Topics: Naming Rights; Famous Americans: Cesar Chavez; Why Americans have middle names; future perfect tense; American versus U.S. as an adjective
Words:
naming rights
donation
connotations
deal
civil rights leaders
migrant farm worker
charismatic
to...
426 - Talking About Product Quality
Slow dialogue: 1:17
Explanations: 2:53
Fast dialogue: 13:54
Brenda: It`s fun shopping for a new cell phone, don`t you think?
Yoji: Sure, but I just need one with the bare basics.
Brenda: Not me. I want one that`s top-of-the-line. My old phone...
425 – Serving Drinks and Cocktails
Slow dialogue: 1:19
Explanations: 3:32
Fast dialogue: 14:27
Spencer: I`m practicing making drinks for the party tonight. Do you want to try one?
Heidi: You`re the bartender? I didn`t know you knew how to mix drinks.
Spencer: I can hold my...
English Cafe #163
Topics: Make-a-Wish Foundation; American Cities: Key West and the Florida Keys; must versus ought to versus need to; nuts and bolts; to buy
Words:
foundation
wish
to come true
to grant
to be (something) when one grows up
honorary...
424 - Being in Debt
Slow dialogue: 1:25
Explanations: 4:18
Fast dialogue: 15:50
Chang: I don`t mean to be nosey, but all of those bills are red or pink. Are you behind on all of those bills?
Ilya: I am, but it`s no big deal. I can catch up on them next...
423 - Reading Food Labels
Slow dialogue: 1:36
Explanations: 3:40
Fast dialogue: 15:02
I never read food labels until I started going out with Wendy. She`s studying to be a nutritionist. When we go grocery shopping, she reads every label.
_____________
Wendy: You`re not...
English Cafe #162
Topics: Ask an American: cults; can versus could; will versus would; freedom versus liberty
Words:
cult
imaginary
satanic
to spread
to brainwash
megalomaniacal
deluded
to impose
connotation
sect
at a crossroads
structure
unpaid...
422 - Shopping for Underwear
Slow dialogue: 1:35
Explanations: 3:53
Fast dialogue: 19:19
Kerry: We`re almost done with the shopping. We just need some underwear for you and some unmentionables for me.
Russell: It`s perfectly acceptable for women to buy men`s underwear, but...
421 - Internet Dating
Slow dialogue: 1:24
Explanations: 3:33
Fast dialogue: 16:59
Kevin: I know a lot of people are doing it, but I`m not so sure about trying an Internet dating service.
Eun: What do you have to lose? This website says that it screens all of its...
Special Announcement - New Children`s English Course
Special Announcement from ESL Podcast: A New Course - Simple English Stories for Kids (and Adults). See our ESL Podcast Store for more details on this exiting new course to help you and your children learn English faster.
English Cafe #161
Topics: Registering to vote and efforts to get out the vote; the G.I. Bill; growl, groan, and mutter; personnel and other collective nouns; to be fond of
Words:
election
mandatory
to register to vote
to fill out
democracy
to get out the vote
voter...
420 - Workplace Safety
Slow dialogue: 1:27
Explanations: 3:25
Fast dialogue: 14:20
Lon: What`s this?
Abigail: It`s a memo about a safety inspection scheduled for next week.
Lon: A safety inspection? How are we ever going to pass a safety inspection?
Abigail: What do...
419 – Planting a Garden
Slow dialogue: 1:14
Explanations: 3:03
Fast dialogue : 12:52
Joni: Smell that!
Giuseppe: Smell what?
Joni: Smell that fresh air. Aren`t you glad I got you to help me plant this garden? We`re going to have so much fun today.
Giuseppe: ...
English Cafe #160
Topics: Cook-offs and bake-offs; public health codes; a software evangelist; to look forward to; sandwich versus hamburger
Words:
to grill
competition
judge
chili
recipe
to sample
sponsor
code
sanitary
inspection
grade
to revoke
evangelist
to look...
418 – Getting Bad Service
Slow dialogue: 1:23
Explanations: 4:20
Fast dialogue: 16:33
Buck: I`m never going to that coffee house again!
Star: Why? What happened?
Buck: It`s the third time in a week that I`ve had lousy service. I don`t expect five-star treatment, but I...
417 – Getting Travel Documents
Slow dialogue: 1:29
Explanations: 3:27
Fast dialogue: 16:18
Joyce: We need to apply for our passports now if we want to have them in time for our trip to McQuillanland.
Steven: I have a passport.
Joyce: Yes, but it expired last year. You need to...
English Cafe #159
Topics: Famous Americans: William Randolph Hearst; what to call people from the top five cities/states in the U.S.; please as the magic word; using an apostrophe (‘) for possessive cases, remember versus remind
Words:
magnate
publisher
to put a lot...
416 – Finding a Niche in Business
Slow dialogue: 1:18
Explanations: 3:25
Fast dialogue: 14:20
Hello, business students. I`m here today at your professor`s request to talk to you about the importance of finding your own niche in business. Conventional wisdom says that people in...
415 – Being Clean and Dirty
Slow dialogue: 1:26
Explanations: 2:58
Fast dialogue: 15:09
Ray: My mother is coming for a visit, which means we need to do some spring cleaning this weekend.
Debra: I`ll get the duster, if you`ll get the broom.
Ray: I`m serious. You know how...
English Cafe #158
Topics: American Cities: Salt Lake City; university admissions; within versus inside versus interior; so much for; to want out
Words:
to persecute
temple
canyon
to be home to
admissions
to get a feel for
due
rank
top-tier school
back-up school
to...
414 – Common Traffic Signs
Slow dialogue: 1:27
Explanations: 3:20
Fast dialogue: 17:04
Ben: Why are you squinting like that?
Lauren: I left my glasses at the office.
Ben: You mean you can`t see?!
Lauren: I can see pretty well. What was that yellow sign we just...
413 - Talking About Intelligence
Slow dialogue: 1:17
Explanations: 3:15
Fast dialogue: 13:55
Andre: Mom, I can`t believe I got stuck with Matt as my lab partner in school.
Josephine: Matt? Do I know Matt?
Andre: He lives down the street. He`s Mr. and Mrs. Kemp`s son. He`s a...
English Cafe #157
Topics: Ask an American: childhood obesity; besides vs. furthermore vs. moreover; wink-wink; thrill
Words:
to be doing
veggie
grass-fed
organic
salad bar
to line up
to segue
processed food
refined
high fructose corn syrup
whole food
with an eye in the...
412 - Corporate Spying
Slow dialogue: 1:40
Explanations: 3:55
Fast dialogue: 17:38
Joachim: I`m really having second thoughts about hiring a firm to do corporate spying for us. I don`t want to do anything that`s ethically questionable.
Dawn: We have no choice but to do...
411 - Eating Junk Food
Slow dialogue: 1:31
Explanations: 3:03
Fast dialogue: 13:36
Frank: Hand me that bag of potato chips.
Katie: Here. You mean you`re still hungry after two burgers and French fries?
Frank: Yeah, I am. I`m a growing boy. Where`s the...
English Cafe #156
Topics: The Chinese Exclusion Act; Library of Congress and the public library system; I thought versus I think; anyway versus however; to make (someone) earn (something)
Words:
Immigration
to resent
act
to exclude
citizen
ethnic
to repeal
library
to...
ESL Podcast Special Edition - VIdeo Podcast for 3rd Anniversary
Jeff: Hello and welcome to ESL Podcast`s third anniversary video podcast. We are now three years old, and as we do every year we are recording a short video podcast for you. This year, we asked you to send us some questions to answer, and in this...
410 - Being Evasive
Slow dialogue: 1:21
Explanations: 3:18
Fast dialogue: 14:53
Olivia: Dad, can I ask you a question?
Dad: You just did.
Olivia: I mean, can I ask you another question?
Dad: Ask away.
Olivia: Where do babies come from?
Dad: What? Where did...
409 - Describing a Musical Performance
Slow dialogue: 1:46
Explanations: 3:55
Fast dialogue: 15:28
Janine: Okay, we need to find one more act for this year`s show. How many more people are waiting to audition?
Calvin: There are two more. Should I call in the first one?
Janine: Yup....
English Cafe #155
Topics: The CIA; how to become a court interpreter and/or an interpreter for the U.N.; haunting versus haunted; completion versus completeness; to take (somebody) on
Words:
intelligence
foreign
advisor
clandestine
to tap a phone
to bug
to...
