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In "The Post" with Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies

In "The Post" with Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies English, baby! Video Lesson

Date: Jan 29 2010

Themes: Celebrity, Sports

Grammar: Count and Noncount Nouns

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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When you watch basketball, you probably pay attention to the ball most of the time. But there are always nine players on the court without the ball, and they are always fighting for the best positioning. Being in the right place at the right time is a big part of how Marc Gasol, a star NBA player from Spain, can average a double double, scoring lots of points and getting lots of rebounds.

Tall guys like Marc are great at getting a good position near the basket in what’s called the post. “Post” is a word with a lot of different meanings, and in fact, there are three different “posts” on a basketball court. Marc explains some of the ways you might use “post.”

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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

Marc

Marc

Jason:  Welcome to English, baby! I’m Jason, here with Marc Gasol. And how are you doing today?

Marc:  I’m doing good.

Jason:  And so you’re from Barcelona, Spain. At what age did you start learning English?

Marc:  Well, they start teaching you at school, but when I really learned it was when I first came to the States when I was sixteen. And that’s where, really, I developed better English.

Jason:  And so we’re gonna do a little English lesson today. You’re a center, seven-foot-one, and we were hoping you could explain what it means to establish a presence in the post and what the post is in basketball.

Marc:  There’s three different posts, actually. There’s the mid post, the high post, and the low post. And where I play is in the low post or mid post where you play with your back to the basket and you distribute the game from there.

Jason:  OK. And what does it mean to establish a presence there?

Marc:  Make a difference in the game. You can establish a presence on offense or on defense. There’s a lot of players that can do one of them. Some players can do both, which is really important for a team. You know, you always try to help the team from your position.

Jason:  And so you just started a blog. Can you explain what it means to post something on the internet?

Marc:  Yeah. Well, that’s a little different. It has a different meaning. You just write a story or something you want to tell the readers. You post your thoughts or your writings or anything.

Jason:  And so you play on the Spanish national team with your brother, Pau, but in the NBA you play on different teams. So I imagine sometimes you’re battling for positioning in the post. Who wins that battle usually?

Marc:  He’s more of a power forward, which they play more in the high post like I said earlier on. And I’m more of a center, which we play on the low post.

Jason:  Enough post for both of you guys usually.

Marc:  Yeah.

Jason:  Cool. Can I get you to give me a high-five and say, “English, baby!”?

Marc:  English, baby!

Jason:  Thanks so much, Marc.

 

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

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Marc Gasol is really tall and talented. When he is close to the basket, he’s nearly unstoppable. That’s why he hangs out in the low post[/def].

Marc’s brother, Pau Gasol, is a couple of inches shorter and plays a different position on his team. He hangs out in the high post[/def] so that he can surprise the defense more easily.

When Marc isn’t on the basketball court, sometimes he likes to post stories about his life in the NBA on his blog. Maybe he occasionally goes to the post office to mail something to his brother or fixes a broken fence post around the house. Those are two other uses of the word “post,” the mail, and a tall wooden or metal pole that sticks up from the ground.

When you play basketball, in which post do you establish yourself? Do you like to post photos and writing on the internet, or send your friends and family packages via the post?
Visit Marc’s blog.

 

Comments

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bahes

bahes

Turkey

I like basketball, this man 's incredible player =) 

11:16 AM Jul 24 2010 |

gaomay

China

love basketball。 but i cannot play it very well

05:20 AM Apr 21 2010 |

kpl

kpl

Taiwan

 what a unstoppable tall guy

03:58 AM Apr 13 2010 |

spacedragon

Brazil

stupid lesson…..................................................

04:16 PM Mar 28 2010 |

liaokobe

China

Marc and Yao are both super low post fighters, hope them to keep healthy.

03:54 AM Mar 26 2010 |

B3 gozdetaymaz

Turkey

     I like basketball and I went to basketball course.whwn I start basketbal I was novice.Then I learned it but I didn't go on. I think Marc gasol is very succesful person to basketball.When I go to basketball . ı was watching him. But after that I didn't watch him;) and I don't like post photos:)

04:20 PM Mar 21 2010 |

b3meltem

b3meltem

Turkey

I hade made my life's favorite sport swimming.because you just do not do sports,you would in fact enjoy.Yes,this sport is very funny and very useful!because all your muscles are working.If you are swimming in the sea,the sea can see the beauty within.There are many alternatives more about swimming,but it takes too long to explain them.Laughingjust I want to say:I will continue to face as much as possible!Do you tooCool

01:35 PM Mar 20 2010 |

B3bilal

Turkey

my favourite sport is basketball.I like playing basketball.I was very good at basketball but now I can not play very much.I have known Marc Gasol 3 .when I first saw him,he could not play well.but now he is very famous and he plays very good.he improved himself so much.Unfortunately his brother is Pau Gasol who has been playing Kobe Bryant for 2 years.Everybody talks about lakers and of course Pau Gasol.in my opinioni Marc Gasol must be better his brother to be more famous.

10:46 AM Mar 20 2010 |

B3alidagidir

Turkey

  I like playing the basketball.When i play basketball,i establish myself in low post.I don't like to post photos or writing on the internet.According to me,i am not very good at basketballInnocent but i like it:)I think Marc Gasol is really good at basketball,because i watched him on TV and he was amazing:)With other means,gives the right of basketball!Cool

08:22 PM Mar 19 2010 |

Ahshan

Ahshan

China

l love nba for a long timeLaughing

11:15 PM Mar 15 2010 |

Kozmos83

Kozmos83

Turkey

he is such a great player..

07:46 PM Mar 12 2010 |

khaye-cee

khaye-cee

Philippines

my boyfriend fond of basketball and thats the reason why i love to watch nba games now hehehe he influence me in basketball. were the big fan of his brother pau gasol specially kobe as well we love the lakers team :)

04:22 PM Mar 10 2010 |

takod

takod

United States

I always pay attention to the ball.

01:00 AM Mar 05 2010 |

THX_wallace

Brazil

when i play basketball i'm always on low post…and I always post some pages of my comics on my blog (seilazine.blogspot.com)...and i'm always posting some gifts of letter to Gosia from Poland.

06:42 PM Mar 03 2010 |

jolefrancaisSuper Member!

France

I have never played basketball and i haven't even known what it mean a post.so now i have.

anyway i have only written in the englishbaby blog but i'am not using to do that.But yes i have already sent and received somes packages via the post.

 

05:54 PM Feb 27 2010 |

humanity16

Indonesia

Until now, I can't play basketball with fun. I more like playing of badminton one. this is only hobby for me, it isn't serious be a mean of activity. Yeah, might reason above caused I am not good at it.

07:23 AM Feb 22 2010 |

ergonxo

ergonxo

Spain

what an idol

12:08 PM Feb 21 2010 |

queenlia

queenlia

China

i love playing basketball , but i am not good at it . playing basketball is a funny sport and healthy .

03:21 AM Feb 21 2010 |

mimixoxo

mimixoxo

Japan

thank you for this lesson! i don't play basketball but my little sis and my bf are really into basketball :) i sometimes watch them playing <3

02:30 AM Feb 12 2010 |

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