Summary: In this episode, Maura interviews Michael Gilday, a Canadian short track speed skater. She asks about what it’s like to prepare for the Olympics, and they also talk about Michael’s hometown of Yellowknife in the north of Canada and his experiences learning French. Have you ever seen the aurora borealis? Would you like to find out how learning French helped Michael in speed skating? Listen to this episode to hear all about it. Maura: So four years old, that seems quite young to decide to get into speed skating. Michael: I think at that time, it was more of a, sort of, I wanted to learn how to skate. And then as you get going, I think pretty quickly though you get into the full deal. But, yeah, that was when I joined the club or so I'm told by my parents…anyway. Maura: Are your parents athletes? Michael: In that they are recreational, they are active people. My dad was actually my coach for a long time but he didn't have any background in skating. He was just an interested parent and he volunteers and he liked to help out, so he was my coach for a long time until I moved away from my hometown to attend university and to skate at a higher level. Maura: OK, cool. Now, I know that through all of your competitions you've been all around the world. So what are some of the most memorable places you've been to? Michael: Yeah, well I'm really lucky because when we travel to World Cup competitions, they are all over the world. So I've been to many different countries. This year actually we were… One of my favourite trips of all time was actually to Nagoya, which is in Japan. We got to do a little bit of adventuring there, especially with the food and that let us sort of get immersed a bit more in Japanese culture. And even though we were often playing sign language, because I really don't speak a lick of Japanese, it was fun and it was a new adventure and it was something that I really enjoyed. Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials: To strike up a conversation To compete head to head Etc. To never turn back A lick of A perk Choices Canadian stereotypes The aurora borealis (the northern lights) Yellowknife To screw up To broaden your horizons To happen overnight So-and-so To not take any prisoners Across the board Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast
