Speakout starter: Journeys

Journeys is the title of this week's video podcast from Speakout, Pearson Longman. It is a nice follow-up to yesterday's post on What is bicycle travel?

Watch the video and note down the answers to these questions:

How do you get to work?
How long does it take?
Do you like the journey?
How much does it cost?



Beginners and elementary students can find it difficult to understand and use the question How long does it take? For a more detailed explanation of this question, read this entry from our Real English series.

Now it's over to you. Answer the questions above about yourself. Try and use some of the expressions the people interviewed used.

You can read the transcript here.

What is bicycle travel?

Watch this short video by The Path Less Pedalled about the advantages of travelling by bike.

Self-study activity:
Complete the blanks in the transcript below with the missing words.

The activity is suitable for Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 students.



What is bicycle travel?
Bicycle travel isn't about (1) ... .
It's about going (2) ... , exploring your country, and seeing it for the first time.
It's about doing something you didn't think you could do before.
It's about (3) ... to some places you've never been.
It's about slowly (4) ... a mountain,then (5) ... down the other side.
It's about traveling with friends and making new ones.
It's about (6) ... fruit stands or finding the best meal you've ever had and getting (7) ... .
It's about getting lost to find (8) ... .
But most of all, bicycle travel is about people (9) ... stories with other travelers and (10) ... with the locals.
Because when you travel on a bike, you (11) ...   ...  but smile and people (11) ...   ...  but smile back.
Travel by bike. Live more.

Make a point of dropping by The Path Less Pedalled and you will have the opportunity to watch some other similar videos to What is bicycle travel? together with some advice to take into account if you are planning to travel by bike.

You can also hold a conversation with your English-speaking friends around the topic of the bicycle in today's time and age:

• What are the advantages of using a bicycle to get around a city?
• What problems are there'
• What cities have a bike-hire scheme?
• How do these schemes work?
• Are you in favour of encouraging the use of bicycles as a form of transport? Why (not)?
• What changes would be needed where you live to make cycling a practical form of transport?
• What rules do you think cyclists should have to follow?
• Are you a cyclist or would you consider cycling in a city?

Key:
1 bike 2 slowly 3 riding 4 climbing 5 flying 6 roadside 7 seconds 8 yourself  9 swapping 10 laughing 11 can't help 

Extensive listening: Life inside the North Korean bubble

A week ago, we posted on our Sunday's intensive listening series the first episode of a couple of American expats who want to show us what their life is like in South Korea. While doing so, we had the opportunity to have a glimpse of the country, its culture, traditions, and everyday life.

Today, we are going to watch the reverse of the coin, and see what life is like in North Korea through a unique BBC documentary by Newsnight editor Sue Lloyd-Roberts.

You can read an accompanying article on the Newsnight BBC website.

Class in British society

A few weeks ago the BBC reported on the results of a survey of the social structure in Britain in XXI century.

It seems that the traditional three-class system (upper, middle and working class) has been replaced with this more elaborate seven-class system:

• Elite - the most privileged group in the UK, distinct from the other six classes through its wealth. This group has the highest levels of all three capitals.
• Established middle class - the second wealthiest, scoring highly on all three capitals. The largest and most gregarious group, scoring second highest for cultural capital
• Technical middle class - a small, distinctive new class group which is prosperous but scores low for social and cultural capital. Distinguished by its social isolation and cultural apathy.
• New affluent workers - a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital.
• Traditional working class - scores low on all forms of capital, but is not completely deprived. Its members have reasonably high house values, explained by this group having the oldest average age at 66.
• Emergent service workers - a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital.
• Precariat, or precarious proletariat - the poorest, most deprived class, scoring low for social and cultural capital.

Drop by the BBC webpage and read the article that explains the ins and outs of today's British society. You will also be able to take the test so that you can find out where you would fit in the British social class system, and you will also be able to listen to an radio interview where these results are explained.

The Duchess of Cambridge, in support of Children's Hospices

Watch the Duchess of Cambridge  video message in support for the charity Together for Short Lives.

Self-study activity:
Watch the video and complete the blanks in the transcript with the missing information.

The activity is suitable for Básico 2 and Intermediate 1 students.



As Patron of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, I’ve been fortunate to see at first hand through (1) ... work that they do for children and young people with life limiting conditions and their families. It is simply transformational. There are (2) ...  children’s hospice services across the UK, all providing similar, invaluable and life enhancing care to thousands of families.

Children’s Hospice Week is the time to recognize, celebrate and support the inspirational work of those Hospices and those who (3) ... palliative care to these children and families. Children’s hospices (3) ...  (4) ... to families at a time of unimaginable pain. The support they give is vital. In order to (5) ...   ... this wonderful work, our help is needed. With our support those providing children’s palliative care can continue to offer these extraordinary (6) ... . It does not bare thinking about what these families would do without this. I hope that you’ll (7) ... me this Children’s Hospice Week, in supporting your local service.

To find out more about how you can help, please visit TogetherForShortlives.org.uk

With your support we can (8) ... that these children and their families can make the most of the precious time they have together.

Key:
1 remarkable 2 forty-nine 3 provide 4 lifelines 5 carry out 6 services 7 join 8 ensure

How to clean the world's tallest windows

Supersized Earth is a BBC programme that explores the way  we have redesigned our planet to build the modern world.

Dallas Campbell, the show's host, goes up to the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which has the world's highest windows. He joins the team whose job is to clean them.

Self-study activity:
Watch  the four-minute video clip and answer the questions about it.

The activity is suitable for Intermediate students.



1 How far below is the next platform?
2 What would happen if Derek dropped anything?
3 What two factors are really important to build buildings this high?
4 What is the main danger for tall buildings?
5 Can you explain what 'confusing the wind' is?
6 How long does it take to clean all the windows?
7 How many windows are there?

To check your answer you can read the transcript below. Remember you can double click on any word to find out its meaning.

Today, I’m going to join the team whose job it is to clean the outside of the world’s highest windows.
Just pull a little slack free. Just pull up on this one. A little bit more.

Okay, now lock the handle off.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay. Okay, just lean back, just lean back. You’re okay, you can’t go anywhere.
Okay.
I need the bucket.
Yeah, hang on a second. Take this…
Dry mouth.
Do you get nervous at all?
Yes. Scared – little bit scared? Yeah. I haven’t looked down yet. Now I’ve looked down!

It’s almost inconceivable how high these windows are. I’m 60 meters above the next platform below, which is, in itself, 600 meters above the ground higher than the previous world’s tallest building. At this height, if I dropped anything, it could do serious damage.
Building height, is a load of factors you’ve got to take into consideration. One of them obviously is gravity, which I’m feeling right now. The thing about gravity is it’s very predictable. It’s a force that’s going one way. The thing you’ve really got to worry about is wind, because by its very nature it’s unpredictable, it swirls around and it can affect the building, as well as window cleaners.
Surprisingly, very tall buildings aren’t in danger of being blown over, but of being sucked over. As wind hits them, it can form small whirlwinds, called vortices. This swirling air can create low-pressure areas that tug at the building. And if enough of them combine up the tall straight sides, they could make the tower rock from side to side. So why doesn’t this happen to the Burj Khalifa? Well, it’s taken some careful aerodynamic design. By stepping the building in as it rises and introducing angles and curves, the Burj Khalifa breaks up the desert wind, preventing the vortices from combining dangerously. The designers call it ‘confusing the wind’, and they reckon it’s the only way to build this high.
It strikes me, being out here, that even though we are in such a technically advanced building, that – in order to keep it nice and clean, you still can’t beat a man with a squeegee and a bucket. It takes three months to clean all 24,000 windows, and when they finished, the team has to start all over again.

If you are going to build a building that’s truly iconic, you’ve got to make it look nice.
And keep it looking nice!
And keep it looking nice, exactly, yeah.
Keep going, you’re all right. Keep going, lovely.
Wow, that was intense! I don’t know how those guys do it every day. That was intense, but good.

Talking point: Your very own hero

The topic of heroes seems to be a regular feature in the English class. This year we did the following activity in class, which is based on a worksheet from Global Advanced, Macmillan.

Write the name of two people who have been a great influence on your life. One of them should be an ordinary person, preferably someone close to you like a friend or relative. The other one should be someone who is/was famous for their big contribution to mankind or their country, or who has achieved a remarkable feat (a scientist, a political leader, a sportsperson).

Who are the people you chose?
What do you know about their life?
Describe the type of person they are/were.
What did they do that you admire most?
How did they influence your life?
What is your best memory of this person?
Think of some advice that you would give to someone else based on your experience of this person's influence.
'Heroes and heroines are really normal people’. Do you agree with this sentence?
Talk about something remarkable you have done.

Derek Sivers sparked off this idea for this week's talking point when I read his moving blog post following film critic Roger Evert's death in early April this year. When reading Derek's comments about Mr Evert one can feel his admiration for him and his work.

If you click on the link on Derek Sivers, you will also have the opportunity to get to know some of Evert's most outstanding film reviews.

If you would rather do some sort of listening stuff, why not watch this Evert's talk for TED, when he was unable to talk because of his illness.

Remember you can activate the English subtitles to fully understand everything that is being said in the talk.