Good Morning!

It is the nineteenth of August 2010. It is Thursday.

It is a barren day in the garden. It is not a good time for planting. Wait until Sunday to plant above ground crops.

On this day in 1994 Linus Pauling passed on. Groucho Marx also died on this day.

In some countries birthdays are celebrated but in others they are not considered to be of great importance.

In some countries death days are observed but in other countries such a thing is not so formally noted.

What is the situation in your country? Do you observe “death days” or “remembrance days” for family members? In Japan we do. In Thailand we do as well.

What is the situation in your country? Explain it clearly. Talk about birthdays and death days. Do it now. Do it orally

What is the situation in your country?

After you have explained the situation in your country orally, write an answer in the “comments” section below.

THE WEATHER

It is clear.
It is wonderfully clear.
You can see for miles.

Look at these uses of the word “clearly”

speak clearly
explain clearly
see clearly

Clarity or “being clear” is not just associated with sight. It is also associated with sound. We often use this expression:

as clear as a bell

I can hear it. It is quite clear. As clear as a bell.

Word Families

Look at this word family:

clear (adjective)
clearly (adverb)
clarity (noun)

Now I want you to tell me about the weather where you are. What is the weather like where you are? Answer this question. Say your answer aloud.

What is the weather like today?

Now write an answer. What is the weather like today in your area? (Post the answer below in the “comments” section)

THE NEWS

Here is a current news headline:

Brazil sets up grammar hotline

In English “newspaper headline” style present simple tense is used instead of present perfect tense so

“Has set up”

has become

“sets up”.

The government of the state of Rio de Janeiro has established a call-in service for people who have questions about correct usage of the Portuguese language.

The government has set up a grammar hotline in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The socio-economic diversity in Brazil and the linguistic diversity have meant many people have not been educated in the standard form of the language. If they are unsure about how to say something correctly or write something correctly, they can ring in.

Look at these variations:

have not been educated
have not been given access to information
have not been given opportunities
have not been given a chance

has set up a service
has established a service
has created a service

say something correctly
say something clearly
say something incorrectly
pronounce something incorrectly
pronounce something correctly
pronounce something clearly

Do you know Lula?

The President frequently makes grammatical mistakes. To some this is a source of embarrassment. To others it is a source of pride as it shows that a man can achieve great things even though he was not born into a wealthy family and this is a testament to the power of the human spirit.

Look at these phrases:

a source of embarrassment
a source of pride
a source of concern
a source of joy
a source of strength
a source of information
a source of diplomatic tension

a testament to the power of the human spirit
a testament to the power of the almighty dollar
a testament to the might of nature
a testament to the might of God
a testament to the endurance of the human spirit

Is anybody there Brazilian? What do you think, Brazilians (and Portuguese)? Is Lula a source of embarrassment or a source of pride? How do you feel about this question of language and social class?
How do you feel about it? Tell us.

How do you feel? How do you feel about it?

Answer the question orally and then write an answer in the “comments” section below.

Look at another headline:

China increases military spending

This means:

China has increased its military spending since last year according to a US report.

Again present simple tense is used instead of present perfect tense so

“has increased its military spending”

has become simply

“increases military spending”

China has increased the capability of its military to help deal with disasters like the current mudslides which are plaguing the country. It has also expanded its capacity for long range operations like dealing with Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

Look at these variations:

long range operations
mid range operations
short range operations
local operations

Taiwan remains a source of diplomatic tension between China and the US, which supplies the Taiwan military with weapons. China has not confirmed the US report.

So far today we have seen two headlines that use present simple tense instead of present perfect tense. Now we are going to see how it works with the passive. We are going to look at two headlines that use past participles to replace the present perfect tense in passive voice.

If you have trouble understanding “passive voice” go to “The Banjo Player”s Brother” and click the links. You will find many many examples of passive and active voice.

Here is the first headline with a past participle:

US – Colombia pact declared illegal.

A past participle has replaced a passive verb phrase.

“Declared”

has replaced

“has been declared”.

We saw this word in the almanac a couple of days ago when Obama declared the US Gulf coast safe after the oil spill. We use this word at customs.

A US Colombian pact pact that allows the United States to use seven Colombian airbases has been declared illegal by the constitutional court. it was argued during the case that such an agreement should have been debated in Congress in order to conform with normal constitutional protocol.

Look at these present perfect phrases which are in passive voice:

has been declared illegal
has been declared unconstitutional
has been declared “out of bounds”
has been declared “off limits”

In Australia we have these courts:

Magistrates Court
District Court
Supreme Court
High Court

There are also:

the Privy Council
the Family Court

What is the court system in your country? How many courts do you have? Tell us about the legal system:

How many courts do you have? How many courts do you have and what are they called?

Here is another headline which uses a past participle:

Google subpoena-ed in Spain

“Has been subpoena-ed”

has become simply

“subpoena-ed”.

Subpoena is a Latin word. Latin expressions are often used in English legal terminology. An equivalent term is “summons”.

He was subpoena-ed
He was summons-ed
He was summoned
He was served a summons
He was given a summons

They all mean:

He was ordered to appear in court.

Here are some details:

Google has come under fire in Germany and several other countries for its streetview program because during the collection of data it illegally obtained personal information from people’s wi-fi networks. Google says it obtained the information by mistake and will never use it.

Look at these phrases:

has come under fire
has been criticised
has received criticism

Look at these opposites:

it obtained the information by mistake
it obtained the information deliberately

We see legal vocabulary again here:

A Madrid judge has ordered a representative of Google to appear in court on October 4 to answer charges that it violated people’s privacy and violated the penal code.

“Violated the penal code”

is another way to say

“broke the law”.

What do you think? Do you think Google gathered all that personal information by mistake? Do you think they should discard it (throw it away) Should they be made to discard it?

Answer the question orally then write and answer in the “comments” section below:

What do you think?

News and weather Summary

Now listen to a summary. If you do not understand everything you hear, go back and read the text again. Look up all the new words in the dictionary.

Download audio file (nw190810.mp3)

Good Morning!

It is the sixteenth of August 2010. It is Monday.

THE WEATHER)

It is fine.
The sky is clear.
It is clear and it is quite windy.
Yesterday the wind picked up.
It is cold.
It is quite cold.
It is quite cold but it is getting warmer.

Look at this scale:

It is quite windy.
It is windy.
It is very windy.
It is extremely windy.
The wind is very very strong.
It is blowing a gale.

How does the wind affect your emotional state? Does it un-nerve you? Does it make you feel uneasy? How does it make you feel?

Answer the question orally. Say your answer aloud. Say it now:

How does it make you feel? Does it un-nerve you? How does it make you feel?

If you have trouble, use these words in your answer:

The wind makes me feel…

Write your answer in the “comments section below at the bottom of this post.

Look at these variations:

It is getting hotter.
It is getting warmer.
It is getting cooler.
It is getting colder.

Here is a quick listening test. Look at this phrase:

The wind picked up.

Can you find a phrase which has the opposite meaning? Listen to the first part of this weather report

and find the phrase which means the opposite of:

The wind picked up

If you cannot find the phrase read the text at this link: Almanac – 14 August – 2010

then listen again. Write your answer in the comments section at the bottom of the post.

Now I want you to tell me about the weather where you are. What is the weather like where you are? Answer this question. Say your answer aloud.

What is the weather like today?

Now write an answer. What is the weather like today in your area? (Post the answer below in the “comments” section)

The news is next but first here is a commercial from a sponsor:

THE NEWS

Here is a current news headline:

Flood and fire rock Eurasia

In “news headline English” we use present simple tense to show present continuous tense or present perfect tense. Look at these examples from other current headlines:

UN chief urges aid for Pakistan

which means

The UN chief has urged aid for Pakistan

or

The UN chief is urging aid for Pakistan

and

PKK announces ceasefire in Turkey

could mean

The PKK has announced a ceasefire in Turkey for Ramadan

or

The PKK is announcing a ceasefire in Turkey for Ramadan.

Present perfect tense is used for a completed action (in the past) while present continuous tense is used for a current event or action right now at this moment.

Flood and fire have rocked Eurasia with Himalayan run-off waters causing devastation in the south of the continent and wildfires causing the same thing in the north.

To rock

means

to move in a vigorous manner

or in this context, one of these:

wreak havoc
destroy
cause widespread damage
cause widespread devastation
cause widespread destruction
cause mayhem

Russia is located in the northern part of the Eurasian continent and Pakistan is in the southern part next to China and on the other side of the mountains.

In Pakistan 20 million people have been affected by the devastating floods and in China a national day of mourning has been observed for the more than 1200 victims of mudslides on the other side of the Himalayas.

IELTS tip

Are you doing an IELTS test? When you do the IELTS test, in the written section, you have to write numbers in words like this:

twenty million

not like this:

20 million

The IELTS test is based on British English.

Look at this progression:

a national day of morning has been scheduled
a national day of morning has been announced
a national day of mourning has been observed

Look at these opposites:

on this side of the Himalayas
on the other side of the Himalayas

Russia stretches from Europe to Asia.

In the Russian controlled part of the continent, hundreds of wildfires are burning out of control. The harvest has been severely damaged and the export of wheat has been prohibited to protect the local market. The United States has sent fire-fighting equipment to help fight the fires.

Look at these variants:

bush fires
forest fires
wildfires

Look at these opposites:

the export of wheat
the import of wheat

Look at these variants:

has been prohibited
has been banned
has been made illegal

Look at these terms:

fire-fighting equipment
fire-fighting teams
fire-fighting crews

Let’s look at another headline but first here is a message from our sponsors:

Cartel leader believed shot

In this headline, the past participle is used as an abbreviation for a passive phrase so

is believed shot

or

is believed to have been shot

has become simply:

believed shot

Mexican soldiers said the man was shot.

Cartels have blockaded the streets of the industrial city Monterrey, which is Mexico’s richest city. Gunmen ordered people from their cars, which were then used to make barricades that closed thirteen major roads.

Look at these phrases:

have blocked roads
have blockaded roads
have blocked streets
have blockaded streets

They have pretty much the same meaning but remember a road can be a road from one city to another but a street does not usually lead to another city.

The blockade was a show of force by the cartel after soldiers killed its local leader, El Sonrics, who only replaced Raul Luna Luna recently, after he was killed.

Look at these phrases:

the previous leader (the former leader)
the current leader (the present leader)

the former president (the previous president)
the current president (the incumbent president)

In Mexico the drug cartels have more power than the government. The previous President has recommended legalising drugs and treating addiction as a medical problem in order to break the back of the cartels by destroying their earning power.

Look at these opposites:

have more power
have less power

have more money
have less money

Look at this nest of phrases:

legalising drugs
de-criminalising drugs
outlawing drugs
controling drugs
prescribing drugs

What a mess! Use your dictionary to find out exactly what each term means then write a report and post it in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

To break the back of something

means

to destroy its power

You can hear this idiom in another conversation about OPEC if you click this link.

News and weather Summary

Now listen to a summary. If you do not understand everything you hear, go back and read the text again. Look up all the new words in the dictionary.

Download audio file (nw160810.mp3)

That is all for now. See you tomorrow!

at MorBCN

Mark: Ok. Well. I have been here for a couple of weeks now. In Mosquito City. And I have got a job and I have made friends with the richest man in town: Peter Bestluck, and I have met his sister and I am making a lot of friends and I am having a great time. This is a really great place. But something is kind of weird…. like…. I just went to work today and I was talking to my boss, Frank, about finding a place to live down in Brooklyn and he started to talk to me and suddenly he shimmered and changed shape and he turned into Peter and he turned back into Frank and he turned into Peter again. Is it you Peter, or is it Frank? What is going on here? Are you Frank or Peter?
Frank: Nh…
Mark: Are you ok? Are you ok?
Frank: Well ahm..
Mark: Are you ok?

(the sound of slapping)

Mark: I am just slapping him here. I am trying to get him to like…wake up.…Are you ok?

(the sound of slapping)

Frank: Well. ham …ah well ahm… ah… Hey Mark! How are you doing?
Mark: I am doing…
Frank: What is the problem?
Mark: No problem. No problem.
Frank: Take a seat. You know? Relax. I will tell you one thing because I am aware of what may be happening. I am aware you are having strange…there is a strange contradiction, isn’t there?
Mark: Something is funny here. Peter? Is it Peter or Frank?
Frank: Well. This is a very strange place. Quite a few, what I would say are magical things, happen here.
Mark: You mean… some people are other people?
Frank: No, it may seem like that but it is not quite…
Mark: Who am I talking to? Are you Peter or Frank?
Stephanie: No, I am Stephanie.
Mark: Stephanie! Stephanie! it is you! Stephanie!
Stephanie: You have just woken up from a very strange dream. If you get out of bed and walk around you might feel better.
Mark: Ok. It is ME! I am the one who is dreaming. That is what it is. I am the one who is dreaming.
Stephanie: If you just take a walk out and see the beautiful sea…
Mark: Now. Ok. Stephanie. Oh Stephanie!

(the sound of an alarm)

Mark: It is you! It is all a dream but I wish it was real. Oh it is Monday morning. I have to go to work!

at M J M

Mark: Ok. It’s Monday morning and I have to go to work. Ok. I am going to walk to work. Ok. It is not very far. Ok. Here we are. Here we are. The Mosquito Herald. Ok. I am going in to work now I am just walking inside and there is my boss. Hi Frank!
Frank: Hi Mark. How are you doing? Walk in. How was it?
Mark: Sorry?
Frank: How was the interview?
Mark: With Peter?
Frank: Yes. Of course. With Peter?
Mark: Great. Great.
Peter: Oh. Great.
Mark: I have written a couple of pieces. You didn’t get those emails? Did you get those emails?
Yeah, we did. We did. We did. I haven’t opened them yet.
Mark: Good. Good.
Frank: I’ll open them now.
Mark: Ok. Frank?
Frank: Yeah?
Mark: Do you mind if I ask you you a question?
Frank: Go ahead.
Mark: I need a place to live and I am like…Brooklyn…I was thinking of moving into Brooklyn. How do you find a place to live in Mosquito City. Like ah…?
Frank: You couldn’t have thought of a better place than Brooklyn to live
Mark: Yeah?
Frank: Do you like… But there again it is very arty. Do you like art and music?
Mark: Yes, I do.
Frank: Oh it is buzzing with art and music.
Mark: Everybody likes art and music.
Frank: Oh yeah. The cafes. Beaming with amazing sounds. You know?
Mark: Right? Ok. Ok. So you are talking like a studio apartment… atelier type thing?
Frank: Yeah. Yeah. There are some great ones. In fact I have one.
Mark: You live down in Brooklyn?
Frank: I know you want to sort things out yourself. You know…You are an adult. But I have a perfect place in Brooklyn.
Mark: Really?
Frank: And it is empty.
Mark: Really?
Frank: It is empty. It is extraordinary.
Mark: It is your place or…?
Frank: Of course.
Mark: It is your place?
Frank: I own half of Brooklyn.
Mark: You own half of Brooklyn?
Frank: I am the richest man here. You know? I mean… I don’t want to sound deceitful…
Mark: Richer than Peter Bestluck?
Frank: What is the word? Conceited. That is the word?
Mark: Richer than Peter Bestluck?
Frank: Oh! (laughs)
Mark: Hang on a minute! Peter! Frank! Frank! Peter! It’s you! Frank, you are Peter! Peter, you are Frank! Oh my god! Peter Bestluck! You are Frank. Frank, you are Peter Bestluck!
Frank: Hang on! Hang on! My goodness. I just had this strange dream. I lost my consciousness. Is everything ok? Sorry take a seat. I will make you a cup of tea.

at The Library of Congress

Mark: Ok. Well here I am. I am standing on the balcony of Sphinx Castle. Peter Bestluck’s castle and…Peter…
Peter: Mark, what do you think of the view? Isn’t it absolutely extraordinary?
Mark: It’s lovely. I can see Brooklyn over there.
Peter: Panoramic view.
Mark: Yes. Mt Sphinx behind us.
Peter: That’s right and you can see the kind of tropical rain forest over there to your left.
Mark: Yeah, and behind us the Mosquito City Trade Towers.
Peter: That’s right.
Mark: Yeah. Where your office is.
Peter: Anyway let me just interrupt for a minute. I’ve got somebody…you may have noticed another person on the balcony.
Mark: Oh and who is this?
Peter: I think I told you about her?
Mark: Your sister?
Peter: My sister.
Mark: Please introduce me.
Peter: Come over here. This is Stephanie.
Mark: Hello Stephanie. My name is Mark.
Stephanie: Hello how are you?
Mark: Nice to meet you.
Stephanie: Are you having a good time?
Mark: I am having a great time.
Stephanie: Oh that is so wonderful. Well what can I say? It is so wonderful to have you here. My brother has been telling me so much about you.
Mark: Really?
Stephanie: Are you having a good time?
Mark: I am really having a good time.
Stephanie: What are you doing?
Mark: Well, I have got this great new job and I have made friends with Peter and he has shown me all these wonderful places and I have met all these friendly people and there is fresh food and the air is so fresh and Peter tells me there is no pollution here and I went to the university and I interviewed a doctor there and… building the hydrogen engine … This is a fantastic country. I wish all countries were like this.
Stephanie: I can see you are going to have a good time. You have only been here for a very short time, haven’t you?
Mark: Yes. Yes.
Stephanie: How long is it?
Mark: It is only a week now.
Stephanie: Only a week?
Mark: Only a week. But I think I am going to stay here forever.
Stephanie: Oh really?
Mark: Yeah.
Stephanie: Oh. That is fantastic because I would love to take you around…
Mark: Oh that would be great.
Stephanie: …the island.
Mark: That would be great. What do you do anyway? Do you? Do you have a regular job?
Stephanie: I do want I want.
Mark: Or are you a student or…?
Stephanie: I am student…all my life.
Mark: Right.
Stephanie: A student of life.
Mark: I suppose you are from a wealthy family. You don’t really have to work. So you just spend your time studying.
Stephanie: Well we do many things but it is all because we want to do them.
Mark: Right. Right. I came from a poor family and I had to work hard to make a living but since I came to Mosquito City, life is so easy.
Stephanie: You must be very strong to have that sort of history.
Mark: Well I mean … I say “poor family” My family wasn’t that poor . Like I…You know…I…There is a lot of poverty in the world. I wasn’t really poor like in some places.
Stephanie: You look very very healthy.
Mark: Thank you. You look fairly healthy yourself.
Stephanie: And also you look very very strong.
Mark: You are making me blush.
Stephanie: Oh! I am so sorry. Would you like a glass of wine?

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.