Audio script
Hello everybody I’m Sarah Zhang.
As you might guess, I’m not English, I’m from China. There are a lot of Chinese people in London now. Some of them have been here for a long time and some of them are quite new here, so I don’t feel lonely.
I always have someone I can speak Chinese to and there are some great restaurants here so I don’t have to eat English food all the time. I have some Chinese friends here but I also have lots of other friends, some from Britain and some from other places as well. The crowd in Tony’s café. London is full of people from all over the world.
So, more about me. I’m 26 and I first came to Britain 4 years ago. I’m from Shanghai originally. I studied fine art in Shanghai and now I’ve come to London to carry on my studies. It’s a great place to study. There are lots of students here. And some good universities.
Sometimes, I get a bit lonely and I miss my family and friends in China. And London can seem unfriendly at first. It’s difficult to find a nice place to live here and it’s very expensive. But there are lots of great galleries and museums here with classic and contemporary art so that means lots of opportunities for work.
I like it a lot in Europe. Now, I feel quite divided between the European way of life and the Chinese one.
When I’m not studying, well, I like to visit museums and galleries, you already guessed that, oh, and I like shopping. Shopping is great here. Some really interesting fashion; and great designers. I met my friend Olivia when I went to buy some shoes at her shop next door to the café. I also write pieces for a website, dimsum.co.uk about Chinese life in the UK. Oh, and I like to hang out with my friends at Tony’s.
Comments
Thanks. Now I know something about Sarah.
Can anyone explain to me what the sentence "The crowd in Tony's cafe" is doing in the second paragraph? It just doesn't make much sense to me. Thx
Hello Jay8477,
It is rather an odd sentence, isn't it? In fact, it's not even a sentence as it has no verb in it. I read it as an example of the point being made (friends everywhere, from all over the world), but it does not really fit the passage. Remember that our texts show real people speaking real language as they use it every day, and people do not always speak entirely grammatically or even coherently. That is just a part of how language is used in the real world and you have found an example of that here - well spotted.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Yes, odd indeed. After thinking for a while I finally understood it just as you said, but shouldn't it be (the crowd in Tony's cafe)? What had me confused was the fact that no parenthesis were used and the dot (.) before the expression. Thanks a lot Peter!
Thank you
hello everyone.. im chathurani shamila. from srilanka. i love learning English & also speaking in English.. i think this website is really important new learners.. thank you British council for your great effort. and nice to meet you everyone....
I have a question that is what the man said when the open of audio?hello and welcom to british recoding....I really want to be explained,thanks
Hello hồng ân nguyễn,
'Hello, and welcome to this recording, brought to you by the British Council' is what the man says.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
hello everyone, nice to meet you it's my first time to comment here, I liked sarah so much I got all what she said she speaks clearly. I also enjoy learning here a lot. hope to make friends here and practice English to talk fluently.
thank you very much for your great effort British council.
Hello everybody. Learning English is a fun. I am happy to be here and I hope I would make friends. It's Mehmet from Turkey. I am an history teacher and deputy principal. I am interested in learning English and playing chess.
Bye
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