Afleveringen
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To Mitch's surprise, it actually happened... Oasis are back! The duo discuss the news and overwhelming demand for Oasis tickets. They discuss the cultural relevance of their music; being the soundtrack to nineties, naughties, politics, football, cultural events and unfortunately, tragedy. Join them for a chat about a band that defined a generation.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIsi:[0:00] It's a party! Mitch, you now have to give me that scream that never came.Mitch:[0:05] Yeah! Oasis are back! Sorry, Nola.IntroMitch:[0:28] he unthinkable thing happened which I think one time I said it will never happen.Isi:[0:33] I know in the years together how often you talked about this the unimaginable happenedMitch:[0:40] The unimaginable happened. My favourite band ever Oasis decided to make a reunion.Isi:[0:50] You are freaking happy and I'm freaking happy for you I'm also happy I mean it's not that I'm not also an Oasis fan in a way I wouldn't say I'm a fan fan like you are but I'm a fan of the music for sure I love their music a lot I wanted to see them years ago before they broke up, I had tickets.Mitch:[1:10] 11 dates and if you divide that by how many people are excited it's it's going to be difficult to get tickets.Isi:[1:19] Yeah people will come from other countries to the UK, 100%. I mean, we know one, Manuel from Easy German is also a huge fan. He will for sure try to, he will go to the UK because it's the only European date. So that's what they said, which I can't believe really. I see them already playing in France, Germany or wherever.Mitch:[1:36] Yeah, but they've not announced that. So at the moment on Saturday, they've only got 11 gigs available. I'm happy, but they are the kind of band where you kind of want to get insurance on your ticket.Isi:[1:50] Well you get your money back if they have a big fight over five pints and...Mitch:[1:55] I hope so how did it work for the people whoIsi:[1:58] Just imagine they would get all those tickets tickets now to make uh make some more money and then they say it's off.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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This week Isi deciphers the typical stereotypes about Brits and reveals whether or not they are true. They also answer YOUR questions in another section of Unhelpful AdviceInteractive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptMitch:[0:00] Are you ready?Isi:[0:00] I'm ready.Mitch:[0:01] Wonderful.INTROMitch:[0:22] Welcome to episode 48 of the Easy English Podcast. We're creeping into the 50 zone.Isi:[0:30] What do you have for us today, Mitch?Mitch:[0:32] Okay, so in the past, you've read out some articles or found articles to question me about my UK culture and my dialect. So now I thought I would point the finger back at you. As someone who has spent a lot of time in Britain, I thought that I would find an article about typical stereotypes, that foreigners have about British people and British culture, and ask you for your opinion now, are these stereotypes fact or fiction?TOPIC OF THE WEEKIsi:[1:18] Fact or fiction?Mitch:[1:19] Firstly, I read you out the stereotype and you stamp it with a metaphorical fiction or fact.Isi:[1:28] Do I have to do? Or do you do that later editing?Mitch:[1:33] Oh, yeah. Oh.Isi:[1:36] Fiction. Fact. Fiction. Fact.Mitch:[1:41] Stereotype number one. Brits love talking about the weather.Isi:[1:49] Fact. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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After episode 45 where we discussed good animals with bad PR, we discussed the animals with good PR; how dolphins are sea-bullies, how owls are stupid and we body-shame hippos.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIsi:[0:24] We're in summer mood.Mitch:[0:25] I've shorts on at nine o'clock. And we're also drinking coffee. Forgive us if we're a bit tired and say some odd stuff.Isi:[0:32] You do sound tired. More than me, I would say.Mitch:[0:35] My voice is very, very low.Isi:[0:38] You're very tired.Mitch:[0:39] Yeah.Isi:[0:40] Anyways, Topic of the Week.Unknown:[0:43] TOPIC OF THE WEEKMitch:[0:49] Okay so um if you listened to not last week last time not the last podcast but the podcast before that... well I'm struggling.Isi:[1:00] What is with you?Mitch:[1:02] I had a margarita, I had...Isi:[1:05] Wait, you are hung over?Mitch:[1:06] Aperol Spritz. (Are you hung over?) Beer and red wine. (Are you hung over?) Yes.Isi:[1:12] I don't feel hung over at all.Mitch:[1:13] Not in a bad way quite it feels quite good.Isi:[1:15] No, but your voice really is hung over. And I mean maybe mine too but you know you hear yourself really differently um do I sound tired or hangover? I feel top-fit the weather is giving me a boost.Mitch:[1:29] Alright, show-off.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Mitch and Isi have some exciting news, they will be hosting their first ever meet-up in Brighton this August 9th with Easy German! Get your FREE tickets at - https://www.easygerman.org/meetups They also do a recap of the most recent UK news and then dissect and review each month of the year.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptMitch:[0:23] Welcome to episode number... loading, loading...Isi:[0:29] You don't know.Mitch:[0:31] 46.Isi:[0:33] We're 50 soon.Mitch:[0:35] We'll be 50 soon.Isi:[0:36] That's good.Mitch:[0:38] What should we do for our 50th?Isi:[0:39] I don't know.Mitch:[0:41] Maybe listeners have an idea of something we can do that's more special for our 50th episode. Maybe we get a guest?Isi:[0:49] When is our 50th? Is that in...Mitch:[0:51] End of September.Isi:[0:53] Can we not record it in Berlin with some special guests?Mitch:[0:57] True, we'll be in Berlin.Isi:[0:58] In the big Easy German podcast studio.Mitch:[1:01] Oh, fancy sound and a fancy guest. Who could we get? Maybe people who are listening want to vote. Who should we try to get? Manuel, Cari or Janusz?Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Today, Isi and Mitch explore the animal kingdom in the first of two episodes; discussing animals with bad PR (public relations). We talk about the movies and other media that has influenced our opinions on some of the most fascinating and often friendly animals.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptMitch:[0:00] Okay, one, two.Isi:[0:01] One, two.Mitch:[0:02] Buckle my shoe.Isi:[0:03] Three, four.Mitch:[0:04] Knock at the door.Isi:[0:05] Five, six.Mitch:[0:07] Pick up sticks.Isi:[0:09] Seven, eight. Are you just Googling what rhymes on eight?Mitch:[0:14] No, but there's like a song.Isi:[0:16] Don't be late.Mitch:[0:17] It might be.Isi:[0:18] Nine, ten.Mitch:[0:19] Wait, wait, wait. Again.Isi:[0:23] One, two.Mitch:[0:23] Buckle my shoe.Isi:[0:25] Three, four.Mitch:[0:26] Shut the door.Isi:[0:27] Five, six.Mitch:[0:28] Pick up sticks.Isi:[0:29] Seven, eight.Mitch:[0:30] Lay them straight.Isi:[0:32] Nine, ten.Mitch:[0:33] Begin again.Isi:[0:34] Okay, let's begin again.Unknown:[0:35] INTROIsi:[0:54] Mitch what's our do we only do a mega topic of the week because i love it and we have no time for anything else yeah.Mitch:[1:01] I don't know how we.Isi:[1:02] I know why why we watched something where a cockroach appeared and we discussed why the cockroaches actually have such a bad reputation because they don't do anything really they don't bite you they don't sting you they don't do anything bad to you just living in they just prefer dirty places I think that's why people just eat bin-juice don't they? I don't even know what they eat, but (Bin-juice.) What do you think?Mitch:[1:30] Yeah, we came up with an idea to do an episode about good and bad animal PR. Okay, should we get started?Isi:[1:42] Yeah.Mitch:[1:43] Wait, first of all, we haven't said it, but welcome to the Easy English Podcast. (10 minutes later.) I um have written down some of my own feelings towards animals in the animal kingdom that have bad and good PR. Now just in case you don't know PR do you know what PR stands for? (Public relations.) So in the theory we're sort of making out like each of these animals has a media team which they kind of do for me it's mainly Disney movies that's gonna be the reason why I've given them good or bad PR. So I'm just gonna read out some to you do you want to start with bad PR or good PR? Bad PR would be animals which we perceive to be bad from media, whatever but actually really goodIsi:[2:31] All animals are good there's no animal that has bad PR that is not good.Mitch:[2:35] I have I have a good one that I would like for you to tell me that has bad PR and is a bad animal.Isi:[2:41] There is no bad animals.Mitch:[2:42] Are you sure?Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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This week, Mitch and Isi go discuss boob-tubes and milk-juice; the strange slang of Boomers. They also share stories from the progressing stages of EURO 2024... is football coming home?Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptMitch:[0:23] Hello.Isi:[0:24] Hello.Mitch:[0:25] Welcome to episode 44 of the Easy English Podcast.Isi:[0:31] You sound like a wizard.Mitch:[0:33] A wizard? You're a wizard, Harry. Harry Potter. Harry Potter. Harry Potter. Oh, Harry Potter. Anyway, welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Isi, how are you?Isi:[0:48] Very well, thank you. And you?Mitch:[0:51] Not bad, thank you. We're both lying, I think, doing the very British thing.Isi:[0:56] Why? I'm good. Why are you not good?Mitch:[0:58] Small talk. I have hay fever incoming. I can feel it.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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With a surprise UK general election on the horizon, Isi and Mitch want to bring you a brief overview of the political goings-on in the UK; how the election works, the past 14 years of conservative rule and what the two main parties have promised the people of the UK for the next four years. afterwards, they answer YOUR questions in their regular segment of Unhelpful Advise where they answer a question from Easy German host, Manuel.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroIsi:[0:22] So, my friends, let's get going with my best German accent.Mitch:[0:28] See if you can keep up that level of energy the whole way through.Isi:[0:31] Why? You have s*t topics or what?Mitch:[0:34] Um, no. I actually thought Easy English could do this week. It's Guide to the UK General Election.Isi:[0:46] Okay, guide us.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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This week, to everyone's surprise, including Isi, the duo talk about sports. They recap last weekend's events including back-to-back promotions for Isi's hometown, Münster, the rise of glory hunting Man City fans from Brighton. They details the drama of the Tyson Fury, Olexander Usyk fight in Saudi Arabia and talk about the huge influence Jürgen Klopp had on British culture as he ended his tenure as Liverpool FC manager this weekend after 9 years in charge.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipShow NotesIrish travelers dialect - Bartley Gorman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvybZLKH7Zk&t=88sTranscriptIntroMitch:[0:22] Hello.Isi:[0:24] Hello.Mitch:[0:25] Uh-oh. Welcome to episode 42 of the Easy English Podcast. Isi, are you okay?Isi:[0:32] Yes, I am okay. Oh, God.Mitch:[0:34] Trying not to cough and splutter?Isi:[0:37] Again, I have a bad voice.Mitch:[0:39] It's very bluesy.Isi:[0:41] Yeah, I could be a good singer now.Mitch:[0:43] Da-da-da-da-da-da.Isi:[0:45] Na-na-na-na-na-na.Mitch:[0:47] No, you're supposed to say, woke up this morning.Isi:[0:51] Woke up this morning. That doesn't work.Mitch:[0:57] Too tired and ill to even contemplate those lyrics.Isi:[1:00] Oh yeah.Mitch:[1:02] Okay, so today we're gonna do an episode which Isi never thought she'd ever do probably. But I'd always dreamed of doing, we're gonna talk about sports.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Mitch and Isi recap their past weeks as Easy English had their first ever meetup, Mitch got nervous, Isi brought the whole family and Nola became the selfie-queen. They then discuss last weekends Eurovision results as Switzerland cleaned up, the UK felt zero (points) love and Germany finally did quite well. They then also describe their excitement at seeing the Northern Lights for the first time, but at the seaside in Brighton... WTF!?Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch:[0:22] Okay, welcome to episode 41 of the Easy English Podcast.Isi:[0:28] Do you have a sweet in your mouth during a podcast? That's not cool.Mitch:[0:33] No.Isi:[0:35] People will hate this. Okay, he puts it out. Don't worry. Now it's on your laptop.Mitch:[0:42] Save it for later. We're back in Britain.Isi:[0:46] We're back in Britain.Mitch:[0:47] How are you all? yet again more grinding of building materials .Isi:[0:53] Yeah, do you remember when we told you our building work is coming to an end our building work started again.Mitch:[0:58] They've started again from day one they do it all over again.Isi:[1:03] Wait, we already said they started again didn't we and now they started again again.Mitch:[1:06] Again again they're working backwards. They're gonna take it back to how it was and then do it all over again but a bit better.Isi:[1:12] There's drilling in the background now yay.Mitch:[1:14] Um today we have three topics for you. Let's do topic number one.Isi:[1:21] Topic number one.Mitch:[1:22] Easy English Updates.Unknown:[1:28] Easy English Updates.Mitch:[1:30] When was it? Last week? Yeah, last week.Isi:[1:34] Yeah, it was, it's only a week ago. Well, a week and two days. (We had) our first ever Easy English meetup together with Easy German so we did an Easy German and Easy English meetup to meet viewers listeners maybe some some people of you that are listening now. (Oh yeah, can you write if you were there.) Yeah write us a message. (It was in Münster so it was more German-based,obviously.) In my home-town and we met for like three hours i think it's in the end it was much longer than three hours.Mitch:[2:12] cool venue right called Gasolin. An old gas station or petrol station sorry.Isi:[2:17] A bar that I've known for many many years in my life and we met there it was much fun um... (I was nervous.) yeah?Mitch:[2:28] Yeah, I didn't want to tell you because I don't want to give empathy nerves. I had to drink maybe two beers to feel a bit more like I drank Radler which is like a shandy in English. (Yeah.) Which is a mixture of lemonade and beer and the sugar just made me feel more nervous.Isi:[2:46] Oh yeah it's a bit nerve-wracking isn't it because we are just always behind our microphones behind the camera or in front of the camera but on our own doing our stuff.Mitch:[2:57] Yeah, we're kind of faceless in a way.Isi:[2:59] Yeah, and it's really nice to get direct feedback. But we are lacking this really in like our...job. I know you you give sometimes comments on YouTube or here on the podcast or as a member on Patreon. But it would be great to actually have more of a feedback even so actually now I can directly tell you it would be great if you on your podcast app where you're listening um give us a feedback um on most apps you can give rating or even a comment with it um like on Spotify for example you can give a rating and you can also ask questions or give us comments on specific episodes and we would be really really happy to get that because you know when you're doing something and you don't really know what people think of it so it does help us a lot if you give us a feedback so if you could now now now quickly quickly it takes a second go on I mean you are on the app now but see on the app that you can um whatever app you're using, um that you can review and rate our podcast that would really mean a lot a lot thank you very much so now going on with the meetup. Mitch in the meantime had his sweet again in his mouth and again out of it you're like a kid. But it was it was much um it was much fun to meet people. (Yeah, it was. Everyone was so nice.) Yeah everyone was so nice and we had a lot of fun the weather was in the end really good it was not too hot not too cold sun was shining we could sit outside as well it's a good mix wasn't it we had an outside terrace an indoor room that was really cool.Mitch:[4:37] Yeah, there were there are photos from it as well on uh both our Instagram and Easy German's Instagram if you want to see what a meetup looks like because I would be inclined to do it again.Isi:[4:46] Yeah.Mitch:[4:47] Was quite... was quite nice is the weird thing is is people were there for Easy German mainly. And the thing I felt nervous about was I didn't know who was there for us.Isi:[4:58] Yeah we didn't ask that in the registry process So we didn't really know I think a lot of people know us from both because we both I mean I obviously I'm part of the Easy German team as well um but we also both together produce episodes for Easy German sometimes so even Mitch is in the videos of Easy German so I guess people came maybe for both as well.Mitch:[5:21] Yeah, you should go and watch them because we we sometimes make the videos for the Slow Easy German.Isi:[5:26] Or Super Easy German as well yeah.Mitch:[5:29] Oh, Super Easy German, sorry. Not Slow, Easy German.Isi:[5:31] Hasn't been now for a longer time. I think autumn, last autumn was our last episode. But the script for the next one is ready. So also there. But anyway, you might not learn German, but people actually maybe knew us from Both. Did you just put the sweet back in your mouth? Can you not just leave it outside?Mitch:[5:50] It's made like a weird stain on my laptop. To be honest, actually, people... What was quite nice is Nola was our buffer and people actually... were more interested in meeting Nola from my point of view to be honest. I think Nola had multiple selfies taken with her.Isi:[6:06] For her it was actually quite fun as well wasn't it? It was not too loud she could chill outside we had also my dad, I mean both my parents were there um my mum also is part of the Easy German team.Mitch:[6:22] It was a real family event.Isi:[6:23] My dad came well he is also in some videos of Easy German. So we are basically all part of it.Mitch:[6:30] We've all been dragged in.Isi:[6:31] My dad's major role at the meetup was dog sitting. He just walked around with Nola.Mitch:[6:36] The dog handler. (Yeah.) It was really nice. And actually, I find these things often quite awkward because I hate icebreakers and I hate organised fun. But that people were there for one purpose and were discussing their level, because I'm also learning German. It was quite nice to get inspiration and also find out what people are looking for. I was surprised. A lot of the Germans that were there, their level of English...Isi:[7:03] The German learners, you mean?Mitch:[7:04] There were Germans there who watch Easy German. And they're just like fans of watching it. (Yeah, yeah.) From what I saw. But their level of English surprised me because I always consider that Germans don't need English really. But they were like, it was good to pick up on certain things that I realised that Germans sort of maybe make mistakes on quite commonly. Or, you know, there was a lot of like people saying that their writing skills aren't very good which is something.Isi:[7:27] saying Germans can't speak English? (Oh God.) No think every native speaker of a certain language for if you're a German native speaker does specific mistakes in a specific language that you learn that sounds very complicated what I mean is German native speakers make different mistakes in English than Spanish native speakers for example so I think that is actually actually we began a list about that months ago um with the mistakes that I still do and things that I notice or that you notice on how I speak. So um we definitely want to do a video about this like mistakes that German, native speakers do in English.Mitch:[8:12] Yeah, to be fair... oh actually just remembered Manuel asked... has a question for us.Isi:[8:18] Oh yeah.Mitch:[8:20] That he sent to us at the meetup but we'll do it next next time.Isi:[8:22] Okay, Manuel, next time.Mitch:[8:23] Next time, you'll have to wait. (You'll have to wait.) And to be fair, English speakers also make so many mistakes. And in a fun way, this is what our project is all about because they're not going to change for you, to be honest. So you have to sort of figure out, the common mistakes English people make in order to understand them which is where we come in and if you're not aware we run a membership for Easy English not only for our videos where you can get transcripts and worksheets but also for the podcast, we offer something called an Interactive Transcript and the way it's interactive is; you will press the play button on your phone, on your laptop whether you're at home, or on the train or wherever you are wherever you listen to the podcast and it will follow along with what we're saying on the transcript with this little yellow highlighter box... what are you smiling about?Isi:[9:18] You do a lot of gestures that people can't see you know?Mitch:[9:22] I know but it's helping me actually now I sort of understand why politicians use their hands a lot, and as it's following along with our what we're saying on the trend on the Interactive Transcript you can press a button... oh God. I'm dying slowly... and you can press a button and it will ask you if you'd like to have the transcript translated into, hopefully your native language there's a whole array of languages offered now and so not only are you following along on the Interactive Transcript you're also having it translated next to each paragraph that we're talking about and if you still have no idea what I'm describing even with my invisible hand gestures you can go to easyenglish.fm and on our trailer; episode zero there is a free example of that transcript working so go give it a go and if you like it and if it's helping you or will help you to improve your English then become an Easy English member by going to easyenglish.video/membership sweetie going back in.Mitch:[10:33] There was a big event.Isi:[10:35] Cultural event.Mitch:[10:36] A big cultural event on the weekend that we watched, right? Or we watched a bit of. We missed a few.Isi:[10:43] We missed the beginning because of time zones, which shouldn't be a problem for us any more, but it sometimes is when we travel very spontaneously to places. So we missed the beginning...Mitch:[10:54] Sorry. (Of the Eurovision.) Song Contest in.Isi:[11:00] We said it like we were advertising it.Mitch:[11:02] It was a very bad advertisement. Yeah, it was the Eurovision in Sweden this time.Isi:[11:07] In Malmö.Mitch:[11:08] In Malmö. And it had a big cultural relevance to where we are because Brighton was the birthplace of ABBA, basically. ABBA got big from winning the Eurovision and they won it in Brighton in the Dome.Isi:[11:25] Why was this year such a big topic anyway? It was 50 years of ABBA also?Mitch:[11:30] It was 50 years since ABBA won it.Isi:[11:31] And then ABBA got big.Mitch:[11:33] I think they got big through Eurovision. Most Eurovision bands don't tend to get very big. (No, no.) They're the biggest of the bunch, you'd think, no? And then this Maneskin, money skin. But even they're not big in England. ABBA, huge. Oh, my God. So it was not only the 50th anniversary, it was also in Sweden. Did Sweden win it last year?Isi:[11:59] I guess so. (In Liverpool.) don't normally the winner then also.Mitch:[12:05] Then host it.Isi:[12:06] No not host it but like have a gig.Mitch:[12:10] It'll be in... so Switzerland won it this year and actually wasn't that bad not something I would listen to.Isi:[12:16] No but, he will probably next year then when it's in Switzerland present the song again no? is that not a thing? God we missed everything, we were also not prepared at all I think it was very well earned they had definitely, the best biggest talent I would say maybe not the biggest but um well maybe the biggest I mean the French guy was also really, really talented but Nemo they were good in singing rapping and like opera singing even like so talented and then also great obviously that's the first non-binary winner ever of the Eurovision Song Contest so that's amazing. The song was cool um probably not something I... I would have caught on the radio to listen at home myself. But I think it was really one of the best songs, yeah. So amazing, yeah. Congratulations.Mitch:[13:08] Yeah, the French one was actually like a normal song. Do you know what I mean? That's when you...Isi:[13:13] Yeah, like a ballad. Quite, yeah, quite big though. Quite a big like... how do you call those ballads that are like, yeah, but like, mega ballad or so whatever. I think it was actually actually really good.Mitch:[13:26] Yeah but to win Eurovision you have to do something a bit special don't you?Isi:[13:31] Bit like, uniqueMitch:[13:32] Yeah. They were doing Matrix moves while spinning on this disc.Isi:[13:36] yeah, and then singing that amazingly with it. (Yeah.) While really like bending over it's good.Mitch:[13:42] Sometimes I watch it generally because it's always a bit of a fun joke like it's always fun to have a drink because it's all a bit silly and a bit over the top and a bit extravagant a bit eccentric.Isi:[13:55] Yeah, very much theatre.Mitch:[13:57] And it goes on for ever.Isi:[14:01] Oh my god and again it was like 1am to go to bed and for people in like europe mainland it was like 2 or 2:30 it's not my time... (People in Switzerland!) I don't like to go to bed that late.Mitch:[14:17] The performance bit is actually quite well done. As I used to work in technical theatre, you see how quick they're able to change between acts, right? Like the person finishes singing, they cut to the announcers, and they only speak for about 30 seconds. And in that time, the act's off, new act's on, prop on, props off, lights off, new lights on, and everything's rearranged. back to zero and they do that like 30 odd times throughout the whole day but then the ironically the longest thing is that when they're just counting numbers when they're going okay and now we're going over to Moldova hello Moldova big break because there's a gap in audio hello Eurovision and then they always do something quirky to stand out.Isi:[15:06] God yeah. Anyway it was a really, interesting night good entertainment I was actually into this time into it more than other times I've watched it. I haven't watched it that often as a kid more than last year we watched it together and now it's the second time in a long long long time but this year was actually a lot more exciting than last year for sure so yeah thanks Eurovision.Mitch:[15:32] And Germany did quite well.Isi:[15:34] Oh yeah, they... I'm sorry I just wanted to end the topic without telling that you got zeroMitch:[15:41] Zero from the public.Isi:[15:42] Zero pointMitch:[15:45] Not one member of the public enjoyed our performance.Isi:[15:48] Yeah zero and Germany did not so bad yeah 12th place I think but.Mitch:[15:54] We never heard the song.Isi:[15:55] We never heard the song not even later every time that they showed the recap or how do you call that of like all the songs, every time I did something else, looked somewhere else, and then only switched in with my brain, like looking at it, when it was anyway at the point where we started late watching the show. So I did not once hear the German song, really. (And what was your favourite of all of them?) I liked...Mitch:[16:25] Ireland's was just a spectacle, right?Isi:[16:29] My favourite... hmm... (Switzerland!) Maybe Switzerland I liked a few of them though I must say like it wasn't as like there were some some shows when I watched it and there wasn't really like no song that I liked. There were a few that were quite good.IMitch:[16:45] I always... I always look out for Finland are always the one to look out for in my opinion they always do the maddest stuff like just bonkers s*t last time they had the guy in the green um shoulder pad like luminous green outfit and uh he had this like bowl haircut but then this year they had a guy with a mullet and a trucker hat and he was running around pretending to be naked his penis out and then finally some hot pants were delivered from up in the gantries and once he put them on sparklers came out or from his hot pants, just bananas yeah I'm looking forward to next year already.Isi:[17:24] And then we have one more third topic, which is a little topic just to tell you how lucky we were We saw the northern lights in Brighton. (In Brighton!) By the sea in south England and um.Mitch:[17:42] That wasn't during Eurovision was it?Isi:[17:45] No it was the night before. (The night before, wow!) The night before. (Two spectacles.) I, by accident saw it somewhere that um that northern lights that the possibility is there to see them and we went on the balcony and we saw it and we were like what the f*k! What the beep and then what the f (At first thought it was light pollution.) WTF. we were (WTF.) And it was the first what? We thought it was light from the city first it was really really dark and then yeah it got green and pink and then we made photos obviously through photos it even looked better and it was very very exciting.Mitch:[18:26] Yeah, and it was like slightly pulsing which was like the most exciting thing for me. Because I always, have in my mind how it would look and it kind of was exactly like this sort of like wavy pulsing...Isi:[18:39] It wasn't moving so much.Mitch:[18:40] It was very vague yeah it's very subtle but you could if once you're outside for a bit you could really pick it out right?Isi:[18:47] Yeah, it was really really nice so maybe you saw it too it was visible over a lot of European places.Mitch:[18:53] I wanna know if any of our listeners are more north than we were and if... (That must have looked amazing.) If you were in In Finland or somewhere, it must have been crazy.Isi:[19:04] Even in Scotland.Mitch:[19:05] I saw it had 100% visibility in some places. If you have a good picture of it, that's hashtag no filter and not a long exposure, which is how your naked eye saw it. I want to see it because it must have looked mad.Isi:[19:21] Mad.Mitch:[19:23] Wow. Once in a lifetime, we can cross Finland off our to-do list, our bucket list. Been there, done that. don't have to stay in an igloo in an ice hotel to do it. Okay!Isi:[19:37] Coolio. I would say te-ra te-ra.Mitch:[19:40] Te-ra, te-ra. See you next time.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Isi brings a new section to the podcast, asking Mitch about cultural seaside traditions. All with a slightly cheap but iconic postcard theme they discuss the food, people, entertainment and wildlife of the British coastline. Afterwards, Mitch recommends one of his top five favourite films 'No Country for Old Men'.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch:[0:22] Are you ready?Isi:[0:26] I am ready. I have the feeling we only record tired podcasts now. We change from having a cocktail sometimes with our podcast to coffee and tiredness.Mitch:[0:40] Have we begun? (Yes.) Okay.Isi:[0:42] But I'm super motivated because of a great topic.Mitch:[0:45] Oh yeah?Isi:[0:46] Yes.Mitch:[0:46] Okay, firstly, welcome to the Easy English Podcast.Isi:[0:48] Welcome.Mitch:[0:50] We hope you're all well and not as sleepy as us but also as motivated as us.Isi:[0:56] I'm not even sleepy the coffee does help. Okay...Mitch:[1:00] I think it's because the shutter that sort of works for the... on the window that for the room that we're in is broken. I broke that and we seem to be breaking a lot of things at the moment where... you said it last night we're a bad omen, at the moment.Isi:[1:16] I think so.Mitch:[1:17] We also... don't tell your parents broke their fridgeIsi:[1:21] We didn't. (Someone did.) Well I think the fridge was broken we were just being the unlucky ones to be there when the last hit.Mitch:[1:33] Here's a good idiom for you.Isi:[1:34] Yes?Mitch:[1:35] We have been the straw that broke the camel's back.Isi:[1:39] I know that one, I don't have to use my buzzer. I know it.Mitch:[1:45] Okay good, what is it that you want to bring to the Easy English Podcast today? Is it a new section?Isi:[1:50] Yes it is. So I know we discuss culture a lot of times and we have the Culture Club where we recommend British things or British series or anything cultural but last time we spoke about Brits on Germans and obviously we want to talk here about um Brits and the British way of life and I thought we could have a new section which is called Very British where we talk about anything that is actually considered to be British which could be like characteristics or like how people behave cultural behaviour but also the way that Brits or people in Britain do things.Mitch:[2:41] Okay, and what's the name of this called? Very British?Isi:[2:43] Very British.Mitch:[2:44] Okay, we... I make a...Isi:[2:45] We can also call it So Very British.Mitch:[2:50] Okay, I make a section which is coming in now!Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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This week, Mitch and Isi discuss Brits' perception of Germans. They discuss typical stereotypes, true or false. The difference between Bavaria and the rest of Germany. Germany's current culture and history. Their obsession with coastal England and of course, Germany's current representative in the UK; Jürgen Klopp.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroIsi:[0:23] Good morning.Mitch:[0:24] Good morning from... (Morning.) ...overcast Germany.Isi:[0:30] It's actually sunny at the moment.Mitch:[0:31] Is it?Isi:[0:32] Yes. I get neck problems again if I always turn around to you like this now.Mitch:[0:37] Just face...Isi:[0:37] I will not face...Mitch:[0:38] Just don't look at me.Isi:[0:39] I will not look at you.Mitch:[0:40] I can't take the pressure.Isi:[0:42] It's sunny right now. We had a really sunny weekend. I mean, we only arrived Saturday. But we had a really sunny weekend in Germany.Very much summer feeling. And now it's going back to winter. You hear my voice my voice is still bad.Mitch:[0:56] I can't tell if you're speaking to the listeners or me now. Because you're just facing the wall .Isi:[1:01] Do you see my eye always trying to get over to you.Mitch:[1:04] you look like Nola when she thinks we're talking about her.Isi:[1:08] And she's naughty. so yeah we are in Germany. How fitting because I have a little topic for you for today Mitch .Mitch:[1:15] Is it our topic of the week?Isi:[1:17] It is the topic of the week.So what i would like to know, well I have my own experiences with this topic but I would like to know from you growing up in the UK how do British people perceive Germans and German culture and the the German language? Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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This week's episode is a flu-based survival guide, Mitch and Isi cover lemon & ginger tea, spicy soups, fruit salads, vapour inhalation, reality TV, fishing shows, bed rest and tissue-plugs. Mitch also reviews the British, metaphorical horror/thriller movie 'Men' in his new section 'Mitch's Movie Club'.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch:[0:24] Hiya, welcome to episode 38 of the Easy English Podcast. Isi, how are you?Isi:[0:30] I'm okay. I am a bit congested, still.Mitch:[0:33] Well, that's good. Not good, but good for the podcast because...Isi:[0:38] Good for the podcast?Mitch:[0:39] Yeah, because I wanted to do an episode about getting over illnesses. Tips and tricks from Mitch and Isi. (What a great episode.) Let's go.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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After a question last time round from listener Georgia, Mitch and Isi discuss the influence of modern day influencers; the Royal Family. From backing British made products, influencing the EU referendum and championing mental health and environmental awareness. They also discuss the controversial topics surrounding the armed forces and the love/hate relationship they have with tabloid media.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch:[0:23] Hello, welcome to episode... what is it? Oh God.Isi:[0:27] 30...Mitch:[0:29] 30, what would you think? 31? No, don't be silly.Isi:[0:34] Oh God.Mitch:[0:36] Episode 37. (Wow!) Of the Easy English Podcast.Isi:[0:41] Hello.Mitch:[0:41] I planned for us to do an episode about Georgia's question from the last episode, asking; how much the royal family affects our day-to-day life, in the UK.Isi:[0:52] Didn't we talk about the royals before? We did a video episode about the queen's jubilee with Cari from Easy German who's a big 'Crown' 'The Crown' fan and Netflix series.Mitch:[1:04] Yeah I mean that is already one way in which the royal family affects, their part of (The world.) Yeah, they're like... they're back they're back again into common culture. There was a period I think between Diana and now, where they're kind of had a bit of a dip. But now they're kind of like, influencers. They live a life of influencers, in a way, don't they?Isi:[1:26] I guess they're representatives of the monarchy. But in a way, I think they see themselves also as representatives of Britain, of the Commonwealth.Mitch:[1:37] They have some power, in the sense of they don't have any...Isi:[1:41] They're influential.Mitch:[1:42] Yeah, exactly.Isi:[1:42] To a lot of people still.Mitch:[1:44] If they mention a brand or something, then they can have... or talk badly about a brand.Isi:[1:49] But they don't do that, on purpose, they don't they don't want to be political and they are actually they shouldn't be, right? From the legal stand.Mitch:[1:59] They shouldn't be, but obviously like, if you think of Harry and Meghan they had a Spotify and did Kate and William also have a Spotify. (No, I don't think so.) Harry and Meghan had a Spotify podcast right, exclusive.Isi:[2:09] Do they still have that.Mitch:[2:10] No. (I've never listened to it.) It got dropped. (Okay.) Because they're so boring. (Are they?) But Spotify obviously has like...Isi:[2:18] I actually like their Netflix series. I found it quite entertaining.Mitch:[2:22] That was good. (Yeah.) But if you think they have these brands... that they promote, they put their stamp on things that they agree with, principally, things that are British-made.Isi:[2:33] Ah, true, yeah. Like very old, traditional products, like brown sauce.Mitch:[2:39] Twining's tea?Isi:[2:40] I love Twining's tea.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Mitch and Isi discuss a topic recommended by Easy English Member, Marketa; childhood. Isi explains how her street was a construction area for skate parks, igloos and prison cells. Whilst Mitch tells of crossbows, conker fights and... offensive language. Did any of it happen, or are these just tall tales, recollected from hear-say and distant memories? They also answer Georgia's question about the Royals, in their regular section of Unhelpful Advice.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipShow NotesOpinions on the Royal Family: What Do English People Think of the Royal Family? (https://youtu.be/6pP-caxrr6Y?si=E5lz8gRfPrNmsk3T) (Easy English 98)Reacting to the Queens Jubilee: The Queen's Platinum Jubilee (https://youtu.be/zpn6SxwLe7M?si=Y3HoWWbrby6-Pf0a) (Easy English 123)TranscriptIntroMitch:[0:23] Welcome to the Easy English Podcast. Today, we are doing, we're sort of catching up with some requests of things that you've sent us in. We wanted to cover a topic, which one of our members of Easy English; Marketa, one of our longest standing, dearest members, requested us to do a topic, comparing our childhoods from the perspective of growing up in the UK to growing up in Germany.Isi:[0:51] That's a good topic.Mitch:[0:51] Which is interesting. And they mentioned school and birthday parties, specifically. Isi:[0:58] Perfect. I mean, obviously, the kindergarten school system is different. I think that should not be part of it, though. That could be an own topic. What is the difference? I would say in general, the upbringing in both our countries are similar. There's definitely countries where we would find bigger differences.Mitch:[1:18] It's hard to compare a little bit, because you grew up in a a 300,000 city and I grew up in a 30,000 town.Isi:[1:24] Yeah you're the village boyMitch:[1:27] I'm the cauliflower-eared, village boy.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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This week, Mitch and Isi bring you the podcast from the Easy English-mobile. Mitch is drving whilst Isi navigates the infamous Antwerp bottle-neck into the JFK tunnel. And what better situation than to discuss driving in the UK. The duo discuss, roundabouts, service station, exploding tyres, car fridges, speed limits and drunk French drivers.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch & Isi:[0:27] So, welcome to the Easy English Podcast from the streets, just entering Belgium. From the A67 in Belgium. Today is a special episode. - It's a special episode. - Is this even legal, what we're doing? - Why? - Are you allowed to podcast while driving? - We're not watching anything or listening to anything, we're just talking. - I know, but multitasking is hard. - We normally talk in the car. As we were talking about public transport, this is not public transport, I mean for Nola it is, kind of, but it is transport.And we thought, as we, so many times go back and forth between Germany, and England and France also, sometimes, around Europe, that we will do an episode from the car.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Today, the duo talk about the strange cultural rhetorical greeting "y'alright?" How to be the giver... and receiver of it, before going into the Topic of the Week, discussing typical British etiquette around queuing for buses, cashier desks and buying rounds of drinks. Long-time member James also asks us a question about teaching English in our regular segment of Unhelpful Advice. If you would also like to ask us a question, go to easyenglish.fm.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipShow NotesBritish Etiquette video: WHAT is Considered RUDE In the UK? (https://youtu.be/hvBHUZsX9n8) (Easy English 172)TranscriptIntroMitch:[0:22] Good evening.Isi:[0:23] Good evening Mitch, how are you doing?Mitch:[0:27] Very well, thank you. Yeah, how would it be done... I'm thinking of 1930s/40s Britain. Hello welcome to the Easy English Podcast.Isi:[0:35] Alright. (Alright?) Alright (Are you alright?) Are you alright?Mitch:[0:40] And always the answer; yeah you? But never really meaning it.Isi:[0:43] Yeah me to, thanks, thanks, bye. Such a stupid conversation, really.Mitch:[0:52] Yeah you? Welcome to the Easy English Podcast... I said that already.Isi:[0:55] By the way, I always walk on when people ask me that, I always say like; yeah... and then I just go and I make the 'yeah' so long that I don't have to ask 'and you', because then I think in my German manners, that I have to wait for the answer that nobody wants to give me anyway, so always I'm like; oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you, yeah. And then I just make a chewing gum and I'm already around the corner. (Oh really?) I did it yesterday, in the hallway, with one of the builders.Mitch:[1:22] Oh yeah, he said; "hey, yeah, you alright?"Isi:[1:24] Yeah, and I was just like; oh yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah. And I just went on.Mitch:[1:29] You don't even need to respond.Isi:[1:31] Yeah, you should say; yeah, how are you? But then nothing comes back. And that is for me, a weird end of a conversation, right?Mitch:[1:39] Yeah, I find it weird. It happened also to me we were in the park and two school girls got jumped on by Nola, in a loving way.Isi:[1:46] Well, they provoked her to jump on her. They were running at her like... While running at her they were like; is she friendly? And we were like; yeah. So basically, they jumped on her.Mitch:[1:57] And then I said... because I was actually asking; are they all right? I was like; are you all right? And she went; "yeah you?" And then I realised; oh she thinks I'm asking like; are you alright? Like, how are you?Isi:[2:12] That is really... we had another podcast I think in the very beginning where we talked about this and it's still a big topic for me. I find it weird, because it's also about the intonation.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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This week, we answer Arthur's question on improving one's English when nervous to speak. But the main topic is about Britain's transport network, notably it's iconic buses. We talk double-deckers, Megabuses, thanking the driver, tapping on, cashless buses, USB buses, plus dog, bikes, prams drinking on buses.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch:0:23 (Hey!) Hello Easy English peeps, welcome to the Easy English Podcast, how are you doing?Isi[0:30] That sounds so radio show-ish. Are you not into our podcast Mitch? My voice is a bit weird today isn't it?Mitch:[0:37] It's the second coffee podcast we've ever done. It's always a bit of a weird feeling. Uh, before we start with today's topic, I want to do a quick Unhelpful Advice / Your Messages section. Sound good? (Go for it.)Unhelpful AdviceMitch:[0:59] We have, yeah this isn't a question, it's just a statement; "Easy English Podcast". There you go. (That was it?) Yeah that was it.Isi[1:09] Oh hello, then. That was hello wasn't it?Mitch:[1:12] Yeah.Isi[1:12] That was a greeting, maybe.Mitch:[1:14] Thank you for calling in. Uh yeah, that's us, that's our name, don't wear it out. Thank you for calling in. Our next one is um actually a question from uh someone who left us an audio message, who goes by the name of Arthur? I'd say Arthur, but i don't... that's very um... it's a very British sort of pronunciation.Isi[1:40] Think it's a name that is used in a lot of different languages. But maybe in a different way. Arthur, Arthur.Mitch:[1:46] Did you have a cartoon show called Arthur. And it's called yeah 'Hey Arthur'? (Yeah, yeah, yeah.) Did you? (I think I know that yeah, is that Nickelodeon?) Yeah! (Yeah, I know it yeah.) What a wonderful time to play, hey! And he had a sister called DW. (That is weird.) and his Neighbors were rhinoceroses and he was like a weird...Isi[2:06] His name was rhinocerosMitch:[2:07] The neighbours were rhinoceroses and he had a crush on an elephant and he... but he was like a weasel or something. (Cute.) With glasses on. This isn't from a weasel with glasses on. This is from a normal person called Arthur. Here we go; "Hi, everyone. I am Arthur. I want to learn English, because I think, when I try to talk, to speak, it's very basic, because my vocabulary is minimal than the others. When I try to talk, with other person, maybe the other person might understand me, but I think so, that I need to speak very well, to have more vocabulary, I try to express it, maybe it sometimes it's very difficult to me, but I never... I think so that I'm nervous about speaking English. Thank you very much".Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Mitch and Isi start their first episode in a series about dogs. They want to give you their experience... and lack of when it comes to being a dog-parent. In this episode, Mitch and Isi talk adoption; finding your new furry friend, how to prepare, the practical and emotional elements you'll need to survive and the nerves and excitement you'll go through when adding a four-legged friend into your family.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch:[0:19] Three, two, one, happy new year.Isi:[0:23] Three, two, one, happy new year.Mitch:[0:28] Oh God.Isi:[0:32] Okay, chin, chin, ting, ting.Mitch:[0:35] How fitting that the dog is trying to get into the room, as we're today, going to speak about dogs.Isi:[0:42] Dogs.Mitch:[0:43] Dogs in the UK.Isi:[0:45] Dogs.Mitch:[0:45] But first, so today as we're speaking is the 2nd of January, which for those who don't know is the start of our 30 Day Challenge. (Will we always do this now?) It's like we're rehearsed. (Yeah.) Three, two, one, 30 Day Challenge. Like a game show; you've won the star prize! (Or a morning radio show.) Yeah. A speedboat, but you live in Birmingham, so you're never going to to get to use it.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Mitch and Isi discuss the differences between a German and a British Christmas in their festive cabin. What do you eat? Who delivers your presents... and on what day? They discuss Mrs Claus, raclette, Zulu, zuzhing and of course... booze, booze, booze.Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptMitch:[0:00] For those who are listening and have children in earsight, we may approach subject of Santa, Weihnachtsmann, of the Christkind. So there might be some spoiler alerts for little ears.Christmas song? Bing bong, bing bong, bing bong, bing bong.Isi:[0:23] Oh, my singing is fantastic. No one has Christmasy mood now.IntroMitch:[0:58] Okay no, let's have a relaxing one. Okay. Let's imagine we're in a little log cabin.Isi:[1:03] Ooh.Mitch:[1:04] It's snowing outside.Isi:[1:06] Mm-hmm.Mitch:[1:07] We've just opened a bottle of whiskey or red wine. What would you like?Isi:[1:11] Red wine. Bottle of whiskey!Mitch:[1:14] Or Prosecco.Isi:[1:16] Prosecco.Mitch:[1:17] Okay. And the fire's on. I'm just going to open up and throw a log on the fire. All the sparks go up in the fire and it's Christmas day for our listeners.Isi:[1:29] And we're alone in a cabin in the woods or what? (Yeah, this isn't another survival episode.( And we are live, let's be authentic here it's the 20th, not far away from the 25th. So we are recording this five days before for Christmas day. (But for you guys.) For you guys, it's a Christmas day today, if you listen on Christmas but it's the 25st of December and this podcast will be a short one, a short hello for Christmas because we didn't want to go on a break. We wanted to produce a little something, something podcast. (A snippet.) A snippet um... to talk about Christmas and say hello and wish you a merry Christmas obviously only if you celebrate and otherwise a good end of the year a good start out into 2024 because it will be our last podcast of the year.Mitch:[2:21] Isi, what does Christmas Day look like for you as a German? And then we can compare notes. (Yeah.)Isi:[2:28] So in Germany, we start celebrating Christmas on the 24th, on Christmas Eve. That is like the big day.Mitch:[2:36] We do 25th in England.Isi:[2:37] Yep. We celebrate in the night.Mitch:[2:41] Day.Isi:[2:42] And that's, yeah, Christmas Day is like morning through the whole day, isn't it?Mitch:[2:46] In England, the whole day is dedicated to...Isi:[2:49] In Germany, we have the 24th, 25th and 26th for Christmas.Mitch:[2:53] Hmm. We just have 25th.Isi:[2:55] No, you don't.Mitch:[2:56] Yeah.Isi:[2:57] Boxing Day.Mitch:[2:57] Oh, 25th and 26th. (Yeah.) Yeah, yeah. Sorry. But 24th, I even worked one day on the 24th.Isi:[3:04] Hmm.Mitch:[3:04] And I was driving home for Christmas.Isi:[3:09] What else? We do have gifts. (But are you open on the 24th?) On the 24th. I mean, not everybody does the same,we do it we we do gifts first and gifts and drinks and then dinner. (Gifts, drinks, dinner. And in England we go; drink, drink drinks, drinks, gifts, drinks, drinks, drinks, drinks, little sleep, then dinner, then another little sleep whilst watching the film Zulu, or the great escape and then...) What is Zulu?Mitch:[3:40] It's like an old Michael Caine movie. (Okay.) And then After Eight / Bailey's session and then pass out on the sofa again.Isi:[3:48] Okay. On the 25th, we usually in our family rest. Because our Christmases usually, are very long into the night.Mitch:[4:00] Hibernating like some grizzly bears.Isi:[4:03] And we also have like some good food or so. but it's like, it's a day of not doing much. We also have a small family so um there was no one else to visit on that day so we just chilled, long walks, good food. But um... (Is that normally the day you do a visit the old and wrinkly people?) Hey! (Sorry.) No, other families go either yeah, grandparents, aunts, uncles somewhere or you go visit your friends or so. But it's the day where you change places to celebrate with someone else. And then, Boxing Day for us, is not called Boxing Day, obviously.Mitch:[4:39] I don't know why it's called Boxing Day. I'd have to look that up.Isi:[4:42] Then people meet again. My parents always meet friends on that day. Have a little Christmas. We always, my sister and I, have been meeting friends for the past, nearly 20 years. And do like a Friendsmas, or however you call that. Friends Christmas. And in some countryside regions, people go to pubs and they keep a stone with them and if you forget a stone you have to buy a round or so, I never understood it, I don't know. (And who is Santa Claus for you? He has many names he goes by, like the devil.) we don't have Santa... well, it depends if you... if you celebrate Christmas, in the religious way, then it's the Christkind coming on the 24th, bringing the gifts, which is basically, I don't really know. It has the looks of an angel.Mitch:[5:31] The Christ child in English, I guess.Isi:[5:34] It's the Christ child. So basically it's Jesus. But it looks like an angel and it comes, I think, with a sledge as well. It's a bit, yeah, that's how I know the pictures. It sits in a sledge.Mitch:[5:47] Like a cherub? You know cherubs that fire little love arrows?Isi:[5:50] Yeah, it's like the typical angel thing. But yeah, I don't really know. It has like a white dress on.Mitch:[5:56] Floaty dress. And they bring the presents?Isi:[6:01] They bring the presents. Um... and then there's also Nicolaus who looks a bit like Santa Claus, but more religious. (Yeah.) And he comes on the 6th of December and brings gifts then already. (Ah, you have Nicolaus Day or something, no?) Well it really depends what you teach your children, really. So you can also obviously just have Christmas for the traditional way and not for the religious way and then you would maybe also say Santa Claus comes. But I don't know. Oh yeah, the Weihnachtsmann.Mitch:[6:35] Do you think?Isi:[6:36] Oh yeah, we actually do have Santa Claus.Mitch:[6:38] Okay. When he comes on the 5th.Isi:[6:40] The Weihnachtsmann. Christmas ManMitch:[6:41] Christmas Man. (Weihnachtsmann.)Isi:[6:43] He comes also on the 24th.Mitch:[6:47] After or before the lady Jesus?Isi:[6:48] Either Christkind or Weihnachtsmann. Or baby. Baby? Did I say baby?Mitch:[6:52] The baby?Isi:[6:53] You said baby.Mitch:[6:54] I didn't.Isi:[6:55] Maybe Jesus, you said.Mitch:[6:56] I said after or before the lady Jesus.Isi:[6:57] Lady Jesus. I don't know if it's a lady. Let's say it's a baby.Mitch:[7:02] Baby Jesus. Who delivers the gifts? Weihnachtsmann or Baby Jesus lady?Isi:[7:07] I think they can both deliver the gifts. I'm not well prepared for this.Mitch:[7:10] Should we make a disclaimer at the beginning of this, warning parents that your children may lose all faith?Isi:[7:16] So, yeah, one of those come. Or maybe... maybe for some they come together. I guess it's like how you define your own Christmas story.Mitch:[7:25] It's very confusing. We just have one man and he comes through the chimney, through keyholes. He has a magic key. He has magic reindeers, that can fly. He has a sleigh and in that sleigh, holds enough presents for... how many people are there in the world? 6 billion people?Isi:[7:44] A lot more.Mitch:[7:45] But he has enough presents for everyone around the world. He has a naughty list. He has a wife. He lives in the North Pole. (He has a wife?) Mrs. Claus. She looks after the elves, who they make the presents. They make the fur...Isi:[7:57] She looks after them? What does that mean? She cooks for them? She gives them the salary? She does the accounting?Mitch:[8:03] I don't know the details. Yeah, maybe.Isi:[8:04] Company management? Is she an HR?Mitch:[8:07] HMRC should make sure she's, you know... the elves make the skateboards, the rollerblades, PlayStation 4s. They make all that stuff, that goes on the back of the sleigh. He comes, when he comes on the 24th night, you're supposed to be in bed and not see him. He has big black boots and you're supposed to leave out a mince pie for him to eat; a glass of sherry or whiskey depending on what he... your grandad likes to drink. And a carrot for his reindeer. One of the reindeers has a red nose called Rudolph. There's a weird song in British culture of a kid coming downstairs to see his mum making out with Santa Claus, yeah. I saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus, underneath the mistletoe that night. (But it's not a real Christmas song, right?) And it's sung by Michael Jackson, so the morals are all over the place.Isi:[9:00] Let's stop it right here. Kids sing that?Mitch:[9:03] Yeah.Isi:[9:06] Isn't Christmas so confusing anyway? Such a confusing thing. And the elves, they make all the gifts.Mitch:[9:13] In the North Pole.Isi:[9:14] Whatever you want? They know how to do it allMitch:[9:16] And he and you... sometimes... (If i want a new laptop, are they building it?) Yeah exactly, they make... they work with Apple to build laptops they work with Sony to make Playstations they work with Hitachi to make TVs. (We need to put a disclaimer in here as well, laptops you can also get by other companies.) Yeah, yeah, laptops available outside of the north pole.Isi:[9:42] So, what is the dinner? I think we've talked about this before on the podcast. So, what will you consume, eat, drink over the day? Give us a quick round up here.Mitch:[9:51] It's a roast dinner, but zhuzhed.Isi:[9:53] What?Mitch:[9:54] Zhuzh, is a really good kind of, phrase of the week to go into, but let's not do the theme tune. You can zhuzh something up. So, let's say…Isi:[10:04] Where does it come from, zhuzh?Mitch:[10:07] Zhuzh.It could be like a... it sounds Yiddish doesn't it? Let's say, you have a Christmas tree, just a Christmas tree, like a pine tree on its own. You would zhuzh it up by adding lights and decorations, to make it look prettier. (Yeah. )You can zhuzh yourself up a little bit. Oh, I just need to zhuzh myself.Isi:[10:25] Lipstick?Mitch:[10:26] Lipstick, whatever. A bit of cologne. Yeah, but it's nice to say, isn't it? (Wait, let's look that up. How do you write that?) It's a verb. Zhuh. Uh. Zhuh.Isi:[10:39] UK informal. To make something more interesting, more attractive by changing it slightly or adding something into it. The stylist says he would zhoosh up the outfit with a hat. Zhoosh.Mitch:[10:50] Zhoosh.Isi:[10:50] Zhoosh. It's like that H, U, Z, H. Ah, and it's Yiddish.Mitch:[10:56] Is it?Isi:[10:57] Yeah. Interesting. That's a nice, nice phrase.Mitch:[11:00] And how... (Ah, zhoosh me up. )It's a zhooshed up roast dinner.Isi:[11:04] Give me a minute. I need to zhoosh me up.Mitch:[11:06] I need to zhuzh up my face, zhuzh my life up. And so, yeah, it's a zhuzhed up roast dinner, basically.Isi:[11:14] What does that mean? What is different?Mitch:[11:15] This is the time we'd crack out the turkey, because usually roast dinners you'd have either lamb, beef, pork or chicken. For Christmas dinner, it's usually turkey. Don't know why, because turkeys are Christmas animals, apparently. And you'd really just fill it with more stuff. These things called pigs in blankets, which is sausage, wrapped up in a bacon blanket and then, you know, fried or oven-baked. What else would you have?Isi:[11:41] Oh, yeah, I remember when we had English Christmas in your family, your mum did vegan or vegetarian picks and blankets. Do you remember?Mitch:[11:50] I do remember. Or as Boris Johnson says, vegan. (Yeah, does he?) Vegan. (Very German.)Isi:[11:57] Okay, go on.Mitch:[11:59] Yeah, yeah, that's kind of, to be simple, that's what it is. (What do you drink?) Yes. Uh... so but um... specifically, I mean this might not be every family but in the mornings it's nice to have something called a Buck's Fizz or in the U.S you'd say a Mimosa. Buck's Fizz is an orange juice mixed with a fizzy wine, and then you'd work your way up slowly throughout the day, until you basically cannot stand. You'd usually end with like a Baileys or an Amarula. Something creamy.Isi:[12:31] Mm-hmm. Very nice.Mitch:[12:32] I'm also someone who likes this thing called a Snowball, which is eggnog, basically. Vodka and egg. And then you make a shot of that and then you fill the rest of your glass with lemonade. It's like a good pick-me-up drink when you're hitting that kind of, slump hour. Just after you've watched Zulu and it's like a three and a half hour film and you're like, oh God, I'm dying here. Then you have a quick Snowball and you're back in the game, ready to play charades with the family. And what do you do in Germany?Isi:[13:08] Oh, everybody does it differently, really. Some people have...Mitch:[13:13] A zhuzhed up something.Isi:[13:15] We do raclettes often. um often some other people do fondue, which is putting meat into hot water basically, or into oil, or both, then... (You can have a cheese fondue.) That as well, some people do like a traditional thing more like, the English dinner like, duck with like a gravy and like potatoes and like red cabbages that kind of stuff, which is a bit like a roast. Um... some people and I don't really know where it's coming from, but there's something that it's traditional to have a potato salad and a Wiener sausage, Wiener Würstchen with it. (Really?) Which is like super, super, super easy, simple food. And I don't know where it comes from and probably has a, has a story. So some people even do that. And then on the 21st do like a big dinner. So it's very mixed up. Like it's in England it's always the same, right? (Yeah.)Mitch:[14:09] But I feel like there's something we have in common, which is typically for a typical Christmas dinner is mum just completely overworked, sweating, because she's having to cook for like 10 people. And then your dad, getting really annoyed because he has to find where the raclette is somewhere in the loft. And he's all covered in dust. And he's fallen over a couple of times, because he's had a few too many drinks beforehand. And then, not doing anything from about 4pm onwards, because he's too busy trying to fix the... DVD player or whatever, so everyone can watch Home Alone.Isi:[14:40] Yeah, that's true.Mitch:[14:43] I'd like to hear, well... we'd both like to hear how Christmas looks for you guys. So feel free to send us a message, write to us, speak to us, go to easyenglish.fm or write to us at [email protected]:[14:57] And if you don't celebrate Christmas and have another celebration, another holiday that you celebrate, please tell us about that too. That's it, we do a quick one this this year we would like to remind you of our 30 Day Challenge, our first ever 30 Day Challenge starting on January 2nd, 30 days until January 31st, you can practice your English with us, every day, for continuous 30 days we give you little challenges it will be fun it will be about different topics about speaking writing understanding English. And it's all happening on our Discord server, where we anyway are every day chatting with our members. And you only have to do one thing. Become a member, join our community, and go to easyenglish.video/membership And yeah, join us. We are so much looking forward to this. We hope you all come there and spend a month of learning English with us. Yeah. Please, please join. That will be fun.Mitch:[15:57] Yeah, we have a nice community on Discord, don't we? )Yeah.) you'll get to meet and chat with and yeah, we'll be there to chat with you as well and to get to know you. (Yes yes.) all right, that's it. (That's it, end of the year, we want to thank you all, thanks for listening, thanks for it's it's incredible still to me, to you probably too, that people actually listen to this. Yeah, have a good and... and hopeful end of the year. We hope you can all relax, you're healthy and next year will be a brilliant year. Te-ra!) Merry Christmas. Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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Join Mitch and Isi as they explain how to use the word 'grim' whilst trying to survive a ChatGPT ispired survival challege, armed with only their wits and useless YouTuber gear. But before that, there is an exciting update for all Easy English members at the start of the new year, in the form of the 30 Day Challenge. Become a member now to take part and improve your English in 2024!Interactive TranscriptSupport Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membershipTranscriptIntroMitch:[0:19] Welcome to the Easy English Podcast, episode number... wait.Isi:[0:23] Are we on 30?Mitch:[0:24] Wait.Isi:[0:25] Are we 30?Mitch:[0:26] Wait, don't get so excited yet. (30!)Episode number 30.Isi:[0:32] I mean, it does sound like nothing.Mitch:[0:34] The big three zero.Isi:[0:36] When will we be on 100?Mitch:[0:37] Dirty 30.Isi:[0:39] Wait.Mitch:[0:40] What?Isi:[0:40] We do, every two weeks a podcast?Mitch:[0:42] Yeah.Yeah. 15 months, podcast, we missed our year anniversary.Isi:[0:50] I know, I know, we started on October, okay, I accept it.Mitch:[0:53] Okay, 30th birthday.Isi:[0:54] So 100 will still take.Mitch:[0:57] Yeah.Isi:[0:58] Three years.Mitch:[0:59] And when will we?Isi:[1:00] Well, who knows? Maybe one day we'll do, every week, a podcast.Mitch:[1:03] Yeah, and at what podcast number will we become professional and not speak over each other?Isi:[1:08] Hey, we don't.Mitch:[1:09] What?Isi:[1:10] You interrupt me. (What?) I don't, (What?) I don't, (What?) I don't. Okay, we have to start this episode with an Easy English update because we have a really good one.Support Easy English and get interactive transcripts and bonus content for all our episodes: easyenglish.fm/membership
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