LET'S SPEAK ENGLISH:
Broadcast: Wednesday, February 2, 1938 at 21:15 PM
Eighth Talk - Pronunciation
OUTLINE
Eighth Talk - Pronunciation
A short dialogue between the PRESIDENT of the Brighter English League and Miss LOTTE BACKFISCH, a candidate for the post of assistant secretary to the League.
This dialogue shows how English should not be spoken.
TRANSCRIPT: EIGHTH TALK - PRONUNCIATION
Good evening. I haven't very much time to talk to you tonight. I've got to engage an extra secretary for the Brighter English League. There's a candidate coming to see me in a few minutes. Where's that letter? Oh! here it is; I've got it! Her name's Lotte Backfisch. (Knock at the door)
Come in!
B. (opens door) Goot day!
P. Good evening. Are you Miss Backfisch?
B. Yes, Mister. Zey call me Lotte.
P. Well; please sit down. Now tell me, do you know English well?
B. I know Anglish as well zan Jerman.
P. You mean 'as well as German.'
B. As vell as Jerman. I haf from I was tvelf yearss old sterdy Anglish.
P. Now just a minute! You mean you've studied English since you were twelve years old. And you must say 'I have studied' not 'I have study'.
B. Yes, I have sterdeed Anglish and I am fery accostomed wiz ze languach.
P. You mean you're accustomed to the language.
B. Yes, I haf past ze sird exahmen in Anglish and can vell write.
P.. Well, I hope you write better than you speak. Your grammar's terrible! You can't say 'you well write'. What you. mean is that you can write well.
B. Senk you, Sir. (Pause) I had ze pleasure vonce before five years to spend my' holiday in Angland and learn Anglish.
P. You 'once had the pleasure', not you 'had the pleasure once'. And 'five years ago', not 'before five years'.
B. Eees eet possible to you to learn me Anglish?
P. Now, look here! I'm a busy man, I'm looking for a trained secretary. In any case you don't say 'is it possible to you'. You say 'is it possible for you'. And I don't 'Iearn' you, I 'teach' you.
B. Zen you vill teach me Anglish? Ve merst practice hard or ve shall not arrive at our em.
P. Our aim? What on earth are you talking about?
B. I am desiris to make me proficient in Anglish. Zere! You see, Sir? (Pause). I am better now as I voz ven I com in zis room.
P. 'I am better than I was', please. But you can't practice your English here! This isn't a class-room! In any case, don't talk out of books. You should say 'I want'--- not 'I'm desirous'. And you should say 'I want to make myself proficient' - not 'to make me proficient'. Didn't you learn all that at school?
B. At the school whom I fisited ven I was young, ve learned many ernnecessary knowledges. In ze -
P. For Heaven's sake don't talk about 'knowledges'! 'Knowledge' is always in the singular - like 'information'. You must say you learned 'much unnecessary knowledge' not 'many unnecessary knowledges'. But go on.
B. Veil. In ze beginning I fond eet is deeficerlt to remember all ze sings vot ze teacher say.
P. 'That the teacher said.'
B. Zat ze teacher said. Many a student are not able to make ze progress zey wish.
P. 'Many students are', not 'many a student are'.
B. Ach zo? Zet is a meestake I many times do.
P. I'm sure you do. Only you don't do mistakes. You make mistakes: and a lot of them, I'm afraid.
B. Oh, bert excoose! I am an ignorant.
P. There you go again! Ignorant's an adjective, not a noun. You can say 'I am ignorant' or 'I am an ignorant person'. But you can't say 'I am an ignorant'.
But, look here! I can't go on correcting your mistakes. You won't do at all. I want a secretary, Miss Backfisch, not a pupil.
B. Pupil? I have sought often vot zat vord vould signify.
P. Signifies! Signifies! ! Not 'would signify! Do you hear? Heavens! How can anyone be so stupid?
B. (in tears) You are stoopid ! You are as stoopid as if you are a child!
P. What! As if I were a child! I beg your pardon! Do you know who I am?
B. ( angrily) You are fery fool!
P. (laughing) Now come! come! ! I didn't mean to upset you. And if you want to call me a fool you must say 'you are very foolish!'
B. Veil, zen, you are fery foolish!
P. ( taken aback) Hey! Steady on! I didn't quite mean that!
B. Eet ees better to say ze truce even if he loses a temporairee advantage. (Sarcastically) I congratulate your fazer to have such a vise son. I tell you goot-bye!
P. 'I say good-bye', please, not 'I tell you good-bye'.
B. (pouting) I say goot-bye, zen. I cannot learn no more today.
P. Any more. But, hey! Just a moment! Don't go like that. Everyone'll see you've been crying.
B. (sniffing) All ees over betveen you and I.
P. You and me.
B. (sniffing). Eet ees not easy to get use to leeve in a foreign country.
P. Yes, I know, I know! You want to say it isn't easy to get used to living in a foreign country.
B. (sniffing). Living in a foreign country. Zere ees not yet a long time zat I come to Palestine.
P. You mean you haven't been in Palestine long.
B. Yes, Sir. Eeet ees sree monces now zat I came. I am in Yerusalem only since vone monce.
P. Oh! dear! What a lot of mistakes! You can't say 'it is three months now' that you came. You came 'three months ago'. And you haven't been in Jerusalem. 'since one month', but 'for one month'.
B. I vish you to kindly remember me ven I shall make zose mistakes vonce more.
P. 'Remind you', not 'remember you'.
B. Zo? I shan't never learn Anglish.
P. Oh! yes you will if you try hard. But you mustn't use double negatives like 'I shan't never'. You should say 'I shall never learn English'.
B. Senk you, Sir. (Doggedly) Efery-one should try zeir most hart ....
P. 'His hardest' .
B. His hardest. Eet is vorse vile to do eferysing vell.
P. Well, it seems you've plenty of courage, anyhow. Perhaps I could find you something to do in our office after all.
B. (gratefully) Oh! Senk you, Sir! (Incredulously) Vill you really let me to help you?
P. 'Let me help you' - not 'to help you'.
B. Help you. My vork vill be for me from merch interest.
P. 'Will he of great interest to me.'
B. Vill be of great interest to me. I am happy to do my vorks wiz you.
P. 'My work', not 'my works'.
B. I vill hartly work.
P. No, No, No! That means you'll do very little work. What you mean is that you'll work hard.
B. Zo? I vill vork hart. I accerstom to rise efery morning at fife oclock.
P. 'I am accustomed', not 'I accustom'. But you needn't get here quite so early you know. I only start work at nine.
B. If you vould com and I vould not be zere one day, no matter?
P. If you came and I wouldn't be there it wouldn't matter? But I'm afraid it would matter, unless of course, you were ill.
B. (proudly) I haf elvays had an ektsellent healtse. Bot, being a vet day, I stay home, Ja ?
P. You have always been in excellent health. And you can't say 'Being a wet day, you stay at home'. You can't be a wet day, now, can you? 'If it is a wet day'.
B. (laughing) Ha! Ha! Zet is so ferny, olt chep!
P. (laughing) Now don't call me 'old chap'!
B. (surprised) Ach zo? Ze young man who take me for ze valk ofer his arm he alvays tell his friends 'olt chep'.
P. (severely). I dare say he does. But you don't say it to me. It's much too familiar. And I hope your young man takes you for a walk on his arm, not over his arm. He only takes a mackintosh over his arm.
B. I can tell you zat he don't have no mackintosh. Ze next time he is neighbouring here. I bring him to see you.
P. That will be nice! When he is in this neighbourhood, you mean.
B. When he ees een zis neighbourhood (pause). (Softly) You know, you are so tall as him.
P. 'As tall as he'.
B. As tall as he. And you are vearing a tie as he.
P. A tie 'like his'. Well, I'm very glad it pleases you.
B. (winningly) et please me merch (pause). I please you?
P. Now look here! Are you trying to flirt with me?
B. Oh! No! (pause). Bert my het it please you? Zis hat is vorse feefty piastres on my head. I like ze nice clothes. How merch you pay me eef I vork?
P. Well, I rather thought of ...
B. I know. You cannot pay me more zan five pounds a monce. According to ze bad times.
P. 'On account of the bad times', not 'according to the bad times'. But perhaps......
B, Of course, in ze Brighter Anglish League - vot a fernny name! ze zacretary does not take soch high vages as ze President.
P. 'Does not get'.
B. Does not get. Zo according to my knowledges vill my salary be.
P. There you go again! 'Knowledge' not 'knowledges', And it's better to say your salary will be in accordance with your knowledge.
B. Senk you, Sir, vairy merch. So my zalary vill be in accordance viz my knowledge. I vish I vill be rich bot I prefer ze poferty better zan ze ill-gotten velce.
P. (laughing). Where on earth did you pick up that phrase? .
B. (with dignity) I read ze literatour. I sterdy ze passage vat I read.
P. 'That I read'.
B. Senk you, Sir. Zat I read. By means of ze book, ze knowledges - I mean, ze knowledge - are spread among ze peoples.
P. 'By means of books, knowledge is spread' (pause).
B. (yawning). Eet is time now. zat I go. I merst go home before.
P. 'It is. time for me to go'; not 'that I go'. And 'I ought to have gone before', not 'I must go home before'.
B. Vere ees your hat and over-coat?
P. My hat and overcoat?
B. Yes, Sir. It is to understand, zat I go never in ze street alone so late. Vere I leeve zere are rude mans and zey beat peoples viz zeir legs.
P. That's terrible! But you should say 'kick people with their feet'.
B. Keeck people viz zeir feets. Zey srow me wiz stones.
P. 'They throw stones at me'.
B, Zey srow stones at me. So you take me over your arm - I mean- on your arm?
(Pause)
Vy you refuse me ze answer? If you vould say no, you vere wrong.
(Pause)
P. All right. I suppose I can't let you get shot.
B. Senk you, Sir! If zey shot me, ze vill be pernished a heavy pernishment.
P. 'If they shoot me, they will be heavily punished'. At least, I hope so.
B. Ze purpose of ze police is to protect os from ze crime of ze evils, nicht wahr?
P. 'Of the wicked', not 'of the evils'.
B. Of ze vicked (pause). Tomorrow zen, I com. I shall catch a pen .
P. 'I shall take a pen'
B. I shall take a pen and I vork and vork. Dis vork needs doing badly.
P. (amused) No! No! You mean it badly needs doing. If you say it needs doing badly, it means the work will be badly done. I'm sure you don't meant that.
B. Ach nein! (pause). Shall I become a table?
P. You don't' 'become a table'. That means you'll turn into a table. You'll have a table - that table.
B. But I merst have a beeg table. Zat table is too small zat I cannot sit on it.
P. 'Is so small', not 'too small' : and you sit at it, not on it. But I'll fix that up tomorrow. Now, come on (pause). But, just a minute! I must finish off my broadcast.
Well, I'm sorry all my time's been taken up with Miss Backfisch.
B. (shyly) Lotte.
P. Miss Backfisch, please. But there's so much correspondence that I really had to have another secretary. I hope she'll do: she's got rather a will of her own though.
B. People who don't used to make a ferce don't succeed. Com! Meester.
P. All right. But say good-night first to the listeners, Miss Backfisch!
B. Vell! (pause). Good night, all you olt cheps!
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