English in Madrid

00:00 Back in New York, I am the head of development for a non-profit called Robin Hood. When I'm not fighting poverty, I'm fighting fires as the assistant captain of a volunteer fire company. Now in our town, where the volunteers supplement a highly skilled career staff, you have to get to the fire scene pretty early to get in on any action. 00:19 I remember my first fire. I was the second volunteer on the scene, so there was a pretty good chance I was going to get in. But still it was a real footrace against the other volunteers to get to the captain in charge to find out what our assignments would be. When I found the captain, he was having a very engaging conversation with the homeowner, who was surely having one of the worst days of her life. Here it was, the middle of the night, she was standing outside in the pouring rain, under an umbrella, in her pajamas, barefoot, while her house was in flames. 00:53 The other volunteer who had arrived just before me -- let's call...

00:01 Let's play a game. Mena says, clap once. 00:04 (Audience claps) 00:06 Great, well done. Mena says, high-five someone next to you. Very good, OK. Mena says, touch the hair of the person in front of you. 00:17 (Audience laughs and talks) 00:19 I'm serious. 00:20 ( Laughter ) 00:22 OK now, touch the hair of the person next to you. Guys , guys. Mena didn't say that time, come on, you know the rules. Thank you for playing. 00:35 Just want to see by show of hands , how many of you just had your hair touched by someone you've never met before? Yeah, it's quite a lot of people. And just by show of hands, how many of you were like , " Nah , I'm not touching anybody's hair today." I'm with you guys. 00:51 I launched the "No, You Cannot Touch My Hair" campaign survey in the summer of 2017. And just under half of the respondents said they had their hair touched on a monthly basis by people they've never met before. And within that,...

Source: Wikipedia   French history myths: Marie-Antoinette said ‘Let them eat cake’ It's one of history's most famous quotes , synonymous with the French revolution, but there's little evidence that any real-life royal actually said it. The Myth: French queen Marie-Antoinette, on be ing told that an ongoing famine meant that many people did not even have bread to eat, said “Let them eat cake”. It’s the perfect symbol of the out-of-touch French royalty who would shortly be deposed and executed in the French Revolution, but there are two problems with this ‘fact’.  In response to be ing told about the famine, the Austrian queen supposedly answered “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche” dismissing the widespread hunger and making it obvious she did not understand the gravity of the situation.  However , even the English translation of ‘Let them eat cake’ on its own might merit a fact check, as brioche is in fact a sweet bread made with butter and egg, so it is not ex...

Source: Youtube (woltersworld     Try to predict the five things that he loves and hates about Spain, from the point of view of an American tourist, before listening to the video. What are the five things that he loves and hates? Were your predictions correct? Do you agree with him? Listen as many times as necessary. Check the word list below - can you hear them in the video? Vocabulary :   * Hi guys! -   whether -   * awesome (adj) - tons to love - to dislike -   to end on a high note -     funny = (adj) -   downright hot - Southern (adj) -   * you 'd better ... -   oppressively hot - heat (n) - a mild irritation -   the lack of ... -    to take a nap -   actually -   tourist stuff -   might not -   supplies (n) -   to purchase -      annoying (adj) -   a fool - ...