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ON MONDAY
ESL Podcast 1134 – Describing Position and Location Within a Group
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “at the head” and “to bring up the rear.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Neighborhood Pranks.”
“For some young people, playing ‘pranks’ (annoying jokes) is a common form of entertainment and a way to ‘get attention’…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
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ON WEDNESDAY
English Cafe 518
Topics: American Presidents – Franklin Delano Roosevelt; to be trapped versus to be lodged; to keep it together, to keep a stiff upper lip, and as luck would have it; pardon me
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear).
In “What Insiders Know,” you will read about “The Sunshine Special.”
“The Sunshine Special was the official car used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
…
ON FRIDAY
ESL Podcast 1135 – Having Hearing Problems
In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “hearing” and “smell.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Public Services for the Hearing-impaired.”
“The ‘Americans with Disabilities Act’ requires that people with ‘disabilities’…” – READ MORE in the Learning Guide
Hey, you. One more week for us. New podcasts, new subjects, more things to learn, new time to enjoy. I will be waiting for my friends to come up.
Aecio
Hi Emiliano ,
Good observation bro
I agree with u
Do u remmber ,back in 2008 -2009 we saw more names around the blog.we were 15-20 people strong
The number has been dwindling though
I m wondering what happened with Betty! she, all of a sudden ,vanished into thin air.
It is sad bro
But ,you know ,the world is a crazy place. U never know what comes next.
Well ,things change and sometimes the changes make people take a different course of action.
Back in 2010, i myself went off rather for 6 or 7 months as sth happened in my life that required my undivided attention. I barely had time to even whip up sth to eat let alone drop a line here.
I managed to write sth here two or three times here over my entire 7 month absence. Well ,I must say I was upset that I couldn’t attend eslpod.
Well ,i had no other choices at the time.
Lets just say ,back then ,the problem on hand trumped Eslpod participation
I m telling you , it was a very complicate undertaking.
U don’t want to know how troublesome and time consuming it was.
Well, in all fairness I perhaps didn’t push my self enough to make time for a more active present on Eslpod as deep down I knew that I wasn’t falling behind.
I knew I could pick up where I left off once the crises in my life was over. And ,that I did. I managed to handlle rather cope with the problems and resume my education in Eslpod. I came back late 2010 and I have been an active participant since. I was well behind ,
I caught up with u guys,though
I studied all the backlog episodes.
I read all the blog posts I had missed out on during the period.
Well ,the point I m trying to make here is sometimes people Simply have no time. I for one , think ,it is on us to carry the torch. I mean it is on us to back up our one and only eslpod.
I better take off
Pete
I feel all alone here.
Aecio
Hey Pete.
Let me add something to your post.
Frankly, I don’t believe it’s a matter of time.
It takes no time writing two lines here like I’m doing now
from my phone.
And I’ll give you a practical exemple.
If I stop writing here is just because I tired of it or just I feel guilty because
I do not donate anything in term of money.
That would be my personal case/motives.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
Thanks
Hi,
I am reading Learn English Magazine every day. Every day I learn something new reading the articles or listening
the audio lessons.
And I like very much Pao, his graphic interpretation.
It’s a pleasure to listen to the video lessons helped by his translation.
Hi,
Living and shopping in a parking structure…
I’d like shopping in a new parking structure.
In all our cities there is a preoccupation with urban renewal, improving a city by building new buildings,
bringing in more businesses, new projects, new structures, new modern parks…
For all our cities there is a major problem, the car parking.
Almost all people have a car. Where to park them?
To build new modern parking places.
Interesting topic.
Hi,
Be careful where you leave your cellphone…
Good joke on this topic.
But I don’t want to lose or leave my cellphone and someone uses it.
Hi,
One of the most interesting and funny topic is typos (typing mistakes) in application letters
and resumes.
I like it very much with such funny mistakes examples, from where we can learn a lot.
Thank you.
Hi,
I like and My Life in English.
The importance of working hard is a good lesson to learn.
Yes, I agree with you. We can receive the reward when we have no hope.
I learned it picking strawberries for a neighbour when I was a child.
So I earned money and I went to the sea on holidays.
It is an available lesson even at our job place, or at school.
Hard work, good results.
Hi! Jeff, I’ve never heard of Dan Ariely.
I have to check at the public library or at the book shop if there are books by Dan Ariely.
I’ve never heard of this new movement in economics called BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS
on how people behave when it comes to money, work, trade…
Excellent explanation to us (chosen from his book) what happens when businesses
give things for FREE! to customers.
Hi,
According to Wikipedia, Dan Ariely has written the following books:
– Predictably Irrational;
– The Upside of Irrationality and
– The Honest Truth about Dishonesty.
I can’t say that it is easy to translate these titles. I have found their translation in my language.
Hi,
According to Wikipedia, “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions”
by Dan Ariely ” is a far more revolutionary book”.
Ariely explains , “My goal, by the end of this book, is to help you fundamentally rethink…
Once you see how systematic certain mistakes are – how we repeat them again and again –
I think you will begin to learn how to avoid some of them”.
This is my case. I make the same mistakes, I repeat them again and again.
I have to read this book.
Hi Emiliano ,
U know
Don’t get me wrong
I completely with u on that.
And I back up the idea 100 percent !!
I ,like you , think people should take a more active approach and join the gang of blog commenters here.
The more , the merrier. Right !?
However , we need to get some perspective here.
Not all the people have the time.
But , I ,like u ,invite my peers across the world to exchange ideas here.
What we have going on here is very productive.
We never limit ourselves to just discuss the blog post at hand.we go further.
We share ideas , spreading interesting news. We sometimes event vent.
We made an impersonal blog discussion to some personal interaction among ourselves.
You and I go way back bro
We never met but I feel like I know u for ages.
That is the beauty of the blog
We bounce ideas off eachother , we interact on a more intimate level and learn a big deal in the process.
And I think it is the idea here.
I mean eslpod group intended it that way:
For them to teach us and for us to take the valuable lessons and use them to experts our point of views in a shared language.
Enough out of me
Pete
Hi,
A new word to me Ragpicker as recycler.
A very nice but sad painting by Manet. Nobody wants to pick up trash to keep our cities clean.
At least to try throwing the trash only into a trash container.
In the summer time we have organized groups of young people picking up the trash
from rivers or mountains , trashes left by the tourists.
Hey Dan ,
Well , the way I see it , u r looking at it in a wrong way.
For what it is worth , I think you are contributing a lot by writing your view points here.
I mean
Our dear professors put up posts and we try our best to be responsive about it.
We share our thoughts about the posts and more.
Don’t u think ,We are an integral cog here in this blog ? we get the blog going with our comments down here.
Don’t u think ,We r contributing in our little way.
So don’t be hard on your self mate.
Trust me Your comments hold water here
I take off
Pete
Peter, you get it perfectly well, and thank you.
From ESL Blog, and mine too, some time ago
Being happy or not
There is a good, very good Blog in the ESL podcast site where we, the English students can write which ever subject we like.
It could be about the theme that is suggested by our teachers, Jeff, Lucy or Warren, but it could be
also about other subjects pupils could suggest or write.
Just here there is an example of what I have written this morning.
Theme:WHAT MAKES US HAPPY? It has been Warren, our profesor who suggest the theme and some of us have written some replies:
If you want to read what Warren has written, and the pupils thoughts, just see the web site:
http://www.eslpod.com/eslpod_blog/2013/05/16/what-makes-us-happy/#comments
My thougts of this morning, personal thoughts of course, has been those:
“Good Saturday Warren and every one of you friends of the Blog.
In this moment I don´t know if there are more replies on the air or only there are the tree I could see now.
Well in the air there are at least two from emiliano that are awaiting moderation from yesterday….ja,ja, yes it is a long time to moderate.
It seems to me Jeff or Lucy have a lot of things to do, just Reading every one of the notes and moderate them. Hard work my friends.
Having time enough to write, again I doing them a Little more work to moderate, sorry dear teachers.
Thinking about the topic Warren has done to us now I have asked myself now: What makes you happy now emiliano?.
Just today it is simple, First of all “I have not depression as I had last year”…the lack of it makes me feel happy despite there are reasons
to feel not so happy, of course.
But first I want to think about what make me to be happy now.
Reasons to be happy:
First lack of depression, as last year I had one, a very bad year.
First too, I have here at my side dear Cuca 43 years together and still loving each other.
First also, my daughters are good, I suppose as there is a long time without news from two of them.
Second I have a house and money enough to be relaxed and live more or less well
Second I have my cat gatufo
Second too I have a nice woman that comes home every day to help me with house chores and taken care of Cuca so I am more relaxed
Second too my daughter E… writes every morning, all days since 12 years, to her mami Cuca and both of them are happy with their mails.
Third I have lot of time free to write, to read or listen to music, but I could also to take a walk but going alone in a big city like Madrid
it is not an attractive option. I would like to go with my wife or to be other place to see the sea or the montains, this city is too much seen
for me. All my life here……
Third too I have still some good friends since a long long time that use to come home to see us frequently.
—–
Reasons to be not so happy:
My dear friend C……. is really too bad, it seems she can´t fight to recover herself from the cáncer, but hope is the last feeling to be lost
Dear Cuca has a disease without any hope since more than twelf years, but she resist a day after another and her humor is good enough to survive and even be happy.
Not any news from my younger two daughters F.. and L..
F…. is living in Madrid but never call us, never comes and the last message she sent me was saying “please let me stay in peace”.
A year and a half without seeing her, it is too hard for me or her mother. But I hope she is well enought…cross my fingers.
L… is in Copenhaguen and got ungry with me (or even her mother) for something so stupid as political questions or subjects. The result some months without news also, but again I think she is all right doing the work she likes more.
So, put the reasons on the balance and wich will be the result?
Well, I do think the resons to be happy weight just more than the others. In fact nothing wrong is happening so yes, now I feel happy.
The worst, but usual already, it is Cuca has multiple sclerosis without hopes to be right, but it is her, our, usual state of things for more than twelve years.
Even the worst it is our dear C….. seems to be really bad, I can´t accustomed to this bad situation, bad after nine months thinking on her a day after another it seems it is too real.
These morning, when I don´t see any new comments on the ESL Blog, these are my thoughts.
Thank you to all who has the patience of reading thil long statement that some how gives me some peace. It is said that writing own thoughts or painting it is the best self therapy.
Thanks my friends”.
———–
If you like to see the ESL Blog it is very easy, and you could have also free lesson in this site, my site for the last eight years.
Go ahead friends…..and be happy.
More or less I miss these posts where lot of us wrote our thoughts and feelings.
Yes, I miss this time just a lot, now I have not time or humor that is worst to write
as my dear Cuca is very bad, multiple esclerosis is going on every day making her
life a hell that she try to carry on her body and mind, for me it is also hard, very
hard in a different way of course.
But this is another story.
bye friends.
Peter, again me, I do think you are now too much better than before.
I do think your character has gone far away making you a man with nice purpose and ideas.
I like also the way you write now, it is vivid and real.
Congratulations, bro
emiliano
“disappear/vanish into thin air” in British English:
– to ?disappear ?suddenly and ?completely
(Definition of disappear/vanish into thin air from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
********************
Hi Peter
Betty has not vanished into thin air. She’s right in front of you.
Don’t you know? Betty has changed her pen name into “lili”. I felt like using a different pen name some months ago. I used “Lili” here without knowing it was a real name, but Emiliano told me about it and I searched the Internet to find out more. Emiliano is incredibly knowledgeable. He’s right, Lili is a well known name. I was so ignorant!
Peter I haven’t disappeared. I write less now because I don’t want to use my brain (if I have one) too much. I want to sit back and enjoy reading what you all write.
Dan is right, ‘no time’ is not a good excuse. Anyone can write something easily if they try.
However, I know some people have nothing inside their head. I know 2 people like that. They always say that they simply can’t think of anything to say.
That’s where our teachers articles come handy. We read the articles carefully and then write out our feelings immediately, then there is something to say.
In a few occasions when I didn’t write comments immediately after reading, the “comments” in my mind faded away quite quickly, and then the interest of writing died off unnoticed.
Anyway, remember Peter, I used to write under the name Betty. I haven’t vanished into thin air.
Best Regards
lili:) 🙂
Hi Lili nice to see you. Ksses 🙂
Hey Emi, this last weekend Death visited my house
and claimed a victim grabbing one of my cats.
It was kind of liberating because it is terrible to see an animal suffering.
Thanks bye.
Hi Dan,
I can understand you regarding your cat as my neighbour had the same problem with her cat.
She is still crying (it is true) for her cat.
Hi dear Emiliano,
You are right, we have to find one thousand of reasons to feel happy.
Every day is a blessing as we are alive.
I have read something recently and I want to share it with you all.
We can save our own life by song and literature. The silent music of the mind…
I love you all,
Tania
So sorry Dan, I am feeling your pain and sorrow.
I can’t think about my Gatufo’s death, in fact it is possible, or may be sure that me will pass away
before him.
Why not.
Again, very sorry Dan.
Thank you Lili, it is always a pleasure to see you here.
Tania, thank you a lot too, my dear Tania, just from the first time of the world, sorry from the begining of the Blog
Tania has been here.
Still I am awaiting to know something about our dear Tania, the misterious friend that have said nothing about
her life. It is just the same like Lucy, our teacher, we don’t have seen her and know nothing about her too.
Two misterious fairies that write here telling us which everthing they could think but nothing about
their real life.
Dan, Peter, or emiliano instead tell nearly everything about their life, what could we think about that.
Are men more open than women, may be that’s is the reason.
By the way, we know a lot about Jeff and Warren life too, with that it is clear tha we are more clear
than girls or women.
Our Lily is different, she has told us something about herself too, thank you Lili, you are like one
person of my family.
emiliano