[EP 79] Five minutes is all you need to find out about pupusas, and to practice your American English listening skills too! It's easy and fun! Follow along with the transcription of the interview below! [INTRO - no transcription] [Interview] Okay, I was walking down the street, and I noticed a shop that looks like it's about ready to open, and I looked at the sign and it said ... PUPUSAS! And I love that word pupusas, so I thought I would stop in and talk to the owner. Right. My name is Juan Arrienga with Cuscatlan Salvadorean Cuisine. And we’re ready to open, very soon. All right, so if you understood that, it's Salvadorian cuisine, that is from El Salvador in Centromerica Right, right, correctamundo! And the specialty there are pupusas, right? Pupusas revueltas is the number one selling so it's very good. Tasty! Okay now, for all those of you who never heard of pupusas, or don't know what they are, we’re gonna find out right now. Okay, so pupusas is like a stuffed tortilla different stuffings... uh, revueltas, which is the mixed pupusa, it's a different... it can be, can be cheese, beans, chicharron, which is pork meat or ... chicken, you name it! But isn't it like, a little like... like an empanada or something.. is it ... is that, am I thinking that... I mean, it's not just a tortilla! Right, no it's a stuffed tortilla with the stuffing inside so it could be, like, compared to empanada, but it's cooked in the tortilla so it's it’s... Oh, okay so it is cooked, it’s baked... It’s baked in the tortilla so it's it's, it blends very well with the masa, and the stuffing. All right, so we're gonna have some... and, how soon are we going to be open? It's not open yet, but pretty soon. Not yet, we are looking, hopefully by the weekend. Oh, by the weekend, we're going to be open. Let me ask... this is not for the podcast, this is for me! A lot, a lot of restaurants, I know, they do pre-opening, you know, they have a little special deal to make sure... Right, we're trying to get one of those too. Hopefully, you know, you give me your information. Let me know, let me know right now! Invite me now, invite me now! I don't have the right date, for sure. So maybe the soft opening will be Friday but I'm not sure. Oh, that's what it’s called, it’s called a “soft opening” I've seen that. So a soft opening before the restaurant opens officially. Yes, hopefully, by Friday, so we can open Saturday. And of course, you know, I'm shameless I'm like, doing a podcast and I'm thinking, “Wait a minute soft opening! Pupusas! Let me in! There you go, that's it. We'll definitely invite you! Okay, thanks very much for your time and I hope, any of you out there who are listening and getting hungry, I hope you have a chance where you are to find some pupusas! That’s correct, hopefully, there is some around. Thank you. [OUTRO] It’s like, a little crispy, but then, like, la carne, that's inside just, like, melts in your mouth. It's so flavorful! The outside is kind of crunchy... to perfection. It’s not, like, super crunchy where you have to like bite really hard but it's not, like, super gooey where everything is just gonna fall apart and then inside is just juicy! When you're eating messy that means it’s good! .... I want another one. P.S. Do you enjoy podcast? Then please tell your friends who may enjoy it as well. Word of mouth really helps Five star reviews on help Apple too!  Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support!

Unexpected English!

The Pupusa Episode! [Real English Listening Practice]

[EP 78] In this episode of Unexpected English, we visit a surf shop in San Diego. Why not take five minutes to listen just for fun, and practice your listening skills at the same time? There is a TRANSCRIPTION below to help you! [INTRO ... then music, then let's go!] So was driving down the street and I saw sign that said surf... surf shop, and I thought: Surf! This is California, surf! Surfboards! Let's go in and see what's going on. So here we are, uh, what's going on? We're taking boards and fixing them up and get them back out to people. So you're saying this is a surfboard repair shop. Yes, so when a board gets dinged or broken we fix it so it can go back in the water. How do surfboards get broken? Rocks, waves, people, surfboards -- all kinds of things. OK, so there's like accidents out there in the ocean that can happen. Exactly, accidents do happen all the time. OK, accidents happen. And if uhh.. OK I brought in my board ... I guess it depends on the kind of damage... what kind of what kind of things can happen? Fin boxes can break... Fin boxes? Is that the fin that sticks up? Yes, glass can crack, fins can get stuck in boards.. pretty much anything you can imagine. Fins can get stuck in boards? That sounds like ... dangerous! Yeah, so-so, as long as it's not you. [laughter] OK, so just out of curiosity, what does... I know you don’t sell new... you sell used surfboards here? Yes, boards that Joe repairs or people left behind. All right, so I'm like, you know, thinking of taking it up. I just need like an entry-level surfboard, what's it gonna sent me back? Anywhere from 100 to 300 bucks, depending. OK a couple hundred dollars and I’ve got myself a surfboard to start learning to surf. Yeah, pretty much. What are the high end, I mean, not super high-end, what is like a higher end board go for? Anywhere from $800 to $5000. Five thousand? Yeah, I’ve got one of those... OK let me think... what else was I missing here... what else... Uhh, certain surf essentials. Essentials, what are the essentials? Fins, leashes, wax... OK, hold on. You wax your board before you get in the water? Yes. And that's so it’s... So ypu don’t slip off. Oh, you wax it for you, not for the water side? No, not the water side, the deck side. OH, you wax it to make it sticky so you're like ... on the board! Exactly. All right. Well, what other tricks should I know to like, stay on the board. Take it one step at a time. Get the basics first. Alright that sounds like good advice, that sounds like good advice. So there you go, people, people you’ve had your advice here on how to get started, you know what it's gonna cost, and I'm just saying anytime you're here in beautiful San Diego... oh, where are the good spots here in San Diego? Anywhere! Up and down the beach. Up and down the beach! You can be surfing up and down the beach, anywhere in beautiful San Diego! That's it, thanks a lot, thanks for your time. [Surfing outro] P.S. Do you enjoy podcast? Then please tell your friends who may enjoy it as well. Word of mouth really helps!  Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support!

Surf Shop San Diego

[EP 77] Unexpected English brings you five minutes of real American English from California. Practice your English listening skills with short, fun topics. In this episode we talk to members of a car club. Use the transcription below to help you understand if you need it! . [INTRO: no transcription] . [Interview:] So I'm here talking with the members of the Unidos Car Club in San Diego about their cars and I was wondering if you could tell me why are... what is this car culture thing? The car culture is ... what ... we have a... lotta.. history and ... our people that grow up with old cars. Compadres, friends, brothers, cousins and all that, have old cars. So we start growing up with old cars. Old cars! And what do you do with these old cars? We repair ‘em, we do restorations. I have a custom shop that we do restorations for our members and more customers. OK, so tell me about some of the cars... what year... what model... We start... we start in the 30s. Like a Chevy 30s, 1938 ... 40s... 50s ...60s. So, classic cars. Classic cars, correct. And does it cost a lot of money to restore these vehicles? Yes it does. It also depends what kind of restoration you want to do, medium, all the way up ... or just some, some of the restoration. It costs between $10-$30,000 to do one – medium! Medium restoration on a vehicle costs you $10 - $30,000, and this is just... If you want to see you some of the vehicles that are here on the park they're $50 - $60,000 or more. That's a lot of money to put into... It’s a lot of money and the car still shows perfect. And do you, do you win prizes with these cars, or... You win prizes, you win, sometimes you win money on the contests, and most of the time you get, you win trophies. So basically, you're just putting the money in because you love it. Correct. That’s right, that’s our passion. It’s a passion. What's your, what's your vehicle? That’s a 1948 Chevy. 1948 Chevy. And how much have you put into that vehicle? Ah, more or less around $20,000. Twenty thousand dollars to restore that vehicle. Well, you know we're talking about it, but I don't think it's going to make any sense unless you see the vehicles, so I'm gonna go out and... (You should) see the 1951 Cadillac convertible, yellow, canary yellow that is there, and that car is $80,000. All right, so I have to look for... what year was that car? 1951 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. OK, a 1951 Cadillac Coupe de Ville convertible in yellow? Yellow, yes. That's beautiful. OK, I'm gonna go get a picture of that. Gentleman, thank you for your time. Thank you. . [OUTRO] Thanks for listening! Please share and follow on Spotify and Instagram and everywhere right here: https://linktr.ee/UnexpectedEnglish

Car Club ~ 1951 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

[EP 76] In this episode, I visit a Vegan Food Truck, and YOU get to practice listening to something fun in real American English! Use the transcription below to help you! [PODCAST INTRO, where I say the wrong episode number ? but no other transcription] ... [INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION:] So I was walking down the street and I spotted a food truck. So I thought I would go in and find out what that was about. First of all, what is a food truck? Well we have a industry grade kitchen in the back of our truck. And we can park anywhere we want, and serve food to people. And what's the name of this food truck? We're Rollin' Roots, San Diego. Rollin' Roots. Okay so I'm sure you've got some kind of specialty,  something you specialize in. Why don't you tell us what's really good here? All right, first of all, we're a vegan spot. We specialize in vegan comfort food. We, we have four different styles of proteins, which are all 100% meatless and uhh plant based, so there's no soy or anything like that, and everything's gluten free, pretty much. All right, so we're talking vegan, gluten free, and we'd better be talking tasty, right? Oh, I'll show you, man! I'll show you! You can't, you can't, you can't show us because we're just talking. Why don't you, why don't you describe a couple of what, you said there's four styles, what's that? Yeah four styles. So we can, you can do any of our proteins on your choice of a sandwich, loaded fries or our brown rice bowl. One of our, one of my favorite items to make is a Daikon Love which is pulled oats and mushrooms on a bed, on a bed of red cabbage with some chipotle aioli that we make here in house, and it's 100% vegan. Teriyaki sauce, sriracha, fresh mint, jalapeño. That's all in that one? Yeah, there's more stuff here, there's french fries in it and gives it kind of that Cali vibe, you know? Uh right so that's because when I'm looking up there I see four things: I see Rich Gal, Texas in Cali, Daikon Love, and Spicy Boy, right, have I got it right? Yeah, and they're all basically different... Different proteins. So like our Spicy Boy is like a buffalo chicken, but we use fried oyster mushrooms instead of chicken. It's actually really amazing. I think the fried chicken is good on any of the styles of the sandwiches, you can substitute and play around with the different, different proteins and stuff: it's awesome. Alright so just before we go, give me a list of, because you give me a list of the proteins that are available, because I don't think I got that.Okay, so for our po'boy. We have a heart of palm, deep fried. We have BBQ Jackfruit for Texas in Cali. We have pulled oats and mushrooms for our Bahn Mi and buffalo chicken for our Spicy Boy, fried oyster mushrooms. All right, well, I don't know if you understood that, I got about half of it, but what I did understand is that it's probably really, really tasty! It's amazing, yeah. If you don't like vegan food, then you haven't tried Rollin Roots! Oh there you go, and what do these things, sent you back?.What's up?What are the plates, about what do they cost? Oh, each sandwich is about $9 loaded fries for $10 but it's enough to feed two people, they're sharable! Oh, Okay. All right, so they're that big, and that delicious! Whoa! There you go, we're right near the local little airport too so we've got extra sound effects. But that's it, next time you're in this part of the beautiful San Diego, be sure to stop by the Rollin Roots. Yeah, thank you sir. Okay, thank you for your time. All right. Have a good one, buddy! [OUTRO, no transcript] P.S. Like the podcast? Spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps!  Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support!

Vegan Food Truck: American English Interview

[EP 75] Thanks for listening to this special birthday episode of Unexpected English, where you can practice your English listening skills in a fun way  in less than five minutes. OK, it's too late to send a birthday present, but... it would be a kindness if you shared the podcast with a friend! Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! Thanks for listening and for your support! [TRANSCRIPTION] Hey everybody! You're listening to a special episode of Unexpected English! Yes, it is! Why? Well, it's because I realized it's summertime! And everybody's on holiday, you know? You're all on vacation and nobody is listening to podcasts. So why bother? And then I thought, I know! I know why bother! Here's a good reason: it's my birthday! Yes, that's right, so I thought, well, I'll play myself a birthday song. And maybe you'll like it, and if not, well, this is the end of season six, so we're going to start all over again pretty soon with season seven. But in the meantime, we've got this birthday song just for me. All right, here we go! ~~~ Music music music ~~~ do do do do doooo ~~~ You're older than you've ever been And now you're even older And now you're even older And now you're even older You're older than you've ever been And now you're even older And now you're older still Time! Is marching on And time.... Is still marching on This day will soon be at an end And now it's even sooner And now it's even sooner And now it's even sooner This day will soon be at an end And now it's even sooner And now it's sooner still!!! whaaaaa whaaa what whaaa You're older than you've ever been And now you're even older And now you're even older And now you're even older You're older than you've ever been And now you're even older And now you're older still *** Follow on Spotify and Instagram, motivate me to do more podcasts!

Season 6 Finale with Birthday Bonus

[EP 74] This is a special, SURPISE edition for the 4th of July, because of a new world record! Have fun practicing your English listening in just five minutes with your favorite English podcast, Unexpected English! [Transcription] Hey everybody, it's Louis, and this is a special Fourth of July edition of Unexpected English. I say it's a special edition because I had a new episode ready to go. And then I read this, and it was too good not to share. What is this? This is America! From TV: “What greater fortune have we, in an endless universe of infinite matter and energy, we have been given consciousnesses to gaze upon at it all, and understand. What greater fortune, have we? To live in America! To stand, side by side, on the Fourth of July, to behold this man! What greater fortune!” Specifically, specifically today on the Fourth of July, a new world record was set. Yes. A New World Record! For what? Eating hot dogs! I'm not kidding you. It's true, it's true. The top competitive eater in the world, Joey Chestnut, managed to eat 76 --yes 76 hot dogs in just 10 minutes. TV: “Look on his works, ye mighty, and despair. For he has surpassed the Kings of Egypt, with 76 Nathan’s hot dogs and buns! A NEW! WORLD! RECORD!” I had to tell you that, because otherwise you wouldn't believe it. The person who came in number two, ate fifty. Fifty hot dogs in 10 minutes. But Joey Chestnut... Joey Chestnut ate 76 hot dogs. That's right. That's right. And it's not just hot dogs. Joey Chestnut has more than 50 eating records, I guess you know, you don't know it, but there is such a thing as competitive eating. And just to mention a few... of his records. He ate: 55 glazed doughnuts in eight minutes. And let me tell you that one again: in eight minutes, 55 glazed doughnuts. He ate, in just eight minutes, hard boiled eggs. How many hard boiled eggs in eight minutes? 141 hard boiled eggs in just eight minutes! Unbelievable. It sounds unbelievable, but there you go. But that's not the point. The point is... the point is, this is America! This is the United States, and the greatest competitive eater of all time is Joey Chestnut, who set a world record today, of 76 hot dogs. All right. Happy Fourth of July, everybody! Bam, I’m a hot dog! P.S. Like this episode? Please spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps! I have no sponsors and no advertising - people only find the podcast when YOU tell them about it!  Share it, spread it, follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! THANKS for listening and for your support!  

4th of July Special Hot Dog Episode!

[EP 73] Love cupcakes? Love English? Want some fun listening? Let's do this! [Transcript] Hi everybody, this is Louis and you're listening to another episode of Unexpected English, your favorite English podcast! Now, you know I say that just because I like to say it, not because I think it's true. But what IS true: CUPCAKES ARE YUMMY!! ...is that this is episode 73. And in this episode, like every episode of Unexpected English, you get the practice your listening with something... a little weird ...well, I won’t say weird... a little different, and fun, in under five minutes. So now that I was able to start doing interviews again, this one *is* an interview, so let's give a listen... Okay, so I was just walking here in PB, Pacific Beach, that is Pacific Beach, San Diego, and I noticed a place called Pure Cupcakes. And that sounded so good to me, so I thought I would go in and see what I could find out. So, I asked to speak with somebody and here she is! Hi, my name is Christina, I'm the supervisor for the weekends here at Pure Cupcakes, Pure Cupcakes. So, okay so what are some of the most popular... do we say flavors? Flavors, what are some of the top flavors, where everybody says, “Oh, I love this one!” I would say we have a salted caramel, that's a chocolate with caramel frosting, and a caramel drizle on top. We have a Rollo cupcake, that's going to be chocolate with caramel frosting filled with caramel and dipped in chocolate. Ohhh, can you just stop right now because the more you're talking about those cupcakes, the more I want to have a cupcake. And I hope that's not happening to you, because if you're listening and there's no place to buy a cupcake, then you're just like, oh! what can I do? Hmm. I see here in the window that you won some awards for the best cupcakes! We did, yes we won Cupcake Wars in 2013. Cupcake Wars? Yes! Its that where everybody comes out and throws cupcakes at each other? I wish! I wish! That would have been super fun! It was a TV show where different bakeries competed and the the winner had their cupcake showcased at a large event. Ours happened to win at the San Diego Zoo event. So, there was a cupcake war at the San Diego Zoo (yes!) that did not involve throwing cupcakes. No, believe it or not! It's just, just showing them and eating them. Yes. And how many people participated in this cupcake war? I believe it was four. Okay, oh it was kind of a face off, kind of a face off. Yeah, four people. I should do the dramatic music now, you know, boom, boom. [Dramatic: Cupcake makers, everything comes down to this....dramatic music.. You are the winner of Cupcake wars. Congratulations. Thank you! Thank you guys!!!] Dun dun duh! OK, so, so they had Cupcake Wars, and you won the Cupcake Wars in.... 2013 Do people buy cupcakes one by one? We can, we can do them one by one, or we can do weddings, we can do parties so as few or as many as you'd like, you can come on in and check it out. What's the biggest order, you've ever got for a single bunch of cupcakes? Probably upwards of a couple of thousand. You can make a couple thousand cupcakes?? Right just...Yes sir, anything! Right, well there you go! So now you know if you're looking for cupcakes when you're in Pacific Beach, San Diego, stop by at Pure Cupcakes, and you'll be happy. Thank you enjoy, guys! Okay thanks for your time. Yeah, of course, do you want a cupcake? [OUTRO] P.S. Like the podcast? Spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps!  Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! And of course, thanks for listening and for your support!

Cupcakes are Yummy! [English Listening Fun Practice]

[EP 72] Content Warning, drugs! [Street interview episode] So I'm taking my daily walk, walking down the street and I walked by this vehicle with open windows and I get a powerful odor of what is currently called ... marijuana. ---> LISTEN NOW! [4:20 = time to get high] --- Hey everybody it's me, Louis. Welcome back to another episode of Unexpected English! Yes it's episode 72, I think? It's episode 72? I know it's late, it's very late, but I know I'm also very lazy which is why it's very late, so I won't even talk, let's just get right to the episode. I apologize for the sound, you know, it was in the street , one of those spontaneous things, but here it is. Let's go! --- So I'm taking my daily walk, walking down the street and I walked by this vehicle with open windows and I get a powerful odor of what is currently called ... marijuana. So I thought I would stop and ask these guys... Am I right? Are you? Yeah. Smoking a *Backwood, it’s a natural weed. A natural... what is a natural? It’s a tobacco leaf, instead of the processed tobacco. Oh wait a minute. You... There's weed in it, but its... [inaudible] OK, help us understand here for those of us who don’t. We are smoking... what I say “we” I mean you, not me, dear listeners! I’m, I’m **straight arrow. But this is weed wrapped in a tobacco leaf? Yeah. All right... and... where did you acquire your... your weed? Weed? From the ***dispensary. And then the Backwoods from just any liquor store. OK but, the dispensary, when you go in there, don’t they have like a whole lot of choices? Yeah. Hundreds of choices, ****edibles, everything. And so for your particular choice, thought, I mean, do you always get the same thing, or how do you decide? Because, say, I am a newbie and I go in there and see wow look at all this, look at all this weed. How do I know what to get? I personally like Indica there's 3 different types: indica, sativa and hybrid, Indica makes you go to sleep, hybrids in the middle, and then sativa makes it kind of makes you say up and be active. And, and what’s, what's the going rate for...I don't know how they sell what kind of quantity. An eight at the dispensary, anywhere from 20 ****bucks to like 60. $20 for how much? An eighth. To $60. $20 to $60 depending on quality.  $20 up to $60 for an eight of... I mean, I don’t know what an eight is. Of weed. It’s 3.5 grams. Oh, ok 3.5 grams, between $20 up to $60. Alright, anything else my listeners should know? No, that’s about it. All right, well, thanks very much for your time! OUTRO MUSIC: “Let me get to the point, let me roll another joint, turn the radio loud, I’m too aloud alone to be proud, you don’t know how it feels...to be me...” Enjoy the episode? Please tell your friends how they can find it, please share it on social, follow us the podcast on Spotify, Instagram etc. Word of mouth helps spread the word and motivates me to do more fun episodes for YOU! Vocabulary: *Natural tobacco leaf sometimes used as a wrapper for marijuana **a person who a person who leaves a clean and conventional life with hight moral standards *** place that sells legal marijuana ****cannabis-based food products ***** dollars

Unexpected Marijuana - 4:20 Interview

[EP71] What is Uptalk? Have you heard it? Is it a joke, a bad habit, or a real thing? Learn about this American English speaking style in this episode of Unexpected English! Transition here below to help! Transcription: Hey everybody, I was listening to a podcast, and I heard this. Let's listen: “They also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to be able to adapt more quickly.” Okay now, why did that make me stop? Well you may have noticed that the person was not asking a question, but their voice went up at the end, making it sound like a question. “They also have a lack of complex body parts...” What's up with that?! Well, it is UP. In fact, it's called Uptalk. That's when people's voices go up at the end, even though they're not asking a question. So when I heard this, I thought, hmm, I wonder if my listeners have ever heard it, or noticed it, or thought about it, so I just thought I would share that example. Let's listen again: “They also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to be able to adapt more quickly.” Okay now, I'll say the same thing. Here we go. Okay. "They also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to adapt more quickly." (applause) Right, right. Okay, thank you, thank you. The difference is, it was not a question. All right, so there it is. You've heard your examples of Upspeak or Uptalk, and I wanted to share them with you because it is fairly common. And now that you've heard it, you might notice it more and more. [Satire:] “Uptalk is, like, super annoying if you're under the age of 40, though it's probably not that big of a deal to you. Until an older family member or colleague, tells you about this super irritating habit of young people, where every sentence ends like it's a question?” On the other hand, ...on the other hand, it can also be explained as having a purpose, of course, because everything supposedly has a purpose, right? And the purpose of Uptalk could be, for one thing, just to sound more invitational and less aggressive, less assertive. So, if I say something, and my voice goes up a little bit. So, to be a little friendlier, a little friendlier tone, for one thing. O  as a kind of unconscious gambit, that says, “I’m not done talking yet. Right, so there's more to come.” And is there a third reason for uptalk? Uhhh.. boh [great Italian word] I dunno. Wait. Oh wait, now I remember the third reason that people could be using Uptalk. And that is to check for comprehension, check for understanding from the person I'm speaking to. In a face to face conversation, if my voice goes up a little bit. I'm looking for clues from you, that you're following what I'm saying. So that could be another legitimate reason that people use Uptalk. ---> "Body parts? Adapt more quickly” Body parts? Adapt more quickly?" <-- Okay, that was it. That was the “uptalking” episode. I hope you liked it, and we'll catch you next time. Ciao ciao! P.S. Like the podcast? Spread the word ~ word of mouth really helps!  Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! And of course, thanks for listening and for your support!

[EP71] What is Uptalk? Have you heard it? Is it a joke, a bad habit, or a real thing? Learn about this American English speaking style in this episode of Unexpected English! Transition here below to help! Transcription: Hey everybody, I was listening to a podcast, and I heard this. Let's listen: “They also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to be able to adapt more quickly.” Okay now, why did that make me stop? Well you may have noticed that the person was not asking a question, but their voice went up at the end, making it sound like a question. “They also have a lack of complex body parts...” What's up with that?! Well, it is UP. In fact, it's called Uptalk. That's when people's voices go up at the end, even though they're not asking a question. So when I heard this, I thought, hmm, I wonder if my listeners have ever heard it, or noticed it, or thought about it, so I just thought I would share that example. Let's listen again: “They also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to be able to adapt more quickly.” Okay now, I'll say the same thing. Here we go. Okay. "They also have a lack of complex body parts, which allows them to adapt more quickly." (applause) Right, right. Okay, thank you, thank you. The difference is, it was not a question. All right, so there it is. You've heard your examples of Upspeak or Uptalk, and I wanted to share them with you because it is fairly common. And now that you've heard it, you might notice it more and more. [Satire:] “Uptalk is, like, super annoying if you're under the age of 40, though it's probably not that big of a deal to you. Until an older family member or colleague, tells you about this super irritating habit of young people, where every sentence ends like it's a question?” On the other hand, ...on the other hand, it can also be explained as having a purpose, of course, because everything supposedly has a purpose, right? And the purpose of Uptalk could be, for one thing, just to sound more invitational and less aggressive, less assertive. So, if I say something, and my voice goes up a little bit. So, to be a little friendlier, a little friendlier tone, for one thing. O  as a kind of unconscious gambit, that says, “I’m not done talking yet. Right, so there's more to come.” And is there a third reason for uptalk? Uhhh.. boh [great Italian word] I dunno. Wait. Oh wait, now I remember the third reason that people could be using Uptalk. And that is to check for comprehension, check for understanding from the person I'm speaking to. In a face to face conversation, if my voice goes up a little bit. I'm looking for clues from you, that you're following what I'm saying. So that could be another legitimate reason that people use Uptalk. ---> "Body parts? Adapt more quickly” Body parts? Adapt more quickly?" 

American Intonation: Uptalk! ⤴️

[EP 70] Cactus Interview Show! Oh, and I put "Learn English Listening" in the show title so more people can find it. Will it work? If it did and you are a new listener, Hi there! Join the fun! Transcription below! *** Hi everybody in this episode of Unexpected English we visit the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society. Say that again: the San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society. Yeah,  and I'll tell you my favorite part of this interview. Um, when  I'm talking to the lady, I repeat that name (the name of the society) because I repeat things during the interview to help you understand. And so, I repeat that and then I say "And it's a show" after she tells me it's a show and and at this point she must think I'm a little stupid. Because, you listen, and she says yes it's a SHOW, we're having a SHOW. OK that's it that's my introduction. Here we go! *** OK here we are in Balboa Park at a special event and I thought I would interview somebody who could explain just what's happening. Hi, my name is Susan I am a volunteer with the Cactus and Succulent Society of San Diego. Today and yesterday we have our big annual show and sale. OK, hold up now, this is... what is the name of the society again? San Diego Cactus and Succulent Society. All right then today there is a show. Yes, this is the show, we have probably over 600 plants in the SHOW. They were judged yesterday evening and they all have their ribbons placed next to them. We have several that were trophy winners and they are up on the stage at the front of the room. Oh, oh so I can go and find first place and second place and third place. That is correct. And how many different categories of prizes or awards or ribbons are there? Well, there's three categories --- you get first prize second prize or third place OK? And it's blue ribbon, red ribbon or white ribbon. And if you get a ... if you are a special plant, then you get a plaque up on the stage. OK? OK, and how many people do you think ... ah, how many entries were there in this competition... it's kind of a competition, right? Yeah, well there’s probably over 600 plants in this room. So about 600 entries, and then there were how many winners? Oh, I have no idea. Any, any number of winners... you have to go and look and see the ribbons. And how many people you think will be visiting the show today? Really I don't know, but we had hundreds of people yesterday and probably about 500 today also. OK, fantastic! So we have a popular event here in Balboa Park and I hope you enjoyed the interview. *** [outro] and then .... Auction sounds! Please follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! Word of mouth really helps! And of course, thanks for listening!

Cactus and Succulent Show ? [Learn English Listening]

[EP 69] Ready for a sound bath at Mission Bay, San Diego? Five minutes of interesting listening for your English. Welcome! [INTRO] Hi everybody and welcome back to another episode of Unexpected English where today or right now in this episode -- which is episode 69 by the way if you're counting -- (yeah if you're not counting, well, who cares) but this is the episode 69 and we are taking you to beautiful Mission Bay San Diego for something called a sound bath! That's right, we're going to be having a sound bath together so get ready for that, OK? OK, I won't say anything else let's just go! [INTERVIEW] So I'm here on North Cove Beach of Mission Bay here in beautiful San Diego and I am speaking with .... Lindsey Roche ... and I was walking down the beach and I saw Lindsey had these uhh... bowls arranged here in the sand. Could you tell us about that? So yeah so this is... what we're setting up for is a sound healing session. We have ... these are crystal sound healing bowls, so they're 99.9% pure quartz and the way that sound healing works is we're all made of water, right? 70% water, so the vibrations and the frequency of these bowls react with the water inside your body and work to relax you and slow down your mind, your mental state into, ideally, a (??) state. Ohhh, so I'm gonna get, like I'm gonna get so relaxed I’ll float away... or something. OK, now tell me again, so these bowls are made of... the colored bowls that you see are 99.9% pure quartz crystal. Quartz crystal, and we've got different size quartz crystal bowls arranged in the sand and I suppose they all vibrate at a different frequency. They certainly do, they are all correlated with the different chakras, so each note is a different note. We've got the red there is your root chakra which is a C note. Oh, we're talking about your chakras, you know, you people.. what you don't know about the chakras, well you'll have to look, you'll have to Google that. But before we go maybe we could get a sound... not a sound bath, but at least an idea of what we're talking about, these sounds, what they sound like, so... she’s getting the little mallets here and... turning off the background music so, even though it might be a little breezy, so I don't know how pure our sound is going to be, but we’ll get some sound off of this for sure, so..... [...vibrations....].................. I'm feeling relaxed already, I don't know about you out there, but I'm feeling it...... OK, so there you have it people, direct from Mission Bay in San Diego, you’ve just had your first sound bath. Thanks a lot, Lindsay. Thank you, have a beautiful day. You too, bye. [OUTRO] blah blah where, as usual I ask you, I  please tell your friends -- word of mouth really helps!  Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! And of course, thanks for listening! 

Sound Bath at Mission Bay, San Diego

[EP 68] We learn some things about Arkansas! (transcript) Hello, thanks for calling Unexpected English, who am I speaking with? Hi, this is Kat Mondu. Kat, Yes! Where are you calling from, Kat? I'm calling from Arkansas. Arkansas. OK. I'm not sure people know where, Arkansas, is geographically so could you tell us? It is kind of in the mid-south of the USA. In the middle of the south of the USA, with other states around you like.,,Like, Oklahoma, and Texas, Missouri. Okay, all right, I guess, if, anybody doesn't know, you can look at a map for, Arkansas, right? Right above Louisiana. Right above Louisiana. Wait a minute, I have a problem with Arkansas. Yeah, I'll tell you what my problem is. Could you spell that for us? Yes. ARKANSAS That’s Arkansas right? But then you have KANSAS, and that's Kansas! So how come you guys aren't ark-KANSAS? Well, because Kansas should really be kan-SAW! OK. All right, I'm glad we got that cleared up! So this is Kat calling from Arkansas which is nowhere near kan-SAW. All right. Well, so what should we know about the beautiful state of Arkansas? Arkansas is known as the natural state. And we boast over 50 state parks. OK, so because when you say natural I'm thinking, does that mean everybody walks around naked? No it doesn't mean that, right? No, not quite that natural. You can find that here! Lots of state parks. That means hills and ... do mountains there? We have mountains in the Ozarks. Oh good, I'm learning so much. This is good, because I've never been to Arkansas. I ave to be honest it's not, it's not a place I've been to. But if I go there, well I guess I'm going for the nature, because it's the, nature state or the natural state, which is it? It's the natural state. The natural state, beautiful. And I always like to know if I go to some, some state if there's a, you know, like a typical dish or some kind of specialty or something that people like to eat there that you might not find other places. Well, Arkansas, is actually home of cheese dip. Cheese DIP? Yes, we invented it, or at least we claim it, and it was in Little Rock where it was invented, Oh, do you guys have, like, cheese dip competitions? Yes, we take it very seriously, I guess so! And what, what do people in Arkansas, dip into their cheese dip? Just about anything! Tortilla chips or pretzels, or fried pickles, even! Fried pickles! That's another thing that,  I don't know why I've never had a fried pickle. Are they good? They are delicious. Especially when dipped in a nice creamy cheese I suppose! Oh yes! Okay. Oh boy, well, I'm getting kind of hungry. But before we go, are there any unique expressions in Arkansas? I don't know that there are, but I'm always looking for some kind of language thing. Oh yes, let me give you a few. Oh my gosh you've got language things there, OK! Well, of course, I mean, if you’ve got, you got fried pickles in cheese dip, I guess you got everything yeah? So, okay, I'm ready. Just know if a southerner says, “Bless your heart!” that's not a good thing. If they say “Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit!” that IS a good thing. Okay. Bless your heart, kind of is used to ... shut somebody down, is that it? To say like, what does it really mean? Like, Oh, you poor soul! Oh, but that sounds, that sounds sympathetic. Not so much... Okay, and the other one sounded kind of semi-adult. What was that? It was, “Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit!” And that just means. Well, look who's here! Oh man, that's beautiful, that's a good one. Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! Yeah, that’s perfect. Is that right? Oh good, I did it okay! You did a great job. I’m so proud of myself. Okay, Kat, well thanks very much for your time this has been fun and very educational too. Well thank you for having me. This was very fun. FOLLOW!

Butter My Butt, Arkansas style!

[EP 67] Dead Poets! In this episode I read a poem about one great poet to honor the passing of another.  Don't let the word "poem" scare you, just listen! (transcription included below) *** Hey everybody! You'r listening to Unexpected English! This is episode 67 and I'm doing this episode for a special reason. That is that today I learned that the writer and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti died, passed away. And that's OK! He was 101 years old! But it reminded me of his poetry, which I like, and I found a good one to read for you. And it's good because it's about another great poet: Allen Ginsberg. I'm sure you've heard of Allen Ginsberg. If you haven't heard about Lawrence Ferlinghetti, you might want to look for some of his poems. But Ferlinghetti wrote this poem for Ginsberg, who was dying at the time, and I thought it was appropriate. And it's quite a good poem,  so I decided to read it for you. I hope you enjoy it. Here we go!   Allen Ginsberg is dying It's in all the papers It's on the evening news A great poet is dying But his voice                      won't die His voice is on the land In Lower Manhattan in his own bed he is dying There is nothing to do about it He is dying the death that everyone dies He is dying the death of the poet He has a telephone in his hand and he calls everyone from his bed in Lower Manhattan All around the world late at night the telephone is ringing This is Allen                       the voice says Allen Ginsberg calling How many times have they heard it over the long great years He doesn't have to say Ginsberg All around the world in the world of poets there is only one Allen I wanted to tell you he says He tells them what's happening what's coming down on him Death the dark lover going down on him His voice goes by satellite over the land over the Sea of Japan where he once stood naked trident in hand like a young Neptune a young man with black beard standing on a stone beach It is hightide and the seabirds cry The waves break over him now and the seabirds cry on the San Francisco waterfront There is a high wind There are great whitecaps lashing the Embarcadero Allen is on the telephone His voice is on the waves I am reading Greek poetry The sea is in it Horses weep in it The horses of Achilles weep in it here by the sea in San Francisco where the waves weep They make a sibilant sound a sibylline sound Allen          they whisper                              Allen *** Thanks for listening! please tell your friends -- word of mouth really helps!  Follow on Spotify and Instagram, and tell your friends! 

Dead Poets! Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsberg

[EP 66] I take a call from ECUADOR and find out some unexpected things!  Listen and follow with the transcript! Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of Unexpected English, where I have, yes, something unexpected. Well, it's unexpected because this is the first telephone interview. That's right, I interviewed someone from Ecuador, who just called. right? So it's a new thing, I think it works. And if it does work, that means, that means you can call me too and I can interview you. I guess I don't know. Let's, let's not even wait around, let's just get right to the episode. Okay. Yeah, let's do that. Here we go. *** Hello, thanks for calling Unexpected English. Who am I speaking with? You’re speaking with Joffre, it’s a pleasure, Louis. Joffe, where are you calling from? I'm calling far far away from you. I'm calling from Ecuador. It’ isn’t a food. No, although, that, okay, it makes me think of food so tell me: if I go to Ecuador, what is the one dish that I have to try? Yeah, okay. You will eat guinea pig. It's something crazy for many people around the world, but we eat here guinea pig. Yeah, what, what's it called, what's it called? It is called “cuy.” Cuy! yeah I know. I've heard of that! Cuy is.. is that, but I mean, is it a typical plate, cuy? Yes, at least in the place where I live. It is common, many people enjoy eating cuy, like, each week, or maybe twice a week. Many people are eating cuy. Okay, so we have, we sit down to a nice dish of cuy. Well yeah, with, with some kind of beer. What's the best beer to have with cuy? Here it is called Pilsner. The most popular here it is called Pilsner. Oh Pilsner but pils... Pilsner is a style of beer, actually. Ah, isn't it? Yeah, it is! Okay, so we've got the dish we've got the beer... Some potatoes, and potatoes yeah, okay, this is... Here we have many kinds of potatoes, like 1000s of potatoes, kinds of potatoes. A thousand varieties of potatoes, and each one is more delicious than the next one, probably, yeah? Yes yeah there's a different taste. Okay, tell me, what do people, what do Ecuadorians, what are they famous for... I mean what do people say about Ecuadorians? Oh, that's a tricky question. Ecuadorians, we like to cook, to make delicious food. And we have many places to go to visit. I believe the most famous place from Ecuador is called Galapagos. Oh yeah yeah that’s too famous, we know about, that we don't need tourism... Ok, yes, like people here... we are relaxed. We aren't stressed about work. So it's a good place to relax. It's a good place to eat cuy. Exactly! And have a beer. Let me think, the last thing.... Oh, I know, the last thing is to tell people about your podcast, because you have a podcast, right? Yes, yes. I have a podcast to help people who are learning Spanish and learning English. And we are a group, a group of friends that we have been learning Spanish and English for a while, and we decided to have a podcast to help other people. Okay, what's the...what's the name. It's called “amigos, learning languages.” Okay, people so there it is, if you speak Spanish, or if you speak English and want to learn Spanish... because your podcast is kind of Spanglish, right? You do both languages? Yes it is, Spanglish because I'm trying to relate what we already know in Spanish, and what we already know in English, to try to make it easier for people to learn English and Spanish relating those languages. All right, so everybody who loves Unexpected English. I know they love to learn languages. So maybe they want to check out your podcast which is called... “Amigos Learning Languages” “Amigos learning languages!”...there you go. All right, everybody, I think you've got it. You've heard we've heard from from Joffre in Ecuador, and that's it. Thanks for your time, Joffre. It was a pleasure, Louis . Okay. Have a good day. You too. Thanks. Bye Bye *** PLEASE SHARE! https://linktr.ee/unexpectedenglish

Ecuador Calling!

[EP 65] Yes, it's a live in-the-park interview! I saw a lady riding a scooter and asked her about it. Her answers were UNEXPECTED! Transcript below! So, here we are at Balboa Park and I thought I would interview somebody who just stepped off of a .... what? Bird? Bird cycle? What is it, a bird cycle? Scooter. Oh, a scooter! A scooter, is this the first first time you've ever been on a scooter? First time I’ve ever been in it. (We're not from here!) We're from Texas, Houston Texas. OK, so we’ve got some visitors from Houston Texas and she just tried out a scooter (scooter!) and how was that experience? It was... it was kinda scary... for a 60 year old woman (laughs) Yeah, it was scary, I am not young no more! OK she’s not so young but she's brave enough to get on the scooter! Is that the craziest thing you've ever done that you can tell us about? No... I used to be ... when I was in my 30s, my early 30s, I used to be a bull rider (music) Excuse me, excuse me. Hold up, my listeners need to process that. Could you repeat that again? Uhh, in my late 30s , I was uhh... early 30s I was a bull rider (music) My father was a bull rider.And what does that mean exactly “bull rider.” Uhhh... Is that like a “bullshit artist?” (laughter) She's one of those too! I'm sorry, this is supposed to be a clean podcast... I'll... I’ll delete that out. It was uhh there were... we had miniature bulls ... it was .. it was in a.. it was called uhh, Mexican bull... where they have “charreadas” Uh-huh. You know, “jaripeos” ... right ... and my dad used to do it, so I learned it from them. I liked it! And my brother used to do it, but I liked it more than my brother did. OK, so we're talking to a lady who used to ride bulls in “charreadas” ... and you can Google that word if you like it it's kind a like a Mexican ... Mexican bull... bull thing, horse riding, this and that. Yeah. So I guess then the scooter was no big deal. No, it was getting back on track, that was it, OK, so she's back in form and we're back live from Balboa Park. I hope to catch you again next time. Bye! (OUTRO) Thanks for listening: please tell your friends: word of mouth is the only way to encourage me to do future episodes! Share this link! Follow on Spotify or Apple podcasts and Instagram too! Thanks!

Scooters and Bulls in Balboa Park

Looking for some short, sweet, real life English to improve your listening skills or just have fun? Never too long, never boring, and always something worthwhile for the curious listener or English learner! Transcript included too! Subscribe now, it's all free!

hubhopper

Unexpected English!

hubhopper