TV Commercials

When we watch TV , we usually don't care much about the commercials.
We either flip channels, go get some snacks or do some other things while they are on.
There are some though who sit still and enjoy these short ad clips.
We must not forget that these are the ones who sponsor the free programs we love to watch.

Yesterday, almost all my friends' and family members' walls in Facebook living in the USA were filled with just one topic... Super Bowl Sunday.
Before you assume that it means a big hunk of steaming ramen noodles , let me share you the definition from Wikipedia.

"The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States...
It is the second-largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day... Because of its high viewership, commercial airtime during the Super Bowl broadcast is the most expensive of the year.
Due to the high cost of investing in advertising on the Super Bowl, companies regularly develop their most expensive advertisements for this broadcast. "

So you see, in this event, people do not only watch the game but they tune in because of the commercials.
Of course, that's a good thing for the companies.
Remember that an effective TV commercial makes a mark on the eyes and ears more solidly than other forms of media.
If it is done in the right way, it leaves a positive feeling to the viewer which hopefully translates to a buying response.

Here are some ads I found uploaded in the Internet...

Doritos - Don't you dare tease a pug with these chips. This was hilarious! It is the top rated commercial in USA Today's Super Bowl Ad meter.



Volkswagen - For Star Wars fanatics, this one is for you. I found this little guy adorable.



Bridgestone - Have you ever heard of the word "karma"? I love the hand gesture of the beaver around 0:24. Way cool!



Bud Light - This is what you have when you mix dogs, party and beer.




Last but not the least...
This is another one from Bridgestone.
Totally funny. Now, I am beginning to wonder what is in the email that he was so determined for the others to not read.





Source:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2011/super-bowl-ad-meter/43271432/1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5YrxeskZt0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptDzwUqH-jE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBUcG7xZB-g





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Patience and Practice

Learning a second language is not an easy task.
It doesn't matter what language you are learning but the difficulties second-language learners face are the same.
You have the vocabulary words/ expressions to memorize, the sentence structures to master, the grammar to study and ,of course, the words to correctly pronounce. Sometimes the person you are talking to hears the word differently from how you intended it to. Well, I am pretty sure the man at the hair salon or the lady at the bank had the same thoughts about me when I tried to talk to them in Japanese.

Correct pronunciation of words is a part of learning a language.
For most Japanese people learning English, they have difficulty in the following areas:
lack of distinction between [f] vs [h]
lack of distinction between voiced and voiceless consonants, such as [t]
vs [d] and [k] vs [g]
lack of distinction between [r] and [l]
addition of a vowel after a final consonant


To overcome these shortcomings, confidence, constant practice and patience are needed.
Below is a video uploaded by "sozoexchange" to help learners pronounce some difficult English words.
Browse through their channel; they have more than 200 videos showing the correct way to say words.
Why don't you try it with the video?



This second clip is a short scene from the movie "Pink Panther."
It shows a teacher patiently teaching a student to intelligibly say, "I would like to buy a hamburger."
Before you proceed to the video, I just would like to remind you that the intention is not to make fun of people who can't pronounce words correctly.
However, I would like viewers to focus on the fact that the "student" in the clip refused to quit and that the "teacher" was very patient.
Plus, it wouldn't hurt also to say that this is a funny movie clip.




Doesn't that make you want to make a run to the nearest hamburger store?


Source:

http://www.seinan-gu.ac.jp/syakai/school/pdf/090822taniguti.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q_aXttJduk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2XKcNdkGDk




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A lesson learned the hard way

E: Euneece M: Miko H: Hiro T:Taki

In a company lesson, during the first meeting in 2011...

E: Is that really you, Miko? How have you been? You
haven't shown up for ages.
M: Hi, Euneece! Glad to know you still remember me.
E: Of course! (teasing) It's hard to forget diligent
learners.
M: Yep, that's me! (grinning)
E: Seriously, we missed your jolly presence.
M: (apologized for his long absence) I had been up to
my ears in work and year-end routine tasks...
H: Like attending endless drinking parties. (chuckling)
M: Right.
E: OK. Apologies accepted.
M: But I'm less busy now so... (notices Taki tiptoeing
as he enters the room) You're back to work. How's your
jaw?
T: (making a thumbs-up sign without uttering a word)
E: (looking perplexed) What's wrong with you? Why are
you in mute mode?
H: (playing the spokesperson) Actually, he slipped and
literally fell flat on his face.
E: Ouch!
M: As a result, he got a fractured jaw which required
about three weeks to recover.
E: I'm so sorry for you. Are you still in pain?
T: (making a gesture with his right thumb and pointing
finger denoting "a little")
E: I could only imagine. I pity you.
H: Do you know why he slipped?
M: (tapping the table with his palm as if answering a
question in a quiz show) He didn't see a banana peeling
on the street, stepped on it, then bang!
H: Nope! Sorry, wrong answer. Euneece?
E: My guess is that (looking at Taki) a drop-dead beauty
　　passed in front of you, you couldn't take your eyes
off her... (making a peace sign, and smiling)
T: I wished. (spoken in a hushed voice)
H: Ha! (Without further ado) He was so engrossed in his
　　smartphone that he didn't notice he was already
　　walking towards the edge of the curb.
M: And the next thing he knew, he was already on a
　　hospital bed.
E: Gees!
H: So the moral of the story is...
T: ...to always watch where you're going?
H: That, and to refrain from texting while walking.
E: Well, that's a lesson learned the hard and painful
　　way.


●Vocabulary:

★show up‐顔を見せる、姿を現す
★ages‐ずいぶん長い間
★diligent‐勤勉
★jolly‐陽気な
★up to your ears‐[耳まで]どっぷり浸かる、没頭する
★routine tasks‐日々の業務、ありきたりの仕事
★chuckle‐クスクス笑う
★tiptoe‐つま先で歩く
★utter－口に出す、声を出す
★perplexed－当惑した
★fall flat on one's face－顔からまっすぐ落ちる
★fractured jaw－顎骨骨折
★gesture－身振り手振りで表現する（ジェスチャー）
★drop-dead－目を奪われるような
★in a hushed voice－静かな声で、声を潜めて
★without further ado－それほど苦労せず
★engrossed in ～－～に夢中になる
★moral－モラル、教訓
★refrain－やめる


■「痛みとともに学んだ教訓」

登場人物：　E: ユニース M: ミコ H: ヒロ T:タキ

2011年最初の企業レッスンで…

E: あなた本当にミコなの？元気にしてた？ずいぶん長い間顔を
　　見せなかったじゃない。
M: やー、ユニース！まだ僕のこと覚えていてくれて嬉しいな。
E: もちろんよ！(からかう) 勤勉な生徒を忘れるのは難しいわ。
M: そう、それ僕のことだね！(ニコニコしている)
E: 素直に、私たちは陽気なあなたの存在が恋しかったわ。
M: (長期の休みを謝る) 仕事と年末の通常業務にずっと追われ
　　てたんだ。
H: 終わりのない飲み会とかでしょ。(クスクス笑う)
M: その通り。
E: わかったわ。許してあげます。
M: でも今はそんなに忙しくないから…(タキが静かにつま先で
　　部屋に入ってくるのに気づく）復活したんだね。顎はどう？
T: (何も言わず、親指を上げオッケーサインを出した）
E: (当惑した表情) どうかしたの？どうして無言状態なの？
H: (代弁者になる) 実は、彼は滑って転んで、まさに顔を直撃
　　したんだよ。
E: 痛そう！
M: それが原因で顎骨を骨折して、治るのに３週間くらいかかっ
　　たらしいよ。
E: 気の毒に。まだ痛むの？
T: (右の親指と人差し指を使って「少し」とジェスチャーする）
E: お察しするわ。本当に気の毒ね。
H: どうして彼が滑ったか知ってる？
M: (まるでクイズショーに参加しているかのように、手のひらで
　　机をポンとたたく) 道に落ちていたバナナの皮に気づかず、
　　それを踏んで、ドスン！て感じ。
H: ちがう！ごめん、不正解！ ユニースは?
E: 私が思うには (タキを見る) 目を奪われるほど美しい美女が目
　　の前を通り、その彼女から目を話せなかった…（ピースサイン
　　を出し、微笑んでいる）
T: そうだったらよかった。(声を潜めて言う)
H: んとね！(それ以上ねばることなく) スマートフォンに夢中にな
　　ってて、もう縁石の端まで歩いていたことに気がつかなかった
　　んだ。
M: で、目覚めたときには病院のベッドの上だったんだね。
E: あらら！
H: じゃあこのストーリーの教訓は…
T: …行く先を必ず見ていること？
H: それと、歩きながらメールを打つのはやめることだね。
E: でも、大変で痛い方法で学んだ教訓ね。






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