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This is a story about a girl who has two rats, Zena and Roxy. Read the beginning of the story and finish it.

Hi, Chloe,' called Mum. 'Are you there?'
'Yes, Mum,' said Chloe. 'Come in.'
'I'm going to my aerobics class. I'll be back about seven o'clock. Dad's on his way home. He's making pasta tonight.'
'OK, Mum. See you later', Chloe replied.

Mum closed the door. Chloe put Zena back in her cage and called for Roxy. 'Roxy?' said Chloe. 'Roxy, where are you?' Roxy usually came when Chloe said her name. Chloe waited a moment and then started to look for her. Where could Roxy be? She must be in Chloe's room somewhere. Then Chloe remembered that Mum had opened the door. Roxy might have gone out of the room then and now she could be anywhere in the house.

((example taken from British Council , see link below)

1. Finish the story. Write 150 words.
2. Go online and read the real story.
3. Find expressions that create suspense (Spannung erzeugen) and make the story interesting.
4. Do the reading comprehension tasks.

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Chloe has an unusual pet which isn't popular with all the members of her family.

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Here you can find some listening comprehension exercises which you can do online

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Here are some more exercises.

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Spencer: So talking about clothes, Curtis, do you spent a lot of money on clothes?

Curtis: I don't really spend a lot of money on clothes. I think the clothes that I buy last for a long time. And I have a lot of them but I only add to them very slowly over the years. Some of my t-shirts I've had since high school. And so even dress shirts for work, every once in a while something will get worn out but not very often. So I have a lot of clothes but I don't have to spend much money on them. I would like to maybe this year or next year buy a nice three piece suit though, that might be a little bit expensive, but I've always wanted one of those.

Spencer: Yeah. I'm the same, I don't like to spend a lot of money on clothes, but every now and then it is nice to splurge on something that looks really good, yeah. No, there's some great shops like TJ Maxx and Target and yeah, they're, you know, half price and not as expensive. But you can still find some great looking things.

Curtis: Right. Yeah. And I think by adding to the collection that I already have, I can wear different styles on different days. And so I don't feel like I need to spend a lot of money to replace my whole collection because of that, like you said, you can splurge and maybe spend a little bit more on a really nice item that you want because you're able to keep recycling everything else that you have already.

Spencer: That's true.

Curtis: Do you think you have too many clothes by chance, do you feel like you need to get rid of any of your clothes?

Spencer: Right now I have way too many shoes actually. I kind of feel like I have a pair of sneakers that I use for sports and tennis, I have a pair of like nice cute shoes that I wear for when I when go out and dress up and then I have a pair of kind of everyday flipflops that I walk around in all the time. But there's three other only things I need but in my closet right now I have about like probably 12 pairs of shoes and it's ridiculous like you know I don't need exactly three pairs of black shoes, one that's heels, one that's not, one that's sandals. So I have way too many shoes for one. Shirts, I have maybe too many t-shirts, they tend to accumulate, if you go to certain events a lot of times you'll get free t-shirts. I run in a lot of marathons and one of the things they give you is a t-shirt. So they've kind of accumulated and I have a lot, a lot of t-shirts. What about you?

Curtis: Yeah, I think I have some shirts that I need to get rid of, a few t-shirts that are from events that don't really look so nice. I never wear them but I have them, I always feel like, oh, just in case, maybe if I haven't done laundry for a while I'll need a t-shirt some day. But they take up a lot of space in my drawers. So I think I need to get rid of some of those. And as far as shirts for work, I have a few shirts that I first bought just when I started working after college, and they're nice shirts but I tend to select other shirts before them so they never really get worn. So what I've decided to do is turn all of the hangers around on my ... where I have my hangers for my dress shirts. And after six months anything that hasn't been turned forward, which means I've worn it at least once, if I haven't worn it in six months I can probably get rid of it.

Spencer: That's a great idea.

Curtis: That way I can monitor myself and see what I'm wearing or what I'm not, and if I'm not wearing then I can donate it to a shop or give it a way or send it to a recycle shop or Salvation Army or something like that.

Spencer: I have a terrible habit of when I find something that fits me well and I think looks good, I'll buy several of the same thing, just in different colors, so I'm wearing the same thing all the time just with different colors. Yeah, I love hats, I tend to wear a hat whenever I go outside in the summer, when I play tennis, when I go to the beach, all the time. And they get so worn, I need more of them.

Curtis: Yeah, I have a few hats. I don't wear them very often, for me a hat is like a last ditch effort to save a bad hair day, like I woke up late, I have to go or I'll miss the bus, okay here's a hat.

Spencer: I do that all the time. Oh, I don't have enough time to shower this morning, just throw on a hat.

Curtis. Yeah.

Spencer: Nobody will ever know, yeah, it's good.

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Curtis and Spencer talk about their fashion style and the clothes they like to buy and wear.

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Adam: Sarah, I heard you worked in reality TV. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Sarah: Yeah. When I was living in Orlando, Florida, I worked for a production company that filmed reality television. And first of all, it was an interesting job because I worked from 7 o'clock at night until 5 in the morning. It was me and four other guys. And I was the only person who hadn't been to film school that was working there.

And overnight we would transcribe video footage. So what we would do is we would watch the extended footage of the reality shows that this company produced, and we would type out everything that they were saying. And I quickly came to realize that everything in television is scripted, even reality television because they would often prompt the people what to say on the shows.

Adam: Interesting. Was the producer there on camera prompting them to say things that you saw but we as viewers might not see?

Sarah: Oh yeah. So all the producers and the staff are all around and in-between takes, you know, they'll try to get them to say things a certain way. And so they'll often retake scenes over and over again until they get the kind of footage that they want.

Adam: Interesting. Can you tell us what TV show you were filming?

Sarah: No, I probably can't say that.

Adam: How did you get a job like that if you didn't have the same filming background that your colleagues had?

Sarah: I grew up in radio, so because I had radio, media on my resume, they hired me.

Adam: Were you interested in reality TV before you got that job?

Sarah: Not at all. I was just trying to pay rent and pay my bills. So actually at that time, I was working five different jobs. That was just one of them.

Adam: Wow! That's amazing. Pulling all-nighters as well.

Sarah: Yup.

Adam: Was there a reason that you had to work at night?

Sarah: That particular job, that's what they hired me for because they had people who did that job during the day, too.

So we were the night shift.

Adam: So that's really interesting. So when you watch reality TV show today, how do you feel? Can you sense what the producers are trying to do or can you enjoy it? How do you feel about watching reality TV now?

Sarah: I never really liked reality television before I worked with reality television. And now, I like it even less because I realized it is all fake and all scripted, and it's not very interesting to me.

Adam: How did the actors or the members of the reality TV show casts, how did they feel about this scripting of the TV show?

Sarah: They seem to be fine with it because they, you know, signed all the contracts and the things to be on the show. So they don't really mind it.

Adam: Wow. That's really interesting.

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Adam: Sarah, I heard you worked in reality TV. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Sarah: Yeah. When I was living in Orlando, Florida, I worked for a production company that filmed reality television. And first of all, it was an interesting job because I worked from 7 o'clock at night until 5 in the morning.

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Peter: So Sarah you told me earlier that you've been home-schooled, it sounds really interesting, I've never met somebody who's been home-schooled, so could you tell me a little bit more about your experience with it?

Sarah: Yes, absolutely. Well I'm the youngest of four children, so I was the last one to come up being home-schooled. But my father decided to home-school us as soon as it became legal in our state. And for me it was a very different experience than my older siblings. I think when they were younger my father did more of the formal teaching, like at all once, like lecture style. But by the time I came along, he didn't do that anymore. So my learning predominantly came from books. And I remember even as young as second grade, like doing all of my work by myself. One of my favorite aspects of it when I was like in second and third grade is I could do all of my work on Monday and then have the rest of the week to play, didn't have to do any work.

Peter: Wow! That sounds really nice. How come your parents decided to home school, what was important for them?

Sarah: My older sister had a lot of problems in school and they were in the principal's office like every day. And so that's initially what made them start thinking about it. And from there they made the decision and so all the rest of us were home-schooled after that.

Peter: Wow! That's fascinating. Tell me, the fact that you were home-schooled, did that make any difference in terms of making friends with other people in the neighborhood or were there other families that home-schooled children too that you could be friends with?

Sarah: Yes, there were some families that we were close friends with, that we vacationed with and did everything with growing up. For me, personally, the social aspect wasn't huge because I'm more of an introvert. So I like to be alone more than my other siblings. But we were all very involved in different things, my brother in many sports and my sister and I in ballet and I played in an orchestra, and I took piano and violin and sang in a girl's chorus. So I was around other children my own age all the time.

Peter: Right. Yeah, it sounds pretty busy actually.

Sarah: Yeah.

Peter: So could you tell me, what's a typical day in home-schooling, what does it work like? What does it look like?

Sarah: It's pretty much just self-study. So I guess what most people envision as like homework at the end of the day, that's just your school day, is just working through different books, different activities, so mainly textbooks. It's very different now though. People who are home-schooled now, there is all sorts of groups and like online and videos and different things. But because I was home-schooled in the 80s, it looked very different than it does now.

Peter: Okay. So how did your father ... did he work as well and did he work and home-school you or was that his main thing, to home-school you?

Sarah: My father owns a radio station and he has a manager for that radio station, so that allows him to not have to be down there very often. But when he did he would just take us with him to work, and so we'd do our work wherever he was.

Peter: Wow, that's pretty cool!

Sarah: Yeah.

Peter: And all four kids would do their homework and go through their textbooks by themselves, things like that?

Sarah: Yes, we were all very self-motivated, so.

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ELLLO Views #1285 Home Schooling - As a Student

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Peter: So Sarah you told me earlier that you've been home-schooled, it sounds really interesting, I've never met somebody who's been home-schooled, so could you tell me a little bit more about your experience with it? Sarah: Yes, absolutely. Well I'm the youngest of four children, so I was the last one to come up being home-schooled.

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Daniel: Hey Hana, how are you?

Hana: I'm fine, thank you.

Daniel: So tell me, you lived in London, right?

Hana: Yes.

Daniel: Well, I'm planning to go to London and I'm really looking forward to it. But I'm not really sure and I don't really know what to expect and what I can see there, can you tell me a little bit, please?

Hana: Yeah, sure. London is a very interesting place. It's a place where a lot of cultures are mixed. There are lots of historical buildings, for example, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. There is a very famous museum called the British Museum. And a lot of people come and visit every year.

Daniel: That's really good because I'm really interested in history and I really want to see history there. But is there any other thing that I should see in London or I should try in London, for example, is there any good local British food?

Hana: Well, England isn't very famous for food, but it is famous because a lot of food from different countries is all gathered. For example, there's a very good place called The Camden Market and you can go and buy food from all over the world.

Daniel: Good, that sounds really interesting, really looking forward to it. Thank you.

Hana: You're welcome.

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Daniel: Hey Hana, how are you? Hana: I'm fine, thank you. Daniel: So tell me, you lived in London, right? Hana: Yes. Daniel: Well, I'm planning to go to London and I'm really looking forward to it.

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Peter: So Sarah, you said you're from North Carolina, and I've never been there before, I have no idea what it's like. Is it in the north of America or tell me more about it, I have no idea?

Sarah: Well, it's funny because it has north in the name, North Carolina, but it's actually in the south, the southeast. So I usually tell people it's on the opposite end of the US, than California. And it's halfway beween New York and Florida.

Peter: Okay, that puts it on the map for me. Tell me, what's the weather like over there, what's the general climate like?

Sarah: The weather is very moderate, it gets pretty hot in the summers and pretty cold in the winters. But it depends on where you live, because North Carolina has both the mountains and the ocean as well because it's on the coast. So if you live on the coast side you get more warm temperatures and obviously no snow. But if you live on the mountain side then you get more snow and less hot weather.

Peter: Okay. Why do people make a distinction between North and South Carolina, I mean what's the history behind that?

Sarah: I believe it's because they used to all be one together before they were divided. And so when they divided into two states, they call it north now and south.

Peter: I see.

Sarah: Yeah.

Peter: What's North Carolina famous for, I mean what can we look out for?

Sarah: Probably the most famous thing, that is written on our license plates on the cars is 'First in Flight', because Wilbur and Orville Wright flew the first airplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

Peter Oh wow! Okay, I didn't know that.

Sarah: Yeah.

Peter: Amazing!

Sarah: Yeah, we think it's pretty cool.

Peter: Is there famous food from that area, anything else that is really quite popular with people in America or outside?

Sarah: Southern, because it's in the south, southern food is very popular, so southern food, things like fried chicken or a kind of bread we call biscuits, also grits, which is ground corn, all these kinds of foods are very popular in North Carolina because they're southern foods that we eat in the south. Also sweet tea - sweet tea, very popular,iced sweet tea.

Peter: That sounds good.

Sarah: Yeah.

Peter: What goes in it, what?

Sarah: It's just tea - black tea and sugar and then usually we put lemon in it as well.

Peter: Okay.

Sarah: It's very delicious.

Peter: Growing up in North Carolina and living there, did you ever wish to live anywhere else, or do you think it's one of the best places to live?

Sarah: When I was growing up there I always thought other places would be better. But then when I went away and lived in many other states and countries I began to see the beautiful things about the area, the country that I come from, so.

Peter: Right. I guess that's always the way with travelling and somewhere else, you realize home has got many advantages and many beautiful places.

Sarah: Yes, and people.

Peter: Okay.

Sarah: People you love are always home.

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Peter: So Sarah, you said you're from North Carolina, and I've never been there before, I have no idea what it's like. Is it in the north of America or tell me more about it, I have no idea? Sarah: Well, it's funny because it has north in the name, North Carolina, but it's actually in the south, the southeast.

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Peter: So Sarah, tell me, you're teaching right now, could you give me your opinion on computer use in the classroom, like using it in your classes, what do you think about that?

Sarah: I think it's good when there's certain activities that are related to using computers. But when you're trying to do an activity that's not on a computer in a classroom that has computers, it's very difficult to get your students' attention because they're often distracted by doing something else on the internet, they shouldn't be doing.

Peter: Oh, I totally agree, I often have that problem, it feels like I'm speaking to a crowd of ghosts. I have no idea that they're talking to me or looking at me or doing anything that they should be doing, so it's really hard. I find it really hard. But I agree also, I think computers can be so useful in the classroom, especially if you have to do a specific activity where students have to find information and listening activities where they can listen to individual listenings and things like that, you know.

Sarah: Yeah. So what do you think about cell phones in the classroom, do you let your students use them? Because maybe they have an electronic dictionary of some sort on their mobile phone. So is that okay, or no cell phones, what do you do?

Peter: Ah, that's a frustrating topic. I think sometimes I find it really useful if students have their smartphones with them and they can do a quick online search of something that they want to do, especially words they want to look up. So the dictionary use I think is quite useful for students. But on the other hand I always have to kind of keep a watchful eye and see what students exactly are up to, you know, they sometimes start playing a game or they sit on Facebook and sit writing notes to their friends and messages come and go. So yeah, I'm always not sure exactly how to handle it, but most of the time my students are pretty good. So they seem to use it mostly for dictionary.

Sarah: Oh, that's good, yeah.

Peter: Yeah. How about your students?

Sarah: Yeah, some of my students use it for ... they have a dictionary on there that they use. But I think though, most of them have a separate electronic dictionary that's only a dictionary. And I much prefer it when they use that because then I know they are really just looking at a word and not on Facebook or doing something else like you just mentioned, so.

Peter: Have you ever taken cell phones away in class from students?

Sarah: No, not yet, I haven't had to, usually when I walk around the room they put it away very quickly if they are doing something they are not supposed to be doing. And if they are using it to look up a word then they have no problem with me seeing what they are doing, so, end of class.

Peter: I heard about a teacher the other day, he said he's got a basket that he collects cell phones with at the beginning of class, and he puts them on his front desk and then at the end of class he gives them back. But I thought, wow, that's quite strict I thought. I don't know if I would do that, how about you?

Sarah: Yeah. I would be worried that some students would forget their phones and then the problem with trying to get them their phone back and all of that, it might not be worth the hassle.

Peter: Yeah, I probably would agree with that.

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Peter: So Sarah, tell me, you're teaching right now, could you give me your opinion on computer use in the classroom, like using it in your classes, what do you think about that? Sarah: I think it's good when there's certain activities that are related to using computers.

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Sarah: So what do you think about switching over to electronic textbooks in the classroom?

Peter: That's a really good question, it's one I've been debating myself for quite some time. I think, I'm mostly for it because I think the textbooks tend to be quite heavy to carry around, students carry a lot, have to carry a lot of them around. And having it in a digital form is much easier for students to access, it's very convenient. They can carry most of their textbooks in one kind of tablet or one on their phones and access it anywhere. And it's easily ... obviously easily transportable but also easily accessible wherever you are really. I think it's also with technology improving, you can change the format of the reading that you're doing in the textbook and the font sizes change and you can highlight and change text if you need to. I've also started using it myself and I think it's become much easier taking notes, I just open up a document next to it and add notes as I read. Yeah, I'm mostly for it. What about you?

Sarah: I see the advantages for it as well but I also see many disadvantages. First disadvantage I see is, students if it's on an electronic device they'll be more tempted to do other things other than what they're supposed to be doing with their textbook. As well is I see as a problem for writing in the book as far as notes. Although you can write notes in there, it's hard to reference back to them or hard to reference back certain pages, because I myself have used electronic textbook in the past and found that for regular books as far as reading, it's great but textbooks it's very difficult in the class if some people have regular textbooks and some people have electronic textbooks, trying to figure out what page everyone is on because if you have different text sizes then perhaps it'll be a different page numbers and it just makes it more difficult for trying to all be on the same page.

Peter: Yeah, I can kind of see your point. Although, what I do like about the electronic textbook so that they've got a lot of interactive material that you can directly link to the text that you're using like any animated materials, videos, other online material that you can access immediately whereas if you have a book you don't have that more interactive component. And as a teacher I think it's easier for me to add anything as the lesson goes on or as the course proceeds to just add more things to it, whereas with a textbook you're kind of more bound I guess, you have to stick to the text and the online experience just opens up many more possibilities, I think. And it's all in the same medium so you know that I find really great.

Sarah: Yeah, I would agree with you and I think that's the way the future is going, definitely for education is to go, they're calling it paperless, I think. I know many schools in the U. are going paperless where they're doing all electronic things in the classroom. They all have iPads so it's very interesting.

Peter: Yeah, it is. The only concern that I haven't really thought about carefully enough I guess before is that with just reading online and accessing things online, I think students they don't write - physically write things anymore. It's all typing and looking or engaging with things in a different way than before where people uses to take notes, actively think about things and write it down, making their own notes, which I think is a really useful skill to have. Like even if you type notes online it's not the same as writing them out and keeping a diary as it were of your notes. What do you think about that?

Sarah: I would definitely agree with you, especially in language learning. It's very important to have the skill of writing and if you're not doing that in the classroom then chances are you're probably not doing it on your own later either.

Peter: Yeah. Yeah.

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Sarah: So what do you think about switching over to electronic textbooks in the classroom? Peter: That's a really good question, it's one I've been debating myself for quite some time. I think, I'm mostly for it because I think the textbooks tend to be quite heavy to carry around, students carry a lot, have to carry a lot of them around.

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Curtis: Hi Spencer, I thought we might talk about fashion a little bit. Could you describe to me your style or your fashion sense?

Spencer: Well my fashion sense has definitely changed over the last decade. I was kind of recently out of uni and my uni years it was always every night I wanted to look superb. I even dressed up for class, it was, you know, that [0:00:25.7] a big university, but it was also a very old kind of university where everybody dressed up all the time, very southern, very, you know, let's look good for every kind of occasion. And since graduating from there, I have, you know, entered the real world and I only dress up for work or if I'm going out, which I love dressing up for an occasion. But day-to-day I also love just throwing on a t-shirt and jeans, what about you?

Curtis: I think for me the most important thing is comfort. So my fashion sense hasn't really changed very much. I would still wear shorts and a t-shirt and sandals almost every day if I could. But because of my job I have to dress up for work. But it's not really comfortable and I feel like it's not really me. Occasionally I do like to wear a suit but maybe once in a long while, not every day.

Spencer: Yeah, it definitely after several, you know, weeks of kind of throwing on the same day-to-day comfortable clothes, and you have one occasion that you go out for and dress up for, it does kind of feel like, you know, oh, I'm worth a million bucks like, you know, looking great, one time you're wearing dressed to the nines, wearing all your best clothes.

Curtis: Right. At the same time if I do dress up I want the most comfortable clothes I can get to dress up in, like I want shoes that look nice. But to me, looking comfortable looks nice. If I see people who don't look comfortable in what they're wearing I don't think they look very good. So sometimes I see people with really tall heels for example and people might say, "Oh, this looks so nice." But I just, I feel like they must be painful, it must be really hard to wear and to walk in.

Spencer: That's so true, I hate heels, I cannot wear heels. Half of it's confidence though, like I don't like being particularly taller than a lot of people, it just kind of makes me un-confident. But every now and then like you see a really tall person wearing a pair of heels, and you know, shoulders high like super, super confident and they look great. But also it is painful after several hours of wearing heels if you're walking around a bit.

Curtis: Right. Sometimes I find that with men's dress shoes as well, sometimes they're really narrow and my feet are a little bit wide and so you get these really long and pointed dress shoes that narrow towards the toes. And because of that I have a very hard time finding dress shoes for myself. I have to do a lot of shopping to find a good pair.

Spencer: I got lucky, I have tiny feet, so every time I walk into a shoe store my size happens to be the one that's on display.

Curtis: Oh, I see.

Spencer: And it's really quite good, yeah. Oh, that looks cute, I can just try it on then and there, so yeah, it is good.

Curtis: Yeah.

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Curtis: Hi Spencer, I thought we might talk about fashion a little bit. Could you describe to me your style or your fashion sense? Spencer: Well my fashion sense has definitely changed over the last decade. I was kind of recently out of uni and my uni years it was always every night I wanted to look superb.

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Todd: Rachel, did you grow up in New Zealand?

Rachel: Yes. I did.

Todd: Nice. I grew up in the States, and I thought we would talk about how life is so much different for teens today than it was for our generation.

Rachel: Okay. I think we can do that.

Todd: Obviously the first thing is that when we were young, we didn't have smart phones and things like that. We didn't have the internet, actually.

Rachel: We didn't have internet. We didn't have email.

Todd: Yeah. I remember if you wanted to meet a friend, you would have to plan it way in advance-

Rachel: Yes.

Todd: You would have to wait by the phone. Remember that, waiting by the phone. You couldn't go outside because if you were waiting for the call, you had to wait at your house until you got the call, and then-

Rachel: We didn't even have an answering machine at my house.

Todd: Wow, my gosh. That's really old school.

Rachel: We used to have to wait by the phone.

Todd: Yeah.

Rachel: I used to spend every afternoon after school on the phone with my friends. After we got home from school, we would call each other, and discuss the day's events I suppose.

Todd: Yeah, you had so much to share. That's true. I think-

Rachel: So, my teens these days, they come home from school, they get on their phone, and they text all their friends.

Todd: Right. And they do it all day, like it's constant. Constant chatter.

Rachel: Yeah.

Todd: I think maybe that's why I'm not so much into texting. It's just too much work. I like to build up the mystery of not knowing what somebody did for a while.

Rachel: Mm, yeah. But I was thinking about it recently, and I think that it was similar because we used to telephone a lot. But then we did have to wait a long time before finding the news.

Todd: True. Yeah, I read once about how a lot of the movie plots from the '60s, '70s, and '80s wouldn't work today because of cell phones.

Rachel: Yes.

Todd: Because a lot of the story line-

Rachel: Are about missed communications and-

Todd: Right, right. Yeah.

Rachel: Yes. And somebody arrived and somebody else didn't.

Todd: Another one I think that's really obvious is bottled water. When I grew up, there was no such thing as bottled water. You had to get water from a faucet, right?

Rachel: Yes, or a tap.

Todd: Yeah, and I think I remember when they first started coming out with bottled water. I think I was about 14 or 15.

Rachel: It was a bit later in New Zealand, I think.

Todd: Yeah. That was crazy. I mean do you remember what it was like when people were first drinking bottled water, how strange it seemed at the time? Everyone was like, "Why don't you get it from the tap?"

Rachel: [crosstalk 00:02:32]. Well, it's very clean in New Zealand, so the tap water was clean. So, there was really no reason.

Todd: Yeah, if you come from a temperate climate, it was never a problem, right? Because you just ... I'm from a temperate climate as well, and so the water doesn't really have problems with bacteria or things like that. It's always clean. It used to be clean. In New Zealand, it's probably still clean.

Rachel: The rivers used to be clean, but they're not so clean now.

Todd: Oh really? Even in New Zealand?

Rachel: Problems, yeah.

Todd: Oh, really. Shocking.

Rachel: Mm, it's a bit sad.

Todd: Yeah. How about other things that we used to do when we were kids. One thing is I think compared to kids today, is we used to spend a lot of time outside.

Rachel: Yes.

Todd: Actually, our parents would not allow you to stay inside. You had to go outside.

Rachel: You had to go outside.

Todd: Right?

Rachel: It's the opposite today.

Todd: Yeah.

Rachel: They tend to make them stay inside, won't let them go outside.

Todd: Why is that? What's the rationale for why they should stay inside?

Rachel: Safety.

Todd: Safety?

Rachel: Mm.

Todd: Yeah.

Rachel: We didn't used to hear about all of the kidnappings and abuse in the media, so people weren't afraid of it.

Todd: Right. Yeah. And the crazy thing is I think-

Rachel: You hear about it now.

Todd: It's actually safer now, right? They say-

Rachel: Yeah, it's safer now.

Todd: Even in the state where they hear about this, I think statistics say that it's actually safer that it was before, but the perception is there.

Rachel: Although that could be because the children are all inside.

Todd: That's true. Yeah.

Rachel: That's a difficult one to figure out. But I don't think it's that unsafe to play outside. I think it's better for kids socially, for their bodies, for their development to play outside if they can.

Todd: I agree. I totally agree. Kids definitely should be outside. And kids should be bored. I think that's one of the things that kids miss out on is boredom.

Rachel: They're never bored now. They've always got a screen to look at.

Todd: Right. So, obviously when we were young, you had nothing to do, so you had to go outside and find something-

Rachel: Climb a tree.

Todd: Yeah. Exactly. Oh, that's so fun.

Rachel: I thought of something. We used to have video watching parties.

Rachel: Oh, yeah.

Rachel: Because only one person in 10 had a video machine-

Todd: Right.

Rachel: We would all go to the video store together, and argue over which videos to watch, and choose some horror movies and some comedies. And then go to one person's house, and all watch them altogether.

Todd: I do remember that. Yeah. It was a big thing.

Rachel: No Netflix binging, but yeah, having a video party at someone's house was a big deal.

Todd: And I think movies were a much bigger deal back then because we didn't have screen time. There was no such thing as screen time. You had your TV, but that was not the same thing. Your parents wouldn't let you watch that much TV anyway. And so a movie was a big deal.

Rachel: It was more of a big deal. You didn't just watch it on Netflix when you were bored.

Todd: Yeah, but a kid these days, it's just they're on their screen all the time. It's just more digital pixels. Yeah, different times.

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Todd: Rachel, did you grow up in New Zealand? Rachel: Yes. I did. Todd: Nice. I grew up in the States, and I thought we would talk about how life is so much different for teens today than it was for our generation. Rachel: Okay. I think we can do that.

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If you want to do more exercises, you can use the following link. Choose/ search for level 5, if you'd like to listen to easier conversations, go for level 4. (e.g. Level 5 vocabulary)

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English Listening Lesson Library Online

Listening Lessons by Level

Teachers and students can find lessons based on level. The lessons are listed by difficulty in grammar and vocbulary.

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Learn English Naturally! Listen to over 2,500 free lessons featuring speakers from around the world. All lessons comes with audio or video, a quiz and script. ESL teachers and students can choose English lessons from beginner to advanced!

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Todd: Okay, here's another thing. It's a little bit impolite. What about looking at other people's monitor over their shoulder? 'Cause you just mentioned the BTS. One thing I have to admit is, because I don't have my phone out and I am looking around, I have a tendency to see, wanna check and see what's on everybody's phone. And it's total intrusion. It's creepy in a way, but it's also because in Asia I'm a little bit taller than the average person, so I'm looking down and I can see everybody's monitor. And yeah, do you ever find yourself doing that too?

Angela: I do, yeah. But like you, I think it's impolite.

Todd: Right. So you gotta pull away, I know I shouldn't do it.

Angela: But you know the worst thing with phones these days, the worst thing from my point of view is the amount of pictures that people take of themselves everywhere, on the BTS, on the subway, eating. I've been to S21 in Cambodia where those poor people were slaughtered basically, and there are people in front of pictures of these people who were killed, and they are just literally taking selfies of themselves, you know, this world isn't about you. It's sometimes, just stop and look and listen.

Todd: Yeah, the selfie thing, I did a little bit. Sometimes I would do it almost like it's sending a postcard.

Angela: Yeah

Todd: You know what I mean? "Oh, look, I'm here." But I have to admit, yeah, I don't really like doing it, yeah.

Angela: I'm gonna take the shot again, the shot again. I use selfies in a group, because I think they're fun. It's actually quite fun to see one person in the front and the rest in the back.

Todd: Yes.

Angela: And it usually means that I can get further back in the photograph, so that's always a good thing.

Todd: Oh, yeah, that's true. So but, that's good that you admit you do some selfies.

Angela: Yeah, yeah, yeah, with groups. And if I'm taking a group in the class, I'll get one of them to take the photograph

Todd: Yeah. What about the ... mild pet peeve of mine, not a pet peeve, but people taking photos of their food. I don't know why it's a thing.

Angela: Why? Eat it.

Todd: Yeah, exactly, enjoy it. Enjoy the memory. It's interesting that you said that about Cambodia. A woman, a group of women once said something that was really like just a spear in the heart, really made me think. I was in Cambodia, this was years ago, and I was at Angkor, at Baton, Bayon, or I can't say it right, but where they have the beautiful face sculptures, and I'm like, "Oh, I gotta get a photo." And so there was a woman just sitting there, relaxed, she was maybe French or something, she was European, and she was like, "Oh, you want me to take your photo?" And I go, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." So then she takes it, she takes my photo, this was before cell phone cameras.

Angela: And then I'm like, okay, I have to reciprocate. I go, "Oh, would you like me to take a photo of you?" She's like, "No." I'm like, "You don't have a camera?" And she goes, "No," and she just points at her head and she taps her head like this, and she goes, "It's all up here." And I was like, "Wow." She was really-

Todd: amazing, yeah.

Angela: ... kind of like, politely saying, "Just, I'm never gonna ..." I've never forgotten how all those things look, I've never forgotten her sitting on the rock when she said that. So wise advice I think.

Angela: Yeah, I think so.

Todd: Now, actually you are in photography. Do you think that actually taking so many ... I'm sorry, you have a photography business.

Angela: Yes.

Todd: Do you think that actually taking so many photographs lessens the value of the art of photography and really appreciating a good picture?

Angela: Yes, I think it does. And I think that a lot of the apps and the things that you can use these days to improve photographs take away the real skill of the photographer, using the light, using the lines, using what's in the photograph to make a really good shot. I think people miss that these days.

Todd: Yeah. That is true. Anyway, so today, no using your phone.

Angela: No, I did hear it go, "Bing, bing."

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Todd: Okay, here's another thing. It's a little bit impolite. What about looking at other people's monitor over their shoulder? 'Cause you just mentioned the BTS. One thing I have to admit is, because I don't have my phone out and I am looking around, I have a tendency to see, wanna check and see what's on everybody's phone.

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Todd: So I'm here with Angela, and in a previous interview we were talking about kids and technology and devices, and how these days often people look at their device when they're with another person. How do you feel about that? If you're eating with somebody, you're at dinner, is it okay to check your phone?

Angela: We have a rule in our house, no phones at the table. Absolutely no phones.

Todd: Very nice.

Angela: Because you know, you see people, they meet in restaurants, they sit around a table, the food comes, but everybody's looking into their phone, and engaging with whatever they're doing on their phone, and not talking to the people who have met them. And I see people walking on the subway, the street, head in their phone. It's ...

Todd: It is crazy.

Angela: It's really sad.

Todd: And if you think about it, we used to have manners. Things you couldn't do. For example, no elbows on the table, no hats inside the house. I mean it sounds silly, but I remember those rules as a kid. The one that was really hard was the no elbows on the table. Yeah, so it's interesting that we don't have new rules, like we should reinvent them. You can't have your phone on during the plane when it takes off, so your rule is a good idea.

Angela: Yeah, no phones at the table.

Todd: So you're an English teacher, what do you think about phones in the classroom?

Angela: If they're on a break, I always call it their text break, because when I'm teaching English out here I find that people have got their phone to their hand, and maybe they're Googling a word or something, so it's not too much of a distraction. But when you stop them for a break, as soon as you say "let's have a break now," they're all after their phones, and they're sitting individually looking at their phones.

Todd: And it's silent, I know what you mean. I'll teach, and it used to be you would say "okay take a break," and it would be really loud, they would start talking with each other. And these days it's just silence, they just go and they do that motion of just flicking with their finger, as they're scrolling down. And I know I just sound like some old guy, "hey, get off my lawn!" And I have the same problem, I want to check my phone all the time, but I have to admit it's strange I think.

Angela: And now you needn't even check your phone, you just look at your Apple watch or your watch on your wrist, it's going to tell you if your phone needs your attention.

Todd: But it used to be where I would say things like, you know as a teacher you're teaching, you can see if the student's looking down at their phone, and I would say "hey, don't check your phone." But now these days kids actually call me on it, they're like, "Oh, I'm looking up a word," or "Oh, I'm checking something," and they literally are checking something. And the kids are good at using their phone as a learning tool -

Angela: Yes, I think that's fine.

Todd: So it is, it's a gray area these days. Yeah. So when you're with somebody you never pop out your phone?

Angela: I would admit that I will be guilty of checking my phone in my bag, but I would never get it out and go on Facebook or Instagram and start Instagramming, I would just look at it and put it away.

Todd: Yeah. There's other things I've done, I mean could be because I'm getting older, but for example I try not to listen to my iPod so much anymore, or my phone. Radio, music, whatever. I actually just try to listen. I notice that when I am always listening to everything I kind of tune the world out, and I might miss things.

Angela: You will miss things. You see people, I've been quite tempted some days to put my earphones in and walk to the BTS, but actually I think, no, you'd miss the traffic noise, you miss the tuk tuks, you miss a dimension of the world that's happening around you. And then you get on the BTS and everybody in the carriage is head down, same position, on their phones.

Todd: Yeah. And actually I don't do it just for that reason, because I noticed that I'm missing out. It's so tempting, but I might see something.

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Todd: So I'm here with Angela, and in a previous interview we were talking about kids and technology and devices, and how these days often people look at their device when they're with another person. How do you feel about that? If you're eating with somebody, you're at dinner, is it okay to check your phone?

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Let It Happen: The three Dutch dancing sisters

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Do you like dancing? Watch Rosa, Yarah and Norah, three amazing dancing sisters, in this video.

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Have you ever posted mean things online? Listen to three people talking about their experiences.

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Lioness from Namibia is a superstar rapper who's also a doctor. Watch and find out how she does both jobs!

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Can you spot fake news? Watch this video from Common Sense Media to learn how to check out news to see if it's true or not. It's not always easy to tell!

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Upper intermediate level . Some of the texts are more difficult than others. Just try to find out your level. If these texts are too difficult, try the easier level below.

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Are you an upper intermediate (CEFR level B2) learner of English? Practise and improve your reading skills with these texts and exercises.

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Intermediate level - easier texts

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Are you an intermediate (CEFR level B1) learner of English? Practise and improve your reading skills with these texts and exercises.

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Read some news (level 2)

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English news and easy articles for students of English

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What is Level 2

Level 2 is for intermediate students. In this level, we use 2000 most important words in spoken English. In our short news we mark every word which is from a higher level. When you understand all words in Level 2, you know 2000 words in English and it is time to go to Level 3. When you read and listen to Level 2 every day, very soon you can know 2000 most important words in English.

How to improve your English with News in Levels:

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Level 2 - English news and easy articles for students of English

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Level 2 is written for intermediate students. It has 3000 words. It is enough for speaking with foreigners but not native speakers yet.

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Here you can read some blogs and practice for your writing task. (What expressions do they use? What kind of style do they use?)

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Coming to the end of my assistantship in Barcelona, I start to think about what the future might hold.

It's been seven months and a few days since I arrived here and things have changed so much in what some might call a short period of time. When I first arrived in Terrassa I was excited and nervous to start a new adventure in a country I love. The first few days seem so long ago now, trying to find a place to live, organising my timetable with the schools, meeting new people.

After a couple of weeks, the excitement started to fade, however, and homesickness started to set in. It wasn't a powerful homesickness but enough to make me spend more than a few nights thinking about family and friends back home, wondering if I should be there with them.

All that started to change after meeting some new friends and spending good time with them, practising languages, eating together and seeing new places as a group. I suppose we should never forget how important it is to have good people in your life, because they can make such a difference.

Coming back to Terrassa after visiting home for Christmas felt like returning to a second home, to a place that was mine with people I cared about. Things got even more busy and more people came into my life; new friends, romance and a whole lot of good food flowed by in what seems to have been weeks, not months.

Now, looking forward, there are some decisions to make. Should I return home to Scotland and move on with life there or try to extend my time here, perhaps make it something permanent? To travel and visit other places is one of the most fulfilling things you can do in life. Experiencing other cultures, learning about the world, it's such an important thing to do if you have the means.

My advice from my experience so far is to travel and try new things whenever you get the opportunity. You may find somewhere you were always supposed to be.

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Coming to the end of my assistantship in Barcelona, I start to think about what the future might hold. It's been seven months and a few days since I arrived here and things have changed so much in what some might call a short period of time.

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Are you passionate about skateboarding? We talk to two skateboarding fans from LA.

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This is a story - so you can also practice for the writing task "Writing a story" . What kind of expressions are used ? (E.g. for showing emotions, for making the story interesting etc.)

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This section has stories, articles and reviews about a lot of different topics.

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Why is Charlie so cool?  - an article about a YouTuber

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Why is Charlie so cool?  - an article about a YouTuber

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Why is Charlie so cool ... like? - level 2

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Can YouTube make you famous? It worked for Charlie McDonnell!

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After moving to a new country, Deshi's life seems miserable. But maybe it's not all bad ...

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With exam stress and friend problems, Mo's having a bad week.

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In this post, a blogger writes about her favourite hobby. Take a look at the structure of the blog. What kind of expressions does she use to introduce her arguments? (Linking words ;-) )

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Another reason that I love swimming is that it has more variety than other sports. Swimming offers many different strokes, so it doesn't feel like you're stuck doing the same thing over and over again. Adding swimming equipment like flippers, a snorkel or a noodle (a flexible cylindrical piece of foam) changes the experience yet again and can help you develop your swimming technique.

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Our Magazine is written by young people from the UK. Each year we select a new group of bloggers, from the British Council's language assistants, who share their experiences of learning languages and living abroad. The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the LearnEnglish Teens team.

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This blog can also help you to prepare for your writing tasks. Take a look at the arguments and structure that is used.

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Why I love cycling | LearnEnglish Teens - British Council

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Our Magazine is written by young people from the UK. Each year we select a new group of bloggers, from the British Council's language assistants, who share their experiences of learning languages and living abroad. The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the LearnEnglish Teens team.

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High school in the UK | LearnEnglish Teens - British Council

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Our Magazine is written by young people from the UK. Each year we select a new group of bloggers, from the British Council's language assistants, who share their experiences of learning languages and living abroad. The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the LearnEnglish Teens team.

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1. Take a look at the photo and write a story about it.
Write 150 words.
(Who is the story about? /What did they do? / What was it like?/ Why/ when did they do it? / How did they do it)
2. Go online and read the real story behind the picture.
3. Take a look at the expressions that are used.

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When I was 16 I wrote a bucket list. This was a list of things that I wanted to do in my lifetime. Some things were easy, some difficult and some near impossible. One of the things on my bucket list was to do a skydive.

Two years ago I spent three months travelling round South America. We visited so many places and it was a great experience. One of the most amazing things we saw was Iguassu Falls. The day after we visited the waterfalls we were relaxing in a hostel in Brazil, having breakfast. My friend then suddenly noticed an advert on the wall saying 'skydive over Iguassu Falls today!' We looked at each other and decided it was time to do something crazy. Today would be the day that we would jump out of a plane.

That afternoon we were picked up and taken to the Skydive Centre. We put on our harnesses and helmets and we were given some instructions. After signing a few papers we were on our way to the plane! There were 14 of us in a very small space as we took off into the air. This is when my heart started to beat very fast and I felt lots of adrenaline.

Suddenly we were 10,000 feet (3,000 metres) above the ground. Luckily, I was strapped to an instructor so I didn't have to worry about anything; I just had to enjoy myself. He asked me if I was ready to fall from the plane ... but before I had time to answer, I felt the wind rushing against my face as we fell to the ground at 200 km an hour! Everything below me looked so small and my breath was literally taken away.

After about 20 seconds of falling, the parachute opened and everything slowed down. We floated peacefully towards earth, leaving the clouds behind us.

This was definitely one of the scariest but most exhilarating experiences of my life. The sensation of falling from so high is amazing and the adrenaline rush is crazy. I would definitely do another skydive if I had the opportunity. I would also love to try other extreme sports such as bungee jumping. I think that everyone should do something that scares them once in a while!

Have you ever taken a risk and done something that scared you? Would you do a skydive?

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When I was 16 I wrote a bucket list. This was a list of things that I wanted to do in my lifetime. Some things were easy, some difficult and some near impossible. One of the things on my bucket list was to do a skydive.

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Writing task statement
(We 've already done this example in class, but you can take a look at it again!)

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Look at the essay and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

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Look at the short story and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

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Look at the email and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

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Look at the blog and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

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More tips ;-)

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Look at the blog and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.

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writing  - using linking words -exercise

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writing  - using linking words -exercise

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Amber has created her own business. Read the story about Amber and then decide the order in which events happened. This activity helps you practise your reading, grammar and the language used for writing a narrative, including the use of the past perfect.

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Learn English with our free online listening, grammar, vocabulary and reading activities. Practise your English and get ready for your Cambridge English exam.

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Lyrics  - Listen and fill in the gaps!!!

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Lyrics  - Listen and fill in the gaps!!!

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LyricsTraining is the new way to learn English and other languages through music and the lyrics of your favourite songs

Improve and practise your listening skills with the best music videos. Fill in the gaps to the lyrics as you listen and sing Karaoke to your favourites

Thousands of teachers, all over the world, are already using LyricsTraining to teach languages and motivate their students through this unique immersion process

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Learn Languages with Music Videos, Lyrics and Karaoke!

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Enjoy learning languages for free playing with the music videos and filling in the lyrics of your favorite songs: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish and more.

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Writing tasks: tips and useful vocabulary

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Writing tasks: tips and useful vocabulary

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Some tips for you