This is the Let's Master English podcast, and I'm your host, Coach Shane.
Hello, everybody. It's Coach Shane.
Welcome back to the Let's Master English podcast.
This is the November 17, 2024 edition.
I hope you're having a fantastic day, a fantastic week.
So today, we've got so much to cover.
There is something really expensive, really valuable, really cool being sold.
Elon Musk has a new plan, and it is super cool.
I'm actually really excited about his plan.
And there's a really cool guy in North Carolina who wants to help out thousands of people for the upcoming big holiday in America called Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a big day, big holiday.
But in North Carolina, they had some really bad weather recently, Hurricane Halene.
So, yeah, he's been a really cool guy.
That's coming up. Country Shane will be joining us, of course, with an amazing fact.
Today's question and answer section is so brilliant.
There are two questions based on pronunciation, and there's another question asking, what is the difference between these four words?
So I have the answer for you.
Of course, we got a little bit of history for November 18th.
I'm even going to tell you a joke myself.
It's really, really funny.
We'll finish off with birthdays.
This week, nobody sent me an email.
Well, actually, people did send an email.
But nobody sent an email with a request song or saying that it's your birthday or anniversary or something.
So I'm really kind of sad.
So remember, my email address is easy, contact at letsmasterenglish .com.
Send me an email. Tell me, request, give me a request song.
Or if it's your birthday or your child's birthday, your wife's birthday, your anniversary, or something happening, let me know so I can tell the world.
We're a family here at Let's Master English.
And with that, let's get started.
Sotheby's is auctioning off a 3 ,000 -year -old stone tablet inscribed with the 10 commandments.
It's expected to sell for over $1 million.
The tablet weighs 115 pounds.
Elon Musk wants to use his SpaceX Starship to transport people between two cities on opposite ends of the globe.
Over 1 ,000 passengers would launch vertically, travel at high speeds in space, and then land on floating sea platforms.
Musk believes flights from New York to Tokyo could take just 30 minutes.
The rocket would be traveling at a speed of Mach 20, or twice as fast as Tom Cruise and Tap Gun Maverick.
And finally, a North Carolina man is planning to cook 5 ,000 meals for Hurricane Helene victims on Thanksgiving Day.
David Burke got the idea for the giant dinner while at church.
He is buying over 100 butterball turkeys in addition to ham, turkey, dressing, potatoes, collards, cornbread, and cranberry sauce.
Over 150 volunteers are helping him.
That's so cool. I love that.
You know, the world is cruel, and life is tough, but sometimes there are just beautiful people.
And we need to remember, and we need to thank the beautiful people.
Am I right? That's true.
Let's go back to the first story.
Sotheby's. Now, this is a business.
It's an auction house.
And basically, you can look up auction.
A -U -C -T -I -O -N. Auction.
That's a business, a company that sells something, and they do like this.
Here is a painting by Shane Peterson, and the starting price is $1.
$1. Does anybody want to pay $1?
Anybody $1? $1. Oh, $2.
$2. The price is now at $2.
$5. Let's go to $5.
Price is now at $5.
$500. Oh my God. Coach Shane has made a painting.
The current price is $500.
$500. Whoa! $10 million.
Yes. Somebody wants...
Sorry. That's just a fantasy.
But that's the idea of an auction, and Sotheby's, I'll spell it.
S -O -T -H -E -B -Y. Apostrophe S.
Sotheby's is auctioning off.
What are they selling?
A painting by Coach Shane?
No, of course not. They're selling a 3 ,000 -year -old, that's very old, stone tablet.
Stone tablet. T -A -B -L -E -T.
I'll explain. Inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
Ah. The Ten Commandments from the Bible.
Do you know the Ten Commandments?
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not covet.
I don't know. The Ten Rules in the Bible that man is supposed to follow.
So, there's a stone tablet, which basically means a big piece of stone.
And on the stone are inscribed or chiseled, and you can imagine, there's a big piece of stone, somebody's got like a hammer and a metal piece, and they're ching, ching, ching, ching, ching.
They're carving the letters.
They're carving, ching, ching, ching, ching, ching, the Ten Commandments in that stone.
And this stone is 3 ,000 years old.
That's kinda cool. Even if you're not, you know, a Christian, that's kinda cool.
A 3 ,000 -year -old stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments is being sold by Southern othebes for how much?
It is expected to sell for over a million dollars.
Wow. Uh, I don't know.
I'm not rich. Obviously, I don't have a million dollars, but it seems to me that a million dollars for a 3 ,000 -year -old stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments, uh, I don't know.
That seems like a good price if I were a rich guy.
If I were a rich man.
Da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da -da.
Yeah, it seems like a good price.
What do you think? A million dollars for a 3 ,000 -year -old stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments?
And this is a big stone.
The tablet, the big rock, weighs 115 pounds.
115 pounds. Now, to be honest, I'll give you my weight.
I weigh 180 pounds.
And 115 pounds is less than me.
So 150 pounds is how many kilograms?
Basically, 52 kilograms.
That's pretty heavy.
A 52 kilogram stone with the 10 commandments chiseled on it and it's 3 ,000 years old.
I don't know. If I were a rich man, I think I would buy it.
This is stupid. What about the second story?
This is also probably pretty expensive, but it's kind of cool.
Speaking of rich men, Elon Musk wants to use his SpaceX Starship rocket to transport people, to move people between two cities on opposite ends of the globe.
And he is specifically referencing New York and Tokyo.
Right. So if we look at the Earth, New York and Tokyo, they're on opposite ends.
He says over 1 ,000 passengers, that's a lot of people, would launch vertically, going straight up on a rocket, going straight up.
Travel at high speeds in space.
They're gonna go straight up.
They're going to go into space.
They're going to go super fast and then land on floating sea platforms.
Wow. I don't know why they have to land in the ocean, the sea, S -E -A, the ocean, right?
So did you see recently Elon Musk's rocket landing in Florida?
It didn't land in the ocean.
It landed on land, but it came down and then like the launch pad thing had like arms and it basically caught the rocket.
Did you see that? Oh, it was amazing.
If you didn't see that, check it out.
So I think this is what he's talking about, except this time there's going to be people in there, like a thousand people.
They're going to fly from New York to Tokyo and Musk believes flights from New York to Tokyo could take only 30 minutes.
Wow. That's incredible.
That's stunning. The rocket would be traveling at a speed of Mach 20.
Do you know what Mach is?
M -A -C -H. Mach 1 is the speed of sound.
So Mach 20 is 20 times the speed of sound.
That's fast. Again the sentence, the rocket would be traveling at a speed of Mach 20 or twice as fast as Tom Cruise in Top Gun Maverick.
Dun, dun, dun. Oh boy.
Did you see the movie Top Gun Maverick, the newest Top Gun movie, Tom Cruise?
I have not seen the movie.
I actually want to.
I need to. I should.
But evidently in that movie Tom Cruise travels at Mach 10.
But Elon Musk says, no, no, no, no, no, no.
If you come aboard the SpaceX Starship you'll be going Mach 20.
So what do you think?
Would you like to do this?
Me personally, yes, I would do it.
Because for me personally, in December of 2024 I will be flying to China and I'll be there for about three weeks doing lots of work.
That flight is going to take 24 hours.
You know, I mean from, you know, when I land, when I get to the airport, actually when I leave my home, it's over 20, it's basically two days.
Two days of travel.
Which is insane. And of course China is the opposite side of the globe.
So when it's, for example, 8 p .m.
for me in the US it's actually 9 a .m.
the next day in China.
It's crazy, right? The time difference, the time travel, oh my God.
So if I could actually go in only 30 minutes, are you kidding?
I absolutely would.
That would be outstanding.
Elon Musk, I hope it's not too expensive and make it happen soon, please.
I like that. And finally, the third story, a North Carolina man.
So America has 50 states and one of the states is North Carolina.
It's, do you know Florida?
So if you go north from Florida, there's Georgia.
After Georgia there's South Carolina and then there's North Carolina, OK?
So a North Carolina man is planning to cook 5000 meals.
Wow. For hurricane Helene victims, oh yes.
In October of 2024, there was a terrible hurricane and it was called, the name of the hurricane was Hurricane Helene.
And so many people in North Carolina were affected by that hurricane.
They lost their homes, obviously their jobs, their cars, everything.
People lost their lives.
It's a great tragedy.
These tragedies happen everywhere.
It's just horrible.
So we have Thanksgiving coming up in the United States.
Thanksgiving this year is November 28th.
So we're about 10 days away from Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving in the United States is a fantastic day for a meal.
The traditional meal in America is turkey.
Some people have ham.
And then there's lots of potatoes and vegetables and there's pumpkin pie.
It's it's just delicious.
It's a time for family to get together.
And it's a time for people to say thank you to each other, to be grateful for the life that they have, to understand that life has many difficulties, but among the difficulties, there are wonderful, great things too.
So this is Thanksgiving.
But the people think about that.
If you lost your home, lost your job, lost everything, your clothes, if you're a child and you lost all your toys, right?
Think about it. You lost everything.
Is there anything to be happy?
Is there anything to be grateful for?
So this man wants to cook 5 ,000 meals for those people for Thanksgiving.
Who is this guy? His name is David Burke.
And he got the idea for the giant dinner while at church.
He is buying over 100 butterball turkeys.
So again, turkey, that's the bird.
It's the meat that we enjoy on Thanksgiving.
He's buying 100 of those.
The brand name is Butterball.
That's a company name.
It's the product name.
Butterball turkeys.
In addition to ham, he's also buying ham.
More turkey. Dressing.
Now dressing, another word for dressing is stuffing.
So imagine you're cooking a bird.
You're, you know, baking it.
Inside the bird, the whole bird.
Inside the bird, of course, you empty out all the, you know, the stuff inside the, and then we can put stuff inside the turkey, like bread and onions and vegetables and carrots.
That's called dressing.
Dressing or stuffing.
So he's, he's cooking turkeys, ham, dressing, potatoes.
Collards are basically a type of green, green vegetable.
Collards, C -O -L -L -A -R -D -S.
Collards, cornbread, bread made of corn, and cranberry sauce.
This is a sauce made from the fruit called a cranberry.
Do you have cranberries in your country?
I'll spell it cranberry.
C -R -A -N -B -E -R -R -Y. Cranberries are kind of sour, but it's good with turkey.
So again, he is buying over 100 butterball turkeys in addition to ham, turkey, dressing, potatoes, collards, cornbread, and cranberry sauce.
Over 150 volunteers are helping him.
I think it's beautiful.
I think it's great.
Good job to David Burke.
You're a good guy. I like it.
Helping out people when they've lost everything, that is human nature.
That's what we're supposed to do, right?
We're supposed to help each other in those situations.
And David is actually doing it.
And I'm happy. I hope you understand these three stories.
I will read them one more time.
Sotheby's is auctioning off a 3 ,000 -year -old stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments.
It is expected to sell for over $1 million.
The tablet weighs 115 pounds.
Elon Musk wants to use his SpaceX Starship rocket to transport people between two cities on opposite ends of the globe.
Over 1 ,000 passengers would launch vertically, travel at high speeds in space, and then land on floating sea platforms.
Musk believes flights from New York to Tokyo could take just 30 minutes.
The rocket would be traveling at a speed of Mach 20 or twice as fast as Tom Cruise and Top Gun Maverick.
A North Carolina man is planning to cook 5 ,000 meals for Hurricane Helene victims on Thanksgiving Day.
David Burke got the idea for the giant dinner while at church.
He is buying over 100 butterball turkeys in addition to ham, turkey, dressing, potatoes, collards, cornbread and cranberry sauce.
Over 150 volunteers are helping him.
Facts! Country Shane here, everybody.
I hope you are doing good.
In July of 2024, a nearly complete Stegosaurus skeleton that's a dinosaur.
Stegosaurus, that's a dinosaur, everybody, named Apex.
Oh, the skeleton, the Stegosaurus dinosaur had a name.
Its name was Apex, A -P -E -X, sold for $44 .6 million at Sotheby's.
It is the most expensive fossil ever sold at the auction.
Thank you very much, Country Shane.
I was wondering what was he talking about, a dinosaur?
Why was he talking about a dinosaur?
I wasn't talking about any dinosaurs.
Ah, it's Sotheby's, the auction house.
Wow, the most... Yes, this is a dinosaur that they actually sold, the bones of the dinosaur, the skeleton.
You can buy that stuff, but it is expensive.
$44 .6 million, the most expensive dinosaur ever sold.
So I don't know, which one would you be more interested in?
Would you rather have a dinosaur skeleton in your house, or the 10 commandments in your house?
If you only had to choose one, you're really, really rich.
Money is not a problem, but you could only choose one.
Which one would you want?
The skeleton of the dinosaur or the 10 commandments?
I have two boys. I know for sure my boys absolutely would want the Stegosaurus skeleton, but personally, I think I would still go for the 10 commandments, but that's just me.
Question and answer time.
We have three questions today, they're so good.
I really should only do two.
You know, I should save these questions.
So I will trust you that you will be asking me more great questions.
Right? Yeah, this section is only powered by your brilliance.
It takes a very smart person to ask a question.
So the first question, how H -O -W, what is the daily pronunciation in America of the word how?
Such a great question.
And the daily pronunciation is this.
I'm going to give you two sentences.
Can you write them down?
The first sentence is how'd you do?
The second sentence is how you doing?
I'll say it again. The first sentence, how'd you do?
The second sentence, how you doing?
So let me break it down.
The daily pronunciation of how H -O -W is actually how.
How did we can make a contraction for how did?
And the perfect pronunciation would be how'd.
So how did you do? How did you do?
With a contraction, how'd you do?
Now, when we have a D and a Y next to each other, we can get a J sound.
So how'd you do can become how'd you do.
How'd you do? And if we say, ha, the pronunciation becomes how'd you do?
How'd you do? How'd you do?
Oh, you had a test yesterday.
How'd you do? Oh, did you run in a race yesterday?
How'd you do? The next sentence, how are you doing?
Again, how are we can make a contraction, how are.
But if we say ha, har, how you doing?
How are you doing? And the faster we say that, the R sound becomes a non -rotic R, which means it becomes silent.
So the proper pronunciation is how are you doing?
How are you doing? How are you doing?
How are you doing? But almost always you will hear ha -ya.
How you doing? How are you doing?
If you know the TV show Friends and you know Joey, Joey Tribbiani and also the E cubed very first expression, a -y -doin, a -y -doin, there you go.
So that's question number one.
Great question. Question number two is also excellent.
Can you hear the difference between these two phrases?
Phrase number one, what are you?
Phrase number two, what are you?
Did you hear the difference?
I'll say it again. Phrase number one, what are you?
Phrase number two, what are you?
As you're listening, you should realize there is no difference.
They sound the same, but they're very different.
Let me finish the sentences.
Sentence number one, what are you doing?
Sentence number two, what do you do?
A -ha, what are you doing?
What do you do? The first sentence, what are you doing?
The second sentence, what do you do?
But the important thing, what are you and what do you sound the same?
What do you, so why do they sound the same?
Well, I just explained how are you doing?
Proper fast pronunciation is how are you doing?
But the faster Americans say it, that r sound disappears.
And that's exactly what happens here.
What are you? What do you?
What are you? What are you?
What are you? What are you?
That r sound, again, what are you?
R sound is going to disappear the faster we say it.
We call that a non -rotic r.
It's not important, but some people want to know, so I'll spell it.
Non, N -O -N, rotic, R -H -O -T -I -C, a non -rotic r.
For some places in America, like New York and Boston, the non -rotic r is very common.
Most Americans always pronounce the r sound except for those two expressions.
The non -rotic r is absolutely the most common pronunciation for are you doing?
And what are you doing?
You are not going to hear an r, but you're going to hear the ing in the verb.
Are you doing, doing, doing, doing is doing.
That in, that ing, that's the ING.
That means you're listening to an R.
But if you hear, what do you do?
Do, there's no ING, then it was a do.
What do you do? Does that help?
I hope so. And the final question, oh, such great questions.
Listen to these four words.
If you know these four words, what is the difference?
Here we go, number one, estimation.
Number two, projection.
Number three, prediction.
And number four, forecast.
Is there a difference between these words?
So I'll say this, in general speaking, general daily English, we use them the same.
But could there be a difference?
Absolutely. I mean, if you look at a dictionary, you can probably find a very clear distinction, but how we use them is basically the same.
However, I think this is a good thing to think about.
Estimation and projection.
Projection. They're calculated numbers.
When we hear an estimation or when we hear a projection, the number is usually very specific.
So when the reality comes, if the number is similar to the estimation, to the projection, if the calculation is similar, we are happy.
But if the estimation or the projection, if that number is very different, we are very unhappy.
Prediction and forecast are also similar.
They'll give you an idea of what will happen.
And it's a very academic approach, smart people make predictions and forecasts.
However, if the numbers are wrong, we usually don't get very angry.
The perfect idea would be the forecast, the weather forecast.
So where I live, you know, they're gonna say like, oh, in two days from now, it will be sunny.
And then two days later, it's raining.
Oh, these jerks. They can never ever make a proper forecast.
So I'm a little bit angry, but whatever, I know that when they talk about the weather, it's a guess.
When I go to these, let's say I have a problem with my car, and I go to the mechanic and I say, what's the estimate?
What is the estimation?
And the mechanic says, this will probably cost $550.
And then I go back a couple days after they fixed the car.
And if the car is $500, great.
If it's $600, okay.
But if it's $1 ,200, oh my God, you told me $550.
I am going to be very angry.
So it's not a perfect definition, but I think it's a good reference for you.
And I went to chat GPT and I asked chat GPT, what did you think about my idea?
And actually, chat GPT said something very nice.
Chat GPT said, that's a brilliant distinction.
Wow, chat GPT called me brilliant.
Ha ha ha ha. So those are three great questions.
I hope it makes sense, the answers that I gave make sense.
And yeah, keep those questions rolling in.
The publication dates of this podcast, November 18th, Monday.
I record the podcast on Sunday.
So I think in the opening I said it's November 17th, cause that's the day I'm recording it.
But the publication date, November 18th, it is the 323rd day of the year.
There are only 43 days remaining.
Wow. Today, November 18th is national Apple cider day.
Apple cider, this does not have to be alcohol.
It's just simply fresh squeezed apple juice.
I love it. It could be alcohol, but not necessarily.
It is also Mickey Mouse day.
Do you like Mickey Mouse?
It is national princess day.
My wife is a queen, not a princess.
It is push button phone day.
Do you have a push button phone?
I right now, I am holding a push button phone.
I love my push button phone.
I have a push button phone.
Congratulations phone, it's your day.
And finally, it is national injury prevention day.
In other words, be careful day.
Don't get hurt. There are 10 days left until Thanksgiving.
11 days until black Friday.
Oh, by the way, we have a black Friday sale for my DDM and perf classes.
Get that sale. Let's masterenglish .com.
14 days left until cyber Monday.
Big shopping day in the US also.
And wow, 37 days left until Christmas, I am excited.
On this day in 1307, using a bow and arrow, William Tell shot an apple off his son's head.
Do you know about that story?
It's a true story. So I'll give you, there's a full story.
Do you want the full story?
It's quick. So one day there was a competition to find out who was the best in the world with the bow and arrow.
Bow, B -O -W. Arrow, A -R -R -O -W.
Another word, archery.
A -R -C -H -E -R -Y. You know, you gotta, the stick with a string and then an arrow and you pull back the string and then you let go.
And the arrow flies through the air.
So there was a competition to find out who the best archer was in the world.
And on this date in 1307, William Tell said, I am the best.
And he took his son and he made his son stand against a tree.
And on top of the son's head, he put an apple and then he stepped back 20 paces.
And with his bow and arrow, he shot the arrow.
Thung, right in the middle of the apple.
Wow. Everybody was so amazed.
Wow, so crazy. But he was the best.
But then another man said, ho, ho, ho, I am better than William Tell.
And the man stepped to the same spot and shot his arrow.
Vroom. And the arrow struck.
William Tell's arrow right in the middle and it split.
William Tell's arrow.
It was amazing. He truly was better than William Tell.
And he said, I am Robin Hood.
And the crowd went, oh my God, bye bye, William Tell.
Hello, Robin Hood. But then another man, ho, ho, ho, stood up and said, I am the world's best archer.
And he walked over to the place that William Tell had stood and then Robin Hood had stood and he stood in their spot.
And he pulled back his bow and arrow and he shot the arrow and the arrow went right in the middle of the place where William Tell's son had stood in his head.
And he said, I am sorry.
Oh my God, that's so terrible.
I'm sorry, it's a terrible joke.
I am William Tell, I am Robin Hood, I am sorry.
Oh, I'm sorry, it's really bad.
Okay, I'll finish with good news, good news, good news.
Today on this date, please don't be angry, on this date in 1902, the teddy bear was invented.
The teddy bear, do you have a teddy bear?
I had a teddy bear when I was a kid.
Of course, my teddy bear's name was Teddy.
And now in my house, because I have two kids, a wife, three cats, and a dog, we have a teddy bear.
And that teddy bear actually sits on my bed.
And yeah, he's great, his name is T, very creative name.
Much nicer story, do you have a teddy bear?
What is your teddy bear's name?
Monday, November 18th, it's your birthday, it's your birthday.
Is it your birthday?
Once again, nobody sent an email, so I was a little bit sad.
So contact at letsmasterenglish .com.
If you have a song request, the song, oh my God, if you're not listening to the song version of this podcast, you are missing so much, the music is great.
If you're only listening to the non -music version, that's okay, but I encourage you, send us an email, contact at letsmasterenglish .com.
We'll let you listen to a song version for free.
There is a membership, but we'll let you listen to one for free.
So anyway, Monday Birthday Cakes, Birthday Cakes, yeah, that's right.
Famous people, Duncan Sheik is 55.
You don't know Duncan Sheik?
I'm gonna play his song in a minute, and I think you will know him.
Owen Wilson, what a fantastic actor, is 56 years old.
Do you know Owen Wilson?
He's one of my favorite actors, and he's been in movies like Wedding Crashers, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Meet the Parents, Starsky and Hutch, oh, Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Nights with Jackie Chan, oh, I love the guy, Wedding Planner.
I mean, he's been, he's in the movie Cars.
He was in Cars, what else?
I don't know, he's been in lots of great stuff.
Oh, Loki, he's in a TV series called Loki.
He's in that too, as Mobius, so yeah, William.
Owen Wilson, 56 years old.
Metallica, do, do, don, don, don, don.
Is that Metallica or, oh, that was Mega Death, sorry.
Kirk Hammett is 62 years old, and another like Duncan Sheik pop star.
Duncan Sheik was famous in the 90s, but this is an 80s pop star.
Kim Wild is 64. So I got a couple songs coming at you, one by Duncan Sheik, Barely Breathing.
It's a great song, very 90s, and then we'll step back into the 1980s.
Oh man, Kim Wild has so many songs.
Kids in America, that's probably her biggest one, but Can't Get Enough is great too.
Yeah, I think You Keep Me Hanging On, Keep Me Hanging On, I think we'll listen to Kids in America.
Unless of course, you're not listening to the music version of the podcast.
Get it, I'll let you listen for free.
Contact at letsmasterenglish .com, send us an email.
That is it for this podcast.
Now I actually gave you a lot of information.
I hope it was interesting, I hope it was useful, I hope you enjoyed it, and yeah, that's it, thank you so much.
Of course, I'll be back again next week with another version of Let's Master English, the podcast.
During the week, we have a rehash of all the E -Cubed expressions, so we're just running through all of them.
If you studied the E -Cube podcast or watched the videos, this is excellent review, so I really want you to listen to that daily podcast.
And thank you so much.
Get my free lessons, get the music podcast, contact at letsmasterenglish .com, sign up for my newsletter, letsmasterenglish .com.
Our Black Friday sale is coming up very soon, an excellent opportunity to save some money on memberships for 2025.
The most important thing, enjoy English, and together, Let's Master English.
Thanks so much. Or...
We're gonna have some love or something else.
