Practice English Listening A2 Exercises – Me and my life

Hi, my name’s Kate Mori and I’m from Ottawa in Canada. I live with my husband, Masao, and, er, we have a cat. I’m a teacher. I work in a kindergarten. I speak English and French, and right now I’m studying Japanese, and slowly making progress! Er, I also study art history at night school once a week. Erm, I’m really interested in art, especially certain Canadian artists like Frank Johnston, so when I have the time, I like visiting the art galleries we have round here. Erm, Masao’s interested in art too so we usually go together. What else? Well, sometimes I play tennis with my brother. He lives near me. And in the winter I go skating on the canal, which is a typical Ottawa thing to do!

A

Japanese

Her husband is from Japan. She wants to talk / have a real conversation with his family.

B

She goes to a class.

She can’t concentrate at home.

INTERVIEWER   So Kate, why are you learning Japanese?

KATE   Well, last year I got married to Masao. He’s from Japan.

I   Congratulations.

K   Thanks. So now I’m learning because I really want to talk with my husband’s family, his parents and so on. They don’t speak English …

I   And you don’t speak Japanese?

K   Well, I can say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’, but I’d like to have a real conversation with them.

I   Hm, so, does Masao teach you?

K   No. He tried to give me some lessons but I just can’t study at home. I can’t concentrate.

I   OK, so what do you do?

K   Well, I didn’t want to stop studying, so I started going to classes.

A

Kemal: Spanish – for fun.

Sun-Hi: English – for work.

B

Kemal: He wants to watch Spanish films and go to Spain. (He reads things on the Internet and magazines in Spanish.)

Sun-Hi: She wants to practise writing in English. (She talks to visitors in English and writes emails in English.)

INTERVIEWER   So Kemal, you’re at university?

KEMAL   Er, yes, I’m studying chemistry, but I also have Spanish lessons twice a week.

I   Spanish?

K   Yeah.

I   And why is that?

K   Because I like it.

I   OK.

K   You know, I’ve always liked learning languages. I sometimes need English for my studies but Spanish is my hobby, I guess. I like reading in Spanish.

I   You mean books?

K   Not books, no, but er, you know, things on the Internet, sometimes magazines. And I love Spanish cinema. One day I want to watch Spanish films without the subtitles.

I   Have you ever been to Spain?

K   Actually, no.

I   Ah.

K   I’d really like to go to Spain, of course, but maybe after I finish my studies here.

I   So Sun-Hi, you’re learning English.

SUN-HI   Yes, I have a job with a large international company in Seoul, so I need English for my work

I   Hm, do you travel a lot?

S   No, I don’t need English for travel so much but, er, we have a lot of English-speaking visitors from other countries, especially Australia.

I   Ah, I see.

S   So I always talk to them in English. Of course we have a lot of visitors from other places too.

I   Sure.

S   Europe, other countries in Asia, but we usually speak in English.

I   What about writing?

S   Well, yes, my speaking’s OK but I need to practise my writing. I read and write a lot of emails in English but it takes me a long time.