Bite Sized English

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?

November 11th, 2009 | Tags: defy, stereotype | Category: English Two, Vocabulary, listening | Leave a comment

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)

I teach English to a lot of people who think they are old. Some are grandparents, others have children as old as I am. And every one of them is able to learn English.

So, I was surprised to learn that most of them think they will never be able to find another job. In Germany, they tell me, companies don’t hire people who are over forty-five or fifty years old, and so, my students would never even consider looking for another job.

The logic, they tell me, is that companies think older workers have two problems: first, their training is out-of-date and they’re difficult to train. Second, because they’re older and will retire soon, it’s not worth the company’s time and money to train them.

The ideal job candidate, my students tell me, is twenty years old and has thirty years of experience.

What do you think? How easily can an older worker find work in your country? If you had a company, would you hire older workers? Why, or why not?

November 10th, 2009 | Tags: job hunting, older workers, work | Category: English One, Topic, spoken | Leave a comment

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)

One of the things I’m most famous for in my classes is making jokes about the differences between men and women. I don’t think it’s possible to talk about shopping without talking about them just a tiny bit.

But, though you may think I’m going to make fun of women now. . . you’re wrong. I do think it’s crazy how much fun women have shopping, but today I want to talk about some mistakes I made while ’shopping like a man.’

What do you think I mean when I say I was shopping like a man? What mistakes do you think I made? I guess you’ll just have to listen to the recording to find out!

After You’ve Heard the Recording
Have you ever made mistakes like the ones that I talked about? In the recording, I used some stereotypes about men and women. Do you think they’re accurate, or do you think I exaggerated a bit too much? What does ’shopping like a man’ mean to you?

November 6th, 2009 | Tags: shopping | Category: English Three, listening | Comments (5)

This entry is part of a series about idioms. There will be more all the time! 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 suppose it’s not possible to learn a language like English without learning a little history. After all, English developed in history, and you can’t really understand them without going a little way back in history.

Today, we’re going to talk about a common English phrase that’s pretty easily understood: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” But, this phrase came from one of my favorite historical Americans. And today’s recording is going to be about him as much as about his phrases.

After You’ve Heard the Recording
It’s amazing to me that Ben Franklin can be famous for so many different things. Is there someone in history that you respect that way? Is there someone who added a lot to your language the way Ben Franklin added to English? What did he or she say?

November 5th, 2009 | Tags: penny saved | Category: English Three, listening, phrases and idioms | Leave a comment

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?

November 4th, 2009 | Tags: comparision shopping, impulse buy, shopping | Category: English Two, Vocabulary, listening | Leave a comment

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)

You probably know the word ’shopping’ in English. You don’t need to learn English at all to learn it: it seems to be a part of every language I’ve ever seen. Shopping.

I have to say that I don’t like to shop the old-fashioned way. You know, the way where you drive into the city, walk around, look in different stores. I never find exactly what I want, and I always have to buy the ‘next best’ thing. . . that is, I have to buy something that’s close to what I want, but not exactly right.

When I shop online, though, things are different. It’s possible to buy books in English here in the middle of Germany. I can always find exactly what I want, and comparison shopping is as easy as a few clicks. . . not a few kilometers of walking or driving.

You can guess what I’m going to say: I prefer shopping online. Because I normally know what I want before I go shopping, I don’t need to look around in stores. I just look around a few websites to find the thins that I want, give them my credit card information, and wait for my shopping to come to me.

How do you prefer to shop? Are you an online shopper, or do you prefer to shop ‘offline’? What’s the last thing you bought online? What kinds of things do you only buy offline? Or online?

November 3rd, 2009 | Tags: shopping | Category: English One, Topic | Leave a comment