Fluency News #4 – How the pandemic has changed the tourism industry

Hello everyone!‍

Welcome to another episode of Fluency News! Here, you’ll practice your listening and get informed on all that’s happening in the world; all the major headlines of the week, all in English! During the episode, we make sure to explain the things that we believe need extra attention, so you don’t miss any details!

In this episode we’ll talk about travel news! Japan is making it easier for tour groups to visit, Hawaii just saw the highest number of visitors, the Himalayas’ ancient earthquake-defying design.

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We’ll have a new episode of Fluency News every week, don’t forget to listen! See you!

‍Episode Transcript‍

Hey guys, how are you doing today? Welcome back to one more episode of our podcast, Fluency News. I’m Natta Verduga, your host, and it’s wonderful to have you here again.

It’s always good to remember that you need to have contact with the language every day to really learn English. So, this is the best place to practice listening skills and learn lots of new expressions and vocabulary. All of that while you get an update about what’s going on all over the world.

And also, having a full and online course to learn a new language makes all the difference, am I right? So, don’t forget that at Fluency Academy, you can study and take your English to the next level! It’s really easy to get started: all you have to do is click on the link that is in the description of this episode and join our waitlist.

Alright now, let’s cut to the chase… It’s time to talk about some of the top stories around the globe, followed by some explanations.

So, do you like traveling? I think everybody loves it, am I right? If you’re a real fan of trips, knowing new cultures and making new friends, this episode is perfect for you. And Japan can be the ideal destination for your next trip and I’m going to tell you why.

Japan is making it easier for groups to visit and will allow groups without a guide starting this month in the latest lift of its pandemic-era travel rules. The country will also raise its daily arrival cap to 50,000, an increase from its initial cap of 20,000. Earlier this month, Japan took another step to ease entry rules, dropping its pre-departure test requirement for travelers who received at least three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Pretty cool huh? So let’s talk about numbers… Do you know how to say large numbers in English? By large numbers I mean any number over a hundred. So, for the numbers with three digits we use the unit “hundred”, we can say one hundred, two hundred, three hundred or even nine hundred. Now, for larger numbers, the next unit we have is “thousand”. And pay attention to the way I say the “th” sound: thousand, thousand. It’s pretty easy to read these numbers, all you have to do is say the number first and then add a thousand at the end.

For example, one thousand, two thousand, three thousand… If I want to say a larger number I could say: ten thousand, twenty thousand, fifty thousand… and if I want to say even larger numbers I could say: one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand and so on. Easy right?

Ok so, one important thing to know is that we are going to start using commas with large numbers so when you write the number down, you have to remember to use the comma. For example, the number one thousand you’ll write like this: one, comma, zero zero zero (1,000). The number twenty thousand you’d write: twenty, comma, zero zero zero (20,000). Got it?

We use numbers for everything and they are essential for when you’re traveling because you use them for hotel rooms, telling time, phone numbers, money… This is especially true when it comes to buying things or going shopping. When shopping, you use counting more often than you’d think. So remember to practice numbers before going on your next trip, ok?

Alright! Now let’s talk about this place that is known for its beautiful beaches, pristine rainforests, and sizzling volcanoes. Do you know what place I’m talking about? Yes, Hawaii! Pay close attention to this one because I’ll use some numbers again…

Another place that is enjoying the tourism return is Hawaii. More than 900,000 travelers visited the state in July, representing the most monthly visitors to head to the Aloha State since before the pandemic in January 2020. In total, 919,154 travelers visited at least one of the Hawaiian islands in July. That was a 92.4% recovery from July 2019 and a record during the post-pandemic era.

That’s a lot of travelers visiting Hawaii in July! I guess it’s because July is one of the three months, along with June and August, that constitutes the peak tourist season in Hawaii. It’s that time of the year when you get to experience the tropical summer with warm and dry days and plenty of sunshine.

So let’s talk about months in English… you heard me saying that more than 900,000 travelers visited the country in July and it was the most visited month since January 2020. You probably know how to say each month of the year in English, right? January, February, March and so on… But did you know that the months of the year in English always have to begin with a capital letter? You know, the bigger, taller version of a letter.

For instance, if you write down the month October, the “O” needs to be capitalized. It doesn’t matter if it’s at the beginning, the middle, or the end of a sentence. You always have to use a capital letter when writing out the months.

And we also follow the same rule for the days of the week. So everytime you want to write: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… The first letter of the word needs to be capitalized.

Alright, so let’s move on to our last news of the week…

This part will be different because I will talk about something quite interesting.

Did you know that, in the Himalayas, there are some towns that still honor a millennia-old building style? This is fascinating because the Himalayas are known for having multiple earthquakes. It’s incredible that, in 1905, a deadly earthquake rocked the landscape of the Himachal Pradesh, an Indian state in the western Himalayas. Sturdy-looking concrete constructions toppled like houses of cards. The only surviving structures were in towns where the residents had used an ancient, traditional Himalayan building technique known as kath kuni. It’s really awesome, right?

We’ll leave the link in the description of this episode, so you can read more about it, ok?

So let’s go through some cool vocabulary about this news… The Himalayas are known for multiple earthquakes. An earthquake is a shaking or trembling of the ground caused by movement of the Earth’s crust. Earthquakes that happen in densely populated mountainous regions, such as the Himalayas, spell bigger earthquakes because of a fast tectonic-plate collision.

It’s amazing how the traditional Himalayan building technique can hold up houses when a deadly earthquake rocked the landscape. A landscape is an area of land that has a particular quality or appearance. It could be a desert, rural or an urban landscape. For example, I enjoy painting landscapes. How about you? Do you live in a beautiful place? What’s the most breathtaking landscape in your country?

Well guys, that’s it for today! But don’t worry, we’ll be back next week for more expressions, vocabulary, and news!

Don’t forget that if you want to unlock your English fluency, start speaking confidently and also watch a lot of remarkable English tips, just follow us at @fluencytvenglish.

And join our waitlist for our full English course! Go to en.fluencytv.com and join now! The link is also in the description of this episode. Until next time!

‍Stories:‍

‍Streaming’s new milestone
‍https://www.axios.com/2022/07/26/streaming-third-us-tv-consumption?utm_source=thenewscc&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_campaign=referral‍

‍TikTok is the fastest growing source of news for adults in the UK
‍https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/21/23272503/tiktok-news-source-uk-ofcom-report-disinformation?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=thenewscc&utm_id=referral‍

The Last of Us’ teaser has arrived
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/22/entertainment/last-of-us-teaser/index.html