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?
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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.
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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….
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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.
The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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?
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
English Podcast Group !!
TRANSCRIPT
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.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 why.
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org. 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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org
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 Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 01 - Transcript Page 3 of 5 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org - 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 … Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 01 - Transcript Page 4 of 5 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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. Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 01 - Transcript Page 5 of 5 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org. 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.
ACTIVITIES:::::
Section #1
1. What do you know about Ravi? Tick all the phrases that you think are true.
There may be more than one right answer.
a) he’s from Manchester
b) he likes football
c) he likes riding his mountain bike
d) he’s 23
2. What do you know about Tess? Tick all the phrases that you think are true
a) she’s from London
b) she likes dancing
c) she’s 23
d) she’s a great cook
Section 2
3. Why does Zara like Angelina Jolie? Tick all the phrases that you think are true – there may be more than one right answer.
a) because she’s rich
b) because she uses her money to help people
c) because she’s a great actress
d) because she looks good on film
Section 3
4. Who wins the game? Tick the correct answer.
a) Alice
b) Daniel
c) Ravi
Section 4
5. What do you know about Central Park? Tick all the phrases that you think are true. Remember, there may be more than one right answer.
a) people do sports there
b) a lot of animals and birds live there
c) it is more than 100 years old
d) it was designed as a park for rich people
Section 5
6. How many people on ‘Your Turn’ think that celebrity charity is a good thing? Tick the correct number.
a) two
b) three
c) four
d) five
Section 6
7. What do we know about Carolina at the end of this section? Tick all the phrases that you think are true.
a) she comes from Venezuela
b) she has been to Britain before
c) she is going to study in Newcastle
d) she’s going to do a three-year course
e) she can’t work in Britain
Section 7
8. Does the chicken read the books from the library? Tick the correct answer.
a) Yes
b) No
******* ********
1 - “Susan, this is Paul” – introducing your friends
Ravi: Hello, and welcome to the LearnEnglish elementary podcast. 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. Tom’s tip
Notice how Tess introduced Ravi and then Ravi introduced Tess. What phrases did they use?
We often need to introduce friends to each other – at a party for example. You can use the phrases that Tess and Ravi used.
When we introduce people to each other we usually:
• say how we know the people
• give some information about the people
• try to give them something to talk about – something they have in common.
Section 1 - Exercise 1
Use the phrases in the boxes to fill the gaps in the text below.
A. this is Paul
B. Nice to meet you
C. this is Susan
D. work together
E. something to talk about
F. went to school
G. good friend of mine
H. do you know
I. I’ll introduce
J. you’ve both got in common
Dave: Paul ____________________ Susan?
Paul: I don’t think so.
Dave: OK, _______________ you. Susan, _______________, he’s a very ___________.
Susan: Hello Paul.
Dave: Paul, ____________________. We ____________________ together.
Paul: Really! ____________________ Susan.
Dave: Susan’s from Bristol. She’s here on holiday, she’s a computer programmer. Paul lives in the next street,
Susan. We ____________________ at the radio station. He produces the film programmes.
Susan: How interesting!
Dave: That’s something ____________________. Susan’s a big film fan, aren’t you Susan?
Paul: Great! Who’s your favourite director?
Dave: Well, now you’ve got ____________________, can I get you both a drink?
Section 3: Quiz
In the quiz, Daniel and Alice tried to think of things you can find in a kitchen. Look at the words below and decide if you find them in a kitchen or in a bedroom.
bed
bedside table
chest of drawers
coat
hanger
cooker
dishwasher
dressing
table
duvet
fork
fridge
glasses
kettle
lamp
microwave oven
mirror
pillow
plates
sink
wardrobe
washing
machine
Section 6 - Exercise 2
Look again at some conversations in the airport. Choose all the phrases the people can say – there is always more than one correct answer.
1: Excuse me ______________________________ for immigration?
a Am I in the right line
b Is this the right line
c Is this the queue
d Are you the line
2: Where ______________________________ today?
From Venezuela. From Caracas.
a have you arrived from
b do you come from
c have you travelled from
d was your flight from
3: Can I see your passport please?
Yes. ______________________________
a Here I am.
b Here you are.
c Here it is.
d Here she is.
4: ______________________________ here in the UK?
I’m a student. I’m going to study.
a What are you going to do
b Why are you
c What are you planning to do
d What do you intend to do
5: How long ______________________________ to stay in the UK?
a do you
b do you intend
c are you planning
d are you going to
6: Here’s your passport. Enjoy your stay.
______________________________!
a Thank you
b Same to you
c Thank you very much
d Yes please
Section 6 - Exercise 3
Now complete the conversation giving your own answers. Imagine you are in Heathrow Airport in London. Give answers that are true for you. You can practice the conversation with a friend.
Good morning.
1. __________________________________________________________
Where have you travelled from today?
2. __________________________________________________________
OK. Can I see your passport please?
3. __________________________________________________________
Is this your first visit to the UK?
4. __________________________________________________________
What are you going to do in the UK?
5. __________________________________________________________
And how long do you intend to stay here?
6. __________________________________________________________
Do you intend to work in this country?
7. __________________________________________________________
OK. I’ll just stamp your passport. Here you are. Enjoy your stay.
8. __________________________________________________________
Exercise 2
Transformations – rewrite or say the sentences correctly, using the word in brackets, so that the meaning stays the same. Don’t change the form of the word in brackets.
1. I’m going to finish my English homework tonight. (intend)
I ______________________________ my English homework tonight.
2. I’m planning to have a quiet weekend at home. (going)
I ______________________________ a quiet weekend at home.
3. I’m not going to work in the holidays. (intend)
I ______________________________ in the holidays.
4. I don’t intend to study tonight. (going)
I’m ______________________________ tonight.
5. What are you going to study at university? (planning)
What ______________________________ at university?
6. What are you planning to do in the holidays? (going)
What______________________________ in the holidays?
7. How long are you going to stay in London? (intend)
How long ______________________________in London?
8. Do you intend to study in another country? (planning)
______________________________ in another country?
Exercise 3
Fill the spaces with ‘Goodnight’ or ‘Good evening’
1. ____________________ and thank you very much for a lovely evening. We’ve had a wonderful time.
2. Hurry up kids - it’s bedtime. Come and say “____________________” to everybody.
3. ____________________ sir. Would you like a drink before your meal?
4. That’s enough work for one day. I’m going home. ____________________ Sam, see you tomorrow.
5. ____________________. We’d like a double room please, with a view of the sea if possible.
6. ____________________ and welcome to the ‘UK Tonight’ programme. Tonight we’re going to talk about celebrity charity.
7. And that’s the end of the show. I hope you’ll join us again next week. ____________________
8. Please remember kids, don’t say “Hi” when we arrive – say “____________________” – it’s more polite.
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.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 why.
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org. 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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org
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 Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 01 - Transcript Page 3 of 5 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org - 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 … Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 01 - Transcript Page 4 of 5 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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. Elementary Podcast Series 01 Episode 01 - Transcript Page 5 of 5 The United Kingdom’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We are registered in England as a charity.
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 learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org. 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.
ACTIVITIES:::::
Section #1
1. What do you know about Ravi? Tick all the phrases that you think are true.
There may be more than one right answer.
a) he’s from Manchester
b) he likes football
c) he likes riding his mountain bike
d) he’s 23
2. What do you know about Tess? Tick all the phrases that you think are true
a) she’s from London
b) she likes dancing
c) she’s 23
d) she’s a great cook
Section 2
3. Why does Zara like Angelina Jolie? Tick all the phrases that you think are true – there may be more than one right answer.
a) because she’s rich
b) because she uses her money to help people
c) because she’s a great actress
d) because she looks good on film
Section 3
4. Who wins the game? Tick the correct answer.
a) Alice
b) Daniel
c) Ravi
Section 4
5. What do you know about Central Park? Tick all the phrases that you think are true. Remember, there may be more than one right answer.
a) people do sports there
b) a lot of animals and birds live there
c) it is more than 100 years old
d) it was designed as a park for rich people
Section 5
6. How many people on ‘Your Turn’ think that celebrity charity is a good thing? Tick the correct number.
a) two
b) three
c) four
d) five
Section 6
7. What do we know about Carolina at the end of this section? Tick all the phrases that you think are true.
a) she comes from Venezuela
b) she has been to Britain before
c) she is going to study in Newcastle
d) she’s going to do a three-year course
e) she can’t work in Britain
Section 7
8. Does the chicken read the books from the library? Tick the correct answer.
a) Yes
b) No
******* ********
1 - “Susan, this is Paul” – introducing your friends
Ravi: Hello, and welcome to the LearnEnglish elementary podcast. 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. Tom’s tip
Notice how Tess introduced Ravi and then Ravi introduced Tess. What phrases did they use?
We often need to introduce friends to each other – at a party for example. You can use the phrases that Tess and Ravi used.
When we introduce people to each other we usually:
• say how we know the people
• give some information about the people
• try to give them something to talk about – something they have in common.
Section 1 - Exercise 1
Use the phrases in the boxes to fill the gaps in the text below.
A. this is Paul
B. Nice to meet you
C. this is Susan
D. work together
E. something to talk about
F. went to school
G. good friend of mine
H. do you know
I. I’ll introduce
J. you’ve both got in common
Dave: Paul ____________________ Susan?
Paul: I don’t think so.
Dave: OK, _______________ you. Susan, _______________, he’s a very ___________.
Susan: Hello Paul.
Dave: Paul, ____________________. We ____________________ together.
Paul: Really! ____________________ Susan.
Dave: Susan’s from Bristol. She’s here on holiday, she’s a computer programmer. Paul lives in the next street,
Susan. We ____________________ at the radio station. He produces the film programmes.
Susan: How interesting!
Dave: That’s something ____________________. Susan’s a big film fan, aren’t you Susan?
Paul: Great! Who’s your favourite director?
Dave: Well, now you’ve got ____________________, can I get you both a drink?
Section 3: Quiz
In the quiz, Daniel and Alice tried to think of things you can find in a kitchen. Look at the words below and decide if you find them in a kitchen or in a bedroom.
bed
bedside table
chest of drawers
coat
hanger
cooker
dishwasher
dressing
table
duvet
fork
fridge
glasses
kettle
lamp
microwave oven
mirror
pillow
plates
sink
wardrobe
washing
machine
Section 6 - Exercise 2
Look again at some conversations in the airport. Choose all the phrases the people can say – there is always more than one correct answer.
1: Excuse me ______________________________ for immigration?
a Am I in the right line
b Is this the right line
c Is this the queue
d Are you the line
2: Where ______________________________ today?
From Venezuela. From Caracas.
a have you arrived from
b do you come from
c have you travelled from
d was your flight from
3: Can I see your passport please?
Yes. ______________________________
a Here I am.
b Here you are.
c Here it is.
d Here she is.
4: ______________________________ here in the UK?
I’m a student. I’m going to study.
a What are you going to do
b Why are you
c What are you planning to do
d What do you intend to do
5: How long ______________________________ to stay in the UK?
a do you
b do you intend
c are you planning
d are you going to
6: Here’s your passport. Enjoy your stay.
______________________________!
a Thank you
b Same to you
c Thank you very much
d Yes please
Section 6 - Exercise 3
Now complete the conversation giving your own answers. Imagine you are in Heathrow Airport in London. Give answers that are true for you. You can practice the conversation with a friend.
Good morning.
1. __________________________________________________________
Where have you travelled from today?
2. __________________________________________________________
OK. Can I see your passport please?
3. __________________________________________________________
Is this your first visit to the UK?
4. __________________________________________________________
What are you going to do in the UK?
5. __________________________________________________________
And how long do you intend to stay here?
6. __________________________________________________________
Do you intend to work in this country?
7. __________________________________________________________
OK. I’ll just stamp your passport. Here you are. Enjoy your stay.
8. __________________________________________________________
Exercise 2
Transformations – rewrite or say the sentences correctly, using the word in brackets, so that the meaning stays the same. Don’t change the form of the word in brackets.
1. I’m going to finish my English homework tonight. (intend)
I ______________________________ my English homework tonight.
2. I’m planning to have a quiet weekend at home. (going)
I ______________________________ a quiet weekend at home.
3. I’m not going to work in the holidays. (intend)
I ______________________________ in the holidays.
4. I don’t intend to study tonight. (going)
I’m ______________________________ tonight.
5. What are you going to study at university? (planning)
What ______________________________ at university?
6. What are you planning to do in the holidays? (going)
What______________________________ in the holidays?
7. How long are you going to stay in London? (intend)
How long ______________________________in London?
8. Do you intend to study in another country? (planning)
______________________________ in another country?
Exercise 3
Fill the spaces with ‘Goodnight’ or ‘Good evening’
1. ____________________ and thank you very much for a lovely evening. We’ve had a wonderful time.
2. Hurry up kids - it’s bedtime. Come and say “____________________” to everybody.
3. ____________________ sir. Would you like a drink before your meal?
4. That’s enough work for one day. I’m going home. ____________________ Sam, see you tomorrow.
5. ____________________. We’d like a double room please, with a view of the sea if possible.
6. ____________________ and welcome to the ‘UK Tonight’ programme. Tonight we’re going to talk about celebrity charity.
7. And that’s the end of the show. I hope you’ll join us again next week. ____________________
8. Please remember kids, don’t say “Hi” when we arrive – say “____________________” – it’s more polite.
Monday, 23 May 2011
shark attacks !
#100 Shark Attack
http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/547399-rtr-shark-attacks
It was a hot, sunny day. The waves off Santa Barbara were almost three feet high because of a distant Pacific storm. Surfers were having fun. Then the fun ended. One surfer started yelling. Surfers on the beach saw him swinging his arms. He went under water. Then he came back up, shouting for help.
"He was in big trouble," said one woman on shore. She called 911. He was still shouting and fighting. They could not see a shark, but they knew the surfer was being attacked by one. Again, the surfer went under. Four surfers hopped onto their boards and swam rapidly out to the surfer. By the time they got to him, he was alone. The shark had given up on the taste of the rubber wetsuit and the battle that the surfer had put up.
The 24-year-old man was groaning in pain, but he was still alive. The surfers put him on a board and paddled back to shore. "I don't think he's going to make it," said someone on the beach. "Look at that leg."
A helicopter arrived shortly afterward. Paramedics hopped out and examined the victim. They thanked the surfers and the woman for their aid, and put the man into the chopper. A hospital spokesman said an hour later that the surfer would survive—he was in fair condition. Meanwhile, because there was nothing they could do and because the waves were still good, most of the surfers were out on their boards.
http://www.wiziq.com/online-class/547399-rtr-shark-attacks
It was a hot, sunny day. The waves off Santa Barbara were almost three feet high because of a distant Pacific storm. Surfers were having fun. Then the fun ended. One surfer started yelling. Surfers on the beach saw him swinging his arms. He went under water. Then he came back up, shouting for help.
"He was in big trouble," said one woman on shore. She called 911. He was still shouting and fighting. They could not see a shark, but they knew the surfer was being attacked by one. Again, the surfer went under. Four surfers hopped onto their boards and swam rapidly out to the surfer. By the time they got to him, he was alone. The shark had given up on the taste of the rubber wetsuit and the battle that the surfer had put up.
The 24-year-old man was groaning in pain, but he was still alive. The surfers put him on a board and paddled back to shore. "I don't think he's going to make it," said someone on the beach. "Look at that leg."
A helicopter arrived shortly afterward. Paramedics hopped out and examined the victim. They thanked the surfers and the woman for their aid, and put the man into the chopper. A hospital spokesman said an hour later that the surfer would survive—he was in fair condition. Meanwhile, because there was nothing they could do and because the waves were still good, most of the surfers were out on their boards.
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