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VOCABULARY | |
GO PUBLIC |
Entrer en bourse | |
Facebook went public |
on May 28 | |
GRAMMAR |
countable / uncountable | |
News |
A piece of news | |
That’s good news |
or | That’s a piece of good news |
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(never a news) | |
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PRONUNCIATION | |
No man is an island
England is NOT an island (but Great Britain IS) Iceland is an island in the north Atlantic |
Aucun homme n’est une île
(poème de John Donne) L’Angleterre n’est PAS une île (Napoléon ne connaissait pas bien sa géographie non plus) L’Islande est une île dans l’Atlantique nord |
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The isle of Capri The isles of Scilly |
L’île de Capri
Les îles Scilly (au large de Cornouailles) |
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Note that there are two words in English; ‘island’ (area of land separate from the continent) and ‘isle’ (normally in geographical names) | Notons qu’il existe deux mots en anglais pour ‘île’ :
Une île = an island L’Île de… = the Isle of … (nom géographique) |
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Point number 2: the S is silent in both these words. | Notons aussi que les S dans island et dans isle ne sont pas prononcés. | |
So, if you pronounce the S in ‘island’ you’re saying the name ‘Iceland’ (capital: Reykjavík). | Si vous prononcez le S dans island le résultat est Iceland | |
And here’s John Donne’s |
Poetic masterpiece in full: | |
No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thine own Or of thine friend’s were. Each man’s death diminishes me, For I am involved in mankind. Therefore, For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee. |
Clod = small piece of earth washed away = emporté (par de l’eau)
of thine own = t’appartenant
mankind = l’humanité send not to know = ne cherche pas à savoir
For whom the bell tolls = pour qui sonne le glas il sonne pour toi |
Three points – Friday July 20th 2012