13 November 2012 (Tuesday)

12 students today, 2 of whom were new!

When I asked if any students did anything interesting over the previous weekend, two said they had been to the Bellevue Botanical Garden (info). I asked if they were aware that there is a large botanical garden near the University of Washington called "The Arboretum" (info, map). It's a great place to walk, especially in Spring when everything is in bloom. There is also a Japanese Garden there.

One student said he is going to New York City for Thanksgiving. I told him that there is a very famous parade held in New York on Thanksgiving morning, the Macy's Parade (info, pictures). It is even show on TV around the country (in Seattle at 9am on channel 7/CBS and 5/NBC on Thanksgiving).

Now we moved on to music. As she introduced herself to the class one of the new students said she plays trumpet. I asked her which piece is her favorite piece to play.  Using the word "piece" in this sense led to some confusion!  She thought I meant "physical piece", like a trumpet. But in English when we refer to a classical "song" we usually call it a "piece". In other words, "piece" in classical music means "song". Once we clarified that misunderstanding she told me that her favorite classical piece is the Hayden Trumpet Concerto (video).

The other new student said he likes "soul music". But as he explained what "soul music" is to him I realized he meant "relaxing music".  He played an calm instrumental classical song from his phone as an example, but since the name of it was in Chinese I couldn't write it down to find it on YouTube and make a link here.

As we discussed what people in the West usually understand by "soul music" (Wikipedia definition) one of the students in class said she really likes the song "Think" (video, lyrics, song info) by Aretha Franklin (info), one of my favorite soul singers from the 1960's. She knew this song from the Blues Brothers movie (info + see video link above). I was impressed that she knows about that movie! It is a classic American movie.

Speaking of classic soul music in movies, I suggested that she also watch the movie "The Commitments" (info), which is about a soul band in Ireland. I remember that one of my friends said they prefer the version of "Mustang Sally" in the film (video) over the original. I just can't agree with that statement: while the version in The Commitments is good, the original is one of the best soul songs ever -- not only the singing but the soulfulness of the musical performance (original version)!

For another example of a "Western soul song" we watched James Brown (info) singing and dancing to "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (video, lyrics, song info).

The next song chosen was "Happy Things" (video) by J Rabbit (info). The student who chose it said this song makes her happy and feel good, even if she is feeling down. She also said that the band is called J Rabbit because both of the women have the last name Jung and they were both born in the year of the rabbit in the Chinese calendar.

At this point I went around the class and asked each student whether they like hearing happy music when they are sad, or whether they prefer hearing sad music when they are sad. Most said they prefer to listen to happy songs when they are down.

The next song chosen was "End Of The World" (video, lyrics, song info) by Ingrid Michaelson (info).  The student who chose it likes it because it is about being with the people you love at the end of life, and she said that since the Mayan calendar says the world will end soon, it's good to tell the people she loves that she loves them.

The next song chosen was "Dog Days Are Over" (video, lyrics, song info) by Florence & The Machine (info). The student asked what "dog days" means. Here is the definition of "dog days".

By this point we only had time for one more song: Stan (video, lyrics, song info) by Eminem (info). The student who chose it said he likes the end of the video.


I look forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday!