Hi Haniya Ahmed,
Many thanks for your comment and for your positive feedback.
I am really glad that you like listening to my podcasts. I hope you are enjoying your summer holidays. Your comment is well written, so you are doing well with you English study.
Have a great day.
Rob.

My name is Haniya Ahmed, I am 8 years old. It is my summer holidays.I listen your podcast.Your podcast tells me a lot about Australia . And your podcast are so good .
This podcast helps me to speak good English.

thanks

Thanks for your feedback.
Have a great day.
Rob.

Hi Lisa,
Many thanks for your comment. Yes, I agree. Walking in nature certainly makes me feel comfortable and relaxed too. That’s one of the reasons that I enjoy it so much.
Best regards,
Rob

Best Regards
Lisa

Hi Adriana,
Many thanks for your comment. Yes, a walk through the bush or down a trail is a great way to start the day. Sometimes it is hard for people who live in a big city to be able to experience nature. I live on the outskirts of Melbourne so it is not a problem for me. I hope you have good places to walk where you live. Enjoying nature is one of the real pleasures in life.
Have a great day.
Rob

Hi Rob
I Mum loves the lorikeets as well, there are also a lot then around our areas. they are absolutely beautiful creature everyone enjoy to watch, my Mum once tripped over in the park just because she was looking up to the lorikeets in the tree while walking. Thanks god she didn’t hurt herself. Australian is too beautiful to explore, I hope I could enjoy everything you mentioned in the podcasts. Thanks and have a great day!

Hi Merasa,
Sounds like you had a great time on the Yarra Trail on the weekend. There are certainly many kangaroos living along that part of the trail. I also enjoy seeing all the birds which come to feed on the fruit in Petty’s Orhard. In particular, I love the rainbow lorikeets – they are so beautiful and they chatter so loudly. It is also an excellent place for the kids to ride their bikes. I never tire of the Yarra Trail. I am really glad that you found this part of the trail and also that your family could enjoy it with you.
Have a great day.
Rob

Cheers

Hi Pierre. Yes, I watched it and saw the reference to Australia. We still have many rabbits in Australia. That is a great topic for a new podcast. Have a great day. Rob.

Hi Rob !
Enjoy a part of it :
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/jeandeflorette
Have great day !

Hi Pierre,
Thanks for your reply. I think it is more correct to say ‘I walk towards..’. However. I think leaving the ‘s’ off is also correct. So, in my opinion, you can use either.
I haven’t heard the story about the rabbits, but perhaps that is a great topic for a podcast. Rabbits in Australia is indeed an interesting story. Thanks for the suggestion.
Have a great day.
Rob

hahaha !
rabbits :2B !

Thank you very much Rob.
I feel happy thinking I am speeking about an ‘S’ with somebody in the other side , down under the planet ! Great !!!
So, Is there a mistake by saying : I walk toward him and I walk towards them ?
sincerely yours,
Pierre

PS : About rabits in Australia :
They are famous in a french novel written in the 50s by Marcel Pagnol : a man tell in this story that when Europeans imported rabbits in Australia, they spread so much there they had to be killed because they ate everything and threatened to destroy the continent. he wanted to do the same in Provence to become rich by selling rabbits for food.
Do you know that story or this old film from Pagnol ?

Hi Pierre,
Many thanks for your interesting comment. I am very pleased that you like my podcasts and find them useful. You have found an interesting detail in this podcast and I must admit that I had not noticed it before. I think that I have made an error by putting as ‘s’ on westward. To my native speaking ear, it sounds okay with an ‘s’, however when I say ‘when I walk westward’, it sounds more correct. Later in the same paragraph, I use the phrase ‘walk towards them’. This sound correct to me, so I would always put the ‘s’ on ‘towards’. I can’t really explain why this is so. It just sounds correct to my ear, so I will always go with what sounds correct to me. In your case, as a non-native speaker, you just have to learn the expressions and phrases.
Anyway, well spotted! It is great when you can notice small details like these. It shows that your English studies are progressing very well. It also shows you that native speakers sometimes also make errors. After all, languages are complicated systems. Anyway, well done on noticing this mistake.
Good luck with your English studies.
Have a great day.
Rob

These texts are so intersting that I decided, after having drawn at random among their multitude to read all of them in order not to miss a single one.

I would like to have an orthographic information :

I found in this text a word that forced me to use linguee (internet tool) : As I walk Westwards’.

Linguee does not put the ‘S’ at the end of Westwards. So I have look ‘forward and toward’ it found them but showing uses these words with the ‘S’ at the end.

Can you help me to understand ?
thanks Rob. Thank you so mutch.
Pierre

Hi Azrin,

Many thanks for your comment. That’s really pleasing that my podcasts have helped you and your students. All the best for their exams.
Regards,
Rob

Your podcasts have been helpful for my Chinese kids who are doing the Victoria VCE program. Thank you for being my go-to resource!

Hi Lena,
Many thanks for your comment. I agree that I have varied my speed a little in my podcasts as I went along, although I didn’t intend to do that. Sorry if this one is a little too fast for you. I think you will find that some of my later podcasts are a little slower.

Eight kilometres is not that far, especially if you don’t walk too fast. You would be surprised how your fitness improves with practice. In fact, keeping fit actually increases the strength of your heart.

Thanks for listening to my podcast and good luck with your English. You seem to be doing very well.

Have a great day.
Rob

I’m very scared about how far you go coz too much exercise isn’t good for the heart in any age, I’m 16yo & would nvr ever consider 8km, it’s just madness(sorry!!!) I’ve noticed that you’re reading faster, aren’t you? I really liked the first podcast speed, it’s excellent at that rate but ya still pretty awesome anyway
Thank you

Lena

xxoo

e_e

Hi Vladislav,
There are no dialects in English. There are different accents in English, such as Australian, American, Scottish, British, etc, but these are not really dialects. Apart from a few words, the vocabulary and grammar rules are all the same for all English speakers. Sometimes other English accents are hard to understand, but generally English speakers can all communicate quite easily. I speak English with an Australian accent.
I hope that answers your question.
Cheers,
Rob

Thank you for fast reply! If I have many times I will go see kangaroos! One more thanks, and have a nice weekend!

Hi Jake,
Many thanks for your kind message. Welcome to Melbourne. I hope you are having a good time. I have been to Korea and I had a great time there.

If you want to hear my podcast more slowly, you can use the following website. http://onlinetonegenerator.com/time-stretcher.html
First you must subscribe to my podcast so that each podcast episode mp3 file is saved to your computer. Then you can upload an episode file to this web site and you will be able to make the audio as slow as you like. I hope that helps.

Regarding the Kangaroos, you can see them on the Yarra walking trail in the early morning (say around 7am to 7.30am) if you go to the car park at 203 Fitzsimmons Lane, Templestowe, 3016 and then walk along the Yarra Trail in either direction. https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-37.7420091,145.1355489,16z. After a few hundred metres you are almost certain to see wild kangaroos.

Have a great day.
Rob

I am Jake and from Korea. I arrived in Melbourne 3weeks ago. So, when I really wanted to learn english I can find your potcast. It is amazing! I listen to your potcast and study everyday. Word that I want to say is thank you very much! However I have a favor. It is too fast to listen to this to me because my english skills are very poor. Would speak more slowly? thank you to read my comment! See you!

ps. Where place of trails can I see kangaroos? I never have been to see kangaroos!

Hi Pete,
Thanks for your message. I am pleased that you can learn something about Australia from my podcasts. Adelaide is a great place too, although I have only been there a couple of times myself. Actually there are many parts of Australia that I have not been to yet. I hope to see more of Australia in the next few years, including Adelaide.
Have a great day.
Rob

I live in Adelaide now and look for places like on your photos.
Your podcast is very interesting and learns me a lot of Australia.

Thank you
Pete

Hi Jefferson. Thank you for writing to me. Your English is very good. I am pleased that my podcast has been helpful to you in learning English. I can see that you were reading Podcast 5 – A Morning Walk in Melbourne. I went for the same walk this morning and I saw many kangaroos. They are very tame although a little wary. I love to take photos of them. In Brazil you must have some wonderful animals too.
Thanks for your message. Have a great day.
Cheers,
Rob

Hi Lorraine. So glad you got to see them. As it turned out, I didn’t go for my walk this morning so I missed you. A point of interest – If you had turned right on entering the trail, the trail will eventually go past Beasley’s Nursery where they have an excellent tea house.
Cheers,
Rob

WOOHOO! wow, as for the location, you were DEAD on! We got there (excellent directions by the way), and we first saw a group of 4 a bit far away, then another group of 20 or so closer in, and then a group of about 50 much further away. We were so happy! Thanks so much! Don’t know if you were walking there this morning between 7:30 and 8 am but if you did and saw a short woman with a tall man, that was us! 🙂

Oh, I can’t wait! You’ve been very thoughtful and helpful. Thanks!

Hi Lorraine. Yes, that is the place. If you are driving, I suggest you go down Blackburn Road to the end and turn left into Websters Rd, just past the Australia Post mail centre. You can park there behind Aumann’s nursery and walk down to the Mullum Mullum Trail. If you turn left when you get to the trail, that leads you past the grassy fields where our friends the kangaroos like to graze. Have fun!

Oh thanks so much for the info and giving me the location too! We’ll have to drive to get there. Could you please confirm this is the place you’re referring to: http://goo.gl/maps/b0hHY. I can’t wait to see them! 🙂