📙 Part 2: Describe an object that you think is beautiful

This episode's vocabulary

To wander (verb) - if your mind or your thoughts wander, you stop thinking about what you should be giving your attention to and start thinking about other matters.

Mosaic (noun) - a pattern or picture made using many small pieces of coloured stone or glass, or the activity or method of making these.

Predominantly (adverb) - mostly or mainly.

Depiction (noun) - the way that something is represented or shown.

To embrace (verb) - to accept something enthusiastically.

To flank (verb) - to be at the side of someone or something.

Transcendent (adj.) - greater, better, more important, or going past or above all others.

Divine (adj.) - connected with a god, or like a god.

Intervention (noun) - the action of becoming intentionally involved in a difficult situation, in order to improve it or prevent it from getting worse.

Divine intervention (noun) - direct and obvious intervention by a god in the affairs of humans.

To pay a visit (idiom) - to visit a person or place, usually for a short time.

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Questions and Answers

R: Whenever I think of beautiful things, my mind always wanders back to the mosaic and the interior of the Sacré Coeur Basilica. That's just a fancy way of saying a really nice church. And this particular place is an old church located in the centre of Paris at the top of Montmartre. I've only seen it twice in person. But it certainly made an impression on me that I'll never forget. Like I say, it's located on the interior of the building. And it's taken up predominantly by this huge depiction of Jesus Christ. I think it's called Christ in Majesty, actually. And he's got his arms outstretched like he's embracing the world and sky or offering himself up to them. On the other side, oh, sorry, on either side, he's flanked by the Virgin Mary, and an angel, I think it's the Archangel Gabriel. Joan of Arc also features in the piece, which I think was created in the early 1920s. It's a core part of French and Christian culture, as you would expect, but in my opinion, it's also a piece of world culture, rich in detail and transcendent and message. It's a powerful thing to behold for both believers and non-believers alike. This is, of course, its purpose and to be honest, it's the purpose of most art of a religious nature. But I think this does the job particularly well. Another reason it stands out so strongly in my mind is my own personal connection to it. The second time I was there, I went with a friend who was suffering from a very serious illness. And he didn't want to come inside. So while I was there, having a look around, I lit a candle and said a silent prayer asking God to watch over him, while I was looking at the whole display. I'm not sure it worked. But I thought if there was ever a time to ask for divine intervention, that would be it. Regardless, it was a beautiful moment, and I hope it will live on in my memory. If I hadn't gone there, I suppose the trip would still have been meaningful, but just not as much as it could have otherwise been. And I think that's true for a lot of people. So every time someone says they're going to Paris I always tell them to pay a visit to see this place and what's inside, whether they want to have a religious experience or not. It's definitely worth it.

M: And what about your friends? Do they enjoy this object?

R: I haven't been there with any other friends and the friend I was there with didn't see it.

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Discussion

M: Hey, another Rory story. Wow, Rory, look at you. You are like a culture vulture. A sophisticated person who talked about like Sacré Coeur Basilica, the mosaic. Wow, wow, wow, wow. I would talk about shoes, or earrings.

R: Philistine.

M: Or you know, a dress, you know. Or like maybe something like candles in my room. Or some beautiful, you know, souvenirs or stones I have.

R: Unbelievable.

M: Yeah, dear listener, so please make sure you choose an object, which you think is beautiful. It could be anything but it should not be a person. Okay? It could be part of a building or a plant. I don't know, a lamp. A book. I don't know, a chair, a table. Anything, right? But you should choose such an object that is easy for you to describe. Okay? Because if you choose a plant, and then you have no words to describe it, then it's not a good idea. So back to this... What do you call it? Sacré Coeur?

R: Yeah, Sacré Coeur. I think it means our... It's like the sacred church in French. I could be wrong.

M: Sacré Coeur.

R: Sacré Coeur.

M: In Paris. Yeah, dear listener, you should go to Google and just Google it. Okay? And go images. So the Basilica of Sacré Coeur. The Montmartre.

R: You mean Montmartre?

M: Montmartre. French, with a French accent.

R: I think it means mountain mother or mother of mountain. Mountain of mothers.

M: Yes. So it's a Roman Catholic Church in Paris, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And Rory didn't talk about the church itself. But he talked about the mosaic in the interior of this Basilica. What's a mosaic?

R: In very simple terms, it's a collection of different coloured tiles that produce an image or images.

M: Yes.

R: Just that. Yes.

M: Yes. So let's talk about shoes. You can start with like, whenever I think of beautiful things, my mind always wanders back to the mosaic. Whenever I think of beautiful things, my mind always wanders back to this pair of shoes, which is yellow. And they are stiletto shoes, high-heeled shoes. For example, yeah? And then like, I've only seen it twice in person. In-person like offline? Yeah? So Rory went there and saw it in Paris. And Present Perfect. Okay? So I've seen it twice, or I've bought it, I've, I don't know, noticed it. And it certainly made an impression on me. Okay? So to make an impression on you. It made a great impression on me. I'll never forget it. Oh... It's the interior of the building. So the inside of the building is called interior, like interior design. And which adjectives did you use to describe this mosaic?

R: Oh, it's magnificent.

M: That's it.

R: That's it. Only magnificent. No, it stands out so strongly in my mind. I have a personal connection. It's meaningful, it's beautiful. It made an impression.

M: And then Rory went into details. Describing the mosaic, what's it about, what it means, and blah, blah, blah, yadayadaya. And it's a core part of French and Christian culture. A core part like the key part. A very important part. A core. A core of an apple, like the middle of an apple. It's also a piece of world culture. But yeah, dear listener, you can actually choose some, you know, site, a popular site that... A place that's like a church, or a museum, or part of the museum, right? Or some artefacts in the museum that you saw and describe this. It's rich in detail. You see... So it's like, it has all these patterns. And if you Google it, Sacré Coeur Basilica, take a look at the scripts to find out how you spell it. And I think Rory misspelt it.

R: No. B. A. S. I. L. I. C. A. Basilica.

M: Yeah. Basilica is okay, but Sacré Coeur.

R: Oh, Sacré Coeur. Well, yes, of course, because there's this "oeur" sound and lettering in French that I can't reproduce in English.

M: Yeah.

R: But I'm pretty sure if you type in "famous church in France, in Paris" that is one of the first things that will come up. It's like, millions of people go there every year and pray.

M: No, I think Notre Dame is gonna be the first one.

R: Well, Notre Dame is still closed, isn't it?

M: I think so. Yeah. After this horrible fire. And it's a powerful thing. So it's not only beautiful, but it's also powerful. It has a purpose. And it's a piece of art. Right? So a masterpiece?

R: Oh, yes. I don't think I said masterpiece. Did I? I should have.

M: Yeah, you should have.

R: Because, it has a transcendent message, which means it is a connection to the transcendent. Whatever that is. It could be God and is for most people. Or just something higher.

M: Yeah, something higher like spiritual, something that we can't touch. But you know, you can talk about shoes. You know, when I wear these shoes, I'm just, you know, I feel as if I'm flying, not just my feet are off the ground. Yep. And then another reason it stands out so strongly, in my mind is my personal connection to it. Yeah? So to any object, you can add this personal connection. So it stands out in my mind, I remember it very well, because I have this personal connection to this object. And Rory went on telling us about the second time he went there with a friend who was suffering from a serious illness. Yeah. And they went there. They looked around and Rory lit a candle. So this is what we do in a church usually. We light a candle in a church. In the past, we say I lit a candle. L. I. T. And said a silent prayer. So we pray in a church. Or you can say that people say silent prayers. Asking God to watch over them. So God watches over people. And then divine intervention happened. Yeah?

R: Well, maybe it happened. I have no idea now.

M: So it was a beautiful moment. Alright? So the spiritual moment for Rory, which is like his personal connection to the object. And then our favourite strategy, use the third conditional. If I hadn't gone there, the trip would still have been meaningful. But it wouldn't have been so meaningful, for example. Yeah? So if I hadn't gone there, if I hadn't seen it, my life would have been different. For example. The third conditional, we are imagining things. And we can say that I always pay a visit to see a place like this. So we visit places, or we pay a visit to religious places, for example. It's definitely worth it. So this experience of visiting such a place is definitely worth it. So it's worth going there. What's helped you organize your answer, Rory?

R: Oh, this was another weird one, because I answered all of the points. And then I still found that I had extra time. So I just started talking, about the reason that I was talking about it in the first place, like why I picked this place, why not something else? So the first thing I said was my mind wanders back to the mosaic. And then I added, another reason that stands out so strongly in my mind is the personal connection. So it made an impression, and I have a connection. And then I extended it further, because I still had time by saying, as you've already pointed out if I hadn't gone there, I suppose and then talking about the alternatives that might have happened, but didn't, because I did go there. And then in terms of organizing it, I think some of the points to highlight are the part where I said, whenever I think of beautiful things, my mind always wanders back to, and then focusing on what I'm talking about. And then another reason it stands out to introduce this point. And of course, like we already said, if I hadn't gone there and the alternatives, but yeah, this one was another logical flow. It was just a case of I run out of ideas, so I'm just going to build on my previous ideas by saying another thing, in addition, also, furthermore, that kind of thing.

M: Yeah, dear listener, and when you describe an object, you should use certain adjectives and describe what the object looks like. So make sure you pick the right object, something easy for you to talk about. Okay, people? Like think about it, if you talk about shoes, or a dress, so make sure you have the specific vocabulary. Okay? Because here Ror talked about a mosaic, which is a very specific thing, right?

R: What other things can we talk about? You said shoes. What other things do people think are beautiful?

M: Oh, beautiful. I think some, I don't know, like a painting, for example. But again, a painting requires certain vocabulary to be used. About painting. Topic-specific, yeah? Okay, a dress, I don't know, a statue, a monument, for example. A flower could be beautiful. Well, dear listener, I'm sure you have some beautiful objects around you. Just choose the object carefully. Okay? We'll get back to you in the next episode about beautiful things!

R: Bye!

M: Bye!

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