English Recordings

Help!

Stop, thief!

Where is the nearest embassy?

Hello

Do you know a place where I can hide?

Please forgive me, and accept this camera as a gift.

Run!

Why is the water brown?

How quickly can you leave?

Is there a doctor in the building?

A: good morning, my name is Laura Beloiel and, as agreed on the phone, I come to interview you concerning your training and your job.
B: very good. So I start by presenting myself. My name is Gregory Lambert. I am 19 years old. I am a student in vocational training. I am half English, My mother is French and my father is English. Before, I studied in “A” level in community and Social Care and now I am in BTEC in tourism, in second year, and I am a trainee in a gîte here in Gennes. The fact that I am half English was a good point because we mainly work with English speaking customers.
A: So, you are a trainee. How do your studies work?
B: I am 2 weeks at school and 3 weeks in work placement. It is interesting because I can discover my future job on the spot and I learn a lot of theory at school on how to manage a touristic structure.
A: Could you describe your structure?
B: It is a gîte in a rural area which is very pleasant. There are 6 double bedrooms and a dormitory with a capacity for 15 people for groups. It was settled in 1998 by an English couple, Mr and Mrs Owen, they are the 2 only people working here. It is 15 Kilometers from Saumur with the castle and Fontrevault is not far away with its abbey. This is an asset because those sites attract a lot of tourists because they are well known, especially in England because we have a history in common between Anjou and England. The fact that the owners are English and that they have a web site with an English version is also positive. The reason I am here as a trainee is also because I speak English.
A: and what services do you provide?
B: Customers have breakfast here of course. But they can also have diner in the gîte at the restaurant room. And we also have a reception room for 120 people for conferences and weddings, especially at week-ends. We also offer, every two days, a special activity with a wine tasting session; we are in a wine production area and customers enjoy our local specialties. It encourages them to stay longer than just one night. We organize this regular event, with 3 local wine producers, which is good for us but also for the wine producers because customers can buy wine directly from them.
A: What activities do you do yourself?
B: Now I can do a lot of things. I greet customers, I do the bookings. I draft invoices, I prepare the bedrooms, I help to cook and to wait customers at the restaurant…
A: And what are your favorite activities?
B: I like greeting customers and waiting them at diner
A: Why do you like waiting in particular?
B: Because I am a trainee, I am not paid, but in the evening this is extra work and I am paid a bonus.
A: ah, I see. And what is your professional project. You don’t want to be a waiter, do you?
B: No, I don’t. I would like to settle my own gîte in the area. I am not so interested in wine but in environment and I would like to offer activities around nature. There is a lot of potential with the river and the natural park

Neither the father nor his daughters were prepared for the bad news.
Each man and each woman has a vote.
Neither John nor Peter has any rights to the property.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Age and experience brings wisdom.
Either John or Mark has done this mischief.
No prize or medal was given to the boy, though he stood first in the examination.
Neither the Principal nor the lecturers were present at the meeting.
Either John or his brothers are responsible for this.
Neither the Chief Minister nor his colleagues have given any explanation for this.
Either you or John has to take the lead in this matter.
Neither he nor I have money to spare for this.
Neither you nor Alice seems to be capable of doing this.
The news is too good to be true.
Politics is a dirty game.

Ten-year-old Harry Potter is an orphan who lives in the fictional London suburb of Little Whinging, Surrey, with the Dursleys: his uncaring Aunt Petunia, loathsome Uncle Vernon, and spoiled cousin Dudley. The Dursleys barely tolerate Harry, and Dudley bullies him. One day Harry is astonished to receive a letter addressed to him in the cupboard under the stairs (where he sleeps). Before he can open the letter, however, Uncle Vernon takes it. Letters for Harry subsequently arrive each day, in increasing numbers, but Uncle Vernon tears them all up, and finally, in an attempt to escape the missives, the Dursleys go to a miserable shack on a small island. On Harry’s 11th birthday, a giant named Hagrid arrives and reveals that Harry is a wizard and that he has been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He also sheds light on Harry’s past, informing the boy that his parents, a wizard and a witch, were killed by the evil wizard Voldemort and that Harry acquired the lightning-bolt scar on his forehead during the fatal confrontation.

Upon arrival at the school, the students are sorted into one of four houses—Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Harry ends up in Gryffindor, and during his eventful first year at Hogwarts he becomes close friends with two other members of the house, Ron Weasley, who comes from an old wizarding family, and Hermione Granger, whose parents are Muggles (those who are not magical). Harry also finds that he has an enemy in Draco Malfoy (Slytherin). In addition, Harry’s prowess in flying on a broomstick makes him a star of Gryffindor’s Quidditch team. Hoping to get Harry and his friends into trouble, Draco tricks them into leaving their rooms one night, a violation of school rules. While trying to avoid being caught, they discover a three-headed dog guarding a trapdoor. Harry gradually comes to the conclusion that Professor Snape, who teaches Potions, dislikes him intensely and is trying to get hold of whatever is behind the trapdoor. Harry receives his father’s cloak of invisibility as a Christmas gift, and, while exploring under the cloak’s cover, he finds the Mirror of Erised, in which he can see his parents. Later, headmaster Albus Dumbledore explains that the mirror shows the viewer’s deepest desire.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione deduce that the treasure under the trapdoor is the Philosopher’s Stone, which can transform metal into gold and can also confer immortality. They later discover that Voldemort has been killing unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and drinking their blood, another way to achieve immortality. The trio comes to believe that Snape is in league with the evil wizard. After learning that Hagrid revealed the secret way to lull the three-headed dog to sleep to a suspicious stranger, whom they believe to be either Snape or Voldemort, they are certain that the Philosopher’s Stone is in danger. The three classmates use the cloak of invisibility on a secret mission to get the Stone themselves to keep it from Voldemort. After getting past the dog and defeating various protective spells, Harry reaches the room in which the Stone is hidden and is surprised to find the perpetually nervous Professor Quirrell there. Quirrell fails to figure out how to retrieve the Stone from the Mirror of Erised (the final protective measure) and forces Harry to try. When standing in front of the mirror, wishing only to protect the Stone and not use it for himself, Harry feels the Stone’s weight in his pocket but refuses to tell Quirrell that he has it. Quirrell unwraps his turban, revealing Voldemort’s face on the back of his head. Voldemort explains that he has been sharing Quirrell’s body until he can get to the Stone and become fully alive again, and Voldemort/Quirrell and Harry fight for possession of the Stone, until Harry blacks out. He awakens in the infirmary and learns that Dumbledore saved him, the Stone is to be destroyed, and Voldemort escaped.

full - fool - school - rule - could - cool - youth - truth - put - root

Zulu - book - student - queue - woman - look - move - foot - through - produce - would - opportunity - who - good - improve - lose

I'll wear a shamrock

St. Patrick's Day is with us,
The day when all that's seen
To right and left and everywhere
Is green, green, green!
And Irish tunes they whistle
And Irish songs they sing,
To-day each Irish lad walks out
As proud as any king.
I'll wear a four-leaf shamrock
In my coat, the glad day through,
For my father and mother are Irish
And I am Irish too!

Mary Carolyn Davies

Tom , Jen and Mark have planned a trip to Australia. Listen to them talk about what they will visit in Sydney.

Tom:
Jen, Mark, today we really must decide what we want to do once we are in Sydney this Easter.

Jen:
Ok, let’s see. I think that the Opera House is a must-see. It is the most famous place in Sydney. Plus, I love architects.
Look, here they say that on top of the Harbour Bridge there
is a great view of the Opera House. I would love to go there.

Tom:
I don’t know… Last week I twisted my ankle and on the website, they say that we have to climb. I think I’d rather do something more relaxing. I’m afraid that my ankle will hurt
again. I really want to take it easy in Sydney.

Mark:
Come on, Tom. Don’t be such a killjoy. Listen, I prefer to do something more thrilling that visiting the Opera House!
Look at this picture of a Tasmanian devil; if we go to Taronga Zoo, we will see many wild animals, like platypus, koalas and kangaroos. I love wild animals. Obviously, we will have to pay attention: don’t forget that Australia has the most dangerous
animals in the world…

Jen:
That’s amazing!

Tom:
No, please, I can’t! I don’t like animals in captivity. If we go there, I’m sure I won’t feel well. I know you are going to have fun, but… what about me? I personally think that we
have to find something that is ok for everybody.
Mark, Jen, why don’t we go to the beach? I love surfing and big waves and Bondi Beach is supposed to be a great place. I’ll just liedown on the sand, and watch people surfing and have fun. I’m sure you’d love it.

Mark:
That isn’t a bad idea.

Jen:
No, not at all.

How Rap Became the Sound of the Mainstream
When Philadelphia rapper Lil Uzi vert was 20 years old, he uploaded a few songs to SoundCloud, a free music-sharing platform. The tracks got a couple hundred plays, then a few thousand. Three years later, the rapper, now 23, has racked up over a billion Spotify streams and nabbed a Best New Artist Grammy nomination.
Lil Uzi Vert's rise is impressive. But this year, he's just one in a crowd of hip-hop stars who are dominating the mainstream. Nearly half of the songs on Jan. 27's Billboard Hot 100 chart were rap or incorporate elements of hip-hop. Listening in the genre increased 74% on Spotify in 2017, and Drake, the Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar were three of the platform's top five most popular artists. This is a marked change from the past 10 years, when artists like Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga ruled the charts.
The Grammys are evolving as well. This year, rap dominated the category, thanks to artists like Jay-Z, Lamar and Donald Glover. Three of the five nominees for Record of the Year are also hip-hop, as are three of the five for Best New Artist, including Lil Uzi Vert.
For fans of American hip-hop, this recognition is long overdue. "It was kind of a 'Well, duh', moment," says Ross Scarano, Billboard vice president of content. "Rap has been the most dominant force in American culture for years."
It's impossible to talk about rap as a genre without also talking about issues of race and class. The barriers to entry, either as a fan or an artist, are lower than they've ever been; the visibility of those who have made it is, thanks to social media, higher than ever before. For kids, to become the next Migos, rising from the streets to hip-hop royalty, is a new American Dream.
Raisa Bruner, TIME Magazine, 2018

1. PUBLIC SCHOOLS vs PRIVATE SCHOOLS
A large majority (around 88%) of American pupils go to public schools. These schools are called “public” because they are funded by the U.S. Government and local State governments. Private schools are not state-funded, so families usually have to pay expensive fees: 15.000 dollars / year on average. There is an extreme variety of private schools; some of them are very prestigious (Harvard, Stanford, Riverdale, etc.). Finally, some American teenagers don’t go to school, for a variety of reasons (medical, religious, psychological, etc.): they are “home-schooled”, which means that they study from home (with the help of a parent and also online). They represent 3 to 4% of all American students (about 4.5 million).

2. TESTS and GRADUATION
In the USA, there is no national exam or national curriculum . Each state defines the curriculum in public schools and the testing of students at the end of secondary education. In other words, there can be important variations from state to state: students don’t learn the same thing and do not take the same tests if they live in New York State, Florida, or Kentucky. At school, students receive ‘letter grades’ for their academic success. The best grade is A+ followed by A and A-. B is still good, C is average. D is failing and E or F mean complete failure.
After students have completed their last year of High School, they receive their High School Diploma: we say that they “graduate from High School”. During the “graduation ceremony”, students wear a special uniform. They often buy a yearbook containing pictures of their friends and teachers.

3. DAYS OFF and VACATIONS

The school year in the United States begins in the middle of August and finishes in the middle of June. Students have nearly 3 months of vacation during the summer. During the school year, students have days off / weeks off on different occasions: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Easter, and Memorial Day. During the summer holidays, summer sessions are organized: if they want, students can catch up with work they have missed or take a course they did not have time for during the year.

4. TYPICAL DAY and SCHOOL SUBJECTS

American students usually have 6 classes a day, starting at about 7.30 am and finishing school by 3pm. They only have about 30 minutes to eat lunch, followed by a very short break. They can bring their own ‘packed lunch’ or buy a hot meal at school. Every student must take English, math, science, and history: these subjects are “mandatory” . Schools also offer optional courses, called “electives”: art, music, PE, languages (usually Spanish or French), etc. Students in the USA do not stay with the same class for every subject; they change rooms and groups for each subject. They normally have the same lesson at the same time every day. In high school, some classes are divided by level: talented students can take advanced courses.

5. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

After-school activities begin in elementary school, but they considerably expand in high school and in college. Students can choose from many extra-curricular activities. They can join clubs based on a particular interest, such as chess, computers, acting or cooking, working on the school newspaper or playing in a sports team. Most schools have teams for basketball, football, baseball, and have track and field . Students practice these sports after school during the week, and they also participate in official games against other schools. Football is the most popular sport, followed by basketball. Cheerleaders attend all of the football and basketball games to support their school. Sports are very important at the high school level, and it is often very competitive.

6. TRANSPORTATION TO SCHOOL
American students usually ride yellow buses to and from school. Few students can walk to school or have their parents drive them. Students over 16 can drive to school but most students have to take the school bus. You must wait at the end of your driveway for the bus to pick you up. After school, you must get on the same bus and the bus driver will drop you off at your house. You do not have to pay for this bus; it is free.

7. SCHOOL DANCES
During the school year there are important social activities. In the autumn homecoming, the day when students return to the school, is celebrated with a big football game and a dance. Snowcoming is another dance in the winter. The most important dance of the year is the Prom which takes place at the end of the school year. Students take special care to find the right clothes for this event, and they vote to elect the Prom Queen and King.

My name is Dan and I'm from London. My favourite comic hero is Captain Britain. He is from Essex in England and his real name is Brian Braddock. He is a brilliant scientist with a PhD in Physics. Most of the time he is a shy man, but he can change into a superhero at any moment. He can see and hear things that other people cannot. He is very fast and strong and he can fly very fast. He is an amazing hero!