Archivos de September, 2009
Films in “VO”
Sep 21
If you’d like to see films in “version original” (which means in English, French, German, etc. with Spanish subtitles, rather than the more mainstream dubbed version) in Valencia you have a few options.
For new mainstream releases, try UGC Cine Cite in Campanar, a short walk from Nuevo Centro shopping centre and the Turia metro stop:
http://www.ugc.es/reservation/ChoixResa.jgi?REGION=5
For films that are considered more “art house”, try Cines Babel and Cines Albatros:
http://www.cinesalbatrosbabel.com/paginas/programacion.htm
District 9
Sep 20
Trailer in English:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6PDlMggROA&feature=channel
Trailer en castellano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVhmbZALmcQ
Having heard only good reviews of District 9, this weekend I went to check it out for myself.
If you can’t stand sci-fi, stay away (note: science fiction isn’t as popular a genre as it is in the UK or USA where the film has made millions at the box office).
For everyone else, this is an entertaining monster morality tale. At its most profound the film explores issues of racism and immigration. On its surface it is a winning combination of The Fugative, The Fly and every buddy movie you’ve ever seen with lots of weaponry, explosions and special effects thrown in for good measure.
The biggest winner must surely be the lead actor, Sharlto Copley, who gives an excellent performance, something that is even more notable given that he is not a professional actor and this is the first time he’s appeared in a feature film. Oscar nomination rumbling has already begun…
The weirdness of English
Sep 18
For today, a fairly well-known rhyme about some of the stranger English plurals…
We’ll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
Then one fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of mouse should never be meese,
You may find a lone mouse or a whole nest of mice,
But the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn’t the plural of pan be called pen?
The cow in the plural may be cows or kine,
But a bow if repeated is never called bine,
And the plural of vow is vows, never vine.
If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,
And I give you a boot would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth, and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?
If the singular’s this and the plural is these,
Should the plural of kiss ever be nicknamed keese?
Then one may be that and three would be those,
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose,
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose.
We speak of a brother, and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren,
Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine she, shis and shim,
So the English, I think, you all will agree,
Is the queerest language you ever did see.
* Anon.
Legal idioms
Sep 18
Idioms are something more advanced learners of any language soon have to tackle.
Having just finished a legal translation, I decided to have a look at some of the “court and judge” idioms here: http://www.idiomconnection.com/court.html
If you want to find out when you might want to “plead the fifth” or “face the music”, or how much “getting a tongue-lashing” might hurt, this website is a good place to start. And there’s also a test so you can check how much you’ve learnt.
