This is the transcript to my YouTube video called “UK Royal Family Opinions – English Interviews in London”. You will find a full transcript and vocabulary definitions below.

Watch the video here:

Transcript here:

UK Royal Family opinions – English Interviews in London

TRANSCRIPT – What do people think of the UK Royal Family (Part 1)

Some words and expressions are defined at the bottom of this page.

Man wearing a tie and sunglasses
[This man is originally from Wales but now spends his time in London, Wales and Vancouver Canada. He speaks with an RP accent, without strong regional pronunciation. He comes across as quite posh, well spoken and well educated]
Luke: Right, I’m asking people about the Royal Family today
Man: Yes
Luke: So what do you think? Good thing? Bad thing? Bad thing? Good thing?
Man: Are you talking about the family or the institution of the monarchy?
Luke: Well, let’s start with the institution of the monarchy
Man: Fabulous
Luke: Yes
Man: Can’t imagine why anyone would want to elect some super-annuated politician, as head of state
Luke: Ok, alright, so what about the family then, as people
Man: Well, families are families, we all have problems
Luke: Yes, yes, ok. Umm, alright, do you have a favourite or a least favourite member of the Royal Family?
Man: Well the Queen herself, obviously.
Luke: Obviously?
Man: Obviously
Luke: Why exactly?
Man: Because I’ve been… As long as I’ve been alive, pretty well, not quite… I was born in her grandfather’s reign but only just. So I survived her father’s reign, and he survived… me, and the war, we survived together. But the Queen has been around while I’ve been an adult.
Luke: What do you think of Charles? Do you think he’ll be a … do you think he’ll become King?
Man: Of course he’ll become King, there isn’t any other way! You start thinking about that then what are you doing? You’re electing a president. Thank you very much, no.

Couple in Green Park
[The young man is from London but has been travelling in India for a few years. The girl is from Sheffield in the north of England and recently moved down to London. They both speak without strong regional accents, so they speak with standard RP accents]
Luke: I’m asking people about the Royal Family. So what do you think? Are they a bad thing or a good thing? Good thing or a bad thing? What do you think?
Girl: Good thing.
Luke: Yeah? Yeah? What makes you say that?
Girl: It’s nice to have a figurehead. They don’t really have much power but they do a lot of good for charity. That’s nice.
Luke: Yeah, yeah, ok. What do you think?
Young man: Yeah, it’s nice to have, like, erm… Like there’s the stereotypical. like, English image is always really good, and you know, like, drinking cups of tea and bowler hats and like, I think the Royal Family is definitely part of that. I think that’s really really nice to have. It’s a bit of a drain on our economy, but in the general scheme of things we probably spend a lot of money on other things as well.
Luke: That image of people, sort of, erm, drinking cups of tea and being very posh and everything, is that really what we’re like?
Young man: No, not at all but it’s great to have the stereotype there.
Luke: Really?
Young man: I think it’s a really nice thing to have. Well, like, I think as Britain becomes a multi-cultural nation like I think we have been for so long now, like, the true British identity is definitely lost. But I think, you know, just to still have part of it there is still really good.
Luke: Yeah, ok. Do you have a favourite or least favourite member of the Royal Family?
Young man: I don’t know. I actually really like Prince Harry. I think he’s a really nice guy. I’ve seen a few interviews with him recently and he comes across like a really, you know, pleasant chap.
Luke: Yeah, yeah yeah.
Young man: But, err, least favourite.
Girl: Don’t have a least… I dunno
Young man: I don’t know them well enough, to be honest.
Luke: What do you think of Kate?
Young man: I have no opinions of her. I think she’s, you know, married rich, like, well done.

Man in reddish-pinkish-purple T-shirt
[This guy comes from Leeds so he has a slight Leeds accent (Yorkshire). Leeds is in the north of England, so he pronounces the /a:/ sound differently – listen to my podcast about British Accents for more information on that ;) ]
Luke: so what do you think of the Royal Family?
Man: Err, they’re all right, you know, they’re they’re sort of, just a figurehead err body, aren’t they, really. I don’t think they do much apart from cost us lots of money, and bring in tourists. So that’s good I suppose. The fact that tourists come here just to see, just over there, the Buckingham Palace, the Royal Family, yeah.
Luke: Would you keep them? Or would you get rid of them?
Man: Errrrm, I think yeah, I think we should keep them but I think that, I don’t know, I’m just amazed and confused as to why the media seems to love them so much, I mean, yeah.
Luke: Who’s your favourite Royal?
Man: Err, (laughs)
Luke: or least favourite
Man: Least favourite? My least favourite Royal. I don’t really like Prince Charles. Yeah. I dunno why, I just, I dunno, I wouldn’t like to think of him as being King. I think they should just skip. I think he should just do the honest thing and not, not, not accept the throne, when, when his time comes. Yeah.
Luke: Thank you. Thanks very much.
Man: That’s alright. That’s alright, ok.

Woman and man from Canada
[This couple come from Quebec in Canada. Their first language is French, so they (she) have French/Canadian accents.]
Luke: So what do you think of the Royal Family?
Woman: The what family?
Man: The Royal Family
Luke: The Royal Family. The people who live in that house behind us.
Woman: You have an accent. (Laughter) I think that they are very useful for newspaper(s)
Luke: Oh yes
Woman: They are making money for, they are making… making newspaper(s) making money
Luke: Yeah, they’re making money for newspapers
Woman: No no, they’re not… well they are helping newspaper(s) to make more money
Luke: I see
Woman: Don’t you think?
Luke: Well, yes, certainly, yeah, yeah. Okay , err. (Laughter) You’re being controversial, which is great. That’s a very good…. What, err, there’s a bit of history, isn’t there, sort of, in Canada and err, with the Royal Family, what’s the situation in Quebec. How do people in Quebec feel about, err, The Queen, ’cause you have in Canada the Queen on your bank notes, don’t you.
Woman: Yeah, well we don’t mind so much about the face of the Queen on the bank notes, but, you know, we don’t like, well, ‘we we’ it’s not us but in general people don’t like The Queen but this summer we had a visit of William and Kate and they were very very very very appreciate(d).
Luke: They… really?
Woman: Kate.
Luke: Yes
Woman: Kate was appreciate(d)
Luke: Not William?
Woman: Yes, yes, but you know he was just there as the boyfriend of Kate.
Luke: So, she’s a celebrity, she’s not, sort of, err…
Woman: Yeah because she’s elegant and she’s… you know? It was her, her, how do you say in English – wardrobe? Wardrobe?
Luke: Yeah, her wardrobe, yeah. Her outfits and her clothes.
Woman: Yes, it was very important. That was the subject of discussion.
Luke: Yes, so you like Kate basically, don’t you? In Canada I mean, in Quebec at least.
Woman: No, in Canada they love everybody, but in Quebec Kate was appreciate(d) because she was natural.
Luke: Right, yeah yeah. She’s sort of, erm, yeah, she’s a normal person.
Woman: Yeah, a human being.
Luke: (Laughs) Are you saying that the Royals aren’t human beings? What are they, like, robots or aliens or…?
Woman: We don’t know, we don’t know, perhaps. What do you think?
Luke: Erm, I don’t know, I think they’re, I think they’re human beings but err, I don’t know, it’s, they’re different kind of people, you know.
Woman: But obviously people like because you know, you have, you see all those people next to the, to to to, to the fence
Luke: to the gates
Woman: to the gates, and they are like, “ooh!” You know, so here we feel some attachment
Luke: Yeah, yeah, yeah
Man: that we don’t have
Luke: Well, erm, I mean a lot of these people you’re seeing are tourists, you know, and they come because it’s, erm, you know, there’s lots of impressive buildings and things, and a lot of money and stuff like that, erm. Well, you see The Queen and the state are kind of the same thing so if you’re… I guess a lot of people are proud of being, you know, from their own country and so they use The Queen as a representation of their pride in their country. Erm, whether that’s a good or a bad thing, I don’t know, that’s err, another question, but err, yeah

Teenage girl
[This girl is from South London and has a typical young Londoner’s accent. Her Dad was also behind the camera]
Luke: I’m asking people what they think of the Royal Family, so what do you think? Do you think they’re a good thing or a bad thing?
Girl: Good for tradition. Not much help. I dunno, they don’t do much. I don’t think.
Luke: Really? Yeah?
Girl: I don’t know
Luke: Do you feel like you have a strong opinion about The Royal Family?
Girl: Not at all
Luke: What do you think of William and Kate?
Girl: They’re a couple. They’re just… they’re just royal, married people.
Luke: Yeah, yeah yeah
The Girl’s Dad: Do you think they’re a nice couple or not?
Girl: I don’t think it matters. It doesn’t matter to me, personally.
Luke: Do you feel like you’ve got any connection to The Royal Family at all?
Girl: No
Luke: If you had a choice, would you get rid of them or would you keep them?
Girl: Keep them
Dad: Why?
Girl: Because it’s a British thing, I guess.
Luke: Would you rather we had, like, a president that was elected or would you rather we had a queen who wasn’t elected?
Girl: A president
Luke: Yeah? Like in America
Girl: Yeah. It’s more, err, …
Luke: Democratic
Girl: That’s the word!
Luke: Do you want to say anything to the people of the world?
Girl: Hi, people of the world. Bye, people of the world.

Definitions of some words and expressions:
an RP accent = a standard British English accent without any regional differences in pronunciation, a ‘BBC accent’
he comes across as a pleasant chap = seems to be a nice person, gives the impression of being a nice person
a monarch = a king or queen
the institution of the monarchy = the political structure and administrative organisation of the Royal Family
super-annuated = old, out of date, obsolete
head of state = the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state
reign = period of time in which a king or queen serves as monarch
a figurehead = a person who represents a country but has no real power, just a representative function
charity = the practice of giving or caring without expecting anything in return. Charity work is often done by organisations called ‘charities’ such as UNICEF or The British Red Cross
bowler hats = traditional round hats worn by British business men in the past
a drain on our economy = something which takes money away from the economy, something which we spend money on
in the general scheme of things = in the general overall picture/situation
stereotype = a common vision or image of a person or group which is not completely realistic or true
pleasant = nice
chap = man (informal, a bit posh or old fashioned)
body = an organisation or institution
get rid of them = remove them, throw them away
accept the throne = agree to become king
wardrobe = clothes, outfits
democratic = a form of government in which all people have a right to have influence over the way a country is run by voting in elections

Right-click here to download the audio for this episode.

Full transcript and definitions available below. 

More interviews with native speakers in the centre of London. I asked Londoners to tell me about the best and worst things about London. Here is a transcript to this episode:

Guy on Oxford Street (This guy has a normal London accent)
Luke: What’s the best thing about London?
Man: The best thing about London is there’s a lot to do and a lot of places to go. It’s one of the biggest cities there are in the world so you’ll find a lot of culture and diversity.
Luke: OK. Worst thing?
Man: Everything’s expensive and you can not get a job to save your life, and when you do they pay[s] you nothing.
Luke: Alright, great, thank you very much.
Man: Is that it?
Luke: Yeah, that’s all. Thanks a lot.

Girls in Carnaby Street (These girls are from Australia so they have Australian accents)
Luke: So, where are you from?
Girls: Australia
Luke: Whereabouts in Australia?
Girl 2: It’s a little town called , so
Girl 1: In South Australia, down at the bottom, where the Great Australian Bight is
Luke: Don’t you have beautiful weather and beaches and stuff down there?
Girl 2: We do yeah, umm, Adelaide has really nice beaches. It gets really cold in winter, but yes, during summer it’s really really nice
Girl 1: It’s hot and dry, but it’s good, it’s fun.
Luke: Ok, how long have you been in London?
Girl 2: Umm, five weeks now so not too long at all
Luke: Right. What are you doing here?
Girl 2: We’re just travelling around, just exploring. I guess we always want to be, like, somewhere that we’re not, so we thought we’d just come and check out London, check out the sights, make a working holiday out of it. So, yeah, that’s pretty much it.
Luke: So, in your opinions then, what’s the, what’s actually the best thing about this city?
Girl 1: the best thing, hmm
Luke: Yeah
Girl 2: Nightlife is, nightlife is pretty good, and it’s just lots more opportunity I think for work. We, like, da[nce], like we’re performers so we dance, we sing, we act, so there’s a lot more auditions happening, lots more agencies
Girl 1: More than in Australia
Girl2: So, a lot more happening I guess you could say
Luke: It’s a bit entertainment industry isn’t it, here.
Girls: Yes, it’s huge here.
Luke: What about bad things? What’s the worst thing about London?
Girl 2: We were just discussing that! Far too many people!
Girl: And also, it’s kind of like a very l- rushed lifestyle, like, we’re used to just very chilled out slow pace and everyone’s just rushing off to go somewhere else, and it’s just constant… s’like, yeah
Luke: You have to learn to, sort of, walk twice as fast as normal in London
Girl 1: It kind of gets you a bit stressed out as well, ’cause you’re like “why is everyone, like, overtaking me? Oh my god!” You just try to keep up
Luke: You’ve got to go at, like, twice the normal speed.
Girl 2: Oh, exactly, it’s really like go go go, so, it’s been a bit of an adjustment, ummm
Girl 1: We’re slowly getting used to it
Luke: Alright, great, thank you very much
Girls: Thank you!
Luke: Cheers, bye bye

3 Lads in Carnaby Street
Luke: How’s it going?
Lad 3: Good, how are you?
Luke: Fine thank you. So, do you all live in London?
Lads: yeah
Luke: and did you all grow up here?
Lads: Yeah
Luke: oh hold on, I just need to move back a bit. So, what’s it really like than? Because, I mean, this video is for people who don’t speak English as a first language. They might come to London for a few weeks. But what’s London really like?
Lad 3: it’s a beautiful city on the outside. It’s aesthetics, it’s lovely. The buildings are amazing but it’s more sinister than I’ve found, compared to other cities. People don’t seem to be as friendly, it’s a busy place
Lad 1: No-one talks
Lad 3: People don’t care for each other
Lad 1: it’s a really shit community, running through the whole of London. No one knows each other.
Luke: So, it feels a bit unfriendly
Lad 3: The amount of people you meet on the tube, you should have something, like, everyone should speak to each other, so m-m-more people you would know, rather than not everyone sitting there ignoring each other and suspecting something if they speak to you
Luke: Right, so if someone speaks to you on the tube you just think “who’s this weirdo?”
Lads: yeah
Luke: Ok, alright, umm, I was going to ask you what the worst thing is, but I think you’ve just explained that. What about the best thing, unless you’ve already said that?
Lad 2: The sights
Lad 3: The culture. It’s the history and the culture. You’ve got, you get a proper feel for… it feels different to a lot of other places because the British history and stuff that’s ???
Luke: Ok. Thank you very much guys. Have a nice day
Lad 1: see you later
Lad 3: laters

Man in Chiswick:
Luke: So, err, what’s the best thing about London?
Man: err, best thing is, err, the nightlife, is pretty cool up in London. Especially Leicester Square is very lively and everything like that. Err, and, err, yeah that’s pretty much it!
Luke: Alright, what about the worst thing?
Man: Err, traffic is pretty bad in London, and pollution is pretty bad as well. Like, the way so many cars, there should be a lot more bicycles and areas for people to walk, and a lot more public transport to be used as well
Luke: Okay, great
Man: Thank you, bye
Luke: Cheers
Man: *laughs*

Some definitions of some words/expressions you might not know:
“you can not get a job to save your life” – if you can’t do something to save your life it means you can’t do something even if you try very hard
“sinister” – dangerous and threatening

Watch on YouTube:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkXxMOlrpfM&w=480&h=360]

More conversations with native English speakers in the centre of London. Tapescript available below. Enjoy!

Luke’s English Podcast is a free service, but PLEASE DONATE SOME MONEY to help me pay for this website. Only donate a few dollars/euros/pounds if you listen. Your donations make this podcast possible. No donations = no more podcasts.

Video Transcript

Luke: So what’s the best thing about being in London for you?
Man with red tie: The food
Luke: Really? That’s interesting. A lot of people who aren’t from England, foreigners, think that the food’s awful. What kind of food?
Man: Indian. Italian. Good food.
Luke: Right, okay, what’s the worst thing about London?
Man: Feeling unclean when you get home. The grime.
Luke: The, sort of, grime, the pollution and stuff. Okay, thank you very much.
Man: You’re welcome.

Girls: Hi
Luke: Hi, where are you both from?
English girl: Nottingham
Luke: Okay
Canadian girl: And I’m from Canada
Luke: Okay, right, but you’ve both lived in London before, right?
Girls: Yep
Luke: I’m just asking people what the best and worst things about London are…
Nottingham: The amount of things to do… the best thing
Luke: Yep
Canada: Free museums and galleries, those are really good things.
Luke: Okay, right, what about the worst things?
Canada: The tube
Luke: What about the tube?
Canada: Too crowded, too hot, doesn’t work very well.
Luke: Right. What do you think?
Nottingham: That’s about it actually, yeah. Travel, yeah, travelling.
Luke: Alright, thank you very much.
Canada: You’re welcome
Luke: Cheers
Canada: Good luck with that
Luke: Thanks very much, cheers.

White t-shirt man: Hello
Luke: You’re from London as well are you?
Man: I am from London yeah. Do you want me to talk to you or to the lens?
Luke: Umm, both, whatever.
Man: Okay, yeah
Luke: Whatever’s more comfortable.
Man: Alright
Luke: So, what’s the best thing about London?
Man: Umm. I would say, the diversity, the culture diversity, the galleries, the fact that you can walk around the city and there’s so many different types of… walks of life you know, culturally and also it’s constantly changing and reinventing itself. It’s got lots of different opportunities creatively. I think that’s what, really, what makes London thrive really.
Luke: Right, it’s the place where you can, kind of, go with a creative idea and make it work
Man: Yeah, it’s a very dynamic city, culturally dynamic, which is what makes it great
Luke: Okay. What about the worst things?
Man: Err, overcrowding, the tube, erm… stress levels, pressure, people not looking you in the eye when they [are] going through their day to day [life]. That’s probably the worst thing about London.
Luke: So there’s a sort of impersonal thing as well
Man: It can be, yeah
Luke: Okay
Man: Alright?
Luke: Great, thanks very much, bye.

Originally published in January 2011.
This is a very short episode to let you know that I’m going to be away on holiday for a couple of weeks. I’m going travelling around Vietnam, and I’ll tell you all about it when I return.

Right-click here to download.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1gLlvqru-s

Earlier this year I made a video at the Notting Hill Carnival. Here are some of the bits which I didn’t include in the final edit. You can see that I got a bit frustrated on this day…

There are some bits of useful language in this video. They are all explained below.

Vocabulary

The text captions contain some phrasal verbs and other expressions. Here are some of those useful bits of language:

The door was putting me off – ‘to put someone off’ = the door was distracting me and stopping me from concentrating properly
The chair was getting in my way – ‘to get in your way’ = the chair was in my personal space and stopping me from moving freely
I couldn’t string a sentence together – ‘to string a sentence together’ = to be able to speak properly
I was starting to get really pissed off – ‘to get pissed off’ = to get annoyed and angry (it’s a slightly rude expression)
I can’t be bothered to carry an umbrella – ‘can’t be bothered’ = I’m too lazy to do it. I don’t want to make the effort to do it.
I might get caught in the rain – ‘to get caught in the rain’ – to be surpised by rain, and get wet because you’re unprepared
What the hell? = Who cares? It doesn’t matter!
Live life on the edge = Live a risky life
I’m waiting for my mobile phone to charge up – ‘to charge up’ = to put electricity into a battery
To run out = the battery becomes empty
I was in a funny mood, perhaps because I was tired or a little fed up – ‘fed up’ = slightly bored or unhappy
That must get quite claustrophobic and awkward – ‘claustrophobic’ = frightening because it is a small space. ‘awkward’ = uncomfortable and embarrassing

More audio podcasts coming soon!

This is a video with advice on how to use videos with transcripts to improve your English.

You can  watch the video on YouTube here:

Transcript

This video has subtitles – you can listen to me and read at the same time.

That makes it nice and easy for you, doesn’t it?

However, I don’t think it’s a good idea to watch videos with subtitles every time.

There are no subtitles in my recent videos.

This probably makes it difficult for you to understand everything the native speakers say in their interviews.

But, I believe it is better for your English to survive without subtitles.

There are no subtitles when you talk to people in real life, right?

So it is better to practise your listening without relying on subtitles.

When you watch a video with subtitles (like now), you are not really listening like normal. You’re reading too.

If you always do that, you will find it difficult when you actually talk to people in English.

So, when you watch the video interviews on this site, don’t worry if you don’t understand everything.

If you want to understand every word in the video interviews, you can. You don’t need subtitles.

Here’s how:

1. Watch a video with interviews in it (e.g. London Video Interviews Pt.1)

Try to understand as much as possible, but don’t worry if you can’t understand everything.

These are native speakers, talking naturally, so it might be difficult.

2. Then, find the transcript to the video by going to http://teacherluke.podomatic.com

It’s a good idea to print the transcript if you can. You could highlight the text and then paste it into a Word document, then print it.

3. Next, read the transcript and listen to the video at the same time.

Underline words or phrases that you don’t understand.

Think about differences in the words in the transcript, and the way the speakers say them in the interview.

4. After that, study the words / phrases that you don’t understand.

Do this with a dictionary, or by googling the words.

Google is good because you can find lots of examples of a new word being used in other situations.

Remember that some phrases may be idiomatic – so you might have to guess what they mean.

Use your intelligence! Be a ‘text detective’.

5. After you’ve studied the transcripts, watch/listen to the interviews again but without the transcript.

Watch the speakers’ mouths when they speak and think about how they pronounce the words and sentences.

Now, you should be able to understand the interviews completely, at the same level as a native speaker.

6. Read the transcript out loud.

Actually say the words, and try to copy the way they are pronounced in the interviews.

Don’t just stop at listening and understanding – it’s really important to combine skills and convert listening comprehension and pronunciation awareness into speaking practice.

Have fun, but don’t make a fool of yourself by reading the sentences out loud in public!

7. Try to remember any words or phrases in the interviews which you think are useful.

8. Practise by recording yourself talking about good/bad things about your city, or about London.

Listen to the recording. Try not to be embarrassed by the sound of your own voice. This is natural. Just listen to yourself in order to get a better understanding of your speaking, so you can work on your weak points.

Don’t forget to feel good about what you do well too.

This is a much longer process than just watching a video with subtitles, but I think you will agree that in the long run it is much better for your English.

It is much better to learn to listen by actually listening and looking at the speaker’s face, not by reading subtitles.

Also, if you follow the steps above you can train yourself to listen well and learn about vocabulary, pronunciation and speaking too.

That’s it!

Enjoy the videos…

Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye!

Full Transcript Available Below
To download the audio for this episode, right-click here.

More interviews with native English speakers in London. Transcripts & definitions available below. This video was filmed in Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Chinatown and Picadilly Circus in the centre of London.

Hello learners of English, here is the transcript for the second video with interviews in the centre of London.

Use these videos as an opportunity to practise listening to authentic English conversations in a natural context. It’s a good chance to get exposure to English by native speakers, especially if you don’t live in an English speaking country.

Transcript

Graphic design student: Hello
Luke: So, how long have you been in London?
Graphic design student: Two weeks
Luke: Really? What do you do?
Graphic design student: Err, graphic design. Camberwell, School of the Arts.
Luke: Ok. So, your first two weeks.
Graphic design student: First two weeks. It’s quite a big impact. Very big, lots of people, and it’s quite expensive as well.
Luke: Ok. What’s the best thing about it?
Graphic design student: Err, night life. Very good night life. It’s got, you know, erm… If you go to the right places… A lot of action, erm, you know, a lot of friendly people as well.
Luke: Excellent. What about the worst thing?
Graphic design student: Depends on where you go. I mean, there’s quite a lot of, err, muggers about, dodgy people looking at your weirdly. You want to just, turn, turn away from them
Luke: Ok yeah
Graphic design student: Apart from that, generally a lot of people are quite nice. I mean, there’s some people that shove about, but, you know, you’ve just got to deal with it.
Luke: Ok, thank you very much
Graphic design student: That’s ok
Luke: Cheers.

Luke: So, hello
Girl in red scarf: Hello
Luke: Where are you from?
Girl in red scarf: I live in Redhill, which is about half an hour away from London
Luke: Ok, erm, how long have you lived there?
Girl in red scarf: Two weeks!
Luke: Ok. Everyone’s been living in London for two weeks for some reason. So, what’s London really like then?
Girl in red scarf: London, well, London’s a really really massive place which can be quite overwhelming, but it’s not that scary after you’ve, you know, got stuck in there. Erm, London has everything you’d ever want, if you’re into theatres, art, education, night clubs, anything. Erm, I would say, just get stuck in there and go for it!
Luke: Ok, great, and what’s the worst thing about London?
Girl in red scarf: The worst thing… oooh the worst thing… err, I think the worst thing would have to be the pollution. It’s probably not as bad as some countries, but you always feel like you’ve got black fingernails.
Luke: Ok. Thank you very much.
Girl in red scarf: Thank you

Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Hi!
Luke: So, are you from London too?
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Yes, I am
Luke: Ok, so how long have you lived here?
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Err, my whole life. Luke: Ok, so you’re a real Londoner
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Yes, a real Londoner
Luke: Ok, what’s it like then, living here?
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): What’s it really like? Erm, well I think it’s fantastic. It’s nice to live in such a cosmopolitan place with lots of things to do. You can never say that you’re bored or have nothing to do because then that’s all down to you, so…
Luke: What’s the best thing about it?
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Erm…
Luke: You might have just answered that
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Yes I think I have. Just the variety and everything you want to do. Lots of things for different age groups, there’s always something for someone to do. I would say the best thing is, like, the cultural little occasions that we have, like Chinese New Year and things like that, where you have big street parties. I would say that’s the best thing.
Luke: Ok, what about the worst thing?
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Oh… I don’t like to answer that question
The girl with the red scarf (off screen): Pigeons!
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Oh yeah! I hate pigeons! I hate pigeons! They’re just…
Luke: What’s wrong with them?
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): They’re diseased!
Luke: They’re diseased. Flying rats.
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Yes
Luke: Right?
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): Yeah. That’s the worst thing, I don’t dislike anything else.
Luke: Ok, thank you very much
Real Londoner girl (who hates pigeons): You’re welcome
Luke: Cheers

Smartly dressed couple: Hi
Luke: So, are you from London
Smartly dressed girl: Err, we’ve just moved here, yeah.
Luke: Just moved here, right, so err… How long have you been here?
Smartly dressed girl: Err… We’ve been here for a couple of weeks.
Luke: Ok. Everyone I’ve interviewed today has been in London for, like, two weeks. I don’t know why… So, what’s London really like then? What do you think?
Smartly dressed guy: Err, it’s a huge place. There must be about 10 million people living here. It’s got a lot of good things, bad things. It’s vibrant, it’s multicultural. It’s got fantastic places to eat, fantastic places to go out in the evening.
Smartly dressed girl: Fantastic theatre, fantastic restaurants. Fantastic museums, art galleries. Absolutely loads of stuff.
Luke: Ok
Smartly dressed guy: It’s a fast paced place. People seem to be moving around a lot faster than in the rest of the country
Smartly dressed girl: Sometimes that can get quite a bit much, you know. People sort of rushing everywhere all the time
Smartly dressed guy: But it’s interesting, but there’s also negatives to living here
Smartly dressed girl: It’s very congested, it’s very expensive. Err, extremely expensive, public transport is expensive. It’s hard… it can take a long time to get anywhere
Smartly dressed guy: And there’s also a lot of pollution, and crime as well. So, if you come to live here I think it’s about finding the right enclave…
Smartly dressed girl: Yeah, the right neighbourhood to live in, definitely…
Smartly dressed guy: And having friends. Set up your own community of friends, rather than knowing your next door neighbour.
Luke: Yeah. Ok, thank you very much
Smartly dressed guy: No worries
Luke: Cheers, bye bye
Smartly dressed girl: Cheers, bye

Vocabulary definitions

Here are some definitions of some of the vocabulary in the video.

night life – social life at night, for example clubs and bars
a lot of action – lots of exciting things happening, and lots of nice girls to meet
muggers – criminals who might steal things from you in public (e.g. attack you and steal your bag)
dodgy people – people who are strange and can’t be trusted
looking at your weirdly – looking at you in a strange way
turn away from them – look/turn in the other direction
shove about – push people when in a large crowd (e.g. pushing people when getting on or off a crowded train)
you’ve just got to deal with it – you have to just learn to live with it. You can’t let it make you unhappy.
massive
overwhelming – having such a great effect on you that you feel confused and do not know how to react
if you’re into theatres, art, education, night clubs, anything – ‘to be into something’ means to be interested in it, or to enjoy it
just get stuck in there – get involved without hesitation or fear
and go for it – just do it!
pollution – dirty air caused by cars, bad air conditioners etc
a cosmopolitan place – a place with lots of people from all over the world (positive adjective)
Pigeons – very common birds which you find in the city (see the video at about 3:33)
vibrant – full of energy and activity in an exciting way
multicultural – involving people from many different cultures
fast paced – with a quick lifestyle (e.g. people rushing about everywhere, walking very quickly, in a hurry)
get quite a bit (too) much – be stressful and annoying
congested – full of traffic, lots of traffic jams
the right enclave – a small area within the city in which you live and feel comfortable
neighbourhood – part of town in which you live

Full Transcript Available Below
To download the audio for this episode, right-click here.

Here is the first of a series of video podcasts featuring interviews with people I met in the centre of London recently. I went into London on a Tuesday morning and politely asked members of the public if they would like to do a short interview for people around the world who are learning English and who are interested in listening to native speakers, and finding out about life in London. Some people didn’t want to be interviewed, and ignored me! But most people I asked were very friendly and happy to talk to me for a few minutes. This is the first video, and includes interviews with people outside Buckingham Palace (home of The Queen), in St. James’s Park and on The Mall (the road towards Buckingham Palace). I hope you enjoy them, and find them useful. There are more videos coming soon, featuring interviews in different parts of central London.

Watch the video and try to understand their comments.
Then use the transcript to help you understand what they said.
Try to guess the meaning of any expressions you don’t know.
You can find some definitions of vocabulary and expressions at the bottom of the transcript.
The people in the interviews come from different places. Listen carefully and see if you can identify differences in the accents they have.

TRANSCRIPT

London! Capital of Great Britain. Home to over 7 million people, including: The Queen, The Prime Minister, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond and Mr Bean.
Considered by some to be the home of the English language, it’s also one of the biggest and more important financial and cultural centres in the world. It has a rich cultural history, a diverse population and loads of cool stuff to do at the weekends.

But what is London really like for the people who live there?

Hi, well, I’ve got a video camera, I’ve got an Oyster card and I’ve got the day off, so I’m going to go into the centre of London, meet some real Londoners and ask them, “what’s London really like?” Why don’t you join me? Come on, let’s go shall we?

Buckingham Palace:

This man is from somewhere in the south of England, possibly in London or near London. He has a southern English accent.
Luke: So, um, what do you think of London? What’s it really like?
Man: London’s a very nice place to be, yeah.
Luke: Yeah?
Man: Yeah.
Luke: What’s the best thing about it?
Man: The best thing is the architecture, the old stuff…
Luke: Yeah, yeah. Like Buckingham Palace
Man: Like Buckingham Palace, yeah
Luke: What about…
Man: Anything else, yeah?
Luke: What about the worst thing?
Man: The worst thing is… all the rest, I’m afraid.
Luke: Everything else?
Man: Everything else, gone to the dogs.
Luke: Really, it’s all gone to the dogs?
Man: With the country.
Luke: Ok. Alright, thank you very much. Cheers.
Man: Thank you.

These girls are from Hull, which is in Yorkshire in the north of England. They’re in London on holiday. They have Yorkshire accents.
Luke: Hello
Girls: Hi!
Luke: So, where are you from?
Girls: Erm, Hull.
Luke: Hull? Ok, so how long have you been in London?
Blonde girl: We came yesterday
Luke: Ok, what do you think? What’s London like?
Redhead girl: Really good!
Blonde girl: It’s a bit busy
Brunette girl: busy
Luke: Right, okay. What’s, err, what’s the best thing about it?
Redhead girl: The weather, the last couple of days
Blonde girl: Yeah, it’s been hotter than it is back home
Redhead girl: It’s been really nice, yeah.
Luke: So it’s better here than it is in Hull, is it?
Redhead girl: It is
Blonde girl: Yeah, but we couldn’t live here all the time
Redhead girl: The worst thing about it is the tube, the underground
Luke: Why? What’s wrong with the tube?
Redhead girl: It’s too stressful
Brunette girl: It’s too hot and busy
Redhead girl: and grimy
Luke: Busy, grimy, stressful… ok. Anything else to say to the people of the world?
Blonde girl: Come to London!
Redhead girl: Hiiii! Come to Hull to go out with us
Blonde girl: Come to Hull
Redhead girl: We’ll have lots of fun
Luke: Great, thank you very much

This couple is from New York City in USA. They have New York accents.
Luke: Hello. So, where are you from?
American man: We’re from the good old USA, the biggest city in the world, New York…
Luke: Oh, amazing
American man: …which cannot compare to London.
Luke: Really?
USA man: I wanna just express our love for England, the people, and especially the British Airway[s] that brought us here. They were so polite and extended themselves to the best airline that I travelled [on] all over the world.
Luke: Great
USA Man: Now coming to England, we stayed at the Holiday Inn, and the people and the experience at the Holiday Inn was super.
Luke: Excellent
USA Man: We just came from the Holiday Inn to see the Buckingham Palace and now we’re going to from here to Picadilly Square [Circus]. Yeah, great.
Luke: Great!
USA man: Thank you
USA woman: A wonderful experience
USA man: A wonderful experience
Luke: I’m very glad, that’s great.
USA man: And where is this going?
Luke: This is going on a website for people who are learning English as a foreign language, so it’s just going to be on, err… I work for this school, The London School of English and also I’m going to put it on a kind of podcast website for people all over the world, so, that’s great.
USA man: Now, what is that over there? (pointing at the Queen Victoria Memorial)
Luke: That? Err, I’m not sure to be honest. Err, it’s…
USA woman: It’s a nice statue.
Luke: It’s a lovely statue, covered in gold.
USA man: Uh huh, okay
Luke: Err, it… I don’t really know who all these people are, to be honest with you.
USA man: Well, I’m gonna take a picture
Luke: Exactly. It’s big and it’s shiny, so just take a picture of it.

St. James’s Park:

The man is from Middlesex, which is to the west of London. He has quite a posh accent. The woman is from the German/Danish border and has a German sounding accent.
Luke: So, where are you from? First of all.
Man: Well, I’m from Pinner, in Middlesex, which is near enough London, and we just come up once a week. It’s a long time ago now, I’m talking about before the war, and during the war, yes. A long time. And madam…
Woman: I’m from Schleswig-Holstein [on the German/Danish border] but I love London. Love it. My son lives here and I need to go from time to time, because… it’s such a life city isn’t it?
Luke: it is
Man: Recharge your batteries
Woman: Yes, yes. And, so green too! All these lovely parks, you know? And I think it’s the most beautiful city in the world.
Man: Sounds as though she’s selling it
Luke: Is she… it does! Yes. What do you think, I mean, we, err, you think it’s the most beautiful city in the world, but, is there a, what about bad things? What’s the worst thing about London?
Man: Well, I used to work just down there in Victoria… Victoria Station House. Erm, no, I… it tends to be a little dirty, a lot of rubbish around. I have the impression that’s got a bit better lately. I don’t know whether that’s true.
Luke: Right.
Woman: I was in Rome, and I told them all that London was much more beautiful and they all shouted me down, so…
Luke: Oh really…
Woman: But when the sun shines, you know… and all these green places, and nothing drives me mad because you expect a bit of dirt and… don’t you?
Luke: Yes, in the city
Woman: Yes
, yes. And it has good communication, I mean you can go everywhere, and I love it
Man: You’ll never stop her, but I must
Woman: So, shall we go now?
Luke: Great, thank you very much
Man: Not at all
Luke: Have a lovely day
Woman: You have a lovely day
Luke: Thank you
Man: Don’t you sell that
Luke: I’m not selling it, don’t worry. Alright, cheers.

The Mall:

Girl 1 is from Blackpool, which is in Lancashire in the North West of England. She has a Lancashire accent. Girl 2 is from Reading which is about 30 mins or 1 hour west of London. She has a fairly typical southern English accent.
Girl 1: Hello
Luke: Where are you from?
Girl 1: I’m from Blackpool, which is up north
Girl 2: I’m from just near Reading, just near London
Luke: Ok. So, how long have you been here?
Girl 1: I’ve lived in London for about 2 weeks so far
Girl 2: And I’ve lived in London for probably the last 4 years
Luke: OK, right so what’s London like then?
Girl 1: So far London’s quite exciting. I’ve been surprised by how many things are going on all the time, sort of, day and night. There’s always something to do, always something free to do, and so far it’s not rained!
Luke: Eyy! Great. Err, yourself?
Girl 2: Err, yeah the same, like, it’s been a good place to live. I don’t know, because I’ve been here for so long, I probably don’t really take as much advantage of it as I should do.
Luke: Yep, what’s the worst thing about London?
Girl 2: Erm… Traffic, commuting, going around, I think… Price.
Luke: Yeah, it’s very expensive. Have you discovered a worst thing yet?
Girl 1: Erm, honestly, the worst thing is it’s quite difficult to meet people, and because a lot of people live so far away, it’s quite difficult to get to them, it’s quite hard to see your friends, so it can sometimes be quite lonely.
Luke: Ok, thank you very much. Cheers.

Definitions of some vocabulary and expressions

What’s London really like?
This question: “What is it like?” means “tell me about it” or “how is it?”. It does not mean: “What do you like about London?”
e.g. What is London like? – it’s busy
What do you like about it? – I like the theatres

It’s gone to the dogs = everything is much worse now than it was before

grimy = dirty

recharge your batteries = to give yourself some energy, by doing something pleasant and stimulating

to shout someone down = to disagree with someone loudly in order to stop them talking

to take advantage of something = to use something good which is available to you

commuting = travelling from home to work every day

Here is the transcript to my YouTube video: 1 Introduction Part 1

Hello, and welcome to Luke’s English podcast – the podcast for learners of English. This is the very first podcast that I’ve done and it will be the first of many more podcasts that you will be able to download and listen to in the future, so because this is the first podcast, it’s a bit short, it’s shorter than the other ones will be and in this podcast basically I’m going to introduce myself to you so that you can get to know me a little bit and then I’m going to tell you about what is going to happen in other podcasts in the future.

Let’s see, first of all my name’s Luke – Luke Thompson. Now the name Luke can be a little bit difficult for learners of English to pronounce sometimes and I meet lots of people who can’t pronounce my name and they call me Look or maybe Luck, but it’s not Look or Luck, it’s Luke of course, and let’s see, I live in London. I work as an English teacher in an English language school in West London and I’ve been teaching English for about 8 years now. I first started teaching in Japan and I lived in Japan for two years in an area near Tokyo called Kanagawa Prefecture and I taught English there for two years and it was really great, I had a really good time. It was a very interesting experience for me and I’ve got lots of interesting stories to tell about my time in Japan. So, I taught there for two years and then I came back to London and I have been teaching English in London for about six years now. I’ve worked in a few different schools. I used to work in a school near Oxford Street and I worked in another school in Waterloo and now I work in a school which has two buildings, one in Holland park and the other one in Chiswick in West London and I enjoy my job very much because I get to meet lots of very interesting people, possibly people like you, people who need to learn English and they come to London. They come to my school, for example and it’s very interesting for me to meet these people from around the word and to introduce them to the English language and the English culture as well.

Let’s see, as well as being a teacher, an English teacher, I’m also interested in lots of other things. I love music, I’m a big music fan, for example I love the Beatles, of course, because I’m English and we all love the Beatles don’t we? So, I love the Beatles and I love lots of different kinds of music as well. I play music sometimes, I play the drums and I play the guitar. I’m not very good at the guitar to be honest I’m just trying to learn how to do that, but I’ve been playing drums for a long time now. I play in a band at the school and we play concerts sometimes and that’s really great fun. I’m also into lots of other things. I love movies and I like sport, like football of course, again because I’m English and we all love football, right? and I also like rock climbing too.

So, that’s just a little bit of information about me and, OK, now I’m also interested in you, and your opinions and your stories and your questions as well, so if you have any questions for me, if there are stories that you’d like to tell me, you can email me. Now at the end of each podcast I will actually ask you a question and I really want this to be an interactive podcast, which means that you can email me your answers to the question that I will ask you at the end of the podcast and it will be a chance for you to tell me what you think about some of the things that we’ll be talking about. So if you want to email me you can write to this address, its: Luketeacher@hotmail.com and I’ll be very glad to hear from you.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_OLxN9pxeg&w=480&h=360]