Practising English

Write to Mike Bilbrough to ask a question or give an opinion.

B1 words and expressions studied:

In this B1-level podcast today, I'll also discuss 6 interesting intermediate B1-level words, which you can listen for while you listen to the short story.
Intermediate-level words and expressions:

lack of something - not enough of something

get rid of somebody - tell somebody to leave

out of work - to have lost your job

try your best - do a task the best way you can

stay behind - to wait after others have left

consist of something - talks about the parts of something
To see answers and read the full transcript, go to my website:
https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-216.htm

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/
My latest novel for learners of B2 English is called The Tudor Conspiracy. You can see it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)

Write to Mike Bilbrough to ask a question or give an opinion.

Today I have joined the two halves of The Quiet Man together so you can enjoy this story in one complete story.
I briefly discuss intonation and give you a task to listen to while enjoying the story.

For more podcasts on intonation at Practising English, go to podcasts: 126, 109, 43, 103. See the podcast numbers at my website...
https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-content.htm
The Quiet Man
First part of story. If you can't see the words in red on your app (the stressed words), you can visit my website at https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-196.htm:

‘Come on, you’ll like them! They really are super people!’

Simon Willoughby wasn’t convinced. He had never been keen on theatres and actors.

On the only occasion Simon had actually been to the theatre, he had felt terrified. On this visit, he was sitting just two rows back from the front, when, during the play, one of the performers had come down from the stage. She asked if someone would like to come up and take part in the play. As nobody raised their hand, the actress came among the audience to look for someone.

For one terrible moment, Simon thought it was going to be him. He closed his eyes, and his heartbeat raced while sweat poured off his face and hands. Fortunately, for Simon, the actress chose another person, who had been sitting right next to him. Simon could breathe normally again. In fact, feeling worried that the same thing might happen later on in the performance, Simon got up and quietly walked out of the theatre. He’d never been back.

How he had become friends with his department’s manageress, Simon couldn’t even guess. She seemed to like him. Her name was Phillipa, and she had asked Simon to come into her office to talk about his work in the company. He couldn’t really understand why he deserved the attention. His work as a computer programmer was hardly important, as what he did was simple and even rather dull.

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/
My latest novel for learners of B2 English is called The Tudor Conspiracy. You can see it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)

Write to Mike Bilbrough to ask a question or give an opinion.

Today I'm giving you the full version of my B1-level story (with some B2 English)
Tsunami!
Here are 4 comprehension questions for part TWO of the story, which starts after the written transcript has finished.
1) What did Yannick think Melville's name was?
Mr Tsunami
2) Which was the last accident that stopped Melville and the French family from escaping from the beach?
But that jeep was going nowhere that day. It hit a rock hidden under the sand, which made it jump to the side and turn over completely - everybody with it.
3) What happened to the Tsunami? Why weren't Melville and the French family killed?
The huge wave divided in two – like a pair of curtains at a window. Each half dropped in height to just a few metres and moved down to the sides of the island and disappeared.
4) What did Melville look like?
Melville stood there in front of them, dark-skinned, handsome, long black curly hair and beard, looking larger than life - like a Greek god.
To read the trandscript go to https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-200.htm

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/
My latest novel for learners of B2 English is called The Tudor Conspiracy. You can see it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)

Write to Mike Bilbrough to ask a question or give an opinion.

This is the complete B1-level story of The Spaceman (first published in 2022)
Comprehension questions for story
1) Why was Max Headroom angry at the beginning of the story?
2) What were the space-time doors?
3) Who was the old man in Max's bedroom?
4) Why did Max and his wife, Sheena, separate?
5) Do you think Max and Sheena got back together again?
I'll give you the answers at the end of the story.
Think about this question below. You can send your written answer at the link at the top of this page "send me a text" (mobile phones only)
If you as a much older man or woman came to visit you now from the future, what would he or she (you) tell you that you should stop doing before it's too late?
Transcript.
The transcript below is for the first part of the story (until you hear the music). Listen carefully to the rest of the story and try to answer the questions 2 to 5 above. (Answers at the end of the podcast.)
Max Headroom felt very annoyed. As he looked out of the side window of his tiny spaceship*, he could clearly see the red paint falling off the back wings. Max remembered the words of the advertisement at his local spaceship* garage.
Special offer - this week only!
Small-sized spaceships painted at half-price!
Why hadn’t he taken his spaceship* to the garage last week? Now it was too late for the special offer.
Max turned away from the side window and looked forward through the front windscreen. Bright stars filled the black space ahead of him. It was another wonderful weekend away in space for Max. He really looked forward to his weekends.
Max opened the computer screen and turned on the display. He could now see the space social network groups and who was online. Max found a few of his friends. Dekker was in his own spaceship*. He had just left the planet Gonda. Baxter and Bleeper had been in space since Thursday and were close by. Max touched Dekker’s avatar on the screen. Dekker replied immediately.
‘Hi, there, Max! How are you?’ said Dekker.
‘Fine,’ answered Max. ‘Good to hear from you, Dekker! Let’s do some space travel!’
‘Sure!’ said Dekker. ‘I’ll contact Baxter and Bleeper. The space cowboys are gonna have fun! Wahoo!’
They enjoyed going to the typical holiday planets around Vega with their hot and sunny weather, luxury hotels, enormous swimming pools and noisy night clubs.
However, Max and his friends chose to go to a completely different planet this time – a holiday planet called Bluewater. Not many people travelled there and Max had to choose a different flight route.
First of all, he had to fly past the planet Darkhole, which was where strange non-humans* lived in dirty, smelly houses. They hated visitors from other planets and if they had the chance they would attack and rob them. Even the space police wouldn’t go to planet Darkhole.

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/
My latest novel for learners of B2 English is called The Tudor Conspiracy. You can see it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)

Write to Mike Bilbrough to ask a question or give an opinion.

In this B1-level podcast today I'll use lots of important vocabulary and expressions to talk about daily actions. I'll also discuss 10 interesting B1-level words, which you can listen for while you listen to the short story.
I'll analyse these intermediate-level words and expressions:

no going back - you cannot go to where you were earlier, or if you start something, you cannot leave it but must carry on.
warning - a notice or something spoken to tell us to be careful of a danger
damage your health - to harm (B2) or do something that can make you ill
step into / step out of - go in or out of something you get to by using your feet
fresh - can mean cool, such as a cool breeze (but not cold); it can also mean not bad when referring to fruit; or it can mean 'new' such as 'fresh ideas'
admire - to look at a picture etc. and realise you like it; or to look up to somebody (B2) when we think somebody is wonderful because of their qualities.
backwards - moving in the opposite way from forwards; or something like a word seen the other way around e.g. ENGLISH = HSILGNE
funny - amusing, it makes you laugh; also strange or peculiar
topic of discussion - a subject to talk about
can't help + verb + ing - something we do but perhaps should not do like eating too much chocolate.
For answers and transcript of story, see: https://www.practisingenglish.com/podcast-215.htm

At https://www.practisingenglish.com/ I offer learners of intermediate-level English, grammar help and exercises and other English learning pages.
https://www.practisingenglish.com/
My latest novel for learners of B2 English is called The Tudor Conspiracy. You can see it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
https://amzn.to/33Axu2N
Be back soon with another podcast!
Mike Bilbrough (Secondary school English teacher and Doctor in English philology)