Talking dog

[Cayte]

Talking dog!!!

I used this story at a Toastmasters meeting; hopefully, you'll find it funny.

A small village somewhere in Europe lives a dog that can talk like human being. He is very famous there and enjoys a conversation with everyone.

Villager: “You should take him to Hollywood. He might get a part in a movie.

Without any further encouragement, his master calls an agent in the US and tells him about her dog. After they arrive in the US, the agent starts a conversation.

Agent: “How was the flight?”
Dog: “Rough”
Agent: “How is an economy in Europe?”
Dog: “Rough”
Agent: “Can you tell me what a headline on a newspaper says?”

The dog looks at his master and a newspaper but says nothing.

Master: “Tell him what it says.”

Still the dog has no word. 

Agent: “You, baloney. He can’t talk. Now get out of here both of you.”
As soon as they arrive home, she starts to beat him up. “You, stupid dog! Why didn’t you tell him what the headline says?” The dog looked at her and responded angrily, “You know darn well I cannot read.”

[luke]

Great joke, never heard it before. 

Onomatopoeia always surprises me. These are words which sound like their meaning, such as 'ding,' 'beep,' 'bang,' and so on. The word 'rough' sounds like the actual sound a dog would make. What surprises me is that so many countries have different onomatopoeic words to describe animal sounds.

For dogs alone, I have heard 'ruff,' 'bark,' 'woof,' 'bow-wow,' and 'howl.' Do you know any more?

By the way, what is a Toastmasters meeting?

[Cayte]

Glad you got the joke. Randy Crawford, a singer of the Crusader, told this story during one of her concert tours.

'Toastmasters' is an international organisation that promotes the public speaking and leadership skills, and its members are in 92 countries worldwide. Beijing has 17 clubs at the moment. The meetings are conducted in English; however, there are a few clubs in Canada that run their meetings in French. Some people say that Toastmasters is a good place to make mistakes on your speech because an evaluator will provide you a constructive feedback to help your grow.

I have been involved with this organisation for several years and have served in many capacities in both club and district levels. A couple of people I know have been with the toastmasters for 35 years; they love their clubs and people they associate with. I don't believe they need to improve their communication skills but they scarify their times to mentor the new members. I received some advice from them when I served as their Area Governor (a term used for both male and female leader). One of these gentlemen received an award from the headquarters for being the most faithful conference attendee in a history of the district. I reckon he missed only once or twice; that was pretty amazing to me.

There you have it.

[luke]

Thanks for the info Cayte. I had never heard of them, and to be honest, guessed that they were restaurant of some kind.

I'll have a look online to see if I can find anything about the toastmasters club in Beijing. Thanks again.

[Cayte]

just go to www.toastmasters.org and search for the club. It might be a good idea to recommend to your students if they are at least 18 years old.