Talking about clothes, Jonathan Ive, 10 Seconds, the vuvuzela, women's football, travelling on the London Underground, jokes, etc.

Elementary Podcasts: Tess & Ravi
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Task 1

Section 1 - Conversations in English

"Is that a new shirt?" – Making comments on a friend's clothes


Suggestion: One way to do this section is:

  • Download the Support Pack and Transcript.
  • Read the Transcript.

Practice materials: Exercise 1

Comments on a friend's clothes - gapfilling activity.


Extra practice materials

There are more practice materials in the Support Pack.

Task 2

Section 2 - I'd like to meet...



You listened to Martin from Glasgow talking about why he would like to meet Jonathan Ive.

Is there a famous designer that you’d like to meet? It might be a designer like Jonathan Ive or a fashion designer or even an architect.


Task 3

Section 3 - Quiz


Suggestion: You can write your answers in our Support Pack.


In the quiz, Marina and Ricky tried to think of yellow things. An exercise like this is a good way to learn more vocabulary. Here, we’re going to think about things that are green, red, white, or blue. Playing this game is a good way to revise and learn new vocabulary.

Practice materials: Exercise 1

Match colours to the names of things.


Task 4

Section 4 - Our Person in...


You listened to Bob talking about the vuvuzela – a strange musical instrument that people play at football matches in South Africa.
Think about a sport or sports event in your country – any kind of sport. Is there anything that you think makes it different from sports or sports events in other countries?


Task 5

Section 5 - Your turn


In Your Turn you heard 5 people answer this question: ‘Why don’t more people watch women’s football?’
What do you think?


Which ones do you agree with? Write down your opinion – Why don’t more people watch women’s football? You can send us your text if you want. Do this in the comments section below.

Task 6

Section 6 - Carolina


Suggestion: listen to Carolina's conversations in the airport and on the underground and then do the exercises.

Practice materials - Exercise 1

Put the sentences in the correct order to make the conversation.


Practice materials - Exercise 2

Put the phrases in the correct places in the conversation.


Practice materials - Exercise 3

Choose all the phrases that are correct.


Practice materials - Exercise 4

Please download the support pack (above) for more practice materials.

Task 7

Section 7 - Joke


Suggestion: We suggest you do this:

  • Listen to the joke.
  • Do Exercise 2, in which you tell the joke.

Practice materials - Exercise 1

Read the sentences and put them in the right order.


Practice materials - Exercise 2


Task 8

Section 8 - Tom the Teacher


Practice materials - Exercise 1

Group words depending on whether they contain silent letters or not.


Practice materials - Exercise 2

Type in the silent letters in different words.


Practice materials - Exercise 3

Fill the gaps in sentences with ‘at’, 'for', 'after' or ‘forward to'.


Practice materials - Exercise 4

Type prepositions into the gaps in sentences.





Hello dear Peter and Kirik,
Please help with that
" I thought, well I’ll try it on but I WON'T buy it"
Sholdn't it be I WOULDN't buy it ? is this way gramatically correct ?

Hello Eddi,

I can see how this might be confusing, because 'I thought' at the beginning seems to set up a past time frame for the rest of the sentence. The sentence could also be 'I thought I would try it on but that I wouldn't buy it', which would make it completely in a past time frame.

Here, however, the speaker goes on to use 'will' ('I'll try it on'), which puts us into a present time frame. We often use the present to tell stories about the past -- it makes the story more real in some ways, as if we are describing what we see in the moment. For this reason, 'won't' is correct, because it also continues in that present time frame.

Does that make sense?

Best wishes,
The LearnEnglish Team


I would like to ask some questions
1.Which is correct?
I would like to inform you about everything as far as questions are concerned? or as far as questions is concerned?

2.Is it correct if I ask
Are you interested in learning French? and
Are you interested in continuing our lessons in French?

3.I have a dog. Its name is Tako or Her/His name is Tako?
Thank you in advanced!

Hello anasge,

1.Which is correct?

After 'questions' (plural) you need a plural verb, so 'are' is correct. The sentence does not sound a very natural or clear sentence to me, however.


2.Is it correct if I ask
Are you interested in learning French? and
Are you interested in continuing our lessons in French?

The first sentence is fine. The second would sound better with 'French lessons' rather than 'lessons in French'.



Both are possible. Owners usually say 'he' or 'she' for their pets, so 'his' or 'her' would be the most likely choice.



The LearnEnglish Team

Your turn

The question is , why do not more people watch women football ?
From my point of view I think men are more professionally than women in football specially .
Because, men have more artistic skills and physical strength than women and this consider as first reason .
But, the main problem is in the lack of interest in sports or sports organization for women's football for example , there is no advertising and no financial support for the game in some developing countries .
On the other hand there is no women's league or season for the matches every year .
So, there is no organized system to upgrade the technical and skills levels for the players .
Finally, football matches is sport like other sports even if for men or women and regardless for all reason or problems which may be effects on sports objectives .
It is necessary to pay attention to sport in general as it measures the progress happened in the societies .

Our person in

Parachuting sport is a strange sport but, it is also unique sport .
There is no interest in practicing this sport in the world because, it requires special courage and physical fitness too .
Parachuting teams are used in formal shows and special events but, they need space to jump from the plane above them such as , stadiums or deserts and this area or space called drop zone .
When watching skydivers down from heaven to the earth , there is total calm on the place and this is because, of the importance of the event .
It is unusual sport and i belong to the Egyptian parachuting team .

I would like to meet
I would like to meet the architect of Egyptian pyramids , his name is Hamo Eno and he is pure Egyptian .
He died from thousands of years ago and he was lived in era of the ancient Egyptians .
He design the pyramids and supervised on the construction process which took a years to complete .
Hamo Eno consider as one of the greatest architects in the history because, the pyramids are the greatest architectural building in the world .
Actually I like the way of thinking for this person and ofcourse , I like pyramids design too.
I would like to talking with him about his plan to make a big project like that .
I would ask him just one question , where did the idea come from to build the pyramids ?

I agree with voice2 about woman's football, I think it's the traditions in most countries,

I read one of various biography about Steve Jobs and there's some mention about Jonathan Ive. He's really a shy man, but he's also a genius in design.

I have seen movie a bout woman football
That movie name is Bend it like Beckham
Now Keira Knighly very famous
Woman football is not yet