Radio Writing Samples by Kevin
2015 April 17
When we listen to streaming radio from the US or the UK, the language is English, of course. It's a great way for students to hear actual English here in Japan. But when I make a writing sample in English about an English radio app or website, I can't really write anything about how the site improves my English. I am a native English speaker, and I already know the vocabulary they use on the radio. I wondered how I could give you an example of how to write about your language learning after using a radio site. The other morning, on my way to work, I had the idea to listen to a Japanese radio station on my radio app. I ride the Nambu Line to work, and I have a lot of time on the train. I opened my TuneIn Radio app and I chose Browse, then Local Radio. I found ChofuFM 83.8, and their program called Chofu - Morning Light & Breeze. Chofu is near where I live, so it seemed like a good choice for me. Listening to Japanese radio is a great way for me to improve my Japanese. [But please be clear on this point, I am not recommending a Japanese radio site to my seminar students, unless it's in English, like NHK - World.] Chofu - Morning Light & Breeze is a typical Japanese radio station. It seems to be for older people, as the music selection is from my own younger days. I imagine the people that listen to it are retired people who stay at home, or people who listen to the radio in their cars or trucks while driving. Maybe some people have this station on in their office while they're working. It's a mix of music, news, weather, and traffic information. As I listened to this station, I realized how bad my Japanese had gotten. I could understand the topics and many of the general ideas, but there were so many words I didn't know. I thought I should really listen to this station every morning on my way to work. I listened carefully and wrote down some expressions on the notepad app in my iPhone. Later, I looked them up in an online dictionary. Here are some vocabulary words I learned. The first was jikoku (時刻). I could guess from the context that it meant "current time" because he repeated this phrase often: Chofu - Morning Light & Breeze時刻は8:10, but changing the time each time he said it. This seems like an easy word, but amazingly, I didn't know it. I'm glad I learned it. I suppose I should be embarrassed. Next, they were talking about the weather and how it changed day to day from cold to warm, or how it changed quickly even in the same day. They used the expression kandan no sa (寒暖の差), which means "extremes of hot and cold." Maybe I'll use this someday and surprise my wife. She doesn't hear me say many expressions like this. One of the news topics was about how someone was committing vandalism at some cultural sites, like temples and shrines. They were putting setchakuzai (接着剤) on some valuable items, which damaged them. The DJ commented that this was a terrible thing, and I agree. But I thought the word setchakuzai, which means glue, was interesting. I understood the word, though I don't ever remember learning it or using it. I suppose in all my years in Japan, I just picked it up somehow. As a final example, the announcer talked about something I didn't understand well, but he said futan ga ookii (負担が大きい), which I later learned means "a heavy burden." I think if I listen to this station every morning at the same time, I will hear a lot of repeated expressions, which will help me remember them. I think this will be a good way to improve my Japanese. |
2015 April 11
NPR - All Songs Considered is an American talk radio station where you can listen to podcasts. The advantage to a podcast is that if you find one you like, you can listen to it again and again, and you can download it if you like. You look at the list of topics, choose something that looks interesting, and the DJs talk about a song or band and play clips about the music they're discussing. There are new podcasts daily, so there's always something fresh to listen to. You can find NPR - All Songs Considered on the TuneIn Radio app or by going directly to the site on your PC. NPR - All Songs Considered |
The podcast I listened to was called "SXSW 2015 Music Preview." SXSW is pronounced "south by southwest." It's an annual music & film festival in Austin, Texas (which is where I lived before I moved to Japan). The bands on this podcast appeared at the festival. The artists introduced on this podcast are not famous. They are all new and the DJs introduced their favorite artists from the festival. One of the bands they introduced was called "Wild Party." Another artist they introduced was "Little Sims" an experimental rapper from the U.K. This podcast is a little long (1 hour 22 minutes), but the music introduced here is pretty interesting!
2015 March 31
Many universities in the U.S. (and other parts of the world) have their own campus radio stations. These stations are often good sources of new listening ideas, as they tend to have eclectic programming, but with a tendency toward alternative and indie genres. XLR Lander Radio |
The other day, I was browsing on my Live365 radio app and I found the college station, XLR Lander, which operates out of South Carolina in the USA. I only listened to it for about 20 minutes, but I learned something interesting! Please read about my discovery of Flo Rida's sample of Etta James.
I think everyone has probably heard some of Flo Rida's songs. He had a lot of hit songs in the hip-hop genre around 2008-2011, and he's still performing now. One famous song that I heard a lot in those days was "Good Feeling." I remember hearing that song as the background music of a sports highlight reel. It's such a high energy song and very catchy! When I first heard the opening vocals, "Oh, sometimes I get a good feeling" I just thought, "Cool voice! Must be Flo Rida's backup singer." But I was really wrong! A few days ago, when I was listening to XLR Lander Radio, I heard an old blues/gospel song by Etta James from 1962. I was surprised to hear the same words and voice that I knew from the Flo Rida song! That's when I realized that the voice from "Good Feeling" was actually a sample of Etta James' voice. First, check out the Flo Rida song on YouTube at right. Flo Rida's Sample of Etta James |
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Great voice, right? Etta James was a blues, jazz, R&B singer from the 60s and 70s. Young people probably don't know her these days, but she was once ranked by Rolling Stone Magazine as the #22 best vocalist of all time, and she earned a Grammy for lifetime achievement (Wikipedia). Now listen to the original recording by Etta James below, from her 1962 song, "Something's Got a Hold on Me." And even more interesting in this story of sampling is that Flo Rida didn't sample Etta James directly. He sampled Avicii's sample of Etta James from his 2011 song "Levels." So Flo Rida sampled a sample of Etta James. That's why Etta James gets partial writing credit for both Flo Rida's song and Avicii's song. Etta James died in 2012, but her voice will live on in her own recordings and in the samples that new artists continue to use.
"Something's Got a Hold on Me" by Etta James, 1962. This is the original!
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Skip to 2:45 minutes to hear the Etta James sample. This is the sample that Flo Rida used, and the chords playing in this song are similar to Flo Rida's song as well.
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