Podcast #2 Danny Boy

Interlude: Do you like the beach? How about the zoo?

Good Morning!” “Time to get up!” Yelled his parents. Danny opened his eyes slowly and looked up at his mom and dad standing by his bed holding a breakfast muffin with one lit candle.

Who yelled at Danny?

Did Danny’s uncle yell at Danny, …..no no, Did Danny’s grandma yell at Danny?...... No no

Danny’s parents yelled at Danny. Danny’s mom and dad yelled at Danny and it was about something happy.

Danny looked around the room and found it to be full of balloons and streamers. It’s not my birthday, he thought. By the look on his parents face, he knew that today was a day of celebration. “What’s going on?” He asked. “Who’s birthday is it?”

Was today Danny’s birthday? No it might be someone else’s birthday but it wasn’t Danny’s

Danny’s parents chuckled softly and together said with happiness, “It’s our gotcha day! Today marks one whole year since we became a family.” Danny was super excited.

What is a “gotcha day”... Danny was adopted into this family. He was an orphan before. Gotcha is short for “We got you”. And his parents are calling it a gotcha day. It is a day for Celebration!

Danny sat for a moment and wondered. Was this going to be like having two birthdays in one year? Was he going to get presents? His parents had him blow out the candle and told him to get ready for the day.

What did Danny’s parents have him do…….Did Danny jump on his bed? No Did Danny call his cousin on the phone? NO no. Danny’s parents just told him to get ready for the Day

Danny’s parents told Danny “We can do anything you want today, it’s your special day”. He jumped up to get dressed as fast as he could. He was already imagining what kind of day he would have at the beach.

Where did Danny want to go? The park? No …...Danny didn’t want to go to the park. ..Did Danny want to go to a restaurant and have lunch? …… no Danny wanted to go to the beach of course.

Danny had always dreamed about playing in the sand and jumping in the waves. Finally his parents were letting him pick what he wanted to do! He almost tripped as he ran down the stairs on his way to the kitchen to find breakfast before his big day.

Were Danny’s parents allowing him to choose where he wanted to go?....... Yes Danny’s parents were allowing Danny to choose where he wanted to go and we know that Danny was going to choose the beach!

His dad had prepared his favorite breakfast, pancakes loaded with syrup. His dad asked him. “Have you thought about what you want to do today?” And Danny said “I want to go to the beach!” He shouted with joy, smiling from ear to ear. Danny was unable to sit still. Immediately, his father’s demeanor changed.

What did Danny have for Breakfast? Ham and waffles?.......No no Danny had pancakes with a lot of syrup.

Did Danny’s Dad like the idea of going to the beach?...... Maybe not because right after Danny proposed the Beach Danny’s Dad's demeanor changed. This means a person's appearance and behavior : the way someone seems to be to other people

Danny’s mom Misa’s face turned from joy to sadness as she turned to look at her husband. She knew the one place that her husband would never go was the beach.

Did Danny’s dad want to go to the beach? No you are correct. Danny’s dad did not want to go to the beach. But why?

Danny’s Dad stepped on a stingray and it stung him on the foot when he was at the beach as a young boy. It hurt his foot really badly and had to go to the hospital. Now he doesn’t like to go to the beach and he also doesn’t like to talk about it.

Was Danny’s dad attacked and bitten by a shark at the beach? No Danny’s dad was stung on the foot by a stingray.

Danny’s dad proposed they do something else. He said. “How about we go to the park or to the zoo instead? The beach is over two hours away and that will take away from our day”, he urged.

Danny really wanted to go to the beach, but the thought of going to the zoo sounded pretty good as well. He liked the lions, and especially the gorillas.

Summary. Danny woke up to what looked like a birthday celebration but instead his parents wanted to celebrate the anniversary of his adoption into their family. Danny’s parents allowed Danny to choose anywhere he wanted to go and he chose the beach. However, unfortunately Danny’s dad did not like the beach because he had a bad experience there when he was a kid. He proposed going to the zoo instead and Danny being a smart and open minded kid thought that sounded like a good idea. Danny still wanted to go to the beach one day soon, but the gorillas at the zoo changed his mind. Maybe Danny had too much syrup on his pancakes because he was jumping all around with the ideas he might get to have two celebrates like a birthday party every year.

Podcast 3 A purple bus ride

Danny and his parents went to the zoo to celebrate the day Danny was adopted into their family. The day at the zoo was an exciting day. Danny saw animals that he had never seen before! His favorite animal that he saw was as he predicted... the gorilla! There was a gorilla so big it looked as big as a truck. The gorilla came up close to the glass and Danny could see him up really close.

Was the day at the zoo boring to Danny? No, the day at the zoo was exciting! Did Danny see any animals at the zoo? Of course he did! Was Danny's favorite animal the Giraffe? No think again. Was it the Lion or the tiger or the bears? No, those were good too but no. Danny’s favorite animal was the gorilla because it was so big and Danny could see him up really close!

Danny and his parents really had a fun day at the zoo, but when Danny saw the penguins playing in the water he couldn’t get the beach out of his head. He yearned to build a sandcastle, swim through the water and chase the incoming and outgoing waves.

Did Danny think about the beach while he was at the zoo? YES! He did. What made Danny think about the beach? Did the elephants rolling in the dirt make Danny think of the beach? No, no, the penguins swimming in the water made him think of the beach. What did Danny want to do at the beach? Danny wanted to build a sandcastle, swim through the water and chase the incoming and outgoing waves!

Danny was confused as to why his dad was so against going to the beach. What could be wrong with the beach? It seemed like it was the best place on earth! No matter what, he enjoyed his day at the zoo with his family.

Did Danny know for sure why his Dad was against going to the beach? No, not at all. Danny could not for the life of himself figure out why his dad didn’t want to go to the beach.

Over the next few weeks, Danny could not get the beach out of his head. He dreamed about it almost every night. Any free moment he had was spent filling his room with pictures and drawings. He put them on the wall and looked at them as he fell asleep. Danny was sure that if he thought hard about the beach one day would get there.

Did Danny forget about the beach? No way. The beach was all that Danny could think about. He dreamed about the beach and made drawings of the beach to look at.... Did Danny think he would eventually be able to go to the beach? Yes, he did. Danny thought that if he thought really hard about the beach somehow it would happen. Maybe Danny understood the power of positive thoughts.

Danny repeatedly pleaded with his mom to help him convince his dad to take them. Each time she replied the same. “We can do other things as a family, just not the beach.” Then, Danny received what he thought was good news. His uncle Gerry was coming to visit. Uncle Gerry was a famous surfer. He was also bald and had tattoos on his arms. He drove a purple bus that had to be fixed all the time.

Was Danny able to talk his mom into changing his Dad’s mind about going to the beach? No.. Danny’s mom always said there were other things they could do as a family. What good news did Danny hear? His uncle Gerry was coming to visit. Danny must be thinking that since uncle Gerry was a famous surfer he might want to go to the beach with him.

When Danny heard his uncle was going to visit, at the first opportunity, he found his mom alone and asked if they could go to the beach together. His mom also said that she would talk to Danny’s dad John because he was planning to leave town on a business trip and maybe they could go together then.

Did Danny think his uncle Gerry might go to the beach with him? Yes, uncle Gerry is a famous surfer and he practically lives at the beach. Did Danny hatch a plan? Yes, he talked just to his mom about going to the beach. He was very determined.

Misa was surprised to hear the plan that her son had hatched up. “Let’s talk about it later” she replied and Danny skipped off happily thinking his plan might work. That day uncle Gerry arrived at the house and the family had a discussion about going to the beach. They asked Danny to go up to his room so they could talk as adults.

Did Danny’s uncle Gerry leave the country? No Uncle Gerry came to Danny’s house. He was driving a purple bus. Was Danny allowed to listen to the discussion the adults were having? No Danny’s parents asked Danny to go up to his room while they talked about the beach with uncle Gerry.

Danny sat in his room and stared at his pictures of the beach. It was nearly impossible to sit still. All he could think about was going to the beach someday. Riding there in uncle Gerry’s purple bus would be even better, he thought.

What did Danny do while his parents were talking to uncle Gerry in private?...... Yes, he sat on his bed and looked at beach pictures that he had drawn. Did Danny want to walk to the beach? No, he wanted to ride there in Gerry’s purple bus!

The next day Danny’s dad had to go out of town on a business trip. Danny was sad when his dad got into the taxi and drove away, knowing he would not see him for three whole days. As soon as the taxi turned the corner, Misa looked at Danny and said, “I have a surprise for you, we are taking a small trip too.”

Did Danny’s dad take a vacation to Spain? No, Danny's dad was going on a business trip. Danny wasn’t sure where he was going but it was for business not a vacation.

Uncle Gerry had slept in the purple bus that night and he was already waiting outside for Danny. Gerry said to Danny, “dude are you ready to go or what?” Danny wasn’t sure where they were going but if uncle Gerry was going and they were riding on the purple bus he was sure it would be fun.

Did uncle Gerry sleep in a hotel? No uncle Gerry stayed the night in his bus. Did Danny want to take a ride in the purple bus? Yes Yes, Danny really wanted to ride in the purple bus.

Danny was so excited as he hopped in the bus and saw their packed bags already there waiting for them.

“Mom, uncle Gerry where are we going?” Danny asked excitedly.

“It’s a surprise, you will see when we get there.”

Danny could not contain his excitement! They had never taken a surprise adventure like this before. And he had never been for a ride in Uncle Gerry’s bus. It was so cool. It had a bed to sleep in and curtains on the windows. Gerry played strange music really loud.

Over the next two hours, he kept his eyes peeled to the window soaking in every little thing he saw. Where are we going? He kept thinking to himself. Are we there yet? When will we get there? Is that building it? No? How much further? His mind was moving a mile a minute.

Uncle Gerry looked over his sunglasses at Danny and said, “Danny, Dude, take a look.”

As Danny pulled the curtain back and looked out of the side window of the bus , his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Was this a dream? He pinched his own arm. “Ow!” No, not a dream. Danny was speechless. “What do you think?” asked mom gleefully. “I think... I think... It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” He was at the Beach. At last.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story covers a number of common colloquialisms, street talk or just sayings that mean something quite different in direct translation.

Let’s review them first and then you can listen closely in the story for how they are applied in everyday zoo talk. As always please visit oyejustino.com to follow along with the transcripts and please send me an email to let me know what you think.

Let’s call it a day - Let’s stop,

I’m all ears - I’m listening close,

It’s a piece of cake - It’s easy,

It rings a bell - It sounds familiar,

Once in a lifetime - Rarely happens,

It’s not my cup of tea - It’s not, something I like,

I have butterflies in my stomach - I’m nervous or excited.

Also, before we start. Don’t forget to listen to the end of this podcast for a summary of our story in three different tenses: past, present and future. Enjoy!

Jules and Joe are famous ducks that live in the zoo. They are famous because the zoo made them t-shirts to wear and they take photos with the kids. Jules had a green shirt and Joe had a blue shirt. The shirts both said, “the cool duck is with me.” More on this later.

Why are Jules and Joe famous? Jules and Joe are famous because they are ducks that wear shirts at the zoo. Also, they take pictures with kids.

Twice each year Jules and Joe would fly long distances to be in a new place, but they didn’t understand why. Something just came over them. They flew all the way to Vancouver, Canada in the summer and then all the way back to Bogota, Colombia in the winter. Joe would say. “All this flying is a piece of cake, but I don’t know why we do it.” Jules would roll her eyes.

Did Jules and Joe know why they flew long distances each year to stay in a new place? No they didn’t know why, but Joe thought it was easy. What did Joe say that makes you think it was easy? He said it was a piece of cake. This means it was something easy for him to do.

Now Jules and Joe both live in the zoo in Albuquerque. They didn’t ask if they could live there. They just did. One day they were flying over and saw some water. Joe hollered while flying, “look water, I need a break, let’s call it a day.” They landed on a quiet pond with trees on the banks. It was inside a zoo.

Where do Jules and Joe live now? Do they live in Canada? No, they used to live in Canada, at least in the Summer. Now they live in the zoo in Albuquerque. How did they end up in Albuquerque? One day they were flying by and Joe said, “I need a break, let’s call it a day.” How do you know Joe wanted to stop flying? Because he said, “let's call it a day” which means he wanted to stop doing what he was doing. In this case he wanted to stop flying.

Jules and Joe were sitting on the pond in the middle of the zoo when they realized this was a strange place. It was way different than Canada and Colombia. Joe said, “I have an idea” and Jules replied, “I’m all ears Joe.”

Was the zoo a familiar place to Jules and Joe? No, they thought the zoo was a strange place. Was it the same as being in Canada or Colombia? No, Jules and Joe were new at the zoo and it was very different from Colombia or Canada. Did Joe have an idea? Yes, Joe had an idea. Did Jules want to hear Joe’s idea? Yes, very much because she replied, “I’m all ears Joe.” Which means she wants to hear what Joe has to say.

Joe’s idea was that rather than flying back and forth to Canada from Colombia each year, maybe they should just stay here in this place, which was about halfway. Jules thought hard about this idea and wondered why she thought this was a strange place and then, suddenly, she figured it out. Jules said, “The strange thing about this place is there are a lot of animals that make noise at night but they don’t seem to go anywhere. They always stay in the same place”. The wolves in Canada made a lot of noise but they always walked around. Jules whispered that “this place gives me butterflies in my stomach.”

Did the zoo have only a few animals that slept silently at night? No, the zoo had a lot of animals and they made noise at night and didn’t go anywhere. Are there wolves in Canada? Joe thought so. That’s what he liked to call them. But it was a once in a lifetime thing for a duck to see a wolf, which usually means it is something rare, but for a duck to see a wolf up close it literally meant it was once in a lifetime!

Joe had an aunt Kathy that told him, “when a girl tells you she has ‘butterflies in her stomach’ you should listen to her closely for a reason why.” Joe turned his head and looked Jules straight in the eye and asked “why do you have butterflies in your stomach?”

Did Joe have a cousin named Moe? No, Joe didn’t have a cousin named Moe. Joe had an aunt named Kathy and she gave him advice to listen to a woman who had butterflies in her stomach. What does it mean to have butterflies in your stomach? This means someone is nervous or excited about something.

Jules looked back at Joe and told him “I agree with you Joe, I think, I think this pond with all the strange noises might be a good place to live.” And she added, “I don’t think we should fly back and forth from Canada to Columbia anymore.” “We should make a life right here.” The animals surrounding the pond while strange gave her a feeling of safety and comfort.

In the distance the Lion let out a roar….. and the blackbirds cackled in the trees surrounding the pond…….

And now listen to the story summary told in present, past and future tenses. Are you ready? Listen closely.

In summary, present tense: Joe and Jules are ducks that wear shirts at the zoo and take pictures with the kids. Joe and Jules fly back and forth between Canada and Colombia. They spend the summer in Canada and the winter in Colombia. One day they are flying over the zoo in Albuquerque and decide to stop at a pond. The pond in the zoo is strange, but for some reason they both feel very comfortable. Joe proposes that they stay in this place and Jules is thinking the same thing. Jules and Joe live on the pond in the zoo in Albuquerque.

In summary, past tense: Joe and Jules were ducks that wore shirts at the zoo and took pictures with the kids. Joe and Jules flew back and forth between Canada and Colombia. They spent the summer in Canada and the winter in Colombia. One day they were flying over the zoo in Albuquerque and decided to stop at the pond. The pond was in the zoo and was strange, but for some reason they both felt very comfortable. Joe proposed that they stay in this place and Jules was thinking the same thing. Jules and Joe lived on the pond in the zoo in Albuquerque.

In summary, future tense: Joe and Jules will be ducks that will wear shirts at the zoo and will take pictures with the kids. Joe and Jules will fly back and forth between Canada and Colombia. They will spend the summer in Canada and the winter in Colombia. One day they will fly over the zoo in Albuquerque and decide to stop at the pond. The pond will be in the zoo and will be strange, but for some reason they will both feel very comfortable. Joe will propose that they stay in this place and Jules will be thinking the same thing. Jules and Joe will live on the pond in the zoo in Albuquerque.

I hope this rings a bell for you, meaning I hope this sounds familiar. If not, I suggest you listen to the story again and again. Eventually, you will train your ear to understand the differences.

Thank you once again for listening to our podcast. I hope you are learning something from these! We will see you in the next one, or I should say we will hear! you in the next one.

Bye!

Podcast 5 Cocinar Pollo En La Cocina o Cooking Chicken in the Kitchen

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story covers a number of common words to understand locations.

Let’s review them first and then you can listen closely in the story for how they are applied in everyday talk. As always please visit oyejustino.com to follow along with the transcripts. Following transcripts is a good way to listen and learn a new language. Also don’t forget to please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

The words to listen closely for in this podcast are

On - En

Upon - sobre, a, encima de

In - en, dentro de, adentro

At - en, a, de

Inside - dentro, interior, interno

Outside - fuera, afuera, fuera de

Above - encima, arriba

Below - abajo, debajo,

Under - bajo, debajo

Beneath - debajo, abajo

Underneath - debajo, por debajo

Near - cerca

Close to - cerca de

Across - a través de

Through - a través de, por, mediante

Also, before we start. Don’t forget to listen to the end of this podcast for a summary of our story in three different tenses: past, present and future.

Enjoy!

Doctor Dale worked at a big office with several other doctors and nurses. He is a dermatologist which means that he is a specialist in skin disorders. He is also a surgeon and makes a lot of money.

Doctor Dale was an anesthesiologist right? No, an anesthesiologist puts you to sleep before you get surgery. Doctor Dale is a dermatologist who knows about your skin. Does he work outside of an office? No Doctor Dale is a dermatologist and works inside of or in an office.

One day Dr Dale was drinking coffee in the employee cafeteria above the patient rooms. He was thinking that he has had a great career in medicine. He earned enough money to have a big house near the beach across the street from the best restaurants in town. He liked to eat out often at restaurants and some of the waiters and waitresses knew him by name. He was well known in town.

Dr Dale was drinking coffee in the employee cafeteria under the patient rooms, correct? No, Dr Dale was drinking coffee in the employee cafeteria above the patient rooms, above is kind of like being on top. For example, your hair is on top of your head and the roof is above your head. Kind of the same but a little different. Was Dr Dale’s big house far from the beach? No it was near the beach or it was to say it was by or close to the beach. Were the best restaurants in town across the street from Dr Dale’s house? Yes, and Dr Dale liked them so much the employees knew him by name.

Life was good, but Dr Dale had a problem. His problem was that he was bored and he wanted to use his creativity. He loved the people he worked with and his patients but something was calling him to do something different in his life. He wanted to cook gourmet foods and own a restaurant. Kind of like the restaurants across the street from his house.

Was life bad for Dr Dale? No life was good for Dr Dale, but he was bored and wanted to be more creative. Was something calling Dr Dale to do something different. Yes, he wanted to cook gourmet foods in a restaurant that he owned. Were there restaurants underneath or below the bridge near Dr Dale’s house? No, the restaurants were not below or beneath a bridge. The restaurants were across the street from his house.

Dr Dale went to the grocery store to buy some chicken to cook in his kitchen. He wanted to practice what he might cook in a restaurant. Dr Dale was an expert doctor but when he arrived at the store he wasn’t sure what he needed. If he bought chicken what was he supposed to do with it. He thought hard as he stared at the meat section, “I always go to nice restaurants to eat chicken. I have no idea what to do with this raw chicken. What do I season it with, how do I cook it, should I fry it in a pan, should I put it in the oven?” He realized he was going to need help. Instead of buying chicken to cook in the kitchen, Dr Dale bought a six pack of beer and some crackers and cheese. He went home to think.

Was Dr Dale at the hardware store to buy a hammer to fix the door to the kitchen? NO no, Dr Dale went to the grocery store to buy some chicken to cook in his kitchen. Did Dr Dale know how to cook chicken in his kitchen? No not really, when he arrived at the grocery store, he wasn’t sure what to buy or how to cook the chicken if he brought some home.

Chef Earl was the most famous chef in the whole world. He was head chef at the famous Noma Restaurant where it costs $600 for dinner for two... without wine. Chef Earl was the best in the world. He worked hard his whole life, had a beautiful wife and family, a big house, a nice car and all the money he needed. He could cook a lot of gourmet dishes, but his best recipe was for chicken and waffles. He made this for his family at home.

Did Chef Earl worked at a drive through pharmacy? No, Chef Earl did not work in a drive through pharmacy. Chef Earl was a famous chef and he worked in a famous restaurant. Was Chef Earl lazy? No Chef Earl was a hard worker. Was Chef Earl a poor man? No Chef Earl was rich because he had a beautiful wife and family, a big house, a nice car and all the money he needed. Was Chef Earl’s best recipe Spaghetti and meatballs? No Chef Earl could make many dishes, but the best was chicken and waffles.

Chef Earl was a smart man. Also, he was a rich man but in reality what he wanted most in his life now was time. He wanted more time in order to enjoy his life and travel. Chef Earl wanted to learn a new language and experience new cultures. He went to a website oyejustino.com to listen to podcasts in English and follow along with the transcripts. He thought it was a good way to learn a language because he could listen to a native English speaker and follow the transcripts. Then he could practice flash cards in his free time.

Was Chef Earl a dumb man? No, Chef Earl was a smart man and a rich one. What did Chef Earl want now in his life? Did Chef Earl want a new car? No, Chef Earl didn’t want a new car, he already had a car. What Chef Earl wanted now was time. He wanted time to travel, and learn a new language and culture. How did Chef Earl try to learn a new language? Did he study complex grammar from a text book? No, he thought that listening to a native speaker would be the best way. He listened to podcasts with a gringo speaking English. He also followed along with the transcript and practiced vocabulary at oyejustino.com.

Chef Earl knew Dr Dale from his days at the restaurant. The two of them would drink IPAs on the porch after the restaurant closed on Saturdays. Chef Earl had not seen Dr Dale in some time. When he got a phone call from him he was excited to talk to his friend. Dr Dale asked Chef Earl, “Earl my friend, I want to learn to cook, can you teach me?” Chef Earl was very happy. He thought for a moment and then told Dr Dale “of coarse my friend, I would love to teach you to cook.” “Why don’t you come to the restaurant tonight?” “I will teach you to cook in my kitchen and then you can take my place so I can travel more.” Dr Dale was very excited.

Both men thought this was going to be an excellent partnership.

Summary of the story in present tense.

Dr Dale and Chef Earl are two professional men that have achieved great success in their careers. Both men are smart and rich but want to do something different with their lives. Dr Dale is a dermatologist and he wants to learn to cook and own a restaurant someday. Chef Earl is a Chef and he wants to travel and learn a new language and experience new cultures. Dr Dale calls Chef Earl one day and they work out an agreement together. Both men enter into a partnership to achieve what each man wants.

Summary in the past tense.

Dr Dale and Chef Earl were two professional men that had achieved great success in their careers. Both men were smart and rich but they wanted to do something different in their lives. Dr Dale was a dermatologist and he wanted to learn to cook and own a restaurant. Chef Earl is a Chef and he wanted to travel and learn a new language and experience new cultures. Dr Dale called Chef Earl one day and they worked out an agreement together. Both men entered into a partnership that achieved what each man wanted.

Summary in Future Tense.

Dr Dale and Chef Earl will be two professional men that will achieve great success in their careers. Both men will be smart and rich but they will both want something different to happen in their lives. Dr Dale will be a dermatologist and he will want to learn to cook and own a restaurant. Chef Earl will be a Chef and he will want to travel and learn a new language and experience new cultures. Dr Dale will call Chef Earl one day and they will work out an agreement together. Both men will enter into a partnership that will achieve what each man wants.

Dear listener, Thank you for listening to the end of this story! I hope you have enjoyed and you can understand. If you can’t understand everything don’t worry! I suggest you listen to the story many times. Eventually, you will train your ear and your Enlglish will be one step better than before.

We will see you in the next one, or I should say we will hear you in the next one.

Goodbye!

Episode 6 El Cuarto De Anna

​By the end of her school day on Friday, Anna was bursting with nervous energy. It had felt like that day had dragged by twice as slow as a normal school day, and it had been torture. It hadn’t been slow just because it was a Friday. It had been slow because Anna had very important plans for after school. Anna had to have a very important conversation with her parents.

Anna lived in a house that had a main floor, and a basement. This kind of house can be called a “ranch” or “rambler” style house. She had lived in the house since she was seven, in a bedroom at the end of the hallway that had a beautiful bookshelf and a large window overlooking the backyard and the golf course that the house backed up to.

​She loved her house, and her bedroom, but she was twelve now and she wanted more space and freedom. Her younger brother, Adam, had the bedroom right next to her and he was loud and annoying. They shared a bathroom, and it was not her idea of a good time. Adam was messy, Anna was clean. She wanted her own space.

​It was after yet another night of picking up Adam’s clothes off the bathroom floor and being frustrated about it that Anna had an excellent idea – she could have a bedroom in the basement!

​The plan did have some issues – firstly, their basement was unfinished. There were walls and floors, but there was nothing else. No doors, and while there was a space for a bathroom to be, there was not a bathroom. So, the big issue would be convincing her parents to actually finish the basement.

She knew that her parents had been talking about doing this for a while but had never made any real plans.

​The second issue was that Adam would be jealous, but Anna wasn’t too worried about that. She was certain that Adam would be happy to not have to deal with her complaints about how he left the bathroom all the time.

​With those issues in mind, Anna had planned the conversation that she wanted to have with her parents.

Anna practiced on her friends at school, asking them to pretend to be her parents. Watching her friends pretend to be her mom and dad had been very funny, and had been good practice for her so she could present her argument in the best way possible. Her friends also thought she was crazy, because there was no way her parents would say yes, but Anna was very hopeful.

When she got off the bus, Anna bounded up the driveway and into her house. Luckily, Adam had soccer practice after school and it would be just her and her parents. It was the perfect opportunity to talk to them without him interrupting or complaining.

​Anna’s mom and dad were sitting at the kitchen table when she walked in, and they both smiled at her when she came through the front door. ​“Hi kiddo,” her dad greeted. “How was school?”

​“School was really slow,” Anna answered, pulling out a chair to sit with her parents at the table. “I was wondering if I could talk to you both for a minute?” Anna was already feeling nervous, but she tried to be as calm as she could be for her parents.

​“Sure,” her mom answered. “Is everything okay? Did something happen at school?”

​“Everything is totally good!” Anna reassured. “But I have an idea that I want to talk to you guys about. Can you listen and think about it before you answer?”

​“Of course,” both her parents said together. Anna smiled, and took a deep breath.

​“Okay,” she started. “I would like to move into the basement. I would like to do this because I think that it would be really nice if I had some more space, and if Adam and I didn’t have to share a bathroom anymore.” Anna’s parents nodded, well aware of the fights that happened due to the bathroom.

​“I don’t think that Adam would be jealous because he’d get his own space, too, and wouldn’t have to deal with me being a ‘neat freak.’” Anna used finger quotes as she quoted her brother – he said that about her all the time and it drove her insane!

​“I know the basement isn’t finished yet, but you guys have been talking about finishing it for a long time and I think it would be great for all of us! So can you please think about it? I just think it’d be really cool for everyone.” Anna let out a deep breath as she finished and looked at her parents expectantly.

​“Oh!” she added suddenly as she watched her parents exchange looks. “You definitely don’t have to answer now! But can you just think about it?”

​It was quiet for a moment before Anna’s mom laughed and put her head in her hands.

​“Are you psychic?” she asked, still chuckling. “We were actually going to talk to you and Adam about this this weekend. We are planning on finishing the basement and adding a bedroom and bathroom for you down there. We’re getting started next month!”

​“Wow!” Anna said, almost jumping up out of her chair. “Really? Why now?”

​Anna’s mom and dad looked at each other, and Anna’s dad gave a little shrug as if to say, ‘up to you!’ to Anna’s mom.

​“Well,” Anna’s mom said, smiling. “We’re actually going to need another room upstairs.”

​“What?” Anna asked, confused. “Why?”

​Both of her parents were quiet, but smiling. Then, Anna’s mom handed her a strip of shiny, thick paper. It took Anna a minute to realize what she was looking at, but when she did, her eyes welled up with tears and her heart started beating frantically in her chest with excitement.

​It was a strip of ultrasound pictures! “Your mom is pregnant!” her dad said. “Really?” Anna asked, smiling so wide that her cheeks hurt. She did not even realize she was crying with excitement.

​“Really really! You get a new bedroom, and a new sibling!” Her mom answered, standing up to walk around the table and hug Anna.

​Anna jumped up and met her mom halfway, hugging her tightly and squealing in excitement. Sometimes, things work out even better than you can hope for!

Now a review of the story in Present tense.

Anna wants her own room. She lives in a nice house and has her own room, but she shares a bathroom with her brother Adam. Adam is messy and Anna really wants her own space away from him. She knows just the location in the basement. However, she needs to convince her parents to do this for her. Anna practices what to say to her parents with her friends at school. They think she is crazy for asking but Anna is confident. Anna asks her parents about having a room in the basement and amazingly they are already planning this! Her parents also say they are having a new baby and need the extra room upstairs. Anna gets her own new room and a new sibling. Hooray!

Now the summary in Past tense:

Anna wanted her own room. She lived in a nice house and had her own room, but she shared a bathroom with her brother Adam. Adam was messy and Anna really wanted her own space away from him. She knew just the location in the basement. However, she needed to convince her parents to do this for her. Anna practiced what to say to her parents with her friends at school. They thought she was crazy for asking but Anna was confident. Anna asked her parents about having a room in the basement and amazingly they were already planning this! Her parents also said they are having a new baby and needed the extra room upstairs. Anna got her own new room and a new sibling. Hooray!

And lastly the summary in the Future tense:

Anna will want her own room. She will live in a nice house and will have her own room, but she will share a bathroom with her brother Adam. Adam will be messy and Anna will really want her own space away from him. She will know just the location in the basement. However, she will need to convince her parents to do this for her. Anna will practice what to say to her parents with her friends at school. They will think she is crazy for asking but Anna will be confident. Anna will ask her parents about having a room in the basement and amazingly they will already be planning this! Her parents will also say they will be having a new baby and will need the extra room upstairs. Anna will get her own new room and a new sibling. Hooray!

Episode 7 Indicando El Tiempo en el Desierto

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! Here’s a new story about the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and as always please visit oyejustino.com to follow along with the transcripts. Listening and following transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Also, don’t forget to listen to the end of this podcast for a summary of our story in three different tenses: past, present and future.

This podcast is covering some indication of time. Let’s go over them

A while back, a while ago, about time, after a while, ahead of time, all along, all day long.

​The air is hot, and the soil is dry and rocky. This is the Sonoran Desert, after all. It’s a large desert, spanning 100,000 square miles across parts of Mexico, southern California, and southern Arizona. This desert is home to hundreds of species of plants and animals, but, at the risk of sounding vain, I am the most famous plant of all.

I am a Saguaro cactus. Or, right now, I am the seed of a saguaro cactus. I am small, very small, and I am lucky because I have found the perfect place to take root and grow. I am under the shade and protection of an expanse of green-tinged branches, covered in blooming yellow flowers. It is a tree called a palo verde, famous for its green skin. I know that I will be safe here, kept covered and sheltered. Because I am safe, I begin to grow. But I grow very, very slowly.

​This happened a while ago, longer ago than you have been alive. Like I said, I am a very slow grower. A long time passes, but after a while (almost ten years!), I am a few inches tall, able to see just over the rocks and sand that I am growing in. From this angle, I am able to see all of the creepy crawlies that my home has to offer. There are tiny bugs and beetles that pick through the ground around me. Bark scorpions, too, with their whipping tails and sharp barb. They eat the little bugs running around on the ground.

​More time goes by, more hot days and surprisingly cool nights. As time passes, I get to enjoy where I have been planted. I watch what happens in the desert all day and all night. I watch people hike by me in their fancy, thick-soled hiking boots and backpacks filled with water. They stop to take photographs of the rock formations in the distance, of me, of the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert. I watch as storms in the distance grow and collapse, creating wind that whips the sand around me into giant, thick clouds that cover up the sun and make the air gritty and impossible to see through. These massive walls of dust are called haboobs, and sometimes they can be thousands of feet tall. They travel quickly across the desert and into the cities, blanketing the areas in dust.

It is not always dry and dusty, though. It does rain in the desert, believe it or not. It doesn’t rain very much, only up to fifteen inches of rain a year. In the winter months, there are times where a gentle rain is a pretty common occurrence. I like these times – my wide and shallow root system is great at catching this soft rain. In the summer months, the rain is a little less peaceful. Sometimes all of the rain comes down in harsh torrents that flood and rage through the sandy landscapes. These sudden downpours, called monsoons, bring with them beautiful and terrifying lightning storms that crack through the night sky.

After seventy years of slowly growing, I finally grow a beautiful flower on my spiky body. I am very tall now, too - over six feet tall. A very impressive height, but not even as tall as I could be some day! Not only am I tall, but I am also very heavy, full of accumulated water so I can thrive in the dry parts of the year. Like other plants that live in the desert around me, I don’t need much water to survive. What’s different about me is that I hoard water inside of my body. I absorb water from deeper in the ground, but I also get surface water from when it rains. There are a few animals that will occasionally nibble on my skin to get some water, but I don’t mind. This is the desert, after all. Not everything can be as good at living in it as I am. Besides, the jackrabbits that munch on me are quite cute.

​Other animals are not as interested in me as they are in my flowers. Birds and bats love to perch on the flowers and eat them. I let them, though, because without them eating the seeds from the flower and spreading them when they fly away, I would have never found my safe little home underneath the tree, and I wouldn’t be here. Bats especially are the greatest pollinator of the saguaro cactus. Other animals will use my fruit as a source of water, too.

​Of course, since I have started growing taller a lot of wildlife has taken notice of me and realized that I might be useful to them in other ways. A woodpecker has decided that my tall body is the perfect home, and has spent quite some time pecking a hole in me so it can live there. Having a big hole dug into me has been a little unpleasant, but I know that it will eventually heal and be used by many more birds over the years. I have seen some of the saguaros around me be home to woodpeckers, owls, finches, and sparrows.

I am old now, older than anyone that you know. Older than your parents, your grandparents, and your great-grandparents. I also got taller, almost thirteen feet tall. It’s awesome. Some of my arms reach out to the side, spanning the flat horizon. Some of my arms grow down towards the ground, towards the soil and rocks that my roots first clung to all those years ago. Some of my arms grow straight up, reaching towards the beautiful desert sky. That’s the perk of being over a hundred years old – I have arms, now! That means more places to grow flowers, and more opportunity for seeds to be spread.

​A long time ago, I was a tiny little seed that was lucky. I found the perfect home, under the protection of a beautiful tree. All of the conditions were right, and I grew tall, and wide. I grew arms. Flowers blossomed across me. I was a source of food and water, and sometimes even a home, for the beautiful wildlife around me. I was an icon, a representation of the state that I grew in. I was lucky enough to spend over one hundred years living in the dry, hot, beautiful Sonoran Desert. Hopefully, I will be lucky enough to live and grow here for a hundred years more.​

The story summarized in the present tense:

A saguaro is a large cactus of the Sonoran Desert. It takes a long time to grow and starts from a seed. The seeds of a saguaro and the young plants depend on many things in order for them to grow into a large cactus. The seed needs just the right chemistry and moisture in the soil in order to germinate. Once it grows into a small cactus the roots and body can’t hold enough water to survive. The Saguaro depends on nurse plants or plants that shade the baby saguaro until it is big enough to survive in the desert heat by itself. It takes 70 years for a Saguaro to produce its first flower and almost 100 years before it can grow an arm. A saguaro is not considered to be an adult cactus until it is 125 years old and can live to be nearly 200 years old.

A summary in the past tense

A saguaro was a large cactus of the Sonoran Desert. It took a long time to grow and started from a seed. The seeds of a saguaro and the young plants depended on many things in order for them to grow into a large cactus. The seed needed just the right chemistry and moisture in the soil in order to germinate. Once it grew into a small cactus the roots and body could not hold enough water to survive. The Saguaro depended on nurse plants or plants that shaded the baby saguaro until it was big enough to survive in the desert heat by itself. It took 70 years for a Saguaro to produce its first flower and almost 100 years before it could grow an arm. A saguaro was not considered to be an adult cactus until it was 125 years old and could live to be nearly 200 years old.

A summary of the story in the future tense:

A saguaro will be a large cactus of the Sonoran Desert. It will take a long time to grow and will start from a seed. The seeds of a saguaro and the young plants will depend on many things in order for them to grow into a large cactus. The seed will need just the right chemistry and moisture in the soil in order to germinate. Once it grows into a small cactus the roots and body will not be able to hold enough water to survive. The Saguaro will depend on nurse plants or plants that shade the baby saguaro until it is big enough to survive in the desert heat by itself. It will take 70 years for a Saguaro to produce its first flower and almost 100 years before it will grow an arm. A saguaro will not be considered an adult cactus until it is 125 years old and will be able to live to nearly 200 years old.

Dear listener, Thank you for listening to the end of this story!

Stories about the Sonoran desert are dear to my heart because this is where I grew up. It was a hot place but the plants and animals are unique and many are not found in any other place in the world. Saguaro cactus are very common and many people and animals depend on their existence. The summer monsoon is a seasonal summer rain that plants and animals depend on. Unfortunately the desert is changing due to invasive species and drought conditions. Like haboobs mentioned in our story. These are walls of soils blown by strong winds, usually before a monsoon storm. These were never common when I was younger. They are common now because of farm fields that are not being used and drought conditions in these and other desert areas. There is nothing holding the soil in place and the wind picks up the sand and blows it in large walls.

The other problem in the desert are invasive species. There are grasses in the desert such as buffelgrass that are prone to fire. Fire is a part of the life history of these invasive plants, but not in the desert. The desert did not evolve with fire and now there is fire because of the invasive plants. Unfortunately vast areas of desert are changing drastically and many desert cactus plants such as the iconic saguaro are threatened. There are still many natural areas free of these invasive species. I hope one day you are able to visit and see this. It is a wonderful place.

I hope you have enjoyed it and you can understand. If you can’t understand everything don’t worry! I suggest you listen to the story many times. Eventually, you will train your ear and your Enlglish will be one step better than before.

That’s it for now. We will see you in the next one, or I should say we will hear you in the next one!

Goodbye!

Episode 8 Happy Thanksgiving!

¿Perdona un pavo por qué?

Pardon a Turkey…. for What?

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when and where you are listening! Here’s a new story or maybe just information about Thanksgiving in the United States with a little of my own experience with my family on this day. Some of this in the beginning may be complicated, but don’t worry there is a lesson at the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and future. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find new language learning tools and a transcription for this podcast. Listening to a language and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Now here’s the information. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is sometimes called American Thanksgiving (outside the United States) to distinguish it from the Canadian holiday of the same name and related celebrations in other regions. It originated as a harvest festival, and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving celebrations remains Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner traditionally consists of foods and dishes indigenous to the Americas, namely turkey, potatoes (usually mashed), stuffing, squash, corn (maize), green beans, cranberries (typically in sauce form), and pumpkin pie. Other Thanksgiving customs include charitable organizations offering Thanksgiving dinner for the poor, attending religious services, watching parades, and viewing football games. In American culture Thanksgiving is regarded as the beginning of the fall–winter holiday season, which includes Christmas and the New Year.

The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings," these are days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as a military victory or the end of a drought. The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. This feast lasted three days, and—as recounted by attendee Edward Winslow—was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims.

Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, with a proclamation by President George Washington (the first US president) after a request by Congress. Later, President Thomas Jefferson chose not to observe the holiday, and its celebration was intermittent until President Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens", to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. On June 28, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Holidays Act that made Thanksgiving a yearly appointed federal holiday in Washington D.C. On January 6, 1885, an act by Congress made Thanksgiving, and other federal holidays, a paid holiday for all federal workers throughout the United States. Under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the date was moved to one week earlier, observed between 1939 and 1941 amid significant controversy. From 1942 onwards, Thanksgiving, by an act of Congress, signed into law by FDR, received a permanent observation date, the fourth Thursday in November, and no longer at the discretion of the President.

The holiday is a moment to give thanks and spend time with relatives and friends, and it is steeped in traditions. Holiday décor — with images of autumn leaves, cornucopias and turkeys decorating seasonal napkins, plates and centerpieces — brightens homes and dining tables. Extra chairs are hauled up from the basement to accommodate extended family. A sense of celebration and joy hangs in the air, as relatives who might not see each other often reunite for the day. They eat a plentiful meal, watch football and parades, and then eat even more. Thanksgiving is one of the nation's most widely celebrated secular holidays. Schools, banks, government offices and most businesses close for the day as people travel from near and far to be with their families.

As dinnertime approaches, families gather in cozy settings, often a dining room lit with candles and decorated in the season's colors of red, gold, orange and brown. Traditionally, the centerpiece of dinner is a roasted turkey. The turkey is usually served with sweet potatoes or yams and stuffing, which is a mixture of bread cubes, onions, celery and herbs that is stuffed into the turkey while it roasts. Foods that are common and have historical significance, like cranberries, are also popular. I do like cranberry sauce. Not the homemade kind, but the kind straight from the can.

Thanks to rich cultural diversity in the U.S., families may also serve dishes that represent their ethnic backgrounds, such as couscous, pasta or curries. Beer and wine are often served, and some people even create holiday-themed cocktails. A typical dish served in the US rather than turkey and trimmings is lasagna! I have heard from several of my friends that this is what they will be serving. After all, cooking a whole turkey is a lot of work!

Without a doubt, the highlight of Thanksgiving dinner is dessert. Fresh-baked pies are popular, and most meals end with slices of apple or pumpkin pie topped with whipped cream or ice cream. My favorite is pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Thanksgiving dinner is usually served like a late lunch in our family. Usually around 3:00 in the afternoon. We usually have breakfast in the morning and everyone is starving by the time turkey is served. Later that evening we usually choose a movie that everyone can watch together, and during this time the movie is usually paused in order to make turkey or ham sandwiches with the leftovers.

Sometimes families choose to gather and eat at a restaurant. Restaurants often create Thanksgiving Day menus. That way travelers and locals alike can partake in turkey and pie without the stress of cooking at home.

People Also Do More Than Eat

On Thanksgiving morning, many people wake up early to run in local races (often for charity) called turkey trots. Other folks watch a Thanksgiving parade in person or on television. The largest and most iconic parade is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. I like to go outside for a hike with my family on Thanksgiving rather than watching TV. I always feel like I need to earn the calories for the day through exercise.

Football on Thanksgiving is as much a part of the holiday as the meal. Many families spend hours watching NFL (National Football League), college and even high school football games in person or on television. My family usually goes to the house of my wife’s parents. My mother in law does not like the sound of a football game in the background so the TV is usually off and she plays classical holiday music. This is fine, but after dinner there is usually always a TV on in the back bedroom with the game with the guys sitting around it. The girls come in as well and make comments about the pants the players wear.

The President Pardons a Turkey

Thanksgiving is a grim time for turkeys in the United States. One of the country's interesting traditions is having the president of the United States pardon a turkey. The lucky bird's life is spared and it spends its final years at Mount Vernon, Virginia, the former estate of the nation’s first president, George Washington. Stay tuned for more on this strange American custom in the next podcast.

People Go Shopping

Not all and especially not me, but for many in the U.S., the day after Thanksgiving is celebrated as a different type of holiday, known as Black Friday. Stores across the nation have extended hours and offer discounts and special promotions. People join a holiday-shopping frenzy. Black Friday sales have become so notorious, many stores open for business much earlier than usual. Some businesses don't even wait until Friday for the sales to begin. They open their doors on Thanksgiving evening. Intrepid shoppers have been known to line up hours before shops open, eager to take advantage of steep discounts. In my humble opinion, going shopping after Thanksgiving has become far too overdone. I feel bad for the workers that have to go to work on a holiday. I prefer to go for a hike or bike ride rather than go to a crowded strip mall store. But hey, we do have a TV in our house that was purchased at a steep discount on Black Friday! So I can’t complain.

One thing is certain

Millions of people across the country travel to visit their families on Thanksgiving. The day before, Thanksgiving Day and the day after are among the most widely traveled days of the year in the United States. Travel delays on airplanes and trains are common, and traffic on roads is often heavy. We always try to arrive early and leave late to avoid traffic.

And now for a bit of practice recalling the story in the past, present and future tenses. These might sound a bit silly but it is only for practice. Listen closely to the changes. ARE YOU READY?

The story summarized in the present tense:

Thanksgiving is a federal holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The holiday is a moment to give thanks and spend time with relatives and friends, and it has many traditions. Some of these traditions are common throughout the US, but we’re a diverse country and all families have their own special things they like to do. Most commonly people eat a big meal, watch football and parades, eat even more and then go shopping. But not everyone, some people on Thanksgiving morning wake up early to run in local races, others go for a hike in the mountains or a walk in the park. One thing is most certain though and it is that people across the country travel to visit their families and friends on Thanksgiving.

The story summarized in the past tense.

Thanksgiving was a federal holiday in the United States, it was celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The holiday was a moment to give thanks and spend time with relatives and friends, and it had many traditions. Some of these traditions were common throughout the US, but we were a diverse country and all families had their own special things they liked to do. Most commonly people ate a big meal, watched football and parades, ate even more and then went shopping. But not everyone, some people on Thanksgiving morning woke up early to run in local races, others went for a hike in the mountains or a walk in the park. One thing is most certain though and it is that people across the country traveled to visit their families and friends on Thanksgiving.

The story summarized in the future tense:

Thanksgiving will be a federal holiday in the United States, and it will be celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. The holiday will be a moment to give thanks and spend time with relatives and friends, and it will have many traditions. Some of these traditions will be common throughout the US, but we will be a diverse country and all families will have their own special things they will like to do. Most commonly people will eat a big meal, watch football and parades, eat even more and will then go shopping. But not everyone, some people on Thanksgiving morning will wake up early to run in local races, others will go for a hike in the mountains or a walk in the park. One thing will be most certain though and it will be that people across the country will travel to visit their families and friends on Thanksgiving.

And that’s it for the story for today. I do want to talk more about this turkey that was pardoned. So, check back later this week for a new story about the turkey.

Do you celebrate Thanksgiving where you live? Do you have any experiences with a similar holiday that you celebrate in your country? Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find more information and learning materials.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Episode 9 Perdón por un pavo, pero ¿por qué?

Wait…..what did I do wrong?

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! and Happy Thanksgiving! - depending on when and where you are listening! Here’s a new story about the pardoned turkey that I mentioned in the last podcast. It’s a bit silly but it's a fun tradition in the US so I thought it deserved some explanation. I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Also stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and future. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

And now to our Turkey story. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving in the United States is a trying time for us turkeys. As most people know, we are the main event at every Thanksgiving table. Sure, there’s other foods that everyone loves, but nothing is more iconic than a large, juicy turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. You can imagine how, as a turkey, that is a little alarming.

There is, however, something we turkeys look forward to this time of the year. Every year the President of the United States picks a turkey or two to pardon ahead of Thanksgiving. The President doesn’t pick any old turkey, though. No, the turkeys that get chosen are special. This year, the President pardoned two turkeys. I am Peanut Butter, and my pal Jelly and I were this year’s lucky turkeys.

I know what you’re thinking – pardoning a turkey? Why? It does seem a little silly to pardon us, because what did we do wrong? I can assure you that I have done absolutely nothing! I am a law-abiding, well-behaved turkey. If anything, we are actually the victims here. But it’s not really a formal pardon.

Apparently, the tradition of pardoning us started as a joke. Turkeys have always been donated to the White House for Thanksgiving, usually by local poultry growers. Past Presidents would occasionally enjoy the turkeys as part of dinner, or send them off somewhere else. However, in 1987, President Ronald Reagan used the joke of “pardoning” one of us turkeys as a way to avoid having to answer questions about pardoning someone else! See, we didn’t do anything wrong. We were a scapegoat! Or, scape-turkey I guess.

Anyways, the turkey pardoning joke really took hold during the presidency of George W. Bush, and has been a funny staple of the White House Thanksgiving ever since. The previously pardoned birds have gotten to live out the remainders of their lives in luxury in a couple different places. For a while, the birds were sent to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington! They have also been sent to various petting zoos and other animal sanctuaries. In recent years, us special turkeys have been sent to different universities to be raised by poultry science programs. Jelly and I are bound for Purdue University, and we’re very excited.

But before we can go to Purdue University to continue our lives as celebrities living in luxury, we have to be pardoned. It only makes sense that I explain to you how Jelly and I ended up in the Rose Garden at the White House.

I was born and raised on a turkey farm in Jasper, Indiana. Jasper is a small town, with only 15,000 people living there. One of those people is Andrea Welp, the turkey farmer who raised me and Jelly.

I had a pretty normal life before I was part of the group of turkeys to be potentially pardoned. Once it became clear that I was going to be an exceptional bird, my life got a lot more interesting. A group of us special birds, somewhere between fifty and eighty turkeys, were selected to be acclimated to a life of fame. We spent days listening to music to get used to lots of noise, socializing with humans to get used to people, and having our pictures taken to get used to photographers. All the while we were fed very well so we got nice and big.

Finally, our big group was narrowed down to just ten or twenty of us excellent turkeys. From there, the group had to be narrowed down even more. I was convinced I wouldn’t get chosen, but I was lucky! The final two were me and Jelly. Of course, we didn’t have names at this point. Our names were chosen by staff from the White House based off the suggestions of school children from Indiana. They decided our names would be Peanut Butter and Jelly! We were chosen because of our fabulous looks, and our excellent temperament. Not to sound too full of myself, but I think they made the right choice.

In the days before the pardoning, we were transported from Indiana to Washington, D.C. The night before the big day, Jelly and I got to stay at a fancy hotel right next to the White House called the Willard InterContinental. We were met by a red carpet. It was the fanciest room I have ever been in in my entire life. Jelly and I were really living like we were royalty.

The morning of the event, we were transported to the White House, and brought into the Rose Garden. This is where the ceremony would be held. We stood off to the side while President Joe Biden came up to his podium and greeted everyone. During his speech, President Biden talked about the history of turkeys and the White House. President Biden even talked to us directly, and I made sure we answered with our loudest, happiest gobbles. He said he loved when we talked to him. Then, the best part of the whole thing happened. President Biden walked over to us, and we were lifted up onto the table to be pardoned.

“By the power vested in me as President of the United States, I pardon you,” President Biden said to me. “I pardon you this Thanksgiving.” Then President Biden was quiet for a second before he looked at me and said: “Go ahead, say something.”

I gave my loudest gobble yet, and the crowd laughed and clapped. Even though I didn’t do anything wrong and neither did Jelly, being pardoned by the President of the United States was the highlight of my life.

Now I am back where it all started, my home state of Indiana. For a simple bird, I’ve had a pretty cool life. How many birds can say they’ve been pardoned by the President of the United States? I mean, besides the previous presidentially pardoned turkeys I guess. They all went on to lead quiet lives at the places they were sent to after their pardon, so that’s what I’ll do now. I’ll live at Purdue University where I can be visited by all the students and where I can be taken care of until the end of my time.

A summary of the story in the present tense:

Each year the President of the United States pardons a turkey. A pardon from a President is given to criminals that are in jail. It sets them free without any record of any wrongdoing. When the President pardons a Turkey it basically means the Turkey is not going to be made into a Thanksgiving dinner. The Turkey goes free at the farm and the news media make a big deal of the event.

A summary of the story in the past tense:

Each year the President of the United States pardoned a turkey. A pardon from a President was given to criminals that were in jail. It set them free without any record of any wrongdoing. When the President pardoned a Turkey it basically meant that the Turkey was not going to be made into a Thanksgiving dinner. The Turkey went free at the farm and the news media made a big deal of the event.

A summary of the story in the future tense:

Each year the President of the United States will pardon a turkey. A pardon from a President will be given to criminals that will be in jail. It will set them free without any record of any wrongdoing. When the President pardons a Turkey it will basically means the Turkey wiil not be going to be made into a Thanksgiving dinner. The Turkey will go free at the farm and the news media will make a big deal of the event.

And that’s it for the story for today. I hope you enjoyed hearing more about why turkeys are pardoned in the US. What do you think of this odd tradition? Do you have any odd traditions in your country for holidays? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talke about it in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts of this podcast. And again,

Happy Thanksgiving !

Buh Bye for now.

We don't have a transcript for this podcast yet, but check back for updates often!

Aún no tenemos una transcripción de este podcast, ¡pero revise las actualizaciones con frecuencia!

We don't have a transcript for this podcast yet, but check back for updates often!

Aún no tenemos una transcripción de este podcast, ¡pero revise las actualizaciones con frecuencia!

Episode 12 Más Coloquialismos

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story covers a number of common colloquialisms, street talk or just sayings that mean something quite different in direct translation.

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Also stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and future. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Let’s review them first and then you can listen closely in the story for how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, these are highlighted in the transcripts.

Cut somebody some slack - Don’t be so critical

Better late than never - Better to arrive late than not at all

Get my act together - Work better or leave

Don’t sweat it - An urge to not worry about something

Easy does it - Slow down

Bite the bullet - To get something over with because it is inevitable

Blessing in disguise - A good thing that seemed bad

And now to the story. Listen closely for these sayings. Are you ready? Enjoy!

“Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Jocelyn muttered to herself, craning her neck to look around the side of the car in front of her. It was at a standstill, and so was the car in front of it, and so were all the cars around her. Jocelyn was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal. But Jocelyn was on her way to Arizona State University, the Tempe campus, to take her last college final. It was her last semester before graduation, and it was her last final of the year, and now it was looking like she was going to be late for it.

The final was for Jocelyn’s Chicano literature class. Jocelyn had taken the class to fulfill her literature requirement for her degree, and had found that she really enjoyed it. She had learned that “Chicano” referred to people with Mexican-American ancestry that live in the southwest United States, including in her state of Arizona. The history of the Chicano movement and Chicano literature in the southwest had fascinated her. The class had focused heavily on the theme of continuing to embrace the stories and traditions of Mexican culture.

It had been the first time that Jocelyn had read anything written by Chicano or Mexican-American authors, and she had found their stories of heritage and culture deep and fascinating. Their love of their history and roots had resonated deeply with her. They had read a few books that focused on the history of Chicano literature, and also read some autobiographical writing by Chicano authors that focused on their lives growing up in the southwest. Even though reading wasn’t really Jocelyn’s thing, she had really enjoyed it.

Her professor had told them that the final would consist of multiple-choice questions that focused on the history of Chicano literature and identifying common themes in Chicano literature, and one essay question to answer that they could pick any of their semester’s reading assignments to use to respond. Jocelyn knew that being late to a final exam meant that she wouldn’t be able to take it, and without taking it she would be unable to pass the class. She hoped that, if she was late, her professor would cut her some slack and let her take the exam anyways. She drummed her hands on the wheel nervously.

Finally, traffic started moving again and Jocelyn started the slow process of merging over to get to her exit. She would be cutting it very, very close and she knew it. By the time she made it to the parking lot on campus, she had two minutes until the start of the exam. Jocelyn grabbed her phone and her backpack, got out of her car, locked it, and started running.

Luckily, the building her exam would be in was just across the road and down one of the many shady paths that crisscrossed Arizona State University’s campus. Jocelyn skidded to a stop outside the building, out of breath, and then dashed in to get to her classroom.

She arrived just as the professor was about to shut the door.

“Wait!” she gasped out, bursting into the classroom at the last moment. She was gasping to catch her breath, her hair had fallen out of her ponytail, and her face was bright red with exertion and embarrassment.

“Better late than never,” her professor commented with a small smile. “Go ahead and take a seat, Jocelyn. I can see you rushed to get here.”

Jocelyn nodded gratefully and collapsed into the first open seat. It wasn’t where she normally liked to sit, but it would be fine. She pulled her water bottle out of her bag and took a long drink, then fumbled around to find a pen. To her dismay, the pocket where she normally kept her pens was empty. She fished through her backpack, shoving aside crumpled papers, notebooks, and highlighters, trying desperately to find a pen.

“Hey,” the person sitting to her left said. Jocelyn looked up and saw that it was a man named Mark, and that he was holding out a pen for her. “Need one?”

“Oh my god, thank you,” she muttered, taking the pen from him gratefully. “I really need to get my act together today.”

Mark chuckled. “We all have days like that,” he reassured her. “And it’s almost the end of the semester.”

“And not a moment too soon,” Jocelyn answered as she set her bag aside. She looked up and the professor was starting to hand out exams. “I’ll give your pen back after class,” she said.

“Don’t sweat it,” Mark answered.

Jocelyn took a deep breath and looked down at her exam. All of the questions on the first page looked like complete gibberish to her frazzled brain. Between being late, being anxious about the test, and forgetting a pen, Jocelyn felt like her head was going to explode. None of the questions even made sense. Had they even learned about these themes? She didn’t even recognize some of the words!

Easy does it, she thought to herself, taking a long, deep breath. This might not be your thing, but you enjoyed the class and you did the readings. So you just have to do it. Bite the bullet and get it over with. Last final. You got this.

After her internal pep talk, Jocelyn dove in. She read each question carefully and thoroughly, and took time to think back to the lessons and the readings, and to think back to the notes she had carefully taken and studied. She had gotten good grades on her short responses. She had participated in the class discussions. She knew this stuff, she’s got this.

With her newfound confidence, she worked calmly through the class period to finish the exam. She was just double checking her answers one last time when the professor stood and announced that the exam time was over and it was time to hand everything in.

Jocelyn didn’t realize until after she had handed the exam in and she was out of the classroom that she still had Mark’s pen. She looked around the crowd of her classmates that were milling outside, talking about the exam, and spotted him just starting to walk away.

“Hey! Mark!” she called, walking quickly to catch up to him. He looked up at her from his phone and she held his pen up in the air.

“Ah!” he said, laughing. “My pen. Thanks!” He took the pen back from her and tucked it into his backpack. “So, what did you think of the exam?”

“I feel good about it,” Jocelyn answered honestly. “What about you?”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I think I did okay. Hey, do you have plans right now? Do you want to grab coffee?”

“Oh. Yeah, definitely!” Jocelyn answered, surprised. She blushed a little and started to walk with Mark to the coffee shop down the way. As they walked and talked, Jocelyn realized how nice Mark was. Maybe being late and forgetting her pen had been a blessing in disguise.

And now the story in the present tense:

Jocelyn is a student at Arizona State University and she is stuck in traffic on the day she takes her last college final exam. She arrives late but the professor allows her in the class to take the test. When she sits down she is looking for her pen to write and a fellow student sitting next to her loans her one of his pens. When she starts the exam she is full of nerves and nothing makes sense. She calms herself and it builds up her confidence before starting the exam. When the exam is done she ends up going for coffee with her new friend.

And now the story in the past tense:

Jocelyn was a student at Arizona State University and she was stuck in traffic on the day she took her last college final exam. She arrived late but the professor allowed her in the class to take the test. When she sat down she was looking for her pen to write and a fellow student sitting next to her lent her one of his pens. When she started the exam she was full of nerves and nothing made sense. She calmed herself and it built up her confidence before starting the exam. When the exam was done she ended up going for coffee with her new friend.

And now the story in the future tense:

Jocelyn will be a student at Arizona State University and she will be stuck in traffic on the day she will take her last college final exam. She will arrive late but the professor will allow her in the class to take the test. She will sit down and she will be looking for her pen to write and a fellow student sitting next to her will loan her one of his pens. She will start the exam and she will be full of nerves and nothing will make sense. She will calm herself and it will build up her confidence before starting the exam. The exam will be done and she will end up going for coffee with her new friend.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so. Listen next week as I am going to introduce another tense, the conditional tense.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.

Episode 13 Las Noticias En Inglés…. Lentamente

A Pope, a Chinese Moon Rover, and maybe a new cure?

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! and Happy Monday! - depending on when and where you are listening! It’s been slow news day again but what better way to improve your English than to hopefully listen to three interesting stories. Today’s news is brought to you from around the world. Today we’re going to talk about three things. The First is about Pope Francis. One of my favorite human beings. I’m not a catholic, but Pope Francis always seems to have good things to say. The headline today is

Pope Francis warns young people not to be tempted by consumerist ‘sirens’

The next interesting story headline is:

Chinese Rover to Investigate ‘Mysterious Hut’ Spotted on Far Side of Moon

And lastly

Taking Viagra cuts the risk of Alzheimer’s by up to 69 percent

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Check for transcriptions posted for the podcast today and as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find this podcast and transcriptions to many of the other weekly stories. Listening to and following along with transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of the news today. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the news. Enjoy!

Pope Francis ended his visit to Greece Monday by encouraging its young people to follow their dreams and not be tempted by the consumerist “sirens” of today that promise easy pleasures.

Francis briefly struggled to keep his balance on the steps while boarding the plane bound for Rome when caught by a gust of wind and was helped on board by an aide.

Earlier, Francis met with students at a Catholic school in Athens in his final event of a five-day visit to Cyprus and Greece that has been dominated by his concern for the plight of migrants seeking entry in Europe.

He echoed a common theme he has raised with young people, encouraging them to stay fast in their faith, even amid doubts, and resist the temptation to pursue materialist goals. He cited Homer’s Odyssey and the temptation posed by the sirens who “by their songs enchanted sailors and made them crash against the rocks.”

“Today’s sirens want to charm you with seductive and insistent messages that focus on easy gains, the false needs of consumerism, the cult of physical wellness, of entertainment at all costs,” he said. “All these are like fireworks: they flare up for a moment, but then turn to smoke in the air.”

Two immigrant students were among those who greeted the pope, including an 18-year-old Syrian refugee, who told the pope of his family’s escape from Aleppo in 2014 after a bomb exploded on their home. They finally arrived in Greece after a perilous boat crossing from Turkey.

“It was hard being on a rock without water or food, waiting for dawn and a coast guard ship to come save us,” He said.

Francis listened to his story, “a true modern-day odyssey,” and expressed gratitude that he and his family had made it safely and after “so many refusals and a thousand difficulties, you landed in this country.” But he suggested it also showed a sense of adventure and people following their dreams.

“The meaning of life is not found by staying on the beach waiting for the wind to bring something new. Salvation lies in the open sea, in setting sail, in the quest, in the pursuit of dreams, real dreams, those we pursue with eyes open, those that involve effort, struggles, headwinds, sudden storms,” he said. “So don’t be paralyzed by fear: dream big! And dream together!”

Francis is returning to the Vatican with some important pre-Christmas events on his agenda: a scheduled meeting with the members of a French commission that investigated sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church; a scheduled meeting with Canadian indigenous peoples seeking a papal apology for abuses at Catholic-run residential schools; and Francis’ own 85th birthday on Dec. 17.

Chinese Rover to Investigate ‘Mysterious Hut’ Spotted on Far Side of Moon

It’s probably a displaced boulder, but the Yutu 2 rover will now investigate this “obtrusive cube” from up-close to make sure

An intriguing object that appears cube-shaped has attracted the attention of scientists working on China’s Chang’e 4 mission on the far side of the Moon.

Juxtaposed against the blackness of space, the object sticks up from the horizon like a sore thumb. It’s practically begging the Yutu 2 rover to come on over and say hi—and mission controllers with the Chang’e 4 mission seem willing to oblige, according to Our Space, a Chinese language science outreach channel affiliated with China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The “mysterious hut,” as Our Space describes it, was spotted in Von Kármán crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin. This spot on the far side of the Moon is where Yutu 2 has been working since the mission landed there on January 3, 2019.

Mission controllers commanded the six-wheeled vehicle to scan the surrounding skyline when “an obtrusive cube on the northern skyline attracted their attention,” as Our Space writes (as translated by Google). “Was it a home built by aliens after a crash landing? Or is it the pioneer spacecraft of predecessors to explore the Moon?,” the post continues. They’re probably joking—or at least, I hope they’re joking—but Andrew Jones, a correspondent with SpaceNews who covers China’s space program, offered a more restrained take, tweeting that “it’s not an obelisk or aliens, but certainly something to check out,” adding that large boulders “are sometimes excavated by impacts.”

The true shape of this object is hard to discern, and its oddly geometric proportions could be the result of pixelation—a visual artifact seen in low-resolution images. (Visual artifacts are always a cause to consider when something particularly surprising shows up in space imagery, like this beam of light spotted on Mars in 2014.)

This isn’t the first weird thing to be spotted during the Chang’e 4 mission that turned out to be nothing. And by nothing, I mean rocks. Back in September 2019, Yutu 2 encountered a green and glistening gel-like substance—not the kind of thing you’d expect a rover to find on the Moon—that turned out to be impact melt breccia—rock fragments cemented together as the result of extreme heat. More recently, the rover spotted unusual shards sticking out from the surface that turned out to be rocks tossed out from an impact. So the odds of the mystery hut being a rock or boulder are spectacularly good.

Still, it would be smart to investigate this object further just to make sure, and that’s apparently what’s going to happen. Our Space says the object is located 260 feet (80 meters) from the rover’s current location and that it’ll take Yutu 2 around two to three months to reach it.

The Chang’e 4 mission has already resulted in some cool new science, such as the discovery of mantle material on the Moon’s far side, and this latest distraction is a fun bonus. We look forward to seeing this apparent boulder in more detail, but in the meantime we can all secretly hope that Yutu 2 will stumble upon something far more exotic, like an alien probe or the remnants of an interstellar spaceship.

Taking Viagra cuts the risk of Alzheimer’s by up to 69 percent

Taking Viagra slashes Alzheimer’s risk by two-thirds, research suggests.

Scientists claim the love drug may help boost brain health and cut levels of toxic proteins that trigger dementia.

Experts analyzed data on 7.2 million adults and found regular users had a 69 percent lower chance of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s over the next six years.

Medics say the findings, published in the journal Nature Aging, suggest the little blue pill could soon be prescribed to tackle dementia.

They are planning a fresh study to test the benefits of the generic version of Viagra — in early Alzheimer’s patients.

A team from a Cleveland Clinic looked at whether any of 1,600 approved drugs could be repurposed to tackle the underlying causes of the disease.

Lead researcher Dr. Cheng, from Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute, said: “The generic which has been shown to significantly improve cognition and memory in preclinical models, presented as the best drug candidate.

And that’s the news for today. I hope you enjoyed hearing these stories. What do you think of these news stories? Do you have any comments about the news? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

Happy Monday !

Buh Bye for now.

A German and a Dutchman lost their gold. What? Where?

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story covers a little history that can be told about the Superstition Mountains in central Arizona. These mountains can be seen to the north if you drive out highway 60 on your way to Globe. Or, if you are adventurous you can drive right through them on highway 88. As you leave Apache junction you gain elevation and pass right by the beautiful Canyon Lake. You then climb high in the desert mountains and drive on a dirt road for several miles before you eventually see water in the desert again when you reach Apache Lake. If you ever visit Arizona this little day long adventure is well worth your time. And maybe, just maybe you can find the lost Dutchman’s gold….

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Don’t forget to stay until the end to listen to the summary in the present and past tenses. Also, today there is a new tense, the conditional tense for you to improve your listening skills. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

And now our story, enjoy!

The state of Arizona is renowned for its beautiful landscape. No matter which direction you look, there are mountains all around. Each year, residents and tourists alike flock to the state parks and hiking trailheads to experience the terrain up close. Each mountainous region boasts state and local parks for sightseeing, hiking, and camping.

The Superstition Mountains are a large mountain range spanning over 150,000 acres through Maricopa, Pinal, and Gila counties. The Superstition Mountains are one of the largest, prominent, and recognizable ranges in Arizona. The range is home to many canyons and rock formations, such as the Weaver’s Needle, a famous column of rock that rises a thousand feet into the air and is visible for miles.

There are also hundreds of miles of trails that crisscross Superstition Mountains. These trails vary in difficulty, length, and elevation. Some of the trails even feature petroglyphs, though they were mistakenly named hieroglyphs by European settlers who confused them for Egyptian hieroglyphs. The petroglyphs were etched into the rock by the Hohokam People, who lived in the area from 500 – 1450 AD. Petroglyphs and Hieroglyphs are drawings on rock or in caves by humans on earth hundreds of years ago.

Despite the beautiful views and the renowned hiking and camping locations, what the Superstition Mountains are perhaps most famous for is the legend of the Lost Dutchman’s Goldmine. The origin of the legend is a little fuzzy, but the most popular version goes like this:

In the 1840s, an affluent family from Northern Mexico developed extensive and highly-profitable gold mines in the Superstition Mountains. This family, the Peralta family, mined gold from the Superstition Mountains for years. At the end of the decade, the Peralta family was finishing up their extensive mining. During their last expedition to bring the gold back to Mexico in 1848, the Peralta family was ambushed by Apaches. All members of the expedition were killed except for two. The two surviving members of the party escaped to Mexico, and were the only two people alive that knew the location of the Peralta mine.

Years later, a German man named Jacob Waltz and his friend, Jacob Weiser, were rumored to have located the mine with the help of one of the survivors of the expedition. Jacob, or “The Dutchman” as he is known today, and his companion located the mine but were attacked by Apaches, similar to what happened to the Peralta family. Jacob Weiser died, but Jacob Waltz managed to escape and supposedly hid stashes of gold in the Superstitions. Many of these stories allege that the gold is hidden on or around Weaver’s Needle.

In 1891, Jacob Waltz died. Prior to his death, he told the location of the mine and the stashes of gold to the woman who had taken care of him in his poor health. He drew a simple map to the location of the mine, and then he passed away. This map, and dozens of other maps that are rumored to exist, have never been located. However, this hasn’t stopped scores of would-be treasure hunters from trying out their luck at finding the lost gold.

Every year, many people head out to the Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, Arizona to take to the trails in an attempt to locate the mine or any gold. These people range from inexperienced tourists and avid hikers to bona fide treasure hunters with crews and gear to help them. These attempts to scour the vast, rocky, and dangerous mountains are discouraged by State Park rangers and Arizona natives alike.

The Superstition Springs Mountains are very dangerous to traverse if you are not an experienced hiker, if you are alone, or if you are unfamiliar with the territory. Many amateur hikers and treasure hunters take off wearing the wrong shoes, the wrong clothes, and carrying the wrong gear. They fail to bring enough water. There is no cell service in the mountains, and sometimes even compasses fail due to the magnetic rock in the mountains. As a result of these hazards, some people go missing and are never found.

All of the failed attempts to find the Lost Dutchman’s Goldmine and his hidden gold have made the legend grow year after year, but what really is the truth?

While there is no way of knowing for sure, there are a few things that historians are certain about. To start with, it’s unlikely the Peralta family had a mine in Arizona. There was a Peralta family that operated a mine in the 1860s, but their mine was located in California. This mine was successful for years, until it folded and the family was bankrupted due to fraud.

Jacob Waltz was a real person, and he did emigrate from Germany to Arizona, where he lived until his death in 1891. During his lifetime, he attempted to mine and prospect but had very little luck. He owned and farmed a small plot of land near Phoenix, which was destroyed by a flood in the year that Waltz died. It is likely that Jacob Waltz told the woman caring for him that he knew the location of a mine, and also likely that he drew her the map, but what is more likely that Waltz really knowing the location of the mine is that he either lied, or was delirious from pneumonia. Waltz is buried in Pioneer and Military Cemetery in Phoenix.

While it is known for certain that Jacob Waltz existed, it’s unlikely that there was ever a man named Jacob Weiser that accompanied him. It’s likely that Jacob Weiser’s role was added as the story evolved to make it more dramatic.

So, what do you think? Do you think that there is a mysterious lost mine in the Superstition Mountains? Do you think that The Dutchman hid small hordes of his gold around Weaver’s Needle and other parts of the Superstition Mountains? Do you believe that Jacob Waltz was The Lost Dutchman? Or do you believe that the story is a long, exaggerated, confused story based on old rumors and myths?

No matter what you believe, there is no doubt that the Superstition Mountain holds secrets that we may never know.

And now for the story in present and past tense.

The Superstition Mountains are a large desert mountain range just outside the city of Phoenix. The mountains are famous for hiking and outdoor activities. More than a hundred years ago an affluent family from Northern Mexico moved here and had an extensive and highly-profitable gold mine in the Superstition Mountains. They would bring gold back to Mexico and one day on their way they were all killed in an ambush by the local native Apache indians. Several years passed and a German and a Dutchman found the mine and some gold but they were attacked and killed also. But before the Dutchman died he hid gold in the mountains. Today people are still looking for the hidden gold.

The story in the conditional tense.

The Superstition Mountains would be a large desert mountain range just outside the city of Phoenix. The mountains would be famous for hiking and outdoor activities. More than a hundred years ago an affluent family from Northern Mexico would have moved here and would have had an extensive and highly-profitable gold mine in the Superstition Mountains. They would bring gold back to Mexico and one day on their way they would all be killed in an ambush by the local native Apache indians. Several years passed and a German and a Dutchman would find the mine and some gold but they would be attacked and killed also. But before the Dutchman died he would hide gold in the mountains. Today people would still be looking for the hidden gold.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so. Listen next week for more news and another podcast with summaries in different tenses.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story is the beginning of a grand adventure that I hope you follow along with. I am planning to tell the story and then ask questions along the way in order to emphasize what is happening and to give you some new vocabulary words. Try to answer the questions while you are listening. The story may sound familiar. I hope it is. There is a lot more to come.

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Don’t forget to stay until the end to listen to the summary in the present, past and future tenses. These are all there for you to improve your listening skills. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast and vocabulary cards with many common words. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

And now the story!

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice “without pictures or conversations?”

Was Alice starting to get excited about sitting by her sister on the bank? No, Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and having nothing to do. Did Alice look into the book her sister was reading? Yes, Alice peeped into the book her sister was reading. Did the book have many pictures and conversations in it? No the book did not have any pictures or conversations in it and Alice didn’t think the book had any use without pictures or conversations.

Alice was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice got to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

Was Alice feeling awake and smart because the day was so cool and fresh? No Alice was feeling sleepy and stupid because that is how the hot day made her feel. Was Alice thinking about picking daisies when an elephant with blue eyes walked by her. Well, yes Alice was thinking about picking daisies but it was a white rabbit with pink eyes that ran close by her not an elephant with blue eyes.

What was the rabbit saying to itself when it ran by? The rabbit was saying “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” How did the rabbit know it was late? The rabbit knew it was late because it had a watch in it’s waistcoat-pocket. Did Alice think it was strange there was a rabbit running by who talked and thought it was late? No, for some strange reason Alice thought it all seemed quite natural and she ran across the field after it and was just in time to see it go down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.

In another moment - down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.

The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.

Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung on pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled “ORANGE MARMALADE”, but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

Did Alice ignore the rabbit with the watch who thought he was late when he went down the rabbit hole? No, Alice went after the rabbit. She went straight down the rabbit hole without thinking about how she would get out. Did Alice fit in a rabbit-hole? Yes, Alice fit in the rabbit-hole and was falling down it like it was a deep well. Was the hole brightly lit by lamps? No, the hole was too dark to see anything, but as she looked at the sides of the walls as she was falling she saw cupboards. Alice saw cupboards in a rabbit hole while she was falling? Yes, Alice saw cupboards and book-shelves and she also saw maps on pegs as she was falling straight down a rabbit hole. Did Alice take something off of one of the shelves as she passed? Yes, Alice took a jar off one of the shelves and it was labelled ORANGE MARMALADE, but to her disappointment it was empty. Was the jar of ORANGE MARMALADE full of grape juice? No, the Jar was empty to the disappointment of Alice. Alice thought to drop the jar but thought she might kill someone with it so she set it back into one of the cupboards as she fell past it. Did Alice put the jar in her purse to keep it for later? No, Alice put the jar back in one of the cupboards as she fell downward through the rabbit hole.

Summary in the present tense.

Alice is beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank when all of a sudden a white rabbit with pink eyes runs close by her. The rabbit actually takes a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looks at it, and then hurries on. Alice gets to her feet and burning with curiosity, she runs across the field after it. Fortunately, Alice is just in time to see the rabbit go down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. Alice goes straight down the hole after the Rabbit without thinking about what will happen and soon she is falling. She is falling slowly down a long deep well.

The summary in the past tense.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank when all of a sudden a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. The rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on. Alice got to her feet and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it. Fortunately, Alice was just in time to see the rabbit go down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. Alice went straight down the hole after the Rabbit without thinking about what would happen and soon she was falling. She was falling slowly down a long deep well.

The summary in the future tense.

Alice will begin to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and suddenly a white rabbit with pink eyes will run close by her. The rabbit will actually take a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and look at it, and then will hurry on. Alice will get to her feet and will burn with curiosity. She will run across the field after it. Fortunately, Alice will be just in time to see the rabbit go down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. Alice will go straight down the hole after the Rabbit without thinking about what will happen and soon she will be falling. She will be falling slowly down a long deep well.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so. Listen next week as we continue this great story.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story covers a number of common colloquialisms, street talk or just sayings that mean something quite different in direct translation. It’s one thing to see these on the list but it is quite another to hear them in context in an actual story. Hopefully this helps you remember them for next time. All of these are commonly used in the US.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and conditional tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Let’s review the colloquialisms or idioms first and then you can listen closely in the story for how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, these are highlighted in the transcripts

Keep an eye out - To watch for something/someone

On the ball - Doing a good job

Don’t pull my leg - To joke with someone

Miss the boat - It’s too late

Back to the drawing board - To start over

Hang in there - Don’t give up

It’s not rocket science - It’s not complicated

Hit the sack - Go to sleep

And now to the story. Listen closely for these sayings. Are you ready? Enjoy!

Anthony was staring at his empty email inbox, anxiety curling in his stomach. A few minutes earlier, his friend Ben had texted him to let him know to keep an eye out, because Ben had just gotten his acceptance email from Arizona State University. He had also seen on Facebook that a few of his classmates had gotten acceptance emails from Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona, too. So it seemed the schools were working their way through admissions that day.

Anthony was a smart kid, and very friendly. He had just graduated high school, and he had applied to three schools in his home state of Arizona, just hoping to get accepted into one. Anthony had lived in the valley his whole life, and wanted nothing more than to go to college there too. He loved the heat in the summer, the cool winters, the beautiful scenery, and all of his friends. He had applied for Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University.

“You’re on the ball with your applications,” his mom had told him when he had applied for all three. “Most of your classmates probably only applied to one place.”

His email dinged, and Anthony looked at the inbox. There were three emails. Three. One from each school. He had never been so afraid to open three emails in his entire life. They were in his inbox, staring at him. It almost seemed like they were mocking him. All three of the emails had the same subject line: “Regarding your application…” No point delaying the inevitable, he thought. Then he opened each email.

Anthony had been accepted into all three colleges. He wasn’t really surprised that he’d been accepted into a college – he was a smart kid, after all. He was really, really surprised that he’d been accepted into all three. How was he ever supposed to make a decision like this?!

After reading and rereading the emails a couple times, Anthony headed out of his bedroom and down the hall into the living room, where his parents were watching TV together.

“So,” he started, flopping down into the big armchair next to the couch. “I just got a couple emails from the schools I applied to.”

Right away, his parents muted the TV and perked up, looking at him expectantly. They knew that he had applied to all three schools and that he had been excited about the prospect of any of the schools. They were very proud of their son.

“And?” his mom pressed, grinning and clapping her hands together. “Don’t keep us in suspense!”

“I actually got into all three,” he said, a huge smile splitting his face. Now that the initial shock was wearing off, Anthony found himself feeling really excited.

“You’re pulling my leg!” his father cried, jumping up from his chair in excitement. “You’re kidding!” Anthony shook his head and stood to accept a tight hug from his dad. His mom jumped up to join their hug, laughing.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to choose!” he said, voice muffled by his dad’s shoulder. “There are so many things. Arizona State University is so close, but I think it’d be so cool to go somewhere like the University of Arizona or Northern Arizona University and get to experience something else.”

“Make a pros and cons list,” his dad suggested, ruffling his hair. Anthony grinned and ducked out from under his dad’s hand. “You don’t have to decide right away. But make sure you don’t wait too long and miss the boat on the deadlines.”

After a celebratory dinner that night, Anthony sat down at his desk and started his list of pros and cons. He made a chart for each school, and then started to write down all of his scattered thoughts.

Arizona State University was right in the valley. He could stay at home, save some money on rent, and still get to see his family. He knew a lot of his high school friends had applied to ASU, too, so he’d be able to stay close with the people he was close with now. But it didn’t leave much room for new experiences. Same place, same weather, same people.

University of Arizona was in Tucson, nearly two hours south from his home and his family. He would have to pay for rent, but he’d be in an all new place and could experience a different part of Arizona there.

Northern Arizona University was in Flagstaff. This made Anthony excited, because he’d never spent a lot of time up North and he was interested in how the weather changed in the mountains. He’d never lived somewhere where it snowed. But again, it was a long way from his family and maybe the weather wouldn’t be a pro?

Anthony sighed in frustration. This wasn’t really helping. Back to the drawing board.

An hour later, his mom popped her head in to say goodnight to him and found Anthony with his head in his hands at his desk, surrounded by crumpled up lists, clearly frustrated.

“What’s the matter?” his mom asked, sitting down on his bed beside him and frowning.

“I don’t know what to do,” Anthony admitted with a sigh, facing his mom. “This is such a big decision and I don’t know what the right way to go is. I want to stay close to you and dad, but I also am worried that if I go to ASU I’ll miss out on the opportunity to live somewhere else and see new things.”

“Oh honey,” she said, standing up and leaning down to kiss the top of his head. “Hang in there. I know this is a big decision, but it’s not rocket science. Why don’t you sleep on it, and think about it in the morning with a clear head? Also,” she added, “Whatever decision you make will be the right one. You are a smart boy, and we are so proud of you!”

Anthony knew his mom was right – he should hit the sack, and think about it in the morning. Anthony also realized that he was forgetting the most important thing – he had worked hard all throughout high school for the grades he had gotten, and because he had worked hard, studied hard, and applied himself, he had been accepted to all three of the schools that he had applied for.

No matter which great Arizona school he decided to go to, Anthony knew that he should be very proud of himself – and he was.

And now for a summary in the present, past and future tenses. Listen closely, are you ready?

Present

Anthony is a smart kid, and very friendly. He just graduated high school, and he is applying to three Universities in his home state of Arizona. He is hoping to get accepted into one. Anthony soon finds out that he is accepted into all three colleges and he is really surprised. He tells his parents the great news and everyone is very excited. However, now he needs to choose which school to attend. He makes a list of positives and negatives (a pros and cons list) for each school to help make his choice. This is a good problem to have but a tough choice for Anthony.

Past

Anthony was a smart kid, and was very friendly. He had just graduated high school, and he had applied to three Universities in his home state of Arizona. He hoped to get accepted into one. Anthony soon found out that he was accepted into all three colleges and he was really surprised. He told his parents the great news and everyone was very excited. However, he needed to choose which school to attend. He made a list of positives and negatives (a pros and cons list) for each school to help make his choice. This was a good problem to have but was a tough choice for Anthony.

Conditional

Anthony would be a smart kid, and would be very friendly. He would have just graduated high school, and would be applying to three Universities in his home state of Arizona. He would be hoping to get accepted into one. Anthony would soon find out that he would be accepted into all three colleges and he would be really surprised. He would tell his parents the great news and everyone would be very excited. However, now he would need to choose which school to attend. He would make a list of positives and negatives (a pros and cons list) for each school to help make his choice. This would be a good problem to have but would be a tough choice for Anthony.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.

Episode 17 Una Caída al Centro de la Tierra

A cat named Dinah?

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story is the second of a grand adventure that I hope you continue to follow along with. I am planning to tell the story and then ask questions along the way in order to emphasize what is happening and to give you some new vocabulary words. Try to answer the questions while you are listening. The story may sound familiar and I hope it is. There is a lot more to come.

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Keep practicing and try to answer the questions naturally. Don’t forget to stay until the end to listen to the summary with different points of view. These are all there for you to improve your listening skills. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast and vocabulary cards with many common words. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Before we start here is a summary from the last and first story to remind you of where we left off.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank when all of a sudden a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. The rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on. Alice got to her feet and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it. Fortunately, Alice was just in time to see the rabbit go down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. Alice went straight down the hole after the Rabbit without thinking about what would happen and soon she was falling. She was falling slowly down a long deep well.

And now the story!

“Well!” thought Alice to herself, “after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they’ll all think of me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!” (Which was very likely true.)

Alice was falling through the air and was thinking to herself. Was she thinking that at home they would think she is timid? No, she was thinking they would all think she was brave.

Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? “I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?” she said aloud. “I must be getting somewhere near the center of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think….” (for, you see, Alice had learned several things like this in her lessons at school, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, it was still good practice to say it over) “...yes, that’s about the right distance….but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve gotten to?” (Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)

Which direction was Alice going? Was she going up, up, up? No, Alice was going down, down, down. Was Alice thinking about how many kilometers she was falling on her way to Mars? No, Alice was thinking how many miles she was falling and thought it was somewhere near the center of the earth. Did Alice know about things like Latitude and Longitude from her school? Maybe but she didn’t know what they were, she was just thinking these would be good things to say out loud while she was falling.

Presently she began again. “I wonder if I will fall... right ...through the earth! How funny it will seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downward!” She was rather glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound like something she would say) “....but I will have to ask them what the name of the country is I end up in, you know. She would say, please, Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?” (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke….can you imagine curtseying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) “And what an ignorant little girl she would think me for asking what country I’m in! No, it will be too strange to ask this. Perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.``

Did Alice say out loud to herself if she would fall right through the earth? Yes, Alice fell so far and long that Alice said out loud she would fall right through the earth. She also said that If she fell through the earth she might come out on the other side with people with their heads downward. Was Alice glad no one was listening to her? Yes Alice was glad no one was listening because these are the kinds of things she would never say or think about. Did Alice then say she would ask the people what country they were in? Yes, she said she would ask them if they were in New Zealand or Australia. She then tried to curtsey as she spoke but realized curtseying as you’re falling through the air was a hard thing to do. She hoped she would see the name of the place she ended up written down somewhere. What strange things to be thinking and saying out loud.

Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. “Dinah will miss me very much tonight, I think!” (Dinah was the cat.) “I hope they will remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I’m afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that’s very much like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?” And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, “Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?” and sometimes, “Do bats eat cats?” for, you see, as she couldn’t answer either question, it didn’t matter which way she put it.

Alice was still falling down down down through a large well. What did Alice do while she was falling? Well there was nothing for Alice to do so Alice began talking again. Who did Alice say was going to miss her? Alice said Dinah was going to miss her. Dinah was Alice’s cat. Did Alice wish Dinah her cat was with her? Yes, Alice hoped they remembered to feed Dinah a saucer of milk and that made her think about how she wished Dinah was with her falling through the air. Did Alice say there were mice to catch in the air while they were falling? Yes, she said this but then thought that maybe it was more likely if Dinah was with her falling through the air that there may be more of a chance to catch a bat than a mouse. She then wondered if cats eat bats or if bats eat cats? Was Alice able to answer these kinds of questions while she was falling? No, Alice could not answer either question and she was getting very sleepy

She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, “Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?” when suddenly,.....thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.

Was Alice wide awake when she was thinking these strange things about her cat, Dinah and mice and bats? No Alice was dozing off while she fell through the air and had just began to dream about her can Dinah. What did she ask her cat in her dream to tell her about? She asked her cat to tell her the truth about eating a bat. Did Alice suddenly land on the ground? Yes, Alice landed with a thump thump as she came down upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves. The fall Alice had was over but she was lying on the ground looking up thinking just how strange all of this was.

And that’s the end of this part of the story. Let’s listen to the summaries in the past present and future. Are you ready?

Past Present and Future summaries

The present tense

Alice is falling Down, down, down without stopping for quite some time. Alice says out loud that she must be getting somewhere near the center of the earth. She is also wondering when she does land, what country she might be in. Alice keeps falling and soon she starts talking out loud to herself about her cat Dinah. Alice asks out loud if anyone is feeding her cat back at home. Then she asks out loud if her cat is here and are there any mice to catch. She supposes maybe not but there might be bats to catch. She doesn’t know if Dinah eats bats. Just then she falls into a heap of sticks and dry leaves. She looks up and is thinking how strange this all is. Alice is back on the ground somewhere in a heap of sticks and dry leaves.

The past tense

Alice was falling Down, down, down without stopping for quite some time. Alice said out loud that she was getting somewhere near the center of the earth. She was also wondering when she did land, what country she was in. Alice kept falling and soon she started talking out loud to herself about her cat Dinah. Alice asked out loud if anyone was feeding her cat back at home. Then she asked out loud if her cat was here and if there were any mice to catch. She supposed maybe not but there were bats to catch. She didn’t know if Dinah ate bats. Just then she fell into a heap of sticks and dry leaves. She looked up and thought how strange this all was. Alice was back on the ground somewhere in a heap of sticks and dry leaves.

The future tense

Alice will be falling down, down, down without stopping for quite some time. Alice will say out loud that she will be getting somewhere near the center of the earth. She will also be wondering when she does land, what country she will be in. Alice will keep falling and will soon start talking out loud to herself about her cat Dinah. Alice will ask out loud if anyone will be feeding her cat back at home. Then she will ask out loud if her cat will be here and will there be any mice to catch. She will suppose maybe not but there will be bats to catch. She doesn’t know if Dinah will eat bats. Just then she will fall into a heap of sticks and dry leaves. She will look up and will be thinking how strange this will all be. Alice will be back on the ground somewhere in a heap of sticks and dry leaves.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were you able to follow the differences in the tenses? I hope so. Listen next week as we continue this great story.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time! Buh Bye for now.

Episode 18 Sorpresa Navideña

A Christmas Miracle? Unlikely but or Maybe

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! It’s the week of Christmas so here’s a short Christmas story that I hope you enjoy.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and past tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

The mall was very busy. That was no surprise, because it was only two days until Christmas. Scores of last-minute shoppers had flooded the stores, trying desperately to get their gifts purchased. The parking lot was packed, the aisles were crowded, and the poor store staff looked frazzled and overwhelmed – because they were frazzled and overwhelmed. Checkout lines were out the door and people were impatient and short on time.

“Long line!” a guest commented as they unceremoniously dumped the load of goods onto the counter. Kelsey put on her best customer service smile and nodded, picking up a set of nail polishes from the top of the pile to scan.

Almost every customer had the same routine: comment about the length of the line, mention how expensive things were these days, ask what she was doing for the holidays, pay, and then leave. Over and over again. It was endless.

Kelsey normally didn’t mind her retail job. She usually liked the customer interaction, she liked the quiet routine of stocking the shelves, she liked chatting with her coworkers when they passed each other on the floor. She liked that the job, while physically demanding, wasn’t as mentally stressful as jobs she had held in the past. She went to work, worked, and then went home to enjoy her free time.

But Christmastime in retail changed everything for Kelsey. The usual slow steadiness of the job was replaced by increasing franticness as the days ticked closer to Christmas. Customers grew less and less friendly. Sales quotas increased, and so did the scrutiny of the management. By this time of the year, mere days before Christmas, Kelsey was burned out. So she kept her talking to a minimum, scanned and bagged items as quickly as possible, and got customers out the door as fast as she could.

“Do you have any plans for Christmas? Do you work on Christmas?” the guest was asking her. Kelsey glanced up and smiled, giving her head a little shake.

“Nope,” she said. “I’m off tomorrow, and then we’re closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I am just going to relax at home with my dog.”

“Aww,” the customer said, sounding sympathetic. “No family to visit?”

Kelsey’s parents and brother lived on the other side of the country, and she hadn’t seen them in almost two years. Between travel restrictions and financial problems, it had been impossible for her to travel to her family or for her family to travel to her. This was another reason why this time of the year was less enjoyable for Kelsey – she missed her family a lot.

“Nope,” she answered again, taking the customer’s card when they offered it to her. She swiped it and handed it back to the customer. “Thanks for shopping with us, your receipt is in the bag!”

“That’s too bad,” the customer continued. “Who knows, maybe this year you’ll have a Christmas miracle!” Then they gave Kelsey a little wink, gathered up their bags, and walked away.

A Christmas miracle? Unlikely, unless her parents and brother were going to miraculously appear in her living room or unless she was going to miraculously appear in theirs.

The rest of Kelsey’s shift went by quickly, due to the fact that they were incredibly busy, and by nine o’clock that evening Kelsey was pulling into her parking spot at her small, but beautiful, apartment.

She went about her evening routine – taking her dog, Buster, out to the bathroom, checking her emails and social media, and making dinner. As she cooked, she put some quiet Christmas music on the radio and tried to enjoy the evening. She had the next three days to relax, and she really needed them.

As she was sitting down to eat dinner, Kelsey tried to call her parents to say hello. She was confused when both of their phones rang through to voicemail. That was weird – her dad wasn’t the best at answering his phone but her mom almost always answered. She tried her brother next and found that his phone was also going to voicemail.

“Rude,” she muttered to herself, mostly joking. It was earlier in the day where they were. Maybe her family was just out to dinner, or seeing a movie? They liked going to movies together. She felt a tinge of sadness, because she missed going to dinner and the movies with her family. She finished eating her dinner watching a movie on her phone, feeling very, very alone.

Just as she was finishing up cleaning, there was a knock on her door. Weird. It was pretty late for there to be visitors. Buster perked up from his position on her couch, staring at the door with his head cocked to one side, tail thumping against the cushions.

Kelsey walked up to her door and looked cautiously through the peephole. Then she threw the door open and cried out in surprise, because on the other side of the door was her mom, her dad, and her brother. She rushed forward to hug them, squealing and jumping with excitement.

“Surprise!” her brother said. “Merry Christmas!”

“How are you here?!” she asked, eyes welling up with tears. “I just tried to call you, I was son confused when you didn’t answer!”

“We wanted to surprise you!” her mom said, reaching forward to hug her again. She hugged her mom back tightly, never wanting to let her go. Her dad joined the hug and kissed the top of her head.

“We just couldn’t do another Christmas without seeing our girl,” he added, and she could hear in his voice that he was emotional, too.

As Kelsey finally broke away from her parents and let them and her brother inside, she remembered the customer at the store today, and what they had said about Christmas miracles. Maybe, just maybe, Christmas miracles and Christmas wishes did come true.

Present

The mall is very busy. This is no surprise, because it is only two days until Christmas. Kelsey normally doesn’t mind her retail job. She usually likes the customer interaction, she likes the quiet routine of stocking the shelves, she likes chatting with her coworkers. But around Christmas it is different. It is very busy and Kelsey misses her family very much and she isn’t able to travel back home to visit. When she gets off work she plans to spend her Christmas alone with her dog. She calls her family but they don’t answer the phone and she is frustrated. She is sad but then suddenly everything changes when her family arrives at her house as a Christmas surprise. Everyone is very happy.

Past

The mall was very busy. That was no surprise, because it was only two days until Christmas. Kelsey normally didn’t mind her retail job. She usually liked the customer interaction, she liked the quiet routine of stocking the shelves, she liked chatting with her coworkers. But around Christmas it was different. It was very busy and Kelsey missed her family very much and she wasn’t able to travel back home to visit. When she got off work she was planning to spend her Christmas alone with her dog. She called her family but they didn’t answer the phone and she was frustrated. She was sad but then her family arrived at her house as a Christmas surprise. Everyone was very happy.

Future

The mall will be very busy. That will be no surprise, because it will only be two days until Christmas. Kelsey normally will not mind her retail job. She will usually like the customer interaction, she will like the quiet routine of stocking the shelves, and she will like chatting with her coworkers. But around Christmas it will be different. It will be very busy and Kelsey will miss her family very much and she will not be able to travel back home to visit. She will get off work and will be planning to spend her Christmas alone with her dog. She will call her family but they will not answer the phone and she will be frustrated. She will be sad but then her family will arrive at her house as a Christmas surprise. Everyone will be very happy.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Feliz navidad, Merry Christmas

Buh Bye for now.

Alice’s Wonderland Adventures Chapter 1 Lesson 3

Episode 19 Una Llave Especial Para el Jardín.

“I wish I could shut up like a telescope” Meaning I wish I could fold up or shrink up in order to be much smaller.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story is the third of a grand adventure that I hope you continue to follow along with. I am planning to tell the story and then ask questions along the way in order to emphasize what is happening and to give you some new vocabulary words. Try to answer the questions while you are listening. The story may sound familiar and I hope it is. There is a lot more to come.

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Keep practicing and try to answer the questions naturally. Don’t forget to stay until the end to listen to the summary with different points of view. These are all there for you to improve your listening skills. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast and vocabulary cards with many common words. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Before we start here is a summary from the last and second story to remind you of where we left off.

Alice was falling Down, down, down without stopping for quite some time. Alice said out loud that she was getting somewhere near the center of the earth. She was also wondering when she did land, what country she was in. Alice kept falling and soon she started talking out loud to herself about her cat Dinah. Alice asked out loud if anyone was feeding her cat back at home. Then she asked out loud if her cat was here and if there were any mice to catch. She supposed maybe not but there were bats to catch. She didn’t know if Dinah ate bats. Just then she fell into a heap of sticks and dry leaves. She looked up and thought how strange this all was. Alice was back on the ground somewhere in a heap of sticks and dry leaves.

And now the story continued

Alice was on the ground but not a bit hurt. She jumped up onto her feet and she looked up, but it was all dark overhead. Before her or in front of her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, “Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!” She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

Was Alice hurt badly by landing after her fall? No Alice was not a bit hurt and she jumped up on her feet and looked up. When Alice looked up did she see a bright light? No, Alice did not see a bright light. Alice looked up and it was all dark overhead. What was in front of or before Alice after she stood up? Was a lion waiting for her? No, there was not an lion waiting for Alice. In front of or before Alice was a long passage and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying or rushing down the passage. Did Alice decide to ignore or forget the rabbit? No, Alice didn’t want to lose any time and she rushed away like the wind to catch the rabbit. Did Alice hear the rabbit? Yes Alice heard the rabbit and the Rabbit was concerned or worried that it was getting late. Was Alice close behind the rabbit when she turned the corner? Yes, Alice was close behind the rabbit when she turned the corner but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen. Or in other words Alice lost the rabbit and he was no longer to be seen. Where was Alice now? Alice found herself or was in a long, low hall. Was the hall dark? No, it was lit by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.

There were doors all around the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was ever to get out again.

Were there windows made of glass all around the hall Alice was in? No, Alice was in a hall and there were doors all around the hall. Were all the doors wide open? No, the doors all around in the hall were all closed and they were locked. Did Alice go up one side and then the other checking all the doors? Yes, Alice had been all the way down one side and then the other, trying every door and they were all locked. Did Alice jump up and down happily after trying all the doors? No, Alice walked sadly down the middle of the hall wondering how she was going to get out since all the doors were locked.

Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid glass; there was nothing on it except a tiny golden key, and Alice’s first thought was that it might belong to one of the doors of the hall; but, alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fit!

Did Alice slowly come upon a chair with four legs? No, Alice arrived to find a small or little table with only three legs. Was the table made of wood and did it have a cup of coffee on it? No, the table was made of glass and on the glass table was a tiny golden key. Did the key work in any one of the locked doors? No the key was too small and the locks too large and the key would not open any of the doors. On the second time around did Alice find something new? Yes, Alice found a low curtain that she had not noticed before. Was there a wizard with a wand behind the curtain? No behind the curtain was a little door that was about 15 inches high. Did Alice try the tiny golden key in the small door? Yes, Alice tried the small golden key in the small 15 inch door and the key fit in the lock!

Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head through the doorway; “and even if my head would go through,” thought poor Alice, “it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I only knew how to begin.” For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.

Did Alice open the door and see that it led into a large cave? Well, yes, Alice opened the door but it did not lead to a large cave, rather it led into a small passage not much bigger than a rat-hole. Did Alice then close the door? No, Alice looked through the door and saw that the passage led to one of the loveliest or prettiest gardens you have ever seen! Did Alice want to get out of the dark hall she was in? Yes, of course, Alice wanted more than anything to get out and wander among the garden and the beds of bright flowers and cool fountains. Did Alice walk through the door into the garden? No, the door and passage were too small and Alice could not even fit her head through the doorway. However, Alice was thinking about things very differently now. Did Alice give up and go back the way she came? No, Alice said “I wish I could shut up like a telescope” This is a strange saying to say she wished she could shrink up small enough to fit through the door. And the way things were going with Alice’s day shrinking to the fit through the door may not be impossible.

And that’s the end of this part of the story. Let’s listen to the summaries in the past, present and future. Are you ready?

Past Present and Future summaries

The present tense

Alice lands and is on the ground after her long fall but is not a bit hurt. She jumps up and sees the White Rabbit is still in sight, and is hurrying down a long corridor Alice runs after the rabbit but is too late. She is standing in a long low hall lit by lamps on the roof. There are doors all along the walls in the hall but they are all locked. Alice doesn’t know how to get out but she finds a key sitting on a three-legged table. She tries it in all the doors but it didn’t fit any of them. Alice walks and checks the hall one more time and unexpectedly finds another very small door behind a curtain at the end of the hall. The key works in it! Alice opens the door and finds that it leads into a small passage and into the most beautiful garden she has ever seen.

The past tense

Alice landed and was on the ground after her long fall but was not a bit hurt. She jumped up and saw the White Rabbit was still in sight, and was hurrying down a long corridor Alice ran after the rabbit but was too late. She was standing in a long low hall lit by lamps on the roof. There were doors all along the walls in the hall but they were all locked. Alice did not know how to get out but she found a key sitting on a three-legged table. She tried it in all the doors but it didn’t fit any of them. Alice walked and checked the hall one more time and unexpectedly found another very small door behind a curtain at the end of the hall. The key worked in it! Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage and into the most beautiful garden she has ever seen.

The future tense

Alice will land and will be on the ground after her long fall but will not be a bit hurt. She will jump up and will see that the White Rabbit is still in sight, and will hurry down a long corridor Alice will run after the rabbit but will be too late. She will be standing in a long low hall lit by lamps on the roof. There will be doors all along the walls in the hall but they will all be locked. Alice will not know how to get out but she will find a key sitting on a three-legged table. She will try it in all the doors but it will not fit any of them. Alice will walk and check the hall one more time and will unexpectedly find another very small door behind a curtain at the end of the hall. The key will work in it! Alice will open the door and find that it leads into a small passage and into the most beautiful garden she will ever see.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were you able to follow the differences in the tenses? I hope so. Listen next week as we continue this great story.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time! Buh Bye for now.

“Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one…”

Welcome! And good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! It’s the week of New Year’s so here’s a short New Year’s Eve story that I hope you enjoy.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and past tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

John did not consider himself to be a very envious person, but right now John was very jealous of every person that worked for cool companies that gave their employees the week between Christmas and New Year off.

While most of John’s friends were off work and hanging out with their friends and family, John was sitting at his desk at work, staring at his empty emails and his blank calendar, willing the clock to move a little faster. It was moving extra slow today, because today was New Year’s Eve.

He sighed and looked down at his phone, opening up his social media to scroll through. He saw the pictures that his friends were posting from their holiday vacations – cute photographs with their families, or fun photos of them going skiing on snowy hills or hiking on tropical islands. It seemed like everyone in the world except John was out having a good time. He felt a little lonely.

“Johnny boy! Do you have any plans tonight?” his coworker Sarah asked him across the almost-empty office. John looked up at her and waved. They were two of only a few people left in the office that day. A lot of their coworkers had taken vacation time to celebrate the holiday season. It was 4:30 p.m. now, only a half hour until they were off.

He liked Sarah – she treated him like she was his big sister. She called him Johnny boy and teased him throughout the day, and was always there to answer his questions or grab lunch with him. They had worked together for almost two years.

“Nah,” he answered, rolling his office chair out from behind the wall of his cubicle so he could see Sarah clearly. “All of my buddies are off on vacations or home with their families, and my family isn’t big on New Year.”

“Oh,” Sarah said, frowning a little. “That’s kind of sad. So you’re just going to sit at home tonight?”

“Yep,” John confirmed. “Maybe play some games. Order a pizza.” He shrugged and spun around lazily in the chair.

“Do you… I mean, don’t be weirded out by this, but do you want to come to my mom and dad’s party tonight?” Sarah asked cautiously. John stopped spinning and raised his eyebrow at her.

“Your family’s party?” he asked skeptically. “You wanna bring your coworker to your mom and dad’s house?”

Sarah huffed and rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that,” she chuckled. “It’s my parents, some of their work friends, my siblings and their friends. It’s not a huge thing, but there’s people. Games. Drinks?” she offered at the end, grinning.

John considered it for a second. Would it be weird for him to go to his coworker’s parents’ party? Not really, he supposed. Sarah did invite him. It also sounded a lot more appealing than sitting at home with pizza alone for a holiday.

“Yeah, alright,” he laughed. “Text me the address and time?”

At nine o’clock, John was ringing the doorbell of the address that Sarah had given him. Sarah’s parents lived in a really nice house in a very nice neighborhood. There were lots of cars parked up and down the road, and he could hear people talking and laughing from inside. He was a little nervous.

The door opened and an older gentleman with kind eyes and a kind smile was there.

“John!” the man greeted him, holding out his hand to shake. “I’m Dan, Sarah’s dad! She’s told us a lot about you, we’re so excited you’re here!”

John shook Dan’s hand and smiled, suddenly feeling a lot less nervous. Sarah’s dad seemed like a really nice man, the kind of person that just put everyone around him at ease.

“Hopefully Sarah has only told you good things?” John asked as he stepped in. Dan laughed and nodded.

“You bet,” he confirmed. “She calls you her ‘work brother,’ tells us about you all the time!”

“Dad!” Sarah admonished as she came around the corner, blushing. “I swear I don’t talk about you that much,” she said to John. “Dad is a massive over-exaggerator. Let me introduce you to everyone!”

John let Sarah lead him around the house. He met Linda (her mom), all three of Sarah’s sisters and their partners, and Sarah’s brother and his girlfriend. He was introduced to a lot of Linda and Dan’s friends, and lots of Dan’s coworkers. Everyone there seemed tight-knit and familiar with each other, but John never felt left out.

Sarah’s siblings handed him a drink and invited him to join their annual cornhole tournament. It was boys versus girls, and the boys were very excited to have another member on their team. John was terrible at cornhole, but no one seemed to mind. They were absolutely devastated by the girl’s team, but Sarah’s mom told him that happened every year.

At 11:55 p.m., Dan and Linda turned on the big television in their living room, which was tuned to the broadcast from New York City, where crowds of people in Times Square were waiting anxiously for the giant ball to drop and signify the start of the New Year.

“So,” Sarah said, watching the countdown tick away. “Is this better than pizza and video games all alone in your apartment?”

“Oh yeah,” John confirmed, slinging a friendly arm around Sarah’s shoulders. “Thanks for inviting me. Your family and friends are great, I’ve been having a great time. I think I’m best friends with your dad now?”

Sarah laughed and bumped her hip into John’s. “He’s friends with everyone, you’re not special!” she teased.

“Nope, I think I am very special. He said I’m his favorite,” John teased back, and then looked over at the screen. It was almost midnight, which meant that the countdown was about to begin.

“Here we go!” someone shouted. “Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one…”

“Happy New Year!'' Everyone yelled out together, blowing noisemakers and cheering. Someone popped open a bottle of champagne, and on the television screen the people in Times Square were cheering as the ball touched down. It was a great way to end what John had thought was going to be a very boring and lonely day, and a great way to start 2022.

Present

John did not consider himself to be a very envious person, but John is very jealous of people that work for cool companies that give their employees the week between Christmas and New Year off. John is working late on New Year's Eve in an office. John´s coworker Sarah, who is also working late, invites John to her house to celebrate with her family. John accepts and is a little nervous when he arrives, but Sarah´s family and especially Sarah´s dad Dan is especially welcoming. John rings in the New Year with Sarah and has a great time.

Past

John did not consider himself to be a very envious person, but John was very jealous of people that worked for cool companies that gave their employees the week between Christmas and New Year off. John was working late on New Year's Eve in an office. John´s coworker Sarah, who was also working late, invited John to her house to celebrate with her family. John accepted and was a little nervous when he arrived, but Sarah´s family and especially Sarah´s dad Dan was especially welcoming. John rang in the New Year with Sarah and had a great time.

Future

John will not consider himself to be a very envious person, but John will be very jealous of people that will work for cool companies that give their employees the week between Christmas and New Year off. John will be working late on New Year Eve in an office. John´s coworker Sarah, who will be also working late, will invite John to her house to celebrate with her family. John will accept and will be a little nervous when he arrives, but Sarah´s family and especially Sarah´s dad Dan will be especially welcoming. John will ring in the New Year with Sarah and will have a great time.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Good bye!

“The incredible shrinking Alice”

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story is the fourth of a grand adventure that I hope you continue to follow along with. I am planning to tell the story and then ask questions along the way in order to emphasize what is happening and to give you some new vocabulary words. Try to answer the questions while you are listening. The story may sound familiar and I hope it is. There is a lot more to come.

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Keep practicing and try to answer the questions naturally. Don’t forget to stay until the end to listen to the summary with different points of view. These are all there for you to improve your listening skills. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast and vocabulary cards with many common words. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Before we start here is a summary from the last and first story to remind you of where we left off.

Alice landed and was on the ground after her long fall but was not a bit hurt. She jumped up and saw the White Rabbit was still in sight, and was hurrying down a long corridor Alice ran after the rabbit but was too late. She was standing in a long low hall lit by lamps on the roof. There were doors all along the walls in the hall but they were all locked. Alice did not know how to get out but she found a key sitting on a three-legged table. She tried it in all the doors but it didn’t fit any of them. Alice walked and checked the hall one more time and unexpectedly found another very small door behind a curtain at the end of the hall. The key worked in it! Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage and into the most beautiful garden she has ever seen. The problem now was Alice was too big to fit in the door. Alice needs a way to fit through the door.

And now the story continued

There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this time she found a little bottle on it, (“which certainly was not here before,” said Alice,) and round the neck of the bottle was a paper label, with the words “DRINK ME,” beautifully printed on it in large letters.

After Alice left the little door where did she go? Alice went back to the little table hoping she might find another key on it. Did she also hope there would be a book? Yes, Alice hoped there would be a book about how to shut up a person like a telescope. This is a strange way to say How to shrink someone down. Alice was hoping to shrink in order to fit through the little door. What did Alice find on the table? Alice found a little bottle on the table. Was the bottle there before? No, the bottle was not there. There was a label on the bottle. What did the label say? The label said “DRINK ME” in beautifully printed large letters.

It was all very well to say “Drink me,” but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. “No, I’ll look first,” she said, “and see whether it’s marked ‘poison’ or not”; for she had read several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; and that if you cut your finger very deeply with a knife, it usually bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a bottle marked “poison,” it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later.

Did Alice drink the little bottle just because the little bottle said to “Drink me.” No, Alice thought she was not going to drink the bottle quickly but rather she would look first to see if it was marked poison or not. She understood that unpleasant things could happen to you if you did not remember simple rules.

However, this bottle was not marked “poison,” so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off.

Was the bottle marked with a warning that there was poison inside? No, Alice didn’t see any markings like this. What did Alice do then? Alice decided that since the bottle was not marked “poison” that she decided to taste it. What did it taste like? It had a mixed taste of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast. What did Alice do after she tasted the bottle? Alice finished it off. Alice drank all the mixed flavored liquid that was in the bottle.

“What a curious feeling!” said Alice; “I must be shutting up like a telescope.”

Alice keeps saying to “shut up like a telescope” What does this mean? Shutting up like a telescope means to make someone shrink or to be smaller because that’s what happens to a telescope when you shut it up. Was Alice having a curious feeling? Yes, Alice was having a curious feeling like she was shutting up like a telescope or shrinking.

And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any further: she felt a little nervous about this; “for it might end, you know,” said Alice to herself, “am I going out altogether, like a candle. I wonder what I should be like then?” And she tried to imagine what the flame of a candle is like after the candle is blown out, for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing.

What happened to Alice? Alice shrank up so that she was only about 10 inches or 25 centimeters tall. Was Alice now small enough that she could fit through the door? Yes, Alice was now small enough to go through the door and into the lovely garden. Did Alice go through the door? No, she was ready to but thought she would wait to see if she was going to shrink any further. Was Alice nervous thinking about this? Yes Alice was nervous thinking about this because she wasn’t sure if she would shrink up so small she would go out, kind of like when a candle is blown out. What strange things are happening.

And now for a summary of the story in the Past Present and Future

Present

Alice is waiting by the little door and wishing she could “shut up like a telescope” which means to shrink down to a small size. She sees a small bottle that was not there before and it says to “DRINK ME”. Alice is worrying she might be poisoned by the potion in the small bottle but there is not a warning. Alice tries a taste of the potion and it has a mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast. It tastes so good Alice drinks it all up. Suddenly, Alice begins to shrink up and she is only 10 inches tall. She is now small enough to walk right through the small door and into the beautiful garden she can see on the other side.

Past

Alice was waiting by the little door and wished she could “shut up like a telescope” which meant to shrink down to a small size. She saw a small bottle that was not there before and it said “DRINK ME”. Alice was worried she might be poisoned by the potion in the small bottle but there was not a warning. Alice tried a taste of the potion and it had a mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast. It tasted so good Alice drank it all up. Suddenly, Alice began to shrink down and she was only 10 inches tall. She was small enough to walk right through the small door and into the beautiful garden she could see on the other side.

Future

Alice will be waiting by the little door and will be wishing she could “shut up like a telescope” which will mean to shrink down to a small size. She will see a small bottle that was not there before and it will say “DRINK ME”. Alice will worry she might be poisoned by the potion in the small bottle but there will not be a warning. Alice will try a taste of the potion and it will have a mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast. It will taste so good Alice will drink it all up. Alice will suddenly shrink down and she will only be 10 inches tall. She will be small enough to walk right through the small door and into the beautiful garden she will see on the other side.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were you able to follow the differences in the tenses? I hope so. Listen next week as we continue this great story.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time! Buh Bye for now.

Could, Should, May, Might, Would, Will

Welcome! And good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This week our story is going to cover modal verbs, Could, Should, May, Might, Would and Will for example. You might find explanations for these in your grammar books but here you can hear them in the context of a real story. They are highlighted in the transcripts if you are following those. I hope you enjoy.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and conditional tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the story.

It was another hot day in Arizona, and Cody and his best friend Mark were looking for something to do. They had spent the first part of the morning lazing around Cody’s house, playing video games and eating leftover pizza for breakfast. But now it was creeping towards the afternoon, and the two teenagers were bored.

“We could go to the park?” Mark suggested from where he was laying splayed out on Cody’s floor. Cody gave a groan of disapproval from his bed, where he was facedown in his pillow.

“It’s too hot for that,” he grumbled, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. The ceiling fan was spinning at a rapid pace, pushing lukewarm air through the hot room. It was barely helping.

“What about a movie?” Mark offered. “There’s gotta be a superhero movie out or something.”

“Dude,” Cody said in exasperation. “We watched movies all night last night. I don’t want to sit here all day.”

“Well sue me for suggesting something that isn’t outdoors and isn’t here,” Mark answered. “What about tubing? We could hit up to the Salt River?”

“That, my friend, may just be the best thing you’ve said all day!” Cody exclaimed, sitting up in his bed and leaning down to high five Mark, who was still laying on the floor looking exasperated but bemused.

The Salt River is a river that runs for two hundred miles through Gila and Maricopa county, and is a tributary of the larger Gila River. It is called the Salt River because it flows through large salt deposits before it merges into the White and Black Rivers.

Because Arizona is a very dry state, any sort of water-based recreation was extremely popular. There was a company that had set up a business running tubing down a portion of the Salt River. Cody and Mark looked on their website to see the prices and where they had to go, grabbed their swimsuits, sunscreen, hats, and water, and headed out to Cody’s car.

They drove to the starting point of the tubing, taking Usery Pass Road through Usery Mountain Regional Park. It was about a half hour from their neighborhood in Gilbert, but the boys listened to music and sang along to pass the time.

When they arrived at the tubing place, they left their phones in the car so they wouldn’t get ruined, paid to rent their tubes, and joined the packed bus that would transport them to the start of the river route. While they were on the bus, they lathered on their sunscreen and chatted excitedly about how cool this was going to be.

When they arrived at the drop point, their guide gave them a few important pointers. Their guide advised against tying their tubes together because it wasn’t safe, but said they could hold onto each other’s tubes with their hands or with their feet. Their guide also said to keep an eye out for the wild horses that might also be around. Wild horses were known to inhabit the area around the Salt River, and frequently played in the river to cool down during the hot summer days. The guide also said that it would take about three or four hours to float the entire river, depending on how fast the current was flowing and which stop they started and got off on.

Finally, the bus dropped them off at the start point and the boys jumped into the refreshingly cool waters of the Salt River and climbed onto their tubes. The river was at a low point, so the water was moving at a slow and calming pace. Cody and Mark each held onto the handles of each other’s tubes to keep from floating away from each other, and laid back to let the sun beat down on their skin and to enjoy the clear blue skies.

As they floated along, the boys took time to appreciate the scenery around them. In some parts of the river, the land was flat and covered in scraggly brush and trees. Around some corners, though, the boys were faced with large cliffsides that rose straight up, looking like small mountains. It was a very beautiful environment, and Cody and Mark were both surprised by how much they enjoyed just looking at the scenery.

The other tubers around them were in larger groups, and some of them appeared to be very experienced tubers. Many of the people had their own tubes, not the ones that Mark and Cody had rented from the company, and were tethered together like large floating rafts. They had things like floating coolers in the middle of their rafts, too, and tossed each other cans of soda, beer and bottles of water as they laughed and joked. One raft had a giant speaker in the center playing loud music.

“We should totally come back here again with a couple more of the guys,” Mark suggested as they floated past another group of clearly veteran tubers. “I bet we could get one of those floating coolers, too. Super cool.” Cody agreed.

After about two hours of floating, they heard a commotion up ahead. Both Mark and Cody looked up to see people that were farther down the river pointing off to the side and exclaiming. They couldn’t see what they were looking at, but Cody had a funny feeling he knew what it was.

“Mark,” he said. “I bet it’s those horses the guide was talking about! I hope we will be able to see them, that’d be so cool.” Mark nodded in excitement and craned his neck as they came up on the spot that everyone had been pointing at.

Sure enough, just at the edge of the river were three beautiful wild horses. Two had their heads dipped low, drinking the river water, and the third was trotting happily in the shallow water. Its hooves splashed water up around it. One of the horses that was drinking looked up and shook its head, water flinging from the tips of its mane. It whinnied and joined its friend, trotting up and down the shore with the other.

“Wow,” Mark and Cody said at the same time. Then they looked at each other and laughed. They had been friends for a long time, and great minds think alike.

By the time they reached the last point to get off, Mark and Cody were tan, tired, and very happy with the way they had chosen to spend their day. They waded out of the river, tubes dragging behind them, and boarded the bus to be taken back to the start point. They disembarked the bus, turned their tubes in, and returned to the car to drive home.

“That was great,” Mark commented, leaning his head against the window and yawning. “But I can’t believe how tired I am just from sitting in a tube!”

“Right?” Cody answered. “It’s the sun, I think. I would definitely do it again, though.”

“For sure,” Mark agreed.

It had been a great way to spend a hot summer day.

Present

It is another hot day in Arizona, and Cody and his best friend Mark are sitting around their apartment looking for something to do. But now the two teenagers are bored so they decide to go to the Salt River tubing. The boys drive up to the Salt River and rent some tubes to float down the river. A bus drops them off at the start point and the boys jump into the refreshingly cool waters of the Salt River and climb onto their tubes. They float the river and enjoy the day in the sun and water. Towards the end of the trip they see some wild horses drinking water near the river and this tops off an excellent day. They want to return and plan to bring more friends next time to enjoy this experience.

Past

It was another hot day in Arizona, and Cody and his best friend Mark were sitting around their apartment and looking for something to do. The two teenagers were bored so they decided to go to the Salt River tubing. The boys drove up to the Salt River and rented some tubes to float down the river. A bus dropped them off at the start point and the boys jumped into the refreshingly cool waters of the Salt River and climbed onto their tubes. They floated the river and enjoyed the day in the sun and water. Towards the end of the trip they saw some wild horses drinking water near the river and this topped off what was an excellent day. They wanted to return and planned to bring more friends next time to enjoy this experience.

Conditional

It would be another hot day in Arizona, and Cody and his best friend Mark would be sitting around their apartment and would be looking for something to do. The two teenagers would be bored so they would decide to go to the Salt River tubing. The boys would drive up to the Salt River and would rent some tubes to float down the river. A bus would drop them off at the start point and the boys would jump into the refreshingly cool waters of the Salt River and would climb onto their tubes. They would float the river and would enjoy the day in the sun and water. Towards the end of the trip they would see some wild horses drinking water near the river and this would top off what would be an excellent day. They would want to return and would plan to bring more friends next time to enjoy this experience.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Good bye!

Alice’s Wonderland Adventures Chapter 1 Lesson 5

Episode 23 El Pastel Mágico

So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story is the fifth of a grand adventure that I hope you continue to follow along with. It is the end of Chapter 1 so I am planning to summarize the whole chapter at the end. And as with the other lessons I will tell the story and then ask questions along the way in order to emphasize what is happening and to give you some new vocabulary words. Try to answer the questions while you are listening. There is a lot more to come with this story and I will also be posting these stories on a YouTube Channel at - English with Justino.

I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Keep practicing and try to answer the questions naturally. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast and vocabulary cards with many common words. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Before we start here is a summary from the last lesson to remind you of where we left off.

Alice was waiting by the little door and wished she could “shut up like a telescope” which meant to shrink down to a small size. She saw a small bottle that was not there before and it said “DRINK ME”. Alice was worried she might be poisoned by the potion in the small bottle but there was not a warning. Alice tried a taste of the potion and it had a mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast. It tasted so good Alice drank it all up. Suddenly, Alice began to shrink down and she was only 10 inches tall. She was small enough to walk right through the small door and into the beautiful garden she could see on the other side.

And now to the story

After a while, finding that nothing more happened, Alice decided on going into the garden at once; but, alas for poor Alice! when she got to the door, she found she had forgotten the little golden key, and when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not reach it: she could see it quite plainly through the glass, and she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but it was too slippery; and when she had tired herself out with trying, the poor little thing sat down and cried.

What did Alice decide to do? Alice decided that she would go through the door and into the garden at once or right away. What happened to Alice? Did Alice run through the open door and into the most beautiful garden? No, Alice got to the door and realized she left the key to the door on the table and now she was too small to reach it. Did Alice try to climb the leg of the table to get the key? Yes, Alice tried to climb the table but she was not able. It was too slippery and she got tired out. What did Alice do then? Did Alice sit down and start to cry? Yes, Alice sat down and started to cry because she was frustrated she was too small to get the key and now could not unlock the door to go into the garden.

“Come, there’s no use crying like that!” said Alice to herself, rather sharply; “I advise you to leave this minute!” She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to hit her own ears for having cheated herself in a game she was playing against herself, for this curious girl was very fond of pretending to be two people. “But it’s no use now,” thought poor Alice, “to pretend to be two people! Why, there’s hardly enough of me left to make one respectable person!”

Did Alice stop crying about her poor situation? Yes, Alice stopped crying and sat thinking about odd things like cheating herself in a game and being two people. Alice was in a strange place. She was small enough to go through the door, but too small to get the key that she left on the table. What a crazy place this was.

Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the words “EAT ME” were beautifully marked in currants. “Well, I’ll eat it,” said Alice, “and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door; so either way I’ll get into the garden, and I don’t care which happens!”

She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, “Which way? Which way?”, holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was growing, and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the same size: to be sure, this generally happens when one eats cake, but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid for life to go on in the common way.

So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake.

Alice was thinking strange thoughts sitting small under the table. What did Alice suddenly see? Did she see a new bottle of potion to drink? No, Alice didn’t see a new bottle of potion to drink. Alice saw a glass box and in the glass box was a piece of cake. Did Alice eat the cake? Yes Alice ate the cake because she thought the cake might help her get through the door, or get the key or something. The cake was now gone. Alice ate it all up.

And that’s the end of Chapter One of Alice’s Wonderland Adventures. Let’s listen to a summary of the entire Chapter. OK here we go.

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank when all of a sudden a white rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. The rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on. Alice got to her feet and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it. Fortunately, Alice was just in time to see the rabbit go down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. Alice went straight down the hole after the Rabbit without thinking about what would happen and soon she was falling. She was falling slowly down a long deep well.

Alice was falling Down, down, down without stopping for quite some time. Alice said out loud that she was getting somewhere near the center of the earth. She was also wondering when she did land, what country she was in. Alice kept falling and soon she started talking out loud to herself about her cat Dinah. Alice asked out loud if anyone was feeding her cat back at home. Then she asked out loud if her cat was here and if there were any mice to catch. She supposed maybe not but there were bats to catch. She didn’t know if Dinah ate bats. Just then she fell into a heap of sticks and dry leaves. She looked up and thought how strange this all was. Alice was back on the ground somewhere in a heap of sticks and dry leaves.

Alice landed and was on the ground after her long fall but was not a bit hurt. She jumped up and saw the White Rabbit was still in sight, and was hurrying down a long corridor Alice ran after the rabbit but was too late. She was standing in a long low hall lit by lamps on the roof. There were doors all along the walls in the hall but they were all locked. Alice did not know how to get out but she found a key sitting on a three-legged table. She tried it in all the doors but it didn’t fit any of them. Alice walked and checked the hall one more time and unexpectedly found another very small door behind a curtain at the end of the hall. The key worked in it! Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage and into the most beautiful garden she has ever seen.

Alice was waiting by the little door and wished she could “shut up like a telescope” which meant to shrink down to a small size. She saw a small bottle that was not there before and it said “DRINK ME”. Alice was worried she might be poisoned by the potion in the small bottle but there was not a warning. Alice tried a taste of the potion and it had a mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast. It tasted so good Alice drank it all up. Suddenly, Alice began to shrink down and she was only 10 inches tall. She was small enough to walk right through the small door and into the beautiful garden she could see on the other side.

Alice was small enough to fit through the door now and she decided to go into the garden. However, when she started toward the door she realized she forgot the key. It was on top of the table and now that she was small she could not reach it! Alice sat down and started to cry, but then realized it wouldn’t do any good to cry and she built herself back up. She looked back under the table and there was a glass box with cake inside. It said to “EAT ME” so Alice ate the cake hoping it would help her get into the garden.

And that’s the end of Chapter One of Alice’s Wonderland Adventures. There is a lot more to come and I will be posting the audio with questions and answers on our YouTube Channel English with Justino If you want to hear these again, the podcasts are 15, 17, 19, 21 and 23.

I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time! Buh Bye for now.

Episode 24 Las Noticias En Inglés…. Lentamente

Venezuela elections, What the Pope has to say, and what is China finding now on the moon

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! Depending on when and where you are listening! It’s been a slow news day and what better way to improve your English but to hopefully listen to what you have already heard in your native language. I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Today there’s not going to be our normal past present and future summaries, but with luck these stories will sound familiar if you are a newsy person. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find this podcast and transcriptions to many of the other weekly stories. Listening to and following along with transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of the news today. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the news. Enjoy!

Opposition wins tense Venezuela vote in Chavez home region…

The vote in Barinas, hailed by opposition leader Juan Guaido, marks the first victory for the opposition in 23 years.

Venezuela’s opposition won an historic victory in a tense rerun gubernatorial election in Barinas, a region ruled by the family of late President Hugo Chavez for more than two decades.

According to results announced late on Sunday, opposition lawmaker Sergio Garrido, 54, defeated the ruling party’s candidate Jorge Arreaza, 48, who served as the country’s vice president and foreign minister and was Chavez’s son-in-law.

Garrido, who according to the National Electoral Council (CNE) won 55.36 percent of the vote, welcomed the result.

“With the unity and strength of each of you, we have succeeded … succeeded in overcoming obstacles and adversity despite all that we have had to face,” Garrido wrote on Twitter.

Arreaza conceded defeat before the results were announced tweeting “we did not achieve the goal” of winning.

The rerun gubernatorial election in Barinas state, where Chavez’s father and brothers have held political power since 1998, was conducted amid widespread claims of ruling party interference.

On COVID vaccinations, Pope says health care is a 'moral obligation'

ROME — Pope Francis suggested Monday that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus was a "moral obligation" and denounced how people had been swayed by "baseless information" to refuse one of the most effective measures to save lives.

Francis used some of his strongest words yet calling for people to get vaccinated in a speech to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, an annual event in which he takes stock of the world and sets out the Vatican's foreign policy goals for the year.

Francis, 85, has generally shied away from speaking about vaccination as a "moral obligation," though his COVID-19 advisory body has referred to it as a "moral responsibility." Rather, Francis has termed vaccination as "an act of love" and that refusing to get inoculated was "suicidal."

On Monday he went a step further, saying that individuals had a responsibility to care for themselves "and this translates into respect for the health of those around us. Health care is a moral obligation," he asserted.

He lamented that, increasingly, ideological divides were discouraging people from getting vaccinated.

"Frequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts," he said, calling for the adoption of a "reality therapy" to correct this distortion of human reason.

"Vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease," he added.

Some Catholics, including some conservative U.S. bishops and cardinals, have claimed vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses were immoral, and have refused to get the jabs.

The Vatican's doctrine office, however, has said it is "morally acceptable" for Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research that used cells derived from aborted fetuses. Francis and Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI have been fully vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

Francis repeated his call for universal access to the shots, particularly in the parts of the world with low vaccination rates, and called for revisions to patent rules so that poorer countries can develop their own vaccines.

"It is appropriate that institutions such as the World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization adapt their legal instruments lest monopolistic rules constitute further obstacles to production and to an organized and consistent access to health care on a global level," he said.

Remember That Weird 'Cube' on The Moon? Yutu-2 Finally Took Closer Pictures

China's mysterious "Moon cube" is no longer a mystery. The big reveal: It's a rock that's not even shaped like a cube.

The nation's Yutu-2 rover discovered the object – which appeared to be a gray cube looming on the lunar horizon – in early December. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) dubbed it 'mysterious hut', playfully speculating that the cube might be an alien house or spacecraft.

News reports called it the 'Moon cube'.

The CNSA estimated the object was about 80 meters (262 feet) away, according to the blog 'Our Space', which is affiliated with the agency, and prepared to drive the rover toward it. The blog said it would take two or three months to reach the cube.

After several weeks of preparations and driving, the rover is close enough to see that the 'mysterious hut' is just a rock. Its sharp-lined geometric appearance on the horizon was a simple trick of perspective, light, and shadow.

One of the rover's ground controllers noted in the blog that the rock is shaped like a rabbit, with smaller rocks in front of it that resemble a carrot. The rover's name, Yutu, means "Jade Rabbit" – which is now the name of the rock, too.

Yutu-2 reached the Moon in January 2019, when the Chang'e-4 lander touched down on the lunar surface and rolled out a ramp for the rover to descend. It was the first mission to land on the far side of the Moon.

In the three years since, Yutu-2 has driven over 1,000 meters (3,200 feet), used ground-penetrating radar to reveal a surprisingly deep layer of lunar soil, and identified rocks from the lunar mantle, below the crust, which were pushed to the surface when an asteroid crashed into the Moon billions of years ago.

The rover has survived long past its initial three-month mission, meaning Yutu-2 had plenty free time for a wild cube chase.

Speaking of the moon and what this mission has found. And BTW I didn’t even know China was on the moon looking around while we were sleeping.

A global team of scientists led by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing says they’ve detected water under the surface of the Moon using data the China National Space Administration provided from the country’s Chang’e-5 lander — a stunning technical achievement on its own, as the first lunar sample return mission since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission in 1976.

The team used a panoramic camera, lunar mineralogical spectrometer (LMS) and lunar penetrating radar to look for evidence of water, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances this week in collaboration with researchers from the National Space Science Center of CAS, the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of CAS and Nanjing University.

“It’s like a ‘field trip’ out on the Moon, the first opportunity to detect signs of water at close range and high resolution on the lunar surface,” said lead author and Chinese Academy of Sciences researcher Lin Honglei, according to a statement obtained by the South China Morning Post.

The team observed signals indicating the presence of water in reflectance spectral data acquired by the Chang’e-5 lander. The theory is that solar wind has gradually swept hydrogen atoms toward the Moon

I’ll be honest. Given the recent Moon cube moment that turned out to be — like scientists suspected — a humble rock, I’m a little skeptical of any big new space claims by China. But scientists have long suspected that there’s likely ice and water on the Moon — and, if the research holds up, water would be a tantalizing resource for a long-term presence on the Moon by human astronauts.

And that’s the news for today. I hope you enjoyed hearing these stories and I hope you have already heard these in your country as well before you listened to this podcast. What do you think of the news? Do you have any news stories to tell me about? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

Happy Monday !

Buh Bye for now.

go out, come up, find out, come back, point out, set up, pick up, take over, go back,

Welcome! And good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This week our story is going to cover phrasal verbs: go out, come up, find out, come back, point out, set up, pick up, take over, go back, for example. There are many more but these are the most common to start. You might find explanations for these in your grammar books but in this podcast you can hear them in the context of a real story. They are highlighted in the transcripts if you are following those. I hope you enjoy.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and future tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the story.

It was a bright and sunny day in March, and the students in Mrs. Diaz’s fourth grade class were very excited. Today wasn’t a normal school day. Today was field trip day. The students had been looking forward to today for weeks. They rarely got to go on field trips, and had been so surprised when Mrs. Diaz had passed around the field trip permission forms for their parents to sign.

The students were only going to be in their classroom for an hour, because at 9:00 a.m. they would go out to the busses and begin the drive across town to get to their destination. They were going to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

When she handed out the permission forms, Mrs. Diaz had told them that Musical Instrument Museum is a large museum that is famous for the eight thousand instruments that it boasts. The instruments are from more than 200 countries across the world. They are displayed in galleries that are specific to the region or culture that the instruments are from. The man who had founded the museum had decided to put it in Phoenix because of Phoenix’s rich cultural history and proximity to other amazing tourist attractions, like the Grand Canyon.

This year, Mrs. Diaz’s class had been learning how to play instruments. They had each had to purchase a plastic recorder as a school supply, and during band class they had been taught how to properly hold the recorder, which holes to cover to make notes, and how to read very easy sheet music. Everyone in the class had gotten pretty good at playing, and all of the students were very excited to learn about more musical instruments.

At 9:00 on the dot, Mrs. Diaz led her students and three parent chaperones out to the front of the school where the bus was waiting for them. Everyone filed out, chattering with excitement about the bus ride and the field trip.

“Only two to a seat!” Mrs. Diaz reminded everyone as the students piled on and tried to sit next to their friends. “You can’t all sit in the back, some of you are going to have to come up and sit up front!”

Ali and her best friend Leah made sure that they sat right next to each other on the bus. They lived in the same neighborhood and sat together on the way to and from school every day, so it just made sense.

“I’m so excited,” Ali said, bouncing a little in her seat. “I’m going to find out so much cool stuff about instruments. Do you think they’ll have any instruments from South America there?”

“I saw on the website that there’s this really cool gallery of exhibits that were made out of recycled cans and stuff like that from Paraguay, I think!” Leah answered. She pulled out her phone and looked at the website, and then turned the screen to Ali. “See?”

After several minutes, all of the students were seated and the bus driver pulled out of the school parking lot. On the ride to the Musical Instrument Museum, students talked to their friends and classmates, played on their phones, and some students even fell asleep.

When the class arrived at the museum, Mrs. Diaz stood up at the front of the bus to make a few announcements.

“We are going to split up into four groups, one for me and each chaperone,” she said after her students had quieted down to listen. “That way, we can all explore the museum at our own pace and we won’t be such a big crazy mob.” The students laughed – Mrs. Diaz was right, sometimes they could be a big crazy mob. Mrs. Diaz quickly assigned the groups, and Ali and Leah were lucky enough to be in the same group.

“Okay,” Mrs. Diaz said. “Remember to be respectful of the museum. Don’t be loud, don’t run, and please have fun! Go on, but come back here to meet at 2:00 p.m. so we can get the bus home!”

Each group split off into different directions to explore the Geographic Galleries. The museum was huge on the outside and on the inside, and the galleries were sprawling. There were instruments everywhere – some hung up on display boards, others on stands, others on the floor. Each exhibit was labelled for a different part of the world, and next to every instrument there was a plaque that said the name of the instrument and how old it was, as well as other interesting facts about how it was used. There were many signs reminding the students not to touch anything, too.

“Leah, check this out,” Ali said, pointing at a collection of bagpipes. They were looking at the European gallery, which had a whole wall full of bagpipes. “I’ve only ever seen those in movies before, they’re way bigger in real life.”

Next, they moved on to the Ireland exhibit. It featured beautiful stringed instruments, including a tall harp and a fiddle. Their chaperone was eager to point out an instrument hanging on the wall that looked a lot like their recorders, except it was made of metal with a plastic mouthpiece. The plaque next to it said it was called a tin whistle.

The groups spent the next several hours winding their way through the galleries, taking time to read all of the plaques next to the instruments. There were several instruments that no one, not even the chaperones, could pronounce the name of. All of the instruments had very rich and fascinating historical and cultural significance, and the students were excited to learn about them all.

When they had finished with the Geographic Galleries, Ali and Leah’s group headed downstairs to something called the Experience Gallery. When they walked into the room, they were met with a plethora of instruments that were set up without any barriers in front of them. There were harps, a Theremin, drums, and a xylophone. A museum employee was waiting to explain to them what this room was and came up to them to explain.

“This is called the Experience Gallery!” she said. “Every instrument in this room is okay for you to touch and play. Please feel free to pick up any of the instruments and try them out!”

Ali and Leah were thrilled. They had no idea they would be able to actually try to play any of the instruments. The group dispersed throughout the room, and Ali and Leah immediately gravitated towards the big harp. Ali went first, sitting on the stool at the back of the harp. She plucked at the strings, trying to replicate one of the easy songs they played on their recorders.

“Here,” Ali said to Leah, standing up. “You take over now. Try playing Hot Cross Buns!”

Around them, their classmates beat away at the drums and used soft mallets to hit the keys of the xylophone. Everyone had a turn to try every instrument in the room. The Theremin was Leah’s favorite. The museum guide explained that the Theremin was an instrument that used electromagnetic fields to produce sound. It was very difficult to play, but Leah was very excited when she was able to make a couple different sounds on it.

Far too soon it was 2:00 p.m., and the students were gathering up in the entrance of the museum to catch the bus back home.

“Mrs. Diaz, this was the best field trip ever!” Ali said as they walked past their teacher to get onto the bus. “Thank you so much! I hope I can go back soon, I want to go with my mom and dad!”

“I’m so glad you enjoyed it,” Mrs. Diaz answered, ruffling Ali’s hair. “I hope you all learned something today and that you continue feeling this excited about music. It’s so important for us to learn!”

Many of the students fell asleep on the bus on the way home, exhausted from their long walks around the huge museum. When they got back to the school, it was almost time to get back on the busses to go home.

That night, Ali and Leah rode their bus home together, and each told their parents about the amazing day that they had. Their parents were so happy to hear about it, and were happy to hear that all of the children had enjoyed their very special field trip day.

And that’s the story. Did you hear all the phrasal verbs? And now for a summary of the story in the present, past and future tenses.

Present tense

It is a bright and sunny day in March, and the students in Mrs. Diaz’s fourth grade class are very excited. Today is not a normal school day. Today is a field trip day. They are going to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. The Musical Instrument Museum is a large museum that is famous for the eight thousand instruments that it boasts. The instruments are from more than 200 countries across the world and are displayed in listening galleries that are specific to the region or culture that the instruments are from. In one of the galleries the class actually plays some of the instruments including a giant harp. It is a great day at the museum.

Past Tense

It was a bright and sunny day in March, and the students in Mrs. Diaz’s fourth grade class were very excited. Today wasn’t a normal school day. Today was field trip day. They were going to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. The Musical Instrument Museum was a large museum that was famous for the eight thousand instruments that it displayed. The instruments were from more than 200 countries across the world and were displayed in listening galleries that were specific to the region or culture the instruments were from. In one of the galleries the class actually played some of the instruments including a giant harp. It was a great day at the museum.

Future Tense Summary

It will be a bright and sunny day in March, and the students in Mrs. Diaz’s fourth grade class will be very excited. The day, will not be a normal school day. It will be a field trip day. They will be going to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. The Musical Instrument Museum will be a large museum that will be famous for the eight thousand instruments that it will display. The instruments will be from more than 200 countries across the world and will be displayed in listening galleries that will be specific to the region or culture the instruments will be from. In one of the galleries the class will actually play some of the instruments including a giant harp. It will be a great day at the museum.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again, See you next time! Good bye!

The world's oldest man passed away, a massive asteroid safely zooms by Earth, after omicron we could use a break and Superbigote y su mano de hierro!

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! Depending on when and where you are listening! It’s been a slow news day and what better way to improve your English but to hopefully listen to what you have already heard in your native language. I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Today there’s not going to be our normal past present and future summaries, but with luck these stories will sound familiar if you are a newsy person. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find this podcast and transcriptions to many of the other weekly stories. Listening to and following along with transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of the news today. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the news. Enjoy!

World’s oldest man passed away peacefully in Spain after a full and long life.

MADRID, Spain — Saturnino de la Fuente, a Spaniard described by Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest man, died Tuesday at the age of 112 years and 341 days, the records agency said.

De la Fuente passed away at home in León, a city in northwest Spain, it said.

Guinness World Records named De la Fuente as the world’s oldest man in September, when he was 112 years and 211 days. It said he was born in the Puente Castro neighborhood of León on Feb. 11, 1909.

De la Fuente was a cobbler by trade and started working in a shoe factory at age 13, Spain’s state-run news agency EFE reported.

He survived the Spanish flu pandemic that broke out in 1918 and with his wife Antonina had seven daughters and one son, followed by 14 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren, it said.

He is to be buried Today at a local cemetery.

Massive asteroid safely zooms by Earth, a million miles away

A huge asteroid made its closest approach of the next two centuries Tuesday (Jan. 18), flying quite safely past our planet.

Asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1), which is classified as a near-Earth asteroid, only got within five lunar distances of our planet, the equivalent of 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers).

The Virtual Telescope Project, which is based in Rome, hosted a livestream allowing viewers to watch the 3,400-foot-wide (1 km) object during the closest part of its flyby, which occurred at 4:51 p.m. EST (2151 GMT).

Any asteroids or comets (which can be very loosely defined as icy space rocks trailed by gassy tails) that come within 1.3 astronomical units (120.9 million miles, or 194.5 million km) qualify as near-Earth objects, or NEOs, according to NASA. (One astronomical unit is equal to the average distance between the Earth and the sun).

While there are no known objects "out there" that may pose an immediate threat for Earth, NASA does keep its eyes peeled. Through partner telescopes in space and on the ground, it monitors and hunts NEOs while assessing potentially hazardous ones through the Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

The agency also tests out technology for potential planetary defense, including the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) that will seek to alter the path of an asteroid's moonlet in the fall of 2022.

After Omicron, we could use a break. We may just get it…According to some scientists.

By month 25 of the Covid-19 pandemic, we all probably should have learned not to try to anticipate what the SARS-CoV-2 virus is going to do next. It has so consistently defied predictions.

But the tsunami that is the Omicron wave is tempting us all the same, in large part because of an inescapable fact: By the time it crashes, the immunological landscape in this country — and in much of the world — is going to be profoundly altered. Far more people will have some immunity to Covid-19 than was the case before the wave began. Many will have what is effectively hybrid immunity, from vaccination and infection.

As a result, some experts think we may get a bit of a break from the Covid roller coaster after Omicron. It could be a respite, if you will, after the punishing months of the Delta and Omicron waves, with their millions of cases, that began at the beginning of last summer.

Caveats abound, and most experts who spoke to STAT weren’t ready to predict that a reprieve, if it comes, will be an actual end to the pandemic — the point where SARS-2 pivots to becomes endemic. But they generally agreed that the accumulation of population immunity could slow things down, at least for a while.

Superbigote y su mano de hierro

SuperMoustache! Sounds like a job for Venezuela’s socialist superhero

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No – it’s a Venezuelan propaganda campaign designed to burnish Nicolás Maduro’s strongman credentials with the help of a caped crusader called SuperBigote – or SuperMoustache.

The musclebound cartoon superhero – who bears an unmistakable resemblance to Venezuela’s president – has been met with acclaim or derision, depending on which side of the country’s bitter political schism viewers stand.

Pro-Maduro politicians have eulogized the “indestructible” beefcake, who appears on state television using his superpower – an iron left fist – to protect their socialist homeland from a Donald Trump-like villain.

“It’s fantastic! Don’t miss it!” the deputy commerce minister Luis Villegas Ramírez tweeted after the latest installment, in which SuperMoustache tried to send Cuban, Russian and Chinese Covid vaccines to Venezuelan citizens – only for the US to block delivery with the help of Maduro’s domestic enemies.

“We’ll destroy them at last! They’ll suffer! They’ll weep! They’ll be the global epicenter of the pandemic!” the dastardly imperialist brags in heavily accented Spanish before SuperMoustache saves the day. “Nobody messes with SuperBigote,” state television channel VTV boasted on Twitter.

Maduro’s foes have savaged the series, with pundits decrying what some called an attempt to build a cult of personality – or even an attempt at mind control.

Others wondered why the supposedly omnipotent SuperMoustache had failed to shield his country from humanitarian catastrophe.

Julio Borges, a prominent opposition leader, suggested “Super Destroyer of Venezuela” would be a more appropriate name. “Maduro means misery and corruption,” Borges tweeted alongside photographs of Venezuelans scavenging for food.

Guillermo Zubillaga, a Venezuela specialist at the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, said there was logic to the seemingly frivolous cartoon.

He believed spin doctors hoped SuperMoustache would emphasize the invincibility of a politician who, against all odds, overcame a relentless US-backed campaign to topple him.

“His superpower is staying in power,” said Zubillaga, pointing to critical support from China and Russia, whose deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, last week refused to rule out sending troops to Venezuela if tensions with the US continued to rise.

“The message they are trying to convey is that they are in total control.”

Maduro is not the first authoritarian to be cast as a comic book hero.

In 2016 Chinese propagandists produced a cartoon version of their leader, Xi Jinping, in which the Communist party boss played Whac-a-Mole with corrupt officials.

A year later, Moscow hosted an art exhibition called Super Putin, featuring sculptures and paintings celebrating Vladimir Putin’s superhero side. One showed Putin in a skin-tight Superman costume with the initials SP written on his chest.

What some are saying:

“Some say they think it’s effective and we shouldn’t dismiss it,” and added. “I you repeat it so much … people will start to believe it.”

Does Superbigote or Supermoustach have power?

Do you believe it?

And that’s the news for today. I hope you enjoyed hearing these stories and I hope you have already heard these in your country as well before you listened to this podcast. What do you think of the news? Do you have any news stories to tell me about? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

Have a great week !

Buh Bye for now.

around, over, up, down, next to, left, right, beside, up, above, underneath

Welcome! And good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This week our story is going to cover prepositions of place: around, over, up, down, next to, left, right, beside, up, above, underneath, for example. There are many more but these are the most common to start. You might find explanations for these in your grammar books but in this podcast you can hear them in the context of a real story. They are highlighted in the transcripts if you are following those. I hope you enjoy.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present, future and conditional tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the story.

One thing that twin sisters Addie and Sophie were constantly amazed by was the number of antique stores that were in Arizona. They had moved to Arizona for college the year before from a small midwestern town, and they were struck immediately by how many antique, thrift, and resale stores there were dotted around the valley. In their small town, there had only been one antique store and the next closest store had been over an hour away. Between Tempe, Phoenix, Gilbert, Mesa, and Chandler, there were at least twenty different stores that the girls liked to frequent, and all were no more than a half hour from each other.

Going antique shopping was something that Addie and Sophie tried to do at least twice a month, homework and social events allowing. They would plan their stops on Friday night, after they were done with classes, and on Saturday mornings they would get up bright and early and head out. It was a great way for them to take a break from campus life at Arizona State University and to spend time with each other. They rarely bought anything – they were in it for the experience.

Part of what made antique shopping in Arizona so much more interesting than antique shopping in the Midwest was that Arizona’s history was much older than the midwestern states. Beautifully preserved cowboy equipment was a frequent find at the antique stores the girls loved. Addie specifically enjoyed finding antique horse tack, like bits and saddles.

Sophie was less interested in tack and more interested in old furniture. Finding a good deal on antique furniture at antique stores could be difficult – oftentimes, the furniture was overpriced or poorly refinished. Sometimes she would get lucky and find something that was not ruined or overpriced.

Regardless of what they ended up looking for or looking at, both girls loved the thrill of finding something amazing and both girls loved the time they got to spend together.

They knew that they were going antiquing that weekend, so on Friday night after class Addie and Sophie sat on the floor of their shared room with a map pulled up on a laptop and the addresses of their favorite stores on another laptop.

“We haven’t been to the giant antique malls in Phoenix and Goodyear in a long time,” Addie said, looking over their list. Sophie nodded in agreement.

“Which one do you want to go to? The one in Phoenix or the one in Goodyear?” Sophie asked. Addie frowned and looked at the map.

“Do you think we could do both?” she asked. “Start in Goodyear, loop over and up to Phoenix, then head back home?” Sophie looked at the map, too, and nodded in agreement. The best part about being twins was almost always agreeing on everything.

The next morning, the girls were up and out the door by 8:30 a.m. to start their antiquing day. They stopped at the coffee place next to their apartment for their customary antique-shopping drink, punched the address into their phone, and were on their way. As they drove, they listened to a playlist of their favorite music and sang along to the songs, chatted about school, and discussed what they were looking for that day.

“I’d like to find some sort of cool picture or painting to hang to the left of the TV,” Addie said, looking at Sophie to see what she thought. “Since we have a picture on the right side. It looks kind of uneven.”

“Definitely,” Sophie agreed, looking over her shoulder so she could merge into the lane beside them.

They arrived at the antique store in Goodyear just as it opened and were happily welcomed in as the first customers of the day. Getting started early was key to antique shopping on weekends, because the stores got very busy as the day went on.

Together Sophie and Addie walked up and down the long aisles of the store. There were at least fifteen aisles – it was a very large store. Each aisle was made up of booths rented out by individual sellers and labeled by number, so the items for sale in each booth were vastly different from the next.

As they walked around the store, the stopped at each booth, riffling through records and looking carefully into display cases at the small glass figurines and dishware that many of the booths had.

They were nearing the end of the first antique store when Addie cried out in excitement, jogging ahead to the next booth. “Sophie,” she called, “Look at this!”

Sophie skipped over the booth she was looking at and jogged up to Addie. Addie was pointing up to a painting that was hanging above a small table. It was a fairly small painting of a scene of horses drinking from a river, and it was the perfect size to go beside their TV.

“It’s only $25,” Addie said excitedly. “And this booth is 10% off. What do you think?”

“I love it,” Sophie confirmed. “It’ll go great next to the TV. Let’s grab it.”

They finished walking around the antique store with the painting tucked under Addie’s arm. At their second to last booth, Sophie found something that she was looking for, too.

“I need a new bedside table,” she said, kneeling down to look at a small end table. The top of the table was shaped like an octagon, and it had delicate spindly legs. It was the perfect height for a bedside table, and in great condition. It was nothing, a little bit of furniture polish and elbow grease couldn’t spruce up.

“How much?” Addie asked, picking up the price tag. “Oh dude, it’s a really good deal. $45. I think you should do it, and it’ll fit in the car for sure.” Both girls laughed, remembering when they had bought a small stand to go underneath their TV and it had been just a little too big to fit in the back of their car. They had to call a friend who had a truck to come meet them at the antique store to drive it back to their place. Since then, they were very careful about what they bought.

Satisfied with their picks, the girls made their way to the front of the store to check out. They chatted with the cashier, paid separately, and made their way out to the car. They were very excited to head to the next store to see what else they could find, and even more excited to continue spending a perfect day together.

Present

Going antique shopping is something that Addie and Sophie try to do at least twice a month. On Saturday mornings they get up bright and early and head out. It is a great way for them to take a break from student life on campus. One day they go out and find some great deals on antiques and it is a great day.

Past

Going antique shopping was something that Addie and Sophie tried to do at least twice a month. On Saturday mornings they got up bright and early and headed out. It was a great way for them to take a break from student life on campus. One day they went out and found some great deals on antiques and it was a great day.

Future

Going antique shopping will be something that Addie and Sophie will try to do at least twice a month. On Saturday mornings they will get up bright and early and will head out. It will be a great way for them to take a break from student life on campus. One day they will go out and will find some great deals on antiques and it will be a great day.

Conditional

Going antique shopping would be something that Addie and Sophie would try to do at least twice a month. On Saturday mornings they would get up bright and early and would head out. It would be a great way for them to take a break from student life on campus. One day they would go out and would find some great deals on antiques and it would be a great day.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time! Were able to follow the difference in the tenses? I hope so.

I would love to hear what your comments are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again, See you next time! Good bye!

Episode 28 Las Noticias En Inglés…. Lentamente

Pope congratulates reporter who saw him at record shop, Can CBD Help Curb COVID? Maybe, But More Study Needed, and Could the Earth ever stop spinning, and what would happen if it did?

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! Depending on when and where you are listening! It’s been a slow news day and what better way to improve your English but to hopefully listen to what you have already heard in your native language. I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Today there’s not going to be our normal past present and future summaries, but with luck these stories will sound familiar if you are a newsy person. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find this podcast and transcriptions to many of the other weekly stories. Listening to and following along with transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of the news today. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the news. Enjoy!

You caught me: Pope congratulates reporter who saw him at record shop

Once again, I’m not catholic, but news of the pope always seems interesting.

Pope Francis has congratulated the reporter who caught him visiting old friends who run a Rome record shop this week, joking that it was his "bad luck" that the news got out.

The visit on Tuesday night was to have remained secret but a local news agency person was in the area in central Rome by chance. He filmed it with his smartphone, posted it on Twitter, and it went viral.

In a letter sent on Thursday, Pope Francis congratulated the reporter on his work and lamented his own misfortune.

"You can't deny that it was a case of bad luck ... that after taking all the precautions, there was a reporter there at the taxi rank," Francis said in the letter.

"One should not lose one's sense of humor," Francis said. "Thanks for doing your job, even if it did put the pope in difficulty."

Francis, who shuns bulletproof cars and visible police escorts, arrived at the StereoSound record shop near the ancient Pantheon in a simple white Fiat 500 driven by a Vatican employee. He stayed inside for about 15 minutes.

The shop's owners later said they had become friends with him years ago when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires.

He would visit their shop to buy classical music records and CDs when he was in Rome on Church business and stayed at a nearby residence for visiting clerics.

"What I miss the most (since he became pope) is not being able to walk around the streets, as I did in Buenos Aires, walking from one parish to another," Francis wrote.

The shop owners later said they gave the pope a boxed-set of classical music CDs but declined to be more specific.

Francis is known to like Beethoven, Mozart and Bach -- and even tango music from his native Argentina.

It was not the first time the pope has visited a Rome shop. In 2015, two years after his election, he ordered a new pair of eyeglasses from a Rome optician. They were to have been delivered to the Vatican but he decided to go pick them up himself.

He also once went to a store to pick up a pair of orthopedic shoes.

Can CBD Help Cure COVID? Maybe, But More Study Needed

Cannabidiol, or CBD is a compound derived from marijuana, appears to show promise in blocking replication of the COVID-19 virus and preventing its spread, lab and animal studies show.

CBD inhibited the ability of the coronavirus to spread in human lung cell samples, and also suppressed COVID-19 infection in the lungs and nasal passages of lab mice. Although research in animals doesn't always pan out in humans, the success of CBD may not be limited to the lab.

But don't rush out to your local dispensary just yet — researchers got these results using a highly purified CBD powder.

The sort of CBD oil you'd buy at your local cannabis shop won't contain a high enough concentration of the compound to make any difference, explained lead researcher Marsha Rich Rosner, a professor of cancer research at the University of Chicago.

"We had a vision of people going to take CBD and saying, 'OK, now I don't need to be vaccinated, now I don't need a mask.' That's not the case," Rosner said. "We're not saying ever that you should substitute CBD for vaccination or any of the other precautions."

Instead, Rosner and her colleagues are calling for human clinical trials to determine the dosage of purified CBD that might help treat a new COVID-19 infection.

"We are actually suggesting that a trial be done similar to what you might do with vaccines, either as a preventive trial or an early-stage treatment after you've been tested," Rosner said.

However, lab tests showed that CBD directly inhibited the virus' ability to replicate, stopping its spread in human cells. Mice treated with CBD for one week were able to suppress COVID-19 infection in their lungs and nasal passages.

Don't think you can smoke weed and get enough CBD to protect yourself that way, either. You won't absorb enough CBD from the smoke, and you'll also get too much THC, the compound in pot that gets you high, They said.

"We tested THC. It does not work. Furthermore, when we added THC to CBD, it prevented CBD from blocking the replication of the virus,"

The truth is CBD might show promise but as always more research is needed and please don’t run out and buy what you think will work because it likely will not.

Could the Earth ever stop spinning, and what would happen if it did?

The Earth has been spinning since its birth, four and a half billion years ago.

The Earth spins steadily, once every 23 hours and 56 minutes. During this time, the Earth also moves a little further on its orbit around the sun, which takes one year to complete. This means it needs to turn a bit more — for four minutes — until it faces the sun again. This means that one day on Earth lasts 24 hours.

The reason the Earth keeps spinning is because there is hardly anything to stop it. If you spin a roundabout in a playground and let go, eventually it will come to a stop. This is because as it spins, the air and the surface of the playground are pushing against it, causing friction and slowing it down.

The Earth is spinning in space, which is pretty much empty. In space, there is not even air to push against and slow down the Earth's spin.

If the Earth stopped spinning, you wouldn't suddenly be launched off into space. Gravity would still keep you firmly on the ground.

There would be lots of changes, though. If Earth were to stop spinning but continue to orbit the sun, a "day" would last half a year, and so would the night. It could warm up much more during the day and cool down much more during the night. This would affect the climate on Earth.

If the Earth didn't spin, the night sky would always show the same constellations of stars, because you would always be looking out into space in the same direction. This is very different from seeing the stars rise and set during the night, and seeing different constellations at different times of the year.

And that’s the news for today. I hope you enjoyed hearing these stories and I hope you have already heard these in your country as well before you listened to this podcast. What do you think of the news? Do you have any news stories to tell me about? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

Have a great week !

Buh Bye for now.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story is told in the first person and covers a number of common colloquialisms, street talk or just sayings that mean something different in direct translation. It’s one thing to see these on the list in your grammar book but it is quite different to hear them in context in an actual story. Hopefully this helps you remember them for next time.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and conditional tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Let’s review the colloquialisms or idioms and their meanings first and then you can listen closely in the story for how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, these are highlighted in the transcripts

Pull yourself together - Calm down

Right off the bat - The very beginning

So far so good - Things are going well so far

Speak of the devil - The person we were just talking about showed up!

That's the last straw - My patience has run out

Time flies when you're having fun - You don't notice how long something lasts when it's fun

To get bent out of shape - To get upset or angry

To make matters worse - Make a problem worse

Under the weather - Sick

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it - Let's not talk about that problem right now

And now to the story. Listen closely for these sayings. Are you ready? Enjoy!

Growing up, my parents had always told me that when I found the right job, it wouldn’t feel like work. This seemed to be true for them. Both of my parents had jobs that they loved. Even when their jobs were stressful, or they made mistakes, or had to work longer hours, I never heard my parents complain. “Time flies when you’re having fun!” my dad had said once after he came home from an overtime shift.

When I went to school to study for my dream job, I wanted the same thing that my parents had. I studied hard, got good grades, and when I graduated I jumped right into applying for jobs. It didn’t take me long to get an interview, and a job offer, as a legal assistant at a law firm. So far so good on my quest to find the perfect job.

I was very excited to start, and very excited that I hadn’t had any trouble finding a good job. It was a foot in the door, and seemed like it would be good experience. I would be trained by the departing legal assistant and have the opportunity to learn and maybe even be promoted to a paralegal after a time.

However, everything was not as wonderful as it had seemed.

On my first day, my boss informed me that the employee that was supposed to train me was already gone and that I would have to learn most of the job myself. I asked my boss if there was anyone that could train me, and she said no. To make matters worse, I was not the only new employee starting that needed training. There was also a new paralegal starting. Right off the bat, things were not looking good.

My new coworker and I stumbled our way through the first few weeks of our new job, learning how our boss liked to have her files kept, emails answered, and documents drafted. It was a very steep learning curve, especially for me. I had no work experience and no law experience, and starting at zero with no help was frustrating. I tried not to get bent out of shape over it – our boss was very busy and I reminded myself that it must be frustrating for her to have two new employees to work with, too.

But things only went downhill the longer my coworker and I were there. Every day was a struggle, and time was definitely not flying by. The workload began to increase, I was still trying to train myself, and the paralegal was struggling to meet our boss’s very high expectations. Every morning I had to give myself a pep talk and pull myself together so I could do the best that I could.

I stumbled my way through the job for a year before I finally hit a breaking point. I woke up one morning feeling very under the weather and knew I needed to call out sick. It was the first time I had called out sick, so I wasn’t sure what my boss needed from me. I wasn’t even sure if I got paid sick time, or if it would be an unpaid day. When I started, I had asked her about how sick leave worked and she had responded: “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

I called my boss two hours before I was supposed to start work and left her a voicemail explaining that I was sick and wouldn’t be in, and apologizing for the inconvenience. I was unsure if that was enough and didn’t want to do something wrong, so I called my mom for advice to make sure that I had been professional enough.

My mom was in the middle of reassuring me that I had done what she would have done when I got a call on the other line.

“Oh, speak of the devil,” I said. “She’s calling me back now.”

“Go answer!” my mom said. “And then get some rest. Love you, honey!”

I switched the call over to my boss, and was very surprised when she immediately told me that I had to come into work right away.

“Did you get my voicemail?” I asked in confusion. “I can’t come in today, I’m really sick.”

“You’re my only assistant!” she cried out. “You have to come in, I don’t have anyone else to fill in for you.”

“Ma’am, I have a fever. I don’t want to get you or my coworkers sick,” I explained, starting to feel a little exasperated. She had never mentioned needing someone to fill in for me if I was sick, and I knew that she shouldn’t be begging me to come in if I had a fever.

“I am very unhappy about this,” she answered. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then she hung up.

That was the last straw for me. I had spent twelve months struggling to learn how to do a very complicated job with no training or guidance, and no feedback unless I made a mistake. My boss was not very nice to me or to my coworker, and I didn’t want to be blamed for having to call out sick.

I remembered what my parents had always said – if you are doing a job you love, you never work a day in your life. That was what I had always wanted, and it was not what I had. I did not enjoy the job I was doing. Every day felt like the longest day of my life, and I was not having fun. I was done wasting time at a job that I didn’t like and that didn’t appreciate me.

I spent my sick day in bed, updating my resume and searching for new jobs. By the end of the day, I had applied to several different law firms and a couple of county and state legal jobs. By the end of that week, I had three different interviews lined up. It took about a month, but I was finally hired by one of the state jobs and I happily gave my notice at the law firm.

My new job is the best of both worlds. I was trained by someone that knew the job very well, and my boss is very nice to me. I get to work in the field that I love, and I am learning something new every day. My parents were right about finding the right job. Work doesn’t feel like work – it feels like a rewarding new adventure every day.

Past

Growing up, my parents had always told me that when I found the right job, it wouldn’t feel like work. This seemed to be true for them. I went to school to study for my dream job. I wanted the same thing. I studied hard, got good grades, and when I graduated I got a job right away. But it was my first job and I needed training and things only went downhill. I did not like my boss, there was too much work, and I didn’t know how to do a lot of things. Every day was a struggle, and time was definitely not flying by. One day I got sick and my boss still wanted me to come in. There was no way. This was too much so I looked for another job. I found one and was much happier. I liked the work, I liked my boss and the work did not feel like work.

Present

My parents always tell me that when I find the right job, it wouldn’t feel like work. This seems to be true for them. I am going to school to study for my dream job. I want the same thing. I study hard, I get good grades, and I am graduating and finding a job right away. But this is my first job and I need training and things are going downhill. I do not like my boss, there is too much work, and I don’t know how to do a lot of things. Every day is a struggle, and time is definitely not flying by. I am sick and my boss still wants me to come in. There is no way. This is too much so I look for another job. I find one and now I am much happier. I like the work, I like my boss, and the work doesn’t feel like work.

Future

Growing up, my parents will always tell me that when I find the right job, it will not feel like work. This will seem to be true for them. I will go to school to study for my dream job, and I will want the same thing. I will study hard, and get good grades. I will graduate and I will get a job right away. But it will be my first job and I will need training and things will only go downhill. I will not like my boss, there will be too much work, and I will not know how to do a lot of things. Every day will be a struggle, and time will definitely not fly by. One day I will get sick and my boss will still want me to come in. There will be no way. This will be too much so I will look for another job. I will find one and will be much happier. I will like the work, my boss and the work will not feel like work.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are. Please send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.

Wake up, Get up, Give up, Blow up, Turn out, Keep up, Set out, Sit down, Come on, Come out, Head out

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story is told in the second person and covers a number of common phrasal verbs, or verbs requiring more than one word to function correctly. It’s one thing to see these on the list in your grammar book but it is quite different to hear them in context in an actual story. Hopefully this helps you remember them for next time.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Remember this is not a lecture, it is a story designed to be listened to more than once. Repetition is key to this learning process. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and conditional tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Let’s review the phrasal verbs before we start the story and then you can listen closely in the story for how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, these are highlighted in the transcripts.

Wake up, Get up, Give up, Blow up, Turn out, Keep up, Set out, Sit down, Come on, Come out, Head out.

And now the story, are you ready!

You wake up to the sound of your alarm, loud and shrill in your ear. You are confused, because it’s pitch black in your room. It’s not normally totally dark when your alarm wakes you up for work. It takes you a disoriented moment before you remember that today is actually Saturday, and you’re waking up before it’s light out because you’re going on an early hike with your friends. You groan and shove your face into the pillow.

You love hiking, but you do not love to get up so early in the morning. You are not an early bird, you are a night owl. Or some sort of permanently exhausted chicken (haha) – you’re not really sure.

After ignoring your alarm for another thirty seconds, you give up and pull yourself out of bed with a groan of annoyance. You know once you’re up and moving and getting ready you’ll be fine, but your bed is so comfortable.

As you get ready, your hiking group chat is blowing up your phone. It seems that, unlike you, everyone else is awake and sociable at this hour. You text them to confirm that yes, you are awake and yes, you will meet them at the trailhead at the correct time. Several of your friends text back expressing their surprise that you’re actually awake and you smile around your toothbrush. They know you way too well.

You had met your group of friends during your first year of college, when you had all hiked up the mountain beside Arizona State University to take part in the old college ritual of whitewashing the giant letter “A” that adorned the mountain. Since then, you had all graduated and started your careers, and some of you had started families, but everyone made a point of making sure that at least once a month everyone would be able to turn out for a group hike.

This group of people had become very important to you, and you were very important to them. You felt lucky that you had all been able to keep up such important friendships active as you all set out into your adult lives. You knew that not everyone was that lucky.

After you get up, get dressed, and have a quick but nutritious breakfast, you head out to your car to drive to the trailhead. Even though it’s summer and it’s unbearably hot during the day, it is a little chilly on your way out to the car. You knew that would soon change when the sun began to rise. The forecast for the day is a scorching 107 degrees Fahrenheit.

Surprisingly, you’re the first person of the group to arrive at the trailhead. They had all been joking in the group chat about how you are always up late and arriving late, so the irony makes you laugh, and you text the group to tease them about it. As you wait for your friends to arrive, you do a quick warmup and stretch, and make sure you have enough water for the hike.

The next person to arrive is Sonia, your roommate from your freshman year. She has her dog Dexter with her. Dexter has become the most popular member of your hiking group for obvious reasons – everyone loves a good dog. Today, Dexter is sporting his fancy hiking shoes and walks a little awkwardly in them. It’s cute. You’re not too sure Dexter likes the shoes though.

“Hi Sonia!” you call, jogging up to her. You give her a hug and you two spend a minute or two catching up before another two cars pull into the lot, and Nick and Liz join you and Sonia. You and Sonia sit down on the tailgate of Sonia’s SUV and Nick and Liz do some stretches as you all talk. Over the next few minutes Tony, Jenn, Denise, and Courtney arrive, and the group is complete.

“Looks like we’re all here,” Nick says as he pulls away from hugging the last person that had arrived. “Come on, let’s hit the trail before it starts to get too miserably hot!”

You all fall in line together, walking in groups of two and three. The trail you are hiking is a trail that you had all done before because it’s a more leisurely pace and is centrally located between all of you.

About an hour into the hike, the sun starts to come out, creeping up over the horizon and bathing the trail in early morning light. It casts long shadows off the rocks and brush, and the air starts to heat up. By the time you and your group hit the halfway mark, the temperature has climbed into the high eighties and everyone has broken out in a light sweat.

At the halfway point of the trail, you have reached the highest elevation you will and everyone stops to take the customary mid-hike selfie. That tradition had started on the hike up to the “A” and had endured through every hike you had all had together. The group chat was full of pretty unflattering selfies of everyone looking tired and sweaty, but you all adored the memories that the pictures brought.

“Let’s get back to the trailhead,” Liz says after the picture had been taken. “It’s getting hot and I don’t want to get caught out here when it’s over 100.” Everyone agrees and finishes up the break with some water. Dexter drinks out of his portable water dish, tail wagging. That dog really likes hiking.

The second half of the hike always feels shorter than the first for you. In no time at all, you can see the parking lot in the distance, and then the hike is over. Afterwards, everyone stands together and talks for another half hour before the group starts to regretfully break apart and head out on their separate ways.

You may not see each other every day anymore like you did in college, and you may not even talk every day, but you and your friends know that seeing each other and talking all the time is not what makes a friendship good and special. You and your friends know that what makes a friendship good is the experiences that you have together, and although you hate getting up early and you don’t like being hot and sweaty, you love the hikes you go on with your friends, because you love the time you get to spend with them.

Past

You woke up to the sound of your alarm, because you were going on an early morning hike with your friends. You groaned and shoved your face into the pillow but then got up and got ready to go out. You met your friends at the trailhead before the sun rose and you all greeted each other and everyone was happy to see good friends. You all went on a hike in a familiar desert mountain area and the sun rose as you were hiking and it started to get hot. You all turned around and headed back to where you all started. The hike ended and there were hugs all around since it was great to see your friends and you don’t see them every day now. It was a great morning hike for you all and you all headed out in your separate ways.

Present

You wake up to the sound of your alarm, because you’re going on an early morning hike with your friends. You groan and shove your face into the pillow but then get up and get ready to go out. You meet your friends at the trailhead before the sun rises and you all greet each other and everyone is happy to see good friends. You all go on a hike in a familiar desert mountain area and the sun rises as you are hiking and it starts to get hot. You all turn around and head back to where you all started. The hike ends and there are hugs all around since it’s great to see your friends and you don’t see them every day now. It has been a great morning hike for you all and you all head out in your separate ways.

Future

You will wake up to the sound of your alarm, because you will be going on an early morning hike with your friends. You will groan and shove your face into the pillow but then will get up and get ready to go out. You will meet your friends at the trailhead before the sun rises and you will all greet each other and everyone will be happy to see good friends. You will all go on a hike in a familiar desert mountain area and the sun will rise as you are hiking and it will start to get hot. You will all turn around and head back to where you all started. The hike will end and there will be hugs all around since it will be great to see your friends and you will not see them every day. It will be a great morning hike for you all and you will all head out in your separate ways.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, as I mentioned before, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are. Please send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Mom, dad, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, niece, nephew grandma, grandpa

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when and where you are listening! This story covers many of the family member names. It’s one thing to see these words on the list in your grammar book but it is quite different to hear them in context in an actual story. Hopefully this helps you remember them for next time.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and future tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Listen closely for family members in the story and how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, the family members are all highlighted in the transcripts.

And now the story

When Megan was fourteen years old, she walked into her Spanish class on the first day of school and saw a boy across the room that she had never seen before, but she knew right then that she was going to marry that boy. She even told her friend that. To many people, it seemed like a far-fetched idea that Megan knew just from looking at the boy that she was going to marry him – she was fourteen and he was fifteen, and they had never spoken a word to each other before that year, but she just knew. She was right.

Throughout that year, Megan and Kyle went from being strangers, to being friendly in class, to being friends, to Kyle asking Megan to come over to his house after school, and then one day Kyle asked Megan to be his girlfriend. Megan, of course, said yes. They didn’t go on their real first date until they had been dating for a year, once Kyle got his driver’s license. They saved up money from their minimum-wage after school jobs for weeks to afford going to dinner at a fancy restaurant, and Kyle drove them there on their one-year anniversary.

Megan and Kyle had a lot in common. They both liked watching the school’s football games, they liked the same movies, they liked hunting, and most importantly they valued their families above everything else. Megan had a very nuclear family – she had her mom and dad, her older sister, and her two younger twin sisters. She was also very close to her maternal grandparents (her mom’s parents) and her paternal grandparents (her dad’s parents). Her parents each had one sibling, both brothers, so Megan had an uncle on each side of the family. Her uncles were both married to her wonderful aunts, and between the two sides she had seven cousins. Megan’s family was very protective of her, so Kyle had a lot of people to impress.

Kyle’s family was a little more complicated. Kyle lived with his mom and little sister. His parents were divorced, and his dad had remarried his step-mom. Between his dad and step-mom, Kyle had a whopping seven step-siblings both younger and older than him. Unlike Megan, Kyle wasn’t as close to his aunts and uncles, but he had them and he also had a lot of cousins.

Luckily for Megan and Kyle, their families loved both of them. The longer they dated, the more apparent it became to all of their family that this was a serious thing and that they were meant to be. Even though they were young, Megan and Kyle knew that they were soulmates. They stayed together all through high school, even when Megan and her family moved across the country. They dated long-distance for two years before Kyle picked up and he moved across the country, too. Even though it was hard for Kyle’s family to see him go, it was even harder for them to see him so unhappy with Megan so far away.

Megan and Kyle would travel back to their home state together frequently to visit their family. They stayed with Megan’s grandparents and Kyle’s mom, and made time to visit all of their aunts, uncles, and cousins. They traveled back for hunting season every year and went hunting with Megan’s uncle and with Kyle’s dad and step-siblings. They always prioritized the time they spent with their families.

After seven years, Kyle decided that it was time for him to propose to Megan. He planned the proposal for when they were on vacation in Duluth, Minnesota. They both loved the city of Duluth and they loved the pier that extended out into Lake Superior. He shopped for a ring and secretly bought it. It was a beautiful rose-gold band encrusted with tiny diamonds, and the center stone was a large diamond surrounded by a ring of smaller diamonds. It was beautiful, and he knew Megan would love it.

Kyle knew that traditions were important to Megan, so he made sure to ask Megan’s dad’s permission to marry her. Megan’s dad very happily gave his blessing for Kyle to ask for his daughter’s hand, Kyle picked up the ring from the jeweler’s, and the plan was ready to go.

The day that Megan and Kyle traveled to Duluth together, it was freezing cold and just starting to snow. They spent the day wandering around the city, exploring the little tourist shops and antique stores, and getting dinner together. After dinner, Kyle suggested that they take a walk to the lighthouse at the end of the pier. In a strange stroke of luck, they were the only two people on the pier that evening.

They walked down together, hand in hand, and at the end of the pier Kyle got down on one knee and asked Megan the very important question: “Will you marry me?”

Megan said yes.

As soon as the initial excitement wore off, Megan and Kyle called all of their families to share the news and celebrate. Megan video called her mom and screamed and jumped up and down in excitement, and her mom and dad both cried because they were excited, too. Megan’s sisters were all just as excited as their parents. Kyle’s mom and dad were very proud of their son for doing so well with his life, because they loved their future daughter-in-law very much.

The news of the engagement spread quickly through the family. Megan’s mom called her parents (Megan’s grandparents), and they called their son (Megan’s uncle), who told his wife and they told their three kids (Megan’s cousins). Megan’s dad called his parents, who told their son, and the story spread the very same way there.

Kyle’s mom called Kyle’s grandma and told Kyle’s little sister, and Kyle’s dad told Kyle’s other grandma and all of Kyle’s step-siblings. From there, it spread to the extended family – the grandparents told their siblings (Megan and Kyle’s great aunts and uncles) and for the next few days, Megan and Kyle’s phones rang off the hook with words of congratulations.

Despite the excitement of the engagement, Megan and Kyle knew the fun was just beginning.

And now a summary of the family in the present, past and future tenses

Present

Megan and Kyle meet in high school and this is a story about who their families are and how they are engaged to be married. Megan has two parents, mom and dad and three sisters one older and two younger. She has two maternal grandparents (her mom’s parents) Grandma and Grandpa and her paternal grandparents (her dad’s parents) Grandad and Grandmother. Her parents each have one sibling, both brothers, so Megan has an uncle on each side of the family. Her uncles are both married to her wonderful aunts, and between the two sides she has seven cousins. Kyle’s parents are divorced and his dad remarries so he has a step-mom. Kyle lives with his mom and little sister growing up. Kyle has seven step brothers and sisters as well as aunts, uncles and cousins.

Past

Megan and Kyle met in high school and it was a story about who their families were and how they were engaged to be married. Megan had two parents, mom and dad and three sisters one older and two younger. She had two maternal grandparents (her mom’s parents) Grandma and Grandpa and her paternal grandparents (her dad’s parents) Grandad and Grandmother. Her parents each had one sibling, both brothers, so Megan had an uncle on each side of the family. Her uncles were both married to her wonderful aunts, and between the two sides she had seven cousins. Kyle’s parents were divorced and his dad remarried so he had a step-mom. Kyle lived with his mom and little sister growing up. Kyle had seven step brothers and sisters as well as aunts, uncles and cousins.

Future

Megan and Kyle will meet in high school and this will be a story about who their families will be and how they will be engaged to be married. Megan will have two parents, mom and dad and three sisters one older and two younger. She will have two maternal grandparents (her mom’s parents) Grandma and Grandpa and her paternal grandparents (her dad’s parents) Grandad and Grandmother. Her parents will each have one sibling, both brothers, so Megan will have an uncle on each side of the family. Her uncles will both be married to her wonderful aunts, and between the two sides she will have seven cousins. Kyle’s parents will be divorced and his dad will remarry so he will have a step-mom. Kyle will live with his mom and little sister growing up. Kyle will have seven step brothers and sisters as well as aunts, uncles and cousins.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, as I mentioned before, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are. Please send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.

The latest news on Ukraine and the potential for war, Can the Pope stop a war in Ukraine, Colombia’s economy grows the most in 115 years, Space junk is set to hit the moon is likely from a Chinese rocket, not SpaceX

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! Depending on when and where you are listening! It’s been a slow news day and what better way to improve your English but to hopefully listen to what you have already heard in your native language. I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Today there’s not going to be our normal past present and future summaries, but with luck these stories will sound familiar if you are a newsy person. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find this podcast and transcriptions to many of the other weekly stories. Listening to and following along with transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of the news today. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the news. Enjoy!

Ukraine: Joe Biden urges Putin to 'step back from brink of war' as he sends message of peace to Russians

In a message of peace to the Russian people, the US president says: "I do not believe you want a destructive war against Ukraine, a country and a people with whom you share such deep ties."

The US president has called on Vladimir Putin to step back from the brink of war and sent a message of peace to the Russian people.

Joe Biden said the US has "not yet verified" Russia's claim that some of its forces have withdrawn from the border, adding an invasion of Ukraine remains a distinct possibility.

Speaking from the White House, he warned again that if Russia invades its neighbor, the US "will rally the world to oppose its aggression".

Some recent key developments:

-Moscow taunted what it called the "humiliated and destroyed" West as it hinted troops were pulling back

-Nato said it had seen no de-escalation on the ground

-The prime minister said intelligence was "not encouraging" and "mixed signals" were coming from Russia

-Vladimir Putin said "of course we don't want" war in Europe

-The Russian leader accused Ukraine of "genocide"

Several Ukrainian banks and ministries were victims of cyber attacks.

President Biden insists that the US and NATO are "not a threat to Russia", stressing that neither have missiles in Ukraine.

"We do not have plans to put them there as well," he said.

"We're not targeting the people of Russia. We do not seek to destabilize Russia."

In Related News from Vatican City and the Pope….

Pope Francis may be our last hope for stopping war in Ukraine

A full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine seems imminent, but nobody really wins if this happens. The global economic and food security impacts would fall disproportionately on the most vulnerable. Concern for the common good and “just war” principles require us to look for a diplomatic solution that might avoide the evils such a conflict would unleash.

Some say a personal intervention by Pope Francis may be our last hope for successful negotiations to preserve peace.

Pope Francis writes that “it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria discussed in earlier centuries to speak of the possibility of a ‘Just War’” in part because of the destructive power of modern weapons. However, this does not mean contemporary ethics call for unqualified pacifism; the just war framework allows leaders to judge whether military action is reasonable in light of traditional principles and pragmatic considerations.

Most believe it is important to continue to seek a nonviolent resolution to the crisis in Ukraine and at the same time attempt to deter aggression. A final hour intervention by Pope Francis might avert further suffering for the people of Ukraine and potentially catastrophic global consequences. Many believe the ethics of just war, and the traditional process of reflection on its criteria in advance of military action, remain valuable as a framework for accountability and for robust, creative diplomatic efforts in pursuit of peace.

Record expansion: Colombia’s economy grows the most in 115 years. A consumption boom and soaring prices for basics like oil, coal and coffee caused gross domestic product to rocket 10.6 percent in 2021.

Colombia’s economy blew away forecasts as it grew at the fastest pace in more than a century last year, driven by a rebound in consumer demand after pandemic curbs were eased, and soaring prices for the nation’s oil, coal and coffee.

Gross domestic product expanded 10.6% in 2021, the nation’s statistics agency said Tuesday. That’s the fastest pace since at least 1906, according to data compiled by the central bank.

Central banks across Latin America are withdrawing emergency stimulus as countries recover from the Covid-19 crisis, and inflation soars in all the region’s major economies. Colombia’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate 2.25 percentage points since September, and traders are betting on further hikes at its coming meetings.

The growth was led by a 21% surge in retail sales and associated services, and also by a 12% expansion in manufacturing.

Colombia’s best year on record followed its worst, in 2020, when curbs intended to stop the spread of Covid-19 triggered mass unemployment and bankruptcies.

The central bank estimates that output has now returned to pre-pandemic levels. The economy will grow 4% this year, outpacing Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Chile, according to analysts.

Colombia is holding a presidential election on May 29 with a likely runoff three weeks later. Former Bogota mayor Gustavo Petro is leading in polls. He is popular among poorer Colombians and has pledged to tax the rich and halt oil exploration.

The strong recovery hasn’t undercut Petro’s support in polls, with poverty and the jobless rate still stuck above pre-pandemic levels.

Space junk piece set to hit the moon is likely from a Chinese rocket, not SpaceX

The piece of old space junk expected to crash into the moon in early March that was originally thought to be from SpaceX is actually an old Chinese rocket, multiple astronomers believe.

Independent astronomer Bill Gray, who first identified that this piece of junk would hit the moon, posted a correction on his website Project Pluto on Saturday. He first started tracking this particular piece of junk in March 2015, around one month after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched. At the time, he says he and others identified it as the rocket's second stage.

"The object had about the brightness we would expect, and had shown up at the expected time and was moving in a reasonable orbit. Essentially, I had pretty good circumstantial evidence for the identification, but nothing conclusive," Gray said in his blog post.

He added that working off of circumstantial evidence in identifying space junk is not that unusual.

"Identifications of high-flying space junk often require a bit of detective work," Gray said, "Sometimes, we never do figure out the ID for a bit of space junk." But on Saturday, Gray said he received an email from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which keeps track of active spacecraft. They pointed out that it was unlikely the piece Gray had identified was from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, due to the gap between the rocket's trajectory, which was not close to the moon, and this piece of the rocket that supposedly ended up near the moon.

There is now evidence the rocket piece is from a Chinese mission, which was launched by the Chinese National Space Administration in Oct. 2014.

Other Astronomers have arrived at the same conclusion

However, Astronomers say “much remains 'circumstantial' evidence. "But they regard it as fairly convincing evidence, the sort where the jury would file out of the courtroom and come back in a few minutes with a conviction."

Scientists say the new data means we can be 90% sure it's a Chinese rocket part, but not 100%.

The estimate on when the piece of space junk will hit the moon is still March 4.

And that’s the news for today. I hope you enjoyed hearing these stories and I hope you have already heard these in your country as well before you listened to this podcast. What do you think of the news? Do you have any news stories to tell me about? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

Have a great week !

Buh Bye for now.

Episode 33 Vocabulario De La Boda

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when and where you are listening! This story covers common vocabulary used for weddings in the US. It’s one thing to see these words on the list in your grammar book but it is quite different to hear them in context in an actual story. Hopefully this helps you remember them for next time.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and future tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Listen closely for new vocabulary in the story and how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, the vocabulary is all highlighted in the transcripts.

And now the story

When I was younger, I loved watching movies and TV shows about weddings. It was always so magical to watch the bride and the groom stand at the altar in the church in front of all of their friends and family and exchange their vows. I loved to watch the maid of honor and the bridesmaids stand in a row next to the bride, all wearing matching dresses and holding matching bouquets, all so happy for the bride. I loved to watch the best man and groomsmen in their matching tuxedos cheer on the groom. Everything about weddings fascinated me, from the dating to the engagement to the planning of the big day.

Movies and TV shows are a bunch of liars, because nothing about planning my wedding has been magical so far!

Once the excitement of my fiancé Kyle proposing to me wore off, I realized that I actually had to plan the wedding. Unlike movies and TV shows, weddings do not just magically happen. I had no idea there would be so much to do.

The first thing Kyle and I had to do was decide on what date to have the wedding on. We knew we wanted to get married in February, because we had started dating in the month of February. Neither of us wanted to have to remember another important date, so we wanted to get married on February 21, which was already our anniversary. Picking the date was the easiest part of this.

After we had picked out a date, we had to start looking at wedding venues. We toured dozens of venues at churches, event halls, golf courses, ranches, farms, in barns, and even in private backyards. We were so overwhelmed with all the choices, and don’t even get me started on the cost of a venue. Thousands of dollars!

“Megan,” Kyle said to me, voice exhausted. “This is the fifteenth venue we’ve looked at. Can we please just pick something?” I felt the same way Kyle felt – too many choices. We finally settled on a beautiful rustic barn that had place for the ceremony and the reception afterwards, so no one had to drive from one place to another on the big day. We booked our date, paid the deposit, and then had to figure out the next step: guest lists and invitations.

Kyle and I have big families, and lots of friends. The problem we were facing was that we did not want to have a big wedding. We were trying to keep our costs down, and the more people we invited the more expensive it would be.

We drafted an initial guest list, where we listed everyone that we would want to invite. All of our friends, family, and extended family totaled more than two hundred guests. That was far too many for the intimate venue we had selected. We had to narrow down the list somehow. We eliminated inviting friends of our parents and casual acquaintances, and after many hours of talking (maybe arguing) back and forth, we narrowed down the list to just over one hundred people.

I spent hours online looking at different invitations trying to find the perfect one. Eventually I found a beautiful set of invitations and RSVP cards and I ordered them. Over the next few weeks, I mailed out the invitations and slowly started to get back RSVPs.

Once we had a basic idea of how many people were coming, we could start planning the catering. We had no idea where to start, but we found out very quickly that food for a wedding is the most expensive food you will ever buy. After many different taste tests and many nights calculating costs, we decided on food from our favorite Mexican restaurant. There were options for vegetarians, vegans, and gluten free people, too. We paid the deposit, and added the food total to the increasingly large bill we were running for the wedding.

It was only after we figured out catering that we realized we hadn’t gotten a cake yet. I spent several nights doing research on local bakers, trying to find a place that was within our budget and whose style I liked. We had a few tastings, and eventually settled on a nice woman who made beautiful cakes out of her kitchen. We paid another deposit, arranged the delivery time, and the cake was set.

Of course, in between getting a venue, food, and cake, there was also the matter of getting the wedding dress. I was so excited to go wedding dress shopping. I had been dreaming of going dress shopping my entire life.

My mom, sisters, and two of my best friends came with me to go dress shopping. We went in with high hopes, but after trying on five dresses we were getting demoralized and I was exhausted. Changing in and out of dresses was a struggle. Some of the dresses were very heavy because of all the jewels and beading on them. Some of the dresses were too tight. Some of the dresses were just plain ugly.

After nine dresses, I finally found the dress. The feeling that I had when I saw myself in my wedding dress was absolutely indescribable. I always thought that when brides said they knew right away they’d found the dress they were kidding, but I can tell you that they were not. There’s no way to explain the feeling I had, but I started crying because I felt beautiful.

There was also a bunch of smaller things I never even thought about. I had to find a wedding band to match my engagement ring. We had to pick out a wedding ring for Kyle. We had to decide if we were having a florist or ordering nice fake flowers to arrange ourselves. I had to set up wedding registries because people wanted to buy us gifts. Kyle and I both had to find shoes, and I had to find jewely to match my dress. We had to find someone to officiate the ceremony, select a friend to do a reading from the Bible, and find a photographer to take portraits and pictures throughout the day. Every single day I realized there was another thing that needed to be done.

Kyle and I planned a joint bachelor and bachelorette party a couple weeks before the wedding. My sister, who is my maid of honor, and my best friend planned the whole day. We went out together as a group to a brunch at a beautiful breakfast place that had endless drinks and delicious food. Afterwards, we all went mini golfing before we went home to rest. That night, we decided to all get dressed up and go out for drinks at a few local bars. We wore sashes that said “Bride” or “Bridesmaid” on them, and a lot of the people at the bar celebrated with us. We all had a great time together, and slept until noon the next day.

The last big event before the wedding was my bridal shower to celebrate my engagement and impending marriage. My sister and best friend planned that, too. They invited all of my grandmas and aunts, Kyle’s mom, my mom and sisters, and our friends from work. We had a lowkey and quiet lunch where we played a few different bridal shower games. One of the games was matching celebrity wives to their husbands. Another was a guessing game where the guests guessed who did what in our relationship – who asked who out, who said I love you first, who is the biggest baby when they’re sick. It was interesting to see which of our friends thought they knew us best.

The week leading up to the wedding was the busiest week of my life. I had a trial run with my hair stylist and my makeup artist, my final dress fitting, an appointment to get my nails done, and I helped my mom and sisters finish up all the decorations we have been making by hand. Kyle had his final suit fitting, meetings with the caterer and our cake lady, and a meeting with the venue to confirm everything.

Honestly, there has barely been a dull moment since Kyle proposed to me and we started planning. Every single day has had some sort of wedding preparations, even if it was just something small. Movies and TV shows do a great job of showing you the big romantic moments, but I really wish that I had watched something growing up that had shown me just how crazy planning a wedding was! If I had, I might have just eloped!

But that’s all water under the bridge now, because the big day is soon, and even though planning has been crazy I am so excited to marry the love of my life.

And now for the story summaries in the past present and future tenses

Past

When I was younger, I loved to watch movies and TV shows about weddings. And then one day I planned my own wedding. I used to dream of weddings but I never realized how much work it was to plan for one. We needed a date and a venue and had to choose dresses, suits, flowers, rings, and photographers. We also had bachelor/bachelorette parties and a bridal shower. The week leading up to a wedding was by far the busiest and there was not a dull moment ever since we were engaged. The big day was coming and was all worth it.

Present

I love watching movies and TV shows about weddings. And I am now planning my own wedding. I dream of weddings but I did not realize how much work it is to plan for one. We need a date and a venue and have to choose dresses, suits, flowers, rings, and photographers. We also are having bachelor/bachelorette parties and a bridal shower. The week leading up to a wedding is by far the busiest and there has not been a dull moment since we have been engaged. The big day is next and it is all worth it.

Future

I will love watching movies and TV shows about weddings. And then one day I will be planning my own wedding. I will dream of weddings but I will never realize how much work it would be to plan for one. We will need a date and a venue and will have to choose dresses, suits, flowers, rings, and photographers. We will also have to have bachelor/bachelorette parties and a bridal shower. The week leading up to a wedding will be by far the busiest and there will not be a dull moment when we are engaged. The big day is coming and it will all be worth it.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening to our guest bride and I hope you understood everything. If not, as I mentioned before, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are. Please send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.

Patience, Discipline, Concentration, Understanding

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when and where you are listening! This is more of a lesson today than a story. It is a summary of ideas taken from the Art of Listening originally published in 1958 by Dominick A. Barbara. There are some excellent ideas in this late work that I would like to share with you. These ideas apply directly to you as a podcast listener and language learner. Active listening is very important when listening to a language you are learning. Included here will be some questions and answers throughout the story in order to pause and allow you to take in the information. Hopefully this helps your understanding.

Some of the concepts in this lesson use a little more advanced English but I am going to repeat the important things more than once. I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Listen closely for new vocabulary in the story and how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, the vocabulary is all highlighted in the transcripts.

The main concept of this lesson is to think about how to listen well. In order to listen and understand you need three important things: Patience, Discipline, Concentration. I will say these again for you soon and fortunately the translations for these words in Spanish are all very close to the English words.

And now the lesson

Listening is an art. It requires Patience, Discipline and Concentration

To listen well, it requires more than just allowing sound waves to enter passively into your ear. Good listening is an active process that demands alert and focused participation.

What is required in order to listen well? Good listening demands alert and active participation and it requires patience, discipline and concentration.

As an art, listening requires knowledge and effort. It is a mental skill which is developed primarily through training and practice. If you want to learn how to listen well, you must proceed as you would in learning any other art such as music, painting, architecture or acting. You have to learn the basic essentials of productive listening; and you must practice faithfully until you have mastered the techniques.

Why is listening an Art? Because being good at an art requires you to learn basic things that are essential. And you must practice faithfully.

The art of listening is not something you can acquire through shortcuts. The good listener “listens between the lines. You constantly apply spare thinking to what is being said.” and you’re not thinking about what to say next, you’re thinking about the meaning of what is being said.

What is a shortcut? A shortcut is a path you take that uses less time. Does a good listener take shortcuts? No a good listener constantly applies all their thinking to what is being said. Not what is going to be said “next”

And while being attentive to what is being said, you are also aware of the facts being said, both verbal and nonverbal.

What are nonverbal facts? These are important things going on in a conversation but they are not being spoken.

The practice of an art requires discipline. For this reason it is important that you are in the mood and want to listen. Dedicating a period of each day to serious listening, which is the opposite of what we take part in when we meet with friends or family or while you are listening to music or social media. Many times these things are just in the background.

Why is discipline needed to practice an art? Because art requires a high level of understanding and mastery. In order to achieve this you must work hard and be concentrated.

Concentration is also a requirement of good listening. Most of us have difficulty concentrating. We take a strange pride in doing a number of things at the same time. We look at social media, read, talk, eat and drink.

We find it impossible to sit still, to be silent, to concentrate on something specific for any length of time. We become nervous and fidgety and give in to our anxieties. We turn to almost any form of busy or compulsive activity. Social media is a common answer.

Concentration is needed for good listening. What is concentration? Concentration is the action or power of focusing one's attention or mental effort on one thing. Concentration is focus without distraction. Why do we have difficulty concentrating? Many people like doing a number of things at the same time. We take pride in doing many things but then we don’t concentrate deeply on any one.

In order to concentrate fully when listening, we should be patient with ourselves. This virtue is important to develop and requires discipline and concentration. In the age of speed increased by the use of social media, video games, internet, smartphones, tablets and computers. Modern humans are trained to think that we lose out on time when one pauses to concentrate. We have a fear of missing out. Of losing something.

We feel compelled to listen only to those facts or what people are saying in short blurbs or tweets as quickly as possible with as little effort or concentration as possible. To linger on in reflection over a certain situation or fact goes against our ideals.

What is a virtue? A virtue is a beneficial quality or power of a thing. The virtue that is important to develop is patience with ourselves and it requires discipline and concentration to do well.

In learning to concentrate, it is important that you remove distractions in the path of your listening. You can then be alone with your inner feelings and thoughts and can give yourself and your surroundings whole interest and attention. By concentrating intensely you can keep your ears fully open and at the same time be curious and alert enough to tune in to what is being said in front of you. You can then listen without confusion, worry or mental disturbance

With concentration in listening, it is essential that you give full attention to the situation or person at hand. By doing so, you learn to live fully in the present, in the here and now and to evaluate things as they are without distraction

Concentration and good listening demands active participation. It involves keeping one's mind in a state of relaxed alertness, open and flexible to all relevant changes in a given situation. To listen with an active and open mind also involves giving a speaker a chance to present all the facts rather than allowing ourselves to jump to premature conclusions or think about what we are going to say in response.

The effective listener is constantly on the alert to find something interesting in what is being said and attempts to keep the discussion moving and alive either by asking productive questions or by adding something constructive to the situation as a whole. The ineffective listener, on the other hand, is on the defensive, planning answers or questions designed to make less of what the speaker is saying, or using criticism to further only selfish motives.

The productive listener develops listening skills in order to direct full attention to the basic idea. Learning to utilize this ability by focusing energy toward the true meaning or subject or a situation instead of getting lost by trying to remember every fact that is heard.

A productive listener is also less impressed by the persuasive power of the speaker, and is more concerned with getting to the heart of the matter. To understand the facts of the situation.

Patience, Discipline and Concentration will allow you as a good listener to have effective Comprehension. Comprehension is understanding the true idea or meaning of what is being said and heard.

Listening is an art and because it is an art it takes practice to achieve mastery. Good listening is an active process that demands alert and focused participation.

And that’s our lesson for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. The art of listening is very important to learning a language. If you don’t understand all the words, don’t worry. The English in this lesson is a bit more advanced. Don’t try to memorize anything and be sure to relax and enjoy the language. Also, as I mentioned before, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are. Please send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time! Buh Bye for now.

Russian official issues stark threats to the West, Pope Francis breaks diplomatic protocol and visits Russian Embassy, Calorie Restriction is Key Factor in Enhancing Human Health, and Do Birds Have Language?

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! Depending on when and where you are listening! There’s a lot of news out there lately and what better way to improve your English but to hopefully listen to what you have already heard in your native language. I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Today there’s not going to be our normal past present and future summaries, but with luck these stories will sound familiar if you are a newsy person. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find this podcast and transcriptions to many of the other weekly stories. Listening to and following along with transcripts is a good way to learn a new language. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of the news today. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the news. Enjoy!

Russian official issues stark threats to the West

Moscow may respond to sanctions by opting out of the last nuclear arms deal, cutting diplomatic ties with Western nations and freezing their assets, a senior Russian official warned Saturday as Russia's ties with the West dived to new lows over its invasion of Ukraine.

Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia's Security Council chaired by President Vladimir Putin, also warned that Moscow could restore the death penalty after Russia was removed from Europe's top rights group — a chilling statement that shocked human rights activists in a country that hasn't had capital punishment for 25 years.

The sanctions placed new tight restrictions on Russian financial operations, imposed a ban on technology exports to Russia and froze the assets of Putin and his foreign minister, a harsh response that dwarfed earlier restrictions. Allies say that even tougher sanctions are possible, including kicking Russia out of SWIFT, the dominant system for global financial transactions.

In sarcastic comments posted on a Russian social platform, Medvedev dismissed the sanctions as a show of Western “political impotence” that will only consolidate the Russian leadership and further anti-Western feelings.

“We are being driven out of everywhere, punished and threatened, but we don't feel scared,” he said, mocking the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies as an attempt to vindicate their past “shameful decisions, like a cowardly retreat from Afghanistan.”

Medvedev also raised the prospect of cutting diplomatic ties with Western countries, charging that “there is no particular need in maintaining diplomatic relations” and adding that “we may look at each other in binoculars and gunsights."

Referring to Western threats to freeze the assets of Russian companies and individuals, Medvedev warned that Moscow wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

“We would need to respond in kind by freezing the assets of foreigners and foreign companies in Russia ... and possibly by nationalizing the assets of those who come from unfriendly jurisdictions,” he said. “The most interesting things are only starting now.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered a series of anti-war protests in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities across Russia, which were quickly dispersed by police who arrested hundreds.

As part of efforts to stifle dissenting voices, Russia’s state communications watchdog issued notices to top independent media outlets, warning that they will face closure if they continue to distribute information about the fighting that deviates from the official line.

The watchdog also announced “partial restrictions” on access to Facebook in response to the platform limiting the accounts of several Kremlin-backed media. It did not say what exactly its restrictions implied.

Pope Francis breaks diplomatic protocol and visits Russian Embassy

Pope Francis visited the Russian Embassy in Rome in a gesture that broke diplomatic protocol, to convey his concerns over the conflict in Ukraine. A Vatican spokesman said the pope spent more than 30 minutes at the embassy. A Russian Ambassador told a state-run media outlet that the pope had “wanted to personally ask about the situation in Ukraine.” The Vatican did not specify what Francis said to the Kremlin officials but said, “He went to express his concern over the war.” The Vatican declined comment to a number of media outlets including when asked whether the pope had visited or would visit Ukraine’s embassy.

Francis has previously called for an end to the conflict. On Wednesday he called for political leaders to examine their conscience and to refrain from actions that harm civilians and “discredit international law.” However, he refrained from naming Russia or its president, Vladimir Putin.

Calorie Restriction is Key Factor in Enhancing Human Health, Say Researchers

Decades of research has shown that limits on calorie intake by flies, worms, and mice can enhance life span in laboratory conditions. But whether such calorie restriction can do the same for humans has remained unclear.

Now a new study confirms the health benefits of moderate calorie restrictions in humans—and identifies a key protein that could be harnessed to extend health in humans.

The overall aim of the research was to see if calorie restriction is as beneficial for humans as it is for lab animals. And if it is, researchers wanted to better understand what calorie restriction does to the body specifically that leads to improved health.

Research found remarkable changes in tissue after one year that were sustained. This showed some genes were found in extending life in animals but also unique calorie restriction that may improve health in humans.”

Do Birds Have Language?

In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech

In our quest to find what makes humans unique, we often compare ourselves with our closest relatives: the great apes. But when it comes to understanding the unique human capacity for language, scientists are finding that the most interesting clues lay farther away.

Human language is made possible by an impressive ability for vocal learning. Infants hear sounds and words, form memories of them, and later try to produce those sounds, improving as they grow up. Most animals cannot learn to imitate sounds at all. Though nonhuman primates can learn how to use vocalizations in new ways, they don’t show a similar ability to learn new calls. Interestingly, a small number of more distant mammal species, including dolphins and bats, do have this capacity. But among the nonhuman vocal learners, the most impressive are birds.

Parrots, songbirds and hummingbirds all learn new vocalizations. The calls and songs of some species in these groups appear to have even more in common with human language, such as giving information and using simple forms of some of the elements of human language. And there are more similarities, including common brain structures.

These parallels have motivated an explosion of research in recent decades. Many people have made comparisons between language and birdsong.

The grammar of bird calls

One key element of human language is the connection of words with meanings. Scientists had long thought that unlike our words, animal vocalizations were involuntary, reflecting the emotional state of the animal without providing any other information. But over the last four decades, numerous studies have shown that various animals have distinct calls with specific meanings.

Many bird species use different alarm calls for different predators and two recent studies suggest that the order of some birds’ vocalizations may impact their meaning.In addition to alert calls, many bird species use recruitment calls that summon other members of their species.

Humans tend to overestimate how different we are from the animal world. But, recent research showing how bird song may be considered a means of communication similar to human language, maybe the difference is not as large as we once thought it was.

And that’s the news for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed hearing these stories and I hope you have already heard these in your country as well before you listened to this podcast. What do you think of the news? Do you have any news stories to tell me about? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again, Have a great week ! Buh Bye for now.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! This story icovers a number of common colloquialisms, street talk or just sayings that mean something different in direct translation. It’s one thing to see these on the list in your grammar book but it is quite different to hear them in context in an actual story. Hopefully this helps you remember them for next time.

I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. Also, stay until the end to listen to the summary in the past, present and conditional tenses. And, as always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you!

Let’s review the colloquialisms and their meanings first and then you can listen closely in the story for how they are applied in everyday conversations. By the way, these are highlighted in the transcripts

You are barking up the wrong tree- to be mistaken, to be looking for solutions in the wrong place

You can say that again- That’s true, I agree

Actions speak louder than words- Believe what people do and not what they say

Wrap your head around something- Understand something complicated

To be tight-knit- bound together by strong relationships and common interests

Penny for your thoughts- tell me what you are thinking

Your guess is as good as mine- I have no idea

To bite off more than I can chew- Take on a project that you can’t finish

Break the ice- make people feel more comfortable

Also a listen for this one a

Glomar Response - “I can neither confirm nor deny that” - A refusal to give any information, typically used by the Government.

A Glomar Response is not necessarily a colloquialism but

And now to the story. Listen closely for these sayings. Are you ready? Enjoy!

At lunch time on Wednesday, Jacob’s friend and coworker Adam sauntered into his cubicle and sat down on the edge of Jacob’s desk. Jacob could tell just by looking at the smirk on Adam’s face that he was up to no good and had some sort of nefarious plan.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to know,” Jacob said, voice serious. He could only maintain his faux-serious composure for a moment before he giggled, and Adam laughed with him. Adam never meant any harm, but whenever he walked into Jacob’s cubicle with that look on his face Jacob knew he was up to something.

“You know how you’re best friends with the new boss?” Adam asked innocently. Jacob rolled his eyes.

“I’m not best friends with Rachel, I just do my job without annoying her, but continue,” Jacob muttered.

“Any chance you can use your best friend charm to ask her if we can all leave early on Friday? We want to cut out early, ditch the heat, and head up to Payson to go camping for the weekend. You should come with us.” Adam grinned and raised his eyebrows.

“You are barking up the wrong tree,” Jacob said, shaking his head. “She likes me, but not enough to let all of us leave early on a Friday for a camping trip. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Are you kidding?” Adam gasped dramatically, throwing a hand over his heart. “After last month? She’ll say no just to spite me!”

“You can say that again,” Jacob agreed, laughing as he remembered the shenanigans that Adam had pulled last month. Adam was one of their best employees, but he was also the jokester around the office. Most people, including their boss, usually found it very funny. But last month, Adam had pushed it a little bit too far between coming in late and leaving a little early, and his general humorous demeanor. He hadn’t gotten in trouble, but their boss had made it very clear that he needed to be a little more professional around the office.

“Although,” Adam said after a moment. “I have been a model employee this month. They say that actions speak louder than words – maybe she knows that I have changed my ways and I deserve a reward?”

Jacob laughed and shook his head. “No way,” he answered, standing up and stretching. “But I guess I can go ask and see. Worst she’ll do is say no.”

Adam gave Jacob two thumbs up and watched him eagerly as Jacob knocked on their boss’s door. He waited a moment, and then stepped into her office.

“Hey Jacob, what’s up?” Rachel asked. Rachel had replaced their beloved retiring boss. The idea of their previous boss retiring had been a lot for the office to wrap their heads around, and no one was looking forward to the idea of a new boss, but so far Rachel had been very pleasant to work with. She was quiet and reserved, but very fair.

“Hey, Best Boss Ever,” Jacob answered, looking at Rachel with big puppy dog eyes. “Can we cut out early on Friday for a team building camping trip to Payson?”

Rachel laughed and ran her hands down her face. “Did Adam put you up to this?” she asked. Jacob shrugged.

“I can neither confirm nor deny that,” he answered diplomatically, even though he knew that Rachel knew that it was Adam’s idea.

Rachel was quiet for a moment, and Jacob was certain she was about to say no and send him on his way, but then she surprised him.

“Sure,” she said. “Where in Payson? Because I’m officially inviting myself on this camping excursion. If you’re all leaving early, so am I.”

Adam had been shocked when Jacob reported back the results, but warmed up to the idea of Rachel joining quickly. Their office was a tight-knit group of people, and they were eager to include Rachel in the circle.

Rachel let everyone leave the office at three on Friday, and they all piled into their cars and started the drive up to the Mogollon Rim. The campsites along the beautiful Rim were favored by the work crew because they were easily accessible, relatively flat, and featured amazing views.

Everyone stopped in Payson to grab dinner and last-minute supplies and snacks before they headed out of the town and up towards where they’d be pitching their tents.

After a bit more driving, everyone parked, grabbed supplies and started the short hike to where Adam decided they’d set up camp. The area they were in was frequently camped in, with premade rock fire pits and spots to set up their tents. The group chatted happily as they set up, with Jacob starting up a fire when he finished his tent.

They all sat in a circle around the fire and roasted hotdogs they had grabbed in town, talking about that week at work and how hot it was down in the valley. It was refreshingly cool on the Rim, a needed break from the scalding summer temperatures in Arizona.

“Alright, enough chit chat!” Adam declared suddenly. He wanted to break the ice with the boss now that everyone was together. “Rachel, boss lady, penny for your thoughts? What do you think of our office?”

Rachel was quiet for a second before she answered. “I was sad when I got transferred here,” she answered after a moment. “But you are a great group to work with – mostly.” She looked pointedly at Adam and everyone laughed. “I don’t understand why you are the way you are. You’re such a great employee but you’re very… frustrating.” Adam was cackling by the time she finished speaking.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Jacob said, and Adam laughed again.

“I’m glad you actually let me come with you,” Rachel continued, chewing on her freshly roasted hot dog. “I was a little worried I’d bitten off more than I could chew when I invited myself, but you’ve all been so nice. I’m excited to be here.”

“Cheers to that!” Adam said, holding up his drink. Everyone laughed and clinked their cans together. They spent the rest of the evening trading stories of their old boss, talking about their ongoing work projects and their upcoming meetings, and continuing to get to know each other and grow as a team.

By the time they all packed up to leave the next morning, they felt like they had gotten closer as a team, but more importantly they felt like they had all gained a new friend.

And now a summary of the Past Present and Conditional tenses

Past

Jacob and Adam plotted to convince their boss Rachel to allow the office to leave early on a Friday. They wanted the extra time to go camping in the mountains outside of the city. They wanted to camp out as a team building exercise. Jacob asked Rachel and she surprisingly agreed but she also wanted to go along. They all ended up hanging out that night around a campfire and had a great time.

Present

Jacob and Adam plot how they can talk their boss Rachel to allow the office to leave early on Friday. They want the extra time to go camping in the mountains outside of the city. They want to camp out as a team building exercise. Jacob asks Rachel and she surprisingly agrees but she also wants to go along. They are all hanging out that night around a campfire and have a great time.

Conditional

Jacob and Adam would plot how they could talk their boss Rachel to allow the office to leave early on a Friday. They would want the extra time to go camping in the mountains outside of the city. They would want to camp out as a team building exercise. Jacob would end up asking Rachel and she would surprisingly agree but she also wanted to go along. They would all end up hanging out that night around a campfire and would have a great time.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are. Please send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time! Buh Bye for now.

¡Buenos días, buenas tardes o buenas noches! - ¡dependiendo de cuándo estés escuchando! Te sugiero que escuches este podcast muchas veces si quieres mejorar tu inglés. Descárgalo y escúchalo mientras estás en la fila, manejando, caminando, cocinando, limpiando o lo que sea que hagas cuando escuchas podcasts. Es importante escuchar estas palabras más de una vez para recordarlas y familiarizarse con ellas. Como siempre, visite www.oyejustino.com para encontrar una transcripción de este podcast. Escuchar y seguir las transcripciones es una buena manera de mejorar sus habilidades lingüísticas. Por favor, envíeme un correo electrónico para hacerme saber lo que piensa. ¡Me encantaría saber de ti! Y ahora a la historia. ¿Estás listo?

Joaquín se sentó en la clase de inglés como lo hacía todos los días. Literalmente. Estaba sentado. Él no estaba realmente allí. No mentalmente, al menos. Por lo general, estaba más atento que sus compañeros de clase porque disfrutaba aprender inglés y ahora era bastante bueno en eso. Porque tenía que serlo. Era un hablante nativo de español de Colombia y todavía era bastante nuevo en los Estados Unidos y hablar inglés requería mucho trabajo y dedicación. Joaquín y sus padres se mudaron aquí porque su papá encontró un buen trabajo como ingeniero diseñando puentes.

Juaquín a menudo soñaba despierto. Se imaginó a sí mismo como un artista, el salón de clases como su estudio, y las asignaciones que recibió fueron papel y pintura, siendo el producto terminado una imagen de su mente detallada en papel. Sacaría sus pinceles gramaticales y los pincelaría y suavizaría con colores hasta que cada oración brillara con su perspectiva única. Lo hizo bien y gracias a estos talentos aprendió nuevos idiomas rápidamente. Como su madre era de Alemania y hablaba alemán en la casa, ahora el inglés era su cuarto idioma. También estaba aprendiendo italiano porque aprender italiano era algo que a su papá le gustaba hacer y practicaron hablar italiano juntos. Pero hoy fue diferente. El periódico estaba en el pasillo, pero Joaquín lo miró sin comprender. Era diferente a él, su mente estaba en otra parte hoy.

Había una chica nueva en clase.

Esta chica era fácilmente la chica más hermosa que Joaquín había visto en su vida. De hecho, era muy posiblemente la persona más hermosa que jamás haya existido, en opinión de Joaquín. La misma Marilyn Monroe habría tenido envidia del largo cabello dorado y los ojos suaves y afectuosos de esta chica. De hecho, así la llamaría Joaquín; marilyn monroe Era un poco anticuado, pero él no sabía su nombre real. Ni siquiera había hablado con ella. Pero, lo había planeado varias veces.

Había un problema.

Joaquín era muy bueno escribiendo en inglés. Pero era horrible hablando inglés. O eso pensó. Fue el estrés de hablar con otras personas en situaciones sociales lo que convirtió el interior de Joaquín en un nudo de miedo y ansiedad. Era bastante bueno con sus padres en casa, pero en la escuela las palabras no le salían bien. Eran un desastre enredado y desordenado una vez que salieron de sus labios. Mentalmente, corrieron juntos maravillosamente, con cada palabra colocada perfectamente detrás de la otra, haciendo clic en las pistas a tiempo y según lo programado. Pero cuando tenían que salir de su boca en lugar de en un cuaderno, no estaban tan claramente alineados. Se volvieron confusos y retorcidos en su mente; casi podía sentirlos físicamente obstruyendo su pensamiento. Joaquín farfullaba las palabras y empezaba a sudar. Su camisa se mojaría. Lo imaginó como la ansiedad que sentía por dentro filtrándose de él para que todos en el exterior pudieran ver lo incómodo que estaba.

Si el sudor y las palabras salieran alguna vez, serían una evidencia evidente de que él era, de hecho, un perdedor, un tonto, un imbécil. Su pecho se tensó ante el solo pensamiento de ello y su corazón latía más fuerte contra la constricción.

Esperar.

¿Estaba su pecho realmente apretado? Se sentía como si estuviera presionando su corazón contra su columna vertebral. El pánico comenzó a instalarse.

“Joaquín”. ¿Quien dijo que? Joaquín, ¿estás escuchando? Esto era nuevo. ¿Estaba alucinando? “Joaquín, ¿puedes leer el siguiente párrafo?”

En ese momento, Joaquín se dio cuenta de que en realidad todavía estaba en clase, y la voz que estaba escuchando era en realidad la Sra. Floyd, su maestra de inglés. Todas las personas en la sala, incluida Marilyn Monroe, ahora habían centrado su atención en Joaquín. Sus ojos se sentían como pequeños láseres perforando su piel. Podía sentir el calor y la temperatura de su cuerpo comenzó a subir. Su cara se puso roja como una remolacha.

“Estoy bien”, fue todo lo que se le ocurrió a la mente presa del pánico de Joaquín.

“Y todos estamos encantados de escuchar eso. Ahora, ¿sería tan amable de leer el siguiente párrafo?

Joaquín se dio cuenta de que no tenía idea de dónde estaban en el libro. ¿Era la página cien? ¿O ciento uno? ¿Tenía siquiera el libro correcto?

"¿Permiso?" Joaquín logró chillar. Las palabras eran como bolas de algodón que secaban su boca y la dejaban áspera. "Supongo. No olvide el pase para ir al baño”, respondió la Sra. Floyd, con un dejo de exasperación en su voz.

Joaquín se tambaleó de su escritorio y vio que su camisa estaba empapada de sudor. Escuchó algunas risitas y risitas, o al menos eso pensó. Nunca podría estar seguro. ¿Estaba imaginando? De todos modos, salió rápidamente de la habitación; tropezando un poco cuando llegó a la puerta y se dirigió directamente al baño.

Una vez en el baño, agarró puñados de toallas de papel y se secó el sudor que ahora cubría su estómago, pecho y espalda. Le empapó la camisa, pero por suerte era azul oscuro y no muy visible. Después de lo que parecieron horas y lo que debieron ser dos rollos de toallas de papel, Joaquín se miró en el espejo. Le gustaba mirarse en el espejo, pero no en esas circunstancias. Cuando estaba en casa le gustaba cómo se veía, pero en este momento odiaba cómo se veía su cabello, estaba acomplejado por su altura. Y ahora, además de todo eso, su camisa estaba manchada de sudor aunque no era obvio. Este lugar lo hizo sentir de esa manera. Si pudiera volver a su zona de confort, no estaría pensando de esta manera.

Joaquín suspiró, resignado al hecho de que probablemente nunca tendría el coraje de hablar con Marilyn Monroe, ni estaba seguro de tener el coraje de hablar con alguien en esta escuela.

¿Y si se burlaban de él? La gente podía ser increíblemente mala. ¿Y si a nadie le gustaba realmente?

Las preguntas, a pesar de sus mejores esfuerzos por evitarlas, volvieron a él como un boomerang. No era la primera vez que pensaba así, pero esta vez sus pensamientos se sentían fríos y necesitaba sacudirlos.

No es que Joaquín fuera desagradable o poco atractivo. Todo lo contrario en realidad. Pero a veces, en ocasiones como esta, no era capaz de ver las cosas buenas en sí mismo.

En ese momento, Joaquín se miró al espejo y se sintió solo.

Después de una última y miserable mirada en el espejo, se obligó a girar hacia la puerta para volver a clase. En ese momento, otro niño irrumpió sin aliento por la puerta del baño, casi derribando a Joaquín de espaldas. El niño corrió frenéticamente hacia el fregadero más alejado y agarró los lados con tanta fuerza que sus nudillos se pusieron de un blanco pastoso. Joaquín notó que la camisa del niño estaba mojada. Debe haberse derramado algo sobre sí mismo, pensó Joaquín. El niño pudo sentir la mirada de Joaquín y rápidamente giró la cabeza en dirección opuesta.

Sintiendo que tenía que justificar su presencia en el baño, el niño habló en voz baja con un fuerte acento con el que Joaquín no estaba familiarizado: “Tengo… que dar una charla en clase y… simplemente no puedo decir bien las palabras. ” Su voz era temblorosa, tranquila y nerviosa. Hubo una ligera vacilación entre algunas de las palabras, pero a Joaquín le sonaron bastante bien.

El niño notó que Joaquín miraba la humedad en su camisa, que era azul claro y mostraba claramente la humedad. "Sudo... cuando... me pongo nervioso y mi inglés apesta", logró decir el chico.

Joaquín lo miró con recelo. ¿Este chico se estaba burlando de él? Joaquín siempre supuso que él era el único que sudaba cuando se ponía nervioso. Y el inglés de este chico sonaba bien aunque pensó que era un problema. Algo así como Joaquín. Su propia camisa aún estaba húmeda por la transpiración nerviosa.

"No te burles de mí". Joaquín trató de sonar severo cuando dijo esto, pero notó que su voz tenía un ligero temblor.

Pareciendo sorprendido, el niño respondió: “¡No me estoy burlando de ti! Ni siquiera te conozco. Simplemente sucede, ¿de acuerdo? No puedo evitarlo. No soy de aquí y a veces sudo. Siento que tengo que... levántate y huye”. El chico agachó la cabeza, luciendo angustiado, derrotado y agotado a la vez, como si la defensa que se había ofrecido a sí mismo hubiera tomado las fuerzas que le quedaban.

Joaquín estudió al niño de cerca cuando sintió que su propia actitud defensiva se disipaba. La lente nublada por la que se estaba viendo a sí mismo se aclaró brevemente. Vio algo ya alguien familiarizado con este chico nuevo. Reconoció esa mirada de vergüenza que venía con la sensación de que había hecho algo mal o había roto alguna regla tácita por dejar que su miedo y ansiedad lo abrumaran. Lo reconoció porque tantas veces le había pertenecido. La carga culpable de sentir que debe haber sido su culpa por sentirse de cierta manera generalmente estaba pegada en el rostro de Joaquín. Sin embargo, aquí estaba, en otro niño que intentaba aprender un nuevo idioma en un nuevo lugar con nuevas personas a su alrededor que tenían la ventaja de crecer aquí, donde todo era familiar y fácil.

Después de un breve silencio y una buena dosis de coraje, Joaquín finalmente habló: “Eso también me pasa a mí. Mi nombre es Joaquín. Toma estos. Los guardo en mi mochila en caso de que no pueda ir al baño cuando empiece a sudar”. Joaquín sacó un puñado de toallas de papel y se las tendió al niño.

“Gracias”, dijo el chico. "Mi nombre es Ivan. Pensé que era el único que se sentía así”.

“No te preocupes”, dijo Joaquín, “seguro que no eres el único”.

Salieron del baño juntos y afuera se dieron un golpe de puño antes de separarse para regresar a sus clases.

Joaquín abrió la puerta de su clase y miró a Iván caminando por el pasillo. Respiró hondo y sintió una oleada de confianza al entrar en la habitación.

Y esa es nuestra historia de hoy. Espero que hayas disfrutado escuchando y espero que hayas entendido todo. Si no, sugeriría escuchar esto una y otra vez. Una vez que escuches las mismas palabras una y otra vez, comenzarás a entender y tu inglés estará en un nivel más alto. Además, las transcripciones de este episodio se publicarán en www.oyejustino.com y puedes escuchar y leer al mismo tiempo.

Me encantaría saber cuáles son sus comentarios. Envíeme un mensaje a english@oyejustino.com o visite nuestro sitio web para encontrar transcripciones, podcasts y tarjetas de vocabulario. Y otra vez,

¡Hasta la próxima!

Adiós por ahora.

Climate-Resilient Coral Offers Hope to World’s Reefs, 30 Minutes of Lifting Weights, Push-ups or Yard Work Weekly May Cut Risk of Death By 20% and The Perfect Energy Source Is Already Here – Endless Geothermal Energy From Deep in the Earth

Welcome and good morning, good afternoon or good evening! Depending on when and where you are listening! There’s a lot of bad news out there lately but I don’t want to talk about those things today. I want to talk about the good news; so today is a beautiful news podcast. What better way to improve your English than to listen to some good news. I suggest you listen to this and other podcasts many times if you want to improve your English. Today there’s not going to be our normal past present and future summaries, but with luck these stories will sound good and you will understand them even more if you use the transcripts to help you understand. They can all be found at www.oyejustino.com along with links to the podcast and transcriptions to many of the other weekly stories. Listening to and following along with transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think of the news today. I would love to hear from you!

And now to the news. Enjoy!

Climate-Resilient Coral Offers Hope to World’s Coral Reefs

Marine biologists tested two of the most common coral species with a 2°C increase in water temperatures in an aquarium for two years and found that mother nature may just have a trick or two up her sleeves.

Keeping the planet from warming 2°C over the next thirty years has become the goal of many scientists, especially when it comes to discussing vulnerable coral reefs in warming oceans, but the new experiment sheds light on potential adaptations scientists had not predicted.

Planning the longest coral resilience experiment ever done, coral experts used a hammer and chisel to take samples of common corals from the reefs around Oahu, Hawai’i.

Rice coral, finger coral, and lobe coral were then transported into a 35-gallon aquarium on Coconut Island filled with sand, rubble, fish, and plankton, before being left outside to experience similar weather conditions as they would if they were under water.

“Finger Coral and Lobe Coral survived best and managed well under future ocean conditions with positive calcification and increased biomass. Scientists said “They weren’t just struggling. Two of the three species were doing really well.”

Interestingly, reef monitors in Hawai’i also said that the experiment agreed with what they are observing in the corals around the islands, adding that if they can be protected from pollution and other man-made disturbances, they should be able to survive in the coming decades.

It’s good news for reefs around the world, since lobe coral is a pioneer species, and often the first kind of coral to begin building a reef. Finger coral too is not only found in Hawai’i but throughout the reefs in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

They could act as decent species for coral reef restoration projects, a yet-unexplored potential way to mitigate coral loss by actively expanding their populations, an option that a decade ago would probably not have been taken.

30 Minutes of Lifting Weights, Push-ups or Yard Work Weekly May Cut Risk of Death By 20%

An investigation of more than half a million people has shown that a bare minimum of strength training can translate to an enormous health benefit.

Researchers in Japan discovered that 30-60 minutes per week of muscle strengthening activities such as yoga, lifting weights, or gardening can reduce the risk of death from all causes by 10-20%.

When combined with aerobic exercise such as running, cycling, or swimming, this benefit was seen to rise even more.

16 studies were reviewed. They consisted of more than half-a-million healthy adults being monitored for a period of at least two years. The age range went from 18-97, and the monitoring period from 2-25 years.

The study noted that muscle strengthening activity does not have to involve heavy lifting in the gym. It said that carrying children long enough, pushing a wheelchair, carrying shopping bags, heavy gardening, doing body weight exercises like pushups, squats, or sit-ups also has health benefits

The data showed that extending strength training by more than an hour slowly decreased its effectiveness in fighting disease and mortality rates. Moderate to intense physical activity is already recommended at about 150 minutes per week, a generally-recognized minimum to build and maintain healthy skeleto-muscular function.

Extending strength training beyond 60 minutes per week has other health benefits not-related to death, heart disease, and cancer.

It increases key chemicals in the brain for proper hormonal function and memory, it clears stress hormones while releasing endorphins, fights off the onset of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative diseases, it builds lean muscle mass, which itself is a predictor for disease, morbidity, and injury risk, and more.

The authors of the study recognized limitations of the research, mainly that it relied on data from English-speaking countries. Greater diversity of participants would provide more valuable research.

The Perfect Energy Source Is Already Here – Endless Geothermal Energy From Deep in the Earth

As physicists worked with nuclear fusion to unlock limitless clean energy through harnessing the power of the sun, they unknowingly invented a tool that could allow geothermal plants to deliver unlimited clean energy by harnessing the power of the Earth.

The tool is a large millimeter-wave laser drill that will allow engineers to bore down more than 20 kilometers into the Earth’s crust to harness the heat from the planet’s core.

Now this idea is not science fiction, and some investors have the money to put several full-scale demonstration machines into action by 2024, with hope to have a powerful geothermal plant in operation by 2026.

At 12.4 miles into the Earth’s crust, temperatures rise to 500°C. At temperature and depth, water under the ground becomes “supercritical,” a state where it’s neither a gas nor a liquid.

“A power plant that uses supercritical water as the working fluid can extract up to 10 times more useful energy from each drop when compared to non-supercritical plants.

A recycling masterpiece

The next planned step may be the greatest recycling effort in the energy industry. As coal-fired power plants continue to be closed around the world, their giant, already established infrastructure for converting steam into electricity, large electricity distribution equipment, and talented workforce could simply be taken over by this new technology by replacing the coal-fired components with those meant for harnessing supercritical water.

“There are nearly 8,500 coal-fired power plants around the world that may be used to harness this new energy source more efficiently.

This is perhaps more revolutionary than nuclear power, and the beauty of the design, if it works, is that the technology originally made for nuclear reactors could end up changing the world.

Many countries that are now struggling to advance into greener energy sources wouldn’t have to make the transition, which means hundreds of millions of acres of land saved from needing to be covered with wind turbines and solar panels, which produce huge amounts of waste, and don’t generate electricity if the weather conditions aren’t suitable.

In fact, the world would be set for a paradigm shift. Since unlimited clean energy could be obtained within most nations, it would unbind them from geo-political concerns about oil-rich countries and their human rights abuses. On land and sea, birds and wildlife would be untouched by any massive polluting oil spills that would become a thing of the past.

And that’s the beautiful news for today. Thanks for listening. I hope you enjoyed hearing these stories and I hope you understood everything. What do you think of the news? Do you have any news stories to tell me about? I would love to hear what they are and if you mention them to me I will talk about them in a new podcast. Send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website at www.oyejustino.com to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again, Have a great week ! Buh Bye for now.

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening! - depending on when you are listening! I suggest you listen to this podcast many times if you want to improve your English. Download it and listen while you are in line, driving, walking, cooking, cleaning, or whatever you do when you listen to podcasts. It’s important to hear these words more than once to remember and become familiar with them. As always please visit www.oyejustino.com to find a transcription for this podcast. Listening to and following along with the transcripts is a good way to improve your language skills. Please send me an email to let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you! And now to the story. Are you ready?

Searching for a job was a tiring process for how little physical effort it took. Natalia had been looking for a new job for six weeks, and she hadn’t had any luck yet. Every day she went to work at her big firm in Mexico City, where she was the front desk receptionist and assistant. She answered phones, greeted guests, confirmed appointments, and got coffee for the businessmen and businesswomen that used the building. It was not a bad job by any means, but it was very boring and Natalia knew that, after three years, she was ready for something different.

Each day when she got home from work, Natalia would check her emails for alerts from several job posting sites. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but anything that fit her qualifications was fair game. But there were so many jobs, and so many websites to look through, and so many forums and online boards, that it was overwhelming to comb through them and look at all of them. Natalia spent at least two hours a night looking, and had only found two or three jobs that she had felt were promising enough to apply for.

Her friends knew that she was getting antsy at her current job, so when she got an email from her friend Josie with the subject of: “new gig for you???” she thought it was just going to be asking her if she’d found something. Natalia was pleasantly surprised to see that it was a little more than that.

“Hey girl,” the email started, “are you still looking for a new job? I just started at the hotel that just opened, that big fancy one that they’ve been building for two years. They’re hiring front desk staff urgently and I know you’ve got desk experience. Here’s the job description, if you apply let me know and I can tell my manager to look out for your resume. Love you! We gotta catch up soon.”

Natalia was intrigued. She opened up the link and started reading through the job description. The requirements were very basic office job skills – previous phone and front desk experience, ability to lift and move twenty pounds, ability to sit and stand for long periods of time, customer service abilities, and previous experience with office equipment. There was only one thing that Natalia did not feel confident about.

The job required proficiency in English.

Spanish was Natalia’s native language. Natalia was from Mexico, and her entire family had lived there for generations. Spanish was deeply ingrained in her life. Her family spoke Spanish exclusively. In school, she and her classmates had learned very basic English vocabulary and grammar, enough to get by with the tourist and bilingual citizens of Mexico City. Many of her school friends had continued to expand their English-speaking education and were very comfortably bilingual, but Natalia was not confident in her English-speaking abilities.

Oh, well. That could be changed. Natalia knew that if she put her mind to it, she’d be able to refresh and improve her skills. She knew that if she could practice her English skills, with the rest of her experience she would be a surefire choice for the resort.

Natalia remembered in school that her teacher said the best way to learn and improve language is by listening to it and speaking it, so the first thing Natalia did was download some podcasts in English. She listened to a lot of podcasts while she worked, so it would be an easy way to immerse herself in the language.

The next thing she did was call her friend Josie. She knew that Josie was very proficient in English, and she felt comfortable practicing with Josie. Josie was one of her good friends, and already worked at the resort. If there was any specific vocabulary, Josie would help her learn it.

Josie answered her phone right away, and Natalia explained her predicament to her. “I do know quite a bit of English,” she concluded. “But I just don’t feel comfortable enough to say I’m proficient. Would you mind helping me?”

“Of course!” Josie cried, excited. “It’d be so fun to work together, I’ll do literally anything I need to do to help you. Let’s make sure all of our conversations are in English, and let’s set up some time to meet and talk in person. It’s easy to text in English, but it’s a little harder to talk.”

“That sounds good,” Natalia answered in English. Josie laughed, and they spent a few minutes catching up in English. It came back to Natalia very quickly, but she could tell she was a little shaky. Even the short conversation she had with Josie helped her gain confidence, though. It wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. With practice, she was sure she could do it.

Over the next few days, Natalia listened to as many English-speaking podcasts as she could and when she got home from work, she found a few TV shows to binge watch that were in English. She left the Spanish subtitles on in case she came across a word or phrase she didn’t recognize. She looked up the words she didn’t know on the Internet if she was struggling. She texted Josie in English on and off all day every day.

She also put in her application for the resort job and let Josie know that she had. Josie had told her they were scheduling interviews about a month out, so she would have plenty of time to schedule her interview and continue to improve her skills beforehand. A few days after she applied, the hiring department reached out to her and they scheduled her interview for three weeks from then. Natalia was extremely excited.

A few days before the interview, Natalia and Josie met up to grab dinner after they both got off work. Natalia hadn’t seen Josie for several months, and she was excited to see her. She was also excited to see just how much her English-speaking skills had improved.

Natalia met and greeted Josie with ease, and as they waited for their orders to be taken they engaged in casual conversation. Josie told Natalia about what the job was like, what their day to day tasks were like, and what the guests of the resort were like. Natalia paid close attention to what Josie was saying, noting all of the specific vocabulary words she used to describe the rooms and amenities of the resort.

Her dinner with Josie went very quickly, and at the end of it while they were waiting to get their change, Natalia asked, “How do you think I did? Will I be okay for the interview?”

“I think that you will do great,” Josie reassured her. “Your English is sounding more and more natural, and when you ace that interview when you get hired you will just continue to get better. You did a great job. I can’t wait to be your coworker!”

And now the story summary in the past, present and future tenses.

Past

Natalia was a native Spanish speaker that lived in Mexico City. She was tired of her job and looked for another one. Natalia’s friend Josie worked at a new resort and told her friend that they were hiring but Natalia needed to speak English in order to get the job. Natalia already could speak some English but she practiced with Josie and listened to podcasts to improve her skills before the big interview.

Present

Natalia is a native Spanish speaker that lives in Mexico City. She is tired of her job and is looking for another one. Natalia’s friend Josie works at a new resort and tells her friend that they are hiring but Natalia needs to speak English in order to get the job. Natalia already speaks some English but she practices with Josie and listens to podcasts to improve her skills before the big interview.

Future

Natalia will be a native Spanish speaker that will live in Mexico City. She will be tired of her job and will be looking for another one. Natalia’s friend Josie will work at a new resort and will tell her friend that they will be hiring but Natalia will need to speak English in order to get the job. Natalia already will speak some English but she will practice with Josie and will listen to podcasts to improve her skills before the big interview.

And that’s our story for today. I hope you enjoyed listening and I hope you understood everything. If not, I would suggest listening to this again and again. Once you hear the same words over and over you will begin to understand and your English will be at a higher level. Also, the transcripts will be posted for this episode at www.oyejustino.com and you can listen and read along at the same time!

I would love to hear what your comments are. Please send me a message at english@oyejustino.com or visit our website to find transcripts, podcasts and vocabulary flashcards. And again,

See you next time!

Buh Bye for now.