at Tambako

Mark: So John..
John: Yeah.
Mark: You are working on a dissertation for a PhD. That is for an American university?
John: Yeah, that is right. It is a university in San Francisco, California
Mark: And what is the area?
John: I am studying..It is philosophy but with an emphasis on Buddhist studies, you know, and Buddhist philosophy.
Mark: In any particular country?
John: Well, yeah, I am mainly interested in Thailand even though I live in Japan, you know. I like Thailand’s version of Buddhism better.
Mark: Is that theravada?
John: Yeah. That is right.
Mark: Ok. So are you studying any particular temple or any particular aspect of Buddhism?
John: Yeah. I am doing research on a couple of temples there in Thailand. One is called Suen Mok, which is pretty famous. It is got a very good program for ten day meditation retreats and they are geared for teaching foreigners meditation; meditation techniques.
Mark: What is the other temple?
John: The other one is north of Bangkok about three hours bus ride and it is called Tam Krabok.
Mark: Uh-huh.
John: And it is… Well it does different things but one thing it does is it helps addicts recover, you know. It has probably cured about one hundred thousand addicts; mostly heroin or opium addicts, you know, and so I am really interested in how meditation can replace an addiction. You know what I mean?
Mark: Wow! So they are like teaching people to meditate and overcome the problems that caused them to become addicted to drugs?
John: Right. Exactly.
Mark: Wow! Isn’t that a wonderful thing. A hundred thousand.
John: Yeah.
Mark: Wow! That is really amazing. You have been to the temple?
John: Yeah and interviewed several of the head monks and some of the other people there and it is just a really really, to me, an effective way of applying Buddhism, you know?
Mark: Right.
John: To eliminate our addictions and work toward something more significant
Mark: Right excellent. That is really…That is great. Like. To use something like that to…That is really good.
John: A real practical form of Buddhism. As I understand it to try to help people live better lives and things like that and this seems to be a real, you know, obvious way to do it.
Mark: Drug addiction is a big problem in a lot of different countries.
John: Yeah.
Mark: And if they are finding something they can do about, it that is really great.
John: Yeah I agree totally there. And it was a big problem in Thailand. You know until 1959 opium was legal in Thailand.
Mark: Really?
John: And suddenly they made it illegal and all these people who would take it as a normal part of their life suddenly were illegal addicts.
Mark: Wow!
John: And so this place has really done something that I think is really important.
suddenly they made it illegal
Mark: What is the name of the temple again?
John: Tam Krabok. It means cave of the “prabok”.  It is kind of like “telling it like it is” or something like that. Originally it was just a group of monks and they lived in caves
Mark: Wow!
John: And then they started making a big temple out of it.
Mark: The caves of truth.
John: Yeah. That would be a good way to translate it. (laughs)

at Matt Hintsa

Mark: Hello, Mr Bestluck?
Peter: Hi there. Come on in. Welcome.
Mark: My name is Mark White.
Peter: Hi Mark. How are you doing?
Mark: Good.
Peter: Take a seat on the black leather sofa.
Mark: Thanks a lot.
Peter: Make yourself comfortable.
Mark: Thanks for agreeing to see me today. I am sure you don’t have much time.
Peter: No problem whatsoever.
Mark: I have come to ask you about your recent acquisition of Mosquito City…
Peter: U-hum.
Mark: … Airlines.
Peter: Yes.
Mark: Was it a sudden decision to buy the airline company?
Peter: It is one of my dreams come true actually. I had been thinking about this for quite a long time, although I hadn’t told anybody until very recently.
Mark: Oh wow! I have got a scoop.
Peter: You have got a scoop. Yeah. (laughs) It has just all happened (at the) beginning of last week.
Mark: Right..So..?
Peter: I phoned David Bowie. You know David?
Mark: Yeah
Peter: And he has..He said that I can buy his jets from him. Marvelous. At a very reasonable price as well.
Mark: you are buying a new fleet.
Peter: Yeah. That is right.
Mark: Right. So you have always wanted to be in the airline industry?
Peter: Not really. It is just something to do. You know. Something. A little bit of fun on the side.
Mark: With all your money?
Peter: Well, that is true.
Mark: Yeah. well. You plan to expand the airline company. Do you think that the Mosquito City Airport is big enough for this new fleet of jets?
Peter: Well, I do because I think that Mosquito City is becoming quite a phenomenon.
Mark: Uh-huh.
Peter: Everybody wants to come here.
Mark: Right.
Peter: And I can understand why because it is “Happy Happy Land”, if you know what I mean.
Mark: I must say it is a beautiful place. I have only just arrived myself a couple of days ago. I got a job. I am making a lot of money. I am staying at the hotel for nothing. This is a great place.
Peter: Just one day. Just imagine… one week … one month…one year.
Mark: How long have you been here?
Peter: I have been here sort of most of my life actually.
Mark: Were you born rich?
Peter: Well, I was born rich inside.
Mark: Inside?
Peter: it sounds a bit sort of corny doesn’t it but ahh..
Mark: No. Not really.
Peter: What is the point of being rich if you are not rich inside?
Mark: All that glitters is not gold.
Peter: Very true.
Mark: Money isn’t everything. So your fortune has grown since you inherited it?
Peter: It has grown considerably.
Mark: M-hm. What kind of industries have you invested in?
Peter: Well…actually I am building a golf course next to the new airport.
Mark: Right. Ok.
Peter: So you will have to come down and see it with me.
Mark: Yes.
Peter: How about tomorrow?
Mark: Ok. Yeah. That sounds great. I would love to.
Peter: Great. Fantastic.
Mark: What time?
Peter: Maybe..how about… I am laughing now … six o’clock in the morning?
Mark: Six o’clock in the morning.
Peter: Yes.
Mark: So early?
Peter: There will be my stretch-limo waiting for you outside your hotel.
Mark: Oh wow! Yes!
Peter: With a chauffeur.
Mark: Ok. Yes.
Peter: No problem.
Mark: Wow!
Peter: See you tomorrow, ok?
Mark: Ok. See you tomorrow. Bye bye.
Peter: Bye.

at kanaka pacifica

Mark: Elder Tiave, that is not a common English name. What is your ethnic heritage?
Elder Tiave: No, I am part Filipino. I am Samoan and Hawaiian.
Mark: Wow!
Elder Tiave: So I have nothing to do with Cambodia.
Mark: But you are a Mormon.
Elder Tiave: Yes. I am a Mormon.
Mark: And your whole family is Mormon?
Elder Tiave: Yes, my whole family.
Mark: And you are on your mission? You are here for two years?
Elder Tiave: Yeah. I just recently came out to Cambodia and started my mission here in Cambodia.
Mark: Mhm.
Elder Tiave: I started learning the language, Cambodian language in Utah and then from there I came out here and just started teaching the the people here (about my church). I have been in this country for about three months and it is a challenge sometimes but I am starting to get better at the language. Yeah.
Mark: Do you speak Tagalog or Filipino or Hawaiian?
Elder Tiave: No, I really don’t know any Filipino language but my grandma does.
Mark: So you were born in the States, grew up in the states; you are pretty much American, now.
Elder Tiave: Yeah, I am actually from Hawaii.
Mark: Right but your ancestors are all mixed?
Elder Tiave: Yeah. All mixed.
Mark: It is starting to rain so lets get out of here.
Elder Tiave: All right.

at leftantler

John: Hi, Yumie, have you heard the news?
Yumie: The TV news?
John: No, Miyako’s news! She’s going to go to Oz. She’s going to be there for a whole year.
Yumie: Oh wow! When? Where? Why? How Long? How is she going to be able to afford it? No! Wait! I’ll call her! I’ll ask her.

Use this post to learn English and Turkish at the same time.
Hello

How are you?

Good

Where are you from?

I am from Australia

Where are you from?

I am from Turkey.

How long have you been in Australia?

I have been here for six months.

Download the text: International Business Story (pdf), by Mark White

at Kool Skatkat

Mark: Ok. It is my first day on the job. I am a new reporter for the Mosquito City Herald. Hello, Brad.
Brad: Hi, Mark. How are you doin’ there?
Mark: Good. Good. How are you?
Brad: It is really god to see you. Are you having a good time?
Mark: I am having a good time.
Brad: Wonderful.
Mark: I got a new job.
Brad: You got a new job. That is terrific. Terrific.
Mark: I am a journalist.
Brad: A journalist!
Mark: Yep.
Brad: Oh. That is fantastic. I didn’t realize.
Mark: I was an English teacher before but now I am a journalist at the Mosquito City Herald.
Brad: Oh. You have blown me away.
Mark: Today is my first day.
Brad: First day. What are you going to do then?
Mark: I am going to interview Peter Bestluck, the richest man in Mosquito City.
Brad: Oh Peter Bestluck. He is a really nice guy.
Mark: Is he?
Brad: Oh, he is wonderful person.
Mark: I have heard different things about him.
Brad: What have you heard?
Mark: Some people say he is a nice person and some people say he is a great bloke and some people say he is ok. I haven’t heard anything bad.
Brad: Oh that is right. You will never hear anything bad about Peter Bestluck. Never. He is a wonderful person.
Mark: A wonderful fellow. Good. Ok, well I better get to work. I have got to be there in half an hour. I (had) better hurry up.
Brad: OK. Great. Have a good time. Have a great interview.
Mark: See ya later, mate.
Brad: See ya later.
Mark: See ya.

at Mark White

Mark: Ok, so I have got my newspaper. I am going to sit down and read the newspaper. I have to find a park. There is a lot of traffic here. There are lots of cars. There is a park over there in front of the city office. I will go and sit there and read my newspaper….OK….Very interesting. Very interesting…Hello!
A Woman in the Park: Hello.
Mark: How are you?
The Woman in the Park: Oh very well thank you.
Mark: Lovely weather.
The Woman in the Park: Oh it is beautiful… What are you doing?
Mark: Just reading the paper. Just relaxing. I am new in town.
The Woman in the Park: Oh wonderful!
Mark: You live here?
The Woman in the Park: Yes, I live just round the corner.
Mark: I have just come from Japan.
The Woman in the Park: Oh Japan!
Mark: I have just moved here.
The Woman in the Park: Very interesting.
Mark: Have you been to Japan?
The Woman in the Park in Front of the City Office: Never. I know very little about it.
Mark: It is a very interesting place.
The Woman in the Park: Sumo wrestling.
Mark: Sumo wrestling. Sushi.
The Woman: Oh yes. Sushi.
Mark: Have you ever eaten sushi?
The Woman in the Park: Well, actually there is a sushi bar here.
Mark: Oh really. Have you tried it?
The Woman in the Park: Yeah I try it regularly.
Mark: Right.
The Woman in the Park: It is not a “Kaiten Sushi“, though. It is just an ordinary very small sushi bar.
Mark: I don’t eat a lot of sushi actually. I like vegetables.
The Woman in the Park: Oh vegetables. We have plenty of those. You might have found out about that.
Mark: Yeah yeah. I have seen there is a lot of fresh fruit too. It is good. It is lovely. This is a lovely place. What do you do?
The Woman: Well, I am a farmer.
Mark: Oh.
The Woman: A farmer’s wife, excuse me.
Mark: Right. OK. And you are at the City office today…You have come in to do some business?
The Woman: Well, Mosquito City isn’t that big.
Mark: Right.
The Woman: So I like to stroll around, you know, interesting atmosphere.
Mark: Right. OK.
The Woman: I know a lot of people here.
Mark: Right OK. That is a lovely duck you have there too. Is that your duck?
The Woman: Yes, that is my duck.
Mark: Right OK.
The Duck: Quack quack.
Mark: Right. OK. Oh well. I think I will go for a stroll.
The Woman: OK. Have a nice day.
Mark: Nice talking to you. Bye.
The Farmer’s Wife: Bye Bye.

at WHS images

First English Bloke: Have you been to Cuba?
Australian Guy: No, I would like to go. I really like Castro.
First English Bloke: It is an incredible country. It is just aah.. Everything is run by… because tourism is a such a massive part of Cuba now.. you know.. and it has become kind of like a cheap Caribbean Island to get to… as I say … all the resorts are owned by Castro.
Australian Guy: Right.
First English Bloke: And they are all very contained so you don’t really get to see a lot of Cubans as such..
Australian Guy: Mm.
Second English Bloke: Well that is purposeful isn’t it? The way they have actually tried to segment “decadent western tourists” away from “honest Cubans”…
First English Bloke: It is. It is. I mean it is amazing. I found the attitude towards Castro amazing. The attitude towards Castro is amazing. How they aar…
Australian Guy: They love him.
First English Bloke: Yeah.
Englishwoman: Yeah.
First English Bloke: They talk about him like their own grandfather;
Australian Bloke: Yeah Yeah Yeah.
First English Bloke: They literally talk about him like he is a family member and they won’t have a bad word said against him.
Australian Guy: Is it true that everyone uses their first name? … Like when a six year old child talks to Castro he calls him “comrade Fidel”. He doesn’t…
First English Bloke: Fidel. Fidel.
Australian Bloke: He does not call him “Mr Castro” or “Senor Castro”.
First: English Bloke: No, I would say they talk about him…They talk about him as “Fidel”. Yeah. If they were talking to you they would talk about him like that.
Australian Bloke: Cuba has the highest literacy in the Americas?
English Woman: Yeah… Female illiteracy…
First English Bloke: It has the lowest female illiteracy rate anywhere in the world apparently. Including like any western country.
Second English Bloke: And it also has got one of the highest …highest kind of longevity rates as well.
Australian Guy: Medical as well. Medical systems. Best in the world
Englishwoman: Compared to its neighbours too. Mexico and places like that…
First English Bloke: They have so much which is really good and so much that …communism; it makes you think it is actually almost working in Cuba.
Second English Bloke: Well it never ..it did in a way… did it?
First English Bloke: …but there is so much which isn’t working as well because there is so much poverty.
Second English Bloke: As soon as Russia collapsed I mean they were buying all the sugar. They were buying all kinds of exports and the rest… At beautiful rates.
Australian Guy: Mm.
Second English Bloke: And as soon as Russia collapsed they were plunged into poverty.
First English Guy: When Russia collapsed …Everything was imported because they were the last communist country so they had chickens and stuff from Bulgaria. Everything.
Second English Bloke: Yeah.
First English Bloke: Everything was imported. Once communism collapsed and they carried on, they had nothing. No-one was giving them food. They lived on bananas for a year. Pretty bad. Bananas were all they could get.
English Woman: (?)
First English Bloke: And it was terrible. America gave them free passes and that’s when thousands died trying to get over to Miami on like home-made rafts and stuff
Second English Guy: Yeah.
First English Bloke: But it was awful. America said we open our gates but you get your own way here.
Australian Bloke: Yeah. Yeah. But I mean… Look at things like… Israel. When Israel was a new country, there were a lot of like Russian Jews, like Russian intellectuals who moved down to Israel and they started the kibbutzim…..
First English Bloke: Yeah.
Australian Bloke: A kibbutz was basically a kolkhoz, like a collective..
First English Bloke: Yeah.
Australian Bloke: You know? The same as the Soviet thing; that was a really good thing and it worked for thirty or forty years when they were building a nation…
First English Bloke: Mmm.
Australian Bloke: And now that Israel is a rich country and everyone is selfish and wants to do their own thing and go the disco and all that; now they don’t work any more.
Second English Bloke: The kibbutzim still exist though, don’t they?
Australian Bloke: They have stopped. I think the last one… They are nearly all gone now.
Second English Chap: Really? I didn’t know that.
First English Bloke: The reason why it has worked so well in Cuba is because of Castro though.
Second English Bloke: Well Castro’s brother now has taken over…
First English Bloke: There is a real feeling is that if the country gets richer, we get richer.
Australian Bloke: Mm.
First English Bloke: And Castro still at his age now will stand in a square for four hours and give like four hour speeches to people. They have huge water trucks to keep everybody hydrated and once they finish the speech they all turn into free rum trucks and everybody has free rum. (laughter) And they love him.
(Laughter.)

Use this post to learn English and Spanish at the same time.

He is French.
(Spanish)
He is French too.
(Spanish)
She is French.
(Spanish)
She is not French.
(Spanish)
She is Korean.
(Spanish)
She comes from Korea.
(Spanish)
Have you been to Korea?
(Spanish)
Yes, I have.
(Spanish)
Have you been to Japan?
(Spanish)
No, I have not.
(Spanish)
See you later.
(Spanish)
Bye.
(Spanish)
Ok.
(Spanish)