Episode 07

Episode 07

Adam and Rob discuss your favourite times of day. Also, Tess and Ravi talk about something British people love, but most people hate!

Transcript

Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: I’m Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob.

Adam: Welcome back, Rob.

Rob: Thanks very much.

Adam: How was your trip?

Rob: It went very well, thank you. And welcome listeners to Episode 7 of LearnEnglish Elementary Podcasts. Once again, thanks for all your comments – great to read them as usual.

Adam: You remember that we asked you about your favourite time of day. I said that my favourite time was night. A few of you agreed: Yakup in Turkey, Madera in Russia who likes to go dancing at night and Sergio in Italy who said:

I love the night too, Adam, even though it's not healthy... After spending a day working, eventually the night is my own time in which, when my wife and my daughter sweetly sleep, I can read what I want, listen to my favourite music, write my physics books, watch sci-fi movies and so on... To wake up in the morning become really tough, but this is the way I feel alive!

Rob: That’s a very nice comment, Sergio. But you’re in the minority – there are more people who prefer the morning. Too many to mention all of you, but let’s have a look at some of them. Emin in Turkey says:

It’s the very early morning, when most people are asleep and there is a soothing and peaceful silence. It's a little difficult to wake up very early, but I think there is no moment in the world that makes me feel better than that.

Adam: Lamai in Thailand agrees:

My happiest time of the day is in the morning, I get up at 5.30 am, with the singing of the birds in the trees near my house and then with a cup of coffee, I walk in my garden, fresh and at peace.

Sounds lovely.

Rob: It does. FRG likes ‘breakfast time’, but I think that’s because he likes breakfast! Baijuka, who’s in the UK, likes mornings but not Monday mornings when she starts work again.

Adam: Last word to Mohammed in Iraq:

You can see me happy at any time of the day when I don't have something to worry about. For example, when I'm off work, considering I'm a junior doctor working in a public hospital in Baghdad. I try to relax and enjoy each and every minute I get because the next day I could be staying in the emergency room or in the ward looking after patients.

Rob: Thank you once again for all your comments and remember you can join in and add your own comments by going to www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or by finding us on Facebook – look for Elementary Podcasts.

Adam: OK! Tess and Ravi are back. Before you listen to them, do you know what a ‘queue’ is? It’s a line of people, one behind the other and some people think it’s very British. Let’s see what Tess and Ravi think.

 

Tess and Ravi

Tess: Hello again. I’m Tess.

Ravi: And I’m Ravi and as usual we’re going to talk about something you think you know about Britain – fish and chips, the British weather, drinking tea – all those typically British things.

Tess: And we’ll tell you just how typical they are.

Ravi: Or aren’t.

Tess: All the things we talk about were suggested by you, our listeners, and our topic for today is something I think you’ll enjoy, Ravi – it’s queuing – standing in line to wait for things.

Ravi: Aaargh. I hate queuing! I hate waiting for things!

Tess: I knew you would hate it. But lots of people said that they thought queuing was very British and I think it’s true. Think about the things we queue for; we form a queue when we wait for a bus, we queue up in supermarkets, to buy tickets for things, in the bank, we’re always queuing.

Ravi: But people queue for things all over the world, Tess. How can you say it’s typically British?

Tess: True, but what we heard from our listeners is that British people are very good at queuing.

Ravi: How can you be good at queuing? All you have to do is stand behind the person in front of you.

Tess: Well, have you ever tried joining a queue in… No, I don’t want to say a country, in case some of our listeners get upset. Have you ever tried joining a queue in another country?

Ravi: Erm… yeah, I suppose I have.

Tess: People say British queues are more polite than in… some places. Like we almost enjoy queuing.

Ravi: My grandma does. She joins a queue whenever she sees one, even if she doesn’t know what it’s for.

Tess: I bet she never jumps the queue though, does she?

Ravi: You don’t know my grandma.

Tess: Jumping the queue is when you don’t go to the back of the queue but you try to push your way to the front of the queue instead of waiting for your turn. Do you ever jump the queue, Ravi?

Ravi: Me? I’m too polite to do that.

Tess: See? That’s what people think about the British, that they like queuing and they’re very polite so they make nice, tidy queues.

Ravi: Hmm.

Tess: I think it’s true, more or less. British people do make very organised queues. What about the queues for the winter sales, Ravi, or to buy tickets for the tennis at Wimbledon? It’s almost a national tradition; it’s on the TV news and everything. Every year, some people queue up for days to get the best bargains at the start of the winter sales in the shops after Christmas. They sleep outside in the cold and they seem to enjoy it – that’s a bit crazy, isn’t it?

Ravi: It is a bit. Do people in other countries do that sort of thing?

Tess: I don’t know, actually. Maybe our listeners can write in and tell us about queuing in their country? I bet they don’t queue like the British do.

Ravi: OK. If you’re listening, write and tell us about queuing in your country. Do you think the British queue differently?

Tess: We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

 

Adam and Rob

Adam: What do you think about queuing, Rob?

Rob: I hate queuing. I can’t stand it.

Adam: I don’t mind it. And it’s interesting, because when I go to a foreign country where people have a different approach to queuing, I find it very hard to change my style.

Rob: How do you feel about queuing? If you’ve been to Britain, do you think it’s true what Tess and Ravi said – are the British good at queuing?

Adam: How about queues in your country? Do people queue up politely or do they jump the queue? Do you jump the queue? We’d love to hear from you. Write and let us know at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish

Rob: Right, let’s look at some of the language Tess and Ravi used:

Ravi: Aaargh. I hate queuing. I hate waiting for things.

Tess: People say British queues are more polite than in… some places. Like we almost enjoy queuing.

Tess: See? That’s what people think about the British, that they like queuing and they’re very polite...

Adam: Firstly, Tess and Ravi used different ways to talk about liking and not liking things. Ravi said he hates queuing and Tess said that British people enjoy queuing. We can use positive words like ‘like’ ‘love’ ‘enjoy’ and negative words like ‘hate’ ‘can’t stand’ ‘dislike’. How many more can you add to each list? Try the exercise on the website.

Rob: Next, though – listen to what comes after the like and dislike words:

Ravi: Aaargh. I hate queuing. I hate waiting for things.

Tess: People say British queues are more polite than in… some places. Like we almost enjoy queuing.

Tess: See? That’s what people think about the British – that they like queuing and they’re very polite...

Rob: I hate queuing – we enjoy queuing – they like queuing. That ‘ing’ form is the gerund and we use it after some verbs – like those verbs of liking and disliking. We also use gerunds after prepositions – words like ‘at’ ‘on’ or ‘in’ – like in this clip:

Tess: True – but what we heard from our listeners is that British people are very good at queuing.

Rob: If you use a verb after a preposition – use a gerund – the ‘ing’ form. For example, ‘good at queuing’, ‘interested in learning English’.

Adam: We’re running out of time now, but there are lots of exercises about this on the website, so if you want to know more – check it out there.

Rob: That’s all for this time. We’ll be back with Carolina next time.

Both: Bye.

Discussion

Language level

Average: 5 (5 votes)
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Submitted by Tauhid Ahmed on Thu, 03/09/2020 - 07:53

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I also hate queuing, yesterday i waited in the bank. it's so boring!

Submitted by valdez on Sat, 18/07/2020 - 17:03

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I hate queues! People are very rude and the wait is so boring.

Submitted by Harsh on Sat, 04/07/2020 - 16:16

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Waiting matters more than the length of the wait.

Submitted by Bruno2020 on Thu, 23/04/2020 - 15:57

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How about queues in your country? Do people queue up politely or do they jump the queue? Do you jump the queue? In Brazil most people don't stand politely in queues.they are always jumping it.I never do it.I like to respect the rules.

Submitted by clauvera2016 on Thu, 09/04/2020 - 14:00

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Hi there ! Please, could you explain the difference between “to be upset about” and “to be upset with” ? In the task 5 appeared following example: “His wife left him last year and he's still upset about it.” In other texts I have seen “to be upset with”, not with preposition “about”. I guess (but I’m not sure) that “to be upset about” is used related with a situation and “to be upset with” is used in connection with a person. “I’m upset with you. “ “I’m upset about it (about your behaviour etc ).” Thank you very much for all your hard work !
Profile picture for user Kirk Moore

Submitted by Kirk Moore on Thu, 09/04/2020 - 15:08

In reply to by clauvera2016

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Hello clauvera2016

Yes, what you suppose is correct: with 'upset', normally we use 'about' to speak of a situation and 'with' to speak about a person.

All the best

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Submitted by Ann Bello on Wed, 08/04/2020 - 17:57

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Hi! I don't like queuing. In my country a lot of people are rude and jump the queue, of course there are some polite people who don't. I never jump the queue. I like queuing just if I’m waiting to get into a concert, I wake up as early as possible to start making the queue, I really enjoy this kind of queue but If I’m at the bank I prefer just take a turn and then wait sitting. I’m patient if the queue is for a really good restaurant, but my dad hates queuing, so I have to queue by myself and then I call my parents when the queue is getting shorter.
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Submitted by Sergey Sh on Fri, 27/09/2019 - 04:36

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I’m not from those who hate queuing so much, I’d say just don’t’ like it. The positive side of when you’re at some queing there can be those you can speak to with such as your old friend or just a person you can make a friend with. The negative side of any queuing I suppose everybody know is waiting I dislike as others. I’ve never been to England before so I can say nothing about how British people treat to queuing. At any rate I tend to believe to Tess and Ravi. If to tell about how people treat to this here in Russia, I tend to affirm that in most cases people try to jump the queuing always being impaitient as if nobody cares how long you stand and what you think about it. Surely, for instance when you are in the hospital on your medical check and there is necessity to go in and out to some doctor for a while (for several seconds exactly) just to stamp, people who are at queuing this moment protest you to do it. So what can I do this situation? Should I stand for a lot just for a stamp? On the contrary those who tries to jump the queuing for just not to spend lot of their time visiting a doctor (I mean not for a while like I said about me for a stamp) I reproach. At every queuing there are always somebody who tries to jump and nobody knows whether he or she gonna lie for their own advantage.

Submitted by Andrew Utkin on Fri, 30/08/2019 - 20:12

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Hello, how are you doing? Well as for me, queuing it is a necessary thing in our life so we could waste a time when standing there. I am a pity for it and honestly speaking I can't stand it as well Adam. Eventually I want to say about queuing in Russia. Fortunately, I don't spend my time here often and never jump a queue but a lot of people do it many times. Russian are said to be rude and unpolite- this is true, trust me. Well, I have to go, see you. Have a happy life.
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Submitted by Duy Nguyen on Mon, 08/07/2019 - 17:12

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I think queuing should be a good thing to do. I hate people who jump the queue. That is really rude and impolite. It look like stealing other's time. In my country, people become more awareness of standing in line than before. Sometimes some people try to jump the queue but they are warned by others immediately. This is a good sign though.