A Match Man?

A young lady asked me in class if I had ever seen a movie called "Matchman", wondering what that meant in English. I had no idea frankly speaking, but I promised her that I would find the answer for her asap.

wonder 想知道
frankly speaking 坦白說
promise 承諾
asap= as soon as possible

Aftre returning home, I looked up my dictionary and found no answers to that word. I also checked answers.com and the outcome was still the same- no clues from there either. The only thing I got on the Internet was that there was a Hong Kong-based Website that has been selling the Matchman comics and its peripheral products such as its dolls and so forth. Nah...I didn't think it was the one she mentioned to me, much less the one she needed.

return 回到
outcome 結果
clue 線索
based 建立基礎的
comics 漫畫
peripheral 週邊的
and so forth 等等
mention 提及
much less 更別說

I tried to turn to some other on-line resources like Blockbuster.com and Yahoo! Movies. A few moments later, I should count my lucky stars because I found it. Actually it is Matchstick men rather than Matchman. What "matchstick men" literally means is that people in pictures who have been drawn with thin lines to represent their arms, legs, and bodies, as if by a child. However, in this movie, matchstick men are relevant to con artists or swindlers who are very good at getting money from someone by deceiving them. This movie stars Nicholas Cage. You'd better see the movie to learn more about it.

turn to 轉向
on-line 線上的
resource 資源
Blockbuster 百視達
moment 時刻
count someone's lucky star 某人運氣好
actually 事實上
matchstick men 用線條畫出來的小人, 像火柴棒一樣(通常是小孩子畫的圖案)
rather than 而非
literally 字面上地
drawn= draw的過去分詞
represent 代表
relevant 相關的
con artists 金光黨
swindlers 騙徒
deceive 欺騙
star 主演
Someone'd better + 原形動詞= 某人最好...

Free English Podcasts On-line (Part II)

It has been a long while since I introduced Podcast to you. Now to continue with Part One, I would like to provide you with more resources for getting Podcast programs. The followings are the handy Podcasts I found:

introduce 介紹
provide someone with something 提供某人某事
resource 資源
Podcast--> an audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player or computer.
produce 製造, 產生
handy 有用的

Business English Pod
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Business English Pod: A great way to improve your English on the go!
Listen to our regular podcasts covering essential language for today's global business world. Learn useful phrases and listen to how they can be used in real business situations.

improve 改進
on the go 一直進行中
regular 定期的, 規律的
cover 包含
essential 非常重要的
global 全球的
phrase 片語
situation 情況

Personally I like this Podcast program a lot. All the contents made from it are very practical in business situations. I highly recommend those who are at the high-intermediate level not miss subscribing to this one.

Web site: http://lkey.podomatic.com/

personally 個人而言
contents 內容
pratical 實用的
highly recommend 高度推薦
high-internediate level 中高級
miss 錯過
subscribe to 訂閱

The Linguist on Language-ESL, learning English, learning languages
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The host of this Podcast program is Steve Kaufmann. This guy is amzaing because he can speak several different languages, not only the European languages but also some Asian languages such as Chinese Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese. The more you know him, the more attracted you will get by him. He is also a smart business man who has invented what he calls "the Lingust" learning system which he claims to efficiently improve your English within a short period of time. In any case, you still can download his Podcasts from his Website for free.

Website: http://www.thelinguist.com/
Blog: http://thelinguist.blogs.com/

host 主持人
amazing 了不起
several 數個
not only...but also 不僅...而且
Mandarin 國語
Cantonese 廣東話
attract 吸引
smart 精明的
invent 發明
linguist 語言家
claim 宣稱
efficiently 有效地
within 在...之內
period 時間
in any case 無論如何
download 下載
Website 網站

English Teacher Talk
----------------------
Two English teachers made their own show on line. What's interesting is that they are actually teaching English in different countries, Japan and Korea, while they can still be able to produce their programs using some techniques such as recording their voice through an online messenger. You won't believe they have never seen each other face to face. If you are interested in how they react with their students in calss, download their stuff from their Web site.

Website: http://www.eslteachertalk.com/

actually 實際上
technique 技術
online 網路上, 線上
messenger 網路聊天軟體
face to face 面對面
react 互動
stuff 東西