English Recordings

Yoohoo! Yoohoo! Here I am!
My name is Marcella and I want the best job in the world. Why would I make the best person for the job?
Because I’m super energetic, I love the great outdoors, and I have a great sense of adventure!
I’m a quick learner and I love having fun. I love animals and I’m a great communicator. I speak four languages:
“hello!”, “bonjour!”, “olà!”, “sali”.
I’m incredibly curious… Hey!
And I get along easily with anyone.
Just a few more things… hey, I’m really responsible; I’ve led tour groups all around the world. I won’t be just sitting
on the beach, tourism Queensland! I’m going to help promote the Great Barrier Reef! Whoo! Thanks for watching, bye!
Hey! Check out my blog!

I'm climbing up the stairs.

She's turning left.

They're walking into the living-room.

Thousands of pounds have been raised for trees to be replanted in a community orchard in Cardiff.

In September 2021, more than 50 trees were destroyed, and thousands of pounds of damage caused after extensive vandalism in Bute Park.[...] Cardiff council said the support and generosity shown by the community has been "overwhelming".

Melissa Boothman, owner of the Secret Garden cafe in the park, said it was conversations with regular customers that inspired her to start fundraising. "When that attack happened, people did feel like they'd been attacked personally. "People were reaching out, coming into the cafe and telling me about their experiences of the park, and wanting to help and rebuild," she said.

Ms Boothman said it would be "an orchard by the community, for the community". "Ideas from local people are central to how the orchard will look, but we want it to provide all kinds of opportunities. "We can incorporate outdoor learning, grow and provide free food for the community, and put on all kinds of different workshops," she added.

A target of £10,000 has been set for the crowdfunding campaign, and Ms Boothman has been speaking to businesses, gardeners and artists to support the project.[...]

Anna Henderson, a regular customer at the cafe, is keen to volunteer to get the project off the ground. "I think an orchard means so much more to people than trees alone, and it really appeals - we can see trees, and fruit, and nuts growing, take part in activities," she said.

Husband and wife Chris and Suzanne Carter are artists behind the company Patternistas, and want to design environmentally friendly artwork for the orchard. "Whatever we do, we want to speak to people about their ideas and go from there," said Mrs Carter. "Perhaps we can incorporate messages from people into the artwork about what the park means to them, or ask people to create pieces of art which we then curate around areas of the orchard.

Forest gardener Cody Wheeler wants to share his expertise on growing food as part of the project. "With the cost of living crisis, this is more important than ever. "I can help with workshops on how to grow fruit, vegetables and trees, and organise foraging walks so people can learn how to find and grow their own produce," he said.[...]

Welcome to this virtual house tour!
This is the main door... I'm walking along the corridor... Here we are... I'm turning left : this is the dining-room. As you can see, it's right next to the living-room...
Alright, I'm getting out now... This is the kitchen, it's quite big... There are stairs on the left... I'm climbing up the stairs to show you the first floor.
Okay... I'm entering the first bedroom, it's the master bedroom. So there is plenty of room for clothes and shoes...
Right... I'm getting out... I'm turning right to show you the bathroom. There is a bath and a shower. Oh and a cat! What are you doing here sweetie? ...
The second bedroom is opposite the bathroom, let me show you... Here we are, I'm walking into the bedroom, it's perfect for a child.
Oh and in the corridor, there are stairs... I'm going upstairs to show you the attic.... It's not very big, but you can storage boxes....
Okay, I'm climbing down the stairs now... I'm going out to show you the garden. There are a few trees and a garage.
I hope you enjoyed the tour, bye bye!

Announcer
This is World Radio. The time 20:00 GMT. It’s time now for our regular program from America: ”Land of the Free, Home of the Brave” with Wayne Clinton.

Wayne Clinton
Good evening, listeners, this is Wayne Clinton with another edition of: “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”, the program in which you, the listeners, ask questions about this great country of ours. Tonight, we are looking at the third largest state in these United States – that’s right, California, home to movie stars and Mickey Mouse! Now, who is our first caller ... Hello? Are you there?

Female caller
Hello, Wayne. This is Ulrike calling from Berlin in Germany.
Wayne Clinton Hi, Ulrike.

Ulrike
You said that California is the third biggest state in the USA. Just how big is it?
Wayne Clinton Oh, California is very big – from north to south it’s 1,240 km long, and from east to west it’s 595 km wide.

Ulrike
That is big! And what is the geography like there?

Wayne Clinton
California is a beautiful state: There are deserts, forests, fields, rivers, lakes, valleys and mountains. Not many people know that one of the highest mountains in the United States, Mount Whitney, 4,417 metres high, is in California. Most people think it is in Alaska. The lowest point in North America, Death Valley, is also in the state.

Ulrike
And what about the weather?

Wayne Clinton
The weather is mostly very nice. That is why some people like to live there. Close to the coast it rains a lot in winter and in summer it is quite cool. There is often fog. Away from the coast it is hotter and drier.

Ulrike
I think California is a place I would like to live in!

Wayne Clinton
Yes, Ulrike. And you are not the only one. Califonia is a very popular state for Americans. More people live in California than in any other state in the country. Now, who is our next caller? Hello? Hello, caller.

Male caller
Good evening, Wayne. My name is Rodney. I’m calling from Chester in England.
Wayne Clinton Good evening, Rodney. What would you like to know?

Rodney
Well, you just said that more people live in California than in any other state – but it wasn’t always like this, was it?

Wayne Clinton
No, Rodney, it wasn’t. Until the 1700s only Indians lived in California – but there were a lot of Indians because the land and weather was very good – about 105 different tribes!

Rodney
Really? So many? And when did the first people from Europe arrive in California?

Wayne Clinton
The Spanish arrived in 1769 and built a lot of churches. But not many Europeans lived in California. Then, gold was discovered in 1848. In 1849 there was a gold rush in California. People from many different parts of the world went to California to get rich quickly, but ...

Rodney
I know, most of them didn’t get rich.

Wayne Clinton
That’s right. But because of the gold, California became the 31st state of the United States in 1850. But still not many Europeans lived there.

Rodney
Why not?

Wayne Clinton
Well, all the gold was quickly found and California was a very difficult place to travel to. It was dangerous on horseback and it took months to ride across America, and by ship it took 80 days from the east coast, and that was expensive.

Rodney
So when did the population start to grow?

Wayne Clinton
It started to grow when the railway connected the east coast of the USA with San Francisco in 1869. With the railway came new business, industry grew, and with that, more and more people went to California. In the 1900s when cars were invented and roads built across the United States, even more people moved west to California. They wanted to start a new life in a rich new land. Thank you for your interesting questions, Ulrike and Rodney. We’ll go on with our program after this famous song about people moving west ...

Traffic is a big problem in large cities because it produces emissions which contribute to air pollution. Exposure to these emissions will eventually cause respiratory problems, especially in older people. Emissions from traffic are also a principal source of the kind of air pollution that leads to global warming, principally because of the carbon dioxide present in exhaust fumes. Because of these issues in Vancouver we are trying to reduce it. Over 2 million people live in our city and there are more than
2.5 million cars! So, we need to act now. If we don’t do something immediately, the problem will be worse in the future. What can we do? First, we can go by bike and walk more. We can also use public transport. If we use buses and trains, we won’t pollute so much. Let’s make a difference!

Roswell is a city located in New Mexico, USA. It is well-known for the Roswell incident which occurred in 1947. That year, the crash and recovery of a US Air Force altitude balloon was taken for a UFO crash and became the centre of conspiracy theories involving extraterrestrials. In 1994, the government revealed that the balloon was part of a top secret project to detect Soviet nuclear bomb tests. This announcement did very little to end the conspiracy theories about the Rowell incident. The city of Roswell has attracted many tourists since the incident. If you go there, you can visit the international UFO Museum and find several alien-themed souvenir shops and restaurants.

Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time to thinking about death.

Hi, I’m Nova Scotia. This means "New Scotland” in Latin. Fishing is a very important industry for me because I’m almost totally surrounded by sea. I’m at the east coast. Next to me is the smallest Canadian territory.

Hi, I’m Québec. I’m the province with the most French speaking people in Canada and I’m the largest province, too. Next to me is a province which was not namecl after dogs, although many people believe this ! My capital city has the same name as I do. It has buildings which are more than 300 years old and it was declarecl a World Heritage Site by the UN.

Hi, I’m Nunovut. I’m the youngest Canadian territory. My birthday was on April 1, 1999. Only about 22,000 people live here because I have the coldest winters. The Arctic Circle runs through me. My name means "our land" in Inuktitut. The Canadian government cut me off my western neighbour, the "Northwest Territories” and gave me to the Aboriginal people. I’m the only part of Canada with three official languages: lnuktitut, English and French. I cover one fifth of Canada’s land, A lot of islands belong to me.

Hi, I’m Manitoba. I’m known as “the land of 10,000 lakes” because one sixth of me is made up of fresh water lakes. I have Churchill, the "polar bear capital” of the world. Come and go polar bear watching ! I’m in the middle of Canada, I have a sea coast on Hudson Bay and Aboriginal as well as American neighbours.

Hi, I’m Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1949 I was one of the last provinces to join Canada. Newfoundland is an island. Therefore I’m separated into two parts. I’m very near the French-speaking territory and I’m the most eastern part of Canada. I have a mild climate because the Gulf Stream warms the air. My problem is the overfishing of the sea. And no, I was not named after dogs. "Newfoundland” means "new found land” and "Labrador" comes from "lavraclor" which is the name of a Portuguese explorer meaning "landholder”’ .

Hi, I’m Saskatchewan. I’m mostly covered by prairie. Regina, my capital city is home of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Academy (RCMP), which is Canada‘s police force. One third of my people live on farms. I’m surrounded by three other territories and the USA.

Hi, I’m Yukon Territory. In the late 19th century lots of people came to me and hoped to find gold. Today tourists come because of my beautiful landscape, my mountains and rivers. I’m the most western of the northern territories. The Arctic Circle runs through me.

Welcome to Crazy School! In Crazy School the rules are...well...crazy!!! For example you can eat sandwiches and you can play football in the corridors. In the playground you must dance and have fun but you mustn't eat chewing gum. In the dining hall you mustn't chat but you can read. In class you must work but you can also relax!