Episode 03

Episode 03

Tess and Ravi discuss a topic that many British people like to talk about all the time. Can you guess what it is? Adam reports on some of the different ways you said you greet each other.

Transcript

Adam

Adam: Hello and welcome! My name is Adam. Rob is on holiday this week – lucky man! He’ll be back for the next episode.

Thanks for your comments – we love hearing from you. It was really interesting to hear how you greet each other. Adilson Santos sent us a great message telling us the different ways to greet people in Brazil. He said that people who are not close friends just say ‘hi’. If they are better friends, a girl might hug a boy and kiss his cheek, but boys never kiss each other, they only shake hands and boys who are very good friends might hug quickly. He also said that boys don’t really shake hands, they slap their hands together, and that at church he kisses men on the cheek and shakes hands with women.

Isn’t it interesting how complicated greetings can be!

Langtucoiam from Vietnam said that, when meeting an old friend, people will normally shake hands, but again it can be different depending on how close you were, how old your friend is and your friend's sex.

Finally, Hess in the Ivory Coast said that people in his tribe always ask for news when they meet, but they don’t bow or shake hands. He said that two people who slept in the same room will even ask what the news is when they wake up in the morning! I found that fascinating.

Do you remember what Tess and Ravi are doing in this series? They are looking at all the things that people think about when they think about Britain. So, what’s the topic today? Well, it’s something that British people love to talk about. Can you guess what it is?

Tess and Ravi

Ravi: Hi everyone, hi Tess!

Tess: Hi Ravi.

Ravi: Right. I think you know that Tess and I are here to talk about some of the things you think you know about Britain.

Tess: Things like ‘drinking tea’, ‘the Royal Family’ and ‘fish and chips’ – things you think are very British.

Ravi: And what could be more British than today’s weather? It is horrible out there, Tess.

Tess: Is it raining?

Ravi: No, it’s not raining but it’s grey and cold and miserable and… it’s exactly what people said about British weather. We asked our listeners around the world what they think about when they think about Britain and lots of people said ‘British weather’.

Tess: Do people think the weather here is bad?

Ravi: Well, they think it rains a lot – and it does. They think the summer is wet – and it often is, they say that…

Tess: I don’t think British weather is so bad though, do you?

Ravi: I do today.

Tess: It’s true that we don’t have very hot summers but, you know, we don’t have very cold winters either. Britain’s got a temperate climate – that means …

Ravi: A what climate?

Tess: Temperate climate. It means that we don’t have extreme weather – we don’t have very hot summers or very cold winters. But that also means that the weather is quite changeable – the weather changes quite often.

Ravi: Yeah, it can be raining, then five minutes later it’s sunny, then it starts raining again. You never know what the weather is going to be like.

Tess: But that’s a good thing, Ravi. I like that. People sometimes say you can have four seasons in one day in Britain and it’s true.

Ravi: But how can you decide what clothes to wear, Tess? You don’t know if it’s going to be cold or hot or what...

Tess: That’s typical of you, Ravi. And, because the weather does change quite a lot, that’s why British people seem to talk about the weather so much. It’s typical small talk, isn’t it? The sort of thing you say to people when you’re waiting for a bus or something. ‘Nice day today’ or ‘I think it’s going to rain later’. That kind of thing.

Ravi: That’s true. It’s difficult to talk about the weather if the weather’s the same every day. We say ‘I think it’s going to rain later’ because it usually is going to rain. It does rain a lot here.

Tess: Well, I don’t know. I think it’s about the same as other countries in the north of Europe. It’s just that we get rain all year round rather than just in one season. Anyway, the rain means that we have beautiful green countryside. Lots of visitors love the countryside because it looks so green – and that’s because of the rain.

Ravi: Hmm. You know how I feel about the countryside, Tess, but I suppose it does look nice, if you like that kind of thing.

Tess: Lots of people do. I think the British countryside is beautiful – and so do lots of visitors. And it wouldn’t look so green if we didn’t have all that rain!

Ravi: Hmm.

Adam

Adam: Mmm, I agree with Tess. I grew up in Scotland and the weather there can be very changeable. You can have hot sun, snow, rain and wind all in one day. People say "If you don't like the weather in Scotland, don’t worry - just wait half an hour and it will change!"

Many people love talking about the weather and there are lots of words about it. I think there are a lot more words to describe bad weather than good weather! Perhaps that’s because when the weather is good, people are too busy enjoying themselves to discuss it.

If it’s dark, you can say that it’s a grey day, perhaps because there are lots of clouds covering all the sky – which means that it’s overcast. That probably means that the weather is miserable and dull. If there’s a very light rain that doesn’t stop, then you can say it’s drizzly – this sort of rain is called drizzle. If the clouds look like they will rain hard soon, then you can say there is an angry sky.

Oh, it’s so much fun complaining about the weather! Now you know why we do it.

Write in and tell us about the climate in your country. Is it always the same or does it change a lot? What are the best times of year and the worst? What temperature do you think is a hot day and what temperature do you think is a cold day?

You can leave your comments on LearnEnglish which is at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or on Facebook - we’re at ‘Elementary Podcasts’. Look out for the next episode with more news about Carolina! Bye!

Discussion

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Profile picture for user hamad

Submitted by hamad on Sun, 16/09/2018 - 11:09

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hello everyone In United Arab Emirates the same Egypt but the summer a long time begin in March and finished sometimes in October and sometimes in November . It's very hot the degree 45 the top of temperature and in my country the winter is the favorite of people than any season because the winter is a little raining but it's only 3 months( December, January ,February)
I understand you like winter best, but it's a pity it lasts only three months, and the rest is summer? Oh, I hate it, as a matter of fact, I dropped by at your country when I go to U.K, as a stop-over. I remember when I got off the plain, the hot wind was blowing, I asked for iced coffee, but they didn't have it, why? The temparature was so high!
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Submitted by Kostya B on Sun, 16/09/2018 - 11:02

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My country has almost all climatic zones which there is on Earth, and in place where I live climate is moderate- summer not so hot, but winter can be pretty cold. Hot day for me is when temperature increases to 28°C and more, but cold day is when temperatur decreases to -5°C and more respectively. Also humidity can impact on the feeling of temperature.

Submitted by Jihad Badwi on Thu, 13/09/2018 - 23:04

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Egypt has four seasons, each one has it's own weather; in summer it's quit hot with no rains. The autumn - my favorite one - the climate is fine, no rain, no wind, not cold and not hot. In winter there is little rain, some wind and few days of thunder and lightening. The spring is characterized by its' marvelous colors but has dusty wind that spoil the joy. I love the country weather anyway.

Submitted by gigicopatti on Mon, 03/09/2018 - 16:43

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The summer in Portugal is really nice, we don't have rain most part of the season and is a quite hot (weel, this is also a bad thing for the fires). The summer this year started a little bit later...I don´t know..maybe it´s because the climate changes? Global warming? We will see...and the winter it´s not so bad, the most rainy months are december, january and february and it´s not so cold.
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Submitted by krig on Tue, 28/08/2018 - 06:55

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I prefer walking to all kinds of transport. It's healthy and keeps me fit. I don't like train because you should sit long time without any activity. Plane from this point of view is preferable - it takes less time to reach destination and you don't have time to get boring.
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Submitted by Dominika on Tue, 14/08/2018 - 21:39

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Hello everyone. I'm from Poland. We have four completely different season. During the spring is nice weather. Is warm but not too hot. Temperature is between 20-25 degrees. In the summer is very hot, sometimes 40 degrees. Autumn is very rainny and wet season. And finally in the winter is a lots of snow everywhere. All is white, sometimes long months. And temperature is extremely cold. In last year was -30 degree!!

Submitted by User_User on Fri, 10/08/2018 - 16:41

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Hello series 3 number 3 task 5 Tell us about the climate in your country. I live in Germany. I rarely go out so I don't usually realize what the weather is. Cold weather is for me a temperature below 17 °C. Hot weather is for me a temperature above 24 °C. The weather is a bit cold in winter and a bit warm in summer. I think the weather is O.K. It's not very cold or very warm. Cold weather is never a problem because our houses are heated and I can wear a jacket. I haven't got an air conditioner and I must wear some clothes so in summer it's a bit hot. The weather is not very changeable. It often stays the same for a few days. Bye
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Submitted by AL-Mustafa on Mon, 07/05/2018 - 12:39

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Here in Sudan it's totally different , it was never snowed before and we don't have Spring season . The climate is mostly hot . the temperature is about 45 °C this days
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Submitted by V11ker on Thu, 22/03/2018 - 16:55

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Hi everyone! I'm from Brazil! The Brazilian territory, due to its location and great extension, presents different types of climate. The main climates of Brazil are: equatorial, tropical, semiarid, tropical atlantic, tropical atlantic and subtropical. Where I live there is the tropical climate. My house is next to an paradisical beach, and in the summers it is the attraction of many surfers. The temperature, with average annual between 18 ° C and 22 ° C, is lower in the higher relief areas.