Learn the tale of "going viral"
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| Keith: Hi, I’m Keith. |
| Sadia: Hey and I’m Sadia. The focus of this lesson is the phrase "going viral." |
| Keith: It doesn't sound like such a good thing. But what does it mean when |
| it's said that something has "gone viral"? |
| Sadia: We know that a virus is a sickness that spreads quickly from one person to the next. But for something to "go viral" these days means to achieve a very high level of fame and quickly. |
| Keith: Ahh, I know what you’re talking about, like the YouTube video, have you ever seen "Chocolate Rain"? |
| Sadia: I have. |
| Keith: Hilarious. |
| Sadia: I think it’s hilarious too. Listeners, if you haven’t seen it already, please check out the very strange video of the singer songwriter named Tay Zonday. He performed a song called "Chocolate Rain." |
| Keith: Yeah, it’s definitely a must see and we don’t wanna give away too much in this lesson. You know, I think it’s safe to say that the "Chocolate Rain" video got over 35 million views! |
| Sadia: 35 million. What’s crazier is that Tay Zonday, the guy who wrote the song and posted the video and starred in the video, he had no help. He didn’t really have any intention of it getting this popular, I think. |
| Keith: He did it all by himself. |
| Sadia: Things that go viral spread without the use of, like a big expensive marketing campaign. |
| Keith: Right, like no advertising or anything. It’s just good content or in this case, it’s unintentionally funny and kind of bizarre, kind of catchy too, but it caught on like wildfire. It’s like a virus. |
| Sadia: And "Chocolate Rain" isn't the only video or song or other web content to go viral-- every few months, someone-- some average Joe with an idea and a video camera or a blog, they launch something that "goes viral." |
| Keith: There’s no need to be a celebrity. You could be just an average person, but you just need the desire to become a celebrity. |
| Sadia: Just the desire is all you need or actually, you don’t even have to desire it. |
| Keith: Just can be lucky too. |
| Sadia: Exactly. You can be lucky and go viral. |
| Sadia: Let's take a look at some of the vocabulary for this Buzzwords lesson. |
| Sadia: blog (noun) [natural native speed] |
| Keith: blog (noun) [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: short for weblog, a frequently updated website on which entries are posted in reversed time order. |
| Keith: blog (noun) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: blog (noun) [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: to go viral [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to go viral [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: buzz phrase; to become wildly popular very quickly |
| Keith: to go viral [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: to go viral [natural native speed] |
| Keith: fame [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: fame [natural native speed] |
| Keith: the state of being known to the public |
| Sadia: fame [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: fame [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: quickly [natural native speed] |
| Keith: quickly [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: with speed |
| Keith: quickly [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: quickly [natural native speed] |
| Keith: strange [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: strange [natural native speed] |
| Keith: unusual |
| Sadia: strange [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: strange [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: must-see [natural native speed] |
| Keith: must-see [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: something that must be seen or experienced |
| Keith: must-see [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: must-see [natural native speed] |
| Keith: celebrity [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: celebrity [natural native speed] |
| Keith: a famous person |
| Sadia: celebrity [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: celebrity [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: to achieve [natural native speed] |
| Keith: to achieve [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: to accomplish something with effort |
| Keith: to achieve [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: to achieve [natural native speed] |
| Keith: catchy [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: catchy [natural native speed] |
| Keith: easily remembered |
| Sadia: catchy [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: catchy [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: bizarre [natural native speed] |
| Keith: bizarre [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: very strange; odd |
| Keith: bizarre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: bizarre [natural native speed] |
| Keith: unintentional [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: unintentional [natural native speed] |
| Keith: not done on purpose |
| Sadia: unintentional [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Keith: unintentional [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: content [natural native speed] |
| Keith: content [natural native speed] |
| Sadia: something, usually information, contained within |
| Keith: content [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sadia: content [natural native speed] |
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