This entry is part of a series about fraud. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

My name is Toby. I don’t think it’s possible to really steal my name. . . after all, if you did, wouldn’t that mean I was left here, nameless? And that’s just not possible. But, it’s possible for you to take my name—and probably my birthday, my social security number and maybe other personal data—to use my name by pretending to be me.

Who knows what you could do with my name: spend my money, borrow money, get married. . . lots of stuff. (I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone getting married under a stolen name.) When that happens, it’s possible that I could lose a lot of money. . .and maybe even wake up married.

When this happens, this is called identity theft. My identity is stolen. Today we’re going to talk about different kind of identity theft. (Because I don’t know much about this, I got my information from the Wikipedia page, if you want to read it there.) We’re going to talk about:

• Financial Identity Theft

• Criminal Identity Theft

• Medical Identity Theft

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Do you worry about this happening to you? Do you think it’s very possible? What do you to protect your identity from theft?

This entry is part of a series about fraud! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

I like to teach English that’s happy and positive. Because, well, that’s the way I try to see the world. Unfortunately, though, that’s not always how things are. And so, today we’re going to talk about two words that I hope you never really need.

For today’s recording you’re going to need thevocabulary words honest and dishonest. And, of course, truth and lies. It’s pretty simple, really: truth refers to something that’s a fact, something that’s true, or information that’s real. A lie, on the other hand, is a ‘fake fact.’ A lie is when someone tells you something that they know isn’t true, it’s ‘fake information.’ We all know people we can trust to tell us the truth: these are honest people. And, unfortunately, we know people whom we can’t trust to tell us the truth: these are dishonest people.

Now, you have the vocabulary to listen to today’s recording. The vocabulary you’ll learn in the recording is:

• Deceit – Deception

• Fraud

After You’ve Heard the Recording
I hate to ask this question, because I hope the answer is no, but do you have a story about deceit or fraud? Have you ever deceived anyone? Have you ever been the victim of fraud?

This entry is part of a series about Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Thanksgiving is this week and, if you’re going to be in the U.S. during this week, you’ll hear some unusual vocabulary. And so, in today’s recording, I want to talk about two of the words that I, personally, associate with Thanksgiving, a short version of the Thanksgiving story, and the answer to the oldest question of all: why is turkey a traditional part of the thanksgiving meal.

The words you’ll be hearing in this recording are:

• Pilgrim

• Mayflower

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Is there a holiday like Thanksgiving in your country? What’s the story behind it?

This entry is part of a series about fitness. Get ready to sweat this week! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Like all things, fitness vocabulary can be used for more than just fitness. A lot of what we’re going to talk about today could also be used to described something like. . . learning English. (After all, you’re here to learn English.)

Still, today’s recording is going to introduce you to five terms that can be used to describe fitness, but you’ll hear a lot of examples that aren’t just for learning English. To help you—and because some of these words are a little crazy to spell—here’s the vocabulary we’ll cover in this recording:

• Excel / Exceed

• Endurance

• Cardiovascular

• Plateau

• Conserve

This entry is part of a series about older workers. We’ll defy stereotypes all week! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

When the conversation turns to ‘older workers,’ or to ‘immigrants’ or to ‘Americans in Germany’ (I guess, really, I’m in all three of those groups, but I’m not that old) it’s difficult to have a fair conversation. After all, we’re talking about groups of people and. . . that means we’re speaking in stereotypes.

A stereotype is a general statement about a group of people: “Americans are fat and lazy.” “Immigrants don’t learn the language.” “Police officers are all good people.” The problem is that not all people in a group are the same, and so a stereotype can never be more than mostly true.

In this recording, we’re going to talk about stereotypes.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
What stereotypes will other people have of you? What groups do you belong to? Do you think you fulfill the stereotypes, or do you defy them? Do you defy any stereotypes intentionally?

This entry is part of a series about shopping. More shopping all week! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

A lot of people learn the English vocabulary to go shopping: ‘how much does it cost?’ and ‘can I try it on?’ are pretty good examples. But, if you’re shopping in New York City and want to talk to someone—maybe one of the famously friendly New Yorkers—about your shopping, will you have the vocabulary to do it?

There’s a lot of ‘normal’ vocabulary that you can use to describe how you shop. Today, I want to introduce you to two phrases that are common when we talk about shopping. And they’re phrases that come from opposite ends of the shopping spectrum: spontaneous and very deliberate. The phrases are:

• Impulse buy

• Comparison shopping

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Which of these two phrases best describe you? Are there any special things that you might buy on an impulse? Things that you always comparison shop for? Does the price make a difference in how you shop?

This entry is part of a series about renewable energy. It’ll be a renewable week! This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

“Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know!” This is a phrase that Americans seem to like to say to each other, to remind them that money isn’t unlimited. It’s a strange phrase to use to introduce the idea of ‘renewable’ energy, but in a second you’ll see why it’s a good one.

In this recording, you’ll also learn the meanings of the following words:

• renewable energy

• alternative energy

• hydroelectric power

• wind power

• solar power

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Are you a fan of renewable energy? Are you willing to pay extra to get your energy from renewable sources? Which of the sources above do you think has the best chance of becoming ‘the’ energy source of the future? Or do you think there will be a different source? Which one?

This is an entry in a series about job hunting. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

In American English we say resume. In British English they say a C.V. In both cases, what we’re talking about is a piece of paper—or maybe two—that includes the most important information about you ‘at a glace.’ That means, a person can look quickly at your resume and know what experience and skills you have, and what certifications.

The information that you put in your resume is important. But it’s also important how you put it on the paper. The word for how you organize something on paper is formatting, and today we’re going to talk about some vocabulary you can use when you discuss the formatting of your resume. Today, you’ll learn the words:

• Title and Heading

• Column

• Table

• Row

• Line Spacing

• Double-spaced / One and a half spaced.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Obviously, this is vocabulary that’s not limited to resumes. (Vocabulary is almost never limited to just one area.) In the examples, I described the vocabulary I use here at Bite-Sized-English. What can you use this vocabulary to describe? Can you use this vocabulary to suggest some improvements to the formatting of the website? I’d be glad to hear them!

This is an entry in a series about the military. It’ll be a week of Army-Stuff. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

Any organization as huge as the military will have an impact on the language that it speaks. I know that, in Germany, there are a lot of German phrases that originally referred to military ideas, and now they’re part of standard German. And English is no different. There are a lot of military expressions in ‘everyday’ English. Here are some idioms that I use pretty often:

• AWOL

• Face the music

• Hurry up and wait

• Mandatory Fun

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Have you ever been AWOL from an English class? Or from work? Do you have any experience with hurry-up-and-wait? Have you ever had ‘mandatory’ fun? Was it really fun?

This is an entry in a series about the military. It’ll be a week of Army-Stuff. This entry is available as a Adobe Acrobat file for printing or use in a class. This entry includes a listening exercises. You can dowload the MP3 or play it using the button below. (MP3)

‘Gung-Ho’ isn’t normal English. It’s a term that I hear in normal English, but it just sounds so. . . military. Do you know anybody who is so motivated, so energetic, that it seems like they can do anything they have so much energy? That person—that kind of person—is ‘gung ho.’ Sure, a teacher can be gung-ho. A student can be gung-ho, too, if they’re so excited about learning that they always do everything they can to learn. ‘Gung-ho’ is the perfect term to describe an elite soldier of some kind, and the term sounds so ‘unstoppable’ that it seems military to me.

Today, we’re going to learn some other vocabulary that you can use to describe the military, and serving in the military. In the recording, you’ll hear the following words:

• enlist

• volunteer

• draft

After You’ve Heard the Recoding
Did you know any of the vocabulary? I chose these words for two reasons. The first, of course, is that they’re words you’ll want to use if you need to describe your own military service. On the other hand, though, these are words you can use in other settings. How would you use these words to describe something else? Have you ever enlisted someone to help you?