Monthly Archives: February 2008

And The Winner Is…Not an American!

Last Sunday the annual awards for the best movies were given out (awarded, given to the winners) in Los Angeles. The awards are popularly called the Oscars, because the statue you win is called “Oscar.”  But no one is exactly … Continue reading

Posted in News and Current Events, Television and Movies | 9 Comments

Grandma Moses and Her Paintings (English Cafe 126)

In today’s English Cafe 126, Jeff talked about the famous American painter Grandma Moses. Jeff talked about her style of “folk art” and it’s depiction (representation) of rural life, or life in the countryside. By looking at her paintings, we … Continue reading

Posted in Discussing the Episodes | 8 Comments

Theme from the TV Show “Friends”: “I’ll Be There For You”

From your blog comments, it looks like we have a lot of listeners/readers who are fans of the TV show Friends. We also recently had a question about some of the lyrics to the theme song (song that a show … Continue reading

Posted in Karaoke English | 14 Comments

Foreclosures and the U.S. Economy

As many of you probably know, the U.S. economy is doing poorly right now, with some economists saying that we are going into a recession, a period of major economic decline. The major reason for this downslide (decline) is that … Continue reading

Posted in Life in the United States, News and Current Events | 6 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day! “Hey There Delilah”

Happy Valentine’s Day! This is a holiday to celebrate with your sweetheart and loved ones. It’s not a national holiday, which means that workers don’t get the day off from work. Traditionally, on this day, couples (two people in a … Continue reading

Posted in Karaoke English | 12 Comments

The Onion Reports: Science is Hard

The Onion is a well known newspaper published in the U.S., but be careful about getting your news from it. None of the stories are true. The Onion is a parody (imitation; false) newspaper that publishes satirical (using humor to … Continue reading

Posted in Jokes and Humor, News and Current Events | 7 Comments

Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Lunar New Year

This is not just a big week for American football or the U.S. presidential elections. There are at least three other major world events that happen this week. The first is Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”), which marks (celebrates, commemorates) the … Continue reading

Posted in Life in the United States, News and Current Events | 10 Comments

Super Tuesday

Today is being called Super Tuesday in the United States. This is not related to the Super Bowl, which was last Sunday. It’s called Super Tuesday because it is the most important day for electing the candidates of the two … Continue reading

Posted in Life in the United States, News and Current Events | 10 Comments

“The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” by Alexander McCall Smith

I like reading fiction (stories not based on fact or real events) and some of my favorite books are mysteries. Mysteries are fiction stories where a crime–usually murder (killing)–is committed and a detective, such as a police officer or a … Continue reading

Posted in Recommendations | 6 Comments

Pampering Your Pet (ESL Podcast 343 – Being Alike and Different)

In today’s episode, we hear two dog owners talk about their “babies.” Many Americans have pets and they like to pamper (to give every comfort and attention to) those pets. We talk about different ways that American pet owners pamper … Continue reading

Posted in Discussing the Episodes, Life in the United States | 8 Comments