Transcript: “Listening Time” Episode 7

Welcome to the Listening Time podcast. I'm Conner, with polyglossa.com, and
you're listening to Episode 7 of the Listening Time podcast. If this is your first time with
us, welcome! I'm happy to have you here. This podcast is for English learners who want
to practice their listening skills but who still can't understand native English when it's
spoken very fast, or when natives are talking to each other. So, if that's where you're at
in your English journey, then this podcast should be perfect for you. Really, this podcast
is designed for people who are trying to increase their level of listening, so that they can
eventually listen to normal podcasts that are made for English speakers. So hopefully,
this will be a good tool to help you reach that level.
So, in each episode of this podcast, I talk about different topics. So the topics are
often random, or they might be something relevant to my daily life... something I've done
recently, a trip I've taken, etc. And in each episode, I speak naturally. I don't read any
script. So everything I'm saying is completely natural. The only thing that's different is
that I speak a little bit more slowly and a little bit more clearly than native speakers
usually do. So I'm saying all the natural words and phrases that I normally say, but I'm
saying them a little more clearly and a little more slowly, so that you can understand
better. Also, the transcript is available for each episode, so if you need help
understanding what I'm saying, you can access the transcript and read along as I'm
talking. Or you can listen the first time without the transcript, and then listen another
time with the transcript to help you understand all those words or phrases that you
missed the first time.
So, in today's episode, I'm going to talk about dreams, and I'm going to talk about
the beach... two interesting topics. But before we get started, remember to sign up for
our $1 Listening Practice Seminars at www.polyglossa.com. And if you can, please rate
this podcast and write a review if you can, and share it with other people... whoever
might find it helpful. Okay, let's get started.
Okay, so we're gonna talk about dreams first. When I say "dreams", I'm actually
referring to the things that we see... the images and the stories that we see and
experience when we're sleeping. So of course, the word "dream" can refer to a goal that
we have, that we want to achieve in the future. But in this podcast, I'm actually talking
about your dreams, the dreams that you have when you're sleeping. So, this is an
interesting topic for me and I think for many people, because most people have no idea
why we dream, right. What is the purpose of having dreams? Well, in the very little
research that I've done, I've found that many experts or researchers say that one of the
reasons that we dream is to store or organize memories.
When we "store" something, that means that we put it in a safe place, so that it
stays there for a long time. Right, so if you have some sort of food, you might see on the
package that it says "store in the refrigerator", right "store in freezer" or something like
that. So when I say "store memories", I mean that your brain kind of puts those
memories in a safe place so that it can recall them in the future. So, that seems to be
one of the reasons why we dream. And then we also dream to organize our memories.
So, maybe our memories and our thoughts throughout the day are a little bit
disorganized, a little bit scattered. When I say the word "scattered", I mean that the
dreams are not organized in a neat order. They're all over the place. So if I say "the
boy's toys were scattered all over the floor", I'm saying the toys were... the toys were
unorganized and they were all in different places on the floor.
So, when we dream, it seems that our brain can organize our memories, so that
later, we might remember them better. Kind of interesting, right? We don't normally think
of that when we think of dreams, right, we just think of interesting adventures or weird
stories that our brain comes up with. But really, your brain might just be organizing and
storing the information that you have in your brain. So I thought that was pretty cool.
Another thing that dreams might do is they might help your brain get rid of
unimportant memories. Right, when I say "get rid of", I'm saying that your brain throws
them away, deletes them, erases them. So we say the phrase "get rid of". So your brain
might get rid of certain memories when you're dreaming because they're unimportant.
Right, your brain doesn't want to store all this unimportant information. Right, it wants to
keep the most essential things, the things that are most important to remember. So,
dreams might also help... they might also help our brain do that.
And then one other thing I found is that dreams might also help us deal with
complicated feelings. So, maybe we have some complicated issues in our lives, and we
feel many different emotions about those issues. And so during our dreams, our brain
might be able to handle or deal with complicated feelings. Right. When we say that we
"deal with something", it means that we confront some problem, we confront some issue
and maybe try to solve it or figure it out. So our brain might be able to deal with some
complicated emotions or feelings that we have when we dream. So that's also pretty
cool. And so when I think about my own dreams... when I think about how I dream,
many times, I can remember my dream right when I wake up, but then throughout the
day at some point, I kind of start to forget what I dreamed the night before. I'm sure
many of you have experienced this same phenomenon. Right. We tend to forget our
dreams pretty easily after we wake up.
So, what some people do... I've heard this before... some people keep a dream
journal. A "dream journal" is a journal or a little book that you keep beside your bed. And
when you wake up in the morning, when the dream is still fresh in your mind, you can
write it down in your dream journal so that you don't forget it. And later on in the day, or
many days later, you can go back to your dream journal and see what you dreamed a
couple weeks ago or remember what you dreamed a year ago, etc. So, I've always
wanted to do that, but I just haven't made the effort to actually prepare one, right. I like
the idea of keeping a dream journal, but until now, I haven't done that. But maybe I'll
start because I'm really interested in my dreams. I always dream really really crazy or
interesting or fun or scary things sometimes. And I like to remember these things that I
dreamed. I don't like forgetting them, but that's what normally happens. So, maybe I'll
start keeping a dream journal.
In terms of my dreams, what I frequently dream about when I sleep, there's... I
think a wide variety. I dream about many different things, and I'm the type of person who
dreams, a lot. So it's almost impossible for me to not remember my dream at least in the
morning right after I wake up. After that, I forget, of course, but in the morning, right
when I wake up, I remember my dreams. I always have very vivid, lively dreams. I'm
that type of person. I know some people don't have a lot of memorable dreams, but I'm
not one of those people. My dreams are always pretty interesting to say the least. So
some of the recurring themes in my dreams... and... well, let me explain the word
"recurring" first. If we say something is "recurring", that means that it happens again and
again, it returns many times. So when I say I have "recurring themes" in my dreams,
that means I have certain themes that happen and come back many times.
So some of my recurring dreams, or the recurring themes in my dreams are... for
example, I often have the really bad dream of being in school and forgetting that I'm
enrolled in a class. So you know how in high school, you have like six or seven classes?
I frequently dream that I'm in high school or college, and I'm in many classes, but I've
forgotten one of my classes. Like, I have never been to that class, I've never attended it
from the very start of the semester. So I... I show up at this class almost at the end of
the semester, and I haven't done any work, any homework, any tests, and I know I'm
going to fail. It's a funny dream. Whenever I wake up after this dream, I always laugh
about it, but it's super stressful in the moment. When I dream this dream, I'm always
super anxious during that time because I'm a good student, or I was a good student. So
for me, it's a nightmare to think that I've forgotten about one of my classes. So that's a
dream I have quite often.
And another recurring theme in my dreams is that the characters in my dreams
change a lot. What I mean by that is the person at the start of the dream becomes a
different person before the end of the dream. So maybe at the start of the dream, I'm
hanging out with a good friend of mine, and then at the end of the dream, it's some
completely random person from my childhood or something. Right. I don't know if this
happens to any of you guys, but I've heard from other people that this is also common in
their dreams. But for me, it always seems very strange when I compare the different
characters that appear, And when one character becomes a different character. And I
always think to myself, "why am I dreaming about this random person?" Right. It started
out as my friend, and then he became someone completely unimportant in my life,
someone from the past that I don't really remember well. So that's another recurring
theme in my dreams.
And one other thing that I tend to dream about, is I usually have one small part of
my dream that's related to something that happened to me the day before. So I think
this is my brain's way of storing that memory from the day. So, most of my dream... the
majority of the dream, itself, is completely bizarre and unrelated to my life, but then
there's usually one little part of the dream that's related to my... my daily life or related to
something that happened to me that day. So it's actually relevant. So I find that this
happens quite a bit when I dream. So, yeah, I think this topic is pretty interesting, and I
know my thoughts are a little scattered here. I'm trying to remember my dreams and
remember different themes throughout my dreams, but it's kind of hard because my
dreams are always very bizarre and strange.
So, let's move on to our second topic, which is the beach. So, this is a topic that
many of you like because in my experience, most people I've talked to like the beach,
right. When people take vacations, when they have some time off of work, the first thing
they think of is "let's go to the beach", right, "let's go to the coast". So first, let's just talk
a little bit about some of the famous beaches in the US. You might've heard of a few of
them. For example: Venice Beach in Los Angeles. This is a really famous beach,
because on the boardwalk by the beach, or on the street by the beach, by the sand,
there are many interesting people there. If you've ever been to Venice Beach before,
you know exactly what I'm talking about. There are a lot of pretty strange people doing
strange things and selling strange items, and there are all types of people there. It's a
little bit weird. It's not my favorite beach, but it's definitely a really popular beach in the
US.
Another one that is pretty close to Venice Beach is Santa Monica Beach. I like
Santa Monica, the area. I haven't spent much time on the beach, itself. But there is a
shopping mall right on the coast in Santa Monica, called the Third Street Promenade.
And I used to go there a lot when I lived in Los Angeles, and they have some cool
stores and they have nice clothes and things like that there. So it's a nice place to take a
walk. And there's also pier at Santa Monica. A "pier" is that wooden bridge-type thing
that extends into the ocean, right, that you walk on and you can walk to the end and
look down at the water. And at Santa Monica Beach, they have a pier with certain rides,
right, like at an amusement park, like a ferris wheel or roller coaster, or things like that.
And so there are a lot of activities you can do at Santa Monica and Santa Monica
Beach. So one other one, one other beach that's pretty famous is Miami Beach. I've
never been there. I've never been to Miami before, but I know many people love Miami
and love Miami Beach, and it's a very hip and popular place, I think.
So, talking about the beach, and more specifically about the water, the water and
the water temperature is very different when it comes to different beaches. So for
example, in the north of the US, in the northwest, and in the northeast, the water is very
cold at the beaches. Most people don't go in the water. However, in the south, like in
California, the water is okay. Most people would still consider it cold, but it's bearable.
When something is "bearable", that means that you can survive it. You can handle it. It's
not the worst thing. So the water temperature in California... in Southern California,
specifically, is bearable. It's not warm, but it's okay. In Florida, it is warm. So if you go to
the beach in Florida, you have very nice water temperature.
In Mexico, there are many beaches that have really warm water. So, I've been to
several beaches in Mexico where you go in the water and it feels like you're taking a
bath. It feels awesome. I love these types of beaches. I love the warm water. And so,
when people from Mexico, for example, when they go to the US, and they go to the
beach in California, or some other place, they usually complain a lot about how cold the
water is because they're accustomed to really warm water and Mexican beaches. So,
now that I've been to several beaches in Mexico, it's hard for me to go to the beach in
the US and enjoy it the same way, because the water seems very cold to me. So, we
have a couple places in the US where the water is really nice. I mentioned one of them,
which is Florida, and the other place I can think of is Hawaii. I've been to Hawaii many
times, and the beaches there are awesome. The water is warm. It's super clean and
clear, and you can see all different kinds of fish. So, Hawaii is the exception. Hawaii is
the place in the US where the water is really warm, it's very nice, it's always a good
time. So that's one place I definitely recommend if you like going to the beach.
So, a few activities that people like to do at the beach include sports like beach
volleyball or soccer. Sometimes in the US, people throw the football around at the
beach... American football. And there are many other types of sports that you can do on
the beach as well, and there are also water activities... water sports. California is
famous for its surfers. A lot of people surf in California, and also in other places like
Hawaii, there are a lot of surfers as well. I've tried surfing once, but it was really hard,
and I couldn't stand up on the board, so I never went again. I didn't take any lessons, so
I didn't learn exactly how to do it the right way, and so, I didn't have the chance to
succeed, really. But maybe in the future I'll try again.
There are other water sports that are a little easier, like boogie boarding. I used
to do this when I was younger. Boogie boarding is where you lay down on the board,
and you let the wave push you to the shore. The "shore" refers to the sand... the part
right by the water. So, when you boogie board, you ride a wave, and it pushes you to
the shore, to the sand. It's much easier than surfing. So I did that a lot when I was
younger.
And one other activity I can think of is building sandcastles. Kids, especially, like
this activity because it allows them to use their imagination. I remember that I loved
building sand castles when I was a kid. For me, I'm not a huge beach person. I like
warm water, as I mentioned, so I like the beaches in Mexico. I like swimming in the
water. But nowadays, as an adult, the beach isn't my preferred place. I prefer the
mountains, the forests, the desert, etc. But one thing that I like about the beach, still, is
watching the sunset at the beach. It's always a really beautiful scene to watch the sun
go down over the water. So, when I go to the beach nowadays, it's usually in the late
afternoon, after 5pm or something, because I don't like being under the sun in the sand
all day. I just prefer going to watch the sunset, or if the water's really warm, then I'll stay
in the water the whole time. I don't really like laying on the sand.
Alright, well, we're about done for today. So hopefully these topics were
interesting for you. And hopefully this was a good podcast episode to help you practice
your listening skills. Remember that you can access the transcript for this episode in the
"Details" part. If you click on that, you should see the link. And of course, remember to
sign up for our Listening Practice Seminars. They're only $1. So go to polyglossa.com
and sign up there. And remember to share this podcast with your friends or family
members. And if you can, give it a rating and a review if you're on Apple Podcasts. And I
hope you'll come back for the next episode. So thanks again for tuning in to this
episode, and I'll talk to you on episode eight of the Listening Time podcast.

*IMPORTANT: This episode was recorded a while ago, and I don’t use the Polyglossa
website anymore. Now, you can access my Listening Practice Seminars by becoming a
member at www.patreon.com/listeningtime