 Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. 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 program, Katie Weaver reports on a prisoner exchange agreement made between the United States and Iran. Brian Lin has a story on Pope Francis' official meeting with Russia's new ambassador to the Vatican. Mario Ritter Jr. has this week's health and lifestyle report on the updated COVID-19 vaccine. Later, Andrew Smith and Joe Robbins present the English lesson of the day. But first, here is Katie Weaver. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that seven Americans have been released by Iran after the nations agreed to a prisoner exchange, also involving Qatar and South Korea. South Korea said on Monday it is working with the United States and Iran to release restrictions on $6 billion of frozen Iranian money. The U.S. is releasing the money as part of the prisoner exchange. The money is being transferred to Qatar. Then seven people with dual U.S. citizenship, who have been imprisoned or detained in Iran, are expected to leave Tehran for Doha. Officials told Reuters News Service that, from there, they will travel to the United States. Qatar mediated the deal during months of talks. In return, five Iranians detained in the U.S. will be released so they can travel to Iran. Iranian officials and Iran's state news agency have said one of those detainees is expected to remain in the United States. The exact timing of the transfer of the money has yet to be announced. The deal was first made public on August 10th, but the countries continue to disagree on many issues. They include Iran's nuclear program, Iran's effort to influence the Persian Gulf area, U.S. sanctions, and America's military presence in the Persian Gulf. South Korea is currently making efforts to ensure smooth progress of all procedures so that it will be resolved once and for all, the country's foreign ministry said in a statement. The U.S. dual citizens to be released include 51-year-old Siamak Namazi and 59-year-old Ahmad Shargi, both businessmen, and 67-year-old Marad Tabaz, an environmentalist. Tabaz also holds British nationality. Iran released them from prison and put them under house arrest last month. A fourth U.S. citizen was also released into house arrest, while a fifth was already under house arrest. Their identities have not been released. Iranian officials named the five Iranians to be released by the U.S. as Merdad Mohan Ansari, Kambiz Arar Kashani, Reza Saranpur Kafrani, Amin Hassan Zada, and Kave Afrasiyabi. Two Iranian officials said Afrasiyabi would remain in the United States. As a first step in the deal, the United States suspended sanctions to permit the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian money from South Korea to Qatar. The money had been blocked in South Korea, which is normally one of Iran's largest oil buyers because of U.S. sanctions. Under the agreement, Qatar agreed to monitor how Iran uses the money to ensure it goes to non-sanctioned humanitarian goods, like food and medicine. Qatar held at least eight sets of talks involving Iranian and U.S. negotiators. The negotiators worked from separate hotels. People told Reuters that they exchanged proposals through Qatari mediators. Earlier talks dealt mainly with the nuclear issue. Later, talks turned to the prisoner releases. I'm Katie Weaver. Pope Francis has officially welcomed Russia's new ambassador to the Vatican. The leader of the Roman Catholic Church met with Ambassador Ivan Sotunovsky Monday in Vatican City as the diplomat presented his official documents. Sotunovsky is replacing Ambassador Alexander Avdiv. Avdiv met with Francis in February 2022 at Russia's embassy in Rome, the day after Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Sotunovsky's visit came shortly after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the government was ready to meet again with the Catholic Church's Ukraine peace envoy Cardinal Mateo Zuppi. The Vatican is continuing its efforts. The papal envoy will come back to Russia soon, Lavrov said last Friday. He was speaking to a group of diplomats and ambassadors during a discussion about Ukraine in Moscow. Zuppi was appointed by Pope Francis in May. Since then, he has visited the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, as well as Moscow, Washington, D.C., and Beijing. At first, Zuppi's efforts seemed centered on a program that seeks to reunite Ukrainian children taken to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. However, the diplomat also discussed restarting grain exports from Ukraine's Black Sea ports during talks with Chinese officials in Beijing. When he returned to Italy, Zuppi said his talks in Beijing resulted in an important sharing of ideas. He also expressed hope about Lavrov's comments about a second visit. During a trip to Moscow in June, Zuppi met with Russia's Minister for Children's Rights Maria Vova-Belova and an advisor to President Vladimir Putin. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in late March for Vova-Belova and Putin. The court accused them of kidnapping children from Ukraine. Russian officials have denied organizing any forced adoptions during the war. Zuppi spoke to the TV 2000 broadcaster of the Italian Bishops' Conference over the weekend. He said Lavrov's openness to a second meeting was important because peace is made through dialogue and finding the possible and necessary spaces. France has followed the Holy See's tradition of neutrality in conflicts by trying to keep open paths of negotiation with both Ukraine and Russia. But some of the Pope's positions, as well as his interest in Russia's history and culture, have at times angered Ukraine, especially its Greek Catholic followers. I'm Brian Lin. American health officials say most people should get the updated COVID-19 vaccine this year. Last week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, approved the updated COVID-19 shots from Pfizer and its partner Biontech, as well as from Moderna. A third vaccine from Novavax remains under study. U.S. health officials approved the shots for adults and children as young as six months old. They said, starting at age five, most people can get a single shot even if they have never had a COVID-19 shot. Younger children might need more shots depending on their history of COVID-19 infections and vaccinations. CDC director Mandy Cohen said last month that she expects the COVID shots to be given yearly, like the flu vaccines. However, not all doctors agree that everyone needs them every year. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University, is an advisor to the CDC. He said, if you're six months of age or older, you should get a flu vaccine. Sounds good to me for COVID also. Another CDC advisor is Dr. Paul Offit, a University of Pennsylvania infectious disease expert. He said he believes the shots should be given yearly to high-risk groups. Studies have not shown the updated shots protect against disease in lower-risk populations, Offit said. In Britain, the British government's vaccine committee said only adults 65 and older and people at risk will be offered the shot as they are the most likely to benefit. Unlike last year's shot, which targeted both the original virus and the Omicron variant, the updated shot takes aim at an Omicron subvariant, named XBB-15. The drug companies added that early testing has shown that the updated shots work against the latest subvariant, BA-286. Officials from the World Health Organization, WHO, recently said BA-286 has already been identified in several countries, including the United States, Switzerland, South Africa, Israel, Denmark, and Britain. The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased, but WHO Director General Tedros Adonam Gabreusus said the new COVID-19 variants show that the virus remains a health threat around the world. The CDC said last month that only 42% of people said in a study that they would, or probably would, get the new vaccine. Yet only about 20% of American adults got an updated shot, called a booster, when it was offered a year ago. Doctors hope enough people will get vaccinated to help avoid another triple-demic like last year. At that time US hospitals said they had to deal with an early flu season, a rise in respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, and another sudden increase in coronavirus cases. This year hospitals in the US reported a small increase in COVID-19 patients over the summer, but the number was much smaller than the year before. Officials said early vaccinations or infections have helped prevent severe disease and death, but most Americans have not had a vaccination in about a year. The CDC says that people can get a yearly flu shot and the updated COVID shot at the same time. The agency says there is no difference in effectiveness or side effects. I'm Mario Ritter Jr. That was Mario Ritter Jr. with this week's health and lifestyle report. Mario joins me now to talk more about the story. Welcome back Mario. Nice to be here Dan. It looks like the updated COVID-19 vaccines are going to be available, and that they target a new variant of the virus. One question was in the report, it said starting at age five, most people can get a single shot even if they never had a COVID-19 shot. Could you explain why that is one of the directions given by health officials? Good question. I think this means that two vaccinations are no longer being called for generally, like it was in the early days of the pandemic. The direction appears to be saying only one shot is necessary rather than two, but of course it's important to ask your doctor. That in fact is part of the recommendations, because your physician is in a better position to know your health needs than a person who does not know you at all. Also, some of our listeners might never have heard the term triple-demic. Can you explain that a little? Sure Dan. Not too long ago, we had an everyday grammar program on combination words. Well, triple-demic is a combination of two words, triple and epidemic. Late last year, hospital workers reported a lot of cases of three sicknesses. The flu, which is a virus, a virus called RSV, and an increase in COVID-19 cases. That got reported as a triple-demic or triple epidemic. Got it. Yeah, it's definitely very important to get those vaccines. Thanks for joining me, Mario. My name is Anna Matteo. 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. The series shows Anna Matteo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. The more you watch Let's Learn English, the more you will see that Anna 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 D.C. But Anna can still get bored from time to time, like in Lesson 13. Let's listen. Hello. In Washington, D.C., 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 one. I love watching Lionel Messi play soccer. When I watch his matches, I feel so exciting. Example two. 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 one. I love watching Lionel Messi play soccer. When I watch his matches, I feel so excited. Example two. 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? 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? Yes! Awesome! 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. Your 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 the away. 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 program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak.