Immersive English

Episode 16 featured interviews with three Spanish men who all live in different European countries. But what about female Spanish expats? Join us in the second part of a series that explores their stories and perspectives. Special thanks to Calexico for their song “Close Behind” and to the (Young) Pioneers for the song “Citizen Soldier”.

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. What does Maria do for a living?

2. Did she have a problem with the language of the country she’s living in? Why or why not?

3. What was the biggest challenge of her expat experience?

4. “In Strasbourg you don’t have neighborhoods that are more dangerous, you have ___________ that are more dangerous.”

5. How has she adapted to the French eating schedule?

1. She’s a laboratory worker in a brewery.

2. No, because she already spoke French when she moved to Strasbourg.

3. Finding an apartment and dealing with the bureaucracy required to rent it.

4. Streets

5. She has breakfast and lunch when the French do, but she still has dinner according to the Spanish schedule, which is later than the typical French dinner time.

Episode 16 featured interviews with three Spanish men who all live in different European countries. But what about female Spanish expats? Join us in the first part of a series that explores their stories and perspectives. Special thanks to Calexico for their song “Close Behind” and to the (Young) Pioneers for the song “Citizen Soldier”.

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. Other than friends and family, what two things does Cristina miss most about Spain?

2. Which subculture in Copenhagen has influenced her to make a big lifestyle change?

3. What’s a start-up incubator? 

4. How is dating in Denmark different from dating in Spain?

5. For Cristina, what was the most shocking difference between Denmark and Spain?

1. food and weather

2. the vegan/vegetarian culture

3. A company that helps entrepreneurs build their businesses.

4. Danish men are much more shy and introverted and generally the women have to approach them, whereas in Spain the men usually approach the women.

5. The time schedule. For example in Spain they eat lunch much later and they also leave work later than in Denmark.

Join us for part three of a three-part series featuring interviews with people who have somewhat unconventional jobs, exploring the question “are dream jobs real”? This episode features Heide, who worked for the multinational company Procter & Gamble for over thirty years and who is now a team member of Enneagramm for Life, a German organization that promotes personal development through the Enneagram personality typology system. Special thanks to Ordovich of ordovich.com for the song “Punch In, Punch Out” and to the (Young) Pioneers for the intro and outro music. For more information, check out the homepage of the Immersive English podcast immersoexperiences.com.

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. The Enneagram personality types are survival strategies that develop in response to childhood _________.

2. Heide explained that her transition to working with the Enneagram came somewhat naturally because in addition to her financial responsibilities at Procter & Gamble (P&G), she put a lot of time and energy into supporting the ____________ of her employees.

3. The biggest difference between her current job and her previous job is that now ______________ is not the goal.

4. What is the “luxury situation” that she describes herself being in?

5. After only two days on the job as a ____________, her son decided that this wasn’t the right career for him.

1. wounds / wounding

2. personal development

3. money

4. She still gets paid by P&G, even though she no longer works there. 

5. judge

This episode features an interview with Alyse, a professional artist, writer, and community arts coordinator. Special thanks to Ordovich of ordovich.com for the song “Punch In, Punch Out” and to the (Young) Pioneers for the intro and outro music. For more information, check out the homepage of the Immersive English podcast immersoexperiences.com.

1. Which country does Alyse live in?

2. What does she like least about her job?

3. “The arts and entertainment industry is a _____________ industry, so when the economy changes, the industry changes quite a bit.”

4. “The first problem is you have to figure out what you ________ to do and there are a lot of people who genuinely can’t answer that question.”

1. USA (Northern Indiana)

2. Social media and website work

3. Luxury

4. Want

When you were little, did you know what you wanted to be when you grew up? Did you want to be a fireman, an astronaut, or a professional baseball player? Most likely your current career is very different from your childhood dream job, but that doesn’t mean dream jobs don’t exist. This is the first part of a series exploring the concept of the dream job via interviews with people who have interesting and unconventional careers. Learn about their career paths and get their perspective on whether or not the dream job is a real thing. This episode features an interview with Matze, a fisherman and fisheries ecologist in the German state of Bavaria. Special thanks to Ordovich (@theordovichian) and to the (Young) Pioneers for the music. For contact information visit immersoexperience.com.

Listening Comprehension Questions:

1. There is a law in Germany that if you catch a fish, you have to __________?

2. Matze gave two examples of situations in which he might have to give his expert opinion and “speak for the fish.” Can you name at least one?

3. For what reason does he do electrofishing while on the job?

4. Why did he quit his job at the ecology bureau?

Responses:

1. take it home

2. when there is a proposal to build a hydropower plant and when there is a request for permission to allow runoff into a river

3. to gather data on the fishery from which he can base his expert opinion

4. because they didn’t have any projects involving fish, which is what he wanted to do 

There are a million more Spanish citizens living abroad than there were ten years ago (Business Insider). Experts on economics and migration will be able to tell you why the number of Spaniards who seek work outside of their native country is increasing, but what do the lives of these Spanish expats look like? Join us for a series of interviews with three young Spaniards who live, respectively, in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. How have they adapted to their new countries of residence. Has it been difficult? What have they learned from their experiences? The theme music for this episode is “Gusta Mi Magia” by Ventanas and, as always, the intro and outro music is “Citizen Soldier” by the (Young) Pioneers.

Have you ever thought about teaching your native language abroad? If so, this episode is for you. Guest speaker Erica (who also appears on Episode 10) talks about her experiences working in Austria as a Fulbright teaching assistant. Special thanks to the (Young) Pioneers for the theme music.

Want to improve your vocabulary and listening comprehension by watching movies and series in English? You can do it for free with Amazon Prime and not only just for 30 days. Find out how on this short episode. As always, the intro and outro music is “Citizen Soldier” by the (Young) Pioneers.

Are you frustrated with English? Does it seem like you can’t improve no matter how hard you try? You might have reached a plateau. Check out this episode and discover a common reason that people plateau in language learning. Based on my experience as both a learner and a teacher of languages, I give some tips for moving past your plateau and making some progress. The answers to the listening comprehension questions are posted on immersoexperiences.com and, as always, the intro and outro music is “Citizen Soldier” by the (Young) Pioneers.

Learn some common English words and expressions in the context of a story of confusion, adventure, and vodka in the Ukrainian city of Lviv. The answers to the listening comprehension questions are posted on immersoexperiences.com and, as always, the intro and outro music is “Citizen Soldier” by the (Young) Pioneers.