Keurig - Pronunciation trouble

Though we anglicize (make English in appearance and/or pronunciation) many names there are a few that I feel are two far removed from the original. The latest is "Keurig"- the new coffee makers that are so fashionable as of late

Please note the correct pronunciation is: “keer-ech”!

Just for  interest's sake, let's look at how a few other names sound in their original languages:

 1. Van Gogh = van GOKH (-v as in vet, -g as in get, -kh as in Scottish loch) 

 2. Bach = B-ah-x (X means that harsh sound in the back of your throat, as if you were clearing it.) 

 3. Beethoven = Bayt -ho -fen - The first part of the name is pronounced like the English word "bet" but with a stretched "e". In the second part of the name the "h" is pronounced,followed by a slightly longer "o" sound,so yes it could be phonetically spelled like - "hoe" - and the "v" should be pronounced as "f".[fan ˈbeːt.hoːfən]

Local community petitions foreign workers to leave

Background:

Ethnocentrism is judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one's own culture.

Racism 1. is the belief that some races of people are better than others 2. the unfair treatment of people who belong to a different race; violent behavior towards them 

The article:

 Local community petitions foreign workers to leave

Following recent accusations of discrimination against foreign workers by Taipei Railway Station, another incident of alleged discrimination has surfaced, with about 1,000 residents in a Taoyuan County community petitioning to have 30 Filipino workers move out of the area.

1.     accusation: a statement saying that you think a person is guilty of doing something wrong, especially of committing a crime; the act of accusing (verb) somebody

2.     discrimination: the practice of treating somebody or a particular group in society less fairly than others - age/racial/sex/sexual discrimination, discriminate (verb)

3.     alleged: adjective from the verb allege - to state something as a fact but without giving proof I.e. alleged attack

4.     surface: to suddenly appear or become obvious after having been hidden [or kept secret] for a while

5.     resident: a person who lives in a particular place or who has their home there

6.     petition: - a written document (noun) signed by a large number of people that asks somebody in a position of authority to do or change something or the act of doing it. (verb)

Hanging up large banners that read “No to foreign workers in our community,” residents of Rueilian Community (瑞聯社區) in the county’s Bade City (八德) said they did not want the foreign workers from the nearby Ablecome Technology company to stay in the community because of safety concerns.

“We are concerned about our safety,” a resident, Lin Feng-mei (林鳳美), said in a video clip aired by Public Television. “There are many children living in this community. Most of the families here have children, and they are afraid of playing in the park because those foreign workers also spend their leisure time in the park.”

7.     air: (verb) to broadcast a programme on the radio or on television; to be broadcast

8.     leisure time: time that is spent doing what you enjoy when you are not working or studying

About 1,000 residents of the community signed a petition earlier this month, asking Ablecome to resettle the foreign workers as soon as possible.

9.     resettle: to go and live (or help others to) in a new country or area

While Ablecom general manager Liang Chien-fa (梁見發) said he disagreed with their views, he has agreed to find another place for his employees to stay by Oct. 6.

“They [the Filipino workers] have been staying in the community for only about two weeks, and there have been no problems at all,” Liang said, adding that foreign workers are no different from locals, but the company has agreed to relocate them because of the community’s opposition.

Taoyuan County Councilor Lu Lin Hsiao-feng (呂林小鳳), who represents the constituency, denied that residents wanted foreign workers to leave because of racial discrimination.

10.  constituency: a district that elects its own representative to parliament or the people who live there

“It has nothing to do with discrimination,” she said. “With 460 households and more than 1,000 residents, Rueilian is a peaceful community. They are merely worried that clashes could happen because of these foreign workers, with their different skin color and different culture, going in and out of the community.”

11.  clash: noun and verb form - a short fight between two groups of people (n)

The incident in Taoyuan is the second case of apparent discrimination that has surfaced recently in the nation. Earlier this month, Taipei Railway Station came under fire for cordoning off parts of its lobby on weekends after receiving complaints that gatherings of migrant workers to celebrate Eid al-Fitr last month were bothersome.

12.  cordon off: to stop people from getting into an area by surrounding it with police, soldiers, etc.

13.  migrant worker: a worker moving from one region of the country to another to find employment

14.  bothersome: causing trouble of difficulty – synonym: annoying

Taiwan International Workers Association secretary-general Chen Hsiu-lien (陳秀蓮) said that she was not surprised because discrimination has always existed, “it’s just a matter of whether it surfaces.”

“Last Sunday, a member of our association took a group of Filipino workers to Xinsheng Park in Taipei to practice drumming, and police officers appeared within 30 minutes, saying the Filipino workers were too noisy and could disturb people in a nearby library, and that they were violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), because they did not apply for an assembly permit in advance,” Chen said.

15.  violate: to go against or refuse to obey a law, an agreement, etc.

16.  act:  (noun) a law that has been passed by a parliament

17.  assembly: the meeting together of a group of people for a particular purpose, (verb) assemble

“But there’s no library near the park. It’s already very noisy there because it’s close to Songshan airport, and, when have you heard of people needing to apply for a permit to practice drumming in a park? What about those who exercise and do aerobics dancing in the park?” Chen said.
Chen said what happened last Sunday was not an isolated case.“We often have difficulties renting an office too, because some of our neighbors pressure the landlord since they don’t want ‘people with dark skin’ to be going in and out of the building,” he said.

18.  landlord: a person or company from whom you rent a room, a house, an office, etc.

Snakes - Venomous or Poisonous?

VENOM VS POISON

The terms poison and venom are often used interchangeably, but they actually have very different meanings. It is the delivery method that distinguishes one from the other.

Poison is absorbed or ingested; a poisonous animal can only deliver toxic chemicals if another animal touches or eats it.

Venom, on the other hand, is always injected. Every venomous animal has a mechanism to inject toxins directly into another animal. Stab with tails. Slash with spines. Pierce with fangs. Spike with spurs. Shoot with harpoons. Chew with teeth.

Snake are therefore venomous and not poisonous.

Post-positive adjectives

1. Most adjectives can occur both before and after a noun: 

the blue sea	~ the sea is blue
the old man	~ the man is old
happy children	~ the children are happy

*Note that the examples adjectives do not occur immediately after the noun. Instead, they follow a verb.  

2. A postpositive adjective is an adjective that appears after the noun that it modifies.

In this case there is NO VERB and the adjective appears immediately after the noun

3.  Postposition is obligatory when the adjective modifies a pronoun: 

something useful  
everyone present  
those responsible 

4. Postpositive adjectives are commonly found together with superlative, attributive adjectives: 

the shortest route possible  
the worst conditions imaginable  
the best hotel available

5. In general, postpositive adjectives usually sound unnatural in English, but there are a few commonly used set phrases —for example:

• accounts payable
• attorney general
• body politic
• court martial
• God almighty
• heir apparent
• notary public
• poet laureate
• postmaster general
• time immemorial
• words unspoken   

 

London 2012 Olympics Opened

The opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games took place on Friday night. The event started with Britain's first ever Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins ringing a huge bell. After that came songs and images from the four countries of Great Britain – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There followed images of British history from Shakespeare's times to the industrial revolution to punk, Harry Potter and digital Britain. There was a special tribute to inventor of the worldwide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee.

The three-hour event was officially opened by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, who said: "I declare open the Games of London, celebrating the 30th Olympiad of the modern era." The Olympic flame arrived by a boat steered by English soccer player David Beckham. Seven young athletes lit the Olympic Cauldron, made from 204 copper petals carried in by teams from across the world. Then the fireworks lit up the sky around the Olympic Park. The ceremony ended with Sir Paul McCartney and the audience singing Hey Jude.

Vocabulary expansion:

ceremony: an event to make something official

take place: to happen

image: a picture, especially on film or television or in a mirror

industrial revolution: 2. revolution - a very important change in the way people think or do things  a very important change in the way people think or do things                 1. industrial  - connected with industry (the production of goods in factories)

punk: a style of music and fashion in the 1970s which was wild and loud

tribute: something which you do or say to show that you respect and admire someone, especially in a formal situation:

inventor: someone who designs and makes new things

declare: to announce something publicly or officially

celebrate: to do something enjoyable because it is a special day, or because something good has happened

Olympiad: an occasion on which the Olympic Games are held

(modern) era: a period of time in history

lit - light: to make something start burning

cauldron: a large, round metal pot that is used for cooking over a fire

petals: the thin, flat, coloured parts on the outside of a flower

(lit) light up: to make bright or to cast light on

Hash, pound or sharp?

♯ = sharp sign (as used in music)
# = hash (Commonwealth English) or pound (North American English) sign; aka the number sign
They are not the same thing!

Forever vs For ever

There is a distinct difference between forever and for ever. The first word is an adverb, meaning continuously or persistently - "he is forever losing his wallet", "she is forever complaining". As two words, "for ever" is an expression meaning for all future time, or - more colloquially - for a long time.