heron
Age : 39
Registration date : 2008-08-30
Number of posts : 133
Location : Heaven
Character sheet
best pet: Dinosaur
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 Subject: Read & Listen  Tue Oct 07, 2008 3:06 pm |
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Read and Listen
In this section, You can read the text and listen to a native English person speaking the text below.
BBC Learning English
Grow Your Own
Click here to play the audio ( you need Real Player to play this)
[/size]Amber: Hello, I’m Amber and you’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com
In People and Places today, we hear about a new film that takes us to a very
English place – an allotment. An allotment is a small plot of land rented to
someone for growing vegetables or flowers.
The film – called Grow Your Own – is loosely based on a real-life allotment in
Liverpool, where traumatised Balkan Civil War refugees were given plots of
land to work on as therapy. In the film, an immigrant Chinese father is given an
allotment to help him reconnect with the world and support his children after
his traumatic journey.
We’ll hear two extracts of an interview with film critic Larushka Ivan-Zadeh.
You’ll hear plenty of descriptive language, as well as a lot of ‘word play’ using
the language of gardening. Word play is when you joke about the meanings of
words.
So here’s our first extract. Larushka is answering the question – Although
Grow Your Own is clearly about some serious social issues, it’s really a
touching little British comedy, isn’t it? (Rather like The Full Monty, an
extremely popular and funny film about a group of unemployed steel workers
in Yorkshire.)
As you listen, try to catch some of the adjectives Larushka uses to describe the
film, Grow Your Own.
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
Oh, absolutely. I mean, gentle’s the word you used, ‘gentle’ is definitely the word for this.
Sort of, very charming, home-grown comedy. But ‘mild’ would be another one – I mean, it’s
kind of like a less funny ‘Full Monty’ with potting sheds, really! It sort of centres, as well, on
this kind of slightly cringe-y romance. I mean, it’s slightly embarrassing. Almost nudge,
nudge, wink, wink territory.
Amber: So the film is ‘gentle’, ‘mild’ and ‘charming’ – words you could certainly use
to describe a warm, friendly person! And notice Larushka begins her answer
with the words ‘Oh, absolutely’ – this is a very common way of emphasising
that you agree with someone. And she plays with the expression ‘home-grown’
– vegetables can be ‘home-grown’ if you grow them in your garden or
allotment and Larushka calls the film ‘home-grown’ because it’s a Britishmade
film. She says the film has a ‘slightly cringe-y romance’ – if something
makes you cringe – it makes you embarrassed or uncomfortable. She says the
romance in Grow Your Own is so embarrassing it’s ‘almost nudge, nudge,
wink, wink territory’ – she means it’s sexually suggestive in an indirect way.
Listen again.
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
Oh, absolutely. I mean, gentle’s the word you used, ‘gentle’ is definitely the word for this.
Sort of, very charming, home-grown comedy. But ‘mild’ would be another one – I mean, it’s
kind of like a less funny ‘Full Monty’ with potting sheds, really! It sort of centres, as well, on
this kind of slightly cringe-y romance. I mean, it’s slightly embarrassing. Almost nudge,
nudge, wink, wink territory.
Amber: Next, we hear the film described as a bit ‘wishy washy’ – meaning it doesn’t
have much strength or colour, it’s mild. And it’s described as ‘a bit liberal’ – as
presenting a view of Britain as a broad-minded place, where people ‘all live
together in acceptance’ - in a ‘wonderful new multi-cultural society’. And
Larushka ends with a joke – can you catch it?
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
It’s sort of a bit wishy washy really, and a bit liberal. I mean, it’s got this kind of idea that we
all live together in acceptance, have a nice cup of tea and have sort of organically evolved into
this wonderful new multi-cultural society – I mean! Maybe he’s right; maybe marrow
growing contests are the solution to cultural integration!
Amber: So Larushka jokes that perhaps the film is right – vegetable growing
competitions might be the way to achieve ‘cultural integration’! A marrow is a
large, long green vegetable.
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
It’s sort of a bit wishy washy really, and a bit liberal. I mean, it’s got this kind of idea that we
all live together in acceptance, have a nice cup of tea and have sort of organically evolved into
this wonderful new multi-cultural society – I mean! Maybe he’s right; maybe marrow
growing contests are the solution to cultural integration!
Amber: Now here’s a list of the language we focussed on in the programme today.
an allotment - a small plot of land rented to someone for growing vegetables
word play - when you joke about the meanings of words
mild – gentle
‘Absolutely!’ – this is a very common way of emphasising that you agree with
someone
home-grown – if something is ‘home-grown’ you grew it yourself in your
garden or allotment
cringe-y – if something makes you cringe, it makes you embarrassed or
uncomfortable
wishy washy – without strength or colour
a marrow – a marrow is a large, long green vegetable.
More stories of people and places – with language explanations – next time, at BBC Learning English .com
All the best !
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