Episode 12

Episode 12

Your comments about British food – and Carolina has a suggestion about a boy for Emily!

Transcript

Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Rob: I’m Rob.

Adam: And I’m Adam.

Rob: Welcome to episode 12 of Learn English Elementary Podcasts.

Adam: Carolina’s back today. She’s at the cinema and love is in the air!

Rob: But first, as usual, let’s have a look at some of your comments. In the last podcast, Tess and Ravi talked about British food. And we asked you to tell us what you think – is British food really terrible? How about food in your country?

Adam: Elena V in Russia is a big fan of British food. She says:

I've never been to Britain, but when I say "British food" or "British meals", I think of porridge, puddings, fried eggs with bacon, toast with jam, beans and, of course, saddle of lamb. And a nice cup of black tea with milk. I don't know where all of these associations come from, but they are in my head! Almost every morning I cook porridge, I sometimes fry eggs with bacon and I prepare toast with jam. So it seems to me I'm in Britain!

Rob: I think Elena is more British than me!

Adam: Yeah. It certainly seemed to be true that people think British food is bad. JSSierra in Mexico said ‘I've never tried British food, I have been told it is very bad though,’ and Wywy in Egypt said that friends had told her the food in London was terrible.

Rob: Oh dear! Braulio in Italy said ‘a simple way to evaluate whether a cuisine is good or not is to look for it abroad. You can easily find French restaurants outside France or Chinese outside China or Thai outside Thailand but I’ve never found or even heard about an English restaurant... not even in the UK!’

Adam: That’s a good point, I suppose.

Rob: Several people mentioned that they like food from Braulio’s country, Italy, and we also heard about cuisine from Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan.

Adam: Yes, reading all your comments left us feeling very hungry. Finally, FRG in Spain said:

I would like to say I completely disagree about the general opinion of British food. Two years ago, I had a meeting with another colleague in Lincoln in the east of England. One day we went to a restaurant and ate lamb and the food was delicious. British food isn't only fish and chips or roast beef.

Rob: So, some people really do like it.

Adam: Thanks for all your great comments – remember to send them to us at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or look for us on Facebook.

Rob: OK, let’s move on to Carolina. Carolina is a Venezuelan student studying at university in Newcastle in the north of England.

Adam: Last time we heard from her she had started her part-time job in a convenience store and her boyfriend Jamie had just started a band. Carolina and her friend Emily are going to the cinema with Jamie and his band-mate Cameron, who has a very… interesting laugh!

 

Carolina

Carolina: So which film are we going to see, Jamie?

Jamie: The Crazy Future.

Emily: The Crazy Future? Ha! Good name for your band.

Cashier: Next, please.

Jamie: Four tickets for The Crazy Future, please.

Cashier: Four for The Crazy Future. That's twenty-four pounds, please.

Jamie: Thanks.

Cashier: And six pounds change. Screen six. Next, please.

Jamie: Thanks. Here you are – Cameron, Emily, Carolina. Anybody want popcorn? No? OK, let's go in then. Follow me.

Carolina: Emily, you sit next to Cameron.

Emily: What? Why?

Carolina: You like him – I can see. Sit next to him.

Emily: Carolina!

Carolina: I hope the film isn't a comedy.

Emily: Why?

Carolina: You heard his laugh.

Jamie: What a great film. I'm really glad we came to see it. What did you all think?

Emily: Well, it wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

Jamie: In what way?

Emily: Well, I wasn't expecting a documentary. A documentary about the environment. I mean it was good. I liked it. But you said it was about the future and I thought it was science fiction – you know, not about global warming…

Cameron: Do you like science fiction?

Emily: I love it. Do you?

Cameron: I'm a total fan. I'm reading this great book at the moment, it's…

Jamie: Did you like the film, Cameron?

Cameron: Hmm, it was OK. A bit depressing. Not really my thing, Jamie.

Carolina: I really liked it. It made me cry. Those poor orang-utans!

Jamie: Yeah. That was terrible, wasn't it?  But you know, we can change things. The future doesn't have to be so bad.  We can all help.

All: Yes.

Emily: Well, time to go home, I guess.

Carolina: Yes, I've got to do some reading before my seminar tomorrow.

Cameron: We're going to have a drink on the way home. Sure you don't both want to join us?

Jamie: Yeah, just for half an hour. We're going to The Green Man.

Emily: The Green Man. That's you, Jamie. Good name for your band. Or maybe The Green Men.

Carolina: No, I really have to go home.

Emily: Me too.

Cameron: Well, that's a pity. Anyway, it was nice to meet you both.

Carolina: Yes, well, I'm sure we'll meet you again now that you're in the band with Jamie.

Emily: Yes.

Jamie: OK. I'll call you tomorrow, Carolina. See you, Emily.

Emily: See you.

Jamie: Come on, Cameron.

Cameron: Bye.

Emily and Carolina: Bye. Bye, nice to meet you. See you again. Bye Jamie.

Adam and Rob

Rob: So… Emily and Cameron seem to get along well together.

Adam: Do you think that….?

Rob: Hmm, maybe. Let’s see what happens next time.

Adam: Anyway, they seemed to have a good time. Are you a fan of documentaries, Rob? What sort of films do you like going to see?

Rob: I like documentaries, yes, but I also like science fiction films. Star Wars is one of my favourite films. I first saw it when I was a young boy and I still love it today. I also like animations and comedies. How about you?

Adam: I don’t seem to go to the cinema as much as I used to. Maybe I’m just too busy. But I do like foreign films. I used to watch action films a lot, but I think I’ve seen all the explosions I need to!

Rob: How about you, listeners? Do you enjoy going to the cinema? What sort of films do you like watching? How about films from your country? Are there any you’d recommend to other podcast listeners? Write and tell us at www.britishcouncil.org.learnenglish

Adam: Now, listen to this again.

Jamie: Yeah, just for half an hour. We're going to The Green Man.

Emily: The Green Man. That's you, Jamie. Good name for your band. Or maybe The Green Men.

Rob: The name of the pub was The Green Man – then Emily suggested that they call their band The Green Men. Man – men. It’s an irregular plural – one man, two men. Can you think of any other irregular plurals like that?

Adam: Well, women, of course – one woman, two women. And child – one child, but two children. And teeth! One tooth, but the plural is teeth.

Rob: Yeah, there are quite a few irregular plurals that you have to learn.

Adam: Mouse – mice!

Rob: OK, so we’ve put a couple of exercises on the website for you. There are also exercises about saying hello and goodbye to people and about the cinema and different types of film. Why not give them a go?

Adam: That’s all we’ve got time for today. Thanks again for all your lovely comments and stories.

Rob: I won’t be here next time. I’m going to London to make the next series of Word on the Street. If you don’t know Word on the Street, have a look in the Listen & Watch section on the LearnEnglish website. It’s a video series to help you improve your English.

Adam: So, I’ll be back next time with Tess and Ravi again to talk about something else you think is very British. And I’ll talk to you then.

Adam and Rob: Bye!

Discussion

Language level

Average: 4.6 (7 votes)

Submitted by parisaach on Tue, 07/05/2019 - 06:41

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I'm not much interested in going to the movies because we don't have much interesting movie in my country. and I don't like to watch movies on TV too because all the part of movies are censored.I'd rather watch movies on my laptop at home. we have good directors and actors but they work out of my country.
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Submitted by Oksi1001 on Thu, 21/03/2019 - 15:38

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Hi everyone! Perhaps i like going to the cinema. But, atmosphere in the cinema like myself more than films recently. Ordinary in cinema show films with simple plot, movies are like to each other in my opinion of cource. Actually i foget about watching many of them. But of cource i have seen good films in the cinema too. From recent films i really liked Bohemian Rhapsody and Green book. It's absolutely brilliant films. And i was really glad, when this films has been got Oscar. I really recommend you watch them! My favorite genres of films is drama and thriller. I prefer serious films, when you can thinking about life after watching them.My the most favorite films is Forrest Gump and Green Mile. Also i dont mind watching comedy, for example to cheer up. I think comedy one of the best sort of films to going to the movie. Espesially for having good time with friends. Also action films, it's difinitely more interesting watch at the cinema.
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Submitted by Malu84 on Tue, 15/01/2019 - 02:35

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Hello... I have a doubt when Jamie ask his friends Anybody want popcorn? No? OK, let's go in then. Follow me. The correct form is wants?

Hello Malu84,

This is a question in which the auxiliary verb has been omitted. The full, and grammatically correct, question would be:

Does anybody want popcorn?

 

In informal speech the auxiliary verb is sometimes omitted from yes/no questions. For example:

(Do) You live here?

(Are) You having a good time?

(Do) You know what time the film starts?

 

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Nancy Nguyen on Sun, 23/12/2018 - 08:40

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Hello everyone, I really like to go to the cinema where I can watch the movies on a big screen, with the quality speakers and can be enjoyed it with everybody. So amazing! I like watching science fiction films as Inception, Predestination, Source Code, the Butterfly Effect, Edge of Tomorrow...I also like drama and mystery movies such as the Prestige, Gone Girl, The Man from Earth, Limitless, Coherence, Seven... Sometimes I watch the film which wins Oscar, Golden Globe or the film is rated on IMDB. I rarely watch films from my country. You can refer some films I mentioned above. Thanks for reading.

Submitted by Nancy Nguyen on Thu, 20/12/2018 - 12:53

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Excuse me, I can not open this audio, could you fix it please?

Hi Nancy Nguyen,

I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I've alerted our technical team and we'll get this fixed as soon as we can.

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about this problem!

All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team

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Submitted by Kostya B on Mon, 29/10/2018 - 19:51

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In fact for me there are good films almost in all genres, most of all I prefer psychological, thriller and action films (not everyone), of course I like watching them in the cinema. My favourite film trilogy is The Lord of The Rings.

Submitted by Idar on Thu, 13/09/2018 - 21:09

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Hello everyone! I do like to go cinema, i like different films such as science fiction, action, drama. Even i would like to try act in films. My favorite films are I am legend, fight club, Nocturnal Animals, in general them is a lot. I from Russia and our directors make good films but them are a little.
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Submitted by krig on Thu, 09/08/2018 - 05:59

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I prefer comedies and animations. I'd never take my girlfriend to watch documentary like Jamie - I think it so boring.