Yvonne Hynson's Podcast

The NING, JING and MOODLE song lyrics by Yvonne Hynson

JING is the name of a screencast software, NING is our social networking site at my work and MOODLE is the platform currently replacing Blackboard at Unitec.

CHORUS
A NING a JING a NING
And a MOODLE course or two
They are at our university
OH A NING a JING a NING
And a MOODLE course or two
They are made by me and you
 
Verse 1
A NING’s for him and her and them and us and me and you
And they’re conversations to oo oo
A NING’s for him and her and them and us and me and you
And they’re made by me and you
 
Verse 2
A JINGs a ‘how to’ video of our computer screens
And it tells the students what to do
They watch them many times till they know just how to do things
On the moodle course made by me and you
 
Verse 3
The MOODLE ’s got oodles of things to do in every course you see
And it’s JINGs and conversations too
The MOODLE ’s got oodles of things to do in every course you see
And they’re made by me and you

I hope it becomes an earworm. The only reason I recorded it was to get rid of it to someone!
 

Bill Hynson wrote this song many years ago and he recently updated some of the lyrics.

(words and music Bill Hynson)
(hold last D of intro + verses)

Intro: [G [G [C [D x4

Gonna build a little cottage, way up in the bush,
Gonna cook my dinner on an old woodstove & eat out on the porch
Gonna cut the lawns with a chainsaw, make a seesaw for the kids
Gonna make a seat down by the creek and play my old guitar.

‘Cos I’m sick of riding buses, I’m sick of driving cars,
I’m sick of queuing at the Pak’n Save and karaoke bars,
I’m sick of railway stations and graffiti everywhere,
The art is great but the spelling’s bad and the message is despair

Chorus: [G[ [C[D x3
So Goodbye Auckland City, goodbye to all that scene,
Goodbye FM radio and Metro magazine
Goodbye smoky tailpipes and bumper to bumper cars,
[G [ [D [G
This country boy is coming home, he’s going back to the farm.

Gonna build a little cottage, up above the creek,
Gonna clear some scrub, plant some spuds, just enough for us to eat
Gonna clear away the teatree, make a clothesline for the wife,
Gonna build a deck and a rocking chair and start enjoying life.
Chorus:

Intro: [G [G [C [D x4

Throw the TV out the window, chuck the blender out the door,
Drop the DVD in the kleensak, give my suit to the guy next door DVD / my iPad2
We won’t need the microwave, I’ll sell the Hyundai,
Gonna swap the stars on my TV for the ones up in the sky
Chorus: (twice? Repeat last line)

[G [ [D [C [G [C [D [G
This country boy is coming home, he’s going ba-ack to the faaaaarm.

Here is a dictation for you to check AFTER you listen!

It is easy to get homesick in a new country but one way to help yourself is to become aware of changes in nature all around you. In March the sunsets and sunrises are often spectacular reds, oranges and pinks. Green leaves on introduced trees change to yellow, red or orange. There is early morning mist in low lying areas and it looks beautiful. After summer showers you often see rainbows. Migrating birds fly north to warmer countries or practice in their V formations in the sky. Cicadas and crickets still sing. There are also mushrooms and toadstools after light autumn rain. Get to know New Zealand and enjoy the changes.

Just a verse from a song that was an 'earworm' and now I hope I am giving it away!
Prompted by an awesome sunrise, mist in the morning, an egrit swooping low over the still waters of the Waitemata Harbour and birds flying north in that V formation.

I have a feeling it is a verse from a show tune. But I don't know which one.

There is an old Maori story about a couple from different tribes and classes who finally got married because of their courage and love for each other. The hot spring pool on Makoia Island in Lake Rotorua is still called Hinemoa’s Pool.

Hinemoa was the beautiful highborn daughter of an important chief at Owhata on the edge of Lake Rotorua. She was also famous for her strength and character. Many handsome chiefs wanted to marry Hinemoa but her father always refused them.

Tutanekai was a handsome warrior, who lived on Mokoia Island in the middle of Lake Rotorua but was low born. He had three stepbrothers, who also wanted to marry the beautiful famous Hinemoa. He did not think he could marry Hinemoa so he played beautiful love songs to her on his flute every night for a long time. People on the mainland (and Hinemoa) always heard this sad music because the sound of his flute playing floated across the lake.

The first time that they met at a meeting on the mainland, Hinemoa and Tutanekai fell in love at first sight. Later Tutanekai told her he was the flute player. The next time when they were able to meet, she agreed to be his wife. However, she was afraid of her father so they decided Hinemoa would come to Tutanekai’s home on Mokoia Island at night.

Every time she tried to leave by canoe, her tribe moved the canoes and stopped her. So, one moonless night she listened all the time for his flute playing and secretly swam the long dangerous distance. Then tired and cold, she found a small hot pool to rest in.

Finally, when Tutankai found her, they slept together overnight. In Maori custom, she was now his wife. At first Hinemoa’s father was angry, then admired her courage and did not make war on Tutanekai’s tribe. He agreed to the marriage and throughout the area Maori celebrated with a great feast for many nights.

There is an old Maori story about a couple from different tribes and classes who finally got married because of their courage and love for each other. The hot spring pool on Makoia Island in Lake Rotorua is still called Hinemoa’s Pool.

Hinemoa was the beautiful highborn daughter of an important chief at Owhata on the edge of Lake Rotorua. She was also famous for her strength and character. Many handsome chiefs wanted to marry Hinemoa but her father always refused them.

Tutanekai was a handsome warrior, who lived on Mokoia Island in the middle of Lake Rotorua but was low born. He had three stepbrothers, who also wanted to marry the beautiful famous Hinemoa. He did not think he could marry Hinemoa so he played beautiful love songs to her on his flute every night for a long time. People on the mainland (and Hinemoa) always heard this sad music because the sound of his flute playing floated across the lake.

The first time that they met at a meeting on the mainland, Hinemoa and Tutanekai fell in love at first sight. Later Tutanekai told her he was the flute player. The next time when they were able to meet, she agreed to be his wife. However, she was afraid of her father so they decided Hinemoa would come to Tutanekai’s home on Mokoia Island at night.

Every time she tried to leave by canoe, her tribe moved the canoes and stopped her. So, one moonless night she listened all the time for his flute playing and secretly swam the long dangerous distance. Then tired and cold, she found a small hot pool to rest in.

Finally, when Tutankai found her, they slept together overnight. In Maori custom, she was now his wife. At first Hinemoa’s father was angry, then admired her courage and did not make war on Tutanekai’s tribe. He agreed to the marriage and throughout the area Maori celebrated with a great feast for many nights.
Picture from http://www.rotoruanz.com/rotorua/history/maori_legends.php

New Year in New Zealand.

The following words go in the spaces in the text.
a) sunrise b) midnight c) Gisborne d) world
e) beach f) greet g) celebrate (x2) h) sales
i) school j) factories k) resolutions

At exactly ____on the thirty first of December New Zealanders make a lot of noise to ____ the New Year e.g. ring church bells, honk car and boat horns or people play musical instruments loudly outside. Sometimes there are fireworks as well. Maori also celebrate Maori New Year (Matariki) in April or May sometime.

New Year’s parties keep going until the early hours of the morning and some people stay in bed late on January the first. Most get up early to see the first ____, especially in or around ____ because the East Coast is the first place in the world to see the new day. But they hardly ever keep their New Year’s
_________ ! Those New Year promises are just party small talk! Not many people keep them.

For the first few days of the year they ____ each other by saying, “Happy New Year!” and reply, “You too!” However, new immigrants from other cultures occasionally do different things like… have an extended family day with big meals to ____ or have different gift giving customs too. Kiwis (New Zealanders) don’t usually give gifts on this day.

In Auckland there are the New Year’s Day (January First) Horse Races at Ellerslie. Shops sometimes also have big ____ so children and adults often spend any Christmas gift money at this time.

It is ____ summer holidays in December and January; ____ and many work places also close for two weeks; Maori, Pacific Islanders and European New Zealanders all do the same things: relax on holiday! Some go to the ____ or parks for a picnic and others go away for short trips to see relatives or new places.

Are you the same or different to most New Zealanders?
What is different?

This is a dictation. Listen and write then check with the text below:

What do you know about New Zealand in August?

August is the last month of our winter. It usually rains, there are lots of rainbows and it snows in the mountain areas. Sometimes it is fine with a beautiful clear blue sky but it's always cold and sometimes freezing! Some introduced trees, especially fruit and nut trees, start to show bud growth and birds start mating and making nests from now on.

There are no public holidays in August but Daffodil Day is at the end of the month. Rugby, netball and skiing are still important but indoor sports like badminton are also popular.

Listen and write. When you finish check your work with the answer.
Listen and repeat with me. Learn to say the words in groups and listen to the stressed words eg July, rains, more, snows....
What other words have stress?

What do you know about New Zealand in July?

July is the first month of our winter. It rains a lot more, there are more rainbows and it snows in the mountain areas. Sometimes it is fine with a beautiful clear blue sky but it's always cool or cold.

Listen and write. Check your result with the text below after you have listened. Here is one word to help you: Tongariro. It is the name of a National Park in the centre of the North Island.

Here is the dictation for June. Winter in New Zealand is in June, July and August. In Auckland it does not snow but it usually rains a lot and on cold clear mornings from now on there are frosts. Further south it snows and the ski fields and ski resorts are popular e.g. in the Tongariro National Park, in the centre of the North Island and Queenstown in the South Island.

Listen and write.

When you finish check with my words below:

Here is the dictation for May in New Zealand.

May is the last month of our autumn and in the north, the weather is still warm but cooler at night and more showery. You usually need a jacket or a jumper and in the south you need winter clothes.

Netball and Rugby start from now on. Subtropical fruit are in the shops: kiwifruit, feijoas and persimmons. Mother’s Day is on the second Sunday every year. This year is it the eighth of May.

Useful cultural information for New Zealand in January. Go to www.englishteacher.co.nz for the text.

This is a wav. file and it very big! I will upload the MP3 file later today!
Dictation:
What do you know about New Zealand in January? January is the second month of our summer. It's hot at times and you can get sunburnt. It also still rains but there are usually long fine periods between showers. Occasionally there are tropical cyclones.

Some workers with families go on holiday now because students go back to school late in the month. The camp grounds are full of tourists and the beaches become crowded, especially at the weekend. New Zealanders love gardening and the lawnmowers are noisy too. See the January photo quiz for useful vocabulary.

Auckland's Anniversary Weekend is the last weekend of the month and the sailing regatta to celebrate it is in the Waitemata Harbour on the Monday - February 1st this year.

This is the same dictation but a smaller file!

You can just listen or you can listen and write.
Here is a dictation for December in New Zealand.
December is the ‘silly season’ in New Zealand. It is the start of Christmas shopping and preparation, the end of exams, the start of the holidays for most students and the end of the year. There are lots of work parties and the festive season lasts until after the January New Year Holiday break. The longest day is on the 22nd , Christmas Eve is on the 24th, Christmas Day is on the 25th, Boxing Day is on the 26th and of course there is the New Year’s Eve party on the 31st. Most Kiwis sleep in after the party the next day or stay up all night to see the sunrise.

(Go to the beach! This is also a popular activity in December! This photo is of Narrowneck Beach in Auckland.)

Bush walk 2 with Yvonne
Anzac Valley bush, Auckland, New Zealand and it’s Saturday September 26th 2009.

The powerpoint (15MB)is only on Ning Elementary 2 at the moment if you want to follow with the slides.

Slide 1: Here is the start of our bush walk. This is the valley floor and it is wet. It has a small stream flowing though it all year round. We are standing in front of 2 Kahikatea trees, which are about 60-70 years old. Perching epiphytes like them and grow on the side of them. It looks a bit like a jungle.
Slide 2: They are beside the little stream, which becomes very wide and shallow in winter but just narrow in summer. There are a lot of Kanuka, Manuka, tree ferns and young trees in the understorey (all those young small trees under the really tall trees). The valley floor has another reddish green fern, which loves the wet, damp conditions beside the stream. New Zealand has hundreds of ferns because we have a subtropical climate.

Slide 3: Nikau ferns and Kahikatea roots also love the stream and grow in it. There are three little rock pools at the head of the stream and at the foot of the Anzac Valley this little stream then becomes the Kumeu River. When you go over the bridge at Waitakere, think of the start of this river!

Slide 4: The Rewarewa is in the middle of the bush. It has unusual flowers young or old. It often flowers in September but this tree is very high so you only get to see the flowers in the forest floor litter (all the old leaves from trees…on the floor …of the forest). The Rewarewa tree is ancient and was alive in early New Zealand about 50 -80 million years ago.
I guess it is one of my favourite trees because I can see it from the kitchen window.

Slide 5: This Rewarewa is only about 30 years old so you can see it takes a long time to grow one of the New Zealand giants - Kahikatea, Rimu, Rewarewa and others.

Well that’s all I have time for so come back soon for bush walk number 3….

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