Learning English with CBC
Listening Lessons for Intermediate Students
Based on CBC Manitoba Radio Broadcasts
February 18, 2011
Lesson 66: Self Study Edition
Level: CLB 6 and up
Topic: Trends in Love and Marriage
Language Skills and Functions: Listening – listening to a short interview for detail; listening to a song for main ideas and inference
Speaking – expressing congratulations; giving partial agreement; expressing opinions
Reading – reading a text for information
Language Competencies: Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Listening and Speaking Strategies, Socio-cultural/sociolinguistic Competence
Language Tasks: Answer questions about relationships and marriage in different countries
Listen for detail in a radio interview with Hussein Unwala and Shann Ross about how they combined Scottish and Muslim traditions at their wedding
Use context clues to match idioms about love and relationships with their meaning
Describe an action using the correct form of the idiom
Express congratulations using the verbs hope and wish
Read views about arranged marriage and love-based marriage and give partial agreement
Listen to the love song The Way We Were for main ideas and inference
Answer questions and give opinions about the meaning of the song
Essential Skills: Reading text, oral communication
Appendices: Transcript of the podcast
Lyrics for The Way We Were
Manitoba Memo
Whenever new statistics on marriage are released in Canada, the media stories begin. Do the increased number of common law relationships (couples who choose to live together instead of marrying or prior to marrying) mean the institution of marriage is in trouble? While that may be a debateable point, what’s not debateable is that attitudes, trends and laws related to marriage and common law relationships in Canada have changed significantly in the past thirty years.
An analysis of Statistics Canada data reveals some interesting trends. Historically, only a small proportion of people never married in their lifetimes. However, by 2006, unmarried Canadians outnumbered those who were married or had been married. Fifty-one percent of Canadians over fifteen years of age had never been married, divorced, separated or widowed. The age for first marriages increased to 28.5 years for women and 30.5 years for men. Fourteen percent of the population were in common law relationships, a doubling of the rate in a twenty year period. Over half of the first unions for Canadians ages twenty to twenty-nine were common law relationships.
Interestingly, the percentage of common law unions in large cities with high immigrant populations, like Toronto and Vancouver, were significantly lower than the Canadian average. According to marriage historian Rod Phillips, this difference is due to the fact that marriage has a different “texture” in the countries of origin of many immigrants. It is more community oriented, more family oriented and more strongly tied to faith than in Canada. However, he also anticipates these differences will decrease over time. The children of second generation immigrants are likely to become more like their Canadian counterparts. He predicts they will be more likely to live common law and delay marriage.
The definition of common law unions, and the rights and responsibilities of these unions are outlined in the Marriage Act in each province in Canada.
Common law relationships are more popular than they were in the past because financial, economic and legal reasons do not require a couple to marry. For example, banks can no longer decide who they will lend money to on the basis of their marital status.
In Manitoba, a common law relationship is not the same as legal marriage. However, in certain circumstances, Manitoba law gives common law partners the same rights and responsibilities as married partners. For example, common law partners have the duty to support each other financially and to know about each other’s financial situation. They have rights to property and assets, to pensions and death benefits. Opposite sex common law couples and same sex common law couples are treated the same way under Manitoba law.
So is the institution of marriage really in trouble? Anyone who’s been to the Wedding Show, watched the popular television show Say Yes to the Dress or tried to book a wedding reception hall at the last minute, can tell you that marriage may have changed, but so far, it doesn’t seem to have gone out of style.
Background
1. How would you answer the following questions?
In your country of origin…
} How do couples meet? How well do couples know each other before they get married? Do couples get engaged? Do they live together before they get married? Do couples live together but never get married?
} What role do families/parents play in marriages in your country? Do they have a say in who their children marry? Do they determine what traditions are part of the wedding or who attends? Who pays for the wedding? Is it the couple, the family or both? Are weddings expensive?
} Is it common for people to marry someone of a different faith or cultural background? Are both faiths/cultures reflected in the marriage ceremony/reception? Or does one person adopt the traditions of the other?
} What’s the average size of the wedding party? How many guests are invited? How many days do the celebrations last? Does the couple take a holiday after the wedding?
} Have you been to a wedding in Canada? How was it similar to weddings in your country? What was different?
} In Manitoba, there are often events that lead up to the wedding. Have you ever been to a shower? A stag or stagette? A wedding social? What happens at these events? (If you don’t know what they involve, check in the dictionary or Google them!) What kinds of celebrations are held prior to a wedding in your culture?
2. Vocabulary definitions
Here are some words you need to know to understand the CBC interview.
to blend traditions Combining different beliefs and customs to produce a good result can be described as blending traditions. For example, a wedding ceremony can blend the practices of two faiths.
a hybrid A hybrid can be described as the interaction between two customs or traditions to make a new custom or tradition. An example would be a blended wedding with both Scottish and Indo Canadian traditions.
a wedding reception When guests socialize with each other and the newly married couple over food and drink, this is called the wedding reception. It takes place after the ceremony.
to be doable Something that can be done fairly easily is said to be doable.
non-negotiable When something is non-negotiable, the people involved refuse to discuss or change anything about it.
an aspect of An aspect of an idea or a plan is one part of the idea or plan.
the Nikah The Nikah is the contract between the couple in an Islamic marriage.
a ritual A ritual is a ceremony that is performed the same way each time as part of a religious or social occasion.
to be akin to Something which is similar to something else can be described as being akin to it. For example, a kilt is akin to a plaid skirt.
a play-by-play of Play-by-play is a sports term. Television sports announcers provide viewers with a play-by-play report on a game as the game happens. A play-by-play account of an event describes the activities that take place (or which have taken place) in the order that they happen (or have happened).
a Mehndi A Mehndi is a South Asian traditional event that takes place prior to the wedding. At the Mehndi, the bride and other female members of the wedding party have their skin temporarily decorated with henna, a reddish-brown dye.
a kilt A kilt is a thick skirt made of a traditional Scottish fabric called tartan. It’s a material with a pattern of lines and squares. Different families have different tartan patterns as part of their heritage. In a Scottish wedding, the groom and other male members of the wedding party wear kilts.
groomsmen A term used to describe the male members of the wedding party who have special duties to perform. The best man is one of the groomsmen.
(her) late brother’s kilt Used in this context, the word late means that the brother is dead and the kilt used to belong to him.
let’s face it An idiom which means we have to accept a situation for what it is and deal with the reality that we face.
3. Predict what the podcast is about
In this story, Ismaila Alfa interviews Hussein Unwala and Shann Ross about their wedding. The couple currently live in Calgary with their nine month old son. Hussein’s family emigrated from Pakistan and Shann’s family is Scottish. They wanted a wedding that reflected both their cultures. Can you predict some of the things Hussein and Shann might tell us about their wedding?
Here are a few examples:
I think they’ll talk about…how difficult it was to keep both families happy.
They’ll probably talk about… the ceremony.
I wonder if they’ll tell us...how much the wedding cost.
I’m sure they’ll describe…what the wedding party wore.
I can’t imagine what they’ll talk about.
4. Get ready to listen
In this interview, you will hear four speakers:
Marcy Markusa – host
Ismaila Alfa – interviewer
Hussein Unwala and Shann Ross – the couple
Play the podcast for the first time.
(Note: If you are not familiar with the wedding traditions of Hussein and Shann’s cultures, you can Google pictures of Scottish and Pakistani weddings to help you picture the event!)
After you listen
a) Review your pre-listening predictions
Were you able to predict some of the things Shann and Hussein talked about?
b) Listen for detail and inference
Sometimes when we listen, we are listening primarily for detail. Read the questions below. Listen to the interview and decide if the details in the following statements are true or false. The first one is completed for you as an example.
1. / The wedding included traditions from more than one culture. / True / False2. / The easiest part was the reception. / True / False
3. / Only Canadian food was served at the reception. / True / False
4. / The ceremony did not include a Muslim marriage ritual. / True / False
5. / The Mehndi was followed by the Nikah / True / False
6. / Men and women in the wedding party had the traditional henna painting. / True / False
7. / The bride combined two traditions by wearing a white wedding dress but also having the Mehndi up to her elbows and knees. / True / False
8. / The bridesmaids wore a type of pant and the groomsmen wore a type of skirt. / True / False
9. / After the reception, everyone went skating. / True / False
10. / The couple believes weddings are about more than the wishes of the bride and groom. / True / False
c) Match the idiom with its meaning
There are many idioms about love and relationships. A lot of these idioms are used in everyday conversation. Can you match the following idioms about love and relationships with their meaning? The first one is completed for you as an example.
Idiom Meaning
1. to be head over heels about someone b__
2. to break someone’s heart ___
3. to be smitten with someone at first sight ___
4. to break up with someone ___
5. to fool around on someone ___
6. to make up with someone ___
7. to go out with someone ___
8. to tie the knot ___
9. to go through a rough patch ___
Select the meaning for each idiom from the list below.
a) to get back together
b) to be deeply in love with someone
c) to be very attracted to someone you’ve recently met
d) to end a relationship
e) to go on a date
f) to get married
g) to be sexually involved with someone who is not your usual partner
h) to hit a time in a relationship when things are not going well
i) to hurt someone romantically by mistreating them or leaving them
Think about idioms in your language. Are there idioms about love and relationships?
d) Complete the idiom using the correct verb form to describe the action
Read the following sentences. Each sentence uses one of the idioms from the previous worksheet. Can you describe the action by completing the sentence with the missing verb in the idiom? Watch for context clues to help you decide whether the verb form is past or present.
1. He is the best thing that ever happened to me. I am head over heels in love with him!
2. I can’t even stand to talk about her. It was months ago that she ______my heart.
3. From the very first time he saw her across the room, he _____ smitten.
4. When she heard he’d been seen around town with his former girlfriend, she ______up with him.
5. It was a big surprise to find out that Jim ______fooling around while he was married. He didn’t seem like the type.
6. Yes, we are back together. We realized how much we missed each other and we ______up.
7. He is very persistent. He won me over and I have decided to ___ out with him after all.
8. Shann and Hussein _____ the knot over a year ago. Their ceremony was lovely.
9. Gudrun told me that she and her husband ____ going through a rough patch. No wonder she is having trouble focusing on her studies.