英作文、英文ライティング、英語学習ブログ

Today, we would like to introduce another of our topics of the week: 今週の英語トピック - Voice of America Special English. Here is an excerpt:

Today we would like to talk about another simple English news site, Voice of America Special English. This site is broadcast by Voice of America (VOA). They refer to their simple English as special English. The sentences are short, and they speak slowly.

Please click the link above if you would like to read more. You can find a link to the Voice of America Special English site and links that will lead you to all of our weekly topics.

We hope you find them of interest.

This quote is from Anatole France on copying:

When a thing has been said and well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.

Anatole France was born François-Anatole Thibault. France was a French poet, journalist, and novelist. As you can tell from the quote above, he was a skeptic. In his day (1844 to 1924), he was considered the ideal French man of letters. France was a member of the Académie française and also won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

This quote is from Ambrose Bierce on what an acquaintance is:

Acquaintance, n.: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to.

This quote is from The Devil's Dictionary, Bierce's 1911 book which reinterprets terms in the English language, making fun of doublespeak and more.

This quote is from Muhammad Ali on his toughest fight:

My toughest fight was with my first wife.

In America, even boxers want to be comedians. What do you think of this? Can you imagine a Japanese boxer saying something like this?

This quote was perhaps created by a despairing teacher. Or is that just what we think?

I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.

The quote is credited to an English Professor at Ohio University.

While the quote is certainly witty, is this who we want teaching our young people?