Learning English Podcast - January 09, 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, Andrew Smith has a story about the world's oldest person. Jill Robbins reports on developments in the Roman Catholic Church. And Brian Lynn reports on concerns businesses on TikTok have about U.S. government efforts to ban the service. Then, the lesson of the day. But first...

Sister Ina Canabaro was born in 1908. She was six years old when the First World War began in 1914. The soccer-loving nun from Brazil is believed to be the world's oldest living person at 116 years old.

Longevic Quest is an organization that keeps records of people over 110 years old around the world. It released a statement on Saturday saying that Kanabaro is the world's oldest person having proof of early life records. Longevic Quest filmed a video of Kanabaro last February.

Cannabaro can be seen smiling, making jokes, and sharing small paintings she used to make of wildflowers. The video also shows her saying a Catholic prayer called the Hail Mary. I'm young, pretty, and friendly. All very good, positive qualities that you have too.

The nun told visitors to her retirement home in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre. Canabaro says the secret to her long life is her Catholic religious belief. Kleber Canabaro is her 84-year-old nephew.

he told the associated press that sister ina was so thin during childhood that many people worried that she would not live to be an adult her nephew spends time with her every saturday

He has been sending her voice messages between visits to help her feel better following two visits to the hospital that left her weak with difficulty talking. The other sisters say she gets a jolt when she hears my voice, he said. She gets excited.

Longevity Quest researchers say Canabaro was born on June 8, 1908, to a large family in southern Brazil. But her nephew said her birth was registered two weeks late and she was actually born on May 27. She started religious work when she was a teenager.

she spent two years in montevideo uruguay before moving to rio de janeiro she later settled in her home state of rio grande do sul canabaro taught school for most of her life one of her students was general joel

a military leader and politician who served as the 30th President of Brazil from 1979 to 1985. Sister Ina also started two marching bands at schools in two cities sharing the border between Uruguay and Brazil.

Pope Francis honored Cannavaro for her 110th birthday. She is the second oldest nun ever known, after Lucille Randon of France, who was the world's oldest person until her death in 2023 at the age of 118.

the local soccer club where canabaro lives is named in the club celebrates the birthday of its oldest fan every year her room is decorated with gifts in the team's red and white colors her nephew said white or black rich or poor whoever you are inter is the team of the people

Kanabaro said in one video posted on social media. The video shows her celebrating her 116th birthday with the club's president. Longevic Quest said Kanabaro became the oldest living person following the death of Japan's Tomiko Ituka in December.

She now ranks as the 20th oldest documented person to have ever lived. The organization says Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the age of 122, was the oldest documented person ever. I'm Andrew Smith. ♪

Pope Francis has named the first woman to lead a major office of the Roman Catholic Church. On Monday, he chose an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to head the department responsible for all the Church's religious orders. The appointment is the latest effort by Francis to give women more leadership positions in governing the Church.

in the past women have been named to secondary leadership positions in some church offices but the pope's latest appointment is the first time a woman has been named head of a department of the central governing body of the roman catholic church official media for the church reported sister simona brambilla is the first woman prefect in the vatican

a prefect is a chief government officer in the church since the vatican the place in rome where the church is headquartered is officially considered a country prefect leaders serve like officials in other governments the position held by the fifty nine year old brambilla is one of the most important in the church

It is officially known as the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. This means Brambilla is now responsible for every Catholic religious order churchwide. Pope Francis also named a male church official, Angel Fernandez Arteme, as a co-leader to Brambilla.

the reason for having a co-leader is that only men can lead religious services known as masses in the roman catholic church brambilla has been a member of the consolata missionaries religious order since last year she had served as secondary leader in the religious orders department

She will be replacing the current prefect, retiring Cardinal Joan Braz de Avige, who is 77 years old. Brambila is a nurse who worked as a missionary in Mozambique and led a religious order from 2011 to 2023. In 2023, Frances appointed her to be secretary of the religious orders department.

Francis made Brambila's appointment possible with reforms made in 2022 to the Church's founding Constitution. The changes permit individuals who are not authorized to lead church services, including women, to head a dicastery and become prefects. While the constitutional changes give women more possibilities to serve,

they are still not permitted to officially lead church services. Catholic women already do much of the church's work in schools and hospitals and teach many young members, but Francis has continued a long-time ban on women being local church leaders called priests. He also does not support women becoming deacons, a position just below a priest. However, under Pope Francis's leadership,

There has been a marked increase in the number of women working in church positions since he was elected in 2013. The Vatican News reports the percentage of women in leadership positions rose from 19.3% in 2013 to 23.4% today. Among the women holding high leadership positions are Sister Raffaella Petrini,

the first ever female secretary-general of the vatican city-state she is responsible for the territory's health care system police force and vatican museums another nun sister alessandra smirie is the second in command in the church's development office several other women have been appointed to under-secretary positions

These include a French nun, Sister Nathalie Beccard, who serves as an advisor to the Pope. I'm Jill Robbins. As the date nears for a possible U.S. ban on the video sharing service TikTok, some small companies are saying such a ban would hurt their business.

The U.S. Justice Department has ordered TikTok's China-based parent, ByteDance, to sell the social media app by January 19th or face the ban. Lawyers for ByteDance and TikTok have sought legal action to temporarily block the Justice Department's order.

The Supreme Court is expected to consider the matter in January. President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office January 20th, has asked the Supreme Court to delay a ban to permit solving the problem through political means.

U.S. officials have long warned that TikTok presents national security concerns. The government accuses ByteDance of sharing user data with China's government.

Critics have said China could also use TikTok to spread misinformation and that material published on the service can harm the mental health of young users. TikTok has repeatedly denied the accusations.

The company has said it sees the app as an important tool to support Americans' right to free speech. Industry experts have said a U.S. ban on TikTok could affect millions of small businesses that use the service to grow. TikTok launched in the United States in 2016.

Since then, many small business owners have been using it in different ways. These include marketing and advertising campaigns to introduce new products. Many companies also sell goods directly through the app.

TikTok's own estimates suggest small businesses currently using the service would lose more than $1 billion in revenue in a single month if the ban goes into effect. One example of how TikTok can be used to quickly grow a business is the experience of Desiree Hill,

She is the owner of Crown's Corner Mechanic in Conyers, Georgia. She told the Associated Press that sharing videos of her work on TikTok helped spread the word online about her business.

As a result, the app made her services so popular she was able to open her own shop with five employees 18 months ago. Every day I get at least two to three customers that have seen me on TikTok, watched my videos, and wanted to become a customer, Hill said.

If a ban on TikTok is established, many businesses would likely move to other services to reach customers. Instagram Reels, Snapchat, and YouTube Shorts are three possibilities. Many small companies already use those apps.

But business experts say it might be harder to get teens who have long used TikTok to start using other apps. The effects of a ban would be for them to build a strong base of customers who are willing to provide their contact emails or phone numbers.

That permits owners to reach out directly to users with new offers and other marketing messages. Hill, of Crown Corner Mechanics, worries that other services would not reach as many possible customers as TikTok.

she said she is already using youtube instagram and facebook but has not been getting the same results i am worried because there is no preparation for this hill told the a p

She added, if I lose TikTok, I will lose a large part of my business, or I will lose my ability to grow anymore. Crystal Lister uses TikTok for her business called Mommy and Me the Listers in Cypress, Texas.

The company offers interactive educational training in subjects including technology and science. Now she is seeking to move her offerings to YouTube and Instagram Reels, but says TikTok is easier to use.

It is going to be a challenge if TikTok is banned because we're losing kind of all the functionality you want, Lister said. These could include video creation methods and the ability to spread product details through social media.

So we'll have to use many other platforms to supplement what TikTok did in one. Brian Lynn VOA Learning English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English with Anna.

The new course aims to teach children American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information, visit our website, learningenglish.voanews.com. My name is Anna Mateo. And my name is Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. 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. This series shows Ana Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. The more you watch Let's Learn English, the more you will see that Ana is interested in many things. That's why Washington is a good place for her to live, because there are so many interesting things she can see and do.

That's true. There are a lot of interesting things in DC. But Ana can still get bored from time to time. Like in lesson 13. Let's listen. Hello! In Washington, DC, there are many things to do on a Sunday afternoon. I like to exercise. I like to shop. I like to garden. But today, I feel bored.

When I feel bored, I always look for something unusual to do. Anna talks about feeling bored, but then she does find something interesting. She finds a birthday party for the famous English playwright William Shakespeare. There are many things to do in Washington, D.C. Some usual, some unusual. Today, I am not bored because...

It is William Shakespeare's birthday. Sometimes it's the unusual things in Washington that help make it interesting. That's right. Anna never stays bored for very long. And of course, if something is interesting, it's not going to be boring. And what's boring to one person might be interesting to another person. That's true. And I hope none of our listeners think our podcast is boring.

How could that even be possible? But let's do this to keep our listeners interested. Today, Andrew and I are going to say a few sentences that are grammatically correct in English, but native speakers almost never say them. However, we have heard people learning English make a mistake by trying to say them. And we want you to try to answer this question.

Why don't native speakers say these things, even though there's nothing technically wrong with the grammar? See if you can spot the problem. Here are our examples. Example 1. I love watching Lionel Messi play soccer. When I watch his matches, I feel so exciting. Example 2. I am really boring in the afternoon when I am waiting for the bus.

So what was the problem with those sentences? If you said the problem was the ing endings on exciting and boring, you are correct. Now let's hear the correct version of the sentences. Example 1. I love watching Lionel Messi play soccer. When I watch his matches, I feel so excited. Example 2. I am really bored in the afternoon when I am waiting for the bus. Here's the key idea.

The -ing ending refers to the source, the thing that makes or produces the feeling in the person. And the -ed describes how you feel as a result of the source. In the two examples, the soccer matches and waiting for the bus are the source of the feelings.

Right. So the match is exciting, but the person who watches is excited. And waiting for the bus is boring, but the person who waits feels bored. So if someone says, "I feel so exciting," that means the person thinks they are making other people feel excited. Someone would only say that in special situations.

So a performer, like a famous singer, could actually say, I try to be an exciting performer because it's their job to make other people enjoy their music or their shows. But that's a special situation because they are indeed the source of the excitement. The rest of the people, the people watching the show, feel excited.

Now that you know that we use "ing" for what produces the feeling and "ed" for how people feel inside, we're going to use this in discussion. Jill, could you share an experience you've had that was very moving? I watched a performance this weekend that was called "200 Years of Soul Music."

with a storyteller and musicians and singers moving from African drumming through spirituals to hip-hop music. Through it all, the performers made a connection to African roots of the rhythms. I felt moved by the new understandings they opened up for the audience.

I think our listeners can understand that a moving experience is one that has a big effect on our emotions or feelings. So that's why you said, "I felt moved." Now here's a question for you, Andrew. What for you would be an intimidating situation? And have you ever been in one? Hmm. That's a good question.

Well, here's one that comes to mind. I've always wanted to learn how to surf. It looks like so much fun to ride the waves on the surfboard and the ocean. So I've tried it a few times. But I have to say, when you're in the water and you see a wave rise up like a wall that's about to break onto your head, it's intimidating. The ocean is powerful. So you felt intimidated.

I did, but not too much. I kept trying. And did you ever stand up on the surfboard? You know, I went surfing once, and I thought just lying on the surfboard through a big wave was a big accomplishment. I see what you mean. I did stand up, but only on smaller waves that were not so intimidating.

Intimidation is the noun form of this word. To intimidate means to produce fear or threaten. You're listening to the Learning English Podcast. Jill, here's a question for you and our listeners about Anna. What word does she usually say when she is excited about something? Oh, that's an easy one. She says, awesome, when she sees something interesting or exciting. Let's listen.

What is going on here? It's a big birthday party for the writer William Shakespeare. This is a party for William Shakespeare? Yeah! Awesome! It would be interesting to count the number of times she says that in the series. Well, maybe I'll let you try that. But before we end today's podcast, let's read a little chant about the words bored and boring. Are you ready? Ready.

Who's bored? I'm bored. You're bored. He's bored. She's bored. They're bored. In fact, we're all bored. Guess who's boring? I'm not boring. You're not boring. She's not boring. They're not boring. And we're not boring. I guess that means that nobody's boring. But I'm bored. You're boring? No, I said I'm bored.

Well, then let's learn with VOA. They're not boring. All right. Jill, that was a fun chant you made. I'll bet it kept our listeners interested. I hope so. We don't want to be boring. No, we don't. But you know what? A little boredom is okay. Sometimes we just need to rest and do nothing. My cat is very good at that. Yes, cats are the champions when it comes to relaxation.

So, whether you found our podcast interesting, boring, relaxing, or even confusing, thanks for listening to the Learning English Podcast. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. 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