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00:08
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Sen: Hello and welcome to our podcast, English Trips. I’m Sen, and I’ll give you expert guidance on how to make the most of these episodes as a language learning tool.
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00:30
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Our destination for today is England!
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00:36
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Are you learning English at the moment? Then this podcast is perfect for you. In each episode, we’ll take a virtual trip to a different part of the English-speaking world, where you’ll hear a real story from a real person… in English, of course!
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00:53
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Each episode focuses on a specific part of the language, such as a grammar topic. But don’t worry, this isn’t a grammar podcast. The main thing is that our stories are fun and interesting, and they also get you more comfortable with understanding the language!
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01:11
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Also, did you know that you can read along while you listen using our dynamic transcript? You’ll find the link in our show notes. Here’s a learning tip just for you: the first time you listen to the episode, follow along with the transcript. This will help you understand more of the story, and identify any difficult words or expressions. Then, listen a second, or even third time without the transcript, and see how much more you understand!
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01:46
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Keep your ears open for today’s language focus: comparative and superlative adjectives. You need the comparative when comparing two things with each other, and the superlative when comparing three or more things. You’ll hear some examples like quieter, more serious, the most important and the best. Can you find others?
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02:15
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For today’s English trip, we’re going to join Sophie in Bath, England. She’ll tell us all about what it’s like to go to a boarding school, a school where the students study and live. I’m sure you’ve read some books or seen some films about boarding schools, but Sophie is going to tell us how it really is. Let’s go!
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02:19
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02:42
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Sophie: From age 12 to 18, I went to boarding school near Bath, England. People often ask me, “So was it just like going to Hogwarts with Harry Potter?”
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02:52
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02:56
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In some ways, yes. We had different “houses”, and a competition for the “house cup” every year. We lived in dormitories with other students from the same “house”.
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03:11
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I guess our Latin teacher was a bit like Professor Snape.
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03:14
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03:15
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Latin Teacher: Now, come on, ladies, come on. Don't take all day.
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03:18
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Sophie: He was the meanest.
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03:20
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Latin Teacher: It’s not a pleasure cruise, you know?
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03:22
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Sophie: But mostly, it wasn’t like Hogwarts at all. We didn’t learn magic, there were no adventures to save the world, we had to go to church A LOT. And the most important thing, we did NOT live in a castle.
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03:40
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Teacher: Keep together! I think you’re over here, Madame.
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03:43
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Sophie: My school had many rules, and there were many punishments for breaking the rules.
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03:50
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For example, we had homework time every evening from 7 o’clock to 9 o’clock.
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03:57
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If you were late, you got something called a “changing chit” for the next week.
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04:03
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With a “changing chit”, you ran back to your house during your break and put your sports clothes on. Then you ran back to the school to check in.
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04:15
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Finally you ran to your house again and put your uniform back on.
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04:21
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With a “changing chit”, your break time just disappeared.
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04:29
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A stronger punishment was called “2 & 10”, which students got for doing something more serious, like smoking cigarettes, or leaving the school at night.
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04:42
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The “2” means two hours of chores, like washing all the school buses, or cleaning the toilets in the dormitories.
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04:49
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04:52
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And the “10” meant you had to pay a 10 pound fine.
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04:58
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If you did something worse, you could get a “4 & 20”, so, 4 hours work and a 20 pound fine. Breaking the rules was dangerous.
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05:13
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You probably think we never did anything bad because of all the punishments. But that’s not 100% true.
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05:24
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In my last year, my three closest friends, Cordelia, Francesca, Henrietta and I decided to sneak out. We wanted to go to the pub.
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05:38
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Now, we were only 17 and could not legally drink alcohol, but we knew the best place: a pub called “The Wheatsheaf”.
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05:50
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It was very popular with students, and we knew that they would serve us drinks.
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05:58
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After everyone went to sleep, we climbed out of a window in the laundry room, quieter than mice.
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06:08
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We walked to the nearby road. We waited for a car and then hitchhiked into town.
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06:14
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06:22
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We arrived at the pub and met another classmate, Rob. He was a “day student”, a student who went to the boarding school, but lived with his parents in town.
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06:36
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We had a couple of beers, played darts and spoke with some of the other customers. We enjoyed the feeling of being free… and bad.
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06:49
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When it was time to go, we asked Rob to drive us back with his car.
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06:57
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Rob brought us back, but the hardest part was to sneak back in. We knew the Latin teacher was on patrol that evening.
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07:08
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He gave the worst punishments. Henrietta said, “What will he do to us for sneaking out? For going to a pub? For drinking alcohol? He will kick us out!”
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07:25
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We had to be so quiet. The quietest.
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07:29
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07:33
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This is not so easy after a couple of drinks. We walked suuuuuuper softly back to the laundry room window. We jumped at the smallest sounds on the way.
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07:46
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When we got there, Henrietta tried to open the window, but it didn’t move. Was it locked?
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07:54
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We all tried together, and pushed harder. Thankfully, it was just stuck, and it finally opened, but louder than we hoped.
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08:07
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We stopped, and listened for a minute, but didn’t hear anything. We all climbed inside and went back to our rooms.
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08:17
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Our adventure was successful. We felt like the coolest kids in school. And we didn’t even need magic like Harry Potter.
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08:29
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Sen: I’m on the edge of my seat! I was sure the Latin teacher was going to catch them at the end! But luckily for Sophie and her friends, they managed to make it back inside quietly. I can’t imagine the punishment for sneaking out to a pub in the middle of the night. I’m sure it would be much worse than a 4 & 20!
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08:52
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So, that brings us to the end of our journey for today. Did you hear some more examples of comparative and superlative adjectives? If you feel like you need a little more practice, check out our beginner courses in the Babbel app!
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09:09
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Finally, we’d love to hear what you think of the podcast. You can write us an email at podcasting@babbel.com, or simply leave a comment in your podcast app and we’ll see it. Thanks for listening, and see you next time for another exciting English trip!
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End
Sophie shares stories of how she coped with her time at boarding school in England. Despite the strict rules and possible punishments, she and her friends did whatever they could to carve out a little chunk of freedom. This monolingual story is great for intermediate learners. Or, if you're a beginner, first listen to the bilingual podcast in your native language and then listen to this one. It’ll give you an extra challenge to boost your English to the next level. Don't just listen, read along! Discover the episode transcript plus some little extras: https://bit.ly/3weeLU8 or visit https://babbel.com/podcasts We'd love to get your feedback, suggestions or learn about your own language learning journey. Email podcasting@babbel.com