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Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 06 - Transcript

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Transcript

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Youll find all the details on this page:http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts/series-01-episode-06

Section 1 I've had a nightmarejourney arriving late

Tess: Hello again and welcome to LearnEnglishElementary podcast number six. Im Tess fromLondon. And hes Ravi, from Manchester.Ravi: Hello.Tess: And I have to say to the listeners, Ravi has

justarrived. What happened Ravi? Oversleep?Ravi: Oh, Ive had a nightmarejourney. Theunderground was closed for some reason so I hadto get a bus and of course the bus was absolutelypacked because the underground was closed andthe traffic was awful. What a nightmare. Still, I gothere. Just in time. What about you? Was yourjourney OK?Tess: Well, I came in the car this morning. It wasbusy, but not too bad, you know.Ravi: Ah well, you see. I was nearly late but youknow I use public transport because Icare about

the planet and the environment, but if you want totake your car ..Tess: You use public transport because youhavent got a driving licence. You wont want a lifthome then in my terrible car, will you?Ravi: Oh, very kind, thanks thatll be lovely. Hey I know what I wanted to ask you your cat hasit got a name yet?Tess: Yes. Yes, he has. Hes called Oscar.Ravi: Oscar? Hmm. I quite like that. Why Oscar?Tess: I dont know, to be honest. He just looks likean Oscar. Hes socute Ravi.Ravi: Hmm. I still think you should have called himGordon. How are you today Gordon?Gordon: Fine, thanks Ravi.Ravi: Gordons our producer - and king of theterrible jokes. Well hear from him again later. Butnow, on with the show. Tess, what have we got?Tess: Weve got all sorts. Weve got the quiz,weve got Kazakhstan, weve got Carolinas newflatmates and weve got Id Like to Meet. Do youwant to tell us about it?

Section 2 Id like to meet

Ravi: OK. In this part of the podcast we askpeople a simple question which famous person,dead or alive would you like to meet? And we ask

them to explain why. So lets say hello to thisweeks guest, Vanessa, from Cambridge.Tess and Ravi: Hi Vanessa.

Vanessa: Hello. Its great to meet you both.Tess: Its nice to meet you too. And what do youdo Vanessa?Vanessa: Im a student. I study law.Ravi: Law? So youre going to be a lawyer thatsa good job to have.Vanessa: Well, yes, I hope so.Tess: Were you born in Cambridge or do youstudy there?Vanessa: Both actually. Ive 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 its better.Tess: Well, you probably have a lot more fun.Vanessa: Yes, its good.Tess: Now its time to answer the question. SoVanessa, which famous person, dead or alivewould you like to meet?Vanessa: Frida Kahlo, the painter.Ravi: OK. Ive heard the name there was a filmwasnt there? But I dont know anything about her.Vanessa: Yeah, It was a good film with SalmaHayek she was Frida.Tess: Yeah, great film. Loved it.

Vanessa: Frida Kahlo was Mexican, she was bornat the beginning of the century and she died in the1950s. When she was nineteen she was in ahorrible bus accident. She had terrible injuries Iwont describe them all, but she had to have a lotof operations, and she was in bed for a long time.She liked painting, so her mother bought a mirrorand put it over her bed. So she started paintingpictures of herself self portraits. And she neverstopped painting after that.Tess: The pictures are a bit strange though arentthey. Im not sure Id like one in my living room.

Vanessa: Well yes and no. Some people thinkthat she was a surrealist, like Salvador Dali thatshe painted dreams but that isnt true. Shepainted her life all the things that happened toher. And her life was a bit strange or lets sayunusual so the pictures are unusual too.Theyre her life her paintings tell her story.Because of the accident she couldnt havechildren and you see that in her pictures too. Ilove her. Madonna collects her paintings sheonce said that she couldnt be friends with anyonewho doesnt like Frida Kahlo. Shes incrediblyfamous now one of her paintings Roots I thinkit was was sold in 2006 for five and a half milliondollars.

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Ravi: Five and a half million dollars! I wouldntmind that in myliving room.Vanessa: Well yes I think Frida would be very

surprised too. Thats what Id like to tell her if Icould meet her how famous she is now, andhow much people especially women love herwork.Tess: Shed probably like to see the film too.Vanessa: Yes thats true. It would be reallyinteresting to hear what she thinks of it.Ravi: I think Im going to look at some of herpictures on the internet. Youve got me interestednow.Vanessa: And try and see the film if you get thechance its called Frida.Ravi: I will. Thanks a lot for that Vanessa andgood luck with your law course.Vanessa: It was a pleasure. Thanks a lot.Tess: Yes, thanks Vanessa. That was great. Anddont forget that wed like to hear from you. Whynot write and tell us about who youd like to meet?You can send your own or you can look at whatother people have sent in by checking out ourwebsite.

Section 3 Quiz

Ravi: So, as usual, its quiz time next. Tess? What

have we got?Tess: Were going to play Beginning With again.And, I hope, weve got our two players ready onthe telephone. Hello? Will?Will: (on phone) Hi Tess.Tess: and Jodie.Jodie: (on phone) HelloTess: Lets start with you Jodie. Where are youcalling from?Jodie: From Cardiff.Tess: In Wales. Do you like it?Jodie: Yeah, its great. Its a capital city, you know,

so theres quite a lot to do.Tess: And what do you do Jodie?Jodie: Im still at school. Im 16 so Im doing myGCSE exams this year.Tess: OK. Well good luck with them and good luckwith the game today. Now, Will. Where are you?Will: In Peterborough.Tess: Ah, OK. I know where that is. And whats itlike?Will: Erm, its a bit boring really. Like, there isntreally anything to do for people my age.Tess: Oh dear. Im sure its not that bad. How old

areyou?Will: Im 16 as well. Im at school, like Jodie.Tess: OK. Well, good luck to you too Will. I knowyou both know what to do but Ill quickly remind

you. Ill ask the questions and to answer you pressany button on your phone and well hear a buzzer.Lets hear your buzzers. Will. (sound of Wills

buzzer). OK. Jodie. (sound of Jodies buzzer). OK.The questions tell you what letter the answerstarts with. So, I might say A form of transportbeginning with T and you can say train ortram or another transport that begins with T.OK? Ready?Will / Jodie: Yep.Tess: Then lets go. Remember its first one tothree. Fingers on buzzers. Can you name . afruit beginning with P.(Jodies buzzer)Tess: Jodie.Jodie: PearTess: Yes. One nil to Jodie. A colour beginningwith P(Wills buzzer)Tess: Will.Will: Purple.Tess: Yes. One one. An animal beginning withW.(Wills buzzer)Tess: Will again.Will: Wolf.Tess: Right. Two one to Will. A country beginningwith A.

(Wills 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 thedecider. Ready? A sport beginning with B(Jodies buzzer)Tess: Jodie!Jodie: BadmintonTess: Yes! Well done Jodie. And bad luck Will.Jodie wins this weeks LearnEnglish book token to

buy any book you want. What kind of book are yougoing to buy Jodie?Jodie: Oh, I dont know. Ill have to think. Probablylike, a novel or something.Tess: OK, well enjoy it, whatever it is the booktoken will be in the post on its way to you today.Thank you both for playing and remember, ifyoure listening, wed like to hear your ideas forgames we can play. Send them to us [email protected]: You know wed love to hear them.

Section 4 Our person in

Ravi: Right. Its time for Our Person In. Im lookingforward to this. In this part of the podcast we hear

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from different people around the world and thistime, Rebecca Dalton is Our Woman inKazakhstan.

Rebecca: On a cold winters morning, with thicksnow on the ground around us, I watched themagnificent golden eagle fly high into the skyabove us before returning to the arm of theberkutchyand sit on his thick leather glove.

I had travelled for over 6 hours on difficult roads tomeet this man the name berkutchymeans theeagle king. The journey gave me an idea of justhow big and how empty Kazakhstan is. It isthe ninth biggest country in the world, bigger thanall of western Europe, yet it has a population ofonly fifteen million so most of the country is almostempty. And this empty countryside has everything;a major mountain range on the border with China,great lakes and rivers, deserts and plains. Mostimportantly for Kazahstan, it also has oil perhapstwenty per cent of the worlds supply and manyvaluable metals can be found here.

Over ten years ago, Kazakhstan moved its capitalcity. The new capital, Astana, is full of newbuildings designed by famous internationalarchitects a thoroughly modern city. Yet it is out

here on the empty plains watching the goldeneagle fly that you get a true feeling of this littleknown country.

The oil and valuable metals will bring changes toKazakhstan in the years to come but you feel and hope that the berkutchywill continue to flyhis eagles in this wonderful, lonely space.

Tess: Its amazing isnt it? Kazakhstan isabsolutely huge but most of us dont knowanything at all about it.

Ravi: Yeah. It sounds fantastic though, doesnt it?Tess: You say that about everywhere NewZealand, South Africa Ravi: Its true, I know. Id love to travel round theworld one day and see all of these places.Tess: By public transport?Ravi: OK. But I really do want to travel. But thenext best thing, listeners, is hearing about yourcountries so do remember that you can send yourtexts to us [email protected]. Tell ussomething interesting about your city or yourcountry.Tess: That would be great.

Section 5 Your turn

Tess: Now its time for Your Turn. Your Turn is

when we go out in the street to find out whatpeople think. This time the question was .. "Howgreen are you?"Ravi: Nice one. How green are you? what doyoudo to help save the planet? Like use publictransport.Tess: OK. Lets hear what people said.

Voice 1: What do I do to help save the planet? Notenough. I hate to say it, but its true, I mean, Ialways try to remember not to use plastic bags orrecycle or whatever but I always forget. I reallyhave to try to do more.

Voice 2: Well, we recycle pretty much everythingwe can, you know, bottles, cans, newspapers andall that but to be honest we dont do much else.

Voice 3: I do as much as I can. You have to, youknow? We all have to. I dont take short-haulflights anymore I used to fly down to Londonquite a lot and of course I recycle and everythingelse I can.

Voice 4: I know Im not going to make myself

popular saying this but I dont really do very much.Look there are factories all over the worldputting out loads and loads of pollution everysingle day and I dont see how saving your oldnewspapers is going to help apart from makingpeople feel good about themselves.

Voice 5: Ill tell you the greenest thing I do I growalmost all my own vegetables. Ive really startedthinking about where my food comes from and thefood miles and that you know, like I wont buyfood thats been flown here from Australia or

something.

Tess: They make me feel a bit guilty. Somepeople do so much. I feel like the first woman whosaid she didnt do enough. I dont think I doenough. I dorecycle things though.Ravi: Me too. Its difficult though, isnt it? Anyway,remember, listeners, that wed love to know whatyou think. How green are you?What do you do tohelp save the planet? You can write and tell us [email protected].

Section 6 Carolina

Tess: Right. Now its time to join Carolina again inNewcastle. Carolina is from Venezuela and shes

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come to Britain to live, study and have fun. Shesat Newcastle University in the north east ofEngland, studying Environmental Science. Last

time we listened Carolina had just arrived and mether new flatmates at the university. Lets seewhere she is this time.

Carolina: ... and it starts on Friday afternoon.Anyway, thank you Emily that would have beenreally difficult without you.Emily: No problem. Are you coming to theSocieties Bazaar?Carolina: The what?Emily: Oh, sorry, the Societies Bazaar. Themeeting for all the different student clubs at theuniversity.Carolina: Oh, yes, I know. I read about it. Its a bitdifferent from universities at home but I think Iunderstand. All the different clubs come to this bazaar is that right? and all the first yearstudents join the clubs they want to.Emily: But remember that the first year studentsare called freshers all of this is importantCarolina!Carolina: Freshers! Thats right. Because werefresh, I suppose. Can you join as many clubs asyou like?Emily: Yeah, as many as you want. But you have

to pay, remember. Its in there over there. Itlooks quite crowded. Shall we go in?Emily: ...I dont know really its a bit too crowdedfor me. Listen, Im going to go and join the queuefor the basketball club. Do you want to meet backhere in about 20 minutes?Carolina: OK. I want to join the InternationalStudents Society but the queue is too big. Imgoing to have a look round and wait for the queueto get smaller.Emily: OK. Ill see you back here, yeah? In about20 minutes?

Carolina: OK. See you later.

Student: ... Conservation Society just fivepounds membership. Come and join us.Carolina: Erm, hi. Erm. Im not quite sure what theConservation Society is. Can you tell me a bitabout it?

Student: Definitely. We go out into the countrysideand we do things to help the environment sort ofcountryside management you know, erm looking after forests erm .. making the countrysidebetter for animals and birds and things erm.. itsquite hard to explain really. Ah, look, here comesthe society president. Im sure he can tell youabout 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 youre thepresident of the Conservation Society? Your friendwas telling me about it.Jamie: Yes. Are you going to join? Remember Iwas telling you about the countryside inNorthumbria? North of Newcastle. Its reallybeautiful. You should join and come and see itwith us. Im sure its a bit different from Venezuela.Carolina: OK. Youve persuaded me. What do Ihave to do to join?Jamie: Excellent. You just have to fill in this form.Ill fill it in for you. Carolina. Whats 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 capitalB, a-r-c-oJamie: And have you got your email address yet?Carolina: My university email? No, not yet. But youcan use another address. Its caro del b eightyeight @ ready net .V-Z.Jamie: Can you spell that for me?Carolina: OK. Its Caro del B c-a-r-o-d-e-l-b allone 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 gota mobile number yet?Carolina: Yes. Oh, just a moment, Ill have to lookat my phone. I havent learnt it yet. Here it is. Ohdouble three four seven four six one oh threeseven.Jamie: Oh double three...Carolina: Oh double three four seven four six oneoh three seven.Jamie: ...four seven four six one oh three seven.Right. Thanks. What department are you inCarolina? I can send you our booklet. I havent

finished writing it yet.Carolina: Environmental Science. In the Daishbuilding. Can you send it there?Jamie:Yeah. No problem. The booklets got all theinformation in it. We usually meet on Sundays andtalk about what were going to do and things.Were all going out to the pub this Thursday, if youwant to come. Ill give you a ring and let you knowwhere were going, if thats OK?Carolina: Yeah. Great.Jamie: Right. Thats everything. Actually, theresone more thing. I seem to remember that you saidyoud take me to lunch. Do you want to go and geta sandwich somewhere?Carolina: Yes, I did, didnt I? OK. Erm I justneed to talk to my friend...

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Ravi: Were you in any societies at universityTess?

Tess: Loads. Well, I joined lots of societies in myfirst year but I didnt really do a lot. I was in thecycling society. And I used to play volleyball.Anyway,what about Jamie and Carolina going outfor lunch, eh?Ravi: What about it? Oh, I see what you mean.Hmm.

Section 7 The Joke

Ravi: Well, thats almost everything for today but apodcast wouldnt be a podcast without a joke fromGordon. Are you ready Gordon?Gordon: I am, Ravi. Another special one for youtoday.Ravi: Im sure it is Gordon. All of your jokes arespecial. In their own way. Lets hear it.Gordon: Anyway, a rabbit walks into a butchersshop and says Have you got any carrots?. Andthe butcher says No. This is a butchers shop we dont sell carrots, and the rabbit says OKand goes out of the shop.An hour later, the rabbit comes back. Have yougot any carrots? And the butcher says No, I toldyou, this is a butchers shop we havent got any

carrots.

An hour later it happens again, and an hour afterthat, it happens again. Well, the butchers gettingreally annoyed. Next time the rabbit comes in Have you got any carrots? the butcher saysLook, Ive told you we dont have any carrotshere. If you come back to this shop one more timeIm going to take a hammer, take some nails andIm 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 intothe shop. Have you got any nails? No says thebutcher.Have you got any carrots?

Ravi: Actually Gordon, I think thats the best oneso far. Youre getting better. Right. We have to gonow but dont go away. After this little break youregoing to hear Tom, our English teacher. Afterevery show, Tom talks about the language youheard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So,dont go away, but Ill say goodbye now. See you

next time.

Tess: Bye! Dont forget to send us your emails!Heres that address one more time. [email protected].

Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, my names Tom. At the end of everypodcast, I talk about some of the language thatyou heard, and some ways to help you learnEnglish. The first thing I want to talk about today isthe word like. Like can be used in lots ofdifferent ways in English. Listen to Tess talking toJodie at the beginning of the quiz. Listen for theword like.

Tess: Lets start with you Jodie. Where are youcalling from?Jodie: (on phone) From Cardiff.Tess: In Wales. Do you like it?Jodie: Yeah, its great. Its a capital city, you know,so theres quite a lot to do.

Tom: This is the use of like that Im sure youalready know. Its being used as a verb. Tess asksJodie if she enjoys living in Cardiff. Now listen toTess again, talking to Will this time. Listen for theword 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 whats itlike?Will: Erm, its a bit boring really.

Tom: Tess asks Will "What is it like?". Shesasking him to describePeterborough. Will couldsay "Its very big" or "Its very quiet" or "Its got alot of shops". In the question "Whats it like?", likeis a preposition, not a verb. The meaning isnt

connected to the meaning of like as a verb. Its avery common question in English when we wantsomeone to describe something to us, we oftenuse "Whats it like?". A good example is "Whatsthe weather like in London?". We want the personto tell us if its raining or sunny, if the weathersgood or bad. Or "Whats your teacher like?". Wewant you to describe your teacher. Maybe "Shesyoung" or "Shes blonde with blue eyes" or "Shesvery friendly" or even "Shes terrible!" anyanswer that describesher in some way.

Now listen to Tess and Jodie again. Listen to howJodie uses like.

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Tess: Yes! Well done Jodie. And bad luck Will.Jodie wins this weeks Learn English book tokento buy any book you want. What kind of book are

you going to buy Jodie?Jodie: Oh, I dont know. Ill have to think. Probablylike, a novel or something.

Tom: Hmmm. Jodies going to buy probably like,a novel or something. She isnt using like as averb ora preposition here. Shes using it as afiller.

A filler is something that we say to give us moretime to think, for example erm or uh, or I dontknow. You will hear young native Englishspeakers use like a lot in this way. Youll hear forexample Yeah, its like, really cool. Rememberthat this is a very informalway to speak. If youwant to use like in this way, then only do it withgroups of young friends and not in more formalsituations, with your teacher for example. Nexttime you watch a teenage film in English, listenfor like used in this way. Im sure youll notice it alot.

It can be difficult to know which words andphrases are informal in English. You may hear anew phrase in a film or a song and want to use it.

But can you be sure that youll use it in the rightsituations with the right people? A good learnersdictionary can help you with this. It will tell youwhen a word is informal. Most dictionaries use theletters infml, next to the word. This meansinformal, so then you can make a note in yourvocabulary notebook so that you wont forget.

Let me give you an example. The word childrenisnt formal or informal. You can use children inany situation, with your friends or even if you aretalking to the Queen!. Its never wrong. Its what

we call a neutralword. But the word kids which can mean exactly the same as children isa lot more informal. It would sound strange to talkabout kids at a formal party for example. Checkthe word kids in your dictionary now and see if ittells you that its an informal word.

Now lets talk about something different. Whensomeone tells you their phone number or address,it can be difficult to remember it and write it downat the same time. It can be difficult for nativespeakers, but may be more difficult if English isntyour first language. Of course, you can say Imsorry could you say that again? or Could yourepeat that please?. But listen to what Jamiedoes when Carolina tells him herphone number.

Carolina: Here it is. Oh double three four sevenfour six one oh three seven.

Jamie: Oh double three...Carolina: Oh double three four seven four six oneoh three seven.Jamie: ...four seven four six one oh three seven.Right. Thanks.

Tom: Jamie can only remember the first threenumbers. So he repeats them Oh double threeand then he pauses. He stops and waits. Thisshows Carolina that he wants her to repeat therest of the numbers for him. He doesnt need toask. We do this a lot in English maybe you do itin your language too - or maybe not. We do it withtelephone numbers, addresses and even names ifsomeone is spelling them out for us. If yourEnglish teacher says, The homework isworkbook, page 65, exercises 1, 3 and 7 andyou cant remember and write it down at the sametime, you can say Workbook page 65.. and stop.Your teacher will then repeat Exercises 1, 3 and7.

Heres another thing that I noticed in this podcast.Listen to Will and Jodie introducing themselves atthe beginning of the quiz. Theyre both sixteen

years old, so listen to what Jodie says.

Will: Im still at school. Im 16 so Im doing myGCSE exams this year....Jodie: Im 16 as well.

Tom: Yes, she says "Im sixteen as well". As wellmeans the same as too in this phrase. You cansay "Im sixteen too" or you can say "Im sixteenas well".

But be careful. You can say "Me too" but we dontsay "Me as well". If your friend says "Im going toAnas party tomorrow", you can say, "Me too" oryou can say "Im going too" or you can say "Imgoing as well". Try to use as well when yourespeaking English this week.

OK. Thats all from me today. Ill talk to you allagain on the next podcast. Remember you cansend your questions to me [email protected]. Ill behappy to answer your questions! In a momentyoull hear the address for the website where youcan read everything youve heard in this podcast.So bye for now! See you next time.

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