Thread: Преподаватель ESL рекомендует вам послушать эту песню…

Discussing the words doe and олениха with AlexB reminded me of this YouTube clip, in which a large group of Belgians in a train station spontaneously start dancing to the song "Do-Re-Mi" from The Sound of Music. (Не по-настоящему самопроизвольно, конечно -- но, если читаешь описание на Ютюбе, оказается, что только две репетиции были нужны)

The reason I give it my recommendation is that it's sung by Julie Andrews -- who not only has a beautiful singing voice, but is also famous for her "impeccable diction" -- in other words, her pronunciation is extraordinarily clean, which makes her a good model to imitate.

If you want a more masculine model, here's Robert Preston performing "The Sadder But Wiser Girl," from the 1962 movie The Music Man.

Here are the lyrics:

No wide-eyed, eager,
Wholesome, innocent Sunday-School teacher for me!
That kind of girl spins webs, no spider ever...
Now, listen, boy --
A girl who trades on all that purity
Merely wants to trade my independence for her security.
The only affirmative she will file
Refers to marching down the aisle.
No golden, glorious, gleaming pristine goddess--
No sir!
For no Diana do I play fawn.
I can tell you that right now.
I snarl, I hiss -- How can ignorance be compared to bliss?
I spark, I fizz, for the lady who knows what time it is.
I cheer, I rave, for the virtue I'm too late to save!
The sadder-but-wiser girl for me!

No bright-eyed, blushing, breathless baby-doll baby
No sir!
That kind of child ties knots no sailor ever knew!
I prefer to take a chance
On a more adult romance.
No dew-young miss
Who keeps resisting
All the time she keeps insisting!
No wide-eyed, wholesome, innocent female.
No sir!
Why, she's the fisherman, I'm the fish, you see? PLOP!
I flinch, I shy, when the lass with the delicate air goes by --
I smile, I grin, when the gal with a touch of sin walks in --
I hope, and I pray, for Hester to win just one more "A"!
The sadder-but-wiser girl's the girl for me,
The sadder-but-wiser girl for me!

Again, Preston's voice is recommendable as a listening model because his pronunciation is so precise.

P.S. Any Russian who can correctly explain the double meaning of that "A," and how it relates to "Hester," is a молодец из всех молодцев!

Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale - The Scarlet Letter
Sadder but wiser for having a sexual relationship outside of marriage.
1. A = Adultery
2. A = top grade (at school)

I wasn’t patient enough to read all the Wikipedia’s article about Hester of The Scarlet Letter. I understand the A on her apron was meant to define her as adulteress but through working hard, caring for the homeless and all that stuff, she ended up being looked upon as an Angel. Isn’t this the second A Harold Hill prays for his future girlfriend to win, to start as a gal with a touch of sin (A1) and become a good wife, in the long run (A2)?

You're both correct! I guess it really wasn't so difficult after all -- assuming one has a basic familiarity with The Scarlet Letter.

Isn’t this the second A Harold Hill prays for his future girlfriend to win, to start as a gal with a touch of sin (A1) and become a good wife, in the long run (A2)?

Actually, Harold Hill is NOT looking for a future wife at this point in the story -- he makes his living as a traveling salesman, and enjoys the "unchained" life of a bachelor, with a girlfriend in every town. And, ironically, the "sadder but wiser" girl that he falls in love with is a nerdy (and virginal) librarian who obtains her "worldly wisdom" from reading the suggestive sexual humor in Chaucer, Shakespeare, Rabelais, and other writers, but not from real-life personal experience!

The way that actress Hermione Gingold (playing the respectable Wife of the Mayor) speaks the name "Balzac" to make it sound like an obscenity, is quite famous. Also, listen carefully for the women's "просторечье" pronunciation of the word "library" as "lie-berry" in this scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhnRuJBHLs

Harold Hill: And now the young lady who teaches the piano --
{the women continue gossiping}
Harold Hill: Uuhh, "Marian Paroo", I believe?
{the women gasp in horror}
Harold Hill: Well, after all, she is the librarian.

{Women gossip among themselves using old-fashioned slang expressions with lots of К, Т, Ч, and П sounds, to suggest the "cheep" and "cluck" noises of chickens: "She must've picked him up the first crack out of the box!" "Talkin' up to a man like that!" "Talkin' turkey to him" "Like to take her ticket and punch it!" "First crack like a cheap jack", etc. NB that the story takes place in 1912, and some of these expressions are almost incomprehensible to modern Americans!}

{Sung refrain}
Pick a little, talk a little, pick a little, talk a little
Cheep cheep cheep, talk a lot, pick a little more!
(etc.)

Woman: Professor, her kind of woman doesn't belong on any committee. Of course, I shouldn't tell you this, but SHE advocates dirty books!

Harold Hill: Dirty books?!

Woman #1: Chaucer!
Woman #2: Rabelais!
Mayor's Wife: BALZAC!

Woman #1: And the worst thing -- Of course, I shouldn't tell you this but...
Woman #2: I'll tell!
Woman #3: The man lived on my street, let ME tell!
Mayor's wife: Stop! I'll tell. She made brazen overtures to a man who never had a friend in this town till she came here. Old Miser Madison.
Harold Hill: "Miser" Madison? Madison Picnic-Park, Madison Gymnasium, Madison Hospital -- THAT Miser Madison?
Woman #1: Exactly. Who did he think he was, anyway?
Harold Hill: Well I should say. The show-off! He gave the town the library, too, didn't he?
Woman #2:That's just it! When he died, he left the lie-berry building to the city...
Woman #3:But he left all the books to HER!
Mayor's wife: She was seen going and coming from his place!

Woman #1: Oh, yes, that woman made brazen overtures
With a gilt-edged guarantee
She had a golden glint in her eye
And a silver voice with a counterfeit ring
Just melt her down and you'll reveal
A lump of lead as cold as steel
Here, where a woman's heart should be!

Women: He left River City the lie-berry building,
But he left all the books to her
Woman #1:Chaucer!
Woman #2:Rabelais!
Mayor's wife: BALL-SACK!

{Refrain}