The good host
Finding a good video host is as important as having good keywords. Here I am looking for a quality record, so bye bye Youtube.
I’ve looked on Vimeo and Dailymotion.

The good words
I first wrote the word “finance”. Then I used the “crisis” one, because I wanted to know more about it. This exercise was a good way to improve my English and my knowledge in economy. I didn’t try to use more keywords because I already had a lot of relevant content.

Today I went for a haircut. My barber talks a lot. Sometimes he even stops cutting just to talk, which I find mildly annoying. On the other hand I am always entertained for 30 minutes while he cuts my hair. He does a good job and charges me 18 dollars, which is not the cheapest, but not the most expensive, haircut in Vancouver.

He told me that he came to Canada as a 16 year old, 20 years ago. He went to hair dressing school and then worked for a chain of hair salons for 5 years, in different locations in the city. He got to know the personalities of different kinds of clients. He found he did not like working in the heavily Chinese district of Richmond because, in his words, the customers would arrive late and expect to be served right away. If they were not served immediately, they assumed that the customer who was being served in their place had paid extra. He did not like the pressure of that situation.

He eventually opened his own shop in North Vancouver. He said that he made sure to learn about all the subjects that his clients were interested in, from fly fishing to the stock market. He knew that if customers liked him, they would come back.

After 20 years in Canada, dealing daily with English speaking Canadian clients, his English is just terrible. His pronunciation, use of words, structure, you name it, are all quite poor. When he talked about a leading politician and his wife, “he” and “she” were regularly used wrong. I had trouble understanding whom he was talking about. People who are not used to Chinese accents must have trouble understanding him. His English is poor even by the standards of his native Hong Kong.

Just being immersed in the language and talking the language will not necessarily improve you. You need to want to improve. You need to have a deliberate program of improvement. You need to listen.

On the other hand, he was successful at building up a customer base, and did not seem to feel inhibited in any way by his poor English. He was a communicator, although a better talker than a listener. I have not suggested to him that he join The Linguist.

Here are faces that show more than words:

Follow this link if you want to see more

Search for videos (youtube etc.), audio (podcasts etc.) and websites. These are going to provide you with useful phrases in the fields we listed in class.

Start with the following keywords brainstormed in class, document your search and extend it at will..

My theme is : Finance

First video : about the crisis.

Crisis explainer: Uncorking CDOs from Marketplace on Vimeo.

Second video :

Missed Fortune - Douglas Andrew, The Pitcher and the Goblet from Missed Fortune on Vimeo.

Third video : a brillant presentation (not related to “Finance”).

As I’m asked to do here, this is my first recording.

Questions from Yacine:
Do you teach french to your son?
Do you still spend your summers in United States ?
What is your wife’s job?
What kind of music do you play ?

… There seems to be a minor mistake. Can anybody find it ?

● (1) Manhattan, ● (2) Brooklyn, ● (3) Queens, ● (4) Bronx, ● (5) Staten Island

I present you the audio player :

If you are earing silence, that’s normal ;).

This is my first article.

Some “lorem ispum” :

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Sed non risus. Suspendisse lectus tortor, dignissim sit amet, adipiscing nec, ultricies sed, dolor. Cras elementum ultrices diam. Maecenas ligula massa, varius a, semper congue, euismod non, mi. Proin porttitor, orci nec nonummy molestie, enim est eleifend mi, non fermentum diam nisl sit amet erat. Duis semper. Duis arcu massa, scelerisque vitae, consequat in, pretium a, enim. Pellentesque congue. Ut in risus volutpat libero pharetra tempor. Cras vestibulum bibendum augue. Praesent egestas leo in pede. Praesent blandit odio eu enim. Pellentesque sed dui ut augue blandit sodales. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Aliquam nibh. Mauris ac mauris sed pede pellentesque fermentum. Maecenas adipiscing ante non diam sodales hendrerit.

Ut velit mauris, egestas sed, gravida nec, ornare ut, mi. Aenean ut orci vel massa suscipit pulvinar. Nulla sollicitudin. Fusce varius, ligula non tempus aliquam, nunc turpis ullamcorper nibh, in tempus sapien eros vitae ligula. Pellentesque rhoncus nunc et augue. Integer id felis. Curabitur aliquet pellentesque diam. Integer quis metus vitae elit lobortis egestas. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Morbi vel erat non mauris convallis vehicula. Nulla et sapien. Integer tortor tellus, aliquam faucibus, convallis id, congue eu, quam. Mauris ullamcorper felis vitae erat. Proin feugiat, augue non elementum posuere, metus purus iaculis lectus, et tristique ligula justo vitae magna.

Aliquam convallis sollicitudin purus. Praesent aliquam, enim at fermentum mollis, ligula massa adipiscing nisl, ac euismod nibh nisl eu lectus. Fusce vulputate sem at sapien. Vivamus leo. Aliquam euismod libero eu enim. Nulla nec felis sed leo placerat imperdiet. Aenean suscipit nulla in justo. Suspendisse cursus rutrum augue. Nulla tincidunt tincidunt mi. Curabitur iaculis, lorem vel rhoncus faucibus, felis magna fermentum augue, et ultricies lacus lorem varius purus. Curabitur eu amet.