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.

Are you ready to head to the land down under? Today’s English trip brings us all the way to Australia, mate!

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!

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!

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!

On today’s trip, you’re going to hear the words this, that, these and those a lot. We use this and these to talk about specific things that are near us (this for one thing, and these for multiple things), and we use that and those to talk about things that are far away (that for one thing, and those for more than one thing).

I hope you’ve got something cold to drink nearby, because today’s trip is going to be a hot one. Sam’s going to tell us about a New Year’s Day that he’ll never forget, and he’s going to use a lot of Australian slang along the way. Listen closely and see if you can pick some out! So buckle up, we’re off to Woy Woy, Australia!

Sam: G'day! My name is Sam. I’m an Aussie. I grew up in Sydney – that’s the biggest city in Australia. And when I was a kid we had a ripper of a holiday home in a place called Woy Woy.

Woy Woy is on the coast, one and a half hours north of Sydney by train. To go there you travel through a national park. Woy Woy means ‘lots of water’ in Darkinjung – that’s the language of the local aboriginal people.

So in these days my grandpa worked in Woy Woy. He bought an old boathouse that he turned into a holiday home! And when I was a kid we went there every summer for two whole weeks.

Those summers were sweet as! We swam, chilled, and because the house was next to the water, we could fish out the window. That was the best!

In 2006, we went to Woy Woy for the summer holidays as usual. I was 10 years old. It was New Year’s Day and I was with my parents in the house.

That arvo was a scorcher - 45 degrees outside! I was lying on a couch by the window and my dad was reading to me. I was thirsty, so I went to get a drink.

I got up and looked out of the window. Can you guess what I saw? Smoke! I saw smoke in the sky on the other side of the bay. I was so shocked I said “Hooly dooley!”.

My dad was surprised at this. He said, “Struth mate, what’s wrong?” He stood up to see what I was looking at, and that was when he started swearing…

My mum was confused: “What’s with all this swearing, guys?” She asked. “You sound like a couple of sailors!” Then she saw it too. “Oh crikey, look at all those houses on fire!”

On the other side of the bay the national park was on fire! “Look at all those fire trucks,” I said.

So this was the problem: there’s only one road into Woy Woy and it was blocked by the fire. That was it - we were trapped! The only way out was to jump into the bay, but the fire wasn’t too close yet…

So, what did we do? We waited. And we threw buckets of water on small fires. That was all we could do!

The fire came closer and more houses were in danger, not only those on the other side of the bay but also the houses on this side. Some people from this side of the bay got in their boats and went to rescue the people on that side.

We sat in the garden. Some people just watched their houses burn down. And then the helicopters came.

The helicopters carried water to drop on the fire. It was a strange and beautiful sight. All those people in boats and the helicopters and the smoke and the sparks dancing in the dark evening sky.

So our house didn’t burn down. But every time I see a news report about bushfires in Australia I remember that day. I remember how quickly you can get into trouble. These things happen all the time!

But I also remember how all those people helped each other. Our neighbors were there for each other in an emergency. That’s what I remember the most.

Sen: Wow. That was really scary. And, unfortunately, we see more and more wildfires these days – from Australia, to California, to Brazil. But, like Sam said, in these situations we often see people come together to help each other, and that’s something really special.

That brings us to the end of today’s English trip. I hope you enjoyed the story, learned a bit more about this, that, these and those, and maybe even picked up a bit of Australian slang! As usual, if you want some more practice with today’s language focus, check out our beginner courses in the Babbel app!

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!