Tadao has almost finished a two-year volunteering assignment in Papua New Guinea. Today we ask about what he is doing there, what the country is like and some of the differences he experienced.

Today, Mike introduces one of his hobbies - collecting vinyl records. He answers questions about where to find records and some of the interesting records that have "found" him.

Today Ben talks about his hometown, Reading UK. He explains the history of the town and where the name comes from. He also tells us about the Reading (Music) Festival. Ben also gives us a sample of...

Today we talk to Takami about her hobby, running. Takami started running nine years ago and hasn't looked back. She has entered 10km races, half marathons, relays and full marathons. She has compet...

Yuko tells us about her experiences learning English. She gives us some tips on how we can improve our pronunciation and how we can keep motivated. She explains that it is important to try to spe...

Today we talk with Colleen. She tells us a nice story about something that happened to her when she first came to Japan. Listen for these words and phrases: deep impression; hem (裾); "the hem of my...

On February 15th 1965 Canada's current flag was flown for the first time. Today, most Canadians like the flag, but 50 years ago many people were not happy about it. Listen to the podcast to find ou...

Today I read some questions, or statements, followed by three responses. These questions are related to English for the hotel business. If you'd like to try the quiz, please write the numbers 1-10 ...

Recently there has been an increase in the number of foreigners visiting Japan. According to this podcast, what is one of the main reasons for this increase? For a transcript of this podcast, pleas...

LINE is a very popular communication application. In this podcast, we look at why the app was developed and how people use it. After listening, see if you can answer these questions: 1. Where is LI...

In this podcast we look at Melbourne, Australia's plans to try to reduce the effects of global warming. Please listen for the following words and phrases: just around the corner; phenomenon; urban ...

Many of us complain about our daily commutes. However, this man's story might make you think that your commute is not so bad. Please listen for these words and phrases: commute; back and forth; bro...

In this podcast we look at daredevils who visit Niagara Falls. Listen to the whole story to try to understand the main theme. Listen again for more details. See if you can hear these words and phra...

Today, Mike talks about his unusual hobby, falconry: hunting with hawks, falcons or eagles. For more information, check out this article: http://www.outdoorjapan.com/magazine/column_details/177

Today, Keleih tells us a little about her cat, Koshka. Keleih tells us how we can adopt a pet and some of the things we can do if we see a wild cat in Tokyo. Some of the words and phrases you will ...

Today we're in Mashiko. Chris talks about his friend and we play a song he wrote about him. Here are the lyrics (song words) if you'd like to sing along! Seishun Nante la, la, la I was 29 when I ca...

Cliff started playing the saxophone at the age of 74. He had no musical training before that. He is proof that you are never too old to start something new!

Jay is a high school student in Japan, but he spent time at high school in Canada. Today he talks about some of the differences he experienced.

Today we talk with Michael about his experiences studying in Scotland. He tells us about some of the differences between studying in Canada and Scotland, the city of Edinburgh, the Loch Ness Monste...

Today we take a look at some Janglish (Japanese English) expressions. We'll look at some examples of words that have been abbreviated in Japanese, words that do not come from English, words that we...