British Council-07

Section 1 – "Your mum and dad live in
Brighton now, don’t they?" – Talking about
family

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

Section 2 – I’d like to meet

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

back. He found more people in the same situation
- think it was forty-two people in the village – and
all of them together only needed twenty-seven
dollars -- that’s all they needed to be able to start
making money for themselves. So he lent them
the money - and they all paid it back to him later.
Then he went to other villages and did the same
thing. So he started his own bank – the Grameen
Bank – to lend small amounts of money to poor
people, mostly women actually. That’s what
microcredit means.
Tess: What kinds of things do they use the money
for?
Muhammed: Well, a woman can buy a cow, and
then she can sell the milk and pay to send her
children to school. Or she could buy a mobile
phone – the villages don’t have telephones – and
then people can pay to use her phone. They
aren’t expensive things – it just means that poor
people can start to earn money. And now the
Grameen Bank lends millions and millions of
dollars to people.
Ravi: And they all pay it back?
Muhammed: Most of them yes – something like
99 per cent. And now countries like the United
States and Britain are using the idea too, it’s all
over the world - so – well, I think he’s brilliant – a
real hero. That’s what I’d like to say to him.
Tess: Well thank you Muhammed. That was really
interesting.
Muhammed: Thanks.
Ravi: There’s an old joke isn’t there – something
about ‘a bank will only lend you money if you can
prove that you don’t need it’.
Tess: Well yes – it’s true isn’t it! I’d never really
thought about it before.
Ravi: No, nor me.

Section 3 – Quiz

Ravi: OK. Let’s move on now to quiz time. A little
game to make you think. Let’s see who we’ve got
on the phone today. Hello?
Niall: (on phone) Hi Ravi.
Ravi: Niall? Hello Niall, where are you calling
from?
Niall: From Belfast.
Ravi: Ah, Northern Ireland. Lovely. And what do
you do Niall?
Niall: Well, I work in a shop but I’m going to
university soon.
Ravi: OK. What are you going to study?
Niall: Spanish
Ravi: Ah. Buenos dias!
Niall: Buenos dias, Ravi
Ravi: Actually, that’s all the Spanish I know. OK,
so we’ve got Niall from Belfast and Nikki. Hi Nikki.
Nikki: (on phone) Hi Ravi
Ravi: And where are you from Nikki?
Nikki: From Luton. North of London.
Ravi: I know it well. My uncle lives there. And
what do you do Nikki?
Nikki: I work in a garden centre.
Ravi: Very nice. Right. We’re going to play
‘Something Beginning with’ again. I’m sure you
both know how to play but I’ll explain the rules. I’m
going to ask the questions and when you know
the answer you press any button on your phone.
Let’s hear your buzzer, Niall. (Niall’s buzzer). And
yours Nikki (Nikki’s buzzer). Right. I ask the
questions and give you a letter. So, I might say for
example "A sport beginning with ‘F'" and when
you think of a sport beginning with ‘F’ you press
your buzzer. Can either of you think of a sport
beginning with ‘F’?
(Niall’s buzzer)
Niall: Football
Ravi: Exactly. The winner is the first person to get
three answers right. Are you both ready?
Niall/Nikki: Ready/OK
Ravi: Then let’s go. Can you tell me a fruit
beginning with ‘C’?
(Nikki’s buzzer)
Ravi: Nikki
Nikki: Cherry
Ravi: Yes. One nil to Nikki. Can you tell me a
means of transport beginning with ‘T’?
(Niall’s buzzer)
Ravi: Niall.
Niall: Train.
Ravi: Yes. One one. Next one. Can you tell me an
animal beginning with ‘F’?
(Niall’s buzzer)
Ravi: Niall.
Niall: Fox.
Ravi: Yes. Two one to Niall. Can you tell me an
item of clothing beginning with ‘S’
(Nikki’s buzzer)
Ravi: Nikki.
Nikki: Socks
Ravi: Yes. Two two. So this one is the decider.
Ready? Can you tell me … a vegetable beginning
with ‘C’?
(Niall’s buzzer)
Ravi: Niall!
Niall: Cauliflower.
Ravi: Cauliflower. Yes. So Niall is today’s winner.
Well done Niall. Bad luck Nikki. The podcast book
token will be on its way to you soon to buy any
book you want. You can get a Spanish book.
Niall: I might do that Ravi.

Ravi: OK. Thanks to both of you for playing and
the rest of you, remember you can send your
ideas for games to us at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.

Section 4 – Our person in

Tess: Right. Let’s move on now to Our Person In.
This is the part of the podcast when we hear from
different people all over the world. This time,
Susan Harold is Our Woman in Egypt.

Susan: When I first arrived in Cairo, the capital of
Egypt, 10 years ago, I was working as a teacher. I
had lessons in different parts of the city and I had
to take a lot of taxis – the underground in Cairo
doesn’t cover many areas of this huge city. Black
and white taxis are a familiar sight here and it’s a
cheap way to travel but I found it very difficult.

The big question was – how much do I have to
pay? I watched my Egyptian friends in taxis. They
didn’t ask the driver “how much?” at the start of
the journey, there was no meter in the car to say
how much and they didn’t ask ‘how much?’ at the
end of the journey – they just handed over the
correct amount of money and walked away. “But
how do you know how much to pay?” I would ask.
A shrug of the shoulders, “We just know.”

Gradually, over the years, I have started to
understand the payment system in Cairo taxis.
There are several things to think about. How far
are you going? How long will you spend in the
car? What time of day is it? How many people are
in the car? My Egyptian friends can make all the
calculations and know exactly how much to pay
without a word being spoken.

Unfortunately, the rules can be different for
tourists. You might have to pay more if you travel
to or from one of the big international hotels in the
city. In fact, you might have to pay a little bit just
because you’re a tourist. But don’t let that stop
you taking taxis in Cairo. In my opinion, there’s no
better way to really see the life of this amazing
city.

Ravi: I went to Cairo on holiday a couple of years
ago and it was unbelievable. I mean, it’s a
fantastic city, the pyramids are just incredible and
everything but it’s just so big and the traffic …oof!
Tess: Did you take a taxi?
Ravi: I didn’t. I was too scared to cross the road
most of the time. I’d love to go back though.
Tess: Well. listeners, remember that you have the
chance to join in too. This time we’d like to hear
about taking a taxi in your country. You can send
it to us at learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.
Actually, taxi might be one of the answers in the
next part of the podcast.

Section 5 – Your turn

Tess: It’s time for Your Turn when we go out into
the street to find out what people think. And the
question this time was ‘What’s the best way to
travel?’
Ravi: Actually, that’s quite a difficult question.
Erm .. I think I’d say flying. Except it’s really bad
for the planet.
Tess: Well, let’s hear what our people said.

Voice 1: Oh, by train. Definitely. You know, you
can get up and walk around and you can’t really
do that in a plane or a car. And you can just sit
and watch the world go by. Not too fast, not too
slow. Just right.

Voice 2: Well, I shouldn’t really say this but I love
driving. It gives you that feeling of independence
that you don’t get with any other transport. You
can just go wherever you want. The world’s your
oyster. I’d love to drive all the way across America
one day.

Voice 3: I know lots of people don’t like it but I
really like flying. I still think it’s amazing that we
can do it. When you stop to think about it, it’s
incredible. And I love the view from up there. Mind
you, it’s really bad for the planet, I suppose.

Voice 4: Well I’ve travelled on the underground
today but if I had to say what the best way to
travel is I’d say bicycle. I think it’s the satisfaction
of getting around by your own effort. And it’s good
for you.

Voice 5: I’d probably say ‘on foot’, really. I mean,
it depends. I love walking in the countryside – it’s
not so much fun in the city, I guess. I’ll tell you
what isn’t the best way to travel. Flying. I hate it.
I’m terrified.

Ravi: Nah, I disagree, I really like flying. What
about you Tess?
Tess: I’m surprised that nobody said ‘boat’. I love
travelling by boat. We went on a boat holiday
when I was a kid – I loved it.
Ravi: And we’d love to hear what all of you out
there think. What do you think is the best way to

travel? Write and let us know.
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.

Section 6 – Carolina

Tess: OK. Time now to find out how Carolina’s
getting on in Newcastle. Carolina, you might
remember, is a student from Venezuela who’s
come to Britain to live, study and have fun. Last
time we listened, Carolina joined some societies
at the university but this time she’s not feeling too
well.

In the shared residence kitchen

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

At the chemist’s

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

Tess: Poor Carolina. It’s terrible when you feel ill
in a foreign country.

Ravi: "I am constipated."
Tess: Oh, stop it Ravi.
Ravi: Yeah, you’re right. It is quite funny though.
And she got some medicine so I’m sure she’s OK.

Section 7 – The Joke

Ravi: Anyway, that’s almost the end of another
podcast but, as usual, before we go, we’re going
to hear from Gordon with another one of his
amazing jokes. Gordon?
Gordon: Yep.
Ravi: What have you got for us?
Gordon: Another dog, Ravi.
Ravi: Come on then, let’s hear it.
Gordon:
Right. A dog goes to put an advert in a
newspaper. In the lonely hearts column, you
know.
Ravi: To find a girlfriend?
Gordon: Right. Anyway, the assistant at the
newspaper says "That’s fine, just fill in your name
and address on this form and then write your
advert in the box underneath." “OK”, says the dog.

He fills in the form and then he stops to think for a
bit and then he writes in the box – "woof, woof,
woof. Woof, woof. Woof, woof, woof, woof." He
gives the paper to the assistant and she has a
look at it and says to the dog, “You know you’ve
got nine woofs here – you can have an extra one
for no extra charge – it’s ten words for £5. Why
don’t you add another ‘woof’?”

The dog looks really confused. “Another ‘woof’?
That wouldn’t make any sense at all”.

Ravi: I quite like that one. Your dog jokes are the
best ones Gordon. You should concentrate on
them. What do you think Tess?
Tess: Quite funny – but don’t look for work as a
comedian just yet Gordon. Anyway. That’s
everything from us for this time. After this little
break you’ll hear from Tom, our English teacher
who’ll talk about the language you heard and give
you ideas to help you learn. So we’ll say goodbye
but don’t go away.
Ravi: And remember to keep your emails coming
to us at learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.
Tess & Ravi: Bye!.





Tom the teacher

Tom: Hi, my name’s Tom. At the end of every
podcast, I talk about some of the language that
you heard, and some ways to help you learn
English. Today I want to look at some verbs that
we use to describe things – or to describe the
idea that we have about them. Listen to Emily and
Carolina talking. Remember, Carolina is ill. What
phrase does Emily use to describe her?

Emily: Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you
had a seminar at 10 o’clock.
Carolina: I did, but I’m not feeling very well. (she
sneezes)
Emily: Bless you! You sound terrible.

Tom: Emily says “You sound terrible!” We use the
verb ‘sound’ when we are talking about something
we can hear. Emily can hear that Carolina is ill
from her voice, and also from her sneezes. So
she uses ‘sound’. If your friend tells you all about
her new boyfriend, but you haven’t met him yet,
you can say “He sounds nice.” You have the idea
that he is nice from what she has said about him,
from what you’ve heard. So you can use ‘sound’.
Now listen to Emily again. How does she describe
Carolina this time?

Emily: And you can go to the chemist’s and get
yourself something to take. Then come back here
and go to bed. You look awful. Have some hot
lemon and honey – that’s what my mother always
gives me.

Tom: This time Emily says “You look awful”. This
time, she can see that Carolina is ill - it isn’t just
her voice now. Her eyes are probably red, and
she might be very pale. So this time Emily says
“You look awful”. If your friend shows you a
photograph of her new boyfriend, and you haven’t
met him yet, you can say “He looks nice”. You
have the idea that he is nice from the photo –
from what you can see. So you can use ‘look’. A
lot of languages use words that translate as
‘seem’ or ‘appear’ in all of these situations, so
using ‘look’ and ‘sound’ might be a bit strange for
you. Try to notice people using ‘look’ and ‘sound’
in the English that you read and hear, and try to
use those phrases yourself.

Now I want to talk about something that’s very
important when you learn a new language. Do
you remember Carolina’s problem with the word
‘constipated’?


Emily: Constipated? Why did you tell him you
were constipated?
Carolina: Well, because I am. (she sneezes) See,
I can’t stop sneezing.
Emily: You don’t sneeze when you’re constipated.
Constipated means that you can’t go to the toilet,
you know, you’re blocked ….. , you know, you try
and try but you can’t …. well you know.
Carolina: Oh no! I was thinking in Spanish! In
Spanish we say I’m constipada! (she sneezes)

This is a very common problem. It depends what
language you speak, but sometimes there are
words in your language that are very similar to a
word in English. And very often they have the
same meaning too. For example, ‘arriver’ in
French is similar to ‘arrive’ in English, and the
meaning is the same. These words can help you
a lot.

But be careful! As we just heard with Carolina,
sometimes the words don’t have the same
meaning at all! The word ‘constipada’ in Spanish
looks and sounds the same as the English word
‘constipated’. But the meaning is completely
different. We call these words ‘false friends’. They
look or sound the same as a word in another
language – so you think they are ‘friends’ - but
they don’t have the same meaning. The German
word for ‘poison’ sounds the same as the English
word ‘gift’ – which means ‘a present’. In Finnish,
the word for ‘cat’ can sound like the English word
‘kiss’. False friends can be very dangerous!

When you hear a word in English that sounds or
looks the same as a word in your language, the
first thing to do is notice the context – the situation
where you heard or saw the word, what the
people were talking about. This will help you to
understand the meaning of the word. Then, if
you’re still not sure, check the word in your
English learners’ dictionary. And finally, if it is a
false friend, then make a note of it on a special
page in your vocabulary notebook and make a
really special effort to learn it – and remember it. It
isn’t easy - even people who speak English very
well still make mistakes with false friends – just
like Carolina did – when they’re tired or not
concentrating.

Now let’s look at a useful phrase that we use in
English when we want to ask a personal question.
Listen to Carolina and the chemist. What phrase
does he use when he asks her a personal
question?

Chemist: Vitamin C will help. Here you are. Take
one of these three times a day. And drink plenty
of water. Where are you from, if you don’t mind
me asking?
Carolina: Venezuela. I’ve only been here a few
weeks.

Tom: He says “Where are you from, if you don’t
mind me asking?” Of course, in a different
situation, with your new classmates for example,
“Where are you from?” isn’t a very personal
question, but the chemist doesn’t know Carolina,
and in this situation – Carolina is buying some
medicine for her cold – Carolina might be
offended – she might think the question isn’t
appropriate. So he adds “if you don’t mind me
asking”. This makes the question more polite. If
you want to ask someone a question but you
aren’t sure if it’s polite to ask, then use “if you
don’t mind me asking”.

Just before I go, let me give you a phrase from
the podcast that you can use. Listen to what we
say in English when someone sneezes – atchoo!.

Emily: Hi. What are you doing here? I thought you
had a seminar at 10 o’clock.
Carolina: I did, but I’m not feeling very well. (she
sneezes)
Emily: Bless you! You sound terrible. You’d better
go to bed. Did you tell your professor that you
were ill?

Tom: Yes, we say “Bless you!”. Some learners
think that we say “God bless you” – well maybe
that was the original phrase that people used a
long time ago, but nowadays it’s just “Bless you!”.
Use it the next time someone sneezes near you!

OK. That’s all from me today. I’ll talk to you all
again on the next podcast. Remember you can
send your questions to me at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org. I’ll be
happy to answer your questions! Or write to me
about any interesting language that you noticed.
In a moment you’ll hear the address for the
website where you can read everything you’ve
heard in this podcast. So bye for now! See you
next time.