TRANSCRIPTION
GEOGRAPHY
The United States is a country in the Western Hemisphere. It consists of fifty contiguous states in North America Alaska and Hawaii. There are several United States territories in the Pacific and Caribbean. The capital is Washington which is a federal district. The United States is the world's third largest country, after Russia and China.
The most popular states are Washington, New York, Florida, California, Montana, Texas, New Jersey, Utah, Pennsylvania…
The climate is temperate in most areas, subtropical in the Deep South, tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the 100th meridian, Mediterranean in coastal California and arid in the Great Basin.
HISTORY
Christopher Columbus was the first European to land in the territory of what is now the United States when he arrived in Puerto Rico in 1493. The subsequent arrival of settlers from Europe began the colonial history of the United States.
The American Revolution escalated into all-out war. The new nation declared independence in July 1776 as the United States of America.
The resulting Constitution of the United States ratified in 1788 created a federal government, based on the ideology of republicanism, equal rights, and civic duty.
Unit States of America declared the War of 1812 against Britain, then America won the independence.
After the First World War, the crash of 1929 started the worldwide Great Depression, which was long and severe for Unit States; but the united nations helped them.
POLITICS
The United States is a presidential, federal republic, in which the President of the United States Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government. Federal and state elections generally take place within a two-party system, although this is not enshrined in law.
Two parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although other parties have also existed.
Some of the most known presidents of the United States are George Washington who is the first president, Abraham Lincoln, Kennedy, Bush..
Now the president of USA is Barack Obama, he is the first African American president. The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President, took place on the 20th of January of 2009 ( two thousand and nine).
The president, as most of you know, lives in the White House.
Social studies
There is a population of about 308.743.486 (three hundred and eight million seven hundred and forty-three thousand four hundred and eighty-six) residents on the USA.
Religion
Here you've got the religion percentages.
• Christianity: (78.5%)
• Unaffiliated, including atheist or agnostic (16.1%)
• Judaism (1.7%)
• Buddhist (0.7%)
• Islam (0.6%)
• Hinduism (0.4%)
• Other (1.2%)
________________________________________________________________
EVENTS and TRADITIONS
Some of the most common events celebrated in the USA also are celebrated in other countries like Great Britain, France, here in Spain...like New Year's day, Valentine's day, Christmas day, Easter, April Fool's day, etc.
In this part I will tell you the events we don't celebrate.
They are:
- President's day : which is celebrated to honour the United States presidents. The celebration takes place on the third Monday in February. It's a federal holiday. One curiosity that people have seen is that on this day, many stores have more sales.
- saint Patrick's day : It was primarily celebrated by Irish people. Many people wear green clothes and other items on this day. In USA, this event is celebrate in New York on the 17th of March.
- Passover : It's a Jewish holiday. Passover is celebrated on the 14th of the first month of the Jewish year. It celebrate the survival of Jews in Egypt. In this day, Jews make a special ritual dinner.
- Memorial day : It's the first major holiday in the year after New Year's day. Memorial Day commemorates Americans who fought in the country and died in wars. This celebration is on the last Monday of May. One curiosity is that in many northern states, swimming pools open on this day.
- Independence day : It's a very important day in the history of the USA because is when the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. It happened on the 4th of July and it's the date when American people celebrate it every year. There are grand fireworks which are very beautiful. Several other activities take place this day, like parades, family picnics, parties or softball games.
FESTIVALS
- Outhouse races --> it’s on January
Mackinaw City actually celebrates the outhouse races every year. It's a very funny festival to see and also to participate.
The rules require each racing outhouse to contain a toilet seat and a toilet paper dispenser.
- Giant Omelette Festival --> It’s a festival celebrated in Louisiana in November.
The Omelette Festival is a free event with many activities, such as the cooking of a giant omelette, an antique car show, an art show and musical entertainment.
- The Academy Awards, or the Oscars, are the film prizes award every year on February. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry.
- Hot August Nights:
Every year, Reno, situated in Nevada, celebrate the biggest and best of the classic car shows in the country. It's celebrated during the first 10 days of August.
DIALECTS AND ACCENTS --> DIFFERENCES ABOUT AMERICAN AND BRITISH ENGLISH.
AmE --> American English
BrE --> means British English
Words with different meanings:
-In AmE the word pissed means being annoyed, where as in BrE it refers to being drunk.
- The word "football" in BrE refers to Association football, also known as soccer. In AmE, "football" means American football.
Little changes
- In some words there are changes of one or two letters:
BrE--> colour theatre honour
AmE--> color theater honor
The same meaning with different words:
BrE AmE
biscuit cookie
bill invoice
car park parking lot
lorry truck
cupboard closet
storm tempest
Equivalence idioms:
A number of English idioms that have essentially the same meaning show lexical differences between the British and the American version, for example :
UK USA
touch wood knock on wood (= toquem fusta)
haven't got a clue don't have a clue or have no clue ( changes in the form you structure this phrase)
a new lease of life a new lease on lif (changes on the preposition)
storm in a teacup tempest in a teapot ( they use different words that mean the same thing )
MUSIC AND FLIMS
There are a lot of singers from USA but we’ve selected the ones we thought that you will know:
Bruce Springsteen: He’s from New Jersey.
The Black Eyed Peas: Is a group that formed in Los Angeles.
Madonna: She’s born in Michigan.
Also a lot of films were made in United States like pretty woman, American pie, gangs of New York and some TV series like sex and the city, gossip girl , OC ( Orange Country), Baywatch...
FOOD AND DRINK
Characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants. French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.
Frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what health officials call the American "obesity epidemic." Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular.
-hot dogs--> is a moist sausage. It may be garnished with mustard, ketchup, onion, mayonnaise, relish, cheese...
- Apple pie --> An apple pie is a fruit pie (or tart) in which the principal filling ingredient is apples.
- Mashed potatoes --> is one way of serving potatoes. It is made by mashing freshly boiled, or sometimes baked, potatoes with a ricer, fork or potato masher.
- Coke --> is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines internationally.
THINGS TO VISIT
New York City: New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. Here you should visit Central Park, Time’s Square, the Empire state, etc.
Colorado: It was abandoned hundreds of years ago, it’s a great place to check out, just a bit of ancient ruins right here in your own backyard.
-Grand Canyon: The Grand Canyon speaks history and engulfs your soul, it’s so beautiful and worth any effort it may take to see it.
Mackinac Island: On Mackinac Island there are no cars, as soon as you get off the boat you get a horse or a bicycle. There are many places to visit on the island like Old fort Mackinac. There are many sights and activities for the whole family on this island.
Florida: If you go with the family, we recommend you to go to Walt Disney World, is an amusement park related to the films from Disney like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, The Lion King...
Miami: The most visited in this city are the famous beaches where all the tourists go on summer. If you go here surely you will understand them because an important part of the population speaks Latino Spanish.
The United States is a country in the Western Hemisphere. It consists of fifty contiguous states in North America Alaska and Hawaii. There are several United States territories in the Pacific and Caribbean. The capital is Washington which is a federal district. The United States is the world's third largest country, after Russia and China.
The most popular states are Washington, New York, Florida, California, Montana, Texas, New Jersey, Utah, Pennsylvania…
The climate is temperate in most areas, subtropical in the Deep South, tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida, polar in Alaska, semiarid in the Great Plains west of the 100th meridian, Mediterranean in coastal California and arid in the Great Basin.
HISTORY
Christopher Columbus was the first European to land in the territory of what is now the United States when he arrived in Puerto Rico in 1493. The subsequent arrival of settlers from Europe began the colonial history of the United States.
The American Revolution escalated into all-out war. The new nation declared independence in July 1776 as the United States of America.
The resulting Constitution of the United States ratified in 1788 created a federal government, based on the ideology of republicanism, equal rights, and civic duty.
Unit States of America declared the War of 1812 against Britain, then America won the independence.
After the First World War, the crash of 1929 started the worldwide Great Depression, which was long and severe for Unit States; but the united nations helped them.
POLITICS
The United States is a presidential, federal republic, in which the President of the United States Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government. Federal and state elections generally take place within a two-party system, although this is not enshrined in law.
Two parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, have dominated American politics since the American Civil War, although other parties have also existed.
Some of the most known presidents of the United States are George Washington who is the first president, Abraham Lincoln, Kennedy, Bush..
Now the president of USA is Barack Obama, he is the first African American president. The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President, took place on the 20th of January of 2009 ( two thousand and nine).
The president, as most of you know, lives in the White House.
Social studies
There is a population of about 308.743.486 (three hundred and eight million seven hundred and forty-three thousand four hundred and eighty-six) residents on the USA.
Religion
Here you've got the religion percentages.
• Christianity: (78.5%)
• Unaffiliated, including atheist or agnostic (16.1%)
• Judaism (1.7%)
• Buddhist (0.7%)
• Islam (0.6%)
• Hinduism (0.4%)
• Other (1.2%)
________________________________________________________________
EVENTS and TRADITIONS
Some of the most common events celebrated in the USA also are celebrated in other countries like Great Britain, France, here in Spain...like New Year's day, Valentine's day, Christmas day, Easter, April Fool's day, etc.
In this part I will tell you the events we don't celebrate.
They are:
- President's day : which is celebrated to honour the United States presidents. The celebration takes place on the third Monday in February. It's a federal holiday. One curiosity that people have seen is that on this day, many stores have more sales.
- saint Patrick's day : It was primarily celebrated by Irish people. Many people wear green clothes and other items on this day. In USA, this event is celebrate in New York on the 17th of March.
- Passover : It's a Jewish holiday. Passover is celebrated on the 14th of the first month of the Jewish year. It celebrate the survival of Jews in Egypt. In this day, Jews make a special ritual dinner.
- Memorial day : It's the first major holiday in the year after New Year's day. Memorial Day commemorates Americans who fought in the country and died in wars. This celebration is on the last Monday of May. One curiosity is that in many northern states, swimming pools open on this day.
- Independence day : It's a very important day in the history of the USA because is when the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. It happened on the 4th of July and it's the date when American people celebrate it every year. There are grand fireworks which are very beautiful. Several other activities take place this day, like parades, family picnics, parties or softball games.
FESTIVALS
- Outhouse races --> it’s on January
Mackinaw City actually celebrates the outhouse races every year. It's a very funny festival to see and also to participate.
The rules require each racing outhouse to contain a toilet seat and a toilet paper dispenser.
- Giant Omelette Festival --> It’s a festival celebrated in Louisiana in November.
The Omelette Festival is a free event with many activities, such as the cooking of a giant omelette, an antique car show, an art show and musical entertainment.
- The Academy Awards, or the Oscars, are the film prizes award every year on February. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry.
- Hot August Nights:
Every year, Reno, situated in Nevada, celebrate the biggest and best of the classic car shows in the country. It's celebrated during the first 10 days of August.
DIALECTS AND ACCENTS --> DIFFERENCES ABOUT AMERICAN AND BRITISH ENGLISH.
AmE --> American English
BrE --> means British English
Words with different meanings:
-In AmE the word pissed means being annoyed, where as in BrE it refers to being drunk.
- The word "football" in BrE refers to Association football, also known as soccer. In AmE, "football" means American football.
Little changes
- In some words there are changes of one or two letters:
BrE--> colour theatre honour
AmE--> color theater honor
The same meaning with different words:
BrE AmE
biscuit cookie
bill invoice
car park parking lot
lorry truck
cupboard closet
storm tempest
Equivalence idioms:
A number of English idioms that have essentially the same meaning show lexical differences between the British and the American version, for example :
UK USA
touch wood knock on wood (= toquem fusta)
haven't got a clue don't have a clue or have no clue ( changes in the form you structure this phrase)
a new lease of life a new lease on lif (changes on the preposition)
storm in a teacup tempest in a teapot ( they use different words that mean the same thing )
MUSIC AND FLIMS
There are a lot of singers from USA but we’ve selected the ones we thought that you will know:
Bruce Springsteen: He’s from New Jersey.
The Black Eyed Peas: Is a group that formed in Los Angeles.
Madonna: She’s born in Michigan.
Also a lot of films were made in United States like pretty woman, American pie, gangs of New York and some TV series like sex and the city, gossip girl , OC ( Orange Country), Baywatch...
FOOD AND DRINK
Characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants. French fries, Mexican dishes such as burritos and tacos, and pasta dishes freely adapted from Italian sources are widely consumed.
Frequent dining at fast food outlets is associated with what health officials call the American "obesity epidemic." Highly sweetened soft drinks are widely popular.
-hot dogs--> is a moist sausage. It may be garnished with mustard, ketchup, onion, mayonnaise, relish, cheese...
- Apple pie --> An apple pie is a fruit pie (or tart) in which the principal filling ingredient is apples.
- Mashed potatoes --> is one way of serving potatoes. It is made by mashing freshly boiled, or sometimes baked, potatoes with a ricer, fork or potato masher.
- Coke --> is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines internationally.
THINGS TO VISIT
New York City: New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. Here you should visit Central Park, Time’s Square, the Empire state, etc.
Colorado: It was abandoned hundreds of years ago, it’s a great place to check out, just a bit of ancient ruins right here in your own backyard.
-Grand Canyon: The Grand Canyon speaks history and engulfs your soul, it’s so beautiful and worth any effort it may take to see it.
Mackinac Island: On Mackinac Island there are no cars, as soon as you get off the boat you get a horse or a bicycle. There are many places to visit on the island like Old fort Mackinac. There are many sights and activities for the whole family on this island.
Florida: If you go with the family, we recommend you to go to Walt Disney World, is an amusement park related to the films from Disney like Mickey Mouse, Cinderella, The Lion King...
Miami: The most visited in this city are the famous beaches where all the tourists go on summer. If you go here surely you will understand them because an important part of the population speaks Latino Spanish.
REFLECTION OF MY ORAL PRESENTATION
In this presentation we had the option of being two persons, so I did it with my friend Helena. The topic was chose a country and explained the most important things about it like geography, traditions, places to visit…
We used a PowerPoint but we had one problem because we did it in my new computer and the programme that I have is Windows 7 and the school has another programme which is older. But we had lucky and the PowerPoint worked but the first we made was more beautiful and we had to do some changes. In spite of all I think that the PowerPoint was well in the structure and well in the content because we put something of text but not very much only some words to orientate the people and also because in most of the slides were images and they are better because it make the presentation more entertaining.
This time we made a very good time because we need to do between five and seven minutes each other and the total minutes we lasted were thirteen minutes.
All the time I was looking to everyone. I think that only one or two times I had to read my notes because I was nervous and my mind got white but I worked very hard on it and I understood everything and also I remembered everything I needed to say, so I was very fluent.
I’m a very nervous person and even if I have to speak in public I’m more nervous this involved that I made a lot of movements and gestures, in one way it’s good because I don’t made the people get bored but in other way it’s wrong because I did too much gestures.
I think that my presentation was well organized because first we did the questions that are related with theory as geography, history, politics, social studies and religion. Second we did the question related to the society like traditions, events, festivals, music and films and food and drink. Finally we include one part called differences about American and British English and another part called places to visit.
In my opinion I don’t improve too much the part related to linking words, because we had to put more connectors in the text and link the phrases better, so it’s a question that I need to remember for the next presentation. A thing that we made wrong was connect the different parts of the power point because, as our teacher said, we passed the slides very fast and suddenly we stopped to talk and then the person who was speaking change for the other person so it looked bad.
Most of the content of the oral presentation was new information because they knew the typical things like where was situated USA, the different states, the typical food ( fast food ) and maybe some places to visit. But in general, they didn’t know the climate, history, politics, traditions, festivals… And a very good thing that I think we had made was include one part to explain the differences about American English and British English.
All the information we put on the text was original because we looked it up from Internet but then we chose the most important things and then we summarized it.
Of my point of view all the information was correct and complex and the vocabulary was very rich and board.
We used sentence linkers like but, because, also… and I used a bit pause fillers like as you know, well, for example… I didn’t use too much pause fillers because, in my opinion, I didn’t get stuck.
I think that I had got a good pronunciation and that I pronounced all the words well but sometimes I could make a mistake so maybe I pronounced something wrong. This time I practiced it alone, without my classmate and without my friends, but if I didn’t know a word’s pronunciation I looked it up in a dictionary or in a programme of my computer.
I think that I spoke so fast but I change my tone of voice all the time because I’ve got a clear voice and usually I speak changing my voice’s tone so in the oral presentation I did the same. I didn’t talk with breaks, sometimes I made the expression mmmm, I noticed it when I saw the video because I thought that I didn’t made any expression like this but I said that a few times, so I was fluent.
In conclusion I think that this oral presentation was better than the other I did, so it means that I have improve in the content, in the pronunciation, in how I was in front of the audience…
In my opinion, I can get 7 or 8 points.
We used a PowerPoint but we had one problem because we did it in my new computer and the programme that I have is Windows 7 and the school has another programme which is older. But we had lucky and the PowerPoint worked but the first we made was more beautiful and we had to do some changes. In spite of all I think that the PowerPoint was well in the structure and well in the content because we put something of text but not very much only some words to orientate the people and also because in most of the slides were images and they are better because it make the presentation more entertaining.
This time we made a very good time because we need to do between five and seven minutes each other and the total minutes we lasted were thirteen minutes.
All the time I was looking to everyone. I think that only one or two times I had to read my notes because I was nervous and my mind got white but I worked very hard on it and I understood everything and also I remembered everything I needed to say, so I was very fluent.
I’m a very nervous person and even if I have to speak in public I’m more nervous this involved that I made a lot of movements and gestures, in one way it’s good because I don’t made the people get bored but in other way it’s wrong because I did too much gestures.
I think that my presentation was well organized because first we did the questions that are related with theory as geography, history, politics, social studies and religion. Second we did the question related to the society like traditions, events, festivals, music and films and food and drink. Finally we include one part called differences about American and British English and another part called places to visit.
In my opinion I don’t improve too much the part related to linking words, because we had to put more connectors in the text and link the phrases better, so it’s a question that I need to remember for the next presentation. A thing that we made wrong was connect the different parts of the power point because, as our teacher said, we passed the slides very fast and suddenly we stopped to talk and then the person who was speaking change for the other person so it looked bad.
Most of the content of the oral presentation was new information because they knew the typical things like where was situated USA, the different states, the typical food ( fast food ) and maybe some places to visit. But in general, they didn’t know the climate, history, politics, traditions, festivals… And a very good thing that I think we had made was include one part to explain the differences about American English and British English.
All the information we put on the text was original because we looked it up from Internet but then we chose the most important things and then we summarized it.
Of my point of view all the information was correct and complex and the vocabulary was very rich and board.
We used sentence linkers like but, because, also… and I used a bit pause fillers like as you know, well, for example… I didn’t use too much pause fillers because, in my opinion, I didn’t get stuck.
I think that I had got a good pronunciation and that I pronounced all the words well but sometimes I could make a mistake so maybe I pronounced something wrong. This time I practiced it alone, without my classmate and without my friends, but if I didn’t know a word’s pronunciation I looked it up in a dictionary or in a programme of my computer.
I think that I spoke so fast but I change my tone of voice all the time because I’ve got a clear voice and usually I speak changing my voice’s tone so in the oral presentation I did the same. I didn’t talk with breaks, sometimes I made the expression mmmm, I noticed it when I saw the video because I thought that I didn’t made any expression like this but I said that a few times, so I was fluent.
In conclusion I think that this oral presentation was better than the other I did, so it means that I have improve in the content, in the pronunciation, in how I was in front of the audience…
In my opinion, I can get 7 or 8 points.
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