Learning English Podcast - February 12, 2025
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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, John Russell tells about a special museum in Miami, Florida on our new All About America series. Then, Jill Robbins shows how games are a good way to teach English. Ana Mateo follows with healthy tips for your diet. Then, Jill returns with Andrew Smith for the lesson of the day.

But first, here is John. Paradox Museum Miami is a mixture of art, science, and fun. The 1,000-square-meter museum is housed in Miami's Wynwood Arts and Entertainment area. It has more than 70 public displays known as exhibits.

executive director samantha impelezzeri says these exhibits challenge the imagination she added that visitors can walk away from the experience with some really fun and interesting material for social media paradox museum has more than ten locations throughout north america europe and asia

the miami location which opened in twenty twenty two was the first in north america the term paradox is central to the museum and what visitors experience a paradox is a situation or thing that has seemingly opposite or contradictory qualities

each paradox is uniquely tied to its community impellizieri said so as you walk throughout the experience you'll notice different themes and art installations that directly reflect not only miami but the winwood community specifically

many of the displays at paradox museum suggest old carnival fun houses buildings that had devices and rooms designed to surprise or amaze visitors examples include the mirror maze the spinning tunnel and the upside-down room

the difference is that paradox museum explains the math and science behind each illusion we're a top field trip destination for pre-k all the way up through college students impelezari said

she added that the museum has a large number of educational activities that students can do before during and after the visit like any museum paradox museum plans to change its exhibits to keep visitors coming back we're not going to be the same space in a year to three years from now

impelleri said paradox museum miami introduced a new zero gravity room last fall visitors can turn their smartphone cameras on and attach their phones to a spinning holder then they step into a large slowly moving room designed to look like the inside of a space station

the resulting video makes it look as though they are walking up the wall and ceiling inside a room unaffected by gravity paradox museum is part of a movement towards so-called immersive art experiences

These kinds of art experiences often use technology to make the visitors feel like they are taking part in art rather than just looking at it. Immersive experiences around the world are increasing in popularity, Impellezeri noted.

Immersive art experiences have opened all over the world during the past ten years or so. Examples include a company called Meow Wolf, with several locations in the western United States, as well as a Van Gogh exhibit that has been traveling through North America, Europe, and Asia since 2017.

Super Blue Miami, which opened in 2021, is another example. Visitors generally take 60 to 90 minutes to make their way through Paradox Museum. Tickets normally cost $26 for adults and teenagers and $20 for children.

Seventeen-year-old Facundo Ildaraz and his family came to Miami from Argentina. Ildaraz said his mother found Paradox Museum online. He said it turned out to be a great chance to take fun photos with his family. "'I've been laughing since I went inside,' Ildaraz said. "'It's really amazing.'"

Dennis Spiegel is head of a business advisory company called International Theme Park Services, Inc. Spiegel said immersive experiences are a natural progression of location-based entertainment. Location-based entertainment includes go-kart tracks, laser tag, paintball,

indoor skydiving, escape rooms, and trampoline parks. These are activities that take visitors a few hours to go through. It's a lot of little things that we've had in the industry for years, heightened by our new technology, to make the experience new and something people haven't seen, Spiegel said. I'm John Russell.

Wordle has become one of the most popular online games in the United States since it came out last October. Players get six chances to guess and learn a five-letter word for the day. Many are sharing their game results on social media, adding more interest in the game. Creative teachers have long found games could make their classes more enjoyable for students.

During the pandemic, many have looked for new ways or games to help their students learn. It is part of a learning theory called gamification to keep students' interest. Beyond Wordle, here are other games that help learners with different subjects. British data scientist Richard Mann of London was talking with his daughter about the popularity of Wordle.

He thought there should be a game for people who like mathematics and developed Nerdle. It is a daily game in which a player has six tries to guess a math solution. Does it sound familiar? Math teachers note that a Nerdle player uses logic, a careful way of thinking about something, to solve a math problem. It is similar to how a Wordle player applies logic to guess a word.

Do not confuse wordle with worldle. There's an extra letter L in worldle. French video game developer Antoine Touffe said he invented worldle in honor of that word game, wordle. Players guess a country based on its shape. They get six tries to guess a country based on information about the country. Touffe first shared the game on January 22nd.

He said there are two million visits a day to the games page a month later. Teachers of English see word games as a way for students to learn new words. Other word games include Bluket and Flippity. Teachers create quizzes in Bluket similar to the kinds of games students play on mobile devices. They can look at results and see areas that students can improve. In Flippity, teachers can create flashcards, rewards,

spelling quizzes, memory games, and word searches from a simple Google spreadsheet. It is also a good tool for students to create their own projects. There are several online services that teachers could use to gamify learning. They include Kahoot!, Quizlet, Quizzes, and Nearpod. All of them gamify learning by creating competition among learners while reviewing the content presented by teachers.

in many places teachers and students do not have a computer so english language teacher larry ferlazzo asked them to share their language learning games ferlazzo wrote about them in his blog here are two of the games that teachers suggested daniel horn teaches at helena college in glen forest western australia she said one of the games that her students love playing is hot or cold

in hot or cold students hide something in the classroom while a student or searcher is waiting outside the students then say a word phrase or sentence they get louder when the searcher gets nearer to the object and softer when the searcher is more distant horn said to be prepared for quite a bit of noise though eva pors is a danish high school teacher

Her students play questions and answers to learn new words or vocabulary. PORCE writes words or phrases on small pieces of paper and divides students into groups of four. Within a group, student A picks a piece of paper with a word or phrase on it and asks questions that will make student B say the exact word or phrase on the paper.

For example, with the word milk, student A would ask, what do you put on your cereal in the morning? Student B has one minute to try to answer as many words or phrases as possible. The other two students in the group will then take over for one minute, and the team with the most correct guesses wins the game. I'm Jill Robbins.

Carlene Thomas is a dietician, a person who gives advice about healthy foods to eat. When it comes to eating healthy vegetables, Thomas says there are two kinds of people who ask her for advice. The first kind wants to know how different cooking methods affect the nutrition in vegetables. The other kind of person wants to know how to eat more vegetables.

Thomas's simple answer to both groups is this. The best vegetables are the ones you actually want to eat. Thomas told the Associated Press that many people buy vegetables that they think they will eat. Maybe the produce is popular or someone is bringing attention to it on social media, but then they end up not using it.

That means the vegetable gets thrown away after it goes bad. In that case, Thomas said, it doesn't matter how you cook them because if they're going in the trash, they're not in your body. However, Thomas said research shows cooking methods do affect nutrition, but it is not as simple as comparing raw or uncooked vegetables to cooked ones.

Cooking methods can include steaming, roasting, boiling, or sautéing. So are raw vegetables healthier than cooked? Not always. When vegetables are cooked with high heat for a long period of time, many nutrients break down. However, cooking softens the cell walls in vegetables, making them easier for the body to digest.

Cooking changes the structure of vegetables, which increases what dieticians call bioavailability. This is the body's ability to use the nutrients in vegetables, Thomas said. Cooked food is often more nutritious than raw food. For example, cooked tomatoes release more of the antioxidant lycopene than raw tomatoes, she said.

Lycopene is believed to have qualities that prevent cancer. Also, cooked carrots have more beta-carotene that can be absorbed by the body. Roasting pumpkins, carrots, and sweet potatoes increases available carotenoids. These antioxidants are thought to prevent inflammation in the body.

However, the shorter the cooking time, the more nutrients are kept in the food. That advice comes from Amber Penconen, a dietician in the U.S. state of Nebraska. Cooking over boiling water or steaming and in a microwave are considered the most nutritious methods. These two methods use little time and require no fat.

Another healthy method is blanching. This is when you boil vegetables in water for a minute or two, but not too long. Boiling vegetables runs the risk of losing water-soluble nutrients, including vitamin C, B1, and folate. Thomas explained the reason boiling is not good for vegetables.

The nutrients are leaching into the water, and you're tossing out the water. However, you could save the water from boiled vegetables and use it for other purposes, such as soups, or just drink it. Dietitians say there is no problem using a small amount of fat. Besides making vegetables taste better,

a little cooking oil helps the body to absorb fat soluble vitamins said panconin that means more vitamin a from squash carrots and sweet potatoes more vitamin d from mushrooms

more vitamin E from bell peppers, leafy greens, and asparagus, and more vitamin K from greens, broccoli, and onions. For pan frying or sautéing, panconin suggests cooking with enough oil so the vegetables do not stick to the pan.

The amount of oil will depend on the quantity of vegetables and the size of the pan. For roasting, you will likely need more oil. Despite the longer cooking time, roasting will still keep some nutrients and will increase the flavor with the heating of natural sugars.

Flavor is king, Pankonen said. I would much rather see people roasting their vegetables and enjoying them. I'm Anna Mateo. My name is Anna Mateo. My name is Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. You're listening to the Lesson of the Day on the Learning English Podcast. Welcome to the part of the show where we help you do more with our series, Let's Learn English.

The series shows Ana Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Butterflies in your stomach. Sweat on the palms of your hands. What do these make you think of? Well, butterflies are not something you want to eat. And sweaty palms? Most people don't want that either. I know what they make me think of. But what do they have to do with Ana?

Well, our listeners may remember that in Lesson 21 of Let's Learn English, Anna tells her friend Marcia that she has to take a test to get her driver's license. Sorry, I can't come with you. I have to get my driver's license. Will you be busy all day?

I don't know. First, I have to take a test on the computer. Then, I have to take a test in the car. And now, in Lesson 28, we get to watch Anna take that test. Anna, did you get your driver's license? I did, but it was not easy. Why? What happened?

Well, you know, I can drive farm equipment really well. But I was really nervous driving in Washington, D.C. traffic. Did you pass the test the first time? Well, no. But I did pass the second time. What happened during the first test? It started fine. Okay. Ana, is your seatbelt buckled? Yes, sir. Great.

Please, start the car. Okay, Anna. Start the car. I started the car. Good job, Anna. Why are you talking to yourself? I am a little nervous. When I'm nervous, I talk to myself. I'm sure our listeners can understand the feeling of being nervous. When Anna feels nervous, she talks to herself. But some people react in other ways when they are nervous. They might get those butterflies in the stomach.

For our listeners, maybe it's now clear what we mean when we say "butterflies in the stomach." It's just an expression to describe the feeling of being nervous. Some people do feel it in their stomach, but there are lots of other things that can happen in your body when you are nervous. Like you might find it hard to sit still, so you keep moving your hands or some other part of your body.

And when people feel really nervous, they might notice their heart starting to beat faster and stronger. That's because the body releases a hormone called adrenaline when we're nervous. That excitement of the nerves is also called the fight or flight response. And "flight," in this case, does not mean flying on an airplane.

Flight is a noun that means running away from danger. So Jill, how about you? What's it like for you when you feel nervous? When I'm nervous about something, I start cleaning. You know, like wiping the dust off my table or picking up clutter or running the vacuum on the carpet. It's like if I can get my house in order, my life will be in order too. How about you?

I have to say that's pretty funny, but it makes sense. Um, for me, sometimes my hands get cold and sometimes I start to sweat a little bit under my arms. And I'm sure our listeners have some other ways they react. You can write us at [email protected] and let us know what makes you nervous and how your body reacts.

I'm Jill Robbins, and you're listening to the lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast. Andrew, what kind of situations tend to make you nervous? Sometimes if I have to speak to a large group of people, I can feel some nerves. But because I've been a teacher, speaking to groups doesn't bother me too much.

But sometimes when I perform music for other people, I can get nervous. How about you, Jill? I get nervous when I'm going to do a webinar or an online meeting. I try to prepare everything in advance and practice so I know exactly what I'm going to do. And you probably have a very clean desk before you do that. You bet.

In general, I think people tend to get nervous when they worry that other people might judge them and that they might not perform well. Unfortunately, this can happen when we are trying to speak a foreign language. How do you think learners should deal with this? I think some good advice is to simply keep trying and to know that most people listening to you

They understand that you are trying and they won't think bad things about you. Yeah, most people are nice, at least most of the time. Now, let's go back to Anna's driving test. Her driving instructor is not nervous at the beginning, but during the test, he also probably feels a rush of adrenaline. But in his case, it's because of fear.

He's probably having the flight response we mentioned. I think so. Let's listen to Anna's driving test. Why are you talking to yourself? I am a little nervous. When I'm nervous, I talk to myself. You don't need to be nervous. Listen to that engine. Please, stop pushing the gas pedal.

Sorry. Okay, when you are ready, turn. Great! Not now! You almost hit that car! You said turn! Look first. There were cars in the street. Please don't yell at me. I'm sorry. I was afraid. You were yelling! Look out for that car! Brake! Brake! Why is everyone honking at us? You were driving too slow! Anna, stay on the street. Hands on the wheel, Anna.

What's that sound? That, Anna, is the police. Well, it can be difficult to drive in Washington, D.C., especially if you are a new driver. I think both Anna and her instructor were having an adrenaline rush. The expressions an adrenaline rush and a rush of adrenaline can have a positive or negative meaning. In the positive sense, an adrenaline rush is a feeling of excitement.

like if you are doing a physical activity such as downhill skiing, surfing, or riding a bicycle down a steep hill. And the negative sense means an unwanted or uncomfortable response to nerves or fear. It might be adrenaline that made Anna and her driving instructor yell or speak very loudly. Look first. There were cars in the street. Please don't yell at me.

I'm sorry. I was afraid. You were yelling! Look out for that car! Brake! Brake! I think nervousness is an interesting subject because almost everyone can relate to it. We'll have more to say about dealing with nerves in another lesson of the day. But first, we want to remind you of our question for today. What activities make you nervous? And how does your body react?

And you can send that to us by email, learningenglish at voanews.com, or in the comments on our YouTube channel. Remember, you can always learn more on our website, learningenglish.voanews.com. You can also 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. And I'm