Listening

Marrying sounds and words

Connecting sounds with their corresponding words takes time and patience.

Individually words frequently differ in pronunciation when spoken; the way sounds and words connect contributes to fluency.

Use the subtitles or transcript to understand how words are spoken: pronunciation, stress and emphasis.

‘I really do not want to practise’

Yuja Wang is one of the most exciting pianists of the 21st century. She credits falling in love with the piano to an early infatuation with the great Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin.

Source

BBC

Length

00.03.26

Subtitles

Date produced

9 December 2024

Yes

L007

Reference

Task

Listen to the video, then answer the questions.

  • Watch the video (without the transcript or subtitles).

  • Observe how speakers stress words and fit them together to form sentences.

  • Note timestamp for unclear speech, confusing words or phrases or perhaps where the speaker is a little too fast.

  • Watch again (with transcript or subtitles) and check against your noted timestamp: is it any clearer? What is unclear: a word, phrase or the structure?

  • Answer the questions before expanding and viewing answers.

  • Any doubts, contact your mentor.

  • No: she says is not less nervous now meaning she still becomes nervous.

  • We use the present perfect to show a past action is connected to a present state, that this, for twenty years she has played and still plays the piano.

  • Fake it - (of a person) claiming to be something that one is not; pretend to feel or have (an emotion, illness, or injury)

  • When we say make a fool of oneself we usually mean to behave in an incompetent or inappropriate way that makes one appear foolish. However, she’s using the phrase to mean experiment and feel unconstrained.

  • Lose usually means to be deprived of or cease to have or retain (something) and used here to refer to time; she has no perception of time, enveloped by the music.

  • Talk yourself into something is a phrasal verb meaning persuade someone to do something that they are unwilling to do. She is referring to persuading herself to perform.

  • She is not a painter but says what a painter is: one who creates a permanent record in paint, as opposed to a pianist whose work is ephemeral.

  • The phrase in tune means in agreement or harmony. In this case, she is so focused and trained, her reactions are automatic; perfect harmony.

  • On the spot has three meanings:

    1. without any delay; immediately

    2. at the scene of an event

    3. (British English) (with reference to an action) performed without moving from one's original position

    Examples:

    1. He gave me the cash on the spot; no comment, no delay.

    2. The police were on the spot within five minutes.

    3. Skipping on the spot is a great way to keep fit.

  • Draw out here means to gently pull or guide in a specified direction.

  • Dashing means:

    • attractive, adventurous, and full of confidence (typically used of a man)

    • stylish and fashionable

  • Do refers to perform and achieve.

  • We use trust me to emphasise that what we say is true.