Celebrity New Year’s Resolutions 2013

What are the Stars doing in 2013?

2013 is off and running!   

Happy New Year to everybody around the World! 

To start the year off right, let’s take a look at someCelebrity New Year’s Resolutions. 

(1)

 “To be more sympathetic and generous.”

Ashton Kutcher – Actor and model

(2)

 “Not to work so much” in 2013.”

J.J. Abrams - Filmmaker and TV show producer

(3)

 "Not to sweat the small stuff.”

Kelly Ripa – Actress and TV host

Sweet! “What are your New Year’s Resolutions?”

Language Learning Section

At this time of year, everyone is saying “Happy New Year!” or “What did you do at New Years?” or “What are your New Year’s Resolutions?”

From the Celebrity New Year’s Resolutions we can get some pretty cool and natural English for talking with friends and colleagues. 

Let’s take a look at the Question:

“What are your New Year’s Resolutions?”

The question is usually in the plural form but your answer can be singular (1 idea) or plural (2 or more ideas).  Also, you probably noticed that the 'Celebrity Answers' all used short answers and omitted part of the grammar in their answers.  This is quite common when answering the New Year’s Resolution Question.

Long style of speaking

(1)My New Year’s resolutions are “To be more sympathetic and generous.”

(2)My New Year’s resolution is “Not to work so much in 2013.”

(3)My New Year’s resolution is "Not to sweat the small stuff.” (expression: ‘not to sweat the small stuff’ = not to worry about the trivial, small, or unimportant things in your life)  

Natural English Speaking Practice

“What are your New Year’s Resolutions?”

(1)”To be more sympathetic and generous.”

(2)“Not to work so much in 2013.”

(3)"Not to sweat the small stuff.”

Some Ideas to get you started:

(1)”To be more helpful and caring.”

(2)“Not to eat so much in 2013.”

(3)"Not to worry about the small things in life.”

Find a friend to practice this New Year’s Speaking Style this week. Also, ask everyone you meet and chat with online: “What are your New Year’s Resolutions?”

Write down or record their answers.  I am sure you will get lots of new and interesting phrases and ideas.  And of course, understand your friends better and find new ones. 

So enjoy your week!  And my New Year’s resolution is to make more friends on face book!

Alex Graham Facebook

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What do Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and Matt Damon have in common?

Brad Pitt

Nicole Kidman

Matt Damon

What do Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and Matt Damon have in common?

(a)Extremely successful movie stars.

(b)On the Hollywood the A-list.

(c)All have learned language accents to do famous movies.

(d)Tim Monich.

Answer – All of the Above

(a) and (b)

Of course both are obviously correct.

(c)

Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and Matt Damon have all been quite successful at portraying characters using accents that they did not grow up with.  Here are some famous examples:

Brad Pitt – Southern Accent - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Nicole Kidman – American Accent - Hemingway & Gellhorn

Matt Damon - South African Accent – Invictus

(d)

Tim Monich

At one point or another, Mr. Tim Monich has coached Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and Matt Damon on creating believable accents for character portrayals in movies.

So, what can we learn from this linguistic master?

Tim Monich’s Style

Monich’s archive, assembled over thirty years, is almost surely the largest private one of its kind, with approximately six thousand entries. He also collects accents from TV. Monich begins by talking with the director about how a character should sound, then he talks to the actor about the character and decides which voices from his archive might provide a model. He usually gives an actor four or five choices, and the actor selects one, from which Monich makes tapes distilling the vowel and consonant sounds that typify the dialect. Monich and the actor then “play a word, listen to it and say it,” he said—do language lab. Monich invents rhymes and sentences using words from the script—what he calls random acting. He also writes an actor’s lines in a faux-phonetic style he made up by combining elements of actual phonetics with approximations of sounds.

By the time the actor stands in front of the camera, Monich has done the bulk of his teaching work. Eventually, the accent recedes as a concern.

~The New Yorker~

Well this week I have no comments only applause for the A-List Masters.

Thank you for caring and sharing! 

And may your star always shine brightly!

Have a good one! 

See you next week,

Alex

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