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Nelly Furtado

Date: Aug 13 2007

Themes: Music

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Have you ever become so obsessed with a musician that you got embarrassed about it? Beren can’t stop thinking about Nelly Furtado. She could do a lot worse than the folk-songwriter-gone-pop-star for a celebrity obsession, but she still acts like it’s a dark secret when she tells Devan about it.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Beren

Devan

Beren: Devo, I have something I need to tell you.

Devan: Don’t tell me.

Beren: I love Nelly Furtado.

Devan: What?

Beren: Yeah, I’m serious. I’m borderline obsessed with her right now.

Devan: Nelly Furtado?

Beren: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have you heard “Promiscuous”?

Devan: No.

Beren: It’s so good. And then she has that other song, “Maneater,” that’s even better.

Devan: Is it, like, dancy?

Beren: Yeah, yeah, kinda. That’s where I first heard it, was at the Dixie, you know, they have a mechanical bull?

Devan: Yes. Oh do I…

Beren: They were playing some Nelly Furtado. Do you like her?

Devan: Um, when she first came out with that “I’m like a Bird” song I was like, “Meh.”

Beren: That was her techno Jewel phase. She’s moved into her…uh, almost like Britney Spears only not insane.

Devan: Yeah, I don’t know. She’s okay. She was wearing a Steve Nash jersey and that kind of made me mad because that’s my man. I just think she needs to back off.

Beren: I think she thinks Steve Nash is her man. That’s what I heard.

Devan: No way.

Beren: Yeah.

Devan: I’m from Arizona so he’s my man. Where’s she from?

Beren: Like, Canada, I think.

Devan: Oh. He is too.

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Discussion

Beren makes it seem like she’s about to say something really bad to Devan, so Devan tells not to say it. Beren calls Devan “Devo” because that’s her nickname.

It turns out that all that’s on Beren’s mind is that she is really into Nelly Furtado. She asks Devan if she’s heard her latest singles. She hasn’t. The only song she can name is “I’m Like a Bird,” which came out 7 years ago. Beren explains that Furtado sounds a lot different now. She sounds less like Jewel and more like Britney Spears now. In fact, Beren first heard the new Furtado songs at a bar with dancing.

Devan says that she’s a little mad because Furtado has been seen wearing a Steve Nash jersey. Nash plays for the Phoenix Suns professional basketball team and Devan is delusional and thinks that Nash is her boyfriend.

Beren says that she’s pretty sure Nash is Furtado’s boyfriend. Devan says that since she’s from Arizona, which is where Nash lives, he must be her boyfriend. She asks where Furtado is from. It turns out she’s from Canada, which is where Nash is from. Better luck next time, Devo!

Do you have any celebrity crushes or obsessions?