 via Wikimedia Commons. Copyright © 2011 by Charlie Danoff/Mr. Danoff’s Teaching Laboratory. Rights dedicated to the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
- Figure 3: Friendly American English Greeting Slide 3 of 3 via Wikimedia Commons. Copyright © 2011 by Charlie Danoff/Mr. Danoff’s Teaching Laboratory. Rights dedicated to the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Zero 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
Sources
- Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary by Various [Public Domain Text File]
- Wiktionary [CCASA]
- upodn | English Phonetic Transcripton [Gives phonics for words]
- The Century Dictionary Online [Terms]
- Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913 + 1828) [ARTFL]
Revision History:
- December 15, 2012 at 05:27 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 05:20 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 05:19 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 05:19 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 05:17 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 05:16 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 05:14 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 05:09 by Mr. Danoff
- December 15, 2012 at 04:46 by Mr. Danoff (displayed above)
- December 15, 2012 at 04:42 by Mr. Danoff