Learning English Podcast - December 18, 2024
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Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Katie Weaver. And I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English.

On today's program, Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins report on geothermal energy. Ana Mateo has a story about a popular word game.

Our education report tells about the problem of school costs in sub-Saharan Africa. Then, the lesson of the day. But first... Indonesia and the Philippines aim to increase their use of geothermal energy to move away from highly polluting fossil fuels.

However, money issues, governmental rules, and community protests have slowed the growth of geothermal energy production. Geothermal energy uses heat from underground reservoirs of hot water to produce electricity.

Environmental experts see geothermal as a good source of clean energy because it can provide power 24 hours a day. Geothermal power plants also require little maintenance and can last for many years. Countries with high geothermal possibilities

such as the united states indonesia and the philippines have areas where volcanic activity naturally carries hot water or steam to the earth's surface the hot water or steam can also be reached by drilling into the ground

marit brammer is head of the international geothermal association based in germany she told the associated press we're essentially standing on our own sun which we can get clean reliable energy from

In Southeast Asia, geothermal energy production is expected to increase 10 times greater from 2020 to 2050, reaching 276 million megawatt hours, the International Energy Agency says. After the U.S., Indonesia and the Philippines are the second and third largest users of geothermal energy in the world.

Still, Indonesia uses less than one-tenth of its large reserves of geothermal energy. Six percent of the country's power supply comes from geothermal sources, and the Philippines has only developed about eight percent of its geothermal resources. It makes up 14.6 percent of the country's energy use. Both countries plan to expand their production of geothermal energy.

Indonesia aims to increase geothermal production by at least 8% by 2030. The Philippine government is targeting several projects to increase geothermal capacity by nearly 1.5 GW, nearly doubling its current use.

However, developing new geothermal projects is costly and sometimes risky for companies when they test and drill to look for reservoirs. That makes it hard to get money for development, said Shigeru Yamamura. He is an energy specialist at the Asia Development Bank.

That's the most difficult part of developers because, in terms of money, they cannot take 100% of the exploration risk themselves, Yamamura said. The Philippine government has announced plans to auction for developing geothermal projects. The government is also preparing a smart green grid plan

that centers on renewable energy. The plans may make it more likely that banks will give loans to private companies seeking to develop geothermal projects. The Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources says it is working to shorten the wait time to get permits for new geothermal projects.

it is also considering ways to increase the amount of money companies could make from the projects the world bank is providing a one hundred fifty million dollar loan to increase indonesian investments in geothermal energy

and the Green Climate Fund and the Clean Technology Fund are providing $127.5 million. Still, community pushback can slow development even when there is enough money. In Indonesia, villagers have protested geothermal projects.

They say the projects are not safe and can harm the environment. Several geothermal projects in Indonesia have had deadly gas leaks in the past five years. In the Philippines, protests have led at least one company to pay money to indigenous groups for the use of their lands. I'm Andrew Smith.

And I'm Jill Robbins. A New Zealand man recently won an international Spanish Scrabble competition, although he does not speak Spanish. Scrabble is a board game in which players form words from letters to gain points. Nigel Richards is a professional Scrabble player.

He holds five English Language World Championships in the board game. But in November, he won the Spanish World Scrabble Championship in Granada, Spain. In the competition, he lost one game out of 24. Many people are wondering how Richards could win without speaking Spanish. Liz Fagerlund is a New Zealand Scrabble official.

and a friend of Richard's. She recently told the Associated Press that Richard's started memorizing the Spanish language Scrabble word list one year ago. She said he can't understand why other people can't just do the same thing.

Bagerlund added, he can look at a block of words together and once they go into his brain as a picture, he can just recall that very easily. In second place was defending champion Benjamin Olaizola of Argentina. He won 18 of his games.

Nothing like the New Zealanders' win had ever happened in Spanish Scrabble, said Alejandro Taranzani, an organizer of the competition. It was impossible to react negatively. You can only be amazed, Taranzani said. We certainly expected that he would perform well, but it is perhaps true that he surpassed our expectations.

However, the recent Scrabble competition is not the first that Richards has won in a language that he does not speak. In 2015, he became the French language Scrabble world champion, although he does not speak French. He studied the French language word list for nine weeks. He won the French championship again in 2018.

Richards is known in the world of international Scrabble as the greatest player of all time. He has been playing in competitions for about 30 years, but other players have said his Spanish language victory was notable even by his standards. Playing Spanish Scrabble required some different methods to win.

The wooden pieces, or tiles, used in the word game have different values in English and Spanish Scrabble. Richards also had to consider thousands of additional seven-, eight-, and nine-letter words in the Spanish language. In 2008, Richards was the first player ever to hold the World, U.S., and British titles at the same time.

He had to forget 40,000 English words that do not appear in the American Scrabble word list to win in the U.S. His victories are famous in the Scrabble community. Tens of thousands of people have watched and analyzed his games in YouTube videos. Scrabble does not require players to know the definitions of words.

Players only need to know what combinations of letters can be used in a country's version of the game. Native speakers have a huge leg up. American Scrabble player Will Anderson said in a video explaining Richard's Spanish win,

In 2010, Richard's mother, Adrienne Fisher, told a New Zealand newspaper that he was not a great English student in school, he never attended university, and he took a mathematical approach to the game rather than a linguistic one. "'I don't think he's ever read a book,' she said, "'apart from the dictionary.'"

Fagerlund said Richards impressed her when he arrived at his first Scrabble Club meeting at age 28. Two years later, in 1997, he rode a bicycle 350 kilometers from Christchurch to the city of Dunedin, where he won the New Zealand Championship on his first try. Then he rode the bicycle home again.

At the Spanish event, he was shy and modest, organizer Tadazzani said, but he happily had his picture taken and spoke with fans who sought him out. Although he did so in English, of course, Tadazzani joked. I'm Ana Mateo.

The World Bank said last year that 54% of adults in Africa south of the Sahara Desert ranked the issue of paying school costs higher than medical or other costs. The aid organization said school fees were the biggest financial worry for 40% of people in Uganda.

in that country a top government supported school reportedly cost seven hundred dollars for a three-month term that is a lot of money in a country where yearly economic activity per person was eight hundred sixty four dollars in twenty twenty three

world bank information shows that african countries in the area also have the highest rates of children out of school in the world parents in uganda report unpredictable increases in the cost of attending school or tuition as a cause of tension

some critics are calling for laws to protect parents from exploitation the equal opportunities commission is a government agency that reports on the issues of inequality and discrimination

It released a report in September that called for punishment against government-supported schools that demand fees that are too high. It warned that arbitrarily raising fees can force children to drop out of school.

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics says that children's attendance in early grades is about 68%, but the percentage falls to 22% for secondary school. The main reason given is financial difficulty.

uganda has a programme of secondary education for all students it was introduced in two thousand seven however schools are not in good condition the schools usually do not require tuition but parents must pay for uniforms text-books and other costs

private schools are more popular but also more costly spokesperson for the ministry of education denis mugimba said the government is not interested in making rules about prices

mugimba said setting private school fees is purely administrative and it is adjusted according to the business environment but he said costs linked to capital development should not be the responsibility of parents the number of private schools across uganda has increased

the associated press reports that they are now a majority of the country's schools but some people with ties to education say placing importance on the profitability of education as a business is worrying fagel mandy is a former inspector of schools

mandy said there should be standardized rules to make school fees predictable for everyone it is normal for both private and government supported schools to request money for many projects these can include buying a bus or purchasing laboratory equipment

shalom mirembe is a student who spoke to the a p her mother takes care of four children her father recently died the school mirembe attends near kampala costs three hundred dollars per term but her mother sends mirembe to school without paying

she is depending on the mercy of officials but jonita seguya a teacher at wampawontake secondary said schools are taking measures to bar students from school if their parents do not pay

saguya said of the school's two thousand one hundred students four hundred are from families that struggle to pay fees twenty-year-old mirembe is taking her final exams this year at one point school officials were going to bar her from school because her mother had failed to pay the fees

but when school administrators found out that her father had died recently they permitted her to return some of her teachers attended the funeral but other families are not so fortunate moses siricumawa is jobless with seven children

He said paying $200 in school fees each term is too much when the family lacks food sometimes. But he added, the children still want to go back to school. I'm Mario Ritter Jr. That music means it's time for the lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast.

My name is Andrew Smith and I'm joined by Dr. Jill Robbins. Hi, Jill. Hi, Andrew. Our lesson is based on our video series, Let's Learn English. The series shows Ana Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Here's Ana introducing herself. My name is Ana Mateo.

Lesson 26 of Level 2 of this series is about look-alikes. Look-alikes are two people who look very similar. But just because two people look alike doesn't mean they act alike. To act alike means to behave in the same way as another person.

In today's lesson, you will hear many adjectives to describe two very different kinds of people. Lesson 26 also repeats some expressions and grammar from previous lessons in the series. Let's listen to Pete and Penelope tell Anna about her look-alike.

Yesterday at work, I met a woman who looks just like you. Really? Wait, are you making fun of me? Not this time. She's tall and has curly hair, but even her face looks like yours.

I think she's a career consultant. I bet she has a lot of great advice. I can't wait to meet her. Yes, you can. I met her and she is very difficult. Pete, she's just new. We have to give her a chance. What's her name? Evelina or something like that. You can't miss her. She always wears a hat. So, Anna...

Have you met the new consultant yet? No, but I've already heard. We look alike, don't we? Yeah, but you don't act alike. You're much nicer than she is. Maybe she gets nervous at new jobs. Or maybe she's shy. Let's not judge, Penelope. As usual, Ana tries to be very positive and helpful. Pete, she's just new. We have to give her a chance.

To give someone a chance means to give them time and opportunities to do well or do good things. Now, let's see what happens when Anna meets her look-alike. This is going to be so much fun. Boy, I can't wait to play this game. How much longer are you going to be? We'll just be a minute. You must be Evelana.

I'm Anna. We are lookalikes. No, we're not. And my name is pronounced Evil-Anna. Oh, this is going to be fun. You had better hurry up. I need this room for a lecture. It's called, If You Want to Win, Others Must Lose. What is all this stuff anyway? It's a game. We're going to play at lunch.

It's a stupid child's game. It's a fun game. But, yes, it is for children. Well, you may be childish, but I'm not. And you look stupid with that thing on your head. Oh, yeah? Well, you look serious with that look on your face. Come on, Pete. Let's go play somewhere else. Evil Anna sounds like a terrible person. She really does.

For one thing, she is not polite. Instead of asking nicely, she warns Anna and Pete that they need to finish their game quickly. You had better hurry up. I need this room for a lecture. It's called, If You Want to Win, Others Must Lose.

As we explained in a recent podcast, the expression had better gives advice in a strong way, almost like a warning. I think of a mother using this expression often. Yes, or maybe a teacher occasionally. Yes, you'd better do such and such. Also, evil Anna says that Anna is childish sometimes.

Childish has a negative connotation. A connotation is the feeling that people connect to a word. To be childish means not having good judgment or good control of one's emotions. So it's not a nice thing to say to an adult. However, there is another word, childlike, which has a more positive connotation.

That word refers to the good aspects of childhood, such as being curious, open, innocent, and other qualities. I'm Jill Robbins, and you're listening to the Lesson of the Day on the Learning English Podcast. Earlier, Andrew mentioned that Lesson 26 of Level 2 has grammar that we explained in previous lessons.

Listen again to Penelope and Anna and see if you know what verb tense they use in this exchange. So, Anna, have you met the new consultant yet? No, but I've already heard. Did you hear the present perfect tense? Penelope said, have you met? And Anna said, I've already heard.

That tense connects past actions to the present situation. Now let's find out more about Evil Anna. Penelope and Anna are playing a game and Pete asks to join them. Penelope notices that Pete has a dark circle around his left eye. Hey, do you guys have room for one more? Sure, Pete. Come on over.

What happened to your eye? Evil Anna accidentally hit me. And she didn't even say sorry. She's so mean. I told you so. Here, Pete, put on this headband. You'll feel better. Penelope, you're right. Evil Anna is an awful person. And violent?

And now we have to work with her. Haven't you heard? She's gone. She was given another assignment. In the end, Evil Anna's new job is collecting garbage outside the office. I guess it doesn't pay to be a mean person. You are correct. Now, let's talk about more adjectives you can use to describe a good person and a bad person.

Anna used the word awful when describing evil Anna. Penelope, you're right. Evil Anna is an awful person. Awful just means very bad. Terrible means the same thing. We can also say that evil Anna is unkind, self-centered, mean, and thoughtless. Thoughtless means evil Anna does not think or care about how her actions might hurt other people.

And thoughtful is the opposite of thoughtless. A thoughtful person, like you, Jill, tries to think about what other people need and tries not to hurt their feelings. Hey, I just follow the golden rule. Treat others the way you want to be treated. I think that's good advice.

Other words to describe nice people include the adjectives caring, generous, cooperative, kind, sweet, and considerate. Considerate means you take other people's needs and feelings into consideration. In other words, it means the same thing as thoughtful.

So, just like I can say Jill is thoughtful, I can say that Jill is considerate. And you are too, Andrew. Well, thank you. I try to be most of the time. Let's remind our listeners what they can find on our website. Yes, let's do that. Each lesson of the Let's Learn English series has a lesson plan you can download for free.

The plans can be helpful for both students and teachers. And remember that you can find us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Thanks for listening to the lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith.

And that's our show for today. But join us again tomorrow to keep learning English on The Voice of America. I'm Katie Weaver.