English Recordings

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St. John’s Halls had an entertainment committee made up of and voted for by
student residents, and the last responsibility of the outgoing one was to organize the
orientation program for incoming freshers. There were ice-breaking games, challenges, quizzes, “speed-friending,” and a five-aside football game. A barbeque
was laid on for lunch. We were all given stickers to write our names and courses on,
and encouraged to wander around striking up conversations with anyone and
everyone we could. Normally, this would’ve been the kind of thing that would’ve made me want to curl up in a corner in a ball of dread and shame.
I considered myself sociable, but I wasn’t exactly the stranger whisperer. Liz usually paved a path for me. But there was a leveling aspect to this day that somehow made things easier. After all, we were all new. We were all first-years. […]
We started collecting people. We met Lauren, who had never met Claire but it
turned out they shared a mutual friend they could bond over. She was studying art
history and lived in the apartment next to Liz. We met Ray, an American who’d turned
down the chance to go to Harvard to come to Dublin (we all thought he was bonkers
, and told him so) and whose smooth, TV accent we couldn’t get enough of. We met
Daisy, a fellow English literature student. She introduced herself by saying she did
PR for Essence, which I think we were supposed to know was a club in town, and that she could get us on the guest list for tonight if we wanted.
Someone said, “Let’s go,” and one by one, the rest of us fell in. I felt like I was
being swept away on a wave, but I wasn’t entirely unhappy about it.
Catherine Ryan Howard, The Liar’s Girl, 2018

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to pound something up
charred stones
trichina worms
untrammelled growth

fishing weir, fish weir, fishgarth, or kiddle
mean blueberry scone
tailgate party
minute investigation

bee glue
grist to (or for) the mill
starchy foods
clamshell middens

prussic acid
serrated leaves
stilt-walking shepherds
bilge water

Hi !
I'm going to present you members of my family !
My name is James and I have two brothers and one sister.
My brother Ethan is shy and calm. He is very clever ! He wants to be a doctor.
My other brother Leo is very different. He is out-going and funny. He wants to be a comedian.
My sister Emma is kind and generous. Emma's boyfriend, Luke, is honest and funny.
Our parents, Mike and Susan, are respectful, kind and sporty.

amazing
awesome
awful 
beautiful
boring
brilliant 
delighted 
delightful 
disastrous 
dreadful 
dull 
eventful
exceptional
extraordinary
fabulous 
fantastic 
fun
funny
foreign
frightened
great
horrible
horrific
horrifying
nice
pleased
relaxed
remote 
repetitive
scared
special
terrible
terrific
thrilling 
tiring
too short 
unbelievable
wonderful

an hour
a month
a fortnight
a year
at night
a week
a weekend
a seaside resort
a trip
a flight
a harbour
an inn
a guest house
at home
a guided tour
by train
by plane
by car
by coach
by boat
by bike
by/at the seaside
holidays
in the country
in the city
in the afternoon
in the evening
in the morning
on an island
on foot
souvenirs
Spain
the mountain
the beach
The United Kingdom
The USA
vacations
a youth hostel

What's the most significant thing that's happened in your life in the last month?
What's the best thing about your life right now? And what's one thing you'd love to change?
What's on your mind this week? What are you thinking about?
Name one great joy and one sorrow that you've experienced this year.

How are you today?
What makes today a fine day?
What do you do for a living? What do you like best about your job?
What's something memorable about you, that I can remember you by?
What's something you love doing with your family?
What's been your favorite place to live? Why?
What do you hope to gain from this conversation?
How's your day going? What's been the high point so far?

The British King lives and works in Buckingham Palace.
The King's guards
Famous for their red tunics and bearskin hats, these soldiers guard the King and the Royal Palaces.
This is a King's guard at Buckingham Palace.
His job is to protect the king.
A King's Guard wears a red tunic with dark blue trousers.
He wears a bearskin hat. He carries a rifle.