learnenglish-podcasts-elementary-03-03

Ravi: Hi everyone, hi Tess!

Tess: Hi Ravi.

Ravi: Right. I think you know that Tess and I are here to talk about some of the things you think you know about Britain.

Tess: Things like ‘drinking tea’, ‘the family’ and ‘fish and chips’ – things you think are very British.

Ravi: And what could be more British that today’s weather? It is out there, Tess.

Tess: Is it raining?

Ravi: No, it’s not raining but it’s grey and cold and and… it’s exactly what people said about British weather. We asked our listeners around the world what they think about when they think about Britain and lots of people said ‘British weather’

Tess: Do people think the weather here is bad?

Ravi: Well, they think it rains a lot – and it does. They think the summer is wet – and it often is, they say that…

Tess: I don’t think British is so bad though, do you?

Ravi: I do today.

Tess: It’s true that we don’t have very hot summers but, you know, we don’t have very cold winters either. Britain’s got a temperate climate – that means …

Ravi: A what climate?

Tess: Temperate climate. It means that we don’t have extreme weather – we don’t have very hot summers or very cold winters. But that also means that the weather is quite – the weather changes quite often.

Ravi: Yeah, it can be raining, then five minutes later it’s , then it starts raining again. You never know what the weather is going to be like.

Tess: But that’s a good thing, Ravi. I like that. People sometimes say you can have four in one day in Britain and it’s true.

Ravi: But how can you decide what clothes to wear, Tess? You don’t know if it’s going to be cold or hot or what...

Tess: That’s typical of you, Ravi. And, because the weather does change quite a lot, that’s why British people seem to talk about the weather so much. It’s typical small talk, isn’t it? The sort of thing you say to people when you’re waiting for a or something. ‘Nice day today’ or ‘I think it’s going to rain later’. That kind of thing.

Ravi: That’s true. It’s to talk about the weather if the weather’s the same every day. We say ‘I think it’s going to rain later’ because it usually is going to rain. It does rain a lot here.

Tess: Well, I don’t know. I think it’s about the same as other countries in the north of . It’s just that we get rain all year round rather than just in one season. Anyway, the rain means that we have beautiful green countryside. Lots of visitors love the countryside because it looks so green – and that’s because of the rain.

Ravi: Hmm. You know how I feel about the countryside, Tess, but I it does look nice, if you like that kind of thing.

Tess: Lots of people do. I think the British countryside is beautiful – and so do lots of . And it wouldn’t look so green if we didn’t have all that rain!

Ravi: Hmm.