1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,400 Uuuhh... Uff! Uuuhh... Shut up! I'm listening to Zdenek's English Podcast. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:09,600 You're listening to Zdenek's English Podcast. 3 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:15,600 By far the greatest English podcast on earth for English learners since sliced bread. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:18,400 My name is Zdenek and I'm your host. 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:26,600 Hello ladies and gentlemen, this is Zdenek's English Podcast, Zdenek speaking, 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:28,800 and here is another episode for you. 7 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:38,400 It's been a while and this one is a real gem because the guest is none other than Michael Lavers. 8 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:48,000 I say guest but it was more of a co-host because this episode of Zdenek's English Podcast was recorded as a crossover, 9 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:56,600 which means we recorded this episode for both Michael's Podcast and my podcast. 10 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:02,200 So it will be published exactly the same podcast is published in two different places basically. 11 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:09,000 Now, who is Michael Lavers? Michael is one of the most popular English teachers out there. 12 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:15,800 Yes, that's right. He is a very successful online English teacher from the UK. 13 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:25,400 He is English, he is British and you should know that this is not the first time that I have done a podcast 14 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:33,400 with Michael. Not really, we have done some podcasts in the past, but it was the first time, however, 15 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:40,600 that I met Michael in real life, in person. That's correct. 16 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:47,400 It was about one month ago and we saw each other in Bangkok. 17 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,400 We got together in one of the popular Bangkok parks. 18 00:01:51,400 --> 00:02:00,600 We found a quiet area and recorded this podcast, which was rather spontaneous, a bit kind of off the cuff. 19 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:06,600 We didn't have a plan, it was unscripted, but in my humble opinion, that's what makes it better. 20 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:15,800 Because personally, I am a big fan of natural speech, natural language and this is exactly what we did. 21 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:23,000 We discussed all sorts of different topics on the podcast, including language learning, living in a foreign country, 22 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:30,200 like Thailand or Vietnam. I think it's a really interesting episode. 23 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:39,400 What's more, there's also a video because Michael had a camera with him, which was really good, I have to say. 24 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:47,400 It's a really good quality image and this is also going on the TeachersDenik YouTube channel. 25 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:53,800 Just like it's going on or it's getting published on Michael's YouTube channel, 26 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:59,800 you should know that Michael Lavers has a podcast called Level Up English Podcast. 27 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:07,000 It is also a YouTube channel and you can find this podcast slash YouTube channel wherever you find, 28 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:13,800 wherever you get your podcasts, wherever, well, on the internet, obviously YouTube channel, that's simple. 29 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:19,800 Just type in Level Up English Podcast and Michael's channel will come up. 30 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:31,800 Michael also has a membership for English learners, which you can find on his website, levelupenglish.school. 31 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:39,000 Or just again, you can just Google Level Up English Michael and it will all come up. 32 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:50,200 Simple. OK, well, that's it. Now, all that remains to say is enjoy this episode of Zdenek's English Podcast and Level Up English Podcast. 33 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,400 OK, cheers, everyone. 34 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:58,600 Hello, everyone. I am sat here with Zdenek. Would you like to give a quick introduction and say what we're doing? 35 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:04,600 Yeah. Hello, I'm Zdenek. I am sitting here with Michael. So we are doing a podcast. 36 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:10,600 I guess we are both podcasters and YouTubers. But to be honest, I don't feel like one much. 37 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:17,400 But you're way more experienced than me. You have your famous channel Level Up English Podcast. 38 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:22,600 Yeah. Good memory. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Podcast is in the wild today. We're outside. 39 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:28,200 We are in, I guess it's Chatterjack Park. I think that's the name in Bangkok. 40 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:35,800 Chatterjack. Yes. OK, so it's convenient that you're sitting here with a Czech person. 41 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:40,600 There's a lot of noise around, a lot of animals. 42 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:45,800 You've shown me a lizard crawling up from a lake. That was cool. 43 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,200 Yeah. First time I have seen anything like that, to be honest. 44 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:54,600 I love taking people. I love giving people tours of Bangkok. I feel like I know Bangkok quite well at this point. 45 00:04:54,600 --> 00:05:00,200 And I think the lizards is always one of the most shocking things to see. 46 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:06,600 Maybe a lot of countries don't have that, especially in Europe. So you've got these huge monitor lizards here that you can see. 47 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,600 We just saw one eating a fish, which I've never seen before. So yeah, it's very interesting. 48 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:15,800 The largest one I have seen in Vietnam was the gecko, the small one. 49 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:23,800 It sometimes gets inside your flat and starts eating all your mosquitoes, ideally. 50 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:27,800 Those are the ones that make the weird sounds. Is that right? They scream at night time. 51 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:32,000 Yeah, it's more like a kissing sound, isn't it? 52 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,600 The first time I heard that, I had no idea what it was. So I was a bit scared. 53 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:40,400 I thought my ex-girlfriend was cheating on me. 54 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,600 Yeah, I guess basically we had the idea since we were lucky enough to meet up. 55 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:49,200 We had the idea to just meet up and chat, maybe do something for both of our podcasts. 56 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:55,200 So wherever you're listening to this, then hello, welcome. And yeah, not really much planned, is there? 57 00:05:55,200 --> 00:06:00,400 We can just talk about maybe a little bit why we're here and our experiences here. 58 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:04,400 Yeah, I like to wing it. And I know you do too sometimes. 59 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:10,600 You told me a few minutes ago that those are your most popular podcasts with the most downloads and stuff. 60 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:15,600 So yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. And people might remember because we worked together before, right? 61 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:17,200 And you came on my podcast. That's right. 62 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:22,200 And one thing I remember from that is you used so many good expressions like wing it, for example. 63 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:23,200 Oh, did I? 64 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,400 Yeah, more than me, which is always nice because I can teach something new. 65 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:30,200 So, yeah, winging it, like doing something without planning, right? 66 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:34,600 Right, right. I'm not sure it's going to happen today because I have to be honest with you, Michael. 67 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:42,200 I'm slightly sleep deprived because I was so excited to meet you and to be on this podcast that I couldn't fall asleep at night. 68 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:49,600 So I often talk nonsense, but today it might be even more bollocks on your podcast. Is that all right? 69 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:57,800 That's fine by me. And I did want to ask because I found out recently that you are a night owl, as you said. 70 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,600 So be honest, what time did you wake up today? 71 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:04,000 Just a disclaimer, I'm not an actual owl. I'm a human being. 72 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:09,400 But do you really want to know because I don't want to shock your listeners. It's pretty bad. 73 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,200 I imagine it was earlier than normal because you're meeting me. 74 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,400 Yes, you are completely right. 75 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:17,400 Eleven, twelve? 76 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:24,400 Eleven thirty a.m. Yeah, but I went to bed at about four o'clock, but I only fell asleep at six. 77 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,200 So you're playing games, I guess? 78 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:39,200 I blame you. I have got some students here who listen to your podcast and they kind of talk about the episodes with me sometimes in our lessons. 79 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,200 So of course, it's a wonderful opportunity to talk to you. 80 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:44,400 Thank you so much. That's nice to hear. 81 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,200 And it's different when we've done this, as you said, we've done this online. 82 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,800 When was this? Like three years ago? 83 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:54,800 I guess so. I lose track. It goes so quickly, especially, you know, people say since COVID, it's so hard to keep track of time. 84 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:59,400 It just it's all messed up in my head. It could have been last year. It could have been five years. I have no idea. 85 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,400 It wasn't last year. It was longer than that. But yeah, you're right. I'm the same. 86 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:05,800 So it's all hazy in my memory. 87 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,800 Yeah, but this is different, right? Because you can kind of get to see the person. It doesn't happen these days much anymore, right? 88 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:18,400 People people always use the apps and social media and it's kind of meeting face to face is dying out. 89 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:25,000 Yeah, it's it's it's a shame. I think this is also a very weird kind of concept, a very weird format as well, 90 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:27,800 because we're meeting like we were chatting before this, of course. 91 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:33,000 And now we've turned on the camera and there's that sense of being performative. 92 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,800 Yeah, we have to perform when we pressure there's a lot of pressure. 93 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:38,400 We don't even know what we are talking what we are going to talk about. 94 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,000 But that's that was the plan just to kind of ramble. 95 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,800 Yeah. And hopefully we'll find something along the way. 96 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:52,000 One question, though, well, maybe this could be a good starting point is a little bit about you, first of all, why? 97 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:56,000 No, let's take a step back. You're from Czech Republic. 98 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,000 Yeah. Would you call it now? Czechia. Czechia. 99 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,800 Thanks for the correction. I don't know why everybody says Czechia. 100 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:10,800 I guess it's like it's the way it's spelled and people assume because it's a new obviously it's a new word. 101 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:15,100 They came up with this literally like six years ago. 102 00:09:15,100 --> 00:09:19,500 Our government people, they just decided it would be better for business because it's a shorter name. 103 00:09:19,500 --> 00:09:22,800 They've done something similar in Turkey, by the way. 104 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,400 I still don't know how to pronounce that. Turkey is now Turkey or something. 105 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:30,900 Yeah, I prefer Turkey. Sorry, Turkish people. Me too. 106 00:09:30,900 --> 00:09:35,800 So, yeah, you're from there, right? And then you took a big move across the world. 107 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:40,800 So how did that go? And why did you do it? If you don't mind sharing, I'm kind of interested to hear. 108 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:42,000 Yeah, it's a long story. 109 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:46,200 Actually, what I have to say is that, yes, it can be intimidating to go this far. 110 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:48,200 And it's a completely different culture. 111 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:53,100 Right. It's just such a such a contrast to what we know from Europe. 112 00:09:53,100 --> 00:09:58,300 But for me, it wasn't that bad because obviously I had lived in the UK before 113 00:09:58,300 --> 00:10:02,700 and I worked there as a teacher as well right before Covid. 114 00:10:02,700 --> 00:10:08,500 And when Covid happened, when it all broke out, you know, it was hard for everyone. 115 00:10:08,500 --> 00:10:14,400 So I kind of started getting more active online and started teaching online as well. 116 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:18,700 And after some time, I got bored. 117 00:10:18,700 --> 00:10:25,500 I was thinking of going back to the UK, but because of one specific thing that happened, 118 00:10:25,500 --> 00:10:28,800 you know what I'm talking about, the B word Brexit. 119 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:34,400 Right. OK. It got more difficult for me to go there and I got... 120 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:39,900 What's the word I'm looking for? I got a bit distracted, disenfranchised. 121 00:10:39,900 --> 00:10:42,400 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 122 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,000 And I just said to myself, you know what? 123 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,700 Let's do something different. Let's do something crazy, wild. 124 00:10:50,700 --> 00:10:53,000 Let's go to Vietnam. 125 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000 Wow. So it was a very conscious decision. 126 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:57,700 It wasn't... You didn't fall into it by chance. 127 00:10:57,700 --> 00:10:59,500 You decided specifically Vietnam. 128 00:10:59,500 --> 00:11:02,500 Yeah, yeah. It was like a gradual process. 129 00:11:02,500 --> 00:11:04,500 I guess I did a little bit of research. 130 00:11:04,500 --> 00:11:07,700 I watched a few videos on YouTube. 131 00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:12,700 And it made sense for several reasons. 132 00:11:12,700 --> 00:11:16,200 One of them being that we have got a lot of Vietnamese people in my country, actually, 133 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:22,300 because it's like the third largest minority after Slovak people and Ukrainians. 134 00:11:22,300 --> 00:11:26,000 Number three minority, the largest minority is Vietnamese, which is mad. 135 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:26,600 It's surprising. 136 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,000 If you think about it, because it's such a faraway country, right? 137 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:30,800 That's very interesting. 138 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,200 So you already had maybe some exposure to the people and the culture to some extent. 139 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,300 Yeah, I completely do. Like it doesn't compare to this. 140 00:11:38,300 --> 00:11:40,300 Of course. Yeah. 141 00:11:40,300 --> 00:11:43,000 So how was the process for you going and moving? 142 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,800 I know there's a lot of probably paperwork and boring stuff. 143 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:48,200 Yeah, like the visa process. 144 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:51,000 Yeah, maybe you can get to the fun part. 145 00:11:51,000 --> 00:11:51,800 That wasn't too bad. 146 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,000 Like you can just, to be honest, like there's a visa you apply for it. 147 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,800 It's called e-visa and it takes five days to process. 148 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:01,800 So that's not too bad after all. 149 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:03,800 Then you obviously have to book the ticket. 150 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,900 That's quite expensive for us flying all the way from Europe, right? 151 00:12:06,900 --> 00:12:09,100 So you're like, what am I doing? 152 00:12:09,100 --> 00:12:09,900 Where am I going? 153 00:12:09,900 --> 00:12:12,200 Is this cheap? Is this expensive? 154 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:16,700 In the end, you just have to do it and you don't want to think about it anymore, right? 155 00:12:16,700 --> 00:12:20,200 And yeah, I guess I had a bit of culture shock at first, 156 00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:26,600 but I think because of that UK experience, it wasn't that bad because I was used to being on my own. 157 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,600 I'd say I found my feet pretty quickly. 158 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,300 Not a good expression. Yeah. 159 00:12:33,300 --> 00:12:35,100 Yeah, I guess that kind of makes sense. 160 00:12:35,100 --> 00:12:37,800 So you going to the UK, how old were you when you went to the UK? 161 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:38,900 How old was I? 162 00:12:38,900 --> 00:12:39,900 Let me count. 163 00:12:39,900 --> 00:12:40,900 Were you a proper adult? 164 00:12:40,900 --> 00:12:45,900 I have to realize how old I am now. 165 00:12:45,900 --> 00:12:47,400 Now I'm 41 years old. 166 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:55,400 So when I went to the UK for the second time was in 2019. 167 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:59,700 And no, maybe 2018. 168 00:12:59,700 --> 00:13:01,300 Okay, so it wasn't too long ago then actually. 169 00:13:01,300 --> 00:13:02,500 2019, yeah. 170 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:05,000 So that's like five years ago, six years ago. 171 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:06,000 Okay. 172 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,900 So you kind of, we could say you dipped your toes in the water, 173 00:13:09,900 --> 00:13:12,700 but you kind of gradually got used to the idea of living abroad. 174 00:13:12,700 --> 00:13:13,700 Well, you were living abroad. 175 00:13:13,700 --> 00:13:16,800 That was my second time because when I was 21 years old, 176 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:18,800 that's when I went to the UK for the first time. 177 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:19,300 Okay. 178 00:13:19,300 --> 00:13:19,900 That's quite young. 179 00:13:19,900 --> 00:13:23,800 I did it for one and a half years and then 15 years I spent in the Czech Republic. 180 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,300 I did my university degree and started teaching English. 181 00:13:28,300 --> 00:13:31,500 And it was always at the back of my mind. 182 00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:37,100 I always wanted to go back to those places that was almost out of nostalgia for me, 183 00:13:37,100 --> 00:13:39,000 you know, to go back to London. 184 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:40,800 So in the end I did that. 185 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,300 My dream came true, you could say. 186 00:13:43,300 --> 00:13:50,500 And then it all went pear-shaped because of not really Brexit, but COVID. 187 00:13:50,500 --> 00:13:51,500 A couple of things happened, I guess. 188 00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:52,300 Kind of rhymes, right? 189 00:13:52,300 --> 00:13:54,900 COVID, Brexit. 190 00:13:54,900 --> 00:13:55,900 Both terrible things. 191 00:13:55,900 --> 00:13:56,800 Yes. 192 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:01,700 But yeah, I mean, as you know, it's quite similar to my experience too, 193 00:14:01,700 --> 00:14:07,400 where except that I didn't really have that time in another country first to get used to it. 194 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:10,300 So moving to Bangkok was like my first move abroad. 195 00:14:10,300 --> 00:14:11,100 Norway. 196 00:14:11,100 --> 00:14:11,600 Yeah. 197 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:13,300 I thought you'd been somewhere before that. 198 00:14:13,300 --> 00:14:17,800 I've spent like a couple months here and there in different countries like Japan and around, 199 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:19,800 a lot around Asia, but a little bit Europe as well. 200 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,000 Because I know unlike me, you are a polyglot. 201 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,200 You like to study languages. 202 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:25,600 I don't know about that. 203 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,300 No, come on, you're too, he's too humble. 204 00:14:28,300 --> 00:14:34,100 I like to study, but my progress is so slow, you know, I never feel that confident in any... 205 00:14:34,100 --> 00:14:35,300 Not even in English these days. 206 00:14:35,300 --> 00:14:39,800 Well, the difference is that you do something at least. 207 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:40,300 Right. 208 00:14:40,300 --> 00:14:41,400 I'm just lazy. 209 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:42,300 I'm a lazy bastard. 210 00:14:42,300 --> 00:14:44,500 Lazy bones, you could say. 211 00:14:44,500 --> 00:14:50,400 I think it's partially because it took me so long to learn English to this level 212 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:56,400 that I almost sort of give up even imagining that I would have to do the same thing to go through that. 213 00:14:56,400 --> 00:15:00,700 Like it's not that it was not enjoyable. 214 00:15:00,700 --> 00:15:03,200 It was enjoyable, but like it was a lot of effort. 215 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:04,000 Yeah. 216 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:09,600 And it feels kind of futile to even think about it. 217 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:16,800 How long would it take me to get to a decent level of Vietnamese, you know, and then I sort of give up. 218 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:21,900 I mean, I know really what you mean because that feeling sneaks in for me all the time. 219 00:15:21,900 --> 00:15:27,500 I feel like the best way is just as much as you can, try to avoid thinking about the long, 220 00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:31,200 you know, the whole climb of the mountain, you know, it's like going to the gym, isn't it? 221 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,900 Like if you're going every day thinking, when am I going to have that six pack abs? 222 00:15:35,900 --> 00:15:40,200 It's going to feel so painful to get to that level. 223 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:45,200 But if you just focus like in the moment, focus on one pack day to day, yeah, one pack at a time. 224 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,100 I can do that with beer. I don't need to lift weights for that. 225 00:15:48,100 --> 00:15:50,800 I don't need to pump iron. 226 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,000 Focus on one day at a time, little progress, little by little. 227 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,000 I find that works much better for me. 228 00:15:56,000 --> 00:16:03,000 But yeah, when I slip into that way of thinking, it's very demotivating because learning a language is such a huge thing. 229 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:04,800 There's one thing I kind of admire about you. 230 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:05,600 I have to say this. 231 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:07,300 Like whenever I listen to your podcast. 232 00:16:07,300 --> 00:16:08,300 Yeah, sorry. 233 00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:11,900 Thank you for just to explain to our audio listeners. 234 00:16:11,900 --> 00:16:19,900 Michael just reminded me that I should hold this recording device closer to my mouth because that's the way it records my voice. 235 00:16:19,900 --> 00:16:20,200 Right. 236 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:20,900 Hopefully it comes out. 237 00:16:20,900 --> 00:16:21,900 Yeah. 238 00:16:21,900 --> 00:16:31,200 I wanted to say that I admire you for the way you talk about sort of your life and how you apply all that stuff. 239 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:32,900 You can research for every episode. 240 00:16:32,900 --> 00:16:37,700 It's but it's also making me a little bit sort of intimidated. 241 00:16:37,700 --> 00:16:42,500 Like a little bit guilty that I don't do any of that. 242 00:16:42,500 --> 00:16:43,200 I don't know. 243 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:50,000 You seem to be very sort of single minded, like focus on your goals, like goal driven, right? 244 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:51,200 I don't know if I would say goal driven. 245 00:16:51,200 --> 00:16:56,700 I love I love kind of optimizing and like self-improvement that kind of stuff. 246 00:16:56,700 --> 00:17:00,800 But I think a lot of it is not actually not goal driven. 247 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:06,100 It's more just I maybe you know, maybe at the start of the year like I did this year, you know, at New Year's. 248 00:17:06,100 --> 00:17:12,000 I take some time and plan what I want to do in the year in the next few years. 249 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:17,100 Kind of just rough guideline, rough goals like improve this language or something. 250 00:17:17,100 --> 00:17:22,700 And I kind of work out in order to get to that what steps I need to take on a daily basis to do that. 251 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:32,400 And then I just kind of forget about the goals and just focus on the daily tasks because I trust that that past version of Michael has decided in a smart way. 252 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:38,500 So I kind of just I get on each day with my language study and my going to the gym and stuff like that. 253 00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:42,000 I don't really think too much about the future if that makes sense. 254 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:47,200 No, but like if I if I compare myself to you, obviously I must have planned things in my life. 255 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:51,000 Yeah, I mean, I've lived in a couple of foreign countries. 256 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,900 I have a podcast. 257 00:17:52,900 --> 00:17:56,400 I have a YouTube channel and I have done a degree. 258 00:17:56,400 --> 00:18:02,600 But still, I think maybe the older I get, the more I prefer to, as you said, wing it. 259 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:06,100 And even the way I teach, it's these days, it's mostly dogma. 260 00:18:06,100 --> 00:18:09,900 I don't know if you if you have ever talked about this on your podcast or dogma method. 261 00:18:09,900 --> 00:18:12,500 I've heard about it, but I don't know enough to talk about it. 262 00:18:12,500 --> 00:18:14,000 So maybe you could remind me. 263 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,300 Well, basically, the idea is that you don't use any material, any course book. 264 00:18:17,300 --> 00:18:21,600 It's more based on sort of conversation you have with someone. 265 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:30,900 And anything that happens in the lesson or any sort of language work, it sort of crops up in a natural way from your conversation. 266 00:18:30,900 --> 00:18:40,500 So let's say you start the lesson by talking to your student about the weekend or something like that or an interesting article they've read, 267 00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:44,000 cool video they've seen, and then you sort of build the lesson around it. 268 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,400 And then you notice maybe one language aspect they are struggling with. 269 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:55,100 And then you focus on it, you do some sort of, I don't know, drilling or error correction, feedback, whatever. 270 00:18:55,100 --> 00:18:59,800 So and but at the end of the day, it's very it's unplanned. 271 00:18:59,800 --> 00:19:02,300 It's it's sort of you're winging it all the time. 272 00:19:02,300 --> 00:19:06,700 You're improvising. And I feel like it's probably where I am at. 273 00:19:06,700 --> 00:19:10,500 Like it's even for this for this podcast, I haven't prepared anything. 274 00:19:10,500 --> 00:19:14,900 So I just feel more more at ease. 275 00:19:14,900 --> 00:19:18,700 Paradoxically, it sort of uses of the pressure. 276 00:19:18,700 --> 00:19:22,400 I don't I don't know how it's even possible because usually it should be the other way around. 277 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:25,300 Right. When you prepare, you feel more confident. 278 00:19:25,300 --> 00:19:29,200 Yeah. But sometimes for me, it puts too much pressure on me. 279 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:35,300 And also it makes me maybe sound less natural or less sort of. 280 00:19:35,300 --> 00:19:42,100 I don't know. Like it's more force and you have that pressure that you have to do everything according to the plan. 281 00:19:42,100 --> 00:19:47,000 Right. And then when you don't and then you wear off the plan, 282 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,000 you start getting uneasy about it. 283 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,100 I don't know. Tell me. Tell me what you think. 284 00:19:52,100 --> 00:19:55,800 I completely agree. I had you know, this has just happened to me. 285 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,600 You have so many things I want to say in my head that they're all kind of fighting. 286 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:03,300 And now I've kind of forgotten a lot of them as a result of that. 287 00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:08,300 That's all right. Yeah. I don't know. 288 00:20:08,300 --> 00:20:12,000 I can't think of the best thing to say. But one thing I was going to say is 289 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:16,400 I love that dogma method of teaching. 290 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,000 I think that it just makes so much more sense. 291 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,600 I think it's also a sign of a really good teacher that can do that 292 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:30,100 and adapt to the students needs and not just have like a set cookie cutter plan for everyone. 293 00:20:30,100 --> 00:20:34,100 Maybe you talk a bit more while I remember what I was going to say if you have something. 294 00:20:34,100 --> 00:20:35,800 Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. 295 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:41,400 Like it's interesting to think about how the students perceive it. 296 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:48,300 Yeah. So you could have students who really expect you to have the lesson prepared to have a clear structure, 297 00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:52,400 aims, lesson aims. But you know what? 298 00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:57,000 At the end of the day, it's the language inspectors or British Council or what not. 299 00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:02,200 Who like that the most? The students themselves. 300 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:06,100 The students stick with me because they like this kind of way of learning. 301 00:21:06,100 --> 00:21:11,700 I think they feel less pressurized and I don't know. 302 00:21:11,700 --> 00:21:18,300 It's just I guess it can get repetitive and boring sometimes as well if you have nothing to talk about. 303 00:21:18,300 --> 00:21:27,600 But I'm lucky enough that pretty much all my students are interesting people that always have things to talk about. 304 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:28,700 I don't know. Yeah. 305 00:21:28,700 --> 00:21:32,500 That's what I was going to say. Actually, I don't know if this can be related to language learning at all. 306 00:21:32,500 --> 00:21:37,800 But when it comes to podcasting, I feel like at the beginning, I speak personally for myself. 307 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:44,500 I had to do a lot more planning at the beginning because I had no experience like doing a monologue or a conversation. 308 00:21:44,500 --> 00:21:49,500 Absolutely. Being recorded because there'd be a lot of pauses and like, so what should I say now? 309 00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:55,600 And it takes a long time for me to build up that skill to just talk off the cuff and wing it, 310 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:58,400 as you said, and not prepare anything like today. 311 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:02,500 But if we did this like five years ago, there's no way I could do it without a plan. 312 00:22:02,500 --> 00:22:06,700 I completely understand. And because we are both English teachers, I think it's the same with teaching. 313 00:22:06,700 --> 00:22:11,500 When you start as a teacher, when you are a novice teacher, honestly, you are a noob. 314 00:22:11,500 --> 00:22:16,100 Like to use a gaming terminology because your podcast is called Level Up, the Level Up English Podcast. 315 00:22:16,100 --> 00:22:17,800 You are a complete noob. 316 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:27,800 And now all those people are looking at you and expecting you to teach them and to take them to another level so quickly. 317 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,900 And you're like, what? What am I even supposed to do? 318 00:22:31,900 --> 00:22:37,000 So you do need some sort of like guidance or I don't know, structure to what you're doing. 319 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:42,100 I guess it could be applied to all aspects of life, more or less. 320 00:22:42,100 --> 00:22:44,000 Yeah, I think so. 321 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:46,800 How about you with Vietnamese? 322 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:49,400 Have you made any progress with that language? 323 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:50,700 I haven't even started. 324 00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:54,700 So I just picked up a few phrases like, please go slowly. 325 00:22:54,700 --> 00:23:00,600 And when I take a grab, which is the, you know what it is, the taxi, motorbike taxi. 326 00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:07,400 So like the important stuff like thank you and hello, you know, the basics like that doesn't really. 327 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:08,200 It goes a long way though. 328 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,000 Like people appreciate that, I'm sure. 329 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:18,800 Yeah, but like you don't want to spend like, it's almost like I use the same phrase like 50 times a day. 330 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:26,600 There's one phrase in particular, which is like no problem, which I use so much. 331 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:31,000 I don't know why it's so useful because it kind of means like not at all. 332 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:32,500 Like you're welcome. 333 00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:35,500 It kind of means like you're welcome, but it also means no problem. 334 00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:38,500 So it's, you know, pretty useful. 335 00:23:38,500 --> 00:23:40,700 Yeah, I see that. 336 00:23:40,700 --> 00:23:42,700 It's, it is very difficult. 337 00:23:42,700 --> 00:23:46,000 I imagine where you live in Vietnam is very similar to here. 338 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:53,800 Like so many of my friends from the US, Australia, Europe, they don't know any Thai, even like 10 years here, which is quite shocking. 339 00:23:53,800 --> 00:24:02,800 But I think if you're, especially in the center of Bangkok, you can live very comfortably and not use much Thai at all. 340 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:03,400 It's very easy. 341 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,600 And I think also Thai people are so friendly. 342 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:07,400 Vietnamese too, I know. 343 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,000 Yeah, they are also friendly. 344 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:13,200 They won't give you a hard, maybe they should, but they won't give you a hard time if you don't know the language. 345 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:17,900 And to be honest, they might laugh at you when you're attempting to speak. 346 00:24:17,900 --> 00:24:25,100 But to be honest, it never, it never really is a problem because I laugh at myself when I, when I try to speak. 347 00:24:25,100 --> 00:24:28,500 So for me, it's a wonderful icebreaker. 348 00:24:28,500 --> 00:24:35,100 Actually, I think it's more, it's different with English because I think the world has created a lot of pressure on everyone. 349 00:24:35,100 --> 00:24:46,200 Like even in Vietnam, everyone, it's all about the IELTS score and, you know, there's a lot of pressure from the parents and from your peers and from the teachers. 350 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:51,000 I think it's the English has a different status almost, you know, like that's why I like this. 351 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:57,300 It's harder for people to be successful and people, people get more anxious. 352 00:24:57,300 --> 00:25:03,500 But when it comes to like these languages, like Vietnamese, where else is Vietnamese spoken? 353 00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:07,900 Probably just in Vietnam, like Czech is only spoken in the Czech Republic, right? 354 00:25:07,900 --> 00:25:10,400 So I think there's less pressure. 355 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:11,300 What do you think? 356 00:25:11,300 --> 00:25:16,800 Yeah, I mean, what came to my mind is it's a really unfair kind of expectation level, 357 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:26,900 whereas you might know, like you need to know like five words in an Asian language as a white person to be like impressive. 358 00:25:26,900 --> 00:25:28,800 Wow, that's amazing. Good job. 359 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:36,900 But then if you're learning English, as you also might know, unless you're like really, really fluent, like no one's going to compliment you. 360 00:25:36,900 --> 00:25:40,900 Like it's kind of you're expected to know English all over the world. 361 00:25:40,900 --> 00:25:43,100 They might even frown upon you. 362 00:25:43,100 --> 00:25:49,500 Yeah. So you don't get much praise for learning and it's such a hard language, of course, isn't it? 363 00:25:49,500 --> 00:25:55,100 As a teacher, I feel like I know how people struggle to learn, but other native speakers don't. 364 00:25:55,100 --> 00:25:57,800 That's why this is such a big difference. 365 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:03,900 Like, for example, like you, that's why I guess I guess I'm more drawn to you guys. 366 00:26:03,900 --> 00:26:16,900 Like I'm going to mention for me, you're like the famous for Luke, you Martin from Rock and Roll English and also Emma from the Procrastination podcast with Emma. 367 00:26:16,900 --> 00:26:18,100 Very kind of you to include me. 368 00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:22,700 You know, I feel like you are the people that are also studying other foreign languages. 369 00:26:22,700 --> 00:26:23,900 So, you know what it means. 370 00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:26,800 You know how it feels and you can empathize with the students. 371 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:31,300 You can relate to that experience and it's so important when you're a teacher as well. 372 00:26:31,300 --> 00:26:32,300 So, yes, you're right. 373 00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:36,300 There are a lot of native speakers who have that sort of reputation. 374 00:26:36,300 --> 00:26:42,900 But at the same time, I think you guys are trying to break the stereotype and you know, you're doing really well. 375 00:26:42,900 --> 00:26:44,100 That's definitely motivation for me. 376 00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:47,000 Actually, it is being from such a monolingual country. 377 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:48,900 That's part of my motivation to learn more. 378 00:26:48,900 --> 00:26:56,700 Yeah. Of course, as a teacher, I feel like it's a good idea to know at least at least one language that isn't your native language. 379 00:26:56,700 --> 00:27:05,300 But yeah, I mean speaking about learning the local language, I was quite similar to you for like the first... 380 00:27:05,300 --> 00:27:08,600 It was almost first year honestly where I learned some basic Thai phrases. 381 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:11,700 I did learn how to read before I got here, which helped a lot. 382 00:27:11,700 --> 00:27:13,400 But not much more than that. 383 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:14,700 Just very basic stuff. 384 00:27:14,700 --> 00:27:20,000 And it wasn't until I went back to the UK last Christmas. 385 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,600 No, last summer, I guess it was in the summer. 386 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:29,300 I took a step back and I thought like, I mean, I'm living there for almost a year now. 387 00:27:29,300 --> 00:27:31,100 I really should take it more seriously. 388 00:27:31,100 --> 00:27:32,700 I kind of felt guilty in some way. 389 00:27:32,700 --> 00:27:33,700 Yeah. 390 00:27:33,700 --> 00:27:38,400 No, this is the only thing I have because I have got a lot of excuses. 391 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,000 Like I'm too old for this. 392 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,800 Like even if I look at you now, like Michael is so much younger. 393 00:27:42,800 --> 00:27:46,800 So I can blame it on that, right? 394 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:49,000 But no, you can't have these excuses. 395 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:49,800 There's no excuse. 396 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,500 I'm just lazy guys. 397 00:27:51,500 --> 00:27:52,000 That's it. 398 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,100 Like that's the reality I have to face it. 399 00:27:54,100 --> 00:27:56,100 And I either I'm okay with it. 400 00:27:56,100 --> 00:28:00,700 I accept the fact that I'm lazy and I don't feel bad about it. 401 00:28:00,700 --> 00:28:02,000 And then it's fine. 402 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:03,100 Or I do something about it. 403 00:28:03,100 --> 00:28:05,100 Like there's nothing between you know, excuses. 404 00:28:05,100 --> 00:28:07,300 It's just it's ridiculous stuff. 405 00:28:07,300 --> 00:28:09,000 It leads nowhere. 406 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:15,500 If I were to word it in a kinder way, I might say rather than lazy, you might, it might just be priorities, right? 407 00:28:15,500 --> 00:28:19,500 Because we all have, I think we all have time to learn a language. 408 00:28:19,500 --> 00:28:22,100 I feel so much better now. 409 00:28:22,100 --> 00:28:23,800 But sometimes we just prioritize different things. 410 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,000 You might prioritize having fun, relaxing or prioritize going to the gym. 411 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,500 I think it's not always a bad thing. 412 00:28:30,500 --> 00:28:34,900 If you're not focused on learning a language, it's just you have to be honest with yourself. 413 00:28:34,900 --> 00:28:37,100 Like this isn't my top priority right now. 414 00:28:37,100 --> 00:28:38,500 You know, if you've just had a baby. 415 00:28:38,500 --> 00:28:39,700 That's that's what it is. 416 00:28:39,700 --> 00:28:41,100 At the end of the day, that's what it is. 417 00:28:41,100 --> 00:28:44,900 But the thing is like part of you wants to do it, right? 418 00:28:44,900 --> 00:28:47,700 So that's why like there's this added guilt to it. 419 00:28:47,700 --> 00:28:51,000 Because part of you knows you should do it, right? 420 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:56,900 It's also slightly hypocritical of you to not do it as an English teacher, right? 421 00:28:56,900 --> 00:29:02,900 Someone trying to teach someone a foreign language, although I'm in a position of someone who has learned English as a second language. 422 00:29:02,900 --> 00:29:06,100 So I guess that that helps me a little bit as well. 423 00:29:06,100 --> 00:29:11,300 But yeah, it's it's a psychological thing at the end of the day, isn't it? 424 00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:12,700 Yeah. 425 00:29:12,700 --> 00:29:15,700 What I'll tell you what I'm doing, though, which I find super manageable. 426 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:23,700 Maybe maybe you could you could try something similar is I made the goal to do one new Thai phrase or word every day. 427 00:29:23,700 --> 00:29:25,000 I'll be honest, it's not every day. 428 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,100 It might be like four or five times a week. 429 00:29:28,100 --> 00:29:30,800 I don't usually do it on the weekends, for example. 430 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:37,900 But basically, whenever I'm like going around about my life and I realize there's a gap in my knowledge, like I want to say something. 431 00:29:37,900 --> 00:29:43,700 So I was in a Lyft and staff member in the Lyft kind of looked at me, 432 00:29:43,700 --> 00:29:47,300 expecting me to like tell her the floor number so she could press the button. 433 00:29:47,300 --> 00:29:50,300 And I don't know how to say floor in Thai. 434 00:29:50,300 --> 00:29:53,300 Right. So I realized there's a gap in my knowledge. 435 00:29:53,300 --> 00:29:56,600 It's a little bit of an awkward interaction, but I just kind of pressed it myself. 436 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:01,400 So then I wrote down, OK, floor on my Thai notes app on my phone. 437 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:05,500 And then the next morning I researched how to say floor. 438 00:30:05,500 --> 00:30:11,300 I added it to my flashcards, add some audio from online that I found. 439 00:30:11,300 --> 00:30:13,900 And now I'm studying which floor, which floor? 440 00:30:13,900 --> 00:30:15,200 Floor number five, floor number six. 441 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:16,200 I know how to say that now. 442 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,800 So hopefully in the future I'll be able to say that. 443 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:24,800 And like bit by bit, I'm kind of literally just no less than like no more than four or five minutes a day. 444 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:26,300 And I'm kind of slowly improving. 445 00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:27,500 And this is quite nice. 446 00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:32,200 Great way and natural way to learn, of course, like out of necessity, right? 447 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,000 I don't know if you really need this to function. 448 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:37,600 It's the what we call functional language, right? 449 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:39,500 You need to function in that language. 450 00:30:39,500 --> 00:30:45,400 So that's what you go for, because often when we enroll in a course, an English course, 451 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,800 we get this course book and we are learning about things that we don't want to learn about. 452 00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:50,300 We don't need it. 453 00:30:50,300 --> 00:30:55,000 So I feel like this sometimes is the better way as well. 454 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,800 Yeah, definitely. 455 00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:00,200 I mean, it's just it's more fun as well, especially if you're living in a place where you can practice. 456 00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:05,000 You can you can learn something in the morning and then practice it in a real situation that same day. 457 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,700 Which you mean like enter the elevator more often than you need to. 458 00:31:08,700 --> 00:31:11,500 And then the people might think that you're weird or something. 459 00:31:11,500 --> 00:31:20,400 And every time people join you in the lift, you will be like fifth floor, sixth floor, floor, not one, floor two. 460 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,400 I mean, I've heard of people doing similar things where they'll ask people for directions, 461 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:28,500 even though they know where to go, but they just want to practice their skills. 462 00:31:28,500 --> 00:31:30,400 And I don't know if I've ever done that. 463 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:35,300 But if I was a little bit braver, I might consider doing that just to strike up some conversation 464 00:31:35,300 --> 00:31:41,000 with someone that could be a thing you try. 465 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:42,800 Absolutely. 466 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:45,900 It reminds me of that elevator story you just told me. 467 00:31:45,900 --> 00:31:49,600 Reminds me of the famous video, the Scottish elevator. 468 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:50,700 You know which one I mean? 469 00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:51,800 I'm not sure. 470 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:57,100 So if you just Google it listeners, basically, I don't know, is it an ad? 471 00:31:57,100 --> 00:31:59,200 It might be an ad or something. 472 00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,000 I don't know why they recorded it. 473 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:02,900 But Scottish people are somewhere. 474 00:32:02,900 --> 00:32:10,100 I guess they are in America or something and they have a voice operate voice operated elevator in there. 475 00:32:10,100 --> 00:32:18,800 And there's two Scots inside the elevator and they are talking to it and saying 11. 476 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:20,600 In the Scottish accent like 11. 477 00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:21,100 I don't know. 478 00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:25,900 You maybe know can do a better impression than me, but 11. 479 00:32:25,900 --> 00:32:28,100 And the elevator does not understand them. 480 00:32:28,100 --> 00:32:35,500 So it keeps saying, please repeat your floor and basically it they just get so annoyed 481 00:32:35,500 --> 00:32:39,500 because they keep repeating 11 11 and they get really angry. 482 00:32:39,500 --> 00:32:42,100 And then there's also a twist to that video. 483 00:32:42,100 --> 00:32:43,800 It's so it's so famous. 484 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:45,900 11. 485 00:32:45,900 --> 00:32:48,300 Could you please repeat that? 486 00:32:48,300 --> 00:32:52,100 I'm sure I'm sure a lot of your and my listeners know this. 487 00:32:52,100 --> 00:32:55,600 Yeah, that's kind of like racism, but with accents, you know, like there's so many accents in the world 488 00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:03,200 that a lot of this voice activated stuff just wouldn't really work unless you're like that RP English kind of standard English. 489 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,700 Yeah, it's very unfair. 490 00:33:05,700 --> 00:33:07,300 Yeah, but it's it's a nice money. 491 00:33:07,300 --> 00:33:11,900 It's like a little little joke, you know. 492 00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:20,100 One more thing I had in mind to ask you was a couple things, but one maybe about what you might miss from back home. 493 00:33:20,100 --> 00:33:26,600 That's something that you don't have currently in Vietnam, but you miss from from back home in Europe. 494 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:33,100 I guess when it comes to food, there's not much cheese in Vietnam or there is cheese, but it's more expensive. 495 00:33:33,100 --> 00:33:34,700 I guess they don't have so many cows. 496 00:33:34,700 --> 00:33:36,600 I don't know. 497 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:38,400 There's a definitely a reason for it. 498 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:44,000 So basically I don't end up buying almost any cheese and I miss that. 499 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:57,100 But at the same time, it's a blessing in disguise because I lose weight more more quickly and yeah, I feel much better as a result of that. 500 00:33:57,100 --> 00:34:03,200 That's interesting. I think, yeah, a lot of the things that you might miss from Western countries might be unhealthy anyway. 501 00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:04,600 Like a lot of pizza and stuff like that. 502 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:06,700 Yeah, I guess cheese on pizza. 503 00:34:06,700 --> 00:34:14,100 It might be because a lot of Asian people are naturally more, what's the word, lactose intolerant. 504 00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:17,700 So maybe there's not so much of a historical cheese culture, dairy culture here. 505 00:34:17,700 --> 00:34:19,800 Right, right, right. 506 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:21,600 Yes, same here. 507 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:22,900 It doesn't cheese me off at all. 508 00:34:22,900 --> 00:34:25,200 So it doesn't annoy him. 509 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:26,100 Yes. 510 00:34:26,100 --> 00:34:28,300 Nice. 511 00:34:28,300 --> 00:34:29,100 Yeah. 512 00:34:29,100 --> 00:34:35,000 And then I guess that like, of course, it's always good and bad wherever you go. 513 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:39,300 You can't say like one place is better than the other because it doesn't work like that. 514 00:34:39,300 --> 00:34:40,800 There are things that are better here. 515 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:43,600 There are things that are better back in my home country. 516 00:34:43,600 --> 00:34:46,900 There are things that are better in London, in England. 517 00:34:46,900 --> 00:34:51,600 But now I lost my train of thought, Michael. 518 00:34:51,600 --> 00:34:52,300 What was I going to say? 519 00:34:52,300 --> 00:34:54,200 There was a point to all this. 520 00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:55,100 What was I going to say? 521 00:34:55,100 --> 00:34:56,000 There's pros and cons. 522 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,900 So having no cheese is bad. 523 00:34:58,900 --> 00:35:02,200 Maybe that was a good thing you were going to mention. 524 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,800 No, I was going to mention traffic, I guess. 525 00:35:04,800 --> 00:35:11,000 So that one thing, if I were to say one bad thing about Vietnam is the traffic is just, 526 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:12,700 it's too congested. 527 00:35:12,700 --> 00:35:19,200 There's this, the traffic jumps everywhere and people drive in a different way. 528 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:23,600 They're just sort of more, what's the word for it? 529 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,700 Like push, push too much. 530 00:35:25,700 --> 00:35:26,500 They're aggressive. 531 00:35:26,500 --> 00:35:28,100 They're too aggressive. 532 00:35:28,100 --> 00:35:31,600 Like at the same time, I feel safer there. 533 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:32,300 Yeah. 534 00:35:32,300 --> 00:35:36,000 It's weird because it's like organized chaos. 535 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,900 Yeah, because these people don't have a choice because the roads are so busy. 536 00:35:39,900 --> 00:35:43,900 Sometimes they have to enter the pavement as well. 537 00:35:43,900 --> 00:35:47,900 They have to ride or drive along the pavement. 538 00:35:47,900 --> 00:35:50,500 So you kind of get it. 539 00:35:50,500 --> 00:35:52,500 Some of the rules are broken as well. 540 00:35:52,500 --> 00:35:58,100 Like sometimes they just go the wrong way or they ignore the traffic signs or something. 541 00:35:58,100 --> 00:36:00,300 That's pretty common. 542 00:36:00,300 --> 00:36:05,500 But again, it kind of makes sense to do that in that environment under those conditions. 543 00:36:05,500 --> 00:36:09,500 So that's, I guess, one thing that sort of is tough for me to get used to. 544 00:36:09,500 --> 00:36:10,500 I don't know how it's in Thailand. 545 00:36:10,500 --> 00:36:11,500 Is it similar? 546 00:36:11,500 --> 00:36:12,300 It's similar. 547 00:36:12,300 --> 00:36:14,100 We were talking a little bit before we recorded. 548 00:36:14,100 --> 00:36:20,100 Like it's similar, but I do feel like Vietnam, they're a little bit more aggressive and like 549 00:36:20,100 --> 00:36:25,200 they care less for pedestrians, people walking than in Thailand. 550 00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:28,800 Like in Thailand, they will go if they have the chance, but if they see a person on the road, 551 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:31,100 they will stop and they'll also smile when they go by. 552 00:36:31,100 --> 00:36:35,900 Like it's okay, you can go, which it feels aggressive, but when they smile, it kind of 553 00:36:35,900 --> 00:36:37,400 makes you forgive them. 554 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:41,800 But as you said, like you can get mad at the system, but I don't think you can blame one 555 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:45,400 individual person because if you're waiting, if you're a polite driver, you're going to 556 00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:46,000 get nowhere. 557 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,000 Like you have to be a bit pushy, don't you? 558 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,900 Yeah, you have to kind of do as the Romans do as well. 559 00:36:50,900 --> 00:36:56,300 Like it's just, I know it's just a phrase, a cliche, but you know what? 560 00:36:56,300 --> 00:37:01,200 It's where you end up in the end anyway, and it's the right thing to do and the only thing 561 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:02,400 you can do. 562 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:06,700 Yeah, and there's no use like losing sleep over this, right? 563 00:37:06,700 --> 00:37:07,600 Probably more dangerous. 564 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:12,200 If you have like, I mean, that's one thing that I realized coming here is how good driving 565 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:13,600 is in the UK. 566 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:17,300 I don't think I've been to a country where driving is safer than the UK. 567 00:37:17,300 --> 00:37:22,400 Obviously there's a lot of accidents and problems, but just comparatively, it's very good in the UK. 568 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:30,700 People are quite respectful for the most part, but yeah, I think if you have that driving 569 00:37:30,700 --> 00:37:34,700 attitude here, it might even be less safe. 570 00:37:34,700 --> 00:37:42,200 Like you're driving safely by the book, but it probably would be quite unsafe when everyone 571 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:43,800 is not expecting that kind of driving. 572 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:48,700 Because you have a completely different mindset and you just react in different ways. 573 00:37:48,700 --> 00:37:53,700 Like you react in the way you're used to from your own country, so you have to really start 574 00:37:53,700 --> 00:37:58,900 reading the people and start understanding the way they behave on the road. 575 00:37:58,900 --> 00:38:00,700 I think it's your responsibility to do that. 576 00:38:00,700 --> 00:38:09,500 Like you can't expect the world to come to your feet and do as you are used to doing, right? 577 00:38:09,500 --> 00:38:15,700 I think for me, I'll just say pretty much everything I like about Bangkok and Thailand. 578 00:38:15,700 --> 00:38:20,700 It's such a great place to live, like Asia, South East Asia in general is generally so pleasant. 579 00:38:20,700 --> 00:38:22,700 That's why we are here, right? For so long. 580 00:38:22,700 --> 00:38:28,700 Like you've been here for one and a half years, me almost two years. 581 00:38:28,700 --> 00:38:30,700 Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of benefits. 582 00:38:30,700 --> 00:38:32,700 It's obviously cheaper than Europe generally. 583 00:38:32,700 --> 00:38:34,700 People are friendlier. 584 00:38:34,700 --> 00:38:36,700 Climate can be quite nice. 585 00:38:36,700 --> 00:38:39,700 Only two things. 586 00:38:39,700 --> 00:38:43,700 I was going to say two things, but I can only think of one thing. 587 00:38:43,700 --> 00:38:49,700 I'll just say one of the biggest things that I really dislike about here is the pollution. 588 00:38:49,700 --> 00:38:52,700 It's getting into that polluted season right now. 589 00:38:52,700 --> 00:38:57,700 Especially in these large cities, Bangkok. 590 00:38:57,700 --> 00:39:03,700 I just came back from Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon is called also. 591 00:39:03,700 --> 00:39:05,700 Before that, I lived in Da Nang. 592 00:39:05,700 --> 00:39:12,700 In Da Nang, it's less polluted because it's a seaside, it's a coastal city. 593 00:39:12,700 --> 00:39:17,700 Saigon, I guess it's quite similar to Thailand, to Bangkok. 594 00:39:17,700 --> 00:39:20,700 I went for a bike ride on Saturday. 595 00:39:20,700 --> 00:39:24,700 So what's that like? Three days ago or something like that. 596 00:39:24,700 --> 00:39:28,700 It was very bad pollution. 597 00:39:28,700 --> 00:39:31,700 I was so looking forward to it that I didn't want to cancel. 598 00:39:31,700 --> 00:39:33,700 The whole weekend and today my throat's been painful. 599 00:39:33,700 --> 00:39:35,700 It's like you're coming down with a cold. 600 00:39:35,700 --> 00:39:39,700 It's really hard. You kind of have to stay inside, which isn't great. 601 00:39:39,700 --> 00:39:41,700 Do you use the face mask or not? 602 00:39:41,700 --> 00:39:44,700 Yeah, all the time. 603 00:39:44,700 --> 00:39:48,700 When it's above an unhealthy level, I'm always wearing it because I do think it helps. 604 00:39:48,700 --> 00:39:50,700 Does it? 605 00:39:50,700 --> 00:39:53,700 Okay, I should start doing that too then. 606 00:39:53,700 --> 00:39:55,700 You always make me feel guilty, Michael. 607 00:39:55,700 --> 00:40:00,700 I'm very health conscious. I see a lot of people running and stuff. 608 00:40:00,700 --> 00:40:03,700 I'm thinking, what about your lungs though? It's good for your muscles, but not your lungs. 609 00:40:03,700 --> 00:40:09,700 You should show your listeners you also have an umbrella, which kind of impressed me. 610 00:40:09,700 --> 00:40:14,700 So explain it to us why you need an umbrella in such warm conditions. 611 00:40:14,700 --> 00:40:16,700 Can you see it's tipping it down? 612 00:40:16,700 --> 00:40:20,700 No, it's not. First of all, there's a roof where we are. 613 00:40:20,700 --> 00:40:30,700 Secondly, it's scorching hot outside and there's no sign of any clouds approaching us. 614 00:40:30,700 --> 00:40:34,700 Well, I guess for me it's so normal. You were a bit surprised, I guess. 615 00:40:34,700 --> 00:40:39,700 I didn't think about it, but it's quite common, especially with women. 616 00:40:39,700 --> 00:40:45,700 I personally don't care if I look a bit feminine, but to worry about skin protection here. 617 00:40:45,700 --> 00:40:51,700 But I just feel as a Caucasian, a white person in a tropical country, I should be a bit more careful. 618 00:40:51,700 --> 00:40:58,700 So when I'm out for a walk, now it's mid afternoon, it's very hot and sunny. 619 00:40:58,700 --> 00:41:01,700 I try to have this UV, ultraviolet. 620 00:41:01,700 --> 00:41:03,700 Oh, it's a UV. 621 00:41:03,700 --> 00:41:07,700 It's made for rain and sun. 622 00:41:07,700 --> 00:41:08,700 There you go. 623 00:41:08,700 --> 00:41:10,700 It's like a brand. 624 00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:16,700 So it's just like sunscreen would be 50 plus. This is the same kind of thing, but material. 625 00:41:16,700 --> 00:41:23,700 So it should protect your skin, keep you looking a bit younger, but also it actually keeps you cooler 626 00:41:23,700 --> 00:41:27,700 because the sun is not directly on your skin, which is, you're not going to be that foreigner 627 00:41:27,700 --> 00:41:30,700 that gets on the train covered in sweat, which is nice. 628 00:41:30,700 --> 00:41:35,700 Well, I'll stick with my KEP for now, but this might be the next level. 629 00:41:35,700 --> 00:41:38,700 If I decide to upgrade, why not? 630 00:41:38,700 --> 00:41:41,700 I'll tell you one more thing I really miss about the UK. 631 00:41:41,700 --> 00:41:45,700 Not enough to move back, but it's just the sense of freedom. 632 00:41:45,700 --> 00:41:49,700 I think it's Europe in general. There's such freedom when you, you know, I love exploring. 633 00:41:49,700 --> 00:41:56,700 You go to the countryside, go for a walk, hiking, cycling, very safe, very clean air. 634 00:41:56,700 --> 00:42:02,700 I don't really feel that here. Like there's a lot of private areas and also it's just not that pleasant 635 00:42:02,700 --> 00:42:05,700 to walk in the countryside where it's like this heat. 636 00:42:05,700 --> 00:42:11,700 So that's one thing I miss, but again, it's one of the small things compared to all the many benefits. 637 00:42:11,700 --> 00:42:14,700 We wouldn't be here otherwise if it was that bad. 638 00:42:14,700 --> 00:42:18,700 There are a lot of good things, as you said, the people, I guess, is the most important thing for me. 639 00:42:18,700 --> 00:42:24,700 I have to say, I've made so many good friends here, even more than in the UK, 640 00:42:24,700 --> 00:42:29,700 where I've always only lived in London. And yes, it's a great place. 641 00:42:29,700 --> 00:42:33,700 It's a melting pot and different nationalities. 642 00:42:33,700 --> 00:42:35,700 But you know what, people, people always rush somewhere. 643 00:42:35,700 --> 00:42:39,700 Everybody's just chasing their dream, chasing money. 644 00:42:39,700 --> 00:42:43,700 And maybe that's the problem, because the kind of people you meet there as well. 645 00:42:43,700 --> 00:42:46,700 I don't know. Now, now I've probably said something I shouldn't have said. 646 00:42:46,700 --> 00:42:50,700 And some of my listeners living in London, even my friends may be listening to this. 647 00:42:50,700 --> 00:42:51,700 They are the exceptions, all of them. 648 00:42:51,700 --> 00:42:54,700 I feel like the people here are sort of like more chilled. I don't know. 649 00:42:54,700 --> 00:42:57,700 Like even the expats sometimes. Does it make sense? 650 00:42:57,700 --> 00:43:02,700 Yeah, I mean, definitely attracts a certain type of expats, a type of foreigner. 651 00:43:02,700 --> 00:43:08,700 But also the locals, of course, they're just so friendly and just. 652 00:43:08,700 --> 00:43:11,700 Yeah, I guess we are kind of exotic for them. 653 00:43:11,700 --> 00:43:14,700 The white Caucasian, as you said, from Europe. 654 00:43:14,700 --> 00:43:24,700 So I guess they want to get to know us more than maybe people from the UK would want to get to know us or in the Czech Republic. 655 00:43:24,700 --> 00:43:28,700 It would be too normal for them, too ordinary. 656 00:43:28,700 --> 00:43:35,700 I guess anyone you meet here that isn't Thai, they probably have a story to tell because they've come from another country. 657 00:43:35,700 --> 00:43:38,700 It's quite interesting to talk about. 658 00:43:38,700 --> 00:43:47,700 But yeah, in terms of the culture where bin men are here, in terms of the culture where people are more relaxed, 659 00:43:47,700 --> 00:43:50,700 I do think there's a double edged sword where it's really nice. 660 00:43:50,700 --> 00:43:55,700 But on the other hand, when it comes to safety, for example, people are kind of like, oh, no big deal. 661 00:43:55,700 --> 00:43:59,700 Yeah, there's no safety first. Safety last sometimes. 662 00:43:59,700 --> 00:44:05,700 I don't know how it's here, but I don't want this podcast to come across negative. 663 00:44:05,700 --> 00:44:10,700 I always do that. This is part of Czech. I think we have this in common with the British. 664 00:44:10,700 --> 00:44:11,700 British people love to complain. 665 00:44:11,700 --> 00:44:16,700 We also like to grumble and moan and Czech people do that a lot as well. 666 00:44:16,700 --> 00:44:20,700 I think it makes you feel better, though, just like there's so many happy things in life, 667 00:44:20,700 --> 00:44:24,700 which I feel like don't need to be said because we take it as a given. 668 00:44:24,700 --> 00:44:28,700 But we just focus on the bad things because sharing that makes us feel better. 669 00:44:28,700 --> 00:44:31,700 So it's not that we're just grumpy and we hate everything. 670 00:44:31,700 --> 00:44:33,700 We might be a little bit grumpy. 671 00:44:33,700 --> 00:44:38,700 I am. At least I am. Michael seems the more cheerful one out of the two of us. 672 00:44:38,700 --> 00:44:43,700 But he's also younger and generally naive. 673 00:44:43,700 --> 00:44:48,700 I think the stereotype is that you can't teach an old dog new tricks and all that. 674 00:44:48,700 --> 00:44:51,700 I have another excuse here. 675 00:44:51,700 --> 00:44:56,700 But yeah, the people, even like the dating life, I think it's much better here. 676 00:44:56,700 --> 00:45:04,700 It's been so easy for me to just meet girls and hang out with them and get to know them closer. 677 00:45:04,700 --> 00:45:10,700 And I feel like they're sort of more interested in me here than they would be somewhere in London. 678 00:45:10,700 --> 00:45:12,700 Because you're more unique. 679 00:45:12,700 --> 00:45:14,700 I'm more unique and more exotic. 680 00:45:14,700 --> 00:45:17,700 And also they like the fact that I speak English and I'm an English teacher. 681 00:45:17,700 --> 00:45:20,700 And you know, like in the Czech Republic, an English teacher, who cares? 682 00:45:20,700 --> 00:45:24,700 It's a low paid job. It's nothing special. 683 00:45:24,700 --> 00:45:32,700 Yeah, you have a university degree, but you know, only people, only like the losers go to study teaching 684 00:45:32,700 --> 00:45:35,700 and study at the philosophical faculty and stuff like that. 685 00:45:35,700 --> 00:45:40,700 Right. Humanity. What would you say? Humanistic? Humanities. Humanities. 686 00:45:40,700 --> 00:45:43,700 Yeah. Teachers are very respected here too. Yeah. Right. 687 00:45:43,700 --> 00:45:49,700 So that's why I feel better here for all those reasons. Right. So that's yeah. 688 00:45:49,700 --> 00:45:57,700 Yeah. And I mean, this is dating advice here with Michael, but also I feel like just generally, 689 00:45:57,700 --> 00:46:02,700 I don't know why I see a lot of kids doing this like back in the UK where they all have the same haircut, 690 00:46:02,700 --> 00:46:04,700 the same fashion and they're trying to get girls. 691 00:46:04,700 --> 00:46:08,700 I think what have you got to offer that this other guy doesn't have to offer? 692 00:46:08,700 --> 00:46:10,700 Like you're all the same. Yeah. 693 00:46:10,700 --> 00:46:13,700 Like if you really want to find someone, just be yourself, try to stand out. 694 00:46:13,700 --> 00:46:15,700 Yeah, you have to stand out, right? You have to be like different. 695 00:46:15,700 --> 00:46:18,700 Yeah. It's what makes you interesting. Yeah. 696 00:46:18,700 --> 00:46:21,700 This is scary, but I think that's the best way to meet friends and partners. 697 00:46:21,700 --> 00:46:29,700 It's almost unfair. I remember the first day I came here, I met my first friend, a Czech guy, 698 00:46:29,700 --> 00:46:32,700 and he told me, Zdenek, you have a much higher value here as a man. 699 00:46:32,700 --> 00:46:36,700 I was like, what? Why? It makes no sense. Why should I have a higher value? 700 00:46:36,700 --> 00:46:40,700 And I understand. Yeah, it is like that. 701 00:46:40,700 --> 00:46:47,700 And in the same way, in my country, Czech girls, they are obsessed with British people or Spanish guys or whatnot. 702 00:46:47,700 --> 00:46:50,700 Yeah, because they're just different and look cool. 703 00:46:50,700 --> 00:46:52,700 And yeah, you know what I mean. 704 00:46:52,700 --> 00:46:57,700 But just to put another slightly negative spin on that, there is another side. 705 00:46:57,700 --> 00:46:58,700 Here we go. 706 00:46:58,700 --> 00:47:04,700 Where there's maybe you could call it racism in some cases where if you're not white, 707 00:47:04,700 --> 00:47:09,700 like from another Asian country, for example, you might be treated even worse or discriminated against in some way 708 00:47:09,700 --> 00:47:14,700 because you're not special, you're not from like a traditionally rich country and you get treated a lot worse. 709 00:47:14,700 --> 00:47:19,700 So there is a level of that here. And I guess we have some privilege in that way, don't we? 710 00:47:19,700 --> 00:47:26,700 And then we should also talk about the fact that some experts come here to let's call it they are the sex tourists. 711 00:47:26,700 --> 00:47:28,700 Take advantage of that. Come on. 712 00:47:28,700 --> 00:47:33,700 Like a lot of people come here because they're just rich and they have money and they just exploit. 713 00:47:33,700 --> 00:47:37,700 I guess it's not exploit because like everyone is happy at the end of the day. 714 00:47:37,700 --> 00:47:43,700 Like the girls make money, whatever it is relationship, they just sleep with each other for money. 715 00:47:43,700 --> 00:47:45,700 I just I'm just not a big fan of this. 716 00:47:45,700 --> 00:47:49,700 I feel like the girl should have more respect for herself. 717 00:47:49,700 --> 00:47:54,700 But then like you kind of get it because it's a developing country. 718 00:47:54,700 --> 00:47:58,700 Right. So for some of them, it's an opportunity. 719 00:47:58,700 --> 00:48:02,700 But but but it's it's a it's a we are on a dangerous ground. 720 00:48:02,700 --> 00:48:07,700 On thin ice talking about this topic. But like I think I think we should mention it. 721 00:48:07,700 --> 00:48:15,700 Basically, there are a lot of experts who come here just for this reason as well, just to to to get get girls, you know. 722 00:48:15,700 --> 00:48:18,700 Yeah. Sometimes they just come for a week or two weeks. 723 00:48:18,700 --> 00:48:21,700 They promise them a lot of things and then they just leave. 724 00:48:21,700 --> 00:48:26,700 And that's why I like a lot of a lot of girls, I mean, they are often very sort of suspicious. 725 00:48:26,700 --> 00:48:28,700 Yeah, skeptical. Yeah. 726 00:48:30,700 --> 00:48:35,700 This mistrust. There's a lot of mistrust or distrust or whatever the word is. 727 00:48:35,700 --> 00:48:40,700 Right. Yeah. I don't know about you, but, you know, like you said, I've got I've got a lot of really good friends. 728 00:48:40,700 --> 00:48:42,700 It's very easy to make friends. 729 00:48:42,700 --> 00:48:46,700 But when I meet someone who is here for that reason, it's immediately obvious. 730 00:48:46,700 --> 00:48:48,700 It's just kind of like some vibe they give off. 731 00:48:48,700 --> 00:48:51,700 Absolutely. Absolutely. And I'm like, I don't want to be friends with you. 732 00:48:51,700 --> 00:48:57,700 I'm just going to distance myself. Sometimes they don't they don't they don't reveal this immediately. 733 00:48:57,700 --> 00:49:00,700 You can tell. You can tell maybe. 734 00:49:00,700 --> 00:49:04,700 Maybe you have a better sort of you have developed some sort of skill like that. 735 00:49:04,700 --> 00:49:06,700 But like I don't I can't always tell. Yeah. 736 00:49:06,700 --> 00:49:11,700 And then sort of like, hmm. Yeah. Yeah. 737 00:49:11,700 --> 00:49:17,700 Because especially Bangkok and Thailand is a place that is famous for this kind of stuff. 738 00:49:17,700 --> 00:49:19,700 Let's be honest. Yeah. 739 00:49:19,700 --> 00:49:20,700 Unfortunately, yeah. 740 00:49:20,700 --> 00:49:25,700 Hopefully we they can attract better tourists here in the future. 741 00:49:25,700 --> 00:49:29,700 Yeah, I noticed the sun's slowly getting more on us and I'm sweating. 742 00:49:29,700 --> 00:49:32,700 We've got bugs all over us. The bugs. The bugs are coming. 743 00:49:32,700 --> 00:49:34,700 I wonder if we can finish up in a second. 744 00:49:34,700 --> 00:49:36,700 Was there anything you wanted to cover before we did? 745 00:49:36,700 --> 00:49:37,700 The bugs are bugging me. 746 00:49:37,700 --> 00:49:45,700 I just hope I just hope you don't get cancelled on your on your YouTube channel for for the last topic that I've decided to include. 747 00:49:45,700 --> 00:49:49,700 Everything that's been said is is Zdenek's opinion, not mine. 748 00:49:49,700 --> 00:49:54,700 Wow. If you disagree, it's his opinion. If you agree, it's my opinion. 749 00:49:54,700 --> 00:49:56,700 Let's say that. And definitely leave comments. 750 00:49:56,700 --> 00:50:01,700 Yeah, this is the most important thing. Leave comments on Michael's channel as well as my YouTube channel. 751 00:50:01,700 --> 00:50:03,700 Teacher's Zdenek YouTube channel. 752 00:50:03,700 --> 00:50:10,700 Yes. If you're listening on mine, I'll make sure to put links and everything to Zdenek's channel and make it easy to find. 753 00:50:10,700 --> 00:50:13,700 And maybe you'll do the same for me if you're feeling generous. 754 00:50:13,700 --> 00:50:17,700 Absolutely. I feel very generous today. 755 00:50:17,700 --> 00:50:23,700 Well, I guess now maybe we can take a bit of a walk through the park and we'll say goodbye here. 756 00:50:23,700 --> 00:50:26,700 Yeah. Thank you very much for listening and watching. 757 00:50:26,700 --> 00:50:27,700 Thank you. Thanks, Michael. 758 00:50:27,700 --> 00:50:31,700 I enjoyed it. Thank you very much for joining me, for meeting me. 759 00:50:31,700 --> 00:50:33,700 Take care, man. Was that an awkward handshake? Maybe. 760 00:50:33,700 --> 00:50:37,700 I didn't know what was coming. Neither did I. 761 00:50:37,700 --> 00:50:38,700 Thank you so much. See you. 762 00:50:42,700 --> 00:50:44,700 Hi, I'm Jolie from Spain. 763 00:50:44,700 --> 00:51:02,700 I like the Achievers Chamber because it's a friendly place where I can improve my English talking to people from other countries. 764 00:51:02,700 --> 00:51:03,700 Thanks a lot for listening. 765 00:51:03,700 --> 00:51:08,700 For more information, visit my new website, teacherszdenek.com, 766 00:51:08,700 --> 00:51:14,700 where you can find out about my speaking group for high level English learners called the Achievers Chamber 767 00:51:14,700 --> 00:51:20,700 and download my free course, Unlocking Your English Potential, Eight Secrets to Fluency. 768 00:51:20,700 --> 00:51:39,700 That's teacherszdenek.com.