Why listen to speakers of other languages speaking English?
Now that is a very fair question and one which many will see as being totally pointless.
I mean, if I listen to an English speaker (my mother tongue) speaking French, then they will make the same mistakes as me, right?
That’s about it – they will make mistakes in French, and I will clearly be able to identify their mistakes, so what’s the point?
Well, from a pedagogical point of view, listening to people speaking another language, in my case English speakers speaking French, is a very valuable exercise for me.
The point being that I can hear their mistakes, and they are probably, overall, the same mistakes that I make in French, BUT, I am able to hear their mistakes, a lot clearer than my own mistakes and I can perhaps learn to rectify my mistakes.
After all, if I were able to hear my own mistakes so clearly, then why haven’t I been able to correct them – which is a reasonable question, being as I still make the same mistakes.
Then there is the issue of accents – there is no, ONE, accent in English and foreigners speaking with a French, Italian or Spanish accent in English is not a problem – accents are only a problem when they hinder communication.
It’s near impossible for a non-native speaker to sound completely native.
Native speakers will always find one feature that is non-native. Speakers of all languages are aware of their dialects (a New Yorker sounds different to a Yorkshire accent, which is different to Geordie, etc.). So, even if the non-native speaker sounds very close to a native speaker, the native listener will not attribute the different features to other dialects but to different languages.
Pronunciation, however, is very important, as this is where communication can break down.
That said, listening to non-natives speaking English can heighten awareness to aspects of grammar, syntax, pronunciation, rhythm and intonation that can be only beneficial for those learners that take the time to reflect and act on what they have listened to.
This is why, at EFLPodBlog, we have a mix of interviews of non-native and native speakers to work on these aspects in the learning units for premium members.
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Bucket Lists
Sue and Chris talk about a Bucket lists.
Before listening, do you know what bucket lists are?
While listening.
1. Does Sue want to swim with dolphins?
2. Where does Chris want to go for his bucket list?
3. Where does Sue say she thinks the Northern Lights are?
Listen to the podcast and try the following :
- First relax, sit down, close your eyes then listen to the podcast all the way through.
- Note down some ideas of what you expect the Podcast will be about. If needed have a look on the Internet for the keyword, ‘Bucket Lists’ to prepare yourself for the listening. Here is a link HERE and HERE to start you off.
- Listen to JUST Sue, ignoring Chris and try to work out globally what her questions and comments are. (you won’t understand everything, so there is no point trying at this point.)
- Listen to just Chris as above.
- Now go back and listen to Sue – take a sheet of paper, draw a line down the middle, on the left of the paper, write any ideas that you have of what Sue was talking about.
- Now do the same for Chris.
- Now listen to the podcast all the way through THEN write down any more ideas that you have about the podcast.
- Leave the podcast for a day or two, then come back and listen.
- Do you understand any more than from the first session of listening you did?
- How do you rate the difficulty level for you? (Too difficult at the moment / A challenge / I understand enough).
- When will you return to this podcast to check your listening progress?
Remember :
- You won’t understand everything you hear.
- There is a lot of regular work to do to tune your ear into Real English – you need to work on listening regularly.
- NEVER write notes at the same time that you are listening.
- ALWAYS – try to set yourself realistic objectives.
- REMEMBER – this is just a part of your learning and you need to be able to connect this work with your other work.
- This is REAL English – we don’t believe that slow, over-articulated speech prepares learners for the real world – you may be able to understand an audio extract that is spoken slowly, but what good is that if you don’t understand real people in real situations.
- At english-podcasts.com we want to help you to be ready for the real world – it will be difficult at first, but later you will feel the benefit – it is just pure, common sense.
A meal in an English pub
A meal in an English pub is a great way to meet up with friends for an informal chat, drink and to have something to eat.
However, as you will hear, pubs can be busy and noisy places and are sometimes not the best place to have a conversation – but this podcast is a real-life situation, where Chris and Stéphane went to a busy pub in Victoria, London, England.
Bar snacks: Even pubs that don’t serve meals have a few salty bar snacks available – crisps in a range of flavors, packets of peanuts, and pork scratchings – and sometimes big glass jars of pickled eggs and pickled onions.
Bar food or bar menu: Some pubs that serve lunch and dinner may also have a bar menu of sandwiches through the day. Bar food is only prepared once and is only available as long as it lasts.
Pub meals: Better pubs serve lunches and dinners during set hours. These range from basic, acceptable food to the highest reaches of gastronomy. Several gastropubs, so-called, have even achieved multiple Michelin stars.
Pub meals can be cheaper than traditional restaurant meals but whether they are better value depends on your taste. You may love a Sunday Roast – meat, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and vegetables. Or you may find it overcooked and tasteless – depends on the pub and depends on you. Nevertheless, there are some pub dishes you can usually count on including:
Sausages and Mash, using locally made, butcher’s sausages
Fish and chips
Steak and ale or steak and kidney pies
Ploughman’s lunches – salad with a hunk of local cheese and bread. Ham or chicken may be included.
Be careful though, the closing hours are much earlier than in continental Europe and elsewhere and most pubs stop serving food at or before 9pm in the evening, so get there early!
Some pubs also do early eaters deals where two people eat for the price of one – if you like eating early, this may be for you.
While listening listen out for how the the following was expressed :
- How did Chris say that he had not met Stéphane for a long time.
- How did Chris ask Stéphane what he had been doing since they last met?
- How did Chris ask Stéphane about how he feels about his upcoming holidays?
- How did Chris ask Stéphane if he would like a starter?
- How did Chris ask Stéphane if he wanted a main course?
- How did Chris ask Stéphane about what came with his meal?
- What type of water did they order?
