British Council-02-02

Section 1: "You know that restaurant you
went to?"

Tess: Hello! And welcome back to the second
series of the LearnEnglish Elementary podcast.
This is podcast number two of this series and
we’re your presenters. I’m Tess …
Ravi: … and I’m Ravi, hello.
Tess: Right, then. Today we’ve got .. what
have we got Ravi?
Ravi: Hang on a minute, I’ve remembered what
I wanted to ask you. How was your birthday?
Tess: Oh, well, it was great, thanks, Ravi: . We
had a nice meal.
Ravi: Good, good. Well, you know that
restaurant you went to? The French one?
Tess: Yeah.
Ravi: Was it any good?
Tess: Yeah, it was. Yeah. Really good. Bit
expensive, but the food was excellent, you
know.
Ravi: You’d recommend it then?
Tess: Are you thinking of going?
Ravi: Yeah, I might. I thought I might take
someone.
Tess: Oh yeah? Anyone I know?
Ravi: Hmm? No, I don’t think so. When you say
‘expensive’ , was it , like, really expensive or
just expensive expensive.
Tess: It was quite a lot actually. I think we paid
about sixty pounds each – including the wine.
Ravi: Sixty quid! Erm. That is a bit more than I
wanted to pay. Hmm.
Tess: Well, it was my birthday. I’ll tell you what
though. There’s an Italian restaurant just around
the corner – people say that's quite good. Can't
remember the name, but…
Ravi: Oh, that one. I know it. I don't fancy that,
though. I went there once and the pasta was
worse than the stuff I cook at home…
Tess: Well, you are a great cook, Ravi …
Ravi: Well, thanks, Tess. But this was bad. The
pasta was awful and the meat was really tough.
Over-cooked. Tasted like rubber. Horrible. And I
didn't feel too good the next day…my stomach –
you know…
Tess: Say no more.
Ravi: Any more ideas? I wanted somewhere a
bit special this time, a bit different
Tess: Well, there's a new Japanese place round
the corner. It looks nice…
Ravi: I'm still a bit of a beginner with Japanese
food. I'm never sure what to order – I don’t know
what it all is. I feel a bit stupid in Japanese
restaurants…
Tess: I know what you mean. And you don't
want to look stupid in front of… Who did you
say you were taking?
Ravi: I didn’t.
Tess: Should I just get on with the podcast?
Ravi: Yes.
Tess: OK then, I’ll do that shall I? Right. what
have we got? There’s the quiz, ….
Ravi: Oh, hang on a moment. I forgot
something. You know in the last podcast we told
everyone that Gordon’s gone – got a new job -
and taken his fantastic jokes with him?
Tess: I’m not sure about fantastic.
Ravi: Well, loads of people wrote to say they
wanted Gordon back! Imagine! They loved the
jokes! Anyway, I'm afraid Gordon's definitely
gone, but the good news is … dada dada da da
a – I'm taking over
Tess: Oh no…
Ravi: Yes, as from today, I'll be telling the jokes.
And some of them don't have animals in them!
Tess: Great. Something to really look forward
to. Anyway, let's get back to what we have on
today's show. As I said, we’ll have our quiz,
….as usual, we’ll hear what people think in
‘Your Turn’ – what’s the question this time?
Ravi: It’s about shopping.

Section 2: I’d like to talk about…

Tess: And there’ll be Carolina too, of course,
we’ll see how she’s getting on, but, as usual,
we’ll start with ‘I’d like to talk about’. This is the
part of our show when someone tells us about
something important to them - a hobby, a
person, a place, a thing – whatever.
Ravi: Yes, something that you know a bit about
and would like to share with all of us. And today
we’ve got Liam: here in the studio – Hi Liam: .
Liam: Hi Ravi, hi Tess.
Tess: Hi Liam
Ravi: Just introduce yourself first, you know, tell
us a bit about yourself before we start.

Liam: OK. I’m Irish, I’m from Dublin, I’m twenty-
two, and I’m training to be a teacher.
Tess: Dublin’s a long way away from London!
Liam: Yes, I’m in London for a while, visiting
family. So I thought I’d come into the studio and
talk about Albert Einstein.
Ravi: Wow. Albert Einstein. E equals mc
squared. Are you a scientist by any chance?
Liam: No, I’m not. I love science though – and
that’s what I want to do in a way - I’m training to
be a physics teacher. That’s why I love Einstein
– I think he’s a brilliant example for kids, he
really shows them that science isn’t boring. It’s
about using your imagination. Einstein was a
real ‘artist’ – he was a science superstar.
Everyone has this image of him as an old man
with grey hair, but he was young when he made
his most important discoveries – he was in his
twenties. Not much older than me in fact.
Tess: I heard he was a really bad student at
school. Is that true?
Liam: I’m not sure it is. I think he was a clever
student – he always got good marks, but he
hated school as a teenager. He thought the
lessons were boring – he used to skip school
and study the things that he wanted to learn
about. He thought that he didn’t learn anything
at school and I think that a lot of kids today will
understand how he felt.
Ravi: And are you going to explain relativity and
e equals mc squared?
Liam: Ha! How long is the podcast? No, I don’t
think so.
Ravi: Oh go on!
Liam: Well …. the most interesting thing for me
about Einstein’s theories is the stuff about time.
Time isn’t always the same – it goes faster or
slower in different situations – it’s relative. For
example, if you put a clock on a spaceship
that’s travelling very fast, then the clock goes
more slowly than a clock on earth.
Ravi: So, if I travel on a spaceship for thirty
years, when I come back Tess: will be an old
woman and I’ll still be young and gorgeous?
Liam: Well yes.
Tess: He’s not sure about the ‘gorgeous’ part
Ravi.
Liam: So time depends on speed. And it also
depends on gravity. Time passes more slowly
on the planet Jupiter for example, because the
gravity there is much stronger than the gravity
on Earth.
Tess: Wow! So time is different everywhere in
the universe!
Liam: That’s right. It’s relative. It isn’t just a
crazy theory – space engineers nowadays have
to use it when they send ships out into space.
They have to use it in their calculations. It’s
complicated, but I hope I’ve explained it a bit.
Ravi: You certainly have Liam. I can see you’ve
got a great future as a teacher.
Liam: Well thanks. I hope so.
Tess: Yes, I’d like to learn a bit more about it
now. Do you know any good websites with
simple explanations Liam? Perhaps we could
put a couple of links on the site for people who’d
like to read some more?
Liam: I can try and find some for you Tess.
Tess: Great.
Ravi: Yes, great. Thanks a lot Liam, and good
luck in your future career.
Liam: Thanks Ravi. Thanks Tess. I’ve enjoyed
being here.
Ravi: OK, let’s move on with the podcast.
Tess: Young and gorgeous indeed.
Ravi: And of course listeners, we’d like to hear
your thoughts on Einstein and relativity, or any
other topic that you’d like to talk about. You can
write something or record something and send it
to us at learn English podcast at British Council
dot org, that’s learnenglishpodcast - all one
word – at - britishcouncil – all one word DOT
org, that’s o-r-g. Send it to us and we’ll put the
most interesting ones on the site.

Section 3 – Quiz

Tess: Right. Now, it’s time for the quiz. Hello,
Eva.
Eva: {on phone} Eva {Ey-va}
Tess: Sorry – Eva. Sorry.
Eva: That’s OK, everyone says it wrong.
Tess: Is it French?
Eva: No, it’s from Slovakia. My mum’s Slovak.
Tess: Ah, OK. But you’re in Scotland now,
right?
Eva: That’s right. In Coatbridge. Near
Glasgow.
Tess: OK. What do you do there?
Eva: I’m doing my A levels.
Tess: Right. You’re still at school then. What
subjects are you doing? Is it hard work?
Eva: I’m doing English, French and History.
Yeah, it is hard work, yeah.
Tess: But do you enjoy it?

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

Section 4: Your turn

 Tess: Right. Now it’s time for Your Turn. This is
the part of the podcast when we go out and ask
different people what they think about
something. We ask a different question in every
podcast.
Ravi: Yes. And this time the question is
‘Shopping – love it? Hate it?’ or ‘It depends’?.
Let’s hear what people said.
Voice 1: I hate shopping. I hate shopping in
supermarkets, I hate shopping in the market,
and I hate shopping for clothes, I especially
hate shopping in the sales. In fact, I would
prefer to do all my shopping online.
Voice 2: I love it if I’m in the right mood for
shopping, but I can’t stand shopping in really
busy places and I hate it when the music’s on
too loud, and I also hate pushy shop assistants.
Voice 3: Well, it depends on the kind of
shopping, really, if it’s clothes shopping or
buying a gift for someone I quite enjoy it. If it’s
shopping just for daily foodstuffs I do find that a
bit boring, in fact lately I’ve taken to using the
Internet and just doing online shopping. I find
that much easier.
Voice 4: I love shopping. I love when shopping
happens, you know you didn’t plan it but then
you just see the perfect thing and you just have
to buy it. I love it when it just happens. I love
shopping and spending money.
Voice 5: Shopping – love it or hate it? I don’t
understand it. You should only go shopping
when you need to go shopping to buy food or
clothes, for example, but shopping for pleasure
is just beyond my understanding. I can’t
possibly understand why people could possibly
enjoy such an activity.
Tess: What do you think Ravi? We do call you
‘the king of shopping’.
Ravi: You know I love shopping Tess. Clothes,
CDs, DVDs, buying presents for people, stuff for
the house. Everything really.
Tess: Even the supermarket?
Ravi: Ah, well, perhaps not so much. But I don’t
mind it. What about you?
Tess: I hate supermarkets. No, I’m not a big
shopping fan really. And what about our
listeners? Why don’t you write in and tell us
what you think about shopping?

Section 5: Carolina

Ravi: OK then, time to catch up with Carolina:
again. Remember that Carolina: is a student
from Venezuela who’s come to England to
study at university. We’ve been following her
on the podcast as she studies – and relaxes –
in Newcastle. Last time she was shoe shopping
– let’s see what she’s up to this time.
{knock on a door}
Emily: Hello?
Carolina: Hi, Emily. Can I come in?

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

{knock on a door}

Helen Stafford: : Come in. Ah, Carolina: . How
are you?
Carolina: Fine, thanks. Have you got a minute?
Helen Stafford: Yes, sure. Have a seat. What
can I do for you?
Carolina: Could I ask you about the essay you
sent back to me?
Helen Stafford: Ah, OK. You got it? Good.
Yes, have you got it there? OK. Right. Let me
have a look. Oh, yes. Well, generally I thought
this was quite good. There were one or two
things ...

Carolina: …yes, yes it does. I should have said
that, I know. Oh dear.
Helen Stafford: Well, with those parts changed it
would be a really good essay.
Carolina: Right. Thank you.
Helen Stafford: But as it is, it’s a good start.
You need to think about the other things as well
– the bibliography mainly – but I think you’re on
the right lines with this.
Carolina: OK. Thank you very much for your
time.
Helen Stafford: That’s alright. I hope you feel a
bit better about it now.
Carolina: I do, thank you. It’s a really big help.
Helen Stafford: And how are things in general?
Are you settling in okay?
Carolina: Settling in…?
Helen Stafford: Well, it must be a bit strange:
different country, new people, different
language, different study system. It must take
time to – er – get comfortable with all those
changes.
Carolina: Well, I was a bit upset this week –
about the essay and everything, but I have
‘settled in’ all right. I’ve made friends… things
are going well.
Helen Stafford: Good. Well, you know where I
am. Just check on the site to see when I’m
here if you need to come and have a chat
again.
Carolina: OK, I will. Thank you.
Helen Stafford: Bye.
Carolina: Bye.


Ravi: You went to university. I bet you were
one of the total genius students getting eighty
five percent for everything.
Tess: I wish. God, I hated writing essays. I’m
really glad I don’t have to do that anymore.
Ravi: Well, if any of our listeners want to write to
us, they ….
Tess: Gah, terrible link Ravi:
Ravi: {laughs} You think so? I thought that was
pretty good. Anyway, remember you can send
things to us here at the podcast.
Tess: Yeah, go on. We’d love to hear from you
– you can record yourself and send it to us too.
If we like it, we’ll put it on the site. Well, I think
that’s it from us….

Section 6: Joke

Ravi: {cough} Haven’t you forgotten something?
... Like my joke? I’ve been practising all day.
Tess: Go on then.
Ravi: A duck goes into a bar….
Tess:You said they weren’t about animals.
Ravi: I said some of them weren’t about
animals. This one’s about a duck. So, a duck
goes into a pub and says “I’d like a pint of beer
please.” And the barman is a bit surprised to
see a duck that can talk, but he gives him the
beer. So the duck comes into the pub for a beer
the next day, and the next day, and the next
day, and he chats to the barman, and after a
few weeks they get quite friendly. So one day
the barman says “You know, you really are a
very unusual duck. Did you know there’s a
circus in town at the moment? Why don’t you go
and see if they can give you a job? I’m sure
they’d be very interested”. And the duck says
“Well OK. But are you sure they need a
computer programmer?”
Tess: {laughing} Actually, that’s quite funny
Ravi. Better than some of Gordon’s!
Ravi: Well thank you very much Tess.
Tess: Not at all. Now that really is time for us to
say goodbye. Remember, the address for
anything that you want to send us is
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org. But
don’t go away because Tom the teacher will be
here to talk about learning English and some of
the language that you’ve heard in today’s
podcast. So I’ll say goodbye…
Ravi: Me too. Bye!

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

Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, I’m Tom. I’m here at the end of every
podcast to talk about some of the language you
heard in the programme, and to talk about ways
to help you learn English. The first thing I want
to look at today is the word ‘tell’. A lot of
learners want to know the difference between
the verbs ‘tell’ and ‘say’. This is quite difficult to
explain! ‘Say’ and ‘tell’ are almost the same in
meaning – they’re both connected with
speaking. ‘Say’ can be used in lots of situations,
but when we are giving information to someone,
we usually use ‘tell’. But let’s look at ‘say’ first.
Listen to the first line of Ravi’s joke about the
talking duck.

Ravi: So, a duck goes into a pub and says “I’d
like a pint of beer please.”

Tom: Listen to another example.

Ravi: And this time the question is ‘Shopping –
love it? Hate it?’ or ‘It depends’?. Let’s hear
what people said.

Tom: Yes, the past form of ‘say’ is ‘said’. ‘Say’
and ‘said’ are very common words in English.
Listen to Tess at the end of the podcast.

Tess: Now that really is time for us to say
goodbye. Remember, the address for anything
that you want to send us is
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.

Tom: Tess said ‘It’s time for us to say goodbye’.
You can say goodbye, say hello, say thank you,
say happy birthday. If we want to say who we’re
speaking to, then we use ‘to’. Tess can say
‘goodbye’ to us, or Ravi can say ‘Happy
birthday’ to Tess. We can’t say ‘Tess said me
goodbye’ or ‘Ravi said Tess happy birthday’, or
‘Ravi said her happy birthday’. We can’t use
‘say’ with words like ‘us’ or ‘her’, or a name – we
can’t use ‘say’ with an object. Now listen to an
example of ‘tell’. How is it different?

Ravi: Just introduce yourself first, you know, tell
us a bit about yourself before we start.

Tom: Ravi said ‘tell us a bit about yourself’. He
used the object – ‘us’ after ‘tell’. ‘Tell us’. Listen

to another example. It’s Tess at the beginning of
the quiz. What’s the object word this time?

Tess: We’re going to play ‘10 things’. It’s a new
one but I’ll tell you what you have to do, OK.

Tom: Yes, that’s right. She said ‘I’ll tell you what
you have to do’. This is the big difference
between ‘say’ and ‘tell’. We use an object
immediately after ‘tell’ but not after ‘say’. One
more example. Listen to Ravi.

Ravi: Oh, hang on a moment. I forgot
something. You know in the last podcast we told
everyone that Gordon’s gone – got a new job -
and taken his fantastic jokes with him?

Tom: Ravi said ‘we told everyone that Gordon’s
gone’. ‘Told’ is the past form of ‘tell’. ‘We told
everyone’. ‘Everyone’ is the object. Ravi can’t
say ‘we said everyone that Gordon’s gone’. We
just can’t use ‘say’ in that way. Try to notice
examples of ‘say’ and ‘tell’ in the English that
you read or listen to. A good learners’ dictionary
will help you. Remember that a dictionary isn’t
only about meanings and definitions. A learners’
dictionary will give you examples of the word
used in sentences, so you can see exactly how
to use the word. Try it when you’ve finished
listening to the podcast. Find ‘say’ and ‘tell’ in
your dictionary and see what the example
sentences are. Make a note of them in your
vocabulary book. Add more examples when you
notice them. ... A dictionary can help in another
way too. Listen to Tess at the end of the quiz.
She’s repeating Eva’s answers for things that
you can ‘tell’.

Tess: You did do really well. Let’s check them:
Tell a story, tell the truth, tell a lie, tell the time,
tell the difference, tell someone off, tell right
from wrong, tell apart and tell someone to do
something. Nine. Good stuff, Eva.

Tom: These are all phrases where we use ‘tell’.
You can tell the children a story or tell your
mother a lie. You don’t ‘say a story’ or ‘say a
lie’. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember if
you should use ‘say’ or ‘tell’. So use your
dictionary again to help you. Find the word
‘story’ and look at the example sentences. You
will find the verb ‘tell’ in the examples, so you’ll
know that ‘tell’ is the verb to use with ‘story’. A
good learners’ dictionary really is a very good
friend!

Tom: Now for something different - words that
British people use for money. You probably
have a lot of different words for money in your
language too. Listen to Ravi and Tess. They’re
talking about the restaurant that Tess went to
for her birthday. Listen to the word that Ravi
uses for ‘pounds’

Ravi: When you say ‘expensive’ , was it , like,
really expensive or just expensive expensive.
Tess: It was quite a lot actually. I think we paid
about sixty pounds each – including the wine.
Ravi: Sixty quid! Erm. That is a bit more than I
wanted to pay. Hmm.

Tom: Yes, he said ‘quid’ – ‘sixty quid’. ‘Quid’ is a
very common word for ‘pounds’ in English. You
don’t have to say ‘quid’ – you can say ‘pounds’,
but you need to understand the word if
someone says it to you. Let me tell you some
more common words for money so that you can
understand them when you hear them. British
people often say ‘a fiver’ for five pounds, and ‘a
tenner’ for ten pounds. So you can say ‘How
much did the coffees cost?’ and the person
might say ‘Only a fiver’. Another common word
is ‘grand’. ‘A grand’ is a thousand pounds. So a
car can cost ‘twelve grand’ or a house might
cost ‘two hundred grand’ or someone’s salary
can be ‘twenty grand a year.

Tom: Now I want to talk about the word ‘right’. I
noticed it a lot in this podcast. Listen to Carolina
and her tutor. What does ‘right’ mean here?

Helen Stafford: Well, with those parts changed it
would be a really good essay.
Carolina: Right. Thank you.

Tom: Yes, Carolina uses ‘right’ to mean ‘OK’.
Now listen to Tess and Liam talking about
Einstein’s theory of relativity. Why does Liam
use ‘right’?

Tess: Wow! So time is different everywhere in
the universe!
Liam: That’s right. It’s relative. It isn’t just a
crazy theory – space engineers nowadays have
to use it.


Tom: That’s right. I say this all the time! We use
‘that’s right’ when we agree with what someone
says, when their answer is ‘right’ not ‘wrong’.
We can also use ‘right’ in another way – to ask
a question. Listen to Tess and Eva.

Eva: My mum’s Slovak.
Tess: Ah, OK. But you’re in Scotland now,
right?
Eva: That’s right. In Coatbridge. Near
Glasgow.

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