Coffee Break English season one, episode one.
Hello everyone and welcome to Coffee Break English.
My name's Josie. And my name is Mark and we are very happy to be here.
Josie, tell us a little about Coffee Break English.
Coffee Break English is a podcast which will help you improve your English, if you're learning English.
Each week we listen to a text from somewhere in the English -speaking world and we focus on a language point, something about grammar or maybe vocabulary.
And what level is Coffee Break English for?
Well, we'll be starting off quite basic.
To start with, we'll review some basic grammar.
So I would say the level is about A2 or pre -intermediate.
So if you already know some English and you want to get even better, this podcast is for you.
We are going to be listening to texts from all over the English -speaking world.
But Mark and I are both Scottish and we live in Scotland.
We'll be hearing lots of different accents in the episodes of Coffee Break English.
So this will help you understand lots of people.
That's right, Mark.
So let's get started.
OK, Josie, tell us about today's text.
Today, we're listening to Katrina, who is also Scottish, but she lives in Manchester, in the UK.
At the moment she's on holiday in Italy and she's telling us all about what she's doing there.
OK, and what language point are we learning about?
We are learning about the difference between the present continuous tense and the present simple tense.
That sounds good. Let's listen to the text.
This week I'm on holiday with my family in Italy.
I'm with my husband, our son, my sister and her three children.
We are staying in a small house in the countryside on the Amalfi coast.
We live in Manchester, which is a busy city in the UK, so it's very quiet for us here.
The weather is beautiful.
Today the sun is shining and it's very hot.
In Manchester, it isn't usually warm.
It's usually rainy and cloudy.
The children are enjoying the sun because they love playing outside and swimming in the pool.
Back home, we often go swimming in the local pool, but we never swim outside.
It's too cold. At the moment we are having breakfast in the garden.
The adults are drinking coffee and the children are drinking fresh orange juice and we are all eating some chocolate pastries.
At home, we hardly ever have pastries for breakfast.
We normally have cereal and toast.
We are enjoying the cool morning weather and planning what to do today.
This morning, we are going to the beach and then later we are having lunch in a little pizza restaurant.
The food here is delicious, especially the ice cream.
In the UK, we rarely have ice cream, but at the moment we are buying it every day.
Oh well, we're on holiday.
It sounds like Katrina's having a lovely time.
She's very lucky. Ok, now let's read the text again more slowly and we'll explain about the vocabulary and the language that we hear.
Mark, would you like to start reading the text again?
Ok, Katrina said, this week I'm on holiday with my family in Italy.
Good. Remember, holiday in British English and we can say vacation in American English.
I'm on vacation with my family.
I'm with my husband, her son, my sister and her three children.
We are staying in a small house in the countryside on the Amalfi Coast.
Good. So, they're staying in the countryside.
The countryside is not the city, so where the mountains and the green spaces are not in the city.
So, Katrina says we are staying in a small house.
Here, she uses the present continuous tense.
We are staying. Why do you think she says we are staying instead of we stay, Mark?
Because she's seeing what she is doing at the moment.
Exactly. We use the present continuous tense to say what we are doing at the time of speaking.
So, it's for actions in progress or temporary actions.
Josie, how do we form the present continuous?
Good question. To make the present continuous, we take a part of the verb be in the present tense.
In this case, the subject is we, so we use we are.
Next, we take the main verb, so the verb with the meaning in this sentence and we add ing to the end.
Staying. This is also known as the gerund.
Staying, doing, making, playing, they are all the gerund.
OK. Shall we continue?
Let's go. We live in Manchester, which is a busy city in the UK.
So, it's very quiet for us here.
Good. So, here Katrina says we live in Manchester.
In this case, she uses the present simple tense.
Because she lives in Manchester all the time, in general.
So, when we talk about something which is generally true, like a routine or a habit, we use the present simple tense.
But when we talk about an action in progress, or a temporary action, we use the present continuous.
We are staying. We live.
OK. The weather is beautiful.
Today, the sun is shining and it's very hot.
OK. Today, the sun is shining.
Here we have another example of the present continuous.
Katrina says, this is happening today.
So, we use the present continuous, is shining.
In this case, we use the third person form of the verb, be, is.
The sun is it. So, we use is.
The sun is shining.
But Katrina said it is very hot.
Why is that the case?
Good question. The present continuous doesn't work for all verbs.
So, for the verb to be, we don't use that in the present continuous.
We can't say it is being very hot, for example.
That's right. It sounds a bit funny.
Yes, it does. So, even if we're talking about an action in progress, we just use the present simple form of to be.
It is very hot. OK.
In Manchester, it isn't usually warm.
It's usually rainy and cloudy.
Yes, this is typical UK weather, isn't it?
Rainy and cloudy. Absolutely.
Yes. But warm, that's somewhere in between hot and cold.
The perfect temperature, I think.
And in this sentence, it isn't usually warm.
Katrina uses the present simple again, because she's talking about something in general, in Manchester, in general.
It isn't usually warm.
This word usually, this tells us that we should use the present simple.
It's called an adverb of frequency.
And we'll see more adverbs of frequency later in the text.
The children are enjoying the sun, because they love playing outside and swimming in the pool.
Yes, so, the children are enjoying the sun.
Again, this is an action in progress, with the present continuous.
Yes, because they love playing outside.
This means not in a building, not in a house.
So, outside, in this case, in the pool, outside.
Back home, we often go swimming in the local pool, but we never swim outside.
It's too cold. Yes, so here we have more examples of the present simple.
We often go, and we never swim.
Katrina also uses adverbs of frequency here.
Often and never. Okay.
You said often, and I said often.
That's right. I didn't make a mistake, and you didn't make a mistake either.
We can say often or often.
They're exactly the same.
That sounds good. Okay, we're going to take a short break now, and we'll be back soon to find out more about Katrina's holiday on the Amalfi coast.
Each episode of the Coffee Break English podcast is free, and you can use our podcast to help you improve your English.
But there's more. That's right.
We have a full course available on our website, which will help you make faster progress and understand everything much better.
For every lesson, we offer videos, bonus audio recordings, lesson notes with exercises, and vocabulary lists in lots of languages.
Welcome back. Let's continue with the text.
At the moment, we are having breakfast in the garden.
Good. That sounds nice, doesn't it?
Breakfast in the garden.
Absolutely. Yeah, we rarely do that in Scotland.
But Katrina is doing this at the moment in Italy.
So she uses this phrase, at the moment, to say that it's happening at the time that she's speaking.
Is at the moment an adverb of frequency?
Good question. It's not an adverb of frequency.
Adverbs of frequency always go before the verb in the phrase.
So, for example, we often go, we never swim.
However, when the verb is to be, the adverb of frequency goes after.
For example, it is usually rainy.
So to return to your question, at the moment is not an adverb of frequency.
It's just a short phrase that we put at the beginning of the sentence to tell us when the action is happening.
So usually when we use at the moment, we use the present continuous.
That's right. Okay.
The adults are drinking coffee and the children are drinking fresh orange juice.
And we are all eating some chocolate pastries.
Good. So all of these actions are happening, as Katrina is speaking.
So they are all in the present continuous.
Our drinking, our drinking, and we're eating some chocolate pastries.
That sounds delicious.
Mm. I'm feeling hungry at the moment.
And good use of the present continuous there, Mark.
Thank you. Okay. At home, we hardly ever have pastries for breakfast.
We normally have cereal and toast.
Good. So Katrina is comparing her breakfast in Italy to her breakfast at home.
So she uses the present simple to talk about the breakfast at home.
We hardly ever have pastries.
We normally have cereal and toast.
This is what she does every day.
It's a routine for her.
So we use the present simple.
So hardly ever and normally are these adverbs of frequency?
Yes, they are. Hardly ever means almost never, nearly never.
And normally, well, that's the same as usually, generally.
Okay. Let's continue.
We are enjoying the cool morning weather and planning what to do today.
Good. So Katrina is back to the present continuous.
We are enjoying and planning.
That's also the present continuous.
We are planning. This morning, we are going to the beach.
And then later we are having lunch in a little pizza restaurant.
Good. So here we're using the present continuous again.
This morning, we are going to the beach.
But Katrina already told us that at the moment she is having breakfast.
Right, Mark? Yes, she can't do both things at the same time.
No, exactly. So here we have a different use of the present continuous.
We can use it to talk about our future plans or arrangements when we are very sure about what we're going to do in the future.
So Katrina knows that soon they are going to the beach and later they are having lunch.
That's right. These are their plans.
So they use the present continuous.
So, Mark, I could ask you, what are you doing this evening?
This evening, I am watching a film with my family.
That sounds lovely.
What are you doing this evening?
This evening, I'm not watching a film.
I'm reading a book, I think.
Okay, that sounds good too.
Let's continue with our text.
The food here is delicious, especially the ice cream.
Good. So the food here is delicious.
Delicious means very good, very tasty food.
I agree with Katrina.
Italian food is delicious.
Yes, I love it too.
Okay, let's continue.
In the UK, we rarely have ice cream.
But at the moment, we're buying it every day.
Good. So in the UK, we rarely have ice cream.
So present simple here, talking about Katrina's normal life, we rarely, we almost never have ice cream.
But at the moment, present continuous, we are buying it every day.
Oh well, we're on holiday.
And here Katrina says, we are on holiday.
So remember, no present continuous with the verb to be.
We are on holiday. Even though she's on holiday at the moment.
That's right. Okay, shall we listen to the text again?
That sounds like a good idea.
So we can listen and listen out for everything we have talked about today.
Sounds good. This week, I'm on holiday with my family in Italy.
I'm with my husband, our son, my sister and her three children.
We are staying in a small house in the countryside on the Amalfi coast.
We live in Manchester, which is a busy city in the UK.
So it's very quiet for us here.
The weather is beautiful.
Today, the sun is shining, and it's very hot.
In Manchester, it isn't usually warm.
It's usually rainy and cloudy.
The children are enjoying the sun because they love playing outside and swimming in the pool.
Back home, we often go swimming in the local pool, but we never swim outside.
It's too cold. At the moment, we are having breakfast in the garden.
The adults are drinking coffee, and the children are drinking fresh orange juice, and we are all eating some chocolate pastries.
At home, we hardly ever have pastries for breakfast.
We normally have cereal and toast.
We are enjoying the cool morning weather and planning what to do today.
This morning, we are going to the beach, and then later we are having lunch in a little pizza restaurant.
The food here is delicious, especially the ice cream.
In the UK, we rarely have ice cream, but at the moment, we are buying it every day.
Oh well, we are on holiday.
That's all for this episode.
Now don't forget, you can improve your English even more with the Coffee Break English course.
We provide extra materials for each lesson, and you can find out more about this at coffeebreakacademy .com.
That's right, Mark.
And if you'd like to practice your English, you can also do so on social media.
Just search for Coffee Break English on Facebook and on Instagram, where we post regular language challenges and cultural information.
We'll be back next time with another text.
What's the topic for the next lesson, Josie?
Next time, we'll be talking about cinema.
That sounds great. Thank you for listening to Coffee Break English.
We'll be back soon.
Bye for now. Goodbye.
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