Zalamit Podcast DZ زالاميط: تعلّم الإنجليزيّة بالدّارجة

Keywords: Could / On the right track

Text: 

"Plastic has polluted the countryside and endangered wildlife for decades. Environmentalists told us to cut the amount we use or switch to biodegradable alternatives. Scientists have now made a biodegradable plastic, so the billions of plastic bags, cups, straws, etc. that we throw away each day could be "compostable". They could break down like organic waste. The plastic breaks down within weeks, rather than centuries, using just heat and water.

This new plastic has enzymes inside it. When these enzymes are exposed to heat and water, they eat away at the plastic and turn it into nutrients for the soil. A professor said 98 per cent of the plastic her team made degraded. She said: "We are...saying that we are on the right track. We can solve this continuing problem of single-use plastics." She added: "Look at all the wasted stuff we throw away - clothing, shoes, electronics....We are taking things from the earth at a faster rate than we can return them."

Website: www.breakingnewsenglish.com

Keywords: was pointing at / just in time

Text:

"I watched an interesting news story earlier. A young man was walking in the street in Ain el Fakroun when he heard a loud scream coming from above. He looked up and saw a woman. She looked scared. She was at her window pointing at something. The young man looked at what she was pointing at and saw a toddler dangling between the railings of a balcony, on the third floor of the building across the street. The man ran to the building as fast as he could and arrived just in time to catch the falling two-year-old. Both the child and the man are fine. There was a video showing the whole thing. It was so scary to watch. Even though I know the end, I know that the man is a hero and the kid is fine, but still it was scary to watch. The father said “It all happened so fast. I was folding the laundry and he was playing with his toys when I suddenly noticed that he wasn’t there. I just looked away for two seconds. I am still shaking! I will be eternally grateful to Mr. Hamid.”

Key words: go fishing/ don't get me wrong

Text:

"I am living the good life! What does the good life mean? I think it’s different for everybody. To me, the good life is having a house near the beach. I finally have it. I am truly happy. I lived all my life in Biskra. I love Biskra, don’t get me wrong. It’s a beautiful region but my heart belongs to the sea. I bought this little house in a village near Jijel and this is where I’m spending my retirement. It’s close to a small beach. The water is pristine and the weather is perfect. I am learning how to fish, at my age! My neighbor, a young man, has a boat and he often invites me to go fishing with him. We catch sardines or dorados and we grill them on the barbecue. Both our families share this meal. My grandchildren come to visit once in a while, whenever they have time off of school. They spend the whole summer here. They go swimming and snorkeling. We play soccer on the sand. I am not young anymore and my health is not what it used to be but I am truly happy. I think, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been."

Key words: make money / make a difference 

Text:

"Hi, my name is Reda. The first thing I do when I wake up is check social media. The last thing I do before I fall asleep is check social media. It really has become an addiction. I check how many likes I got, how many comments were left, how many messages I received. It’s really important for me to see how much traffic I get on my pages. My business is tied to my social media presence. I get many sales directly from Facebook and Instagram. It’s an important tool and if you use it right it can make a huge difference in how much money you make. I have a shop downtown but I make as much money from deliveries. I ship my products to 43 provinces now but I’m hoping that soon I’ll be able to ship all over the country, maybe even abroad. Who knows? Let’s hope!" 

Thank you for listening!

Text:

- Do you have any pets?

- I do. I have a turtle.

- A turtle! That’s unusual.

- Is it? I don’t know. It just feels normal to me because it’s always been there.

- You’ve always had a turtle?

- Yes, it was there before I was born.

- It’s more than twenty five years old?

- It is! It’s always been with us. It appeared in the vegetable garden one day and ate all of the lettuce that my mom had planted. And it never left.

- This is so funny to me. I know people who have cats and dogs and fish but I’ve never met someone who had a turtle. Does it have a name?

- Actually, no, it doesn’t. We just call it turtle.

- This is hilarious!

- Do you have a pet?

- No, I don’t. I wish I did.

- Have you ever had a pet?

- Yes, when I was a child we had a dog called Laika.

- So many dogs are called Laika.

- Of course! It’s named after the first dog in space! That’s an excellent name, if you ask me.

- Oh, that’s the reason. I didn’t know.

Symptoms.

Text:

"My daughter Oumnia is sick. She has a fever. I measured her temperature. It’s 38.8. That’s pretty high. She is coughing, a dry cough. She has a runny nose. She is tired. She was bedridden all day yesterday. She doesn’t have a stomachache or nausea or anything, which is good. She has a headache though, a terrible one. She complained about it many times. I’m taking her to the doctor. I’m taking her to the hospital. The hospital might be crowded but that’s fine by me. There are many good doctors working there and I trust them, so if we have to wait for an hour or two, I think it’s fine. I don’t think it’s an emergency. I think she caught a cold or it might be the flu. The doctor will know what medicine to prescribe to her. I hope it’s not antibiotics but if it is I will make sure she takes them. I will make some chicken soup for dinner and give her lots of fluids to drink. I am sure she will be fine in no time."

Key Words: Soul mate / Hope.

Text:

"Do you believe in soul mates? Do you believe that there is one perfect person for you? Just one? Just for you? I don’t know personally. I’ve had three girlfriends in the past but I have never felt the deep, passionate, unconditional love, that you see in the movies. I hope I can find that some day. If I find her I will put a ring on it right away. These days, love stories are complicated. Or maybe, they have always been complicated. I want someone who knows how to show love. I don’t like cold and distant people. I don’t want my romantic relationship to feel like platonic love. I want someone who is kind, and loving. I remember my first love. It was in grade one. Her name was Selma and she sat in the back. It was love at first sight haha. I remember I ran to her table and I stole her pencil case. She cried and I got into trouble. The teacher had a talk with me. I did it for love, people, I did it for love! One thing I am sure of is that I have an undying love for potato chips. This love story is forever!"

Key words: getting out of hand/ let go

Text:

"I love fashion. For me clothes are a way to express myself. They are a way to show my style and my mood. I love to play with different colors and fabrics. I love stripes, patterns, dots, floral prints, block colors. You name it. The problem is, my wardrobe is getting out of hand. I have too many clothes. I am embarrassed. I want to declutter my closet. I made three piles. One pile is for clothes I will keep, one for the clothes I will donate and one for the ones I will sell. It makes me feel a little bit sad to say goodbye to these shirts. I have so many good memories of wearing them. But, they don’t fit me anymore so I have to let them go. I love the cut of this jacket but it’s out of style. And these shorts I will say goodbye to because I don’t wear shorts anymore. I started wearing a Hijab two years ago, so that’s why I don’t wear shorts anymore. I will keep this Micky Mouse t-shirt. I have this t-shirt since grade 8. It’s my favorite. It’s so comfy. What’s your favorite item of clothing?"

Key words: Should / Shouldn't

Text: 

"I am worried about my father. He smokes like a chimney. He is overweight. His gut is huge. He looks pregnant. He eats dessert for breakfast and fast-food for dessert. He works long hours and sleeps late at night. He never walks. He always drives everywhere. He basically does the opposite of what you should do to stay healthy. I try to give him advice to help him change his lifestyle. I say: “Dad, you should drink water. You shouldn’t drink soda.” But he doesn’t listen. He is set in his ways. He refuses to change. I trick him into eating vegetables. I make carrot cakes and zucchini cookies. He doesn’t know he’s eating vegetables. I don’t deep-fry fries, I bake them in the oven. I water down his soda. He always says: “Hammoud is not what it used to be. They changed the recipe.” It makes me laugh. Also, I ask him to watch over my two year-old sister. She has a lot of energy. He runs after her for hours. That’s a form of exercise. My father is a hard-working, energetic, happy man. He loves good food and good jokes. I just wish he would take better care of his health. What do you do to stay healthy?"

Text:

"Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Samia. I’m from Algeria. Oh you don’t know Algeria. Well, it’s in North Africa. Yes, I’m North-African. Algeria is the biggest country in Africa. It’s on the Mediterranean sea. Some people like to say it’s the door to Africa, or the door to Europe. It depends where you are, I guess. Do you know the Sahara desert? Well, the biggest part of this desert is in Algeria. Many tourists go there to look at the stars. Desert skies are just stunning. The stars are exceptionally bright there because there’s no air pollution, no light pollution and no humidity. It’s really the perfect conditions for stargazing. But don’t imagine that Algeria is all sand dunes and camels. It’s a really diverse country. There’s snow peak mountains and rivers. The beaches are gorgeous too. Algerian people are ethnically diverse as well. You see I’m short and I have brown skin but not everybody looks like me. It’s actually hard to say what an Algerian looks like because there’s all sorts of people, people with fair skin and people with dark skin and gingers even. There’s people with brown eyes, green eyes, blue eyes, black eyes. It’s so rich. We have great cuisine and if you really want to dance your butt off, you need to play some Rai music."