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Episodes
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[EP91] So now we have another war, and there is only hope or despair. And, uhh yeah, this song is not enough, but, for a little bit of hope that we need to… we need to keep our humanity, I’m sharing it with you. The lyrics are in the show notes, so there it is.
-- SONG --
I woke up this morning
And none of the news was good
Death machines were rumblin' across the ground where Jesus stood
And the man on my TV told me
That it had always been that way
And there was nothing anyone could do or say
And I almost listened to him
Yeah, I almost lost my mind
And I regained my senses again
And looked into my heart to find
That I believe that one fine day
All the children of Abraham
Will lay down their swords forever
In Jerusalem
Ah now maybe I'm only dreamin'
And maybe I'm just a fool
But I don't remember learnin' how to hate in Sunday school
Somewhere along the way I strayed
And I never looked back again
But I still find some comfort now and then
Then the storm comes rumblin' in
And I can't lay me down
And the drums are drummin' again
And I can't stand the sound
But I believe there'll come a day
When the lion and the lamb
Will lie down in peace together
In Jerusalem
And there'll be no barricades then
And there'll be no wire or walls
And we can wash all this blood from our hands
And all this hatred from our souls
And I believe that on that day
All the children of Abraham
Will lay down their swords forever
In Jerusalem.
*****
"Humanity a word for the qualities that make us human"
It can't be this current evil alone.
We must believe in something more.
[Song courtesy of Steve Earle Music] -
[EP 89] Summer finale! DELICIOUS YOGURT! Listen and follow with the transcription below to help you to improve your listening skills.
INTRO: Hi everybody, and welcome to Episode 89 of Unexpected English, the podcast where you can practice your English listening in just five minutes, listening to something fun! Now, I know it's summertime, and that means it's hot. In fact. it's too hot. It's just too hot! And if you want some some, some vocabulary about hot? Go back and look for the hot episode where I give you some vocabulary. But this episode, no, this episode, we want to cool down, we're going to cool you down by taking a little visit to yogurtland where we can have some nice cool, delicious yogurt. So let's go!
~~~
Okay, so here I am at YogurtLand and I'm going to talk to the young man who's working here. Maybe he can tell us a little bit about this place called YogurtLand. How many flavors do we have?
We have around 12 flavors.
And what are some of the most popular flavors?
The most popular are the vanilla and the chocolate ice creams, the fruit punch sorbet, which is our seasonal flavor for this month, the tarot and the plain tart.
Taro, and what is that, I'd never heard of that flavor.
Taro is a unique flavor. to say the least. Okay!
It'd be hard to describe,
And after they get the yogurt, then what's all this stuff over here?
So the toppings are... you put that on top of your yogurt and we have a range from fruits to candies to cookies, peanuts, sprinkles, whipped cream, and then we have sauces over here which you can also add.
What kind of sauces do we have?
Salted caramel, marshmallow, chocolate shell, fudge and peanut butter
Hi guys, what's your favorite flavor here?
I don't know.
Oh, you haven't had it yet! How about you?
I think... I don't know.
No, so, is this your first time here?
No, but I like the French Vanilla.
Okay, so there's one guy who knows what he likes, the French vanilla. Is that when you said?
I like the French Vanilla too!
Ah, this guy, NOW he decided.
I like cheesecake.
Oh cheesecake! Okay, beautiful. All right.
Well, I hope you enjoy your yogurt and thanks for listening.
Thank you!
***
Okay, that was it. That was the final episode for the summer. I hope you enjoyed it and we'll see you... who knows when!
Please follow on Spotify or wherever and tell your friends who might like the podcast!! -
Missing episodes?
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[EP 88] Unexpected English is the suprising podcast where you can have a fun listening experience in under five minutes! Transcription below to help you!
Intro: Hey everybody, it's Fourth of July weekend here as I'm recording this. And that means everybody's off waving their American flags and eating hot dogs and doing whatever else they do while they're ignoring the fall of our democracy. Who cares, right? It's not important. The only important thing on the Fourth of July is hamburgers and hot dogs! So, are you ready? This is episode 88 of Unexpected English, and it just might have something to do with hot dogs. Okay, so let's go!
So here I am in beautiful San Diego, more specifically in Barrio Logan on Logan Ave, and I was walking down the street and I saw a place called Barrio Dog. And so that name, Barrio Dog, that kind of hit me. So I thought I would go in and ask the owner to explain a little bit about this place.
Well, thank you for stopping in. My name is Pablo Rios. I'm one of the owners here at Barrio Dog. Barrio dog is a celebration of the art, history and culture that comes from this neighborhood, the low-rider culture. So what we've done is, we've combined a classic comfort food like hotdogs, and given you an environment to come and enjoy the neighborhood, the lowrider culture.
So it's a it's a neighborhood place with a cultural feel to it. And you serve mainly dogs!
Yeah, we're a hot dog restaurant. All of our hot dogs are 100% Angus beef. We make all of our own bread fresh daily, what we're known for when we started this place with this with, a hot dog called El Cholito, it's a Tijuana style.
Tijuana style hot dog, which would...what would Tijuana style be f for people who don't know.
It's a dog that has the works so a Tijuana style dog has grilled onions,it has cheese, sour cream, salsa verde, diced tomato, red onion, jalapeño, crunchy garlic...
Oh ok, is that enough yet people, is that enough, does that sound good enough yet? That is a fully loaded dog, plus I see there's five or six or seven other kinds?
Well, we got, we got a half, we got at least twelve different hotdogs you can always try. We have flavors from all over the world. So we don't just celebrate the flavor from Mexico. We have German style. Japanese style. Cuban style.
Wow, that's interesting. So what are a couple of the most popular uhh flavors? Do I say flavors? Or style, style, dogs!
The Tijuana style is really popular. We also have a chili cheese dog called El Vaquero. We make our chili in-house. Another really popular one is called El Bombero, if you're into spicy hot dogs. It's got seven different chili peppers.
Oh, you know, I would say that sounds good, but it sounds better than good. It sounds like I'm ready to have some of that... and I see you've got some good beers on tap too.
Yeah, what we're doing here is we're showcasing sixteen of San Diego and Mexico's finest craft beers. So we have flavors as simple as a pilsner all the way to guava cider. So come on by!
All right, you heard it here first people! Next time you're in San Diego, head on down to Barrio Logan head on down to Logan Ave, and hit up Barrio Dogs for a real experience. Thanks a lot for your time. Thank you.
*****
That was the episode, thanks for listening! Please follow on Spotify, leave a good review, tell your friends, and have a great summer! Why not listen to the other wild episodes too! -
[EP87] Hi everybody, and welcome to Episode 87 of Unexpected English, the podcast where you can listen to some real American English in just five minutes, and maybe have some fun while you do it. At least I hope it's fun. Let's find out! Remember, there is a transcription in the show notes if you need any help understanding what was said, because these are interviews with real people. That's why it's real American English. Okay? All right, let's go!
*****
So I was walking down the street in my neighborhood, looking around, and I happen to look... and I spotted what appeared to be, like a chicken condominium. I'm gonna say I'm gonna call it a chicken condominium because it's two stories tall. And it says... fluffy butt, what?
Yes. My kids thought that was cute. Yeah.
Okay, so I'm talking to the lady who owns the chicken condominium.
Yes. It used to be a little child's play house in our backyard, but...
You got rid of the kids and decided...
Yeah, exactly.They just didn't play with it anymore. So we decided to make other use of it.
And why did you decide to go with chickens?
You know, that was, honestly, that was my husband's idea. When the pandemic first started, he had a little extra time on his hands and thought that it would be cool, especially since the city recently approved having backyard chickens in San Diego
Yeah, because we're in the city, you know? What's up with having... I mean, this isn't... this isn't you know, you can't have... Maybe you CAN have goats, I don't know.
I don't know about that either.
But you can have chickens!
Yes, you can now.
And there's a real advantage. Why don't you tell us what that is?
Um, well, you know, recently there was a supply shortage of eggs at the store. But uhOh yeah, eggs are high now!
Eggs are still higher in price. Yeah. And so now we can just walk right out to the backyard and pluck them out of the chickens nests and have some fresh eggs! They're, they're free range. They're not caged chickens.
Yeah, I see they've got a whole little playground back there.
Yeah, yeah, it's huge area that they get to roam and look for bugs and whatnot.
And how many chickens do you have?
Five, plus a little rooster.
Okay, so there you go, people. We've got five chickens. And one little rooster here, right in the middle of San Diego.
And they they each produce one egg every day. So we can have five eggs a day if we wanted to.
Oh, that's what they, they like...they drop an egg every day.
Yep, pretty much and then, that's that's only for the first five years of their life. So after that, we're just going to be keeping them as pets.
Oh after that, they get to retire, huh?
Yeah, basically.
So do they all have names?
They do.
Could you tell us the name?
Sure. A lot of them are based on colors. So we have an Orange and a Gray and a Red and a Peach. And then there's Minnie and Baldy. Baldy's the one that has... uh, she's lacking feathers on her neck.
Okay, so basically you went with the identification names, not the.. Okay.
All right. Well, anything else we should know? If I decide okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get myself some chickens and do this. What do I need to know?
Well, they need a chicken coop, so a place to, kind of, be protected from predators and the elements. Ah chicken run is good to for that same reason and they can... um, on rainy days, for example, they'll go in there and that's where they do their dirt baths and they eat.
Okay, so it rains so they go in and watch TV and take a dirt bath.
Yeah, that's how they keep themselves clean. It's kind of fun to watch. Really. I mean, they dig, they dig a little hole in the ground and then they lay down in it and kind of fluff their feathers around and get dirt all over. And then they shake it off.
Alright, well, okay, that sounds, that sounds interesting too, you learn so many things that you never knew before.
Yeah, I do a lot of the work.
OK, well, thank you very much for you time!
---> Please follow on Spotify and share with friends!
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[EP 86] Do you have five minutes to practice English listening in a fun way? Great! In this episode we interview the Candy Queen! Trascription in the notes to help you!
[Transcription]
Hi everybody, and welcome to Episode 86, of Unexpected English podcast where you can practice your English listening, with a transcription to help you, in under five minutes. Now this one is really short, it's not long at all, but it's a good one. And you know we have an expression when something is not long but it's good we say it's "short, but sweet." And this one you'll find out is definitely short but sweet. Now, you just have to make me one promise. If this episode of Unexpected English makes you smile, you have to share it with somebody, okay? Just just send them the link or share it on Instagram or something. Because I know you're listening on Spotify and you could do that. And that would be great. That is if you like it, and I hope you do. So let's go!
(bump)
So I was walking down the street and I spotted an interesting sign that said "The Candy Pushers" and I thought, what's that? And I looked inside and sure enough, it's full of candy! So I thought I would go inside and speak to the... owner?
Yeah, I'm the owner. My name is Shannon. I'm the Candy Queen of the Candy Pushers.
Oh, hold it right there! We are talking to the candy queen! Okay, so relax everybody. I know it's exciting, but...
I'm the Candy Queen of the Candy Pushers. My wife and I own the business, and she's the Fudge Master. And we have...
And you say the fudge master, does that mean she makes the fudge?
Fresh homemade fudge every week.
Oh, oh, okay. I'm sorry people. Hold on. I have to get over this, because I'm a little excited -- it's fudge!
Yeah, we make and rotate through 48 flavors a year.
What kind of flavors of fudge exist?
There's the Fudge Packer. We have Lemon Blueberry uh Cheesecake. Citrus Bliss, which is an orange and lemon essential oils mix of fudge. We have Chocolate, Chocolate Walnut, Vanilla Pralines...
Oh, okay, do people get, like, addicted to this? It sounds a little addicting!
Yes. 100% We have people who come in every week to buy their fudge.
Because the chocolate does something to you, right?
Well, it makes you happy and puts a smile on your face.
Oh, there you go! So okay, people next time you're on University Avenue...
University and Richmond.
University and Richmond, stop by the Candy Push... If you don't like fudge, there's a whole, like, wall full of other kinds of candies too. What is...
We have between twelve and thirteen hundred other bin and packaged candies
Twelve and thirteen hundred, That is one thousand two hundred different kinds of candies.
It's true. Well, I won't ask for the names of all those candies. I'll just say thanks a lot for your time.
You're welcome and have a flavorful day!
***
Thanks for listening! If you liked it please FOLLOW on Spotify or Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. Instagram too!
IG: @UnexpectedEnglish
Seriously ... if you like the podcast, please follow, share, and Hey! leave 5 stars on Apple Podcasts if you can! -
[EP85] Unexpected English brings you surprising audio with a transcription to help you practice your English listening in less than five minutes. This time, we visit a salt cave for some haloterapy. Come join us!
Okay, so I was walking through the mall and I saw a place called The Salt Escape. And it had some... Well, it looked like something I had never seen before. So I thought I would go in and find out a little more. So I'm talking to the... the owner? I'm talking to someone inside who I thought maybe they can tell me... Okay, I'm talking to somebody who could tell me: What is The Salt Escape?
The Salt Escape is basically a halotherapy...
Hold up... a what therapy?
It's halotherapy which is a...
Halo, halotherapy...
Halo, H-A-L-O as in breathing in salt to cure many different ailments you might have whether it's asthma, colds, sinusitis, allergies, and it also is absorbed through your skin, so it helps with psoriasis...
OK, wait wait now, so you tell us what it helps. But what's the deal? Do people go into a room full of salt? Or what is it?
OK, so we have a cave... that you... A cave, okay, we're going slow so people can follow, So I come into salt escape, And then I get put in a cave, a salt cave...
A salt cave that has 7000 pounds of Himalayan sea salt on the ground. And then there's salt lamps all around and salt on the walls. And then we also pump salt in at different intervals throughout that 45 minutes.
Like salt air, you're saying? You pump in salty air?
Um-hum, salty air, we take the salt, we put it in a generator that breaks it down into fine little crystal mist, and we pump into the cave while you're there, sitting in lounge chairs relaxing.. not lounge chairs but reclining chairs.
I'm just sitting in a room...basically I'm sitting in a room full of salt.
Salt.And breathing it and reaping all the benefits that it has to offer.
Do.. do I get naked when I do that? Noooo..Oh, and okay, so it'll go through.. We keep it kind of clean in here.
OK, so I saw the salt goes through my clothes... and...
It goes through your skin, it also, it's absorbed through your skin, but it's the breathing that really helps any respiratory issues that you have.
So yeah, so it's primarily as a respiratory...
But, but also good through the skin absorbing the skin, if you have any kind of skin issues, it helps with that as well. But it helps with anxiety and depression all kinds of wonderful things. But our, our cave is very, very relaxing. It's dark and quiet and we play meditation music so it's...
Ohhh okay don't say it, ohhh, okay, so well, that sounds beautiful! And how long is a session?
45 minutes.
So for 45 minutes, I get to sit in the salt cave... and relax... and breathe in.
Okay people, well you heard it here first, the, the mysteries and marvels of the salt cave, all are 100% organic Himalayan salt. Alright, thanks and thanks for your time.
Thank you! Come visit us!***
Thanks for listening! If you liked it please FOLLOW on Spotify or Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. Instagram too! @UnexpectedEnglish
Seriously ... if you like the podcast, please share it, thanks! -
[EP84] Unexpected English is the podcast where you can practice listening to real American English in just five minutes! This episode is called Search and Rescue. I hope you like it!
[Transcription]
Hey everybody, you're listening to Unexpected English. I've got a new episode for you. And it's a good episode because it's about people doing good things. And I think we need to hear about people doing good things because there's so much..... bad stuff happening out there, as you know, so we won't talk about that. Instead I'll tell you this episode is about search and rescue. There is a transcription in the notes to help you if you need it. And if you want to help the podcast then please leave a good review on iTunes or subscribe on Spotify, or just tell your friends Okay, here we go!
(Interview)
Okay, so I was talking to a neighbor and I found out that he volunteers for some kind of interesting organization. So I thought maybe he would tell us about that.
Actually, my wife and I both volunteer with Sheriff's Search and Rescue, and we are a group of 150 volunteers that go out and look for lost or missing people anywhere in the county.
Okay, so that's the sheriff's...
Search and rescue
And you volunteer to go find lost people. Now, how does that work?
Well, you know, Grandpa goes out for a walk doesn't come home. You call, you know, if you're in the county, you call the sheriff's dispatch, explain it. The deputy will come out and investigate and if it's within reason for us to do, they will dispatch it. So they send out a text message that there's a call out and where it is, and we go out and search for him.
Okay, so what was the last search you went out on? Or some that you remember?
Well, Chelsea King, we looked for her for well over a week, Amber DuBois.
And these are, like, girls who went missing?
Yeah. Chelsea King went missing, actually, 12 years ago and was murdered by a perpetrator.
Oh my gosh! So we're talking about a missing girl who they didn't know what happened....
They called out Search and Rescue, and we worked on that for well over a week.
And in the end, did they find her?
Yes, she was located, unfortunately, deceased.
Oh my goodness. So it isn't always a happy ending, I guess.
No, it isn't. But it's it's a necessary thing, even if it's a homicide case, and we're sent out to see if we can locate the victim. It's necessary, you know, people need to be found and returned to their families.
And how about one with a happy ending? Let's give us a happy ending.
Oh, there's lots of happy endings. I don't remember the person's name. But down in National City one time we were looking for grandpa who'd only lived with the woman for a week. He'd come here from Texas, and when we found him â we located him about two o'clock in the morning â and she asked if she could thank everybody. We gathered all the searchers around and, through the tears, she said, "I never thought I'd see my Dad alive again. Thank you."
Okay, so there you have it. That's a... that's a great story. And I appreciate the time you took talking to us.
Oh, my pleasure.
****Thats it! Please support the podcast by following, sharing on your social media, or leaving a five star review on iTunes!
How to leave a review on Apple Podcasts
Open the Podcasts app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Navigate to the page of the podcast you want to leave a review for. ...Scroll down to find the subhead titled "Ratings & Reviews." Under one of the highlighted reviews, select "Write a Review." Five stars for your favorite English podcast! Just do it! -
[EP83] Real American English to help w/ comprehension! We visit a shop in Encinitas, California, and learn about hats. Transcript below to help you! Unexpected English: real listening practice in under five minutes!
[Intro, no transcript]
Interview: So I was walking down the street I saw a shop that look kind of interesting called Brixton and I just thought I would go in and find out. Oh, well, I'll tell you why I thought it was interesting. I'm looking at a whole wall full of hats. So that's unusual right there. There, there are men's hats. Is that right?
That is correct. So, what Brixton specializes in is our headwear and just a lot of outerwear apparel.
Oh, hold up right there! I just learned a new word. I call them hats. He calls them “headwear” because you wear it on your head, pretty good!
Ha! That is correct. But it's really mostly just a style of wear that you would continually dress up or dress down... (blah blah)
So I guess what he said is you could wear these hats anytime, anyplace, any way you want to!
That is correct. That is 100% correct there.
Well, wait a minute. Now since you're a specialist, or a semi specialist Yeah, I would say specialist. I'm looking at these hats, and I'm thinking they must all have names... Is that true?
They do they have quite a few names. We have the Valley Fedora.
Okay, so that's a fedora. Soft brim, that's the thing that goes around the hat, gives you a little bit of shade. But do you call it a brim even on a baseball cap? If it's giving you the shade?
You would, you would still. on like the normal baseball cap that I'm wearing, you would still call it a brim. As opposed to the full fedoras, which are going to have a full brim where it's going to the brim is going to circle the entirety of the crown of the hat itself.
The crown is the top of the hat, is the top of the hat. So, you be a king when you’re wearing that crown!
I mean, we can dress you up like a king that is for sure, or queen, either way. We got you!
Well, so now I learned, I learned headwear. And I learned brim which is a thing going around, give you a little shade and the top is the crown. And one style is called a fedora, which is kind of soft, but we’ve got fedoras... now the next one, these would be...
So these are gonna be Fiddler's or old school marine caps. This is actually a style I personally wear myself a lot of.
Marine caps, for those of you who can't see it, it kind of looks like those Greek caps, right?
Very similar, yeah, or sailor hats. That's why I meant more so by the marine, so a lot of old school sailors used to wear this kind of silhouette of head wear or hat.
Yeah, we're saying hat hat hat. But I guess if it's a little smaller, it's a cap.
It's a cap. You are correct, sir. Yeah, so another one that's going to be a cap (we can move on down) is these guys. Now you might recognize these: these are the older newsboy styles.
Okay, so we’ve got the newsboys style, that's a flat cap. So we’ve got that, we’ve got that, and the last style I guess looks a little more formal.
It's a very classic style of fedora. We call these ones the Messer with still like a nice soft crown that you can either reshape or really stylized to how you really choose to wear the hat itself.
All right, well, I think we've got the total tour of the headwear. I love saying that! I learned a new word! Of the headwear available here in Brixton, in beautiful...
Encinitas. We're here in Encinitas. Yeah, beautiful Encinitas, California.
Okay, well, thanks very much for your time.
Yeah, thank you, sir. It was a pleasure speaking with you.
*******
That's it, thanks! And please follow on Spotify, Instagram etc, and tell your friends!
More listeners = more motivation = more podcast episodes! -
[EP 82] WARNING! This episode contains rude words and phrases in real American English! Don't listen if adult language offends you! This episode is longer than usual, so there is no transcription. You just have to listen! It contains some of the words, (words like POO) that were removed from the official Scrabble dictionary as not suitable for children. Don't worry, the F word is not used, but BOFF and BOINK are! Shocking!
If you enjoyed this podcast, please share with friends, follow on Spotify, Apple podcast, @UnexpectedEnglish on Instagram etc. Or this link if it works! Thanks and have fun! -
[EP 81] In this episode, we visit a place that helps people who want to make beer... or where you can just visit and taste the beers that are available! As always, Unexpected English offers you practice listening to fun, and in less than five minutes. Use the complete transcription below to help you if you need it!
Hi everybody, welcome back to another episode of Unexpected English. This is episode 81, and it's a very short episode because I know it's getting to be a very busy time with the holidays. We're in December now, everybody's busy, but I thought I would give you just one more podcast before the year ended. So let's go!
[Interview]
Alright, so here we are at Ballast Point Brewery. How, how long has this been here, this place?
Well, this place has been here longer than Ballast Point brewing actually has existed. This was the very first Ballast Point. So we started originally as Home Brew Mart.
Home brew means if you're making that beer at home, right?
That's right! For people making their own beer at home. You can do the same thing with wine and all of that. So we started as a Home Brew Mart in '92.
And do a lot of people make beer at home?
More than you might think! It's a pretty popular business for sure. Ever since it became legal in the US in the 80s, it's become a burgeoning thing to do by, by yourself at home.
Alright, so you can make beer at home, if you know how, and you buy your supplies here.
That's right buy your supplies here, your ingredients chances are you have quite a bit of the equipment that you need already in your kitchen, nd all you would need to know is what goes into beer and what the ingredients need in order to become a good beer.
So originally, this was the Home Brew Mart to help people brew their own beers, and then they expanded and got the brewery location here as well.
Yes, so we started as Home Brew Mart as a way to get into the brewing industry. Our founder figured that was a good way to get started in the brewing industry. So four years after we opened in '96 is when Ballast Point officially became a brewery and started to sell to the public. And then from there, 10 years later, we opened a larger production facility and has since exploded in production.
So, are there particular styles of beer that Ballast Point is known for?
Yes, we're very well known for the sculpin IPA. It's a very dry, very clean drinking dry IPA. It's a kind of classic for the West Coast, but we're known for several other IPAs, as well as some flagship beers that we've been brewing for decades now, like the California Koelsch and the California Amber.
Alright, you know the only problem... every time I do this, it makes me thirsty... makes me thirsty. Okay, thanks for your time. And thank you for listening!
P.S. Do you enjoy podcast? Then please tell your friends who may enjoy it as well. Word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support! -
[EP 80] Enjoy a lovely song in this episode of Unexpected English. Listen to improve and practice your accent: Daughter! Water! You may even want to sing along - it's great practice!
Lyrics
Everything she sees She says she wants Everything he wants I see she gets That's my daughter in the water Everything she owns I bought her Everything she owns That's my daughter in the water Everything she knows I taught her Everything she knows Everything I say She takes to heart Everything she takes She takes apart That's my daughter in the water Every time she fell I caught her Every time she fell That's my daughter in the water I lost every time I fought her Yeah, I lost every time (music) Every time she blinks She strikes somebody blind Every time she thinks Blows her tiny mind That's my daughter in the water Whoâd have ever thought her Whoâd have ever thought That's my daughter in the water I lost every time I fought her Yeah, I lost every timeP.S. Do you enjoy podcast? Then please tell your friends who may enjoy it as well. Word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support!
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[EP 79] Five minutes is all you need to find out about pupusas, and to practice your American English listening skills too! It's easy and fun! Follow along with the transcription of the interview below!
[INTRO - no transcription]
[Interview]
Okay, I was walking down the street, and I noticed a shop that looks like it's about ready to open, and I looked at the sign and it said ... PUPUSAS! And I love that word pupusas, so I thought I would stop in and talk to the owner. Right. My name is Juan Arrienga with Cuscatlan Salvadorean Cuisine. And we’re ready to open, very soon. All right, so if you understood that, it's Salvadorian cuisine, that is from El Salvador in Centromerica Right, right, correctamundo! And the specialty there are pupusas, right? Pupusas revueltas is the number one selling so it's very good. Tasty! Okay now, for all those of you who never heard of pupusas, or don't know what they are, we’re gonna find out right now. Okay, so pupusas is like a stuffed tortilla different stuffings... uh, revueltas, which is the mixed pupusa, it's a different... it can be, can be cheese, beans, chicharron, which is pork meat or ... chicken, you name it! But isn't it like, a little like... like an empanada or something.. is it ... is that, am I thinking that... I mean, it's not just a tortilla! Right, no it's a stuffed tortilla with the stuffing inside so it could be, like, compared to empanada, but it's cooked in the tortilla so it's it’s... Oh, okay so it is cooked, it’s baked... It’s baked in the tortilla so it's it's, it blends very well with the masa, and the stuffing. All right, so we're gonna have some... and, how soon are we going to be open? It's not open yet, but pretty soon. Not yet, we are looking, hopefully by the weekend. Oh, by the weekend, we're going to be open. Let me ask... this is not for the podcast, this is for me! A lot, a lot of restaurants, I know, they do pre-opening, you know, they have a little special deal to make sure... Right, we're trying to get one of those too. Hopefully, you know, you give me your information. Let me know, let me know right now! Invite me now, invite me now! I don't have the right date, for sure. So maybe the soft opening will be Friday but I'm not sure. Oh, that's what it’s called, it’s called a “soft opening” I've seen that. So a soft opening before the restaurant opens officially. Yes, hopefully, by Friday, so we can open Saturday. And of course, you know, I'm shameless I'm like, doing a podcast and I'm thinking, “Wait a minute soft opening! Pupusas! Let me in! There you go, that's it. We'll definitely invite you! Okay, thanks very much for your time and I hope, any of you out there who are listening and getting hungry, I hope you have a chance where you are to find some pupusas! That’s correct, hopefully, there is some around. Thank you.
[OUTRO] It’s like, a little crispy, but then, like, la carne, that's inside just, like, melts in your mouth. It's so flavorful! The outside is kind of crunchy... to perfection. It’s not, like, super crunchy where you have to like bite really hard but it's not, like, super gooey where everything is just gonna fall apart and then inside is just juicy! When you're eating messy that means it’s good! .... I want another one.
P.S. Do you enjoy podcast? Then please tell your friends who may enjoy it as well. Word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support! -
[EP 78] In this episode of Unexpected English, we visit a surf shop in San Diego. Why not take five minutes to listen just for fun, and practice your listening skills at the same time? There is a TRANSCRIPTION below to help you!
[INTRO ... then music, then let's go!]
So was driving down the street and I saw sign that said surf... surf shop, and I thought: Surf! This is California, surf! Surfboards! Let's go in and see what's going on. So here we are, uh, what's going on?
We're taking boards and fixing them up and get them back out to people.
So you're saying this is a surfboard repair shop.
Yes, so when a board gets dinged or broken we fix it so it can go back in the water.
How do surfboards get broken?
Rocks, waves, people, surfboards -- all kinds of things.
OK, so there's like accidents out there in the ocean that can happen.
Exactly, accidents do happen all the time. OK, accidents happen.
And if uhh.. OK I brought in my board ... I guess it depends on the kind of damage... what kind of what kind of things can happen?
Fin boxes can break... Fin boxes? Is that the fin that sticks up? Yes, glass can crack, fins can get stuck in boards.. pretty much anything you can imagine.
Fins can get stuck in boards? That sounds like ... dangerous!
Yeah, so-so, as long as it's not you. [laughter]
OK, so just out of curiosity, what does... I know you donât sell new... you sell used surfboards here?
Yes, boards that Joe repairs or people left behind.
All right, so I'm like, you know, thinking of taking it up. I just need like an entry-level surfboard, what's it gonna sent me back?
Anywhere from 100 to 300 bucks, depending.
OK a couple hundred dollars and Iâve got myself a surfboard to start learning to surf.
Yeah, pretty much. What are the high end, I mean, not super high-end, what is like a higher end board go for?
Anywhere from $800 to $5000.
Five thousand? Yeah, Iâve got one of those... OK let me think... what else was I missing here... what else...
Uhh, certain surf essentials.
Essentials, what are the essentials? Fins, leashes, wax... OK, hold on. You wax your board before you get in the water? Yes. And that's so itâs... So ypu donât slip off.
Oh, you wax it for you, not for the water side? No, not the water side, the deck side.
OH, you wax it to make it sticky so you're like ... on the board! Exactly. All right. Well, what other tricks should I know to like, stay on the board. Take it one step at a time. Get the basics first.
Alright that sounds like good advice, that sounds like good advice. So there you go, people, people youâve had your advice here on how to get started, you know what it's gonna cost, and I'm just saying anytime you're here in beautiful San Diego... oh, where are the good spots here in San Diego? Anywhere! Up and down the beach.
Up and down the beach! You can be surfing up and down the beach, anywhere in beautiful San Diego! That's it, thanks a lot, thanks for your time.
[Surfing outro]
P.S. Do you enjoy podcast? Then please tell your friends who may enjoy it as well. Word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support! -
[EP 77] Unexpected English brings you five minutes of real American English from California. Practice your English listening skills with short, fun topics. In this episode we talk to members of a car club. Use the transcription below to help you understand if you need it!
.
[INTRO: no transcription]
.
[Interview:] So I'm here talking with the members of the Unidos Car Club in San Diego about their cars and I was wondering if you could tell me why are... what is this car culture thing?
The car culture is ... what ... we have a... lotta.. history and ... our people that grow up with old cars. Compadres, friends, brothers, cousins and all that, have old cars. So we start growing up with old cars. Old cars! And what do you do with these old cars?
We repair ‘em, we do restorations. I have a custom shop that we do restorations for our members and more customers. OK, so tell me about some of the cars... what year... what model... We start... we start in the 30s. Like a Chevy 30s, 1938 ... 40s... 50s ...60s.
So, classic cars. Classic cars, correct. And does it cost a lot of money to restore these vehicles? Yes it does. It also depends what kind of restoration you want to do, medium, all the way up ... or just some, some of the restoration. It costs between $10-$30,000 to do one – medium! Medium restoration on a vehicle costs you $10 - $30,000, and this is just... If you want to see you some of the vehicles that are here on the park they're $50 - $60,000 or more.
That's a lot of money to put into... It’s a lot of money and the car still shows perfect. And do you, do you win prizes with these cars, or... You win prizes, you win, sometimes you win money on the contests, and most of the time you get, you win trophies.
So basically, you're just putting the money in because you love it. Correct. That’s right, that’s our passion. It’s a passion.
What's your, what's your vehicle? That’s a 1948 Chevy. 1948 Chevy. And how much have you put into that vehicle? Ah, more or less around $20,000.
Twenty thousand dollars to restore that vehicle. Well, you know we're talking about it, but I don't think it's going to make any sense unless you see the vehicles, so I'm gonna go out and... (You should) see the 1951 Cadillac convertible, yellow, canary yellow that is there, and that car is $80,000. All right, so I have to look for... what year was that car?
1951 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. OK, a 1951 Cadillac Coupe de Ville convertible in yellow? Yellow, yes. That's beautiful. OK, I'm gonna go get a picture of that. Gentleman, thank you for your time. Thank you.
.
[OUTRO] Thanks for listening! Please share and follow on Spotify and Instagram and everywhere right here: https://linktr.ee/UnexpectedEnglish -
[EP 76] In this episode, I visit a Vegan Food Truck, and YOU get to practice listening to something fun in real American English! Use the transcription below to help you!
[PODCAST INTRO, where I say the wrong episode number đ but no other transcription] ...
[INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION:] So I was walking down the street and I spotted a food truck. So I thought I would go in and find out what that was about. First of all, what is a food truck?
Well we have a industry grade kitchen in the back of our truck. And we can park anywhere we want, and serve food to people. And what's the name of this food truck? We're Rollin' Roots, San Diego.
Rollin' Roots. Okay so I'm sure you've got some kind of specialty, something you specialize in. Why don't you tell us what's really good here?
All right, first of all, we're a vegan spot. We specialize in vegan comfort food. We, we have four different styles of proteins, which are all 100% meatless and uhh plant based, so there's no soy or anything like that, and everything's gluten free, pretty much.
All right, so we're talking vegan, gluten free, and we'd better be talking tasty, right? Oh, I'll show you, man! I'll show you!
You can't, you can't, you can't show us because we're just talking. Why don't you, why don't you describe a couple of what, you said there's four styles, what's that?
Yeah four styles. So we can, you can do any of our proteins on your choice of a sandwich, loaded fries or our brown rice bowl. One of our, one of my favorite items to make is a Daikon Love which is pulled oats and mushrooms on a bed, on a bed of red cabbage with some chipotle aioli that we make here in house, and it's 100% vegan. Teriyaki sauce, sriracha, fresh mint, jalapeĂąo. That's all in that one? Yeah, there's more stuff here, there's french fries in it and gives it kind of that Cali vibe, you know?
Uh right so that's because when I'm looking up there I see four things: I see Rich Gal, Texas in Cali, Daikon Love, and Spicy Boy, right, have I got it right? Yeah, and they're all basically different... Different proteins. So like our Spicy Boy is like a buffalo chicken, but we use fried oyster mushrooms instead of chicken. It's actually really amazing. I think the fried chicken is good on any of the styles of the sandwiches, you can substitute and play around with the different, different proteins and stuff: it's awesome.
Alright so just before we go, give me a list of, because you give me a list of the proteins that are available, because I don't think I got that.Okay, so for our po'boy. We have a heart of palm, deep fried. We have BBQ Jackfruit for Texas in Cali. We have pulled oats and mushrooms for our Bahn Mi and buffalo chicken for our Spicy Boy, fried oyster mushrooms.
All right, well, I don't know if you understood that, I got about half of it, but what I did understand is that it's probably really, really tasty! It's amazing, yeah. If you don't like vegan food, then you haven't tried Rollin Roots!
Oh there you go, and what do these things, sent you back?.What's up?What are the plates, about what do they cost? Oh, each sandwich is about $9 loaded fries for $10 but it's enough to feed two people, they're sharable!
Oh, Okay. All right, so they're that big, and that delicious! Whoa! There you go, we're right near the local little airport too so we've got extra sound effects. But that's it, next time you're in this part of the beautiful San Diego, be sure to stop by the Rollin Roots.
Yeah, thank you sir. Okay, thank you for your time. All right. Have a good one, buddy!
[OUTRO, no transcript]
P.S. Like the podcast? Spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support! -
[EP 75] Thanks for listening to this special birthday episode of Unexpected English, where you can practice your English listening skills in a fun way in less than five minutes. OK, it's too late to send a birthday present, but... it would be a kindness if you shared the podcast with a friend! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! Thanks for listening and for your support!
[TRANSCRIPTION]
Hey everybody! You're listening to a special episode of Unexpected English! Yes, it is! Why? Well, it's because I realized it's summertime! And everybody's on holiday, you know? You're all on vacation and nobody is listening to podcasts. So why bother? And then I thought, I know! I know why bother! Here's a good reason: it's my birthday! Yes, that's right, so I thought, well, I'll play myself a birthday song. And maybe you'll like it, and if not, well, this is the end of season six, so we're going to start all over again pretty soon with season seven. But in the meantime, we've got this birthday song just for me. All right, here we go!~~~ Music music music ~~~ do do do do doooo ~~~
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're older still
Time!
Is marching on
And time....
Is still marching on
This day will soon be at an end
And now it's even sooner
And now it's even sooner
And now it's even sooner
This day will soon be at an end
And now it's even sooner
And now it's sooner still!!!whaaaaa whaaa what whaaa
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
And now you're even older
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older
And now you're older still
***
Follow on Spotify and Instagram, motivate me to do more podcasts! -
[EP 74] This is a special edition for the 4th of July, because of a new world record! Have fun practicing your English listening in just five minutes with your favorite English podcast, Unexpected English! [Transcription] Hey everybody, it's Louis, and this is a special Fourth of July edition of Unexpected English. I say it's a special edition because I had a new episode ready to go. And then I read this, and it was too good not to share. What is this? This is America! From TV: âWhat greater fortune have we, in an endless universe of infinite matter and energy, we have been given consciousnesses to gaze upon at it all, and understand. What greater fortune, have we? To live in America! To stand, side by side, on the Fourth of July, to behold this man! What greater fortune!â Specifically, specifically today on the Fourth of July, a new world record was set. Yes. A New World Record! For what? Eating hot dogs! I'm not kidding you. It's true, it's true. The top competitive eater in the world, Joey Chestnut, managed to eat 76 --yes 76 hot dogs in just 10 minutes. TV: âLook on his works, ye mighty, and despair. For he has surpassed the Kings of Egypt, with 76 Nathanâs hot dogs and buns! A NEW! WORLD! RECORD!â I had to tell you that, because otherwise you wouldn't believe it. The person who came in number two, ate fifty. Fifty hot dogs in 10 minutes. But Joey Chestnut... Joey Chestnut ate 76 hot dogs. That's right. That's right. And it's not just hot dogs. Joey Chestnut has more than 50 eating records, I guess you know, you don't know it, but there is such a thing as competitive eating. And just to mention a few... of his records. He ate: 55 glazed doughnuts in eight minutes. And let me tell you that one again: in eight minutes, 55 glazed doughnuts. He ate, in just eight minutes, hard boiled eggs. How many hard boiled eggs in eight minutes? 141 hard boiled eggs in just eight minutes! Unbelievable. It sounds unbelievable, but there you go. But that's not the point. The point is... the point is, this is America! This is the United States, and the greatest competitive eater of all time is Joey Chestnut, who set a world record today, of 76 hot dogs. All right. Happy Fourth of July, everybody! Bam, Iâm a hot dog! P.S. Like this episode? Please spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps! I have no sponsors and no advertising - people only find the podcast when YOU tell them about it! Word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! Thanks for listening and for your support!
-
[EP 73] Love cupcakes? Love English? Want some fun listening? Let's do this!
[Transcript] Hi everybody, this is Louis and you're listening to another episode of Unexpected English, your favorite English podcast! Now, you know I say that just because I like to say it, not because I think it's true. But what IS true: CUPCAKES ARE YUMMY!! ...is that this is episode 73. And in this episode, like every episode of Unexpected English, you get the practice your listening with something... a little weird ...well, I wonât say weird... a little different, and fun, in under five minutes. So now that I was able to start doing interviews again, this one *is* an interview, so let's give a listen...Okay, so I was just walking here in PB, Pacific Beach, that is Pacific Beach, San Diego, and I noticed a place called Pure Cupcakes. And that sounded so good to me, so I thought I would go in and see what I could find out. So, I asked to speak with somebody and here she is!
Hi, my name is Christina, I'm the supervisor for the weekends here at Pure Cupcakes,
Pure Cupcakes. So, okay so what are some of the most popular... do we say flavors? Flavors, what are some of the top flavors, where everybody says, âOh, I love this one!â
I would say we have a salted caramel, that's a chocolate with caramel frosting, and a caramel drizle on top. We have a Rollo cupcake, that's going to be chocolate with caramel frosting filled with caramel and dipped in chocolate.
Ohhh, can you just stop right now because the more you're talking about those cupcakes, the more I want to have a cupcake. And I hope that's not happening to you, because if you're listening and there's no place to buy a cupcake, then you're just like, oh! what can I do? Hmm. I see here in the window that you won some awards for the best cupcakes!
We did, yes we won Cupcake Wars in 2013.
Cupcake Wars? Yes! Its that where everybody comes out and throws cupcakes at each other?
I wish! I wish! That would have been super fun! It was a TV show where different bakeries competed and the the winner had their cupcake showcased at a large event. Ours happened to win at the San Diego Zoo event.
So, there was a cupcake war at the San Diego Zoo (yes!) that did not involve throwing cupcakes. No, believe it or not! It's just, just showing them and eating them. Yes. And how many people participated in this cupcake war? I believe it was four. Okay, oh it was kind of a face off, kind of a face off. Yeah, four people. I should do the dramatic music now, you know, boom, boom.
[Dramatic: Cupcake makers, everything comes down to this....dramatic music.. You are the winner of Cupcake wars. Congratulations. Thank you! Thank you guys!!!]
Dun dun duh! OK, so, so they had Cupcake Wars, and you won the Cupcake Wars in.... 2013
Do people buy cupcakes one by one?
We can, we can do them one by one, or we can do weddings, we can do parties so as few or as many as you'd like, you can come on in and check it out.
What's the biggest order, you've ever got for a single bunch of cupcakes? Probably upwards of a couple of thousand. You can make a couple thousand cupcakes?? Right just...Yes sir, anything! Right, well there you go! So now you know if you're looking for cupcakes when you're in Pacific Beach, San Diego, stop by at Pure Cupcakes, and you'll be happy. Thank you enjoy, guys! Okay thanks for your time. Yeah, of course, do you want a cupcake?
[OUTRO] P.S. Like the podcast? Spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! And of course, thanks for listening and for your support!
-
[EP 72] Content Warning, drugs! [Street interview episode] So I'm taking my daily walk, walking down the street and I walked by this vehicle with open windows and I get a powerful odor of what is currently called ... marijuana. ---> LISTEN NOW! [4:20 = time to get high]
---
Hey everybody it's me, Louis. Welcome back to another episode of Unexpected English! Yes it's episode 72, I think? It's episode 72? I know it's late, it's very late, but I know I'm also very lazy which is why it's very late, so I won't even talk, let's just get right to the episode. I apologize for the sound, you know, it was in the street , one of those spontaneous things, but here it is. Let's go!
---
So I'm taking my daily walk, walking down the street and I walked by this vehicle with open windows and I get a powerful odor of what is currently called ... marijuana. So I thought I would stop and ask these guys... Am I right? Are you? Yeah. Smoking a *Backwood, itâs a natural weed. A natural... what is a natural? Itâs a tobacco leaf, instead of the processed tobacco.
Oh wait a minute. You... There's weed in it, but its... [inaudible] OK, help us understand here for those of us who donât. We are smoking... what I say âweâ I mean you, not me, dear listeners! Iâm, Iâm **straight arrow. But this is weed wrapped in a tobacco leaf? Yeah.
All right... and... where did you acquire your... your weed? Weed? From the ***dispensary. And then the Backwoods from just any liquor store. OK but, the dispensary, when you go in there, donât they have like a whole lot of choices? Yeah. Hundreds of choices, ****edibles, everything. And so for your particular choice, thought, I mean, do you always get the same thing, or how do you decide? Because, say, I am a newbie and I go in there and see wow look at all this, look at all this weed. How do I know what to get? I personally like Indica there's 3 different types: indica, sativa and hybrid, Indica makes you go to sleep, hybrids in the middle, and then sativa makes it kind of makes you say up and be active.
And, and whatâs, what's the going rate for...I don't know how they sell what kind of quantity. An eight at the dispensary, anywhere from 20 ****bucks to like 60. $20 for how much? An eighth. To $60. $20 to $60 depending on quality. $20 up to $60 for an eight of... I mean, I donât know what an eight is. Of weed. Itâs 3.5 grams. Oh, ok 3.5 grams, between $20 up to $60. Alright, anything else my listeners should know? No, thatâs about it. All right, well, thanks very much for your time!OUTRO MUSIC: âLet me get to the point, let me roll another joint, turn the radio loud, Iâm too aloud alone to be proud, you donât know how it feels...to be me...â
P.S. Like the podcast? Spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! And of course, thanks for listening and for your support!
Vocabulary:
*Natural tobacco leaf sometimes used as a wrapper for marijuana
**a person who a person who leaves a clean and conventional life with hight moral standards
*** place that sells legal marijuana
****cannabis-based food products
***** dollars -
[EP71] What is Uptalk? Have you heard it? Is it a joke, a bad habit, or a real thing? Learn about this American English speaking style in this episode of Unexpected English! Transition here below to help!
Transcription: Hey everybody, I was listening to a podcast, and I heard this. Let's listen: âThey also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to be able to adapt more quickly.â
Okay now, why did that make me stop? Well you may have noticed that the person was not asking a question, but their voice went up at the end, making it sound like a question. âThey also have a lack of complex body parts...â
What's up with that?! Well, it is UP. In fact, it's called Uptalk. That's when people's voices go up at the end, even though they're not asking a question. So when I heard this, I thought, hmm, I wonder if my listeners have ever heard it, or noticed it, or thought about it, so I just thought I would share that example. Let's listen again: âThey also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to be able to adapt more quickly.â
Okay now, I'll say the same thing. Here we go. Okay. "They also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to adapt more quickly." (applause) Right, right. Okay, thank you, thank you. The difference is, it was not a question. All right, so there it is. You've heard your examples of Upspeak or Uptalk, and I wanted to share them with you because it is fairly common. And now that you've heard it, you might notice it more and more.
[Satire:] âUptalk is, like, super annoying if you're under the age of 40, though it's probably not that big of a deal to you. Until an older family member or colleague, tells you about this super irritating habit of young people, where every sentence ends like it's a question?â
On the other hand, ...on the other hand, it can also be explained as having a purpose, of course, because everything supposedly has a purpose, right? And the purpose of Uptalk could be, for one thing, just to sound more invitational and less aggressive, less assertive. So, if I say something, and my voice goes up a little bit. So, to be a little friendlier, a little friendlier tone, for one thing. O as a kind of unconscious gambit, that says, âIâm not done talking yet. Right, so there's more to come.â And is there a third reason for uptalk? Uhhh.. boh [great Italian word] I dunno. Wait. Oh wait, now I remember the third reason that people could be using Uptalk. And that is to check for comprehension, check for understanding from the person I'm speaking to. In a face to face conversation, if my voice goes up a little bit. I'm looking for clues from you, that you're following what I'm saying. So that could be another legitimate reason that people use Uptalk.
---> "Body parts? Adapt more quicklyâ Body parts? Adapt more quickly?" <--
Okay, that was it. That was the âuptalkingâ episode. I hope you liked it, and we'll catch you next time. Ciao ciao!
P.S. Like the podcast? Spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! And of course, thanks for listening and for your support! - Show more
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