English Podcasts

Where should you go on holiday in France?

Let us give you a helping hand in choosing your French holiday destination.

We have devised 12 questions to help you decide from all the fantastic places in France where you should spend your holidays/vacation.

Of course it’s only a guide, you may have other ideas !

It should come as no surprise to know that France is the world’s most popular tourist destination. With 89 million visitors every year, France is a head and shoulders above Spain, which comes in second, receiving 82 million visitors per year. The number 3 spot goes to the USA with 78 million. These statistics confirm that France has been the world’s first choice holiday destination for many years.

Why?

Well, you have a choice of mouthwatering food, medieval history, beaches, mountains, stunning landscapes, vineyards, wine, festivals and 44 UNESCO world heritage sites.

So, how to choose where to go ? Try is fun quiz to give you some ideas.

Your holiday in France

Did you know that your personal tastes and interests reveal a lot about where you should holiday. Try this fun quiz about taking a vacation in France.

Being an expat in France and India

Living in a country as an expat is always an interesting experience.

Listen to Chris and his guest Renu talk about their life living in France and India.

As a language learner listen out for what they say about these aspects:

Having dual nationality

Visa requirements to visit the UK as a British nationality

Buying property as a non national. Listen out for the term “Overseas Citizen of India”.

Healthcare rights. Listen out for the expression “you”re on your own”.

Retirement rights

Voting

Marriage and divorce

Languages

Then listen out more carefully for these expressions:

Renu says “you have to jump through lots of hurdles”. What does she mean? Why does she say this?

She talks about a loop hole. What is this ?

Renu says that her two countries are “oceans apart”. What does this image imply?

Chris says that something about France used “to get on his nerves” and he “couldn’t handle it”. What was he talking about?

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A few days in New York

A few days in New York.

Have you ever been to New York ? Is it on your list of things to do ? Do you like big cites ? Do you live in the USA? What do you think of tourists to your country?

Listen to this podcast in which Laura, a French-British young women talks to Sue about her holiday, or vacation as they say in American English.

If you are learning English listen very carefully to how Laura talks about her trip. She is half way through her holiday so notice how she describes actions/events in the past and then actions/events in the recent past and then actions/ events in the future. This podcast is a great way to see all these grammatical structures.

Notice the use of the Simple Past tense to indicate something that Laura did in the past.

I booked the hotel on line. I bought a Tourist pass before I came

Sue asks Laura; How did you cope with the jet leg when you arrived?

Notice the use of the Present Perfect tense which Laura uses to describe something she has done recently, within the last few days but without mentioning the exact day.

I have been to see the Statue of Liberty. I‘ve done so many things. I have taken a cab. I’ve been to wrong places. I have been to Five Guys. I’ve spoken to quite a few people from new York.

Notice the use of the Present Continuous tense to describe a current situation.

Sue asks Laura: How are you getting around ?

People in the street are all carrying a cup of soda or coffee.

Notice the use of the future tenses.

Sue asks Laura: What are you doing after this diner? When are you heading back ?

I’m going to visit Brooklyn Bridge and the Highline later this afternoon.

To learn more vocabulary don’t forget to do the New York Skyline Quiz… it’s awesome !

The New York Skyline Quiz

The New York skyline is world famous, but how well do you really know it ?

Listen to the podcast here.

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Rishikesh Northern India

Rishikesh has been a part of the legendary “Kedarkhand” – Legends state that Lord Rama did penance here for killing Ravana, the asura king of Lanka; and Lakshmana, his younger brother, crossed the river Ganges, using two jute ropes at the point where the present ‘Lakshman Jhula’ stands today.

Dehra Dun said about Rishikesh, ” A village or town beautifully situated on the right bank of the Ganges, on a high cliff overlooking the river. The place is developing very rapidly, especially since the construction of the new bridge over the Song river, the realignment of the pilgrim road from Raiwala to Rishikesh.“

The Ganges, one of the most sacred rivers to Hindus, flows through Rishikesh. Here the river leaves the Shivalik Hills in the Himalayas and flows into the plains of northern India.

Several temples, ancient and new, are along the banks of the Ganges in Rishikesh. Shatrughna Mandir, Bharat Mandir (Lord Vishnu’s avatar), Lakshman Mandir are the ancient temples established by Adi Shankaracharya. Shatrughna Temple is near Ram Jhula and Lakshman Mandir is situated near Lakshman Jhula.

The historical records mention that some pilgrims used to stay at Rishikesh as a resting place before moving onwards to the higher mountains for the pilgrimage while a larger number used to visit Rishikesh as the original destination and visited various sites between Rishikesh and Lakshman Jhula before returning.

However, Rishikesh has in recent decades shifted from a pilgrim to a tourist town. The International Yoga Festival introduced in 2000 has brought a new influx of tourists. Local markets have evolved from commercialising goods such as “local and religious handicrafts” to a more service-oriented tourist industry with “provision stores, cafes, hotels and yoga and meditation” as well as rafting

Listen to Chris talking to Renu, who has lived in Rishikesh for a number of years, about the town, the region and things of interest, but also of being an expat in India. In later podcasts we will be looking at being an expat in India and France, ayuverda and lots of information about India.

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What is a bucket list?

A bucket list is a list of activities or things that people really want to do before they die, as depicted by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in the 2007 film of the same name, where two people realise their wildest dreams.

In this podcast 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.
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.

Why not try this quiz to give you ideas as to what to put on your Bucket list.