Easy English: Learn English with everyday conversations

Justin from Texas is back... this time he is fact-checking Isi and Mitch's experiences, comparisons and stereotypes of the United States. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Intro Mitch: [0:22] Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Isi: [0:26] Good morning. Mitch: [0:27] Good morning in the morning. We're loaded up on coffee as we have a part two of an episode that we made recently. We're reintroducing you to our correspondent from the United States. Justin is back. Justin: [0:44] Hello, hello. Isi: [0:46] Hi. Well, he's corresponding from Berlin., I would say. Justin: [0:51] But originally from. - Yeah. - The United States, Texas to be specific, if those don't know. I usually always say that I’m from Texas, I never really say I’m from the United States, it's very interesting when people ask; "where are you from?" I always just say Texas. Isi: [1:05] That is very interesting. Justin: [1:06] I guess I expect people to know Texas and most times people do. But I like to represent Texas more than I like to represent the United States of America. Isi: [1:15] Okay, and how... what do you think... like I do know Texas, I guess, from the... I haven't been, but from the... a bit from the stereotypes more like the cowboy stereotypes. Mitch: [1:26] Beyonce! Justin: [1:27] Yeah, Beyonce. Isi: [1:28] And the heat. Justin: [1:29] And The Cowboys. Yes, all those things are very... all of those things are very much correct. Mitch: [1:34] Have you ever said yee-haw in a non-cliched way? Justin: [1:38] No, but I do say howdy all the time. Howdy is my favorite... howdy is my favorite introduction. Mitch: [1:45] Wow, like Woody from 'Toy Story'. Justin: [1:49] Yeah, howdy. Isi: [1:50] How would you describe a Texan within like a few sentences. Mitch: [1:54] That's a good question. Justin: [1:55] That's a good question. I would describe a Texan as a soulful, country... Isi: [2:04] Soulful that's nice Mitch: [2:05] I like that too. Justin: [2:06] Soulful, country, cowboy. Mitch: [2:08] Wow. Isi: [2:09] A soulful, country, cowboy. Justin: [2:12] At least that's how I describe myself. Isi: [2:13] So, I was once only in the U.S but like for five weeks or so. Which is 10 years ago, oh god. And it was with Easy German, we did a tour, a great tour from New York via some like countryside, Virginia to Colorado and from Colorado with a car to California so, a really really cool tour. But what we did on the way is a lot of videos about being in the U.S and we did this video about like, where we shared our three things that we like, three things that we don't like, or things that would surprise us. And I literally found the list that I wrote back then on the road trip, can you imagine? - Exciting. - Yeah. And I was a bit surprised myself, what I wrote down. But I thought I'd share it. Mitch: [3:00] Yes so Isi's gonna... you're gonna read some of those out and I'm gonna... I also have been like, recently and then a long time ago um and there's some things which I sort of always kept in my mind, like experiences, stories and little notes I'd sort of, mentally made. Isi: [3:16] So, should I start? Justin: [3:18] Yes, I'm excited to hear. Mitch: [3:21] And Justin, maybe you can go into it, explain why, these cultural phenomenons, or whatever Isi is going to say, and maybe because you have an inside eye from all three places, can sort of, compare your experiences. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

Listen to part 2 of the podcast where Isi and Mitch give advice on how to pass an English speaking test, based around the IELTS test. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Intro Mitch: [0:23] Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of the Easy English Podcast. Mitch: [0:28] This week's episode is a bit different, as we're carrying on from our part one of easy taking the IELTS test. What is it you ask? Let me tell you. It's one of the most popular English exams in the world. And you can take it to help you to study abroad, to work internationally, you might have to take it for your immigration or visa status and it's mainly just a way to prove your English level, officially. Now the IELTS stands for the 'International English Language Testing System', and last time you heard from us, Isi was taking it and there are three parts to this test and in the first episode, we covered part one, which were simple questions and at the very end I asked her part two question which is the main task, asking her to describe a place she enjoys visiting in the UK. If you didn't listen to it in episode one, then that's coming up next and if you did listen to it, maybe you just want to skip ahead a little bit, to hear my analysis of how well she did. And then afterwards, she'll be taking part three; the discussion task, asking her, what the benefits are of living in another country. I hope you all enjoy this episode, and you'll hear from me at the end. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

Mitch and Isi find out facts, slang and phrases from Scotland. The duo then answer Marianne's question about British TV shows before Mitch reads out a few classic British jokes. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Show Notes Mitch & Janusz's jokes video: British Jokes (Easy English 168) Transcript Intro Mitch: [0:23] We've hit a milestone as well. I just... I didn't even notice. We're on episode 80. Isi: [0:30] When is 100? Mitch: [0:32] Next year sometime. Well, as it's the milestone, we'd like to say welcome to the Easy English Podcast, episode 80. Isi: [0:42] Whoop, whoop. Mitch: [0:43] Wow. 80 episodes. Crazy. And welcome to any new people who have just discovered us. Isi: [0:50] Hello. Mitch: [0:51] Today, we've got a few topics and a brand new topic, which I'd like to make a continuous topic, that appears in every episode. But our main 'Topic of the Week' is a subject which was requested, in the last podcast by Marcel, from the Swiss-German border. Isi: [1:14] Scotland. - What? Mitch: [1:17] Oh yeah! - Scotland's not on the Swiss-German border. Isi: [1:21] But, wasn't that the topic. Mitch: [1:22] Yeah, so Marcel asked for us to talk about Scotland. And, one issue we have with that is... we have been to Scotland right? - We have been... - But we don't know that much. - several times. - Yeah, several times, but we still didn't really know that much. - No. - So I did a bit of research and I’m gonna sort of, enlighten all of us, because a lot of these things I was like, what? Wow, that's amazing. There's so much interesting stuff about Scotland. And we also have an 'Unhelpful Advice' question, from another listener, who sent in a voice message. And then at the end, we have our new brand new section, 'British Jokes'. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

Crossing on a red light? Table service in a pub? Bus, supermarket and London Underground ettiquette? Mitch tests Isi with 5 very British scenarios to see if she knows the unwritten rules of British life. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Intro Isi: [0:22] Hello! Mitch: [0:24] Hello! Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Isi: [0:28] I'm pro-leaving this out next time. We should... please leave your comment on Spotify, or your other favourite apps. On Spotify you can leave a comment and say, stop telling us which podcast we are listening to. Mitch: [0:43] What did I say at the beginning now? Hello! Isi: [0:46] How are you? Without an answer, but that's very English. Mitch: [0:51] It is very English. Isi: [0:52] Alright. - Alright, mate. - Alright. Mitch: [0:54] Alright. So today, we're going to be playing a little scenario game with you. - As usual. - As usual, putting you to the test. And proposing five situations, that will happen to you, in the UK and will happen to you in the UK, if you come. Let's call them 'unwritten rules of the UK'. Isi: [1:15] The first one is already an odd one then. There's no should or shouldn't in that one. well basically there's a should. Mitch: [1:21] Hold your horses. we'll get on to that in a minute. I just want to quickly say, that if you're listening to this podcast, on your podcast app, you should be made aware, that this podcast is also available as a video on YouTube and we're going to be showing some pictures, in-between Isi and I, of these sort of proposed scenarios. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

Improve your English listening skills as Isi tries to guess where these 7 strong accents from the UK are from... Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Intro Mitch: [0:22] Hiya everybody, welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Isi: [0:27] Hello. Mitch: [0:28] I'm overdoing my enthusiasm I feel, because we are in a low energy state. We've just come back from Berlin and we both caught the dreaded Corona. Isi: [0:44] Dreaded. Mitch: [0:45] So, we've been a little bit under the weather. So, I'm going to try to infuse some extra energy to the podcast, right Isi? Isi: [0:54] Please. I don't have it today. Mitch: [0:56] Aww... but before we carry on actually, because we have just come back from Berlin and we met lots of really nice people, it wasn't anything to do with Easy English we were actually there for the Easy German Summer School. But we met loads of you who were also Easy English Podcast listeners, so huge shout-out! Isi: [1:17] Shout-out to everyone. And we also did a new episode for Easy English. Mitch: [1:21] We also made an episode in Berlin, about Berlin, comparing um... cultural, culture shocks, that we noticed in our time there, the one week we spent, before we caught the dreaded (Co)rona. But that's not what we're discussing today. Today, a little bit of a follow-on from last episode, where Isi tested me on cultural slang words. Isi: [1:46] Yes. Mitch: [1:46] The reason she did that, was because, we like to play a game now, where she quickly, guesses the accent of a person, when we're in the UK. And she's on fire. She's on a hot streak of victories. Isi: [2:02] Well... God, you make me scared. Mitch: [2:06] So I searched online and found some... because Brighton is very southern, most of the time. Only rarely do you hear someone from the far reaches of the UK, so I went and found accents from the far reaches of the UK. So we're going to play a little game, maybe you can play along with us, and pause and try to guess yourself, where you think this person's from, and we're going to discuss little hints and tips as to why we think they sound like where they're coming from. Because there are some giveaways in all of these, because they're quite strong, regional accents. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

Working holidays, lunch at your desk, small talk at meetings, wild Christmas parties & tea breaks... we discuss 5 strange work habits in the UK. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Isi: [0:22] Hiya! Mitch: [0:23] Hiya! Isi: [0:24] Hiya! Mitch: [0:25] Welcome to Easy English... Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. For those of you listening, you should be made aware, as per usual, that this episode is also available as a video episode on our YouTube channel. Because in this one, I'm going to be showing you some pictures and you might also want to look and watch along, as we identify five work habits that Germans might not understand. Isi: [1:03] Oh. Mitch: [1:03] And, I've harnessed the power of AI to create some images of typical work scenarios in the UK, which might be a little bit strange, not just for Germans, but for you guys, wherever you're watching from, if it's not in the UK. Isi: [1:23] Okay. I don't know what's coming, but I'm prepared for nothing. Mitch: [1:31] But, before we go into this week's topic, we have an exciting announcement that we've been working on over the summer, right Isi? Isi: [1:42] Yes. We changed our memberships, I think that's the first announcement. And with that, also produced a new trailer on our YouTube channel, so if you're listening, hop over there. If you're on the YouTube channel, click on it here, somewhere. So yeah, there's a new trailer, a very detailed, long trailer, that explains everything about our memberships, about our work, about our content, so please, please watch that. What we can tell now is that we, made our memberships easier and... we had before five memberships, now we have three, and to us they make more sense, then hopefully, to you. Mitch: [2:26] Yeah we've defined them a bit more in the areas of Supporter, which is for anyone that wants to help keep our project Easy English running, because at the moment it's currently just myself and Isi, little old us, and our project Easy English is kind of a community funded project, run by you, designed by you, inspired by you and made for you. You know, our podcasts and videos are free to watch and listen to, so becoming a member not only helps you learn with us, but also helps keep our project running. It's just a small amount you pay every month if you were to join the Supporter Membership and in return we'd also invite you to join our Discord server, which is a chat-based app, Is that right? Isi: [3:13] Server. Tool. Mitch: [3:14] Tool, where you can meet other members like yourself, who are supporting us, who are learning with us. But you can also meet with myself and Isi, and we'll discuss just general topics, get to know each other, and we'll get to say thank you for helping to support Easy English. Isi: [3:29] Yeah. I share lots of pictures of Nola. Mitch: [3:34] There'll be Nola pictures. There'll be dinner pictures. There'll be holiday pictures, food pictures. Isi: [3:38] All my guilty pleasure food. It's on there. So, yeah, for sure. I mean, our Discord is, for us, a place where we daily, meet our Easy English family, and it's a lot of fun. It's like a place where we just daily hang out. It's great. Mitch: [3:57] The second membership is the Learner Membership, which has now just combined the Video and Podcast Membership into one. So you're going to get all of the learning material for all of our episodes, whether it be a podcast episode or video episode. Isi: [4:10] All in one. Mitch: [4:11] Exactly, and you'll also be invited to Discord. And then the final membership is our Conversation Membership, which includes everything we've just said, but adds on our really fun, really relaxed and really useful and helpful conversation calls, which happen every Tuesday. It's a group setting it's online we all create a pub themed background, a bit like what we're doing here in the background and we just chat about topics which will be referenced in videos, we chat about topics that will help you if you're working in English, if you're coming to live in England, or if you're just wanting to surround yourself in the English-speaking world. Isi: [4:50] So, if you want to become a member and get more comfortable with your English, learn with us, get to know us, chat with us, be part of our little world, then go to easyenglish.video/membership Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

This week, Mitch finds 5 very British things that he thinks will annoy Germans. Isi debates whether separate hold and cold taps, basic bakeries, pubs that close early, narrow and dangerous roads and short-shorts in winter would annoy ALL Germans. Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Intro Mitch: [0:22] Hiya! Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Today, we're going to be discussing five things that annoy you, that I know annoy you, as a German who is experiencing the UK. Isi: [0:39] So that people can hate me afterwards Mitch: [0:43] No, but these are things which I think all Germans will be annoyed about, and I'm going to leave it up to you to decide what the pictures are that I’m going to show you, what they really mean, what the annoyance will be. And if you're listening to this podcast, you should be made aware that this podcast is also available on our YouTube channel, where we'll be showing pictures to Isi and we'll be discussing five annoying things that all Germans hate about the UK. Isi: [1:14] I doubt that all Germans will hate it. Mitch: [1:17] Yeah, clickbait. Isi: [1:19] Hate is a very strong word. Let's say dislike or criticise. Mitch: [1:26] Five things Germans criticise about the UK. Isi: [1:34] And in the end, it's only me. Mitch: [1:35] Let's go. Five things Isi criticises... about the UK. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership

Mitch and Isi discuss the lesser known traditions in the UK; can you really walk off-road from Brighton to Scotland? Is Guy Fawkes a modern-day superhero? Has Isi won a pub quiz? Boy George as Captain Hook?!?! Interactive Transcript Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership Transcript Isi: [0:00] Let's go on. Mitch: [0:00] Let's go on. Isi: [0:01] Okay. What is this? Is it like this? Mitch: [0:11] What was that you were reaching in for? Isi: [0:14] An apple? Mitch: [0:15] From where? Isi: [0:16] Garden Eden. I love Peter Pan! Peter Pan is with Captain Hook? Mitch: [0:26] F&%ing hell. Isi: [0:28] That one story. Don't touch me! Mitch: [0:36] It's called a bonfire. Isi: [0:37] Still not so fine, by the way, for wildlife. But we could walk to Scotland. Mitch: [0:44] We could, but we might die. Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Isi: [1:13] Welcome, welcome. Mitch: [1:14] For those of you listening to this podcast, you should be made aware of that this podcast is also available on our YouTube channel. And the reason I’m saying this, is because today, we're going to discuss cultural phenomenon in the UK. - Yes. - These are cultural phenomenons which you may not know about in the UK Isi: [1:42] First picture, let's go. I'm ready. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership