Ten Questions ESL Podcast

I made this podcast episode in December 2015, and then replayed it last year just before Christmas. It's time for it again, as Christmas is in a couple of days! I had a nice dinner with some foreign teachers last night. There were two Canadians, three Americans, three Brits, four Chinese, and two babies. The dinner was held at the apartment of my co-worker from Canada and his wife and baby. My other two Foreign Language College co-workers were there. along with a few other people we know. We had a nice time together. And now for the podcast . . . .   LnR (Classic) A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Listen and Repeat: Once upon a time—of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve—old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house. It was cold, bleak, biting weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their feet upon the pavement stones to warm them. The city clocks had only just gone three, but it was quite dark already—it had not been light all day—and candles were flaring in the windows of the neighbouring offices, like ruddy smears upon the palpable brown air. The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole, and was so dense without, that although the court was of the narrowest, the houses opposite were mere phantoms. To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale. The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part. Wherefore the clerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which effort, not being a man of a strong imagination, he failed. “A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!” cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge’s nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach. “Bah!” said Scrooge, “Humbug!” He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge’s, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again. “Christmas a humbug, uncle!” said Scrooge’s nephew. “You don’t mean that, I am sure?” “I do,” said Scrooge. “Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? What reason have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.” “Come, then,” returned the nephew gaily. “What right have you to be dismal? What reason have you to be morose? You’re rich enough.” Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, “Bah!” again; and followed it up with “Humbug.” “Don’t be cross, uncle!” said the nephew. “What else can I be,” returned the uncle, “when I live in such a world of fools as this? Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in ’em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!” “Uncle!” pleaded the nephew. “Nephew!” returned the uncle sternly, “keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.” “Keep it!” repeated Scrooge’s nephew. “But you don’t keep it.” “Let me leave it alone, then,” said Scrooge. “Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!”

LnR Around the World in Eighty Days 16 Chapter IV Having won twenty guineas at whist, and taken leave of his friends, Phileas Fogg, at twenty-five minutes past seven, left the Reform Club. Passepartout, who had conscientiously studied the programme of his duties, was more than surprised to see his master guilty of the inexactness of appearing at this unaccustomed hour; for, according to rule, he was not due in Saville Row until precisely midnight. Mr. Fogg repaired to his bedroom, and called out, "Passepartout!" Passepartout did not reply. It could not be he who was called; it was not the right hour. "Passepartout!" repeated Mr. Fogg, without raising his voice. Passepartout made his appearance. "I've called you twice," observed his master. "But it is not midnight," responded the other, showing his watch. "I know it; I don't blame you. We start for Dover and Calais in ten minutes." A puzzled grin overspread Passepartout's round face; clearly he had not comprehended his master. "Monsieur is going to leave home?" "Yes," returned Phileas Fogg. "We are going round the world." Passepartout opened wide his eyes, raised his eyebrows, held up his hands, and seemed about to collapse, so overcome was he with stupefied astonishment. "Round the world!" he murmured. "In eighty days," responded Mr. Fogg. "So we haven't a moment to lose." "But the trunks?" gasped Passepartout, unconsciously swaying his head from right to left. "We'll have no trunks; only a carpet-bag, with two shirts and three pairs of stockings for me, and the same for you. We'll buy our clothes on the way. Bring down my mackintosh and traveling-cloak, and some stout shoes, though we shall do little walking. Make haste!" Passepartout tried to reply, but could not. He went out, mounted to his own room, fell into a chair, and muttered: "That's good, that is! And I, who wanted to remain quiet!"

TQ 059 Lydia from the Netherlands (Replay) I hosted Lydia two years ago. And then, a couple months later, I hosted her again as she headed back to Europe! ======== Lydia, 21, stayed with me for several days. She's been on the road for 15 months, cycling from the Netherlands to China and then on to Southeast Asia. She desired to see China because she lived here for two years when she was a little girl. Listen as we talk about how she learned English quickly by being put in an English school in Shanghai, why she is a vegetarian, and as she tells about the beauty of the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan. She also tells us about a Dutch holiday called Sinter Klaas. Lydia has a very good English vocabulary. Here are some words that she uses that you may not know: biblical name, repetitive, baguette, to feel alienated, to integrate, refugee, densely populated, accessible, mode of transport, sleigh, communal feeling, controversial. Her blog is www.thegoldenroadtosamarkand.com.

LnR Around the World in Eighty Days 15   Stuart, whose turn it was to deal, gathered them up, and went on: "You are right, theoretically, Mr. Fogg, but practically—" "Practically also, Mr. Stuart." "I'd like to see you do it in eighty days." "It depends on you. Shall we go?" "Heaven preserve me! But I would wager four thousand pounds that such a journey, made under these conditions, is impossible." "Quite possible, on the contrary," returned Mr. Fogg. "Well, make it, then!" "The journey round the world in eighty days?" "Yes." "I should like nothing better." "When?" "At once. Only I warn you that I shall do it at your expense." "It's absurd!" cried Stuart, who was beginning to be annoyed at the persistency of his friend. "Come, let's go on with the game." "Deal over again, then," said Phileas Fogg. "There's a false deal." Stuart took up the pack with a feverish hand; then suddenly put them down again. "Well, Mr. Fogg," said he, "it shall be so: I will wager the four thousand on it." "Calm yourself, my dear Stuart," said Fallentin. "It's only a joke." "When I say I'll wager," returned Stuart, "I mean it." "All right," said Mr. Fogg; and, turning to the others, he continued: "I have a deposit of twenty thousand at Baring's which I will willingly risk upon it." "Twenty thousand pounds!" cried Sullivan. "Twenty thousand pounds, which you would lose by a single accidental delay!" "The unforeseen does not exist," quietly replied Phileas Fogg. "But, Mr. Fogg, eighty days are only the estimate of the least possible time in which the journey can be made." "A well-used minimum suffices for everything." "But, in order not to exceed it, you must jump mathematically from the trains upon the steamers, and from the steamers upon the trains again." "I will jump—mathematically." "You are joking." "A true Englishman doesn't joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager," replied Phileas Fogg, solemnly. "I will bet twenty thousand pounds against anyone who wishes that I will make the tour of the world in eighty days or less; in nineteen hundred and twenty hours, or a hundred and fifteen thousand two hundred minutes. Do you accept?" "We accept," replied Messrs. Stuart, Fallentin, Sullivan, Flanagan, and Ralph, after consulting each other. "Good," said Mr. Fogg. "The train leaves for Dover at a quarter before nine. I will take it." "This very evening?" asked Stuart. "This very evening," returned Phileas Fogg. He took out and consulted a pocket almanac, and added, "As today is Wednesday, the 2nd of October, I shall be due in London in this very room of the Reform Club, on Saturday, the 21st of December, at a quarter before nine p.m.; or else the twenty thousand pounds, now deposited in my name at Baring's, will belong to you, in fact and in right, gentlemen. Here is a cheque for the amount." A memorandum of the wager was at once drawn up and signed by the six parties, during which Phileas Fogg preserved a stoical composure. He certainly did not bet to win, and had only staked the twenty thousand pounds, half of his fortune, because he foresaw that he might have to expend the other half to carry out this difficult, not to say unattainable, project. As for his antagonists, they seemed much agitated; not so much by the value of their stake, as because they had some scruples about betting under conditions so difficult to their friend. The clock struck seven, and the party offered to suspend the game so that Mr. Fogg might make his preparations for departure. "I am quite ready now," was his tranquil response. "Diamonds are trumps: be so good as to play, gentlemen."

TQ 058 Milena from Poland (Replay) Milena and Alicja (TQ 056) stayed with me for two nights as they were on their way from China to Vietnam. Alexei (TQ 057) was also here at the same time - three house guests! Milena has a somewhat strong Polish accent, so this will be good listening practice for most of you. Listen as we talk about skiing, safety while hitchhiking, and Hong Kong. Here are some words that Milena uses that you may not know: to be fit, downhill skiing, cross country skiing, adrenaline junkie, to be terrified, pepper spray, ethnology, internship, anthropology, thesis, to horseride (to ride a horse), trekking, hiking, hippies, populated, peak.

LnR the World in Eighty Days 14 Around "Certainly," returned Ralph. "I agree with Mr. Fogg. The world has grown smaller, since a man can now go round it ten times more quickly than a hundred years ago. And that is why the search for this thief will be more likely to succeed." "And also why the thief can get away more easily." "Be so good as to play, Mr. Stuart," said Phileas Fogg. But the incredulous Stuart was not convinced, and when the hand was finished, said eagerly: "You have a strange way, Ralph, of proving that the world has grown smaller. So, because you can go round it in three months—" "In eighty days," interrupted Phileas Fogg. "That is true, gentlemen," added John Sullivan. "Only eighty days, now that the section between Rothal and Allahabad, on the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, has been opened. Here is the estimate made by the Daily Telegraph:      From London to Suez via Mont Cenis and        Brindisi, by rail and steamboats .................  7 days      From Suez to Bombay, by steamer .................... 13  "      From Bombay to Calcutta, by rail ...................  3  "      From Calcutta to Hong Kong, by steamer ............. 13  "      From Hong Kong to Yokohama (Japan), by steamer .....  6  "      From Yokohama to San Francisco, by steamer ......... 22  "      From San Francisco to New York, by rail ............. 7  "      From New York to London, by steamer and rail ........ 9  "                                                           -------        Total ............................................ 80 days." "Yes, in eighty days!" exclaimed Stuart, who in his excitement made a false deal. "But that doesn't take into account bad weather, contrary winds, shipwrecks, railway accidents, and so on." "All included," returned Phileas Fogg, continuing to play despite the discussion. "But suppose the Hindoos or Indians pull up the rails," replied Stuart; "suppose they stop the trains, pillage the luggage-vans, and scalp the passengers!" "All included," calmly retorted Fogg; adding, as he threw down the cards, "Two trumps."

LnR Around the World in Eighty Days 13 There were real grounds for supposing, as the Daily Telegraph said, that the thief did not belong to a professional band. On the day of the robbery a well-dressed gentleman of polished manners, and with a well-to-do air, had been observed going to and fro in the paying room where the crime was committed. A description of him was easily procured and sent to the detectives; and some hopeful spirits, of whom Ralph was one, did not despair of his apprehension. The papers and clubs were full of the affair, and everywhere people were discussing the probabilities of a successful pursuit; and the Reform Club was especially agitated, several of its members being Bank officials. Ralph would not concede that the work of the detectives was likely to be in vain, for he thought that the prize offered would greatly stimulate their zeal and activity. But Stuart was far from sharing this confidence; and, as they placed themselves at the whist-table, they continued to argue the matter. Stuart and Flanagan played together, while Phileas Fogg had Fallentin for his partner. As the game proceeded the conversation ceased, excepting between the rubbers, when it revived again. "I maintain," said Stuart, "that the chances are in favour of the thief, who must be a shrewd fellow." "Well, but where can he fly to?" asked Ralph. "No country is safe for him." "Pshaw!" "Where could he go, then?" "Oh, I don't know that. The world is big enough." "It was once," said Phileas Fogg, in a low tone. "Cut, sir," he added, handing the cards to Thomas Flanagan. The discussion fell during the rubber, after which Stuart took up its thread. "What do you mean by `once'? Has the world grown smaller?"  

TQ 057 Alexei from Belarus (Replay) Here's an interview with a cyclist I hosted almost two years ago. Alexei (also called Alex) stayed in my apartment several nights on his way from China to Vietnam. He had already been traveling for a long time by bike. He is from Minsk, the capitol of Belarus. His native language is Russian. Listen as we talk about his trip and the names of all the countries he has cycled in. Here are some words you may not know: the road surface, brakes, to burn calories, vegetarian, Austria, the Alps, mountain pass, serpentine road (up a mountain), bicycle gears, equipment, and visa. You can see his pictures on Instagram. His name is Alex_Landres.

LnR Around the World in Eighty Days 12 At the beginning of this recording, I invite you to visit my website http://www.missbuswell.com/. On the right side of the page you'll see a chance to subscribe to my email list and get a free copy of "How to Improve your English Speaking". I talk quite a lot at the beginning of this podcast episode! If you want to only hear the Listen and Repeat part, you can start at 8:47.   ----------- It was Phileas Fogg, whose head now emerged from behind his newspapers, who made this remark. He bowed to his friends, and entered into the conversation. The affair which formed its subject, and which was town talk, had occurred three days before at the Bank of England. A package of banknotes, to the value of fifty-five thousand pounds, had been taken from the principal cashier's table, that functionary being at the moment engaged in registering the receipt of three shillings and sixpence. Of course, he could not have his eyes everywhere. Let it be observed that the Bank of England reposes a touching confidence in the honesty of the public. There are neither guards nor gratings to protect its treasures; gold, silver, banknotes are freely exposed, at the mercy of the first comer. A keen observer of English customs relates that, being in one of the rooms of the Bank one day, he had the curiosity to examine a gold ingot weighing some seven or eight pounds. He took it up, scrutinised it, passed it to his neighbour, he to the next man, and so on until the ingot, going from hand to hand, was transferred to the end of a dark entry; nor did it return to its place for half an hour. Meanwhile, the cashier had not so much as raised his head. But in the present instance things had not gone so smoothly. The package of notes not being found when five o'clock sounded from the ponderous clock in the "drawing office," the amount was passed to the account of profit and loss. As soon as the robbery was discovered, picked detectives hastened off to Liverpool, Glasgow, Havre, Suez, Brindisi, New York, and other ports, inspired by the proffered reward of two thousand pounds, and five per cent. on the sum that might be recovered. Detectives were also charged with narrowly watching those who arrived at or left London by rail, and a judicial examination was at once entered upon.  

TQ 108 Arina and Aleksei from St Petersburg, Russia I hosted Arina and Aleksei for three nights on near the beginning of their round-the-world hitchhiking adventure. They had already crossed Russia and Mongolia and most of China. Arina is a lawyer and Aleksei an engineer, and they are taking time out to travel for a year or so. Arina is originally from the Republic of Bashkortostan, while Aleksei grew up in St Petersburg. Listen as they talk about their names, their jobs, and their travels. Some of you will have problems understanding Aleksei because he has a strong Russian accent. Others will enjoy the challenge! Arina said that English was her favorite subject in school, which is why she speaks so well. And even though Aleksei has a strong accent, his vocabulary is quite good. Here are some words that we used that you may not know: nanny, puppet, diminutive, to be inspired by someone/something, saint, fortress, infrastructure, contractor, peninsula.