Episode 08

Adam and Rob

Both: Hello!

Adam: Welcome back. I’m Adam.

Rob: And I’m Rob.

Adam: And welcome to Episode 8 of our podcast.

Rob: This week we’ll hear from Carolina again – and Jamie’s got some exciting news.

Adam: But first we’ll take a look at your comments from the last podcast. In it, Tess and Ravi talked about queuing. Lots of people around the world think that queuing is a very ‘British’ thing to do. And do you know what – it might be true!

Rob: We asked you to tell us about queuing in your country and so many of your answers said that queues in your country aren’t like queues in Britain – and you don’t feel very happy about it! We heard about problems with queues and queue jumpers in Italy, China, Poland, Turkey, France, Indonesia… the list goes on. But none of you said that you ever jumped the queue – none of you except one person: Kirankumar in India, who admits that he used to jump the queue when he was young. Very honest of you, Kirankumar.

Adam: Very honest! Sylfide says that queuing in Spain is almost a national sport, like football, but she says she doesn’t mind queuing so much when she thinks of all the people who are queuing to try to find jobs. Some other people made serious points. MahmoudSaied talked about long queues for bread in his country, Egypt, and Uguisu tells about the very organised queues in Japan, especially after the terrible earthquake and tsunami there this year.

Rob: Finally though, let’s look at Italy. Our old podcast friend, Sergio, talked about new, creative ways of queue jumping and Angelo Scalisi talked about Italian people acting differently when they are in Britain. He says, “I know people that queue up quietly when they are in London, because in London they have to queue for everything and it’s very polite so they are very polite. But they try to jump the queue when they are in Italy! This is extremely impolite!”

Adam: Thanks to all of you for your comments – they were really great. And sorry that we don’t have time to read them all out. Oh, I forgot Lahezis’s comment about queues in Poland during her childhood. She says they were a great place to meet friends and neighbours. See, I could read the comments out all day but we have to move on. Remember you can read what other people said and post your own comments by going to www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish or on our Facebook page. Look for ‘Elementary Podcasts’.

Rob: Now, though, let’s hear from Carolina. You remember that she had money problems and got a job in a convenience store. Today she breaks the news to Jamie – and he has some news of his own.

Carolina

Carolina: Hi. Phew!

Jamie: What's up?

Carolina: Nothing's 'up'. I'm excited. I've got the job. The one in the convenience store. I start on Thursday. Oh Jamie, I'm so happy.

Jamie: Well done! That's great news.

Carolina: He said he wants someone who can work hard and be efficient and I said I can, and he said OK, and then he said "The job's yours – see you on Thursday".

Waitress: Yes?

Carolina: Oh, a coffee, please. Black.

Jamie: Same for me, please.

Waitress: Two coffees. Anything else?

Carolina and Jamie: No, thanks.

Carolina: I can't wait to tell Emily. I start on Thursday.

Jamie: Yeah, you said that. What time on Thursday?

Carolina: I start at half past six.

Jamie: Half past six? Until?

Carolina: Until ten o'clock.

Jamie: Until ten o'clock?

Carolina: Yes. Why? What's the matter?

Jamie: The conservation society? We meet in the pub? Every Thursday at eight?

Carolina: Oh Jamie, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking about the meetings.

Jamie: Obviously.

Carolina: This job is very important, Jamie. You can still go to the conservation meetings. You've got friends there – Ivan and Henry and the others. And I'm sure Layla will be happy to keep you company.

Jamie: Don't start with the Layla thing. Layla's a friend, that's all. As you know.

Waitress: Two coffees.

Carolina and Jamie: Thanks.

Jamie: So what about the other days? What are your working hours?

Carolina: Thursday evening, Friday evening and Saturday from four till midnight.

Jamie: Until midnight on Saturday? That's terrible. I'm never going to see you.

Carolina: We've got the other evenings. And all day Sunday.

Jamie: Hmm. Well, I've got some news too. We're starting a band.

Carolina: A band? A music band?

Jamie: Yes.

Carolina: A music band? Like playing guitars and singing?

Jamie: Yes, that's the idea. What's so funny?

Carolina: Nothing. I'm sorry. I just didn't know that you… I mean, you've never said that you could sing or anything.

Jamie: Well, I can. And I can play the guitar. Well, I'm not brilliant. But it's something I really want to do. And so do the others.

Carolina: Who are the others? Not Henry and Ivan!

Jamie: No. You don't know them. There's a guy from my course, and a guy who works in the bookshop near my place and his brother. It's gonna be really cool.

Carolina: Wow! That's great.

Jamie: Yeah. But the bad news is, our practice day is Sunday. The bookshop's closed and we can use the back room. So Sunday is the only day that you're free – and I'm busy.

Carolina: Well… we can... perhaps I can come and watch you practise sometimes. I'm happy about the band. What are you going to call it?

Jamie: Haven't decided yet. Any suggestions welcome. You never know, we might be rich and famous one day.

Adam and Rob

Adam: So, Jamie’s started a band. Have you ever been in a band, Rob?

Rob: I have. I was in a band when I was young, when I was at school.

Adam: What instrument did you play?

Rob: I played the drums. It was great, playing the drums. But unfortunately, the first time we played in front of people, I was so nervous my hands were shaking and I couldn’t play normally. It was awful!

Adam: Oh no! What about you, listeners, I’m sure you have some musical talents to share with us? Have you ever been in a band? What was the name of your band? What musical instrument do you play? What style of music do you play? Are you still playing? And, if not, why did you stop?

Rob: Write and tell us what you think. Here’s our address again. www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish and, of course, you can look for us on Facebook too.

Adam: Now, the exercises on our website for this podcast are about days of the week and about possessives. Listen to something Carolina said:

Carolina: He said he wants someone who can work hard and be efficient and I said I can, and he said OK, and then he said "The job's yours – see you on Thursday".

Rob: He said, ‘The job’s yours’. Not ‘the job’s your’, but ‘the job’s yours’. Do you know the difference between ‘my’ and ‘mine’ and ‘her’ and ‘hers’? They’re all possessives but some are adjectives and some are pronouns.

Adam: Possessive adjectives – ‘my’, ‘your’, ‘his’, ‘her’, ‘our’, and so on – describe a noun, like other adjectives. So we say ‘this is my umbrella’.

Rob: Possessive pronouns – ‘mine’, ‘yours’, ‘his’, ‘hers’, ‘ours’, and so on – take the place of a noun, like other pronouns. So we say ‘This umbrella is mine’.

Adam: There are lots of exercises about this on the website, so why not give them a go?

Rob: Next time we’ll hear from Tess and Ravi again, talking about something that British people like to drink – now what could that be?

Adam: See you next time.

Adam and Rob: Bye!