Learn English while learning about daily life in Australia, with Rob McCormack
Podcast Number 1 – Introduction
Hi. My name is Rob McCormack. I have just turned 60 years old and I have been retired for about 18 months. I live in Melbourne Australia with Silvia, my wife of 35 years, and our youngest son Andrew who still lives at home. I’m very happy in my retirement, as I have many personal interests and I now have time to focus on them.
But why am I making these podcasts? Let me explain that by telling you about my most important personal interest. You see, I am learning to speak German. I started to learn German because my wife, Silvia, was born in Austria and came to Australia when she was 8 years old. She still speaks German fluently. She learned to speak English very well of course and throughout our 35 years of marriage, we have always spoken English together. But when we go back to Austria to visit her relatives, I find that I can’t get involved in the conversation unless everybody speaks English. Now, many of Silvia’s relatives can speak English, but they prefer to speak German with Silvia. So I feel a little ‘left out’ of the conversation. That makes me think, wouldn’t it be great if I could speak some German? I could perhaps understand a little of what they are talking about and perhaps I could do some of the talking too.
So I decided about 3 years ago that I would learn German. I have gone to German classes every week and I have used as many other ways as I can to help me learn German. For example, I use websites for language learning (like Babbel.com) and I also use apps on my iPhone (like Pimsleur German). Now while I have been able to learn a lot of grammar, and I am always learning new vocabulary, I find it difficult to get opportunities to listen to spoken German which is not too fast. When I try to listen to the German news, or to watch German movies, the spoken German is always way too fast for me. I can’t understand it because the people speak too fast. What I needed was some spoken German which was not too fast, and was about topics which are interesting. Imagine how happy I was when I found there were many podcasts which have been made for just this purpose.
So I thought, I wonder if people learning English have the same problem? I decided to develop a blog site where I would provide podcasts in English, about everyday topics, which learners of English could use to help with their listening skills. But, I would make sure that I spoke slowly enough so that learners of English could understand me.
So this is my first blog for ‘slowenglish’. I hope you will download my podcasts and give me feedback about them. My podcasts will usually be about Australian topics, about life, people and events in Australia. If you’re interested in Australia, I hope you will find my podcasts interesting. You can leave a comment on my website at the bottom of this page.
Goodbye until next time.
Vocabulary
apps = you can buy these at the iTunes store – short for ‘applications’
comment = something you would like to say.
conversation = when you talk with other people
feedback = when you tell someone what you think about something they have done.
imagine = when you think of something in your mind
involved = to be a part of something
opportunities = when you get a chance to do something
prefer = when somebody likes to do something
provide = when you give something to somebody
purpose = what something is made for
relatives = people in your larger family, for example cousins, uncles, aunties, etc.
retired = when you are older and you do not work anymore
skills = the things you are good at, the things you can do well.
throughout = for all of the time
Slow English 