Practise with podcasts

THE PENCIL STORY

A pencil maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box and said, "There are five things you should remember before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and you will become the best pencil you can be.

One: “You can do many great things only when you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand.”

Two: “You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

Three:”You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

Four: “The most important part of you will always be what's inside." And...

Five: “On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with a clear purpose in its mind. We too are pencils in a certain way.

One: We can do many great things only if we allow ourselves to be mentored. We should allow others to access us for the many gifts we possess.

Two: We will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but we need it to become stronger persons.

Three: We will be able to correct any mistakes we might make.

Four: The most important part of us will always be what's on the inside of us.

Five: On every surface we walk, we must leave our mark. No matter what the situation, we must continue to do our duties. If we allow this story of the pencil to encourage us, we can fulfill the purpose for which we were born. We should never allow ourselves to get discouraged and think that our life is insignificant and that we cannot make a change.

Let us stop making excuses about not having enough time to learn English. By making minor changes on a daily basis, we can make it a habit instead of a headache. You don’t have to spend a couple of hours each day at speaking English. Just devote five to 15 minutes a day to improve your English. If you really commit to practising English every day, you will get better at it. Listen to a podcast every day. Podcasts are great.

You can download them for free onto your ipod, phone or computer. You can listen to podcasts while you are going to work, exercising or are in your house. You don’t have to just listen to the English language learning podcasts but can find podcasts that are of interest to you. If you are interested in football, cricket or business, there are many podcasts to listen to. Also, listening to podcasts on varying subjects will ensure that you stay engaged while listening and learn at the same time.

Read or watch news in English. You may already watch or read news on a daily basis; now try doing it in English. BBC, CNN or Google News should help you. You will continue your good habit of staying informed on what’s happening in the world and improve your English at the same time. Turn on English subtitles on your TV or DVD.

If you have cable or satellite TV, watch programmes in English with subtitles. Also, before watching a DVD, check to see if it has English subtitles. You can find this function on the main menu of the DVD or sometimes the remote has a ‘subtitles’ button. Being able to hear and see the words at the same time will help you improve your English comprehension and understanding. Watching cartoons is a great way of learning English.

Small Talk:

Shopping

Salesperson : May I help you?

Geetha: Yes, I’m looking for a sweater — of a medium size.

Salesperson : Let’s see ... here’s a nice white one. What do you think?

Geetha : I think I’d rather have it in blue.

Salesperson: OK ... here’s blue, in a medium. Would you like to try it on?

Geetha: OK ... yes, I love it. It fits perfectly. How much is it?

Salesperson: It’s Rs.500. It will be Rs.507 with tax.

Geetha: Perfect! I’ll take it.

Notes:

May I help you? or “Can I help you?” is what a salesperson normally says to greet a customer.

I’m looking for a... here means “I don’t know exactly which one I want.”

Medium size. Clothing usually comes in small, medium and large sizes. Some women’s clothing comes in number sizes, usually ranging from 2 to 16.

Let’s see ... An expression used when a person wants to think something over, to make a choice or decision, or to look for something.

I’d rather have it in... here means “I don’t like this exact one. I would prefer it in a different” color/size/material, etc.

Would you like to ...? is a polite way of asking “Do you want to ...?”

Try it on means test the fit or appearance of a garment by putting it on. “Try on” is a separable phrasal verb, so the object “it” goes between “try” and “on.”

How much is it? means “How much does it cost?” Notice that the main sentence stress falls on “is” in this question.

I’ll take it means “I will buy it.”

Know Your Vocabulary

Choose the closest meaning and tick it.

1.minor

a) less important b) very certain c) fully grown

2.panic

a) uncontrolled fear b) childhood

diseasec) laughable event

3.reassemble

a) separate into parts b) guard from harmc) put together again

4.reconsider

a) think over again b) continue to fight c) tighten up

5.ridiculous

a) stiff b) laughable c) artistic

6.slogan

a) motto b) apartment c) jacket

7.strict

a) lightweight b) stern c) fast

8.voluntary

a) done by choice b) done by force c) done by accident

9.accustomed

a) far away b) usual c) exact

10.grant

a) hold back b) give c) tell a secret

Key:

1-a; 2-a; 3-c; 4-a; 5-b; 6-a; 7-b; 8-a; 9-b; 10-b