台灣的朋友們對「超級星光大道」及「超級偶像」兩個歌唱選秀節目應該都不陌生，對美國的"American Idol" 及 英國的"Pop Idol", "X Factor"也多多少少有所接觸，在台灣的「超級星光大道」捧紅了楊宗緯、蕭敬騰、林宥嘉、黃美珍、Alisa，林芯儀、梁文音、賴銘偉、簡鳳君、黃靖倫等人，「超級偶像」捧紅了張芸京、江明娟、林宗興、黃文星、王雅婷，遠在美國的American Idol更是打造了許多現今西洋歌曲暢銷歌手的搖籃，如 Kelly Clarkson(第2張專輯breakaway勇奪2座Grammy Awards), Jennifer Hudson (演出Dreamgirls電影女配角，並勇奪Academy Awards的最佳女配角，最近於慾望城市 sex and the city 電影中演出)，Carrie Underwoood (贏得兩座Grammy Awards)，Bo Bice (the real thing一曲紅翻天)，Elliott Yamin (Ｗait for you 一曲紅遍大街小巷)等等。其實興起最近歌唱選秀節目的始祖是英國的Pop Idol，在英國另一個Britain's Got Talent選秀節目捧紅了台灣熟知的小康妮，在X Factor這個節目則誕生了一個令我非常喜歡的聲音，具有Whitney Houston的渾厚嗓音, Mariah Carey的轉音細膩及Celine Dion的豐沛感情，我還記得第一次聽到她 (Leona Lewis) 第二支單曲 Bleeding love，我還以為是 Celine Dion新推出的歌曲呢 !
想了解她有多麼的 talented嗎？除了聆聽她的 bleeding love, Better in time等歌外，看一下她比賽時所演唱的歌曲，也可以了解她唱歌的 power及感情，是天生的歌手，我想她將來一定大放異彩，成為另一個diva。以下這首歌是 I have nothing，Whitney Houston是原唱者，而Leona Lewis唱起來雖然有Whitney的影子，但也有她自己的味道，而且power 十足，是我最喜歡的一次演出。Check it out!
其實她從一開始比賽時，也沒有那麼會唱，在短短的比賽過程中，她進步很多，如果想了解她參賽的演出及進步的過程，可看一下下面這一段 Montage of her performances
What's Podcasting? Does it have anything to do with iPod? Or is it another form of broadcasting? What can we do with it? Why has it become so popular?
Check out the following video clip and figure it out. As the blog is aimed to share more tips for English learning, I'll explain how to unitlize podcasting to study English in a more interesting and efficient fashion in Chinese next time.
A ferry named Princess of Stars with more than 800 people on board capsized in the Philippines due to a strong typhoon. The search and rescue workers are making their efforts to save as many people as possible. At the same time, a central city called Iloilo was severely flooded for the first time and lots of houses were seriously damaged, leaving a lot of people homeless, because of the torrential rains caused by the typhoon. The electricity was cut off and residents in that area are holding their breath for the aids from the government and waiting for first-ever floods in the region to recede.
When I watched the news on TV, I couldn't stop worrying about my Filipino friends and godson in Iloilo. It's extremely difficult to get a hold of them in the first place. However, after a while, I received a text message from my good friend, Michael. One part of me felt relieved because they were safe and things seemed to fine with them. The other part of me was anxious and concerned after he told me about the level of the water in his house was as high as his waist. It was 9:00 pm already. I started to wonder if they had other places to stay overnight and if they could go through the rough night with non-stop heavy rains pouring out from the sky. Good thing is that he could stay on the second floor with his family. However, all he could do is to cross his fingers for the best because the house was not strong and robust enough to resist the natural force. They were caught off guard by the floods. They didn't see it coming because this had never happened before in their lives in that region. What makes me feel even more upset is that they didn't hold out any hopes for their government to reach out for them by giving enough food and water supplies. In my book, when people are suffered, the government has to shoulder the responsibilities and do whatever it takes to help its people. Unfortunately, it's not the case in Myanmar after the hardest hit by the cyclone a couple of weeks ago. However, compared to the junta in Mynamar, I believe the Philippines government would relate to its people's feelings and act accordingly to get them out of trouble - although my friends have lost faith in their corrupt government and blame it for the poor quality of living in the Philippines. All of my Filipino friends are so caring and nice. They do deserve a better life.
I do hope that more and more people will be rescued from the rough sea and the life in Iloilo and other disaster areas can return to normal ASAP. Before that happens, I'm sure they have to go through a lot of hurdles and inconvenience. People in Taiwan have demonstrated the international community how generous and empathetic we are in the horrendous earthquake happening in China by continuous donations. Due to the global warming problem, more and more natural disasters break out here and there in the world and take a toll on people's lives. If you are also one of the people who care about humanitarian aids, let's show our love and care to those people in need across the world instead of wasting our time and breath on the endless partisan fights.
1. chic (adj). 時尚的; 時髦的(= stylish) You look so chic today.
2. genre (n.) 類別; 種類 (= kind = type)常用於形容音樂或電影的類別 My favorite movie genre is sci-fi movies. What about you?
3. encore (v.n.) 安可(加演的曲目) Mariah Cereey got an encore and she decided to perform her most popular song, "hero."
4. R.S.V.P. (RSVP) (v.) 確認回覆 此字眼在邀請函後面常會看到，表示宴會主人希望你回覆告知是否參加出席該活動。 Please R.S.V.P. by Thursday.
5. soiree (n.) 派對(常指較正式的派對) He will throw me a soiree. I hope you can come.
6. deja vu (n.) 似曾相識的感覺 (也是由碧昂絲演唱的一首歌名) I had a feeling of deja vu. I thinkI might have been to this place before. All things seem so familiar.
7. avant-garde (adj.) 前衛的 (想比別人先一步嘗鮮的) (=cutting edge = innovative) There are many strategies for advertising. One of it is called "avant garde", which means using the product can put you ahead of others. "Be the first" is the common slogan in the type of advertising.
8. faux pas (n.) 失禮(常指社交上的失禮或不妥) If you are going to an interview, you'd better dress formally. If you dress casually, it's a faux pas.
9. c'est la vie (= that's life) 這就是人生(別大驚小怪;放輕鬆) Don't be so upset. There are ups and downs in life. C'est la vie! Just try again.
10. en route (= on the way) 在…途中(常在新聞中看見此字眼，說明該交通工具的目的的) His brother died in a small plane crash in Colorado en route to his son's college graduation.
11. force majeure (不可抗力的因素，如各種天災人禍等) 此字眼常在英文契約中出現
12. rendezvous (n. v.) (=appointment) (=make an appointment; meet) 約會;會面;碰面 (1) If you run your mouth and brag about this secret rendezvous, I will hunt you down. (取自Mariah Carey 的 touch my body歌詞) (2) This is one of the great rendezvous of London for artists. (3) Let's rendezvous at 5 o'clock. What do you say?
1. Englishbaby (http://www.englishbaby.com/) 這是一個影響我很深的網站，因為裡面提供了許多道地的美語課程，如俚語、電影、音樂、生活，不但是以對話為主的網站，而且都有影音檔，並有聽力練習，是美國一群為了幫助大家學習英語所成立的網站，並設有討論區、聊天室，也可以結交到來自世界各國有心想學英語的朋友。只要加入會員後，即可以免費使用各項服務，而且該網站課程是每天更新，絕對可以讓你學到原汁原味的道地美語。該網站為全英文網站，建議具中級程度以上的同學可進去挖寶。 為了讓大家更方便的學到每天該網站所提供的英語課程，本部落格目前也有連結最新的課程資料，只要點選本站右邊「每日一起學英語」下面的Daily Lesson by English Baby，即可瀏覽學習每天該網站所提供的最新英語課程內容。
Giving a speech is no picnic. Giving a humerous speech is even harder. One friend shared the following speech with me. The title of the speech is "My mom and my dates." I have to say that the speaker really did a great job. Way to go!
Check it out and feel free to share your opinions.
