 Hello and welcome to talk to us. I'm Avi Arditi and I'm Carolyn Pursuti from Voice of America. Good to have you with us today and we're taking calls on Skype and we're talking right now to Jamal who is from Sudan But going to University in India. Hi Jamal Hello Why don't you tell us a little bit about what you're studying in India? I'm studying a Bachelor of Computer Science in M.S. University in India. And what year are you Jamal? Did you just start or are you almost ready to graduate? No, no, yes I am. I graduated next year, so now I'm in second year, so almost three years. What kind of job do you want to do with computers once you have the degree? Yeah, yeah. When I finish my degree, I want to be a network engineer. Will you stay in India? Yeah, I will stay in India. No, no, I will leave India to my country when I finish my course. Oh, so you will go back. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So what part of Sudan are you from? I'm from Darfur, you know Darfur? In the West, certainly. In the news a lot. In West Sudan. How are things there? Do you keep in touch with your family in Darfur? Yeah. How are things? Why don't you tell us what's life in Darfur like right now? Life is very bad because you know there's some political problem in my country. Yeah, yeah, because the life is very bad and it's very dangerous. Because you know there's some fighting going between government and movement. Do you have a lot of people your age who have gone to school in India? Yes, sir. A lot of Sudanese. Sudanese, right. Are there other Sudanese in school with you? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's many Sudanese. This is a popular university for Sudanese to go to? Sorry. Your university is popular for Sudanese to go to? Is that how you found out about it? Kids, you kids. Because I think there's some... Okay, we'll talk to you. Okay, Jamal. Well thanks for calling. We're going to go to our next call is... Hi. Hi, Breeze. Hi, Breeze. Yes, I'm Breeze from Thailand. Oh, hi. Did you say you're calling from Thailand? Yes, I'm from Chiang Mai, Thailand, the north of Thailand. Welcome. Good to talk to you. I know you're excited to talk to us too. Yeah, I'm so excited now. What do you do? Are you a student or do you work? Yes, I am a student. What are you studying? Yes, actually, I'm my major. My major is English in Faculty of Education. Maybe you could say I'm going to be a teacher. Oh, great. Well, this is perfect for you to practice on our Skype show. Yeah. I've been waiting for a long time for Skype with you guys. Well, tell me. How do you practice your English ordinarily? What advice? We hear this a lot from callers. They want to know how to practice their English. What do you do to use your English? Do you talk to American or Western friends? How do you practice? When I was high school, I thought that my English was not good. When I entered to university, I learned a lot. I speak a lot with my friends. The important thing that I use for improving my English is the internet, the website, YouTube, everything that I can listen to, I can follow them. It will be interesting for you to incorporate the internet into your teaching. Sure. When you end up teaching English, because that's something very new, learning English through the internet. I would think that your professors didn't do that. But you can be the next generation. Well, Breeze, listen, good luck to you. And it was nice talking to you. Love your name, Breeze. Take care. Bye-bye. We're going to go to Arman. Hi, Arman. Hi, that looks good. Good morning. Is that you in the photo on Skype there with the huge muscles? Those are your muscles? Who is that? I'm from Afghanistan. I'm from Afghanistan. Yeah, this is my Skype there. I'm from Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Welcome. You know, we had time. Arman, are you aware that there is a documentary that is up for an Oscar that was shot in Afghanistan? It is. Yeah. You know, we have our... The voice is cutting down. Oh. Oh, all right. We'll try to see that. Well, it's... Yeah, the booze kashi boys. Right. That's right. It was produced in Afghanistan and the U.S. And we can talk about the Oscars. We're going to go now to Majid, looks like. Hello, Majid. Hello, Majid. Hello. Hi. Can you hear us? Hello, Majid. Hello. Hi. Can you hear us? Maybe not. Hello. Last chance. Okay. We're going to try calling you back. Let's see here. What do I do? Try Arman from Afghanistan. Yeah. Let's try Arman back again. Arman, can we call you back to try to get a better signal? Yeah. Let's try to call you back. Okay. Let's do that and see. Let's put that. We're going to cancel that call. How do you find Arman? Oh, there he is. Okay. So he just appears there. All right. We're going to try getting a hold of Arman again. Yeah. Well, we can also talk to Amir's Corp. We're going to get through to us. Do you want? Yeah. Let's see. Yeah. Every once in a while, we have some technical problems with Skype calls here. We're either too many coming in and then... And then nothing. Yeah. Well, okay. Here we go. We're going to try Shwan who called us a moment ago. Okay. Let's see if Shwan... It's a unique picture too. A lot of different... A nice Skype icon calls. Okay. We're going to try Arman one more time. Arman, are you there? Okay. Hello. Anybody? Oh, there you are. Oh, well. There you are for real, instead of just your icon. You have movie actor looks. Are you an actor? Can you hear me? Yeah. Can you hear us? We are complimenting... I don't know what the problem is. Oh, no. Coming down. Oh, well. So sorry. It's too bad. Okay. Trust me. I'd love to talk to you. All right. Arman. We're complimenting you. We aren't making fun. Trust me. Who do we have here? Shwan. Shwan. Hello. Hello. Hi. Hi, Shwan. Yes. Can you hear me? We can hear you. Yes. Where are you calling from? Oh, I'm from Vietnam. Vietnam. Yes. Excellent. I was there on a short visit in 1990. I remember. 1990. In Hanoi. Oh, so long time ago. Long time ago. You need to go back. Yeah. I need to go. Of course. It's changed a lot. What part of the country do you live in? I'm living in Hanoi. Okay. Yeah. Shwan, I understand that Vietnam is after a lot of American tourists. You really want the Americans to come visit. Do you work in the tourism industry? Is that your job? No. I'm working for a social organization. What kind of work does the social organization do? I'm working for Hanoi Association of People with Disability. I am a social worker. Excellent. Good job. Very rewarding. Yes. Thank you. Very hard. Tell us about, because actually in special English we're going to be doing some stories about disability, how people with disabilities get on with life in the U.S. We have an Americans with Disabilities Act. It's a law that is meant to ensure rights for the disabled. Tell us a little bit about what is life like for people with disabilities in Vietnam? Actually I'm working for, we are running a project for it by the Denmark. And we focus on raising awareness of people with disability rights and duty. Moreover, we are, you know, other women, Vietnamese state, Vietnamese government have a lot of policy and laws so that can help people with disability overcome their difficulty and have life better in Vietnam. Well said. Joanne, do you mean physical disabilities or mental disability? Both. Both. Both. All kinds of disabilities. Excellent. Excellent. Thank you for calling and good luck with your work. We're going to go to Dao. Did I say that right? Hello, can you hear us? Hello. Good to see you. Where are you calling from? I'm from Vietnam. Okay. We just had a call from Vietnam. You sound very young. Yes. 20 years old. I'm sorry, hello again? I'm 20 years old. 20 years old. Are you in school? Yes. Where do you live in Vietnam? I live in Hanoi. Hanoi? Yes. There's a controversial news story that we have going on with Vietnam and that is if Vietnamese eat a lot of beef or not. And there was someone that wrote an article in the New York Times that said that Vietnam is very violent because the people eat beef. And so of course everybody is saying, no, that's not true. A lot of Vietnamese eat vegetables, fish, whatever. What do you like? It's the first I've heard of that. What do you eat beef for? Are you vegetarian? I'm sorry. That's fine. You're learning English. This is kind of a complex. I'll have to look up the story in the New York Times. But Dao, thank you for calling. Thank you, Dao. And we're going to, I see we had a call from, I'm going to try this person here. Let's see if we can get through to this caller. Okay. Actually, we'll take a call from Tanya. Hi, Tanya. Hi, Tanya. I love your icon. Can you hear us? Oh, there you are. Is that you, Tanya? Speak up a little louder, please. Hello? Can you hear me now? A little louder. If you could turn your microphone up. Okay. Hello, my name is Tanya. Oh, very good now. Where are you from, Tanya? I'm from Nicaragua. Nicaragua. I'm visiting Nicaragua in a couple weeks. Really? Why? I'm jealous. You're going to like it. Where are you, which city do you live in? Which city in Nicaragua? I'm living in Manawa. In Nicaragua. Yes. We will be going to... That's the capital of our country. Yes. Yes. We're going to Granada. Oh, Granada. Oh, that's amazing. I mean, you're going to love other architectural structures in the place. It's amazing. It's an amazing place, especially for making the reason. I'll be visiting a couple schools there in Granada. Okay. What do you do, Tanya? Are you in school or do you work? Actually, I'm finishing all the university. I'm just finishing my thesis. So that's the last thing I have to do. I'm studying English, too. Your English is excellent. You must be getting an A in English. Thank you. Is there a binational center in Managua? The educational institution is called the Binational Centers that work with the State Department. Do you have one of those there? Well, there is an institution called Cornerstone. That's the School of English. So the prices are really low. So I'm learning English in the school. And universities. So, well, there are many universities in here. Public and private universities. So we can have education. And what do you want to do when you graduate? Well, when I graduate, I want to work. I mean, it's something related with my career. And I would like to have my own business after I finish all this, after I work there for a short time, and having my own business. Well, who is that we're hearing in the background, if I might ask. It's always fun when we hear kids in the back. Is that someone related to you? Oh, yeah. There's some kids and some people here. Just some kids. Well, Tanya, it was nice talking to you. And maybe you'll. Yes, I may see you on the street. That's right. So take care. Okay, bye bye. Bye bye. Okay, we are going to. Let's see here if we can get a hold of. Najim, who tried calling us when we were talking to Tanya. It's very high tech, right? I'm reaching over to my laptop here. I'm sorry. And it's live. It's live. It's exactly what's meant to be. Hi, Najim. Are you there? Let's see. It's ringing. Okay. Well, I think we have Najim with us. Hello, Najim. Can you hear us? Hello. It's interesting you hear a little bit in the background, but you're not sure if it's. That's right. That's right. Or if it's just. Okay, we're going to try. This color tried calling us. Looks like a. Well, to see what that drawing is. But. In the tree of life. Could be. Or maybe it's anatomy. It could be somebody. You know, we can talk to three people at once. Right. And we take multiple calls here. Like the conference calls. Right. Well. Maybe. Okay. So. All right. So you're going to Nicaragua. You're going to be. 10 days. You're going to be speaking at two schools. You say. One main school and volunteering. Volunteering time. So it's a long time in Nicaragua. But it'll be great. All right. I've never been there. You have to do several Central American countries, but not Nicaragua. So. So. We can. Hold this. Okay. Wait. No. Looks like. Like. Hello. Can you. That's me. I'm here. Hello. I will call you back. Oh, wait. Okay. Okay. Is this cutter? No, no. It's a summer. Oh, okay. Well here. Why don't we just talk right now? It sounds like we're. Whoops. I think. I think we've actually created a conference. Yeah. Should I call you back? No, no. It's fine. We'll talk to both of you. So tell us. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where do you live? I'm from Pakistan. It's third time. I'm talking to you. And it's always good to talk with your people. Yeah. It's great. Pakistan has some amazing news today. I understand. I think. I think. It's great. Pakistan has some amazing news today. I understand your stock market closed way up. Amazing. If you, if you make money on that, if you're invested in the stock market. No, no, I'm, you know, I'm not interested. I'm not interested in, you know, economics. I'm not of that type of economics. What is your. Much of my interest, much of my interest is in, you know, politics and Pakistan's political situation. It's, you know, getting weird and weird with the passage of time. We are tired of this corrupt government, you know, they don't care about their people. They're just busy in making money. And, you know, every politician have Swiss accounts. My God. Terrorism. People are killing. And, you know, sectarian violence. And you might have heard about, you know, sectarian bomb blast in Kuwait. And 89 people got killed. Oh my God. I know they were. We've been following the news. Now you say you're interested in politics. Is that your job? Or are you studying politics? Oh, exactly. That's a good question. Actually, you know, you know, in Pakistan, if you want to be a bureaucrat, if you want to be a part of bureaucracy, so you have to pass an exam. It's called CSS, Central Superior Services of Pakistan. So that subject, that subject includes your grip, your command and current affairs, and subjects like that. Makes you a very knowledgeable person. And, you know, you feel different from other people. Have you passed? And for your, you know, I read subject history of you. It's a great subject, you know, to learn about the history of you people. So it's great, you know. So have you passed that exam? No. Tomorrow is my first exam. Oh, good luck. You must, let's see. What time is it there right now? It's 9.49 p.m. Shouldn't you be asleep? I mean, you know, are you still studying for the time? Are you cramming? No, it's no, you know, it's your tactics. It's your, it's your tactics. It's your, it depends upon your academic background. It's because, you know, you need to learn some tactics because tomorrow is my essay writing paper and another is for English grammar, English composition, so, you know. You're very good at English. You should do well at that. Oh, thank you. And you know what? You know what? You know, it's always a great good experience to talk with someone who is native speaker to learn English from the one who is native speaker because, you know, after my death exams I would appear for my IELTS test. You know IELTS? Oh, the IELTS, sure, sure. Yeah, IELTS, yes. And that's why we have the show. That's right. So you can speak with us. Gives you a chance to practice. Well, good luck on your test tomorrow. So, take care. Do well. We'll talk to you again soon. Okay, we're going now to Salehi. Salehi. Are you there? Beautiful picture of a little girl there. Cute picture. Yeah. Okay, maybe let's try that. Let's see if we can try her back. See if we get through there. If not, we are going to take a call from Nicaragua. Nice to see you. Nice to see you. Where are you? Ecuador. Ecuador. We just had a call from Nicaragua. Really? Yes. Yes. So what do you do in Ecuador? I study geology. Geology. Oh, geology. Yeah. Have you been to the Galapagos Islands? Yeah. I've been to the Galapagos Islands. I've been to the Galapagos Islands. I've been to the Galapagos Islands. I've been to the Galapagos Islands. Galapagos Islands? No. Ah, that would be a great place to study geology too, right? Yeah. Right off your coast. Have you been following the news about the Mars, the rover on Mars? It's doing the collecting the geological samples. You've been seeing about that in the news. Maybe that's big news in the geology world. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Geology is about meaning petroleum. Oh, sure. Right. That's good. What year are you? Sorry? First year student, second year student. I'm in the last level. Last level. Senior, you mean or master's degree? Yeah. I'm looking for a master's degree in the United States. Oh, excellent. Excellent. There are some. My roommate in college started out as a geology. Well, no. I see. He started out computer science, electrical engineering, and then switched to geology and then became a chiropractor. Yeah. I know. I know. Do you understand the term chiropractor? Do you know what that is? It's a doctor who works with your back and bones. And tries to readjust your bones a certain way. Well, we are getting a lot of calls coming in all of a sudden. So it was nice talking to you and good luck with that. Good luck. Completing your studies. We're going to go to Samo. Hi. Hi. Hello. Hello, Samo. Hello. Where are you? I am from Algeria. I like your picture. Your picture has an umbrella and beautiful blue skies with clouds. Yeah. Is that you in the picture? What? Is that you in that picture? Holding or someone you know with an umbrella is your Skype photo. I don't understand. Speak slowly because I am beginner, right? Sure. Sure. We can speak slowly. Your picture has an umbrella. Looks like a woman holding an umbrella against a blue sky. Yeah. Who is that? Just picture. I don't know. Oh, he just chose the picture. So what do you do in Algeria? Do you work or do you go to school? I am student. What do you study? Study English language. Oh, good. Beginning? Yeah. First year? Second year? Yeah. Yeah, first. First year? Good. Yeah. Good. I like your page on Facebook. I'm glad you do. Thank you. Thank you for visiting. Yeah. Why did you choose English to study? I love it. Why? Why? Do you need a reason? I'll say it is a nice language. Okay. Great. Well, Samo is nice. Thank you for calling us. Nice calling. Nice talking to you. We've got a few other callers trying to get through here. Let's take a call from Gazelle. Hello. Hello, Gazelle. Hi, Gazelle. Where are you calling from? I'm calling from Germany. Germany. Very interesting picture you have on Skype. Is that you in the photo? Yes. Okay. What do you do in Germany? I'm studying. Actually, I come from Iran. But I live in Germany. I study. What subject are you studying? I study at school. So the normal lessons. You aren't in college. You mean like you're studying general subjects right now for your undergraduate? Yes. In high school. In the gymnasium. Oh. Okay. That's why she doesn't know. I see. Okay. You're younger than I thought you were in college or university. Why did you move or when did you move from Iran to Germany? For two years. And yes. And I started to learn German. And because of that, it's really hard for me to speak English because always the German walls come to my head. Yes. Well, but there's a lot of, well, I'm trying to think here from the linguistics that the, I mean, it's, I think there's enough similarity that it might not, you know, it might not be so different to the English and the German, you know, the Germanic influence on English. And I know some German words are very long, right? Yes. They form compound words that we don't do in English. But. Yes. And you sneeze. We say that. That's true. You sneeze. We say, yeah. But so how do you, how do you like it? Have you made a lot of friends in Germany? Yes, I did. And it's a little different from Iran because in Europe, I don't know how is it in America, but I think the people are more friendlier. But here it's, they are not so friendly, but they are good people. So it's a little hard in big naming us to have a friendship with them. But now is it easier? Yes. Do you think the older people in Germany are friendlier or your high school comrades are friendly? What do you mean? I mean, do you find that younger people are friendlier to you, younger Germans or older ones? I think younger ones. And I don't have any problem anymore. So yes, because at the beginning there were different cultures and I wanted something else, but now it's really good. So I integrate myself and it's really easier. Very good. Big word too. That's right. Well, you did well putting that into a sentence. Good luck to you. Good luck to you. It was nice. Thank you for calling in. And good luck with your studies. So we're going to talk to Pedro. Pedro, can you hear us? There we go. Hi, Pedro. Can you hear us? We see you. Okay. We're going to let's see. He had a big smile on his face on his picture. Sung. Hi, Sung. Hello. Okay. We're going to go to Mohammed. Mohammed can you hear us? Mohammed, can you hear us? Yes. Yes. Hello. This is Mohammed. Mohammed, we spoke with you before, didn't we? Have we spoken to you before? Yes. Yes. I think in last week. Yes. For Valentine's Day. Okay. Very good. Did you have a good Valentine's Day? I don't know. I don't remember what it said. Okay, Mohammed. Well, we've got several other people trying to call here. Thank you for calling and we'll talk to you again soon. We're going to go to Mustafa. Hello. How are you? Hi, I'm Mustafa. We're fine. Thanks. Good. Thanks for calling. How are you? I'm fine. Thank you. I'm very happy. I'm very happy to hear the voice of America. Great. Where are you calling from? I'm from Egypt. How are things there today? I think it's good. Just today is my vacation. My day off. Okay. Good. What time is it there? Friday. My Friday is my day off. But it's Friday night, right? What time is it right now? 7 p.m. So what are your plans tonight? Because you're off again tomorrow, right? So you can stay out late? Do you work tomorrow or are you off tomorrow? No, I work tomorrow. My plan for this night is just watching TV and looking for an English website to get some useful idioms like that. Useful idioms. Well, here's a useful idiom. It's only 7 o'clock. The night is still young. Yes, that's a good one. There you go. How about that? That means that there are many hours ahead of you and you can do a lot of things. The night is still young. Stay out late. Unless you have to, as we say, turn in early, meaning go to bed early, because you can't sleep in. Meaning you can't sleep late because you have to go to work tomorrow. So that's three idioms. How about that? There are a lot of... It's good. I'll be good at all of them. Well, you know, it's just like so much of everyday speech are these little idioms. And we don't think about it. We just say them. And it's just normal conversation. So it's good that you look those. I look those up on the internet. So the night is young. Let me say that I'm a social worker. I'm 26 years old. I'm looking for a PhD, postgraduate studies in America or England. So now, in the meantime, I'm taking English courses with native speaker here, Luxor. I'm from Luxor. Luxor, yes, we know Luxor. You probably have a lot of opportunities maybe to speak to tourists, to travelers. So isn't that a major destination for traveler, for tourists coming to Egypt? Luxor? Yes, lots of tourists there. And make simple conversation with the French people. Really, I like English. I love English language. And I respect the American nation and the Western nation. Okay, so... Oh. I'll see you on the internet sometime. So forgive me because I'm still... My English is not much. My English is not much just... You're fine. I'm amazed at how quickly you speak. Usually you speak very slowly when you're first learning. But you speak quickly. You're doing well. Well, Mustafa, you are going to be our last caller because I'm looking at the clock. And we've actually... The night is young for you, but we've run out of time in the room we're in right now. This is actually a room that's used as part of the VOA tour. And there's supposed to be a tour group coming through soon. So we're going to wrap up. Thanks for calling. Wrap up another... There you go, another idiom. We're going to wrap up. That means we're going to finish. We're out of time from VOA Learning English. I'm Avi Arditi. And I'm Carolyn Pursuti. Thanks for joining us. And we'll look for us again on Facebook the next time next week. Hopefully next Friday. Hopefully next Friday. We'll do another Skype call in the show. Take care. Take care. Bye-bye.