Sunday, March 30, 2008

Conversation With My Sister Pt. 2

[In part 2 of my conversation with my sister, we talk about Todd's motorcycle accident}

Tiffany: So what else have you been up to? Anything much?

A.J.: No, not a lot. Let’s see – doing a little bit of work, you know, and let’s see, went out to Todd’s yesterday, rode my motorcycle out there. I’ve been riding my motorcycle a little bit.

Tiffany: You say you’ve been practicing on that?

A.J.: Yep, yep. And oh, I bought my ticket to Thailand.

Tiffany: Oh, so when you leaving?

A.J.: So I’ll be leaving at the end of this month, and then we’re gonna be staying there for – it looks like we’re gonna be traveling a couple months.

Tiffany: Okay.

A.J.: And then we’re gonna – at the end of the trip we’re gonna do a couple weeks in Japan, which will be fun.

Tiffany: Oh, okay. So when do you actually come home?

A.J.: Then we’ll be coming home in May sometime, I think.

Tiffany: In May; oh, okay. So then are you going anywhere between May and the end of the year, or just gonna be in San Francisco?

A.J.: We’ve talked about doing a little motorcycle tour of California, maybe.

Tiffany: Oh, okay.

A.J.: During the summer.

Tiffany: Now, Grandma said that someone – Mom told her one of your friends got in a motorcycle wreck?

A.J.: Yeah, Todd. Tiffany: Oh, man!

A.J.: He didn’t even leave the driveway. He had this thing, this little plastic piece on the accelerator that’s supposed to like be able to rest his hand, because his wrist hurts him, I guess.

Tiffany: Uh huh.

A.J.: Well, Wat had told him, you know, “Don’t use that thing. It’s dangerous.”

Tiffany: Uh huh.

A.J.: Well, he put it on there anyway, and sure enough, he started it up and he’s just, you know, in the driveway.

Tiffany: Uh huh.

A.J.: And he kind of hit the accelerator, and it – and then it got away from him, and he let go, but that plastic piece, you know, hit his, you know, kind of bumped against his wrist, and it kept the accelerator open.

Tiffany: Oh.

A.J.: So it ended up slamming his bike against a parked car with his leg in between-

Tiffany: Oh.

A.J.: And then falling down, and then it cut this huge massive gash in his calf.

Tiffany: Oh, God!

A.J.: You could see the muscle hanging out.

Tiffany: Oh, man! Could they even stitch it?

A.J.: Yeah, yeah. I took him to the ER, and they – it was, you know, of course an all-day ordeal, but they stitched him up.

Tiffany: Oh, yeah. So it was preventable if you don’t have that little thing on there.

A.J.: Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think if he hadn’t had that thing on there he would’ve been okay.

Tiffany: Okay. I guess he should’ve listened to Wat.

A.J.: Yep. That’s what he said afterwards; he’s like, “Damn it, Wat told me not to use that thing. He said it was dangerous.” So –

Tiffany: Yeah.

A.J.: I guess we should listen to Wat. He’s the experienced rider in our group.

Tiffany: Oh, is he?

A.J.: Yeah.

Tiffany: Man, that sucks.

A.J.: Yeah, it was – oh, it was gruesome. When I saw it, at first my eyes were like –

Tiffany: Oh, man!

A.J.: Wide open. Because he hopped up really quick, and then he, he sort of hopped back into his house, and I didn’t see any blood or anything.

Tiffany: Uh huh.

A.J.: So I thought he – you know, I thought he was banged up, but I thought basically he was fine.

Tiffany: Well, he’s lucky that didn’t hit an artery or something.

A.J.: Yeah, yeah. He’s very lucky. Oh – it was –

Tiffany: Plus he didn’t hit it in a dangerous spot.

A.J.: Yep.


Listen To This Article at:
The Effortless English Podcast.

12 comments:

JengSRI said...

I guess my accent will be defenitely like American accent later :). Irish accent Vs American accent. He he he....

Thanks million for the podcast AJ!

AJ Hoge said...

H :) Speaking of Irish accents... I just saw the movie "Once" (which is fantastic) and I had a little trouble understanding the man's Irish accent-- I had to concentrate and listen carefully (luckily there isnt much talking in the movie-- mostly singing).

Many students write me and worry about understanding different accents. Accents can always be tough if you aren't used to hearing them. But the good news is-- if you're basic English is good, you will quickly learn to understand any accent after you have been exposed to it for a little while.

Im looking forward to your Irish American accent Sri (I suppose that would sound a lot like a Boston accent ;)

JO said...

That was fantastic movie. They got oscar in February of this year, didn't they?

The first time i came to Ireland i couldn't understand what they say. The funny thing happened when i arrived in Dublin airport. Quickly, they asked me some questions and i coudn't understand them. I asked them back confidently like this : "excuse me, can you speak English, please. I can't understand you". Ha ha ha...

AJ Hoge said...

If only the English and Irish could speak real English like we do in America ;)

hoang viet said...

Hi AJ
you know, i am studying in Birmingham.
Although i am studying here, i don't have a class for my English.Besides i don't have many chances to communicate with the English here. So, i recognise that my English is improving very slow. THat is the reason i listen to your podcast everyday.THerefore, i don't know which accent i should speak.I can confuse if try to speak both accents( your accent or the accent of the Native English here although their voice may be not the standard English accent).
Besides,I know the Irish accent is very different from standard English accent. BUt is your accent same as the standard English accent.(this standard English accent may be the accent which the candidates hear in Ielts exam or in BBC program)?
In general, i don't know i should follow an accent or both accent at the same time.

Tien Giang Tran said...

Hi AJ and everybody!

I also want to join. Glad to could write my first comment. My name is Tien and I come from Vietnam, but living in Norway. So see, I must learn Vietnamese, Norwegian and English at the same time :( STRESSFUL. But now I am focus to improve my English. I listen to your lessons everyday, AJ. I really love to listen to them. They are very funny.

I have been learnt British English since I went primary school. But I don't like so much British accent than American. I seem American accent is more powerful in pronunciation. Now in High School I have a English teacher who come from Ireland. He is a good teacher, but he has and Irish accent. I don't understand much of it. When he told a funny story for the class and suddenly nearly whole my classmates laughed, I just sitting there and didn't have a clue what he was talking about. I really felt confuse.

I would prefer to American accent. Almost all the people will understand you easily, I guesss. Alike AJ, you really have an amazing voice. Your expressing of words and pronunciation are very clearly.

Thanks for all.

Have a nice day everybody.

Tien

JO said...

Hi Tien,

Welcome to the Effortless English :).

I agree with you about the American accent. I don't really like Britits's accent either. For me their accent is terrible :). If you come to Ireland, it even worst. The place where i live the accent very strong.

Slowly, my accent just like them :).

Good luck in learning English 2008!

AJ Hoge said...

Re: Accent

My best advice for your SPEAKING accent is don't force it. In other words, listen to a lot of British and American accents. But when you speak, don't worry... let your accent develop naturally.

If you want to specifically work on pronunciation, its probably best to imitate the "standard" accents you find in normal movies, the BBC, CNN, and podcasts.

In fact, there is not a huge difference in accent between "BBC English" (British" and "CNN English" (N. American). If you speak either one well, (or even a mix of the two ;) you will be easily understood in English speaking countries throughout the world!

As for Irish accents and regional accents (ex. southern US, cockney,...), there is absolutely nothing wrong with them. The only problem they create is that they are not as widespread-- and thus not as widely known internationally compared to the international reach of the "standard" accents.

kubat said...

AJ Hi? I Couldn't understand one thing from the dialog, this:
"And he kind of hit the accelerator, and it – and then it got away from him, and he let go, but that plastic piece, you know, hit his, you know, kind of bumped against his wrist, and it kept the accelerator open."
Can you help Me, what Todd did wrong exactly?

hoang viet said...

To AJ : thank for your explanation.BEsides, not only me, most of my friend like the American accent as well. But when we study in Maths class, our teacher(he is the ENglish) often argue with Vietnamese students about English accent and American accent. i don't talk too much but my friends ( girls), they seem to be interested in American accent and make ours teacher angry.HAha...
it seem that American accent is really powerful.
To this conversation : there are some atmosphereics in your recorder. I can hear this conversation clearly without earphone.But when i use earphone, i can't hear clearly this.

AJ Hoge said...

Re: Todd

When Todd lost control of the motorcycle, he kept the accelerator "open" (he kept it on.. the motorcycle continued to go.... he should have let go of the accelerator to slow/stop the bike).

Re: background sounds in the recording

Yes, this is a problem I still have when recording phone conversations from Skype. Its a problem with Skype I think... and I don't know how to solve it :(

Lebanese girl said...

hey AJ.

My name is Aziza from lebanon, i married & i have three kids in the same age. so,i don`t have much time to learn english,i need ur help to teach me how can i improve my english language in a short time.

plz help me if u can.

Thanks a lot

Aziza