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Transcript
Hello and welcome to Britcast. I’m Katie and I’m from the UK. In this series of podcasts I’m going to introduce you to all things British. British accent, British words and phrases and British culture. This is the advanced podcast – this means that I’ll be speaking at a fairly normal pace and using words and phrases that I actually use in my everyday English. If you find this a little bit tricky, you can always go and download the transcript and read as you listen. 

As today is the first in the series we’re going to talk about greetings. In the UK we can say hello in lots of ways. Most of the time we say “hi” or “hey” when we are talking to our friends and family. We can also say “good morning,” “good afternoon” and “good evening.” We can’t say “good night” because this actually means “goodbye” – and we can only use it at the end of the conversation.

When we say “good morning” “good afternoon” or “good evening” sometimes we miss out the word “good” (especially when we say “good morning”). So most of the time when I see people in the morning I just say “morning.” Try it with me. “Morning.” I can also say “afternoon” or “evening” but this is less common. When I say it like this it’s informal or friendly. If I want to talk in a more formal way, for example if I am talking to my manager or somebody I don’t know I will say the word “good”– “good morning, good afternoon, good evening.”

In very informal English we sometimes say “what’s up” or “alright” – this is like saying ”hello” and “how are you” at the same time. When someone says this to you, you normally just say the same thing to them. Or you can say “hey” or “hi” or “how are you.” Personally I find it difficult to answer “what’s up” – some people like me say “nothing much” because I feel like it’s a question – if you want to be funny you can also say “the sky” but it’s an old joke so don’t use it too often…

After saying “hi” we nearly always say “how are you.” Now there are several ways of doing this. “How are you?” is the neutral or formal way of asking, but when I see my friends I normally say “how’s it going?” “howsit goin” (notice I joined the “how’s” and “it” into one word – “howsit”) I can also say “how are you doing?” but I say it like this “howya doin.” Did you notice I dropped the “are?” Listen again “how are you doing” becomes “howya doin.” The answer to all of these questions is normally “fine thanks” or “good thanks” – we can then say “and you?“ or just “you?” So next time you greet someone in English, try to use some of these phrases to instantly sound a little bit more fluent.

If you liked this podcast please share it with your friends and if you want to know more about how to practice your English check out English Café Alex on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/englishcafealex

BritCast Ep1: Greetings (Advanced)

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Hello and welcome to Britcast. I’m Katie and I’m from the UK. In this series of podcasts I will talk about all things British – British accent, British culture and British words and phrases. Today we will talk about tea.

The British love tea. Despite the increase in popularity of coffee in recent years our favourite drink is still a cup of tea – or a cuppa. Traditionally there are two types of teas drunk in Britain. Breakfast tea and afternoon tea. Breakfast teas are normally strong, while afternoon teas like Earl Grey have a lighter, more subtle flavour. We normally drink our tea with milk, or lemon in the case of afternoon teas. If you like your tea very strong and leave the tea bag in the cup until it is a very dark colour, we call this builders’ tea.

Afternoon tea was traditionally taken at around 4pm by the upper classes. The upper classes in Britain used to eat later than the working classes, at around 7 pm, they had a light meal called afternoon or high tea, to keep them going until dinner.  Afternoon tea traditionally includes small sandwiches and cakes, as well as a pot of Earl Grey or Lady Grey tea. You can still enjoy this tradition in cafes and hotels in the UK, who serve afternoon tea to guests.

For British people a cup of tea is more than just a drink. When people have received bad news or are in some kind of emotional distress you will often hear us say “let’s put the kettle on.” We believe tea has a calming effect and use the routine of making it to help us feel normal.

Thank you for listening to Britcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please share it and like our page Mixcast on Facebook.

BritCast Ep14: Tea

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Hello and welcome to Britcast. I’m Katie and I’m from the UK. In this series of podcasts we will be discussing all things British – British accent, British culture and British words and phrases. Today we will talk about sports.

By far the most popular sport in the UK is football, or “footy” as we sometimes call it. As I’m sure you know we have many major football leagues in the UK and watching, and playing football is an important part of many people’s social lives. Other popular sports include rugby, tennis, cycling, running and swimming.

There are some sports in the UK that you might not have heard of. Netball, for example, which is similar to basketball except that you cannot move while holding the ball. This is a popular sport for girls at school. Another very British sport is lacrosse. Lacrosse is a team sport played with nets on long sticks which you use to carry, catch and throw a ball. This is a popular sport in private schools, but not many people play it except in these schools.

If you remember from the podcast about the UK, Great Britain and England – we have many different names for the countries on our island. In sports we sometimes compete alone – for example in the football world cup England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete separately. In other events, such as the Olympics, we compete as Great Britain.

People in the UK play sports in many places. All schools teach sports lessons as part of the curriculum, and swimming lessons are also compulsory in primary school. Many adults go to sports centres to use the gym or other sports facilities like the swimming pool or tennis court. You will also find people playing sports in the park in the summer.

Thank you for listening to Britcast. If you enjoyed this podcast please share it and like our page Mixcast on Facebook.

BritCast Ep15: Sports

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Many people have trouble with reading. Reading is hard for some people and it can take time. Reading is a process of the brain where you look at symbols on a page, and your mind sees the patterns of characters and understands the meaning in them. If you develop good reading skills, it'll be very helpful to your future. Aren't your school teachers always saying 'Read more books!'? Here are a few steps and tips to get started.

•Keep reading. Try to read as much as you can on your free time. Reading will help you in lots of ways; your vocabulary will become larger and more sophisticated and you will notice your grades change for the better in school. Have fun reading! Read as much as you are able. When you start getting bored or need a break, take one. Reading should be fun and enjoyable, don't force it. After your break, return to where you were, and continue.

•Reread. If you don't understand what you are reading, read over the sentence(s) again. Try reading the words out loud to yourself. If you still don't understand something, ask a good reader nearby to explain the sentence(s) to you, or simply pick up a book that is easier to read and more appropriate to your reading level. Feel free to use your finger as a pointer. It will keep your eyes focused on the line you are reading, improving your understanding. Reread the material. It is okay to reread something if you do not understand it fully the first time.

•Use context clues to find out a word's meaning. Context clues are when a person figures out the meaning of a word by seeing how the word was used in a sentence. For example, you were reading the following sentence and wanted to know what 'pessimist' means: My mother is always happy and optimistic, the total opposite of my brother, the pessimist. So from the sentence, you can gather that 'pessimist' means the opposite of happy, so pessimist means being moody and angry. Good, experienced readers always use context clues! If you find a word that you're totally stumped on, use the dictionary! If you want to save time and the hassle of turning pages, go to the online dictionary.

•Memorize a text. Read that portion out in front of a mirror, out loud. Memorizing can improve your confidence with reading.



EgyCast E15: Reading

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Hello and welcome to Britcast. I’m Katie and I’m from the UK. In this series of podcasts we will be discussing all things British – British accent, British culture and British words and phrases. Today we will talk about work.

British people are quite serious about work. Many might call us workaholics. Workaholics are people who work a lot and who cannot stop working, even during holidays. Most people in the UK have a 9 to 5 job. This means a job that starts at 9am and ends at 5pm. Sometimes we use the phrase 9 to 5 to mean a normal job. For example, someone might say, I want to do something different with my life. I don’t want a 9 to 5. The 9 to 5 job follows a regular pattern. Work starts at 9am, there is a one hour lunch break (normally you can choose when to take it) and everyone goes home at 5pm. If you choose to stay longer, or if you have to because there is lots of work, this is called working overtime. Overtime can be paid extra or can be given back to you as extra holidays.

Holidays are normally all public holidays, such as Christmas and New Year, in addition to 21 days that you can take when you choose. Although you need to arrange with your boss and colleagues so that the work is not affected. If one day you decide to not go to work, then you might “pull a sickie.” This is a slang phrase which means that you pretend to be sick so you don’t have to go to work, but in reality you are fine. If your boss catches you pulling a sickie then you might get fired, or get the sack. This means that the company ends your contract and you can no longer work there. When you do not have a job, you are called “unemployed.” Unemployed people receive money from the government to help them live, as long as they can prove that they are looking for work. This situation is called “being on the dole” – because the slang word for the money from the government is “dole.”

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Britcast. Please share the episodes with your friends and check out Mixcast on Facebook.

BritCast Ep16: Work

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Human Family By Maya Angelou:
In this beautiful and powerful poem, Maya Angelou, teaches us that we are all people, and so much more alike than different. How different the world would be if we all lived this simple truth!

The poem goes as following:
I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white.

I've sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I've seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I've not seen any two
who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,
we weep on England's moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we're the same.

I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

EgyCast Ep16: Human Family

MiXCast is an online based English podcast, comes to you every Friday night.
We have 3 main programs: BritCast, EgyCast and MiXCast Idioms.

BritCast Ep1: Greetings (Advanced)

MixCast (English Podcast)