Talk4Meaning

Oranges are not the only fruit: or how to help children love maths. Assisted by Led Zeppelin, Take That and The Prefab Four!

Date posted: Friday 6th June 2014

The Godfather: Are those oranges? Do you have a horse?

I have to admit that The Godfather is my second favourite film.* When it was first released, me and my 16-year-old friends pretended we were 18 and got to see it in a dingy cinema in Glasgow. I was horrified by the graphic violence, but was equally fascinated. I have watched The Godfather dozens of times since, but only recently noticed what thousands of people across the globe already knew: if you see some oranges in a scene, then something gruesome is going to happen next. You can see exactly the same thing in Layer Cake but they use Black Forest Gateaux instead. I suppose the makers of the film would claim that it’s an homage to The Godfather. To me there’s a fine line between homage and ripping off a great idea. (I’m just waiting for someone to make a film that is an ‘homage’ to Layer Cake, with a Victoria sponge in every scene.) (more…)

Too much coffee, man! Or trying to understand high activity in children and severe mood swings in adulthood. With help from Deep Purple, Keith Moon, Kay Redfield Jamison, and Too Much Coffee Man!

Date posted: Friday 30th May 2014

Too Much Coffee Man

Keith Moon

I’m a speed king.
You gotta hear me sing.
See me flyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Speed King by Deep Purple

In 1973 a sixth former with a massive album collection (and therefore clearly to be worshipped as the fount of all knowledge) told me and my friend that to truly understand the classic albums of the era you needed to take the same drugs that the bands had been on when they created their masterpieces. To prove his point, he showed us a long list of bands and albums and the drugs needed to get us on the same vibe and understand the lyrics. Here is an excerpt: (more…)

All quiet on the Italian front: or being in the silent phase of learning a second language. With help from Renato Carosone, Yolanda Be Cool, Carosones, Sophia Loren, Clark Gable and Kraftwerk!!

Date posted: Friday 23rd May 2014

Tu abball’ o’ rocchenroll
Tu giochi a baisiboll…
Ma e solde p’ e’ Camel
Chi te li dà? La borsetta di mammà!

You dance rock ‘n’ roll
You play baseball
But who gives you the money to buy Camels?
Your mother’s handbag!

Tu Vuò Fa’ L’Americano (Sung in Neapolitan; a dialect of Italian)

Where are the luggage carts? Why is there a delay? A double room with a shower, please. Is the coffee hot? No, it’s cold. These were the first phrases I learned in Czech. Unfortunately I’ve only ever had to use them once in a real-life situation, when I was stuck on a London Underground train on the way to the theatre. A Czech couple next to me were getting very agitated (maybe, like me, they were on the way to see Jesus Christ Superstar and didn’t want to miss a second.) I thought I’d help them relax by signaling to them that I knew something of their beautiful language. Proč je tam zpoždění? I proffered. (Why is there a delay?) Hleď si svýho! was their riposte. I wasn’t sure what that meant, so automatically unloaded my set of Czech phrases onto them. I thought it would make them laugh, but maybe their urge to see the New Testament turned into an all-singing, all-dancing rock extravaganza was greater than mine, because they leapt up and moved to the other end of the carriage, shouting Sra Úka and jít k čertu and something that sounded like jdi do pekla. (more…)

An idiom abroad. Sleeping like a baby, a log, or a top and trying to use as many English idioms as possible. With help from Peter Sellers, Roachford, Sir Lawrence Olivier and Alan Partridge!

Date posted: Sunday 18th May 2014

 

I’m on my international travels again and the trouble has already started. It was a 17-hour journey to Kuala Lumpur and I seemed to be the only passenger on the plane who was wide awake. If I don’t get eight hours beauty sleep every night I wake up looking and feeling ugly, and that’s not what delegates on my training courses are expecting. Unfortunately it’s too late, as I only managed two hours sleep at my hotel before my physical self was fully alert and raring to go. It’s going to be a hard day’s night. On the flight I wanted to do some background reading for my book and plan an article. Unfortunately, the man next to me was tossing in his sleep, (he couldn’t turn as there wasn’t enough room) so I felt it would be best if I switched off my reading light, to help him drift off to the land of nod. Sadly, the only alternative for me was to watch films and TV on the in-flight entertainment, in the hope that this would help me to get 40 winks, or at least have a bit of a cat nap. (more…)

Saudade. Or why it’s good to name your feelings. With help from Aliki, Cristina Branco, Ana Moura and a compassionate school inspector!

Date posted: Friday 25th April 2014

Botticelli’s Primavera: looking and feeling very sad

Saudade: not the same feeling

I shall never forget teaching my class of eight and nine-year-olds, and particularly Sofia, who saved me single-handedly from being judged ‘unsatisfactory’ by an Ofsted school inspector. (more…)

‘Obviously’, ‘of course’ and ‘it’s quite simple really’. Or how to help children understand what you are saying, with help from Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg, and a host of trainspotters, birdwatchers and naturists!

Date posted: Friday 11th April 2014

I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that I have no objection to folk singers, birdwatchers or naturists. Although they all feature in this post, my aim is to explore how we can help people understand what we mean, without purposely or inadvertently confusing them or putting them down. So here goes… (more…)

Overexposed? Or how to overcome stage fright. With help from Joe Kowan, Janis Joplin and two very naked Frenchmen!

Date posted: Tuesday 8th April 2014

Every town, no matter how picturesque and affluent, has a soft underbelly. I can confirm that Ipswich has more than its fair share, as most of them seemed to be on display all around me while I sat in a coffee bar near the BBC Radio Suffolk studio. Ipswich was the first leg of my national tour during the first Selective Mutism Awareness Week, as I visited schools and appeared on live radio across the UK. I’d appeared on the radio once before, but that was talking about children’s sleep difficulties, accompanied by someone who knew far more about the subject than I did, so I didn’t feel nervous at all. (more…)

You’ve gotta get in to get out: or how we can have satisfying conversations with young children. With help from Phil Collins, Genesis and John Noakes and Shep off of Blue Peter!

Date posted: Saturday 22nd March 2014

John Noakes and Shep: In the air tonight?

Phil Collins: Get down Shep?

It was the Summer of 1975. I was 17 and my life was in freefall. Actually that’s possibly a bit over-dramatic, as I was really feeling just a bit sad. I had gone to the Surrey University Free Arts Festival with my girlfriend and she got cross with me for spending too much time examining ‘living exhibits’ in the art department, involving students posing nude for no particularly good reason that I could make out, other than to be slightly shocking, while I only have eyes for you by Art Garfunkel played over a loudspeaker. My girlfriend stormed off and I was left contemplating my navel (actually it was not mine but belonged to a complete stranger). I wandered around the campus searching for She Who Must Be Obeyed, and bumped into Phil Collins. (more…)

We don’t need no Pink Floyd: or supporting children’s language development, with help from The Sex Pistols and Dr Feelgood

Date posted: Monday 17th March 2014

Ummagumma by Pink Floyd: Set the controls for the heart of no fun?

Johnny Rotten. It could have been me.

The world of British popular music was changed forever in just 10 minutes in 1975, when Malcolm McLaren saw John Lydon walking down the Kings Road in Chelsea, sporting a Pink Floyd T-shirt. Lydon looked totally unexceptional, apart from a mass of spots on his face and the words ‘I hate’ scrawled with black marker pen above the words Pink Floyd. McLaren was very impressed and asked Lydon to audition as singer for a new band he was planning to put together. Lydon couldn’t sing, so was signed on the spot. He was renamed Johnny Rotten and the rest is history. (more…)

Yeah? OK? Or how to improve children’s understanding and behaviour. With help from Georgie Fame, Roxy Music and a talking sheep!

Date posted: Sunday 2nd March 2014

No need to ask me if everything is OK I got my answer, the only thing I can say I say yeh yeh, that’s what I say, I say yeh yeh That’s what I say, yeh yehYeh Yeh Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames 1965

Yeah Yeah Black Sheep

Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames: Yeh Yeh (whatever?) (more…)