English, baby!

Taylor Swift

Date: Sep 07 2009

Themes: Music

Grammar: Be Able To

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Intro

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2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Teenagers don’t have a very good reputation. They’re often accused of being ignorant, immature, or selfish. And, according to most adults, teen pop stars are even worse. Their lyrics are shallow and their music is over-produced and over-hyped.

Taylor Swift might be breaking that mold. The eighteen-year-old country music singer has gotten a lot of positive attention for her debut album, Taylor Swift. She writes her own songs, and her lyrics are pretty thoughtful. She’s also been praised for her ability to cross genres. Find out what Jason and Ella think about her.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Ella

Jason

Ella: Taylor Swift is overrated.

Jason: I don’t think so at all. I think she’s the one country artist who might be able to break global mainstream.

Ella: What? Her lyrics are so generic, and there’s no soul in it, you know?

Jason: I don’t know, I think she’s a good songwriter. It seems like she’s more in touch with herself than a lot of grown-ups, you know?

Ella: I mean, I guess she’s America’s Sweetheart, but there’s gotta be something bad about her, you know? There’s just nothing out there in the public to…

Jason: Oh definitely. She’ll definitely have an epic, public fall from grace at some point.

Ella: I’m excited for that.

Jason: But before then, I think she might, you know…she might go global. She’s dated one of the Jonas Brothers. They wrote songs about each other. That’s pretty interesting.

Ella; It’s pretty intense for teenagers and such.

Jason: Yeah.

Ella: I don’t know, I’m just not impressed by the music. I mean, it’s cool that she can go country and pop and rock, but…It just doesn’t seem very heartfelt.

Jason: But I think it’s time. I think the world’s ready for a country star.

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Discussion

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Ella doesn’t like Taylor Swift and can’t understand why her album has gotten good reviews. She finds her lyrics boring and typical. She can’t connect emotionally with Taylor’s songs.

Jason disagrees. He thinks Taylor’s lyrics are good. She seems to be in touch with herself. She writes about her true feelings and experiences, including her relationship with one of the Jonas Brothers.

Country music isn’t very popular outside of the US. But Jason thinks Taylor Swift might be the artist to change that. He thinks her music might be able to go global. Ella is more skeptical. She can’t wait to see Taylor Swift lose her perfect image.

Do you think country music will ever go global? Why do teenagers and teen musicians have such a bad reputation?

Comments

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jayslim

Morocco

i love her songs hhhh

miffoo

Slovakia

she is cute :)

rosendo

Mexico

is she belinda ???

ASKO

auie84

Thailand

it's so good!! I like her

Cocoa tree

Taiwan

talented…but I dun like her style of music…

Dabren

Mexico

I dont like the Country music i hate that kind of music !!!

A.S.K.O. !!!

Naomi1010

Taiwan

I think she’s a sweet gal!! :)

dearpesar

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i am one the old music fans. because they are artful while nowadays music are just meaningless over-produced.

amanda2294

China

I like Taylor Swift,she is very beautiful and her song is very good.

koxa

Ukraine

As I know country's music has already existed for many years and I haven't heard it…so it means that this music will never be global….its a native (traditional) music of northern americans. For them contry is like a reminder that they are americans…its the same to say traditional ukranian music will be global!...but its impossible!

kaseem

Syrian Arab Republic

well , I think she will be able to get her goals coz she is hardworking songer

zhuanghuihui

China

i know we all want to improve english

only_rock

Azerbaijan

she is best

only_rock

Azerbaijan

i think, she is the best

Goshaa =*

Poland

i loveee her music!; ))) shes the best!

sofree

China

I hope so, I do like country music.

It's complicated about teenagers reputation. Maybe it's just adults' jealous, because when they were young, they didn't have the gift or chance to air an album, they didn't become rich when they were still young. But if you are young, you are not mature, showing naive is related, just try to keep low key.