Tag: PET

LISTENING CHALLENGE: INCREDIBLY DIVERSE LEEDS

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we are leedsLeeds is my home town, it’s the 5th biggest city in England and the epicentre of the historical county, Yorkshire. It’s wonderful spirit comes largely from the diverse number of people who live there. Having said that, it seems to me, that although we all have different cultural reference points and tastes, essentially we all have the same hopes and aspirations.

Listen to 50 people in Leeds answering the question: What would you like to happen before the end of the day?

That’s right, the three most common topics are: Money, Sex and Shopping. How would you answer the same question? And, how do you think I would answer the same question?

LISTENING CHALLENGE: THE INCREDIBLE SLEEPER BUSES OF VIETNAM

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sleeper busSleeper buses are exactly what they say they are. They are buses, which theoretically, you can sleep on. They are an economical mode of transport, as you don’t have to pay for accommodation, a great place to meet other travelers, and perhaps if you are unlucky, you might pick up a few unwanted bugs like hair nits.

When I was in Vietnam I travelled by sleeper bus a lot. Unfortunately, my experience was not the same as on this video. After 3 weeks of hopping on and hopping off sleeper buses I can definitely say that the best approach to the sleeper bus is to take a cocktail of sleeping pills, Valium and Jack Daniels at least 3 hours before you get on. All in all, they are as cheap as chips but they are not a good substitute for a bed and a duvet. Listen here to a guy from Australia talking about his experience.

LISTENING: Nina Simone – Feeling Good

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LISTENING CHALLENGE THREE

nina simoneNina Simone: I’m Feeling Good
Although ‘Feeling Good’ wasn’t written by Nina Simone her delivery of these lyrics is ‘ pure uncensored emotion’. If you have never heard of Nina Simone, you ought to check her out because in my opinion she has one of the most heart-wrenching voices and has the ability to change your emotions in a nanosecond.

In addition, you should listen and read the subtitles to Antony and the Johnsons’s song: Hope that Someone. 

VOCABULARY CHALLENGE: Feelings

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Adjectives to describe feelings:

Emotions and feelings are complex, and we have a lot of vocabulary to describe how we are feeling.  It is often difficult to remember new vocabulary so try to connect the words to situations that mean something to you.  We are more likely to remember things that are personal, than things that we can’t connect to our lives.

Don’t forget to learn verb preposition collocations.

feelings and prepositions
Can you answer the following questions?

  1. What are you usually embarrassed by?
  2. What makes you fed up?
  3. What are you concerned about?
  4. Are you scared of anything?
  5. When was the last time you were angry with someone?
  6. When was the last time you were nervous about something?

Shotgun beer

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Shotgun-BeerA Shotgun beer describes the process of drinking a can of beer very quickly.

I studied for my degree in England and the USA and the reason I chose my specific degree was nothing to do with the subject matter, it was because I wanted to go to the USA to learn how to shotgun a beer. 
I can honestly say that living in the States and learning how to do this was one of my favourite experiences.  I also learnt how to do an upside down tequila slammer and thankfully, in spite of my party lifestyle, I did pass all my exams.