Learning English Podcast - December 27, 2024
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Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Katie Weaver. And I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English. Coming up on the show, the Everyday Grammar Report.

We also hear the American story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain. But now, Dorothy Gundy and I have this report.

Popeye the Sailor and the Belgian boy reporter Tintin lead the class of characters and works of art to enter public domain in 2025. On January 1st, 2025, the U.S. copyright ends on creations from 1929.

That means the early versions of the comic characters can be used without permission or payment. They will be joined by the books A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.

Other works coming into the public domain include songs from American artist Cole Porter, early films from Alfred Hitchcock and the Marx Brothers, and several more films starring Mickey Mouse, whose earliest version became public domain last year.

It's a trove. There are a dozen new Mickey cartoons. He speaks for the first time and dons the familiar white gloves, said Jennifer Jenkins, director of the Center for the Study of the Public Domain, part of Duke University Law School in North Carolina.

There are masterpieces from Faulkner and Hemingway, the first sound films from Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil B. DeMille, and John Ford, and amazing music from Fats Waller, Cole Porter, and George Gershwin. Pretty exciting, she added.

Here is a closer look from the Associated Press at this year's crop of public domain works. Popeye the Sailor, with his big arm muscles and fighting spirit, was created by E.C. Segar and made his first appearance in the newspaper comic strip Thimble Theatre in 1929.

his first words were d'you think i'm a cowboy when asked if he was a sailor it was supposed to be a one-time appearance for the character instead he became the main character and the strip would be renamed

But as with Mickey Mouse last year and Winnie the Pooh in 2022, only the earliest version is free for reuse. Popeye did not become a film character until 1933, and that version remains under copyright.

The 1929 version of the character Tintin, the creation of Belgian artist Hergé, will also come into the public domain. The simply drawn teenager with dots for eyes and hair shaped like an ocean wave was among the most popular characters in Europe for much of the 20th century.

However, in much of the world, Tintin will not become public property until 70 years after the 1983 death of his creator. The books entering the public domain this year read like a list for an American literature class. The Sound and the Fury is arguably William Faulkner's most famous book.

Its special style of expression was a big hit, although the book was widely considered difficult to read and understand. The story is set in the southern state of Mississippi, where Faulkner was born and lived most of his life. It tells about the ruin of a leading family there.

and Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms joins his earlier The Sun Also Rises in the public domain. The story about an ambulance driver is set in Italy during World War I. It was based in part on Hemingway's real life.

It has been made into film, TV, and radio versions, and now can be done anew without permission. American John Steinbeck's first novel, A Cup of Gold, will also enter the public domain. Filmmaking was changing from silent to sound production during the late 1920s,

The famous moviemaker Alfred Hitchcock was still living in Britain when he made the film Blackmail. The movie began as a silent film but was turned to sound film during production. Two versions of Blackmail were released. One of the versions became Britain's and Hitchcock's first sound film.

American John Ford is probably best remembered for making the kind of films called westerns. Those movies remain protected, but Ford's first sound film, 1929's The Black Watch, enters the public domain next month.

The action movie includes a young John Wayne, who appears in a small part. Years later, Wayne was the star of many Ford films. Another notable director, Cecil B. DeMille, already a Hollywood leader in silent films, made Dynamite, his first sound film, in 1929.

Groucho, Harpo, and the other Marx Brothers humor group had their first starring parts in 1929's The Coconuts. The brothers went on to make the popular comedies Animal Crackers and Duck Soup, and the Broadway Melody will also enter the public domain on January 1st.

It became the first sound film and the second film ever to win the Oscar for Best Picture, then called Outstanding Production. Songs from the last year of the 1920s are also about to become publicly available for use. Cole Porter's compositions What Is This Thing Called Love?

and Tiptoe Through the Tulips are among the highlights, as is the jazz classic Ain't Misbehavin', written by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks. Different laws cover sound recordings. Those newly in the public domain date to 1924.

They include a recording of Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen from star and civil rights icon Marian Anderson and Rhapsody in Blue, performed by its composer, George Gershwin. I'm Katie Weaver. And I'm Dorothy Gundy. ♪

The new year can come on different dates for different cultures. Most of the Western world, for example, celebrates it on January 1st. But one thing many cultures have in common is the idea of New Year's resolutions.

A New Year's resolution is a personal goal to change unwanted behavior, make a life improvement, or try something new. Popular New Year's resolutions in the United States, for example, include losing weight, improving your finances, volunteering for a charity, and spending less time on social media.

On today's Everyday Grammar, we will show you how to talk about resolutions in English. First, let's learn how to ask people about their resolutions. Listen to a short conversation. Hey there, Jill. Happy New Year. Great to see you.

Hi, Jonathan. Happy New Year to you, too. How was yours? It was crazy. We went to New York and watched the ball drop in Times Square. Really crowded and loud, but still really fun. Sweet. Do you have any New Year's resolutions? Jill asked Jonathan about resolutions simply by saying, Do you have any New Year's resolutions? You can also say,

New Year's resolutions to ask about more than one or what is your New Year's resolution to ask about one. Now let's find out how to answer the question. When we make statements about our resolutions, we often use phrasal verbs. We can use the phrasal verb take up to say that we will start a new activity as a hobby.

Listen to Jill and Jonathan continue their conversation. Sweet. Do you have any New Year's resolutions? Yes, I do. I plan to take up kickboxing starting next week. I'm excited to finally do it rather than just talk about it. How about you? Another phrasal verb for resolutions is give up, which is to stop doing or using something.

We can use this verb to talk about ending bad habits or changing a behavior for a time. Let's hear Jill respond by using the verb give up. How about you? I'm giving up sugar for the month of January. Then for the rest of the year, I'm avoiding soft drinks. Impressive. I wish I could join you, but kickboxing class starts soon. I'll probably want a sweet snack after class.

Another phrasal verb, cut out, has the same basic meaning as give up. For example, Jill could say, I am cutting out sugar for the month of January. But in many situations, we do not need phrasal verbs to talk about resolutions, as you will soon see. Next, let's talk about verb tenses and forms.

Jonathan talked about his new kickboxing hobby using the verb plan followed by the infinitive verb form. And Jill talked about giving up sugar using the present continuous verb tense, also called B plus I-N-G. We can also use the simple future tenses, one with will and the other with going to.

These tenses are especially useful when the new year has not come yet. Imagine it's the last week of the year, and a few people are talking to each other about resolutions. Here are some things you might hear. In 2020, I'm going to visit my parents every month. By January 1st, I will end a few unhealthy friendships.

In the new year, I'm going to walk 10,000 steps every day. When we use simple future tenses to talk about resolutions, we're expressing that we are making a promise to or plan for ourselves. The noun resolution comes from the verb resolve, which means to make a serious decision to do something.

You may have noticed that the statements so far today did not actually use the word resolution. That is because the subject was already known by the listeners. But it is still perfectly normal to start your statements with, My New Year's resolution is... or My New Year's resolutions are... An infinitive verb or a gerund must come after these phrases.

Here is an example. My New Year's resolution is to call my sister on video chat every week. The infinitive verb here is to call. You can also use a gerund like this. My New Year's resolution is calling my sister on video chat every week. Well, that's all for today's program. Tell us about your New Year's resolutions in the comments below. Happy New Year!

I'm Alice Bryant. Our story is called The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. It was written by Mark Twain. Here is Shep O'Neill with the story. A friend of mine in the East asked me to visit old Simon Wheeler to ask about my friend's friend, Leonidas W. Smiley.

I did as my friend asked me to do, and this story is the result. I found Simon Wheeler sleeping by the stove in the ruined mining camp of Angels. I saw that he was fat and had no hair and had a gentle and simple look upon his peaceful face. He woke up and gave me good day.

I told him a friend had asked me to find out about a friend named Leonidas W. Smiley, who he heard was at one time living in Angel's Camp. I added that if Mr. Wheeler could tell me anything about this Leonidas W. Smiley, I would feel a great responsibility to him.

"'Simon Wheeler forced me into a corner with his chair "'and began telling me this long story. "'He never smiled, he never frowned, "'but all through the endless story "'there was a feeling of great seriousness and honesty. "'This showed me plainly that he thought "'the heroes of the story were men of great intelligence.'

I let him go on in his own way and never stopped him once. This is the story Simon Wheeler told. Leonidas W... Well, there was a man here once by the name of Jim Smiley in the winter of 1849, or maybe it was the spring of 1850. Anyway, he was the strangest man ever.

He was always making money on anything that turned up. If he could get anybody to try to make money on the other side. And if he could not do that, he would change sides. And he was lucky. Uncommon lucky. He most always was a winner. If there was a dog fight, he would try to win money on it. If there was a cat fight, he would take the risk.

If there was a chicken fight, he would try to win money on it. Why, if there was two birds sitting on a fence, he would want you to decide which one would fly first so he could win money. Lots of the boys here have seen Nat Smiley and can tell you about him. Why, it did not matter to him. He would try to make money on anything. He was the most unusual man.

Parson Walker's wife was very sick once for a long time, and it seemed as if they were not going to save her. But one morning, he come in, and Smiley asked him how his wife was, and he said she was better, thank God. And Smiley, before he thought, says, Well, I risk my money, she will not get well. And Smiley had a little small dog.

to look at the dog you would think he was not worth anything but to sit around and look mean and look for a chance to steal something but as soon as there was money he was a different dog another dog might attack and throw him around two or three times then all of a sudden smiley's dog would grab that other dog by his back leg and hang on till the man said

It was over. Smiley always come out the winner on that dog, at least until he found a dog once that did not have any back leg. The dog's legs had been cut off in a machine. Well, the fighting continued long enough and the money was gone.

Then when Smiley's dog come to make a grab the other dog's back legs, he saw in a minute how there was a problem. The other dog was going to win, and Smiley's dog looked surprised and did not try to win the fight anymore. He gave Smiley a look that said he was sorry for fighting a dog that did not have any back legs for him to hold, which he needed to win the fight.

Then Smiley's dog walked away, laid down, and died. He was a good dog and would have made a name for himself if he had lived, for he had intelligence. It always makes me feel sorry when I think of that last fight of his and the way it turned out. Well, this Smiley had rats and chickens and cats and all of them kind of things.

You could not get anything for him to risk money on, but he would match you. He caught a frog one day and took him home and said he was going to educate the frog. And so he never done nothing for three months but sit in his backyard and teach that frog to jump. And you bet you he did teach him too. He would give him a little hit from behind.

And the next minute, you would see that frog dancing in the air and then come down all on his feet and all right, like a cat. Smiley got him so the frog was catching flies and he would catch one of those insects every time. Smiley said all a frog wanted was education and he could do almost anything. And I believe him.

"'Why, I have seen him set Daniel Webster down here on this floor—' "'Daniel Webster was the name of the frog—' "'And sing out, "'Flies, Daniel, flies!' "'And quicker than you could shut your eyes, "'That frog would jump straight up and catch a fly off the table. "'Then he would fall down on the floor again, like a ball of dirt.'

and start rubbing the side of his head with his back foot as if he had no idea he had been doing any more than any frog might do. You never seen a frog so honest and simple as he was for all he was so skilled. And when it come to jumping, he could get over more ground in one jump than any animal or his kind that you ever saw.

Smiley was very proud of his frog, and people who had traveled and been everywhere all said he was better than any frog they had ever seen. Well, one day a stranger came in and says to Smiley, What might be that you have got in the box? And Smiley says, It's only just a frog.

And the man took it and looked at it careful and turned it round this way and that and says, Hmm, so it is. Well, what is he good for? Well, Smiley says, easy and careless. He can outjump any frog in Calaveras County. The man took the box again and took another long look and gave it back to Smiley and says, Hmm.

"'I don't see anything about that frog that is any better than any other frog.' "'Maybe you don't,' Smiley says. "'Maybe you understand frogs, and maybe you don't. "'Anyways, I will risk forty dollars "'and bet you that he can jump farther than any frog in Calaveras County.' "'And the man studied a minute.'

Well, I'm only a stranger here and I do not have a frog. But if I had a frog, I would risk my money on it. And then Smiley says, That's all right. If you will hold my box a minute, I will go and get you a frog. And so the man took the box and put up his $40 and sat down to wait. He sat there a long time thinking and thinking.

Then he got the frog out of the box. He filled its mouth full of bullets used to kill small birds. Then he put the frog on the floor. Now Smiley had caught another frog and gave it to the man and said, Now sit him next to Daniel and I will give the word. Then Smiley says, One word.

two, three, go, and Smiley and the other man touched the frogs. The new frog jumped. Daniel just lifted up his body but could not move at all. He was planted like a building. Smiley was very surprised and angry too, but he did not know what the problem was. The other man took the money and started away, and when he was going out the door...

He looked back and said, ''Well, I don't see anything about that frog that is any better than any other frog.'' Smiley stood looking down at Daniel a long time and at last says, ''I wonder what in the nation happened to that frog. I wonder if there's something wrong with him.'' And he picked up Daniel and turned him upside down and out came a whole lot of bullets.''

and Smiley was the angriest man. He set the frog down and took out after that man, but he never caught him. Now, Simon Wheeler heard his name called and got up to see what was wanted.

He told me to wait, but I did not think that more stories about Jim Smiley would give me any more information about Leonidas W. Smiley. And so I started to walk away. At the door, I met Mr. Wheeler returning, and he started talking again.

Well, this here smiley had a yellow cow with one eye and no tail. However, lacking both time and interest, I did not wait to hear about the cow. I just left. You have heard the American story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neill.

And that's our show for today. But join us again tomorrow to keep learning English on The Voice of America. I'm Katie Weaver.