voa

Hi, I’m Donna Barnes. I’m a life and dating coach and owner of NY Dating Coach here in New York City.

In this clip we’ll talk about romantic ways to get engaged, and really I guess your primary goal should be something that’s gonna last and be a great story forever, because everybody always says: how did you get engaged? They want to hear the story. So a truly romantic fairytale story is always great. So you could serenade the one you love with a song, and surprise them with the ring. You could go on a wonderful romantic weekend together where it’s building up for the whole weekend up until the moment.

There’s all sorts of things. It’s, it’s best if you can catch them by surprise. I think those are really, the truest, romantic, where you really put a lot of thought and caring into it, and make it a surprise so that they had no idea that it was coming.

So, you could find things that they love to do and then be there, and be part of it, make it creative and from your heart, and she’ll cherish it forever.

This is Donna Barnes from New York City.

Twitter Search 1

It seems like everyone is using Twitter these days. You know, sharing little messages with each other on phones and computers. It turns out that all these little messages, if you look at them all at once, become an easy way to find people, news and trends. This is \"Twitter Search in Plain English\".

Let's get started by visiting Twitterville. This town represents all the people using Twitter. There are millions of them, and they’re constantly talking to each other and sharing information one hundred and forty characters at a time.

The typical townsperson only sees part of the messages or tweets, and that's fine. There’re way too many to follow them all. But if all the tweets could be captured and organized all the time, amazing things could be possible. The town would have a resource for knowing what's interesting and who's talking about it. This is what Twitter Search has done for Twitter. It captures and organizes every tweet so it's possible to find people and specific information in real time.

For instance, Meet Roy of Ice Cream by Roy. Other than the people who came to his store, he could never hear what customers said about his ice cream. However, because everyone in the town uses Twitter, he can now search for “Ice Cream by Roy” and see tweets from people who mention his product. Then he can reply to say \"thanks\" or follow their future updates.

Twitter Search helps Roy listen to customers and make the flavors they want.

Words:

townsperson: n. the people who live in a town or city 镇民、市民

tweet: v. to make the short, high sound of a small bird 鸣叫

n. (1) a short, high-pitched sound made by a small bird 小鸟叫声

n. (2) a text-based message of up to 140 characters which can be sent and read using Twitter

Twitter Search 2

It’s also a great way to learn about news. When an explosion is heard outside of town, the townspeople report it in real time. This means that Roy can check Twitter search to find a constant stream of information, sometimes from the very people who experienced it. He can even limit the results to tweets near a specific location. It’s news as it happens.

Every minute of every day on Twitter, people are using some words more than others. Maybe the town has a new mayor, a concert came to town, or the same joke is being told over and over. If the most popular words could appear on a sign, a person just arriving in town could get a feel for what was interesting to the residents at the moment.

On Twitter, the most used words are known as trends and they’re a great way to see what’s interesting on Twitter. You can always find up-to-the-minute trends on your Twitter profile, or at search..com. Clicking a trending topic shows the most recent tweets that include that word or phrase.

Sometimes, Twitter members work together and use a specific keyword, called a hashtag, to connect related tweets. For example, people talking about elections may use the hashtag “vote” to create the connection. This way, by including the “vote” tag, Roy can make sure his tweet is part of the discussion.

If enough people use the tag, it may become a trend, attracting even more people to the conversation.

Of course, tracking these conversations is easy because Roy can search right on his Twitter profile. And if he wants to see results over time, he can save the search.

With Twitter, all the small messages are useful when shared between people. But by organizing all the tweets and making them searchable, we can learn what’s on the minds of millions.

\"I am afraid I am losing it.\"

I'm Susan Clark with the Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Tom Smith is the best hitter on his company's baseball team. For weeks during the playing season, Tom hit a home run in every game the team played. But then suddenly he stopped hitting home runs. He could not hit the baseball at all. One day he struck out three times in one game. He said, \"I am afraid I am losing it.\"

Mary Jones bought a dress in a woman's clothing store. She felt very happy about buying the dress until she got home. Then she remembered she had left her credit card at the store when she used it to pay for the dress. It was the third time that month that Mary had forgotten something important. Mary was angry with herself. She said, \"Am I losing it?\"

Emma Cleveland was teaching a class in mathematics at a college. She began to explain to the students how to solve a very difficult problem. She understood it very well. But somehow, at that moment, she could not explain it. Emma said, \"I must be losing it.\"

Americans seem to have a lot of concern about losing it. At least that is what you would think from hearing them talk. They use the expression when they feel they are losing control. It can mean losing emotional control. Or losing the ability to do something. Or losing mental powers.

Word experts differ about how the expression started. Some believe it came from television programs popular in the nineteen eighties. Others believe it began with psychologists and psychiatrists who deal with how people think, feel and act.

One psychologist said, \"We Americans have many concerns about controlling our lives. Perhaps we worry too much.\" She continued, \"In many situations, to say you are losing it eases the tension. It is healthy. And most people who say they are having a problem are not losing it.\" People may feel more like they are losing it when they are \"down in the dumps.\" People who are down in the dumps are sad. They are depressed.

Word expert Charles Funk says people have been feeling down in the dumps for more than four-hundred years. Sir Thomas More used the expression in fifteen thirty-four. He wrote, \"Our poor family ... has fallen in such dumps.\"

Word experts do not agree what the word dumps means. One expert, John Ayto, says the word dumps probably comes from the Scandinavian countries. The languages of Denmark and Norway both have similar words. The words mean to fall suddenly.

Americans borrowed this saying. And, over the years, it has become a popular way of expressing sadness. (MUSIC)

This WORDS AND THEIR STORIES program was written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Susan Clark.

nose

Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.

(MUSIC)

A person's nose is important for breathing and smelling. The nose is also used in many popular expressions.

Some people are able to lead other people by the nose. For example, if a wife leads her husband by the nose, she makes him do whatever she wants him to do.

Some people are said to be hard-nosed. They will not change their opinions or positions on anything. If someone is hard-nosed, chances are he will never pay through the nose, or pay too much money, for an object or service.

It is always helpful when people keep their nose out of other people's business. They do not interfere. The opposite of this is someone who noses around all the time. This kind of person is interested in other people's private matters. He is considered nosey.

Someone who keeps his nose to the grindstoneworks very hard. This can help a worker keep his nose clean or stay out of trouble.

One unusual expression is that is no skin off my nose. This means that a situation does not affect or concern me. We also say that sometimes a person cuts off his nose to spite his face. That is, he makes a situation worse for himself by doing something foolish because he is angry.

More problems can develop if a person looks down his nose at someone or something. The person acts like something is unimportant or worthless. This person might also turn up his nose at something that he considers not good enough. This person thinks he is better than everyone else. He has his nose in the air.

In school, some students thumb their nose at their teacher. They refuse to obey orders or do any work. Maybe these students do not know the correct answers. My mother always told me, if you study hard, the answers should be right under your nose or easily seen.

I think we have explained the nose expressions. What about ears? Well, I hope you are all ears or very interested in hearing more expressions. We might even put a bug in your ear or give you an idea about something. We also advise you to keep your ear to the ground. This means to be interested in what is happening around you and what people are thinking.

If you are a good person, you will lend an ear to your friends. You will listen to them when they have a problem they need to talk about. Our last expression is to play it by ear.This has two meanings. One is to play a song on a musical instrument by remembering the tune and not by reading the music. Play it by ear also means to decide what to do at the last minute instead of making detailed plans.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.

Hit

Now, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES - a VOA Special English program about American expressions. I'm Rich Kleinfeldt with some expressions containing the word hit.

(MUSIC)

Hit is a small word but it has a lot of power. Baseball players hit the ball. Missiles hit an airplane. A car hits a tree.

Hit also joins with other words to create many colorful expressions. One is hit the road. It means to travel or to leave a place, as suggested in this song, \"Hit the Road.\"

(MUSIC)

Another common expression is hit the spot. At first it meant hitting a spot at the center of a target with an arrow. Someone who did so was satisfied with his shooting. Now, hitting the spot usually means that a food or drink is especially satisfying.

Many years ago, Pepsi Cola sold its drink with a song that began, \"Pepsi Cola hits the spot, twelve full ounces, that's a lot...\"

Another expression involving hit is hit bottom. Something that has hit bottom can go no lower. If the price of shares of a stock hits bottom that might be the time to buy it. Its value can only go up.

A student who tells you his grades have hit bottom is saying he has not done well in school.

When a student's grades hit bottom it is time to hit the books. Hit the books is another way to saying it is time to study. A student might have to tell her friends she can not go with them to the movies because she has to hit the books.

Not hitting the books could lead to an unpleasant situation for a student. The father or mother may hit the ceiling when they see the low grades. Someone who hits the ceiling, the top of the room, is violently angry. A wife may hit the ceiling because her husband forgot their wedding anniversary.

To build something of wood, you usually need a hammer. That is what you use to hit nails into the pieces of wood to hold them together. When you hit the nail on the head, exactly on its top, it goes into the wood perfectly. And when someone says your words or actions hit the nail on the head, he means what you said or did was exactly right.

If you are tired after hitting all those nails on the head, then it is time to hit the hay. That expression comes from the days when people slept on beds filled with dried grass or hay. Some people slept on hay in barns where they kept their farm animals.

Hitting the hay simply means going to bed. That is a good idea. I think I will hit the hay now.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Frank Beardsley. I'm Rich Kleinfeldt.

eyes

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. (MUSIC)

Today's program is all about eyes. When it comes to relationships, people's eyes can be a window into their hearts. This means that their eyes can tell a lot about how they feel. We will tell a story about a man and woman who are teachers at the same school. The woman is interested in the man. She uses many methods to catch his eye, or get him to notice her. Once he sets eyes on her, or sees her, she might try to get him interested in her by acting playful. In other words, she might try to make eyes at him or give him the eye.

Let us suppose that this man gets hit between the eyes. In other words, the woman has a strong affect on him. He wants to spend time with her to get to know her better. He asks her out on a date.

She is so happy that she may walk around for days with stars in her eyes. She is extremely happy because this man is the apple of her eye, a very special person. She might tell him that he is the only person she wants, or \"I only have eyes for you.\"

On their date, the couple might eat a meal together at a restaurant. If the man is really hungry, his eyes might be bigger than his stomach. He might order more food than he can eat. When his food arrives at the table, his eyes might pop out. He might be very surprised by the amount of food provided. He might not even believe his own eyes. If fact, all eyes would be watching him if he ate all the food. This might even cause raised eyebrows. People might look at the man with disapproval. During their dinner, the couple might discuss many things. They might discover that they see eye to eye, or agree on many issues. They share the same beliefs and opinions. For example, they might agree that every crime or injury should be punished. That is, they firmly believe in the idea of an eye for an eye. They might also agree that it is wrong to pull the wool over a person's eyes. This means to try to trick a person by making him believe something that is false. But the man and woman do not believe in the evil eye, that a person can harm you by looking at you. The next day, at their school, the woman asks the man to keep an eye on, or watch the young students in her class while she is out of the classroom. This might be hard to do when the teacher is writing on a board at the front of the classroom. To do so, a teacher would need to have eyes in the back of his head. In other words, he would know what the children are doing even when he is not watching them. (MUSIC)

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, in VOA Special English, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.

Dos & Don'ts of Communication

Have you noticed that many people don’t really know how to communicate when they’re talking to you? Have you noted the difference between when you see a person that really knows what they’re saying?

Hi, I’m Hazely Lopez from Hazely Academy of Refinement and Modeling. And I’m here to talk to you about the dos and don’ts of communication.

Basically we are going to start with six basic steps.

Um, first of all, you have to think about what you’re going to say, exactly that. You’re going to be using complete sentences. Using complete sentences definitely delivers what you’re trying to say. Of course, no slang. That is never appropriate when you’re talking to somebody and trying to communicate a thought. Also it’s very important to, to stay clear, speak slowly and articulate what you’re saying. Breathe between one sentence and the other. If you go too fast, the person on the other end may not really be perceiving what you’re trying to say. Also, keep your manners. You always want to make sure that you’re talking with the correct things like, for example, please, thank you and all those articulating things. Also your body language, it is so important to project what you’re saying. When you talk like this and you stay without just not moving, it’s a little bit awkward. You may use your hands that expresses how you feel, expresses your emotions.

I’m Hazely Lopez from Hazely Academy of Refinement and Modeling. And remember communicating is important. It’s even more important to deliver the message.

Why Do People Use Netiquette

Hi! I'm Donna Barnes, Life and Relationship coach here in New York City, and the author of \"It's All About You.\"

In this clip, we'll talk about why do people use netiquette. Well, hopefully people do. Netiquette is a term that came from etiquette on the net, and I think the biggest faux pas about emailing and texting and all these wonderful new technologies we have is that, there's no human behavior that goes along with that, there's no subtext.

So, you may mean something one way and you write it out, and the meaning is completely misconstrued by the person on the other side. So, I think these emoticons have become popular, little smiley faces, and things like that. So that if you say something, that could maybe be taken in a different way, if you put that little smiley face it means, take that in a good way. And I think that it certainly helps to convey your message in a better way.

And netiquette is also about not passing on spam, if you're one of those people that sends out everything to everybody constantly, most people don't like that. You know, that's fun when you first get your computer but after you've been on it for a while, you’ve hopefully got a lot of more important things to do. So it's really about respecting other people's email address. If you send out a mass email, do it with blind copied addresses. Don't send out everybody's email to everybody else so that they can get spam by having their email address out there.

It's just about being considerate and really just replying in a fast manner, and not leaving it to, you know, not responding and not returning people's calls. So I think, netiquette really is something that should be more spoken about and more prominent because it's very important. It's just as if you were in a meeting, especially because email and all that is used so much in business nowadays, then it's really important to keep your business relationships professional and, you know, it's very casual with the email but you need to try to keep that netiquette up and be professional at all times.

This is Donna Barnes from New York City.

Glossary:

1. faux pas: n.

an embarrassing mistake in a social situation

2. subtext: n.

a hidden or second meaning behind someone's words or actions

3. misconstrue: v.

to misunderstand something that someone has said or done.

4. emoticon: n.

An emoticon is a symbol used in e-mail to show how someone is feeling. :-) is an emoticon showing happiness. = smiley

5. spam: n.

email messages that a computer user has not asked for and does not want to read, for example from someone who is advertising something

Wikis

Welcome to Wikis In Plain English.

These four friends are going on a camping trip. They need to bring the right supplies because they’re backpacking. The group needs to plan and plan well, so coordination is key. They’re all computer users, so they start planning with an email. It starts with one, but quickly becomes a barrage. Email is not good at coordinating and organizing a group's input. This is the old way.Boo!

The important information is scattered across everyone's inbox. This isn't coordination. Let's start over. There is a better way. It requires using a website called awiki. Using awiki, the group can coordinate their trip better. This is the new way. Yay!

Most wikis work the same way. They make it easy for everyone to change what appears on a webpage with a click ofabutton. It’s as easy as erasing a word and rewriting it. The buttons are really important. There are two that are essential. They are 'Edit' and 'Save'.And they are always used together. Let's see them in action.

Here are our camping friends and here is a wiki website. Like all wikis, it has an 'Edit' button. All you have to do is to click it and the webpage becomes a document ready for editing. Editing the page means you can add, remove words or change how they look, just like writing a letter. Once you’re finished editing, you can click 'Save' and the document becomes a webpage once again and is ready forthenext person to edit it. Easy. Edit, write and save. Using this process, a group can coordinate more easily.

Let's apply this to our camping friends who need to bring the right supplies. Mary signs up for a wiki and then sees the new site for the first time. She clicks the 'Edit' button to get started. She creates two lists for camping: what we have and what we need. Under 'We Have', she lists the things she will bring: a cooler, a stove and a flashlight. Under 'We Need', she lists items that others need to bring: compass, lighter, water and food. She finishes the process by clicking 'Save' and the website now has lists for the camping trip.

Nowit’s John's turn. John visits the wiki website and clicks 'Edit'. The page becomes a document ready for him to make changes. John volunteers to bring food and water, so he moves those to the have column. He also realizes the group will need a knife and a rope. Once he's finished, he clicks 'Save' and the wiki is ready for the next person.

Henry visits the wiki, clicks 'Edit' so he can edit the page. He remembers they need a tent. Henry saves the page andthewiki is ready for Frank. Frank edits the page and agrees to bring the remaining items, completing the process. He saves the page and then realizes something awesome. The group has created the perfect camping list, without email.Yay!

But wait! One thing is missing. They need a location for the campsite! The wiki can help withthis, too, but another page is needed.

John visits the wiki and clicks 'Edit' to edit the page. He types in the word 'Locations' and highlights it. He then clicks the 'Link' button. This changes the word 'Locations' into a link to a new page. John clicks 'Save' and next, Frank visits the wiki. He sees the lists and clicks on the 'Locations' link to arrive atthe new page. This new page enables the group to use the same“Edit, Write, Save” process to coordinate locations. This process can be repeated over and over.

These three buttons, 'Edit, 'Save' and 'Link' make it possible to organize a great camping trip, or create the world's biggest encyclopedia.

Words:

barrage: n. (1) the continuous firing of guns, dropping of bombs etc猛烈的攻击

(2) a lot of criticism, questions, complaints etc that are said at the same time, or very quickly one after another连接发问、连接指责

(3) a wall of earth, stones etc built across a river to provide water for farming or to prevent flooding拦河坝

campsite: n. a place where people who are on holiday can stay in tents露营地

Making a good first impression

Hi, I'm Donna Barnes. I'm a life and relationship coach and the owner of NY Dating Coach in New York City.

In this clip we will talk about making a good first impression and you only get one chance to do that, right? So a real great way to make a first impression is to make eye contact and really take interest in the person that you are meeting. First off remember their name. If when you first meet somebody, you use their name in a sentence when you talk to them then you let them know that you heard their name, that you listened.

And allow them to be in the spotlight, you know, share about yourself and reveal some things but don't monopolize the conversation, it's not all about you. It's, even if you're the most interesting person in the world, people want to talk about themselves too. So, be a great listener, ask questions and really want to get to know the other person. And, you know, people like to talk about themselves. So if you give them the opportunity to do that, then they're gonna like you.

So, make sure that you dress nice and have good posture. And don't be negative, don't complain about things, no one wants to hear your problems. It's not, you know, anything for a first meeting. Just be positive, be yourself, don't be phony and be a good listener.

This is Donna Barnes from New York City.