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[Assistant] You've got to be kidding me. You're complaining about me talking on the phone when you go out for a cigarette break ten times a day to shoot the breeze.


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[Assistant] Let's call it truce. I'll try to be more considerate and keep the noise down.


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[Assistant] All right, so the first word, as you might have guessed, has to do with eating and drinking. This is called slurping.


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[Assistant] And uh, it's very common with people who, uhm, who eat their food quickly.


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[Assistant] We've got a great word here, accumulated. So a lot of accumulated anger. The word is a verb, to accumulate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Means to kind of grow or to become more and more, alright?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or even it's like building up, you know, we say this often times in Chicago where it snows a lot in the winter, that there's a foot of snow accumulated on the ground. That means there's a lot of snow and every time it snows, it keeps getting bigger. So it will accumulate.


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[Assistant] Okay, consider it like you're saying is a way to be or a way to act and consider it, uhm, often has to do with how you act towards other people. So it's being nice to other people or thinking about other people's feelings before yourself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just say nice little things like please and thank you and I'm sorry and these things are all ways of being considerate.


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[Assistant] No, this is, it's a way of saying, can you stop that?


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[Assistant] Or if someone's doing something mean to someone, like my brother used to hit me, my mom would say, Peter, cut that out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, to drive someone crazy means to make someone just feel like they're going nuts or uhm, you know, it just, it makes you kind of angry or frustrated or tense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It means like he can't even think about anything else.


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[Assistant] You've GOT to be kidding me. Uhm, what's a good, uh, what's a good situation for this? Maybe, uhm, I get to the airport and I'm running late and I'm really happy that I get there on time and then I see the flight is delayed seven hours.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, it's always this. You've got to be kidding me. Alright. Or you've gotta be kidding me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] See? Different meetings with different inflections. Different inflections. Very good. Uh, what's our next phrase?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our next phrase is a good one because, uh, it doesn't mean what it sounds like, okay? So, eh, to shoot the breeze, alright? Shoot means like you can shoot a gun, and breeze is like the wind.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, so if we think about this in the context of this sentence, it's, you know, you go out for your cigarette break ten times a day to shoot the breeze.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this means you go outside and you just talk about nothing and whatever and it's almost like you're wasting time just talking.


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[Assistant] Let's forgive and forget. This is, these words again, like the last phrases, uhm, go together. Forgive and forget. So I can say this to you, Marco. I say, I know you've been fighting with your brother for ten years. I say, finally, just forgive and forget. It means, just put everything behind you and try and start again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely, this is stuff that you're gonna hear all the time, but maybe not all together at the same time. Definitely though, very helpful for interacting with foreign friends and colleagues.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By the way, would you mind not slurping your coffee every time you have a cup?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You've got to be kidding me. You're complaining about me talking on the phone when you go out for a cigarette break ten times a day to shoot the breeze.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fine. Let's call it truce. I'll try to be more considerate and keep the noise down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So did you ever see the TV show Full House when you were a kid? I did.


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[Assistant] So there was an uncle on the show, Uncle Joey, and he always used to say, cut!


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[Assistant] No, it's funny because once you start working in an office full time, I mean, everyone's maybe had a little bit of office experience, but when it's full time, you spend more time with your colleagues than you do with your family. It's really amazing what makes you crazy, what drives you crazy, and what stuff just doesn't matter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just tell the monster that you're friends with me, the Monkey King. He'll be scared and leave all of you alone.


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[Assistant] And my name is Katherine. So today we've got a great upper intermediate level lesson for our learners and we're talking about what? Health care.


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[Assistant] Okay, this is a very important topic because it's been in the news recently, especially in the context of American politics. And so I don't know if you've heard things about this listeners, but the healthcare is a very hot topic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pay a private company for insurance or a public option like England or Australia where your country will actually provide healthcare for you at no extra cost.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay Marco, this first phrase, or acronym actually, is three words that go together, HMO, and they're very very common when you're talking about healthcare.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, and so this is, this is a part of the health insurance topic where we're talking about a company that will provide health insurance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so sometimes with a private option when you pay a company to give you health insurance, you can get a lower rate if you help


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so a deductible is something that is fixed and it's in your insurance policy. That means in the contract that you make with the insurance company, the deductible will be stated. For example, my insurance plan, I have maybe a $500 deductible. That means that in any situation I get hurt or I get sick,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I pay for the first $500 of care and then my insurance company pays for the rest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if I have to have $1,000 surgery, I pay $500 and then my insurance company pays the other $500.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right, and so you can find this also in your contract with your insurance company, and uh, coverage will include or not include something. So coverage, for example, in a healthcare plan, does not usually include your teeth.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so you might have heard this phrase before in the context of sports or academics. So, he qualified for a scholarship or she qualified for the varsity volleyball team. But in this case, to qualify for is to be able to use. To be eligible for.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right, or you could qualify for a reduced rate because you have a very good health history. Okay.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, we could say for example, we started talking or we were talking for a while. But this is a very spoken language kind of phrase where we'd say, we got to talking.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right. And usually it's about something. So we could say, yeah, we got to talking about how we both went to the same high school or we got to talking about this movie that we both saw.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, jam is a food, you can eat it, you put it on bread. Like marmalade, right? Exactly. But in this case, a jam is a fix or a difficult situation. So it has a very different meaning and I want to warn you about that first, but to be in a jam or to be in a bit of a jam is to be stuck.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so Marco, I'm in a bit of a jam here. Can I get your help with something?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so to exist is to be, you know, to be around. Pre-existing means, uhm, existing before something else.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so you often hear this in terms of insurance when someone asks you about your pre-existing condition. So that means if I'm signing up for an insurance plan, a health insurance plan, and I have an interview with you Marco, and you ask me this question,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, prior to signing up for this insurance. And I say, oh, I don't have any. And you're very happy because that means I'll be cheap. But uhm, if I say, oh, I have diabetes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then that is something that the insurance companies don't like because it's expensive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, so diabetes or cancer or Lyme disease, these are all pre-existing conditions and usually pre-existing conditions are diseases or problems, health problems that you have that won't go away.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right, and it's a huge debate because it's very, very divided by party lines. We say, you know, there's the Republicans on the right, and there's the Democrats on the left, and the Democrats want a public healthcare option. They want healthcare to be available for everyone, for free.


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[Assistant] And a lot of Republicans say no, it should be private, because if it's private, there's competition, and that means there's better healthcare.


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[Assistant] And if you have one or the other system, do you think it's a good thing? Do you think it's a bad thing? What do you think needs some work?


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[Assistant] Journey to the West Chapter 39 The Injured Monk


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[Assistant] When he woke up, he was tied up in a dark cave.


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[Assistant] He and his companions hurried ahead and found an old monk lying near the road.


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[Assistant] Said the old monk. Wukong looked suspiciously at the man.


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[Assistant] The group continued along the road. Wukong carried the injured monk.


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[Assistant] Wukong felt more weight. Now he had two mountains on top of him. He walked more slowly.


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[Assistant] A third mountain appeared on top of the first two.


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[Assistant] Wukong's knees buckled and all three mountains crashed down on top of him. The monkey was trapped. The old monk appeared again.


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[Assistant] And Halloween is the last day of October, so October 31st, and it's a really fun holiday where mostly children dress up in costumes and they ask for candy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, well you could say dress up to mean a couple of different things, but in this case you dress up in a costume. So that means you change your clothes so that you're wearing a costume which is maybe a witch's costume or a vampire or something scary. So you would say...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He dressed up as a vampire or uh, they got dressed up for the, for the wedding.


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[Assistant] So the friend is afraid that his friend will look like a kidnapper if he goes out trick or treating with the kids.


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[Assistant] And so a kidnapper comes from the word to take or to grab. So kidgrabber. And that means that you're going to take children from the streets and steal them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's not only for kids. That's right. It's for any kind of person who you take without them wanting you to. So against their will.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh man, I can tell you all the colors. But uh, M&M's are really delicious, uh, and it's actually a brand, M&M's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To trick or treat, and it comes from the words that we say when we're children to the person whose door we knock on. So, for example, I say,


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[Assistant] Well, I'm hol- I'm a child, I'm holding my bag, and you're supposed to say, Happy Halloween and give me some candy.


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[Assistant] Alright, so trick or treat means you could either trick someone,


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[Assistant] You could play a trick on them, like, uhm, scare them or put some toilet paper on their house, or you can give them a treat!


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[Assistant] Uhm, or accept a treat, and so the idea is if you don't give me a treat, I will do something bad to you.


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[Assistant] Almost automatically, yea. Sometimes people avoid the holiday and they, they close their doors and lock them and they don't answer the door.


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[Assistant] Alright, I like this phrase because it's sarcastic. The person is not asking a real question. He's saying, listen, you are too old to be trick-or-treating. And so, in this case, aren't you? Is a way to introduce something that we know is true, that we think is true. It's, it's kind of rude and sarcastic.


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[Assistant] Right, cause you don't necessarily bring a bag, you bring a pillowcase. Right. And you fill your pillowcase with candy.


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[Assistant] Well, she lives in the neighborhood and every neighborhood had one, you know? All my friends had a lady they would go to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wow. Right, because normally stores sell small candy bars for the Halloween holiday because they're smaller, they're cheaper, it's easier to give them to many people, but there's always one person who has the big full-size candy bars and everyone goes to her.


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[Assistant] Every summer, in southeast China's Fujian province,


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[Assistant] Become one of the most beautiful places in China to appreciate flowers.


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[Assistant] Lotuses have been planted here for thousands of years. The lotuses of Zhenning are known as the best lotus and are listed as a tribute treasure.


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[Assistant] Which produces more than 4,000 tons of seeds every year.


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[Assistant] Which provides excellent conditions for the accumulation of nutrients in the lotus seeds.


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[Assistant] And encourages their expansion and plumpness.


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[Assistant] The lotuses of Zhenning are mostly cultivated in paddy fields in the mountains. The mountain's spring water flows down, bringing trace elements to the soil.


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[Assistant] Grow well and yield high quality lotus seeds.


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[Assistant] Mount Ermei, located in the southwest of Sichuan province, with its back to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and standing in the southwest edge of the Sichuan Basin, is an ancient and famous attraction in China.


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[Assistant] It has the world's highest and largest metal building complex and is also a world cultural and natural heritage site.


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[Assistant] In a commanding position, the Golden Summit, with the biggest concentration of temples and scenic spots on Mount Ermei, can be called the largest and highest place of worship of Chinese Buddhism in the world.


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[Assistant] The Buddha statue of Samantabhadra, measuring 48 meters high, is the highest golden Buddha in the world and is at the heart of the Golden Summit on Mount Urmai.


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[Assistant] The ten heads of the Buddha statue are divided into three layers, each with different expressions, representing the ten mentalities of ordinary people.


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[Assistant] The 72 peaks of Mount Urmai are mostly over 2000 meters above sea level.


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[Assistant] The scenery features high peaks above the clouds and ubiquitous white mist.


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[Assistant] In such an ocean of whites, the many peaks appear to float in the clouds like islands.


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[Assistant] Formed by ever changing patches of mist and fog, they present a unique panorama.


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[Assistant] If you're lucky, it's also possible to see Gungar Mountain, 7,590 meters above sea level, in the distance from the Golden Summit.


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[Assistant] You're supposed to be helping the Tang monk reach the western paradise.


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[Assistant] Don't touch anything. Just tell me why you're here.


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[Assistant] How dare you tell me to give you 1000 pills, he said. Get out of here right now!


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[Assistant] He is going to the western paradise to get scriptures from Buddha. These three are his companions.


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[Assistant] I didn't really understand some of the technical jargon they used in the film when they talked about social security in the US.


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[Assistant] That's interesting and logical I guess. In my country, we also have to contribute to a government run retirement fund.


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[Assistant] But most people don't really trust it, so they just invest in properties, or things like that.


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[Assistant] Yeah, but corrupt governments in the past have created distrust among banks and financial institutions. So now people prefer to have money hidden in a jar or a piggy bank.


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[Assistant] I didn't really understand some of the technical jargon they used in the film when they talked about social security in the US.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, they mentioned how people put away money in something called a 401k.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's interesting and logical, I guess. In my country, we also have to contribute to a government run retirement fund.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But most people don't really trust it, so they just invest in properties, or things like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but corrupt governments in the past have created distrust among banks and financial institutions. So now people prefer to have money hidden in a jar or a piggy bank.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For sure. I didn't really understand some of the technical jargon they used in the film when they talked about social security in the US.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's interesting and logical I guess. In my country, we also have to contribute to a government-run retirement fund.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But most people don't really trust it, so they just invest in properties, or things like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but corrupt governments in the past have created distrust among banks and financial institutions. So now people prefer to have money hidden in a jar or a piggy bank.


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[Assistant] And my name is Katherine, so Marco, what are we talking about today?


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[Assistant] Well, the first one we've got here is the topic of today. This is the bachelor party. So what is a bachelor exactly?


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[Assistant] Okay, bachelor is a guy and a bachelorette is a girl. And so we don't really say bachelorette except when we're talking about this party.


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[Assistant] And the bachelorette party is only girls and it's when a girl's friends take her out before she gets married to celebrate her last night or two of being unmarried.


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[Assistant] Good, because my friend Wendy's getting married and I'm organizing her party. What?


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[Assistant] I don't think so either, and that's the funny thing, I think a lot of girls are like, oh, well, my husband-to-be, he wants to have a party, it's okay, but the minute the girl wants to have the party, the guy is like, uh-uh, no way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, Marco, the first few words are actually more wedding terms than, than bachelor party terms. The first one is best man.


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[Assistant] He's usually the groom's best friend. So the groom is the man getting married, and his best friend has the position of best man. So he has some special things to do at the wedding. He has to make a speech, for example, and he has to stand next to his friend when the friend gets married.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so groom, groomsmen. And so usually these are maybe three to five guys, three to five men who are friends of the groom or brother of the bride. It depends on the wedding and they stand with the man, um, when he gets married. And so they kind of have a lot of responsibilities as well.


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[Assistant] Okay, so sometimes you see these in movies often times or, uh, for example, the TV show, The Sopranos, this is often a place where Tony Soprano goes. Uh, Strip Club is a club, it's like a bar that's open most of the day and night, uhm, where there are women who take their clothes off for money.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so stripper is a person who takes off their clothes as their job. And you can have male strippers or female strippers. So usually just saying stripper is a woman and a male stripper is actually a guy.


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[Assistant] Okay, now this is getting a little bit, uh, a little dirty. Lap is a, well, it's not really a part of your body, but when you sit down in a chair, your lap is the tops of your legs, so you can, uh, you know, you can hold something in your lap, like your backpack.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, or a laptop computer is the kind of computer you can hold.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. And so it's a sexy dance. You pay for it extra. And it's something that is very popular with, uh, young men and people who, you know, these grooms and groomsmen before the groom gets married.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they're very popular at these kinds of bachelor parties and bachelorette parties. Uhm, one kind of gay gift that's just very silly is like a whoopee cushion. You know, it's like a balloon you put on someone's seat, and when they sit down, they make a farting sound.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, or a gift card is a nice gift, it's not a gag gift.


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[Assistant] Wow, that's great news. They're a great couple.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't want you getting a lap dance from some stripper with the excuse that it's your friend's party.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good, because my friend Wendy's getting married and I'm organizing her party.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so you'll never guess what happened to me. I won the lottery.


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[Assistant] Okay, so this is a phrase that people often use when they want to remind someone that, uh, this is tradition or this is a habit, it's a common thing.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and so often times when like, people are having problems at work and they say, oh gosh, this person's just not listening to me. Someone to help them out will say, you know, you know how these things are. You know, it takes some time to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Resolve a problem, uhm, or you could say, you know, gosh, this is gonna be a horrible party, I don't want you guys to go to a strip club, it's so dirty.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, it's not necessarily a bad thing, okay? So, we could say that uhm, it was a really ridiculous party, it was really over the top. They had a clown, and they had people dressed up like Star Trek characters, you know. Something that is more than normal, it's almost silly, the way that it's all just kinda crazy, and yeah, it's too much in every way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't want you getting a lap dance from some stripper with the excuse that it's your friend's party.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good, because my friend Wendy's getting married and I'm organizing her party.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have not yet, but uh, one of my closest friends is getting married in a couple of weeks, and so I will be attending and helping organize a bachelor party.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Nothing I can talk about. These things are meant to be surprises oftentimes, so I don't want to spoil it. But I will tell you that, uhm, my boyfriend just organized a bachelor party for his best friend. He was the best man in the wedding.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] England it is too. My friend said that he, his friend was getting married and they all went to Portugal for a week.


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[Assistant] Journey to the West, Chapter 40, The Magic Gourd.


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[Assistant] Two small demons entered, dragging Wu Jing and the Tang Monk.


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[Assistant] In another room inside the cave, Golden Horn talked to some smaller demons.


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[Assistant] They all laughed when Golden Horn told them Wukong was trapped under three mountains.


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[Assistant] Wukong pushed as hard as he could but the mountains were too heavy.


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[Assistant] Wukong jumped to his feet and looked around. A spirit stood nearby.


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[Assistant] The spirit bowed and then vanished with the mountains.


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[Assistant] He spotted a small demon coming down the road. The demon was carrying a gourd.


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[Assistant] The monkey recited a quick spell and left his body standing on the road. He flew fast up to heaven.


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[Assistant] A judge in the United States has found a former nurse guilty of encouraging two people suffering from depression to commit suicide.


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[Assistant] William Melcher Dinkle was accused of trolling the internet for depressed people and then entering fake suicide pacts or telling them how to kill themselves. He is due to be sentenced in May. News item 100.


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[Assistant] The American State Department spokesman PJ Crowley has resigned after criticising the Pentagon for its treatment of a US soldier suspected of passing classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.


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[Assistant] In a statement, Mr. Crowley said he was taking full responsibility for the impact of his remarks. On Friday, Mr. Crowley said that holding the soldier, Private Bradley Manning in solitary confinement and obliging him to strip repeatedly was ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid. News item 99.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A judge in the United States has found a former nurse guilty of encouraging two people suffering from depression to commit suicide.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] William Melcher Dinkle was accused of trolling the internet for depressed people and then entering fake suicide pacts or telling them how to kill themselves. He is due to be sentenced in May. News item 100.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The American State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has resigned after criticising the Pentagon for its treatment of a U.S. soldier suspected of passing classified documents to the WikiLeaks website.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a statement, Mr. Crowley said he was taking full responsibility for the impact of his remarks. On Friday, Mr. Crowley said that holding the soldier, Private Bradley Manning, in solitary confinement and obliging him to strip repeatedly was ridiculous, counterproductive and stupid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Getting Around the City. Written by Kiera Freed. Illustrated by Fred Voltz.


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[Assistant] I go to my friend's house. I go on my skateboard.


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[Assistant] My sister goes to school. She goes on a bike.


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[Assistant] My mom goes to work. She goes in a car.


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[Assistant] My dad goes to work. He goes on the subway.


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[Assistant] My grandpa goes to the airport. He goes in a taxi.


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[Assistant] My aunt goes to the store. She goes on a bus.


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[Assistant] My uncle goes to his office. He goes on a ferry boat.


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[Assistant] Wukong can't charge into the palace and attack the Daoist.


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[Assistant] People will think the monkey is evil, attacking a king for no reason.


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[Assistant] I don't know where it is now though. It was just a dream.


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[Assistant] Let's do this. Bleed them a bit down here before withdrawing.


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[Assistant] Trace, child, we have nothing of value. Some good steel snow fox pelts?


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[Assistant] You're jumping to conclusions. Truss may be right. We need to find out what they want. One thing at a time. We shouldn't turn our backs on a strong mage leading a frightener.


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[Assistant] Right as usual, Triss. Geralt, you've dealt with mages. Find out what this one wants. Leo will guide you. Just reconnaissance or... No one will be sorry if some of them lose their heads.


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[Assistant] Triss, child. It didn't seem important.


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[Assistant] Lambert, stop baiting Triss. Show her some respect.


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[Assistant] Triss, if we go to the lab, they'll have us surrounded. We know tactics. Maybe we should split up.


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[Assistant] Geralt's right. We need to protect the lab and kill the Frightener.


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[Assistant] How did this happen? He attacked the professor. I was late.


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[Assistant] Relatively. Some stragglers up there, but we'll deal with them later.


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[Assistant] Lambert will give you the formula.


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[Assistant] Feels guilty, I think.


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[Assistant] I understand they won't be a problem. Lambert, however, let the frightener get to him. Nothing serious. Good you went after Triss and handled that mage.


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[Assistant] Are there other witchers? There were three witcher schools in all, but it's been long since I've heard word of the other two. You've met all the witchers I know of, except for Berengar. Did I know him? I don't believe so. An introvert, he chose his own path. Actually, none here can say they know Berengar. He often ran away from Kaer Morhen, though he would always return in the end.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I take it you already have white gall and calcium equum. I do. What next? You'll need selendine. Take what I have.


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[Assistant] Plus the claw of a monster like the Frightener. To skin a creature, take a sharp knife and cut along the torso.


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[Assistant] Lambert's in the library, and Askel's taking Triss to a room.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good. Now rest, and prepare the potion according to the formula.


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[Assistant] Fifteen witchers once lived here, training boys for their trials. Only they knew the secrets of mutation.


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[Assistant] Some say a sudden explosion of anger born of disdain for witches. But no.


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[Assistant] Someone provoked the mob with flyers filled with lies. Special agents read them to the peasants. True or still, the fanatics could never have taken the fort without the aid of sorcerers, though they outnumbered us by far. They didn't even spare the youngest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But the mage suggests no ordinary bandits. We found pins adorned with salamanders on the dead. The symbol of their organization, perhaps? I sense hard times ahead.


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[Assistant] Journey to the West, Chapter 2, The Waterfall Cave.


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[Assistant] Monkey splashed through the waterfall and landed in a large cave.


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[Assistant] The cave was filled with bamboo trees and beautiful flowers. Moss covered the walls.


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[Assistant] Monkey found a long table with bowls, cups and plates. A fireplace sat against one wall.


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[Assistant] Deeper in the cave, Monkey found bedrooms with cozy beds.


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[Assistant] Outside. The other monkeys and apes were looking at the waterfall.


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[Assistant] Asked one monkey. No! Said another monkey.


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[Assistant] You're alive, said the monkey. Monkey laughed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Monkey jumped back through the water. Some of the monkeys scratched their heads.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Soon all of the monkeys and apes were in the cave. Everyone ran around to see all the wonderful things.


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[Assistant] Said the gibbon. He bowed to monkey and said,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Monkeys and apes danced and sang while music played. Monkey sat on his throne and smiled. But then his smile faded. Soon he was frowning. The gibbon saw monkey and rushed over.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Monkey was quiet for a moment. Then he said,


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[Assistant] Said monkey. The gibbon rubbed his chin.


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[Assistant] As the raft began to float away, Monkey waved to his friends.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, I am, said Monkey, and I want to live forever. Do you know where I can find a sage? The woodcutter scratched his head.


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[Assistant] I might be a monkey but I can walk and talk and do many other things. I traveled almost 13 years to get here. I'm sure I can be your student.


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[Assistant] I don't know. You tell me what I should learn. Well...


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[Assistant] Agreed. Excellent. I'll mark the house on your map and wait here. See ya.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey boys, found another goose to pluck. A fat one by his looks. Quickly, we'll tend to the elven lass later.


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[Assistant] And come in now. I bet me going bled.


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[Assistant] Spare me. You bribe guards to ignore your contraband.


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[Assistant] I seek the sephiroth stones. I haven't yet located them all. I thought you might know such art and oddities.


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[Assistant] Old Leo was a legend. In some ways he was like you. He killed without emotion. Just like you would kill a, a lame drowner. He was the best. Tall, slim and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah, swords. I suspect I know the type of work you seek.


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[Assistant] Gerald. Witcher. What do the villagers do?


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[Assistant] Vaska helped me locate the Tower Tarot card. It describes how to wake the sentry.


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[Assistant] Are you trying to offend me or can't you control what you say? I can.


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[Assistant] I'll deliver the flowers to the ferryman as soon as I find them.


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[Assistant] You may know more than me. I remember nothing of my past.


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[Assistant] Welcome to the Druids Grove, traveler. Greetings. Marvellous place. I come here when I need to think, and the peacefulness helps clear my mind.


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[Assistant] Sarcasm only serves to expose your inhibitions. Ooh, an elven psychoanalyst.


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[Assistant] I spent decades among humans. I find your kind as complicated as the schematics of a flail. Decades.


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[Assistant] Let us pray beneath the trees, for the trampled heather, for blood that has been shed, for fate that has been destroyed.


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[Assistant] The druids didn't take your boy. If I find him, I'll see to his safe return.


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[Assistant] Likewise, Yaren. Speak. Any jobs for a witcher?


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[Assistant] Fivaldi either will not or cannot help us. Crucial information regardless. Did he say why he refused?


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[Assistant] I've heard that Knights of the Order of the Flaming Rose have entered the swab. Those fanatics detest nonhumans. They'll come for us sooner or later. What's it to do with me? I'd like you to lead the unit to the Golem burial ground, where Havkar and Await with a weapon shipment.


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[Assistant] If matters turn dire, I expect you to prevent the unit from dispersing.


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[Assistant] Of course. And one more thing. Who are these hawkers?


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[Assistant] The Brickmaker's Eldress claims you can negotiate with the Vodeonoi.


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[Assistant] I'll take the axe to the fish people and return with their response.


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[Assistant] Well, I-I do follow certain rules. For instance, I never consume children. Truly praiseworthy. Well, no need for sarcasm. Well, occasionally I polish up a druid or a brickmaker.


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[Assistant] Enough. But as you wish, I'll say no more. You don't deserve to live.


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[Assistant] Salamandre is involved in the drug trade? Thanks. Return home.


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[Assistant] The swamp's too dangerous. I'll ask the druids for medicine for you.


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[Assistant] Alright, I can do that. How fortunate to have met you. I've been to the swamp. I may have recovered your family ring. Many thanks. Here is your reward. Farewell.


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[Assistant] The Hierophant revealed the cure for lycanthropy, but I must know your beloved's name.


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[Assistant] Generally, yes. Dentists too, but rarely.


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[Assistant] No problem. You? We must speak. About what? You wont toss me into the sewers again.


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[Assistant] Finally! I figured you'd never arrive. This place makes my flesh crawl. Did you bring the wine as I asked?


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[Assistant] Farewell. Geralt, I was wondering if you'd care to join the order.


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[Assistant] An echinop's thorn pains me under my grief. I fear I cannot walk.


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[Assistant] I believe in you, Geralt. Nothing occurs without cause. The Eternal Fire has given you both honor and responsibility.


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[Assistant] You'll be rewarded for your dedication. The Order takes care of its friends. I don't doubt that. I'll prove it. I investigated those who attacked us in the sewers. And? They're quite interested in witches. Another appeared in Vizima before you. Berengar. Indeed. I determined he fell into Salamandra's hands. Be careful. They may want you as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Deal with them, and your problems are over. And, in the process, you'll help me out too. How about it?


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[Assistant] I hope to start a modest business in Vizima, bringing in goods from Mahakam. The Brecon rigs are pressuring me.


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[Assistant] I'm to wed Eudora Breckenwig soon, but my father-in-law-to-be puts too much stock in material things.


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[Assistant] Not surprising, given that every mercenary played.


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[Assistant] All my goods contain finest flour and a secret ingredient from a grateful nymph. I need something. How may I help?


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[Assistant] Bread is five oranges a loaf, and five loaves will be twenty-five oranges.


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[Assistant] Her fate became bound to one particular witcher. She gained a new family at Kaer Morhen, the hold of the witches. She learned to fight, yet destiny once again made noise. The lass had magical talent. She was a source.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The sorceress loved a witcher and the two adopted the girl.


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[Assistant] The lass disavowed magic and became a huntress. Learning to love killing, death followed her. Everyone she'd loved had died.


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[Assistant] Nights who died serving the lady over the ages.


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[Assistant] At night sometimes you can speak with the ladies champions.


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[Assistant] Who is the lady of the lake? I know her to be a goddess. At times I see her dressed in white.


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[Assistant] Know that the legend of the Holy Grail has been studied for centuries. It's been interpreted in myriad ways.


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[Assistant] The classic theory of which I myself am a proponent. The conspiracy theory. And finally, one of the most mysterious. The philosophical or mystical. Which one first?


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[Assistant] One theory also states that in the hands of a rightful ruler, it can heal entire lands and protect their inhabitants from danger. Creatures of the dark, natural disasters and so forth.


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[Assistant] A few tortuous pages in, we learn the holy grail is actually sang real, which in the elder tongue denotes royal hallowed blood. Bronze Dan concludes that the grail is actually the descendants of the prophet Lebioda.


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[Assistant] These descendants, talented in the ways of magic, were protected by a secret organization, before they ultimately mixed their own blood with that of En Seid, the knowledgeable one.


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[Assistant] Generally it turns into an unholy mess. Enough genealogy and genetics. I sense that's a false trail. Which theory should I present next?


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[Assistant] It can also be a search for the truth about oneself.


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[Assistant] The result is of secondary importance.


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[Assistant] I serve the lady, and am more insightful than you think.


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[Assistant] The grail may prove to be entirely different from what you initially expected it to be.


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[Assistant] You know not how lonely a goddess. Do you think goddesses cannot be lonely?


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[Assistant] There's a druid's ring nearby with an ancient statue of the goddess.


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[Assistant] The wild hunt began haunting the ring recently.


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[Assistant] Kill nine phantoms? A hallowed number of the druids.


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[Assistant] Please, also take this sack of holy salt.


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[Assistant] Oh yeaah, I have a dimeridium amulet for him. Dandelion, I can't trust you to do anything. Is that so? Well, I just remembered I had a package for you. A package? I don't know, something. But I might have lost it. Quit pouting, Dandelion. What do you have for me? Fine, I have a letter to you from your lover. Triss, hand it over.


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[Assistant] So, what will the new ballad be about? It'll be a masterpiece, in verse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Interesting, horrifying, romantic. And the story? Engaging and straight from life. I changed my mind, see? Poets don't need to embellish. Life is colorful enough.


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[Assistant] Does the idea include neutral witches? I hope your vision doesn't turn to nightmares.


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[Assistant] I'll fulfill the king's order. Now show me to the princess.


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[Assistant] The princess is freed. Ada, Belorat will take you home.


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[Assistant] Someone induced the princess' transformation into a Striga. I have proof.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do. Farewell. Farewell, Witcher.


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[Assistant] Not sure but they looked like mutants. You came just in time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. We need to return to Vizima and inform the King.


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[Assistant] Relax, we'll pay you as much as you want. I'm a witcher, not a hit. Alright.


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[Assistant] People see witchers as monster slayers. Rightly so.


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[Assistant] I see war is to your liking, Vitala.


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[Assistant] I wanted no part of politics. I'm a witcher. I'm neutral. We fought for those we love.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Have the courage to face me, Jacques. Stop hiding behind specters and illusions. I'll find you.


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[Assistant] I also have an offer. Surrender. Withdraw your mutants. Humble yourself before the king. You'll save many lives.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're exaggerating again. Something ends, something begins.


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[Assistant] I wanted to marry, have children, friends, a normal life. The witches robbed me of that chance. This is nothing new to you. Humans hate me. When they see my eyes, they blanch in fear. And children. Tell me, what's the difference between your dear Kaemorrin and a Salamandra lab? I'm not here to tell you I'm any better than you. Leave. The mere sight of you irks me. I'm beginning to doubt myself. Farewell.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Willing to stain your snow-white armor of righteousness by talking to me. Cut the crap. Know how to deal with a noon wraith or not. As a matter of fact, I do. But first, I want to hear you admit you think highly of yourself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Noon Wraith needs to understand she's dead, though she'll only listen to the dead. So for instance, you could kill yourself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But there's another way. Some demons are sensitive to the arts. Try dancing, singing, reciting. As long as it's pretty, and you do it with talent. That's it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Salamandra wants Alvin, I don't know why, but he's important to them. They sent me here to find him, but I have no intention to.


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[Assistant] I just wanna earn some irons and leave, for good.


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[Assistant] Not really. When my father refurbished our hut, the doors wouldn't close.


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[Assistant] The stairs are such that even the cat fears them, and when it rains...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Besides, I prefer to use my bow. One day, I'll enter a tournament in Vizima.


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[Assistant] You must be special. He doesn't tell everyone those formulas. What did he teach you?


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[Assistant] Now all of the students have seen what you can do. They will want to know how to do it too. If you don't tell them, they might harm you. It's not safe for you to stay here anymore. You must go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can see that you will do evil things someday. Don't tell anyone you are my student. Now go.


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[Assistant] Good luck. Move Geralt! I don't want to fight!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A machine created to kill. You had no choice. Your time has passed.


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[Assistant] Exactly, we're going shopping for a digital camera, so we're gonna be talking about very specific, maybe a little bit technical vocab related to this very fascinating and expensive product.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so in language takeaway today we have our first, uhm, difference. Now, it's very important to know the difference between point and shoot camera and the digital SLR.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right, so it's really interesting because you can actually play with the lens, like the focus, and uh, you know, how much light you wanna allow it to go in, and there's a lot of really, you know, sometimes a little bit difficult things that not many people understand.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, now both on digital SLRs and on point and shoot cameras, you have something that's called a display panel.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Usually after you take a picture you can also see how it came out, right? In that moment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Usually you see them in like sporting events, right? They're on the side of the field and they have these big white, they're usually white, lenses on their cameras. So you can actually take a very close picture of the action that's far away.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And now if one of these accessories that could go well with a telephoto lens or any digital SLR is a polarizing filter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, so in this way you take a picture maybe of a very sunny day and it will look differently if you didn't have this filter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, very good. Very technical terms and, uh, but they're very useful, especially if you're looking to buy one of these cameras and you're not very familiar with the terms. Uh, but why don't we move on now to some very interesting phrases that we saw in the dialogue on Fluency Builder.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so on Fluency Builder, our first phrase today is uh, entry level. What's an entry level digital SLR?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. Okay, very good. So that's an entry level camera, but as you mentioned, we can also use it for the job, an entry level job position. Alright, what about our second phrase?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now she mentioned this because this is a very, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very interesting and closely associated topic with photographers, you know, you have the paparazzi who follow celebrities and they have these big telephoto lens so they can take pictures of celebrities without them knowing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, and uh, what about our last phrase?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now we can also maybe use it in a sarcastic tone, right? If I tell somebody, can you bring me the, my, my, my glasses that are on the table? And they're like, I can't find them, they're not here. And then, I find them. Would you look at that? Here they are. Right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, very good. So why don't we listen to the dialogue for the last time and we'll be back to talk about digital SLRs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What about traveling? You have a dilemma there, right? Because you visit very beautiful places where you would love to, to take very nice pictures with a digital SLR, but at the same time the inconvenience of it of actually, because they're pretty big, all of them are pretty big.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's true. Alright, so an interesting topic here on EnglishPod, and I'm sure a lot of our users travel around, like to take pictures, or maybe are experts on digital photography, so why don't you come to the website EnglishPod.com, we'll see you there, and until next time. Bye everyone. Bye.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Journey to the West, Chapter 50, Magic Fire.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wukong and his companions ran back down the mountain, escaping the fire.


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[Assistant] Said Bajie. Wu Jing looked up at the mountain peak.


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[Assistant] Yes, said Wukong, looking at the last few wisps of smoke.


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[Assistant] When he returned, the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea was with him.


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[Assistant] Wukong introduced the Dragon King to Bajie and Wujing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Dragon King flew up into the sky. Wukong and the others returned to the cave.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Meanwhile, Red Boy was sitting on his mountain peak.


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[Assistant] The demon stood up to leave when he spotted something in the sky.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The demon recited a quick spell, and light sparkled around him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Disease patients inside. I'll not have you spreading the pestilence.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's passed out. Shove off. There's a commotion in the corridor. Bloody thugs. Ramsmeet sent them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're arresting him for collaborating with terrorists. Him? A Scoia'tael warrior?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] His nephew was in the very unit the order captured. The same unit that slaughtered villagers near Vizima.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was. He's hanging already. Before dying he admitted contacting you. Glad we caught them before they managed that weapon shipment.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Aaron, the true patriot, lost his life luring them into a trap. Gather your belongings, Vivaldi. You can grieve in the dungeon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why are you standing up for him? I need to talk to him. Pay the 200 bail and I'll let him out. You can do whatever you want then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll deal with the tiger immortal in the morning.


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[Assistant] Don't worry, everyone. I'll deal with this villain.


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[Assistant] I am Sun Wukong, said the monkey, and you should be ashamed of yourself.


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[Assistant] Just because you're a little powerful, you think you can treat the Buddhist monks badly.


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[Assistant] You all wait here. I'll be right back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Stop what you're doing! Don't make any rain!


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[Assistant] Good morning. Good morning, Mr. Blake. This is Miss Sophie Dupont. Sophie is a new student. She is French.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sophie, this is Hans. He is German. Nice to meet you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is Naoko. She's Japanese. Nice to meet you. And this is Changwoo. He's Korean. Nice to meet you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is Lu Ming. He's Chinese. Nice to meet you. And this is Xiao Hui. She's Chinese too. Nice to meet you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Jade Emperor has been practicing the same formulas for many lifetimes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go back to your mountain now and behave yourself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Jade Emperor will come to live with me in the Western Paradise.


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[Assistant] But if you lose, you will be punished severely.


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[Assistant] How can you say you're back? You never left my hand.


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[Assistant] There are many rivers between here and the west, said Wukong. We'll have to cross them all.


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[Assistant] Master, I don't think this is a good idea. The Tang Monk frowned.


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[Assistant] Am I imagining things or is the canoe sinking? Ask the monkey. Wujing looked. You're not imagining things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I should have stopped Master from getting in that canoe. But whenever I warn him about someone, he doesn't believe me.


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[Assistant] Wukong laughed. Haha! That dragon is a friend of mine!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's also a bit scared of me. I'll go have a talk with him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your nephew, a lizard demon, took over the Black River, said Wukong. And now he's planning to eat the Tang Monk!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're welcome, said the monkey. But we still need to cross your river.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Journey to the West, chapter 57, a guessing game.


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[Assistant] The sky cleared, and the tiger immortal shook with anger.


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[Assistant] The Tiger Immortal soon came back with a small box.


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[Assistant] As the Tang monk stared at the box, Wukong plucked a hair.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A moment later, he was standing next to the Tang monk again.


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[Assistant] Said the monk nervously. Ta! Said the tiger immortal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll not betray my man's identity. I'd rather he stay a werewolf.


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[Assistant] Thank you. I'll start immediately. Yes?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was terrifying. The moon appeared Vincent transformed, shredded the shirt and ran off.


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[Assistant] Sometimes when he's angry, he calls me a vile whore. I know I turned tricks, but for him I'd agreed to be like other girls. Damn it. I'd even learned how to embroider.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's unsure, torn between me and his work.


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[Assistant] Oh, Witcher. I don't know how to thank you. I'm awash in happiness. We had an honest conversation. I told him everything. How much I love him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He said if I cared so much, maybe this love deserves a chance. First time I ever saw him cry.


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[Assistant] Shave it off. Written by Gawain Douglas.


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[Assistant] Illustrated by Nicholas Jackson.


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[Assistant] Why does the family want daddy to shave off his beard?


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[Assistant] Daddy grew a beard. He grew it long.


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[Assistant] We all said, shave it off.


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[Assistant] Silly daddy. He looked like a goat with a hairy chin.


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[Assistant] We all said, shave it off.


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[Assistant] Silly daddy. He looked like a wild pirate.


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[Assistant] We all said, shave it off. Uuuh.


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[Assistant] Silly daddy. He looked like a photo from long ago.


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[Assistant] We all said, shave it off!


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[Assistant] Daddy shaved one more time.


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[Assistant] We felt his face. It was so smooth.


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[Assistant] Connections Writing and Art


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[Assistant] In which picture do you think daddy looks best? Why do you think that?


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[Assistant] Write a sentence explaining your answer. Social Studies and Art


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[Assistant] Name one famous person in history who had a beard. Draw a picture of that person and share it with a partner.


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[Assistant] He has made numerous vows in his life, one of which is to protect the royal family. Sadly, for unknown reasons, Princess Ada holds little respect for him.


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[Assistant] It's a sign of the times. New customs and fashions.


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[Assistant] You think it better to show the Nilfgaardian we're barbarians? That we can't distinguish between a fork and a comb?


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[Assistant] I'm a patriot. I'm the good of the kingdom at heart.


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[Assistant] A kingdom threatened by the schemes and alliances you were observant enough to note.


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[Assistant] Let me tell you, friend, a serious slash fest is in the works. One without pardon, the defeated will be picked apart by crows. You'll be forced to fight for a new order, comrade, or against it.


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[Assistant] Friend seems to get along famously with Leviathan. For two strangers, they certainly have much to discuss. See for yourself. I trust Triss.


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[Assistant] Regarding Lou Varden, we know he had some transnational organization of merchants, bankers, and other wealthy folk. Make what you will of it.


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[Assistant] Someone in this room, or one known here. You're up to your ears in this wolf, whether you like it or not.


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[Assistant] Since then, my men have been hunting catablepas throughout the continent in secret. At market, it costs more than a good whore.


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[Assistant] It's like this. Before the king departed, he placed Vizima in my care.


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[Assistant] I know you can read, Witcher, but notice both the king's seal and his signature.


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[Assistant] A seal can be stolen, but a signature is difficult to forge.


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[Assistant] I'm inside you, said Wukong. I changed myself into a pill to trick you. Now I'm going to practice some of my fighting skills.


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[Assistant] I got the robe, Bodhisattva, said the monkey. What should we do with the bear?


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[Assistant] That's a good idea, said Wukong. The robe is a gift from Buddha. We must be careful.


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[Assistant] Welcome to the fourth lesson of the Russian for Beginners course.


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[Assistant] And today I would like to continue talking about greetings and manners. But first we will review what we've learned in the previous lesson. Let's get started!


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[Assistant] Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. How are you? How are you? Good. I am Maria. I am Maria. Nice to meet you.


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[Assistant] I hope you refreshed in your memory these words and phrases and now you are ready to fill up your vocabulary.


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[Assistant] In the previous lesson I already told you about the structure in order to say your name. I am Maria, for example.


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[Assistant] But since in Russian language we don't use the verb TO BE in the present tense, we say Я, I, Мария, my name.


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[Assistant] But now I'd like to give you another option to say the same phrase. You can use the following structure. Меня зовут. And here's your name. For example, Меня зовут Мария. Меня зовут Мария. Меня, me, зовут, call, Мария. Name. Меня зовут Мария. To ask someone's name in Russian,


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[Assistant] As you may notice, the order of words in Russian is different from English, but we will practice and you will definitely get used to it.


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[Assistant] Okay, let's try to do this exercise using the words we've learned in the previous lessons.


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[Assistant] Please take your time. Write down this dialect.


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[Assistant] And fill in the blanks, and then I will show you my version.


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[Assistant] Nice to meet you too. It was my version. Please share yours.


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[Assistant] Did you succeed? Did you have mistakes? In any case, it's absolutely fine.


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[Assistant] Absolutely, absolutely fine if you did. Okay?


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[Assistant] We continue and now let's talk about options for greeting during the day. Good morning in Russian доброе утро. Доброе means kind, утро – morning.


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[Assistant] Dobry means kind, deyn – afternoon. Dobry deyn. Dobry deyn.


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[Assistant] If you greet someone in the evening or at night, you can say Dobry vecher. Dobry vecher. Dobry. Kind. Good. Evening. Vecher. Dobry vecher.


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[Assistant] If you want to say good night to someone who is going to sleep, you can also use these phrases. добрый ночи добрый ночи добрый kind ночи night or спокойный ночи спокойный ночи спокойный calm or peaceful ночи


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[Assistant] Okay, let's have a practice. Try to fill in the blanks in this dialogue.


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[Assistant] As usual, take your time, write it down, and think about what you would add here. And then I will show you my version.


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[Assistant] Dobry vecher. Good evening. Dobry vecher. Good evening. Как ты? How are you? Я хорошо. Как ты? I'm fine. What about you? Я хорошо. Спасибо. I'm fine. Thank you.


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[Assistant] Now I would like to talk about apologies in Russian. We have three words for apology. The first one is Простите. This word can be used in both formal and informal communication.


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[Assistant] In formal communication we say Простите. Простите.


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[Assistant] For example, if you apologize to a stranger


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[Assistant] Or to a leader, or to a teacher, or to a person who is older than you.


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[Assistant] If you want to apologize to your friend or sister, someone close to you, use the short version Прости. Прости. It's more casual. The second word is Извините. Извините.


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[Assistant] As well as with the previous word, it can be used both in formal and in informal communication.


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[Assistant] Just in formal communication, we fully pronounce this word, and in informal, just like in the previous word, a short version. And the last option is the phrase Прошу прощения. I'm asking for your forgiveness.


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[Assistant] I would say that this phrase is rarely used in everyday life.


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[Assistant] Rather, this option is suitable for formal communication.


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[Assistant] Pushed a stranger, and at the same time you, as a polite person, want to apologize, uh, you can also use this phrase.


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[Assistant] Moreover, you know, this is a very beautiful phrase, characteristic of intelligent and educated people, so I advise you to remember it. The key point is that


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[Assistant] All three words can be used in very different situations, only intonation changes. Let's try to work with intonation.


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[Assistant] For example, you want to attract the attention of a cashier or a waiter.


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[Assistant] Just remember how you say it in English. So it's the same.


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[Assistant] The only thing I used the full form of words, since most likely you will not know the cashier or the waiter, and when talking with a stranger, the formal version is used.


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[Assistant] First of all, let's imagine how we would say it in English. Sorry. And in Russian, Прости or Простите. Извини or Извините. Прошу прощения.


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[Assistant] Okay, the next case is when we interrupt someone.


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[Assistant] We usually sound like we are going to say something else after our apology. For example, sorry, sorry, I would like to comment on this. In Russian, the intonation is the same. And the last one, прошу прощения.


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[Assistant] Also, let's continue with the option when something really unpleasant happened, and you really want to apologize. This should sound solid and serious. In English, it probably would sound, I'm sorry. In Russian, простите or прости. Извините. Извини. Прошу прощения. I think I sounded a little too dramatic, but okay.


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[Assistant] Let's try to practice our intonation depending on the situation. The first situation.


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[Assistant] Imagine that you're walking in a store and accidentally nudge someone as you pass by. What will you say?


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[Assistant] Let's have a look. You can say простите, прошу прощения or извините. Next situation. You are sitting in a restaurant.


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[Assistant] And want some more water, and you need to call over the waiter. What will you say?


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[Assistant] Since you will be talking to a stranger with whom you are not close, most likely you will use the following options. Простите. Прошу прощения. Извините. Did you complete this task? If yes, then it's great. If not, then you can always rewind and try again. Okay, let's have a look at the next case.


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[Assistant] Imagine that you are having a conversation with someone and you want to interject. You say


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[Assistant] I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I apologize.


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[Assistant] There were options in case of formal communication.


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[Assistant] For example, if you want to delicately interrupt your teacher,


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[Assistant] If you want to interrupt someone with whom you have informal communication, use short versions of the first two words.


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[Assistant] Good. Now let's look at the last situation. You are hungry.


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[Assistant] And you eat your roommate's last homemade cookie, not knowing that she was saving it. What will you say?


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[Assistant] Since most likely you've been acquaintance with your neighbor for a long time and you're quite close, and you can call your relationship informal,


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[Assistant] Then I advise you to use short forms suitable for this.


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[Assistant] This was the last case that we analyzed in order to consolidate the topic of intonation that we use when we apologize.


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[Assistant] Now let's learn new nouns to diversify our exercises. And the first one is кофе.


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[Assistant] I guess it won't be hard to remember it. So let's have a look at the next word.


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[Assistant] Now let's learn a phrase that you can use if you need something and you want to ask someone to bring it to you.


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[Assistant] The first phrase can be used both in formal and informal communication.


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[Assistant] The second is more likely only in informal.


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[Assistant] Since it's less polite and more likely to call for action. Something. Could you bring me? And the second one. Something. Can you bring me?


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[Assistant] Okay, let's do two exercises. First exercise. Try to translate this sentence. Take your time, write it down, and then we will check it out.


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[Assistant] Could you bring me some coffee? And the second exercise, try to translate this sentence. Can you bring me a bear?


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[Assistant] I would also like to remind you that there are no articles in Russian. Great job! Let's review our lesson and repeat new words and phrases.


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[Assistant] кофе, кофе, вода, вода, пиво, пиво, bear Не могли бы вы принести мне? Не могли бы вы принести мне? Could you bring me? Можешь принести мне? Можешь принести мне? Can you bring me?


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[Assistant] That's it. Excellent work. We did a great job and I'm looking forward to seeing you in the next class. Пока-пока!


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[Assistant] I tried on a robe and she saw that I was a true believer.


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[Assistant] Hello English learners and welcome back to EnglishPod, my name is Marco.


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[Assistant] That's right, Christmas is coming up and, well, a tradition among many people around the world is to buy a Christmas tree.


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[Assistant] Alright, we're back, and as we mentioned, well, the entire dialogue is about a Christmas tree, so, uh, why don't you explain what a Christmas tree is, because many people maybe don't even do or buy Christmas trees.


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[Assistant] Wow, it sounds amazing. Well, yea, and it looks, it looks very nice.


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[Assistant] Very good. So a pine tree. The dad brought a pine tree or a Christmas tree home, and uh, well the wife was a little bit worried if it will fit.


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[Assistant] Alright. And, uh, well, you were talking about the Christmas tree and how you put a lot of nice decorations on it, and so we say that we decorate the tree.


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[Assistant] Very good. Uhm, we've taken a look at very specific words related to, you know, Christmas trees and decorating it, so why don't we listen to the dialogue again and we'll be back to continue with some more language takeaway.


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[Assistant] Alright, we're back, so why don't we take a look at three more words on Language Takeaway Part 2.


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[Assistant] Well, this is, in this case, it's a Christmas ornament for the tree, but an ornament can be anything, any nice piece of, uh, art or something that you can use to decorate your house, right?


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[Assistant] Oh no, that's really nice. And well, apart from ornaments, there is also this tradition of hanging stockings.


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[Assistant] Candy toys, very good. So, eh, actually you hang the stockings and the common place to do it in, uh, or to put them on is a, is uh, on the chimney, right?


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[Assistant] Right, so you have the fireplace where you put the wood, you have the mantle that's the space where you actually put the stockings on, and the tube that goes up and where the smoke comes out of is called the chimney.


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[Assistant] Very good. Interesting words, why don't we listen to this dialogo one last time?


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[Assistant] Alright, we're back. So as you say, the Christmas season is important in, uh, in America, and people not only decorate Christmas trees, but also their house.


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[Assistant] And even outside, they put Christmas lights all over the house, they put little statues of Santa Claus and reindeer, and it's just, it's a very, uh, I don't know, sometimes lavish thing to do. It is.


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[Assistant] But actually it was nice because when I lived there with my parents we would go out and uh, tour around the neighborhood just to see other people's uh, Christmas lights and decorations because as we say some of them can be very very nice and they take a lot of time and effort into decorating it.


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[Assistant] Alright, well that's all the time we have for today, but we'll definitely post a link of this movie that's actually very good. It kind of depicts the traditional American in a funny way.


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[Assistant] Alright, so, uh, and if you have any questions, any other doubts or comments, you can come to EnglishPod.com and we'll see you there.


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[Assistant] I know. You love Triss. Master Witcher.


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[Assistant] Why is it so cold and... in here? Where did my blanket go?


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[Assistant] And stabbed me in the head, moaned Wukong. The pain is horrible.


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[Assistant] The pain is going away now though. Let's go back up there and fight her again.


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[Assistant] That monastery was an illusion. A demon must have made it to trick people.


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[Assistant] That's a lie, said Wukong. The Tang Monk is a good and honest man.


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[Assistant] He would never steal. I can't believe you would even suggest.


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[Assistant] My iron bar is not an ordinary weapon, said Wukong. It's extremely heavy.


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[Assistant] Why are those monks pushing that cart? Thought Wukong. And why are they scared of the Taoists?


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[Assistant] People from different religions can still get along.


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[Assistant] That's terrible, said Wukong. Those Daoists can't get away with this.


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[Assistant] I've heard of Sun Wukong. And it's true that he's very powerful. Did Venus tell you what he looks like?


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[Assistant] And so this is more or less what we're gonna be talking about, but more modern, right? Before it was like that, but now it's kind of become this shopping thing, right?


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[Assistant] Okay, so that sweater was a little bit flashy according to her, but also she talked about another sweater being hideous.


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[Assistant] Okay, it's more than ugly. Alright, a hideous sweater. And uh, moving on, the guy now was a little bit irritated and stressed out and he said, you keep yapping on about your new clothes. So, what is this yapping on?


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[Assistant] So you're just talking to talk. You're not really saying anything interesting.


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[Assistant] Alright, we're back, so now we have a couple of different phrases that we want to look at on Fluency Builder.


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[Assistant] Okay, so to exchange something for something else. Exactly. Alright. And then we saw another phrase that the husband replied to when she offended him with his football team. He said, oh no you didn't.


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[Assistant] The Tang monk jumped to his feet as the villagers hid behind trees.


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[Assistant] Wukong, Wujing and Bajie pulled out their weapons. A large shell rose from the water.


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[Assistant] Said Bajie. The turtle bowed its head toward Wukong.


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[Assistant] After a little more hesitation, the traveler stepped onto the turtle's shell. The turtle began to paddle.


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[Assistant] Called the monk. Soon the turtle was far from shore. Bajie fell asleep. The turtle glanced back at the Tang monk.


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[Assistant] A few hours later, the turtle reached the other side of the river. The traveler stepped onto dry land.


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[Assistant] Higher up the mountain was a large monastery.


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[Assistant] Wukong eyed the turtle suspiciously. How do we know we can trust you?


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[Assistant] Demons all along the way are waiting for my master to pass by.


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[Assistant] Stop complaining, said Wukong. Be happy that the road is flat here.


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[Assistant] That's a bad place. We're not going there.


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[Assistant] I can see things that humans can't see, said Wukong. And I see a dark mist hanging over that monastery. A demon could be in there.


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[Assistant] No, said Wukong sharply. Stay here, I will find food for us.


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[Assistant] Do not go to that monastery!


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[Assistant] You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. I think that's where you're going wrong.


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[Assistant] Not really. You should try to not eat foods high in calories, salts, or saturated fats. Stay away from oily food and artificial flavors.


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[Assistant] You can also try to reduce your intake of carbohydrates in foods that are high in cholesterol. You can have steamed veggies or increase your protein intake found in chicken or fish.


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[Assistant] You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. I think that's where you're going wrong.


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[Assistant] Yes. You can also try to reduce your intake of carbohydrates in foods that are high in cholesterol. You can have steamed veggies or increase your protein intake found in chicken or fish.


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[Assistant] You don't have to starve yourself to lose weight. I think that's where you're going wrong.


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[Assistant] You can also try to reduce your intake of carbohydrates in foods that are high in cholesterol. You can have steamed veggies or increase your protein intake found in chicken or fish.


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[Assistant] I'm not sure. Wukong believed it though.


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[Assistant] You must return those vests right away. We can return the vests before we leave.


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[Assistant] We can do that. You two are terrible.


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[Assistant] The robe was in a room that didn't get burned at all. But it's not there anymore.


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[Assistant] You really don't know where the robe is. No.


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[Assistant] The head priest ran away last night. He didn't have it with him.


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[Assistant] She's very well too, Helen. Goodbye, Helen. Nice to see you.


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[Assistant] We should also cook a couple dozen hot dogs and kebabs.


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[Assistant] Great! I asked Grace to bring cups and serviettes, as she is also bringing two big coolers for the beers.


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[Assistant] We should also cook a couple dozen hot dogs and kebabs.


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[Assistant] Great! I asked Grace to bring cups and serviettes, as she is also bringing two big coolers for the beers.


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[Assistant] We should also cook a couple dozen hot dogs and kebabs.


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[Assistant] Great! I asked Grace to bring cups and serviettes, as she is also bringing two big coolers for the beers.


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[Assistant] My name is Katherine and today we have an upper intermediate level lesson for all of you.


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[Assistant] Right, so before a business opens, a lot of planning has to happen. That means people will decide what kind of a product they want to sell, what kind of a market they want to sell to, etc. So that is the focus of today's lesson. Let's take a listen to the dialogue for the first time and we'll be back in a minute to talk about what's going on.


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[Assistant] He did, he seemed a little naive, like he didn't really know how much work is involved in opening a business.


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[Assistant] The first word is the heart and soul of the process before you open a business. It's the business plan.


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[Assistant] Exactly, it's a, it's a paper that you write about the business that you wanna open.


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[Assistant] And it's a plan. So that's what the name says. You have to tell what you will do, how much money you will spend, how much money you will need. Uhm, you know, because if you're asking people for money, they want to know where the money will be spent if it's going to be spent on wise decisions.


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[Assistant] That's right. So investor is our next word. It's another noun, but this noun is a person. A person is an investor if he or she gives money to someone else and expects more money to come back.


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[Assistant] For example, I have a cupcake company. I want to sell cupcakes to people and I need a thousand dollars. So Marco, do you want to be an investor? Do you want to invest some money?


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[Assistant] A summary is usually an outline of the important points of a paper or a document. So in this case I could say,


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[Assistant] Catherine's Cupcake Company will sell delicious cupcakes of 10 different flavors to the market of 5 year olds to 55 year olds. People will love them. She has a great secret recipe and she plans to triple her investments by next year.


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[Assistant] Okay, when I said we're going to, uhm, sell cupcakes for my company to people between the ages of 5 and 55.


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[Assistant] GDP gross domestic products, okay? That might seem confusing because gross means different things at different times. But uhm, in this case, domestic means our country, so within a country.


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[Assistant] And just to explain a little bit, if you see this in Wikipedia or in an encyclopedia, uhm, normally a very low GDP per capita is $500, American dollars, and a high one would be $35,000.


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[Assistant] Okay, so this important first phrase Marco has to do with our last first phrase. Uh, we had a business plan. So what do you do? You write up a business plan.


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[Assistant] Right, so, it's uh, it's something that we say that's very colloquial, it's something that is very spoken, and uh, I can't explain why we say it, but you'll sound very fluent if you say, I'm gonna write up a business plan, or why don't you write up a business plan?


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[Assistant] Okay, so early we talked about investors. The money that they invest is called an investment. Okay, these words are all very closely related. And uhm, when Marco decided to give money to my cupcake business,


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[Assistant] Exactly, it's a thing, it's a number, it's a quantity, it's something you can count.


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[Assistant] So I was gonna cook some dinner tonight, but I'm gonna save myself the hassle of going to the grocery store and buying it and cooking it by just ordering food.


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[Assistant] Right, and the word we change here, you can say save myself, save yourself, save his self, so you change that pronoun.


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[Assistant] Okay, so that's about it for Fluency Builder. Let's listen to today's dialogue one more time and we'll be back in a minute to talk about business.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, a business plan is as much for investors as it is for yourself. It helps you clarify your goals. It helps you, uhm, explain your objectives to your future colleagues.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think it's just a really good way to map out the first year of a business. Cause it, it tends to, a lot of businesses fail in that first year. So I think this is a really important step.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Before we get started though, let's take a look at this phrase in today's vocabulary preview.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right. So this is the time of year when we change our clocks. What does that mean? That means in the fall, there's a special day and everyone has it on their calendar and we change the clocks. We put them back one hour. So if it was eight o'clock now it's seven o'clock.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. And so that's for the winter. And then when the winter is passed, we change the clocks again. We have the spring daylight savings where we change our clocks ahead.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, Marco, what you were hinting at before, this idea that we have shorter days in the winter and longer days in the summer, has to do with the rotation of the Earth. And so the rotation of the Earth is our first phrase.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Means to spin around, uhm, but not just to spin around anywhere. It means that if you draw a line through the middle of something, it never leaves that line, it just kind of turns.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like the wheels on a car, they rotate, that means they go around, but they are fixed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's our next word, to compensate. This is a verb, to compensate. And it's often used with money, but it can be used with time as well, time or sunlight. So with money you'd say, uh, I paid him a hundred dollars, but I owed him a hundred fifty, so I'm going to compensate him for the extra fifty.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, that means that if we have lost an hour because we changed the clocks, we have to compensate. We have to try and gain that hour back. And so that's why in the spring, after the days start to get longer and longer, we have to compensate for that by changing the clocks again.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this makes a lot of sense, because like we said, the earth is rotating, and so if it's daylight in Moscow and it's uh, nighttime in New York,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously it's not the same time. Right. So to compensate for this difference, we have different time zones. And each time zone is pretty much an hour or so, you know, half an hour different from the next one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, well think about math here. Difference is a word that we use in math. And the time difference is the amount of time, that means how many hours.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, there are between one time zone and another time zone. So for example, Beijing and New York City. These are very, very far away from each other. If it's day in New York, it's night in Beijing. So that means if it's seven in the morning in Beijing,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's probably around seven at night in New York.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, let's go back to the beginning of this dialogue. The person who's explaining all of these interesting things is saying that, well,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In any case, to take better advantage of the daylight available, we compensate by moving our clocks forward one hour. So this is an important phrase you could say to take better advantage of or to take advantage of. Let's talk about this. To take advantage of something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly, or when people started to use computers, you could say, well, they were taking better advantage of their time by speeding things up, by making things faster with the computers.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly, so it means, uh, it means, like you said, to be more efficient, to do useful or important things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, think about it as a picture. So, if something stands for something else, that means the original thing is not there anymore. And so, uhm, in words and phrases like GMT, GMT doesn't mean anything by itself, but the G stands for something, the M stands for something. It's an acronym.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is an acronym that stands for, that represents three big long words. Okay. Greenwich, mean time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or we can even say someone's name stands for something. So Marco, what does the M in your last name stand for? So your Marco M. What does the M stand for?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To go back in time. So we went back in time. This is what the person says about the flight from Beijing to LA. Uhm, what's interesting is that to go back in time is kind of a fixed phrase. We always say it like this. So we could say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's very strange. The same thing happens to me when I go home, so I leave Shanghai.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's the longest day of your entire life. Because it's not 24 hours. The flight is 14 hours. It's really 24, 38 hours long. Right? So it's really intense and exhausting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or in my case yeaah, you leave on a Sunday and you arrive on a Monday. Monday. And you lose half a day of your life. Right. You're just sitting there and all of a sudden it goes past you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We hope to see you there, ask away, and until next time everyone. Bye.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I don't understand why it's so hot. It's not summer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hello, welcome to the Russian for Beginners course.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And today we will continue studying the verbs of the first conjugation. But first, as usual, we will make a revision of the words from the previous lesson. Repeat after me. Animals. Животные.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tiger – tigr. Bull – byk. Turtle – cherepacha.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] pig, svinya cow, karova sheep, ovtsa duck, utka to run, begat' to walk, guliat' to jump, prygat' fast, bystro


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, let's remember how the ending of the first conjugation of the verb changes depending on the person and the number, using as an example the verbs you already know. The verb to run, бегать, to walk, гулять, and to jump, прыгать.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the first person singular, the ending T change to the ending U.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I run, I walk, I jump. You run, you walk, you jump.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For the third person – singular, the ending – to change to the ending – yet.