22 Responses for "폭탄영어 #6 – “What’s the Best Way to Learn English?”"

1. The JinHee March 3rd, 2008 at 2:57 pm 1

   hehehe. This episode is so funny! Thanks!!!

2. Hyunwoo Sun(선현우) March 4th, 2008 at 1:26 am 2

   Michael, Jennifer, Yunji,

   Another great topic, and another awesome episode. I couldn’t agree with you more that it is extremely important to find a way to enjoy the learning experience. A lot of people try to find the *right* book or a *right* way to learn English quickly or more *thoroughly* but what matter even more is for how long you can keep on studying.

   And I’m sure your podcasts are contributing a great deal to all the listeners out there because they must be enjoying your show just as much as I do, and they’ll keep listening. Hehe.

   이번에도 정말 재미있게 잘 들었어요! 사람들에게 많이 소개할게요!

3. Jennifer March 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm 3

   oh, stop ~ you’re making me blush^^

4. Hyunwoo Sun(선현우) March 6th, 2008 at 9:28 am 4

   It’s interesting that this post is getting fewer comments than others. I think there is A LOT to be talked about regarding this topic.

5. alice March 6th, 2008 at 11:22 am 5

   i like Jennifer’s voice
   so intelligent and sexy
   even she said 새키야 이리와~

   I appreciate you guys
   really helpful to me
   비록 대본을 후벼파지 않으면 제대로 알아듣지 못하지만 ㅠ

6. easy March 6th, 2008 at 4:31 pm 6

   I think the first thing to do to learn well is to change the way one thinks about studying. Studying becomes more diffficult because it is never considered as something enriching, fulfilling and fun. A person fails to enjoy the fun in learning as he thinks it is a major pain in his ass…hmmm..(well, as far as some of my students are concerned.)

   So, it is best that we change the way we think about it, and have fun learning no matter what style we use.

   Excess: is it possible that you include news updates before every program? I guess it would also be interesting to know the happenings in Korea for that week, or last week. They may be about entertainment, the government, education, the economy, the weather, maybe, and other stuff. Just a suggestion

   Thanks….

7. Ilkyoung March 7th, 2008 at 1:14 am 7

   As for me, I listen to the episodes again and again, normally five or six times. I read the script just in case there are something left not understood thoroughly. That’s my way. I’m not a deligent-and-good-student type but a lazy one.

   I like watching movies and it helped me a lot to get familiar with English. Especially, I recommend ‘Forest Gump’ if there is anybody decides to try the watching movie method. The vocabulary is very plain. Neither the sentences are long nor the speaking is fast. (Think about it. It is a movie on a presumed dummy. ) If you are familiar with the historical events behind each scenes and episodes in the movie, the fun would be doubled.
   However, I hardly cought up with the conversations in ‘Goodwill Hunting’.

   BTW, I would like to ask Yunji a favor.
   During the show, Michael and Jennifer speak aloud and clear. However, for some reason, Yunji’s speaking is a bit hard to get. Her tone is rather low and probably she does not get close to the microphone enough. So, I sometimes raise the volume when she speaks but have to turn it down immediately in case Jennifer’s loud laughing follows. So, please pay a little bit more attention.

8. easy March 7th, 2008 at 9:14 am 8

   hi, inkyoung…maybe you would also want to try watching Dead Poets Society. It was about the life of an English professor who inspired the lives of his students.

   

9. Ilkyoung March 7th, 2008 at 7:15 pm 9

   yeah,

   Carpe Diem!

   I love the movie. I watched the movie at a theater right after I failed the 학력고사. Some years later, when I bought my own VCR, I rent the tape and watched it again.

   I am a fan of Robin Williams. I love his movies.

   When can I make somebody else’s CAPTAIN?

   Oh, Captain. My Captain!

10. Ji-Soo March 8th, 2008 at 3:51 am 10

    hey!
    Sorry I missed some episodes…T-T
    It was my important EXAM week….;;;
    I still have some left this week~
    BUT I wanted to catch up on these podcasts..
    So! I came and I’m listening to it now~
    NICE NICE

    (P.S now I actually have AN IPOD to lisen to PODCAST!
    ‘ve got a ipod nano 3rd generation~ yeppy! )

11. Ji-Soo March 8th, 2008 at 4:06 am 11

    I agree that you have to know swear words!
    (when I first came to UK,
    there was this gang of chavs;
    saying F word to me
    and I could not understand what they were
    talking about to me but understood the F word
    and I said all of swear words I knew in English to them
    and they RAN away… lol!)

    + there is this fact joke going around
    in my town for years (theres lot of koreans)
    that someone had a car accident and she was bleeding
    and going unconcious but when the nurse asked
    how are you? she said I’M FINE THANK YOU AND YOU?
    to the nurse, bleeding;;;-_-
    I find it funny but also
    very embarassing that Koreans
    learns English so much since they were like baby
    but they don’t even know how to answer
    How are you? – when you are bleeding!

12. lelia March 8th, 2008 at 3:58 pm 12

    i heard it for the first time, and finally i found out what i want.
    yes, i also agree with Michael, Jennifer, Yunji’s voices.
    i had been studied like that still now. but this is not good way study english. let me give you example, just listen and repeat like a mockingbirds, grammer, vaca like this.
    That’s why i was langh loudly while listening. and i though that’s me lol .
    I was so happy to know this podcast for real.
    And I hope my english skill is getting better by listening and writing here.
    Thanks all!

13. Michael March 8th, 2008 at 4:16 pm 13

    lelia – i hope you keep coming as well. thanks!

    ji-soo – no more missing epsodes! 공부해!! ㅋㅋㅋ

    ilkyoung – maybe can we be your captain? 오, 폭탄, 마이 폭탄!

    easy – good idea. we actually have plans for other additional content. we just want to get the main stuff developed first…

14. easy March 9th, 2008 at 12:21 am 14

    Ji-soo:

    One day, a Korean in America met a tragic accident.

    He was injured, his car was damaged.

    With blood all over, he struggled to live.

    With wounds throbbing and heart pounding, he held on to survive.

    He cried and screamed for help.

    Firefighters came to rescue him in his seemingly hopeless situation.

    One of them called to him and asked:

    “Hey, how are you?”

    With a weak trembling voice, he answered:

    “I am fine. Thank you. And you?”

    ——————————————————————

    Dead!

    ——————————————————————

    My student told me about this story once. I added some spices to it though, like the “throbbing wounds and the pounding heart”. Hehehe…Nevertheless, it sure is funny! But, why the hell would someone ask how you are doing when OBVIOUSLY, you are so not?!! Hehe!

15. Jennifer March 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pm 15

    Easy:
    One of my papers at graduate school was a collection of jokes, and I heard this one a lot, in several different forms. Yours is definitely the bloodiest though . . . .but in many places, even if it is obvious someone is hurt we ask, “How are you?” or something similar to figure out where and how badly someone is hurt.
    and the reason we don’t include news summaries at the beginning of episodes is because we want people to be able to go back and enjoy our podcasts whenever, even years from now. If we put a news cast at the beginning, people would get annoyed, don’t you think? Who wants to listen to last months news? Besides, there are lots of other podcasts that do the news . . .
    But do be on the lookout for new and different content coming up from this website!

16. easy March 10th, 2008 at 9:01 am 16

    hi, jennifer…

    You’ve got a point there. hmmm… i did not think of that. Definitely, I wouldn’t want to listen to “old” news. But I definitely listen to the podcast again and again to make sure I did not miss a point. Sometimes, i think I now sound like you!…hehehe…

    Thanks..and good luck.
    I will be waiting for updates.:)

17. yuri March 26th, 2008 at 3:24 pm 17

    Ya~ this episode totally is saying true that ” find interesting contexts rather than hideous newspapers ” maybe we all koreans should ‘ve found any interests in English in the first place cuz all starts learning by textbooks in schools or in very earlier stage of kinddy (=/ no idea how they teach). It’s tragic in my point of view.

    and… it’s first time i’ve listened this cast and pretty impressive that ppl really get into it including me. haha XD it’s also motivating to learn English more effective
    to all of us in the way that they’ve told how they learnt Korean first time!

    i’m sort of picturing how jennifer and michael look like.. ^_ ^)/ Ey~

18. Thomas June 18th, 2008 at 11:50 pm 18

    Hi Jennifer & Michael

    I wanted to ask you what Michael meant by the word “stylized” in his speech.

    This is an excerpt from the transcript :

    Michael : “So, that’s also what I wanted to make a point about because um ‘Friends’ is often used because of the English and people forget that it’s a stylized form of English for comedy. And if you get too deeply into ‘Friends’, you kind of, it’s kind of weird, right? It’s not how people talk. It is how people talk, but at the same time, it’s very stylized in the same way that if you watch a Hollywood movie like ‘Oceans 11’ “

    Thanks!

19. Jennifer June 19th, 2008 at 2:57 pm 19

    Stylized means something has been changed especially to fit a situation or style. In this case, Micheal meant the characters are talking like people talk in sitcoms, not like people really talk. It would be the opposite of “natural”

20. Thomas June 19th, 2008 at 10:50 pm 20

    Thanks for the help, Jennifer! I appreciate it.

    So sitcoms like “Friends”, “two and a half men” and “Seinfeld” aren’t the best materials for learners wanting to hear real English because the characters in the shows try to talk funny?

    Do you think Reality TV series are better? Maybe they’re closer to the way people really talk? For a long time I’ve been looking for TV series or movies that would really represent the way Americans in general really speak.

    Any suggestions as to the best TV series or movies for this purpose, for the benefit of all English learners?

    Thanks again.

21. Jennifer June 19th, 2008 at 11:46 pm 21

    Sitcoms, etc. aren’t *bad* for practice . . . but just like how they talk in Korean sitcoms, the writing emphasizes being funny instead of being realistic. Movies and other media are often *close* to how we speak, but not exactly. Reality TV programs are probably a lot closer to how people speak on a daily basis . . . but the situations tend not to be. Sitcoms are normal situations blown up out of proportion to be funny. Reality TV usually has almost no relation to reality, though.

22. Elmurod August 16th, 2008 at 10:40 pm 22

    Very good! Read it I enjoyed. Write more again. Thank you very much.