Madrid Young Learners Podcasts

Terracotta Warriors

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:18:00 +0100

Listen to the speaker talking about their trip to China to see the Terracotta warriors.
Before you start, you might want to find out more about them - you can do so by clicking here.

While you listen, you might like to think about the questions below to help you focus on what the speaker is saying.

1. Why did she go to China?
2. How did she get there?
3. In which part of China are the Terracotta soldiers located?
4. What time did they arrive at the site?
5. How did she describe the site where the warriors are located?
6. Between which years was the site principally developed?
7. She described it as "quite an experience" - why?
8. In what way was the detail of each soldier slightly different?
9. Why was the back of pit 1 described as the "hospital"?
10. How many objects have been found so far?
11. Apart from the models of people and animals, what else was there to visit at the site?
12. What did they do when they felt exhausted at the end of the trip?

After you have listened

Click on the comments box to find the answers to the questions. Then leave a comment yourself saying, whether you would like to visit this site or not and why. Have you got any interesting archaeological sites in your country? Tell us something about them, or leave a link.

Spanish customs and traditions

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Wed, 24 May 2006 18:33:00 +0200

Students from Madrid Young Learners, inspired by a recent podcast from the web site Absolutely Intercultural, have created video podcasts of themselves talking about Spanish customs and traditions. These include "tapas", Madrid nightlife, the "Fallas" festival in Valencia and the "Camino de Santiago". Before you listen, here is some explanation of what this all means.

"Tapas" - free snacks you are given when you buy a drink in a bar in Spain.
Madrid nightlife - Madrid is famous for its lively, friendly nightlife that often goes on late into the night.
"Fallas" - An unusual festival held in Valencia, Spain, where huge models of famous people and current social and political events are built and burnt. The bonfires and fireworks attract big crowds of people celebrating the event every year.
"Camino de Santiago" - A pilgrimage to the famous cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, held every year and attracting thousands who make the long walk.

Listen to the students given a more detailed explanation below. This time the video is available in three formats - for watching on your PC (links below), for downloading to your iPod here -

Or for viewing on a 3G mobile phone (below). If you have any comments about the content or technical matters, please make them below.

Angela and Loyola talk about tapas and the Spanish diet

PC / Mobile3G

Natalia and Virginia talk about nightlife in Madrid

PC / Mobile3G

Ignacio and Maria talk about Madrid nightlife

PC /Mobile3G

Iñigo talks about the "Fallas" festival in Valencia

PC /Mobile3G

Irene and Mercedes talk about nightlife in Madrid

PC /Mobile3G

Pablo and Carlos talk about the "Camino de Santiago"

PC /Mobile3G

Laura and Laura talk about the Spanish diet

PC /Mobile3G

The Selfish Giant

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 15:12:00 +0100

Listen to the recording of the story "The Selfish Giant" by Oscar Wilde. It is a very popular children's story by the famous Irish writer. He wrote a number of other children's stories, which you can find and by searching on the internet. This recording is ten minutes long and there are some questions for you to answer below, which will help you to understand the story. Click on the "Podcast" logo to start.

1. What type of fruit trees did the giant have in his garden?
2. For how long did the giant go to stay with his friend the ogre?
3. How did the giant react to the children playing in his garden?
4. Why didn't the children like playing in the road?
5. What happened in the selfish giant's garden when spring came?
6. Who invited the North Wind to stay in the giant's garden?
7. Why did the winter stay in the giant's garden?
8. Why did the spring eventually return to his garden?
9. Why was the little child crying in the corner of his garden?
10. How did the giant react to the little boy crying?
11. What did the giant do to the wall around his garden?
12. When the child grew old, who did he see again in the corner of his garden?

Apollo 8

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 18:50:00 +0100

Listen to the podcast of astronaut Jim Lovell describing the Earth from space during the Apollo 8 mission to circle the moon in the 1960's. More information about the mission can be found here.

When you have heard the recording, you can answer the questions below and post them as a comment.

1. Which hemisphere of the world is Lovell looking at?
2. What is the cold region in the uppermost part of his view called?
3. Which U.S. state can he see?
4. Which region is reported as being covered by a cloud bank?
5. How is the weather described on the east coast?
6. What colour is the water, according to Lovell?
7. How does he describe the land?
8. Which parts of the U.S. are free of cloud?

Song: "Get out of bed!" by the Egerton Boyz

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 14:07:00 +0200

Here is a good song for younger learners and lower level students. It is about getting out of bed in the morning. Read the lyrics (the words to the song) below and see if you can fill in the gaps - the words you need are given before the song starts. Click on the "Podcast" button to listen.

Get out of bed!

Missing words: hair, socks, ten, head, day, know, o'clock, bread, sleep, say.

Lyrics:

Get out of bed! Get out of bed!

It's time to wake your sleepy ______,
have some tea and toasted ______,
get yourself ready for school -
you ______ what you gotta do!

Get out of bed! Get out of bed!

Brush your teeth and comb your ______,
put on your clean underwear.
Come on now it's eight ______,
don't forget your shoes and ______.

Get out of bed! Get out of bed!

Wouldn't it be nice if I could ______ in
and not have to wake till quarter past ______.
I'd wear my pyjamas all of the ______
and not have to wake when I hear my dad ______ -

Get out of bed! Get out of bed!

The King is dead

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Tue, 6 Sep 2005 17:35:00 +0200

Listen to the podcast - a historical news recording about the death of Elvis Presley - and answer the questions.

How old was he when he died?
In which US state did he die?
What did doctors say was the official cause of death?
His music was described as a fusion of which two white and black musical styles?
What was the official response to calls for a day of national mourning?
What was the name of the radio programme on which the report was broadcast?

The dog on the bus

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Wed, 1 Jun 2005 14:43:00 +0200

Here is a story about a bus ride and a dog. Listen to the narrator and check your comprehension against the questions below. Remember you can download the mp3 file to improve your listening - it should fit very easily on an iPod or other mp3 device.

Where was the speaker getting the bus from?
Why didn't he walk?
What kind of bus was it?
What did the dog do when it got on the bus?
What type of dog was it?
What happened when the dog tried to get off the bus?
What did the woman say to the bus driver?
Why did the narrator think that this incident was strange?

Finding your ancestors

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Mon, 23 May 2005 16:05:00 +0200

Listen to this podcast in which you can hear someone talking about genealogy. The speaker, who was born in England, talks about tracing his ancestors, some of whom came from a different country. See if you can answer the questions below; write your answers in the comments area (click on "comment" below).

Which country did the speaker's father come from?
What was his dad's attitude towards him finding out about his ancestors?
How old was he when he went on the trip?
In what year was his great grandfather born?
What historical tragedy does the speaker refer to his ancestors as having lived through?
Who does his father claim that they are descended from in the first millenium?

Walking in the Himalayas

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Mon, 16 May 2005 16:07:00 +0200

Listen to this description of a walking holiday in the Himalayas. It is longer than the other podcasts (about 5 minutes) so you may wish to download it to your mp3 storage device to listen to later.

What did she stop doing that made her interested in the idea of walking?
What problems did she and her friend encounter when they arrived in Kathmandu?
Which drink comes from the place they decided to go to instead?
What did a typical day consist of when they were walking?
How does she describe the food?
What effect does all this walking have on the body?
Which animal was she looking forward to seeing?
What are these animals like?
How long did they walk for?

Don't forget you can also get a feedreader such as "BlogMatrix Sparks" or "iPodder" to look out for additions to this podcast or others that can help you practice your listening. You can set them to automatically download content to your desktop.

Running a marathon

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Thu, 12 May 2005 17:50:00 +0200

Listen to this speaker talking about running in a marathon.

If you want you can download the mp3 file to listen to later - just follow the instructions at the top of the page. You can also listen now and answer these questions - just add your name and answers to the comments box.

Why did the speaker start training for the marathon?
Why did she get ill?
Where and when did she run her first marathon?
What helped her to finish the race?
What are her plans for the future?

Poem "Footsteps" by Ivor Cutler

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Tue, 10 May 2005 18:42:00 +0200

Listen to the poem in the podcast. You can download it and add it to your mp3 player to listen to later. Also, you can answer the following questions in the comments section - don't forget to add your name.

The narrator has a strong accent, where do you think they come from?
How old do you think is the person that the poem is about (not the person reading the poem)? What do you think is going to happen next to the person in the poem? Does this poem remind you of anything that happened to you - tell us about it in the comments section.

You can also find the words in the comments.

Information and misinformation

steve.evans@telefonica.net (Steve Evans) — Mon, 9 May 2005 15:44:00 +0200

Can you tell when someone is not giving you correct information?
In this podcast, you will hear someone giving three pieces of information, only two of which are true. Can you tell which one is false? Listen to the podcast and post a comment saying which you think is not true - remember to add your name to your comment.