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

What is that?

It is a photograph.

Who is that?

That is my father.

How old is he?

He is sixty-five.

Where does he live?

He lives in Berlin.

Who is this?

This is my mother.

How old is she?

She is sixty-one.

Do you have a brother?

Yes, I do.

Where is he?

He is in France.

How old is he?

He is thirty-eight.

What does he do?

He is an engineer, an artist, a novelist.

Who is this?

This is my sister.

Where is she?

She is in America.

What does she do?

She is a nurse.

Is she married to an American?

No , she is not.

She is not married.

She is single.

Are you married?

No, I am not.

I am divorced.

Are you divorced?

Yes, I am.

You too?

Yes, me too.

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.

at drp

Axel: What kind of churches were they?
Isabel: There are churches now, but they were not obviously churches then, but they are temples in the shape of a cross…
Luis: You know this…?
Isabel: And they are all hewn out of rock from the top down.
Luis: They are like huge sculptures.
Isabel: Mm.
Luis: Yeah, Sculptures. They are carved in rock.
Isabel: Mm.
Luis: They are not built buildings but…
Axel: Excavated from the rock face.
Mark: Caves?
Luis: Not exactly.
Isabel: No no no. It is a very geometric building when you look down on it.
Mark: It is cut out of the rock?
Luis: Look from a helicopter! You arrive to Lalibela for example which is where we are talking about…
Isabel: Mm.
Luis: You get to Lalibela and you see, Lalibela is a flat place with huts and palm trees, and you say, “where are the buildings?” Then you look from the air…
Mark: From the air?
Luis: …from the air and you see a huge square like I don’t know five hundred metres on every side.
Mark: M-hm.
Luis: Here is like an empty corridor of perfect flat walls and in the centre a building in the shape of a cross, for example but this building has not been built there. It is that all this around and all this stone inside the building has been taken out.
Mark: Taken out. It has been sculpt…cut out of the rock.
Luis: They are like huge sculptures rather than buildings. They are not built actually. They are carved.
Mark: Three thousand years old. Monasteries? Temples? Churches?
Isabel: They are connected with…
Luis: Monasteries.
Mark: Coptic Christian? What is the religion?
Isabel: No. Now they are Christians.
Luis: They are Christian. Ethiopian Christians.
Mark: Coptic Christians.
Luis: No. Ethiopians.
Mark: Ethiopian…I think…
Luis: It is not exactly the same
Isabel: Yeah, there is a difference. It is not quite Christian. It is almost a Zionist Christian.
Luis: No no no no! But…
Mark: But who are the people who built these buildings? What is the name of the place…where these buildings are…?
Luis: Lalibela.
Isabel: Lalibela.
Mark: What is the name of the people who built the buildings?
Luis: The Amharas. The Amharic people is the big ethnic group in Ethiopia and the one which has been on the throne for, I think… The problem is the Amharic are black, but they trace their path from King Solomon.
Isabel: That is right. They are also totally connected with King Solomon.
Mark: So there is a linguistic genetic thing (that) doesn’t link up somehow?
Luis: There is a temple …in Lalibela…in which only the priest; only one priest can accede (access) to the big relic inside and the big relic are supposed to be the Ten Commandments.
Isabel: The Holy Grail.
Luis: Well, I have heard the Ten Commandments.

at Myyogaonline

Mark ran into a Japanese guy at a travel agent in Rishikesh.

The Japanese Guy: Do you think I ought to take a local bus all the way?
The Travel Agent: No no no. It is open at five o’clock. Four o’clock. From this time. (There is a direct bus at four or five o’clock)
The Japanese Guy: Today?
The Travel Agent: Yeah, every day.
The Japanese Guy: Every day.
Mark: Where are you going?
The Japanese Guy: Dharamasala.
Mark: Dharamasala.
The Japanese Guy: You been there before?
Mark: No, I want to go.
The Japanese Guy: Too hot right now..here.
Mark: Yeah.
The Japanese Guy: It is no time for yoga now.
Mark: Yeah.
The Guy: I was taking a yoga class.
Mark: Where are you from?
The Japanese Guy: Japan.
Mark: Which part?
The Japanese Guy: Tokyo.
Mark: Right.
Another Customer: Do you how much I can get a…?
The Travel Agent: Seven hundred.
The Other Customer: Seven hundred?
The Travel Agent: Yeah.
The Japanese Guy: (to travel agent) So that is it? Thanks.
Mark: (to the travel agent) Do you have a ticket to…an air ticket from Delhi to Calcutta and also from Delhi to Bangkok?
The Travel Agent: Yes.
Mark: How much?
The Travel Agent: From Delhi to Calcutta and from Delhi to Bangkok. I will check.
Mark: Ok.

How?
For example “How tall was he?” Click the link to listen to the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

Here is another one. “How is your tea?” Click the link to hear the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

When?
For example “When were you born?” Click the link and find the question and the answer in the conversation. Be careful. This one is complicated.

Here is another one. “When did you come back?” Click the link to listen to the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

Try this one too. “When did they change the name?” Click the link to hear the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

Where?
For example “Where are you from?” and “Where are the cricket grounds in Australia?” Click the link to listen to a conversation with these questions. Find the questions and answer them.

Try this one too. Where is Laveen? Click the link then listen to the conversation and find the question and the answer.

Why?
For example “Why did you get a German motorcycle?”. Click the link to listen to the conversation then find the question and the answer.

Who?
For example “Who were the natives?” Click the link and listen to the conversations. Find the question and find the answer.

Which?
For example “Which places did you live in?” Click the link to listen to a conversation with this question in it. Find the question and find the answer.

Here is another example. “Which countries in Africa have you been to?” Click the link to listen to the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

What?
For example “What is the name of the area?” and “What is the nearest city?”
Click the link then listen to the conversation. Find the questions and answer them.

How many?
For example “How many boroughs arethere in New New York City?” Click the link then listen to the conversation. Find the question and find the answer.

Here is another one. “How many coloured people are there in South Africa?” Click the link to listen to the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

Here is another. “How many people were there when you were growing up?” Click the link to hear the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

Try this one too. “How many trees did you cut in one day?” Click the link to hear the conversation. Listen and find the question and the answer.

How long?
For example How long is it since you left there? Click the link and listen to the conversation. Find the “How long” question and answer it in a sentence.

Here is another example. “How long have you been in now?” Click the link to hear the conversation. Find the question and the answer.

How far?
For example

How much?
Here is an example. “How much?” This is an easy one. Click the link to hear the conversation. Find the question and the answer.
How about?

What kind? (What type?) (What sort?)

For example “What kind of job in Kuwait?” Click the link and listen to the conversation. Find the question and answer it.

Here is another example. “What kind of motorcycle do you have?” Click the link to hear a conversation. Find the question and the answer.

Here is another one. “What kind of a place is it?” Click the link to listen to a conversation with this question in it. Find the question and answer it.

Try this one too. “What kind of things did you study?” Click the link to hear the conversation then find the question and the answer.

at carlosoliveirareis

In this recording Mark interviews Lerato, who comes from South Africa.

M: Ok so…Hello everybody I am sitting here with Lerato from South Africa. What part of South Africa do you come from, Lerato?
L: I come from Johannesburg.
M: Right, so you were born in Johannesburg?
L: I was born in Durban, educated in Cape Town, and lived and worked in Johannesburg.
M: Sorry.
L: It’s the last place that I lived before coming to Japan.
M: Right, and what’s Johannesburg like? What kind of a place is it?
L: It’s the biggest city in South Africa. It’s mainly the business capital. It’s quite a dense city, almost what New York is to the United States.
M: I don’t know a lot about South Africa, but in high school I learned during the apartheid time, there were three groups, the black people, the white people and the colored people.
L: Uh-huh.
M: Do people still classify other people in the same way in South Africa now?
L: Um, yeah, yeah, they still do that, but um…yeah, they do.
M: So in Johannesburg, how many black people, how many white people, how many colored people?
L: (laughs)
M: Do you know roughly?
L: No, I don’t but basically it’s about maybe eighty percent black people generally and then the other ten is divided among white and coloreds, but the coloreds have the smallest population.
M: And the coloreds, they are mixed people? Indian, Asian, black, white, mixes of all races or…
L: No, no. It’s a mixture between…traditionally it’s a mixture between black and white. Um, yeah, a mixture between black and white.
M: Do you know, there are two words: mulatto and mestizo. I am not sure of the right pronunciation.
L: Yes, I have heard those.
M: They are South American words.
L: Yes, they are South American words. I think they refer to people who are of mixed race.
M: Mixed race, right, OK. So you’re in Japan now and you’re studying your masters in architecture.
L: Yes.
M: Are you specializing in any particular area?
L: Architectural symbolism.
M: Symbolism, wow!…wow.
L: Don’t ask me to expand. (laughs)
M: Architecture and symbolism are both really interesting.
L: Mmm.
M: Ok well I can’t ask you any more questions about architecture…but ah, ok…well thanks for talking to me.
L: Ok. It was nice talking to you also.
M: Thanks a lot.
L: Bye.

at teaspout

Mark interviews Steve Yenik, a friend and co-worker of his, who lives in Kyoto, Japan. In it, Steve talks a little bit about the Midwest of the United States, the orignial thirteen colonies, and his hometown of Owosso, Michigan.

Mark: I’m just sitting here with my friend, Steve – my friend and co-worker, Steve Yenik, and we’re in Kyoto, Japan. Steve, what year did you come to Japan?
Steve: Uh, 1969.
Mark: Right.
Steve: Uh, let’s see, 1969, yeah. That’s how many years ago, forty? No, thirty, more than thirty years ago.
Mark: 59, 69, 79, 89, 99…79, 89, 99, 209 would be forty.
Steve: Thirty five, say.
Mark: Right.
Steve: Thirty five.
Mark: And you’re from the States?
Steve: Right, Michigan.
Mark: Michigan, yeah?
Steve: Yeah, Michigan. Michigan is famous for lakes. It has many lakes – the Land of 10,000 Lakes. And uh, Winter Wonderland, too. Winter sports – very, very popular.
Mark: Michigan’s up on the Canadian border.
Steve: Right, right, right.
Mark: The Northeast.
Steve: Yeah, yeah, yeah. North – well, Midwest. It’s called the Midwest.
Mark: But it’s the Northeast of the country. Why is that?
Steve: Well, originally the West – the country wasn’t so big. And so Michigan was not quite all the way west, but it was pretty far west, yeah, when it became a state.
Mark: Hang on a minute, hang on a minute.
Steve: Yeah?
Mark: What do you mean “the country wasn’t so big?” The country’s always been the same size, hasn’t it?
Steve: No, no, no. It started off real little. It was just a little strip on the East coast, and it started kind of, uh, spreading like, uh, like a fungus or a virus, or something. And it spread across. And when Michigan became a state, it was pretty far west, but it wasn’t all the way west, so they called that part of the country the Midwest. And uh, the other parts out there would be the Far West, and California was just something altogether different, I guess.
Mark: So, the idea of ‘west’ shifted gradually west, with time.
Steve: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah, originally, uh, you know, the Appalachian mountains would’ve been the west side of the country and now, it’s way far east. And uh, yeah, the Frontier. That was called the Frontier. It was a big deal.
Mark: When you say America was a thin sliver on the East Coast, where did it start? Was it New York or Philadelphia?
Steve: A bit north of there, Massachusetts.
Mark: Massachusetts.
Steve: And a little bit north of there even, actually, uh, New Hampshire. It started from there and went down to Georgia. And there were thirteen original colonies. I could name them.
Mark: Go on.
Steve: Uh, maybe. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. I did it!
Mark: Wow, good job! Virginia and Carolina, which – were those states named after queens? Or…
Steve: Yeah, Virginia after queen Elizabeth – the virgin queen – so they called it Virginia.
Mark: And Caroline – Carolina?
Steve: That I don’t know. It’s probably King Charles, or something like that. I’m not real sure, but they cut his head off, so, um.
Mark: In Australia, a lot of the place names are Aboriginal names.
Steve: Yeah.
Mark: What American states are Native American or Indian names?
Steve: Lots of them. Um, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Dakotas, North and South Dakota, Utah…
Mark: Iowa.
Steve: Iowa, Kansas…
Mark: Illinois.
Steve: Illinois, uh, Missouri, uh, Arkansas…
Mark: Seattle
Steve: Oklahoma maybe.
Mark: Seattle, but not Washington?
Steve: Uh, not Washington, no. Seattle, I don’t know what that is.
Mark: That’s the name of Chief Seattle.
Steve: Oh yeah? Chief Seattle. Well, there’s all those states and then when you get into cities, there’s dozens of cities. I grew up in a city called Owosso, for…named after Chief Owosso. So…
Mark: How do you spell Owasu?
Steve: Oh, it’ll be an O-W-O-S-S-O. Go Owosso – O-W-O-S-S-O.
Mark: Wow.
Steve: Yeah, yeah. Makes a…you can make a nice rhythmic chant out of that one for football games.
Mark: Wow.
Steve: O-W-O-S-S-O. Owosso! Go Owosso! Something like that.
Mark: How many people were there when you were growing up?
Steve: Where?
Mark: In Owosso.
Steve: Owosso. Oh, I don’t know. 20,000 maybe, or 25,000 or something.
Mark: Wow.
Steve: Not…not terribly big.
Mark: I grew up in a town about the same size: Mt. Isa, in Queensland.
Steve: Yeah, well….
Mark: How’s your tea?
Steve: Good.

by Richard Stamper at apc33

The following questions and answers were carried out between October and December of 2005. The Japanese students are from Kyoto Sangyo University, while Thai students are in the British and American Studies program at Thammasat University. The Japanese students wrote and sent their questions to the Thai students, who in turn answered them.

Click here to listen to questions and answers separately.

Shunji: Who is the most famous person in Thailand?
Pum: Tata Young, I thought. She’s not only famous in Thailand but Asia too.
Shunji: I heard that Ronald McDonald joins his hands together in Thailand. Is it true?
Nut: Yes, you can see him at Radomen Road and in Central Plaza.
Katsuya: Is Muay Thai really popular or is it a myth?
Wow: Yes, it’s very popular but not in the young people. Sor Ploenchit is the famous one. You can see him fight at Lumpini Stadium.
Katsuya: How many days does it rain in one year in Thailand?
Ploy(2): In Thailand we have three seasons but actually we have just two because in the winter it is not very cold. So in the raining season we have almost one hundred days per year. So when it rains we will get wet and have a lot of traffic jam.
Asako: In terms of fashion, what is the most popular thing right now in Thailand?
Tangmo: It depends on each personality, but mostly we like colourful colour.
Asako: What kind of Japanese food is there in Thailand?
Koy: There are so many kinds of Japanese food in Thailand, such as sushi, takoyaki, green tea.
Chie: Do most Thai people like to eat Japanese food? If so, what do they like? If not, why not?
Nice: Yes, Japanese food very popular in Thailand, like we have sushi and ramen in here.
Chie: What kind of music do most young Thai people listen to?
Job: Well, mostly pop and pop rock because Thai youngster like to listen to love songs.
Katsuya: What kind of sports do most young Thai people play?
Arm: Soccer – you can see a lot of people play soccer during the break in school.
Asako: Do most Thai people like Chinese food?
Ohm: My answer is yes because some of us are inherited from the Chinese. Chinese and Thai have many things in common. For example, we also celebrate the same Chinese New Year.
Takuma: What is the most popular thing recently in Thailand?
Tong: Nowadays in Bangkok people are interesting about new modern technology like we want to have iPod and mobile.
Takuma: What is the population of Thailand?
May: There are about 65 million in Thailand and most people live in Bangkok because it is the capital city of Thailand.
Takuma: How many different types of Thai curry are there?
Ploy(1): We have many kind of curry but the most well-known are green curry – like chicken curry and fish ball curry – and red curry, which we call “Pa Neang.” And main ingredients are coconut milk, chicken, pork and herb.
Takuma: Do young Thai people know any Japanese musicians?
Pang: Yes, we know a lot, like Johnny’s Junior, Arashi, w-inds, and Utada Hikaru.
Takuma: Which do young Thai people eat more of: bread, rice, or noodles?
Blue: Rice is the main food for Thai people. Nowadays we eat more bread and more noodle.
Takashi: What is the most popular sport in Thailand?
Thip: Thai people like to watch soccer – mostly interested in Premier League, Bundesliga and Calcio Serie A and we like to play badminton too.
Chie: What do most Thai people eat when they are cold?
Vim: Thank you for question. In Thailand it’s not too cold in winter but some people love eating Tom Yam Kung on December and January.
Chie: Do most Thai people like to take photos? Why or why not?
Jenny: Most Thai people like to take photos because Thailand have many beautiful places and beautiful people – so that’s why we love to take photos.

Credits: The students of British and American Studies at Thammasat University and the EFL students at Kyoto Sangyo University. Facilitated by teachers Richard Stamper and A.J. Hoge of Thammasat University, and Aaron Campbell of Kyoto Sangyo University.

by ellecer

6. At the Customs Counter

Customs Officer: Which flight were you on?
Hiromi: The one from Osaka. I just arrived from Japan.
Customs Officer: Are these your bags?
Hiromi: Yes, they are. These are mine.
Customs Officer: Did you pack them yourself?
Hiromi: Yes, I did. I packed everything myself.
Customs Officer: Do you have anything to declare?
Hiromi: I’m sorry, I don’t understand. What do you mean?
Customs Officer: Are you carrying any drugs or weapons?
Hiromi: No, definitely not.
Customs Officer: Do you have any gifts for anybody?
Hiromi: No, I don’t know anybody in Thailand.
Customs Officer: What’s in this bag?
Hiromi: Just some clothes and personal effects, toiletries and stuff.
Customs Officer: Could you open this one please?
Hiromi: Sure.

Credits: written by Mark White; voices by Kullapart Ratphibull and Hiromi Campbell; airport ambient sound clipped from ‘newark.mp3′ by D. Jean Hester at Opsound. Visit Hester’s site.

by jmsmytaste

4. On the Flight

Passenger: Where are you from?
Hiromi: I’m Japanese.
Passenger: I can see that. What part of Japan do you come from?
Hiromi: Originally I’m from Toyama, but I live in Kyoto now.
Passenger: I see. Where is Toyama?
Hiromi: It’s on the Japan Sea coast. How about you? Where are you from?
Passenger: I come from Tennessee but I live in Shiga now. I’m studying pottery. What about you? What do you do in Kyoto?
Hiromi: I’m a nursing student. I’m studying to be a nurse.
Passenger: That’s a very important job.
Hiromi: Yes, I hope I will be a good nurse, when I graduate.
Passenger: I’m sure you will. Are you going to Thailand now?
Hiromi: That’s right. You too?
Passenger: No. I’m just going to be in transit in Bangkok Airport. I am flying to Auckland tonight.
Hiromi: Why are you going to New Zealand?
Passenger: I want to visit a pottery village in New Zealand. There are some very good potters in New Zealand. There is a lot of Japanese style pottery there too. Japan is very famous for pottery. Do you like pottery?

Credits: written by Mark White; voices by Hiromi Campbell and Aaron Campbell; airline cabin drone ambient sound file ‘cabin.wav’ from Aviation Sounds.