English Conversation Learn English Speaking English Course English Subtitle Part 21

hello again and welcome back to english today this is DVD 21 and the fourth DVD in your advanced level and in this DVD we'll start again with another two episodes of our story that's life and then after that in our special TV programs our music expert will be talking about the Royal Opera House in London and then our travel expert will be looking into volunteer holidays then in the grammar section we will look at ways of expressing your likes and dislikes and we'll also study different ways of expressing feelings of regret alright so enjoy your viewing jack-jack I was waiting for you have you got a minute sure Edward what's up you want to put some muscles in your film Jack you are quite a joker I need some advice about a rather delicate matter well it's about women oh well then you've come to the right person when it comes to women in all modesty and sort of an expert go ahead shoot but make it fast I have to get to the gym well don't worry it's like this if a woman lets you mysteriously know that she is keen on you and if you didn't expect it but then you find that you don't mind the gesture in fact because of these you find that you're becoming fond of her and if she acts as if nothing has happened whoa whoa Edward what are you getting it I don't understand it is this a new idea for a film because if it is you should think about rewriting this script it seems very convoluted to me Jack stop joking it's a serious matter I I just don't know how to behave I can't stand this situation well okay let's take this from the top so a woman goes for you however she doesn't do it openly but then she pretends as if nothing has happened and as far as I can tell you don't dislike the idea have I got it exactly what should I do well the fact her behavior leads me to believe that she's fond of games so use that play the mysterious man and then surprise her with something special you know like take her out to dinner or write or Apollo or send her some red roses women really go for that kind of thing I got an idea I'd really like to meet this mysterious woman what she sees in him is beyond me why at what at what would you mind not watching TV for a moment I like to have a word with you is it important Alice Chuck is on the reality program about show business you know I'm not for this show yeah yeah I know it's about the only thing you go for what's up Alice what's bothering you Edward I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude it's just that something yeah I mean anything particular happened recently well if I have to tell you the truth yes great so what so what what are you getting at well what did you think about it will you please rise oh yes very much but why we are talking about such embarrassing things I think you should talk about Edward once and for all you think you know me I I don't I'm not good with words well then get into action I think you've already waited long enough maybe you're right I'm a klutz our entire Alice oh yes but you can fix it I'll surprise you by the way Alice have you decided what are you going to wear for our date yet I'll date I serious ed why sure our date with mr. Martin the television producer that date have you forgotten no I don't worry I haven't forgotten about it it is wavy item no one jumps for the ball of course for the poor carnies slake the other position just snaps appalling scores hello again and welcome back Jack and Edward in that episode we're talking about what they like doing and what they dislike doing and in the English language this is very interesting because there are different ways of describing what you like and what you dislike different verbs different phrases and that's what I want to do with you now I'm going to give you some examples in this little exercise and if you listen carefully you will notice how many different forms there are it's like a little quiz I'm going to talk to you about an animal all right I'm going to describe what this animal likes doing and dislikes doing and then I want you to try and guess what the animal is alright so are you ready listen carefully well these animals are keen on eating big animals they're keen on eating big animals they're fond of basking in the Sun in the long grass so they're fond of lying basking in the Sun in the long grass they really love running at top speed they love running at high speed okay they can't stand they can't stand getting wet like when it rains they can't stand getting wet mmm they can't bear being disturbed when they're eating they cannot bear being disturbed when they're eating another thing they don't mind the presence of man but at a distance alright okay they dislike being close to lions to lions dislike being close reliance they hate being disturbed when they are with their cubs with their babies okay their babies their cups cups as animals they don't go in much for making noise they don't go in for making noise they're silent they're quiet and for them it's alright to eat only twice every four days so once every two days they don't have to eat every day so have you guessed the animal it's a cheetah now remember that in English a cheetah is not mr. monkey a cheetah in English is the fastest animal in the world it's the cat the wild cat with dots that's the cheetah and that's what I was describing all right now let's look more closely at the language that I used so if we are talking about likes these are the possibilities you can use the verb to be keen on now notice that these verbs are followed by the gerund form because we have a preposition so I'm keen on skiing keen on plus gerund means I'm enthusiastic about it I'm fond of I'm fond of learning English say meaning ok it means I like it very much keen on fond of plus gerund you can have the negative - I'm not so fond of going to the cinema alone for example now what about negative I can't stand is the same as I hate very very common useless I can't stand getting up early in the morning gerund I can't stand getting up early in the morning we also say I can't bear look at the pronunciation I can't bear alright getting up early in the morning I can't bear drinking beer for example you can say I really love doing something I really love playing tennis now you can say I don't mind doing something now I don't mind means I don't particularly like it I don't particularly dislike it so it's ok it's nothing special for me so I don't mind playing tennis but it's not my favorite sport alright we also have a verb dislike I dislike playing tennis alright so see how many they are is really interesting another one which is much less known but we use it quite a lot is to go in for listen to this I don't go in for watching documentaries I don't go in for playing tennis again which means I'm not interested in it alright another thing is well it's alright again this is non-committal it's alright playing tennis but it's not my favorite sport all right and then something similar to alright is it's okay but it's okay eating rice but I'm not really very enthusiastic about it so you see how many different examples we have to describe like and dislike in English and again these these are things that we use every day so you need to practice them often so it's okay learning English and you are excellent at doing it and I like seeing your progress okay great well that's this lesson and we'll see you again in the next one all right bye for now great this spot should work well maybe here would be better and I'll put the card here next to this let's give it a quick once-over again and I should have done this long ago now I can't wait any longer listen to my poetry written especially for you you are perfume the color of all flowers the bread and scent of the sea the worming strength of the Sun you the shining star that lights my life who knows if she'll like it what about these roses will she like them what if she makes fun of me perhaps I shouldn't listen to Jack but of course of course it makes no sense to go on as if nothing happened somebody has to take the first step I'll await you tomorrow night here in the living room when everyone is asleep we'll be able to be alone finally alone okay that is done there is nothing more to do now but wait I'll be on soon thank God Alice won't be here at least for two hour and Jackie had the gene yes I calculate everything perfectly now it's time for me to leave as well I don't want him to see me here if she's time to go excellent great Edward the moment of truth approaches that never called me an ama to her again right fine bye who is the door open not half oh these for me beautiful wonder who sent them what poetry who could have written it No what are you thinking don't be silly it can't be Jack oh my god then again he's the only person I can imagine who would have written such lovely poetry oh my god who would it be were Jack now that Sharon is out of the picture who would have ever thought that one day Oh jack hi n Paris my and we feeling chirpy today yes we are feeling chirpy I've just received a mysterious and completely unexpected surprise so what is it what's all the suspense for I'm sorry Alice I'd like to keep it a secret for the time being there's something I have to check up on first but don't worry I'll tell you soon enough now why don't you tell me how is it going with Edouard by the look on your face I would guess things aren't going very well you said it a complete and utter disaster I should never have written that card why what's the matter that's the problem nothing has happened Edouard acts as if he'd never read that card and yet I know he read it I'm absolutely certain why are you so sure well he told me in no uncertain terms I fished around vaguely and he admitted that something strange had happened and he also said that he was very pleased and then nothing no words no actions at this point I think he was referring to something else entirely or else I just have to accept the fact that he isn't interested in me oh don't get depressed Alice if you want my opinion I think you should have told him in person face to face is always better than playing games anyway you've still got time why don't you sit down and have an earnest word with him no way to be embarrassed further anyway there's something fishy about this whole story if Edward is acting like a complete fool or else he hasn't truly understood what I feel for him oh I need some clarity from now on I'm going to scrutinize his every move hi again and welcome back for some more English language did you hear Alice talking about her regrets do you know that regrets when you do something you wish you hadn't done that's a regret well there are different ways to express that in the English language she said I wish I hadn't written that card I shouldn't have written that card that's another possibility there are in fact three possibilities in English of expressing regret and I want to look at those with you because they're quite complicated let's do it together on the screen all right now the first example is with should now you know should should we use for example you should rest when you give advice but if we put it into a past form we use it to express regret so the grammatical structure is should plus the infinitive have plus the past participle so an example is imagine it's raining I haven't got my umbrella and you want to express a regret so you could say I should have brought my umbrella you see should infinitive have plus the past participle bring brought brought so you say damn I should have brought my umbrella with me so that's one example of regret using should should have brought the second example is with wish so it's raining and you think oh damn I wish now the grammatical form is I wish I had brought that is the past perfect had is the auxilary of half in the past then the past participle so I wish I had brought my umbrella with me so I should have brought I wish I had brought and the last one is very similar to wish its if only I had brought my umbrella with me so there again we have if only followed by the past perfect if only I had brought my umbrella with me all right so three forms of expressing regrets let's practice situation I've got sunstroke my face is burning because I've been on the beach all day regrets could be I shouldn't have stayed in the Sun so long shouldn't have stayed I wish I hadn't stayed in the Sun so long if only I hadn't stayed get the idea yeah good next situation my car has broken down again it stopped my car's broken down again regret I should have taken it to the mechanics and I should have taken it to the mechanic earlier for a checkup or I wish I had taken it you see you can use one of the three forms exactly the same mean all right great next one I'm completely lost situation I am completely lost regret I wish I had brought a map with me I wish I had brought a map with me okay getting the idea next one I've got a terrible headache Oh terrible headache if only I hadn't drunk drink drank drunk so much red wine last night if only I hadn't I shouldn't have drunk three bottles of red wine last night now I regret it another one damn I missed the plane I missed the plane my alarm clock I should have put the alarm clock on huh obviously and the last one my pink on I'm trying to get money I forgot my pink card from my cash dispenser card I should have memorized it better if only I had memorized it better alright so there are the three forms should have done I wish I had done and if only I had done okay I'm sure you think I wish I had been born English that way I wouldn't have to learn the English language well we're here to help you so that's the end of this lesson and see you again very soon bye hello and welcome to the of music world and of course welcome to our music expert Tony Moore hello Lucy and good morning to all our music fans a great cultural icon with a very difficult recent history a popular TV program broadcasting these problems to a whole nation and today great performances to packed houses I'm talking about the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London the theatre dates back to 1732 but recently it's become more famous than ever what exactly has been happening at the Royal Opera Tony well everything started with the restoration work that was begun in 1995 this work is now being completed and we have the modern performance space that it is today I can't see any trouble there sure but the restoration work was partly funded by the National Lottery what been partly funded how much money came from the lottery the lottery gave fifty eight point five million pounds towards the work quite a lot of money remind me how the lottery works lottery tickets cost one pound and are sold all over the country and there's a big draw once a week okay so the Royal Opera House received fifty eight point five million pounds from the lottery what happened next the restoration work was completed in 1999 Tony Blair's Labour government had given the Royal Opera this lottery money on condition that it made opera less elitist in the future by keeping some of its seats reasonably priced for citizens earning an average wage did they do that yes but let's not rush things in 2001 the Royal Opera became even more famous when the BBC filmed a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the day-to-day running of the place well the program showed a real-life soap opera in action during this period the theater was chaotically managed and was almost out of control five executive directors left in the space of five years there was ongoing conflict between management and employees and the Royal Opera suddenly found itself at the center of a political debate about the funding of the Arts in the UK many people asked whether opera wasn't too elitist an art form to receive funding from the government why is the running of the Royal Opera completely funded by the government no but it does rely in part on the government 31 percent of its funds come from government subsidies today corporate sponsorship is becoming more important in 2006 this amounted to nearly 16 million pounds of course the rest of the funds come from ticket sales I see and then how does the story end the BBC documentary programme was a great success we've had a huge audience the TV project wasn't so successful for the Royal Opera Management as it entered a period of financial crisis and there was an enormous amount of criticism because of the high costs of the renovation work and because of the BBC TV documentary which showed that the place was managed very very badly and today well after so many years of difficult times the Royal Opera is newsworthy simply because it isn't for the last five years the Royal Opera has been putting on successful operas and ballets its peak doing a fine job what's more the Opera House has kept his promise now it's attracting new audiences to listen to opera and some of the seats are reasonably priced so how much two tickets cost the top price for performance is usually a hundred eighty pounds but half of the seats cost 50 pounds or less now the cheaper seats cost less than 10 pounds of course then they're not very close to the stage but they are the cheapest Grand Opera seats in Europe on an average evening 48 percent of the audience is watching its first opera so a wider range of people are watching opera now in London oh that's right after a very difficult period the Royal Opera is now running smoothly another soap opera with a happy ending so thanks Tony and goodbye goodbye and goodbye to all our music fans so the Royal Opera House a cultural icon with a difficult history a cultural icon is a famous symbol for one of the arts music writing or painting but today it puts on performances to packed houses remember the phrasal verb to put on means to organize and perform a packed house is a theatre with every seat sold out we say a place is packed when it's full of people the restoration work that started in 1995 was partly funded by the National Lottery to be funded by means to be financed by to receive money from someone or something in this case the lottery it was partly funded means that it received part of the money it needed this money was given on condition that opera was made less elitist elitist means that it is only available to a small group of people usually socially or intellectually superior the expression on condition that means only if the BBC filmed a fly-on-the-wall documentary about the day-to-day running of the place a fly-on-the-wall documentary is a program that shows everything that happens in real-life situations day to day means daily of every day so the day-to-day running of the place means the normal everyday administration of the place this real-life soap opera showed the theatre was almost out of control a soap opera is a TV program with many episodes that looks at the day-to-day lives of a group of people out of control means there is no control like chaotic or disorganized it showed the ongoing conflict between managers and employees a conflict is a disagreement it was ongoing means that it continued for a long period of time that's all we have time for today see you again soon hello and welcome to this week's edition of the travel programme in the studio with me once again is Christine Oh tank our travel expert good morning everyone well what does the word holiday conjure up in your mind white sand beaches beautiful blue sea and fantastic seafood or maybe cool mountain air and invigorating walks through alpine forests how about this think helping to build a dam outside a village in Uganda think helping out in a rural hospital in India think showing visitors round a castle in England that's right today's travel topic is volunteer holidays a way to travel and do good at the same time am i right Christine right a volunteer holiday can be a true life-changing experience travel visit new places and help local people at the same time it's a great way to really make contact with local people their culture and the kinds of problems they face and you can help in a small way to solve some of those problems certainly a holiday with a difference what sorts of places have volunteer holidays there are two kinds of volunteer holidays really a lot of these holidays take place in developing countries in Africa India and sometimes in South America other holidays can be found in Europe and North America so there are lots of destinations to choose from and what sorts of things can you do there's an enormous range of activities to choose from in the developing world a lot of the work is based around helping on infrastructure projects so you may help to dig a new well or build a new footbridge or perhaps a children's playground or you may decide to help out in a local hospital or in an orphanage all sorts of useful projects to improve the daily lives of local people in small ways and what about the work in developed countries well here the work is slightly different it's usually for charitable organisations like for example the National Trust an English charity that looks after many castles and old houses it also owns many areas of beautiful countryside anyway it's possible to do lots of interesting things for the National Trust what for example as you mentioned earlier helping to show tourists around a castle in the summer there is a beautiful 15th century castle on an island off the northeast coast of England Lindisfarne castle well they're looking for a couple to do this job for a fortnight okay I'll think about that but do you have to pay for these activities yes of course you have to pay volunteer holidays in developing countries tend to cost more because travel costs are higher and some of your money will go to help the local community in this way you help poor people twice just one question Christine during volunteer holidays do you have to work all the time well usually there's a split between volunteer work and sightseeing for example during a fortnight's holiday to Africa you may spend the first week on your volunteer work and the second week visiting game reserves relaxing shopping the sorts of things you normally do on holiday good so you have time for fun too okay everyone the next time you're trying to decide where to go on holiday forget the beaches forget the mountains and start thinking about leaving your comfort zone for Africa or the English countryside thanks Christine for that fascinating information goodbye and of course good bye to all travelers well what does the word holiday conjure up in your mind what does it conjure up means what does it make you think of what do you imagine when you hear the word holiday a volunteer holiday can be a life-changing experience a life-changing experience means it changes your life there are two kinds of volunteer holidays in developing countries and in developed countries a developing country is a country with a low level of economic activity and low standards of living like India and Africa all these countries together are called the developing world European countries are developed countries there are lots of destinations to choose from there are lots to choose from means that there is a big selection there are lots of activities to choose from you can help on an infrastructure project a project that involves building or construction you can help to build a footbridge a bridge for people to cross on foot you can help out in an orphanage an orphanage is a home for children who have lost their parents notice how we say help to do something help on a project and help out in a place you could also work for a charitable organization in a developed country a charitable organization is an organization whose aim is not to make a profit but to help people in need for example you could spend a fortnight showing tourists around a castle in England a fortnight is a period of 14 days they're looking for a couple to do this job a couple is two people usually a man and a woman who are married or in a relation ship together okay well that's all for this week so take care and study hard you

Channel: Learn English Conversation

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Id: 06jYFRZDSMw

Length: 41min 0sec (2460 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 12 2014