Real and Relevant

Two native English speakers talking in a completely natural way. That is what our ‘Real and Relevant’ podcasts are all about an English textbook. Listen and… - improve your English listening skills - improve your comprehension - widen your vocabulary - learn about English culture and the UK mindset This is the 39th conversation podcast from SGI – they are all available for free download from itunes.   Today’s natural conversation, Men vs Women, includes gender roles, equal pay, standing up for pregnant ladies on public transport, multi-tasking and much more. In this conversation, you can hear two Brits, Melissa and Bren. Both are teachers at SGI English school in London.   Pod Subject: Men vs Women Pod People: Melissa & Bren   Enjoy the podcast. Why not join in the conversation  if you agree/disagree by leaving us a comment?         Full Audio Transcription Can you understand everything that we said? LIKE/SHARE to see the full, complete transcription. Tweet     Question for Comments Section   DOES EQUALITY EXIST? OR DO WE LIVE IN A SEXIST WORLD?   Melissa’s Podcasts 1. Film, best actors, popcorn and crying at the movies 2. English stereotypes 3. Shakespeare, my hero 4. Things you miss about England 5. Books & literature 6. Best food ever   Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE   Go to a list of all our podcasts   

Native speakers of English talking in a real and relevant way. This normal discussion was not planned, we were just talking, so it is very different to the kind of recording that you get with an English textbook. We hope that this helps you improve your listening skills and broadens your vocabulary. This is our 38th natural conversation podcast – they are all available for free download from itunes.   Today’s conversation includes film, cinema, the best actors, popcorn, cinema v DVD at home… and crying at the movies.   In this conversation, you can hear two British English mother-tongue speakers, Melissa and Bren. Both Bren and Melissa are teachers at SGI English school in London.     Pod Subject: Film & cinema   Pod People: Melissa & Bren   What do you think? Do you prefer watching films in the cinema or on DVD/download at home?   Melissa’s Podcasts 1. Men vs Women WITH FULL TRANSCRIPTION 2. English stereotypes 3. Shakespeare, my hero 4. Things you miss about England 5. Books & literature 6. Best food ever   and… TOP 3 MOVIES EVER and film vocabulary   Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE   Go to a list of all our podcasts    BTW, we quickly mention Tom Cruise running around in his movies. So, here’s a look at how his running style has developed through his movie career.  

An English conversation podcast with two native English speakers in a real and relevant way. This is normal discussion like you could hear in London. We just talk – we don’t decide beforehand what we will say, so this is very different from the planned “conversation” listening exercises from an English textbook. Today’s conversation includes ‘the best food ever’, food allergies and having a ‘sweet tooth’.   IF YOU ARE AN ENGLISH TEACHER AND YOU WANT TO USE THIS IN A LESSON, CLICK HERE FOR A FREE LESSON PLAN THAT INCORPORATES THIS PODCAST     In this conversation, you can hear two mother-tongue British English speakers, Melissa and Bren. Both Bren and Melissa are teachers at SGI English school in London.   SGI-037-Best-food-ever Pod Subject: Best food ever & food allergies Pod People: Melissa & Bren   What do you think? What is the best food that you have ever tasted? Let us know in the comments section below.       You may also like Melissa’s other podcasts…   Melissa’s Podcasts 1. Men vs Women WITH FULL TRANSCRIPTION 2. English stereotypes 3. Shakespeare, my hero 4. Things you miss about England 5. Books & literature 6. Film, best actors, popcorn and crying at the movies     Go to a list of all our podcasts    

An English conversation podcast with two native English men speaking in a real and relevant way. This is genuine discussion like you would hear if you lived in London. We don’t plan what we will say, so this is very different from the artificial conversations that you hear from a CD in an English textbook. Today’s conversation subject is food and restaurants in London.       In this conversation (in British English), you can hear two native speakers, Mark and Bren. Mark is the owner of SGI English school in London.   SGI-036-Restaurants-in-London Pod Subject: London Restaurants Pod People: Mark & Bren   What do you think? Do the restaurants that Mark and Bren talk about sound like good places to go to? Let us know in the comments section below.     You may also like other English conversations with Mark….   1. But is it art?   2. The Royal family (part 1)   3. The Royal family (part 2)     Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE    

English conversation that is both real and relevant between two native English speakers. There is no script and no planning in advance, so this is genuine discussion like you would have if you lived in London. Today’s conversation subject is modern art and its artistic value.   IF YOU ARE AN ENGLISH TEACHER AND YOU WANT TO USE THIS IN A LESSON, CLICK HERE FOR A FREE LESSON PLAN THAT INCORPORATES THIS PODCAST     In this conversation (in British English), we have two mother-tongue speakers, Mark Wagner and Bren. Mark is the owner and CEO at SGI English school in London.   SGI-035-Is-it-art Pod Subject: Is it art? Pod People: Mark & Bren   What’s your opinion? Is the majority of modern art a load of rubbish? Let us know in the comments section below.     You may also like other English conversations with Mark….   The Royal family (part 1)     The Royal family (part 2)     Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE    

Real and relevant (R&R) conversation between two native-speaker English speakers: Nothing is scripted or planned in advance, so this is genuine banter and discussion that you would hear if you lived in London and were taking part in a conversation with two British guys. The topic of today’s conversation is phone manners and how people use their mobiles or tablets all the time.       In this podcast, we have two English native speakers, Josh and Bren. Josh is the Director of Studies at SGI English school in London and also the Chair of LONDOSA… so he’s kind of a big thing in the TEFL world!   SGI-034-Phone-manners Pod Subject: Phone Manners Pod People: Josh & Bren   We talk about how people use their phones and social media in London. Is the situation the same in your town/city/country?     You may also like….   Josh talking about his love of zombies!     Go to a list of all our podcasts     Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE    

Real and relevant conversation between two native-speaker English teachers: that’s what our podcasts are about and here’s the latest where we speak about what people from other countries think about the British. What are the English stereotypes from abroad?       In this podcast, we have two English teachers, Barney and Bren. Barney is the Director of the SGI English school in Vicenza, Italy.   SGI-033-English-Stereotypes Pod Subject: English Stereotypes, as seen from abroad Pod People: Barney & Bren   Barney mentions several stereotypes that people from abroad have about the English. Do you think the same about the English or have you got a different opinion due to personal experience?     You may also like…   Stereotypes of the English (by English people)   And here’s Barney introducing SGI in London       Go to a list of all our podcasts     Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE    

An American English accent and British English together in real and relevant conversation. It is natural chat between two English teachers, made without any preparation. The vocabulary is real and we didn’t alter the way that we speak so that English students could understand more easily. This is real English conversation between native speakers.       In this podcast, we have two English teachers, Griffin and Bren. Griffin teaches English at the SGI sister school in San Sebastian, Spain. Some students say that the way Americans speak is easier to understand and others say that the British accent is much clearer. What do you think?   SGI-032-American-English-accent Pod Subject: Growing up in California. Pod People: Griffin & Bren     QUESTIONS FOR COMMENT SECTION:   Which accent is clearer for you: American or British? (Why?) Would you like to live in San Diego? (Why?)     Click below to hear more native-speaker English accents…   1. Irish accent 2. Northern England accent 3. Scottish Accent 4. Received Pronunciation Accent 5. Australian accent     Go to a list of all our podcasts     Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE    

Real & Relevant English conversation with native-speakers of English. You can hear the Scottish accent here along with British English. This is a natural conversation between two English teachers, made without any preparation. We haven’t changed the speed that we speak to make it easier for English students to understand. This is real English conversation.       In this podcast, we have Adam and Bren. Adam is an English teacher at the SGI sister school in San Sebastian, Spain: even though their accents are very different, they are both mother-tongue English speakers, so you should try to understand what both are saying.   Pod Subject: Advantages of living in Scotland, including whisky. Pod People: Adam & Bren   Which accent is clearer for you: Scottish or English?     Click below to hear more native-speaker accents…   1. Irish accent 2. Northern accent 3. Colonial Received Pronunciation 4. Received Pronunciation 5. Australian accent     Go to a list of all our podcasts     Go to itunes to DOWNLOAD ALL OUR PODCASTS FOR FREE    

Real & Relevant English conversation with native-speakers of English. You can hear the Australian accent here along with British English. This is a natural conversation by English teachers about how an Australian visitor has to adapt to life in the UK. How is life different in the two countries?       In this podcast, you can hear Bren and Lauretta… She is an English teacher at the SGI sister school in San Sebastian, Spain: both are native speakers of English.   SGI-030-Australian-Accent-Living-in-England Pod Subject: An Australian living in the UK Pod People: Lauretta & Bren   Which accent do you find the easiest to understand here: English or Australian?     Click below to hear more native-speaker accents…   1. Irish accent 2. Northern accent 3. Colonial Received Pronunciation 4. Received Pronunciation     Go to a list of all our podcasts     Go to itunes to download all our podcasts for free    

Real & Relevant English conversation with native-speakers from London, UK. This is a natural conversation by English teachers about British comedy. Monty Python, Benny Hill, Mr Bean, The Office all get a mention. Plus we even talk about Norman Wisdom and Dinner For One. What do people in the UK like now when they sit down to watch some English comedy? How is it different than the humour that we export to other countries?   In this podcast, you can hear Charlie and Bren, who are SGI English teachers and Mark, who is the school CEO. All the people that you hear are native speakers of British English.   SGI-029-British-Comedy Pod Subject: Comedy in the UK Pod People: Charlie, Mark & Bren       To hear Mark, Charlie and Bren in another podcast talking about the Royal family, click here   Click below to hear more from Charlie, talking about…   1. Clothes 2. English Gentlemen 3. The Olympics 4. British weather   Do you like British comedy? Tell us about your favourite show in the comments     Go to a list of all our podcasts     Go to itunes to download all our podcasts for free    

Real & Relevant Podcast 28 Natural English Conversation between English teachers   Paul is back in the pod today. If you heard his last podcast, you will know that he is a very experienced English teacher, specializing in the Cambridge FCE exam. He also grew up in a very small English village near the Lake District in Northern England.   SGI-028-English-village-life   Pod Subject: Growing up in an English village   Pod People: Paul Greening & Bren Brennan       You may also like some of our other ‘accent’ podcasts… 1. Northern accent – Paul again talking about Xmas day traditions 2. Irish accent – Teacher Dave talking about Boxing day in Ireland 3. Colonial RP accent – Teacher Naz talking about her historical hero 4. Received pronunciation accent (male) – Charlie talking about English gentlemen 5. Received Pronunciation accent (female) – Melissa talking about her love of books     Go to a list of all our podcasts         NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE    

Real & Relevant Podcast 26 Natural English Conversation between English teachers   Paul joins the pod today. He is the owner of an SGI sister school, The British Centre in San Sebastian, Spain. He is also a very experienced English teacher that has successfully put hundreds of students through the Cambridge FCE exam. Paul comes from the Lake District region in the north of England, so you will notice that his northern accent is very different to Melissa’s received pronunciation accent for instance. But Paul is a native speaker, of course which means that his English is as valuable as anyone else’s. To improve your English listening skills, you should listen to as many different accents as possible.   Don’t forget to enter our easy Xmas competition with a chance to win a week of free English lessons at SGI London in 2013.     Also, remember that until Dec 21st, as an early Xmas present celebrating 50 years of SGI, you can get a 25% discount on any SGI course in London during 2013. Click here for 25% discount details.     SGI-026-Xmas-Day-Traditions   Pod Subject: Xmas day traditions Pod People: Paul & Bren Brennan         Go to a list of all our podcasts         NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE     You may also like some of our other Christmas posts… 1. Christmas Eve comparatives 2. Christmas traditions in the UK 3. Christmas hates & Christmas loves 4. Boxing Day: Used to 5. Queen’s Xmas Message 2011: Often in Received Pronunciation    

Natural English Conversation Real & Relevant Podcast 25   Naz joins the pod today. She is an extremely experienced and highly respected English teacher. As with all our Real & Relevant podcasts, we didn’t prepare anything before we sat down to talk. This is natural English conversation between two native speakers without any modifications (like slowing down, using easy vocabulary or artificially including certain grammar or phrases)) to help English students – this is the real thing!   SGI-025-My-Hero   Pod Subject: My Hero from History Pod People: Naz & Bren Brennan         You may also like our other ‘My Hero’ podcast… Shakespeare, my hero       Go to a list of all our podcasts         NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE    

Who is the best James Bond? We’ve tried to answer that here in our cool infographic, but here are two SGI teachers giving their opinions on the matter.   Have you seen our latest competition about James Bond? You could win a week of free English lessons at SGI London by answering 2 easy questions about the world’s faourite secret agent!   This is a natural conversation – real English, not actors reading from a script, so you will hear lots of pauses, stops and starts, interruptions   SGI-024-Best-James-Bond   Pod Subject: James Bond actors & movies Pod People: Ben Nicholas & Bren Brennan     Go to a list of all our podcasts     NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE If you don’t have the chance to speak to native-speakers, this is the next best thing – a great way to improve your English vocabulary & listening skills.    

English Conversation Real & Relevant Podcast 23   The Pod welcomes Rob and his Received Pronunciation accent. This is what you sound like if you have been publicly-educated in England! Although Rob has a “Queen’s English” accent, he can also do a very good impression of a South African English accent because he is studying at university there.   SGI-023-Received-Pronunciation-v-South-African-accent   Pod Subject: South African English Pod People: Rob Jenkin & Bren Brennan     You may also like some of our other blogs on the RP accent… 1. Shakespeare’s Accent 2. Accent Reduction Training 3. HRH The Queen’s RP Accent 4. Speak like The Queen 5. Prince Charles the weatherman! 6. All of Melissa’s Podcasts – she’s speaks with a ‘BBC Accent’ too       Go to a list of all our podcasts         NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE If you don’t have the chance to speak to native-speakers, this is the next best thing – a great way to improve your English vocabulary & listening skills.    

English Conversation Real & Relevant Podcast 22   Two English teachers with two types of English accent. Melissa is back in the pod and talks about the things that she has been missing while she has been teaching abroad. Melissa has a received pronunciation accent and speaks very clearly. Listen to her clear English pronunciation and then in tomorrow’s blog we will examine her speech patterns, so that you can try and improve your accent when you are speaking English so that you sound more natural. By the way, we didn’t prepare anything before we made this podcast, which means that this is real English as it is spoken in 2012. This is not actors reading from a script.   SGI-022-Missing-England-English-Accent   Pod Subject: Missing England Pod People: Melissa Humphreys & Bren Brennan     You may also like Melissa’s other podcasts…   Melissa’s Podcasts 1. Men vs Women WITH FULL TRANSCRIPTION 2. English stereotypes 3. Shakespeare, my hero 4. Film, best actors, popcorn and crying at the movies 5. Books & literature 6. Best food ever     Go to a list of all our podcasts         NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE If you don’t have the chance to speak to native-speakers, this is the next best thing – a great way to improve your English vocabulary & listening skills.    

National hero and all round famous guy, William Shakespeare is a hero to many. Here, SGI English teacher Melissa explains why he holds a place in her heart. Have you seen our latest competition about Shakespeare? You could win a week of free English lessons at SGI London by watching a 1 minute funny video and answering 3 easy questions – not bad, eh? This is a natural conversation made without any preparation, so this is real English as you can hear it being spoken in the UK today.   SGI-021-Shakespeare-my-hero   Pod Subject: Shakespeare Pod People: Melissa Humphreys & Bren Brennan     You may also like Melissa’s other podcasts…   Melissa’s Podcasts 1. Men vs Women WITH FULL TRANSCRIPTION 2. English stereotypes 3.  Film, best actors, popcorn and crying at the movies 4. Things you miss about England 5. Books & literature 6. Best food ever   You may also like our other Shakespeare posts.. You may also like our other Shakespeare posts from this week... 1. WIN free English lessons at SGI London in our September Shakespeare Competition 2. Did Shakespeare write his plays? 3. Shakespeare facts (you probably didn’t know) 4. Shakespeare’s accent       Go to a list of all our podcasts         NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE If you don’t have the chance to speak to native-speakers, this is the next best thing – a great way to improve your English vocabulary & listening skills.    

English native-speaker teachers having a real British conversation about giving to charity in relation to this recent tragic story.   In this podcast, Charlie and Bren talk about different aspects of donating money to charitable causes. In English textbooks, CD recordings usually don’t sound authentic because they are recorded with actors in recording studios – a completely unnatural environment. With this podcast, you will be able to hear the difference straightaway, as it’s just two friends having a chat in completely natural English without any plan or script.     Pod Subject: Giving to Charity Pod People: Charlie Allen & Bren Brennan     Go to a list of all our podcasts       If you want to hear Charlie talking in another pod (about English Gentlemen), click here   NOW YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THESE PODCASTS FREE FROM iTunes. Click on that link OR follow these instructions…. How to download from iTunes Open up iTunes Go to iTunes Store In the SEARCH box (top right) write ‘Real & Relevant’ Click on the SGI Symbol Click on SUBSCRIBE FREE If you want to improve your English vocabulary & listening skills and you can’t speak with native speakers all the time, this is a good way to hear normal British English as it is really spoken.    

Increase your English vocabulary and work on your listening skills by listening to our short discussion about the London Olympics. In the final podcast about the Olympics, SGI English teacher, Bren Brennan, speaks with his student Zsuzsanna about the closing ceremony and their overall thoughts about the last 2 weeks of sporting events.     SGI-019-Olympic-Summary   OLYMPIC POD SUBJECT: Closing Ceremony and Olympic Summary   YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THIS PODCAST FREE FROM iTunes.     Highlights of the 2012 Olympic Closing Ceremony Check out our other Olympic blogs…. Olympic Podcasts 1. Expectations 2. Opening Ceremony 3. Gymnastics 4. Swimming Scandal 5. Greatest Olympian Ever 6. Sport = Patriotism 7. Female Olympians 8. Crying Olympians Olympic Word of the Day 1. Olympomania 2. Bonkers 3. Unbelievable 4. Farcical 5. Relief 6. Lightning 7. Overwhelmed 8. Mobot These Olympic podcasts are shorter versions of The Natural Conversation: Real & Relevant podcasts. In those unscripted discussions you get longer conversations between 2 or more native English speakers from the UK. This is a very good (and free) way to improve your Engllish listening skills if you don’t normally have the chance to speak to native speakers.