Tag: podcasts in class

Posted in Listening Classes

Off Menu Podcast: Listening – Sindhu Vee

Posted on by Tim Warre

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Image credit: https://play.acast.com/s/offmenu/

This is a lesson plan for B2+ students based around a clip from the brilliant Off Menu Podcast presented by Ed Gamble and James Acaster. The idea is to use the listening exercise as a way to encourage students to listen to podcasts for pleasure outside class. Download the student handout and answer key below:

Off Menu Podcast

The Off Menu Podcast is hosted by comedians Ed Gamble and James Acaster. Every week a different guest comes onto the show and talks about their ultimate dream meal. The meal must include a starter, main course, side dish, dessert and drink. There are no limits to what each dish could be, some guests have chosen things as varied as McDonald’s fries and Pizza Hut pizza or their mum’s Christmas dinner or a traditional Indian curry.

This week’s guest is the Indian comedian Sindhu Vee. Sindhu was born in India and has also lived in the Philippines; she now lives in London with her Danish husband.

Predict with your partner: You’re going to listen to the part where Sindhu chooses her dream main course. What do you think she chooses?

Link to the episode. Timing: 29:49-32:50

Listen for Gist

First listen: What was the dish?

Listen for Detail

2nd listen:

  1. Where did she try the dish?
  2. Who made the dish?
  3. How did the different members of her family react to the chef’s driving?
  4. What surprised her about Sicilian food?
  5. What was her husband’s reaction to the dish?
  6. What really impressed her about the dish?

Language focus

Look at the expressions Sindhu uses, what do you think they mean?

“Maniacal driving”

“I had to keep face”

“Not cognisant of the world around him.”

“You have a fight and flight response.”

“You’re gonna fight through to the taste.”

Follow up

Listen to the rest of the episode for homework, what does Sindhu choose for the other parts of her dream menu?

Answer Key

Listen for Gist

First listen: What was the dish? Pasta arrabbiata with angel hair pasta

Listen for Detail

2nd listen:

  1. Where did she try the dish? Near Florence
  2. Who made the dish? Mr Mancini the boss of the hotel
  3. How did the different members of her family react to the chef’s driving? She was fine, her husband was scared, her kids loved it
  4. What surprised her about Sicilian food? How spicy it was
  5. What was her husband’s reaction to the dish? He went blind
  6. What really impressed her about the dish? How it maintained its flavour despite being so spicy

Language focus

Look at the expressions Sindhu uses, what do you think they mean?

“Maniacal driving” – driving like a crazy person

“I had to keep face” – to maintain one’s reputation

“Not cognisant of the world around him.” – Not aware/unconscious

“You have a fight and flight response.” – Instinctive reaction, stand and fight or run away

“You’re gonna fight through to the taste.” – Battle against the spiciness to the flavour

Posted in 2Ts in a Pod: Podcast, Listening Classes

2Ts in a Pod Episode 17: The Weird and Wonderful World of Sports

Posted on by Tim Warre

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Check out the latest episode of 2Ts in a Pod, our podcast for B2+ learners. The topic is weird and wonderful sports. We spoke to Mark, who has attended the legendary Gloucester Cheese Rolling event. We also spoke to my sister, Ruth Warre, about the full contact “rugby on rollerskates” sport that is roller derby. This is the first episode recorded in a professional studio! From now on we’ll be recording in Cadenza Studio in Sants in Barcelona.
We’ve included a couple of fun quizzes for teachers to use in class, the timings in the episode are listed below:
 
22:20 – Sport or Not a Sport Quiz
1:01:31 – Sports Vocab Quiz
 
Posted in 2Ts in a Pod: Podcast, Listening Classes

2Ts in a Pod: Lesson Plan – Pet Hates

Posted on by Tim Warre

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This is a guest post by Katy Wright, the co-host of 2Ts in a Pod. It’s a listening activity based around a clip from episode 5: Pet Hates. Download all the materials below:

Teacher’s Notes

Warm-up

  1. Tell students they are going to listen to two people, Tim and Katy, talking about their pet hates. Check their understanding of pet hate [a common, everyday thing that can be really annoying]
  2. Ask student to predict in groups about what could annoy Tim?
  3. Listen to the extract and check their predictions
  4. Ask students if they also find these things annoying.
  5. Ask students to make a list of 3 of their biggest pet hates and share them with their partner

Listening in detail

  1. Tell students they are going to listen to the extract again. This time they write down expressions they hear related to being annoyed or irritated
  2. You may want to play the extract again is students are struggling
  3. Students compare the expressions they have written.
  4. Give the students the transcript of the extract. Ask them to underline the pragmatic language related to annoyance. Did they find them all?
  5. Check understanding of the expressions in open class. Point out the stressed words of these expressions
  6. Ask students to repeat the expressions with their partner to practice pronunciation and stress

Speaking

  1. Go back to the list of 3 pet hates they discussed earlier in the lesson. Ask students to talk about them again but this time using the expressions from the extract
  2. Monitor and give feedback on emergent language

Additional Idea

  • Students can practice the conversation a few times with a partner and then record their conversation “podcast” style. This could then be shared among the other members of the group on WhatsApp or a wiki if they feel comfortable to do so.

Transcript

1:43 – 3:00 minutes

Katy: [00:00:00] But first Tim, what really annoys you? What really drives you up the wall?

Tim: [00:00:05] What drives me up the wall. I would say, in general, inconsiderate people really get on my nerves. So, especially in public places like on public transport, for example. Here in Barcelona, it’s really common. So, say you’re on the Metro, okay, and you’re coming up to a stop and it pulls, the Metro pulls into the station and stops the doors open and people try to get on the Metro before you’ve got off. Yeah it really, really drives me insane.

Katy: [00:00:42] So annoying.

Tim: [00:00:43] If you just let us off everything would be so much easier. Yeah. It really really really really gets on my nerves. Also another thing on the metro I think it’s quite common, um, that really annoys me is people listening to music without headphones on their mobiles.

Katy: [00:01:02] That annoys me if people are walking down the street. I don’t know. Just turn it down, put headphones in. Or turn it down.

Tim: [00:01:11] Yeah. No one wants to listen to that.

Katy: [00:01:12] No one cares.

Tim: [00:01:14] So that, that’s what really really really annoys me. Yeah, It drives me up the wall.

Posted in 2Ts in a Pod: Podcast, Listening Classes

2Ts in a Pod: Lesson Plan – Coincidences

Posted on by Tim Warre

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This is a listening activity for B1+ students based around an extract from episode 11 of our podcast on the topic of Small World Stories and Coincidences. Download all the materials below:

Lead-in

Use the first slide on the PowerPoint to introduce the topic and have students predict what kind of coincidences two identical twins separated at birth could have experienced.

1st Listen

Students listen and try to write down all the coincidences they hear then compare in partners and listen again if necessary. Task check using PowerPoint slide:

  • Both called James
  • Both grew up to be police officers
  • Both marry a Linda
  • Both had sons called James Alan/Allan
  • Both had a dog called Toy
  • Both remarried women called Betty

2nd Listen

Students listen again and write down expressions for expressing surprise:

  • What???
  • Seriously??
  • No way!
  • You’re shitting me!
  • That’s mental!
  • How bizarre!

3rd Listen: Decoding

Students listen to the first section again and fill in the gaps with elements of connected speech:

Key:

I’ve got some coincidence stories that have happened in the world. This one’s a good one. Right. So, as I mentioned I studied psychology at University so I’d, I’d heard about these guys. This is an article that I found on boredpanda.com. And it’s called “10+ crazy coincidences that are hard to believe actually happened”. So here’s the thing. There’s two twins who were separated at birth.

Speaking

Students think of a surprising story or event from their own lives and write down 6 key words needed to tell the story. They then tell the story to their partner who reacts using the expressions. Teacher gives feedback/error correction, then they swap partners and repeat the exercise having taken the feedback on board.