English Podcasts |

Travel - Charles Couchsurfing

Listen to Charles talk about his experiences of travelling and couchsurfing.

Couchsurfing International Inc. is a hospitality exchange and social networking website.

The website provides a platform for members to "surf" on couches by staying as a guest at a host's home, host travelers, or join an event.

J'irai dormir à Hollywood - A French documentary, in English, where the main 'star' spontaneously asks people to put him up in their homes.

Helen - Friendship Force

Listen to Helen, a Canadian, talk about her travel experiences throughout the world with Friendship Force and other ways that she has travelled, including driving around The UK in a VW Combi.

Friendship Force International provides opportunities to explore new countries and cultures from the inside by bringing people together at the personal level. Through the signature program of home hospitality, local hosts welcome international visitors into their culture, sharing with them meals, conversation, and the best sights and experiences of their region.

Listen to Jon talk about his bucket list and one thing that he has already ticked-off of his previous bucket list.

This is particularly accessible for low-level or beginners.

Have you ever lived in a foreign country?

Have you ever had experiences of living or working in a different culture?

Listen to the Rebecca, an Australian, talking about her experiences of living in several countries and the cultural and linguistic hurdles she had to over come.

Surprising Incredible India

Listen to Sue interview Chris about his recent trip to India and especially about what surprised him.

During his travels in India, Chris went to Bangalore in the south and then to Rajasthan in the north, to The Taj Mahal in Agra, Fatihpur Sikri, Bundi, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Delhi and Jaipur, to name but a few of the fabulous places he visited.

What do you think would be the most surprising aspects of travelling in India?

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See some photos of Incredible India here

Serge on holiday in the west of The USA

Serge on holiday in the west of The USA - a podcast with a French person who spent 3 weeks travelling around the National Parks in the west of The USA.

Serge flew from Toulouse, France to Denver, Colorado via Paris, Heathrow and Chicago.

Would this type of holiday / trip appeal to you?

Are there any surprises for you, about a holiday in North America?

Ahmed - my country

Today we podcasted Ahmed, who now lives in France, about life in his country, how he left his country and what he misses from back home.

This is a podcast for English learners and is non-political, non-religious and has no views on any issues that may be raised by listeners and speakers on the site.

Can you guess the city?

From the description, can you guess the city?

Answers in the comments please and do tell us how you arrived at your answer.

Three items on my Bucket List - Merry

Three items on my Bucket List - Merry came in today to tell us a little about what three things are at the very top of her bucket list.

She is just starting out with learning English and we are both very pleased and grateful to welcome her along to record a podcast at EFL PodBlog.

"Some people die at 25 years old and aren't buried until they are 75 years old." Benjamin Franklin

“Every man dies — Not every man really lives.” ~ William Ross

What is a Bucket List?

If you haven’t heard about the term “bucket list”, it is a list of all the goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to fulfill and life experiences you desire to experience before you die, or kick the bucket - hence the name "Bucket List."

Here is a podcast asking just that question, "What is a bucket list?"

Why Create a Bucket List?

If you don’t live your days by personal goals and plans, the chances are that you will spend most of your time caught up in a the humdrum routine or the rat-race of everyday life.

Have you ever had the feeling that your days and your life is just passing you by in such a rate of knots, without any tangible results to speak about?

What did you accomplish in the past 3 months / 6 months, 12 months, 3 years?

What are your upcoming goals for the next 3 months / 6 months, 12 months, 3 years?

Look at the things you did and the things you’re planning to do next — Do they mean anything to you if you were to die today?

Having a bucket list reminds you of what’s really important in life so you can act on them.

A bucket list helps hone your goals and ambitions into a set of achievable, 'I-really-want-to-do-this' steps - now how exciting is that!

It’s just like planning ahead all the highlights that you want to be featured in the rest of your life.

The objective of creating this list isn’t to instill some kind of a race against time or to create aversion toward death. I don’t see our existence to be limited to just our physical years on earth — I don’t see our existence to be limited to just our physical years on earth — our physical lifespan is but a short speck of our existence in the universe.

The whole point of creating your list is to maximize every moment of our existence and live your life to the fullest.

It is a reminder of all the things we want to achieve in our time here on this planet, so that instead of wasting away our time on pointless activities, we are directing our lives fully towards what really matters to us.

Have a look for some ideas on Bucket Lists Here

My bucket list - Mylène

Listen to Mylène talking about what she has on her bucket list. 

She also says that her bucket list changes through time, as she achieves some of the things on her bucket list, other things are added, so it becomes a lifelong journey.

A list of activities someone wants to do before he or she dies is often called a bucket list, because it is a list of things a person wants to do before they "kick the bucket" - which is a slang term for to die'.

From kick the bucket (“to die”) + list, hence a “list of things to do before you die”.

The term was coined by American and British screenwriter Justin Zackham in his screenplay for the 2007 film The Bucket List.

Zackham had created his own list called “Justin’s List of Things to Do Before I Kick the Bucket” which he then shortened to “Justin’s Bucket List”.

The first item on his list was to have a screenplay produced at a major Hollywood studio.

After a time, it occurred to him that the notion of a “bucket list” could itself be fodder for a film, so he wrote a screenplay about two dying men racing to complete their own bucket lists with the time they had left. Articles about the movie are the earliest known uses.

A bucket list is a great way to stay focused on the things that you really want to achieve in your life and is a way of setting goals for all those things that we really want to do or aim for - before it is too late.

To find out more, listen to this podcast about what a bucket list really is, and if you are looking for inspiration for your own bucket list, have a listen to this podcast with 20 Unusual Bucket List Ideas. More ideas for your Bucket List.