nbproe:Things from , things for NB proes etc in NewnewtownEOI: March 2010

Don't worry! Even NA students make occasional mistakes with family vocabulary. But you should know the basics!

Here is Cindrella's family problem : Her Mother died. Her father married again: Her ........?..-mother.
The good woman already had two daughters: Cinderella's ............?-sisters. (check below)

Warm up with the basic unit :

Family Vocabulary: All these words are for a family RELATIONSHIP

ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE YOUR RELATIONS OR RELATIVES

~~FAMILIAR is~~ a FALSE FRIEND
The first nine + words are the most important

Male	female	generic	Spanish
*father , or diminutives such as Paw,Pa, Dad, Daddy, etc*	*mother or diminutives such as Ma, Mum, Mummy, etc*	parent	*padre*
son	daughter	child * or Kid	*hijo/a/os/as*
brother	sister	sibling**	*hermano/a etc*

-	-	cousin	*primo/a etc*
uncle	aunt	- say uncle and aunt, uncles and aunts, etc
nephew	niece	- similar to above	*sobrino/a*

* 1 child, plural children 2 remember also: male : boy*	girl	child or kid	*niño/nene, etc*
** sibling, officially out of fashion but has come back again recently

Difficulty: your brain looks for an individual equivalent for yerno, suegro, padrino, etc
BUT ENGLISH DOES IT ALL WITH AFFIXES

Use those first nine etc words with the following affixes

Prefixes:

Gran(d)- for 2 lineal generations:

los abuelos: grandparents, a grandparent, grandmother, grandfather, grandfathers, granpa, granma, etc etc

los nietos: grandchild, grandchildren, grandson, grandsons grandaughter, grandaughters, etcetc

Step- for relationships deriving from remarriage.= the Spanish suffix-astro/a Think of cinderella!

God- for relationships deriving from baptism. Think of Al Pacino!
Half- same as in Spanish

Suffix
-inlaw mother inlaw, brotherinlaw, soninlaw etc etc
for relationships from marriage, like the Spanish adjective politico
Difficulty: your brain looks for an individual equivalent for yerno, suegro, etc

Stages of standard Relationships between a man and a woman

Stage	Male	female	generic	Group ( very rarely , pair =couple)
Married	Husband	Wife	Spouse, "better half"= 1/2 naran	A married couple
For many centuries, couples just “living together”	Common-law husband	Common-law wife		A ( commonlaw) married couple
Wedding-day and honeymoon only	Groom or bridegroom	bride		A Newly-wed couple, a just married couple, “newly-weds” “just-marrieds”
Formally engaged , but single	Fiancé	Fiancé or fiancée	?fiance?	An engaged couple. Cf to be engaged
Going steady/ going out together/ dating? , but single	(+or - steady) boy-friend	(+or - steady) girl-friend	My/etc steady	A (?) couple Once: a courting couple NB "boy and girl " talk in relationships now covers people 90 or 100 years old. A genertion ago, husband and wife could be old man or old woman at 18!
First( ‘) date(s), between single people			My/etc date	A couple on a date (?) cf a blind date, double-dating(2 couples) etc

Other words :
Picking-up, chatting up			*A pick-up be careful= casual tabu, offensive**	Cf to pick up, to chat up, many other more tabu synonyms
Irregular and extramarital liasons	Toyboy , gigolo	Very old fashioned: Mistress, kept woman
			Lover	At any moment or condition, as in Spanish “amante”, the relationship will be physical or not depending on the context
Self-explanatory:			A one-night-stand
Politically correct : Anthing modern &/or , indefinite and /or indescribable			Partner	This covers, say 5 men+ 3 women+ + 3 indefinables+ a gorilla .They’re all partners!

NOW Watch this video, several times or click:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdFPDjtX2Q4

Exercise: fill in then click above link

I 'm My Own …….. It sounds funny, I know, But it really is so, Oh, I'm my own …………….I'm my own ....... (x2)

Now many, many years ago, when I was twenty-three, I was married to a ……………….who was pretty as could be.

This ………………..had a grown-up …………………who had hair of red.

My……………….. fell in love with her, and soon they, too, were wed.

This made my …………….my ………………….and changed my very life,

My ………………..was my………………., cause she was my ………………s wife.

To complicate the matter, even though it brought me joy, I soon became the …………………….of a bouncing baby boy.

My little baby then became a …………………….to…………..,

And so became my……………….., though it made me very sad.

For if he was my………………., then that also made him ………………

Of the …………………….s grown-up…………………., who, of course, was my. …………………..

………………..'s wife then had a …………….who kept him on the run, And he became my……………………, for he was my ………………..'s son.

My………………. is now my……………….. s…………….., and it makes me blue,

Because, although she is my…………….., she's my………………………., too.

Now if my …………is my………………., then I'm her …………………………..

And everytime I think of it, it nearly drives me wild,

For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw As ………………….of my………………….., I am my own……………………!

I'm my own…………(x2)It sounds funny, I know, but it really is so, Oh, I'm my own ………………………

Put in:Grandpa widow father uncle Dad son daughter husband wife mother' grandmother grandchild, stepmother brother-in-law brother son-in-law

You also need this vocab: widow, = viuda; to wed, wed/wedded, wed/wedded = to marry=to get married, cf a wedding=una boda; wild=savage, not domesticated, in a natural state; idiom: a bouncing baby boy, to bounce = rebotar, like a ball; idiom to keep s.o. on the run, = to keep them very busy, leave them no time; Note Dad=Father=Pa=Paw

Recognize all the family words, repeat them to yourself

Wednesday, 17 March 2010

Politically Incorrect: today is ST.PATRICK'S 17th March

Click for ( very unsatisfactory) catholic encyclopedia link :St Patrick was evangelizer of Ireland, so he is Ireland's Patron Saint
Click here for Irish jokes
Most of what you see on modern films is untrue.

Nor can you rely on most encyclopedias.

St Patrick was a Romanized Celt, a Briton
He was born about 390. AD
This was near the end of Roman rule in Britannia, the Roman province which covered the modern countries of England and Wales, or about 50% of the area of the islands.

In his own lifetime, the germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, began their genoicide and occupation of what is now England .
In Britannia, Christianity was now permitted and increasing, after Constantine in 315.A.D.
At the same time, there was a great pagan revival, of both Roman and Celtic religion. However, Ireland still had Druids. Britannia did not.
Ireland also had a number of delightful cultural practices, such as human sacrifice.
If you like that sort of thing.

His very name, Patricius, indicates that his parents were among those who wished to retain as much Roman culture as possible.
At 16 Irish Pirates captured him, and took him to Ireland
They sold him as a slave.
He was a slave in Ireland for six years.
Slaves usually suffer terrible treatment.
In his confessio(click) he says he looked after his owner's animals , which gave him the opportunity to pray.
That doesn't sound too bad.
He doesn't mention much abusive treatment.
But we can suppose that as a slave, he got it.
After six years' slavery he escaped.

He returned Good for the Evil done to him.
He became a priest,spent time with St Germanus in France,
Recieved Rome's Ok to evangelize Ireland and was ordained a bishop.
He was immensly sucessful.
Not without problems ... captured and put in chains a dozen times.
He used the shamrock , which has a trifurcate leaf, as a symbol of the trinity.
It has become a symbol of Ireland, and so has the colour Green .
..............................................................................................................................

Today is the National Day for the Irish all over the world .

St Patrick's Day Parades in Boston began BEFORE USA independance (1776)

Now they have them all over the USA.

They are more secular every year!
Shamrocks and leprechauns and bagpipes and beer.
A Disneyland vision of a plastic Ireland.

The Scots are not the only ones to have tartans and bagpipes. (Irish bagpipes are slightly different from Scottish ones which are different from Asturian ones which are different from Gallician ones....)

But it seems to be more the Irish ouside Ireland who wear kilts.

At least the St Patrick's day parade pictures on internet have boys and men wearing sporrans with their kilts.
(The modern custom of men aping females, sporranless kiltwearing is disgusting)