Culips Everyday English Podcast

How people study varies from person to person, from school to school, and from place to place. In this episode, Andrew shares his experience of doing a master’s degree in Montreal, and tells us about what being a university student is like for him. Technology has certainly had an impact on education, and this episodeRead More

How people study varies from person to person, from school to school, and from place to place. In this episode, Andrew shares his experience of doing a master’s degree in Montreal, and tells us about what being a university student is like for him. Technology has certainly had an impact on education, and this episode will bring you up to speed on some of those changes. Listen in to learn more about the life of a Canadian grad student! Harp: I remember having to write so many notes, and having a callous where you would just write and write and write in class. Andrew: Yeah. And now if I do have to write something, like an exam or a quiz, in class, it really shocks me. Because I'm like, “Why am I doing this?” Like, my hand doesn't know what to do. It gets cramped up after a couple of minutes. It's really pathetic. And it's sort of sad. Like, we're losing the art of writing. And my handwriting now is super sloppy, and I'm always afraid that the professors can't read it. But it's just the way that things are going. We're switching to electronic note taking. Harp: Yeah. I wonder if there's ever gonna be a time when we're writing our exams on computers at school. Andrew: Well, a lot of my quizzes that I do have to take are online now. And I just take them whenever I want. There's a window, like, a 24-hour window, and I just log in and write the quiz at my house. Harp: Wow. So much has changed since I was in university. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: To be looking to do something In the thick of it Poli-sci, HR, and other short forms The light at the end of the tunnel A window Stop it! There’s something to be said for… An open-book test To be in it together To learn something the hard way To get something down 400-level classes Double duty Thesis and Theses To have something under your belt It’s downhill from there Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo The Digital Dad

It’s great when you have a nice, clean space, and you may want to talk about it. This episode is all about expressions for saying that something is really clean. Harp and Maura also talk about whether their bedrooms were spick and span as teenagers, and Maura asks Harp whether her desk at work isRead More

It’s great when you have a nice, clean space, and you may want to talk about it. This episode is all about expressions for saying that something is really clean. Harp and Maura also talk about whether their bedrooms were spick and span as teenagers, and Maura asks Harp whether her desk at work is a disaster. Listen to this one to hear the dirty truth. It’s sure to inspire you to make your home spotless! Maura: feel like this conversation is really a classic. Teenagers are known for having messy bedrooms. So I'm gonna ask you, Harp, was your bedroom messy when you were a teenager? Harp: Hmm. I was the kind of kid who would have it messy all week and then clean it up on Saturdays. And then it would be messy all week. But my mom didn't really have to ask me. On Saturday morning I would just get up and clean it. I like to pretend it was organized and clean, but I was a bit of a slacker during the week. How about you? Maura: Well, I have to say that recently I was going through some old pictures and I saw a picture of my bedroom when I was a teenager, and I was blown away by how messy it was. At the time, it didn't bother me. I knew it was messy, but I didn't care. But now, looking at, it I was really shocked. Harp: Wow! Really? Could you even see the floor? Maura: No. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: As clean as a whistle To see your reflection in something To be down on your hands and knees Spick and span To be blown away A pig Wear and tear Spotless You missed a spot What’s going on? The head honcho A disaster A cleaning blitz Squeaky clean Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips

Have you ever done something that you wanted to forget about, and hoped that everyone else would forget about it too? If so, then you wanted to sweep it under the rug. This week’s episode is about wanting to pretend that something didn’t happen. Sometimes people act this way when they’re embarrassed. Other times people act this way because they see a problem and they don’t want to deal with it. Whatever the reason, listen to this episode to hear what Harp and Maura think of burying your head in the sand. Harp: To sweep something under the rug. Maura: Mmhmm. To sweep something under the rug is to hide something. So you pretend that something isn’t happening because maybe you’re embarrassed by it or you don’t know how to solve the problem. Harp: Yeah, to sweep something under the rug is to conceal something and hope that other people don’t notice it. Maura: Right. It’s like trying to keep a problem a secret. So you’re hiding that there’s a problem because you don’t want to deal with it. Harp: Yeah. And when I think of this expression, to sweep something under the rug, I actually think of when I’m sweeping my house and I don’t feel like picking up all the dirt, and I just put it under the rug instead of having to clean it up, pick it up, and throw it in the garbage. Maura: Do you actually do that, Harp? Harp: I may have done it when I was a kid. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: To sweep something under the rug Busted It’s about time What can you do? To resurface Down the line To come back to haunt you The pronunciation of bury To bury your head in the sand The papers To drum up It wouldn't hurt To turn a blind eye To turn a deaf ear Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips

Have you ever done something that you wanted to forget about, and hoped that everyone else would forget about it too? If so, then you wanted to sweep it under the rug. This week’s episode is about wanting to pretend that something didn’t happen. Sometimes people act this way when they’re embarrassed. Other times peopleRead More

When you listen to the news in English, you might hear about someone getting busted. In this episode, we take a look at some expressions that can be used to talk about police catching criminals and making arrests. Sometimes the police have been investigating someone for a huge illegal operation, and other times someone might get busted for something as simple as speeding. Listen to this episode to learn about a bunch of expressions that have to do with getting caught breaking the law or doing something wrong. Hopefully, you won’t be using any of these to talk about yourself! Andrew: If you get caught by the police for breaking the law, you’ve been busted. Harp: Yeah. And it could be something like speeding. So, he got busted for speeding, or it could be something really serious, like, he got busted for a big drug deal. Andrew: That’s right. It’s usually used for more serious crimes, and I feel like when somebody’s busted, the police sort of have been planning out their actions; they’ve done an investigation, they’ve been following somebody, and they usually surprise the person, maybe in their apartment. They break down the door, they run in, they catch the person when they’re not suspecting that they’re being chased by the police, and that’s really what a bust is to me. Harp: Yeah. I definitely agree with you. It’s usually something big. And I have the same visual in my head of the police breaking down the door and surprising the criminals. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: Tech savvy To fall of your radar To bust someone A loner A ring To crack down on something or someone To nab someone A mule Yikes To tag To round up someone or something To think twice Sketchy To carry out something To hack Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips

When you listen to the news in English, you might hear about someone getting busted. In this episode, we take a look at some expressions that can be used to talk about police catching criminals and making arrests. Sometimes the police have been investigating someone for a huge illegal operation, and other times someone mightRead More

People seem to be paying more attention than ever to the food they eat. This is part 2 of our episodes on healthy living. This one is dedicated to food, and talking about what Canadians are doing to stay healthy. Andrew and Harp talk about popular lifestyle choices, like vegetarianism, and also the practice ofRead More

People seem to be paying more attention than ever to the food they eat. This is part 2 of our episodes on healthy living. This one is dedicated to food, and talking about what Canadians are doing to stay healthy. Andrew and Harp talk about popular lifestyle choices, like vegetarianism, and also the practice of dieting. How do they both stay so fit? Listen to this episode to find out! Harp: Basically a vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat meat. Andrew: That’s right. They don’t eat meat. They’re open to eating other animal products like eggs and milk and cheese, but any meat they stay away from. Harp: Yup. And sometimes people will eat some fish and still be a vegetarian, but in general it means that most of their diet is fruits, vegetables, grains, things like that. Andrew: That’s right and this is, I would say, a pretty popular lifestyle in Canada, almost any restaurant that you go to will have vegetarian options and if you say that you’re vegetarian, no one really gives you a strange look anymore like maybe it used to happen in the past. I think it’s pretty much an accepted way of life. Harp: Yeah. I think there are very few restaurants where there are no vegetarian options. Andrew: OK and going one step further than vegetarianism are vegans and vegans are people who don’t eat any meat or really any animal products so fish, cheese, milk, butter, eggs - these are things that they all avoid eating. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: To be stuffed Vegetarians and vegans Raw food Local food To push for something Diets Everything in moderation A cleanse There’s something to it To be down to do something To be on the fence To be gung ho My take (on something) A loophole Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips

People are active all around the world in different ways: playing sports, going to the gym, or physical activity that is part of their daily routine. Here’s an episode that is all about getting in shape, however you do it. Listen to this one to find out which sports are popular for kids and also some of the most popular things that adults are currently doing to stay fit. Andrew and Harp also tell you what exercise they try to do regularly. Here’s an idea: To exercise your brain and your body, listen to this episode while you’re at the gym! Harp: And then we’re gonna talk about what we do to stay in shape. OK. So let’s get started with our first topic which is sports we played as a kid. Andrew: Yeah. Sports we played when we were kids and I played pretty much every sport you can think of when I was a kid. Harp: Really? Andrew: Yeah. I don’t know, maybe I was a really hyper child and my parents just wanted me to go and play sports and burn off lots of energy, so I’ll be calmer at home, but my parents made me play almost every sport you can think of. Harp: That’s so interesting, off the top of your head, all the sports you played when you were a kid. Andrew: All the sports I played. I played hockey, it was my favourite. I played t-ball, baseball, soccer, and badminton. I think that’s it. That’s almost all of them. Harp: Yup. That’s a lot of sports. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: To burn off Off the top of your head Cartwheels and summersaults To make perfect sense Feverish Not to hold your breath To be the odd man out To sell someone on something To suck To put your foot down Not to see yourself To give something a go To be wiped out Toque Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips

People are active all around the world in different ways: playing sports, going to the gym, or physical activity that is part of their daily routine. Here’s an episode that is all about getting in shape, however you do it. Listen to this one to find out which sports are popular for kids and alsoRead More

This episode is about not continuing with a bad situation. Sometimes when we’ve been in a bad situation, we continued. Even when numerous negative events occurred, we continued. But then something happened that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and we do not continue anymore. The expressions in this episode are to be used in a specific situation when you have just had enough! Maura: This is one of those long expressions that we do once in a while. So we’ll say it for you a couple more times. The straw that broke the camel’s back. Harp: The straw that broke the camel’s back. Maura: And the meaning of this expression is that many negative events and there’s one final negative event, which in that situation the person feels that they can not continue, that the situation is over, it’s negative, it’s failed. Harp: Yeah. So imagine a person who’s had a lot of negative things happen to them and then there’s this one particular one and they just can’t deal with that situation anymore. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: The straw that broke the camel’s back To go from bad to worse To stand someone up To go through with something To be grounded The last straw Variations of the straw that broke the camel’s back To cancel on someone The nail in the coffin To go with someone/something To be in the shop To be in the market for something A junker Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips

This episode is about not continuing with a bad situation. Sometimes when we’ve been in a bad situation, we continued. Even when numerous negative events occurred, we continued. But then something happened that was the straw that broke the camel’s back and we do not continue anymore. The expressions in this episode are to beRead More

This episode we’re doing things a bit differently – We’re looking at expressions with the word one. You’ll hear explanations for one-horse race, one-track mind¬, and one-two punch. If you’re curious about what all these expressions mean, then this is the episode for you. Do you have a one-track mind for learning English? Listen here to find out! Harp: Yeah. It’s pretty much a sure bet that they’re gonna win. Andrew: For sure. So if you’re a gambler it’s good to bet on the person who you know is gonna win in a one-horse race. Harp: Yes. So it can be a competition of any type, it could be a spelling bee, it could be a pie eating competition or it could be something like a singing competition like American Idol. Andrew: Yeah. It could be any sort of competition where one competitor is head and shoulders above everybody else in the completion. You know that person is gonna win. Harp: Nope. I think there are much more beautiful things and more interesting things that I would recommend that you go see. Andrew: Yeah. So if you imagine a competition and there’s just that one person who’s so much better, you kind of know that they’re gonna win, that’s a one-horse race. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: To go to do To be all thumbs To make my day A one-horse race There’s no question about it To be head and shoulders above the rest No harm in it To be right around the corner No questions asked One-track mind Football this, football that To fall behind One-two punch To brace yourself Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo Culips