#299 The Gold Rush 1849

I’ll be honest with you—I don’t really enjoy going to the dentist. I think most people feel the same way. It can be a little scary, right? Now imagine you’re not speaking your native language. If you already feel nervous about the dentist, trying to explain everything in English ... Show More

Last time, we talked about false friends—words that look similar in English and your native language, but mean something very different. Get the text on my website: https://speakenglishpodcast.com/351-false-friends Example 1: Actual This one’s a classic false friend. In Spanish, ... Show More

Hi! I want to talk about something that can really help you understand English vocabulary better — especially if you speak a Romance language like Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, or Romanian. These languages all come from Latin — you know, the language spoken by the Romans ... Show More

From the rings on our fingers, to coins in our pockets and, for a select few, the medals hanging around our necks. Gold is one of the most coveted metals in the world. Gold still has the power to change lives, but in the mid 19th century, it also sparked the largest migration in ... Show More

On January 24th, 1848, a carpenter from Coloma plunges a hand into the American River and pulls out gold. This discovery triggers an explosion of findings, as people flock to the region seeking fortune and reinvention. But what were the chances of striking gold? What obstacles di ... Show More

词汇提示 1.spices 香料2.scarce 罕见的3.trinkets 首饰4.interior 内陆5.crews 工作人员6.emeralds 翡翠7.pearls 珍珠8.immerse 极大的9.invaded 入侵10.refining 提纯11.meteorite 陨石12.grease 油脂13.raft 木筏14.ceremony 仪式15.perished 死亡16.desperately 拼命地 原文 The Golden Man ? El Dorado When Christopher Columbus sailed west ... Show More

In 1971, President Richard Nixon changed the rules of money because foreign countries being paid in U.S. dollars grew skeptical when the U.S. Treasury was printing more and more money to cover our debts, and they began exchanging their dollars directly for gold in earnest, deplet ... Show More

April 18, 1933. It’s almost midnight in Washington, DC. Newly-elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt has gathered his economic advisors for a late-night meeting. He called this meeting to announce his plan to effectively take the US off the gold standard, the system by which ... Show More

“This is a diamond!”: In 2017, two young miners, Komba and Saffea, struck gold. They uncovered a huge 709 carat diamond - the ‘Peace Diamond’ - worth millions of dollars, in Sierra Leone. It was a dream come true for them both. They were rich beyond their wildest dreams. And then ... Show More

Robert Kiyosaki is well-known for the phrase “Savers are losers” and it’s never been more true than in today’s economy. In his book, today’s guest says, “As history reveals an ugly pattern of governments spending tomorrow’s hard-earned savings today leaving unknowing savers holdi ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the system that flourished from 1870 when gold became dominant and more widely available, following gold rushes in California and Australia. Banknotes could be exchanged for gold at central banks, the coins in circulation could be gold (as with the ... Show More

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the system that flourished from 1870 when gold became dominant and more widely available, following gold rushes in California and Australia. Banknotes could be exchanged for gold at central banks, the coins in circulation could be gold (as with the ... Show More