Welcome to the Just Chatting podcast where Paul & Rachel just chat about everyday events using natural British English.

Just Chatting

Each week I read an interesting news article from the BBC. Listen along to the words and pronunciation and I will also share with you the link to the story so that you can read along as well.

The Breaking News Podcast

Do you dream of being able to communicate in English in a way that is captivating and motivating or taking a leading role in projects where your English skills are seen as an asset?

Get BizPod Now!

BizPod - The Business English Podcast

This episode you will learn how to ask people name and introduce yourself. 

Learn Thai With Jejie

Episode 1 : Self-introduction

In this story, a piece of toast named Buttersy has an uncomfortable bus ride to work. How will she deal with the terrible smell? This is Part 3 of 5. 

The bus kept going as the morning sun rose higher and higher. The candy passengers begun to seem uncomfortable. They wiped sweat off their foreheads and fanned themselves using their wrappers. The temperature was rising. 

Buttersy had a painful look on her face as she sniffed. “What’s that smell?” 

She scanned the bus and found the offender. 

In the middle of the bus was a middle-aged piece of cheesecake. He sat at the window and almost took up two seats because of his size. He was sweating, breathing heavily and groaning. The passenger next to him left her seat and decided to stand at the front. 

“Ugh, it’s disgusting,” said Buttersy, now holding her nose, not worried about what others will think. “How can he be so inconsiderate? A thing like that shouldn’t leave the house without a wrapper!” 

Choco laughed, knowing that Buttersy wasn’t serious, but only expressing her frustration. He said, “This is public life. Just keep breathing through your mouth; we’re not far from our stop.” 

Buttersy held her nose, getting angrier and angrier. She noticed the bus was equipped with a huge air conditioning system, but it was only blowing a tiny breeze. 

“What’s going on!? Are these candies all crazy?” she said, noticing how the others just tolerated the sour smell that filled the bus. “I’d prefer to have a bird peck out my eyes than this.” 

As the journey continued, the smell only got worse and worse. 


Being a Cloud

Buttersy the Piece of Toast

In this story, a deer named Macey plans a secret party with her sister. But what happens when two big cats try to stop her? This is Part 3 of 5.  

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Two huge, strong and dirty cats appear out of nowhere: one proud lion and one sneaky cheetah. They creep forward, saliva dripping from the sides of their mouths. 

The lion says, “Little deer, I don’t usually eat noodles, but I might have to today.” 

The cheetah laughs and laughs and laughs. She has never heard anything so funny in her entire life. 

Macey looks confused, but then notices she has noodles stuck on her horns. She feels embarrassed and angry at the same time. 

“If you must know, there were no chopsticks…” says Macey. 

The cheetah says, still laughing, “Did you get it, little dear? We don’t eat noodles; we’re carnivores… but you have noodles on your head and we’re going to eat you.” 

The lion frowns and looks at the cheetah. “Yes, thank you, Cheetah... That was my point…” 

Macey confidently steps forward and prepares to fight. She looks like a kung-fu master. She says, “I’m not scared of you. You will never eat me… or my noodles!” 

Macey then jumps high into the air and does a flying kick! 

Hiiiiiyyyaaaaaa! 

Macey kicks the lion right in his big face. Saliva explodes from his mouth. The lion hits the floor HARD. The cheetah is so scared that she crouches down and starts purring. The cheetah doesn’t want to get hurt. 

The lion is very weak. He gets up and tries to speak, but he’s in so much pain. He says, “ahh…I… my face… you’re so… powerful… Please don’t hurt me anymore…” 

Macey has fire in her eyes. She is tired of big cats trying to eat her. 

“You carnivores think you’re so strong,” says Macey, looking like she will crush them. “But you’re not! Now get out of here!” 

The two cats, not so big anymore, run away. 

With the setting sun behind her, Macey is standing strong, looking like a hero. 

Macey the Deer

오랜만이에요, 여러분. 잘 지냈어요?
저는 요즘 매일 바쁜 하루를 보내고 있어요. 
그래서 우울할 때도 많았는데 지난 주에 한 유튜브 영상을 봤어요.
긍정적인 마음을 가져야 한다는 내용이었어요.

It's been a while, everyone! How have you been?
I've been so busy lately. So sometimes I felt blue but then I came across this video on Youtube.
It was about having a positive mind.

Yejin's Podcast for Korean Learners

긍정적인 마음 will bring you some good luck

Since England is an island, it has a rich maritime history and lots of idiomatic expressions that come from sailing and ships. In this podcast, I cover the following:

* “Dead in the water” 
* “Three sheets to the wind” 
* “To go by the board” 

For a full transcript of this podcast, go to https://www.difficultenglishexplained.com/nautical-idioms-part-2/.

Difficult English Explained

Nautical Idioms in English, Part 2:  What do they Mean and Where did they Come from?

Odyssea meets Hadessa and Persephonus, the rulers of the Underworld.

https://saracasalino-books.weebly.com/blog/the-adventures-of-odyssea-ch-3-hadessa

Learn English with Stories

The Adventures of Odyssea: Ch 3.3 - Hadessa


 Congiunzioni conclusive: 

quindi, perciò, inoltre, insomma, dunque

Servono per giungere alla conclusione in un ragionamento dentro una frase. 
Esempio: 

Oggi fa molto freddo, quindi indosso un maglione pesante.

Come vedi oggi non ha piovuto, dunque  avevo ragione io.











Congiunzioni dichiarative/esplicative

Infatti, difatti, in effetti, ossia, ovvero, vale a dire

Servono a introdurre introdurre una frase che spiega, illustra, chiarisce quello che è stato detto.
Esempi:

In Spagna si vive molto bene, infatti  Valencia è stata eletta a città più vivibile del mondo. 
 Secondo me in Italia non ci sono buone condizioni di lavoro, difatti molti giovani laureati oggi emigrano in altri Paesi. 




Congiunzioni causali
Poiché, perché, siccome, giacché, in quanto che, dato che

Servono a introdurre la causa o il motivo espresso nella frase principale

Poiché ieri non stavo bene, sono rimasto a casa.
Ho comprato una sedia nuova perché l’altra era troppo scomoda. 
In quanto che il tempo è prezioso, sarà bene utilizzarlo nel migliore dei modi. 






Congiunzioni concessive
nonostante, benché , sebbene, qualora

Esempi: 

Nonostante Noam Chomsky abbia 94 anni, è un uomo ancora molto preparato e con un senso critico della realtà. 
Qualora tu fossi interessata, ci sarebbe ancora un posto per il workshop di scrittura creativa. 



Altre congiunzioni varie con esempi: 

purché
  Esempio: Farò di tutto per aiutarti, purché tu riesca a raggiungere i tuoi obiettivi

finché
Esempio: finché continuerai a perdere tempo in aperitivi con gli amici, non riuscirai mai a raggiungere buoni risultati nello sport. 
affinché
Esempio: Affinché potesse studiare meglio il jazz, Mario decise di trasferirsi a New York. 

bensì
esempio: Non voglio un piatto con caviale e aragosta, bensì una semplice focaccia con le olive. 

cosicché
Esempio: Igor ha deciso di trasferirsi in Germania, cosicché avrà maggiori possibilità lavorative

