Speakout starter: Routines

In a new episode of our Speakout series for beginners, Pearson Longman, passers-by answer the two questions below about their weekend routine:

What time do you get up at the weekend?
What do you usually do at the weekend?

Watch the video clip and note down the answers pedestrians give. Then answer the questions about yourself. Try to use some of the expressions you heard on the video.



You can read the transcript here.

Salar de Uyuni: Salt Desert

Watch this short ITN news report about an unusual holiday destination, the Salar de Uyuni, in Bolivia, and answer the questions about it below.

The activity is suitable for (strong) Básico 2 and intermediate 1 students.

1 The Salar de  Uyuni is the biggest ... on Earth. Can you complete the sentence?
2 What service started last November?
3 How many people visited the place last year?
4 How did tourists from the US reach the Salar before?
5 How big is the area?
6 What was the place like 40,000 years ago?
7 What's the weather like at night? And during the day?

To check your answers you can read the transcript below.

One of the Earth's natural beauties, yet we rarely hear about it. But now, the world's biggest salt desert, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, is attracting tourists like never before. A private air service on an antique plane opened flights over the area in November, and it's fast proving to be a popular attraction. Around 60,000 people visited last year. But since the new flight service was launched, the bookings have shot up, and it's totally full for this month and February. Hercules de Souza is manager of the Aerosur Airline.
Now, tourists from the United States are going to arrive directly to the salt plant. Before, they had to pass through the towns along the way and take different forms of transport to arrive to this wonder.
The area is around 4,000 square miles, situated in the southwest of the country near the Chilean border. Around 40,000 years ago, the Salar de Uyuni was part of a lake that covered a huge part of the Andean Highlands. Then it dried up, leaving a salt desert and moonlike landscapes. There is so much salt there that locals even make buildings out of it. In fact, the airport is built of the stuff. Pink flamingos, one-thousand-year-old cacti, and rare hummingbirds make their home here. At night, it freezes, and in the day, there's a blazing sun. But, it's still worth the trip.

Extensive listening: Life of two expats in Seoul

This is a beautiful film on the life of Tiffany Needham and Erik Moynihan in Seoul that I discovered through EFL Classroom.

The Expat Life is in fact a 17-video series so far about this couple's life in Seoul, which revolves around their discovery journey of a new country and its traditions and touches on topics as varied as plastic surgery, music, dance, night life, relationships, family, animal shelters, culture shock, traditional, architecture,  drinking, styles of dressing, sport, art and cooking, and that you can follow on their Facebook page here.

This is the way their first film, Permanent, was presented on Vimeo:

"Meet Tiffany Needham and Erik Moynihan – entrepreneurs and your guides to the expat life in Seoul. In this premiere episode, they remember what brought them here and the opportunities and connections that made them stay and start up Magpie Brewing Co. We meet Hassan, another Seoul veteran and their business partner. He came for a two-week vacation seven years ago and liked it so much he never left.
On the other hand, Tori is seeing the city with fresh eyes. She and her boyfriend arrived from Canada just six weeks earlier, moving for his job at an international school, and leaving her job as a radio producer behind. Tiffany and Erik explore the Filipino market in Hyehwa with Tori, then head to Suyu for a BBQ lamb leg dinner with Hassan. The day ends over makgeolli in Insa-dong, where the trio of veterans help Tori decide if she can make a long-term commitment to Seoul."

The English Effect

The English Effect is an exhibition held at the British Council in London until 29 June. Its aim is to explore the English language in the world today.

The organizers have scheduled a number of events so that visitors can get a deeper insight into understanding the reality of the English language today. These include talks and seminars on English teaching, spelling and pronunciation, the Englishes in the world and many more.

If someone can’t make it to London, they can still get involved online in the activities through Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

As language learners, we can also benefit from some of the material that is available on The English Effect website. Just click on the ‘Economic benefits’ tag and watch some of the videos where a panel of experts from different industries express their views about the English language being the UK’s greatest asset today.

You can also get familiar with some common words in English and their origin by clicking on the tag 'A global language'.

In the video below, a group of people explain what English means to them. While you watch the video, keep thinking about what English means to you.



What English means to me, opportunities to travel, meet people from other countries who I can speak to in in a language, in a common language.
English is a very powerful media to keep us connected to the rest of the world.
Definitely English is a must because English in my opinion is the universal language.
Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Brunei and Rwanda, the majority of them speaks English, which means that students after learning English would be able to look for jobs from the neighbouring countries.
English means to me the whole world, this is my working language.
English means the whole world to me. First thing because my husband is British, so thanks to English I met my husband, then we were able to live a life together.
I wanted to speak English just for me to be… because I don’t want to, I don’t want to be not understand people when I’m in a different country.
English is a language in which I think, and English is a language in which I dream.
It’s little because of music, because all my best singers are from America or from England countries, so when I’m listening to their song, I use to search their lyrics to search new words and step by step I’m feeling better with speaking English.
I think I have plans for my children to learn the language and also plans to help them strengthen the language, be able to interact with the world as it comes.
If I, for me to belong I’ve, I’m not be isolated I just speak English so that I’ve been to move with others, move with society.
English is one of those things you need in the world today in order to function in business, in science, in politics.
English means to me that I have the passport to the world, the passport to life and the passport to information.
At least we can use one language to unite us, we can understand each other to promote our relationship and friendship.

Paris city guide

 Watch this Lonely Planet video on Paris and answer the questions about it.

The video is suitable for intermediate students.



1 How many people live in Paris?
2 How many high-rises or skyscrapers can you see?
3 What happened in 1848?
4 Why was the Eiffel Tower built?
5 What is the Parisians attitude towards fashion?
6 What three foods are mentioned?
7 Why is Paris one of the best places to be hungry?

To check your answers you can read the transcript below.

The City of Light is the capital of France and the epitome of romance, culture and beauty. Home to over two million people Paris straddles the river Seine and is divided into twenty districts called ‘arrondissement’, each with its own personality.
The heart of Paris has changed little since the mid-nineteenth century when its grand boulevards and art and villa apartments were built. Strict planning regulations have preserved its layout and ensured and almost total absence of high rises. To fully appreciate the city’s charms you’re best exploring Paris on foot. Take a leisure stroll along the Seine or wander the cobble-stoned streets of Montmartre.
Paris probably has more familiar landmarks than any other city on earth. Once a fortress and royal residence, the iconic Louvre is the city’s greatest gallery, especialising in art from the Middle Ages to the 1848 Revolution.
Stroll the Champs Elysees to reach the might Arc de Triomphe commissioned by Napoleon to celebrate his greatest military victories.
The Eiffel Tower is the most famous fixture in the city’s skyline built for the World Fair in 1889.
Parisians live and breathe fashion, have an immense sense of style and dress with meticulous care. You can get the look and match your credit card in the boutiques of the route of Fabeau Saint Honoré, often cited as the world’s most fashionable address.
The side streets of Paris are full of quirky boutiques and specialty stores. Locals buy their pastries at the patisserie, bread at the boulangerie and cheese from the fromagerie. This style of shopping not only offers a wealth of expertise but a perfect excuse for Parisians to talk about their favourite subject. Food, fresh ingredients, great chefs and the refined style of French cooking makes Paris one of the best places on earth to be hungry, and if you subscribe to even half of the superlatives thrown at this city, it’s one of the best places to be. Full stop.

My first job

The YouTube Whitehouse channel features a number of videos where the staff currently working for the Whitehouse talk about their first job experience.

The videos are on the short side, ranging from thirty seconds to two minutes, and they also vary in difficulty. Needless to say the bulk of these videos will be appropriate for intermediate students, but some of them, as that of chef Chris Comerford featured here, will also be suitable for strong Básico 2 students.

If you view the videos on YouTube, the interactive transcript will give you an accurate transcription, which makes me think the transcript has been cleaned.

Lesson idea:
The videos lend themselves to a nice class about first-job experiences, summer jobs and occasional jobs we used to do to earn some extra money.

Chef Chris Comerford



My very first job, you might want to know, is that, you know, back in Chicago, when my family moved here from Manila in 1983, my first job was a salad bar girl. And at that time when I was working it wasn't one of those glamorous job or anything that, you know, you might really aspire for, but being a culinary laureate now and looking black I've learn so many things from that very first job.
I've learned how to organize myself. I've learned how to work with other people and I've learned to really love what I do. So even though like you know at the time being it might not seem very important, every job is important.
You know, like as a chef right now I rely on this salad bar girl, really take care of my needs, take care of everything that I need to have to ensure that, you know, an event that I have or a menu that I have worked very nicely. So you know, looking back it was a very great experience for me.

Julie Rodriguez

My first job was actually when I was 13 years old, and it was, I was technically a volunteer but I did get a pay check of five dollars a week that made me really proud and just gave me a sense of kind
of responsibility at a good age. I worked with my cousin. And we were actually responsible for answering phone calls for people that were interested in more information about the impact that pesticides was having on farm workers and farm worker children.
And so we would send them out a little information video and for me it was again the sense of responsibility, but also I think I got a little excited and felt like I was in charge. And would try to boss my cousin around all of the time which she didn't really like since we were the same age, but she was much taller than me. And so everyone thought that she was obviously older than I was. You know, through that summer again, I, it just gave me an opportunity to really contribute and to show that even though I was 13 years old, I could do something to inform others about you know issues that they cared about or you know that I could also take a part in helping to improve the lives of, in that case, it was farm workers. And so for me, it was again that sense of really having meaning and purpose in whatever it is that I chose to do. And chose to take on.

Lt. Col. Jason Dempsey

My first summer job was pretty unique in that I was 14 years old living in the Republic of South Korea where my dad was stationed as a member of the Army. And for a summer employment option, they gave us the option of working on a military base. And so my first summer job was working with a group of Korean men in a supply warehouse at a supply base outside of Tagu South Korea.
It was very challenging for one because I didn't know the language, and I had to work with people, obviously, of a different culture and a different background than me. I was only 14, and so these gentlemen were much older than me. And it required me to, one, not only learn the ins and outs of just showing up for work on time but also how to communicate and work with people that I would not otherwise interact with on a regular basis and how to form coherent teams to get the basic things done that you need to do to be productive.

Talking point: Change

The topic of today's talking point is Change. Before getting together with the members of your conversation group, go over the questions below so that you can get familiar with the topic and ideas flow more easily on the day when you get together with your friends.

Which of these things do you know how to change? a nappy - a tyre - a light bulb - a plug
Which, if any, of these would you like to change? Why or why not? your name - your image - your lifestyle
What changes, if any, would you make to the following? Why? your home - your school/workplace

What might the effects be if the following changes were to occur in your country?
The average temperature increases by 5ºC all year round.
The third most important political party wins a majority at the general election.
The official retirement age is increased by 5 years.
At primary and secondary school the lessons have to be taught in English.
The government introduces a four-day working week.
The minimum age for driving a car is increased by three years.
A new tourist resort opens on the coast of Morocco with very cheap prices.
Cars are banned in the city centre.
Some important industry in your area is relocated in another country.

Which changes would you like to see introduced, either regionally, nationally or globally?
What can an ordinary person do to change the world?
Do movements like The Occupy Movement - Escraches – Anonymous – Wikileaks – Peta – Femen really change society?
To what extent campaigns like My Friends is or Do you see what I see are useful?





My friend is so much fun… he is always playing tricks on people... he is so smart. In fact, he is one of the must intelligent beings on the planet. This friend can litteraly see through me and I'm not kidding. My friend races sailboats ... and always wins. My friend has no problem hitting the high note.
My friend can surf waves 25 feet high ... with no board...  I like to see you try that ... This friend can understand us...  but we can’t understand him.
He saves lives. He saves human lives. He is always smiling. But that doesn't mean that he is always happy.
My friend doesn't belong in captivity. His home is in the ocean.
But my friend is in serious trouble. In fact, he is fighting for his life right now...  off the coast of Japan dolphins and poroises are driven to a horrible fate.
The most attractive are chosen for life in captivity. The others are brutally killed. Their meat that contains toxic levels of mercury is sold as food. The majority of people in Japan don't even know that this is happpening...
Please help us end this senseless slaughter, please help us get the word out, please join us in getting the word out. Help us get the word out! To find out more go to  www.takepart.com/thecove. We are their biggest threat and their only hope...