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diff --git a/test-items/2002-11-15 writing thank-you notes/2002-11-15.smil b/test-items/2002-11-15 writing thank-you notes/2002-11-15.smil new file mode 100755 index 0000000..53d9bea --- /dev/null +++ b/test-items/2002-11-15 writing thank-you notes/2002-11-15.smil @@ -0,0 +1,85 @@ +<?xml version="1.0"?> +<!DOCTYPE smil PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SMIL 2.0//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/ns/SMIL"> +<smil xmlns="http://www.w3.org/ns/SMIL"> +<head> + <layout> + <root-layout width="1200" height="900" background-color="black"/> + <region xml:id="textregion" + top="100" + width="800" + height="600" + left="100" + textMode="scroll" + textRate="6px" + textColor="black" + backgroundColor="white" + /> + <region xml:id="audio"/> + </layout> +</head> +<body> + <par> + <audio region = "audio" src = "2002-11-15.mp3" dur = "300s"/> + <smilText xml:id="CapF0" region="textregion" dur = "295s" begin="5s"> +<span textColor="black" textFontSize="xx-large" textFontStyle="normal" textFontFamily="serif" textFontWeight="bold"> +<p/> +RS: And I'm Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: Some advice +on how to write a thank-you note, as many people will do in this season +of holiday gift giving. <p/> AA: Laura Kimoto is an instructor in +the Intensive English Program at Hawaii Community College. She's been +teaching her students from Asia what Americans learn about writing +thank-you's -- which is, above all, give details about what you're +saying thanks for. <p/> Laura Kimoto points out the need for +students to vary their writing. For instance, instead of using the word +"kindness" several times, she offers synonyms like "hospitality," +"generosity" or "thoughtfulness." <p/> RS: Some things, though, are harder to teach, like the social customs that make some words better left unsaid. <p/> KIMOTO: "For example, a girl used the word 'cute' to refer to this elderly couple: 'You are a cute elderly couple.'" <p/> AA: What's wrong with being called a "cute elderly couple"? <p/> +RS: Well, Americans generally avoid calling attention to age. And, to +refer to an older couple as "cute" might seem a little condescending. <p/> AA: Of course the student had no idea! She was just trying to thank a nice couple she had met. <p/> RS: You even have to be careful with your closing salutation. <p/> AA: "Do you not end a thank-you note with love? Is that not a good idea?" <p/> KIMOTO: "I would say that is not a good idea, depending on who the person is you are writing to, but most likely not." <p/> +RS: This time of year, Laura Kimoto suggests to her students at Hawaii +Community College: "Wishing you health and peace for the New Year." <p/> +AA: A phrase worthy of a professional greeting card -- which is what +Sandra Louden has written lots of over the years. She says a thank-you +should be "sincere" and "heartfelt" -- and, again, big on specifics! <p/> +RS: Sandra Louden says that even if a person gives you a gift of money, +you should tell the giver how you plan to use it. <p/> LOUDEN: "You +always remember, in any type of note you write, especially a thank-you +note, it should have that me-to-you quality. In other words I am +writing this note to specifically thank you, so I have you in mind when +I am writing this. So that me-to-you voice is always very nice, very +heartfelt, very successful, it makes for a very successful thank-you +note." <p/> RS: Sandra Louden says she likes to add a touch of +humor, but knows that some people are afraid to include it, afraid +that, as writers, they're too serious to be funny. If that's you, +consider this: <p/> LOUDEN: "It's really not as hard as you think, +if you think in a certain way, and one of those ways that I talk about +in classes that I teach, is to think literally. You might try something +like 'thanks a bunch' and on the front maybe draw a bunch of grapes and +have yourself smiling and sitting in those bunch of grapes, and that +would be 'thanks a bunch.' <p/> AA: "(laughing) I never thought of that!" <p/> +LOUDEN: "And if you want to do 'thanks a bunch' again, just think of +anything with a bunch. You could do a bunch of bananas. Now if you want +to get into another expression, then you say like 'thanks a million,' +maybe you want to tack some fake money on the front of the card you +make. You want to hand make a card and you get some of those +one-hundred-thousand-dollar bills that they sell in novelty shops, and +you tack that on the front of your card and you say 'thanks a ... +thanks a million.'" <p/> RS: And, she says, you can even employ humor on thank-you cards in a business setting. <p/> +LOUDEN: "For a lawyer for instance, 'There is no reasonable doubt, we +thank you very much.' Or for an accountant, 'when we tally our +blessings, we count you among them. Thank you for your patronage.' I +find that humor is a state of mind -- it cuts across age, gender, what +have you. Everyone appreciates a good laugh and a smile. And with a +thank you card, another component is to keep it very short and to the +point, and if it's based on a pun or a play on words, even if it's very +corny, it gets the message across and it adds that little extra punch +that people remember." <p/> AA: Sandra Louden is author of the book +"Write Well and Sell Greeting Cards." She also teaches an Internet +course at www.writerscollege.com. <p/> RS: And we'd like you to +remember our e-mail address: it's word@voanews.com. Or write us at VOA +Wordmaster, Washington DC 20237 USA. Oh, and thank you in advance! <p/> AA: With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti. +</span> + </smilText> + </par> +</body> +</smil> |