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Brief moments of clarity



Photo by Ajeet Mestry on Unsplash
I don’t watch a lot of TV. I never really did, but on top of that, these days I generally just don’t understand it. My German is still not yet up to scratch! That said, I will sometimes put it on, hopeful that I’ll finally be able to follow a plot line. Although that hasn’t happened yet. 

Now that the weather has changed and the evenings are chilly, my thoughts turn to the evening movie and curling up on the couch, maybe even with a bowl of popcorn. Then I remember that my evening’s viewing will, at best, amount to admiring the pretty moving pictures since most of the German dialogue will be entirely lost on me.  (Even so, this didn’t stop me 2 weeks ago from enjoying two bowls of popcorn and a movie I’d seen before!) Usually, I stare hard at the screen with the volume higher than is comfortable willing myself to understand what is being said. Most frustrating of all is seeing an advertisement for a film that I never got round to seeing at the cinema and knowing that my chances of enjoying it from the comfort of my own home are very slim.

Still, from time to time I experience a Eureka moment when all becomes clear and ‘I UNDERSTAND’. It doesn’t last long though, and after about 8 seconds I’m back to picking out individual words here and there. About a month ago, however, I was passing by the TV to get to the kitchen when I heard a familiar ad for sweets. There’s a short jingle at the end that often gets stuck in my head, but which I could only ever hum as it always sounded like gibberish. On my way to the kitchen that day though, all of the pieces suddenly clicked into place. ‘Eureka! I understand!'

Since then, whenever the ad comes on I tell whoever will listen (basically my husband or my dog) that I, ME, I know what they’re singing. And I can even sing along. 


 Article aid
up to scratch    good enough
chilly   a little bit cold
my thoughts turn to     I start thinking of
amount to     result in
lost on me (you/her etc.)    I don't get/understand it
willing myself to  trying to make something happen using your thoughts!
never got round to  didn’t have the opportunity to 
a jingle      a very short song used to advertise products on TV
gets stuck in my head      I can’t stop think about it
hum      singing a tune without opening your mouth
gibberish    words that have no meaning

 Transitions

When writing about an idea or event you might want to switch between a positive or negative viewpoint. It is often good to introduce the switch with a word or phrase so that the reader can follow your thoughts more easily. These are contrast and comparison transitions.

The transitions used in this text are: that said, although, even so, still, though and however.

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