It’s a podcast with pictures, learning tips and clues. In short, it’s just a helping hand to help you understand the conversation and the context.
This is Animated Podcast number 4 in a series of 10, in which each one has a specific focus and gets progressively more challenging.
The forth one, What do you look for in a restaurant, is a spontaneous conversation spoken at natural speed which focuses on how to expresses preferences and restaurant vocabulary.
Who is it designed for ?
It’s a perfect opportunity for new learners (pre-intermediate) to learn how to say what they like and don’t like about eating out. It’s not aimed at learning ordering/interaction in a restaurant (there is a whole series of podcasts for that) but rather it is full of wider useful restaurant related vocabulary.
It’s a great way for Intermediate learners to consolidate knowledge.
Enjoy and Welcome to the English Podcasts Youtube Channel !
We all know what a verb is, but what’s a phrasal verb ?
Well, it’s a verb with a particle, that can be a proposition or an adverb. For example, LOOK FOR, LOOK INTO, LOOK UP.
Phrasal verbs are everywhere in English, we use them hundreds of times a day but they are not always easy for learners to understand because the addition of the particle changes the meaning of the original verb completely.
Sometimes when the particle refers to a movement, the phrasal verb is easy to understand. For example, to look AROUND means to turn and look around you, but in many cases the addition of the particle can make no logical sense at all.
In this podcast we looked at the verb TAKE and added different particles to come up with many new words.
Before listening try this quiz to see how you do and then do the quiz again after listening to check your understanding. Not every verb will be useful to you so we recommend that you learn what’s important and useful to you, but keep your ears open to other phrasal verbs you may hear in conversation.
In this podcast we mention many other phrasal verbs with the preposition UP, you can go to the Grammar section to test your comprehension of our examples.
Covid-19 series part 2: Australia and France, different lockdown situations
The virus COVID-19 is a pandemic which means that it is affecting countries all across the globe, but are they all responding in the same way ?
To find out we connected via Zoom with Laura who lives in Australia and Pierre who lives in France.
Listen to how Laura, who is living in Sydney, describes her “semi-lockdown” as compared to that in France.
Listen to Pierre, who describes his company’s policy to home working and working on site.
They both agree that the rules in both countries all seem a bit unclear.
As a learner you might find the clip a bit long, but remember that you can break it down into manageable sections (working from home, lockdown in Australia, what do you miss? What are the positives ?)
During the video you will see some questions which pop up regarding vocabulary and comprehension, you’ll find the answers (and more questions) in this quiz.
Covid-19 series part 1: Adapting to life in lockdown
Since the beginning of the year we have all been living in strange times. First we watched on TV as the COVID-19 virus took hold in China and then as the weeks went by the virus crept into the Middle East, Europe, the USA and has now affected almost every country on the planet.
New words have become part of our every day vocabulary: lockdown, quarantine, social distancing, self isolation.
How can we cope with this new (hopefully temporary) way of living? What is the effect on your working day, on your socializing and the way you get your groceries?
Do you feel the restrictions are hard for you or are you taking advantage of the time at home to learn new things, get things done around the house and enjoy the family.
In this series of podcasts and video links we will chat with people all over the globe (thanks to the COVID technology boom !) to find out how we are coping on an individual level and also take a look at the differences between countries.
In this first podcast you can hear Chris and Sue talking about how lockdown is affecting them.
Try this quiz to test your comprehension
COVID-19: Vocabulary quiz
Chris and Sue speak very naturally and use a lot of expressions. Test your
understanding of their conversation.
