Hi, I'm Georgiana, your English teacher.
Thanks for joining me for a new episode of the Speak English Now podcast.
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Okay, let's start.
Today, you'll practice some pronunciation with the most popular technology brands on the market.
I'll help you to pronounce these brands just like an American.
Later, you'll practice your listening with an interesting point of view story.
As you can see, you can learn English in a fun and effective way only by listening.
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Before you continue listening, make sure you get the text.
Visit my website, www.speakenglishpod.com and look for episode number 39.
Now let the fun begin.
Today I'll try something new.
I'll be giving you some information about each brand and you'll need to guess the name of the brand.
Believe me, it'll be fun.
Let's get started.
Have you heard of PDF documents?
The PDF is the most common digital document format.
And can you guess what company created it?
I'll give you some seconds and you need to answer my question.
It's Adobe Systems.
Adobe also created Photoshop, which is the most popular image editing software.
Let's continue with another brand.
Imagine a website where you can purchase almost everything you want.
Can you guess which website I'm referring to?
Yes, Amazon.com, and it's my favorite place to buy.
Amazon is mostly known for its widely selection of books, although Amazon has expanded to sell electronics music furniture, etc.
Now I'm gonna ask you to guess what's the name of this America multinational founded in the 70s.
I'll give you a first hint.
One of the founders is called Steve Wozniak.
Still not sure?
What if I tell you that the other founder was Steve Jobs?
Yes, the name of the company is Apple.
Apple's most popular products are the iPhone, iPad, and iTunes.
And millions of people enjoy other products like the iMac and the MacBook.
So you want to get serious about photography.
In fact, any expert will recommend you one of these two photography brands.
Let me give you a hint.
Both brands are Japanese.
Yes, I was referring myself to Canon and Nikon.
Just keep in mind that both Canon and Nikon offer a great quality.
So when choosing between camera brands, it's best to compare each camera individually.
What if you want to sell your second-hand items online?
You could set up your own website, but it's much quicker and safer to use this popular website.
Can you guess its name?
Yes, I was talking about eBay. eBay is the most popular online second-hand platform.
In fact, I used to buy very often on eBay when Amazon was selling just books.
People sell on eBay things that they don't need anymore, from books to furniture.
Now I'd like you to tell me the name of the most popular website that allows you to have literally thousands of friends.
Virtual friends, of course.
This one's easy.
Can you guess?
Yes, Facebook.
As you already know, Facebook is a website where people can connect with their family and friends.
And like I said earlier, it's a place where you can make new friends too.
I often use Facebook to connect with my amazing students from the Speak English Now community.
Are you looking for something?
Then you need the best tool to find what you're looking for.
I'll give you another hint.
It's a website with a really strange name.
What am I talking about?
Yes, Google.
Google is a multinational technology company.
Their most popular invention is the Google search.
Millions of people use this free tool to search things on the internet.
Google is by far the most used search engine on the world wide web.
Now think about printers, and you'll guess the name of the company.
This is an easy one.
So, which company am I referring to?
Yes, Hewlett Packard, which is one of the world's largest computer and electronics companies.
Hewlett Packard is best known today for its line of LaserJet and DeskJet printers.
The name Hewlett Packard comes from their founders, Bill Hewlett and David Packard.
The Hewlett Packard founders were classmates at the Stanford University.
Do you know what's the largest computer company in the world?
I'll give you two hints.
The company is also called the Big Blue.
And the name of the company has only three letters.
Yes, I'm talking about IBM.
IBM is short for International Business Machines and it's also known as the Big Blue.
IBM launched their first computer in 1953 and, like I said before, IBM is the largest computer company in the world.
It's not clear why it's been nicknamed the Big Blue, but it could be due its blue logo and because the employees used to wear white shirts and blue suits.
And can you guess what's the most popular software company in the world?
Let me give you a hint.
Most personal computers use this software, and the name of the company starts with the letter M.
Yes, I'm talking about Microsoft.
I'm sure that many of you are currently using Microsoft's operating system.
It's the most popular software in the world.
And almost everybody has used Microsoft software at work or even at home.
Now let's see if you can guess the name of this service.
You can get home, turn on the TV, and then you choose among hundreds of TV shows, movies, etc.
And it's really affordable too.
It's Netflix.
Netflix is a streaming software that allows you to instantly watch films and series on different devices, including smart TVs, game consoles, smartphones or tablets.
Honestly, before using Netflix, I didn't watch TV.
I started using it on my PC and now I watch Netflix on my smart TV.
Okay, let's continue.
I'll give you two words.
Game consoles.
Do you need more hints?
Video games.
What's the first name that comes to your mind?
Yes, it's Nintendo.
Nintendo is a Japanese company widely known for their video game Super Mario.
The video game became popular in the 80s and it's still available on Nintendo DS and on PlayStation.
You can easily guess the next brand if I tell you their slogan.
And the slogan started with the name of the company.
It was... connecting people.
Yes, it's Nokia.
Nokia was the most popular phone company until 2008.
I remember a time when everybody was proud to own a Nokia cell phone.
The company launched their first mobile phone in 1992.
When you pay online, you need to use a reliable payment tool.
Try to guess the most popular one.
I'll give you a really good hint.
The name of this payment tool starts with the word pay.
Yes, I was referring myself to PayPal, of course.
PayPal is the preferred method of online payment.
It allows secure online payment with your credit card or bank account.
And many people don't know this, but eBay actually bought PayPal in 2002.
However, the two companies eventually split in 2015.
If you want to buy a smartphone, you might wanna check out this company's smartphones.
I'll give you a hint.
The company is from South Korea.
Yes, Samsung.
Right now, Samsung is popular for the Samsung Galaxy smartphones and has been the world's largest television manufacturer for the last 10 years.
But Samsung has a full line of home appliances including fridges microwaves, washing machines, dishwashers and more.
Let's continue with another multinational company.
I'll give you a hint.
This company came up with the first portable music player.
Can you guess its name?
And the correct answer is Sony.
Sony introduced the Walkman in the 80s.
It was a portable cassette player and allowed people to listen to music outside their homes.
Sony is also widely known for inventing the PlayStation console.
And this will be the last rant for today.
As you already know, Internet gives you unlimited possibilities.
One of them is to have your personal TV channel.
You can watch anything you like whenever you like or even create your own content.
I'm sure this is an easy one.
Can you guess the name of the website?
It's YouTube.
YouTube is a video sharing service where you can watch like share, comment and upload your own videos.
Like I just said, it's your personal TV.
The interesting fact about YouTube is that it was founded by three former PayPal employees.
They were having difficulties sharing some videos online.
Now you'll practice with the point of view story.
This kind of story will help you to improve your English grammar.
It's very simple.
I tell you the same story more than once.
Every time, I change a grammatical aspect.
So, you can see how grammar changes and you can compare.
You just have to listen.
Okay, let's start.
I'll start by telling the story from Charlie's point of view in the present tense.
I'm Charlie. and I'm an engineer.
I used to work at IBM, but I'm currently working at Hewlett Packard.
I love being surrounded by technology, and I'm a big fan of reviewing products on YouTube.
My most requested videos are the comparisons between Nikon and Canon cameras and Samsung and Sony TVs.
I'm also a collector.
I'm proud to have the very first Nokia cell phone and the first Nintendo console, both purchased on eBay using PayPal.
In fact, I scan the manuals and I read the PDF documents on the Adobe app.
I have a Facebook and Google Plus profile where I post my reviews.
I use several devices.
Sometimes I like posting from my Apple MacBook laptop, my Samsung Galaxy smartphone or my PC with the Microsoft Windows installed.
When I want to relax, I turn on my Sony TV and watch Netflix TV shows.
I must say that Charlie is really awesome.
Don't you think so?
Charlie is an engineer, and he used to work at IBM, but he's currently working at Hewlett Packard.
He loves being surrounded by technology, and he's a big fan of reviewing products on YouTube.
His most requested videos are the comparisons between Nikon and Canon cameras and Samsung and Sony TVs.
He's also a collector.
He's proud to have the very first Nokia cell phone and the first Nintendo console, both purchased on eBay using PayPal.
In fact, he scans the manuals and he reads the PDF documents with the Adobe app.
He has a Facebook and a Google Plus profile where he posts his reviews.
He uses several devices.
Sometimes he likes posting from his Apple MacBook laptop, his Samsung Galaxy smartphone or his PC with the Microsoft Windows installed.
When he wants to relax, he turns on his Sony TV and watches Netflix TV shows.
Great!
I like these kinds of stories because they're easy to remember and help a lot with learning English.
I have a huge announcement.
A new course is now available to help you with your pronunciation.
And it's for all levels.
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I repeat, pronunciationcourse.com.
