The A to Z English Podcast

It's with heavy hearts that Xochitl and I are announcing that this is our last episode. We put the "..." in the title to indicate that no one knows the future and there may be a time we start the podcast up again. But for now, we won't be releasing any new episodes. A huge thank you and a huge hug from Xochitl and me to all of our listeners out there. You're the best audience in the world, and we so thoroughly appreciate your support. Thank you, thank you thank you!!!Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/the-last-episode/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about what they think the future of ESL entails.00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:48JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with.00:00:52JackMy co-host social.00:00:53JackAnd today, we're doing a topic talk episode and we're talking about the future of ESL or the future of EFL English as a second language or English as a foreign language.00:01:05JackAnd UM.00:01:06JackI've got a lot of opinions about this social because my job is here in Korea. I teach at the university and so I'm always listening and and trying to predict what the the future of the industry might be.00:01:25JackBecause it kind of greatly affects my my livelihood, my ability to have a job and earn an income.00:01:34JackAnd.00:01:36JackI've I've got my opinions about it. What do you what are your opinions about the future of ESL? What do you what do you think the the future might might bring?00:01:44XochitlUhm, you know, I haven't been in the industry nearly as long as you have, Jack. So like, I kind of, I feel like by the time that, you know, because of my age, I'm I'm younger and everything. By the time I graduated college and everything like.00:02:01XochitlThat that the industry was already taking the nosedive while I was, you know, in college, I would say. And, you know, the writing has been on the wall for a while, that there's especially during with the pandemic and a lot of people.00:02:11JackYeah.00:02:21XochitlI mean the no mad lifestyle and teaching classes online and then there were certain difficulties with getting visas and staying in different countries.00:02:31XochitlDuring the pandemic and there were, you know, a lot of complications because of COVID that created a ripple effect of a lot of systemic changes that were, I think, already kind of on the on the fringe before, but definitely.00:02:46XochitlKicked up uh during and after the pandemic and uh, how do I say this? I'm I'm not really sure about the future. I do know that.00:02:57XochitlIt's not as lucrative a business, you know, as it used to be. I would say definitely people who are in ESL now, it's kind of like a.00:03:06XochitlA labor of love and it used to be that, you know, 20 years ago, you're starting pay in in a job like what you would get paid in Korea was the same as what you get paid now. And of course it went a lot farther 20 years ago. Yeah.00:03:19발표자Right.00:03:22JackYeah, yeah, things are more expensive now. Inflation has basically cut that by 1/3.00:03:29JackYeah.00:03:30발표자Hmm.00:03:31JackYeah.00:03:32XochitlThe buying power of that same quantity, it's just not what it used to be.00:03:36JackThread.00:03:38XochitlSo I don't know and I think that also displayed some people from, you know taking the route of moving to another country because it takes a lot of money which a lot of people also aren't aware of to to move out to another country. Yet in Korea like you get an apartment provided.00:03:57XochitlAnd you get a lot of benefits, but just the visa process alone, plus they reimburse you for your flight ticket after like a year of contract, but you have to pay the money.00:04:06XochitlFront and and a bunch of those related charges. You know, we're talking about hundreds or over $1000 and then.00:04:15발표자MHM.00:04:19XochitlYou know your pay is just so. So I think it makes a lot of people question whether they want.00:04:24XochitlTo be like.00:04:26XochitlWork to the bone in some of these jobs. Yeah. Yeah. So I think it, I think on both ends, both for, you know, schools that are hiring teachers from outside of the country when they. I think it's also become a thing of why should I go through the hassle of.00:04:43XochitlHiring someone from outside of my country and paying for their health check and paying for their visa sponsorship and all. And you know, making sure they are who they say they are doing background check and receiving all these documents and processing them like why should I go through all this trouble when I can get someone in my own country with thanks to globalization and better education tools they might.00:05:03XochitlSpeak, you know perfect English and I can just get someone who already knows the culture as well and who I won't have to worry about like.00:05:11XochitlHolding their hand and walking them through the process of moving to a new country and from the teachers perspective, it's like why should I uproot my whole life? I mean, a lot of people do anyway because of the adventure.00:05:15발표자Yeah.00:05:23XochitlAspect.00:05:24XochitlBut at the same time it's like.00:05:27XochitlWhy should I uproot my whole life to make minimal pay? You know, when I could just.00:05:34XochitlVacation there instead. Or you know whatever. So I think both of those things have a are having an impact on the current market. What do you think?00:05:44JackYeah. No, I think you're right on. I think you're on target there on the mark, there's a couple. There's kind of two different.00:05:53JackBoxes that I am thinking about, the two two kind of category.00:05:58JackWorries the first one is what you were talking about. It's like there's plenty of capable people in Korea and Japan and and China who speak English, just who speak English very well, who can teach, who are who are Chinese, or who are Korean, or who are Japanese they can.00:06:18JackTeach people in their own country you know, they're like, why do you need to bring in an expensive?00:06:26JackUh foreigner to teach English when you can get.00:06:33JackJust the same quality from someone from your country, and it's probably much cheaper to.00:06:41JackYou know you you you can avoid all the other expenses. You know the the travel expenses and the the bonuses and stuff like that, that they have to offer to attract people from other countries to come here.00:06:53JackAlso, I think the the fascination with like English is starting to wear off a little bit like it's not.00:07:01JackUM, I I don't know. It's it's, it's not as.00:07:07JackHow can I say it's?00:07:10XochitlPeople are thinking like it's not, like, indispensable now that you know English.00:07:16JackYeah. Yeah, right. It's it's, it's not. It's not as special as it maybe once was or.00:07:23JackAnd.00:07:24JackYou you know, I mean, I I think it's it's more of a I think people are learning it because English is still the the de facto international business language like that's the way companies or people and companies will communicate with each other internationally they'll use English as the.00:07:44JackThe is the the common language, but that takes me to the other side of the of the issue. The other part of the issue, which is the technology you know you can you could write a form letter in seconds using chat EPT in perfect English.00:08:01JackWhereas before you used to see really hard and understand all the grammar and then write the letter yourself, you know now you can, it'll just spit out a perfect English form letter or any letter for you immediately if you just type in a few prompts.00:08:20XochitlGoodnight.00:08:20JackAnd UM.00:08:22JackAnd that's a big change. That was a big game changer, I think. And the other thing is I think the technology is going to get better like.00:08:33JackApps like Papago or Google Translate are able to take a foreign language and and translate it into English in a very almost perfect manner. Like it's it's quite accurate and.00:08:52JackIt used to be really not inaccurate. It used to used to be nonsense. It was really funny actually, when I would read essays that were translated through Google Translate because.00:09:05XochitlWait.00:09:06발표자You know.00:09:07JackYeah.00:09:07XochitlIt was so obvious.00:09:08JackRight. You were. So yeah, it was like something like, you know, I don't know. It just just bizarre, crazy things that I that I that I that I read there and now you now now it's much it's much more accurate. So you've got tools that are that are getting better and better.00:09:29JackFor for people to translate.00:09:31JackAnd then finally the you know in the future I think you know it's going to be to the point where you might be able to put like an air pod in your ear and and speak your native language and the other person that you're talking to is going to hear English in their earpiece and then they'll speak into.00:09:52JackTheir device and the other person will hear their native language, and so conversations will be totally.00:10:02JackCapable or possible between two people who don't speak any common language. You might not be smooth, you know, as smooth as doing it in real, real time. But as the technology gets better, I think you know it might become seamless. Where?00:10:22JackThe conversation is very easily had between two people.00:10:27JackUsing just using technology, but I still think there's going to be a desire among a certain group of people to learn the language. Uh the old fashioned way just for their own.00:10:43XochitlSelf Improvement company.00:10:43JackShall we say?00:10:44JackLike edification, you know their own satisfaction of, of being able to say I'm a bilingual person, I speak English and I speak Chinese or or Spanish or or Japanese or whatever.00:11:01JackAnd they'll be able to. They'll get better positions in companies, I think because they'll be able to sit down and have a negotiation, a conversation in English with with someone and that that would be, it

Here are the meanings of the phrases "drop the ball" and "fall off":Drop the Ball"Drop the ball" is an idiom that means to make a mistake or fail to meet an obligation or responsibility. It suggests that someone has let something important slip through the cracks, leading to a failure or mishap. The phrase likely originates from sports, where dropping the ball can lead to a loss of possession or a missed opportunity.Example:"I really dropped the ball on that project. I forgot to submit the report on time."Fall Off"Fall off" can have a few different meanings depending on the context:Literal Meaning: To physically fall from a higher place to a lower place.Example: "Be careful on the ladder so you don't fall off."Decrease or Decline: To experience a reduction in amount, quality, or intensity.Example: "Sales have fallen off since the holiday season."Lose Focus or Consistency: To stop maintaining a certain level of performance, attention, or engagement.Example: "He was doing well in his studies, but his grades fell off after he started working part-time."Both phrases are commonly used in everyday conversation and writing, and their meanings can often be inferred from the context in which they are used.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/idiom-academy-drop-the-ball-and-fall-off/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack answer more silly questions.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:48JackWelcome to the Ados English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have a fun topic talk.00:00:57JackAnd this one is. These are just silly questions, social and.00:01:02JackWe're going to do three of them, and if you join our English corner through the WeChat group, you can also discuss these. We we discussed these questions last week, but we will discuss questions like this in the future as well. And #1 is what are your most random pet peeves?00:01:22JackWe we talked.00:01:22JackAbout pet peeves before, but what's your like most random one? That probably no one else is annoyed by, but only you?00:01:30XochitlMy most random pet peeve.00:01:35XochitlThe leading the chair not pushing, as we discussed before.00:01:39발표자Mm-hmm.00:01:41XochitlWhat's another one?00:01:44XochitlI'm trying to think I'm not too much of A picky person, so it's kind of hard for me. I hate this is kind of a like a weird one. It's not really my business, but I just hate seeing like.00:01:57XochitlLike useless men like this sounds weird, but it's kind of a pet peeve of mine when there's, like, a a woman with like like this just happened in the airport. There's a woman was literally the she she and her husband were at the airport and she had like, seven kids. And I think she's pregnant with another kid and.00:02:17XochitlHe the man just like there's he was supposed to get like dinner for all the kids and the wife with his oldest son, and they just disappeared for like 2 hours and then came back with nothing.00:02:30XochitlAnd the kids were, like, running around and screaming, and the lady looked, like, devastated. And it was like, oh, my God, I just, you know what I mean? I hate seeing stuff like that every time I see a man, a useless partner. That's a huge piece. And it's funny because it's not really my business, but it just makes me angry.00:02:48JackYeah, it's kind of I'm. I'm just, I think.00:02:50JackIt's funny that you were.00:02:51JackJust watching that whole scenario play out and just seething, just so angry.00:02:57XochitlYes, I was sitting across from the waiting and I was just like, oh, my God, this poor lady. And this, like, older lady sitting next to her was like, helped ended up helping her with distract her kids for a while, which was really nice. Of the older lady to step in. But it was just.00:03:12XochitlCrazy that the woman has a whole husband. That's like doing nothing.00:03:17JackYeah.00:03:17XochitlJust absolutely insane.00:03:19JackI wonder, I wonder if my wife would have stories. And then I thought fortunately there might be some examples of me checking out for a moment, but I I try not to. I I try to, you know, we we try to divide and conquer. You know, the best that we can.00:03:34XochitlI don't think he would have been that useless like this guy was a a new level. You know what I mean? From what I've seen of you, I have a hard time believing you would have been that.00:03:39발표자Yeah.00:03:43XochitlBad.00:03:43XochitlYou know, so that's a.00:03:45XochitlBig Tip team of mine and I think.00:03:49XochitlThose are those are two big ones, I.00:03:53XochitlI don't think that I have another one. I guess another, maybe third one is like noise makes me irritated really fast. So like.00:04:04XochitlI like things to be pretty quiet, but if I have to hear like a bunch of noise.00:04:10XochitlI can just get so angry quickly for no reason kind of. So that peeve is like just really noisy environments can really grate on my nerves if I'm not expecting it. You know, if I'm at like a concert or something, obviously I don't really care. You expect it to be loud, but it's.00:04:25JackYeah, you can't really complain about the noise at a concert.00:04:28XochitlYeah, but it's just like sudden loudness or something out of nowhere. Like it just kind of grates on my nerves.00:04:36XochitlYeah. How about you, Jack? What are your pet peeves?00:04:39JackI've got a couple. Well, my the first one, I said this one was in another podcast too, but I it bothers me when people say, you know what I mean like that. It's like, yeah, because I'm. I'm always like, yeah, I I know exactly what you mean. You don't have to ask me. You know, I'm not stupid, but.00:04:49XochitlYes, I remember that.00:04:59JackBut it's not, that's just me projecting because people.00:05:03JackAre they're not really asking me a question. They're just, it's just a filler, right? It's it's a.00:05:09XochitlOr they're worried that they don't make sense. Like when I ask people. Ohh, do you know what I mean? Like I'm. I'm asking because I think I don't make sense.00:05:18JackYeah, you're being like you're being an active listener. You're you're actually really, genuinely trying to be understood and making sure the other person understands you. So yeah, that that pet peeve is is just it's it's actually it's it's on me. It's not. It's my fault. It's not other people being annoying. It's just me being annoying.00:05:38JackUM.00:05:40JackAnother one is that I noticed that really bothers me is when, like people, when did people stop using headphones and just start listening to their stupid phones out loud like is there?00:05:50발표자Oh my God, that has not happened.00:05:53XochitlTo me, at the airport. Sorry, go ahead.00:05:55JackOh, no, I yeah, I mean, but was it music or was it, uh, talking?00:05:59XochitlJust random stuff like videos and talking and music and like and phone calls and stuff. And I'm like, why are you listening to everything out loud? Like where are your heads?00:06:10JackYeah.00:06:10XochitlAnd it's so funny, because just before that I was like seeing a video and like, oh, I don't want to listen to this cause I don't have headphones. And so I'm not going to listen to it and I'll just save it for later. And then there's person next to me. He's like blasting this video and like, it's so weird, you know? Yeah.00:06:25JackI know, I know what you mean. It's it happened to me yesterday. Guy in the elevator is listening.00:06:30JackTo.00:06:30JackHis stupid YouTube channel about baseball or something and everyone has to listen to it. Then another person in the elevator takes their phone out and starts listening to their thing, and none of them are putting any headphones in as if we all want to.00:06:42JackListen to your garbage.00:06:44JackYou know.00:06:44JackIt's like if if I wanted to listen to it, I would listen to it my myself. There's there's no is there, is there no respect anymore? What? What happened to to people? It's just.00:06:55XochitlIt I just grew, actually. I grew up. You just sound like such a boomer when you said that. But it's kind of funny because my boomer dad would actually do that. We would be watching like soap operas like my mom and I would be watching soap opera. And my dad would come in listening to baseball on his iPad and just sit in the room listening to the baseball like.00:07:15XochitlIn the middle of us watching soap opera and I'd be like, can you leave like or turn that off?00:07:19XochitlOff and he's like, I just want to spend time with you guys. I'm like, then put some headphones in or watch this with us or and watch that way or something. It was just so annoying because it's like we can't even hear the soap opera that we're watching cause he's too busy listening to the baseball game on full blast in the middle of the room. We were sitting in. So yeah, it's really annoying.00:07:37JackYes, headphone headphone etiquette. Come on, people. What's the craziest thing you've ever done? I mean, this is a hard question because.00:07:47JackI've done too many crazy things, but.00:07:50XochitlAre you feeling something?00:07:52XochitlWell, maybe it's just like deciding I was gonna move to Korea. Like, I don't know where I just pulled that out of thin air. And I was like, yeah, what I could. Yeah, I'll move to Korea. That was kind of crazy, I think. Yeah. Yeah. It it ended up working out fine. Another really crazy one that I always remember is we went to Spain when I was a little kid, I was like.00:08:12Xochitl9 or 10 years old and my dad.00:08:19XochitlWe were like going to this castle and my dad decided to crawl up through the castle like there's there. Was this an old sewage hall hole in the castle wall and my dad decided to that we should, like, cut through.00:08:37XochitlAnd go through there instead of walking around the into the castle entrance like normal people.00:08:45XochitlMy mom was not.00:08:45JackI think your dad the craziest thing. Your.00:08:47JackDad's ever done.00:08:48XochitlYes, we were little kids, but I unfortunately with Dragon and I was like, no, I don't want to do this. And then my sister and my dad were, like, getting angry at me because I was like on the verge.00:08:57XochitlOf tears because.00:08:58XochitlI was like, we're gonna get in trouble and we didn't get in trouble. By the way, somehow we did. We did that and then jumped over this like police orange mesh.00:09:08XochitlUs and just acted like we were there the whole time.00:09:12JackWow, you guys got away with it. Nice.00:09:13XochitlEgg.00:09:15XochitlYeah, it's. It was very weird. My dad is an insane person. So. So yeah, that was definitely a crazy thing. And I do remember it still vividly, because something that I didn't want to do and was still doing. So yeah. How abo

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl explains why she may not want to have children.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:49JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and.00:00:52JackI'm here with my co-host social.00:00:54JackAnd today we have an interesting topic.00:00:56JackFor you and social, I'm going to.00:00:58JackLet you introduce the topic today.00:01:04XochitlToday, we're going to talk about.00:01:07XochitlSocietal pressures and expectations kind of in this upcoming generation, which includes, you know, people my age and younger, and we're going to talk about how I maybe don't want to have kids.00:01:22JackMHM.00:01:24XochitlYeah. So I don't know what to say about that, except I guess I've gotten to an age finally.00:01:29XochitlThere, you know one once people know like they ask me how old I am and once they know, you know, they they sometimes ask, you know, do I want to have kids or am I thinking about having kids? And the answer is kind of no. I mean whenever I hear screaming children, it just dries up, it dries.00:01:50XochitlThe uterus right up, Jack to the side.00:01:51XochitlOf.00:01:52XochitlSomething I just I hate. I I can't really stand the shrill shrieking of of joyous children. I'm just kidding. But it is it. It is really hard and and I just see there's so much responsibility. I admire people who are parents. Of course I know it's really hard.00:02:01JackYeah.00:02:10XochitlBut I do see there's so much responsibility and it kind of makes me feel like you just never know where things are gonna go. Like a lot of things are kind of out of your control when you have kids and.00:02:25XochitlIt's scary because I I I I guess I always go to the darkest, you know, recess of my mind and think you know what? If someone murdered my kids or you know what? What kid murdered someone you know and and not just that. It's like every decision that you make for the rest of your life will revolve around your kids and even when your kids are adult.00:02:36JackHmm.00:02:49XochitlYou're going to worry about them every single day, and you're gonna.00:02:54XochitlLike put your energy into that bill. Never stop being your kids, you know.00:03:00JackOh, I I know exactly what you mean. It's. But can I go back and back a little bit? Are you are you offended when people ask you that?00:03:05XochitlOh yeah, Jack, rewind.00:03:09XochitlI don't really care but, but I know some people. Some people do get offended and I think that's their right because it's kind of like it's not really anyone's business, you know, and if.00:03:19JackYeah, it's kind of an inappropriate question in some in some ways.00:03:22JackI feel like.00:03:23XochitlIt's kind of a crazy question because it's like if I wanted kids and could have kids, wouldn't I have them right now? And then it's like, and if I didn't want kids, then why are you asking me and like?00:03:29JackYou're right.00:03:35XochitlLike there's just or if I want kids and couldn't have them like, then we're just about to open a really uncomfortable can of worms, especially if you don't know me super well. Like, what if you asked me that and I have on my, like, fifth round of IVF and we know it's not gonna work anymore. And I'm like, I start sobbing my eyes out. And you just ask me, you know, if I want to have kids, you know what I mean? Like, it's just why.00:03:55XochitlI don't get why people ask that, and I and I can see like if I wanted kids and I had issues.00:04:00XochitlConceiving I would probably be really I could easily be hurt and I can see why people would be, you know, it's a.00:04:06XochitlWeird question to ask.00:04:07JackYeah, it seems like it kind of a dangerous area to to ask questions about, you know, because it's so personal and and also, you know, do you feel like you do, you feel obligated to explain yourself after when you say no like because I feel like just saying no is should be enough.00:04:27JackBut but I I feel like you feel like you have to qualify that with like an explanation and that that's I think the crux of today's topic, right is the.00:04:38JackThe this kind of idea that like you have to have kids like it's just and and I'm I'm I'm my we were talking about this before the the podcast before we started recording.00:04:43XochitlRight.00:04:53JackAnd uhm, I told you, I I mentioned to my daughter. I said, you know. Well, I think I told her don't have any kids or something like that. But that's a little harsh, you know? Like I mean, of course, if she wants to have kids, I I hope she has kids. And I would love to be a grand a granddad. But because then you just get to do all the fun stuff.00:05:13JackNone of the hard work.00:05:15XochitlRight. You get to spoil your kids rotten and she has to discipline them.00:05:19JackExactly. That's. I'm looking forward to that actually that's that's that's kind of the reward for going through and parenting is you get to then you get to be a grandparent but.00:05:30JackThe but I just feel like like more, more and more people in your age.00:05:34발표자Group.00:05:35JackAre are, are choosing not to have kids and choosing not to get married, especially women you know are are are just going into the workforce focusing on their jobs and their careers and realize that having a kid is also a full time job.00:05:40JackHmm.00:05:55JackBy itself, and I know because I've I've gone through it, my daughter, and we're coming out of, we're kind of coming out of it on the on the other end a little bit because my daughter is now 15, almost 16. So she's basically like a little adult. And, you know, all the.00:06:13JackAnnoying stuff is is is done, you know, I mean it. It's lovely when they're they're little and cute, but sometimes it can be.00:06:19JackLike.00:06:20JackExhausting. You know, I just remember my daughter crying uncontrollably for no reason in about two in the morning, and I'm just beside myself and you know.00:06:33JackLying on the floor on her bed, bedroom in or in her bedroom, holding her hand, saying, you know, will you go to sleep if I hold your hand? And then she said yes, OK. And so I'm holding your hand. And then she finally falls asleep. And then I fall asleep and.00:06:48JackTo wake up on this hardwood floor.00:06:51JackAnd not well rested the next day. And you know, it's just it. It's it's tough. Like I I just think like having kids going into it without, like thinking about it really and really knowing that you want to be a parent. I think some people just jump into it too too quickly.00:07:09JackDo you think?00:07:09XochitlUh.00:07:10XochitlYeah, I totally agree with you. I think actually some of the most responsible people are like end up not having kids because they just know I'm not trying to knock anyone who's who's had kids. I'm sure a lot of people.00:07:24XochitlAre responsible parents, but I'm just saying that a lot of people who would be responsible parents also just don't end up having kids because they think about everything that has to go into raising a child. You know, it's like a lot of effort, a lot of money, a lot of time, a lot of sacrifices.00:07:42XochitlAnd UM.00:07:44XochitlI think one of the most common arguments now for for children is or for people who don't want to have children is like, oh, you're selfish and it's.00:07:51XochitlLike, I mean, I think it's more selfish to bring a child in the world when you're not fully prepared to take care of that child.00:07:59JackRight. Being neglectful. Not to, you know, be still trying to live your selfish life because you you you have to. Once you have a kid, you, you're, it's done. It's not life is no longer about you.00:08:13JackSo.00:08:14JackSo you know, I I know some people that that have kids and they still want to live like they don't have kids. And you what happens is in either one of the spouses, the husband or the wife ends up, you know, doing most of the heavy lifting. Most of the work and then resentment.00:08:15XochitlRight.00:08:34JackPros and then divorce happens and those kinds of things and.00:08:40JackThat's like you said, way more selfish than just deciding not to have kids.00:08:46XochitlRight.00:08:48XochitlYeah, yeah, I I completely agree. And I just, you know.00:08:55XochitlI just can't. I just can't. I I notice a lot less people in my generation are having kids. In fact, the the next door neighbor here at my mom's house, she just went to staying on a girls trip. She's like a she's a doctor, and her mom came over to take care.00:09:09XochitlOf her cats.00:09:10XochitlAnd my aunt went over there and to pick something up, I think. And the lady told her the mom of this doctor was like, it's funny, we used to take care. My, my parents generation used to take care of the of their grandkids. And now I'm taking care of my grand pets, you know.00:09:32JackThat's.00:09:33XochitlAnd that's so true. A lot of people are just opting to have pets and not have children because all the responsibility, you can't really leave a young kid alone for that long to go on a summer trip or, you know, just so many factors that make it.00:09:51XochitlAnd possibly hard, especially in today's economy, to have and raise a child.00:09:57JackI think you hit on a big point there. The the economic factor is huge. The societal pressure for women to have children is very is very strong, right? Because we just talked about that. People will just randomly ask you if you're, you know, why don't you ha

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack explain when to use play, do, and run with activities related to exercise.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:49JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we are doing a vocabulary builder and social. We're going to talk about sports and activities today and I think there there are some verb differences that we use when we're talking about.00:01:08JackCertain sports and then certain kind of.00:01:10JackSport like activities.00:01:13JackAnd so, like, what would we use to to describe like, basketball, tennis, baseball, soccer? Which verb do we use with with those sports?00:01:28XochitlUh, I would say we use play with those, right, with those sports.00:01:32JackExactly. We say I play basketball. He plays basketball, they play basketball, I play soccer. Do you?00:01:41JackDo you play any sports?00:01:44XochitlUM.00:01:46XochitlI used to.00:01:49XochitlBut I don't anymore.00:01:51JackWhat? What did you used to? I bet you used to be on the soccer team, right?00:01:54XochitlYeah, I used to.00:01:55XochitlPlay soccer I I did used to play soccer, but I have another one and and I realize it conflicts with R2 but I used to run track.00:01:56JackYeah.00:02:05JackOhh, nice. Well, there's a third one we could throw in there. Yeah. Run. Run track. Yes.00:02:06XochitlPress.00:02:10XochitlI ran track or you can go. I ran cross cross country as well.00:02:15JackOhh I ran cross country one year but I was I finished last every time I was the slowest.00:02:20XochitlI also finished last every time so I don't feel bad. I live in two last places and now it's podcast. Ohh, that's funny. Running a podcast. You also kind of run a podcast.00:02:26JackYeah.00:02:32JackYeah, right. We run an English corner. We run an English business.00:02:34XochitlYou can run. Yeah. You run a business as well, that's just.00:02:38JackRight, yeah.00:02:40XochitlThing.00:02:41JackOK. Yeah. So I used to, I used to play play basketball in in high school and college. That was my, my, my big sport was was basketball. But after graduating from university, I I stopped playing basketball and I, but I continued to play tennis.00:03:01JackSo when?00:03:01JackWhen I go home to America, I play tennis with my brother. I play with my dad and I play with my mom. They they all play tennis and my dad is 75. My mom is 74, but they still play tennis almost every day, so they're very into fitness and and well and health.00:03:22JackMHM.00:03:23JackWhat about do what? What kind of so do is the second one and what what do we use? What activities do we use do for?00:03:33XochitlDo hmm.00:03:37XochitlI.00:03:41XochitlI do Taekwondo. I used to do Taekwondo.00:03:44JackOh, did you do a little around self-defense? Yeah.00:03:45XochitlI did like.00:03:48XochitlA little martial arts, yeah.00:03:49JackYeah, watch out or social's going to spin kick you around the chin.00:03:55XochitlYeah, I actually kicked my dad once. He asked me to. So it's it was not my fault. And I told him I wouldn't do it. And then he said I would be grounded if I didn't kick him. So then I did kick him. I was a kid. I was like 13. I think I did kick him. And then he said I was grounded cause I kicked him and my mom said no, she's not.00:04:13XochitlGrow up.00:04:15JackSo you your dad's like this is not going to hurt. And then it hurt really bad.00:04:20XochitlYeah. And then he was like, you're grounded. And my mom, like, you literally forced her hand her her foot. Basically. You forced her foot so you can't play now. It was funny.00:04:22JackGrounded.00:04:32JackThat's so.00:04:33JackYour dad is hilarious. That's great.00:04:35XochitlThat's like crazy.00:04:36JackYeah. So yeah, I was like martial arts, like, like, karate, Taekwondo, jujitsu. We generally say, like, we do, I do karate, I do Taekwondo. I do jujitsu.00:04:49발표자Do.00:04:50JackWe do not say I play those things and I guess I don't know, because maybe like martial arts is a little different. It's not necessarily like a game. It is a competition or it can be a competition.00:05:02JackBut I just we just tend not to use the verb play with those because it's just, uh, it's it's a different kind of activity maybe because, like team sports, we tend to use play, although tennis can be a, a, an individual sport and we use play for tennis. So maybe if.00:05:21JackIt has a ball.00:05:23JackWe use play. Is that a a rule we could use?00:05:26XochitlI play. I think it's just I think the play is just cause it's a game like tennis is a game.00:05:35XochitlBasketball is a game. Soccer is a game. Football is a game. So we play those and then sports like it's not really a game. Like you said, it can be a competition or like a like a.00:05:46XochitlUh, what do they call those? Not a skirmish, but a like a, not a duel. What do you call those when they fight against each other? A match or something. But yeah, it it can be a match or a competition of some sort. A spar. It can be a spar of some sort, but it's not. It's not a game. It's kind of a little bit more.00:05:47발표자Well.00:05:55JackOn match right.00:06:07XochitlSerious. Anyway, so I think that's. I think that's why we say do instead of play. I don't know. What do you think Jack?00:06:14JackYeah, that's a good way to look at it.00:06:16JackLike you could get hurt doing it, right?00:06:18XochitlOhh yeah, I mean you could get hurt playing.00:06:21XochitlPlaying.00:06:21JackAmerican football, of course. Yeah, that doesn't. That's not a good measure. Sorry.00:06:26XochitlBut I think it's fine. I think it's just more like it's a game like like Football is a game and martial arts, it's like it's not a game in the same way, I think it's just a. It's like an art. Literally. It's an art. So.00:06:40JackYeah. And we also use it for yoga too. Yoga and Pilates, we say do I do yoga? I do Pilates.00:06:47JackAnd those are those are not, because there's no, there's no competition there. It's just you're basically it's just a fitness type of thing. It's a a well-being thing, so.00:06:58XochitlYeah. It's like a Wellness thing, yeah.00:07:00JackYeah.00:07:02JackAll right. Well, I hope we.00:07:03JackCleared that up for everybody.00:07:05XochitlYeah, we may have made it more confusing. Let us know in the comments if we confused you more, but hopefully our examples you know practicing with the examples that we provided will be helpful.00:07:15XochitlWell, and yeah, let us know if you have any further questions or any comments, leave them in the comments section below at azspodcast.com, shoot us an e-mail at azspodcast@gmail.com and make sure to join the lead channel. WhatsApp groups too. Join Jack and I am a conversation. We're also having an English corner from Monday to Friday 1.00:07:35XochitlHour a day.00:07:37XochitlAnd it's really fun. We have a lot of people in the group now and they we have these really cool discussion questions and everyone talks is just like hanging out with friends for an hour. And it's really great. You get some feedback from Jack and I and it's a great way to practice your English practice for the IELTS and.00:07:57XochitlAnything else you might want to get in, so if you want to. If you're interested in that, make sure to message Jack on we chat or WhatsApp or shoot us an e-mail and we will see you guys next time. Bye bye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/vocabulary-spotlight-play-sports-do-martial-arts-and-run-track-and-cross-country/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack ask each other funny questions.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:49JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my.00:00:52JackCo-host.00:00:53JackSocial and today we're going to do some funny quiz questions. And so I'm going to ask social some questions. She's going to ask me. They're kind of silly, but I think it's it'll be fun to, you know, see what our answers are.00:01:08JackAnd so, uh, so. So the first one is.00:01:12JackIf you could teach a dog your dog duende to do 1 human thing, what would it be?00:01:21XochitlYeah.00:01:22XochitlUh, Jack. That one's hard because initially I want to say I want to teach him to speak, but I think I would get annoyed like I love him to death, but he's like he's a little puppy and he has a lot of energy, so he just be talking my ear off, like how little kids do you know?00:01:39JackWhat's this? What's this? What's this? What's this you're like?00:01:43XochitlYeah, constantly. Like, so you know.00:01:47XochitlBut you know it's between.00:01:49XochitlTeaching them how to talk and this is kind of a cheating answer, but I'd like to teach him to be self-sufficient. That way I could just like go on trips without having to worry about him. I feel like he can feed himself and get himself water and take himself out for a walk or whatever if that was possible I would.00:01:58JackYeah.00:02:08XochitlThat would be great if you could just be self-sufficient and that.00:02:10XochitlJust.00:02:10XochitlKind of that involves is kind of cheating because it involves a lot of human things under one umbrella.00:02:16JackYou know, but I I just picture him sitting on the sofa like a human with, like, the remote control in his paw.00:02:23JackIt's just kind of slipping through the channels looking for anything with dogs on TV.00:02:24XochitlYeah, he would definitely.00:02:30XochitlYeah, because there's some shoes he actually likes to watch. I think I was watching, like Sophia and the guard the other day. That's a YouTuber. And he was really intently watching the show. So he's very, yeah, there's some things he really likes. I think he likes Sophia and.00:02:41JackWow, that's weird.00:02:49XochitlI don't know. There. Yeah. There's some things to seem to like more than others. I still haven't figured out the pattern yet with my other dog. He like to with Mouse, which is a dog. But my family had before I had went to. He liked The Walking.00:03:01XochitlEd.00:03:03발표자Ohh.00:03:05JackWhat? What does that mean?00:03:05발표자 2And.00:03:07XochitlI don't know. You seem to like The Walking Dead and he like to watch the the show with like a a dog in it too. He would watch that, like, whenever we watched it, he would sit down.00:03:18XochitlAnd watch it.00:03:18XochitlThe other shows and before him really quickly. So yeah, I think if if I could teach him to be self-sufficient, that's kind of.00:03:25XochitlWhat I would do?00:03:26JackYeah. Yeah. Ohh.00:03:27XochitlJack, how for your dog. Oh, sorry. Go ahead.00:03:30JackOh, no. Yeah, Michael.00:03:31JackI was going to say the same thing that you said. I was going to say, like I wanted to teach my dog to speak, but actually I don't want.00:03:37JackMy.00:03:37JackDog to to talk because.00:03:41JackYou know.00:03:44JackYeah.00:03:45JackShe might never stop talking. You know, it's like it could be like a blessing and then it turns into a curse. You know, like you be careful what you wish for.00:03:57JackI would teach I.00:03:58JackWould love her to UM.00:04:01JackBe able to use the toilet.00:04:03XochitlI knew you were gonna say that. I was like, I knew you were going to say that because she has that issue. Like she kind of poops and.00:04:09XochitlPees all over the house, right?00:04:10JackYeah, yeah, yeah. I would just love for her to just, like, go in the bathroom and jump up on the toilet, use use the bathroom flush.00:04:20JackAnd yeah, that would be amazing. That would be amazing. So huge convenience for us.00:04:30XochitlYeah, yeah, that'd be great. That. Yeah, Blendy kind of already does that since he, like, just goes in the bathroom if he can't get outside.00:04:40XochitlWhich just makes it really easy to pick up, so I don't really have to worry about them.00:04:44JackYeah, yeah.00:04:48JackLet's let's do it. I got another one here.00:04:52JackThis one is kind of interesting. Like what's your silliest selfie face, or do you do you have a selfie face?00:05:03XochitlUmm, I don't know if I have a selfie.00:05:05XochitlFace I think one time.00:05:08XochitlWhen I was like 14 like or something, the the uh.00:05:13XochitlWhat's it called?00:05:15XochitlThe UM.00:05:17XochitlDuck lips trend was uh trending and my sister and her friend, who were like two to three years older than me. They're like 16 or 17. Wanna take a picture?00:05:20JackYeah.00:05:30XochitlWith me, and we all did like the duck lips trend. And if people don't know, you would kind of purse your lips and make this like, duck face. Kind of.00:05:38JackYou. You they think it's the idea is that it makes your lips look bigger, right?00:05:43XochitlYou know, like it's like a parodying face. It was supposed to be cute, I guess, like back in the day, I don't. I think you were making fun of the trend when we did it. So we already knew it was silly, but some people did it unironically. Like some people really thought it made them look cuter.00:05:48JackYeah.00:05:59XochitlSo I don't know, but yeah, that's probably that probably is number one for me. How about you, Jack?00:06:06JackThis is really embarrassing. I'm disclosing too much information here, but.00:06:12JackUh, I I had a period of time where I used to make a mirror face. I had a mirror face.00:06:20JackUM, where? I did something weird with my mouth every time I looked in the mirror.00:06:26JackAnd and and and I I didn't. I didn't know that I had this habit, you know.00:06:32JackUM and I don't know what I I can't explain it but.00:06:39JackBut I I someone called me out on it at one point. It gave it. It was really embarrassing for me and I and I then I realized all the time that I that I was doing this like I would. I don't know. I'd push like my.00:06:55JackBottom lip out with my tongue a little bit to maybe make my face like a little bit more.00:07:01JackWhat I thought was more attractive, more handsome or something I I don't know. Like it was. It was a very strange habit and.00:07:09XochitlLike I would do that too actually with the. Also with the with the the tongue on the bottom lip, and then I would also lose. I didn't know how doing it either. I would raise my eyebrows up.00:07:21JackOh, OK. So yeah, there's different variations of this, uh and my my friend, but the friend that called me out on it, she's.00:07:28JackLike.00:07:29JackShe caught me to I I I remember walking into an office. I remember this vividly because it's. It was so humiliating and she was on the inside of the office and I was on the outside. But the the the glass was reflective.00:07:42JackFrom my perspective, uh, my point of view.00:07:46JackAnd so when I caught a glimpse of my face in the the the window I did the mirror face just reflexively.00:07:54JackUM. And she's like, oh, you have a mirror face, you know, or something like that or whatever. And I'm like, what? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything. I just denied it, you know, and. And then she's like, I, I do this totally weird face when I look in the mirror, she told me she does the same thing, but at least she does it in the privacy of her own.00:08:15JackI was doing it in public and and I I really had to.00:08:21JackLike tamp it down, you know, like, make a conscious effort to stop doing that. And what I've realized is that we to look, look good in pictures is all about your eyes. You smile with your eyes. You don't smile with our mouth.00:08:40JackI mean, obviously our mouth does turn upward, but.00:08:46JackIt's actually the eyes is what makes it a a good smile. And so when I, when I learned that I was, I make I I make a a real point to like really.00:08:59JackReally smile with my eyes. When I take a photo and it seems to help, like the photos are better when I smile with my eye, it looks more natural, you know, as opposed to this, like weird. Basically it's just a basically. I was doing the duck lips thing, you know, a different version of it.00:09:20JackAnd yeah, it was really embarrassing.00:09:24XochitlYeah, that's funny.00:09:25JackYeah.00:09:28JackLet's see here. What's another one we got? Let's do one more.00:09:35JackYeah, what's the?00:09:38JackLet's see here. Let me find a better one. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?00:09:43JackI I shouldn't ask you this right now because you have food poisoning as you mentioned earlier today.00:09:49XochitlRight, yeah.00:09:51XochitlThe weirdest thing I've ever eaten, though.00:09:55XochitlAh, that's a that's a really hard one. I I'm in. I'm an adventurous eater and anytime I travel to the country, I'll eat anything. So I remember when I went to China, uh, it was. It was a group of students because we were going through the Confucius Institute and whatever they would serve us, me and this other.00:10:16XochitlKid Adam, I think his name was would be the first to try.00:10:20XochitlAnything and the other students you know, they were kind of more picky, which annoyed me. I I'm I get I get kind of irritated by picky

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack offer some tips for IELTS test takers and then each of them answer an IELTS speaking question.Transcript:IELTS Speaking Part 3 involves a two-way discussion with the examiner, typically lasting 4-5 minutes. This part requires you to express opinions, discuss abstract ideas, and provide detailed answers. Here are some effective strategies to excel in this section:1. Expand Your AnswersDevelop Ideas: Don't give one-sentence answers. Expand your response by explaining your points, providing examples, and considering multiple perspectives.Structure: Use a clear structure. For example, start with a main point, provide a reason, give an example, and conclude with a summary.2. Use a Range of Vocabulary and GrammarLexical Resource: Use varied and precise vocabulary. Avoid repeating the same words.Grammar: Use a range of grammatical structures, including complex sentences, passive voice, and conditionals.3. Linking Words and PhrasesCohesion: Use linking words and phrases to connect your ideas smoothly. Examples include "however," "moreover," "on the other hand," "for instance," etc.Signposting: Indicate the direction of your thoughts with phrases like "to begin with," "another point to consider," "in conclusion," etc.4. Express Opinions and Justify ThemOpinion: Clearly state your opinion using phrases like "I believe," "In my view," "From my perspective."Justification: Justify your opinions with reasons and evidence. Use phrases like "because," "the reason is," "due to."5. Speculate and HypothesizeSpeculation: When discussing future scenarios or possibilities, use speculative language such as "might," "could," "it's possible that."Hypothesis: Use conditional sentences to talk about hypothetical situations. For example, "If I were in charge, I would..."6. Stay Calm and ConfidentCalmness: Stay calm and composed. Take a moment to think before you answer if needed.Confidence: Speak confidently, even if you're unsure. It's better to attempt an answer than to stay silent.7. Practice Common TopicsFamiliarity: Practice discussing common Part 3 topics such as education, technology, the environment, culture, and society.Current Affairs: Stay updated with current affairs as they can provide content for your answers.8. Engage in Real ConversationsPractice: Engage in conversations with fluent English speakers or join language exchange groups.Feedback: Seek feedback from teachers or peers to identify areas for improvement.9. Time ManagementBalance: Ensure your answers are long enough to show your language skills but concise enough to stay relevant to the question.Pacing: Maintain a steady pace to avoid speaking too fast or too slow.10. Active ListeningUnderstanding: Listen carefully to the examiner's questions to ensure you fully understand before answering.Clarification: If you're unsure about a question, don't hesitate to ask for clarification.Question 1: "How has technology affected the way people communicate?"Answer:"Technology has profoundly transformed the way people communicate, making interactions more immediate and accessible. One major impact is the shift from face-to-face conversations to digital communications. Nowadays, people frequently use messaging apps, social media, and video calls to stay connected, even across vast distances. This immediacy allows for real-time communication, which is particularly beneficial for maintaining relationships with friends and family who live far away.Moreover, technology has democratized information sharing. Social media platforms enable individuals to share their thoughts, experiences, and news with a broad audience instantly. This has led to a more interconnected world where people are more aware of global events and diverse perspectives.However, there are downsides as well. The over-reliance on digital communication can lead to a decline in interpersonal skills. Many people, especially younger generations, may find it challenging to engage in face-to-face conversations and develop deep, meaningful relationships. Additionally, the prevalence of digital communication can contribute to a sense of isolation, as virtual interactions might not provide the same level of emotional connection as in-person interactions.In summary, while technology has revolutionized communication by making it faster and more widespread, it also presents challenges that society must address to ensure healthy and effective interpersonal interactions."Question 2: "What role do older people play in society today?"Answer:"Older people play a crucial role in society today, contributing in various significant ways. One important role is that of wisdom and experience. Older individuals often have a wealth of knowledge accumulated over their lifetimes, which they can share with younger generations. This can be particularly valuable in professional settings, where mentoring and guidance from experienced workers can enhance the skills and development of younger employees.Additionally, many older people continue to contribute economically by remaining active in the workforce or engaging in volunteer activities. This can help alleviate some of the pressures on social security systems and provide essential services to communities. For example, retired professionals often volunteer their time and expertise in non-profit organizations, schools, and local communities, enriching society with their contributions.Moreover, older adults often play vital roles within families, such as providing childcare for grandchildren or offering emotional and financial support to their adult children. This intergenerational support can strengthen family bonds and provide stability, particularly in times of economic or social hardship.However, it's important to recognize that older people also face challenges such as ageism and health issues, which can limit their ability to contribute fully to society. Therefore, it is essential for societies to create inclusive environments that value and support older adults, ensuring they have the opportunities and resources to continue playing active and meaningful roles.In conclusion, older people hold a vital place in society through their experience, economic contributions, and family roles. Supporting their active participation can benefit both individuals and communities at large."Podcast Website:IELTS | Xochitl and Jack take the IELTS – A to Z English (atozenglishpodcast.com)Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this emotional episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about funerals and the loss of a loved one. Transcript: 00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:48JackWelcome to the Ages English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And I'm going to let social introduce today's topic. So social, what would you like to talk about today?00:01:02XochitlJack, I kind of want to talk about funeral traditions in different cultures. So I was going.00:01:08XochitlTo talk about, you know.00:01:10XochitlMexican traditions because I just went through that with my grandfather passing, I guess he passed.00:01:17XochitlLet's like a week ago now, maybe or a little less than a week ago, so.00:01:24XochitlYeah, I don't know. And I've been, uh, I guess I can just get into it.00:01:30XochitlSure.00:01:34XochitlI don't know how to kick this off actually.00:01:36JackOhh no, that's alright. Maybe start with the just just the process is in. In American culture there's a I guess there's kind of two, two aspects to it, right. There's the funeral and the.00:01:52JackWake.00:01:54XochitlHmm.00:01:55JackAnd the wake is more like a.00:01:59JackA gathering where people get together and there's maybe some. Sometimes there's food, I think is if I'm not mistaken, yeah.00:02:07XochitlYeah, that's true.00:02:09JackYeah. So and I think the interesting thing about that in American culture and maybe this is true in, in every culture.00:02:18JackIt seems odd to be eating at that time. You know what, I.00:02:22XochitlBut yeah.00:02:22JackMean like no one?00:02:23JackHas an appetite that people are grieving, they're upset. But I feel like maybe the food preparation is a distraction.00:02:36JackIt's it's, it's focusing on our executive function of our brain, the the part that is just very analytical and just doing things. And I think that is a distraction from the pain and the grief would.00:02:52JackYou agree with that?00:02:54XochitlI think so I I think.00:02:59XochitlThat also it's because a lot of people who aren't, like, super close family come and so they're like, you know, they're they're kind of there to help in certain in a certain way or just to, you know, for emotional support. But they're they're probably going to be hungry because I don't think they're mourning.00:03:21XochitlAnd really like the same way you know on, I mean they're they're sad, I'm sure, but it's like a little different. So I think it's like it's kind of a way for the family to say thank you in Mexican tradition that happened.00:03:22JackRight, right.00:03:34JackYeah.00:03:37XochitlThat happens too, but it's like a two day.00:03:40XochitlAffair where you have to be like awake all night.00:03:45XochitlYou're like, up for 48 hours straight basically because you can't leave the body alone.00:03:49JackOh, OK, OK. Because that's different than American culture, where the the body is.00:03:58JackIs is in the caskets.00:04:02JackBut you don't have to stay up all night with with the body.00:04:08JackHmm.00:04:09XochitlYeah, this the body was in the casket. But we do have to stay with the body because.00:04:15발표자It's.00:04:16XochitlIt's like I don't know. I guess it's to prevent bad spirits, like in old, in old mythology or whatever, to prevent bad spirits from like latching on to the soul of the body. So you have to stay there like 48 hours.00:04:33XochitlAnd it's really hard. My sister and I kind of were with my mom.00:04:36XochitlAnd shift. So I would like stay up.00:04:39XochitlThe whole time and then I would go to sleep.00:04:41XochitlThen she would stay up.00:04:42JackOK.00:04:43XochitlUhm, so we didn't have to do the whole 48 hours thing. I did have to stay up.00:04:50XochitlMore than my sister because she traveled.00:04:53XochitlPlus, she's in that school. So she was like sleeping for a lot large portion of it.00:04:58XochitlBut when she finally woke up, she was she stayed with the body and then I went to sleep and I woke up and so.00:05:08XochitlAnd with the his like sisters and nieces and nephews, they kind of did shifts as well. So like, one day, I think my aunt was my great aunt was there. And the other day my.00:05:23XochitlCousin, I guess was there and it's like their family just kind of did shifts, I guess.00:05:29JackBut it sounds like.00:05:30JackYou didn't get much sleep, though. You. You sound exhausted. Yeah.00:05:32XochitlNo. Yeah, it was very tiring and very hard because you're, like, dealing with a lot of grief. And on top of that, you're, like, serving people food and running around with serving people like.00:05:48XochitlDrinks, not alcoholic drinks, but just regular drinks. But you still you're you're running around serving people with soft drinks and food, and it's just only something like you have to make these two giant. You have to make.00:06:00XochitlLike.00:06:01XochitlWe had cinnamon tea and coffee and then.00:06:03XochitlSweet bread like.00:06:06XochitlUh, like pastries at night the first night, and then the next morning. We have, like, breakfast and we had.00:06:14XochitlLike we also had pastries, coffee and cinnamon tea, and then we had, like Morley, which is like a, it's a chocolate based like sauce, you know. And I've tried my.00:06:26JackYeah.00:06:28JackNo, but I I you've mentioned it before in the podcast, I think.00:06:32XochitlYes, I have. It's kind of different. One of the yeah, it's different because it's not. It's just like it's a completely different dish. I don't know why they share the same name, but more like the paste is like a different dish.00:06:44XochitlAnd there's a there's like seven different types of molis. This one is like a black mullet, which is kind of sweet, a little bit sweet and spicy, and is very thick.00:06:58XochitlIt has a bunch of ingredients like chocolate, chilies, charred tortilla, peanuts, I think, and different things like that. So and we ate that with rice and chicken, and then the next day after the funeral, we also or.00:07:13XochitlBefore the funeral, I think.00:07:15XochitlOr after I can't remember we served. No, it was after the funeral. We served eggs and salsa Verde and black beans. But it's like kind of crazy because you're, like, running on no sleep and making all these meals for people. So it's kind of like.00:07:34XochitlAnd it was kind of wild. And then, like the family, like my mom, I think was up like the whole 48 hours.00:07:41JackOhh wow.00:07:42XochitlI thought I sleep once and it was for like 15 minutes.00:07:45JackRight, right. Is she? And and you know, for her, this is both of her parents have passed in the within a very short period of time.00:07:56XochitlYeah. Within four months from each other because my grandmother passed at the end of February, my grandfather passed at the very.00:08:03XochitlEnd of June.00:08:05JackYeah.00:08:06JackYes.00:08:06XochitlSo yeah.00:08:10XochitlChoose up the whole night and serving people food and soft drinks and it just seemed like a really stressful night time for her and I feel really terrible for her because she's she's like in charge. She's also the executor of the world.00:08:26JackOK.00:08:27XochitlWhich means she has she has a lot of work to do.00:08:30JackRight. A lot of lot of documents that have to be signed and.00:08:35JackYeah. Yeah. A lot of responsibility in that in that respect, you know.00:08:40XochitlYeah. So that's very difficult. So, yeah, I think it's just interesting. I think, I think it's it's kind of cool and very interesting how people are up for like for there's always people at your house for the whole 48 hours and it's kind of interesting. But I I just felt so suffocated like I wished it was just us.00:09:01XochitlLike his closest family, so I could just pull an address out and sleep on the floor, close to the buddy. But I just. I just kind of like.00:09:06JackYeah, or or just cry, you know, like.00:09:11JackIf you feel a little bit, maybe and I'm I'm just making an assumption here, but do you feel like you, you're you let you, you can't be vulnerable when there are people who you don't know very closely around is it is.00:09:29XochitlYeah, it was definitely hard. But like when I first saw it, when like when I first got in there and saw like, yeah, I just wailed anyway because it was just so.00:09:36XochitlSo intense.00:09:38JackYeah.00:09:40XochitlIt was like it was different because with my grandmother, it's like I didn't really cry. I didn't. I I cried a little bit with my grandfather. I cried a little bit with my grandmother, but with this grandfather, I cried a lot more, I think.00:09:51XochitlIt's just like.00:09:53XochitlAll the compound of them all lying so close together and then.00:09:59XochitlIt was just.00:09:59XochitlSadder because I felt like we didn't really get to say goodbye, cause the Mexican hospital system is really a mess. Yeah, and uh, with my grand, with my paternal grand grandfather, he was UM.00:10:12XochitlHe had like dementia, so we kind of got to say slow goodbye.00:10:16XochitlTo him.00:10:16JackYeah.00:10:18XochitlSo it was different and then he passed. But it's like, you know, he was, he was really suffering. It was a it was a slow burn kind of goodbye. And so it kind of felt like he was ready to go.00:10:29XochitlYou know with my.00:10:31JackYeah, this one was more sudden. It was.00:10:34XochitlYeah. Well, like with my maternal grandmother who passed before my maternal grandfather.00:10:39XochitlI I was living.00:10:40XochitlWith her

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about whether or not they think it's ethical for people to eat meat.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A to Z English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:49JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social.00:00:54JackAnd today we're doing another topic talk and today's question is, should humans switch to a plant based diet to protect animal rights?00:01:06JackWhat do you think, social?00:01:08XochitlShould humans switch your plan beside? Well, I have been vegan in the past, Jack, and I've also been vegetarian in the.00:01:16XochitlSo I had.00:01:18XochitlThe even the plant based diet on multiple occasions, but I never judge anyone who didn't because it's a very hard switch because the world is kind of built around assuming that you have a normal diet and now vegan food is way more accessible. Back. When I was vegan in high school.00:01:36XochitlUh, it was very hard to be vegan. You couldn't go out to eat anywhere. You couldn't buy any like ready made vegan food at the store and there weren't any products like, there weren't any good veggie burgers or vegan.00:01:45JackYeah.00:01:49JackNo impossible burgers or anything like that.00:01:52XochitlNo. So it really sucked. And then?00:01:56XochitlI yeah. So I don't know. And then there.00:01:59XochitlAre there were there?00:02:00XochitlWas a phase where I would eat plant.00:02:01XochitlBased like uh?00:02:04XochitlTwo weeks out of the month and then the other two weeks, I just see normal, but that was more. That was like, yeah, I mean, yeah, it was kind of a whole thing, not in the ways you might you might expect but but.00:02:11JackFor health.00:02:22XochitlYeah, so, so I don't know, this is a tricky 1 because to me now I like me, I enjoy me and I enjoy having food freedom and getting to eat whatever I want and.00:02:37XochitlI think that as people, us being vegan is like far less or us consuming meat or choosing not to consume meat or choosing to eat plant based or not plant based whatever it may be is far less damaging to the environment or has far less of an impact overall than these giant greedy.00:02:57XochitlCorporations and industries that are.00:03:00XochitlChoosing practices that are they know, have been harmful for years, like the fracking industry and. And so I think ultimately, yes, it's just like our little drop in a bucket or drop in the ocean and we can choose to do it or not to do it. I don't think it really necessarily makes you better.00:03:20XochitlOr not, or neither do I I I just think it's so much more impactful for a corporation to.00:03:28XochitlAnd the government to put in regulations than it is for people to just go like Meatless Mondays or something.00:03:35JackYeah, my my problem with with eating meat and.00:03:41JackIt's the factory farming is I have a real problem with that because I know that there are definitely animal abuses that are happening. And yet, even though I know that intellect.00:03:51XochitlYeah.00:03:55JackReally, it's really hard for me to make the switch to vegan or vegetarian or be vegan or vegetarian, even though I know that it's probably morally the right thing to do until farming practices become more ethical.00:04:15JackAnd you know, because I think that like.00:04:18JackYou know the the way that they, you know, pack chickens into tiny little space.00:04:24JackIs.00:04:25XochitlRight. These, like tiny cages and they can't, can't walk or anything.00:04:29JackYeah. Yeah. And they, they Peck each other to death and they they all kinds of really horrible things happen. Same with like cows or sorry, the same with cows and same with pigs as well. And yet I just.00:04:45JackLove meat? That is funny. I really have no excuse. You know, it's just like and. And when I don't eat meat, I I kind of feel the color kind of drain out of my face, you know, like I I feel weak when I'm not eating protein. And and I know that you can get protein from other sources.00:05:07XochitlRight.00:05:08JackYou can, you know, it's not like vegans don't eat protein.00:05:12JackBut it's just so much cheaper and so much easier to just buy like a bag of chicken breasts and or some, you know, some pork or something like that.00:05:24XochitlWell, it's kind of tastier and it's like blade rip because like it, it's probably cheaper to buy like a big thing of tofu or a big thing of beans and cook it. Really. Hmm. But it's it is convenient. And it's like something that you're used to. Right. So it's like.00:05:33JackMHM.00:05:39XochitlIt's just hard to break that like it's tasty. Like I'll be real with you. I don't want to eat like a like a.00:05:39JackYeah.00:05:48XochitlI'd rather eat a plate of chicken wings than like a.00:05:51XochitlTofu and beans dish or something.00:05:54XochitlMost of the time.00:05:54JackYeah, you know.00:05:56XochitlIf I lived, if.00:05:57JackI lived in Mexico and I could get like a really nice plate of like beans with rice.00:06:03XochitlOh yeah.00:06:04JackI think I could actually. I I think in Mexico I could actually do it. You know it's.00:06:10발표자At least.00:06:11XochitlThey're like vegetarian, right? Yeah.00:06:14JackYeah, maybe not vegan. I might not be. I might still want to eat like eggs or something like that.00:06:20JackAnd maybe drink milk or something like that, cause I do. I do like milk in my coffee. But you know there there are other alternatives. You know, I could. I could drink oat milk or almond milk or something like that and.00:06:36XochitlI like oat milk more than I like regular milk, but it's like worse for you, so.00:06:40JackYeah, it's not right health wise, it's probably it's not better, it just might be better for the environment perhaps or or it might be.00:06:48JackBe more ethical to you know.00:06:53XochitlWell, one, one that interesting thing with like dealing with the ethics of it, Jack is like.00:06:59XochitlIt's not necessarily like, uh, you could just eat. I mean, it's more expensive, but you could eat organic meat that has ethical practices you.00:07:10JackThat's true. That's true. If you if you source the right the right product, you you, you can find stuff that's a little bit more ethically growing or whatever. That's true. That's true. Yeah, I guess, you know, for me.00:07:13XochitlCould.00:07:30JackIt just comes down to dollars and cents in. In many ways it's just I just like, I don't want to pay the extra money for it.00:07:39JackAnd so I I just, I just kind of push it to the back of my mind that like ohh it's probably not as bad as they say it is, you know, but I do, I think it is pretty bad actually this the factory farming situation and I I think it's you know it it'll be interesting to see like in the future.00:07:59JackWhat happens when they start growing lab? You know, lab grown.00:08:02JackEat.00:08:04XochitlYeah.00:08:04JackThat that'll be interesting because you know, there may may be a time when when they they don't need animals at all anymore, we we may not have to to deal with that at all. I don't know how people might be disgusted by it.00:08:18XochitlI definitely would be less disgusted by lab grown meat than I would be by like.00:08:23XochitlHow the practice is you know what I mean?00:08:26JackYeah, yeah, watching the animals torture each other into death in these tiny cages.00:08:32JackSeems less disgusting than than growing some meat in a lab, so.00:08:36XochitlEat lamb meat seems like it would be really sterile. And like with the conditions that they have in these factory farms, like a lot of the meat probably has like nasty infections and stuff like so they think.00:08:46JackAntibiotics. Yeah, all that sort of stuff, yeah.00:08:48XochitlYeah, like they have to have antibiotics to avoid infections and all that nasty. So I don't know. I. Yeah, I I honestly would would be more interested in love me because I would think it would. It would be so. I mean, I wouldn't want to like.00:09:02XochitlDie from some weird mutation, you know, stupid, but you know, I mean, I'm sure that would be unlikely, but.00:09:07JackYeah.00:09:09JackYeah. Yeah. Well, I'm thinking I I may. I may make. I may make another run at vegetarianism here in the in the near future, but I'm I. I've got to mentally prepare myself for it.00:09:10XochitlYeah, yeah.00:09:22XochitlYeah, you don't have to go all or nothing. You can. You can just like, slowly introduce more vegetarian meals into your diet.00:09:30JackYeah.00:09:31XochitlAnd you know, like, you know, maybe have a.00:09:36XochitlOr go like pescatarian or something which is so easy to do in Korea. I think there's a lot of good. Yeah, you could go like pescatarian and you could just slowly like phase.00:09:40JackYeah, that's true.00:09:45XochitlOut and.00:09:46XochitlThere's not that much dairy.00:09:50JackYeah. And for our listeners, pescatarian means seafood. So you could just go like fully seafood diet.00:09:57JackYeah.00:09:57XochitlYeah, you just go like a seafood diet pretty much. So, yeah. I mean, yeah, I don't know. I think that the. Yeah, I get it. I mean, most of the time here in Mexico.00:10:09XochitlSo.00:10:10XochitlIt's kind of more accessible to get like meat that's butchered locally and that you know the practices are good. Like, you know, you see the chickens running around and you know that they're healthy and happy.00:10:24JackYeah, before before its head got lopped off at.00:10:28JackLeast it had.00:10:28JackA good life, you know. Enjoy.

Did you enjoy the Barbie movie? Well, in this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl describes what kind of Barbie she thinks she would be, and Jack describes what kind of Ken he would be?Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A to Z English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:50JackWelcome to the Ages English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have a topic talk. And right now social something that's trending on on TikTok and on on the Internet right now is comes from the the Barbie movie and.00:01:10JackThe question that people are asking themselves is what kind of Barbie are you like, could you describe your Barbie and what kind of Ken are you? So could you describe your Ken? So maybe you could describe your Barbie and I'll describe my Ken.00:01:28XochitlOK, I'm like uh.00:01:32XochitlI don't know.00:01:35XochitlI think I OK. Ideally what I would like to be in fashion Barbie, you know, I have all these clothes and I.00:01:41XochitlI love clothes.00:01:42XochitlBut I don't really dress up that much anymore, like how I used to, but I used to love clothes, so I think I would be like fashion Barbie, you know. But now I'm kind of more like a.00:01:56XochitlLike.00:01:59XochitlMet Barbie or something? I don't know. Like, like a beige Barbie. Something I don't like. Kind of disillusioned with life. Ever so slightly. Yeah.00:02:11JackTrying trying to figure it out, Barbie.00:02:13XochitlTrying to figure it out, Barbie. Yeah, but you know, it's done better this year. I gotta say, the trend, the end of tail end of 27 was a great time where I started a bunch of projects, including our English corner. So with you. So I'm really excited.00:02:29XochitlAbout that and yeah, so maybe right now I would actually be like.00:02:35XochitlAn iconic Barbie that had all the jobs like veterinarian, doctor, Fashionista like you know, the one that's doing everything I'm doing a lot like the English corner, the coffee business, selling clothes.00:02:42JackYeah.00:02:51JackWhat? What kind of clothes, like, talk about the clothes you stuff. Cause I think that that's that would be like I can. I can picture your Barbies clothes because of the you know you you sell clothes on. I I see you post like dresses like you you're you're big into like thrifting right like.00:02:51XochitlYeah.00:03:09XochitlYes, yes.00:03:10JackYeah.00:03:11XochitlYeah, I saw.00:03:11JackSo lots of like prints or something. Is that what they are kind of kind of prints with like UM?00:03:16XochitlIt can be. I think they're just. It just really depends. It's more so for me right now I'm selling like American clothes. So and Mexico American clothes is is popular because it's higher quality. Traditional American garments are high quality like cotton and stuff. But like regular everyday wear.00:03:37XochitlThose is pretty low quality.00:03:39JackYeah.00:03:39XochitlIt's like worse than she and quality or whatever. Like it's very bad. So being that it's so bad, American clothes is quite popular here. So I just kind of pick whatever I think looks nice. And I think other people will like and bring that and sell it.00:03:58XochitlBeer so it could be like uh, dresses with plants or.00:04:03XochitlDresses for graduation or like the.00:04:07XochitlYou know, sweaters and different, just different articles of clothing that I think that will sell and and it's been going pretty well. I think the only issue is like the price point because it's in Mexican peso, so it's it's actually cheap for the US but for Mexicans a lot of people only make.00:04:24XochitlLike.00:04:25Xochitl300 pesos. They're like $15 a day.00:04:28XochitlAnd as you know, most clothes is like.00:04:28JackOhh.00:04:32XochitlAt least 25 bucks or 25 feet.00:04:34JackOhh yeah yeah, even if you buy off the clearance rack or something, you know at Macy's still going to be 20 or 25 bucks, you know.00:04:39XochitlYes.00:04:43XochitlRight. Yeah. So that's kind of just the only thing that I'm struggling with and I'm kind of thinking about bringing in accessories and stuff that are like a little bit cheaper or or maybe like skin care. I've been thinking when I go to Korea about buying like cheap clothes and skin care, I'm selling them here as well. The cool thing about Korea is you can like.00:05:03XochitlShe had like, boxes of stuff back, so.00:05:06발표자Yeah.00:05:07XochitlIt's kind of fun so.00:05:08JackWhat's your? What's your accessory? If you that goes with your your Barbie?00:05:13XochitlOhh, they hadn't suffered one there.00:05:15Jack20 right. Yes, of course, yes.00:05:20XochitlYou basically have 4 successor. At this point it is like I left him for a day and a half to get a couple like that, which is a really, really beautiful village here in Laka.00:05:31JackMHM.00:05:32XochitlFor my birthday trip and he came back and he's all sick and everything. I was like, what's wrong with him? So I took him to the vet today and he was like, oh, he was stressed cause you left him. And then like?00:05:41XochitlHe, like his stomach, probably hurt because he ate like some different food. We we switched him to a different diet and like all that together, made him have like a problem. Like he got Giardia, which is like, you know, travelers area type thing. Yeah. And so it was really. It was really scary.00:05:56JackYeah.00:06:01XochitlBecause you seemed really safe.00:06:02XochitlBut he's doing fine now.00:06:04XochitlBut it's like a fourth successor. I gotta take him everywhere with me, or else he.00:06:07XochitlGets sick, so.00:06:08JackYeah, I'm not sure how how well this Barbie is going to sell the the Barbie with the the duende accessory with diarrhea, but.00:06:17XochitlNo, no diarrhea, but just playing and they're just healthy. Then they're suffering. Yeah.00:06:21JackHow's he doing today? OK.00:06:23XochitlIt's just like a purse dog that you have to take everywhere.00:06:26XochitlHe's looking at.00:06:26JackRight, right. You need you need a. You need a bag, maybe something maybe. Maybe a bag. That's a kind of.00:06:27XochitlMe.00:06:27XochitlNow I'm talking about.00:06:38JackA local like locally made you know what Hawken bag that you could put when they in. That'd be a pretty cool little Barbie, yeah.00:06:45발표자Yes.00:06:46XochitlYeah, I think that would be cool. He's wearing his little sweater right now, too. He's cold, so that would be be like a blue hoodie. Yeah, well, what kind of Ken are you?00:06:51발표자Nice.00:06:55JackUM, yeah, so I'm. I'm definitely like teacher Ken. My my Ken is is has a shaved head. So that's the I'm I'm representing the bald.00:07:00XochitlOh yeah.00:07:08JackThere so bald can, but my accessory would be a a trucker hat, a trucker cap. So you can cover a KENS bald head with a with a nice trucker cap. And I'm trying to think like, what would Ken's what what's what's my uniform?00:07:28JackLet's say my uniform is pair jeans, some tennis shoes at T-shirt and then maybe like because I'm a teacher, I'll throw like a like a a a suit jacket over the top of that. So.00:07:45XochitlHmm.00:07:45JackThis is definitely of the the strangest can ever. But yeah, I think that would be my that would be my, my, my accessory and my outfit. And maybe maybe my school bag. You know, that would be my, you know, putting students, papers and and things like that.00:08:05JackInside that would be my that would be my other accessory. So the trucker hat and and a a a school bag, yeah.00:08:15JackYeah. I don't know. Yeah. Teacher. Teacher care.00:08:18발표자Oh.00:08:19JackYeah.00:08:20XochitlI often see.00:08:20발표자Yeah.00:08:25XochitlWhat was I gonna say? I often see.00:08:30XochitlGen. Z represented is wearing like beanies as well, which you also do.00:08:34JackOhh, that's right. I'm. Yeah, that's when I try to be cool. But it's it's it's like dressing one generation below my my actual station in life.00:08:46JackSo.00:08:46XochitlI don't think so, because every time I see Gen. X like represented in skits, they're always wearing like a they they dress exactly like you. It's so crazy when I see this guy like go skits because he's not Gen. XI. Think he's like a millennial. Maybe he's. No, I think he must be like a millennial and he he pulls, like skits like showing like.00:09:06XochitlRumors that were genex that were ex millennial and Gen. Z.00:09:09XochitlEric, you know, and I definitely relate hard to like a mix between the dense and millennial because you know I'm a customer, but when he does the Gen. X, it looks it's like looks just like you like. It looks so much like I gotta send you because I think you would get a kick out of it. It's so similar to you. And then like the the, the Gen. Z.00:09:30XochitlLike like for example they have like the meeting and the tenses still sleeping.00:09:34JackOh, yeah, yeah, yeah.00:09:34XochitlAnd that is me. That is kind of like me.00:09:38JackI think I'm. I'm a customer as well. Like I'm kind of right between millennial and and Gen. X because I'm like, you know, I'm like a really young Gen. X or a really old Gen. Z or sorry, really old millennial. Yeah.00:09:45XochitlYeah.00:09:50XochitlMillennial, you mean? Yeah.00:09:53XochitlYes.00:09:54JackNo.00:09:55JackI can I can kind of. I can. I can go. I can go either way, depending on my mood for the uh for the day, I guess, yeah.00:09:55XochitlYes.00:10:03XochitlYeah, I'm gonna send you one of those gifts so you can take a look at it. Yeah. Alright. Well, listeners, let us know what kind of Barbie or Ken would you be? I'm

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack discuss the question: Is cheating in a relationship ever justified? Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:49JackWelcome to the Ados English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have a topic talk and social. Today's topic is a little scandalous. The question is, can cheating in a romantic relationship ever be justified?00:01:07JackShould the couple try to work through it, or is the trust permanently broken?00:01:15XochitlUh, I really don't think it's ever justified. I personally have never cheated, so I don't understand.00:01:24XochitlIt's a decision, too, I hate when people say that it's a mistake. I don't think it's a mistake. It's a choice that people actively made and you have to live with the consequences of that choice. And I think, like, if you do want to try to work through it, then the person who cheated needs to be willing to really put in the majority of the work.00:01:31JackRight.00:01:45XochitlAnd.00:01:47XochitlNeeds to be willing.00:01:48XochitlTo see that there are going to be pretty big consequences like the that person is not going to trust you. Like for a good long while. And I I think that's perfectly acceptable and absolutely normal. It'd be kind of weird if they suddenly did trust you, you know.00:02:05JackYeah, I.00:02:06XochitlAgain, you've been good.00:02:09JackOh, sorry, I I I really hate it. When. When?00:02:13JackLike cheaters, say something like UM.00:02:16JackWell, you weren't paying attention to me or you weren't being attentive as a as a partner. And so I started looking in, you know, other places to get my needs met or whatever and that sort of kind of nonsense, you know, it's like I I think this is one of those.00:02:19XochitlAh.00:02:36JackRare occasions where it's like 100 zero, you know, like it's yeah, it's it's 100% the cheaters fault and they they have to take full.00:02:49JackResponsibility for their actions. I I don't think there can be any Hemming and hawing about it. It's it's, you know, I I think it's such a it's such a red flag when when a cheater starts trying to push the blame onto.00:03:10JackHis or her partner for you know, making.00:03:13JackMe do that it. It reminds me of, like, domestic violence, right where the domestic abuser tries to blame the, you know, you know, I I don't. I didn't want to hit you. But you make me so angry, you know, and and that that's that's that's just nonsense.00:03:18XochitlMa'am.00:03:30XochitlRight, yeah.00:03:34JackLike, that's just garbage logic and so.00:03:38JackYeah, I I just, I just don't. Yeah.00:03:40XochitlYeah, I think I I'll go. I'll go a step further here and say that cheating is definitely a form of abuse because you have to be lying to cheat. And lying is emotional abuse by definition.00:03:55XochitlSo yeah, in some ways you're gaslighting your partner. You're, uh, hiding information from them. You're lying to them. You're invalidating them constantly because you're trying to make them think that they're crazy when you're cheating so that they don't hold you accountable for your actions, and you're blaming them and and shaming them. And it just.00:04:17XochitlIt's toxic and it is abusive in in the context. And I yeah, I just really, really am against cheating.00:04:27JackYeah, I like he said. That's a form of emotional abuse for sure.00:04:32XochitlYeah.00:04:33JackAnd also I think that like.00:04:36JackCommitment requires again I I there. There are a few times in life where I think it's like a 0 sum 0 sum, meaning like it's 100% zero.00:04:47JackYou know, either you're committed to your partner or or you're not, you know, and if you're, if you're always, if you're with your partner, but you've always got, like, one eye kind of looking around for something better, something. It's I I I just really hate that.00:05:04XochitlI know.00:05:07JackThat kind of behavior, it reminds me of like, UM, it happens in friendships as well, where it.00:05:15JackLike you, you know, Jack, you're good enough to hang out with at this party, but I'm going to keep my eye open looking around the the room for maybe somebody a little bit more interesting, a little bit cooler that I can go talk to. So you're good enough in the moment.00:05:35JackBut you're not. You're you're not really good enough. And that's a real self esteem killer, I I think.00:05:45XochitlYeah, he is a self esteem killer. And then ultimately though like like dealing with cheaters and talking to them, I don't think it's anything about their partner not being. Obviously it's not about the partner not not being good enough, but I don't even think it's about them thinking their partners and good enough. It's like they just have this black hole in their heart and mind.00:06:06XochitlAnd they need like constant validation and attention from other people.00:06:09XochitlPeople and most of the times they can't handle like critique. Like if something starts going wrong in a relationship instead of facing up to their responsibility and whatever is going on or talking it out with their partner. If they can't face criticism or face.00:06:10JackYes.00:06:27XochitlIssues when things get real, so they would rather just find a way to like escape in a sense and source their validation from someone else.00:06:37JackIt's almost like they're they're willing to if they don't get what they want completely, they're going to blow it. They're going to blow the whole thing up.00:06:45JackYou know, and that is like the most childish kind of toddler behavior. Like, it's the ultimate. I'm taking my ball and going home kind of behavior, right? Yeah.00:06:52XochitlYeah.00:06:59JackAnd it's so immature. So, you know, I think ultimately I the second part of that question was should the couple try to work through it?00:07:09JackYou know, I honestly don't think I don't. I just think it's. I don't think you can come back from that, to be honest. So at least I know that I personally cannot come back from that. Cheating is A is a a deal breaker in in my for me. So if if I were in a.00:07:29JackYou know, just hypothetically, I mean I'm. I'm married. I've been married for 17 years, happily married. But if I'm. I'm just thinking hypothetically in like a dating situation or something. If if that happened to me, I I would just cut my losses.00:07:47JackAnd and and and find find a new partner like that's. That's ultimately where I kind of land. And it. What what about you?00:07:56XochitlI think that I that.00:08:02XochitlI how do? How do I say this?00:08:05XochitlI think that.00:08:08XochitlPeople who stay and try to work through it like a lot, a lot of times they get almost worse judgment than the cheater. Like people calling them stupid and stuff. And I think that's so mean because they're already like a victim of this horrible situation and they like, they're really, I don't know, forgiving people, I think. But at the same time, I I.00:08:28XochitlI do think you can't come back for men even if you choose to try to work things out and try to come back from it or whatever, I personally think.00:08:37XochitlUM.00:08:38XochitlIt's like you can't, like you will always remember.00:08:44XochitlWhen they cheated on you and it will always affect yourself esteem and you're always going to be wondering like where they are and what they're doing and you're going to start behaving like a person that you don't recognize sometimes I think.00:08:58JackYeah, you're gonna turn into somebody you don't want to be like the that.00:08:58XochitlAs.00:09:01JackThe kind of paranoid looking under every every rock for some kind of evidence and it it it just consumes your your life and you're you're not really living at that point. You're you're you're more consumed with this this relationship, and nobody deserves to.00:09:22JackTo have to live like that.00:09:23XochitlNo, no one should have to live like that. So you.00:09:27XochitlYeah, I think, yeah. I mean, I think it's cool to cut your losses. It's something that it's like cheating is very common in Mexican culture, like men, especially cheating on women. I think there's a I think there's also a whole sexist level to cheating where, like in marriages, it's more common for men to cheat.00:09:47XochitlThe way that society is and to get away with it or like for.00:09:51XochitlIt to be acceptable anyway.00:09:54XochitlTo some.00:09:54JackThis is like the the boys will be boys kind of mentality.00:09:57XochitlYes, and men will be mankind equality. But I think that's.00:09:59JackI need that you.00:10:01XochitlI feel like that's true in at least every culture that I'm familiar with. To some extent, you know, and I don't. I definitely understand why people, especially people who already have kids or who are like, have been married for a long time, why they would like, want and try to work through it.00:10:07JackHmm.00:10:21XochitlLike I definitely understand.00:10:23JackYeah, that's true.00:10:26XochitlYeah, but at the same time, like I if anyone is ever in that situation, I would say don't like, just don't just cut your losses. You'll you'll always regret investing more time in fixing things than just moving on to a new relationship where you could have all the trust and respect that.00:10:46XochitlYou should have had from the start and deserved in someone else that will respect you and care about you and.00:10:57XochitlBe a reliable person that you can actu

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl talks about the organic coffee business she has started with her partner.Transcript:00:01:24JackKind of a a sky blue or or light blue color with a a really cool logo and everything on there and so I was just wondering like what's going on with that?00:01:36XochitlWell, that I started selling organic coffee. My partner is a coffee farmer in the Sierra Juarez, which is an area mountainous area of Wahaca where I live.00:01:50XochitlYeah. And he he's a farmer, so he does things like, uh, he plants beans, corn, coffee, pineapples, mangoes, avocados. But the big one of the big.00:02:07XochitlSources of income for coffee farmers are for farmers here in Osaka is coffee, is coffee used to be quite well paid, but unfortunately the the price of coffee has really gone down a lot. I'm not sure what's going on, but the market.00:02:22XochitlIt's not that there's more supply than demand. It's just I think, how.00:02:29XochitlSome things have been happening with exports to the United States and prices and the dollar and the peso and how they're moving up and down. It's caused a lot of issues and.00:02:41XochitlWell, I was talking to him and he was he was telling me that.00:02:45XochitlThey can only sell their coffee in parchment at 41 pesos, which is about like 2 bucks a kilo. A kilo is 2 point.00:02:53JackDollars a kilogram for. Oh my God.00:02:56XochitlYes, it's parchment coffee, so it's not like roasted or anything. It's just it that has to go through a whole process before it's ready to drink, but it's.00:03:05JackMMM.00:03:07XochitlIt's still far to cheap price for organic coffee, and they're not making any money off of it anymore. And also.00:03:16JackSomeone's making money though. It's like the middleman, you know, they're.00:03:19XochitlYeah, it's the middleman is making money because the the price of coffee, especially organic coffee and local coffee, has gone up on the market, but they're not paying coffee funds.00:03:21JackYeah.00:03:28JackRight. But the farmers are getting screwed on the on the the back end, yeah.00:03:33XochitlYes, it's exactly what's happening. So it's it's really been a disaster for a lot of people. And yeah, I was talking to him and I just had the idea to sell his coffee here in the city because I live here.00:03:35JackYeah.00:03:45XochitlCity.00:03:46JackHmm.00:03:47XochitlAnd you know, we talked about it and we made some plans and we kind of it just got, I just kind of posted it on an expat wahaka group saying hey, guys like would you be interested in organic coffee?00:04:01XochitlAnd a bunch of people were like, oh, yeah, you know, we didn't know how to price it. Like, we didn't know.00:04:05XochitlAnything about it?00:04:06XochitlBecause he's gonna coffee farmer and his family has done coffee farming for generations. But like he's never really been on the on this like market end of.00:04:14XochitlThings.00:04:15XochitlBecause what they usually do is they they belong to an organization coffee organization called Niche.00:04:21XochitlYeah. Which is like organic coffee organization and.00:04:25XochitlThey they give them like.00:04:28XochitlCourses and stuff on how to grow organic coffee and different varieties that are worth more money and all these kind of.00:04:34XochitlThings.00:04:35XochitlBut because of how the market's going and I don't know what's happening, they're only able to buy 200 kilos on average from each coffee farmer.00:04:45JackOh, it's nothing. 200 kilos.00:04:45XochitlAnd.00:04:47XochitlYeah, the the usual production is at least five. You usually at least have 500 kilos leftover after that, you know, even for a small farmer. So uh.00:05:01XochitlYeah. So it got to the point, you know, they have they have like at least 300 kilos or leftovers. So I talked to him and we went through the whole process of deciding to sell it and we got a lot of attention on that's that's.00:05:14XochitlWhat I could do?00:05:15XochitlAnd so we kind of had hit the ground running because I posted this just out of curiosity and I got I got, like business out the wazoo and.00:05:25JackYeah.00:05:25XochitlI was like.00:05:27XochitlTons of people inquiring and and a lot to keep up with. And so at that point we had to go ahead and we hit the ground running.00:05:34XochitlSo is he.00:05:36XochitlWe we decided to go with an artisanal process because that's pretty much how he knows how to make the coffee. So what you have to do is you have to take a like mortar and pestle, which for those of our listeners who aren't familiar, a mortar is like kind of like a a stone or wooden bowl or something and a pestle.00:05:42JackMHM.00:05:56XochitlLike a giant one, though.00:05:58XochitlAnd a puzzle is like the thing that you use to pound it. So people used to do this to like grind flour and stuff. In the olden days.00:06:05JackRight now you see a lot of people using mortar and pestle for like medicine and stuff like that.00:06:10XochitlYeah. Medicine are like herbs. A lot of people use it for, like, finely grinding herbs and teas, but he has to use a giant one to like, take all the the kind of peel the shell off of our coffee.00:06:22JackRight.00:06:23JackOK.00:06:23XochitlSo he does that all by hand, so that's crazy. It's a lot of work and hard labor.00:06:28JackWow, he must be in great shape then because.00:06:31XochitlHe hasn't. Really. Yeah, he's a really good team. But yeah, he's very strong and honestly, I don't think I would probably last two minutes trying.00:06:33JackStrong.00:06:39XochitlTo do that.00:06:40XochitlSo yeah, he he definitely he dishes the coffee that way and then we pay a local woman to hand roast the coffee.00:06:41JackYeah, me neither.00:06:51XochitlWhich is artisanal traditional method to do it?00:06:54JackWow.00:06:56JackThat's awesome. So like if people start drinking your coffee, they're they're going to be used to her roast. Basically, she kind of determines the flavor in a way like part of it comes from the the, you know, of course the bean. But then part of it also flavor of the coffee comes from how it's roasted. Right.00:06:57XochitlAnd right.00:07:08Xochitl1.00:07:16XochitlYeah. So she so depends on how you raise the coffee and there's different roasts like you can do a light roast, dark roast and medium roast, and they all have different flavor profiles. And she does kind of a medium dark roast, which works really well because they they they're hand roasted, they have like, a different. They have color variations and the beans, but once you.00:07:30JackYeah.00:07:37XochitlGrind them in your coffee grinder or whatever. It's an even color. It's a uniform color and uh, it's smells delicious because there's the sugars and the coffee beans are like caramelized because they're roasted by hand, so they're not burnt like in our machine. But that would be if you did it by machine process.00:07:51JackYeah.00:07:54XochitlAnd.00:07:56XochitlIt just comes out really great. It has really. It has like a bold uh flavor and it still has body for those who like dark roasts, but it's not like a bitter dark roast that has, like, acidic notes and floral notes.00:08:10XochitlAnd uh, it's very it has a very sweet aroma, a really pleasant like caramel like aroma and almost like some chocolate you.00:08:19XochitlKnow it's really.00:08:20XochitlBe good. I'm. I'm not a huge coffee drinker myself, but I definitely started because I had to describe it to the clients.00:08:20JackYeah.00:08:25JackYou sound like a coffee drinker, though. Jeez, you. You're describing all the notes. I mean, I just like. I just wanna. When I saw the the post, I just wanted to grab one of those bags. And just, like, open it and just stick my nose in there and.00:08:29XochitlYeah.00:08:39JackJust smell it.00:08:39XochitlYeah, was.00:08:40JackI love that smell of fresh. Oh my gosh. I bet it just it is.00:08:44JackOnly.00:08:45XochitlYes, it smells amazing and.00:08:49XochitlThere's been a lot of things to learn. We price to way too low. So now we're figuring that out because we we didn't really know about the market. And there's a single origin coffee, which means it's coffee all from the same community and the same pic of that year. And so it's like it's worth more. And then it's also organic. So it's worth more and it has expensive.00:08:55발표자Hmm.00:09:10XochitlVarieties inside the ensemble like there's different beams that we use, so we use like geisha, which is pretty expensive. Kafa Deepika, which is one of the original ones.00:09:21XochitlHas been.00:09:24XochitlPlanted for hundreds of years here and yeah, so a lot of those things that, you know, quality and expense. And then the other things we went with an artisanal process which requires a lot of Labor, manual labor.00:09:25JackYeah.00:09:37JackYeah.00:09:38XochitlSo we kind of replaced it way to that we personally 10 bucks a kilo.00:09:44Jack10 bucks a kilo. Wow. You get through like you're giving it away for free there.00:09:45XochitlYes, yes.00:09:49XochitlWe basically did. It's 200 pesos or two hundred 200 pesos kilo, which is 10, about 10 bucks.00:09:57JackSo is are you still making profit though, like at that price point?00:09:58XochitlAnd.00:10:02XochitlUh, we're barely not. If we count our hours of Labor, we're not. We're in red numbers. But if we don't count the hours of Labor that.00:10:08XochitlWe.00:10:08XochitlPut into it, then, yeah, we're making, like a tiny profit, a very tiny profit, so.00:10:15JackSo you guys have to you guys have to reprice that then eventually this first round, maybe you can you can sell it cheaply, but you know after that you're going.00:10:24JackTo have to.00:10:26JackYou know, put put it up a little bit.00:10:28JackYou know.00:10:28XochitlYeah, I don't know what to do. I I I I'm not sure how to reprice it because I like, it's scared of losing customers or something.00:10:40JackNo, that's just you that you guys just have imposter syndrome. You know, you, you just, you just you just

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about "a" and "an."Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:50JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we are in the grammar zone and we're going to talk about ohh and on.00:01:02JackIn social, what is the difference between those two articles? Why do we?00:01:07JackWhy do we separate those? We have two different words for them.00:01:12XochitlUM.00:01:13XochitlBecause they have to agree with the next word. So if.00:01:20XochitlThe next word starts with a the vowel. Then it has to be a N.00:01:26XochitlSo, for example, an elephant an A A.00:01:33JackAn igloo.00:01:34XochitlOn apple.00:01:35JackYeah.00:01:36XochitlYeah, an English an apple. And if it's a, it's because the next the following thing that you're referring to. Uh. Noun that you're referring to, I guess, usually starts with a a consonant and not a vowel. So it'd be like a pie, a cake.00:01:56XochitlA A car.00:01:59XochitlAnd etcetera, etcetera. Just anything that starts with the continent and then on and.00:02:04JackA podcast.00:02:06XochitlYeah, podcast.00:02:07JackMHM.00:02:09XochitlAnd an is for anything that starts with.00:02:11XochitlA vowel, I think.00:02:12XochitlIt's because it it does sound. It does make it sound smoother, like think about saying a elephant or a elephant instead of an an elephant. It just avoids your vowel noises all mushing together.00:02:21JackYes.00:02:27JackRight. It's very awkward in English to have two vowel sounds together. You we can't do that, right? They need to be interrupted by a consonant sound like uh.00:02:39JackUh, like a a egg is is 2 two vowel sounds together, right?00:02:45JackSo yeah, we can't. It's just a, it's a a phonetic rule in English that you just.00:02:45발표자Yeah.00:02:52JackIt's much easier if you break it up with the with the consonant. So we say on an egg, an apple. Any glue like that.00:03:02XochitlWell, thanks.00:03:03JackYeah.00:03:05XochitlYeah, I think that's pretty much it. It just keep in mind.00:03:09XochitlIf it's going to start with a consonant, make sure that you are using A and then if it's going to start with the vowel, the next following we're just going to start with the vowel. Make sure that you're doing AN on and yeah, that's.00:03:21JackRight.00:03:22JackWhat about? What about a an hour?00:03:25JackAnd that's an H.00:03:26XochitlUh.00:03:27JackSo we should say our.00:03:28XochitlYeah, that's true.00:03:30XochitlYeah, but you don't you say an hour. Ha. There are some exceptions to this rule, and I think it comes down to if that consonant is silent and our age is silent. So you're still making two vowel sounds. So you would do an AM hour instead.00:03:42발표자Right.00:03:49JackWhat about source? Yeah.00:03:49XochitlOf an hour.00:03:52XochitlBut see, that's not.00:03:54JackIt's not horse. Yeah, we say on horse.00:03:56XochitlYeah, I don't know why is it like that. Jake. Jack.00:04:01JackMy my name is Jack by.00:04:02JackThe way no, no, no, you're you. You are. You're exactly right. It it doesn't. The rule is not. It's not a spelling rule.00:04:12JackIt's a. It's a. It's a phonetic rule. It's a sound rule, so if it sounds like a vowel, we use on and so our is a silent H so we say an hour.00:04:26JackBut horse, we actually pronounce the H sound, so we say a horse.00:04:31JackSo so it's it's doesn't come down to spelling a lot, a lot of teachers teach it as a spelling rule in in school in grammar school, but it's not. And this is where a very strange word that a very strange example emerges here with historic.00:04:52JackI hear it all the time on the news N historic event.00:04:58JackAnd there's no reason to say. And historic if you're saying, if you're pronouncing the H, it would be all historic, not N historic. Have you?00:05:09JackHeard that before.00:05:09XochitlYeah, I I have heard that mistake. A historic. But yeah, it is a historic event. But Jack, I'm confused because when you do.00:05:20XochitlOh yeah, that's true.00:05:22XochitlA horse? A historic event.00:05:26JackYeah.00:05:26XochitlAnd you wouldn't say umm horse because it's again you're pronouncing the.00:05:33JackYeah. When people say unhistoric, they're they're being, they think they're being super smart, but they're actually being too clever that they're actually wrong. It's like, yes, exactly. It's kind of a it's a it's a weird, like academia thing. I've heard it so many times, and it used to drive my.00:05:33XochitlAh.00:05:43XochitlThey're overthinking.00:05:53JackMy my teacher in my university crazy.00:05:57JackWhen when she would hear that. And so I kind of learned from my teacher. It was like, oh, no, you gotta follow the rules, right? All historic. But if you say historic and you don't say the H, you could say N historic event. But historic is not really a word we use, right. We say historic with an H.00:06:17JackSo a historic event we have stuff.00:06:22XochitlCrazy. All right, it's nice if you have any more questions for us or any more grammar issues that you would like us to resolve here on the podcast, make sure to leave us a comment down below at A-Z, newspodcast.com shoot us an e-mail at AZ englishpodcast@gmail.com and also make sure that you join the WeChat or WhatsApp groups to make sure that you can talk to Jack.00:06:23JackYeah.00:06:43XochitlDirectly and join the conversation there. Remember the Jack and I are now doing a special corner. Yeah, English corner. So that's a lot of fun. It's only 80 RMB or 10 USD dollars.00:06:49JackEnglish corner.00:07:00XochitlPer month. So for 20 classes you're basically paying $0.50 a class, and it's really great. It's a community where a lot of people are excellent English speakers and we really enjoyed putting it together. It's one hour a day from Monday to Friday, and if you want more information, make sure to message.00:07:05JackExactly.00:07:19XochitlOr Jack directly on the WeChat or WhatsApp groups.00:07:23XochitlAnd we'll see you guys next time.00:07:24XochitlBye bye bye.00:07:25JackBye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/grammar-zone-a-historic-or-an-historic/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl presents Jack with a conundrum:Would you rather have your daughter or wife encounter a strange bear or a strange man while alone in the woods?Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:49JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have another topic talk for you and social you have kind of a I don't know what you would call like a situation or a conundrum. A conundrum is like a difficult decision or difficult situation.00:01:09JackSo what is your? What is the conundrum?00:01:12XochitlJack, this has become really popular in my medicines in the last, maybe even couple of months and it's very popular amongst American medicine. So I'm curious to hear what your answer is. So without any context, let's say that your wife and your daughter are in the woods.00:01:32XochitlLost and alone. And they have, you know, no Internet cell service. Whatever to call you or call anyone else.00:01:39XochitlWould you rather they come across a strange man that no like you? You don't know? They don't know. Nobody knows him or his intentions or anything. Or would you rather they come across a bear?00:01:50발표자Yeah.00:01:51JackNo. OK. So just to for our listeners there, in in, in case you didn't catch that you said social that my my wife and my daughter are in the woods just walking in the woods. They have no cell phone, no way to to contact anybody.00:02:12JackAnd the question is, would I rather they come across a bear or a strange man that they don't know?00:02:21XochitlYes, correct.00:02:23JackOK.00:02:25JackThis is, you know, this should be an easy question. I mean, if we lived in like a, like, a a reasonable world, you know, where we, you know. But I feel like I listen to a lot of, like, true crime podcasts. And so I just, I've listened to too much true crime to.00:02:44JackTo to answer this one easily, what kind of bear is it? Is it a grizzly bear?00:02:50XochitlDon't know. We don't know what kind.00:02:52XochitlOf bear it is. It's just.00:02:52JackYou don't know what kind of bear it is. It could be a brown bear. It could be a black bear. It could be a a grizzly bear.00:02:57XochitlCome here. Just sit there. It's just like you don't know what kind of man it is. You.00:03:03XochitlAlso don't know.00:03:04XochitlWhat kind?00:03:04XochitlOf bear it is. Yeah, have.00:03:06XochitlSome good choice there.00:03:09JackDo I know the gender of the bear?00:03:12XochitlUh, no.00:03:16JackAll right. Because, you know, if it if it were, uh, if it were a female bear, I would be, I would. I would choose the man because, you know, if if the if the if a if a female bear is protecting her Cubs. If her Cubs are in the area. That's a very dangerous situation. So I would.00:03:36JackI would just hope that the man is not a psychic, a psychotic killer. You know, a psycho.00:03:44JackRight.00:03:46JackIf the if the bear were male I uh, it's probably gonna just leave them alone, you know? Like it just it it they.00:03:54JackYou know, they don't really necessarily see humans as prey, necessarily, unless they're starving, you know, they'll they'll pretty much just. They might play around with you or whatever, which is terrifying. You know, that could still kill you or injure you. But generally speaking, they'll they'll leave you alone.00:04:16JackIf it's a if it's a male Baron, it's starving. It'll it'll eat you. So that in that case, I mean, there's just too many. I guess there are too many variables when it comes to the bear.00:04:25XochitlYou can't overcomplicate Jack. You don't know because also you could also think you know black bears like 100% of the time, pretty much like 99.9% of the time a black bear will run away if.00:04:38XochitlIt sees a human like it'll just take.00:04:39JackRight, right. Exactly, exactly. They're they're they're not interested in humans. Really. You know, they might be curious.00:04:44XochitlThey're scared. Blackberries are scared of humans. Actually a little bit like if they see one, I run into them. When I was camping in national parks, I we did like two week backpacking in national.00:04:53XochitlLike and they they like, run away, cause there's kind of scared of people, black bears, and they're pretty. They're kind of they're a lot smaller than grizzly bears, actually.00:04:59JackYeah, yeah.00:05:04XochitlThey're not that big.00:05:04JackThe problem is just the. The problem is that bears are just too unreliable right now for me to like if my wife and my daughter came across the bear. They're just too you just, you just never know what's going to happen.00:05:16JackLike it's just.00:05:16XochitlWell, what about men? So men are are men reliable to you?00:05:20JackWell, I think a bear is going to do what a bear is going to do, right? Like like they're they weigh 500 lbs. They're going.00:05:25XochitlOK.00:05:28JackThem.00:05:29JackYou know, if they decide that they want to, you know, bite you and mess you up, they'll do it. And it's really kind of like, it's very much like a a coin toss.00:05:42JackNow the man, on the other hand.00:05:45JackWhat percentage of of men are are psycho killers?00:05:52JackI mean like it's it's got to be.00:05:54JackIt's got to be minuscule, right? It's got to be like small, small percentage.00:05:57XochitlThat kind of bad Jack, because I was like, I realize that you're a good guy. And that's like, you don't think of this but like, think about it this way. How many men are psycho killers? Yeah. How many men are actually good people when they come across a woman alone in the woods?00:06:14JackI've been, I'm going to say still a large a majority.00:06:19JackA large majority are good, are good people, but there are there is a percentage of of of very bad people that are gonna that are going to be like a crime of we call this we we would call this a crime of opportunity right. It's like they're not necessarily they're not necessarily going to do.00:06:21XochitlOK, that's all.00:06:35XochitlYes.00:06:39JackAnything in society, but when when society is not looking?00:06:44JackYou know, and they feel like they can, you know, sneak their their hand into the cookie jar and get away with it. How many men, you know, what are they going to do?00:06:57JackThis is this is like the Darkest podcast we've ever done. When I think about it.00:07:01XochitlYeah, but I want to ask you something that might make it a little lighthearted and dark. Dark in a way. What would you have answered? How, what would you say if I said, would you rather that your wife and daughter come across a woman in the woods? A strange woman in the.00:07:07JackYeah.00:07:15XochitlWoods or a bear in the woods?00:07:17JackOhh woman yeah, 100 zero. Yeah, I wouldn't hesitate in.00:07:18XochitlYeah, it's.00:07:21JackA for a SEC.00:07:22JackIn.00:07:23XochitlAnd then like you see how bad it is that like we have to, we we've sat here having quite a long conversation debating whether a man or a bear is a is a worst threat. And when we think about a woman we're like, Oh yeah, that's fine because.00:07:36JackYeah, a woman is is not a threat, just like a.00:07:39XochitlNo, but also it just speaks about how poorly men behave in society and how many men are criminals and or just crappy people that.00:07:50JackYeah, I mean it is, it is really, uh it it is really.00:07:55JackIt it is, it is bad I-11. I remember a few months ago, my daughter was.00:08:02JackComing home and she got harassed by some guy.00:08:06JackYou know, she's 16 years old and yeah, I was. I was. I ran outside. I was like.00:08:09발표자Oh.00:08:13JackWhere? Where is he? I'm going to kill.00:08:14JackHim, you know.00:08:16XochitlWhat?00:08:17JackBut it's just like you know, it's what women have to deal with in society, you know, getting harassed and things like that is kind of related to this question where, you know.00:08:31JackIf if they were to come across a man in the woods.00:08:35JackIt would. That is also terrifying.00:08:39JackBut statistically, I would rather they come across a man than a bear because the bear is just too unreliable. I just don't know what the bear is going to do. I can't. I just can't trust the bear cause of the bear is just going to is going to do what's what's in its nature, you know, which is hunt or whatever, you know, like.00:08:59JackTo attack, defend whatever it feels is necessary at that moment.00:09:05JackA man if 95% of men are are are decent people, that's a pretty those are pretty good odds, right? That she's not going to come across that other 5% so.00:09:18XochitlWow, Jack, you have a really good you. You think 95% of men are decent people? I I'm not the only need a real audience or anything. I just think most men would, even. Most men would probably disagree with you on how many. What percentage of men are good people when a crime of opportunity arises.00:09:25JackThink so? Yeah.00:09:38XochitlAnd so I would have to say I'm closer to this 75 or 65% mark.00:09:44JackOhh no, I don't. I that's that's too high. I I don't think I. I really don't think that uh that there that that men are that bad. I just think that like the the the crimes we how can I say it like like it's like it's over amplified in some ways like.00:10:00JackTrue crime like because it's, you know, you only hear about the the bad stories.00:10:04발표자Like I think because.00:10:06XochitlYou're a man that you feel this way.00:10:08XochitlJack.00:10:08Ja

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl shares 3 confusing words with the listeners. She and Jack explain the meanings of the words and how to use them in sentences.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:50JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we're going to share. Well, we're going to do a we're under the vocabulary spotlight and we are going to share some words that we came across during our English corner classes that students kind of struggle with. And so so.00:01:11JackWas the first one that you you had that you came up with?00:01:15XochitlThe first one I noticed students struggled a little bit with was workload, the pronunciation, workload and then on top of that, what it meant workload is just. It's a compound word. It has the word work in it and the word load in it, and you put it together.00:01:19발표자Hmm.00:01:36XochitlWith no spaces and its workload, so workload just means the amount of work that each person is.00:01:44XochitlUh.00:01:45JackEach.00:01:45XochitlPerson's share of work so that can be at your house like domestic tasks like chores or that can also be at your job. You know, between your colleagues you may have a heavier workload if you have a higher position in the company. So that's kind of what workload refers to.00:02:08JackYeah, exactly. It's, it's it's a lot of times you hear it with the word share shared workload.00:02:15JackYou know, so you have, you have this like?00:02:18JackThe certain amount of work that you have to do at your office and then they divide it among the employees. You're gonna do this much? You're gonna do this much? You're gonna do this much? You're gonna do this much, and each piece is your workload.00:02:33JackAnd and then you basically just start working away, chipping away at it, you know, trying to to decrease it down to 0.00:02:42JackAnd of course, in the company or corporation it never gets down to 0 because there's always more work. You know you there's another workload piled on top of your old workload. And so you know, it's kind of a never ending, you know, thing but.00:03:02JackYeah, I mean, I just think that like, yeah, certain even within this podcast social and I divide certain parts of the workload, she's spends a lot of time talking to students on the app.00:03:13JackApp communicating with them, recording I my workload is. Yeah, I do like the editing and and and some of the you know adding like little music pieces or whatever to it which actually I enjoy. So it's kind of like my my workload is kind of the fun part and I get the the editing part of it.00:03:19XochitlCan I have an idea?00:03:34JackBut yeah, it's a it's a shared workload and and you know when you do that, when you share the workload, it makes it a lot easier to finish a project more quickly.00:03:47발표자So.00:03:50XochitlThe second one that I saw some students struggle with was the meaning of emotional labor. When I say emotional labor, what does that mean to you, Jack?00:03:59JackThis one I've actually I'm not too familiar with this term. This seems like uh, maybe something that is a newer.00:04:07XochitlKind of a new age term.00:04:09JackYeah, just like a Gen. Z kind of thing like.00:04:12발표자Yes.00:04:15JackMost workload is, that is that does that mean like managing your relationships with other people and and trying to keep those you know keep up with like replying to people on social media and emails and that kind of stuff is that, am I right about is?00:04:15발표자Well, let's yeah.00:04:33JackThat what an emotional workload is.00:04:35XochitlYeah, it has a.00:04:36XochitlCouple of different meanings. So some people said, uh, emotional labor, can you know it can be part of your job, like if you're working in customer service, you know, regulating your emotions and kind of managing customer emotions as well.00:04:52XochitlBut I think a lot more commonly in this new age, we use it when we're talking about women's workload in the home, which a lot of it is invisible labor, which means labor that you cannot necessarily see and appreciate. For example, if you have a stack of.00:05:12XochitlDishes and they're all gone, you know, because your mom did them. You can see that. That's another type of Labor. But that's a domestic labor, but.00:05:23XochitlWhen the kid comes flying home from school and maybe they got depressed because their friends bullied them and their mom is checking in on their kid day after day for the week and cheering them up and maybe your husband came home from a stressful job and then you have to see the in laws and you have to pick a a gift.00:05:43XochitlFor your mother-in-law, it's a lot of these things that kind of fall under an invisible guys that you can't see the person.00:05:53XochitlDoing these tasks in the same way, perhaps because they don't have a clean cut result, but overall you're doing a lot of Labor emotionally, kind of like what a a therapist would do, maybe. Or a psychologist would do. So you're you're kind of doing unpaid.00:06:13XochitlEmotional labor. You're like a, uh, unpaid therapist for your family.00:06:17JackRight, right. It's like it's not quantitative, but it's qualitative in nature.00:06:27발표자Hmm.00:06:28JackIt's like, uh, yeah, it's it. It's emotionally draining. But you don't really get any credit for it. You know, you do the dishes, you get like, a, you get a little little star sticker, you know, like, good job. You did the you did the dishes, you know, check that off the list. But.00:06:48JackAnd.00:06:49JackJohnny has a skin knee and he, you know, he's scared of skateboards now you know. So you've got to console him for 1/2 an hour. You don't. There's no. There's no sticker for that. You know, there's, there's, that's just.00:07:07JackI mean, I guess in in the traditional sense they would just say, well, that's parenting. So just, you know, suck it up and and do it you know.00:07:16JackBut it often falls on the the mother's shoulders. You know, she's the one that has to take do the the, the nurturing and the the caring for the child with the skin and the knee and the father kind of gets a pass as he, you know, marches off to his.00:07:36JackThe computer room.00:07:36XochitlDrink beer and watch TV or something.00:07:38JackYeah, yeah, yeah. You didn't ask your mom. Mom will deal with it, you know? Yeah. So emotional labor. I I like it. I dig it. Yeah, I'm. I'm. I think we should be more careful to to consider that, you know.00:07:43XochitlYeah.00:07:54XochitlYeah, I recognize it. Another thing I noticed that students were struggling with the vocabulary word to describe certain words. Certain chores. Sorry. And they they were missing one and I didn't want to interrupt, but I thought it would be be a good time to introduce the vocabulary word.00:08:15XochitlTedious Jack. What does tedious mean when attempts is tedious?00:08:16JackHmm.00:08:18JackYeah, if something is. If a task or a chore is tedious it it's just it's very.00:08:25JackWell, I'm going to use another big word to describe a big word. Monotonous and monotonous, means it's very repetitive. It's just like it's something that you do that is, it's not difficult, but it's. But it's time consuming and it's very annoying.00:08:45JackYou know, I'm trying to think of like.00:08:49JackYou know, a lot of a lot of construction work is very tedious. You know, when you're building a a wall like a like a brick wall, you have to just one brick at a time, you know, and it take, you know, it takes a long time to finish that wall. And so it's very just doing the same thing over and over.00:09:08JackAnd over and over again 100 * 1000 * 10,000 times. That is very tedious, tedious work.00:09:18JackWork.00:09:19XochitlOne of our students was talking about how she has a cat and she doesn't like to put her clothing directly into the washer because she's worried that the cat hair will damage her clogged her washer so she takes clothing item by clothing item and puts.00:09:32XochitlA lint roller.00:09:33XochitlOver it and gets rid of the cat hair that way. And so she said.00:09:39XochitlDoing laundry is incredibly tedious task for her.00:09:43XochitlI was more.00:09:43XochitlSo impressed that anyone would even think to do that, I just toss it in the washer. I I kind of shake things out. Like if I have some my sheets or whatever, I I just shake them out outside and then throw them in the washer.00:09:50JackYeah.00:09:57JackI've got those double stick tape rollers and I roll my clothes too before.00:10:02JackTo get all the dog.00:10:02XochitlHair off of him before you put him.00:10:04XochitlIn the washer.00:10:05JackYeah, yeah, just just run it up and down my shirt just to get. Yeah, yeah.00:10:08XochitlWild. I never. I didn't know this was a thing at all. Blenda doesn't shed hardly at all, so I don't even have this issue. He really doesn't shed. I can be wearing all black and and hug him and he'll sit on my lap and pet him. And. And there's like, no hair on me when I'm.00:10:16JackYeah.00:10:27JackOK. Yeah. Lily is my dog. Sheds a little bit. Not that much, but yeah, just every once in a while I'll take the roller just, you know, go over my my clothes not. Not every time. I'm not like like what she does. You're your student. But I do. We do have those, those rollers, those double stick tape rollers that that are really nice for just getting lint and stuff.00:10:41발표자Hmm.00:10:48JackOff of your

Too rich for my blood: The phrase "too rich for my blood" is an idiomatic expression meaning that something is too expensive or beyond one's financial reach. It conveys the idea that the cost or price of something is more than what the speaker is willing or able to pay. This phrase is often used in social or economic contexts to indicate that a particular item, activity, or lifestyle is financially out of reach for the person using the expression.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:50JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we are going to do an MI, the jerk episode and here's the situation.00:01:00JackUh, social you and a group of your friends have a tradition of going out for dinner every Friday night. Everyone in your group has generally similar financial situations, and you typically all choose moderately priced restaurants. One Friday, you suggest a new upscale restaurant that just opened in town. The menu.00:01:20JackIs significantly more expensive than your usual spot.00:01:24JackTwo of your friends expressed concerns about the cost, saying they can't afford to spend that much on dinner.00:01:31JackYou respond by saying, come on, it's just one night you can skip it. If you can't afford it. This statement causes tension and the group ends up splitting with some going to the upscale restaurant and others opting out entirely. Question, are you the jerk for suggesting the expensive restaurant and making the comment?00:01:52JackAbout affordability.00:01:54JackHmm.00:01:56XochitlNo, I don't think so. I think if I couldn't afford something and my friends would going to do it, I would be like.00:02:03XochitlYou know to have fun. Uh, tell me what it tell me. If it's good, I'll save up and maybe next time we can all go together.00:02:11XochitlBecause, you know, sometimes people are at different points and yeah, you have. Uh, you may make the same income, but you might have different responsibilities or people might be starting different projects or have different things they need to take care of, like student loans, rent. You know, you can make the same amount of money and have vastly different expenses.00:02:31XochitlAlso prioritize.00:02:32XochitlGuys. Uh, what? You spend your money on very differently. So someone might say, you know, I don't like spending a lot of money on dinner. I'd rather spend it on a hobby or, you know, I I'm saving up for a trip. Coming up in a couple of months or something, you know? So I wouldn't be upset.00:02:53XochitlYou know you can skip it if you if you can't afford it. I wouldn't take that.00:02:58XochitlAs a comment, you know calling me broke or trying to, like, hurt my feelings. I would just think, yeah, you know, I I can't afford it. Or maybe it's not my priority to spend my money there. I might respond that I might be like, well, I can sort it, but I'd rather spend my money elsewhere. But, you know, you guys have fun and enjoy it and tell me if it's any good.00:03:19XochitlAnd then maybe we can go together next time. So yeah, I don't think this person is a jerk. Maybe they could have.00:03:26XochitlUh, avoided that comment just because it could hurt a few people's it it could potentially hurt someones feelings, especially if they're already sensitive about maybe they have other expenses and they're stressed because they don't get to go, but I don't think it it was. It will. And so I wouldn't hold it against them. So I I don't think.00:03:45XochitlThey're the jerk.00:03:46XochitlHow about you, Jack?00:03:48JackUM, yeah, I I'm thinking the the the most like jerky point of the of of the part of the of the uh situation is when he says come on, it's just one night. You know, it's like what is, what does that have to do with anything like it's still money like though.00:04:08JackYou know, it could be one night, five nights. Whatever. It doesn't matter.00:04:15JackAnd UM. But the second part of his comment where he says you can skip it if you can't afford it. I think that's that's OK, you know, like, I I don't think like everyone has to be. It's it's really like it's an odd situation when you get older, when you go from your 20s to your 30s.00:04:35JackYou know, sometimes some of your friends are like graduating from medical school or get becoming lawyers or something, and they're moving into this, like, higher.00:04:44JackTheir income bracket and all of a sudden the things that they like to do are not exactly the same as the things you like to do, like a barbecue in the backyard. They like that, but they also might like going to the fancy new restaurant in town that cost, you know, 2 or $300.00:05:04JackFor a.00:05:04JackHere and you're you're just like 2 or $300.00 for a dinner that that pays for my child's braces, you know, or something like that, you know, you know, like, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna throw $300.00 away for, you know, cold Robbie or something, you know, like, I'm not going to do that. So.00:05:26JackI I I, but I think your your answer is the best answer is that gracefully decline.00:05:36발표자And.00:05:36JackDon't make. Don't stop your feet and go like it's not fair. You know, like, you know what lifes? Not fair. You know what I mean? They have a right to go to the fancy restaurant if they want to. And you have a whole. You have a total right not to go and. But if you if you, if you make a big point out of like you know only everybody should only go to places that all of us can afford.00:06:00JackI don't think that's a fair request. I think you can just say like opt.00:06:04JackOut.00:06:04JackSay hey, tonight you guys, I'm just gonna hang at home, but I hope you have a good time and I'll catch up with you next week when we go to, you know, Burger King and watch a movie. You know, whatever.00:06:19JackWhat's wrong with that? I I don't know why you have to be, you know, hurt feelings over over over, uh, over that, you know?00:06:27XochitlI think potentially if it started migrating to the point where the group was.00:06:33XochitlSpending more on outings and you you couldn't really afford to see your friends at all anymore, then that would be a good time to bring it up and say, hey guys, you know.00:06:41XochitlI'm kind of.00:06:42XochitlGetting priced out of our get togethers and I was wondering if at least a couple of times you know every other time. Maybe we can go to a more affordable place.00:06:53XochitlUmm.00:06:54XochitlAnd you know, if your friends care about you and want you there, I'm sure that they won't be willing to meet. I'm sure they'll be willing to meet you in the middle at some point.00:07:04JackYes, I think that's that's a really fair point. I think it you know you you can say like hey at least like couple times a month, can we go to a place that's like affordable that everybody likes.00:07:14JackYou know, and then I can participate as well because, you know, I'm friends with you guys, but you know, you earn a lot more money than I do. And I think that in in that case, a lot of times they don't even think like that. You know, some most people think like, oh, if I have this much money, everybody has this much money, you know, you just you you're not you, you're not thinking.00:07:35JackClearly about like what other people are might be earning.00:07:40JackYou know, maybe your friend works for like an NGO or something like that, you know? And so they're, they're their income. They're they're doing something that they love giving back to the community, but they're not getting paid, you know, high salary as opposed to, like a lawyer or a Doctor Who's making a lot of money. It's it's totally fair.00:07:59JackJust say to them, hey, can we?00:08:02JackCan we go to, you know, the the the burger joints or the the pizza place? You know once in a while like the old days and they probably be happy. They probably love it you know like unless they're, you know, really stuck up people they they probably would enjoy going you know back to their roots and doing doing some of the stuff that you guys did when you were in college or.00:08:25JackWhen you were in your 20s.00:08:27JackSo.00:08:29JackYeah, I think your advice is is excellent. Yeah. And yeah, I would guess we're, you know, we're we're curious what.00:08:39JackWhat you guys think? Social. Do you want to take us out here with the?00:08:44XochitlAlright guys. Uh, let us know what you think. Is this person the jerk? Are they not the jerk? What would you do in their situation? Make sure to leave us a comment down below at it as being this podcast@gmail.com or sorry. Leave us a comment down below at AZ englishpodcast.com. Shoot us an e-mail at AZ englishpodcast@gmail.com and join the WeChat.00:09:03XochitlAnd WhatsApp group to join our conversation and we, Jack and I are now hosting a.00:09:11XochitlZoom Class English corner an English corner Monday through Friday for an hour a day. And if you're interested in joining, make sure to check through the WeChat or the WhatsApp group for the link and we'll see you guys next time.00:09:11JackAn English corner, yeah, yeah.00:09:26XochitlBye bye bye bye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/am-i-the-jerk/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Ch

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl explains the tuna fish sandwich debate question to Jack. Then, Jack offers his opinion on the situation.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A to Z Listeners this is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:50JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have a topic talk, I believe, and this is the tuna fish sandwich debate and social. I have no idea what this means. Please enlighten me.00:01:08XochitlJack, I came across this and it it's kind of popular amongst American medicines in the in the group that I found. So a girl was commenting about how.00:01:21XochitlShe gave her.00:01:23XochitlMoney to go buy and cheese sandwich with all the fixings, which for others who don't know means, you know, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, whatever. And she very specifically said she wanted that ham and cheese sandwich. So he went to subway, she gave him money for both of their sandwich.00:01:37발표자 3Mm-hmm.00:01:44XochitlAnd I believe she wasn't feeling well or or something. So anyway, he went alone. So he went and bought a sandwich and he bought himself something different. And then he bought her a tuna fish salad sandwich, which he also likes. But he knows she doesn't like tuna.00:02:05XochitlAnd she doesn't really eat tuna, but he likes tuna, and he brought her the sandwich and told her that he brought her the tuna fish sandwich because he just wanted her to try his favorite sandwich, even though he got himself something different as well. So the commenters were divided on whether she should be grateful.00:02:25XochitlAnd she was actually saying she was grateful anyway, but that it kind of annoyed her. But she ended up feeling grateful that he went and got sandwiches, or if she should be upset.00:02:36XochitlThat he got her something she didn't ask for with her money, that he liked, that he knew that she wouldn't really like. So what do you think, Jack?00:02:45JackYeah, this one is. This is very uhm, here's an expression SUS like suspect, you know? Yeah, this is suck.00:02:53XochitlBut yes, that's like me. So it's like weird or kind of suspicious. That's what it stands for. Suspicious.00:02:56JackYeah.00:03:00JackSuspicious. Exactly.00:03:03JackThis reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons where Homer.00:03:09JackBuys Marge a bowling ball for her birthday that is exactly like sized for his hand and his fingers. So basically he buys her a present that she will never use and doesn't wants and that.00:03:29JackHe wants and that he will use.00:03:31JackAnd she is supposed to be grateful for that. And and this is like, this is just pure manipulation, you know, like, this is just this guy wants to eat all of the sandwiches and he's got his sandwich that he bought for himself.00:03:43XochitlRight.00:03:53JackAnd then he knows that she's not going to eat the tuna sandwich because she doesn't like tuna.00:03:59JackAnd he's trying to frame it as like I'm it's like.00:04:04JackIt's it's like the it's, it's just it's like.00:04:06JackKind of like a.00:04:07JackGaslighting, almost like like I'm I'm giving you the exact opposite of what you want and and make and and you're and forcing you to say thank you for.00:04:09XochitlYeah.00:04:18JackFor me doing it's, it's just like it's, it's awful. I mean it's it's in the grand scheme of things. It's not a big deal. It's just a sandwich. But I would be, you know, greatly annoyed. And I know my wife would be really annoyed if she told me I want this sandwich and then I showed up with a totally different sandwich.00:04:18XochitlGreat.00:04:38JackWhich containing an ingredient that I know she doesn't like and then saying, oh, but this is my favorite sandwich. You gotta try it. It's like. Well, then, why don't you buy that your favorite sandwich for yourself and give her some of yours and buy her the sandwich that she wants?00:04:56JackLike, that's what an adult would do. This is what a child would do is what this guy did. So she's married, she's not married, or she's dating a a child. Not a, not a man, you know.00:04:57XochitlYeah.00:05:07XochitlYeah, OK, good. We're on the same side of this debate. A lot of men in the comments were saying.00:05:13XochitlBecause he went and got the sandwiches, but also what he changed to you. If he if he was buying it with his own money.00:05:23JackNo, it wouldn't. It wouldn't change because like again, like she, she specifically asked for a a sandwich, a ham and cheese sandwich.00:05:33JackAnd you're showing up with a tuna sandwich.00:05:36JackIt's like.00:05:39JackYou know, kind of like, uh, if I asked you to buy me an Americano and you show up with a macchiato or something, it's like, oh, no, I didn't want the, you know, extra 300 calories of sugar or whatever. I just wanted a, a plain Americano.00:05:56JackUM, it it's just, it's just it's kind of like I I guess the the sandwich is irrelevant. It's more of like, are you listening to your partner, are you, you know, are you paying attention and and are you do you understand their wants and needs and design?00:06:12JackYears. And are you putting those desires above your own desires to have basically two sandwiches and she has none. You know, that's the that's the the manipulation here. It's like it's like a scheme. I'm gonna. I'm gonna find a way to eat my sandwich and your sandwich and you're gonna like it.00:06:27XochitlRight.00:06:34JackYou know, like you're gonna say thank you. It's it's like it's it's twisted. It's it's, it's diabolical, you know.00:06:35XochitlRight.00:06:41XochitlI know. And the crazy thing to me is that I I bet he had his wallet on him and he could have just bought himself an extra tuna sandwich with his.00:06:48XochitlMoney and gotten her what she wanted, but he was like, Nah, I'm gonna use her own money, especially if like to get myself something I want. But I agree with you. I don't think it would have changed regardless. Like, it's like if someone asks you cause especially when you're in the long term partnership and especially if you get married and stuff, usually it becomes both of your money.00:07:09XochitlRight. So it doesn't really matter. It's just.00:07:13XochitlIt comes down to are you listening to the person do.00:07:15XochitlYou care about what they want.00:07:17XochitlOr are you a selfish?00:07:19XochitlYou know.00:07:21XochitlJerk.00:07:21JackB hole. Yeah, exactly. Why. Why can't you? Why can't you buy your girlfriend a a sandwich when she's not feeling well? It's like, come on, dude. You're collecting money from your girlfriend. I mean that. That really tells everything that says everything that needs that, that I need to know right there.00:07:26XochitlYeah, yeah.00:07:35XochitlThen.00:07:42JackIs that the guys took the money from her and not only that, but he's going to buy himself a sandwich with her money. It's like.00:07:53JackSorry, sorry, lady, but you, you this guy is not a keeper, you know. Throw this one back because there's plenty of fish in the sea. Yeah.00:07:59발표자No.00:08:00XochitlAnd.00:08:04XochitlYeah, it's funny because he actually said, oh, yeah, he was sweet to get me food. So like, he gets a pass. I was like.00:08:11JackWell, how? How many miles did he walk to?00:08:13JackGet the sandwich.00:08:13XochitlWhat I'm in that situation is make the person go either one.00:08:18JackYeah. I mean, if he drove, then I can.00:08:20XochitlTimes that I wanted or you're giving that money back. Pay for sandwich that I don't want.00:08:26JackYeah.00:08:27JackNo, I'm. I'm. I'm. I'm on team. I'm I'm. I think she should have. She should have been annoyed with him. I don't know how angry you can get over a sandwich. I don't think you should start World War three. You know, in the relationship. But it's just like another little. It's it's like another little little like sign that this guy's.00:08:29XochitlYeah, you're driving back.00:08:44발표자 3Hey.00:08:47JackThe total loser, you know? That's, that's what I've that's the way I interpret.00:08:52JackAnd I'm sure there's probably a million other ways that he's of kind of a loser in that relationship as well, so.00:09:00XochitlI'm curious to know what you would have done if you had been on the receiving end of getting a sandwich you didn't want. Like would, would you make the person go back? Would you ask for your money back or would or would you call them out? Or?00:09:12XochitlWould you?00:09:14XochitlWhat we say thank you and in your mind.00:09:17JackThat's that's an interesting point.00:09:20XochitlLoser. I gotta cut him loose.00:09:22JackWhen it comes to me, there is no sandwich. Then I don't like. So you know, I'll eat anything at any time.00:09:31JackYou know, it could be a horse meat, you know, sandwich. I'll probably eat it, you know? And uh, I wouldn't say anything. I'll, I'll.00:09:41JackYeah, it it it. It's not it. It doesn't. Uh, the situation doesn't fit well with me because there's nothing on the subway menu that I wouldn't eat. Maybe if I got a vegetarian sandwich should be like a little disappointed, but still eat it. You know, I wouldn't complain, you know?00:09:59JackBut in this case.00:10:02JackI think she should be slightly annoyed because he's trying to be manipulative, you know, and it's it's it's obvious and he's trying to get her to.00:10:12JackActively participate in in the manipulation and be like you know, be grateful for.00:10:20JackA trick that he's pulling on her. So you know, I just, I I d

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack talk about which chores they hate and which ones they don't mind.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:52JackWelcome to the agency English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host, social. And today we have a topic talk episode and social. Today's topic is what household chores?00:01:03JackDo you usually help?00:01:04JackWith and which ones do you enjoy and which ones?00:01:07JackDo you hate?00:01:10XochitlOhh well Jack, I live alone.00:01:13JackSo you do.00:01:14XochitlI.00:01:15XochitlYeah, I mean, I did and find out what. Yeah, now that I live in Mexico, I pay someone to come do some of them. And I do some of them. So that kind of works out pretty well for me. But lately, the person that I was paying to come do household chores, unfortunately.00:01:16JackSwear none of them. I don't know. It depends on.00:01:18JackHow you live, yeah.00:01:24JackYeah.00:01:34XochitlHer father got ill and I totally get that. So I've been handling them on my own.00:01:40JackMHM.00:01:40XochitlAnd and.00:01:43XochitlI like cooking. Uh, if there's other people around like I hate cooking just myself.00:01:50JackYeah, me too. I hate like it's still. There's nothing lonelier than frying. Like one egg, you know?00:01:56JackWhat I mean, it's just like what's?00:01:57XochitlOh my God. Wow. We're like.00:01:58JackWhat's wrong with my life? You.00:02:00JackKnow when you yeah.00:02:00XochitlI know it's just and we have no one to eat with and it's like just different thing. So if I'm alone, a lot of the times, they'll just end up ordering food like Uber eats or whatever. And but if there's even just one other person with me, I'm happy to cook.00:02:04JackYeah.00:02:12JackOh, nice, yeah.00:02:19XochitlOther chores that I do like wash the dishes, do my laundry.00:02:25XochitlAh, sweep mop.00:02:29JackIs is there one that like, really irks you? That just drives you crazy, that you really hate.00:02:29XochitlI don't.00:02:34XochitlOK, I don't like sleeping and mopping because it makes my back hurt, which is like weird, but I don't know why, but my back really hurts. Whenever I like sweep and mop, so I don't like that. I don't like getting.00:02:39JackAh.00:02:46XochitlEven though I don't mind sleeping in mopping, it's just the fact that my back always hurts. It like really annoys me and I don't like. Yeah, I don't like.00:02:53JackIt's yeah.00:02:56XochitlDoing the dishes I used to really like doing the dishes when I was a kid, and now I hate doing the dishes because it's like.00:03:03XochitlJust the nasty food on it. Or like other people's mouths. It not it, grosses me.00:03:09JackIt reminds me of the like Reddit thread like kids are.00:03:13JackFreaking stupid, you know, like a kid like kid kids are like, oh, man, I wish I were old enough to mature enough to wash the dishes, you know? And they kind of trick you into doing it, you know? Yeah.00:03:23XochitlAlright.00:03:27XochitlI know. And you think it's fun and then you're like, you become an adult and you have to do the dishes every day. And the kitchen is never clean. And every time you cook something, the kitchen is dirty again. And then it just makes me want to eat out all the time because then I don't have to do dishes. I don't have to clean my kitchen. I just, like, eat out of container.00:03:42JackYeah, and and eating out is not not expensive in in Mexico, in Oaxaca, right? Yeah.00:03:47XochitlNo, it it's not too expensive. You can get a full meal for like.00:03:52XochitlThree to four bucks probably like you. You can get what they call, which is like the big meal today, and you get, like, a a fresh water that, like, has a fruit flavor usually and a whole meal. And then sometimes they give you, like, dessert and you get, like, the main.00:03:55JackWow.00:04:12XochitlFish and two side dishes. And that's like 3 or $4.00. So at that point, it's like, I don't really want to.00:04:18XochitlCook so.00:04:19JackSo $3 in Korea will buy you like.00:04:23XochitlThey won't even buy you.00:04:24XochitlCoffee man like I remember.00:04:25JackYou won't even buy you a coffee. I mean, maybe you could. Maybe you could get the cup, but there won't be anything in it, you know, for the three dollars. Yeah.00:04:27XochitlNo, I never heard.00:04:32XochitlYeah.00:04:34XochitlYeah, but, Jack, what are the ones that you hate to do? And what which ones do you do in general and which is?00:04:40JackYeah. So I'm basically, I'm like I I dust I'm I vacuum and I mop. That's all. My wife asked me to do. She does the, you know, the big stuff, right, like she.00:04:50JackShe's kind of on her hands and knees cleaning the bathrooms once a week, and she does all the dusting of everywhere. I just have to dust my this little room right here, this man cave, my podcasting room, and I hate it because you know, when you're dusting.00:05:09JackLike books and stuff, there's all the you know.00:05:11JackThere's so so.00:05:12JackMany little nooks and crannies and little, you know, spaces that you have to try to get into.00:05:18JackAnd so, you know, sometimes I'm I do a good job. Sometimes I'm a little lazy with that vacuuming. I don't mind doing it that that much. I think vacuuming is is is OK, although I have been trying to, you know, pitch the idea to my wife that we should get.00:05:38JackA Roomba, you know, like a like a. Yeah, like a like a a robot vacuum cleaner. But she's not. She's. She's skeptical because of her plants. She doesn't want it to, like, knock over her plants. You know, while it's cruising around. Whatever.00:05:40XochitlOhh that's the good idea.00:05:57JackSo.00:05:58JackSo I'm stuck doing that. The one that I hate the most is taking out the trash.00:06:05JackI hate it.00:06:07JackSo I'll let it pile up like to a ridiculous level, where it's like it's like a, it's like a mountain of of like, boxes, kind of teetering. And then finally I'll be like, alright, I it's time to go. And the reason I don't like it is because we live on the third, third floor of a walk up and then I have to walk over to the recycling.00:06:28JackGarbage area which is like.00:06:29JackMaybe. Uh oh, I don't know.00:06:36JackI don't know 100 meters, you know, away from my my front door and.00:06:43JackI just like in the winter. It's freezing cold in the summer. It's hot, you know? So I just. I just don't like it. I just really hate that. So, you know.00:06:46XochitlYeah.00:06:52XochitlAlso, for listeners who don't know, separating trash in Korea is like very difficult. So.00:06:59JackThey recycle everything, you know, even food, food, garbage. It's crazy.00:06:59XochitlI it's like, yeah. And yeah, yeah.00:07:05XochitlYeah, the food garbage goes to like pigs or something, I believe, right?00:07:08JackYeah, they make some kind of.00:07:12JackYeah, some some kind.00:07:13JackOf food like the dry food after they dry it out and stuff they they feed.00:07:17JackIt to pigs, yeah.00:07:17XochitlOh, they like dehydrating it. Oh.00:07:20JackYeah, they dehydrate it. Yeah, yeah.00:07:22XochitlOh cool so.00:07:23JackYeah.00:07:25XochitlHuh. Well, anyway it so there's certain things you can't put in your food. Trash like bones, egg shells, things like that, because obviously that could hurt the pigs, so.00:07:37XochitlYeah, it is a pain, but.00:07:39JackI put everything in there that I shouldn't.00:07:43XochitlThat you did. Did you not know about this?00:07:45JackI didn't know about that. I I put egg cells and coffee grounds and everything in there. Yeah, yeah.00:07:46XochitlNo, no, I think I think coffee grounds might be OK. You have to look into it, but you're not supposed to put. You're like.00:07:53XochitlThat you're just now hearing. Yeah, yeah.00:07:56JackI thought pigs could eat egg shells. No problem. I mean, just like.00:07:59XochitlI think it's because they dehydrate it. That probably like become sharp or something. I don't know. I think you're not supposed to put egg shells. Check. Check. You're also not supposed to put bones in there. So.00:08:10XochitlJust double check though you've been living there long to me, so you know, double check. But I remember when I got there that people told me I wasn't supposed to do that.00:08:18XochitlSo then I didn't, but it was a pain. It I would. I would kind of just not do the food trash. I would kind of just put my food trash in the normal trash and just throw it away.00:08:26JackYeah, yeah, you just you.00:08:29JackIf they make it too complicated and it's too, it's too much trouble. People just won't do it. So.00:08:34XochitlI know. Yeah, it's a lot, yeah.00:08:36XochitlWhat is 1 chore that you really like doing?00:08:39JackA. A tool that I like doing well. That's a good question. I'm not sure there is one. I think you know vacuuming is because I still, I can put my my hair, put my my earbuds in and and usually I listen to our our podcast episodes while I'm vacuuming. So I'll just listen to a podcast and vacuum. You know, it's just like a.00:08:59JackYou know, sometimes I'll do, like, uh, you know, I Love Lucy. You know, I'll dance a little bit with the vacuum cleaner and, you know, kind of like that, like a like, it's a dancing partner or something if no one's home, you know, if if my wife's home, I won't do that. But yeah, make it fun. You know, if if I.00:09:16JackThen. But yeah, vacuuming is no big deal. That's it's easy.00:09:21XochitlYeah, I I like vacuuming as well.00:09:25XochitlAnd

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack discuss three idioms related to rain.Transcript:00:00:00JackHey, A is the English podcast listeners. It's Jack here and we just want to announce that we are now on WeChat. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast that is A-Z English podcast, one word all lowercase.00:00:17JackAnd if you.00:00:18JackJoin the group. You will be able to talk with me. You'll be able to.00:00:22JackTalk with social.00:00:23JackAnd we can answer your questions. We can read your comments on the podcast. So we'd love for you to join us and be active in our we chat group. Our WeChat ID is A-Z English podcast. Thanks. See you on the app.00:00:51JackWelcome to the A-Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we are in the Idiom Academy and we have 3 idioms social what is what's our first one?00:01:01XochitlOur first idiom is it's raining cats and dogs.00:01:06JackOh yeah, sure.00:01:08XochitlWhat does that mean, Jack?00:01:10JackWell, it means that uh, cats and dogs are are just falling from the sky for some reason. No, what it means is that it's raining very, very hard out there outside.00:01:24JackSo we, you know it's it's it's kind of an old idiom cause I can just picture like my grandfather or my dad saying, you know, like we're going outside to go in the car and it's oh, it's raining cats and dogs out there, you know. So we.00:01:32XochitlYeah.00:01:39JackIt's it's, it's.00:01:40JackOne of the the dumbest like idiots like we have.00:01:45JackBut it's so.00:01:45XochitlYes, weird.00:01:46JackCommon like people use it still all the.00:01:50XochitlYeah, it's kind of not like it's a very nonsensical one. Like why? I don't know if it's just because, like, when it rained really hard you. I don't know what the etymology is, which means like the origin. I really like origin is I think it's just like the slamming sound, maybe of rain. It's like a cat.00:02:09XochitlFell from your roof or something on? I don't know, so.00:02:13XochitlI'm not sure it's not.00:02:13JackI mean it it it, yeah.00:02:14JackYou could just any two nouns could be like it's raining bowl bowling balls and toaster ovens. You know, like it it could be it. It makes as much sense as, you know, cats and dogs so.00:02:22XochitlRight, yes.00:02:27XochitlYeah, but for some reason we we chose cats and dogs. So like this thing.00:02:27발표자 3Yeah.00:02:31JackYeah, we chose cats and dogs. We have to live.00:02:33JackWith it, yeah.00:02:34XochitlIt's pouring. It's pouring. So which brings us to our next idiom. When it rains, it pours. Jack what?00:02:36JackYeah.00:02:42XochitlThat means only rain.00:02:43JackOhh this one I I like this one because like it's like when you when you get a little bit busy you get really busy. You know it seems like like you you you'll you'll go like weeks without any anything and then all of a sudden you have 20 things that you have to do. You know it's like.00:03:01JackIt just kind of, you know? Yeah, it's just like when it rains, it pours it a lot of rain comes, you know. But when there's nothing that nothing is happening.00:03:08XochitlRight.00:03:11XochitlWhen it rains, it pours. Or what's the other one? It can also mean when something bad.00:03:17XochitlHappens that a lot of bad things happen, like let's say ohh you know I was. I was doing fine. Let's let's been fine. And then I broke my thumb and then my mom broke her leg and then we owe hospital bills and now?00:03:38XochitlThe hospital or out of our pain medication.00:03:40XochitlThen and then my dad got in a car crash on his way.00:03:44XochitlTo.00:03:44XochitlPick us up. It's not a bad thing.00:03:45JackYeah, yeah, yeah. It's just like, yeah, yeah.00:03:49XochitlIt's kind of how it is. It's like if I don't know if you ever noticed, it's like one bad thing happens and then a bunch of bad thing happened. Happen. Bad things happen. Yeah.00:03:55JackWell, it's like.00:03:57JackIt's like it's like, uh, you know?00:04:00JackA guy sitting at home and his girlfriend just broke up with him.00:04:03JackAnd then he's, like, checks his e-mail. He got fired from his job, and he's and he gets a phone call. His grandmother passed away, you know, or something. And it's just like one after the other, after the other. It's like when it rains.00:04:08XochitlYeah.00:04:17JackIt pours, yeah.00:04:19XochitlYeah. And then the other one is, uh, take a rain check. Jack, this one has only fascinated me because I don't think I understood what this meant. And I was like a teenager, so.00:04:32JackI think I may still not know it. I mean, I know what it means, but I I'm not sure. Like what? Why they?00:04:37XochitlWhy? I guess maybe.00:04:40XochitlBecause if it's raining, well, tell them what it means and I'll then I'll give you my idea about that apology.00:04:45JackYeah. So let's say for example, let's say you, you, you said to me like, hey, Jack, let's, let's grab lunch on Tuesday. And I'm like, oh, I have a meeting on Tuesday. So can I take a rain check?00:04:59JackAnd a rain check just means can we? Can we change the date to a future time, but an unknown future time. So we will have lunch together. It's just we don't know when it's going to happen in the future. So you know, we have to make a a a a plan.00:05:08발표자Right.00:05:16XochitlRight. This means, yeah, let let's leave it for the future at some point.00:05:17발표자 3Yeah.00:05:22JackYeah, it's kind of like it's kind of like saying it's it's kind of different than saying no, you know, I'm busy because it's kind of like saying.00:05:27XochitlYeah.00:05:29XochitlPlaying later or something.00:05:31JackYeah. Well, it's it's like, it's nice. It's like a nice way to say like I want to spend time with you. I want to do this. I just can't do it at that time that you said, you know.00:05:40XochitlLike. Yeah, it's like it's nicer than maybe later. Like maybe later. It's like no later for sure. Later, for sure. You wanna do this? But.00:05:40JackAnd so.00:05:51JackYeah, maybe later is what we call blowing someone off. Basically, yeah.00:05:55XochitlYeah. Yeah. So it's not maybe later. It's like later for sure. I I do want to hang out with you. I just can't. Unfortunately, at that time. So yeah. Yeah. So it's it's a nice way to say to say that.00:06:03JackRight, exactly.00:06:05JackTake a rain check.00:06:10XochitlAnd yeah, all right, since if you have anymore questions about these idioms or any more idioms, make sure to leave us a comment down below at A-Z English podcast. Shoot us an e-mail at at AZ englishpodcast@gmail.com.00:06:23XochitlAnd make sure that you join the lead channel WhatsApp groups to talk to us directly. I would love to see and hear you guys using these idioms. I think it would be really fun. And of course if you're able to Jack and I have now started an English corner.00:06:36JackYep.00:06:37XochitlFor $10 a month, you get 20 lessons, so that's $0.50 per lesson and the 1st 10 lessons are free. So if you feel so inclined to support us and can and are able to support us, make sure to join us on the English.00:06:44발표자 3Yep.00:06:53XochitlCorner and you can do that through our WeChat group and. And so we will see you guys next time. And again thank you so much for sticking with us through the podcast. We really appreciate your support and we'll see you guys next time. Bye bye.00:07:08발표자 3Bye bye bye.Podcast Website:https://atozenglishpodcast.com/idiom-academy-3-idioms-about-rain/Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Debora by Jangwahttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dilating_Times/single/debora/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy