Hello and welcome to English with Languissimo®, the podcast in English where I share stories of my week and that of the world with you.
My name is Vanessa Rocket. I’m the founder and CEO of Languissimo®.
Let’s go!
The Voice of Floods (La voix des inondations)
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates recorded 254 (two hundred and fifty-four) millimeters of rain in one day, which was the equivalent of two years of rainfall. It’s a record for this desert area which has just gone through one of their worst storms in 75 (seventy-five) years. The torrential rain flooded the streets of Dubai like never before and the city is really having a hard time getting over it.
Some people say the floods were the result of a phenomenon called “cloud seeding”. It’s a technique which aims to manipulate the weather by bringing rain artificially.
Is it what really happened?
The future will tell.
Anyway, I had no clue that such a thing existed, and I really wish that it is not the case.
You don’t want to mess with Mother Nature.
We’ll pay for it one way or another.
The Voice of Children (La voix des enfants)
Wednesday was the International Day against child slavery.
If I had not done some research, I would have not heard about it.
I must admit that I don’t watch the news.
Did they talk about it?
All I know is that slavery and that of children in particular still exists in this day and age and it is unacceptable!
As I’m getting older, I realize how much we are manipulated by the media and the big corporations which are only motivated by greed.
It is disgusting.
I already didn’t spend much before Covid, but now I spend even less.
Many people go into so much debt to buy things they don’t need.
The level of debt is so high that there will be a price to pay for it.
People will realize too late their mistake and will regret it.
Accumulating materialistic things is not what makes people happy.
The Voice is Peace (La voix de la paix)
I wanted to end on a positive note in a sense that I would like to send a message of peace on this earth.
The world is in very bad shape.
It’s not going to end well.
Are we heading towards World War III?
I hope not.
Anyway, leaders should stop their shitty politics and do everything they can to put an end to the conflicts which persist in Africa, Ukraine and the Middle East.
If Martin Luther King could see us, he would turn in his grave.
Do you remember the seventies’ slogan against the Vietnam War?
“Make love, not war”.
Well, today I say: “make peace, not war”.
Some Study Points
- Watch the difference of pronunciation between the verb “to record” (enregistrer) and the noun “a record” (un record).
- “Rainfall” veut dire “précipitations”.
- “To have just + past participle” means “venir de/d’ + infinitif”. Example: “the city has just gone through” (la ville vient de vivre).
- “The worst” means “le/la/les pire(s)”. It’s the superlative of “bad”.
- “Torrential rain” means “les pluies torrentielles”.
- “To flood” means “inonder”. “A flood” (une inondation) is the noun. The “oo” is pronounced [uh] as in “blood” (le sang).
- “To have a hard time doing something” means “avoir du mal à faire quelque chose”.
- “To get over something” means “se remetre de quelque chose”.
- “Cloud seeding” means “l’ensemencement des nuages”.
- “Mother Nature” means “Dame Nature”.
- “Slavery” means “l’esclavage”. “A slave” (l’esclave).
- “To hear about something” means “entendre parler de quelque chose”.
- “How much” in this context means “à quel point”.
- “To be manipulated” means “se faire manipuler”.
- “Greed” means “l’appât du gain”.
- “To go into debt” means “s’endetter”. The noun is “debt” (la dette).
- “To make someone happy” means “render quelqu’un heureux”.
- “To head towards” means “se diriger vers”.
- “World War III” means “une troisième guerre mondiale”.
- “To put an end to something” means “mettre fin à quelque chose”.
- “To turn in one’s grave” means “se retourner dans sa tombe”.
- “Shitty” means “de merde”. It comes from the noun “shit” (la merde) or just “merde”.
- “The seventies” means “les années 70”.
- “To make peace” means “faire la paix”.
Some Practice Questions
- Have you heard of cloud seeding?
- Are you deep into debt?
- Do you think we should “make peace, not war”?
Tada! That’s it for today! I hope you enjoyed this podcast. Subscribe to English with Languissimo®, practice, take care and have a great Sunday! Big hugs 😊