Learning English Podcast - February 20, 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.

Coming up on the show, we have reports from Ana Mateo and Andrew Smith. Brian Lynn has the science and technology report. And we close with the lesson of the day. But now, here's Ana. At America's 149th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show...

Monty the Giant Schnauzer won the top prize. The lively Schnauzer beat six other finalists in New York City to become the first of his breed to win Westminster's Best in Show. The prize is the most important and respected in the U.S. dog show world.

While Monty came close to winning Westminster the past two years, he fell short of the big prize. In December 2024, the dog won another big prize, the huge American Kennel Club Championship. But for dog show lovers, Westminster is considered the Super Bowl of all shows. This year, the comparison is especially fitting.

That is because the most respected U.S. dog competition opened on the same weekend as the Super Bowl, the most important game in American professional football. This rare happening came after the dates of both competitions changed in recent years. At Westminster, dogs first compete against other members of their breed.

Then the winner of each breed goes up against other dogs within different competition groups. Among the groups are Sporting, Working, Toy, and Herding. Group winners then compete in the final round. The Best in Show winner gets an award, a large shiny cup called a trophy, and a place in dog world history.

The top prize, however, does not include money. In her report on the dog show, Learning English's Katie Weaver explains that the Westminster show dates back to 1877. It centers on the traditional purebred judging that leads to the Best in Show prize.

But over the last few years, the organization has added agility and obedience events open to mixed breed dogs. In 2024, Sage, a miniature poodle, won Best in Show at the 148th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

And in 2023, a Petit Basset Griffon Vandiane, named Buddy Holly, won Best in Show at Westminster. The breed he represents is known for its rabbit hunting abilities. I'm Anna Mateo. ♪

In Senegal, educators are starting to teach English to younger children in an effort to better prepare them to succeed in future educational and professional activities. The preschool students also learn French.

the country's official language, as well as Arabic and the nation's national languages, the French news agency AFP reports. Senegalese children who attend preschool, also known as nursery school, are generally under 5.

Since mid-January, the Education Ministry has been testing a program that teaches English in more than 600 nursery and primary school classes. It is part of a plan to better connect Senegal with the rest of the world.

At one nursery school visited by AFP reporters near central Dakar, five-year-old students were heard singing, Good morning, teacher. The teacher, Absa Diaye, said, They're interested in the lesson, and they start a conversation with, How are you?

Senegal recently became an oil and gas producer and has seen large population growth. However, many young people have been leaving the country, searching for opportunities elsewhere. In Senegal, French is used in public schools and in government administration.

Until recently, English was only taught in public high schools and universities, and sometimes in private nursery schools. Asiatu Sar Cisse is in charge of the Education Ministry's English program. She told AFP that even after some students had studied English for up to seven years, they...

can barely communicate properly in English. "We're starting from a younger age so that they can improve their language skills. The aim is to shape people who are open to the world," Cissé said. She added that improving their English will give them access to more opportunities to cooperate with Senegal's partners.

In March, President Bassirou Diome Faye was elected after running a nationalist campaign. After many years of strong ties with the former colonial power, he is trying to reset Senegal's relationship with France without breaking away completely.

In the schools testing the program, English is taught every Tuesday and Thursday. On both days, two 25-minute lessons are taught in nursery schools and two 30-minute lessons in primary schools. The subjects taught center on family, colors, everyday greetings, the environment, and the weather.

In Dakar's working-class Medina neighborhood, teacher Mamadou Kama listens to a conversation in English between two 13-year-olds in his primary school class of around 60 students. "I can see that the students are motivated.

Some of them are asking for English lessons to be taught every day, said Kama, who has a degree in English. The ministry has invested in teachers who have high English levels. However, most of them have not yet received the teaching materials the ministry aims to provide.

we haven't had the time to create handbooks said the education ministry's ciss computers have been ordered and in the meantime we have provided students with printed documents with fun pictures

The project has been praised by Ousmane Senne, director of the Dakar-based West African Research Center . WARC handles educational exchanges between the United States and West African universities. English is the most common language at an international level.

and it's the most used language in diplomacy and international cooperation so it's an additional asset sene told afp additionally most scientific material worldwide is written in english said mathiam tiam he helped create the english program

Thiam added that if people in Senegal do not adapt and improve their English, they will run into many barriers. But Senay noted that something needs to happen first. The project needs "to train and equip the teachers well." Some critics of the program point to a lack of teachers.

Samba Diul De Thiam is a former member of parliament and retired teacher. In an opinion article, he wrote, On these grounds alone, introducing English at nursery and primary school levels is a pipe dream. It's impossible.

He noted that intellectuals have been demanding the introduction of Senegal's national languages in education for many years. The program involving English could further delay that goal. But one 13-year-old student, Asiatou Bari, seems far removed from such debates. She told AFP that she...

Can't wait to study English in sixth grade. I'm Andrew Smith. Smartphones have become valuable tools for helping to organize our lives. However, the devices can also capture personal data and location information that users might want to keep private.

Here are some tips suggested by the Associated Press to help smartphone users limit the collection of private data on personal devices. All a user has to do is open a phone's map tool to search for a restaurant or other business to activate data tracking.

Similarly, someone choosing to look up the price of a product online can unknowingly permit the smartphone to track the user's location and share data with others. Darren Guccione is the chief executive of U.S.-based internet security company Keeper Security.

he told the ap that many apps from fitness tracking to navigation can record data signals that show a user's movements both physical and digital

Cuccione's advice to users is to turn on location tracking only when necessary, such as during navigation, emergencies, or sharing updates with trusted contacts. He adds that after this kind of necessary tracking is complete, users should immediately turn off location tracking.

One step to limit smartphone tracking is to identify and change app permission settings. To do this, iPhone users can first go to the device's Privacy and Security settings, then go to Location Services to check settings for individual apps.

Internet security experts say it is not a good idea to let apps always use your location in the background. Instead, get the app to either ask first before using your location or use it only when the app is open. A user can also choose the setting that never lets an app track location.

The process works a little differently for Android phones because manufacturers have different versions. In general, Android users should go to Settings, then go to Location to turn the setting on or off for all apps.

To avoid being tracked by advertising systems, privacy experts suggest that users block advertising identifiers on Android or Apple devices. This can stop third parties from tracking ads to target users.

To do this, iPhone users can go to the Privacy setting, then find Apple Advertising. Then turn off Personalized Ads. On newer Android phones, users should go to the Privacy setting, then to Ads, and choose Delete Advertising ID.

Along with app permissions for your device, security experts say it is a good idea to look closely at your Google account to make sure it is not tracking you. To find this out, go to myaccount.google.com and find Data and Privacy. Users can find location history controls there.

under recent changes the history will be removed after three months although users can change that setting as well popular web browsers for smartphones like safari or chrome could also give away location information

Try using one that does not store your data. Such browsers include DuckDuckGo, Firefox Focus, or Ecosia. If a privacy-protected browser needs to identify your location through an IP address, it will ask first before doing so.

These kinds of browsers will also let users easily remove Internet cookies and other web browsing data. Phones or tablets can also be tracked with Apple's Find My or Google's Find My Device services designed to recover lost devices.

Users can turn this tool off if they think someone was able to take control of their Apple or Google account and is using it for tracking. Some cybersecurity websites advise using a smartphone's airplane mode to block tracking operations. But some experts say this does not always turn off all tracking signals.

users should not depend on this setting alone to block data collection a better tool in many situations would be a signal blocking faraday bag these block all wireless signals to the smartphone experts suggest testing the bag to make sure data is actually being blocked

While such bags can be helpful, devices kept inside the containers cannot be used. I'm Brian Lynn. My name is Anna Mateo. My name is Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. 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. In lessons 32 and 33 of the series, Ana has a new TV show for children. In the show, there is a computer named Mindy that helps Ana travel to different places.

But Mindy sometimes has trouble sending Anna to the correct place. Anna loves baseball and she wants to travel to a ballpark to talk about the sport of baseball. But Mindy has sent Anna to wrong places, including the ocean. Let's see if Mindy can fix the problem. Last time on the Time Traveling Treehouse, Anna was lost.

really lost. She wants to learn about baseball, but her computer, Mindy, sent her to many wrong places. Mindy, help me! I am in the ocean with a shark! We'll try one more time, Anna. Please try harder, Mindy! Now where am I? I'm at a playground with a ba- Yes!

I can teach children about baseball here. Mindy, Mindy, it took you a long time, but you did it! Thanks, Anna. Give me a call when you find the answer. Okay. Now Anna can explain how to play baseball, a sport that is popular in the United States. To play baseball, you really only need a bat, a ball, and a glove.

Each team has many players. Pitchers pitch the ball. Catchers catch the ball. Batters bat the ball. Runners run the bases. Fielders field the ball. In baseball, bases are special places on the field.

And to bat means to hit the ball with a specially shaped piece of wood or metal called a bat. To pitch means to throw the ball to the batter. The throw itself is called the pitch. Have you noticed how the same word can work in different ways? The word bat can be either a verb or a noun. To bat means to hit.

And a bat is the piece of wood or metal. And the batter is the person who holds the bat and tries to bat the ball. For some words in English, we can take the noun or verb form and add the ending -er, pronounced -er, to describe the person or agent doing the activity. Here are several examples: run, runner

Work, worker. Dance, dancer. Swim, swimmer. Think, thinker. Bank, banker. Pitch, pitcher. In baseball, the pitcher is the person who throws the ball to the batter. To pitch is the verb, while the pitch is the noun, the name for the throw itself.

from pitcher to batter. When you are learning new words in English, it is helpful to know how the words can be used in different forms like to pitch, the pitch, and pitcher. Let's take another example using the verb create. To create means to make something new and original.

A creator is someone who creates, just like a pitcher is someone who pitches. But here's where English spelling might drive you crazy. Words like pitcher, batter, runner, and dancer all end with the letters E-R, but creator ends with the letters O-R. But it still sounds like the sound E-R, creator.

How else can the word "create" change? Well, we can use the noun form, "creation," the adjective "creative," or the adverb "creatively." To repeat the forms, that's "create," "creator," "creation," "creative," "creatively." So remember, when you learn a new word in English,

Be sure to check the dictionary to learn all the forms of the word. I'm Jill Robbins, and you're listening to the Learning English Podcast. Before we move on, we should say one more thing about baseball. We have many idiomatic expressions in English that come from the sport, such as "hit a home run" or "be out in left field."

If you want to learn more about these, enter the following words in a search on the internet: Words and Their Stories, VOA, Baseball. Let's repeat that. The search terms are Words and Their Stories, VOA, for Voice of America, and Baseball.

That will help you find a VOA Learning English article that explains all of the baseball expressions and gives more information about the sport. After Anna's computer, Mindy, brought her back to the right place, Anna was able to finish teaching about baseball. And then she asks Mindy to return her to what she calls her treehouse.

which in this scene is really a room at the office. Mindy, Mindy, we found the answer. It's time to return to the treehouse. Good job. That was fast. The end. Good job, Anna. You know, I still don't like children's shows, but I like this children's show.

In American culture, we often say positive, supportive things to people we work with. We call these statements compliments. An easy compliment to say is, good job. Good job. That was fast. Good job, Anna. Here are some other compliments we commonly say. That was thoughtful of you. Thanks. You are so helpful. I really appreciate it.

It's great having you on our team. Way to go. Nice job. I really like what you've done here, Andrew. Well, thank you. Now, here's something our listeners can do. Try to compliment someone you know in English. Then, you can write to us and tell us about it at learningenglishatvoanews.com.

And while Andrew and I don't need compliments, we do like to hear your comments and what you think about the lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast. 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 Andrew Smith. And I'm Dr. Jill.

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 Laura