Zdenek's English Podcast

This is just a short message to all my Itunes Listeners and everyone who hasn't noticed that I moved the podcast to Audioboo.fm. Listen to this to find out more. Thank you for understanding. :) Zdenek

This episode is an interview with my student Jirka whom you might know from episodes 45 ad 46. He kindly agreed to let me interview him about his hiking expedition to the Himalayas. It is in fact a two-part series as we recorded two interviews - one before him going to to the Himalayas and one when he comes back. In this first podcast we talk about his expectations, feelings, and the aim of the of the whole expedition. Who is going up the mountain with Jirka? What are some risks of such trip? What weather does he expect? What stuff does Jirka pack in his backpack? Are there any cannibals in Nepal? If you are curious to know the answers, you'd better listen to this information-rich episode.

I this episode I talk via Skype to my friend Aarony from Bangladesh. She is an articulate educated and well-read girl and has a pleasant voice to listen to which I daresay sounds better than voices some native speakers themselves. How do we two know each other? What is it like to live in Bangladesh? What is her job? What are her further ambitions? ¨ Since Aarony uses a lot of interesting vocabulary from which I can learn myself, I will probably do another episode in which I look at selected language bits language.

This episode is unique in a way. Usually I know whom I am going to interview and often I prepare some questions related to the field of my interviewee, however, this is an utterly improvised one. To put it simple I met a guy on a train who turned out not to be shy and able to speak English at an exquisite level. What's more, he had a lot to talk about, namely, his experiences of living and working in Norwich, England. We touch upon various topics including his two jobs, the benefits of living in a foreign country, tips for reading in English and many many more. Since this guy's experience is something I can relate to myself, there was a lot to discuss and we often agreed on many points. We exchanged our experiences and anecdotes.v Incidentally, we explained the difference between a warehouse and whorehouse. I wish I could meet more people like this guy. I will probably never hear from him again because I made a huge mistake not taking his facebook, email or something :(

This episode is the part two of the interview I recorded earlier in February. It features Jorge, a Peruvian student, who is currently living and studying in the Czech Republic and who himself, as the first person in the history of the podcast, requested me to do this interview :). If you haven't listened to the previous episode, I recommend you to do so before listening to this one. In this episode we talk especially about football since football is very important in Peru. What is Jorge's favorite football team and a player? What do we think about the world cup in Brazil? What are some downsides of it? What kind of football fans would possibly travel to Brazil to see the world cup and get shot or killed during a football match? And also some extras: What is the Linguistic Circle? What is my idea behind it? What is Jorge's final word and why does it make me proud and why I nearly cry? Moreover, if you want to hear a Peruvian guy swear in Spanish and for a limited circle of people listening t

In this podcast episode I interviewed my student Jorge, an interesting and funny guy from Peru. How did Jorge end up in the Czech Republic? Why is he in my country? Where did he use to live and what languages can he speak? How does Jorge perceive the comments his countryman Manuel made in the first podcast episode called "A Word with Future Peruvian Economist?" Why does he stand out everywhere he lives? How does Jorge compare Peruvians to Czechs? What is the difference inthe standards of high education? How does he wind me up during our lessons? What does Jorge think about some South Americans? Have a listen to find out the answers and many many more :)

This is the final part of the three-part series of the interview with Ethan. First of all, I am going to practise using the expressions which I explained in the previous episode. I decided to do this in an authentic way - you will have a chance to take a glimpse at my messy room. Secondly, I am going to analyse selected vocabulary which didn't make it through in the previous episode. If you keep on listening, you might also hear me talking about heavier subjects such as racism. Hopefully you will find this useful and you won't find my opinions offensive in any way. If you do, I am open to a discussion and I might even reconsider what I said. I realize that some things I mused on are a slippery slope&dangerous ground&thin ice.

This is the longest episode I have done so far as it is over 1 hour long. It consists of two sections. The first (shorter) section, is a linear continuation of the skype interview with Ethan, a native speaker from England, from the previous episode number 50. The second section is, in fact, only the first part of the vocabulary analysis of the whole skype interview (episodes 50-51). It is not as complicated as it sounds :) With Ethan we go through several deserve topics, such as girls,English weather, Ethan's football carrier and languages. Famously, Ethan will prove that he can speak Czech and Russian. I also try to speak Russian a bit but I fail, which was not much shocking. In the vocabulary analysis section, I choose several expressions from the interview, which I think deserve more attention and I try to explain them. I give you more examples to show you how they are used. So if you want to know more about expressions like "every little helps", "double entendre", "to frown upon something", "topsy

For this jubilee episode I decided to skypecall my mate Ethan, a native speaker from England. We first explain how we two got to know each, and reminisce about the last summer when we recorded an episode in Poděbrady. After that, we move on to discussing various aspects of British culture. Does Ethan feel British or English? Why do British compete as one country in the Olympics? What kind of humour do British possess? Do the British always talk about weather? How is it with the phrase "It's Raining Cats and Dogs"? If you hang on listening till the end, you will get a reward. Wondering what a "bubble bum" is? The Czech President Miloš Zeman is willing to tell you.

This is the second part of the interview with my friend Pavel which I recorded not long ago. Pavel is an IT expert and his mission for this episode was to clarity selected computer related vocabulary. We were already half way through the recording when the serious tone of the topic gradually started getting out of control. If you press the play button, you will be able to hear us discussing cockroaches, formatting PC, touching software, viruses, noobs, reasons of Pavel's, language improvement and more. Have a good listen!

After years of arduous persuasion, my friend and uni classmate Pavel agreed to record an episode of the podcast with me. since the interview is somewhat long, I divided it traditionally into two parts. Pavel works as an IT technician so the theme for this podcast suggested itself. This show is about computers and the internet. If you happen to notice a skipping music, it is just a mirage :) What's Pavel's cup of tea job-wise? Why does Pavel suggest that I should divide my podcast into two channels? What are some aspects of he Information Age that we are now living in? What is a solar storm and what could it cause? What are some health risks when using computers? Does clicking the mouse and madly pressing the keyboard buttons burn calories? Can playing computer games make people violent? Is Pavel a typical IT geek? What's the plural of a computer mouse? And a lot more :)