I don't want to Talk about it.

10 October, 2009

This beautiful song was written by Danny Whitten and was a big hit for Scottish singer Rod Stewart back in the 1970's. It was covered (recorded) again in 1988 by British band 'Everything but the Girl.' Here they are performing it. Don't mind the bad fashion, just enjoy the song.

If you can't see the video you can watch it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UujO_YwaB_I

Watch the video, listen to the song and complete the gaps in the lyrics below.

• Fill in the gaps
• See the Lyrics

I don't want to talk about it.

I can tell by your that you've prob'bly been cryin' ,
and the stars in the don't mean nothin' to you, they're a .
I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my .
If I stay here just a little bit ,
If I stay here, won't you to my heart, whoa, heart?

If I stand all , will the shadow hide the of my heart;
for the tears, for the night's fears.
The stars in the sky don't mean nothin' to you, they're a mirror.
I don't want to talk about it, how you my heart.
If I stay here just a little bit longer,
if I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, whoa, heart?
I don't want to talk about it, how you broke this ol' heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,
if I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, whoa, heart?
My heart, whoa, heart.

I don't want to talk about it.

I can tell by your eyes that you've prob'bly been cryin' forever,
and the stars in the sky don't mean nothin' to you, they're a mirror.
I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my heart.
If I stay here just a little bit longer,
If I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, whoa, heart?

If I stand all alone, will the shadow hide the color of my heart;
blue for the tears, black for the night's fears.
The star in the sky don't mean nothin' to you, they're a mirror.
I don't want to talk about it, how you broke my heart.
If I stay here just a little bit longer,
if I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, whoa, heart?
I don't want to talk about it, how you broke this ol' heart.

If I stay here just a little bit longer,
if I stay here, won't you listen to my heart, whoa, heart?
My heart, whoa, heart.

Vocab help

Notice how some of the words are abbreviated, like 'nothin' and 'prob'bly' this is to help the rhythm. ol' is a short version of old.

Tears - Water from your eyes when you cry.

Fear - The noun from afraid or frightened.

Shadow - An area of darkness, caused by light being blocked by something

Whoa - Doesn't really mean anything, it just helps the song.

The Beautiful Game 1

Football is one of the most popular sports on the planet, millions of people follow their favorite team each week. The Premier league is the world's most popular. Here two ordinary British guys talk about the beautiful game.

This exercise practices some common informal English words. Before you listen you will need to know the meaning of these words.

Not sure? you can look them up in this dictionary. (They are all nouns except carry on.) The dictionary will open in a new tab or window.

Listen and put the words in the box into the correct spaces.

• Fill the gaps
• See the script

Stuart and Gray talk about the beautiful game

.
Did you see the match last night?
What? On the ?
Yeah.
Better than that mate, I went to the stadium and watched it live.
No!
Yes, I did. Cost me fifty for a ticket.
Fifty quid! I can’t believe it is so expensive nowadays, just to watch 22 grown men kick a bit of around.
I know, Still it was a good match though.
Yeah? Who won?
It was all square at the end.
Oh, that’s always boring.
No, it was a really entertaining. The Arsenal scored two in the first half but we pulled one back just after the and then hit the in the 93rd minute.
93rd minute?
Yeah, injury time. It was a lovely goal.
You were a bit lucky though, scoring with the last kick of the game.
Not at all mate, we thoroughly deserved it, we were all over them in the second half, we hit the bar, hit the post twice and had a goal disallowed for .
Was it offside?
I couldn’t see properly from where I was, but it looked ok. The referee was terrible though so it wouldn’t surprise me if it had been onside.
What do you mean the ref was terrible?
Well you know he gave Arsenal every free kick and gave us nothing all game.
Really?
One of their defenders clearly handled the ball in the eighteen yard box. Definitely handball, and the ref just waved play on. I couldn’t believe it.
Oh right. Still a point won at an away game. You have to be happy with that. Right?
Yeah if we playing like that we just might win the league.
In your dreams.
Yeah, you’re probably right.
Another drink?
Yeah a please.

Stuart and Gray talk about the beautiful game

.
Did you see the match last night?
What? On the telly?
Yeah.
Better than that mate, I went to the stadium and watched it live.
No!
Yes, I did. Cost me fifty quid for a ticket.
Fifty quid! I can’t believe it is so expensive nowadays, just to watch 22 grown men kick a bit of leather around.
I know, Still it was a good match though.
Yeah? Who won?
It was all square at the end.
Oh, that’s always boring.
No, it was a really entertaining. The Arsenal scored two in the first half but we pulled one back just after the break and then hit the equalizer in the 93rd minute.
93rd minute?
Yeah, injury time. It was a lovely goal.
You were a bit lucky though, scoring with the last kick of the game.
Not at all mate, we thoroughly deserved it, we were all over them in the second half, we hit the bar, hit the post twice and had a goal disallowed for offside.
Was it offside?
I couldn’t see properly from where I was, but it looked ok. The referee was terrible though so it wouldn’t surprise me if it had been onside.
What do you mean the ref was terrible?
Well you know he gave Arsenal every free kick and gave us nothing all game.
Really?
One of their defenders clearly handled the ball in the eighteen yard box. Definitely handball, and the ref just waved play on. I couldn’t believe it.
Oh right. Still a point won at an away game. You have to be happy with that. Right?
Yeah if we carry on playing like that we just might win the league.
In your dreams.
Yeah, you’re probably right.
Another drink?
Yeah a pint please.

How I learned Arabic 2.

Intermediate exercise 2

Listen and complete the gaps in the text. you will need more than one word for most of the answers.

• Gapfill
• Answers

How did I learn Arabic?

Well I suppose I started by learning the alphabet. I learned it just the same way that the Arabs do. I think of it pictures. You know each letter is a picture. So, I just see a letter and write it and repeat it and repeat it across the page. That’s how I learned it

I was told by someone that to learn an Arabic word the thing to do was to the word and try to see it in your head. see the letters written across the inside of your forehead. That way you get an idea of what the word . And it will automatically come to you.

It is not the only way to remember things but I’m a visual learner. I suppose for some people they like to hear or to touch things and that’s how they learn but for me I just need to see it.

Of course I do need to hear things, but that having a visual idea of what the words physically look like means I learn much better.

The next thing I did was to try to learn five words every day. Well that’s not quite true, what I’d do is go into a room , say the kitchen and find the words for 5 things in the kitchen and then try to learn them.

I’d write the word on a post-it note and there to remind me in the future and then I would try to use the words during the day. It wasn’t always to do. I mean there are not many chances in normal conversation to say something like dishwasher, or potato peeler. and my friends did look at me strangely when I said things just to practice using the word

Over time I developed a good vocabulary this way. The was my grammar was still terrible!

How did I learn Arabic?

Well I suppose I started by learning the alphabet. I learned it just the same way that the Arabs do. I think of it in terms of pictures. You know each letter is a picture. So, I just see a letter and write it and repeat it and repeat it across the page. That’s how I learned it

I was told by someone that to learn an Arabic word the thing to do was to think of the word and try to see it in your head. I mean see the letters written across the inside of your forehead. That way you get an idea of what the word looks like. And it will automatically come to you.

It is not the only way to remember things of course but I’m a visual learner. I suppose for some people they like to hear or to touch things and that’s how they learn but for me I just need to see it.

Of course I do need to hear things, but I find that having a visual idea of what the words physically look like means I learn much better.

The next thing I did was to try to learn five words every day. Well that’s not quite true, what I’d do is go into a room , say the kitchen and find the words for 5 things in the kitchen and then try to learn them.

I’d write the word on a post-it note and put it up there to remind me in the future and then I would try to use the words during the day. It wasn’t always so easy to do. I mean there are not many chances in normal conversation to say something like dishwasher, or potato peeler. and my friends did look at me strangely when I said odd things just to practice using the word

Over time I developed a good vocabulary this way. The trouble was my grammar was still terrible!

How I learned Arabic 2.

Intermediate exercise 2

Listen and complete the gaps in the text. you will need more than one word for most of the answers.

• Gapfill
• Answers

How did I learn Arabic?

Well I suppose I started by learning the alphabet. I learned it just the same way that the Arabs do. I think of it pictures. You know each letter is a picture. So, I just see a letter and write it and repeat it and repeat it across the page. That’s how I learned it

I was told by someone that to learn an Arabic word the thing to do was to the word and try to see it in your head. see the letters written across the inside of your forehead. That way you get an idea of what the word . And it will automatically come to you.

It is not the only way to remember things but I’m a visual learner. I suppose for some people they like to hear or to touch things and that’s how they learn but for me I just need to see it.

Of course I do need to hear things, but that having a visual idea of what the words physically look like means I learn much better.

The next thing I did was to try to learn five words every day. Well that’s not quite true, what I’d do is go into a room , say the kitchen and find the words for 5 things in the kitchen and then try to learn them.

I’d write the word on a post-it note and there to remind me in the future and then I would try to use the words during the day. It wasn’t always to do. I mean there are not many chances in normal conversation to say something like dishwasher, or potato peeler. and my friends did look at me strangely when I said things just to practice using the word

Over time I developed a good vocabulary this way. The was my grammar was still terrible!

How did I learn Arabic?

Well I suppose I started by learning the alphabet. I learned it just the same way that the Arabs do. I think of it in terms of pictures. You know each letter is a picture. So, I just see a letter and write it and repeat it and repeat it across the page. That’s how I learned it

I was told by someone that to learn an Arabic word the thing to do was to think of the word and try to see it in your head. I mean see the letters written across the inside of your forehead. That way you get an idea of what the word looks like. And it will automatically come to you.

It is not the only way to remember things of course but I’m a visual learner. I suppose for some people they like to hear or to touch things and that’s how they learn but for me I just need to see it.

Of course I do need to hear things, but I find that having a visual idea of what the words physically look like means I learn much better.

The next thing I did was to try to learn five words every day. Well that’s not quite true, what I’d do is go into a room , say the kitchen and find the words for 5 things in the kitchen and then try to learn them.

I’d write the word on a post-it note and put it up there to remind me in the future and then I would try to use the words during the day. It wasn’t always so easy to do. I mean there are not many chances in normal conversation to say something like dishwasher, or potato peeler. and my friends did look at me strangely when I said odd things just to practice using the word

Over time I developed a good vocabulary this way. The trouble was my grammar was still terrible!

How I learned Arabic 1.

Intermediate exercise 1

In this exercise you will listen to someone talking about how he learned Arabic. Before you listen think about the questions below.

Have you ever tried to learn a new alphabet?

What did you do to remember each letter?

How do you learn new vocabulary?

Do you use lists? Post it notes? Do you keep a vocabulary book?

Now listen to the recording and answer the true or false questions.

• True or False
• Answers
• script

1.Arabic people learn the alphabet by looking at pictures.

-TrueFalse

2.Trying to see the word in your head helps to learn it.

-TrueFalse

3.Seeing things is the only way for a visual learner to remember things.

-TrueFalse

4.He tried to learn five words for kitchen every day.

-TrueFalse

5.He used post it notes to remember words.

-TrueFalse

6.It was not easy to find reasons to say unusual words.

-TrueFalse

7.His friends thought he was strange when he said unusual words.

-TrueFalse

8.His vocabulary improved quickly.

-TrueFalse

1. Arabic people learn the alphabet by looking at pictures. True. Well, that is what he thinks. Of course everyone is different and learns in different ways. how about you?
2. Trying to see the word in your head helps to learn it. True. this technique works for learning anything!
3. Seeing things is the only way for a visual learner to remember things. False. Visual learners prefer to see things but they can learn in other ways too.
4. He tried to learn five words for kitchen every day. False. there is only one word for kitchen! isn't there ?
5. He used post it notes to remember words. True. he put them around the house so he would see them often.
6. It was not easy to find reasons to say unusual words. True.
7. His friends thought he was strange when he said unusual words. True.
8. His vocabulary improved quickly. False he said it imporved 'over time.' Which means it was not so quick.

How did I learn Arabic?

Well I suppose I started by learning the alphabet. I learned it just the same way that the Arabs do. I think of it in terms of pictures. You know each letter is a picture. So, I just see a letter and write it and repeat it and repeat it across the page. That’s how I learned it

I was told by someone that to learn an Arabic word the thing to do was to think of the word and try to see it in you head. I mean see the letters written across the inside of your forehead. That way you get an idea of what the word looks like. And it will automatically come to you.

It is not the only way to remember things of course but I’m a visual learner. I suppose for some people they like to hear or to touch things and that’s how they learn but for me I just need to see it.

Of course I do need to hear things, but I find that having a visual idea of what the words physically look like means I learn much better.

The next thing I did was to try to learn five words every day. Well that’s not quite true, what I’d do is go into a room , say the kitchen and find the words for 5 things in the kitchen and then try to learn them.

I’d write the word on a post it note and put it up there to remind me in the future and then I would try to use the words during the day. It wasn’t always so easy to do. I mean there are not many chances in normal conversation to say something like dishwasher, or potato peeler. and my friends did look at me strangely when I said odd things just to practice using the word

Over time I developed a good vocabulary this way. The trouble was my grammar was still terrible!