You must have noticed it….. Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating her 70 year reign this week, yes her Platinum Jubilee!
The celebrations are taking place all over the globe from New Zealand to Canada, from South Africa to India. And don’t forget Australia !
We have a very good quiz with lots of fun facts for you to enjoy which is also designed to help you build great vocabulary, but in this podcast Sue puts Chris on the spot with some more unusual questions.
Before listening, take a look at these questions and prepare your answers ( or maybe your best guesses !!!!). Can you do better than Chris ?
- When was the Queen born?
- What is the building where the Queen was born used for now?
- What does the Queen use as her morning alarm?
- What is her favorite breed of dog?
- What was the name of her first dog (that made us laugh !!)
- Where did the Queen go to school?
- What was the family relationship between the Queen and her late husband?
- How many UK residents have never known another monarch?
- How does the Queen use her handbag to communicate a message to her staff?
You’ll also hear how Chris has meet the Queen on 3 occasions, his impressions, and Sue and Chris” views about Her Majesty.
Lots and lots of vocabulary to learn and comprehension to test you.
Here are some photos of the day’s events.
The conversation took place over Zoom, so sometimes the sound is unstable.
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As a langage learner do you try to read books?
Sure you do. They are a very good way to build vocabulary and review sentence structure.
But which ones are the best? Good question !
Take a listen to this podcast to get some tips.
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What’s the worst thing you’ve ever eaten ? Snails ? Eels ? Sheep’s brains ?
Listen as we discus the worst things we’ve eaten eaten. Do you agree with our choice? Do you think our choices are cultural or universal tastes?
Why do you detest these foods? Is it the texture, the smell, the taste or just the idea?
To get in the mood here are the foods we discuss. Build your vocabulary by associating tastes, and adjectives to each choice.
Snails
Frogs legs
Foie gras
Sheep’s brains
Offal
Tongue
Beef cheeks
Haggis
Sheep’s eyes
Pig’s trotters
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Are you spending more time in remote working these days? Are you using digital platforms to have meetings and language training?
It’s pretty sure in 2022 that the answer to these questions is yes !
Have you heard of “non-verbal communication”? This is what we refer to in every language as body language, eye contact, nodding, moving your body to say you agree or disagree with the speaker.
Have you found that these digital meetings have changed the dynamics of the “traditional” face to face meetings and lessons?
Just think how you use your hands in digital meetings. How do you interrupt? What happens when more than one person speaks at the same time? Do you feel more or less comfortable in digital meetings?
Take a listen to this podcast in which Chris and Sue discuss their experiences and give tips on how to adapt our body language to suit the new way of communicating.
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Listen to Bastien talk about his bucket list with Chris.
Listen to more bucket list podcasts by searching the term ‘bucket list’ in the search bar.
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You’ve surely found the way English people speak a bit confusing, haven’t you ? 🙂
Welcome to a brush up exercise on short answers. This style of speaking is typical of natural English and it can be a bit mind boggling for learners.
Also it’s a great way to revise auxiliary verbs, which will help you formulate tag questions too.
Take a listen and see if you can answer as quickly as Chris.
LEARNING TIP:
- Listen several times.
- Write down the conversation, underline the auxiliary verb in the first sentence.
- Write down your answer.
- Listen again and answer quickly
For a little help you can watch this short clip from our Instagram account, and if you like it you can follow our posts on english.podcasts
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