English, baby!

And Then There Were Two

Date: Jul 04 2008

Themes: News

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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

Earlier this month, Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary. He will face off against John McCain, the Republican nominee, in November for the presidency.

This years Democratic primary was one of the most hotly contested primaries in history. Clinton and Obama were evenly matched, each with millions of supporters.

Of course, as we’ve mentioned before, our users generally favored Obama, so this is good news for many of you! Marni and Mason think it’s good news as well.

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.

Marni

Mason

Marni: I’m so excited! I feel hopeful for the first time.

Mason: It’s pretty crazy, right? I mean, when you look back at it, who’da thunk? So what do you think of it? From my standpoint, his amazing success is kind of tied to how well he tapped into youth and using social media and just different channels to get his message out.

Marni: Absolutely. I think that’s a huge part of his success, a testament to his insight about where he wants to take this country. It’s like McCain represents the old…

Mason: Do you put Hillary in that old-school camp? Was that part of her downfall?

Marni: Partly, actually, yeah. She is older and she’s been more of a career politician and I think that that’s what I admire so much about Obama was how positive he was and he kept coming back to the real issues and what this country is about and we need to heal. She was just like…

Mason: Yeah, you know a weird…it’s not really a PC insight, but the fact that she…being a woman…we’re so used to the political grandstanding from the male perspective. This very yelling, kind of angry, warlike general speeching and she tried to do that and it doesn’t work.

Marni: It didn’t work for her.

Mason: I don’t know if she could have found a more innovative way or if the public would have embraced it if she did.

Marni: It wasn’t genuine. Obama, I think, truly speaks from the heart and it’s obvious and it’s effective and it’s moving.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Marni is excited and hopeful now that Obama has won the nomination. She likes his style of campaigning. He focuses on issues like war and healthcare rather attacking his opponents or worrying about dumb stuff like who’s wearing a flag pin and who isn’t.

Mason thinks that Obama made good use social media like English, baby! and Marni thinks that his openness to new technology shows he’s a good leader.

When it comes to her style of speaking and campaigning, Mason thinks Clinton is more like McCain. She uses a more classic approach involving lots of yelling. Mason thinks this approach didn’t suit her, in part because she’s a woman.

Are you glad Obama won the nomination? Do you think he can defeat McCain in November? Why do you think Clinton lost the primary?

Comments

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Snailflying

China

Money talks every place.

Jack0398

China

I don't wanna talk about which one is better, Cliton or Obama. But I presume that since both of Cliton and Obama are members of the Democratic, Obama might get more support as Cliton quit campaigning. I think it matters that who's the president of a country because the world is a global village. The policies of a country may have some impact on the relationship among countries.

dearpesar

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

its american choice. i don't care about it. i can just say in usa it's just money talks…...... and i can say the more respect to isreal the more chance to win