Speak for Yourself

1.  Welcome to the Last Bookstore (Time: 11.35 - North American accent)

 "Some people prefer physical, tactile objects and some people prefer clicking a button. There is room for both I think... I hope" - Josh Spencer | Owner of The Last Bookstore

This documentary about the owner of The Last Bookstore is both moving and beautiful. Josh Spencer has a deep love for working with books. Yet Josh was the victim of a road accident some years and is now paraplegic. 

This video shows how he built his bookshop from a small business into what he descries as "a huge living room" - a place where people can buy second-hand books but also now a very social space.

The main theme of the video is how Josh has succeeded with his business even though many thought that books were destined to become extinct because of competition from technology and other types of multimedia reading.

STRATEGY:  Josh speaks in a very natural way which helps learners to hear the "rhythm" of English speech. This is helped by his use of "discourse markers" - short words or phrases which connect one phrase with another and create a natural flow to his discussion. Learning and understanding the tone and function of discourse markers is important for increasing fluency in English.

Here is a list of some of the discourse markers Josh uses:

• You know...
• I think...
• I hope...
• Alright...
• So, yeah...
• I guess...
• Kind of...
• And whatnot... 
• ...right?
• ...sort of...

Now watch the video again and see if you can identify these and other discourse markers that Josh uses. 

2. The "gift" of books  (Time: 4.22 - North American accent)

“I’m illustrating probably for the reader I was” - Marla Frazee | Children’s author and illustrator

Marla Frazee is an author and illustrator for children’s books. This lovely short documentary shows Marla discussing her inspiration for becoming a children’s author and her feelings about children’s books and their illustrations. She describes the beautiful drawings in such books as “a gift”.

Image via Youtube screen capture

 STRATEGY:  The first time you watch the video, don't use the subtitles. Just relax and listen to Marla's dialogue while looking at the images. There are visual clues in the video to indicate the content of her discourse. As you listen, try to identify what Marla says about these aspects of her work :

1. Did Marla know what she wanted to do when she was young?
2. How did she relate to "Blueberries for Sal"?
3. Why does she talk about "emotional temperature"?
4. How do readers generally see the "farmer" and the "clown"?
5. Why was blue ink so special for Marla
6. Why did Marla decide not to use a computer to make the stars?