ESL Pod Official - Speak English Fluently by Listening (with Text)

• ESLPodcast 024 - Driving on the Freeways

  Driving in a big city like L.A. can be so stressful. It sometimes feels like I'm doing battle just to get to the grocery store, much less across town. What is it about getting behind the wheel that brings out people's aggressive side? The most mild-mannered mother of three turns into a race car driver when she gets on the road. In L.A., people rely on the freeway to commute to their jobs or just to get around town. I think driving on the freeway has it's good and bad. On the one hand, there are no stoplights and the speed limit is over 55 miles per hour so you can get somewhere in a flash. But, on the other hand, there are drawbacks, too. People like to gun their engines and cut off other cars to get ahead. The other day, I saw a guy in a Porsche get into the passing lane, race ahead of the Honda that was in front of him, and cut that person off. Then, the guy in the Honda tries to catch up to the Porsche. They're both zipping in and out of traffic, almost causing an accident. They were speeding and changing lanes without looking or signalling. I was sure they were going to cause a big pile up. As an alternate to the freeway, I sometimes take surface streets. Of course, surface streets have their drawbacks, too. If you have a long commute to work or school, it can take you ages to get there. There are stop signs, stop lights, and crosswalks to deal with. And, people sometimes tailgate if they think you're not going fast enough. Now that I think about it, there's sometimes even more congestion on surface streets than on the freeways! There's no getting around it living in L.A. We need better public transportation and more people to walk, bike, or rollerblade to work. But as the famous song goes, "Nobody Walks in L.A." [by the Missing Persons]Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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• ESLPodcast 023 - Spring Cleaning

  Spring cleaning is supposed to take place before summer, not after it. But, as usual, I procrastinated and now I have to finally get rid of all the junk I've accumulated over the year. But now there are no if's, and's, or but's about it--the cleaning must be done!I start in my bedroom. I have a king bed, with a sheet on the mattress and a top sheet, with pillow cases on the pillows. At top all that I have a down comforter. Well, they all need to be washed, so into the machine they go. Next I start in on the closet. What a mess! I've got boxes and bins full of stuff that need sorting . Finally, I have to vacuum the carpet and dust. Whew! Quite a job! Good thing I don't have any drapes, just shades on the windows.But I'm not done yet. It's time to move on to the kitchen. I have a combination stove and oven, both of which I need to clean. I start with the fridge, though, which needs the most work. I take out the shelves and rinse them all off. Then I dump anything that has passed its expiration date. Then it’s back to the stove, which I need to scrub clean of the grease and stains , and the same for the oven. Finally, I wash all the dirty dishes and put them in a dish rack next to the sink. Spring cleaning is always a mixed bag for me. It's a lot of work, but I also find things I've been missing for the past year! Maybe next time I'll manage to do my spring cleaning in the spring.Script by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

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• ESLPodcast 022 - Seeing Old Friends

  This is turning out to be a month for seeing old friends. I got an email a couple of weeks ago from an old friend from graduate school. She and her family are visiting L.A. for a week. They plan to see family and to visit old friends. Since she moved out of the country, I hadn't seen her in ages. I'm looking forward to meeting her new kids and seeing her again. Another old friend called this week. She and I were buddies in our undergraduate days. She plans to swing by L.A. on her way to San Francisco. We've made plans to have lunch. She works in Washington D.C. as a political advisor and is usually very busy. I'm glad she could make time for us to get together.When we say good-bye to our friends, we always hope to keep in touch. But, what with this and that, it's sometimes hard to do. With friends that I've fallen out of touch with, it's sometimes hard to meet up again and pick up where we left off. We've both moved on to a different phase in our lives. Some of my old friends have become very successful, are living lives in the fast lane. Other friends are struggling along and are just making ends meet. But, no matter how they're doing, it's always nice to touch base again. I'm really looking forward to seeing these old pals of mine and catching up after all this time.Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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• ESLPodcast 21 - Tell Me About Yourself

  Well, I was born and raised in Minnesota, in St. Paul, Minnesota, to be exact. I won't say how long ago that was, but let's just say I'm no spring chicken. I grew up there with my rather large family of 8 brothers and 2 sisters. (I was the baby of the family, but I swear I wasn't spoiled!) We were 13 in all, probably the biggest family in the neighborhood, maybe in the state. I had a mostly happy childhood. My father and mother didn't have a lot of money, but we were never worried about keeping up with the Joneses. I wasn't much into sports like my brothers were, but I enjoyed reading and listening to music growing up. I went to grade school near my house, and then to a high school about 2 miles from where I lived. After graduating from high school, I went on to the University of Minnesota to get my bachelor's degree. It took me a while to learn the ropes at the university, but I finally graduated nearly 6 years later. Better late than never, as my father used to say. I then went to Mexico for a couple of years to teach English and to study Spanish. When I returned, I decided to become a teacher, so I went back to school to get my Master's degree. After teaching for a few years, I was offered a job in California, so I moved to Los Angeles in 1991. After working here a few years, I went back to school (again!) to get my Ph.D. I was starting to become a professional student. Well, I finished up my degree in four years, and then taught at the university for several years. Now, I work at a small research organization here in L.A. I am happily married, and I still enjoy reading and listening to music, and, of course, hosting ESL Podcast.Script by Dr. Jeff McQuillan

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• ESLPodcast 020 - Buying a New Computer

  My computer has been acting up on me. It's a pretty old model, and I need to replace it. So I decided to call up my friend Kevin to ask for his two cents. Kevin is a computer whiz. He knows PC really well since he worked on them for years, but in his heart of hearts, he is a big Mac fan. So, I thought he would be good person to ask. I have always used a PC. I do mostly word processing so I don't need anything fancy. But, I see people I know doing cool things with photos and video, so I’d like to take a crack at some new programs in the future. Well, I called up Kevin to tell him what I needed. He immediately started throwing out specs: "You need at least a 2 Gigahertz processor and 1 Gig of memory, and make sure it has a writable DVD drive." "Whoa," I said. "All of that is way over my head. Let's back up for a a minute." Then he laughed and said he had gotten carried away . "Okay," he said. "Let's start at the beginning. Now, the processor determines how easily and how fast you can use the programs on your computer. Got that?" I said that I did. Then he continued, "How much RAM memory you have is very important, too. Your computer will go faster the more you have. So, I recommend getting at least 1 Gigabyte of RAM memory." "I think I'm following you so far, " I said. "Great," he said. Another thing you want is a drive that handles both CDs and DVDs. Some drives can just read DVDs and some can record onto blank ones. If you want to burn your own videos, you'll want a writable DVD drive. Remember though, that's just the computer itself. Don't forget that you'll need a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and speakers." "OK," I said. "I think I've got all that. Now, here's the burning question: Mac or PC? He said: "Now that's a whole different thing. Do you have a couple of hours?‚" Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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