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Astronomy

Hello everyone! I’m Georgiana, your online English teacher. My mission is to help you speak English fluently. Speaking English is easier than it seems! You just have to use the right material and techniques.

Let’s practice some specific vocabulary. This time, about astronomy.

Later you’ll have fun with a mini-story, and finally, I’ll show you a trick to help you be more motivated.

All right, let’s get started!

The main reason I decided to talk about astronomy is because it’s a topic that I find interesting. And of course, it’s also an opportunity for you to practice specific vocabulary.

Let’s talk about concepts related to astronomy. Nothing complicated, but useful for certain conversations. Let’s see what you think.

Well, then, … Where do we live? We live on a planet. Our planet is called the Earth. Remember this in case you ever get lost in the galaxy and have to go back.

Our beloved Earth has a satellite. This satellite, the only one, it revolves around our planet and is called the Moon.

All right, we have the Earth and the Moon, but… How do we get warm?

Good question…We can light a fire, but our main source of heat is the Sun. And the Sun is a star.

The Earth, the Moon, and the Sun, along with other planets are part of the Solar System.

Yes, there are other planets besides ours. Too bad no one has visited them yet.

Ok. Let’s continue.

Planet Earth revolves around itself. And each turn represents a day. It also revolves around the Sun. It takes 365 days to turn around the Sun.

That is to say; the Earth rotates on itself 365 times for each turn around the Sun.

The orbit is where the planets travel when they rotate around the Sun.

The Moon and any satellite also have their own orbit.

The planet closest to the Sun is Mercury. It’s so close that it can’t turn on itself. Therefore it has one side permanently in the Sun and another in the dark.

After that comes Venus, and then our planet.

Then comes Mars. Mars is the most explored planet. Indeed, several probes have been sent with robots. I don’t know if you remember the Opportunity and Spirit probes, both sent in 2004. They claim that Mars had water and life long ago.

Next, we have the asteroid belt. An asteroid is like a big rock. There are many sizes. The asteroid belt is a region of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where most of the asteroids in our Solar System are found orbiting the Sun.

As we continue, we have Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, then Saturn, the planet with rings, and Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

In the 90s there was a controversy about considering Pluto as a planet, as there were many discoveries of similar objects.

In addition, we have comets. Comets are objects that go around the Sun for several years.

All this in our Solar System. But we’re also in a galaxy. A huge galaxy, because it has hundreds of thousands of stars with many, many other solar systems. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way.

Can you imagine any extraterrestrial life in those solar systems? We would have to learn their language, possibly with some adaptation of the Speak English Now courses :)

But everything doesn’t end here; we are in a universe of hundreds of thousands of galaxies! This thought makes me feel very, very small. Tiny!

And when there’s nothing, what do we call it? We call it space.

And in space, we can find all kinds of strange phenomena such as black holes or quasars.

They say it all started with Big Bang or a big explosion. What do you think?

Wow, we’ve seen a lot of words about astronomy. This can be very useful if you meet some extraterrestrial who has learned English. It’s always good to practice with someone, even if they’re not from this planet.

Mini-Story

(improve your speaking)

Okay, now let’s listen to a mini-story. This type of lesson helps a lot to intuitively activate your English conversation.

It works in the following way:

I’m going to say a phrase. This phrase contains some information. Next, I’m gonna ask some simple questions. After each question, I will pause for a few seconds. It’s your turn to answer. After you, I will give you the correct answer.

Let’s get started!

Jane and Daniel were two very famous astronauts.

Were Jane and Daniel astronauts?

Yes, they were astronauts.

Was Jane a sailor?

No, no. She wasn’t a sailor. She was an astronaut. Jane was an astronaut like Daniel.

Were these astronauts famous?

Yes, they were very famous. They were two very famous astronauts.

What were they, unknown or famous?

Famous. They were famous. Both of them were. Both were famous.

Who were famous?

Jane and Daniel. They were famous.

They traveled to Saturn to explore its rings.

Did Jane and Daniel go anywhere?

Yes, they went to Saturn. They went there. They traveled there.

Who traveled to Saturn?

Jane and Daniel. They traveled to Saturn.

Where did Jane and Daniel go?

To Saturn. They went to Saturn to explore Saturn’s rings.

Did they go to Saturn on holidays?

No, they were not on holidays. They went to explore Saturn’s rings.

What did they go for? To explore or to spend the holidays?

To explore. They went to explore the rings of the planet Saturn.

The rings of what planet did they want to explore?

Saturn. The rings of the planet Saturn.

When they returned to planet Earth, they were hailed as heroes.

Did they return to planet Earth, or did they stay on Saturn?

They returned to planet Earth. Jane and Daniel returned to planet Earth.

Where did the two astronauts return?

To planet Earth. They returned to planet Earth after exploring Saturn’s rings. They were hailed as heroes.

Were Jane and Daniel hailed as heroes?

Yes, they were hailed as heroes. When they returned, they were hailed as heroes.

Were they hailed as traitors?

No, no. They were not hailed as traitors but as heroes.

How were they acclaimed?

As heroes. They returned to Planet Earth and were hailed as heroes.

When did that happen? Upon returning to Earth?

Yes, when they returned to Earth. That happened when they returned to Earth.

The president of the UN gave them a medal.

Did the UN president give them a ring?

No, not a ring. The UN president gave them a medal.

Did he give them a medal or a ring?

A medal. He gave them a medal.

What did he give them?

A medal. The president of the UN gave them a medal.

Who gave them a medal?

The president of the UN.

What president gave them a medal?

From the UN. The president of the UN.

Did Jane and Daniel receive a medal?

Yes, they received a medal from the UN President.

Who received a medal? The president of the UN?

No, not the president of the UN. It was Jane and Daniel who received a medal.

What did they receive?

A medal. They received a medal.

Daniel gave Jane an engagement ring.

Did Jane give Daniel anything?

No. Jane didn’t give Daniel anything.

Did Daniel give Jane a medal?

No. Neither. Daniel gave Jane a ring.

Did Jane receive a ring?

Yes, Jane received a ring.

Did Daniel give Jane a ring?

Yes, Daniel gave Jane a ring. An engagement ring.

Was it a ring from Saturn?

No, no. It wasn’t from Saturn or any planet. It was an engagement ring.

What planet was the ring from?

None of them. The ring was an engagement ring. Daniel gave Jane an engagement ring because he wanted to marry her.

Perfect, this is the end of this mini-story. This technique can help you improve your English fluency. With the questions and answers, you can automate your speech because you will translate less and less in your mind.

If you like these types of lessons, I recommend the Enchanted Course that you can get here:

EnchantedCourse.com

You have hours of mini-stories with professional audio and text. Honestly, I think it’s the best way to get excellent spoken English.

We’ve reached the end of this episode, but first I’d like to suggest the following: As you know, it’s very important to listen. I always say that the more hours you listen, the better.

Sometimes we don’t know how long we’re actually listening, and that’s why it’s important to keep track.

For example, you can record your listening time in a notebook; you can use a cell phone app that keeps track, and so on. Any method that works for you to track the time. Once a week, or a month, you can add up the hours and see if you have met your goals.

For example, a good goal is to listen to 100 hours of English over the next 3 months. It’s a realistic goal and can help you significantly improve your English.

When you are counting your listening time, it helps you to be much more disciplined and to be able to control your real progress.

I guarantee that you will feel more motivated and disciplined.

All right, this episode ends right here.

Remember to share this podcast and to leave a comment!

Bye! Bye!