British Council-09

Section 1 – “A weekend away” – talking
about short breaks

Ravi: Hello once again and welcome to the
LearnEnglish Elementary podcast number 9 with
me, Ravi, from Manchester.
Tess: And me Tess, from London. And Gordon,
our producer, from … where are you from
Gordon?
Gordon_ Me? I’m from Keswick, in the Lake
District, you know, but I’ve lived in London for
about twenty years.
Tess: Keswick? Really? I’m going there this
weekend.
Gordon: Really? What for? Having a weekend
away?
Ravi: Are you going cycling again?
Tess: Yeah, we are, six of us. We’re getting the
train up from London on Friday morning then
cycling to Keswick, spending a night there then
we’re going to do a really long ride on the
Saturday ..
Ravi: You’re not going to camp, are you? Isn’t it a
bit cold?
Tess: No, we’re not – it is a bit cold. We’re staying
in youth hostels, you know.
Ravi: Oh right, I haven’t been in a youth hostel
since I was a kid. Are they still really cold and
uncomfortable?
Tess: No, not at all. Some of them are fantastic. I
mean, they’re not like five star hotels or anything
but they’re really comfortable and you meet some
really interesting people in them.
Ravi: Hmm. Sounds OK, better than I remember.
It’s the cycling I don’t want to do. How far are you
going to ride each day?
Tess: About fifty miles or so. It depends. It’s more
difficult with all the hills and stuff. We haven’t
booked the youth hostels – they won’t be really
busy at this time of year. So we’ll just stay at the
nearest place if we get really tired.
Ravi: Ah OK. Sounds great. When are you coming
back?
Tess: We’re getting a train on Sunday afternoon so
we’ll get back to London in the evening, about six
o’clock, I think.
Ravi: Do you know what I’m going to do this
weekend?

Tess: No? What are you up to?
Ravi: Absolutely nothing. I’m going to sit on my
sofa all weekend and watch TV. I’ve got loads of
DVDs I want to watch. I’ll think of you on your
bicycle though.
Tess: I don’t know how you can do nothing all
weekend Ravi. I’d get so bored.
Ravi: I know, I know. I’m going to start going to the
gym soon, honest. I can never find the time.

Section 2 – I’d like to meet

Ravi: Anyway, it’s time now to move on. As usual
we’re going to start with Would Like to Meet. In
every podcast someone comes to the studio and
tells us about a famous person – alive or dead -
that they’d like to meet. We’ve got Sean here with
us today so let’s start by finding out something
about you.
Sean: Well, my name’s Sean, I’m seventeen, and
I’m from Brighton.
Ravi: That’s where my mum and dad live. I go
down there a lot. Great place.
Sean: Yeah, it’s good. There’s plenty to do – good
shops. I’d rather live in London though.
Ravi: I bet if you lived in London, you’d want to go
back to Brighton. Get some fresh air, see the sea.
Sean: Maybe – but then I could visit my mum and
dad, like you do Ravi.
Ravi: Well that’s true. Yeah, live in London, have
family in Brighton – perfect really.
Tess: And who are you going to talk about today
Sean. Who’s the famous person you’d like to
meet?
Sean: Matt Groening.
Tess: The Simpsons guy?
Ravi: The Simpsons guy? I always thought it was
pronounced ‘groaning’.
Sean: Well I did too, for a long time. But no it isn’t,
it rhymes with ‘raining’ – Matt Groening.
Tess: OK, That’s the name sorted out. Tell us a bit
about him Sean.
Sean: Well, as you know, he’s the guy who
created the Simpsons which is probably the best
show on TV anywhere in the world. Ever. And a
great film too.
Tess: You’re a fan then.
Sean: Ever since I can remember. And I just think
that the man who created something so brilliant
must be a really funny guy. To be honest, I don’t
know much about him as a person – I know he’s
really old – he must be fifty or something – at least.
Tess: I’m not sure fifty is really old Sean. My
mother wouldn’t be very happy to hear that.


Sean: Well you know, whatever. He’s older than
my dad anyway. That’s why I’d like to meet him –
he must be really funny and really smart, but he’s
old. Um, what else do I know? Um - and I know
he’s got kids – two kids called Abraham and
Homer.
Tess: He called his son Homer! After Homer
Simpson!
Sean.: Well maybe – maybe not. Homer was his
dad’s name too – he got all the names from his
own family. His mum and dad were Homer and
Margaret – Marge for short. And his little sisters
are Lisa and Maggie. Bart was going to be called
Matt at first but then he changed his mind. But I
read somewhere that the character of Bart
Simpson was based on his older brother. I guess
I’d like to meet him too.
Ravi: When did the show start?
Sean: In the 1980s – I’m not sure of the year. But
it’s about twenty years old. But the characters
never get any older - I like that. Oh, and another
thing I’ve just remembered – “Doh!” – you know
Homer Simpsons’ famous “Doh!” - is now in the
Oxford English Dictionary. I think that’s pretty
amazing. And I can’t remember anything else.
Doh!
Ravi: Don’t worry about it – that was really
interesting
Tess: Thanks Sean , another good one there.
Ravi, I don’t why I haven’t asked you this before –
who would you like to meet? Who would you talk
about if you were our guest on the podcast?
Ravi: Oof. That’s a tough one. There’s so many.
Matt Groening’s a good one – I’d love to meet him.
Peter Jackson who directed the Lord of the Rings
films – he’d be really interesting. Erm … J.K.
Rowling who wrote the Harry Potter books. Yeah,
maybe her – she seems quite an interesting
character.
Tess:
Yeah, I’d like to meet her too. And remember,
listeners, that we’re always interested to hear
about people that you’d like to meet. Or even
cartoon characters!
Ravi: That’s a good one! Which cartoon character
would you like to meet and why. Brilliant idea!
Tess: So send your thoughts to us at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org, that’s
learnenglishpodcast - all one word – at
britishcouncil – all one word dot org, that’s o-r-g.

Section 3 – Quiz

Ravi: Right. Shall we meet the players for our quiz
today then? We have a little quiz now with two of
our listeners and this time we’ve got Ethan. Hi
Ethan.
Ethan: (on phone) Hi Ravi
Ravi: And Abby. Hello Abby.
Abby: (on phone) Hi Ravi.
Ravi: Let’s start with you, Abby. Where are you
calling from?
Abby: From Margate.
Ravi: Ah, at the seaside. Is it sunny down there
today?
Abby: It is, it’s lovely and warm today.
Ravi: And what do you do Abby?
Abby: I’ve just left school. I don’t know what I’m
going to do now.
Ravi: Well, good luck with what you decide to do
and good luck with today’s quiz. Now, Ethan.
Ethan: Hi Ravi.
Ravi: Where are you from, Ethan?
Ethan: South London.
Ravi: OK. Well I know that it’s sunny here in
London too. What do you do Ethan?
Ethan: Nothing, at the moment Ravi. I finished
school last year and I’m going to university in a
couple of months time. I’ve had a gap year and
done some travelling.
Ravi: Ah, fantastic. Where have you been?
Ethan: I went to South America for 4 months.
Ravi: Brilliant. Did you have a good time?
Ethan: Unbelievable. It was so cool.
Ravi: Right. Today’s quiz is another ten second
quiz, OK? I’m going to give you a topic and you’ve
got ten seconds to think of as many things as you
can. So, let’s say, I say ‘things that you play’ you
have to think of as many things as you can. You
might say ‘football’, ‘the piano’, ‘volleyball’, you
know. All things that you play. The winner is the
person who gets the most in ten seconds, OK?
Abby/Ethan: OK
Ravi: OK then. You’ve got ten seconds to write
down things that you make. I’ll give you one to
start with – ‘make the bed’. Go on then, ten
seconds, things that you make. Go!
[countdown, followed by bell]
Ravi: OK – time’s up. How many Abby?
Abby: Five
Ravi: OK. How about you Ethan?
Ethan: Erm .. six, Ravi.
Ravi: OK then, let’s hear your six Ethan.
Ethan: Erm .. Make a decision, make a mistake,
make a mess, make friends, make progress
and … make an appointment.
Ravi: Yep. That’s six. Well done. It’s not easy
when the clock’s ticking. So, you win the book
token Ethan, we’ll send that to you soon – and bad
luck to you Abby but thank you for playing.


Tess: And remember everyone that if you’ve got a
brilliant idea for a game we can play then you can
send it to us at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org

Section 4 – Our person in

Tess: Now though, it’s time for Our Person In – the
part of the podcast when we hear from different
people around the world telling us something
interesting about where they live. This time round
Bridget Keenan is Our Woman in India.

Bridget: India is a nation of cinema-lovers – almost
40 million people go to the cinema each month
and India produces almost twice as many films
each year as the USA. The Indian film industry is
known as Bollywood and you never feel like you
are far from its influence. In cities, giant hand-
painted images of Bollywood stars look down at
the passing traffic and in parts of India film stars
have used their popularity to start careers as
politicians.
Bollywood films are quite different to Hollywood
films. Although the plots can be similar, the Indian
films feature a lot more singing and dancing –
there are usually six songs and at least two huge
dance scenes. In fact, the stories are often very
predictable and always have a happy ending – but
that doesn’t stop people going to see them.
And going to see films is a special experience too -
much noisier and livelier than British cinemas. The
crowd will cheer on the hero through all the action
scenes, whistle through the songs and offer advice
and support throughout the film. The audience can
be as much fun as the film.
That audience seems to be almost everyone in
India – from the very old to the very young. In the
countryside there are touring cinemas – a lorry
travelling with all the equipment to make a
temporary cinema in a village for one night before
moving on to the next place. It’s a love of cinema
shared by the whole, huge country unlike
anywhere else in the world.

Ravi: Hehe. That brings back some memories. We
used to watch loads of Bollywood films when I was
a kid. They’re great fun.
Tess: Did you? Do you still watch them now?
Ravi: Not really. If I’m at my mum and dad’s I
might. My mum still watches them quite a lot.
Tess: I’ve never seen a Bollywood film. They
sound very … different.

Ravi: I’ll lend you a DVD. I’ll give you the address
again if you’d like to tell us something about going
to the cinema in your country. It’s
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.

Section 5 – Your turn

Tess: And that takes us into Your Turn – the part
of the show where we ask you what you think. I
told you earlier that I’m going away for the
weekend, cycling. That’s a perfect holiday for me
and that’s what we asked people for Your Turn –
What’s your perfect holiday. Let’s hear what they
said.

Voice 1: Ooh what a lovely idea, I love holidays.
The beach for me. Sitting in the sun, with a cold
drink and doing absolutely nothing. That would be
perfect. Bah, my next holiday seems ages away.

Voice 2: Hmm. I just get really bored sitting on a
beach all day with all that sand getting
everywhere. I’d rather be in the countryside – or
just somewhere where there aren’t any crowds.
The beach is always so crowded.

Voice 3: What I really like about a holiday is when I
don’t have any plan, y’know? I like travelling about
and if I like somewhere I stay there for a few days
and if I don’t I just get on a train and go
somewhere different. That’s what I really like –
when I don’t have to worry about timetables and all
that stuff.

Voice 4: I would really love to go on a cruise.
Y’know? A holiday on a boat where you travel to
different cities. My aunt and uncle went on one last
year and said it was great. Everything’s planned
for you so you don’t have to worry about anything
at all. Lovely.

Voice 5: My perfect holiday would be a trip to
China. I’ve always wanted to go there. It just
seems so fascinating – so different, y’know. And
there’d be so much to see. I’d love to tour the
whole country – but I guess that would take years.

Tess: Ravi? Your perfect holiday?
Ravi: I really want to go to Australia. A couple of
my friends went there last year and said it was
brilliant.
Tess: Yeah, I really like the sound of Australia too.
Let us know what your perfect holiday would be.
You can send it to us at
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.

Section 6 – Carolina

Tess: Now let’s join Carolina again. Carolina is a
student from Venezuela who’s come to Britain to
live, study – and have fun. She’s really settled in in
Newcastle. Last time we listened she was in the
pub with her friends from the Conservation
Society. This time, Carolina is preparing a special
meal for her friends.

In the shared kitchen

Emily: Hi. How’s it going? Everything under
control?
Carolina: Oh - I’m beginning to panic a bit. The rice
and beans are done, they’re cooking now, that’s
for Jamie – he’s vegetarian. I need to grill the meat
- and I need to make the guasacaca - oh dear,
and I wanted to have a shower – I’m so hot.
Emily: What time are they coming?
Carolina: I told them eight o’clock. I hope they’re
late!
Emily: Don’t panic. You’ve got plenty of time. What
can I do to help? What’s gwuh ….. whatever it
was?
Carolina: Guasacaca. It’s like a salad sort of thing,
with avocadoes and herbs. It goes with the meat.
Emily: Well, why don’t you tell me what to do and
I’ll make it while you have a shower.
Carolina: OK thanks. You’re an angel. Um, you
need an onion, some green pepper, some red
pepper, some garlic, um some parsley – and you
chop it all up – in quite small pieces and put
everything in a bowl. It’s all here look.
Emily: OK. I’ll start chopping. How much garlic?
Carolina: Um, three of those … what do you call
them? The small parts of garlic.
Emily: Cloves? You mean cloves. Three of these?
Carolina: Yes that’s right.
Emily: Then what?
Carolina: Then you put it in a bowl with olive oil,
vinegar, a little sugar and some chilli powder. Oh
and some salt.
Emily: And what about the avocado?
Carolina: You add that at the end. There are two
avocadoes in the fridge. You mash one, you know,
with a fork so it’s like a paste, and the other one
you just chop, so it’s in pieces.
Emily: I think I can manage that. And then I add
the avocadoes to the stuff in the bowl?
Carolina: Yes. And put it in the fridge.
Emily: Right. No problem. You go and make
yourself look beautiful.

Later

Jamie: Hi. Here we are
Carolina: Oh hi. Hi Henry.
Henry: Hi. Hi Emily.
Emily: Hi. Did you find it OK?
Henry: Yeah, it was easy. We’ve brought a bottle
of wine – it’s white, it probably needs to go in the
fridge.
Jamie: And we brought these too, for you.
Carolina: Oh that’s very kind of you. I love
chocolate. Thanks.
Jamie: Can we put our coats somewhere?
Carolina: You can put them in my room.
Emily: Here, I’ll take them.
Carolina: Well, sit down. Make yourselves at home
Henry: Thanks. It’s a nice place you’ve got here.
Great kitchen. Really big.
Carolina: Thanks. Yes, we’re very lucky. Now what
would you all like to drink? We’ve got….

Later

Carolina: So, here it is. Just help yourselves.
Jamie: It looks delicious.
Carolina: I hope so.
Jamie: Mmm, this is good. What’s in it?
Carolina: Rice and black beans, and um onion and
pepper – and some spices
Emily: Delicious. Is this a traditional Venezuelan
dinner then?
Carolina: Well, in Venezuela we usually eat a big
meal for lunch, and have a smaller meal in the
evening. But yes, it’s a traditional meal, nearly. We
should have fried …I don’t know the word – they’re
like bananas – big, hard bananas.
Henry: Plantains? They look like bananas.
Carolina: Yes, maybe, plantains. Anyway, I
couldn’t find any, but everything else is traditional.
Emily: Hey, we forgot the music! Henry, do you
want to come and choose something? I’ll show
you where the CDs are.
Henry: Sure.
Emily: My rooms just through here on the……
Jamie: Well. Here we are then. Just the two of us.

Tess: Awww.
Ravi: What?
Tess: Oh nothing Ravi. I really want to know
what’s going to happen next.
Ravi: To Carolina?
Tess: And Jamie. Never mind.

Section 7 – The Joke

Tess: Right. It’s time for Gordon. Are you ready
there Gordon?
Gordon: Ready.
Tess: For new listeners, Gordon tells us a joke
every week. If you like bad jokes, you’ll love
Gordon.

Gordon: Thanks Tess. Right – I’ve got a parrot for
you this week.
Tess: Another parrot?

Gordon: Yes – a parrot and a magician. A
magician who worked on a cruise ship – you know,
the big ships that people have holidays on – had a
parrot.

But the parrot had seen the magician’s act
hundreds of times and knew all the tricks. So
whenever the magician did his act the parrot just
sat there looking really bored because he’d worked
out how the magician made things disappear.

Anyway, one night, during the magician’s show,
the ship hit an iceberg and sank. The only
survivors were the magician and the parrot. The
magician managed to climb into a lifeboat and
immediately fell into a deep deep sleep. A little bit
after that the parrot came and sat on the edge of
the lifeboat and stared at the magician.

The magician slept for three days and the parrot
didn’t take his eyes off him. It just stared and
stared and stared. Finally, the magician opened
his eyes and the first thing he saw was the parrot –
watching him like a … well, like a parrot.

Another hour went past and the parrot didn’t take
his eyes off the magician. Then the parrot opened
its beak and squawked “Alright. I give up. What did
you do with the ship?”

Ravi: No, that’s terrible Gordon. I still prefer the
jokes about dogs. Actually, maybe some of our
listeners could send you some new jokes. The
address for jokes or anything else you want to
send to us is
learnenglishpodcast@britishcouncil.org.
Tess: We have to go now but in a moment you can
listen to Tom, our English teacher, who’ll be talking
about some of the language you heard in this
podcast and things to help you learn. So, stick
around to listen to Tom but we’ll say goodbye for
now.
Tess & Ravi: Bye!


Tom the teacher

Tom: Hello again. My name’s Tom. And 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 talk about the verbs ‘make’ and
‘do’. This is a big problem for learners of English. A
lot of languages only have one word for ‘make’ and
‘do’. For example, in Portuguese, the verb ‘fazer’ is
sometimes ‘make’ in English, and sometimes it’s
‘do’. So it can be very difficult for Portuguese
learners to know when to use ‘make’ and when to
use ‘do’.

So what’s the difference between them? Well, it
isn’t an easy question to answer. Most of the time
there isn’t really any difference in meaning at all.
It’s just that in some phrases we use ‘make’ and in
other phrases we use ‘do’.

Some grammar books tell you that we use ‘make’
when we are creating something – something that
we can touch. This is sometimes true. Listen to
Carolina talking about the guasacaca. Which verb
does she use?

Carolina: I need to grill the meat - and I need to
make the guasacaca - oh dear, and I wanted to
have a shower – I’m so hot.

Tom: She says ‘I need to make the guasacaca’.
We often use ‘make’ when we’re talking about food
– dishes that we’ve created from other things. We
don’t ‘make’ meat – that comes from an animal
already made! – we just cook it. Now listen to
Emily offering to help with the guasacaca.

Emily: Well, why don’t you tell me what to do and
I’ll make it while you have a shower.

Tom: Emily uses ‘make’ too. She’s going to make
the guasacaca for Carolina. So try to remember
this use of ‘make’ with food. You can say to your
friend “Mmm, this soup is delicious! You must tell
me how to make it”. Or “This cake is very good.
Did you make it yourself?”.

But there are lots of other phrases with ‘make’.
The quiz in this podcast was about things that you
can ‘make’. Listen to the last part.

Ravi: OK then, let’s hear your six Ethan.
Ethan: Erm .. Make a decision, make a mistake,
make a mess, make friends, make progress
and … make an appointment.

Tom: Ethan gives six examples of phrases with
‘make’.
• You make the bed when you get up in the
morning,
• you can make an important decision,


• you can make a mistake – not ‘do’ – we don’t
say ‘do a mistake’.
• You can make a mess – if you drop things all
over the floor for example,
• you can make friends, just like Carolina has in
Newcastle, and
• you can make an appointment to see the doctor
or the dentist.


We always use ‘make’ in these phrases. There’s
no reason for using ‘make’ – it isn’t because of the
meaning of the phrases. It’s just what we say.

It’s a good idea to keep a page in your notebook
for phrases with ‘make’ and ‘do’ – and try to learn
them. Start with the ones from this podcast and
then add to them when you find more.

Here are two phrases with ‘do’ that you can add
too. We say ‘do your homework’ – ‘do’ not ‘make’.
Say “I’m sorry I didn’t do the homework” to your
teacher. And we also say ‘do an exam’ or ‘do a
test’. Never ‘make’.

OK. Now for something different. I noticed a
phrase in this podcast that might be useful for you
to understand. Listen to Ravi talking to Ethan in
the quiz. What did Ethan do after he left school?

Ravi: What do you do Ethan?
Ethan: Nothing, at the moment Ravi. I finished
school last year and I’m going to university in a
couple of months time. I’ve had a gap year and
done some travelling.

Tom: Ethan had a gap-year after he finished
school. It means that he didn’t start university
immediately after he finished school. He waited for
a year. Lots of British students have gap-years.
Sometimes they work for a few months to get
some money and then they go travelling – to see
the world. Sometimes they go and do voluntary
work for a year. The universities are usually very
happy about this. They think it gives the students
experience of the real world before they start
studying hard again. So now you know what a
‘gap-year’ is if you hear anyone say it.

Now I want you to listen to Carolina again.
Carolina speaks very good English – but
sometimes there are words that she doesn’t know.
Listen to what she says when she doesn’t know
the word.

Emily: OK. I’ll start chopping. How much garlic?
Carolina: Um, three of those … what do you call
them? The small parts of garlic.
Emily: Cloves? You mean cloves. Three of these?
Carolina: Yes that’s right.

Tom: OK – she asks Emily “what do you call
them?” – she asks Emily. But she also tries to
describe the thing that she doesn’t know. She says
“the small parts of garlic”. This is very important
when you don’t know a word. Don’t just stop! Try
to describe what you want to say. Listen to
Carolina again.

Carolina:
But yes, it’s a traditional meal, nearly. We should
have fried …. I don’t know the word – they’re like
bananas – big, hard bananas.
Henry: Plantains? They look like bananas.
Carolina: Yes, maybe, plantains.

Tom: She doesn’t know the word ‘plantains’ so she
says “They’re like bananas – big hard bananas”.
And Henry understands what she wants to say.
Try to do the same thing when you don’t know a
word. Don’t stop – keep talking. Use different
words to describe what you want to say. people
will understand and give you the word that you
need.

Before I go, as usual, I want to give you a useful
phrase from the podcast – a phrase for you to use.
Listen to what Carolina says to Jamie and Henry.

Carolina: Well, sit down. Make yourselves at
home.

Tom: Yes, it’s another phrase with ‘make’. She
says “Make yourselves at home”. She wants them
to be relaxed and comfortable – as if they were in
their own homes. ‘Yourselves’ is plural – Carolina
is speaking to two people. If you’re talking to one
person then you say “Make yourself at home”. So
try to use the phrase when someone comes to visit
you in your house. Say “Make yourself at home”.

OK. That’s all from me today. 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!