Teacher Joseph Podcast

#catstevens #yusufislam #LearnEnglish

In this week's Weekly Lesson I write about Cat Stevens and his enduring legacy in both the world of music and Spirituality.

This is a recording of the Weekly Lesson and also some updates about my social media are included.

You can find my weekly lesson at http;//teacherjoseph.com

#newthought #LearnEnglish #Podcast #News Extract: Well, our Government is examining whether it can ban people from using mobile phones. It's currently considering removing the right to use a mobile phone from people under the age of 16. Now, of course, as I've told you in many other podcasts, our Government love to play the role of a parent because our parents here don't really like to make decisions for their children. And there’s a news story here saying that our Members of Parliament (MPs), our Government, are demanding that phones are removed from those under the age of 16. Now, of course this is highly controversial. Many parents are very against this but I think everyone's agreed that some action needs to be taken. Since parents don't like addressing these kinds of issues, As usual, they look to the Government to fix it. Recently, when the Government introduced a smoking ban, people were scratching their heads saying, “well, you know, is this really democratic? Can we take away people's choices”? And equally removing smartphones from a bit of society there's all kinds of question marks there about whether this is the Government's responsibility and also what role the parents will play. So let's read through a news story here. It says: “Children under the age of 16 should be banned from having smartphones and going on social media”. It says: “the Commons Education Committee warned that the next Government must introduce stronger guidance, and controls to curb kids time online”. To curb, that simply means to try to maintain, to guard, to fix or the best one to use is to contain. Youngsters' screen time has risen by 52 percent in two years. And they're saying here: “current guidance does not go far enough and recommended a complete ban on mobiles in schools for under 16s”. Now, there’s big debate about this. But what's really surprising for me is the way in which we always expect the Government to do something. So if kids are failing at school. People will say oh well I mean the Government has to do something about this. This is terrible. If people are smoking too much, people will say, oh well, you know the Government has to do something. If people are eating too much and dying because of obesity, People are saying oh well, you know the Government needs to fix this and do something. We seem to have lost the ability to make individual choices. And we expect everything like this to be managed by the Government, of course, our Government react by giving us things to think about but in return they will expect us to vote for them and it keeps them popular. I think what we really need are for some people to guide us on these points. Preferably people who don't care about ego. And maybe care more about for example, in this case, children's education. The more we look to the Government to make choices for us, the more we lose our individuality And we're kind of getting to a point where I'm thinking, well, should we really be looking to the Government for this? Because the more we look to the Government, The more perhaps they can take control of other issues.

#thebeatles #beatles #blueplaque #Podcast George Harrison's birth house gets a blue plaque.

Welcome to another Teacher Joseph podcast to help ESL Learners with English.

#ESL #esllearners #idioms #eslteacher #health #tea Teacher Joseph https://teacherjoseph.com

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International Tea Day

International Tea Day is observed every year on May 21st and it aims to raise awareness of the long history and deep cultural and economic significance of Tea around the world. The idea is to promote and to somehow Implement activities in favour of promoting everything related to tea.

International Tea Day has been celebrated for quite some time. It started off on December 15th in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and others across Africa such as Malaysia and Tanzania. The idea is to draw global attention to tea and to the global tea trade.

It has also been linked to wanting more support to keep the cost of tea down. In 2015, the Indian Government proposed expanding the observance of International Tea today by having some kind of intergovernmental group to discuss tea. They created something which led to big efforts to support the world's tea economy and in 2015, they had a big meeting in Milan to discuss the idea of an international Tea Day. It then went to the United Nations. And that's how We managed to get International Tea Day on the 21st of May. Here's some very interesting facts about tea here in the UK:

The average British person drinks 876 cups of tea every single year. So, that's well over two cups a day if my calculations are right.

And, apparently, for centuries, it was used only as a medicine.

Tea was first introduced to Britain almost 400 years ago and was described, described as a Chinese drink because it first came from China.

A cup of tea has become native to British culture. It's the number one choice for British people and herbal teas are also very popular these days.

Historically, milk with poured into the cup, only to protect the cup itself. So, the idea was that if you used black tea or tea without milk, It would get a little bit dirty and the cup would be harder to clean. We used to drink tea from very delicate cups made from bone China. So, to avoid breaking the cup, while we were cleaning them because it needed really hot water and a bit of force. We added milk to ensure. that the teacup would remain clean. Now I didn't know this… a student told me this last week and then I Googled it and it's true. And I just came across this again today while researching International Tea Day.

Did you know that even though British people love tea, the country where most tea is drunk per person is actually in Turkey.

#ESL #esllearners #idioms #eslteacher Teacher Joseph https://teacherjoseph.com In today's podcast for ESL learners I demonstrate the meaning of "laid bare" which is when information is shown in a stark and transparent way.

I read a news report from 1969 about the marriage of Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman.

#englishlearningpodcast #esllearners #englishlanguageteacher

Hi, I'm Joseph, an ESL (English as a Second Language) Teacher, Accent Reduction Specialist and Language Coach working on Skype, Zoom and other platforms. Please see the links below to contact me or book lessons. I can help you with Language Coaching, Accent reduction, English Grammar, Conversation and to prepare for exams like IELTS and Cambridge (B1, B2, CAE etc)

Website: https://teacherjoseph.com/ Italki: https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/1290163 Spotify: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joseph-mc42 In this episode, we look at a story about emotional support chickens which are given to older people living in nursing homes and care homes.

You can find the whole here:

Extract:

Today, I want to tell you all about emotional support chickens. It seems that a nursing home here in the UK has been offered chickens by a local school in order to take away the loneliness of it’s residents and help them feel better.

Nursing Homes and Care Homes are places where we put older people who cannot look after themselves.

It's hoped that the chickens will bring residents a number of benefits. From fostering a sense of community to reducing mental health problems. Now, I'm not sure about you but for me, I'd probably rather have the cash or if there’s perhaps other opportunities, maybe I’d prefer to talk to someone. These chickens don't actually have to be bought.It looks like they were given free to this nursing home.

But still, if they're going to give away chickens, I'd rather have the cash. I think I'd rather have the money than a chicken. It says here,

Caring and spending time with chickens will be a beautiful reminder of the past for many who recall their own families keeping chickens.

Now, I have no idea how we got to a point where we think that giving an older person a chicken is going to remind them of their past. Yeah, it's true my grandparents had chickens but that generation mostly has gone. When I'm older please don't give me a chicken. I'd be much happier with a laptop, computer, IT Device, mobile phone. But again, I'd rather have the cash.

It says here

This project is not just about adding life to our garden but also reconnecting Care Home residents with their heritage. And providing them with emotional support, with the joy and serenity that comes with caring for animals.

Yeah I really don't think a chicken is one of these things, which I would be relying on for emotional support. I would be relying on people to come and give me food. If I really can't do that myself or I'd rather have the cash. Yes. It says here

One of our care workers is leading a lovely chicken naming project and organising an opening party to welcome the chickens. Inviting everyone including staff to embrace the theme by dressing up as chickens”

This is just getting more and more bizarre, isn't it? Um,

The event promises to be a memorable celebration.

Yeah, well that I can definitely believe

marking the beginning of a new chapter in our community's life.

I read the news report from 1976 that Agatha Christie has died.

Extract:

Today, we're going to talk about a charity here in the UK, which is called Adopt a Grandparent. Now we all know that loneliness is becoming really common here. And that there's many charities,doing good work. Adopt a Grandparent is probably one of the most visible charities.

It basically takes lonely individuals from the UK and it pairs them up with a younger person living somewhere else. The idea is that if you're socially isolated and you live in the UK, You can basically talk to a volunteer around the world. And it's to help foster or to create intergenerational long lasting connections.

Now, this is a really great idea but of course my British mind is a little bit suspicious. First of all, what if the younger person starts asking the older person for money? In these days of labels and identifying yourself with a sexuality, I'm not sure exactly how innocent these relationships are going to turn out. But in principle, it's a really good idea. The aim is to alleviate feelings of loneliness, through companionship. Now if it's true that 200, 000 older people haven't had a conversation with anyone in more than a month. Then of course, getting on Zoom and getting on Skype would be a great way to meet people. But for me, I'm thinking I'm not sure because Is there not a fear of some kind of mistrust or betrayal. Or even some kind of extortion, I don't know.

I love the idea though. And I'm sure the charity does everything it can to protect people. Now, it says here that, uh, younger people in the UK can also be matched with older people in the UK. And that doesn't sound right to me. It just doesn't sound right that for example a 24 year old boy is given a 74 year old woman to talk to. According to the article im reading here in this particular case, where a 24 year old from the UK itself has been talking to a 74 year old. Um, they've both had conversations that were meaningful. It says, here the calls they've had has been a great success, bringing both parties joy and companionship. And it goes on to say, that's what this charity is all about.

I read a news report from 1968 about the arrest of Folk singer Joan Baez