dilluns, 27 d’octubre del 2008

Railroad Worksong



Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad good buddy for a dollar a day
Got to get my money gotta get my pay

Take this hammer take it to the captain
Take this hammer take it to the captain
Take this hammer good buddy take it to the captain
Tell him I'm gone tell him I'm gone

If he asks you was I running
If he asks you was I running
If he asks you good buddy was I running
Tell him I was flying tell him I was flying

If he asks you was I laughing
If he asks you was I laughing
If he asks you good buddy was I laughing
Tell him I was crying tell him I was crying

This old hammer rings like silver
This old hammer rings like silver
This old hammer good buddy rings like silver
Shine like gold buddy and it shine like gold

Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad for a dollar a day
Working on a railroad good buddy for a dollar a day
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
Got to get my money gotta get my pay
Got to get my money gotta get my pay

diumenge, 20 de juliol del 2008

Johnny Cash - Heart Of Gold



Heart Of Gold

I want to live,
I want to give
I've been a miner for a heart of gold.
It's these expressions I never give
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
It keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold
I've been in my mind, it's such a fine line
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.
That keeps me searching for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

You keep me searching for a heart of gold
I've been a miner for a heart of gold
And I'm getting old.

Johnny Cash

From his album Unearthed
song performed with John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

dimecres, 16 de juliol del 2008

Christmas tale by Paul Auster in the movie Smoke





Innocent When You Dream - Tom Waits

The bats are in the belfry
the dew is on the moor
where are the arms that held me
and pledged her love before
and pledged her love before

Chorus

It's such a sad old feeling
the fields are soft and green
it's memories that I'm stealing
but you're innocent when you dream
when you dream
you're innocent when you dream

Running through the graveyard
we laughed my friends and I
we swore we'd be together
until the day we died
until the day we died

Repeat Chorus

I made a golden promise
that we would never part
I gave my love a locket
and then I broke her heart
and then I broke her heart

Repeat Chorus

dimecres, 11 de juny del 2008

Desolation Row



They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As Lady and I look out tonight
From Desolation Row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
"It takes one to know one," she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette Davis style
And in comes Romeo, he's moaning
"You Belong to Me I Believe"
And someone says," You're in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave"
And the only sound that's left
After the ambulances go
Is Cinderella sweeping up
On Desolation Row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortunetelling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing
He's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight
On Desolation Row

Now Ophelia, she's 'neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her profession's her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah's great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She's in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
"Have Mercy on His Soul"
They all play on penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They're getting ready for the feast
The Phantom of the Opera
A perfect image of a priest
They're spoonfeeding Casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words

And the Phantom's shouting to skinny girls
"Get Outa Here If You Don't Know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To Desolation Row"

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To Desolation Row

Praise be to Nero's Neptune
The Titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
"Which Side Are You On?"
And Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot
Fighting in the captain's tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About Desolation Row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I can't read too good
Don't send me no more letters no
Not unless you mail them
From Desolation Row

Bob Dylan

dilluns, 9 de juny del 2008

Girl from the north country



Well, if you're travelin' in the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends,
Please see if she's wearing a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howlin' winds.

Please see for me if her hair hangs long,
If it rolls and flows all down her breast.
Please see for me if her hair hangs long,
That's the way I remember her best.

I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all.
Many times I've often prayed
In the darkness of my night,
In the brightness of my day.

So if you're travelin' in the north country fair,
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline,
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

Bob Dylan

diumenge, 8 de juny del 2008

Father and son



Father and son

Father
It's not time to make a change
Just relax, take it easy
You're still young, that's your fault
There's so much you have to know
Find a girl, settle down
If you want you can marry
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy

I was once like you are now
and I know that it's not easy
To be calm when you've found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Think of everything you've got
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not

Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again
It's always been the same, same old story
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away
I know I have to go

Father
I was once like you are now
and I know that it's not easy
To be calm when you've found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Think of everything you've got
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not

Son
All the times that I cried
keeping all the things I knew inside
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it
If they were right, I'd agree
but it's them THEY know not me
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away
I know I have to go
(father-- stay stay stay, why must you go and
Make this decision alone? )

Cat Stevens

divendres, 16 de maig del 2008

Millora la pronunciació de l'anglès


En aquest enllaç trobareu un web que us pot ajudar a perfeccionar la pronunciació del vostre anglès i d'alguns altres idiomes.
Només heu d'escriure la paraula o el text que voleu "escoltar", escollir l'idioma i clicar "Speak". Fins i tot podreu triar la veu i diversos accents del Regne Unit, els Estats Units o l'Índia.
Us anirà molt bé per aclarir els vostres dubtes. És útil i divertit, entreu i feu la prova:
http://www.research.att.com/%7Ettsweb/tts/demo.php

diumenge, 6 d’abril del 2008

Una visió catalana de la llengua anglesa


Poema publicat a la revista catalana "La Llumanera de Nova York"

Any I / Nova York / Gener de 1875 / Núm. 3

La llengua anglesa
(Carta d'un pagès arribat a Nova York a un company seu a Catalunya)

Estimat company i amic,
a Nova York he arribat,
i tot just he descansat
aquesta carta t'escric.
Al fi de la llibertat
estic en lo clàssic sol:
aquí tothom fa el que vol...
Si ho permet l'autoritat.
Nova York té els carrers grans,
les cases toquen al cel,
les dones tenen bon pèl
i los homes són gegants.
Los diaris són com llençols,
los carrers són llargs i drets,
i solen ser bastant nets
quan no hi ha neu, fang o pols.
Però, noi, los ianquis tenen
una manera tal de parlar,
que jo no em puc explicar
com ells mateixos s'entenen.
És molt pitjor que el gavatxo,
s'assembla molt al lladrar,
i l'home que el va inventar
jo crec que estava borratxo.
Quan es parla anglès es tanca
la boca i s'obren les dents,
i si cura no hi tens,
la llengua se t'entrebanca.
Explicar-me jo no puc
(i saps que no sóc cap plepa)
que del pebre en diguen Pepa,
que d'una cuinera, cuc.
Corn se diu lo blat de moro,
sombret és un tros de pa,
i en compte de dir demà
se diu en anglès tu, moro.
Diuen bota a la mantega
i per dir jo se diu ai!,
Lo qual m'omple el cor d'esglai
puix sembla que algú gemega.
Escura'l vol dir esquirol,
per dir mitja es diu que es toquin,
no fumin es diu no es moquin,
i del carbó en diuen col.
La mare diuen que és moda,
però la gran moda, és l'àvia,
i la família és tan sàvia
que el germà diuen que broda.
Si a una noia malalteta
te li acostes molt humil
preguntant ¿que duia fil?
Ella et contestarà: beta.
Com més disbarats els digues
més t'entendran, de segur.
Per dir dos has de dir tu,
i per dir números, figues.
i tot pel mateix estil.
Sink és l'aigüera, ja ho sents;
per dir quartos digues cents,
i per dir un molí, mil.
Sols una cosa, Jeroni,
trobo jo en aquest llenguatge
ben dita i és ¡mal viatge!
que al diner se diu dimoni.

A.C. (Artur Cuyàs)

divendres, 14 de març del 2008

Versió catalana d´Spoon River Anthology


Edgar Lee Masters (1868 - 1950) està considerat un dels grans poetes nordamericans de la modernitat. Seguidor de l´estela de Walt Whitman, la seva obra més representativa és l´Antologia de Spoon River, un voluminós recull on, a imitació de la cèlebre Antologia Palatina grega, cada poema, com si fos gravat en una làpida, glossa la vida -o un fragment de la vida- d´un dels antics habitants d´aquesta població d´Illinois. Malauradament, aquest escriptor és força desconegut al nostre país, i per pal.liar aquest desconeixement en Josep Maria Capilla, actualment resident a Shanghai, ha fet una esplèndida traducció al català de la seva obra emblemàtica, que està encara pendent de publicació. Per anar fent boca, aquí us presentem un dels seus estremidors poemes.

Hare Drummer
Do the boys and girls still go to Siever's
For cider, after school, in late September?
Or gather hazel nuts among the thickets
On Aaron Hatfield's farm when the frosts begin?
For many times with the laughing girls and boys
Played I along the road and over the hills
When the sun was low and the air was cool,
Stopping to club the walnut tree
Standing leafless against a flaming west.
Now, the smell of the autumn smoke,
And the dropping acorns,
And the echoes about the vales
Bring dreams of life.
They hover over me.
They question me:
Where are those laughing comrades?
How many are with me, how many
In the old orchards along the way to Siever's,
And in the woods that overlook
The quiet water?

Hare Drummer
Encara van a cal Siever, els nois i les noies,
a prendre-hi sidra després d’estudi quan s’acaba el setembre?
O als garrigars de la granja d’Aaron Hatfield,
a collir-hi avellanes quan comença a glaçar?
Quants cops no vaig jugar per la carretera
i al cim dels turons amb aquella canalla riallosa,
quan el sol minvava i l’aire era fresc,
i ens aturàvem a batre la noguera
que es perfilava esfullada per l’oest flamejant.
L’olor del fum de tardor
i l’estesa de glans
i els ecos que travessen les valls
porten ara somnis de vida. Damunt meu s’estremeixen.
I em pregunten:
on són aquells companys riallers?
Quants n’hi ha que són amb tu, quants,
als vells jardins de camí a cal Siever
i als boscos que s’emmirallen
en les aigües tranquil·les?

Edgar Lee Masters
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/masters/masters.htm

dimecres, 5 de març del 2008

Discursos històrics dels Estats Units


Existeix un web anomenat American Rethoric / 100 Historical Speeches:

www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/

Entre el centenar de documents històrics que conté, hi ha el famós discurs de Martin Luther King, en el qual va afirmar: "I have a dream". Aquest el trobareu a:

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

dilluns, 3 de març del 2008

El símbol de la pau fa 50 anys


El pacifisme és una concepció de la societat i del món relativament recent. Tot just fa 50 anys que un artista va crear, sense ser-ne conscient, un dels símbols més universals a l'hora de reivindicar la pau.
Aquest enllaç us porta a una edició en anglès del Diari de l'escola sobre aquest cinquantenari:
50 years of a symbol of peace.

divendres, 29 de febrer del 2008

Pau Casals a l'ONU: "I am a Catalan"


THE WORDS OF PAU CASALS AT THE UNO
October 24, 1971
This is the greatest honour of my life.
Peace has always been my greatest concern. I learnt to love it when I was but a child. When I was a boy, my mother —an exceptional, marvellous woman—, would talk to me about peace, because at that time there were also many wars.
What is more, I am a Catalan. Today, a province of Spain. But what has been Catalonia? Catalonia has been the greatest nation in the world. I will tell you why. Catalonia has had the first parliament, much before England. Catalonia had the first United Nations. All the authorities of Catalonia in the Eleventh Century met in a city of France, at that time Catalonia, to speak about peace, at the Eleventh Century. Peace in the world and against, against, against war, the inhumanity of the wars. So I am so happy, so happy, to be with you today. That is why the United Nations, which works solely towards the peace ideal, is in my heart, because anything to do with peace goes straight to my heart.
I have not played the cello in public for many years, but I feel that the time has come to play again. I am going to play a melody from Catalan folklore: El cant dels ocells. Birds sing when they are in the sky, they sing: "Peace, Peace, Peace", and it is a melody that Bach, Beethoven and all the greats would have admired and loved. What is more, it is born in the soul of my people, Catalonia.

dimecres, 27 de febrer del 2008

Totes les cançons de Simon & Garfunkel


Les cançons són una manera directa i lúdica que ajuden a agafar la pronúncia i a aprendre vocabulari i maneres de dir les coses en qualsevol llengua. Si a més de la lletra, disposem d'imatge i so, l'ajuda pot ser espectacular.
Podeu buscar a Yoy Tube una cançó que us agradi, escrivint el títol. Després, aneu a la pàgina que conté totes les cançons de Simon & Garfunkel i trieu la mateixa cançó:
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon+and+garfunkel/
Un bon exercici per fer treballar la vista, l'oida i la comprensió, que podeu fer amb qualsevol artista o grup que us plagui. A www.lyricsfreak.com en trobareu a gavadals.

Wednesday Morning, 3 AM

I can hear the soft breathing
Of the girl that I love,
As she lies here beside me
Asleep with the night,
And her hair, in a fine mist
Floats on my pillow,
Reflecting the glow
Of the winter moonlight.

She is soft, she is warm,
But my heart remains heavy,
And I watch as her breasts
Gently rise, gently fall,
For I know with the first light of dawn
I'll be leaving,
And tonight will be
All I have left to recall.

Oh, what have I done,
Why have I done it,
I've committed a crime,
I've broken the law.
For twenty-five dollars
And pieces of silver,
I held up and robbed
A hard liquor store.

My life seems unreal,
My crime an illusion,
A scene badly written
In which I must play.
Yet I know as I gaze
At my young love beside me,
The morning is just a few hours away.

dimarts, 26 de febrer del 2008

Welcome / Benvinguts


William Shakespeare

El propòsit d'aquest bloc és el de reunir eines i recursos que fan possible la millora del nivell de llengua anglesa.
Aquesta eina col·laborativa vol servir per aprendre i millorar l'anglès des de l'òptica i la mentalitat catalana. Les coincidències, els falsos amics, els ponts, els lligams, les afinitats i relacions entre els Països Catalans i el món anglosaxó hi seran presents en tot moment.
El títol de l'espai és, a la vegada, llegible en català i en anglès però amb significats diferents. L'anglès i el català permeten aquests jocs de paraules.
Per començar a entrar en matèria, us presentem una pàgina de la BBC, plena de possibilitats. Trieu i remeneu:
BBC Learning English