Thinking Out Loud in English tolpodcast.com

Hi Thinkers!

This Labor Day we have the honor of hosting Agata, the very same Agata who you may know from out newsletter and her column "The Bright Side of Life?"

We start in the middle of nowhere, inspired by the PC game Classified France '44 and the potential issues with localization of such a title in Germany. We try to tread carefully not to be politically incorrect.

Agata is a former Taekwondo instructor and a buddying kickboxer, and we discuss the difference. She had also spent some time working at the airport in Munich and this last occupation is a gateway to discussing human nature and how humans can humanize the system by bending the rules, or be transformed into machines by blindly following the rules.

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Have a terrific day!


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Hi Thinkers!

Masha and Jedrek are going to Japan, just like the Simpsons, except our stay there is purely virtual and so less prone to disasters. we are joined by Martyna who is based in Nagano (or nearby) and who is living her Japanese dream. We interview her about life in Japan. She's telling us a lot of interesting things, but most surprising and paradoxicall of all is how she found herself at the other end of the world, feeling completely free in this otherwise hermetic society.

Our website remains the same: https://tolpodcast.com

Subscribe to out newsletter: https://tolpodcast.substack.com/

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Hava a fantastic day!


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Hi Thinkers!

Each Sunday we're sending out our newsletter called "In The Same Boat" because we're really in the same boat when it comes to learning English. Subscribe here: https://tolpodcast.substack.com/

And now: loneliness is quietly becoming an epidemic with Japan and UK appointing ministers to deal with the problem. There are economic, technological and metaphysical reasons behind this trend but we are looking at it through our teachers' eyes, trying to find out whether it's possibile to communicate with a machine and build a community with it. One of the lastest episodes of The Ezra Klein Show (Masha's fav podcast) leaves little doubt about it (listen to the conversation with Ethan Mollick) leaving Jedrek in a difficult spot before the upcomming Innovate ELT Conference. But even so, is a clever chatbot a solution to the problem of loneliness more than anti-depressants are to the problem of depression?

We are mentioning an essay by Matthieu Chaigne "La Fabrique des Solitares", William Deresiewicz's collection of essays "The End Of Solitude" as well as Kazuo Ishiguro's "Klara And The Sun" with the conclusion that we are dealing with a cultural shift not merely technological.

Our website: https://tolpodcast.com

Our school can be found here: https://studiomentals.com

Buy us a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/told

Our newsletter: https://tolpodcast.substack.com/

Have a beautiful day!






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Hi thinkers!

Our newsletter is being read by over 150 people weekly and the number keeps rising; check out why!

As for this episode, we're two English teachers who rise and grind! 🤣This week we're talking about motivation at large: the shallow one and the deep one. Why the video "Rise and Grind" or the Holstee posters seem shallow to Jedrek? What is the difference between a platitude and a deep thought? We analyze several words of wisdom. Next we're mentioning the latest book by WIll Storr "The Status Game" and Jedrek has some doubts whether status is our ultimate motivator. And later we end up discussing a matter relevant to Masha and her first book-in-the-making: why would anyone like to quit a paradise out of their own will and what is the value in persevering?

Our school can be found here (https://studiomentals.com)

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This podcast has its website: https://tolpodcast.com

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Have a beautiful day!


00:00 - Intro + motivation shallow and deep

29:55 - Will Storr "The Status Game"

34:36 - The Value of Persevering


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Hi Thinkers!
Subscribe to our newsletter "In The Same Boat" for a weekly dose of motivation, inspiration and education + a bunch of fresh recomendations on what to read, watch and listen to in English.

And now: episode 89: Unfrotunately the rumor about Elon musk joining our show was April Fool's prank. This week Masha comes back to Jedrek's text in the 9th issue of our newsletter and asks about the details of Jedrek's linguistic transformation after taking part in his first international conference (innovate ELT in Barcelona btw.) She asks Jedrek about clarifications, and what exactly had changed in his approach to speaking English, and then, suddenly at around 40:45 a fascinating conversation starts about being yourself and whether being yourself is how you make a good impression during meetings, job interviews or first dates? Or is it better to pretend? Listen in and join our thinking process that happens out loud of course ;)
Useful links:
Our website: https://tolpodcast.com
Our newsletter: https://tolpodcast.substack.com/
Our school: https://studiomentals.com
Buy us coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/told
Have a beautiful day!


40:45 - Being yourself or pretending?




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Hi Thinkers!
We have a newsletter for all of you who would like to keep in touch with English in between classes. Original texts (no AI generated content!), phrases of the week, stories from our subscribers, a carefully selected song of the week (with lyrics), some jokes and a bunch of recommendations on what to read, watch and listen to in English. Visit now: https://tolpodcast.substack.com/
And now for the episode number 88! We are two English teachers who... have never met in person (offline), that is true. This episode starts with the reflection on meeting people from the virtual world in real world. 06:28 What follows is a 20 minutes' long rant section where Jedrek's complains about the price and purpose of dental care, and Masha 16:42 is adding her small rant about the cost of raising children and buying products made for children, including water for children. Next Jedrek 23:34 is breaking exciting news about the upcoming Innovate ELT Conference in Barcelona.
And when the ranting finally dies down 26:18 the duo head to the Thinking Out Loud proper, where the question is: what is the difference between having a cold heart and keeping cold blood. Does a cold heart actually pump cold blood? We mention Truman Capote's book "In Cold Blood", western movies, acting in affect, crying on Titanic with Di Caprio, Jedrek's wife, woking in a morgue, having a thick skin, "Straight Story" by David Lynch, dangerous situations on a highway, special forces and the upcoming 100th episode of the ToL podcast. Have a beautiful day!

PS.
Visit Our school and sign up for conversation classes
Buy us a coffee and keep us motivated.
Visit our website to see where else to find us.

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