Teacher Joseph Podcast

This is the audio for the weekly lesson found on my website. The subject this week is the 1960s.

Today's phrase for ESL learners is to be "knocked" down. It can mean anything which has been knocked over, it can also mean when someone is hit by a car.

Examples:

My little cat sometimes knocks things over (or knocks things down).

My friend was knocked down by a passing car.

We all want our friends and relatives to be happy, but who is responsible for their care?

Today we read a story about a 95 year old woman in the UK.

Extract:

We're going to go through a new story today and it begins with anger as a 95 year old (is) told to take out her bins. Now, I just want to give you some background to this first of all. So, here in the UK, we have to put our bins on the streets for them to be collected and emptied.

So we have large bins, which are referred to as wheelie bins, And we must put those on the street. Depending on your relationship with your neighbours if you live in an apartment block, someone may do this for you. But the council employees, the people who come to empty the bins, will not come upon your property to collect them. They used to. But they don't any more. Depending on the council and depending on their funding, You may be able to request them to help you if you're old or infirm. As money is tight these days for everyone, more and more councils are refusing to do this. A council is simply a local area government.

Now we're going to read through a story here about what's happened to a 95 year old. Now, bearing in mind that here in the UK, we don't generally mix with our neighbours unless we know them very well or are related to them.

As I’ve often told you, we view the Government almost like a mother or father, we expect them to do the things, which perhaps in your country is done by a community.

Top of the Charts or Chart Topper is today's phrase. Also, Finland tops the charts as the world's happiest place and Glasgow is a chart topper but for different reasons.

Today's phrase for ESL Learners is "To focus".

Also today:

Darts becomes Britain's most exciting sport and Scientists study the language of Apes.

Extract:

Today's word is to focus. Focus. It can be a noun. Focus… to have a focus…. or it can be a verb to focus on something. Now it's very common in education when you're learning to focus on something, maybe you have a project at work you like to focus on. To have a focus. Or to focus on.

Recently here, uh, in the UK there's been a news report which has said that darts is now the most popular sport in the UK. That's now what we focus on. The news report is saying this because there's been a few very well publicised darts matches. So, the focus for all of us has been on darts. I don't know how long that's going to last but certainly that's what they're saying today. “Darts” becomes Britain's number one game. Now, for those of you who don't know what darts are (is), Uh, it's a very popular sport that we play in the pub. Most pubs have a darts board. And it's like a circular board, it's yellow and black with numbers around it. And it has a red Bullseye in the middle. Well, you can throw these little arrows which are also called darts onto the board. Now, we don't really see it so often now, because of course, darts can be very dangerous.

A news report from 1962. US Spaceman John Glenn orbits the Earth.

Today's phrase for ESL learners is to be treated like cattle. Also in the news: Bibby Stockholm Barge is criticised again. Queen Camilla promises not to buy animal fur. Assisted dying - do we care enough to change the law? Extract: Today's phrase is to be treated like cattle. To be treated like cattle. Now, first of all, I need to tell you what cattle is. It's a term that we use referring to cows, bulls, oxen and these types of animals which have horns and look like they come from the same family as cows and bulls. Now, we use this as a metaphor when we feel a group of people have been treated badly, for example, if you have a really bad train journey and you're on a crowded train standing for hours. And then you're thrown off the train and asked to get on another one, you're treated like cattle. Waiting to board the plane. If there's any kind of confusion around the boarding gates and you're asked to move again and again, as a group, You're treated like cattle. Now, those examples I've given you are fairly mundane. They're not really so important, but yet, today, in the news there's a rather disturbing story about Asylum Seekers who are being held on a barge just off the south coast of England. And two staff members have come forward to say, how they feel Asylum Seekers there are being treated like cattle.

1980 News Report about the man who killed John Lennon.

Some hints and tips about how your thinking affects ESL Learning.

A News report from 1952, King George VI dies and the Crown is passed to the Queen.