Elementary Podcast

Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 01

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Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 - “Susan, this is Paul” – introducing your friends Ravi: Hello, and welcome to LearnEnglish elementary podcast number one. My name’s Ravi… Tess: … and I’m Tess. We’re your presenters and we’ve got lots of things for you to listen to today, but before we start, I think we should introduce ourselves. Ravi? Ravi: OK … erm … I’m Ravi. Tess: Or, I tell you what, I’ll introduce you and you can introduce me. How about that? Ravi: Well, OK then. Erm, this is Tess. She’s from London. She’s … how old are you? Tess: None of your business, Ravi! Ravi: And she loves dancing and riding her mountain bike. OK? Tess: OK. And this is Ravi. He comes from Manchester. He’s 23. Oh … aren’t you? Ravi: Oh yes. Tess: He likes football, and … he’s a great cook. Ravi: Thanks! And there’s one more person for you to meet. I’d like to introduce our producer, Gordon. Say hello to everyone Gordon! Gordon: Hello! Pleased to meet you! Ravi and Tess: Hi Gordon Tess: And how are you today? Gordon: Very well thank you Tess. Section 2: I’d like to meet Tess: Good! We’ll speak to Gordon again later in the show but now it’s time to get on with our programme. We’ve got an excellent show for you today, and let’s start with our first section, called ‘I’d like to meet’. We ask people a simple question – which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? And of course, we ask them to explain why. Our guest today on ‘I’d like to meet’ is Zara Heller from Bristol. Hello Zara and welcome to the show. Zara: Hello. Ravi: Hi Zara. Tess: And what do you do Zara? Zara: I’m a student, I’m in my last year at school, I’m 16.

Tess: Right. Now let’s ask the question. So Zara, which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? Zara: I’d like to meet Angelina Jolie. Ravi: Angelina Jolie. Great - good choice! Tell us a bit about her. Zara: She’s an American film actress, she was in ‘Tomb Raider’, and she’s an ambassador for the United Nations too. Tess: And why did you choose her to talk about today? Zara: Well, because I really admire her. She’s a famous film star with a lot of money and a famous celebrity film star husband, but she really cares about helping people and she uses her money and her fame to help children and people who are very poor or have a difficult life. I saw a film about her on MTV the music channel – it was a video diary of her visiting Africa and talking about how to stop poverty, and they were really simple things, and I thought it was really cool because MTV doesn’t usually show programmes like that, it’s usually just music videos and things, but because she’s famous and beautiful then people want to see her so she can get a lot of attention for the things that she wants to change. Tess: Do you like her films? Do you think she’s a good actress? Zara: Yes I do. I don’t think she’s a great actress, but she’s a good actress, and she’s so beautiful that you just want to look at her all the time. Ravi: Yeah. Zara: I think she’s one of the most beautiful women in the world. I love watching her, I love all her films. Ravi: And what would you like to talk to her about Zara? Zara: I’d like to talk about her trips to different places all around the world, and about Hollywood, and her family and about what people like me can do to help poor children. Tess: Well thank you very much Zara. That was really interesting. Personally, I’d like to talk to her about her husband, Brad Pitt. I think he’s gorgeous. Ravi: OK Tess, calm down. Erm, for all of you listening, we’d like to hear from you. Which famous person, dead or alive, would you like to meet? And why? Email us at [email protected], that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – AT - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g. Let us know which famous person you would like to meet and why.

http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts




Section 3: Quiz Tess: OK. Now it’s quiz time. Every week we’ll have a little quiz to get you thinking. This week it’s the ten second quiz. It’s very easy. We give you a topic and you give as many answers as you can - in 10 seconds. Our two players today are Daniel – Daniel’s 16 and comes from London. Hello Daniel. Daniel: Hi Tess: And Alice – Alice is also 16 and she comes from Liverpool. Hi Alice. Alice: Hello Tess: Do you both know what to do? OK. We give you a topic, and you have to write down all the words you can think of. For example, we say ‘bathroom’, and you write a list, bath, soap, shampoo, and so on. As quick as you can. Got the idea? Alice: Yeah Tess: Good. Okay. Let’s play. You’ve got ten seconds to write down … things you can find in a kitchen. OK? So, for example you could say ‘microwave oven’. OK? Things you can find in a kitchen. Go! (sound of clock ticking) OK, Daniel. How many? Daniel: Erm, five, Tess. Tess: How about you, Alice? Alice: Erm, seven, I think. Tess: OK, let’s hear your seven words, Alice. Things you find in a kitchen. Alice: Erm, fridge. Cooker. Pans. Plates. Knife, fork, spoon. Tess: That’s seven. Well done, Alice. How many did you get, Ravi? Ravi: Oh, the clock makes me nervous – I can’t think when the clock’s ticking like that. Maybe the question next week will be about football. Tess: Thanks Daniel, thanks Alice. And if any of you listening have a good game we can play in quiz time, write to us and let us know. The address is [email protected]. We’d love to hear your ideas for games we can play. What’s next, Ravi? Section 4: Our person in... Ravi: The next part of the show is called ‘Our person in’. We’ll listen to people in interesting places all over the world telling us something about life in the country they’re in. Today, we’ll hear from Mike Southern. Mike is … Our man in New York. Mike: New York. What do you think of? Skyscrapers. Taxis. Noise. People. John Lennon

said that New York is the capital city of the world – and it certainly feels that way. But in the centre of this exciting, noisy, polluted city there is a place to find peace and quiet. A short walk from busy Fifth Avenue in Manhattan you’ll find Central Park. Central Park is the green heart of New York City and over 25 million people come here each year to escape the city. People run, swim, climb or simply sit and read a book in the huge park’s different scenery. And it’s not just for people. Lots of rare birds have made their home in the park and there are legends of big cats hiding in the dark trees. Although it looks completely natural, the park is man made, created over 150 years ago. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed the park at a time when the city was a very crowded, dirty and unhealthy place to live. They wanted to make a place where rich and poor people could find fresh air in the dirty city. It does the same job today. As a friend of mine always tells me, “Life in New York would be impossible without Central Park” Tess: Wow! Really interesting. We’ll hear from another one of our people next time. Or if you’d like to write in and tell us something interesting about your city or town, we’d love to hear from you. You can send it to us at [email protected] Section 5: Your turn Tess: Now we’re going out into the street to listen to ‘Your Turn’ Ravi: In this part of the show, we go out into the street to find out what people think about our question of the day. And today we’re going to ask a question about celebrities - like film stars, actors, singers – who promote charities and ask people to give them money or aid. At the beginning of the show, we listened to Zara from Bristol talking about Angelina Jolie. Zara talked about Angelina Jolie’s work for charity. And nowadays, lots of famous people – celebrities - do the same. But is it a good idea? So today’s question is … ‘Is it a good idea for celebrities to do work for charity?’ Tess: Hmm. ‘Is it a good idea for celebrities to do work for charity?’ Interesting question. Let’s listen to the answers. Voice 1: I think it’s a good thing. People don’t want to listen to boring politicians but everyone likes celebrities so they listen to what they have to say. When Bob Geldof and Bono organised Live8 a few years ago, everybody was talking about



how to end poverty in Africa. My little brother was only twelve years old, but he was talking about it. That can’t be bad. Voice 2: I hate it. The celebrities only want publicity, and they want us to think that they’re really nice people, you know, they care about the world, they care about poverty, so they can sell more records. But it’s a big lie. They’re not interested in poor people or the charities at all. Voice 3: Why is it a problem? The charities need money, and if celebrities can help them to get more, then what’s wrong with that? I think that some celebrities only want publicity, but, well, who cares! The charities get some money, that’s the really important thing. Voice 4: If you think for example, Angelina Jolie or George Clooney is really cool, then you want to do the same things that they do. So you might give to charity too because you want to copy your favourite star. I think it’s a good thing. Helping people is cool nowadays. Voice 5: I think the celebrities do it because they copy other celebrities. Everyone’s doing it nowadays – it’s the fashion to do work for charity. I hate it. These film stars make millions of dollars for a film and live in houses that cost millions of dollars, and travel in private planes and stay in expensive hotels. And then they go and visit some ‘poor people’. It’s ridiculous. Ravi: OK, some interesting answers there. Tess: Hmm. Do you have an opinion about this question? We’d love to know what you think. ‘Is it a good idea for celebrities to do work for charity?’ Or do you have an idea for a question that we could ask on Your Turn? Send us an email at [email protected] - and we can take your question into the street. Section 6: Carolina Ravi: OK. Now – it’s time to meet Carolina. Carolina is from Venezuela and she’s visiting Britain for the first time. It’s a big adventure for her – she’s going to live, study and she hopes, have a good time here in the UK – and we’re going with her! Tess: Carolina’s going to study in Newcastle in the north-east of England. She speaks very good English but this is her first visit to Britain, so some things are very strange for her. We’re going to follow Carolina in our podcasts and listen to some

of the conversations that she has in lots of different situations. Today we’re going to hear what happened when she first arrived in Britain from Venezuela. Here’s Carolina at Heathrow airport in London. Let’s listen to her conversation at Immigration Control. Carolina: Excuse me. Am I in the right line for immigration? Woman: Erm, I don’t know dear. It depends. What nationality are you? Carolina: Venezuelan. Woman: No, no, this queue’s for British and European Union members. You need to go … over there – where it says ‘Other passport holders’. Can you see? Carolina: Oh, yes, OK, thank you. Immigration Officer: Good evening. Carolina: Good evening. Immigration Officer: Where have you travelled from today? Carolina: From Venezuela, from Caracas. Immigration Officer: Can I see your passport please? … Thank you. Is this your first visit to the UK? Carolina: Yes it is. Immigration Officer: And what are you going to do here? Carolina: I’m a student. I’m going to study at the University of Newcastle. Immigration Officer: Is it a full-time course or a part-time course? Carolina: Erm, full-time, it’s a full-time course. Immigration Officer: Hmm. Carolina: I’ve got my letter from the university here. Do you want to see it? Immigration Officer: Yes please. Carolina: Here you are. Immigration Officer: Thank you. And how long is the course? How long do you intend to stay in the country? Carolina: Three years. Immigration Officer: Three years. Hmm. Carolina: Yes, that’s right. Immigration Officer: Do you intend to work in this country? Carolina: Oh, no, no, I’m not going to work, well maybe in the university holidays, but the British Embassy in Caracas said that was OK. Immigration Officer: Yes, that’s correct. Students can work in the holidays. Carolina: Is everything OK? Immigration Officer: Yes, everything seems to be in order. I just need to stamp your passport …



with today’s date. Here you are. Passport and letter. Carolina: Thank you. Immigration Officer: I hope you enjoy your stay. Newcastle’s a very nice place. Go down the stairs and turn left to collect your baggage. Carolina: Thank you very much. Immigration Officer: Good evening sir. And where have you travelled ……. Tess: Hmm. Carolina did really well there. Airports can be so difficult. Ravi: I think she did really well, too. I hope she can come and join us in the studio soon. I’d like to meet her. Section 7 - The joke Ravi: Well, that’s almost the end … Tess: Wait a minute Ravi. Don’t forget Gordon. Ravi: Gordon? What do you mean? Tess: He wants to tell a joke. Ravi: Oh no Tess: Don’t be horrible. Gordon! Joke time! Come on Gordon! Are you ready? Gordon: Yes, I’m here. Ravi: I hope this is good Gordon. Gordon: How long have I got? Ravi: One minute – at the most. Gordon: OK then. Erm, right. A chicken walks into a library… Ravi: A chicken? Gordon: Yeah. A chicken walks into a library, walks up to the counter and says to the librarian “Book, book”. The librarian gives the chicken two books – she puts the books on the chicken’s head – and the chicken walks out of the library. One hour later, the chicken walks back into the library. It walks up to the counter and says to the librarian “Book, book”. The librarian gives the chicken two books and the chicken walks out of the library. An hour later, this happens again. “Book, book”, and the chicken walks out of the library with two books on its head. But this time the librarian thinks, “Hmm, this is strange” so she decides to follow the chicken. She goes out of the library and follows the chicken. The chicken crosses the road, walks along the street, turns the corner, until it comes to the lake. Sitting by the lake is a big, fat frog. The chicken gives the books to the frog and the frog looks at them and says “Read it, Read it”. Tess: Oh Gordon, that’s terrible. Ravi: And that’s the end of this part of the show. We have to go now but don’t go away. After this

little break you’re going to hear Tom, our English teacher. After every show, Tom talks about the language you heard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So, don’t go away, but we’ll say goodbye now. See you next time. Tess: Bye! Don’t forget to send us your emails! Here’s that address one more time. It’s learnenglishpodcast2britishcouncil.org. Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. At the end of every podcast you’ll hear from me. I’m going to talk about some of the language you heard in the programmes and talk about ways to help you learn English. Remember Carolina in the airport? Listen to part of her conversation again. Immigration Officer: Is this your first visit to the UK? Carolina: Yes it is. Immigration Officer: And what are you going to do here? Carolina: I’m a student. I’m going to study at the University of Newcastle. Tom: Carolina and the Immigration Officer are talking about the future – Carolina’s time in Britain. To talk about the future they both use ‘going to’. The Immigration Officer says “And what are you going to do here?” and Carolina says “I’m going to study at the University of Newcastle”. They both used ‘going to’ to talk about the future because they are talking about plans. When the Immigration Officer says “What are you going to do here?” he’s asking Carolina what her plan is. And she says “I’m going to study” because that’s her plan – she decided it before she left Venezuela. So, we use ‘going to’ to talk about future plans. But listen to another part of Carolina’s conversation. Immigration Officer: Thank you. And how long is the course? How long do you intend to stay in the country? Carolina: Three years. Immigration Officer: Three years. Hmm. Carolina: Yes, that’s right. Immigration Officer: Do you intend to work in this country? Carolina: Oh no, no, I’m not going to work, well maybe in the university holidays, but the British Embassy in Caracas said that was OK.



Tom: The Immigration Officer said “How long do you intend to stay in the country?” and “Do you intend to work in this country?” Again he was asking about Carolina’s future plans – but he said “Do you intend”. “Intend” is a formal way to talk or ask about plans. You might hear this verb, “intend”, at an airport immigration desk or on an immigration form. It’s another way to ask about your plans. One more thing. Did you notice that when Carolina arrived at the desk the Immigration Officer said “Good evening”? He didn’t say “Goodnight”. Do you know why not? We only say “goodnight” when we say goodbye or when we go to bed. When we meet someone after around 5 o’clock in the afternoon we say “Good evening” and we only say “goodnight” to people before we go home or before we go to bed. OK. In another part of the show we heard Daniel and Alice playing a game. Listen to part of it again. Tess: You’ve got ten seconds to write down things you can find in a kitchen. … OK, Daniel how many? Daniel: Erm, five, Tess. Tess: How about you, Alice? Alice: Erm, seven, I think. Tess: OK, let’s hear your seven words, Alice. Things you find in a kitchen. Alice: Erm fridge. Cooker. Pans. Plates. Knife, fork, spoon. Tom: I hope all of you have a notebook where you keep new words – a vocabulary notebook. Think about how you put new words into your notebook. Do you put them in alphabetically? All the words beginning with ‘A’, then all the words beginning with ‘B’? Or do you organise your new words another way? Some people put words into their notebooks in word families. They put words together that are connected in some way. For example, you could have a page in your vocabulary notebook called ‘kitchen’ and you could keep all the words from the game – fridge, cooker, pan – all of those words – on the ‘kitchen’ page of your notebook. You could have pages for, say, sports –‘football’, ‘tennis’ ‘bowling’ and so on. And you can write more than just the words – you can write the verbs that go with the words – ‘play’ football but ‘go’ bowling or ‘go’ ski-ing. There’s no right way or wrong way to keep your new vocabulary. You have to find the way that helps you remember the new words. OK. Oh, erm, by the way, if there are any words from the game that you don’t know remember that

you can find them on the website. You can read all of the podcast and if you click on a word it’ll take you to a dictionary that tells you what the word means. We’ll give you that address again at the end – so go and find a pen to write it down! Right, finally, after every podcast I’ll try to show you something that you can try to use in your own English. This week I heard this interesting expression: Carolina: Excuse me. Am I in the right line for immigration? Woman: Erm, I don’t know dear. It depends. What nationality are you? Tom: Now. There are two things there I want to talk about. Firstly, the old lady called Carolina “dear” – she said “I don’t know dear”. Sometimes, older people might call you “dear”. It’s a friendly, affectionate thing to do. But be careful! It might sound a bit strange if you try to use it yourself. The other thing I noticed was that the old lady said “It depends”. She didn’t know the answer because she needed more information. Can you translate “it depends” into your language? Try to use it in English this week. OK. I’m going to stop there. I’ll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 - “Where did you go?” – a weekend away Tess: Hello and welcome to LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number two. I’m Tess. Ravi: And I’m Ravi. We’re the presenters and we’re here in the studio with our producer, Gordon. Hi Gordon! Gordon: Hello! Ravi: And he’ll be back later with another one of his …. erm, jokes. Now, last week I told you that Tess loved riding her mountain bike and you’ve been away riding your bike this week, haven’t you. Tess: I have, yes. Ravi: Where did you go? Tess: We went to the Lake District, in the North West. Ravi: Oh. Beautiful. For our listeners who don’t know, the Lake District is in the north west of England and it’s a really beautiful part of the country. I went there last year, you know. It’s a difficult place to ride a bike though – lots of hills. Tess: I like riding up hills! Ravi: I prefer riding down them. Did you stay in hotels? Tess: No, we were camping. We took two small tents with us and at the end of every day we just put the tents up on a camp site. It was great. Really relaxing. Ravi: What was the weather like? Camping’s great when the weather’s OK but when it’s raining …. it’s horrible. Tess: Yeah, we were really lucky. It was really sunny. Well, it rained one day but that was OK. Ravi: Sounds great – I need a holiday! But, well, I think I prefer to spend my holidays on the beach. It sounds like a lot of hard work Tess. Tess: I love it! I’m going again next year. I can’t wait! But it’s time to move on to the rest of the show – I know we’ve got lots of interesting people to hear from. Section 2: I’d like to meet Ravi: So, let’s start with our ‘I’d like to meet’ section. In this part of the show we ask people a simple question – which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? And of course, we ask them to explain why. Our guest today on ‘I’d

like to meet’ is Yasmin from Cardiff. Hello Yasmin and welcome to the show. Yasmin: Hello. It’s nice to be here. Tess: Hello Yasmin. Can you tell us something about yourself? Yasmin: Well, erm, my name’s Yasmin, I’m 18 years old, I live in Cardiff - that’s in Wales - and I’m training to be a beauty therapist. Tess: Hmm. A beauty therapist! That’s a great job. Now I’m going to ask the question. So Yasmin, which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? Yasmin: Oh, I’d like to meet Shakira. Ravi: Shakira. This’ll be interesting. Can you tell us something about her? Yasmin: Sure. She’s a singer – and a dancer too – she’s from Colombia and she sings in Spanish and English. Tess: And why did you choose Shakira to talk about today? Yasmin: Erm, for quite a lot of reasons. First, I think she’s a fantastic singer. I just fell in love with her voice the first time I heard her sing. It’s so different. And then, … she writes her own songs – she wrote her first song when she was only 8 I think. I love singing and I write my own songs too, so I understand how difficult it is – and I’d love to sit down with her and write a song together. I’m sure she could teach me a lot. Tess: Can you play any musical instruments? Yasmin: The guitar and the piano. In the beginning she wrote songs and sang in Spanish, and she was very famous in Latin America, but she didn’t speak English, so she had to learn it. And I think she learnt it really well. I admire her because she didn’t just translate her old songs from Spanish to English – she wrote new ones in English. It isn’t easy to write songs in a foreign language, but her words are great I think. She still sings in Spanish too – she records two versions of her songs, one in English and one in Spanish. Another reason I like her is because she’s a mixture of different cultures, and that makes her music interesting. Her mother is from Colombia but her father is Lebanese, so there’s a lot of Arabic influence in her music – and not only Arabic – there’s Indian, Brazilian, Iranian - she’s interested in all sorts of music. And I think she’s a nice person too. Her videos are very, well you know, sexy, but I don’t think she’s really like that – she’s got four dogs and she likes working in her garden, and she doesn’t drink alcohol and she doesn’t smoke. Ravi: Thanks Yasmin. Erm, one more question. What would you like to talk to Shakira about, if you could meet her?





Yasmin: Oh, lots of things. Like I said before, I’d like to ask her about how she writes her songs. And I’d like her to teach me how to dance. She’s an incredible dancer. Tess: She certainly is! Ravi: Thanks Yasmin, that was great. I think I’d really like to meet Shakira too. Tess: Mmm. I’m sure you would, Ravi. Have you ever met anyone famous? Ravi: No, I don’t think so. Only you, Tess. Tess: Right, listeners, remember that we’d like to hear from you. Which famous person, dead or alive , would you like to meet? And why? Email us at ‘learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org, that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word - at- britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g. Let us know which famous person you would like to meet and you could appear on the programme. Section 3: Quiz Ravi: OK, now it’s quiz time. This week we’re going to play Hot Seat, and here to play are Ben and Poppy. Hi! Ben & Poppy: Hello. Ravi: You’re brother and sister, aren’t you? Who’s the oldest? Ben: I am. I’m 15. Poppy: And I’m 14. Ravi: OK, great. Now, I’ll explain how to play Hot Seat and then we can start. OK? These cards have all got words on. One of you has to explain the words and the other one has to guess them, but remember, you can’t use the word on the card. You have to guess as many words as you can in one minute. OK? So, who’s going to be in the Hot Seat? Poppy: I am. I’ll guess and Ben will explain the words. Ravi: OK. You’ve got one minute. Are you ready Ben? Ben: Ready Ravi: Ready Poppy? Poppy: Ready Ravi: Go! Ben: It’s yellow, it’s a fruit. Poppy: Banana Ben: Erm. It’s got four wheels. You drive it. Poppy: Car? Ben: Yes. Erm. You eat it. You make sandwiches with it. Poppy: Bread! Ben: You write in it. Poppy: Diary Ben: No, you use it in school and you write in it. Poppy: Is it ‘exercise book’?

Ben: Yes! It’s a sport. Poppy: Football Ben: No. You hit the ball over the net. Wimbledon! Poppy: Tennis! Ben: It tells the time. It’s got two hands. Poppy: A watch Ben: No. It’s on the wall. Poppy: A clock. Ben: A big shop. You do all the shopping there. You buy food there. Poppy: Supermarket Ben: Yes! It’s an animal. It’s a pet. It says “Woof!” Poppy: Dog! Ben: It’s green. It … Ravi: Stop! Wow! Well done. Let’s count them. How many was that? I think it was eight. Yes – eight. Well done you two. Tess: Well done. And if any of you listening have a good game we can play in quiz time, write to us and let us know. The address is learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org. We’d love to hear your ideas for games we can play. Section 4: Our person in... Ravi: OK, now it’s time for ‘Our Person In’. This is the part of the show where we hear from people in different countries around the world. This week we’re going to listen to Rachel Glover – Rachel is Our Woman in Argentina. Rachel: I came to live in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina, in 1998. On my first night in this beautiful city I went for a walk in the streets near my new flat. In a small square, close to my home, I heard music. I went to have a look, and for the first time I saw people dancing the tango. The tango is a dance that Argentina gave to the world – but no-one knows exactly when or where people first danced the tango – or even where the word ‘tango’ comes from. At the start of the twentieth century the population of Buenos Aires got much bigger as people arrived from all over the world to start a new life in South America. More than a million people came from Africa and from Europe – Spain, Italy, France, Russia, Poland. The tango began around this time. For me, the dance shows both the sadness of these people who had said goodbye to their homes and also the hope of new start in Argentina. An Argentinian friend told me that you have to learn the tango if you want to understand Argentina. I decided to learn this beautiful dance.



I went to a tango school in the centre of Buenos Aires and joined a class. I was very surprised to find that my teacher was not Argentinian but Scottish. Her name was Claire Flanagan – she came to Buenos Aires 15 years ago – because of her love for tango. “I fell in love with the tango and now I’ve fallen in love with Buenos Aires” she says. Ravi: Great. Can you dance the tango, Tess? Tess: No I can’t. I’d love to learn. Ravi: We can learn together. Section 5: Your turn Tess: OK then. And don’t forget that you can write in and tell us something interesting about your city or town. You can send it to us at learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org. Right. Earlier, we listened to Yasmin talking about Shakira. Remember Yasmin told us that Shakira records two versions of her songs – one in Spanish and one in English. For this week’s Your Turn we asked some students in London this question – ‘What do you prefer – songs in English or songs in your language?’ Ravi: Good one. Songs in English or songs in your own language. Let’s hear what they said. Voice 1: I prefer songs in English because I watch MTV all the time and the songs I like are always in English. Russian songs – I come from Russia – are not as good to dance to as songs in English. And it can help me learn English too! Voice 2: I like some songs in English and some songs in Japanese but I think I like songs in Japanese best because the words are very important to me. In English songs you can’t always hear all the words or you don’t understand some words but when I listen to Japanese songs I can really understand the meaning of the song. Voice 3: I really like rap music so I listen to a lot of music in English – mostly American music. There are some singers in Germany who rap in German but it doesn’t sound very good to me. I don’t think German is a good language for rapping. I learn some new English words from rap music but I think some of them are words I can’t say in the classroom! Voice 4: I come from Mexico and I like songs in Spanish best because I think a lot of the songs I hear in English are a bit stupid … I mean it’s only “I love you, baby”, or “I wannna dance with you baby”. The songs I listen to in Spanish are better because the words are about real things and feelings.

Voice 5: Well, I think it’s a strange question. It’s too difficult to answer. It depends. Sometimes I like to listen to songs in English and I study the words and learn some new things but sometimes I just listen to songs in Greek where I understand all the words. I like some songs in English and some songs in Greek. If the music’s good – I like it! Ravi: Interesting. What sort of music do you like, Tess? Tess: Oh, I listen to all kinds of music, but I love music I can dance to. Ravi: And always in English? Tess: Usually, yeah. Ravi: How about you, listeners? Do you prefer songs in English or songs in your own language? Why not send us an email and let us know? You can send your emails to us at learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org - we’d love to hear from you. Section 6: Carolina Tess: Right, now it’s time to meet Carolina again. Remember that Carolina is from Venezuela. She’s come to Britain to live, study and, she hopes, have a good time – and we’re going with her! Ravi: She speaks very good English, but this is her first visit to Britain, so some things are very strange for her. Last time we heard Carolina at the immigration desk at the airport where they checked her passport. Next, Carolina went to collect her suitcase but, unfortunately, her suitcase didn’t appear. Carolina: Oh. Excuse me. Can you tell me where the Lost Luggage Office is please? Airport worker: It’s over there. That desk over there, near the exit. Carolina: Thank you. Carolina: Hello. Erm.. My bag hasn’t arrived. What do I have to do? Lost luggage clerk: OK. Where have you arrived from? Carolina: From Venezuela. Caracas. Lost luggage clerk: And you’re sure that your bag isn’t on the carousel? Carolina: I’m sure. I’ve waited for an hour. All the other people on my flight have gone. There are no more bags coming out. Lost luggage clerk: Hmm. OK. We’ll need to fill in a report. Can I have your name please? Carolina: It’s Carolina. And my surname is….



Lost luggage clerk: OK. Now we need a description of the bag. Can you tell me what it looks like? Carolina: Erm, it’s a black suitcase. Quite big. Lost luggage clerk: Look at these pictures. Which one looks most like your suitcase? Carolina: Erm, this one, I think. Lost luggage clerk: The biggest one? Carolina: Yes, I think so. Lost luggage clerk: And is it all black? The handle as well? Carolina: Yes, everything. A black suitcase and a black handle. Lost luggage clerk: OK. Anything else? Carolina: Yes. There was a label on it. With my name. And there’s a little white star on the top, next to the handle. So I can see that it’s mine. Lost luggage clerk: Little ..white …star. OK. Anything else? Carolina: No. I think that’s everything. Lost luggage clerk: OK. Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll find it. Can you wait a few minutes while I make some calls? Carolina: OK. Thank you. Tess: Oh! Poor Carolina. I hope they found her bag. Ravi: Me too. Section 7 - The joke Ravi: We’ll hear more next time but that’s almost everything for today before we listen to Tom, our English teacher. Tess: Just time for one more thing. (raises voice) Gordon! Gordon: Yes, here I am. Ravi: OK then Gordon, let’s hear your joke for today. Gordon: OK. It’s a camping joke. Tess, you’ll love it. Ravi: Come on then. Gordon: Well, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are on a camping trip in the countryside. Late at night, Holmes and Watson are lying on their backs looking up at all the stars in the sky. Sherlock Holmes says, “Doctor Watson, look at all the stars and tell me what important question we have to ask.” Doctor Watson says, “Well, OK. There are millions and millions of stars in the sky. No-one knows exactly how many. There are planets out there that no-one has seen with a telescope. Maybe there is a planet somewhere that is just like earth. I think the question we have to ask is, “Is there life in another part of our universe?” And Sherlock Holmes says, “Watson, you idiot!

The question we have to ask is “WHERE IS OUR TENT?” Ravi: That’s quite good, actually Gordon. Not bad. Tess: Well that really is all we’ve got time for. We have to go now but don’t go away. After this little break you’re going to hear Tom, our studio English teacher. After every podcast, Tom talks about the language you heard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So, don’t go away, but we’ll say goodbye now. See you next time. Ravi: Bye! Don’t forget to send us your emails! Here’s that address one more time. It’s learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org. Tom the teacher Tom: Hello again. I’m Tom. At the end of every programme I’ll talk about some of the language you heard in the programmes and talk about ways to help you learn English. Let’s start by looking at something Carolina said. Listen to how she asked for directions. Carolina: Oh. Excuse me. Can you tell me where the Lost Luggage Office is please? Airport worker: It’s over there. That desk over there, near the exit. Tom: When she asked for directions Carolina said “Can you tell me where the Lost Luggage Office is, please?”. But that isn’t the only way to ask for directions. Can you think of other ways? Carolina could also say “Can you tell me the way to the lost luggage office, please?” or “Can you tell me how to get to the lost luggage office, please?”. There are different ways to ask for directions – you might know some other ways. One thing though that’s very important is that Carolina asked politely. Carolina: Excuse me. Can you tell me where the Lost Luggage Office is please?

Tom: Carolina said “Excuse me” and “please” when she asked. In Britain we say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ a lot. We’re very polite! Some people might not be very happy if you forget to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ so try to remember it. Now, Carolina used ‘Can you tell me’ to ask for directions but we heard ‘can’ in other parts of the programme too. Listen.



Ravi: Great. Can you dance the tango Tess? Tess: No I can’t. I’d love to learn. Tom: And Tess asked Yasmin… Tess: Can you play any musical instruments?

Tom: Ravi said “Can you dance the tango?” and Tess asked “Can you play any musical instruments?” In these questions ‘can’ is used to talk about ability – ‘I can swim’, ‘I can play the piano’. When Carolina asked for directions – ‘Can you tell me?’, ‘can’ is used as a request – when you ask someone to do something. We use ‘can’ to talk about ability and we also use it to make a request. Let’s listen again to how Ravi introduced the Hot Seat game. Ravi: OK, great. Now, I’ll explain how to play Hot Seat and then we can start. OK? These cards have all got words on. One of you has to explain the words and the other one has to guess them. Tom: Ravi had a pile of cards and each card had a word on it. Now maybe you don’t have anyone around to play ‘hot seat’ with but writing words on cards can still be useful. When I learnt Russian I got a pile of cards and I wrote a Russian word on one side of the card and the English translation on the other side. I put the cards in my coat pocket and everyday on the bus to work I read the cards to see how many I remembered. Every time I learnt a new word in my Russian class I made a card for it – so there were always new cards in my pocket. It really helped me remember new words – you should try it. And if you’ve got a friend to play ‘hot seat’ with – that’s even better! OK. I want to have a quick look at something else. After every podcast I’ll show you something that you can try to use in your own English – an expression or something like that. This week it was something that Carolina heard in the airport. Listen again to Carolina describing her bag to the man. Listen to the questions that the man asks.

Lost luggage clerk: Look at these pictures. Which one looks most like your suitcase? Carolina: Erm, this one, I think. Lost luggage clerk: The biggest one? Carolina: Yes, I think so. Lost luggage clerk: And is it all black? The handle as well? Carolina: Yes, everything. A black suitcase and a black handle. Lost luggage clerk: OK. Anything else?

Carolina: Yes. There was a label on it. With my name. And there’s a little white star on the top, next to the handle. So I can see that it’s mine. Lost luggage clerk: Little .. white … star. OK. Anything else? Carolina: No. I think that’s everything. Lost luggage clerk: OK. Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll find it. Tom: When Carolina described her bag the man said “Anything else?” Carolina said “No, that’s everything”. ‘Anything else’ is something you hear quite a lot. You hear it in shops and restaurants – when you ask for something the shop assistant or waiter may say “Anything else?” to check if your order is finished. You can reply “That’s everything” or, of course, you can ask for something else! That’s why the question is ‘Anything else?’ Try to use ‘Anything else?’ before the next podcast! OK. I’m going to stop there. I’ll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can send your questions to me at learnenglishpodcastAT britishcouncilDOT org. I’ll be happy to answer them. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 – "Is that a new shirt?" – Making comments on a friend's clothes Ravi: Hello, and welcome to LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number three. My name’s Ravi. Tess: And I’m Tess. I’m from London and Ravi’s from Manchester and we’re your presenters. Ravi: And there’s one more important person for you to meet – our producer, Gordon. Say hello to everyone Gordon! Gordon: Hello! Tess: And how are you today Gordon? Gordon: Very well Tess. And you? Tess: I’m fine! Good. We’ll speak to Gordon again later in the show. You’re very smart today Ravi. Is that a new shirt you’re wearing? Ravi: Yes - lovely isn’t it. Tess: But you told me you’re trying to save money. You said “no more new clothes”. Ravi: Well, I know, but, well, you know me Tess. I saw it in the shop and I liked it, so I had a look at it, but they didn’t have my size, so I thought oh well, never mind and then I looked again and they did have my size, so I thought, well I’ll try it on but I won’t buy it, and then I tried it on and of course it looked fantastic, and the shop assistant said it looked really good, and I still thought no, I won’t buy it, and then I looked at the price, and it was quite expensive so I thought, no I can’t buy it, and then the shop assistant said that it was in the sale – last week it was eighty pounds, but this week it was only forty pounds, that’s half price … so I bought it. Tess: Forty pounds!! For a shirt!! Ravi: But look at it - it’s a great shirt. We have to dress well now Tess – we’re celebrities. Tess: This is a podcast Ravi! It isn’t MTV! Nobody can see you. Ravi: Ah – that’s true, but I feel well-dressed, that’s the important thing. Section 2 – I’d like to meet Ravi: Now let’s move on to our ‘I’d like to meet’ section. In this part of the podcast we ask people a simple question – which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? And we ask them to explain why. And today on ‘I’d like to meet’

we’ve got Martin with us. Hello Martin. Welcome to the podcast. Martin: Hello Ravi. Hello Tess. Tess: Hi Martin. And where are you from? Martin: I’m from Glasgow – the biggest city in Scotland. Tess: But Glasgow isn’t the capital city, is it. Martin: No, Edinburgh’s the capital city, but Glasgow’s a lot bigger. And we call it the shopping capital of Scotland - we’ve got great shops in Glasgow. It’s a great city. Ravi: I’d like to visit sometime. I’m the king of shopping – ask Tess, she knows. Tess: It’s true. Ravi: Now it’s time for the question. So Martin, which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? Martin: I’d like to meet Jonathan Ive. Ravi: Jonathan Ive? I don’t know who he is. Martin: Not very many people know his name – he’s English but he works for Apple, the computer company - he joined the company in 1992 – he’s a vice president now I think - and he’s the man who designed the iMac and the iPod. Ravi: Wow. The man who invented the iPod! Martin: No, he didn’t invent it – he’s a designer, he designed it. He’s designed other things too, of course, but the iMac and the iPod are my favourites – they’re design classics. Tess: OK. And why did you choose Jonathan … Martin: Ive. Jonathan Ive. Tess: …Jonathan Ive to talk about today? Martin: Well, I’m a student and I study design – industrial design. And for anyone who studies industrial design, well, Jonathan Ive is the king, you know, he’s a genius, he’s the most important industrial designer in the world. The most important thing for industrial designers is function - you know – what something is used for, what it can do. And with computers speed was the most important thing. Nobody cared what they looked like, people just wanted them to be fast, really fast. But when Jonathan Ive designed the iMac for Apple, he designed something beautiful, and people loved it. It was still a good computer and very easy to use, but they also loved the way it looked – the round shape, the colours – and they all bought it, it was very, very popular. I got my first iMac in 1999 - it was orange, bright orange – it was beautiful - and I think that was the moment when I first decided to be a designer. Ravi: And what about the iPod? Martin: Well, the iPod looks fantastic too. It’s another example of perfect design. First, it’s a fantastic idea – it changed the way that millions of people listen to music – even the Queen’s got an





iPod. And then, it’s really easy to use, and finally, it’s incredibly beautiful, it’s beautiful to look at - that’s what perfect design is. And that’s why he’s my hero. Tess: And is there a special question that you’d like to ask Jonathan Ive? Martin: I’d like to know why he doesn’t want to be famous, why he doesn’t like publicity. Perhaps he’s shy - but he never talks about his personal life, he never goes to social events, you never see his picture in magazines. Everyone in the world knows the iMac and the iPod, but nobody knows the name Jonathan Ive. I suppose I’d like to ask him how he feels about that. Ravi: Well, I’ve learnt something today. Tess: So have I. Thank you very much Martin. Martin: You’re welcome. Ravi: I’d like to know what the Queen listens to on her iPod! And don’t forget, we’d like to hear from you, our listeners. Tell us which famous person, dead or alive, you’d like to meet – and why. Email us at ‘[email protected], that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g Section 3 – Quiz Tess: OK. Now it’s quiz time. Every week we’ll have a little quiz to make you think. This week it’s another Ten Second Quiz. It’s very easy - we give you a topic and you give as many answers as you can - in ten seconds. For example, if we say ‘things that are blue’ you can write down ‘the sky’ or ‘the sea’ – as many words as you can think of in ten seconds. Our two players today are Marina – hello Marina… Marina: Hello. Tess: … and Ricky. Hi Ricky. Ricky: Hello. Tess: And could you tell us a little bit about yourselves? Ricky: Erm, I’m Ricky, you know that – and I’m from Croydon, south of London, and I’m erm seventeen. Marina: And I’m Marina, I’m 16 and a half and I’m from Croydon too. We’re at the same school. Tess: And now for the game. Do you both understand what to do? Marina and Ricky: Yeah, Tess: OK. Let’s start. You’ve got ten seconds to write down things that are yellow. OK? So, for example you could say ‘banana’. OK? A banana is yellow. So ‘things that are yellow’. Go! Tess: OK. Marina, how many have you got? Marina: Six. Tess: And how about you, Ricky?

Ricky: Only five. Tess: OK, so let’s hear your six words, Marina. Things that are yellow. Marina: The sun, lemons, cheese … the moon – sometimes, butter - and … my hair. Tess: Your hair? Can we allow that Ravi? Ravi: I think so. Her hair’s blonde – I suppose that’s yellow. Do you agree Gordon? Yes? OK, you’re the winner Marina. Well done. Sorry Ricky. Tess: Actually, ‘yellow things’ is really difficult. Can you think of any more Ravi? Ravi: Well, when Marina said ‘butter’ I thought of ‘margarine’ – but, yes a very difficult quiz. Tess: So - well done to both of you, but congratulations to Marina, our winner. Marina: Thanks Tess. Bye Ricky: Bye. Ravi: Thanks Marina and Ricky. And as usual, if any of you listening have a good game we can play in quiz time, write to us and let us know. The address is [email protected]. Don’t forget - we’d love to hear your ideas for games we can play. What’s next, Tess? Section 4 – Our person in Tess: The next part of the podcast is called ‘Our person in’. Every week we listen to people in interesting places all over the world tell us something about life in the country they’re in. Today it’s Bob Harrison’s turn. Bob lives in South Africa and he’s going to tell us about a very unusual musical instrument. Bob is ‘Our Man in South Africa’. Bob: If you’re a football fan you’ll know that the World Cup in 2010 will take place here in South Africa. When the famous names and the big stars walk out into the stadiums in 2010 they will hear a sound they’ve never heard before – the ‘vuvuzela’. The ‘vuvuzela’ is almost a musical instrument – but not quite – and you hear it at every football match in South Africa. It’s about a metre long and it sounds a bit like an angry elephant. When you hear a stadium full of fans blowing their ‘vuvuzelas’ the sound is something you’ll never forget. Football is very popular in South Africa. The stadiums fill up early with fans – especially when the South African national team – called the ‘Bafana Bafana’ by their fans – are playing. The smell of food is everywhere – barbecued chicken or beef are very popular choices for football matches. And everywhere the sound of ‘vuvuzelas’.



Not everyone loves this strange music. Some fans say they’ve stopped going to matches because the noise is so awful and so, well, noisy. But as for me, well, I like it. I think it makes football matches in South Africa different from anywhere else in the world. The only thing is – I can’t play the ‘vuvuzela’! When I blow it doesn’t sound like an angry elephant so much as a bored bee. I need to practise before 2010! Tess: So, it’ll soon be World Cup time again Ravi. Are you looking forward to it? You’re a football fan aren’t you? Ravi: Am I looking forward to it? I can’t wait! And I’d love to go to South Africa to watch it. Those vuvuzelas sound amazing! And barbecued chicken! Tess: Hmm. You’d better start saving your money then. Ravi: What money? I haven’t got any. Tess: Exactly! Ravi: But you like my shirt – admit it. Anyway, we’ll hear from another one of our people in the next podcast. Or if you’d like to write in and tell us something interesting about your city or town, we’d love to hear from you. You can send it to us at [email protected]. Section 5 – Your turn Tess: Now it’s time for ‘Your turn’. In this part of the show, we go outside to find out what people think. And today we’re going to stay on the subject of football. We’ve just heard about the World Cup in 2010, but how many people know about another World Cup in 2007? - the women’s world cup. Do you watch women’s football? Or maybe play it? Do you like it? Is it better than men’s football? Why don’t more people watch or play women’s football? Why is men’s football so much more popular than women’s football? So here’s the question for today ‘Why don’t more people watch women’s football’? Ravi: Good question Tess. ‘Why don’t more people watch women’s football’? Let’s listen to the answers. Voice 1: Well, I don’t watch women’s football because I don’t like football, and that’s that. All the football fans I know are men – so of course they like to watch men play. They’d only want to watch women if they were, you know, attractive - wearing little tight T-shirts and very small shorts – that’s most men’s attitude. I can’t understand why women want to play football anyway, it’s a ridiculous game – don’t they have anything better to do with their time?

Voice 2: I think it’s just traditional in a lot of countries that football is a man’s game. I used to play ‘football’ – we call it soccer - at home in the States actually. It’s really big there - girls and boys play together at school. There are about 7 million women who play regularly in the States. I think it’s because your football is quite new as a sport in the States so we don’t really see it as a man’s game – we don’t have the same tradition. It’s a game for everybody. Voice 3: I love watching women’s football. I play at school, lots of girls do. My mum says I’m football crazy. I’m in the school team and I want to play professionally one day. Girls play better than boys – they don’t lie down on the ground and cry and pretend they’re hurt and they don’t argue with the referee all the time. And they aren’t violent, they don’t try to hurt each other. Voice 4: People don’t watch it because they don’t know about it. Lots of girls and women play football nowadays – the problem is getting people to pay to watch it. We need to take women’s football more seriously, we need advertising and companies to sponsor games and teams, we need a proper professional women’s league with good pay and conditions, we need to see more games on television, then people might be more interested. Voice 5: People don’t watch it because it isn’t very good – it’s as simple as that. I’ve watched some women’s football, and to be honest, they don’t play very well. They’re slower than men - they aren’t as good technically, the games are boring. Men’s football is good to watch, women’s isn’t. Maybe that ‘ll change in the future, but at the moment, well, I certainly don’t want to watch it. Tess: Interesting. What do you think Ravi? Ravi: Well, to be honest, I’ve never watched a women’s football game, but now I think I will – just to see what it’s like. Tess: Me too. I agree. And what about you? Do you have an opinion about this question? We’d love to know what you think. ‘Why don’t more people watch women’s football?’ Or do you have an idea for a different question that we could ask on Your Turn. Send us an email at [email protected] - and we can ask your question. Section 6 – Carolina



Ravi: OK. Now, it’s time to meet Carolina again. Carolina is from Venezuela and she’s visiting Britain for the first time. It’s a big adventure for her – she’s going to live, study and, she hopes, have a good time here in the UK – and we’re going with her! In the last podcast we listened to a conversation that Carolina had at Heathrow airport in London. Do you remember what happened Tess? Tess: Yep - she lost her luggage. She was waiting at the Lost Luggage desk to see if they could find it. Ravi: That’s right. Let’s listen to what happened next. Lost luggage clerk: Yes, that’s right, from erm, Caracas, a blue bag. Carolina: No, no it isn’t blue, it’s black. Lost luggage clerk: Oh, erm, sorry, black, not blue. … He’s looking for it now. … Yeah … yeah … yeah, yeah that’s the name. Yeah that’s right. OK, thanks Ben. Carolina: Have you found it? Is it my bag? Lost luggage clerk: Yes - this is your lucky day. One of the baggage handlers is bringing it up now, so you can identify it. Carolina: Oh thank you so much. ….. Erm, I have to get to King’s Cross station to get the train to Newcastle at eight o’clock. How long does it take? Have I got enough time? Lost luggage clerk: By tube or train? Carolina: Tube? I don’t understand. Lost luggage clerk: The underground, you know, the metro. We call it the tube here. Carolina: Yes, on the tube. Lost luggage clerk: You’ve got plenty of time. The tube takes about an hour – probably less at this time of the evening. Don’t worry - it’s very easy to find the station - just follow the signs. Baggage handler: Here you are love - one black bag from Caracas. Carolina: Yes, that’s mine. Thank you. Lost luggage clerk: Could you sign your name here …… Carolina: Excuse me. Could you tell me which train goes to King’s Cross station please? Tube worker: Piccadilly line miss - the dark blue one on the map. Just follow the signs to the platform. You want an eastbound train – you’re going east. Carolina: And do I need to change trains? Tube worker: No, Heathrow and Kings Cross are both on the Piccadilly line. You don’t need to change. Carolina: Thank you Tube worker: Miss! You need to buy a ticket first! You can’t go into the station without a ticket.

Carolina: Oh, OK. Tube worker: The ticket machines are over there. Carolina: Oh, thank you – but I haven’t got any English money yet – I didn’t have time to change any in the airport. Tube worker: The machines take Visa or MasterCard. Carolina: Oh good. I’ve got a Visa card. Thank you. Tube worker: Then you just put your ticket into the slot to go through the turnstile over there. Put your ticket in and you’ll see a green light – then you can go through. And look after your ticket – don’t lose it – you’ll need to put it into the slot again when you leave the tube station at King’s Cross. Carolina: OK. Thank you for your help. Ravi: So Carolina found her luggage in the end. Lucky girl. I lost a suitcase once and I had to wait ten days to get it back. Tess: You? No clothes for ten days? How did you live? Ravi: I had to buy some new ones of course. Tess: Ha ha! So it wasn’t a completely terrible experience then? Ravi: No, not really. Section 7 – The Joke Gordon: Are you ready for me? Tess: OK Gordon! Right, it’s time for ‘Gordon’s joke’. What have you got for us today Gordon? Gordon: A good one, as usual. Ha ha. Are you ready? Ravi: Go ahead Gordon Gordon: A man went into a pet shop one day. “I’d like a parrot that talks”, he said. The shop assistant said “I’m sorry sir, but you have to teach your parrot to speak.” So the man bought a parrot and took it home with him. A week later he went back to the pet shop. “My parrot still doesn’t speak”, he said. “Oh, really? Well, perhaps he’s bored. You should buy this little swimming pool. He can have a swim and then he might talk”, explained the shop assistant. So, he bought the swimming pool and went home. The next week the man came back again. “He’s still not talking” he said. “Oh dear. Buy this mirror. He’ll swim in the pool, get out and look at himself, then talk.” So the man bought the mirror and went away. A week later he came back a final time. “My parrot is dead”, he said. “Oh, dear! I’m very sorry about that, sir – but tell me, before he died, did he say anything?” “Yes he did. But only one thing.” “Really? What was that?” “Give me food!” Tess: Gordon! That’s horrible! He didn’t give it any food! Oh, poor parrot!



Ravi: And that’s the end of this part of the show. We’re going now, but please don’t go away. After this little break you’re going to hear Tom, our English teacher on the podcast. After every show, Tom talks about the language you heard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So, stay with us, but I’ll say goodbye now. See you next time. Tess: Bye! And don’t forget to send us your emails! Here’s that address one more time. It’s [email protected] Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, my name’s Tom – you’ll hear from me at the end of every podcast. I’m going to talk about some of the language that you heard in the podcast, and talk about ways to help you learn English. In the last podcast, we talked about using ‘can you?’ for a request – to ask someone to do something. Listen. Carolina: Excuse me. Can you tell me where the Lost Luggage Office is please?

Today we listened to Carolina at the underground station asking someone to help her. Listen to what she said. Carolina: Excuse me. Could you tell me which train goes to King’s Cross station please? Tube worker: Piccadilly line miss. Tom: Carolina says ‘could you?’. We use ‘can you?’ or ‘could you?’ when we’re talking to friends or people that we know well. But we often use ‘could you?’ with people that we don’t know very well, when we want to be very polite. Here’s another example at the airport. Baggage handler: Here you are love. One black bag from Caracas. Carolina: Yes, that’s mine. Thank you. Lost luggage clerk: Could you sign your name here … Tom: The man at the lost luggage desk uses ‘could you?’ to Carolina because he is being polite. Listen to the pronunciation – ‘could’ … ‘could’. You spell it C-O-U-L-D, but the letter L is silent. ‘Could’. Now listen to the words together. ‘Could you’ . The individual words are ‘could’ and ‘you’ but when we say them together we say ‘could you’. We do this a lot in English. Here’s another example. When we ask a question in the past we can use ‘did you?’ The individual words

are ‘did’ and ‘you’ but together we say ‘did you’. A good learner’s dictionary will tell you how to pronounce individual words like ‘could’ – it uses special symbols. But it doesn’t tell you how words sound when we put them together. It’s a good idea to make a note of the pronunciation of common phrases like ‘could you?’ or ‘did you?’. You can use words and sounds from your own language. This will help you to remember how to say them. There’s another thing I noticed in the same dialogue. Listen to it again, and notice what the man says when he gives Carolina her bag. Baggage handler: Here you are love. One black bag from Caracas. Carolina: Yes, that’s mine. Thank you. Lost luggage clerk: Could you sign your name here … Tom: He called her ‘love’. Do you remember the old lady at the airport who called Carolina ‘dear’? ‘Love’ is very similar. Older people might call you ‘love’ sometimes, even if they don’t know you. They’re just being friendly, so don’t think it’s strange. Now, let’s talk about something different – the verb ‘look’. Listen to Ravi and Tess. Tess: Forty pounds!! For a shirt!! Ravi: But look at it - it’s a great shirt. Tom: Ravi is using ‘look’ in the usual way. He wants Tess to look at his shirt carefully to see how nice it is. Now listen to ‘look’ in this section about Carolina’s lost bag.

Lost luggage clerk: Oh, erm, sorry, black, not blue. … He’s looking for it now.

Tom: The man used ‘look for’. He isn’t looking at Carolina’s bag – he doesn’t know where it is – he’s trying to find it. That’s what ‘look for’ means – to try to find something. The meaning of ‘look’ changes because of ‘for’. Now listen to another section – about Carolina’s ticket. How is ‘look’ used here? Tube worker: And look after your ticket – don’t lose it – you’ll need to put it into the slot again when you leave the tube station at King’s Cross. Tom: The man tells Carolina to ‘look after’ her ticket. He means ‘take care of it’, ‘don’t lose it’. The meaning of ‘look’ changes because of ‘after’.



So, ‘look at’, ‘look for’ and ‘look after’, all have different meanings. There are lots and lots of verbs like this in English - verbs that change their meanings. ‘Look’ is just one example. Some people call them ‘phrasal verbs’ and some people call them ‘multi-word verbs’. In the first podcast I talked about keeping a vocabulary notebook. Use your notebook to make a note of any multi-word verbs that you notice. You can usually understand their meaning in a sentence, or you can use a learner’s dictionary. For example, you can keep a page of your vocabulary book just for ‘look’ and make new pages for other verbs when you come across them. There you are! Another example! ‘Come across’ means ‘to find something accidentally’ - when you aren’t trying to find it. So now you can start another page for ‘come’. Now for something different. Do you remember the name of the strange musical instrument that they play at football matches in South Africa? Listen. Bob: When the famous names and the big stars walk out into the stadiums in 2010 they will hear a sound they’ve never heard before – the ‘vuvuzela’. The ‘vuvuzela’ is almost a musical instrument – but not quite – and you hear it at every football match in South Africa. Tom: Yes, it’s the vuvuzela. But I’m not really interested in the name. I want you to notice that he says ‘the vuvuzela’. In English we use ‘the’ with the names of musical instruments. So we say ‘I can play the ‘piano’ or ‘can you play the guitar’? This may be different in your language, so try to remember it. That’s nearly the end. Just one more thing before I go. Here’s a phrase that I’d like you to try and use this week. It’s another multi-word verb with ‘look’, so you can add it to your ‘look’ page in your vocabulary notebook. Listen to Ravi and Tess talking about the 2010 World Cup. Tess: So, it’ll soon be World Cup time again Ravi. Are you looking forward to it? You’re a football fan aren’t you? Ravi: Am I looking forward to it? I can’t wait! Tom: Ravi is looking forward to the World Cup. He’s excited about it. He loves football and he’s going to really enjoy watching it. Can you translate ‘look forward to’ into your language? Try to use it this week. If someone says to you ‘Are

you coming to the party on Saturday’ you can say ‘Yes, I’m really looking forward to it’. OK. That’s all from me. I’ll talk to you all again next time – I’m looking forward to it. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. So bye for now! See you next time.



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 – “How are you feeling?” – being sympathetic Ravi: Hello again and welcome to LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number four. I’m Ravi – from Manchester Tess: And I’m Tess – from London. Hi. Now, as usual we’ve got loads of great stuff for you to listen to but before we tell you about that - Ravi, I have to ask you, are you feeling better now? Ravi: Oh, a lot better now thank you. Tess: On Saturday morning Ravi called me and he sounded terrible. “Oh Tess, I feel really bad.” Ravi: Yeah, OK. I did feel terrible. I had a really bad cold, a headache, ugh! I had a football match on Saturday afternoon too. Tess: You didn’t play football, did you? Ravi: No, I felt too bad. Do you know what I did? Tess: What? Ravi: A friend came over and we watched all of the Lord of the Rings films – all three of them. Ten hours of DVDs! Tess: You’re joking. I can’t watch TV for that long. I get bored. Anyway, I didn’t really like Lord of the Rings. I liked the book. The film’s never as good as the book, I think. Ravi: I haven’t read the book so I don’t know but, believe it or not, that’s exactly the question we asked people in ‘Your Turn’ this week – ‘Which do you prefer – the book or the film?’ Tess: Really? I bet everyone says that books are better. Ravi: I’m not so sure. Anyway, that’s for later. Section 2 – I’d like to meet Ravi: Now it’s time for ‘I’d like to meet’. In this part of the podcast we ask people a simple question – which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? And we ask them to explain why. So let’s say hello to this week’s guest, Marcus, from London. Welcome to ‘I’d like to meet’ Marcus. Marcus: Thank you Ravi. Tess: Hello Marcus. Marcus: Hi Tess. Tess: And you’re from London Marcus. That’s where I’m from.

Marcus: That’s right. I was born here - and I’ve lived here all my life. Tess: And what do you do? Marcus: I work in a supermarket, but I want to be a professional musician – that’s my ambition for the future. Tess: We all need ambitions Marcus – and that’s a good one. Now I’m going to ask the question. So Marcus, which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? I think I can guess – you’re going to talk about a musician aren’t you? Marcus: You’re right Tess. Ravi: Hmm. She’s always right! Marcus: I’d like to meet Bob Marley. Tess: Bob Marley! He’s one of my heroes. I’m sure all our listeners know Bob Marley, but could you explain who he is for us? Marcus: Bob Marley was Jamaican – and he was the man who gave reggae music to the world – the world outside Jamaica of course. And the Rastafarian religion too – he was also famous for his religious beliefs. He was born in 1945 and died in 1981. So, he died very young – he was only in his thirties. Tess: Hmm. Ravi: How did he die? Marcus: He had cancer. Ravi: And why did you choose him to talk about today? Marcus: Bob Marley never wrote a bad song. My father was a big Bob Marley fan so I grew up listening to his music at home when I was a kid – I used to listen to it when I was sad - it’s impossible to listen to Bob Marley and feel unhappy - that was his message to the world –“‘Don’t worry, be happy”. He wasn’t interested in negative things – his music was always positive. He’s a legend. He was the first ‘superstar’ from a poor country – and that’s why people from poor countries all over the world love him so much – his music speaks to them. Everywhere you go, everywhere in the world, people know and love Bob Marley – everywhere. He was poor, he grew up in an area called Trench Town - a very poor area in Jamaica, with gang problems and drug problems. He left school when he was fourteen and started work. His message is universal – it’s a protest really. It’s about how human beings are all the same, black or white, rich or poor, and his religion helped him to understand that. He once said “I don’t stand for the black man’s side, I don’t stand for the white man’s side – I stand for God’s side”. God was very important to him - he was a very spiritual man. I’m a musician and I want my music to have a message – I want to make people feel good. Like in the song “One love, one heart, let’s get





together and feel all right” – that’s the message - it’s so simple. Tess: And is there a special question that you’d like to ask him Marcus? Marcus: Thousands! But no, not really, not one special question. I’d like to sit and talk to him for a long time – all night if I could - but no, not one special question. Ravi: I enjoyed that Marcus. Thanks a lot. Tess: Me too. Thank you. Marcus: Thank you Ravi: And remember listeners, that we’d like to hear from you. Which famous person, dead or alive, would you like to meet? And why? Email us at ‘[email protected] - that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word - AT- britishcouncil – all one word - DOT org, that’s o-r-g. Let us know which famous person you would like to meet. Tess: Oh, I feel like listening to some Bob Marley now. Section 3 – Quiz Ravi: No time for that Tess, it’s time for our quiz. Every week we have a little quiz to make you think. This week we’re going to play Hot Seat again. Here to play are Hannah and Max. Hi Hannah. Hannah: Hello Ravi: Hi Max Max: Hello. Ravi: You’re both from Sheffield, is that right? Max: Yeah Ravi: And how old are you? Max: I’m seventeen Hannah: And I’m sixteen. We go to the same school. St Joseph’s. Ravi: Are you in the same class? Hannah: We are, yeah. Ravi: OK. And who’s doing what? Who’s going to explain the words and who’s going to be in the Hot Seat? Hannah: I’ll explain and Max’ll guess. Ravi: OK. OK, Max? Max: OK. Ravi: Right. Remember how to play? These cards have all got words on. Hannah has to explain the words and Max has to guess them. But remember Hannah, you can’t use the words on the card. Max, you have to guess as many words as you can in one minute. OK? Hannah and Max: OK Ravi: Then let’s go. You’ve got one minute starting now!

Hannah: Erm .. big thing. On the sea. You sail in it. Max: Boat? Ship. Hannah: Ship! An animal. Small. Big ears. Max: Elephant. Hannah: No. It’s small. Carrots! It eats carrots. Max: Rabbit. Hannah: Yes, yes! Erm .. you do it at the disco. Max: Dance. Hannah: Yes! It’s a fruit I think. It’s very hard. It’s got milk inside. You can eat part of it but not the outside. Max:Coconut! Hannah: Yes! Erm, you go there when you’re sick. Max: Hospital. Doctor’s. Hannah: Hospital. It’s white. Comes from a cow. You drink it. Max: Milk. Hannah: It goes across the river. You cross it. Max: A bridge Hannah: You stand under it in the morning and you wash yourself. Max: Shower! Hannah: It’s a day. Erm …you’ll be eighteen Max: Birthday. Ravi: We’ll give you ‘birthday’. Fantastic. How many was that? I make it nine. Is that right? Yes, nine. Brilliant. Well done Hannah and Max! Tess: Well done! And if any of you listening have a good game we can play in quiz time, write to us and let us know. The address is [email protected]. We’d love to hear your ideas for games we can play. Phew! It makes me tired just listening to Hot Seat so now we’ll have something a bit more relaxed. Section 4 – Our person in It’s time for ‘Our Person In’. This is the part of the podcast where we listen to people in interesting places all over the world telling us something about life in the country they’re in. This week Robert Watson is Our Man in Hong Kong. Robert: In the centre of Hong Kong everything is new, modern and busy. It’s difficult to think what the city was like a hundred years ago. But only forty-five minutes away from the centre, on the small island of Cheung Chau we can see another side of Hong Kong – a side that is not very different from how it was centuries ago. Every year, in May, Cheung Chau celebrates its Bun Festival. The buns are small, white, bread rolls and huge towers made of bamboo are covered in the sweet buns in the festival, which lasts for a week. No-one knows exactly why the festival started but there is a procession to honour



Pak Tai – the sea god. In this procession, children in fantastic costumes are carried through the village. The costumes hide the seats that the children are sitting on and it looks like they are flying. For three days before the festival no-one on the island eats meat. The butcher’s shop is closed and restaurants serve only vegetarian dishes. Even the small McDonald’s on the island sells only vegetarian food for these three days. Perhaps, for three days, this quiet corner of one of the busiest places on earth is the only place where you can’t buy a Big Mac at McDonald’s! Tess: No Big Macs. Sounds great. Ravi: Oh come on Tess, everybody eats a Big Mac now and then. Tess: I don’t. Ugh! Ravi: You never eat fast food? Tess: I try not to. Horrible stuff! Ravi: Actually, fast food might be a good idea for Your Turn – but not this week. Your Turn, listeners, is when we go into the street Tess: Oh, you forgot to give the address. Ravi: Oh right. Yes. Sorry. If you’d like to write in and tell us something interesting about your city or town, we’d love to hear from you. You can send it to us at [email protected]. Section 5 – Your turn Ravi: OK. Now we can move on to Your Turn. We went out into the street to find out what people think about this question: “Which do you prefer – the book or the film?” Tess: Book or film? For me, the book, but let’s hear what people said. Voice 1: I definitely prefer the book. I love going to the cinema but if there’s a book and I’ve read it, then I never go to see the film. Reading books is all about imagination and the film spoils that. Like when you read a book and you can’t imagine the character because you keep thinking of, say, Brad Pitt’s face. Voice 2: The film definitely. Look at Lord of the Rings. It’s a really long book. In fact it’s three long books – it takes months to read and with the film you get all the special effects and it looks fantastic – much more exciting than the books. Voice 3: It depends. It depends on the book. If it’s a serious book by a good writer then the book is always better than the film but if it’s not a great book – a thriller or something like that – the film can be better than the book.

Voice 4: Uh, the book, for me. You have to work harder with a book – you have to make the pictures in your head but when it’s a good writer it’s like watching a film – you make the book into your own film, in your head, and everyone has a different film – that’s much better! Voice 5: I think I prefer films. You get more from a film. In a book you only get the story and you have to imagine how things look. In a film you get the story and you get the actors and music and everything. For example, if a film is set in Japan you get to see Japan. I’ve never been to Japan – I can’t imagine it! A film shows you more. Tess: Well, I disagree with him but there were some interesting opinions there. Ravi: Remember that we’d love to know what you think. ‘Which do you prefer – the book or the film?’ Or do you have an idea for a question that we could ask on Your Turn? Send us an email at [email protected] and we can ask your question in another podcast. Section 6 – Carolina Tess: Now it’s time to meet Carolina again. As you probably remember, Carolina is a Venezuelan student and she’s visiting Britain for the first time. She’s going to Newcastle, in the north east of England. She’s going to live and study there, and of course, have a lot of fun – we hope! In the last podcast we listened to Carolina’s conversation at the underground station. She was going to King’s Cross station to get the train to Newcastle. Ravi: That’s right. And she was worried that she didn’t have time to get to the station to catch her train. Tess: But everything was all right. Carolina caught her train – with only a few minutes to spare. So let’s listen now to what happened on the train to Newcastle. Carolina: Excuse me, is anyone sitting here? Jamie: No, it’s free. Sorry, I’ll move my bag. Voice over PA system: …situated towards the front of the train. We would like to remind passengers that coach F, at the rear of the train, is the Quiet Coach. If you are sitting in coach F, please use all electronic equipment quietly and switch mobile phones to silent mode. Please be considerate to other passengers. Thank you. Carolina: Coach F? Jamie: Yeah, this is a Quiet Coach. There’s a sign - look. No mobile phone conversations. No noise.



It’s cool. I hate listening to other people’s conversations. Carolina: Oh, OK. I didn’t know. It’s a good idea. Jamie: Yeah. Where are you going? Carolina: Newcastle. Jamie: Me too. Do you live there? Carolina: No, I’m going to study there – at the university. What about you? Do you live there? Jamie: Yeah. I’m at the university too. It’s a great city. You aren’t English are you. Carolina: No, I’m Venezuelan. Jamie: Cool. You speak really good English. Carolina: Thank you. My mother’s English, but I’ve never been to Britain before. It’s all a bit strange. Man on train: Hello? Dan? Yes, hi, how’s it going? Yes, I’m on the train. Yeah? Yeah it finished at six o’clock more or less…. Woman on train: Excuse me! This is a quiet coach. Could you have your conversation in the corridor? Man on train: What? Uh? Yeah, OK, sorry. Yeah, Dan, sorry, what did you say? I didn’t hear you, I’m in the quiet coach - some woman was complaining about … Jamie: I’m going to get a coffee or something. D’you want anything? Carolina: Erm, I don’t know, what have they got? Jamie: Come with me then, you can have a look. They’ve got sandwiches and stuff too. Carolina: OK. Jamie: There you go – there’s the list on the wall. What d’you fancy? Carolina: Fancy? What do you mean? Jamie: Sorry. What would you like. What do you fancy means what would you like. Carolina: Do you think I can pay with my visa card? I still haven’t got any English money – I lost my bag, and then I nearly missed the train … Jamie: Don’t worry about it. This one’s on me. I’ll pay. Have a toasted sandwich – they’re good. Cheese and tomato? Carolina: Cheese with tomato? In a toasted sandwich? Jamie: Delicious! Carolina: Oh no! Jamie: What about cheese and ham then? Carolina: Yes, cheese and ham please Jamie: And to drink? Coke? Orange juice? A beer? Carolina: Erm, orange juice please. Assistant: Can I help you? Jamie: Yes, erm two toasted sandwiches please - one cheese and tomato, one cheese and ham - an orange juice and a coke. How much is that?

Assistant: Two toasted sandwiches, three forty-five each, coke ninety p, orange juice one pound forty, that’s nine pounds twenty please. Jamie: Here you are. Assistant: And that’s eighty p change. Thank you. Carolina:That’s very kind of you. It’s a lot of money. That’s nearly ten pounds. Jamie: Don’t worry about it. I’m a real gentleman. Tell you what, you can take me out for lunch one day in Newcastle. You can pay for me. I’ll give you my phone number. Is that a deal? Carolina: OK. It’s a deal. Jamie: Good. Now let’s sit down and eat these. Carolina: OK Tess: Hmm. Jamie sounds nice. Ravi: Uh, honestly, you women! Tess: What?! Ravi: Never mind. Section 7 – The Joke Ravi: Right, that’s almost the end but we can’t go before we hear from Gordon, our producer. Hey, Gordon, I’ve got a joke for you this week. Gordon: Oh yes? Erm, come on then, let’s hear it. Ravi: OK. What’s red and invisible? Gordon: Erm, I don’t know. What’s red and invisible? Ravi: No tomatoes! Gordon: Ho, ho, ho! That’s worse than mine. Leave the jokes to me Ravi. Ravi: Come on then, let’s hear it for this week. Gordon: Right. I’ve got the perfect joke for this week’s podcast. Ready? Ravi: OK. Gordon: OK then. A man goes into a cinema to watch a film. He sits down and in front of him there’s a man and a dog. Ravi: You can’t take dogs into a cinema, can you? Gordon: You can in this cinema. Anyway, the film’s a romantic comedy. After a little while there’s a funny part in the film, and – amazing – the dog starts laughing at the film. Ravi: Uh-huh. Gordon: Yeah. A little while after that there’s a very sad scene. The dog starts crying its eyes out. This goes on for the whole film – the dog laughs at the funny parts and cries at the sad parts. Well, at the end of the film, the man waits outside the cinema until the man with the dog comes out. “Excuse me” he says, “I watched your dog crying and laughing all through the film. It’s absolutely amazing”. “I know” says the man with the dog. “It is amazing. He hated the book”.



Tess: Are all your jokes about funny animals Gordon? Gordon: Ah well, most of them, yes. Ravi: OK. We have to go now but don’t go away. After this little break you’re going to hear Tom, our English teacher. After every show, Tom talks about the language you heard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So, don’t go away, but we’ll say goodbye now. See you next time. Tess Bye! Don’t forget to send us your emails! Here’s that address one more time. It’s [email protected]. Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, my name’s Tom – you’ll hear from me at the end of every podcast. I’m going to talk about some of the language that you heard, and talk about ways to help you learn English. The first thing I want to talk about today is British money. British money is ‘pounds’ and ‘pence’. One pound is one hundred pence - there are a hundred pence in a pound. Listen to Carolina and Jamie buying food on the train. Listen to how much everything costs. Assistant: Can I help you? Jamie: Yes, erm two toasted sandwiches please - one cheese and tomato, one cheese and ham - an orange juice and a coke. How much is that? Assistant: Two toasted sandwiches, three forty-five each, coke ninety p, orange juice one pound forty, that’s nine pounds twenty please.

Tom: Did you notice that she didn’t say ‘three pounds and forty-five pence’? She said ‘three forty-five’. British people often say prices like this. Sometimes they say ‘pounds’ and sometimes they don’t. The woman said ‘nine pounds twenty’ for the total. You will hear people say prices in both ways. But – it’s important to remember that if the price is only pounds – when there are no pence in the price, then we always say ‘pounds’. For example, we can say ‘three pounds forty-five’, or ‘three forty-five’ – but we must always say ‘three pounds’. Now let’s think about the pence. Listen again to the prices. Assistant: Two toasted sandwiches, three forty-five each, coke ninety p, orange juice one pound forty, that’s nine pounds twenty please.

Tom: Did you notice that she didn’t say ‘pence’? British people don’t usually say ‘pence’. If the price has pounds first, then we understand that the second number is pence. We don’t need to say anything, just the number. But Jamie’s coke was ‘ninety p’. If the price is only pence, then we say p. It’s a short way of saying pence. ‘p’ means pence. I’d like to say something else about Carolina and Jamie’s conversation. Jamie uses a lot of phrases that are probably new for you. They are phrases that you don’t often read in coursebooks or learn in classes. But they’re phrases that British people use a lot. Here’s an example. Jamie: There you go – there’s the list on the wall. What d’you fancy? Carolina: Fancy? What do you mean? Jamie: Sorry. What would you like. What do you fancy means what would you like.

Tom: ‘What do you fancy?’ is very informal. Carolina doesn’t understand so she asks Jamie. She says “What do you mean?”. Then Jamie explains that ‘What do you fancy’ means ‘What would you like?’ Here’s another example, from Jamie again. Listen for a phrase that’s new for you.

Carolina: Do you think I can pay with my visa card? I still haven’t got any English money – I lost my bag, and then I nearly missed the train … Jamie: Don’t worry about it. This one’s on me. I’ll pay. Have a toasted sandwich – they’re good. Cheese and tomato? Carolina: Cheese with tomato? In a toasted sandwich? Tom: Jamie says ‘This one’s on me’, which is an informal way of saying ‘It’s OK, I’m going to pay for this’. Try to remember phrases like this when you notice them. And do what Carolina did – ask ‘What do you mean?’ if you don’t understand. Now, I’ve got an interesting word to talk about next. The word is ‘stuff’. Listen to Tess speaking and see if you can understand what ‘stuff’ means. Tess: And I’m Tess – from London. Hi. Now, as usual we’ve got loads of great stuff for you to listen to but before we tell you about that; Ravi, I have to ask you, are you feeling better now?



Tom: ‘Stuff’ just means ‘things’. British people use it a lot when they’re speaking. Here’s another example. Jamie: I’m going to get a coffee or something. D’you want anything? Carolina: Erm, I don’t know, what have they got? Jamie: Come with me then, you can have a look. They’ve got sandwiches and stuff too. Carolina: OK. Tom: Jamie doesn’t want to tell Carolina all of the things that she can buy, so he just says ‘sandwiches and stuff’ – all the other things that they can buy to eat on the train. The next time you listen to a film or a TV programme in English, listen for people saying ‘stuff’. I’m sure you’ll notice it a lot now. It’s nearly time for me to go, but first, I want to give you a phrase for you to try and use this week. Do you remember the question in today’s ‘Your Turn’? It was ‘Which do you prefer – the book or the film?’ Listen to one of the answers. Voice 3: It depends. It depends on the book. If it’s a serious book by a good writer then the book is always better than the film but if it’s not a great book – a thriller or something like that – the film can be better than the book Tom: He says ‘It depends’. We talked about ‘it depends’ in the first podcast. This time ‘it depends’ means ‘I’m not sure because sometimes I have one opinion and sometimes I have a different opinion.’ Let’s look at how to use it in a sentence. The man says ‘it depends on the book’. Notice the preposition. We say ‘it depends on something’. So if someone asks you a question, like ‘Do you like dogs?’ you can say ‘Well, it depends on the dog – I like small dogs, but I don’t like big ones’. Try to use it this week. OK. That’s all from me today. I’ll talk to you all again on the next podcast. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. So bye for now! See you next time.



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 - “I didn't know you had a dog!” – talking about pets Ravi: Hello again and welcome to LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number five. I’m Ravi – from Manchester Tess: And I’m Tess – from London. We’re here with Gordon – our producer. Hello Gordon. Gordon: Hello! Tess: …. and, as usual, we’ve got lots of interesting things for you to listen to. But first of all, do you want to know my big news for this week, Ravi? Ravi: Let me guess. You’re going to be the star of a brand new Hollywood movie? You’ve won the lottery? Tess: Not quite, Ravi. I’ve got a cat! Ravi: Really? Tess: Well, it’s just a baby cat – a kitten, but yes, I got him yesterday. He’s gorgeous. Ravi: It’s a boy cat then? Where did you get him? Tess: Well, my friend Kate found him in the street. And Kate’s already got two cats so I said I’d take this one. Ravi: What colour is he? Tess: Well, he’s only small but he’s a brown tabby. Ravi: What’s a tabby again? Is that the stripy one? Tess: That’s it – tabbies are the ones with sort of dark stripes – like a tiger. He’s really lovely. Ravi: What are you going to call him? Tess: D’you know, I just don’t know. I’ve got lots of ideas for names but I can’t decide. I thought maybe you could help me. What would you call a cat? Ravi: Hmm. That’s a difficult question. To be honest, Tess, I’m more of a dog person. I’ve never really thought about names for cats. Tess: You don’t like cats? Ravi: Well, it’s not that I don’t like cats. I just prefer dogs, that’s all. Anyway, I’ve got an idea, why don’t you call your cat ‘Gordon’. Tess: Hmm. I don’t think so. I need to think of a name soon though, really. Anyway, let’s move on. Section 2 – I’d like to meet Tess: Let’s start with I’d Like to Meet. If you’re listening for the first time, I’d Like to Meet is the part of the show where someone tells us about the

famous person – alive or dead – that they’d like to meet – and why. This time round we’ve got Olu with us. Hi Olu. Olu: Hi Tess. Tess: Where are you calling from Olu? Olu: From West London. Tess: And what do you do? Olu: I’m still at school. In Year 12 Tess: OK. And who would you like to meet, Olu? Who are you going to talk to us about? Olu: I’d like to meet Didier Drogba. Ravi: Drogba? The footballer? Chelsea? You do know I’m from Manchester, don’t you, Olu? You know, Manchester United? Olu: Yeah, well, it’s not just because he’s Chelsea. Tess: Come on Olu – don’t listen to him. Why would you like to meet Didier Drogba? Tell us something about him. Olu: Well, he’s a footballer – you already know that – and he’s from Ivory Coast, in West Africa, and he plays great football. Tess: And do you like him because he’s a good footballer? Olu: Well, I do, I like the way he plays and he scores some great goals and all that, but there’s more than that. He was born in Ivory Coast but he moved to France when he was five – he went on his own to live with his uncle. Imagine that – a five year-old boy moving to a new country by himself? Tess: Wow. Olu: And then he went back to Ivory Coast but moved back to France a bit after that. His family were really poor, you know, and they had to move around to look for work and that. Tess: So did he start playing football in Ivory Coast? Olu: No – in France. And this is another thing I like about him, see, most players at the really big clubs go there when they’re quite young but Drogba played for a few years with small teams and worked his way up, through hard work. He was 26, I think, when he went to Chelsea. But anyway, what I like him for most is that even though he’s made it now and he’s got loads of money and that he really hasn’t forgotten where he came from. He does loads of work for Unicef – he’s like an ambassador or something for them so he does all this charity work. Y’see, my dad came here from Nigeria when he was really small and, I’ve never been to Africa but all you see on TV is about problems in Africa all the time so it’s really good to see someone who comes from somewhere like Ivory Coast doing good things, you know. Ravi: And Ivory Coast were in the World Cup in Germany, weren’t they?





Olu: Yeah. It’s the first time they’ve got to the World Cup Finals, and they did OK. Drogba was African footballer of the year as well. Tess: And what would you like to say to Didier Drogba if you met him, Olu? Olu: Erm, I guess I’d say thank you to him for the work he does for Africa and for showing people something good from Africa. And for scoring all those goals for Chelsea! Ravi: Hmmm. I don’t know about that. But that was great Olu, thank you. Tess: And don’t forget, we’d like to hear from you, our listeners. Tell us which famous person, dead or alive, you’d like to meet – and why. Email us at ‘[email protected]., that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word dot org, that’s o-r-g. Ravi: I’ll tell you what Tess, why don’t you call your cat Didier? That’s a great name for a cat. Tess: Hmm. I don’t think so, really. Section 3 – Quiz Tess: OK. Now it’s quiz time. What is it this time Ravi? Ravi: It’s something a bit different today – we’ve got our two players joining us on the telephone – I hope – Hello Vineeta? Vineeta: (on phone) Hi Ravi Ravi: And hello Jason. Jason: (on phone) Hello Ravi: Jason – where are you from and how old are you? Jason: Erm .. I’m 15 and I’m from Durham. Ravi: Near Newcastle? That’s where Carolina is. What’s the weather like in Durham today Jason? Jason: Not great, really. It’s a bit cloudy. Ravi: Oh dear. How are things where you are Vineeta? Where are you? Vineeta: I’m in Plymouth. Ravi: OK Plymouth – we’ve got opposite ends of the country here, Durham and Plymouth. It’s north against south. Sorry, Vineeta, what’s the weather like in Plymouth? Vineeta: Not too bad. Quite sunny. Ravi: OK. Better than Durham. Right. Do you both know what you have to do? I’ll explain for our listeners. I’m going to ask Jason and Vineeta some questions. To answer, they press any button on their phone and we’ll hear a buzzer. Let’s hear yours Jason. (sound of Jason’s buzzer) Ravi: And yours Vineeta (sound of Vineeta’s buzzer) Ravi: Great. Now, the quiz is called ‘Beginning With ..’ – your answer has to begin with the letter I

give you – so if I say, for example, ‘a sport beginning with 'F’ you could say ‘football’. Let’s have a practice run to begin with. Fingers ready? An animal beginning with P (Jason’s buzzer) Ravi: Jason? Jason: Polar bear Ravi: Yes. OK then, let’s play. First one to three is the winner. Ready? Jason & Vineeta: Ready Ravi: OK then, let’s go. A vegetable beginning with ‘L’ (Jason’s buzzer) Ravi: Jason! Jason: Lettuce Ravi: Right. One nil to Jason. A colour beginning with ‘Y’. (Jason’s buzzer) Ravi: Jason again. Jason: Yellow Ravi: Right. Two nil. Come on Vineeta. A bird beginning with ‘E’. (Vineeta’s buzzer) Ravi: Vineeta. Vineeta: Eagle. Ravi: Yes. Well done Vineeta. Two one. OK. A sport beginning with ‘G’ (Jason’s buzzer) Ravi: Jason. Jason: Golf Ravi: Yes! That’s three for Jason so you’re the winner. Well done Jason. And bad luck Vineeta. He was just a bit quicker than you. Vineeta: Yeah. Ravi: But never mind. Well done to both of you and thank you both for playing. Now, Tess, a cat’s name beginning with ….. Tess: I wish I could decide. Remember listeners that if you’ve got any ideas for games we can play, we’d love to hear them. You can send them to the usual address.. Section 4 – Our person in Tess: Right, now then. The next part of our podcast is Our Person In – the part of the show where we hear from different people around the world. You’ll like it this time Ravi – you like Lord of the Rings. Graham Baxter is …Our Man in New Zealand. Graham: When I was a boy and I first read Lord of the Rings, I dreamt of visiting the places Tolkien, the author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, created. Hobbiton, Middle Earth, Mount Doom. Now, finally, I have found all of these places, here, in New Zealand.



Peter Jackson, who directed the Lord of the Rings films, was born in Wellington – the capital city of New Zealand. When he was looking for places to make the fantastic worlds he needed for his films he knew where to look. New Zealand has all kinds of scenery – and you can see a lot of it in the three films. The green hills of Matamata became Hobbiton and the Queenstown area became the Eregion Hills – and lots of other places – all with a little bit of help from computer magic. People in New Zealand are proud of their country’s star role in the films but they are also happy at what Lord of the Rings has done to bring tourists to New Zealand. After the third film in the trilogy, The Return of the King, won 11 Oscars the number of tourists who visited New Zealand went up by 8%. More than a billion people have visited the Lord of the Rings website – fantastic publicity for this small country. For me, this is my boyhood dream come true – a tour of the amazing worlds of Lord of the Rings – and all right here in New Zealand. Ravi: Great. I’d love to go to New Zealand. I’ve always wanted to go. Tess: Me too. The scenery sounds amazing. And it always looks so green in pictures. Ravi: Yeah. It looks fantastic. Don’t forget listeners that we’d love to hear about the scenery or countryside in your country. Is there a special place you like to go or some especially famous countryside? You can write and tell us about it. As usual the address is [email protected]. Go on, why not write, we’re always happy to hear from our listeners? Section 5 – Your turn Tess: Now, for Your Turn this time, since I’ve got a new cat, we decided to ask people a very important question – “Which do you prefer - cats or dogs?” It’s a very simple question but people have very strong opinions. Let’s hear what they said. Voice 1: Dogs. Definitely. Why? Look – if you’ve got a dog it really loves you. All cats care about is who feeds them. You can think a cat loves you but if someone else gives it food it’ll be gone. Voice 2: Well, I’ve got two cats so I think you know what my answer will be. But cats are just so much easier to look after. With dogs you’ve got to take

them for walks all the time and all of that and you have to clean up their poo – yeuch. Voice 3: That’s easy. Dogs are noisy, smelly and stupid; cats are much more intelligent. If you’re sitting on your sofa, right, it’s lovely when a cat comes and sits on you and purrs. Would you want a big daft dog to come and sit on you? Voice 4: Cats are just so boring. All they do is sit around and sleep all day. They’re selfish, basically. Dogs play with you and stuff. They’re fun, you know. Voice 5: Well, to be honest, I’m not really an animal lover. I think it’s cruel to keep dogs in the city – they should be in the country. Cats make me sneeze and they’re a real problem if you want to go on holiday. If I had to have a pet I’d probably have a goldfish. Ravi: Interesting. What about you Tess? Why do you prefer cats? Tess: I just do. Cats are so much more intelligent than dogs, I think. I like dogs too but, you know, like the last person said, I think it’s a bit cruel to keep a dog in a small flat like mine. Ravi: OK. What about you listeners? Cats or dogs – which do you prefer? You can write and let us know. It’s [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you. Section 6 – Carolina Tess: Right. Now it’s time to meet Carolina again. Carolina is from Venezuela and she’s come to the UK to live and study – and have fun! Last time we listened Carolina was on the train from London to Newcastle in the north of England, where she’s going to study at university. Let’s see what happened when she arrived in Newcastle. Another student is showing her round the student accommodation. Gemma: ... and if you get lost just ask someone. Anyway, this is the kitchen. Like I said, there are five of you in this flat and this is the kitchen for your flat. The other flats have all got their own kitchens. Right – I think that’s everything, I’m going to get back. I’m sure you want some time to unpack your stuff. Some of the other girls in your flat are here already. You’ll probably meet them here in the kitchen a bit later. Carolina: OK. Thanks Gemma. Thanks for showing me around.



Gemma: No problem. I’ll probably see you around. OK. See you. I’m sure you’ll have a great time in Newcastle. Carolina: Thanks. Bye (in the shared kitchen ) Carolina: Erm. Hello. Charlotte: Hi. Oh! Are you in Room 4? Hi! Come in! Carolina: Hi. Yes, I’m in Room 4. I’m Carolina. Charlotte: Hi Carolina. I’m Charlotte. Nice to meet you. I’m in Room 2. We’re neighbours. Carolina: Oh, right. Nice to meet you. Emily: I’m Emily. I’m in number 1. Carolina: Nice to meet you. Emily: Nice to meet you. Jenny: And I’m Jenny. Hi. Carolina: Hi Jenny. Do you all know each other? Jenny: No – we just met this afternoon. There’s another girl, Beth, but she’s not here at the moment. Have you just arrived? I’m sorry – I didn’t catch your name. Carolina: Carolina. Yes, erm, I arrived about an hour ago. Charlotte: Did you fly to Newcastle? Carolina: No, erm, I got the train to Newcastle. I flew to London – to Heathrow. Charlotte: Ah, OK. Where are you from? Carolina: I’m from Venezuela. Emily: Really? Wow! Have you flown from Venezuela today? You must be exhausted. Carolina: Yes. I am actually. I just wanted to meet you all before I went to bed. Jenny: What’s the time difference between here and Venezuela? Carolina: It’s four hours behind here. So it’s seven o’clock in the evening in Venezuela now. Charlotte: Do you want a cup of tea Carolina? Carolina: Erm. .. No thanks. I’m going to go to bed. Erm. Do any of you know where we have to go to register tomorrow? Emily: I do. I went there today. I can go with you if you want? Carolina: Really? That would be great. Jenny: Can I come too? I need to register as well. What course are you doing Carolina? Carolina: Erm … Environmental Science. How about you? Jenny: French and Politics. I think we have to register in the same place. Emily: You do. It’s all in the same building. Shall we go at about nine tomorrow morning? Is that too early for you Carolina? Carolina: No. Nine o’clock is OK. If that’s OK with you, sorry, erm …Jenny?

Jenny: Nine’s fine. It’s a date! Now, you get yourself to bed Carolina – you look exhausted. Carolina: OK. I am. Nice to meet you all. See you in the morning. Charlotte/Jenny/Emily: Goodnight/See you tomorrow/See you in the morning. Tess: Right. Carolina seems to be OK in Newcastle. Her flatmates sound nice. Ravi: Yeah. How does it work? She doesn’t share a room with anyone, does she? Tess: I don’t think so. I didn’t. Usually a ‘flat’ has four or five rooms – single rooms – and then those four or five people have a shared kitchen and maybe a shared bathroom too. Ravi: Oh, OK. I see. Anyway, we’ll hear more about Carolina next time. Section 7 – The Joke Ravi: Now it’s time for …da-dah! Gordon and his amazing jokes. So what have you got for us today Gordon? Parrots? Talking dogs? Gordon: Chickens. They can’t talk though. Ravi: OK. Come on then. Let’s hear it. Gordon: OK. A man is driving slowly down a country road when he sees a chicken run in front of his car. Nothing strange about that – but then, he notices that the chicken has three legs. "How strange" he thinks, "a three-legged chicken". He starts to drive a bit faster – 40 kilometres an hour - but the chicken goes faster too. He drives a bit faster – 70 kilometres an hour – but the three-legged chicken just runs faster too. The man goes faster and faster but the chicken keeps running. When they are both doing over one hundred kilometres an hour, the chicken turns a corner into a farm. Quickly, the man stops his car. The farmyard is full of three-legged chickens. There are three-legged chickens everywhere. So, he sees the farmer in the farmyard and he asks him, “Where do all of these three-legged chickens come from? This is amazing”. “I breed them” says the farmer. “There are three of us, me, my wife and our son. We all like chicken legs, so … I made a three-legged chicken, so we can all have a leg at dinner time”. “Amazing” says the man, “How’s the meat? Does it taste good?” “Well”, says the farmer, “I don’t know. We haven’t caught one of them yet.” Tess: I don’t get it.



Ravi: Oh, Tess. They can’t catch the chickens because they’re so fast. Tess: So do they taste good or not? Ravi: Never mind Tess, never mind. Right. That’s all we’ve got time for this time but don’t go away. After this little break you’re going to hear Tom, our English teacher. After every show, Tom talks about the language you heard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So, don’t go away, but I’ll say goodbye now. See you next time. Tess: Bye! Don’t forget to send us your emails! Here’s that address one more time. It’s [email protected]. Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, my name’s Tom – you’ll hear from me at the end of every podcast. I’m going to talk about some of the language that you heard, and talk about ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about verbs. You probably know that most verbs in English are ‘regular’. That means that the forms are very easy to remember. For all regular verbs, we make the past form in the same way. We add ‘E, D’ (or just ‘D’ if the verb already ends in ‘E’). For example, the verb ‘look’. The verb is ‘look’ and to make the past form we just add ‘E,D’. ‘Looked’. And the verb ‘like’. It already ends in ‘E’ so we just add ‘D’ to make the past. ‘Liked’. So far so good. But the bad news is that a lot of the most common English verbs, verbs that you need to use all the time, are ‘irregular’. This means that they don’t follow the same rule. ‘Have’ is an irregular verb. You already know that the past of ‘have’ isn’t ‘haved’ – it’s ‘had’. But there are a lot more of them. Listen to part of Carolina’s conversation with her new flatmates. Can you hear the three different forms of the verb ‘fly’? Charlotte: Did you fly to Newcastle? Carolina: No, erm, I got the train to Newcastle. I flew to London – to Heathrow. Charlotte: Ah, OK. Where are you from? Carolina: I’m from Venezuela. Emily: Really? Wow! Have you flown from Venezuela today? You must be exhausted. Did you hear the three forms? They were ‘fly’, ‘flew’ and ‘flown’. If you use a coursebook, or have a grammar book to study, it probably has a list of irregular verbs. And the list is organised in three

columns. If you look for the verb ‘fly’ you will see ‘fly’ in the first column, ‘flew’ in the second column and ‘flown’ in the third. Listen again. Charlotte: Did you fly to Newcastle? Carolina: No, erm, I got the train to Newcastle. I flew to London – to Heathrow. ‘Fly’ is the base form of the verb – some people call it the infinitive. We use it in lots of different ways. For example – we use it with ‘going to’ to talk about the future. ‘He’s going to fly to London next week’. We use it with ‘do’ and ‘did’ to make questions, ‘Did you fly to Newcastle?’ Remember that this first column is not the present tense. It might look the same – we say ‘I fly to London every week', but remember that we say ‘he or she flies’. The second column is ‘flew’. This column is easy - it’s the past simple form. ‘Flew’ is the past simple of fly. Carolina flew to London and then she got the train to Newcastle. Now let’s look at the third column. Listen again. Carolina: I’m from Venezuela. Emily: Really? Wow! Have you flown from Venezuela today? You must be exhausted. The third column is ‘flown’. Some people call it ‘the past participle’. We never use this form alone – we use it with other verbs. We often use it with ‘have’ or ‘has’ to make the present perfect, like Emily did – ‘Have you flown from Venezuela today?’. Or we can say ‘I’ve never flown in a helicopter’. We also use the third column with the verb ‘be’ in sentences like ‘Nissan cars are made in Japan’ or ‘My bag was stolen on the bus’. So, that’s the three columns in an irregular verb list. Now we need to think about the best way to learn these irregular forms. It probably isn’t a very good idea to sit down with a list of irregular verbs and try to learn all of them. There are a lot of irregular verbs in English, and some of them will be verbs that are new to you. The important thing is to learn the three forms of the verbs that you already know, so that you can use those verbs correctly. Make a page in your notebook for irregular verbs – make three columns and fill in the verbs that you already know. Verbs like ‘make’, ‘do’, ‘meet’, ‘have’ and ‘go’ for example. Then write a sentence with



each form as an example. Example sentences will help you to remember the forms. Then when you find a new verb you can add it to your list. You can find a link to a list of irregular verbs on our website – use it to check the forms of the verbs that you know and add them to your notebook. Now let’s talk about something different. The weather. Listen to Ravi talking to the people who are going to do the quiz. Ravi: What’s the weather like in Durham today Jason? Jason: (on phone) Not great, really. It’s a bit cloudy. Ravi: Oh dear. How are things where you are Vineeta? Where are you? Vineeta: (on phone) I’m in Plymouth. Ravi: OK Plymouth – we’ve got opposite ends of the country here, Durham and Plymouth. It’s north against south. Sorry, Vineeta, what’s the weather like in Plymouth? Vineeta: Not too bad. Quite sunny. Now, some people say that the British talk about the weather all the time. Well, we don’t talk about it all the time, but it is true that we talk about it a lot. I think one reason for that is that the weather here changes a lot. You can never be sure of the weather in Britain – it’s often a surprise - so there is always something to say about it. But we don’t often have long conversations about the weather. It’s a very useful way of starting a conversation with someone, especially someone that you don’t know very well, in a shop for example. You can say “Nice weather isn’t it?” or “What terrible weather we’re having”, or “What a lovely day”. The person will respond and then probably move the conversation on to another topic. One more thing about the weather. A lot of people think that the British use the phrase “It’s raining cats and dogs”. Now, this phrase does exist in English, but I must say that I’ve never used it in my life, and I don’t remember anyone saying it to me either. It really isn’t very common, and it’s probably best not to use it yourself. It really isn’t very natural. Before I go, I’d like to tell you about a useful phrase that I noticed in this podcast. Listen to this extract. Gemma has just shown Carolina her new flat. Listen to the phrases she uses when she says goodbye.

Gemma: Right – I think that’s everything, I’m going to get back. I’m sure you want some time to unpack your stuff. Some of the other girls in your flat are here already. You’ll probably meet them here in the kitchen a bit later. Carolina: OK. Thanks Gemma. Thanks for showing me around. Gemma: No problem. I’ll probably see you around. OK. See you. I’m sure you’ll have a great time in Newcastle. Did you notice that Gemma says “I’ll probably see you around”? Gemma hasn’t made any arrangements to see Carolina again, and they aren’t doing the same course, but because they both study at the same university, they might meet one day in the café or in a corridor. So she says “I’ll probably see you around”. Try to use “I’ll probably see you around” when you say goodbye to someone this week. OK. That’s all from me today. I’ll talk to you all again on the next podcast. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. So bye for now! See you next time..



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 – “I've had a nightmare journey” – arriving late Tess: Hello again and welcome to LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number six. I’m Tess – from London. And he’s Ravi, from Manchester. Ravi: Hello. Tess: And I have to say to the listeners, Ravi has just arrived. What happened Ravi? Oversleep? Ravi: Oh, I’ve had a nightmare journey. The underground was closed for some reason so I had to get a bus and of course the bus was absolutely packed because the underground was closed and the traffic was awful. What a nightmare. Still, I got here. Just in time. What about you? Was your journey OK? Tess: Well, I came in the car this morning. It was busy, but not too bad, you know. Ravi: Ah well, you see. I was nearly late but you know – I use public transport because I care about the planet and the environment, but if you want to take your car .. Tess: You use public transport because you haven’t got a driving licence. You won’t want a lift home then in my terrible car, will you? Ravi: Oh, very kind, thanks – that’ll be lovely. Hey – I know what I wanted to ask you – your cat – has it got a name yet? Tess: Yes. Yes, he has. He’s called Oscar. Ravi: Oscar? Hmm. I quite like that. Why Oscar? Tess: I don’t know, to be honest. He just looks like an Oscar. He’s so cute Ravi. Ravi: Hmm. I still think you should have called him Gordon. How are you today Gordon? Gordon: Fine, thanks Ravi. Ravi: Gordon’s our producer - and king of the terrible jokes. We’ll hear from him again later. But now, on with the show. Tess, what have we got? Tess: We’ve got all sorts. We’ve got the quiz, we’ve got Kazakhstan, we’ve got Carolina’s new flatmates and we’ve got I’d Like to Meet. Do you want to tell us about it? Section 2 – I’d like to meet Ravi: OK. In this part of the podcast we ask people a simple question – which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? And we ask them to

explain why. So let’s say hello to this week’s guest, Vanessa, from Cambridge. Tess and Ravi: Hi Vanessa. Vanessa: Hello. It’s great to meet you both. Tess: It’s nice to meet you too. And what do you do Vanessa? Vanessa: I’m a student. I study law. Ravi: Law? So you’re going to be a lawyer – that’s a good job to have. Vanessa: Well, yes, I hope so. Tess: Were you born in Cambridge or do you study there? Vanessa: Both actually. I’ve lived there all my life, - and now I study there too. Ravi: So you live at home with your parents right? Vanessa: No, I live in university accommodation – I think it’s better. Tess: Well, you probably have a lot more fun. Vanessa: Yes, it’s good. Tess: Now it’s time to answer the question. So Vanessa, which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? Vanessa: Frida Kahlo, the painter. Ravi: OK. I’ve heard the name – there was a film wasn’t there? But I don’t know anything about her. Vanessa: Yeah, It was a good film – with Salma Hayek – she was Frida. Tess: Yeah, great film. Loved it. Vanessa: Frida Kahlo was Mexican, she was born at the beginning of the century and she died in the 1950s. When she was nineteen she was in a horrible bus accident. She had terrible injuries – I won’t describe them all, but she had to have a lot of operations, and she was in bed for a long time. She liked painting, so her mother bought a mirror and put it over her bed. So she started painting pictures of herself – self portraits. And she never stopped painting after that. Tess: The pictures are a bit strange though aren’t they. I’m not sure I’d like one in my living room. Vanessa: Well yes … and no. Some people think that she was a surrealist, like Salvador Dali – that she painted dreams – but that isn’t true. She painted her life – all the things that happened to her. And her life was a bit strange – or let’s say ‘unusual’ – so the pictures are ‘unusual’ too. They’re her life – her paintings tell her story. Because of the accident she couldn’t have children – and you see that in her pictures too. I love her. Madonna collects her paintings – she once said that she couldn’t be friends with anyone who doesn’t like Frida Kahlo. She’s incredibly famous now – one of her paintings – ‘Roots’ I think it was – was sold in 2006 for five and a half million dollars. Ravi: Five and a half million dollars! I wouldn’t mind that in my living room.





Vanessa: Well yes – I think Frida would be very surprised too. That’s what I’d like to tell her if I could meet her – how famous she is now, and how much people – especially women – love her work. Tess: She’d probably like to see the film too. Vanessa: Yes – that’s true. It would be really interesting to hear what she thinks of it. Ravi: I think I’m going to look at some of her pictures on the internet. You’ve got me interested now. Vanessa: And try and see the film if you get the chance – it’s called “Frida”. Ravi: I will. Thanks a lot for that Vanessa – and good luck with your law course. Vanessa: It was a pleasure. Thanks a lot. Tess: Yes, thanks Vanessa. That was great. And don’t forget that we’d like to hear from you. Why not write and tell us about who you’d like to meet? You can send your own or you can look at what other people have sent in by checking out our website. Section 3 – Quiz Ravi: So, as usual, it’s quiz time next. Tess? What have we got? Tess: We’re going to play ‘Beginning With’ again. And, I hope, we’ve got our two players ready on the telephone. Hello? Will? Will: (on phone) Hi Tess. Tess: …and Jodie. Jodie: (on phone) Hello Tess: Let’s start with you Jodie. Where are you calling from? Jodie: From Cardiff. Tess: In Wales. Do you like it? Jodie: Yeah, it’s great. It’s a capital city, you know, so there’s quite a lot to do. Tess: And what do you do Jodie? Jodie: I’m still at school. I’m 16 so I’m doing my GCSE exams this year. Tess: OK. Well good luck with them and good luck with the game today. Now, Will. Where are you? Will: In Peterborough. Tess: Ah, OK. I know where that is. And what’s it like? Will: Erm, it’s a bit boring really. Like, there isn’t really anything to do for people my age. Tess: Oh dear. I’m sure it’s not that bad. How old are you? Will: I’m 16 as well. I’m at school, like Jodie. Tess: OK. Well, good luck to you too Will. I know you both know what to do but I’ll quickly remind you. I’ll ask the questions and to answer you press any button on your phone and we’ll hear a buzzer. Let’s hear your buzzers. Will. (sound of Will’s buzzer). OK. Jodie. (sound of Jodie’s buzzer). OK.

The questions tell you what letter the answer starts with. So, I might say ‘A form of transport beginning with ‘T’’ – and you can say ‘train’ or ‘tram’ or another transport that begins with ‘T’. OK? Ready? Will / Jodie: Yep. Tess: Then let’s go. Remember it’s first one to three. Fingers on buzzers. Can you name …. a fruit beginning with ‘P’. (Jodie’s buzzer) Tess: Jodie. Jodie: Pear Tess: Yes. One nil to Jodie. A colour beginning with ‘P’ (Will’s buzzer) Tess: Will. Will: Purple. Tess: Yes. One one. An animal beginning with ‘W’. (Will’s buzzer) Tess: Will again. Will: Wolf. Tess: Right. Two one to Will. A country beginning with ‘A’. (Will’s buzzer) Tess: Will. Will: Africa. No. Sorry. Tess: No. A country, not a continent. Jodie? Jodie: Argentina. Tess: Yes. Two two. So the next one is the decider. Ready? A sport beginning with ‘B’ (Jodie’s buzzer) Tess: Jodie! Jodie: Badminton Tess: Yes! Well done Jodie. And bad luck Will. Jodie wins this week’s LearnEnglish book token to buy any book you want. What kind of book are you going to buy Jodie? Jodie: Oh, I don’t know. I’ll have to think. Probably like, a novel or something. Tess: OK, well enjoy it, whatever it is – the book token will be in the post on its way to you today. Thank you both for playing and remember, if you’re listening, we’d like to hear your ideas for games we can play. Send them to us at [email protected]. Ravi: You know we’d love to hear them. Section 4 – Our person in Ravi: Right. It’s time for Our Person In. I’m looking forward to this. In this part of the podcast we hear from different people around the world and this time, Rebecca Dalton is … Our Woman in Kazakhstan. Rebecca: On a cold winter’s morning, with thick snow on the ground around us, I watched the magnificent golden eagle fly high into the sky above



us before returning to the arm of the berkutchy and sit on his thick leather glove. I had travelled for over 6 hours on difficult roads to meet this man – the name berkutchy means ‘the eagle king’. The journey gave me an idea of just how big – and how empty – Kazakhstan is. It is the ninth biggest country in the world, bigger than all of western Europe, yet it has a population of only fifteen million so most of the country is almost empty. And this empty countryside has everything; a major mountain range on the border with China, great lakes and rivers, deserts and plains. Most importantly for Kazahstan, it also has oil – perhaps twenty per cent of the world’s supply – and many valuable metals can be found here. Over ten years ago, Kazakhstan moved its capital city. The new capital, Astana, is full of new buildings designed by famous international architects – a thoroughly modern city. Yet it is out here on the empty plains watching the golden eagle fly that you get a true feeling of this little known country. The oil and valuable metals will bring changes to Kazakhstan in the years to come but you feel – and hope – that the berkutchy will continue to fly his eagles in this wonderful, lonely space. Tess: It’s amazing isn’t it? Kazakhstan is absolutely huge but most of us don’t know anything at all about it. Ravi: Yeah. It sounds fantastic though, doesn’t it? Tess: You say that about everywhere – New Zealand, South Africa … Ravi: It’s true, I know. I’d love to travel round the world one day and see all of these places. Tess: By public transport? Ravi: OK. But I really do want to travel. But the next best thing, listeners, is hearing about your countries so do remember that you can send your texts to us at [email protected]. Tell us something interesting about your city or your country. Tess: That would be great. Section 5 – Your turn Tess: Now it’s time for Your Turn. Your Turn is when we go out in the street to find out what people think. This time the question was ….. "How green are you?"

Ravi: Nice one. “How green are you?” – what do you do to help save the planet? Like use public transport. Tess: OK. Let’s hear what people said. Voice 1: What do I do to help save the planet? Not enough. I hate to say it, but it’s true, I mean, I always try to remember not to use plastic bags or recycle or whatever but I always forget. I really have to try to do more. Voice 2: Well, we recycle pretty much everything we can, you know, bottles, cans, newspapers and all that but to be honest we don’t do much else. Voice 3: I do as much as I can. You have to, you know? We all have to. I don’t take short-haul flights anymore – I used to fly down to London quite a lot – and of course I recycle and everything else I can. Voice 4: I know I’m not going to make myself popular saying this but I don’t really do very much. Look – there are factories all over the world putting out loads and loads of pollution every single day and I don’t see how saving your old newspapers is going to help apart from making people feel good about themselves. Voice 5: I’ll tell you the greenest thing I do – I grow almost all my own vegetables. I’ve really started thinking about where my food comes from and the food miles and that – you know, like I won’t buy food that’s been flown here from Australia or something. Tess: They make me feel a bit guilty. Some people do so much. I feel like the first woman who said she didn’t do enough. I don’t think I do enough. I do recycle things though. Ravi: Me too. It’s difficult though, isn’t it? Anyway, remember, listeners, that we’d love to know what you think. How green are you? What do you do to help save the planet? You can write and tell us at [email protected]. Section 6 – Carolina Tess: Right. Now it’s time to join Carolina again in Newcastle. Carolina is from Venezuela and she’s come to Britain to live, study and have fun. She’s at Newcastle University in the north east of England, studying Environmental Science. Last time we listened Carolina had just arrived and met her new flatmates at the university. Let’s see where she is this time.



Carolina: ... and it starts on Friday afternoon. Anyway, thank you Emily – that would have been really difficult without you. Emily: No problem. Are you coming to the Societies Bazaar? Carolina: The what? Emily: Oh, sorry, the Societies Bazaar. The meeting for all the different student clubs at the university. Carolina: Oh, yes, I know. I read about it. It’s a bit different from universities at home but I think I understand. All the different clubs come to this – ‘bazaar’ – is that right? – and all the first year students join the clubs they want to. Emily: But remember that the first year students are called ‘freshers’ – all of this is important Carolina! Carolina: Freshers! That’s right. Because we’re fresh, I suppose. Can you join as many clubs as you like? Emily: Yeah, as many as you want. But you have to pay, remember. It’s in there – over there. It looks quite crowded. Shall we go in? Emily: ... I don’t know really – it’s a bit too crowded for me. Listen, I’m going to go and join the queue for the basketball club. Do you want to meet back here in about 20 minutes? Carolina: OK. I want to join the International Students Society but the queue is too big. I’m going to have a look round and wait for the queue to get smaller. Emily: OK. I’ll see you back here, yeah? In about 20 minutes? Carolina: OK. See you later. Student: ... Conservation Society – just five pounds membership. Come and join us. Carolina: Erm, hi. Erm. I’m not quite sure what the Conservation Society is. Can you tell me a bit about it? Student: Definitely. We go out into the countryside and we do things to help the environment – sort of countryside management – you know, erm … looking after forests erm .. making the countryside better for animals and birds and things … erm.. it’s quite hard to explain really. Ah, look, here comes the society president. I’m sure he can tell you about it better than me. Carolina: Jamie. Hi. We met on the train, remember? Jamie: Carolina! Hi. How are you? Did you find your room OK and everything? Carolina: Yes. Thank you. And you’re the president of the Conservation Society? Your friend was telling me about it.

Jamie: Yes. Are you going to join? Remember I was telling you about the countryside in Northumbria? North of Newcastle. It’s really beautiful. You should join and come and see it with us. I’m sure it’s a bit different from Venezuela. Carolina: OK. You’ve persuaded me. What do I have to do to join? Jamie: Excellent. You just have to fill in this form. I’ll fill it in for you. Carolina. What’s your surname? Carolina: Del Barco Do you want me to spell it? Jamie: Yeah, please. Is it one word or two words? Carolina: Two words. d-e-l .. small ‘d’ , then capital B, a-r-c-o Jamie: And have you got your email address yet? Carolina: My university email? No, not yet. But you can use another address. It’s caro del b eighty eight @ ready net .V-Z. Jamie: Can you spell that for me? Carolina: OK. It’s Caro del B – c-a-r-o-d-e-l-b – all one word. Eighty eight. At. Ready Net – r-e-a-d-y-n-e-t dot v-z. Jamie: ... net dot v z. OK, great. And have you got a mobile number yet? Carolina: Yes. Oh, just a moment, I’ll have to look at my phone. I haven’t learnt it yet. Here it is. Oh double three four seven four six one oh three seven. Jamie: Oh double three... Carolina: Oh double three four seven four six one oh three seven. Jamie: ...four seven four six one oh three seven. Right. Thanks. What department are you in Carolina? I can send you our booklet. I haven’t finished writing it yet. Carolina: Environmental Science. In the Daish building. Can you send it there? Jamie: Yeah. No problem. The booklet’s got all the information in it. We usually meet on Sundays and talk about what we’re going to do and things. We’re all going out to the pub this Thursday, if you want to come. I’ll give you a ring and let you know where we’re going, if that’s OK? Carolina: Yeah. Great. Jamie: Right. That’s everything. Actually, there’s one more thing. I seem to remember that you said you’d take me to lunch. Do you want to go and get a sandwich somewhere? Carolina: Yes, I did, didn’t I? OK. Erm … I just need to talk to my friend... Ravi: Were you in any societies at university Tess? Tess: Loads. Well, I joined lots of societies in my first year but I didn’t really do a lot. I was in the cycling society. And I used to play volleyball. Anyway, what about Jamie and Carolina going out for lunch, eh?



Ravi: What about it? Oh, I see what you mean. Hmm. Section 7 – The Joke Ravi: Well, that’s almost everything for today but a podcast wouldn’t be a podcast without a joke from Gordon. Are you ready Gordon? Gordon: I am, Ravi. Another special one for you today. Ravi: I’m sure it is Gordon. All of your jokes are ‘special’. In their own way. Let’s hear it. Gordon: Anyway, a rabbit walks into a butcher’s shop and says “Have you got any carrots?”. And the butcher says “No. This is a butcher’s shop – we don’t sell carrots,” and the rabbit says “OK” and goes out of the shop. An hour later, the rabbit comes back. “Have you got any carrots?” And the butcher says “No, I told you, this is a butcher’s shop – we haven’t got any carrots”. An hour later – it happens again, and an hour after that, it happens again. Well, the butcher’s getting really annoyed. Next time the rabbit comes in – “Have you got any carrots?” the butcher says “Look, I’ve told you – we don’t have any carrots here. If you come back to this shop one more time I’m going to take a hammer, take some nails and I’m going to nail your ears to the floor! OK?” So, the rabbit goes away. But, guess what, an hour later, the rabbit comes back and walks into the shop. “Have you got any nails?” “No” says the butcher. “Have you got any carrots?” Ravi: Actually Gordon, I think that’s the best one so far. You’re getting better. Right. We have to go now but don’t go away. After this little break you’re going to hear Tom, our English teacher. After every show, Tom talks about the language you heard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So, don’t go away, but I’ll say goodbye now. See you next time. Tess: Bye! Don’t forget to send us your emails! Here’s that address one more time. It’s [email protected].

Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, my name’s Tom. At the end of every podcast, I talk about some of the language that you heard, and some ways to help you learn English. The first thing I want to talk about today is the word ‘like’. ‘Like’ can be used in lots of different ways in

English. Listen to Tess talking to Jodie at the beginning of the quiz. Listen for the word ‘like’. Tess: Let’s start with you Jodie. Where are you calling from? Jodie: (on phone) From Cardiff. Tess: In Wales. Do you like it? Jodie: Yeah, it’s great. It’s a capital city, you know, so there’s quite a lot to do. Tom: This is the use of ‘like’ that I’m sure you already know. It’s being used as a verb. Tess asks Jodie if she enjoys living in Cardiff. Now listen to Tess again, talking to Will this time. Listen for the word ‘like’. Is it a verb here? Tess: Now, Will. Where are you? Will: (on phone) In Peterborough. Tess: Ah, OK. I know where that is. And what’s it like? Will: Erm, it’s a bit boring really. Tom: Tess asks Will "What is it like?". She’s asking him to describe Peterborough. Will could say "It’s very big" or "It’s very quiet" or "It’s got a lot of shops". In the question "What’s it like?", ‘like’ is a preposition, not a verb. The meaning isn’t connected to the meaning of ‘like’ as a verb. It’s a very common question in English – when we want someone to describe something to us, we often use "What’s it like?". A good example is "What’s the weather like in London?". We want the person to tell us if it’s raining or sunny, if the weather’s good or bad. Or "What’s your teacher like?". We want you to describe your teacher. Maybe "She’s young" or "She’s blonde with blue eyes" or "She’s very friendly" or even "She’s terrible!" – any answer that describes her in some way. Now listen to Tess and Jodie again. Listen to how Jodie uses ‘like’. Tess: Yes! Well done Jodie. And bad luck Will. Jodie wins this week’s Learn English book token to buy any book you want. What kind of book are you going to buy Jodie? Jodie: Oh, I don’t know. I’ll have to think. Probably like, a novel or something. Tom: Hmmm. Jodie’s going to buy “probably like, a novel or something”. She isn’t using ‘like’ as a verb or a preposition here. She’s using it as a ‘filler’. A ‘filler’ is something that we say to give us more time to think, for example ‘erm’ or ‘uh’, or ‘I don’t know’. You will hear young native English speakers



use ‘like’ a lot in this way. You’ll hear for example “Yeah, it’s like, really cool”. Remember that this is a very informal way to speak. If you want to use ‘like’ in this way, then only do it with groups of young friends – and not in more formal situations, with your teacher for example. Next time you watch a ‘teenage’ film in English, listen for ‘like’ used in this way. I’m sure you’ll notice it a lot. It can be difficult to know which words and phrases are informal in English. You may hear a new phrase in a film or a song and want to use it. But can you be sure that you’ll use it in the right situations with the right people? A good learners’ dictionary can help you with this. It will tell you when a word is informal. Most dictionaries use the letters infml, next to the word. This means ‘informal’, so then you can make a note in your vocabulary notebook so that you won’t forget. Let me give you an example. The word ‘children’ isn’t formal or informal. You can use ‘children’ in any situation, with your friends or even if you are talking to the Queen!. It’s never wrong. It’s what we call a ‘neutral’ word. But the word ‘kids’ – which can mean exactly the same as children – is a lot more informal. It would sound strange to talk about ‘kids’ at a formal party for example. Check the word ‘kids’ in your dictionary now and see if it tells you that it’s an informal word. Now let’s talk about something different. When someone tells you their phone number or address, it can be difficult to remember it and write it down at the same time. It can be difficult for native speakers, but may be more difficult if English isn’t your first language. Of course, you can say “I’m sorry – could you say that again?” or “Could you repeat that please?”. But listen to what Jamie does when Carolina tells him her phone number. Carolina: Here it is. Oh double three four seven four six one oh three seven. Jamie: Oh double three... Carolina: Oh double three four seven four six one oh three seven. Jamie: ...four seven four six one oh three seven. Right. Thanks. Tom: Jamie can only remember the first three numbers. So he repeats them “Oh double three” and then he pauses. He stops and waits. This shows Carolina that he wants her to repeat the rest of the numbers for him. He doesn’t need to ask. We do this a lot in English – maybe you do it in your language too - or maybe not. We do it with

telephone numbers, addresses and even names if someone is spelling them out for us. If your English teacher says, “The homework is workbook, page 65, exercises 1, 3 and 7” – and you can’t remember and write it down at the same time, you can say “Workbook page 65..” and stop. Your teacher will then repeat “Exercises 1, 3 and 7”. Here’s another thing that I noticed in this podcast. Listen to Will and Jodie introducing themselves at the beginning of the quiz. They’re both sixteen years old, so listen to what Jodie says. Will: I’m still at school. I’m 16 so I’m doing my GCSE exams this year. ... Jodie: I’m 16 as well. Tom: Yes, she says "I’m sixteen as well". ‘As well’ means the same as ‘too’ in this phrase. You can say "I’m sixteen too" or you can say "I’m sixteen as well". But be careful. You can say "Me too" but we don’t say "Me as well". If your friend says "I’m going to Ana’s party tomorrow", you can say, "Me too" or you can say "I’m going too" or you can say "I’m going as well". Try to use ‘as well’ when you’re speaking English this week. OK. That’s all from me today. I’ll talk to you all again on the next podcast. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. So bye for now! See you next time.



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 – "Your mum and dad live in Brighton now, don’t they?" – Talking about family Ravi: Hello hello and welcome to the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number seven. I’m Ravi, from Manchester … Tess: And I’m Tess, from London. As usual we’ve got lots of interesting stuff for you to listen to – we’ve got the quiz, we’ve got Carolina … and .. we’ve got our producer Gordon, as usual. Hello Gordon. Gordon: Hi Tess. Hi Ravi. Tess: Hiya. Have you had your hair cut Ravi? Ravi: I have, yeah, do you like it? Tess: Yeah, I do, it’s nice. It’s quite short for you. Shorter than usual. Are you changing your image? Ravi: No, not really. I just fancied a change, you know. And I’ve got a big family party this weekend so I thought I’d get my hair cut for that. Tess: You want to look smart. Fair enough. What’s the party? Ravi: It’s my dad’s fiftieth birthday. My mum’s organised a surprise party for him. Tess: Oh, brilliant. What a nice idea. Your mum and dad live in Brighton now, don’t they? Ravi: Yes. They moved down there a couple of years ago. My big sister’s still in Manchester though. Tess: How many brothers and sisters have you got again? I can never remember. Ravi: I’ve got one older sister and two younger brothers. Hang on a sec. That’s them there. Tess: You keep a picture of your family in your wallet? How sweet. Ravi: Yeah. Course I do. That’s Asha, my big sister, there. She’s 3 years older than me. Tess: She’s really pretty. It’s a shame our listeners can’t see this. You do realise that Ravi, don’t you. Ravi: I know I know – but it’ll only take a minute. That one’s Deepak – he’s at university in Bristol and that’s Vikram. He’s still at school. Tess: Hey, your brothers are both really good-looking. What happened to you? Ravi: I knew you were going to say that. Tess: Only joking Ravi. Anyway, we’d better move on – we’ve got a lot to get through. Section 2 – I’d like to meet

Ravi: Right. So let’s start with I’d Like to Meet. Tess: OK. In this part of the podcast we ask people a simple question – which famous person, dead or alive would you like to meet? And we ask them to explain why. So let’s say hello to this week’s guest, Muhammed from Manchester. Hi Muhammed. Welcome to ‘I’d like to meet’. Muhammed: Hi Tess and Ravi Ravi: Hi Muhammed. So you’re a Manchester boy like me. Good football team eh. Muhammed: Which one? Ravi: Which one!? No – don’t tell me you’re a Manchester City supporter! Noooo! Muhammed: I’m afraid so. Sorry Ravi. Tess: Ravi can’t speak – so I’ll continue. What do you do Muhammed? Muhammed: I’m at college at the moment - but when I finish I want to join the police. Tess: You want to be a policeman. What made you decide to do that? Muhammed: My uncle’s a policeman. I don’t know really – it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. Tess: OK. Now, who are you going to talk about today Muhammed – who’s the person that you’d like to meet – if you had the chance? Muhammed: I want to talk about Muhammed Yunus. Tess: OK. Off you go. Muhammed: Well, he’s from Bangladesh – from Chittagong actually – that’s where my dad’s family came from – we’ve still got relations living there. And I think everyone knows his name now – since he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 – well he won it with his bank. Ravi: A bank won the Nobel peace prize? Muhammed: Yes. The Grameen Bank? Microcredit? Ravi: Well, yeah, it sounds familiar. Muhammed: It’s a bank for poor people. Tess: Perhaps you’d better explain how it works Muhammed. Muhammed: Well, it all started when he - Dr Yunus – he’s a professor of economics - he visited a village outside Chittagong, and he talked to a very poor woman – and he realised that she only needed a small amount of money – just a couple of dollars – and then she could buy materials to make things and sell them and earn money. She couldn’t borrow money from the bank because they didn’t believe that she would pay it back. He found more people in the same situation - think it was forty-two people in the village – and all of them together only needed twenty-seven dollars -- that’s all they needed to be able to start making money for themselves. So he lent them the money - and they





all paid it back to him later. Then he went to other villages and did the same thing. So he started his own bank – the Grameen Bank – to lend small amounts of money to poor people, mostly women actually. That’s what microcredit means. Tess: What kinds of things do they use the money for? Muhammed: Well, a woman can buy a cow, and then she can sell the milk and pay to send her children to school. Or she could buy a mobile phone – the villages don’t have telephones – and then people can pay to use her phone. They aren’t expensive things – it just means that poor people can start to earn money. And now the Grameen Bank lends millions and millions of dollars to people. Ravi: And they all pay it back? Muhammed: Most of them yes – something like 99 per cent. And now countries like the United States and Britain are using the idea too, it’s all over the world - so – well, I think he’s brilliant – a real hero. That’s what I’d like to say to him. Tess: Well thank you Muhammed. That was really interesting. Muhammed: Thanks. Ravi: There’s an old joke isn’t there – something about ‘a bank will only lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it’. Tess: Well yes – it’s true isn’t it! I’d never really thought about it before. Ravi: No, nor me. Section 3 – Quiz Ravi: OK. Let’s move on now to quiz time. A little game to make you think. Let’s see who we’ve got on the phone today. Hello? Niall: (on phone) Hi Ravi. Ravi: Niall? Hello Niall, where are you calling from? Niall: From Belfast. Ravi: Ah, Northern Ireland. Lovely. And what do you do Niall? Niall: Well, I work in a shop but I’m going to university soon. Ravi: OK. What are you going to study? Niall: Spanish Ravi: Ah. Buenos dias! Niall: Buenos dias, Ravi Ravi: Actually, that’s all the Spanish I know. OK, so we’ve got Niall from Belfast and Nikki. Hi Nikki. Nikki: (on phone) Hi Ravi Ravi: And where are you from Nikki? Nikki: From Luton. North of London. Ravi: I know it well. My uncle lives there. And what do you do Nikki? Nikki: I work in a garden centre.

Ravi: Very nice. Right. We’re going to play ‘Something Beginning with’ again. I’m sure you both know how to play but I’ll explain the rules. I’m going to ask the questions and when you know the answer you press any button on your phone. Let’s hear your buzzer, Niall. (Niall’s buzzer). And yours Nikki (Nikki’s buzzer). Right. I ask the questions and give you a letter. So, I might say for example "A sport beginning with ‘F'" and when you think of a sport beginning with ‘F’ you press your buzzer. Can either of you think of a sport beginning with ‘F’? (Niall’s buzzer) Niall: Football Ravi: Exactly. The winner is the first person to get three answers right. Are you both ready? Niall/Nikki: Ready/OK Ravi: Then let’s go. Can you tell me a fruit beginning with ‘C’? (Nikki’s buzzer) Ravi: Nikki Nikki: Cherry Ravi: Yes. One nil to Nikki. Can you tell me a means of transport beginning with ‘T’? (Niall’s buzzer) Ravi: Niall. Niall: Train. Ravi: Yes. One one. Next one. Can you tell me an animal beginning with ‘F’? (Niall’s buzzer) Ravi: Niall. Niall: Fox. Ravi: Yes. Two one to Niall. Can you tell me an item of clothing beginning with ‘S’ (Nikki’s buzzer) Ravi: Nikki. Nikki: Socks Ravi: Yes. Two two. So this one is the decider. Ready? Can you tell me … a vegetable beginning with ‘C’? (Niall’s buzzer) Ravi: Niall! Niall: Cauliflower. Ravi: Cauliflower. Yes. So Niall is today’s winner. Well done Niall. Bad luck Nikki. The podcast book token will be on its way to you soon to buy any book you want. You can get a Spanish book. Niall: I might do that Ravi. Ravi: OK. Thanks to both of you for playing and the rest of you, remember you can send your ideas for games to us at [email protected]. Section 4 – Our person in Tess: Right. Let’s move on now to Our Person In. This is the part of the podcast when we hear from



different people all over the world. This time, Susan Harold is Our Woman in Egypt. Susan: When I first arrived in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, 10 years ago, I was working as a teacher. I had lessons in different parts of the city and I had to take a lot of taxis – the underground in Cairo doesn’t cover many areas of this huge city. Black and white taxis are a familiar sight here and it’s a cheap way to travel but I found it very difficult. The big question was – how much do I have to pay? I watched my Egyptian friends in taxis. They didn’t ask the driver “how much?” at the start of the journey, there was no meter in the car to say how much and they didn’t ask ‘how much?’ at the end of the journey – they just handed over the correct amount of money and walked away. “But how do you know how much to pay?” I would ask. A shrug of the shoulders, “We just know.” Gradually, over the years, I have started to understand the payment system in Cairo taxis. There are several things to think about. How far are you going? How long will you spend in the car? What time of day is it? How many people are in the car? My Egyptian friends can make all the calculations and know exactly how much to pay without a word being spoken. Unfortunately, the rules can be different for tourists. You might have to pay more if you travel to or from one of the big international hotels in the city. In fact, you might have to pay a little bit just because you’re a tourist. But don’t let that stop you taking taxis in Cairo. In my opinion, there’s no better way to really see the life of this amazing city. Ravi: I went to Cairo on holiday a couple of years ago and it was unbelievable. I mean, it’s a fantastic city, the pyramids are just incredible and everything but it’s just so big and the traffic …oof! Tess: Did you take a taxi? Ravi: I didn’t. I was too scared to cross the road most of the time. I’d love to go back though. Tess: Well. listeners, remember that you have the chance to join in too. This time we’d like to hear about taking a taxi in your country. You can send it to us at [email protected]. Actually, taxi might be one of the answers in the next part of the podcast. Section 5 – Your turn Tess: It’s time for Your Turn when we go out into the street to find out what people think. And the

question this time was ‘What’s the best way to travel?’ Ravi: Actually, that’s quite a difficult question. Erm .. I think I’d say flying. Except it’s really bad for the planet. Tess: Well, let’s hear what our people said. Voice 1: Oh, by train. Definitely. You know, you can get up and walk around and you can’t really do that in a plane or a car. And you can just sit and watch the world go by. Not too fast, not too slow. Just right. Voice 2: Well, I shouldn’t really say this but I love driving. It gives you that feeling of independence that you don’t get with any other transport. You can just go wherever you want. The world’s your oyster. I’d love to drive all the way across America one day. Voice 3: I know lots of people don’t like it but I really like flying. I still think it’s amazing that we can do it. When you stop to think about it, it’s incredible. And I love the view from up there. Mind you, it’s really bad for the planet, I suppose. Voice 4: Well I’ve travelled on the underground today but if I had to say what the best way to travel is I’d say bicycle. I think it’s the satisfaction of getting around by your own effort. And it’s good for you. Voice 5: I’d probably say ‘on foot’, really. I mean, it depends. I love walking in the countryside – it’s not so much fun in the city, I guess. I’ll tell you what isn’t the best way to travel. Flying. I hate it. I’m terrified. Ravi: Nah, I disagree, I really like flying. What about you Tess? Tess: I’m surprised that nobody said ‘boat’. I love travelling by boat. We went on a boat holiday when I was a kid – I loved it. Ravi: And we’d love to hear what all of you out there think. What do you think is the best way to travel? Write and let us know. [email protected]. Section 6 – Carolina Tess: OK. Time now to find out how Carolina’s getting on in Newcastle. Carolina, you might remember, is a student from Venezuela who’s come to Britain to live, study and have fun. Last time we listened, Carolina joined some societies at



the university but this time she’s not feeling too well. In the shared residence kitchen Carolina: Hi Emily. Emily: Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you had a seminar at 10 o’clock. Carolina: I did, but I’m not feeling very well. (she sneezes) Emily: Bless you! You sound terrible. You’d better go to bed. Did you tell your tutor that you were ill? Carolina: No, I was early, he wasn’t there, but I left a note on the door. I said I was sorry, but I was very constipated. Emily: Constipated? Why did you tell him you were constipated? Carolina: Well, because I am. (she sneezes) See, I can’t stop sneezing. Emily: You don’t sneeze when you’re constipated. Constipated means that you can’t go to the toilet, you know, you’re blocked ….. , you know, you try and try but you can’t …. well you know. Carolina: Oh no! I was thinking in Spanish! In Spanish we say I’m constipada! (she sneezes) Emily: Well in English it’s a cold. You say I’ve got a cold – a bad cold. Carolina: I knew that! I’ve got a cold! What a stupid mistake! It’s because I’m ill – my head feels like it’s full of, I don’t know, ….. cake. Emily: Cake?! Carolina: And I left a note on the door. Everyone’s going to laugh at me. Emily: No they won’t. Don’t be silly. Everyone knows English isn’t your first language – you made a mistake that’s all. Carolina: But they won’t know it’s a mistake. (she sneezes) They’ll think I wanted to tell everyone that I was constipated, that I couldn’t go to the toilet. Oh, I want to go home to Venezuela. Emily: Look, it’s not ten o’clock yet. I’ll go the room and take the note off the door and explain to…. who? Carolina: Professor Grogan. Room 102. It’ll be too late. Emily: And you can go to the chemist’s and get yourself something to take. Then come back here and go to bed. You look awful. Have some hot lemon and honey – that’s what my mother always gives me. Carolina: (she sneezes) OK, thanks a lot Emily. At the chemist’s Chemist: Good morning. Can I help you?

Carolina: (she sneezes) Yes please. I can’t stop sneezing. (she sneezes) Have you got anything I can take? Chemist: Is it a cold or an allergy? Carolina: It’s a cold. I don’t have any allergies, at least I don’t think so. Chemist: Have you got any other symptoms? (Carolina sneezes) A sore throat? A headache? A cough? Carolina: Yes, my throat hurts – it hurts when I eat or drink, and my head hurts too. Chemist: Have you got a temperature? Carolina: A temperature? (she sneezes) What’s that? I’m sorry, my English is terrible today. Chemist: You know, have you got a high temperature, do you feel hot? Is your face hot? Carolina: You mean a fever? Yes, yes, I think so, my face is hot but my body feels cold. Chemist: OK. It sounds like a bad cold. Let’s see … ... this should help. Are you allergic to any medicines? Carolina: No, no I’m not. How often do I have to take it? Chemist: Two spoonfuls, four times a day. The instructions are on the bottle. Don’t take it if you’re driving, it might make you sleepy. Carolina: That’s OK. I just want to go to bed. Should I take anything else? Chemist: Vitamin C will help. Here you are. Take one of these three times a day. And drink plenty of water. Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking? Carolina: Venezuela. I’ve only been here a few weeks. Chemist: Ah. Venezuela. I expect our English weather is a bit too cold for you then. Spend the rest of the day in bed and keep warm. You’ll feel a lot better tomorrow. Carolina: I hope so. Chemist: If you still feel terrible in two or three days then you should go and see a doctor. Carolina: Thank you very much. And how much is that for the medicines? Tess: Poor Carolina. It’s terrible when you feel ill in a foreign country. Ravi: "I am constipated." Tess: Oh, stop it Ravi. Ravi: Yeah, you’re right. It is quite funny though. And she got some medicine so I’m sure she’s OK. Section 7 – The Joke Ravi: Anyway, that’s almost the end of another podcast but, as usual, before we go, we’re going to



hear from Gordon with another one of his amazing jokes. Gordon? Gordon: Yep. Ravi: What have you got for us? Gordon: Another dog, Ravi. Ravi: Come on then, let’s hear it. Gordon: Right. A dog goes to put an advert in a newspaper. In the lonely hearts column, you know. Ravi: To find a girlfriend? Gordon: Right. Anyway, the assistant at the newspaper says "That’s fine, just fill in your name and address on this form and then write your advert in the box underneath." “OK”, says the dog. He fills in the form and then he stops to think for a bit and then he writes in the box – "woof, woof, woof. Woof, woof. Woof, woof, woof, woof." He gives the paper to the assistant and she has a look at it and says to the dog, “You know you’ve got nine woofs here – you can have an extra one for no extra charge – it’s ten words for £5. Why don’t you add another ‘woof’?” The dog looks really confused. “Another ‘woof’? That wouldn’t make any sense at all”. Ravi: I quite like that one. Your dog jokes are the best ones Gordon. You should concentrate on them. What do you think Tess? Tess: Quite funny – but don’t look for work as a comedian just yet Gordon. Anyway. That’s everything from us for this time. After this little break you’ll hear from Tom, our English teacher who’ll talk about the language you heard and give you ideas to help you learn. So we’ll say goodbye but don’t go away. Ravi: And remember to keep your emails coming to us at [email protected]. Tess & Ravi: Bye!. Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, my name’s Tom. At the end of every podcast, I talk about some of the language that you heard, and some ways to help you learn English. Today I want to look at some verbs that we use to describe things – or to describe the idea that we have about them. Listen to Emily and Carolina talking. Remember, Carolina is ill. What phrase does Emily use to describe her?

Emily: Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you had a seminar at 10 o’clock. Carolina: I did, but I’m not feeling very well. (she sneezes) Emily: Bless you! You sound terrible. Tom: Emily says “You sound terrible!” We use the verb ‘sound’ when we are talking about something we can hear. Emily can hear that Carolina is ill from her voice, and also from her sneezes. So she uses ‘sound’. If your friend tells you all about her new boyfriend, but you haven’t met him yet, you can say “He sounds nice.” You have the idea that he is nice from what she has said about him, from what you’ve heard. So you can use ‘sound’. Now listen to Emily again. How does she describe Carolina this time? Emily: And you can go to the chemist’s and get yourself something to take. Then come back here and go to bed. You look awful. Have some hot lemon and honey – that’s what my mother always gives me. Tom: This time Emily says “You look awful”. This time, she can see that Carolina is ill - it isn’t just her voice now. Her eyes are probably red, and she might be very pale. So this time Emily says “You look awful”. If your friend shows you a photograph of her new boyfriend, and you haven’t met him yet, you can say “He looks nice”. You have the idea that he is nice from the photo – from what you can see. So you can use ‘look’. A lot of languages use words that translate as ‘seem’ or ‘appear’ in all of these situations, so using ‘look’ and ‘sound’ might be a bit strange for you. Try to notice people using ‘look’ and ‘sound’ in the English that you read and hear, and try to use those phrases yourself. Now I want to talk about something that’s very important when you learn a new language. Do you remember Carolina’s problem with the word ‘constipated’? Emily: Constipated? Why did you tell him you were constipated? Carolina: Well, because I am. (she sneezes) See, I can’t stop sneezing. Emily: You don’t sneeze when you’re constipated. Constipated means that you can’t go to the toilet, you know, you’re blocked ….. , you know, you try and try but you can’t …. well you know. Carolina: Oh no! I was thinking in Spanish! In Spanish we say I’m constipada! (she sneezes)



This is a very common problem. It depends what language you speak, but sometimes there are words in your language that are very similar to a word in English. And very often they have the same meaning too. For example, ‘arriver’ in French is similar to ‘arrive’ in English, and the meaning is the same. These words can help you a lot. But be careful! As we just heard with Carolina, sometimes the words don’t have the same meaning at all! The word ‘constipada’ in Spanish looks and sounds the same as the English word ‘constipated’. But the meaning is completely different. We call these words ‘false friends’. They look or sound the same as a word in another language – so you think they are ‘friends’ - but they don’t have the same meaning. The German word for ‘poison’ sounds the same as the English word ‘gift’ – which means ‘a present’. In Finnish, the word for ‘cat’ can sound like the English word ‘kiss’. False friends can be very dangerous! When you hear a word in English that sounds or looks the same as a word in your language, the first thing to do is notice the context – the situation where you heard or saw the word, what the people were talking about. This will help you to understand the meaning of the word. Then, if you’re still not sure, check the word in your English learners’ dictionary. And finally, if it is a false friend, then make a note of it on a special page in your vocabulary notebook and make a really special effort to learn it – and remember it. It isn’t easy - even people who speak English very well still make mistakes with false friends – just like Carolina did – when they’re tired or not concentrating. Now let’s look at a useful phrase that we use in English when we want to ask a personal question. Listen to Carolina and the chemist. What phrase does he use when he asks her a personal question? Chemist: Vitamin C will help. Here you are. Take one of these three times a day. And drink plenty of water. Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking? Carolina: Venezuela. I’ve only been here a few weeks. Tom: He says “Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking?” Of course, in a different situation, with your new classmates for example, “Where are you from?” isn’t a very personal question, but the chemist doesn’t know Carolina, and in this situation – Carolina is buying some medicine for her cold –

Carolina might be offended – she might think the question isn’t appropriate. So he adds “if you don’t mind me asking”. This makes the question more polite. If you want to ask someone a question but you aren’t sure if it’s polite to ask, then use “if you don’t mind me asking”. Just before I go, let me give you a phrase from the podcast that you can use. Listen to what we say in English when someone sneezes – atchoo!. Emily: Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you had a seminar at 10 o’clock. Carolina: I did, but I’m not feeling very well. (she sneezes) Emily: Bless you! You sound terrible. You’d better go to bed. Did you tell your professor that you were ill? Tom: Yes, we say “Bless you!”. Some learners think that we say “God bless you” – well maybe that was the original phrase that people used a long time ago, but nowadays it’s just “Bless you!”. Use it the next time someone sneezes near you! OK. That’s all from me today. I’ll talk to you all again on the next podcast. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! Or write to me about any interesting language that you noticed. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. So bye for now! See you next time.



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 – “I wanted to ask you something” – asking for a favour Tess: Hello again and welcome to the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number eight. I’m Tess, from London. Ravi: And I’m Ravi, from Manchester. You’re looking great as usual Tess, how are you? Tess: Thanks, Ravi. I’m very well thanks. How are you? Ravi: I’m fine thanks. Actually, I’m very well. You know I told you I was looking for a new flat? Tess: Yes. Ravi: Well, I found a new place over on Carswell Road – near the swimming pool. It’s really nice. Much bigger than the one I’m in now. Tess: What’s the rent like? Ravi: Well, it is quite expensive, quite a bit more than I pay now. But it’s a lot nicer. Tess: Great. When are you moving. Ravi: Well, I wanted to ask you about that. What are you doing on Saturday? Tess: Nothing special. Why? Ravi: Well, do you think you could help me move some stuff to my new place? Can you spare two or three hours in the afternoon? Tess: Yeah, I suppose so. Ravi: You can say ‘no’ if you want to you know. Tess: No, it’s OK, I don’t mind. Ravi: That’s brilliant. Thank you. I’ll tell you what, I’ll make dinner for you at the new flat after we’ve moved my things. Does that sound OK? Tess: Ooh. That’ll be lovely, thanks. Ravi: Great. Have a think about what you want to eat. Right. Well, we’d better get on. Lots of things for you, as usual. We’ve got Gordon – hello Gordon Gordon: Hello Ravi: Gordon’s our producer and king of the bad jokes. We’ve got the quiz, we’ve got fish in the bath we’ve got good and bad TV but first of all we’ve got I’d Like to Meet. Section 2 – I’d like to meet

Ravi: And joining us today is Megan. Hello Megan. Megan: Hi Ravi. Ravi: Where are you today Megan? Megan: I’m at home. In Reading. Ravi: Oh yeah, I know it. Do you like it? Megan: It’s OK. I quite like it, yeah. Ravi: OK then Megan, tell us, who would you like to meet? Megan: I’d like to meet David Attenborough. Ravi: Great choice. I know who David Attenborough is – I think anyone who watches television in Britain will know who he is – but maybe you can explain to people who don’t watch television in Britain who David Attenborough is and what he’s well known for. Megan: Well actually Ravi, David Attenborough’s wildlife programmes have been seen by more than one billion people all over the world so I think people will know who he is. They might not know his name but I think they’ll recognise him. Erm, he’s a TV presenter and he makes programmes about nature and wildlife and the natural world and they are just fantastic. Erm .. I’ll say the names of some of the programmes in case anyone recognises them, erm, there was Life on Earth, the Life of Birds, the Blue Planet, Planet Earth – there’s been so many of them. Ravi: And what is it about David Attenborough that you like? Megan: Oh, everything. He’s getting quite old now – he’s over 80 now, but he looks great – he’s got really white hair. And I love his voice – he just sounds so interested in the animals that he’s talking about and sometimes he gets really close to them and he’s almost whispering but you can just see how interested and excited he is. I think the programmes are brilliant. But the other thing is that the programmes are always about the animals not about him. Y’ know some presenters just talk about themselves all the time. I think his programmes are the best things on TV. Ravi: So, you like animals then Megan? Megan: I love them. I want to be a vet. Ravi: And what would you say to David Attenborough if you met him? Megan: Well, I’d like to say "thank you" I think for his programmes and tell him that I think they’ve been really important in telling people about climate change and global warming and the real things that are happening to animals because of what people do. I think his programmes have





made a lot of people realise the problems animals have to face. And I’d like to ask him what he thinks will happen in the future, y’know, if it’s too late to save the planet, kind of thing. Ravi: Y’know. I think I’d really like to meet David Attenborough as well. I really love those programmes. Do you know what he said about TV advertisements Megan? Megan: No? Ravi: He said he will never do an advertisement on TV. He says if people know you will take money to say you like something then they can’t trust you anymore or believe what you say. Megan: Yeah. You really do trust him when you listen to him. Ravi: Well, thanks Megan – that was great. And remember that we’re always happy to hear from you so if you’d like to tell us about a TV presenter in your country you can send it to us at [email protected], that’s learnenglish - all one word - at- britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g. Section 3 – Quiz Tess: OK now. It’s time for our quiz, as usual. Our players this time are Amy. Hi Amy. Amy: (on phone) Hello Tess: And Brandon. Hello Brandon. Brandon: (on phone) Hi Tess. Tess: Let’s start with you Amy. Where are you calling from? Amy: From Leeds. I’m from Yorkshire. Tess: And what do you do? Amy: I’m studying to be a nurse. I’ve just started. Tess: Oh. Are you enjoying it? Amy: Yeah, it’s great so far. Tess: OK. Great. Now how about you Brandon. Where are you calling from? Brandon: I’m in Penzance in Cornwall. Tess: Wow – the very tip of the country. I used to go to Cornwall on holiday when I was a kid. Brandon: We still get loads of holidaymakers every year. Tess: Well, it’s such a beautiful area. Anyway, we’ve got a new quiz for you this time – a numbers quiz. How are you with numbers Amy? Amy: Well, I’ll do my best. Tess: OK. Here’s what you have to do. You’re going to work together to answer some riddles. I’ll give you an example. There are 7 D in a W. Can you tell me what the ‘D’ and the ‘W’ stand for?

Brandon: Is it 7 days in a week? Tess: OK, so you get the idea. Now, either of you can answer and if, together, you can get five correct answers, you both win a prize. OK you two? Brandon & Amy: OK / Yes Tess: So, here’s the first one. There are twelve M in a Y. Amy: Twelve months in a year? Tess: Well done! One out of one. Next one. Twenty-four H in a D. Brandon: Twenty-four hours in a day. Tess: That’s it. Two out of two. Three more to get. Next one. Sixty S in an M. Brandon: It’s sixty seconds in a minute, isn’t it? Tess: It is. Two more to get. Normally, there are 30 or 31 D in an M. Amy: Days in a month? Tess: Right! Four out of four. One more to get. Sixty M in an H. Brandon: Sixty minutes in an hour! Tess: Yes Well done you two! Five out of five. OK – you’ve both won a book token and we’ll be sending them to you very soon. Thanks for playing – and well done. Ravi – I’ve got one for you. Eleven P in an F T. Ravi: Easy. Eleven players in a football team. Good game though. Remember if you’re listening that you can send your ideas for games we can play to [email protected]. Section 4 – Our person in Ravi: OK. Time now for Our Person In. At the start of the podcast I promised you fish in the bath – and here they come. Bill Steadman is our man in Prague. Bill: When the huge fish tanks appear outside supermarkets here in Prague you know that it must be almost Christmas. The tanks are full of carp – the fish traditionally eaten at Christmas here in the Czech Republic and in other central European countries. For my first Christmas in the Czech Republic I found this tradition a little strange. Carp isn’t usually eaten in Britain – it’s a fish that is often full of small bones and the flavour is a little, well, different. But what I found really strange about the Czech habit of eating carp at Christmas is how they do it.



People usually buy the fish from tanks outside supermarkets and take them home– alive – and put them in the bath. Spending a few days in clean bath water cleans the carp and makes it taste better when it is eaten on Christmas Eve. A friend of mine told me that when her son was four years old he asked why they were keeping the carp in the bath. “To clean it” she told him. Later that day my friend went to look at the carp in the bath and saw, to her horror, a bath full of bubbles. Her helpful son had added a generous handful of soap powder to the bath to make sure their carp was lovely and clean. That was one family that didn’t eat carp that year. All my friends with children tell me that there is one golden rule – never give your carp a name. When Christmas Eve arrives you’ll find it very difficult to explain to your children why their pet has suddenly disappeared. Tess: Ahh. So the poor children think they’ve got a fish as a pet and then it disappears and they have to eat it for Christmas. Poor things. Ravi: What I want to know is how do they have a bath when the fish is in the bath? Do they just have a bath with the fish? Very strange. But anyway, if any of you has something interesting to tell us about what you eat at festivals in your country then write and let us know. The address is [email protected]. Section 5 – Your turn Tess: Now, let’s move on to Your Turn, the part of our podcast when we find out what you think. This time round we asked a two part question – what are the best – and worst – things on TV. Let’s hear some answers. Voice 1: Best thing – sport. I know people complain about it but it’s all I watch, really. Worst thing – reality TV shows – definitely. There are hundreds of them and they are all completely stupid. Voice 2: Well, I like soap operas. I watch two or three of them, you know. You really feel like you know the characters. I’ve watched them for years. What do I always switch off? Probably the weather forecast. It’s never right so what’s the point in watching it?

Voice 3: I don’t watch much TV but I do like the nature documentaries. I saw one about whales and it was just amazing. I don’t know how they do it. But apart from that, I don’t know. There’s too much sport on television. I just turn it off straight away. Voice 4: I can’t really go to the cinema very often now I’ve got children so I like to watch films on TV. They don’t have the most recent films but, you know, it’s OK. That’s what I watch mostly. I can’t stand all the sport on TV though. It never ends! Voice 5: Erm.. what do I like? Have you seen Silver Fox? I love action programmes like that, you know, exciting things. It’s better than the news and the political programmes and that. Bo-ring!. Tess: How about you Ravi. What would you say? Ravi: Sport, I’m afraid. That’s pretty much all I watch on TV. I watch DVDs most of the time. Let us know what you think – what are the best – and worst – things on TV? Send your answers to [email protected]. Section 6 – Carolina Ravi: OK. It’s time now to catch up with Carolina. Carolina, you’ll remember, is from Venezuela and she’s come to England to live, study and have fun. She wasn’t having much fun last time because she had a really bad cold but she’s feeling better now and she’s going out to the pub with some friends. In the pub Jamie: Carolina! Hi! We’re over here! Carolina: Oh hi! I couldn’t see you! Voice: ... And the man says “I know. It is amazing. He hated the book”. Jamie: Come and sit down. There’s a space next to Henry. Carolina: Excuse me, sorry. Hello Henry. Henry: Hi. Jamie: And this is Helen, and Nigel, and Gemma and Jake. All: hi, hello, hi Carolina etc



Carolina: Hello everybody. Jake: Right. It’s my round. Carolina: Round? I don’t understand. Jamie: Haven’t you ever been to a pub before? Carolina: No, it’s the first time. Jamie: We take it in turns to buy a round – that’s what you do in a pub. Everyone buys a round. Carolina: But is a round a drink? Jamie: No. One person buys a drink for everyone at the table – that’s called a round. Then next time someone else buys one. Henry bought the first one and now Jake’s buying the next one, so it’s his round. But you don’t have to…. not if you don’t want to….if you don’t want a drink or something. Carolina: Oh… no, that’s OK. I’ll buy a round later. Jake: So, same again everybody? All: yes, yes please, yep, same again, same for me please. Jake: Carolina? What are you drinking? Carolina: Oh dear I don’t know. What is everyone else having? Jamie: I’m having Newcastle Brown. It’s a really good beer. From Newcastle of course. Carolina: Ugh! It doesn’t look like the beer I know. It’s very dark! Jamie: No, probably not. You probably drink lager – that’s the pale beer, you know the light coloured one. We call it lager. Would you like one? Carolina: No, I don’t think so. I’ll have a fruit juice – what have they got? Jake: Well, pineapple – that’s what Helen’s drinking, but besides that, I’m not sure. Come up to the bar with me and we’ll ask. You can give me a hand with the drinks. OK, so that’s two bottles of Newcastle Brown, a pint of lager, a half of lager, a Diet Coke, a pineapple juice – and whatever Carolina wants. At the bar Jake: So, are you enjoying Newcastle? Carolina: Yes I am. I haven’t seen much of it yet. I’ve just started classes and I had a really bad cold for a few days. But I like what I’ve seen. Barman: Y’ being served? Jake: No. Um, two bottles of Newcastle Brown, a pint and a half of lager, a Diet Coke and a pineapple juice please. And what other fruit juices have you got?

Barman: Pineapple, cranberry, mango, apple, and orange. Carolina: Um, mango please. Jake: And a packet of crisps please – cheese and onion. Barman: Right you are. Jake: And how long have you known Jamie? Carolina: We met on the train coming up from London. Jake: Well he seems to like you. Carolina: Oh, does he?, Well I …. Barman: That’s eleven pounds fifty please. Jake: Here you are. Barman: And that’s eight fifty change. Jake: Thanks. OK, let’s get these back to the table. I’ll take the lagers –if you can bring the ….. Tess: Oooh. Jamie seems to like Carolina. Well, well. Ravi: I knew you’d say that. Do you buy rounds if you go to the pub, Tess? Tess: I don’t usually. It can be really expensive, can’t it? Anyway, at least Carolina knows what a round is now. I don’t really go to the pub much anyway. I prefer to be outdoors. Ravi: Gordon. I bet you’re often in the pub. Surrounded by people laughing at your jokes. Gordon: That’s right Ravi. Section 7 – The Joke Ravi: Is it time for your joke now? Come on then. I hope it’s a good one. Gordon: They’re all good, Ravi. Ready for it? Ravi: Go on. Gordon: OK then. There were these two married couples, OK? And one couple invited the other for dinner one night. So, they have a lovely meal and after dinner the two men were in the kitchen doing the washing up and chatting and the two women were in the living room, having a chat. One of the men says to the other, “We went to a great restaurant last week – had a fantastic meal. The best Indian food I’ve had in ages. Excellent. And really cheap too”. And the other man says “Sounds great. I love Indian food. What was the restaurant called?”



And the first man says, “Oh gosh. My memory’s terrible. Now, let me think for a minute. You know that flower? It’s red – smells nice. Romantic – you give it to people you love on Valentine’s Day. What do you call it?” “A rose” says the other man. “Yes! That’s it!” and he shouts into the living room, “Rose! What was the name of the Indian restaurant we went to last Saturday?” Tess: My dad’s like that. His memory’s awful. Ravi: Yeah, mine too. Actually I forget things as well. Thanks for the joke …erm … what’s his name again? Tess: Very funny Ravi. Thanks Gordon. And that’s all from us for today but don’t go away because our English teacher, Tom, will be here in a little while talking about what you heard and ways to help you learn. So, it’s goodbye from me and Ravi … Ravi: Bye Tess: … but don’t go away and keep sending your emails to [email protected]. Bye! Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, my name’s Tom. At the end of every podcast, I talk about some of the language that you heard, and some ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about prepositions – words like ‘on’, ‘at’ and ‘in’. It’s very difficult for learners to use these words correctly in English. We use prepositions all the time – in lots of different ways. But today I’m only going to talk about one situation – using prepositions in time phrases – with words like ‘Saturday’, ‘Christmas’ or ‘December’. Listen to Ravi. Which preposition does he use before ‘Saturday’? Ravi Well, I wanted to ask you about that. What are you doing on Saturday? Tom: That’s right – he uses ‘on’. We say ‘on Saturday’ – or ‘on’ any other day of the week.

‘On Sunday’, ‘on Monday’, ‘on Tuesday’ – all of the days. Now listen to part of Gordon’s joke. The man in the joke is trying to explain what a ‘rose’ is. Listen to the preposition with ‘Valentine’s Day’. Gordon: Romantic – you give it to people you love on Valentine’s Day. Tom: He said ‘on Valentine’s Day’. Valentine’s Day isn’t a day of the week, but it is a day – a single day. So we use ‘on’ again. Now listen to one more. This is Bill in Prague talking about the fish that they eat. Listen for the time phrase. Bill: Spending a few days in clean bath water cleans the carp and makes it taste better when it is eaten on Christmas Eve. Tom: Yes, it was ‘on’ again. He said "on Christmas Eve". Can you guess why? Christmas Eve is what we call the day before Christmas day – the 24th of December. So, Christmas Eve is a single day. So we use ‘on’. So – when we’re talking about a single day, we use ‘on’. We can say "on my birthday" or "on the first of December" or "on the day I met you". And we use it for dates too – because they’re single days – 'on the first of January’, ‘on the twenty-fifth of April’, ‘on the tenth of July’. There’s just one more thing I need to tell you about using (or not using!) ‘on’ in time phrases. Listen to this line from Gordon’s joke. Gordon: What was the name of the Indian restaurant we went to last Saturday? Tom: Hmm. He said "last Saturday" – he didn’t use ‘on’. The reason is simple. We don’t use a preposition when we use ‘last’. We just say ‘last Saturday’. No ‘on’. And it’s the same with ‘next’ and ‘this. We just say "What are you doing next Saturday?" or "Let’s have dinner this Saturday". No ‘on’. So now you know how to use ‘on’ in time phrases! In other time phrases we might use ‘at’ or ‘in’ – for example we say "at the weekend" or "at Christmas", and we say "in December" or "in the afternoon". It’s quite difficult to remember them all. But if you can remember that we use ‘on’ for single days, it will make life a lot easier for you!



People often make mistakes with prepositions because they aren’t thinking in English. They think in their own language and then translate the words into English. And that’s when they make mistakes – and not only with prepositions – with lots of different things. When you’re writing you have time to think – you can look at grammar books, or your notebook, for help. But speaking is different – you often don’t have time to think. If you want to speak English well – you have to start trying to think in English. You can do this with practise. Look at things that you see around you – at home or in the street and say the words in English. You can say them out loud if you’re alone – if not just think them. Then start trying to say or think sentences – ‘I’m going to the kitchen now. I’m going to make my lunch’. Talk to yourself about what you’re doing in English – out loud or in your head. Try to do this for a short time at first – then you can increase the time. Try to do it for an hour every day – it will soon get easier. And your brain will learn to think in English. Try it. I’m sure you’ll notice the difference after a while. And now for something different. In this podcast we heard Carolina meeting some people in a pub. She learnt a new word. Listen. Carolina: But is a round a drink? Jamie: No. One person buys a drink for everyone at the table – that’s called a round. Then next time someone else buys one. Henry bought the first one and now Jake’s buying the next one, so it’s his round. But you don’t have to…. not if you don’t want to….if you don’t want a drink or something. Tom: Pubs are a big part of British culture. British people often go to the pub, and you will often be invited to go too. This doesn’t mean that you have to drink alcohol. You can drink lots of different things in a pub – and you can do a lot of different things too. You can have a meal for example. A lot of pubs serve very good food – at lunchtime or in the evening – and it’s usually cheaper than eating in a restaurant. A lot of pubs have live music, or maybe karaoke evenings. Another popular thing is a pub quiz. Teams of people try to answer questions to win a prize. That’s a good way to practise your English! So,

it’s good to know some phrases in English that you need to use in a pub. In this podcast Carolina learnt what ‘to buy a round’ means. Now listen to Jake. Can you understand all of the drinks that he’s going to buy? Jake: Come up to the bar with me and we’ll ask. You can give me a hand with the drinks. OK, so that’s two bottles of Newcastle Brown, a pint of lager, a half of lager, a Diet Coke, a pineapple juice – and whatever Carolina wants. Tom: The word ‘pint’ is probably new for you. Jake is going to buy a pint of lager. ‘A pint’ is a British measurement – it’s a little bit more than half a litre – point five seven of a litre in fact. We use it informally to mean a pint of beer. And ‘a half’ means half a pint of beer – so that’s more or less a quarter of a litre. Now one more useful phrase. Listen. Jake: So, same again everybody? All: yes, yes please, yep, same again, same for me please Tom: You’ll hear ‘same again’ a lot in the pub, especially when people are buying rounds. It means ‘another of the same drink that you had before’. If someone says “What would you like to drink?” you can say ”Same again please”. Now, just before I go, I noticed a useful phrase that you can try and use this week. It’s a phrase that means ‘I’m sure’. Listen and see if you can hear it. Ravi: Gordon. I bet you’re often in the pub. Surrounded by people laughing at your jokes. Gordon: That’s right Ravi. Tom: The phrase is ‘I bet’. We use it informally and it means ‘I’m sure’. For example, we can say "I bet it’s going to rain tomorrow" or "I bet Ana forgot her homework again". Try and use ‘I bet’ in your conversations in English. OK. That’s all from me today. I’ll talk to you all again on the next podcast. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! Or write to me about any interesting language that you noticed. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the



website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. So bye for now! See you next time.



Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Section 1 – “A weekend away” – talking about short breaks Ravi: Hello once again and welcome to the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number 9 with me, Ravi, from Manchester. Tess: And me Tess, from London. And Gordon, our producer, from … where are you from Gordon? Gordon_ Me? I’m from Keswick, in the Lake District, you know, but I’ve lived in London for about twenty years. Tess: Keswick? Really? I’m going there this weekend. Gordon: Really? What for? Having a weekend away? Ravi: Are you going cycling again? Tess: Yeah, we are, six of us. We’re getting the train up from London on Friday morning then cycling to Keswick, spending a night there then we’re going to do a really long ride on the Saturday .. Ravi: You’re not going to camp, are you? Isn’t it a bit cold? Tess: No, we’re not – it is a bit cold. We’re staying in youth hostels, you know. Ravi: Oh right, I haven’t been in a youth hostel since I was a kid. Are they still really cold and uncomfortable? Tess: No, not at all. Some of them are fantastic. I mean, they’re not like five star hotels or anything but they’re really comfortable and you meet some really interesting people in them. Ravi: Hmm. Sounds OK, better than I remember. It’s the cycling I don’t want to do. How far are you going to ride each day? Tess: About fifty miles or so. It depends. It’s more difficult with all the hills and stuff. We haven’t booked the youth hostels – they won’t be really busy at this time of year. So we’ll just stay at the nearest place if we get really tired. Ravi: Ah OK. Sounds great. When are you coming back? Tess: We’re getting a train on Sunday afternoon so we’ll get back to London in the evening, about six o’clock, I think. Ravi: Do you know what I’m going to do this weekend? Tess: No? What are you up to?

Ravi: Absolutely nothing. I’m going to sit on my sofa all weekend and watch TV. I’ve got loads of DVDs I want to watch. I’ll think of you on your bicycle though. Tess: I don’t know how you can do nothing all weekend Ravi. I’d get so bored. Ravi: I know, I know. I’m going to start going to the gym soon, honest. I can never find the time. Section 2 – I’d like to meet Ravi: Anyway, it’s time now to move on. As usual we’re going to start with Would Like to Meet. In every podcast someone comes to the studio and tells us about a famous person – alive or dead - that they’d like to meet. We’ve got Sean here with us today so let’s start by finding out something about you. Sean: Well, my name’s Sean, I’m seventeen, and I’m from Brighton. Ravi: That’s where my mum and dad live. I go down there a lot. Great place. Sean: Yeah, it’s good. There’s plenty to do – good shops. I’d rather live in London though. Ravi: I bet if you lived in London, you’d want to go back to Brighton. Get some fresh air, see the sea. Sean: Maybe – but then I could visit my mum and dad, like you do Ravi. Ravi: Well that’s true. Yeah, live in London, have family in Brighton – perfect really. Tess: And who are you going to talk about today Sean. Who’s the famous person you’d like to meet? Sean: Matt Groening. Tess: The Simpsons guy? Ravi: The Simpsons guy? I always thought it was pronounced ‘groaning’. Sean: Well I did too, for a long time. But no it isn’t, it rhymes with ‘raining’ – Matt Groening. Tess: OK, That’s the name sorted out. Tell us a bit about him Sean. Sean: Well, as you know, he’s the guy who created the Simpsons which is probably the best show on TV anywhere in the world. Ever. And a great film too. Tess: You’re a fan then. Sean: Ever since I can remember. And I just think that the man who created something so brilliant must be a really funny guy. To be honest, I don’t know much about him as a person – I know he’s really old – he must be fifty or something – at least. Tess: I’m not sure fifty is really old Sean. My mother wouldn’t be very happy to hear that. Sean: Well you know, whatever. He’s older than my dad anyway. That’s why I’d like to meet him – he must be really funny and really smart, but he’s old.





Um, what else do I know? Um - and I know he’s got kids – two kids called Abraham and Homer. Tess: He called his son Homer! After Homer Simpson! Sean.: Well maybe – maybe not. Homer was his dad’s name too – he got all the names from his own family. His mum and dad were Homer and Margaret – Marge for short. And his little sisters are Lisa and Maggie. Bart was going to be called Matt at first but then he changed his mind. But I read somewhere that the character of Bart Simpson was based on his older brother. I guess I’d like to meet him too. Ravi: When did the show start? Sean: In the 1980s – I’m not sure of the year. But it’s about twenty years old. But the characters never get any older - I like that. Oh, and another thing I’ve just remembered – “Doh!” – you know Homer Simpsons’ famous “Doh!” - is now in the Oxford English Dictionary. I think that’s pretty amazing. And I can’t remember anything else. Doh! Ravi: Don’t worry about it – that was really interesting Tess: Thanks Sean , another good one there. Ravi, I don’t why I haven’t asked you this before – who would you like to meet? Who would you talk about if you were our guest on the podcast? Ravi: Oof. That’s a tough one. There’s so many. Matt Groening’s a good one – I’d love to meet him. Peter Jackson who directed the Lord of the Rings films – he’d be really interesting. Erm … J.K. Rowling who wrote the Harry Potter books. Yeah, maybe her – she seems quite an interesting character. Tess: Yeah, I’d like to meet her too. And remember, listeners, that we’re always interested to hear about people that you’d like to meet. Or even cartoon characters! Ravi: That’s a good one! Which cartoon character would you like to meet and why. Brilliant idea! Tess: So send your thoughts to us at [email protected], that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at britishcouncil – all one word dot org, that’s o-r-g. Section 3 – Quiz Ravi: Right. Shall we meet the players for our quiz today then? We have a little quiz now with two of our listeners and this time we’ve got Ethan. Hi Ethan. Ethan: (on phone) Hi Ravi Ravi: And Abby. Hello Abby. Abby: (on phone) Hi Ravi.

Ravi: Let’s start with you, Abby. Where are you calling from? Abby: From Margate. Ravi: Ah, at the seaside. Is it sunny down there today? Abby: It is, it’s lovely and warm today. Ravi: And what do you do Abby? Abby: I’ve just left school. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. Ravi: Well, good luck with what you decide to do and good luck with today’s quiz. Now, Ethan. Ethan: Hi Ravi. Ravi: Where are you from, Ethan? Ethan: South London. Ravi: OK. Well I know that it’s sunny here in London too. What do you do Ethan? Ethan: Nothing, at the moment Ravi. I finished school last year and I’m going to university in a couple of months time. I’ve had a gap year and done some travelling. Ravi: Ah, fantastic. Where have you been? Ethan: I went to South America for 4 months. Ravi: Brilliant. Did you have a good time? Ethan: Unbelievable. It was so cool. Ravi: Right. Today’s quiz is another ten second quiz, OK? I’m going to give you a topic and you’ve got ten seconds to think of as many things as you can. So, let’s say, I say ‘things that you play’ you have to think of as many things as you can. You might say ‘football’, ‘the piano’, ‘volleyball’, you know. All things that you play. The winner is the person who gets the most in ten seconds, OK? Abby/Ethan: OK Ravi: OK then. You’ve got ten seconds to write down things that you make. I’ll give you one to start with – ‘make the bed’. Go on then, ten seconds, things that you make. Go! [countdown, followed by bell] Ravi: OK – time’s up. How many Abby? Abby: Five Ravi: OK. How about you Ethan? Ethan: Erm .. six, Ravi. Ravi: OK then, let’s hear your six Ethan. Ethan: Erm .. Make a decision, make a mistake, make a mess, make friends, make progress and … make an appointment. Ravi: Yep. That’s six. Well done. It’s not easy when the clock’s ticking. So, you win the book token Ethan, we’ll send that to you soon – and bad luck to you Abby but thank you for playing. Tess: And remember everyone that if you’ve got a brilliant idea for a game we can play then you can send it to us at [email protected]



Section 4 – Our person in Tess: Now though, it’s time for Our Person In – the part of the podcast when we hear from different people around the world telling us something interesting about where they live. This time round Bridget Keenan is Our Woman in India. Bridget: India is a nation of cinema-lovers – almost 40 million people go to the cinema each month and India produces almost twice as many films each year as the USA. The Indian film industry is known as Bollywood and you never feel like you are far from its influence. In cities, giant hand-painted images of Bollywood stars look down at the passing traffic and in parts of India film stars have used their popularity to start careers as politicians. Bollywood films are quite different to Hollywood films. Although the plots can be similar, the Indian films feature a lot more singing and dancing – there are usually six songs and at least two huge dance scenes. In fact, the stories are often very predictable and always have a happy ending – but that doesn’t stop people going to see them. And going to see films is a special experience too - much noisier and livelier than British cinemas. The crowd will cheer on the hero through all the action scenes, whistle through the songs and offer advice and support throughout the film. The audience can be as much fun as the film. That audience seems to be almost everyone in India – from the very old to the very young. In the countryside there are touring cinemas – a lorry travelling with all the equipment to make a temporary cinema in a village for one night before moving on to the next place. It’s a love of cinema shared by the whole, huge country unlike anywhere else in the world. Ravi: Hehe. That brings back some memories. We used to watch loads of Bollywood films when I was a kid. They’re great fun. Tess: Did you? Do you still watch them now? Ravi: Not really. If I’m at my mum and dad’s I might. My mum still watches them quite a lot. Tess: I’ve never seen a Bollywood film. They sound very … different. Ravi: I’ll lend you a DVD. I’ll give you the address again if you’d like to tell us something about going to the cinema in your country. It’s [email protected]. Section 5 – Your turn

Tess: And that takes us into Your Turn – the part of the show where we ask you what you think. I told you earlier that I’m going away for the weekend, cycling. That’s a perfect holiday for me and that’s what we asked people for Your Turn – What’s your perfect holiday. Let’s hear what they said. Voice 1: Ooh what a lovely idea, I love holidays. The beach for me. Sitting in the sun, with a cold drink and doing absolutely nothing. That would be perfect. Bah, my next holiday seems ages away. Voice 2: Hmm. I just get really bored sitting on a beach all day with all that sand getting everywhere. I’d rather be in the countryside – or just somewhere where there aren’t any crowds. The beach is always so crowded. Voice 3: What I really like about a holiday is when I don’t have any plan, y’know? I like travelling about and if I like somewhere I stay there for a few days and if I don’t I just get on a train and go somewhere different. That’s what I really like – when I don’t have to worry about timetables and all that stuff. Voice 4: I would really love to go on a cruise. Y’know? A holiday on a boat where you travel to different cities. My aunt and uncle went on one last year and said it was great. Everything’s planned for you so you don’t have to worry about anything at all. Lovely. Voice 5: My perfect holiday would be a trip to China. I’ve always wanted to go there. It just seems so fascinating – so different, y’know. And there’d be so much to see. I’d love to tour the whole country – but I guess that would take years. Tess: Ravi? Your perfect holiday? Ravi: I really want to go to Australia. A couple of my friends went there last year and said it was brilliant. Tess: Yeah, I really like the sound of Australia too. Let us know what your perfect holiday would be. You can send it to us at [email protected]. Section 6 – Carolina Tess: Now let’s join Carolina again. Carolina is a student from Venezuela who’s come to Britain to live, study – and have fun. She’s really settled in in Newcastle. Last time we listened she was in the pub with her friends from the Conservation Society. This time, Carolina is preparing a special meal for her friends.

In the shared kitchen



Emily: Hi. How’s it going? Everything under control? Carolina: Oh - I’m beginning to panic a bit. The rice and beans are done, they’re cooking now, that’s for Jamie – he’s vegetarian. I need to grill the meat - and I need to make the guasacaca - oh dear, and I wanted to have a shower – I’m so hot. Emily: What time are they coming? Carolina: I told them eight o’clock. I hope they’re late! Emily: Don’t panic. You’ve got plenty of time. What can I do to help? What’s gwuh ….. whatever it was? Carolina: Guasacaca. It’s like a salad sort of thing, with avocadoes and herbs. It goes with the meat. Emily: Well, why don’t you tell me what to do and I’ll make it while you have a shower. Carolina: OK thanks. You’re an angel. Um, you need an onion, some green pepper, some red pepper, some garlic, um some parsley – and you chop it all up – in quite small pieces and put everything in a bowl. It’s all here look. Emily: OK. I’ll start chopping. How much garlic? Carolina: Um, three of those … what do you call them? The small parts of garlic. Emily: Cloves? You mean cloves. Three of these? Carolina: Yes that’s right. Emily: Then what? Carolina: Then you put it in a bowl with olive oil, vinegar, a little sugar and some chilli powder. Oh and some salt. Emily: And what about the avocado? Carolina: You add that at the end. There are two avocadoes in the fridge. You mash one, you know, with a fork so it’s like a paste, and the other one you just chop, so it’s in pieces. Emily: I think I can manage that. And then I add the avocadoes to the stuff in the bowl? Carolina: Yes. And put it in the fridge. Emily: Right. No problem. You go and make yourself look beautiful. Later

Jamie: Hi. Here we are Carolina: Oh hi. Hi Henry. Henry: Hi. Hi Emily. Emily: Hi. Did you find it OK? Henry: Yeah, it was easy. We’ve brought a bottle of wine – it’s white, it probably needs to go in the fridge. Jamie: And we brought these too, for you. Carolina: Oh that’s very kind of you. I love chocolate. Thanks. Jamie: Can we put our coats somewhere? Carolina: You can put them in my room. Emily: Here, I’ll take them.

Carolina: Well, sit down. Make yourselves at home Henry: Thanks. It’s a nice place you’ve got here. Great kitchen. Really big. Carolina: Thanks. Yes, we’re very lucky. Now what would you all like to drink? We’ve got….

Later

Carolina: So, here it is. Just help yourselves. Jamie: It looks delicious. Carolina: I hope so. Jamie: Mmm, this is good. What’s in it? Carolina: Rice and black beans, and um onion and pepper – and some spices Emily: Delicious. Is this a traditional Venezuelan dinner then? Carolina: Well, in Venezuela we usually eat a big meal for lunch, and have a smaller meal in the evening. But yes, it’s a traditional meal, nearly. We should have fried …I don’t know the word – they’re like bananas – big, hard bananas. Henry: Plantains? They look like bananas. Carolina: Yes, maybe, plantains. Anyway, I couldn’t find any, but everything else is traditional. Emily: Hey, we forgot the music! Henry, do you want to come and choose something? I’ll show you where the CDs are. Henry: Sure. Emily: My rooms just through here on the…… Jamie: Well. Here we are then. Just the two of us. Tess: Awww. Ravi: What? Tess: Oh nothing Ravi. I really want to know what’s going to happen next. Ravi: To Carolina? Tess: And Jamie. Never mind. Section 7 – The Joke Tess: Right. It’s time for Gordon. Are you ready there Gordon? Gordon: Ready. Tess: For new listeners, Gordon tells us a joke every week. If you like bad jokes, you’ll love Gordon. Gordon: Thanks Tess. Right – I’ve got a parrot for you this week. Tess: Another parrot? Gordon: Yes – a parrot and a magician. A magician who worked on a cruise ship – you know, the big ships that people have holidays on – had a parrot. But the parrot had seen the magician’s act hundreds of times and knew all the tricks. So whenever the magician did his act the parrot just



sat there looking really bored because he’d worked out how the magician made things disappear. Anyway, one night, during the magician’s show, the ship hit an iceberg and sank. The only survivors were the magician and the parrot. The magician managed to climb into a lifeboat and immediately fell into a deep deep sleep. A little bit after that the parrot came and sat on the edge of the lifeboat and stared at the magician. The magician slept for three days and the parrot didn’t take his eyes off him. It just stared and stared and stared. Finally, the magician opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the parrot – watching him like a … well, like a parrot. Another hour went past and the parrot didn’t take his eyes off the magician. Then the parrot opened its beak and squawked “Alright. I give up. What did you do with the ship?” Ravi: No, that’s terrible Gordon. I still prefer the jokes about dogs. Actually, maybe some of our listeners could send you some new jokes. The address for jokes or anything else you want to send to us is [email protected]. Tess: We have to go now but in a moment you can listen to Tom, our English teacher, who’ll be talking about some of the language you heard in this podcast and things to help you learn. So, stick around to listen to Tom but we’ll say goodbye for now. Tess & Ravi: Bye! Tom the teacher Tom: Hello again. My name’s Tom. And at the end of every podcast, I talk about some of the language that you heard, and some ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about the verbs ‘make’ and ‘do’. This is a big problem for learners of English. A lot of languages only have one word for ‘make’ and ‘do’. For example, in Portuguese, the verb ‘fazer’ is sometimes ‘make’ in English, and sometimes it’s ‘do’. So it can be very difficult for Portuguese learners to know when to use ‘make’ and when to use ‘do’. So what’s the difference between them? Well, it isn’t an easy question to answer. Most of the time there isn’t really any difference in meaning at all. It’s just that in some phrases we use ‘make’ and in other phrases we use ‘do’.

Some grammar books tell you that we use ‘make’ when we are creating something – something that we can touch. This is sometimes true. Listen to Carolina talking about the guasacaca. Which verb does she use? Carolina: I need to grill the meat - and I need to make the guasacaca - oh dear, and I wanted to have a shower – I’m so hot. Tom: She says ‘I need to make the guasacaca’. We often use ‘make’ when we’re talking about food – dishes that we’ve created from other things. We don’t ‘make’ meat – that comes from an animal already made! – we just cook it. Now listen to Emily offering to help with the guasacaca. Emily: Well, why don’t you tell me what to do and I’ll make it while you have a shower. Tom: Emily uses ‘make’ too. She’s going to make the guasacaca for Carolina. So try to remember this use of ‘make’ with food. You can say to your friend “Mmm, this soup is delicious! You must tell me how to make it”. Or “This cake is very good. Did you make it yourself?”. But there are lots of other phrases with ‘make’. The quiz in this podcast was about things that you can ‘make’. Listen to the last part. Ravi: OK then, let’s hear your six Ethan. Ethan: Erm .. Make a decision, make a mistake, make a mess, make friends, make progress and … make an appointment. Tom: Ethan gives six examples of phrases with ‘make’. • You make the bed when you get up in the

morning, • you can make an important decision, • you can make a mistake – not ‘do’ – we don’t

say ‘do a mistake’. • You can make a mess – if you drop things all

over the floor for example, • you can make friends, just like Carolina has in

Newcastle, and • you can make an appointment to see the doctor

or the dentist. We always use ‘make’ in these phrases. There’s no reason for using ‘make’ – it isn’t because of the meaning of the phrases. It’s just what we say.



It’s a good idea to keep a page in your notebook for phrases with ‘make’ and ‘do’ – and try to learn them. Start with the ones from this podcast and then add to them when you find more. Here are two phrases with ‘do’ that you can add too. We say ‘do your homework’ – ‘do’ not ‘make’. Say “I’m sorry I didn’t do the homework” to your teacher. And we also say ‘do an exam’ or ‘do a test’. Never ‘make’. OK. Now for something different. I noticed a phrase in this podcast that might be useful for you to understand. Listen to Ravi talking to Ethan in the quiz. What did Ethan do after he left school? Ravi: What do you do Ethan? Ethan: Nothing, at the moment Ravi. I finished school last year and I’m going to university in a couple of months time. I’ve had a gap year and done some travelling. Tom: Ethan had a gap-year after he finished school. It means that he didn’t start university immediately after he finished school. He waited for a year. Lots of British students have gap-years. Sometimes they work for a few months to get some money and then they go travelling – to see the world. Sometimes they go and do voluntary work for a year. The universities are usually very happy about this. They think it gives the students experience of the real world before they start studying hard again. So now you know what a ‘gap-year’ is if you hear anyone say it. Now I want you to listen to Carolina again. Carolina speaks very good English – but sometimes there are words that she doesn’t know. Listen to what she says when she doesn’t know the word. Emily: OK. I’ll start chopping. How much garlic? Carolina: Um, three of those … what do you call them? The small parts of garlic. Emily: Cloves? You mean cloves. Three of these? Carolina: Yes that’s right. Tom: OK – she asks Emily “what do you call them?” – she asks Emily. But she also tries to describe the thing that she doesn’t know. She says “the small parts of garlic”. This is very important when you don’t know a word. Don’t just stop! Try to describe what you want to say. Listen to Carolina again. Carolina:

But yes, it’s a traditional meal, nearly. We should have fried …. I don’t know the word – they’re like bananas – big, hard bananas. Henry: Plantains? They look like bananas. Carolina: Yes, maybe, plantains. Tom: She doesn’t know the word ‘plantains’ so she says “They’re like bananas – big hard bananas”. And Henry understands what she wants to say. Try to do the same thing when you don’t know a word. Don’t stop – keep talking. Use different words to describe what you want to say. people will understand and give you the word that you need. Before I go, as usual, I want to give you a useful phrase from the podcast – a phrase for you to use. Listen to what Carolina says to Jamie and Henry. Carolina: Well, sit down. Make yourselves at home. Tom: Yes, it’s another phrase with ‘make’. She says “Make yourselves at home”. She wants them to be relaxed and comfortable – as if they were in their own homes. ‘Yourselves’ is plural – Carolina is speaking to two people. If you’re talking to one person then you say “Make yourself at home”. So try to use the phrase when someone comes to visit you in your house. Say “Make yourself at home”. OK. That’s all from me today. Remember you can send your questions to me at [email protected]. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! Or write to me about any interesting language that you noticed. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. So bye for now!


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The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts Because this episode contains highlights of episodes 1-9 there is no support pack. To do activities related to each of the different sections you will have to download the following support packs: Section 1 – Conversations in English: Support Pack from Episode 01 Section 2 – I’d like to meet: Support Pack from Episode 07 Section 3 – Quiz: Support Pack from Episode 04 Section 4 – Our person in: Support Pack from Episode 09 Section 5 – Your turn: Support Pack from Episode 06 Section 6 – Carolina: Support Pack from Episode 07 Section 7 – The Joke: Support Pack from Episodes 01 and 02 Transcript Ravi: Hello. I’m Ravi - and I want to say welcome to a special Learn English elementary podcast number ten. This is the last podcast in the first series pause so today we’re going to do something a bit different. We’ve had lots of emails from you, the listeners, and lots of great comments on the site, saying how much you’ve enjoyed all of the podcasts in this series. So Gordon, our producer, has put together some of your favourite parts from the first nine podcasts for you to hear again – or maybe for you to hear for the first time. Any way, listen again, or for the first time, and we hope you enjoy it! Especially for any new listeners out there, our first section is from podcast one – and it’s the part when you get to meet me, Tess and Gordon. Section 1 – Conversations in English: “Susan, this is Paul” – introducing your friends Ravi: Hello, and welcome to LearnEnglish elementary podcast number one. My name’s Ravi … Tess: … and I’m Tess. We’re your presenters and we’ve got lots of things for you to listen to today, but before we start, I think we should introduce ourselves. Ravi? Ravi: OK … erm … I’m Ravi Tess: (interrupting) or, I tell you what, I’ll introduce you and you can introduce me. How about that? Ravi: Well, OK then. Erm, this is Tess. She’s from London. She’s (pause) how old are you? Tess: (joking) None of your business, Ravi!

Rav: i(laughs) and she loves dancing and riding her mountain bike. OK? Tess: OK. And this is Ravi. He comes from Manchester. He’s 23. Oh, aren’t you? (checking) Ravi: Oh yes. Tess: He likes football – and (pause) he’s a great cook. Ravi: Thanks! And there’s one more person for you to meet. I’d like to introduce our producer, Gordon. (raised voice) Say hello to everyone Gordon! Gordon: (distant voice) Hello! Pleased to meet you! Ravi & Tess (together): Hi Gordon Tess: And how are you today? Gordon: (distant) Very well thank you Tess. Tess: Good! We’ll speak to Gordon again later in the show but now it’s time to get on with our programme. Section 2 – I’d like to meet Ravi: Right, so that’s us. The next section is ‘I’d like to meet’, when we talk to people about a famous person that they’d like to meet. A lot of you thought that this one was very interesting. It’s from podcast number seven – and it’s Muhammed from Manchester, talking about a very important man. Tess: So let’s say hello to this week’s guest, Muhammed from Manchester. Hi Muhammed. Welcome to ‘I’d like to meet’. Muhammed: Hi Tess and Ravi Ravi: Hi Muhammed. So you’re a Manchester boy like me. Good football team eh. Muhammed: Which one?



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Ravi: Which one!? No – don’t tell me you’re a Manchester City supporter! Noooo! Muhammed: I’m afraid so. Sorry Ravi. Tess: Ravi can’t speak – so I’ll continue. What do you do Muhammed? Muhammed: I’m at college at the moment - but when I finish I want to join the police. Tess: You want to be a policeman. What made you decide to do that? Muhammed: My uncle’s a policeman. I don’t know really – it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. Tess: OK. Now, who are you going to talk about today Muhammed – who’s the person that you’d like to meet – if you had the chance? Muhammed: I want to talk about Muhammed Yunus. Tess: OK. Off you go. Muhammed: Well, he’s from Bangladesh – from Chittagong actually – that’s where my dad’s family came from – we’ve still got relations living there. And I think everyone knows his name now – since he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 – well he won it with his bank. Ravi: A bank won the Nobel peace prize? Muhammed: Yes. The Grameen Bank? Microcredit? Ravi: Well, yeah, it sounds familiar. Muhammed: It’s a bank for poor people. Tess: Perhaps you’d better explain how it works Muhammed. Muhammed: Well, it all started when he - Dr Yunus – he’s a professor of economics - he visited a village outside Chittagong, and he talked to a very poor woman – and he realised that she only needed a small amount of money – just a couple of dollars – and then she could buy materials to make things and sell them and earn money. She couldn’t borrow money from the bank because they didn’t believe that she would pay it back. He found more people in the same situation - think it was forty-two people in the village – and all of them together only needed twenty-seven dollars -- that’s all they needed to be able to start making money for themselves. So he lent them the money - and they all paid it back to him later. Then he went to other villages and did the same thing. So he started his own bank – the Grameen Bank – to lend small amounts of money to poor people, mostly women actually. That’s what microcredit means.

Tess: What kinds of things do they use the money for? Muhammed: Well, a woman can buy a cow, and then she can sell the milk and pay to send her children to school. Or she could buy a mobile phone – the villages don’t have telephones – and then people can pay to use her phone. They aren’t expensive things – it just means that poor people can start to earn money. And now the Grameen Bank lends millions and millions of dollars to people. Ravi: And they all pay it back? Muhammed: Most of them yes – something like 99 per cent. And now countries like the United States and Britain are using the idea too, it’s all over the world - so – well, I think he’s brilliant – a real hero. That’s what I’d like to say to him. Tess: Well thank you Muhammed. That was really interesting. Muhammed: Thanks. Ravi: There’s an old joke isn’t there – something about ‘a bank will only lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it’. Tess: Well yes – it’s true isn’t it! I’d never really thought about it before. Ravi: No, nor me. Section 3 – Quiz Ravi: So that was Muhammed talking about Muhammed Yunus. I learnt some interesting things that day. pause And now the quiz. We’ve played lots of different games in the quiz section – words beginning with letters of the alphabet, things that are different colours, - but this game is one of your favourites. Hot Seat. And this one’s from podcast number four. Ravi: Every week we have a little quiz to make you think. This week we’re going to play Hot Seat again. Here to play are Hannah and Max. Hi Hannah. Hannah: Hello Ravi: Hi Max Max: Hello. Ravi: You’re both from Sheffield, is that right? Max: Yeah Ravi: And how old are you? Max: I’m seventeen Hannah: And I’m sixteen. We go to the same school. St Joseph’s. Ravi: Are you in the same class?


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Hannah: We are, yeah. Ravi: OK. And who’s doing what? Who’s going to explain the words and who’s going to be in the Hot Seat? Hannah: I’ll explain and Max’ll guess. Ravi: OK. OK, Max? Max: OK. Ravi: Right. Remember how to play? These cards have all got words on. Hannah has to explain the words and Max has to guess them. But remember Hannah, you can’t use the words on the card. Max, you have to guess as many words as you can in one minute. OK? Hannah and Max: OK Ravi: Then let’s go. You’ve got one minute starting now! Hannah: Erm .. big thing. On the sea. You sail in it. Max: Boat? Ship. Hannah: Ship! An animal. Small. Big ears. Max: Elephant. Hannah: No. It’s small. Carrots! It eats carrots. Max: Rabbit. Hannah: Yes, yes! Erm .. you do it at the disco. Max: Dance. Hannah: Yes! It’s a fruit I think. It’s very hard. It’s got milk inside. You can eat part of it but not the outside. Max:Coconut! Hannah: Yes! Erm, you go there when you’re sick. Max: Hospital. Doctor’s. Hannah: Hospital. It’s white. Comes from a cow. You drink it. Max: Milk. Hannah: It goes across the river. You cross it. Max: A bridge Hannah: You stand under it in the morning and you wash yourself. Max: Shower! Hannah: It’s a day. Erm …you’ll be eighteen Max: Birthday. Ravi: We’ll give you ‘birthday’. Fantastic. How many was that? I make it nine. Is that right? Yes, nine. Brilliant. Well done Hannah and Max! Section 4 – Our person in Ravi: Yes, well done Hannah and Max. pause And now the next thing we’ve got for you is ‘Our person in..’. when people around the world tell us something interesting about where

they live. And this time it’s something that I do know about - the Indian film industry. Bridget Keenan lives in India and she’s talking about Bollywood – and it comes from podcast number nine. Bridget: India is a nation of cinema-lovers – almost 40 million people go to the cinema each month and India produces almost twice as many films each year as the USA. The Indian film industry is known as Bollywood and you never feel like you are far from its influence. In cities, giant hand-painted images of Bollywood stars look down at the passing traffic and in parts of India film stars have used their popularity to start careers as politicians. Bollywood films are quite different to Hollywood films. Although the plots can be similar, the Indian films feature a lot more singing and dancing – there are usually six songs and at least two huge dance scenes. In fact, the stories are often very predictable and always have a happy ending – but that doesn’t stop people going to see them. And going to see films is a special experience too - much noisier and livelier than British cinemas. The crowd will cheer on the hero through all the action scenes, whistle through the songs and offer advice and support throughout the film. The audience can be as much fun as the film. That audience seems to be almost everyone in India – from the very old to the very young. In the countryside there are touring cinemas – a lorry travelling with all the equipment to make a temporary cinema in a village for one night before moving on to the next place. It’s a love of cinema shared by the whole, huge country unlike anywhere else in the world. Ravi: Hehe. That brings back some memories. We used to watch loads of Bollywood films when I was a kid. They’re great fun. Tess: Did you? Do you still watch them now? Ravi: Not really. If I’m at my mum and dad’s I might. My mum still watches them quite a lot. Tess: I’ve never seen a Bollywood film. They sound very … different. Ravi: I’ll lend you a DVD. Section 5 – Your turn Ravi: And that’s reminded me - I never did lend Tess that Bollywood DVD. Something to remember next time I see her. Now, a lot of


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you enjoy the next section – ‘Your turn’. And a lot of you wrote to us to tell us what you think about all the questions that we talked about in this series. But now, let’s listen to ‘Your turn’ from podcast number six. Tess: Now it’s time for Your Turn. Your Turn is when we go out in the street to find out what people think. This time the question was ….. "How green are you?" Ravi: Nice one. “How green are you?” – what do you do to help save the planet? Like use public transport. Tess: OK. Let’s hear what people said. Voice 1: What do I do to help save the planet? Not enough. I hate to say it, but it’s true, I mean, I always try to remember not to use plastic bags or recycle or whatever but I always forget. I really have to try to do more. Voice 2: Well, we recycle pretty much everything we can, you know, bottles, cans, newspapers and all that but to be honest we don’t do much else. Voice 3: I do as much as I can. You have to, you know? We all have to. I don’t take short-haul flights anymore – I used to fly down to London quite a lot – and of course I recycle and everything else I can. Voice 4: I know I’m not going to make myself popular saying this but I don’t really do very much. Look – there are factories all over the world putting out loads and loads of pollution every single day and I don’t see how saving your old newspapers is going to help apart from making people feel good about themselves. Voice 5: I’ll tell you the greenest thing I do – I grow almost all my own vegetables. I’ve really started thinking about where my food comes from and the food miles and that – you know, like I won’t buy food that’s been flown here from Australia or something. Tess: They make me feel a bit guilty. Some people do so much. I feel like the first woman who said she didn’t do enough. I don’t think I do enough. I do recycle things though. Ravi: Me too. It’s difficult though, isn’t it? Anyway, remember, listeners, that we’d love to know what you think. How green are you? What do you do to help save the planet? You can write and tell us at [email protected].

Section 6 – Carolina Ravi: An interesting question. And don’t forget, it isn’t too late for you to send us your opinion about this, or any of the other ‘Your turn’ questions in series one. We always enjoy hearing from you. pause Now for my favourite part of the podcast – the adventures of Carolina. A lot of you said that you liked this one the best. Carolina makes a mistake with her English – and it’s from podcast number seven. Tess: OK. Time now to find out how Carolina’s getting on in Newcastle. Carolina, you might remember, is a student from Venezuela who’s come to Britain to live, study and have fun. Last time we listened, Carolina joined some societies at the university but this time she’s not feeling too well. In the shared residence kitchen Carolina: Hi Emily. Emily: Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you had a seminar at 10 o’clock. Carolina: I did, but I’m not feeling very well. (she sneezes) Emily: Bless you! You sound terrible. You’d better go to bed. Did you tell your tutor that you were ill? Carolina: No, I was early, he wasn’t there, but I left a note on the door. I said I was sorry, but I was very constipated. Emily: Constipated? Why did you tell him you were constipated? Carolina: Well, because I am. (she sneezes) See, I can’t stop sneezing. Emily: You don’t sneeze when you’re constipated. Constipated means that you can’t go to the toilet, you know, you’re blocked ….. , you know, you try and try but you can’t …. well you know. Carolina: Oh no! I was thinking in Spanish! In Spanish we say I’m constipada! (she sneezes) Emily: Well in English it’s a cold. You say I’ve got a cold – a bad cold. Carolina: I knew that! I’ve got a cold! What a stupid mistake! It’s because I’m ill – my head feels like it’s full of, I don’t know, ….. cake. Emily: Cake?! Carolina: And I left a note on the door. Everyone’s going to laugh at me.


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Emily: No they won’t. Don’t be silly. Everyone knows English isn’t your first language – you made a mistake that’s all. Carolina: But they won’t know it’s a mistake. (she sneezes) They’ll think I wanted to tell everyone that I was constipated, that I couldn’t go to the toilet. Oh, I want to go home to Venezuela. Emily: Look, it’s not ten o’clock yet. I’ll go the room and take the note off the door and explain to…. who? Carolina: Professor Grogan. Room 102. It’ll be too late. Emily: And you can go to the chemist’s and get yourself something to take. Then come back here and go to bed. You look awful. Have some hot lemon and honey – that’s what my mother always gives me. Carolina: (she sneezes) OK, thanks a lot Emily. At the chemist’s Chemist: Good morning. Can I help you? Carolina: (she sneezes) Yes please. I can’t stop sneezing. (she sneezes) Have you got anything I can take? Chemist: Is it a cold or an allergy? Carolina: It’s a cold. I don’t have any allergies, at least I don’t think so. Chemist: Have you got any other symptoms? (Carolina sneezes) A sore throat? A headache? A cough? Carolina: Yes, my throat hurts – it hurts when I eat or drink, and my head hurts too. Chemist: Have you got a temperature? Carolina: A temperature? (she sneezes) What’s that? I’m sorry, my English is terrible today. Chemist: You know, have you got a high temperature, do you feel hot? Is your face hot? Carolina: You mean a fever? Yes, yes, I think so, my face is hot but my body feels cold. Chemist: OK. It sounds like a bad cold. Let’s see … ... this should help. Are you allergic to any medicines? Carolina: No, no I’m not. How often do I have to take it? Chemist: Two spoonfuls, four times a day. The instructions are on the bottle. Don’t take it if you’re driving, it might make you sleepy. Carolina: That’s OK. I just want to go to bed. Should I take anything else?

Chemist: Vitamin C will help. Here you are. Take one of these three times a day. And drink plenty of water. Where are you from, if you don’t mind me asking? Carolina: Venezuela. I’ve only been here a few weeks. Chemist: Ah. Venezuela. I expect our English weather is a bit too cold for you then. Spend the rest of the day in bed and keep warm. You’ll feel a lot better tomorrow. Carolina: I hope so. Chemist: If you still feel terrible in two or three days then you should go and see a doctor. Carolina: Thank you very much. And how much is that for the medicines? Tess: Poor Carolina. It’s terrible when you feel ill in a foreign country. Ravi: "I am constipated." Tess: Oh, stop it Ravi. Ravi: Yeah, you’re right. It is quite funny though. And she got some medicine so I’m sure she’s OK. Section 7 – The Joke (1) Ravi: Ah, ‘I’m constipated’. I thought that was really funny when I first heard it. And it still makes me laugh now. Poor Carolina – her English is usually so good. And talking about funny – at the end of every podcast, Gordon, our producer, tells a joke. Sometimes good, sometimes – well, terrible. But a lot of you wrote to tell us that you really liked Gordon’s jokes. And there were two favourites. So let’s listen to them both. This one comes from podcast number one. Tess: Come on Gordon! Are you ready? Gordon: I’m ready. Ravi: I hope this is good Gordon. Gordon: How long have I got? Ravi: One minute – at the most. Gordon: OK then. Right. A chicken walks into a library (is interrupted) Ravi: (laughing) A chicken? Gordon: Yeah. A chicken walks into a library, walks up to the counter and says to the librarian “Book, book” (like a chicken). The librarian gives the chicken 2 books – she puts the books on the chicken’s head – and the chicken walks out of the library. One hour later, the chicken walks back into the


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library. It walks up to the counter and says to the librarian “Book, book” (like a chicken). The librarian gives the chicken 2 books and the chicken walks out of the library. An hour later, this happens again. “Book, book”, and the chicken walks out of the library with 2 books on its head. But this time the librarian thinks, “Hmm, this is strange” so she decides to follow the chicken. She goes out of the library and follows the chicken. The chicken crosses the road, walks along the street, turns the corner, until it comes to the lake. Sitting by the lake is a big, fat frog. The chicken gives the books to the frog and the frog looks at them and says “Read it, Read it”. (like a frog - past tense of ‘read’) Tess: (laughing) Oh Gordon, that’s terrible. Section 7 – The Joke (2) Ravi: Don’t worry about Tess – she always says Gordon’s jokes are terrible. And here’s your other favourite. It’s from podcast number two. Ravi: OK then Gordon, let’s hear your joke for today. Gordon: OK. It’s a camping joke. Tess, you’ll love it. Ravi: (sceptical) Come on then. Gordon: Well, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are on a camping trip in the countryside. Late at night, Holmes and

Watson are lying on their backs looking up at all the stars in the sky. Sherlock Holmes says, “Doctor Watson, look at the stars and tell me what important question we have to ask.” Doctor Watson says, “Well, OK. There are millions and millions of stars in the sky. No-one knows exactly how many. There are planets out there that no-one has seen with a telescope. Maybe there is a planet somewhere that is just like earth. I think the question we have to ask is, “Is there life in another part of our universe?” And Sherlock Holmes says, “Watson, you idiot! The question we have to ask is “WHERE IS OUR TENT?” Ravi: (laughing) That’s quite good, actually Gordon. Not bad. Ravi: I think that’s my favourite actually. And I hope you liked it too. pause Well, that’s all for today. Usually, Tom the teacher comes along to talk about the language that you’ve heard in the podcasts, but this podcast is a little bit different. I hope you’ve enjoyed our Learn English elementary podcast ‘greatest hits’ and I hope you’ll go back and listen to more of them again. You can go to the ‘previous podcasts’ section on the website and listen to any of them – and you can hear Tom the teacher’s comments and advice there. So that’s all from me! See you next time, in series two. Bye!

Elementary Podcast Series 02 Episode 01 - Transcript

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Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-01 Section 1: "It's Tess's birthday today…!" Ravi: Hello and welcome to the Second series of the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. This is podcast number one. If you listened to the first series you’ll remember – I hope – that my name’s Ravi… Tess: … and I’m Tess. Yes, we’re back again. I hope you didn’t miss us too much. We’ve had a little break – did you go anywhere nice Ravi? Ravi: No. Tess: – and now we’re back with more good stuff for you to listen to. We’ve got… Ravi: Aren’t you going to tell them, Tess? I’ll tell them if you don’t. We’ve chosen a special day to come back – it’s Tess’s birthday today, isn’t it? Tess: Yeah, it is. Ravi: Happy birthday! sound of kiss on the cheek Tess: Thank you. Ravi: Are you doing anything special? Tess: Well, I’m going out for dinner with some friends tonight and then we might go to a club. I’m not really sure. Ravi: Sounds good. Where are you going to eat? Is it somewhere a bit special or … Tess: Yeah, it’s a French place. I’ve heard it’s really good but I haven’t been there. Ravi: I’m sure it’ll be great. Any good presents? Tess: Well, I got some money from my mum and dad to buy myself something nice so I’m going to get some new boots with that. And that’s it, so far …. Ravi: Well, I’ll get you a coffee when we finish here, OK? Tess: OK. And a cake? Ravi: Oh go on then. A small one. But let’s get on with it. What have we got today? Tess We’ve got our quiz, then we’ve got people telling us about their favourite food. And Carolina’s back again. Ravi: Right. If you’re listening and you don’t remember Carolina, she’s a student from Venezuela who’s come to Britain to study and

we follow her in every podcast to hear how she’s getting on. Section 2: I’d like to talk about… Tess: But to start with, we’ve got something new. This section is called ‘I’d like to talk about…’ In every podcast, we’ll talk to someone who wants to tell us about something that they’re interested in. It could be anything – a hobby, a person, a place, a thing – something that you know a bit about and would like to share with Ravi and me – and all our listeners of course. And to start us off with ‘I’d like to talk about …’ we’ve got Esther here with us. Esther. Hello. Esther: Good morning. Ravi: Hi Esther. Welcome to the podcast. You’re a student aren’t you? Esther: Hello Ravi. Yes, that’s right. Ravi: Here in London? What are you studying? Esther: Yeah. Chemistry. I’m doing a Masters. Ravi: Blimey. Is that what you’re going to tell us about? I’m lost already. Esther: No, actually. I’d like to talk about knitting. Ravi: Knitting? Esther: Yeah, knitting. It’s really popular nowadays you know. Lots of young people are doing it. There’s a university knitting club that I’m in. Ravi: But why do people want to knit? Tess: To make things Ravi! To make things to wear! You’re wearing a jumper – it’s made of wool – well, it’s knitted, isn’t it? You get the wool from a sheep and you knit a jumper! Or socks! Or a scarf! Ravi: OK, OK, OK, don’t go crazy - it was a stupid question. Sorry Esther. Esther: That’s OK. But you know, there are some men in our knitting club too, and some of them are really good at it. Knitting’s really quite fashionable now. There are celebrity knitters and everything. Ravi: Yeah? Esther: Yeah. There’s Madonna, and erm … Julia Roberts and Uma Thurman. Lots of people. And of course, nowadays people are more worried about the environment and trying to recycle things, and so knitting’s perfect. You can take an old jumper that you don’t like any more and make something new. It’s a cheap way to get clothes.


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Tess: Good point. Do you know anything about the history of knitting Esther? When did it start? Esther: Not really. Some people say that it started with people making nets, you know, for catching fish or animals, but nobody knows for sure. I saw a pair of socks once in a museum. They were from Egypt, about a thousand years old I think. They were beautiful, really complicated, but that’s the oldest thing I know. Ravi: That’s interesting. Esther: Remember that they didn’t have machines for knitting till the nineteenth century, so everything was done by hand - even clothes for kings and queens. In England it was always men that knitted for the rich people. They had to do six years’ training to become ‘master’ knitters. Ravi: Six years! Tess: So women didn’t knit? Esther: Well poor women did of course. In fact the whole family used to knit – the fathers and the children too - making socks and things that they could sell to make money. Tess: Did you make that jumper you’re wearing? Esther: Yes, I did. Tess: It’s really nice. Esther: Thank you. It took me ages. Tess: I could never make something like that. Esther: You could. You have to practise but it’s not that difficult. That’s another thing I like about knitting. When you start you can just do kind of simple things like scarves and stuff and then when you get a bit better at it you can make more difficult things like this. Tess: Well, that’s great. Thanks very much Esther. Really interesting. Esther: Thank you. Tess: Ravi? What do you think? Want to start knitting? Ravi: Hmmm. Maybe. Hey, Tess. What do you get if you cross a sheep with a kangaroo? Tess: A father sheep and a mother kangaroo? Or the other way round? Ravi: I don’t know – it doesn’t matter Tess. The joke’s just ‘what do you get if you cross a sheep with a kangaroo?’. Tess: Go on Ravi: A woolly jumper. Tess: You’ve been waiting to say that, haven’t you? Ravi: Yeah. Tess: Well, Esther is going to give us some

knitting pictures and links to put up on the site if you want to find out more. Ravi: You enjoyed that, didn’t you? Why don’t you try and knit something? Tess: I could, couldn’t I? I could make you a scarf for your birthday. When is your birthday? Is it in June? Ravi: Yeah, the fifteenth. You’ve got plenty of time if you start now. Tess: Ho, ho. …. Oh. I forgot to say, listeners, if you want to write something or record something you can send it to us at learn English podcast at British Council dot org, that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g. Like I said, it can be whatever you want – a hobby, a person, anything. Or just tell us if you like knitting. Send it to us and we’ll put the best answers on the site. Section 3 – Quiz Ravi: OK. Time now to go to the phone to talk to today’s quiz contestant, who is Mark from Nottingham. Hello, Mark? No. Er ..OK .. Mark: on phone Hello? Ravi: Mark! Hi. How are you? Mark: I’m fine thanks, Ravi. Ravi: What are you up to today? Mark: Oh, nothing special. It’s my day off so I’m not doing very much. Ravi: What do you do? Mark: I work in a clothes shop in Nottingham. Ravi: Ah. OK. It’s not Paul Smith is it? He’s from Nottingham isn’t he? Great designer. Mark: No, it’s not Paul Smith, He is from Nottingham though. No, I work in a small clothes shop in the centre of town. Ravi: Do you like it? Mark: Yeah, it’s OK, yeah. It’s good. Ravi: Great. Right. We’re going to play ‘Hot Seat ‘, OK? Tess? Tess Yes. So you’re going to play with Ravi today Mark. I’m going to give Ravi some words – he doesn’t know what they are – and he’s going to try to explain them so that you can guess the words. All right? Mark: OK. Tess: And we’ll see how many you can get in one minute. Oh .. and the other thing is all the words are connected. This time the connection is – people in your life. Let’s do one to practise.


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So, for example, if I say, erm , it’s your father’s brother. Or your mother’s brother’, who is it? Mark: Uncle. Tess: Right. You’ve got the idea. Are you ready to go? Mark: Ready. Tess: OK then. Ready Ravi? Let’s start. Here are the words. You’ve got one minute a starting from …. now. Ravi: Right … erm … the person who lives next door to you … erm .. in the house next to yours. Mark: Neighbour? Next door neighbour? Ravi: Neighbour. Yes. Erm … your brother’s daughter. Or your sister’s daughter. It’s your ……? Mark: Nephew. I mean niece. Niece. Ravi: Yes, niece. Someone in the same … no … someone who goes to the same school as you and they’re … Mark: Pupil? Ravi: No. They’ve got the same teacher as you and you sit next to them or something. They’re your …? Mark: Classmate? Ravi: Yes! Phew! I couldn’t say ‘class’ Erm, come on then … if you’re married this is, like, your wife’s dad … Mark: Father-in-law. Ravi: OK. Next one. Someone who you work with, like, Tess is my …. ? Mark: Friend? Ravi: No. Well, yes, but that’s not what I mean. We work together so we’re …? Mark: Erm .. I don’t know. Ravi: We … Mark: Oh. Colleagues. Ravi: Colleague, yes. How’s the time? Erm .. this person is … another word for ‘manager’. The person who’s in charge at work is your ..? Mark: Boss? Ravi: Yes. Boss. Your uncle’s children are your …? Buzzer sounds Mark: Cousins? Ravi: Yes. OK, I’ll give you that one. Phew. That was really stressful. Well done Mark. How many is that Tess? Tess: Neighbour. Niece. Classmate. Father-in-law. Colleague. Boss and Cousin. Seven. Well done Mark. And Ravi. Mark: Thanks. Ravi: And thanks for playing. We’ll send you a book token and anything else we can find lying

around the studio. Thanks Mark. Tess: Right. We’ve got more to come. We’ll hear what some of our listeners say about their favourite food and we’ll catch up with Carolina again after this …. Section 4: Your turn Ravi: Now we can move on to Your Turn. This is the part of the podcast when we go out and ask different people what they think about something. We ask a different question in every podcast, and this time the question was ‘Which country’s food is your favourite?’ – and of course, ‘Why?’. Tess: OK, let’s hear what people said. Voice 1: That would be Vietnamese food, especially southern Vietnamese food around the city of Ho Chi Minh. I’ve been there many times and each time I go there my friends will bring me to restaurants where they serve food that has ... ah ... that was cooked with a lot of rich ingredients such as lemon grass, herbs, pepper, and they put in lots of different types of seafood so I think that’s a lot of effort put in to cook up such a dish. So I actually like Vietnamese food very much. And in addition I think the food there is very healthy. They don’t use a lot of oil they use a lot of natural ingredients such as herbs and also fish sauce so what comes out of that is a lot of flavours of seafood plus herbs, which I like very much. Voice 2: Um, well, I live in Italy at the moment so I’m very fond of Italian food, but really if I had to choose I would say Indian or Thai food because I like spicy food. Voice 3: My favourite food is food from Italy because I really like pasta and I really like tomato sauce and ... um ... olive oil, and I also like wine and the wine from Italy is very good. Voice 4: Oh I think I’d have to say France … ah … ‘cos French cooking is superb, so much variety and they just take it so seriously. Voice 5: Mmm, I’m going to say two countries, aah maybe Italy, from Europe, because I really, really like pizza and aah the different types of pasta they have there, but probably my real favourite type of food comes from Mexico, which aah I just enjoy everything I’ve ever tried from Mexico. It’s always a little bit spicy, maybe a little bit heavy, umm, but really, really good food.


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Voice 6: Aah, I think Thai food because it’s … I like spicy food and it’s really kind of fresh, as well, lots of interesting different tastes. Ravi: So what’s your favourite food Tess? I bet it’s French. Tess: No. Why? Why French? Ravi: You’re going to a French restaurant for your birthday aren’t you? Tess: Well yes, but I’m not sure it’s my favourite. I don’t know, it’s a difficult one. Maybe Italian. I mean good Italian, not just fast food pizzas. What about you? Ravi: No contest. Indian every time. I’m a traditional boy about food. But I love fast food pizzas as well. All fast food actually. Section 5: Carolina Ravi: But now it’s time to find out what’s happening to Carolina. If you listened to the first series of the podcast you’ll know that Carolina is from Venezuela and she’s just started a course at Newcastle University in Britain. Tess: Yes. In every podcast we hear what Carolina’s been doing. She’s already met a lot of people in Newcastle. She shares a flat with her friend Emily and some other students. And her special friend is a guy called Jamie. Ravi: Yes, Tess likes Jamie. Tess: Thank you Ravi. Now let’s hear about Carolina In the street Carolina: So I told Emily that she .... . Oh, wait a minute. They’re nice. Jamie: Which ones? Those boots? Carolina: No, those shoes at the back. The red ones. Let’s go in and have a look. Jamie: OK. In the first shoe shop Carolina: Here they are. They’re beautiful. Jamie: What size are they? Carolina: Um, five and a half. What does that mean? I’m a thirty-six in Venezuela. Jamie: Yeah, British sizes are different. Try them on. See if they fit. Carolina: No, they’re too big. Jamie: So try a five – that’s the next size down. Excuse me, have you got these in a five? Shop Assistant 1: The red ones? No sorry. We’ve only got the sizes on the shelf. Jamie: OK, thanks. Bad luck. Come on. Let’s … … In the street

Carolina: OK. But you know, I really do need some shoes. If we’re going to stay with your parents I need to look nice. Jamie: I don’t think they’ll care what shoes you’re wearing. Carolina: You know what I mean. Let’s have a look in here. Jamie: OK. In the second shoe shop Jamie: What about these red ones? Carolina: They’re horrible! And they’re too high. I can’t wear very high heels – I can’t walk. Jamie: Those brown ones then, they’re nice. Carolina: No, I don’t want brown - I haven’t got any brown clothes. Jamie: These black ones then. They’re a size 5. Carolina: Mmm. They’re quite nice. How much are they? Jamie: Ninety-five pounds. Carolina: Ninety-five pounds! I’m not paying ninety-five pounds for a pair of shoes! No, let’s go somewhere else. Come on Jamie. Jamie: But if you like them why don’t you… … In the street Jamie: So what exactly do you want? What colour? Carolina: I don’t know exactly, but I’ll know when I see them. Here’s another shop. Come on. In the third shoe shop Carolina: Now these are nice. Black. Not too high. And not too expensive. Jamie: Why don’t you try them on? Carolina: Wait a minute. They’ve got them in grey too. Maybe they’re nicer. What do you think? Jamie: Try them both on. Carolina: Excuse me? Have you got these in a size 5? Shop Assistant 2: In a 5? In black or grey? Carolina: I’d like to try both of them please. Shop Assistant 2: I’ll just go and check. Jamie: Phew. Let’s sit down. Shoe shops make me tired… … Carolina: …so which ones do you like best – the grey ones or the black ones? Jamie: They’re both nice. Carolina: But tell me which ones you like best. Jamie: OK then, the grey ones. Carolina: What’s wrong with the black ones? Jamie: Nothing’s wrong with the black ones. I


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said I liked them both. Carolina: I think I prefer the black ones. Jamie: OK, if I say I prefer the black ones, can we just buy them and get out of here? Carolina: Yes, I think I’ll get the black ones. Do you like them? Or do you prefer the grey ones? Jamie: Aaaargh! Carolina: Excuse me, Shop assistant 2: Yes? Carolina: I’ll take these please. Shop assistant 2: The black ones? Carolina: Yes, the black ones. Now where do I pay? Shop assistant 2: Over here love. Carolina: Come on Jamie – why are you being so difficult today? … Ravi: Poor old Jamie. I think he was a bit bored. Do you like buying shoes Tess? Tess: Well, yes, I do. I like shoes. Don’t you? Ravi: Well yes, of course I do, but …., usually I know what shoes I want and I go to the shop and I buy them. I don’t go round lots of shops trying them on. I think men and women are different about shoes. OK. I won’t say any more. I don’t want to upset anybody. Tess: Good! Anyway, did you hear Carolina say that they’re going to visit Jamie’s parents? Ravi: Yes. Tess: So… Ravi: So what? Tess: So… they must be together… you know – a couple. Ravi: Well yes. Men don’t go to shoe shops with women if they’re not serious. Tess: Don’t start the shoe thing again. Ravi: Sorry. Section 6: The End Tess: So that’s the end of this podcast. You might remember in series one, we always finished with a joke from Gordon. Well, Gordon isn’t with us any more. He’s got a new job. Ravi: Yes, and we hope everything goes well for him. Hey Tess, I’ve got a little surprise for you. Tess: Really? Ravi: Here you are. Happy birthday. Tess: Oh thank you! What is it? Ravi: Well open it and see. sound of present being opened Tess: A French cookery book! Thank you Ravi. That’s really great.

Ravi: Well, I thought French food was your favourite, but now… Tess: Oh, silly, I love French food – and I love cooking. It’s a lovely present. Thank you. Come here. sound of a kiss Ravi: So do you want to say the last bit, birthday girl? Before we go and get that cake? Tess: OK. Well, that’s the end of our part of the podcast, and remember, the address for anything that you want to send us is [email protected]. In a moment you can listen to Tom, our English teacher. He’s going to talk about some of the language you heard in this podcast and things to help you learn. So, stay around to listen to Tom but we’ll say goodbye for now. Tess & Ravi: Bye! ---------------------------------------------------------------- Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. At the end of every podcast you’ll hear from me. I’m going to talk about some of the language you heard in the programmes and talk about ways to help you learn English. The first thing I want to talk about is the word ‘one’. Listen to Ravi at the beginning of the podcast. Ravi: Hello and welcome to the Second series of the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. This is podcast number one. Tom: OK. No problem there. Ravi says ‘this is podcast number one’. He uses ‘one’ as a number. One, two, three, four, five etcetera. Now listen to Tess and Ravi. Listen for ‘one’. Ravi: Well, I’ll get you a coffee when we finish here, OK? Tess: OK. And a cake? Ravi: Oh go on then. A small one. Tom: ‘One’ isn’t a number here. Ravi isn’t saying ‘a small one, a small two’. ‘One’ here is a pronoun – it’s used in place of a noun – a thing. Listen again. What does ‘one’ refer to? Ravi: oblivious Well, I’ll get you a coffee when we finish here, OK? Tess: OK. And a cake? Ravi: Oh go on then. A small one


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Tom: Yes, that’s right. ‘One’ refers to the cake. Ravi doesn’t repeat the word ‘cake’ – he uses ‘one’ instead. Tess said ‘cake’, so Ravi doesn’t need to say it again – they both know what they’re talking about. So he can use ‘one’. We do this a lot in English. We can also use ‘ones’ when we’re talking about something that’s plural. Listen to Jamie and Carolina in the shoe shop. What does ‘ones’ refer to? Carolina: fade in So which ones do you like best – the grey ones or the black ones? Jamie: They’re both nice. Carolina: But tell me which ones you like best. Jamie: OK then, the grey ones. Carolina: What’s wrong with the black ones? Jamie: Nothing’s wrong with the black ones. I said I liked them both.

Tom: Yes, they both use ‘ones’ to refer to the shoes. ‘Shoes’ is plural, so they use ‘ones’, not ‘one’. They can use ‘ones’ because they’re standing in the shoe shop looking at the shoes and so they both know what they’re talking about. In some languages you can make adjectives plural – you can say ‘I like the blacks’ or ‘I prefer the greys’, but you can’t do that in English. We say ‘I like the black ones’ or ‘I prefer the grey ones’. ‘One’ is very common with ‘this’ or ‘that’. We can say ‘Do you prefer this one or that one?’. And of course, we use it a lot with ‘which’. ‘Which one do you like best?’ or ‘Which ones do you prefer?’ or for example, in a car park with a friend, we can ask ‘Which one is yours?’ – we both know that we’re talking about a car. And if you’re eating chocolates you can say to a friend ‘Would you like one?’ There are lots of words in English that we use to refer to things or people. Words like ‘it’ or ‘her’ or ’them’ or ‘mine’ – pronouns. Also words like ‘this’ or ‘that’ or ‘these’ or ‘those’. Listen to Tess talking to Esther about knitting. Notice the words that refer to other people or things. Tess: Did you make that jumper you’re wearing? Esther: Yes, I did. Tess: It’s really nice. Esther: Thank you. It took me ages.

Tess: I could never make something like that. It’s important that you notice these words when you’re listening or reading, and that you know what they refer to – if you don’t, then you won’t be able to understand exactly what people are talking about. A good way to practise this is to take a piece of English, for example, a part of the tapescript of the podcast, and draw a circle around all the words that refer to something else. Then draw a line from the word to the thing that it refers to. So, for example, you draw a circle around the word ‘him’ and then draw a line to connect ‘him’ to what it refers to – maybe ‘John’ or ‘Ravi’. I’ll put an example on the site for you to see if you don’t understand what I mean. But please try it. It really will help you to understand things better. Now I’d like to talk about something different. Listen to this. What does ‘poor’ mean? Tess: So women didn’t knit? Esther: Well poor women did of course. Tom: Yes, ‘poor’ means someone who hasn’t got very much money. It’s the opposite of ‘rich’. Now listen to this. What does ‘old’ mean? Esther: You can take an old jumper that you don’t like any more and make something new. It’s a cheap way to get clothes. Tom: Right again. An old jumper is a jumper that you’ve had for a long time. It’s the opposite of ‘new’. But now listen to what Ravi says after he listens to Carolina and Jamie in the shoe shop. Ravi: Poor old Jamie. I think he was a bit bored. Tom: It’s interesting, isn’t it? ‘Poor old Jamie’. Ravi doesn’t mean that Jamie hasn’t got any money. And he doesn’t mean that Jamie is old – he’s a young man. Ravi uses ‘poor’ because he feels sorry for Jamie because he was bored in the shoe shop. We use ‘poor’ in this way a lot – to show sympathy. You can say ‘look at that poor dog – it’s hungry’. Or ‘poor Susan hates her new job’. You can use ‘poor’ in formal or informal situations. But Ravi says ‘Poor old Jamie’. The ‘old’ makes it more informal – you would only say it to friends or people that you know well. If a friend has a problem you can say ‘Oh poor you’ or ‘Oh poor old you’ to show that you sympathise – that you feel sorry for them. And sometimes we say ‘you poor thing’ or ‘you


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poor old thing’ too. See if you notice it in any English films or songs that you listen to. And now for a simple phrase that you can use this week. Listen to Tess at the end of the quiz. Tess: Neighbour. Niece. Classmate. Father-in-law. Colleague. Boss and cousin. Seven. Well done Mark. And Ravi. Tom: She says ‘Well done Mark’ because he got seven words in the quiz. We say ‘well done’ when someone does something well – when we want to congratulate them. Use it this week when you’re speaking English. Say ‘well done’

to someone. OK. I’m going to stop there. I’ll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can write to me about any language that you noticed in this podcast. The address is learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. You can also find some practice exercises to do online and a support pack that you can print. Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.


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Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-02 Section 1: "You know that restaurant you went to?" Tess: Hello! And welcome back to the second series of the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. This is podcast number two of this series and we’re your presenters. I’m Tess … Ravi: … and I’m Ravi, hello. Tess: Right, then. Today we’ve got .. what have we got Ravi? Ravi: Hang on a minute, I’ve remembered what I wanted to ask you. How was your birthday? Tess: Oh, well, it was great, thanks, Ravi: . We had a nice meal. Ravi: Good, good. Well, you know that restaurant you went to? The French one? Tess: Yeah. Ravi: Was it any good? Tess: Yeah, it was. Yeah. Really good. Bit expensive, but the food was excellent, you know. Ravi: You’d recommend it then? Tess: Are you thinking of going? Ravi: Yeah, I might. I thought I might take someone. Tess: Oh yeah? Anyone I know? Ravi: Hmm? No, I don’t think so. When you say ‘expensive’ , was it , like, really expensive or just expensive expensive. Tess: It was quite a lot actually. I think we paid about sixty pounds each – including the wine. Ravi: Sixty quid! Erm. That is a bit more than I wanted to pay. Hmm. Tess: Well, it was my birthday. I’ll tell you what though. There’s an Italian restaurant just around the corner – people say that's quite good. Can't remember the name, but… Ravi: Oh, that one. I know it. I don't fancy that, though. I went there once and the pasta was worse than the stuff I cook at home… Tess: Well, you are a great cook, Ravi … Ravi: Well, thanks, Tess. But this was bad. The pasta was awful and the meat was really tough. Over-cooked. Tasted like rubber. Horrible. And I didn't feel too good the next day…my stomach – you know…

Tess: Say no more. Ravi: Any more ideas? I wanted somewhere a bit special this time, a bit different Tess: Well, there's a new Japanese place round the corner. It looks nice… Ravi: I'm still a bit of a beginner with Japanese food. I'm never sure what to order – I don’t know what it all is. I feel a bit stupid in Japanese restaurants… Tess: I know what you mean. And you don't want to look stupid in front of… Who did you say you were taking? Ravi: I didn’t. Tess: Should I just get on with the podcast? Ravi: Yes. Tess: OK then, I’ll do that shall I? Right. what have we got? There’s the quiz, …. Ravi: Oh, hang on a moment. I forgot something. You know in the last podcast we told everyone that Gordon’s gone – got a new job - and taken his fantastic jokes with him? Tess: I’m not sure about fantastic. Ravi: Well, loads of people wrote to say they wanted Gordon back! Imagine! They loved the jokes! Anyway, I'm afraid Gordon's definitely gone, but the good news is … dada dada da da a – I'm taking over Tess: Oh no… Ravi: Yes, as from today, I'll be telling the jokes. And some of them don't have animals in them! Tess: Great. Something to really look forward to. Anyway, let's get back to what we have on today's show. As I said, we’ll have our quiz, ….as usual, we’ll hear what people think in ‘Your Turn’ – what’s the question this time? Ravi: It’s about shopping. Section 2: I’d like to talk about… Tess: And there’ll be Carolina too, of course, we’ll see how she’s getting on, but, as usual, we’ll start with ‘I’d like to talk about’. This is the part of our show when someone tells us about something important to them - a hobby, a person, a place, a thing – whatever. Ravi: Yes, something that you know a bit about and would like to share with all of us. And today we’ve got Liam: here in the studio – Hi Liam: . Liam: Hi Ravi, hi Tess. Tess: Hi Liam Ravi: Just introduce yourself first, you know, tell us a bit about yourself before we start.


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Liam: OK. I’m Irish, I’m from Dublin, I’m twenty-two, and I’m training to be a teacher. Tess: Dublin’s a long way away from London! Liam: Yes, I’m in London for a while, visiting family. So I thought I’d come into the studio and talk about Albert Einstein. Ravi: Wow. Albert Einstein. E equals mc squared. Are you a scientist by any chance? Liam: No, I’m not. I love science though – and that’s what I want to do in a way - I’m training to be a physics teacher. That’s why I love Einstein – I think he’s a brilliant example for kids, he really shows them that science isn’t boring. It’s about using your imagination. Einstein was a real ‘artist’ – he was a science superstar. Everyone has this image of him as an old man with grey hair, but he was young when he made his most important discoveries – he was in his twenties. Not much older than me in fact. Tess: I heard he was a really bad student at school. Is that true? Liam: I’m not sure it is. I think he was a clever student – he always got good marks, but he hated school as a teenager. He thought the lessons were boring – he used to skip school and study the things that he wanted to learn about. He thought that he didn’t learn anything at school and I think that a lot of kids today will understand how he felt. Ravi: And are you going to explain relativity and e equals mc squared? Liam: Ha! How long is the podcast? No, I don’t think so. Ravi: Oh go on! Liam: Well …. the most interesting thing for me about Einstein’s theories is the stuff about time. Time isn’t always the same – it goes faster or slower in different situations – it’s relative. For example, if you put a clock on a spaceship that’s travelling very fast, then the clock goes more slowly than a clock on earth. Ravi: So, if I travel on a spaceship for thirty years, when I come back Tess: will be an old woman and I’ll still be young and gorgeous? Liam: Well yes. Tess: He’s not sure about the ‘gorgeous’ part Ravi. Liam: So time depends on speed. And it also depends on gravity. Time passes more slowly on the planet Jupiter for example, because the gravity there is much stronger than the gravity on Earth.

Tess: Wow! So time is different everywhere in the universe! Liam: That’s right. It’s relative. It isn’t just a crazy theory – space engineers nowadays have to use it when they send ships out into space. They have to use it in their calculations. It’s complicated, but I hope I’ve explained it a bit. Ravi: You certainly have Liam. I can see you’ve got a great future as a teacher. Liam: Well thanks. I hope so. Tess: Yes, I’d like to learn a bit more about it now. Do you know any good websites with simple explanations Liam? Perhaps we could put a couple of links on the site for people who’d like to read some more? Liam: I can try and find some for you Tess. Tess: Great. Ravi: Yes, great. Thanks a lot Liam, and good luck in your future career. Liam: Thanks Ravi. Thanks Tess. I’ve enjoyed being here. Ravi: OK, let’s move on with the podcast. Tess: Young and gorgeous indeed. Ravi: And of course listeners, we’d like to hear your thoughts on Einstein and relativity, or any other topic that you’d like to talk about. You can write something or record something and send it to us at learn English podcast at British Council dot org, that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g. Send it to us and we’ll put the most interesting ones on the site. Section 3 – Quiz Tess: Right. Now, it’s time for the quiz. Hello, Eva. Eva: on phone Eva Ey-va Tess: Sorry – Eva. Sorry. Eva: That’s OK, everyone says it wrong. Tess: Is it French? Eva: No, it’s from Slovakia. My mum’s Slovak. Tess: Ah, OK. But you’re in Scotland now, right? Eva: That’s right. In Coatbridge. Near Glasgow. Tess: OK. What do you do there? Eva: I’m doing my A levels. Tess: Right. You’re still at school then. What subjects are you doing? Is it hard work? Eva: I’m doing English, French and History. Yeah, it is hard work, yeah. Tess: But do you enjoy it?


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Eva: Yeah, I suppose so. It’s OK nervous laugh Tess: Good. OK then, are you ready to play? We’re going to play ‘10 things’. It’s a new one but I’ll tell you what you have to do, OK. Eva: OK Tess: Right. I’ll give you a word – a verb – and you have to try to think of ten things that go with that word. For example, if I say ‘play’, you have to say ten things you can play – the piano, golf, a game … like that. You’ve got a minute and you have to try to get ten things. You get the idea? Eva: Yep. Tess: OK then, let’s go. Eva you’ve got one minute to tell us ten things you can tell Eva: Tell a story. ... Tell the truth. Tell a lie. ... Tell the time. ... Tell the difference between two things. ... Tell someone …. erm … tell someone a story … oh no, I’ve already said that, erm….tell someone….. tell someone off. ... Tell…. tell….tell ..ah tell right from wrong? erm tell apart – like tell two people apart. Tess: That’s eight. Come on, two more. Eva: Argh! Tell, tell, tell …. tell someone to do something? buzzer sounds Tess: Ahhh. Nine. Bad luck Eva. That’s a really tricky one. You did really well. Eva: laughing Argh. It’s really stressful. Tess: I know! Thank you for playing. You did do really well. Let’s check them: Tell a story, tell the truth, tell a lie, tell the time, tell the difference, tell someone off, tell right from wrong, tell apart and tell someone to do something. Nine. Good stuff, Eva. We’ll send you something nice. Eva: Thanks. Bye! Ravi: Bye! Right. Don’t go away anyone. We’ve got your thoughts on shopping and we’ve got more from Carolina right after this. Section 4: Your turn Tess: Right. Now it’s time for Your Turn. This is the part of the podcast when we go out and ask different people what they think about something. We ask a different question in every podcast. Ravi: Yes. And this time the question is ‘Shopping – love it? Hate it?’ or ‘It depends’?. Let’s hear what people said.

Voice 1: I hate shopping. I hate shopping in supermarkets, I hate shopping in the market, and I hate shopping for clothes, I especially hate shopping in the sales. In fact, I would prefer to do all my shopping online. Voice 2: I love it if I’m in the right mood for shopping, but I can’t stand shopping in really busy places and I hate it when the music’s on too loud, and I also hate pushy shop assistants. Voice 3: Well, it depends on the kind of shopping, really, if it’s clothes shopping or buying a gift for someone I quite enjoy it. If it’s shopping just for daily foodstuffs I do find that a bit boring, in fact lately I’ve taken to using the Internet and just doing online shopping. I find that much easier. Voice 4: I love shopping. I love when shopping happens, you know you didn’t plan it but then you just see the perfect thing and you just have to buy it. I love it when it just happens. I love shopping and spending money. Voice 5: Shopping – love it or hate it? I don’t understand it. You should only go shopping when you need to go shopping to buy food or clothes, for example, but shopping for pleasure is just beyond my understanding. I can’t possibly understand why people could possibly enjoy such an activity. Tess: What do you think Ravi? We do call you ‘the king of shopping’. Ravi: You know I love shopping Tess. Clothes, CDs, DVDs, buying presents for people, stuff for the house. Everything really. Tess: Even the supermarket? Ravi: Ah, well, perhaps not so much. But I don’t mind it. What about you? Tess: I hate supermarkets. No, I’m not a big shopping fan really. And what about our listeners? Why don’t you write in and tell us what you think about shopping? Section 5: Carolina Ravi: OK then, time to catch up with Carolina: again. Remember that Carolina: is a student from Venezuela who’s come to England to study at university. We’ve been following her on the podcast as she studies – and relaxes – in Newcastle. Last time she was shoe shopping – let’s see what she’s up to this time. knock on a door Emily: Hello? Carolina: Hi, Emily. Can I come in?


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Emily: Yeah, come in, it’s open. Carolina: Hi. Can I ask you about something? Emily: Of course you can. What’s up? Here, I’ll just move this so you can sit down. Carolina: It’s this. You know that essay I did? The environment and land resources one? I just got it back. Emily: OK Carolina: Oh Emily. Fifty five percent. That’s really terrible isn’t it? I don’t know what I should do. Emily: Whaddya mean?. I mean it’s not great but, you know, it’s not awful. It’s your first essay and it’s in your second language. Are there any comments on it? Carolina: Yeah, she’s written loads. I got the bit about the land use patterns completely wrong. I don’t think I really answered the question. Oh, Emily, I feel terrible. Emily: h come on, it’s not that bad, it’s a pass, you know. It’s not a disaster. Carolina: It is! Fifty five percent! I never got fifty-five percent in Venezuela. I’ve never had less than eighty percent for anything. Emily: Really? Look, I got sixty two for my first essay and I’m quite pleased with that. Carolina: Really? Emily: Yeah, I mean, it’s not brilliant but it’s fine. You never get eighty percent or something like that unless you’re, like, a total genius or something. Carolina: Is that true? I don't know – it's all very different here. I feel a bit confused. At home, we had to learn more things – remember them. Here you have to do lots of research and read things and say what you think in front of lots of other students. Emily: Yeah, that can be scary, can’t it? And then they all ask questions - with the tutor listening. It makes you feel a bit stupid sometimes, doesn't it? You think all the others are geniuses, and you’re the worst in the group! Carolina: So you feel stupid too? Oh, that makes me feel much better! Emily: ell, thanks! But yes, it's just as difficult, even if English is your first language! Don’t forget it’s the first year for everybody – and it’s really different from school. Listen, who’s your tutor? Why don’t you have a chat with him? Carolina: Her. Stafford. Helen Stafford: . Emily: Well let’s have a look. I’m already logged in. Stafford with two ‘f’s? You’re allowed to go and see your tutor you know. It tells you

on here what times they’ll be around. ... Right, here she is. knock on a door Helen Stafford: : Come in. Ah, Carolina: . How are you? Carolina: Fine, thanks. Have you got a minute? Helen Stafford: Yes, sure. Have a seat. What can I do for you? Carolina: Could I ask you about the essay you sent back to me? Helen Stafford: Ah, OK. You got it? Good. Yes, have you got it there? OK. Right. Let me have a look. Oh, yes. Well, generally I thought this was quite good. There were one or two things ... Carolina: …yes, yes it does. I should have said that, I know. Oh dear. Helen Stafford: Well, with those parts changed it would be a really good essay. Carolina: Right. Thank you. Helen Stafford: But as it is, it’s a good start. You need to think about the other things as well – the bibliography mainly – but I think you’re on the right lines with this. Carolina: OK. Thank you very much for your time. Helen Stafford: That’s alright. I hope you feel a bit better about it now. Carolina: I do, thank you. It’s a really big help. Helen Stafford: And how are things in general? Are you settling in okay? Carolina: Settling in…? Helen Stafford: Well, it must be a bit strange: different country, new people, different language, different study system. It must take time to – er – get comfortable with all those changes. Carolina: Well, I was a bit upset this week – about the essay and everything, but I have ‘settled in’ all right. I’ve made friends… things are going well. Helen Stafford: Good. Well, you know where I am. Just check on the site to see when I’m here if you need to come and have a chat again. Carolina: OK, I will. Thank you. Helen Stafford: Bye. Carolina: Bye.


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Ravi: You went to university. I bet you were one of the total genius students getting eighty five percent for everything. Tess: I wish. God, I hated writing essays. I’m really glad I don’t have to do that anymore. Ravi: Well, if any of our listeners want to write to us, they …. Tess: Gah, terrible link Ravi: Ravi: laughs You think so? I thought that was pretty good. Anyway, remember you can send things to us here at the podcast. Tess: Yeah, go on. We’d love to hear from you – you can record yourself and send it to us too. If we like it, we’ll put it on the site. Well, I think that’s it from us…. Section 6: Joke Ravi: cough Haven’t you forgotten something? ... Like my joke? I’ve been practising all day. Tess: Go on then. Ravi: A duck goes into a bar…. Tess:You said they weren’t about animals. Ravi: I said some of them weren’t about animals. This one’s about a duck. So, a duck goes into a pub and says “I’d like a pint of beer please.” And the barman is a bit surprised to see a duck that can talk, but he gives him the beer. So the duck comes into the pub for a beer the next day, and the next day, and the next day, and he chats to the barman, and after a few weeks they get quite friendly. So one day the barman says “You know, you really are a very unusual duck. Did you know there’s a circus in town at the moment? Why don’t you go and see if they can give you a job? I’m sure they’d be very interested”. And the duck says “Well OK. But are you sure they need a computer programmer?” Tess: laughing Actually, that’s quite funny Ravi. Better than some of Gordon’s! Ravi: Well thank you very much Tess. Tess: Not at all. Now that really is time for us to say goodbye. Remember, the address for anything that you want to send us is [email protected]. But don’t go away because Tom the teacher will be here to talk about learning English and some of the language that you’ve heard in today’s podcast. So I’ll say goodbye… Ravi: Me too. Bye! ----------------------------------------------------------------

Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. I’m here at the end of every podcast to talk about some of the language you heard in the programme, and to talk about ways to help you learn English. The first thing I want to look at today is the word ‘tell’. A lot of learners want to know the difference between the verbs ‘tell’ and ‘say’. This is quite difficult to explain! ‘Say’ and ‘tell’ are almost the same in meaning – they’re both connected with speaking. ‘Say’ can be used in lots of situations, but when we are giving information to someone, we usually use ‘tell’. But let’s look at ‘say’ first. Listen to the first line of Ravi’s joke about the talking duck. Ravi: So, a duck goes into a pub and says “I’d like a pint of beer please.” Tom: Listen to another example. Ravi: And this time the question is ‘Shopping – love it? Hate it?’ or ‘It depends’?. Let’s hear what people said. Tom: Yes, the past form of ‘say’ is ‘said’. ‘Say’ and ‘said’ are very common words in English. Listen to Tess at the end of the podcast. Tess: Now that really is time for us to say goodbye. Remember, the address for anything that you want to send us is [email protected]. Tom: Tess said ‘It’s time for us to say goodbye’. You can say goodbye, say hello, say thank you, say happy birthday. If we want to say who we’re speaking to, then we use ‘to’. Tess can say ‘goodbye’ to us, or Ravi can say ‘Happy birthday’ to Tess. We can’t say ‘Tess said me goodbye’ or ‘Ravi said Tess happy birthday’, or ‘Ravi said her happy birthday’. We can’t use ‘say’ with words like ‘us’ or ‘her’, or a name – we can’t use ‘say’ with an object. Now listen to an example of ‘tell’. How is it different? Ravi: Just introduce yourself first, you know, tell us a bit about yourself before we start. Tom: Ravi said ‘tell us a bit about yourself’. He used the object – ‘us’ after ‘tell’. ‘Tell us’. Listen


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to another example. It’s Tess at the beginning of the quiz. What’s the object word this time? Tess: We’re going to play ‘10 things’. It’s a new one but I’ll tell you what you have to do, OK. Tom: Yes, that’s right. She said ‘I’ll tell you what you have to do’. This is the big difference between ‘say’ and ‘tell’. We use an object immediately after ‘tell’ but not after ‘say’. One more example. Listen to Ravi. Ravi: Oh, hang on a moment. I forgot something. You know in the last podcast we told everyone that Gordon’s gone – got a new job - and taken his fantastic jokes with him? Tom: Ravi said ‘we told everyone that Gordon’s gone’. ‘Told’ is the past form of ‘tell’. ‘We told everyone’. ‘Everyone’ is the object. Ravi can’t say ‘we said everyone that Gordon’s gone’. We just can’t use ‘say’ in that way. Try to notice examples of ‘say’ and ‘tell’ in the English that you read or listen to. A good learners’ dictionary will help you. Remember that a dictionary isn’t only about meanings and definitions. A learners’ dictionary will give you examples of the word used in sentences, so you can see exactly how to use the word. Try it when you’ve finished listening to the podcast. Find ‘say’ and ‘tell’ in your dictionary and see what the example sentences are. Make a note of them in your vocabulary book. Add more examples when you notice them. ... A dictionary can help in another way too. Listen to Tess at the end of the quiz. She’s repeating Eva’s answers for things that you can ‘tell’. Tess: You did do really well. Let’s check them: Tell a story, tell the truth, tell a lie, tell the time, tell the difference, tell someone off, tell right from wrong, tell apart and tell someone to do something. Nine. Good stuff, Eva. Tom: These are all phrases where we use ‘tell’. You can tell the children a story or tell your mother a lie. You don’t ‘say a story’ or ‘say a lie’. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember if you should use ‘say’ or ‘tell’. So use your dictionary again to help you. Find the word ‘story’ and look at the example sentences. You will find the verb ‘tell’ in the examples, so you’ll know that ‘tell’ is the verb to use with ‘story’. A

good learners’ dictionary really is a very good friend! Tom: Now for something different - words that British people use for money. You probably have a lot of different words for money in your language too. Listen to Ravi and Tess. They’re talking about the restaurant that Tess went to for her birthday. Listen to the word that Ravi uses for ‘pounds’ Ravi: When you say ‘expensive’ , was it , like, really expensive or just expensive expensive. Tess: It was quite a lot actually. I think we paid about sixty pounds each – including the wine. Ravi: Sixty quid! Erm. That is a bit more than I wanted to pay. Hmm. Tom: Yes, he said ‘quid’ – ‘sixty quid’. ‘Quid’ is a very common word for ‘pounds’ in English. You don’t have to say ‘quid’ – you can say ‘pounds’, but you need to understand the word if someone says it to you. Let me tell you some more common words for money so that you can understand them when you hear them. British people often say ‘a fiver’ for five pounds, and ‘a tenner’ for ten pounds. So you can say ‘How much did the coffees cost?’ and the person might say ‘Only a fiver’. Another common word is ‘grand’. ‘A grand’ is a thousand pounds. So a car can cost ‘twelve grand’ or a house might cost ‘two hundred grand’ or someone’s salary can be ‘twenty grand a year. Tom: Now I want to talk about the word ‘right’. I noticed it a lot in this podcast. Listen to Carolina and her tutor. What does ‘right’ mean here? Helen Stafford: Well, with those parts changed it would be a really good essay. Carolina: Right. Thank you. Tom: Yes, Carolina uses ‘right’ to mean ‘OK’. Now listen to Tess and Liam talking about Einstein’s theory of relativity. Why does Liam use ‘right’? Tess: Wow! So time is different everywhere in the universe! Liam: That’s right. It’s relative. It isn’t just a crazy theory – space engineers nowadays have to use it.


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Tom: That’s right. I say this all the time! We use ‘that’s right’ when we agree with what someone says, when their answer is ‘right’ not ‘wrong’. We can also use ‘right’ in another way – to ask a question. Listen to Tess and Eva. Eva: My mum’s Slovak. Tess: Ah, OK. But you’re in Scotland now, right? Eva: That’s right. In Coatbridge. Near Glasgow. Tom: Tess says ‘right’ to check that what she says about Eva is true. ‘You’re in Scotland now, right? And Eva says ‘That’s right’ – yes, she is

in Scotland now. Try to use ‘right’ or ‘that’s right’ – to say OK, or when you agree with someone, or to ask a question. Try to use it this week when you’re speaking English. OK. That’s enough from me for today. I’ll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can write to me about any language that you noticed in this podcast. The address is learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. You can also find some practice exercises to do online and a support pack that you can print. Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.

.

Elementary Podcast 2-3 – Transcript

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Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page:

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-listening-downloads.htm

Section 1: "Sometimes I think I spend too much time on the computer." Tess: Hello Welcome to the second series of the Learn English Elementary podcast. this is number three. I’m Tess.

Ravi: And I’m Ravi. It’s a bright sunny morning here in London but the great thing about a podcast is that you can listen whenever you want, so, good morning! Good afternoon! Good evening!

Tess: That’s true. Why not write and tell us when and where you listen to our podcasts? We’ll give you the email address a little later. Do you listen at your computer or do you download us and listen on the bus, in the car, at the gym? Let us know. Do you listen to any podcasts Ravi?

Ravi: I do, actually, yeah. I listen to a couple of things. There’s a football podcast I really like and there’s quite a good comedy one that I listen to as well. I listen to them when I go out running.

Tess: You go out running?

Ravi: Well, I listened to one once when I was running. I usually listen at home. How about you?

Tess: No, not really. I’m too busy with my social networking site to have time for podcasts. Honestly, sometimes I think I spend too much time on the computer.

Ravi: I know what you mean. It’s easy to spend hours and hours on the internet just looking at different things. Surfing the net. Oh, that reminds me – I wanted to ask you about something. You know I’m on Facebook, right?

Tess: Right.

Ravi: Well, I know you’re not on Facebook but you’re on a few other networking sites - you know how it works, don’t you? People send you invitations to be their ‘friend’

Tess: Yeah, OK. I know what you mean.

Ravi: Well, yesterday I got a message from someone inviting me to be ‘friends’ and the thing is, I just don’t know who she is. I don’t recognise her name at all.

Tess: So, someone wants to be your friend online and you don’t know who she is? You’re just so popular Ravi.

Ravi: Well she knows me – she wrote something about Manchester but I really can’t think who she is. I mean, it’s not a really big problem but what do you think I should do Tess?

Tess: Well, you could just not reply.

Ravi: But I don’t want to be rude to her.

Tess: Or you could ask her where you met.

Ravi: Hmm. That’s a bit embarrassing.

Tess: Well, why don’t you say, yes, you’ll be her friend? You don’t have to write to her, do you?

Ravi: That’s true. I’ll just say ‘yes, let’s be friends’ and then maybe I’ll remember who she is.

Tess: She’s probably a friend of a friend or something. Do you often forget people’s names, then, erm ….. what’s your name again?

Ravi: Very good, Tess. No I’m usually quite good with names. Like today I can tell you we’ve got Sameena on I’d Like to talk about, we’ve got Davis doing the quiz and we’ve got Carolina and Jamie later. And Tom the teacher of course.

Tess: Well done. Shall we get on with it, then?

Section 2: I’d like to talk about…

Ravi: OK then. As usual, listeners, we’ll start


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with I’d Like to Talk About. This is the part of our podcast when we ask someone to tell us about something that’s important to them. It could be a person, a hobby – anything. And today we’ve got Sameena in the studio. And she’s going to talk about meditation. Hi Sameena.

Sameena: Hi

Tess: Hi Sameena. Before you start, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself.

Sameena: Well, my name’s Sameena – as you know. Um, I’m twenty, and I’m a student at the London School of Economics.

Ravi: Are you from London?

Sameena: No, Leeds. I go back there in the holidays.

Ravi: Great place, Leeds. OK. So why did you decide to talk about meditation Sameena?

Sameena: Well I started doing it about three years ago. I was very stressed with exams and I was working too hard. So a friend told me about meditation – he taught me how to do it actually, in the beginning – and it worked. It made me a lot calmer and less stressed out. So I got really interested in it and started reading about it, and, well, I just think everyone should try it!

Tess: And how do you do it? Give us an idea of what you do. I always think of old men with long, white beards when I think of meditation.

Sameena: Well, it’s very simple really. I sit still, somewhere quiet. You can sit in any position, on the floor, or on a hard chair, but you need to keep your back straight and you must be comfortable. I sit on a chair, close my eyes, and then I relax and try to be conscious of now, of the present moment. And my mind becomes calm. That’s it really.

Tess: And you stop thinking?

Sameena: No, no. A lot of people think that, but it isn’t true. It’s more about watching your thoughts, just sitting and being conscious of what’s going through your mind. You let the thoughts come and go, but you don’t follow them, you just watch them so your mind stays

calm and peaceful.

Tess: But how do you do that – keep your mind calm and peaceful?

Sameena: Well, I use a mantra – that helps me.

Tess: A mantra?

Sameena: Yes, it just means a phrase that you concentrate on – you repeat it over and over again to yourself. But you don’t have to use a mantra - there are lots of different ways of doing it. You can concentrate on your breathing – count your breaths for example, or you can try to imagine the energy moving around in your body, you know, try to see it.

Ravi: It’s getting very popular nowadays isn’t it? Oprah Winfrey was talking about meditation on TV the other day.

Sameena: Yes, it’s getting more popular in the west, that’s true. But it started as a Hindu tradition more than five thousand years ago – it’s really old. And some form of meditation is involved in nearly all religions.

Tess: So is it always a religious thing?

Sameena: No, it doesn’t have to have any religious meaning. A lot of people meditate just because it’s good for the mind and good for the body. It’s a really healthy thing to do.

Tess: I can see why it can be good for the mind, but how does it help the body?

Sameena: Meditation can help your blood pressure, your heart, your breathing - all sorts of things. Scientists have done tests – it’s all been proved. So, as I said at the beginning, I think everyone should try it!

Tess: Well thanks for that Sameena. That was really interesting.

Sameena: Not at all. I enjoyed talking about it. Bye.

Tess: Bye Sameena.

Ravi: Bye Sameena, and thanks again.

Tess: So, are you going to give it a try Ravi? Might help you deal with some of that stress?

Ravi: It’s not a bad idea you know. My dad


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meditates, well he used to anyway – I remember seeing him when I was a kid. I don’t know if he still does though. I’ll have to ask him. I might ask him to give me some lessons next time I see him! That’ll be a big surprise for him.

Tess: Well yes. A calm, peaceful Ravi would be a big surprise for all of us.

Ravi: Ommmmm

Tess: OK. What about you listeners? Do any of you meditate? Or what would you like to tell us about? Write – or record – what you think and send it to us at learn English podcast at British Council dot org, that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g. If we like it, we’ll stick it on the website.

Ravi: We should put some stuff up about mediation, too. Will you do that?

Tess: Yeah, OK. Remind me to do that later.

Section 3 – Quiz Tess: Right, then. What’s next? The quiz.

Ravi: Yep. And today we’ve got Davis on the line. Hello, Davis.

Davis: Hi Ravi.

Tess: Hiya

Davis: Hi Tess.

Ravi: Tell us a bit about yourself Davis. Where are you calling from?

Davis: I’m in London.

Ravi: Are you from London?

Davis: Yes, that’s right.

Tess: Like me. Which part of London?

Davis: Tottenham

Tess: Ah, OK. I’m from south London. Wimbledon.

Ravi: Do you support Tottenham then, Davis? Which football team do you support?

Davis: Nah, man, I support Arsenal.

Ravi: Oh dear. Well, I’ll forgive you. What do you do Davis?

Davis: I work in a market. Selling kitchen things.

Ravi: No market today then?

Davis: No, not today.

Ravi: Right then. You know how to play Hot Seat, don’t you?

Davis: Yeah.

Ravi: Tess has got the cards with the words on. She’ll give them to me and I’ll explain them to you and we’ll see how many we can get in a minute , OK?

Davis: OK

Ravi: But I don’t know what the topic is. Tess?

Tess: Right, I’ve got the cards here. I’ll give them to Ravi and he has to explain the words without using the words on the card. Are you both ready?

Ravi: Ready

Davis: OK

Tess: OK then today’s topic is ….. Places in an airport. Different things and places in an airport. Here are the cards Ravi. You’ve got one minute starting from ….NOW

Ravi: Agh! It’s the long road that planes take off from. The really long straight road. They land on it as well.

Davis: Runway?

Ravi: Yes. Oh no. Erm. The place you go to just before you get on the plane … erm …

Davis: Departure lounge

Ravi: No. “Could passengers travelling to Paris on Flight three seven two please go to hnn twenty one”

Davis: Gate!

Ravi: Yes. The first place you go to when you get to the airport.

Davis: The shops?

Ravi: No. You go there to put your bags in and they check your passport and ticket…


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Davis: Passport control?

Ravi: No, before that. Erm .. … “Did you pack this bag yourself, sir?”

Davis: Check-in!

Ravi: Yes. Now what you said before. The place where you wait to get on the plane but before you go to the gate.


Ravi: Yes. It’s a place. Where you go to pick up your suitcase when you get off the plane.

Davis: Oh, the thing that goes round.

Ravi: Yeah, that, but what’s the room called?

buzzer sounds

Davis: I don’t know it.

Ravi: It was baggage reclaim. Oh dear, we haven’t done very well there, have we? Sorry Davis. How many was that?

Tess: Runway … gate … check-in … departure lounge. Four.

Ravi: Eek. Sorry Davis. That was tough, wasn’t it?

Davis: You just can’t think when the clock’s ticking.

Ravi: I know. Listen, thanks for playing – we’ll find some things to send you. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Davis: And you mate.

Tess: Bye Davis. And well done Ravi. Right. More to come. We’ll hear what some of you think about space exploration and we’ll catch up with Carolina after this.

Section 4: Your turn Ravi: Right. Your Turn. This is the part of the podcast when we go out and ask different people what they think about something. Every podcast has a different question and this time it’s about space exploration – sending rockets and people into space. So, the big question is Do you think that space exploration is a waste

of time and money?” Or is it a useful thing to do? Let’s hear what people think.

Voice 1: Er ... yeah, it’s a waste of time and money. There’s nothing out there ... er ... and that moon landing in the 60s, that was done in a studio in Hollywood.

Voice 2: I think that space exploration is a waste of money when you think about ... um ... poor people, climate change and disease.

Voice 3: Ah ... sometimes I think it’s a waste of money when, like, the big countries - America or Russia - they just compete for dominance of space, but when it’s used for scientific research that can improve ... um ... the equality of life on Earth, then I think it’s not money wasted.

Voice 4: No, I don’t think space exploration is a w… um ... we’d need to know what’s out there – we have to advance … there is obviously the argument though that mon... that money could be spent on cleaning up our own environment, and our own world, um ... but as I say we need to look forward, maybe our world won’t be here forever and we should be looking towards other places.

Voice 5: I don’t think space exploration is a waste of time and money ... um ... possibly in the future we might need space exploration and the discoveries they’ve made more now than we ever realised ... new sources of energy or ... we don’t know where mankind is going to be in the future. I think space exploration is very important.

Ravi: Do you know, when I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. I’d love to explore space.

Tess: Did you? I wanted to be a train driver.

Ravi: Well, maybe when you’re older.


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Tess: Yes. Maybe. And we’d like to know what you, the listeners think too. Send us your opinions.

Section 5: Carolina

Tess: Time now to see what’s happening with Carolina. You remember that Carolina is a student from Venezuela who’s studying in Newcastle in the north of England.

Ravi: It’s not just study though – we’ve heard about Carolina going shopping, cooking and enjoying university life with her new boyfriend, Jamie. Let’s find out what she’s doing this time…

Outside the house

Jamie: Well here we are then – My home. The family mansion.

Carolina: Oh, is this the house? I’m a bit nervous Jamie.

Jamie: Don’t be silly.

doorbell – door opens

Mary: Hellooo! hugs and kisses Jamie

Jamie: This is Carolina, mum …

Mary: Hello Carolina. It’s lovely to meet you.

Carolina: Hello. Um... it’s nice to meet you too.

Mary: Did you have a good journey?

Carolina: Oh yes, thank you. The train was a bit late, but it was fine. We got a bus from the station. It was easy.

Mary: Doug! They’re here! Come on in before we die of cold. Doug! They’re here!

dog barking

Jamie: Hello Ernie! Hello, who’s a good boy then?

Doug: Hello, hello, hello. You’re here then. All right Jamie?

Jamie: Dad.

Doug: And this must be Carolina.

Carolina: Yes, hello, pleased to …… oh, …..

Mary: Get down Ernie! Ernie! I hope you like dogs Carolina.

Carolina: Well, I, um ….. . I don’t know really…

Mary: He won’t hurt you. He just wants to give you a kiss. Get down Ernie! Doug, put him in the kitchen.

Doug: Righty ho. Come on Ernie.

Mary: Now let me take your bags upstairs.

Carolina: Oh no, no. I can take mine. It isn’t heavy.

Jamie: I’ll take them. Go on mum. You lead the way. Carolina’s in the spare room I suppose?

…

Mary: And you’re in this room Carolina.

Carolina: How nice. I love the colour. And what pretty curtains too.

Mary: I’m glad you like it. We don’t use this room very often.

Carolina: I think it’s lovely.

Mary: Now, I’ve put some towels out for you – here they are on the bed. And we turned the radiator on in here this morning so it should be nice and warm for you.

Carolina: Oh thank you. That’s very kind of you. I’m sure I’ll be very comfortable. Thank you very much for inviting me.

Mary: Not at all. It’s lovely to have you here. Now you unpack your bag and I’ll go down and put the kettle on for a nice cup of tea. The bathroom’s next door if you want to wash your hands…

…

knock at door

Jamie: Can I come in?

Carolina: Yes

Jamie: OK?

Carolina: Oh yes, I’m OK. Your mother’s really nice.

Jamie: Ready to go downstairs?


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Carolina: Yes.

Jamie: Come on then. Mum’s making a cup of tea. My family drinks tea all the time.

Carolina: OK. So … let’s go then.

…

Mary: Here you are Carolina. A nice cup of tea.

Carolina: Thank you Mrs Lawrence.

Mary: Oh no. Call me Mary. Mary and Doug. We’re not formal in this house are we Jamie?

Jamie: Mum, Carolina drinks tea without milk.

Carolina: No, no, it’s OK Jamie. I can drink it with milk.

Doug: No, let’s get you another.

Carolina: Well OK, if it isn’t too much trouble. Thank you.

Mary: Don’t be silly. It’s no trouble at all. I’ll just go and get another cup.

Carolina: Aargh!

Doug: Get down Ernie! You let the dog in Mary! Ernie! Down! Leave her alone! He’s just being friendly.

Jamie: I’ll put him back in the kitchen.

Carolina: It’s OK. I don’t mind.

Jamie: Come on Ernie. Kitchen.

Doug: So Carolina. What do you think of this country of ours? A bit cold for you is it?

Carolina: I like it. It’s very different from Venezuela, but I like it here. And the people are very friendly.

Doug: Well that’s good.

Mary: Here you are Carolina.

Carolina: Thank you very much. … You’ve got a lovely house.

Mary: Well thank you. It’s nothing grand but we like it.

Carolina: How long have you lived here?

Mary: Since we got married, that’ll be what, twenty-five years nearly is it Doug?

Doug: Aye. Twenty-five years in April.

Carolina: So Jamie was born here?

Mary: That’s right. He’s lived here all his life, haven’t you love?

Jamie: Yep.

Mary: He’s still got some of his old toys in his room, hasn’t he Doug?

Carolina: Really?

Doug: Oh aye. Won’t let us throw them out. All his old toy cars. And Mr Potter the panda’s still there.

Mary: That’s right. Mr Potter the panda. But Jamie couldn’t say Mr Potter – he could only say Po Po – so it was Po Po panda. Do you remember Jamie?

Carolina: Mr Po Po panda?

Jamie: Oh god! Stop it all of you. Let’s change the subject. How’s work going dad? Been busy recently?

…

Ravi: Ah. What a nightmare. Poor Jamie. But, you know, it must be getting serious now. Carolina met Jamie’s parents.

Tess: Yes. Isn’t it nice? Ahhhh.

Section 6: The Joke

Tess: Well, I think that’s about all we’ve got time for on this podcast ..

Ravi: No, hang on a minute. I’ve got another joke for you.

Tess: I hoped you’d forget.

Ravi: I think you’ll like this one, Tess.

Tess: OK. Let’s hear it.

Ravi: OK. A man …..

Tess: A man? Oh? Not a dog? A duck? A frog?

Ravi: Definitely a man – I told you – not all of my jokes are animal jokes. Right. A man goes up to the ticket desk at the airport.The ticket clerk says ‘Good morning, sir. Can I help you?’

and the man says ‘Good morning. I’d like a


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ticket to Tokyo, please. And I’d like you to send my luggage to New York”. Well, the ticket clerk looks surprised and says “You want us to put you on a plane to Tokyo and send your luggage on a plane to New York?”. “Yes, that’s right” says the man. “I’m very sorry sir but we can’t do that – it’s impossible.” The man says “Well, I don’t understand why it’s so difficult. That’s exactly what you did last time”.

Tess: I lost my bag at an airport once you know.

Ravi: You’ll have to save that story for another time Tess. That’s all we’ve got time for today. Remember, the address for anything that you want to send us is [email protected]. But don’t go away, listeners. Tom the teacher will be here in a moment to talk about learning English and some of the language you heard on the podcast – pause – and we’ll be back next time. Bye!

Tess: Bye!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. I’m here at the end of every podcast to talk about some of the language you heard in the programme, and to talk about ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about the word ‘too’. Listen to Carolina meeting Jamie’s mother, Mary. See how Carolina uses ‘too’.


Carolina: Hello. Um… it’s nice to meet you too.

Tom: We can use ‘too’ to mean ‘as well’. I’m sure you know this already. If someone says “I really like chocolate”, you can say “Me too!” – you have the same opinion. This use of ‘too’ is easy. But some learners have problems with a different way to use ‘too’. Listen to Tess talking about why she doesn’t listen to podcasts. How

does she use ‘too’?

Tess: No, not really. I’m too busy with my social networking site to have time for podcasts. Honestly, sometimes I think I spend too much time on the computer.

Tom: She says “I’m too busy to have time for podcasts” and then she says “I think I spend too much time on the computer”. ‘Too’ here means more than you want – more than is good. If you say that you spend too much time on the computer, you mean that you think it’s a bad thing. You think that you should spend less time on the computer. Listen to another example. Sameena is talking about why she started doing meditation. Listen for ‘too’.

Sameena: Well I started doing it about three years ago. I was very stressed with exams and I was working too hard. So a friend told me about meditation.

Tom: Yes, she says “I was working too hard”. She means she was working hard, more than was good for her.

Tom: Now let’s look at the difference between ‘too’ and ‘very’. Some learners find this difficult. Listen to Carolina talking to Jamie’s father about life in Britain. Listen to ‘very’.

Doug: So Carolina. What do you think of this country of ours? A bit cold for you is it?

Carolina: I like it. It’s very different from Venezuela, but I like it here.

Tom: She says Britain is very different from Venezuela – but she likes it. Now imagine she says “Britain is too different from Venezuela”. ‘Too’ gives the idea that she doesn’t like Britain – that she’s unhappy, because it’s ‘too different’


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– the difference isn’t a good thing. And that isn’t what she wanted to say. Let me give you another example. I can say “My house is very small”. OK, my house is small, but maybe I like small houses! ‘Very’ can be good or bad. But if I say “My house is too small” then you know that I’m not happy with my house – that I’d like to have a bigger one. Listen to one more example. Jamie’s mother is going to get Carolina another cup of tea. Listen to what Carolina says.

Carolina: Well OK, if it isn’t too much trouble. Thank you.

Tom: We use ‘If it isn’t too much trouble’ a lot – when we want to be polite. You can use it when someone offers to help you.

Now I want to talk about something to help you learn and remember vocabulary. Do you remember the quiz? All of the words were places in an airport. Listen.

Ravi: Erm. The place you go to just before you get on the plane … erm …


Ravi: No. “Could passengers travelling to Paris on Flight three seven two please go to hnn twenty one”

Davis: Gate!

Ravi: Yes.

Tom: You can do this too. When you’re in a place, maybe an airport, or a train station, or a cinema, or a supermarket – try to name everything that you see in English. Or imagine that you’re in a place – and imagine what you can see around you. Make a note of the things that you don’t know and then try to find out how to say them in English. Ask your teacher, or a friend, or find the word in a bilingual dictionary. A bilingual dictionary is useful when you want to know the names of things. You can use the internet for finding translations of words too. Or

you can buy very good picture dictionaries nowadays. See what you can find. And if you’re in a place with a friend you can play a game together. At the airport you can say “I can see something beginning with ‘R’ – and your friend can say ‘runway!’. Try it – it’s good for your vocabulary.

Now for something different. This isn’t really about language, but it’s important if you go to Britain. It’s about what we do when we meet people for the first time. What people do in Britain may be different from what you do in your country. Listen to Carolina when she meets Jamie's mother for the first time.

doorbell – door opens

Mary: Hellooo! hugs and kisses Jamie

Jamie: This is Carolina, mum …


Carolina: Hello. Um… it’s nice to meet you too.

Tom: Mary kisses Jamie, but she doesn’t kiss Carolina. In some countries, people kiss when they meet people for the first time. But we don’t usually do this in Britain. When you meet someone it’s polite to say “Hello” or “Nice to meet you”. In more formal situations, you can shake hands too. But most British people don’t kiss. Some British people kiss people that they know well – their friends and family – when they say “hello” or “goodbye”. But not all British people. So it’s probably better not to kiss until someone offers to kiss you!

And now for a phrase that you can use this week. Listen again to Tess talking about spending too much time on her computer. Listen to Ravi’s answer.

Tess: Honestly, sometimes I think I spend too much time on the computer.

Ravi: I know what you mean. It’s easy to spend hours and hours on the internet just looking at different things.


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Tom: Ravi says “I know what you mean”. He sometimes does the same thing himself so he understands what she’s saying. He agrees with her. If someone says “I didn’t enjoy the English class today”, you can say “I know what you mean. It was a bit boring wasn’t it?“ But of course, I hope you don’t think your English classes are boring! Anyway, try to use “I know what you mean” this week.

OK. I’m going to stop there. I’ll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can write to me about any language that you noticed in this podcast. The address is learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. You can also find some practice exercises to do online and a support pack that you can print. Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.


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Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-04 Section 1: " A pretty quiet weekend really " Ravi: Hello again everyone and welcome back to the Learn English Elementary Podcast. I’m Ravi, one of your presenters.

Tess: … and I’m Tess, the other one. This is Podcast number 4 in this series.

Ravi: Blimey, Tess. Are you OK? You sound a bit miserable.

Tess: Yeah, I am a bit, actually.

Ravi: Oh dear. What’s up?

Tess: You remember Oscar?

Ravi: Your cat?

Tess: Yeah. He’s gone missing.

Ravi: Eh?

Tess: I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him for 3 days now. I’m really worried that something’s happened to him.

Ravi: Hmm. Oh dear, Tess, I’m sorry. You never know though. Cats do that sometimes, don’t they? They go away for a bit.

Tess: He’s never done it before.

Ravi: I’m sure he’ll be fine. I bet he’s out looking for mice or something. Or maybe he’s found a girlfriend.

Tess: Hmm. Maybe. When I was a kid we had a cat that used to have dinner at our house then go to another house down the street and have dinner again. Maybe I should ask my neighbours if they’ve seen Oscar.

Ravi: Yeah, you should. You could make some posters as well, like, ‘Have you seen this cat?’ Have you got a picture of Oscar?

Tess: I’ve got hundreds. I might do that. I’ll ask my neighbours first though.

Ravi: Good plan.

Tess: Anyway, sorry about that. I’m not really miserable, you know, just a bit worried. What about you? What have you been up to?

Ravi: Not much actually. I went to a football match on Saturday and I played football on Sunday. A pretty quiet weekend really.

Tess: Did you win?

Ravi: No. Oh, and I’ll tell you what else I did. I went to see the new James Bond film. Have you seen it?

Tess: No, not yet.

Ravi: Go and see it, it’s excellent.

Tess: Is it very violent? I don’t like really violent films?

Ravi: No, not really. There’s a great car chase but it’s not really violent.

Tess: Hmm. I’ll see. It doesn’t sound like my kind of thing.


Tess: You know what though? Today’s I’d Like to Talk About really is my kind of thing. Shall we get started?

Ravi: OK then. Ready listeners? We’ve got the usual mix for you today – our quiz, Carolina, ‘your turn’, Tom the teacher - and I might even tell you another joke. But, as usual, we’ll start with I’d Like to Talk About. Tess?

Tess: Yes. I’d like to Talk About is the part of the podcast for you, our listeners to tell everyone about something that you’re interested in.

Ravi: Anything that you’d like to talk about.

Tess: Today we’ve got Stacey with us in the studio. Hi Stacey.

Stacey: Hi Tess. Hi Ravi.

Ravi: Hi there. Tell us a bit about yourself Stacey.

Stacey: Well, I’m twenty-two, I work in a bank, um, I’ve got a little boy, Ben, he’s two, and we


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live in Crawley.

Tess: Ah Crawley, near Gatwick airport.

Stacey: Yeah, that’s right. Not far from London.

Tess: And I think Stacey’s going to talk about something that a lot of people like – is that right Stacey?

Stacey: Yes. I’m going to talk about chocolate.

Ravi: Oh, I love chocolate.

Stacey: Most people do.

Tess: It’s funny isn’t it – why do you think it’s so popular?

Stacey: Well I don’t know really. It just tastes good I suppose. I eat it all the time. I’m a bit of a chocoholic.

Ravi: Chocoholic. I love that word.

Stacey: Well, it’s true – I eat chocolate every day, usually more than once.

Ravi: Now I think I know a bit about this. Chocolate came from Mexico didn’t it?

Stacey: That’s right - from the Ancient Aztecs, a few thousand years ago. The word ‘chocolate’ comes from an Aztec word. But they didn’t eat it – it was a drink, made with water. They didn’t put milk or sugar in it.

Ravi: Yeuk.

Stacey: And they used it as a medicine. It was very important to them - they used it in their religious ceremonies too.

Tess: So when did chocolate come to the rest of the world?

Stacey: Well it was after the Spanish went to South America, and conquered the Aztecs, so that was what, the sixteenth century?

Tess: Yeah, fifteen hundred and something I think.

Stacey: So the Spanish brought it back to Europe and then to the rest of the world. And everybody loved it. But I think people still drank it. They had ‘chocolate houses’ in London where you could only drink chocolate, you know, like ‘tea houses’ where you only drink

tea.

Ravi: What’s your favourite kind of chocolate Stacey?

Stacey: Absolutely anything. If it’s chocolate I like it. But I suppose my favourite is the really dark chocolate – you know, without milk. It’s got lots of good things in it. It’s the sugar in chocolate that makes you fat - if it hasn’t got too much sugar, it’s good for you.

Ravi: That’s good to know. Well, thanks Stacey. I’m feeling hungry now.

Stacey: Me too.

Ravi: Well you can go and get some chocolate now. There’s a great shop just down the road from the studio. They’ve got all sorts.

Stacey: Really? OK. I’ll go and have a look.

Ravi: OK. Bye Stacey, and thanks again.

Stacey: Bye

Tess: Bye. Do you know chocolate is poisonous for dogs and cats?

Ravi: No, is it?

Tess: Yes. If they eat too much they can get really ill, sometimes die.

Ravi: But dogs love chocolate.

Tess: I know, but you shouldn’t give it to them. It’s really bad for them.

Ravi: Are you sure?

Tess: Yep. Look it up on the internet if you don’t believe me.

Ravi: I didn’t say I didn’t believe you – I’m just surprised that’s all. Well, we live and learn.

Tess: Yup. You learn something new every day.

Ravi: Yeah. And if any of you, listeners, are chocoholics like Stacey, why not write and tell us how you feel about chocolate? You can write something or record something and send it to us at learn English podcast at British Council dot org, that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that’s o-r-g. If we like it, we’ll put it on the site.


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Tess: Or you tell us what you’d like to talk about. Remember it can be anything – a person, a place, a thing, a hobby – anything.

Section 3 – Quiz

Ravi: Right, then. Next up, it’s time for our quiz. Today’s guest is Scott. Hello Scott!

Scott: Hello Ravi. Hi Tess.

Tess: Hi Scott. Where are you calling from?

Scott: Erm . Little Witley. In Worcestershire.

Ravi: Little … ?

Scott: Witley. It’s quite small. It’s a village.

Ravi: Ah, OK. And what do you do in Little Witley, Scott?

Scott: I work with horses. At a stables.

Tess: Ah, great. Do you enjoy it?

Scott: I love it.

Tess: Excellent. And are you ready for our game today?

Scott: I suppose so.

Tess: Right. Well, Ravi did it last time so it’s my turn this time. Have you got the cards Ravi?

Ravi: Yep.

Tess: OK, Scott, Ravi will give the cards to me and I’ll try to explain the words to you. When you know the word, you say it. OK?

Scott: OK

Tess: And we try to get as many as we can in a minute .

Ravi: And all the words are on the same topic. Ready?

Tess & Scott: Yes / OK

Ravi: And the topic is… dum dum dum ‘Places in the city’. All the answers are places you find in a city. Take the cards Tess. Ready? One minute starting from NOW.

Tess: Right. OK. Where you go to send a letter, buy stamps erm …

Scott: Post office.

Tess: Yes. You get money out or put money in. Big buildings. With cashpoints ….

Scott: Bank.

Tess: Yes. Where you go to catch a train.

Scott: Station.

Tess: What kind of station?

Scott: Railway station.

Tess: Yes. Where you go to learn things. Children go there. Erm .. teachers …

Scott: School

Tess: Right. Um, a big place. Lots of… can I say that word Ravi?

Ravi: No.

Tess: Agh. OK. You go there to buy things.

Scott: Supermarket.

Tess: No. All kinds of different things – clothes, erm, books, CDs, shoes, erm … agh! Ravi – it’s not fair!

Scott: Shopping mall?

Ravi: Shopping centre. Yes, you can have that one.

Tess: Eh? This isn’t in every city. Right then. Across a river. You go across it.

Scott: Bridge.

Tess: Yes. You get books from it. You don’t buy them. You borrow books.

Scott: Library.

Tess: Yes. Not a school but you learn there – adults ………

buzzer sounds

Tess: Agghhh. It was university. How many did we get?

Ravi: Post office, bank, railway station, school, shopping centre, bridge, library. Seven. Pretty good.

Tess: Yes! Well done Scott! That’s better than you did last time Ravi.

Ravi: Yeah, but I had a really difficult one – I had places in an airport. This was a bit easier, wasn’t it?


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Tess: Oh, I don’t know. I think Scott and I are just a great team, don’t you Scott?

Scott: Yeah, well done Tess.

Tess: And well done to you. We’ll see what we can find to send you. Thanks for playing – enjoy the rest of your day.

Scott: Thanks. You too.

Ravi: See you, Scott. … Right. We’ve still got Your Turn and Carolina to come – after this…

Section 4: Your turn

Tess: OK. And now for ‘Your turn’ when we go out of the studio to talk to different people and ask their opinions about a question.

Ravi: And the question this time is “If you've got some work to do, but don't want to do it, what do you do to put off working?” So, what things do you do to waste time?

Tess: You mean like playing solitaire on the computer?

Ravi: Yeah.

Tess: Or checking your Facebook account every five minutes?

Ravi: Oh that’s me. But let’s hear what some other people said.

Voice 1: If I’ve got work to do and I don’t want to do it I spend a lot of time on my computer, looking at different websites and looking at funny pictures on the Internet and funny videos and things like this, I also ... after that I probably will clean my flat before doing my work, ... um ... so if I have a lot of work to do I have a very clean flat and I know a lot about what’s happening on the Internet.

Voice 2: So, normally ... um ... if I was at work I would probably spent more time looking at my e-mails and writing emails, and then probably taking the work home to do at home in the evening … and if I was at home and I didn’t want to do the work, well it depends what kind of work it is, but I would probably telephone

somebody, telephone home, or watch a film.

Voice 3: If I want to put off working I make coffee, constantly, every 15 minutes and I check my Facebook.

Voice 4: Well if it’s work at home, like housework and things, I would try to do something like look after the children, play with the children, or I’d go and listen to music or get distracted watching something on television. If I’m in work in the office I would likely do the emailing and do the easier tasks and put off the main work that I was supposed to be doing.

Voice 5: So, if I’ve go some work to do but don’t want to do it there’s a variety of things that I do ... um ... one of them is go and make a cup of tea ... um ... so often in a day I can drink four or five cups of tea ... um ... another thing I do is switch on the TV and just channel surf and see if I can find something interesting to watch. The other thing I do is go onto the internet and surf around, check my email, check my Facebook, things like that. Tess: It’s funny isn’t it? Everybody has something – I mean something that they do when they don’t want to work.

Ravi: Yeah. I thought I was the only one. What about our listeners? Why don’t you write and tell us what you do to waste time when you should be working.

Section 5: Carolina

Tess: And now it’s time now to catch up again with Carolina. Carolina’s from Venezuela and she’s come to the UK to study at Newcastle University.

Ravi: In the last podcast, Carolina and her boyfriend, Jamie, were at Jamie's family home visiting his parents – Mary and Doug. And they’re still there this time. Let's see how they're getting on…

…

Carolina: Good morning.


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Mary: Good morning Carolina. Did you sleep well?

Carolina: Yes, very well thank you. The bed was really comfortable.

Mary: Now, what would you like for breakfast love? I’m doing bacon and eggs for Doug.

Carolina: Um…

Mary: Or we’ve got cereal … or I can make you some toast... or would you like a boiled egg?

Carolina: Oh no, I’ll just have some cereal please.

Mary: Right you are.

Doug: Good morning! Something smells good!

Carolina: Good morning Mr.. erm, Doug.

Doug: Did you sleep well Carolina? Bed comfortable?

Carolina: Oh yes thank you. Very.

Doug: Now what are the plans for this morning?

Carolina: Um, I’m not really sure. I don’t think we have any.

Mary: Well, I’m cooking the dinner – I’m doing a nice Sunday roast. Have you ever had an English roast dinner Carolina?

Carolina: No, no I haven’t.

Doug: Best food in the world. You can’t beat a good English roast.

Jamie: Good morning all. Sleep well?

Doug: Morning, son.

Mary: Hi Jamie

Carolina: Hi Jamie. Yes thanks. Very well.

Jamie: So what are we all doing this morning?

Doug: Well, your mother’s cooking the roast dinner, I’m taking Ernie for a long walk along the river, and I’ll probably call in to the Hat and Feathers for a pint on the way back. You two can join me if you like.

Jamie: Carolina? It’s a pretty walk along the river and the Hat and Feathers is a nice old pub.

Carolina: Well perhaps I can stay here and help your mother?

Mary: Don’t be silly. You go out and enjoy yourself.

Carolina: Well yes, OK then. That sounds nice. I’d like a walk.

Doug: That’s that, then.

…

Doug: I hope that dinner’s on the table. I could eat a horse.

Carolina: Dinner? But it’s only one o’clock.

Doug: Do you eat later in Venezuela?

Carolina: Yes… well no… I mean … I thought dinner was in the evening.

Jamie: Ahh, yes. I didn’t think …. I suppose it is a bit strange for you. Some people say ‘dinner’ and not ‘lunch’. It’s always Sunday dinner in this house.

Carolina: So what do you have in the evening? Lunch?

Doug: No, we’ll have tea tonight.

Carolina: A cup of tea?

Jamie: No, ‘Tea’. A salad, or a sandwich, or toast or something. Don’t worry about it. Come on.

…

Mary: Oh good, you’re back. It’ll be ready in about ten minutes. It’s roast lamb and I’ve got some veggieburgers for you Jamie. (to Carolina) He’s a vegetarian you know.

Carolina: Yes, I know. But I’m not. The lamb smells delicious!

Mary: Well I hope you’re all hungry.

Jamie: Starving!

Carolina: Is there anything I can do to help?

Mary: No, I don’t think so. Erm… you can lay the table if you like. Jamie, help Carolina lay the table – show her where the knives and forks are. And use the best glasses – we’ve got a nice bottle of wine today. It’s a special occasion after all.

…


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Doug: So what do you think of the lamb?

Carolina: It’s really good.

Doug: Try a bit of mint sauce with it. You can’t have roast lamb without mint sauce.

Jamie: It’s nice. It’s made with mint and vinegar.

Carolina: Vinegar! … OK, I’ll try some, but just a tiny bit.

Mary: More potatoes anyone. Jamie? Carolina? Come on, finish them up.

Carolina: Oh no thank you.

Doug: Go on, have another potato, and a bit more lamb.

Carolina: No, no, no. No thank you. It’s all delicious but I couldn’t possibly eat any more.

Jamie: Yeah, leave some room for pudding. Mum’s made apple crumble. It’s her specialty.

Carolina: Pudding!

…

Doug: Well that was delicious Mary.

Carolina: Yes, it was lovely.

Jamie: Fantastic mum.

Carolina: Can I help with the washing up?

Mary: Certainly not. You’re a guest. You stay there.

Carolina: No really, I’d like to help. Please let me do something.

Doug: I’ll do the washing up. Jamie and Carolina can dry.

Mary: Well all right then. I’ll put the kettle on for a nice cup of tea.

Carolina: Hmm. A nice cup of tea.

…

Tess: It’s difficult, isn’t it, meeting your boyfriend’s parents?

Ravi: Especially in another language, I guess. They seem OK though. I’ll tell you what, I could just eat a Sunday dinner now. Mmmmm.

Section 6: The Joke

Tess: Well we’ve nearly finished the podcast. You can go and get something to eat. Unless you’ve got another one of your ‘jokes’ for us?

Ravi: I have, I have. Ready?

Tess: Go on.

Ravi: Do you know what a Trappist monk is?

Tess: Is that the joke?

Ravi: No – it’s a question. Trappist monks are in a religious order. They live together in a monastery or somewhere and they don’t speak.

Tess: Why not?

Ravi: I don’t know. They spend their time praying and meditating, I guess. Anyway, this Trappist monk joins a monastery where the monks are not allowed to speak. Once a year they can go to speak to the head of the monastery – but they are only allowed to say three words. So, at the end of the first year, the new monk has his chance to speak. He goes to see the head monk and says “Food... not…good”. At the end of the second year he goes to see the head monk again and says “Bed…not…comfortable”. At the end of the third year he goes to see the head monk again and says “Room…too…cold”. And at the end of the next year he goes to see the head monk again, but this time he says “I…want…leave”. And the head monk says “Well I’m not surprised. For four years now, all you’ve done is complain, complain, complain.”

Tess: But that’s more than three words.

Ravi: Yeah, but he’s the head monk Tess. Never mind. Right everyone, that’s all we’ve got time for today. Remember you can write to us here at the podcast. The address is [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you. Tom the teacher will be here in a minute to talk about some of the language in the podcast, but that’s all from us until next time. Bye!

Tess: Bye!

----------------------------------------------------------------


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Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. You’ll hear from me at the end of every podcast. I always talk about some of the language you heard in the programmes and ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about a verb form. Listen to Mary - Jamie’s mother, and Carolina. What is Mary doing at the moment? What does she say?

Mary: Good morning Carolina. Did you sleep well?

Carolina: Yes, very well thank you. The bed was really comfortable.

Mary: Now, what would you like for breakfast love? I’m doing bacon and eggs for Doug.

Tom: Mary is cooking the breakfast. She says “I’m doing bacon and eggs for Doug”. I’m sure you know this verb form – it’s called the ‘present progressive’ – or the ‘present continuous’. You’ll see both names in grammar books. The present progressive is made with the verb to be - “I am” and the ‘ing’ form of the verb - “doing”. Mary says “I’m doing bacon and eggs for Doug”. We can use this verb form to talk about what we’re doing now. And at the moment, Mary is cooking breakfast for her husband, Doug.

Now listen to the next part of the same conversation. Remember, Mary is cooking the breakfast at the moment. What does she say about her plans for later in the day?

Doug: Now what are the plans for this morning?

Carolina: Um, I’m not really sure. I don’t think we have any.

Mary: Well, I’m cooking the dinner – I’m doing a nice Sunday roast.

Tom: Yes. Mary says “I’m cooking the dinner”.

But she isn’t cooking the dinner at the moment. She uses the present progressive to talk about her future plans. Maybe this seems strange to you! But it’s very common in English. We often use the present progressive when we have definite plans for the future, when we already know what we’re going to do. Listen to another example – again from the same conversation. Jamie gets up and asks everyone about their plans. Listen for the present progressive verb forms.


Doug: Well, your mother’s cooking the roast dinner, I’m taking Ernie for a long walk along the river, and I’ll probably call in to the Hat and Feathers for a pint on the way back.

Tom: Did you hear them? Jamie says “What are we all doing this morning?”. He uses the present progressive to ask a question about future plans. And Doug says “Your mother’s cooking the dinner” and “I’m taking Ernie for a walk”. Both of these things are already decided. But listen again. What does Doug say about the pub – the Hat and Feathers?


Doug: Well, your mother’s cooking the roast dinner, I’m taking Ernie for a long walk along the river, and I’ll probably call in to the Hat and Feathers for a pint on the way back.

Tom: Yes, Doug says “I’ll probably call in to the Hat and Feathers”. He might go for a drink in the pub, but he isn’t sure. He hasn’t really decided yet. So he doesn’t use the present progressive – he uses ‘will’. He says “I’ll probably”. We use lots different forms in English to talk about the future. It can be quite difficult for learners. The best thing you can do is listen to, or read, lots of English and notice what people say.


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Now let’s talk about something different. Last time I talked about something you can do to improve your vocabulary – try to name all the things that you can see when you’re in different places. Another thing you can do is look for the English that you see around you. In most countries, you can see a lot of English. For example, in advertisements, or even just names of British or American products – drinks, chocolates, clothes. Notice it. And try to understand what it means. You can make a note of all the English you see for example, on your way to work or to school.

Now, I want to talk about something else. Listen to Ravi and Stacey talking about chocolate. Stacey uses an unusual word – What is it?

Stacey: Well I don’t know really. It just tastes good I suppose. I eat it all the time. I’m a bit of a chocoholic.

Ravi: Chocoholic. I love that word.

Stacey: Well, it’s true – I eat chocolate every day, usually more than once.

Tom: She says ‘chocoholic’. You probably know what an ‘alcoholic’ is – someone who is addicted to alcohol – who has to drink it every day. And Stacey means that she’s like an alcoholic – but with chocolate. ‘Chocoholic’ is an invented word – it’s the first part of ‘chocolate’ – ‘choc’ and the last part of ‘alcoholic’ – ‘oholic’. We also talk about ‘shopaholics’ – people who can’t stop shopping, and ‘workaholics’ – people who are always working – they can’t stop. We do this a lot in English – we put parts of two words together to make a new one. Another example is ‘brunch’. ‘Brunch’ is a meal that you eat in the middle of the morning, maybe because you get up very late. It comes from ‘breakfast’ – the ‘br’, and ‘lunch’ – the ‘unch’. So you get a new word - ‘brunch’ - that means a meal that is breakfast and lunch together. It’s

fun to create new words! I noticed another example recently. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are a very famous couple. And people have started calling them ‘Brangelina’. ‘Bra’ from Brad and ‘gelina’ from Angelina. It’s a joke of course – we don’t usually do that with people’s names – but it’s another example of how we invent new words all the time. Do you do the same thing in your language? Do you put parts of words together to make new ones? I’d be interested to hear if you do. Write and let me know.

Tom: OK. Let’s move on. Do you remember that Carolina got confused about ‘lunch’ and ‘dinner’ when she was at Jamie’s parents house? Listen.

Doug: I hope that dinner’s on the table. I could eat a horse.

Carolina: Dinner? But it’s only one o’clock.

Doug: Do you eat later in Venezuela?

Carolina: Yes… well no… I mean … I thought dinner was in the evening.

Jamie: Ahh, yes. I didn’t think …. I suppose it is a bit strange for you. Some people say ‘dinner’ and not ‘lunch’. It’s always Sunday dinner in this house.

Tom: This can be very difficult when you visit Britain. You learn that ‘lunch’ is in the middle of the day and ‘dinner’ is in the evening. Then you go to Britain and you find that different people say different things! And it’s very complicated to explain. Most people say ‘lunch’ for the meal in the middle of the day. But, if it’s a big, cooked meal in the middle of the day, then some people say ‘dinner’ – like Jamie’s parents. It isn’t easy, and sometimes even native speakers get confused! If someone invites me for dinner on Sunday, then I sometimes have to ask if they mean at one o’clock or in the evening. So the best thing is to always ask if you’re not sure.


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People will understand that names of meals can be very confusing.

Now for a phrase that you can use this week. Listen to Tess and Ravi at the beginning of the podcast. Tess isn’t very happy. What does Ravi ask her?

Ravi: You sound a bit miserable.

Tess: Yeah, I am a bit, actually.

Ravi: Oh dear. What’s up?

Tom: Yes, he asks “What’s up?” "What’s up?" means "What’s the problem?", "What’s the matter?". See if you can use it this week. If someone isn’t very happy, ask them "What’s up?"

Tom: OK. That’s enough from me for this time. I’ll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can write to me about any language that you noticed in this podcast. The address is learnenglishpodcastATbritishcouncilDOT org. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. You can also find some practice exercises to do online and a support pack that you can print. Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.


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Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You’ll find all the details on this page: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-05 Section 1: "Well, that's good news" Ravi: Hello and welcome back to the second series of the Learn English Elementary podcast. This is podcast number five, and I'm Ravi.

Tess: And I'm Tess. Hi.

Ravi: Well, Tess, is he back?

Tess: Hm?

Ravi: Oscar. Did he come back?

Tess: Ohh, Oscar! Yes! Sorry, I'd forgotten about that.

Ravi: The last time we were here, listeners, Tess was upset because Oscar was missing. Sorry – Oscar is Tess's cat. He was missing. Three days wasn't it Tess? When did he come back?

Tess: Well, it was quite strange. After the last podcast, I went home and he was there, waiting for me. It was like he'd never been away.

Ravi: Well, that's good news! Where'd he been?

Tess: I really don't know. He just came back and acted like everything was completely normal.

Ravi: I told you he'd come back. How long was he gone for?

Tess: Well, four days, really. I looked at some internet sites and there are lots of stories about cats disappearing for a few days or even a few weeks and then coming home.

Ravi: Why do they do it?

Tess: Because they can. I don't know. Nobody really knows.

Ravi: Well, I'm glad he's come back. I bet you were really happy to see him. Is he OK and everything?

Tess: He seems fine. I took him to the vet for a check up but he seems absolutely fine.

Ravi: You see, that's the thing about cats. You never know what they're thinking. Dogs are much easier to understand. Dogs don't disappear for a few days then come back.

Tess: That's because dogs aren't as clever as cats. Anyway, I went to see that film you recommended.

Ravi: The James Bond film?

Tess: Yeah.

Ravi: And?

Tess: It was OK. I quite enjoyed it but it was a bit too violent for me.

Ravi: It's not really violent.

Tess: I know, I know but I'm … I don't know. I can't watch anything with guns and explosions and everything.

Ravi: Oh, Tess.

Tess: I know, I know. Right. Are we ready to have a look at what we've got on the podcast today. We've got Carolina – she met Jamie's parents last time, we've got Alison doing our quiz, we've got Your Turn about telling the truth. Have we got a joke from you, Ravi?

Ravi: We have.


Tess: And to start with, as usual, we've got I'd Like to Talk About. This is the part of the podcast when we ask someone to come in and talk about something that's important for them – a person, a place, a thing, a hobby – anything.

Ravi: And today we've got Rafael with us in the studio. Hi Rafael.

Rafael: Hi Ravi. Hi Tess. And, um call me Raffa – that's what my friends call me.

Tess: OK. So, where are you from Raffa?

Rafael: Well, actually I was born in Spain, in Madrid. We lived there till I was ten, then we


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came to London. My dad's Spanish and my mum's English.

Ravi: Cool. So you're bilingual then Raffa?

Rafael: Yeah, I guess so. My English is probably better then my Spanish though, now anyway.

Tess: And what do you do?

Rafael: I work for my dad. He's got a small business, selling books, mostly on the Internet. So I work with him and I'm learning the business.

Tess: So don't tell me - you're going to talk about your favourite book.

Rafael: Well no actually. I'm going to talk about Formula 1.

Ravi: Formula 1? Great stuff.

Rafael: When I was a kid, my dad used to take me to see Formula 1 and I really, really loved it. The noise, the smells, the people. It was so exciting. Then when I got a bit older, I wasn't so interested. In those years, Michael Schumacher was always the World Champion, and I got bored with seeing Ferrari win all the time. Then Fernando Alonso won in 2005, and suddenly, hey, it was interesting again.

Ravi: And is that because Fernando Alonso is Spanish … by any chance?

Rafael: Well yeah, of course. But the races are a lot more fun to watch as well.

It's funny, my favourite drivers are Alonso and Lewis Hamilton – one's Spanish and the other's British, so that's pretty good for me – I don't mind who wins.

Ravi: I bet they do. Alonso and Hamilton don't like each other very much do they?

Rafael: Well, no, that's true.

Tess: Do you travel for Formula 1?

Rafael: Travel?

Tess: Sorry, bad question. I mean, do you go abroad to watch the big races?

Rafael: No, unfortunately. I usually watch them on the telly with my dad. Now if I was rich……..

my dream is to go and see the Monaco Grand Prix.

Tess: Ah yes, that's a famous one. I don't know much about Formula 1, but I've heard of Monaco.

Rafael: Yeah. It's a really cool race around the city, round the streets, with loads of corners and turns – it's totally different from racing around a track. If you're really rich you can sit on your hotel balcony and watch the race. I forget who it was, but somebody, one of the drivers, once said that racing in Monaco is just like riding a bicycle around your living room. And there's a Spanish one now - in Valencia – a street race I mean. I'm hoping my dad will go next year.

Tess: And take you with him.

Rafael: That's the plan.

Tess: But seriously, is it safe? I don't like watching it in case someone has a crash and gets killed.

Rafael: Well, it's as safe as it can be I guess. It's a big question at the moment, what the rules should be and so on. Obviously, nobody wants to see drivers getting killed, but at the same time, everybody wants the races to be exciting – that's why people watch it – and it isn't exciting if it isn't dangerous – it can't be completely safe.

Tess: And what about the environment? It isn't a very green sport is it?

Rafael: That's another good question. Some people think that that will be the future of Formula 1, that they'll start making the cars more friendly to the environment, - remember these people spend millions and millions of pounds on designing new cars, so they might find some technology that can then be used in normal cars, so that would be good.

Ravi: Well thanks Rafael. And I hope you get to Monaco one day.

Rafael: Thanks Ravi. Ok bye, everybody.

Tess and Ravi: Bye

Tess: And thanks again.

Ravi: Hey Tess, what does a cat say?


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Tess: A cat says miaow, Ravi.

Ravi: And what does a Formula 1 cat say?

Tess: I don't know Ravi. What does a Formula 1 cat say?

Ravi: Meeeeeeeeeowwwwwwwwwmmmmmm.

Tess: Very funny. Was that your joke for today?

Ravi: Oh no. The best is yet to come.

Tess: Hmm. OK. Remember, listeners, that if there's something you'd like to tell us about you can send it to us at learn English podcast at British Council dot org, that's learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that's o-r-g. If we like it, we'll put it on the site.

Ravi: You can write something or record yourself, if you want.

Section 3 – Quiz

Tess: OK. Time now for our quiz. We've got Alison waiting to talk to us. Alison?

Alison: Hi Tess.

Tess: Hi Alison.

Ravi: Hi Alison. Where are you from?

Alison: From Aberystwyth.

Ravi: In Wales?

Alison: That's right, but I live in Norwich now.

Tess: Ah, East Anglia. Beautiful part of the country. That's where I went to university. I love Norwich. What do you do Alison?

Alison: I work in a bank but I want to go to university next year.

Tess: In Norwich?

Alison: Erm... I don't know yet. Probably not in Norwich though.

Ravi: You want to get away from home?

Alison: No, it's not that. I mean, … it's nice to see new places isn't it?

Tess: What do you want to study?

Alison: Probably Film Studies.

Tess: Great. OK. Are you ready for the quiz?

Alison: I hope so.

Tess: Well, we're going to do 'ten things' again. I'll give you the topic and you've got one minute to name ten things on that topic. So, for example, if I say 'ten musical instruments' you can say 'piano, guitar, saxophone ..'. You get the idea?

Alison: Yes, OK.

Tess: Right. The topic this time is ….ten ball games. Ten games you play with a ball. You've got one minute starting from now.

Alison: Football. Basketball. Golf. Tennis. Erm … cricket. … Ice hockey.

Ravi: That isn't a ball.

Alison: No, of course not. Oh, um. Squash. … Rugby.

Tess: That's seven. Three more.

Alison: … Handball. … Have I said basketball?

Tess: Yes

Alison: Baseball!

Tess: One more.

Alison: Argh! Erm, hockey!

Tess: Yes! Well done Alison.

Alison: That was more difficult than I thought.

Tess: I know – you think it's going to be really easy. Let's go over them again – football, basketball, golf, tennis, cricket, squash, rugby, handball, baseball and hockey. That's ten.

Ravi: Well done Alison. We'll find something to send to you. And good luck with university.

Alison: Thanks Ravi.

Tess: Bye, Alison.

Tess: Bye Tess, bye Ravi.

Ravi: Bye. … Right, Your Turn and Carolina coming up next after this


Ravi: Hello again. Now it's time for 'Your Turn'.


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This is the part of the podcast when we go out to ask some different people a question and find out what they think. And this time the question is 'Is it always best to tell the truth?' In other words, is honesty always the best policy?

Tess: Good question. Is it better to tell the truth or is it sometimes better to tell a lie? Let's see what people have to say about it.

Voice 1: I think it’s probably best to tell the truth most of the time. Um ... I think if you ... if you ... if you’re dishonest or if you tell a lie there’s often a very good chance that ... um ... you’ll be found out or it will come back ... um ... to hurt you, so I think on the whole I think it’s better to tell the truth although I have to say that sometimes ... um ... just so as not to hurt other people’s feelings or for other particular reasons it’s probably ok to tell a small lie or to be a little bit dishonest.

Voice 2: Um, no. I don’t think it’s always best to tell the truth ... I think it’s sometimes a good idea to tell the truth, for example, if you have done something wrong … if you just tell the truth then usually your problem is easy to solve but if you lie about it, it can become more difficult to solve your problem … but I think if you are thinking about somebody’s feelings, for example, if someone has their hair cut and it looks terrible and they ask you about it, it might be best to tell a small lie and tell them that it looks ok so that you don’t hurt their feelings.

Voice 3: Yes, it is always best to tell the truth because if you don’t tell the truth your conscience is going to haunt you forever.

Voice 4: It depends, I think that ... err ... if you ... um ... want to have a good relationship with someone who you ... err ... think is a ... could be a good partner you have to be honest … ah ... but in general with friends or a person that you don’t know very much it’s not that good to be

honest.

Voice 5: Yes ...err ... it’s hard thing ... it’s a hard thing to do but ... definitely because in the end if you start lying you have to make lies to cover the lies and in the end it’s just easier for everyone if you just says what’s on your mind.

Tess: That was interesting. You know, I think it's usually best to tell the truth. Lies always cause more problems in the end. What do you think Ravi?

Ravi: Oh, I don't know Tess. That's a bit too simple. I bet if you think about the last week, you've told loads of lies. We do it all the time – we just don't notice it.

Tess: Hmm. Does it count as a lie when I laugh at one of your jokes?

Ravi: Well – yes. That's exactly what I mean about lies. … Are you saying my jokes aren't funny?

Tess: Nooo. I always tell the truth.

Ravi: I'm getting confused now.

Tess: Never mind Ravi. And listeners, please send us your opinions about telling the truth – we'd love to know what you think. You can write to us or send us a recording.

Section 5: Carolina

Tess: But now it's time to find out how Carolina's getting on. Carolina, you'll remember, is from Venezuela but she's studying at Newcastle University – and finding out about life in Britain. Last time we heard from her she was visiting Jamie's parents…

Ravi: Jamie's her boyfriend

Tess: … so let's see where she is today.

…

Emily: Are you ready Carolina?

Carolina: Sorry, Emily. I wanted to wear that


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new jacket I bought, you know, the green one. But…

Emily: What's wrong with it? It's really nice.

Carolina: Well, I wore it yesterday, and now look. The zip's broken. Look, it won't move up or down. I don't know what happened to it. I didn't notice it last night.

Emily: Let me have a look. … Yep, that's broken alright – it won't move at all.

Carolina: Oh dear. It was quite expensive. Do you think I should take it back to the shop?

Emily: Well yes, I do. The zip shouldn't break on a new jacket. It obviously isn't very well made. Have you still got the receipt?

Carolina: The receipt? The piece of paper they gave me when I bought it? Oh dear, I'll have to look for it. It must be in my bag somewhere. Oh, will you come with me Emily? To the shop?

Emily: What for? You can speak English.

Carolina: But it's really difficult in another language. To complain. I don't like doing it in Spanish but in English….!

Emily: OK, I'll come with you. But you have to do the talking. I'll tell you what to say – you can practice before we go.

Carolina: OK. Thanks Emily.

[In the shop]

Carolina: practising I bought this jacket here last week and now the zip is broken.

Emily: Don't worry. You'll be fine.

Shop Assistant: Good morning. Can I help you?

Carolina: Um, yes, I bought this jacket here last week and now the zip is broken. Here's the receipt.

Shop Assistant: Hmmm. Have you worn this jacket?

Carolina: Once. I was wearing it when the zip broke.

Shop Assistant: If you'd like to leave the jacket with us, we can put in a new zip. It will be ready in a week.

Carolina: No thank you, I don't want a new zip. I don't want to wait for a week. I'd like my money back please.

Shop Assistant: I'm afraid I can't give you your money back. The company doesn't give refunds for clothes that have been worn.

Carolina: I only weared…

Emily: …wore…

Carolina: …wore the jacket once, and the zip broke. That shouldn't happen.

Shop Assistant: Just wait for one moment and I'll check if we have another jacket of the same size in stock.

Carolina: I'm sorry. I don't want another jacket - the same thing might happen again. I've already explained that I want my money back.

Shop Assistant: Well …

Emily: whispers Manager.

Carolina: Yes, um, could I speak to the manager please?

Shop Assistant: Certainly. I'll call him. Mr Parker? Could you come over here please?

Emily: You're doing really well.

Shop Assistant: …but the lady doesn't want another jacket. She says that she wants her money back.

Mr. Parker: Good morning madam.


Mr. Parker: Is this the jacket?

Carolina: Yes

Mr. Parker: And you bought this last week?

Carolina: Yes, that's right. And I'd like to say that I'm very disappointed with your shop.

Mr. Parker: I think in the circumstances we can give you a refund. The zip is obviously faulty. Mrs Johnson, the receipt is for twenty-nine ninety-nine I believe. Could you give her the money please?

Shop Assistant: Certainly Mr Parker.

Carolina: Thank you very much.


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Emily: Phew. Well done.

…

Tess: Well done Carolina. The shop assistant wasn't very helpful, was she?

Ravi: No, I know. It depends on the shop though. They all have different policies.

Tess: The voice of experience?

Ravi: Well yes, you know I do a lot of shopping. And let me tell you, it's always a good idea to speak to the manager.

Tess

Yes, I think Carolina did really well. …

Section 6: The Joke

Tess: That's almost the end of this podcast. Ravi?

Ravi: Yes! This is a good one. A man goes into a library. Lots of people are sitting at tables, reading and studying. He walks up to the desk and says to the woman in a loud voice "I'd like a train ticket to Manchester please". The woman behind the desk looks shocked and says "I'm sorry sir. This is a library!" The man looks a bit confused for a few seconds and then says "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. … whispering "I'd like a train ticket to Manchester please".

Tess: Very good. OK – that really is the end for this podcast. Remember, the address for anything that you want to send us is [email protected]. Don't go away because Tom the teacher will be here in a moment to talk about some of the language that you heard in the podcast. But now it's goodbye from Ravi and me. See you next time! Bye!

Ravi: Bye!

---------------------------------------------------------------- Tom the teacher Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. I’m here at the end of every

podcast to talk about some of the language you heard in the programme, and to talk about ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about the words ‘everybody’ and ‘nobody’. I’m sure you know what they mean. Listen to Rafael saying goodbye at the end of ‘I’d like to talk about.

Ravi: Well thanks Rafael. And I hope you get to Monaco one day.

Rafael: Thanks Ravi. Ok bye, everybody.

Tom: He says “Bye everybody”. He’s saying goodbye to all the people that can hear him – not just Tess and Ravi. He could also say “Bye everyone”. ‘Everybody’ and ‘everyone’ mean exactly the same in English. There’s no difference. Now listen to ‘nobody’. Tess and Ravi are talking about cats that disappear for a few days and then come home again.

Tess: I looked at some internet sites and there are lots of stories about cats disappearing for a few days or even a few weeks and then coming home.


Tess: Because they can. I don’t know. Nobody really knows.

Tom: Tess says “Nobody really knows”. There isn’t a person who knows the answer. She could also say “No-one really knows”. ‘Nobody’ and ‘no-one’ are the same. There’s no difference between them.

So far, so good. But what about the verb? Is ‘nobody’ singular or plural? Do we use a singular verb or a plural verb? Listen again. Listen for ‘nobody’ and the form of the verb.

Tess: I looked at some internet sites and there are lots of stories about cats disappearing for a


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few days or even a few weeks and then coming home.


Tess: Because they can. I don’t know. Nobody really knows.

Tom: That’s right. “Nobody knows.” Tess uses the third person singular form of the verb – the form that has an ‘s’ in the present simple, the form that we use with ‘he’, ‘she’ or ‘it’. Here’s another example. Raffa is talking about Formula One. Listen for ‘nobody’ and the verb.

Rafael: Well, it’s as safe as it can be I guess. It’s a big question at the moment, what the rules should be and so on. Obviously, nobody wants to see drivers getting killed.

Tom: Yes, he says ‘nobody wants’. So try to remember to use the third person singular verb form with ‘nobody’ or ‘no-one’. Now listen to Raffa again, but this time, listen for ‘everybody’. What form of the verb does he use?

Rafael: Well, it’s as safe as it can be I guess. It’s a big question at the moment, what the rules should be and so on. Obviously, nobody wants to see drivers getting killed, but at the same time, everybody wants the races to be exciting – that’s why people watch it.

Tom: Yes, he says ‘everybody wants’. He uses the third person singular form of the verb – with an ‘s’. This probably seems strange to you. ‘Everybody’ means ‘all of the people’ but we use the singular verb form. Well yes, it is strange. But the word ‘everybody’ is singular grammatically, so we use the singular verb form. Try to remember – with ‘everybody’ and ‘everyone’ we use the singular verb form.

Now for something different. If you visit Britain,

or another English-speaking country, you might have to speak English in difficult situations – like Carolina when she had to take her jacket back to the shop and complain about the broken zip. Listen to Carolina and Emily. What does Emily tell Carolina to do?

Carolina: Oh, will you come with me Emily? To the shop?

Emily: What for? You can speak English.

Carolina: But it’s really difficult in another language. To complain. I don’t like doing it in Spanish but in English….!

Emily: OK, I’ll come with you. But you have to do the talking. I’ll tell you what to say – you can practice before we go.

Tom: Yes. She says “You can practice before we go”. That really is very good advice. If you know that you have to speak English in a difficult situation, then take some time and plan what you are going to say. Then you can use a dictionary to find the words that you need to use. Write it down on a piece of paper if you want - and learn it. Or practice the dialogue with a friend. You’ll feel much more confident about what you’re going to say. Just like Carolina. She did really well in the shop – the manager gave her her money back!

Now I want to look at another word – the word ‘actually’. Listen to Tess and Raffa. What does Raffa mean when he uses ‘actually’?

Rafael: I work for my dad. He’s got a small business, selling books, mostly on the Internet. So I work with him and I’m learning the business.

Tess: So don’t tell me - you’re going to talk about your favourite book.

Rafael: Well no actually. I’m going to talk about Formula 1.


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Tom: Did you hear it? Raffa sells books so Tess thinks he’s going to talk about a book – and Raffa says “Well no actually. I’m going to talk about Formula One.” He says ‘actually’ because he’s saying something different from what Tess expected. Listen to another example – from Tess and Raffa again.

Tess: OK. So, where are you from Raffa?

Rafael: Well, actually I was born in Spain, in Madrid. We lived there till I was ten, then we came to London.

Tom: Raffa says “Well, actually I was born in Spain. He says that because he knows that Tess thinks he’s probably British – that he comes from somewhere in Britain. He knows that she’ll be surprised that he was born in Spain. In some languages - Portuguese, Spanish and French for example, ‘actually’ is a false friend. That means that the word in English has a different meaning to the word in Portuguese. ‘Actually’ in English means ‘in reality’ – it means that you’re giving the true information about something. It doesn’t mean ‘at the moment’ or ‘nowadays’.

I talked about false friends in series one, in podcast number seven – and there’s an exercise in the support materials too. If someone says “You’re Spanish aren’t you?”, you can say “Well actually, I’m Mexican”. Try to notice ‘actually’ in the English that you read and hear this week.

Now for a phrase that you can use this week in English. Listen to Ravi talking to Alison at the end of the quiz.

Ravi: Well done Alison. We’ll find something to send to you. And good luck with university.

Alison: Thanks Ravi.

Tom: Ravi says “Good luck with university”. He hopes that everything goes well for Alison when she goes to university. So if someone has an exam the next day, or is going to start a new job, you can say “Good luck with the exam”, or “Good luck with the new job”. Say “Good luck” to someone this week.

OK. I’m going to stop there. I’ll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can write to me about any language that you noticed in this podcast. I’ll be happy to answer your questions! The address is learnenglishpodcastAT

britishcouncilDOT org. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you’ve heard in this podcast. You can also find some practice exercises to do online and a support pack that you can print. Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.

Elementary Podcast Series 02 Episode 06 – Transcript

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The United Kingdom's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.

Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You'll find all the details on this page: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-06 Section 1: "But you really must…" Tess: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Learn English Elementary podcast. It's series two, this is podcast number 6 and I'm Tess.

Ravi: Good morning. Or good afternoon, or good evening. I'm Ravi. And we're you're present-AAH…

Tess: Ravi? What's up? Are you OK?

Ravi: Ah. Yeah, sorry. Yeah. I'm OK.

Tess: What's up?

Ravi: It's alright. … I've really hurt my leg. Just there. When I do that it really hurts. AAGGH.

Tess: Well don't do it again, silly. What have you done.

Ravi: I think it was playing football on Saturday. It was OK after the match – well, it hurt a bit but it's getting worse I think.

Tess: Have you been to the doctor's?

Ravi: What? Er … no. … No. It'll be OK in a couple of days, I'm sure.

Tess: Ravi! If it's really hurting you, you have to go to the doctor. Can you walk OK?

Ravi: Yes, Tess, it's fine. I can walk OK, as long as I don't do this … AAGGHH.

Tess: Don't be so silly Ravi. It might be something serious. Go to the doctor's after we're finished the podcast, OK?

Ravi: I'm sure it's nothing serious but OK.

Tess: I'll give you a lift, if you want.

Ravi: Thanks, Tess. It's OK though.

Tess: It's no problem. I'll give you a lift. It won't take long.

Ravi: Thanks Tess. … Tess?

Tess: Yes?

Ravi: Could you get me a glass of water? My leg, you know …

Tess: Don't push your luck, Ravi. … Shall we get on with the podcast and then I'll take you to the doctor's – if I still feel like it.

Ravi: He he. OK then. If you heard us before, listeners, you'll know what we have for you. As usual, we've got our quiz – Natalie's going to play this week. There's 'Your Turn' when we hear what some of you think about a big question. Erm … what else … Carolina – it should be a good Carolina today – she's at the hairdresser's apparently.

Tess: That's really difficult – going to the hairdresser in a foreign language. I had my haircut once in France. It was a disaster.

Ravi: I didn't know you spoke French.

Tess: Exactly.

Ravi: Right. Oh – I've got a great joke for you today.

Tess: Hmm. Section 2: I'd like to talk about…

Ravi: But first of all, as usual, we'll start with 'I'd Like to Talk About'.

Tess: OK. This is the part of our show when someone tells us about something important to them - a hobby, a person, a place, a thing – anything that they're interested in.

Ravi: Yes, anything that you know a bit about and would like to share with all of us. And today we've got Stephen here in the studio – hi Stephen.

Steve: Steve

Ravi: OK. Steve. So, where are you from Steve?

Steve: I'm from Essex, from a small village - on the coast, but I've lived in London for a few years now.


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Tess: And what do you do here in London? Study?

Steve: No, I've finished my course – it was in Mathematics, but actually I'm a DJ now.

Ravi: A DJ? Wow. A professional DJ? You don't have another job?

Steve: Well no. I make enough money DJing to live. Not always in the clubs of course, but I do some parties – you know, weddings, birthdays, that sort of thing. Yeah, I don't need to do anything else.

Tess: And what do you want to talk about Steve? Music?

Steve: No. I'm going to talk about Zaha Hadid.

Tess: Ah, interesting.

Ravi: She's an architect isn't she?

Steve: Yeah, that's right. A really cool architect. Her buildings are fantastic. Do you know much about her?

Ravi: No not really. But I know the name. Is she British?

Steve: She was born in Iraq, in Baghdad, but she's lived in London for a long time. I'm not sure if she's got British nationality. She was the first woman ever to win the Pritzer Prize – in 2004. That's the biggest prize in architecture, like the Nobel Prize. And it's pretty amazing for a woman to win it. Architecture is still a man's world really.

Tess: Yeah, I bet.

Steve: She says that she wanted to be an architect when her father took her to Sumer, in the south of Iraq, when she was a kid. And of course, Sumer was where the first cities were ever built, thousands of years ago – the oldest architecture in the world.

Ravi: You studied Maths and now you're a DJ. What's the interest in architecture?

Steve: Well I'm not really into all architecture. But there's something about Zaha Hadid that I love. She's a very, well, intellectual architect. She studied Maths too – she's got a Maths

degree, and her buildings are so – complicated. I'm really interested in technology, and nowadays well, you can draw something crazy on a piece of paper and now we've got the technology to actually build it. Anything's possible. You should look at her design for the Dancing Towers.

Tess: Dancing Towers? Great name.

Steve: Yeah, it's gonna be built in Dubai – or anyway, I hope it's gonna be built in Dubai. It's a really crazy building. It's really organic – you know, it looks like a plant or something. And I think my favourite is the one she's doing in Abu Dhabi – the Performing Arts Centre. It's gonna be beautiful. It's all round shapes – just like nature. Really beautiful.

Tess: She must be a busy woman!

Steve: Well, a few years ago people said that her buildings were just not practical – they were too complicated and expensive to build. But now as I said, anything's possible. She's got buildings and projects all over the world, North America, Asia, Europe, you name it. Yeah, her designs are expensive to build, but she does other things too.

Tess: Like what?

Steve: She designs all sorts of things – furniture, things for the home, handbags, shoes.

Tess: I'd like to see a pair of Zaha Hadid shoes.

Steve: They're fantastic. They're made of plastic, so they're soft – they kind of move to the shape of your foot, and of course they can be recycled. And her stuff isn't too expensive either.

Ravi: How old is she?

Steve: You shouldn't ask a woman's age Ravi. But seriously, I'm not sure. In her fifties?

Tess: Well thanks for that Steve. We really must get some pictures of her buildings up on the website – especially the ones that you talked about. I want to see the Dancing Towers.

Ravi: And the shoes. I want to see the shoes.

Steve: Sure. I'll give you some links. There's


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loads of stuff.

Tess: That'd be great. Thanks again, and bye.

Steve: Bye.

Ravi: Bye. ... Do you think she does men's shoes?

Tess: I don't know Ravi. Interested?

Ravi: You bet. Imagine telling people your shoes were designed by a famous architect. Cool or what?

Tess: You're such a fashion victim, Ravi.

Ravi: I know, I know. But, really, remember to put those sites up on our blog. I really want to see the shoes.

Tess: OK. I will, I will. ... And if you're listening, why don't you tell us what you think about architecture or what you'd like to tell us about. You can write something or record something – in audio or video - and send it to us at [email protected], that's learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that's o-r-g. Send it to us and we'll put the most interesting ones on the site. Right, that's that.

Section 3 – Quiz

Tess: Now it's quiz time so let me introduce Natalie. Natalie?

Natalie: Hi Tess.

Tess: Hi Natalie. Where are you calling from?

Natalie: I'm in Buxton.

Ravi: Oh, in the Peak district? You know, I've never been to Buxton. It's daft because it's quite close to Manchester, really. Oh, I'm Ravi, by the way.

Natalie: Hi Ravi

Ravi: So, is it nice, Buxton?

Natalie: Well, it's a bit quiet for me but, yeah, the countryside's nice.

Ravi: Yeah, I've heard that. It's a spa town isn't it? People go there to drink the water and get

better when they're ill, right?

Natalie: Well, it was, a long time ago. Not really any more.

Tess: Maybe you can go there for your leg, Ravi.

Ravi: That's not how it works, Tess. Anyway, Natalie, what do you do?

Natalie: Not much, really, I'm having a year out before I go to university.

Tess: A gap year?

Natalie: Yeah.

Tess: I thought people usually went abroad or travelled round the world in their gap year.

Natalie: Well, I want to go travelling – but I need to get some money together first.

Tess: OK – well, good luck with that. And good luck with our quiz. Are you ready to play?

Natalie: Yep.

Tess: OK then. We're going to try a new one this time. How's your general knowledge, Natalie?

Natalie: Erm .. it's OK, I suppose.

Tess: Because the quiz this time is a comparatives quiz. I'm going to ask you five questions. All you have to do is choose the right answer.

Natalie: OK

Tess: I'll give you an example. What's bigger – a cow or a sheep?

Natalie: A cow!

Tess: Right. That was an easy one – the real questions are a bit tougher than that. Shall we start?

Natalie: OK then.

Tess: First question then. What's longer – the River Nile or the Yangtze River?

Natalie: Oh god. I don't know. The Yangtse?

Tess: The Nile. Number two. Which has more people – Russia or Canada?

Natalie: It must be Russia. Russia.


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Tess: Yes, Russia. Number three. Which is taller – the Empire State Building in New York or the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur?

Natalie: Erm. I think that must be the second one. The Petro…

Tess: Petronas. Yes. Two out of three. Number four. Which is further north – London or Moscow?

Natalie: Erm .. Moscow, I think.

Tess: That's right. Three out of four. Last one now. Which can run faster – a horse or an elephant?

Natalie: Oh. ... Is it a trick question? I'm going to say 'elephant'.

Tess: No, it was horse. Elephants are faster than you think – but they're not that fast. ... Three out of five, Natalie. Not bad.

Natalie: Yeah.

Tess: Thanks for playing though. We'll send you some bits and pieces very soon.

Ravi: Yep, bye Natalie.

Natalie: Bye.

Tess: OK. We'll have a little break but don't go away – we've got 'your turn' and we've got Carolina, straight after this.


Ravi: Right. Time for Your Turn. This is when we ask some of our listeners to tell us what they think. Now, in the last podcast, we heard Carolina take a jacket back to a shop because the zip was broken, so, for this time's Your Turn we asked you "Do you complain when you get bad service?" For example, in a restaurant, or in a shop, when something is wrong. Do you complain? Or just keep quiet? Let's hear what people said.

Voice 1: If I get bad service in a restaurant or a shop I often get angry but I rarely complain because I don't like getting into situations where

I might have an argument with somebody. Usually, if I have a bad service experience I just don't go back to the same restaurant or the same shop in the future.

Voice 2: I complain if I get bad service when the service is rude or unfriendly …but when the service is just bad or slow in general, I usually find it quite funny and I don't really complain. I might never go back to the restaurant again, but unless the person is actually rude to me I don't really bother about it.

Voice 3: Always! Because I hate having bad service and people should be told when they're not doing their job properly ...

Voice 4: Um, I don't complain, I don't shout or get angry but I probably ... I'll make a noise to show that I'm waiting … I'll clear my throat or I'll say "Excuse me!", but I won't get really angry, I won't complain as such.

Voice 5: Ah, yeah, this is a new thing for me … especially being British we're not very good at complaining, but since I've lived in Italy I've become braver and yes, I don't hesitate now to complain.

Ravi: What about you Tess? I bet you complain if you get bad service.

Tess: You know me, Ravi.

Ravi: Hmm. Right. ... What about you, listeners? Do you complain when you get bad service? Write in and let us know – and we'll put the best ones on the website.

Section 5: Carolina

Tess: OK. Let's go straight to Carolina. Remember that Carolina is a student from Venezuela who's come to England to study at


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university in Newcastle. We've been following her on the podcast. And today she's with her best friend, Emily – and they're going to ... the hairdresser's!

Ravi: Let's see how they get on.

at the hairdresser's

Hairdresser 1: Good morning.

Emily: Good morning. I've got an appointment for eleven thirty. My name's Emily Granger.

Carolina: And I'm Carolina del Barco. Eleven thirty too.

Hairdresser 1: Emily Granger – cut and colour – is that right?

Emily: Yes. I'm having lowlights

Hairdresser 1: Have you been here before?

Emily: No, it's the first time.

Hairdresser 1: And Carolina del Barco…. cut, no colour.

Carolina: That's right, just a cut.

Hairdresser 1: Just take a seat for a few minutes please.

Carolina and Emily: OK.

Carolina: What did you ask for Emily? Lowlights? What's that?

Emily: Lowlights are like highlights but a different colour.

Carolina: What?

Emily: Highlights are blonde, you know little blonde bits in your hair, and lowlights are any other colour - like red or brown. Just little bits of colour.

Carolina: OK. Oh dear, I'm a bit nervous. I hope I understand what they say to me. I don't know the vocabulary for hair and hairdressers.

Emily: Well what do you want? A new style?

Carolina: Oh no. I want to keep it the same – just a bit shorter.

Emily: So you say you just want a trim.

Carolina: A trim? A trim. I want a trim. I just

want a trim please.

Emily: Very good. ... How's Jamie?

Carolina: He's OK. Why?

Emily: Well, he used to come round all the time to see you, but recently, well, I haven't seen him. You used to be together all the time. Is everything OK?

Carolina: Yes, it's fine. ... Oh I don't know Emily. I mean – I really like Jamie – and I think, well that he really likes me – or I thought. But, recently, well, he's always busy. I know he's got other friends – of course. But I didn't see him at all last week.

Emily: Perhaps he's studying.

Carolina: Mmm.

Hairdresser 2: Emily Granger? Hi. Are you ready? I'll start your colour first, then I'll come back to cut your hair, Miss del Barco.

Emily: Here we go. Wish me luck.

Hairdresser 1: And if you'd like to come with me now, I'll wash your hair.

Carolina: Oh, yes, OK.

…

Hairdresser 2: Right. Comfortable? Now what can I do for you today?

Carolina: I just want a trim please.

Hairdresser 2: OK. How much d'you want off?

Carolina: Want off?

Hairdresser 2: How much hair shall I cut off? Half an inch? An inch? Two inches?

Carolina: Oh, um, about an inch I think.

Hairdresser 2: Hmm. Your hair's very thick.

Carolina: Oh. Is that bad?

Hairdresser 2: No, you've just got a lot of hair. Isn't it a bit difficult to control?

Carolina: Well yes, sometimes.

Hairdresser 2: What about a few layers?

Carolina: Layers? I'm sorry – my English isn't very good….

Hairdresser 2: I can cut some bits of it shorter –


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so it isn't all the same. We call them layers. Maybe just a few … here….. and here…

Carolina: Well OK then.

Hairdresser 2: And what about the fringe?

Carolina: The fringe? I'm sorry…

Hairdresser 2: This bit here, the part above your eyes. Do you want it long or short?

Carolina: Um, quite long please. Just cut a little bit off – not too much

Hairdresser 2: Right. So where are you from then?

Carolina: Venezuela.

Hairdresser 2: Venezuela. I've got a friend who went to Venezuela once. He said it was lovely. Can't remember where he went. On the coast somewhere I think.

Carolina: Oh yes, the coast is lovely.

Hairdresser 2: And how are you enjoying Newcastle?

Carolina: I like it.

Hairdresser 2: Not too cold for you?

Carolina: Well yes, it's a bit cold, colder than Venezuela anyway. But I'm getting used to it.

Hairdresser 2: Made a lot of friends?

Carolina: Oh yes, some. I share a flat with some people.

Hairdresser 2: Whereabouts?

Carolina: At the university.

Hairdresser 2: Ah, you're a student.

Carolina: Yes that's right.

Hairdresser 2: Just bend your head forward a bit please.

Carolina: Sorry?

Hairdresser 2: Just put your head forward … down… like this. I want to cut the back. So what are your plans for the holiday? Going back to Venezuela? Or staying here?

Carolina: Oh, I'm going …

…

Hairdresser 2: Right. There you are. I'll just get a mirror and show you the back. ... OK?

Carolina: Yes, it's lovely. Thank you very much.

Hairdresser 2: Good. Are you going to wait for your friend?

Carolina: I think so. How long is she going to be?

Hairdresser 2: About half an hour.

Carolina: Oh OK. Yes I'll wait.

…

Emily: Thank you very much. whispers to Carolina Come on, let's get out of here. Quick.

Carolina: OK.

…

Carolina: What's the matter?

Emily: Look at me!

Carolina: It looks nice. It's a bit short but…

Emily: A bit short!! I look like a … I don't know .. a baby bird.

Carolina: No, you don't. It looks nice. And anyway, it'll soon grow.

Emily: It'll soon grow! That's OK then. I'll wear a paper bag on my head for a month.

Carolina: Well you could wear a hat … or a scarf.

Emily: Do you know what Carolina? You're not helping!! ... Oh, come on. Let's go home…

…

Tess: Poor Emily - a disaster at the hairdresser's. Like that time in France for me. Has that ever happened to you Ravi?

Ravi: No thank goodness. But there was once when I was a kid and my mum cut my hair at home. It looked awful! I didn't want to leave the house, but she made me go to school and all the other kids laughed at me. It was horrible.

Tess: Poor thing.

Ravi: I know AAAGGH.

Tess: Your leg again? Come on then, let's finish off here and I'll take you to the doctor's.


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Ravi: OK. Section 6: The Joke

Ravi: Hang on though. I've got a joke for you.

Tess: Typical! Come on then.

Ravi: So there's a man and he's lost in the desert.

Tess: Lost in the desert?

Ravi: Yeah. His plane crashed or something – in the desert. And he hasn't got any water. So he's walking and walking, and he's really thirsty. After a while he meets a man who's selling ties.

Tess: Ties?

Ravi: Yes Tess. Ties. The things that men wear round their necks. ... So this man has got hundreds of ties – black ones, pink ones, striped ones. "Do you want to buy a tie sir? Lovely ties, very cheap." So the man who's lost says "No, I don't want a tie – I want water." "Sorry sir, no water, only ties." So the man walks on in the desert. And he's getting more and more thirsty. Then he meets another man. "Want to buy a tie sir? Lovely ties. Special price for you sir." And he says "No!! I don't want a tie. I want water." "Sorry sir – no water, but very beautiful ties". So he walks on again. It's very hot and he's really desperate for water now. And he sees another man "Give me water!" "No water sir. But beautiful ties. Pink ones, red ones, striped ones. Very good price". So the poor mans walks on. And then, right in front of him he sees a beautiful luxury hotel in the middle of the desert. He thinks he must be imagining things, but no, it really is a hotel. He goes up to the door, crying with happiness and the man at the door of the hotel says ... " Sorry sir. You can't come in here if you aren't wearing a tie."

Tess: groans

Ravi: What? It's funny!

Tess: Let's just say it isn't one of your best Ravi.

Ravi: Well I thought it was …. AAAGHGHH.

Tess: Come on then, let's get you to the doctor.

OK, everyone, thanks for listening. Remember that if you want to send us anything you can send it to [email protected]. Tom the Teacher will be here in a moment so don't go away – but it's goodbye from me and Ravi. See you next time!

Ravi: Bye!

---------------------------------------------------------------- Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, I'm Tom. I'm here at the end of every podcast to talk about some of the language you heard in the programme, and to talk about ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about how we compare things in English. I'm sure that you know that we often use 'more' to compare things. We can say 'A car is more expensive than a bicycle', or 'A book is more interesting than a film'. But we don't always use 'more'. Do you remember the quiz? It was all about comparing things. Listen to Tess explaining the quiz to Natalie. What question does she ask?

Tess: I'm going to ask you five questions. All you have to do is choose the right answer.

Natalie: OK

Tess: I'll give you an example. What's bigger – a cow or a sheep?

Natalie: A cow!

Tom: Yes. The question was "What's bigger – a cow or a sheep?" But Tess doesn't use 'more'. We don't use 'more' with short adjectives – words like 'hot', 'cold', 'big' or 'small' – adjectives that only have one syllable. We add "-er" to the end of the adjective to make the comparative form. So Tess says "What's bigger – a cow or a sheep?" Listen to another question.


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Tess: What's longer – the River Nile or the Yangtze River?

Natalie: Oh god. I don't know. The Yangtze?

Tom: Did you hear? "What's longer – The River Nile or the Yangtze River?". The adjective 'long' only has one syllable. 'Long'. So the comparative form of 'long' is 'longer'. Listen to one more example.

Tess: Number three. Which is taller – the Empire State Building in New York or the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur?

Natalie: Erm. I think that must be the second one. The Petro…

Tess: Petronas. Yes.

Tom: Yes. "Which is taller – the Empire State Building or the Petronas Towers?" The comparative form of 'tall' is 'taller'. 'Big – bigger', 'long' – 'longer', 'tall – taller'. Easy isn't it? ... But some short adjectives are irregular – they don't follow the normal rules. Listen to another question from the quiz. What's the comparative form of 'far'?

Tess: Petronas. Yes. Two out of three. Number four. Which is further north – London or Moscow?

Natalie: Erm .. Moscow, I think.

Tom: That's right. "Which is further north – London or Moscow?". This one is a bit different. The comparative form of 'far' is 'further'. Some people say 'farther'. You'll hear both. 'Further' and 'farther' are both comparative forms of 'far'. Now listen to Tess and Ravi talking about his bad leg. What's the comparative form of 'bad'?

Tess: What have you done?

Ravi: I think it was playing football on Saturday. It was OK after the match – well, it hurt a bit but

it's getting worse I think.

Tom: That's right. Ravi says his leg is getting worse. The comparative form of 'bad' is 'worse'. We don't add "-er" at all. We change the word completely. 'Worse'. And 'good' is irregular too. The comparative form of 'good' is 'better'. Now let's look at how we use a comparative form in a sentence. Listen to Carolina talking to the hairdresser. She compares Newcastle with Venezuela. What does she say?

Hairdresser 2: And how are you enjoying Newcastle?

Carolina: I like it.

Hairdresser 2: Not too cold for you?

Carolina: Well yes, it's a bit cold, colder than Venezuela anyway.

Tom: She says that Newcastle is colder than Venezuela. 'Colder than'. We use 'than' to compare things. So we can say 'a cow is bigger than a sheep or 'The River Nile is longer than the Yangtze'. 'Ravi's leg is worse now than it was this morning'. Try to notice comparative forms in the English that you hear and read this week.

Now let's talk about telling the time in English. You probably learnt to say "It's four o'clock" or 'It's half past six". Yes, that's how we tell the time in English. But British people don't always say that. Listen to Emily at the hairdresser's. What time is her appointment?

Hairdresser 1: Good morning.

Emily: Good morning. I've got an appointment for eleven thirty. My name's Emily Granger.

Tom: She says "eleven thirty". 'Eleven thirty' is exactly the same as 'half past eleven'. You can say 'My train leaves at half past two" or "my


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train leaves at two thirty". It's the same. It's the same for all the other times too. You can say "quarter past three' or 'three fifteen'. You can say twenty-five past six' or 'six twenty-five'. And 'quarter to four' or 'three forty-five'. Sometimes 'three forty-five' is easier for learners than 'quarter to four' so don't be afraid to say it – British people do!

... Now, last time I talked about practising what you're going to say in English before you say it. Do you remember? It's a good idea. Carolina practised what she was going to say when she took her jacket back to the shop. She does the same thing this time at the hairdresser's. Listen.

Emily: Well what do you want? A new style?

Carolina: Oh no. I want to keep it the same – just a bit shorter.

Emily: So you say you just want a trim.

Carolina: A trim? A trim. I want a trim. I just want a trim please.

Tom: She practises "I just want a trim please". And she says it to the hairdresser. But listen to what happens next.

Hairdresser 2: Now what can I do for you today?

Carolina: I just want a trim please.


Carolina: Want off?


Tom: Hmm. She says "I just want a trim please" beautifully, but then she doesn't understand what the hairdresser says next. This can happen when you're speaking English. Listen again. What does Carolina do to show that she doesn't understand?


Carolina: Want off?


Tom: That's right. She just repeats the words that she doesn't understand as a question. "Want off?" And the hairdresser explains. She does the same thing several times at the hairdressers. Listen.

Hairdresser 2: What about a few layers?

Carolina: Layers? I'm sorry – my English isn't very good….

Tom: And again.

Hairdresser 2: And what about the fringe?

Carolina: The fringe? I'm sorry…

Tom: So that's what you can do when you don't understand a word or a phrase - repeat it as a question.

Now let's look at a word that you can use this week. The hairdresser asks Carolina where she lives, but he doesn't use the word 'where?". Listen. What does he use?

Carolina: I share a flat with some people.

Hairdresser 2: Whereabouts?

Carolina: At the university.

Tom: He says "whereabouts?". He doesn't want to know exactly where she lives – he doesn't want to know her address. We use 'whereabouts' when we want to ask more or less where – in what area of the city for example. So if someone says "I live in London" you can say "Oh really! Whereabouts?" Try to use 'whereabouts' this week.


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OK. I'm going to stop there. I'll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can write to me about any language that you noticed in this podcast. The address is [email protected]. In a moment you'll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you've heard in this podcast. You can also find some practice exercises to do online and a support pack that you can print. Right. That's all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.


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Transcript Download the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. You'll find all the details on this page: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-07 Section 1: "I've had a really awful day " Ravi: Hello again listeners and welcome back to the Learn English Elementary podcast. This is number seven in series two. My name's Ravi …

Tess: And my name's Tess. We're your presenters with lots of interesting things for you to listen to today. But first of all, listeners, I have to tell you, Ravi is sitting here with a very long face – you look really upset, Ravi. Do you want to tell the listeners what's up?

Ravi: Tess is just teasing me because I don't like the weather today.

Tess: Ravi has been complaining since he arrived at the studio.

Ravi: Well, I know, but really Tess I've had an awful journey here. It's OK for you because you come in the car but I come on the underground and it is just awful when it's raining. I got wet walking to the station and then everybody was on the train with their wet coats and wet umbrellas…I hate it.

Tess: Oh come on, you can't complain about a little bit of rain. Honestly, you complain when it's too hot, you complain when it's too cold…

Ravi: I don't complain that much. … Well, I do a bit, but, honestly, my trousers are wet and I've got to wear them all day and my feet are wet, so now they're freezing cold. I only bought these shoes last week and now look at them - ruined. I look ridiculous.

Tess: You're such a fashion victim, Ravi. It's a podcast. No-one can see your shoes. Anyway, at least it isn't cold. I'd rather have rain than be freezing cold.

Ravi: I wouldn't. And I'm cold now! I'd rather be cold and dry then cold and wet.

Tess: Well it's bad news for you then. The weather forecast says it's going to be like this for the next week.

Ravi: Really? Nightmare. You know, I don't mind rain when I'm at home. I quite like seeing it out of the window. But when I have to go to work … no. Anyway, that journey was really stressful – but I feel better now. Seeing you always cheers me up Tess.

Tess: Awww.

Ravi: Shall we get on with it? What have we got today?

Tess: Well, there's Rita, talking about Bath

Ravi: The bath?

Tess: Bath – the city

Ravi: Ah. OK.

Tess: And there's Darryl for the quiz. The 'Your Turn' today is a big one – 'What's the biggest problem facing humanity today - and why?' - and there's Carolina, too.

Ravi: Don't forget my joke.

Tess: I wish I could.

Ravi: I know you enjoy them really.

Tess: Mmm.

Ravi: Hey Tess. A horse goes into a bar and says "An orange juice please" And the barman says "Certainly sir. But why the long face". Ha! Geddit? Long face! He's a horse!

Tess: Is that it? Is that the joke?

Ravi: Oh no, you just wait for the big one! Section 2: I'd like to talk about…

Tess: Shall we move on to 'I'd like to talk about'?

Ravi: OK.

Tess: I'd like to Talk About, listeners, is the part of the podcast when someone tells us about something – something that they're interested in or something that's important to them – a person, a place, a hobby - anything really.


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Ravi: Yes, absolutely anything. And today we've got Rita with us in the studio. Rita's twenty-one years old - that's right isn't it Rita?

Rita: Yep, that's right.

Ravi: And what do you do?

Rita: I've got a shop – a small shop. I sell second hand clothes. You know, old clothes – mostly from the 1940s and 50s.

Tess: Great. I love the dress you're wearing. Is that from your shop?

Rita: Yeah. This is a dress from the 50s – 1956 to be exact. I love it.

Tess: It's beautiful. I love the colour.

Ravi: Yeah, it's lovely

Rita: Thank you

Ravi: And you're going to talk to us about Bath, right?

Rita: That's right. It's my home town.

Tess: Cool. It's a great place.

Rita: Yeah, um, I was born in Bath, and, … I don't know, I've never wanted to live anywhere else.

Ravi: Remember we've got listeners from all over the world – perhaps it's a good idea to explain where Bath is.

Rita: Yes, of course. Bath is in the south west of England, about a hundred miles from London I guess – a couple of hours on the train. It's near Bristol – that's the biggest city in the south west. Bath is a city, but it's quite small. I think the population's about, oh I don't know – about ninety thousand people probably.

Ravi: OK. Good. And I guess you think it's a great place to live….?

Rita: It's a fantastic place to live. Great restaurants, theatres, shops, lovely old pubs, beautiful buildings, music festivals. And a fantastic nightlife – but it's quite quiet at the same time, if you know what I mean. It's a safe city. And the countryside around is beautiful – lots of great places to go at the weekend.

Tess: Tell us a bit about the history.

Rita: Well I don't know a lot... but it was a Roman city, um about two thousand years ago. The Romans liked it because of the hot springs – hot water that comes up from the ground. It's the only place in Britain with hot springs. The city is actually built on top of an old volcano – not active of course. So they built baths there, you know, public baths, using the hot water. That's where the name 'Bath' comes from of course. The Roman baths are still there – you can visit them. You can't swim, but you can drink the water.

Ravi: a little appalled Drink it?

Rita: Yes. Drink it. It's good for you – it's got loads of minerals and stuff in it.

Ravi: What does it taste like?

Rita: Absolutely disgusting. Anyway, then in the eighteenth century Bath became really popular. People went there for holidays. And then later Jane Austen wrote about it – she lived there for a while - if you've ever read any Jane Austen?

Tess: Oh yes. 'Pride and Prejudice' is one of my favourite books.

Rita: It's interesting - as I said, the Romans built Bath, so there's loads of Roman houses and stuff, all under the city. But the archaeologists can't really explore it because they don't want to destroy the beautiful eighteenth century buildings on the top. It's a World Heritage site – and I think it's the most beautiful city in Britain. I love it. I even love the tourists – we get loads of tourists, and you know, it makes me feel proud. I live in a city that people come miles and miles to see.

Ravi: Well - is there anything you don't like about Bath?

Rita: No. … Well, I suppose the only thing is that it's really, really difficult to park in the centre and the traffic can be terrible. But that really isn't the end of the world, is it?

Tess: Certainly not. Thanks Rita. You've made me want to go to Bath again. I haven't been there for years.


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Ravi: Yeah, me too. Thanks Rita

Rita: Thank you. I enjoyed talking about it.

Ravi: What about it then Tess? A weekend away together in Bath?

Tess: Hmm. Let me think about it. … That was a really good idea for I'd Like to Talk About, wasn't it? It would be really interesting to hear about other people's home towns. If you're listening and you want to write – or record – on audio or video - something about your home town you can send it to us at British Council dot org, that's learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT org, that's o-r-g. If we like it, we'll put it up on the site.

Ravi: Can we put some pictures of Bath up too?

Tess: Definitely.

Ravi: Will you do that?

Tess: OK. I'm going to have to teach you how to do it, Ravi.

Ravi: I know.

Section 3 – Quiz

Ravi: Right – speaking of computers – it's time for the quiz. We've got Darryl waiting to play. Hello Darryl.

Darryl: Hello Ravi

Ravi: Where are you today, Darryl?

Darryl: I'm in Skipton. In North Yorkshire.

Ravi: I know it. I've got an uncle who lives in Skipton. Is it raining there as much as it is here today?

Darryl: It is pretty wet, yeah. But I don't mind the rain. I'm going to go for a walk later with my dogs.

Ravi: Lucky you. Are you not working today?

Darryl: Not today, no.

Ravi: What do you do?

Darryl: I work at a golf course. I'm a groundsman.

Ravi: OK. So what does a groundsman do?

Darryl: We look after the golf course – make sure the grass is OK and all of that. It's like being a gardener.

Ravi: I see. Do you know anything about computers?

Darryl: Erm …

Tess: Ravi! You're not supposed to tell people what the quiz is about before we start. That's the second time you've said it.

Ravi: Oops. Well, let's get on with it. We're going to play Hot Seat, Darryl. I've got these cards with some words on them and I'm going to give them to Tess and she has to explain the words to you and you have to guess what the words are. OK?

Darryl: OK.

Ravi: And all the words are on the same topic.

Tess: And I think we all know what that is, Ravi.

Ravi: And the topic today is ….. computers and computing. … Computers and computing. You've got one minute starting from …. now

Tess: OK. This one is the thing you hold to move around the screen. Small thing. It's an animal as well.

Darryl: Mouse.

Tess: Yes. Next one. The thing you type on.

Darryl: Keyboard.

Tess: Yes. Well done. Oh gosh. The thing with the picture on it. Erm – the screen!

Darryl: Monitor?

Tess: Yes. Erm. This is something on the computer that does something. … Sorry – that's a terrible clue. Erm you have these on your computer and they make it do things. You might have one for editing photos one for sending email erm ..

Darryl: I don't know

Tess: You have them on TV too.

Darryl: Oh. Programme!

Tess: OK. Right. OK, the computer and the monitor and everything are all … Programs and


Page 4 of 9


things are software but the other things are …

Darryl: Hardware.

Tess: That's right. Ah. OK. The little thing you move around the screen.

Darryl: Mouse?

Tess: No, you use the mouse to move it – the little arrow or whatever, you know?

Darryl: Oh, the … erm … I know it ……what do you call it … cursor!

Tess: Right. This one's a bad thing. You don't want your computer to get one of these, it makes everything go …

Darryl: A Trojan? A virus!

Tess: Virus, yes. Erm ..

buzzer sounds

Ravi: Time's up. Well done you two. How many was that? Hang on. Mouse, keyboard, monitor, programme, hardware, cursor, virus. One two three four five six seven.

Tess: Well done Darryl – sorry – I wasn't very good at that.

Darryl: That's OK Tess, thank you.

Ravi: OK Darryl, thanks for playing. We'll send you some bits and pieces. Enjoy your walk!

Darryl: Thanks Ravi. Bye.

Tess & Ravi: Bye.

Tess: OK. Still to come we've got Your Turn and we've got Carolina.

Ravi: And the joke.

Tess: And the joke – after this...


Ravi: Your Turn is the part of the podcast when we ask people what they think about a topic – sometimes serious, sometimes not so serious. It's quite a serious one today because we asked people, 'What's the biggest problem facing humanity today - and why?' So let's hear what they said.

Voice 1: I think the biggest problem facing humanity today is ... um ... selfishness. Um, everybody sits around and talks about environmental issues and problems but very few people as individuals are actually prepared to give up ... ah ... their cars or their way of life to do anything about it.

Voice 2: I think the biggest problem is th... the divide between the western world ... those of us that have money, have wealth, have resources, and the poor people that don't have enough to live and are starving and they have ... drink dirty water and things like that. I think we should spread the wealth more.

Voice 3: I think the biggest problem facing humanity today is that people don't listen to each other and they don't get to know each other and to understand each other's opinions. All the people that I have met from all the different countries I've been to all want more or less the same things – they want to be happy and healthy and to be able to look after their families and get a good education for their children and I think that war and political problems and disagreements are all because we don't listen to each other and we don't try and understand each other.

Voice 4: The biggest problem facing humanity today is climate change. It's a massive problem because I don't think people understand the effects completely and therefore will not act.

Voice 5: That's such a big question … um ... probably the biggest thing for our future's I think is the environment and protecting what we have ... um ... I think that everybody needs to look around them and see what they can do on a very small scale to stop wasting things and to try and protect the nature we have around us … before it's too late.


Page 5 of 9


Tess: Interesting answers. I agree with the people who talked about climate change. I think that's the biggest problem today.

Ravi: What about you, listeners? Write in and tell us what you think.

Section 5: Carolina

Ravi: But now it's time to find out what's happening to Carolina. Carolina is from Venezuela and she's studying at Newcastle University in Britain.

Tess: Yes. If you listened to the first series, you'll remember that Carolina and her boyfriend Jamie are members of a society at the university – the Conservation Society.

Ravi: Jamie's the society president isn't he?

Tess: Yeah, that's right. He's really into saving the environment – we should have asked him what he thought in Your Turn.

Ravi

Last time, when Carolina was at the hairdresser's, remember? – she said she was a bit worried about Jamie. Things weren't going very well between them. What do you think's happening?

Tess: I don't know. Let's see what happens this time. Carolina and Jamie are going on a Conservation Society weekend away together.

Ravi: I can't imagine what they do on Conservation Society trips.

Tess: Well let's listen and find out Ravi.

Ravi: OK.

…

Carolina: Good morning Henry! What a nice car!

Henry: Hi Carolina. Thanks. Right - in you get.

Carolina: Hello.

Jamie: Hi. Move over Layla, make room for Carolina. I'll stay in the middle.

Jamie: Carolina, this is Layla.

Layla: Hi

Carolina: Hello

Jamie: And that's lucky old Ivan in the front – he's got long legs.

Ivan: Hello

Carolina: Hi Ivan.

Henry: Right. Let's get going. Have you got the map Ivan?

Ivan: Yep.

Henry: Right. Here we go. Put some music on Ivan. There are some CDs in the …

…

Jamie: I can't wait to see the black grouse.

Carolina: The black grouse? The whiskey? With a bird on the front?

Layla: laughs No, that's called Famous Grouse – The black grouse is a bird, but it's black.

Jamie: Yeah. The black grouse is disappearing in England. There aren't very many of them left. That's what they're trying to do at the nature reserve – save the black grouse.

Carolina: But what exactly are we going to do?

Layla: Plant hedges

Carolina: Hedges?

Jamie: Hedges are the lines of plants and trees that divide the fields. You know, you can have wooden or metal fences – or you can have hedges. And the black grouse prefers hedges. So we're going to take away some of the old fences and plant new hedges.

Layla: Yeah, it's really cool. We went there last year didn't we Jamie? Had a great time.

Carolina: Oh.

…

Henry: Ivan, there's a sign saying Brampton two miles. Don't we need to turn left before Brampton?

Ivan: Um, yeah, um, Just a minute. Um, I'm not quite sure where we are. Have we passed Denton?

Layla: Ages ago. …. Ivan - you've got the map


Page 6 of 9


upside down.

Ivan: It isn't upside down, I've just turned it round a bit – I can't follow a map if I don't turn it round.

Carolina: Why don't we stop and ask someone?

Jamie: Look, there's a petrol station. Pull over.

…

Jamie: You ask Carolina. You're next to the window. Ask for Hallbankgate.

Carolina: Oh. Um, excuse me. Can you tell us the way to Hallbankgate please?

Man: Hallbankgate. You're miles away.

Carolina: Yes, but are we on the right road?

Man: No, it's not this road.

Ivan: So which road should we take?

Man: Go back the way you came, about five miles, then take a right. Follow the signs to Milton.

Carolina: Thank you very much.

…

Layla: I'm hungry.

Carolina: Me too

Jamie: Me too. Where did you put the sandwiches Henry?

Henry: They're in the plastic bag – in the back somewhere.

Jamie: Henry, this is a bag of rubbish.

Henry: What?

Jamie: This bag is full of rubbish. … Don't tell me. You put the bag of sandwiches in the rubbish and put the bag of rubbish in the car.

Carolina and Layla: Oh no.

Henry: Well I'm sorry. It's an easy mistake to make.

Carolina: Are we nearly there Henry?

Henry: Ivan?

Ivan: Well, - I'm not quite sure where we are to be honest. If we're on this road here, look, this yellow one, well, - we should be there by now.

chorus of complaint

Layla: Stop and ask someone Henry.

Henry: Excuse me.

Woman: Yes?

Henry: We're trying to get to Hallbankgate. Is this the right way?

Woman: Hallbankgate? No dear, this is the road to Farlam. Hallbankgate's in the other direction.

Henry: Oh no. How far is it?

Woman: Not far. Go back the way you came, for about two miles, then turn right – there's a pub on the corner called the Old Duke. Then go straight on till you come to the main road, then turn right again. You'll see the sign to Hallbankgate – you can't miss it.

Henry: Thank you very much. … Won't be long now.

Jamie: Hmmm. I just hope the black grouse appreciates what we're doing for it. That's all I can say.

…

Tess: Oh dear. Not a very good start to the Conservation Society weekend away. I hope they find it.

Ravi.: Hmm. What a nightmare. It's funny though – imagine throwing away the sandwiches and bringing a bag of rubbish instead. … I hate asking for directions though.

Tess: Men always hate asking for directions. Anyway, we'll have to wait for next time to find out how the rest of the weekend goes. Hope things get better.

Section 6: The Joke

Ravi: Yeah. OK. I'm going to tell my joke, then, I think, that's it for today.

Tess: Come on then, let's hear it.

Ravi: Right. There's this baby polar bear, sitting on an iceberg with his mum.


Page 7 of 9


Tess: Ah. I love polar bears.

Ravi: Anyway, the baby polar bear says to his mum, "Mum, are you sure I'm a polar bear?" So his mum says, "Yes, darling, of course you are".

And then "Mum, are you sure I'm not a brown bear?"

"No dear, you're not a brown bear".

"Well, what about a black bear then? Maybe I'm a black bear."

"No dear. You're not a black bear either. Look at your fur – it's white."

"Well, what about a grizzly bear, Mum? Perhaps I'm a grizzly bear, then?"

"No, dear, you're not a grizzly bear. Look - your dad's a polar bear, I'm a polar bear, your sister's a polar bear. Of course you're a polar bear."

"Mum, but am I a real polar bear?"

"Look. I keep telling you, you're a polar bear. We're all polar bears. We all live here together in the snow. Why do you keep on asking these stupid questions?

"Mum - I'm freezing"

Tess: Polar bears are so cute. Did you see that programme about them?

Ravi: Yeah, they are cool, aren't they? Right everyone. That's all we've got time for but Tom the Teacher will be here in a moment so don't go away. Remember that you can write to us at [email protected]. We'll see you next time. Bye!

Tess: Bye!

---------------------------------------------------------------- Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, I'm Tom. I'm here at the end of every podcast to talk about some of the language you heard in the programme, and to talk about ways to help you learn English. Today I want to talk about the phrase 'I'd rather'. At the beginning of

the podcast Ravi is unhappy because it's raining and his shoes are wet. Listen to what Tess says to him. Listen for 'I'd rather'. What does it mean?


Tom: 'I'd rather' means the same as 'I prefer'. Tess is saying that rain is better than cold – she prefers rainy weather to cold weather. She says "I'd rather have rain than be freezing cold".

…

'I'd rather' – can you hear the 'd'? 'I'd rather'. The 'd' is a contraction of 'would'. Instead of 'I would' we say 'I'd'. Listen again to Tess and Ravi. Listen for 'I'd' and then listen for 'would'.


Ravi: I wouldn't. And I'm cold now! I'd rather be cold and dry than cold and wet.

Tom: Did you hear it? Tess said "I'd rather have rain than be freezing cold" and Ravi disagreed with her and said "I wouldn't".

Now, I want you to listen to Tess and Ravi one more time. But this time I want you to notice the form of the verb that comes after 'I'd rather'. Is it the infinitive or the 'ing' form? Listen.

Tess: Anyway, at least it isn't cold. I'd rather have rain than be freezing cold.

Ravi: I wouldn't. And I'm cold now! I'd rather be cold and dry than cold and wet.


Page 8 of 9


Tom: Yes, 'I'd rather' is always followed by a verb, and it's always the infinitive form of the verb, but without 'to' - 'I'd rather have rain' and 'I'd rather be cold'.

'I'd rather' is a more complicated phrase than 'I prefer' isn't it? But you know, as a learner, it isn't always a good idea to worry about all of the separate words in a phrase – 'what does 'rather' mean? Why is it the verb without 'to'? Why is it 'would'? Well, sometimes it's better to learn things as a phrase and not worry about all of the questions. Make a note of the phrase, and a note of what it means and how to use it in a sentence.

So for 'I'd rather' you could write:

• "'I'd rather' means the same as 'I prefer', but it is used differently.

• It always has a verb after it,

• and the verb is the infinitive without 'to'.

Then you can write some examples, maybe –

• 'I'd rather have rain than cold'

• 'I'd rather stay up late than go to bed early'

• 'I'd rather eat fish than meat'.

And add more examples every time you see or hear the new phrase. Now that you know the phrase, you'll hear it a lot in the English that you read and listen to this week. Make a list if all of the examples that you find.

Now for something different. At the beginning of the quiz, Tess was a bit angry with Ravi because he told Darryl what the quiz was going to be about – computers. Listen to what Ravi says after Tess is angry with him.

Ravi: I see. Do you know anything about computers?

Darryl: Erm …

Tess: Ravi! You're not supposed to tell people what the quiz is about before we start. That's the second time you've said it.

Ravi: Oops. Well, let's get on with it.

Tom: Did you hear it? 'Oops'. Ravi didn't intend to say the word 'computers', he didn't want to say it – he made a mistake. So he said 'oops'. This word is very, very common in English. It means 'Oh dear, what a silly thing to do!'. 'Oops' is informal – we only use it with people that we know well. We use 'oops' when we make a mistake, or when we have a small accident – when we drop something for example. We can use 'oops' when we're sorry we did something, or when we're not sorry at all – like Ravi.

We also use it in informal emails. If you send someone an email, but you forget to attach the document that you wanted them to see (that's something that I do all the time!) you can send another email just saying 'Oops', with the document that you wanted to send. Everyone will understand what 'Oops' means – 'Silly me – I forgot to attach the document the first time!'.

Now let's look at another very common word in English – 'about'. 'You will hear the word 'about' all the time because we use it in lots of different ways. Listen to Tess asking Rita about her home city, Bath.


Tom: Yes, Tess uses 'about' as a preposition. We tell people 'about' something, or we talk 'about' something. Now listen to Rita's answer. She uses 'about' – but not in the same way. Listen.


Rita: Well I don't know a lot .. but it was a


Page 9 of 9


Roman city, um about two thousand years ago.

Tom: Rita doesn't know exactly when Bath was a Roman city, but she has an idea – she knows it was more or less two thousand years ago. So she says "about two thousand years ago'". In this situation 'about' means 'more or less' or 'approximately'.

Listen to another example, Rita isn't sure exactly how far Bath is from London and she isn't sure what the population is either. Can you guess what she says? Listen.

Rita: Bath is in the south west of England, about a hundred miles from London I guess – a couple of hours on the train. It's near Bristol – that's the biggest city in the south west.

Bath is a city, but it's quite small. I think the population's about, oh I don't know – about ninety thousand people probably.

Tom: Did you hear the 'abouts'? She says Bath is "about a hundred miles from London" and she says the population is "about ninety thousand people probably'. Because she isn't sure. 'About' is a very useful word! People use it a lot when they're giving directions. Remember Carolina and her friends on the way to the nature reserve? They got lost and had to ask for directions. Listen.

Ivan: So which road should we take?

Man: Go back the way you came, about five miles, then take a right. Follow the signs to Milton.

Tom: The man says "Go back the way you came, about five miles, then take a right".

Why don't you try and use 'about' to mean 'more or less' this week?

OK. I think that's enough for this week, so I'll stop now. I'll talk to you all again next time. Remember you can write to me about any language that you noticed in this podcast. The address is [email protected]. In a moment you'll hear the address for the website where you can read everything you've heard in this podcast. You can also find some practice exercises to do online and a support pack that you can print.

Right. That's all for this time. Bye for now! See you next time.

Elementary Podcast Transcript – Series 2 episode 8 http://learnenglish.BritishCouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-08

© The British Council, 2010 Page 1 of 9


Transcript

Section 1: "Have you ever been to...?”

Tess: Hello everyone and welcome once again

to the Learn English Elementary podcast. This

is series two and it’s now episode number …

erm …

Ravi: Eight. I told you that two minutes ago. Hi

everyone. This is series two episode number

eight. I’m Ravi and this is …erm...

Tess: Stop it. I’m Tess and we’re your

presenters. What’s new with you this week,

Ravi?

Ravi: Not much, not much. I’m thinking about

my holidays though. I can’t decide where to go.

Tess: Really? You’re going to Scotland, aren’t

you?

Ravi: With Chris? Well, yeah, I was going to...

Sorry, listeners, Chris is a good friend of mine

and we were planning to go on holiday together.

No, bad news. Chris has broken his leg so we

can’t go to Scotland.

Tess: How did he break his leg?

Ravi: He fell off his bike. Hey, Tess, what

should you do if you break your leg in two

places?

Tess: I don’t know.

Ravi: Don’t go back to those two places. So,

anyway …

Tess: So, what are your plans now?

Ravi: Well, that’s the thing. I’m not sure. I’m

thinking of going to Barcelona but ...

Tess: Oh, fantastic. Have you ever been

there? I love Spain.

Ravi: No, I haven’t. I’ve heard it’s pretty cool

though. You’ve been to Barcelona then?

Tess: Yeah, I went there when I was a student.

We had a great time. We did kind of a tour of

Spain. We went to Barcelona then to Zaragoza,

then Valencia and then all the way down to

Granada – Granada’s fantastic – you’d love it.

Ravi: Sounds great but, you know, Tess, when

I go on holiday I just want to stay in one place. I

don’t want to be catching trains and all that. I

want to relax. Do you know what I mean?

Tess: Well, there’s loads of things to do in

Barcelona. The nightlife’s great. There are lots

of good clothes shops for you. I think you’d

really like it.

Ravi: How far is it from the beach?

Tess: Well, I don’t think you go to Barcelona to

go to the beach but I think it’s pretty easy to get

to the beach You could probably go to the

beach for a day trip then go out in the city in the

evening.

Ravi: Hmm. Right, I think I’ve decided. I’m going

to go to Barcelona. Great. I love deciding where

to go. I can start to get excited about my

holidays now.

Tess: Well before you do that, tell us what

we’ve got today for the podcast.

Section 2: I'd like to talk about…

Ravi: OK then, let’s get started. We’ve got the

quiz, as usual, we’ve got a problem for Carolina

and her friends, we’ve got your turn – about

talent , I might have a joke for you, lots of stuff –

but to start with we’ve got Tim. Hello Tim.

Tim: Hi Ravi

Tess: Hi Tim

Tim: Hello Tess.

Ravi:

Tim is here for our regular ‘I’d Like to Talk

About’ section. This is where someone comes

into the studio to talk about something that’s

important to them. A place, a person, a thing, a

hobby – it could be anything – anything that’s

important to our guest. So, Tim, what are you

going to tell us about?

Tim: I’d like to talk about fell running, Ravi.




Ravi: What running?

Tim: Fell running. It’s kind of …

Tess: A fell is a kind of hill, isn’t it. They call

hills ‘fells’ in the Lake District.

Tim: Yeah, that’s right. And in other parts of the

north of England too. But you can go fell

running all over the country, really.

Ravi: So fell running is running up hills, right? I

don’t like the sound of it already.

Tim: Well, yes, kind of. It’s a bit more than just

running up hills though. It’s running in the

countryside – through beautiful, open, mountain

scenery – and finding your way and being

prepared for the countryside and the weather

and … But, yes, there is usually a lot of running

uphill.

Tess: How did you get started?

Tim: Sorry – how did I get started or how did fell

running get started?

Tess: Well, how did you get started first of all

but I’d like to hear how fell running started too.

Tim: Well, people in the countryside have been

running up hills for hundreds of years – for fun,

for competition, just to see who was fastest, you

know, then in the nineteenth century it got a bit

more organised and people used to race for

money and ….ooh, sorry, you said ‘how did I

get started’.

Tess: That’s OK, carry on. You can tell us how

you got started in a moment.

Tim: Right. Sorry. Anyway, yes, people used to

race for money and people would gamble on it.

Ravi: Gambling? Really? Like betting on

horses?

Tim: Yeah, people used to bet a lot of money on

it. Anyway, lots of the fell races now were

started more than a hundred years ago. For

most of the twentieth century though, there

were two, separate kinds of fell runners;

professionals, who got paid for running, and

amateurs, who didn’t get paid.

Tess: But you don’t get paid, do you? How did

you start fell running?

Tim: No, I’m not good enough to get paid for it. I

just do it because I enjoy it. See, I’d always

liked running but only on roads and things, then

four years ago I moved to the Lake District

Tess: Lucky you. It’s beautiful. We’ve talked

about the Lake District in the podcast before.

We should tell new listeners that it’s in the north

west of England. Anyway, go on.

Tim: Well, the Lake District is kind of the home

of fell running in Britain and, like you say, the

scenery is so beautiful. I met some people who

are fell runners and I started going out for a run

with them. It just seemed like a fantastic way to

see the countryside. I mean, it was quite hard

at first, it’s quite hard work running up hills and,

you know, usually there isn’t a road or a path or

anything so it can be very wet and dirty, and in

winter it can be freezing cold and ..

Ravi: Hang on, it’s cold, wet, dirty – it sounds

like loads of fun.

Tim: I know. It’s not always cold and, the thing

is, the views from the top of the mountains are

so great that you don’t mind getting cold and

wet. It’s so great to be out in the countryside

without carrying a big backpack or anything and

you can just go wherever you want to – you just

feel really free.

Tess: And really fit. It sounds like really hard

work.

Tim: Well, yes, it’s great exercise too. A great

way to keep fit and spend time in the

countryside. That’s why I love it.

Tess: You make it sound really nice. Great.

Thanks Tim.

Ravi: Hmm. Nice, Tess? I’m not sure it sounds

nice. It sounds a bit crazy to me. But, yeah, I

can see why you enjoy it, Tim. Thanks for that.




Tim: That’s OK. Are you going to try it Ravi?

Want to come for a run?

Ravi: Erm, no, thanks. Football and video

games is enough exercise for me.

Tess: Oh, Ravi. Listeners – if you’d like to tell us

about what you do to keep fit, why not write it

down or record it and send it to us at

LearnEnglishPodcast at British council dot org.

I’ll say that again - LearnEnglishPodcast - all

one word – at - BritishCouncil – all one word

DOT org, that’s o-r-g. If we like it, we’ll put it up

on the site.

Ravi: Got any fell running pictures we can put

up, Tim?

Tim: Erm, yeah, I’m sure I can find some.

Ravi: Great. Thanks.

Section 3 – Quiz

Tess: Now, Ravi, you’re going to like this next

one. It’s quiz time, and we’re going to talk to

Lydia. Hello, Lydia?

Lydia: Hi.

Tess: Where are you calling from, Lydia?

Lydia: I’m in Bournemouth.

Tess: On the south coast? I know it. What’s the

weather like in Bournemouth today?

Lydia: Really nice, actually. It’s sunny.

Tess: Great. Are you going to go out and enjoy

the sunshine?

Lydia: No, unfortunately. I have to go to work

later.

Tess: OK. Where do you work?

Lydia: I work in a hotel. I’m a waitress at the

moment.

Tess: OK. Well, enjoy the rest of the morning.

Are you ready to play Hot Seat?

Lydia: Yep.

Tess: OK then. I’ve got these cards with words

on them – they’re all on the same topic – and

I’m going to give the cards to Ravi and he’ll

explain them to you. You have to guess as

many words as you can in a minute, OK?

Lydia: OK – I get it.

Tess: Ready, Ravi?

Ravi: Ready and waiting, Tess.

Tess: OK then – here are the cards – and

especially for you Ravi, the topic today is

holidays. Are you ready for some holiday words,

Lydia?

Lydia: I think so.

Tess: Then let’s go. Ravi, you’ve got one minute

starting from now.

Ravi: Hi Lydia, the first one – erm – the

document …. the little book you need to go to

another country, I always nearly forget it … with

your photograph in it.

Lydia: Passport?

Ravi: That’s it. Next one. Erm, this is what you

do on the beach … erm …

Lydia: Ice cream!

Ravi: Eh? No. Erm. Lying in the sun ..

Tess: You can’t say ‘sun’, Ravi.

Ravi: Shush. On the beach, Lydia, just lying

there, reading a book or whatever. I love it.

Tess hates it. Trying to get a suntan.

Lydia: Sunbathing.

Ravi: OK. Now, another thing you do on

holiday … in a city … looking at the … erm,

no, … erm ..visiting the famous places in a city

or something … like in London, you’d go to Big

Ben and Buckingham Palace and the London

Eye and …

Lydia: Is it ‘sightseeing’?

Ravi: It is, well done. How long have we got?

OK. Right. This is what you do before you go on

holiday – when you put all your clothes and

things in your suitcase.




Lydia: Pack.

Ravi: Right. Next one. This is something you

wear to …

Lydia: T-shirt?

Ravi: Hang on – something you wear to keep

the sun out of your eyes.

Lydia: Oh. Sunglasses.

Ravi: Yes. Now, if you go sightseeing, you have

a book to tell you what’s what and it tells you

where to stay and where to go and restaurants

and things.

Lydia: Is it ‘guidebook’?

Ravi: It is. Next one, Ah.

Tess: Time’s up. Well done, Lydia. Let’s see

how many that was. Passport, sunbathing – I’ll

let you have sunbathing – erm, passport,

sunbathing, sightseeing, pack, sunglasses,

guidebook. Six.

Ravi: Is that all? I thought we did more than

that.

Tess: Well you said ‘sun’ in ‘sunbathing’ and

‘book’ in guidebook but I’ll let you have six,

Ravi.

Ravi: You can’t explain ‘guidebook’ without

saying ‘book’. Anyway, well done, Lydia, thanks

for playing.

Lydia: Thanks.

Tess: We’ll send you something – have a good

day at work.

Lydia: Thanks, I will.

Tess & Ravi: Bye, Lydia.

Lydia: Bye.

Tess: Let’s move on now – Your Turn, Carolina

and Ravi’s joke?

Ravi: Yep.

Tess: All coming up after this.


Tess: Your Turn is the part of the podcast

where we ask people what they think about a

topic. Sometimes it’s a serious question,

sometimes not so serious but there are always

some interesting opinions.

Ravi: This time, the question is …….. What

talent would you like to have? Let’s hear what

people said.

Voice 1: I would love to be able to dance very

well, to dance all the styles, not just, sort of

disco dancing, to be able to actually do prof…,

more professional dancing, um, but I think I’ve

got a long way to go from the stage I’m at now,

I’d have to take a lot of lessons, um, but I think it

would be fun.

Voice 2: I would like to be, ah, much better at

some sort of sport like tennis and, you know,

play for my country or win an Olympic gold

medal.

Voice 3: I would like to have the talent of playing

the piano because I think it’s a very difficult

talent to learn … um, you have to, you know,

look at the score, the music score, and then you

have to control your right hand and at the same

time you have to control your left hand and also

your feet have to step on the pedals and is

actually about, um, controlling your different

parts of your body at the same time … and so I

think it’s super difficult to do so … and I admire

people who have this ability … and I just think

that now I am an adult and is very difficult for an

adult to learn this ability … and I didn’t learn it

when I was little, so I hope that I have this ability

now.

Voice 4: I’d like to be able to fly an aeroplane

because I would feel very free up in the skies

and I can fly to wherever I like.

Voice 5: I’d love to be able to sing, and then I’d

go on something like X Factor – I think it’s an

amazing journey, and, err, if you win, which I

would because I’d have the amazing talent, I’d




get a million pounds and be a friend of Simon

Cowell.

Voice 6: Yes, if I’m given a chance I would like

to have the talent be able to stand in front of

large crowds and to move the crowd to, err,

positive agenda, for example, moving their

hearts so they could mobilize their resources to

give to a good cause, for example, err, giving

money to the poor in other countries, or to

mobilize them to do the right things in their

countries, to fight for the right cause.

Tess: What do you think, Ravi?

Ravi: Well, it’s difficult isn’t it when you’re

already so talented to think of something ..

Tess: I knew you’d say that.

Ravi: Yeah. Only joking. I don’t know really. I

wish I could speak a foreign language really

well. Maybe that’s the talent I’d like to have.

Tess: Yeah, that’s a good one. We’re interested

to hear what you think, too. Why not send us an

email or a recording and give us your opinion?

Section 5: Carolina

Ravi: Now though, we’re going to hear from

Carolina again. Carolina is a student from

Venezuela who’s come to Britain to study at

Newcastle university. In every podcast, we find

out a little about what she’s been doing.

Tess: Last time we listened, Carolina and

Jamie, her boyfriend, and some other friends

were going to the countryside to do some

conservation work. They were planting hedges

– the small trees between fields – to help

protect a kind of bird.

Ravi: The black grouse.

Tess: Yeah, that’s it, the black grouse. Anyway,

they got lost but found the place in the end.

Let’s see what happened next.

Layla: Oh Jamie, that was really funny. You

always make me laugh.

Ivan: Oh good – I can see the car. I’m

exhausted. I’ve never worked so hard in my life.

Every part of my body hurts. All my muscles.

Even my teeth hurt.

Jamie: I don’t think you’ve got muscles in your

teeth Ivan.

Henry: Yeah. I’m looking forward to getting

home and a nice hot shower.

Jamie: And then down the pub for a couple of

pints. You fancy that Layla? A drink a bit later

tonight?

Layla: Oh yes. That’d be great.

Ivan: You’re very quiet Carolina – didn’t you

enjoy it?

Carolina: What? Oh yes, yes, I enjoyed it. I’m

just a bit tired that’s all.

Jamie: Uh oh! Henry, look at the car.

Henry: What? Oh no! I don’t believe it!

Carolina: What’s happened?

Henry: Look! Someone’s crashed into the car.

Look!


Ivan: But there aren’t any other cars here. This

is the only car in the car park.

Henry: Doh! They didn’t stop Ivan! Someone

crashed into the car and drove off. [beep]! What

a [beep] thing to do.

Layla: Did they leave a note? On the car I

mean. Maybe they left their phone number or

something.

Henry: No …. nothing. I can’t see a piece of

paper or anything. Oh god, what am I going to

do?

Ivan: Is it OK to drive? Will it go?

Henry: I think so, but look, the light’s broken.

And the side’s all smashed in. Oh god, it’s going

to cost a fortune.

Jamie: What about your insurance?




Henry: Oh, I don’t know – I don’t know who the

other person is – I don’t know if my insurance

will pay. What if they don’t believe me?

Carolina: Well, we have to phone the police.

You have to report the accident Henry. Then the

police will give you a paper for your insurance.

Layla: That’s a good idea. Phone 999. Or 112.

Henry: 999 or 112? Which is it? 999 or 112.

Layla: Either. They both work.

Carolina: No – I don’t think so. 999 and 112 are

emergency numbers aren’t they? This isn’t an

emergency.

Henry: Hah!

Layla: But we need to call the police so….

Jamie: No Layla, Carolina’s right – we can’t

phone an emergency number.

Layla: So what’s the number then?

Jamie: I don’t know.

Ivan: I don’t know where we are.

Henry: That’s no surprise Ivan.

Ivan: I mean, I don’t know which police force we

should phone. They’ve all got different numbers

haven’t they?

Henry: Oh god.

Carolina: Wait a minute. I’ve got a number for

the Newcastle police on my phone …

Henry: Did you notice we aren’t in Newcastle?

Carolina: I know. Where’s the number….? They

gave it to us at university. They had a session

for the foreign students – about police and

ambulances and things. Here it is. 03456 043

043.

Layla: But we aren’t in Newcastle

Carolina: I know that Layla. But we can phone

them, tell, them where we are and ask them

what number we should phone.

Jamie: Brilliant!

Ivan: Well go on then. Phone them Carolina.

Carolina: Oh no, I don’t want to. Can’t one of

you do it? I might not understand what they say.

Jamie: I’ll do it. What’s the number?

Carolina: 03456 043 043.

Jamie: Oh hello. Um, someone has crashed into

our car in a car park – they didn’t stop or leave

a note or anything. My name’s Jamie – Jamie

Lawrence – but um, it’s not my car. Um, look

the thing is we’re not in Newcastle, but we want

to know the number of the local police. Can you

give it to us? Where are we?

Henry: Geltsdale nature reserve car park. Near

Hallbankgate.

Jamie: We’re in the car park at Geltsdale nature

reserve. Near Hallbankgate. Thanks. OK

thanks. Someone get ready to write it down –

quick.

Henry: I haven’t got any paper

Layla: I’ve got a pen somewhere

Ivan: OK hang on a minute.

Carolina: Just a minute.

Jamie: 0845 3300 247 Thanks. Did one of you

get that?

Carolina: 0845 3300 247. I keyed it into my

phone.

Jamie: OK… yes …. yes, we’ll do that. Thank

you very much. Phew. Right, you can do the

next one Henry. It’s your car.

Henry: Right. Can I borrow your phone? What’s

the number again Carolina?

Carolina: 0845 3300 247

Henry: Hello? Um yes, I want to report an

accident. My name’s Henry Miller. We’re in the

car park at the Geltsdale nature reserve. I’m

sorry? Oh no, no, no one’s hurt. Well, someone

has crashed into my car in the car park and they

didn’t stop or leave a note or anything, and the




car’s smashed in the side and the light’s broken

and we …

Ravi: Well, that’s a pain. Good job Carolina had

that number. Do you know the non-emergency

number for the police?

Tess: No. Don’t think so. I don’t think I’ve ever

called the police. Have you?

Ravi: No, don’t think so, but I’ll tell you what,

there’s a police dog in my joke today.

Tess: OK, come on then.

Section 6: The Joke

Ravi: Right, a man’s driving down the road

when he sees a sign at the side of the road that

says ‘Talking dog for sale – ten pounds’. Well,

he thinks to himself, ‘a talking dog, hmm,

sounds interesting’ So he stops the car and

knocks and on the door and a man answers.

‘Erm, I saw the advertisement for the talking

dog’ Yeah, he’s in the back garden. Go and talk

to him if you want’. It’s a bit strange, you know,

but he goes into the garden and there’s a big

dog sitting there, looking quite sad. The man

looks at the dog and the dog looks at him and

says, ‘Please buy me sir. He’s a terrible owner.

He never takes me for a walk, he buys me the

cheapest dog food. He doesn’t know what a

special dog I am. I used to be a police dog, you

know, and I did some very dangerous work for

the government that I can’t really talk about.

There are lots of stories I could tell you.’

Well, the man, thinks, ‘This is fantastic’ and he

goes back to the house to talk to the owner. ‘I’ll

buy him’, he says, ‘’but, a talking dog, it’s

amazing – why is he only ten pounds?’

‘Because’, says the owner ‘I’m sick of his lies.

He never tells the truth!’

Tess: I’d love to have a talking dog. Actually, a

talking cat would be better.

Ravi: All a dog would say is ‘I love you. Can you

give me some food?’

Tess: Yeah. That’s true. Right. That’s all we’ve

got time for today but Tom the Teacher will be

here in a minute so don’t go away. Remember

you can write to us at learn English podcast at

British council dot org. See you next time. Bye!

Ravi: Bye!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. At the end of every podcast I

talk about some of the language you heard in

the programme, and, I hope, talk about ways

you can improve your English. I’d like to start

today by looking at the verb ‘think’. I’d like to

start today by looking at the verb ‘think’. Listen

to something Tess said to Ravi about Barcelona

Tess: Well, there’s loads of things to do

in Barcelona. The nightlife’s great. There

are lots of good clothes shops for you. I

think you’d really like it.

Tom: Tess said ‘I think you’d really like it’. She’s

giving her opinion. So that’s one way we can

use ‘think’ – to give our opinion. Now, listen to

something Ravi said a little bit after that.

Ravi: Hmm. Right, I think I’ve decided.

I’m going to go to Barcelona.

Tom: Ravi says ‘I think I’ve decided’. He’s

saying what his decision is about his holiday.

That’s another way we often use ‘think’ – to tell

people our decisions.

Did you notice that in the examples we’ve just

heard both Tess and Ravi used ‘think’ in the

present simple tense? When we use ‘think’ to

talk about our opinions or decisions, we don’t

use progressive tenses (you might call them

‘continuous tenses – same thing). Listen to

another example from the podcast.

Tess: Well, I don’t think you go to

Barcelona to go to the beach but I think

it’s pretty easy to get to the beach

Tom: Tess was giving her opinion and she used

‘think’ twice. The interesting thing is that if we

use ‘think’ to talk about a negative idea, we

usually make ‘think’ negative, not the other

verb. Listen to Tess again.




Tess: Well, I don’t think you go to

Barcelona to go to the beach but I think

it’s pretty easy to get to the beach

Tom: She says ‘I don’t think you go to

Barcelona to go to the beach’. She doesn’t say

‘I think you don’t go to Barcelona’. We make

‘think’ negative. In the Carolina section, we

heard Henry say ‘I think so’. Listen.

Henry: I think so, but look, the light’s

broken.

Tom: ‘I think so’ is a common expression – and

just like Tess said ‘I don’t think you go’, the

negative of ‘I think so’ is ‘I don’t think so’ – if you

think something is not true. Listen out for it in

other podcasts.

Now, I want you to listen to one more thing

about ‘think’. Listen to Ravi.

Ravi: Well, that’s the thing. I’m not sure.

I’m thinking of going to Barcelona but ..

Tom: Now, that time Ravi did use the present

progressive tense with ‘think’. He said, ‘I’m

thinking of going to Barcelona’. So, what’s the

rule?

We’ve already said that when we use ‘think’ to

talk about our opinions or decisions, we can’t

use a progressive tense. But when we use

‘think’ to talk about our plans or our ideas or

what’s in our head just at this moment, then we

can use the progressive. Ravi’s talking about a

plan – so he says, ‘I’m thinking of going to

Barcelona’. Listen to another example:

Ravi: Not much, not much. I’m thinking

about my holidays though. I can’t decide

where to go.

Tom: Again, Ravi, isn’t giving his opinion – he’s

talking about what’s in his head at the moment

– so he uses the present progressive.

Right. I think it’s time to move on to the next

thing I want to talk about. Listen to the words

that were in the quiz in this podcast:

Tess: Time’s up. Well done, Lydia. Let’s

see how many that was. Passport,

sunbathing – I’ll let you have sunbathing

– erm, passport, sunbathing,

sightseeing, pack, sunglasses,

guidebook. Six.

Tom: Did you notice anything about some of the

words? Four of them were what we call

‘compound words’ – sunbathing, sightseeing,

sunglasses, guidebook. Compound words are

words that are made up of two words put

together. So sunglasses are glasses you wear

in the sun, a guidebook is a book that you use

as a guide, sightseeing means seeing the

sights! There are lots of these compound words

in English and they’re useful for learners

because you can usually work out the meaning

– if you know what glasses are and you know

what sun is, you can guess what sunglasses

are! It’s a good idea to keep these words

together in your vocabulary notebook –

sunglasses, sunbathing, sun hat, sun cream

and so on. Be careful though – sometimes it’s

one word, sometimes it’s two words and

sometimes it has a hyphen – you need to

remember how to write each new compound

word you learn.

Now, usually, each time I talk to you, I tell you

something from the podcast that you can try to

use in your English. This time, though, I want to

talk about something for you not to try for

yourself. When Carolina and her friends were at

the nature reserve, someone drove into Henry’s

car then drove away. Listen to Henry’s reaction:

Henry: Look! Someone’s crashed into

the car. Look!


Ivan: But there aren’t any other cars

here. This is the only car in the car park.

Henry: Doh! They didn’t stop Ivan!

Someone crashed into the car and drove

off. [beep]! What a [beep] thing to do.




Tom: Henry was quite upset and he used two

words we had to beep out. You can guess what

kind of words they were, though, I’m sure. We

call this kind of word ‘swear words’ and, like

most languages, English has several of them.

You might know some of them already. My

advice to people who are learning English

though is don’t try to use swearwords in

English. Some words are very strong and

people will be upset to hear you use them. And

it’s difficult to know which words are worse.

Some people will think a word is OK but other

people might be very upset to hear you use it.

The safest thing is not to try to use swear words

at all.

If you do want something to try this week, how

about this?

Tess: OK then. I’ve got these cards with

words on them – they’re all on the same

topic – and I’m going to give the cards to

Ravi and he’ll explain them to you. You

have to guess as many words as you

can in a minute, OK?

Lydia: OK – I get it.

Tom: Lydia said ‘I get it’. She understood the

rules of the game, so ‘I get it’ just means – ‘yes,

I understand’. try it yourself this week.

Right. I’m going to stop there. I’ll talk to you all

again next time. Remember you can write to

me about any language that you noticed in this

podcast. The address is LearnEnglishPodcast

AT BritishCouncil DOT org. In a moment you’ll

hear the address for the website where you can

read everything you’ve heard in this podcast.

You can also find some practice exercises to do

online and a support pack that you can print.

Right. That’s all for this time. Bye for now! See

you next time.

Elementary Podcast Transcript – Series 2 episode 9 http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-02-episode-09



Transcript

Section 1 – Ravi’s learning Spanish

Ravi: Hello again, welcome back to the

LearnEnglish Elementary podcast. Series two,

episode nine. Hello!

Tess: We‟re your presenters. He‟s Ravi and I‟m

Tess.

Ravi: Si, yo soy Ravi. Vivo en Londres. Erm ..

Tess: Ahh. ¿Hablas español, Ravi? ¡Bueno!

¿Como estas?

Ravi: Erm …. erm …. I didn‟t know you spoke

Spanish, Tess.

Tess: Solo un poquito…

Ravi: OK, you can stop now.

Tess: Have you been taking Spanish lessons?

Ravi: Yeah, I have. You know, going to

Barcelona and everything, I thought I‟d have

some lessons to help me when I get there

but … well …

Tess: What?

Ravi: I think I might stop going to the lessons.

Tess: Oh dear. Why?

Ravi: Oh, I don‟t know. I just don‟t think I‟m

getting any better.

Tess: How many lessons have you had?

Ravi: Three.

Tess: Oh come on, Ravi. Three isn‟t many.

Ravi: I know, I know.

Tess: And of course it‟s difficult at first, but don‟t

give up. You really should give it longer than

three lessons.

Ravi: It‟s just that... well... everyone is better

than me. I feel really stupid sometimes.

Tess: What‟s your teacher like?

Ravi: She‟s great.

Tess: Well why don‟t you talk to her about it?

I‟m sure she‟ll understand.

Ravi: Well she doesn‟t understand anything I

say in Spanish. But, yeah, you‟re right.

Tess: And just think how good it‟ll be in

Barcelona when you can do things in Spanish –

ordering meals, buying postcards, talking to

girls …

Ravi: Well, two or three more lessons won‟t

hurt, will they? OK. I‟ll talk to the teacher and I‟ll

carry on going to lessons. OK?

Tess: Good. Now, shall we start the podcast?

What have we got today?

Ravi: We‟ve got all of the usual things – Your

Turn is about time machines, Carolina and

Jamie are at a restaurant, Abbie‟s going to do

the quiz but first of all we‟ve got I‟d Like to Talk

About and we‟ve got Pete here in the studio. Hi

Pete.

Section 2 – I’d like to talk about

Pete: Hi.

Ravi: I‟d Like to Talk About is the part of the

podcast when a guest tells us about something

that‟s important to them. It could be anything at

all – a hobby, a person, a place, a thing –

whatever you want. We‟ve had loads of

interesting topics – chocolate, fell running,

Einstein, Bath – and today, Pete is with us –

where are you from Pete?

Pete: From Birmingham.

Ravi: OK. And what do you do?

Pete: I‟m a student. I‟m studying Design.

Ravi: And what are you going to tell us about.

Pete: I‟d like to talk about this watch.

Tess: OK, listeners, because you can‟t see it, I‟ll

describe the watch that Pete has here. It‟s a

wristwatch; I‟d say it‟s quite old.

Pete: It‟s nearly sixty years old.




Tess: It‟s got a leather strap. The face of the

watch is white – well it was white, as I say, it‟s

quite old – and it isn‟t telling the right time. Why

is this watch special, Pete?

Pete: It was my grandfather‟s watch. He came

to England more than fifty years ago and this is

the watch he was wearing when he arrived

here.

Ravi: Where did he come from?

Pete: From Hungary.

Ravi: To Birmingham?

Pete: Not at first. He was in Dover for a while.

He met my grandma in Dover and they moved

to Birmingham a couple of years later. When he

came over here he didn‟t have much – just a

few pounds in his pocket, you know. But this

watch was a present to him from his grandfather

– his twenty first birthday present – so it was

really special to him and now it‟s special to me.

Tess: Is it very valuable? I mean, I know you

don‟t want to sell it or anything but it is it worth a

lot of money?

Pete: No, not at all. It doesn‟t even tell the right

time! It‟s just an ordinary watch but it‟s special

to me because it really reminds me of my

granddad. I remember when I was really small I

used to sit on my granddad‟s knee and play with

his watch and he used to let me wind it up.

Ravi: You have to wind it up? It hasn‟t got a

battery?

Pete: Yeah, it‟s clockwork, yeah. You wind it up

there, with that winder. You have to do it every

day. I don‟t do it usually now because it‟s so old.

In fact I don‟t really wear this watch very often,

but it‟s important to me as a kind of heirloom,

you know – something to give to my children,

when I have them.

Tess: Is your granddad still alive?

Pete: No, he isn‟t. He died 2 years ago. He left

the watch to me in his will. He always said he

was going to leave it to me, and he did. I really

like that I have a connection to Hungary, where

my granddad came from.

Tess: Have you ever been to Hungary?

Pete: No, I haven‟t. I‟d like to go though. I‟d

really like to see the place where my granddad

used to live and all of that. The name of the

shop where he bought this watch is on the back

too, look. I wonder if the shop is still there.

Ravi: That would be great – if you took the

watch back to the shop after sixty years and

asked them to fix it.

Pete: I think the guarantee might have run out

by now.

Tess: So you‟d have to pay to have it fixed?

Yes, I think it might. OK, then Pete, we‟ll take a

photo of your watch to put up on the website, if

that‟s OK?

Pete: That‟s fine.

Tess: And thanks for coming in to talk about it.

Pete: My pleasure.

Tess: Thanks. If you‟re listening, and there‟s a

special object you‟d like to tell people about,

you can write about it and send a picture or

recording to us at LearnEnglishPodcast at

British council dot org. That‟s -

LearnEnglishPodcast - all one word – at -

BritishCouncil – all one word DOT org, that‟s o-

r-g. If we like it, we‟ll put it up on the site.

Ravi: Have you got any old things like that from

your family, Tess?

Tess: Erm .. I‟ve got a necklace that used to be

my grandma‟s. That‟s quite old. I don‟t really

wear it very often. How about you?

Ravi: No, not really. Next time I go to visit my

grandparents I might just ask them if they‟ve got

anything, you know, interesting.

Section 3 – Quiz

Tess: Ravi! You‟re terrible. Right then, let‟s

move onto the quiz. Who‟s playing today?

Ravi: It should be Abbie. Hello, Abbie?




Abbie: Hi Ravi. HIC

Tess: Hi Abbie

Abbie: Hi Tess

Ravi: Where are you calling from, Abbie?

Abbie: From Manchester. HIC! Sorry.

Ravi: Another Mancunian, like me. Great. Have

you got hiccups, Abbie?

Abbie: Yes, sorry.

Ravi: That‟s OK.

Tess: Do you want to go and …

Ravi: BOO!

Abbie: HIC!

Tess: What are you doing Ravi? Listen, Abbie,

do you want to go and get a glass of water?

We‟ll wait for you.

Abbie: OK. Thanks. I‟ll be back in a minute.

Tess: OK, go on. What was that about?

Ravi: Well, I thought when someone had

hiccups you gave them a big shock like that.

Tess: I think a glass of water is a bit better,

really. There are lots of ways though. Actually,

maybe that‟s an idea for Your Turn – How do

you cu…

Abbie: Hello?

Ravi: Hi Abbie. Have they gone?

Abbie: Yes, I think so. Sorry about that.

Ravi: That‟s OK. Where were we? Manchester.

What do you do in Manchester, Abbie?

Abbie: I work in a nursery – looking after

children.

Tess: Ahh. How old are the children?

Abbie: Well the oldest ones are four and the

youngest ones are … tiny. I work with the three

and four year olds, mostly.

Ravi: Do you like it? I can‟t think of anything

worse than having lots of three year olds

running around all day.

Abbie: I love it. The kids are really lovely. It‟s

great.

Ravi: That‟s good then. It‟s always good if you

enjoy your work. Just like me and Tess. OK,

then, Abbie, are you ready to play Hot Seat?

Abbie: OK then.

Ravi: You know what to do? I‟ve got these cards

and I‟m going to give them to Tess and she‟ll

explain the words to you. They‟re all on the

same topic and Tess has to explain them

without saying the word on the card. OK?

Abbie: OK.

Ravi: And we‟ll see how many you can guess in

a minute. Are you ready?

Abbie: Think so.

Ravi: OK. Here are the cards Tess, and the

topic today is …means of transport … ah, that‟s

an easy one.

Tess: No it isn‟t.

Ravi: You‟ve got one minute starting from …

NOW!

Tess: Right. It‟s got two wheels – and an

engine.

Abbie: Motorbike.

Tess: Yes. Next one. … It flies – but it hasn‟t got

wings

Abbie: Aeroplane.

Tess: No, it hasn‟t got wings. It goes round and

round … the thing goes round and round like

this.

Abbie: Helicopter.

Tess: Yes. OK. A big thing. Erm. Lots of people

sit in it.

Abbie: Train?




Tess: No. On the road. With a driver. Four

wheels. Double-decker!

Abbie: Bus.

Tess: OK. This one‟s got two wheels but no

engine... you pedal.

Abbie: Bike. Bicycle.

Tess: Yes. Erm … this one flies and it has got

wings.

Abbie: Plane.

Tess: Yes. Right. It‟s a car and you pay the

driver to take you where you want to go.

Abbie: Taxi.

Tess: Yes. This one‟s a ship. Erm .. cars can go

on it, sometimes. It goes backwards and

forwards between two places.

Abbie: A ferry.

Tess: That‟s right. OK – the one we said before

– big thing, lots of people. It runs on rails.

Abbie: Train?

Tess: Yes. This one‟s like a train but in the city.

It‟s electric and it runs on rails in the city centre.

A bit like a bus but on rails

Abbie: Tram?

Tess: Yes

Ravi: OK. I‟ll let you have that one. Well done,

you two that was pretty good. How many was

that? Motorbike, helicopter – I liked the way you

tried to show Abbie what a helicopter does with

your hands Tess.

Tess: Well, it‟s difficult to describe.

Ravi: I know, I know – but on the phone? Just

teasing you. Motorbike, helicopter, bus, bicycle,

aeroplane, taxi, ferry, train, tram. quickly One

two three four five six seven eight nine. Nine.

Well done. That‟s a record, I think.

Tess: Well done, Abbie. We‟ll send you

something for playing.

Abbie: Thanks Tess. Well done to you, too.

Ravi: Yeah, well done, Abbie. See you.

Abbie: Bye!

Ravi: I told you it was an easy one.

Tess: No. We were just very good at it. Have

you ever had nine right answers?

Ravi: Moving on, we‟ve got Your Turn, Carolina

and my joke – after this.

Ravi: I‟ve had a great idea for a joke to tell,

Tess.

Section 4 – Your Turn

Tess: I can‟t wait. Before we enjoy Ravi‟s joke

though, we‟ve got Your Turn. This is the part of

the podcast when we hear what people think

about a question we ask them. A different topic

each time and we always get some interesting

answers. This time the question we asked was:

If you had a time machine, what „time‟ would

you visit? Why? Let‟s hear what people said.

Voice 1: For fun I‟d go back to the 80s because

I‟m totally addict to that kind of fashion and, ah,

of course I‟d like to meet, ah, ah, Vivienne

Westwood at the beginning of her career, with

Sex Pistols and other people like that.

Voice 2: Um, I think I‟d like to go back to the

olden days, like the sixteenth or seventeenth

century, but I‟d have to be a rich person, living

in a castle with lots of people to make the fires

and cook my food and wash and dress me and

things like that.

Voice 3: If I had a time machine I would like to

visit, um, err, my childhood when I was, ah,

three years old because my father passed away

when I was four, and I don‟t really remember

how my father looks like, and, ah, I have only,

like, five pieces of memory of him, so I would

really like to go back in time and to get to know

him better, and, you, ah, have a fatherly love

from him.

Voice 4: I think I would like to go back to the

time of Tang dynasty in China because I read

so much about this era, the richness of their




poetry and their art and their way of life, so I

would really like to go back to that era to talk to

the people in those times, talk to the famous

poets such as Li Bei, and even meet the

founder of that great dynasty, ah, there‟s so

much to learn about this culture, um, yeah, that

is really the time I would like to go back to.

Voice 5: If I had a time machine I would like to

go forward in the future, maybe to the year

3000, see what life was like, how we‟d

advanced, what our technology, um, how we

traveled, what kind of strange transportation

we‟d have found, um, and how healthy we were

and what the world looked like at that time.

Ravi: Interesting. What do you think Tess?

Tess: The 1960s, probably. Great music, great

clothes – and I could see what my parents were

doing. It‟d be like that film … what do you call it?

Ravi: Back to the Future? Yeah. I‟d go to the

future, actually. See if it‟s like it is in the films.

Anyway, listeners – if you want to write or

record where you’d like to go in a time machine

you can send it to us at the usual email

address.

Section 5 – Carolina

Tess: Now it‟s time to see what‟s happening

with Carolina. If you‟ve listened before you‟ll

know that Carolina is a student who‟s come

from Venezuela to study at Newcastle

University. In every podcast we hear a little

about what she, her boyfriend Jamie and their

friends have been doing. Last time, they were

all doing some conservation work at a nature

reserve to the north of Newcastle. This time,

Carolina and Jamie are in a restaurant.

Jamie: So, what are you going to have?

Carolina: Hmm. I‟m not sure.

Jamie: Have the fish and chips. It‟s traditional.

Carolina: Fish and chips! I don‟t think so.

Jamie: What‟s the problem?

Carolina: I like fish and I like chips, but not like

that. It‟s so …. heavy.

Jamie: Well I don‟t see why …

Carolina: British food is so strange sometimes.

Jamie: British food is very good actually – if you

try it. You liked my mum‟s cooking didn‟t you?

Um, let me see, I think I‟ll have the vegetarian

pasta.

Carolina: How long have you been a

vegetarian?

Jamie: About five years now.

Carolina: Don‟t you miss eating meat?

Jamie: Not at all. I don‟t really like it any more.

Waiter: Are you ready to order?

Jamie: Well I am. Carolina?

Carolina: Oh um, yes. I‟ll have the steak please.

Waiter: How would you like it done?

Carolina: Oh um, I like it pink, you know, still

with some blood. ….

Jamie: Uggghhh.

Carolina: ...not cooked too much. How do you

say that?

Waiter: Rare. So that‟s one steak, rare. And for

you sir?

Jamie: The vegetarian pasta for me please.

Carolina: Um, what does the steak come with?

Waiter: Chips and a mixed salad.

Carolina: Oh, OK, that‟s fine.

Waiter: And to drink?

Jamie: D‟you want wine?

Carolina: Yes OK, – do you?

Jamie: Yeah, OK. Can we see the wine list

please? The wine‟s expensive. It‟s always the

same in this country. The wine is the most

expensive part of a meal. Let‟s just have the

house wine. Red or white?




Carolina: I‟d prefer red.

Jamie: OK. Excuse me. Can we have a bottle of

the house red please?

Waiter: Certainly.

Carolina: Is Layla a vegetarian?

Jamie: No. She eats fish. Why?

Carolina: I just wondered.

Jamie: You just wondered.

Carolina: Yes. I just wondered. You spend a lot

of time with her Jamie.

Jamie: Do I? Well I like her. She‟s a good

friend. That isn‟t a problem is it?

Carolina: Oh no. No problem at all.

Jamie: So how‟s the steak?

Carolina: It‟s good. And how‟s your pasta?

Jamie: Delicious.

Carolina: Oh Jamie. Let‟s not be angry with

each other. I don‟t see you very often

nowadays. You‟re always busy.

Jamie: We were together all last weekend at the

nature reserve.

Carolina: Well yes, I suppose so. With Henry

and Ivan and Layla. But you know, I‟m going

home to Venezuela for the holidays soon…..

Jamie: Yeah. Holidays!

Carolina: ….. so I won‟t see you for a while….

so I thought we could have dinner, and you

know, talk a bit.

Jamie: Yeah. It was a good idea. It‟s nice. We‟re

talking.

Carolina: Yes, but I meant... talk about…..

Jamie: What? Talk about what?

Carolina: Oh never mind. Forget it. Eat your

vegetarian pasta.

Jamie: So, do you want another coffee?

Carolina: No thanks

Jamie: I‟ll get the bill then. Can we have the bill

please?

Waiter: Your bill.

Carolina: Give it to me. I‟m going to pay for this.

Jamie: Don‟t be daft - I don‟t want you to pay for

my dinner.

Carolina: I invited you, so let me pay. Please - I

want to.

Jamie: OK then – well, thank you very much.

Carolina: How much should I leave? You know,

for the waiter?

Jamie: For the tip?

Carolina: Yes, the tip.

Jamie: About ten per cent is usual I think. Let

me put in the tip if you‟re paying.

Carolina: Ten per cent….. No, it‟s OK. I‟ve got it.

Jamie: So when are you leaving?

Carolina: Friday morning.

Jamie: Oh. Friday. Well, I‟ll call you before you

go. Perhaps we can have a drink or something.

Carolina: OK. That would be nice. Call me.

Tess: Oh dear. That didn‟t sound very happy,

did it?

Ravi: I‟m sure it‟ll be fine you know. Jamie

should go to Venezuela to visit Carolina. That‟s

what I would do.

Section 6 – Joke

Tess: I‟m sure you would. Have you got a joke

for us?

Ravi: I have. I was going to tell you a different

one but Abbie reminded me of this one.

Tess: Come on then, let‟s hear it.

Ravi: Right, well. A man goes into a chemist‟s

shop and says to the pharmacist "Excuse me,

but have you got anything for hiccups?” The

pharmacist looks at him for a couple of

seconds, and then suddenly reaches across the




counter and "thwack" - slaps the man‟s face

really hard. 'Ow!', says the man. "What did you

do that for?‟ “Well," says the chemist, "you

haven‟t got hiccups now have you?” “No, I

haven‟t” says the man –“but my wife out there in

the car has still got them.”

Tess: Very good. I like that. But, listeners, that‟s

all from me and Ravi for this podcast. Don‟t go

away because Tom the Teacher will be here in

a moment

Ravi: And be sure to listen next time when

we‟ve got a very special guest with us. You can

write to us at LearnEnglishPodcast @

BritishCouncil dot org, see you next time, bye!

Tess: Bye!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Tom the Teacher

Tom: Hi, I‟m Tom. I‟m here at the end of every

podcast to talk about some of the language you

heard in the programme, and to talk about ways

to help you learn English. I‟d like to start today

by listening to some questions we heard in the

podcast. Listen to Tess ask Ravi a question

here – and listen to Ravi‟s answer:

Ravi: Erm …. erm …. I didn‟t know you

spoke Spanish, Tess.

Tess: Solo un poquito…

Ravi: OK, you can stop now.

Tess: Have you been taking Spanish

lessons?

Ravi: Yeah, I have.

Tom: Tess asked Ravi, „Have you been taking

Spanish lessons?‟ and Ravi answered, „Yes, I

have‟. Now, Tess‟s question was a „yes‟ or „no‟

question. Ravi‟s answer could be simply „yes‟ or

„no‟. But he said „Yes, I have.‟ We often answer

„yes – no‟ questions this way. Listen to another

example.

Tess: Is your granddad still alive?

Pete: No, he isn‟t. He died 2 years ago.

Tom: Did you notice the difference? Tess

asked, „Is your granddad still alive?‟ so Pete

used the same verb in his short answer – „No,

he isn’t‟. In the first example we heard, Tess

asked „Have you been taking Spanish lessons?‟

so Ravi answered, „Yes, I have‟ – You use the

same verb as the question to make the short

answer. So if the question is „Do you like

football?‟ your short answer can be „Yes, I do‟,

or „No, I don‟t‟. Question tags, work in a similar

way to these short answers. Listen to this.

Tess: And just think how good it‟ll be in

Barcelona when you can do things in

Spanish – ordering meals, buying

postcards, talking to girls …

Ravi: Well, two or three more lessons

won‟t hurt, will they? OK. I‟ll talk to the

teacher and I‟ll carry on going to

lessons. OK?

Tom: Ravi asked a tag question. A tag question

is a little question at the end of a sentence.

They can be „real‟ questions – where you don‟t

know the answer – but in this example it wasn‟t

a „real‟ question. Ravi knows that two or three

more lessons won‟t hurt. Listen to another tag

question from Tess.

Tess: Oh dear. That didn‟t sound very

happy, did it?

Tom: Like with the short answers to yes-no

questions, the verb in the tag question depends

on the verb in the first part of the sentence. If

the verb is negative – like „that didn’t sound very

happy‟ – then the tag question is positive – „did

it?‟. Ravi‟s tag question was the same, „two or

three more lessons won’t hurt‟ – negative – „will

they?‟ – positive. There was one more example,

in the joke.

Ravi: 'Ow!', says the man. "What did you

do that for?‟ “Well," says the chemist,




"you haven‟t got hiccups now have

you?” “No, I haven‟t” says the man.

Tom: There‟s a tag question and a short answer

in that one, did you spot them? Now, let‟s move

on. Carolina and Jamie were in a restaurant this

time. Listen to a little bit of the conversation in

the restaurant.

Waiter: Are you ready to order?

Jamie: Well I am. Carolina?

Carolina: Oh um, yes. I‟ll have the steak

please.

Waiter: How would you like it done?

Carolina: Oh um, I like it pink, you know,

still with some blood. ….

Jamie: Uggghhh.

Carolina:..not cooked too much. How do

you say that?

Waiter: Rare. So that‟s one steak, rare.

And for you sir?

Jamie: The vegetarian pasta for me

please.

Carolina: Um, what does the steak come

with?

Waiter: Chips and a mixed salad.

Carolina: Oh, OK, that‟s fine.

Tom: There are some expressions that you

almost always hear in restaurants. The waiter

says „Are you ready to order?‟ When Carolina

orders steak, the waiter asks „How would you

like it done?‟ and he asks Jamie „And for you,

sir?‟ You probably won‟t hear these expressions

anywhere else. There are expressions for other

places too. For example, in a clothes shop, you

might say, „Have you got this in a size twelve?‟

or „Can I try it on?‟ It‟s a good idea to learn

some of these useful expressions for different

situations. Do you remember, in another

podcast, the way Carolina practised what she

wanted to say before she went into a shop? If

you keep these special expressions for different

places together in your vocabulary notebook

you can practise them when you need them.

Now, listen to Ravi talking to Abbie, who did the

quiz.

Ravi: Where are you calling from,

Abbie?

Abbie: From Manchester. HIC! Sorry.

Ravi: Another Mancunian, like me.

Great. Have you got hiccups, Abbie?

Abbie: Yes, sorry.

Ravi: That‟s OK.

Tess: Do you want to go and …

Ravi: BOO!

Abbie: HIC!

Tom: Ravi shouted „Boo!‟ at Abbie because she

had hiccups. Some people think that you can

make hiccups go away by giving the person a

shock. „Boo!‟ is what we shout when we want to

give people a surprise or a shock. Or if you‟re

playing with a baby you might hide your face

and say „Boo!‟ What do you say in your

language?

Finally for today, I want to look at Ravi talking to

Abbie again, a little bit after he shouted „boo‟ at

her.

Ravi: Hi Abbie. Have they gone?

Abbie: Yes, I think so. Sorry about that.

Ravi: That‟s OK. Where were we?

Manchester. What do you do in

Manchester, Abbie?

Tom: Ravi said to Abbie, „where were we?‟.

They were talking, then they were interrupted by

Abbie‟s hiccups, then they started their

conversation again. When Ravi said „where

were we?‟ he meant – what were we talking

about before our conversation was interrupted?

See if you can use „where were we?‟ this week.




OK. That‟s all we‟ve got time for. I‟ll talk to you

all again next time. Remember you can write to

me about any language that you noticed in this

podcast. The address is LearnEnglishPodcast

@ BritishCouncil DOT org. In a moment you‟ll

hear the address for the website where you can

read everything you‟ve heard in this podcast.

You can also find some practice exercises to do

online and a support pack that you can print.

Right. That‟s all for this time. Bye for now! See

you next time.




Transcript

Section 1 – Gordon has come back

Tess: Hello and welcome once again to the

Learn English Elementary podcast. This is

podcast number ten in series two. We’re your

presenters – I’m Tess ..

Ravi: And I’m Ravi. I’m sorry to say that this is

the last podcast in this series ..

Tess: Awww

Ravi: But the good news is that it’s a very

special podcast today and we’ve got a special

guest with us in the studio today. If you’ve been

listening to our podcasts for a long time you’ll

remember Gordon. Gordon was our producer

for Series One of the podcast.

Tess: Producer and joke teller, Ravi.

Ravi: Yeah, Gordon told us some great jokes,

that’s true. Anyway, at the start of this series of

the podcast, we told you that Gordon had a new

job. Well, today, he’s back here in the studio

with us. Say hello, Gordon.

Gordon: Hi Ravi, hi Tess.

Tess: Hi Gordon. It’s lovely to see you again.

How are you?

Gordon: I’m very well, thank you, very well. How

are you both? OK?

Tess & Ravi: Yeah, I’m fine, thanks. I’m good,

thanks.

Ravi: So, what have you been doing since we

last saw you, Gordon?

Gordon: Well, after we did the last series of the

podcast, I got a job working on a TV

documentary programme about whales.

Ravi: The country?

Gordon: No, Ravi – whales in the sea.

Tess: Brilliant. What were you doing?

Gordon: I was working on the sound for the

programme – we filmed a lot of it on a boat.

Ravi: So did you see a lot of whales?

Gordon: Hundreds. It was absolutely fantastic –

but, listen, I’m going to tell you more about it a

little bit later so I won’t tell you now. How are

you two? Have you managed to do the podcast

without me?

Tess: Well, it’s not the same Gordon, you know,

but, yeah, we’ve had lots of interesting people

on – it’s been really good.

Gordon: Any jokes?

Ravi: Oh yes. Gordon used to tell a joke in

every podcast. At first we didn’t have a joke in

this series but so many people said they really

liked your jokes – it’s difficult to believe it, I

know – so we decided to have more jokes.

Gordon: Well, I’ve got a great one for you.

Tess: A joke and your whale stories – it’s the

Gordon show today. But that’s OK – it’s lovely

to see you again.

Gordon: It’s lovely to be here.

Section 2 – I’d like to talk about

Ravi: OK. Well, I’m dying to hear about these

whales so let’s move on. If you listen to our

podcasts regularly, you’ll know that we usually

start with ‘I’d Like to Talk About’ – when

someone comes into the studio and tells us

about something that’s important to them – a

place, a thing, a person – whatever. Well, as

we’ve got Gordon with us today, we thought it

would be nice to hear a little bit about what he’s

been doing since we last saw him. Now,

Gordon, I know we’re going to listen to part of

your documentary. Can you tell us what it is

before we hear it?

Gordon: Well, this is from the first programme in

the series. We were on a boat near

Provincetown, in Massachusetts in the USA,

looking for humpback whales. We’d just started

filming and none of us had ever seen a

humpback whale and … well, listen and you’ll

hear what happened.




Narrator: We’re just coming out past the

lighthouses now into the open waters of the

Atlantic Ocean. One hundred and fifty years

ago, thousands of ships made this same

journey into the Atlantic because Cape Cod,

back there, was the centre of the American

whaling industry. Ships leaving this port killed

thousands of whales all over the world. Now,

ironically, Cape Cod is one of the best places in

the world to see whales – and that’s why we’re

here.

The seabirds we can see circling over there are

a good sign. The birds often circle like that in

places where whales are feeding. We’ll head in

that direction.

There! That cloud of water in the air there tells

us that there are humpback whales over

there …… Another! Any minute now we should

see … WOW! Woohoo! Amazing!

Tess: That sounds incredible.

Gordon: It was amazing. I know we can only

hear it here, we can’t see it, but when that

humpback whale came up then it was so close I

could smell its breath – it was absolutely

incredible.

Ravi: What did its breath smell like?

Gordon: Pretty bad – quite fishy

Ravi: Yeah? I know someone like that.

Gordon: You know, that was the first time I’d

ever seen a whale – and it was so close. It’s

always special when you see whales but that

first time was extra special.

Tess: Why is it always special?

Gordon: Well, I think it’s because whales are so

special. We think we know something about

them but they live in huge oceans and, really,

we hardly know anything about them. We

probably know more about the moon than we

do about the oceans. And, you know, people

spent hundreds of years hunting and killing

whales – we’re lucky that there are any whales

left at all. And – and this is the main reason it

feels special to see whales – they’re such

amazing creatures.

Ravi: Are people still hunting whales?

Gordon: They are, unfortunately, in some

places. But what we found was that whale

watching – people paying to go out to sea and

look at whales – is a really big business now

and, hopefully, some of that money can be used

to help protect whales.

Tess: How many different kinds of whale did

you see?

Gordon: Over the whole programme, I think we

saw fifteen different kinds.

Ravi: How many different kinds are there?

Gordon: Well, that’s a good question. There are

thirteen species that people usually think of as

the ‘great whales’ but, altogether, there are

about forty species of whale. The thing is,

though, that we’re not absolutely sure exactly

how many species of whale there are. The

oceans are huge and we don’t really know

much about them, as I said. There could be

species of whales that we’ve never seen. It’s

another thing I like about them – there’s still

some mystery.

Ravi: Yeah. I know whales are big – everyone

knows that – but how big are they, exactly?

Gordon: Well that depends on the species

but … Actually, Ravi, you’ll have to wait until the

quiz to find that out.

Ravi: The quiz? Are you doing that as well?

Gordon: Well, I’ve got one or two questions for

you two, yes.

Ravi: Me against Tess? Excellent.

Tess: Yeah? You’ve got no chance, Ravi. That

all sounds great though Gordon. I’m really

looking forward to seeing that when it’s on TV.

Gordon: Well, it’s being edited at the moment

but it should be ready in a couple of months.




Ravi: I’ll definitely watch it. Now. Shall we have

this quiz?

Section 3 – Quiz

Tess: Just a moment, Ravi. If you’ve listened

before, you’ll know that on each podcast we

have a quiz. Usually we ask the questions to

someone else but this time, because it’s a

special podcast, Gordon’s going to ask the

questions and Ravi and I are going to answer

them.

Gordon: OK – I’ve prepared some questions for

you. You’ve both got buzzers – let’s hear them.

Ravi [buzz] Tess [buzz]. Good. You get one

point for a correct answer. The winner is the first

one to five points. OK?

Tess & Ravi: OK. Right.

Gordon: OK then. Let’s start. Fingers on the

buzzers. Which is the deepest ocean in the

world? The Atlantic, the Pacific or the

Ravi: The Atlantic

Gordon: No. Tess?

Tess: What are the choices?

Gordon: The deepest ocean – the Atlantic, the

Pacific or the Indian ocean.

Tess: The Pacific?

Gordon: Correct. One nil to Tess. Next

question. What’s the biggest species of whale?

Is it the humpback whale, the sperm whale

Ravi: Humpback whale

Gordon: No. Tess? What’s the biggest species

of whale? The humpback whale, the sperm

whale or the blue whale?

Tess: I know this. The blue whale.

Gordon: That’s right. Two nil to Tess. Question

three. How big is the blue whale? Is it up to

twenty five metres long, up to thirty five metres

long or up to forty five metres long?

Ravi: Erm .. up to forty five metres long.

Gordon: Sorry Ravi. Tess?

Tess: Up to thirty five metres?

Gordon: That’s right. Three nil to Tess.

Ravi: This is a disaster. Right. Come on, ask us

another.

Gordon: Question four. How long do sperm

whales live? More than 70 years, more than 80

years or more than a hundred years?

Ravi: I’m not going to buzz first Tess – I’m

waiting for you to get it wrong then I’m going to

give my answer.

Tess: Erm, I’ll say ‘more than seventy years’,

Gordon.

Gordon: That’s right. Four nil to Tess.

Ravi: AAAAGGGGH.

Gordon: Question five. We said that the blue

whale is the biggest kind of whale. How much

does a blue whale’s heart weigh?

Ravi: Oh come on, no-one knows that.

Gordon: Is it five hundred kilograms, six

hundred kilograms or seven hundred

kilograms?

Tess: I’ll have a guess. The middle one. Six

hundred kilos.

Gordon: Yes! That’s right. We have a winner!

Ravi: No way! I was going to say six hundred as

well. Five nil! I can’t believe it.

Tess: Never mind, Ravi. I just know more about

whales than you, that’s all.

Ravi: OK, let’s pretend the quiz never happened

and move on. What’s next? We’ve got Your

Turn – listen to this one – what superpower

would you like to have? – great question –

we’ve got Carolina and we’ve got a joke from

Gordon. I can’t wait. That’s all after this.

Section 4 – Your Turn

Tess: Time now for Your Turn. This is when we

ask some people a question and listen to their

answers. The topics are sometimes serious,

sometimes not so serious but the answers are




always interesting. Here’s the question this

time: “Superman can fly. The Hulk is very

strong. The Invisible Man is invisible. What

superpower would you like to have?” I like it.

Let’s hear what people said.

Voice 1: I would like to have a super power to

heal a broken heart because, ah, there’s no

remedy for a broken heart – it’s not like, ah, if

you have a cold or flu then you have the

appropriate medicine for that, but if you have a

broken heart then there is really no medicine,

ah, people will say that, um, time heals a broken

heart, but if I have this super power then I can

speed up the process and to heal every, um,

weeping soul.

Voice 2: I think I’d like to be invisible, too, so I

can listen in and see what people are doing

when they don’t know I’m there.

Voice 3: If I could choose any super power I

would choose the ability to fly, um, because I

sometimes have dreams where I’m flying and

it’s a very free feeling, it’s a very good feeling to

be able to go anywhere you want very quickly,

and, um, enjoy the view of the Earth from

above.

Voice 4: If I had a super power I’d like to be like

the genie in the bottle and be able to grant other

people wishes, because it would be so much

fun every day to walk around giving people

exactly what they want and making their lives

better.

Voice 5: I would like to have a, ah, super power

that can read and tell the minds, what’s in the

mind and the heart of people.

Tess: Ravi? I know you’ll be dying to say

something on this.

Ravi: Hmm. I can’t decide. Flying’s a good one.

Invisibility would be great too. Hmm. I don’t

know. What about you?

Tess: Would knowing a lot about whales be a

superpower? Oh, I’ve got that one already.

Ravi: Very good.

Tess: Actually, I don’t know. It’s nice to say

something like ‘mending a broken heart’ or

‘making people’s lives better’, but, really, I think

flying is what I’d like. I’d love to be able to fly.

Ravi: Me too. Remember, listeners, you can tell

us what you think about Your Turn by writing to

us or recording yourself and sending it to us at

LearnEnglishPodcast @ BritishCouncil dot org.

What superpower would you like to have?

Tess: OK. Now it’s time for Carolina. Remember

Carolina, Gordon?

Gordon: Oh yes.

Section 5 – Carolina

Tess: Carolina is from Venezuela but she’s

come to study at Newcastle University in the

north east of England. In every podcast we hear

something about what Carolina’s been doing.

Last time, she went to a restaurant with her

boyfriend, Jamie – although I don’t think they

had a good time, really. This time, it’s the end of

term and Carolina’s getting ready to go back to

Venezuela for the summer.

Carolina: OK Emily. I think I’m ready.

Emily: Sure you’ve got everything?

Carolina: Oh I don’t know. I’ve probably

forgotten something. I hate travelling – it makes

me really stressed.

Emily: Money, passport, tickets. That’s all you

really need.

Carolina: Yes …I’ve got money ... my

passport ... and my tickets. Oh dear. Well – I

guess I’m ready to go.

Emily: Why don’t you phone him?

Carolina: Phone who?

Emily: Jamie of course. You’ve been checking

your phone for messages every five minutes for

the last two days. Just phone him.

Carolina: I can’t. He knows I’m leaving today –

he promised to phone. He hasn’t called since




we had that horrible dinner together. He

obviously doesn’t want to speak to me.

Emily: But you obviously want to speak to him.

You can’t go away feeling miserable.

Carolina: I’m not going to phone him Emily.

Emily: OK, it’s your decision. I think you’re mad,

but it’s up to you. So are you going to phone a

taxi? The number’s on the table by the door.

Carolina: OK. Hello. Blueline taxis? Um, I’d like

to order a taxi please. I’m at Bowsden Hall. Yes,

that’s right; the university residences. It’s

number 36A. Yes that’s right. I want to go to

the station – Newcastle train station. Yes, that’s

right – Central Station. Ten minutes? OK . Cab

number 647? OK, I’ll go downstairs and wait.

My mobile number is 033 474 61037. Thank

you very much.

Emily: You don’t need to go downstairs – we

can see him coming from the window.

Carolina: No, I’d rather go down. I’m a bit

nervous. I can’t relax. I think I’ll go down now

and wait.

Emily: OK. I’ll help you with your bag.

Carolina: No it’s OK. I can manage. So,

goodbye then Emily.

Emily: Bye bye. Have a lovely time – and see

you when you get back.

Carolina: Yes OK. Have a good holiday too

Emily.

Emily: You’ve forgotten your handbag.

Carolina: Oh! Thanks.

Emily: Money, passport, tickets

Carolina: Money, passport, tickets

Taxi driver: Right. To the station isn’t it love?

Carolina: Yes please. How long do you think it’ll

take?

Taxi driver: Not long at this time of day. What

time’s your train?

Carolina: Ten forty-five.

Taxi driver: No problem.

Taxi driver: Off home for the holidays then?

Carolina: Yes, that’s right.

Taxi driver: Somewhere nice?

Carolina: Venezuela. Caracas.

Taxi driver: Venezuela! That’s a long way to go.

Been here in Newcastle long then?

Carolina: Since September.

Taxi driver: Is this your first trip home then?

Carolina: Yes, that’s right.

Taxi driver: You must be looking forward to

seeing your family.

Carolina: Oh just a minute – excuse me. Oh

hello Henry. Yes, yes, I’m in the taxi. Yes I will.

And you have a good holiday too. Yes I will. OK.

Thanks for calling. Bye.

Taxi driver: Boyfriend saying goodbye?

Carolina: No.

Taxi driver: What do you think of good old

Newcastle then? Bet the weather’s a bit cold for

you ...

Taxi driver: Here we are then. Twenty past ten.

Plenty of time.

Carolina: Yes, thank you.

Taxi driver: That’ll be eight pounds ten please.

Carolina: Here you are. And um, keep the

change.

Taxi driver: Thank you very much. Enjoy your

holiday.

Carolina: Oh I will. Thank you very much. Bye.

Taxi driver: Don’t forget your handbag.

Carolina: Oh! Thank you.

Carolina: Hello Jamie. Yes, I’m at the station.

I’ve just got out of the taxi ……..

Tess: Awwwww. I’m so glad Jamie called. I

knew he would.




Ravi: Oh Tess. Well, listeners, that’s all from

Carolina for now. I’m sure that, like me, you’ve

all been waiting to hear from Gordon again.

Ready Gordon?

Section 6 – Gordon’s Joke

Gordon: Ready.

Ravi: So, Gordon’s joke.

Gordon: Right. This is a story about a man

whose wife has a cat – and this man, he hates

the cat. He can’t stand it.

Tess: How can anyone hate cats? Cats are

lovely.

Gordon: Not this cat – it’s horrible – and this

man hates the cat so much that he makes a

plan to get rid of the cat. One day, when his wife

isn’t at home, he takes the cat, puts it in the car

and drives ten miles away from home. He

throws the cat out of the car and drives away.

When he gets home, who do you think is sitting

on the doorstep waiting for him?

Tess: The cat.

Gordon: Exactly. ‘Right’, thinks the man. The

next day – his wife isn’t there again – he takes

the cat, puts it in the car and drives twenty

miles. He throws the cat out of the car and

drives away. When he gets home again, what

do you think, the cat is sitting on the doorstep

again. Well, by now he’s really annoyed about

this. The next day, he takes the cat, covers its

eyes, puts it in the car and drives fifty miles. He

goes over hills, through tunnels – he turns left,

turns right, he makes it impossible for the cat to

know where they are and he throws it out of the

car and drives away. Well, two hours later, the

man calls his wife. ‘Hello?’, she says. ‘Is the cat

there?’, says the man. ‘Yes’, she says. ‘Well

can you put him on the phone, please? I need

to ask him for directions’

Ravi: You’ve still got that old magic, Gordon.

Tess: Yeah, it’s been great to have you back on

the podcast, Gordon. But that’s about all we’ve

got time for this time. Don’t go away, listeners,

because Tom the Teacher will be here in a

minute but that’s all from us and that’s the end

of series 2.

Ravi: We hope you enjoyed the series. Thanks

for all your emails and things.

Tess: And Ravi – just one thing before we go – I

have to make a confession.

Ravi: Go on.

Tess: You know the quiz today? Well, I have to

admit, Gordon gave me a little bit of help with

the answers.

Ravi: I knew it! I knew you must have cheated.

Tess: You looked so funny though when I got

everything right. I wish we’d taken a picture –

we could put it on the website.

Ravi: Right. I think that makes me the real

winner of the quiz. And that sounds like a good

place to finish. Bye everyone. Thanks for

coming in today, Gordon. We’ll see you all

soon.

Tess: Yes, thanks Gordon. Bye everyone.

Gordon: Thanks for having me. Bye!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Tom the Teacher

Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. I’m here at the end of every

podcast to talk about some of the language you

heard in the programme, and to talk about ways

to help you learn English. This is the last

podcast in Series 2 so I want to start today by

looking at something absolutely fantastic. Listen

to Gordon talking about his job on the whale

documentary.

Tess: Brilliant. What were you doing?

Gordon: I was working on the sound for

the programme – we filmed a lot of it on

a boat.

Ravi: So did you see a lot of whales?




Gordon: Hundreds. It was absolutely

fantastic – but, listen, I’m going to tell

you more about it a little bit later so I

won’t tell you now.

Tom: I’m interested in the adjectives Tess and

Gordon used. Tess said ‘brilliant’ and Gordon

said ‘fantastic’. Now, ‘brilliant’ and ‘fantastic’ are

both quite strong adjectives. They both mean

‘very good’. Listen again to what Gordon said:

Gordon: Hundreds. It was absolutely

fantastic

Tom: He said it was absolutely fantastic. We

can only use ‘absolutely’ with strong adjectives

like this. So we can say something is ‘very big’

or ‘very small’ but we can’t use ‘absolutely’

here. ‘Huge’ means ‘very big’ so we can say

something was ‘absolutely huge’ and ‘tiny’

means ‘very small’ so we can say ‘it was

absolutely tiny’. We only use ‘absolutely’ with

‘strong’ adjectives. Listen to another example.

Gordon: It was amazing. I know we can

only hear it here, we can’t see it, but

when that humpback whale came up

then it was so close I could smell its

breath – it was absolutely incredible.

Ravi: What did its breath smell like?

Gordon: Pretty bad – quite fishy

Tom: Gordon said that seeing the whale so

close was ‘absolutely incredible’ but he said that

its breath smelt ‘pretty bad’ and ‘quite fishy’.

‘Pretty’, when we use it like this means ‘quite’

and Gordon uses it with ‘bad’ because bad is

just an ordinary adjective, not a strong one. One

more thing though. Listen to another thing that

Gordon said:

Ravi: Are people still hunting whales?

Gordon: They are, unfortunately, in

some places. But what we found was

that whale watching – people paying to

go out to sea and look at whales – is a

really big business now and, hopefully,

some of that money can be used to help

protect whales.

Tom: He said that whale watching is ‘a really big

business’. ‘Really’ is a useful word because we

can use it with strong adjectives like ‘incredible’

and with ‘ordinary’ adjectives like ‘big’. So we

can say ‘It was really huge’ or ‘It was really big’.

If you want to make an adjective stronger,

‘really’ is a good word to use.

Now, I wonder if you noticed a little word when

Tess and Ravi were playing the quiz against

each other. Listen to how Gordon says what the

score is in the quiz.

Tess: I know this. The blue whale.

Gordon: That’s right. Two nil to Tess.

Question three. How big is the blue

whale? Is it up to twenty five metres

long, up to thirty five metres long or up

to forty five metres long?

Ravi: Erm .. up to forty five metres long.

Gordon: Sorry Ravi. Tess?

Tess: Up to thirty five metres?

Gordon: That’s right. Three nil to Tess.

Tom: Gordon said ‘two nil to Tess’ and ‘Three

nil to Tess’. What do you think ‘nil’ means? It

means ‘nothing’ or ‘zero’ – but we only usually

use it in some sports or things like quizzes. One

place you often hear it is in football scores – you

might say ‘My team won two nil’. But you can’t

use it in every situation. When you give

someone your telephone number for example

you say ‘zero’ or ‘nought’ or even ‘oh’. There

are different ways to say ‘zero’ and it can be

difficult to remember them but ‘nil’ is usually

used for team sports.

Now, something else. Listen to what Ravi said

when he introduced Gordon talking about

whales.

Ravi: OK. Well, I’m dying to hear about

these whales so let’s move on.




Tom: Ravi said he was ‘dying to hear’ what

Gordon had to say. A little late, when they were

talking about superpowers, Tess used ‘dying to’

as well. Listen:

Tess: Ravi? I know you’ll be dying to say

something on this.

Tom: If you are ‘dying to’ do something, you

really want to do it – you’re really looking

forward to it. It takes an infinitive, so you might

say ‘I’m dying to know what happened at the

party’ or ‘he’s dying to meet you’. See if you can

use it yourself this week.

OK, that’s all we’ve got time for today. This is

the last podcast in series two so you won’t hear

from me for a while. Remember some of the

things I’ve talked about – things you can do to

help you learn English. This series we’ve talked

about how important it is to have a good

dictionary. We talked about ‘thinking in English’

– looking at things around you and thinking how

to say it in English. And we also talked about

looking out for English – you can probably see

English every day – in the street, on TV or at

the cinema – keep your eyes open for English!

And finally, remember you can write to me

about any language that you noticed in this or

the other podcasts. The address is

LearnEnglishPodcast @ BritishCouncil DOT

org. In a moment you’ll hear the address for the

website where you can read everything you’ve

heard in this podcast. You can also find some

practice exercises to do online and a support

pack that you can print. Right. That’s all for this

series. Bye for now!

Elementary Podcast Transcript – Series 3 episode 01

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-03-episode-01



Rob and Adam – Welcome back!

Adam: Hello and welcome to the all new Learn

English podcast from the British Council. My

name’s Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob. In just a moment you’ll hear

from Tess and Ravi, but first I’ll tell you

something about the new podcasts. We’ve

changed the way we give the podcasts to you

and there are two important things. Firstly, the

podcasts are shorter, but there are more of

them. We’re going to have a podcast every two

weeks. Secondly, there are more ways for you

to get in touch with us and we can answer your

questions or your comments. If you have a

question about English or about the podcast or

about Tess and Ravi, then send it to us. Here’s

how you can do it.

Adam: You can leave a comment on

LearnEnglish at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish. You can

follow us on Facebook – look for Elementary

podcasts. And you can follow Tess and Ravi on

Twitter – they’re tessandravi. Ask us a question

or tell us what you think and we can answer it in

the next podcast.

Rob: Now, we’re new presenters, so where are

Tess and Ravi? Well, we’ve given them

something new to do. In this series of podcasts

Tess and Ravi have a project and we hope

they’ll help you learn.

Adam: Now, when you think about Britain, what

do you think about? Do you think about big red

buses? Cups of tea? Something else? We

asked that question to hundreds of our listeners

around the world – what do you think about

when you think about Britain? And Tess and

Ravi have the answers. They’re going to help

you find out more about some of the most

British things you can think of. So, let’s find out

what the topic is this week.

Tess and Ravi

Ravi: Hi everyone, I’m Ravi.

Tess: And I’m Tess.

Ravi: And our job is to tell you about some of

the things you think are typically British. In this

series we’ll tell you about British weather, the

royal family, British pets… lots of ‘typical’ British

things. But today we’re going to tell you about a

very famous British food – a dish that lots of

people think is the typical British thing to eat. Do

you know what I’m talking about? It’s fish and

chips.

Tess: Mmm, nice. It’s true that lots of people

think that fish and chips is what British people

eat all the time. My Spanish friends really

wanted to try fish and chips when they came to

visit. So, OK then Ravi – tell us what you’ve

learnt.

Ravi: Well, first of all, I’ll say a little bit about

what fish and chips are – people don’t always

know. It’s a piece of fish, covered in batter and

deep fried.

Tess: Can you tell us what batter is?

Ravi: It’s a mixture of flour and water, usually.

You cover the fish...

Tess: What kind of fish is it?

Ravi: Good question. It can be different kinds of

fish but the most popular are cod and haddock

– two fish that were very common in the sea

around Britain.

Tess: Are they not so common now?

Ravi: No, they aren’t – but I’ll talk about that in

a minute. So, you cover the fish in batter and

then you deep fry it – that means you cook it in

a deep pan of very hot oil, vegetable oil usually.

You cook the chips the same way, you deep fry

the potatoes in very hot oil.

Tess: And chips are chips, aren’t they?

Americans call them ‘fries’ or ‘French fries’ but

we call them chips.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish





Ravi: I think chips are sort of bigger and thicker

than French fries but yes, you’re right. Anyway,

you deep fry the fish and the chips, then you

serve them with salt and vinegar.

Tess: Ugh, I hate vinegar.

Ravi: When I was a kid, fish and chips would

always be served in newspaper. They wrapped

your fish and chips up in a sheet of old

newspaper, but they don’t do that anymore.

They use special paper, not newspaper.

Tess: Yeah, I remember the newspaper. But,

you know what, I hardly ever eat fish and chips

any more. All that oil and deep frying, it’s not

very healthy, is it?

Ravi: It’s not, no. But once every now and then,

Tess, it’s OK to eat unhealthy things, you know.

Tess: How often do you eat fish and chips,

then?

Ravi: Well, I found some information about this.

Nowadays, fifty per cent of British people say

they eat fish and chips once a month and

fourteen per cent say they eat them once a

week. I’d say I’m about once a month.

Tess: I’d say about once a year, for me. Are the

numbers of people eating fish and chips going

down? As I say, it’s not very healthy and people

are more concerned about healthy eating these

days.

Ravi: People are more concerned about healthy

eating but the British still eat a lot of fish and

chips. There are more than ten thousand fish

and chip shops in the country and they sold

more than two hundred and fifty thousand

meals last year. One thing is, having fish and

chips is cheaper than going to a restaurant so

sales are even going up when people haven’t

got a lot of money to spend on restaurant

meals.

Tess: What about the fish, though? You said

there weren’t so many fish any more.

Ravi: That’s right. Cod, the most popular fish for

making fish and chips, is not as common in the

sea around Britain any more – numbers have

really gone down. And if the numbers go down,

the price goes up, so fish and chip shops now

sell lots of other kinds of fish as well – but lots of

people think they’re not as nice… Do you know,

Tess, I could talk about this for hours – I’ve not

even mentioned the history of fish and chips

yet, but we’re running out of time. Shall we go

and get some fish and chips?

Tess: OK, then, let’s go.

Rob and Adam

Adam: That talk about fish and chips earlier has

made me really hungry. How often do you eat

fish and chips?

Rob: As often as I can, but not as often as

when I was young.

Adam: Mmm. Right, if you’ve listened to the

LearnEnglish podcast before, you might

remember Tom the Teacher. Tom talked about

the English you heard in the podcast. Tom’s not

around this time – he’s got a job teaching in

China – but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk

about what you heard. Listen to this:

Ravi: So, you cover the fish in batter and then

you deep fry it – that means you cook it in a

deep pan of very hot oil – vegetable oil usually.

You cook the chips the same way – you deep

fry the potatoes in very hot oil.

Rob: Ravi talked about how to cook fish and

chips. He said you ‘cover the fish in batter’ and

you ‘deep fry it’. Frying is a way of cooking

something in oil – olive oil, vegetable oil or

another kind of oil. What other ways of cooking

are there?

Adam: Well, you can boil things – vegetables

usually – in hot water. Errr… You can grill

things. Umm… and you can bake things, in an

oven. And how about the language of preparing

food?





Rob: You can chop meat or vegetables, slice

things, erm... grate things like cheese. We’ll put

a list on the website for you. And you’ll find

some other activities to help you learn and a

transcript of what Tess and Ravi said.

Adam: I’ll tell you what would be great though.

Ravi told you how to cook fish and chips – the

instructions on how to cook something are a

recipe – and it would be great to hear some

recipes from you. If you send them to us we can

put them on LearnEnglish and on Tess and

Ravi’s Facebook page. Remember the ways

you can get in touch with us?

Rob: On LearnEnglish, that’s

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish. On Twitter

- TessandRavi – or on Facebook – we’re

Elementary podcasts on Facebook. Just time

now to look at a couple of comments from

LearnEnglish and the Facebook page. Khalid Al

Busaidi said ‘I miss Tess and Ravi so much’ –

well, I hope you’re happy you’ve got them back,

Khalid – and lots of you saying you want to

improve your English – Jinhee, Manjit, Abner –

lots of you. Well, we’re here to help and I hope

we’ll speak to you next week – we’d love to hear

from you. That’s all for now.

Both: Bye!


Elementary Podcast Support Pack – Series 3 episode 02


Page 1 of 2


While you listen Elementary Podcasts are suitable for learners with different levels of English. Here are some ways to make them easier (if you have a lower level of English) or more difficult (if you have a higher level of English). You can choose one or two of these suggestions - you don't have to do all of them! Making it easier

Read all the exercises before you listen to the podcast.

Look up the words in the exercises that you don't know in a dictionary.

Play the podcast as many times as you need.

Play each part of the podcast separately.

Read the transcript after you have listened to the podcast.

Making it harder

Listen to the podcast before you read the exercises.

Only play the podcast once before answering the questions.

Play the whole podcast without a break.

Don't read the transcript.

Activity 1 – Who did what - Carolina or Emily?

bought a lot of clothes.

got a Valentine's card.

makes a cup of tea.

spent a lot of money.

went on a study trip to France.

went to Venezuela.

Activity 2 – Which words complete the sentences?

unbelievable / unfriended / unhappy

unhealthy / unpack / unsure

1. First I'll __________ my suitcase then I'll

have a cup of tea.

2. Why do you look so ________? What's

the problem?

3. Your diet is really __________. All that

chocolate and sugar is really bad for

you.

4. I feel really __________ about it. I can't

decide what to do.

5. That can't be true! It sounds completely

__________.

6. She __________ me on Facebook. I've

no idea why.

Answers are at the end of this support pack.

Elementary Podcast Support Pack – Series 3 episode 02


Page 2 of 2


Activity 3 - Which words go with which prefixes?

friendly honest perfect please polite

comfortable do possible trust

un- dis- im-

Activity 4 – Leave a comment How do you say hello to your friends? Do you shake hands? Kiss? Hug? Bow? Perhaps you wai like

people do in Thailand!

Leave a comment on http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-03-episode-

02 and we'll discuss your answers in the next show.

An

sw

ers

Activ

ity 1

Carolina ...

... went to Venezuela.

... spent a lot of money.

... bought a lot of clothes. Em

ily ... ... m

akes a cup of tea. ... w

ent on a study trip to France. ... got a Valentine's card. A

ctiv

ity 2

1. unpack

2. unhappy

3. unhealthy

4. unsure

5. unbelievable

6. unfriended

Activ

ity 3

un- co mfortable / do / friendly

dishonest / please / trust

impossible / polite / p

erfe

ct

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-03-episode-02

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/elementary-podcasts/series-03-episode-02





Adam

Adam: Hello and welcome! My name is Adam.

Rob is on holiday this week – lucky man! He’ll

be back for the next episode.

Thanks for your comments – we love hearing

from you. It was really interesting to hear how

you greet each other. Adilson Santos sent us a

great message telling us the different ways to

greet people in Brazil. He said that people who

are not close friends just say ‘hi’. If they are

better friends, a girl might hug a boy and kiss

his cheek, but boys never kiss each other, they

only shake hands and boys who are very good

friends might hug quickly. He also said that

boys don’t really shake hands, they slap their

hands together and that at church he kisses

men on the cheek and shakes hands with

women.

Isn’t it interesting how complicated greetings

can be!

Langtucoiam from Vietnam said that when

meeting an old friend, people will normally

shake hands, but again it can be different

depending on how close you were, how old your

friend is and your friend's sex.

Finally, Hess in the Ivory Coast said that people

in his tribe always ask for news when they

meet, but they don’t bow or shake hands. He

said that two people who slept in the same

room will even ask what the news is when they

wake up in the morning! I found that fascinating.

Do you remember what Tess and Ravi are

doing in this series? They are looking at all the

things that people think about when they think

about Britain. So, what’s the topic today? Well,

it’s something that British people love to talk

about. Can you guess what it is?

Tess and Ravi

Ravi: Hi everyone, hi Tess!

Tess: Hi Ravi.

Ravi: Right. I think you know that Tess and I

are here to talk about some of the things you

think you know about Britain.

Tess: Things like ‘drinking tea’, ‘the royal family’

and ‘fish and chips’ – things you think are very

British.

Ravi: And what could be more British that

today’s weather? It is horrible out there, Tess.

Tess: Is it raining?

Ravi: No, it’s not raining but it’s grey and cold

and miserable and… it’s exactly what people

said about British weather. We asked our

listeners around the world what they think about

when they think about Britain and lots of people

said ‘British weather’

Tess: Do people think the weather here is bad?

Ravi: Well, they think it rains a lot – and it does.

They think the summer is wet – and it often is,

they say that…

Tess: I don’t think British weather is so bad

though, do you?

Ravi: I do today.

Tess: It’s true that we don’t have very hot

summers but, you know, we don’t have very

cold winters either. Britain’s got a temperate

climate – that means …

Ravi: A what climate?

Tess: Temperate climate. It means that we

don’t have extreme weather – we don’t have

very hot summers or very cold winters. But that

also means that the weather is quite

changeable – the weather changes quite often.

Ravi: Yeah, it can be raining, then five minutes

later it’s sunny, then it starts raining again. You

never know what the weather is going to be like.





Tess: But that’s a good thing, Ravi. I like that.

People sometimes say you can have four

seasons in one day in Britain and it’s true.

Ravi: But how can you decide what clothes to

wear, Tess? You don’t know if it’s going to be

cold or hot or what...

Tess: That’s typical of you, Ravi. And, because

the weather does change quite a lot, that’s why

British people seem to talk about the weather so

much. It’s typical small talk, isn’t it? The sort of

thing you say to people when you’re waiting for

a bus or something. ‘Nice day today’ or ‘I think

it’s going to rain later’. That kind of thing.

Ravi: That’s true. It’s difficult to talk about the

weather if the weather’s the same every day.

We say ‘I think it’s going to rain later’ because it

usually is going to rain. It does rain a lot here.

Tess: Well, I don’t know. I think it’s about the

same as other countries in the north of Europe.

It’s just that we get rain all year round rather

than just in one season. Anyway, the rain

means that we have beautiful green

countryside. Lots of visitors love the countryside

because it looks so green – and that’s because

of the rain.

Ravi: Hmm. You know how I feel about the

countryside, Tess, but I suppose it does look

nice, if you like that kind of thing.

Tess: Lots of people do. I think the British

countryside is beautiful – and so do lots of

visitors. And it wouldn’t look so green if we

didn’t have all that rain!

Ravi: Hmm.

Adam

Adam: Mmm, I agree with Tess. I grew up in

Scotland and the weather there can be very

changeable. You can have hot sun, snow, rain

and wind all in one day. People say "If you don't

like the weather in Scotland, don’t worry - just

wait half an hour and it will change!"

Many people love talking about the weather and

there are lots of words about it. I think there are

a lot more words to describe bad weather than

good weather! Perhaps that’s because when

the weather is good, people are too busy

enjoying themselves to discuss it.

If it’s dark, you can say that it’s a grey day,

perhaps because there are lots of clouds

covering all the sky – which means that it’s

overcast. That probably means that the weather

is miserable and dull. If there’s a very light rain

that doesn’t stop, then you can say it’s drizzly –

this sort of rain is called drizzle. If the clouds

look like they will rain hard soon, then you can

say there is an angry sky.

Oh, it’s so much fun complaining about the

weather! Now you know why we do it.

Write in and tell us about the climate in your

country. Is it always the same or does it change

a lot? What are the best times of year and the

worst? What temperature do you think is a hot

day and what temperature do you think is a cold

day?

You can leave your comments on LearnEnglish

which is at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish

or on Facebook - we’re at ‘Elementary

Podcasts’. Look out for the next episode with

more news about Carolina! Bye!





Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: Welcome back, listeners – and welcome

back, Rob! How was your holiday?

Rob: It was really nice, Adam, thanks. I went to

Slovenia and the weather was fantastic.

Adam: Sounds great. And the comments you

sent about the weather in your countries were

great too! Many of you have very hot weather.

Abuhekmat in Oman told us about weather that

reaches 49 degrees! I can’t imagine being that

hot. Fazliddin12 in Uzbekistan sees

temperatures of 45 degrees and Saandari in

Mongolia told us about weather that was hot,

but not quite as hot as Oman, 35 degrees. The

big difference in Mongolia is that in winter it

reaches -35 degrees! That’s a huge difference

between summer and winter.

Rob: That’s very cold. Many of you also wrote

to us about cold weather in your countries.

Kosovac in Serbia says it can be -20 degrees.

ValiantSpirit in Pakistan says it can -15

degrees. But what is cold? In other countries,

maybe it’s a bit different. In El Salvador,

Daxrosales says 15 degrees is a cold day, while

in Malaysia, Shokmin says 24 degrees is a cold

day. You also told us about other weather

conditions in your countries. For example, in

China Diqiudashi told us about the typhoons

that come to the mainland and bring heavy

storms.

Adam: Tkazerooni in Iran told us about weather

called ‘Wolf & Ewe’. (A ewe is a female sheep.)

‘Wolf & Ewe’ weather is when dark clouds and

white clouds are in the sky at the same time.

The ‘wolf’ (the dark clouds) chases the ‘ewe’

(the white clouds) and Iranians say that this is

very changeable weather, with a very high

chance of rain. Remember, you can write to us

at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or via

Facebook – look for ‘Elementary Podcasts’.

Rob: Now, do you remember what happened

last time with Carolina, the student from

Venezuela at Newcastle University? She

returned from her summer holiday and talked

with Emily about her new clothes, about missing

English and, of course, about her boyfriend

Jamie. Let’s see what’s happening this time!

Carolina

Carolina: Let me see. Oh, dear. No, that's not

right. Emily, what's seventy times twelve?

Emily: What?

Carolina: What's seventy times twelve?

Emily: Err, ten times seventy is seven hundred

and two times seventy is a hundred and forty,

so that makes erm, eight hundred and forty.

Carolina: What's seventy divided by fifty-two?

Emily: I don't know! I'm trying to read my book!

Haven't you got a calculator on your phone?

Carolina: Oh, yes. Oooh. Oh, dear!

Emily: What's the matter, Carolina?

Carolina: Nothing.

Emily: It doesn't sound like nothing. I can't read

my book with your big sigh and big sigh.

What's the problem?

Carolina: Well, I'm trying to work out my

money. My money for the year.

Emily: Your money for the year. Mmm…

Carolina: And it's not very good.

Emily: It's not very good?

Carolina: Well, I haven't got enough.

Emily: You haven't got enough?

Carolina: Stop repeating everything I say!

Emily: Sorry.

Carolina: I don't know what I'm going to do.

Emily: Well, you did spend a lot of money in the

summer, didn't you? You bought a lot of clothes

and things.





Carolina: Yes. I did. And presents for my family

and friends in Venezuela.

Emily: Oh dear. So, how bad is it?

Carolina: A disaster. After I've paid my rent for

this room and the electricity and water, and my

phone, and my travel card, well - there isn't very

much left.

Emily: How much?

Carolina: About twenty pounds a week.

Emily: Twenty pounds a week!

Carolina: You're doing it again.

Emily: Sorry. But twenty pounds a week - you

can't live on that. You have to buy food and

books…

Carolina: And go out sometimes.

Emily: Can you ask your parents for some

money?

Carolina: Oh, no. They've already given me a

lot. I can't do that.

Emily: What about…

doorbell

Carolina: I'll go. It's probably Jamie.

Carolina: It’s so good to see you.

Jamie: It’s good to see you too. You been OK?

Oh, hi Emily!

Emily: Hi Jamie. How's it going?

Jamie: Good, thanks. And you?

Emily: Yep.

Carolina: I'm going to get a job.

Emily and Jamie: Get a job?

Carolina: Now you're both doing it. I have to do

something, Jamie. I can't live on the money that

I've got for this year.

Jamie: Are you allowed to work here? Don't you

need a special visa?

Carolina: No, I can work on my student visa -

part-time. I'll check but I think I can work up to

20 hours a week.

Jamie: I'm not sure about this. You need time to

study. And to go out and enjoy yourself - with

me.

Carolina: I can't go out and enjoy myself if I

haven't got any money, can I?

Jamie: I’ve got some money, I can pay.

Carolina: That's it. I've decided. Tomorrow

morning I'm going to start looking for a job.

Adam and Rob

Adam: Oh, dear. I hope Carolina manages to

find a job or some other way to get more

money.

Rob: It will be a lot easier for her if she has

some experience, if she has done a job before.

What was your first job, Adam?

Adam: I worked as a paperboy. That means I

delivered newspapers to people’s houses early

in the morning. It was quite interesting, although

I didn’t have time to read anything more than

the headlines. The real problem came when it

was raining. What about you?

Rob: I worked as a waiter in a restaurant. It was

quite hard work, but I didn’t earn a lot of money,

unfortunately. Tell us about your first job. What

did you do? Remember, you can write to us at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or via

Facebook – look for ‘Elementary Podcasts’.

Adam: Now, do you notice anything about

these sentences? Have a listen:

Emily: How much?

Carolina: About twenty pounds a week.

Emily: Twenty pounds a week!

Carolina: You’re doing it again!

Jamie: Are you allowed to work here? Don't you

need a special visa?





Carolina: No, I can work on my student visa -

part-time. I'll check but I think I can work up to

20 hours a week.

Rob: Carolina says she has about twenty

pounds a week. She also says she thinks she

can work up to twenty hours a week. ‘A week’

means ‘every week’. We use ‘a’ and ‘an’ with

other words, too. For example, ‘hour’. I earned

three pounds an hour when I was a waiter.

Adam: And I see my family three or four times a

year. There will be some exercises about this

and other language areas on LearnEnglish.

That’s all we’ve got time for today – remember

to write to us and tell us about your first job at

LearnEnglish or on Facebook.

Rob: We’ll be back next time with Tess & Ravi.

So, until then…

Adam and Rob: Bye!

Elementary Podcast Transcript – Series 3 episode 05 http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementarypodcasts/series03episode05


The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations.We are registered in England as a charity.

Rob: Hello and welcome. It’s just me this week. Adam’s on holiday – lucky him. But don’t worry – he’ll be back next time.

Now, thank you for writing with your stories about your first job. I loved them. I think they’re the best we’ve had so far. And it’s really interesting to find out more about you. And what an educated lot of people you are too. We’ve got dentists like Lella in Lebanon, and some teachers like Sirjoe and Angesca in Italy. And Ali Reza and TKazerooni in Iran are teachers too.

And so many different stories as well. I liked Rasa’s story of using the first money she earned in Lithuania to go and see the sea. And Mac in Hong Kong gave his first salary to his mum. And do you know what, Mac? That’s exactly what I did too.

So thanks again for your answers. I hope we hear as many interesting stories this time. Remember, you can write to us at the website: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and on Facebook look for Elementary podcasts.

Now it’s time to listen to Tess and Ravi. They’re talking about something British, as usual. But this time, it’s not such good news.

Ravi Hello again from me, Ravi

Tess And from me, Tess. We’re here again to talk about some of the things you think you know about Britain.

Ravi Things like ‘drinking tea’ and ‘fish and chips’ – but not everything you think about Britain is nice and positive and today we’re going

to talk about something lots of you mentioned – football hooligans.

Tess You’re a football fan, Ravi. Are you a football hooligan?

Ravi You know, Tess, people often ask me that – people from other countries I mean.

Tess You, a hooligan? I don’t think so.

Ravi I know, I know. But people sometimes think that being a football fan in England means you must be a hooligan – fighting and causing trouble and stuff.

Tess That’s a bit strange. Why do they think that?

Ravi Well, there was a problem here – about thirty years ago – in the nineteen seventies and nineteen eighties there was a lot of trouble and fighting and stuff . There were a couple of really bad incidents that were in the news all over the world – that’s why people sometimes think – ‘Ah, English football – hooligans’. But for the last twenty years or so it really isn’t a problem.

Tess So why do people still think that English football fans are hooligans? laughs I really can’t imagine anyone thinking of you as a football hooligan, Ravi.

Ravi Alright, Tess, you’ve already said that. I guess when you’ve got a bad reputation – like English football fans – it’s difficult to change people’s minds.





Tess So it isn’t dangerous to go to a football match?

Ravi Come on, Tess, you know it isn’t. You should go to a game. There are lots of women and children at matches and the new football stadiums are great – comfortable seats, great views, good food – it’s nothing like it was twenty years ago. It’s a family thing these days.

Tess But most fans at the stadium are men, aren’t they?

Ravi Yeah, most of the fans are men but about twenty per cent are women.

Tess How do you know that?

Ravi I looked it up on the internet. More and more women are going to football matches. I sometimes take my niece.

Tess Ah, that’s nice. How old is she?

Ravi She’s nine. She’s really into football – loves it.

Tess Ah. So there’s never any sort of crowd trouble or anything? Don’t they have a lot of police at football matches?

Ravi Not really, not these days. I don’t think you can say there’s no trouble at all but not in the stadium – I always feel perfectly safe there. Why don’t you come to a match with me? I’ll try to get tickets for the game next Saturday. What do you say?

Tess Well … yeah, OK, why not? I don’t know anything about football though.

Ravi That’s OK.

Tess And … well, what if people think you’re a hooligan, Ravi?

Ravi Stop it.

Rob: So, what do you think? Did you think English football fans are hooligans? Like Ravi, I’m a football fan. And people often ask me if all football fans in England are hooligans. And of course, my answer is “They’re not.”

English football seems to be really popular all over the world. My team are Aston Villa and they’re probably not as famous as some other teams in England like Manchester United or Chelsea or Liverpool. How about football teams in your country? Do you support a team? Let us know which one. And tell us about football fans in your country too. What do they do?

And if you don’t like football – and I know a lot of people don’t – write and tell us why not. Remember you can write to us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and on Facebook. Look for Elementary Podcasts.

Before I go, a quick word about some of the things Tess and Ravi talked about when they talked about football. Ravi talked about stadiums – the places where football matches are played. We talk about a football match between two teams. I’m sure you know more football words like score a goal for example. In fact, the British Council has a website all about football and English.





It’s called Premier Skills. I’ll give you the address for that. It’s www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills.

http://www.britishcouncil.org/premierskills


http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementarypodcasts/series03episode06



Adam

Adam: Hi everyone – I’m Adam.

It's good to be back with you. My holiday was in Europe. I saw my family in Scotland, but I also visited Belgium and Germany for a couple of days.

Rob is away this week, but he's not on holiday. He's travelling for work.

In the last podcast Tess & Ravi talked about football hooligans and we asked you to tell us what you think about football. Well, I’m a bit surprised by your answers; so many of you don’t like football! Lyudmila in Russia, booky in Egypt, Angelo in Italy, Ana in Spain, Lamai in Thailand and Sankio in Poland. Guisouzarego in Brazil talked about football and money. He says it’s the ‘politics of bread and circuses’ . One of you even said football is for donkeys! I’d better not say his name...

Not all of you hate football though. We had fans of Flamengo in Brazil, Galatasaray in Turkey, Santiago Wanderers in Chile and Wangmanhang in Taiwan is a big fan of Arsenal in England.

Thanks for all your comments about football. There are so many that we can’t mention them all but we love reading them. And we’re happy too that you’re still adding comments to the other questions we asked you. Sunghun, who’s from Korea but lives in Australia, told us a very nice ‘first job’ story and advised us, ‘I hope that everyone calls their parents today and says 'I love you'.’

It’s really great to hear all your comments and remember, you can join in and add your own comments by going to www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish. Or finding us on Facebook – look for 'Elementary Podcasts'.

Now, we’re back with Carolina this week. You remember that Carolina was worried about

money and decided to get a job? Let’s see what happens next.

Carolina

Emily: Hi Jamie. I was just going out.

Jamie: Hi Emily. Is Carolina in?

Emily: Yeah, go on in. She's in the kitchen. But she's on the phone. She's found a job.

Jamie: Already?

Emily: Yeah. That convenience store at the university, you know, the one that's open all day Sunday. They want parttime staff. Well, she hasn't got it yet – she's speaking to the manager now.

Jamie: Hmm.

Emily: Anyway, I must go. See you.

Carolina: Yes that's right. I'm a student. From Venezuela. Yes, I think my English is OK …

Jamie: Say it's good – very good!

Carolina: Good actually, um, it's very good. Come in and talk to you? Yes, of course I can. I'm free tomorrow morning. Now?! Come and see you now? Um, I , um...

Jamie: Say yes! What's the matter?

Carolina: OK, um, yes, of course. Now. Half past ten. OK. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Oh, Jamie – he wants me to go and talk to him. Now!

Jamie: Well, of course he does.

Carolina: Well, yes of course. But now!? What am I going to wear? I need to print out my CV – oh dear, and I should write a list of questions.

Jamie: Whoa. Calm down. This isn't going to be a formal job interview. He won't want to see






your CV. He only wants to see you and talk to you before he decides.

Carolina: Are you sure?

Jamie: Pretty sure. And what you're wearing now is fine.

Carolina: Shouldn't I wear a suit?

Jamie: Carolina, it's the convenience store at the university – not an international bank.

Carolina: OK.

Jamie: How many hours is the job?

Carolina: He said fifteen hours a week.

Jamie: And which days? Is it weekends? Evenings?

Carolina: I don't know yet.

Jamie: Think about this carefully, Carolina. If you're working in the evenings and at weekends, when are you going to study? And when are we going to see each other?

Carolina: I have to get a job Jamie. Well, I'd better go. I mustn't be late.

Jamie: OK. I'll walk to the bus stop with you. And good luck, OK?

Carolina: Thanks.

Mr Spencer: So, Miss del Barco. You've never worked in a shop before.

Carolina: No, no I haven't. But I know I can do it.

Mr Spencer: It isn't easy in this shop. We sell food, cigarettes, alcohol, newspapers – everything. And it can get very busy – you need to be quick, think fast, be efficient.

Carolina: Oh, yes. I can do that. Definitely.

Mr Spencer: Are you good with money? Good with numbers?

Carolina: Oh yes. Very good.

Mr Spencer: And your visa says you can work here?

Carolina: Yes. I can show you. Here it is.

Mr Spencer: I need someone to start immediately.

Carolina: Yes. Of course.

Mr Spencer: OK. The job's yours.

Carolina: Oh! Thank you!

Mr Spencer: Thursday evening, Friday evening and Saturday from four till midnight. See you on Thursday at half past six.

Carolina: OK. I'll be here. Thank you very much.

Adam

Adam: So, Carolina got the job. Good news!

When we think about job interviews we usually think about something quite formal. You have to wear a suit or smart clothes and answer lots of questions. But for this kind of parttime job you usually don’t need to do a formal interview. The manager just asked Carolina one or two questions. Has she worked in a shop before? Is she good with money? And that was enough, she got the job.

Today I want to look at prepositions, in particular prepositions of time. Listen to these bits again:

Mr Spencer: Thursday evening, Friday evening and Saturday from four till midnight. See you on Thursday at half past six.

Carolina: OK, I’ll be here.

Jamie: Think about this carefully, Carolina. If you're working in the evenings and at weekends, when are you going to study?





Carolina: Come in and talk to you? Yes, of course I can. I'm free tomorrow morning.

Adam: The manager said ‘See you on Thursday at 6 o’clock’ – why is it ‘on Thursday’, but ‘at 6 o’clock’? And ‘at weekends’ and ‘in’ the evenings’. Does it seem a bit confusing?

Well – we use ‘at’ with times – ‘at 6 o’clock’, with ‘the weekend’ and with ‘night’.

We use ‘on’ with days – ‘on Monday’, and with dates ‘on the twenty fifth of April’.

And we use ‘in’ with months – ‘in September’ with seasons – ‘in summer’ and with parts of the day – ‘in the morning’.

There are also times when we don’t use a preposition at all – with ‘tomorrow’ and ‘yesterday’ – 'I’ll see you tomorrow morning’ – and with ’next’ and ‘last’ – ‘see you next time’.

If you find it difficult, try the exercises with this podcast – they’ll help you practise.

You might need to use some of these prepositions when you write to us this time. I’d like you to tell us about your favourite time of day. I like getting up late, but not in the afternoon! I don't want to have breakfast at 2pm. I also like to stay up late at night when it's quiet, but I don't think it's very healthy.

What about you? Are you happiest in the morning or at night? Or maybe in the afternoon? Write and tell us, here’s where you can send your answers: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or on Facebook, look for Elementary Podcasts.

Well, that’s all for this time. Thanks for listening. We’ll be back with Tess and Ravi in the next podcast. See you soon!






Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: I’m Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob.

Adam: Welcome back, Rob.

Rob: Thanks very much.

Adam: How was your trip?

Rob: It went very well, thank you. And welcome

listeners to Episode 7 of LearnEnglish

Elementary Podcasts. Once again, thanks for all

your comments – great to read them as usual.

Adam: You remember that we asked you about

your favourite time of day. I said that my

favourite time was night. A few of you agreed:

Yakup in Turkey, Madera in Russia who likes to

go dancing at night and Sergio in Italy who said:

I love the night too, Adam, even though it's not healthy... After spending a day working, eventually the night is my own time in which, when my wife and my daughter sweetly sleep, I can read what I want, listen to my favourite music, write my physics books, watch sci-fi movies and so on... To wake up in the morning become really tough, but this is the way I feel alive!

Rob: That’s a very nice comment, Sergio. But

you’re in the minority – there are more people

who prefer the morning. Too many to mention

all of you, but let’s have a look at some of them.

Emin in Turkey says:

It’s the very early morning, when most people are asleep and there is a soothing and peaceful silence. It's a little difficult to wake up very early, but I think there is no moment in the world that makes me feel better than that.

Adam: Lamai in Thailand agrees:

My happiest time of the day is in the morning, I get up at 5.30 am, with the singing of the birds in the trees near my house and then with a cup

of coffee, I walk in my garden, fresh and at peace.

Sounds lovely.

Rob: It does. FRG likes ‘breakfast time’, but I

think that’s because he likes breakfast! Baijuka,

who’s in the UK, likes mornings but not Monday

mornings when she starts work again.

Adam: Last word to Mohammed in Iraq:

You can see me happy at any time of the day when I don't have something to worry about. For example, when I'm off work, considering I'm a junior doctor working in a public hospital in Baghdad. I try to relax and enjoy each and every minute I get because the next day I could be staying in the emergency room or in the ward looking after patients.

Rob: Thank you once again for all your

comments and remember you can join in and

add your own comments by going to

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or by finding

us on Facebook – look for Elementary

Podcasts.

Adam: OK! Tess and Ravi are back. Before you

listen to them, do you know what a ‘queue’ is?

It’s a line of people, one behind the other and

some people think it’s very British. Let’s see

what Tess and Ravi think.

Tess and Ravi

Tess: Hello again. I’m Tess.

Ravi: And I’m Ravi and as usual we’re going to

talk about something you think you know about

Britain – fish and chips, the British weather,

drinking tea – all those typically British things

Tess: And we’ll tell you just how typical they

are.

Ravi: Or aren’t.

Tess: All the things we talk about were

suggested by you, our listeners, and our topic






for today is something I think you’ll enjoy, Ravi –

it’s queuing – standing in line to wait for things.

Ravi: Aaargh. I hate queuing! I hate waiting for

things!

Tess: I knew you would hate it. But lots of

people said that they thought queuing was very

British and I think it’s true. Think about the

things we queue for; we form a queue when we

wait for a bus, we queue up in supermarkets, to

buy tickets for things, in the bank, we’re always

queuing.

Ravi: But people queue for things all over the

world, Tess. How can you say it’s typically

British?

Tess: True, but what we heard from our

listeners is that British people are very good at

queuing.

Ravi: How can you be good at queuing? All you

have to do is stand behind the person in front of

you.

Tess: Well, have you ever tried joining a queue

in… No, I don’t want to say a country, in case

some of our listeners get upset. Have you ever

tried joining a queue in another country?

Ravi: Erm… yeah, I suppose I have.

Tess: People say British queues are more

polite than in… some places. Like we almost

enjoy queuing.

Ravi: My grandma does. She joins a queue

whenever she sees one, even if she doesn’t

know what it’s for.

Tess: I bet she never jumps the queue though,

does she?

Ravi: You don’t know my grandma.

Tess: Jumping the queue is when you don’t go

to the back of the queue but you try to push

your way to the front of the queue instead of

waiting for your turn. Do you ever jump the

queue, Ravi?

Ravi: Me? I’m too polite to do that.

Tess: See? That’s what people think about the

British, that they like queuing and they’re very

polite so they make nice, tidy queues.

Ravi: Hmm.

Tess: I think it’s true, more or less. British

people do make very organized queues. What

about the queues for the winter sales, Ravi, or

to buy tickets for the tennis at Wimbledon? It’s

almost a national tradition; it’s on the TV news

and everything. Every year, some people queue

up for days to get the best bargains at the start

of the winter sales in the shops after Christmas.

They sleep outside in the cold and they seem to

enjoy it – that’s a bit crazy, isn’t it?

Ravi: It is a bit. Do people in other countries do

that sort of thing?

Tess: I don’t know, actually. Maybe our

listeners can write in and tell us about queuing

in their country? I bet they don’t queue like the

British do.

Ravi: OK. If you’re listening, write and tell us

about queuing in your country. Do you think the

British queue differently?

Tess: We’re looking forward to hearing from

you.

Adam and Rob

Adam: What do you think about queueing,

Rob?

Rob: I hate queuing. I can’t stand it.

Adam: I don’t mind it. And it’s interesting,

because when I go to a foreign country where

people have a different approach to queuing, I

find it very hard to change my style.

Rob: How do you feel about queuing? If you’ve

been to Britain, do you think it’s true what Tess

and Ravi said – are the British good at queuing?

Adam: How about queues in your country? Do

people queue up politely or do they jump the

queue? Do you jump the queue? We’d love to





hear from you. Write and let us know at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish

Rob: Right, let’s look at some of the language

Tess & Ravi used:

Ravi: Aaargh. I hate queuing. I hate waiting for

things.



enjoy queuing.


British, that they like queuing and they’re very

polite...

Adam: Firstly, Tess and Ravi used different

ways to talk about liking and not liking things.

Ravi said he hates queuing and Tess said that

British people enjoy queuing. We can use

positive words like ‘like’ ‘love’ ‘enjoy’ and

negative words like ‘hate’ ‘can’t stand’ ‘dislike’. How many more can you add to each list? Try

the exercise on the website.

Rob: Next, though – listen to what comes after

the like and dislike words:

Ravi: Aaargh. I hate queuing. I hate waiting for

things.



enjoy queuing.


British – that they like queuing and they’re very

polite...

Rob: I hate queuing – we enjoy queuing – they

like queuing. That ‘ing’ form is the gerund and

we use it after some verbs – like those verbs of

liking and disliking. We also use gerunds after

prepositions – words like ‘at’ ‘on’ or ‘in’ – like in

this clip:

Tess: True – but what we heard from our

listeners is that British people are very good at

queuing.

Rob: If you use a verb after a preposition – use

a gerund – the ‘ing’ form. For example, ‘good at queueing’, ‘interested in learning English’.

Adam: We’re running out of time now, but there

are lots of exercises about this on the website,

so if you want to know more – check it out

there.

Rob: That’s all for this time. We’ll be back with

Carolina next time.

Both: Bye.






Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: Welcome back. I’m Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob.

Adam: And welcome to Episode 8 of our

podcast.

Rob: This week we’ll hear from Carolina again

– and Jamie’s got some exciting news.

Adam: But first we’ll take a look at your

comments from the last podcast. In it, Tess and

Ravi talked about queuing. Lots of people

around the world think that queuing is a very

‘British’ thing to do. And do you know what – it

might be true!

Rob: We asked you to tell us about queuing in

your country and so many of your answers said

that queues in your country aren’t like queues in

Britain – and you don’t feel very happy about it!

We heard about problems with queues and

queue jumpers in Italy, China, Poland, Turkey,

France, Indonesia… the list goes on. But none

of you said that you ever jumped the queue –

none of you except one person: Kirankumar in

India, who admits that he used to jump the

queue when he was young. Very honest of you,

Kirankumar.

Adam: Very honest! Sylfide says that queuing

in Spain is almost a national sport, like football,

but she says she doesn’t mind queuing so much

when she thinks of all the people who are

queuing to try to find jobs. Some other people

made serious points. MahmoudSaied talked

about long queues for bread in his country,

Egypt, and Uguisu tells about the very

organised queues in Japan, especially after the

terrible earthquake and tsunami there this year.

Rob: Finally though, let’s look at Italy. Our old

podcast friend, Sergio, talked about new,

creative ways of queue jumping and Angelo

Scalisi talked about Italian people acting

differently when they are in Britain. He says, “I know people that queue up quietly when they

are in London, because in London they have to queue for everything and it’s very polite so they are very polite. But they try to jump the queue when they are in Italy! This is extremely impolite!”

Adam: Thanks to all of you for your comments

– they were really great. And sorry that we don’t

have time to read them all out. Oh, I forgot

Lahezis’s comment about queues in Poland

during her childhood. She says they were a

great place to meet friends and neighbours.

See, I could read the comments out all day but

we have to move on. Remember you can read

what other people said and post your own

comments by going to

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or on our

Facebook page. Look for ‘Elementary

Podcasts’.

Rob: Now, though, let’s hear from Carolina.

You remember that she had money problems

and got a job in a convenience store. Today she

breaks the news to Jamie – and he has some

news of his own.

Carolina

Carolina: Hi. Phew!

Jamie: What's up?

Carolina: Nothing's 'up'. I'm excited. I've got the

job. The one in the convenience store. I start on

Thursday. Oh Jamie, I'm so happy.

Jamie: Well done! That's great news.

Carolina: He said he wants someone who can

work hard and be efficient and I said I can, and

he said OK, and then he said "The job's yours –

see you on Thursday".

Waitress: Yes?

Carolina: Oh, a coffee please. Black.

Jamie: Same for me please.

Waitress: Two coffees. Anything else?

Carolina and Jamie: No, thanks.






Carolina: I can't wait to tell Emily. I start on

Thursday.

Jamie: Yeah, you said that. What time on

Thursday?

Carolina: I start at half past six.

Jamie: Half past six? Until?

Carolina: Until ten o'clock.

Jamie: Until ten o'clock?

Carolina: Yes. Why? What's the matter?

Jamie: The conservation society? We meet in

the pub? Every Thursday at eight?

Carolina: Oh Jamie, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking

about the meetings.

Jamie: Obviously.

Carolina: This job is very important, Jamie. You

can still go to the conservation meetings. You've

got friends there – Ivan and Henry and the

others. And I'm sure Layla will be happy to keep

you company.

Jamie: Don't start with the Layla thing. Layla's a

friend, that's all. As you know.

Waitress: Two coffees.

Carolina and Jamie: Thanks.

Jamie: So what about the other days? What are

your working hours?

Carolina: Thursday evening, Friday evening

and Saturday from four till midnight.

Jamie: Until midnight on Saturday? That's

terrible. I'm never going to see you.

Carolina: We've got the other evenings. And all

day Sunday.

Jamie: Hmm. Well, I've got some news too.

We're starting a band.

Carolina: A band? A music band?

Jamie: Yes.

Carolina: A music band? Like playing guitars

and singing?

Jamie: Yes, that's the idea. What's so funny?

Carolina: Nothing. I'm sorry. I just didn't know

that you… I mean, you've never said that you

could sing or anything.

Jamie: Well, I can. And I can play the guitar.

Well, I'm not brilliant. But it's something I really

want to do. And so do the others.

Carolina: Who are the others? Not Henry and

Ivan!

Jamie: No. You don't know them. There's a guy

from my course, and a guy who works in the

bookshop near my place and his brother. It's

gonna be really cool.

Carolina: Wow! That's great.

Jamie: Yeah. But the bad news is, our practice

day is Sunday. The bookshop's closed and we

can use the back room. So Sunday is the only

day that you're free – and I'm busy.

Carolina: Well… we can. perhaps I can come

and watch you practise sometimes. I'm happy

about the band. What are you going to call it?

Jamie: Haven't decided yet. Any suggestions

welcome. You never know, we might be rich

and famous one day.

Adam and Rob

Adam: So, Jamie’s started a band. Have you

ever been in a band Rob?

Rob: I have. I was in a band when I was young,

when I was at school.

Adam: What instrument did you play?

Rob: I played the drums. It was great, playing

the drums. But unfortunately, the first time we

played in front of people, I was so nervous my

hands were shaking and I couldn’t play

normally. It was awful!

Adam: Oh, no! What about you, listeners, I’m

sure you have some musical talents to share

with us? Have you ever been in a band? What





was the name of your band? What musical

instrument do you play? What style of music do

you play? Are you still playing? And, if not, why

did you stop?

Rob: Write and tell us what you think. Here’s

our address again.

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and, of

course, you can look for us on Facebook too.

Adam: Now, the exercises on our website for

this podcast are about days of the week and

about possessives. Listen to something

Carolina said:

Carolina: He said he wants someone who can

work hard and be efficient and I said I can, and

he said OK, and then he said "The job's yours –

see you on Thursday".

Rob: He said, ‘The job’s yours’. Not ‘the job’s

your’, but ‘the job’s yours’. Do you know the

difference between ‘my’ and ‘mine’ and ‘her’

and ‘hers’? They’re all possessives but some

are adjectives and some are pronouns.

Adam: Possessive adjectives – ‘my’, ‘your’, ‘his’

‘her’ ‘our’ and so on – describe a noun, like

other adjectives. So we say ‘this is my umbrella’

Rob: Possessive pronouns – ‘mine’, ‘yours’,

‘his’ ‘hers’ ‘ours’ and so on – take the place of a

noun, like other pronouns. So we say ‘This

umbrella is mine’

Adam: There are lots of exercises about this on

the website, so why not give them a go?

Rob: Next time we’ll hear from Tess and Ravi

again, talking about something that British

people like to drink – now what could that be?

Adam: See you next time.

Adam and Rob: Bye!






Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: I’m Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob.

Adam: And welcome to Episode 9 of our

podcast. We’re going to hear from Tess and

Ravi in a little while. They’ll be talking about a

very British drink – any idea what it is?

Rob: But first let’s have a look at some of your

comments on the last podcast – where we

discovered some great new bands: Milky Way,

As Borbulhantes (that’s 'The Bubble Girls' in

English), Hope, Dead Flowers and The Mixture.

They’re all bands that our listeners have been

part of – so remember those names!

Adam: That’s right, we asked you for your

musical memories and we’ve got lots of talented

musicians listening to the podcast. We’ve got

guitarists like Mandana in Iran and Azeriboy in

Azerbaijan. We've got a trumpeter, Joao

Oliveira in Portugal. Esdras and Nat Viegas in

Brazil are both drummers and so is Flautas in

Mexico. Nana Adel in Egypt plays the accordion

and Guisouzarego in Brazil plays the

saxophone. I think we should put together an

Elementary podcast band.

Rob: We need a singer though. How about

Karlalara7 in Mexico? Karla says: A musician told me that it is easier to play a guitar than to be a good singer, because in order to have a good voice you have to be born like that, and when you use your voice it's like another string that has to be in tune. Now I have the objective to find a place where I can sing, because I always liked it, but I didn´t notice what a special talent it is.

Adam: How about it, Karla? Do you want to

sing with the Elementary podcast band? There

were lots of other great comments too – too

many to read out here. Kieu Trang even

mentioned a special song about his city, Hanoi,

in Vietnam. Check out ‘the Hanoi Boogie’ on

YouTube. Is there a special song about your

city? Let us know at the usual address.

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or look for

Elementary podcasts on Facebook.

Rob, Now, we don’t have time to mention them

all, but we do keep reading your messages.

Navaho in China told us about people there who

make their living by queuing and we think we

found a place where people queue as politely

as they do in Britain - that's Kenya . Thanks for

that story, Kamore.

Adam: Now, last time we said that Tess and

Ravi were going to talk about something British

people like to drink and we asked what that

drink might be. Kieu Trang had the answer.

Listen and find out what it was.

Tess and Ravi

Ravi: Hi there, everyone. I’m Ravi.

Tess: And I’m Tess, and as usual, we’re going

to talk about something you think you know

about Britain.

Ravi: We asked our listeners what they think is

‘typically British’ and they said things like fish

and chips, London buses, the royal family and

lots of people mentioned a particular drink.

What do you think it is?

Tess: Tea. Lots of people said that they thought

British people drink a lot of tea - and it’s true. A

hundred and sixty five million cups of tea are

drunk every day in Britain.

Ravi: A hundred and sixty five million? Blimey.

Tess: I know. That’s more than sixty billion cups

a year.

Ravi: Unbelievable. Why do we drink so much

tea?

Tess: Well, actually, I don’t drink tea at all but

British people have been...

Ravi: Hang on. You don’t drink tea? What about

coffee?






Tess: I sometimes have a fruit tea but, no, I

don’t drink tea or coffee.

Ravi: Don’t you? I have a coffee in the morning

and then about six cups of tea during the day. Is

tea more popular than coffee?

Tess: Oh, yeah. We said a hundred and sixty

five million cups of tea every day. Well, the

number of cups of coffee is seventy million, so

we drink more than twice as much tea as

coffee.

Ravi: Do we? How come the British drink so

much tea? Is it because we used to have an

empire or something like that? And how do you

know all of this stuff, Tess? Are you just

inventing these numbers?

Tess: It’s called ‘research’, Ravi. I looked it up

on the internet. The British have been drinking

lots of tea since the seventeenth century – it

was mostly just rich people drinking tea at first

but by the nineteenth century everybody was

drinking it and that was when all the... rituals of

drinking tea started.

Ravi: What do you mean by rituals?

Tess: Well, things like making tea in a pot and

the way we make tea and serve it – and things

like afternoon tea when we have a cup of tea

and cakes and sandwiches.

Ravi: About once a year

Tess: Well, yes, we don’t do it every day, but

you know what I mean. You know that in other

countries people don’t put milk in tea but in

Britain ninety eight per cent of tea is taken with

milk.

Ravi: Oh, you can’t have a cup of tea without

milk, Tess. Not too much milk – you don’t want

it too milky - and put the tea in first, then the

milk, then the sugar.

Tess: See – that’s the kind of ritual I’m talking

about. People have strong ideas about the best

way to make a cup of tea. Do you make your

tea in a teapot?

Ravi: Of course! You have to make tea in a

teapot. It tastes horrible if you make it in a cup.

If you want a good cup of tea, you have to make

it yourself.

Tess: Do you think so?

Ravi: Definitely. In fact, all this talking about tea

is making me thirsty. Do you want a cuppa? Oh,

you don’t drink tea. I forgot.

Tess: I wonder if other languages have words

like that. ‘Do you want a cuppa?’ or ‘do you

want a brew’? You know, the way we say ‘a

cuppa’ and everyone knows you mean ‘a cup of

tea’.

Ravi: Didn’t it tell you that on your internet site?

Right, I’m going to make a brew. You can’t beat

a nice cup of tea.

Adam and Rob

Rob: I’m with Ravi – you can’t beat a nice cup

of tea. But it has to be right, not too much milk.

Adam: That's funny, because I'm the same as

Tess. I don't like tea.

Rob: What about you, listeners? Do you drink

tea? How do you usually make it? With milk or

without milk? Or is coffee the most popular drink

in your country? I used to live in the south of

Italy and the coffee there was fantastic – the

best I’ve ever had. And actually, a friend of mine

used to live in Argentina where they often drink

another hot drink – mate. I’d love to hear more

about that if anyone can tell me. So why not

write and tell us what you – or people in your

country - like to drink? Write your comments at


Rob: Now, I want you to listen again to

something Tess said:


British people drink a lot of tea – and it’s true. A








Rob: I want to look at the verb forms – ‘British

people drink a lot of tea’ but 165 million cups of

tea are drunk every day’. Listen again.


British people drink a lot of tea – and it’s true. A



Adam: Why is it ‘British people drink tea’, but

‘Lots of cups of tea are drunk every day’? The

second one is passive. Who drinks all those

cups of tea? British people, I suppose, but the

sentence is about cups of tea, not British

people, so the verb is passive – ‘be’ with the

past participle. 'are drunk' Listen to another

example.

Tess: You know that in other countries people

don’t put milk in tea, but in Britain ninety eight

per cent of tea is taken with milk.

Rob: ‘People don’t put milk in tea’ – active, but

‘98% of tea is taken with milk'. Passive – is

taken.

Adam: There are lots of activities on our

website to tell you more about the passive and

how we form it and use it. Give them a go.

Rob: And there are also exercises about short

questions like this:

Tess: I sometimes have a fruit tea but no, I

don’t drink tea or coffee.

Ravi: Don’t you?

Tess: So we drink more than twice as much tea

as coffee.

Ravi: Do we?

Adam: Tess said, ‘I don’t drink tea or coffee’

and Ravi asked ‘Don’t you?’ Then she said ‘We

drink twice as much tea as coffee’ and Ravi

asked ‘Do we?’ Can you work out the rules for

short questions like this? The activities on our

website will help you. You’ll find then at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish Look for

Elementary Podcasts.

Rob: Well, that’s all we’ve got time for. We'll be

back next time when we’ll hear more about

Carolina and her job at the convenience store.

So until then, bye!

Adam: Bye!






Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Rob: I’m Rob.

Adam: And I’m Adam.

Rob: Welcome to Episode 10 of the podcast. In

a moment we’re going to hear from Carolina

again. There’s a new friend for her and Emily

today.

Adam: But first, as usual, we’re going to take a

look at some of your messages and comments.

Tess and Ravi talked about tea and the British

habit of drinking tea – a lot of tea – a hundred

and sixty five million cups of tea every day!

Rob: We asked what the most popular drink

was in your country. And for lots of you it’s tea

too. All over the world – Indonesia, Libya,

China, Iran, Azerbaijan – you’re all drinking lots

of tea.

Adam: And so many different kinds of tea. We

heard about black tea and red tea in Tunisia,

green tea in Japan, mint tea in Egypt, lotus tea

and iced tea in Vietnam – and how about this

from Shuvanjan in Nepal. He says:

Most people in Nepal are used to drinking milk tea, which is made by mixing milk, sugar, fermented tea leaf granules and spices. The spices mostly include ginger, black pepper and cardamom. However, people living in the Himalaya region mostly take salty tea - tea made with milk and butter.

Rob: Tea with milk and butter? I’m not sure that

I like the sound of that.

Adam: Well, I've tried tea in a Nepali restaurant

and it was milky and sweet, not salty.

Rob: So, the English aren’t the only tea drinkers

– you drink it everywhere. But you’re also

drinking lots of coffee. In Italy, of course, but

also in Latin America: Mexico, Brazil and this is

Franklin from Colombia:

I am Franklin and I am from Colombia, the country of coffee. A lot of people around the

world know that the best coffee is produced in Colombia, and it is recognized for its flavor and fragrance. Many cities around the world have shops selling coffee from Colombia.

Adam: The best coffee in the world? Maybe

some of our Brazilian listeners disagree!

Rob: We also heard about mate in Argentina –

thanks Wences – lassi in India and Karla Lara –

the singer in our podcast band – told us about

champurrado and ponche in Mexico. Woul from

South Sudan told us that milk is the most

popular drink there.

Adam: Thanks everyone for all your comments

– we love reading them and we hope you read

each other’s comments too. Remember that you

can send comments to us at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish – look for


Rob: Also, keep an eye on our Facebook page.

Tess and Ravi are answering your questions

there and also arranging times that they will be

online to answer questions you have for them.

Adam: Right, time to catch up with Carolina.

You remember that Carolina is a student from

Venezuela who is studying in Newcastle in the

north east of England. Last time we heard from

her, she’d got a job in a shop at the university

and Jamie, her boyfriend, had started a band.

Let’s hear how she’s enjoying the job.

Carolina

Emily: Hello!

Carolina: Hello, Emily.

Emily: Well, this is strange! Look at you in your

uniform.

Carolina: I know. It's horrible, isn't it?

Emily: So how are you getting on? Are you

enjoying it?

Carolina: It's OK.






Emily: Just OK?

Carolina: Well, you know it can get really, really

busy, and if I'm here on my own… Yesterday

was awful.

Emily: Are you here alone all the time?

Carolina: No. There's a woman called Alice –

she's here sometimes. But she isn't very

friendly. She doesn't like me for some reason.

And Mr Spencer, the boss, comes in

sometimes, but I don't like it when he's here - it

makes me nervous.

Emily: So you prefer it when you're here alone?

Carolina: Well, I told you, I get nervous. I don't

like it when it gets busy.

Emily: It isn't busy now. I'm almost the only

customer in the shop.

Carolina: Then it's really boring. There's no-one

to talk to and nothing to do. And Mr Spencer

says I'm not allowed to read.

Emily: Gosh, Carolina. You are difficult to

please. You don't like being with Alice or Mr

Spencer, you don't like being alone, you don't

like it when it's busy and you don't like it when

it's quiet. What do you want? Do you really hate

this job?

Carolina: No, no, I don't hate it. I'm just not

enjoying it very much.

Emily: Cheer up. It'll get better. You just need a

bit more experience.

Carolina: Yes, I know.

Emily: Why don't we go to the cinema

tomorrow? You don't work on Sunday, do you?

Carolina: Actually I'm going to the cinema with

Jamie tomorrow, after his band practice.

Emily: Oh yeah – the band. Have they got a

name yet?

Carolina: No, not yet. Let's all go to the cinema

together – you come too. Jamie would like to

see you.

Emily: OK, I'd like to. If you're sure you don't

mind. What are you going to see?

Carolina: I don't know. Jamie said it's a great

film. It's on at the shopping centre, so we'll meet

there.

Emily: What time?

Carolina: About seven? Outside the cinema,

next to the ticket office.

Emily: OK. I have to go. I'll probably be in bed

when you get home.

Carolina: What time is it now?

Emily: Quarter past seven.

Carolina: Only five more hours to go.

Carolina: So then he asked me to give him

some... Oh hello, Jamie.

Jamie: Hi. Hi, Emily

Emily: Hi.

Jamie: Uh, this is Cameron. Cameron, this is

Carolina and this is Emily.

Cameron: Hello.

Emily and Carolina: Hi, nice to meet you.

Jamie: Cameron's in the band. He's the lead

singer.

Emily: Cool.

Cameron: Well I do my best.

Carolina: And are you at the university,

Cameron?

Cameron: No, I'm not. I work in First Page, the

bookshop.

Emily: Wow, what a great job!

Cameron: Yeah, it's OK.

Jamie: Not for much longer, Cameron. We're

gonna be rich and famous, remember?

Cameron: Yeah!

Carolina: Come on, let's go and get the tickets.





Adam and Rob

Rob: That’s an interesting laugh. Carolina

doesn’t seem to be enjoying her job very much.

I used to work in a shop when I was a student

and it can be pretty boring. I’m lucky these days

that I enjoy my job so much. I like meeting my

students, I like teaching, I love languages…

Adam: I really like reading and answering

people's comments on the LearnEnglish

website.

Rob: What about you, listeners? Do you like

your job or your studies or your school? You all

told us about your first jobs, but now we’d like to

hear what you like or what you don’t like about

your job.

Adam: Is it interesting and exciting or is it

boring and badly paid? Write and let us know.

And don’t worry – we won’t tell your boss what

you said!

Rob: Now, did you hear the conversation when

Carolina and Emily met Cameron? Listen again:

Carolina: So then he asked me to give him

some... Oh hello, Jamie.

Jamie: Hi. Hi, Emily

Emily: Hi.



Cameron: Hello.


Jamie: Cameron's in the band. He's the lead

singer.

Emily: Cool.

Cameron: Well I do my best.


Cameron?


bookshop.



Adam: Lots to listen out for there. What do we

say when we introduce people to each other?



Cameron: Hello.

Rob: We say ‘This is...’ ‘This is Adam...’ – and

what do we say when we meet people for the

first time?



Cameron: Hello.


Adam: ‘Nice to meet you’ – we often say ‘nice

to meet you’ when we meet someone for the

first time.

Rob: And did you notice what Carolina and

Emily did next? They asked questions.


Cameron?


bookshop.



Adam: These are questions to ‘break the ice’ –

to start finding out more about the person

you’ve just met. We’ve put some exercises to

help you find out more about breaking the ice

on our website. You’ll find them at


Rob: Well, I think that’s all we’ve got time for

this time. We’ll be back soon with Tess and

Ravi again. They’ll be talking about something

British that you might think is really quite

horrible… what could it be?

Adam: And thanks again for all your comments

– we love hearing from you.

Rob and Adam: Bye!






Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: Welcome to episode 11 of LearnEnglish


Rob: You’re going to hear from Tess and Ravi

again today. They’re talking about something

British that lots of people around the world think

is ‘bad’.

Adam: Any idea what it might be? You’ll find

out in a moment.

Rob: But first, let’s take a look at your

comments. We heard Carolina complaining

about her job and we asked you about your

jobs.

Adam: And we got some really interesting

responses. Umi from Indonesia sent us this

message:

It's hard to say whether I like my job or not. I'm working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong. My duty is to look after two children, helping with their school work if necessary and to do all the household chores. Sometimes I like my job because it has no real pressure. I don't like my job because it's not a professional job, most of the time others look down on us and I've no freedom at all because I have to live with my employer and I work 6 days a week. I also enjoy it because my employer lets me study, that's why I keep studying from one course to another. I aim to take an online degree. Never lose hope, it’s only a stepping stone for a better future.

Rob: Well, we definitely wish you luck. That’s a

really well written post, so we can see that your

English practice is working.

Adam: Yeah. Rony works in an import/export

company in Egypt and loves it although it’s

sometimes boring. Rony’s advice is that ‘at the

end we have to love what we do until we do

what we love’

Rob: Alexman is also in Egypt and he does 2

jobs!

I work in two jobs in one, it's somehow like the shampoo – 2in1! I am a customer service agent and also a cashier at the same time. I work a full time shift, my day starts at 9AM and ends at 9PM. I will never forget one day after finishing my work I looked at my report to find out that I'd served 360 customers in a day.

Adam: 360 customers!

Rob: In one day!

Adam: Thanks to all of you who commented.

I’m happy to hear that you so many of you seem

to like your jobs. I wonder how many of you use

English in your work.

Rob: Maybe that’s why you’re learning English.

Why not let us know? Remember that the

address for your comments is

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and you can

find us on facebook too – look for ‘Elementary

Podcasts’.

Adam: Now, let’s hear from Tess and Ravi.

We’ve already told you that they’re going to talk

about something British that lots of people think

isn’t very good. Any idea what it is? Let’s find

out.

Tess and Ravi

Ravi: Hello again, everyone. I’m Ravi.

Tess: And I’m Tess and once again we’re going

to talk about something you think you know

about Britain.

Ravi: We asked lots of our listeners what they

think about when they think about Britain. They

said things like ‘drinking tea’, ‘queuing’, ‘Big

Ben’, ‘bad weather’ and lots of people

mentioned another thing they think is bad – any

ideas, Tess?

Tess: Something else that’s bad in Britain?

Erm… what?

Ravi: British food. Lots of people think that the

food in Britain is terrible. And, do you know






what, Tess? I can understand why people think

that.

Tess: Really? I think it’s a bit unfair. I mean,

what is British food anyway? What do you mean

by British food?

Ravi: Well, I don’t know... erm… fish and chips,

roast beef, sausage and mash…

Tess: It’s difficult isn’t it, to think of what British

food is exactly, but I’m sure you can think of lots

of examples of French dishes or Italian or

Chinese or Indian dishes, of course.

Ravi: Yeah, lots of ‘em.

Tess: And it’s definitely true that we don’t have

the same tradition of food and cooking here in

Britain that lots of other countries – France,

Italy, China – have.

Ravi: Right.

Tess: But that doesn’t mean you can’t eat well

in Britain. I think one of the best things about

living in London is how many fantastic different

types of food you can eat. You can eat food

from anywhere in the world in London, can’t

you? Greek, Lebanese, Japanese, Polish …

Ravi: Hey I had a fantastic Thai meal on

Saturday, Tess, I’ll have to take you to this

restaurant.

Tess: Thai food, mmm. I’d forgotten that one.

There are just so many different great types of

food to eat in London.

Ravi: It’s not just London, Tess. Other places

have loads of different restaurants too. There

are some brilliant Brazilian restaurants in

Manchester.

Tess: That’s true. Even really small places will

probably have a Chinese restaurant and an

Indian or Pakistani restaurant. I don’t know

about you but I hardly ever eat ‘British’ food.

Ravi: Me neither.

Tess: That’s restaurants, though. My Spanish

friend told me that she came here when she

was a teenager and stayed with a British family

and the food was terrible. She said they ate

frozen meals from the freezer every night and it

was just horrible.

Ravi: It’s awful when you go to someone’s

house and the food is really, really bad and you

have to eat it. But I don’t think everybody eats

really badly at home do they?

Tess: I think cooking has never been more

popular. Just look at all the cookery

programmes on TV.

Ravi: There are hundreds of cookery

programmes on TV. Terrible. I never watch

them.

Tess: You should. You might learn something.

It’s true though, there are lots and lots of

cooking programmes on TV and lots of famous

chefs. People are really interested in cooking,

don’t you think?

Ravi: I suppose so. They’re not really cooking

British food though, are they?

Tess: They are sometimes. They’re cooking all

kinds of food. Anyway, I think that’s what we

have to say about British food. We don’t have

the same kind of food traditions as other places,

but you can eat really well here. Agreed?

Ravi: Agreed.

Adam and Rob

Adam: So what do you think, Rob? Is British

food really bad?

Rob: Well, I’m not sure about British food, but I

think eating in Britain is fantastic. There’s so

much variety. You can find Italian restaurants,

Thai restaurants, Chinese restaurants,

restaurants from lots of different countries.

Adam: Yeah, even in quite small towns.

Rob: But if I got to Italy, for example, I only

really find Italian restaurants. I’m not sure about

British food, though.





Adam: Well, I think that one area that Britain

does really well is puddings and desserts. There

are so many great crumbles and puddings and

afters and pies, they’re all delicious.

Rob: Yeah, sticky toffee pudding!

Adam: Yummy!

Rob: As usual, we’d like to hear what you think.

Have you ever tried British food? What did you

think of it? Or even if you haven’t tried it; what

do you think British food is?

Adam: And what about eating out in your

country? What sort of restaurants do you have?

What’s your favourite cuisine? Why? You can

leave your comments at


Rob: So, Tess and Ravi said that although

British food might not be the best in the world,

it’s possible to eat very well in Britain. And that’s

what I want to take a look at next. Listen again

to something Tess and Ravi said:

Tess: But that doesn’t mean you can’t eat well

in Britain.

Ravi: It’s awful when you go to someone’s

house and the food is really, really bad and you

have to eat it. But I don’t think everybody eats

really badly at home, do they?

Tess said that it doesn’t mean you can’t eat well

in Britain and Ravi said he doesn’t think

everyone eats badly. ‘Well’ and ‘badly’ are…

Adam: …adverbs! ‘Well’ is the adverb, ‘good’ is

the adjective. And remember that an adjective

describes a noun and an adverb describes a

verb. So, we’d say ‘you speak very good

English’, but ‘you speak English very well’.

Rob: The adjective, ‘good’, describes the noun,

‘English’ and the adverb, ‘well’, describes the

verb ‘speak’. You see?

Adam: We’ve put some exercises on the

website to help you with adverbs and

adjectives.

Rob: And there are also some exercises about

another thing you heard. Listen to this bit again:

Tess: It’s difficult, isn’t it, to think of what British

food is, exactly, but I’m sure you can think of

lots of examples of French dishes or Italian or

Chinese or Indian dishes, of course.

Ravi: Yeah, lots of ‘em.

Tess: And it’s definitely true that we don’t have

the same tradition of food and cooking here in

Britain that lots of other countries – France,

Italy, China – have.

Ravi: Right.

Adam: We heard countries – France, Italy,

China – and the adjectives to describe things or

people from those countries – French, Italian,

Chinese. The exercises on the website will help

you practice countries and adjectives – have a

look.

Rob: Well, that’s all we’ve got time for today.

We’ll be back soon when we’ll hear how

Carolina and Emily are getting on with Jamie’s

new friend. Bye!

Adam: Bye!






Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Rob: I’m Rob

Adam: And I’m Adam.

Rob: Welcome to episode 12 of Learn English


Adam: Carolina’s back today. She’s at the

cinema and love is in the air!

Rob: But first, as usual, let’s have a look at

some of your comments. In the last podcast,

Tess and Ravi talked about British food. And we

asked you to tell us what you think – is British

food really terrible? How about food in your

country?

Adam: Elena V in Russia is a big fan of British

food. She says:

I've never been to Britain, but when I say "British food" or "British meals", I think of porridge, puddings, fried eggs with bacon, toast with jam, beans and, of course, saddle of lamb. And a nice cup of black tea with milk. I don't know where all of these associations come from, but they are in my head! Almost every morning I cook porridge, I sometimes fry eggs with bacon and I prepare toast with jam. So it seems to me I'm in Britain!

Rob: I think Elena is more British than me!

Adam: Yeah. It certainly seemed to be true that

people think British food is bad. JSSierra in

Mexico said ‘I've never tried British food, I have

been told it is very bad though,’ and Wywy in

Egypt said that friends had told her the food in

London was terrible.

Rob: Oh dear! Braulio in Italy said ‘a simple

way to evaluate whether a cuisine is good or not

is to look for it abroad. You can easily find

French restaurants outside France or Chinese

outside China or Thai outside Thailand but I’ve

never found or even heard about an English

restaurant... not even in the UK!’

Adam: That’s a good point, I suppose.

Rob: Several people mentioned that they like

food from Braulio’s country, Italy, and we also

heard about cuisine from Mexico, Brazil, Saudi

Arabia, Vietnam, Egypt, Sri Lanka and

Azerbaijan.

Adam: Yes, reading all your comments left us

feeling very hungry. Finally, FRG in Spain said:

I would like to say I completely disagree about the general opinion of British food. Two years ago, I had a meeting with another colleague in Lincoln in the east of England. One day we went to a restaurant and ate lamb and the food was delicious. British food isn't only fish and chips or roast beef.

Rob: So, some people really do like it.

Adam: Thanks for all your great comments –

remember to send them to us at


us on Facebook.

Rob: OK, let’s move on to Carolina. Carolina is

a Venezuelan student studying at university in

Newcastle in the north of England.

Adam: Last time we heard from her she had

started her part-time job in a convenience store

and her boyfriend Jamie had just started a

band. Carolina and her friend Emily are going to

the cinema with Jamie and his band-mater

Cameron, who has a very… interesting laugh!






Carolina

Carolina: So which film are we going to see,

Jamie?

Jamie: The Crazy Future.

Emily: The Crazy Future? Ha! Good name for

your band.

Cashier: Next, please.

Jamie: Four tickets for The Crazy Future,

please.

Cashier: Four for The Crazy Future. That's

twenty-four pounds please.

Jamie: Thanks.

Cashier: And six pounds change. Screen six.

Next please.

Jamie: Thanks. Here you are – Cameron,

Emily, Carolina. Anybody want popcorn? No?

OK, let's go in then. Follow me.

Carolina: Emily, you sit next to Cameron.

Emily: What? Why?

Carolina: You like him – I can see. Sit next to

him.

Emily: Carolina!

Carolina: I hope the film isn't a comedy.

Emily: Why?

Carolina: You heard his laugh.

Jamie: What a great film. I'm really glad we

came to see it. What did you all think?

Emily: Well, it wasn't exactly what I was

expecting.

Jamie: In what way?

Emily: Well I wasn't expecting a documentary.

A documentary about the environment. I mean it

was good. I liked it. But you said it was about

the future and I thought it was science fiction –

you know, not about global warming…

Cameron: Do you like science fiction?

Emily: I love it. Do you?

Cameron: I'm a total fan. I'm reading this great

book at the moment, it's…

Jamie: Did you like the film, Cameron?

Cameron: Hmm, it was OK. A bit depressing.

Not really my thing, Jamie.

Carolina: I really liked it. It made me cry. Those

poor orangutans!

Jamie: Yeah. That was terrible, wasn't it? But

you know, we can change things. The future

doesn't have to be so bad. We can all help.

All: Yes.

Emily: Well, time to go home, I guess.

Carolina: Yes, I've got to do some reading

before my seminar tomorrow.

Cameron: We're going to have a drink on the

way home. Sure you don't both want to join us?

Jamie: Yeah, just for half an hour. We're going

to The Green Man.

Emily: The Green Man. That's you, Jamie.

Good name for your band. Or maybe The

Green Men.

Carolina: No, I really have to go home.

Emily: Me too.

Cameron: Well, that's a pity. Anyway, it was

nice to meet you both.

Carolina: Yes, well, I'm sure we'll meet you

again now that you're in the band with Jamie.

Emily: Yes.

Jamie: OK. I'll call you tomorrow, Carolina. See

you Emily.

Emily: See you.

Jamie: Come on, Cameron.

Cameron: Bye

Emily and Carolina: Bye. Bye, nice to meet

you. See you again. Bye Jamie.





Adam and Rob

Rob: So… Emily and Cameron seem to get

along well together.

Adam: Do you think that….?

Rob: Hmm, maybe. Let’s see what happens

next time.

Adam: Anyway, they seemed to have a good

time. Are you a fan of documentaries, Rob?

What sort of films do you like going to see?

Rob: I like documentaries, yes, but I also like

science fiction films. Star Wars is one of my

favourite films. I first saw it when I was a young

boy and I still love it today. I also like animations

and comedies. How about you?

Adam: I don’t seem to go to the cinema as

much as I used to. Maybe I’m just too busy. But

I do like foreign films. I used to watch action

films a lot, but I think I’ve seen all the explosions

I need to!

Rob: How about you, listeners? Do you enjoy

going to the cinema? What sort of films do you

like watching? How about films from your

country? Are there any you’d recommend to

other podcast listeners? Write and tell us at

www.britishcouncil.org.learnenglish

Adam: Now, listen to this again.

Jamie: Yeah, just for half an hour. We're going

to The Green Man.

Emily: The Green Man. That's you, Jamie.

Good name for your band. Or maybe The

Green Men.

Rob: The name of the pub was The Green Man

– then Emily suggested that they call their band

The Green Men. Man – men. It’s an irregular

plural – 1 man, two men. Can you think of any

other irregular plurals like that?

Adam: Well, women, of course – one woman,

two women. And child – one child, but two

children. And teeth! One tooth, but the plural is

teeth.

Rob: Yeah, there are quite a few irregular

plurals that you have to learn.

Adam: Mouse – mice!

Rob: OK, so we’ve put a couple of exercises on

the website for you. There are also exercises

about saying hello and goodbye to people and

about the cinema and different types of film.

Why not give them a go?

Adam: That’s all we’ve got time for today.

Thanks again for all your lovely comments and

stories.

Rob: I won’t be here next time. I’m going to

London to make the next series of Word on the

Street. If you don’t know Word on the Street,

have a look in the Listen & Watch section on the

LearnEnglish website. It’s a video series to help

you improve your English.

Adam: So, I’ll be back next time with Tess and

Ravi again to talk about something else you

think is very British. And I’ll talk to you then.

Adam and Rob: Bye!

http://www.britishcouncil.org.learnenglish/

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/word-street





Adam

Adam: Hello and Happy New Year! I’m Adam.

Rob is away this episode, but should be back

next time. Welcome to Episode 13 of the Learn

English Elementary podcast – the first episode

of 2012. And, to start the new year, Tess and

Ravi will be here in a moment to talk about

something else that’s very British.

But, before we get to that, let’s take a look at

some of your comments from the last podcast.

We heard Carolina and her friends go to the

cinema and we asked you to tell us about what

kind of cinema you like and we got some great

responses. We found that all over the world,

people like the same kind of films: action

movies, thrillers, documentaries, animation,

horror films – well, I don’t like horror films –

comedies… Perhaps TKazerooni, our friend in

Iran, describes it best when he says “I’ll be

flown in my dreams” when he goes to the

cinema. Sirjoe, in Italy, likes to sit at the front of

the cinema, right in front of the screen, “so that

my sight is totally occupied by the images”. I do

that too.

And we now have enough film

recommendations to start a Podcast film

festival! We don’t have time to mention them all

but ibtissemdz and gladiator, both from Algeria,

mentioned The Battle of Algiers. TKazeroooni

recommends an Iranian film called Marmoolak –

it means ‘The Lizard’. Both sheileng and

michelle in Brazil recommend Tropa de Elite

(Elite Squad) and I’ll be looking out for a

Russian film called ‘Vysotsky (Thank god I’m

alive) recommended by Tanya Klimova. Oh,

and Umi from Indonesia says we should see a

film called Laskar Pelangi, which means ‘The

Rainbow Troops’, and she also offers some

good advice on learning English – thanks Umi!

We must give a special mention to Langtucoiam

in Vietnam who remembers a very special

cinema visit. He says: I will never forget the film

"King Kong" because it was really fantastic and

after this film one of my classmates became my

girl-friend and now she is my wife. How

romantic!

Finally though, we mustn’t forget that not

everybody likes the cinema. Christopher in

Brazil says ‘it isn’t good to be inside a dark

warm room with very loud noises’, but maybe

the best advice is from j d trzsnyai in Romania:

I don't really like going to the cinema. I much prefer reading a good book or studying English with your podcasts.

That’s my favourite advice!

As usual, thank you all for all your great

comments and sorry we can’t mention them all.

As usual, please let us know what you think by

writing to us at


us on Facebook.

Now it’s time to catch up with Tess and Ravi. In

these podcasts they’ve been looking at things

that people think are typically British – things

you think about when you think about Britain. I

wonder what they’ll tell us today…







Tess and Ravi

Ravi: Excuse me. Could I possibly have a cup

of tea, please?

Tess: Certainly, sir, here you are.

Ravi: Ah, thank you. How much is that please?

Tess: Thank you. Two pounds please.

Ravi: Thank you. Here you are, five pounds.

Tess: Ah! Thank you. And here’s three pounds

change, thank you.

Ravi: Ah, thank you!

Tess: Hi, it’s us, Tess and Ravi, and that little

conversation might give you an idea of what

we’re talking about today.

Ravi: As usual, we’re going to look at

something you, our listeners, think you know

about Britain – some typically British things –

and today, we’re going to talk about British

politeness.

Tess: Lots of people think that the British are

very polite. What do you think, Ravi?

Ravi: Hmm, I don’t know. I think it’s quite old-

fashioned, don’t you? London certainly doesn’t

feel very polite in rush hour in the morning.

Tess: I think one thing that makes people think

we’re polite is that we say ‘please’ and ‘thank

you’ a lot – like you and I did just then. I don’t

think people say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ so

much in other places.

Ravi: Really?

Tess: Yeah. My Spanish friend said that when

she first came to visit Britain, when she went to

a café, she’d say ‘A coffee’ – not ‘a coffee,

please’ because in Spain, people don’t say

‘please’ so often. For me, it feels quite rude,

quite impolite, if you don’t say ‘please’ when you

ask for something in a shop.

Ravi: Yeah, but it can get silly sometimes,

saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ all the time.

Anyway, just saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ a

lot doesn’t mean you’re polite. I think London

feels quite impolite; I think people in Manchester

are more polite than they are here in London.

Tess: Well, you would say that, you’re from

Manchester, but you might be right – capital

cities are often very different from the rest of the

country. The other thing my friend thought was

funny about English is our polite language, like,

‘Excuse me, I’m very sorry, but I wonder if I

could ask you a question’ – that kind of thing.

Ravi: Yeah, we seem to use a lot of words to

say things when we want to be polite. ‘Could I

possibly use your telephone if you don’t mind’.

But that’s polite language – does that mean that

we’re really more polite than people in other

countries? I have to say, I don’t really think we

are, actually.

Tess: To be honest, I don’t either. I don’t really

think the British are especially polite. It’s

probably the same everywhere – some people

are very polite – and some people are not so

polite.

Ravi: I’m very polite aren’t I?

Tess: Yes, Ravi.

Ravi: Thank you.






Outro So, Adam, if you don’t mind my asking, would

you perhaps believe that it’s true? Are the

British very polite?

Thank you very much for asking, Adam. I think

there are different kinds of politeness. There’s

following rules, for example when you eat in a

particular way, and then there’s politeness by

thinking about other people, for example when

you give your seat to someone else on the bus.

I think you can be kind to other people even if

you don’t follow lots of rules about how to speak

and act.

But what do you think? Do you think British

people are polite or not – tell us about your

experiences – good or bad! And how about in

your country? Do you think people in your

country are polite or not? We’d love to hear

from you. As usual you can contact us at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish.

You know, it’s true what Ravi said - we seem to

use a lot of words to say things when we want

to be polite. And we also use fixed expressions

when we’re being polite. It’s useful to learn

these fixed expressions. For example, what do

you say when you want to get past someone – if

you want to get off the train for example?

“Excuse me”

How about when someone says ‘thank you’ to

you?

“You’re welcome” or “that’s all right”.

We’ve put some activities to help you with this

on the website.

You’ll also see some activities about negative

prefixes: impolite, unimportant, incorrect. They’ll

help you remember which prefix goes with

which adjective.

OK, that’s all we’ve got time for today. I’ll be

back next time with Rob and with more from

Carolina. Thank you very much for listening –

bye!







Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: I’m Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob.

Adam: And welcome to episode 14 of the Learn

English Elementary Podcast.

Rob: In a few minutes we’ll be hearing the latest

news from Carolina and her friends – Carolina

and Emily are at the seaside today.

Adam: But first, as usual, let’s take a look at

some of your comments from the last podcast.

We asked you to tell us what you think about

British politeness. Are British people really very

polite? And how about people in your country?

Are they polite or not?

Rob: You know, one of the things we love about

reading your comments is seeing answers from

so many different countries and this time we

had answers from all over the world:

Madagascar, Colombia, Georgia, Djibouti,

Nepal, Vietnam… It’s always really interesting

to hear so many different opinions.

Adam: And we were surprised to hear how

many of you do think that British people are

very polite. Negrota in Colombia, Angelo in Italy,

Sakine in Turkey and Zineb Zineb in Algeria – to

name but a few – all said that it’s true that

British people are really polite. Were you

surprised by that, Rob?

Rob: You know I was, yes, and another

interesting thing I noticed was that several of

you said that young people in your country are

not as polite as they were in the past. Osmide in

Spain said “Nowadays young people are

impolite, and they almost never say ‘thanks’ or

‘sorry’.” And Awatefromdhani in Tunisia says

“Personally, I think people are no longer as

polite as in the old days” and it’s the same story

in Vietnam.

Adam: Wywy in Egypt makes an interesting

point. She says “I think Egyptians in the past

were more polite than now but I’ve noticed that

some of us have become more polite after the

25th of January revolution”. That’s an interesting

idea, don’t you think?

Rob: It is. We did hear too about polite people

in different countries. “Malagasy people are very

polite and respectful” says Tianakely and

tankamani tells us that the culture of politeness

in Nepal is similar to that in Britain – namaste!

Adam: But I think we need to give the last word

to two comments. Sirinel in Algeria says “I think

it’s not fair to judge any country for being rude

or polite. It depends on the people themselves”.

Rob: And Felix in Spain says:

I don't believe in stereotypes. There are polite people from everywhere. We must not believe in stereotypes because normally they aren't totally true.

Adam: You know, Sirinel and Felix, I agree with

you. I’ve met very polite people in every country

I’ve ever visited – and some not so polite

people!

Rob: Thanks for all your great comments,

please do keep sending them. I’ll remind you of

the address. You can write to us at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish.

Adam: Now, time again to listen to Carolina. If

you’re new to the podcast, I’ll tell you that

Carolina is from Venezuela, but she’s studying

at Newcastle University in the north-east of

England. Last time we listened, Carolina went to

the cinema with her boyfriend, Jamie, her friend

Emily and Jamie’s friend Cameron. And Emily is

quite… interested in Cameron. Let’s see what

happens this time.







Carolina

Carolina: Brrr. It's cold.

Emily: That's the sea air Carolina. It's good! It

clears your head. You work too hard. You need

to relax sometimes.

Carolina: I know. But… brrrrrr. But it is beautiful

here. It's nice to see the sea. Ha! 'see the sea'. I

like that.

Emily: My grandfather used to sing a song. I

can't remember it all, but it was "And what did

we see? We saw the sea."

Carolina: "And what did we see? We saw the

sea". What a silly song. I'm going to find it on

the internet when we get home.

Emily: Yeah. Perhaps Jamie and Cameron's

band could play it. A cover version.

Carolina: Talking of Cameron…

Emily: Yes?

Carolina: You know. Do you like him?

Emily: Well, I don't not like him, if you know

what I mean. He's very attractive, and he's a

singer – that's cool – and he works in a

bookshop, he likes books, he likes science

fiction…

Carolina: But?

Emily: Well, that laugh! He's got the most awful

laugh I've ever heard.

Carolina: Oh dear. I know. But he seems like a

nice guy, and he is attractive and he likes you. Just don't tell him any jokes.

Emily: Actually, he sent me a friend request on

Facebook yesterday.

Carolina: Did he? No!

Emily: Calm down. It was just a friend request.

Like 'friend'.

Carolina: Oh no, he likes you. 'Friend' doesn't

mean 'friend'. That's it. So did you accept?

Emily: 'Friend' means 'friend'. And I accepted.

Carolina: Yippee!

Emily: Stop it. I think he's a nice guy – it's no

big deal. Look at that ship. Isn't it beautiful? I

wonder where it's going.

Carolina: Why don't you phone him?

Emily: I'm not going to phone him. Stop it. Now.

Carolina: Hello Jamie. We're at the coast,

having a walk. Really! That's great! She's here.

With me. Wait a minute. Emily, Cameron has

asked Jamie for your phone number. Emily!

Can Jamie give Cameron your phone number?

I'll call you back Jamie.

Emily: Eeeek!

Carolina: Ha ha! Told you so. "Friend means

friend". I don't think so. Not now.

Emily: Stop it. You're making me nervous.

Carolina: There's nothing to be nervous about.

Just give the guy your phone number! Emily!

You're always saying that your love life is a

disaster. This guy likes you, you like him. Give

him your phone number!

Emily: OK.

Carolina: I’ll tell Jamie to give it to him.

Emily: OK.

Carolina: Phew. That was hard work. Listen!

Emily: What?

Carolina: I can hear Cameron.

Emily: What are you talking about?

Carolina: See?

Emily: You're terrible!






Adam and Rob

Rob: That’s a bit unfair to say that Cameron’s

laugh sounds like a foghorn. He does have a

slightly strange laugh but it’s not that bad.

Adam: No… Anyway, so now Cameron has

Emily’s phone number. And they’re friends on

Facebook. Are you on Facebook Rob?

Rob: I am actually.

Adam: Got many Facebook friends?

Rob: No, unfortunately.

Adam: And what do you think about what

Carolina said about social networking – ‘friend

doesn’t mean ‘friend’’? Are your friends on

Facebook people you know in real life?

Rob: No, not all of them. Actually, some of them

I’ve only met once. That’s something I’m not

sure I like about Facebook.

Adam: I’m not on Facebook, so I sort of have

the opposite problem. I don’t have anyone

following me that I don’t know, but sometimes

it’s a bit hard to keep in touch with everyone I

want to keep in touch with.

Rob: I see. What about you, listeners? Do you

have lots of online friends? And do you know all

of those friends in real life? Is online friendship

different from real life?

Adam: We’d love to hear what you think. Why

not write and tell us at

www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and if you’re

on Facebook, remember to look for Tess and

Ravi there. They sometimes answer your

questions there, so watch out for that.

Rob: Now, did you hear Emily sing a little song

today? Listen again.

Emily: My grandfather used to sing a song – I

can't remember it all, but it was "And what did

we see? We saw the sea."

Carolina: "And what did we see? We saw the

sea".

Adam: ‘What did we see? We saw the sea’

‘See’ the verb and ‘sea’ – the big area of water,

sound exactly the same: they are homophones.

Two words that have different spellings and

different meanings but sound exactly the same

are homophones and there are lots of them in

English.

Rob: ‘Sun’ – in the sky – and ‘son’ – a boy –

they’re homophones for example – piece and

peace, week and weak – but of course they

sound exactly the same so you need to see

them in writing to understand better or

understand the context. So you’ll find some

activities on the website to tell you more about

homophones.

Adam: You’ll also find an exercise on some of

the strange noises we make in English. Listen

to this:

Carolina: Brrr. It’s cold.

Adam: Carolina said ‘Brrr – it’s cold’. ‘Brrr’ is a

noise we make when we’re cold. And there are

other noises – do you know what these noises

mean?

Rob: Hmmm.

Adam: Ow!

Rob: Oops… Any ideas? Check the website to

find out the answers. And that’s all we’ve got

time for today.

Adam: We’re looking forward to hearing from

you and we’ll be back next time with more from

Tess and Ravi talking about a famous British

city. Any ideas? See you next time.

Both: Bye!







Adam and Rob

Rob and Adam: Hello!

Adam: Welcome to Episode 15 of the LearnEnglish Elementary Podcast. I’m Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob and it’s nice to be back here with you.

Adam: We’re going to hear from Tess & Ravi today; they’ll be talking about a city – the biggest and most famous city in Britain – I’m sure you know where we’re talking about.

Rob: First though, as usual, we’ll look at some of your comments on the last podcast. In that podcast we talked about social networking and online friends. We asked you to tell us about your online friends and how you feel about social networking and, as usual, you gave us some very interesting answers.

Adam: The first thing that interested me was how many of you live in different countries – not the country that you’re from. So, for example, Ladna is from Somalia, but she lives in Alaska in America. And Mariami is from Georgia but she lives in Germany. Or Tonya – she’s Russian but she lives in Germany too. I’m interested in what takes you to other countries. Are you working? Studying? Something else? If you’re living in a different country, why not write and tell us what you’re doing there.

Rob: Anyway, someone else who lives in a country that isn’t where she’s from is Umi, who’s from Indonesia but lives in Hong Kong, and she had a lot to say this time about social networking. She’s not a fan. She says:

Firstly, since we can make new friends very easily on networking sites, it makes us lazy about making an effort to socialise in real life. Secondly, we spend extra time on the computer and it eventually leads to a lack of movement, which also leads to obesity.

Adam: Umi also mentions risks to our relationships and our privacy. Some of you disagreed with Umi and some of you agreed. It was a really interesting discussion and we enjoyed reading it.

Rob: Now, we’ve already mentioned Tonya from Russia who lives in Germany. She says:

There are not so many Russian people in Germany I can communicate with. I talk online with my internet friends, some of them I’ve know for many years and these friends know me better than some of my real friends in Germany. With some of my internet friends I have an intense relationship and we write almost every week.

Adam: So, online friends can help you when you’re away from home. And they can help you get in touch with people all over the world – Amanda Clemente from Brazil has friends “from Argentina to Kazakhstan. It's awesome how knowledge of other languages, especially English, can connect you to different people.”

Rob: That’s true. Some of you did mention that you have online friends that you don’t know in real life. Laia in Spain (whose username is ‘ahappylearner’ - nice user name, Laia!) says “I have lots of "friends" on Facebook, but I don't even know half of them. I know most of them only by sight, I see them around high school but at the most we say hello, how’s it going and bye! And then with some of them on Facebook we talk for hours, but face to face we only greet each other!

Adam: That’s strange, isn’t it? In real life you just say ‘hello, how are you?’, but online you chat like old friends. Maybe it’s a difference between younger people and older people.

Rob: Anyway, thanks for all your great comments. Sorry we don’t have time to read out more of them. It’s always good to hear what you think so remember you can write to us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish.







Adam: I also noticed this week that we have a listener called… Ravi!

Rob: Welcome Ravi, and now let’s listen to the original Ravi, along with Tess, talking about a special British city.

London

Tess: Hello again, everyone. I’m Tess.

Ravi: And I’m Ravi.

Tess: And we’re here again to talk about the things you think you know about Britain and the things that you think are very British.

Ravi: We’ve talked about British food, British weather, drinking tea – and lots of other things, but today is a little bit different. We noticed that lots of you, when you talked about British things, talked about places in London – places you’ve visited or would like to visit or just places that you think are very British – and we’re going to take a look at some of them. What do you think people chose, Tess?

Tess: Big Ben?

Ravi: Good guess. Yep, the first one was Big Ben. If you don’t know it, Big Ben is the name given to the really big clock tower right in the centre of London – next to the Houses of Parliament. It was finished in 18...

Tess: How do you know that? Have you been studying?

Ravi: Research, Tess, research. It was finished in 1859 and it’s over ninety-six metres high. Actually, Big Ben is really the name of the bell that rings every hour to tell you what time it is, but everyone says Big Ben for the clock and the tower as well.

Tess: Why do you think it’s so famous?

Ravi: Well, it’s sort of the symbol of London, isn’t it? New York has the Statue of Liberty, Paris has the Eiffel Tower… and London has Big Ben.

Tess: It’s nice, isn’t it, when you hear the bells ringing for the hour, because you hear them on TV or the radio, on the BBC? What other places did people talk about in London?






Ravi: Well, Buckingham Palace is another place lots of people mentioned.

Tess: Ah, the Queen’s home. Yeah, that’s a really popular place for tourists to visit and see the changing of the guard and things. What have you learned about Buckingham Palace? How old is it?

Ravi: The oldest part was built in 1705, but new bits were added after that. It’s got two hundred and forty bedrooms, I think, and seventy eight bathrooms and ..

Tess: Do you know what it means when you see the flag flying above Buckingham Palace? It means that the Queen is there, in the palace. She’s got lots of different homes, hasn’t she?

Ravi: Hmm. Are you sure, Tess? I don’t think it does. I think the flag is flying all the time these days. Anyway, when was the last time you went to Buckingham Palace?

Tess: Inside the palace? Never. Actually, it’s a real tourist attraction, isn’t it? Lots of tourists go there, but if you live in Britain you don’t go there very often.

Ravi: No, not really. There’s always a big crowd there though for big royal events, like a wedding in the royal family or Princess Diana’s funeral, isn’t there?

Tess: Yeah. It’s sort of a symbol, isn’t it? A symbol of the royal family.

Ravi: Yeah. Actually, the royal family is another thing on our list – another thing that people said is typical of Britain. Let’s talk about that next time.

Tess: OK. What other things in London did people say were typically British?

Ravi: Let’s have a look. The London Eye, shopping in Oxford Street, the Houses of Parliament, the London underground… I think we might have to come back to this one another time, OK?

Tess: OK, then, let’s do that.

Adam and Rob

Adam: It’s true that Big Ben is sort of a symbol of London, isn’t it? Ravi said that ‘Paris has the Eiffel Tower, New York has the statue of liberty and London has Big Ben.’ How about you Rob - do you have a favourite sight in London? Or somewhere you take visitors when you’re there?

Rob: I do like Big Ben, I think it’s a great symbol for London. But when I go there with friends, I usually take them to a place called ‘Borough Market’. It’s just in the centre, south of the river.

Adam: Why do you like it?

Rob: Well, it’s a really authentic place with lots of great, great food from all over the world. And you can have something to eat, you can have something to drink; it’s just got a really good atmosphere.

Adam: Sounds great. I’ll have to go there next time I’m in London. How about you, listeners? Have you been to London? Did you like it? Write and tell us what you know or think about London. We love hearing from you and you can contact us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish.

Rob: Right, that’s almost all we’ve got time for. But first, we’ll remind you about the exercises you’ll find on our website. As usual, there are some useful tips to help you with your English. Listen to this:

Ravi: It was finished in 18…

Tess: How do you know that? Have you been studying?

Ravi: Research, Tess, research. It was finished in 1859 and it’s over 96 metres high.

Adam: Ravi gave two years: 1850 and 1859. If you ever have problems saying the year in English, then the exercises on the LearnEnglish site will help.







Rob: You’ll also find exercises on the different kinds of sights you can see in cities, on passive sentences, heights, weights and measures and lots, lots more.

Adam: Do go to the website and try the exercises and write and tell us what you think. We’re going to meet our LearnEnglish colleagues in London next week, so we’ll be back in three weeks with more from Carolina. Until then…

Rob and Adam: Bye!






Adam Welcome to episode 16 of the Learn English Elementary Podcast. I’m Adam. Rob is on a business trip at the moment, but it’s nice to be back. First of all, I’d like to say sorry that there hasn’t been a podcast for a while. Rob and I both had to travel for work this month and we haven’t been around. But one of us is back now with another great podcast for you. Later on, we’ll be catching up with Carolina and I’m afraid she isn’t very happy this week. But first, let’s have a look at some of your comments on the last podcast, when we asked you for your thoughts on London. Tess and Ravi talked about Big Ben and Buckingham Palace but you, listeners, mentioned loads of other things in London: Tower Bridge, Madame Tussauds, the British Museum, Hyde Park, Camden Market, the changing of the guards, Trafalgar Square… even those of you who haven’t been to London seem to know a lot about it. And it wasn’t just London. You also mentioned Oxford University and Stonehenge and the city of Bath - other places you’d like to visit in England. A few of you are fans of English football – like Mohammed in Jordan who really wants to visit Wembley Stadium. Sora from Korea is lucky; she’s going to study in London in September. Write and tell us how you find it, Sora.

And there’s good news too for Tanya in Russia and Angelo in Italy. Tanya mentioned Sherlock Holmes and Angelo talked about seeing the famous double-decker buses in London. Well, both of those things will be in a future podcast – so keep listening out! So many great comments, as usual – too many to read out all the good ones – but I do want to look at just one more. It’s from Raviha in Pakistan and it says ‘Rob, I love your Word on the Street series’. Now, if you don’t know, Word on the Street is a TV programme made by the BBC and the British Council and you can find it on the LearnEnglish website. Go to: www.britishcouncil.org/wordonthestreet And that’s almost the same address to send your comments to. We love hearing from you, so keep the comments coming to www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish Right, time now to catch up with Carolina again. Carolina is from Venezuela and is studying at Newcastle University. We’ve been following her life. Last time there was good news for Carolina’s friend Emily, but this time things aren’t going too well for Carolina…


http://www.britishcouncil.org/wordonthestreet






Carolina At the shop

Carolina: That's four pounds please. Thank you. Would you like a bag? OK. Who's next?

Man: I am.

Carolina: Oh, yes. OK, that's two pounds nineteen please.

Man: How much?

Carolina: Two pounds nineteen.

Man: Ninety or nineteen? I can't understand you.

Carolina: Nineteen. Two pounds nineteen pence.

Man: "Two pounds nineteen pence". Why don't you learn to speak English?

Carolina: I… I do… I… I'm sorry…

At University

Mrs Greenwood: So that's it for today. I'll see you next week. If anyone wants to talk about their essay, I'll be in my office from two to five tomorrow afternoon. And don't forget, the deadline for the essay is Monday morning. And that's the absolute final deadline. I will not accept any essays after that time. Is that understood?

Students: Yes, Mrs Greenwood.

Mrs Greenwood: I'm looking forward to reading them. Right, OK. Have a good week.

Students: Thank you, Mrs Greenwood / Bye Mrs Greenwood

Carolina: Oh no!

Student: What's up?

Carolina: The deadline. Monday morning. Is she really serious? She really won't accept any essays after Monday?

Student: Oh yes, she's serious. I did a course with her last year. Two people failed because they didn't do their essays on time.

Carolina: Oh, God!

At the Post Office

Voice through microphone: Cashier number five, please.


Clerk: Good morning.

Carolina: I want to collect a parcel. It's from Venezuela, for Carolina del Barco. Here's the card.

Clerk: Can I see some identification?

Carolina: I'm sorry?

Clerk: You need to show me some identification.

Carolina: I need to...?

Clerk: I'm sorry, but I can't give you the parcel if you don't show me some identification.

Carolina: I'm very sorry but I don't understand. Can you speak more slowly?

Clerk: I-den-ti-fi-ca-tion. Pass-port.

Carolina: Oh… yes… identification, passport... yes, of course. I'm sorry. Here you are.

At home

Carolina: It's me, Emily. I'm tired. I'm going to go straight to bed.

Emily: OK. Night. See you tomorrow.

Carolina: Goodnight. Hola mamí. I… oh…






Adam Oh dear! Carolina sounds really miserable, really homesick. It happens sometimes when you’re a long way from home. It just takes a few small things to go wrong, and it can make you feel really unhappy. I remember the first time I went to church camp. My parents weren't there, and I was 10, but I was OK until I put ten pence in the payphone and heard my parents' voices. Then I ran away to cry where the other boys couldn't see me. How about you, listeners? A lot of you don’t live at home or you lived away from home in the past. Do you ever feel homesick? If you do, what do you do to make yourself feel better? Even if you’ve never felt homesick, what advice would you give to Carolina to make herself feel better? Write and tell us what you think at: www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish Now, one thing that went wrong for poor Carolina was making a mistake with her English – listen to this bit again:

Carolina: Oh, yes. OK, that's two pounds nineteen please. Man: How much? Carolina: Two pounds nineteen. Man: Ninety or nineteen? I can't understand you. Carolina: Nineteen. Two pounds nineteen pence. Man: "Two pounds nineteen pence". Why don't you learn to speak English? Carolina: I... I do… I… I'm sorry…

Carolina got confused about the stress of nineteen and ninety – it’s an easy mistake to make. In ‘nineteen’ we stress the second syllable – ‘teen’ and in ‘ninety’ we stress the first syllable – ‘nine’. It makes a big difference. However, if we are giving a date, like nineteen eighty-nine, we stress the first syllable of nineteen. English can be really difficult sometimes! If you want help with syllables and stress we’ve put some exercises on the website for you. They’ll help you recognise how many syllables you hear and which syllables are stressed. You’ll find lots of other exercises there too so do go and look at the website, and send us your comments – it’s always great to hear from you. We’ll be back next time with more from Tess and Ravi, talking about a famous British family… who could that be? That’s all for now. See you next time – bye!







Adam Hello! Welcome to Episode 17 of the LearnEnglish Elementary Podcast. I’m Adam. Rob is on another business trip this week. I think I’m going to have to find a new presenter if he’s never here! Today we’re going to hear from Tess & Ravi again and, as usual, they’ll be talking about something British - a famous British family - and I'm sure you've got a pretty good idea who that's going to be. But first, let's talk about some of your comments on the last podcast. We're following the story of Carolina, a student from Venezuela who's studying in Newcastle in Britain. And in the last podcast Carolina had a very bad day - so we asked you to tell us about your experiences of being homesick and what you did to make yourself feel better. A lot of you felt very sorry for Carolina and talked about times when you feel (or felt) the same. And you had a lot of good advice for Carolina and other people in the same situation. Elaheh, who is from Iran but studying in Germany, says she feels very homesick, especially when the weather is cold and rainy! But she can make herself feel better by listening to Persian music, watching Persian films or going to a Persian restaurant. I like Persian restaurants, too. And our friend Umi, who has lived away from home since she was thirteen, has a lot of suggestions. For example, she says "explore a new place… visit some interesting places in your second home… go out if you feel a bit down". She also talks about how easy it is to keep in touch with your family and friends at home with modern technology, like mobile phones, Skype or sites like Facebook. And Ahmed from Algeria says Carolina

should talk to a friend - "ideally someone who's going through the same experience - she might feel better when she can cheer up someone else". That's good advice. Some of you are feeling a bit nervous about going abroad in the future, like ewcielinka from Poland and D-life from Turkey. And the good news is that most of you said that feelings of sadness and being homesick don't last for ever. Aigerim from Kazakhstan says she cried a lot when she first left home, but she says "this world is not without kind people and they helped me". And some of you told Carolina not to worry about her English. Julia from Hong Kong said "It's natural for you to have difficulty speaking English fluently." Julia told Carolina to remember that she can speak in English, but the rude man in the shop probably doesn't speak any Spanish at all. And to really cheer Carolina up, both Johnny from Brazil and Manasset from Cameroon said how much they liked her voice and her Venezuelan accent. A big thanks to everyone who wrote in with comments and suggestions. There might be a lot of people around the world feeling homesick and sad, and your messages can be a great help - so keep them coming at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or look for us on Facebook. We'll be finding out how Carolina's getting on next time. But now it's time to hear from Tess and Ravi, talking about that famous British family.







Tess and Ravi Ravi: Hello there, we’re back again to talk about the things you think you know about Britain. I’m Ravi.

Tess: And I’m Tess. And today’s topic from the things you chose is… the royal family. We’re going to tell you something about the Queen and her family – the British royal family. What could be more British than that?

Ravi: Let’s take turns, Tess. I’ll start with the Queen. Well, she’s Queen Elizabeth the Second and she’s been queen for a really long time, since 1952. Her father was King George VI and he died when she was 26, so she was quite young when she became Queen and she’s quite old now. She’s married to… Tess?

Tess: She’s married to Prince Philip. He’s five years older than her and he’s Greek; he was part of the Greek royal family. He’s also known as the Duke of Edinburgh and he’s also known for being quite… down to earth, he speaks his mind…

Ravi: OK, Tess, I know what you mean. The Queen and Prince Philip have got three children…

Tess: Four!

Ravi: Yes – four children. The oldest one is Princess Anne…

Tess: No she isn’t. Charles is the oldest.

Ravi: Is he? Are you sure?

Tess: Certain.

Ravi: Really? OK then, Princess Anne is the second oldest…

Tess: Yes.

Ravi: And she’s also called the Princess Royal. It’s tricky this when everyone seems to have two names. Members of the royal family usually have a title, like The Duke of Edinburgh or the Princess Royal. Anyway, Anne’s the second oldest…

Tess: And the Queen’s oldest child is Prince Charles. That means he’s the heir to the throne, the next one to be king, after the Queen. His title is the Prince of Wales, so Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, is the heir to the throne. He’s married to Camilla.

Ravi: What’s her title – Duchess of Cornwall, isn’t it?

Tess: That’s right.

Ravi: But everyone knows he used to be married to Princess Diana, who died in 1997. Now, Charles and Diana had two children.

Tess: Hang on! We said the Queen and Prince Philip had four children. We haven’t done all of them yet. The other two are Andrew and Edward.

Ravi: Oh yeah, that’s right. Prince Andrew – he’s the Duke of York – used to be married to Sarah Ferguson - and Prince Edward, he’s the… erm, Tess?

Tess: The Earl of Wessex. I looked it up.

Ravi: He’s the youngest of the Queen’s children. Anyway, as I said, Charles and Diana had two children, two boys, Prince William and Prince Harry. William’s the oldest, so he’ll be king after Prince Charles. Charles will be King Charles the Third and after that William will be King William the… Fifth, won’t he?






Tess: Yeah, William the Fifth. He’s second in line to the throne after his dad, Prince Charles.

Ravi: And he’s just got married to Kate Middleton. Right, I hope you’ve remembered all that - lots of names and titles! I think it’s important to say that the Queen isn’t in charge of the country; she doesn’t have any real political power. The Prime Minister is the most important person politically in the country but the Queen is important as a sort of symbol, don’t you think?

Tess: Yeah. I mean, you know, some people don’t think we should have a King or Queen but I think the royal family are quite popular, don’t you? People like them.

Ravi: Yeah, I agree. And I wouldn’t like to be a member of the royal family. They don’t get any privacy – cameras and journalists everywhere! It must be terrible.

Tess: Don’t worry Ravi. I don’t think you’ll ever be a prince.

Ravi: You never know, Tess, I might meet a princess.

Tess: Yes, Ravi.






Adam It isn't easy to explain all the names and titles for the British Royal family, especially when everyone has two names. At school, it was hard to remember the names of the kings and queens, because so many have the same name! There are 8 Henrys, for example, and you have to remember the number. And to make it worse, you write the number with old Roman numbers, so I is one and V is five – so Henry VIII is actually Henry the Eighth! Did any of you have to learn kings and queens at school? And how many of you live in countries which still have kings and queens? Write, and let us know. Another thing is I noticed when I was listening to Tess and Ravi is how difficult it can be to describe your family in English - how people are related to you and to each other, who's the oldest and who's the youngest. It can be especially complicated when people get divorced and then get married again. For example, one of my friends has two mothers, two fathers, and three brothers. His parents got divorced and then they both remarried. So now he has a mother, a father, a stepmother, a stepfather, a brother, and two stepbrothers! That’s complicated! I know in some languages, all the family relationships are very clear. In some Asian languages, you have different words for your uncle on your mother's side and on your father's side, as well as different words for older and younger brothers, sisters, and cousins, but in English, you have to explain everything! Is that true in your language? There are some exercises on the website to help you with the vocabulary and grammar that you need to talk about families. We've got some exercises to practice the different words for family relationships, and some to

help you explain who is older and younger. There's even a puzzle to test your logic skills! And if you're as confused as Ravi about the British Royal family, don't worry. There are comprehension exercises to help you with that, too. Don't forget you can do them online or download the pdf file and print them. Remember to write and tell us about your families – or your Royal families. You know we really like getting to know more about you. The address is www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish. We always enjoy reading your messages. And, unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got time for today. But we'll be back soon, with more news about Carolina. So see you next time. Bye!






Adam Hello. Welcome to episode 18 of the Learn English Elementary podcast. I'm Adam. Rob is away again, but he promised me that he’ll be back soon.

We're going to hear from Carolina today. She wasn't very happy last time, so let's hope things are a bit better now.

But first, your comments on the last podcast. Tess and Ravi talked about the complicated British royal family. It was quite difficult for them to explain all the names and titles and the family relationships. S Kumar from India wrote "I got confused when Tess and Ravi talked about the names of the royal family. I had to repeat the recording to remember them, but it was fun."

Some of you told us about royal families in your countries from the past and the present. Isabelle described the Belgian royal family: King Albert II and his family. Sylfide wrote from Spain about the royal family there and her opinions about them. And, from the past, our old podcast friend tkazerooni from Iran told us about the last Iranian royal family. David Mahi and Kirankumar both talked about the old kings and queens of India, like Ashoka the Great. And Leonnidaz and Shahrazed both wrote about the ancient kingdom of Numidia in the north of Africa. Very interesting.

Other users like Michelle from Brazil, Bigoak from South Korea and DiR from Romania wrote about the political systems in their countries, which don’t have royal families. We learned a lot, so please keep on writing your comments.

You also told us about your families. Some of you have small families that aren't very complicated to describe, like Mariam from Egypt and Damoskhan from Iran, for example.

Bigoak talked about describing families in Korean. He says "We have different words for a boy who is the son of the sister of my mother, or a boy who is the son of the brother of my mother". Right…

And he says "We have different words for a girl who is the daughter of the brother of my father, or the daughter of the brother of my mother. Very complicated isn't it?" Well, yes, Bigoak, it is. But Bigoak explains that it doesn't matter if he forgets the words for his family members because everyone is very busy and so they don't meet very often!

Angelo from Italy sent in a logic puzzle like exercise 6 in the last podcast - thanks Angelo. "Sean is looking at a photo of a boy. Albert asks him “Who is the boy in this picture?" Sean answers “I haven't got any brothers or sisters, but the father of this boy is the son of my father”. So who's the boy in the photo?"

Think about it! I'll tell you the answer at the end of the podcast.

Now it's time to find out how Carolina is doing. Carolina is from Venezuela and she's studying at Newcastle University in Britain. She lives with her friend Emily in a student house. Last time, Carolina was feeling homesick. You sent in lots of very good advice. You said she should talk to a friend, go out, talk to her family, listen to Venezuelan music… Let's see what happened.






Emily: Carolina? Carolina! It's two o'clock in the afternoon. Are you going to stay in bed all day? Are you ill? Come on Carolina! I'm worried about you. Carolina: Come in, Emily. Emily: What's the matter? You look terrible. You've been crying. Carolina: Oh Emily! Emily: What?

Carolina: I'm feeling so unhappy. Emily: Why? Whatever's wrong? Tell me. Carolina: It isn't one thing. Yesterday was a terrible day. There was a horrible man in the shop – he said I should learn to speak English. Emily: No! That's terrible. But you know that's just one person, Carolina. Most people are friendly, aren't they?

Carolina: Yes. But then I couldn't understand the man in the post office – I couldn't understand what he said. It was horrible. I felt so stupid. Emily: You're not stupid. I don't understand people sometimes. Carolina: But I'm a foreigner here – this isn't my country. It's difficult for me - I'm tired, Emily. I miss Venezuela. I miss my family. I want to go home. I just want to go home. My mother phoned last night and I just started crying when I heard her voice. It was horrible. Emily: Oh Carolina. I don't know what to say. Carolina: You can't say anything. Emily: You know there's a student counsellor at the university don't you?

Carolina: A student counsellor?

Emily: For students who have problems. You can go and see him and talk. About your problems. Maybe he can help. Carolina: No. I don't think so.

Emily: Are you sure? I can phone and make an appointment for you?

Carolina: I'm sure. Thanks Emily. I'll be OK. Emily: Look, why don't we go out for the day on Sunday? Do something different? Carolina: I can’t. I have to finish my essay. That's another thing. My university work. Last year everything was OK, but this year, I don't know, I can't do things on time. Everything's late. Emily: You're working too hard – you never have time to relax – that's why you're depressed. We'll go out on Sunday, I'll invite Jamie too. I know you don't have much time to see him. Carolina: It's Sunday. He has his band practice. Emily: Not this Sunday. They're not practicing tomorrow. Carolina: How do you know?

Emily: Cameron told me. Carolina: Cameron told you?

Emily: Yes. Now get out of bed, have a shower, sit down, and finish that essay. You've got three hours before you have to go to work. Carolina: OK. Emily: Then, on Sunday, we'll go to the city farm. Carolina: City farm? OK, I've never been. If I finish my essay. Emily: You will. Come on. Shower. I'll make you some coffee. Carolina: Thank you, Emily.






Adam

Oh, good. Emily is organizing Carolina and she’s going to get up, have a shower, and write her essay before work. And on Sunday, they're going to the city farm; that will cheer her up. In case you don't know, a city farm is a farm, with animals like cows and goats and chickens, but in a city, so that children (and adults, of course) can visit and learn about nature and where milk and eggs and meat come from. What contact do people have with nature where you live?

I don't live near a city farm, but when I'm feeling a bit down, I always go cycling in the forest. What about you? Write and tell us about a place you go when you want to cheer up. Somewhere that always makes you feel better. Write and tell us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or join us on Facebook.

Now, let's talk about some of the language you heard. What forms of the verbs does Emily use?

Emily: Yes. Now get out of bed, have a shower, sit down, and finish that essay. You've got three hours before you have to go to work. Carolina: OK.

'Get out of bed, have a shower, sit down, and finish that essay'. Emily used the imperative form of the verbs. She was giving Carolina instructions - telling her what to do. The important thing for you to remember is that she didn't say 'you get out of bed', 'you have a shower'. We don't use a subject in the imperative. And the negative is 'don't'. 'Don't get out of bed', 'don't have a shower'. The imperative form is quite strong in English, and can sound very rude, so you

can use 'please' to make it more polite: 'Pass me that book, please' or 'Please sit down.'

And sometimes we can say 'always' or 'never' with an imperative. For example, you can say 'Always tell the truth!' or 'Never tell lies!'

There are some exercise using imperatives on the website and other exercises on different topics in the podcast, too. You can do the exercises online or download them and do them on paper. And don't forget to send us your comments - we really enjoy reading them.

We'll be back next time with Tess and Ravi, talking about a very famous animal. She's very big and she lives in Scotland. Any ideas?

Oh, and the logic puzzle? Who's the boy in the photo?

Ah yes. He's Sean's son of course. Simple!

That's all for now… See you next time. Bye!







Adam and Rob Both: Hello!

Adam: Welcome to episode 19 of the Learn English Elementary podcast. I'm Adam and what's... what's your name?

Rob: Yes, I hope you remember. I'm Rob, and it's great to be back with you again. I've been quite busy recently, and sadly, this is my last podcast, but I hope you're going to enjoy it today.

Adam: OK. And today we're going to hear from Tess and Ravi again. As usual, they're talking about something that you think is typically British. An animal this time. A famous animal. Any ideas what it could be?

Rob: But first let's hear some of your comments on the last podcast. Last time we heard about Carolina. If you remember, she was very depressed and didn't want to get out of bed.

Adam: But her friend, Emily, took control of the situation. And a lot of you commented on what a good friend Emily is to Carolina. Thiosko from Mali said that it's important to have a friend who helps you, and Emily is one of the best friends that anyone could have.

Rob: And Manasset from Cameroon said "Poor Carolina, but great Emily! You helped Carolina to get up and to restore her hope". And he says that from now, when he needs to cheer up, he'll call Emily and ask her advice!

Adam: Last time we asked you to write and tell us about places where you go when you want to cheer up. And some of you like to spend time with nature when you're feeling a bit down. For example, Anacla from France goes to a little park near her house.

Rob: Pure Girl talks about Hammah park in Algiers and Yulia from Japan says "When I feel sad I go to the nearest park by the sea in my city. There I lie on the grass listening to birds chirping and watching airplanes cross the sky leaving their white tracks. And I begin to think how beautiful the world is".

Adam: Yulia also does exercise when she feels depressed. She goes to the gym and she rides her bicycle. Maviduman from Turkey goes running, and a lot of you go for a walk.

Rob: Pure Girl also says that she reads the Koran when she feels down. Ahmed Jalilou from Algeria and promise93 from Libya do the same. It always helps them to feel happy. And xiaxiap1202 - I like that name - also finds her religion helps her. She's a Chinese girl living in Singapore and she was depressed when she first arrived - but then she found a church and met some friendly people there. She says "The service also helped me to have positive thoughts, so I like to go to church".

Adam: Our podcast regular Tkazerooni from Iran sent us a long message with a lot of good advice. Liya from China has the most unusual solution when she feels depressed; she goes to a karaoke bar. She says she can let her feelings out when she sings songs - loudly!

Rob: Wow! But now, let's listen to Tess and Ravi and find out about that famous animal.






Tess and Ravi Tess: Hi everybody, I’m Tess!

Ravi: And I’m Ravi.

Tess: And as usual we’re going to talk about something you think you know about Britain. Ravi, if I say to you ‘Loch Ness’, what do you think about?

Ravi: The monster: the Loch Ness monster. Hey, Tess, do you think it really exists? I’m sure…

Tess: Right, the Loch Ness monster is another thing that listeners around the world said was a very British thing. Well, a very Scottish thing. First of all, for people who don’t know about it, let’s tell the story. Loch Ness is a big lake in the north of Scotland and some people – lots of people – believe that some strange animal – the Loch Ness monster – lives in the lake. What do you think, Ravi?

Ravi: I think it would be fantastic if there really was a monster in Loch Ness but, well, I don’t really think there is. Sorry.

Tess: I know what you mean. It’s a great story. There have been stories for hundreds of years about a big animal living in the lake – it’s a really big lake – but things got really interesting in 1933 when someone ‘saw’ the monster. The newspapers wrote about it and everyone went crazy about ‘Nessie’. That’s another name for the Loch Ness monster: Nessie.

Ravi: There are lots of different photographs and videos of the monster, but are any of them real, do you think, Tess?

Tess: None of the photographs or videos really prove that there’s a monster. And there have been lots of different

explanations: a dinosaur, a dolphin, different types of sea creatures, but no-one can really prove it.

Ravi: You know, I’m sure that if there really was a monster then someone would have found it by now. I can’t believe there really is a monster and no-one can find anything to prove it.

Tess: Well, it’s a big lake you know and it’s difficult to watch all of it all of the time.

Ravi: But still, Tess, come on!

Tess: I know, it is a bit unbelievable, isn’t it? You know some people think that there was a monster but it died. That’s why no-one’s seen it for a while.

Ravi: Do you know what I think? I think that the Loch Ness monster is a very good way to get tourists to go to the north of Scotland.

Tess: You’re right that Loch Ness is one of the most important tourist attractions in Scotland. It gets hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Ravi: And imagine if they didn’t have the Loch Ness monster. No-one would go there.

Tess: Well, it’s still a really beautiful place, Ravi. I would go there. But, yeah, you’re right, the Loch Ness monster is very good for tourism. Everyone who goes there hopes they see the monster and there are films and books and everything. I think it will be really sad if they ever say there definitely isn’t a monster.

Ravi: You’re right. It’s better not to know for sure.






Adam and Rob Rob: So what do you think? Do you believe that the Loch Ness monster really exists? Have you ever visited Loch Ness? Would you like to go? Write and tell us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or leave us a message on Facebook.

Adam: And tell us about any stories of strange monsters that you know about from your country, in the water or on the land. We love reading your messages and finding out more about your countries.

Rob: Now let's look at some of the language from the podcast. Listen. What's Ravi talking about?

Tess: You’re right that Loch Ness is one of the most important tourist attractions in Scotland. It gets hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.


Adam: Lots of visitors go to Loch Ness every year because of the monster. Ravi is imagining Loch Ness without the monster. And the result? No tourists either. It isn't a real situation; he's imagining it. Listen again to the verb forms that Ravi uses.


Rob: He says "Imagine if they didn't have the Loch Ness monster. No-one would go there." If they 'didn't have' the Loch Ness monster no-one 'would go' there. The first verb, after 'if', is in the past simple - didn't have, and the second verb is a conditional form - would go.

Adam: This is the structure that we use to talk about imaginary situations in the present or in the future with 'if'. For

example, "If I worked harder, I would get better marks." Or, "If I had a lot of money I'd buy a fast car."

Rob: A fast car? You can't drive! If I had a lot of money, I'd buy a speedboat!

Adam: Actually, I agree. I wouldn't buy a fast car; I'd buy a boat, too.

Rob: A lot of grammar books call it the 'second conditional' or the 'hypothetical' conditional. There are some exercises on the website to practice this type of conditional and to practice other language from the podcast, too. And don't forget to send us your comments. We're looking forward to hearing what you think about Nessie and your stories about strange monsters and animals around the world!

Adam: And, talking of animals, next week we'll see how Carolina gets on at the city farm, and hear from some of her new four-legged friends.

But now, it's time to say goodbye, Rob. It's been great working with you, and I hope that we can hear from you again one day.

Rob: I hope so, yes. Thank you. It's been a pleasure. And thank you all, too, for your comments. So, it's goodbye from me.

Adam: And it's goodbye from him.

Both: Bye!



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