I can't breathe
Unexpected English!
06/01/20
•12m
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(EP 49) Special episode of Unexpected English.
[Intro transcript]
Hi everybody it's me, Louis, and you should be listening to a normal episode of Unexpected English. And I was going to upload a normal episode. But as you know, uh, today is June 1 and these are not normal times. We have just had a long weekend of protests and violence in this country and people are asking me if I'm OK and what's going on and uh... I just wanted to say that, umm, you should not be surprised by this. You should not be surprised. Because this country has a long history of ... of racial violence and economic injustice. And sometimes it becomes very obvious... it comes up to the surface and that is what has happened and is happening. But the problems go way back and you know that. And so rather than talk about it I thought I would share an... something from a great American writer, James Baldwin, who was speaking in 1968 uhh, to explain the riots at that time from his perspective as a black man. And so I think you'll find that interesting. And then I'll close with a song from 1974 by Gil Scott-Heron who was uhh something of a musical genius in that he was a forerunner of modern styles of African-American music. And again, if you listen to the song 1974, you'll see that there is nothing new here. And anyway umm that's it. I will share those things and we'll catch you next time with perhaps a normal episode. Until then, I hope you enjoy the rest of the podcast.
Links: James Baldwin on the riots of 1968
Gil Scott-Heron Winter in America
Unexpected English: links
Previous Episode
The Jambalaya Transfer
May 19, 2020
•3m
(EP 48) Unexpected English is a five minute podcast for English learners looking for something unusual and fun to practice their listening. As always, there is no English "lesson" - just an unexpected encounter with real life English. Sorry for the poor sound, but the interviews are recorded for you live on location without professional equipment. [Transcript]
OK here we are at Mesa College, going to talk to a random student about his student life. Tell me, what classes are you taking right now? I'm taking Java, that's programming, and I'm taking sociology. So you’re taking two classes. Is this your first year here? How does it fit into your plans? I'm actually a transfer student from Louisiana so this is my first semester out here. Pretty well so far, pretty good campus, good teachers, I like it. All right, and what's the long-term plan after, what, are you gonna, I mean after you finish your courses here, then what? After I finish here and I finish at my other school I plan on going to either NASA or any other coding tech, any of the coding fi rms that, you know, offer aerospace engineering. OK, so we're talking to a high-end engineering kind of a guy here, we’re not playing around! Uh, tell me this though, you said you transferred from Louisiana? Where were you in Louisiana? Grambling State University in Louisiana. And how long you been here? I've been here, this is my second semester. And, so, what do you think about San Diego? Pretty good good weather, good people, wonderful air, it's pretty pretty fun out here. All right, and qhat's the what's the biggest thing you miss about, about Louisiana, about not being back at home, so was that home for you back there? I mean, other than missing your family, what are you missing about back home? Probably the food. Food’s better, more home-cooked meals out there. It really fills you up. What kind of, what kind of a specialties they got there? Jambalaya.. Hold up, hold up now, because people don't know, most of my people they don't know... tell us what jambalaya is! So, jambalaya is kind of like rice mixed with seafood and sausages and pretty much a bunch of different meat you would like all in one dish. Ahh, it's good, you’re telling me is good, I believe that, alright.! So, have you tried any of the so-called local food here in San Diego? What would you identify as being San Diego food? Probably the tacos. Very very local, a custom everywhere, you can find a taco shop almost every corner, different styles... Yeah, we do have a lotta Mexican food here that's for sure! All right, well, thanks for your time and we hope you enjoyed the interview, take care!
***
That's it! This podcast is a non-commercial effort, made by me so that you have something unique and fun real life English to listen to. If you like the show, please support my efforts by telling your friends and sharing this link --> https://linktr.ee/unexpectedenglish Follow on Spotify, message @UnexpectedEnglish on Instagram so I know you are listening, and leave a good review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you for your support!
Next Episode
Fast, furious... and pink!
June 13, 2020
•4m
(EP 50) Listen to real American English! Improve your listening skills with another Unexpected English interview episode, complete with transcription to help you! I apologize for the sound quality in some sections: it was a windy day at the dog park! See links at the bottom of the transcription for more. Spoken intro... and then... [Transcript] OK so here we are at the dog park and I found a young man here who volunteered to be interviewed. What's your name and how old are you? Hi, my name is Adrian and I'm 12 years old. Twelve years old, what grade are you in? I'm in 7th grade. Seventh grade... and what's your favorite class at school? My favorite class is Math because I love decimals and I also love geometry. Oh cool, and what other subjects do you have? I have a model building class and I have a PE class... Hold up, let me ask you a question: a model building class: what is that? Umm, so basically, you buy a model from the store and it's like a plastic model and you can glue the pieces together and it builds a model. So, like, it could be... like I built a Skyline GTR-R34. Wait, wait, hold it a minute! You built a what? And what is that? I built a Skyline GTR-R34. Is that a car? Yes. Ok I guessed it! It was a car, I'm good! It was a car, ok good! And, umm, it can’t... it's not in America and it's only in Japan. But I love the car because it's in the Fast and the Furious. Because it's a what? It's in the Fast and the Furious. Fast.. The fast and the furious.. it's a movie, alright, because I don’t, I don't know ... and what was that movie about? It's about cars basically racing, people racing each other. So I'm guessing that's like your favorite movie. Yes. OK so, we've got your favorite class, we got your favorite movie ... and what about your favorite food? My favorite food is probably pizza. Pizza, yeah pizza is everybody's favorite food, I think that's true. Anything else you want to tell anybody before we go? Oh my favorite color is pink because it stands up for breast cancer. Oh, that's fantastic, pink for breast cancer! OK thanks very much. Again we were talking to... Adrian Jones. Adrian, here in San Diego at the dog park and we hope you enjoy this podcast, and could understand it, and we hope you join us again next time! Bye! (outro music from fast and furious) *** Thats it! Please, if you like the show, please support my efforts by telling your friends and sharing this link --> https://linktr.ee/unexpectedenglish Follow on Spotify, message me on Instagram so I know you are listening, and leave a good review on Apple Podcasts This is a non-commercial project, so thank you for your support!
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