These podcasts are for anyone who is preparing for the IELTS.
There will be a variety of lengths of podcasts featuring advice for some aspect of the Speaking test. 

Accelerate Your IELTS Speaking with Ralph

In these podcasts, I will provide some guidance to English vowel pronunciation and sentence speaking patterns.  These are for B1 to C1 students who want to be better understood or take the IELTS.

Accelerate your English Pronunciation with Ralph

The collected adventures of a traveling teacher who encounters various cultural differences.
The first story "Time" will be posted in four parts.

Teacher who came in from the Cold

Hawaii's regular sunshine, short rain showers and clean air come together to create some of the planet's best conditions for viewing rainbows. Rainbows are seen so often here that a University of Hawaii professor calls the state the "rainbow capital of the world."

"Hawaii has maybe the best rainbows on the planet," said Steven Businger, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

He has even created an app called RainbowChase to help people find rainbows in Hawaii.

Rainbows form when drops of rain refract sunlight into a spectrum of colors. The brighter the sun, the clearer the rainbow.

Hawaii's winds bring many small showers with enough blue sky between them for the sun to shine through. Conditions are best during the rainy season from October through April.

Visitors should look for rainbows when it's both sunny and raining at the same time. Rainbows will appear opposite the sun. They will seem larger and higher in the sky in the early morning and late afternoon, when the sun is lower on the horizon.

Rainbows are popular symbols of island life. Pictures of them can be seen on buildings and buses, and even on vehicle license plates.

"They cause us to stand still and for a moment, forget about the past and the future," Businger said.

There are about 20 names for rainbows in the Hawaiian language, including different words for different types of rainbows.

Sam 'Ohu Gon III, senior scientist and cultural adviser at The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii, said rainbows are considered a symbol of Kāne, one of the four main gods in Hawaiian tradition. The closer you get to a rainbow, the more likely you are to meet a supernatural force or a powerful person, he said.

A rainbow is also believed to show that an aumakua — a deified family member or family god — is nearby.

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Why Hawaii Is the 'Rainbow Capital of the World'


The number of tigers in India more than doubled between 2010 and 2022, according to a new study.

In 2010, there were around 1,700 tigers in the country — but there were almost 3,700 by 2022, the study said.

The study also said that tiger numbers had increased because the animals were better protected from poachers and because their habitats were better protected too.

The researchers added that the amount of contact between humans and animals has been reduced, and the country has made sure that the tigers have enough prey.

The researchers said the results show that, with the right attitude, people can make a difference.

Some people now want the country to spend more time and money on protecting other animals too.

Of all the tigers in the world, 75% are now in India, in an area of about 138,000 square kilometers.

But many of these animals live close to large numbers of people.

The researchers said some communities have benefited from the increased tiger population because it has meant tourists have visited the area to see the animals.

However, tiger attacks on humans do happen, and with India's human population growing, this problem won't go away.

But the researchers said the number of tiger attacks per year is quite small, and many more people are killed by leopards, wild pigs and snakes, and in car accidents.

However, while many have said that the increase in tigers is good news, others are not sure about the accuracy of the data, which was collected by government-supported agencies.

Number of Tigers in India Doubled in 12 Years

The Super Bowl, one of the biggest nights in US sports — and the American cultural calendar — ended with victory for the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday February 9.

The Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in New Orleans. The game was played amid heavy security — and with President Donald Trump in attendance — just 41 days after a man drove a truck into New Year's partygoers on the city's Bourbon Street.

There were tributes before the game to the 14 people who were killed in the incident.

On the field, there was plenty for millions of viewers around the world to enjoy — although the game was not so enjoyable for Chiefs fans.

The Kansas franchise had won three out of the last five Super Bowls, but they didn't come close in the 59th edition.

Not even the presence of pop superstar Taylor Swift, who has spent all season supporting boyfriend Travis Kelce, a player with the Chiefs, could make a difference!

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said his players had to work together to win. "This is the ultimate team game. You can't be great without the greatness of others," he said.

The Chiefs' star quarterback Patrick Mahomes was kept quiet by the Eagles defense, denying him a fourth Super Bowl win.

A lot of the pre-game interest in the Super Bowl had centered around the traditional halftime entertainment, with rapper Kendrick Lamar performing just days after winning five Grammy awards.

His show didn't disappoint, with dancers in red, white and blue performing around a car onstage, while the rapper also performed his Grammy-winning song of the year "Not Like Us."

However, one of the many performers was detained on the field after unfurling a combination of the Sudanese and Palestinian flags with "Sudan" and "Gaza" written on it.

An NFL spokesperson told The Associated Press that the performer would be banned for life from all NFL stadiums and events.

Trump, meanwhile, became the first serving US President to attend the Super Bowl.

Drama On and Off Field as Eagles Win Super Bowl

Disneyland Paris has launched a new light show called Disney Tales of Magic, an immersive 20-minute show that uses drones, synchronized fountains, and high-definition projections.

The show's main feature — ultra-bright lasers — has been used only once before, at the Paris 2024 Olympics at the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony featuring a performance by Celine Dion. The lasers, which travel 37 kilometers, deliver extraordinary power while remaining safe near crowds.

"The Paris Olympics used it first. But we saw it first," said Dana Harrel, executive entertainment director at Disneyland Paris.

The show brings Disney and Pixar tales to life with the use of drone-made 3D figures projected onto the night sky, synchronized fountains and a 100-piece orchestra.

The show also reflects Disney's storytelling evolution. Tim Lutkin, artistic director of the production, noted the shift from classic fairy tales to modern narratives like Encanto and Inside Out 2, which explore deeper themes such as anxiety and depression.

The show is just one part of Disneyland Paris' $2 billion expansion plan, part of a $60 billion global investment announced in September 2023, aiming to redefine Disney parks, cruises and attractions over the next decade.

At the heart of the expansion is the transformation of Walt Disney Studios Park, doubling in size and reimagined as Disney Adventure World. Opening in spring 2025, a new park entrance, World Premiere, will greet visitors with the glamor of a Hollywood film premiere, leading them into immersive themed areas.

The expansion includes two eagerly awaited themed lands: The World of Frozen, opening in 2026, and The Lion King land. The Disneyland Hotel has also been revamped, with rooms themed around classic Disney royalty.

"These projects reflect our commitment to innovation and storytelling," said Natacha Rafalski, head of Disneyland Paris, adding that they will further strengthen it as Europe's top tourist destination.



Drones and Lasers Light Up Disneyland Paris in New Show

Crowds of people queued up at Australia's Royal Sydney Botanic Garden on January 23, with some people waiting as long as three hours.

And for what?

A very smelly flower.

The titan arum, known as the "corpse flower," is a tall, pointed plant that releases an unpleasant smell when it blooms. The smell has been likened to things like decaying flesh, gym socks or rotting garbage.

The endangered plant is only found in the Sumatran rainforests in Indonesia, where there are thought to be fewer than 300 of them. It only blooms every 7 to 10 years in its natural habitat.

"The fact that they open very rarely, so they flower rarely, is obviously something that puts them at a little bit of a disadvantage in the wild," said Sophie Daniel from the Royal Sydney Botanic Garden. "When they open, they have to hope that another flower is open nearby, because they can't self-pollinate."

The flower at the botanic garden is the first to bloom there in 15 years, and she's been named Putricia — a combination of "putrid" and "Patricia" — by her fans.

Putricia's online fandom grew quickly and globally. A 24/7 live stream established by the botanic garden drew close to a million views in under a week, and people on social media planned to hurry to the garden as the plant opened. In just 24 hours, Putricia's bloom — and her stench — would be gone.

As she opened, the plant heated to 37 degrees Celsius to better spread her scent. In the wild, the smell tricks pollinators into landing on what they think is rotten meat and spreading pollen between flowers.

Up to 20,000 people filed past for a moment in her pungent presence, leaning in for a sniff or taking selfies.

It was difficult to say why the flower attracted such a following — but perhaps the answer lay in the "reverence" viewers felt in the presence of "such an amazing living being," Daniel said.


