Jo and Adam
Adam: Hello! And welcome to Episode 2 of Series 4 of LearnEnglish Elementary Podcasts. My name's Adam and my colleague Jo will be joining us later on to talk about some of the language in the podcast.
It was great to start reading all your comments again. A lot of comments were from old friends of the podcast from Series 3, 2 or even Series 1. Zara from Venezuela sent her greetings, and both Shnider from Egypt and Saulo from Brazil said 'welcome back'. Predkambrij from Slovenia and Dilshadcan from Iraq told us how the podcasts helped with their English. If you want to get the most out of the podcasts, remember to do the exercises as well as listening to the audio.
And thank you to everyone, like Andeo from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who welcomed Jo to the podcast team. We’re both really looking forward to working with you over the rest of the podcasts, whether you listen to them on the website or via our mobile app. You can find the LearnEnglish Elementary Podcasts app by searching the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store and there’s also a link on the LearnEnglish website.
I'm sure you remember the last episode was about the British and pets – and we asked you to tell us about your pets and the most popular pets in your country. And what a variety of pets you told us about!
Andeo talked about his dog Žućo, whose name means 'yellow’. Fabimuc from Colombia has a dog called Tango, who's only three months old. Aww! Jamir is also from Colombia and he used to fight with his siblings because they all wanted their cats in their beds at night!
Lam Tran from Vietnam said that, although dogs and cats are the most popular pets in his country, rabbits and hamsters have become more popular recently.
You told us about keeping cats, turtles, birds – like canaries or pigeons – sheep and even a frog! But you aren't all pet lovers! Lisa-chriki's husband had three rabbits as pets but Lisa didn't like the smell so he couldn't keep them. It’s important to think carefully before you get a pet because it can be a lot harder to give a pet away than to get one.
A lot of people made the point that keeping a pet, or not, depends on the culture of your country and the standard of living. Chocolar said that, in his part of West Africa, only a few people have money to look after pets – it's more important to look after people. In some places it's unusual to keep pets like dogs or cats, but people take good care of their cows, sheep and goats.
Thank you to everyone who left a comment – we really enjoy reading them and hearing what you think. It’s really interesting to read different answers to our questions from users all over the world.
Now it's time to hear from another old friend – Carolina. Carolina is from Venezuela, but she's living and studying in Newcastle in the north-east of England at the moment. She has a best friend called Emily and a boyfriend called Jamie. Let's see what she's doing today.
Carolina – At the shopping centre
Carolina: Oh. What a lot of people!
Emily: Well, yes. It's the first day of the sales. People go crazy. Let's go in here. I like their jeans.
Carolina: So do I. Oh, it's very crowded.
Emily: Come on. The jeans are over here.
Carolina: Excuse me … Um … Excuse me, please … excuse me.
Emily: What are you doing?
Carolina: Trying to get past the people.
Emily: You can't just say ‘Excuse me, excuse me’. You have to push. Like this. Look. Excuse me! Follow me!
Emily: These jackets are nice.
Carolina: Yes.
Woman: Excuse me. Excuse me.
Carolina: Aaargh!
Emily: Are you OK?
Carolina: That woman pushed me into the jackets. I nearly fell over. I thought the British were polite!
Emily: Not in the sales. Come on. The jeans are over there.
Emily: Well, I've got my jeans. What's next? What do you want to get?
Carolina: Well, you know. I'm being careful with my money.
Emily: I know – that's why we're here – at the sales. You can buy something. Oh, let's go in here. They've got really, really cheap T-shirts. Like two pounds each.
Carolina: No, I don't think so.
Emily: Why not? Look. Special sales offer. Two T-shirts for the price of one. Come on.
Carolina: Jamie told me about this shop.
Emily: Told you what?
Carolina: It isn't ethical. We shouldn't buy things there.
Emily: Oh, lord! What do you mean, it isn't ethical?
Carolina: The T-shirts are very cheap because they don't pay the workers enough money. They make them work long hours in terrible conditions.
Emily: Oh.
Carolina: Let's go for a coffee. I'll pay.
Emily: OK. You know you could buy four T-shirts for the price of two coffees, don't you? I mean, I understand what you mean, but …
Waitress: Here you are. Two coffees.
Carolina and Emily: Thanks.
Carolina: I don't think I like the first day of the sales.
Emily: We've only been in one shop!
Carolina: I know. Anyway, how are things going in your exciting new love life? With Cameron.
Emily: ‘Exciting new love life’? It's going quite well.
Carolina: Only ‘quite’ well?
Emily: Oh, OK. It's going very well. I really like him. I don't see him very often – he's busy working in the bookshop, and practising with the band – but it's good. I'm happy.
Carolina: I'm sooo glad, Emily.
Emily: He says he's going to write a song for me.
Carolina: No!
Emily: Can you imagine?
Carolina: Not really. ‘Oh Emily, with your lovely blue eyes, and your yellow hair’ – dang dang dang.
Emily: Blonde hair, please, Carolina. Not yellow.
Carolina: I can't wait to hear the song.
Jo and Adam
Adam: Phew! I don’t like crowds, but I love finding a bargain, something cheaper than usual. Jo is here with us again today – do you like the sales, Jo?
Jo: I do. But the January sales are a really big thing in Britain, aren't they?
Adam: That's right. Some people queue outside the big shops all night. They sleep in the streets waiting for the shops to open in the morning.
Jo: Oh, I’ve never done that. That’s crazy! Sleeping on the streets just to get a bargain?
Adam: Absolutely. But now let's talk about some of the language from the podcast. Jo?
Jo: Well, I want to talk about two common verbs – 'can' and 'should'. 'Can' and 'should' are both modal verbs. And modal verbs are different from verbs like 'go' or 'like'. Listen to Emily. What form of the verb follows 'can'?
Carolina: Well, you know. I'm being careful with my money.
Emily: I know – that's why we're here – at the sales. You can buy something.
Adam: 'You can buy something.’
Jo: That's right. 'Can buy', not 'can to buy'. We use the infinitive form of the verb but without 'to'. Now listen to Carolina.
Carolina: I can't wait to hear the song.
Jo: The negative of 'can' is 'can't'. 'I can't wait'.
Adam: Or 'I can't decide what to have for dinner tonight'.
Jo: And 'should' is the same. After 'should' we use a verb without 'to'.
Adam: And the negative is 'shouldn't'.
Jo: Listen to Carolina.
Carolina: It isn't ethical. We shouldn't buy things there.
Jo: Notice the pronunciation of 'should' and 'shouldn't'. It's spelt with an L – 'S-H-O-U-L-D', but the L is silent – we don't say it.
Adam: One more thing about modal verbs – we make a question by changing the word order – we don't use 'do' or 'did' to make a question. For example, 'Can you help me?'
Jo: Or 'What make of computer should I buy?'
Adam: Why don't you write and tell us what you think about sales? Do you love them or hate them? When's the most popular time for sales in your country? The address is www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish.
Jo: And there are exercises on the website to help you with the language from the podcast – including 'can' and 'should'.
Adam: So, see you next time. Bye!
Jo: Bye!
Comments
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Hi
I am Mortoja. I am from India.Frankly I am not much shopaholic but People in India usually shop more during the occasion like Durga puja, diwali, Eid festival, and before big day of 25th december. They also get some lucrative discount for buying cloths, necessary stuffs they needed for the festival and many things they want to buy.
Most of the clothes shops in Algeria haven’t sales, generally they reduce price only in the end of season especially for the good quality.
Some people have to buy some clothes in the end of season to wear them in the next, I prefer that too.
I don't like going shopping for clothes because it takes me many hours to choose suitable clothes. But I love buying at sale time, I can buy anything with cheaper cost.
Well, I don't like sales season because it's very crowded you have to walk through the crowds and choose something cheap you want to buy. I am sick and tired of doing that all the time. And especially, the quality of these products is not high so I do not like buy things at sales season.
Hello I am from Pakistan in my country in big cities sales but I am quite interested in doing shopping.Sir. please guide me I learned many things from this website but still i can't speak English although my listening power is not bad but at the right time when I speak I completely stocked actually this time I don't know how I write this comment help me for speaking thank you so much.
Hello jehanara1122,
I would recommend your first read our Frequently asked questions page and then that you use Elementary Podcasts. Start with Series 1 and follow the advice on the Frequently asked questions page when you use it. Many users spend too little time on each episode - unless you really know everything there already, you should spend at least a couple of hours on each episode, listening at least twice and recording vocabulary and practising pronunciation. By imitating what you hear in each episode until you know it well, you can really improve.
That's what I'd recommend, but of course you can use our site however you'd like to. And let us know if you have any questions!
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
I don't like sales season so much. Because during the sales time the shopping places become overcrowded and one should buy through lots of bargains. And the probability of getting a good product is less compared to other seasons. In my country, the sale time is in the EID festival and that's why the season also comes twice in a year because we have two EID.
I prefer not to buy anything at sales time, because I think they present their junky goods. I can't bear to watch people push each other to find best bargains. As a matter of fact I'm a kind of people who waits until the queue is empty! On the other hand I always think the best ones have been sold and I've arrived late.
In my country, Iran, the best time for sales is end of the summer. In opposite of other countries, near the new year, the prices are very high and goods are not good enough.
How do you feel about the sales – do you love them or hate them?
When's the most popular time for sales in your country?
i don't think i like shopping . When i need something, i just go straight to the store and buy it, i never care about sales. In Vietnam, the often make tricks in sales, one example is that one T-shirt truly cost about 100$, and they say "T-shirt's real price is 120$ but because of 10% discount you can buy it with just 108$".
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