Learning English Podcast - January 07, 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, Jill Robbins has a story about Buddhist nuns in Nepal.

Then, Ana Mateo presents the Health and Lifestyle Report. She tells about the possible benefits of using weighted blankets. And we close our show with the lesson of the day. But first, we have this report from my co-host, Mario.

The impeachment late last month of South Korea's acting president, Han Deok-soo, has deepened political division in the country. He had replaced President Yun Suk-yeol, who was impeached earlier in December. Two impeachments, suspending the country's top two officials in a short period of time, has never happened before in South Korea.

now the deputy prime minister and finance minister choe sung mok is the new temporary leader when he took power choe quickly ordered the military to increase readiness in the event of an act of aggression by north korea diplomats communicated with important partners including the united states and japan

Do Yeon Kim is an expert with the Center for a New American Security in Washington, D.C. Kim said, Han's impeachment now creates an opportunity for external threats. Before Yoon declared martial law on December 3rd, Han Deok-soo was the prime minister and the second highest official in South Korea.

Lawmakers impeached Yoon on December 14th over his martial law order. Han tried to ease the concerns of South Korea's major diplomatic partners and to calm its financial markets. However, he became involved in a political dispute with the opposition Democratic Party, or DP.

d p law makers demanded that hahn immediately appoint three justices to seats on the constitutional court to rule on yun's impeachment the court normally has nine justices currently three seats remain open hahn refused to fill the open seats

he said he would not appoint justices without the approval of both the dp and the governing people power party or ppp is director of the institute of presidential leadership based in seoul he said han lacked a good reason not to appoint the justices

but troy said the dp should not have moved to impeach han so quickly han's impeachment came as south korean officials told international partners that the situation was returning to normal officials in japan europe and the united states had been surprised by yoon's declaration of martial law

do yon kim said south korea is now in a far more serious crisis of leadership and governance adding that han had the experience and credentials to deal with both security and financial crises kim expressed concern that the leadership situation would harm the economy culture and industry

the governing party argues that hahn's impeachment is invalid because it is based on a simple majority of the three hundred member national assembly the ppp says a two-thirds majority is necessary it has brought a case before the constitutional court to consider the impeachment vote of

the constitutional court has one hundred eighty days to decide on the legality of both impeachments hahn called his impeachment regrettable but said he respects the assembly's decision if yune is ousted then a national election must take place within sixty days

yun faces several separate investigations into possible wrongdoing linked to his martial law declaration dp leader e j myung is favored to win a possible presidential election however e faces legal cases as well he was found guilty of election law violations in november

he is appealing the ruling. If he becomes president, his trials would be suspended because South Korean law does not permit a sitting president to face legal action for most crimes. I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. Buddhist nuns in Nepal are once again performing martial arts for the public.

after a five-year break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The women recently put on a show for onlookers at their religious community, called a monastery, outside the capital, Kathmandu. The performance was attended by reporters from Reuters news agency. Members of the hilltop Druk Amitabha Monastery are part of the 1,000-year-old Drukpa religious organization.

The group gives nuns equal status to male community members called monks. The Drukpa lineage includes the only female order in the male-led Buddhist monastery system. The nun community was established in 2009 and now has 300 members between the ages of 6 and 54. The nuns come from Bhutan, India, and Nepal.

They are all trained in Kung Fu, the ancient Chinese-style martial art that promotes self-defense and strength. In their recent performance, the nuns were seen moving their hands quickly and kicking their legs high, with some holding swords. Hundreds of people gathered to watch the performance and cheered the group on.

Usually, such religious organizations expect nuns to cook and clean and not practice any form of martial arts. But one monk, Gyalvang Drupad, decided to train women in Kung Fu to improve their health and spiritual well-being. He has a position just slightly below the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist leadership.

Jigme Janghub Chostan is a 23-year-old nun who came from Ladakh in India. She told Reuters, We do Kung Fu to keep ourselves mentally and physically fit, and our aim is to promote women's empowerment and gender equality. Another performer was 24-year-old Jigme Yangchang Gamal, a nun from Ramachap in Nepal.

She said, with the confidence from Kung Fu, I really want to help the community, young girls, to build their own strength. The nun's website explains that the combination of gender equality, physical strength, and respect for all living things represents the Order's return to its true spiritual roots.

In the past, the nuns have traveled long distances on foot and by bike in the Himalayas to raise money for disaster relief and to promote environment-friendly living. Another member of the group is Jigme Khonsokulamo, a 30-year-old nun from India. She said her main goal for the future is to reach enlightenment, like Lord Buddha.

who founded Buddhism 2,600 years ago. She added, "But for now, as I am a normal person, I think I will be focusing more on helping others. Helping others is our religion." I'm Jill Robbins. From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle Report. When her husband gave her a weighted blanket to help her sleep,

Rhonda James did not think it would work. In other words, she was skeptical. But five minutes after covering herself with the blanket, she was asleep. It felt like a really big hug, said James. She is a banker who lives in Charleston, South Carolina. As temperatures drop, a weighted blanket can be a popular choice to help you keep warm.

But some people say the extra pressure of the cover also helps to ease their worries and fall asleep faster. However, research on the effectiveness of weighted blankets is limited. The Associated Press recently reported on what is known about weighted blankets.

Weighted blankets are filled with small glass balls, cotton, or another filling. This makes them heavier than usual blankets. Scientists may not know exactly how the blankets comfort, but they have a few ideas.

The heavy, even feeling from a weighted blanket may calm the brain's fight-or-flight response, said Dr. Neil Walia. He is a sleep medicine expert at University of California, Los Angeles Health. He said, the evenly distributed weight on you tells your body you are in a calm environment.

The extra pressure may also cause the brain to release the hormone oxytocin. Sometimes called the love hormone, the body creates oxytocin during loving moments, such as hugging. Oxytocin can also lower anxiety, Walia said.

For most healthy adults, experts say to choose a blanket that is about 10% of your body weight. However, the blankets are not good for everyone. For example, some people may find them too hot to use, especially during warmer weather. People with breathing problems or disorders such as sleep apnea

should check with a doctor before using a weighted blanket. Experts say to not use weighted blankets for children under three years old. The weight can limit their movement and breathing. Some people may not be able to buy them. They can be costly. A quality weighted blanket can cost between $50 to over $300.

This depends on the size, weight, and material. Some people use them for other reasons than sleep. Rhonda James gets under her blanket to relax as she watches television or drinks a glass of wine. Lucy Taylor, a writer from Wales, also uses a weighted blanket. Her anxiety increases during the winter.

so she uses her blanket during cold months to fall asleep. She says when her body is relaxed, her mind relaxes too. There is little scientific research on whether weighted blankets help with sleep, anxiety, or other health issues. The studies that exist involve small groups of people.

and most of the study subjects are people with conditions including sleep problems, long-term pain, and mental and developmental disorders. A study on 120 people with insomnia and inability to get enough sleep found that the weighted blankets helped them sleep better compared to a light blanket.

Another study considered 67 children with the developmental and brain disorder autism. That research found that weighted blankets did not affect the children's sleep at all. However, it also found that the study subjects liked the weighted blankets more than non-weighted blankets. A third study on 94 adults with chronic pain

found that a heavier weighted blanket did not affect sleep, but it was better at reducing pain than a lighter blanket. So there is not much scientific evidence to support health improvement claims about weighted blankets. However, in most cases, they cannot hurt, sleep experts say.

Dr. Daniel Barone is a sleep medicine expert at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. He suggests the use of weighted blankets to his patients after they try other traditional treatments and medicines. If it doesn't hurt, and it may help, it's worth a shot, he said. And that's the Health and Lifestyle Report. I'm Ana Mateo.

My name is Anna Mateo. And my name is Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. You're listening to 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 Anna Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Anna has recently moved to Washington, D.C.,

It is a new experience for her. She is excited to live in the capital of the United States, but she also misses her hometown and family who live many hours away. Let's hear Anna talk about that with her friend Marsha in Lesson 12 of Let's Learn English. Listen carefully for the expression Anna uses for the feeling of missing home. Hello!

Washington, D.C. has many beautiful parks. In fact, this park reminds me of my home very far away. Anna, here's your coffee. Thanks, Marsha. What's wrong? I'm talking about my family. I'm feeling homesick. Ah, yes, feeling homesick. I've had that feeling a few times in my life. It's a feeling that can sometimes be difficult.

I agree. I think feeling homesick is more than just missing your home and family a little bit. It's something that hits you much more strongly. That's right. I think a good word to describe it is yearning. That's spelled Y-E-A-R-N-I-N-G.

A yearning is a noun and means a strong desire for something, often for something that you can't reach. And the verb form of this word is to yearn for. And another word that means the same thing is longing. We can say we have a longing for something we strongly desire, but that we can't have or can't reach.

And the verb form of this word is to long for. So, if you long for home, it means you miss it a lot. And that's feeling homesick. Have you ever felt homesick, Jill? Yeah, one summer I was working in China, in Chengdu. I was getting kind of homesick, and while I was walking around the city, I ran into this cute little cafe that was just like an American coffee shop.

I ordered a drink and sat down and saw they were even playing American videos on their TV. I started talking with the owner and I felt much less homesick. It was like a little bit of the U.S. in the middle of Chengdu. Yeah, well, that makes sense. I think when you get to see something familiar with your own home culture, that will help you feel less homesick.

And, you know, it's also interesting that even a positive thing like the parks in Washington, D.C. can make Anna homesick. That's because they remind her of home. Let's listen to Anna say that one more time. Hello. Washington, D.C. has many beautiful parks. In fact, this park reminds me of my home very far away.

Jill, remind me to tell our listeners what podcast they are listening to. Okay, I'll remind you now. Andrew, remember to tell our listeners what podcast they're listening to. You're listening to the Learning English Podcast. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. In English, we remind someone to do something.

But a thing can remind us of something else. That's right. People learning English need to remember to include the preposition of. So the order of words to follow is remind plus the person plus the preposition of. Like remind him of, remind her of, remind them of, or remind.

Remind Anna of. Remind Jill of. Remind someone of. That's right. The word also has a noun form. For that, we say a reminder. A reminder is something we use to help us remember. Like reminders on your phone. Right. I have to put everything on my phone to remember it nowadays. My phone is my memory.

So you would be really lost if you lost your phone. No, I think I'd take a vacation. Well, also, a reminder can simply be something we see or experience that makes us remember or think about something. And if it's a very negative reminder, we have a special expression. We say a sober reminder of something.

Can you give an example, Andrew? Sure. When we see a bad car accident, that is a sober reminder of how dangerous it can be to drive. In this case, the word sober means serious and causing worry. So, Jill, coming back to the topic of feeling homesick, do you have any advice for how people can deal with it?

I think if people keep themselves busy and get involved with people in their new place, they will usually feel less homesick. You'll probably find that the people are just as nice there as the people back home. And the good thing about homesickness is that it usually doesn't last too long. After a while, it wears off.

That's true. It does wear off, which means it disappears after a certain amount of time. I remember that once I felt really homesick for just a few hours, but then only a day or two later, the feeling was mostly gone. Yeah, sometimes homesickness can wear off quickly.

However, if someone continues to yearn for home or long for home for a long time, we could say they have chronic homesickness. Ah, yeah. Chronic, spelled C-H-R-O-N-I-C, describes something that lasts for a very long time and keeps happening again and again. In that case, it doesn't wear off.

I'm Andrew Smith, and you're listening to the Learning English Podcast. Jill, we should explain to our listeners that the phrasal verb wear off can be used for both physical objects and for what we feel inside. Oh, yeah. For example, the paint on a car can slowly wear off over many years, especially if it has been sitting in the sun.

But the phrasal verb wear off is used more for things like feelings or for the effects of food or medicine. Like the effect of a drug wears off over time. And the best cure for homesickness is to visit home. And depending on your family, you just might be happy to travel again afterwards. We do love our families.

And when Anna talked about feeling homesick, she shared photos of her family with Marsha. Several times, Marsha asked Anna to explain a bit about what her family members do. Let's listen. This is my mother and this is my father. They are rodeo clowns. What do rodeo clowns do?

They make jokes at a rodeo. People laugh. That's very different. Who is that woman in the picture? That is my Aunt Lavender. She is my mom's sister. She loves gardening and makes spoons. She makes spoons? Of course. That, too, is very different. This is my Uncle John. He is my father's brother.

That's some family she has there. In American culture, asking about what kind of work people do is very common.

At a social gathering, when Americans first meet a new person, often one of the first questions they ask is, what do you do? Or what kind of work do you do? That's right. Sometimes Americans will talk about their job first and then talk about where they are from or about their family. I guess Americans really like their jobs. Yeah.

Well, maybe. Or maybe they just like talking about them. For some reason, it's just one of the first things Americans usually talk about when they meet new people. That sounds like something a cultural anthropologist could tell us more about. Yeah, I think so, because anthropologists study human culture. That gives me an idea for a guest we could invite to our podcast.

I was just thinking the same thing. But even if we can't find a cultural anthropologist, there are still a lot of things our listeners can learn about American language and culture in the series Let's Learn English. That's right. And we hope you've enjoyed today's lesson 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