Let's Master English Podcast Episode 17 is dictated by Joaquin, Bertha, Jan Abid, Margherita and Maha Hello everybody! You're listening to Let's Master English and my name is Coach Shane. Hello everybody, thank you very much for listening to my podcasts Let's Master English. This is episode 17. We've got some news, a couple of questions, a couple of greetings and that's it. Today it will be short and simple. So enough chit chat. Let's keep going. If you're gonna pass gas, make sure you keep the room ventilated. A herd of cows can cut some serious cheese. But 90 - some - odd German cows blew the roof off literally. Police investigating an explosion at a German farm confirmed a buildup of cow created methane gas and a spark cause an explosion which nearly destroyed a building. One cow was treated for burns. What? (reads the text again) Oh my goodness!. This is, uh, the sad story, but it s actually a really really funny story. Do you know what the main topic is? -cows in Germany?; explosion?; why?; why was there an explosion?; gas?; what kind of gas?. From flatulence. Yes, flatulence. Flatulence is the buildup of gas; the excess gas and accumulation of gas in your...well, basically your intestines, but in America we kind of think of the intestine is those long tubes below your stomach and above your butt. If you get lots of gas, what happens? [ PTRRR] Aghhh, yes you..you fart! Yes, gas comes out and if you are in an elevator and you fart, the people around you will hate you! Well, these cows, they generated a lot of flatulence and I don t know if you know, but flatulence is a type of gas call methane, M-E-T-H-A-N-E, and methane is actually a very dangerous gas. If you have methane gas and fire together, you will have an explosion, which is what happen in the story. Basically, German cows were drinking too much German beer and they farted and they destroy their building and one cow had to go to the hospital [laughs]. Ohhh It s terrible!. You know we re all humans, and all of us, yes, you, have flatulence, be careful, be careful with your flatulence [laughs]. Ok, so let's get into the first sentence here. If you are gonna pass gas; if you're gonna pass gas make sure you keep the room ventilated. So, pass gas. Pass means to go throw gas; so if gas goes throw your butt, if it comes out your butt. If you re gone pass gas; if you re going to "fart". So pass gas is what we call an euphemism for fart; a synonym, an expression that means the same as, a descriptive term to describe something that is may be not socially acceptable; so the word fart,f-a-r-t, is actually a funny word and it s not really a good word to use. It s not a bad word, but, you know, fart [PTRRR]. Come on, we don t want to talk about farts. So, in public, instead of saying fart, you could say - pass gas. Oh my god! Who pass gas?. Oh! I can t breathe, somebody passed gas [Sniff]. Uhhh I've just passed gas, notice?. Sorry. So, if you are going to pass gas, make sure, insure, be sure to keep the room ventilated. Ventilated, V-E-N-T-I-L-A-T-E-D. So what does it mean to keep a room ventilated?. It means - open a window, or open the door, turn the fan on, make sure that air can flow in and out of the room. If the room is not ventilated, then that gas will stay in the room and kill people. Well, at least drive them crazy.
So the first sentence is easy. Right? Listen again. If you re gonna pass gas make sure you keep the room ventilated. Next sentence. A herd of cows can cut some serious cheese. But 90 some odd German cows blow the roof off literally. Okay what s going on here?. A herd of cows H-E-R-D. A herd is a word that we use to describe a group. So, a herd of cows, a herd of cattle. This is a great word. A herd of cows, oh who knows. Maybe 10 cows, 20 cows, 50 cows, 100 cows. A herd of cows can cut some serious cheese. Okay, so now we have another euphemism for fart. Remember our first expression was: pass gas - the same as fart. Well, in America we also have the expression to cut cheese, you know cheese like cheese made from milk, cheese burgers, fondue. Cheese. Everybody, well, most people like cheese. Cut cheese. That means to slice cheese but to cut cheese also means to pass gas. Why? Because there are some cheeses that have a very strong smell and you notice the smell when you cut the cheese. So if somebody cuts the cheese it might mean that they're actually cutting cheese or that they are passing gas. So this sentence - a herd of cows can cut some serious cheese - that means a group of cows together can really, really fart. They can pass a lot of gas. But 90 - some - odd German cows. 90. 90- some S-O-M-E - odd O-D-D, 90 some odd, that means around 90, about 90, approximately 90. But 90 - some - odd German cows blew the roof off literally. So, what does it mean to blow the roof off? So to blow off (ffffffffshoo). So, there s wind and because of the wind something comes off. What s that something?the roof R-O-O-F That would be the top of a building. So these cows were farting so much that the top of the building, pufff, came off. Oh, that can t be true. That must be just a joke, a metaphor, an exaggeration, hyperbole. But no, the last word: literally. Literally L-I-T-E-R-A-L-L-Y. Literally means as the word say, exactly as said, precisely as described; seriously 90 German cows really blew ghuu, ghuu,ghuu the roof off the building they were in. Why? Because they cut some serious cheese. Oh my goodness! Next sentence. Police investigating an explosion at a German farm confirmed a build up a cow creating methane gas and a spark caused an explosion which nearly destroyed a building. Now, that sentence should be easier to understand. So police, German police investigating an explosion. Okay so there was an explosion and because there was an explosion the police came to find out the reason. Was it a terrorist? Was it an accident? What happened? Where was the explosion? At the German farm. F-A-R-M. You know a country area where they have animals and different types of crops. So police investigating an explosion at a German farm confirmed; they confirmed, they agreeed, and approved that a buildup of cow created methane gas. Okay so cow created, cow generated methane gas flatulence. A buildup of gas. What is a buildup. A buildup B-U-I-L-D-U-P, that s one word. A buildup of something means an accumulation of something. Accumulation. A-C-C-U-M-U-L-A-T-I-O-N. It
means when something grows in size and this something is usually not good. Do you know cholesterol if you eat lots of eggs they say its not good for your body because you get a buildup of cholesterol in your veins and arteries and in your heart, and then you can have a heart attack. Or if you re like me and if you do not clean your desk you get a buildup of dust or a buildup of dirt. So there s lots of dust on my desk. In fact, I can write my name in the dust. If you have a car and you don t wash your car you might have a buildup of dust or a buildup of dirt or a buildup of grime G- R-I-M-E on your car. So a buildup is an accumulation of something that is usually not good and here it was a buildup of cow created methane gas, yeah, that s dangerous. So, that and a spark. What is a spark? A spark is like a small piece of fire. So can you imagine burning some wood like in a fireplace. Sometimes you ll see a little tiny piece of fire-whew- fly into the air. That's a spark, or if you have some wires, some electrical wires and you put the wires together, you see that those little tiny white sparks. Those are sparks. Okay, so - Police investigating an explosion at a German farm confirmed a buildup of cow created methane gas and a spark, oh, that is not a good combination! What happened? Caused an explosion which nearly which almost- destroyed a building. Oh my goodness! One cow was treated for burns. Oh that s a sad story. So all those of ninety some - odd German cows, fortunately only one cow was injured, was hurt. How was the cow injured? It had burns. You know burns, B-U-R-N-S from fire or from heat. But the cow is okay. The cow was treated for burns. That means a doctor, well, in this case we say an animal doctor or a veterinarian, we can just say vet V-E-T. A vet came and treated the cow for its burns. So the cow survived until it went to be made into a hamburger steak maybe it was a milk cow. I don t know. Anyway, that s the story. Can you believe it? It s a true story. Be careful! Be careful where you fart. Okay we had some great vocabulary words. Pass gas that means - to fart. Make sure you, be sure that you, ensure that you ventilated and area that is ventilated is opened. The window is open. The door is open. So the air can flow in and out. A herd of cows, a group of cows. Cut cheese, to cut the cheese Well that it s another euphemism for passing gas or farting. Ninety some odd, around ninety, approximately ninety. Blew the roof off, sometimes to blow the roof off means to set a new record or to be really really loud but in this case it actually meant the roof of a building was blown off. Amazing. Literally, as the word say, exactly as said, precisely as described. Shane is literally a genius. It s not a joke. My IQ is 175 or was it 75? I m not sure, anyway. A buildup of. B-U-I-L-D-U-P one word. A buildup of something is an accumulation of something. When something grows and that something is usually not good. A buildup of cholesterol in your veins, it s dangerous. Methane gas, it s a type of gas very common around the world and it also methane gas is produced from your butt.
A spark, a small piece of fire that comes from burning wood or electrical wire, very dangerous. Methane gas and the spark, that s a very dangerous combination. Be careful with your farts. Keep the room ventilated. That s why I live alone. I don t have to ventilate. Okay. Let me read a story two more times. The first time, nice and smoothly. The second time, normal speed. Here we go. If you're gonna pass gas, make sure you keep the room ventilated. A herd of cows can cut some serious cheese. But 90 - some - odd German cows blew the roof off literally. Police investigating an explosion at a German farm confirmed a buildup of cow created methane gas and a spark cause an explosion which nearly destroyed a building. One cow was treated for burns. (reads the text again) How are you doing everybody. This is Country Shane and I'm here to bring you the facts. Squirrels purr like cats, that's right, cats. You know, when cats are happy, gurrhr gurrhr gurrhr gurrhr squirrels also purr like cats but so do conies and elephants. This is been Country Shane bringing you the facts. Thank you Country Shane for that interesting fact. Purr, P-U-R-R, gurrhr, gurrhr, gurrhr. If you have a cat or if you know of a cat when a cat is happy we hear a purring sound. Well, so do squirrels. A squirrel is another type of animal, S-Q-U-I-R-R-E-L, and conies, that's right, rabbits rabbits and elephants, elephants purr, that's kinda cute. I like that. Let's listen to some questions. We have a question from Joaquin Ruiz-Gomez. I hope my pronunciation was okay, Joaquin. Now his question is: staff and stuff, S-T-A-F-F, S-T-U-F-F they sound the same? I'm listening to Google translator and I can't distinguish the difference. Oh boy! Yeah, and this is, yes, they sound completely different, Joaquin, well, to the American. And the key is of course the vowel sound. Staff has a short a sound, stuff has a short u sound. So, you really need to learn these vowel sounds in American pronunciation. And I do have a video on coachshanesesl YouTube channel. It talks about the vowel sounds. And I'll teach you the æ, æ. æ apple, daddy, happy, æ. Now, when you do the æ, the short a sound your mouth must be open, almost smiling, smiling but æ. The sound comes at the top of the mouth, not the bottom, æ, so kind of slice of the top of the mouth, æ, æ. The u, the short u is a sound that comes more from the back and it falls immediately out your mouth, stuff, so the ʌ, ʌ, ʌ. The ʌ sound when it comes out your mouth, goes down immediately, stuff, stuff, ʌ, ʌ, ʌ. Staff, staff, staff goes out more. It's at the top of the mouth, so it goes out more. It's really difficult to explain these pronunciation's sounds if I can not be with you. I need to hear your voice and also there is no video. So, if you have a chance, when you have some time, go to www.youtube.com/coachshanesesl, it's one word; and in the search window type short, I'm sorry, type vowels sounds, vowels sounds, maybe you can type short vowel sounds and then you'll see my video and there are some exercises too. So, I want you to practice. -This is my staff's stuff. -This stuff belongs to my staff. -I don't have enough staff. -I have so much stuff. So, usually in the context, in the situation it's easy to determine which word it is but sometimes it could be confusing. Now, you said you're listening to Google translator. Yeah, that's pretty good. Google translator is okay. However if you want to listen to just one word I recommend Webster's
Dictionary or Dictionary.com. They also have audio recordings of the words. And if you go on line there are other websites, even YouTube channels that teach the pronunciation of certain sounds. Now, the problem is, Joaquin, there is a perfect pronunciation of every sound, but when Americans are speaking normally they don't often use that perfect pronunciation and a person in New York speaks differently from a person in Los Angeles or in Georgia, or in Montana, or in Chicago, or in Wisconsin, or in London, or in Manchester, or in Scotland, or in New Zealand, or, there are so many, so many different types of pronunciations. So, in some areas staff, staff, the British pronunciation S-T-A-F-F stɑːf, where is my staff and stuff S-T-U-F-F, the sound is really similar. So, Joaquin, the answer to your question in basic American, typical American pronunciation stæf, stʌf. Very different, but once again, it depends on where are you from and who is speaking. Okay? So, lots of times you need to get the context, you have to understand the situation to really make sure you understand the word. Joaquin, I hope that helps and once again, everybody, if you have a question, especially related to pronunciation or an expression, or culture, I'm your man, I want you to pick my brain. Just send me a question and I'll do my best to answer it here, on the podcast. Yeah! But it's time to say goodbye, everybody, I really want to say thank you to all of you who have downloaded and listened to this podcast, I want to make a special hello to Osila Al-Frihat, I hope my pronounciation was okay Osila! Uh, Osila is from Amman, Jordan. Thank you very much for listening to my podcasts and Osila is going to join us on DDM, so that's fantastic! We look forward to having you! We have one comment on itunes, I wanna say thank you very much to Ton ho coan, Thank you Ton ho coan, In the United States Ton, he says, he! I think it's a he maybe a she I'm sorry," thank you Shane five stars review," Thank you very much, I really appreciate that, we did get four ratings in the last week on itunes, three five stars and one two stars, ooh why? Well, I know I can't make everybody happy, I try but I can't! I'm only human, but if you gave me a low rating tell me why!, What are you missing? And a couple more hellos to Philip in Belgium, Hello Philip!Thank you for listening to my podcast, and Mr. Arab, ha ha ha also saying" Thank you for all the things you are doing for us, thanks a lot coach!," It is my pleasure, Mr. Arab. And we have Ren Cawtre from Vietnam, Cawtre says " This is the best podcast ever, thanks Coach Shane, keep uploading your podcasts, they're awesome, and my English is improving, by the way I'm Nicky from Vietnam, Okay Nicky!, I continue, I will continue, I shall continue to upload podcasts. Just for you! And from Nevertoto, Nevertoto" Hello coach Shane!, I truly appreciate your work, thank you, I have been studying English forever! Wow! How old are you? But it seems to have reached a plateau, ah, yes! Yes, Neverteto, or Nevertato, you study study study and then you get to a level where it seems like you're not improving! I know what you mean, I know what you mean. How can I really get to the highest level? I was even a teacher in Korea for several years, but I don't feel like I'm really fluent. My listening,reading, and pronunciation are quite good, but my speaking and writing skills are not what I want! I would be thankful forever if you could help me." Forever? again forever? Thanks. Oh, my pleasure Nevertoto. Well, let me give you some advice, three pieces of advice.number one: join DDM. DDM has a mix of students, we have some students who are intermediate level, they study hard, we have students who are excellent in English, they in.., what's interesting the students who are excellent in English, they're living in English speaking countries, but they are taking DDM for the pronunciation reasons and for the culture reasons, that's why they're learning the pronunciation, that's why they're learning the culture, culture is so important. So, Nevertoto, if your English is really good and you want to get to the highest level, you need to learn about the culture too, DDM will help you there. For your speaking skills you have to speak, the only way to improve your speaking is to speak, so, speak, and if you join DDM live or DDM VIP there are many many many many many opportunities to speak directly with me. DDM live students have two live classes a week, where you can speak with me and practice. DDM VIP students have six live classes, did I say a week? I meant a month, two a month for live,
six a month for VIP. So there're six chances to actually speak English with me, you have to speak Nevertoto. And for your writing skills, if you want to improve your writing skills you need to write, and actually you need to read and write, and the easiest way is to start making a blog, a B- L- O- G, now we have a lot of blogs related to my classes and bellow are podcast in the description I introduced several blogs for people who are helping each other learn English. So, by writing, especially by writing about learning English, you're actually teaching English and the best way to become an expert at something is to teach something. Did you understand that? If you really want to be an expert at something start teaching it, it forces you to study harder and it's forces you to communicate what you know to other people, and that makes you an expert. So, Nevertoto, I hope that was good advice. To everybody who leaves comments and sends me emails, I read everything. It's very difficult to reply to everything but I appreciate it so much.you guys show me the love every week, and I promise I will continue showing you the love with this podcast and our videos. Well that's it today, everybody. I sincerely appreciate it. I need to go to get myself a coffee, Oh, if you want to help me buy a coffee thank you, you can go to http://0english.blogspot.com/ and there is a bottom where you can actually buy me a coffee, and thanks. Anyway, that's it for today, you guys have a fantastic week. I will see you next Monday. Take care everybody and Let's Master English!