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"The sky's the limit" - Ticha Penicheiro of the Monarchs

"The sky's the limit" - Ticha Penicheiro of the Monarchs English, baby! Video Lesson

Date: Aug 21 2009

Themes: Celebrity, Sports

Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives

Intro

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

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

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Ticha Penicheiro is a thief. She will steal the basketball from you without thinking twice, sometimes 4 or 5 times a game!

But Ticha also gives. She’s not a leading scorer, but the Portuguese veteran is one of the biggest stars in the WNBA because she sets up plays that her team score. She often gets more than ten assists in a game!

Ticha is in the middle of her 12th season as a member of the Sacramento Monarchs. She led the team to a championship, and as she continues playing, she continues getting better. Jason recently met up with her before an away game in Seattle to talk about learning English and how the sky is the limit for her when it comes to steals and assists.

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.

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

Jason

Jason

Ticha

Ticha

Jason:  Welcome to English, baby! I’m Jason here with Ticha Penicheiro of the Sacramento Monarchs. How are you?

Ticha:  I’m doing great. Thank you.

Jason:  And so uh…You grew up in Portugal, but you came to college in the United States. When did you learn English?

Ticha:  Well, I took English in high school while I was in Portugal, so at a very young age I was very familiar with the English language. Of course, I didn’t speak it as well as I speak today because I’ve been in the States for fifteen years now. But I was very familiar with the English language.

Jason:  Two of the biggest parts of your game are steals and assists. Steal is not normally, like, a good thing, but that’s what you’re famous for.

Ticha:  Yeah. In basketball it’s a good thing. It’s on defense. So you’re playing defense and the other team has the ball. So a steal means that you just took the ball from them and now you have it. So, then you’re gonna go on offense. And an assist is when you have the ball and you create a pass to somebody that makes a basket. So, as a point guard and being the organizer on the floor, that’s one of the things that I like to do is to get my teammates involved and give them the ball so they can score.

Jason:  There was a video on the Monarchs’ website. You were talking about…This is your twelfth season that you’re going into and some of your numbers like steals and assists just kept getting better and so you said that the sky’s the limit. And I was hoping that you could just explain the meaning of the phrase: “The sky’s the limit.”

Ticha:  When you say, “The sky’s the limit,” it means that there’s so much more room for improvement. You know? Because the sky is almost untouchable. Like, you can’t touch it. It’s something that is there, but then you get on the airplane and it looks like it’s still there. So…You know, it’s, like, really far. So that means that there’s a lot of room for improvement and uh…You know, as long as you can play there’s always things that you can improve in your game.

Jason:  Alright. Well thanks so much. Can I get you to give me a high-five and say, “English, baby!” in the air?

Ticha:  Alright.

Jason:  English, baby!

Ticha:  English, baby!

 

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Like Ticha says, the sky is really high. Now matter how good you get at something, if you believe that the sky is the limit, you’ll remember that you can always improve.

Ticha is really good at taking the ball from the other team and setting up her teammates to score. After 12 years in the WNBA she continues to get better. Even though she’s been a star for a long time, she never forgets that the sky is the limit.

Ticha grew up in Portugal. Before she came to the US to go to college, she had already studied English in high school. Her English is pretty much perfect now because she has been in the US for more than 15 years. She has said in interviews that when she’s done playing basketball, she might become a commentator. It seems the sky is the limit for Ticha when it comes to English too!

What are you good at? Where is the sky the limit for you?

For more of Jason’s interview with Ticha, visit our blog and to see her in upcoming games, check the Monarchs’ website.

 

Comments

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chengsong3166

China

he he

08:58 AM Jul 28 2011 |

kwasibabyboy

Ghana

hi,how are you and your family, i hope each and every one are doing well by the grace of almighty God. i,m very glad to write you this small words..

I went and register msn and i could n,t fine you.What is your mail in msn ply i want to ask you a question and i,m afraid to ask i don,t know if i ask you ,you will accept or not.plz i need you help.i will like end here and hear from you.hope to hear from you.nice to meet you.

06:04 PM Oct 15 2010 |

kpl

kpl

Taiwan

so does Falling in love . well, sometimes feel it just like playing a away game  of basketball. you offense ,then the another deffense , it's always hard to steal that guy's heart in the beginning. in this way , you  are a leading score , no one will asisst you even a veteran, because there's alway blooming lots of problem,not only the sky, but also the ground is the limit .

07:01 AM Apr 03 2010 |

Msilva

Angola

play always in defence

10:10 AM Feb 13 2010 |

laurazhang

laurazhang

China

Em…let me think about that.I think I am good at singing and solve some IT problem,cause I am IT guy,haha.I  feel the sky is limit for me.I am young,I need learn so many things on some field in the future.

08:09 AM Nov 13 2009 |

jaty.liu

jaty.liu

China

i feel cool …

01:02 PM Nov 07 2009 |

blouz

blouz

France

i loveto play basket, is the sport very spectaculary

11:41 PM Sep 26 2009 |

penny810428

Taiwan

mmm,,,that is so nice ,,and i like basketball lol

,,she is so good in enlgish ,,gosh ,,like a native speaker ,,so fast ,

hope i can be like this soon XD

02:58 PM Sep 22 2009 |

zhanghaibin111

China

cool

03:11 PM Sep 11 2009 |

mini lony lee

Yemen

to me there is no limit except the limit u put to yourself

 we make our bariers as well as we do  limits. as i `m still breathing nothing can stop me from reaching my aim

((just keep getting better))

06:29 PM Sep 07 2009 |

esmir

esmir

Turkey

extremely good!

06:41 PM Aug 27 2009 |

baby so cool

China

so  cool

12:35 PM Aug 27 2009 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

You always can be better in something,in other words,the sky is the limit ;)

11:44 AM Aug 27 2009 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

For sure! The sky is always the limit! Today I think,I arrived where I wanted…I paid for college entrance to do the course that I wanted (physical Education) and I graduated from the course that I wanted…I work until today from the area that I wanted…Now I want to improve my English and study out of Brazil and start a new phase of my life…So the sky's the limit ;)

11:42 AM Aug 27 2009 |

EDITH ^.~

EDITH ^.~

United States

The sky is the limit when it comes to aquiring a foreign language.

10:41 PM Aug 26 2009 |

Zambuka

Zambuka

United States

when person is doing something , he must do it as better as possible….perfectionism is the good trait.. and this player jus shows the same….the sky 's the limit of improvements

08:51 AM Aug 26 2009 |

LIL

LIL

Saudi Arabia

I think I'm good at rapping I don't think Im gonna be a superstar one day but I'll use it to improve my English

10:22 PM Aug 24 2009 |

Ca_Brazil

Ca_Brazil

Brazil

when it comes about to learn English, the sky is the limit to me and also soon i am gonna study Spanish at college so if i am not a really good languages` student at least i am a very interested one.  

11:40 PM Aug 22 2009 |

Ahmad-doski

Iraq

hi

10:03 PM Aug 22 2009 |

Ahmad-doski

Iraq

hi

10:03 PM Aug 22 2009 |

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