British Council-06

Section 1 – “I've had a nightmare
journey” – arriving late

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

Section 2 – I’d like to meet

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

Ravi: Five and a half million dollars! I wouldn’t
mind that in my living room.
Vanessa: Well yes – I think Frida would be very
surprised too. That’s what I’d like to tell her if I
could meet her – how famous she is now, and
how much people – especially women – love her
work.
Tess: She’d probably like to see the film too.
Vanessa: Yes – that’s true. It would be really
interesting to hear what she thinks of it.
Ravi: I think I’m going to look at some of her
pictures on the internet. You’ve got me interested
now.
Vanessa: And try and see the film if you get the
chance – it’s called “Frida”.
Ravi: I will. Thanks a lot for that Vanessa – and
good luck with your law course.
Vanessa: It was a pleasure. Thanks a lot.
Tess: Yes, thanks Vanessa. That was great. And
don’t forget that we’d like to hear from you. Why
not write and tell us about who you’d like to meet?
You can send your own or you can look at what
other people have sent in by checking out our
website.

Section 3 – Quiz

Ravi: So, as usual, it’s quiz time next. Tess? What
have we got?
Tess: We’re going to play ‘Beginning With’ again.
And, I hope, we’ve got our two players ready on
the telephone. Hello? Will?
Will: (on phone) Hi Tess.
Tess: …and Jodie.
Jodie: (on phone) Hello
Tess: Let’s start with you Jodie. Where are you
calling from?
Jodie: From Cardiff.
Tess: In Wales. Do you like it?
Jodie: Yeah, it’s great. It’s a capital city, you know,
so there’s quite a lot to do.
Tess: And what do you do Jodie?
Jodie: I’m still at school. I’m 16 so I’m doing my
GCSE exams this year.
Tess: OK. Well good luck with them and good luck
with the game today. Now, Will. Where are you?
Will: In Peterborough.
Tess: Ah, OK. I know where that is. And what’s it
like?
Will: Erm, it’s a bit boring really. Like, there isn’t
really anything to do for people my age.
Tess: Oh dear. I’m sure it’s not that bad. How old
are you?
Will: I’m 16 as well. I’m at school, like Jodie.
Tess: OK. Well, good luck to you too Will. I know
you both know what to do but I’ll quickly remind
you. I’ll ask the questions and to answer you press
any button on your phone and we’ll hear a buzzer.
Let’s hear your buzzers. Will. (sound of Will’s
buzzer). OK. Jodie. (sound of Jodie’s buzzer). OK.
The questions tell you what letter the answer
starts with. So, I might say ‘A form of transport
beginning with ‘T’’ – and you can say ‘train’ or
‘tram’ or another transport that begins with ‘T’.
OK? Ready?
Will / Jodie: Yep.
Tess: Then let’s go. Remember it’s first one to
three. Fingers on buzzers. Can you name …. a
fruit beginning with ‘P’.
(Jodie’s buzzer)
Tess: Jodie.
Jodie: Pear
Tess: Yes. One nil to Jodie. A colour beginning
with ‘P’
(Will’s buzzer)
Tess: Will.
Will: Purple.
Tess: Yes. One one. An animal beginning with
‘W’.
(Will’s buzzer)
Tess: Will again.
Will: Wolf.
Tess: Right. Two one to Will. A country beginning
with ‘A’.
(Will’s buzzer)
Tess: Will.
Will: Africa. No. Sorry.
Tess: No. A country, not a continent. Jodie?
Jodie: Argentina.
Tess: Yes. Two two. So the next one is the
decider. Ready? A sport beginning with ‘B’
(Jodie’s buzzer)
Tess: Jodie!
Jodie: Badminton
Tess: Yes! Well done Jodie. And bad luck Will.
Jodie wins this week’s LearnEnglish book token to
buy any book you want. What kind of book are you
going to buy Jodie?
Jodie: Oh, I don’t know. I’ll have to think. Probably
like, a novel or something.
Tess: OK, well enjoy it, whatever it is – the book
token will be in the post on its way to you today.
Thank you both for playing and remember, if
you’re listening, we’d like to hear your ideas for
games we can play. Send them to us at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.
Ravi: You know we’d love to hear them.

Section 4 – Our person in

Ravi: Right. It’s time for Our Person In. I’m looking
forward to this. In this part of the podcast we hear

from different people around the world and this
time, Rebecca Dalton is … Our Woman in
Kazakhstan.

Rebecca: On a cold winter’s morning, with thick
snow on the ground around us, I watched the
magnificent golden eagle fly high into the sky
above us before returning to the arm of the
berkutchy and sit on his thick leather glove.

I had travelled for over 6 hours on difficult roads to
meet this man – the name berkutchy means ‘the
eagle king’. The journey gave me an idea of just
how big – and how empty – Kazakhstan is. It is
the ninth biggest country in the world, bigger than
all of western Europe, yet it has a population of
only fifteen million so most of the country is almost
empty. And this empty countryside has everything;
a major mountain range on the border with China,
great lakes and rivers, deserts and plains. Most
importantly for Kazahstan, it also has oil – perhaps
twenty per cent of the world’s supply – and many
valuable metals can be found here.

Over ten years ago, Kazakhstan moved its capital
city. The new capital, Astana, is full of new
buildings designed by famous international
architects – a thoroughly modern city. Yet it is out
here on the empty plains watching the golden
eagle fly that you get a true feeling of this little
known country.

The oil and valuable metals will bring changes to
Kazakhstan in the years to come but you feel –
and hope – that the berkutchy will continue to fly
his eagles in this wonderful, lonely space.

Tess: It’s amazing isn’t it? Kazakhstan is
absolutely huge but most of us don’t know
anything at all about it.
Ravi: Yeah. It sounds fantastic though, doesn’t it?
Tess: You say that about everywhere – New
Zealand, South Africa …
Ravi: It’s true, I know. I’d love to travel round the
world one day and see all of these places.
Tess: By public transport?
Ravi: OK. But I really do want to travel. But the
next best thing, listeners, is hearing about your
countries so do remember that you can send your
texts to us at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org. Tell us
something interesting about your city or your
country.
Tess: That would be great.


Section 5 – Your turn

Tess: Now it’s time for Your Turn. Your Turn is
when we go out in the street to find out what
people think. This time the question was ….. "How
green are you?"
Ravi: Nice one. “How green are you?” – what do
you do to help save the planet? Like use public
transport.
Tess: OK. Let’s hear what people said.

Voice 1: What do I do to help save the planet? Not
enough. I hate to say it, but it’s true, I mean, I
always try to remember not to use plastic bags or
recycle or whatever but I always forget. I really
have to try to do more.

Voice 2: Well, we recycle pretty much everything
we can, you know, bottles, cans, newspapers and
all that but to be honest we don’t do much else.

Voice 3: I do as much as I can. You have to, you
know? We all have to. I don’t take short-haul
flights anymore – I used to fly down to London
quite a lot – and of course I recycle and everything
else I can.

Voice 4: I know I’m not going to make myself
popular saying this but I don’t really do very much.
Look – there are factories all over the world
putting out loads and loads of pollution every
single day and I don’t see how saving your old
newspapers is going to help apart from making
people feel good about themselves.

Voice 5: I’ll tell you the greenest thing I do – I grow
almost all my own vegetables. I’ve really started
thinking about where my food comes from and the
food miles and that – you know, like I won’t buy
food that’s been flown here from Australia or
something.

Tess: They make me feel a bit guilty. Some
people do so much. I feel like the first woman who
said she didn’t do enough. I don’t think I do
enough. I do recycle things though.
Ravi: Me too. It’s difficult though, isn’t it? Anyway,
remember, listeners, that we’d love to know what
you think. How green are you? What do you do to
help save the planet? You can write and tell us at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.

Section 6 – Carolina

Tess: Right. Now it’s time to join Carolina again in
Newcastle. Carolina is from Venezuela and she’s

come to Britain to live, study and have fun. She’s
at Newcastle University in the north east of
England, studying Environmental Science. Last
time we listened Carolina had just arrived and met
her new flatmates at the university. Let’s see
where she is this time.

Carolina: ... and it starts on Friday afternoon.
Anyway, thank you Emily – that would have been
really difficult without you.
Emily: No problem. Are you coming to the
Societies Bazaar?
Carolina: The what?
Emily: Oh, sorry, the Societies Bazaar. The
meeting for all the different student clubs at the
university.
Carolina: Oh, yes, I know. I read about it. It’s a bit
different from universities at home but I think I
understand. All the different clubs come to this –
‘bazaar’ – is that right? – and all the first year
students join the clubs they want to.
Emily: But remember that the first year students
are called ‘freshers’ – all of this is important
Carolina!
Carolina: Freshers! That’s right. Because we’re
fresh, I suppose. Can you join as many clubs as
you like?
Emily: Yeah, as many as you want. But you have
to pay, remember. It’s in there – over there. It
looks quite crowded. Shall we go in?
Emily: ... I don’t know really – it’s a bit too crowded
for me. Listen, I’m going to go and join the queue
for the basketball club. Do you want to meet back
here in about 20 minutes?
Carolina: OK. I want to join the International
Students Society but the queue is too big. I’m
going to have a look round and wait for the queue
to get smaller.
Emily: OK. I’ll see you back here, yeah? In about
20 minutes?
Carolina: OK. See you later.

Student: ... Conservation Society – just five
pounds membership. Come and join us.
Carolina: Erm, hi. Erm. I’m not quite sure what the
Conservation Society is. Can you tell me a bit
about it?

Student: Definitely. We go out into the countryside
and we do things to help the environment – sort of
countryside management – you know, erm …
looking after forests erm .. making the countryside
better for animals and birds and things … erm.. it’s
quite hard to explain really. Ah, look, here comes
the society president. I’m sure he can tell you
about it better than me.
Carolina: Jamie. Hi. We met on the train,
remember?
Jamie: Carolina! Hi. How are you? Did you find
your room OK and everything?
Carolina: Yes. Thank you. And you’re the
president of the Conservation Society? Your friend
was telling me about it.
Jamie: Yes. Are you going to join? Remember I
was telling you about the countryside in
Northumbria? North of Newcastle. It’s really
beautiful. You should join and come and see it
with us. I’m sure it’s a bit different from Venezuela.
Carolina: OK. You’ve persuaded me. What do I
have to do to join?
Jamie: Excellent. You just have to fill in this form.
I’ll fill it in for you. Carolina. What’s your surname?
Carolina: Del Barco Do you want me to spell it?
Jamie: Yeah, please. Is it one word or two words?
Carolina: Two words. d-e-l .. small ‘d’ , then capital
B, a-r-c-o
Jamie: And have you got your email address yet?
Carolina: My university email? No, not yet. But you
can use another address. It’s caro del b eighty
eight @ ready net .V-Z.
Jamie: Can you spell that for me?
Carolina: OK. It’s Caro del B – c-a-r-o-d-e-l-b – all
one word. Eighty eight. At. Ready Net – r-e-a-d-y-
n-e-t dot v-z.
Jamie: ... net dot v z. OK, great. And have you got
a mobile number yet?
Carolina: Yes. Oh, just a moment, I’ll have to look
at my phone. I haven’t learnt it yet. Here it is. Oh
double three four seven four six one oh three
seven.
Jamie: Oh double three...
 Carolina: Oh double three four seven four six one
oh three seven.
 Jamie: ...four seven four six one oh three seven.
Right. Thanks. What department are you in
Carolina? I can send you our booklet. I haven’t
finished writing it yet.
Carolina: Environmental Science. In the Daish
building. Can you send it there?
Jamie: Yeah. No problem. The booklet’s got all the
information in it. We usually meet on Sundays and
talk about what we’re going to do and things.
We’re all going out to the pub this Thursday, if you
want to come. I’ll give you a ring and let you know
where we’re going, if that’s OK?
Carolina: Yeah. Great.
Jamie: Right. That’s everything. Actually, there’s
one more thing. I seem to remember that you said
you’d take me to lunch. Do you want to go and get
a sandwich somewhere?
Carolina: Yes, I did, didn’t I? OK. Erm … I just
need to talk to my friend...


Ravi: Were you in any societies at university
Tess?
Tess: Loads. Well, I joined lots of societies in my
first year but I didn’t really do a lot. I was in the
cycling society. And I used to play volleyball.
Anyway, what about Jamie and Carolina going out
for lunch, eh?
Ravi: What about it? Oh, I see what you mean.
Hmm.

Section 7 – The Joke

Ravi: Well, that’s almost everything for today but a
podcast wouldn’t be a podcast without a joke from
Gordon. Are you ready Gordon?
Gordon: I am, Ravi. Another special one for you
today.
Ravi: I’m sure it is Gordon. All of your jokes are
‘special’. In their own way. Let’s hear it.
Gordon: Anyway, a rabbit walks into a butcher’s
shop and says “Have you got any carrots?”. And
the butcher says “No. This is a butcher’s shop –
we don’t sell carrots,” and the rabbit says “OK”
and goes out of the shop.
An hour later, the rabbit comes back. “Have you
got any carrots?” And the butcher says “No, I told
you, this is a butcher’s shop – we haven’t got any
carrots”.

An hour later – it happens again, and an hour after
that, it happens again. Well, the butcher’s getting
really annoyed. Next time the rabbit comes in –
“Have you got any carrots?” the butcher says
“Look, I’ve told you – we don’t have any carrots
here. If you come back to this shop one more time
I’m going to take a hammer, take some nails and
I’m going to nail your ears to the floor! OK?”

So, the rabbit goes away. But, guess what, an
hour later, the rabbit comes back and walks into
the shop. “Have you got any nails?” “No” says the
butcher.
“Have you got any carrots?”

Ravi: Actually Gordon, I think that’s the best one
so far. You’re getting better. Right. We have to go
now but don’t go away. After this little break you’re
going to hear Tom, our English teacher. After
every show, Tom talks about the language you
heard and gives you ideas to help you learn. So,
don’t go away, but I’ll say goodbye now. See you
next time.
Tess: Bye! Don’t forget to send us your emails!
Here’s that address one more time. It’s
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.

Tom the teacher

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

Tess: Let’s start with you Jodie. Where are you
calling from?
Jodie: (on phone) From Cardiff.
Tess: In Wales. Do you like it?
Jodie: Yeah, it’s great. It’s a capital city, you know,
so there’s quite a lot to do.

Tom: This is the use of ‘like’ that I’m sure you
already know. It’s being used as a verb. Tess asks
Jodie if she enjoys living in Cardiff. Now listen to
Tess again, talking to Will this time. Listen for the
word ‘like’. Is it a verb here?

Tess: Now, Will. Where are you?
Will: (on phone) In Peterborough.
Tess: Ah, OK. I know where that is. And what’s it
like?
Will: Erm, it’s a bit boring really.

Tom: Tess asks Will "What is it like?". She’s
asking him to describe Peterborough. Will could
say "It’s very big" or "It’s very quiet" or "It’s got a
lot of shops". In the question "What’s it like?", ‘like’
is a preposition, not a verb. The meaning isn’t
connected to the meaning of ‘like’ as a verb. It’s a
very common question in English – when we want
someone to describe something to us, we often
use "What’s it like?". A good example is "What’s
the weather like in London?". We want the person
to tell us if it’s raining or sunny, if the weather’s
good or bad. Or "What’s your teacher like?". We
want you to describe your teacher. Maybe "She’s
young" or "She’s blonde with blue eyes" or "She’s
very friendly" or even "She’s terrible!" – any
answer that describes her in some way.

Now listen to Tess and Jodie again. Listen to how
Jodie uses ‘like’.


Tess: Yes! Well done Jodie. And bad luck Will.
Jodie wins this week’s Learn English book token
to buy any book you want. What kind of book are
you going to buy Jodie?
Jodie: Oh, I don’t know. I’ll have to think. Probably
like, a novel or something.

Tom: Hmmm. Jodie’s going to buy “probably like,
a novel or something”. She isn’t using ‘like’ as a
verb or a preposition here. She’s using it as a
‘filler’.

A ‘filler’ is something that we say to give us more
time to think, for example ‘erm’ or ‘uh’, or ‘I don’t
know’. You will hear young native English
speakers use ‘like’ a lot in this way. You’ll hear for
example “Yeah, it’s like, really cool”. Remember
that this is a very informal way to speak. If you
want to use ‘like’ in this way, then only do it with
groups of young friends – and not in more formal
situations, with your teacher for example. Next
time you watch a ‘teenage’ film in English, listen
for ‘like’ used in this way. I’m sure you’ll notice it a
lot.

It can be difficult to know which words and
phrases are informal in English. You may hear a
new phrase in a film or a song and want to use it.
But can you be sure that you’ll use it in the right
situations with the right people? A good learners’
dictionary can help you with this. It will tell you
when a word is informal. Most dictionaries use the
letters infml, next to the word. This means
‘informal’, so then you can make a note in your
vocabulary notebook so that you won’t forget.

Let me give you an example. The word ‘children’
isn’t formal or informal. You can use ‘children’ in
any situation, with your friends or even if you are
talking to the Queen!. It’s never wrong. It’s what
we call a ‘neutral’ word. But the word ‘kids’ –
which can mean exactly the same as children – is
a lot more informal. It would sound strange to talk
about ‘kids’ at a formal party for example. Check
the word ‘kids’ in your dictionary now and see if it
tells you that it’s an informal word.

Now let’s talk about something different. When
someone tells you their phone number or address,
it can be difficult to remember it and write it down
at the same time. It can be difficult for native
speakers, but may be more difficult if English isn’t
your first language. Of course, you can say “I’m
sorry – could you say that again?” or “Could you
repeat that please?”. But listen to what Jamie
does when Carolina tells him her phone number.

Carolina: Here it is. Oh double three four seven
four six one oh three seven.
Jamie: Oh double three...
Carolina: Oh double three four seven four six one
oh three seven.
 Jamie: ...four seven four six one oh three seven.
Right. Thanks.

Tom: Jamie can only remember the first three
numbers. So he repeats them “Oh double three”
and then he pauses. He stops and waits. This
shows Carolina that he wants her to repeat the
rest of the numbers for him. He doesn’t need to
ask. We do this a lot in English – maybe you do it
in your language too - or maybe not. We do it with
telephone numbers, addresses and even names if
someone is spelling them out for us. If your
English teacher says, “The homework is
workbook, page 65, exercises 1, 3 and 7” – and
you can’t remember and write it down at the same
time, you can say “Workbook page 65..” and stop.
Your teacher will then repeat “Exercises 1, 3 and
7”.

Here’s another thing that I noticed in this podcast.
Listen to Will and Jodie introducing themselves at
the beginning of the quiz. They’re both sixteen
years old, so listen to what Jodie says.

Will: I’m still at school. I’m 16 so I’m doing my
GCSE exams this year.
...
Jodie: I’m 16 as well.

Tom: Yes, she says "I’m sixteen as well". ‘As well’
means the same as ‘too’ in this phrase. You can
say "I’m sixteen too" or you can say "I’m sixteen
as well".

But be careful. You can say "Me too" but we don’t
say "Me as well". If your friend says "I’m going to
Ana’s party tomorrow", you can say, "Me too" or
you can say "I’m going too" or you can say "I’m
going as well". Try to use ‘as well’ when you’re
speaking English this week.

OK. That’s all from me today. I’ll talk to you all
again on the next podcast. Remember you can
send your questions to me at
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.
So bye for now! See you next time.