Workaholism

Click here to listen to a podcast about "Workaholism".

There's nothing like a good night's sleep

Click here to listen and read a podcast about sleeping. It has a lot of vocabulary and expressions about the topic.

Feeling sleepy

Listen to this podcast about sleep and learn some vocabulary about sleep. You have the script and some vocabulary notes.

Podcasts

Click here to get the archive for British Council Professional Podcasts. You can listen and see the script. There's a great variety of topics.
The websites has links to many other interesting websites.

Let, make and have somebody do something

Click here to learn how to use these structures.

Booking Holidays Online

Listen to the podcast and take notes. Then listen and read the script. 
Stephen and Alice talk about booking holidays online and the language used in advertising holidays on the internet.

The travel ads that are too good to be true

All too often fantastic sounding advertisements for deals on flights, hotels and holidays turn out to be misleading. It's an increasingly common complaint from travel consumers around the world.

Watch the video up to 3’12” and fill in the gaps. Answers in ‘comments’.

1.    According to the video, the travel industry fantastic sounding ads usually turn out to be ____________  ____________.

2.    Stephen Duck says that sometimes you see a great offer and when you start trying to book it, you see that is no longer ____________ or you have to ____________ ____________ ____________ ____________.

He also says that after making the emotional commitment there’s nothing worse than having to decide to either ____________ ____________ or ____________ ____________ ____________ than you anticipated.

3.    Frank Brehany speaks about a family who had booked their hotel about ____________  ____________  ____________ only to discover about ____________ ____________ ____________ that they can’t go to this hotel because it ____________ ____________ in ____________.

4.    Prof. Ang Peng Hwa speaks about a common practice in Asia which is called “the bate and switch”. People sign up for a holiday package and finally if there aren’t enough people they are ____________ to ____________  ____________ .

5.    Travel Zoo is a website that has ____________ ____________ around the world. They went through newspapers, magazines and online looking at  ____________ ____________. They say that ____________ of them didn’t pass their criteria: they were not ____________, the price was different, there were ____________  ____________ .

6.    Some airlines and tour operators had been forced to withdraw certain adverts. The rivalry between budget airlines has taken the form of objecting to each other marketing.

A newspaper ad showing a woman in ____________  ____________  sipping a cocktail and proclaiming ” ____________  ____________  ____________  ____________  now” was found to be misleading because the maximum temperatures in the ____________ ____________ ____________ on offer were between ____________ and ____________ degrees during the promotional period.

Brazilian Food

Before listening have a look at the vocabulary. Listen to Rob and Grace talking about Brazilian food and take notes. Then listen and read the script.

Contrast: in spite of and despite

Click here to see a lesson about the use of 'in spite of' and 'despite'.

We went swimming in spite of / despite the strong currents.

Contrast: although and even though

Click here to see a lesson on the use of 'although' and 'even though'.

Although it was expensive, we ordered the best wine.

We went out, even though it was raining hard.

The Ebola Outbreak

Click here to listen to a discussion about Ebola and the use of experimental drugs. You have some vocabulary and you can see the script too.

Drunk Man Utd fan calls the police

Just for fun! Listen and read this phone conversation. A drunk and upset fan speaks some real English when he calls the police to complain about Manchester United. Listen to the funny audio and read the full transcript.

Does travel broaden the mind?

Listen to this podcast.

Fill in the gaps in these sentences (one word in each gap). Check your answers in ‘comments’.

1.       Melissa thinks the more you _____________, the more different _____________ you encounter and learn about them and _____________ the differences.

2.       They both agree that you learn nothing on the _____________.

3.       When you get there, you do the _____________ things: look at the nice _____________, take a few _____________, try the _____________...

4.       She did backpacking around _____________. They did about _____________ countries in 1 month and she thinks by the end of it they stopped _____________ it in.

5.       He travelled around South America for 3 and a half or 4 months and he was just _____________.

6.       ‘You learn about _____________’. She thinks this cliché is true. You learn about what you are _____________ of.

7.       He was water rafting and he learnt he could _____________ under water.

8.       She thinks travel broadens your mind considering travel as in taking yourself _____________ very different to what you know, putting yourself in another _____________, with another _____________, in another place.

9.       He thinks for travel to broaden your mind you have to _____________ and _____________ there. You basically have to be an _____________ _____________.

Happy Valentine's Day

A. Watch this short video about one of the legends about the history of St Valentine and answer the questions. Check your answers in 'comments'.

1. When and where did St Valentine live?
2. Why was the Roman Empire crumbling?
3. What did Emperor Claudius II believe?
4. What did the Emperor do?
5. What did the bishop do?
6. What did the bishop do during his imprisonment?
7. Why was he sentenced to death?
8. What did he do before his execution?


B. Click here to listen to a podcast about St Valentine's Day. Answer the questions and then check them in 'comments'. You can also click here (you have the complete story and some of the vocabulary).

1. How do couples show their love for each other on St Valentine's Day?
2. What has the celebration become in recent years?
3. How many roses are sold worldwide?
4. Who do some historians suggest St Valentine was?
5. When did the duke of Orleans send what is considered the first St Valentine's card?
6. How did the duke seek solace for his confinement?
7. How is it celebrated in Japan?
8. What happens in Korea on 14th April?
9. What do Internet security experts say?
10. Who sends Valentine cards to criminals?
11. What kind of criminals?
12. Can you complete the poem?

________ are red
Violets are ________ 
You've got a warrant and
We'd ________ to ________  you!

*You can learn more about this festivity having a look at older posts.

Daily Exercise Leads to Better Health

Listen to the podcast and take notes. Then listen and read to check your notes (you can click on words you don't know to check the meaning).

Articles

1. First do the vocabulary activity. Listen to the article  about Environmental Protest Groups and take notes. Then do the comprehension activity and finally listen and read the script. 

2. Do the same with this article about Ecotourism.

Love in the age of Twitter

1. Listen to an article about this topic.
2. A podcast about 'love letters'. You have some vocabulary and you can read the script.

The Origin of Valentine's Day

1. Watch this video and learn about the origin of Valentine's Day.

2. Don't look at the script. Go to the bottom of the page and follow the instructions.


Look at older posts about the same festivity.

Narrative tenses

This podcast is about narrative tenses (past simple, past continous, past perfect). To master the use of these tenses you have to deal with their form, their use and their pronunciation - both for listening and speaking. A full transcript, pronunciation drills, grammar notes and advice are all available for this episode.

Minor medical injuries

Listen to the podcast and take notes (it includes vocabulary explanations). You can read the script.

Organic food

Have a look at the comprehension exercise. Listen to the conversation twice and try to do the activity. Then listen again, read the script and check the answers.