Independence Day

Today is Independence Day, a national holiday in the United States. We’ve talked about the Fourth of July a few times (here and here and here). This day marks (indicates; remembers) the anniversary of the signing of our Declaration (Statement) of Independence from Great Britain back in 1776.  For our listeners in the United States, enjoy your holiday!

~Jeff

P.S. Today also marks the 1000th episode of ESL Podcast (700 dialog episodes plus 300 English Cafes).  We’ll save most of our celebrating for our 6th anniversary coming up (taking place in the future) in a few weeks.

Photo Credit: “Fireworks Behind the Washington Monument”
by Sargent Lono Kollars, U.S. Air Force, Wikipedia PD

 

This entry was posted in Announcements, Life in the United States. Bookmark the permalink.

39 Responses to Independence Day

  1. cna training says:

    Kudos on your 1000th Podcasts. 1000 relevant podcasts that are relevant and informative that helped every single visitor of ELS. Looking forward on celebrating 2000th ELS Podcasts.

  2. Tania says:

    Hi! Have a HAPPY HOLYDAY on the fourth of July for all our American friends of ESLPOD !

    All the best for you,

    Tania

  3. LaiQue says:

    Hi,
    Happy Independence Day to all Americans !!!

    I salute whole team of ESL POD for their efforts and hard work. Best of luck and Congratulations !

    Regards !
    LaiQue

  4. Valerie says:

    So many wonderful events on July 4th!!! Congratulations! =)

  5. Hugo says:

    Happy holiday, Jeff and Lucy!
    [There] is episode from the NPR Morning Edition – search Google “reading the Declaration of Independence aloud NPR” to find it.

  6. Muvunyi Robert says:

    Dear Jef and Lucy,

    By this message, I’d like just to thank you for the wonderful job you ‘ve done through your podcasts. Many listeners, like me, have seen their level of general english increased. Have my congratulations and support.

    Cheers,

    Robert

  7. ADIK says:

    Happy Independance Day to all americans!!!

  8. Betty says:

    Thank you so much Jeff, for reminding us this important date for the U.S.

    Happy Independence Day to everyone in the United States.

    Have a nice Holiday.

    Many Congratulations to all teachers and everyone in the ESLPOD.com; one thousand podcasts for us to use to learn and improve our English, amazing.

    A BIG THANK YOU again to you all.

  9. abbas says:

    happy independence day and holiday

    1000 thanks to you for this informative and joyful podcast

  10. sara says:

    Happy holiday our Dear Dr.Lucy & Jeff.thanks for your great 1000 Podcasts.wish you the best always,
    Sara

  11. Ziba says:

    Hi!
    Happy Independence Day to American people,

    And Congratulations to ESLpod team, our best teachers.

    I praise ESLpod team for their perseverance, generosity and their method of teaching. They teach us in the best way which is in the world.
    Thank you and Good Luck,
    Ziba (Iran)

  12. Peter says:

    Holly crap 6 years already , feels like 6 months
    U gotta do sth special this time around Jeff
    Persuade Lucy to make appearance behind the camera:))
    U had me pegged as a persuasive person
    Do ur trick on Lucy
    Man I had the best of time with you during this 6 years of triumph and success
    Hope I have you around for the next 6 years and more
    You start sth that has grown to be a break through method
    Keep it up Jeff
    And please ,pretty please
    GET LUCY BEHIND THE CAMERA
    She is a camera shy , isn’t she
    And like you did before once, would you allocate one English caffe answering just questions
    Your spoiled , high maintenance student
    Thanks Jeff and happy freedom

  13. Peter says:

    By the way,
    I like the image of fire work u put up there
    Good choice of pic Jeff
    You have a good eye for this stuff
    Thanks bro

  14. Tania says:

    Hi! At the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest we have celebrated the Fourth of July in a Hawaiian style. With a Hawaii party, Hawaii food, and even an active Hawaii volcano.
    Barack Obama, the 44th and current President of the U.S., was born in Hawaii.

  15. Tania says:

    Hi! Like Abbas, we send to you one thousand thanks for your one thousand podcasts.
    CONGRATULATIONS!

    We are waiting for more than “One Thousand and One Tales” over many, many years.

  16. Peter says:

    What is the difference between fair and carnival
    And feast and festival

  17. sara B says:

    Happy Holiday!! and Congratulations, Jeff and Lucy, you are the best of the best of the best.
    Thank you very much for 1000 excellent podcast to learn and enjoy.

  18. emiliano says:

    We all hope you are making something very special to celebrate the 6Th. anniversary, it
    could be a great surprise? or once again we are going to see the face of our
    dear teacher Jeff?….or something more.
    Who knows?.

    Yes, I know Jeff your are really a handsome young man, you have an incredible good voice, you
    are one of the best singers of the web and even a good nice actor….I could remember Chewaka,
    just not to say you are the best teacher I ever meet…..
    but we would like to see another most beautiful face than yours, Chewaka? sorry
    Jeff but it is the general feeling.
    ———–
    This is for another person:

    My dear Lucy, only think a little about that…..but please do as you really want
    to do and the mystery will go on for another six years or even more.
    That is an incredible exciting thriller….. we may identify “Her Voice”
    every where at the moment but not Her Face.
    It seems to me as in the movie “Wait Until Dark — 1967” …we are like Audrey Hepburn
    seeing nothing, no any body, but identifying the voices….one loving voice: Lucy Tse
    our dear mystery girl who has been tellings things along six years…..
    Yes, I may identify Her Voice immediately but Her Face is in the imaginations of so
    many of us that needs to follow as a mystery, despite we all would like to see HER
    instead of our dear Jeff.

    Well, I have to confess I like thrillers very very much and it seems this is going to
    continue that´s for sure, so sorry friends but to my own feelings that we would
    see our dear JEFF once again and it is a big big privilege to all of us.

    ——

    My best congratulations to my dear friends Lucy, Jeff, Warren and all of you who are
    in front of the screen reading these message, all of you are really my family too.

    emiliano

  19. Peter says:

    Jeff
    I was thinking you may wanna make a book out if it and sell them at a reasonable price
    Referring to all the expressions and terms you have taught us.
    That would be swell
    Collectable

  20. Peter says:

    Yes Ziba
    They have been teaching us in the best way ever

  21. Peter says:

    Thanks for all the charity work over the past 6 years
    I wish I could contribute
    But ,sadly ,you can quit everything but poverty.

  22. Myo ko ko says:

    Well,
    I will be waiting to celebrate your, yeah, also our 🙂 6th anniversary!! ( Let’s say, let it be (not Beatles’ song title 🙂 a day for me to enjoy because I am not an ESL podcast listener who has been listening yours from beginning.
    I can be told a “newcomers” eh?
    Yo know, my dear, Jeff. 🙂 )
    By the way, our nation’s Independence day is on 4th January. yours is on 4th July.
    And there is one country, that I know of, in our Asia that has no “Independence Day” to celebrate. It is Thailand, our neighbor. How pity its people are — in the lack of having such a big day. 🙂 🙂 !

  23. Ziba says:

    Thank you Peter AND you are one of the intelligent English students here.

    Regards

  24. Peter says:

    Man,
    English coffee 299 is something
    Thanks Jeff
    You cranck it up a notch on that coffe
    Cool stuff
    Indeed ,
    Being a part of Eslpod is underrated

  25. Peter says:

    All u have done over this past 6 years is a good ammunition that backs up the fact that you ate the best in market

  26. steven says:

    i have listened esl for over four years, this is the first time to post comments in the blog. for this i am so sorry. jeff lucy and entire esl team thank you all for the greatest website and incredible work and efforts as of now anyway pls keep up your job i believe all of esl listeners wl support you as always! happy the date for americans all!

    from shanghai china, message from my kindle
    sincerely,steven

  27. Peter says:

    In this God forsaken world ,Eslpod is a stretch of paradise . A piece of heaven with a bunch of fellas who genuinely care about each other and share what they can bring to the table.
    Guys ,has it ever occurred to you that if there was a place for all of us to gather and meet,say a tribute or commemoration to Jeff and Lucy ,we wouldn’t feel uncomfortable around one another. I mean we never met in person but we have this strong connection that makes us close friends.
    I mean if I ran into Emiliano there or Betty I have a lot to talk with them ,and Definitely it would feel like that I have known them for a long while. We never met but we are not a bunch of strangers.
    We are friends and we will be there for one another when chips are down(critical situation when one needs help)
    I don’t know perhaps it just my feeling not yours.
    But Definitly ,first Emiliano and then Betty are the ones that everybody would fluck to them
    Specially, Emiliano who is the most famous face in Eslpod after Jeff and Lucy and then comes Betty:)

    Guys,
    It is just me ,of Eslpod feels like home
    As Emiliono once said :
    This blog Is my life
    It is indeed a stretch of paradise in this dog-eat-dog world.
    Cheers

  28. Peter says:

    Ziba,
    I m flattered (honored that you think that way about me)
    Thanks for the kind words
    I m not the most intelligent face Here
    I just happened that I have the privilege of living in an English-speaking Country
    Again,thanks for the assuring words
    It is very nice of you
    I am blushing now:)
    Ziba, give yourself more credit
    I mean , fellas , my dear cyber classmates, give yourselves more credit. Thanks to jeff and what he set forth(start for the first time) ;We are all have
    gathered here to pick up(learn) this international language. And ,there you go , we are communicating in this Languge on this very blog
    We post comments here, answer to other fellow students,and greet one another.
    Common guys,thanks to Jeff and Lucy, we are communicating here,and we don’t have any mutual means of communication but English.
    We have built this strong connection here.
    Guys ,we are what This blog is right now.
    Hope you dont mind Jeff me saying that We ,students of this blog,have kept this blog alive for 6 years
    Give yourself more credit
    Tap yourself behind your shoulders
    Jeff,
    Please don’t kick my tushi out I am still learning 🙂
    Betty, where are you with the positive ,life affirming words of yours
    Say sth sis,

    Everybody here is intelligent and

  29. Peter says:

    Guys ,
    Let’s make petition and appeal to Jeff to address the English articles
    “A ,an ,and the”
    They are killers
    If you apply them appropriately you are half way through this language
    If you don’t use then at right places you will be judged as a bad speaker
    Take it from me
    They are killers
    Specially “the”
    I still have problems usin them
    Sometimes I make mistakes
    Very sensitive area

  30. Peter says:

    Under this blog is the best station of recreational writing and learning English

  31. emiliano says:

    Peter, yes that is right, I feel each other of you like a part of my life and in fact you all are in my life
    here in Madrid as every one of my family here knows who is all the friends I have been in touch
    in the Blog and Peter is one of the most well known.

    I am a disaster with the names but I have good memory about the subjects I have been talking with all
    the friends here from quite a lot of different countries round the world.
    Yes, it has been a lot of subjects that could make a gross book…….incredible at the beginning.

    To me is a custom to talk about the subjects that Lucy, Jeff or Warren have posted in the Blog and
    what the opinions have been.
    Some times Fátima my daughter told me……I don´t agree with your position about this or that
    question or what you said talking about this subject, what is natural being my daughter and so young…

    A moment ago Fátima was at home as she have came to see us and have a talk and we have
    been talking about the Blog and reading your nice post.

    She said, oh Peter, he seems so alone there in Canada out from his country…..it is natural
    that he feels the blog as something very special. That is true and I think the same like her but is
    it real? you feel yourself alone in Toronto?
    I don´t think so, sure it is not that way, but you love the site the same as all of us….
    It is worm, familiar and we have all the friends at hand so close always despite the
    long distance.

    It is necessary to care our ESL Podcast as much as possible just the same as our Blog.
    We are in the responsibility too of making it an agreeable nice site and Lucy, Jeff and
    Warren are doing their best to reach what seems imposible nowadays.
    A place to talk, learn and relax….thank you very much.

    All the best
    emiliano

  32. Betty says:

    Hi Peter, thank you for urging me to ‘say something’.

    I am sorry that I had been so busy in the past few weeks because I had to deal with so many things, including one car accident which involved a man drove his motorcycle into my car at a roundabout.

    Hong Kong people normally simply settle minor accident between themselves instead of going through car insurance. It just took me a while to compromise with the third party.

    I must say the policeman who dealt with my case was a very good policeman, I have learned a lot through this accident. Life is forever learning!

    Now everything is settled and I can spend more time on more important things like learning and improving my English.

    I have been reading all your comments though!

    All the best wishes to you all.

    *****************************************

    I would like to thank Myo Ko Ko for giving me tips about ‘Independents days’ for all countries in the whole world.

    I used to think Independence Day was for US only, thanks to the famous 1996 US film ‘Independence Day’ directed by Roland Emmerich.

    After reading Myo Ko Ko’s message, I looked up wikipedia’s ‘List of national independence days’ and I was pleased to have learned something worthwhile.

    I am just a bit confused; according to the wikipedia’s English page for Thailand, ‘The Thai use the phrase “land of the free” to express pride in the fact that Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia never colonized by a European power’.

    They had never depended on any country, and they do not have to have an ‘Independence Day’.

    Am I right? Or wrong?

  33. rodrigo says:

    Six years and counting¡¡¡¡
    Tnanks very much to Jeff, Lucy and the whole team

  34. minerva says:

    Hello ! my name is Minerva

  35. emiliano says:

    That is interesting Betty, of course if a country has been always free fron any kind of colonization this country
    has not any Independence Day to celebrate.
    In Europe, the old continent, there is not such a day in most of the old countries: England, France, German, Italy,
    Spain and so forth.
    Spain has been conquered by lot of old civilizations as Romans, Visigoths or Muslims who establish in the
    country for hundred of years but never has been a colony and we have not any Independence Day to celebrate.
    We have an “Independence War” instead against Napoleon and France soldiers.
    Napoleon wanted to conquered the Spanish lands and it was impossible for him, just the same as in Russia.
    Russia and Spain have something in common as the two Nations defeated Napoleon and flung all the
    French soldiers out of their lands.
    In our case I don´t know if that was for good or for bad as once the french soldiers were out from Spain it came
    the King Ferdinand VII who was one of the worst monarchs a country may have.

    Possible it would be better to have the French influence here and the “King John I” as the Spanish monarch
    instead of the real heir. He, John I, was a brother of Napoleon but not a so bad king for the time, despite all
    the madrilenes called him “John the Bottle” meaning he likes the wine too much……

    Yes, we defeated the French but the result was somehow an absolute fiasco for the country.
    Ferdinand VII was a very bad king who abolish the First Constitution Spain had “La Pepa”
    The Spanish Constitution of 1812 that was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes
    the national legislative assembly (Cortes Generales “General Courts”) of Spain, and it was one
    of the first in the entire world.
    The 1812 Constitution established the principles of universal male suffrage, national sovereignty, constitutional
    monarchy and freedom of the press, and supported land reform and free enterprise, and it was promulgated
    wile the people were fighting against the French soldiers and Cadiz was the refuge of the provisional government
    of Spain being the heir out from the country, just a pity he could have been left in France for ever where he was with his
    real family while the spaniards were fighting against the invaders.
    After that never Spain has been invaded by other army forces, not along the Big War or The Second War when Germans
    soldiers invaded nearly all Europe.
    Peace has to continue for ever and ever on every-where if it could be possible and all colonized countries needs its
    freedom from their settled and their feasts about the event.

    Sorry Betty about your accident, we have missed you a lot, please take care and
    give us the pleasure of your nice and scholars comments.
    We all need you.

    emiliano

  36. emiliano says:

    So many new names here, that is really good.

    Thanks to all of you and welcome we all hope
    to see you frequently.

    emiliano

  37. minerva says:

    Hi!
    I am new here, thanks Emiliano for your warm welcome.
    Good wishes for you and all partners of eslpod.

    Minerva

  38. Betty says:

    Hi Emiliano, thank you so much for all the history stories. Your stories have attracted my attention and I continued reading them until the end of the stories. It’s not like me, I used to fall asleep in any history lessons when I was a student many years ago.

    I once heard someone said that he was not interested in history until he was about 40 years of age.

    Now, is it the way Emiliano telling the European history that made me read the stories, or because I have passed 40 years of age?

    Thank you also for your concern about my recent accident. I am fine now, thank you.

    You see, roundabout is one of the most difficult places for vehicle drivers. It is even more difficult when there are lots of cars and the road layout was not suitable to have a mini-roundabout, had a mini-roundabout put there after pressure group pressed for a roundabout so to give chances for some cars to go without waiting forever for the main road traffic to clear.

    That mini-roundabout created after many years of balloting by pressure groups created this accident. The motorcycle did not realise that he was driving toward a roundabout and he thought he had total right to simply go forward even when there was a car in the roundabout already.

    It was lucky that I was not injured, my car had a very tiny dent, his knee had a scratch, and his motorcycle looked almost unscratched, although his garage said his motorcycle needed a new part.

    Since God gave the motorcyclist and me a chance to live on, we should not argue any more. I paid him some money to repair his vehicle. It might not be enough to cover the repair bill if he insisted on buying the best part, but he accepted the money and we both signed a compromise letter which would stop the police taking us to court and saved us a lot of time and trouble.

    This is the first time I learn about this huge difference between Hong Kong and England.

    In England, car incidents are, in most cases, handled by car insurance companies. It is only natural that we buy insurance and the insurance companies look after any accidents like that.

    However, in Hong Kong, if you need to claim for car insurance, the police must get involved, and there has to be a court case.

    On top of the all the time wasted, plus a risk of a jail term, we customer will have to pay a big excess (extra money) to the insurance company, plus a huge surge in the insurance premium. Who would want that?

    Sometimes people say you need to understand the local culture in order to be successful in doing business. I think my minor car accident this time has taught me some ‘local culture’ about Hong Kong.

    Thanks again, Emiliano, I am very happy to see so many new names here as well, it is wonderful to read even just a ‘hi’ message from our friends here.

    All the best wishes to you all.

  39. emiliano says:

    Minerva, nice and famous name as it was the Goodness of Wisdom in the ancient Rome.
    Romans took all their Goods and Goodness from the Greek being Athena (Palls Athena) the real
    name of Minerva in the Greek culture.
    Your name is really beautiful and it would be a pleasure to have you in the Blog always
    the same as all the new comers.
    Regards.
    ——
    Hi Betty, I did not like History till the moment I came into Cuca, once I met her I started to like
    History very much as she is one of the best tellers a person may have as a teacher.
    She enjoy History and she has something special telling all History episodes in so easy and
    amusing way that it is really a pleasure to listen to her.
    It is so funny and amusing her way of telling different History events that we use to practice
    this talk when we are in a relaxing situation just a method of going out from the quotidian
    problems of life.
    When we think about other people who were living before with huge big events so
    transcendental in the course of History and all of them have pass away leaving nothing
    after them it seems to us that our little problems of today are in fact of not relevance
    for the immediate future.

    If you were in touch with Cuca it is sure you may like History very very much.

    I think Jeff is another lover of History or may be Lucy, our scrip writer, is the
    one who loves it immensely.

    All the best, Betty.
    emiliano

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