2022. 5. 30. 14:00ㆍGet Fluent/Get Fluent with Podcasts
Learn English Podcast: Getting to Know Each Other
In this episode we get to know each other a bit better by talking about our lives in the past and in the present. We share some information about our hometowns, what we did before moving to Korea, and what we do for a living now, which means this episode consists of 3 main parts. The transcript below is that Jack's part is colored in black and Luke's one in brown.
Part 1: Hometowns
Listening questions:
- Where in England is Jack's hometown located?
- What season is the Elvis festival held in Luke's hometown?
- Has Jack tried jellied eels?
Part 2: Life before Korea
Listening questions:
- How old were Luke and Jack when they first moved to Korea?
- What was Jack's job before he came to Korea?
- Why did Jack quit his job and come to Korea?
Part 3: Life nowadays
Listening questions:
- How long has Luke worked at his university?
- Where is Jack's English academy located?
- How many people watch Luke's Instagram videos?
Transript [Jacks' part in black, Luke's part in brown]
Hi everyone I'm Jack from Jack's English.
And I'm Luke from Learning English like a Pro and this is the second episode of out podcast, which is desinged to help you improve your listening skills through our natural discussions.
Yes! and today we're going to get to know each other. So we're going to find out about our hometowns, and life in our countries we came from and life now in South Korea. So hopefully you can get to know us as well.
Right!
So we're gonna start off with where we grew up.
Yes.
So how about you? Where did you grow up
I grew up in a very small town in Wales, which is a country on the west of the UK. My town was tiny. It's called Porthcawl. It has about 20,000 people. We have a small shopping centre in the in the middle, which is made up of cafes and little local stores. It's a coastal town.
Right!
Some beautiful beaches. And it's kind of close to Cardiff, which is the capital of Wales. It's about half an hour drive from Cardiff.
OK.
Yeah! How about you?
Well I think I'm from a similar kind of place to yours but on the other side of Britain.
Yeah.
So I'm from England, and I come from the Southeast of England. And have you ever heard of Broadstairs?
I haven't. No!
So well I'll tell you so you can google it. Broadstairs? It's near (it's) on the Southeast coast.
Yes.
So if you look at England, there's a dog's nose. So if you look at a map of England, you can see a dog's nose on the Southeast. And I'm on the actual nose of the dog. So I'm right on the tip. So from my house you can see France.
Oh, wow!
So (the) same with you. It's a coastal town and I think it's pretty small.
Yeah.
It's famous for (summer) summer events, and we have a festival called a folk week.
mmm.
We have a folk week. I don't suppose you've heard of that.
No.
(No) I think we're too far away, aren't we?
We're actually surprisingly probably the opposite ends of the UK.
Yes.
Well I mean in terms of the horizontal.
Exactly I think (it takes) it would take us five hours or so.
Easily!
driving.
Yeah.
So we don't know much about each other's towns. (So yes) we've got a folk week. It's a lot of Londoners come down. So our population is small, but the summer population is very big due to travellers.
Yeah. Actually my town is really similar. So again a coastal town is definitely a tourist spot for people who live in Bristol or maybe even London. So in the winter it's pretty quiet. It's pretty dead town, but in summer it's even.
Oh! really?
Yeah. Full of tourists full of (you know) day travelers are coming to the beach etc. We also have some really unique festivals.
Oh! you do?
Yeah. So we have an Elvis Festival. I'm serious. We have an Elvis Festival every spring, and it draws in (I say) a thousand Elvis impersonators from the UK. And it is huge it is for my little town making about thousand Elvis's come.
So have you done this? Have you dressed up as Elvis?
The locals don't really do it. It's all is for some reason (we) no one really knows why. It is Elivis never visited my town, but all these tourists come. Everyone's here to dress like Elvis, and act like Elvis, and just drink beer on the beach.
And is this some kind of competition like (who is the most) who looks the most like Elvis.
Yeah. So of course the local pubs and hotels have taken advantage of this opportunity so they have events like fancy day. Who's (you know) who's the most like Elvis? Who can sing the most like Elvis?
Of course, yeah.
It's actually... It's strange but it's really good for my town. It brings in a lot of lot of money.
I wonder with your hometown because (you know) we're both from the coast.
Yes.
Do you have any food that's particularly famous in your town?
Honestly no!
No?
No! Really no!
No fish and chips?
We do eat fish. Yeah of course fish and chips were loads of local fish and chips restaurants. But I wouldn't say that's particulary famous just for my town. Do you have some ...?
We don't have something particularly famous from Broadstairs, but that whole region is quite famous for jellied eels.
Oh, wow! I didn't think we ate that in the UK.
Yes. (we) And it's (it's) truly as bad as it sounds you've got. And I've not tried it, but my uncle loved it. He's a big fan of it, and (it's) it's chopped up eels in jelly.
Oh, wow!
And I can't say much more than that because I haven't tried it. But it's apparently very nice from where I come from.
Um, actually (you know) back that did remind me of something we do have a thing called lava bread
Um I think I've heard it.
So (it's) it's basically seaweed. It's seaweed that's been ground up and mushed up and it comes on a plate. You know?
Almost like a little soup.
Hmm.
But I like a thick soup so I don't know why we call it bread. It's nothing like bread at all, but yeah (that's) that's a very Welsh thing.
And have you tried it?
Yeah! yeah! sure. It's fine. Tastes like seaweed, but it's fine.
I didn't know we ate seaweed in the UK.
I didn't know we ate eels.
Yeah, there you go! We're learning stuff about each other. So um let's move on to what we did then.
OK.
Before we came to Korea, (so what) how old were you when you came to Korea?
Um, I think I had just turned 21.
(The) same as me.
Right.
Yeah, exactly the same. I think I was 21 when I came here.
Yeah.
So what did you do?
Before Korea?
Before coming to Korea?
Not much. I was a uni student so I was in Cardiff University studying in history. I came right out of the university. So I can't say I had a full-time job. I had plenty of part-time jobs. So I was with a pub at the Millennium Stadium which is a big Stadium in Cardiff.
Yes.
Um, I was a gardener in Wales, too.
Oh!
...... chopping down trees.
Yeah.
Yeah, but I didn't have a full-time job. So I was basically a student when I came to Korea as a (fresh-faced) fresh-faced post-grad. And un happened to love it here.
Great! Yes.
And a similar story for you?
Not really. ... not at all. I had a very um ... I didn't have many many things before I came here. But I think the main thing I did was I was a golf teacher.
Yeah.
So from the age of kind of 14, I started playing golf and took it very seriously. And got down to a level that was required to become a teacher. And at 19 years old, I started training and started teaching people how to play golf. I played in North Foreland, if anyone knows the North Pole and golf course ..
No idea!
Yeah you can google it if you want. And yeah I taught some golf and I played tournaments. And ... I did that for three years as a job. And it was wonderful. You can imagine you know a lot of fresh air, and time outside exercising, and perhaps a few beers after golf as well. And it was fantastic.
Yeah.
And that's what I did. That took up all of my time before coming here.
I mean that sounds like a dream job. So yeah how did you end up in Korea?
Yes, so yeah good question. It was a fantastic job, but it it doesn't pay very well.
OK.
Unless you are teaching so much or you're winning so many competitions, so it doesn't pay (pay) very well. And I think I just felt like I wanted to see the world. So actually before I came to Korea, I went to Australia.
Oh, OK!
And I spent a year in Australia traveling around, and working bar jobs and farmer. I was a tree farmer, so I had some wonderful experiences in Australia for a year. And then I came to Korea. So that's how I kind of went around the world. I went to some other places, Thailand, Singapore, and then ended up in Korea.
That sounds like one cool trip.
Yes. How about you? Did you come directly to Korea? Or did you go anywhere in between?
I came directly to Korea from the University. So like I said, I graduated in June. I think maybe July. And then I was here by September. So (it was) it happened so fast. I didn't plan to come to Korea. It was just I saw opportunity. I applied and I got a job within a week, and then within a month or two (I was) I was here.
Wow!
I (didn't even) didn't even have time to Google or search anything really important, so I came here knowing nothing.
And it must have been a culture shock.
And um yeah in a way yes totally .....
Was it difficult?
So luckily I lived with someone. So I got put into an apartment with a Korean guy, who was roughly my age. So he showed me the ropes. And showed me (how to ..). how to order food, how do you get to my job, (how to ...) basically how to live. Um and (that was) that was so helpful. And it wasn't long since I made some other foreign friends, and they also taught me a few things about Korea. So yeah yeah thinking back, the first week was challenging. But it was fun. I enjoyed it. And then after a month or two I started to love living here.
Mmm.
I'm still here, so I mean (that was) ...
Yes.
That was (for) for those who know what age you can guess now. I was 10 years ago.
Yeah 10 years. We've both both been here 10 years and so it must be something right.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah so let's talk about that now ...
Yeah.
We've been in Korea for 10 years both of us. And what are you doing nowadays?
Yeah. So (I) nowadays I work at a university in Seoul. I teach English language teaching to prospective teachers. And we do teacher training programs to help the local public school Korean teachers become more accustomed to communicative teaching, which is more about speaking-based teaching.
OK.
Yeah I love it. I didn't always do this. I worked my way up, so I started off at a private academy. Then (I) moved to a public school where we had like 40 students in one class. And that was a good experience. After that I did my master's degree. (I) Got other qualifications, and then landed a job at this university. And I've been here for almost just over four years.
And tell me a little bit about because of course you have Learning English like a Pro?
Yes, right yeah.
So (what is that) what is that project?
Yeah. That's a new thing for me. I started in January this year. So it's been a seven months (in the) (in the) in the works. Basically I've decided that I can reach and teach thousands potentially millions of students online. I think that's something this new Internet age has enabled. So I'm excited just to help as many people as possible.
Good!
Yeah!
Yeah!
Um and I know your your job currently is a bit different to mine.
Yes. So you may be familiar with Gangnam of the Gangnam style. I think we all kind of know that now. So I have my business in Gangnam. So I run Jack's English which is a small academy in Gangnam. And I teach adults (the) same kind of things or communication English speaking, particularly a little bit of writing. And yeah (I love) I love running my business here in Seoul. And (the) same as you, around about the same time kind of this year I've started to branch out
on the Internet.
Yeah.
With videos. And (you know) lessons are available online, and at the website (and) trying to reach more people.
Yes, exactly.
It is, as you said, things are changing. The Internet's giving us this incredible tool to reach so many people.
Yeah.
Instagram is fantastic. You're finding the same, aren't you? (You're) You're reaching so many people through Instagram.
Yeah. And it's just yeah (this) the sheer quantity is mind-blowing.
Yeah.
Like you can reach, I mean (I do) I do a lesson on Instagram. And (you know?) within a day they have 10,000 people
watch my video, and
Yeah
hopefully learn something new about the English language. So (that's) that's really.. It's a scary thought.
Yeah.
(You know?) People are watching me. 10,000 people are watching me, but also (it's really) it's really amazing and (quite yeah) just quite a nice feeling to build or help so many people.
And it's made me much more self-critical because we're reaching all these different people.
Yeah.
And suddenly I think Is it okay? (You know?) How do I look. Is my hair okay? So yes I'm having hair ... One thing I've had is I have a lot more hair cut nowadays.
I don't. Oh my god! I had my hair cut yesterday.
OK. Yeah.
still still having mine once every three months.
Yes. So it has changed a lot of things. And it's wonderful, right? So (we're) we're doing the same kind of thing. And of course now you've got this new project going, which is the the podcast, where we can get to know each other better. And hopefully the listeners can get to know us a bit better as well.
Exactly.
So I think that kind of wraps up.
That's a really good end point.
Yes. I think so yeah.
OK.
So it kind of wraps up everything for today, and we've learnt a bit more about work in your hometown, my own town. I think we've got a lot of similarities between us. And yeah we'll be back very soon with more.
So yeah thank you all for watching or listening to this podcast. If you have any questions leave them in the comments below and give us a like ...
Yes yes please!
And follow us. So I'm at learning English like a Pro on Instagram.
Yes and I'm at Jack's English One on Instagram, and you can find us on YouTube. And you've probably seen us there anyways. So yeah we'll be back very soon with more topics. So have a great week and see you next week.
Cheers!
Bye bye!
Vocabulary
get to do sth - to be given permission or the opportunity to do something, especially which is desirable and out of the ordinary
- She gets to travel all over the place with her job.
- We got to meet all the stars after the show.
start off - begin to move or do something
- Treatment should start off with attention to diet.
- She ate breakfast before starting off for work.
Porthcawl - a town and community on the south coast of Wales in the county borough of Bridgend, 25 miles west of the capital city, Cardiff and 19 miles southeast of Swansea
in terms of sth - with regard to the particular aspect or subject specified
- In terms of food it was great, but in terms of weather it was terrible.
- Don’t see life in terms of money.
even - equal in number, amount, or value
- An even gender balance among staff and students.
- Just one more favor and we're even, OK?
impersonator - a person who pretends to be someone else for entertainment or fraud
- This impersonator can moonwalk in every direction, and adds seemingly effortless triple spins here and there.
- Wedding Dreams offers tux and gown rentals, hair and makeup appointments in your room, and even an Elvis impersonator can be added to your package!
dress up - dress in smart or formal clothes
- He was excited to see her dressed up for the occasion.
- It can be dressed down with a pair of jeans or dressed up when paired with a skirt.
take advantage of
- make unfair demands on someone who cannot or will not resist; exploit or make unfair use of for one's own benefit
- People tend to take advantage of a placid nature.
- make good use of the opportunities offered by something
- Take full advantage of the facilities available.
- We took advantage of the warm weather and did some yard work.
loads of - much or many
- There were loads of people standing around a TV set in the store.
- You’re getting yourself into a whole load of trouble.
a fan of sb or sth - someone who strongly likes, appreciates, supports, or is interested in someone or something
- Sorry, but I'm not really a fan of mobile games.
- I am a great fan of rave music.
nothing like - completely unlike, not at all similar
- This design is nothing like what I had in mind.
- She looks nothing like her mother.
a uni student - short for a university student
fresh-faced - having a clear and young-looking complexion
- Today she is fresh-faced, hair in a neat ponytail.
- For fans of The Nutcracker, this fresh-faced ballerina doll is a great gift.
took up [take up] - ccupy time, space, or attention
- I don't want to take up any more of your time.
- his being the case, it would seem useless to take up further space by analysing the several proposed modifications of Cuvier's arrangement.
- Of phosphoric acid, the cereal crops take up as much as, or more than, any other crops of the rotation, excepting clover.
must have pp - this expression is used when we feel sure about what happened
- He must have changed clothes during the night.
- You must have seen the reports.
- Alex must have listened to her message.
roughly - used for giving information that is general and not exact
- There were roughly 200 people there.
- Eight kilometres is roughly equivalent to five miles.
- The lane is roughly parallel to the main road.
prospective - (of a person) expected or expecting to be something particular in the future
- Three prospective buyers had looked at the house and at least one seemed interested.
- If she openly admired him in front of her prospective employer, what would she do when she was alone with him?
- We take great care to verify the credentials of prospective clients.
in the works - being planned, worked on, or produced
- A major consolidation of companies was in the works.
- The agent said there was a movie deal in the works.
- He assured her that a follow-up campaign was in the works.
branch out - extend or expand one's activities or interests in a new direction
- The company is branching out into Europe.
- The bookshop has decided to branch out into selling various records and tapes.
- They are so empathetic that they can branch out into other skills, such as anthropology, and do them as well.
sheer - nothing other than; unmitigated (used for emphasis)
- She giggled with sheer delight.
- We survived by sheer luck.
- It is a sheer waste of time
wrap up - be completed or concluded
- The series will wrap up with a final season of six episodes.
- The trial may wrap up by then.